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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Black Diamonds, by Mór Jókai
+
+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: Black Diamonds
+
+Author: Mór Jókai
+
+Translator: Frances A. Gerard
+
+Release Date: June 3, 2010 [EBook #32668]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACK DIAMONDS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Budapest 1896 17/III Dr. Jókai Mór]
+
+
+
+
+MAURUS JOKAI
+
+
+BLACK DIAMONDS
+
+
+A Novel
+
+TRANSLATED BY
+FRANCES A. GERARD
+
+
+NEW YORK
+HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
+
+Copyright, 1896, by HARPER & BROTHERS.
+
+All rights reserved.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER                                          PAGE
+I.        A BLACK PLACE                             1
+II.       THE SLAVE OF THE BLACK DIAMONDS          11
+III.      THE MAN-EATER                            27
+IV.       A MODERN ALCHEMIST                       35
+V.        THE DOCTOR                               50
+VI.       COUNTESS THEUDELINDE                     63
+VII.      THE COUNTESS'S ALBUM                     79
+VIII.     THE EXORCIST                             95
+IX.       "AN OBSTINATE FELLOW"                   132
+X.        THE HIGHER MATHEMATICS                  146
+XI.       SOIRÉES AMALGAMANTES                    155
+XII.      RITTER MAGNET                           166
+XIII.     ONLY A TRIFLE                           189
+XIV.      THIRTY-THREE PARTS                      207
+XV.       TWO POINTS                              225
+XVI.      GOOD-BYE                                232
+XVII.     THE LAST REHEARSAL                      245
+XVIII.    FINANCIAL WISDOM                        253
+XIX.      FILTHY LUCRE                            259
+XX.       NO, EVELINE!                            278
+XXI.      RESPECT FOR HALINA CLOTH                291
+XXII.     TWO SUPPLIANTS                          301
+XXIII.    FINANCIAL INTRIGUE                      312
+XXIV.     THE BONDAVARA RAILWAY                   317
+XXV.      THE POOR DEAR PRINCE                    324
+XXVI.     DIES IRÆ                                327
+XXVII.    FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS      348
+XXVIII.   TWO CHILDREN                            352
+XXIX.     IMMACULATE                              357
+XXX.      MAN AND WIFE                            365
+XXXI.     EVA DIRKMAL                             373
+XXXII.    CRUSHED                                 378
+XXXIII.   CHARCOAL                                387
+XXXIV.    CSANTA'S LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT        395
+XXXV.     THE GROUND BURNS UNDER HIS FEET         401
+XXXVI.    CHILD'S PLAY                            406
+XXXVII.   EUREKA                                  411
+XXXVIII.  AT PAR                                  419
+XXXIX.    THE UNDERGROUND WORLD                   428
+XL.       ANGELA IS EVEN WITH IVAN                442
+XLI.      HOW IVAN MOURNED                        450
+XLII.     EVILA                                   453
+XLIII.    THE DIAMOND REMAINED ALWAYS A DIAMOND   459
+
+
+
+
+
+BLACK DIAMONDS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+A BLACK PLACE
+
+
+We are in the depths of an underground cavern. It is bad enough to be
+underground, but here we are all enveloped in black as well: the
+ceiling is black, so are the walls; they are made of blocks of coal.
+The floor is one great black looking-glass. It is a sort of pond,
+polished as steel. Over this polished surface glistens the reflection
+of a solitary light, the light of a safety-lamp shining through a wire
+net.
+
+A man guides himself over the pond in a narrow boat. By the doubtful
+light of the lamp he sees high pillars, which rise out of the depths
+below and reach to the very roof of the cavern--pillars slender, like
+the columns of a Moorish palace. These pillars are half white and half
+black; up to a certain point only are they coal black, beyond that
+they are light in color.
+
+What are these pillars?
+
+They are the stems of pines and palm-trees. These gigantic stems are
+quite at home in the layers over the coal-mine, but how have they
+descended here? They belong to another world--the world of light and
+air. The coal layers overhead sometimes take fire of themselves, and
+the fire, being intense, has loosened the hold of these giants and
+sent them below.
+
+Coal-pits kindle of themselves often, as every novice knows, but in
+this case who extinguished the flames? That is the question.
+
+The solitary occupant of the rudely shaped boat or canoe goes
+restlessly here and there, up and down. He is a man of about thirty
+years, with a pale face and a dark beard. His firmly closed lips give
+him an expression of earnestness, or strong, decided will; while his
+forehead, which is broad, with large bumps over the eyes, shows that
+he is a deep thinker. His head is uncovered, for here in this vault
+the air is heavy, and his curly black hair is in thick masses, so that
+he needs no covering.
+
+What is he doing here?
+
+He drives his boat over the black looking-glass of the lake; round and
+round he goes, searching the black walls with anxiety, his lamp raised
+in his disengaged hand. Does he imagine that a secret is hidden there?
+Does he think that by touching a spring, and saying "Open Sesame," the
+treasure hidden there for hundreds of years will spring forth?
+
+In truth, he does find treasures. Here and there from the black
+wall--weakly constructed in some places by Nature's hand--a piece of
+stone loosens itself--upon it the impression of a leaf belonging to a
+long-ago-extinct species. A wonderful treasure this! In other places
+he comes upon unknown crystals, to which science has not as yet given
+a name; or upon a new conglomeration of different quartz, metal, and
+stone--a silent testimony to a convulsion of Nature before this world
+was. All these witnesses speak.
+
+The pillars, too; over them the water of the pond has by degrees
+formed a crustation of crystals, small, but visible even without a
+glass. This, too, gives testimony.
+
+The pond is in itself wonderful. It has ebb and flow: twice in the day
+it empties itself; twice in the day it fills. The water rushes in
+leaps and bounds, joyously, tumultuously, into this dark, sullen
+vault; fills it higher, higher, until it reaches the point on the
+pillars where the color changes. There it remains, sometimes for two
+hours, stationary, smooth, and placid as a glass. Then it begins to
+sink, slowly, surely, until it vanishes away into the secret
+hiding-places from whence it has come. Curious, mysterious visitor!
+The man in the boat knows its ways; he has studied them. He waits
+patiently, until, with a sullen, gurgling sound, as if lamenting the
+necessity, the last current of water vanishes behind a projecting mass
+of coal. Then he hurriedly casts off his coat, his shoes, his
+stockings; he has nothing on but his shirt and trousers. He fastens
+round him a leather pocket, in which is a hammer and chisel; he takes
+his safety-lamp and fastens it to his belt; and, so equipped, he
+glides into one of the fissures in the black rock. He is following the
+vanishing stream. He is a courageous man to undertake such a task, for
+his way lies through the palace of death. It needs a heart of stone to
+be there alone in the awful silence. It is a strong motive that brings
+him. He is seeking the secret which lies under seven seals, the
+treasure which Nature has concealed for thousands of years. But this
+man knows not what fear is. He remains three hours seeking. If he had
+any one--a wife, a sister, even a faithful servant, who knew where he
+was, what danger he was in, how their souls would have gone out in
+agony of fear for what might happen!
+
+But he has no one; he is alone--always alone. There is no one to weep
+for his absence or to be joyful at his coming; his life is solitary,
+in the clear air of daylight as well as in the depths of the cavern.
+
+The vanished stream is as capricious as a coquettish maiden, as full
+of tricks and humors. Sometimes it does not show itself for three or
+four hours; at other moments it comes frolicking back in one, and woe
+to the unfortunate wight who is caught in its embrace in the narrow
+windings of the coal-vault! But this man knows the humors of the
+stream; he has studied them. He and it are old acquaintances; he knows
+the signs upon which he can depend, and he knows how long the pause
+will last. He can gauge its duration by the underground wind. When it
+whistles through the clefts and fissures, then he knows the stream is
+at hand. Should he wait until the shrill piping ceases, then he is a
+dead man.
+
+In the darkness a ghostly sound is heard--it is like a long-drawn
+sigh, the far-away sobbing of an Æolian harp; and immediately the
+shimmer of the lamp is seen coming nearer and nearer, and in a minute
+the mysterious searcher of the hidden secret appears.
+
+His countenance is paler than before--deathly; and drops of sweat
+course down his forehead and cheeks. Down below the air must be
+heavier in the cavern, or the nightmare of the abyss has caused this
+cold damp. He throws his well-filled wallet into the boat, and seats
+himself in it again.
+
+It was time. Scarcely has he taken his place when a gurgling is heard,
+and out of the fissures of the rock comes a gush of black water,
+shooting forth with a loud, bubbling noise. Then follows a few
+minutes' pause, and again another gush of water. The cavern is filling
+rapidly. In a short time, over the smooth surface of the wall, the
+watermark shows itself. Clear as a looking-glass it rises,
+noiselessly, surely, until it has reached the black line upon the
+pillars.
+
+The boat, with its silent, watchful occupant, floats upon the water
+like the ghost of the cavern. The water is not like ordinary water; it
+is heavy like metal. The boat moves slowly, only now the rower does
+not care to look into the depths of the black looking-glass; he pays
+no attention to the mysterious signs on the walls. He is occupied
+taking stock of the air about him, which is growing denser every
+moment, and he looks carefully at his safety-lamp, but it is closely
+shut. No escape there.
+
+There is a great fog all round the lamp. The air in this underground
+abyss takes a blue shade. The man in the boat knows well what this
+means. The flame of the safety-lamp flares high, and the wick turns
+red--bad signs these! The angel of death is hovering near.
+
+Two spirits dwell in these subterranean regions--two fearfully wicked
+spirits. The pitmen call one Stormy Weather, the other Bad Weather;
+and these two evil spirits haunt every coal-mine, under different
+names. Bad Weather steals upon its victim, lies like a thick vapor
+upon his chest, follows the miner step by step, takes away his breath
+and his speech, laughs at his alarm, and vanishes, when it has reached
+its height, just as suddenly as it came. Stormy Weather is far more
+cruel--fearful. It comes like a whirlwind; it sets everything in a
+flame, kindles the lumps of coal, shatters the vaults, destroys the
+shaft, burns the ground, and dashes human beings to pieces. Those who
+gain their livelihood by working underground can never tell when they
+may meet one or other of these evil spirits.
+
+The secret of "stormy weather," whence it comes, when it may come, no
+man has yet discovered. It is believed that it arises from the
+contact of the hydrogen gases with the acid gases which are contained
+in the open air; and "bad weather" needs only a spark to turn into
+"stormy weather." The thoughtless opening of a safety-lamp, the
+striking of a match, is sufficient to fuse the two evil spirits into
+one.
+
+The solitary man whom we have been shadowing sees, with an anxiety
+that increases every moment, how the air becomes more and more the
+color of an opal. Already it is enveloping him in a thin cloud. He
+does not wait for the flood to rise to its highest point, for, when he
+reaches a place in the wall where a sort of landing-stage has been
+made, he jumps upon it, draws the boat by its chain, and moors it
+fast, and then, ascending by some rude steps to a strong iron door, he
+opens it with a key, and, closing it behind him, finds himself in a
+passage which leads him straight into the pit.
+
+Here he is in a busy world, very different from the solitude he has
+left. The streets, which are narrow and close, are full of miners hard
+at work with their hammers. The men are nearly naked, the boys who
+push the wagons are wholly so. There is no sound heard but that of the
+never-ceasing hammers. In the mine there are no jolly songs, no hearty
+laughter. Over the mouth of each miner a thick cloth is tied, through
+which he breathes.
+
+Some of the passages are so narrow that the worker is obliged to lie
+upon his back, and in this position to reach the coal with his pick.
+When he has loosened it he drops it into the little wagon, which the
+naked boys, crawling upon their stomachs, push before them to the
+opening.
+
+The man who has come out of the dark cavern does not differ in dress
+from any of the others. He is clothed, certainly, but his clothes are
+covered with coal-dust, his hands are just as coarse, and he carries
+a pick and a hammer on his shoulder. Nevertheless, they all know him;
+there is a rough civility in the tone of each man as he answers the
+other's greeting, "Good-evening. Bad Weather is coming."
+
+The word is repeated all round.
+
+It was true. Bad Weather _was_ close at hand, and these men and boys,
+who quietly come and go, hammer, shove the wagons, lie on their backs,
+all know, as well as the convict who is awaiting the execution of his
+sentence, that death is near.
+
+The heavy, damp fog which lies upon each man's chest, and which fills
+the mine with its unwholesome smell, needs only a spark, and those who
+now live and move are dead men, buried underground, while overhead a
+hundred widows and orphans weep and clamor for their lost ones.
+
+And yet, knowing this, the miners continue calmly to work, as if quite
+unconscious that the dread Angel of Death is hovering about them.
+
+The man who has just entered is Ivan Behrend, the owner of the mine.
+He unites in himself the office of overseer, director, surveyor, and
+bookkeeper. He has enough to do; but we all know the proverb, and, if
+we have lived long enough, have tested its truth, "If you want a thing
+well done, do it yourself." Moreover, it is an encouragement to the
+worker if he sees his employer go shoulder to shoulder with him in the
+work. Therefore, as we have just seen, the master greets all his
+workmen with the words, "Bad Weather is coming," and they all know
+that the master does not consider _his_ life of more value than
+theirs; he does not fly and leave them all the danger, because he is
+the owner and gets all the profit. Quietly, with the most perfect
+composure, he gives his orders--the ventilators are to be opened--a
+charge of cool air at once to the heated coal; and the workers are to
+go off work after three instead of six hours. He gets into the pail,
+covered with buffalo-skin, and lets himself down to the bottom of the
+shaft, to see if the new openings are dangerous. He turns over
+carefully with an iron bar the coal-dust, to try if any of it is
+heated, or if gas is there concealed which might cause an explosion.
+Then, as the ventilators below and the air-pump above begin to work,
+he takes his place at the anometer. This is a tender little machine,
+something like the humming-top of children. Its axle turns upon a
+ruby, and the spring sets a wheel with a hundred teeth in motion; the
+velocity of this wheel shows the strength of the current of air in the
+shaft. It should neither be stronger nor weaker than the motion of the
+"bad weather."
+
+He has now seen to everything; he has taken every precaution, he has
+left nothing to chance, and, when all the miners have quitted the pit,
+he is the last to ascend in the basket to the fresh air and the
+daylight.
+
+Fresh air--daylight!
+
+In Bondavara the sun never shines, the shadow of the smoke hangs like
+a thick cloud over the land; it is a black country, painted in chalk.
+The roads are black with coal-tracks; the houses are black from the
+coal-dust, which the wind carries here and there from the large coal
+warehouses; the men and the women are black. It is a wonder the birds
+over there in the woods are not black also.
+
+The mouth of the Bondavara pit is on the slope of a hill, which, when
+you ascend it, gives you a fine view over the whole country. On the
+other side, in the valley, are the tall chimneys of the
+distilling-ovens. These chimneys are busy night and day, vomiting
+forth smoke, sometimes white, but generally coal-black; for here is
+distilled the sulphur which forms a component of the coal.
+
+The metal can only be melted when in this condition. One of the
+principal customers of the coal-mine is the iron-foundry on the
+neighboring mountain, which has five chimneys from which the smoke
+issues. If the hammer throws up white smoke, then the oven distils
+black smoke, and so contrariwise. Both factories working together cast
+over the valley a continuous veil of cloud and smoke, through which
+even the beams of the sun look brown and dingy.
+
+From the foundry flows a rusty-red stream, and out of the coal-mine
+another, which is as black as ink. In the valley both these streams
+unite and continue their course together. For a little the rusty-red
+tries to get the better of the inky-black, but it has to give up, and
+the black rivulet flows on triumphantly through the black meadow
+lands.
+
+It is a most depressing landscape, and it is saddening to reflect that
+in such a place men have grown from childhood to middle age, from
+middle age to old age, and have never seen the green fields or the
+blue sky of God's heaven.
+
+But Ivan Behrend, when he ascended from the pit into the open air,
+found little contrast between the upper and the under ground. Below,
+there was the stifling smell of gas; above, a suffocating fog: below,
+the black vault of the mine; above, the murky vault of the heavens:
+and the same men above and below.
+
+It was then evening; the sun had gone down, and for the moment even
+the vile smoke could not rob it of its setting glory. The towers of
+the distant castle of Bondavara were touched with its gleam, and the
+chimneys of the distilling-houses were aglow with this crimson light.
+The miners were standing about idly; the women and the girls, who are
+employed in shoving the wheelbarrows, sat gossiping together, as is
+the manner of the sex. One of them, a young girl, began to sing--a
+simple little song, with simple words. It was a Slav volkslied--a sort
+of romance. A mother is taking leave of her daughter, a bride of a few
+hours; she recalls to the girl her childish days and her mother's care
+in these words:
+
+   "Wenn ich das Haar dir strich,
+      Zerr' ich am Haare dich?
+    Wenn ich dich wusch, mein Kind,
+      War ich je ungelind?"
+
+The melody was touching, with the sad strain that all the Slav music
+has, as if composed with tears; and the voice of the one who sang was
+musical and full of feeling. Ivan stopped to listen to the song until
+the singer and her companions disappeared behind the houses.
+
+At this moment it seemed to him that there was a great difference
+between life underground and life in the open.
+
+The song still sounded in the distance; the clouds had passed over and
+extinguished the light of the setting sun, enveloping the landscape in
+total darkness. No star, no white house; only the light from the
+windows of the foundry lighted up the darkness of night; and the smoke
+of the distilling-factory rose from the chimneys and cast yellow
+circles upon the sky.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE SLAVE OF THE BLACK DIAMONDS
+
+
+There is nothing startling or new in the declaration that when we
+speak of "black diamonds" we mean _coal_. That beautiful, brilliant
+stone, the diamond, is made of carbon. So is your house-coal--the only
+difference being, the one is transparent, the other black; and the
+first is the demon, the last the angel.
+
+Coal moves the world. The spirit of progress comes from it; railroads,
+steamboats borrow from it their wonderful strength. Every machine that
+is, and works, has its existence from coal. It makes the earth
+habitable; it gives to the great cities their mighty blaze and
+splendor. It is a treasure, the last gift presented by earth to
+extravagant man.
+
+Therefore it is that we call coal "black diamonds."
+
+Ivan Behrend, the owner of the Bondavara coal-mine, was not exactly in
+the condition of some of his pitmen. He had seen God's heaven, and
+knew how in happier lands life was bright, careless, sunny as the
+cloudless sky itself. But for an existence which was all play and no
+work, Ivan would not have cared. He had inherited the coal-mine from
+his father, who had left him also an inheritance of a strong will and
+inflexible perseverance. No trifle, nor even a great obstacle, could
+stand in the way of Ivan's wishes, and his wish and his pride was to
+work the Bondavara mine without any help but what his pitmen gave
+him. It was his ambition--perhaps a foolish one--to have no company at
+his back, no shareholders to find fault, no widows and orphans to be
+involved in possible ruin; the mine was his, and his it should be
+absolutely. Therefore it was a quiet business. The foundry and the
+inhabitants of the nearest town consumed the yearly output at an
+uncommonly low price. It never could be, unless with enormous outlay,
+a great money-making business, seeing that the mine was too far away
+from any of the great centres. Nevertheless, it brought in a steady
+income, especially as Ivan paid no useless expenses, and was, as we
+have said, his own overseer and accountant. He knew everything that
+went on, he understood his own business perfectly, and he took a
+pleasure in looking after his own affairs; and these three
+qualifications, as any business man knows, insure ultimate success.
+
+It was well, however, that he enjoyed such good health, and that this
+superabundance of vital energy kept him always occupied, and, by a
+natural consequence, never dull. There was no denying that it was a
+solitary life for so young a man.
+
+Ivan was very little over thirty, and when he opened the door of his
+small house with his key, and closed the door behind him, he was
+alone. He hadn't even a dog to come and greet him. He waited upon
+himself; and in this he was a great man. Eating he looked upon as an
+unnecessary waste of time; nevertheless, he ate a great deal, for his
+muscular and mental system needed food. He was not delicate in his
+appetite. He dined every day at the tavern. His food was very little
+better than that of his pitmen, the only difference being that he
+avoided the strong drinks they indulged in--for this reason, that they
+worked only with their bodies; he had to bring to his work a clear
+intellect, not a soddened one. His bed needed no making. It was a
+wooden plank, upon which a mattress was placed, covered with a
+sheep-skin. There was no use in brushing his clothes; they were always
+permeated with coal-dust.
+
+Any one who would offer, by way of doing him a service, to clear out
+his room, would, in fact, have done him a deadly injury. It was full
+of every sort of thing--new books half cut, minerals, scientific
+instruments, plans, pictures, retorts. Not one of these should be
+moved from its place. There was order in the disorder, and in the
+heterogeneous mass Ivan could find what he wanted. In one corner was
+Lavoisier's pyrometer; in another Berard's gas food-warmer. Over there
+a wonderful sun-telescope; against the wall Bunsen's galvanic battery,
+together with every conceivable invention, every sort of chemical
+apparatus for analyzing and searching into the mysteries of Nature.
+
+Amongst these things Ivan was wont to spend the long nights. Another
+man, tired as he must have been with his day's work, would have flung
+himself upon his bed, and have sought in sleep some compensation for
+the labors of the day, or if not weary enough for this, would have sat
+before his door and breathed the fresh air, which at night was free
+from smoke and coal-dust. But this student of the unseen withdrew into
+his inner chamber, lit his fire, made his lamp blaze, and busied
+himself breaking lumps of coal, cooking seeds, developing deadly
+gases, a breath of which was enough to send a man into eternity.
+
+What was it he searched for? Was he seeking the secret of the
+philosopher's stone? Did he abandon sleep to find out how diamonds can
+be made out of coal? Did he strive to extract deadly poisons, or was
+he simply pursuing the _ignis fatuus_ of knowledge--trying
+experiments, grubbing in the dark until, in the hopeless endeavor, the
+over-strained brain would give way, and there would be only the wreck
+of what was once a noble intellect?
+
+Nothing of the sort. This man had a purpose; he wanted to learn a
+secret which would be of infinite benefit to mankind--at least, to
+those who are buried in the pits and caverns of the earth. He wanted
+to find out by what means it would be possible to extinguish fire in
+burning pits. To discover this he consumed his nights and the years of
+his youth and his manhood. It was no thought born of to-day or
+yesterday; it had been his one desire for many years. He had seen so
+much misery, such heartrending scenes enacted before these pit
+mouths--these monsters which swallow up human life like the
+Juggernauts of old. He wanted to prevent this amount of sacrifice--a
+sacrifice never thought of by those who profit from the labor of these
+victims, whose very blood is spilled to keep others warm. It is
+possible this one idea might drive him mad, or he might lose his life;
+but the knowledge, if he did gain it, would be, in his opinion, worth
+the loss. After all, what is the loss of one life against the saving
+of millions? This man had a fine nature; there was no tinge of self in
+Ivan Behrend. Also, he had a certain enjoyment in his search.
+Enjoyment is not the word. Whenever he got even a glimpse of what he
+wanted, his joy was something unearthly. Surely these moments were
+worth all the pleasures the world could offer him; and if we can bring
+our minds to understand this, then we shall comprehend how a young man
+preferred to be shut up in a cavern, in danger of losing his life, or
+in a stifling room, trying risky experiments, rather than spend the
+night with beautiful maidens or pleasant fellows, drinking, dancing,
+and love-making. There is a charm in Science to those who know her
+that far surpasses carnal joys.
+
+To-night, however, it must be confessed, Ivan's experiments fell a
+little flat. Either he was tired, or some other cause was at work.
+Could it be possible that a girl's song-- Yes, such was the
+humiliating condition of affairs. At the moment when he least expected
+it, this thing had unexpectedly seized upon him.
+
+With an effort Ivan lit his lamp and lighted his furnace. His
+experiments, however, were a failure. That girl's song kept running in
+his head, and the words--how did they go?
+
+   "Say when I smoothed thy hair,
+      Showed I not tender care?
+    Say when I dressed my child,
+      Was I not fond and mild?"[1]
+
+     [Footnote 1: These lines have been kindly translated
+     from the original by Miss Troutbeck.]
+
+It was very pretty, and the voice wonderful--so sweet and clear and
+melodious. To-morrow evening she might be at the pit's mouth again,
+and then he would find out her name. Even if she were not there, the
+other girls would know; there were not so many singers among them.
+
+    "Say when I smoothed thy hair"--
+
+Oh, he could settle down to nothing with this tiresome song!--
+
+    "Showed I not tender care?"
+
+He wished he had seen her face, merely to know if it matched the
+voice. Very likely not. She would be hard-featured, like the other
+girls--bold, unwomanly creatures; beauty and modesty were rare gifts
+in Bondavara.
+
+The next day Ivan was early at the pit. The opening of the air-oven
+had done its work; there was only a fractional quantity of hydrogen
+mixed with the pit air. The ventilators could be shut, and Ivan was
+able to spend some time in the open.
+
+At twelve o'clock the bell rang to leave off work. As the girls came
+from the wheelbarrows, he again heard the clear young voice singing
+the same song. He had not been wrong as to the voice; it was fresh and
+lovely, like the blackbird in the woods, uneducated and unspoiled, but
+full of natural charm, tender and joyous as the feathered songster. He
+could now see the singer--a very young girl, not more than sixteen.
+The common blue bodice she wore showed every undulation of her girlish
+figure, untrammelled by any fashionable stays. Her short red skirt,
+tucked up on one side, and fastened to her waist, disclosed her still
+shorter chemise, which only reached to her knees, so that her legs
+were uncovered. They might have been modelled for a statue of Hebe, so
+perfect were they in shape--the ankles small, and little feet
+beautifully rounded, like a child's. About her head the girl had wound
+a colored cloth, and under this she had tucked away her hair; her
+face, like those of her companions, was blackened by the coal-dust,
+but even this enemy to beauty could not disfigure her. You could see
+that her features were regular, her eyebrows thick and dark, her lips
+red. There was a mixture of earthly dirt and supernatural beauty about
+this child; besides, she had one thing that even coal-dust could not
+conceal or dim, her eyes--her large black eyes--shining like two
+diamonds, which lit up the darkness as two stars.
+
+As these wonderful eyes met Ivan's glance, it seemed to that
+philosopher as if these diamonds cut away a portion of the glass phial
+in which he had preserved his heart, and so kept it untouched up to
+this. But he did not know that this was only the beginning; his glass
+protector will soon lie in fragments all round him.
+
+The girl made a little curtsey to her employer, and accompanied this
+small act of duty with a smile which showed two rows of beautiful,
+pearly-white teeth.
+
+Ivan felt like an enchanted knight in a fairy tale. He forgot what had
+brought him here, and what he wanted to say; he remained rooted to the
+spot, gazing blankly after the retreating figure of the girl and her
+companions. He hoped, without exactly defining what his hope was, that
+she would look back. That little action would have broken the charm
+under which he lay. But she did not look back, although one of her
+companions called her by her name, "Evila." Ivan could see them
+talking to her, whispering, no doubt, about him. This did not seem to
+rouse any curiosity in her. She and they had now come to an open shed.
+Here they seated themselves upon the ground, took out of their pockets
+pieces of black bread and wild apples, and ate their meal with as much
+zest as if it had been chicken and grapes.
+
+Ivan returned to his house. For the first time in his life it struck
+him how lonely it was. It was his custom to keep a sort of log-book,
+in which he entered his personal notes upon all his work-people. He
+found this practice very necessary; he knew that a skilled workman of
+good conduct is far more useful at high wages than a lazy,
+good-for-nothing fellow of doubtful character who would come for half
+the wage. At the footnote by the name "Evila" he read--
+
+"A young orphan; supports a crippled brother younger than herself,
+who goes upon crutches, and whose tongue is paralyzed. She is very
+steady, and does not go to the town."
+
+It was certain, therefore, that he must have seen this child before,
+but had given no attention to her. Every Saturday he paid every
+workman, every girl and lad in the pit; how, then, had he escaped
+noticing those wonderful eyes? He did not know, learned as he was,
+that there is an affinity between two souls destined for one another.
+It is like an electric shock, this sudden birth of love; but Ivan
+ridiculed such an idea. Love? Nonsense! He in love with a girl out of
+the pit? Ridiculous! It was compassion, merely pity for a pretty
+child, left without either father or mother to watch over her tender
+age, and, still worse, with a deformed brother to care for and provide
+with food and medicines. No doubt she gave him the best of everything,
+while she had to be content with black bread and wild apples, and all
+the time remained an honest, steady girl. She never even turned her
+head to look after him. There was nothing but pity in his heart for
+this coal-black Naiad; it was only pity made him wish to cover those
+tender little feet with proper shoes; it was only a proper regard for
+the weakest among his work-people which would cause him to make
+inquiries as to this poor forlorn child. Oh, self-deception, what a
+part you play in men's hearts!
+
+The following Saturday the workers came to receive their weekly wages.
+Ivan, who always paid them himself, remained at his desk until the
+last one came. On this occasion Evila was the last. Ivan sat at a
+table, on which was placed the sum to be paid, which was regulated by
+the account of the work done, which was registered in the day-book.
+
+When the girl, who was dressed as when we first saw her in her blue
+bodice and red skirt, presented herself, Ivan said to her kindly--
+
+"My child, I have determined to increase your wages; from this day you
+shall have double pay."
+
+The girl opened her large eyes, and stared in surprise. "Why so?" she
+asked.
+
+"Because I am told that you have a crippled brother, whom you have to
+keep out of your small earnings. You cannot have enough to clothe and
+feed both him and yourself. I have also heard that you are a
+well-conducted, honest girl, and therefore it gives me pleasure to
+reward you by giving you double pay."
+
+"I cannot take it."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because I know what the others would say. They would joke and tease
+me about your being my lover, and I should get so tormented that I
+could not stay in the place."
+
+Ivan was so confounded by this naïve explanation, given without the
+slightest confusion, that he could make no answer. He counted out the
+usual week's wages, which she stowed away in the bosom of her bodice,
+wished him good morning, and went her way.
+
+He remained, his thoughts in a maze. In all his experience--and he had
+a good deal, for his time had not been always spent in Bondavara, and
+out in the world he had known many women--he had known no woman like
+this.
+
+She is afraid they will say I am her lover; she is afraid they will
+tease her so much on that account that she may have to leave the
+place! Has she, then, no idea that once I, the master, loved a girl
+here, she would not push the wheelbarrow any more? Does she even know
+what a lover is? She knows well that she must guard herself against
+one. Poor child! How earnest she was, and yet she laughed, and she did
+not know why she laughed, nor yet why she was grave. A savage in the
+guise of an angel!
+
+He got up, locked his desk, and turned to leave his office; then again
+remained, thinking.
+
+She is unlike every other woman. I doubt if she knows how beautiful
+she is, or what is the worth of beauty. She is Eve, a perfect copy of
+Eve--the Eve of Scripture, and the Eve of Milton. She is Eve, in not
+knowing wherefore she should blush over her own nakedness--the type of
+the beautiful in its primitive state, unwashed, savage, with hair
+unconfined, who wanders through the garden, fearing nothing, and even
+playing with a serpent. With men she is a woman, by herself she is a
+child, and yet she displays a motherly care for her little brother.
+Her figure is a model for a sculptor, her countenance is full of mind,
+her eyes bewitching, her voice melodious; and yet her hands are hard
+with the barrow-poles, her mind is troubled with sordid cares for her
+daily bread, her face is covered with coal-smut, and she has learned
+her songs in the street.
+
+"The worse for her!" and, after a pause, Ivan added with a sigh, "and
+the worse for another besides her."
+
+In his mind a total revolution had taken place. The intellectual
+spirits had for the nonce deserted him, and in their place others had
+come of a very different order--those demons which the blessed Antony
+had fought with such good effect in the desert.
+
+When poor Ivan tried to banish these tempters by burying himself in
+his books and his scientific instruments the form of Evila came
+between him and the experiment he was busy on, just as Marguerite
+appeared to Doctor Faust in his laboratory; her voice sounded in his
+ear, her eyes glowed in the coals, and when he tried to write he found
+himself drawing a maiden in a blue bodice and short red skirt. It was
+the same with everything he undertook. Some mocking demon seemed bent
+on tormenting him.
+
+Abandoning his experiments, this unfortunate man took to reading a
+volume of light literature. What did he open on? The loves of great
+and nobly-born men for lowly-born and inferior women. Thus Lord
+Douglas fell in love with a shepherdess, and became a shepherd for her
+sake; Count Pelletier took for his wife a gypsy girl, and went about
+the streets turning an organ; Bernadotte, the King of Sweden, sought
+the hand of a young girl who watched a flock of geese for a farmer;
+Archduke John married the daughter of a postmaster; and another
+Austrian duke raised an actress to the position of grand duchess; the
+consort of Peter the Great was the daughter of a villager; a Bonaparte
+married a washerwoman who had been his mistress.
+
+And why not? Are not beauty, sweetness, fidelity, and true worth to be
+found under a woollen as well as under a silken frock? And, on the
+other hand, do we not find sinners enough in the upper circles?
+
+Did not Zoraida kill her own children, and was she not a born
+princess? Faustina took money from her lovers, although she was the
+daughter of an emperor; the Marquise Astorgas ran a hairpin through
+her husband's heart; Semiramis strewed a whole churchyard with the
+corpses of her spouses; King Otto was poisoned in a grove by his
+queen; Joanna of Naples treasured the ribbon with which the king, her
+husband, was strangled; Jeanne Lafolle tormented her husband to death;
+the Empress Catharine betrayed her sovereign and consort, and connived
+at his murder; and the Borgias, Tudors, Cillis, all had wives who
+became notorious in that they wore entwined in their crowns the girdle
+of Aphrodite.
+
+And do we not find the most exalted virtue in what is called low life?
+The actress Gaussin, to whom her wealthy lover gave a check with
+_carte blanche_ to write a million thereupon, only wrote that she
+would always love him, Quintilla, another actress, bit off her tongue,
+lest she should betray her lover, who was implicated in a conspiracy;
+Alice, who undertook to fight a duel for her husband, and was killed;
+and many others who have suffered silently and died for very love.
+
+Philosophy and history both conspired against Ivan. And then came
+sleep.
+
+A dream is a magic mirror in which we see ourselves as we would be if
+our own wishes and inclinations were all-powerful. In his dream the
+bald man has hair and the blind sees.
+
+Towards the end of the following week Ivan made the discovery that he
+had lost the use of his understanding. The more he endeavored to force
+his mind back to its original groove of abstract theories, the more
+the demons ranged themselves against him. One evening, in a fit of
+absence of mind, he overheated one of the retorts, so that it burst in
+his face, and the small glass particles cut his nose and cheek, and he
+was forced to bind up his wounds with bits of sticking-plaster. It did
+not occur to him that these strips of black diachylon placed obliquely
+across his nose did not improve his appearance. He was, however, very
+angry at his own folly--a folly which went still further, for he began
+to argue with himself in this way:
+
+"It would be better to marry this girl than to become mad for her
+sake. Marry her? Who ever heard the like? A pit-girl! What a
+_mésalliance_! And who cares? Am I not alone in the world? Do I not
+form the whole family? And does not this constant thought of her come
+between me and my business? If this goes on I shall be ruined; and as
+for the _mésalliance_, is there a soul for six miles round who
+understands the meaning of the word? Not one; and if there should be
+one, he would have to seek me in the coal-pit, and he would find my
+face blackened with coal-dust, so that no one could see me blush for
+shame."
+
+All the same, he never sought the girl. He waited for the Saturday,
+when he knew she would come for her weekly wages, and on that day she
+appeared, as usual, the last, because she was the youngest, and stood
+before him as he sat at his desk. But this time, when Ivan had put the
+money into Evila's hand, he kept the little fingers in his firm clasp.
+The girl laughed--perhaps at the plasters, which still ornamented her
+lover's face.
+
+"Listen to me, Evila. I have something to say to you."
+
+Evila looked uneasy; she ceased to laugh.
+
+"Will you have me for your lover? Nay, my child, I mean you no harm;
+only one must play the lover before one talks of marriage."
+
+The girl nodded, and then shook her head. "It is not possible," she
+said.
+
+"Not possible! Why not?"
+
+"Because I am already engaged."
+
+Ivan let go his clasp of her hand. "To whom?"
+
+"That I am not going to tell you," said Evila, "for if I did, I know
+very well what you would do. You would discharge him, or you would
+keep him back, and we cannot be married until he is taken on as a
+regular pitman."
+
+"You mean as a day laborer?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And you think more of this low fellow than you do of me, your
+employer?"
+
+The girl shrugged her shoulders, held her head a little to one side,
+and threw a look at Ivan which sent the blood coursing to his head.
+Then she went on, quietly--
+
+"I gave him my promise before mother died, and I must keep my word."
+
+"To the devil with your father and your mother!" cried Ivan, out of
+himself with baffled hope and rage. "Do you imagine I care what you
+have promised to a fellow like that? I ask you again, will you give
+him up and come to me?"
+
+Again Evila shook her head. "I dare not. My bridegroom is a wild,
+desperate fellow; he would think nothing of doing for you, and setting
+the pit on fire into the bargain when bad weather was on.
+Good-evening!" And so saying, she ran away quickly, and mingled with
+her companions.
+
+Ivan threw the day-book from him so violently that the leaves flew
+from one corner to another. A common creature, a wheelbarrow-girl, a
+half-savage, had dared to cross his wishes and refuse his offer! And
+for a dirty, miserable, underground miner--a common mole!
+
+Ivan had a hard battle to fight with himself when he was once more
+alone in the solitude of the night. The suppressed passion of the
+ascetic had suddenly broken through the dams, which moderation had set
+up to restrain its course.
+
+Beware of the man who professes to be above human passion, who glories
+in his iron will and his heart of ice; avoid him and the quiet, holy,
+studious man of soft tongue, who turns away his eyes from women, and
+shuns what others enjoy. It is upon such as these that outraged human
+nature revenges itself; and once the demon within gets loose, he plays
+a fine game to indemnify himself for all the restraint he has
+undergone. The love of the worldling is a small dog; that of the
+hermit is a lion.
+
+With this wild beast, which he had suddenly unchained, did Ivan, the
+man of science, spend the long night, now walking up and down the
+narrow room, now throwing himself on his bed, a prey to the most
+horrible temptations, his heart beating with a thousand passionate
+desires, his thoughts running in as many evil directions. The
+opposition that had been made to its wishes by Evila had stimulated
+his passion, and also roused the pride of his nature. The master of
+the Bondavara mine was a man of fiery temper, kept in check by his
+strong command over himself; but this command seemed now at fault. He
+had no longer any power to lay this demon, which had got possession of
+him, tempting him from every side. With his powerful fist he struck
+himself a blow upon his chest, near to his throbbing heart.
+
+"Wilt thou be silent? Who is master, thou or I? Do thy duty, slave. I
+am thy lord, thy king. Thy duty consists in nothing but keeping my
+arteries in motion, in pumping the air into my lungs, in forcing the
+blood in the right direction. When you cease your work, your illness
+is atrophy; but you cannot be my master, for the sovereign ruler is my
+will."
+
+And as Ivan beat his breast, it seemed to him as if in a magic mirror
+there were reflected two forms--himself and another Ivan, with whom he
+waged a deadly combat. It appeared to him as if this other self had
+robbed him of his form and features, to perpetrate in his name the
+most odious sins, and as he hit out against this horrid image of
+himself, it slowly vanished; and then Ivan, falling back upon his
+pillow, cried out in a loud voice, "Never return, O fiend; never
+defile my sight again!"
+
+In another hour, pale and exhausted, Ivan was seated quietly before
+his desk. It required an heroic effort on his part to go into prosaic
+calculations, to add up long columns of figures; but he forced his
+weary brain, his tired fingers to the task, and the slave obeyed its
+master, the body submitted to the mind.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE MAN-EATER
+
+
+The morning light found Ivan still seated at his table. As daybreak
+and lamplight did not agree, he extinguished his lamp, threw aside his
+papers, and gave himself a momentary rest.
+
+He had conquered; he was himself again. All the fire of passion had
+died out, the sinful images had vanished, and in his breast reigned
+profound peace. He had resolved upon his course; an angel had been at
+his side and inspired him.
+
+It was Sunday morning. The engines which work the distillery were at
+rest. On Sundays the enormous water-basin, or trough, which fed the
+steam-pump was utilized to remove the dirt of the week from the
+miners. From six to seven the basin was free to the women, from
+half-past seven to nine to the men. The keys of the great pump-house
+were given over by the machine superintendent on every Saturday night
+to Ivan, so that no curious or peeping Tom of Coventry could hide
+himself there, and see these Venuses bathing through a little window,
+which gave upon the basin, and which was placed there to allow the
+stoker to see that the water-course was not disturbed when the pumps
+were at work.
+
+It had never once entered Ivan's brain that he could play Tom if he
+were so minded. But on this Sunday morning he took the key from its
+nail and put it in his pocket. Don't start; he did this, not between
+six and seven, but shortly after eight o'clock. He wanted to see the
+men bathing, unseen himself. And wherefore? Because he knew the
+customs which prevail in coal-mines, and that when a pair are engaged,
+it is customary to inscribe the name of the girl upon the man's naked
+body. Where the miners have got this Indian and savage method is hard
+to say. There is a certain tenderness in it, and tenderness is more
+often found with the savage than the civilized man. The lovers tattoo
+themselves with a needle, upon the arm or shoulder, and then rub in a
+corrosive acid, either red or blue. Such a testimony is ineffaceable.
+Sometimes some poetic temperament adds two hearts transfixed by an
+arrow, or a couple of doves, or it may be the signs of the miner--the
+mallet and the pick. It occasionally happens that the relations alter,
+and the lover would gladly remove the name of the fickle one from his
+album. This can be done by placing a blister over the name, and then
+the writing vanishes, together with the skin; a new skin grows, and
+upon this a new name can be written. It is a real palimpsest. Many are
+not so discreet. They punctuate a fresh name under the old one, and
+let the register increase, until sometimes there is not a vacant
+place.
+
+It did not give Ivan much trouble to find the man he sought. As soon
+as the water removed the black soot from the bodies of the bathers, he
+saw on the shoulder of one of them the name of Evila, the letters in
+blue, two hearts in red. His rival was an intelligent, most
+industrious laborer; he was called Peter Saffran, and his comrades had
+added the nickname--the man-eater. To this misnomer Peter had never
+taken any umbrage. He was a particularly quiet man, and when they
+teased him he took no notice. He never complained of anything, and
+never entered either the church or the tavern. Towards children he had
+a particular antipathy. If one came near him he drove it away, ground
+his teeth together, and threw anything he had in his hand at it. This
+peculiarity was so well known that the mothers always cautioned the
+little ones against the man-eater. For the rest, he was on good terms
+with every one.
+
+Ivan, having found what he wanted, left the pump-house and returned
+home, placing himself before the door, so that he could see the people
+as they went by presently in groups towards the neighboring village to
+the church. He noticed that Evila was among them. He examined her
+critically and in cold blood, and he came to quite a scientific
+conclusion as to the peculiar character of her beauty, which showed a
+mixture of races. The small hands and feet, the slender form, the
+narrow forehead, the finely cut nose, the silky black hair--all spoke
+the Indian or Hindoo type; but the short upper lip and the long,
+serpent-like eyebrows were derivable from some Slav ancestor. The
+starry, seductive eyes were decidedly Eastern, the chin and the
+coloring recalled the Malay race, and the quick, sudden rising of the
+red blood to the velvet cheek the Caucasian--for this people blush
+constantly, owing to the cellular texture being fine almost to
+transparency.
+
+Ivan pondered on all this as Evila passed him; he wondered also why
+her lover was not with her, for this was an established custom in
+Bondavara. Peter, however, evidently did not mind these rules of
+courtship; he was lounging on one of the benches outside the gates of
+the ventilation-oven, close to the pitmouth, his head in the air, his
+chin in his hand.
+
+Ivan went to him. "Good-morning, Peter. What are you doing there, my
+man?"
+
+"I am listening to the wind that is coming from below."
+
+"Why don't you go to church?"
+
+"Because I never pray at all."
+
+"And why not?"
+
+"I do nobody any harm. I neither rob nor murder, and if there is a
+God, He knows better than I do what is good for me."
+
+"You are quite wrong there, Peter. In these matters there is an
+immense difference between educated people and what are called the
+children of Nature. I have my science and thought to fall back on--my
+intellect is my guide, and preserves me from temptation; but with you,
+and men like you, it is otherwise. Those who have no other knowledge
+but what concerns their daily labor have need of faith, of hope, of
+consolation, and of forgiveness." As he spoke, Ivan seated himself
+beside the other and laid his hand upon his shoulder. "Something is on
+your mind, Peter?"
+
+Peter nodded. "There is something."
+
+"Does it weigh on your soul?"
+
+"On my soul, on my body--everywhere!"
+
+"Is it a secret, Peter?"
+
+"No, it is not. If you care to hear it, I will tell it you."
+
+"A murder?"
+
+"Worse than that."
+
+"Don't you think you had better not tell it to me? It may place you in
+danger."
+
+"There is no danger for me. If it were published on the Market Cross,
+the law could not touch me; besides, most people know it. You would
+hear it from some one else if not from me."
+
+"Then tell me."
+
+"It is a short story. When I was only a lad, not quite twenty, I went
+to sea to seek my fortune. I bound myself as stoker on board a Trieste
+steamboat. We sailed with a cargo of meal to the Brazils. Our voyage
+there was prosperous. On our return we took black coffee and wool. On
+this side of the equator we met a tornado, which broke our engine,
+smashed our mainmast, and drove the vessel upon a sandbank, where she
+foundered. Some of the passengers took to the boat; they went only a
+short way when she upset, and they were all drowned. The rest made a
+raft from the planks of the sunken ship, and trusted to this frail
+thing on the open sea. I was one of them. We were in all thirty-nine,
+including the captain, the steersman, and a merchant from Rio de
+Janeiro, with his wife and a three-year-old child. We had no other
+woman or child, for the rest had perished in the open boat. We thought
+them unfortunate, but now I think they were happy. Better, far better,
+to have died then. Out of our thirty-nine, soon only nine remained.
+Oh, how I wish I had been among the dead! For eight days we floated
+upon the water, the sport of the waves; now buffeted here and there,
+again in a calm, immovable, nailed as it were to the ocean, without
+one drop of water to quench our thirst or one morsel of food. Ten of
+us had died of hunger. For two days we had never eaten, and the ninth
+day came, and no hope of succor. The sun was burning us up, and the
+water reflected the heat, so that we lay between two fires. Oh, the
+horror of that awful time! That evening we took the resolve that one
+of us should be a victim for the others--that is, that we should draw
+lots which should be eaten by the others. We threw our names into a
+hat, and we made the innocent child draw for us. That child drew its
+own name.
+
+"I cannot tell you, sir, the rest of the ghastly business. Often I
+dream the whole thing over again, and I always awake at the moment
+when the miserable mother cursed all those who partook of that
+horrible meal, invoking heaven that we might never again have peace.
+At the recollection of her words I spring out of my bed, I run into
+the woods and wait, to see if I shall be changed into a wolf. It would
+serve me right.
+
+"Of the partakers of the cursed meal I am the only survivor. The
+thought haunts me; it burns into my very soul. Besides my own blood,
+the blood of another human being circulates in my veins. Fearful
+thoughts pursue me. The piece of human flesh that I have eaten is in
+me still; it has taken away all wish for any other food. I understand
+the delight of the cannibals. I never see a rosy-faced child without
+thinking what a delicious morsel his little rounded arm would be. When
+I behold a sickly, pale baby, the idea at once occurs to me--Why let
+it live? Would it not be better--"
+
+He shuddered, and stood up. He hid his hands in his blouse, and after
+a pause, went on--
+
+"Tell me now, sir, is there any relief for what I suffer? Is there a
+physician who can cure me, or a priest who will absolve me? I have
+told my story to both priest and doctor, and one has enjoined me to
+fast and to chastise myself, the other to drink no brandy and to have
+myself bled. Neither of them is worth a straw, and such counsel only
+makes the matter worse."
+
+"I will advise you," said Ivan. "Marry."
+
+Saffran looked with some surprise at his employer, and after a minute
+a feeble smile stole over his face.
+
+"I have thought of that. Perhaps if I had children of my own this
+horror of them would disappear."
+
+"Then why don't you marry?"
+
+"Because I am such a poor devil. If two beggars come together, then
+you have a couple of paupers instead of one. One must first have
+something to live on."
+
+"That is true; but you are an industrious fellow. I have long wanted
+to have you as a first-class pitman, but I waited to advance you until
+you got married. It is my rule to give all the best places to married
+men. I have found by experience that the unmarried ones, when they get
+higher pay, go straight to the bad. There is more dependence to be
+placed in a married man; he won't leave his place for a mere nothing.
+Therefore, consider the matter. After the first Saturday on which you
+can tell me that you have been called in church with your intended,
+you will receive the pay of a pitman, and I shall give you a
+dwelling-house for yourself."
+
+Peter's face was a study. He could not believe that what he heard was
+real earnest. When this was made clear to him, he was ready to fall at
+the feet of his benefactor; he almost sobbed as he stammered forth
+some words of thanks.
+
+"Now," cried Ivan, with friendly encouragement, "to-day is a Sunday.
+Does nothing occur to you, my friend?"
+
+The man sprang to his feet.
+
+"Service has not yet begun," went on Ivan; "the congregation have not
+all arrived at the church yet. I think there would be time for you to
+catch up your bride and go with her to the clergyman."
+
+Peter said no word to this proposal, but he began to run; his legs
+were long, and he was soon out of sight. He was bareheaded; he had
+forgotten his hat upon the seat. Ivan saw it, and took it into his
+house to keep, but he stood looking after the fleet lover until he had
+disappeared behind the stone wall at the turning. Then he went in,
+with Saffran's hat in his hand.
+
+"How happy he is!" he thought, and sighed.
+
+When he was in his room he wrote in his day-book that from the
+following day, Monday, he had engaged Peter Saffran as a first-class
+pitman with the usual wages, and that in his place another day-laborer
+should be taken on. When he had closed the book, his heart whispered--
+
+"My cruel master, art thou content?"
+
+But Ivan had his misgivings, and answered his heart thus--
+
+"I don't believe in you, since I have seen how easy it was for you to
+slip on the ice. I must for the future watch closely. I am not sure of
+the purity of my own motives even now. God knows what lies under this
+apparent abnegation. Perhaps you think as a young wife--But I shall
+watch you closely, traitorous heart of mine; you shall lead me into no
+more pitfalls."
+
+Again he consulted his account-book, and found that the increase in
+this year's income allowed him to take on an overseer at a very fair
+salary. He wrote out the proper advertisement, and despatched it that
+very evening to different papers for insertion. In this way he would
+not be thrown into daily contact with his work-people.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+A MODERN ALCHEMIST
+
+
+A fortnight had passed since Ivan sent his advertisement for
+insertion, when, one morning, and again it was Saturday morning, Peter
+Saffran came and told him that two gentlemen had just arrived, who
+wished to see the mine.
+
+"They must be foreigners," he added, "since they spoke French
+together." Peter's life as a sailor had given him some knowledge of
+the French tongue.
+
+"I shall be with them immediately," returned Ivan, who was busy
+pouring a green liquid through a pointed felt hat. "Let them meanwhile
+get into the usual miner's dress."
+
+"That is already done; they are all ready for you."
+
+"Very good. I am going. And how are you getting on, Peter?"
+
+"With the wedding? Everything is in order; to-morrow we shall be
+called in church for the third time."
+
+"And when shall you be betrothed?"
+
+"It is just now Advent, and our priest will not marry us; but on the
+first Sunday after the Three Kings we shall have the wedding. I am not
+at all annoyed at the delay, for I have to get together a little
+money. When a man marries he must have all sorts of things--furniture
+and the like; and something for the cold winter into the bargain."
+
+"And have you put by nothing out of your wages?"
+
+"Yes, sir; I had over a hundred and fifty gulden laid by. I had spared
+everything on myself--food and drink, and even the pipe--and I had got
+together this sum. Then what should the devil do but bring the
+recruiting commission down here, and I had to give all my money into
+the greasy palm of the examining doctor, so that he might report me as
+being unfit for service because I squinted. It's a trick I have. I can
+squint for a quarter of an hour together, although my eyes are
+straight; on this account I shall be let off by the doctor, but my
+hundred and fifty gulden are gone. I shall have to squint at the
+marriage ceremony, for the priest only marries me because I am unfit
+for service."
+
+"Well, Peter, you may count upon some help from me."
+
+"Thank you, sir, but I don't like loans; that is like eating one's
+supper at dinner."
+
+By this time they had reached the place where the strangers were
+waiting.
+
+"Ah," cried Ivan, "so it is you, Felix!" and he held out his hand
+cordially to the visitor.
+
+The old acquaintance whom Ivan called Felix looked as if he belonged
+to another generation. His soft complexion, carefully waxed mustache,
+short imperial, his fine, dark-blue eyes, and particularly the shape
+of his head, and the way it was placed on his shoulders, taken
+together with his elegant dress, which the rough miner's blouse could
+not quite conceal, betrayed the man of the world. When he spoke, his
+voice was almost womanly; the tone was clear and high, like one of the
+Pope's choir.
+
+Felix hastened at once to put his friend's mind at ease upon a
+necessary part of his visit.
+
+"I hope you will forgive our putting up at the inn. I was sure you
+would have made us welcome, but you are a busy man, and you would not
+care to be at the bother of entertaining us; besides, like all men of
+business, you are, I dare say, a little in the rough, and the inn is
+really very comfortable. May I introduce you to my travelling
+companion, Gustav Rauné? He is a mine-surveyor and engineer."
+
+Ivan was well pleased at his friend's forethought in the matter of
+hospitality; not that he would not have made him welcome so far as lay
+in his power--and there were unoccupied rooms in the house which would
+have accommodated the two men--but his manner of life would have been
+disturbed. He had never for one moment thought of entertaining a
+guest.
+
+"My house," he said, frankly, "is not fitted to receive my friends,
+and, indeed, none come; but the inn is also mine. I trust you will
+consider yourselves my guests while you remain here."
+
+"We accept your offer," returned the other; "the more readily, since
+we have really come here on your business. Yesterday I read your
+advertisement. You require an overseer?"
+
+"I do." Ivan looked doubtfully at the two gentlemen.
+
+"No, no; it is not for me," laughed Felix. "I understand nothing of
+the business; but Rauné is inclined to join you, should he find that
+there are capabilities here for real work. Rauné is an old friend of
+mine. He has learned his business under Erenzoter. You know the firm
+of Erenzoter? He is thoroughly up in the whole thing."
+
+Rauné all this time said not a word, perhaps for the best of reasons,
+that, being a Frenchman, he did not understand the language in which
+the others spoke. He was a small man, slight, and well-made, with
+penetrating eyes, a sharp-cut face, and very long mustache.
+
+To this gentleman Ivan explained in fluent French that he would be
+glad to show him all the properties of the Bondavara mine before going
+closer into the matter of engaging him permanently.
+
+After these courtesies they went down into the pit. Here the two men
+were soon convinced that each was thoroughly conversant with the whole
+machinery and working of a mine. Sometimes they held different
+opinions upon certain systems, and in the dispute or argument which
+would arise each disputant saw that the other had nothing to learn
+from him.
+
+Rauné displayed extraordinary quickness and knowledge in valuing the
+coal stratum. Even without looking at the geometrical maps he was able
+to decide upon the probable profit, as also upon the probable extent
+of the layer or stratum beyond the actual ground covered by Ivan's
+pit. His valuation agreed in almost every particular with that already
+made by Ivan. By mid-day the inspection was over, and they went to the
+inn for dinner, having first given some time to washing and general
+purification. A visit to a pit is by no means a cleanly undertaking.
+
+The afternoon was devoted to the inspection of the distilling-ovens,
+and in the evening they went over the foundry. When they returned from
+the foundry, Felix went in with Ivan to his house, while Rauné
+returned to the inn.
+
+Ivan led his old acquaintance into his workroom, where, in truth, a
+wonderful disorder prevailed, cleared a chair, full of maps and books,
+for him to sit upon, and told him to light his cigar at a chemical
+lamp of a new construction. After a pause Felix began:
+
+"You were always of an inquiring mind, Ivan. I remember well how at
+college you distanced every one. As for me, I was a pygmy near a
+giant. Now, tell me truly, have all your science, your industry, and
+your physical exertions made you a rich man?"
+
+Ivan laughed. "This mine gives me an annual income of ten thousand
+gulden."
+
+"In other words, it produces nothing, or, at least, next to nothing.
+You are director, overseer, cashier, engineer, secretary, bookkeeper,
+and conveyer of goods, and you receive, roughly calculated, just what
+you would have to pay these employés if you had not united all their
+different offices in yourself. In other words, your work, your talent,
+your studies, your zeal, your expenditure of thought and strength upon
+this mine of yours only bring you in the miserable return which any
+proprietor would give to a man who filled only one of these offices.
+As a fact, you don't get a farthing by it."
+
+"The mine is not to blame, neither am I; it is the result of a small
+consumption, and, in consequence of this, the production cannot be
+increased."
+
+"I will tell you in two words where the fault lies. In the present day
+strength is alone to be found in co-operation. In the political world
+the smaller states go to the wall; they are forced to tack themselves
+on to larger ones, and so form a union. It is the same in the
+commercial world; small tradesmen must give way to the larger
+co-operative centres, and it is better for them to understand this,
+and make part of a company."
+
+"There is no danger of our foundry closing; our iron and our coal take
+a first place, and could not be crushed out."
+
+"An additional reason for developing my idea--an idea which, I may as
+well tell you, was the factor that brought me here. You have already
+guessed, I imagine, that I am not such a good fellow as to undertake
+the journey solely on Rauné's account. He is not a chicken, and could
+have introduced himself. I have a great plan in my head. I intend to
+make you a wealthy man, and, naturally, I shall feather my own nest at
+the same time."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"I do not know where I once read this short synopsis of how different
+nations acquire money: 'The Hungarian seeks it, the German earns it,
+the Frenchman wins it, and the American makes it.' It is a most
+characteristic description. You have only to watch the Hungarian, how
+he seeks in every hole and puddle for a piece of gold; the German will
+work in the sweat of his brow till he gets his reward, a piece of
+gold; the light-hearted Frenchman will win the last piece of gold his
+victim has; but the Yankee sits in a corner, gnaws his finger-nails,
+and makes his pile. Yes, gold lies in undiscovered millions, only
+waiting to be 'made.'"
+
+"Where does it lie?"
+
+"In the capabilities of life, in bold undertakings, in the concealed
+treasures of the earth, which require development, and in the outlay
+of capital; in new discoveries, in the extension of the means of
+communication, in the increase of luxury, in the follies of mankind,
+in the exertions made by scientists; and especially in the money-box
+where small capitalists keep their gold, which should circulate
+through large channels to be of use. The number of small capitals
+should be thrown into one large, commercial mart, and by means of this
+credit every gulden would bring in three times its value. This is the
+art of the American; this is how to make a pile of gold. It is a
+splendid art, an honest art, and it seems to thrive with those who
+adopt it."
+
+When he had concluded this rather long-winded exordium, Felix threw
+himself back in his chair with an air as who should say, "Are you not
+dazzled with the brilliancy of my conception? Is not Felix Kaulmann
+one of the greatest financiers of the day? Surely you are convinced
+that he is."
+
+So far as that went, the name had a fair reputation. The Kaulmanns had
+always been in finance, and were well-known bankers. Of late, since
+Felix had inherited the business from his father, the firm were more
+before the public. Ivan knew his old schoolfellow well; he looked at
+him now quietly.
+
+"How do you propose to make a pile out of my pit?"
+
+"I have a big scheme in my head."
+
+"But the whole pit is anything but big."
+
+"So it appears to you, because you don't view it from my standpoint.
+You have sought for diamonds in the mine, but it has never occurred to
+you that there may be iron ore. This pit produces, you tell me, a
+profit of ten thousand gulden; that is the interest of two hundred
+thousand florins. I can get you a company who will buy the whole place
+out and out for two hundred thousand florins."
+
+"But I would not part with my pit at any price. I am here in my
+element, like the mud-worm in the mud."
+
+"You need not leave it--certainly not; on the contrary, if you wished
+to go, I would keep you chained, if necessary. The company will start
+with a recognized capital of four millions; we will form a large
+business, which on one side will ruin Prussian coal, on the other side
+will drive the English iron out of market. You shall be the principal
+director of the business, with a yearly salary of ten thousand
+florins, and two shares in the business; besides which you will be
+allowed to take, if you wish it, a portion of the purchase-money in
+bonds at par, and these will bear interest at twenty per cent. You
+will enjoy an income of thirty thousand florins, instead of your
+beggarly ten thousand florins, which you now have, and, into the
+bargain, hardly any work."
+
+Ivan listened to this proposal without interrupting the speaker. When
+Felix had finished, he said, in a calm voice--
+
+"My dear Felix, if I were to propose to a company ready provided with
+four millions the purchase of a business which up to the present had
+only produced ten thousand guldens profit, and which profit could
+never in the future realize more than eight hundred thousand gulden,
+do you not think I would be a despicable villain? If, on the other
+hand, I placed my own money in such a company, I should be equally a
+perfect fool."
+
+At this clear definition of his recent proposal Felix burst into a
+peal of laughter. Then, passing his pliant little walking-stick behind
+his back, he placed both his hands on the ends, and said with an air
+of profound wisdom--
+
+"You have not heard all my plan. It has not altogether to do with your
+colony. You know well that your pit is only a small portion of the
+monster coal stratum of the Bonda Valley, which stretches far away--as
+far, indeed, as Muld Valley. I intend to buy this entire region; it
+can be had now for a mere song, and when properly worked it will be
+worth millions--millions earned by honest means. No stealing or taking
+unfair advantage of any one. We only raise a treasure which lies at
+our feet, so to speak, which is there ready for us, or for any one.
+It needs only sufficient strength on the part of those who lift it."
+
+"That is quite another thing. Now I can understand your scheme. I will
+also not contradict your assertion that it is lawful and generous; but
+it is just because it is so that it is full of holes. It is quite true
+that the treasure which lies concealed in the Bonda Valley is
+immense--it is possible that it represents millions; but this treasure
+cannot be discovered, for the Bondavara property is not for sale."
+
+"Really!"
+
+"I will tell you why; because at this moment it belongs to Prince
+Bondavary, who is one of the richest men in this country."
+
+"I should imagine that no one knows better than I do how rich he is."
+
+"In the next place, this man is one of the proudest of our
+aristocrats, to whom I, for one, would not venture to make the
+proposal to turn his old family property--the cradle, we might say, of
+his race--into a mine to be worked by a company."
+
+"Oh, so far as that goes, we have seen many an ancient race glad to do
+a bit of commercial dirt. The King of Italy is a crowned king; and,
+nevertheless, he has sold Savoy, the place from which his family took
+their name and the right to have a cross on their shield."
+
+"Well, suppose the old prince were inclined to sell this property, he
+could not do so as long as his sister, the Countess Bondavary, is
+alive. Her father left the castle and the property round about to his
+daughter, who is now nearly fifty-eight, and may live yet another
+thirty years. She has grown up in that castle; she has, to my
+knowledge, never left it, not even for one day; she hates the world,
+and no human power would induce her to part with her beloved
+Bondavara to a coal company, not if the last remaining stratum were to
+be found under the castle, and without this the world should perish
+from want of fuel."
+
+Felix laughed, then answered with an air of ineffable conceit--
+
+"I have conquered greater difficulties than an old maid's fad, and for
+the matter of that, women's hearts are not locked with a Bramah key."
+
+"Well, let us suppose," said Ivan, good-humoredly, "that you have
+overcome the prejudices of the prince and his sister, and that you
+have actually started your monster company. Then begin all the
+technical difficulties; for what is the first necessary to an
+undertaking of the kind?"
+
+"A sufficient supply of money."
+
+"By no means. A sufficient supply of workmen."
+
+"Wherever money is plentiful, human beings are pretty sure to flock."
+
+"Between men and men there is a wonderful difference. This is an
+article in which one is likely to be easily deceived. With us there is
+a want of first-class workmen."
+
+"We would get men from France and Belgium."
+
+"But the men who would come from France and Belgium would not work for
+the wages we give our men. They would ask double. In such a commercial
+undertaking, the first false step would be to raise the wages to more
+than the old system, for my conviction is that every industrial
+enterprise to be safe must work upon its own internal capabilities. We
+should measure our strength according to the circumstances in which we
+find ourselves, and we should educate our own workmen; draw them to us
+by learning together. The trade should extend slowly, but surely, by
+small experiments."
+
+"You are too cautious. I can convince you to the contrary. For
+instance, a steam-engine of a hundred-horse power needs just the same
+labor to work it as one of four-horse power; and a small business
+requires as many account-books as a large one, and small undertakings
+in like manner, even if they are in themselves lucrative, will
+eventually be swamped by the larger ones on account of the want of the
+proper activity, without which all trade dies of itself."
+
+"Nevertheless, there is less danger of sudden collapse in a small
+business," returned Ivan, reflectively. "I like a certainty."
+
+"And what certainty have you? Suppose, just for the sake of argument,
+that one bright morning the Austrian minister of trade listens to the
+petition of the English iron masters, and that the free importation of
+raw iron is allowed. Your neighbor over there will at once shut his
+foundry, and you may go and sell your coal to the smithy, eh, Ivan?"
+
+"I have gone into all that. Our raw iron can compete with the English,
+and there would be--"
+
+"Your ideas are _rococo_; they belong to the last century. If America
+had worked on these lines she would not have overshadowed Europe."
+
+"That may be. What I maintain is that foreign workmen are a bad
+investment. Those who come to us are, for the most part, men who
+cannot get on in their own country; restless fellows, ever wanting
+change; members of secret societies, socialists, and atheists; and so
+soon as they get among our men they begin disseminating their vicious
+doctrines, and the next thing is a strike for higher wages."
+
+"Have you ever had a strike here?"
+
+"Never!"
+
+"How do you prevent it?"
+
+"That is my secret, which cannot be told in a few words. I am,
+however, convinced of one thing: the first obstacle a company would
+have to contend against would be the price of labor, and the second
+difficulty would be to secure the services of a really capable
+overseer; one who would understand the _technique_ of the business."
+
+"We could easily get one from abroad."
+
+"That might be; but I, as a private individual, could get one easily
+if I had sufficient money to pay him, for I could choose the best for
+my purpose, and could give him what I chose, as far as his merits
+deserved."
+
+Felix laughed at Ivan's description. "That is it exactly, as if you
+read it out of a book; and just on this account I intend to give the
+complete direction of the business to a man who understands it to a T,
+and this man is you."
+
+"That is a complete mistake. I do understand the working of my own
+small business, but I am quite ignorant of the ways of a great
+concern. Like many another small man, I should be a child in the hands
+of big speculators, and I should probably wreck the whole concern."
+
+"You are too modest. On the contrary, I think you would outwit the big
+speculators."
+
+"Well, suppose all went according to your wishes, or, rather, as it
+presents itself to your imagination. The great business is in full
+swing, delivers goods at moderate prices, and in sufficient quantity.
+Now comes the real objection--the topographical impediment. The Bonda
+coal-mine is twenty miles from the nearest railway, and twenty-five
+miles from the nearest river. On your way here you must have noticed
+the state of the roads. During four months of the year we can send no
+freight to a distance, and at any time the cost of transporting our
+coal and iron adds so much to the price that it is impossible for us
+to compete with either Prussia or England."
+
+"I know all that," said Felix, stroking his beard with the coral head
+of his stick; "but a light railway would soon settle all this. We
+could run it from Bonda Valley to the principal emporium." He spoke as
+if running light railways were a mere trifle.
+
+"A railway through the Bonda Valley!" returned Ivan, in a tone of
+surprise. "And do you really believe that with a capital of four
+millions you could construct a railway twenty miles long?"
+
+"Certainly not. That would be quite a separate affair."
+
+"And do you think you would find people ready to advance money for
+such an uncertain return as mere luggage traffic would insure to the
+shareholders in such a railway?"
+
+Felix moved his stick from his beard to his mouth, and began to suck
+the top.
+
+"And why not," he said, at last, "when the state would guarantee a
+certain rate of interest on the advance?"
+
+Ivan opened his eyes still wider, and placed upon each word an
+emphasis.
+
+"The state will give to this railway a guarantee of interest! You will
+excuse me, Kaulmann--that is not possible."
+
+Felix answered, after some consideration, "There are certain keys by
+which the bureaus of even ministers of state can be opened." After
+this oracular speech he was silent, pressing the top of his stick upon
+his lips, as if to restrain his words.
+
+Ivan drew out the drawer of his writing-desk and took therefrom a
+piece of black bread.
+
+"Do you see this? People who eat such coarse stuff don't dance
+attendance upon ministers."
+
+Felix threw his head back with a scornful laugh and twisted his stick
+impatiently between his fingers.
+
+"_Allons, n'en parlons plus_," he said. "You have plenty of time to
+make up your mind, for what I have once resolved to do, that I do. I
+am quite ready to bet with you that I shall secure the Bonda Valley
+property from under the nose of the old prince and the faddy countess,
+and that the largest factory in the kingdom shall be established
+_here_, and the trade carried on with the outside world. This will all
+come to pass, as sure as my name is Felix Kaulmann."
+
+"Well, I wish you every luck in your undertaking, but for my part I
+will have none of it."
+
+The arrival of Rauné interrupted the conversation. The Frenchman
+explained that he had considered Ivan's offer, and was ready to agree
+to his conditions and to enter on its office at once. Thereupon Ivan
+gave him his hand as a sign that the agreement was concluded. Then he
+handed him the books and the strong-box, the former with the complete
+list of the pitmen, the laborers, the girls, and boys engaged in the
+mine; the latter with the money which was paid to them for the week's
+work, and he asked the new overseer to appoint a room in the inn,
+where he was going to live, as the place where the miners should come
+to be paid.
+
+As it happened, this was a Saturday, and therefore on this evening
+the overseer should enter on his new duties.
+
+The inn was exactly opposite to Ivan's house. Groups of pitmen
+collected on the vacant space between the two houses. Ivan went to the
+window to see in what order the payments would be made by the new
+director. Felix also amused himself by means of his pocket-glass,
+staring at all the women.
+
+"Ah!" he exclaimed, suddenly, "that little Cinderella over there in
+the red skirt wouldn't be bad for the model of a bronze statuette. I
+should like her to teach me how to say 'I love you' in the Slav
+language."
+
+"Take care," laughed Ivan; "she is betrothed, and her lover is called
+a man-eater."
+
+Just then Peter Saffran came out of the tavern. He had received
+Evila's money with his own, and offered it to her. She, however,
+refused to take it, and the pair went off together in good-humor with
+one another. The young girl's hand was upon Peter's arm, and as she
+passed the window they heard her singing.
+
+"_Saperlot!_ What a voice!" exclaimed the banker. "Why, she beats
+Thérèse. If she were in Paris--"
+
+He didn't finish his sentence. Ivan lit a cigar, and sat smoking
+silently.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE DOCTOR
+
+
+The next day was Sunday. Ivan took Felix and Rauné through the
+workmen's colony to show them the dwelling-houses, which were
+clustered together like a village. This village had been made by
+Ivan's father. The district had been formerly occupied by the very
+poorest, who eat nothing but potatoes; but now the miners who lived
+here were well-fed and well-lodged. Each pitman had his own cottage
+and fruit-garden.
+
+When the three men came to the house in which Evila lived they stood
+still and looked into the little yard beyond. They felt obliged to do
+so, first, because the door stood open, and secondly, because in the
+yard a scene was going on of which they were unseen spectators.
+
+Peter Saffran was beating Evila. The lover held his betrothed by her
+long black hair, which fell over her shoulders nearly to the ground.
+He had the rich masses gathered up in his left hand and wound round
+his wrist, while in his right hand he had a thick plaited cord with
+which he struck the poor girl over the shoulders, neck, and back. As
+he did so, his eyes expanded until nearly all the white was visible,
+his eyebrows almost touched one another, his countenance grew white
+with rage, and through his open lips his white teeth looked like those
+of an infuriated tiger. At each blow of the rope he growled out--
+
+"So you will have your own way, will you? You will defy me, will you?"
+
+The girl made no protest against her lover's violence. She did not
+cry, neither did she beg him to spare her. She pressed her apron to
+her lips, and looked at her cruel persecutor with eyes full of the
+most divine compassion.
+
+"What a beast!" cried Felix. "And he is her lover!"
+
+"Just so," replied Ivan, indifferently.
+
+"But you should interfere; you should not allow that pretty child to
+be ill-used by the savage."
+
+Ivan shrugged his shoulders. "He has the right; she is his betrothed,
+and if I were to interfere he would beat her more. Besides, don't you
+see he has been at the brandy flask? There would be no use in
+reasoning with him."
+
+"Well, I shall reason with him to some purpose," returned Felix. "I am
+not going to stand by and see that pretty creature beaten."
+
+"You will do no good, I warn you. The underground laborer has no
+respect for men in black coats."
+
+"We shall soon see as to that. Do me the favor to call out 'doctor' as
+soon as you see me take the fellow by his arm."
+
+As he spoke, the elegantly attired Felix rushed across the narrow
+passage which led to the yard, and confronted the infuriated savage.
+
+"You brute!" he cried. "Let go that girl. Why do you beat her?"
+
+Saffran answered phlegmatically, "What is that to you? She is my
+betrothed." He smelled fearfully of brandy.
+
+"Ah, so you are thinking of marrying, are you?" returned Felix,
+looking at the Hercules, to whose shoulder he hardly reached. "And how
+is it that you are not on military service, my friend?"
+
+The cord slipped from Peter's hand. "I could not pass," he said, in a
+low voice. "I have it in black and white. I am not fit."
+
+"Could not pass--not fit--when you can use your arms so well? Who was
+the upright doctor that gave you that certificate in black and white?
+Such muscles--" He touched with the tips of his gray gloves the
+starting muscles on the brawny arm.
+
+"Doctor!" called out Ivan.
+
+When Peter heard this exclamation, and felt the pressure of Felix's
+fingers, he let go his hold of Evila's hair. She was free.
+
+"You just wait till to-morrow, young man," continued Felix, shaking
+his cane before Peter's nose--"till to-morrow, and you shall have a
+second examination. I shall be curious to find out what is the secret
+impediment which makes _you_ unfit to serve your country. That is my
+business here."
+
+Peter began suddenly to squint.
+
+Felix burst out laughing. "Two can play that game, young man," and he,
+too, fell to squinting. "I shall pay you a visit to-morrow."
+
+At this Peter took to his heels, and making one rush of it, was soon
+over the wall of the yard, and never ceased running until he reached
+the wood.
+
+Ivan was astonished at the result of Felix's interference. He, who was
+twice as strong mentally and physically as this effeminate town-bred
+man, would have been routed signally, and behold, the weak one in gray
+gloves had chased the savage from the field, and was master of the
+situation! He felt vexed, yet he wished to conceal his vexation. He
+saw Felix calmly conversing with Evila, whose deliverer he had been.
+Ivan was not going to stand open-mouthed looking at the hero.
+
+"Let us go on," he said to Rauné. "Herr Kaulmann can follow us if he
+wishes."
+
+Herr Kaulmann was not inclined to continue his walk. A full hour
+afterwards, when they were returning, he met them. He said he had been
+looking everywhere for them without effect. He had done a good
+morning's work in their absence. Finding himself alone in the yard
+with the girl, he had spoken to her in a sympathizing tone.
+
+"My poor child, what did you do to that brute, that he should ill-use
+you so cruelly?"
+
+The girl dried her eyes with the corner of her apron and made an
+effort to smile. It was a piteous attempt, tragic in its effort to
+hide her sufferings.
+
+"Oh, sir, the whole thing was only a joke. He only pretended to strike
+me."
+
+"A nice joke! Look at the welts his blows have made."
+
+He took from his pocket a little case, which held his pocket-comb, a
+dandified affair with a small looking-glass, which he held before her
+eyes.
+
+Evila reddened over face and neck when she saw the disfiguring marks
+of her lover's affection. She spoke with some anger in her voice--
+
+"Sir, you have been very kind, and I will tell you all about it. I
+have a little brother who is a cripple. As soon as father died mother
+married again. Her husband was a drunkard, and when he was tipsy he
+would beat us and tear my hair. Once he threw my brother, who was only
+three years old, down a height, and since then he has been crippled.
+His bones are bent and weak, and he has to go on crutches; his
+breath, too, is affected; he can hardly breathe from asthma, and this
+was stepfather's doing. But that did not soften him; on the contrary,
+he persecuted the poor baby, and it was ten times worse after mother
+died. How many blows I have had to bear, and glad I was to get them if
+I could only spare the child! At last stepfather fell from the shaft;
+he was drunk, and he broke his neck. A good thing it was, too; and
+since then we have lived alone, and what I earn does for us both. But
+now I am going to marry Peter, and Peter hates my poor crippled
+brother. He says he must go out and beg; that an object like him on
+crutches could stand at the church-door on Sundays, and in the market
+on week-days, and get pence enough to support himself. Oh, it is
+shameful of him! And to-day we had a quarrel about it. He came to take
+me to church, where we were to be called for the third time. I was
+nearly ready, but I said I should first give my little brother some
+warm milk, and I went to fetch it. The boy was sitting on the doorstep
+waiting for it.
+
+"'Warm milk!' cried Peter, in a rage. 'I will give him what will make
+him fat!' and then he struck the child and tore at his ear as if he
+would tear it from his head. The child has a peculiarity--strange for
+a child--he never cries, although you might beat him to death. He
+opens his eyes and his mouth, but says nothing, and gives out no
+sound. I implored Peter to let the poor thing alone, for I loved him.
+This set him in a horrible rage.
+
+"'Then let the dwarf go packing!' he screamed. 'Give him a beggar's
+wallet, and let him beg from door to door; there never was a more
+unsightly cripple than he is, so let him bring home something for his
+keep, the scarecrow!'"
+
+The tears ran down the girl's face as she told this.
+
+"How can he help being so ugly and deformed?" she went on. "It was not
+God who made him so, it was stepfather; and so I told Peter, and that
+I would rather he would beat me than that he should touch the child.
+
+"'And I will beat you,' he said, 'if you say another word'; and then
+he seized hold of the child and kicked him. 'Get out of my sight, you
+little monster of ugliness!' he said. 'Go to the church-door and beg,
+or I will eat you.' And he made such a horrible face that my poor
+little brother shrieked with fright. I could not stand seeing him
+tortured in this way. I took him from him, and would have covered him
+up in my arms, but he ran and hid himself in the chimney. I _was_ very
+angry.
+
+"'If you torment him like this,' I said, 'I shall break with you.'
+
+"Then he seized me by my hair and fell to beating me, as you saw. Now
+he will do it every day."
+
+"No, no," returned Felix. "The fellow will have to serve his term; a
+muscular giant like him cannot shirk military duty. If every one did
+that, who the deuce would defend the country and the emperor? It
+cannot be winked at--"
+
+"Then are you really a doctor?" said Evila, doubting.
+
+"Of course I am, when I say I am."
+
+A faint reflection of pleasure crossed the girl's face.
+
+"Then perhaps you can tell me if my little brother can ever be cured?"
+she said, eagerly.
+
+"I can tell you. Bring me the child."
+
+Evila went into the kitchen, and after some trouble persuaded the
+cripple to come out of his shelter in the chimney. This poor victim of
+man's cruelty was a miserable object. He looked as if nature had
+exhausted the stuff of which he was made; not one of his limbs fitted
+the other, and his will seemed to have no power over his body.
+
+Evila took the sick boy upon her knee, and kissing his cheek, withered
+like a bit of dried parchment, told him not to be afraid, for that the
+stranger was a kind gentleman.
+
+Felix examined the limbs of the cripple with all the attention of an
+experienced surgeon, and then with a professional air said--
+
+"The injury can still be cured; it requires only time and care. There
+is in Vienna an orthopedic institution expressly for such cases;
+cripples are there treated, and grow up strong, healthy boys."
+
+"Ah!" cried the girl, taking hold of Felix's hand. "Would they take
+Janoska there? But it would cost money, which I haven't got. I might
+get employment in this institution where cripples are made straight
+again. I would serve them well if they would cure my little brother."
+
+"I don't see any reason why he shouldn't be admitted," returned Felix,
+gravely, "especially on my recommendation. I have great influence, and
+a word from me--"
+
+"You will say it, won't you, and God will forever bless you?" cried
+the girl, throwing herself on her knees and covering the hands and
+feet of the pretended doctor with kisses. "I will serve them; I will
+work for them day and night. They need not keep a dog; I will be their
+dog, and guard the house for them, if they will make Janoska straight,
+so that he need not beg at the church-door. Is it far to Vienna?"
+
+Felix laughed. "You don't think you could carry the boy to Vienna, do
+you? I will manage the journey for you. When I have once promised, I
+keep my word. I have my carriage here; I will, if you like, take you
+both to Vienna."
+
+"Oh, I will sit by the coachman, with Janoska on my lap!"
+
+"Very well, my child," returned Felix, with the air of a patron. "I am
+glad to help you; therefore, if you have resolved to take your brother
+to Vienna to have him cured, I shall give you the opportunity. Be
+ready to-morrow morning when you hear the post-horn sound. That rough
+fellow who beat you just now will be taken by the pioneers corps, who
+recruit next week, and he will have to serve his four years. Now, here
+is some money for you, that you may buy some warm clothing for the
+boy, for the nights are cold, and I travel day and night."
+
+The sum of money he placed in the girl's hand took away her breath,
+and left her no voice to thank him. Two bank-notes, ten pounds each--a
+fortune to a poor girl. The gentleman was a great nobleman; he was a
+prince. He was, however, already on his way before she could speak a
+word, and it would not do to run through the street after him.
+
+Evila then gave way to her joy like a child, as she was. She laughed,
+ran about the room carrying the boy, set him on a seat, knelt before
+him, kissed and hugged in her arms his emaciated body.
+
+"We are going away, Janoska, my heart's darling, in a coach to Vienna.
+Ho, ho, little horse, ho! In a coach with four gee-gees all hung with
+little bells! And Janoska will sit in my lap. Janoska will have good
+medicine and good food, and his feet and his hands, his back and his
+chest will get straight. He will be a big fellow, like other boys.
+Then we will come home, not in a coach, but on our feet. We go in a
+coach, and we come back on two feet without a crutch!"
+
+Then the poor little cripple began to laugh like her. Evila ran off to
+the store, and bought for the child a warm winter jacket, a cap, and
+boots; still, she could not, even with these stupendous purchases,
+spend half of the money. What she had left she determined to return to
+the gentleman.
+
+Now it was full time to go to church. Her friends wondered to see her
+come in alone. They asked her where was Peter? Evila answered she had
+not seen him that day. It went against her conscience to tell a lie
+before mass, but then, when one is placed in a situation that one must
+lie, what can be done? A woman or a girl who has been beaten by her
+betrothed or her husband must deny it. God pardons the lie, and
+society demands it.
+
+Peter Saffran was nowhere to be seen in the church. Evila felt
+terribly ashamed when the clergyman from the pulpit gave out for the
+third time the banns of her marriage. And there would be no marriage!
+Tears came into her eyes and sorrow filled her heart at the thought
+that she was leaving her home, her bridegroom, her friends, all the
+places she knew, the things she was accustomed to, and was going out
+into the world alone. These thoughts preyed upon her all day, until
+she was obliged to go out and look for Peter Saffran. She suspected
+where she would find him.
+
+In the depths of the woods at the bottom of a mountain ravine lay a
+cottage, or hut, where, at the time of the recruiting, the men and
+boys who wanted to avoid the conscription would hide themselves for
+weeks, until the officers would have gone on to another place. Not one
+betrayed their hiding-place; and here, no doubt, Peter lay concealed.
+Evila went blindly through the thicket. The night was dark, the wood
+still darker. From the mountain came the growling of the hungry
+wolves. The girl trembled with fear, but went her way, nevertheless,
+resolved to find her betrothed, although she was sure he would again
+beat her. On the path she picked up a stick, and as she went along she
+beat the bushes, crying, "Go away, wolf!" But her heart beat wildly
+when, with a rustling sound, some beast flew away through the
+brushwood. She was getting deeper into the wood, and every moment it
+was growing darker; still she kept on her way.
+
+At last through the darkness she saw the glimmer of a light in a
+window. This was the hut. Her breath came shorter as she drew near to
+the house, from whence came the sound of bagpipes mixed with shouts.
+They were very merry inside. She stole softly to the lighted window,
+and peeped in. They were dancing. Evila knew the girls who were there;
+they were none of her companions; she and her friends crossed the
+street when they met these. The piper sat upon the pig-trough, and
+when he blew his instrument grunted like so many pigs.
+
+Among the men Evila saw Peter Saffran. He was in high spirits, leaping
+so high as he danced that his fist struck the ceiling. He danced with
+a girl whose cheeks had two spots of red paint. Peter had both his
+arms round her waist; he threw her up and caught her again, kissing
+her painted face.
+
+Evila turned away in disgust and hastened back through the woods,
+unmindful of the cries of the wolves and the howling of the wind. She
+had not even her stick; that she had dropped, and she had no means of
+beating the bushes.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+That evening Felix Kaulmann came again to Ivan.
+
+"I want to have your last word," he said. "Will you join my
+speculation?"
+
+"I don't change my mind so quickly," returned Ivan, coldly. "My answer
+is the same as it was this morning--I will not."
+
+"Very well. I have acted in a friendly manner in this matter, and now
+I tell you frankly that, as you do not choose to join me, I shall
+start the company alone, always leaving it open to you to rescind your
+determination and to join me if you wish. I cannot say fairer than
+this, and I trust we shall always be good friends. You will forgive me
+if I try to pick up some of the diamonds which are scattered about."
+
+"I leave you perfectly free to do what you can."
+
+"I shall avail myself of your permission, and the day will come when I
+shall remind you of your words."
+
+Ivan's forehead contracted as he thought, "What does he mean? What can
+he take from me? Not my coal-mine; that is mine by right of
+possession, and the law protects me. The cut on the neighboring
+mountain? So he may! What I have suffices for me."
+
+"Good-luck to your company!" he said, aloud; "and many thanks to the
+director."
+
+So they parted. Early next morning Ivan was roused from his sleep. It
+was the post-horn which sounded the note of Felix Kaulmann's
+departure. Ivan wished him a happy journey, then fell asleep again.
+Later, as he was leaving his house, he met Peter Saffran at the door.
+The miner presented a sorry figure. His features bore the impression
+of his night's dissipation; his eyes were bloodshot, his hair ragged,
+his dress in disorder.
+
+"Now, what is it?" asked Ivan, angrily.
+
+"Sir," said the man, in a hoarse voice, "that doctor who was with you
+yesterday--his name?"
+
+"What do you want with him?"
+
+"He has carried off Evila!" burst out Peter. In wild agitation he
+snatched the hat off his head, tore his hair, and raised both his
+hands to heaven.
+
+In the first moment Ivan was conscious of feeling a cruel
+satisfaction.
+
+"It serves you right, you beast!" he said. "Serves you right! What
+business had you to ill-use the girl--your promised wife--on the very
+day that you were called for the third time?"
+
+"Oh, sir," cried the miserable man, his teeth chattering, and beating
+his head with his hands, "I was drunk! I did not know what I did; and,
+after all, it was only a few blows with a light strap. What was that?
+With us common people it is nothing. A woman likes a man the better
+when he cudgels her. It is true; but to leave me for a gentleman--"
+
+Ivan shrugged his shoulders and went on his way. The miner caught him
+by the tail of his coat.
+
+"Ah, sir, what shall I do? Tell me, what shall I do?"
+
+Ivan, however, was in no mood for giving advice; he was angry. He
+pushed Peter away, saying, sternly:
+
+"Go to hell! Run to the tavern, drink brandy, then choose among the
+girls whose company you frequent another bride, who will be only too
+glad if you are drunk every day in the year."
+
+Peter took up his hat, put it on his head, looked Ivan in the face,
+and, in an altered voice, said:
+
+"No, sir, I shall never drink brandy again; only once in my life shall
+I taste the accursed thing--once. You will remember what I say, and
+when I smell of it, when I am seen coming out of the public-house, or
+when you hear that I have been there, then stay at home, for on that
+day no one will know how or when he will die."
+
+Ivan left the man standing, and going back into his house, shut the
+door behind him. His first satisfaction at the news was passing away.
+This miserable peasant, who had dared to be his successful rival, had
+lost the treasure which he coveted. The fool had the pearl in his
+keeping, but he didn't know how to value it, and he had let it fall.
+That was good; but where had it fallen, this pearl so white and lovely
+in its purity and innocence? His soul was full of sorrow as he thought
+how in his eyes it had lost all its value. The girl who had seemed to
+him so virtuous, who kept her troth so faithfully, whose simplicity
+had been what he really loved--she had fallen at the first word from a
+villain. She refused her master, who had honorably offered her his
+name, his house, his all. But he had not the gifts of the other; he
+was not a dressed-up fellow, with town manners and seductive ways; he
+had not the tongue of a seducer, and had not promised her jewels and
+fine clothes, balls and operas. It was the same story with all women,
+and Mahomet was right when he gave them no souls, and no place either
+on earth or in heaven.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+COUNTESS THEUDELINDE
+
+
+The mistress of Bondavara was at this time fifty-eight years old. Ivan
+had not overstated her age when he gave Felix the information.
+Countess Theudelinde had long since given up the world. The
+renunciation cost her very little; she had never been in touch with
+it. Up to her fourteenth year she had grown up in the house of her
+father, the prince; at that period her mother, the princess, died. The
+governess of Theudelinde was beautiful, the prince was old. The
+countess--only the first-born can have the princely title; the younger
+children are all counts and countesses--could not, for various
+reasons, remain under the paternal roof; she was sent out of the way
+and to finish her education at a convent. Before she went, however,
+she was betrothed to the Marquis Don Antonio de Padua, only son of the
+Marquis de Colomorano, then eighteen years of age. It was settled
+between the two fathers that when Antonio was twenty-four and
+Theudelinde twenty, she should be fetched out of her convent, and both
+should be united in wedlock by Holy Church. This arrangement was
+carried out so far as Theudelinde spending six blameless years in a
+most highly respectable convent. She was then brought home, and the
+marriage bells were set ringing. But, horror of horrors, when the girl
+saw her betrothed husband, she shrieked and ran away! This was not
+the man she had promised to marry; this one had a mustache!
+(Naturally, for he was an officer in the hussars.)
+
+Theudelinde had never seen a man with a mustache. Six years before,
+when she was at home, all the distinguished guests who came to her
+father's house, the magnates, the ambassadors, were all smooth-shaved,
+so were the man-servants, even the coachman. In the convent there was
+only one man, the father confessor; his face was like a glass. And now
+they proposed to marry her to a man all hair! Impossible! The saints
+and the prophets of old wore beards, that was true; some of them had a
+good deal of hair, but none had it only on the upper-lip. The only one
+she could remember with this adornment was the servant of the
+high-priest in the Stations of the Cross, which, to a pious mind like
+Theudelinde's, was conclusive. She would hear no more of the marriage;
+the betrothal rings were returned on both sides, and the alliance was
+at an end.
+
+After this the countess avoided all worldly amusements. Nothing would
+induce her go to a ball, or to the theatre. Nevertheless, she did not
+seem inclined to take the veil; she had strong leanings towards this
+wicked world, only she wanted one of a different sort, without the
+wickedness. She desired out of the general chaos to create an ideal,
+and this ideal should be her husband. He should be tender, faithful,
+no wine-drinker, no smoker; a man with a smooth face, a pure soul, a
+sweet-sounding voice; a gifted, sympathetic, patient, amiable, soft,
+romantic, domestic, pious man; prudent, scientific, literary,
+distinguished, well-born, much respected, covered with orders, rich,
+loyal, brave, and titled. Such a _rara avis_ was impossible to find.
+Countess Theudelinde spent the best days of her life seeking a
+portrait to fit the frame she had made, but she sought in vain; there
+was no husband for her.
+
+When the countess had reached thirty there was a halt. The ideal was
+as far off as ever. She was anxious to come to terms with the world,
+but the world would have none of her. Her day was past; she had no
+right to any pretensions. She found herself in the position of having
+to choose between utter renunciation or acceptance of the world, with
+all its wickedness. At this critical juncture the old prince, her
+father, died, leaving the countess the property of Bondavara, together
+with the castle. Here Theudelinde retired to nurse her ideal, and
+mourn over her shattered idols. Here she was absolute mistress, her
+brother, to whom the property reverted, leaving her to her own
+devices.
+
+The countess carried out, therefore, her theories unmolested, and her
+dislike to beards and mustaches had free play. The growers of these
+enormities were banished from her presence, and, as was only a natural
+consequence, as time went on her hatred of the male sex increased. No
+man was allowed in the neighborhood of the countess. She only suffered
+women about her--not alone in the house, but outside. The garden, the
+conservatories, were attended to by women--unmarried women, all.
+Matrimony was as a red rag to Theudelinde, and no one durst mention
+the word in her presence. Any girl who showed any inclination to wear
+the "matron's cap" was at once dismissed with contumely. Even the
+"coachman" was a woman; and for the reason that it would not have been
+fitting to sit upon a coach-box in woman's clothes, this female Jehu
+was allowed to wear a long coachman's cloak, a man's coat, as also a
+certain garment, at the bare mention of which an Englishwoman calls
+out, "Oh, how shocking!" and straightway faints. Truly, at the time
+this history was written, in our good land of Hungary, this very
+garment played a serious part, since it was the shibboleth and visible
+sign of fidelity to the governing powers, and of submission to the
+mediators; in truth, ever since those days the "leg of the boot" has
+been worn. So it came to pass that Mrs. Liese wore this thing, the
+only one of the kind to be seen in the castle. Liese, also, was
+allowed to drink wine, and to smoke tobacco, and, needless to say, she
+did both.
+
+Fraulein Emerenzia, the countess's companion, was, so to speak, the
+exact counterpart of her noble mistress. The countess was tall and
+slender; she had a white skin, her features were sharp, her nose
+almost transparent, her lips, scarlet in color, were shaped like a
+bow; her cadaverous form bent forward; her eyelids fell over her
+lack-lustre eyes, her face appeared to have two sides which didn't
+belong to one another, each half having a totally different
+expression; even the wrinkles didn't correspond. She wore her hair as
+it was worn in the days of her youth, as it was worn when Caroline Pia
+was married, and as it is possible it will be worn again. Her hands
+were fine, transparent; they were not strong enough to cut the leaves
+of a book with a paper-knife. Her whole being was nerveless and
+sensitive. At the slightest noise she would shriek, be seized with a
+cramp, or go off in hysterics. She had certain antipathies to beasts,
+flowers, air, food, motion, and emotion. At the sight of a cat she was
+ready to faint; if she saw a flesh-colored flower her blood grew
+excited. Silver gave everything an unpleasant taste, so her spoons
+were all of gold. If any women crossed their legs she sent them out of
+the room. If the spoons, knives, or forks were by accident laid
+crosswise on the table, she would not sit down; and if she were to
+see velvet on any of her attendants she was thrown into a nervous
+attack, from the bare idea that perhaps her hand might come in contact
+with this electric and antipathetic substance.
+
+Fortunately for her household her nervous fears kept her quiet at
+night. She locked and double-locked the door of her room, and never
+opened it until the morning came--no, not if the house were burning
+over her head.
+
+Fraulein Emerenzia was, as we have before said, the counterpart of her
+mistress, in so far that she affected a close imitation of her ways,
+for in her appearance she was a direct contrast, Emerenzia being a
+round, short, fat woman, with a full face, the skin of which was so
+tightly stretched that it was almost as white as the countess's; she
+had a snub nose, which in secret was addicted to the vice of
+snuff-taking. Her dress and her manner of doing her hair were
+identical with the countess's fashion in each, only that the stiff-set
+clothes had on her small body a humorous expression. She affected to
+be as nerveless as the countess; her hands were as weak--they could
+not break a chicken bone. Her eyes were as sensitive to light, her
+antipathies were as numerous, and she was as prone to faints and
+hysterics as her patroness. In this direction, indeed, she went
+further. So soon as she observed that there was any cause for
+emotional display, she set up trembling and screaming, and so got the
+start of the countess, and generally managed to sob for a minute
+longer; and when Theudelinde fell fainting upon one sofa Emerenzia
+dropped lifeless upon another; likewise, she took longer coming to
+than did her mistress. At night Emerenzia slept profoundly. Her room
+was only separated from that of the countess by an ante-chamber, but
+Theudelinde might tear down all the bells in the castle without waking
+her companion, who maintained that her sleep was a species of nervous
+trance.
+
+One man only was ever allowed entrance into the Castle of Bondavara.
+What do we say?--no man, no _masculinum_. The language of dogma has
+defined that the priest is _neutrius generis_, is more and less than a
+being of the male sex; bodily he can be no man's father, spiritually
+he is father of thousands. No one need think he will here read any
+calumnies against the priesthood. The pastor Mahok was a brave, honest
+man; he said mass devoutly, baptized, married, buried when called
+upon, would get up in the middle of the night to attend the death-bed
+of a parishioner, and would never grumble at the sacristan for waking
+him out of his first sleep. The pastor wrote no articles in the
+_Church News_, neither did he ever read one. If he wanted a newspaper
+he borrowed from the steward the daily paper. When his clerk collected
+Peter's pence, Pastor Mahok sent it with an additional gulden or two
+to the office of the chief priest; but this did not prevent him
+sitting down in the evening to play "tarok" with the Lutheran pastor
+and the infidel steward. He held to having a good cellar; he had a
+whole family of bees in his garden, and was a successful cultivator of
+fruit. In politics he was a loyalist, and confessed he belonged to the
+middle party, which in the country means just this, and no more, "We
+vote for the tobacco monopoly, but we smoke virgin tobacco because it
+is good and we have it."
+
+From this account every one will understand that during the course of
+this narrative this excellent gentleman will offend no one. We would,
+in fact, have nothing to say to him were it not that he came every
+day, punctually at eleven o'clock, to Bondavara Castle to hear the
+countess's confession, and that done, he remained to dinner, and in
+both directions he honestly earned his small honorarium. There was a
+general air of satisfaction in his whole appearance, in his double
+chin, in his fresh color, in his round, shining face.
+
+To-day the excellent man was punctual. The countess, however, was not.
+Just as eleven o'clock struck, the spiritual man knocked at the door
+of the sitting-room. Only the voice of Emerenzia answered, "Come in!"
+
+The smile of greeting on the countenance of the visitor was reflected
+on that of the companion. It was the meeting of two full moons.
+
+"The countess is still locked in her room," Emerenzia said in a
+whisper, as if afraid that her voice could penetrate into the third
+room.
+
+The pastor expressed by a movement of his hand and an elevation of his
+eyebrows that the sleep of the just was not to be disturbed. The good
+man was not aware that it was the toilette of the just that was then
+in progress. These mysteries were conducted by the countess in
+private. No one, not even a faithful maid, was admitted until
+Theudelinde was clothed, and for this reason her garments were made to
+close in front.
+
+The priest made use of this unexpected delay to search in the pocket
+of his coat, and to draw from thence a mysterious something, which,
+after first casting a look round the room, to make sure no one was
+spying on him, he pressed into the fat hand of the countess's
+companion, who hastily concealed this surreptitious something in the
+depths of the pocket of her dress, expressing her gratitude by a
+friendly nod, which the pastor returned by a courteous movement
+which expressed, "No thanks are necessary for so small a service."
+Whereupon Emerenzia, turning away, half-shyly drew the something
+carefully out of her pocket, peered into the contents of the same,
+held it close to her nose, drinking in the scent of the something,
+turning her eyes up to heaven, and again to the pastor, who, on his
+part, expressed by the motion of the thumb and forefinger of his
+left hand, "Excellent--special brand!" Then, no longer able to
+restrain her feelings, the companion took from the mysterious packet
+between the thumb and forefinger of _her_ right hand something which
+she placed in both nostrils, and sniffed up in silent ecstasy. It
+was the pastor's pleasure to fill Emerenzia's snuff-box with the
+very best mixture. This was the platonic bond which existed between
+them--the mutual desire of two noses for one ideal.
+
+Yellow snuff is not an unattainable ideal. In the ordinary way of
+business a quarter of a pound can be procured for a few pence; but
+common snuff was as different from the priest's mixture as cherry
+brandy is from Chartreuse, or Veuve Cliquot from the vintage of
+Presburg. This is easily understood by those who take snuff. How is it
+that a clergyman always has the best tobacco? How does he prepare it?
+Does he get it prepared? These are broad questions that a man of
+liberal mind dare not ventilate. Even if he knew, it would not be
+advisable to make use of his knowledge. One thing is certain, the best
+tobacco is used by the Church. A bishop, who died not long since, left
+behind him a hundredweight of the most heavenly stuff, two ounces of
+which fetched a ducat.
+
+The quiet _tête-à-tête_ between the two snuff-takers was disturbed by
+the sound of a bell; then a metal slide in the door of the countess's
+room opened, and a tray with an empty teacup was put through. This was
+a sign that the countess had breakfasted.
+
+Every door in the castle had sliding panels, some large, others
+small. The slides were made of copper, the doors of strong wood,
+with brass locks and fasteners. The door of the countess's bedroom
+was all of iron, covered on the inside with a tapestry curtain.
+Since no man was allowed in the house, it was necessary to have a
+defence system against any possible attack. This system included
+some cleverly-constructed machinery, by means of which the countess,
+by pressing her foot, could raise up the flooring, and precipitate
+any bold invader of the sacred precincts of her bedroom into a
+cellar without light or exit. From the alcove of her bed an electric
+telegraph connected with the fire-tower, so that by raising her
+finger the alarm-bell could be set ringing, and in case of danger
+the masculine inhabitants of the adjacent farm-houses and
+hunting-lodges could be summoned without a moment's delay. In
+Emerenzia's room there was likewise a communication with this
+electric apparatus, and to the door were affixed the different signs
+by which the countess expressed her wishes. The cup signified that
+the waiting-maid was required, a book would have meant that the
+companion was needed.
+
+Emerenzia, therefore, sent the girl to her mistress. When her work was
+finished the bell rang again, the book appeared, and the companion
+went to the countess. After a short time she returned, and opened the
+door for the pastor, while she whispered to him softly--
+
+"She has seen the spirits again; she has much to tell you."
+
+We will follow the pastor into his penitent's room; but no one need be
+afraid that he or she is about to listen to the lady's confession.
+When the pastor had closed the door behind him, he came to the
+countess, who sat in a large armchair, looking pale and exhausted.
+She signed to the priest to take his place in another armchair
+opposite to her.
+
+"Have you seen them again?" he asked.
+
+"I have," said the countess, in an awed whisper. "All happened in the
+same way as usual. So soon as the clock-tower had sounded midnight,
+there rose from below, as if out of the vault, a fearful chorus of
+voices intoning the _De Profundis_. It was a ghostly, terrible sound.
+I could distinguish the solo of the celebrant, the antiphon, the
+chorus; and between them loud laughter, diabolical words, the shrieks
+of women, and the clatter of glasses. I heard comic songs accompanied
+by wild howls; then, again, the soft, pious hymn succeeded by the wild
+disorder. I pinched my arm to see did I dream. Here you can see the
+mark. 'Twas not dreaming. I got up; I wished to convince myself that I
+was awake. I took my pencil and note-paper, and when a distinct tune
+reached my ear I wrote it down. Here is the paper. You understand
+music."
+
+The priest threw a hasty glance over the ghostly melody, and
+recognized a well-known Hungarian volkslied--"Maiden with the black
+eyes, let me taste thy lips." Undoubtedly an unclean song to issue
+from the family vault at midnight!
+
+"And, gracious countess, have you never heard the peasants singing
+this in the fields?"
+
+The countess drew herself up with dignity. "Do I frequent the places
+where peasants sing?" she made answer; and then continued her story.
+"These notes are sufficient proof that I was awake; my nerves were too
+excited to allow me to sleep again. Moreover, I was drawn by an
+invincible desire to go to the spot from whence the sound came. I
+dressed myself. I am certain that I took out my grass-green skirt of
+Gros de Naples, with a flounce of cashmere. I called none of my
+servants; every one in the house was asleep. An extraordinary courage
+awoke in me. Quite alone I descended the steps which lead to the
+family vault. When I reached the door both sides opened of themselves;
+I entered, and found myself in the presence of my departed ancestors.
+The monuments were all removed, the niches empty; the occupiers of
+both sat round the long table which stands in the vault, in the
+identical dress in which they are painted in the portraits which hang
+in the hall, and by which their calling in life is distinguishable. My
+great-uncle, the archbishop, in full canonicals, celebrated mass
+before the requiem altar; my grandfather, the chancellor, had large
+parchment documents before him, upon which he affixed the state seal.
+My great-uncle, the field-marshal, in armor, and with the marshal's
+baton in his hand, gave orders. My ancestress Katherine, who was a
+lady of the court, and of remarkable beauty, rolled her eyes about,
+and in her whole face no feature moved but those glittering eyes; and
+my aunt Clementina, the abbess of the Ursuline Convent, sang psalms
+with my uncle, in which the others from time to time joined."
+
+"But the laughter, the tumult, the comic songs?" asked the pastor.
+
+"I am coming to that. At the other end of the table sat some of my
+more distant relatives--my young cousin Clarissa, who danced herself
+to death; and a cousin, who was a celebrated flute player; and my
+great-uncle Otto, who was devoted to hazard, and now rattled dice into
+a copper goblet, and cursed his bad-luck when he made a bad throw;
+also another cousin, who died on the very night of her marriage, and
+still wore a faded wedding wreath; finally, my uncle Ladislaus, who
+was banished from the family circle early in the century, and whose
+frame hangs in the picture-gallery empty, his portrait being removed."
+
+"How did you know him, then?" By this question the pastor hoped to
+check the flow of the countess's visions.
+
+Theudelinde, however, answered that her uncle Ladislaus, being a rebel
+and a heretic, had not alone been declared a traitor, but had incurred
+the ban of excommunication. He was taken prisoner and beheaded. "And
+therefore," she added, with an air of conviction, "it was easy to
+recognize him by his death's-head. Likewise, during his lifetime he
+ignored the king's express command, and was the first to introduce
+tobacco-smoke into the country, and on this account, at his execution,
+he received the punishment awarded to the smoker, of having a
+pipe-handle run through his nose. Last night, as he sat at the table,
+he held between the teeth of his monstrous death's-head a large
+meerschaum pipe, and the whole vault smelled in the most fearful
+manner of tobacco-smoke."
+
+This remark convinced the priest that the countess had been dreaming.
+
+"Between both my cousins," she went on, "the nun and the bride, there
+was an empty chair. There I felt obliged to seat myself. The bride
+wished to hear of the fashions; she praised the stuff of my Gros de
+Naples dress, taking it between her fingers, which, when they touched
+mine, were cold as death itself. The upper end of the table was
+covered with green cloth, the lower end with a yellow silk
+table-cloth, embroidered with many-colored flowers. At this end every
+one laughed, talked, sang noisy songs; while at the top the psalms
+were intoned and the antiphon was sung. Both sounded horrible in my
+ears. The dishes contained cooked hazel-hens and roast pheasants, with
+the feathers sticking in their heads; sparkling wine filled the cups.
+I was pressed to eat and drink, but neither the food nor the liquor
+had any taste. Once the bride, my cousin, as is the custom with very
+young girls, offered me the spur of the pheasant's breast, saying,
+jokingly, 'Break this spur with me, and we shall see which of us two
+gets a husband first.' I seized hold of my end of the spur; I tugged
+and tugged, and at last broke it. The largest half remained in my
+hand. The bride laughed. 'Theudelinde shall be the first married!' she
+cried. I blushed; it seemed to me something terrible that the spirits
+of my dead ancestors should be so frivolous."
+
+The worthy pastor said nothing. Nevertheless, he was minded to agree
+with his penitent. He could not imagine why blessed souls, or even
+condemned ones, should occupy themselves breaking pheasant bones with
+an old maid, of all people in the world.
+
+"What gave me most offence," continued Theudelinde, "was the
+outrageous behavior of my uncle Ladislaus. One minute he shrieked,
+then laughed loudly, sang horrid songs. Again he broke out into
+fearful curses, scorned the saints, the pope, the sacraments, made
+witticisms that brought a blush to the faces of the ladies, and blew
+all his tobacco-smoke over me. I shook the skirt of my green silk to
+prevent the horrid smell sticking to it, but I felt this precaution
+was of little use. My uncle Ladislaus began then to tease me, and said
+I had concealed the prophetic bone in the pocket of my green dress. My
+face glowed with shame, for it was true. I denied it, however,
+whereupon he began to swear in his heathenish way, and to thump with
+his fists on the table until the vault resounded with his blows. My
+cousins put their hands over his mouth. Then he spoke through his
+empty eye-sockets. It was terrible! He cursed all the saints in the
+calendar and the emperor. My great-uncle, the archbishop, stretched
+out his hands and damned him; my grandfather, the chancellor, sealed
+the sentence; and my great-uncle, the field-marshal, drew his sword
+and cut off my uncle's death's-head. The head rolled over, and fell at
+my feet, still holding the pipe between its teeth, and blew its filthy
+breath over me. Then I arose and fled."
+
+The pastor had now made up his mind that the whole story was nothing
+but the dream of an hysterical woman. It was strange, however, that
+the countess should have the same vision so often, and that it should
+always begin in the same manner.
+
+As she now concluded her recital with the words, "As I took off my
+silk dress it smelled horribly of tobacco-smoke," a brilliant idea
+came to Father Mahok.
+
+"Will you excuse my asking you where your green dress is?" he asked,
+gravely.
+
+The countess betrayed some embarrassment.
+
+"I do not know. My wardrobe is in the care of Fraulein Emerenzia--"
+
+"Allow me to ask you the question, did you not take the dress off in
+this apartment?"
+
+"I no longer remember. Emerenzia has been here since; she may know."
+
+"Will you grant me the favor, countess, to send for Fraulein
+Emerenzia?"
+
+"Certainly. She will be here in a minute."
+
+The countess pressed her finger twice on the electric apparatus, and
+the companion entered.
+
+"Fraulein," said the countess, "you remember my green Gros de Naples
+silk, bordered with a trimming of fur?"
+
+"Yes; it is a pelisse of peculiar cut, with hanging sleeves, and
+fastened by a silk band and buckle."
+
+"That is the dress," returned the countess. "Where is it?"
+
+"In the wardrobe. I hung it there myself, first putting camphor in the
+sleeves, that the moths might not get at the fur."
+
+"When did you do this?"
+
+"Last summer."
+
+The pastor laughed slyly to himself. "Now," thought he, "the countess
+must be convinced that she dreamed the whole scene she has so
+accurately described."
+
+"Have I not worn it since last summer?" questioned Theudelinde.
+
+"Not once. The open-hanging sleeves are only for the hottest weather."
+
+"Impossible!"
+
+"But, countess," put in the priest, "it is easy to convince yourself
+of what ma'm'selle says. You have only to look into the wardrobe. Who
+keeps the key?"
+
+"Ma'm'selle Emerenzia."
+
+"Do you command me to open the press?" asked the companion, with a
+discomfited look.
+
+"I do," answered the countess, nodding to the pastor to follow her
+into the next room.
+
+Emerenzia, her face puckered into an expression of annoyance, drew her
+bunch of keys from her pocket, and placed one in the lock of an
+antique and highly ornamented press, of which she threw the doors
+open. At least fifty silk dresses hung there, side by side. The
+countess never allowed any of her clothes to get into strange hands;
+no man's eye should ever rest upon what she had worn. Through this
+museum of old clothes Emerenzia's fingers went with unerring
+certainty, and drew forth the oft-mentioned green silk dress with the
+fur trimming.
+
+"Here it is," she said, shortly.
+
+The pastor was triumphant, but the countess, whose nerves were more
+impressionable than those of ordinary mortals, grew suddenly pale and
+began to shake all over.
+
+"Take that dress down," she said, in a whisper. And Emerenzia, with a
+jerk, tore it from its peg. What, in Heaven's name, had come to the
+pastor and her mistress?
+
+The countess took it from her hand, and held it, while she turned her
+head the other way, across his nose.
+
+"Do you smell it?" she said. "Is it tobacco-smoke?"
+
+Father Mahok was astonished. This fine silk dress, straight from out
+of a lady's wardrobe, smelled as strongly of the commonest tobacco as
+the coat of a peasant who had passed his night in an ale-house. Before
+he could answer Theudelinde's question she was ready with another.
+From the pocket of the green Gros de Naples she now drew forth a
+broken pheasant bone.
+
+"And this?" she asked. But here her strength was exhausted. Without
+waiting for a reply, she fell fainting on the sofa.
+
+Emerenzia, sobbing loudly, fell helplessly into an arm-chair. The
+clergyman was so upset by the whole thing that, in his embarrassment,
+he opened the doors of three more wardrobes before finding the one
+which communicated with the sitting-room. Then he summoned the
+servants to attend to their mistress. _The evidence of witchcraft was
+proved._
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE COUNTESS'S ALBUM
+
+
+The worthy Pastor Mahok was of opinion that the mystery of the
+countess's dress smelling so strongly of tobacco-smoke could not be
+accounted for by any law of Nature, and judged, therefore, by the
+light of his priestly office, as well as from his worldly experience,
+that these diabolical visions were matters worthy of deep
+consideration on his part. They occupied his mind during dinner, which
+he partook of in company with the countess's companion, but of the
+subject of his thoughts he spoke no word to her. They were alone at
+table. The countess remained in her room, as was her habit when she
+suffered from what was called "cramps," and her only refreshment was
+some light soup. After dinner she again sent for the pastor.
+
+He found her lying on the sofa, pale and exhausted; her first words
+had reference to the subject which filled both their minds.
+
+"Are you now convinced," she said, "that what I told you was, indeed,
+no dream?"
+
+"Doubtless there has been some strange work going on."
+
+"Is it the work, think you, of good or bad spirits?" asked the
+countess, raising her eyes.
+
+"That can only be ascertained by a trial."
+
+"What sort of a trial, holy father?"
+
+"An attempt to exorcise them. If these spirits who every night leave
+their graves are good, they must, by the strength of the exorcism,
+return to their resting-places, and remain there till summoned by the
+angel's trumpet to arise on the last day."
+
+"And in case they don't return?" inquired the countess, anxiously.
+
+"Then they are bad spirits."
+
+"That is to say, damned. How do you know that?"
+
+For a minute there was a struggle in the pastor's mind; then he
+answered, boldly:
+
+"This night I shall keep watch in the castle."
+
+"And if you hear the unearthly noises?"
+
+"Then I shall descend into the vault, and scatter the ghosts with holy
+water."
+
+The countess's face glowed with fervor as she exclaimed:
+
+"Holy father, I shall accompany you."
+
+"No, countess; no one shall accompany me but my sacristan."
+
+"The sacristan! A man! He shall not put his foot in this house!" cried
+the countess, excitedly.
+
+The pastor, in a soothing voice, explained to her that his sacristan
+was almost as much a part of the Church as himself; moreover, that he
+was absolutely necessary on this occasion for the performance of the
+exorcism; in fact, without him the ceremony could not take place,
+seeing that the sacred vessel containing the holy water, the
+crucibulum and lanterns, should be carried before him to give all due
+effect to the religious rite.
+
+Under these circumstances Countess Theudelinde gave her consent, on
+the condition that the obnoxious male intruder should not enter the
+castle itself. Still more, the pastor promised to watch in the
+greenhouse after the castle gates were locked.
+
+According to these arrangements, when it began to get dark, Father
+Mahok arrived, bringing with him his sacristan, a man of about forty,
+with a closely shaved mustache and a very copper-colored face. The
+pastor left him in the greenhouse, and proceeded himself to the
+dining-room, where the countess was awaiting him for supper. No one
+ate a morsel. The pastor had no appetite, neither had the countess,
+nor her companion. The air was too full of the coming event to allow
+of such a gross thing as eating.
+
+After supper the countess withdrew to her room, and Herr Mahok went to
+the greenhouse, where the sacristan had made himself comfortable with
+wine and meat, and had kept up the fires in the oven. The servants had
+been kept in ignorance of what was going on; they had never heard the
+midnight mass, nor the wild shrieks and infamous songs of the
+inhabitants of the vault, and the countess would not allow the ears of
+her innocent handmaidens to be polluted with such horrors. Therefore,
+every one in the castle slept. The pastor watched alone. At first Herr
+Mahok tried to pass the long hours of the night in reading his
+prayers, but as his habitual hour for sleep drew near he had to fight
+a hard battle with his closing eyelids. He was afraid that if he
+slumbered his imagination would reproduce the countess's dream, to
+which, be it said, he did not give credence; at the same time, he did
+not wholly doubt. Generally, he found that his breviary provoked
+sleep, and now he thought it better to close the book, and try what
+conversation with the sacristan would do as a means to keep awake.
+
+The clerk's discourse naturally turned upon ghostly appearances; he
+told stories of a monk without a head, of spirits that appeared on
+certain nights in the year, of hobgoblins and witches, all of which he
+had either seen with his own eyes or had heard of from persons whose
+veracity was unimpeachable.
+
+"Folly! lies!" said the excellent pastor; but he could not help a
+creeping sensation coming over him. If he could even have smoked, it
+would have strengthened his nerves; but smoking was forbidden in the
+castle. The countess would have smelled it, as the giant in the old
+fairy tale smelled human flesh.
+
+When the sacristan found that all his wonderful tales of ghosts and
+hobgoblins were considered lies, he thought it was no use tiring
+himself talking, and as soon as he ceased sleep began to fall upon his
+eyelids. Seated upon a stool, his head leaning against the wall, his
+mouth open, he slept profoundly, to the envy, if not the admiration,
+of the good pastor, who would willingly have followed his example.
+Soon some very unmusical sounds made themselves heard. The sacristan
+snored in all manner of keys, in all variations of nasal discord,
+which so jarred on the pastor's nerves that he several times shook the
+sleeper to awake him, with the result that he slept again in no time.
+
+At last the clock on the castle tower chimed twelve. Herr Mahok struck
+the sacristan a good blow on his shoulder.
+
+"Get up!" he said. "I did not bring you here to sleep."
+
+The clerk rubbed his eyes, already drunk with sleep. The pastor took
+his snuff-box to brighten himself up with a pinch of snuff, when
+suddenly both men were roused out of all the torpor of sleep by other
+means. Just as the last beat of the clock had finished striking the
+unearthly mass began to be intoned in the vault below. Through the
+profound silence of the night was heard the voice of the priest
+singing the Latin mass, with the responses of the choir, accompanied
+by some instrument that sounded like an organ, but which had a
+shriller tone, and seemed to be a parody of the same.
+
+Over the whole body of Herr Mahok crept a ghostly shiver.
+
+"Do you hear it?" he asked the sacristan, in a whisper.
+
+"Hear it? Who could help hearing it? Mass is saying somewhere."
+
+"Here, under us, in the vault."
+
+"Who can it be?"
+
+"The devil! All good spirits praise the Lord," stammered the worthy
+pastor, making the sign of the cross three times.
+
+"But it seems that the evil spirits praise the Lord as well as the
+good ones," returned the clerk.
+
+This assertion of his was, however, quickly contradicted, for in the
+middle of the next psalm a diabolical chorus struck in wildly, and the
+air resounded with--
+
+   "Come, dearest, come to me,
+      Come, I am at home;
+    Two gypsies play for me.
+      And here I dance alone."
+
+Then followed shrieks of laughter, in which women's shrill cackle
+mingled with the hoarse roar of men and the wildest discord, as if
+hell itself were let loose.
+
+The poor priest, who had trembled at the pious psalms, nearly fell to
+the ground on hearing this pandemonium. A cold sweat broke out all
+over him; he knew now that the countess was right, and that this was,
+in truth, the work of the evil one.
+
+"Michael," he said, his teeth chattering with fear, "have you heard--"
+
+"I must be stone deaf if I didn't--such an infernal din!" replied the
+other. "All the spirits of hell are holding a Sabbath--"
+
+Just then there was the tinkle of a bell. The tumult subsided, and the
+voice of the celebrant was once more heard intoning mass.
+
+"What shall we do?" asked Herr Mahok.
+
+"What shall we do? Descend into the vault and exorcise the evil
+spirits."
+
+"What!" cried the priest. "Alone?"
+
+"Alone!" repeated Michael, with religious fervor. "Are we alone when
+we come in the name of the Lord of armies? Besides, we are two. If I
+were a priest, and if I were invested with the stole, had I the right
+to wear the three-cornered hat, I should go into the vault, carrying
+the holy water, and with the words, 'Apage Satanas,' I would drive
+before me all the legions of hell itself."
+
+The excellent pastor felt ashamed that his ignorant sacristan should
+possess greater faith, and show more courage in this combat with the
+powers of darkness, than himself; still, fear predominated over his
+shame.
+
+"I would willingly face these demons," he said, in a somewhat
+hesitating manner, "were it not that the gout has suddenly seized my
+right foot. I am not able to walk."
+
+"But consider what a scandal it will be if we, who have heard the
+spirits, have not pluck enough to send them packing."
+
+"But my foot, Michael; I cannot move my foot."
+
+"Well, then, I will carry you on my back. You can hold the holy water
+and I will take the lantern."
+
+There was no way out of this friendly offer. The pastor commended his
+soul to God, and, taking heart, resolved to fight the demons below,
+armed only with the holy insignia of his office. The good man,
+however, did not mount, like Anchises on the back of Æneas, without
+much inward misgiving.
+
+"You will be careful, Michael; you will not let me fall?" he said, in
+a somewhat quavering voice.
+
+"Don't be afraid, pastor," returned the sacristan, as he stooped and
+raised the pastor on his shoulders. "Now, forward!" he cried, taking
+the lantern in his hands, while Herr Mahok carried the vessels
+necessary for the exorcism.
+
+A cold blast of air saluted them as they issued from the greenhouse
+and crossed the large hall of the castle, which the glimmering light
+from the small lantern only faintly illumined. Half of it remained in
+darkness; but on the side of the wall where hung the portraits of the
+armed knights an occasional gleam showed Herr Mahok the faces of the
+countess's warlike ancestors, who had done in their day good service
+against the Turks. They looked at him, he thought, somewhat
+contemptuously, and seemed to say, "What sort of man is this, who goes
+to fight pickaback?"
+
+Michael stopped before a strong iron door in the centre of the hall.
+This was the entrance to the subterranean vaults and cellars
+underneath the castle. And now the pastor suddenly remembered he had
+left the key of this gate in the greenhouse. There was nothing for it
+but to retrace their steps. Just as they reached the threshold,
+however, Michael suggested that something very hard was pressing
+against his side. Could it be the key which was, after all, in his
+reverence's pocket? This suggestion proved correct, and once more he
+had to run the gantlet of the old crusaders and their contemptuous
+superiority.
+
+The key creaked as it turned in the lock, and a heavy, damp smell
+struck upon them as they passed through the iron gate.
+
+"Leave the door open," said the pastor, with an eye to securing a safe
+retreat.
+
+And now they began to descend the steps, Herr Mahok remarking that his
+horse was not too sure-footed. He tottered in going down the steps so
+much that the pastor, in his fright, caught him with his left hand
+tightly by the collar, while he pressed the other more closely round
+his throat, a proceeding which Michael resented by calling out, in a
+strangled voice:
+
+"Reverend sir, don't squeeze me so; I am suffocating!"
+
+"What was that?"
+
+A black object whizzed past them, circling round their heads. A bat,
+the well-known attendant upon ghosts!
+
+"We shall be there in a few minutes," said the clerk, to encourage his
+rider, whose teeth chattered audibly.
+
+While they were descending the steps the noise in the vault had been
+less audible, but now, as they came into the passages which ran
+underneath the hall, it broke out again in the most horrible discord.
+The passage was long, and there were two wings; one led to the cellars
+proper, the other to the vaults. Opposite to the steps there was a
+cross passage, at the end of which, by ascending some seven or eight
+steps and passing through a lattice door, you could get into the open
+air. This lattice served likewise as a means of ventilating the
+passages, and on this particular night there was such a strong current
+of air that the light in the lantern was in danger every minute of
+being blown out. It would have been well if that were all. The
+sacristan hadn't taken three steps in the direction of the vault
+before a terrible sight revealed itself to both men.
+
+At the other end of the passage a blue flame burned; before the flame
+there stood, or sat, or jumped, a dwarfish figure all in white. It was
+not three feet in height, and, nevertheless, its head was of monstrous
+size. As the sacristan, with the pastor, drew near this horrid
+appearance, the blue flame suddenly flared up, throwing a bright,
+whitish light all over the passage, and by this light the terrified
+spectators beheld the dwarfish figure stretch itself out, and grow
+taller and taller--six, eight, twelve feet--and still it grew and
+grew. Its shadow danced in the light of the blue flame upon the marble
+floor of the passage like a black serpent. Then the fearful appearance
+raised its head, and the vaulted roof echoed with its howls and
+shrieks.
+
+Michael's courage flew out of the window. He turned, and, burdened as
+he was with the weight of the pastor on his back, he ran back as fast
+as he could. In the middle of the passage, however, he made a false
+step and fell, with Herr Mahok, flat upon his face. In the fall he
+broke the lantern, the light went out, and left them in the dark.
+Groping along with outstretched hands, they missed the steps which led
+up to the iron gate, but after some time found themselves in the cross
+passage, and saw the soft light of the moon shining through the
+lattice window. They made at once for the door. At first there was
+some difficulty in opening it, but Michael managed to force it, and,
+to their great joy, they were once more in the open air. Over the
+stubble, through the thorn-bushes they flew, never pausing to look
+back. Singularly enough, the gout in the pastor's foot in no way
+affected his speed. He ran quite as fast as Michael, and in less than
+a quarter of an hour was in his bed. So, too, the sacristan, whose
+fright produced an attack of fever, which kept him a prisoner there
+for three days.
+
+The next morning Herr Mahok, with many inward qualms, went up to the
+castle. His was an honest, simple mind; he preferred rather to believe
+in the wiles of the devil than in the wickedness of human nature; he
+credited what he had seen with his own eyes, and never sought to
+penetrate the dark veil which shrouds many supernatural mysteries. He
+believed firmly that he had now to do with damned spirits, who at
+their midnight orgies cracked pheasant bones to see who should first
+be married.
+
+He found the countess in good humor; she was friendly, lively, and
+received her visitor with a smiling countenance. This change did not
+surprise Herr Mahok. He was by this time accustomed to the caprices of
+Countess Theudelinde. One day she was out of humor, the next all
+serenity.
+
+The pastor went straight to the kernel he had to crack.
+
+"I watched last night," he said.
+
+"Oh, father, thanks, ten thousand thanks! Your mere presence has been
+sufficient to banish the evil spirits which have haunted the castle
+for so long. Last night all was peace; not a sound did I hear."
+
+"Not a sound!" cried the pastor, rising from his chair in his
+astonishment at such a statement. "Countess, is it possible that you
+did not hear the noise?"
+
+"Profound repose, Arcadian peace, reigned in the house, both up-stairs
+and below."
+
+"But I was there, and awake. I did not dream it. And, moreover, I can
+show you the bruises and abrasions on my elbow; they witness to the
+fall we had, to say nothing of Michael, the sacristan, who is this
+moment in a high fever in consequence. No, never did any one hear so
+demoniacal, so terrible a noise as echoed through the vault last
+night. I was there myself, countess, in my own person. I was ready to
+encounter the wicked spirits; I would have met them armed with all the
+terrors of Mother Church, but the courage of my weak-kneed sacristan
+failed. I have now come to tell you that my knowledge is at an end.
+This castle is bewitched, and, countess, my advice to you is to leave
+it without delay, and to take up your residence in a city, where your
+family ghost cannot follow you."
+
+The countess placed the middle finger of her left hand upon her
+breast, and spoke with haughty dignity:
+
+"I leave this castle because the spirits of my ancestors dwell here!
+Your advice, reverend father, shows how little you know me. To my
+mind, it is a powerful reason for remaining. Here the spirits of my
+forefathers, the ghosts of ancestors, surround me. They know me, they
+claim me as theirs; they honor me with their visits, with their
+invitations, and you counsel me to abandon them. Never! Bondavara is
+dearer to me than ever; the presence of my ancestors has doubled its
+value a hundredfold."
+
+It was on the tip of Herr Mahok's tongue to answer, "Well, then,
+remain here by all means, but for my part I give my resignation;
+provide yourself with another confessor." He restrained himself,
+however, and said, quietly:
+
+"Will you tell me, countess, how it happens that, if you have these
+close relations with your ancestors' spirits, you heard nothing of
+the witch's Sabbath they kept last night?"
+
+At this bold question the countess's pale cheeks were suddenly
+decorated by two carnation spots; her eyes fell before the sharp look
+of her father confessor, and, striking her breast with her hand, she
+sank slowly on her knees, whispering, in great agitation:
+
+"Pater, peccavi. There is something which I have never confessed to
+you, and which lies heavy on my conscience."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"Oh, I fear to tell you!"
+
+"Daughter, fear nothing," said the priest, soothingly. "God is
+merciful to human weakness."
+
+"I believe that; but I am more afraid that you will laugh at me."
+
+"Ah!" And the pastor, at this strange speech, fell back in his chair,
+smiling to himself.
+
+The countess rose from her kneeling position and went to her
+writing-table; she opened a secret drawer, and took from thence an
+album. It was a splendid book with an ivory cover, chasings of gilt
+enamel, and clasp of the same.
+
+"Will you look through this album, father?"
+
+The priest opened the clasp, took off the cover, and saw a collection
+of cabinet photographs, such as are generally to be found on drawing
+room tables. There were portraits of eminent statesmen, poets, actors,
+with whose likenesses all the world is familiar. Two points were
+remarkable in this gallery--one, that no one was included who had any
+scandal connected with his name; secondly, it was only clean-shaved
+men who had a place in the volume. Herr Mahok recognized many whom he
+knew either by sight or personally--Liszt, Reményi, the actors
+Lendvay, Szerdahelyi, and others, together with many foreign
+celebrities, who wore neither beard nor mustache. Another peculiarity
+struck the pastor. Several of the leaves, instead of portraits, had
+pieces of black crape inserted into the frames. This circumstance made
+him reflective.
+
+"It is a very interesting volume," he said, closing the book' "but
+what has it to do with the present circumstances?"
+
+"I confess to you," said the countess, in a low voice, "that this book
+is a memorial of my folly and weakness. A picture-dealer in Vienna has
+for many years had an order from me; he sends me every photograph that
+comes out of clean-shaved men, and I seek among them for my ideal. I
+have been seeking many years. Sometimes I imagine I have found it;
+some one of the portraits takes my fancy. I call the man whom it
+represents my betrothed. I place the photograph before me; I dream for
+hours looking at it; I almost fancy that it speaks to me. We say to
+one another all manner of things--sweet nothings, but they fill my
+mind with a sort of ecstasy. It is silly, I know, and something tells
+me that it is worse than silly, that it is sinful. I have been for a
+long time wondering whether I should confess this as a sin, or keep
+silence about such foolish nonsense. What is your opinion, father?"
+
+Herr Mahok, in truth, did not know what to say. It was true that in
+the Scripture some words were said about sinning with the eyes, but
+photographs were not named. He answered, vaguely--
+
+"Anything further, my daughter?"
+
+"After I had for some time been silly over one of the portraits, I saw
+in a dream the man it represented. He appeared to me as a beautiful
+apparition, we walked together through fields and meadows,
+arm-in-arm; a sort of heavenly halo surrounded us, flowers sprang up
+under our feet. We were young, and we loved one another." The poor
+lady wept bitterly as she related her dream, and she sobbed as she
+said, "Is not this a sin, father?"
+
+Herr Mahok had no hesitation in answering. He had found the name of
+the sin--it was witchcraft; but the form the penance should take
+puzzled him. The countess, however, helped him to a decision.
+
+"Ah," she said, sadly, "I thought it was some demoniac possession; and
+for these visions, sweet as they were, I must now do penance. Is it
+not so, father? Will it satisfy for my fault if I burn in the fire the
+portrait of the man who appeared to me in my dream, and fill the empty
+space in my book with black crape?"
+
+This remark explained the many frames filled with crape. The pastor
+thought that the penance was well chosen. Nothing could be better than
+a burnt-offering.
+
+Theudelinde continued, "During these visions I lie in a profound
+slumber. My soul is no longer on the earth; I am in the paradise of
+lovers. No earthly feeling chains me here below; I am a clear spirit,
+consequently no sound reaches me. I am as deaf to this world as if I
+were already dead."
+
+"Therefore the ghostly tumult never reached you last night; you were
+wandering in your dream world."
+
+"I confess it was so," whispered the countess, covering her face with
+her hands.
+
+"Now, here is a nice state of things!" thought the pastor. "The dead
+ancestors play all manner of pranks in the family vault, while their
+descendant projects herself out of her human body to make love in some
+other region. They are, indeed, an extraordinary race. A poor man
+daren't even think of such extravagances, and how can I, a poor
+parish priest, deal with such queer goings-on? I only know how to
+settle with the every-day penitent, who commits the usual sins."
+
+This complication, in truth, of the ghosts below and the bewitched
+countess above, was too much for a man of his calibre to deal with. It
+required a superior genius to exorcise the spirits and to calm the
+hysterical mind of Theudelinde. In the difficulty it appeared to him
+better to temporize.
+
+"My daughter, the penance you have imposed upon yourself is well
+thought of. Have you already committed to the flames the portrait of
+the last demoniacal appearance?"
+
+"No," answered the countess, with all the hesitation a young girl
+would have in speaking of her lover's picture.
+
+"And why not?" questioned the priest, almost sternly. He was glad to
+find some tangible fault.
+
+"It would be wrong, I think, to throw this particular portrait into
+the fire."
+
+"And wherefore should it be wrong?"
+
+Before she replied the countess opened a concealed pocket of the album
+and drew forth what it contained.
+
+"Ah!" cried the pastor as he took the photograph, which he at once
+recognized as the Abbé Samuel, the head of an influential order which
+possessed many different branches.
+
+"The photographer in Vienna had my directions to send me the
+photograph of every clean-shaven celebrity. He, therefore, has
+committed the sin of sending me the portrait of an eminent priest. The
+fault is mine, not his."
+
+"And in your dreams have you wandered arm-in-arm with the original of
+this?" asked Herr Mahok, still holding in his hand the photograph.
+
+"I am guilty!" stammered the countess, laying her hands upon her
+breast.
+
+"Then," said the pastor, "Heaven inspired you not to throw this
+portrait, like that of the others, into the fire, for in this man you
+will find a physician able to cure your sick soul. It is really
+providential that this portrait should be in your hands, for the
+others were idle, foolish dreams. Here you have found your ideal,
+under whose guidance you may hope to find health and salvation. He
+will lead you, not in a dream, but in reality, to the blessed regions
+of peace and true piety, where alone, my daughter, real happiness is
+to be found. This man possesses strength of mind and elevation of
+character sufficient to exorcise all the spirits which haunt your
+castle, and to banish from your mind those temptations which spring
+from the same source as the more visible demons which we call
+ghosts."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE EXORCIST
+
+
+Acting upon the advice of Herr Mahok, the countess resolved to lay all
+her troubles before a new physician for her soul. That very day the
+pastor wrote to Abbé Samuel, who was then in Pesth, inviting him to
+come to Bondavara Castle.
+
+The abbé was a man of high calling; one of those priests who are more
+or less independent in their ideas. He had friendly relations with
+certain personages, and the initiated knew that certain articles with
+the signature "S," which appeared in the opposition paper, were from
+his pen. In society he was agreeable and polished, and his presence
+never hindered rational enjoyment. In intellectual circles he shone;
+his lectures, which were prepared with great care, were attended by
+the _élite_ of society, and, as a natural consequence, the
+ultramontane papers were much against him. Once, even, the police had
+paid him a domiciliary visit, although they themselves did not know
+wherein he had given cause for suspicion. All these circumstances had
+raised his reputation, which had lately been increased by the
+appearance of his picture in a first-rate illustrated journal. This
+won for him the general public. So stately was his air, his high,
+broad forehead, manly, expressive features, well-marked eyebrows, and
+frank, fearless look, with nothing sinister or cunning in it. For the
+rest, there was little of the priest about him; his well-knit,
+robust, muscular form was rather that of a gladiator. Through the
+whole country he was well-known as the independent priest, who
+ventured to tell the government what he thought.
+
+For this reason the excellent Herr Mahok had for him the greatest
+respect. He, as an insignificant parish priest, could do nothing for
+his fatherland. It was true that, many years ago, he had fought more
+than twenty battles with the Honvéd Battalion; he had preached to his
+men how they should love their country, and for this he had been
+sentenced to death, which sentence had been commuted to ten years'
+imprisonment; he had passed five of those years in chains, and his
+feet still bore the marks of the wounds made by the heavy irons. But
+what were these trifles, of which Herr Mahok thought little, in
+comparison to the bold deeds of the Abbé Samuel, who dared to write
+independent articles in the papers, and to sign them with the initial
+of his name. To have fought with Haynau against the Russians under
+fire of heavy cannon, to have been in the galleys, that was a mere
+joke. To have the fearful police upon your track, that was serious.
+Herr Mahok thought most highly of the abbé's capabilities, measuring
+them by the loss of his own physical and mental energy--for after
+fifteen years, five of which had been spent in heavy iron chains, a
+man is not what he was.
+
+After some days the invited guest arrived at the parsonage of Herr
+Mahok. The pastor related to him, circumstantially, all that had
+reference to the countess, with the exception, of course, of such
+matters as were under the sacred seal of confession. He told him about
+the ghosts, and his own experience under that head.
+
+Herr Samuel received the narration with fits of laughter.
+
+"You may laugh here as much as you like, but I beg of you not to do so
+before the countess; she holds to her ghosts," remarked the pastor,
+with an air of one who knew what he was saying.
+
+The abbé then asked for information concerning the disposition of the
+rooms in the castle, how they were situated in regard to one another.
+He made the pastor describe minutely every particular of what he had
+himself been witness to, also how he and his sacristan had made good
+their escape through the lattice door.
+
+The equipage of the countess came at the usual hour to fetch both the
+guests to the castle, which lay at some little distance from the
+village.
+
+It was only natural, all things taken into account, that the countess
+on her first introduction to the abbé should lose all control of her
+nerves, and that she should give way to several hysterical symptoms,
+which could only be calmed by the abbé laying his hand in paternal
+benediction upon her forehead. Fraulein Emerenzia's nerves, in
+accordance with the sympathy which existed between her and her
+mistress, became at once similarly affected, and required a similar
+imposition of hands; but neither of the priests troubled themselves
+about her, and when the countess recovered from her attack, the
+companion did likewise.
+
+During dinner, which was served with great elegance, the abbé
+discoursed upon every possible subject, and made inquiries as to the
+prospects of the country, the occupations of the people, the age of
+the servants, and so forth. He addressed a great deal of his
+conversation to Fraulein Emerenzia, attended to her wants; when he
+offered her wine she covered her glass with her hand, and declared
+she never tasted anything but water, which seemed infinitely to
+surprise him; also, when he wished to know whether the ring on her
+finger was one of betrothal, Emerenzia tried to blush, and gave him to
+understand that, from her own choice, she meant to live and die a
+maid.
+
+After dinner was over, Herr Mahok remained in the dining-room to
+entertain the Fraulein--that is to say, he seated himself in an
+armchair, folded his hands upon his rotund stomach, closed his eyes,
+and during a sweet doze heard the clatter of Emerenzia's sharp voice.
+
+The abbé went with the countess into her private sitting-room. She sat
+upon the sofa, her eyes on the ground, waiting with much inward
+trepidation to hear what sentence so exalted a personage would
+pronounce upon the demoniacal possession. As he did not speak, she in
+a timid voice began--
+
+"Has my confessor told you the terrible secret of the castle?"
+
+"He has told me all that he knows."
+
+"And what view would the authorities of the Church take, do you
+think?"
+
+"My individual opinion, countess, is that the whole thing is a
+conspiracy of the living."
+
+"Of the living!" repented the countess. "And my visions?"
+
+"Those can be explained by psychological means. You are of a
+susceptible, nervous temperament; your senses are made acquainted with
+the first portion of the history, your imagination works out the
+remainder. Your dreams, countess, are hallucinations, nothing else.
+Visible ghosts do not exist; those who are dead cannot live and move,
+for the reason that their organic powers are at an end."
+
+The countess shook her head incredulously. To say the truth, she was
+ill-pleased. She had expected from so high and intellectual an
+ecclesiastic a very different explanation. If he could only tell us
+this, it was, indeed, lost trouble to send so far for him.
+
+Herr Samuel was quick enough to read in her face what was passing in
+her mind, and hastened to apply a radical cure.
+
+"Countess, I know you doubt what I say, because you have firm faith in
+what your eyes have seen, your ears have heard. You are quite
+convinced that you yourself have been many times in the haunted vault,
+and have there seen the spirits of your departed ancestors."
+
+"Only last night," whispered the countess, in an awed voice, "the
+tumult was fearful. They told me they would come again to-night, that
+they would expect me."
+
+"And have you promised to go to them?"
+
+"When day comes I shudder from the idea, but at night some strange,
+mysterious power draws me to the vault; I know all fear will vanish,
+and I shall not be able to stay away."
+
+"Very good. Then to-night I shall go with you to the vault of your
+ancestors."
+
+At these words a sudden flush covered the pale face of the countess.
+The living portrait! She should go with him--where? Perhaps into hell.
+She trembled at the thought; then with a violent effort recovered her
+composure, and said, in a hesitating manner--
+
+"I do not know. I do not think it would be possible. I should have to
+let my household into the secret."
+
+The abbé understood the nature of the question, and all the
+consequences it involved.
+
+"That would not be necessary. On the contrary, your household must
+know nothing of my visit."
+
+The countess looked at him. She was puzzled, agitated. What could he
+mean? He could not imagine for a moment that he was to spend the night
+with her--alone?
+
+The abbé read her thought and answered quietly--
+
+"I shall go away now with Pastor Mahok. I shall return about midnight,
+and will knock at your door to announce my arrival."
+
+Theudelinde shook her head. "That is impossible. In winter every door
+in my house is locked by seven o'clock. To reach my suite of rooms,
+you should pass through no less than seven doors. First the castle
+door. This is watched by my portress, an old woman who never sleeps;
+besides, two monstrous bloodhounds keep guard there. They are chained
+to the door with long chains; they would eat you if you tried to pass.
+Then comes the door of the corridor, to which there are two locks; my
+companion keeps the key of one, my housekeeper the key of the other,
+and to open it you must awake both. The third is the door to the
+staircase; the cook has the key under her pillow, and she sleeps so
+soundly, and the whole house is astir before she moves. The fourth is
+the entrance to the secret lattice passage; this is in the keeping of
+the housemaid, a nervous girl, who, when it grows dark, would not go
+into the next room. The fifth door leads to the chamber of my own
+maid, a very modest young person, who would not open the door to a man
+were he prophet or saint. The sixth door is that of Fraulein
+Emerenzia, my companion; she falls into violent hysterics if at night
+any one turns the handle of her door. The seventh and last door is
+that of my dressing-room, which is fitted with a peculiar self-acting
+lock, a new invention. I ask your reverence if, under such conditions,
+you could make your way here at midnight?"
+
+"Permit me, in my turn, to put a question to you. You have given me to
+understand that you descend constantly to the vault of your ancestors.
+How does it happen that you pass through all these well-guarded
+doors?"
+
+Over the countenance of the countess a triumphant smile passed. The
+superstitious woman could repel the attack of the scientist.
+
+"Oh, I do not pass through any of them! From my bedroom a secret
+staircase leads to the chapel vault. I go down this staircase."
+
+It would have been only natural that the abbé on hearing this should
+have proposed to conceal himself in the library, and there await the
+countess. But he read the character of his hostess and knew that such
+a proposal would have shocked her prudish mind and have offended her
+so deeply that, in all probability, she would have refused to listen
+any further. She required the most delicate management; this the
+quick-seeing abbé recognized perfectly.
+
+"I am still of the same mind," he said, calmly. "I shall knock at your
+door this night at twelve o'clock."
+
+At these words the countess was seized with a nervous shudder, but the
+abbé went on without taking any notice--
+
+"If you believe that there are unearthly beings who are possessed of
+mysterious powers by which they pass through locked doors and make
+themselves visible to some human beings, invisible to others, then why
+should I not have this power also? But you imagine that because I am
+only a man born of dust I cannot infringe the laws of nature. Let me
+remind you that there is a natural explanation for all that may seem
+to you incomprehensible. Witchcraft is now no longer a mystery. We do
+not now burn Boscos and Galuches upon funeral piles. Do not for a
+moment think that I am a Bosco or a Paracelsus. I repeat that what I
+promise I will perform; at the same hour at which the ghosts begin
+their orgies will I knock at your door with the words, _In nomine
+Domini aperientur portæ fidelium_--'In the name of the Lord may the
+doors of the faithful be opened.' Remember, no one but us two is to
+know anything of my coming to-night. Till then may the blessing of God
+be with you."
+
+Theudelinde was much impressed by her strange visitor. His confidence
+infused courage into her weak mind, while his masterful ways
+influenced her like a spell. He addressed her from such a superior
+height that she felt it would be almost desecration not to place the
+utmost faith in his promises, and, nevertheless, he had promised to
+perform an impossible thing. How could she reconcile the two, unless,
+indeed, she had to do with a being of another world? She saw from the
+window the carriage drive away with the two clergymen. She watched
+them get in; she remained at her post until the carriage returned
+empty.
+
+The female Jehu showed to the other servants the _pourboire_ she had
+received; it was a new silver piece. It passed from hand to hand. What
+a miracle! Of the fifteen million inhabitants of Hungary, fourteen
+million five hundred thousand had never seen such a thing as a silver
+piece of money. There was a clergyman for you, of a very different
+pattern from that other, who gave, every Sunday, a fourpenny piece
+wrapped carefully in a piece of paper, to be _divided_ among the
+waitresses!
+
+The time passed slowly to the countess; the clock seemed to go with
+leaden weights. She wandered through all the rooms, her mind
+revolving in what possible manner, by what possible entrance a man
+could find his way into the castle. When it had struck seven o'clock
+she saw herself that every door which communicated with her wing was
+carefully locked; then she sat herself down in her own room. She took
+out the plan of the castle, which had been prepared by the Florentine
+artist who had built it. It was not the first time she had studied it;
+when she had received the castle as a present from her father, she had
+made herself mistress of every particular concerning it. The building
+was three times larger than her income could afford to maintain. She
+had, therefore, to choose which wing she would occupy. In the centre
+there were fine reception-rooms, a banqueting-hall, an armory, and a
+museum for pictures and curiosities. This portion was out of the
+question. Also, from this portion of the castle a concealed staircase
+led to a subterranean passage. This could be used as a means of
+escape, and had no doubt served such a purpose when the old castle had
+been besieged by the Turks. The grandfather of the countess had walled
+up these steps, and no one could now get into the secret passage. The
+left wing, which was similarly constructed to the one which the
+countess inhabited, had served as a sort of pleasure residence to her
+pleasure-loving ancestors. There were all manner of secret holes and
+corners in it, communications of all kinds connecting the rooms, doors
+behind pictures, concealed alcoves, and the like. The architect's plan
+showed these without any reticence. Theudelinde naturally turned away
+in horror from the idea of inhabiting this tainted wing, so full of
+sinful associations; she set up her Lares and Penates in the less
+handsome, but more homely, right wing, where were a few good rooms
+fitted for domestic life, an excellent library, and the family vault
+below. It contained no other secret staircase than the one which led
+to the tombs of the departed members of the family. For the rest,
+Countess Theudelinde had taken care to wall up all the passages which
+led to either the centre or left wing of the castle, and there was no
+means of communication between them and her apartments. All the
+chimneys had iron gates to shut off any possible entrance that way;
+every window was provided with strong iron bars. It would have been
+impossible for even a cat to effect an entrance into this enchanted
+castle.
+
+The countess, meditating on all these precautions, came to the
+conclusion that there was only one way by which the Abbé Samuel could
+introduce himself into the house, and that was by a secret
+understanding with some one of her household. But again, setting
+altogether aside the high character borne by the priest, which would
+render such an act upon his part improbable, the very nature of the
+circumstances attending his visit made it impossible. He had never
+been absent from the countess for a minute, except during his short
+walk to the carriage, and then Herr Mahok had been his companion.
+Theudelinde, therefore, dismissed the idea from her mind. She sent her
+household early to bed; she complained to Fraulein Emerenzia of
+suffering from pains on one side of her head. Immediately that
+sympathetic companion complained of pains on the other side of her
+head. When the countess thought she would try to sleep, Emerenzia felt
+the like desire; she wrapped her whole head up in warm cotton wool,
+and snored without mercy.
+
+Theudelinde shut herself up in her bedroom and counted the minutes.
+She tried to play Patience, but the cards would not come right; her
+mind was too much disturbed. She took out her Bible, splendidly
+illustrated by Doré. She looked at all the pictures; she counted the
+figures of the different men and women upon those two hundred and
+thirty large plates; then the horses and the camels, till she came to
+the scenes of murders. Then she tried to pass the time by reading the
+text. She counted which letter of the alphabet was repeated the most
+frequently upon one side of the page. For the greater part the letter
+_a_ was the favorite, _e_ came next, then _o_, also _u_; _i_ was the
+worst represented. This was in the French print. In the Hungarian text
+_e_ had the majority, then _a_, _o_, and _i_, and, last of all, _b_
+and _u_. But of this she also wearied. Then she sat down to the piano,
+and tried to calm her agitation by playing dreamy fantasias; neither
+did this succeed. Her hands trembled, and she could not sustain
+herself at the instrument, she was so wearied; and as the fatal hour
+of midnight drew nearer she gave up making efforts to distract her
+mind, and abandoned herself to thoughts of the impending ghostly
+tumult. She found herself altogether under the influence of her
+ancestral spectres, for she was always consumed with _ennui_ until the
+noise began. Then a sort of fever would come to her; she would undress
+herself, crawl into bed, draw the coverings over her head until she
+broke into a perspiration, and then fall into a deep sleep. The next
+morning, when she awoke, she really believed that she had witnessed
+the scenes of which she had only dreamed.
+
+This night she drew forth her talisman, the photograph of the abbé,
+and tried to find some strength by considering it. She placed it
+before her on the reading-desk and sat gazing at it. Was he really a
+superior being, at whose command the doors of the castle would fly
+open, spectres would vanish, and the gates of hell would close upon
+them? It could not be that such things would happen. The more the
+night advanced the greater grew her nervous fears. Her heart beat
+loudly. It was not so much the nightly ghosts that she dreaded, but
+this new and equally unearthly visitor. What was he? A wizard, an
+enchanter like Merlin of old, or a saint come to exorcise and banish
+her tormentors?
+
+The weary lagging hours went by, until at last the pendulum of the old
+clock began to vibrate, and its iron tongue gave out midnight. The
+countess counted every stroke. Its vibration had hardly ceased when,
+punctual to its usual time, the infernal noise began; from the vault
+below the tones of the mass reached Theudelinde's ears. She was,
+however, listening for another sound, listening with feverish anxiety
+to catch a stealthy footfall in the adjoining room, to hear the rattle
+of a key surreptitiously moving in the lock. Nothing! She came to the
+door, and, putting her head to the keyhole, strained her ears in vain.
+All was still. It was now a quarter past midnight; the tumult in the
+vault below was in full swing--the witches' Sabbath, as it might be
+called, with its yells, shouts, songs, prayers; it was as if all the
+devils of hell had given one another rendezvous in the company of the
+countess's ancestors.
+
+"He will not come," she thought, and trembled in every limb of her
+fever-stricken body. It was folly to expect it. How could a man
+accomplish what is only permitted to spirits?
+
+She retired to the alcove and prepared to lie down. At this moment she
+heard a tap at the door of her sitting-room, and, after a moment, a
+low voice spoke in firm tones--
+
+"In nomine Domini aperientur portæ fidelium."
+
+It was the signal given by the abbé. Theudelinde gave a shriek; she
+nearly lost her senses from fright, but gathered herself together with
+a supreme effort. It was real; no hallucination, no dream! He was at
+the door, her deliverer. Forward!
+
+The countess ran to the door and opened it. The crisis gave her
+unusual strength. This might be a trap, and instead of a deliverer she
+might find herself opposite to a robber or murderer. Under the carpet
+lay concealed the trap-door; the midnight visitor stood on the very
+spot. One pressure of the secret spring and down he went into the
+abyss below. Theudelinde had her foot on the spring as she undid the
+door.
+
+There stood the abbé before her. No appearance of his clerical calling
+was to be seen. He wore a long coat, which reached to his feet, and
+carried neither bell, book, nor candle, wherewith to exorcise the
+spirits. In his right hand he held a thick stick made of rhinoceros'
+skin, and in the left a dark lantern.
+
+"Remain where you are," said the countess, in a commanding voice.
+"Before you set foot in this room you shall tell me how you got here.
+Was it with the help of God, of man, or of the devil?"
+
+"Countess," returned the abbé, "look about you. Do you not see that
+every door in your castle stands open? Through these open doors I have
+passed easily. How I passed through the court is another thing. I will
+tell you that later."
+
+"And my household, who sleep in those rooms?" said the countess, in an
+incredulous voice.
+
+"The curtains hang round every bed; I have not raised them. If your
+household be asleep, they will no doubt sleep as the just do, without
+waking."
+
+The countess listened, only half believing what she heard; she was
+growing nerveless again. She led the abbé into the sitting-room, and
+sank exhausted upon the sofa.
+
+The tumult in the vault was indescribable.
+
+"Do you hear _it_?" she said, in a whisper.
+
+"I do hear, and I know whence it comes. I am here to face those who
+cause this unseemly riot."
+
+"Have you the weapons that Holy Church has provided for such a task?"
+asked Theudelinde, anxiously.
+
+The priest for all answer held towards her the strong staff he
+carried.
+
+"I have this good stick, countess."
+
+"Do you hear above all the tumult that strident voice? It is my uncle
+Ladislaus," cried the countess, grasping the abbé's arm with both her
+hands. "Do you hear that horrible laugh? It is my uncle's laugh."
+
+"We will soon learn the author of that unpleasant cachinnation,"
+remarked the priest, quietly.
+
+"Why, what do you propose to do?"
+
+"I shall go down and join the worshipful society below."
+
+"You will descend into the vault? What to do?"
+
+"To pass judgment upon that unruly gang, countess. You promised to
+accompany me."
+
+"I promised!" and Theudelinde retreated from him, her eyes staring
+wildly, her hands pressed to her breast.
+
+"It was your own wish."
+
+"True, true! I am so confused; my thoughts are all astray. I cannot
+recollect them. You here, and that fearful noise below! I am terribly
+afraid."
+
+"How? You who had the courage to go among the ghosts by yourself, are
+you afraid now that _I_ am with you? Give me your hand."
+
+The countess placed her trembling fingers in the abbé's hand, and as
+she felt the firm, manly clasp, an unusual sense of strength and
+protection possessed her; she ceased to shake and shiver, her eyes no
+longer saw shapes and fantasies moving before them; her heart began to
+beat steadily. The bare touch of this man's hand gave her new life.
+
+"Come with me," he said, in a decided voice, while he stuck his whip
+under his left arm, and with the right drew the countess after him.
+"Where are the keys of the secret staircase, and of the room through
+which we must pass?"
+
+Theudelinde felt that she could not let go his hand for one minute.
+She was for the moment, so to speak, mesmerized by his superior mind.
+She crawled after him submissively; she should follow him, were it to
+the very gates of hell itself. Without a word she pointed to the key
+cabinet, an antique piece of furniture which would have made the joy
+of a bric-à-brac collector, and in which there was a drawer full of
+keys.
+
+Without a moment's hesitation the priest put his hand on the ones that
+were wanted. It was no miracle that he should do so, although to the
+weakened mind of his companion it appeared to be miraculous; on one of
+the keys there was the well-known sign of a vault key, the crucifix.
+
+The abbé now drew aside the curtain which concealed the secret passage
+to the library, and here, at the first step, he was met by a certain
+proof, if such were wanting, to show him the credit to be given to the
+countess's statements that she was in the habit of descending to the
+vault: as he opened the door a mass of cobwebs blew into his face. The
+countess, however, was firm in her hallucination. It is a phase of
+such nervous disorders as hers to believe that what they have dreamed
+is actual fact; they can even supply small details.
+
+As the countess went up the steps she whispered to her companion--
+
+"A window is broken here, and the wind whistles through it." And as
+they turned the angle of the steps there was a narrow slip-window
+which in the daytime gave light to the staircase, the panes of which
+were actually broken. She had never seen this. When they came to the
+door of the library she confided to the abbé that she was always
+frightened to pass the threshold.
+
+"It is such a ghostly place!" she said. "When the moon shines through
+the shutter of the upper window it throws white specks upon the mosaic
+pattern of the marble floor, which makes it look like some mysterious
+writing. In one of the corners between two presses there is a glass
+case with a skeleton in it; in another case the wax impression, taken
+after death, of Ignatius Loyola."
+
+Everything was precisely as the countess related. The moon shone
+through the upper panes of glass, the skeleton stood in his glass
+case, the waxen head of the dead saint lay in the other, but the
+countess had never crossed the threshold. In her childhood her nurse
+had told her these tales of the Bondavara Castle, and when she had
+become its mistress her first care had been to lock these rooms. Ten
+years' dust lay on the carpets, on the chairs and tables; cobwebs hung
+from the ceilings, mice played games in the deep wainscots, for no one
+ever came here.
+
+At the moment in which the countess and her companion entered the
+library a certain peace reigned in the vault below. The tumult seemed
+lulled; there were neither shrieks nor demoniacal songs to be heard.
+From the mortuary chapel, however, the notes of the organ reached the
+ears of the two listeners. It sounded like the prelude which is played
+in church before mass begins, only the chords of the prelude were all
+discords; it was as if the organ were played by a condemned spirit.
+
+The countess stood before the chapel door, her breast heaving with
+emotion. She caught hold of the abbé's hand with a strong grasp, and
+kept him from turning the key in the lock. She trembled in every limb.
+
+"What are those fearful tones?"
+
+Then came a confused sound, as of many voices intoning the vespers.
+One voice, which imitated the monotonous delivery of the celebrant,
+began to sing in Latin the words of a hymn--
+
+    "Bacchus, prepare the libation."
+
+Another voice answered in the same tone--
+
+    "And hasten, brethren, to drink!"
+
+Then a third took up the text in a parody of the _Gloria_--
+
+"Gloria Baccho, et filiæ ejus Cerevisiæ et Spiritui vini, sicut erat
+in Baccho natus, et nunc, et semper, et per omnia pocula poculorum.
+Stramen."
+
+The countess felt her whole body turning into ice; fear mingled with
+horror. She understood the impious parody.
+
+Now the organ accompanied the antiphon.
+
+"Date nobis de cerevisia vestra; quia sitiunt guttura nostra"--"Give
+us of your beer; our throats are dry."
+
+Then followed the psalm--
+
+"Brother to brother spoke these words: shall two goblets of beer
+quench man's thirst?"
+
+"Two, three, five, six are not enough for man's satiety."
+
+"Blessed be Bacchus, who gave us beer."
+
+Then followed the Capitulum.
+
+"Brethren, attend, and do as I command ye. Before ye leave the
+ale-house for your own homes empty all the pots, leave not a drop
+therein, but tilt them and drain every drop of wine. This do from
+goblet to goblet. Stramen."
+
+The countess felt, as she listened to this profanity, what a damned
+soul must experience when for the first time it consorts with devils.
+But now a hellish chorus broke forth of men's and women's voices,
+yelling out a parody of a hymn--
+
+   "Bacchus, who gave us drink,
+    Art thou not called the god of liquor?
+    Grant us all the holy grace,
+    Strength to drink in every place,
+    So that, drinking everywhere,
+    We for glory may prepare
+    In thy everlasting wine-cellar."
+
+This was followed by the ringing of the bell, and the priest's voice
+intoned the blessing.
+
+"Bacchus be with you."
+
+The chorus answered, "And with thy pint-pots."
+
+Then came the Oratio--
+
+"Let us eat. O all-powerful Bacchus, since thou hast created this
+society of ours for thine own honor, grant to us its continuance, and
+give to us a constant supply of brave topers, who never may cease
+drinking from goblet to goblet."
+
+And the chorus answered, "Stramen."
+
+The countess was not able any longer to hold herself up. She sank upon
+her knees, and looked up at the priest in mute horror. Hardly knowing
+what she did, she gazed in utter despair at the tall figure lit up as
+it was by the rays of the moon, which played round his head like a
+halo.
+
+The abbé put the key into the lock of the chapel door. The countess
+caught his hand; her fright amounted to agony.
+
+"Do not--do not open it!" she cried. "Inside is hell let loose."
+
+With an elevation of his head, the abbé answered proudly--
+
+"Nec portæ inferi--the gates of hell shall not prevail"; and then he
+turned the key, and the heavy iron door swung open, and disclosed the
+actors in the strange drama.
+
+On the altar all the candles were lighted, and their light showed with
+distinctness every incident of the performance, every feature in the
+faces of the performers.
+
+What a scene!
+
+On one side of the vault ran a long table, round which was seated,
+eating and drinking, not the countess's ancestors and ancestresses,
+but all the servants of her household. The maids, who were so strictly
+guarded, were here in the company of the men who were so rigorously
+excluded. The countess could, therefore, see that these were
+flesh-and-blood ghosts which had so long haunted her ancient castle.
+Each of her handmaidens had a lover in either the steward, bailiff,
+gamekeeper, or clerk in the neighborhood. The nervous housemaid, who
+at night was afraid of her own shadow, was now drinking out of the
+glass of the innkeeper; the virtuous maid was embraced by the mayor's
+footman; the portress, an elderly virgin, held a jug in her hand,
+while she executed a clog-dance upon the table. All the rest clapped
+hands, shrieked, sang at the top of their voices, and beat the table
+as if it were a big drum. The shepherd, who represented the countess's
+grandfather, sat upon the monument of the chancellor, his legs round
+the cross, and played the bagpipes. It was this instrument which at
+the burlesque of vespers imitated the harmonium. Upon the gravestone
+of the first archbishop the beer-barrel was set up. The maids were all
+dressed in the countess's silk dresses, with the exception of the
+female coachman, who, as usual, wore man's clothes, but by way of
+symmetry her lover, the coachman of the neighboring brewery, was
+dressed in woman's clothes. The countess recognized on the head of
+this bearded fellow her nightcap, and round his body her cloak,
+trimmed with her best lace. Worst of all, at the top of the table sat
+Fraulein Emerenzia, on very intimate terms with her neighbor, a young
+lawyer. She wore the skirt of a favorite dress of Theudelinde's, a
+flame-colored brocade; the body could not fit her corpulent form, so
+she had her mistress's best lace shawl wrapped round her. Her face was
+red; she had a large tumbler of wine before her, and she smoked a
+pipe. The modest Emerenzia!
+
+The men were all drunk and noisy, the women screamed in an unearthly
+manner; the bagpipes squealed; the table resounded with thumps and the
+clatter of the portress's clogs. From the altar came the voice of the
+mock priest, his arms outstretched in blessing. Through the din the
+words "Bacchus vobiscum" were heard, and the tinkle of the bell. This
+mock priest was no other than Michael the sacristan, who brought all
+the church ornaments confided to his care. He wore the pastor's
+vestments, and on his head an improvised skull-cap. The acolyte was
+the parish bell-ringer.
+
+The countess was cut to the heart. The terrible ingratitude,
+especially of these girls, to whom she had been as a mother--more
+anxious indeed than their own mothers to keep them pure and
+innocent--wounded the poor lady who had taught them to sing hymns on
+Sunday, had fed them from her own table, and had never allowed them to
+read a novel or hear a bad word. And this was the outcome of her
+efforts. They insulted the graves of her ancestors, played upon her
+nervous fears, destroyed her rest, nearly drove her mad with their
+ghostly noises, wore her clothes at their orgies, and, worse insult of
+all, she, a high-born lady and a pure woman, had the degradation of
+wearing these same garments, defiled as they were with the smell of
+wine and stale tobacco.
+
+Bitter as such ingratitude was, it counted as nothing in comparison
+with the profanation of using the holiest things of religion, the
+sacred ornaments of the Church, to carry out these impious rites. "Woe
+to them from whom scandal cometh," says the Scripture, and this woe
+means pain and suffering that no soothing balsam can alleviate.
+
+A mortal terror still filled the countess's heart. She was in the
+presence of those who had no control over their already besotted
+senses. If these drunken savages, these unsexed women, found their
+revels were discovered, what was to hinder them tearing her to pieces?
+There was only one man between her and them. Theudelinde looked at her
+solitary protector. His eyes gleamed with such apostolic anger that
+her timid soul grew fearful of the consequences, both to him and to
+herself, of his just wrath. She seized both his hands, to hold him
+from venturing among such demons. The abbé easily freed himself from
+the clasp of her weak fingers. In one bound he sprang down the steps,
+fell upon the false priest as he was in the act of pronouncing his
+final stramen; with the butt-end of his rhinoceros whip he gave him
+two blows.
+
+What the countess now witnessed was truly no vision. She saw how one
+man, armed with no more formidable weapon than a horsewhip, ventured
+into the midst of the hellish assembly, with one hand seized the table
+and overturned it and all that was on it of dishes, glasses, and
+wine-cups, with the other cracked his whip in the faces of the guests,
+who sprang to their feet in all the terror of detection, like to the
+profaners of the Temple. They were driven towards the door of the
+vault, the abbé's whip descending on their shoulders with impartial
+justice. They went tumbling over one another, howling and screaming,
+pressing onwards and pursued by the flagellation of the abbé. The
+bagpipe player in his haste missed his footing, those behind stumbled
+over him, and so lay all in a heap together. Not one went without
+carrying a remembrance of the abbé's strong arm, for he spared no one.
+No effort was made at reprisals; the criminal who is caught seldom
+shows fight. These last were, moreover, taken by surprise, and the
+clergyman was possessed of extraordinary strength; one man who tried
+to drag the horsewhip from his hand was dealt such a blow in his face
+that he was glad to relinquish his hold and take to his heels without
+loss of time.
+
+"Give it to them! give it to them!" cried the countess, who had no
+pity for her former servants, who had to pass her as they made their
+way pell-mell to the door. Emerenzia covered her head, not from shame,
+but fearing her face might get a blow. Almost the last was the
+sacristan, whose clerical dress hindered his speed, and whose back was
+so battered by the abbé that the vestment he wore hung in ribbons.
+
+After the last guest had departed, the abbé closed the heavy door of
+the vault and returned to where the countess was standing. His face
+wore an almost glorified expression; it was the consciousness of
+having asserted his strength. As he approached the countess fell on
+her knees, and made as if she would kiss his feet, but the abbé raised
+her.
+
+"Compose yourself, countess. Your present situation needs all your
+strength. Do you know that at this moment there are only two persons
+in this castle, for I have locked the door which leads to the
+court-yard. This folly is played out. You see now that no wicked
+spirit had any part in it. It was no ghost, only human beings who have
+had to do with this miserable business."
+
+"What shall I do?" asked the countess, constraining herself to speak
+calmly.
+
+"Take my lantern. I am going to lock the lattice door, so as to stop
+any entrance from this side. But you can return by the way we came,
+back to your own apartment, where I advise you to make yourself some
+tea; you are freezing with cold."
+
+"Must I go back all that way alone?"
+
+"Remember the words, 'If God is with me, who is against me,' and you
+can never be alone. To see ghosts is an illness; the method of curing
+it must be heroic."
+
+And as he saw that the countess, in spite of her efforts, could not
+subdue her nervous tremor, he took her by the hand, and, returning
+with her to the library, led her to the glass case which enclosed the
+skeleton, and opened the door.
+
+"Were you afraid of this? Why, it is nothing to fear. It is a standing
+proof of the wisdom of God. Every limb of this wonderful collection of
+bones tells us the Almighty created man to be ruler of the earth. Look
+at the skull; upon this arched forehead is written the birthright of
+humanity, in every corner and line of the face the superiority of the
+white race over all others. This skull teaches us how deep should be
+our gratitude to an all-seeing Providence who has created us the
+superior over all other beings on the earth. The sight of a skull
+should cause no shudder in the breast of man; it should give rise to
+feelings of thankfulness and reverence, for it is the symbol of the
+great love which our Heavenly Maker has for the creature He has made
+and chosen from all eternity."
+
+As he spoke the priest laid Theudelinde's cold hand upon the skull of
+the skeleton. The countess trembled no more. New life and strength
+born of the words of this singular man seemed to infuse themselves
+into her veins. She looked another being.
+
+"Now go to your room," said the abbé. "I shall soon follow, but I must
+first put out the torches on the altar. We must not have a
+conflagration on our hands."
+
+"I am quite ready to go alone," returned the countess. "My foolish
+fears are cured, but I am now concerned for you. Perhaps those
+wretched servants of mine are still about, and if you venture into the
+vault in the dark they may fall upon you and take their revenge for
+being discovered."
+
+"Oh, I am provided with what would soon scatter such cowards as they
+are," said the abbé, drawing a revolver from a secret pocket. "I had
+resolved to use stringent measures with them if necessary. Now, in
+God's name, retire to your room, countess."
+
+Theudelinde, without another word, took the lantern and went through
+the long library. The priest watched her until she had crossed the
+passage, and had opened the door of her own apartment. He then
+hastened back to the vault. In the passage he saw a blue flame
+burning on a tin dish.
+
+"Alcohol and ammonia mixed together," murmured the priest. "This is
+what frightened Herr Mahok." Close to it lay the winding-sheet and
+mask. The abbé pushed the vessel with the flame into the corner, for
+he knew that in an encounter with an adversary it would be little
+profit to have an illumination, and then he went down the dark passage
+carefully. No one was there; they had all run away, and were probably
+running still. The lattice door stood open; he drew it to, and barred
+it carefully; then he returned into the vault and locked it also,
+having first extinguished the lights, with the exception of one, which
+he took to light him back to the countess's room.
+
+He found her sitting composedly before the tea equipage. She had
+obeyed him. As he entered the room she rose, and, folding her hands
+upon her breast, cried:
+
+"Most holy saint and apostle!"
+
+"You must not give me such exalted titles," said the abbé, smiling.
+"What I have done does not merit such high-sounding terms. I have
+accomplished no miracle, for I had to do with mortals only. One
+circumstance which appears to you in a miraculous light is easily
+explained. I allude to my entering a house wherein all the doors were
+locked. But first, will you pour out the tea?--and if you will give me
+a cup I shall be grateful, for the occurrences of the last hour have
+somewhat excited me. Then we will talk the whole affair over."
+
+The countess gave her guest his tea, then sank back in her arm-chair,
+and wrapped herself in her cloak; she was still shivering.
+
+"That the supposed ghostly appearances and noises were in no sense
+supernatural was borne in on me," continued the abbé, as he sipped
+his tea, "from the first moment Herr Mahok took me into his
+confidence. I was convinced that the nocturnal disturbance was the
+work of your own household, and it served their purpose to make it as
+ghost-like as possible. The situation had been created by your
+over-caution, countess. Your women servants were not allowed to hold
+communication with the opposite sex; they, therefore, found other
+means to meet, and to give a cover to these illicit meetings they set
+up an atmosphere of ghostly mystery, by which their goings-on were
+well concealed. The conspiracy was perfectly carried out. If they had
+conducted their sinful intercourse on any other lines you would have
+long since discovered them. When the pastor told me that he and his
+sacristan had escaped through the lattice door, I suspected that it
+was through this door the men found their way into the vault, and that
+the sacristan must be a participator in the plot, whatever it was.
+Moreover, I calculated that the women must, of necessity, find their
+way through the cellar passage, and that, therefore, they would
+naturally leave every door in the house _open_, so that their return
+might be conducted without any danger of awaking you by noise, such as
+unlocking doors. The countenance, the coloring, the eyes of your
+companion betray her; it is easy to see what she has been, and that,
+moreover, she drinks. I knew to-day at dinner that she was a
+hypocrite. She held forth against all alcoholic drinks; that settled
+her with me. I had no doubt that I should find all the doors open, and
+I did. In order to make no noise I came on foot to the garden door.
+Countless footsteps in the fresh snow showed me that the company had
+already assembled. From the open garden door the foot-prints led to
+the lattice door, and thence to the vault. This door was put to. I
+pushed it open and was in the passage. I went to the left, up the
+steps to the cellar passage; the door was open. I could not count upon
+finding every door open; it was exactly as I imagined. The only
+difficulty lay in passing through your wardrobe-room, which has no
+key, but a peculiarly constructed spring-lock. I felt certain that
+your maids would borrow some of their mistress's silk dresses, and
+therefore the spring-lock would be arranged so as not to betray by its
+loud snap the return of the stolen garments to their proper place. On
+looking closely I found this to be the case; the lock was kept in its
+place by the insertion of a penknife, which could be easily withdrawn.
+Therefore, countess, you have, night after night, slept in this castle
+with every door open--in real danger--at the mercy of robbers, or even
+murderers; all the time frightened to death with ghostly noises, which
+kept you a prisoner to your room, not venturing to call your
+treacherous servants. Countess, you have been terribly punished."
+
+"Punished!" stammered the countess, her face growing even paler.
+
+"Yes, punished; for you have richly deserved to suffer."
+
+Theudelinde fixed a horrified look on the abbé.
+
+"Countess, at your door," said the priest, sternly, "lies the heaviest
+portion of the sins into which your servants have fallen. You have, in
+fact, driven them into vice. Your eccentric rules, bizarre and
+ridiculous ideas, made your women servants liars and induced their
+irregularities. Nature punishes those who revolt against her, and the
+long years during which you have isolated yourself from the world and
+from society have been flat rebellion, which has brought its own
+punishment. You now stand before two judges, Heaven and the World;
+Heaven is ready to punish you, the world to laugh at you; and the
+wrath of Heaven and the ridicule of the world is equally hard to bear.
+How do you mean to protect yourself against both?"
+
+The countess sank back annihilated. Only just recovered from the
+anxieties, horrors, and dangers of this dreadful night, she was not
+able to face the denunciations of the priest, which were, in fact,
+only the echo of her own conscience. The torture was greater than all
+she had undergone. There was silence in the room, during which the
+words rang in Theudelinde's ears like the tolling of a bell.
+
+"How shall you face the anger of Heaven and the ridicule of the
+world?"
+
+At last she thought of a way out of the difficulty, and, raising her
+head, she said, in a low voice:
+
+"I will hide my miserable head in a convent. _There_ the ridicule of
+the world will not reach me; there, kneeling before the altar, I will
+day and night pray to God to pardon my fault. You, oh most reverend
+father, will perhaps use your influence with the abbess of some
+convent--I should prefer the very strictest order--and get me
+admitted. There I shall find a living grave, and no one will ever hear
+my name. I shall leave this castle, and all my fortune, together with
+my savings of the last few years, to your order, with only one
+condition, that every night at twelve o'clock vespers shall be sung in
+the family vault, which has been desecrated by such abominations as
+have been practised there."
+
+The countess's voice, which was low and broken in the beginning,
+gathered strength as she made this renunciation of her worldly goods.
+
+The abbé rose up as she finished, and took her trembling hand in his,
+while, with a haughty elevation of his head, he answered:
+
+"That everything may be quite clear, I beg you will understand,
+countess, that neither I nor my order need, nor would accept, the
+donation of your castle, your property, or your money. It is not our
+custom to take advantage of weak-minded persons in a moment of
+contrition, and to extort from them compensation for their sins in the
+shape of their worldly goods. We have no desire to acquire property in
+so sneaking and contemptible a manner, and therefore, countess, in the
+name of my order, I decline to spend the night singing vespers in your
+family vault, or the day in living on your fortune. This idea you may
+dismiss altogether from your mind."
+
+These words filled the countess with admiration. She had already felt
+herself singularly attracted by this man. This proof of his
+disinterestedness and indifference to worldly considerations completed
+his dominion over her mind, and subjugated her to his authority. She
+listened submissively while he continued his admonitions.
+
+"For the rest," he said, "I should recommend you to abandon all ideas
+of conventual life, which is quite unsuited to a person of your
+nervous, excitable nature. You would find neither peace nor happiness;
+on the contrary, you would be a prey to all manner of scruples and
+disquieting thoughts. There are those who find a refuge and salvation
+in a cloister; for you it would be a foretaste of damnation, and in
+all probability you would end like the hermit who fled from the world
+to pray to God, and instead of praying, cursed Him."
+
+The eyes of the countess glared at this awful prospect, but she
+murmured to herself, "True, quite true!"
+
+"The recollection of your faults has banished you from the Church and
+has robbed you of all power to pray," continued the priest, in a harsh
+voice.
+
+"True, quite true!" sobbed the countess, and beat her breast. "I can
+never again enter a church, and I dare not pray." Then with a cry of
+despair she threw herself at the feet of the abbé, and with feverish
+strength clasped both his hands, while she screamed out, "Where shall
+I go, if not to the Church of God? Who shall help me, if I cannot pray
+to Him?"
+
+The clergyman saw it was necessary to soothe her terrible excitement.
+
+"Your proper refuge is in your own heart," he said, gently, "and your
+good deeds shall plead for you."
+
+Theudelinde pressed the priest's hand to her burning forehead. Then
+she rose from her kneeling position and stretched out her arms.
+
+"Command me. Advise me. What shall I do?"
+
+"Return to society, and take the place your rank and wealth entitle
+you to hold."
+
+The countess fell back a step, and stared at the abbé, her face all
+astonishment.
+
+"Return to the world! _I_ who left it five-and-twenty years ago! I
+should be the laughing-stock of every one were I to seek, at my age,
+pleasures which I long ago renounced."
+
+"Countess, you have voluntarily thrown away that portion of your life
+to which the world offers its best gifts; but there still remains to
+you that other half, wherein you can acquire the esteem of the
+world--that is, if you avail yourself of the means necessary for
+success."
+
+"My father, remember that in that circle which you wish me to enter I
+shall meet nothing but contempt and humiliations. The present
+generation don't know my name, my contemporaries despise me."
+
+"But there is a magic circle in which every one is recognized and no
+one is despised. Would you wish to enter this circle?"
+
+"Place me in this circle, father. Where is it to be found?"
+
+"I will tell you, countess. Your nation is passing through a crisis;
+it may be called the battle for intellectual freedom. All are striving
+to place themselves on a footing with the intellectuality of other
+nations--philosophers, poets, industrials; men, women, boys,
+gray-beards, magnates, and peasants. If they all knew how to strive
+together they might attain their purpose, but all are divided; each
+works for himself and by himself. Individual effort is doomed to
+failure, but united, certain of success."
+
+The countess listened in breathless astonishment. She did not
+understand where the abbé was leading her.
+
+"What is wanting in this tremendous struggle is a centre. The country
+has no centre. Debreczyn is thoroughly Hungarian, but its religious
+exclusiveness has narrowed its sphere of influence. Szegedin is well
+suited, but it is far too democratic. Klausenburg is indeed a
+Hungarian town. The aristocracy are to be found there, and a certain
+amount of culture, but it lies beyond the Kiralyhago, and the days of
+the Bethlens and the Bocskais are over. Pesth would be the proper
+centre; it has every qualification. I have been through the five
+quarters of the globe, and nowhere have I found such a place. In Pesth
+no man troubles himself about his neighbor, and each man believes that
+the world is made for him alone. The first look of the city takes one
+by surprise; the fine embankment along the broad Danube River, the
+beautiful squares and streets, with the six-story tin houses, each in
+a different style of architecture. Side by side are palaces built in
+the Roman, Moorish, Spanish, or Renaissance style, with, perhaps, the
+occasional introduction of a quaint Dutch mansion or Gothic structure.
+Opposite to the great edifice of the chain bridge rises a large stone
+bandbox with four towers; this is called the Basilica, but it looks
+more like a giant scaffold than anything else. On all sides rage
+monster factory chimneys, which vomit forth volumes of poisonous smoke
+upon the town. Factories, docks, academical palaces, redoubts, tin
+card-houses, art conservatories, are crowded one over the other. The
+academy interferes with the business of the docks, and the noise of
+the shipping-trade disturbs the academicians. The smoke of the
+steam-engines suffocates every one; while the town-hall, with all its
+ornamented peaks and minarets, says to the stranger, 'Come nearer,
+friend; this is Constantinople.'"
+
+The countess could not help smiling over this graphic description.
+
+"The inner town," continued the abbé, "is a labyrinth of narrow,
+irregular streets, which were built when the site of the present
+town-hall was only a marsh for the pigs to wallow in. In spite of the
+narrow proportions, these streets contain some of the finest shops in
+Europe. The contrasts are something wonderful; the finest equipages
+jammed against the overladen wagons conveying merchandise; the most
+elegantly dressed women jostling against beggars in rags. The
+prettiest women are to be seen in this quarter, and this in face of a
+wind that drives all the dust into the eyes. In the suburbs houses are
+rising on all sides with marvellous rapidity, little and big, in every
+style and variety, giving more dust for the wind to play tricks with.
+The whole place is a stony wilderness, with here and there a small
+green oasis not bigger than a private garden. Round about the city
+lies a Sahara, the earth of which is constantly dug up, so that the
+sirocco is never in want of dust. This is the exterior appearance of
+Pesth, which in itself presents the different features of a
+manufacturing town, an emporium for trade, and a city of arts and
+science, as well as those of the capital of an empire and of an
+American colony, where men of all classes assemble to make their pile
+of gold, but when this is secured hurry away to spend their winnings
+in other places.
+
+"So far as social conditions are concerned, and these, after all,
+concern us most," said the abbé, with a quick look at his listener,
+"they are as complicated as the commercial interests of Pesth. Each
+class is surrounded, so to speak, with a Chinese wall. Trade and the
+stock-exchange are altogether in the hands of Jews and Germans. This
+would not be so much an evil were it not that a great amount of
+fraudulent speculation goes on, and at every turn of the money market
+in Vienna the funds go down. The Hungarian element is made up of
+tobacco-merchants and hand-workers; there are, besides these, about
+twenty thousand Slavonians from the hills, who are day-laborers. Pesth
+is, or should be, the headquarters of national education. It is,
+however, not the fashion to support it. It should be also the centre
+of science and literature; it is not, however, considered good 'ton'
+to cultivate anything but foreign literature. Pesth can boast of very
+distinguished _savants_, and of a very haughty aristocracy; but no one
+is allowed to enter this magic circle but those who belong to the
+upper ten. The whole society is on a wrong footing; each one fights
+his own battle, bears his own burden; the finest ideas are lost
+because no one understands the other. A common standpoint is wanting.
+All healthy life is dying out, full freedom of thought and action
+being strangled by the iron laws of the short-sighted government,
+which forbids discussion of any kind.
+
+"The Reichstag and the Comitatshaus are both closed. The only free
+ground left is that of general society; but here class prejudices step
+in. A certain portion of our aristocracy are too indifferent to
+trouble themselves to do anything for the general good; the rest are
+too fond of their own ease and amusement; they acknowledge no other
+aim in life but their own pleasure. There are some, however, who do
+know what their duty is, and who would willingly make sacrifices to
+fulfil it, but during the last ten years they have suffered such a
+loss of income that they are no longer in a position to bear the
+expense which would be entailed by opening their houses. There are
+others, those most fitted by intellect as well as by position to be
+leaders. Alas! they will never return to Pesth; it is to them full of
+tragic memories, which haunt the houses where they once lived, and
+which have banished forever the laugh and jest from those walls.
+Therefore it is that we have arrived at this position, that there is
+not a single centre where the clever, the good, the nobleman, and the
+gentleman can meet on equal terms; and without this no real good can
+be done."
+
+"Then let me create this centre!" cried the countess, rising to her
+feet and addressing the abbé with an inspired look. Her whole being
+seemed changed by this new thought, which had been skilfully suggested
+by the words of the clergyman, who seemed well pleased at the effect
+he had produced.
+
+"Then you understood," he said; "and for you the advantages will be
+incalculable. Here is the shelter you require. If you come to Pesth,
+if you live there as befits your rank and your fortune, you can
+assemble round you the very cream of society. To your _salon_ will
+come every one, distinguished not alone by birth, but by
+talent--politicians, artists, poets, magnates, priests, prelates, and
+laymen, the aristocracy of the land and the aristocracy of intellect
+shall be alike represented. Your mission will be to further by this
+means the apostolate of truth, of culture; and, by so doing, to assist
+the progress and development of your own nation, and for the rest your
+own position will be most honorable. As hostess and mistress of such
+you will be respected and admired."
+
+The countess seized the clergyman's hand in both hers, and covered it
+with kisses, while in her excitement she sobbed:
+
+"I thank you, I thank you, I thank you!"
+
+"Do you not see, countess, that there is a vocation for you besides
+that of conventual life?"
+
+"You are a prophet."
+
+"In the meantime, may I ask you a practical question? For the task
+which you have undertaken with such praiseworthy zeal there are
+certain material qualifications absolutely necessary, the first being
+a sufficient income. May I ask you to give me your confidence on this
+delicate subject?"
+
+"I am rich," answered Theudelinde. "I have my capital at good
+interest. Likewise, out of my savings I have bought a fine mansion
+situated in the best part of Pesth; it is at present let."
+
+"You will now take it into your own hands," said the abbé, "and have
+it properly appointed, suitable to your rank. So far as your
+securities go, it may be better to invest your capital differently.
+We shall see. How much does your yearly income from the Bondavara
+estate amount to?"
+
+"About twenty thousand florins."
+
+"How large is the estate?"
+
+"From about nine to ten thousand acres."
+
+"Then the return is far too small. The agent is to blame for this;
+this income would be too little to support the position you now intend
+to hold. Twenty thousand florins would not be nearly enough to keep up
+an establishment on a proper footing in Pesth."
+
+The countess was surprised. She said, humbly, "I imagined it was a
+great deal of money."
+
+"So it is for living in the country; but Pesth is as dear, if not
+dearer, than Paris. To keep a proper establishment going, and take the
+position of a leader of society, such as it is your ambition to be,
+you must at least command a yearly income of forty thousand florins."
+
+"But I cannot do that. What shall I do?" Theudelinde said, in great
+distress.
+
+The abbé's lips parted in a smile. "Oh, we will manage it for you! For
+the rest it will not be difficult. The rental of the estate must be
+overhauled; you must get a better agent, a more enterprising steward.
+I myself do not understand finance, but I have friends in the inner
+circle of the stock-exchange, and one or other of these will undertake
+to advise you as to your affairs when you are settled in Pesth. In any
+case, I am quite certain that your land is let too low, it should
+bring in double the interest you get from it. I know so much of
+political economy."
+
+The countess was delighted at these words. What a friend to have! Her
+income to be doubled! Truly this abbé was sent to her from heaven.
+
+"Do as you think best," she said. "I give you full power to act for
+me."
+
+"Then, if you will allow me, I shall have your property revalued, and
+fresh leases made. This will double your income, and it will only cost
+you a trifle--a factor's fee, in fact."
+
+Theudelinde was like a child in her joy--like a child in her
+submission to her spiritual adviser, to whom she looked up as a
+father, a counsellor, a true friend.
+
+All this he might be; but it was also true that from the date of this
+conversation the owner of Bondavara lost her hold on her own property
+forever.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+"AN OBSTINATE FELLOW"
+
+
+Countess Theudelinde was beside herself with joy. She ran to her
+bell-apparatus, touched the spring, and the machine put itself into
+motion.
+
+"What are you doing, countess?" asked the abbé, in some amazement.
+
+"I am desiring my steward to be sent for at once."
+
+"By what messenger?"
+
+And then for the first time the countess remembered there was not a
+living soul in the house.
+
+She grew very grave.
+
+"It is truly a problem," continued the priest, "to know how we are to
+get out of the castle."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Theudelinde, who was so weak-minded that she
+always required to have everything explained to her.
+
+"We two are quite alone in this house," returned the abbé. "If I go
+away to get the necessary assistance for packing up your things and
+making the arrangements for departure I must leave you alone here."
+
+"I would not for all the world remain alone here."
+
+"Then you have the alternative of accompanying me on foot to the
+nearest post-house in the adjacent village."
+
+As he spoke the snow-storm was heard outside beating against the
+window. Theudelinde shivered.
+
+"Why cannot we drive? My horses are in the stable."
+
+"But I can neither harness them nor drive them."
+
+"Oh, I should never think of such a thing!"
+
+Nevertheless, the countess had now to consider whether she should
+remain alone in the castle or take the alternative of accompanying the
+priest in a heavy fall of snow.
+
+"Somebody is knocking at the door," said the abbé.
+
+"It must be my steward," returned Theudelinde. "He has heard what has
+happened, and has come to our assistance."
+
+"But there is no one to open the door. Your portress was one of the
+ghosts."
+
+"She was the old witch who danced on the table."
+
+"Have you by chance a second key?"
+
+"It hangs there on that large bunch to the right."
+
+"Then I will take it with me, in case there is none in the lock."
+
+"But the dogs, father, they will tear you in pieces. They are fierce
+to strangers."
+
+"I will call them by their names, if you will tell me what they are."
+
+"I don't know their names," returned the countess, who never troubled
+herself about such a common thing as a watch-dog's name.
+
+"Then I must shoot them."
+
+"But, father, as gently as you can." By this Theudelinde did not mean
+to appeal to his compassion for the dogs, but to remind him to spare
+her sensitive nerves.
+
+The abbé took his revolver and went on his mission; he carried no
+lantern with him, for daylight had come.
+
+Both the watch-dogs lay one on each side of the doorway. They were
+chained loosely, so that they could keep well clear of one another,
+but it was impossible to pass between them to the door, if you escaped
+being bitten by one, the other was sure to tear you. The abbé,
+therefore, to get to the door, had to shoot one and wound the other.
+He then drew the bolt, and saw a man standing before him, a revolver
+in _his_ hand.
+
+"Who are you? What do you want?" asked the priest.
+
+"Who are you, and what brings you here?" returned the stranger.
+
+"I am the Abbé Samuel, the countess's confessor."
+
+"And I am Ivan Behrend, the countess's next neighbor."
+
+The abbé lowered his pistol, and changed his tone to one of courtesy.
+
+"You must confess that it is rather an unusual hour for you to come,"
+he said, smiling.
+
+"Honi soit qui mal y pense," said Ivan, putting his weapon into his
+pocket. "I came at this unusual hour in consequence of a letter which
+I received this very night, in which I was informed that the castle
+was in a state of confusion, and the countess was in great need of
+help."
+
+"The cause of the confusion--"
+
+"Oh, I know, that was also in the letter. Therefore, I have come to do
+what I can, although I am aware the countess admits no man into her
+house, especially at this hour."
+
+"She will receive _you_ most certainly. Allow me first to close the
+door. There is absolutely no one in the house. Take care of the dog on
+the left-hand side; he is still alive."
+
+"You have shot the other?"
+
+"Yes; you heard the shot and drew your revolver?"
+
+"Naturally. I did not know who might have fired the pistol."
+
+Both men ascended to the apartments of the countess. The abbé entered
+first to prepare her.
+
+"We have got unexpected help," he said; "a neighbor of yours, Ivan
+Behrend."
+
+"A doubtful person," returned Theudelinde, scornfully. "He is an
+atheist."
+
+"It does not matter in the present crisis whether he be a Thug, a
+Mormon, or a Manichæan, we have great need of his help. Some one told
+him of the plight you are in, and he wishes to see you."
+
+"I will not see him, or speak to him. I beg you will confer with him
+instead of me."
+
+"Countess, if this man is what you say, a heretic, he may say that he
+will not confer with one of my cloth."
+
+"Very well. I suppose I must see him, but you will be present?"
+
+"If it should be necessary."
+
+The countess rolled her shawl round her, and went into the
+reception-room, into which the morning light was breaking. Abbé Samuel
+thought it necessary, however, to light the candelabras on the
+chimney.
+
+Theudelinde, with a freezing air, asked Ivan to take a chair, and
+placed herself at a considerable distance from her visitor. She signed
+to him to begin the conversation.
+
+"Countess, this night while I was busy reading, some one tapped at my
+window, and when I opened it thrust this note into my hand. It is
+written by your steward."
+
+"By my steward!" exclaimed the countess, in a tone of surprise.
+
+"It is written in his style, and quite unfit for you to read. I will
+tell you what interests you. The steward says that your entire
+household, without any exception of sex, have made good their escape,
+and that he is following their example."
+
+"My steward also! And for what reason?"
+
+"He gives the reason in his letter. I suspect, however, it is only a
+pretext on his part to conceal a very criminal design. I am of opinion
+that he has robbed you."
+
+"Robbed me!" repeated the countess.
+
+"Do not alarm yourself; there are different sorts of robbery, such as
+being an unfaithful steward, injuring your land, making profit to
+himself to your disadvantage. This man, I imagine, played this game,
+and has now tried to give a humorous turn to his flight, so that the
+laugh may be turned against you. This is my idea."
+
+The countess was obliged to acknowledge that her neighbor was both a
+clever and a kind-hearted man.
+
+"In this letter," continued Ivan, "your steward states that after what
+has happened he could never dare to look you in the face again, as he
+could not convince you that the late scandals in the castle had gone
+on without his knowledge. I did not believe these words. I felt
+certain that you had dismissed your household on finding out how
+grossly they had deceived you; therefore, my first care on getting
+this letter was to send a messenger on horseback to the nearest
+telegraph-station with a message to your banker in Pesth, to tell him
+that the agent of the Bondavara estate had absconded, and on no
+account to honor his checks. I thought it was probable he had liberty
+to draw in your name."
+
+"This was really very practical and thoughtful on your part," said the
+abbé. "The countess must feel most grateful to you."
+
+Theudelinde bowed her head graciously.
+
+"One reason that brought me here," continued Ivan, "was to know if you
+approved of what I had done, and also to offer you my assistance in
+case you wish to leave the castle. I will help you to get away, and I
+will send my people to look after your property till you can make
+further arrangements."
+
+"This is really most neighborly and friendly, and the countess owes
+you a debt of gratitude," repeated the priest, again assuming all
+responsibility.
+
+"I am merely doing my duty," returned Ivan. "And I would add that if
+you should be in any difficulty as to the necessary funds, which is
+very likely, as the steward and bailiff have both made off, don't let
+this for a moment distress you; I can lend you ten thousand florins."
+
+The Abbé Samuel whispered to the countess to accept this offer in the
+spirit in which it was meant, and on no account to say anything of
+interest.
+
+Theudelinde accordingly held out her hand with gracious dignity to her
+chivalrous neighbor, who drew from his pocket the money in bank-notes.
+The countess wished to give him an acknowledgment, which he declined,
+saying the money was lent for such a short time that it was not
+necessary.
+
+"And about leaving the castle," he said. "How soon do you start?"
+
+"The sooner the better!" cried the countess.
+
+"Then, if you will allow me to suggest a plan for accomplishing the
+first stage of the journey, which is the difficult part of the
+business, in the first place it will be necessary to pack up what you
+need. Will you be good enough, countess, to select the trunks you mean
+to bring? When this is done I will harness the horses; then we must
+lock and seal the rooms, and my servants will watch them until you
+send your proper people. This done, we can set out; and as we shall
+have to pass the steward's house, we can call there, and look for any
+books he may have for keeping the accounts of the estate. They would
+be useful."
+
+"I shall not go there; I don't want any accounts."
+
+"Very good. Then we shall go straight to the inn in my village."
+
+"What to do?"
+
+"Because the post is there. We must get post-horses."
+
+"And why post-horses? Cannot I drive my own horses?"
+
+"No."
+
+"And why not?"
+
+"Because they are screws. They would not reach the next station."
+
+"My horses! Why do you say they are screws?" asked the countess,
+angrily.
+
+"Because they are in bad condition."
+
+"Bear!" thought Theudelinde. "He answers me so roughly."
+
+"I shall not enter the inn," she said, determinedly. "I go nowhere
+where men drink. Cannot I wait at your house until the horses are
+changed?"
+
+"Certainly. I am charmed to receive you, countess; only you will find
+nothing suitable for you. I live alone _en garçon_."
+
+"Oh, that does not matter," returned the countess, with an air of
+indifference.
+
+"Will you have the goodness, then," said Ivan, "to begin your
+preparations and select the clothes you mean to pack up?"
+
+Theudelinde gave a strange smile. "My packing will not take long; my
+luggage will not be heavy. Will you make a good fire while I go to my
+wardrobe? It is very cold in this room."
+
+In the sitting-room there was a large marble fireplace, and in the
+ashes of the grate some sparks still lingered. Ivan put some wood on
+the smouldering fire, and soon a genial blaze glowed in the chimney.
+It welcomed the countess, who presently returned, carrying in her arms
+a heap of dresses and clothes of all description.
+
+Ivan looked at her in dismay. "You are going to pack all those?"
+
+"Yes, and as many more, which still remain in my wardrobe."
+
+"But, countess, where?"
+
+"Here," returned Theudelinde, as she flung the bundle on the fire.
+
+It filled up the whole fireplace, and the fire, catching the light
+materials, there was presently a crackling sound, while the old
+chimney roared again with joy over such a splendid contribution.
+
+The two men looked on in silence at this _auto-da-fé_.
+
+Ten times did Theudelinde go backward and forward to her room, each
+time returning with fresh armfuls of finery, and when these were
+exhausted, her linen, boots, shoes, etc., followed; while at each
+sacrifice the flames in the chimney leaped and danced, and the wind
+blew the flames up the chimney, where they roared like so many demons.
+
+"Well, this sort of packing makes short work," thought Ivan, but said
+nothing.
+
+The clergyman stood with his hands behind his back. The countess's
+eyes danced, her cheeks were flushed, her activity was unceasing. When
+all was consumed she turned to Ivan with a triumphant air.
+
+"It is finished," she said.
+
+"And may I ask in what toilette your ladyship intends to travel?"
+
+"In the clothes I wear, and my fur cloak."
+
+"Then I shall go and get the carriage."
+
+When he was gone the countess, assisted by the abbé, put on her fur
+pelisse lined with sable. She took with her nothing that she had ever
+used; in her opinion everything was defiled.
+
+After a few minutes Ivan returned, and announced that the carriage was
+at the entrance. The doors were then locked, and a seal affixed to
+each.
+
+When they entered the hall the sight of the dog which the abbé had
+spared presented a difficulty. If they left him he would die of
+hunger. The countess thought it would be better to shoot him also.
+Ivan, however, was more merciful.
+
+"I will chain him to the carriage, and he will follow us."
+
+Theudelinde was certain the hound would bite him; but the dog's
+instinct assured him that it was a friend who now approached. He
+allowed Ivan to put on his chain, and licked his hand to show his
+gratitude. All was now done, Ivan locked the gates, gave the key to
+the abbé, who with the countess was already seated in the carriage,
+jumped on the coach-box, and drove away from Bondavara Castle. They
+went slowly, for the two miserable nags, which were dignified with the
+name of carriage horses, could hardly drag them along. They were spent
+with age and starvation, and were only fit for the knacker's yard.
+
+As the vehicle turned in the direction of the coal-mine Ivan remarked
+a cloud of smoke in the distance, and soon after they met a group of
+laborers carrying requisites for putting out a fire, hurrying in the
+direction of the smoke. On being questioned they said the granary of
+the noble countess was burning, but that they hoped to extinguish the
+fire.
+
+"I think it will be easily done," Ivan said. "The steward set it on
+fire to conceal the defalcation in the crop."
+
+The countess was indignant, but Ivan remarked dryly that property had
+its duties, and that those who never looked after their own interests
+were fair game for the thief.
+
+A rough, ill-mannered man!
+
+It was full daylight before the noble coach, drawn by the pair of
+noble nags, made its way through the heavy snow into the Bergwerk
+Colony. The wretched beasts were steaming as they drew up at Ivan's
+door. Ivan's first care was to call the postmaster to take them to his
+stable, and to order a good pair of fresh horses to replace them. Then
+he led his tired guests into his workroom. All the other rooms were
+cold and cheerless, so he took them where there was warmth and light.
+
+In the room everything was in the utmost disorder; it was hard to find
+a place where the countess could sit down. She looked about her with
+astonishment at the strange objects which encumbered the tables and
+chairs; every available spot was taken up by some extraordinary,
+diabolical-looking invention. She cast a look of terror at the
+chemical laboratory, upon whose furnace the coals still glimmered,
+testifying to the experiment upon which Ivan had been at work when
+interrupted by the steward's tap at the window.
+
+"Cagliostro's workshop," she whispered to the abbé. "There are
+mysterious things done here."
+
+What annoyed the countess far more than the evidences of mystery and
+magic which surrounded her was the idea that she was the guest and
+the debtor of this rough, common fellow. She, rich, well-born, a
+faithful child of the Church, owed her rescue from a most unpleasant
+position to this obscure, godless tradesman. If she could only pay him
+the heaviest interest for his loan, and had not to say "thank you!"
+And yet she had to swallow the indignity.
+
+Ivan, after an absence of a few minutes, returned, followed by a maid
+carrying a tray with the steaming breakfast. She laid the cloth, and
+set out the cups and coffee-cans. The countess would gladly have made
+some excuse to avoid tasting the food presented by her unholy host,
+but the abbé, who was a man of the world, drew his chair to the table,
+and invited Theudelinde to follow his example, "For," he said, "we
+shall not get anything to eat till the evening, as there are no inns
+on our road; and you want refreshment before your long journey."
+
+When the countess saw that no demons seized upon the clergyman, and
+that the coffee of the Warlock seemed innocent of all evil, she, too,
+came to the table and sipped a few spoonfuls, but she found it was
+execrable stuff; the milk was not so bad, and she contented herself
+with that and bread.
+
+Ivan began to talk about the weather--a very general subject of
+conversation; but herein there was this difference. Instead of an
+ignoramus, it was a meteorologist who handled the theme. Ivan assured
+the countess that both the barometer and his English glass pointed to
+fine weather, the sun was as warm as in May, their journey would be
+excellent. As he spoke, Ivan drew back the thick green window
+curtains, and let in the bright sunlight to enliven the half-darkened
+room. The first effect of this sudden eruption of light was to show
+the countess her own face reflected in a large concave mirror which
+hung on the wall opposite to her.
+
+It is an undoubted fact that we all like to see our reflection in a
+glass; our eyes wander to it naturally, and the most earnest orator,
+in the midst of his finest peroration, will gesticulate to his own
+image with more satisfaction than to a crowded audience; but it is a
+totally different thing if it should be a magnifying-glass. What a
+horrible distortion of ourselves--head as large as a cask, features of
+a giant, expression that of a satyr; a sight too dreadful to
+contemplate.
+
+"What an awful glass you have there," said the countess, peevishly, as
+she turned her back to the mirror.
+
+"It is undoubtedly not a toilette mirror; it is a glass which we use
+in chemical experiments to test the highest degrees of heat."
+
+Here the abbé, who wished to air his scientific knowledge, put in--
+
+"As, for example, for burning a diamond."
+
+"Just so," returned Ivan. "That is one of the uses of a concave
+mirror; it is necessary for burning a diamond, which requires the
+flame of a gas retort."
+
+The countess was grateful for the abbé's remark, for it gave her a
+happy inspiration.
+
+"Do you mean to tell me," she said, addressing Ivan, "that a diamond
+is combustible?"
+
+"Undoubtedly, for the diamond is, in fact, nothing but coal in the
+form of a crystal. With the necessary degrees of heat you can extract
+from the patrician diamond ninety florins carat weight, the same
+amount of invisible gas or oxide of coal as from the plebeian lump of
+coal."
+
+"That is proved by the focus of the magnifier," remarked the abbé.
+
+"I don't believe it," said the countess, throwing back her head.
+
+"I am sorry," returned Ivan, "that I cannot give you a proof that the
+diamond is combustible. We do not use such costly things for mere
+experiment, but have splints for the purpose, which are cheap in
+comparison. I have, however, none of these by me."
+
+"I should like to be convinced, for I do not believe it," repeated the
+countess. "Will you make the experiment with this?" As she spoke she
+unfastened a brooch from her dress, and handed it to her host. The
+centre stone was a fine two-carat brilliant. Theudelinde expected that
+Ivan would return it to her, saying, "Oh, it would be a pity to use
+this beautiful stone;" and then she would reply, "Then pray keep it as
+a slight remembrance;" and in this manner this perverse individual
+would have been paid and forgotten. But, to her amazement, the
+countess found she had deceived herself.
+
+With the indifference of a philosopher and the courtesy of a gentleman
+Ivan took the brooch from its owner.
+
+"I conclude you do not wish to have the ornament melted," he said,
+quietly. "I will take the diamond out of its setting, and if it should
+not burn you can have it reset."
+
+Without another word he extracted the stone with a little pincers, and
+placed it at the bottom of a flat clay saucepan; then he opened the
+window, which lay in the full blaze of the sun. He placed the saucepan
+upon a stand in the middle of the room and just in front of the
+countess; then he took the magnifying-glass and went outside, for in
+the room the sun's rays had not power to concentrate themselves upon
+the mirror.
+
+The countess was now certain that the trick would not succeed, and
+that she would have an opportunity of offering the diamond to Ivan on
+the pretext of repeating the experiment when the sun's rays would be
+more powerful.
+
+Ivan, when he had found the proper spot outside the window, directed
+the rays from the apex of the burning-glass straight upon the
+saucepan, where the diamond was waiting the moment of its
+annihilation. The stone emitted a thousand sparks. As the sun's rays
+touched it, it threw out as many colors as are in the rainbow; it
+seemed as if it were to be the victor in this fight. All of a sudden
+the fiery rays condensed themselves in a narrower circle upon the
+doomed diamond, the small room was filled with a blinding light that
+turned everything into silver; not a shadow remained. Out of the
+saucepan shot a ball of fire like a flash of lightning; the next
+minute the burning-glass ceased to work.
+
+Ivan still stood outside the window. He spoke to the countess, who was
+transfixed with astonishment.
+
+"What is in the saucepan?" he asked.
+
+"Nothing."
+
+Ivan returned to the room, hung the mirror in its place, and returned
+to the countess her brooch without its centre stone.
+
+The abbé could not help remarking, dryly, "That little drama is fit to
+be played before a queen."
+
+But now the postilion blew his horn, the countess put on her fur
+pelisse, and was escorted to the carriage by Ivan. She was obliged to
+give him her hand, and to say the words, "God be with you."
+
+When the carriage had gone a little way she said to the abbé, "That
+man is a sorcerer."
+
+But the clergyman shook his head. "He is far worse; he is an inquirer
+into the secrets of nature."
+
+"H'm! he is an obstinate, disagreeable man."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE HIGHER MATHEMATICS
+
+
+The counting-house of the firm of Kaulmann stands in the same place
+where it stood fifty years ago. The entrance is as it was, and the
+very panes of glass are identical with those through which the founder
+of the house, in 1811, was wont to make his observations--as from an
+observatory--upon the countenances of the passers-by, when a rise or
+fall in the funds was expected. He knew what an excellent barometer
+the faces of a crowd make, and how much can be gleaned by observation;
+so too a chance word, which is let fall as it were by accident, often
+contains the germ of much truth, and is, to an experienced man, in a
+measure prophetic.
+
+The young head of the house did not set much store by the
+counting-house business. He had higher aims. He lived on the first
+floor in luxurious bachelor chambers; his sitting-room was a museum,
+and his writing-table was crowded with bronzes and antiques; his
+inkstand was a masterpiece of Benvenuto Cellini's--or, perhaps, a
+good imitation in galvanized plaster; his pen was gold, with a
+diamond top; he used gold sand for blotting-paper; the sand-sifter
+was made of porphyry, the pen-holder was a branch of real coral, the
+paper-weight a mosaic from Pompeii, the candle-shades of real
+crystal, the cover of the blotting-book Japanese. Every article had
+a value of its own, from the Turkish paper knife to the paper
+itself, which was of all sorts and descriptions, from the thickest
+vellum to the most delicate straw note, perfumed with mignonette and
+musk. In spite of these elaborate arrangements, no one had ever been
+known to write at this so-called writing-table. The science
+cultivated by Felix Kaulmann did not require the use of pen and ink;
+it was purely mental work. Felix worked night and day; during his
+sleep, even, he worked, but no trace of his labor was to be found on
+paper. When he amused himself--dancing, riding, making love--he
+seemed altogether occupied with the subject on hand; he worked,
+nevertheless, all the time. He had a certain goal at which he was
+aiming; for this he lived, for this he strove, and this alone
+aroused his interest and his enthusiasm; he never forgot for one
+moment the aim of his life. He had something more to do than to make
+a pen travel over paper; he had to move men.
+
+One day, not long after the events in the Castle of Bondavara, the
+Abbé Samuel was seated in Felix Kaulmann's room. Both were engaged in
+serious conversation. Before them an elegant equipage of fragrant
+Mocha, whose fumes mingled with that of the Latakia, which our friend
+the abbé smoked from a genuine Turkish pipe. Felix only smoked cigars.
+
+"Well, here is your agreement with the countess. As you wished for
+thirty-two years, it is regularly drawn up. And now I should like to
+know of what use it can possibly be to either you or your company. It
+is not enough for the countess to sign it; it wants the signature of
+the prince to make the contract advantageous to you, for the countess
+has only a life-interest in the Bondavara property. As soon as she
+dies it goes to the prince, or to his grandson, and then your
+agreement is null."
+
+"I know that," returned Felix, knocking the ash from his cigar; "and
+for this reason we must take care and keep the old girl alive. Let her
+have a good time, and she will live to a great age. It is very hard to
+kill an old maid, especially if she has lots of money. Besides, I am
+not so careless as you suppose. I have looked into the matter; I have
+seen the will of the old prince, and I know all its provisions. There
+is a clause that makes me pretty safe. When Countess Theudelinde goes
+off the reel, her brother, the present man, or his heirs, are obliged
+to compensate all those, either tenants, householders, or creditors,
+who may have erected any buildings on the estate. You see, the old
+prince considered that it would be more than probable that his crazy
+daughter might, in a fit of holy enthusiasm, build either a church or
+a convent, and he thought he would give the heirs the advantage of her
+generosity. It never entered into his head that any one would erect a
+factory, a refinery, or open a mine. Now you see how useful this
+clause is to me, the heirs will not be in a position to refund us the
+two millions of money we are putting on the property."
+
+"Unless they find another company to advance them the money."
+
+"That would not be so easy. First of all, it would have to go into the
+very intricate affairs of the Bondavara family; then it would require
+immense capital, great energy, and a certain amount of risk. For the
+rest, I can see as far as my neighbors. I don't sit with my hands in
+my lap, I can tell you, and I have not put all my money on one card."
+
+"Right! By-the-way, what has become of the little wild kitten you
+brought away from the Bondavara mine?"
+
+"I have placed her for the present in Madame Risan's school; she is
+being educated, for she has extraordinary capabilities, although in a
+general way she is a stupid creature. She has a splendid voice, but
+she cannot sing, as singing is nowadays; she has a wonderfully
+expressive face, but does not know how to make use of it; she is full
+of feeling, and speaks no language but her mother-tongue."
+
+"Do you mean to educate her for the stage?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"And then?"
+
+"I intend to marry her."
+
+The abbé raised his eyebrows in some astonishment.
+
+"I should hardly have thought," he said, coldly, "that a pupil of
+Madame Risan's would be likely to make a satisfactory wife, although
+she might be an excellent actress."
+
+Felix looked haughtily at his visitor, then shrugged his shoulders, as
+who would say the abbé's opinion on this point was indifferent to him.
+For a few minutes the men smoked in silence; then, with a sudden
+clearing of his face, Kaulmann said, in his blandest manner:
+
+"I want to ask you a question. You know the ins and outs of the
+marriage laws. Is there any means by which a marriage can be set aside
+without having recourse to the divorce court? That is always attended
+with great expense and a good deal of scandal; and if the other side
+should be obstinate and malicious, it can drag for an interminable
+time."
+
+"I know of only one other method. We will suppose that you are already
+married according to the rules of the Church in this country. You
+wish, for some reason, for a dissolution of this marriage. Well, you
+have only to go to Paris, and take up your residence in the
+banking-house your firm has there. Your father was a French subject,
+so are you. According to the French law, no marriage is valid that is
+not solemnized before the civil authorities; therefore, the remedy
+would be in your hands. A short time ago the process was tried by the
+French court. A certain count had married in Spain; the eldest son of
+this marriage sought to recover his birthright, which had been
+forfeited in consequence of his father's having neglected to be
+remarried before the registrar in France. The court, however,
+pronounced the Spanish marriage invalid, and yours would be a similar
+case."
+
+Felix got up from his seat. "I thank you," he said, "more than I can
+say. If the recollection of our youthful friendship didn't remind me
+that our compact was always to _love_ one another, I should certainly
+feel that I owed you a heavy debt."
+
+"For what?" returned the abbé, lifting his eyes in some surprise. "It
+is well for you to remind me of our young days. Was I not then the
+debtor of your father? What did he not do for me? He found me a
+miserable, overworked, ill-paid student; he made me your tutor, and so
+opened for me the road to better things. Oh, I never forget! But let
+us not talk any more of the past."
+
+"No, for the future is before us, and we shall work together. Now, I
+must ask you, as the countess's representative, to sign the necessary
+papers. There is the contract, and here is the check for the first
+half-year's rent, and here is another check for the sum of forty
+thousand gulden on my cashier."
+
+"To whom payable?"
+
+Felix answered by pressing the check into the abbé's hand, while he
+whispered in his ear:
+
+"To the friendly representative."
+
+The other shook his head, with a wounded look on his face. "You mean
+to offer _me_ a present?" he said, haughtily.
+
+"You do not understand," returned Felix. "This money does not come
+from me; it forms part of the expenses of the company, and in all such
+undertakings figures under the head of 'necessary expenses.'"
+
+As he spoke, Felix lit another cigar, and looked slyly at his
+companion, as who should say, "You see what a capital fellow I am!"
+Round the abbé Samuel's mouth a contemptuous smile flickered as he
+tore the check for forty thousand gulden into four pieces; then he
+laid his hand upon the banker's shoulder.
+
+"My dear boy," he said, "I had the whole Bondavara property in the
+hollow of my hand; it was mine to do as I chose with it. I did with it
+as I do with these pieces of paper." He threw the torn check into the
+grate. "Know me, once for all. I am no begging monk. I am a candidate
+for high honors; nothing will content me but to be ruler of a
+kingdom."
+
+The haughty air with which the abbé said these words impressed the
+banker so much that he laid down his cigar and stared vacantly at his
+visitor.
+
+"That is a great word," he said, slowly.
+
+"Sit down and listen to what I shall disclose to you," returned the
+priest, who, with his hands behind his back, now began to walk up and
+down the room, pausing from time to time before his astonished
+listener, to whom he poured out a torrent of words.
+
+"The whole world is in labor," he said, "and brings forth nothing but
+mice. And wherefore? Because the lions will not come into the world.
+Chaos rules everywhere--in finance, in diplomacy, in the Church. One
+man who would have intellect enough to see clearly could be master of
+the situation. But where is he to be found? Fools in embroidered coats
+are the leaders; therefore we see a country governed by incapables,
+who do not know even where to begin. They would fain force it to
+submit, but are afraid to use the necessary means. They oppress it,
+and at the same time live in dread of what it may do. And this same
+country does not itself know what to-morrow may bring, whether it
+shall submit, pay the demands of its oppressors, or appeal to arms
+against their tyranny; neither does it know who is its foe, who is its
+friend, with whom to ally itself, against whom to fight; whether it
+will go on submitting, whether it shall break out into curses or wild
+laughter at its own follies. The country still possesses one element,
+which stands, as it were, neutral between the two parties; this
+element is the clerical; the Church is a power in Hungary."
+
+Felix's face grew darker; he could not imagine what all this would
+lead to. But the abbé had now paused, and was standing before him.
+
+"What do you think, my son," he said, "would be the reward due to the
+man who could find a way out of this mass of confusion--who could
+unite the classes, and bring them into conformity with the wishes of
+the government? Do you not think that there is nothing which would
+better further your Bondavara speculation than a submissive deputation
+of priests and people, who would give a promise of fidelity to the
+minister? One hand washes the other; he who brings about such an
+unlooked-for condition of affairs must be recompensed. Now do you
+understand what use this would be to you?"
+
+"I think I begin to see."
+
+"And what office do you think should be offered to the man who brings
+the peasant's frock into subjection and elevates the mitre?"
+
+Felix clasped his hands together. That was his answer. The clergyman
+resumed his walk up and down the room; his lips were compressed, his
+head in the air.
+
+"The primate is an old man," he said, suddenly.
+
+Felix leaned back in his chair. He could see better in this position
+the various expressions which passed over the abbé's face. He started
+when the abbé murmured, almost under his breath:
+
+"The pope is still older."
+
+There was a moment's silence, and then the abbé continued, speaking
+fast and with excitement:
+
+"Dwarfs are at the rudder, my son; dwarfs who believe that their
+impotent efforts will stem the storm. The Church is in danger of going
+to pieces, and they make use of the old worn-out means of support.
+Listen to my words. All the efforts of Rome are fruitless; it tries to
+maintain its dignity with Peter's pence, and has allowed millions to
+slip through its fingers. Only here in Hungary has the Church any
+property left. I know well that in the minister's drawer there is a
+paper prepared which only needs the signature of the state to become
+law; it only requires a slight pretext, and Vienna will declare war
+against the clerical power in Hungary. She will fight it upon the
+liberal principle, and those who oppose will be the unpopular, the
+losing side. It is only a question of time. The deficit grows daily,
+the government is in a hole, the treasury is empty, there is no loan
+possible. Hence a fight over the budget, or a trifling war somewhere.
+You know the proverb, 'When the devil is hungry he eats flies.' The
+clerical property in Hungary is the fly, and Austria will make one
+bite at it. The chair of St. Peter and the Church property in Hungary
+are both in danger. How is the danger to be averted? Let us put our
+shoulders to the wheel; let us be more patriotic than the democrats,
+more loyal than the prime-minister, more liberal than revolutionists;
+let us save the Church property from the government, and the Church
+itself from the revolution. Let us throw into the market a gigantic
+loan of a hundred millions upon the property of the Hungarian Church
+for the rescue of the throne of St. Peter. What do you now think of
+the man who could do this thing? What should be his reward?"
+
+"Everything," stammered Felix, his mind confused over this
+bewildering, yet fascinating, programme.
+
+"To this great work I have destined you," said the abbé, with a
+solemn, majestic air. "Your Bondavara speculation is necessary, for
+with it you can make a _coup_ which shall bring you a world-wide
+reputation, your name shall be on a par with that of the Strousbergs,
+the Pereiras, with that of Rothschild itself. This is the reason why I
+have given you my support. When you are firmly established, then I
+shall say to you, 'Lend me your shoulder,' upon which I shall climb
+where I will."
+
+After this Felix sank into a waking dream. Before his eyes gleamed the
+gigantic loan, and through a mist he saw the tall form of the abbé
+with a crown upon his head.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+SOIRÉES AMALGAMANTES
+
+
+One winter's morning Ivan Behrend, to his great astonishment, received
+a notice from the president of the Hungarian Academy of Arts and
+Science. This notice set forth that the members of the physical,
+scientific, and mathematical department had in the last general
+assembly chosen him as an honorary member of the before-mentioned
+departments; and before being elected member of the academy itself he
+should, in conformity to the established custom, read before the
+assembly his first address. Ivan was petrified with amazement. How had
+such an honor come to him? He who had never written a scientific paper
+in any periodical; who had no connections or friend in the academical
+assembly, who was not a magnate, or had played no part in political
+life. He was puzzled; he could not conceive who had brought forward
+his name. Could it have been, he thought, that in some way his
+chemical researches had reached their ears? In which case, as he told
+himself, every director of a mine, every manager of a factory, would
+be considered a philosopher and made member of the Academy, for every
+one of them possessed as much knowledge as he did. There was no use in
+thinking about it; the honor had come to him, and should be accepted.
+Ivan thought it best not to look the gift-horse in the mouth; he
+therefore wrote to the secretary, expressing his gratitude for the
+unlooked-for honor conferred upon him, and stating that towards the
+end of the year he would present himself in Pesth, and read before the
+illustrious assembly his inaugural address. Then he considered the
+subject of this address long and carefully, and spent much of his time
+over its elaboration. It was an account of microscopical crustations,
+the study of which he had followed closely during the boring of an
+artesian well, and which during ten years he had perfectly mastered.
+It took him until late in the autumn to complete his essay on the
+subject.
+
+In many places, where such scientific research is valued at its proper
+merit, his paper would have been appreciated, and would have even
+caused a sensation; but we are bound in honesty to confess that it did
+not do so in Pesth, and that during the sixty minutes allowed by the
+canon law of all institutions for such lectures, the microscopical
+crustations produced an amount of yawning unprecedented, even among
+academicians.
+
+After the reading of the lecture was over the very first person to
+greet the neophyte and offer his congratulations was the Abbé Samuel,
+and then a light burst suddenly upon Ivan. He now saw who it was who
+had discovered his talents, and who had been his patron. It was
+something of a fall to his vanity; he had thought--well, it didn't
+matter, the abbé was doubtless as learned as any one in the assembly,
+and his thanks were due to him. Small attentions, it is said,
+consolidate friendship.
+
+Ivan decided to spend some days in Pesth; he had business to do.
+During the week several papers noticed his academical address; the
+most merciful was one which announced he had given an interesting
+lecture upon the "Volcanic Origin of the Stalactites." Ivan's only
+consolation was that in his own country no one read _The Referate_,
+and that abroad no one understood it, as it was written in Hungarian.
+He was wrong, however; some one did read it--but of this again. One
+day, as Ivan was making his preparations for his homeward journey, he
+received from the Countess Theudelinde Bondavara a card of invitation
+for a _soirée_, which would take place three evenings later.
+
+"Aha!" thought Ivan, "another thank-offering. It is well that it did
+not come sooner."
+
+He sat down to his writing-table and answered the invitation in the
+most courteous manner, regretting his inability to avail himself of it
+in consequence of his immediate departure from Pesth. He was in the
+act of sealing the letter when the door opened and the Abbé Samuel was
+announced. Ivan expressed his great pleasure at receiving so
+distinguished a visitor.
+
+"I could not let you leave Pesth without coming," answered the abbé,
+in his most friendly manner. "My visit was due, not only because I am
+much indebted for your kind assistance at Bondavara, but also because
+I felt it a necessity to tell you what an honor I count it to know
+such a distinguished scholar as you have proved yourself to be."
+
+Ivan felt inclined to say that he was neither distinguished nor a
+scholar; he remained, however, silent.
+
+"I trust," continued the abbé, seating himself upon the sofa, "that
+you intend to make a long stay in Pesth?"
+
+"I am leaving to-morrow," returned Ivan, dryly.
+
+"Oh, impossible! We cannot lose you so soon. I imagine you have a card
+for the Countess Theudelinde's next _soirée_?"
+
+"I regret that I am prevented from accepting her agreeable invitation;
+I have pressing business which necessitates my return."
+
+The abbé laughed. "Confess honestly," he said, "that if you had no
+other reason to return home, you would run away from an entertainment
+which would bore you infinitely."
+
+"Well, then, if you will have the truth, I do confess that a _soirée_
+is to me something of a penance."
+
+"These _soirées_, however, are on a different footing from those
+_réunions_ which, I agree with you, are more pain than pleasure, and
+where a stranger feels himself 'out of it,' as the saying goes.
+Countess Theudelinde aims at having a _salon_, and succeeds admirably.
+She receives all the best people. I don't mean by that generic word
+only the upper ten, but the best in the true sense, the best that
+Pesth affords in art, in literature, in science; the aristocracy of
+birth, talent, and beauty."
+
+Ivan shook his head incredulously. "And how does such a mixed
+gathering answer?"
+
+The abbé did not reply at once; he scratched his nose thoughtfully.
+
+"Until they get to know one another, it is perhaps somewhat stiff. But
+with intellectual people this stiffness must soon disappear, and each
+one will do something to keep the ball rolling. You have an excellent
+delivery; I noticed it the night of your lecture. You could easily
+find a subject on which to lecture which would interest your listeners
+by its novelty, surprise them by its profundity, and amuse them by its
+variety; their intellect and their imagination would be equally
+engaged."
+
+It was Ivan's turn to laugh, which he did loudly. "My excellent sir,
+such a subject is unknown to me. I confess my ignorance; neither in
+print nor in manuscript have I met with it."
+
+The clergyman joined in the laugh.
+
+At this moment a servant brought Ivan a despatch, which claimed
+instant attention, so that the receipt might be given to the messenger
+who waited for it. Ivan begged his guest to excuse him if he opened
+this urgent document. The abbé, with a wave of his hand, requested him
+not to mind his presence.
+
+As Ivan read the letter a remarkable change passed over his face; he
+grew suddenly pale, his eyebrows contracted, then a sudden rush of
+color came into his cheeks. He held the letter before him, read it
+several times, while his eyes had a wild stare, as if he had seen a
+ghost. Then all at once he fell to laughing. He thrust the letter into
+his pocket, and returned to the subject he had been discussing.
+
+"Yes, yes," he said, "I shall go to Countess Theudelinde's _soirée_,
+and I shall give a lecture before her guests such as they have never
+heard the equal; that I promise you. Science and poetry, imagination
+and learning mixed together, with dates and genealogy, so that the
+_savants_ present will not know what to think; I shall give a lecture
+which will make every geologist a prince, and every princess a
+geologist. Do you follow me?"
+
+"Perfectly," returned the other; not, indeed, that he saw what Ivan
+meant, but that he wished to encourage him. "That will be the very
+thing--first-rate!"
+
+"What do you say to illustrations by means of an electric-magnetic
+machine, eh?"
+
+"A capital idea, and amusing. My dear friend, you will have a
+_succès_."
+
+"May I ask you to convey to the countess my acceptance of her
+invitation? I shall require a large apparatus."
+
+"I can assure you in advance that the countess will be charmed at your
+kind offer. As for the apparatus and arrangement, leave that to her,
+she will be overjoyed when she hears that she is to expect you."
+
+The abbé then took his leave, fully contented with his visit. Ivan
+again read his letter, and again sat staring into space, as if a ghost
+had appeared to him.
+
+People said the Countess Theudelinde's _Soirées Amalgamantes_ would
+certainly make history. The mixture was excellent: grandees jostled
+elbows with poets; academicians with prelates; musicians, painters,
+sculptors, actors, critics, professors, physicians, editors,
+sportsmen, and politicians of all shades gathered under one roof. It
+was a bold experiment, a brilliant society _in thesi_. Neither was
+there wanting the element of female attraction; all that Pesth held of
+beauty, charm, and grace lent its aid to the scheme of amalgamation.
+
+Count Stefan, a cousin of Countess Theudelinde, was a great help to
+her _soirées_, for he was a well-informed and cultivated young man,
+able to talk on all subjects, and especially on the poetry of the
+world. As for the Countess Angela, she was a classic beauty; her
+grandfather was a political celebrity--a great man, who had a
+surrounding of all kinds, bad and good. It was therefore quite in
+keeping, according to the usages of society, that when an unfortunate
+outsider was presented to Countess Angela, he should, after the third
+word or so, make mention of her illustrious grandfather, Prince
+Theobald of Bondavara, and inquire after his health. After this
+question, however, the Countess Angela never addressed the stranger
+another word. She allowed him to speak, if he so wished, and to retire
+in some confusion. Even the most dried-up specimen of university
+learning felt aggrieved. His heart could not resist the first glance
+of those heavenly eyes, so sweet and friendly, now so cold and
+haughty. And yet what had he done? The poor man will probably never
+know; he is not in the inner circle.
+
+Countess Angela was indeed a perfect ideal beauty; this cannot be too
+often repeated. A pure, noble face, with classical, well-proportioned
+features, nose and lips finely cut, long, straight eyebrows and
+lashes, which veiled the eyes of a goddess. When these eyes glowed, or
+when they were half-closed under their downy lids, they looked black,
+but when they laughed at you, you would swear they were blue. Her hair
+was rich, of that most lovely of all shades, chestnut brown; her whole
+countenance betrayed that she knew herself to be charming, that she
+was aware that she was the centre, at all times, of admiration, and
+that such knowledge pleased her well. And why not? A woman must be
+very silly not to be aware that beauty is a gift and a power.
+
+But what was the reason of her cold looks at the mention of her
+grandfather's name? Just what one might expect from a woman with her
+face. All the world--that is, her world--knew that she and her
+grandfather, Prince Theobald of Bondavara, were at daggers drawn. The
+wily old politician had given his only and beautiful granddaughter to
+a German, Prince Sondersheim. She was to consolidate some political
+matter, only she didn't see it in that light, and refused to ratify
+the bargain, not caring for Sondersheim; and, for the matter of that,
+neither did he care for her. But, then, it didn't mean so much to him.
+Angela had her ideal of married life, however, and so she quarrelled
+with her grandfather because he pooh-poohed her ideals and called them
+romantic folly. Upon this she vowed she would never speak to him
+again, and he, being angry, told her to leave his house, which she did
+at once, and came to her Aunt Theudelinde, who had just set up at
+Pesth, and was glad to have so bright and beautiful a niece. Since
+then she had refused all communication with her grandfather. This was
+the reason that she would not even hear his name mentioned; and it
+never was, except by ignorant outsiders, or "know-nothings," as the
+Yankees call them.
+
+The Abbé Samuel had wit enough to see that the _Soirées Amalgamantes_
+were not the success they should be. Conversation did not suffice;
+amalgamation was at a standstill. The young girls sat in one room, the
+married women in another; the men herded together, looking glum, but
+not so bored as the women. Then the abbé, considering what ought to be
+done, had a happy idea. He introduced dramatic representations,
+dramatic readings, concerts, which were a decided success. Soon
+conversation became lively, strangers got to know one another; when
+they rehearsed together duets and little pieces their stiffness wore
+off. The women seemed different in morning dress, free from the
+restraints of the grand toilette; they grew quite friendly, and later
+on they found a subject upon which they discoursed quite at their
+ease. It must be confessed, however, that after midnight, when the
+readings, the concert, or the representation was over, and the
+outsiders had gone home to their beds, society began to enjoy itself.
+The young people danced, the old played whist or tarok, and they
+stayed till daybreak. They would have done the same had the
+scientists, the poets, the artists remained; they didn't want them to
+leave, but, naturally, these people felt themselves out of it, and,
+besides, they could not sit up all night like the others, so they went
+home very properly; they knew their place.
+
+The Abbé Samuel understood how to manage matters. Whenever the
+countess was to have a particularly good evening he took care it
+should get talked about, and the names of the performers, their
+parentage and history, together with any interesting circumstance,
+true or false, should be subjects of conversation for days before. In
+this way he sent about Ivan Behrend's name with a great many details
+as to his interesting life in the mines, his extraordinary cleverness,
+and the wonderful lecture he was going to give at the countess's next
+_soirée_.
+
+The abbé knew his world, and how to whet its curiosity by exaggerated
+reports.
+
+"Is it true that, for one experiment only, he burned a brilliant
+belonging to Countess Theudelinde which was worth eight hundred
+gulden?"
+
+"The stone weighed four carats, and was worth fifteen hundred pounds."
+
+"We must give him a good reception. See, here he comes, escorted by
+Abbé Samuel!"
+
+The gentleman who had just spoken, and who was the Countess Angela's
+cousin, was Count Edmund, a handsome young man of about twenty-two
+years of age. He hastened to meet Ivan and the abbé as they entered
+the door, and introduced himself as nephew to the lady of the house.
+He took Ivan by the arm in the most friendly manner, and led him to
+Count Stefan, uncle to the countess. The count was a man of
+intelligence and reading; he assured Ivan there were those in the room
+who were much interested to hear his lecture. After this he was
+presented by his new friend to several distinguished-looking persons
+with decorations, who all pressed his hand, and spoke in the most
+friendly manner. The beginning of the evening was the most agreeable
+portion. The abbé and Ivan finally made their way into the next room,
+where the ladies were assembled, and here they found the Countess
+Theudelinde, who received them, and especially Ivan, most graciously.
+The young man, Count Edmund, again took possession of him, and,
+laughing and talking, led him up to the Countess Angela, to whom he
+was introduced with a great flourish. Before this lovely vision Ivan
+bowed, feeling somewhat stunned, yet not shy or awkward.
+
+"You come very seldom to Pesth," said the young countess, with a
+reassuring smile.
+
+"It is some time since I have been here; but I understand this is your
+first visit, countess. You have never lived in Pesth?"
+
+Angela's face assumed its cold expression; she felt sure he was going
+to inquire for Prince Theobald.
+
+"I do not see," she said, in a sarcastic voice, "what it is to any one
+whether I have ever been in Pesth."
+
+"It is not an uncommon accident," returned Ivan, quietly, "that a man
+visits a place where he has never been before; but when many people
+meet in the same spot, it looks as if there was something more than
+accident in such a gathering; and in this instance, where so many
+brilliant personages are brought together, it seems as if Providence
+had more to do with it than mere chance."
+
+At these words Angela's face cleared. "Then you believe in Providence?
+you acknowledge there is such a thing as Divine ordinance?"
+
+"Undoubtedly, I do believe."
+
+"Then we shall be friends." She turned away as she spoke, and Ivan
+took this movement as a signal to retire.
+
+After a quarter of an hour's further waiting, Edmund came to tell him
+that everything was in readiness in the lecture-room, and the company
+had already gathered there in considerable numbers. Ivan, therefore,
+ascended the stage, which had been erected at the farther end of the
+large room, and, holding his papers in his hand, addressed his
+audience. He had a pleasant voice, his manner of address was perfectly
+unaffected, composed, and taking. From the first moment he held the
+attention of the audience--his subject was _Magnetism_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+RITTER MAGNET
+
+
+When the lecture had concluded the lamps were carried out of the room,
+and only the candles in the lustre were left lighted. Ivan then
+exhibited to the astonished spectators the electric light. Many of
+them had never seen such a clear, beautiful light as this ball of
+virgin-like purity. It looked like one of the heavenly planets, as if
+Venus had descended from her place in the firmament and was shining on
+the company. The candles in the lustre burned blue, and threw shadows
+on the wall. Every face lost all trace of color from the effect of
+this strange illumination; people whispered to one another, almost
+frightened. Ivan, standing upon the platform, looked like some
+magician of old, his features chiselled like a statue, his eyes in
+deep shadow; and what added considerably to the picturesque effect,
+and heightened the charm of this noble assembly, was the strange
+coloring given by the light to the splendid national costume worn by
+the company, and the enamelled appearance of the jewels on the ladies'
+necks and arms.
+
+The eyes of every one were directed to two persons, while an
+involuntary "Ah!" was whispered about at the extraordinary
+transformation produced in their appearance. One was Countess Angela.
+The light seemed to have taken from her face that pride and
+self-satisfaction which, although natural in one so beautiful, gave
+an earthly expression to her face, and somewhat marred its beauty. Now
+she looked a heavenly vision, with the expression of a glorified
+spirit who had done with earth and had soared upward to her true home
+in heaven; all earthly passions, joy, sorrow, love, and pride, had
+vanished. Such was the miraculous effect of the magic light. The other
+transformation was in Countess Theudelinde. She was seated in an
+armchair, raised upon a sort of divan. The magic light touched her
+face gently, and gave it a fairy-like expression; the noble features
+were spiritualized, her naturally pale coloring became transparent,
+the brilliants in her magnificent tiara sparkled over her forehead as
+a garland of stars; she was sublime, and for five minutes the most
+beautiful among the beautiful. It was, nevertheless, many a long year
+since her mirror had told her she was beautiful. This, too, was the
+miraculous effect of the magic light. Round the hall there were large
+pier-glasses set into the wainscot, which reflected every one of the
+company. Theudelinde, therefore, could see herself beautified. She
+sighed as she thought, "I look like Queen Mab."
+
+Suddenly the miraculous light went out, and the room, lit only by the
+candles, seemed in total darkness. "Ah!" in sorrowful tones was echoed
+through the assembly; people rubbed their eyes and recognized the
+familiar faces again. Alas! it was over too soon. There were no more
+angels, fairies, queens, or heroes; only a group of excellent
+every-day people, counts and countesses. The face of Angela again wore
+its proud, vain expression, and Theudelinde was once more stiff and
+ill-tempered.
+
+Ivan now descended from his platform, and received the congratulations
+and compliments due to his efforts. There were different opinions, of
+course, but they were private. Every one joined in praising the
+lecturer to himself.
+
+Ivan thanked every one for their approval, but with a coldly reticent
+manner, and soon disengaged himself from his admirers to go in search
+of his hostess; he wished to thank her for her kindness.
+
+Theudelinde received him with smiles. Countess Angela was with her,
+leaning on the back of her aunt's chair. The young girl had just said:
+
+"You looked, auntie, quite lovely--a perfect Queen Mab."
+
+The smile these words had called to Theudelinde's face still lingered
+round her lips when Ivan presented himself. For these five minutes of
+beauty she was indebted to this man, and was not ungrateful. She gave
+him her hand, and thanked him in the most gracious manner for the
+enjoyment he had given her.
+
+"I owe you something," returned Ivan. "When you honored my house with
+a visit, you gave me a diamond which you allowed me to burn before
+your eyes. I now in return for your goodness on that occasion give you
+this diamond, which was created before your eyes." With these words he
+handed her a piece of carbon, which he had taken from the voltaic
+pillar. "As I explained to you in my lecture, coal can be changed by
+electricity into a diamond, and in this condition can cut glass."
+
+"Ah!" cried the Countess Angela, her eyes beaming with pleasure, "let
+us try the experiment now. Where is there a glass? Yes, one of the
+pier-glasses. Come."
+
+Countess Theudelinde was also excited. She stood up, and went with the
+others to the pier-glass.
+
+"Write one of the letters of the alphabet," said Angela, and watched
+Ivan attentively. She was curious to see the letter he would choose.
+If he were vain, as very likely he was, he would write his own initial
+"I"; if a toady and flatterer, like most of the people round her aunt,
+he would choose "T," as the countess's initial; and if he were a silly
+fool, like so many other men, he would write "A." In either of these
+cases he would have seen on the beauty's face a scornful smile.
+
+Ivan took the piece of coal, and with the point wrote on the glass the
+letter "X." Both ladies expressed their astonishment at seeing the
+coal write, and Countess Theudelinde assured Ivan it should be
+preserved carefully with her other jewels.
+
+Countess Angela stood so near Ivan that the folds of her dress touched
+him.
+
+"I believe," she said, slowly, "every word you told us. I beg of you
+do not tell me that all your romantic descriptions were but the
+necessary clothing of a dry scientific subject, meant to make it
+palatable to your silly, ignorant audience, and to raise in their
+minds a wish to seek further, so that they might in so seeking acquire
+a taste for knowledge. I do not want to seek, I believe implicitly all
+you said; but of this world of wonder and miracles I would know more.
+How far does it go? What more do you see, for the magician must know
+everything?"
+
+The young countess looked into Ivan's eyes as she spoke with a strange
+magnetic power impossible to resist. Such a look as this had often
+dazzled men's brains.
+
+"You said, also," continued Angela, "how fiery and strong are those
+who live in this magnetic kingdom, but that they have no credit for
+the virtues they possess; it is due to the working of magnetism. I
+believe this also. Magnetism has, however, two poles, the north and
+the south pole. I have read that the opposite poles are drawn to one
+another, and the homogeneous drift asunder. If, therefore, in the
+magnetic kingdom hearts are drawn to one another, seek one another,
+love one another, which is an immutable fact, so also is it an
+immutable fact that there must be human beings who hate one another
+with an undying, a deadly hatred, and that such hatred is no sin. Am I
+not right?"
+
+Ivan felt that he was driven into a corner; he understood the drift of
+the countess's question. Here his knowledge of natural philosophy came
+to his assistance.
+
+"It is true," he said, "that so far as life upon the earth is in
+question, there must also exist antipathies and sympathies. You have
+studied magnetism, you have read of the poles, therefore you must know
+that there exists an equator, or line, which is neither north nor
+south. This is the magnetic equator, that neither draws the magnet nor
+repulses it, and here there is perfect peace. Just such an equator is
+found in every human heart, and however a man may be carried away by
+the passions of love or hatred, his line remains unchangeable, and
+those who dwell there dwell in peace."
+
+"And who are the people who live under the magnetic equator?" asked
+the countess, with curiosity.
+
+"For example, parents and their children should dwell there."
+
+The young girl's face was covered with a vivid blush; her beautiful
+eyes shot a battery of lightning glances at Ivan, who remained quite
+unmoved under this battery.
+
+"We must talk more of this," she said, with sudden dignity.
+
+Ivan bowed before the haughty beauty, who turned and left him to the
+company of her aunt or of his own sex. He preferred the latter.
+
+Meantime, the lecture being over, a rush had been made to the
+refreshments. The army of outsiders were the first in the field. If
+they were of little account elsewhere, they took first place at the
+buffet, and here the citizen showed distinctly his origin.
+
+Ivan mixed with the company, and conducted himself as one accustomed
+to such society, and quite at his ease in it, and he was well
+received. The men were very civil towards him; every man under forty
+used the friendly "thou" in addressing him; he was made one of
+themselves. It didn't matter much, as he was said to be leaving Pesth
+the next day, and would be lost in the depths of Mesopotamia. Some one
+said he came from Africa. They tried teasing him a bit, all in a
+friendly way, and were pleased to find this pedant was an excellent
+fellow, who took the joke in good part, laughed heartily at a
+well-delivered thrust, and returned it with a sly hit, which never
+offended any one's feelings.
+
+"He is one of us," they said. "This man is up to everything; he is a
+capital fellow. We must give him a good time."
+
+"Is it true that you don't drink wine?" asked the Marquis Salista of
+Ivan.
+
+"Once a year."
+
+"And to-day is not the anniversary?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then we have drunk enough for one year; let us be moving."
+
+Some of the men returned to the drawing-room; these were, for the most
+part, the young fellows, and those who wished to dance. The ladies,
+after their tea, had begun to play quadrilles, and even the "Csárdás"
+for those who wished for it.
+
+Count Stefan, however, drew away the better portion of the men to his
+quarters, which were on the second story of the countess's house. Here
+he entertained in his way. His rooms being on the other side of the
+house, no noise penetrated to the story below, which was necessary, as
+the count's champagne was of the very best, and given with no sort of
+stint; it flowed, in fact. Ivan, who was of the party, showed himself
+in a new light; he drank wine; his toasts were spicy, his anecdotes
+fresh and amusing, his wit sharp and unrestrained; and although he
+drank freely, he didn't turn a hair, he was quite steady.
+
+"Brother," hiccoughed Count Geza, who towards two o'clock was half
+drunk, "the captain and I have agreed that when you are quite done up
+we shall carry you home and put you to bed; but, my dear friend, my
+dear Ritter Magnet, the misery is that I don't think I can get up the
+stairs; I am quite done. Therefore, take your wings and fly, and let
+the captain take his, and both of you fly home. As for me--" Here the
+count laid down on the sofa and fell asleep.
+
+Every one laughed; but the name he had given Ivan--Ritter
+Magnet--stuck to him.
+
+"Do you care to play cards, my learned one?" said the Marquis Salista.
+
+"Once every three years."
+
+"That is not often enough."
+
+The marquis could not at this moment explain why it was not often
+enough, for at this moment Count Stefan acquainted his guests that it
+was time for them to depart, seeing that the ball below stairs had
+broken up, and every one had gone away. The countess's rest,
+therefore, might be disturbed by any noise overhead. Every one agreed
+that this was quite proper.
+
+"Only," said Salista, "there is no need for us to go home. Let us
+have the card-table. Let us spend our time well. Who is for a game?"
+
+Three players soon presented themselves; Baron Oscar was one of the
+first. But the fourth? The captain called to Ivan.
+
+"Now, my learned friend."
+
+Count Stefan thought it necessary to inform the stranger, who was his
+guest, that at the tarok-table the stakes were very high.
+
+"Only a kreuzer the point," said the captain.
+
+"Yes, but kreuzer points in such a game often amount to seven or eight
+hundred gulden to the losing side. These gentlemen have changed a
+simple game into a hazardous venture."
+
+Ivan laughed. "Every day of my life I play hazard with nature itself;
+every day I speculate with all I have on a mere chance, and play only
+one card." So saying, he rolled his chair to the green table.
+
+The game commenced. The game of hazard, as it is generally played, is
+a game of chance, it needs only luck and boldness; a drunken man can
+almost win by accident. But as it is played in Pesth it is something
+quite different; what is called luck, chance, accident, is here allied
+to skill, prudence, consideration, and boldness. The tarok-player must
+not only study his cards, but also the faces of his adversaries. He
+must be Lavater and Tartuffe in one; he must be a general who develops
+at every moment a fresh plan of campaign, and a Bosco who can, from
+the first card that is played, divine the whole situation; he must,
+however, be generous, and sacrifice himself for the sake of the
+general good. Therefore it was that the spectators pitied Ivan when he
+sat down to the card-table to play with these three masters of the
+game.
+
+It was seven o'clock when the players rose from the card-table. As
+Ivan pushed back his chair, the marquis said to him:
+
+"Well, comrade, it is a good thing for the world at large that you
+only drink once a year and play cards once in three years, for if you
+did both every day there would be no more wine in Salista's cellar nor
+no gold left in Rothschild's bank."
+
+Ivan had, in truth, stripped the three gentlemen.
+
+"Nevertheless, we must have a parting cup," continued Salista. "Where
+is the absinthe?" As he spoke he filled two large glasses with the
+green, sparkling spirit, of which moderate people, regretting this
+prudence, it may be, never drink more than a liqueur glass.
+
+Count Stefan shook his head over what he considered a bad joke, but
+Ivan did not shrink from the challenge; he clinked his glass with that
+of the captain, and emptied it without drawing breath. Then, with his
+most courteous bow, he took leave of his host, Count Stefan, who on
+his side assured him it would always be a pleasure to receive so
+delightful a guest.
+
+As Ivan made his way into the anteroom his step was steady, his air
+composed. Not so the marquis; the dose had been too potent for him. He
+insisted upon claiming Ivan's astrakhan cap as his, and, as there was
+no use arguing the matter with an inebriate, Ivan had to go home in
+the military helmet of a hussar officer. On the staircase the captain
+maintained that he could fly, that he was one of the inhabitants of
+the magnetic kingdom, and had wings. The others had all the trouble in
+the world to get him down the stairs. When he came to the first floor
+he thought of paying the Countess Theudelinde a visit, to thank her
+for her kind reception of his lecture, for he was the lecturer, and he
+was ready to blow out the brains of any one who contradicted him. He
+was with great difficulty got into a _fiacre_, and driven to his
+hotel. When he got there he had to be carried to his bed, where he lay
+in a deep sleep until late in the following day.
+
+Meantime Ivan, after a short rest, went about as usual, wrote his
+letters, and paid some visits.
+
+"He carries his liquor like a man," said Count Stefan. And from this
+time all the world called him the knight of the magnet.
+
+The knight was to be met everywhere. He had numerous visitors; he was
+invited to the best houses. He was elected honorary member of the
+club; he had been introduced by the abbé. The club had three classes
+of members--the day grubs and the evening and the night birds. In the
+daytime the library, which was an excellent collection of rare books,
+was visited by all the _littérateurs_ of Pesth. From six to eight came
+the lawyers and the politicians to play whist and talk politics, and
+from eight until midnight the men of fashion had their innings. In
+this way two men might go every day to the club and never meet one
+another.
+
+Ivan first ransacked the library, then he distributed his time
+equally. He thought no more of returning home. He enjoyed everything
+and went everywhere, never missing on the opera nights to pay a visit
+to the Countess Theudelinde's box on the grand tier.
+
+In the second week of his stay the countess gave her ball. Ivan was
+invited, and went.
+
+"Shall you dance?" asked the captain.
+
+"I haven't done so for fifteen years."
+
+"It suits men of our years to look on," remarked the marquis,
+languidly. "No man dances now after two-and-thirty."
+
+Looking on was pleasant enough. The nameless grace and wonderful
+agility displayed by the aristocratic, fashionable woman was a sight
+for the gods to admire. Countess Angela was to-night surpassing fair.
+She wore a rose-colored dress, with a body, in the Hungarian fashion,
+all studded with pearls; the sleeves were of lace. She had taken a
+fancy to dress her hair like the peasant girls, in two long tresses
+plaited with ribbons; it suited her to perfection. But men get tired
+of everything, even of a sight fit for the gods. After supper one said
+to the other:
+
+"Let us make use of our time; the young fellows can dance; let us play
+tarok."
+
+Ivan played cards every day. He played most games well; he never
+disputed with his partners. He could lose with a good grace; when he
+won was not elated. When he held bad cards he showed no ill-temper,
+and seldom made a mistake. He was looked upon as an acquisition, and
+for a _savant_ he was really a useful man. On this evening he was in
+exceptionally good-luck.
+
+Suddenly Count Edmund came into the card-room in a violent hurry. He
+said to Ivan:
+
+"Throw down your cards. Angela wishes to dance a turn of the Hungarian
+cotillon with you."
+
+Hungarian cotillon! Strange times, that we should have a Hungarian
+court, a Hungarian ministry, Hungarian silver and gold coins. That is
+nothing wonderful; it is only natural, it is fate, and due to us. But
+a Hungarian cotillon belongs to the day of agitators. We dance the
+cotillon to the air of "Csárdás."
+
+Ivan obeyed Angela's mandate. When he came to her he bowed low before
+her.
+
+"You wouldn't have troubled yourself to come near me only I sent for
+you," she said, in a tone of gentle reproach.
+
+"Into the presence of a queen one doesn't intrude; we wait to be
+summoned."
+
+"Don't try and flatter me; if you do like the others I shall treat you
+as I do them, and not speak one word to you. I much prefer your way,
+although you are always offending me."
+
+"I do not remember to have ever offended you."
+
+"Because you do nothing else. You know that very well."
+
+It was now their turn; they joined the waltzers, and no one would have
+guessed that it was fifteen years since Ivan had danced.
+
+Meantime, in the card-room there was some gossip over this new whim of
+the young countess. Count Edmund, as he shuffled the cards, declared
+his cousin Angela was bewitched about this Ritter Magnet.
+
+"Ah, is that so?" cried the Marquis Salista.
+
+"Don't you believe him," interrupted Count Stefan. "I know our pretty
+Angela; she is as full of mischief as a kitten. As soon as she remarks
+that a man has a hobby-horse, she makes him ride it, puts it through
+all its paces, caracoling, leaping, _haute école_. This is her trick:
+once she knows the subject which interests a man, she talks of it with
+such an earnest face, such sympathetic eyes; and when he has left her,
+charmed at her intelligence, her sweetness, she ridicules the
+unfortunate devil. This is the way she treated poor Sondersheim, a
+very brave young fellow, who has only one fault, that he worships
+Angela, and she abhors him. She laughs at everybody."
+
+"That is true; but she praises Ivan, not to his face, but behind his
+back to me, and not because he is a man of science, a geologist, but
+because he is such a brave man."
+
+"That is another of her tricks; the artful puss knows right well that
+the praise which comes at third-hand is the sweetest of all flattery."
+
+"I take good care not to repeat one word to Ivan."
+
+"There you show him real friendship," remarked Salista, laughing.
+
+In the ball-room the dancers had returned to their places.
+
+"You were ready to leave Pesth," Angela was saying, with a charming
+pout. "You needn't deny it; the abbé told me."
+
+"Since then circumstances have detained me longer than I expected,"
+returned Ivan, coolly.
+
+"Have you got a family at home?"
+
+"I have no one belonging to me in the world."
+
+"And why have you not?"
+
+This was a searching question.
+
+"Perhaps you already know what my business is. I have a colliery; I
+work with the miners, and spend my day underground."
+
+"Ah, that explains everything," said Angela, regarding him with tender
+sympathy. "Now I understand that you are indeed right. It would be
+terrible to condemn a woman to the sufferings a miner's wife must
+endure. What can be more terrible than to take leave of her husband
+each morning, not knowing whether they will ever meet again; to know
+he is in the depths of the earth while she breathes the fresh air of
+heaven; to fancy her beloved is perhaps buried alive, and she cannot
+hear his cries for help; that even if it is not so, that he is
+surrounded by a deadly atmosphere, that it only needs a spark to
+become a hell, in which her darling would be lost to her forever? I
+can understand how a woman's heart would break under such a daily
+agony; even to her child she would say, 'Do not run so fast, else a
+stone may fall on your father's head and kill him.'" Then, with a
+sudden change of expression, Angela turned angrily to Ivan. "But why
+do you stay down in the mine like a common miner?"
+
+"Because it is my element, as the battle-field is that of the soldier,
+the sea of the sailor, the desert of the traveller. It is with me as
+it is with them--a passion. I love the mysterious darkness of the
+world underground."
+
+The warmth with which Ivan spoke these words kindled an answering
+enthusiasm in his listener.
+
+"Every passion is absorbing," she said, "especially the passion for
+creation and for destruction. I understand how a woman would follow a
+man she loved, not only to the field, but into the battle itself,
+although the art of war has now become a very prosaic and second-class
+affair, and has lost every trace of idealism. I confess, however, the
+heroism of the miner is to me incomprehensible. A man who occupies
+himself with dead, cold stones is to me like that Prince Badrul-Buder
+in the 'Arabian Nights,' who was turned into a stone, and whose wife
+preferred a living slave to her marble husband. I prefer those who
+penetrate to unknown regions of the globe, and I could envy the wife
+of Sir Samuel Baker, who travelled by his side all through the deserts
+of South Africa, holding in one hand a pistol, while the other hand
+was clasped in that of her husband. Together they bore the burning
+heat, together repulsed the savage wild beasts. Hand in hand they
+appeared before the King of Morocco, and what the arm of the husband
+failed to procure was given to the charms of the wife. I can place
+myself in the position of this woman, who, alone and deserted in the
+Mangave wood, sat through the livelong night with the head of the
+wounded traveller on her lap and a loaded pistol beside her. To heal
+his wounds she ventured into the woods and found herbs; for his food
+she contrived to cook in the desert. She did this for the only man she
+loved, whose only love she is and has ever been. Her name is known and
+revered in every place where Europeans have penetrated."
+
+Again they had to join the circle of dancers, and when they returned
+to their place Angela resumed the conversation:
+
+"What I said just now was sheer nonsense; the whole thing was the
+outcome of despicable vanity. A miserable idea to travel through
+countries where a woman is hardly to be distinguished from a beast,
+and that because she walks upright; where the ideal of beauty is to
+have the upper lip bored into a big hole, so that when laughing the
+nose is visible--ridiculous! And then to be proud because she was the
+most beautiful woman, and her husband perforce was faithful to her. A
+great thing, indeed, to be the queen of beauty amid monsters of
+ugliness! No, no; I know of something better, far bolder. A woman,
+Fraulein Christian, has accomplished a journey alone on horseback all
+across the steppes of Asia. What if a man and a woman had the courage
+to penetrate through the Polenia Canal to the warm seas discovered by
+Kane? or if a man and a woman had the courage to cast anchor in the
+regions of the north pole, and to the inhabitants of that magnetic
+kingdom boldly say, 'Compare yourselves with us; we are handsomer,
+stronger, more faithful, happier than you are'? That would be a
+triumph; and such a journey I would willingly undertake."
+
+As she said these words, Angela's eyes gleamed upon Ivan with the
+splendor of the aurora borealis. Ivan decided within himself upon a
+sudden experiment.
+
+"Countess, if you have the passion or desire to visit strange worlds,
+and to excite the benighted inhabitants to a proper emulation for
+something better, truer, more intellectual than that they have
+hitherto known, if this is really your laudable wish, I can recommend
+to your notice a country equally in need of such enlightenment, and
+infinitely nearer to you."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"It is Hungary."
+
+"But are we not in Hungary already?"
+
+"Countess, you are in it, but not of it. You are merely visiting us.
+You do not know what and who we are. You need not go so far as the
+poles or Abyssinia; here is a new world open to you, a large field
+where your passion for creating and improving can be easily
+gratified."
+
+Angela opened her fan, and with an air of indifference fanned her
+white bosom.
+
+"What can _I_ do? I am not my own mistress."
+
+"You are not your own mistress, and, nevertheless, you rule."
+
+"Over whom?"
+
+"Countess, it would only need one word from you to bring the green
+palace and all it contains from Vienna to Pesth. The society here
+requires that leading personality which now in Vienna is lost among
+the crowd, whose existence is spent in aimless inaction. Pesth needs
+the prince, your grandfather. He adores you. One word from you would
+give to our life a new being; one word from you and Prince Theobald
+would reside here."
+
+Angela ceased fanning herself; with an angry gesture she folded her
+hands, and turned an angry look upon Ivan.
+
+"Do you know that the subject you have just mentioned is so
+distasteful to me that any one who has ventured to name it to me has
+forfeited my acquaintance?"
+
+"I am quite aware of the fact, countess."
+
+"And why have you dared to approach the subject?"
+
+"I will tell you, countess. Because of an old connection between our
+families."
+
+"Ah, that is something quite new. I have never heard of it."
+
+"Possibly not. One of your ancestors was a cardinal, and one of mine
+was a minister in Patak--a great difference in their relative
+positions, no doubt; and this difference had a terrible result for my
+ancestor. The cardinal condemned him to the galleys for life. The
+minister had, however, only one word to speak, as the cardinal told
+him, and he would be free. That word was _abrenuncio_--'I renounce,'
+or 'recant.' He would not say the word, however, and so he went to the
+galleys. As they were putting round his neck the iron collar, from
+which the chains hang which fasten the slave to his bench, your
+ancestor, the cardinal, who was not a hard-hearted man, with tears in
+his eyes entreated my ancestor to say the word 'abrenuncio.' The
+minister, however, not only refused, but called out 'Non abrenuncio.'
+In the same manner I now stand opposite to you and repeat the same
+words--'Non abrenuncio.' This is the _rapport_ between us. Would you
+treat me as the cardinal did my ancestor?"
+
+Countess Angela tapped her fan upon her knee as she whispered between
+her small white teeth, and with a cruel smile upon her lips:
+
+"What a pity that those days are past! If I were in the place of my
+ancestor I would order you to have iron goads driven under your
+nails."
+
+At this formidable threat Ivan burst out laughing. After a minute
+Angela followed his example and laughed also.
+
+It was rather a bold experiment to meet the young beauty's wrath with
+a burst of laughter, but it was a good answer to her foolish speech.
+The countess felt now that she had given cause for laughter; but she
+was offended, nevertheless, and with a haughty look at the offender
+she seated herself.
+
+Ivan did not move from her side. A cotillon, even though it be the
+"Hungarian," has its uses. One partner cannot leave the other if they
+wish to separate.
+
+In the meantime a young man, one of the stupid persons of society,
+came to Ivan and whispered in his ear that Edmund sent him to say he
+should return to his game; the luck had changed, and the heap of gold
+Ivan had left was lost.
+
+"Tell him he has done well," returned Ivan; and he took his
+pocket-book from his breast-pocket and handed it to the messenger.
+"Tell him to make use of what is in this," he said, "and lose it, if
+necessary." And he remained where he was.
+
+Angela never turned her head to him again. The cotillon lasted a long
+time; Count Geza, who led it, wished to show that the Hungarian
+presented as many opportunities for new figures as the German
+cotillon, and the demonstration lasted two hours. Ivan remained to the
+end, although Angela preserved her cold silence. When they had to join
+in the waltz circle she leaned on his shoulder, her fingers pressed
+his, her breath touched his face; when she returned to her place she
+resumed her coldness, and kept her head steadily averted.
+
+When the cotillon was over Edmund brought Ivan the news that this long
+dance had cost him a thousand gulden. Ivan shrugged his shoulders, as
+if the loss didn't concern him.
+
+"Wonderful man!" thought Edmund. Presently he said to his cousin:
+
+"It seems that you kept Ritter Magnet all to yourself, my pretty
+cousin."
+
+Angela raised her white shoulder to him, while she said, angrily:
+
+"This man has bored me for a long time."
+
+From the moment that these words were spoken by the queen of fashion a
+marked change took place in the opinion of the world as to Ivan's
+merits. He was no longer considered a capital fellow, but was looked
+upon as a pushing _parvenu_. Angela said nothing more, but this one
+sentence conveyed much. There are men of low origin whose own vanity
+misinterprets the true meaning of the condescension shown to them by
+those above them in station, and by so doing make terrible mistakes
+which must be punished. Such bold _parvenus_ must be taught to curb
+their wishes. Ivan was counted as one of these. The foolish man had
+imagined that a high-born lady, a Bondavara, because she was
+patriotic, would, forsooth, stoop to such as he; he had mistaken her
+graciousness for the encouragement she might give to one of her own
+class. He must be ostracized, and that speedily.
+
+The signal had been given by those words of the countess's: "He has
+for a long time bored me." The first means taken under such
+circumstances is to make the offender ridiculous. This can be done in
+different ways. The victim remarks that his weak points are held up,
+that he is never left in peace, that he is perpetually placed in
+situations which are arranged to make him a laughing-stock. Not that
+any one is rude enough to laugh at him openly; on the contrary, they
+are most polite to him, but it is a politeness that provokes laughter.
+He soon finds that no one is his friend, no one makes any intimacy
+with him, although no one actually insults him; but if he is a man of
+any intelligence he soon feels that he is not one of the society, and
+that his best part will be to take his hat and go.
+
+This happened now to Ivan, but his habitual phlegm did not desert him;
+he understood the situation, and was determined to stand his ground to
+the bitter end. He was invited to take part in an amateur opera, made
+up of most aristocratic personages; it was done on purpose to subject
+him to a mortification. He was given the _rôle_ of the "King." He made
+a sensation; his voice was a fine, melodious bass. Angela was the
+"Elvira"; Salista, "Ernani"; but the "King" was the favorite.
+
+"The devil is in the man," growled the marquis. "He has been an actor,
+I'll bet."
+
+On another occasion he was invited to a fox-hunt at Count Stefan's
+splendid hunting-seat near Pesth. The _élite_ of the country round
+gathered at these hunts, which took place in the beginning of the
+season. It was arranged that Ivan should be mounted on a fiery
+Arabian. This was considered a great joke. It would be such fun to see
+the quiet book-worm in the saddle; he would have to cling on, for the
+Arabian would hardly allow his owner to ride. It would be rare sport.
+But here was another disappointment; Ivan sat the fiery racer as if he
+had grown in the saddle. When Salista saw him mounted, he muttered
+between his teeth:
+
+"The devil is in the fellow. I would take a bet he has been a hussar."
+
+Countess Angela took part in the first run at Count Stefan's. She sat
+her horse splendidly; she was quite at home in the field.
+
+About ten sportsmen drew the first cover; the hounds had the fox out
+of the bushes, and the cavalcade rode after Renard, who took his
+course over a slope of a hill, which was divided by a cleft in the
+rock, at the bottom of which ran a mountain stream. The fox took
+refuge in this cleft; he probably thought he might find there an empty
+fox-hole, into which he might sneak. In any case he might escape by
+the skin of his teeth, as the horses could not venture to follow him.
+It was a chance, for if the dogs hunted him out of the burrow he could
+make tracks by the right-hand side. The hunt was on the left.
+
+"Forward!" cried the daring Countess Angela, and put her horse to leap
+the cleft.
+
+It was a breakneck jump. How many will risk their lives to follow her?
+When she reached the other side she turned and looked back. Ivan was
+beside her. The dogs pursued the fox, who had taken to the stream; the
+rest of the hunt galloped along the left side of the chasm. Angela
+thought as little about them as they did of her. In every one's mind
+there was only one idea--the fox. The countess rode at the very edge
+of the chasm, taking no heed of the dizzy height she was on and the
+dangerous depths into which one false step of her horse might
+precipitate her. She followed poor Renard, who was seeking an outlet,
+distracted as he was by his pursuers. Suddenly he rushed out through
+the riders on the left bank and took to the woods.
+
+"After him! Tally ho!" resounded along the hillside, and soon fox,
+dogs, and horsemen were lost to Angela's sight. At once she turned
+her horse's bridle; she made for a short-cut through the mountain,
+over which she meant to jump her horse, and so join the hunt without
+loss of time. She never looked back to see if Ivan followed her, but
+galloped up the steep mountain-side, sitting her horse in splendid
+style. At the turn of the path a hare suddenly broke from the cover
+under the horse's feet. The animal shied, and swerved violently to one
+side, throwing the countess out of the saddle. In the fall the long
+skirt of her habit got entangled in the saddle and kept her fastened
+to the horse. Her head hung, with all her hair streaming on the
+ground. The frightened horse ran towards the crevice; if he dragged
+his rider down its side her head would be battered to pieces by the
+trunks of the trees. Ivan fortunately caught his bridle in time. He
+freed the foolhardy rider from the saddle; she was unconscious. Ivan
+laid her upon the soft turf, and pillowed her head upon the stump of a
+moss-grown tree. Then he saw how the fall had disarranged her dress.
+The malachite buttons had come off the body of her habit, and the
+bodice was treacherously open. Ivan drew from his necktie his
+breast-pin, and with it closed the countess's corselet.
+
+When Angela came to herself she was alone. Both the horses were tied
+to a tree by their bridles. In the distance through the gathering mist
+she saw a man coming towards her from the valley below. It was Ivan,
+who had gone to fill his hunting-flask with water. The countess rose
+at once to her feet; she needed no help. Ivan offered her the water;
+she thanked him, but said she was quite herself. Ivan threw the water
+away.
+
+"I think it would be well if you were to return to the castle."
+
+"I will do so."
+
+"It is not far. I know a short way through the wood. We can lead the
+horses."
+
+"Very well," returned the countess, submissively. But when she looked
+at her dress and saw how it was fastened a hot blush covered her face.
+When she was in the shade of the wood she turned to Ivan, and said,
+suddenly, "Have you ever heard of Julia Gonzaga?"
+
+"No, countess."
+
+"She was the Chatelaine of Fondi. Barbarossa had surprised Fondi in
+the night and carried off Julia. A noble knight came to her rescue,
+and she escaped with him from the freebooter. It was in the night, and
+she had to ride barefooted, for she had just risen from her couch. Do
+you know how she rewarded her deliverer? She stabbed him through the
+heart with the first dagger that came to her hand."
+
+"And she did right," returned Ivan. "A strange man should not have
+seen her naked feet."
+
+"And the man?" asked Angela.
+
+"Ah, poor fellow! he had the misfortune of enjoying too much
+happiness."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+ONLY A TRIFLE
+
+
+The fox was taken. Out of the far distance a triumphant "Halali!" was
+heard, and then the horn sounded to collect the scattered members of
+the hunt. Countess Angela and her escort were by this time at the
+border of the wood. Ivan sounded his horn in answer to the summons,
+and to show the others that they were already on their way home. They
+arrived at the castle a quarter of an hour before the rest of the
+company. Then they separated, and did not meet again until
+supper-time. The huntsmen spent the interval talking over the day's
+exploits, and the ladies were occupied with their toilettes.
+
+Countess Angela told her aunt what had happened. She was incapable of
+any sort of deceit. Lies, which come so easily to the lips of some
+women, were impossible to her. If she did not tell a thing she kept
+silent; but to speak what was not true--never! But what if Ivan
+related to the men what had occurred? It was so much the habit to talk
+over the day's sport, and make a jest of everything. Why should he not
+make capital of such an adventure--a rescued lady--a beauty in
+_déshabille_?
+
+When supper-time came it struck every one that the countess had a
+constrained manner, and closer observers noticed that she avoided
+looking at Ivan. She was dressed all in black, which was, perhaps,
+the reason that she was so pale. She was silent and preoccupied; she
+was wondering if they all knew what Ivan knew. The gentlemen tried to
+amuse her. They were full of the day's run, how the fox had doubled,
+how they thought they would never catch him, how they regretted that
+the countess had not been present, how unfortunate it was that she had
+been on the opposite side of the mountain, but that it was far better
+for her to have lost the run than to have ventured to leap the
+crevice. That would, indeed, have been madness; an accident would
+certainly have been the result. No one alluded to the fact that she
+had met an ugly one; but, then, well-bred people never do allude to
+anything unpleasant, which, though otherwise agreeable, has this
+drawback, that one never knows how much or how little they know.
+
+It was a remark of her cousin Edmund that convinced Angela eventually
+that Ivan had kept his own counsel as to her accident.
+
+"Did Behrend accompany you to the house?" he asked. (No one now called
+him Ritter Magnet, nor were there any familiar jokes with him).
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And his escort was not agreeable to you?"
+
+"What makes you say that?" inquired Angela, hastily.
+
+"From Ivan's manner; he seems terribly down in his luck. He hasn't a
+word to say to a dog, and he avoids looking at you. Don't you remark
+it? You have, I think, made the place too hot for him; he won't stay
+longer. Have I guessed right?"
+
+"Yes, quite right."
+
+"Shall I give him a hint to go?"
+
+"Do, for my sake; but without harshness. I will not have him
+offended."
+
+"Do you think I am such a bungler? I have an excellent plan to get him
+away quietly."
+
+"You must tell me what it is. I am not vexed with the man, only he
+bores me. Do you understand? I won't have him driven away by any of
+you; but if he goes by his own free choice, I should be glad if he
+were at the antipodes."
+
+"Well, I have no objection to tell you what I mean to do. This man is
+a scholar, a philosopher, as you know. He holds very different
+opinions from us who live in the world. For one thing, he abhors
+duelling. Don't spoil your pretty face by frowning. I am not going to
+call him out, neither is any one else, so far as I know; that would be
+a stupid joke. But this evening, in the smoking-room, Salista and I
+will get up a dispute about some trifle or another; the end of it will
+be a challenge. I will ask Behrend and Geza to be my seconds. Now,
+what will happen? If Behrend refuses, which is most likely, he will
+have to withdraw from our party--that is the etiquette--and we will
+have nothing more to say to him. If, on the contrary, he accepts, then
+the other seconds will manage to fall out about the arrangements of
+our meeting--Salista's and mine--and the regular consequence of such a
+falling out is that the seconds challenge one another; then our
+philosopher packs up his traps, thanks us for our hospitality, goes
+back to brew his gas. He doesn't fight, not he; for I hold that,
+although it is within the bounds of possibility that even a
+philosopher, if deeply insulted, may have recourse to his pistol to
+punish the offender, yet, when it is a matter of pure, worldly
+etiquette, it is only your born gentleman who will stand up in a
+duel."
+
+"But suppose he does consent to fight this duel?"
+
+"Then my plot has failed. We should then have a sort of court-martial,
+and it would have to decide that no offence was meant and none given.
+We would all shake hands, and the little comedy would be at an end."
+
+Angela yawned, as if weary of the subject. "Do as you like," she said.
+"But take care. This man can show his teeth; he can bite."
+
+"Leave that to me."
+
+That evening at supper the conversation was purposely turned on
+duelling, for the purpose of convincing Angela that Ivan's views on
+the subject were sound as regarded his own safety. The opportunity
+offered, for the latest event in fashionable life was a duel, in which
+the only son of a well-known and distinguished family had lost his
+life for some silly dispute about a trifle.
+
+"I hold the duel to be not merely a mistake, but a crime," said Ivan.
+"It is flying in the face of God to take the law into our own hands.
+The _Te Deum_ which the conqueror sings over his murderous act is a
+disgrace; it cries to Heaven for vengeance. The appeal to weapons as
+satisfaction is likewise an offence against society, for it hinders
+the possibility of telling the truth. The man who tells us our faults
+openly to our face is a benefactor, but by the present laws of society
+we are bound to challenge him, and to kill him if we can; we have no
+other course, so it must be false compliments or the duello."
+
+Edmund continued the discussion. "I take a different view of the
+matter," he said. "If duelling were not a law of society it would be
+in a sense a denial of God's mercy, for if you look at it in this way
+it cannot be denied that one man is weak, another man strong, and
+that this is a decree of Providence. The result of this difference in
+many instances would be that the weaker would be the slave of the
+stronger, who could box his ears, insult him, and all the law would
+give him would be, perhaps, a couple of pounds. This chasm between the
+law of God and the law of man is filled by the pistol-ball, which puts
+the strong and the weak on the same level. The pistol is not a judge,
+for it often decides the cause unjustly. Nevertheless, this unwritten
+law, and the respect, not to say fear, it infuses, has a salutary
+effect, and makes it impossible for the bully to tyrannize over a man
+of more education but less physical strength."
+
+"But that it should be so is a crime of society," answered Ivan. "A
+false sentiment of honor has dictated this law. The world has no right
+to make such a rule; it should honor those equally, be they poor or
+rich, well-born or humble, who keep the law of the land as it is
+constituted. But what does society do? If a gentleman gets a box on
+the ear from another, and does not immediately demand satisfaction for
+the insult, and, _nolens volens_, make himself a target to be shot at
+by perhaps a better marksman than himself, what happens? He is at once
+dishonored; society ostracizes him. The world, if it pretend to any
+justice in the matter, should reform this absurd principle, and punish
+the man who has given the first offence. Then society, and not a
+leaden ball, would be judge."
+
+"That is all very fine in theory, my dear sir; but I ask you, as a man
+of honor, to put yourself in the position in which, for some reason or
+another, you find it necessary to have satisfaction for an affront."
+
+"I could not imagine myself placed in any such position," Ivan
+answered, quietly. "I offend no one intentionally, and should I do so
+inadvertently, I would at once apologize. I give no man the
+opportunity to asperse my honor, and if he were foolish enough to do
+so I would call upon those who know, and I should deem myself indeed
+unfortunate if they did not clear me of any such accusation."
+
+"But suppose the honor of some one near and dear to you were
+attacked?"
+
+"I have no one who stands to me in that close relationship."
+
+This last remark cut short the discussion. Nevertheless, before many
+hours had passed the Marquis Salista proved to Ivan that there was one
+person whose good name was dear to him.
+
+It was at supper, and Angela was present. The marquis was entertaining
+her with anecdotes of the revolution, in which he had taken part. He
+was bragging fearfully that when he was lieutenant of the cuirassiers
+he performed prodigies. At the battle of Izsasseg, with only a handful
+of men, he routed the entire regiment of Lehel Hussars, and at Alt
+Gzoney he cut the Wilhelm Hussars to pieces, and didn't spare a man.
+
+Not a feature in Ivan's face moved. He listened silently to these
+wonderful tales. Angela at last grew weary of all this boasting and
+glorification of the Austrians over the degraded Hungarians; she
+turned to Ivan, and put to him a direct question:
+
+"Is this all true?"
+
+Ivan shrugged his shoulders. "What can I, a poor miner who lives
+underground, know of what goes on on the surface of the great earth?"
+
+Angela need not have anxiety about him. He is a philosopher, and there
+is no fear he will go too near the fire.
+
+After supper the company separated; Count Stefan, with Countess
+Theudelinde and some other ladies, went into the drawing-room. The
+moon shone through the bow-windows. The countess played the piano, and
+Angela came and spoke to Ivan.
+
+"Here is your pin," she said. "You know the old superstition--a
+present of sharp-pointed instruments dissolves friendship, and those
+who wish to be friends never give them?"
+
+"But," answered Ivan, smiling, "the superstition provides an antidote
+which breaks the spell. Both friends must laugh over the present."
+
+"Ah, that is why you laughed when I spoke of the iron goads. There,
+take back your pin, and let us laugh for superstition's sake!"
+
+And they laughed together, because it was a superstition so to do.
+Then Angela went out on the balcony, and took counsel from the soft
+air of the summer's evening; she leaned over the balustrade, waiting
+for Count Edmund, who had promised to bring her the first news of how
+the plot had worked.
+
+The gentlemen stayed late in the smoking-room; the night is their time
+for enjoying themselves, so Angela had a long vigil. The moon had long
+disappeared behind the high tops of the poplar-trees before Angela
+heard Edmund's step coming through the drawing-room to the bow-window.
+The ladies were still playing the piano; they could talk unreservedly.
+
+"Well, what has happened?" asked Angela.
+
+Edmund was agitated. "Our trifle has turned out a rank piece of
+folly," he said, crossly.
+
+"How?"
+
+"I should not tell you, Angela, but the situation is such that it
+would be wrong to conceal anything from you. We had it all arranged
+just as I told you. When we were in the smoking-room we began to play
+our practical joke. Some one said how pleased you seemed to be with
+Hungary--"
+
+"Oh, how stupid of you!" said Angela, angrily.
+
+"I know now it was a stupid thing to do. I wish I had seen it before;
+but it always happens the knowledge comes too late."
+
+"What business had you, or any one, to mention my name? I gave no
+permission to have it done."
+
+"I know, I know; but in men's society, unfortunately, no one asks a
+lady's permission to mention her name. It was only a joke. It had been
+settled among us that I, being your cousin, should protest against
+this chatter in connection with your name; then Salista was to say
+that he knew well that what kept you in Pesth was the fine eyes of a
+certain gentleman, that I was to get angry, and forbid him to say any
+more, and that then we should get up the mock duel."
+
+Angela was trembling with anger, but, anxious to hear more, she
+controlled herself with difficulty.
+
+"I never heard such a childish joke," she said. "It was a college
+trick."
+
+"It would have been good for us all if it had ended like a college
+trick. When I told you that we had prepared a trick you approved of
+it, Angela; you know you did. None of us thought for a moment that it
+would end as it has done. Behrend was sitting at the chess-table;
+Salista was opposite to him, leaning against the chimney-piece. After
+Salista had said the words, 'I know that a certain pair of eyes keeps
+Countess Angela in Pesth,' and before I had time to make the answer
+agreed upon, Ivan threw down the gauntlet. 'That is a lie!' he said."
+
+"Ah!" cried Angela, while an electric thrill ran through her veins.
+
+"We all sprang to our feet; the joke had ended badly. Salista grew
+pale; he had not counted upon this. 'Sir,' he said to Behrend, 'take
+back that word of yours; it is a word that in my life no man has said
+to me.'"
+
+"And Behrend?" asked Angela, seizing Edmund's hand.
+
+"Behrend stood up from the table, and answered quietly, in a cold
+voice, 'It is possible that up to the present you have given no
+occasion for this reproach to be cast in your face; but to-night I
+repeat that you have lied.' Then he left the room. I ran after him to
+try and smooth down matters. I met him in the hall. He turned to me
+and said, quietly, 'My dear friend, you know what must now happen. I
+beg that you will ask Count Geza in my name, and that you and he will
+be my seconds. You will communicate to me what has been settled; all
+is in your hands.' In this way he invited me to play the part which I
+had destined for him. Now he is the duellist, and I am the second. I
+tried to drive him into a corner. I represented to him that it was not
+his right to throw down the gauntlet for the Countess Angela. He
+answered, 'It is the right and the duty of every gentleman to protect
+the lady whose guest he is.' This answer, from a chivalrous point of
+view, is perfectly correct, but it sounds strangely from the lips of
+the man who a couple of hours ago told us there was no one in the
+world for whose good name he would fight a duel."
+
+Angela sank back in her chair. "Oh, what terrible folly it has all
+been!" she wailed. "No, no, this duel cannot be! I shall prevent it!"
+
+"I wish you would tell me what means you intend to take to prevent
+it."
+
+"I will at once speak with Ivan Behrend--this moment; do you hear?"
+
+"Unfortunately, that is impossible. When he left me he gave the order
+to put his horses to. There, you hear those wheels? That is his
+carriage. Geza has gone with him, and we four are to follow him
+presently. One cannot arrange this sort of thing in a strange house;
+that is done only on the stage. The principals must wait in their own
+houses to hear what we have decided to do."
+
+"But, my God! I will not let it be done; do you hear? I will speak to
+Uncle Stefan."
+
+"I have told you everything, so that our sudden departure should not
+surprise you; but I can tell you exactly what Count Stefan will
+say--that no fuss must be made; let the whole thing be done quickly
+and quietly. The seconds, too, must act with great prudence, and not
+irritate the principals by much delay."
+
+"What do you mean by saying the seconds should act with prudence?"
+
+"So far as depends upon them they must determine the issue of the
+duel, and either soften or accentuate the conditions according to
+circumstances. In this case we will soften. Your name will not appear
+as the cause of the challenge. We will induce Behrend to say that he
+used the word 'lie' in connection with Salista's expressions
+concerning the Hungarian troops. This plausible ground for a challenge
+will be accepted as sufficient by both sides, and in this way your
+name need never be mentioned."
+
+"But I do not care! What does that matter? If any one is killed for my
+sake--"
+
+"Compose yourself, my dear cousin; the seconds will be prudent. We
+shall place them thirty feet apart, and give them worn-out pistols
+with which, at half the distance, the aim would be uncertain; then we
+shall not allow them to take aim more than a minute, and you may be
+certain if they were both as thick as an elephant and protected like
+robin red-breasts they couldn't be safer; they may fire away for hours
+and never hit one another. Now, my dear child, be sensible, I beg of
+you. When you have a husband he will have many an affair of this kind
+upon his hands, and all for your beautiful eyes. But I must be going,
+the carriage is at the door, and we start at daylight."
+
+And Edmund took himself off with a hasty good-bye.
+
+This little joke had spoiled all the sport. The loss of six men made
+it impossible to continue hunting the next day; therefore every one
+resolved to return to Pesth in the morning. The night was disturbed.
+The companion of the Countess Angela, who slept in her room, told
+everyone that her mistress had hardly slept a wink, that she was
+constantly getting up and lighting the candle, saying that it must be
+daylight and time to set off for the city.
+
+The next morning, at ten o'clock, when all the guests had left, and
+Countess Theudelinde and her suite were already in Pesth, Countess
+Angela went to her room, and walked up and down restlessly until about
+eleven o'clock, when Count Edmund was announced.
+
+He came in pale and disturbed, and Angela, who tried to read his face,
+concluded that something had happened.
+
+"In God's name, what is it?" she asked. "Who is hurt?"
+
+"No one," replied Edmund, dryly; "but the affair is in a worse state
+than it was."
+
+"Has the duel taken place?"
+
+"Yes and no. It has begun, but is not finished."
+
+"I do not understand."
+
+"I own it is something quite new. I have never known such a thing in
+my experience. If you wish, I will tell you all about it."
+
+"Oh, for Heaven's sake, do!"
+
+"As agreed, I called at Behrend's house at six o'clock to fetch him;
+Geza went on with the doctor. When we got to Lassloosky, Salista was
+just getting out of his carriage. Ivan lifted his cap and wished him
+good-morning; he probably did not know that this is not usual. The
+principals never greet one another. Salista did not return his bow,
+although he might have done so, seeing that Ivan was evidently
+ignorant of the proper etiquette. From Lassloosky we all drove
+together to Leopold's Field, where we got out of the carriages and
+went on foot through the forest. When we reached the appointed place,
+a clearing in the wood, we stopped, and the seconds on both sides
+asked the principals, according to precedent, whether they would not
+make up their difference. Both sides refused. Upon which we measured
+the distance, marked the barrier with our pocket-handkerchiefs, and
+loaded the pistols. When this was over, the principals, who had been
+pulling blades of grass and standing about, took their places. We
+handed them their pistols; the signal was given by Geza clapping his
+hands. Salista made two steps forward and shot. Just as I expected, he
+did not hit his man. Ivan called out in a loud voice, 'To the
+barrier!' and Salista advanced to where the white pocket-handkerchief
+lay, while Ivan went to his barrier. Then he said, addressing Salista,
+'You did not return my salutation, but if I hit your head-piece you
+will have to take off your cap to me.' He then took aim; the
+half-minute during which he held his pistol showed us his nerve was
+perfect. The pistol went off, and Salista stood opposite his adversary
+bareheaded; his helmet lay two perches behind him, with the gold rose
+torn from its front."
+
+"Ah!" cried Angela.
+
+"This man shoots as well as Robin Hood. We loaded the pistols again,
+because, according to the agreement, they were to have three shots
+each."
+
+"Three shots!" exclaimed Angela.
+
+"Yes. We all agreed it was better to have the affair on a proper
+footing, so far as the conditions went. Thirty steps is a great
+distance; besides, the pistols were bad. In addition, both men were
+wrapped up to the chin; one had a black coat, the other a dark gray
+military cloak--colors bad for hitting; and both had their
+shirt-collars concealed. There was not a point about either that would
+serve for a target. But the cap business had changed the nature of the
+whole affair, and made much bad blood. It proved, for one thing, that
+Behrend was a first-rate shot, and this put Salista's military spirit
+on its metal. The barriers were withdrawn for the second shot. Salista
+took off his gray cloak, tied back his hussar jacket, so that his red
+waistcoat and white shirt stood out clear, and instead of standing, as
+is usual in a duel, with one side to your adversary, he presented to
+him a full front, and this with red and white, the best colors, as
+every one knows, for a mark. Yes, and while we were loading the
+pistols, what do you think he did? But Salista is a madman when he is
+roused! He took his cigar-case out of his pocket, and lighted one to
+show his indifference. For the second time it was his turn to begin.
+He took much more pains than the first time; in fact, he was such a
+time taking aim that we had to call to him to shoot. Again he missed.
+The leaves of the branches under which Ivan stood fell upon his head;
+the ball had gone into the tree."
+
+Angela shuddered.
+
+"Ivan now addressed his opponent. 'Sir,' he said, 'it is not fitting
+that at such a supreme moment as this you should smoke a cigar.'
+Salista made no answer, but stood fronting Behrend; his face was
+slightly turned to one side, and he blew clouds of smoke into the air.
+Ivan raised his pistol for a second, took deliberate aim, then a sharp
+report, and Salista's cigar flew from his mouth into space."
+
+An involuntary smile spread over Angela's lips, but it was gone in an
+instant, and her face resumed its immovable expression, as if cut out
+of stone.
+
+Count Edmund went on. "In a fury Salista threw his pistol upon the
+ground. 'The devil take me,' he cried, stamping with rage, 'if I shoot
+any more with this man! He is Beelzebub in person. He has shot the cap
+from my head, the cigar from my mouth, and the third time he will
+shoot the spurs from my boots. He shoots all round me; he is like a
+Chinese juggler. I will not shoot any more with him; that's flat!' His
+seconds in vain tried to persuade him; he would not listen to them; he
+was furious; he would hear nothing. He wasn't going to be such a fool
+as to stand up there to be a mark for a second William Tell, who would
+not only shoot the apple from his head, but aim right at his heart. If
+they wanted to have a fair fight, with all his heart--but let it be
+with swords; then one would see who was the best man. We all talked to
+him, told him not to play the fool, that he must stand his adversary's
+fire no matter where he was shot, in his spur or his head. The
+duellist has no power to refuse; he is in the hands of his seconds. At
+last Behrend got curious to know what the row was about; he called to
+me and Geza, and we had to tell him that Salista would not stand
+another shot, but had demanded that the duel should be decided by
+swords. To our surprise Ivan answered, coolly, 'With all my heart.
+Give us the sabres.' 'Do you consent?' 'I consent to fight with
+scythes if he wishes.' So it was agreed. Salista's seconds heard this
+discussion with great satisfaction; they were very much put out by his
+outbreak, it being quite unusual to change the weapons in a duel; and
+there would have been a regular scandal if Ivan had used his right of
+refusing any such alteration in the conditions under which the duel
+was to be fought."
+
+"And you have allowed such an innovation to be made?" said Angela,
+looking at her cousin with contracted eyebrows.
+
+"Certainly, when the challenger has agreed to it."
+
+"It was shameful of you!" Angela continued, with suppressed tears in
+her voice--"ungenerous to allow such an unequal fight. One man has
+practised fencing all his life; it is his profession; the other has
+never had a sword in his hand."
+
+"The fight will be drawn at the first blood," said Edmund, in a
+soothing voice.
+
+"But you had no right to agree to such a bloodthirsty idea; you have
+overstepped your duty as second. You should have said to Salista's
+seconds that the affair should conclude then or never."
+
+"That is quite true; and we should have done so, only Behrend chose to
+interfere."
+
+"You should not have allowed it; you could have stopped it. When does
+the duel take place?"
+
+"As we had no swords we could not fight this morning. It is against
+the law to have a duel in the afternoon, therefore we have postponed
+the second meeting until to-morrow at daylight."
+
+"Before daylight to-morrow I will put a stop to the duel."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"I shall speak to Behrend; I shall explain everything to him."
+
+"If you tell him that this affair has arisen out of a joke, the result
+will be that, instead of fighting a duel with one man, Behrend will
+have six duels on his hands."
+
+"I will tell him in such a way that he will not ask to fight with any
+of you."
+
+"Then you will have ruined Salista."
+
+"How so? What has he to do with it?"
+
+"If this half-finished _rencontre_ gets wind, and it reaches the ears
+of the authorities that an officer refused his adversary's third fire,
+Salista will have to leave his regiment, he will be received nowhere,
+and he would have to go back to the pope's army as zouave."
+
+"For my part, I don't care if he becomes the devil's zouave! What do I
+care about him? Let him go to the Sultan of Dahomey. He is only fit to
+be the general of his army. For my part, he may go quite to the bad;
+he is half-way there already. But who cares what happens to him? _I_
+don't. Your duty is clear; you should protect your man. Isn't that
+so?"
+
+Edmund looked with astonishment at the excitement into which the
+countess had thrown herself; she was trembling, and her eyes gleamed
+with passion.
+
+"This is quite a new view of the affair," he said. "If you look upon
+it in this light, I must agree that we have been wrong, and you most
+certainly right. I shall go at once and look for Geza; we will both
+repair to Behrend, and tell him our opinion."
+
+He bowed low before his cousin, and left. In an hour he returned. He
+found Angela in the same place.
+
+"Well, what is done? Is it all settled?"
+
+"Listen. Geza and I went to Ivan. I explained to him that we
+considered it our duty not to infringe the conditions laid down in
+such matters, and that we were resolved not to allow the duel with
+swords to proceed. He pressed both our hands warmly. 'I thank you,' he
+said, 'for the friendship you have shown me, and since your
+convictions will not allow you to stand by me in this affair, I shall
+not try to persuade you. I shall go to the nearest barracks, the Karls
+Kaserne, and I shall tell the first two officers I may meet that I am
+engaged in an affair of honor to be fought with swords, that I am a
+stranger in the town, and that I throw myself upon their kindness to
+be my seconds.'"
+
+Angela, with a despairing gesture, clasped her hands together.
+
+"You said the truth," continued Edmund, "when you prophesied that this
+man would show his teeth. He has the grip of a bull-dog when he gets
+an idea. We told him that Salista was a celebrated swordsman. He took
+it quite coolly. 'If the devil himself was my adversary, I should look
+him in the face,' was all he said."
+
+Angela sat down and hid her face in her hands.
+
+"We had no other course than to assure him, so far as our services
+went, he was free to make use of us. So it was settled. We go for him
+to-morrow at daybreak. How it will all end, God only knows!"
+
+With these words Edmund took himself away. Angela never noticed he had
+left the room.
+
+That night she never lay down. All through the long hours of the night
+she walked to and fro in her room. When fatigue forced her to sit
+down for a moment she could not rest. Once only the thought that was
+in her mind found expression in words:
+
+"I have treated him as Julia Gonzaga treated the man who saved her
+life."
+
+When daylight broke she threw herself, dressed as she was, upon her
+bed. The maid next morning found the pillow, in which she had buried
+her face, wet with tears.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THIRTY-THREE PARTS
+
+
+It must certainly be said of our philosopher that he was acting
+somewhat inconsistently. He had left his home and property, where he
+had lived a simple country life amid his own people, happy in the
+study of those mysterious powers--fire and water; he had abandoned all
+his scientific pursuits to belong to a world to which he was, and must
+ever be, a stranger, feeling more or less like a fish upon dry land.
+Even his science he had turned into a farce, so bringing it into
+disgrace. He had lent himself to lectures and tableaux, to singing
+operas, and dancing Hungarian cotillons, to hunting foxes at breakneck
+speed, to rescuing beautiful ladies, mixing himself up therewhile in
+the affairs of noble families, to fighting duels with officers for the
+sake of lovely countesses, and running the risk of being sabred by an
+intemperate savage! It was no wonder that, reviewing all this, Ivan
+should say to himself, "Good heavens, what an ass I have made, and am
+making, of myself! What have I to do with all the nonsense that goes
+on in this fashionable world of Pesth? Above all, what is it to me
+whether Countess Angela is at war with her grandfather, whether she
+goes to Vienna, or whether he comes to Pesth? Why is it necessary for
+me to remain here, leading such an uncongenial life, apparently
+without any object?--and, although I have an object, yet if this were
+known to the world I should be considered an even greater fool than I
+am at present deemed to be."
+
+Now, as Ivan's reflections have been made public, it is only proper
+that the reason of his apparently objectless conduct should be laid
+before the reader of these pages, so that he or she may be in a
+position to judge whether he was a fool or a wise man, or something
+between the two--a man of sentiment and feeling, who does what his
+heart commands him to do. With some natures the heart cannot be
+silenced; it has its rights. We may remember that when the Abbé Samuel
+paid his first visit to Ivan, he found that gentleman in the act of
+writing a refusal to the Countess Theudelinde's invitation; that he
+was, in fact, upon the point of returning to Bondavara, and that the
+arrival of a letter changed all his plans, and was the cause of his
+remaining in Pesth. This letter came from Vienna; the writer was a
+certain pianist whose name had been for some years mentioned among the
+first class of artists--Arpad Belenyi.
+
+Nearly fourteen years before our story began Ivan had lived for a long
+time in the house of the Belenyis. We shall know later what he did
+there. Arpad was at that time a child of five years old; he was
+already counted a prodigy, and could play long pieces upon the piano.
+At that time warlike and patriotic marches were all the fashion. One
+day the bread-winner of the family, the father, died suddenly. The
+widow was in despair, especially for her orphaned boy. Ivan consoled
+her with the promise that he would look after him, and provide for his
+education.
+
+On account of certain circumstances, some months after, however, Ivan
+had to leave the family Belenyi somewhat suddenly, and it seemed
+doubtful if he should ever see them again. Ivan at parting gave all
+the money he could spare to the widow, and told her to get Arpad a
+good musical education, such as would fit him for an artistic career.
+The boy, he thought, would attain eminence, and make a livelihood by
+his art. And here let it be clearly understood that Ivan was neither a
+friend of Belenyi nor the lover of Madame Belenyi; neither was he
+connected with the family in any way, nor was he in duty bound to do
+as he did. For years the Belenyis heard nothing from Ivan, nor he from
+them. Once, on his inquiring about them, he was told that in
+consequence of a lawsuit they had lost their house, had left the town,
+and that neither mother nor son had since been heard of. Then, after
+another spell of years, Arpad Belenyi's name began to be mentioned in
+different newspapers, always as a young and astonishingly clever
+artist. From this time Ivan took in regularly a musical paper or
+magazine, and so followed attentively his adopted son's career. The
+latter, however, knew nothing of his kind benefactor until, later,
+Ivan's name also appeared in the papers. His discourse at the Academy
+led to his being traced by his adopted son, who at once wrote him a
+letter, beginning with the words, "My dear father." It was a letter
+full of simple, boyish sentiments, through which broke at intervals
+the natural fun and playful humor of the artist. He told Ivan
+everything concerning himself; how he had travelled in many countries,
+accompanied always by his mother, to whom he had always to give an
+account of his actions as near the truth as possibly could be. He had
+already given concerts before crowned heads, and had received several
+orders which he was allowed to wear only on Sundays; the other days of
+the week they were locked up by his mother. He had earned a good deal
+of money, but he was not permitted to spend much. Mamma gave him
+every day a five-shilling piece for pocket-money; the rest she put by
+to buy back her little house which "old Raize" had robbed her of. He,
+therefore, to make more money, gave music-lessons and played
+accompaniments for artists. This was well paid, particularly of late,
+when he had fallen in with a little artist, a new singer, who paid
+splendidly. She was said to be the wife of Felix Kaulmann, the rich
+banker.
+
+When he came to this passage Ivan's heart began to beat. He laid down
+the letter, then took it up again, and read it with renewed attention.
+
+"This girl is a mixture of Muse and Mænad," wrote Arpad. "Now she is a
+petulant child, the next minute a wild Amazon; a born artist, full of
+genius, yet she is not likely ever to rise above mediocrity. She is
+full of intelligence and life, and with this often as stupid as a
+donkey. There is no doubt she could attain an unenviable notoriety,
+but she shrinks from it, for although she conducts herself like a
+courtesan, I would take my oath she is in reality as innocent as the
+child she really is. She is very trying to me, full of mischief and
+petulance, and this because I treat her to no soft manners, but scold
+her well for being so naughty. If you could only see, dear papa, what
+a splendid master I am, always serious, no frivolity allowed! Now I
+have photographed myself for you, have I not? Do not think, however,
+that I would have scrawled all over my paper this monologue about my
+pupil, as if I had nothing better or wiser to write about. I have done
+so because the subject has a certain interest for you. You must know
+this curious little angel confides in me as if I were her confessor.
+Sometimes she chatters all through her lesson, telling me where she
+has been, what she has done, everything that has happened to her; and
+she often tells me things which, if I were in her place, I would not
+talk about. Have a little patience, my dear good papa. This lady has
+thirty-three different _rôles_, all of them of different kinds. They
+are not, strictly speaking, stage parts, but monologues, which are
+composed expressly for her. These scenes we rehearse together; I play
+her accompaniment, while she sings and acts.
+
+"I am coming now to the kernel of the nut. I am going to crack
+it for you. Here are the names of the actress's thirty-three
+parts--'Loreley,' 'Cleopatra,' 'The Queen of the Sun,' 'The Greek
+Slave,' 'The Bacchante,' 'Nourmahal,' 'The Bride,' 'The Matron's
+Cap,' 'The Bayadère,' 'Claudia Laeta, the Vestal,' 'Amalasontha,'
+'Magdalene,' 'Ninon,' 'La Somnambula,' 'Medea,' 'Salome,' 'The
+Houris,' 'The Despair of Hero,' 'The Phrygian Cap,' 'Turandot,' 'The
+Peasant Girl,' 'The Mother,' 'Jeanne la Folle,' 'Ophelia,' 'Judith,'
+'Zuleika Potiphar,' 'The Market Woman,' 'The Grisette,' 'The
+Creole,' 'Lucretia,' 'The Will-o'-the-Wisp,' 'Julia Gonzaga.'
+
+"The thirty-third part I do not know; we have not as yet rehearsed it.
+But why the deuce does she learn all these parts, for she never treads
+the boards? The report is that the reason why this lady's talent is so
+much cultivated is that she is engaged to sing at the Opera-house.
+This seems even more strange, and I, for one, am slow to believe it. A
+banker like Kaulmann, who is a millionaire, and whose wife pays for
+her apartment four thousand florins! Besides, she would have to give
+her singing-master, who has got her the engagement, six thousand; to
+the leader of the orchestra, two thousand; four thousand to the
+newspapers to puff her; another three thousand to the _claqueurs_; and
+something else to the men who throw the wreaths and flowers. There
+would remain for her about a thousand florins; that would hardly pay
+for her scents. So you see the absurdity of the whole thing. Where are
+we now? This pretty creature, who wishes also to be a famous artist,
+has several lovers who can easily pay their court to madame, seeing
+that she and her husband live in separate apartments. This is only
+natural; the banker could not have his mind, which is occupied with
+important speculations, disturbed by constant _solfeggi_. There are
+several persons in Vienna who bear the title of the 'Mæcenas of Art';
+they are gentlemen of high position, who have great weight in the
+departmental government, and whose voices are heard in all social and
+official capacities. These have been allowed the privilege of being
+present during the rehearsals of the thirty-two monologues; the
+thirty-third has not as yet been played before any one. In all this I
+can assure you everything is conducted with the greatest propriety, I
+am always present, also the husband, who remains so long as the comedy
+continues. Among the company are representatives of the highest
+nobility, counts, princes, senators, and ministers. They are good sort
+of people, and call one another Fritz, Nazi, Muke, etc. Among others
+we have two princes, who come every time we have a rehearsal--the
+Prince Mari and the Prince Baldi; the names they received on baptism
+being Waldemar and Theobald. Yesterday Eveline--for so is my pupil
+named--was not inclined to work, and without my asking her what ailed
+her, with her usual frankness she came out with her annoyance.
+
+"'Only fancy,' she said; 'that odious Prince Waldemar, when he was in
+my opera-box last night, threatened that if I did not let him come to
+our next rehearsal he would ruin Lixi.' (Lixi is short for Felix, her
+husband's name.)
+
+"'Why don't you admit him?' I asked. 'He is not worse than the other
+jackanapes who come here.'
+
+"'Because I cannot endure him. I told Lixi what Prince Waldemar had
+said, and Lixi answered that he would ruin the prince. At the same
+time he gave me to understand that Prince Theobald must be invited to
+the rehearsal.'
+
+"'All right,' said I; 'he is a fine old gentleman. You can have no
+objection to him; he is old enough to be your grandfather.'
+
+"The young wife bit her lips, and, with a frown on her lovely face,
+said:
+
+"'I have to ask him to do something. What do you think it is? Oh, you
+could never guess! It is to give his signature that he will consent to
+a certain affair which will cost him nothing, but which will help Lixi
+greatly. You know that Lixi has a grand speculation on hand, a
+gigantic coal company, which is to start the business with I don't
+know how many millions of money; but the place where the coal-mines
+are situated, the Bondavara property, belongs to Prince Theobald and
+his sister. The countess has already given her consent, but without
+his ratification the shares would not be taken up at the exchange.
+Prince Waldemar is working against us, and therefore I am to win over
+the old prince to our side. Lixi says it will be very easy to get
+round him just at the present moment, because his granddaughter,
+Countess Angela, of whom he is very fond, has quarrelled with him and
+left him. The poor old man is very sad and lonely, and Lixi says
+whoever cheers him up will be able to do anything with him; and,' she
+added, with a wise look, 'we are not deceiving him, for the Bondavara
+coal is the finest in the world.'
+
+"I burst out laughing; I could not help it. Then she pulled my hair
+and said:
+
+"'Why do you laugh, you ridiculous donkey? I think I must be a judge
+of coal, for I worked as day-laborer for ten years in the mines of
+Herr Behrend.'
+
+"At these words my astonishment was so great that I jumped up from my
+seat.
+
+"'You may stare your eyes out of your head,' she said, laughing at my
+amazement, 'but it is quite true. I used to shove the coal-wagons, and
+barefoot into the bargain.'
+
+"'Gracious lady, believe me, I did not jump up from astonishment; I
+was surprised to hear you name Ivan Behrend. What do you know of him?
+Pray tell me.'
+
+"'He was the owner of the coal-mines in Bondavara, near which Felix is
+going to open works upon an enormous scale. He was my master; God
+bless him, wherever he goes!'
+
+"Now, dear papa, I have come to the heart of the business, after, it
+must be owned, an unconscionably long prelude. With my weak intellect
+I have thought out the whole thing. Here is my kind friend, my adopted
+father, the owner of a mine in Bondavara, and beside him men with I
+don't know how many millions at their backs are going to form a coal
+company. It would be a good thing to let him know, that he may act in
+time; it may be good for him, but it would seem to me that it may also
+be very bad. Here the air is full of speculation; you see, I am
+already slightly bitten. Let me know how and in what manner the affair
+affects you and your interests. I shall write to you what goes on
+here, for I shall be behind the scenes; this little fool tells me
+everything."
+
+The receipt of this letter had decided Ivan to accept the Countess
+Theudelinde's invitation to give a romantic reading at her house, and
+to enter into the society of Pesth. He wrote to Arpad, and begged him
+to give him every day an exact account of what he heard through Evila
+of the progress of the coal-mine company.
+
+From this time Ivan received regularly every week two or three letters
+from Vienna.
+
+"The old prince nibbles at the bait. Kaulmann has brought him to the
+rehearsal of the new piece. Eveline sings and acts enchantingly; that
+is, when she is within four walls, and has only a few people for
+audience. If she acted like this on the stage she would be a
+celebrated actress in no time; but so soon as she comes before the
+footlights stage-fright seizes upon her, she trembles, forgets
+everything, stands there like a stick, and, worst of all, sings quite
+false. These rehearsals have been given on the pretext that the prince
+should have an opportunity of judging of her talent, so that he may
+influence those in power to give her an engagement at the opera. I
+know what their real object is. The prince is a real connoisseur in
+music, and he understands not alone art, but artists. He knows that
+there is a price set upon such black diamonds as sparkle in Eveline's
+eyes. There is the additional incentive that Prince Waldemar is
+desperately in love with this woman, and Prince Theobald, for certain
+reasons, will do anything to prevent her falling into his hands. He
+would even go the length of taking her himself sooner than such a
+misadventure should happen.
+
+"A short time since Prince Waldemar met me, and offered me one hundred
+ducats for every leaf of the album in which are the portraits of
+Madame Kaulmann in her character costumes. You must know, of late,
+each day that we rehearse one of the monologues at the piano a
+photographer is present and takes the artist in her costume.
+Everything must be finished in the house, and not more than four
+pictures are allowed to be executed; one of these is for Prince
+Theobald, one is kept by herself, one she presents to me, and the
+fourth is for my friend Felix. The negative is then broken. I would
+not sell my photographs to Prince Waldemar, but I send them to you as
+they follow one another. Mamma does not like to see such pictures in
+my room."
+
+Ivan received with each letter a photograph; each portrait represented
+Evila as a lovely creation in a most graceful pose. Arpad had not the
+least idea what a hell of different passions were raised in Ivan's
+breast as he looked at the beautiful image of the woman he had and
+still loved.
+
+In the first portrait she was represented as "Loreley" the fairy, who,
+in the whirlpool of the Rhine, sings her magic song and combs her hair
+with a golden comb, while her left shoulder rises from the waves,
+which partially conceal her form. Her eyes gaze invitingly at the
+fisherman, whom she entices to his ruin. In the second photograph she
+appeared as "Cleopatra" at Tarsus, where she is displaying all her
+charms to seduce her conqueror and make him her slave; a rich
+portrait, in which the lascivious queen is represented laden with
+splendid dresses and jewels, while the expression of the beautiful
+face was an admirable mixture of pride, dignity, and weakness. The
+third photograph presented the sun-queen, "Atahualpa," the wife of the
+last Inca. Her look was haughty and sublime; the sublimity of the
+expression diverts attention from the uncovered arms, white as marble,
+round as an infant's, which are raised to heaven, offering as a
+sacrifice a human heart. Her face mirrored the coldness of heaven
+itself. The fourth, as the "Greek Slave"; she represented the
+tortured beauty, who in vain tries to break the chains of shame in
+which she is bound--a lovely marble statue, equal in conception to one
+by Thorwaldsen or Pradier. The fifth was the "Bacchante," from one of
+the Roman bas-reliefs, which represents the procession of Bacchus. A
+wild, bold, dissolute conception; showing accessories of surprising
+drapery, panther skins, cups, etc., an ideal debauch; limbs in wild
+movement. The sixth portrait was of a bride; a white lace dress, upon
+her head a white garland, her figure concealed by a white veil, on her
+face an expression of soft emotion at the approaching realization of
+her happiness, in her eyes tears, on her lips a tremulous smile. With
+what wonderful charm she stretches out her hand to receive the
+betrothal ring! The eighth portrayed a young woman who for the first
+time puts the matron's cap upon her head. Pride, shame, and conscious
+triumph are all in her face. She feels that the cap upon her head is a
+well-deserved crown--a crown for which she has sacrificed a garland.
+
+Ivan contemplated this picture for a long time; his heart was full of
+the bitterness of disappointed love. His adopted son's present had
+been somewhat unfortunate.
+
+The ninth photograph represented Evila as a "Bayadère," in the
+artistic dress of the Indian dancer, striking the tambourine over her
+head. Round her slight figure a shawl embroidered in gold was wound in
+careless folds, on her neck a chain of gold coins, her small feet
+bare, and strings of pearls up to the knee.
+
+In the tenth portrait she appeared as "Claudia Laeta," the vestal
+virgin, at the moment when she is led to the stake because she has
+refused the solicitations of Caracalla; on her face an expression of
+horror, of virginal modesty. With one hand she tries to cover her
+head with her cloak to escape from the gaze of the multitude.
+
+How is it possible for one woman to play so many parts? Arpad
+accompanied these pictures with diffuse explanations, which were so
+many arrows in the heart of Ivan. The result of all this posturing
+was, he said, becoming every day clearer.
+
+"The prince is more and more fascinated; he is falling deeper and
+deeper into the net spread for him. After each rehearsal he declares
+that a real treasure has been concealed, which has been a loss to art
+that must be at once remedied."
+
+But such treasures are very costly, especially when a man has reached
+the age of sixty-eight, close on seventy, and has a marriageable
+granddaughter; then it is necessary to look very closely into his
+check-book to see if it would be possible to provide for the
+grandchild and at the same time satisfy the caprices of a beautiful
+young woman.
+
+Not long ago Prince Theobald had built a splendid palace in the
+Maximilian Strasse; it was destined for the Countess Angela, in the
+case that she agreed to her grandfather's wish as to her marriage. The
+palace was furnished with the utmost magnificence. The countess,
+however, had thought otherwise. She broke off her marriage with
+Sondersheim; she had good reasons, no doubt, but she need not have
+openly defied her grandfather. It was unwise of her so to do, for
+Evila was weaving her spell closer round the old man's heart, and
+Angela had best be prudent, and return speedily to Vienna, else the
+palace in the Maximilian Strasse will be presented, without a shadow
+of doubt, to Madame Kaulmann.
+
+Arpad's letters had made Ivan acquainted with the ins and outs of the
+whole affair; through them he had learned that the woman he had loved
+had become the wife of another man, and was likely to be the mistress
+of a third. The first blow he could bear with a certain resignation;
+he wished her all happiness; but that she should sink up to the neck
+in shame, led thither by the act of her own husband, was a bitter
+thought! No, that she should be saved from, if Ivan could compass her
+deliverance. For this end he remained in Pesth. Hence it seemed to him
+he could pull the strings of this complex drama, and defeat the
+conspiracy against Evila's honor; for this purpose he went into a
+world that he despised, affected a manner of life totally inconsistent
+with his ideas, and cultivated a friendship with the Countess Angela,
+that his influence might induce her to play the part of the good
+angel.
+
+Was he a fool to sacrifice his own feelings for a woman who had
+inflicted upon him the severest mortification a man can endure? Those
+whose hearts are dominated by cold prudence will judge his folly
+perhaps rightly; those who have hearts that feel for others will
+acknowledge that he did well in obeying its dictates, and from his own
+point of view, perhaps, he acted for his own ultimate advantage.
+
+If Prince Theobald is induced to consent to the lease of his property
+to the Bondavara Company, Ivan's little coal-mine is ruined. Good if
+he can, while working for another, help himself. A man of business is
+always a speculator; therefore we say to the warm-hearted and
+compassionate that Ivan acted a part to save Evila from shame, and to
+the cold-hearted and unfeeling that it was all in the way of business,
+to save, if he could, his little all from the monster company ready to
+devour it bodily.
+
+Arpad continued to send the photographs. They were of all kinds,
+tragic and comic. "Medea," with her murderous revenge and jealousy;
+the daughter of Herod, with her voluptuous dance to gain the saint's
+head; the cruelty of "Judith," the wild laughter of "Jeanne la Folle,"
+the devotion of a holy nun, the coquettish tricks of a _grisette_, a
+languid Creole, a supernatural "Will-o'-the-Wisp"--these were the
+principal representations in which Ivan found rather studied effort at
+catching an artistic effect than natural instinct or expression. This
+was the school of Madame Grissac, to whom Felix had intrusted Evila's
+education. Two portraits that came at the end produced upon Ivan a
+painful impression. One represented a mother by the cradle of her
+child, the other a peasant girl, a coal-carrier, with her hair plaited
+down her back, and a red frock tucked up above her ankles. It pained
+Ivan deeply that she should profane these two sacred subjects. Why
+take a mother's love to be made a vehicle to create an old man's
+admiration? And the girl with the red frock! Ah, that was
+unpardonable! He could not forgive her for having wounded him to the
+very heart.
+
+One day the artist wrote to Ivan--
+
+"My good patron, Felix Kaulmann, is an out-and-out scoundrel. Up to
+the present he generally attends the rehearsals when the prince is
+present. Yesterday Prince Theobald seemed quite excited, so much so
+that Kaulmann was struck by it. To his question the prince said that
+he was very happy. He had received a letter from his granddaughter,
+the Countess Angela. She wrote in the most friendly manner. She told
+him that she had met a certain Ivan Behrend, who had the courage to
+give her a regular scolding, and had told her to her face what was the
+duty of the Hungarian magnates towards their country, a duty in which
+they were wanting, and which Prince Theobald would fulfil if he left
+Vienna and came to reside in Pesth, in which case the countess would
+agree to a reconciliation. The old prince seemed so happy at the idea
+of seeing his child again! Kaulmann, however, looked very black,
+blacker still when the prince said he would consider the matter; but
+that, as the countess had taken a fancy to Pesth, he thought he would
+go there. Inwardly Felix gnashed his teeth with rage, outwardly he
+expressed great satisfaction that the countess had at last broken the
+ice; it was a good sign that she was getting tired of her obstinacy.
+But if he were in the prince's situation he would try and persuade the
+countess to come to Vienna, instead of going himself to Pesth. The
+prince listened to this suggestion; he fell into the trap, and will
+not go at once to Pesth, but will try to bring back the countess. In
+the meantime we are to have the two last rehearsals. The thirty-second
+is the representation of 'Julia Gonzaga,' whose story you will find in
+any library. The most interesting part of this scene is the toilette
+of the heroine, who appears in a night-dress made of muslin, with her
+feet naked. In spite of this rather risky costume the lady's virtue
+was irreproachable, for in her hand she held a dagger, and threatened
+to kill any one who ventured to look at her feet. As I wrote to you,
+Kaulmann has always been present at these rehearsals, but from this
+one of 'Julia Gonzaga' he is obliged to absent himself, as he has to
+go away for a few days. I believe that my office should be called
+_garde des dames_. As it happens, however, on this occasion I, too, am
+unavoidably prevented from being present. When I went home and showed
+mamma the enclosed photograph she shuddered, and positively forbade me
+to assist at a rehearsal in which a woman appeared in such a costume.
+I must plead illness or any other cause, but stay at home I must. I
+thought over several lies, but at last I decided that I would tell my
+gracious pupil the truth; so I did.
+
+"'Listen,' I said. 'My mother will not allow me to accompany you if
+you sing barefoot. If it is really the point of the piece that 'Julia'
+must present herself without stockings on her feet, then I must deny
+myself the pleasure of playing on the piano.'
+
+"The silly child laughed very much, and said she would get somebody
+else. She may do as she likes; I don't care. Mamma is perfectly right
+in forbidding me to go, and I think that I have done perfectly right
+to tell my pupil why I refuse to accompany her."
+
+This letter depressed Ivan. For a long time he looked at the
+photograph, considering it from every point of view. Evila in a dress
+the thin material of which showed every motion of her plastic limbs;
+in one hand she gathered the folds across her breast, her eyes had a
+murderous glare in their violet depths, her long and beautiful hair
+fell to her feet; in her right hand she pointed a dagger towards a
+motionless form which lay at her feet covered by a rug. This was the
+second time that Ivan had heard the story from a lady.
+
+The next day he received another letter from Arpad; he found it on his
+return from the first meeting with Salista.
+
+"Eveline," wrote the artist, "performed her tableau before the prince
+without the accompaniment of the piano and without the company of her
+husband. She looked so lovely that all the prince's good principles
+melted away like snow before the sun. He took her hand and kissed it;
+then the murderous look disappeared from her sweet eyes; she broke out
+into a ripple of laughter.
+
+"'Prince, do you not see that I have a knife in my hand?'
+
+"'I can take it from you.'
+
+"The young girl laughed again; and we all know how easy it is to take
+anything from a smiling woman.
+
+"At this moment there resounded through the room an echo of Eveline's
+laugh; that is to say, if you can call a frog's croak an echo of a
+nightingale's song. Out of the conservatory, which ornaments one side
+of the room, there came a crippled dwarf, who supported himself upon
+crutches. His long head was sunk between his high shoulders, and his
+white, satyr-like face was distorted by an odious grin as he dragged
+himself between the prince and his inamorata.
+
+"'Prince, we are not alone,' laughed Eveline, freeing her hand from
+the clasp of the astonished nobleman.
+
+"'In Heaven's name, who is this splendid specimen of a toad?' he
+cried, with an air of disgust.
+
+"'This is my only beloved little brother,' cried Eveline, putting her
+arms round the little monster, and covering him with kisses while she
+stroked his head. 'My dear, only little brother, my all, my dearest;
+my ugly, cross, quarrelsome little tyrant, who comes to me whenever he
+likes.'
+
+"'A horrible creature!' said the prince. 'The hobgoblins who kept
+watch over the gate of the Witch of Endor were cherubims as compared
+with this monster. I beg of you, Eveline, not to kiss his face, as it
+takes away forever the pleasure one would have in kissing so lovely a
+mouth.'
+
+"Eveline made no answer, but, suddenly turning away, she threw a
+burnoose round her shoulders, put her tiny feet into a pair of
+slippers, and said, demurely:
+
+"'Prince, the thirty-second rehearsal is over, and there only remains
+the thirty-third to complete the course.'
+
+"The prince asked what the title of this last should be, and Eveline
+whispered in his ear that he would know the next day but one.
+
+"'And how many more will know it?'
+
+"'No one but you.'
+
+"'Not this Caliban?'
+
+"'Certainly not.'
+
+"The prince took his leave in an ecstasy, firmly convinced that at the
+last representation he would have Eveline all to himself. Eveline
+needed a day to prepare herself.
+
+"The scene was repeated to me by the cripple, who likes me very much,
+and comes nearly every evening to share my supper; for although
+everything possible for his comfort is provided by Eveline, he is
+never happy unless he begs from some one. If he were a prince, I do
+believe the creature would get out of his carriage to ask for alms. He
+finds such a wonderful pleasure in begging. For a stick of
+sugar-barley he will tell me everything. What pleased him most was the
+prince's remark about his being a splendid specimen of a toad. He
+imitated for me how he crept out of the conservatory on his crutches,
+and how he laughed when he saw the gentleman wanted to take the knife
+from his sister. You will hear from me again the day after to-morrow."
+
+The day after to-morrow! These words to a man who might be lying stark
+and stiff by that time! They gave Ivan a sudden chill; but he said to
+himself he would not die easily, he would fight for his life.
+
+That night he dreamed a curious dream, in which he saw two "Julia
+Gonzagas," who both wanted to kill him, and yet he had deserved
+nothing but good at their hands.
+
+So goes the world!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+TWO POINTS
+
+
+A duel with swords has this distinct advantage over a duel with
+pistols: you need have no concealment concerning it; the day before it
+is spoken of as an interesting wager would be. In former times it
+happened rarely that a duel with swords had a fatal ending, and
+therefore it is surrounded with none of the mystery that attends the
+more serious affair; for the seconds, likewise, there is far less
+responsibility. If a principal gets severely hurt, the attending
+surgeon declares that the sufferer has not died of the wound, but that
+there was some trouble in the organism which would have probably
+killed him within the next forty-eight hours. And who, nowadays, would
+make a fuss over a man who was doomed to die in forty-eight hours?
+
+The duel which was to take place between the Marquis Salista and Ivan
+was spoken of at the club with indifference, as a thing that had a
+foregone conclusion. Salista spoke most of it himself, and at six
+o'clock the evening before stood at the chimney-piece and entertained
+a select group of friends, among whom were the four seconds, with his
+ideas on the subject.
+
+The golden youth of Pesth, being in the habit of having constant
+fencing-bouts at the different gymnasiums, know well who is the most
+skilful fencer, and are therefore able to predicate, accurately enough
+in many cases, what the result will be. Salista had the reputation of
+being a first-rate swordsman; he had already fought several duels, and
+always been the victor; he had one particular stroke, a master-stroke,
+which few fencers could parry; it was a quick thrust in the stomach,
+which, passing round the point of his adversary's sword, ripped up his
+abdomen. If the other intercepted the thrust, he was likely to get out
+of time, so that his face, being left uncovered, was exposed to a
+well-delivered thrust which would spoil his beauty, if it did not have
+more dangerous consequences. Some men would have felt that the
+circumstances connected with the preceding duel required explanation,
+that the refusal to stand your adversary's fire had a doubtful sound.
+For a similar offence others had been rigorously punished by having to
+leave Vienna for some weeks, and being sometimes kept in Coventry even
+longer. Salista was, however, a privileged person; his courage was not
+called in question. He was, moreover, a cool hand, and carried off his
+difficult position with the most astounding _aplomb_. As he now stood
+upon the rug he talked with a good deal of swagger as to what would
+happen on the morrow.
+
+"We shall see what stuff this Admirable Crichton is made of.
+Sword-exercise is not like pistol-shooting; there can be no
+mathematics. We will ask him how he construes the under-cut when the
+sabre takes his legs from under him."
+
+Count Geza rebuked the boaster. "You must remember," he said, "that
+Ivan acted towards you in the most chivalrous manner when he accepted
+the sword instead of the pistol, and you must also consider that he is
+a man of learning, very much thought of, and likely to be of service
+in his generation."
+
+"Very good. You needn't be afraid, I shall not kill him; I shall only
+slice a piece off his nose, that he may carry home a souvenir of
+Pesth. A scholar like him will not care if his beauty is spoiled;
+science is not sniffed up like snuff, and his nose is no use for
+looking through the telescope at the stars."
+
+Here Edmund interfered, and protested hotly against any injury being
+done to the nose of his principal. At last the marquis had to content
+himself with a slice off his ear; but Edmund still remonstrated.
+
+"You should be satisfied with a cut on his hand," he said; "the whole
+matter is not worth more."
+
+Count Stefan here made a suggestion in his quiet way.
+
+"My good Salista, what if this coal-heaver were to cut _you_ down?"
+
+"What!" blustered the marquis, standing with long legs apart in front
+of the chimney-piece. "To show you what I think of him, I will give
+him two points; I will let him have two cuts at me on my arm, and then
+I will cut him down. You shall see! You can make your bets. Who holds
+the wager?" So he went on boasting until the discussion came to an
+end. His last question was whether the seconds would be quick enough
+to interfere before he made a cripple of their great scholar.
+
+On the following day the two parties met. The large ball-room in the
+hotel had been thought the most suitable place, as it was generally
+hired for such occasions. The seconds had chalked the floor with
+pulverized chalk to prevent the combatants from slipping. In an
+adjoining room both the principals had to strip to the waist; then
+they were led into the room. There was no necessity to draw lots as to
+the placing of the men, as the room was panelled all round with
+looking-glasses. Before they were given the sabres the following
+conditions were read out:
+
+"First blood. Stabbing is not allowed."
+
+Salista protested. He would not hear of first blood. The duel should
+go on until one of the combatants declared himself no longer able to
+fight. Every one tried to persuade him to be more moderate, but he
+would not give in.
+
+"Give us the swords!" cried Ivan, out of all patience. "I am getting a
+chill, half-naked as I am."
+
+This interruption decided the matter. The paces were measured, the
+principals placed in position, and their swords handed to them.
+
+Both were naked to their waists. Salista exhibited Herculean muscles,
+Ivan had a well-developed form. He had certainly not so much flesh as
+his adversary, but was bony, had long arms, and a vaulted chest. The
+fight began in the usual manner. Both men held the points of their
+swords towards each other, had the left hand drawn back, and their
+heads protected by their arms. Now and again they crossed their swords
+dexterously, trying to find a place for a good thrust, and striking
+one another softly. Each stared into his adversary's eyes, seeking to
+read his intentions. Salista essayed to give his adversary a thrust
+which would injure his face. This was very difficult, for the face is
+always protected by the arm. Ivan, on his side, endeavored to give his
+opponent the double thrust. This requires extraordinary agility; but
+he succeeded. He tore the top muscle of Salista's right arm the whole
+way down. That this blow does not bleed at once is explained by the
+cellular texture of the muscles.
+
+"Forward!" cried Salista. "No blood!"
+
+He now gave up all efforts at injuring his adversary in the face, and
+resorted to his well-known trick, the belly-thrust, which is difficult
+to parry, and if it hits is often deadly in its effect. If it is not
+parried, the effect is certain; and if it is, the giver can, if he is
+a good swordsman, hit his adversary a terrible cut over the head. Ivan
+did not parry, good or bad. Salista had not forgotten that the
+duelling-sword is shorter than the cavalry practise-sword; but he
+forgot, or rather didn't know, that his adversary had arms of unusual
+length. This is, therefore, what happened. Ivan did not attempt to
+parry the belly-thrust; he raised his arm, and let the sword-point of
+his opponent pass at a distance of two lines over his body, while he
+aimed straight at the other's arm, cutting him crossways in the same
+place where he had before cut lengthways.
+
+These were the two points. Through this cross-cut the difference of
+strength between the two men was equalized. This last defeat filled
+Salista with fury. With the roar of a wild beast he threw himself upon
+his adversary, and with all his strength made two cuts at the head. He
+cut as a butcher cuts with his axe; it was a miracle that both swords
+didn't break in two, for, according to rule, Ivan received both
+thrusts upon the handle of his sword, and before the other could give
+him a third he gave him quickly a thrust in front with such strength
+and precision that it came with full force on the head and face of the
+marquis. It was lucky that the sword was light, otherwise he would
+have split his skull in two. Salista reeled under the blow, then
+raised his left arm to protect his head, tottered sideways, and fell
+down, supporting himself upon the handle of his sword. His seconds ran
+to him to raise him up and lead him away. Ivan stood with his
+sword-point lowered, his face apathetic, as if turned to marble. His
+seconds congratulated him.
+
+"Are the gentlemen content?" he asked.
+
+"I dare swear they are," returned Count Edmund. "Nothing could have
+turned out better; the affair is at an end."
+
+With these words they conducted Ivan into the next room to dress
+himself.
+
+When he returned to the hall he found that his adversary had recovered
+consciousness; the two doctors were with him, one binding up his head,
+the other his arm.
+
+According to the usual etiquette, Ivan went to him.
+
+"Forgive me, comrade," he said.
+
+Salista gave him his left hand, and said, cordially, "It is not worth
+talking about; but it was a splendid fight. The other two don't count,
+because I had said I would give you 'two points;' the third--ah, that
+was a cut! But I shall be all right in a week."
+
+Ivan asked the doctors if the wounds were dangerous, but Salista
+answered for them.
+
+"Soldier's luck," he said. "I have given similar cuts a hundred times;
+now it is my turn, and I don't complain. Only one thing troubles me.
+Neither arnica nor ice-bandages can do me any good; but _you_ who have
+caused this suffering can mitigate it. Confess, now, that you have
+been in the army."
+
+"Without doubt," returned Ivan. "During the War of Freedom I was
+lieutenant of hussars."
+
+"May the devil fetch you! Why didn't you tell us before? In what
+regiment did you serve?"
+
+"In the Wilhelm Hussars. Therefore I am the sole survivor and witness
+of that memorable exploit of yours, when you cut us to pieces."
+
+Everybody burst out laughing. No one laughed more than the wounded
+man. The doctors reminded him that he must not laugh, else the bandage
+over his face would get disturbed.
+
+"Very good," said Salista. "I shall laugh only on one side of my face.
+Comrade, God bless you! I shall not think any more of the cut now that
+I know it was the work of a soldier, and not of a civilian. Come, kiss
+me on the other cheek, the one you have left me whole and entire. So,
+my brother. I cannot give you my right hand, for you have given me a
+cross-cut there that will show a scar for many a day. It was
+first-rate, that cut, a regular hussar cut, and, therefore, I don't in
+the least mind it."
+
+And the combatants kissed one another.
+
+The next moment the wounds began to bleed afresh, and Salista fainted
+from loss of blood. Ivan held his head upon his knees while the
+doctors bound up the veins; then he helped to carry him to the
+carriage.
+
+Every one said, "What a capital fellow!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+GOOD-BYE
+
+
+The friends and acquaintances of both parties were assembled at Count
+Stefan's to hear the result of the duel. The seconds on both sides had
+promised to come and give the earliest news. All the _habitués_ of
+society were waiting; there was suppressed excitement; bets were made
+upon which should be wounded, and whether Salista would give a heavy
+wound or only a slight scratch to his adversary. Count Stefan had the
+courage to bet ten to one that Salista would get a scratch; he also
+risked "even money" that the marquis would be the only one wounded.
+That Ivan would escape with a whole skin no one else for an instant
+imagined. If they had done so they might have offered a hundred to
+one, and even at that no one of the party would have taken the bet.
+
+The outposts planted themselves at the windows, to be the first to see
+the carriage with the seconds. When a cab drove up, they shouted to
+the others:
+
+"Edmund and Geza have arrived!"
+
+"Then I have won my bet," said Count Stefan; "the seconds of the man
+who is least hurt get away first."
+
+Count Edmund went to the countess's apartment to let her know what had
+happened, while Geza ascended to Count Stefan's rooms. He rushed in
+with the triumphant air a victorious second should have.
+
+"He has put him to the sword."
+
+"Who? Who? Ivan? Salista?" cried the company, surrounding the
+messenger in their excitement.
+
+"Ivan has put the marquis."
+
+An "A-ah!" was the incredulous rejoinder of the others.
+
+"But I tell you he has," repeated the young count; "he has cut him
+into a jelly."
+
+"And Ivan?"
+
+"He is as untouched as I am."
+
+"Ah, you are making fun of us."
+
+"It is no subject for fun. Ask Salista."
+
+"But where is Ivan?"
+
+"He will be here immediately, and will convince the unbelievers, who
+will find no wounds into which they can poke their fingers. He went
+home with the doctors, for Salista had two, who have at last succeeded
+in stitching him together."
+
+Then he related to them circumstantially all that had happened. For
+those who did not clearly understand, he demonstrated with the help of
+two walking-sticks the course the duel took. He came to the
+double-cut.
+
+"In this way Ivan parried the stomach-thrust and gave the
+fore-cut--the final a _tempo contre coup_. The performer of these
+wonderful exploits had not even turned a hair."
+
+"Why, he is a miracle!"
+
+"No such thing," protested Count Geza. "He has been in the
+army--captain in the hussars." (He advanced him a grade, but captain
+sounds better than lieutenant.) "He fought all through the revolution;
+he was nineteen times in action, and fought with the Cossacks besides.
+He has also received a good-service medal."
+
+All this the count imagined might be the fact, although he had
+certainly not heard a word of such a history from Ivan. Once a man has
+scored one success, he is credited with twenty more.
+
+"Truly a wonderful man!" said Baron Oscar. "For three months he has
+been among us every day, and has never mentioned his soldiering
+experiences."
+
+"Now we have really landed him upon us, like a Sindbad that can never
+be shaken off," remarked Baron Edward. "We wanted to be rid of him,
+and instead we have raised him into the saddle. He will never
+dismount; he is saddled on us forever. No one would dare now to speak
+to him."
+
+"Good God of Saxony!" cried Baron Oscar, "how the man will carry his
+nose in the air! There will be no standing him, for the women will, of
+course, make the deuce of a fuss about him, and men must have a
+certain respect for him. _Sacré bleu!_ A man who can shoot and fence
+like this fellow! But I would bet anything that it was a mere
+accident."
+
+"I think quite the contrary," remarked Count Stefan, "and I very much
+fear that Ivan will leave us all cooling our heels here, and not show
+his face. He will never cross any of our thresholds again."
+
+"Oh, he wouldn't be such a confounded fool! I bet you a hundred to
+one."
+
+"First pay me the bet you have lost."
+
+Baron Oscar put his hand in his pocket, but before he drew out his
+pocket-book a happy thought struck him.
+
+"But how if Geza and his brother second were playing off a joke? They
+may have concocted this story. Perhaps the truth is that at the last
+moment the quarrel was made up and there was no duel, and that they
+have both come from a luncheon where no blood, but plenty of
+champagne, flowed."
+
+"If you don't believe me, then drive to Salista. My cab is at the
+door. Go and convince yourself."
+
+The baron rushed off. On the staircase he met Count Edmund coming up
+from the ladies. He asked where Oscar was rushing in such haste.
+
+"He doesn't believe Geza's story."
+
+"That is just the way the ladies have treated me; they won't believe
+me. They say, 'If nothing has happened to Ivan, where is he?' The
+Countess Theudelinde sheds tears like a river; she execrates us all,
+and declares we have killed her hero. The cuckoo only knows which of
+the two ladies is the most in love with him. Up to this I thought I
+knew, but now I am all in the dark."
+
+Baron Oscar returned at this moment. He didn't say a word, but took
+out his pocket-book and paid Count Stefan his bet. It was a very
+convincing answer.
+
+"Well, how is Salista?" asked several voices together.
+
+"He is terribly disfigured."
+
+On this every one took out their purses and paid their lost bets; they
+did it with very sour faces. If only Ritter Magnet had been
+disfigured!
+
+Just then Ivan was announced. The sour faces changed with marvellous
+rapidity into friendly smiles. He was greeted warmly; every one wanted
+to shake hands with him. He was the hero of the hour, but he looked
+tired and very serious. Count Stefan was the last to press his hand.
+
+"I rejoice," he said, "to see you uninjured."
+
+Two young fellows said to one another, "Old Stefan may very well
+rejoice; he has made a good thing of the handicap, and cleared us out
+jollily." But in spite of their losses, they, too, congratulated the
+victor.
+
+Every one seemed pleased except, perhaps, Ivan. "I thank you all," he
+said, in his grave voice, "for your warm sympathy; and I thank you,
+count, in particular, for your cordial reception, and for the
+friendship which you have accorded to me. I shall always preserve a
+grateful remembrance of your kindness. I beg of you to bear me
+likewise in your recollection, for I have come now to take leave. I am
+returning to my home to-morrow."
+
+The count winked with his left eye at Baron Oscar, as who should say,
+"Did I not tell you so?" But he spoke no word to induce Ivan to
+rescind his resolution. He pressed his hand warmly as he said:
+
+"Be assured that I have a sincere esteem for you, and wherever we may
+meet again always consider me as an old friend. God bless you!"
+
+Baron Oscar made much more fuss. He held Ivan with both hands on his
+arm.
+
+"My dear friend, we cannot allow this. Such a good fellow as you have
+proved yourself to be cannot slip away from us in this manner--just at
+the moment, too, when you are going to be the lion of the season. You
+sha'n't escape; you belong to us."
+
+Ivan laughed; gentle sarcasm, half pain, half irony, totally unmixed
+with bitterness, was in the laugh. Then he answered this burst of
+friendship:
+
+"I thank you, comrade, for the honor you do me, but I am not fit to be
+Governor of Barataria; it is far better for me to be at home. I go to
+get my 'grison' saddled, and I ride away."
+
+(Any one who is conversant with "Don Quixote" will remember the skit
+upon the island of Barataria, and the affecting meeting between the
+ass and his master.)
+
+When he had finished speaking, Ivan made a deep bow to the company
+and left the room. Count Stefan followed him, and, in spite of his
+protestations, accompanied him down the stairs to Theudelinde's door.
+He was much moved by Ivan's last words.
+
+When he returned he found the entire company still in a very
+uncomfortable frame of mind, discussing the scene that had just
+happened with much annoyance.
+
+"Who has told him the joke about the island of Barataria?" asked Baron
+Oscar.
+
+Each one gave his word of honor that he had not betrayed confidence.
+
+"Then may the devil fly away with me if I don't believe it was the
+abbé."
+
+But Count Stefan shook his head. "No, my friends," he said, "believe
+me, no one has told Behrend anything. He is a man of acute
+penetration, and he has read you like a book without appearing to take
+notice."
+
+Geza, however, swore that the priest had blabbed.
+
+We swear to nothing, but think it right to mention that a few days
+previous the Abbé Samuel had received a letter from Vienna with the
+words, "What are you about? You are ruining the whole thing. That ass
+Behrend is bringing about a reconciliation between the countess and
+the old prince. Get him out of Pesth, for he is working dead against
+us.--FELIX."
+
+"At all events, we have pleased my pretty cousin," remarked Count
+Edmund. "She wanted him to be sent about his business, and we have
+done it."
+
+"Oh, is that so?" And Count Stefan smiled sardonically. "_Cherchez la
+femme_, as Talleyrand said. But I know the dear, capricious sex. When
+Ivan tells the ladies down-stairs that he is leaving, there will be a
+reaction, and your pretty cousin will cry out, 'Then we shall go
+together!'"
+
+The others laughed incredulously; only Edmund assumed the air of
+Pontius Pilate.
+
+"I should not be surprised," he said. "_Enfin_, there would be nothing
+disgraceful in the affair. The fellow is a gentleman; he was a
+soldier, and is of good birth. His land joins the Bondavara property;
+his income is something under two hundred thousand florins. Angela is
+heiress to twenty millions; but then, if our well-beloved uncle,
+Prince Theobald, lives another ten years and carries on as he is
+doing, it may result that Ivan and Angela may be on the same platform
+as regards their fortunes. So far as rank is in question, if the
+government continues to play the game they are playing with our rights
+and privileges, and if under the new parliamentary _régime_ the
+peasant's coat is to ascend the tribune, then I shall ask to be
+_raised_ to the peasantry."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Countesses Theudelinde and Angela received Ivan in their private
+sitting-room--a mark of close intimacy. He came in with a constrained
+air; his face was pale, and the emotion he could not suppress gave
+softness to his usually stern expression. Theudelinde came to meet him
+with outstretched hands. When she drew near she took his in her clasp,
+and pressed his fingers warmly. Her lips trembled, and with difficulty
+she kept the tears which filled her eyes from coursing down her
+cheeks. She could not speak, but simply nodded to Ivan to take his
+place before a small table, upon which a splendid bouquet stood.
+Theudelinde sat on the sofa, Angela beside her. The young countess was
+simply dressed; she had not even a flower in her hair. She was grave,
+and hardly raised her eyes to Ivan.
+
+It was Theudelinde who broke the rather embarrassing silence.
+
+"We have been in terrible trouble about you," she said. "You cannot
+imagine what tortures of anxiety we have gone through during these two
+days."
+
+Angela's eyes were on the carpet; she was included in the "we."
+
+"I cannot forgive myself, countess, for the share I have had in
+causing you pain. I can only do penance for my fault, and to-morrow I
+am going into banishment at Bondathal."
+
+"Ah!" Theudelinde's voice expressed surprise. "You are going to leave
+us? What are you going to do in Bondathal?"
+
+"I will return to my business, which I have too long neglected."
+
+"And do you like to live in Bondathal?"
+
+"I am tranquil there."
+
+"Have you relatives?"
+
+"I have none."
+
+"You have a household?"
+
+"So far as I can, I do everything for myself."
+
+"You have surely friends and acquaintances who form a pleasant circle
+around you?"
+
+"I have only my workmen and my machines."
+
+"You live there a hermit's life?"
+
+"No, countess, for a hermit lives alone, while I have my books and my
+work; I am never alone."
+
+The countess's face assumed almost a solemn expression.
+
+"Herr von Behrend, give me your hand, and stay here."
+
+Ivan got up, and bowed low before her. "The kind feeling which has
+prompted your words, as well as the honor you have done me, shall
+never be forgotten by me. It is a proof to me of your great goodness,
+and I beg of you to accept my heartfelt thanks."
+
+"Then you will remain? How long?"
+
+"Until to-morrow morning."
+
+"Ah," cried the countess, with a petulant air, "when I ask you to
+stay!"
+
+Her disappointment was so transparent, her annoyance so sincere, that
+it was impossible not to feel sorry for her. Theudelinde looked at
+Angela as if she expected her to come to her help; but Angela never
+raised her eyes, shaded by their long lashes, while her fingers
+plucked nervously at the petals of a marguerite, as if she were
+consulting that well-known oracle.
+
+"Countess," said Ivan, still standing, and with his hand on the back
+of his chair, "when I answer a friendly invitation such as yours with
+an apparently uncivil refusal to remain, as you so kindly wish me to
+do, I feel that it is incumbent on me to give you my true reason for
+withdrawing myself from your society. I cannot say to you what I would
+to a mere acquaintance; I cannot make such excuses as 'that I have
+business at home; that I have been too long here; that I shall return
+soon.' To you I must confess that I go away because no inducement
+would prevail on me to remain, and that when I go I mean never to
+return. Countess, this is not my world; here I _could_ not live. I
+have spent three months here; I have been a daily guest in the best
+circles; I have lived with members of the highest and most cultivated
+society, have studied closely their manner of life. I quite agree that
+these people have every right to live in what manner they choose; but
+I, who have been accustomed to a totally different manner of life, who
+have been taught to consider existence from a different point of view,
+to reverence the higher aims and obey its finer instincts, _I_ should
+be acting a lie and violating my own principles were I to remain in
+such an atmosphere and live after such a fashion. Here, in this
+exalted rank, you are all solitary rings, while we in the lower order
+hang together as links of one chain. You are totally independent one
+of the other, therefore you follow each one his own inclinations. With
+us the pressure of life knits us more closely together, and we call
+egotism and generosity by different names from what you do. I am,
+therefore, not fit for your circle. I am ashamed to be haughty towards
+those upon whom you look down, and I cannot bend before those whom you
+delight to honor. I do not recognize the gods whom you adore, neither
+can I mock at _my_ God, and ignore Him as you do. In this world of
+yours there is a malicious demon who transforms all that is good in
+man's nature, and who prompts him to laugh and deny every inclination
+to virtue. Who tells his friend or neighbor the truth to his face, and
+who cares for any one who is not present? Dear friends race together
+over hill and dale; but suppose one makes a false step and breaks his
+neck, good-bye to him, the dear friend is gone. Another does not break
+his neck in the race, but he dissipates all his fortune; those who are
+running with him never say to him, 'Step out of the course; you are
+going to the bottom.' All at once he stumbles, and his fortune and the
+honors of his ancestors lie tumbled in the dust. Good-bye to him; his
+name is struck out of the club-list; that dear friend is no more. It
+is true we knew yesterday and the day before yesterday that he would
+surely get a bad fall, but no one else knew of it, so we rode with our
+dear friend to the last. Now all the world is aware of his tumble in
+the dust, therefore we know him no more. If any one wishes to go on
+his own way, and live a rational life to himself, oh, then, he is a
+coward, a miser, a carpet knight! And how do the women fare in this
+world of yours? What about domestic life, and the sweet joys of the
+home? What tragedies are enacted inside those splendid mansions, and
+outside what fun is made of them by friends and acquaintances! What
+refinement in sin! what idolatry of false joys! And when these are
+over, what _ennui_ of life, what endless weariness! No, countess, this
+life is not for me. I should be poisoned in such an atmosphere. You
+can bear it, you grace it by your presence; but for me, I should go
+mad were I to remain. Therefore I go, and all that is now left is to
+ask your forgiveness for my bold words. I acknowledge my indiscretion;
+I have spoken bitterly of society, and yet I stand on its parquet
+floor. I have been ungrateful; I have given expression to my
+antipathies in the presence of those who have shown tolerance towards
+my faults and my awkward manners; who have accompanied me to the door
+of the circle where I have often played a ridiculous part, and,
+notwithstanding, have never been laughed at before my face. But,
+countess, the words I have uttered I have felt, so to speak,
+constrained by your goodness to say. You have, with extraordinary
+kindness, asked me to remain, and I would prove to you that I am
+forced to leave by a power stronger than myself."
+
+During Ivan's rather lengthy address Countess Theudelinde had risen to
+her feet. Her eyes began to light up, her face to wear a glorified
+expression, her lips to move as if she repeated each word he said; and
+when he had spoken the concluding sentence she seized both his hands,
+while she stammered out:
+
+"You speak the truth--the truth--nothing but the truth; you speak as I
+spoke forty years ago, when _I_ left the world as you are doing now!
+The world is ever the same; it does not change." Here she wrung her
+hands passionately. "Go home," she sobbed out; "go back to your
+solitude, hide yourself under the earth, conceal yourself in your
+mine, God will be with you wherever you are--everywhere! God bless
+you! God bless you!"
+
+She did not remark that Angela had also risen from her seat, and as
+Ivan took his leave she made a step forward, and said, in a firm,
+decided voice:
+
+"If you go away, you do not go alone, for I shall go with you." Her
+whole face glowed as she spoke these words.
+
+Ivan was master of the situation. Standing upon this giddy height, he
+did not for that reason lose his balance. With wonderful presence of
+mind he answered the excited girl:
+
+"You will do well, countess. To-morrow is your grandfather's birthday,
+and early to-morrow you can be with him. He is ready to clasp you in
+his arms."
+
+Angela grew white as a marble statue. She sank back in her armchair,
+the leaves she had plucked from the flower lay scattered at her feet.
+Ivan bowed to her respectfully, kissed the hand of Countess
+Theudelinde, and quitted the room.
+
+Ah, there are men who never forget their first and only love!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Not long after Ivan had left, Count Edmund dropped in to see the
+ladies. He appeared to come by accident, but he was dying with
+curiosity. Countess Angela was more amiable than usual. When he was
+leaving, she said to her cousin:
+
+"Go to Salista, and tell him that I have inquired for him."
+
+Count Edmund was courtier enough to conceal the astonishment he most
+certainly felt, but as he went down the stairs he began to hum
+Figaro's song from the _Barber of Seville_:
+
+   "The falseness of women
+    One never can know,
+    One never can know!"
+
+Countess Angela wrote that same evening to her grandfather. Ivan was
+right in saying the next day was his birthday, and this was her
+birthday greeting:
+
+"I am not coming home. Adieu."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+For two days every one in Pesth spoke of Ivan and his duel with
+Salista; the third day he was forgotten. Good-bye to him!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE LAST REHEARSAL
+
+
+On the morning of his birthday Prince Theobald received a letter. It
+was from his only grandchild, and ended with the word "Adieu."
+
+The prince's birthday had been always a festival. From Angela's
+childhood up to the last anniversary of the day she had each year
+given him a remembrance. On this day it had been a bitter gift.
+
+Among his treasures the old man kept a particular casket, handsomely
+fitted with gold mountings, in which he preserved these birthday
+offerings. There was the wreath Angela had given him when she was nine
+years old; the scrawl she had written in her childish handwriting on a
+sheet of Bristol-board; the bit of embroidery, worked in pearls and
+gold, which later she had done for him with her own hand. To these
+gifts the prince, with a deep sigh, added her last letter, with its
+cold farewell.
+
+Prince Theobald was easily moved to anger, while his heart was
+sensitive to affection. When he reflected calmly he found he had every
+right to exact obedience from his granddaughter. Angela owed a duty to
+him, to his position, to the princely house from which she sprang. If,
+indeed, her heart stood in the way of agreeing to his wishes, one
+might, perhaps, excuse her; but Angela, he knew, loved no one. Why,
+therefore, should she seek to defy him for a mere foolish whim?
+Prince Theobald went to Eveline's last rehearsal with his mind in a
+tumult of annoyance and excitement; his blood circulated wildly. He
+could send a strange answer to her farewell. Yes, and he would!
+
+When he reached Eveline's house the servant admitted him as a favored
+_habitué_, without a word, and left him in the drawing-room while he
+went to announce him to his mistress. The prince looked round him; it
+was the room where Eveline usually gave her representations. The
+rose-colored curtains were drawn, one corner was filled with
+greenhouse exotics, the air was perfumed with the scent of the
+flowers. In another corner two turtle-doves cooed melodiously, while
+from behind a little _bosquet_ a nightingale sang its soft stave of
+love, sorrow, and triumph. One could hardly imagine one's self in an
+ordinary drawing-room; it was more like the throne of a nymph, or
+fairy, in the depth of a wood.
+
+The prince seated himself upon a sofa, and, taking up an album which
+lay upon the table, he turned over the leaves. It was a collection of
+photographs of Eveline in her different parts. He went through it from
+cover to cover, examining each tempting and seductive portrait
+carefully, and as he did so there rose before his memory the casket in
+which Angela's letters and embroidery were preserved. His thoughts
+were so absorbed in these recollections that, with a start, he found
+himself at the last page in the book before him. He roused himself to
+look at the beautiful figure in a common stuff frock. How captivating,
+how simple, how lovely!
+
+The nightingale sang, the doves cooed, the air grew heavy with the
+scent of the pomegranates. The prince wondered in what form of
+enchantment would his hostess appear. And now there fell on his ear,
+coming from a distance, a forgotten tune. Once he had heard it, long
+ago; but the air he remembered. It moved him strangely. It was a
+simple volkslied, the same with which the nurse was wont to rock the
+cradle of Angela when she was a baby--a Slav tune. The text was
+unknown to him.
+
+After a few minutes the song ceased, the door of Eveline's
+dressing-room opened, and she came in--and how? In what new and
+captivating costume did she appear?
+
+She wore a simple white-and-black dress of crape cloth; her hair was
+smoothly combed back from her young face, and hung down in a long
+plait; a white lace collar was round her throat.
+
+Softly, modestly, and yet with the confidence of a child, she drew
+near to the prince, and when she was close to him she handed him a
+little sachet of white satin, upon which was embroidered the kneeling
+figure of a child. Then raising her eyes, full of tears, to his face,
+she said, in a low voice, which trembled with emotion:
+
+"My lord, will you accept this little birthday gift from me? May
+Heaven preserve your days."
+
+This scene was so devoid of all acting, it was so full of feeling and
+sincerity, that Prince Theobald, thrown off his guard, forgot himself,
+and, instead of the formal "madame," said:
+
+"My child--"
+
+At these words the young girl, sobbing wildly, threw herself into his
+arms.
+
+"Oh, prince," she cried, "do not recall those words; call me your
+child. There is on this earth no creature more desolate, more unhappy
+than I am."
+
+Prince Theobald laid, his hand kindly upon the fair head of the
+sobbing girl and kissed her gently on the forehead.
+
+"Be it so," he said. "Look up and smile, Eveline. I am in earnest. You
+are almost a child, and you shall be one to me. I will be your
+father--no, your grandfather. Fathers love their children sometimes,
+but not always; but grandfathers never fail in loving their
+grandchildren. You shall be my little granddaughter. When I am sad you
+will cheer me with your gay chatter; you will read or sing to me when
+I cannot sleep; you will care for me and nurse me when I am ill. I
+shall adopt you as my child. I shall take care of you, and provide you
+with all that you want. In return you will obey me; you will listen to
+me; you will bear with an old man's whims and his petulant temper; you
+will try and please me. I promise you that you shall be treated well.
+You shall be mistress over all that I have; you shall have everything
+suitable to the position of my daughter; but I must exact the
+obedience of a child."
+
+Eveline answered by kissing her benefactor's hand.
+
+"Are you pleased at my proposal? Do you think you will be happy?"
+
+Eveline laughed in childish delight. She danced about the room in her
+joy, and fell down at the prince's feet, crying out:
+
+"Oh, my dear, dear grandpapa!"
+
+Prince Theobald threw himself back on the sofa and burst into a harsh,
+bitter laugh.
+
+Eveline drew back, hurt and frightened by the horrid discord in the
+laugh.
+
+"I am not laughing at you, my dear," said the prince, kindly. "Come,
+my pretty granddaughter, and sit beside me." (He had laughed at the
+answer he could now make to Angela's farewell.) He stroked Eveline's
+hair tenderly. "Now we must talk seriously. Listen to what I have to
+say, for my words are commands. In _our_ family there is only one
+master, whom all obey. First of all, there is your husband to be
+considered. It seems to me he takes the responsibilities of his
+position lightly. Still, he must give his consent to my adoption of
+you. I don't apprehend, however, any difficulty in obtaining it; you
+may leave that to me. After that you will take up your residence in my
+palace in the Maximilian Strasse. It shall be yours on one
+condition--that you receive no visitors without previously consulting
+me. Kaulmann is included in this condition. You must have no
+intercourse with him, except on matters of business. Will it pain you
+to be separated from him?"
+
+"I could not be pained by that. We have always lived apart."
+
+The prince pressed her hand kindly. "Poor child!" he said. "Your
+husband is a scoundrel. He has treated you as one of his speculations,
+and has attained his end. One thing, however, you receive from
+him--his name. He cannot take that from you. By-and-by you will learn
+what an inestimable advantage it is to a woman to bear her husband's
+name. It is a passport; but I do not think Kaulmann meant it in that
+light. Well, let us talk no more of him, but of your future. I shall
+procure for you an engagement at the Opera-house. You must have a
+certain position before the world, by whom the secret tie between us
+would not be understood. The title of actress is like the mantle of a
+queen; it gives you the _entrée_ to the _salons_ of a certain artistic
+world. Your future shall be my care. You have talent; if you study you
+will succeed. You must rise to the head of your profession, so that
+when I die you will be able to support yourself."
+
+"If I could only get over my stage-fright!" said Eveline, sadly.
+
+"You will when you get accustomed to the footlights. You will learn by
+experience that in this world, and especially on the stage, every one
+is taken at his own valuation. Any one who makes little of himself
+goes cheap. Above all, you must be most careful how you choose your
+friends. This is important, and on this point you must allow me to
+judge for you. If you feel a preference for any one person you must
+tell me with frankness, and I shall know whether it will be a safe
+friendship for you."
+
+"Oh, prince," cried Eveline, "I shall be guided in all things by you!"
+
+"My child, do not promise too much. Engagements made in a moment of
+enthusiasm or sentiment are speedily forgotten; but there is one
+promise I would have from you. There is one man whom you must give
+your word to me that you will _never_ receive--that you will never
+break the seal of a letter that comes from him; that you will never
+accept a present from him, never take up a bouquet he may throw you,
+never notice his applause. This man must not exist for you; you must
+take as little notice of him as if he were a crossing-sweeper. This
+man is Prince Waldemar."
+
+"Oh, sir, I already hate him. I shudder at his approach."
+
+"I am glad to hear it. He deserves every good woman's hatred; but he
+is rich, young, handsome. He raves of you. Women are flattered by the
+love of such as he; and circumstances may arise to alter your ideas.
+Wealth has a wonderful attraction, and poverty is a great temptation.
+The time must come when I shall no longer be here. You must swear to
+me that when I am dead or removed from you you will keep your oath to
+accept nothing from Prince Waldemar."
+
+"I swear it to you by what is most sacred--the memory of my dead
+mother."
+
+"Now allow me to kiss your forehead. I am going to Kaulmann to make
+the necessary arrangements. I thank you for your remembrance of my
+birthday. Your little present has made me rich. I came here in a very
+perturbed state of mind; I go away with a tranquil heart. I shall
+always be grateful to you. God bless you!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Some days later Eveline removed to Prince Theobald's palace in the
+Maximilian Strasse, where she was surrounded by every splendor and
+luxury.
+
+The world supposed--and we must acknowledge there was reason for the
+supposition--that Kaulmann's wife was the Prince's mistress. The
+prince imagined that he would frighten the Countess Angela and bring
+her to reason, and Eveline thought she was fulfilling her duty as a
+wife when she obeyed her contemptible husband by sacrificing her good
+name to further his ambitious schemes.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At this time, and as the result of Eveline's obedience, the
+Joint-Stock Mining Company received the assent of Prince Theobald
+Bondavary to the contract already signed by his sister, Countess
+Theudelinde.
+
+And in this manner the Bondavara property passed away from the last
+two possessors. If Countess Angela had followed Ivan Behrend's advice
+this would not have happened, and the property would have been hers.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Why was the Countess Angela so obstinate? Why did she behave so
+foolishly as regarded her own interests, so ungratefully towards her
+kind grandfather? A word must be said in her defence. This Prince
+Sondersheim, whom Prince Theobald wished his granddaughter to take as
+her husband, was the same Prince Waldemar of whom mention has already
+been made. Prince Theobald knew his character well. We have heard what
+he said to Eveline. The world had the worst opinion of him, and Angela
+knew what the world thought of her future husband.
+
+Was it any wonder she refused to give herself to such a man? Could she
+act otherwise than she did? Women are the best judges on this point.
+Men cannot witness against themselves.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+FINANCIAL WISDOM
+
+
+The Bondavara Joint-Stock Company was about to issue its prospectus;
+the speculation had been advertised largely, and now it only waited
+the necessary capital of ten millions to start the railway which was
+to put the finest coal-mines in the kingdom within the reach of the
+markets of the great cities. The speculation did not, however, attract
+the public. Who knows about the value of the mine? said one. Who
+believes what the papers say? We all know that trick. The gudgeons
+held off, and did not rise to the bait offered.
+
+One day Felix Kaulmann brought one of the directors to see Ivan
+Behrend, and while these two were in conversation he noticed, lying on
+the table, a piece of coal from the Bondavara mine, upon which was
+distinctly visible the outline of a plant about the size of a finger.
+
+"Is this the impression of an antediluvian bird's claw?" he asked.
+
+"No," returned Ivan; "it is a petrified plant."
+
+"Ah, I am making a collection of petrifactions."
+
+"Then take that to add to it," said Ivan, carelessly.
+
+Felix carried away the piece of coal in his pocket.
+
+Shortly before the prospectus was issued there appeared in one of the
+best-known scientific journals an illustration and article descriptive
+of the petrified _bird's foot_ which had been found in the Bondavara
+mine. The article was signed "Doctor Felicius."
+
+All the _savants_ were excited. "We must see this impression!" they
+cried.
+
+The discoverer had given to the creature, whose foot-mark had remained
+unalterably impressed upon the tender (!) coal, the learned name of
+_Protornithos lithanthracoides_.
+
+"Ho, ho!" exclaimed the united bodies of geologists, physiologists,
+professors, philosophers, artisans, and artesian-well borers, "that is
+indeed a long word!"
+
+One set of learned men declared the thing to be possible, another
+denied its possibility.
+
+And why was it not possible? Because at the period of coal-formations
+neither birds nor any one of the mammalia could exist, or did exist,
+in the bowels of the earth. There we find only traces of plants, of
+mussels, of fish sometimes.
+
+And why is it credible? Because in these days we make discoveries
+every day. Humboldt declared that in the antediluvian world no apes
+had ever lived, for the reason that the fossil of an ape had never
+been found. Since then one fossil ape has been discovered in England,
+in France three of the Ourang species.
+
+By degrees the strife raged in every newspaper; it was taken up in
+English, French, German, and American publications. At last it was
+proposed that the matter should be referred to a commission of five
+well-known professors, to whom the petrifaction should be submitted,
+and who should decide the question in dispute. Doctor Felicius offered
+one thousand ducats to the one who would prove that his bird's claw
+was not a bird's claw.
+
+The tribunal of the five learned judges examined the petrifaction
+with microscopical attention, and after a long sitting brought in a
+unanimous verdict that the impression was not made by the claw of a
+Protornithos, but was that of a leaf belonging to the plant _Annularia
+longefolia_; in fact, there could be no question of the bird species,
+as the specimen of coal produced was not brown coal, but the _purest_
+black, in which coal formation it was not possible for even a bird to
+exist.
+
+Doctor Felix Kaulmann quietly paid the thousand ducats, and thanked
+the whole republic of professors for the service they had rendered to
+the Bondavara coal; such an advertisement could not have been obtained
+at an expense of forty thousand ducats. Let people say that the
+Protornithos was a humbug--who cares? The reputation of the Bondavara
+coal was firmly established on the best scientific grounds.
+
+The period had now arrived when the undertaking should be floated at
+the exchange. This, perhaps, is the greatest science on earth. The
+stock-exchange has its good and its bad days. Sometimes it is full of
+electricity, the sheep frolic in the meadow; at other times they hang
+their heads and will not touch the beautiful grass. Sometimes they
+come bleating to the shepherd to beg that he will shear them, for
+their wool presses too heavily on them; another day they butt their
+heads together and will not listen to their leader. Again, and no one
+can tell why, when the bell-wether begins to run, all the rest of the
+flock run after him; neither the shepherd nor his dog can stop them.
+The science lies in knowing when there is good weather on the
+stock-exchange. On a favorable day men are in such excellent
+humor--there is so much gold in every pocket, everything goes
+well--that even a company for the excavation and alienation of the
+icebergs would find bidders. On a bad day the best and safest
+speculation would get not a single offer.
+
+It was on one of the good days that the Bondavara Coal Company made
+its _début_ at the Vienna Stock-exchange. It caught on, and by the day
+on which the subscriptions should be paid into the Bank of Kaulmann
+came round it was necessary to have a military cordon drawn across the
+street, to allow the stream of people to pass through in any sort of
+order. The subscribers had, in fact, collected before the doors early
+in the morning; those who were strong trusted to their own strength to
+make way for themselves by elbow force. In the crush battered hats and
+torn coats were matters of small consequence; verbal insults and
+personal injuries, such as pushing and squeezing, were treated as
+nothing. The windows of the bank which looked on the street were burst
+open, and some excited individual called out:
+
+"I subscribe ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million!"
+
+When at last six o'clock struck, and the doors of the bank were
+closed, a stentorian voice called from the balcony to the crowd below:
+
+"The subscription is closed!"
+
+What a disappointment for those who had not been able to get their
+money in in time! They went away dejected men.
+
+The Bondavara mine had indeed "caught on." Instead of ten millions,
+eight hundred and twenty thousand millions had been subscribed. Did
+the subscribers really possess all that money? Certainly not. Each one
+deposited the tenth portion of the sum subscribed as a guarantee, and
+this only on paper; actual money the company did not as yet touch.
+Those who made part of the vast crowd, who tore the coats from one
+another's backs, were not blessed with a superfluity of money, neither
+had they the slightest interest in the production of coal, but to-day
+it is fine weather on the exchange; the Bondavara Company's bonds
+stand at par. Every one wanted to make this small profit; that done
+they care no more for the bonds or the company.
+
+It is, however, a fact that trees do not grow in heaven. Prince
+Waldemar was at the head of the countermine, and he was one of the
+cleverest, most astute men "on 'change."
+
+To understand the business the reader should be himself a speculator.
+It is carried on something after this fashion. Those who want to buy
+in are oftentimes men of straw; they merely want shares to sell them
+at once to the first bidder. As a natural consequence, this lowers the
+value; there is a fall, sometimes a total collapse. If the investment
+is a sound one it recovers vitality, and the shares go up again. There
+is, however, a way to guard against this trick. Almost every company
+has a syndicate, whose office is to ascertain whether the applicants
+for shares are men of straw or not. Pending the inquiry, the time is
+made use of to employ certain agents, to whom a free gift is made of,
+say, five hundred shares. These men immediately set up a tremendous
+uproar; they drive up the shares, they tear the certificates out of
+one another's hands, screaming out the high rate at which they are
+buying. But the general market sees no shares pass; the experienced
+ones know that this is all a well-acted farce, and that any one who
+has ready-money need only go to the fountain-head and buy as many
+shares as he wants at par. On the other hand, the bears are waiting
+their time to rush in and cause such a depreciation as will run down
+the shares to almost nothing. When they have got them at this low
+figure they may allow them to rise again.
+
+The only one who loses in this cruel game is the small capitalist, who
+has ventured, poor soul, on ice, and who has sacrificed his little all
+at the shrine of the golden calf, taken his carefully hoarded store,
+his hard-earned salary out of his drawer, and has cast it upon these
+unprofitable waters, tempted by the tales of high interest, and the
+like. All of a sudden the bears have rushed in, the mine has exploded,
+his hopes are blown into air, vanished like a dream; his shares are so
+much waste-paper. He goes home certainly a sadder if not a wiser man.
+Well for him if he is not a beggar. This is how they manage matters on
+the stock-exchange.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+FILTHY LUCRE
+
+
+In the town of X---- there is a street called Greek Street. It is a
+circle, or crescent, of pretty houses, which at one time were erected
+and peopled by Greek merchants. In the middle of the street stands a
+church with a façade of marble and a splendid gilt tower, whose bells
+are the most tuneful in the whole town. It is said that when those
+bells were cast the Greeks threw, with both hands, silver coins into
+the liquid metal.
+
+Old Francis Csanta was now the last of the race. Once he had been a
+jovial fellow, a careless, free liver, towards ladies a gallant
+cavalier, among men a desperate gambler. With years he became silent,
+moody, miserly, avoided the company of his fellow man or woman, and
+was a hater of music and all pleasure. The more he indulged in
+solitude the worse his peculiarities grew. So soon as one of his
+former friends, or relations, or boon companions died, he bought the
+house in which they had lived. By degrees the whole street belonged to
+him; only one house remained, and that next door to his own. This had
+been occupied by a connection of his who had left one daughter.
+Strangely enough, she had not followed the general custom of celibacy,
+but had married, and was the wife of a music-master, who enjoyed the
+Magyar name of Belenyi. This pair had in due course a son born to
+them, to whom they gave the name of Arpad.
+
+This vexed old Csanta sorely. Why should the last remaining Greek girl
+have married--above all, married a music-master? Why should there be a
+son? Why should that son be baptized Arpad? And why should these
+annoying circumstances take place under his very nose? The house, too,
+was an offence; the only house in the street that did not belong to
+him. The church was his; no one went in except himself; the clergyman
+said mass for him only. He was the patron, the congregation, the
+curator, the vestryman, the supporter; he filled every office; he was
+everything. When he was dead the church would be closed, the grass
+would grow upon the threshold.
+
+The generation in the next house showed no sign of dying; the boy
+Arpad was as lively as an eel. At the age of five he threw his ball
+over the roof, and it fell into the old Greek's garden, who there and
+then confiscated it. The lad gave him much more annoyance.
+
+About this time evil days came to the country. The Hungarians and the
+Austrians killed one another. The reason of their so doing is hard to
+find. Historians of the present day say that it was all child's play,
+and that the cause lay in the refusal of the Hungarian sepoys--who are
+Mohammedans--to bite off cartridges which had been prepared with the
+fat of swine--the German method. Or did this happen in India? Nowadays
+it is all uncertain; mostly what is known about it comes through the
+songs of the poets, and who believes them?
+
+What interests us in this old story is that it has to do with Ivan
+Behrend, and how he came to dwell in the Belenyi's house. It so
+happened that he was one of the regiment who repulsed an assault on
+the town, and in consequence he was billeted on the music-master and
+his wife. He was well liked. He was young then, and had good spirits.
+One day the poor musician, coming home through the streets, was struck
+by a shell, and brought into his house dead. Such things happen
+occasionally in time of war. Little Arpad was an orphan, and then it
+was that Ivan adopted him as his son. A short time after this Ivan
+laid down his arms and retired into private life. Why he did so, and
+where he went, is quite immaterial. Before he went Ivan gave the widow
+Belenyi all the gold he had with him, so that with this money Arpad's
+musical education might be paid for. He did not care for the gold, and
+he could not have employed it better. If he had taken it with him, who
+knows into what worthless hands it would have fallen?
+
+He hadn't been long gone when a Hungarian government official stood in
+the market-place of X----, and, to the accompaniment of much drumming,
+gave out the government order that all German bank-notes should be
+brought to the great square, and there made into a funeral-pile and
+set fire to. Any one refusing to obey this order should be dealt with
+accordingly. Every one knew what this meant, and all who didn't wish
+_to be dealt with_ hastened to bring their bank-notes, which were then
+and there burned.
+
+The widow Belenyi had her little savings, a few hundred gulden. What
+should she do? It went hard with her to see her money thrown into the
+fire. She went to her rich neighbor and besought him to help her, and
+to change her money into Hungarian bank-notes. The old Greek at first
+refused to listen, but by-and-by he relented and did as she wished. He
+even did more, for after a week had passed he came to her and said:
+
+"I will no longer keep the money which your father lent to me at the
+rate of six per cent. Here it is for you--ten thousand gulden; take
+it, and make what you can of it." As he spoke he paid her the whole
+sum in Hungarian bank-notes.
+
+A week later another commandant arrived in the town; this one was a
+German. The next morning more drumming was heard in the market-place,
+and the order was given that all who possessed Hungarian bank-notes
+must give them up to have them burned. Those who refused would be shot
+or hanged.
+
+The poor widow ran weeping to her neighbor, and asked what she should
+do. The whole sum he had given her lay in her drawer untouched. If it
+were taken from her she and her child must beg or starve. Why had he
+given her this money? Why had he changed her German notes if he knew
+that this was going to happen?
+
+"How could I know it?" shrieked Csanta; and, still screaming, he went
+on to lament over himself. "If you are beggared, so am I--ten thousand
+times more beggared than any one. I haven't a copper coin in the
+house. I don't know how I can pay even for a bit of meat. I shall have
+a hundred thousand bank-notes burned. I am ruined! I am a beggar!"
+
+And he fell to cursing both Germans and Hungarians, until the widow
+Belenyi implored him not to shriek so loud, else he would be heard,
+and, God help us all! hanged.
+
+"Let them hear, then! Let them hang me! I don't care. I shall go to
+the market-place and tell them to their faces they are robbers, and if
+they won't hang me I'll hang myself. I am only considering whether I
+shall suspend myself from the pump-handle or from the steeple of the
+tower."
+
+The widow besought him, for Heaven's sake, not to do such a terrible
+deed.
+
+"And what's to become of me? Am I to go round with a hat and beg for a
+penny? Here, these are my last halfpence."
+
+He drew a few coins from his pocket, and began to weep piteously; his
+tears flowed in streams. The poor woman tried her best to console him.
+She begged him not to despair; the butcher and the baker knew him, and
+would trust him. She was tempted to offer him a piece of twenty
+groschen.
+
+"Oh, you will soon see!" sobbed the old man. "Come to-morrow morning
+early, and you will see me hanging from a hook in the passage. I
+couldn't survive this!"
+
+What could she do? The poor soul carried her Hungarian bank-notes to
+the commander, and saw them consumed in the market-place.
+
+Oh, it was a laughable joke! To this day when people talk of it their
+eyes fill with tears.
+
+For the widow, and many like her, there followed months and years of
+grinding poverty. She had lost all the capital saved for her by her
+father; there remained nothing but the house. The front rooms she let
+as a shop, and in the back she lived and eked out her miserable income
+as best she could.
+
+For a long time she looked with a frightened gaze at her neighbor's
+passage, expecting to see the old man hanging from an iron hook; but
+she was spared this sight. The old man had no notion of ending his
+days. He had certainly lost a few thousand gulden, but these were only
+the chaff; the corn was safe. He had a secret hiding-place to which he
+could have access by a secret passage underneath his house; the cellar
+was, in fact, underneath the water. A mason from Vienna had built it
+for him, and the people of the town knew nothing of it. The cellar was
+full of casks, and every cask was full of silver; the old man's cellar
+concealed a treasure. By means of secret machinery constructed in his
+bedroom the owner was able by touching a spring to open a sluice
+concealed in the bed of the stream, and thus in a few minutes to
+submerge his cave. No robber could have penetrated there. All the gold
+and silver pieces which came into Csanta's hand found their way to
+this subterranean hiding-place, and never saw the light of day again.
+
+Meantime his neighbor, the widow, suffered the grip of poverty; she
+sewed her fingers to the bone to keep things together and to earn
+their daily bread. The gold pieces Ivan had given she wouldn't have
+touched even to save herself from starvation; they were used for the
+purpose for which he gave them--for Arpad's musical education, and
+musical instruction was so dear. The child was a genius.
+
+But living grew dearer, work harder to get. The widow was forced to
+get a loan upon the house; she asked her neighbor, and he gave it
+readily. The loan grew and grew until it reached a good sum of money,
+and then Csanta asked it back. Frau Belenyi was not able to refund,
+and the old man instituted proceedings, and as he was the only
+mortgagee he got it for one-quarter its real value. The amount over
+and above the debt and the costs were handed to the widow, and there
+was nothing left but to leave. Madame Belenyi took her son to Vienna,
+to begin in earnest his artistic education.
+
+The old Greek possessed the whole street; there was no one left to
+annoy him in his immediate neighborhood; he suffered neither from
+children, dogs, or birds. And his treasure increased more and more.
+The casks which filled the cellar that lay beneath the water were
+filled to overflowing, and the contents were always silver.
+
+One day Csanta received a visit. It was an old acquaintance, a banker
+from Vienna, whose father had been a friend of the old man's, and at
+whose counting-house he could always get exchange for his bank-notes
+and other little accommodations. The visitor was Felix Kaulmann.
+
+"To what circumstance do I owe the honor? What good news do you bring
+me?"
+
+"My worthy friend, I shall not make any preamble. Time is precious to
+you, as it is to me, and therefore I go straight to the point. By the
+authorization of the Prince of Bondavara I have been placed at the
+head of a joint-stock company, who have just started some gigantic
+coal-works, whose capital has risen from ten millions to eight hundred
+and twenty millions."
+
+"That is eighty-two millions more than you would require."
+
+"The money is the least part. What I stand in need of is well-known
+men for the administration, for the result of the whole undertaking
+rests upon the zeal, the capability, the intelligence of the governing
+body."
+
+"Well, such men are not difficult to find if there is a prospect of a
+good dividend."
+
+"The dividend is not to be despised. The bonus to each member of the
+administration will be, yearly, five or six thousand gulden."
+
+"Really? What a nice income!--a stroke of luck for those who are
+chosen."
+
+"Well, I have chosen you for a member, my worthy friend."
+
+"An honor, a great honor for me; but how much must I put down before I
+am admitted?"
+
+"Neither before nor after shall you be asked to put down anything. The
+only condition is that every member of the administration must hold
+one thousand shares."
+
+"That means paying in a deal of money, my young friend."
+
+"I didn't say a word of paying in; I only spoke of holding."
+
+"But, my young friend, although I am only a provincial merchant in a
+small way, I know that, so far as money is in question, to subscribe
+is another word for payment."
+
+"With this exception--if both subscriptions equalize one another. Ah,
+I see you do not like even a question of subscribing. Well, listen. We
+will suppose that you take one thousand shares in my coal company, and
+at the same time I give you an undertaking to take over one thousand
+shares at par from _you_; in this way we are even, and neither of us
+loses a shilling."
+
+"Hem! But what is the necessity for such a joke?"
+
+"I will be frank with you. The world has its eyes fixed upon the
+actions of important men; if these stir in any affair, the others stir
+likewise. If on 'change it is known that you, my worthy friend, have
+bought a thousand shares, a hundred small speculators will immediately
+invest in shares. In this way you secure to yourself a sinecure which
+will give you five or six thousand gulden, and I will secure for my
+undertaking a splendid future. Now, have I not spoken the truth?"
+
+"H'm! I will consider the affair. Meet me to-morrow at the
+restaurant."
+
+Csanta spent all the morning in the restaurant; he listened to all
+that was said of the Bondavara speculation, and came to the conclusion
+that he would risk nothing, since all danger was covered by Kaulmann's
+bond. When Felix arrived he had made up his mind.
+
+"Good! I shall draw the shares; but none of them shall hang round my
+neck, for I don't like paper. Paper is only paper, and silver is
+always silver."
+
+"Don't be afraid, my friend, I shall retain all shares for myself. I
+deposit the caution for you, and I pay the instalments."
+
+Felix completely satisfied the old Greek as to his upright intentions
+in the matter of the shares, and left in his hands the undertaking in
+which he pledged himself to take them over at par.
+
+Now began the manœuvre behind the scenes. The agents, the makers of
+books, the brokers rushed in; the Bondavara shares rose rapidly. The
+syndicate had, all this time, never given a share into any one's hand.
+The bears had not yet begun to dance. Herr Csanta had become a student
+of the newspapers. True, his eyes never left one column, but that
+contained for him the tree of all knowledge; it spoke golden truth.
+With amazement he read how every day the value of the Bondavara shares
+increased. The profit grew higher and higher; it went up in leaps and
+bounds; sixteen, eighteen, at last twenty gulden over par. Those who
+had put down two hundred thousand gulden had won in two weeks twenty
+thousand gulden. A splendid speculation, indeed, in less than a
+fortnight to make a fortune! Compare the case of an honest,
+hard-working usurer like himself. What difficulties he had to go
+through to extract twenty per cent. out of his miserable clients! The
+work was hardly worth the gain; the fatigue of trapping some silly
+idiot, the odium and hatred incurred by exacting his rights from some
+miserable beggar with a family, or taking the pillow from under the
+head of a dying man; these things go against the grain, but they must
+be done if you want to fill your cellar with silver coins. And here a
+wretched, good-for-nothing speculator, by merely a stroke of the pen,
+makes in two short weeks a fortune. Luck is not evenly meted out to
+mortals.
+
+The time had come when Felix Kaulmann could demand from Csanta the
+thousand shares upon which he could now make a profit of twenty
+thousand gulden. No honest man could allow such an iniquitous robbery
+of his rights, or, at least, not without making a struggle. It is only
+a fool who allows himself to be made a tool of. A man may steal for
+himself; to rob the widow and the orphan to fill another man's purse,
+that is wicked and immoral.
+
+When Felix Kaulmann came again to the town of X----, the old Greek
+received him with great ceremony and seeming cordiality.
+
+"I hope you bring good news, my dear young friend," he said, clasping
+Kaulmann's hand in his.
+
+"I have come about that little business of the shares," returned
+Felix, with the air of a man of business. "You remember our
+agreement?"
+
+"What shares do you mean? Oh, the Bondavara! Is it pressing?"
+
+"Yes, for the first instalment of interest is now due; two gulden each
+bond, which, as the shares are in my name, will make an addition to my
+savings."
+
+"Oh, so you intend to call in the shares?"
+
+"But that was our agreement."
+
+"And if I do not wish to surrender more than five hundred?"
+
+Kaulmann drew in his lips. "Well, I suppose I should be content."
+
+"And if I do not wish to surrender any of the shares?"
+
+Kaulmann looked at him uneasily. "Sir," he said, "I thought I was
+dealing with an honest man. Besides, you forget I gave you a written
+agreement."
+
+"My friend, my good young friend, that is true. You gave me a written
+agreement signed with your name, which covenanted that you were
+obliged to take these shares from me at par; but I gave you no signed
+document, and there is nothing that can force me to hand you over
+these shares. There you have the whole thing in a nutshell."
+
+"But, my good sir," repeated the banker, taking hold of the lapels of
+the old Greek's coat, "listen to me. Don't you know that it is one of
+the laws in the Chamber of Commerce that there is no need of written
+indenture? If I take shares from you I have only to make a note in my
+pocket-book. Surely you know that this is the law on 'change?"
+
+"What do I know of the laws they make there? I never set my foot in
+the place."
+
+Kaulmann made an effort to laugh. "I must confess I have never been so
+sold by any one. I have found my master. Will you give me none of the
+shares?"
+
+"Not half a one."
+
+"Very good. Then you must count out the sum-total agreed upon."
+
+"Certainly. I shall pay down the money."
+
+"I mean the whole sum. Do you understand?"
+
+"Undoubtedly. Don't be afraid; the money is ready; this house is bail
+for more than that amount. If needs be I can pay you in gold, if needs
+be in silver."
+
+"Well," cried Kaulmann, bringing his clinched fist down on the table,
+"I would never have believed that in this little town I should have
+been so sold."
+
+Csanta suspected that were he to fail in paying his first instalment
+his shares might be annulled. He therefore lost no time in placing the
+first thirty-five per cent. into the bank. But this was not an easy
+task. To transport seventy thousand silver gulden to Vienna would
+necessitate a conveyance, and not only a conveyance, but an escort of
+gendarmes, and this paraphernalia would make people stare. Well, let
+them stare!
+
+When the old man descended into his cellar and looked at the casks
+which contained the necessary sum, his heart beat, his limbs trembled.
+These casks contained the treasure he had garnered up; his solid
+capital. It was foolish, he knew, still he could not help tears coming
+to his eyes as he chose seven casks from the twenty which should be
+the first to go. He wept as he spoke to these children of his heart.
+
+"You shall have no cause to reproach me, you who remain here," he
+said; "those that are now leaving you shall soon return. They are
+going on a safe journey, not on a wild, venturous sea, where there
+would be danger of shipwreck, but on a safe railroad, to increase and
+multiply. Once I have the shares in my hand, they shall not stay a
+night in my possession. I shall sell them at once, and get back my
+silver. The profits, too, I shall change into silver. Instead of seven
+casks I shall return with nine."
+
+In this way did the old Greek miser comfort himself for the temporary
+loss of his silver pieces. He counted them that night when the day's
+work was done, and then set about arranging the transport of his
+treasure to Vienna.
+
+The day before Csanta had decided upon this step the "bears" had begun
+to explode their mine. It was, however, only a trial; they wanted
+merely to show their teeth. Specie was in demand; if silver goes up,
+paper securities fall. The seven casks from Csanta's cellar arrived
+opportunely. Two wagons laden with leaden casks, and guarded by
+gendarmes with drawn sabres as they went slowly through the streets,
+attracted the attention of passers-by. When it came to be known that
+these casks were full of silver, and that all this silver was to be
+paid as the first instalment of some Bondavara shares, there was
+considerable excitement. Peru and Brazil were opening their
+floodgates. The firm of Kaulmann very naturally made as much as
+possible of the event, as being a feather in their commercial cap. The
+delivery arrived, as it happened, during the absence of the chief
+cashier, which involved an immense amount of running hither and
+thither in search of him, as it was necessary Csanta should receive
+his receipt. In the afternoon the shares were handed over and the
+silver was counted. All this made much stir and business in the
+Kaulmann Bank. Kaulmann intrusted the conduct of the affair to his
+most capable clerk. He instructed him how to act in regard to the
+matter, and added that if the old Greek gave him a gratuity, he was to
+kiss his hand, and to place himself altogether at his service. This
+man's name was Spitzhase.
+
+Later in the day Spitzhase brought Csanta his account, regularly drawn
+up, together with the shares, and begged to inform his excellency
+"that he had brought seven hundred gulden more than was necessary, for
+the reason that since yesterday silver had risen one per cent."
+
+"H'm!" thought Csanta, "this is an honest fellow; I shall give him a
+gratuity." And he gave him a bank-note of twenty gulden.
+
+Spitzhase overpowered him with thanks; then took his hand, and kissed
+it.
+
+"H'm!" thought Csanta, "I have given him too much; perhaps five gulden
+would have been sufficient." Aloud, he said:
+
+"I made a mistake. Give me that note back; I will give you another."
+And he gave him a bank-note of the value of five gulden.
+
+Spitzhase thanked him warmly, and kissed his hand.
+
+"H'm! this is really a good fellow--quite after my heart. Give me back
+those five gulden; here is another note. I made a mistake." And he
+handed him a note of fifty gulden.
+
+Spitzhase kissed both his hands, and showered blessings upon him.
+Csanta was now convinced that he had made this man his friend for
+life.
+
+"If I had brought the silver to-morrow, I should have got more," he
+said, reflectively.
+
+"No, you may believe me, to-day was the right moment; to-morrow silver
+will fall two per cent."
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"Oh, I am acquainted with the weather on the stock-exchange."
+
+"You are? Then why don't you speculate if you know so well the ins and
+outs?"
+
+"Because one must have money, and I have none. I can only dabble in
+trifling matters."
+
+"Are you well known on 'change?"
+
+"I spend all my time there, except when I am asleep."
+
+"Then take me to the stock-exchange. I should like to look about me."
+
+Csanta meant, as soon as he could find a suitable purchaser, to sell
+his Bondavara shares.
+
+"One can go in the evening?" he asked, as they went along.
+
+"That is the most lively time, particularly on a day like this."
+
+Csanta was now introduced into the Temple of Mammon. Even outside the
+door he could hear a strange noise and tumult of voices, and as he
+stepped inside his head almost reeled at the strange spectacle. The
+large hall was stuffed full of men, who circulated in a narrow circle.
+Each one spoke, or rather shrieked, as if all were quarrelling. They
+gesticulated with their hands, holding up pieces of paper in the air,
+making signs and figures on their fingers, and screaming out names and
+making offers until the noise was deafening.
+
+Spitzhase, who was perfectly at home, led Csanta through the throng.
+The old merchant was indignant at the manner in which he was pushed
+and driven about, no one even begging pardon for his rudeness. He
+would have liked to know what was meant by the words so constantly
+repeated, "I give!" "I take!" His attention, however, was at once
+riveted by another word which seemed to be in every man's mouth, and
+which gradually became plainer: "Puntafar! Puntafar!" It dawned upon
+him that it must be Bondavar. He stopped and timidly asked one of
+those who were shrieking, "Who wants 'Puntafar'? What is the price at
+which the Bondavara shares are selling?"
+
+"Thirty over par."
+
+Csanta's eyes blazed. "It is impossible; it cannot be!" he said.
+"Yesterday they were at twenty."
+
+"That was yesterday. To-day they are thirty. If you want to buy to
+morrow you will have to pay thirty-five. The whole world is buying
+the scrip. A rich nabob from India has brought all his silver here,
+and bought Puntafar shares. The Dey of Morocco and a Russian prince,
+who both own silver mines, have each ordered ten thousand shares. Even
+the little folk, who have only a few hundreds, are tearing the shares
+out of one another's hands; they won't have anything but Puntafar.
+What will you take?"
+
+Csanta had very little idea that he united in his own person the East
+Indian nabob, the Dey of Morocco, and the Russian prince, as likewise
+that it was he who had caused this uproar. Far from such an idea
+crossing his mind, he believed that this man was making game of him.
+
+"Oh, sir," he said, "thirty gulden exchange is too much. I can give
+you a thousand Bondavara shares at five-and-twenty."
+
+These words caused such a tumult as hardly ever had been heard on
+'change. Every one crowded round Csanta; he was set upon from all
+sides--behind, before, at his side, on his back--he was fairly mobbed.
+People fought with one another over his head, and flourished their
+fists in his face.
+
+"Who is he? Who is he? A bear, a conspirator, a thief, an agent! Out
+with him! Bonnet him! Pitch him out! Twenty-five, will he take? Give
+him twenty-five blows on his back and tear his coat in pieces!"
+
+Spitzhase could hardly manage to get him out. He was in a deplorable
+condition when he issued forth, his hat smashed, his clothes all awry,
+his face pale, his breath short. Once in the open air his rescuer
+began to scold him.
+
+"What the devil did you do that for? Just at the moment when the cabal
+was silenced and trampled in the dust, to come forward as one of them
+to run down your own shares!"
+
+"I did not want to run them down; I only wanted to ascertain if it was
+really the case that such an advance on the price could be realized."
+
+"Oh, that's the way with you," returned Spitzhase, in an aggrieved
+tone. "Well, I can tell you the exchange is not a good place to try
+jokes in. It was all quite authentic. The Bondavara scrip is as sound
+as ready-money. To-day it is thirty for scrip, eight-and-twenty for
+gold; to-morrow it will be thirty-two, and so on--always getting
+higher. If I had the money I would put in my last farthing. I know
+what I know, and I have studied the weather on 'change, but what I
+have learned from Kaulmann I cannot tell; my lips are sealed."
+
+Upon this Csanta pressed the clerk very hard. "You can tell me," he
+said; "I am already in the boat. What have you heard?"
+
+"Well," said Spitzhase, lowering his voice and looking round
+cautiously, "what you say is true; you are a large holder of stock, so
+perhaps I may give you this hint. _Puntafar has not reached its
+highest point yet._ Oho! they are very tricky who hold over. I am in
+the secret, and there is a plan, the details of which I durst not
+reveal, which will give such an impulse as will drive the shares still
+higher. In six months one impulse will be given, in another six months
+another. Oh, the world will open its eyes and its ears; but what I say
+to you, you will see! In a year's time Puntafar will be at one hundred
+over par."
+
+"A hundred!" repeated Csanta, falling back against the wall in his
+astonishment. But he soon recovered himself. He was angry with
+Spitzhase for treating him as if he were a fool.
+
+"I tell you what you are," he said; "you are a great boaster. Leave
+me; I shall get home by myself." And he dismissed Spitzhase angrily.
+
+The next morning his first word was to ask the waiter for the papers.
+His eyes eagerly sought the exchange column, and there, just as
+Spitzhase had prophesied, silver currency had dropped two per cent.
+Bondavara stood at thirty to thirty-two florins, and what is written
+is gospel truth.
+
+"Not one shall I sell!" cried Csanta, clapping his hands.
+
+And then he got up and dressed himself. Here was a stroke of luck. It
+was like a fairy-tale; a man had only to leave the window open at
+night and next morning his pockets are full of gold.
+
+He was swallowing his breakfast when Spitzhase was ushered in, his
+face beaming with triumph.
+
+"Now, what did I tell you?" he cried, as he laid down the paper before
+Csanta, pointing with his finger to the exchange column.
+
+The old Greek said not a word of having read the good news; he nodded
+his head as he answered, with great composure:
+
+"Is it really true? Well, that is satisfactory."
+
+"I rather think so; by the evening they will be up to thirty-two. Oh,
+if I had only some money!"
+
+"Well, here is another note for you. Go and buy yourself a share.
+There, don't kiss my hand. I cannot allow it." But he did allow it.
+
+"Don't sell the share," he went on; "keep it for yourself. When the
+next instalment comes due I will pay it for you. For God's sake, don't
+kiss my hand again! I will do more than that for you. If you kiss my
+hand every time I shall have no hands left. Remember that I shall
+expect you to show your gratitude in a more tangible manner. You must
+let me know the first thing if the head of your bank is going to try
+any tricks with the bonds. You will be sure to give me the first news
+as to when I should sell. Do you understand me? Good! Now that you
+have a share yourself you have an interest in the matter, and if we
+sell our shares are we not entitled to a commission?"
+
+Spitzhase kissed every finger of the old man's hand.
+
+"I implore one thing of you, master," he said; "don't betray me to
+Kaulmann. If he found out that I betrayed his secrets to any one he
+would dismiss me on the spot."
+
+"Don't be afraid. You have to do with an honorable gentleman,"
+returned the Greek, with an air of dignity.
+
+The honorable gentleman believed that he had won over the honest clerk
+to betray the secrets of the honorable banker, his employer. It was an
+honorable game all round. We shall see which of the honorable
+gentlemen played it best.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+NO, EVELINE!
+
+
+It was high time Ivan returned to his coal-mine; he was needed there.
+While he was fighting duels in Pesth, strange things were happening in
+Bondathal. Not far from his workmen's colony there arose enormous
+buildings with almost miraculous quickness. As often happens when no
+difficulty is made as to price, the only question asked is, how soon
+shall the work be finished? The shares had not yet been issued, and
+the company had already spent in the interest of the undertaking a
+million of money. Everything was pressed forward at fever-heat. Here
+was a new invention for making tiles by machinery, there a
+donkey-engine supplied the materials for building the walls. The
+earthworks were in a most advanced condition, the chimneys smoked, the
+roofs were covered, a whole street was already built, a new town was
+rising as if by magic.
+
+Of all this activity Ivan had been kept in ignorance by his assistant,
+Rauné, who had, likewise, been silent as to another disturbing element
+which had made its appearance for the first time among the workmen,
+and which disputed the palm with "choke-damp" and "foul air," and was
+quite as fatal as either. This new element was "a strike." A portion
+of Ivan's workmen struck for higher wages, otherwise they would join
+the new coal-mine, which was called "The Gentleman's Colony." It
+offered nearly double the wages, certainly more than the half again,
+of what Ivan paid. This happened after Rauné had explained to the men
+that he had accepted the office of director, which had been offered to
+him by the new company, and he naturally wished to take with him the
+best and cleverest among Ivan's men, so that they, too, might profit
+by the higher wages. Who could resist such advantageous offers? Miners
+are like all other men; they have their price.
+
+Ivan now gnawed the bitter bread of self-reproach. He saw the folly he
+had committed in taking into his service and admitting into the
+secrets of the business the paid director of a company created to
+bring about his own ruin.
+
+A scientific man is not a good business man. While he was making
+investigations as to the probability of animal life existing in the
+antediluvian strata of coal-mines, he was blind to the danger of a
+rival company close to his own factory. Nay, more; he had allowed
+himself to be hoodwinked by an inferior intelligence, and had fallen
+into the trap set for him by his old friend Felix. Ivan was
+philosopher enough to accommodate himself to circumstances. There was
+little use, he told himself, in crying over spilt milk; he had broad
+shoulders, and they should, if it were possible, push the wheel of
+fortune. But though he said this, he had little hope of succeeding.
+
+On his return, and when he got, as he thought, to the bottom of the
+evil, he called his workmen together.
+
+"Comrades," he said, "a great undertaking has risen up beside us; the
+company of the new coal-mines offers you wages which I give you my
+word of honor it is impossible to pay without considerable loss to
+themselves. Up to the present I have worked my mines with a certain
+amount of profit; I offer you to-day, in addition to your usual wages,
+a share out of this profit. For the future we shall divide with one
+another what we earn. At the end of the year I shall lay my accounts
+before you; one of your number, chosen by yourselves, shall examine
+and audit them, and according to the wages of each man and the work he
+has done he shall receive his share. If you agree to this fair offer I
+shall continue the work. If, however, you think it better for your
+interests to take the higher wages offered by the company, I shall not
+enter into competition with men who have millions to spend; it would
+be a folly on my part. I shall, therefore, sell them my mine, and you
+may then be certain of one thing, that when they have both mines in
+their own hands, and find that no rivalry is possible, the rate of
+wages will be lowered. To those who stand by me I offer a contract
+_for life_; the profits of this mine, so long as I live, shall be
+divided between myself and my workmen."
+
+This was an excellent stroke, especially as the company could not
+imitate it. More than half the men closed with Ivan's offer, and
+undertook to remain with him. A great number, however, influenced by
+paid agents, who were sent about to stir them up, went over to the
+"Gentleman's Colony."
+
+Those who remained had a great deal to suffer from the ones who left.
+Not a Sunday passed without fights taking place between the two
+parties.
+
+Ivan soon heard that his powerful rival had found a way of checkmating
+him. His customers, to whom he sent large consignments not only of
+coal but also of copper and iron bars, wrote to him that the new
+Bondavara Coal Company had offered the same class of goods at fifty
+per cent. less, and that therefore, unless he was prepared to make a
+similar reduction, they could not deal with him. Fifty per cent.
+higher wages and fifty per cent. less profit means working for
+nothing. Rauné had Ivan's business in the hollow of his hand; he could
+ruin it, and he meant to do so. Ivan saw this quite clearly, but he
+did not lose heart. He wrote to all his former customers that it was
+not possible to give either the coal or the iron a farthing cheaper,
+not if it hung round his neck as a dead weight. The consequence was
+his coal and his iron accumulated in his warehouses; scarcely a wagon
+with his name was to be seen in the streets of Bondathal. He had to
+work the mine and the foundry for himself alone.
+
+For the men who had remained true to him there was, indeed, a bad
+outlook. Their former comrades jeered at them in the open street.
+"Where is the profit?" was a popular cry. Ivan tried to quiet the
+disappointed men; he asked them to wait patiently. By the end of the
+year, he prophesied, they would be on the right side. To give things
+for nothing was not trade, and if the company chose to do it he wasn't
+going to follow such a suicidal example.
+
+The great buildings of the new colony being now completed, the
+directors of the company announced that they would hold high festival
+in honor of the opening of the undertaking. The principals, directors,
+managers, shareholders were to come from Vienna and be entertained at
+a banquet. The largest room in the factory was fitted up as a
+dining-room, the tables being laid for workmen as well as for the
+distinguished company of strangers. It was widely circulated that the
+prince was coming. The company had chosen him as their president. Both
+the princes were patrons of commercial and industrial undertakings,
+but Prince Theobald possessed an extraordinary financial talent; any
+speculation he engaged in was a sound and sure one, so it was said, as
+also that he had taken a million shares in the new company. It was so
+far true that Kaulmann had offered him this million, which was to
+increase the value of the Bondavara property, but it is needless to
+remark that the million of shares had no tangible existence. Previous
+to the inaugural ceremony a religious service was to take place, and,
+as was only fitting, this was to be conducted by the eminent Abbé
+Samuel. Before such distinguished guests it would hardly be in keeping
+to have a man such as pastor Mohak, although it was true that he
+slaved all through the year among the people.
+
+The guests came from the castle, where they had arrived the previous
+day. They drove into the town in splendid coaches. That of Prince
+Theobald came first, with his armorial bearings emblazoned on the
+panels. Behind two footmen with dazzling liveries of scarlet and gold.
+On the box the coachman with a powdered wig and three-cornered hat.
+The coach drew up at the church door, the footmen jumped down and
+opened the carriage door. There alighted first an old gentleman with
+white hair, a clean-shaven, soft, friendly face, and a very
+distinguished air. He gave his hand to a splendidly dressed lady in a
+velvet and lace costume, who descended from the equipage with graceful
+nonchalance. The crowd saw her violet velvet boots and embroidered
+silk stockings.
+
+"What a great lady!" cried the boors to one another. "She must be a
+princess, for all the gentlemen at the church door received her hat in
+hand."
+
+Only one man in a rough workman's coat called out: "Evila!"
+
+It was Peter Saffran who had recognized her.
+
+The lady heard the exclamation, and turned a laughing face to the
+crowd outside.
+
+"No," she said; "it is _Eveline_."
+
+She bowed her head sweetly as she crossed the threshold of the church.
+
+Eveline's vanity had brought her to Bondathal; she wanted to show her
+silk stockings to her former companions, who had seen her in wooden
+shoes with no stockings, except on occasions. It was the vanity of the
+peasant girl--not pride, take notice, but mere vanity. She did not
+look down upon her friends, as some upstarts do; she wanted to do good
+to every one of them. She was ready to give them money, to earn their
+grateful thanks, particularly to those who had been kind to her in the
+old days; to those especially she wished to prove that, although she
+had risen to a high position, she had never forgotten how much she
+owed to them. She would now, in her turn, do them good. Eveline had
+looked forward to seeing her former bridegroom. Most probably he had
+long since consoled himself for her loss, and had married another. A
+present of money would make _him_ happy. She had also counted on
+meeting Ivan. She had the most grateful remembrance of his goodness,
+and she was glad to think she had it in her power to prove her
+gratitude by deeds. She could not give him a present, but she could
+tell him of the dangers that threatened his property from the large
+undertaking of the company, and she promised herself to use all her
+influence to make the best terms for Ivan in case he would consent to
+arrange matters with his gigantic rival.
+
+Yes, it was indeed the vain desire of doing good that had brought
+Eveline to Bondathal. She had arranged how and where she would have
+her first meeting with Ivan.
+
+The notabilities and proprietors of the neighborhood had been invited
+in the name of the prince to the banquet, which was to inaugurate the
+opening of the works. No one could refuse such an invitation. It was
+true that when Eveline had proposed to the Abbé Samuel that he should
+undertake the office of intermediary, and call on his learned
+colleague Behrend, and bring him with him to the banquet, the abbé had
+exclaimed not for all the world would he venture to propose such a
+thing as that Behrend should wait upon their excellencies. And when he
+said this he knew very well what he was saying.
+
+To return to the church door. As Peter Saffran stood stock-still,
+gazing after the vanishing figure of his former betrothed, he felt
+some one tap him on the shoulder; turning round, he saw standing
+behind him Felix Kaulmann. Peter's face went deadly white, partly with
+fear, more from inward rage. Felix, however, laughed carelessly, with
+the indifference of a great man, to what was, in his opinion, only a
+good joke.
+
+"Good-day, fellow. Mind you come to the dinner," he said, as he
+followed the prince into the church.
+
+Peter Saffran remained gaping at the noble gentlemen as they got out
+of their carriages, and when the crowd began to move into the church
+he followed in the stream. He made his way into the darkest corner,
+before the shrine of a saint, knelt down, with both his hands laid
+upon the wall and his head upon his folded arms, and there he made a
+vow--an awful, terrible vow. Those who saw him in his kneeling
+attitude, with bent head, imagined he had been struck at last by
+grace, and was repenting of his sins. When he had finished his
+prayer, or his curse, he got up quickly, and, without waiting for the
+end of the splendid ceremonial, hastened out of the church, casting a
+wild look behind him as he went, for he imagined that the saint in the
+shrine was pointing her finger at him and calling out, "Take him
+prisoner! He is a murderer!"
+
+The church service being over, the distinguished company drove to the
+company's colony, and went over the works. They drove under triumphal
+arches which were erected in the streets, and were received by a
+deputation of workmen. The best orator made a speech, which would have
+been very eloquent only he stuck fast in the middle. The young girl
+who recited some verses was more happy in her delivery, and her
+youngest sister presented a bouquet to Eveline, who kissed the child.
+
+"Ah! you are little Marie. Don't you know me?"
+
+The child, however, was too frightened at this beautiful lady to make
+her an answer.
+
+The guests visited the buildings under the guidance of Herr Rauné, who
+spared them nothing--the factory, the machinery, the iron-works. They
+were terribly tired of it all, and glad to get into the large rooms
+which had been temporarily arranged as the banqueting-hall. Here they
+were received by two bands playing Rakoczy's "March." To the banquet
+came a crowd of guests alike invited and uninvited--gentlemen,
+peasants, clergymen, and Bohemians. Eveline, however, looked in vain
+for her former master. Ivan was not among the guests. He had not even
+sent an excuse. What an uncouth man! and yet, perhaps, he had reason.
+If you drink beforehand to the skin of the bear, the bear has every
+right to decline being present at the feast. Peter Saffran, however,
+came; he was treated as the chief guest, and given the first place at
+the workman's table. This struck even his obtuse senses. Looking
+round he saw he was the only representative of the Bondathal mine.
+
+The banquet lasted far on into the evening. Gentlemen and workmen were
+exceedingly merry. Towards the close of the feast Felix sent for
+Peter. He presented him to the prince.
+
+"Here is the brave miner of whom I have told your excellency."
+
+Saffran felt the blood rush to his face.
+
+"Well, my good friend," continued Felix, "how has the world treated
+you since I last saw you? Are you still afraid of 'the doctor'?
+There's a plaster for you; it will heal any remains of your former
+injuries." So saying, he took out of his pocket-book a note for a
+hundred gulden and put it into Peter's hand. "No," he added, "don't
+thank me, but thank the kind lady there, who remembered you."
+
+He pointed to Eveline, and Peter kissed her hand, or, rather, her
+beautiful mauve glove.
+
+What a transformation in the man-eater! He had grown obedient and
+gentle.
+
+"That good lady," continued Felix, "wishes you well. At her request
+his excellency, Prince Theobald, has given you the post of overseer in
+the new company's colony, at the yearly salary of a thousand gulden.
+What do you say to that?"
+
+What could he say? He kissed the hand of his excellency.
+
+Kaulmann filled a large goblet to the brim with foaming champagne and
+handed it to Peter.
+
+"Toss that off," he said. "But first drink to the long life of his
+excellency, our generous prince."
+
+"And to the health of this dear lady," added the prince, gallantly, at
+which the trumpets sounded shrilly, and Peter Saffran, the prince,
+the banker, and Eveline drank to one another.
+
+This scene delighted the working-men. Here was no pride, the gentlemen
+clinking glasses with the common miner. This was the right spirit.
+
+Peter Saffran, meantime, was wondering within himself which of the two
+gentlemen was Eveline's husband, and in what relation did the other
+stand to her? He emptied his glass and put it down again, but it did
+not occur to him to put the question to either of the three, therefore
+it remained unanswered.
+
+The festival closed with a splendid display of fireworks. The sparks
+from the Catherine wheels fell in a shower of molten gold into Ivan's
+mine.
+
+The following morning Saffran came to Behrend and informed him that he
+had taken service with the company.
+
+"You also?" said Ivan, bitterly. "Well, go!"
+
+Peter was paler than ever. He had expected reproaches for his
+treachery, but as none came he suddenly burst out with what had been
+for some time in his mind.
+
+"Why did you _that time_ call your friend a doctor?"
+
+"Because he is one. He is a doctor of law."
+
+Saffran raised his finger in a threatening manner. "Nevertheless, it
+was very wrong of you to call him _that time_ a doctor." And then he
+turned on his heel and went his way.
+
+Ivan's strength of mind was more and more put to the proof. Each day
+brought fresh defections. His best men left him to go over to his
+enemy, who, like some horrid monster, raised large furnaces which
+crushed the very life out of his smaller chimneys. His business
+friends fell away from him. They looked upon him as an obstinate
+fool, carrying on such an unequal fight; but the darker the outlook
+the stronger grew his determination to see the affair to the bitter
+end. He would not leave his old home, his own little territory; he
+would carry on the unequal, perhaps the fruitless, task of opposing
+his apparently triumphant adversary.
+
+In the depth of his misfortune one true, reliable friend remained to
+him, and saved him from utter despair. This friend was the
+multiplication-table. Before he began to calculate he put these
+questions to himself, as if he were some one else:
+
+"Is this colony a company of commercial men? No, a company of
+speculators. A joint-stock company? No, it is a game of chance. Is it
+a factory? No, a tower of Babel." Then he went on to consider this
+point. "Two and two make four, and, turn it how you like, it makes
+nothing _but_ four; and if all the kings and emperors in Europe, with
+decrees and ukases, were to tell their individual subjects that two
+and two make five, and if the pope fulminated a bull to enjoin on all
+true believers that two and two make five, and if even the best
+financial authority was to declare that we should count two and two as
+five, all these--kings, emperors, popes, and accountants--would not
+alter the fact that two and two make four. These generous shareholders
+of the Bondavara Company are working against a well-known fact. The
+new company builds, creates, invents, contracts, buys, and sells
+without taking any heed of the primary rule of arithmetic; therefore
+it is clear that the company is not working for the future, but merely
+for present gain. Therefore, I will live down this swindle."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At the end of the year the company gave their shareholders a surprise.
+The Bondavara shares began to fluctuate between thirty-five and forty
+florins exchange, although the date of the payment of second
+instalments of capital was at hand. At such times all the early bonds
+are handed in. Csanta thought this would be a good time for him to
+bring in his shares and to get his silver back. He was contemplating a
+visit to the bank when he received a private note from Spitzhase,
+putting him on his guard not to fall into such a mistake as to sell.
+"This very day the board of directors had met, and a resolution had
+been carried unanimously that at the next general meeting the
+shareholders should be surprised by getting a bonus of twenty per
+cent., upon which the shares would at once rise higher. This was a
+profound secret, but he could not allow his good friend to remain in
+ignorance."
+
+And at the next general meeting the commercial world heard the same
+story. The first two months of the Bondavara Coal Company had been
+such a signal success that, besides the usual rate of interest, the
+directors were enabled to offer upon each share a bonus of six
+florins, which amounted (with the usual rate) to thirty-five per
+cent., an unheard-of profit in two months.
+
+When Ivan read this in the newspaper he burst into a loud laugh. He
+knew, no one better, what amount of profit the factory had made, but
+it is easy to manipulate accounts so that the ledger presents these
+remarkable results. What do the unbusiness-like, credulous
+shareholders understand of such matters? The board of directors know
+very well how matters really stand; but they have their own ends to
+serve. The outside world may bleed; what is that to them? There is no
+court-martial in the stock-exchange, and no justice for the injured.
+
+Csanta did not sell his shares. He paid his second instalment in
+silver pieces, rejoiced over the bonus, and blessed Spitzhase for
+preventing him from selling his bonds at thirty-five. They had now
+risen to forty florins, and continued to rise.
+
+Ivan watched this diabolical swindle with calmness. He said to
+himself:
+
+"How long will the game last?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+RESPECT FOR HALINA CLOTH
+
+
+It was a singular coincidence that in the same moment that Ivan said
+to himself, "How long will this game last?" Prince Waldemar, meeting
+Felix Kaulmann, beaming with triumph, at the exchange, put to him the
+question, "How long, do you think, will this comedy last?"
+
+"The third act is still wanting," replied the banker.
+
+"Yes, the third instalment. Then I shall hoist you on your own
+petard."
+
+"We will see about that."
+
+The bears could not imagine what Kaulmann had in his head. That he had
+a plan was certain; what it was no one knew but the Abbé Samuel and
+Prince Theobald.
+
+The third act was not the instalment; it was the Bondavara Railway.
+This question bristled with difficulties. The government was irritated
+against Hungary, and in their irritation would not listen to any
+proposals as to railways and the like. Even the country party was
+sulky. Let the country go to the devil; what did they care? And no
+doubt they had justification for their righteous indignation. Every
+Hungarian who wore "broadcloth" was against them. The body of
+officials, the middle class, the intelligence of the country,
+preferred to lay down place and to give up government patronage sooner
+than submit to the chimeras which the cabinet at Vienna indulged in
+by way of government. Good! So far as officials went, men were easily
+got to fill the places the others had resigned, for when a good table
+is spread, needless to say, guests are not hard to find. The hired
+troop pocketed their salary, took the oath, stuffed their pockets, but
+did nothing to promote the government measures. Between the men who
+had resigned and the newly appointed officials there was only this
+difference: that one set openly declared they would do nothing; the
+others pretended to do something, but found it impossible to
+accomplish anything. They tried to shove, but the cart would not move
+an inch. From those who wore cloth among the middle classes the
+government had to expect nothing, that was evident. Formerly those who
+wore silk and satin acted as a sort of counterpoise--the high and
+mighty, and the magnates, the lawyers, and the priests--but now all
+these held aloof. The primate remonstrated, the bishops advised the
+nobility, the higher classes collected in Pesth and talked treason.
+
+_Flectere si nequeo superos_--
+
+Let us turn now to the Halina cloth. Halina cloth is, as every one
+knows, the commonest description of cloth, only worn by the poorer
+classes. This cloth was suddenly adopted in the capital of the
+Austrian empire. This was no capricious freak of fashion set in motion
+by some high lady who "imagined" her elegance could give dignity to
+the roughest material; this was another affair altogether, inaugurated
+by the legislative body of the kingdom, who were all clothed in
+Halina. Well, what has any one to say against this? Why not? Are we
+not democrats? It is true that these right-minded men hardly
+understood a word of the language in which the legislative debates
+were carried on, but this had the inestimable advantage that they
+could make no long speeches, and therefore could in no way impede the
+course of business. Neither did they possess any knowledge of the laws
+of nations, the rights of citizens, the complicated details of
+finance, nor the construction of budgets; and this pastoral innocence
+entitled them to universal respect and confidence, for it placed them
+above suspicion. No one could suspect these honorable deputies of
+siding with the government because they held government appointments.
+
+We repeat that the introducer of Halina cloth to be worn by the
+legislative assembly was a man of talent. But in Hungary, also, the
+fashion should be adopted. Were there not one hundred and eight seats
+in the legislative assembly ready for so many excellent men? These
+should not be left vacant. To fill these seats, however, there was one
+lever necessary, and that was the influence of the clerical party.
+
+The clergy in Hungary were such poor creatures, so ignorant and
+uneducated, that they actually preferred to remain faithful to the
+traditions of Rakoczy than to adopt the new-fangled ideas promulgated
+at Vienna. Even such an insignificant pastor as Herr Mahok returned
+the decree which had been sent to him from headquarters, with
+directions to read it on Sundays to his flock, saying that it was a
+mistake; he was not the village crier. If the government wished to
+issue a protocol, let it be done in the market-place, by order of the
+judge of the district, and accompanied by the drum and trumpet. The
+pulpit was not the place for government protocols. The like refusal
+came from every pastor in Hungary, and in face of this flat rebellion
+the ministers resolved that the power of the clerical party should be
+broken.
+
+"Now is the time to act," said Felix Kaulmann to the Abbé Samuel.
+
+The primate had been in Vienna; he had been refused an audience; he
+had fallen into disgrace. The Bishop of Siebenburg had been elevated
+to the primate's seat, and given all its honors and dignities. The
+clerical party in Hungary was doomed. Against it the sword was drawn;
+the moment was approaching when it would be cut in two.
+
+The Bondavara Railway was the _gradus ad Parnassum_. If it succeeded,
+if it was worked properly, the house of Kaulmann would rank with that
+of the Pereires and Strousbergs; then, also, the pontifical loan upon
+the Church property in Hungary could be effected. All this with one
+blow! Rank in the world, power in the country, influence in the
+empire, success in the money-market, and the triumph of the Church.
+
+The Abbé Samuel had begun his ambitious career. The first task was to
+introduce the hundred and eight Hungarian wearers of Halina cloth into
+the legislative body, and thus to secure the Bondavara Railway, the
+title of bishop, and a seat in the House of Peers. These three things
+lay in the hollow of his hand, for he had three strings ready to pull,
+which would set in motion the statesman, the financier, and the
+influence of woman.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+On one Saturday Ivan, to his surprise, received a visit from Rauné,
+who, in a few words, stated the matter which had brought him. The
+proprietors and inhabitants of the different parts of Bondathal wished
+to send a deputation to Vienna, to lay before the government and
+Parliament their request that the means of communication between their
+mountainous territory and the other parts of the empire should be put
+on a better footing. This matter interested Ivan equally with the
+rest, and therefore it would be desirable that he and his workmen
+should attend the mass-meeting which would be held on the next day.
+
+Ivan at once refused all co-operation. "We live," he said, "under
+exceptional laws, which forbid political meetings. This mass-meeting
+has a political object, and therefore I refuse to disobey the law."
+
+In spite of this protest the assembly took place next day, and the
+Abbé Samuel made a brilliant speech. His dignified appearance imposed
+respect, his proposal was intelligible and for the general good; its
+usefulness could not be gainsaid. To insure its popularity the astute
+abbé took care not to introduce into his speech the hated word
+"Reichstag." The resolution was carried unanimously that a deputation
+of twelve men should be chosen to proceed at once to Vienna, and there
+present the wishes of the people. The twelve delegates were then
+chosen by the abbé, and his choice was received with loud shouts of
+approbation. The Bondavara shareholders came forward with unexampled
+generosity, and presented each member of the deputation not only the
+price of the journey, but a cloak made of Halina cloth, a hat, and a
+pair of boots. Twelve new suits! That was worth going to Vienna for.
+Still, it went against the grain. A peasant is suspicious; they don't
+care to crack nuts with gentlemen; they mistrust presents that most
+probably will be dearly bought. If any man in a black coat had made
+the proposal it would have encountered vigorous opposition, but a
+priest, a distinguished priest, his advice can safely be followed;
+there is nothing to be afraid of when he is at the head of the
+deputation. All will go well, even although they may have to undertake
+heavy responsibilities which may some day involve loss. But what
+loss? Ah! time will tell. Once on a time twelve men went to Vienna,
+and sold the rights of their fellow-countrymen to the devil. God knows
+what might happen, only that the priest is with them; there is the
+plank of safety.
+
+Nevertheless, the twelve men had to swear, man to man, before they put
+on the new suits, upon their souls, that they would deny that they
+could write. They were to sign nothing, and if they were asked if such
+a one in Bondathal had houses and fields, and, above all, sons, they
+were not to give any answer.
+
+The deputation started in a couple of days after the meeting, under
+the guidance of the abbé. Peter Saffran went also. He had been named
+one of the twelve, for he was specially wanted in Vienna.
+
+A day or so later Ivan was cited before the military officer
+commanding the district; he was accused of having acted against the
+law by causing the "Reichstag" to be lowered in the eyes of the
+people, of having kept the people, especially his own workmen, from
+taking part in legal demonstrations, of having insulted members of the
+legislature, and of having allied himself with secret societies. He
+was cautioned to avoid anything of the sort in future. The next time
+things would be more serious; he was at liberty to go this time
+unpunished.
+
+Ivan knew perfectly well from what quarter this denunciation had come.
+To destroy his business utterly it would be necessary to place its
+owner for a year in confinement; his innocence would then be
+established, and he would be allowed to go scot-free. In the meantime
+his property would be ruined. It was lucky for Ivan that on this
+occasion the jailer's wife was ill. It would have been necessary to
+remove her from the rooms which were set apart for prisoners under
+suspicion, and so Ivan was allowed to go his way.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Ah, it was a great day when the twelve men from Bondathal, in the
+twelve new suits of Halina cloth, arrived in the metropolis. Here they
+are! Here are the Hungarians, the indomitable sons of the soil. A
+deputation to the Reichsrath, an acknowledgment of the February
+patent, the first pioneers! They deserve three times three.
+
+All the newspapers hastened to congratulate them; the leading articles
+of all political shades were full of this new and remarkable
+demonstration.
+
+The minister gave the deputation a private audience, where the abbé
+set forth their demand in a well-expressed speech, laying great stress
+upon the fact that it was the people themselves who wished to free
+their country from its present condition, having learned to
+distinguish their real benefactors from those false prophets who
+wished to condemn them to a baneful and ruinous inactivity. The abbé
+dwelt expressly upon the great intelligence of the men who formed the
+deputation. In return his excellency the minister pressed the hand of
+the abbé, and assured him that the bishopric would soon be vacant, and
+that it would be his care to see that a loyal prelate should fill the
+seat. His excellency then entered into conversation with the members
+of the deputation, and as none of them understood a word of his
+language, they were much pleased with what he said. His excellency,
+having been told by the abbé that Peter Saffran was the most
+distinguished of the party, took especial notice of him. He pressed
+his hand, while he expressed a hope that the members of the deputation
+would attend the morning sitting; places would be reserved in the
+gallery--for the present in _the gallery_.
+
+Peter promised for his fellow-members. He could speak German as well
+as French; he had picked up both languages during his ship
+experiences.
+
+All this time the minister had said nothing as to the grant to the
+Bondathal Railway, and that was the principal thing.
+
+At the next sitting of the Reichsrath the front row of the gallery was
+reserved for the distinguished guests. They sat in arm-chairs, leaning
+their elbows on the cushions, and letting their round hats hang over
+the rails.
+
+His excellency the minister gave a discourse which lasted over an
+hour. The opposition maintained that during his speech his excellency
+had glanced fifty-two times at the gallery, to see the effect he was
+producing upon the Hungarians. One fell asleep, and let his hat fall
+into the hall. The hat fell upon one of the deputies, and awoke him
+from a sweet doze.
+
+For three days this trivial circumstance gave food to the government
+papers; then it became the absolute property of the accredited wit or
+fun journals, which put into the mouths of the Hungarians all manner
+of things which they had never said. Never mind; those excellent men
+couldn't read German, so it didn't matter. They stuck fast to their
+arm-chairs in the gallery as long as the sitting lasted; they were
+more comfortable than their beds.
+
+The last evening of their stay they were taken to the theatre. Not to
+the Burg Theatre--that would not do for them--but to the Treumann
+Theatre, where a piece was playing suitable for them, with plenty of
+fun, singing, dancing, laughing; and the great joke of all was that
+the principal part was to be played by the beautiful Eveline, Frau
+von Kaulmann. Will Peter Saffran recognize her?
+
+It had not been possible to get an engagement at the Opera-house for
+Eveline, for there was an Italian season running. When it finished
+there would be a prospect of an engagement for her if she first
+learned the routine of acting at some less important theatre, and grew
+accustomed to the footlights. Therefore, she played _en amateur_ on
+the boards of the Treumann Theatre. Her natural gifts and her
+extraordinary beauty caused a sensation. The _jeunesse dorée_ went mad
+over this new favorite of the hour. The piece which was played in
+honor of the peasants was one of Offenbach's frivolous operas, in
+which the ladies appear in the very scantiest of costumes. The noble
+portion of the audience enjoy these displays more than do the poorer;
+it did not, at all events, amuse the simple folk in Halina cloth. The
+ballet, with the lightly clothed nymphs, their coquettish movements,
+their seductive smiles, their bold display of limbs, and their short
+petticoats, was not to the taste of the Bondavara miners. It was true
+that the girls in the coal-pit wore no petticoats to speak of, but
+then they were working. Who thought anything of that? Chivalry belongs
+to the peasant as much as to the gentleman; the former indeed practise
+the motto, "Honi soit qui mal y pense" more than do their
+better-educated superiors. But now as Eveline entered they felt
+ashamed. She came on as a fairy or goddess, concealed in gold-colored
+clouds; the clouds were, however, transparent. Peter glowed with rage
+to think all the world could penetrate this slight transparency; he
+burned with jealous fury as Eveline smiled, coquetted, cast glances
+here, there, and was stared at through a hundred opera-glasses. Peter
+forgot that this was only a stage, and that the fairies who played
+their parts upon it for an hour or so were many of them most virtuous
+women, excellent wives and daughters; for what happens on the stage is
+only play, not actuality. The former bridegroom did not reason in this
+wise. You see, he was an uneducated peasant in coarse Halina cloth,
+and his ignorant mind was filled with horror, disgust, rage. That she
+should allow herself to be kissed, to be made love to--shame! No, my
+good Peter, it was no shame, but a great honor. Out of the boxes
+bouquets and wreaths fell on the stage; there was hardly a place where
+she could put her feet; it was all flowers. The house resounded with
+applause. This was not shame, but honor--certainly not of the same
+kind that would be offered to a saint or a good woman; it was more the
+worship offered to an idol, and most women like to be worshipped as
+idols.
+
+Peter told himself all the sex are alike, and comforted himself with
+the thought that not one of his companions would recognize Eveline.
+But Peter took a sore heart back to his inn.
+
+In the hall he met the abbé, and asked him, "When are we going back?"
+
+"Are you weary of Vienna, Peter?"
+
+"I am."
+
+"Have a little patience. To-morrow we must pay a visit to a charming
+lady."
+
+"What have we to do with charming ladies?"
+
+"Don't ask the why or the wherefore. If we want to attain our end we
+must leave no means untried. We must beg this lady to interest herself
+for us. One word from her to his excellency the minister will do more
+than if we said a whole litany."
+
+"Very good; then we had better see her."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+TWO SUPPLIANTS
+
+
+The next day, at eleven o'clock, Abbé Samuel came to fetch his
+followers, and conduct them to the house of the influential lady whose
+one word had more weight with his excellency than the most carefully
+arranged speeches of priests and orators.
+
+The carriage stopped before a splendid palace; a porter in a
+magnificent scarlet livery, with a bear-skin cap, answered the bell,
+and between a double row of marble pillars they ascended the steps.
+The staircase was also of marble, covered with a soft, thick carpet.
+The school-master at home, if he had a bit of this stuff, would have
+made a fine coat of it. Up the staircase were such beautiful statues
+that the poor peasants would have liked to kneel to kiss their hands.
+The staircase was roofed in with glass and heated with hot air, so
+that the lovely hot-house plants and costly china groups suffered no
+injury from the cold air. In the anteroom servants wearing silver
+epaulettes conducted the visitors into the drawing-room. The sight
+almost took away their breath. There was no wall to be seen; it was
+panelled in the most sumptuous silk brocade; the curtains of the same
+texture had gold rods, and splendid pictures in rich frames hung on
+the silk panels. The upper portion of the windows was of stained
+glass, such as is seen in cathedrals, and opposite the windows was a
+large fireplace of white marble, upon whose mantelpiece stood a
+wonderful clock, with a beautiful figure which moved in time to the
+melodious tick. The furniture was all of mahogany. From the ceiling,
+upon which the arabesques in gold were a feast to the eye, there hung
+a lustre with a hundred lights, whose thousand glass drops sent out
+all the prismatic colors of the rainbow.
+
+The good peasants of Bondathal had hardly time to take in the wonders
+of this fairy palace when a gentleman in a black coat and a spotless
+white tie came out of an adjoining room. This grand personage, whom
+they imagined to be the master of the house, turned out to be an
+equally important person--the groom of the chambers. He informed them
+that his mistress was in the next room, and ready to receive them.
+
+There was no door to this inner apartment, only curtains of heavy
+damask, such as church banners are made of. This second drawing-room
+was still more wonderful than the first. The walls were panelled in
+dove-colored silk. From the ceiling to the floor there were enormous
+mirrors set in china frames, and between each mirror were _consoles_
+with marble statuettes representing dancing nymphs. The stone floor
+was covered with a soft carpet, into which the foot sank as into
+summer grass. The fireplace was of black marble, with a silver
+grating. The furniture was of the Versailles pattern; tables and
+chairs, arm-chairs and foot-stools, of delicate coloring; chairs of
+Sèvres, with feet and elbow rests ornamented with delicate
+flower-garlands and charming Watteau figures. Every piece of furniture
+was a masterpiece. Upon the centre-table and _consoles_ were Japanese
+vases of different and most elegant shapes. In one of the windows an
+aquarium had been constructed full of gold-fish and sea-anemones.
+
+The poor peasants did not notice all these beautiful objects; their
+attention was fixed upon their own reflections in the long glasses,
+and which in their ignorance they imagined were other deputations,
+headed by another abbé wearing a gold cross. But even this strange
+spectacle was lost sight of in their amazement at the beauty of the
+great lady who now came forward to receive them. She was a lovely
+vision. Her dress of violet silk was covered with the most costly
+lace, her black hair fell in curls over her shoulders; her face was so
+beautiful, so fascinating, so dignified, that every man in the
+deputation was ready to fall at her feet.
+
+Peter Saffran was the only one who recognized her; it was Eveline, his
+promised bride.
+
+Now the abbé, bowing low, addressed her in most respectful language,
+as he laid before her the desire of the deputation, that she would
+accord her powerful protection to the Bondathal population. The lady
+answered most graciously, and promised that, as far as possible, she
+would exert her influence. She was heart and soul in the matter, for
+she added, smiling:
+
+"I am myself a child of Bondathal."
+
+At these words the deputation exchanged glances, and every one thought
+she must be the daughter or wife of one of the Bondavara magnates.
+Only Saffran was gloomy.
+
+"What is she?" he thought. "Only last night she was singing, dancing,
+and acting; her beauty was displayed to the eyes of a crowd, who
+looked at her through opera-glasses, while I had to cover my eyes with
+my hat so as not to look on her degradation, and here to-day she is a
+sort of queen, promising us her influence with cabinet ministers.
+What is the truth? Was last night a comedy, or is to-day a clever
+farce played by her and the priest?"
+
+You see, Peter Saffran had been in the Fiji Islands, and he remembered
+how amazed the savages had been when the white man washed the black
+from his hands, and showed their natural color; only here it was the
+whole body that was in question.
+
+The abbé, who seemed highly pleased with the success of his interview,
+now gave those behind him a sign to move on, and bowed respectfully to
+the lady, who whispered a few words in his ear.
+
+The abbé stopped Peter Saffran as he was leaving the room, and said,
+in a low voice:
+
+"You are to remain; this kind lady wishes to speak with you."
+
+Saffran felt the blood rush to his head. He almost tottered, and as he
+returned to the room he could hardly move. But Eveline hastened to
+him, holding out both her hands. She had taken off her gloves, and he
+felt the soft, velvety clasp of her fingers as she pressed his horny
+hand in hers; he heard in his ear the sweet, fresh ring of her voice,
+to which he had often listened.
+
+"Ah, Peter, say a word to me--a kind word;" and she patted him two or
+three times on the back. "Are you still angry with me? There, Peter,
+don't be vexed any more. Stay and dine with me, and we shall drink to
+our reconciliation."
+
+And she put her arm into his, and stroked his cheek with her delicate
+little hand, which looked as if it had never known what hardship was.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Eveline had kept religiously to her promise of always informing Prince
+Theobald when she expected guests, and the prince reserved to himself
+the right of a veto if he did not approve of their reception, for
+there were among the _dilettante_, and even among apparently most
+respectable gentlemen, certain individuals who should not have the
+_entrée_ to the drawing-room of a lady who is not living under her
+husband's roof.
+
+The prince liked pleasant society, and, if he approved of the company,
+enjoyed himself all the more that Eveline did the honors for him.
+
+On this particular day Eveline had told the prince she expected two
+visitors. One was Peter Saffran.
+
+The prince laughed. "Poor fellow!" he said, "treat him well; it will
+do him good." But when he heard his excellency the minister was coming
+he frowned heavily. "What is this?" he asked. "What brings _him_ to
+see _you_?"
+
+"Why! Is he a woman-hater?"
+
+"On the contrary, he is a scoundrel, only he wears a hypocrite's
+cloak. Great men who are at the helm and guide public affairs have
+their weaknesses, but they dare not sin openly. A man in his position
+might as soon become a member of the Jockey Club as visit a beautiful
+actress, unless he had some ostensible reason to give for so doing."
+
+"But he has a reason, and a very good one. I asked him to make the
+appointment."
+
+"_You invited him here!_" The prince's face grew more cloudy.
+
+"That is to say, I asked him to give me a private audience, and his
+secretary wrote to say his excellency would prefer to come here."
+
+"And for what purpose do you require an audience?"
+
+"Felix desired me to ask for it."
+
+"Ah, it was Kaulmann's doing! Wherefore?"
+
+"He wants these documents to be signed."
+
+Eveline showed the prince a folded parchment.
+
+The prince glanced at it and shook his head. "And does his excellency
+know that this is the reason why you asked for an audience?"
+
+Eveline burst into a laugh. "Oh dear, no! When his secretary first
+wrote he asked why I required an audience; I answered it was about my
+engagement at the Opera, and then he said he would come. He knows
+nothing of this," she added, touching the papers in her hand.
+
+"And Kaulmann told you to do this?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then Kaulmann is a refined villain. Do as he has told you; but you
+may take my word that your husband deceives himself if he imagines you
+can snare a savage with a silken net. You can receive your guest, but
+I do not think you will succeed in your scheme."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Eveline put her hand upon Peter Saffran's, and led him into another
+room, where there was a wonderful display of silver, and thence,
+through a private door, into a fourth apartment, the walls of which
+were wainscoted with dark wood; the ceiling, too, was supported by
+cross-beams of wood, and finished with painted shell-work.
+
+No one was in the room. Eveline sat down on the sofa, and made Peter
+sit beside her.
+
+"Listen, Peter," she said, laying her hand on the rough sleeve of his
+Halina-cloth coat. "It was the will of God that I should separate from
+you. It grieved me very much to leave you, because, you know, we had
+been called in church three times. But, then, you could not bear my
+little brother; you were cruel to him, and you beat me. I don't bear
+you any malice now. I have forgotten and forgiven, but at the time I
+was very angry with you, not so much because you ill-treated me, but
+I followed you that night to the cottage in the wood. I was quite
+ready to forgive and forget, only I looked through the window, and I
+saw you dancing with Ezifra Mauczi. I saw you kiss her, and I was
+angry in downright earnest."
+
+Peter gnashed his teeth. He felt the tables were turned against him,
+and he could say nothing. It would be very different if it were his
+wife who accused him of such things; he would know how to treat a
+jealous, scolding wife; but he couldn't take this beautiful lady by
+the hair, and drag her round the room, and beat her on the head until
+she begged for pardon.
+
+"But, as I said," continued Eveline, smiling again, "we are not going
+to talk about bygones. It was all God's will, and for the best. We
+would have been a most unhappy couple, for I am passionate and
+jealous, and you would have given me cause. Now you can do as you
+like, and I have the happiness of doing good. I like to help as many
+people as possible, and every day twenty poor creatures are fed in my
+house. Oh, I do more than that; I get heaps of things done for the
+poor! I speak a good word for them, and get them helped by rich
+people. Also, I mean to be a benefactress to your valley; thousands
+and thousands of people will bless my name for what I shall do for
+them. Is it not a happiness to be able to help others?"
+
+Eveline paused for an answer. Peter felt he ought to say something, if
+it was only to show that he had not become dumb.
+
+"And does all this money come from the Bondavara Company?" he asked.
+
+Eveline blushed scarlet. How was she to answer such a question?
+
+"Not altogether. I earn a good deal by my art; for every performance I
+receive five hundred gulden."
+
+"Five hundred gulden!" thought Peter. "That explains a great deal. A
+good salary indeed! A woman might spare some of her clothing to earn
+so much money. It is money got by work, and not such hard work as
+carrying coals. She had to show her legs for that also. But all said
+and done, it was money honestly earned."
+
+Peter's face began to clear.
+
+"There, you look more like yourself. Don't look wicked again," pleaded
+Eveline; "and when you go back home tell every one that you have seen
+me, and that we had a great talk together, and are good friends again.
+If at any time you know of any one in want, send me a line, and, if it
+is in my power, I will gladly help them. You must marry, if you are
+not already married. No? Well, then, you must choose a good girl,
+Peter. There is Panna, she is just the wife for you, and she was
+always a friend of mine, or there is Amaza, she liked you, I know, and
+she is an excellent housekeeper; only, don't marry Mauczi; you would
+be very unhappy with her, she is a bad girl. And in case you do marry,
+Peter, here are my wedding-presents for your wife; and remember, I
+advise you to marry Panna. Here are a pair of ear-rings, a necklace,
+and a brooch; and to you I give, as a remembrance of myself, this gold
+watch. See, Peter, my likeness is on the back. Think of me sometimes
+when you are very happy."
+
+When she said these words Eveline's eyes overflowed, and her lips
+trembled convulsively. Peter saw it, and drew the conclusion that with
+all her splendor she was not happy. One thought now took possession of
+him. He gave no heed to the bridal presents. Whether they were of
+gold or lead was all one to him, no one should ever see them; but what
+he thought was:
+
+"She has a good heart, she is generous, she gives with an open hand;
+but I do not care for her gifts. If she will only kiss me once I will
+bless her. What is a kiss to her? An alms, one out of the numbers she
+gives to those fellows on the stage, with their smeared, painted
+faces."
+
+Poor fool! he didn't know that stage kisses are only mock kisses, just
+as stage champagne is only lemonade or pure water. Peter believed that
+one kiss from Eveline would satisfy his thirst; it would assuage the
+pangs of regret, of jealousy, or rage that had consumed him since the
+previous night. All would vanish when he would touch her cold, fresh
+lips. And, after all, had they not been betrothed to one another--all
+but man and wife? Who could object? Only he didn't know how to express
+what was in his mind.
+
+"And now let us eat together, Peter," said Eveline, kindly. "I am
+certain that you are tired of all the good things you get every day;
+you are satiated with the Vienna cookery. Wait, and I shall cook you
+something myself--your favorite dish, Peter, which you often said no
+one cooked so well as I did. I shall make you some porridge."
+
+Peter was electrified. A smile broke out all over his face, either at
+the mention of his favorite dish, or at the thought that his hostess
+would herself prepare it. But how is she to cook? There is no hearth,
+no cooking-vessels.
+
+"Everything will be here," said Eveline, laughing joyously. "I shall
+change my dress; I cannot cook in this."
+
+She ran off as she spoke, and returned in two minutes. Actresses
+learn how to dress quickly. She now wore a white embroidered maid's
+frock, and a little cap on her head. She called no one to help her,
+but laid a cloth on the oak table, filled a silver kettle with water,
+set it to boil on a spirit-lamp. She turned up the sleeves of her
+dress to the elbows, and shook with a light hand the meal into the
+boiling water; then she turned the mixture deftly with a silver spoon
+round and round until it became thick. Then she took the kettle by the
+handle, emptied it on to a glazed clay plate--yes, actually a clay
+plate!--and poured some cream over the mixture. She fetched two wooden
+spoons, one for Peter, one for herself.
+
+"Let us eat off the one plate, Peter."
+
+And they ate this porridge off one plate. Peter felt a strange
+moisture fill his eyes; he had not wept since he was a child. The
+porridge was excellent; all the cooks in Vienna put together couldn't
+have given him a meal so much to his mind. There was wine on the
+table, but no glasses.
+
+Peasants never drink during meals; but when they had finished Eveline
+fetched a clay jug and asked Peter to drink, after, as is the custom,
+she had taken a draught.
+
+"Drink this, Peter; it is your old favorite."
+
+There was mead in the jug--a very innocent sort of drink--and Peter
+thought it was his duty to empty the last drop. The hell that had been
+raging in his breast seemed all at once to be extinguished. He said to
+himself:
+
+"Yes, I shall go back to the church, and to the spot where I made that
+awful vow; I shall implore the Holy Mother to allow me to take it
+back. I shall hurt no one; I shall take no revenge. Let the green
+grass grow again in the fields, and let her live in splendor in the
+smiles of the great ones. I shall not grudge her her happiness. This
+day, when she has received me so kindly, has banished from my memory
+the day upon which she left me. But I shall ask her for one kiss, so
+that I may remember nothing but that."
+
+He delayed, however, too long in putting his desire into words. They
+were, indeed, hovering on his lips when the door suddenly opened, and
+a servant announced that his excellency was in the drawing-room.
+
+(Now, Peter, God help you; you may go hence without your kiss!)
+
+Eveline could hardly say good-bye; she had to change her dress. The
+footman showed him out at the secret door; there another footman led
+him down the back stairs, and, opening another door, left Peter in a
+narrow street, where he had never been before. While he made the best
+of his way to the hotel he had leisure to think over what he should
+say to Evila if he ever again had the chance of being alone with her
+in the round room. The recollection of how he had missed his
+opportunity roused the demon again in his mind. The burning lava of
+hell began once more to fill his veins, the stream of sulphur which
+the lost souls are ever drinking. He kept repeating to himself, "The
+grass shall not grow again!"
+
+By the time he reached the inn he brought with him a goodly
+company--hatred, envy, rage at his own weakness, horror at his own
+wickedness, mixed with political fanaticism. A delightful gathering in
+one man's breast.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+FINANCIAL INTRIGUE
+
+
+We can give no authentic account of the interview between his
+excellency the minister and his beautiful hostess. We were not
+present, and neither had we a phonograph.
+
+No doubt he complimented her upon her charming talent, and promised
+her his powerful interest, and as in this world nothing is given for
+nothing, there is every probability that his excellency, who was an
+undoubted scoundrel, hinted at the reward he would expect for using
+his powerful interest in her behalf; upon which Eveline, like a
+prudent woman, wishing to have everything in black and white, produced
+from the drawer of her writing-table the parchment which we have
+already heard of.
+
+His excellency took the paper, probably believing it was a petition to
+grant her an engagement. He held it in his hand while he smilingly
+assured her that the matter was as good as concluded. It is, however,
+more than probable that when he gave a hurried glance at the contents
+his face assumed its official expression; he saw it did not refer to
+an operatic engagement, but to the grant for the Bondavara Railway.
+Seeing this, it is likely that his excellency got up at once, and, hat
+in hand, explained to his lovely hostess how distressed he felt not to
+be in a position to comply with her wishes, as there were insuperable
+objections in the way, great opposition from the legislative body, and
+yet greater opposition in the Upper House, where Prince Sondersheim
+was working heaven and earth against the Bondavara Railway, and,
+therefore, from political and financial reasons, from the condition of
+the country and many other causes, it would be impossible, or almost
+impossible, to hold out any hope of granting the Bondavara Railway a
+guarantee from the government. That then his excellency made a
+profound bow and left the room may be considered a fact. It is
+psychologically certain that he descended the staircase with a frown
+of vexation on his face, and that he murmured between his teeth:
+
+"If I had known that I was going to talk to the _banker's wife_ I
+should never have come here." As he got into his carriage--and this is
+historical--he banged the door with such violence that the glass
+window was shattered in pieces.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At the very hour when this interview was taking place a
+committee-meeting was being held in Prince Theobald's palace, which
+had for its object to lay before the shareholders the necessity of
+paying the third instalment--a critical operation, this attack upon
+the pockets of the public. The Bondavara Railway now played its part.
+Felix Kaulmann announced he had every confidence that in a couple of
+weeks it would be a fact. The deputation from Bondathal had caused a
+sensation, besides which the company had the interest of a very
+influential person, who could persuade his excellency to do anything,
+even give the grant for the railroad. The finely cut, aristocratic
+face of the president did not betray by a sign that he knew who this
+person was.
+
+Kaulmann never for a moment suspected that Eveline told the prince the
+names of all the visitors who came to the palace during his absence,
+and that they were admitted through the little door. He would have
+called such stupidity by an ugly name.
+
+While the meeting was sitting a note was brought to Kaulmann, who at
+once recognized Eveline's writing. He read the letter quickly, then
+laid it on the table with a discontented air.
+
+"What is that?" asked the prince, pointing to a roll of paper.
+
+It was the unsigned document which Eveline had returned.
+
+Kaulmann wrote on a slip of paper, "Another hitch in that damned
+railway."
+
+The prince said to himself, "Then his wife has again escaped." Then he
+bent over Kaulmann, and, laying his hand upon his shoulder, whispered
+to him:
+
+"My dear friend, one doesn't get everything by a pair of black eyes."
+
+Spitzhase was the secretary of the meeting. After this little scene he
+wrote upon a piece of paper, and, twisting it up, handed it to
+Kaulmann. Kaulmann read it; then tore it in small pieces and shrugged
+his shoulders.
+
+"I know all _that_," he said, sulkily. "I don't want any advice."
+
+The committee went away in bad humor with one another. The expense of
+bringing the deputation from Bondathal had been two thousand gulden,
+and this comedy had been of no use. The last stake should now be
+played. Csanta had determined not to pay the third instalment. He
+would sell all his shares at the price quoted and refill his casks
+with silver. On the day of the Proclamation, however, he received a
+letter from Spitzhase, which ran as follows:
+
+      "SIR,--To-morrow Herr Kaulmann is going to you to
+      offer to buy all your shares at forty-five florins
+      exchange. Be on your guard. I can assure you that the
+      government has signed a grant for the Bondavara
+      Railway, and so soon as this is public the shares will
+      rise another twenty per cent."
+
+Csanta believed in Spitzhase as in an oracle, and with reason. All
+happened as he said. Immediately upon the issue of the Proclamation,
+and when the shares were a little flat, Kaulmann appeared in X----,
+and offered him forty-five florins exchange upon his shares. But the
+old Greek was firm, not one would he part with; he would rather take
+his last cask to Vienna and empty its contents than part with one
+share.
+
+He was rewarded for his firmness. Two days later he read in the
+newspaper how generously both Houses had voted a grant to the
+Bondavara Railway.
+
+His excellency the prime-minister had himself pleaded for the cause in
+the Lords and Deputies House, and had proved conclusively that, from
+the political point of view, from the present favorable condition of
+the money market, as also from the side of the landed interest, from
+every point of view--strategical, financial, co-operative, and
+universal--the government guarantee for the Bondavara Railway was
+absolutely necessary, and, as a natural consequence, the motion was
+carried. Prince Waldemar, indeed, opposed it vigorously, but his
+following was small, so nobody minded him.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At the next audit of the Bondavara Company's accounts presented to the
+shareholders there appeared under the heading of expenditure this
+remarkable entry: "Expense of foundations, forty thousand gulden."
+
+"What does this mean?" said the shareholders, with one voice.
+
+Kaulmann whispered something to the man nearest him; he passed the
+whisper on, whereupon every one nodded his head, and tried to think it
+was all right. So it appeared to be, for after the government grant to
+the railway the Bondavara shares rose to seventy florins above par.
+Nothing could be more convincing. Csanta had punch at dinner, and got
+drunk for joy.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Some evenings later Eveline met his excellency in the green-room of
+the Treumann Theatre. The minister thought it was time to press for
+payment of his services.
+
+"My dear lady," he said, "have I not obeyed your wishes in regard to
+the Bondavara Railway?"
+
+Eveline made him a low courtesy. She wore the costume of the Duchess
+of Gerolstein.
+
+"I am eternally indebted to your excellency," she said. "To-morrow
+evening I shall blow you _forty thousand_ kisses."
+
+At the words "forty thousand" his excellency grew red. He turned on
+his heel, and for the future Eveline was relieved from his attentions;
+but it was also quite certain that she had lost all chance of an
+engagement at the Opera-house. She might sing like a nightingale, but
+her petition would never be signed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+THE BONDAVARA RAILWAY
+
+
+The Bondavara Railway was begun. Prince Waldemar and his followers,
+the bears, were crushed--there _are_ always people who die of hunger
+in the midst of a plenteous harvest.
+
+Prince Waldemar met his noble relative, Prince Theobald, at the Jockey
+Club. Their encounter was hardly a friendly one, considering their
+close relationship.
+
+Said Prince Waldemar: "You have chosen to put yourself at the head of
+my enemies. You have done your utmost to trump my best card. You have
+allied yourself with that man Kaulmann, with whom I am on bad terms. I
+sought your granddaughter in marriage; you promised she should be my
+wife, and then you sent her away from Vienna. You have invented all
+manner of pretexts to keep her at Pesth, and now the secret is
+out--she is betrothed to Salista. I had a fancy for a pretty little
+woman, and just to prevent my having her you invite her to your palace
+and forbid her to receive my visits. Worse than all, you have given
+over your only unmortgaged property, Bondavara, to a swindling
+company, who want to set themselves over me; and you have become their
+president. You have schemed and jockeyed the government into giving
+the guarantee for a railway that won't pay two per cent. You haven't
+an idea how you are implicated in these transactions. I pity you--for
+I have always felt esteem for you--and I intend to set myself the task
+of regulating _your_ affairs some day. Meantime take care, for if I
+succeed in upsetting the human pyramid upon whose shoulders you stand
+the greatest _fall_ will be yours."
+
+Of all this long harangue Prince Theobald only gathered the fact that
+Angela had chosen the Marquis Salista for her husband, and had never
+written to tell him. She let him hear it from another.
+
+The Bondavara Railway was being pressed forward; it was nearly
+finished. There was no further need for a woman's black-diamond eyes.
+They had done their work. One day Eveline visited her husband. Felix
+received her with apparent satisfaction.
+
+"I have come," she said, "to ask you a question. Prince Theobald has
+been for some days so sad; it is melancholy to see his distress. Have
+you any idea of its cause?"
+
+"I have. His granddaughter, the Countess Angela, is married, and her
+husband, the Marquis Salista, is taking steps to put the prince under
+restraint, on account of the foolish manner in which he is squandering
+his fortune."
+
+"And much of this foolish extravagance is spent on me."
+
+"You are really wonderfully sharp, Eveline."
+
+"I shall put an end to his spending his money on me. I shall tell the
+prince that I must leave his palace. I shall be always grateful to
+him; he has been a benefactor to me--and so have you. I ought to have
+mentioned you first. You have had me educated; you have taught me a
+great deal. I have to thank you for being what I am. I can earn my own
+living, thanks to you. I mean to become a real artist. But I must
+leave Vienna; I do not care to remain here any longer."
+
+"I think, Eveline, you have decided well, and our minds have really a
+wonderful sympathy. I was about to advise the very course to you. By
+all means, leave Vienna; by all means, make use of your talents, and
+take up work seriously. I shall continue to do my duty as your
+husband. I shall take you to Paris; I shall settle myself in my house
+there on purpose to be of assistance to you. You will make a hit
+there, I know, and we shall be always good friends."
+
+In spite of her previous experience of this man's character, Eveline
+was weak enough to be touched by his words and to blame herself for
+having done him injustice, for it was a great sacrifice on his part to
+leave Vienna for her sake. She could never have supposed that this
+sacrifice was part of his well-considered plan for ridding himself of
+her. She had played _her_ part in making his fortune, and now she
+could go where she chose--to her native coal-pit if she liked. Once in
+Paris, he would be able to say, "Madam, you are here under the French
+law, and as no _civil ceremony_ has passed between us, you are not my
+wife; you are at liberty to call yourself unmarried."
+
+Felix had another reason for settling himself in Paris. It was here he
+counted on carrying out the second part of his programme. Now that the
+Bondavara Railway was nearly finished, the castles in the air of the
+Abbé Samuel were beginning to take shape; the next step should be a
+gigantic loan in the interest of the Church. This loan would be
+another means of aggrandizing the house of Kaulmann; its reputation
+would be world-wide. Already Kaulmann's name was of European
+celebrity; he belonged to the stars of the first order in the
+financial world. From being a _baron_ of the stock-exchange he had
+become a prince. If he succeeded in effecting this loan he would be a
+_king_ of the money-market, before whose name even that of Rothschild
+would pale.
+
+A halo was also beginning to surround the name of the Abbé Samuel. The
+government had begun to see that this popular orator held the people
+in his hand, and could lead them as he chose. The people looked upon
+him as their benefactor, a man whose influence could get them
+benefits. Was not the Bondavara Railway a proof of this? The twelve
+Halinacoats were firmly persuaded that the abbé had carried back in
+his pocket the government grant. The clerical party acknowledged him
+as a new light. In Rome he was lauded for his zeal in the papal cause.
+If he was made bishop, which was almost a certainty, he would be the
+first Hungarian prelate who had taken his seat in the Austrian House
+of Lords. The minister would stare when he found his scheme for the
+secularization of Hungarian Church property met by another scheme from
+the new bishop, which, while proposing a gigantic loan upon these same
+Church lands, had for its object the elevation of the Holy See by
+these very means. The money-markets of France, Belgium, and the Roman
+States would vie with one another in promoting the loan, and the
+pontiff would look upon the man who had conceived such a project as
+the saviour of the pontificate; his name should be written in letters
+of gold. In Hungary, also, the scheme would be favorably received as a
+means of saving the church property already threatened, for the
+government dared not refuse this alternative.
+
+Moreover, the primate was an old man; the pope was still older. All
+the wheels were in readiness; the machine could now be put in motion.
+
+The day the first locomotive steamed out of the Bondavara station the
+Abbé Samuel might say to himself, "The way to Rome is clear." It would
+be also safe to prophesy that on this day Ivan Behrend's ruin would be
+complete.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+This railroad would bring the goods of the Joint-Stock Company into
+the markets of the world, where they could compete with the coal of
+Prussia and the English coal. But, it will be said, Ivan had the same
+chance; his coals were equally good, and the giant with the seven-mile
+boots would carry his coal as well as his enemies'. But here was where
+the shoes pinched. What was of use to the company was destruction to
+him.
+
+The railway was not to run through the valley where his mine was
+situated, although that line was the best and most natural course to
+take; instead of which mountains had to be made level, tunnels had to
+be bored through the hills, to avoid his colliery and to carry the
+rails close to the company's mine. In consequence of this, Ivan would
+be obliged to make a circuit of a half-day's journey to get to the
+railway, and so the freightage to the station made his goods five or
+six per cent. dearer than those of the company. For him, therefore,
+the railroad was a crushing blow.
+
+In the meantime the end of the year drew near, the time when the
+miners were to receive their share from the profits. But profit there
+was none. Neither coal nor iron had any sale. The company's low prices
+had taken every customer from Ivan.
+
+Any one who possesses ready money can always _say_, even if he loses,
+that he wins; the common people call this eating your own entrails.
+Ivan had a sum by him, which he had carefully gathered in better days.
+It amounted, all told, to several thousands, and he calculated he
+could hold his own against his giant rivals for at least ten years. He
+forgot that the giants were cunning as well as strong, and that they
+did not despise the smallest artifice.
+
+When the railway directors issued their prospectus, inviting all
+contractors to send in contracts for iron rails, etc., Ivan thought to
+himself, "Now, I will have some fun. The shareholders of the
+Joint-Stock Company offer their iron six per cent. cheaper than it
+costs them. I will offer to the railway directors to deliver iron
+rails at ten per cent. cheaper than they cost _me_. I shall lose fifty
+thousand gulden, but I shall have the satisfaction of punishing my
+neighbors for their folly in lowering the price of the raw material."
+
+Simple fool! Just as an honorable gentleman imagines that when a
+letter is sealed no one would venture to open it, so Ivan thought that
+all the offers were read together, and that the most advantageous to
+the company was accepted.
+
+Good gracious! nothing of the kind.
+
+It is always settled beforehand who is to have the contract. When the
+proposals come in it sometimes happens that some one makes a yet lower
+offer than that of the _protégé_, and this last is then told to take
+pen and ink and write an offer proposing to give the goods half per
+cent. lower than the offer made by the outsider.
+
+This is a well-known trick, and it is only men like Ivan, whose minds
+are occupied with petrifactions and the stars, who are in ignorance
+that such things are done.
+
+The contract offered by the shareholders was half per cent. lower than
+the one offered by Ivan.
+
+But even this rebuff didn't daunt him. Two and two make four, and
+those who sin against multiplication must come to ruin sooner or
+later.
+
+Ivan continued making in his workshop iron bars and rails. He
+accumulated a store in his magazines. Some time they would be wanted.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Bondavara Railroad was to be made.
+
+Csanta wanted to sell his houses in X----; the whole street was for
+sale. He said he was going to live in Vienna, and to fill his office
+of one of the directors to the company. He was to receive a large
+salary, and to have little or nothing to do. He had changed all his
+gold into papers--there is no use nowadays for houses or land or
+cattle or mines; nothing is good but paper. _It_ wants neither groom
+nor manure nor pay nor machinery.
+
+Therefore, he wished to sell the whole street. Fortunately, there was
+so little money in X---- that the inhabitants of the whole town put
+together couldn't produce enough money to buy a poor little street.
+
+The Bondavara Railway was in progress. Along the line the navvies were
+working like a swarm of ants; they shoved wheelbarrows from morning
+until night; they dug the ground, blew up rocks, bored mountains,
+rammed plugs into water-sources, hewed stones, dammed rivers.
+
+In the dark mouth of the Bondavara mine one man stood immovable. He
+was ever watching the work. His gloomy, threatening face was fixed
+steadily upon a windlass.
+
+This man was Peter Saffran. He held in his hand a lump of coal, and as
+he looked back from the noisy landscape to the remnant of trees his
+eyes seemed to say, "Thou art the cause of all this tumult, this
+wealth, this splendor; thou art a living power--thou!" And he hurled
+the coal against the wall.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+THE POOR DEAR PRINCE
+
+
+"You have something to tell me: what is it?" asked Prince Theobald, as
+he entered Eveline's drawing-room in answer to a letter from her,
+written after her interview with her husband.
+
+"I wish to leave Vienna."
+
+"Ah! this is sudden. And where are you going?"
+
+"My husband is obliged to go to Paris. I am going with him."
+
+The prince looked inquiringly at her. "Have you, then, grown tired of
+being under my care?"
+
+"I am afraid I cannot deny it. I am like a slave in a gilded cage. I
+am a sort of prisoner, and I want to see life."
+
+"You repent, then, of the promise you made me? Well, then, I release
+you; but stay with me."
+
+"I should be too proud to receive benefits from any one to whom I am
+ungrateful. Besides, it would be enough for me to know that you are
+the master of the palace to take all sense of freedom from me. I don't
+want to receive any more favors."
+
+"You wish to become an actress?"
+
+"I do wish that." Eveline laid a stress on the last word.
+
+"From ambition?"
+
+"I cannot say so. If I were ambitious I should be more diligent. I
+want my freedom. I don't want my wings clipped. I like to feel I can
+use them as I choose."
+
+"That is rather a dangerous experiment for any one so young and pretty
+as you are."
+
+"One never falls so low that one cannot rise again."
+
+"Where did you learn that?"
+
+"From what I see every day."
+
+"You are resolved to leave me?"
+
+"I am--I am--I am!" Eveline repeated these words impatiently.
+
+"Then I had better free you from my disagreeable society as soon as
+possible," said the prince, taking up his hat. Then, with an ironical
+bow, he added, "Forgive me, madam, for the weary hours I must have
+imposed upon you."
+
+Eveline, with an impatient stamp of her foot, turned her back upon
+him. The prince, when he had got as far as the anteroom, found that he
+had forgotten his walking-stick in the drawing-room. It had been a
+Christmas present from Eveline, and he would not leave it with her. He
+went back to fetch it.
+
+He opened the door gently, and he saw a sight that surprised him.
+Eveline still stood with her back to him. She had in her hands the
+stick he had come for, which she kissed two or three times, sobbing
+bitterly. The prince withdrew gently. Everything was made clear to
+him. Eveline quarrelled with him to make the separation less hard for
+him. She pretended to be mean and ungrateful in order that he might
+forget her more easily. Why did she do this?
+
+The next day the prince found the solution of this riddle. His servant
+brought him the key of Eveline's apartments. The lady had left by the
+very earliest train. The prince hastened to the palace, and he then
+understood why it was that Eveline had left. She had taken nothing;
+everything was there. She was a pearl among women. A lock of her hair
+was wound round the handle of the walking-stick--her beautiful hair,
+which fell from the crown of her head to her feet.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Eveline arrived in Paris before Kaulmann. It had been settled between
+them that she should stop at a hotel until he arranged where she
+should live.
+
+Some weeks later Felix came and said: "Your house is ready for you.
+Will you come and see it?"
+
+Eveline drove with Felix to her new home, which was in the Rue
+Sebastopol, one of the best situations in Paris, the first floor. As
+she came into the apartment her heart beat. Everything was familiar to
+her eyes--the cherry-colored curtains, the carpets, the dove-colored
+panels, the black marble fireplace, the oval frames in china, the
+window looking into the garden--all as in Vienna. The same pictures,
+the same service of silver, the wardrobes, the jewel-cases, even to
+the glove which she had left upon the table.
+
+The tears fell from her eyes as she murmured to herself, "The good,
+kind prince!"
+
+Felix, however, with perfect _aplomb_, took all the credit to himself,
+and asked her, "Have I not arranged your apartment to your taste?"
+
+Eveline made him no answer. Her thoughts were with the good, kind
+prince, her best friend. To him she owed her engagement at the
+Opera-house in Paris, the wreaths that were thrown to her on her first
+appearance, the carriage she drove in every day. All was due to the
+paternal interest of Prince Theobald, who, from the day he called her
+his daughter, had never ceased to care for her as his child.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+DIES IRÆ
+
+
+One gloomy day in late autumn Ivan went from the forge to his mine,
+and upon the way his thoughts ran in a sad groove. "What a curious
+world we live in; everything goes wrong--at least, for most people.
+Bread is not for the wise man, nor success for the strong; it was so
+in the days of Solomon. One bad year follows the other, for even
+nature acts like a step-mother to men. The poor are hungry and beg for
+bread, and when they have eaten they forget from whom they received
+nourishment. All the great proprietors go to their graves without
+doing, either for their country or their neighbor, anything worth
+mentioning; all the burden of the present and the future seems to fall
+upon the less numerous and more exhausted class. The patriots are all
+hollow; they weep when they are in their cups; they show their fists,
+but no one dares to strike a blow. All manly strength is gone; there
+is not a man worth the name in the whole country. And the women--they
+are all the same, from the high-born dame to the peasant girl--false
+and heartless. Even in the bowels of the earth it is no better. For
+the last two days there has been choke-damp in the mine; the escape of
+gas has been so great that the men cannot work; it is as likely as not
+that there will be an explosion while I am in the pit."
+
+You see, Ivan's thoughts were as black as the landscape, and suited
+to its gloom. His road from the forge to the mine led him past the
+workmen's houses, and as he passed one of these a miner came stumbling
+out of the door. The house was a wine-shop. The miner had his back
+towards Ivan, who did not recognize him, but he noticed that the man
+had great difficulty in walking straight.
+
+"I wonder who it is that has got drunk so early in the day?" thought
+Ivan, and hastened after the man to find out who he was. When he got
+up with him he saw, to his surprise, that it was Peter Saffran. This
+struck Ivan unpleasantly; he recalled how, on the day when Evila had
+eloped, Saffran had sworn never again to touch brandy; he knew also
+that Peter had kept this oath. He recollected also, but imperfectly,
+that when he said that he wouldn't drink any more he had let fall some
+threat. Well, it didn't much matter; if he got drunk, that was his
+affair. But why did he come to Ivan's village to get drunk? Why didn't
+he go to the tavern in his own colony?
+
+Ivan hailed the man. "Good-morning, Peter."
+
+Peter did not return the greeting; he stared like a stupid dog who
+doesn't know his own master. He looked at Ivan with a wild eye, he
+pressed his lips together, and his nostrils extended. He drew his cap
+down over his eyes.
+
+Ivan asked him, "Has the choke-damp got into your pit?"
+
+No answer from Peter. He shoved his cap from off his forehead, and,
+opening his mouth to its full extent, bent his face to that of Ivan,
+and let his hot, spirit-laden breath blow over him. Then, without
+saying a syllable, he turned away, and set off running in the
+direction of the company's mine.
+
+The heated breath of the man, with the sickening smell of bad brandy,
+sent a shudder through Ivan's frame. He stood still, staring after the
+runaway, who, when he had got a certain distance, stopped and looked
+back. Ivan could see his face distinctly. He looked like a madman; his
+lips hung apart, like those of a mad dog; his white teeth gleamed in
+contrast to his red gums. His whole appearance was so strange and
+desperate that Ivan laid hold of the revolver in his pocket. For one
+moment the thought passed through his mind that he would be doing a
+good work in freeing the world of such a creature, but on second
+thoughts he let him go unharmed, and continued his way to the mine to
+look after the ventilators.
+
+In the vault the proportion between the hydrogen and the air was three
+to seven. Ivan forbade any work to be done in the mine, or any pumping
+out of the dangerous gas. He employed his men in the open air,
+removing the coal that was required, and only allowed those to remain
+below who had to look after the air-pumps.
+
+He remained the whole day on the spot, controlling everything and
+keeping a close watch. Towards evening he left the mine and returned
+to his house. Everything was apparently safe. It was a nasty, foggy,
+gloomy evening; the state of the atmosphere reacted upon the mind and
+body alike. When nature is out of sorts, man suffers; when the sky is
+overcast, he, too, is gloomy. And when the earth is sick, when worms
+and mould destroy the fruit, when the harvest is ruined by blight, and
+the cattle are decimated by pestilence--above all, when the noxious
+vapors from the coal-mines rise to the surface and poison the very
+air--then men sicken and die.
+
+All through the day Ivan had felt cold shudders running over his whole
+body. His limbs were contracted by that unpleasant feeling called
+goose-skin, and when he got home he shivered, although his room was
+warm. He was restless, uneasy. He could occupy himself with nothing;
+everything palled upon him. The worst symptom of all, he could not
+even work.
+
+When a man refuses food or drink, when he does not care for the
+company of a pretty woman, when his club wearies him, these are
+unhealthy signs; but when he turns away from work, and finds no longer
+any interest in his usual occupation, then it is time to send for the
+physician.
+
+Ivan's head throbbed, yet he could not sleep, and to stay awake was
+torture. He lay down, and with a resolute effort closed his eyes. A
+panorama of past, present, and future kept dancing before him. Peter
+Saffran's hot, stinking breath seemed to breathe again in his
+nostrils, and the very horror brought back to his memory the man's
+long-forgotten words:
+
+"No more during my life shall I drink brandy--_only once_; and when I
+do, and when you smell from my breath that I have been drinking, or
+see me coming out of the public-house, then take my advice and stop
+safe at home, for on that day no man shall know in what manner he
+shall die."
+
+Who cares for the threat of a drunken man? Let me sleep. No, the
+drunken man would not allow Ivan to sleep; his breath was there.
+Faugh! it made him sick. His blear-eyed, pallid face was there bending
+over the bed, looking into Ivan's eyes with his blood-shot eyes; his
+open mouth and shut teeth came quite close to the sleeper, who, vainly
+beating his arms in the air, tried to drive away this horrid
+nightmare.
+
+Ah, what is that sound? A crack like the crack of doom awoke Ivan; not
+alone awoke him, but threw him violently out of bed and on to the
+floor, where he lay stunned.
+
+His first consecutive thoughts were, "The choke-damp has exploded! My
+mine is in ruins!" This was enough to get him on his legs and to send
+him out in the darkness--darkness, raven-black darkness, the stillness
+only broken by a whistling sound in the air. Ivan stood for a moment
+wondering. He felt the earth swaying under his feet; he heard a
+subterranean grumbling. There! the pitch-dark night was suddenly
+illumined; a bright pillar of fire rose out of the Bondavara Company's
+mine. At the same moment another fearful explosion was heard, worse
+than the last. The windows of the house were shattered in a thousand
+pieces, the chimneys, the roofs fell in. The pressure of the air
+forced Ivan back and threw him against the door of his own house. By
+the strong light of the demoniacal pillar he could see his own workmen
+all on their knees with a horrified expression upon their ghastly
+faces. Women and children were gathered at the doors of the houses,
+but the terror was so great that every one was speechless.
+
+The entire valley glowed like the crater of a volcano. It vomited
+forth a rain of fire-sparks, as in Gomorrah. The flames reached almost
+to the clouds, and heaven sent forth clap upon clap of thunder, the
+like of which in the most terrible thunder-storm had never been heard.
+
+Two minutes later the flames were extinguished. The whole valley was
+again enveloped in pitch-darkness, only over the company's mine
+floated a filmy white cloud.
+
+"The neighboring mine has exploded!" shrieked Ivan. "Help! help!" He
+never remembered that it was his enemy's mine; he only thought that
+there, in the bowels of the earth, a fearful, indescribably fearful,
+calamity had happened. "Help! help!" he cried, and ran to the
+alarm-bell, at which he pulled with all the strength of his body.
+
+His own men came rushing in hot haste, all repeating to one another,
+as if it were something new, "The neighboring mine has exploded!"
+
+Then followed a significant pause. The men carrying lanterns
+surrounded Ivan, and looked at him questioningly, waiting for him to
+speak.
+
+How had he guessed their thoughts?
+
+Those who under God's free heavens drew their breath were bound to go
+to the rescue of those who lay buried underground, and who perchance
+still lived. Here it was no case of friend or foe. They were human
+beings; that was enough.
+
+"We must get the ventilators, the well-buckets to work!" called Ivan.
+"Let each man bring a thick cloth to tie over his mouth. Bring
+crow-bars, cords, ladders, india-rubber tubes, hose-pipes. The women
+only are to remain behind. Forward, my men!"
+
+He threw on an old coat, seized a strong iron bar, which he carried on
+his shoulder, placed himself at the head of his men, and led the way
+to the company's mine.
+
+It was not easy to force an entrance into the works. The proprietors
+had set up all manner of barricades in order to prevent Ivan's carts
+from making any use of the new road. On the gates there were boards
+with "No trespassing. No one to pass this way without a written
+order."
+
+No one now minded these orders. If a door or a gate impeded their
+progress, Ivan thrust his iron rod through it and soon made a passage,
+through which his men rushed pell-mell. The miners did not pause to
+harness any horses to the machines. They harnessed themselves, while
+others shoved behind, and drove them on over sticks and stones down to
+the mouth of the pit. Like an army of lunatics the party of rescuers
+rushed on through the night, making their way as best they could by
+means of the lanterns fastened to their waistbands. Soon, however, the
+darkness was again illumined. The forge nearest to the pit, and
+consequently the most exposed to the fiery heat, blew up suddenly, and
+the flames from the heating-oven filled the air with a red glow. The
+miners avoided, however, the direction in which it burned, as it would
+be impossible to predicate the direction which the molten metal would
+take.
+
+When they reached the pit an awful spectacle presented itself. The
+ventilation-ovens which were placed over the shaft-mouth were gone.
+The bricks and tiles were scattered in a thousand directions all over
+the fields. The large windlass of cast-iron lay on the ground at a
+considerable distance from its former position, and of the conical,
+bell-shaped buildings hardly a stone was left. Only one wall was still
+standing; the iron fasteners hung from its side. The northern entrance
+to the pit had fallen in. The handsome stone gates lay in ruins.
+Stones, beams, iron bars, coals were all mixed up together in
+heterogeneous confusion, as if a volcano had vomited them out.
+
+The air was filled with the cries of weeping women. Hundreds upon
+hundreds of women and children, probably widows and orphans, held up
+their hands to heaven and wept. Under their feet their husbands, their
+fathers, brothers, lovers lay buried, and no one could help them.
+
+More from recklessness than from actual courage some men had already
+attempted to go down into the pit. They had been at once stunned by
+the pressure of the gas, and now their comrades, at the risk of their
+own lives, were trying to drag them out by cords and slings. Already
+one lay on the grass, while the women stood round him wringing their
+hands.
+
+Ivan now began to make his plans. "In the first place," he said, "no
+one is to venture near the pit. Let all wait until I return."
+
+He took his way towards the house of the directors. He forgot that he
+had sworn never to hold any communication with Rauné. In any case, he
+was not to be found. In the next town there was high festival. The
+directors of the new railway had given a banquet in honor of the
+completion of the tunnel. Rauné was there. Ivan, however, met the
+second engineer coming out of his house. He was a cool, phlegmatic
+man, and consoled himself with the trite reflection that these things
+happened everywhere. "The gates must be rebuilt," he said. "The pit
+roads must again be re-made, and probably we shall have to sink
+another shaft. It will cost a lot of money. _Voila tout!_"
+
+"How many men are below?" asked Ivan.
+
+"Probably about a hundred and fifty."
+
+"Only! And what is to be done for them?"
+
+"It will be a hard job to get them out, for they were at work at the
+passage which we were making between the north pit and the east to
+improve the ventilation."
+
+"Therefore there is no other entrance to the pit but the one which has
+fallen in?"
+
+"No; and the eastern shaft is also in ruins. The flames came from
+there; you must have seen them."
+
+"Yes; and I couldn't understand how it was that the second explosion
+followed the first after an interval of a few minutes."
+
+"That is easily explained. The communicating wall was already so thin
+that the explosion in the north pit blew it into fragments; the gas in
+the east pit undoubtedly was not kindled by the flames, for they had
+already gone out, but by the strong pressure of the air, which was
+heated to fever-heat by the accumulation of coal, and which,
+therefore, exploded through the shaft. So it is when you put sand into
+the barrel of a gun; the powder bursts the barrel before it throws out
+the sand."
+
+It was plain that the engineer took a very cold-blooded view of the
+whole affair, and that the design for the new stone gate was a matter
+of more interest to him than the hundred and fifty lives which were in
+jeopardy. Ivan saw there was little assistance to be got from him.
+
+"Before we can attempt the rescue of the men who are buried in the
+pit," he said, "we must pump the gas out of the opening of the cavern.
+Where is your air-pump?"
+
+"Up there," returned the engineer, pointing to the sky; "that is to
+say, if it hasn't fallen down."
+
+"You have no portable ventilator?"
+
+"We never contemplated the necessity of having one."
+
+"I have brought mine, if we can adjust it."
+
+"I would gladly know how that can be done. If the ventilator has a
+copper tube, it would be impossible to introduce it through all the
+zigzag of the rubbish and general wreck; if it has an india-rubber
+pipe it would be too weak, and wouldn't stand being shoved forward."
+
+"Some one must carry it into the pit."
+
+"Some one?" repeated the engineer, with an air of amazement. "Look
+yonder; they are drawing up the third man who was foolish enough to
+venture down there; he is dead, like the other two!"
+
+"No, none of them are dead; they will soon recover consciousness; they
+are stifled by the foul air."
+
+"All the same, I can hardly believe that you will find a man mad
+enough to be the first to carry a tube fifty steps through all the
+wreckage."
+
+"I have already found the man. I shall do it."
+
+The engineer shrugged his shoulders, but he made no effort to dissuade
+him.
+
+Ivan went back to the men, who meantime had been getting ready for
+work. He called the oldest miner on one side.
+
+"Paul," he said, "some one must carry the india-rubber tube of the
+ventilator into the mouth of the pit."
+
+"Good. Let us draw lots."
+
+"We shall do nothing of the kind. I shall go. You are all husbands and
+fathers with families. You have wives and children to provide for. I
+have no one. How long can a man hold out in that foul air without
+drawing his breath?"
+
+"A hundred beats of his pulse; no longer."
+
+"Good. Fetch me the pipe. Bind a cord round my body and hold the other
+end. When you see that I no longer carry the pipe, draw the cord
+slowly back, but take care to draw slowly, in case that I should have
+fainted and that a sudden pull might strangle me."
+
+Ivan loosened the woollen band from his waist, steeped it in a vessel
+of vinegar, and wrung it out and wrapped his face in it, so that his
+nose and mouth were covered. He then bound the cord firmly round his
+body, took the foremost end of the india-rubber pipe upon his
+shoulder, and began to make his way through the rubbish and _débris_
+at the pit's mouth.
+
+The old miner called after him, in a broken voice: "Count the seconds.
+Fifty for going, fifty for coming back."
+
+Ivan vanished behind the ruins. The miners took off their caps and
+folded their hands. The old man held the fingers of his right hand on
+the wrist of his left and counted his pulse. He had already counted
+over fifty and the other end of the pipe had not moved. It had passed
+sixty and was near seventy when suddenly it was pulled forward. Ivan
+had penetrated into the deadly atmosphere. The old miner wiped the
+perspiration from his brow. He counted eighty, ninety, a hundred
+seconds. They shall never see him again. Then the pipe remained
+steady.
+
+Now they began to draw the rope. It was slack, and not tightened by
+any burden. Ivan was, therefore, so far safe; he was still walking,
+for the rope continued slack. Suddenly it got stiffer. Be careful now.
+The cord again slackened; the old miner counted a hundred and sixty
+seconds. Suddenly Ivan was seen coming out of the pit's mouth,
+supporting himself upon the fallen stones of the archway; but his
+strength failed, and as the men rushed to his assistance he tottered
+and fell into their arms. His face was like that of a dying man.
+
+They rubbed him with vinegar, and the fresh air soon revived him. He
+sat up, and told them he was all right, but--
+
+"The air down there is something awful," he said. "What is happening
+to those poor creatures who are buried below?"
+
+It never occurred to him to remember that those poor creatures were
+the same ungrateful men who had deserted him, who had taken service
+with the men who had sworn to ruin him, who had formed a conspiracy
+against him, who were ready to murder him, who had sent a deputation
+to the enemies of their native land. Here they lay, buried in the
+depths of mother-earth, which thus revenged upon them their treachery.
+Ivan had forgotten their sin against him and their country, and his
+only thought was to save them if there was yet time.
+
+Now that the ventilator had been set in motion, the work of rescue
+might begin; but all the same it was a terribly hard fight.
+
+Ivan divided his band of men into two divisions. Each man was only to
+stay an hour at the dangerous work of clearing away the rubbish. Every
+one must have his face covered by a cloth steeped in vinegar. So soon
+as he began to feel faint he was to be carried away by his comrades.
+
+When the day began to break the wreck of the fallen entrance had been
+moved to one side, but in the mouth of the pit the sun could not
+penetrate. The vault of slate-clay had fallen altogether to one side,
+so that Ivan, when he had carried the pipe into the pit, had found
+there was scarcely room to allow it to wind through the chasms. In the
+spot where he had placed the mouth of the pipe the vault was
+altogether destroyed.
+
+It was an undertaking almost superhuman. What had been the work of
+weeks had to be done in so many days. And yet it must be done.
+
+In their work of clearing away the rubbish Ivan's men had very little
+assistance from the company's men for this reason: the explosion had
+taken place at the time when the miners were relieved. When men are
+working in collieries it is usual to relieve them four times. It was
+the time of the midnight relief when the accident happened. One party
+of the miners had already gone down the shaft; they were undoubtedly
+suffocated. The other party were on their way out, and were killed at
+once by the explosion. There was another party who had only reached
+the resting-stage, where neither the flames nor the fragments could
+touch them. These men were buried alive. It therefore resulted that of
+all the company's miners only from twenty to thirty were available.
+
+The men who worked the forge were forbidden by the director to give
+any help in the work of rescue. In all the ovens the metal was in a
+liquid state; if it was not attended to it would turn into rammers.
+The workmen give the name of _ram_, or _rammer_, to a solid mass of
+iron, which, in consequence of faulty melting, cannot be removed from
+the oven, and it and the oven have to be thrown away as useless
+lumber. The forge-work was urgently needed. The railway greaves had to
+be finished by a certain date, or a large fine would have to be paid.
+Ivan therefore had to set his men almost unaided to the task of
+clearing the pit. The women helped with all their strength. Their
+husbands, the bread-winners, were underneath the ruins.
+
+What a terrible undertaking! In consequence of the falling in of the
+arches the roof had, at a distance of six feet, to be supported on
+plugs, and a sort of street made through the ruins, where at every
+corner a new enemy waited for the intrepid pioneers.
+
+After the explosion the pit had been overflowed by water. The
+water-pipes had to be set to work, and where these were not sufficient
+the men were obliged to empty out the black slime in buckets, standing
+for hours in stinking mud, breathing foul air, threatened with death
+or mutilation from the constant falling of stones and wreckage.
+Undaunted by these obstacles, the men made their way step by step into
+the bowels of the earth.
+
+In the afternoon Rauné arrived. In the middle of a convivial festival
+he had heard the news. He was raging. He came down the shaft and
+cursed all the dead men.
+
+"The scoundrels! They have cost the company a million of money! What
+does it matter if they are all killed? Serves them right! Why should
+any of them be saved? Stuff and nonsense! Let them suffocate, the
+drunken dogs!"
+
+The workers made him no answer. First, because they could not take up
+their time talking, and, secondly, because every man's mouth was
+covered. The clearing of a mine is very silent work.
+
+But in the midst of his curses Rauné encountered one workman, who
+placed himself in front of him and confronted him with a steady look.
+This man was covered with mud and coal like the other laborers, his
+face was tied up with a cloth, and only the eyes were visible; they,
+too, were blackened with coal-dust, but Rauné knew by their expression
+that it was Ivan. No one who had ever looked into his eyes could
+forget him.
+
+Rauné turned away without another word, and, in company with his
+engineer, left the pit. He interfered no further with Ivan's work.
+
+Four days and four nights the men never ceased working. They triumphed
+over every obstacle and cut a pathway through every difficulty. During
+those four days Ivan never for one hour left the mine. He ate his
+meals sitting on a stone, and snatched an hour's sleep in some corner.
+
+On the fourth day the workmen came upon one of the missing men. A
+man--no, but a mass, flattened against the wall, of flesh and bones,
+which had once been a man.
+
+Some feet farther on there lay another body on the ground, but the
+head was nowhere to be seen. They tried to get him on one of the
+wheelbarrows which were for drawing coal, but he was all in fragments;
+splinters and shreds of that human body were sticking to everything.
+
+Then they came upon the charred, blackened corpses of the men who had
+been burned. They were not recognizable.
+
+Farther on there was a group of fifteen men crushed by a huge weight
+of slate stratum. This could not be moved, so they were left. It was
+more necessary to look after the living than the dead. Everywhere they
+found corpses; still the number of the missing was not complete.
+
+The miners employed by the company told Ivan that if any of the men
+were still living they would be found at the resting-stage, where they
+left their coats before they began to work and fetched them again as
+they went up. In the passages, however, there had been such a total
+upset that the oldest hand could not find his way. In many places the
+explosion had torn down the partition wall, in other places the
+entrance was stopped up with rubbish, or the roof taken off some of
+the passages which led into the inner vaults. It was all in such utter
+confusion that no one could find out where the large vault lay.
+
+At last it struck Ivan that underneath a mass of coal and slack he
+heard a faint, whimpering sound. He said to the men, "Dig this spot."
+
+At once they set to work to clear away the rubbish, and as they
+cleared the company's men began to recognize different landmarks,
+which convinced them they were at the right place.
+
+"Yes, here is the door which leads to the resting-stage." The pressure
+of the air had shut the door close, the side walls had fallen in, and
+so these, who had been safe from the conflagration, had been buried
+alive.
+
+The whimpering cry for help, like that of an infant's wail, was heard
+now more distinctly. The door, too, was plainly visible, and as it was
+swung off its hinges Ivan took a light and peered into the dark cavern
+below.
+
+No cry of joy reached him; the rescued men had not the strength to
+make a sound. They were about a hundred in all. They lay there
+still, speechless. Life had almost ebbed away, but not altogether.
+They had suffered the tortures of hunger and thirst, they had been
+suffocated by the foul air, broken-hearted, despairing. And now
+these human skeletons, when they saw the light, could hardly raise a
+finger to show they were alive. A heart-rending whimper, in which
+there was no human tone, rose from the hundred parched throats. When
+the explosion came they had been thrown upon their faces. Their
+lamps had gone out, and it would have been madness to relight them.
+They had remained in total darkness. After a little the danger of
+their situation increased. Soon they began to feel that the water
+was gradually--slowly at first--filling the space which served them
+as a refuge and a grave, and this space or vault was, they knew, a
+fathom deeper than the pit. They tried--for at first they were not
+so weak--to get hold of some boards and plugs that lay about, and
+out of these they made a sort of stage or platform, upon which they
+all clambered, and there waited for death--the death that might come
+either through hunger, foul air, or drowning. When their rescuers
+opened the door the water had reached the threshold and touched the
+bottom of the wooden stage.
+
+Ivan directed that the poor creatures should be carried carefully and
+silently out of their living grave. They did not press forward, for
+they could not stand. Each man lay where he was, and waited until his
+turn came. The foretaste of death made every one tranquil. Some of
+them could not at first open their eyes, but all were alive, and Ivan
+could not help thinking how wonderful is the strength of human nature.
+
+He had saved them all, but the work was not yet finished. How if,
+beyond the breach of which the engineer had spoken, there were more
+men waiting for deliverance? One thing they must ascertain
+positively--if the explosion had finished the work begun by the
+engineer's men, and had carried away the wall which had divided one
+pit from the other. If this were so, it would considerably lighten the
+work of those who had come to seek for the victims. At the opening of
+the breach-tunnel lay a man's body; he was such a charred, burned mass
+that he was unrecognizable. The dead man held in his hand his
+safety-lamp. _It was open._
+
+So this was the accursed one who had done the hellish deed, and it was
+human folly that had caused this demoniacal explosion.
+
+The corpse was not recognizable, the clothing was burned to ashes. In
+his girdle, however, they found a small steel casket, and in this
+casket a gold watch; upon the enamelled back was the portrait of a
+lovely woman.
+
+When the watch was brought to Ivan he recognized the portrait. It was
+Eveline. With the watch there was also a bank-note for a hundred
+gulden. It was half burned. Upon the back was written:
+
+"A year ago to-day I received this money; to-day I pay it back." What
+a fearful repayment!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Ivan was now able to grasp the connection between the words and the
+acts of this terrible man, whose recollection of his own act of eating
+human flesh had prompted him to an unexampled and most horrid
+massacre. His threats after Evila's elopement, his entering into the
+company's service, the last occasion upon which he had drunk brandy,
+and the breath he had blown into Ivan's face. All was now explained.
+This was part of the drama. This man had a character such as
+Antichrist might be possessed of. His soul and body were full of
+concealed demons, who prompted him to take revenge of those who had
+offended him, ridiculed him, stolen from him, scorned him, treated him
+as a fool, insulted him with money, tempted him with luxuries, and
+taken advantage of his simplicity to pull him by the nose.
+
+All of them should fall. He would pull the foundation-stone from under
+their feet, even if he dug his own grave in so doing. They should fall
+from their high estate--the banker, the pastor, the capitalist, the
+minister, and the actress.
+
+In hell the demons could teach Peter nothing.
+
+Ivan stood before the unsightly corpse deep in thought. In his heart
+there raged a wild conflict of passions. He also had been robbed,
+oppressed by the wealth of his enemies, his heart wounded by a hundred
+poisoned arrows, and this by the same men upon whom the revengeful
+hate of Peter Saffran had fallen. Ivan had come to their help. He had
+saved the lives and the property of his foes--at least, what they
+called their property; the monstrous treasure which lies in the very
+bowels of the earth does not, in truth, belong altogether to any man,
+but to all men; it is the treasure-trove of the state, destined to
+serve and minister to all ages.
+
+And yet a great dread, an unconquerable fear, possessed Ivan. He dared
+not mention his fear to any one, for if he were to share his
+suspicion with any one of the workmen, who up to this had followed him
+obediently through every peril, they would, without another word, have
+turned their backs and fled for their lives.
+
+The wire cylinder of Saffran's safety-lamp was filled to the very top
+with a red flame. This was a warning that the atmosphere was still
+charged with one-third of hydrogen gas, and that only two-thirds were
+of fresh air.
+
+But there is an even greater danger to be feared than the pit-gas. Its
+fearful spirit had been laid; the victims lay silent upon the
+wheelbarrows. Yet another and a worse spirit lurks in ambush--a foe
+who goes about with closed eyes, whose presence is awful in its
+consequences: it is the carbon from the coals.
+
+When the men had made the breach through the tunnel, they found, just
+as the engineer had said, that the explosion had burst through the
+partition wall, and that the _débris_ had only to be removed, and the
+passage between the east and the north pits would be established. Not
+one of the workmen could remain long at this work. After some moments
+each one returned coughing, and complaining that in that place his
+safety-lamp would not burn.
+
+In the pits the flame of the lamp filled the whole cylinder; this was
+not reassuring. But in the neighborhood of the ruins it would hardly
+burn; this was a far more serious sign.
+
+The last miner who returned said that as he removed a large lump of
+coal such a terrible stench had penetrated through his mouth-protector
+that he had almost fainted. The smell was like that of putrid
+vegetable matter.
+
+The old hands knew what this putrid stench signified. Paul suggested
+to Ivan that he should go and examine whence it came. Let him cover
+his mouth very carefully, and hasten back as soon as possible.
+
+Ivan took his iron rod and his lamp, and went. Seizing hold of the rod
+with both hands, he struck it with all his strength into a mass of
+coal, upon which the lump rolled with a great noise into the adjoining
+space. He then fastened his lamp to the hook of his rod and pushed it
+into the hollow. The lamp went out at once, and as he looked from the
+darkness into the hollow, to his horror he saw in the next vault a red
+glow which lighted up the space. He knew at once there was no time to
+lose. He never paused to withdraw his rod, but rushed back to the men.
+
+"The east pit is burning!" he cried.
+
+No one answered, but the men seized hold of Ivan, and bore him with
+them out of the pit into the open air. Behind them followed the
+horrible stench--not merely that of foul air such as accompanies "bad
+weather," often with fatal effect; this was the more insidious carbon,
+that which kindles pit-fires, baffles the ingenuity of man, respects
+neither the brave nor the scientific, and which, when once it has
+begun, can never be turned back. There is nothing to do but to run for
+the bare life.
+
+In a few minutes the pit was empty.
+
+As they issued into the light of day they were surrounded by countless
+women and children, weeping and screaming in their joy at being
+reunited to their lost ones.
+
+The engineer was also there. Ivan went straight to him. Taking the
+cloth from his mouth, he said:
+
+"Do you know, sir, what is going on down there in your mine? Complete,
+utter ruin! The east pit is burning; it must have been alight some
+days, for the whole pit is red-hot. I shall never forget the sight.
+Now let me tell you what this means. It is not the hand of human
+wickedness, neither is it the avenging hand of God; it is altogether
+caused by the negligence of the overseer. You, who are a great
+scientist, know as well as I do that collieries take fire when sulphur
+gets mixed with coal-dust and is allowed to lie in a heap. It is
+always hot down there, and when the stuff is fanned by the air it
+lights of itself. Your pit is full of this dangerous burning mist. And
+now both your pit and my mine are finished. The colliery fire can
+never be extinguished. You have heard of the burning mountain of
+Dutweeler? A hundred and twenty years ago that coal-mine took fire; it
+is still burning. Here we shall experience another such tragedy.
+Good-morning."
+
+The engineer only shrugged his shoulders; it was nothing to him.
+
+Ivan shook the dust of the God-forsaken colony off his feet. He and
+his men returned to his own side of the mountain.
+
+Meantime what had happened to his own mine? He had been absent four
+days and four nights, and had never given it a thought.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS
+
+
+Any one who wishes to understand the meaning of the proverb, "There is
+only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous," should gamble on
+the stock-exchange; there he will learn the full meaning of the words.
+
+To-day you are a deity, to-morrow the meanest of street curs. To-day
+sixty agents shriek out the name of your speculation; you are a sort
+of king, and all the other kings on 'change study your countenance to
+see how the wind shifts. To-day, so soon as one o'clock strikes by the
+town clock, a swarm of buyers come round you. Your note-book is held
+up to the view of all the agents. It is handed from one to another; it
+is placed upon the back of an agent, and the competitors write the
+number of shares they want. To-day all hands point to the percentage,
+which is the proof of your high estate. To-day the crowd who are
+speculating on your credit fill all the passages; they scream out, "I
+sell!" "I buy!" Even outside the stock-exchange sweet creatures of the
+opposite sex, who like dabbling in stock quite as much as do the male
+creation, make their books. Women are prohibited from showing their
+faces on 'change; but they gamble all the same. Hundreds of ladies
+wait upon the stock-broker, with a copy of the exchange list in their
+hands; they have marked your shares. Still greater ladies sit outside
+the exchange in their grand carriages. In their eagerness they stretch
+their heads out of their carriage windows to know from the first-comer
+at what figure the shares--your shares--stand.
+
+This is all to-day. To-morrow you are not to be found; your name is
+scratched out of the exchange list. Every one knows that your affair
+has "burst." You are nowhere. You are nobody. Your place is empty.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The firm of Kaulmann stood at the summit of its triumph. Felix and his
+bosom friend, the Abbé Samuel, were enjoying their afternoon siesta.
+The room was full of a cloud of smoke, and under its soothing
+influence the friends were building castles in the air.
+
+"To-morrow," said Felix, "the pope's loan upon the Hungarian Church
+lands will be floated at the exchange."
+
+"To-morrow I shall receive from Vienna my appointment as titular
+Bishop of the Siebenbürger."
+
+"The silver kings are ready to plank down their millions on the loan."
+
+"The pope gives it his blessing," murmured the abbé. "The cardinal's
+hat is ready for my head."
+
+"The legitimist financiers have shown a decided objection to my wife
+appearing on the stage. This may injure the loan; therefore I intend
+to-morrow to explain to her that she is not legally my wife."
+
+"Is it true that Prince Waldemar has arrived in Paris?"
+
+"Yes, he has come after Eveline."
+
+"But his presence here will be injurious to our speculation. He is our
+declared enemy."
+
+"He cannot injure us now. Since he met such a total defeat in the
+matter of the Bondavara mine and the railway his teeth have been
+drawn. He and his bears have kept very quiet."
+
+"Then it is Eveline who has brought him here?"
+
+"He is mad about her; he follows her everywhere like a dog, and is
+only anxious to pick up any crumb she will give him."
+
+"But she cannot endure him."
+
+"That is the worse for her. It was greatly Prince Theobald's doing.
+That old fellow is mad."
+
+"Is it not the case that the Countess Angela's husband wants to put
+the prince's affairs into the hands of trustees?"
+
+"Before we left Vienna there was some talk of it."
+
+"Will this affect in any way the Bondavara shares?"
+
+"In no way. The only unmortgaged portion of his capital is absolutely
+made over to the company. I can assure you, the Bondavara speculation
+is built upon a rock of gold."
+
+As he spoke three telegraphic despatches were brought in by the
+servant. One of these was addressed to the abbé, under cover to the
+firm of Kaulmann.
+
+"Lupus in fabulâ," said Kaulmann, as he handed the first telegram to
+the abbé. The abbé read:
+
+      "The Prince Theobald has been declared incapable of
+      managing his own affairs."
+
+"Poor Eveline, she will have leisure to repent!" remarked Felix, with
+a cynical smile.
+
+As he was speaking the abbé opened the telegram addressed to him. He
+handed it to Felix, saying:
+
+"And I, too, shall have time to repent."
+
+The telegram ran:
+
+      "The minister has resigned; the emperor has accepted
+      his resignation; the whole system is to be changed."
+
+      "Good-bye to the bishop's mitre, to the cardinal's
+      hat; good-bye to the velvet arm-chair in the House of
+      Peers."
+
+They read the third telegram together. It contained these words:
+
+      "Explosion in the Bondavara colliery. The whole mine
+      is on fire."
+
+"This is indeed a blow," said Felix, as he let the telegram fall from
+his hand. The three telegrams had come like three flashes of
+lightning. The last was the worst.
+
+When the news reached Prince Waldemar he would let the bears loose
+with a vengeance. Something must be done to avert the imminent
+danger--but what?
+
+If there was only time allowed to float the papal loan such small
+things as the Bondavara shares and the burning of mines would be of
+little consequence. But could the enemy be reduced to silence?
+
+It was settled that the abbé should without delay repair to Eveline,
+and that Kaulmann should speak to Prince Waldemar.
+
+The beaming faces of the two men now wore a sombre air. They had only
+one card to play--the smile of a woman was their only salvation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+TWO CHILDREN
+
+
+Eveline had arrived in Paris at a very important moment. Two great
+changes had been made in the world of fashion: the Empress Eugenie had
+decreed that the crinoline should be laid aside, and Cardinal Chigi,
+the papal nuncio, had pronounced that dresses closed to the throat
+should be worn at receptions. Piety had become the rage. It was
+considered good taste to go to church and to wait for the sermon.
+
+Piety being, therefore, the fashion, no better moment could have been
+chosen by Kaulmann for floating the papal loan. He was well pleased to
+find that Eveline was as eager in the pursuit of piety as any of her
+fair sisters, the truth being that it harmonized with the poor child's
+frame of mind. A few days after her arrival in Paris her cripple
+brother had died. A celebrated surgeon had performed an operation
+which had put him out of pain forever. Eveline grieved over her loss;
+now she felt alone in the world, she had no one to love, no one to
+live for. She kept the boy's useless crutches in her room, one on each
+side of her dressing-table, and twice a week she went to the
+church-yard and put fresh flowers on the little grave. The penitential
+fashion just suited her. She preferred to sing Mozart and Handel in
+the church than Verdi at the opera.
+
+One day she conceived the idea that she would have a sacred concert
+in her own drawing-room; the price of the tickets should be high, and
+the proceeds would be for some good purpose--God knows what! perhaps
+to buy arms for the papal zouaves. She was busy making out her
+programme when the door opened, and Arpad Belenyi, unannounced, rushed
+in in his old unceremonious way.
+
+Eveline was delighted to see her former friend. She threw down her
+pen, ran to meet him, holding out both her hands.
+
+"Oh, you delightful person, what has brought you here?"
+
+"My profession. I am looking for some place where I may strike the
+cymbals and give a concert."
+
+"What a coincidence; you have come at the right moment. But how did
+you find me out?"
+
+"Not much difficulty in that. If I didn't see your name in the list at
+the Opera, I couldn't avoid seeing it outside St. Eustache."
+
+"Then you have heard me sing?"
+
+"In both places--the theatre and the church. I must tell you I think
+the good fathers lay it on pretty strong. For twelve francs I heard
+you at the Opera, and had the play into the bargain; but I didn't get
+out of the church so cheap. A beautiful lady took twenty francs from
+me."
+
+"You silly man! Well, I will pay it back to you. What are your terms?"
+
+"May I ask your reason for the question?"
+
+"How stupid you are! I am not going to engage you for a restaurant.
+What are your terms for playing the piano at an evening concert?"
+
+"To you, merely thanks; to the public, five hundred francs."
+
+"But if it is for a charitable purpose?"
+
+"Then either not at all or for money."
+
+"No, no. You are a cynical creature! Don't you feel sympathy for any
+one? Would you do nothing for the poor?"
+
+"I know a poor woman to whom I owe everything; that is my mother.
+Every farthing which I give to another is taken from her. When the
+world has given back to her all that she has lost, then I shall give
+to the world all that I possess; but until then everything belongs to
+my mother."
+
+"Very good; you shall pay your mother. You shall have the five hundred
+francs; but for this you must play something super-excellent--Liszt's
+Mass or one of Handel's oratorios."
+
+"What is the concert got up for? Is it to help a religious object? or
+is it for the papal zouaves?"
+
+"Yes. I am arranging it."
+
+"Then I can do nothing."
+
+"Why so?"
+
+"Why, because I shall not play for Garibaldi's enemies!"
+
+"Oh, what a goose you are, to be sure! Who asks you to play for
+Garibaldi's enemies? You play for my friends."
+
+But the young man kept repeating no, no, he wouldn't, and in his
+excitement he got up from his seat, and, throwing back his waistcoat,
+showed her that he wore a red shirt.
+
+Eveline laughed unrestrainedly. "A red shirt! So that means that you
+have enlisted as a Garibaldian?"
+
+"I should have done so long ago only for my mother."
+
+"And what would you do if your hand was shot off?"
+
+"Then I should become a pensioner to some fine lady, who would, I
+know, support me."
+
+Eveline burst into tears. His words had touched a chord in her tender
+heart. Arpad, however, could not imagine what he had said to grieve
+her; he tried to console her, and asked how he had offended her. Still
+sobbing, she said:
+
+"My poor little brother is dead. There by my table I keep his
+crutches."
+
+"I am sorry for you; with all my heart I sympathize in your grief. He
+and I were good friends; we had plenty of fun together."
+
+"Yes; you liked him. The world is quite dead to me; everything is
+changed. I listen for the sound of his crutches scratching along the
+floor up the stairs. Ah, my little brother! I have no one now. I want
+some one to take care of. I should like to nurse some one--an artist
+who had lost his eyesight; a musician whose right hand had been shot
+off; or a political hero, who, being pursued, concealed himself in my
+room, and to whom I should be benefactress, protectress, bread-winner,
+everything."
+
+"Why don't you go to Garibaldi?"
+
+She was laughing now; her moods were as variable as an April day.
+
+"You have heard me sing in public. What do you say of me?"
+
+"I say you would be a great artist if you could sing for the devils as
+well as you do for the angels."
+
+"I don't understand. What do you mean by the devils?"
+
+"You surely have heard from the pulpit that the theatre is the devil's
+synagogue?"
+
+"You rude man! Don't you know that I belong to the theatre?"
+
+"I beg pardon a thousand times. I believed that in the daytime you
+were an abbess and at night you were an actress; that would be a fair
+bargain."
+
+"You silly boy! Why do you think I am an abbess?"
+
+"Because you are dressed as such."
+
+"This is only a penitential dress. You godless creature, you are
+making fun of religion!"
+
+"No, madame. I agree that it is a great mortification to wear gray
+silk, a great penance to play the coquette with downcast eyes, a real
+fast to eat crawfish at twenty francs the dish. I am also told that
+the reason the fashionable ladies of Paris have taken to wearing high
+dresses is that they discipline the flesh so severely that their
+shoulders and necks are one mass of scars, and therefore the effects
+of their flagellations must be concealed."
+
+"That is not true. We don't do anything of the kind."
+
+"The world says so. I don't want to inquire; it is your secret."
+
+"It is not true," Eveline repeated. "We do not flagellate ourselves;
+look!" And kneeling down before Arpad she raised the lace collar which
+was round her neck and made him look at her fair skin.
+
+They were a pair of children.
+
+Arpad took his hat and his leave. He left a card with his address, but
+he would have no share in her concert.
+
+Eveline, however, went on writing her programme.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+IMMACULATE
+
+
+Eveline was still writing her programme when the Abbé Samuel was
+announced. In Paris it is not thought out of the way for an abbé to
+visit an actress, and, for the rest, the abbé was an old friend, well
+known to both husband and wife. He was naturally very much interested
+in the concert, and read the programme most attentively.
+
+"It would have been all so nice," said Eveline, in a vexed tone, "only
+for that stupid Arpad. See, father, just there, between my song and
+the violoncello solo, he would have come in so well."
+
+"Is Arpad in town?"
+
+"Yes, he has only just gone. I begged of him to help my concert; and
+my song from the Stabat Mater would have gone so much better to the
+harmonium, and he accompanies beautifully; but he has grown quite
+silly; he has become a heretic."
+
+The priest shook his sides with laughter, and then a sudden idea
+struck him. It was plain Eveline liked Arpad, which was only natural,
+for they were about the same age. He was twenty, she nineteen--a pair
+of children, and children like to amuse themselves. They don't care
+for serious things; that comes later. What if he made use of Arpad to
+introduce Waldemar?
+
+"I should like to take a bet with you that Arpad Belenyi will play
+the piano at your concert, and that, moreover, he will accompany your
+Stabat Mater on the harmonium. If he does so, what will you give me?"
+
+"Oh, he won't do it; you may be sure of that! I know him well; he is
+very obstinate once he takes anything into his cockatoo's head, and if
+_I_ have not been able to persuade him--"
+
+Eveline had immense faith in the magic power of her black eyes.
+
+"Well, you shall see. What will you give me if I succeed?" repeated
+the abbé.
+
+Eveline replied to this question by another:
+
+"How do you mean to get round him?" She said nothing of what she would
+give in case he succeeded.
+
+"Oh, there are many ways; for instance, I might say to him that if he
+played in your drawing-room it is very likely he may be engaged by the
+empress, and that then his fortune was made--at least, for this
+season. An artist would at once see what a chance this would be. Then
+I would offer him money."
+
+"I have done that already--five hundred francs."
+
+"Well, although a young man may turn up his nose at five hundred
+francs, an old woman will appreciate a hundred Napoleons at their true
+value. Arpad must obey his mother's wishes, and what she promises for
+him he must do. I know the circumstances."
+
+"You are a very sensible man. I should have begun with the mother, but
+it never occurred to me. Well, manage it all for me. If you only
+accomplish it I shall do whatever you ask me."
+
+She was in such good-humor that the abbé saw he could ask her
+anything; still, it was with a slight hesitation that he said:
+
+"I want you to give me an invitation for your charity concert for a
+friend of mine."
+
+"You shall have ten," cried Eveline, joyfully.
+
+"I only require one, but this invitation must be written with your own
+hand."
+
+"Give me the name of your friend and I will write the card this
+moment."
+
+As she spoke she seated herself at her writing-table, took an
+invitation-card from her drawer, and made all ready to begin.
+
+"Now the name."
+
+"Prince Waldemar Sondersheim."
+
+When she heard the name Eveline threw down her pen and sprang hastily
+to her feet.
+
+"No," she said, decidedly, "never!"
+
+The abbé burst into a shrill laugh. "Your excitement is very
+becoming," he said. "You are a fine actress."
+
+"I shall not invite Prince Sondersheim to my concert," returned
+Eveline, seating herself on the sofa with a defiant air.
+
+"Is the prince disagreeable to you?"
+
+"I loathe him."
+
+"Do you imagine that the world contains nothing but simpletons like
+Arpad Belenyi?"
+
+Eveline got up from the sofa, went to the writing-table, and tore the
+programme she had been writing into a hundred pieces.
+
+"Arpad may stay at home, tied to his mother's apron-strings. I don't
+want him nor any one. I'll give up the concert;" and she threw the
+torn fragments of her programme into the fireplace.
+
+The abbé rose from his seat and took the excited girl by the hand.
+
+"Compose yourself, my dear young lady," he said. "I have come to you
+on a most urgent matter--a matter which is of serious consequence to
+you and your husband, and I do not deny that it is of great moment to
+me. I may, in fact, call it of vital importance to each one of us. If
+it should turn out as badly as it threatens your husband shall have to
+go to America, I must return to my monastery, and what will become of
+you I do not know."
+
+Eveline sat down again on the sofa. She listened to him attentively.
+
+"At all events, you will have to go out of this," went on the abbé,
+"and that without loss of time. You must know that the old Prince
+Theobald, after you had returned to him the palace in the Maximilian
+Strasse, which he had made a present to you, took shares in your name
+in the Bondavara Company to the amount of a million."
+
+"I never knew it," said Eveline.
+
+"That proves that you never thought of asking your husband what the
+expense of this splendid hotel was, to say nothing of your magnificent
+carriage and horses, your numerous servants, your conservatory--"
+
+"I thought that my salary, added to what Herr Kaulmann--" She stopped
+suddenly; the incredulous smile on the abbé's lips made her silent. He
+continued:
+
+"All this splendor is at an end. A telegram which came a few hours ago
+brings the news that, at the suit of his son-in-law, Prince Theobald's
+affairs have been placed in the hands of trustees; the trustees will,
+without any doubt, seize the shares taken for you."
+
+"They may do as they like," returned the girl, indifferently.
+
+"Oh, there may be a lawsuit! But there is worse to come. Another
+telegram brings the news that last week there was a fearful explosion
+at the Bondavara colliery."
+
+At this news Eveline gave a cry; then quickly asked:
+
+"And Herr Behrend, has his mine also exploded?"
+
+The abbé looked somewhat surprised, but continued, in his earnest
+manner:
+
+"I believe not. The company's shares, however, have received a
+terrible blow. The more so, that one of the collieries is still
+burning, with no chance of being extinguished."
+
+As he spoke he looked fixedly at her, and his penetration soon took in
+the truth: that her joy at the escape of Behrend's property outweighed
+her sorrow for her husband's loss.
+
+"You can understand," continued the abbé, "in what danger we are of
+actual ruin; everything now depends upon one thing. Of course, you are
+aware that, in consequence of the Bondavara Company, Kaulmann's
+reputation is one of the highest in the financial world. Millions of
+money have actually been put into the affair, and ten times as much is
+floating in the air of the stock-exchange. Money is not a tangible
+quantity. This catastrophe--which, after all, may still be averted,
+for it is possible that the fire may be extinguished--will be a
+terrible engine in the hands of the enemies of the company, who want,
+above all things, to upset Kaulmann. The colliery explosion is a
+powder-mine in the hands of the bears. To-day he is a king, hands full
+of gold are stretched out to him, a hundred millions are eagerly
+offered to him; to-morrow these very people will surround him,
+clamoring to get back their money, which they have intrusted to him.
+Whether the cry is raised or not depends altogether on one man, and
+this man is Prince Waldemar Sondersheim. He is here; he arrived
+to-day. Probably he has had news of the explosion sooner than
+Kaulmann, whose director, Rauné, no doubt, hoped against hope to get
+the fire under. Kaulmann's fate lies in the hands of Prince
+Sondersheim, and so does my own. I do not conceal it. I was the pivot
+of an enormous, world-wide project. To-morrow Kaulmann's proposal for
+the Church loan was to be laid before the financial world of Paris and
+Brussels; it is an important crisis that may give to history a new
+page. If Prince Waldemar makes use of his knowledge of the collapse of
+the Bondavara Company to raise a cry against us, then the whole fabric
+upon which so much is built vanishes as a dream. If he or his bears
+call out on the exchange that the Bondavara shares are sixty per cent.
+below par we are lost. If he keeps silent the loan will float
+splendidly, and then the Bondavara misfortune will sink into a matter
+of small importance, such as constantly occurs in the money-market.
+Now you can understand what an effect a word from you may have, and
+what you can do if you speak this word."
+
+Eveline shook her head, and laid her finger on her lips; she looked
+the very genius of silence.
+
+"What!" cried the abbé, his anger getting the better of him, "you
+refuse? You think more of one word that can cost you nothing than of
+the consequences? The Holy See may be overthrown, the standard of
+infidelity may be unfurled, the saints torn from their shrines--and
+all for a woman's caprice."
+
+Eveline spread out her arms as if she were engaged in a combat with a
+giant. She called out, in a resolute voice:
+
+"No; I cannot speak to that man."
+
+The abbé grew angry. He said to himself if he could not persuade this
+vexatious woman, at least he would give himself the pleasure of
+wounding her in a tender point. He took his hat in his hand, and,
+holding it behind his back, said, in a cold, cutting voice:
+
+"I neither understand your dislike to the prince nor your extreme
+delicacy. Prince Sondersheim is no way inferior to the men you have
+admitted to your intimacy."
+
+At this insult Eveline seized the hand of the abbé, and cried, with a
+sudden abandonment of her usual reserve:
+
+"Oh, father, I have never been a wife; I am still as innocent as a
+child!"
+
+The abbé looked at her in unfeigned astonishment. He saw by her
+burning blushes, her modest, downcast eyes, her childish sobs, that
+she was speaking the truth. He sighed deeply; he could not help it. It
+was his last stake, and he had lost. Good-bye to glory, to greatness.
+All had vanished into thin air at Eveline's words; they had scattered
+his dreams. He recognized that all the great deeds which have made men
+famous were as dust and ashes in comparison with the real nobility of
+soul possessed by this peasant girl, this woman who, in obedience to
+her husband's infamous commands, and because she had sworn to obey
+him, had worn the mask of a Phryne while she preserved the purity of a
+saint. By no act of his should she descend from her pedestal.
+
+"Eveline," he said, in a voice of deep emotion, "the words you have
+spoken banish me to my cell. My dreams of power and splendor lie in
+the dust--their fitting place. You said,'I am still innocent'; my
+child, keep yourself so. The French law recognizes no marriage unless
+it has been contracted before the civil authorities. Your marriage
+with Felix Kaulmann is in this country null and void; you are here
+Mademoiselle Eva Dirkmal, nothing more. You can tell Kaulmann that I
+have told you this. I have given him the same information, as he
+wished to free himself from this nominal tie to you. And now,
+farewell; I return to my monastery, to reconcile myself with an
+offended God."
+
+Eva Dirkmal threw herself at the feet of the priest, and covered his
+hands with tears and kisses.
+
+"Put your hand upon my head," she sobbed, "and ask God to bless me."
+
+"My daughter," said the abbé, "an invincible hand watches over you and
+protects you. May you ever be thus safely guarded."
+
+With these words the priest left the room. He did as he said; he
+sought no further interview with Kaulmann, but went straight to the
+railway, and buried himself in his monastery. The world knew him no
+more.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+MAN AND WIFE
+
+
+Felix lost no time in seeking an interview with Prince Waldemar. He
+preferred to look for him in his own house than to meet him
+accidentally on 'change.
+
+Waldemar did not keep him long waiting, neither did he treat him to
+any display of his superior rank. He received him in his study.
+
+"Ah, your highness is occupied with business," said Felix, with the
+airy manner of an intimate friend; but he was secretly astonished to
+see that a man of the prince's high position was actually cutting the
+pages of the pamphlet before him, and underlining with red and blue
+pencil-marks the passages that pleased him most.
+
+The prince laid down the pamphlet, and asked Felix to take a chair.
+
+"I have only this moment heard," continued the banker, "that your
+excellency had arrived in Paris, and I hastened to be the first to pay
+my respects."
+
+"Strange! At this very moment, I, too, was occupying myself with your
+affairs," returned the prince, with a peculiar smile, which Felix
+noted and thought he understood. He tried to put on a jaunty air as he
+made answer:
+
+"I have come as an envoy under the protection of a flag of truce into
+the enemy's country."
+
+The prince thought to himself, "The fellow's flag of truce is a
+handkerchief worked with the letter E."
+
+"Even greater powers than we," went on Felix, twirling his hat in his
+fingers with some embarrassment, "have in sudden emergencies
+co-operated, and from being enemies have become fast friends,
+recognizing that to bury the hatchet was for their mutual advantage."
+
+"And may I inquire what is for our mutual advantage?"
+
+"My projected loan."
+
+The prince said nothing, but the smile that played upon his thin lips
+was a sufficient and most irritating answer. Felix began to lose his
+calmness. He rose from his chair, and in his earnestness leaned over
+the table at which the prince was sitting.
+
+"Prince," he said "this loan is for the benefit of the Holy See. You
+are, I know, a good Catholic."
+
+"Who has betrayed my secret?"
+
+"Besides, you are a thorough aristocrat. It must go against your
+highness's feelings to see that while in Hungary a bureaucratic
+minister pillages the Church and puts its revenues in his pocket, a
+band of freebooters throws the patrimony of St. Peter to the mob. All
+this can be prevented by our striking one blow. You will strike it,
+for you are a nobleman in the best sense of the word."
+
+"What else am I?"
+
+"Above all, you are a financier. It cannot escape your keen eye that
+this loan is one of the greatest, the soundest of speculations; for
+you are a prudent man, and you know how to add two and two."
+
+"Have I any other qualifications?"
+
+Waldemar's cold, sarcastic rejoinders did not put Felix out of
+countenance. His face assumed a still more amiable expression as he
+offered his hand to the prince, saying, in a cordial manner:
+
+"I trust you will be the honored friend of the house of Kaulmann."
+
+These words would be met either by a warm shake of the hand or by a
+box on the ear. He ran the risk, waiting breathlessly for the answer,
+which was different from, and yet worse than, that he expected. The
+prince took up the pamphlet which he had been busy underlining with
+red and blue pencil.
+
+"Now, my excellent brother in the faith, my fellow aristocrat, my
+comrade in finance, and my best friend, just you throw your eye over
+this little brochure, for there you will find my answer. I beg that
+you will take your time."
+
+He handed the pamphlet to Felix, and while that gentleman cast his eye
+over it the prince pared his nails carefully.
+
+Felix laid down the pamphlet. "This purports to be my biography."
+
+"As I think the title-page mentions."
+
+"Your highness is, I presume, the writer?"
+
+"I have given the heads."
+
+"There are all manner of affairs mentioned here in which I have played
+a sorry part by throwing dust in the eyes of the public, principally,
+however, in the Bondavara speculation, in which, it seems, I have
+announced a false balance and a feigned bonus, drawn ten millions out
+of the capital, which capital is now irrecoverably lost by the late
+catastrophe in the mine. It is a terrible indictment against me."
+
+"Perhaps it is not true?"
+
+"_It is true!_ Your highness is my faithful biographer; but allow me
+to fill up the details of the memoir. The unlooked-for misfortune of
+yesterday can be repaired to-morrow; the unlucky speculation may be
+glossed over if a better takes its place; a small defeat is
+compensated by a great victory. What use does your highness intend to
+make of this brochure?"
+
+"Frankly, I intend, as soon as you declare your new loan, to circulate
+this pamphlet freely on 'change. I shall then set the bears to work,
+so that in no time your shares shall be driven out of the market."
+
+"I guessed as much, and, to be frank, it was on this very account that
+I have come here, to prevent, if I can, such ruin to myself."
+
+Felix tried by continuous winking of his eyes to express his despair.
+He put his right hand into his vest, and in a low voice added:
+
+"Perhaps when you see me stretched dead before you your aim will then
+be accomplished."
+
+Prince Waldemar broke into an irrepressible fit of laughter and
+clapped Kaulmann on the shoulder.
+
+"I beg of you not to act a farce for my benefit. You did not come here
+to blow your brains out. Nothing of the sort; you came to sell me
+something. You are a ruined speculator, but you still possess one
+jewel of value, a wonderful black carbuncle which you found in the
+coal-mine and got smoothly cut, which you have already sold at a great
+profit, but which is now back on your hands. You are perfectly aware
+that I desire to get this jewel if I can, that I am willing to offer
+all I have for it; and this is why you have come here to-day. Let us
+understand one another. I will treat with you. What is your price?"
+
+The prince threw himself back in his chair, but he let Kaulmann stand
+without again asking him to be seated.
+
+The banker gave up his tragic manner, and resumed his customary cool,
+hard, matter-of-fact voice.
+
+"First of all, this;" and he laid his hand upon the pamphlet.
+
+"Good! You shall have it--a thousand copies and the manuscript. You
+can burn it, unless you care to keep it as a souvenir."
+
+"Secondly," went on Felix, "you must abandon your conspiracy against
+me. During the three days of raising the loan your bears are to keep
+quiet; there are to be no manœuvres. Thirdly, your name must appear in
+the list of subscribers with a good sum after it."
+
+"Good! We shall understand one another. Now listen to my modifications
+of your proposal. On the first day when the shares of the new loan are
+drawn I undertake to keep the bears quiet, but I shall take no shares.
+On the second day I shall also keep quiet, but I shall not give you a
+shove. On the third day I shall take one million shares, and from that
+time I undertake to push your speculation as if I were your best
+friend."
+
+"And why not on the first two days?"
+
+"I will tell you what is to happen on those days. This very day you
+must go to madame and tell her that Prince Theobald's fortune is
+sequestrated and that she can no longer occupy his hotel. Madame was
+once generous enough to return to the prince his palace in the
+Maximilian Strasse, together with all it contained. She will have to
+repeat this act of renunciation and return to her husband's roof. Her
+husband must celebrate this happy event by a splendid entertainment,
+to which he will, as a matter of course, invite his best friend." Here
+the prince laid, with a significant gesture, his little finger on his
+breast. "The friend will take this opportunity to show madame a
+photograph of his summer palace, which is situated on the Lake of
+Constance, and only waits for the presence of its mistress to be
+perfection, while she stands in great need of the lovely breezes of
+the lake to restore her."
+
+"You are really very thoughtful."
+
+"Do not praise me too soon. On the second day you must have an
+explanation with madame. You will tell her that in France a marriage,
+to be legal, must be contracted before the civil magistrate; therefore
+you will go with her before the registrar and have yourself legally
+married."
+
+"But, prince," cried Felix, with a horrified expression upon his face,
+"why should I do that?"
+
+"Why?" returned the prince, standing up in his turn, so as to be able
+the better to overwhelm his victim. "Because I wish to defeat your
+little game. You took to yourself a wife in another country, knowing
+you could repudiate her here. It is my wish that madame shall bear
+your name always; otherwise you would have it in your power on the
+fourth day to say to me, 'I gave you what was not mine to give.' I
+shall have the diamond in its proper setting. I shall not remove the
+centre-stone from your wedding-ring; but I shall wear it on _my_
+finger."
+
+Kaulmann could not conceal his embarrassment. "This whim is
+incomprehensible," he said.
+
+"On the contrary," returned the other, with a devilish sneer, "it is
+quite clear; it simply means that _I know you au fond_. And now to my
+own affairs. I am desperately in love with one woman, and she detests
+me. She will not even look at me. But she little thinks I know the
+reason of her abhorrence. Your wife is a virtuous woman. You look
+surprised--naturally. It is no merit of yours that she has remained
+so. Oh, you need not protest! Prince Theobald has told me the whole
+history. Among other things, he made her swear that she would never
+receive me. Poor old fool! He did not act with much knowledge of human
+nature. If he had not interfered it's very likely I should have tired
+of pursuing a woman who did not care for me; but the mystery that
+surrounded her has added to my interest. I adore her, not alone for
+her beauty, her charm, but for her innocence, her goodness. She
+requires nothing to raise her in my estimation; but before the world
+she must take her fitting place. She must have the shield of her
+husband's name, the right to his protection. Now you understand what I
+require of you."
+
+"Prince, your ideas are demoniacal. You wish to bind me to my
+dishonor."
+
+"To your dishonor!" and the prince laughed scornfully. "My good
+Kaulmann, who asked you to come here and sell your honor? Ah, you
+cannot answer that! Never mind, we shall keep our secret; the world
+shall know nothing. In society the head of the house of Kaulmann shall
+be considered an honorable gentleman, an excellent husband, a good
+family man. In the commercial world he will be looked upon as a sound
+financier. Honors will crowd upon him; he will go far. . . . His real
+position will be known to only three people. There, my good friend,
+don't feign so much virtuous indignation. You are overacting, which
+always spoils the effect. I will take it all for granted. Time is
+short; it will be better to make use of it."
+
+This was true. Every moment was precious. Felix abandoned all attempts
+at outraged feelings of honor and the like, and, composing his
+agitated features, held out his hand to the prince. The latter,
+however, did not take it.
+
+"There's no need to shake hands over our honorable compact. Take your
+note-book and write down the conditions, and be sure you put the dates
+correctly. To-morrow, if I receive by one o'clock the card of
+invitation to your entertainment, I shall remain away from the
+exchange. The next day I do the same; that is, if I receive _before_
+one o'clock the official notification that your civil marriage has
+taken place. On the _fourth_ day, if _before_ one o'clock your
+solicitor brings me the news that you have set off to Brussels to
+negotiate the papal loan, and that he hands me the key of your house,
+with the request that I will look after the business in your absence,
+then I shall go down to the exchange, and push your affair as if it
+were my own. Now you may go, sir, and indulge your outraged feelings
+in private."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+EVA DIRKMAL
+
+
+Felix Kaulmann felt that he had made good use of his opportunity. All
+would now go well. The prince would no longer avail himself of the
+Bondavara catastrophe to ruin him; on the contrary, his influence
+would stem the panic which the news had, no doubt, already caused in
+the Vienna money-market, and when the papal loan was concluded all
+would be smooth. There was Eveline, of course; but a man such as
+Kaulmann, whose conscience had long since been as withered as was his
+heart, soon found excuses for any ill-doing. No one could blame him
+for the prince's infatuation; it would be only a fool who wouldn't
+take advantage of it, especially one in his situation. A drowning man
+catches at any plank; and as for Eveline, she owed him a debt of
+gratitude. Had he not raised her from the very dust of the coal-pit to
+her present situation, saved her from a brutal husband like the savage
+Saffran, educated her, made her a fit companion for a prince? Better
+women than she would be glad of the elevation that was awaiting her;
+and this reminded him that the Abbé Samuel's interview must have
+opened the matter, so he went in search of him. The priest, however,
+was not to be found at any of his usual haunts. Felix, therefore,
+repaired to Eveline's hotel; neither was she at home. She had gone to
+the theatre; it was one of her acting nights.
+
+Felix drove to the Opera-house. He went first to his wife's box, where
+there was no one but her companion. He took a view of the house. In
+the pit there were numerous _claqueurs_. In one of the front boxes he
+saw Prince Waldemar. Then he went behind the scenes, for he was known
+as the husband of the prima donna and was allowed access to her
+dressing-room.
+
+Eveline was dressed for her part and waiting to go on. When she saw
+Kaulmann she turned away angrily. Why did he disturb her when she was
+busy with her calling?
+
+"I have only come to wish you good-evening," he said.
+
+"You might have waited until to-morrow."
+
+"To wish you good-evening? Ha! ha!"
+
+"No; but you know I am always so nervous before I go on--"
+
+"I only wished to tell you that the cream of Parisian society are
+fighting to get tickets for your concert. Have you reserved one for
+me?" Felix was full of amiability and admiration.
+
+"I have reserved none."
+
+"Ah! And why not?" He said this in a soft, complaining voice.
+
+"Because I have given up the concert. It shall not take place."
+
+The face of her husband suddenly lengthened. "Will you kindly tell me
+the reason of this change?"
+
+"After I have come off. My scene has come. I must go." So saying, she
+left the room and went to the wings.
+
+Felix followed to a point from which he could see his wife on the
+stage and have a general view of the house.
+
+Eveline played badly and sang worse. Her voice trembled, she was out
+of tune, and her runs and _roulades_ were imperfect. She was evidently
+nervous. Nevertheless, she was applauded to the echo, the _claque_
+worked hard; and Prince Waldemar, from his box, clapped as if he had
+been paid for it. When she had finished her last song a shower of
+bouquets and wreaths came from the prince's box and fell at her feet.
+
+Eveline left them on the stage and hurried away to her dressing-room.
+Kaulmann followed her.
+
+"Why didn't you pick up those lovely bouquets?" he asked, carelessly.
+
+"I felt I didn't deserve any. I know I did badly to-night."
+
+"But surely for the sake of the giver you should have taken one of the
+bouquets."
+
+"Ah, you would like that."
+
+"I?"
+
+"Yes. All those flowers came from you--at least, so I have always
+understood."
+
+"Pardon me, _ma chère_. Didn't you notice that they all came from the
+side box? Didn't you recognize who was in that box?"
+
+"I never looked."
+
+"It was Prince Waldemar."
+
+"The man who is your enemy--who wants to ruin you?"
+
+"Oh, that is not so! He has quite changed. He is now _our_ best
+friend."
+
+"_Our_ friend? Whom do you include in 'our'?"
+
+"You, as well as myself."
+
+"Thanks; but I decline my share."
+
+"I am afraid you will find it difficult to stand aloof, for I consider
+Prince Waldemar as my best friend, and henceforth my house is open to
+him as to a brother."
+
+"As you please. My house shall be shut in his face."
+
+"I am sorry, but your words oblige me to break a disagreeable piece of
+news to you. But I see you are busy; you don't take any interest--"
+
+"Go on talking," returned Eveline, who was standing before the
+looking-glass washing the paint off her face. "I am listening."
+
+"For the future, I regret to say, you will not have a house of your
+own. The affairs of your friend, Prince Theobald, have been
+sequestrated; his property is now in the hands of trustees. I need not
+tell you, for I am sure you have known all along, that the hotel you
+occupy, together with all your expenses, has been paid for by him.
+This, naturally, is at an end. In my circumstances I could not afford
+to give you a separate establishment; we will, therefore, be obliged
+to live together, and it follows naturally that I shall expect my wife
+to receive as her guests _my friends_, and to make them welcome."
+
+Eveline had laid aside her queenly robes; she now took off her diadem,
+and as she slowly unfastened her bracelets she turned and faced Felix.
+
+"And do you think," she said, "that when I leave my hotel I cannot get
+for myself a garret somewhere, where there will be a door with a
+strong bolt, with which I can bar the entrance of any unpleasant
+visitors?"
+
+Felix looked at her in amazement; he constrained himself to take a
+more friendly tone.
+
+"I must call your attention to one fact. We are in Paris, and the
+French marital law is strict. A wife must dwell under her husband's
+roof. She must go where he goes. She must obey him."
+
+Eveline was now busy undoing the gold sandals which bound her feet.
+She looked steadily at Kaulmann, with her eyes glowing like lamps.
+
+"I must call your attention," she said, "to one fact. We are in Paris,
+and according to the French law those persons who have been married
+before the altar, and not before the civil authorities, are not
+considered legally married, and that, therefore, our marriage is null
+and void."
+
+Kaulmann sprang to his feet as if he had been bitten by a tarantula.
+
+"What are you saying?" he cried, in a voice that was almost a shriek.
+
+Eveline had loosened the golden sandals. She stood before Felix in her
+bare feet, and threw him the sandals.
+
+"These belong to you. I am once more Eva Dirkmal. I belong to myself."
+
+"Who has told you this?" stammered the banker, pale with rage.
+
+"The Abbé Samuel, who advised you to treat me in the same manner."
+
+Kaulmann felt the room going round.
+
+"And now," continued Eveline, with a dignified motion of her hand, "I
+must remind you that this is the dressing-room of a young girl."
+
+Felix did not wait to have his dismissal repeated; he took his hat and
+went without another word. He ran away, and he ran so fast that he
+took no heed where he was going till he stumbled and fell.
+
+All was over; he had played his last card and lost. Everything was
+gone; there was no more help. He had two courses open to him: he might
+put a pistol to his head, and so end the drama, or he might take all
+the money in his counting-house and fly. He chose the last.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+CRUSHED
+
+
+Eveline felt as if she had been given new life. She was no longer
+married, and yet she was not a widow. She had to shed no tears over
+happiness that had vanished, no regrets for domestic joys. Her heart
+was full of newly awakened desires, hopes she hardly dared to confess
+to herself, dreams that delighted while they embarrassed her--a
+delicious riddle that she feared to guess. Next day, however, when she
+heard that Kaulmann had absconded and would never return, she
+recognized fully that her chains had fallen off.
+
+When the caged bird has escaped into the open air of heaven, does he
+ever regret his gilded cage and all its luxurious comforts or the
+tender endearments of his owner? The bird enjoys his freedom, and
+rejoices he is no longer a slave. It may be that wilder and stronger
+birds tear him in pieces; that the frost and rain may chill his body,
+unused to exposure. He cares not. He wings his flight still higher; he
+seeks for a branch; he cooes to his lady-love; he is happy.
+
+Eveline never for one moment reflected that she was in any way
+implicated in the fall of Kaulmann and the shame that attended his
+ruin. She had no idea that her name was bandied about. She who had
+been as a queen, who had been so admired, had such a _succès_! What
+was to become of her now? She belongs to no one. No one knows
+anything of her past; but it is pretty safe to prophesy her future.
+She will have another protector. Of course; but who will he be? Which
+of her many admirers? She has a legion of adorers from which to
+choose.
+
+This was the talk of the clubs and the gossip of society. While
+Eveline sat in her room, rejoicing at her new life of freedom, an idea
+suddenly came into her head. She looked for Arpad's visiting-card,
+ordered her carriage, and drove out to visit the Belenyis. They lived
+some little way from Paris, in the suburbs, where houses can still be
+had with rooms on the ground floor. Madame Belenyi liked to live on
+the ground floor. The house she had lost was of this sort, and it had
+the advantage that, having her own kitchen, she could cook for her
+son, and feel sure he was not dining at some tavern in bad company.
+Unless on special occasions Arpad invariably came home to dine with
+his mother; he would not have missed doing so for a splendid feast. He
+thought there was nothing to compare with her dishes of pig's ear and
+delicately cooked vegetables.
+
+Eveline's coachman found it hard to make out the narrow little street
+in the neighborhood of Montmartre, where the Belenyis had established
+themselves. Eveline would not let the carriage go farther than the
+corner; there she got out, and, accompanied by her footman, walked up
+the street, looking for the right house. It was an old fashioned
+cottage, in which Madame Belenyi had hired two rooms divided by a
+kitchen. A girl who was working in the garden showed Eveline where the
+young gentleman lived. As Eveline pushed open the kitchen-door very
+gently she noticed that the door of the inner room opened suddenly and
+a woman looked out. This was undoubtedly Arpad's mother, who was
+curious to see who had come to visit her son.
+
+Eveline went on her toes to the door of the opposite apartment, and
+noiselessly turned the handle; she wanted to surprise Arpad.
+
+His room was the picture of comfort and order. It was easy to see how
+carefully it was kept by his mother. The table, the walls, were
+crowded with handsome pictures and ornaments, the gift of different
+persons--cups, wood-carvings, antique weapons, classical paintings;
+the windows were supplied with plants in bloom; there were bookcases
+full of books. Everything was well arranged; there was taste and
+comfort, and Arpad liked to be at home better than anywhere else. The
+hired piano was from Erard's manufactory, and was now open. Arpad was
+sitting with his back to it, brush in hand; he was painting. The
+pianoforte-player was also a painter. Artists, many of them, indulge
+in these freaks. One of our most distinguished portrait-painters loves
+to torture his neighbors by scratching like a cat upon the strings of
+a violin; so also a well-known musician spends his time writing feeble
+verses; and a third, who is a real poet, produces unsightly
+excrescences in marble and terra-cotta.
+
+What was Arpad painting?
+
+Eveline stepped softly behind his back, but the rustle of her silk
+dress betrayed her presence.
+
+Arpad turned scarlet, shoved the picture into a drawer, and, getting
+up quickly, confronted his visitor, who had only time to see that it
+was a portrait he was painting.
+
+"Ah, it is you," he stammered, in an embarrassed voice. "I thought it
+was my mother."
+
+"Aha, you are doing something you should not! Your mother does not
+allow you to paint; isn't that it? Well, it is a silly thing, I must
+say, for a pianoforte-player to spend his time painting; and what is
+the subject?"
+
+"Oh, nothing--a flower!"
+
+("What a lie!" thought Eveline; "it was a portrait.")
+
+"Then if it is a flower, give it to me."
+
+"I should rather not."
+
+"But if it is only a flower?"
+
+"I am not going to give it to you."
+
+"Don't be so cross. Won't you ask me to sit down?"
+
+Arpad was really vexed. Why had she come to disturb him just at this
+moment? Any other time she would have been welcome. This beginning
+spoiled the happy hour; for the picture was not Eveline's portrait.
+
+"Sit near me, else I shall think you are afraid of me. I expected that
+you would have come to see me, to find fault with me for my
+performance yesterday evening. Tell me frankly--didn't I sing badly?"
+
+"Very badly," returned Arpad, discontentedly. "You are going back
+instead of forward; and you seem to forget all you learn. I was quite
+ashamed of you. And your acting! I thought I was looking at an
+automaton."
+
+"To tell you the truth, I was in a miserable state of mind; I had
+several domestic troubles. I am separated from Kaulmann."
+
+"That was no reason to sing false; he wasn't worth risking your
+engagement for, and playing in such a perfunctory manner--singing,
+too, all out of tune. You never troubled yourself much about him."
+(Arpad knew nothing of what had happened to Kaulmann; the news had not
+penetrated to Montmartre.) "And, at all events, you should have had
+the discretion not to order a shower of bouquets when you were doing
+so badly; it doesn't look well."
+
+Eveline was very much wounded at this unjust accusation. She answered,
+almost crying:
+
+"I beg to assure you I have never ordered bouquets to be thrown to
+me."
+
+"Well, it was one of your adorers, that crazy prince. It is all the
+same thing. To be handsome, to sing badly, and to receive wreaths,
+those are three sins rolled into one. The world cannot distinguish
+between them."
+
+"Very well; go on finding fault, go on scolding, my excellent old
+master. What else have I done that is displeasing to you?"
+
+Arpad began to laugh, and held out his hand to Eveline.
+
+"Forgive me," he said. "My roughness is only the grumble of the
+preceptor; it is over. Now we shall be young again and chat. Shall I
+fetch the draught-board? Shall we play for love or for nothing?"
+
+This tone warmed Eveline's heart. She laughed, and slapped Arpad's
+hand, which he did not like.
+
+"What are you going to do now you have got rid of Kaulmann?" he said.
+"Will you marry again? Is another man ready for the yoke? Men are as
+plentiful as blackberries. Or are you going to preserve the autonomy
+of the actress?"
+
+Eveline cast down her eyes and grew suddenly grave.
+
+"I have no one," she said, sorrowfully.
+
+"Ah, that does not mean that there are not plenty you can have if you
+like."
+
+"It means the same thing. I shall belong to no one. I shall never take
+a husband who is above me in station. Do you see, the girl who went
+barefoot in the coal-mine must stay in her own class. If I could give
+any one a place in my heart, it would be to one who was as free and
+independent as I am. He should owe nothing to great people; he should
+depend absolutely on his own genius; live absolutely by his own work.
+He should be esteemed not for his money nor his rank, but for his
+talent; he should glory in being an artist."
+
+This was a frank confession for any one who understood. Arpad
+understood; he became more discontented.
+
+"H'm! Then I am afraid you are walking in a path that leads you away
+from such a man as you describe."
+
+"What _do you_ mean?"
+
+Arpad got up from his chair. "Artists have many strange ideas; these
+are inseparable from the artistic temperament. Do you see that antique
+goblet there in the centre of the table? It was a present to me from
+Count Demidoff on the occasion of a concert. It was an heirloom in his
+family. It is a wonderful relic; a classical work. Princes, generals,
+rulers have drunk out of it. I have a great respect for it, and I keep
+my visitors' cards in it. But I never drink out of it; I prefer a
+common glass, for which I have paid fifteen pence, but out of which no
+one has drunk but myself."
+
+Eveline flushed deeply at this cruel speech.
+
+Arpad had, however, resolved to make the matter still clearer.
+
+"You say," he went on, "that you would like to find an artist, a
+genius, a proud, independent man; him you would choose for your
+husband! And you imagine that a man of this type would submit to sit
+by your side as you drove in the Champs Élysées, knowing that the
+people driving behind in other carriages or walking along the path
+were saying, 'There is the curled and scented Hyperion, but the steeds
+that draw him are not paid for by _his_ muse, they are the
+blood-horses of Prince X----; and his wife is not content with the
+glory of _his_ name, she wears the diamonds provided by Marquis
+G----.' Do you think you will easily find such a husband?"
+
+Poor Eveline! She tried to defend herself against this cruel boy.
+
+"But I am ready to throw away all splendor--everything that is not
+earned by my honest labor. I wish to live by my art, to be what I
+am--an actress. I would work night and day to perfect myself. I do not
+want any other distinction but that of an artist."
+
+Arpad then told her what she had never heard until now. Children and
+fools speak the truth, and in Arpad there was a mixture of both; he
+was a child in years, and a fool as regarded the claims of art.
+
+"My dear Eveline, you are not an artist; you will never be an actress;
+you are one of the step-daughters of the muses. There are many such,
+to whom have been given great capabilities; one only is
+wanting--courage. You sing wonderfully well, you act with feeling,
+with humor--_at home_, before three people; but so soon as the lights
+of the proscenium are lit your voice grows weak, you sing false, you
+see and hear nothing, and you act like a wooden doll. This is called
+stage-fright, and it is _never cured_; it has ruined more brilliant
+careers than the critics have. You shake your head and appeal to your
+former triumphs. Don't deceive yourself; I know the machinery of the
+stage well, and how artificial thunder and lightning are manufactured.
+At every performance you gain a triumph; you receive thunders of
+applause, mountains of flowers. The morning after your performance
+your breakfast-table is covered with newspapers teeming with laudatory
+criticisms. This is all gold-dust, and will only last as long as some
+rich admirer pays the piper. But try the experiment of closing your
+doors to your wealthy patrons, and step on the boards with no help
+but your own talents; ask to be applauded for your own sake. Then you
+will learn the price of the entertainment, and that the critic's
+praise is only to be bought."
+
+Eveline's head sank. She knew that every word he said was true. Arpad
+viewed the matter not so much from the artistic side as from his
+youthful, ardent nature. He was indignant against the fashions of the
+world; he was indignant that Eveline should have lent herself to these
+low intrigues, and so taken the place of better artists, better
+musicians, better actresses; but in his heart he was sorry for her.
+She had been kind to him; she had never offended him. Why was he so
+cruel to her? It was due to the petulance of his boy's nature. Why had
+_she_ disturbed him when he was happy at his painting? Why had she
+asked him questions? What was it to her whether it were a flower, and,
+if it were a flower, why should she want it? And when he put out his
+hand, why should she tap it in that intimate manner? The picture was
+not painted for her.
+
+"What shall I do? What am I fit for?" asked Eveline, with a downcast
+air. Her beautiful eyes were full of tears; she was crushed to the
+earth.
+
+The young man considered a few minutes what he should answer. As she
+had asked to drink the chalice she should do so to the dregs.
+
+"You have two courses open to you, for I would not advise you to take
+a third and return to your husband. If I were a woman I would prefer
+to lie stretched out at the morgue than be the joint possessor of that
+man's ill-gotten wealth. We therefore have only the two courses to
+consider. Either you continue on the stage as before, take the bought
+applause and the flowers paid for by your noble patrons, or return
+from whence you came, and be content to shove wheelbarrows for the
+rest of your life."
+
+Eveline rose from her seat, drew her wrap round her shoulders, and,
+with a low, constrained voice, murmured:
+
+"Thank you." Then she silently left the room.
+
+Tears came into Arpad's eyes. But why had she come here? Why had she
+disturbed him when he was happy painting? The moment she had closed
+the door he returned to the table and took from the drawer _his
+flower_, to see if it had sustained any injury. It was in one sense a
+flower--a fair child with blue eyes!
+
+The door opened again; the picture was hastily concealed. No one,
+however, came in. Arpad's mother spoke through the half-opened door.
+
+"Arpad, my son, who was that beautiful lady who was here just now? A
+princess, was she not?"
+
+"She was a poor woman who came to beg from me."
+
+"H'm! Surprising! What extraordinary beggars there are in this
+city--beggars dressed in silk, with a Persian shawl for a wrap. Did
+you give her anything, Arpad?"
+
+"Mother, I had nothing to give her."
+
+"You have done well, my boy." And she shut the door and went back to
+her own room to finish stitching at her son's shirt-collar.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+CHARCOAL
+
+
+Eveline had resolved to make a great effort. She recognized that there
+was truth in what Arpad had said; only in one particular he was wrong:
+he had not measured the gulf between "can" and "must."
+
+She felt herself possessed by sudden energy; her resolution to succeed
+grew in proportion as her chance of success was less. Many people have
+found strength in the thought, "If I have no one to care for me, I, at
+least, am master of myself." She would carve her own future; she
+_would_ be an actress. She would show the world what was in her. She
+would nerve herself to courage before the footlights. The very
+circumstances which had deprived her of all courage would now give her
+strength; she would sing to the public as if she were alone. The crowd
+should go for nothing, except in being sharers in her triumph.
+
+She spent a miserable night. The luxury which surrounded her, the
+works of art which lay upon her tables, in her cabinets, the costly
+vases, seemed silently to reproach her; the cups set with precious
+stones recalled Arpad's words. Better to be a glass of fifteen sous
+than a goblet of silver!
+
+At last sleep fell upon her tired eyelids, and in the morning she
+awoke refreshed and full of fresh energy.
+
+This day the opera in which she had sung the day before yesterday was
+to be repeated. The rehearsal was to take place in the morning. At
+this rehearsal, then, she would show what she could do; she would look
+at no one; she would sing like a blind nightingale.
+
+She ordered her carriage. When she reached the theatre she told the
+servants to return for her in two hours.
+
+As she entered the vestibule the stage-manager came to meet her, and
+told her that her part had been given to another singer.
+
+Eveline flew into a passion. Why had it been taken away from her, and
+in such a manner, without asking her permission? Such a want of proper
+deference towards her!
+
+The man regretted the circumstance, but either could not or would not
+offer any explanation. Would she like to see the manager?
+
+Eveline, in a very excited frame of mind, went to look for him; but he
+was not in his office. His secretary, however, handed her a letter,
+which the manager had desired him to send to her address.
+
+Eveline took the letter, and when she was in the hall she broke the
+seal and read it. It was a dismissal, immediate, discourteous, on the
+grounds that she was quite unequal to fill the position of prima
+donna.
+
+How she got out of the theatre and into the street she did not know;
+she came to herself when she saw the crowd of passers-by staring at
+her. She felt that it was no wonder they looked at her. She was
+walking like one who was dead; her body moved forward, but her mind
+was lifeless. It was strange to feel one's self thus annihilated.
+
+Then it was true; the cruel boy was right. The clouds were golden only
+so long as the sun shone. All her splendor had been on the outside.
+There was nothing tangible; nothing came from herself. The whole thing
+had been a _fata morgana_; it had now vanished forever.
+
+Eveline wandered, she didn't know where. Suddenly she found herself
+opposite her own house. She would not have thought it strange if some
+one had told her at the door of the hotel that no one of her name
+lived there, that she had been dead and buried years ago. She thought
+she was too stunned to feel either astonishment or pain, but her
+composure soon gave way under a new trial.
+
+She walked up-stairs, still in a dream, and through her apartment
+until she reached her dressing-room. When she entered it she saw,
+stretched in an arm-chair, Prince Waldemar.
+
+He was faultlessly attired, with a most elegant _tournure_, carefully
+arranged hair, and fair whiskers, hanging down on both sides in what
+were then called "cutlets"; his mustache was pointed and waxed.
+
+Eveline called out, in a voice of fear, mixed with anger:
+
+"May I ask, sir, what you want here?"
+
+"I was waiting to see you," said the prince, with well-bred
+nonchalance; but he never rose from the seat in which he lounged so
+comfortably.
+
+"Who gave you permission to enter my room?"
+
+"I asked for no permission."
+
+"What right have you to intrude yourself here?"
+
+With a lazy air the prince put his hand into the pocket of his coat
+and drew out a red paper like a bill; this he handed to Eveline with a
+slight motion of his head, which conveyed, "This is the cause of my
+presence here."
+
+Eveline took the paper, which trembled in her hand.
+
+"What is it? I do not understand it."
+
+"It is, however, very intelligible," said the prince, at last getting
+out of the chair. "The creditors of Kaulmann have seized your things.
+Kaulmann was careless or thoughtless enough--I really cannot say
+which--to announce that what belonged to his wife was _his_, and
+therefore his creditors have seized everything here, believing it is
+his. During your absence this morning they got the law officers to
+break open your door and to take possession. They affixed a notice
+outside, inviting all passers-by to come in and inspect the things for
+sale. In consequence of this invitation I am here. I came in to look
+about me. You will observe that there are government seals upon
+everything. I am here in the right of purchaser."
+
+Eveline looked round, and saw that what he said was true.
+
+"But, sir, it is impossible. Kaulmann knew perfectly that nothing here
+was his property."
+
+"I am sure of that. It was gross negligence on your lawyer's side; he
+should have protected your interests better. Every one knows that
+Kaulmann brought the goods here; it was supposed that he bought them.
+In any case, he cannot testify in your favor. A misfortune has
+happened to him. When he saw that the police were after him he jumped
+out of the railway-carriage he was in. Unfortunately, he broke his
+neck and died immediately."
+
+Eveline fell back upon the sofa and hid her face in her hands.
+
+"If you wish to shed a few tears to the memory of Kaulmann I will
+retire to the window," remarked Prince Waldemar, with ironical
+courtesy.
+
+Eveline made him no answer. In her mind everything was in confusion;
+she could think of nothing. Let everything go; what did it matter?
+Should she institute a law-suit to recover her property? Should she
+bring witnesses to prove that this ornament, these costly hangings,
+these rich carpets were not the property of her husband, but the gifts
+to her from a gray-beard--the most upright, the dearest of men, a
+Hungarian magnate, who had adopted her, an actress, to be his own
+child, with no self-seeking, no sinful gratification, but out of pure
+affection? No one would credit her story. She would tell it to no one.
+She would not subject the name of her benefactor to the jeers and
+laughter of the incredulous. Sooner let everything go.
+
+"I am not weeping, sir," she said to the prince. "If you have anything
+further to tell me I am ready to listen."
+
+"I could tell you many other unfortunate circumstances," returned
+Waldemar, leaning against the fireplace with the silver grate. "For
+one thing, Prince Theobald, your former patron, has been placed by his
+family under legal restraint, and cannot take any active part in the
+affairs of this world."
+
+"I know that."
+
+"The shares which he took as a provision for you in the Bondavara
+Company have been also sequestrated by law."
+
+"That has been told to me already."
+
+"This loss, however, has a compensation: those shares are now almost
+worthless. Since the colliery explosion, and the impossibility of
+extinguishing the fire in the mine, they have fallen to nothing."
+
+"That does not concern me."
+
+"I have not quite finished. The clergyman who was your friend, whose
+dreams were of a bishop's mitre, has returned to his monastery."
+
+"I have known that some time."
+
+"You seem to have learned everything. Perhaps you know also that your
+manager has cancelled your engagement and given your part to another
+actress?"
+
+"Here is the letter," answered Eveline, drawing a crumpled paper from
+her pocket. And then she looked at the prince with proud contempt. She
+was wondrously beautiful. "Have you taken the trouble to come here to
+tell me all this?" she asked, her eyes gleaming not through tears but
+with indignation.
+
+"I did not come here on that account," answered the prince, sitting
+down on the sofa and bending over her. "I came to speak to you
+frankly. Do you not see that the whole fabric upon which your golden
+dreams were built has crumbled? The Bondavara mine is on fire; the
+shares are falling; the prime-minister is disgraced; the prince is
+under restraint; your husband is dead; your property will be sold by
+auction; you are dismissed from the theatre. The five acts of the
+drama are played out. Let us applaud the finish, if we are so minded,
+and let us begin again. I can give you back your shares. I can get you
+a palace in the Maximilian Strasse. I can buy back for you all your
+seized goods--your furniture, your diamonds, your horses. I can
+arrange matters with the manager of the theatre; you shall be
+reinstated as prima donna on better terms than before. I can give you
+a far greater position than you have ever enjoyed, and I can offer you
+a truer, more self-sacrificing, more adoring lover than you have
+possessed. His name is Waldemar Sondersheim." He bowed low before her.
+
+Eveline looked with intense gravity at the top of his boots.
+
+Waldemar was now certain that he was master of the situation. He took
+from his waistcoat-pocket a watch, and pressed it into her hand.
+
+"My sweetest love, my time is precious. I am expected at the
+stock-exchange. The Kaulmann speculation has to be crushed. It is just
+twelve o'clock. I give you one hour to think over what I have said and
+to decide your own fate. I am content to wait until then; it is only
+one word I ask for--yes or no."
+
+Eveline gave him a yet shorter answer. She dashed the timepiece which
+he had put into her hand with such force on the floor that it flew
+into a hundred pieces. That was her answer!
+
+Prince Waldemar laughed, put his hand in his left-hand
+waistcoat-pocket, took out another watch, and said, dryly:
+
+"I expected just such an answer, and therefore I brought with me
+another watch. I beg of you to break this one also. I shall be only
+too happy to provide you with a third."
+
+This time, however, Eveline did not take the timepiece in her hand.
+She sprang to her feet, and, pointing with her hand towards the door,
+cried out:
+
+"If you have bought my things, take everything away; but the apartment
+is still mine. _Go!_"
+
+Prince Waldemar looked at her haughtily, although he was still
+smiling.
+
+"My dear lady, this is easily said; but reflect a moment. What will
+become of you if you reject me? You have no other expedient."
+
+"I have a shelter," returned the girl, bitterly, "to which I can turn,
+and that is charcoal."
+
+Prince Waldemar made her a low bow, and, without uttering another
+word, took his hat and left her.
+
+A woman who appeals to charcoal needs no man's friendship. In the
+metropolis of fashion many poor wretches have found their last refuge
+there.
+
+That evening Eveline paid a visit to her jeweller. She brought him a
+pair of diamond ear-rings. They were all she had; her ornaments had
+been seized by the law officers. She sold these to the jeweller, and
+left the purchase-money in his care, to be spent in a yearly sum on
+her little brother's grave in Père la Chaise, to have sods of green
+grass round it, and have fresh flowers placed there on All-Souls' Day.
+The jeweller promised, for she had been a good customer. She told him
+she was going to travel. Apparently it was a long journey, for the
+next morning a bundle was found by the police on the banks of the
+Seine. It was tied up in a cashmere shawl, which her maid recognized
+as belonging to the lost actress.
+
+Prince Waldemar offered a large reward to whoever found the body. But
+it was never found, for the bundle laid at the water-side was only a
+pretence; and while every one was dragging the river, Eveline had kept
+her word and sought refuge in the charcoal pit.
+
+Prince Waldemar never heard of her again. He and his household wore
+mourning in memory of her for six weeks.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+
+CSANTA'S LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT
+
+
+We have now to go back to the Bondavara Company before the crash came,
+and when the shares stood at sixty over par, and looked as if they
+would go even higher. But Csanta was satisfied to sell at sixty. There
+could be too much of even a good thing. One should not be too
+grasping, and sixty thousand gulden is a nice profit in one year. He
+thought he would act as Spitzhase had often recommended, and sell out
+his shares in small quantities until they were all gone. It would add
+to the pleasure not to do it all at once.
+
+For some time the quotations had been stationary. He was accustomed to
+go every morning to the café and read the exchange column, and had
+always seen the same quotation--"Bondavara, sixty above par."
+
+On the morning of the day upon which Csanta had arranged to send the
+first instalment of his shares to Vienna he went to his café, and,
+while waiting to be served, took up the first newspaper that came to
+hand. As usual he commenced by reading it backwards, beginning at the
+exchange column. The first thing that caught his eye was, "Bondavara,
+sixty _below par_."
+
+A printer's error; and a very serious one! The printer was drunk when
+he printed it. The fellow ought to be put in prison. If there is any
+police in Vienna, or justice in the government, such a thing should
+not pass unpunished; it is enough to shake the nerves of any man not
+made of iron. If this is not a disturbance of the peace, I don't know
+what you can call it.
+
+Then he took another paper. The same mistake! He went through the
+round of the daily papers, and found that all the printers must have
+chosen this day for a drinking-bout, as each one made the same error
+between _above_ and _below_ par.
+
+Csanta was convinced that some great mistake had been made; but as he
+could not rest until it was cleared up, he telegraphed to Spitzhase.
+
+A telegram from Spitzhase crossed his. It ran:
+
+      "Great misfortune. The Bondavara mine is on fire.
+      Great panic. The shares are sixty below par. Every one
+      is selling."
+
+Csanta cursed and swore with rage. "The devil take him! Sixty below
+par; a loss of sixty thousand gulden! That means for me extinction.
+Where is the cord and the nail? Let me hang myself! Six casks full of
+silver gone! I shall murder some one! I must go to Vienna. I shall
+knock the whole place about their ears like a card house if I don't
+get back my silver. I didn't take my money to Vienna to leave it
+there."
+
+He foamed like a madman, dragged his bonds out of his safe, threw them
+on the floor and stamped upon them.
+
+"Villains! knaves! paper beggars! It is you who have eaten up my
+silver crowns! You have swallowed my sixty thousand silver crowns! I
+will tear you in pieces! I will cut my crowns out of your stomachs! I
+will kill you dead!"
+
+The upsetting of his safe had disturbed his papers. He suddenly
+caught sight of a deed. He looked at it closely. His mood changed.
+
+"What a fool I have been. I don't lose as much as my finger-nail. Here
+is my young friend's signature. How lucky I didn't destroy this, or
+light my pipe with it. He binds himself _at any time_, subject to my
+desire, to take over a thousand shares _at par_. Ah, well done,
+Csanta! You are an old bird not easily caught with chaff. I am saved,
+thanks to my own sagacity, to my prudent, far-seeing nose that smells
+danger ahead. This letter covers all loss. So far as I am concerned,
+stones may fall from the sky. I am safe."
+
+He folded the shares tenderly, and locked them and the precious letter
+safely up in his safe. He then sat down and wrote to his dear young
+friend in Paris. Fortunately he had the address. He asked him
+politely--seeing how the matter stood--to send at once some accredited
+person to take over the bonds, according to their previous agreement,
+and to arrange in what manner the money should be paid. As for the
+outstanding interest, some compromise or arrangement could be made.
+
+A week passed, and no answer came; but, after all, it is more than a
+cat's jump from X---- to Paris.
+
+During the week he received twice every day, morning and evening, a
+telegram from Spitzhase pressing him to part with his shares, for
+every day they were falling ten per cent. lower. At the end of the
+week they had gone down still more. The bears had won the day.
+
+Csanta never moved a finger. He hugged himself in his own safety; and
+as for the others, their shares might go to the bottom of the sea for
+all he cared. He had no shares. They were all Kaulmann's. "Take them
+away, and give me back my silver!" This was his cry. "Rogue! villain!
+I have you by the neck!"
+
+The accounts that he read of the sudden collapse of the company and
+the ruin of the shareholders did not in the least disturb him. The
+losses of others could not affect him. On the ninth day, however, he
+began to tremble. The morning's paper contained an account,
+telegraphed from Paris, of the flight of the banker, Felix Kaulmann,
+leaving his affairs in the uttermost confusion. This was succeeded by
+a second telegram, announcing that the banker, Kaulmann, seeing that
+the officers of police were on his track, had thrown himself from the
+window of the railway-carriage, and had been killed instantaneously.
+
+Csanta narrowly missed an apoplectic stroke. When he came to he
+telegraphed to Spitzhase to sell all his shares for what they would
+fetch.
+
+Spitzhase answered by return:
+
+      "Too late; they are quoted at _seventy_, but this is
+      only nominal. There are neither buyers nor sellers.
+      The mine is gone; the railway is gone; everything is
+      gone. Why didn't you part with them a week ago, when I
+      advised you? Now you can put your shares in the fire,
+      and cook chestnuts at the blaze."
+
+"All is over with me!" sobbed Csanta. "Let me get home; let me lie
+down and die! I cannot live! I shall not be alive in three days!"
+
+He took leave of his acquaintances; he had no friends. He told them
+they need not be afraid, he would do himself no injury. He was simply
+dying of grief, just as a man might die of sickness.
+
+All gone!
+
+Some compassionate souls had pity on the old man and took him home. If
+he had been alone he had never found his own house. Once arrived
+there, he insisted on going down to his cellar, to see with his own
+eyes if it were not some hideous dream, from which he would wake and
+find his beloved casks in their old places. When he saw all were gone,
+he set up a fearful cry, "Fool! fool! fool!" and fell forward on his
+face.
+
+They carried him up-stairs, tenderly undressed him as if he were a
+child, and put him to bed. He shrieked for a priest, so they fetched
+him one. He made his confession, and received the sacrament.
+
+His lawyer then appeared on the scene, and his last will was written
+out and duly signed. He had still something to leave. There were his
+houses, the whole street front; the church into which no one came, on
+whose threshold between the stones the grass grew thick, in whose
+court-yard the school-boys played ball on Thursday half-holidays.
+
+The church, notwithstanding, was endowed with a priest, a verger, and
+a bell-ringer. The priest should say mass, the bell-ringer should ring
+the bell, the verger should open the door _every day_; just as a
+hundred years ago, when through the open church doors a stream of men
+passed, with silver buttons on their jackets, and women with long silk
+veils. The old man now dying is the last descendant left on this earth
+of the old Greek traders. The church shall remain standing in memory
+of them.
+
+The house next door to his own he bequeathed to the widow, who was the
+daughter of the last Greek. This woman and he had quarrelled long ago.
+God alone can decide the justice of a quarrel that has to do with
+paper money, which to-day is worth a great deal and to-morrow not a
+penny. Therefore, he bequeathed to her and her son the heap of cursed,
+worthless papers called shares in the Bondavara Company, which have
+caused his unexpected death. They shall have these papers, whether for
+good or ill.
+
+After he had made these depositions and arranged his affairs his will
+was sealed and inscribed by himself. He divided among his neighbors
+and servants his few remaining possessions. He called the bell-ringer,
+and enjoined him to toll the bell three times every two hours, and if
+any one asked the reason why, he should answer, "The Greek, Csanta, is
+dead." Then he sent every one out of the room.
+
+When next morning they returned he was dead. He had died of grief,
+just as an aged husband will not survive the loss of his wife with
+whom he had grown old. So a man with a strong will dies when he has
+said that he can no longer support life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV
+
+THE GROUND BURNS UNDER HIS FEET
+
+
+Peter Saffran's curse seemed likely to be fulfilled: "Upon this field
+no grass shall grow for evermore."
+
+It was true the green grass grew still upon the field, but who could
+tell what was seething underneath, in the bosom of the earth?
+
+The directors of the company's mine believed that when they closed all
+the entrances and openings to the shafts and vaults, they had given,
+by so doing, a check to the conflagration; by preventing the current
+of the outer air from getting in, they felt sure the fire must in a
+short time be extinguished.
+
+On the other hand, there was the irremediable evil that the supply of
+coal gradually diminished; even the necessary material for keeping the
+forge heated was wanting. They tried to heat it with wood--there were
+plenty of trees in the forest--but without coal the heater would not
+work, and much iron was lost in consequence. Instead of iron bars, a
+great quantity of "rammers" lay scattered about. It was soon patent
+that, from all these causes combined, the company were not in a
+condition to fulfil their contract for supplying the railway
+contractors with iron rails. The guarantee was in danger, as was also
+that of the railway company, in case the railway could not be opened
+for traffic at the time promised in their agreement.
+
+The Bondavara Mine Company and Railway Company were, so to speak,
+glued to one another; one could hardly take a step without dragging
+the other down the dangerous path on which both were going headlong to
+ruin.
+
+Being in such evil straits, the directors began to look for help to
+the other mine. Coal they must have. In Ivan Behrend's colliery there
+must be a large supply. For a whole year he had sold none. They must
+buy from him, even at an advanced price.
+
+Rauné also bethought himself of begging for coal from the same source.
+Surely no one could refuse to oblige an old friend and neighbor.
+
+His letter, however, came back to him with the seal unbroken. At this
+moment Rauné was terribly hard pressed. He resolved to wait upon Ivan,
+and make his request in person.
+
+His visit was a short one. He was in all less than two seconds in
+Ivan's room, from which the first thing that issued was his hat, which
+he followed promptly. After this Ivan's voice was heard.
+
+"I hold no conversation with spies."
+
+Rauné wrote the directors a long letter, in which he said that Behrend
+was a boorish, selfish man, who was determined to profit by the
+misfortune which had happened to the Bondavara mine, and would not
+give his coal at _any_ price; instead of selling, he was using it in
+the manufacture of a quantity of iron rails, and speculating on the
+chance that the company would be forced to buy at any sum he chose to
+ask.
+
+The result of his letter was very different from what he had looked
+for. The railway directors wrote at once to Ivan, and made him an
+advantageous offer for his iron rails; and if he had asked fifty per
+cent. more they were prepared to accede to his demand.
+
+The profit for Ivan's faithful workmen was a very full harvest. The
+deserters to the enemies' camp now implored to be taken on again; they
+had no work. But they were not received by their former comrades; a
+committee of the men decided, without a dissentient voice, against
+taking on one of the deserters, but took on a total stranger. This
+decision settled the matter, and Ivan was forced to acknowledge it was
+just. The new member was bound to work for a year as a common laborer,
+and the committee were not to decide whether he should be admitted to
+the rights of the existing colony, and entitled to his share of the
+profit; this should be put to the vote.
+
+Meantime the work was splendidly done. Each man looked upon the mine
+as his own property; there were few blunders, and the success was
+remarkable; neither labor nor time was spared. Order was preserved,
+discipline maintained, and there was no necessity for harsh measures,
+nor for overseers.
+
+Under all this fine weather, however, there lurked clouds. In the far
+distance storms were gathering, evident to an experienced eye.
+
+Ivan noted the coming danger, but he did not let it escape his lips.
+It could not be averted. His mine was threatened; the fire that was
+consuming the neighboring colliery might spread to his. This thought
+filled his mind by day and by night. From the situation of the
+coal-stratum he could draw the conclusion that the conflagration must
+spread to Bondathal. It might take years, but in the end the Bondathal
+mine would share the same fate as its neighbor of Bondavara, and be
+reduced to ashes.
+
+The earth has buried many such wrecks in its bosom. But not alone
+below, but on the earth itself this Bondavara misfortune had ruined a
+multitude of people.
+
+In the beginning the board of directors, who administered the affairs
+of the shareholders, hit upon the idea that with the ready money at
+their command they would buy up all the shares in the market, and in
+this way serve a double purpose. In the first place, they would secure
+for themselves the shares which had been issued at par at a price far
+below par, and in the next they would check any further fall.
+
+The board, however, by this manœuvre only effected a more rapid smash;
+the money in the treasury dwindled away until at last for the
+necessary expenses there was nothing left.
+
+Prince Waldemar knew how to make use of the daily papers. He was
+always ready, and the shares having, through him, fallen thirty per
+cent. lower, he was resolved to send them still further down. The time
+was at hand when they would stand at _nil_, and then the owner of
+these miserable shares would be glad to _offer_ one per cent. to any
+one who would take them off his hands.
+
+It was a wicked game to play. Thousands were made beggars. The poorer
+people suffered most--those who a short year ago came with their
+little savings in their hands, crying to take shares. Poor souls! the
+high interest had tempted them to their ruin. Ah, it is an old story
+this, that repeats itself with periodic fidelity; the clerk, the old
+man, the widow, the old maid, the governess or teacher--these are the
+victims of this cruel Juggernaut. The cashier who has gambled with his
+master's money fills in the picture. But there are not wanting others
+who suffer, but are not reduced altogether to want. Solid tradesmen
+are crippled, people who drove their carriages have to walk, lovers
+whose wedding-day was fixed have to wait, and sometimes pine away in
+single blessedness. Woe! woe! on every side.
+
+But the Bondavara catastrophe had ruined not alone poor and well-to-do
+people; it had dragged down in its fall the high and powerful family
+of Bondavary, one of the most ancient in Hungary. The Marquis Salista
+had learned a severe lesson; he found that you cannot take away the
+centrepiece of a building without endangering the whole edifice. The
+sequestration of the prince's property had drawn the whole body of
+creditors upon him. And so it came to pass that the large property of
+a great nobleman, a reigning prince, fell under the administration of
+his creditors; the heirs had really burned the ground under their own
+feet.
+
+If the stewards and agents in the prince's time had been thieves, the
+administration of the property by the creditors was the very
+realization of plunder on all sides.
+
+The result was disastrous so far as the Countess Theudelinde was in
+question; there was no one responsible, so it appeared, for her forty
+thousand pounds. All the family charges and mortgages came first on
+the list of payments. Let her grasp hers--if she could.
+
+The one who suffered most was the Countess Angela. Her husband,
+Marquis Salista, had from the first lived in the extravagant manner
+befitting a man who has come into a fortune of twenty millions. It was
+impossible to induce him to change his ideas. This led to sharp
+conflicts between the married pair.
+
+On the other side, Angela showed him plainly that she had married him
+not from liking, but out of pique.
+
+The marquis knew it--and so did Ivan; but he had something else to
+think of. The ground was burning under _his_ feet.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI
+
+CHILD'S PLAY
+
+
+The concert season was in full swing when the Belenyis received the
+news that Csanta was dead and had bequeathed to them their former
+house. If Arpad had been engaged to play a quartet with Beethoven,
+Mozart, and Haydn he would have thrown up his engagement and flown
+back with railway speed to his old home. His mother was just as eager
+to be gone as he was. Not a day did they stay; they were off the very
+same evening.
+
+On their arrival at X---- the magistrate unlocked the door of their
+old home and gave Madame Belenyi possession. Everything was exactly as
+they had left it, only the dust of years covered all the pretty
+things.
+
+Arpad's first thought was to run down to the garden. The magistrate,
+however, detained him. He had another legacy to make over to him, a
+large iron case fastened with three iron locks. It contained the
+Bondavara shares.
+
+"The devil take his shares!" cried Arpad, laughing. "Unluckily it is
+summer, so we don't want to make a fire."
+
+"They are down to nothing," said the magistrate. "They are quoted
+to-day at ten guldens. They killed poor Csanta."
+
+They had to take the shares all the same. You must not look a
+gift-horse in the mouth.
+
+Arpad slipped out of the room and ran down to the garden. The
+fruit-trees were untouched, and all in full bloom. The cherry-tree was
+one mass of rosy blossom. He remembered well how he daren't touch a
+blossom under pain of a good whipping. And the forget-me-nots on the
+bank of the stream, which flowed past the end of the garden, and the
+May bells were ringing in a chorus, to which no one listened.
+
+Everything was just as it had been, only grown. The trees had such
+long branches that they were entangled with those on the opposite
+shore.
+
+He laid himself down in the green grass, all dotted over with yellow
+cowslips. No one could beat him now. He might waste his time and drink
+his fill of lazy enjoyment. Fame, the chatter of the newspapers over
+his sudden disappearance, the ladies who would regret him--what were
+they all in comparison with this? In a hiding-place on the river-bank
+he sought for the little flute he had secretly made in those old days.
+To his great joy it was there, just as he had left it.
+
+Arpad took from his pocket a newspaper full of his Parisian triumphs,
+an announcement of his next appearance. Where is Paris now? Out of the
+sheet he made a large boat with sails, that it might take a cargo on
+board. He pulled a bunch of the cherry blossom; he set the tiny vessel
+on the water, and while it danced over the little bubbles in the
+stream he laid down again among the forget-me-nots and played upon his
+flute the national air, "Repülj fecském."
+
+At the sound of the flute another child appeared. She came from the
+house opposite: a young girl about fifteen. She had a round, fair,
+laughing face and beautiful blue eyes. Timidly, like a frightened
+fawn, she made a few steps, then stopped and listened. By-and-by she
+drew nearer, then stood still again. She did not see the flute-player;
+she noticed nothing but his flute and his boat with the cherry
+blossoms.
+
+The girl had come quite close to the bank without Arpad having seen
+her approach. He was made aware of her presence by hearing her laugh.
+The laugh of a child is as clear as a bell. Arpad looked up,
+surprised.
+
+"Ah, is that you, Sophie? How pretty you have grown! I beg you will
+send me back my boat."
+
+Sophie did not want to be asked twice. She held up her frock with one
+hand, tucked it between her knees, and after she had replaced the red
+cherry blossoms by some white flowers, she gave the little boat such a
+hearty shove that it came back to the opposite side. Then the game
+began again. It was so amusing!
+
+Madame Belenyi saw the pair from the window. She didn't disturb them,
+but let them amuse themselves until the sun went down and the air
+began to get chill. Then the most prudent of the two children--it was
+the girl, no doubt--suggested to the other that the grass was wet with
+dew, and that it would be well to go back to the house.
+
+Arpad took his boat out of the water, and put it and the flute back in
+their hiding-place, and returned to his mother.
+
+Madame Belenyi did not scold him. She did not, however, kiss him on
+his forehead, as she was wont to do. She showed him all she had done
+to settle the house while he had been amusing himself in the garden.
+
+Arpad was very much pleased to find it so comfortable.
+
+"Mother," he said, "we will live here always."
+
+"I don't object to our living here, Arpad; only there is one
+condition. You must marry a good girl, and bring her here to help
+me."
+
+"I, mother?" returned Arpad, half pleased and yet astonished.
+
+"Yes, you. Why not? You are a young man. I cannot look after you
+always."
+
+Arpad laughed again. "So, because I have grown a young man, and that
+you cannot keep me any longer at your apron-string, I must take a wife
+who will keep me in better order than you can. Is that it, mother?"
+
+"My son, it is in the natural order," returned Madame Belenyi,
+gravely, and as if there were no other course for a young man but to
+have either a mother or a wife to look after him. It did not enter
+into her imagination that he could look after himself.
+
+"Sooner or later I shall obey your wishes; but just now, as we have
+got a house, I shall have enough to do to provide the house-keeping,
+and I could not take a wife with me here and there when I have to
+fulfil my professional engagements. For this sort of Bohemian life,
+vagabondizing from Paris to London, Petersburg to Vienna, is a bad
+thing for a woman, whether she goes with her husband or is left
+behind."
+
+"But we have something to live on, Arpad. I have been very lucky with
+your earnings, and there is a nice nest-egg in the bank. Besides,
+there are the shares. Don't laugh, you silly boy! Although they are
+only worth ten gulden, yet there are a thousand of them. If we realize
+them, that would be ten thousand gulden. In a small town like this
+that sum would be a fortune, and with it you need not scruple to take
+a wife."
+
+"Mamma, you don't understand about these shares. _One_ could easily be
+realized, but if the next day I were to go to the same place with
+another for sale they would kick me out. Any one who would offer a
+thousand Bondavara shares in the money-market would be sent to the
+mad-house. Put the shares away with those other important papers
+Csanta gave you, and, if you like, treasure the hope that one day they
+may be worth as much as the paper they are printed on."
+
+"Well, stranger things have happened. Did you ever think we would come
+back to this house? I am very sorry I did not keep the other papers. I
+burned them. Who knows what luck we may have with those bonds? If, one
+day, they rise again to par, we shall realize twice two hundred
+thousand gulden--"
+
+"I don't count on such strokes of luck as that, mamma. The worst
+compliment Providence can pay a man is to let him win in a lottery. It
+is just as if God said to him, 'You ass! I cannot keep you in any
+other manner.' God would not allow a man who has any intellect to win
+in a lottery. To such a one he would say, 'Wilt thou cease to beg alms
+of Me in such a shameless manner? Is it not sufficient that I have
+endowed thee with talent? My consolation prizes are reserved for the
+dunderheads.'" Then he added, "Mother, don't be afraid, we shall live
+from my art. Wait a little and you shall see; only give me time.
+Meantime I shall buy for the little girl a doll with a china head as a
+plaything. You must take care of me for a little longer."
+
+At these words the widow embraced her boy tenderly. She was happy; but
+that evening Arpad, when it was moonlight, went out and sat under the
+weeping-willow and played a melancholy air on his flute. Sometimes he
+stopped to listen to a soft silvery voice singing a national air on
+the other side of the stream. The singer, however, when she heard the
+flute no more, knew that he was listening, and stopped her song. It is
+so sweet to be young!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+EUREKA
+
+
+Ivan's fears as to the safety of his own colliery were growing day by
+day. One morning he found that the amount of hydrogen was scarcely
+perceptible; still there was water in the pit. This discovery made him
+thoughtful; he could not understand it. He descended into the cavern
+where the pond was. Not one drop of water!
+
+Ivan remained for three hours, watching anxiously to see would the
+water rise; but none came.
+
+At the end of three hours he was relieved by the men, and it was then
+arranged that during the night they would take turns in watching the
+tank. As soon as the water began to rise they were to call him. Ivan
+went home, lay down, and fell into a deep sleep, from which he did not
+awake until the sun was high in the heavens. He wondered that no one
+had called him, as had been agreed.
+
+It might be that the men had also been overcome by sleep. Poor
+wretches, they also were exhausted. He hastened to the pit. The men
+told him they had watched all night, but there had been no sign of
+water in the tank. He waited patiently for twenty-four hours. Not a
+sign of water!
+
+Ivan thought he could explain the absence of the water by the theory
+of the periodic springs--a theory too complicated to enter upon here.
+It is sufficient to say that the water-supply of the mine was worked
+by the pressure of the air upon these springs. If the water did not
+now return, it would be attributable to one of two causes: either the
+pipe which conducted the water from the larger basin had suddenly
+closed, and was no longer subject to atmospherical pressure, on which
+it depended to keep open; or some split or crevice had come in the
+stone masonry which protected the basins, and the force of the air had
+driven the water down farther into the bowels of the earth, where, no
+doubt, another basin was ready for its reception. We will remember
+that from the first Ivan had the idea that some such reservoir
+existed. But where?--that was the problem; and if the reservoirs were
+not found, what then?
+
+The cavern where Ivan stood was empty. The black portals which guarded
+the subterranean kingdom of death stood open to him. He could enter
+the labyrinth; he could discover what he had long sought, the
+communication between the upper and the lower water basins. One
+difficulty lay in his way. He should take a workman with him. He
+called the old miner, Paul.
+
+"Paul, how old are you?"
+
+"Sixty-nine."
+
+"You would like, no doubt, to complete your seventieth year."
+
+"I should like to see the gold wedding of this pit. Next year it will
+be just fifty years since it was opened."
+
+"And if you die before then?"
+
+"I should say, 'The name of the Lord be blessed.'"
+
+"Are your sons grown to man's estate?"
+
+"My grandson is able to keep himself."
+
+"Would you be ready to accompany me on a dangerous expedition--one
+where the chances are we might never return?"
+
+"I think I have run that chance before now."
+
+"You must understand, Paul, the whole risk before you agree. We are
+going to look for the water that has left the tank. It is a matter of
+life and death to every one of us, and, therefore, I think God will
+help us; but it may not be so. The Almighty may say, 'Why should you
+mere worms of the earth dare to interfere between me and the sentence
+I have passed against you and yours? I did not listen to the
+entreaties of Lot, and now the Dead Sea covers the ruins of the city.
+You men of Bondathal are not better than the men of Gomorrah.' Do you
+understand me? I have often sought for the source of the spring
+through the narrow winding paths of this cavern. These windings are so
+narrow that one must sometimes press through them by mere force, at
+other times creep along upon one's stomach. Great abysses yawn under
+the feet; a fall down one of these would be fatal; we will have to
+cling to the wall as we creep along. Again, we will pass through
+stinking sewers, up to our elbows in putrid filth. All these clefts
+and fissures have been made some time--God knows when--by an
+earthquake which has caused the uprooting of the coal stratum. Now it
+is quite possible that this last explosion has closed again many of
+these clefts and opened others. If it has happened, as I surmise, that
+the aperture has been shut which communicated between the pit beneath
+us and the one above--if this has taken place, then we have a tank
+full of water over our heads. If we, in our search through the bowels
+of the earth, come upon this aperture, and accidentally break the
+smallest hole, not the size of a pin's point, the water in the basin
+over our heads will burst through and annihilate us; if we hear it
+roaring we are already lost. But, on the other hand, it may be that
+the explosion caused a rent in the upper cleft, and if so the water
+has rushed through it to the lower basin under our feet. What we have
+to do, whether we die in the search or not, is to find out where the
+water is."
+
+"I have no idea what you mean; all I know is that I am ready to go
+with you."
+
+"Then go home and take leave of your family, as if you were going a
+long journey. Go to your priest and make your peace with God. Then
+come back, and tell no one where we are going."
+
+Ivan now made his own preparations. From this adventure he might never
+return. He made his will. He bequeathed his mine to his workmen, his
+money to Paul's family. This was an act of justice. If the old man
+were killed, it was in a measure his, Ivan's, doing.
+
+When this was all done he went out and took his leave of light and air
+before going into the blackness of everlasting night. It was well
+under the free air of heaven. The sky might be bluer elsewhere, the
+grass greener; still, it was not eternal darkness.
+
+The post brought him a letter. It was from Arpad Belenyi. It told him
+all that we already know--the fall of Kaulmann, the disappearance of
+Eveline, whom every one thought had drowned herself. Ivan's heart was
+stirred by deep sorrow. The sky lost its brightness; the meadow was no
+longer green; the blackness of the pit would be welcome to him. This
+news acted upon him as a tonic; he felt braced; his fears vanished.
+Life was now more worthless than before.
+
+He set about the necessary preparations with calmness. He collected
+the instruments which would be needed for this strange search--the
+levelling instrument, the circumferentor, the plumb-line. He put them
+in a bag, which he tied round his neck. Paul carried the pick, the
+iron rod, and a strong cord.
+
+With this equipment they descended into the cavern, and vanished
+through the windings of the water-course. After six hours they
+reappeared. This went on day after day.
+
+Ivan took the measurements of all the windings of the labyrinth, and
+when he was at home compared them carefully. It took him hours. At
+night he retired into his laboratory, heated deadly gases in his
+retorts, and forced the mysterious elements to surrender their
+long-concealed secrets. He fought with demons who refused to obey him.
+
+"Which of you is the spirit that can extinguish fire? Appear! appear!
+Not with Alpha and Omega, not with Solomon's Seal, not in the name of
+Abraxas and Mithras do I conjure you, but by the force of all-powerful
+science I order you appear!"
+
+But no spirit appeared.
+
+This double battle, the one under the earth, the one in the air above
+it, this fight with the two great demons of the world's creation, went
+on day by day, in daylight and darkness. Ivan had no rest.
+
+One morning he was told that the water in the castle well was hot, and
+it had a decided taste of sulphur. He began now to despair. The
+subterranean conflagration was closing round him sooner than he had
+looked for it. The situation was lost; one year, and the whole place
+would be consumed.
+
+Rauné, when this fact became known, threw up his appointment and
+openly took service with Prince Waldemar. He was commissioned by his
+employer to write--as an authentic witness--the accounts of the
+catastrophe, which appeared constantly in the Vienna papers.
+
+Ivan threw himself with the energy of despair into the search; he
+penetrated farther into the subterranean labyrinth. Paul was like a
+ghost; his very soul was steeped in terror, but he held bravely to his
+master.
+
+One day, amidst the confusion of the different winding passages in the
+rock, they came to a place out of which there seemed to be no exit.
+They struck the wall. It returned a hollow sound, so that they drew
+the conclusion that on the other side there was a large cavern, or
+space of some sort. The tumbled masses of slate-stratum fallen over
+one another was a proof that the blockade had been recently made.
+
+"We must clear a passage here," said Ivan, taking the pick in his
+hand.
+
+Paul cowered down, clinging to the wall. He trembled at every blow of
+the pick given by the vigorous arm of Ivan, who worked with terrible
+earnestness. So might a despairing soul beat against the gates of hell
+and summon the devil to single combat.
+
+At last the pick made a small hole, through which Ivan passed the iron
+rod, and raised a whole mass of slates.
+
+"Now, if the water is overhead the crack of doom has come."
+
+The old man crossed himself, and recommended his soul to God.
+
+Ivan, however, shouted with all the joy of a discoverer: "Do you hear?
+The rubbish as it falls makes a splash. The lower basin I am in search
+of _is here_, underneath us!"
+
+But what if the one above is full? They had still to wait while they
+counted a hundred beats of the pulse.
+
+Never was a pulse felt under such terrible circumstances, not even
+when Ivan had gone down into the burning mine. Not a sound was heard.
+In the bosom of the earth all is quiet. Ivan was trembling with joyful
+excitement.
+
+"Found at last!" he cried. "Now bind the cord round me, and lower me
+into the well cavern."
+
+It was done. The old miner, as he held the rope, prayed fervently to
+the Blessed Mother that she would forgive this heretic, who did not
+know what he was doing. Meantime the lamp sank deeper and deeper.
+
+Suddenly Ivan cried out, "Pull me up!"
+
+His old comrade drew him slowly out of the depths of the earth. As he
+held out his hand to help him, Ivan suddenly threw his arms round him
+and embraced him.
+
+"We have reached our goal," he said. "The plumb-line shows a monstrous
+depth of water."
+
+Paul's brain began to clear. For the first time he had a dim idea of
+the aims of their labors.
+
+"Now let us get into daylight."
+
+As soon as Ivan got out of the pit he ran home as fast as he could. He
+compared his measurements, and was well content with the result. At
+night he shut himself in his laboratory. He was flushed with triumph;
+another victory would be his. He would also conquer the demon that had
+hitherto resisted his will. He had the proud feeling of a victorious
+general who demands the last stronghold to surrender.
+
+"I have already conquered," he said. "You are the next to submit. God
+sometimes lends to his creature immortal gifts, moments of creative
+power, when the infinite takes, as it were, shape, and the finite
+cries to the infinite, 'Eureka!'"
+
+Ivan poured out ten drops of the water he had brought from the well.
+There was not more than would be held in the point of a pen. The
+laboratory became suddenly dark. The strong heat of the burning coal
+in the oven went out as if by magic. All was dark; black as night.
+This darkness was the light for which Ivan had been seeking.
+
+"I have found it!" he cried aloud. "I have found it!" he cried to his
+workmen, among whom he rushed, half undressed, with his hat off, like
+a lunatic.
+
+They did not know what he had found, but they felt certain the
+discovery which was considered so important by their guide and master
+must be a matter of rejoicing, in proof of which the miners cheered
+lustily.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII
+
+AT PAR
+
+
+The devil's comedy was being played daily on the stock-exchange. The
+Bondavara Company's shares, the Bondavara Railway shares were tossed
+here and there, from one hand to another. The tragedy had turned to
+comedy--that is, for some people, who found the game very humorous.
+The very word Bondavara made the stockbrokers laugh. When it happened
+that some fool bought a share, no one could help laughing. The shares,
+in fact, were given in exchange for anything of little value--for
+instance, as make-weight with an old umbrella for a new one. They were
+also presented to charitable institutions.
+
+One witty man went to a fancy ball in a coat made of the shares. This
+conceit was thought diverting. The exchange, however, was still the
+field where a desultory fight was kept up by the shareholders. These
+poor wretches fought for the last flicker of the lamp, which the bears
+wanted to extinguish altogether.
+
+Prince Waldemar, the leader of the conspiracy, forced the shares day
+by day lower and lower. At last they fell to one and a half per cent.,
+then to one and a quarter, and this quarter was to go lower, the
+prince wanting to banish the shares from the quotation list. The
+owners were making a fight to prevent this--an ineffectual one, it
+seemed to be. They were almost agreed to give up the fight as a
+forlorn hope. How could they make head against such odds? The day upon
+which Rauné's report was in the newspapers they resolved to lay down
+their arms; there seemed no good in protracting the struggle. The
+report in question was the one which stated what was the nature of the
+elements that, since the fire in the Bondavara mine, had been found
+mixed with the water on the lake of the castle; this caused a great
+"sensation," and was the last straw upon the back of the unfortunate
+shareholders.
+
+Prince Waldemar had the news proclaimed on 'change that on the last
+day of the month he would sell his Bondavara Company shares at ten
+florins. Some people took up the gauntlet he had thrown down. These
+were shareholders who knew that they would lose by taking this wager,
+but at the same time hoped by this stroke of policy to prevent the
+shares from disappearing altogether from the share list. If,
+therefore, at the end of the month the shares went down to six gulden,
+they must pay the other side twenty thousand gulden difference; if the
+shares went up, the other side must do the same.
+
+About noon a broker came to the bank, and said, loud enough for all
+bystanders to hear, that a gentleman was present who would take five
+hundred Bondavara shares at par.
+
+If some one had struck a hammer upon the open keys of a piano no
+greater whir and whiz could have been heard than now ran through the
+hall. Screams of laughter, exclamations of astonishment, howls of joy,
+curses, and ejaculations of incredulity were raised in every corner.
+Who is he? Is he a lunatic? At par! Bondavara shares! Where is the
+man?
+
+The broker pointed him out. He was evidently a provincial gentleman,
+very unassuming in his appearance. He was leaning against a pillar,
+calmly surveying the Olympian games.
+
+"He is evidently a silly knave who wants to have a joke," scoffed
+Prince Waldemar. "Go to him," he went on to the agent, "and ask him
+for his name. We must know what is the name of any one who treats with
+us."
+
+The broker returned in a few minutes with the news that the gentleman
+gave his name as a Hundred Thousand Gulden, saying that money was the
+best surname. He showed his hands full of bank-notes, which he
+received from the stranger.
+
+"Who sells five hundred Bondavara shares at par?"
+
+This cry caused a revolution on 'change. Tranquillity was at an end;
+tumult took its place; uproar and confusion reigned. Credulous and
+incredulous people surrounded the stranger; they pressed upon him,
+overwhelming him with questions, stretching over one another to thrust
+their note-books into his hands. The unknown met all this noise with
+cool indifference, merely pointing out to his broker the crowd who
+were ready to do business with him.
+
+Prince Waldemar now made his way through the mob to where the
+new-comer stood. With the most refined impertinence he drew the brim
+of his hat over his eyes and stuck his hand into his waistcoat pockets
+as he surveyed the other.
+
+"Sir, your appearance has caused a sudden revolution. May I ask your
+name?"
+
+"My name is Ivan Behrend," returned the stranger, without changing his
+negligent attitude.
+
+"Ah," said the prince, suddenly taking off his hat and bowing low. "I
+have had the honor of hearing of you. Are you not the renowned
+pistol-shot, who can shoot a cigar out of a man's mouth? I am a nobody
+in comparison; I am only Prince Waldemar Sondersheim. I cannot shoot
+as you do. But let us talk sensibly. You want to buy Bondavara shares
+at par? Have you inherited suddenly the fortune of an Indian nabob,
+who made it a condition that you should buy the shares at par?"
+
+"No. I buy them because they are worth that price."
+
+"Don't you know that the Bondavara mine is on fire?"
+
+"I happen to own the adjoining one, therefore I am quite aware that
+such is the fact."
+
+"Then your mine will be on fire next."
+
+"Not so. I extinguished the fire in mine a fortnight ago."
+
+At these words the noise rose to a regular tumult; the shareholders
+pressed round Ivan, and nearly suffocated him. The man is there who
+can extinguish the fire. The mine will soon be again in working order.
+Bondavara stands once more at par.
+
+The bears had to retire. The joyful shareholders surrounded Ivan and
+carried him in triumph out of the hall.
+
+That same evening a large meeting was held, at which Ivan, before an
+enormous audience, filling the room to suffocation, declared
+authoritatively that he had an infallible plan, which had, in fact,
+been tried on the Bondavara mine, and had put out the conflagration.
+He invited every one present to see the experiment tested next day in
+the open air, when it would be distinctly proved that his words were
+no idle boast.
+
+The following morning, in presence of a large crowd, he fulfilled his
+promise, succeeding admirably in the demonstration. A funeral pile of
+coal and turf, over which petroleum had been poured, was set fire to,
+and when blazing to its greatest height was put out in a few minutes
+by some drops from a small bottle.
+
+The jubilant public conducted Ivan back to the town in triumph, and
+at the next general meeting of shareholders it was resolved to offer
+him a remuneration of six hundred thousand gulden if he would
+undertake to bring the Bondavara mine into working order.
+
+There were not wanting, however, plenty of opponents. Foremost there
+was Prince Waldemar, who possessed the largest proportion of shares,
+and who, nevertheless, offered the most determined opposition. He did
+everything to embarrass and obstruct Ivan's scientific propositions.
+
+"I grant," he said, "that you may be able to put out with one bucket
+of fluid six cubit feet of burning coals; but consider for a moment
+that in the Bondavara pit, reckoning from the place where the
+explosion took place to the castle, there must be at least sixty
+thousand cubit feet of burning stratum. You must have, to meet this,
+ten thousand buckets of fluid ready to shoot over the mass. What
+machine have you that would be able for such an operation as this?"
+
+"I have not forgotten that such a machine would be necessary,"
+returned Ivan, quietly.
+
+"Let us suppose," continued the prince, "that you do succeed in
+getting a sufficient quantity of fluid to bear upon the burning mass.
+Don't you perceive that this very supply will develop a monstrous
+amount of gas, which would permeate the pit from top to bottom, and
+cause another and still worse explosion?"
+
+"I have foreseen this danger."
+
+"And, finally, if you possess any idea, which you evidently do, of the
+mechanism of machines and the expenditure necessary to procure the
+best, you must face the problem that a million of money will not be
+sufficient to procure the necessary materials which would be wanting
+to make the experiment successful."
+
+"I have drawn up an estimate of probable outlay."
+
+The shareholders here shouted out to him that they undertook all
+expenses, even if they amounted to a million, and on the spot it was
+agreed that Ivan should receive full powers to do for the Bondavara
+mine what he considered necessary, let the cost be what it might.
+
+Prince Sondersheim saw that he could not stem the course of Ivan's
+popularity; it must have its way. While the assembled shareholders
+were signing the deed of authorization, he took Ivan aside, and said
+to him:
+
+"Ivan Behrend, whether the undertaking you have engaged in succeeds or
+not--I do not believe that it will succeed--you will have taken out of
+my pocket a million--a million net. Besides this, you have squandered
+five hundred gulden of your own money, without reckoning what is yet
+to be spent. Let that be. You have done this by fixing the quotations
+at par. It is true that the shares will neither be bought nor sold,
+for both sides will be afraid, and will hold back; nevertheless, the
+quotation will stand at par, and I am obliged to pay the difference on
+this--that will cost me a million. But that is nothing; I have lost as
+much before now, and recovered it again. One has only to play the
+waiting game. If, however, in a fortnight's time you find that you
+miscalculated your powers, and that your experiment fails, you have
+only to let it be known, and I shall pay one million into your hand."
+
+Ivan answered this contemptible proposal with business-like composure.
+
+"Prince Sondersheim, the stock-exchange is, as I am well aware, a
+privileged place. Here a man can say things without having any fear of
+consequences. What a man says or does, what proposals he
+makes--everything is, in a sense, allowable, and the ordinary rules
+which govern the outside world do not apply. Here one man may ask the
+other, 'How much do you ask for selling the honor of your company?'
+and if the answer is, 'It is not for sale,' that is enough. Here there
+is plain speaking; no one is offended at being asked to be an
+accomplice in a robbery. It would be no reflection on his character;
+he would assume no airs of righteousness, but simply answer, 'I really
+haven't time.' If men quarrel, if they spit at one another, tear the
+hats off one another's heads, that is nothing; it goes no further; no
+one turns round to look at them. They wipe the spittle off their
+faces, pick up their hats, and after half an hour walk about arm in
+arm. No one remembers that they were fighting; it was only a little
+'difference,' which led to an animated scene. Therefore, to the
+proposal made by Sondersheim, the Bondavara coal-merchant, to Behrend,
+the Bondavara coal-trader, there is but one answer, 'Sir, I cannot
+entertain your offer.' Prince Waldemar Sondersheim will, however, do
+well to remember not to repeat outside the stock-exchange such a
+proposal to Ivan Behrend."
+
+The prince laughed. "I guessed as much. I have often heard of you, and
+if you behave well you shall hear how it came to pass that I know so
+much about you. Once upon a time you took my part in a very energetic
+manner; and to a very pretty woman. I do not know why you should have
+done so; it is sufficient for me that you did. Also, you withdrew your
+own claim to the favor of this very pretty woman. But it was no good,
+she is now the wife of an unworthy fellow; but your unexplained
+intervention in my favor, which could not have been a business
+manœuvre, but must have sprung from almost a chivalrous Puritanism,
+has placed me under a debt of gratitude towards you. If that lady had
+listened to your advice, things would have been very different. No
+sulphur deposit would have been found in the castle lake; the whole
+speculation, in fact, would have had no existence. Outside the
+exchange we will not recur to the subject. I have mentioned it from a
+sense of gratitude, and I shall note it in my book. If you succeed in
+extinguishing the fire you are to receive six hundred thousand gulden
+from the company; if you fail you shall have a million from me."
+
+This long conversation between Ivan and the prince excited some alarm
+among the shareholders; they tried to interrupt it.
+
+"No tampering, prince. Let our man alone." They were afraid he would
+turn round.
+
+"Don't be afraid," returned the prince; "we are talking of a lady whom
+we both admired."
+
+But the shareholders' suspicions were not allayed by these words. They
+chose from among themselves a commission of three members, who should
+accompany Ivan in every step he took, never leave him, eat with him,
+sleep outside his door, keep watch under his window, so that their
+enemy should not approach him without their knowledge. This was all
+done under the pretence of giving him assistance, and for the purpose
+of keeping him supplied with money.
+
+Ivan procured the necessary machines and workmen, and travelled back
+with them and his three companions to Bondavara.
+
+His three commissioners were likewise to furnish the company with a
+daily report of the progress of the work. One of the three was the
+clerk Spitzhase, who had the reputation of being the most circumspect,
+careful, and impudent servant of the company. This last epithet is
+not meant in the worst sense of the word. In money matters modesty and
+meekness are oftentimes great faults, and the contrary qualities are
+of infinite use. The word is therefore meant in praise. Ivan many
+times chucked Spitzhase out at the door, but the clerk always returned
+by the window.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX
+
+THE UNDERGROUND WORLD
+
+
+The three commissioners for the first fortnight had little to say;
+their report was meagre of incident. Behrend came morning and evening
+to dine and sup with them in the little village inn; the rest of the
+day and of the night he spent continuously underground. When they
+asked him what he was doing, he said, shortly, that everything was
+going on well.
+
+Things might be going well, but there was nothing visible to the
+commissioners. And, moreover, there was _one_ very suspicious
+circumstance which struck Spitzhase especially, and this was that
+Behrend spent his time in his _own colliery_. It was there that all
+the expensive machines had been set up and all the chemical stuffs had
+been taken. Not a single thing had been done to the company's mine;
+not a bit of rubbish had been cleared away, not one of the entrances
+had been opened; in fact, a fortnight had slipped away, and no work
+had been undertaken. It was undoubtedly true that the machines were
+always at work, and cart-loads of clay and stones were perpetually
+being wheeled away.
+
+The whole thing was incomprehensible, and Behrend would not give the
+slightest explanation.
+
+At the beginning of the following week Spitzhase lost all patience.
+
+"Sir," he said to Ivan, with suppressed irritation, "you promised
+that in a fortnight the conflagration in our mine would be
+extinguished. The time is up, and I have not seen that anything has
+been even attempted."
+
+"That is very probable," returned Ivan, quietly.
+
+"Do you maintain still that everything is progressing satisfactorily?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"Can I see for myself what has been done?"
+
+"Where you are standing it would be impossible for you to judge."
+
+"Well, let me go where I can see something."
+
+"Do you really wish to go below? It is not a pleasant place."
+
+"Where you go, so can I; for my part, I don't care if it was hell
+itself."
+
+"It is not unlike what hell must be."
+
+"Well, I am resolved to pay it a visit. I want to make the
+acquaintance of the devil; perhaps I could make an arrangement with
+him to supply us with coal."
+
+"You may come on one condition: if you accompany me you must
+understand that I cannot let you stand gaping about. There is not room
+in the place for more than two people, and they must both work."
+
+"I am not afraid of work. I am the devil for work."
+
+"Very good, then, come along," said Ivan; "and if the other gentlemen
+would like to accompany us to where the machines are working they can
+follow us."
+
+The others seized the opportunity.
+
+Ivan made them put on miners' dress. They were then hoisted into the
+crane, and descended into the shaft. Each one had a safety-lamp
+fastened to his belt and wore a thick felt hat.
+
+Ivan led them through the different windings of the pit until they
+came to the iron door of the cavern in which, not long since, the
+pond used periodically to come and go. The middle of this space was
+now filled by a large mill-like machine, which was kept in motion by
+an endless strap worked from above. In this mill some substance was
+being ground, and, when reduced to fine powder, was carried, by means
+of certain mechanical contrivances, through a pipe and over a bridge,
+where it disappeared from view.
+
+Ivan led his guests through still more tortuous ways. Once they
+descended the shaft of a well; once they mounted high ladders, finding
+themselves when they had done so in a small chamber, not measuring six
+feet in circumference, in which two miners were waiting--an old and a
+young man.
+
+"Now," said Ivan to Spitzhase, "here is our dressing-room; we must put
+on our costume."
+
+"What! have we another change of clothes?"
+
+"Yes, we have to don a coat of mail in the tournament in which we are
+going to take part; we require armor."
+
+At a sign from him the miners came forward and began to prepare the
+two gentlemen. The equipment was something similar to that of a
+fireman--a coat and stockings, the outer stuff being made of asbestos,
+while the space between that and the lining was filled with pulverized
+charcoal; the hands and arms were also covered with long gloves made
+of asbestos, the fingers being air-proof.
+
+"We could pass for knights," said Spitzhase, jestingly.
+
+"Wait until you see our helmets," returned Ivan.
+
+The miners brought two helmets made of glass, each of which had a
+hollow space with twelve joints and three apertures. Ivan explained
+the use of these.
+
+"The place into which we are about to descend is full of coal-gas. We
+must have an apparatus which will enable us to pass through fire and
+to dive under water."
+
+Spitzhase began to repent that he had been so venturesome, but he was
+ashamed to turn back now, and he had a certain amount of pluck.
+
+"We need," continued Ivan, "an apparatus which is a combination of the
+diver's and the fireman's dress. To the glass helmet, which will be
+attached to the coat-collar by means of air-proof caoutchouc, there
+will be fastened two tubes, through one of which the necessary amount
+of air will be conveyed to us, and through the other the bad air will
+be expelled. The ends of both the tubes will remain here, while we
+drag them after us in the same manner as does the diver. Although all
+bad air escapes from our helmets, still we shall find the air rather
+warmer than it is up here, and it will smell like vulcanized
+india-rubber; still we cannot suffocate. To this third aperture an
+elastic tube will be fixed, which unites both helmets; through this
+tube each will hear what the other says, for the glass is so thick
+that no sound penetrates it, and when you have it on your head you
+will with difficulty hear what is said by me."
+
+Spitzhase had begun to feel very uncomfortable, for now the miner
+proceeded to adjust the glass helmet to his head. When the tubes were
+being fixed into the three apertures he perceived that he had become
+suddenly stone deaf. He saw the lips of the two commissioners moving,
+but not one word could he hear. He no longer belonged to the world.
+Only one sound reached him, and that was the voice of the man to whose
+head he was fastened.
+
+"Take one end of the hose upon your arm," shouted the voice into his
+helmet; yet the sound seemed to come from a long way off, or as if out
+of a tunnel.
+
+Mechanically he took the coil on his shoulder.
+
+"Let us go," shouted Ivan, taking the other end of the coil on his
+shoulder, and, opening a thick oak door, which had hitherto escaped
+Spitzhase's observation, they passed through.
+
+The two commissioners had heard nothing that had passed between the
+two "knights"; but when they saw the oak door open they hurriedly
+asked the miners whether the foul air did not come in. The older
+workman reassured them; the carbon was much heavier than oxygen, and
+even thicker than hydrogen. The foul air remained below, where the two
+divers had gone. They might have every confidence so long as the
+safety-lamps burned. Meantime, the others had penetrated into a roomy
+cavern, the walls of which proved it had not been made by the hands of
+men, but was a natural formation. Each partition of the wall fitted
+into another, like the blocks of a puzzle, and each block was as
+smooth as a steel mirror. They were masses of coal set obliquely one
+upon another. The cavern was bridged over with thick, strong wooden
+planks. The gearing strap, which had made its way from the cavern in
+serpent-like fashion, had set a wheel in motion, and the noise of the
+clapper resounded under the bridge, and made a sound as if it were
+working in deep water. From this bridge a narrow path led obliquely
+into the stone layers. Once beyond the entrance into this dark path
+the lamps ceased to burn; the coal-gas had begun its sway. Upon the
+bridge an electric machine was placed, whose brilliant light was
+shaded by a wire screen.
+
+The old miner set the machine working, and the light flashed into
+every nook and cranny of the subterranean cavern. It lighted up the
+narrow tunnel which, for the last month, Ivan had been boring from his
+own mine to that of his neighbor. He had told no one what he had been
+doing, but now the work was almost finished; it only required to be
+broken through. This work, which would take another week to complete,
+needed to be done in a diver's equipment. The length of the narrow
+tunnel was perfectly illumined by the electric machine, as if in the
+broad light of the sun. Where it turned out of its course high
+looking-glasses of polished steel were placed in positions which
+reflected the light itself until it faded away to a faint glimmer. The
+two divers could now hardly discern an object.
+
+"We shall soon be in darkness," said Spitzhase to Ivan.
+
+"We shall have light enough," returned Ivan; and he led the way
+farther into the tunnel.
+
+Spitzhase was forced to follow, for his head was fastened to Ivan's
+head. Wonderful pair of Siamese twins! If the pipe that bound them
+together were to break, both were dead men.
+
+"Halt!" cried Ivan. "Here is the pump. Give me the pipe."
+
+In the half-darkness a little machine three feet high was discernible;
+it was provided with a spring wheel. This suction-pipe had been
+brought here only the day before. Ivan took the caoutchouc coil from
+his companion's shoulder, and screwed the pipe to the aperture of the
+machine; then he set the wheel in motion, and in a few seconds it,
+with the heavy balls attached, was revolving with velocity. Then he
+took the end of the pipe and gave the coil back to Spitzhase with this
+difference: instead of putting it over his arm he hung the hose over
+his neck. Spitzhase felt as if the pipe were about a hundredweight
+heavier, and that it had grown suddenly stiff.
+
+"Forward! quick march!" shouted Ivan into his helmet.
+
+"It begins to be hot as hell itself," grumbled Spitzhase, who was
+suffering horribly.
+
+"Because we are in a part of the mine where the fire has been put
+out."
+
+Both the men wore on their feet glass slippers, otherwise they would
+have felt that the ashes through which they were wading were glowing
+with heat.
+
+The india-rubber hose hung round Spitzhase's neck. It grew darker and
+darker, until at last it was as dark as Erebus.
+
+"I can see nothing," shouted Spitzhase.
+
+"You are safe if you follow me," returned Ivan.
+
+It began to grow somewhat lighter. The light, however, was rose color;
+there was twilight, then, in the bowels of the earth.
+
+Spitzhase complained he could hardly draw his breath.
+
+"That will get better presently," said Ivan, encouraging him.
+
+They had now turned the corner of the road, and the terrible tragedy
+of hell itself lay before them. Yes, hell itself was there. A burning
+labyrinth, in whose glowing passages the prismatic colors changed
+every moment. The blue-green flames leaped from the ground and blended
+with the flames of brilliant scarlet which played upon the burning
+wall, and again faded in the far distance into a deep purple color. It
+was like a fairy transparency at a pantomime. Through the fissures and
+crevices sheets of white sun-rays poured like molten silver. Amid the
+glowing coals there seemed to rise shapes as of demons dancing,
+creatures with green hair and red beards, and from the red sulphate
+of the vaulting there fell slowly a golden shower, a melting rain of
+sparks. From the clefts in the side walls the gas, let loose from all
+restraint, hissed like so many demoniacal serpents, and kindled a
+subterranean flame of its own. Out of the depths of the pit a
+waterspout of fire shot suddenly, sending in every direction a shower
+of sparks. Over the whole floated a milk-colored cloud, which filled
+the vault with a nebulous vapor, wandering as a will-o'-the-wisp here
+and there, and threatening every moment to envelop the rash visitors
+to hell in its chill embrace. Spitzhase, alarmed out of all control,
+pressed closer to the wall; fright was overcoming him.
+
+"Let go the hose!" shouted Ivan. The hose fell like a serpent
+unchained, wriggling backward and forward. "Now follow me. Hold the
+pipe on your arm;" and he drew Spitzhase after him.
+
+He was constrained to follow, although his heart was in his mouth;
+their heads were fastened to each other. If he had had sufficient
+strength to free himself from this terrible companionship, it would
+have in no way helped him, for the carbon would have killed him
+instantaneously.
+
+Mechanically he allowed himself to be drawn on. Hell with all its
+horrors disclosed itself to his affrighted gaze. His companion seemed
+to fear nothing. Was he a human being, or a fiend, who was in reality
+possessed of power over the demons of hell? He dragged him to the very
+border of the fiery lake; then he took from his shoulder the hose,
+which lay in rings and coils, and, opening the mouth of the stop-cock,
+directed its force at the bosom of hell. The hose shot forth a flash
+like a diamond; the water-spirit fell into the glowing Gehenna.
+
+"Hold tight!" shouted Ivan.
+
+And from the force which the stream from the pipe exercised upon the
+burning mass the air was filled with dark clouds of smoke, which
+peopled the still brilliantly lighted cavern with strange, unearthly,
+spectral-like shadows, which, dissolving suddenly into steam, covered
+the two adventurous visitors with a damp moisture. One of them
+tottered.
+
+"Fear nothing," calls out the other; "we are quite safe here."
+
+"It is suffocating; I am burning!" cried Spitzhase.
+
+"Do not be afraid; follow me," said Ivan, and drew his trembling
+comrade after him over the wet rocks, over the charred, burning
+mounds. Every spot where he saw the flames rising he directed the
+hose, and a shower of cool, refreshing water fell from the
+india-rubber pipe upon the burning, seething demoniacal flames. The
+gas hissed, the hot steam boiled round them, the flames, beaten down
+in one place, sprang up in another, but on they went. He was afraid of
+nothing. "Forward! go on! forward!" The mysterious clouds hovered over
+him.
+
+"We are lost!" moaned the other poor mortal, whose fear began to be
+uncontrollable. He fell on his knees.
+
+"You of little faith," said the conqueror of hell, "get up. Let us go
+back." And he lifted him up, as the Redeemer did Peter on the stormy
+Sea of Galilee.
+
+Then he rolled the hose once more round his neck, and took it back to
+the suction-pump; this he closed, and then led his comrade again to
+the little room where they had put on their equipment.
+
+Spitzhase sank back when he reached this haven. When his helmet was
+taken off he panted like a man who was suffocating for want of air.
+Ivan looked at him compassionately.
+
+The miners gave each of them a glass of fresh lemonade to drink, and
+rubbed their temples with vinegar. They then undressed them to the
+skin, put them into a tub of cold water, took them out in two seconds,
+and rubbed them with coarse towels. Spitzhase began to recover his
+senses.
+
+As they put on their usual clothes Ivan said to him, "Well, sir, how
+did you like being below?"
+
+Spitzhase was no fool, but he answered, good-humoredly, "I wouldn't
+have missed going down for a hundred gulden, but I would pay twice
+that sum rather than go there again."
+
+"Now you know what to write to your board of directors. Paul, take
+this gentleman home. I remain here to continue the work."
+
+Spitzhase wrote a glowing account of what he called "the fight with
+the world of spirits" to the Vienna papers.
+
+The next day Ivan said to the commissioners, "We have now laid pipes
+four inches in diameter to work upon the very heart of the fire. So
+soon as I am ready we shall set the high-pressure machine at work.
+This will empty in four hours ten thousand buckets of fluid on the
+burning mass."
+
+"The devil take it!" cried Spitzhase. "Will this farce never have an
+end until the escaped gas blows up the colliery, and makes of it and
+of us a new Pompeii?"
+
+"Do not be afraid. I have thought of this danger. We have taken care
+to stop all the outlets to the quarry gallery with sand-bags. We have
+walled up every possible fissure, crevice, and exit. The entrance to
+the well-shaft has been provided with a strong iron door, over which
+we have fastened a thick bed of clay. If, therefore, it should happen
+that in the gallery, where the conflagration is at its worst, and
+where the fluid must be poured freely, the mass of gas should develop
+in such force that it must explode, then the iron door will prove our
+salvation. It will resist all attack, and the force of the gas will be
+broken."
+
+The members of the commission shook with fright. Here was a pleasant
+prospect! Ivan, however, had no time to spare on reassuring them; the
+crisis was at hand, and he had still much to do. Prudence, foresight
+was necessary. At mid-day he returned to the quarry gallery.
+
+As the clock struck twelve he gave the signal at which the large
+suction-pump was to be set in motion. He remained from this time at
+his post, never leaving the machine until the work was finished. To
+their honor be it spoken, the three commissioners remained with him;
+they kept their places without moving, never speaking a word. During
+the awful time that followed no voice was heard but that of Ivan. Soon
+after the signal was given a rushing sound was heard underground,
+faint at first, but growing louder. It sounded as if in the distance
+water was pouring from an open sluice.
+
+At first the machine was worked at only half its strength. After half
+an hour or so there mingled with the rushing sound a great tumult, as
+if many bells were vibrating in the air. The noise did not die away;
+on the contrary, the vibration grew every moment stronger.
+
+The earth was in labor; the ground heaved and trembled, and those who
+felt its throes trembled also. The earth's sufferings were shared by
+her children. Only one man was calm; the master-spirit was not afraid.
+
+With close attention Ivan watched the pendulum and the thermometer of
+the machine; he marked the variations in the condition of the
+barometer, the ozonometer, and electrometer, writing his observations
+in his note-book. After another hour he made a sign to the man working
+the machine to put on more pressure.
+
+Thereupon arose from below a terrible uproar; it was the battle of the
+Cyclops. The bowels of the earth sent up a dull roar like the rolling
+of thunder; occasionally came a shock as of an earthquake. The houses
+began to rock, the tops of the tall trees and the cross upon the tower
+tottered, and its fall added to the anxiety felt by the entire valley.
+The underground fight grew every moment fiercer; the giants joined
+issue with their foes. They howled in rage; they put their gigantic
+shoulders together and tried to upset the earth. To their cries was
+added the bellowing of the hurricane confined in the cave, and the
+tumult was indescribable.
+
+The listeners to this fearful scene looked with a stony stare of
+horror; they were speechless, but their look seemed to say, "What rash
+act have you done? Are you inciting the spirits who dwell under the
+earth to war against one another?"
+
+Ivan answered with another look of calm superiority. "Fear nothing; I
+have my foot upon the head of the giant."
+
+The underground battle had lasted three hours. The people were beside
+themselves with fright; they turned upon Ivan and cursed him.
+
+"Do you think you are a God," they cried, "and can create an
+earthquake?"
+
+Ivan paid no attention either to their fears or their curses; he gave
+another signal to the men at the machine--
+
+"With the whole power!"
+
+The machine, the outcome of the wonderful inventive genius of man,
+stormed the very gates of hell itself. The underground tremblings
+followed one another rapidly, growing stronger and stronger; the deep
+groaning rose to a stentorian, deafening roar.
+
+"It is all over!" shrieked the people in the valley, and fell upon
+their knees.
+
+In the air a shrill, whistling sound was now heard, as if an engine
+had suddenly let off steam, and out of the shaft of the company's mine
+there arose rapidly a white column of steam, which, as soon as it
+encountered the cold regions of space, shot up into the sky, where it
+formed itself into a white cloud, which cloud suddenly broke into a
+deluge of rain. At once the underground convulsion ceased, and the
+shrill whistling died away in the distance.
+
+Ivan, looking round, said, quickly, "Paul, collect the rain-water; I
+must know what it is made of." Upon this he gave the machinist the
+signal to stop the machine. There was not even a drop of perspiration
+upon his forehead. He took the bottle of rain-water that Paul brought
+him and put it in his pocket. "Now, gentlemen," he said, "you can go
+to supper. The work is accomplished."
+
+"Is the fire extinguished?" asked Spitzhase.
+
+"Absolutely."
+
+"And the pillar of steam yonder?"
+
+"Will remain in the sky until midnight and then slowly damp away. Go
+to supper. I have something of importance to do at home."
+
+Who cared to eat supper?
+
+The pillar of steam still continued to rise from the shaft, and to
+form a cloud from which a steady downpour of rain fell continuously,
+occasionally interspersed by flashes of lightning; but no one thought
+of going indoors. The richer members of society wrapped themselves in
+mackintoshes, the workmen in their cloaks, and all continued to watch
+the strange appearance, until at last, towards ten o'clock, it began
+to grow smaller. The whistling sound was interrupted now and again by
+a piercing shriek, and sometimes a flash of lightning illumined the
+shadow of the pillar--the white cloud.
+
+The steam giant then sank back; not all at once, but by degrees, into
+the pit from which it had arisen. Only occasionally, from time to
+time, its head reappeared for a second, but the whistling ceased
+altogether; so, too, did the heaving of the earth. The unearthly
+tumult was silenced. In the church the sound of the organ was heard,
+and voices intoning "Alleluia! Alleluia!" The people walked in
+procession, carrying lanterns and banners.
+
+The commissioners made their way to the inn, where they found Ivan
+eating his supper. He could eat now; it struck him that he was mortal
+and wanted food.
+
+"I have finished the chemical examination," he said to the other three
+with polite indifference, "and I can give you the satisfactory news
+that in the residue 0.75 of carbonic acid is to be found."
+
+Spitzhase did not understand. "What good is it," he asked, "if
+seventy-five parts of carbonic acid are in the residuum?"
+
+"To-morrow we can open both entrances to the colliery, and after the
+air-pumps have been settled the work can be resumed."
+
+Alleluia! Alleluia!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL
+
+ANGELA IS EVEN WITH IVAN
+
+
+Success brings with it fame, fortune, and universal esteem. Men
+worship success, and with justice.
+
+He who has saved a great treasure, who has restored to thousands of
+people their country, their industry; he who has overcome a universal
+calamity which threatened an entire province; he who has given to
+thousands on the verge of beggary their livelihood, who has dried the
+tears of the widow and the orphan--he is near to God himself.
+
+Honors and rewards were showered upon Ivan. The government gave him
+for all time the patent for his discovery. By the Joint-Stock Mining
+Company he was handsomely remunerated. A monster deputation obliged
+him to accept the place of director. Scientific societies at home and
+abroad elected him member. His picture and biography appeared in all
+the illustrated papers of Europe and America. The simple villagers in
+Bondathal prayed for him night and morning; and when the first train
+steamed out of the Bondavara station, the locomotive bore the name of
+"Behrend." It was only God's providence that preserved him from
+receiving "an order."
+
+Perhaps the most interesting testimony, and the one most valued by
+Ivan, was a letter which the Countess Angela wrote to him with her own
+hand.
+
+The countess told him frankly all that had happened to her since they
+had met; how she had married the Marquis Salista; how unhappy he had
+made her by the pressure he brought to bear upon her grandfather,
+Prince Theobald, which ended in his property being sequestrated, to
+the ruin of the whole family of Bondavary. She had suffered greatly in
+consequence, and had known what privation meant; also the income of
+the Countess Theudelinde had been considerably diminished, and the old
+lady had been forced to reduce her household. This condition of
+affairs had shown them their former friends in their true light--among
+others, Salista, her husband, who had gone to Mexico, and left her to
+shift for herself. Then Ivan had come to the rescue. Prince Waldemar's
+triumphal progress had been effectually checked. The million of money
+placed by Prince Theobald in the Bondavara Company had regained its
+value. The prince had arranged with his creditors, and his affairs
+were once more settled. She had been reconciled to him, and lived with
+him. Countess Theudelinde likewise had recovered her rents. The great
+family of Bondavary, which had been so near ruin, was reinstated in
+its former position. And for its new lease of life it had to thank a
+certain beneficent, clever--
+
+Here Countess Angela's letter broke off. There was, however, a
+postscript:
+
+"Answer this letter. I beg for one word. Write 'I forgive you.'"
+
+Ivan answered her immediately. He expressed his gratitude for her kind
+remembrance of him, but he could not imagine what he had to forgive.
+On the contrary, he had a lively recollection of the many kindnesses
+he had received from the Countess Angela Salista.
+
+The letter was evidently written with an effort to be cold and polite.
+It was followed by a second letter from Angela, which ran thus:
+
+"Do not answer me in that way. I have sinned against you. You do not
+reproach me, but my own heart and conscience do. To quiet these
+tormentors I need your pardon. Answer me sincerely. Can you ever
+forgive me? I should not have treated you as I did--"
+
+Ivan answered this by a long, confidential letter. He confessed to her
+secrets of his heart, made to her confessions which never before
+passed his lips. The countess might be confident that she had never
+offended him. She had never forfeited the place she held in his
+respect.
+
+A third letter came from Angela.
+
+"If you can do so from your heart, write upon a piece of paper,
+'Angela Bondavary, I forgive you, from my heart.'"
+
+Ivan wrote these words and nothing else.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+One evening two carriages drove into the court-yard of Ivan's house.
+He lived now in the handsome residence provided by the company for the
+director of the mines. The porter exchanged some words with the person
+who sat in the first carriage, and then came to Ivan with two
+visiting-cards.
+
+Ivan, to his surprise, read the names--
+
+     _Countess Theudelinde Bondavary._
+
+     _Countess Angela Bondavary._
+
+These names caused a great disturbance in Ivan's mind. What did they
+want? Why did they come to him? He told the porter to show the ladies
+in, and then, taking up the cards again, it struck him as odd that
+the Countess Angela's did not bear the name of her husband.
+
+The door opened, and only one lady entered. She was dressed in
+mourning, and her face was covered by a thick veil, the thick crape
+concealing her features. It was the Countess Theudelinde. She had on a
+long black travelling-cloak with two capes. She came to Ivan and held
+out to him the finger-tips of her black glove, which he carried to his
+lips, while she murmured some words of greeting.
+
+"Where is the marquise?" asked Ivan, anxiously.
+
+"She will be here immediately; but it is very difficult to bring her
+in."
+
+Ivan conducted the lady to a sofa and asked her to be seated.
+
+"Do not go to meet her," continued the countess. "She will find her
+way. You will receive her kindly, won't you?"
+
+"Oh, countess," Ivan began; but Theudelinde interrupted impatiently.
+
+"No phrases, please. We have not come here for polite words or to
+exchange compliments. We come to make a request; the answer is simple.
+Yes or no. Angela wants to remain here."
+
+"Here!" repeated Ivan, horrified.
+
+"Yes, here! Do not be afraid; not in this house, but in the
+neighborhood. She wishes to remain near you--never to leave you--that
+is her desire; and she has a right to have her wishes granted."
+
+Ivan began to think he must be dreaming; he did not know what to say,
+but his thoughts were distracted by a strange noise outside. Along the
+passage came the heavy tread of several men. The door opened and four
+miners came in, carrying between them a metal coffin, on the lid of
+which lay a white wreath of _repoussé_ silver.
+
+The wreath surrounded the arms of the Bondavary family, and underneath
+was carved in gold letters--
+
+     ANGELA BONDAVARY.
+
+The coffin was placed upon the oak table. Ivan stood as if he were
+turned into a statue, his eyes fixed upon the wreath and the name
+underneath.
+
+Theudelinde got up and seized his hand, saying, in a low, agitated
+voice:
+
+"This is the Countess Angela Bondavary, who begs of you, as the master
+here in Bondavara, to find for her a small place in the family vault
+of the castle, where she may lie among her own people, waiting for the
+coming of Jesus Christ--the Bridegroom of all poor women whose lives
+have been desolated."
+
+"How is it possible that she is dead?" said Ivan, who was deeply
+moved.
+
+"How? Very easily! When you throw a rose into the fire, in two minutes
+you will only find its ashes. I had just heard her laugh; she was
+quite gay. Then she went too near the stove; the next moment she
+screamed, and I saw her enveloped in flames!"
+
+"She was burned to death!" cried Ivan, covering his face with his
+hands. Then, after a pause, "Was there no one near to save her?"
+
+"Was there no one?" answered Theudelinde. "Were you, then, asleep at
+midnight? Did you not hear her call, 'Ivan, help me!'? Did you not see
+her standing beside your bed in flames--an angel with hell in her
+heart? Why were you not by her side to hold her in your arms, to
+stifle the flames, to snatch her from the jaws of death? Where were
+you, who should have saved her? Now she is here, and says to you, 'I
+am gone. I am no one. Let us be united.'"
+
+Ivan felt as if an iron band had been laid upon his heart.
+
+"She lived," continued Theudelinde, "for two days. She suffered the
+most terrible pain. When I think of all she went through I feel as if
+my senses were leaving me. To the last she was conscious. She spoke--
+But no--why should I tell you what she said? Just before she died she
+asked for a pencil, and wrote a few words to you. Here they are in
+this envelope. Do not break the seal, do not read them, so long as I
+am here. I would rather give you no explanation. If you have anything
+to ask, ask it from her. Here is the key of the coffin; I give it to
+you."
+
+Ivan recoiled from receiving such a present.
+
+"Why should you be afraid? Why do you object to opening the coffin?
+There is nothing to fear. The body is embalmed, and the flames did not
+touch her face. You will see that she smiles."
+
+Ivan forced himself to raise the coffin-lid and to look on the face of
+the dead. There was no smile on her lips. She was calm and cold; as
+when she lay insensible in the wood, with her head upon a cushion of
+moss, so now she lay upon her white satin cushion. Ivan felt that if
+she could open her eyes for one minute she would look at him proudly
+and say, "I want nothing," and close them again. How beautiful she
+was, with her still, marble face, her immovable eyebrows. Ivan would
+not disturb its calm loveliness by even one kiss. He would have felt
+it to be dishonorable, and yet, if she could have come to life again,
+who knows--? As on the day when he had closed her dress with his
+breast-pin, so now he shrouded her secret with the coffin-lid. Her
+secret was safe with him.
+
+"Keep the key," said Theudelinde. "The coffin, its key, and the
+treasure it holds are yours; that is settled. You are the master of
+the vault; it is your duty to take her there. You cannot escape it."
+
+With eyes that were hot and tearless, Theudelinde looked through her
+veil at Ivan. He returned the glance. If either had shed a tear, or
+even let a sob escape, both would have burst into passionate weeping,
+for grief is infectious; but each one of them was resolved to show
+mental strength in the presence of the other. They could even command
+their emotions.
+
+"Do you undertake the duty?"
+
+Ivan bowed his head.
+
+"Then you will perform it alone. Alive I shall never enter the family
+vault. You know why."
+
+Both were silent. Then Theudelinde burst out:
+
+"Why was I not left in my castle? Why was I undeceived when I imagined
+that my ancestors visited me? If I had not been shaken in my delusions
+I should still have been happy. I should never have gone into the
+world, where I have only found misery; Angela would not have come to
+me; my brother Theobald would not have been ruined; hell would not
+have been let loose in the Bondavara mines; I should have never known
+you; all--all would have been different!" Then, after a pause, she
+went on: "There is no need of a clergyman; there is no need of any
+ceremony. You can say some prayers. You are a Protestant--so was
+Angela. She became one that she might get a separation from her
+unworthy husband. Let them carry the coffin quietly and reverently to
+the family vault. There I shall leave you and it, for I shall not go
+inside--never, until I am dead. You will put the coffin in its place,
+and then I return whence I came, where I am wanted by no one."
+
+Ivan called the miners to take the coffin again upon their shoulders,
+and told them to carry it through the vestibule to the private door
+which led into the park. The park separated the director's house from
+the castle.
+
+As they walked through the winding paths of the park the trees shed
+their golden leaves upon the coffin and the titmice in the brushwood
+chanted the dirge.
+
+Ivan walked bareheaded behind the coffin, and behind him came Countess
+Theudelinde.
+
+When they reached the entrance of the vault Ivan told the bearers to
+put the coffin down, and, kneeling down beside it, he remained for a
+long time praying. God hears us if we speak to Him in a whisper; nay,
+He hears us, even although we do not speak, but feel.
+
+Theudelinde bent over Ivan and kissed his forehead.
+
+"I thank you. You walked behind her with your head uncovered. Now she
+is all yours." Then she returned by the winding path, as if she were
+afraid that Ivan would make her take away what she had brought.
+
+Ivan placed the coffin in its resting-place and sent away the bearers;
+then he remained for many hours beside it. By the light of the torches
+he read Angela's last words to him--
+
+"For whom shall I wait on the shore of the new world?"
+
+Ivan sighed deeply. "Who will wait for me on the shore of the new
+world?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Then he made his way back to the house. There was no trace of either
+the countess's travelling carriage or Angela's hearse.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI
+
+HOW IVAN MOURNED
+
+
+They were both gone, the high-born lady and the peasant girl--gone
+where there is no sorrow and no more sin. One had lost her life by
+charcoal, the other by fire--two vengeful spirits.
+
+Ivan thought of both with bitter regret. He felt now that he was alone
+in the world. He would have given all the fame he had acquired, the
+money he had earned, the good he had done, to have been able to save
+even one of these women. He mourned for them not in black, not with
+crape on his hat. What good are these signs of grief?
+
+The European mourns in black, the Chinese in yellow, the Mussulman in
+green; in the classical age they mourned in white; the former
+generation of Hungarians in violet; the Jews in rags; the philosopher
+in his heart. The wise man never shares his grief, but he does his
+joys.
+
+Meantime, in the Bondavara Valley there reigned peace and plenty;
+where there had been a half-savage race there was a happy people. The
+worst characters had settled down, morality had grown popular.
+
+Ivan sent the young men at his own expense to factories abroad, where
+they learned the arts of civilization. He brought wood-carvers from
+Switzerland and lace-workers from Holstein to teach their trades to
+the women and children, so that they might unite artistic labor with
+increase of wages. For a population where every one, big and little,
+works either from necessity or for amusement--a people who look upon
+work as pleasure and who feel it no privation to be employed--such a
+people are ennobled by their toil.
+
+Ivan looked after the schools. He emancipated the national teachers
+from the misery of their national tyrants; he rewarded the student
+with scholarships, the school-boy with useful prizes; in every parish
+he established a library and reading-room. He accustomed the people to
+put by the pence they could spare; he taught them how to help one
+another; he established in Bondavara a savings-bank and a hospital.
+
+His own colliery was a model. The miners and himself were the joint
+owners, and shared the profit. Whoever was taken on in this colliery
+should pass an examination and work one year on trial. This rule
+applied to women and men alike. This trial year was not easy,
+particularly for the girls.
+
+Nowhere was a girl so looked after; not in her mother's house or in a
+convent or state institution was there more particularity as to
+manners and morals than in Ivan Behrend's colliery. Every word, every
+act was watched. If any one failed to be up to the mark during his
+year of probation, no one taunted him, nor was he despised. He was
+simply told to go and work in the company's colliery, where there was
+better pay; and the workman or workwoman imagined this was an advance,
+not a degradation. In the company's colliery there was certainly more
+freedom, the rules being less strict.
+
+If, however, at the end of the trial year the applicant had fulfilled
+all requirements, he or she was received into the colony and became a
+shareholder, so far as the profit was in question. Besides this, a
+prize for virtue was given once a year, on the anniversary of the
+great pit-burning, to the most modest, well-conducted girl in the
+colony.
+
+Ivan spent on this prize fifty ducats, and the miners on their side
+promised the winner a handsome wedding present.
+
+It was, of course, an understood thing that no one went in for the
+prize. No one knew who was likely to get it. The elders took notes; it
+was their secret.
+
+The giving of this prize was not to be attended with any ceremonial.
+It would take place on an ordinary working day, when all the miners
+would have picks and shovels in their hands, so that every one could
+see that the reward was not for a pretty face, but for a good heart
+and industrious fingers. It was to be a day of general rejoicing.
+
+This was how Ivan mourned.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII
+
+EVILA
+
+
+It was the anniversary of the great pit fire. Old Paul had gone to
+look for Ivan at his house in the principal colony, but Ivan had
+already started for the smaller colliery. He saw Paul on the road,
+and, stopping his carriage, took the miner up.
+
+"This day last year was a memorable day," said Paul.
+
+"I recollect it well," returned Ivan; "but to-day we have to give the
+prize for virtue. Have the jury settled to whom it is to be given?"
+
+"They are agreed. A girl who has been little less than a year in the
+colliery."
+
+"And she has fulfilled all conditions?"
+
+"In every way. The child is most industrious. She is every morning the
+first to come and the last to leave. She never complains of the work,
+as many of them do; she treats it as if it were a pleasure to her. If
+her wheelbarrow is overloaded, she encourages the digger to put on
+still more; then she runs away gayly with her burden, and comes back
+singing as if she had been amusing herself. At the end of the
+recreation she drives the other girls back to their work."
+
+"Is she vain?"
+
+"No; she wears the same holiday clothes in which she was dressed when
+she came a year ago; naturally they are not quite as fresh as they
+were. She has a little string of beads round her throat, and in her
+hair a narrow ribbon. At night she washes her clothes in the stream,
+for she has one peculiarity--she wears fresh linen every day; but she
+makes it up herself, so she alone has the trouble."
+
+"Is she saving?"
+
+"She has more in our savings-bank than any one of the girls. She would
+have still more, only that on Sundays she gives a whole day's wages to
+the beggar who sits at the church door."
+
+"Does she go to church regularly?"
+
+"Every Sunday she comes with us, but she never sits with the other
+girls; she kneels before a side-altar, covers her face with her hands,
+and prays all through mass."
+
+"Is she good-tempered?"
+
+"She has offended no one and has never been angry. Once a woman said
+something very offensive to her, for which we gave her a heavy fine.
+The woman was ready to pay it, but the girl denied that she had been
+offended. Soon after the woman got ill; she had no one to nurse her,
+because she is a solitary widow, and this girl nursed her every night,
+and fetched the medicine from the apothecary for her."
+
+"Do you think she is a hypocrite?"
+
+"She is too merry for that, and ready for a joke. Hypocrites are
+gloomy folk. Our people would soon find her out if she wasn't on the
+square; but she is a prime favorite with every one. We don't choose
+our words exactly, but we can make a fair guess at the girl who
+respects herself. We like one that gives a good box on the ear to a
+fellow who would make too free. Sharp with the hand, but soft with her
+tongue; that's our sort. And still, sometimes I have watched her when
+she was in quite another mood; for instance, on Sunday afternoons,
+when we sit under the mulberry-trees, they all get round me and make
+me tell them--God knows how often!--the story of how you carried the
+pipe of the air-pump into the gallery of the Bondavara mine, and how
+we all thought you were a dead man. Women and children hold their
+breath while I tell it. I believe I do tell that story well, for they
+know it by heart, and yet they cannot but listen. They take it in
+different ways; but this girl, I have noticed her, she covers up her
+face and cries the whole time."
+
+"And is she a modest girl?"
+
+"To ascertain this point we had to call a jury of married women. They
+couldn't bring forward a single charge against her. Then we got the
+girls together, and we pressed them very close, if there was anything
+with the young men, but they all said--no. And there was no need for
+them to deny, for a peasant girl is fitly mated with a miner, and if
+he wants her he can have her."
+
+They had now reached the colliery, and went into the station-house,
+which stood at the corner of the branch railroad. There was now
+another line, which ran underground and connected the two collieries.
+Here Ivan found a great many of the miners. He sent for the rest, and
+told them work was over for the day. Men and women assembled by
+degrees, and only one group of girls still remained working. These had
+agreed not to leave off until they had driven their load of coals to
+the coal-hill, which lay between the entrance to the quarry gallery
+and the station-house where Ivan sat waiting. He could not see the
+girls; he could only hear their clear voices as they called to one
+another to make haste and get the work finished.
+
+Some one began to sing. The melody was familiar to Ivan--one of those
+sad Slav airs in which the singer seems on the brink of tears; and the
+voice was sweet and tuneful as a bell, full, too, of feeling.
+
+  "Say when I smoothed thy hair,
+    Showed I not tender care?
+    Say when I dressed my child,
+    Was I not fond and mild?"
+
+Ivan's face clouded. "Why do they sing that air? Why should it be on
+the lips of any one? Why not let it fall into oblivion?"
+
+"The girl is coming," said old Paul. "I hear her singing; she is now
+coming down the hill with her wheelbarrow."
+
+The next moment the girl appeared upon the summit of the coal-hill.
+With a run she had shoved her wheelbarrow forward and emptied the
+contents with extraordinary dexterity; the big lumps of coal rolled
+down the hill. She was a young, well-developed girl in a blue jacket
+and a short petticoat; but this red petticoat was not tucked up--it
+fell over her ankles, and only showed her feet. The colored
+handkerchief on her head had fallen backward, and the rich plaits
+wound round her small head could be seen. Her face was smudged with
+coal-dust and was beaming with good-humor--earthly dirt, supernatural
+glory. But what the coal-dust could not conceal were the two large
+black eyes shining like two brilliants--the darkness illumined by
+dazzling stars.
+
+The girl stood immovable on the summit of the coal-hill, then looked
+down with some surprise on the crowd gathered in and around the
+station-house.
+
+The next moment Ivan was beside her. In his joy he had made one bound
+from the station-house across the rails and had rushed up the
+coal-hill.
+
+"Eveline!" he cried, clasping the girl's hand in his.
+
+She shook her head, smiling at him. "No, sir," she said, "Evila."
+
+"You here! You have come back here!"
+
+"I have been in your colliery, sir, for a year, and if you will keep
+me on I should like to stay."
+
+"You shall stay only on one condition--as my wife," cried Ivan,
+pressing her hand to his heart.
+
+All who were at the foot of the hill saw this action; they could
+almost hear his words.
+
+Evila shook her head and drew away her hand. "No, no. Allow me to be
+your servant, a maid in your house, the maid of your wife. I shall be
+quite happy; I expect nothing more."
+
+"But I wish it. You have come back to me; you are mine. How could you
+be so cruel as to be a year so near me and never to tell me?"
+
+"Oh, sir, you cannot raise me to your position!" said Evila, with a
+sad yet dignified expression. "If you knew all you would never forgive
+me."
+
+"I know everything, and forgive everything."
+
+These words proved that Ivan knew nothing. If he had known the truth
+he would have been aware there was absolutely nothing to forgive. As
+it was, he pressed his young love close to his heart, while she
+murmured:
+
+"You may forgive me, but the world will never pardon _you_."
+
+"The world!" cried Ivan, raising his head proudly. "My world is
+_here_"--laying his hand on his breast. "The world! Look round you
+from this hill. Everything that lives in this valley owes its breath
+to me; every blade of grass has to thank _me_ that it is now green.
+Hill and valley know that, under God, I have saved them from
+destruction. I have acquired a million, and I have not despoiled any
+one. With every penny I receive a blessing. In the palace of the
+prince and in the cottage of the widow I have dried the tears of
+despair; I have delivered my enemies from a living grave, and I have
+saved their wives and children from the misfortune of being widows and
+orphans. My name is spoken of with admiration all over the globe, and
+yet I have hid myself _here_, not to be troubled with their praises; I
+do not care for praise. The most lovely of women has smiled on me and
+loved me, but she was not of _my_ world. She is dead, and the key of
+her coffin is a perpetual reminder to me that her world has passed
+away. My world is within me, and into that inner world of mine no one
+has ever entered, no one _will_ ever enter, _but you_! Speak, Evila;
+answer me. Will you try to love me?"
+
+The girl's eyes sank before the ardent gaze of her lover. Many men had
+made love to her, but none like this man, whose face shone like
+Jupiter's when, with a look, he killed Semele.
+
+"Oh, sir," she murmured, "if I do not die I shall love you always; but
+my mind misgives me that I shall die."
+
+As she spoke she fell back fainting, her brilliant color faded to a
+waxen pallor, the flashing eyes closed; her body, which a moment
+before was like a blooming rose, was now as lifeless as a withered
+leaf.
+
+Ivan held her motionless form in his arms. The woman whom he had so
+loved, for whom he had suffered so much, was his, just as her pulse
+ceased to beat, just as she had said, "I shall love you always, but I
+know that I shall die."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But she did not die.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII
+
+THE DIAMOND REMAINED ALWAYS A DIAMOND
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME
+
+
+_DOÑA PERFECTA._ _By B. Pérez Galdós. $1 00._
+
+_PARISIAN POINTS OF VIEW._ _By Ludovic Halévy. $1 00._
+
+_DAME CARE._ _By Hermann Sudermann. $1 00._
+
+_TALES OF TWO COUNTRIES._ _By Alexander Kielland. $1 00._
+
+_TEN TALES BY FRANÇOIS COPPÉE._ _With 50 Illustrations by Albert E.
+    Sterner. $1 25._
+
+_MODERN GHOSTS._ _Selected from the Works of Guy de Maupassant, Pedro
+    Antonio de Alarcón, Alexander Kielland, and Others. $1 00._
+
+_THE HOUSE BY THE MEDLAR-TREE._ _By Giovanni Verga. $1 00._
+
+_PASTELS IN PROSE._ (From the French.) _With 150 Illustrations by
+    H. W. McVickar. $1 25._
+
+_MARÍA: A SOUTH AMERICAN ROMANCE._ _By Jorge Isaacs. $1 00._
+
+_THE ODD NUMBER: THIRTEEN TALES._ _By Guy de Maupassant. $1 00._
+
+Published by Harper & Brothers, New York.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors present in the
+original print edition have been corrected in this electronic edition.
+In Chapter VIII, "been witnsss" was changed to "been witness".
+
+In Chapter XIII, a missing quotation mark was added after "less
+physical strength".
+
+In Chapter XVIII, "if he is not a begger" was changed to "if he is not
+a beggar".
+
+In Chapter XXI, "traditions of Radoczy" was changed to "traditions of
+Rakoczy".
+
+In Chapter XXIV, "Jocky Club" was changed to "Jockey Club".
+
+In Chapter XXVI, a period was changed to a question mark after "the
+tavern in his own colony", "predicate the direction" was changed to
+"predict the direction", and "at the pit's month" was changed to "at
+the pit's mouth".
+
+In Chapter XXIX, a period was changed to a question mark after
+"introduce Waldemar".
+
+In Chapter XXXI, "claquers" was changed to "claqueurs", and "did badly
+to night" was changed to "did badly to-night".
+
+In Chapter XXXII, "classsical work" was changed to "classical work".
+
+In Chapter XXXIX, "the three apartures" was changed to "the three
+apertures".
+
+In Chapter XL, a quotation mark was deleted after "She had never
+forfeited the place she held in his respect".
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Black Diamonds, by Mór Jókai
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Black Diamonds, by M�r J�kai
+
+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: Black Diamonds
+
+Author: M�r J�kai
+
+Translator: Frances A. Gerard
+
+Release Date: June 3, 2010 [EBook #32668]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACK DIAMONDS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Budapest 1896 17/III Dr. J�kai M�r]
+
+
+
+
+MAURUS JOKAI
+
+
+BLACK DIAMONDS
+
+
+A Novel
+
+TRANSLATED BY
+FRANCES A. GERARD
+
+
+NEW YORK
+HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
+
+Copyright, 1896, by HARPER & BROTHERS.
+
+All rights reserved.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER                                          PAGE
+I.        A BLACK PLACE                             1
+II.       THE SLAVE OF THE BLACK DIAMONDS          11
+III.      THE MAN-EATER                            27
+IV.       A MODERN ALCHEMIST                       35
+V.        THE DOCTOR                               50
+VI.       COUNTESS THEUDELINDE                     63
+VII.      THE COUNTESS'S ALBUM                     79
+VIII.     THE EXORCIST                             95
+IX.       "AN OBSTINATE FELLOW"                   132
+X.        THE HIGHER MATHEMATICS                  146
+XI.       SOIR�ES AMALGAMANTES                    155
+XII.      RITTER MAGNET                           166
+XIII.     ONLY A TRIFLE                           189
+XIV.      THIRTY-THREE PARTS                      207
+XV.       TWO POINTS                              225
+XVI.      GOOD-BYE                                232
+XVII.     THE LAST REHEARSAL                      245
+XVIII.    FINANCIAL WISDOM                        253
+XIX.      FILTHY LUCRE                            259
+XX.       NO, EVELINE!                            278
+XXI.      RESPECT FOR HALINA CLOTH                291
+XXII.     TWO SUPPLIANTS                          301
+XXIII.    FINANCIAL INTRIGUE                      312
+XXIV.     THE BONDAVARA RAILWAY                   317
+XXV.      THE POOR DEAR PRINCE                    324
+XXVI.     DIES IR�                                327
+XXVII.    FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS      348
+XXVIII.   TWO CHILDREN                            352
+XXIX.     IMMACULATE                              357
+XXX.      MAN AND WIFE                            365
+XXXI.     EVA DIRKMAL                             373
+XXXII.    CRUSHED                                 378
+XXXIII.   CHARCOAL                                387
+XXXIV.    CSANTA'S LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT        395
+XXXV.     THE GROUND BURNS UNDER HIS FEET         401
+XXXVI.    CHILD'S PLAY                            406
+XXXVII.   EUREKA                                  411
+XXXVIII.  AT PAR                                  419
+XXXIX.    THE UNDERGROUND WORLD                   428
+XL.       ANGELA IS EVEN WITH IVAN                442
+XLI.      HOW IVAN MOURNED                        450
+XLII.     EVILA                                   453
+XLIII.    THE DIAMOND REMAINED ALWAYS A DIAMOND   459
+
+
+
+
+
+BLACK DIAMONDS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+A BLACK PLACE
+
+
+We are in the depths of an underground cavern. It is bad enough to be
+underground, but here we are all enveloped in black as well: the
+ceiling is black, so are the walls; they are made of blocks of coal.
+The floor is one great black looking-glass. It is a sort of pond,
+polished as steel. Over this polished surface glistens the reflection
+of a solitary light, the light of a safety-lamp shining through a wire
+net.
+
+A man guides himself over the pond in a narrow boat. By the doubtful
+light of the lamp he sees high pillars, which rise out of the depths
+below and reach to the very roof of the cavern--pillars slender, like
+the columns of a Moorish palace. These pillars are half white and half
+black; up to a certain point only are they coal black, beyond that
+they are light in color.
+
+What are these pillars?
+
+They are the stems of pines and palm-trees. These gigantic stems are
+quite at home in the layers over the coal-mine, but how have they
+descended here? They belong to another world--the world of light and
+air. The coal layers overhead sometimes take fire of themselves, and
+the fire, being intense, has loosened the hold of these giants and
+sent them below.
+
+Coal-pits kindle of themselves often, as every novice knows, but in
+this case who extinguished the flames? That is the question.
+
+The solitary occupant of the rudely shaped boat or canoe goes
+restlessly here and there, up and down. He is a man of about thirty
+years, with a pale face and a dark beard. His firmly closed lips give
+him an expression of earnestness, or strong, decided will; while his
+forehead, which is broad, with large bumps over the eyes, shows that
+he is a deep thinker. His head is uncovered, for here in this vault
+the air is heavy, and his curly black hair is in thick masses, so that
+he needs no covering.
+
+What is he doing here?
+
+He drives his boat over the black looking-glass of the lake; round and
+round he goes, searching the black walls with anxiety, his lamp raised
+in his disengaged hand. Does he imagine that a secret is hidden there?
+Does he think that by touching a spring, and saying "Open Sesame," the
+treasure hidden there for hundreds of years will spring forth?
+
+In truth, he does find treasures. Here and there from the black
+wall--weakly constructed in some places by Nature's hand--a piece of
+stone loosens itself--upon it the impression of a leaf belonging to a
+long-ago-extinct species. A wonderful treasure this! In other places
+he comes upon unknown crystals, to which science has not as yet given
+a name; or upon a new conglomeration of different quartz, metal, and
+stone--a silent testimony to a convulsion of Nature before this world
+was. All these witnesses speak.
+
+The pillars, too; over them the water of the pond has by degrees
+formed a crustation of crystals, small, but visible even without a
+glass. This, too, gives testimony.
+
+The pond is in itself wonderful. It has ebb and flow: twice in the day
+it empties itself; twice in the day it fills. The water rushes in
+leaps and bounds, joyously, tumultuously, into this dark, sullen
+vault; fills it higher, higher, until it reaches the point on the
+pillars where the color changes. There it remains, sometimes for two
+hours, stationary, smooth, and placid as a glass. Then it begins to
+sink, slowly, surely, until it vanishes away into the secret
+hiding-places from whence it has come. Curious, mysterious visitor!
+The man in the boat knows its ways; he has studied them. He waits
+patiently, until, with a sullen, gurgling sound, as if lamenting the
+necessity, the last current of water vanishes behind a projecting mass
+of coal. Then he hurriedly casts off his coat, his shoes, his
+stockings; he has nothing on but his shirt and trousers. He fastens
+round him a leather pocket, in which is a hammer and chisel; he takes
+his safety-lamp and fastens it to his belt; and, so equipped, he
+glides into one of the fissures in the black rock. He is following the
+vanishing stream. He is a courageous man to undertake such a task, for
+his way lies through the palace of death. It needs a heart of stone to
+be there alone in the awful silence. It is a strong motive that brings
+him. He is seeking the secret which lies under seven seals, the
+treasure which Nature has concealed for thousands of years. But this
+man knows not what fear is. He remains three hours seeking. If he had
+any one--a wife, a sister, even a faithful servant, who knew where he
+was, what danger he was in, how their souls would have gone out in
+agony of fear for what might happen!
+
+But he has no one; he is alone--always alone. There is no one to weep
+for his absence or to be joyful at his coming; his life is solitary,
+in the clear air of daylight as well as in the depths of the cavern.
+
+The vanished stream is as capricious as a coquettish maiden, as full
+of tricks and humors. Sometimes it does not show itself for three or
+four hours; at other moments it comes frolicking back in one, and woe
+to the unfortunate wight who is caught in its embrace in the narrow
+windings of the coal-vault! But this man knows the humors of the
+stream; he has studied them. He and it are old acquaintances; he knows
+the signs upon which he can depend, and he knows how long the pause
+will last. He can gauge its duration by the underground wind. When it
+whistles through the clefts and fissures, then he knows the stream is
+at hand. Should he wait until the shrill piping ceases, then he is a
+dead man.
+
+In the darkness a ghostly sound is heard--it is like a long-drawn
+sigh, the far-away sobbing of an �olian harp; and immediately the
+shimmer of the lamp is seen coming nearer and nearer, and in a minute
+the mysterious searcher of the hidden secret appears.
+
+His countenance is paler than before--deathly; and drops of sweat
+course down his forehead and cheeks. Down below the air must be
+heavier in the cavern, or the nightmare of the abyss has caused this
+cold damp. He throws his well-filled wallet into the boat, and seats
+himself in it again.
+
+It was time. Scarcely has he taken his place when a gurgling is heard,
+and out of the fissures of the rock comes a gush of black water,
+shooting forth with a loud, bubbling noise. Then follows a few
+minutes' pause, and again another gush of water. The cavern is filling
+rapidly. In a short time, over the smooth surface of the wall, the
+watermark shows itself. Clear as a looking-glass it rises,
+noiselessly, surely, until it has reached the black line upon the
+pillars.
+
+The boat, with its silent, watchful occupant, floats upon the water
+like the ghost of the cavern. The water is not like ordinary water; it
+is heavy like metal. The boat moves slowly, only now the rower does
+not care to look into the depths of the black looking-glass; he pays
+no attention to the mysterious signs on the walls. He is occupied
+taking stock of the air about him, which is growing denser every
+moment, and he looks carefully at his safety-lamp, but it is closely
+shut. No escape there.
+
+There is a great fog all round the lamp. The air in this underground
+abyss takes a blue shade. The man in the boat knows well what this
+means. The flame of the safety-lamp flares high, and the wick turns
+red--bad signs these! The angel of death is hovering near.
+
+Two spirits dwell in these subterranean regions--two fearfully wicked
+spirits. The pitmen call one Stormy Weather, the other Bad Weather;
+and these two evil spirits haunt every coal-mine, under different
+names. Bad Weather steals upon its victim, lies like a thick vapor
+upon his chest, follows the miner step by step, takes away his breath
+and his speech, laughs at his alarm, and vanishes, when it has reached
+its height, just as suddenly as it came. Stormy Weather is far more
+cruel--fearful. It comes like a whirlwind; it sets everything in a
+flame, kindles the lumps of coal, shatters the vaults, destroys the
+shaft, burns the ground, and dashes human beings to pieces. Those who
+gain their livelihood by working underground can never tell when they
+may meet one or other of these evil spirits.
+
+The secret of "stormy weather," whence it comes, when it may come, no
+man has yet discovered. It is believed that it arises from the
+contact of the hydrogen gases with the acid gases which are contained
+in the open air; and "bad weather" needs only a spark to turn into
+"stormy weather." The thoughtless opening of a safety-lamp, the
+striking of a match, is sufficient to fuse the two evil spirits into
+one.
+
+The solitary man whom we have been shadowing sees, with an anxiety
+that increases every moment, how the air becomes more and more the
+color of an opal. Already it is enveloping him in a thin cloud. He
+does not wait for the flood to rise to its highest point, for, when he
+reaches a place in the wall where a sort of landing-stage has been
+made, he jumps upon it, draws the boat by its chain, and moors it
+fast, and then, ascending by some rude steps to a strong iron door, he
+opens it with a key, and, closing it behind him, finds himself in a
+passage which leads him straight into the pit.
+
+Here he is in a busy world, very different from the solitude he has
+left. The streets, which are narrow and close, are full of miners hard
+at work with their hammers. The men are nearly naked, the boys who
+push the wagons are wholly so. There is no sound heard but that of the
+never-ceasing hammers. In the mine there are no jolly songs, no hearty
+laughter. Over the mouth of each miner a thick cloth is tied, through
+which he breathes.
+
+Some of the passages are so narrow that the worker is obliged to lie
+upon his back, and in this position to reach the coal with his pick.
+When he has loosened it he drops it into the little wagon, which the
+naked boys, crawling upon their stomachs, push before them to the
+opening.
+
+The man who has come out of the dark cavern does not differ in dress
+from any of the others. He is clothed, certainly, but his clothes are
+covered with coal-dust, his hands are just as coarse, and he carries
+a pick and a hammer on his shoulder. Nevertheless, they all know him;
+there is a rough civility in the tone of each man as he answers the
+other's greeting, "Good-evening. Bad Weather is coming."
+
+The word is repeated all round.
+
+It was true. Bad Weather _was_ close at hand, and these men and boys,
+who quietly come and go, hammer, shove the wagons, lie on their backs,
+all know, as well as the convict who is awaiting the execution of his
+sentence, that death is near.
+
+The heavy, damp fog which lies upon each man's chest, and which fills
+the mine with its unwholesome smell, needs only a spark, and those who
+now live and move are dead men, buried underground, while overhead a
+hundred widows and orphans weep and clamor for their lost ones.
+
+And yet, knowing this, the miners continue calmly to work, as if quite
+unconscious that the dread Angel of Death is hovering about them.
+
+The man who has just entered is Ivan Behrend, the owner of the mine.
+He unites in himself the office of overseer, director, surveyor, and
+bookkeeper. He has enough to do; but we all know the proverb, and, if
+we have lived long enough, have tested its truth, "If you want a thing
+well done, do it yourself." Moreover, it is an encouragement to the
+worker if he sees his employer go shoulder to shoulder with him in the
+work. Therefore, as we have just seen, the master greets all his
+workmen with the words, "Bad Weather is coming," and they all know
+that the master does not consider _his_ life of more value than
+theirs; he does not fly and leave them all the danger, because he is
+the owner and gets all the profit. Quietly, with the most perfect
+composure, he gives his orders--the ventilators are to be opened--a
+charge of cool air at once to the heated coal; and the workers are to
+go off work after three instead of six hours. He gets into the pail,
+covered with buffalo-skin, and lets himself down to the bottom of the
+shaft, to see if the new openings are dangerous. He turns over
+carefully with an iron bar the coal-dust, to try if any of it is
+heated, or if gas is there concealed which might cause an explosion.
+Then, as the ventilators below and the air-pump above begin to work,
+he takes his place at the anometer. This is a tender little machine,
+something like the humming-top of children. Its axle turns upon a
+ruby, and the spring sets a wheel with a hundred teeth in motion; the
+velocity of this wheel shows the strength of the current of air in the
+shaft. It should neither be stronger nor weaker than the motion of the
+"bad weather."
+
+He has now seen to everything; he has taken every precaution, he has
+left nothing to chance, and, when all the miners have quitted the pit,
+he is the last to ascend in the basket to the fresh air and the
+daylight.
+
+Fresh air--daylight!
+
+In Bondavara the sun never shines, the shadow of the smoke hangs like
+a thick cloud over the land; it is a black country, painted in chalk.
+The roads are black with coal-tracks; the houses are black from the
+coal-dust, which the wind carries here and there from the large coal
+warehouses; the men and the women are black. It is a wonder the birds
+over there in the woods are not black also.
+
+The mouth of the Bondavara pit is on the slope of a hill, which, when
+you ascend it, gives you a fine view over the whole country. On the
+other side, in the valley, are the tall chimneys of the
+distilling-ovens. These chimneys are busy night and day, vomiting
+forth smoke, sometimes white, but generally coal-black; for here is
+distilled the sulphur which forms a component of the coal.
+
+The metal can only be melted when in this condition. One of the
+principal customers of the coal-mine is the iron-foundry on the
+neighboring mountain, which has five chimneys from which the smoke
+issues. If the hammer throws up white smoke, then the oven distils
+black smoke, and so contrariwise. Both factories working together cast
+over the valley a continuous veil of cloud and smoke, through which
+even the beams of the sun look brown and dingy.
+
+From the foundry flows a rusty-red stream, and out of the coal-mine
+another, which is as black as ink. In the valley both these streams
+unite and continue their course together. For a little the rusty-red
+tries to get the better of the inky-black, but it has to give up, and
+the black rivulet flows on triumphantly through the black meadow
+lands.
+
+It is a most depressing landscape, and it is saddening to reflect that
+in such a place men have grown from childhood to middle age, from
+middle age to old age, and have never seen the green fields or the
+blue sky of God's heaven.
+
+But Ivan Behrend, when he ascended from the pit into the open air,
+found little contrast between the upper and the under ground. Below,
+there was the stifling smell of gas; above, a suffocating fog: below,
+the black vault of the mine; above, the murky vault of the heavens:
+and the same men above and below.
+
+It was then evening; the sun had gone down, and for the moment even
+the vile smoke could not rob it of its setting glory. The towers of
+the distant castle of Bondavara were touched with its gleam, and the
+chimneys of the distilling-houses were aglow with this crimson light.
+The miners were standing about idly; the women and the girls, who are
+employed in shoving the wheelbarrows, sat gossiping together, as is
+the manner of the sex. One of them, a young girl, began to sing--a
+simple little song, with simple words. It was a Slav volkslied--a sort
+of romance. A mother is taking leave of her daughter, a bride of a few
+hours; she recalls to the girl her childish days and her mother's care
+in these words:
+
+   "Wenn ich das Haar dir strich,
+      Zerr' ich am Haare dich?
+    Wenn ich dich wusch, mein Kind,
+      War ich je ungelind?"
+
+The melody was touching, with the sad strain that all the Slav music
+has, as if composed with tears; and the voice of the one who sang was
+musical and full of feeling. Ivan stopped to listen to the song until
+the singer and her companions disappeared behind the houses.
+
+At this moment it seemed to him that there was a great difference
+between life underground and life in the open.
+
+The song still sounded in the distance; the clouds had passed over and
+extinguished the light of the setting sun, enveloping the landscape in
+total darkness. No star, no white house; only the light from the
+windows of the foundry lighted up the darkness of night; and the smoke
+of the distilling-factory rose from the chimneys and cast yellow
+circles upon the sky.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE SLAVE OF THE BLACK DIAMONDS
+
+
+There is nothing startling or new in the declaration that when we
+speak of "black diamonds" we mean _coal_. That beautiful, brilliant
+stone, the diamond, is made of carbon. So is your house-coal--the only
+difference being, the one is transparent, the other black; and the
+first is the demon, the last the angel.
+
+Coal moves the world. The spirit of progress comes from it; railroads,
+steamboats borrow from it their wonderful strength. Every machine that
+is, and works, has its existence from coal. It makes the earth
+habitable; it gives to the great cities their mighty blaze and
+splendor. It is a treasure, the last gift presented by earth to
+extravagant man.
+
+Therefore it is that we call coal "black diamonds."
+
+Ivan Behrend, the owner of the Bondavara coal-mine, was not exactly in
+the condition of some of his pitmen. He had seen God's heaven, and
+knew how in happier lands life was bright, careless, sunny as the
+cloudless sky itself. But for an existence which was all play and no
+work, Ivan would not have cared. He had inherited the coal-mine from
+his father, who had left him also an inheritance of a strong will and
+inflexible perseverance. No trifle, nor even a great obstacle, could
+stand in the way of Ivan's wishes, and his wish and his pride was to
+work the Bondavara mine without any help but what his pitmen gave
+him. It was his ambition--perhaps a foolish one--to have no company at
+his back, no shareholders to find fault, no widows and orphans to be
+involved in possible ruin; the mine was his, and his it should be
+absolutely. Therefore it was a quiet business. The foundry and the
+inhabitants of the nearest town consumed the yearly output at an
+uncommonly low price. It never could be, unless with enormous outlay,
+a great money-making business, seeing that the mine was too far away
+from any of the great centres. Nevertheless, it brought in a steady
+income, especially as Ivan paid no useless expenses, and was, as we
+have said, his own overseer and accountant. He knew everything that
+went on, he understood his own business perfectly, and he took a
+pleasure in looking after his own affairs; and these three
+qualifications, as any business man knows, insure ultimate success.
+
+It was well, however, that he enjoyed such good health, and that this
+superabundance of vital energy kept him always occupied, and, by a
+natural consequence, never dull. There was no denying that it was a
+solitary life for so young a man.
+
+Ivan was very little over thirty, and when he opened the door of his
+small house with his key, and closed the door behind him, he was
+alone. He hadn't even a dog to come and greet him. He waited upon
+himself; and in this he was a great man. Eating he looked upon as an
+unnecessary waste of time; nevertheless, he ate a great deal, for his
+muscular and mental system needed food. He was not delicate in his
+appetite. He dined every day at the tavern. His food was very little
+better than that of his pitmen, the only difference being that he
+avoided the strong drinks they indulged in--for this reason, that they
+worked only with their bodies; he had to bring to his work a clear
+intellect, not a soddened one. His bed needed no making. It was a
+wooden plank, upon which a mattress was placed, covered with a
+sheep-skin. There was no use in brushing his clothes; they were always
+permeated with coal-dust.
+
+Any one who would offer, by way of doing him a service, to clear out
+his room, would, in fact, have done him a deadly injury. It was full
+of every sort of thing--new books half cut, minerals, scientific
+instruments, plans, pictures, retorts. Not one of these should be
+moved from its place. There was order in the disorder, and in the
+heterogeneous mass Ivan could find what he wanted. In one corner was
+Lavoisier's pyrometer; in another Berard's gas food-warmer. Over there
+a wonderful sun-telescope; against the wall Bunsen's galvanic battery,
+together with every conceivable invention, every sort of chemical
+apparatus for analyzing and searching into the mysteries of Nature.
+
+Amongst these things Ivan was wont to spend the long nights. Another
+man, tired as he must have been with his day's work, would have flung
+himself upon his bed, and have sought in sleep some compensation for
+the labors of the day, or if not weary enough for this, would have sat
+before his door and breathed the fresh air, which at night was free
+from smoke and coal-dust. But this student of the unseen withdrew into
+his inner chamber, lit his fire, made his lamp blaze, and busied
+himself breaking lumps of coal, cooking seeds, developing deadly
+gases, a breath of which was enough to send a man into eternity.
+
+What was it he searched for? Was he seeking the secret of the
+philosopher's stone? Did he abandon sleep to find out how diamonds can
+be made out of coal? Did he strive to extract deadly poisons, or was
+he simply pursuing the _ignis fatuus_ of knowledge--trying
+experiments, grubbing in the dark until, in the hopeless endeavor, the
+over-strained brain would give way, and there would be only the wreck
+of what was once a noble intellect?
+
+Nothing of the sort. This man had a purpose; he wanted to learn a
+secret which would be of infinite benefit to mankind--at least, to
+those who are buried in the pits and caverns of the earth. He wanted
+to find out by what means it would be possible to extinguish fire in
+burning pits. To discover this he consumed his nights and the years of
+his youth and his manhood. It was no thought born of to-day or
+yesterday; it had been his one desire for many years. He had seen so
+much misery, such heartrending scenes enacted before these pit
+mouths--these monsters which swallow up human life like the
+Juggernauts of old. He wanted to prevent this amount of sacrifice--a
+sacrifice never thought of by those who profit from the labor of these
+victims, whose very blood is spilled to keep others warm. It is
+possible this one idea might drive him mad, or he might lose his life;
+but the knowledge, if he did gain it, would be, in his opinion, worth
+the loss. After all, what is the loss of one life against the saving
+of millions? This man had a fine nature; there was no tinge of self in
+Ivan Behrend. Also, he had a certain enjoyment in his search.
+Enjoyment is not the word. Whenever he got even a glimpse of what he
+wanted, his joy was something unearthly. Surely these moments were
+worth all the pleasures the world could offer him; and if we can bring
+our minds to understand this, then we shall comprehend how a young man
+preferred to be shut up in a cavern, in danger of losing his life, or
+in a stifling room, trying risky experiments, rather than spend the
+night with beautiful maidens or pleasant fellows, drinking, dancing,
+and love-making. There is a charm in Science to those who know her
+that far surpasses carnal joys.
+
+To-night, however, it must be confessed, Ivan's experiments fell a
+little flat. Either he was tired, or some other cause was at work.
+Could it be possible that a girl's song-- Yes, such was the
+humiliating condition of affairs. At the moment when he least expected
+it, this thing had unexpectedly seized upon him.
+
+With an effort Ivan lit his lamp and lighted his furnace. His
+experiments, however, were a failure. That girl's song kept running in
+his head, and the words--how did they go?
+
+   "Say when I smoothed thy hair,
+      Showed I not tender care?
+    Say when I dressed my child,
+      Was I not fond and mild?"[1]
+
+     [Footnote 1: These lines have been kindly translated
+     from the original by Miss Troutbeck.]
+
+It was very pretty, and the voice wonderful--so sweet and clear and
+melodious. To-morrow evening she might be at the pit's mouth again,
+and then he would find out her name. Even if she were not there, the
+other girls would know; there were not so many singers among them.
+
+    "Say when I smoothed thy hair"--
+
+Oh, he could settle down to nothing with this tiresome song!--
+
+    "Showed I not tender care?"
+
+He wished he had seen her face, merely to know if it matched the
+voice. Very likely not. She would be hard-featured, like the other
+girls--bold, unwomanly creatures; beauty and modesty were rare gifts
+in Bondavara.
+
+The next day Ivan was early at the pit. The opening of the air-oven
+had done its work; there was only a fractional quantity of hydrogen
+mixed with the pit air. The ventilators could be shut, and Ivan was
+able to spend some time in the open.
+
+At twelve o'clock the bell rang to leave off work. As the girls came
+from the wheelbarrows, he again heard the clear young voice singing
+the same song. He had not been wrong as to the voice; it was fresh and
+lovely, like the blackbird in the woods, uneducated and unspoiled, but
+full of natural charm, tender and joyous as the feathered songster. He
+could now see the singer--a very young girl, not more than sixteen.
+The common blue bodice she wore showed every undulation of her girlish
+figure, untrammelled by any fashionable stays. Her short red skirt,
+tucked up on one side, and fastened to her waist, disclosed her still
+shorter chemise, which only reached to her knees, so that her legs
+were uncovered. They might have been modelled for a statue of Hebe, so
+perfect were they in shape--the ankles small, and little feet
+beautifully rounded, like a child's. About her head the girl had wound
+a colored cloth, and under this she had tucked away her hair; her
+face, like those of her companions, was blackened by the coal-dust,
+but even this enemy to beauty could not disfigure her. You could see
+that her features were regular, her eyebrows thick and dark, her lips
+red. There was a mixture of earthly dirt and supernatural beauty about
+this child; besides, she had one thing that even coal-dust could not
+conceal or dim, her eyes--her large black eyes--shining like two
+diamonds, which lit up the darkness as two stars.
+
+As these wonderful eyes met Ivan's glance, it seemed to that
+philosopher as if these diamonds cut away a portion of the glass phial
+in which he had preserved his heart, and so kept it untouched up to
+this. But he did not know that this was only the beginning; his glass
+protector will soon lie in fragments all round him.
+
+The girl made a little curtsey to her employer, and accompanied this
+small act of duty with a smile which showed two rows of beautiful,
+pearly-white teeth.
+
+Ivan felt like an enchanted knight in a fairy tale. He forgot what had
+brought him here, and what he wanted to say; he remained rooted to the
+spot, gazing blankly after the retreating figure of the girl and her
+companions. He hoped, without exactly defining what his hope was, that
+she would look back. That little action would have broken the charm
+under which he lay. But she did not look back, although one of her
+companions called her by her name, "Evila." Ivan could see them
+talking to her, whispering, no doubt, about him. This did not seem to
+rouse any curiosity in her. She and they had now come to an open shed.
+Here they seated themselves upon the ground, took out of their pockets
+pieces of black bread and wild apples, and ate their meal with as much
+zest as if it had been chicken and grapes.
+
+Ivan returned to his house. For the first time in his life it struck
+him how lonely it was. It was his custom to keep a sort of log-book,
+in which he entered his personal notes upon all his work-people. He
+found this practice very necessary; he knew that a skilled workman of
+good conduct is far more useful at high wages than a lazy,
+good-for-nothing fellow of doubtful character who would come for half
+the wage. At the footnote by the name "Evila" he read--
+
+"A young orphan; supports a crippled brother younger than herself,
+who goes upon crutches, and whose tongue is paralyzed. She is very
+steady, and does not go to the town."
+
+It was certain, therefore, that he must have seen this child before,
+but had given no attention to her. Every Saturday he paid every
+workman, every girl and lad in the pit; how, then, had he escaped
+noticing those wonderful eyes? He did not know, learned as he was,
+that there is an affinity between two souls destined for one another.
+It is like an electric shock, this sudden birth of love; but Ivan
+ridiculed such an idea. Love? Nonsense! He in love with a girl out of
+the pit? Ridiculous! It was compassion, merely pity for a pretty
+child, left without either father or mother to watch over her tender
+age, and, still worse, with a deformed brother to care for and provide
+with food and medicines. No doubt she gave him the best of everything,
+while she had to be content with black bread and wild apples, and all
+the time remained an honest, steady girl. She never even turned her
+head to look after him. There was nothing but pity in his heart for
+this coal-black Naiad; it was only pity made him wish to cover those
+tender little feet with proper shoes; it was only a proper regard for
+the weakest among his work-people which would cause him to make
+inquiries as to this poor forlorn child. Oh, self-deception, what a
+part you play in men's hearts!
+
+The following Saturday the workers came to receive their weekly wages.
+Ivan, who always paid them himself, remained at his desk until the
+last one came. On this occasion Evila was the last. Ivan sat at a
+table, on which was placed the sum to be paid, which was regulated by
+the account of the work done, which was registered in the day-book.
+
+When the girl, who was dressed as when we first saw her in her blue
+bodice and red skirt, presented herself, Ivan said to her kindly--
+
+"My child, I have determined to increase your wages; from this day you
+shall have double pay."
+
+The girl opened her large eyes, and stared in surprise. "Why so?" she
+asked.
+
+"Because I am told that you have a crippled brother, whom you have to
+keep out of your small earnings. You cannot have enough to clothe and
+feed both him and yourself. I have also heard that you are a
+well-conducted, honest girl, and therefore it gives me pleasure to
+reward you by giving you double pay."
+
+"I cannot take it."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because I know what the others would say. They would joke and tease
+me about your being my lover, and I should get so tormented that I
+could not stay in the place."
+
+Ivan was so confounded by this na�ve explanation, given without the
+slightest confusion, that he could make no answer. He counted out the
+usual week's wages, which she stowed away in the bosom of her bodice,
+wished him good morning, and went her way.
+
+He remained, his thoughts in a maze. In all his experience--and he had
+a good deal, for his time had not been always spent in Bondavara, and
+out in the world he had known many women--he had known no woman like
+this.
+
+She is afraid they will say I am her lover; she is afraid they will
+tease her so much on that account that she may have to leave the
+place! Has she, then, no idea that once I, the master, loved a girl
+here, she would not push the wheelbarrow any more? Does she even know
+what a lover is? She knows well that she must guard herself against
+one. Poor child! How earnest she was, and yet she laughed, and she did
+not know why she laughed, nor yet why she was grave. A savage in the
+guise of an angel!
+
+He got up, locked his desk, and turned to leave his office; then again
+remained, thinking.
+
+She is unlike every other woman. I doubt if she knows how beautiful
+she is, or what is the worth of beauty. She is Eve, a perfect copy of
+Eve--the Eve of Scripture, and the Eve of Milton. She is Eve, in not
+knowing wherefore she should blush over her own nakedness--the type of
+the beautiful in its primitive state, unwashed, savage, with hair
+unconfined, who wanders through the garden, fearing nothing, and even
+playing with a serpent. With men she is a woman, by herself she is a
+child, and yet she displays a motherly care for her little brother.
+Her figure is a model for a sculptor, her countenance is full of mind,
+her eyes bewitching, her voice melodious; and yet her hands are hard
+with the barrow-poles, her mind is troubled with sordid cares for her
+daily bread, her face is covered with coal-smut, and she has learned
+her songs in the street.
+
+"The worse for her!" and, after a pause, Ivan added with a sigh, "and
+the worse for another besides her."
+
+In his mind a total revolution had taken place. The intellectual
+spirits had for the nonce deserted him, and in their place others had
+come of a very different order--those demons which the blessed Antony
+had fought with such good effect in the desert.
+
+When poor Ivan tried to banish these tempters by burying himself in
+his books and his scientific instruments the form of Evila came
+between him and the experiment he was busy on, just as Marguerite
+appeared to Doctor Faust in his laboratory; her voice sounded in his
+ear, her eyes glowed in the coals, and when he tried to write he found
+himself drawing a maiden in a blue bodice and short red skirt. It was
+the same with everything he undertook. Some mocking demon seemed bent
+on tormenting him.
+
+Abandoning his experiments, this unfortunate man took to reading a
+volume of light literature. What did he open on? The loves of great
+and nobly-born men for lowly-born and inferior women. Thus Lord
+Douglas fell in love with a shepherdess, and became a shepherd for her
+sake; Count Pelletier took for his wife a gypsy girl, and went about
+the streets turning an organ; Bernadotte, the King of Sweden, sought
+the hand of a young girl who watched a flock of geese for a farmer;
+Archduke John married the daughter of a postmaster; and another
+Austrian duke raised an actress to the position of grand duchess; the
+consort of Peter the Great was the daughter of a villager; a Bonaparte
+married a washerwoman who had been his mistress.
+
+And why not? Are not beauty, sweetness, fidelity, and true worth to be
+found under a woollen as well as under a silken frock? And, on the
+other hand, do we not find sinners enough in the upper circles?
+
+Did not Zoraida kill her own children, and was she not a born
+princess? Faustina took money from her lovers, although she was the
+daughter of an emperor; the Marquise Astorgas ran a hairpin through
+her husband's heart; Semiramis strewed a whole churchyard with the
+corpses of her spouses; King Otto was poisoned in a grove by his
+queen; Joanna of Naples treasured the ribbon with which the king, her
+husband, was strangled; Jeanne Lafolle tormented her husband to death;
+the Empress Catharine betrayed her sovereign and consort, and connived
+at his murder; and the Borgias, Tudors, Cillis, all had wives who
+became notorious in that they wore entwined in their crowns the girdle
+of Aphrodite.
+
+And do we not find the most exalted virtue in what is called low life?
+The actress Gaussin, to whom her wealthy lover gave a check with
+_carte blanche_ to write a million thereupon, only wrote that she
+would always love him, Quintilla, another actress, bit off her tongue,
+lest she should betray her lover, who was implicated in a conspiracy;
+Alice, who undertook to fight a duel for her husband, and was killed;
+and many others who have suffered silently and died for very love.
+
+Philosophy and history both conspired against Ivan. And then came
+sleep.
+
+A dream is a magic mirror in which we see ourselves as we would be if
+our own wishes and inclinations were all-powerful. In his dream the
+bald man has hair and the blind sees.
+
+Towards the end of the following week Ivan made the discovery that he
+had lost the use of his understanding. The more he endeavored to force
+his mind back to its original groove of abstract theories, the more
+the demons ranged themselves against him. One evening, in a fit of
+absence of mind, he overheated one of the retorts, so that it burst in
+his face, and the small glass particles cut his nose and cheek, and he
+was forced to bind up his wounds with bits of sticking-plaster. It did
+not occur to him that these strips of black diachylon placed obliquely
+across his nose did not improve his appearance. He was, however, very
+angry at his own folly--a folly which went still further, for he began
+to argue with himself in this way:
+
+"It would be better to marry this girl than to become mad for her
+sake. Marry her? Who ever heard the like? A pit-girl! What a
+_m�salliance_! And who cares? Am I not alone in the world? Do I not
+form the whole family? And does not this constant thought of her come
+between me and my business? If this goes on I shall be ruined; and as
+for the _m�salliance_, is there a soul for six miles round who
+understands the meaning of the word? Not one; and if there should be
+one, he would have to seek me in the coal-pit, and he would find my
+face blackened with coal-dust, so that no one could see me blush for
+shame."
+
+All the same, he never sought the girl. He waited for the Saturday,
+when he knew she would come for her weekly wages, and on that day she
+appeared, as usual, the last, because she was the youngest, and stood
+before him as he sat at his desk. But this time, when Ivan had put the
+money into Evila's hand, he kept the little fingers in his firm clasp.
+The girl laughed--perhaps at the plasters, which still ornamented her
+lover's face.
+
+"Listen to me, Evila. I have something to say to you."
+
+Evila looked uneasy; she ceased to laugh.
+
+"Will you have me for your lover? Nay, my child, I mean you no harm;
+only one must play the lover before one talks of marriage."
+
+The girl nodded, and then shook her head. "It is not possible," she
+said.
+
+"Not possible! Why not?"
+
+"Because I am already engaged."
+
+Ivan let go his clasp of her hand. "To whom?"
+
+"That I am not going to tell you," said Evila, "for if I did, I know
+very well what you would do. You would discharge him, or you would
+keep him back, and we cannot be married until he is taken on as a
+regular pitman."
+
+"You mean as a day laborer?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And you think more of this low fellow than you do of me, your
+employer?"
+
+The girl shrugged her shoulders, held her head a little to one side,
+and threw a look at Ivan which sent the blood coursing to his head.
+Then she went on, quietly--
+
+"I gave him my promise before mother died, and I must keep my word."
+
+"To the devil with your father and your mother!" cried Ivan, out of
+himself with baffled hope and rage. "Do you imagine I care what you
+have promised to a fellow like that? I ask you again, will you give
+him up and come to me?"
+
+Again Evila shook her head. "I dare not. My bridegroom is a wild,
+desperate fellow; he would think nothing of doing for you, and setting
+the pit on fire into the bargain when bad weather was on.
+Good-evening!" And so saying, she ran away quickly, and mingled with
+her companions.
+
+Ivan threw the day-book from him so violently that the leaves flew
+from one corner to another. A common creature, a wheelbarrow-girl, a
+half-savage, had dared to cross his wishes and refuse his offer! And
+for a dirty, miserable, underground miner--a common mole!
+
+Ivan had a hard battle to fight with himself when he was once more
+alone in the solitude of the night. The suppressed passion of the
+ascetic had suddenly broken through the dams, which moderation had set
+up to restrain its course.
+
+Beware of the man who professes to be above human passion, who glories
+in his iron will and his heart of ice; avoid him and the quiet, holy,
+studious man of soft tongue, who turns away his eyes from women, and
+shuns what others enjoy. It is upon such as these that outraged human
+nature revenges itself; and once the demon within gets loose, he plays
+a fine game to indemnify himself for all the restraint he has
+undergone. The love of the worldling is a small dog; that of the
+hermit is a lion.
+
+With this wild beast, which he had suddenly unchained, did Ivan, the
+man of science, spend the long night, now walking up and down the
+narrow room, now throwing himself on his bed, a prey to the most
+horrible temptations, his heart beating with a thousand passionate
+desires, his thoughts running in as many evil directions. The
+opposition that had been made to its wishes by Evila had stimulated
+his passion, and also roused the pride of his nature. The master of
+the Bondavara mine was a man of fiery temper, kept in check by his
+strong command over himself; but this command seemed now at fault. He
+had no longer any power to lay this demon, which had got possession of
+him, tempting him from every side. With his powerful fist he struck
+himself a blow upon his chest, near to his throbbing heart.
+
+"Wilt thou be silent? Who is master, thou or I? Do thy duty, slave. I
+am thy lord, thy king. Thy duty consists in nothing but keeping my
+arteries in motion, in pumping the air into my lungs, in forcing the
+blood in the right direction. When you cease your work, your illness
+is atrophy; but you cannot be my master, for the sovereign ruler is my
+will."
+
+And as Ivan beat his breast, it seemed to him as if in a magic mirror
+there were reflected two forms--himself and another Ivan, with whom he
+waged a deadly combat. It appeared to him as if this other self had
+robbed him of his form and features, to perpetrate in his name the
+most odious sins, and as he hit out against this horrid image of
+himself, it slowly vanished; and then Ivan, falling back upon his
+pillow, cried out in a loud voice, "Never return, O fiend; never
+defile my sight again!"
+
+In another hour, pale and exhausted, Ivan was seated quietly before
+his desk. It required an heroic effort on his part to go into prosaic
+calculations, to add up long columns of figures; but he forced his
+weary brain, his tired fingers to the task, and the slave obeyed its
+master, the body submitted to the mind.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE MAN-EATER
+
+
+The morning light found Ivan still seated at his table. As daybreak
+and lamplight did not agree, he extinguished his lamp, threw aside his
+papers, and gave himself a momentary rest.
+
+He had conquered; he was himself again. All the fire of passion had
+died out, the sinful images had vanished, and in his breast reigned
+profound peace. He had resolved upon his course; an angel had been at
+his side and inspired him.
+
+It was Sunday morning. The engines which work the distillery were at
+rest. On Sundays the enormous water-basin, or trough, which fed the
+steam-pump was utilized to remove the dirt of the week from the
+miners. From six to seven the basin was free to the women, from
+half-past seven to nine to the men. The keys of the great pump-house
+were given over by the machine superintendent on every Saturday night
+to Ivan, so that no curious or peeping Tom of Coventry could hide
+himself there, and see these Venuses bathing through a little window,
+which gave upon the basin, and which was placed there to allow the
+stoker to see that the water-course was not disturbed when the pumps
+were at work.
+
+It had never once entered Ivan's brain that he could play Tom if he
+were so minded. But on this Sunday morning he took the key from its
+nail and put it in his pocket. Don't start; he did this, not between
+six and seven, but shortly after eight o'clock. He wanted to see the
+men bathing, unseen himself. And wherefore? Because he knew the
+customs which prevail in coal-mines, and that when a pair are engaged,
+it is customary to inscribe the name of the girl upon the man's naked
+body. Where the miners have got this Indian and savage method is hard
+to say. There is a certain tenderness in it, and tenderness is more
+often found with the savage than the civilized man. The lovers tattoo
+themselves with a needle, upon the arm or shoulder, and then rub in a
+corrosive acid, either red or blue. Such a testimony is ineffaceable.
+Sometimes some poetic temperament adds two hearts transfixed by an
+arrow, or a couple of doves, or it may be the signs of the miner--the
+mallet and the pick. It occasionally happens that the relations alter,
+and the lover would gladly remove the name of the fickle one from his
+album. This can be done by placing a blister over the name, and then
+the writing vanishes, together with the skin; a new skin grows, and
+upon this a new name can be written. It is a real palimpsest. Many are
+not so discreet. They punctuate a fresh name under the old one, and
+let the register increase, until sometimes there is not a vacant
+place.
+
+It did not give Ivan much trouble to find the man he sought. As soon
+as the water removed the black soot from the bodies of the bathers, he
+saw on the shoulder of one of them the name of Evila, the letters in
+blue, two hearts in red. His rival was an intelligent, most
+industrious laborer; he was called Peter Saffran, and his comrades had
+added the nickname--the man-eater. To this misnomer Peter had never
+taken any umbrage. He was a particularly quiet man, and when they
+teased him he took no notice. He never complained of anything, and
+never entered either the church or the tavern. Towards children he had
+a particular antipathy. If one came near him he drove it away, ground
+his teeth together, and threw anything he had in his hand at it. This
+peculiarity was so well known that the mothers always cautioned the
+little ones against the man-eater. For the rest, he was on good terms
+with every one.
+
+Ivan, having found what he wanted, left the pump-house and returned
+home, placing himself before the door, so that he could see the people
+as they went by presently in groups towards the neighboring village to
+the church. He noticed that Evila was among them. He examined her
+critically and in cold blood, and he came to quite a scientific
+conclusion as to the peculiar character of her beauty, which showed a
+mixture of races. The small hands and feet, the slender form, the
+narrow forehead, the finely cut nose, the silky black hair--all spoke
+the Indian or Hindoo type; but the short upper lip and the long,
+serpent-like eyebrows were derivable from some Slav ancestor. The
+starry, seductive eyes were decidedly Eastern, the chin and the
+coloring recalled the Malay race, and the quick, sudden rising of the
+red blood to the velvet cheek the Caucasian--for this people blush
+constantly, owing to the cellular texture being fine almost to
+transparency.
+
+Ivan pondered on all this as Evila passed him; he wondered also why
+her lover was not with her, for this was an established custom in
+Bondavara. Peter, however, evidently did not mind these rules of
+courtship; he was lounging on one of the benches outside the gates of
+the ventilation-oven, close to the pitmouth, his head in the air, his
+chin in his hand.
+
+Ivan went to him. "Good-morning, Peter. What are you doing there, my
+man?"
+
+"I am listening to the wind that is coming from below."
+
+"Why don't you go to church?"
+
+"Because I never pray at all."
+
+"And why not?"
+
+"I do nobody any harm. I neither rob nor murder, and if there is a
+God, He knows better than I do what is good for me."
+
+"You are quite wrong there, Peter. In these matters there is an
+immense difference between educated people and what are called the
+children of Nature. I have my science and thought to fall back on--my
+intellect is my guide, and preserves me from temptation; but with you,
+and men like you, it is otherwise. Those who have no other knowledge
+but what concerns their daily labor have need of faith, of hope, of
+consolation, and of forgiveness." As he spoke, Ivan seated himself
+beside the other and laid his hand upon his shoulder. "Something is on
+your mind, Peter?"
+
+Peter nodded. "There is something."
+
+"Does it weigh on your soul?"
+
+"On my soul, on my body--everywhere!"
+
+"Is it a secret, Peter?"
+
+"No, it is not. If you care to hear it, I will tell it you."
+
+"A murder?"
+
+"Worse than that."
+
+"Don't you think you had better not tell it to me? It may place you in
+danger."
+
+"There is no danger for me. If it were published on the Market Cross,
+the law could not touch me; besides, most people know it. You would
+hear it from some one else if not from me."
+
+"Then tell me."
+
+"It is a short story. When I was only a lad, not quite twenty, I went
+to sea to seek my fortune. I bound myself as stoker on board a Trieste
+steamboat. We sailed with a cargo of meal to the Brazils. Our voyage
+there was prosperous. On our return we took black coffee and wool. On
+this side of the equator we met a tornado, which broke our engine,
+smashed our mainmast, and drove the vessel upon a sandbank, where she
+foundered. Some of the passengers took to the boat; they went only a
+short way when she upset, and they were all drowned. The rest made a
+raft from the planks of the sunken ship, and trusted to this frail
+thing on the open sea. I was one of them. We were in all thirty-nine,
+including the captain, the steersman, and a merchant from Rio de
+Janeiro, with his wife and a three-year-old child. We had no other
+woman or child, for the rest had perished in the open boat. We thought
+them unfortunate, but now I think they were happy. Better, far better,
+to have died then. Out of our thirty-nine, soon only nine remained.
+Oh, how I wish I had been among the dead! For eight days we floated
+upon the water, the sport of the waves; now buffeted here and there,
+again in a calm, immovable, nailed as it were to the ocean, without
+one drop of water to quench our thirst or one morsel of food. Ten of
+us had died of hunger. For two days we had never eaten, and the ninth
+day came, and no hope of succor. The sun was burning us up, and the
+water reflected the heat, so that we lay between two fires. Oh, the
+horror of that awful time! That evening we took the resolve that one
+of us should be a victim for the others--that is, that we should draw
+lots which should be eaten by the others. We threw our names into a
+hat, and we made the innocent child draw for us. That child drew its
+own name.
+
+"I cannot tell you, sir, the rest of the ghastly business. Often I
+dream the whole thing over again, and I always awake at the moment
+when the miserable mother cursed all those who partook of that
+horrible meal, invoking heaven that we might never again have peace.
+At the recollection of her words I spring out of my bed, I run into
+the woods and wait, to see if I shall be changed into a wolf. It would
+serve me right.
+
+"Of the partakers of the cursed meal I am the only survivor. The
+thought haunts me; it burns into my very soul. Besides my own blood,
+the blood of another human being circulates in my veins. Fearful
+thoughts pursue me. The piece of human flesh that I have eaten is in
+me still; it has taken away all wish for any other food. I understand
+the delight of the cannibals. I never see a rosy-faced child without
+thinking what a delicious morsel his little rounded arm would be. When
+I behold a sickly, pale baby, the idea at once occurs to me--Why let
+it live? Would it not be better--"
+
+He shuddered, and stood up. He hid his hands in his blouse, and after
+a pause, went on--
+
+"Tell me now, sir, is there any relief for what I suffer? Is there a
+physician who can cure me, or a priest who will absolve me? I have
+told my story to both priest and doctor, and one has enjoined me to
+fast and to chastise myself, the other to drink no brandy and to have
+myself bled. Neither of them is worth a straw, and such counsel only
+makes the matter worse."
+
+"I will advise you," said Ivan. "Marry."
+
+Saffran looked with some surprise at his employer, and after a minute
+a feeble smile stole over his face.
+
+"I have thought of that. Perhaps if I had children of my own this
+horror of them would disappear."
+
+"Then why don't you marry?"
+
+"Because I am such a poor devil. If two beggars come together, then
+you have a couple of paupers instead of one. One must first have
+something to live on."
+
+"That is true; but you are an industrious fellow. I have long wanted
+to have you as a first-class pitman, but I waited to advance you until
+you got married. It is my rule to give all the best places to married
+men. I have found by experience that the unmarried ones, when they get
+higher pay, go straight to the bad. There is more dependence to be
+placed in a married man; he won't leave his place for a mere nothing.
+Therefore, consider the matter. After the first Saturday on which you
+can tell me that you have been called in church with your intended,
+you will receive the pay of a pitman, and I shall give you a
+dwelling-house for yourself."
+
+Peter's face was a study. He could not believe that what he heard was
+real earnest. When this was made clear to him, he was ready to fall at
+the feet of his benefactor; he almost sobbed as he stammered forth
+some words of thanks.
+
+"Now," cried Ivan, with friendly encouragement, "to-day is a Sunday.
+Does nothing occur to you, my friend?"
+
+The man sprang to his feet.
+
+"Service has not yet begun," went on Ivan; "the congregation have not
+all arrived at the church yet. I think there would be time for you to
+catch up your bride and go with her to the clergyman."
+
+Peter said no word to this proposal, but he began to run; his legs
+were long, and he was soon out of sight. He was bareheaded; he had
+forgotten his hat upon the seat. Ivan saw it, and took it into his
+house to keep, but he stood looking after the fleet lover until he had
+disappeared behind the stone wall at the turning. Then he went in,
+with Saffran's hat in his hand.
+
+"How happy he is!" he thought, and sighed.
+
+When he was in his room he wrote in his day-book that from the
+following day, Monday, he had engaged Peter Saffran as a first-class
+pitman with the usual wages, and that in his place another day-laborer
+should be taken on. When he had closed the book, his heart whispered--
+
+"My cruel master, art thou content?"
+
+But Ivan had his misgivings, and answered his heart thus--
+
+"I don't believe in you, since I have seen how easy it was for you to
+slip on the ice. I must for the future watch closely. I am not sure of
+the purity of my own motives even now. God knows what lies under this
+apparent abnegation. Perhaps you think as a young wife--But I shall
+watch you closely, traitorous heart of mine; you shall lead me into no
+more pitfalls."
+
+Again he consulted his account-book, and found that the increase in
+this year's income allowed him to take on an overseer at a very fair
+salary. He wrote out the proper advertisement, and despatched it that
+very evening to different papers for insertion. In this way he would
+not be thrown into daily contact with his work-people.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+A MODERN ALCHEMIST
+
+
+A fortnight had passed since Ivan sent his advertisement for
+insertion, when, one morning, and again it was Saturday morning, Peter
+Saffran came and told him that two gentlemen had just arrived, who
+wished to see the mine.
+
+"They must be foreigners," he added, "since they spoke French
+together." Peter's life as a sailor had given him some knowledge of
+the French tongue.
+
+"I shall be with them immediately," returned Ivan, who was busy
+pouring a green liquid through a pointed felt hat. "Let them meanwhile
+get into the usual miner's dress."
+
+"That is already done; they are all ready for you."
+
+"Very good. I am going. And how are you getting on, Peter?"
+
+"With the wedding? Everything is in order; to-morrow we shall be
+called in church for the third time."
+
+"And when shall you be betrothed?"
+
+"It is just now Advent, and our priest will not marry us; but on the
+first Sunday after the Three Kings we shall have the wedding. I am not
+at all annoyed at the delay, for I have to get together a little
+money. When a man marries he must have all sorts of things--furniture
+and the like; and something for the cold winter into the bargain."
+
+"And have you put by nothing out of your wages?"
+
+"Yes, sir; I had over a hundred and fifty gulden laid by. I had spared
+everything on myself--food and drink, and even the pipe--and I had got
+together this sum. Then what should the devil do but bring the
+recruiting commission down here, and I had to give all my money into
+the greasy palm of the examining doctor, so that he might report me as
+being unfit for service because I squinted. It's a trick I have. I can
+squint for a quarter of an hour together, although my eyes are
+straight; on this account I shall be let off by the doctor, but my
+hundred and fifty gulden are gone. I shall have to squint at the
+marriage ceremony, for the priest only marries me because I am unfit
+for service."
+
+"Well, Peter, you may count upon some help from me."
+
+"Thank you, sir, but I don't like loans; that is like eating one's
+supper at dinner."
+
+By this time they had reached the place where the strangers were
+waiting.
+
+"Ah," cried Ivan, "so it is you, Felix!" and he held out his hand
+cordially to the visitor.
+
+The old acquaintance whom Ivan called Felix looked as if he belonged
+to another generation. His soft complexion, carefully waxed mustache,
+short imperial, his fine, dark-blue eyes, and particularly the shape
+of his head, and the way it was placed on his shoulders, taken
+together with his elegant dress, which the rough miner's blouse could
+not quite conceal, betrayed the man of the world. When he spoke, his
+voice was almost womanly; the tone was clear and high, like one of the
+Pope's choir.
+
+Felix hastened at once to put his friend's mind at ease upon a
+necessary part of his visit.
+
+"I hope you will forgive our putting up at the inn. I was sure you
+would have made us welcome, but you are a busy man, and you would not
+care to be at the bother of entertaining us; besides, like all men of
+business, you are, I dare say, a little in the rough, and the inn is
+really very comfortable. May I introduce you to my travelling
+companion, Gustav Raun�? He is a mine-surveyor and engineer."
+
+Ivan was well pleased at his friend's forethought in the matter of
+hospitality; not that he would not have made him welcome so far as lay
+in his power--and there were unoccupied rooms in the house which would
+have accommodated the two men--but his manner of life would have been
+disturbed. He had never for one moment thought of entertaining a
+guest.
+
+"My house," he said, frankly, "is not fitted to receive my friends,
+and, indeed, none come; but the inn is also mine. I trust you will
+consider yourselves my guests while you remain here."
+
+"We accept your offer," returned the other; "the more readily, since
+we have really come here on your business. Yesterday I read your
+advertisement. You require an overseer?"
+
+"I do." Ivan looked doubtfully at the two gentlemen.
+
+"No, no; it is not for me," laughed Felix. "I understand nothing of
+the business; but Raun� is inclined to join you, should he find that
+there are capabilities here for real work. Raun� is an old friend of
+mine. He has learned his business under Erenzoter. You know the firm
+of Erenzoter? He is thoroughly up in the whole thing."
+
+Raun� all this time said not a word, perhaps for the best of reasons,
+that, being a Frenchman, he did not understand the language in which
+the others spoke. He was a small man, slight, and well-made, with
+penetrating eyes, a sharp-cut face, and very long mustache.
+
+To this gentleman Ivan explained in fluent French that he would be
+glad to show him all the properties of the Bondavara mine before going
+closer into the matter of engaging him permanently.
+
+After these courtesies they went down into the pit. Here the two men
+were soon convinced that each was thoroughly conversant with the whole
+machinery and working of a mine. Sometimes they held different
+opinions upon certain systems, and in the dispute or argument which
+would arise each disputant saw that the other had nothing to learn
+from him.
+
+Raun� displayed extraordinary quickness and knowledge in valuing the
+coal stratum. Even without looking at the geometrical maps he was able
+to decide upon the probable profit, as also upon the probable extent
+of the layer or stratum beyond the actual ground covered by Ivan's
+pit. His valuation agreed in almost every particular with that already
+made by Ivan. By mid-day the inspection was over, and they went to the
+inn for dinner, having first given some time to washing and general
+purification. A visit to a pit is by no means a cleanly undertaking.
+
+The afternoon was devoted to the inspection of the distilling-ovens,
+and in the evening they went over the foundry. When they returned from
+the foundry, Felix went in with Ivan to his house, while Raun�
+returned to the inn.
+
+Ivan led his old acquaintance into his workroom, where, in truth, a
+wonderful disorder prevailed, cleared a chair, full of maps and books,
+for him to sit upon, and told him to light his cigar at a chemical
+lamp of a new construction. After a pause Felix began:
+
+"You were always of an inquiring mind, Ivan. I remember well how at
+college you distanced every one. As for me, I was a pygmy near a
+giant. Now, tell me truly, have all your science, your industry, and
+your physical exertions made you a rich man?"
+
+Ivan laughed. "This mine gives me an annual income of ten thousand
+gulden."
+
+"In other words, it produces nothing, or, at least, next to nothing.
+You are director, overseer, cashier, engineer, secretary, bookkeeper,
+and conveyer of goods, and you receive, roughly calculated, just what
+you would have to pay these employ�s if you had not united all their
+different offices in yourself. In other words, your work, your talent,
+your studies, your zeal, your expenditure of thought and strength upon
+this mine of yours only bring you in the miserable return which any
+proprietor would give to a man who filled only one of these offices.
+As a fact, you don't get a farthing by it."
+
+"The mine is not to blame, neither am I; it is the result of a small
+consumption, and, in consequence of this, the production cannot be
+increased."
+
+"I will tell you in two words where the fault lies. In the present day
+strength is alone to be found in co-operation. In the political world
+the smaller states go to the wall; they are forced to tack themselves
+on to larger ones, and so form a union. It is the same in the
+commercial world; small tradesmen must give way to the larger
+co-operative centres, and it is better for them to understand this,
+and make part of a company."
+
+"There is no danger of our foundry closing; our iron and our coal take
+a first place, and could not be crushed out."
+
+"An additional reason for developing my idea--an idea which, I may as
+well tell you, was the factor that brought me here. You have already
+guessed, I imagine, that I am not such a good fellow as to undertake
+the journey solely on Raun�'s account. He is not a chicken, and could
+have introduced himself. I have a great plan in my head. I intend to
+make you a wealthy man, and, naturally, I shall feather my own nest at
+the same time."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"I do not know where I once read this short synopsis of how different
+nations acquire money: 'The Hungarian seeks it, the German earns it,
+the Frenchman wins it, and the American makes it.' It is a most
+characteristic description. You have only to watch the Hungarian, how
+he seeks in every hole and puddle for a piece of gold; the German will
+work in the sweat of his brow till he gets his reward, a piece of
+gold; the light-hearted Frenchman will win the last piece of gold his
+victim has; but the Yankee sits in a corner, gnaws his finger-nails,
+and makes his pile. Yes, gold lies in undiscovered millions, only
+waiting to be 'made.'"
+
+"Where does it lie?"
+
+"In the capabilities of life, in bold undertakings, in the concealed
+treasures of the earth, which require development, and in the outlay
+of capital; in new discoveries, in the extension of the means of
+communication, in the increase of luxury, in the follies of mankind,
+in the exertions made by scientists; and especially in the money-box
+where small capitalists keep their gold, which should circulate
+through large channels to be of use. The number of small capitals
+should be thrown into one large, commercial mart, and by means of this
+credit every gulden would bring in three times its value. This is the
+art of the American; this is how to make a pile of gold. It is a
+splendid art, an honest art, and it seems to thrive with those who
+adopt it."
+
+When he had concluded this rather long-winded exordium, Felix threw
+himself back in his chair with an air as who should say, "Are you not
+dazzled with the brilliancy of my conception? Is not Felix Kaulmann
+one of the greatest financiers of the day? Surely you are convinced
+that he is."
+
+So far as that went, the name had a fair reputation. The Kaulmanns had
+always been in finance, and were well-known bankers. Of late, since
+Felix had inherited the business from his father, the firm were more
+before the public. Ivan knew his old schoolfellow well; he looked at
+him now quietly.
+
+"How do you propose to make a pile out of my pit?"
+
+"I have a big scheme in my head."
+
+"But the whole pit is anything but big."
+
+"So it appears to you, because you don't view it from my standpoint.
+You have sought for diamonds in the mine, but it has never occurred to
+you that there may be iron ore. This pit produces, you tell me, a
+profit of ten thousand gulden; that is the interest of two hundred
+thousand florins. I can get you a company who will buy the whole place
+out and out for two hundred thousand florins."
+
+"But I would not part with my pit at any price. I am here in my
+element, like the mud-worm in the mud."
+
+"You need not leave it--certainly not; on the contrary, if you wished
+to go, I would keep you chained, if necessary. The company will start
+with a recognized capital of four millions; we will form a large
+business, which on one side will ruin Prussian coal, on the other side
+will drive the English iron out of market. You shall be the principal
+director of the business, with a yearly salary of ten thousand
+florins, and two shares in the business; besides which you will be
+allowed to take, if you wish it, a portion of the purchase-money in
+bonds at par, and these will bear interest at twenty per cent. You
+will enjoy an income of thirty thousand florins, instead of your
+beggarly ten thousand florins, which you now have, and, into the
+bargain, hardly any work."
+
+Ivan listened to this proposal without interrupting the speaker. When
+Felix had finished, he said, in a calm voice--
+
+"My dear Felix, if I were to propose to a company ready provided with
+four millions the purchase of a business which up to the present had
+only produced ten thousand guldens profit, and which profit could
+never in the future realize more than eight hundred thousand gulden,
+do you not think I would be a despicable villain? If, on the other
+hand, I placed my own money in such a company, I should be equally a
+perfect fool."
+
+At this clear definition of his recent proposal Felix burst into a
+peal of laughter. Then, passing his pliant little walking-stick behind
+his back, he placed both his hands on the ends, and said with an air
+of profound wisdom--
+
+"You have not heard all my plan. It has not altogether to do with your
+colony. You know well that your pit is only a small portion of the
+monster coal stratum of the Bonda Valley, which stretches far away--as
+far, indeed, as Muld Valley. I intend to buy this entire region; it
+can be had now for a mere song, and when properly worked it will be
+worth millions--millions earned by honest means. No stealing or taking
+unfair advantage of any one. We only raise a treasure which lies at
+our feet, so to speak, which is there ready for us, or for any one.
+It needs only sufficient strength on the part of those who lift it."
+
+"That is quite another thing. Now I can understand your scheme. I will
+also not contradict your assertion that it is lawful and generous; but
+it is just because it is so that it is full of holes. It is quite true
+that the treasure which lies concealed in the Bonda Valley is
+immense--it is possible that it represents millions; but this treasure
+cannot be discovered, for the Bondavara property is not for sale."
+
+"Really!"
+
+"I will tell you why; because at this moment it belongs to Prince
+Bondavary, who is one of the richest men in this country."
+
+"I should imagine that no one knows better than I do how rich he is."
+
+"In the next place, this man is one of the proudest of our
+aristocrats, to whom I, for one, would not venture to make the
+proposal to turn his old family property--the cradle, we might say, of
+his race--into a mine to be worked by a company."
+
+"Oh, so far as that goes, we have seen many an ancient race glad to do
+a bit of commercial dirt. The King of Italy is a crowned king; and,
+nevertheless, he has sold Savoy, the place from which his family took
+their name and the right to have a cross on their shield."
+
+"Well, suppose the old prince were inclined to sell this property, he
+could not do so as long as his sister, the Countess Bondavary, is
+alive. Her father left the castle and the property round about to his
+daughter, who is now nearly fifty-eight, and may live yet another
+thirty years. She has grown up in that castle; she has, to my
+knowledge, never left it, not even for one day; she hates the world,
+and no human power would induce her to part with her beloved
+Bondavara to a coal company, not if the last remaining stratum were to
+be found under the castle, and without this the world should perish
+from want of fuel."
+
+Felix laughed, then answered with an air of ineffable conceit--
+
+"I have conquered greater difficulties than an old maid's fad, and for
+the matter of that, women's hearts are not locked with a Bramah key."
+
+"Well, let us suppose," said Ivan, good-humoredly, "that you have
+overcome the prejudices of the prince and his sister, and that you
+have actually started your monster company. Then begin all the
+technical difficulties; for what is the first necessary to an
+undertaking of the kind?"
+
+"A sufficient supply of money."
+
+"By no means. A sufficient supply of workmen."
+
+"Wherever money is plentiful, human beings are pretty sure to flock."
+
+"Between men and men there is a wonderful difference. This is an
+article in which one is likely to be easily deceived. With us there is
+a want of first-class workmen."
+
+"We would get men from France and Belgium."
+
+"But the men who would come from France and Belgium would not work for
+the wages we give our men. They would ask double. In such a commercial
+undertaking, the first false step would be to raise the wages to more
+than the old system, for my conviction is that every industrial
+enterprise to be safe must work upon its own internal capabilities. We
+should measure our strength according to the circumstances in which we
+find ourselves, and we should educate our own workmen; draw them to us
+by learning together. The trade should extend slowly, but surely, by
+small experiments."
+
+"You are too cautious. I can convince you to the contrary. For
+instance, a steam-engine of a hundred-horse power needs just the same
+labor to work it as one of four-horse power; and a small business
+requires as many account-books as a large one, and small undertakings
+in like manner, even if they are in themselves lucrative, will
+eventually be swamped by the larger ones on account of the want of the
+proper activity, without which all trade dies of itself."
+
+"Nevertheless, there is less danger of sudden collapse in a small
+business," returned Ivan, reflectively. "I like a certainty."
+
+"And what certainty have you? Suppose, just for the sake of argument,
+that one bright morning the Austrian minister of trade listens to the
+petition of the English iron masters, and that the free importation of
+raw iron is allowed. Your neighbor over there will at once shut his
+foundry, and you may go and sell your coal to the smithy, eh, Ivan?"
+
+"I have gone into all that. Our raw iron can compete with the English,
+and there would be--"
+
+"Your ideas are _rococo_; they belong to the last century. If America
+had worked on these lines she would not have overshadowed Europe."
+
+"That may be. What I maintain is that foreign workmen are a bad
+investment. Those who come to us are, for the most part, men who
+cannot get on in their own country; restless fellows, ever wanting
+change; members of secret societies, socialists, and atheists; and so
+soon as they get among our men they begin disseminating their vicious
+doctrines, and the next thing is a strike for higher wages."
+
+"Have you ever had a strike here?"
+
+"Never!"
+
+"How do you prevent it?"
+
+"That is my secret, which cannot be told in a few words. I am,
+however, convinced of one thing: the first obstacle a company would
+have to contend against would be the price of labor, and the second
+difficulty would be to secure the services of a really capable
+overseer; one who would understand the _technique_ of the business."
+
+"We could easily get one from abroad."
+
+"That might be; but I, as a private individual, could get one easily
+if I had sufficient money to pay him, for I could choose the best for
+my purpose, and could give him what I chose, as far as his merits
+deserved."
+
+Felix laughed at Ivan's description. "That is it exactly, as if you
+read it out of a book; and just on this account I intend to give the
+complete direction of the business to a man who understands it to a T,
+and this man is you."
+
+"That is a complete mistake. I do understand the working of my own
+small business, but I am quite ignorant of the ways of a great
+concern. Like many another small man, I should be a child in the hands
+of big speculators, and I should probably wreck the whole concern."
+
+"You are too modest. On the contrary, I think you would outwit the big
+speculators."
+
+"Well, suppose all went according to your wishes, or, rather, as it
+presents itself to your imagination. The great business is in full
+swing, delivers goods at moderate prices, and in sufficient quantity.
+Now comes the real objection--the topographical impediment. The Bonda
+coal-mine is twenty miles from the nearest railway, and twenty-five
+miles from the nearest river. On your way here you must have noticed
+the state of the roads. During four months of the year we can send no
+freight to a distance, and at any time the cost of transporting our
+coal and iron adds so much to the price that it is impossible for us
+to compete with either Prussia or England."
+
+"I know all that," said Felix, stroking his beard with the coral head
+of his stick; "but a light railway would soon settle all this. We
+could run it from Bonda Valley to the principal emporium." He spoke as
+if running light railways were a mere trifle.
+
+"A railway through the Bonda Valley!" returned Ivan, in a tone of
+surprise. "And do you really believe that with a capital of four
+millions you could construct a railway twenty miles long?"
+
+"Certainly not. That would be quite a separate affair."
+
+"And do you think you would find people ready to advance money for
+such an uncertain return as mere luggage traffic would insure to the
+shareholders in such a railway?"
+
+Felix moved his stick from his beard to his mouth, and began to suck
+the top.
+
+"And why not," he said, at last, "when the state would guarantee a
+certain rate of interest on the advance?"
+
+Ivan opened his eyes still wider, and placed upon each word an
+emphasis.
+
+"The state will give to this railway a guarantee of interest! You will
+excuse me, Kaulmann--that is not possible."
+
+Felix answered, after some consideration, "There are certain keys by
+which the bureaus of even ministers of state can be opened." After
+this oracular speech he was silent, pressing the top of his stick upon
+his lips, as if to restrain his words.
+
+Ivan drew out the drawer of his writing-desk and took therefrom a
+piece of black bread.
+
+"Do you see this? People who eat such coarse stuff don't dance
+attendance upon ministers."
+
+Felix threw his head back with a scornful laugh and twisted his stick
+impatiently between his fingers.
+
+"_Allons, n'en parlons plus_," he said. "You have plenty of time to
+make up your mind, for what I have once resolved to do, that I do. I
+am quite ready to bet with you that I shall secure the Bonda Valley
+property from under the nose of the old prince and the faddy countess,
+and that the largest factory in the kingdom shall be established
+_here_, and the trade carried on with the outside world. This will all
+come to pass, as sure as my name is Felix Kaulmann."
+
+"Well, I wish you every luck in your undertaking, but for my part I
+will have none of it."
+
+The arrival of Raun� interrupted the conversation. The Frenchman
+explained that he had considered Ivan's offer, and was ready to agree
+to his conditions and to enter on its office at once. Thereupon Ivan
+gave him his hand as a sign that the agreement was concluded. Then he
+handed him the books and the strong-box, the former with the complete
+list of the pitmen, the laborers, the girls, and boys engaged in the
+mine; the latter with the money which was paid to them for the week's
+work, and he asked the new overseer to appoint a room in the inn,
+where he was going to live, as the place where the miners should come
+to be paid.
+
+As it happened, this was a Saturday, and therefore on this evening
+the overseer should enter on his new duties.
+
+The inn was exactly opposite to Ivan's house. Groups of pitmen
+collected on the vacant space between the two houses. Ivan went to the
+window to see in what order the payments would be made by the new
+director. Felix also amused himself by means of his pocket-glass,
+staring at all the women.
+
+"Ah!" he exclaimed, suddenly, "that little Cinderella over there in
+the red skirt wouldn't be bad for the model of a bronze statuette. I
+should like her to teach me how to say 'I love you' in the Slav
+language."
+
+"Take care," laughed Ivan; "she is betrothed, and her lover is called
+a man-eater."
+
+Just then Peter Saffran came out of the tavern. He had received
+Evila's money with his own, and offered it to her. She, however,
+refused to take it, and the pair went off together in good-humor with
+one another. The young girl's hand was upon Peter's arm, and as she
+passed the window they heard her singing.
+
+"_Saperlot!_ What a voice!" exclaimed the banker. "Why, she beats
+Th�r�se. If she were in Paris--"
+
+He didn't finish his sentence. Ivan lit a cigar, and sat smoking
+silently.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE DOCTOR
+
+
+The next day was Sunday. Ivan took Felix and Raun� through the
+workmen's colony to show them the dwelling-houses, which were
+clustered together like a village. This village had been made by
+Ivan's father. The district had been formerly occupied by the very
+poorest, who eat nothing but potatoes; but now the miners who lived
+here were well-fed and well-lodged. Each pitman had his own cottage
+and fruit-garden.
+
+When the three men came to the house in which Evila lived they stood
+still and looked into the little yard beyond. They felt obliged to do
+so, first, because the door stood open, and secondly, because in the
+yard a scene was going on of which they were unseen spectators.
+
+Peter Saffran was beating Evila. The lover held his betrothed by her
+long black hair, which fell over her shoulders nearly to the ground.
+He had the rich masses gathered up in his left hand and wound round
+his wrist, while in his right hand he had a thick plaited cord with
+which he struck the poor girl over the shoulders, neck, and back. As
+he did so, his eyes expanded until nearly all the white was visible,
+his eyebrows almost touched one another, his countenance grew white
+with rage, and through his open lips his white teeth looked like those
+of an infuriated tiger. At each blow of the rope he growled out--
+
+"So you will have your own way, will you? You will defy me, will you?"
+
+The girl made no protest against her lover's violence. She did not
+cry, neither did she beg him to spare her. She pressed her apron to
+her lips, and looked at her cruel persecutor with eyes full of the
+most divine compassion.
+
+"What a beast!" cried Felix. "And he is her lover!"
+
+"Just so," replied Ivan, indifferently.
+
+"But you should interfere; you should not allow that pretty child to
+be ill-used by the savage."
+
+Ivan shrugged his shoulders. "He has the right; she is his betrothed,
+and if I were to interfere he would beat her more. Besides, don't you
+see he has been at the brandy flask? There would be no use in
+reasoning with him."
+
+"Well, I shall reason with him to some purpose," returned Felix. "I am
+not going to stand by and see that pretty creature beaten."
+
+"You will do no good, I warn you. The underground laborer has no
+respect for men in black coats."
+
+"We shall soon see as to that. Do me the favor to call out 'doctor' as
+soon as you see me take the fellow by his arm."
+
+As he spoke, the elegantly attired Felix rushed across the narrow
+passage which led to the yard, and confronted the infuriated savage.
+
+"You brute!" he cried. "Let go that girl. Why do you beat her?"
+
+Saffran answered phlegmatically, "What is that to you? She is my
+betrothed." He smelled fearfully of brandy.
+
+"Ah, so you are thinking of marrying, are you?" returned Felix,
+looking at the Hercules, to whose shoulder he hardly reached. "And how
+is it that you are not on military service, my friend?"
+
+The cord slipped from Peter's hand. "I could not pass," he said, in a
+low voice. "I have it in black and white. I am not fit."
+
+"Could not pass--not fit--when you can use your arms so well? Who was
+the upright doctor that gave you that certificate in black and white?
+Such muscles--" He touched with the tips of his gray gloves the
+starting muscles on the brawny arm.
+
+"Doctor!" called out Ivan.
+
+When Peter heard this exclamation, and felt the pressure of Felix's
+fingers, he let go his hold of Evila's hair. She was free.
+
+"You just wait till to-morrow, young man," continued Felix, shaking
+his cane before Peter's nose--"till to-morrow, and you shall have a
+second examination. I shall be curious to find out what is the secret
+impediment which makes _you_ unfit to serve your country. That is my
+business here."
+
+Peter began suddenly to squint.
+
+Felix burst out laughing. "Two can play that game, young man," and he,
+too, fell to squinting. "I shall pay you a visit to-morrow."
+
+At this Peter took to his heels, and making one rush of it, was soon
+over the wall of the yard, and never ceased running until he reached
+the wood.
+
+Ivan was astonished at the result of Felix's interference. He, who was
+twice as strong mentally and physically as this effeminate town-bred
+man, would have been routed signally, and behold, the weak one in gray
+gloves had chased the savage from the field, and was master of the
+situation! He felt vexed, yet he wished to conceal his vexation. He
+saw Felix calmly conversing with Evila, whose deliverer he had been.
+Ivan was not going to stand open-mouthed looking at the hero.
+
+"Let us go on," he said to Raun�. "Herr Kaulmann can follow us if he
+wishes."
+
+Herr Kaulmann was not inclined to continue his walk. A full hour
+afterwards, when they were returning, he met them. He said he had been
+looking everywhere for them without effect. He had done a good
+morning's work in their absence. Finding himself alone in the yard
+with the girl, he had spoken to her in a sympathizing tone.
+
+"My poor child, what did you do to that brute, that he should ill-use
+you so cruelly?"
+
+The girl dried her eyes with the corner of her apron and made an
+effort to smile. It was a piteous attempt, tragic in its effort to
+hide her sufferings.
+
+"Oh, sir, the whole thing was only a joke. He only pretended to strike
+me."
+
+"A nice joke! Look at the welts his blows have made."
+
+He took from his pocket a little case, which held his pocket-comb, a
+dandified affair with a small looking-glass, which he held before her
+eyes.
+
+Evila reddened over face and neck when she saw the disfiguring marks
+of her lover's affection. She spoke with some anger in her voice--
+
+"Sir, you have been very kind, and I will tell you all about it. I
+have a little brother who is a cripple. As soon as father died mother
+married again. Her husband was a drunkard, and when he was tipsy he
+would beat us and tear my hair. Once he threw my brother, who was only
+three years old, down a height, and since then he has been crippled.
+His bones are bent and weak, and he has to go on crutches; his
+breath, too, is affected; he can hardly breathe from asthma, and this
+was stepfather's doing. But that did not soften him; on the contrary,
+he persecuted the poor baby, and it was ten times worse after mother
+died. How many blows I have had to bear, and glad I was to get them if
+I could only spare the child! At last stepfather fell from the shaft;
+he was drunk, and he broke his neck. A good thing it was, too; and
+since then we have lived alone, and what I earn does for us both. But
+now I am going to marry Peter, and Peter hates my poor crippled
+brother. He says he must go out and beg; that an object like him on
+crutches could stand at the church-door on Sundays, and in the market
+on week-days, and get pence enough to support himself. Oh, it is
+shameful of him! And to-day we had a quarrel about it. He came to take
+me to church, where we were to be called for the third time. I was
+nearly ready, but I said I should first give my little brother some
+warm milk, and I went to fetch it. The boy was sitting on the doorstep
+waiting for it.
+
+"'Warm milk!' cried Peter, in a rage. 'I will give him what will make
+him fat!' and then he struck the child and tore at his ear as if he
+would tear it from his head. The child has a peculiarity--strange for
+a child--he never cries, although you might beat him to death. He
+opens his eyes and his mouth, but says nothing, and gives out no
+sound. I implored Peter to let the poor thing alone, for I loved him.
+This set him in a horrible rage.
+
+"'Then let the dwarf go packing!' he screamed. 'Give him a beggar's
+wallet, and let him beg from door to door; there never was a more
+unsightly cripple than he is, so let him bring home something for his
+keep, the scarecrow!'"
+
+The tears ran down the girl's face as she told this.
+
+"How can he help being so ugly and deformed?" she went on. "It was not
+God who made him so, it was stepfather; and so I told Peter, and that
+I would rather he would beat me than that he should touch the child.
+
+"'And I will beat you,' he said, 'if you say another word'; and then
+he seized hold of the child and kicked him. 'Get out of my sight, you
+little monster of ugliness!' he said. 'Go to the church-door and beg,
+or I will eat you.' And he made such a horrible face that my poor
+little brother shrieked with fright. I could not stand seeing him
+tortured in this way. I took him from him, and would have covered him
+up in my arms, but he ran and hid himself in the chimney. I _was_ very
+angry.
+
+"'If you torment him like this,' I said, 'I shall break with you.'
+
+"Then he seized me by my hair and fell to beating me, as you saw. Now
+he will do it every day."
+
+"No, no," returned Felix. "The fellow will have to serve his term; a
+muscular giant like him cannot shirk military duty. If every one did
+that, who the deuce would defend the country and the emperor? It
+cannot be winked at--"
+
+"Then are you really a doctor?" said Evila, doubting.
+
+"Of course I am, when I say I am."
+
+A faint reflection of pleasure crossed the girl's face.
+
+"Then perhaps you can tell me if my little brother can ever be cured?"
+she said, eagerly.
+
+"I can tell you. Bring me the child."
+
+Evila went into the kitchen, and after some trouble persuaded the
+cripple to come out of his shelter in the chimney. This poor victim of
+man's cruelty was a miserable object. He looked as if nature had
+exhausted the stuff of which he was made; not one of his limbs fitted
+the other, and his will seemed to have no power over his body.
+
+Evila took the sick boy upon her knee, and kissing his cheek, withered
+like a bit of dried parchment, told him not to be afraid, for that the
+stranger was a kind gentleman.
+
+Felix examined the limbs of the cripple with all the attention of an
+experienced surgeon, and then with a professional air said--
+
+"The injury can still be cured; it requires only time and care. There
+is in Vienna an orthopedic institution expressly for such cases;
+cripples are there treated, and grow up strong, healthy boys."
+
+"Ah!" cried the girl, taking hold of Felix's hand. "Would they take
+Janoska there? But it would cost money, which I haven't got. I might
+get employment in this institution where cripples are made straight
+again. I would serve them well if they would cure my little brother."
+
+"I don't see any reason why he shouldn't be admitted," returned Felix,
+gravely, "especially on my recommendation. I have great influence, and
+a word from me--"
+
+"You will say it, won't you, and God will forever bless you?" cried
+the girl, throwing herself on her knees and covering the hands and
+feet of the pretended doctor with kisses. "I will serve them; I will
+work for them day and night. They need not keep a dog; I will be their
+dog, and guard the house for them, if they will make Janoska straight,
+so that he need not beg at the church-door. Is it far to Vienna?"
+
+Felix laughed. "You don't think you could carry the boy to Vienna, do
+you? I will manage the journey for you. When I have once promised, I
+keep my word. I have my carriage here; I will, if you like, take you
+both to Vienna."
+
+"Oh, I will sit by the coachman, with Janoska on my lap!"
+
+"Very well, my child," returned Felix, with the air of a patron. "I am
+glad to help you; therefore, if you have resolved to take your brother
+to Vienna to have him cured, I shall give you the opportunity. Be
+ready to-morrow morning when you hear the post-horn sound. That rough
+fellow who beat you just now will be taken by the pioneers corps, who
+recruit next week, and he will have to serve his four years. Now, here
+is some money for you, that you may buy some warm clothing for the
+boy, for the nights are cold, and I travel day and night."
+
+The sum of money he placed in the girl's hand took away her breath,
+and left her no voice to thank him. Two bank-notes, ten pounds each--a
+fortune to a poor girl. The gentleman was a great nobleman; he was a
+prince. He was, however, already on his way before she could speak a
+word, and it would not do to run through the street after him.
+
+Evila then gave way to her joy like a child, as she was. She laughed,
+ran about the room carrying the boy, set him on a seat, knelt before
+him, kissed and hugged in her arms his emaciated body.
+
+"We are going away, Janoska, my heart's darling, in a coach to Vienna.
+Ho, ho, little horse, ho! In a coach with four gee-gees all hung with
+little bells! And Janoska will sit in my lap. Janoska will have good
+medicine and good food, and his feet and his hands, his back and his
+chest will get straight. He will be a big fellow, like other boys.
+Then we will come home, not in a coach, but on our feet. We go in a
+coach, and we come back on two feet without a crutch!"
+
+Then the poor little cripple began to laugh like her. Evila ran off to
+the store, and bought for the child a warm winter jacket, a cap, and
+boots; still, she could not, even with these stupendous purchases,
+spend half of the money. What she had left she determined to return to
+the gentleman.
+
+Now it was full time to go to church. Her friends wondered to see her
+come in alone. They asked her where was Peter? Evila answered she had
+not seen him that day. It went against her conscience to tell a lie
+before mass, but then, when one is placed in a situation that one must
+lie, what can be done? A woman or a girl who has been beaten by her
+betrothed or her husband must deny it. God pardons the lie, and
+society demands it.
+
+Peter Saffran was nowhere to be seen in the church. Evila felt
+terribly ashamed when the clergyman from the pulpit gave out for the
+third time the banns of her marriage. And there would be no marriage!
+Tears came into her eyes and sorrow filled her heart at the thought
+that she was leaving her home, her bridegroom, her friends, all the
+places she knew, the things she was accustomed to, and was going out
+into the world alone. These thoughts preyed upon her all day, until
+she was obliged to go out and look for Peter Saffran. She suspected
+where she would find him.
+
+In the depths of the woods at the bottom of a mountain ravine lay a
+cottage, or hut, where, at the time of the recruiting, the men and
+boys who wanted to avoid the conscription would hide themselves for
+weeks, until the officers would have gone on to another place. Not one
+betrayed their hiding-place; and here, no doubt, Peter lay concealed.
+Evila went blindly through the thicket. The night was dark, the wood
+still darker. From the mountain came the growling of the hungry
+wolves. The girl trembled with fear, but went her way, nevertheless,
+resolved to find her betrothed, although she was sure he would again
+beat her. On the path she picked up a stick, and as she went along she
+beat the bushes, crying, "Go away, wolf!" But her heart beat wildly
+when, with a rustling sound, some beast flew away through the
+brushwood. She was getting deeper into the wood, and every moment it
+was growing darker; still she kept on her way.
+
+At last through the darkness she saw the glimmer of a light in a
+window. This was the hut. Her breath came shorter as she drew near to
+the house, from whence came the sound of bagpipes mixed with shouts.
+They were very merry inside. She stole softly to the lighted window,
+and peeped in. They were dancing. Evila knew the girls who were there;
+they were none of her companions; she and her friends crossed the
+street when they met these. The piper sat upon the pig-trough, and
+when he blew his instrument grunted like so many pigs.
+
+Among the men Evila saw Peter Saffran. He was in high spirits, leaping
+so high as he danced that his fist struck the ceiling. He danced with
+a girl whose cheeks had two spots of red paint. Peter had both his
+arms round her waist; he threw her up and caught her again, kissing
+her painted face.
+
+Evila turned away in disgust and hastened back through the woods,
+unmindful of the cries of the wolves and the howling of the wind. She
+had not even her stick; that she had dropped, and she had no means of
+beating the bushes.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+That evening Felix Kaulmann came again to Ivan.
+
+"I want to have your last word," he said. "Will you join my
+speculation?"
+
+"I don't change my mind so quickly," returned Ivan, coldly. "My answer
+is the same as it was this morning--I will not."
+
+"Very well. I have acted in a friendly manner in this matter, and now
+I tell you frankly that, as you do not choose to join me, I shall
+start the company alone, always leaving it open to you to rescind your
+determination and to join me if you wish. I cannot say fairer than
+this, and I trust we shall always be good friends. You will forgive me
+if I try to pick up some of the diamonds which are scattered about."
+
+"I leave you perfectly free to do what you can."
+
+"I shall avail myself of your permission, and the day will come when I
+shall remind you of your words."
+
+Ivan's forehead contracted as he thought, "What does he mean? What can
+he take from me? Not my coal-mine; that is mine by right of
+possession, and the law protects me. The cut on the neighboring
+mountain? So he may! What I have suffices for me."
+
+"Good-luck to your company!" he said, aloud; "and many thanks to the
+director."
+
+So they parted. Early next morning Ivan was roused from his sleep. It
+was the post-horn which sounded the note of Felix Kaulmann's
+departure. Ivan wished him a happy journey, then fell asleep again.
+Later, as he was leaving his house, he met Peter Saffran at the door.
+The miner presented a sorry figure. His features bore the impression
+of his night's dissipation; his eyes were bloodshot, his hair ragged,
+his dress in disorder.
+
+"Now, what is it?" asked Ivan, angrily.
+
+"Sir," said the man, in a hoarse voice, "that doctor who was with you
+yesterday--his name?"
+
+"What do you want with him?"
+
+"He has carried off Evila!" burst out Peter. In wild agitation he
+snatched the hat off his head, tore his hair, and raised both his
+hands to heaven.
+
+In the first moment Ivan was conscious of feeling a cruel
+satisfaction.
+
+"It serves you right, you beast!" he said. "Serves you right! What
+business had you to ill-use the girl--your promised wife--on the very
+day that you were called for the third time?"
+
+"Oh, sir," cried the miserable man, his teeth chattering, and beating
+his head with his hands, "I was drunk! I did not know what I did; and,
+after all, it was only a few blows with a light strap. What was that?
+With us common people it is nothing. A woman likes a man the better
+when he cudgels her. It is true; but to leave me for a gentleman--"
+
+Ivan shrugged his shoulders and went on his way. The miner caught him
+by the tail of his coat.
+
+"Ah, sir, what shall I do? Tell me, what shall I do?"
+
+Ivan, however, was in no mood for giving advice; he was angry. He
+pushed Peter away, saying, sternly:
+
+"Go to hell! Run to the tavern, drink brandy, then choose among the
+girls whose company you frequent another bride, who will be only too
+glad if you are drunk every day in the year."
+
+Peter took up his hat, put it on his head, looked Ivan in the face,
+and, in an altered voice, said:
+
+"No, sir, I shall never drink brandy again; only once in my life shall
+I taste the accursed thing--once. You will remember what I say, and
+when I smell of it, when I am seen coming out of the public-house, or
+when you hear that I have been there, then stay at home, for on that
+day no one will know how or when he will die."
+
+Ivan left the man standing, and going back into his house, shut the
+door behind him. His first satisfaction at the news was passing away.
+This miserable peasant, who had dared to be his successful rival, had
+lost the treasure which he coveted. The fool had the pearl in his
+keeping, but he didn't know how to value it, and he had let it fall.
+That was good; but where had it fallen, this pearl so white and lovely
+in its purity and innocence? His soul was full of sorrow as he thought
+how in his eyes it had lost all its value. The girl who had seemed to
+him so virtuous, who kept her troth so faithfully, whose simplicity
+had been what he really loved--she had fallen at the first word from a
+villain. She refused her master, who had honorably offered her his
+name, his house, his all. But he had not the gifts of the other; he
+was not a dressed-up fellow, with town manners and seductive ways; he
+had not the tongue of a seducer, and had not promised her jewels and
+fine clothes, balls and operas. It was the same story with all women,
+and Mahomet was right when he gave them no souls, and no place either
+on earth or in heaven.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+COUNTESS THEUDELINDE
+
+
+The mistress of Bondavara was at this time fifty-eight years old. Ivan
+had not overstated her age when he gave Felix the information.
+Countess Theudelinde had long since given up the world. The
+renunciation cost her very little; she had never been in touch with
+it. Up to her fourteenth year she had grown up in the house of her
+father, the prince; at that period her mother, the princess, died. The
+governess of Theudelinde was beautiful, the prince was old. The
+countess--only the first-born can have the princely title; the younger
+children are all counts and countesses--could not, for various
+reasons, remain under the paternal roof; she was sent out of the way
+and to finish her education at a convent. Before she went, however,
+she was betrothed to the Marquis Don Antonio de Padua, only son of the
+Marquis de Colomorano, then eighteen years of age. It was settled
+between the two fathers that when Antonio was twenty-four and
+Theudelinde twenty, she should be fetched out of her convent, and both
+should be united in wedlock by Holy Church. This arrangement was
+carried out so far as Theudelinde spending six blameless years in a
+most highly respectable convent. She was then brought home, and the
+marriage bells were set ringing. But, horror of horrors, when the girl
+saw her betrothed husband, she shrieked and ran away! This was not
+the man she had promised to marry; this one had a mustache!
+(Naturally, for he was an officer in the hussars.)
+
+Theudelinde had never seen a man with a mustache. Six years before,
+when she was at home, all the distinguished guests who came to her
+father's house, the magnates, the ambassadors, were all smooth-shaved,
+so were the man-servants, even the coachman. In the convent there was
+only one man, the father confessor; his face was like a glass. And now
+they proposed to marry her to a man all hair! Impossible! The saints
+and the prophets of old wore beards, that was true; some of them had a
+good deal of hair, but none had it only on the upper-lip. The only one
+she could remember with this adornment was the servant of the
+high-priest in the Stations of the Cross, which, to a pious mind like
+Theudelinde's, was conclusive. She would hear no more of the marriage;
+the betrothal rings were returned on both sides, and the alliance was
+at an end.
+
+After this the countess avoided all worldly amusements. Nothing would
+induce her go to a ball, or to the theatre. Nevertheless, she did not
+seem inclined to take the veil; she had strong leanings towards this
+wicked world, only she wanted one of a different sort, without the
+wickedness. She desired out of the general chaos to create an ideal,
+and this ideal should be her husband. He should be tender, faithful,
+no wine-drinker, no smoker; a man with a smooth face, a pure soul, a
+sweet-sounding voice; a gifted, sympathetic, patient, amiable, soft,
+romantic, domestic, pious man; prudent, scientific, literary,
+distinguished, well-born, much respected, covered with orders, rich,
+loyal, brave, and titled. Such a _rara avis_ was impossible to find.
+Countess Theudelinde spent the best days of her life seeking a
+portrait to fit the frame she had made, but she sought in vain; there
+was no husband for her.
+
+When the countess had reached thirty there was a halt. The ideal was
+as far off as ever. She was anxious to come to terms with the world,
+but the world would have none of her. Her day was past; she had no
+right to any pretensions. She found herself in the position of having
+to choose between utter renunciation or acceptance of the world, with
+all its wickedness. At this critical juncture the old prince, her
+father, died, leaving the countess the property of Bondavara, together
+with the castle. Here Theudelinde retired to nurse her ideal, and
+mourn over her shattered idols. Here she was absolute mistress, her
+brother, to whom the property reverted, leaving her to her own
+devices.
+
+The countess carried out, therefore, her theories unmolested, and her
+dislike to beards and mustaches had free play. The growers of these
+enormities were banished from her presence, and, as was only a natural
+consequence, as time went on her hatred of the male sex increased. No
+man was allowed in the neighborhood of the countess. She only suffered
+women about her--not alone in the house, but outside. The garden, the
+conservatories, were attended to by women--unmarried women, all.
+Matrimony was as a red rag to Theudelinde, and no one durst mention
+the word in her presence. Any girl who showed any inclination to wear
+the "matron's cap" was at once dismissed with contumely. Even the
+"coachman" was a woman; and for the reason that it would not have been
+fitting to sit upon a coach-box in woman's clothes, this female Jehu
+was allowed to wear a long coachman's cloak, a man's coat, as also a
+certain garment, at the bare mention of which an Englishwoman calls
+out, "Oh, how shocking!" and straightway faints. Truly, at the time
+this history was written, in our good land of Hungary, this very
+garment played a serious part, since it was the shibboleth and visible
+sign of fidelity to the governing powers, and of submission to the
+mediators; in truth, ever since those days the "leg of the boot" has
+been worn. So it came to pass that Mrs. Liese wore this thing, the
+only one of the kind to be seen in the castle. Liese, also, was
+allowed to drink wine, and to smoke tobacco, and, needless to say, she
+did both.
+
+Fraulein Emerenzia, the countess's companion, was, so to speak, the
+exact counterpart of her noble mistress. The countess was tall and
+slender; she had a white skin, her features were sharp, her nose
+almost transparent, her lips, scarlet in color, were shaped like a
+bow; her cadaverous form bent forward; her eyelids fell over her
+lack-lustre eyes, her face appeared to have two sides which didn't
+belong to one another, each half having a totally different
+expression; even the wrinkles didn't correspond. She wore her hair as
+it was worn in the days of her youth, as it was worn when Caroline Pia
+was married, and as it is possible it will be worn again. Her hands
+were fine, transparent; they were not strong enough to cut the leaves
+of a book with a paper-knife. Her whole being was nerveless and
+sensitive. At the slightest noise she would shriek, be seized with a
+cramp, or go off in hysterics. She had certain antipathies to beasts,
+flowers, air, food, motion, and emotion. At the sight of a cat she was
+ready to faint; if she saw a flesh-colored flower her blood grew
+excited. Silver gave everything an unpleasant taste, so her spoons
+were all of gold. If any women crossed their legs she sent them out of
+the room. If the spoons, knives, or forks were by accident laid
+crosswise on the table, she would not sit down; and if she were to
+see velvet on any of her attendants she was thrown into a nervous
+attack, from the bare idea that perhaps her hand might come in contact
+with this electric and antipathetic substance.
+
+Fortunately for her household her nervous fears kept her quiet at
+night. She locked and double-locked the door of her room, and never
+opened it until the morning came--no, not if the house were burning
+over her head.
+
+Fraulein Emerenzia was, as we have before said, the counterpart of her
+mistress, in so far that she affected a close imitation of her ways,
+for in her appearance she was a direct contrast, Emerenzia being a
+round, short, fat woman, with a full face, the skin of which was so
+tightly stretched that it was almost as white as the countess's; she
+had a snub nose, which in secret was addicted to the vice of
+snuff-taking. Her dress and her manner of doing her hair were
+identical with the countess's fashion in each, only that the stiff-set
+clothes had on her small body a humorous expression. She affected to
+be as nerveless as the countess; her hands were as weak--they could
+not break a chicken bone. Her eyes were as sensitive to light, her
+antipathies were as numerous, and she was as prone to faints and
+hysterics as her patroness. In this direction, indeed, she went
+further. So soon as she observed that there was any cause for
+emotional display, she set up trembling and screaming, and so got the
+start of the countess, and generally managed to sob for a minute
+longer; and when Theudelinde fell fainting upon one sofa Emerenzia
+dropped lifeless upon another; likewise, she took longer coming to
+than did her mistress. At night Emerenzia slept profoundly. Her room
+was only separated from that of the countess by an ante-chamber, but
+Theudelinde might tear down all the bells in the castle without waking
+her companion, who maintained that her sleep was a species of nervous
+trance.
+
+One man only was ever allowed entrance into the Castle of Bondavara.
+What do we say?--no man, no _masculinum_. The language of dogma has
+defined that the priest is _neutrius generis_, is more and less than a
+being of the male sex; bodily he can be no man's father, spiritually
+he is father of thousands. No one need think he will here read any
+calumnies against the priesthood. The pastor Mahok was a brave, honest
+man; he said mass devoutly, baptized, married, buried when called
+upon, would get up in the middle of the night to attend the death-bed
+of a parishioner, and would never grumble at the sacristan for waking
+him out of his first sleep. The pastor wrote no articles in the
+_Church News_, neither did he ever read one. If he wanted a newspaper
+he borrowed from the steward the daily paper. When his clerk collected
+Peter's pence, Pastor Mahok sent it with an additional gulden or two
+to the office of the chief priest; but this did not prevent him
+sitting down in the evening to play "tarok" with the Lutheran pastor
+and the infidel steward. He held to having a good cellar; he had a
+whole family of bees in his garden, and was a successful cultivator of
+fruit. In politics he was a loyalist, and confessed he belonged to the
+middle party, which in the country means just this, and no more, "We
+vote for the tobacco monopoly, but we smoke virgin tobacco because it
+is good and we have it."
+
+From this account every one will understand that during the course of
+this narrative this excellent gentleman will offend no one. We would,
+in fact, have nothing to say to him were it not that he came every
+day, punctually at eleven o'clock, to Bondavara Castle to hear the
+countess's confession, and that done, he remained to dinner, and in
+both directions he honestly earned his small honorarium. There was a
+general air of satisfaction in his whole appearance, in his double
+chin, in his fresh color, in his round, shining face.
+
+To-day the excellent man was punctual. The countess, however, was not.
+Just as eleven o'clock struck, the spiritual man knocked at the door
+of the sitting-room. Only the voice of Emerenzia answered, "Come in!"
+
+The smile of greeting on the countenance of the visitor was reflected
+on that of the companion. It was the meeting of two full moons.
+
+"The countess is still locked in her room," Emerenzia said in a
+whisper, as if afraid that her voice could penetrate into the third
+room.
+
+The pastor expressed by a movement of his hand and an elevation of his
+eyebrows that the sleep of the just was not to be disturbed. The good
+man was not aware that it was the toilette of the just that was then
+in progress. These mysteries were conducted by the countess in
+private. No one, not even a faithful maid, was admitted until
+Theudelinde was clothed, and for this reason her garments were made to
+close in front.
+
+The priest made use of this unexpected delay to search in the pocket
+of his coat, and to draw from thence a mysterious something, which,
+after first casting a look round the room, to make sure no one was
+spying on him, he pressed into the fat hand of the countess's
+companion, who hastily concealed this surreptitious something in the
+depths of the pocket of her dress, expressing her gratitude by a
+friendly nod, which the pastor returned by a courteous movement
+which expressed, "No thanks are necessary for so small a service."
+Whereupon Emerenzia, turning away, half-shyly drew the something
+carefully out of her pocket, peered into the contents of the same,
+held it close to her nose, drinking in the scent of the something,
+turning her eyes up to heaven, and again to the pastor, who, on his
+part, expressed by the motion of the thumb and forefinger of his
+left hand, "Excellent--special brand!" Then, no longer able to
+restrain her feelings, the companion took from the mysterious packet
+between the thumb and forefinger of _her_ right hand something which
+she placed in both nostrils, and sniffed up in silent ecstasy. It
+was the pastor's pleasure to fill Emerenzia's snuff-box with the
+very best mixture. This was the platonic bond which existed between
+them--the mutual desire of two noses for one ideal.
+
+Yellow snuff is not an unattainable ideal. In the ordinary way of
+business a quarter of a pound can be procured for a few pence; but
+common snuff was as different from the priest's mixture as cherry
+brandy is from Chartreuse, or Veuve Cliquot from the vintage of
+Presburg. This is easily understood by those who take snuff. How is it
+that a clergyman always has the best tobacco? How does he prepare it?
+Does he get it prepared? These are broad questions that a man of
+liberal mind dare not ventilate. Even if he knew, it would not be
+advisable to make use of his knowledge. One thing is certain, the best
+tobacco is used by the Church. A bishop, who died not long since, left
+behind him a hundredweight of the most heavenly stuff, two ounces of
+which fetched a ducat.
+
+The quiet _t�te-�-t�te_ between the two snuff-takers was disturbed by
+the sound of a bell; then a metal slide in the door of the countess's
+room opened, and a tray with an empty teacup was put through. This was
+a sign that the countess had breakfasted.
+
+Every door in the castle had sliding panels, some large, others
+small. The slides were made of copper, the doors of strong wood,
+with brass locks and fasteners. The door of the countess's bedroom
+was all of iron, covered on the inside with a tapestry curtain.
+Since no man was allowed in the house, it was necessary to have a
+defence system against any possible attack. This system included
+some cleverly-constructed machinery, by means of which the countess,
+by pressing her foot, could raise up the flooring, and precipitate
+any bold invader of the sacred precincts of her bedroom into a
+cellar without light or exit. From the alcove of her bed an electric
+telegraph connected with the fire-tower, so that by raising her
+finger the alarm-bell could be set ringing, and in case of danger
+the masculine inhabitants of the adjacent farm-houses and
+hunting-lodges could be summoned without a moment's delay. In
+Emerenzia's room there was likewise a communication with this
+electric apparatus, and to the door were affixed the different signs
+by which the countess expressed her wishes. The cup signified that
+the waiting-maid was required, a book would have meant that the
+companion was needed.
+
+Emerenzia, therefore, sent the girl to her mistress. When her work was
+finished the bell rang again, the book appeared, and the companion
+went to the countess. After a short time she returned, and opened the
+door for the pastor, while she whispered to him softly--
+
+"She has seen the spirits again; she has much to tell you."
+
+We will follow the pastor into his penitent's room; but no one need be
+afraid that he or she is about to listen to the lady's confession.
+When the pastor had closed the door behind him, he came to the
+countess, who sat in a large armchair, looking pale and exhausted.
+She signed to the priest to take his place in another armchair
+opposite to her.
+
+"Have you seen them again?" he asked.
+
+"I have," said the countess, in an awed whisper. "All happened in the
+same way as usual. So soon as the clock-tower had sounded midnight,
+there rose from below, as if out of the vault, a fearful chorus of
+voices intoning the _De Profundis_. It was a ghostly, terrible sound.
+I could distinguish the solo of the celebrant, the antiphon, the
+chorus; and between them loud laughter, diabolical words, the shrieks
+of women, and the clatter of glasses. I heard comic songs accompanied
+by wild howls; then, again, the soft, pious hymn succeeded by the wild
+disorder. I pinched my arm to see did I dream. Here you can see the
+mark. 'Twas not dreaming. I got up; I wished to convince myself that I
+was awake. I took my pencil and note-paper, and when a distinct tune
+reached my ear I wrote it down. Here is the paper. You understand
+music."
+
+The priest threw a hasty glance over the ghostly melody, and
+recognized a well-known Hungarian volkslied--"Maiden with the black
+eyes, let me taste thy lips." Undoubtedly an unclean song to issue
+from the family vault at midnight!
+
+"And, gracious countess, have you never heard the peasants singing
+this in the fields?"
+
+The countess drew herself up with dignity. "Do I frequent the places
+where peasants sing?" she made answer; and then continued her story.
+"These notes are sufficient proof that I was awake; my nerves were too
+excited to allow me to sleep again. Moreover, I was drawn by an
+invincible desire to go to the spot from whence the sound came. I
+dressed myself. I am certain that I took out my grass-green skirt of
+Gros de Naples, with a flounce of cashmere. I called none of my
+servants; every one in the house was asleep. An extraordinary courage
+awoke in me. Quite alone I descended the steps which lead to the
+family vault. When I reached the door both sides opened of themselves;
+I entered, and found myself in the presence of my departed ancestors.
+The monuments were all removed, the niches empty; the occupiers of
+both sat round the long table which stands in the vault, in the
+identical dress in which they are painted in the portraits which hang
+in the hall, and by which their calling in life is distinguishable. My
+great-uncle, the archbishop, in full canonicals, celebrated mass
+before the requiem altar; my grandfather, the chancellor, had large
+parchment documents before him, upon which he affixed the state seal.
+My great-uncle, the field-marshal, in armor, and with the marshal's
+baton in his hand, gave orders. My ancestress Katherine, who was a
+lady of the court, and of remarkable beauty, rolled her eyes about,
+and in her whole face no feature moved but those glittering eyes; and
+my aunt Clementina, the abbess of the Ursuline Convent, sang psalms
+with my uncle, in which the others from time to time joined."
+
+"But the laughter, the tumult, the comic songs?" asked the pastor.
+
+"I am coming to that. At the other end of the table sat some of my
+more distant relatives--my young cousin Clarissa, who danced herself
+to death; and a cousin, who was a celebrated flute player; and my
+great-uncle Otto, who was devoted to hazard, and now rattled dice into
+a copper goblet, and cursed his bad-luck when he made a bad throw;
+also another cousin, who died on the very night of her marriage, and
+still wore a faded wedding wreath; finally, my uncle Ladislaus, who
+was banished from the family circle early in the century, and whose
+frame hangs in the picture-gallery empty, his portrait being removed."
+
+"How did you know him, then?" By this question the pastor hoped to
+check the flow of the countess's visions.
+
+Theudelinde, however, answered that her uncle Ladislaus, being a rebel
+and a heretic, had not alone been declared a traitor, but had incurred
+the ban of excommunication. He was taken prisoner and beheaded. "And
+therefore," she added, with an air of conviction, "it was easy to
+recognize him by his death's-head. Likewise, during his lifetime he
+ignored the king's express command, and was the first to introduce
+tobacco-smoke into the country, and on this account, at his execution,
+he received the punishment awarded to the smoker, of having a
+pipe-handle run through his nose. Last night, as he sat at the table,
+he held between the teeth of his monstrous death's-head a large
+meerschaum pipe, and the whole vault smelled in the most fearful
+manner of tobacco-smoke."
+
+This remark convinced the priest that the countess had been dreaming.
+
+"Between both my cousins," she went on, "the nun and the bride, there
+was an empty chair. There I felt obliged to seat myself. The bride
+wished to hear of the fashions; she praised the stuff of my Gros de
+Naples dress, taking it between her fingers, which, when they touched
+mine, were cold as death itself. The upper end of the table was
+covered with green cloth, the lower end with a yellow silk
+table-cloth, embroidered with many-colored flowers. At this end every
+one laughed, talked, sang noisy songs; while at the top the psalms
+were intoned and the antiphon was sung. Both sounded horrible in my
+ears. The dishes contained cooked hazel-hens and roast pheasants, with
+the feathers sticking in their heads; sparkling wine filled the cups.
+I was pressed to eat and drink, but neither the food nor the liquor
+had any taste. Once the bride, my cousin, as is the custom with very
+young girls, offered me the spur of the pheasant's breast, saying,
+jokingly, 'Break this spur with me, and we shall see which of us two
+gets a husband first.' I seized hold of my end of the spur; I tugged
+and tugged, and at last broke it. The largest half remained in my
+hand. The bride laughed. 'Theudelinde shall be the first married!' she
+cried. I blushed; it seemed to me something terrible that the spirits
+of my dead ancestors should be so frivolous."
+
+The worthy pastor said nothing. Nevertheless, he was minded to agree
+with his penitent. He could not imagine why blessed souls, or even
+condemned ones, should occupy themselves breaking pheasant bones with
+an old maid, of all people in the world.
+
+"What gave me most offence," continued Theudelinde, "was the
+outrageous behavior of my uncle Ladislaus. One minute he shrieked,
+then laughed loudly, sang horrid songs. Again he broke out into
+fearful curses, scorned the saints, the pope, the sacraments, made
+witticisms that brought a blush to the faces of the ladies, and blew
+all his tobacco-smoke over me. I shook the skirt of my green silk to
+prevent the horrid smell sticking to it, but I felt this precaution
+was of little use. My uncle Ladislaus began then to tease me, and said
+I had concealed the prophetic bone in the pocket of my green dress. My
+face glowed with shame, for it was true. I denied it, however,
+whereupon he began to swear in his heathenish way, and to thump with
+his fists on the table until the vault resounded with his blows. My
+cousins put their hands over his mouth. Then he spoke through his
+empty eye-sockets. It was terrible! He cursed all the saints in the
+calendar and the emperor. My great-uncle, the archbishop, stretched
+out his hands and damned him; my grandfather, the chancellor, sealed
+the sentence; and my great-uncle, the field-marshal, drew his sword
+and cut off my uncle's death's-head. The head rolled over, and fell at
+my feet, still holding the pipe between its teeth, and blew its filthy
+breath over me. Then I arose and fled."
+
+The pastor had now made up his mind that the whole story was nothing
+but the dream of an hysterical woman. It was strange, however, that
+the countess should have the same vision so often, and that it should
+always begin in the same manner.
+
+As she now concluded her recital with the words, "As I took off my
+silk dress it smelled horribly of tobacco-smoke," a brilliant idea
+came to Father Mahok.
+
+"Will you excuse my asking you where your green dress is?" he asked,
+gravely.
+
+The countess betrayed some embarrassment.
+
+"I do not know. My wardrobe is in the care of Fraulein Emerenzia--"
+
+"Allow me to ask you the question, did you not take the dress off in
+this apartment?"
+
+"I no longer remember. Emerenzia has been here since; she may know."
+
+"Will you grant me the favor, countess, to send for Fraulein
+Emerenzia?"
+
+"Certainly. She will be here in a minute."
+
+The countess pressed her finger twice on the electric apparatus, and
+the companion entered.
+
+"Fraulein," said the countess, "you remember my green Gros de Naples
+silk, bordered with a trimming of fur?"
+
+"Yes; it is a pelisse of peculiar cut, with hanging sleeves, and
+fastened by a silk band and buckle."
+
+"That is the dress," returned the countess. "Where is it?"
+
+"In the wardrobe. I hung it there myself, first putting camphor in the
+sleeves, that the moths might not get at the fur."
+
+"When did you do this?"
+
+"Last summer."
+
+The pastor laughed slyly to himself. "Now," thought he, "the countess
+must be convinced that she dreamed the whole scene she has so
+accurately described."
+
+"Have I not worn it since last summer?" questioned Theudelinde.
+
+"Not once. The open-hanging sleeves are only for the hottest weather."
+
+"Impossible!"
+
+"But, countess," put in the priest, "it is easy to convince yourself
+of what ma'm'selle says. You have only to look into the wardrobe. Who
+keeps the key?"
+
+"Ma'm'selle Emerenzia."
+
+"Do you command me to open the press?" asked the companion, with a
+discomfited look.
+
+"I do," answered the countess, nodding to the pastor to follow her
+into the next room.
+
+Emerenzia, her face puckered into an expression of annoyance, drew her
+bunch of keys from her pocket, and placed one in the lock of an
+antique and highly ornamented press, of which she threw the doors
+open. At least fifty silk dresses hung there, side by side. The
+countess never allowed any of her clothes to get into strange hands;
+no man's eye should ever rest upon what she had worn. Through this
+museum of old clothes Emerenzia's fingers went with unerring
+certainty, and drew forth the oft-mentioned green silk dress with the
+fur trimming.
+
+"Here it is," she said, shortly.
+
+The pastor was triumphant, but the countess, whose nerves were more
+impressionable than those of ordinary mortals, grew suddenly pale and
+began to shake all over.
+
+"Take that dress down," she said, in a whisper. And Emerenzia, with a
+jerk, tore it from its peg. What, in Heaven's name, had come to the
+pastor and her mistress?
+
+The countess took it from her hand, and held it, while she turned her
+head the other way, across his nose.
+
+"Do you smell it?" she said. "Is it tobacco-smoke?"
+
+Father Mahok was astonished. This fine silk dress, straight from out
+of a lady's wardrobe, smelled as strongly of the commonest tobacco as
+the coat of a peasant who had passed his night in an ale-house. Before
+he could answer Theudelinde's question she was ready with another.
+From the pocket of the green Gros de Naples she now drew forth a
+broken pheasant bone.
+
+"And this?" she asked. But here her strength was exhausted. Without
+waiting for a reply, she fell fainting on the sofa.
+
+Emerenzia, sobbing loudly, fell helplessly into an arm-chair. The
+clergyman was so upset by the whole thing that, in his embarrassment,
+he opened the doors of three more wardrobes before finding the one
+which communicated with the sitting-room. Then he summoned the
+servants to attend to their mistress. _The evidence of witchcraft was
+proved._
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE COUNTESS'S ALBUM
+
+
+The worthy Pastor Mahok was of opinion that the mystery of the
+countess's dress smelling so strongly of tobacco-smoke could not be
+accounted for by any law of Nature, and judged, therefore, by the
+light of his priestly office, as well as from his worldly experience,
+that these diabolical visions were matters worthy of deep
+consideration on his part. They occupied his mind during dinner, which
+he partook of in company with the countess's companion, but of the
+subject of his thoughts he spoke no word to her. They were alone at
+table. The countess remained in her room, as was her habit when she
+suffered from what was called "cramps," and her only refreshment was
+some light soup. After dinner she again sent for the pastor.
+
+He found her lying on the sofa, pale and exhausted; her first words
+had reference to the subject which filled both their minds.
+
+"Are you now convinced," she said, "that what I told you was, indeed,
+no dream?"
+
+"Doubtless there has been some strange work going on."
+
+"Is it the work, think you, of good or bad spirits?" asked the
+countess, raising her eyes.
+
+"That can only be ascertained by a trial."
+
+"What sort of a trial, holy father?"
+
+"An attempt to exorcise them. If these spirits who every night leave
+their graves are good, they must, by the strength of the exorcism,
+return to their resting-places, and remain there till summoned by the
+angel's trumpet to arise on the last day."
+
+"And in case they don't return?" inquired the countess, anxiously.
+
+"Then they are bad spirits."
+
+"That is to say, damned. How do you know that?"
+
+For a minute there was a struggle in the pastor's mind; then he
+answered, boldly:
+
+"This night I shall keep watch in the castle."
+
+"And if you hear the unearthly noises?"
+
+"Then I shall descend into the vault, and scatter the ghosts with holy
+water."
+
+The countess's face glowed with fervor as she exclaimed:
+
+"Holy father, I shall accompany you."
+
+"No, countess; no one shall accompany me but my sacristan."
+
+"The sacristan! A man! He shall not put his foot in this house!" cried
+the countess, excitedly.
+
+The pastor, in a soothing voice, explained to her that his sacristan
+was almost as much a part of the Church as himself; moreover, that he
+was absolutely necessary on this occasion for the performance of the
+exorcism; in fact, without him the ceremony could not take place,
+seeing that the sacred vessel containing the holy water, the
+crucibulum and lanterns, should be carried before him to give all due
+effect to the religious rite.
+
+Under these circumstances Countess Theudelinde gave her consent, on
+the condition that the obnoxious male intruder should not enter the
+castle itself. Still more, the pastor promised to watch in the
+greenhouse after the castle gates were locked.
+
+According to these arrangements, when it began to get dark, Father
+Mahok arrived, bringing with him his sacristan, a man of about forty,
+with a closely shaved mustache and a very copper-colored face. The
+pastor left him in the greenhouse, and proceeded himself to the
+dining-room, where the countess was awaiting him for supper. No one
+ate a morsel. The pastor had no appetite, neither had the countess,
+nor her companion. The air was too full of the coming event to allow
+of such a gross thing as eating.
+
+After supper the countess withdrew to her room, and Herr Mahok went to
+the greenhouse, where the sacristan had made himself comfortable with
+wine and meat, and had kept up the fires in the oven. The servants had
+been kept in ignorance of what was going on; they had never heard the
+midnight mass, nor the wild shrieks and infamous songs of the
+inhabitants of the vault, and the countess would not allow the ears of
+her innocent handmaidens to be polluted with such horrors. Therefore,
+every one in the castle slept. The pastor watched alone. At first Herr
+Mahok tried to pass the long hours of the night in reading his
+prayers, but as his habitual hour for sleep drew near he had to fight
+a hard battle with his closing eyelids. He was afraid that if he
+slumbered his imagination would reproduce the countess's dream, to
+which, be it said, he did not give credence; at the same time, he did
+not wholly doubt. Generally, he found that his breviary provoked
+sleep, and now he thought it better to close the book, and try what
+conversation with the sacristan would do as a means to keep awake.
+
+The clerk's discourse naturally turned upon ghostly appearances; he
+told stories of a monk without a head, of spirits that appeared on
+certain nights in the year, of hobgoblins and witches, all of which he
+had either seen with his own eyes or had heard of from persons whose
+veracity was unimpeachable.
+
+"Folly! lies!" said the excellent pastor; but he could not help a
+creeping sensation coming over him. If he could even have smoked, it
+would have strengthened his nerves; but smoking was forbidden in the
+castle. The countess would have smelled it, as the giant in the old
+fairy tale smelled human flesh.
+
+When the sacristan found that all his wonderful tales of ghosts and
+hobgoblins were considered lies, he thought it was no use tiring
+himself talking, and as soon as he ceased sleep began to fall upon his
+eyelids. Seated upon a stool, his head leaning against the wall, his
+mouth open, he slept profoundly, to the envy, if not the admiration,
+of the good pastor, who would willingly have followed his example.
+Soon some very unmusical sounds made themselves heard. The sacristan
+snored in all manner of keys, in all variations of nasal discord,
+which so jarred on the pastor's nerves that he several times shook the
+sleeper to awake him, with the result that he slept again in no time.
+
+At last the clock on the castle tower chimed twelve. Herr Mahok struck
+the sacristan a good blow on his shoulder.
+
+"Get up!" he said. "I did not bring you here to sleep."
+
+The clerk rubbed his eyes, already drunk with sleep. The pastor took
+his snuff-box to brighten himself up with a pinch of snuff, when
+suddenly both men were roused out of all the torpor of sleep by other
+means. Just as the last beat of the clock had finished striking the
+unearthly mass began to be intoned in the vault below. Through the
+profound silence of the night was heard the voice of the priest
+singing the Latin mass, with the responses of the choir, accompanied
+by some instrument that sounded like an organ, but which had a
+shriller tone, and seemed to be a parody of the same.
+
+Over the whole body of Herr Mahok crept a ghostly shiver.
+
+"Do you hear it?" he asked the sacristan, in a whisper.
+
+"Hear it? Who could help hearing it? Mass is saying somewhere."
+
+"Here, under us, in the vault."
+
+"Who can it be?"
+
+"The devil! All good spirits praise the Lord," stammered the worthy
+pastor, making the sign of the cross three times.
+
+"But it seems that the evil spirits praise the Lord as well as the
+good ones," returned the clerk.
+
+This assertion of his was, however, quickly contradicted, for in the
+middle of the next psalm a diabolical chorus struck in wildly, and the
+air resounded with--
+
+   "Come, dearest, come to me,
+      Come, I am at home;
+    Two gypsies play for me.
+      And here I dance alone."
+
+Then followed shrieks of laughter, in which women's shrill cackle
+mingled with the hoarse roar of men and the wildest discord, as if
+hell itself were let loose.
+
+The poor priest, who had trembled at the pious psalms, nearly fell to
+the ground on hearing this pandemonium. A cold sweat broke out all
+over him; he knew now that the countess was right, and that this was,
+in truth, the work of the evil one.
+
+"Michael," he said, his teeth chattering with fear, "have you heard--"
+
+"I must be stone deaf if I didn't--such an infernal din!" replied the
+other. "All the spirits of hell are holding a Sabbath--"
+
+Just then there was the tinkle of a bell. The tumult subsided, and the
+voice of the celebrant was once more heard intoning mass.
+
+"What shall we do?" asked Herr Mahok.
+
+"What shall we do? Descend into the vault and exorcise the evil
+spirits."
+
+"What!" cried the priest. "Alone?"
+
+"Alone!" repeated Michael, with religious fervor. "Are we alone when
+we come in the name of the Lord of armies? Besides, we are two. If I
+were a priest, and if I were invested with the stole, had I the right
+to wear the three-cornered hat, I should go into the vault, carrying
+the holy water, and with the words, 'Apage Satanas,' I would drive
+before me all the legions of hell itself."
+
+The excellent pastor felt ashamed that his ignorant sacristan should
+possess greater faith, and show more courage in this combat with the
+powers of darkness, than himself; still, fear predominated over his
+shame.
+
+"I would willingly face these demons," he said, in a somewhat
+hesitating manner, "were it not that the gout has suddenly seized my
+right foot. I am not able to walk."
+
+"But consider what a scandal it will be if we, who have heard the
+spirits, have not pluck enough to send them packing."
+
+"But my foot, Michael; I cannot move my foot."
+
+"Well, then, I will carry you on my back. You can hold the holy water
+and I will take the lantern."
+
+There was no way out of this friendly offer. The pastor commended his
+soul to God, and, taking heart, resolved to fight the demons below,
+armed only with the holy insignia of his office. The good man,
+however, did not mount, like Anchises on the back of �neas, without
+much inward misgiving.
+
+"You will be careful, Michael; you will not let me fall?" he said, in
+a somewhat quavering voice.
+
+"Don't be afraid, pastor," returned the sacristan, as he stooped and
+raised the pastor on his shoulders. "Now, forward!" he cried, taking
+the lantern in his hands, while Herr Mahok carried the vessels
+necessary for the exorcism.
+
+A cold blast of air saluted them as they issued from the greenhouse
+and crossed the large hall of the castle, which the glimmering light
+from the small lantern only faintly illumined. Half of it remained in
+darkness; but on the side of the wall where hung the portraits of the
+armed knights an occasional gleam showed Herr Mahok the faces of the
+countess's warlike ancestors, who had done in their day good service
+against the Turks. They looked at him, he thought, somewhat
+contemptuously, and seemed to say, "What sort of man is this, who goes
+to fight pickaback?"
+
+Michael stopped before a strong iron door in the centre of the hall.
+This was the entrance to the subterranean vaults and cellars
+underneath the castle. And now the pastor suddenly remembered he had
+left the key of this gate in the greenhouse. There was nothing for it
+but to retrace their steps. Just as they reached the threshold,
+however, Michael suggested that something very hard was pressing
+against his side. Could it be the key which was, after all, in his
+reverence's pocket? This suggestion proved correct, and once more he
+had to run the gantlet of the old crusaders and their contemptuous
+superiority.
+
+The key creaked as it turned in the lock, and a heavy, damp smell
+struck upon them as they passed through the iron gate.
+
+"Leave the door open," said the pastor, with an eye to securing a safe
+retreat.
+
+And now they began to descend the steps, Herr Mahok remarking that his
+horse was not too sure-footed. He tottered in going down the steps so
+much that the pastor, in his fright, caught him with his left hand
+tightly by the collar, while he pressed the other more closely round
+his throat, a proceeding which Michael resented by calling out, in a
+strangled voice:
+
+"Reverend sir, don't squeeze me so; I am suffocating!"
+
+"What was that?"
+
+A black object whizzed past them, circling round their heads. A bat,
+the well-known attendant upon ghosts!
+
+"We shall be there in a few minutes," said the clerk, to encourage his
+rider, whose teeth chattered audibly.
+
+While they were descending the steps the noise in the vault had been
+less audible, but now, as they came into the passages which ran
+underneath the hall, it broke out again in the most horrible discord.
+The passage was long, and there were two wings; one led to the cellars
+proper, the other to the vaults. Opposite to the steps there was a
+cross passage, at the end of which, by ascending some seven or eight
+steps and passing through a lattice door, you could get into the open
+air. This lattice served likewise as a means of ventilating the
+passages, and on this particular night there was such a strong current
+of air that the light in the lantern was in danger every minute of
+being blown out. It would have been well if that were all. The
+sacristan hadn't taken three steps in the direction of the vault
+before a terrible sight revealed itself to both men.
+
+At the other end of the passage a blue flame burned; before the flame
+there stood, or sat, or jumped, a dwarfish figure all in white. It was
+not three feet in height, and, nevertheless, its head was of monstrous
+size. As the sacristan, with the pastor, drew near this horrid
+appearance, the blue flame suddenly flared up, throwing a bright,
+whitish light all over the passage, and by this light the terrified
+spectators beheld the dwarfish figure stretch itself out, and grow
+taller and taller--six, eight, twelve feet--and still it grew and
+grew. Its shadow danced in the light of the blue flame upon the marble
+floor of the passage like a black serpent. Then the fearful appearance
+raised its head, and the vaulted roof echoed with its howls and
+shrieks.
+
+Michael's courage flew out of the window. He turned, and, burdened as
+he was with the weight of the pastor on his back, he ran back as fast
+as he could. In the middle of the passage, however, he made a false
+step and fell, with Herr Mahok, flat upon his face. In the fall he
+broke the lantern, the light went out, and left them in the dark.
+Groping along with outstretched hands, they missed the steps which led
+up to the iron gate, but after some time found themselves in the cross
+passage, and saw the soft light of the moon shining through the
+lattice window. They made at once for the door. At first there was
+some difficulty in opening it, but Michael managed to force it, and,
+to their great joy, they were once more in the open air. Over the
+stubble, through the thorn-bushes they flew, never pausing to look
+back. Singularly enough, the gout in the pastor's foot in no way
+affected his speed. He ran quite as fast as Michael, and in less than
+a quarter of an hour was in his bed. So, too, the sacristan, whose
+fright produced an attack of fever, which kept him a prisoner there
+for three days.
+
+The next morning Herr Mahok, with many inward qualms, went up to the
+castle. His was an honest, simple mind; he preferred rather to believe
+in the wiles of the devil than in the wickedness of human nature; he
+credited what he had seen with his own eyes, and never sought to
+penetrate the dark veil which shrouds many supernatural mysteries. He
+believed firmly that he had now to do with damned spirits, who at
+their midnight orgies cracked pheasant bones to see who should first
+be married.
+
+He found the countess in good humor; she was friendly, lively, and
+received her visitor with a smiling countenance. This change did not
+surprise Herr Mahok. He was by this time accustomed to the caprices of
+Countess Theudelinde. One day she was out of humor, the next all
+serenity.
+
+The pastor went straight to the kernel he had to crack.
+
+"I watched last night," he said.
+
+"Oh, father, thanks, ten thousand thanks! Your mere presence has been
+sufficient to banish the evil spirits which have haunted the castle
+for so long. Last night all was peace; not a sound did I hear."
+
+"Not a sound!" cried the pastor, rising from his chair in his
+astonishment at such a statement. "Countess, is it possible that you
+did not hear the noise?"
+
+"Profound repose, Arcadian peace, reigned in the house, both up-stairs
+and below."
+
+"But I was there, and awake. I did not dream it. And, moreover, I can
+show you the bruises and abrasions on my elbow; they witness to the
+fall we had, to say nothing of Michael, the sacristan, who is this
+moment in a high fever in consequence. No, never did any one hear so
+demoniacal, so terrible a noise as echoed through the vault last
+night. I was there myself, countess, in my own person. I was ready to
+encounter the wicked spirits; I would have met them armed with all the
+terrors of Mother Church, but the courage of my weak-kneed sacristan
+failed. I have now come to tell you that my knowledge is at an end.
+This castle is bewitched, and, countess, my advice to you is to leave
+it without delay, and to take up your residence in a city, where your
+family ghost cannot follow you."
+
+The countess placed the middle finger of her left hand upon her
+breast, and spoke with haughty dignity:
+
+"I leave this castle because the spirits of my ancestors dwell here!
+Your advice, reverend father, shows how little you know me. To my
+mind, it is a powerful reason for remaining. Here the spirits of my
+forefathers, the ghosts of ancestors, surround me. They know me, they
+claim me as theirs; they honor me with their visits, with their
+invitations, and you counsel me to abandon them. Never! Bondavara is
+dearer to me than ever; the presence of my ancestors has doubled its
+value a hundredfold."
+
+It was on the tip of Herr Mahok's tongue to answer, "Well, then,
+remain here by all means, but for my part I give my resignation;
+provide yourself with another confessor." He restrained himself,
+however, and said, quietly:
+
+"Will you tell me, countess, how it happens that, if you have these
+close relations with your ancestors' spirits, you heard nothing of
+the witch's Sabbath they kept last night?"
+
+At this bold question the countess's pale cheeks were suddenly
+decorated by two carnation spots; her eyes fell before the sharp look
+of her father confessor, and, striking her breast with her hand, she
+sank slowly on her knees, whispering, in great agitation:
+
+"Pater, peccavi. There is something which I have never confessed to
+you, and which lies heavy on my conscience."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"Oh, I fear to tell you!"
+
+"Daughter, fear nothing," said the priest, soothingly. "God is
+merciful to human weakness."
+
+"I believe that; but I am more afraid that you will laugh at me."
+
+"Ah!" And the pastor, at this strange speech, fell back in his chair,
+smiling to himself.
+
+The countess rose from her kneeling position and went to her
+writing-table; she opened a secret drawer, and took from thence an
+album. It was a splendid book with an ivory cover, chasings of gilt
+enamel, and clasp of the same.
+
+"Will you look through this album, father?"
+
+The priest opened the clasp, took off the cover, and saw a collection
+of cabinet photographs, such as are generally to be found on drawing
+room tables. There were portraits of eminent statesmen, poets, actors,
+with whose likenesses all the world is familiar. Two points were
+remarkable in this gallery--one, that no one was included who had any
+scandal connected with his name; secondly, it was only clean-shaved
+men who had a place in the volume. Herr Mahok recognized many whom he
+knew either by sight or personally--Liszt, Rem�nyi, the actors
+Lendvay, Szerdahelyi, and others, together with many foreign
+celebrities, who wore neither beard nor mustache. Another peculiarity
+struck the pastor. Several of the leaves, instead of portraits, had
+pieces of black crape inserted into the frames. This circumstance made
+him reflective.
+
+"It is a very interesting volume," he said, closing the book' "but
+what has it to do with the present circumstances?"
+
+"I confess to you," said the countess, in a low voice, "that this book
+is a memorial of my folly and weakness. A picture-dealer in Vienna has
+for many years had an order from me; he sends me every photograph that
+comes out of clean-shaved men, and I seek among them for my ideal. I
+have been seeking many years. Sometimes I imagine I have found it;
+some one of the portraits takes my fancy. I call the man whom it
+represents my betrothed. I place the photograph before me; I dream for
+hours looking at it; I almost fancy that it speaks to me. We say to
+one another all manner of things--sweet nothings, but they fill my
+mind with a sort of ecstasy. It is silly, I know, and something tells
+me that it is worse than silly, that it is sinful. I have been for a
+long time wondering whether I should confess this as a sin, or keep
+silence about such foolish nonsense. What is your opinion, father?"
+
+Herr Mahok, in truth, did not know what to say. It was true that in
+the Scripture some words were said about sinning with the eyes, but
+photographs were not named. He answered, vaguely--
+
+"Anything further, my daughter?"
+
+"After I had for some time been silly over one of the portraits, I saw
+in a dream the man it represented. He appeared to me as a beautiful
+apparition, we walked together through fields and meadows,
+arm-in-arm; a sort of heavenly halo surrounded us, flowers sprang up
+under our feet. We were young, and we loved one another." The poor
+lady wept bitterly as she related her dream, and she sobbed as she
+said, "Is not this a sin, father?"
+
+Herr Mahok had no hesitation in answering. He had found the name of
+the sin--it was witchcraft; but the form the penance should take
+puzzled him. The countess, however, helped him to a decision.
+
+"Ah," she said, sadly, "I thought it was some demoniac possession; and
+for these visions, sweet as they were, I must now do penance. Is it
+not so, father? Will it satisfy for my fault if I burn in the fire the
+portrait of the man who appeared to me in my dream, and fill the empty
+space in my book with black crape?"
+
+This remark explained the many frames filled with crape. The pastor
+thought that the penance was well chosen. Nothing could be better than
+a burnt-offering.
+
+Theudelinde continued, "During these visions I lie in a profound
+slumber. My soul is no longer on the earth; I am in the paradise of
+lovers. No earthly feeling chains me here below; I am a clear spirit,
+consequently no sound reaches me. I am as deaf to this world as if I
+were already dead."
+
+"Therefore the ghostly tumult never reached you last night; you were
+wandering in your dream world."
+
+"I confess it was so," whispered the countess, covering her face with
+her hands.
+
+"Now, here is a nice state of things!" thought the pastor. "The dead
+ancestors play all manner of pranks in the family vault, while their
+descendant projects herself out of her human body to make love in some
+other region. They are, indeed, an extraordinary race. A poor man
+daren't even think of such extravagances, and how can I, a poor
+parish priest, deal with such queer goings-on? I only know how to
+settle with the every-day penitent, who commits the usual sins."
+
+This complication, in truth, of the ghosts below and the bewitched
+countess above, was too much for a man of his calibre to deal with. It
+required a superior genius to exorcise the spirits and to calm the
+hysterical mind of Theudelinde. In the difficulty it appeared to him
+better to temporize.
+
+"My daughter, the penance you have imposed upon yourself is well
+thought of. Have you already committed to the flames the portrait of
+the last demoniacal appearance?"
+
+"No," answered the countess, with all the hesitation a young girl
+would have in speaking of her lover's picture.
+
+"And why not?" questioned the priest, almost sternly. He was glad to
+find some tangible fault.
+
+"It would be wrong, I think, to throw this particular portrait into
+the fire."
+
+"And wherefore should it be wrong?"
+
+Before she replied the countess opened a concealed pocket of the album
+and drew forth what it contained.
+
+"Ah!" cried the pastor as he took the photograph, which he at once
+recognized as the Abb� Samuel, the head of an influential order which
+possessed many different branches.
+
+"The photographer in Vienna had my directions to send me the
+photograph of every clean-shaven celebrity. He, therefore, has
+committed the sin of sending me the portrait of an eminent priest. The
+fault is mine, not his."
+
+"And in your dreams have you wandered arm-in-arm with the original of
+this?" asked Herr Mahok, still holding in his hand the photograph.
+
+"I am guilty!" stammered the countess, laying her hands upon her
+breast.
+
+"Then," said the pastor, "Heaven inspired you not to throw this
+portrait, like that of the others, into the fire, for in this man you
+will find a physician able to cure your sick soul. It is really
+providential that this portrait should be in your hands, for the
+others were idle, foolish dreams. Here you have found your ideal,
+under whose guidance you may hope to find health and salvation. He
+will lead you, not in a dream, but in reality, to the blessed regions
+of peace and true piety, where alone, my daughter, real happiness is
+to be found. This man possesses strength of mind and elevation of
+character sufficient to exorcise all the spirits which haunt your
+castle, and to banish from your mind those temptations which spring
+from the same source as the more visible demons which we call
+ghosts."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE EXORCIST
+
+
+Acting upon the advice of Herr Mahok, the countess resolved to lay all
+her troubles before a new physician for her soul. That very day the
+pastor wrote to Abb� Samuel, who was then in Pesth, inviting him to
+come to Bondavara Castle.
+
+The abb� was a man of high calling; one of those priests who are more
+or less independent in their ideas. He had friendly relations with
+certain personages, and the initiated knew that certain articles with
+the signature "S," which appeared in the opposition paper, were from
+his pen. In society he was agreeable and polished, and his presence
+never hindered rational enjoyment. In intellectual circles he shone;
+his lectures, which were prepared with great care, were attended by
+the _�lite_ of society, and, as a natural consequence, the
+ultramontane papers were much against him. Once, even, the police had
+paid him a domiciliary visit, although they themselves did not know
+wherein he had given cause for suspicion. All these circumstances had
+raised his reputation, which had lately been increased by the
+appearance of his picture in a first-rate illustrated journal. This
+won for him the general public. So stately was his air, his high,
+broad forehead, manly, expressive features, well-marked eyebrows, and
+frank, fearless look, with nothing sinister or cunning in it. For the
+rest, there was little of the priest about him; his well-knit,
+robust, muscular form was rather that of a gladiator. Through the
+whole country he was well-known as the independent priest, who
+ventured to tell the government what he thought.
+
+For this reason the excellent Herr Mahok had for him the greatest
+respect. He, as an insignificant parish priest, could do nothing for
+his fatherland. It was true that, many years ago, he had fought more
+than twenty battles with the Honv�d Battalion; he had preached to his
+men how they should love their country, and for this he had been
+sentenced to death, which sentence had been commuted to ten years'
+imprisonment; he had passed five of those years in chains, and his
+feet still bore the marks of the wounds made by the heavy irons. But
+what were these trifles, of which Herr Mahok thought little, in
+comparison to the bold deeds of the Abb� Samuel, who dared to write
+independent articles in the papers, and to sign them with the initial
+of his name. To have fought with Haynau against the Russians under
+fire of heavy cannon, to have been in the galleys, that was a mere
+joke. To have the fearful police upon your track, that was serious.
+Herr Mahok thought most highly of the abb�'s capabilities, measuring
+them by the loss of his own physical and mental energy--for after
+fifteen years, five of which had been spent in heavy iron chains, a
+man is not what he was.
+
+After some days the invited guest arrived at the parsonage of Herr
+Mahok. The pastor related to him, circumstantially, all that had
+reference to the countess, with the exception, of course, of such
+matters as were under the sacred seal of confession. He told him about
+the ghosts, and his own experience under that head.
+
+Herr Samuel received the narration with fits of laughter.
+
+"You may laugh here as much as you like, but I beg of you not to do so
+before the countess; she holds to her ghosts," remarked the pastor,
+with an air of one who knew what he was saying.
+
+The abb� then asked for information concerning the disposition of the
+rooms in the castle, how they were situated in regard to one another.
+He made the pastor describe minutely every particular of what he had
+himself been witness to, also how he and his sacristan had made good
+their escape through the lattice door.
+
+The equipage of the countess came at the usual hour to fetch both the
+guests to the castle, which lay at some little distance from the
+village.
+
+It was only natural, all things taken into account, that the countess
+on her first introduction to the abb� should lose all control of her
+nerves, and that she should give way to several hysterical symptoms,
+which could only be calmed by the abb� laying his hand in paternal
+benediction upon her forehead. Fraulein Emerenzia's nerves, in
+accordance with the sympathy which existed between her and her
+mistress, became at once similarly affected, and required a similar
+imposition of hands; but neither of the priests troubled themselves
+about her, and when the countess recovered from her attack, the
+companion did likewise.
+
+During dinner, which was served with great elegance, the abb�
+discoursed upon every possible subject, and made inquiries as to the
+prospects of the country, the occupations of the people, the age of
+the servants, and so forth. He addressed a great deal of his
+conversation to Fraulein Emerenzia, attended to her wants; when he
+offered her wine she covered her glass with her hand, and declared
+she never tasted anything but water, which seemed infinitely to
+surprise him; also, when he wished to know whether the ring on her
+finger was one of betrothal, Emerenzia tried to blush, and gave him to
+understand that, from her own choice, she meant to live and die a
+maid.
+
+After dinner was over, Herr Mahok remained in the dining-room to
+entertain the Fraulein--that is to say, he seated himself in an
+armchair, folded his hands upon his rotund stomach, closed his eyes,
+and during a sweet doze heard the clatter of Emerenzia's sharp voice.
+
+The abb� went with the countess into her private sitting-room. She sat
+upon the sofa, her eyes on the ground, waiting with much inward
+trepidation to hear what sentence so exalted a personage would
+pronounce upon the demoniacal possession. As he did not speak, she in
+a timid voice began--
+
+"Has my confessor told you the terrible secret of the castle?"
+
+"He has told me all that he knows."
+
+"And what view would the authorities of the Church take, do you
+think?"
+
+"My individual opinion, countess, is that the whole thing is a
+conspiracy of the living."
+
+"Of the living!" repented the countess. "And my visions?"
+
+"Those can be explained by psychological means. You are of a
+susceptible, nervous temperament; your senses are made acquainted with
+the first portion of the history, your imagination works out the
+remainder. Your dreams, countess, are hallucinations, nothing else.
+Visible ghosts do not exist; those who are dead cannot live and move,
+for the reason that their organic powers are at an end."
+
+The countess shook her head incredulously. To say the truth, she was
+ill-pleased. She had expected from so high and intellectual an
+ecclesiastic a very different explanation. If he could only tell us
+this, it was, indeed, lost trouble to send so far for him.
+
+Herr Samuel was quick enough to read in her face what was passing in
+her mind, and hastened to apply a radical cure.
+
+"Countess, I know you doubt what I say, because you have firm faith in
+what your eyes have seen, your ears have heard. You are quite
+convinced that you yourself have been many times in the haunted vault,
+and have there seen the spirits of your departed ancestors."
+
+"Only last night," whispered the countess, in an awed voice, "the
+tumult was fearful. They told me they would come again to-night, that
+they would expect me."
+
+"And have you promised to go to them?"
+
+"When day comes I shudder from the idea, but at night some strange,
+mysterious power draws me to the vault; I know all fear will vanish,
+and I shall not be able to stay away."
+
+"Very good. Then to-night I shall go with you to the vault of your
+ancestors."
+
+At these words a sudden flush covered the pale face of the countess.
+The living portrait! She should go with him--where? Perhaps into hell.
+She trembled at the thought; then with a violent effort recovered her
+composure, and said, in a hesitating manner--
+
+"I do not know. I do not think it would be possible. I should have to
+let my household into the secret."
+
+The abb� understood the nature of the question, and all the
+consequences it involved.
+
+"That would not be necessary. On the contrary, your household must
+know nothing of my visit."
+
+The countess looked at him. She was puzzled, agitated. What could he
+mean? He could not imagine for a moment that he was to spend the night
+with her--alone?
+
+The abb� read her thought and answered quietly--
+
+"I shall go away now with Pastor Mahok. I shall return about midnight,
+and will knock at your door to announce my arrival."
+
+Theudelinde shook her head. "That is impossible. In winter every door
+in my house is locked by seven o'clock. To reach my suite of rooms,
+you should pass through no less than seven doors. First the castle
+door. This is watched by my portress, an old woman who never sleeps;
+besides, two monstrous bloodhounds keep guard there. They are chained
+to the door with long chains; they would eat you if you tried to pass.
+Then comes the door of the corridor, to which there are two locks; my
+companion keeps the key of one, my housekeeper the key of the other,
+and to open it you must awake both. The third is the door to the
+staircase; the cook has the key under her pillow, and she sleeps so
+soundly, and the whole house is astir before she moves. The fourth is
+the entrance to the secret lattice passage; this is in the keeping of
+the housemaid, a nervous girl, who, when it grows dark, would not go
+into the next room. The fifth door leads to the chamber of my own
+maid, a very modest young person, who would not open the door to a man
+were he prophet or saint. The sixth door is that of Fraulein
+Emerenzia, my companion; she falls into violent hysterics if at night
+any one turns the handle of her door. The seventh and last door is
+that of my dressing-room, which is fitted with a peculiar self-acting
+lock, a new invention. I ask your reverence if, under such conditions,
+you could make your way here at midnight?"
+
+"Permit me, in my turn, to put a question to you. You have given me to
+understand that you descend constantly to the vault of your ancestors.
+How does it happen that you pass through all these well-guarded
+doors?"
+
+Over the countenance of the countess a triumphant smile passed. The
+superstitious woman could repel the attack of the scientist.
+
+"Oh, I do not pass through any of them! From my bedroom a secret
+staircase leads to the chapel vault. I go down this staircase."
+
+It would have been only natural that the abb� on hearing this should
+have proposed to conceal himself in the library, and there await the
+countess. But he read the character of his hostess and knew that such
+a proposal would have shocked her prudish mind and have offended her
+so deeply that, in all probability, she would have refused to listen
+any further. She required the most delicate management; this the
+quick-seeing abb� recognized perfectly.
+
+"I am still of the same mind," he said, calmly. "I shall knock at your
+door this night at twelve o'clock."
+
+At these words the countess was seized with a nervous shudder, but the
+abb� went on without taking any notice--
+
+"If you believe that there are unearthly beings who are possessed of
+mysterious powers by which they pass through locked doors and make
+themselves visible to some human beings, invisible to others, then why
+should I not have this power also? But you imagine that because I am
+only a man born of dust I cannot infringe the laws of nature. Let me
+remind you that there is a natural explanation for all that may seem
+to you incomprehensible. Witchcraft is now no longer a mystery. We do
+not now burn Boscos and Galuches upon funeral piles. Do not for a
+moment think that I am a Bosco or a Paracelsus. I repeat that what I
+promise I will perform; at the same hour at which the ghosts begin
+their orgies will I knock at your door with the words, _In nomine
+Domini aperientur port� fidelium_--'In the name of the Lord may the
+doors of the faithful be opened.' Remember, no one but us two is to
+know anything of my coming to-night. Till then may the blessing of God
+be with you."
+
+Theudelinde was much impressed by her strange visitor. His confidence
+infused courage into her weak mind, while his masterful ways
+influenced her like a spell. He addressed her from such a superior
+height that she felt it would be almost desecration not to place the
+utmost faith in his promises, and, nevertheless, he had promised to
+perform an impossible thing. How could she reconcile the two, unless,
+indeed, she had to do with a being of another world? She saw from the
+window the carriage drive away with the two clergymen. She watched
+them get in; she remained at her post until the carriage returned
+empty.
+
+The female Jehu showed to the other servants the _pourboire_ she had
+received; it was a new silver piece. It passed from hand to hand. What
+a miracle! Of the fifteen million inhabitants of Hungary, fourteen
+million five hundred thousand had never seen such a thing as a silver
+piece of money. There was a clergyman for you, of a very different
+pattern from that other, who gave, every Sunday, a fourpenny piece
+wrapped carefully in a piece of paper, to be _divided_ among the
+waitresses!
+
+The time passed slowly to the countess; the clock seemed to go with
+leaden weights. She wandered through all the rooms, her mind
+revolving in what possible manner, by what possible entrance a man
+could find his way into the castle. When it had struck seven o'clock
+she saw herself that every door which communicated with her wing was
+carefully locked; then she sat herself down in her own room. She took
+out the plan of the castle, which had been prepared by the Florentine
+artist who had built it. It was not the first time she had studied it;
+when she had received the castle as a present from her father, she had
+made herself mistress of every particular concerning it. The building
+was three times larger than her income could afford to maintain. She
+had, therefore, to choose which wing she would occupy. In the centre
+there were fine reception-rooms, a banqueting-hall, an armory, and a
+museum for pictures and curiosities. This portion was out of the
+question. Also, from this portion of the castle a concealed staircase
+led to a subterranean passage. This could be used as a means of
+escape, and had no doubt served such a purpose when the old castle had
+been besieged by the Turks. The grandfather of the countess had walled
+up these steps, and no one could now get into the secret passage. The
+left wing, which was similarly constructed to the one which the
+countess inhabited, had served as a sort of pleasure residence to her
+pleasure-loving ancestors. There were all manner of secret holes and
+corners in it, communications of all kinds connecting the rooms, doors
+behind pictures, concealed alcoves, and the like. The architect's plan
+showed these without any reticence. Theudelinde naturally turned away
+in horror from the idea of inhabiting this tainted wing, so full of
+sinful associations; she set up her Lares and Penates in the less
+handsome, but more homely, right wing, where were a few good rooms
+fitted for domestic life, an excellent library, and the family vault
+below. It contained no other secret staircase than the one which led
+to the tombs of the departed members of the family. For the rest,
+Countess Theudelinde had taken care to wall up all the passages which
+led to either the centre or left wing of the castle, and there was no
+means of communication between them and her apartments. All the
+chimneys had iron gates to shut off any possible entrance that way;
+every window was provided with strong iron bars. It would have been
+impossible for even a cat to effect an entrance into this enchanted
+castle.
+
+The countess, meditating on all these precautions, came to the
+conclusion that there was only one way by which the Abb� Samuel could
+introduce himself into the house, and that was by a secret
+understanding with some one of her household. But again, setting
+altogether aside the high character borne by the priest, which would
+render such an act upon his part improbable, the very nature of the
+circumstances attending his visit made it impossible. He had never
+been absent from the countess for a minute, except during his short
+walk to the carriage, and then Herr Mahok had been his companion.
+Theudelinde, therefore, dismissed the idea from her mind. She sent her
+household early to bed; she complained to Fraulein Emerenzia of
+suffering from pains on one side of her head. Immediately that
+sympathetic companion complained of pains on the other side of her
+head. When the countess thought she would try to sleep, Emerenzia felt
+the like desire; she wrapped her whole head up in warm cotton wool,
+and snored without mercy.
+
+Theudelinde shut herself up in her bedroom and counted the minutes.
+She tried to play Patience, but the cards would not come right; her
+mind was too much disturbed. She took out her Bible, splendidly
+illustrated by Dor�. She looked at all the pictures; she counted the
+figures of the different men and women upon those two hundred and
+thirty large plates; then the horses and the camels, till she came to
+the scenes of murders. Then she tried to pass the time by reading the
+text. She counted which letter of the alphabet was repeated the most
+frequently upon one side of the page. For the greater part the letter
+_a_ was the favorite, _e_ came next, then _o_, also _u_; _i_ was the
+worst represented. This was in the French print. In the Hungarian text
+_e_ had the majority, then _a_, _o_, and _i_, and, last of all, _b_
+and _u_. But of this she also wearied. Then she sat down to the piano,
+and tried to calm her agitation by playing dreamy fantasias; neither
+did this succeed. Her hands trembled, and she could not sustain
+herself at the instrument, she was so wearied; and as the fatal hour
+of midnight drew nearer she gave up making efforts to distract her
+mind, and abandoned herself to thoughts of the impending ghostly
+tumult. She found herself altogether under the influence of her
+ancestral spectres, for she was always consumed with _ennui_ until the
+noise began. Then a sort of fever would come to her; she would undress
+herself, crawl into bed, draw the coverings over her head until she
+broke into a perspiration, and then fall into a deep sleep. The next
+morning, when she awoke, she really believed that she had witnessed
+the scenes of which she had only dreamed.
+
+This night she drew forth her talisman, the photograph of the abb�,
+and tried to find some strength by considering it. She placed it
+before her on the reading-desk and sat gazing at it. Was he really a
+superior being, at whose command the doors of the castle would fly
+open, spectres would vanish, and the gates of hell would close upon
+them? It could not be that such things would happen. The more the
+night advanced the greater grew her nervous fears. Her heart beat
+loudly. It was not so much the nightly ghosts that she dreaded, but
+this new and equally unearthly visitor. What was he? A wizard, an
+enchanter like Merlin of old, or a saint come to exorcise and banish
+her tormentors?
+
+The weary lagging hours went by, until at last the pendulum of the old
+clock began to vibrate, and its iron tongue gave out midnight. The
+countess counted every stroke. Its vibration had hardly ceased when,
+punctual to its usual time, the infernal noise began; from the vault
+below the tones of the mass reached Theudelinde's ears. She was,
+however, listening for another sound, listening with feverish anxiety
+to catch a stealthy footfall in the adjoining room, to hear the rattle
+of a key surreptitiously moving in the lock. Nothing! She came to the
+door, and, putting her head to the keyhole, strained her ears in vain.
+All was still. It was now a quarter past midnight; the tumult in the
+vault below was in full swing--the witches' Sabbath, as it might be
+called, with its yells, shouts, songs, prayers; it was as if all the
+devils of hell had given one another rendezvous in the company of the
+countess's ancestors.
+
+"He will not come," she thought, and trembled in every limb of her
+fever-stricken body. It was folly to expect it. How could a man
+accomplish what is only permitted to spirits?
+
+She retired to the alcove and prepared to lie down. At this moment she
+heard a tap at the door of her sitting-room, and, after a moment, a
+low voice spoke in firm tones--
+
+"In nomine Domini aperientur port� fidelium."
+
+It was the signal given by the abb�. Theudelinde gave a shriek; she
+nearly lost her senses from fright, but gathered herself together with
+a supreme effort. It was real; no hallucination, no dream! He was at
+the door, her deliverer. Forward!
+
+The countess ran to the door and opened it. The crisis gave her
+unusual strength. This might be a trap, and instead of a deliverer she
+might find herself opposite to a robber or murderer. Under the carpet
+lay concealed the trap-door; the midnight visitor stood on the very
+spot. One pressure of the secret spring and down he went into the
+abyss below. Theudelinde had her foot on the spring as she undid the
+door.
+
+There stood the abb� before her. No appearance of his clerical calling
+was to be seen. He wore a long coat, which reached to his feet, and
+carried neither bell, book, nor candle, wherewith to exorcise the
+spirits. In his right hand he held a thick stick made of rhinoceros'
+skin, and in the left a dark lantern.
+
+"Remain where you are," said the countess, in a commanding voice.
+"Before you set foot in this room you shall tell me how you got here.
+Was it with the help of God, of man, or of the devil?"
+
+"Countess," returned the abb�, "look about you. Do you not see that
+every door in your castle stands open? Through these open doors I have
+passed easily. How I passed through the court is another thing. I will
+tell you that later."
+
+"And my household, who sleep in those rooms?" said the countess, in an
+incredulous voice.
+
+"The curtains hang round every bed; I have not raised them. If your
+household be asleep, they will no doubt sleep as the just do, without
+waking."
+
+The countess listened, only half believing what she heard; she was
+growing nerveless again. She led the abb� into the sitting-room, and
+sank exhausted upon the sofa.
+
+The tumult in the vault was indescribable.
+
+"Do you hear _it_?" she said, in a whisper.
+
+"I do hear, and I know whence it comes. I am here to face those who
+cause this unseemly riot."
+
+"Have you the weapons that Holy Church has provided for such a task?"
+asked Theudelinde, anxiously.
+
+The priest for all answer held towards her the strong staff he
+carried.
+
+"I have this good stick, countess."
+
+"Do you hear above all the tumult that strident voice? It is my uncle
+Ladislaus," cried the countess, grasping the abb�'s arm with both her
+hands. "Do you hear that horrible laugh? It is my uncle's laugh."
+
+"We will soon learn the author of that unpleasant cachinnation,"
+remarked the priest, quietly.
+
+"Why, what do you propose to do?"
+
+"I shall go down and join the worshipful society below."
+
+"You will descend into the vault? What to do?"
+
+"To pass judgment upon that unruly gang, countess. You promised to
+accompany me."
+
+"I promised!" and Theudelinde retreated from him, her eyes staring
+wildly, her hands pressed to her breast.
+
+"It was your own wish."
+
+"True, true! I am so confused; my thoughts are all astray. I cannot
+recollect them. You here, and that fearful noise below! I am terribly
+afraid."
+
+"How? You who had the courage to go among the ghosts by yourself, are
+you afraid now that _I_ am with you? Give me your hand."
+
+The countess placed her trembling fingers in the abb�'s hand, and as
+she felt the firm, manly clasp, an unusual sense of strength and
+protection possessed her; she ceased to shake and shiver, her eyes no
+longer saw shapes and fantasies moving before them; her heart began to
+beat steadily. The bare touch of this man's hand gave her new life.
+
+"Come with me," he said, in a decided voice, while he stuck his whip
+under his left arm, and with the right drew the countess after him.
+"Where are the keys of the secret staircase, and of the room through
+which we must pass?"
+
+Theudelinde felt that she could not let go his hand for one minute.
+She was for the moment, so to speak, mesmerized by his superior mind.
+She crawled after him submissively; she should follow him, were it to
+the very gates of hell itself. Without a word she pointed to the key
+cabinet, an antique piece of furniture which would have made the joy
+of a bric-�-brac collector, and in which there was a drawer full of
+keys.
+
+Without a moment's hesitation the priest put his hand on the ones that
+were wanted. It was no miracle that he should do so, although to the
+weakened mind of his companion it appeared to be miraculous; on one of
+the keys there was the well-known sign of a vault key, the crucifix.
+
+The abb� now drew aside the curtain which concealed the secret passage
+to the library, and here, at the first step, he was met by a certain
+proof, if such were wanting, to show him the credit to be given to the
+countess's statements that she was in the habit of descending to the
+vault: as he opened the door a mass of cobwebs blew into his face. The
+countess, however, was firm in her hallucination. It is a phase of
+such nervous disorders as hers to believe that what they have dreamed
+is actual fact; they can even supply small details.
+
+As the countess went up the steps she whispered to her companion--
+
+"A window is broken here, and the wind whistles through it." And as
+they turned the angle of the steps there was a narrow slip-window
+which in the daytime gave light to the staircase, the panes of which
+were actually broken. She had never seen this. When they came to the
+door of the library she confided to the abb� that she was always
+frightened to pass the threshold.
+
+"It is such a ghostly place!" she said. "When the moon shines through
+the shutter of the upper window it throws white specks upon the mosaic
+pattern of the marble floor, which makes it look like some mysterious
+writing. In one of the corners between two presses there is a glass
+case with a skeleton in it; in another case the wax impression, taken
+after death, of Ignatius Loyola."
+
+Everything was precisely as the countess related. The moon shone
+through the upper panes of glass, the skeleton stood in his glass
+case, the waxen head of the dead saint lay in the other, but the
+countess had never crossed the threshold. In her childhood her nurse
+had told her these tales of the Bondavara Castle, and when she had
+become its mistress her first care had been to lock these rooms. Ten
+years' dust lay on the carpets, on the chairs and tables; cobwebs hung
+from the ceilings, mice played games in the deep wainscots, for no one
+ever came here.
+
+At the moment in which the countess and her companion entered the
+library a certain peace reigned in the vault below. The tumult seemed
+lulled; there were neither shrieks nor demoniacal songs to be heard.
+From the mortuary chapel, however, the notes of the organ reached the
+ears of the two listeners. It sounded like the prelude which is played
+in church before mass begins, only the chords of the prelude were all
+discords; it was as if the organ were played by a condemned spirit.
+
+The countess stood before the chapel door, her breast heaving with
+emotion. She caught hold of the abb�'s hand with a strong grasp, and
+kept him from turning the key in the lock. She trembled in every limb.
+
+"What are those fearful tones?"
+
+Then came a confused sound, as of many voices intoning the vespers.
+One voice, which imitated the monotonous delivery of the celebrant,
+began to sing in Latin the words of a hymn--
+
+    "Bacchus, prepare the libation."
+
+Another voice answered in the same tone--
+
+    "And hasten, brethren, to drink!"
+
+Then a third took up the text in a parody of the _Gloria_--
+
+"Gloria Baccho, et fili� ejus Cerevisi� et Spiritui vini, sicut erat
+in Baccho natus, et nunc, et semper, et per omnia pocula poculorum.
+Stramen."
+
+The countess felt her whole body turning into ice; fear mingled with
+horror. She understood the impious parody.
+
+Now the organ accompanied the antiphon.
+
+"Date nobis de cerevisia vestra; quia sitiunt guttura nostra"--"Give
+us of your beer; our throats are dry."
+
+Then followed the psalm--
+
+"Brother to brother spoke these words: shall two goblets of beer
+quench man's thirst?"
+
+"Two, three, five, six are not enough for man's satiety."
+
+"Blessed be Bacchus, who gave us beer."
+
+Then followed the Capitulum.
+
+"Brethren, attend, and do as I command ye. Before ye leave the
+ale-house for your own homes empty all the pots, leave not a drop
+therein, but tilt them and drain every drop of wine. This do from
+goblet to goblet. Stramen."
+
+The countess felt, as she listened to this profanity, what a damned
+soul must experience when for the first time it consorts with devils.
+But now a hellish chorus broke forth of men's and women's voices,
+yelling out a parody of a hymn--
+
+   "Bacchus, who gave us drink,
+    Art thou not called the god of liquor?
+    Grant us all the holy grace,
+    Strength to drink in every place,
+    So that, drinking everywhere,
+    We for glory may prepare
+    In thy everlasting wine-cellar."
+
+This was followed by the ringing of the bell, and the priest's voice
+intoned the blessing.
+
+"Bacchus be with you."
+
+The chorus answered, "And with thy pint-pots."
+
+Then came the Oratio--
+
+"Let us eat. O all-powerful Bacchus, since thou hast created this
+society of ours for thine own honor, grant to us its continuance, and
+give to us a constant supply of brave topers, who never may cease
+drinking from goblet to goblet."
+
+And the chorus answered, "Stramen."
+
+The countess was not able any longer to hold herself up. She sank upon
+her knees, and looked up at the priest in mute horror. Hardly knowing
+what she did, she gazed in utter despair at the tall figure lit up as
+it was by the rays of the moon, which played round his head like a
+halo.
+
+The abb� put the key into the lock of the chapel door. The countess
+caught his hand; her fright amounted to agony.
+
+"Do not--do not open it!" she cried. "Inside is hell let loose."
+
+With an elevation of his head, the abb� answered proudly--
+
+"Nec port� inferi--the gates of hell shall not prevail"; and then he
+turned the key, and the heavy iron door swung open, and disclosed the
+actors in the strange drama.
+
+On the altar all the candles were lighted, and their light showed with
+distinctness every incident of the performance, every feature in the
+faces of the performers.
+
+What a scene!
+
+On one side of the vault ran a long table, round which was seated,
+eating and drinking, not the countess's ancestors and ancestresses,
+but all the servants of her household. The maids, who were so strictly
+guarded, were here in the company of the men who were so rigorously
+excluded. The countess could, therefore, see that these were
+flesh-and-blood ghosts which had so long haunted her ancient castle.
+Each of her handmaidens had a lover in either the steward, bailiff,
+gamekeeper, or clerk in the neighborhood. The nervous housemaid, who
+at night was afraid of her own shadow, was now drinking out of the
+glass of the innkeeper; the virtuous maid was embraced by the mayor's
+footman; the portress, an elderly virgin, held a jug in her hand,
+while she executed a clog-dance upon the table. All the rest clapped
+hands, shrieked, sang at the top of their voices, and beat the table
+as if it were a big drum. The shepherd, who represented the countess's
+grandfather, sat upon the monument of the chancellor, his legs round
+the cross, and played the bagpipes. It was this instrument which at
+the burlesque of vespers imitated the harmonium. Upon the gravestone
+of the first archbishop the beer-barrel was set up. The maids were all
+dressed in the countess's silk dresses, with the exception of the
+female coachman, who, as usual, wore man's clothes, but by way of
+symmetry her lover, the coachman of the neighboring brewery, was
+dressed in woman's clothes. The countess recognized on the head of
+this bearded fellow her nightcap, and round his body her cloak,
+trimmed with her best lace. Worst of all, at the top of the table sat
+Fraulein Emerenzia, on very intimate terms with her neighbor, a young
+lawyer. She wore the skirt of a favorite dress of Theudelinde's, a
+flame-colored brocade; the body could not fit her corpulent form, so
+she had her mistress's best lace shawl wrapped round her. Her face was
+red; she had a large tumbler of wine before her, and she smoked a
+pipe. The modest Emerenzia!
+
+The men were all drunk and noisy, the women screamed in an unearthly
+manner; the bagpipes squealed; the table resounded with thumps and the
+clatter of the portress's clogs. From the altar came the voice of the
+mock priest, his arms outstretched in blessing. Through the din the
+words "Bacchus vobiscum" were heard, and the tinkle of the bell. This
+mock priest was no other than Michael the sacristan, who brought all
+the church ornaments confided to his care. He wore the pastor's
+vestments, and on his head an improvised skull-cap. The acolyte was
+the parish bell-ringer.
+
+The countess was cut to the heart. The terrible ingratitude,
+especially of these girls, to whom she had been as a mother--more
+anxious indeed than their own mothers to keep them pure and
+innocent--wounded the poor lady who had taught them to sing hymns on
+Sunday, had fed them from her own table, and had never allowed them to
+read a novel or hear a bad word. And this was the outcome of her
+efforts. They insulted the graves of her ancestors, played upon her
+nervous fears, destroyed her rest, nearly drove her mad with their
+ghostly noises, wore her clothes at their orgies, and, worse insult of
+all, she, a high-born lady and a pure woman, had the degradation of
+wearing these same garments, defiled as they were with the smell of
+wine and stale tobacco.
+
+Bitter as such ingratitude was, it counted as nothing in comparison
+with the profanation of using the holiest things of religion, the
+sacred ornaments of the Church, to carry out these impious rites. "Woe
+to them from whom scandal cometh," says the Scripture, and this woe
+means pain and suffering that no soothing balsam can alleviate.
+
+A mortal terror still filled the countess's heart. She was in the
+presence of those who had no control over their already besotted
+senses. If these drunken savages, these unsexed women, found their
+revels were discovered, what was to hinder them tearing her to pieces?
+There was only one man between her and them. Theudelinde looked at her
+solitary protector. His eyes gleamed with such apostolic anger that
+her timid soul grew fearful of the consequences, both to him and to
+herself, of his just wrath. She seized both his hands, to hold him
+from venturing among such demons. The abb� easily freed himself from
+the clasp of her weak fingers. In one bound he sprang down the steps,
+fell upon the false priest as he was in the act of pronouncing his
+final stramen; with the butt-end of his rhinoceros whip he gave him
+two blows.
+
+What the countess now witnessed was truly no vision. She saw how one
+man, armed with no more formidable weapon than a horsewhip, ventured
+into the midst of the hellish assembly, with one hand seized the table
+and overturned it and all that was on it of dishes, glasses, and
+wine-cups, with the other cracked his whip in the faces of the guests,
+who sprang to their feet in all the terror of detection, like to the
+profaners of the Temple. They were driven towards the door of the
+vault, the abb�'s whip descending on their shoulders with impartial
+justice. They went tumbling over one another, howling and screaming,
+pressing onwards and pursued by the flagellation of the abb�. The
+bagpipe player in his haste missed his footing, those behind stumbled
+over him, and so lay all in a heap together. Not one went without
+carrying a remembrance of the abb�'s strong arm, for he spared no one.
+No effort was made at reprisals; the criminal who is caught seldom
+shows fight. These last were, moreover, taken by surprise, and the
+clergyman was possessed of extraordinary strength; one man who tried
+to drag the horsewhip from his hand was dealt such a blow in his face
+that he was glad to relinquish his hold and take to his heels without
+loss of time.
+
+"Give it to them! give it to them!" cried the countess, who had no
+pity for her former servants, who had to pass her as they made their
+way pell-mell to the door. Emerenzia covered her head, not from shame,
+but fearing her face might get a blow. Almost the last was the
+sacristan, whose clerical dress hindered his speed, and whose back was
+so battered by the abb� that the vestment he wore hung in ribbons.
+
+After the last guest had departed, the abb� closed the heavy door of
+the vault and returned to where the countess was standing. His face
+wore an almost glorified expression; it was the consciousness of
+having asserted his strength. As he approached the countess fell on
+her knees, and made as if she would kiss his feet, but the abb� raised
+her.
+
+"Compose yourself, countess. Your present situation needs all your
+strength. Do you know that at this moment there are only two persons
+in this castle, for I have locked the door which leads to the
+court-yard. This folly is played out. You see now that no wicked
+spirit had any part in it. It was no ghost, only human beings who have
+had to do with this miserable business."
+
+"What shall I do?" asked the countess, constraining herself to speak
+calmly.
+
+"Take my lantern. I am going to lock the lattice door, so as to stop
+any entrance from this side. But you can return by the way we came,
+back to your own apartment, where I advise you to make yourself some
+tea; you are freezing with cold."
+
+"Must I go back all that way alone?"
+
+"Remember the words, 'If God is with me, who is against me,' and you
+can never be alone. To see ghosts is an illness; the method of curing
+it must be heroic."
+
+And as he saw that the countess, in spite of her efforts, could not
+subdue her nervous tremor, he took her by the hand, and, returning
+with her to the library, led her to the glass case which enclosed the
+skeleton, and opened the door.
+
+"Were you afraid of this? Why, it is nothing to fear. It is a standing
+proof of the wisdom of God. Every limb of this wonderful collection of
+bones tells us the Almighty created man to be ruler of the earth. Look
+at the skull; upon this arched forehead is written the birthright of
+humanity, in every corner and line of the face the superiority of the
+white race over all others. This skull teaches us how deep should be
+our gratitude to an all-seeing Providence who has created us the
+superior over all other beings on the earth. The sight of a skull
+should cause no shudder in the breast of man; it should give rise to
+feelings of thankfulness and reverence, for it is the symbol of the
+great love which our Heavenly Maker has for the creature He has made
+and chosen from all eternity."
+
+As he spoke the priest laid Theudelinde's cold hand upon the skull of
+the skeleton. The countess trembled no more. New life and strength
+born of the words of this singular man seemed to infuse themselves
+into her veins. She looked another being.
+
+"Now go to your room," said the abb�. "I shall soon follow, but I must
+first put out the torches on the altar. We must not have a
+conflagration on our hands."
+
+"I am quite ready to go alone," returned the countess. "My foolish
+fears are cured, but I am now concerned for you. Perhaps those
+wretched servants of mine are still about, and if you venture into the
+vault in the dark they may fall upon you and take their revenge for
+being discovered."
+
+"Oh, I am provided with what would soon scatter such cowards as they
+are," said the abb�, drawing a revolver from a secret pocket. "I had
+resolved to use stringent measures with them if necessary. Now, in
+God's name, retire to your room, countess."
+
+Theudelinde, without another word, took the lantern and went through
+the long library. The priest watched her until she had crossed the
+passage, and had opened the door of her own apartment. He then
+hastened back to the vault. In the passage he saw a blue flame
+burning on a tin dish.
+
+"Alcohol and ammonia mixed together," murmured the priest. "This is
+what frightened Herr Mahok." Close to it lay the winding-sheet and
+mask. The abb� pushed the vessel with the flame into the corner, for
+he knew that in an encounter with an adversary it would be little
+profit to have an illumination, and then he went down the dark passage
+carefully. No one was there; they had all run away, and were probably
+running still. The lattice door stood open; he drew it to, and barred
+it carefully; then he returned into the vault and locked it also,
+having first extinguished the lights, with the exception of one, which
+he took to light him back to the countess's room.
+
+He found her sitting composedly before the tea equipage. She had
+obeyed him. As he entered the room she rose, and, folding her hands
+upon her breast, cried:
+
+"Most holy saint and apostle!"
+
+"You must not give me such exalted titles," said the abb�, smiling.
+"What I have done does not merit such high-sounding terms. I have
+accomplished no miracle, for I had to do with mortals only. One
+circumstance which appears to you in a miraculous light is easily
+explained. I allude to my entering a house wherein all the doors were
+locked. But first, will you pour out the tea?--and if you will give me
+a cup I shall be grateful, for the occurrences of the last hour have
+somewhat excited me. Then we will talk the whole affair over."
+
+The countess gave her guest his tea, then sank back in her arm-chair,
+and wrapped herself in her cloak; she was still shivering.
+
+"That the supposed ghostly appearances and noises were in no sense
+supernatural was borne in on me," continued the abb�, as he sipped
+his tea, "from the first moment Herr Mahok took me into his
+confidence. I was convinced that the nocturnal disturbance was the
+work of your own household, and it served their purpose to make it as
+ghost-like as possible. The situation had been created by your
+over-caution, countess. Your women servants were not allowed to hold
+communication with the opposite sex; they, therefore, found other
+means to meet, and to give a cover to these illicit meetings they set
+up an atmosphere of ghostly mystery, by which their goings-on were
+well concealed. The conspiracy was perfectly carried out. If they had
+conducted their sinful intercourse on any other lines you would have
+long since discovered them. When the pastor told me that he and his
+sacristan had escaped through the lattice door, I suspected that it
+was through this door the men found their way into the vault, and that
+the sacristan must be a participator in the plot, whatever it was.
+Moreover, I calculated that the women must, of necessity, find their
+way through the cellar passage, and that, therefore, they would
+naturally leave every door in the house _open_, so that their return
+might be conducted without any danger of awaking you by noise, such as
+unlocking doors. The countenance, the coloring, the eyes of your
+companion betray her; it is easy to see what she has been, and that,
+moreover, she drinks. I knew to-day at dinner that she was a
+hypocrite. She held forth against all alcoholic drinks; that settled
+her with me. I had no doubt that I should find all the doors open, and
+I did. In order to make no noise I came on foot to the garden door.
+Countless footsteps in the fresh snow showed me that the company had
+already assembled. From the open garden door the foot-prints led to
+the lattice door, and thence to the vault. This door was put to. I
+pushed it open and was in the passage. I went to the left, up the
+steps to the cellar passage; the door was open. I could not count upon
+finding every door open; it was exactly as I imagined. The only
+difficulty lay in passing through your wardrobe-room, which has no
+key, but a peculiarly constructed spring-lock. I felt certain that
+your maids would borrow some of their mistress's silk dresses, and
+therefore the spring-lock would be arranged so as not to betray by its
+loud snap the return of the stolen garments to their proper place. On
+looking closely I found this to be the case; the lock was kept in its
+place by the insertion of a penknife, which could be easily withdrawn.
+Therefore, countess, you have, night after night, slept in this castle
+with every door open--in real danger--at the mercy of robbers, or even
+murderers; all the time frightened to death with ghostly noises, which
+kept you a prisoner to your room, not venturing to call your
+treacherous servants. Countess, you have been terribly punished."
+
+"Punished!" stammered the countess, her face growing even paler.
+
+"Yes, punished; for you have richly deserved to suffer."
+
+Theudelinde fixed a horrified look on the abb�.
+
+"Countess, at your door," said the priest, sternly, "lies the heaviest
+portion of the sins into which your servants have fallen. You have, in
+fact, driven them into vice. Your eccentric rules, bizarre and
+ridiculous ideas, made your women servants liars and induced their
+irregularities. Nature punishes those who revolt against her, and the
+long years during which you have isolated yourself from the world and
+from society have been flat rebellion, which has brought its own
+punishment. You now stand before two judges, Heaven and the World;
+Heaven is ready to punish you, the world to laugh at you; and the
+wrath of Heaven and the ridicule of the world is equally hard to bear.
+How do you mean to protect yourself against both?"
+
+The countess sank back annihilated. Only just recovered from the
+anxieties, horrors, and dangers of this dreadful night, she was not
+able to face the denunciations of the priest, which were, in fact,
+only the echo of her own conscience. The torture was greater than all
+she had undergone. There was silence in the room, during which the
+words rang in Theudelinde's ears like the tolling of a bell.
+
+"How shall you face the anger of Heaven and the ridicule of the
+world?"
+
+At last she thought of a way out of the difficulty, and, raising her
+head, she said, in a low voice:
+
+"I will hide my miserable head in a convent. _There_ the ridicule of
+the world will not reach me; there, kneeling before the altar, I will
+day and night pray to God to pardon my fault. You, oh most reverend
+father, will perhaps use your influence with the abbess of some
+convent--I should prefer the very strictest order--and get me
+admitted. There I shall find a living grave, and no one will ever hear
+my name. I shall leave this castle, and all my fortune, together with
+my savings of the last few years, to your order, with only one
+condition, that every night at twelve o'clock vespers shall be sung in
+the family vault, which has been desecrated by such abominations as
+have been practised there."
+
+The countess's voice, which was low and broken in the beginning,
+gathered strength as she made this renunciation of her worldly goods.
+
+The abb� rose up as she finished, and took her trembling hand in his,
+while, with a haughty elevation of his head, he answered:
+
+"That everything may be quite clear, I beg you will understand,
+countess, that neither I nor my order need, nor would accept, the
+donation of your castle, your property, or your money. It is not our
+custom to take advantage of weak-minded persons in a moment of
+contrition, and to extort from them compensation for their sins in the
+shape of their worldly goods. We have no desire to acquire property in
+so sneaking and contemptible a manner, and therefore, countess, in the
+name of my order, I decline to spend the night singing vespers in your
+family vault, or the day in living on your fortune. This idea you may
+dismiss altogether from your mind."
+
+These words filled the countess with admiration. She had already felt
+herself singularly attracted by this man. This proof of his
+disinterestedness and indifference to worldly considerations completed
+his dominion over her mind, and subjugated her to his authority. She
+listened submissively while he continued his admonitions.
+
+"For the rest," he said, "I should recommend you to abandon all ideas
+of conventual life, which is quite unsuited to a person of your
+nervous, excitable nature. You would find neither peace nor happiness;
+on the contrary, you would be a prey to all manner of scruples and
+disquieting thoughts. There are those who find a refuge and salvation
+in a cloister; for you it would be a foretaste of damnation, and in
+all probability you would end like the hermit who fled from the world
+to pray to God, and instead of praying, cursed Him."
+
+The eyes of the countess glared at this awful prospect, but she
+murmured to herself, "True, quite true!"
+
+"The recollection of your faults has banished you from the Church and
+has robbed you of all power to pray," continued the priest, in a harsh
+voice.
+
+"True, quite true!" sobbed the countess, and beat her breast. "I can
+never again enter a church, and I dare not pray." Then with a cry of
+despair she threw herself at the feet of the abb�, and with feverish
+strength clasped both his hands, while she screamed out, "Where shall
+I go, if not to the Church of God? Who shall help me, if I cannot pray
+to Him?"
+
+The clergyman saw it was necessary to soothe her terrible excitement.
+
+"Your proper refuge is in your own heart," he said, gently, "and your
+good deeds shall plead for you."
+
+Theudelinde pressed the priest's hand to her burning forehead. Then
+she rose from her kneeling position and stretched out her arms.
+
+"Command me. Advise me. What shall I do?"
+
+"Return to society, and take the place your rank and wealth entitle
+you to hold."
+
+The countess fell back a step, and stared at the abb�, her face all
+astonishment.
+
+"Return to the world! _I_ who left it five-and-twenty years ago! I
+should be the laughing-stock of every one were I to seek, at my age,
+pleasures which I long ago renounced."
+
+"Countess, you have voluntarily thrown away that portion of your life
+to which the world offers its best gifts; but there still remains to
+you that other half, wherein you can acquire the esteem of the
+world--that is, if you avail yourself of the means necessary for
+success."
+
+"My father, remember that in that circle which you wish me to enter I
+shall meet nothing but contempt and humiliations. The present
+generation don't know my name, my contemporaries despise me."
+
+"But there is a magic circle in which every one is recognized and no
+one is despised. Would you wish to enter this circle?"
+
+"Place me in this circle, father. Where is it to be found?"
+
+"I will tell you, countess. Your nation is passing through a crisis;
+it may be called the battle for intellectual freedom. All are striving
+to place themselves on a footing with the intellectuality of other
+nations--philosophers, poets, industrials; men, women, boys,
+gray-beards, magnates, and peasants. If they all knew how to strive
+together they might attain their purpose, but all are divided; each
+works for himself and by himself. Individual effort is doomed to
+failure, but united, certain of success."
+
+The countess listened in breathless astonishment. She did not
+understand where the abb� was leading her.
+
+"What is wanting in this tremendous struggle is a centre. The country
+has no centre. Debreczyn is thoroughly Hungarian, but its religious
+exclusiveness has narrowed its sphere of influence. Szegedin is well
+suited, but it is far too democratic. Klausenburg is indeed a
+Hungarian town. The aristocracy are to be found there, and a certain
+amount of culture, but it lies beyond the Kiralyhago, and the days of
+the Bethlens and the Bocskais are over. Pesth would be the proper
+centre; it has every qualification. I have been through the five
+quarters of the globe, and nowhere have I found such a place. In Pesth
+no man troubles himself about his neighbor, and each man believes that
+the world is made for him alone. The first look of the city takes one
+by surprise; the fine embankment along the broad Danube River, the
+beautiful squares and streets, with the six-story tin houses, each in
+a different style of architecture. Side by side are palaces built in
+the Roman, Moorish, Spanish, or Renaissance style, with, perhaps, the
+occasional introduction of a quaint Dutch mansion or Gothic structure.
+Opposite to the great edifice of the chain bridge rises a large stone
+bandbox with four towers; this is called the Basilica, but it looks
+more like a giant scaffold than anything else. On all sides rage
+monster factory chimneys, which vomit forth volumes of poisonous smoke
+upon the town. Factories, docks, academical palaces, redoubts, tin
+card-houses, art conservatories, are crowded one over the other. The
+academy interferes with the business of the docks, and the noise of
+the shipping-trade disturbs the academicians. The smoke of the
+steam-engines suffocates every one; while the town-hall, with all its
+ornamented peaks and minarets, says to the stranger, 'Come nearer,
+friend; this is Constantinople.'"
+
+The countess could not help smiling over this graphic description.
+
+"The inner town," continued the abb�, "is a labyrinth of narrow,
+irregular streets, which were built when the site of the present
+town-hall was only a marsh for the pigs to wallow in. In spite of the
+narrow proportions, these streets contain some of the finest shops in
+Europe. The contrasts are something wonderful; the finest equipages
+jammed against the overladen wagons conveying merchandise; the most
+elegantly dressed women jostling against beggars in rags. The
+prettiest women are to be seen in this quarter, and this in face of a
+wind that drives all the dust into the eyes. In the suburbs houses are
+rising on all sides with marvellous rapidity, little and big, in every
+style and variety, giving more dust for the wind to play tricks with.
+The whole place is a stony wilderness, with here and there a small
+green oasis not bigger than a private garden. Round about the city
+lies a Sahara, the earth of which is constantly dug up, so that the
+sirocco is never in want of dust. This is the exterior appearance of
+Pesth, which in itself presents the different features of a
+manufacturing town, an emporium for trade, and a city of arts and
+science, as well as those of the capital of an empire and of an
+American colony, where men of all classes assemble to make their pile
+of gold, but when this is secured hurry away to spend their winnings
+in other places.
+
+"So far as social conditions are concerned, and these, after all,
+concern us most," said the abb�, with a quick look at his listener,
+"they are as complicated as the commercial interests of Pesth. Each
+class is surrounded, so to speak, with a Chinese wall. Trade and the
+stock-exchange are altogether in the hands of Jews and Germans. This
+would not be so much an evil were it not that a great amount of
+fraudulent speculation goes on, and at every turn of the money market
+in Vienna the funds go down. The Hungarian element is made up of
+tobacco-merchants and hand-workers; there are, besides these, about
+twenty thousand Slavonians from the hills, who are day-laborers. Pesth
+is, or should be, the headquarters of national education. It is,
+however, not the fashion to support it. It should be also the centre
+of science and literature; it is not, however, considered good 'ton'
+to cultivate anything but foreign literature. Pesth can boast of very
+distinguished _savants_, and of a very haughty aristocracy; but no one
+is allowed to enter this magic circle but those who belong to the
+upper ten. The whole society is on a wrong footing; each one fights
+his own battle, bears his own burden; the finest ideas are lost
+because no one understands the other. A common standpoint is wanting.
+All healthy life is dying out, full freedom of thought and action
+being strangled by the iron laws of the short-sighted government,
+which forbids discussion of any kind.
+
+"The Reichstag and the Comitatshaus are both closed. The only free
+ground left is that of general society; but here class prejudices step
+in. A certain portion of our aristocracy are too indifferent to
+trouble themselves to do anything for the general good; the rest are
+too fond of their own ease and amusement; they acknowledge no other
+aim in life but their own pleasure. There are some, however, who do
+know what their duty is, and who would willingly make sacrifices to
+fulfil it, but during the last ten years they have suffered such a
+loss of income that they are no longer in a position to bear the
+expense which would be entailed by opening their houses. There are
+others, those most fitted by intellect as well as by position to be
+leaders. Alas! they will never return to Pesth; it is to them full of
+tragic memories, which haunt the houses where they once lived, and
+which have banished forever the laugh and jest from those walls.
+Therefore it is that we have arrived at this position, that there is
+not a single centre where the clever, the good, the nobleman, and the
+gentleman can meet on equal terms; and without this no real good can
+be done."
+
+"Then let me create this centre!" cried the countess, rising to her
+feet and addressing the abb� with an inspired look. Her whole being
+seemed changed by this new thought, which had been skilfully suggested
+by the words of the clergyman, who seemed well pleased at the effect
+he had produced.
+
+"Then you understood," he said; "and for you the advantages will be
+incalculable. Here is the shelter you require. If you come to Pesth,
+if you live there as befits your rank and your fortune, you can
+assemble round you the very cream of society. To your _salon_ will
+come every one, distinguished not alone by birth, but by
+talent--politicians, artists, poets, magnates, priests, prelates, and
+laymen, the aristocracy of the land and the aristocracy of intellect
+shall be alike represented. Your mission will be to further by this
+means the apostolate of truth, of culture; and, by so doing, to assist
+the progress and development of your own nation, and for the rest your
+own position will be most honorable. As hostess and mistress of such
+you will be respected and admired."
+
+The countess seized the clergyman's hand in both hers, and covered it
+with kisses, while in her excitement she sobbed:
+
+"I thank you, I thank you, I thank you!"
+
+"Do you not see, countess, that there is a vocation for you besides
+that of conventual life?"
+
+"You are a prophet."
+
+"In the meantime, may I ask you a practical question? For the task
+which you have undertaken with such praiseworthy zeal there are
+certain material qualifications absolutely necessary, the first being
+a sufficient income. May I ask you to give me your confidence on this
+delicate subject?"
+
+"I am rich," answered Theudelinde. "I have my capital at good
+interest. Likewise, out of my savings I have bought a fine mansion
+situated in the best part of Pesth; it is at present let."
+
+"You will now take it into your own hands," said the abb�, "and have
+it properly appointed, suitable to your rank. So far as your
+securities go, it may be better to invest your capital differently.
+We shall see. How much does your yearly income from the Bondavara
+estate amount to?"
+
+"About twenty thousand florins."
+
+"How large is the estate?"
+
+"From about nine to ten thousand acres."
+
+"Then the return is far too small. The agent is to blame for this;
+this income would be too little to support the position you now intend
+to hold. Twenty thousand florins would not be nearly enough to keep up
+an establishment on a proper footing in Pesth."
+
+The countess was surprised. She said, humbly, "I imagined it was a
+great deal of money."
+
+"So it is for living in the country; but Pesth is as dear, if not
+dearer, than Paris. To keep a proper establishment going, and take the
+position of a leader of society, such as it is your ambition to be,
+you must at least command a yearly income of forty thousand florins."
+
+"But I cannot do that. What shall I do?" Theudelinde said, in great
+distress.
+
+The abb�'s lips parted in a smile. "Oh, we will manage it for you! For
+the rest it will not be difficult. The rental of the estate must be
+overhauled; you must get a better agent, a more enterprising steward.
+I myself do not understand finance, but I have friends in the inner
+circle of the stock-exchange, and one or other of these will undertake
+to advise you as to your affairs when you are settled in Pesth. In any
+case, I am quite certain that your land is let too low, it should
+bring in double the interest you get from it. I know so much of
+political economy."
+
+The countess was delighted at these words. What a friend to have! Her
+income to be doubled! Truly this abb� was sent to her from heaven.
+
+"Do as you think best," she said. "I give you full power to act for
+me."
+
+"Then, if you will allow me, I shall have your property revalued, and
+fresh leases made. This will double your income, and it will only cost
+you a trifle--a factor's fee, in fact."
+
+Theudelinde was like a child in her joy--like a child in her
+submission to her spiritual adviser, to whom she looked up as a
+father, a counsellor, a true friend.
+
+All this he might be; but it was also true that from the date of this
+conversation the owner of Bondavara lost her hold on her own property
+forever.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+"AN OBSTINATE FELLOW"
+
+
+Countess Theudelinde was beside herself with joy. She ran to her
+bell-apparatus, touched the spring, and the machine put itself into
+motion.
+
+"What are you doing, countess?" asked the abb�, in some amazement.
+
+"I am desiring my steward to be sent for at once."
+
+"By what messenger?"
+
+And then for the first time the countess remembered there was not a
+living soul in the house.
+
+She grew very grave.
+
+"It is truly a problem," continued the priest, "to know how we are to
+get out of the castle."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Theudelinde, who was so weak-minded that she
+always required to have everything explained to her.
+
+"We two are quite alone in this house," returned the abb�. "If I go
+away to get the necessary assistance for packing up your things and
+making the arrangements for departure I must leave you alone here."
+
+"I would not for all the world remain alone here."
+
+"Then you have the alternative of accompanying me on foot to the
+nearest post-house in the adjacent village."
+
+As he spoke the snow-storm was heard outside beating against the
+window. Theudelinde shivered.
+
+"Why cannot we drive? My horses are in the stable."
+
+"But I can neither harness them nor drive them."
+
+"Oh, I should never think of such a thing!"
+
+Nevertheless, the countess had now to consider whether she should
+remain alone in the castle or take the alternative of accompanying the
+priest in a heavy fall of snow.
+
+"Somebody is knocking at the door," said the abb�.
+
+"It must be my steward," returned Theudelinde. "He has heard what has
+happened, and has come to our assistance."
+
+"But there is no one to open the door. Your portress was one of the
+ghosts."
+
+"She was the old witch who danced on the table."
+
+"Have you by chance a second key?"
+
+"It hangs there on that large bunch to the right."
+
+"Then I will take it with me, in case there is none in the lock."
+
+"But the dogs, father, they will tear you in pieces. They are fierce
+to strangers."
+
+"I will call them by their names, if you will tell me what they are."
+
+"I don't know their names," returned the countess, who never troubled
+herself about such a common thing as a watch-dog's name.
+
+"Then I must shoot them."
+
+"But, father, as gently as you can." By this Theudelinde did not mean
+to appeal to his compassion for the dogs, but to remind him to spare
+her sensitive nerves.
+
+The abb� took his revolver and went on his mission; he carried no
+lantern with him, for daylight had come.
+
+Both the watch-dogs lay one on each side of the doorway. They were
+chained loosely, so that they could keep well clear of one another,
+but it was impossible to pass between them to the door, if you escaped
+being bitten by one, the other was sure to tear you. The abb�,
+therefore, to get to the door, had to shoot one and wound the other.
+He then drew the bolt, and saw a man standing before him, a revolver
+in _his_ hand.
+
+"Who are you? What do you want?" asked the priest.
+
+"Who are you, and what brings you here?" returned the stranger.
+
+"I am the Abb� Samuel, the countess's confessor."
+
+"And I am Ivan Behrend, the countess's next neighbor."
+
+The abb� lowered his pistol, and changed his tone to one of courtesy.
+
+"You must confess that it is rather an unusual hour for you to come,"
+he said, smiling.
+
+"Honi soit qui mal y pense," said Ivan, putting his weapon into his
+pocket. "I came at this unusual hour in consequence of a letter which
+I received this very night, in which I was informed that the castle
+was in a state of confusion, and the countess was in great need of
+help."
+
+"The cause of the confusion--"
+
+"Oh, I know, that was also in the letter. Therefore, I have come to do
+what I can, although I am aware the countess admits no man into her
+house, especially at this hour."
+
+"She will receive _you_ most certainly. Allow me first to close the
+door. There is absolutely no one in the house. Take care of the dog on
+the left-hand side; he is still alive."
+
+"You have shot the other?"
+
+"Yes; you heard the shot and drew your revolver?"
+
+"Naturally. I did not know who might have fired the pistol."
+
+Both men ascended to the apartments of the countess. The abb� entered
+first to prepare her.
+
+"We have got unexpected help," he said; "a neighbor of yours, Ivan
+Behrend."
+
+"A doubtful person," returned Theudelinde, scornfully. "He is an
+atheist."
+
+"It does not matter in the present crisis whether he be a Thug, a
+Mormon, or a Manich�an, we have great need of his help. Some one told
+him of the plight you are in, and he wishes to see you."
+
+"I will not see him, or speak to him. I beg you will confer with him
+instead of me."
+
+"Countess, if this man is what you say, a heretic, he may say that he
+will not confer with one of my cloth."
+
+"Very well. I suppose I must see him, but you will be present?"
+
+"If it should be necessary."
+
+The countess rolled her shawl round her, and went into the
+reception-room, into which the morning light was breaking. Abb� Samuel
+thought it necessary, however, to light the candelabras on the
+chimney.
+
+Theudelinde, with a freezing air, asked Ivan to take a chair, and
+placed herself at a considerable distance from her visitor. She signed
+to him to begin the conversation.
+
+"Countess, this night while I was busy reading, some one tapped at my
+window, and when I opened it thrust this note into my hand. It is
+written by your steward."
+
+"By my steward!" exclaimed the countess, in a tone of surprise.
+
+"It is written in his style, and quite unfit for you to read. I will
+tell you what interests you. The steward says that your entire
+household, without any exception of sex, have made good their escape,
+and that he is following their example."
+
+"My steward also! And for what reason?"
+
+"He gives the reason in his letter. I suspect, however, it is only a
+pretext on his part to conceal a very criminal design. I am of opinion
+that he has robbed you."
+
+"Robbed me!" repeated the countess.
+
+"Do not alarm yourself; there are different sorts of robbery, such as
+being an unfaithful steward, injuring your land, making profit to
+himself to your disadvantage. This man, I imagine, played this game,
+and has now tried to give a humorous turn to his flight, so that the
+laugh may be turned against you. This is my idea."
+
+The countess was obliged to acknowledge that her neighbor was both a
+clever and a kind-hearted man.
+
+"In this letter," continued Ivan, "your steward states that after what
+has happened he could never dare to look you in the face again, as he
+could not convince you that the late scandals in the castle had gone
+on without his knowledge. I did not believe these words. I felt
+certain that you had dismissed your household on finding out how
+grossly they had deceived you; therefore, my first care on getting
+this letter was to send a messenger on horseback to the nearest
+telegraph-station with a message to your banker in Pesth, to tell him
+that the agent of the Bondavara estate had absconded, and on no
+account to honor his checks. I thought it was probable he had liberty
+to draw in your name."
+
+"This was really very practical and thoughtful on your part," said the
+abb�. "The countess must feel most grateful to you."
+
+Theudelinde bowed her head graciously.
+
+"One reason that brought me here," continued Ivan, "was to know if you
+approved of what I had done, and also to offer you my assistance in
+case you wish to leave the castle. I will help you to get away, and I
+will send my people to look after your property till you can make
+further arrangements."
+
+"This is really most neighborly and friendly, and the countess owes
+you a debt of gratitude," repeated the priest, again assuming all
+responsibility.
+
+"I am merely doing my duty," returned Ivan. "And I would add that if
+you should be in any difficulty as to the necessary funds, which is
+very likely, as the steward and bailiff have both made off, don't let
+this for a moment distress you; I can lend you ten thousand florins."
+
+The Abb� Samuel whispered to the countess to accept this offer in the
+spirit in which it was meant, and on no account to say anything of
+interest.
+
+Theudelinde accordingly held out her hand with gracious dignity to her
+chivalrous neighbor, who drew from his pocket the money in bank-notes.
+The countess wished to give him an acknowledgment, which he declined,
+saying the money was lent for such a short time that it was not
+necessary.
+
+"And about leaving the castle," he said. "How soon do you start?"
+
+"The sooner the better!" cried the countess.
+
+"Then, if you will allow me to suggest a plan for accomplishing the
+first stage of the journey, which is the difficult part of the
+business, in the first place it will be necessary to pack up what you
+need. Will you be good enough, countess, to select the trunks you mean
+to bring? When this is done I will harness the horses; then we must
+lock and seal the rooms, and my servants will watch them until you
+send your proper people. This done, we can set out; and as we shall
+have to pass the steward's house, we can call there, and look for any
+books he may have for keeping the accounts of the estate. They would
+be useful."
+
+"I shall not go there; I don't want any accounts."
+
+"Very good. Then we shall go straight to the inn in my village."
+
+"What to do?"
+
+"Because the post is there. We must get post-horses."
+
+"And why post-horses? Cannot I drive my own horses?"
+
+"No."
+
+"And why not?"
+
+"Because they are screws. They would not reach the next station."
+
+"My horses! Why do you say they are screws?" asked the countess,
+angrily.
+
+"Because they are in bad condition."
+
+"Bear!" thought Theudelinde. "He answers me so roughly."
+
+"I shall not enter the inn," she said, determinedly. "I go nowhere
+where men drink. Cannot I wait at your house until the horses are
+changed?"
+
+"Certainly. I am charmed to receive you, countess; only you will find
+nothing suitable for you. I live alone _en gar�on_."
+
+"Oh, that does not matter," returned the countess, with an air of
+indifference.
+
+"Will you have the goodness, then," said Ivan, "to begin your
+preparations and select the clothes you mean to pack up?"
+
+Theudelinde gave a strange smile. "My packing will not take long; my
+luggage will not be heavy. Will you make a good fire while I go to my
+wardrobe? It is very cold in this room."
+
+In the sitting-room there was a large marble fireplace, and in the
+ashes of the grate some sparks still lingered. Ivan put some wood on
+the smouldering fire, and soon a genial blaze glowed in the chimney.
+It welcomed the countess, who presently returned, carrying in her arms
+a heap of dresses and clothes of all description.
+
+Ivan looked at her in dismay. "You are going to pack all those?"
+
+"Yes, and as many more, which still remain in my wardrobe."
+
+"But, countess, where?"
+
+"Here," returned Theudelinde, as she flung the bundle on the fire.
+
+It filled up the whole fireplace, and the fire, catching the light
+materials, there was presently a crackling sound, while the old
+chimney roared again with joy over such a splendid contribution.
+
+The two men looked on in silence at this _auto-da-f�_.
+
+Ten times did Theudelinde go backward and forward to her room, each
+time returning with fresh armfuls of finery, and when these were
+exhausted, her linen, boots, shoes, etc., followed; while at each
+sacrifice the flames in the chimney leaped and danced, and the wind
+blew the flames up the chimney, where they roared like so many demons.
+
+"Well, this sort of packing makes short work," thought Ivan, but said
+nothing.
+
+The clergyman stood with his hands behind his back. The countess's
+eyes danced, her cheeks were flushed, her activity was unceasing. When
+all was consumed she turned to Ivan with a triumphant air.
+
+"It is finished," she said.
+
+"And may I ask in what toilette your ladyship intends to travel?"
+
+"In the clothes I wear, and my fur cloak."
+
+"Then I shall go and get the carriage."
+
+When he was gone the countess, assisted by the abb�, put on her fur
+pelisse lined with sable. She took with her nothing that she had ever
+used; in her opinion everything was defiled.
+
+After a few minutes Ivan returned, and announced that the carriage was
+at the entrance. The doors were then locked, and a seal affixed to
+each.
+
+When they entered the hall the sight of the dog which the abb� had
+spared presented a difficulty. If they left him he would die of
+hunger. The countess thought it would be better to shoot him also.
+Ivan, however, was more merciful.
+
+"I will chain him to the carriage, and he will follow us."
+
+Theudelinde was certain the hound would bite him; but the dog's
+instinct assured him that it was a friend who now approached. He
+allowed Ivan to put on his chain, and licked his hand to show his
+gratitude. All was now done, Ivan locked the gates, gave the key to
+the abb�, who with the countess was already seated in the carriage,
+jumped on the coach-box, and drove away from Bondavara Castle. They
+went slowly, for the two miserable nags, which were dignified with the
+name of carriage horses, could hardly drag them along. They were spent
+with age and starvation, and were only fit for the knacker's yard.
+
+As the vehicle turned in the direction of the coal-mine Ivan remarked
+a cloud of smoke in the distance, and soon after they met a group of
+laborers carrying requisites for putting out a fire, hurrying in the
+direction of the smoke. On being questioned they said the granary of
+the noble countess was burning, but that they hoped to extinguish the
+fire.
+
+"I think it will be easily done," Ivan said. "The steward set it on
+fire to conceal the defalcation in the crop."
+
+The countess was indignant, but Ivan remarked dryly that property had
+its duties, and that those who never looked after their own interests
+were fair game for the thief.
+
+A rough, ill-mannered man!
+
+It was full daylight before the noble coach, drawn by the pair of
+noble nags, made its way through the heavy snow into the Bergwerk
+Colony. The wretched beasts were steaming as they drew up at Ivan's
+door. Ivan's first care was to call the postmaster to take them to his
+stable, and to order a good pair of fresh horses to replace them. Then
+he led his tired guests into his workroom. All the other rooms were
+cold and cheerless, so he took them where there was warmth and light.
+
+In the room everything was in the utmost disorder; it was hard to find
+a place where the countess could sit down. She looked about her with
+astonishment at the strange objects which encumbered the tables and
+chairs; every available spot was taken up by some extraordinary,
+diabolical-looking invention. She cast a look of terror at the
+chemical laboratory, upon whose furnace the coals still glimmered,
+testifying to the experiment upon which Ivan had been at work when
+interrupted by the steward's tap at the window.
+
+"Cagliostro's workshop," she whispered to the abb�. "There are
+mysterious things done here."
+
+What annoyed the countess far more than the evidences of mystery and
+magic which surrounded her was the idea that she was the guest and
+the debtor of this rough, common fellow. She, rich, well-born, a
+faithful child of the Church, owed her rescue from a most unpleasant
+position to this obscure, godless tradesman. If she could only pay him
+the heaviest interest for his loan, and had not to say "thank you!"
+And yet she had to swallow the indignity.
+
+Ivan, after an absence of a few minutes, returned, followed by a maid
+carrying a tray with the steaming breakfast. She laid the cloth, and
+set out the cups and coffee-cans. The countess would gladly have made
+some excuse to avoid tasting the food presented by her unholy host,
+but the abb�, who was a man of the world, drew his chair to the table,
+and invited Theudelinde to follow his example, "For," he said, "we
+shall not get anything to eat till the evening, as there are no inns
+on our road; and you want refreshment before your long journey."
+
+When the countess saw that no demons seized upon the clergyman, and
+that the coffee of the Warlock seemed innocent of all evil, she, too,
+came to the table and sipped a few spoonfuls, but she found it was
+execrable stuff; the milk was not so bad, and she contented herself
+with that and bread.
+
+Ivan began to talk about the weather--a very general subject of
+conversation; but herein there was this difference. Instead of an
+ignoramus, it was a meteorologist who handled the theme. Ivan assured
+the countess that both the barometer and his English glass pointed to
+fine weather, the sun was as warm as in May, their journey would be
+excellent. As he spoke, Ivan drew back the thick green window
+curtains, and let in the bright sunlight to enliven the half-darkened
+room. The first effect of this sudden eruption of light was to show
+the countess her own face reflected in a large concave mirror which
+hung on the wall opposite to her.
+
+It is an undoubted fact that we all like to see our reflection in a
+glass; our eyes wander to it naturally, and the most earnest orator,
+in the midst of his finest peroration, will gesticulate to his own
+image with more satisfaction than to a crowded audience; but it is a
+totally different thing if it should be a magnifying-glass. What a
+horrible distortion of ourselves--head as large as a cask, features of
+a giant, expression that of a satyr; a sight too dreadful to
+contemplate.
+
+"What an awful glass you have there," said the countess, peevishly, as
+she turned her back to the mirror.
+
+"It is undoubtedly not a toilette mirror; it is a glass which we use
+in chemical experiments to test the highest degrees of heat."
+
+Here the abb�, who wished to air his scientific knowledge, put in--
+
+"As, for example, for burning a diamond."
+
+"Just so," returned Ivan. "That is one of the uses of a concave
+mirror; it is necessary for burning a diamond, which requires the
+flame of a gas retort."
+
+The countess was grateful for the abb�'s remark, for it gave her a
+happy inspiration.
+
+"Do you mean to tell me," she said, addressing Ivan, "that a diamond
+is combustible?"
+
+"Undoubtedly, for the diamond is, in fact, nothing but coal in the
+form of a crystal. With the necessary degrees of heat you can extract
+from the patrician diamond ninety florins carat weight, the same
+amount of invisible gas or oxide of coal as from the plebeian lump of
+coal."
+
+"That is proved by the focus of the magnifier," remarked the abb�.
+
+"I don't believe it," said the countess, throwing back her head.
+
+"I am sorry," returned Ivan, "that I cannot give you a proof that the
+diamond is combustible. We do not use such costly things for mere
+experiment, but have splints for the purpose, which are cheap in
+comparison. I have, however, none of these by me."
+
+"I should like to be convinced, for I do not believe it," repeated the
+countess. "Will you make the experiment with this?" As she spoke she
+unfastened a brooch from her dress, and handed it to her host. The
+centre stone was a fine two-carat brilliant. Theudelinde expected that
+Ivan would return it to her, saying, "Oh, it would be a pity to use
+this beautiful stone;" and then she would reply, "Then pray keep it as
+a slight remembrance;" and in this manner this perverse individual
+would have been paid and forgotten. But, to her amazement, the
+countess found she had deceived herself.
+
+With the indifference of a philosopher and the courtesy of a gentleman
+Ivan took the brooch from its owner.
+
+"I conclude you do not wish to have the ornament melted," he said,
+quietly. "I will take the diamond out of its setting, and if it should
+not burn you can have it reset."
+
+Without another word he extracted the stone with a little pincers, and
+placed it at the bottom of a flat clay saucepan; then he opened the
+window, which lay in the full blaze of the sun. He placed the saucepan
+upon a stand in the middle of the room and just in front of the
+countess; then he took the magnifying-glass and went outside, for in
+the room the sun's rays had not power to concentrate themselves upon
+the mirror.
+
+The countess was now certain that the trick would not succeed, and
+that she would have an opportunity of offering the diamond to Ivan on
+the pretext of repeating the experiment when the sun's rays would be
+more powerful.
+
+Ivan, when he had found the proper spot outside the window, directed
+the rays from the apex of the burning-glass straight upon the
+saucepan, where the diamond was waiting the moment of its
+annihilation. The stone emitted a thousand sparks. As the sun's rays
+touched it, it threw out as many colors as are in the rainbow; it
+seemed as if it were to be the victor in this fight. All of a sudden
+the fiery rays condensed themselves in a narrower circle upon the
+doomed diamond, the small room was filled with a blinding light that
+turned everything into silver; not a shadow remained. Out of the
+saucepan shot a ball of fire like a flash of lightning; the next
+minute the burning-glass ceased to work.
+
+Ivan still stood outside the window. He spoke to the countess, who was
+transfixed with astonishment.
+
+"What is in the saucepan?" he asked.
+
+"Nothing."
+
+Ivan returned to the room, hung the mirror in its place, and returned
+to the countess her brooch without its centre stone.
+
+The abb� could not help remarking, dryly, "That little drama is fit to
+be played before a queen."
+
+But now the postilion blew his horn, the countess put on her fur
+pelisse, and was escorted to the carriage by Ivan. She was obliged to
+give him her hand, and to say the words, "God be with you."
+
+When the carriage had gone a little way she said to the abb�, "That
+man is a sorcerer."
+
+But the clergyman shook his head. "He is far worse; he is an inquirer
+into the secrets of nature."
+
+"H'm! he is an obstinate, disagreeable man."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE HIGHER MATHEMATICS
+
+
+The counting-house of the firm of Kaulmann stands in the same place
+where it stood fifty years ago. The entrance is as it was, and the
+very panes of glass are identical with those through which the founder
+of the house, in 1811, was wont to make his observations--as from an
+observatory--upon the countenances of the passers-by, when a rise or
+fall in the funds was expected. He knew what an excellent barometer
+the faces of a crowd make, and how much can be gleaned by observation;
+so too a chance word, which is let fall as it were by accident, often
+contains the germ of much truth, and is, to an experienced man, in a
+measure prophetic.
+
+The young head of the house did not set much store by the
+counting-house business. He had higher aims. He lived on the first
+floor in luxurious bachelor chambers; his sitting-room was a museum,
+and his writing-table was crowded with bronzes and antiques; his
+inkstand was a masterpiece of Benvenuto Cellini's--or, perhaps, a
+good imitation in galvanized plaster; his pen was gold, with a
+diamond top; he used gold sand for blotting-paper; the sand-sifter
+was made of porphyry, the pen-holder was a branch of real coral, the
+paper-weight a mosaic from Pompeii, the candle-shades of real
+crystal, the cover of the blotting-book Japanese. Every article had
+a value of its own, from the Turkish paper knife to the paper
+itself, which was of all sorts and descriptions, from the thickest
+vellum to the most delicate straw note, perfumed with mignonette and
+musk. In spite of these elaborate arrangements, no one had ever been
+known to write at this so-called writing-table. The science
+cultivated by Felix Kaulmann did not require the use of pen and ink;
+it was purely mental work. Felix worked night and day; during his
+sleep, even, he worked, but no trace of his labor was to be found on
+paper. When he amused himself--dancing, riding, making love--he
+seemed altogether occupied with the subject on hand; he worked,
+nevertheless, all the time. He had a certain goal at which he was
+aiming; for this he lived, for this he strove, and this alone
+aroused his interest and his enthusiasm; he never forgot for one
+moment the aim of his life. He had something more to do than to make
+a pen travel over paper; he had to move men.
+
+One day, not long after the events in the Castle of Bondavara, the
+Abb� Samuel was seated in Felix Kaulmann's room. Both were engaged in
+serious conversation. Before them an elegant equipage of fragrant
+Mocha, whose fumes mingled with that of the Latakia, which our friend
+the abb� smoked from a genuine Turkish pipe. Felix only smoked cigars.
+
+"Well, here is your agreement with the countess. As you wished for
+thirty-two years, it is regularly drawn up. And now I should like to
+know of what use it can possibly be to either you or your company. It
+is not enough for the countess to sign it; it wants the signature of
+the prince to make the contract advantageous to you, for the countess
+has only a life-interest in the Bondavara property. As soon as she
+dies it goes to the prince, or to his grandson, and then your
+agreement is null."
+
+"I know that," returned Felix, knocking the ash from his cigar; "and
+for this reason we must take care and keep the old girl alive. Let her
+have a good time, and she will live to a great age. It is very hard to
+kill an old maid, especially if she has lots of money. Besides, I am
+not so careless as you suppose. I have looked into the matter; I have
+seen the will of the old prince, and I know all its provisions. There
+is a clause that makes me pretty safe. When Countess Theudelinde goes
+off the reel, her brother, the present man, or his heirs, are obliged
+to compensate all those, either tenants, householders, or creditors,
+who may have erected any buildings on the estate. You see, the old
+prince considered that it would be more than probable that his crazy
+daughter might, in a fit of holy enthusiasm, build either a church or
+a convent, and he thought he would give the heirs the advantage of her
+generosity. It never entered into his head that any one would erect a
+factory, a refinery, or open a mine. Now you see how useful this
+clause is to me, the heirs will not be in a position to refund us the
+two millions of money we are putting on the property."
+
+"Unless they find another company to advance them the money."
+
+"That would not be so easy. First of all, it would have to go into the
+very intricate affairs of the Bondavara family; then it would require
+immense capital, great energy, and a certain amount of risk. For the
+rest, I can see as far as my neighbors. I don't sit with my hands in
+my lap, I can tell you, and I have not put all my money on one card."
+
+"Right! By-the-way, what has become of the little wild kitten you
+brought away from the Bondavara mine?"
+
+"I have placed her for the present in Madame Risan's school; she is
+being educated, for she has extraordinary capabilities, although in a
+general way she is a stupid creature. She has a splendid voice, but
+she cannot sing, as singing is nowadays; she has a wonderfully
+expressive face, but does not know how to make use of it; she is full
+of feeling, and speaks no language but her mother-tongue."
+
+"Do you mean to educate her for the stage?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"And then?"
+
+"I intend to marry her."
+
+The abb� raised his eyebrows in some astonishment.
+
+"I should hardly have thought," he said, coldly, "that a pupil of
+Madame Risan's would be likely to make a satisfactory wife, although
+she might be an excellent actress."
+
+Felix looked haughtily at his visitor, then shrugged his shoulders, as
+who would say the abb�'s opinion on this point was indifferent to him.
+For a few minutes the men smoked in silence; then, with a sudden
+clearing of his face, Kaulmann said, in his blandest manner:
+
+"I want to ask you a question. You know the ins and outs of the
+marriage laws. Is there any means by which a marriage can be set aside
+without having recourse to the divorce court? That is always attended
+with great expense and a good deal of scandal; and if the other side
+should be obstinate and malicious, it can drag for an interminable
+time."
+
+"I know of only one other method. We will suppose that you are already
+married according to the rules of the Church in this country. You
+wish, for some reason, for a dissolution of this marriage. Well, you
+have only to go to Paris, and take up your residence in the
+banking-house your firm has there. Your father was a French subject,
+so are you. According to the French law, no marriage is valid that is
+not solemnized before the civil authorities; therefore, the remedy
+would be in your hands. A short time ago the process was tried by the
+French court. A certain count had married in Spain; the eldest son of
+this marriage sought to recover his birthright, which had been
+forfeited in consequence of his father's having neglected to be
+remarried before the registrar in France. The court, however,
+pronounced the Spanish marriage invalid, and yours would be a similar
+case."
+
+Felix got up from his seat. "I thank you," he said, "more than I can
+say. If the recollection of our youthful friendship didn't remind me
+that our compact was always to _love_ one another, I should certainly
+feel that I owed you a heavy debt."
+
+"For what?" returned the abb�, lifting his eyes in some surprise. "It
+is well for you to remind me of our young days. Was I not then the
+debtor of your father? What did he not do for me? He found me a
+miserable, overworked, ill-paid student; he made me your tutor, and so
+opened for me the road to better things. Oh, I never forget! But let
+us not talk any more of the past."
+
+"No, for the future is before us, and we shall work together. Now, I
+must ask you, as the countess's representative, to sign the necessary
+papers. There is the contract, and here is the check for the first
+half-year's rent, and here is another check for the sum of forty
+thousand gulden on my cashier."
+
+"To whom payable?"
+
+Felix answered by pressing the check into the abb�'s hand, while he
+whispered in his ear:
+
+"To the friendly representative."
+
+The other shook his head, with a wounded look on his face. "You mean
+to offer _me_ a present?" he said, haughtily.
+
+"You do not understand," returned Felix. "This money does not come
+from me; it forms part of the expenses of the company, and in all such
+undertakings figures under the head of 'necessary expenses.'"
+
+As he spoke, Felix lit another cigar, and looked slyly at his
+companion, as who should say, "You see what a capital fellow I am!"
+Round the abb� Samuel's mouth a contemptuous smile flickered as he
+tore the check for forty thousand gulden into four pieces; then he
+laid his hand upon the banker's shoulder.
+
+"My dear boy," he said, "I had the whole Bondavara property in the
+hollow of my hand; it was mine to do as I chose with it. I did with it
+as I do with these pieces of paper." He threw the torn check into the
+grate. "Know me, once for all. I am no begging monk. I am a candidate
+for high honors; nothing will content me but to be ruler of a
+kingdom."
+
+The haughty air with which the abb� said these words impressed the
+banker so much that he laid down his cigar and stared vacantly at his
+visitor.
+
+"That is a great word," he said, slowly.
+
+"Sit down and listen to what I shall disclose to you," returned the
+priest, who, with his hands behind his back, now began to walk up and
+down the room, pausing from time to time before his astonished
+listener, to whom he poured out a torrent of words.
+
+"The whole world is in labor," he said, "and brings forth nothing but
+mice. And wherefore? Because the lions will not come into the world.
+Chaos rules everywhere--in finance, in diplomacy, in the Church. One
+man who would have intellect enough to see clearly could be master of
+the situation. But where is he to be found? Fools in embroidered coats
+are the leaders; therefore we see a country governed by incapables,
+who do not know even where to begin. They would fain force it to
+submit, but are afraid to use the necessary means. They oppress it,
+and at the same time live in dread of what it may do. And this same
+country does not itself know what to-morrow may bring, whether it
+shall submit, pay the demands of its oppressors, or appeal to arms
+against their tyranny; neither does it know who is its foe, who is its
+friend, with whom to ally itself, against whom to fight; whether it
+will go on submitting, whether it shall break out into curses or wild
+laughter at its own follies. The country still possesses one element,
+which stands, as it were, neutral between the two parties; this
+element is the clerical; the Church is a power in Hungary."
+
+Felix's face grew darker; he could not imagine what all this would
+lead to. But the abb� had now paused, and was standing before him.
+
+"What do you think, my son," he said, "would be the reward due to the
+man who could find a way out of this mass of confusion--who could
+unite the classes, and bring them into conformity with the wishes of
+the government? Do you not think that there is nothing which would
+better further your Bondavara speculation than a submissive deputation
+of priests and people, who would give a promise of fidelity to the
+minister? One hand washes the other; he who brings about such an
+unlooked-for condition of affairs must be recompensed. Now do you
+understand what use this would be to you?"
+
+"I think I begin to see."
+
+"And what office do you think should be offered to the man who brings
+the peasant's frock into subjection and elevates the mitre?"
+
+Felix clasped his hands together. That was his answer. The clergyman
+resumed his walk up and down the room; his lips were compressed, his
+head in the air.
+
+"The primate is an old man," he said, suddenly.
+
+Felix leaned back in his chair. He could see better in this position
+the various expressions which passed over the abb�'s face. He started
+when the abb� murmured, almost under his breath:
+
+"The pope is still older."
+
+There was a moment's silence, and then the abb� continued, speaking
+fast and with excitement:
+
+"Dwarfs are at the rudder, my son; dwarfs who believe that their
+impotent efforts will stem the storm. The Church is in danger of going
+to pieces, and they make use of the old worn-out means of support.
+Listen to my words. All the efforts of Rome are fruitless; it tries to
+maintain its dignity with Peter's pence, and has allowed millions to
+slip through its fingers. Only here in Hungary has the Church any
+property left. I know well that in the minister's drawer there is a
+paper prepared which only needs the signature of the state to become
+law; it only requires a slight pretext, and Vienna will declare war
+against the clerical power in Hungary. She will fight it upon the
+liberal principle, and those who oppose will be the unpopular, the
+losing side. It is only a question of time. The deficit grows daily,
+the government is in a hole, the treasury is empty, there is no loan
+possible. Hence a fight over the budget, or a trifling war somewhere.
+You know the proverb, 'When the devil is hungry he eats flies.' The
+clerical property in Hungary is the fly, and Austria will make one
+bite at it. The chair of St. Peter and the Church property in Hungary
+are both in danger. How is the danger to be averted? Let us put our
+shoulders to the wheel; let us be more patriotic than the democrats,
+more loyal than the prime-minister, more liberal than revolutionists;
+let us save the Church property from the government, and the Church
+itself from the revolution. Let us throw into the market a gigantic
+loan of a hundred millions upon the property of the Hungarian Church
+for the rescue of the throne of St. Peter. What do you now think of
+the man who could do this thing? What should be his reward?"
+
+"Everything," stammered Felix, his mind confused over this
+bewildering, yet fascinating, programme.
+
+"To this great work I have destined you," said the abb�, with a
+solemn, majestic air. "Your Bondavara speculation is necessary, for
+with it you can make a _coup_ which shall bring you a world-wide
+reputation, your name shall be on a par with that of the Strousbergs,
+the Pereiras, with that of Rothschild itself. This is the reason why I
+have given you my support. When you are firmly established, then I
+shall say to you, 'Lend me your shoulder,' upon which I shall climb
+where I will."
+
+After this Felix sank into a waking dream. Before his eyes gleamed the
+gigantic loan, and through a mist he saw the tall form of the abb�
+with a crown upon his head.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+SOIR�ES AMALGAMANTES
+
+
+One winter's morning Ivan Behrend, to his great astonishment, received
+a notice from the president of the Hungarian Academy of Arts and
+Science. This notice set forth that the members of the physical,
+scientific, and mathematical department had in the last general
+assembly chosen him as an honorary member of the before-mentioned
+departments; and before being elected member of the academy itself he
+should, in conformity to the established custom, read before the
+assembly his first address. Ivan was petrified with amazement. How had
+such an honor come to him? He who had never written a scientific paper
+in any periodical; who had no connections or friend in the academical
+assembly, who was not a magnate, or had played no part in political
+life. He was puzzled; he could not conceive who had brought forward
+his name. Could it have been, he thought, that in some way his
+chemical researches had reached their ears? In which case, as he told
+himself, every director of a mine, every manager of a factory, would
+be considered a philosopher and made member of the Academy, for every
+one of them possessed as much knowledge as he did. There was no use in
+thinking about it; the honor had come to him, and should be accepted.
+Ivan thought it best not to look the gift-horse in the mouth; he
+therefore wrote to the secretary, expressing his gratitude for the
+unlooked-for honor conferred upon him, and stating that towards the
+end of the year he would present himself in Pesth, and read before the
+illustrious assembly his inaugural address. Then he considered the
+subject of this address long and carefully, and spent much of his time
+over its elaboration. It was an account of microscopical crustations,
+the study of which he had followed closely during the boring of an
+artesian well, and which during ten years he had perfectly mastered.
+It took him until late in the autumn to complete his essay on the
+subject.
+
+In many places, where such scientific research is valued at its proper
+merit, his paper would have been appreciated, and would have even
+caused a sensation; but we are bound in honesty to confess that it did
+not do so in Pesth, and that during the sixty minutes allowed by the
+canon law of all institutions for such lectures, the microscopical
+crustations produced an amount of yawning unprecedented, even among
+academicians.
+
+After the reading of the lecture was over the very first person to
+greet the neophyte and offer his congratulations was the Abb� Samuel,
+and then a light burst suddenly upon Ivan. He now saw who it was who
+had discovered his talents, and who had been his patron. It was
+something of a fall to his vanity; he had thought--well, it didn't
+matter, the abb� was doubtless as learned as any one in the assembly,
+and his thanks were due to him. Small attentions, it is said,
+consolidate friendship.
+
+Ivan decided to spend some days in Pesth; he had business to do.
+During the week several papers noticed his academical address; the
+most merciful was one which announced he had given an interesting
+lecture upon the "Volcanic Origin of the Stalactites." Ivan's only
+consolation was that in his own country no one read _The Referate_,
+and that abroad no one understood it, as it was written in Hungarian.
+He was wrong, however; some one did read it--but of this again. One
+day, as Ivan was making his preparations for his homeward journey, he
+received from the Countess Theudelinde Bondavara a card of invitation
+for a _soir�e_, which would take place three evenings later.
+
+"Aha!" thought Ivan, "another thank-offering. It is well that it did
+not come sooner."
+
+He sat down to his writing-table and answered the invitation in the
+most courteous manner, regretting his inability to avail himself of it
+in consequence of his immediate departure from Pesth. He was in the
+act of sealing the letter when the door opened and the Abb� Samuel was
+announced. Ivan expressed his great pleasure at receiving so
+distinguished a visitor.
+
+"I could not let you leave Pesth without coming," answered the abb�,
+in his most friendly manner. "My visit was due, not only because I am
+much indebted for your kind assistance at Bondavara, but also because
+I felt it a necessity to tell you what an honor I count it to know
+such a distinguished scholar as you have proved yourself to be."
+
+Ivan felt inclined to say that he was neither distinguished nor a
+scholar; he remained, however, silent.
+
+"I trust," continued the abb�, seating himself upon the sofa, "that
+you intend to make a long stay in Pesth?"
+
+"I am leaving to-morrow," returned Ivan, dryly.
+
+"Oh, impossible! We cannot lose you so soon. I imagine you have a card
+for the Countess Theudelinde's next _soir�e_?"
+
+"I regret that I am prevented from accepting her agreeable invitation;
+I have pressing business which necessitates my return."
+
+The abb� laughed. "Confess honestly," he said, "that if you had no
+other reason to return home, you would run away from an entertainment
+which would bore you infinitely."
+
+"Well, then, if you will have the truth, I do confess that a _soir�e_
+is to me something of a penance."
+
+"These _soir�es_, however, are on a different footing from those
+_r�unions_ which, I agree with you, are more pain than pleasure, and
+where a stranger feels himself 'out of it,' as the saying goes.
+Countess Theudelinde aims at having a _salon_, and succeeds admirably.
+She receives all the best people. I don't mean by that generic word
+only the upper ten, but the best in the true sense, the best that
+Pesth affords in art, in literature, in science; the aristocracy of
+birth, talent, and beauty."
+
+Ivan shook his head incredulously. "And how does such a mixed
+gathering answer?"
+
+The abb� did not reply at once; he scratched his nose thoughtfully.
+
+"Until they get to know one another, it is perhaps somewhat stiff. But
+with intellectual people this stiffness must soon disappear, and each
+one will do something to keep the ball rolling. You have an excellent
+delivery; I noticed it the night of your lecture. You could easily
+find a subject on which to lecture which would interest your listeners
+by its novelty, surprise them by its profundity, and amuse them by its
+variety; their intellect and their imagination would be equally
+engaged."
+
+It was Ivan's turn to laugh, which he did loudly. "My excellent sir,
+such a subject is unknown to me. I confess my ignorance; neither in
+print nor in manuscript have I met with it."
+
+The clergyman joined in the laugh.
+
+At this moment a servant brought Ivan a despatch, which claimed
+instant attention, so that the receipt might be given to the messenger
+who waited for it. Ivan begged his guest to excuse him if he opened
+this urgent document. The abb�, with a wave of his hand, requested him
+not to mind his presence.
+
+As Ivan read the letter a remarkable change passed over his face; he
+grew suddenly pale, his eyebrows contracted, then a sudden rush of
+color came into his cheeks. He held the letter before him, read it
+several times, while his eyes had a wild stare, as if he had seen a
+ghost. Then all at once he fell to laughing. He thrust the letter into
+his pocket, and returned to the subject he had been discussing.
+
+"Yes, yes," he said, "I shall go to Countess Theudelinde's _soir�e_,
+and I shall give a lecture before her guests such as they have never
+heard the equal; that I promise you. Science and poetry, imagination
+and learning mixed together, with dates and genealogy, so that the
+_savants_ present will not know what to think; I shall give a lecture
+which will make every geologist a prince, and every princess a
+geologist. Do you follow me?"
+
+"Perfectly," returned the other; not, indeed, that he saw what Ivan
+meant, but that he wished to encourage him. "That will be the very
+thing--first-rate!"
+
+"What do you say to illustrations by means of an electric-magnetic
+machine, eh?"
+
+"A capital idea, and amusing. My dear friend, you will have a
+_succ�s_."
+
+"May I ask you to convey to the countess my acceptance of her
+invitation? I shall require a large apparatus."
+
+"I can assure you in advance that the countess will be charmed at your
+kind offer. As for the apparatus and arrangement, leave that to her,
+she will be overjoyed when she hears that she is to expect you."
+
+The abb� then took his leave, fully contented with his visit. Ivan
+again read his letter, and again sat staring into space, as if a ghost
+had appeared to him.
+
+People said the Countess Theudelinde's _Soir�es Amalgamantes_ would
+certainly make history. The mixture was excellent: grandees jostled
+elbows with poets; academicians with prelates; musicians, painters,
+sculptors, actors, critics, professors, physicians, editors,
+sportsmen, and politicians of all shades gathered under one roof. It
+was a bold experiment, a brilliant society _in thesi_. Neither was
+there wanting the element of female attraction; all that Pesth held of
+beauty, charm, and grace lent its aid to the scheme of amalgamation.
+
+Count Stefan, a cousin of Countess Theudelinde, was a great help to
+her _soir�es_, for he was a well-informed and cultivated young man,
+able to talk on all subjects, and especially on the poetry of the
+world. As for the Countess Angela, she was a classic beauty; her
+grandfather was a political celebrity--a great man, who had a
+surrounding of all kinds, bad and good. It was therefore quite in
+keeping, according to the usages of society, that when an unfortunate
+outsider was presented to Countess Angela, he should, after the third
+word or so, make mention of her illustrious grandfather, Prince
+Theobald of Bondavara, and inquire after his health. After this
+question, however, the Countess Angela never addressed the stranger
+another word. She allowed him to speak, if he so wished, and to retire
+in some confusion. Even the most dried-up specimen of university
+learning felt aggrieved. His heart could not resist the first glance
+of those heavenly eyes, so sweet and friendly, now so cold and
+haughty. And yet what had he done? The poor man will probably never
+know; he is not in the inner circle.
+
+Countess Angela was indeed a perfect ideal beauty; this cannot be too
+often repeated. A pure, noble face, with classical, well-proportioned
+features, nose and lips finely cut, long, straight eyebrows and
+lashes, which veiled the eyes of a goddess. When these eyes glowed, or
+when they were half-closed under their downy lids, they looked black,
+but when they laughed at you, you would swear they were blue. Her hair
+was rich, of that most lovely of all shades, chestnut brown; her whole
+countenance betrayed that she knew herself to be charming, that she
+was aware that she was the centre, at all times, of admiration, and
+that such knowledge pleased her well. And why not? A woman must be
+very silly not to be aware that beauty is a gift and a power.
+
+But what was the reason of her cold looks at the mention of her
+grandfather's name? Just what one might expect from a woman with her
+face. All the world--that is, her world--knew that she and her
+grandfather, Prince Theobald of Bondavara, were at daggers drawn. The
+wily old politician had given his only and beautiful granddaughter to
+a German, Prince Sondersheim. She was to consolidate some political
+matter, only she didn't see it in that light, and refused to ratify
+the bargain, not caring for Sondersheim; and, for the matter of that,
+neither did he care for her. But, then, it didn't mean so much to him.
+Angela had her ideal of married life, however, and so she quarrelled
+with her grandfather because he pooh-poohed her ideals and called them
+romantic folly. Upon this she vowed she would never speak to him
+again, and he, being angry, told her to leave his house, which she did
+at once, and came to her Aunt Theudelinde, who had just set up at
+Pesth, and was glad to have so bright and beautiful a niece. Since
+then she had refused all communication with her grandfather. This was
+the reason that she would not even hear his name mentioned; and it
+never was, except by ignorant outsiders, or "know-nothings," as the
+Yankees call them.
+
+The Abb� Samuel had wit enough to see that the _Soir�es Amalgamantes_
+were not the success they should be. Conversation did not suffice;
+amalgamation was at a standstill. The young girls sat in one room, the
+married women in another; the men herded together, looking glum, but
+not so bored as the women. Then the abb�, considering what ought to be
+done, had a happy idea. He introduced dramatic representations,
+dramatic readings, concerts, which were a decided success. Soon
+conversation became lively, strangers got to know one another; when
+they rehearsed together duets and little pieces their stiffness wore
+off. The women seemed different in morning dress, free from the
+restraints of the grand toilette; they grew quite friendly, and later
+on they found a subject upon which they discoursed quite at their
+ease. It must be confessed, however, that after midnight, when the
+readings, the concert, or the representation was over, and the
+outsiders had gone home to their beds, society began to enjoy itself.
+The young people danced, the old played whist or tarok, and they
+stayed till daybreak. They would have done the same had the
+scientists, the poets, the artists remained; they didn't want them to
+leave, but, naturally, these people felt themselves out of it, and,
+besides, they could not sit up all night like the others, so they went
+home very properly; they knew their place.
+
+The Abb� Samuel understood how to manage matters. Whenever the
+countess was to have a particularly good evening he took care it
+should get talked about, and the names of the performers, their
+parentage and history, together with any interesting circumstance,
+true or false, should be subjects of conversation for days before. In
+this way he sent about Ivan Behrend's name with a great many details
+as to his interesting life in the mines, his extraordinary cleverness,
+and the wonderful lecture he was going to give at the countess's next
+_soir�e_.
+
+The abb� knew his world, and how to whet its curiosity by exaggerated
+reports.
+
+"Is it true that, for one experiment only, he burned a brilliant
+belonging to Countess Theudelinde which was worth eight hundred
+gulden?"
+
+"The stone weighed four carats, and was worth fifteen hundred pounds."
+
+"We must give him a good reception. See, here he comes, escorted by
+Abb� Samuel!"
+
+The gentleman who had just spoken, and who was the Countess Angela's
+cousin, was Count Edmund, a handsome young man of about twenty-two
+years of age. He hastened to meet Ivan and the abb� as they entered
+the door, and introduced himself as nephew to the lady of the house.
+He took Ivan by the arm in the most friendly manner, and led him to
+Count Stefan, uncle to the countess. The count was a man of
+intelligence and reading; he assured Ivan there were those in the room
+who were much interested to hear his lecture. After this he was
+presented by his new friend to several distinguished-looking persons
+with decorations, who all pressed his hand, and spoke in the most
+friendly manner. The beginning of the evening was the most agreeable
+portion. The abb� and Ivan finally made their way into the next room,
+where the ladies were assembled, and here they found the Countess
+Theudelinde, who received them, and especially Ivan, most graciously.
+The young man, Count Edmund, again took possession of him, and,
+laughing and talking, led him up to the Countess Angela, to whom he
+was introduced with a great flourish. Before this lovely vision Ivan
+bowed, feeling somewhat stunned, yet not shy or awkward.
+
+"You come very seldom to Pesth," said the young countess, with a
+reassuring smile.
+
+"It is some time since I have been here; but I understand this is your
+first visit, countess. You have never lived in Pesth?"
+
+Angela's face assumed its cold expression; she felt sure he was going
+to inquire for Prince Theobald.
+
+"I do not see," she said, in a sarcastic voice, "what it is to any one
+whether I have ever been in Pesth."
+
+"It is not an uncommon accident," returned Ivan, quietly, "that a man
+visits a place where he has never been before; but when many people
+meet in the same spot, it looks as if there was something more than
+accident in such a gathering; and in this instance, where so many
+brilliant personages are brought together, it seems as if Providence
+had more to do with it than mere chance."
+
+At these words Angela's face cleared. "Then you believe in Providence?
+you acknowledge there is such a thing as Divine ordinance?"
+
+"Undoubtedly, I do believe."
+
+"Then we shall be friends." She turned away as she spoke, and Ivan
+took this movement as a signal to retire.
+
+After a quarter of an hour's further waiting, Edmund came to tell him
+that everything was in readiness in the lecture-room, and the company
+had already gathered there in considerable numbers. Ivan, therefore,
+ascended the stage, which had been erected at the farther end of the
+large room, and, holding his papers in his hand, addressed his
+audience. He had a pleasant voice, his manner of address was perfectly
+unaffected, composed, and taking. From the first moment he held the
+attention of the audience--his subject was _Magnetism_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+RITTER MAGNET
+
+
+When the lecture had concluded the lamps were carried out of the room,
+and only the candles in the lustre were left lighted. Ivan then
+exhibited to the astonished spectators the electric light. Many of
+them had never seen such a clear, beautiful light as this ball of
+virgin-like purity. It looked like one of the heavenly planets, as if
+Venus had descended from her place in the firmament and was shining on
+the company. The candles in the lustre burned blue, and threw shadows
+on the wall. Every face lost all trace of color from the effect of
+this strange illumination; people whispered to one another, almost
+frightened. Ivan, standing upon the platform, looked like some
+magician of old, his features chiselled like a statue, his eyes in
+deep shadow; and what added considerably to the picturesque effect,
+and heightened the charm of this noble assembly, was the strange
+coloring given by the light to the splendid national costume worn by
+the company, and the enamelled appearance of the jewels on the ladies'
+necks and arms.
+
+The eyes of every one were directed to two persons, while an
+involuntary "Ah!" was whispered about at the extraordinary
+transformation produced in their appearance. One was Countess Angela.
+The light seemed to have taken from her face that pride and
+self-satisfaction which, although natural in one so beautiful, gave
+an earthly expression to her face, and somewhat marred its beauty. Now
+she looked a heavenly vision, with the expression of a glorified
+spirit who had done with earth and had soared upward to her true home
+in heaven; all earthly passions, joy, sorrow, love, and pride, had
+vanished. Such was the miraculous effect of the magic light. The other
+transformation was in Countess Theudelinde. She was seated in an
+armchair, raised upon a sort of divan. The magic light touched her
+face gently, and gave it a fairy-like expression; the noble features
+were spiritualized, her naturally pale coloring became transparent,
+the brilliants in her magnificent tiara sparkled over her forehead as
+a garland of stars; she was sublime, and for five minutes the most
+beautiful among the beautiful. It was, nevertheless, many a long year
+since her mirror had told her she was beautiful. This, too, was the
+miraculous effect of the magic light. Round the hall there were large
+pier-glasses set into the wainscot, which reflected every one of the
+company. Theudelinde, therefore, could see herself beautified. She
+sighed as she thought, "I look like Queen Mab."
+
+Suddenly the miraculous light went out, and the room, lit only by the
+candles, seemed in total darkness. "Ah!" in sorrowful tones was echoed
+through the assembly; people rubbed their eyes and recognized the
+familiar faces again. Alas! it was over too soon. There were no more
+angels, fairies, queens, or heroes; only a group of excellent
+every-day people, counts and countesses. The face of Angela again wore
+its proud, vain expression, and Theudelinde was once more stiff and
+ill-tempered.
+
+Ivan now descended from his platform, and received the congratulations
+and compliments due to his efforts. There were different opinions, of
+course, but they were private. Every one joined in praising the
+lecturer to himself.
+
+Ivan thanked every one for their approval, but with a coldly reticent
+manner, and soon disengaged himself from his admirers to go in search
+of his hostess; he wished to thank her for her kindness.
+
+Theudelinde received him with smiles. Countess Angela was with her,
+leaning on the back of her aunt's chair. The young girl had just said:
+
+"You looked, auntie, quite lovely--a perfect Queen Mab."
+
+The smile these words had called to Theudelinde's face still lingered
+round her lips when Ivan presented himself. For these five minutes of
+beauty she was indebted to this man, and was not ungrateful. She gave
+him her hand, and thanked him in the most gracious manner for the
+enjoyment he had given her.
+
+"I owe you something," returned Ivan. "When you honored my house with
+a visit, you gave me a diamond which you allowed me to burn before
+your eyes. I now in return for your goodness on that occasion give you
+this diamond, which was created before your eyes." With these words he
+handed her a piece of carbon, which he had taken from the voltaic
+pillar. "As I explained to you in my lecture, coal can be changed by
+electricity into a diamond, and in this condition can cut glass."
+
+"Ah!" cried the Countess Angela, her eyes beaming with pleasure, "let
+us try the experiment now. Where is there a glass? Yes, one of the
+pier-glasses. Come."
+
+Countess Theudelinde was also excited. She stood up, and went with the
+others to the pier-glass.
+
+"Write one of the letters of the alphabet," said Angela, and watched
+Ivan attentively. She was curious to see the letter he would choose.
+If he were vain, as very likely he was, he would write his own initial
+"I"; if a toady and flatterer, like most of the people round her aunt,
+he would choose "T," as the countess's initial; and if he were a silly
+fool, like so many other men, he would write "A." In either of these
+cases he would have seen on the beauty's face a scornful smile.
+
+Ivan took the piece of coal, and with the point wrote on the glass the
+letter "X." Both ladies expressed their astonishment at seeing the
+coal write, and Countess Theudelinde assured Ivan it should be
+preserved carefully with her other jewels.
+
+Countess Angela stood so near Ivan that the folds of her dress touched
+him.
+
+"I believe," she said, slowly, "every word you told us. I beg of you
+do not tell me that all your romantic descriptions were but the
+necessary clothing of a dry scientific subject, meant to make it
+palatable to your silly, ignorant audience, and to raise in their
+minds a wish to seek further, so that they might in so seeking acquire
+a taste for knowledge. I do not want to seek, I believe implicitly all
+you said; but of this world of wonder and miracles I would know more.
+How far does it go? What more do you see, for the magician must know
+everything?"
+
+The young countess looked into Ivan's eyes as she spoke with a strange
+magnetic power impossible to resist. Such a look as this had often
+dazzled men's brains.
+
+"You said, also," continued Angela, "how fiery and strong are those
+who live in this magnetic kingdom, but that they have no credit for
+the virtues they possess; it is due to the working of magnetism. I
+believe this also. Magnetism has, however, two poles, the north and
+the south pole. I have read that the opposite poles are drawn to one
+another, and the homogeneous drift asunder. If, therefore, in the
+magnetic kingdom hearts are drawn to one another, seek one another,
+love one another, which is an immutable fact, so also is it an
+immutable fact that there must be human beings who hate one another
+with an undying, a deadly hatred, and that such hatred is no sin. Am I
+not right?"
+
+Ivan felt that he was driven into a corner; he understood the drift of
+the countess's question. Here his knowledge of natural philosophy came
+to his assistance.
+
+"It is true," he said, "that so far as life upon the earth is in
+question, there must also exist antipathies and sympathies. You have
+studied magnetism, you have read of the poles, therefore you must know
+that there exists an equator, or line, which is neither north nor
+south. This is the magnetic equator, that neither draws the magnet nor
+repulses it, and here there is perfect peace. Just such an equator is
+found in every human heart, and however a man may be carried away by
+the passions of love or hatred, his line remains unchangeable, and
+those who dwell there dwell in peace."
+
+"And who are the people who live under the magnetic equator?" asked
+the countess, with curiosity.
+
+"For example, parents and their children should dwell there."
+
+The young girl's face was covered with a vivid blush; her beautiful
+eyes shot a battery of lightning glances at Ivan, who remained quite
+unmoved under this battery.
+
+"We must talk more of this," she said, with sudden dignity.
+
+Ivan bowed before the haughty beauty, who turned and left him to the
+company of her aunt or of his own sex. He preferred the latter.
+
+Meantime, the lecture being over, a rush had been made to the
+refreshments. The army of outsiders were the first in the field. If
+they were of little account elsewhere, they took first place at the
+buffet, and here the citizen showed distinctly his origin.
+
+Ivan mixed with the company, and conducted himself as one accustomed
+to such society, and quite at his ease in it, and he was well
+received. The men were very civil towards him; every man under forty
+used the friendly "thou" in addressing him; he was made one of
+themselves. It didn't matter much, as he was said to be leaving Pesth
+the next day, and would be lost in the depths of Mesopotamia. Some one
+said he came from Africa. They tried teasing him a bit, all in a
+friendly way, and were pleased to find this pedant was an excellent
+fellow, who took the joke in good part, laughed heartily at a
+well-delivered thrust, and returned it with a sly hit, which never
+offended any one's feelings.
+
+"He is one of us," they said. "This man is up to everything; he is a
+capital fellow. We must give him a good time."
+
+"Is it true that you don't drink wine?" asked the Marquis Salista of
+Ivan.
+
+"Once a year."
+
+"And to-day is not the anniversary?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then we have drunk enough for one year; let us be moving."
+
+Some of the men returned to the drawing-room; these were, for the most
+part, the young fellows, and those who wished to dance. The ladies,
+after their tea, had begun to play quadrilles, and even the "Cs�rd�s"
+for those who wished for it.
+
+Count Stefan, however, drew away the better portion of the men to his
+quarters, which were on the second story of the countess's house. Here
+he entertained in his way. His rooms being on the other side of the
+house, no noise penetrated to the story below, which was necessary, as
+the count's champagne was of the very best, and given with no sort of
+stint; it flowed, in fact. Ivan, who was of the party, showed himself
+in a new light; he drank wine; his toasts were spicy, his anecdotes
+fresh and amusing, his wit sharp and unrestrained; and although he
+drank freely, he didn't turn a hair, he was quite steady.
+
+"Brother," hiccoughed Count Geza, who towards two o'clock was half
+drunk, "the captain and I have agreed that when you are quite done up
+we shall carry you home and put you to bed; but, my dear friend, my
+dear Ritter Magnet, the misery is that I don't think I can get up the
+stairs; I am quite done. Therefore, take your wings and fly, and let
+the captain take his, and both of you fly home. As for me--" Here the
+count laid down on the sofa and fell asleep.
+
+Every one laughed; but the name he had given Ivan--Ritter
+Magnet--stuck to him.
+
+"Do you care to play cards, my learned one?" said the Marquis Salista.
+
+"Once every three years."
+
+"That is not often enough."
+
+The marquis could not at this moment explain why it was not often
+enough, for at this moment Count Stefan acquainted his guests that it
+was time for them to depart, seeing that the ball below stairs had
+broken up, and every one had gone away. The countess's rest,
+therefore, might be disturbed by any noise overhead. Every one agreed
+that this was quite proper.
+
+"Only," said Salista, "there is no need for us to go home. Let us
+have the card-table. Let us spend our time well. Who is for a game?"
+
+Three players soon presented themselves; Baron Oscar was one of the
+first. But the fourth? The captain called to Ivan.
+
+"Now, my learned friend."
+
+Count Stefan thought it necessary to inform the stranger, who was his
+guest, that at the tarok-table the stakes were very high.
+
+"Only a kreuzer the point," said the captain.
+
+"Yes, but kreuzer points in such a game often amount to seven or eight
+hundred gulden to the losing side. These gentlemen have changed a
+simple game into a hazardous venture."
+
+Ivan laughed. "Every day of my life I play hazard with nature itself;
+every day I speculate with all I have on a mere chance, and play only
+one card." So saying, he rolled his chair to the green table.
+
+The game commenced. The game of hazard, as it is generally played, is
+a game of chance, it needs only luck and boldness; a drunken man can
+almost win by accident. But as it is played in Pesth it is something
+quite different; what is called luck, chance, accident, is here allied
+to skill, prudence, consideration, and boldness. The tarok-player must
+not only study his cards, but also the faces of his adversaries. He
+must be Lavater and Tartuffe in one; he must be a general who develops
+at every moment a fresh plan of campaign, and a Bosco who can, from
+the first card that is played, divine the whole situation; he must,
+however, be generous, and sacrifice himself for the sake of the
+general good. Therefore it was that the spectators pitied Ivan when he
+sat down to the card-table to play with these three masters of the
+game.
+
+It was seven o'clock when the players rose from the card-table. As
+Ivan pushed back his chair, the marquis said to him:
+
+"Well, comrade, it is a good thing for the world at large that you
+only drink once a year and play cards once in three years, for if you
+did both every day there would be no more wine in Salista's cellar nor
+no gold left in Rothschild's bank."
+
+Ivan had, in truth, stripped the three gentlemen.
+
+"Nevertheless, we must have a parting cup," continued Salista. "Where
+is the absinthe?" As he spoke he filled two large glasses with the
+green, sparkling spirit, of which moderate people, regretting this
+prudence, it may be, never drink more than a liqueur glass.
+
+Count Stefan shook his head over what he considered a bad joke, but
+Ivan did not shrink from the challenge; he clinked his glass with that
+of the captain, and emptied it without drawing breath. Then, with his
+most courteous bow, he took leave of his host, Count Stefan, who on
+his side assured him it would always be a pleasure to receive so
+delightful a guest.
+
+As Ivan made his way into the anteroom his step was steady, his air
+composed. Not so the marquis; the dose had been too potent for him. He
+insisted upon claiming Ivan's astrakhan cap as his, and, as there was
+no use arguing the matter with an inebriate, Ivan had to go home in
+the military helmet of a hussar officer. On the staircase the captain
+maintained that he could fly, that he was one of the inhabitants of
+the magnetic kingdom, and had wings. The others had all the trouble in
+the world to get him down the stairs. When he came to the first floor
+he thought of paying the Countess Theudelinde a visit, to thank her
+for her kind reception of his lecture, for he was the lecturer, and he
+was ready to blow out the brains of any one who contradicted him. He
+was with great difficulty got into a _fiacre_, and driven to his
+hotel. When he got there he had to be carried to his bed, where he lay
+in a deep sleep until late in the following day.
+
+Meantime Ivan, after a short rest, went about as usual, wrote his
+letters, and paid some visits.
+
+"He carries his liquor like a man," said Count Stefan. And from this
+time all the world called him the knight of the magnet.
+
+The knight was to be met everywhere. He had numerous visitors; he was
+invited to the best houses. He was elected honorary member of the
+club; he had been introduced by the abb�. The club had three classes
+of members--the day grubs and the evening and the night birds. In the
+daytime the library, which was an excellent collection of rare books,
+was visited by all the _litt�rateurs_ of Pesth. From six to eight came
+the lawyers and the politicians to play whist and talk politics, and
+from eight until midnight the men of fashion had their innings. In
+this way two men might go every day to the club and never meet one
+another.
+
+Ivan first ransacked the library, then he distributed his time
+equally. He thought no more of returning home. He enjoyed everything
+and went everywhere, never missing on the opera nights to pay a visit
+to the Countess Theudelinde's box on the grand tier.
+
+In the second week of his stay the countess gave her ball. Ivan was
+invited, and went.
+
+"Shall you dance?" asked the captain.
+
+"I haven't done so for fifteen years."
+
+"It suits men of our years to look on," remarked the marquis,
+languidly. "No man dances now after two-and-thirty."
+
+Looking on was pleasant enough. The nameless grace and wonderful
+agility displayed by the aristocratic, fashionable woman was a sight
+for the gods to admire. Countess Angela was to-night surpassing fair.
+She wore a rose-colored dress, with a body, in the Hungarian fashion,
+all studded with pearls; the sleeves were of lace. She had taken a
+fancy to dress her hair like the peasant girls, in two long tresses
+plaited with ribbons; it suited her to perfection. But men get tired
+of everything, even of a sight fit for the gods. After supper one said
+to the other:
+
+"Let us make use of our time; the young fellows can dance; let us play
+tarok."
+
+Ivan played cards every day. He played most games well; he never
+disputed with his partners. He could lose with a good grace; when he
+won was not elated. When he held bad cards he showed no ill-temper,
+and seldom made a mistake. He was looked upon as an acquisition, and
+for a _savant_ he was really a useful man. On this evening he was in
+exceptionally good-luck.
+
+Suddenly Count Edmund came into the card-room in a violent hurry. He
+said to Ivan:
+
+"Throw down your cards. Angela wishes to dance a turn of the Hungarian
+cotillon with you."
+
+Hungarian cotillon! Strange times, that we should have a Hungarian
+court, a Hungarian ministry, Hungarian silver and gold coins. That is
+nothing wonderful; it is only natural, it is fate, and due to us. But
+a Hungarian cotillon belongs to the day of agitators. We dance the
+cotillon to the air of "Cs�rd�s."
+
+Ivan obeyed Angela's mandate. When he came to her he bowed low before
+her.
+
+"You wouldn't have troubled yourself to come near me only I sent for
+you," she said, in a tone of gentle reproach.
+
+"Into the presence of a queen one doesn't intrude; we wait to be
+summoned."
+
+"Don't try and flatter me; if you do like the others I shall treat you
+as I do them, and not speak one word to you. I much prefer your way,
+although you are always offending me."
+
+"I do not remember to have ever offended you."
+
+"Because you do nothing else. You know that very well."
+
+It was now their turn; they joined the waltzers, and no one would have
+guessed that it was fifteen years since Ivan had danced.
+
+Meantime, in the card-room there was some gossip over this new whim of
+the young countess. Count Edmund, as he shuffled the cards, declared
+his cousin Angela was bewitched about this Ritter Magnet.
+
+"Ah, is that so?" cried the Marquis Salista.
+
+"Don't you believe him," interrupted Count Stefan. "I know our pretty
+Angela; she is as full of mischief as a kitten. As soon as she remarks
+that a man has a hobby-horse, she makes him ride it, puts it through
+all its paces, caracoling, leaping, _haute �cole_. This is her trick:
+once she knows the subject which interests a man, she talks of it with
+such an earnest face, such sympathetic eyes; and when he has left her,
+charmed at her intelligence, her sweetness, she ridicules the
+unfortunate devil. This is the way she treated poor Sondersheim, a
+very brave young fellow, who has only one fault, that he worships
+Angela, and she abhors him. She laughs at everybody."
+
+"That is true; but she praises Ivan, not to his face, but behind his
+back to me, and not because he is a man of science, a geologist, but
+because he is such a brave man."
+
+"That is another of her tricks; the artful puss knows right well that
+the praise which comes at third-hand is the sweetest of all flattery."
+
+"I take good care not to repeat one word to Ivan."
+
+"There you show him real friendship," remarked Salista, laughing.
+
+In the ball-room the dancers had returned to their places.
+
+"You were ready to leave Pesth," Angela was saying, with a charming
+pout. "You needn't deny it; the abb� told me."
+
+"Since then circumstances have detained me longer than I expected,"
+returned Ivan, coolly.
+
+"Have you got a family at home?"
+
+"I have no one belonging to me in the world."
+
+"And why have you not?"
+
+This was a searching question.
+
+"Perhaps you already know what my business is. I have a colliery; I
+work with the miners, and spend my day underground."
+
+"Ah, that explains everything," said Angela, regarding him with tender
+sympathy. "Now I understand that you are indeed right. It would be
+terrible to condemn a woman to the sufferings a miner's wife must
+endure. What can be more terrible than to take leave of her husband
+each morning, not knowing whether they will ever meet again; to know
+he is in the depths of the earth while she breathes the fresh air of
+heaven; to fancy her beloved is perhaps buried alive, and she cannot
+hear his cries for help; that even if it is not so, that he is
+surrounded by a deadly atmosphere, that it only needs a spark to
+become a hell, in which her darling would be lost to her forever? I
+can understand how a woman's heart would break under such a daily
+agony; even to her child she would say, 'Do not run so fast, else a
+stone may fall on your father's head and kill him.'" Then, with a
+sudden change of expression, Angela turned angrily to Ivan. "But why
+do you stay down in the mine like a common miner?"
+
+"Because it is my element, as the battle-field is that of the soldier,
+the sea of the sailor, the desert of the traveller. It is with me as
+it is with them--a passion. I love the mysterious darkness of the
+world underground."
+
+The warmth with which Ivan spoke these words kindled an answering
+enthusiasm in his listener.
+
+"Every passion is absorbing," she said, "especially the passion for
+creation and for destruction. I understand how a woman would follow a
+man she loved, not only to the field, but into the battle itself,
+although the art of war has now become a very prosaic and second-class
+affair, and has lost every trace of idealism. I confess, however, the
+heroism of the miner is to me incomprehensible. A man who occupies
+himself with dead, cold stones is to me like that Prince Badrul-Buder
+in the 'Arabian Nights,' who was turned into a stone, and whose wife
+preferred a living slave to her marble husband. I prefer those who
+penetrate to unknown regions of the globe, and I could envy the wife
+of Sir Samuel Baker, who travelled by his side all through the deserts
+of South Africa, holding in one hand a pistol, while the other hand
+was clasped in that of her husband. Together they bore the burning
+heat, together repulsed the savage wild beasts. Hand in hand they
+appeared before the King of Morocco, and what the arm of the husband
+failed to procure was given to the charms of the wife. I can place
+myself in the position of this woman, who, alone and deserted in the
+Mangave wood, sat through the livelong night with the head of the
+wounded traveller on her lap and a loaded pistol beside her. To heal
+his wounds she ventured into the woods and found herbs; for his food
+she contrived to cook in the desert. She did this for the only man she
+loved, whose only love she is and has ever been. Her name is known and
+revered in every place where Europeans have penetrated."
+
+Again they had to join the circle of dancers, and when they returned
+to their place Angela resumed the conversation:
+
+"What I said just now was sheer nonsense; the whole thing was the
+outcome of despicable vanity. A miserable idea to travel through
+countries where a woman is hardly to be distinguished from a beast,
+and that because she walks upright; where the ideal of beauty is to
+have the upper lip bored into a big hole, so that when laughing the
+nose is visible--ridiculous! And then to be proud because she was the
+most beautiful woman, and her husband perforce was faithful to her. A
+great thing, indeed, to be the queen of beauty amid monsters of
+ugliness! No, no; I know of something better, far bolder. A woman,
+Fraulein Christian, has accomplished a journey alone on horseback all
+across the steppes of Asia. What if a man and a woman had the courage
+to penetrate through the Polenia Canal to the warm seas discovered by
+Kane? or if a man and a woman had the courage to cast anchor in the
+regions of the north pole, and to the inhabitants of that magnetic
+kingdom boldly say, 'Compare yourselves with us; we are handsomer,
+stronger, more faithful, happier than you are'? That would be a
+triumph; and such a journey I would willingly undertake."
+
+As she said these words, Angela's eyes gleamed upon Ivan with the
+splendor of the aurora borealis. Ivan decided within himself upon a
+sudden experiment.
+
+"Countess, if you have the passion or desire to visit strange worlds,
+and to excite the benighted inhabitants to a proper emulation for
+something better, truer, more intellectual than that they have
+hitherto known, if this is really your laudable wish, I can recommend
+to your notice a country equally in need of such enlightenment, and
+infinitely nearer to you."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"It is Hungary."
+
+"But are we not in Hungary already?"
+
+"Countess, you are in it, but not of it. You are merely visiting us.
+You do not know what and who we are. You need not go so far as the
+poles or Abyssinia; here is a new world open to you, a large field
+where your passion for creating and improving can be easily
+gratified."
+
+Angela opened her fan, and with an air of indifference fanned her
+white bosom.
+
+"What can _I_ do? I am not my own mistress."
+
+"You are not your own mistress, and, nevertheless, you rule."
+
+"Over whom?"
+
+"Countess, it would only need one word from you to bring the green
+palace and all it contains from Vienna to Pesth. The society here
+requires that leading personality which now in Vienna is lost among
+the crowd, whose existence is spent in aimless inaction. Pesth needs
+the prince, your grandfather. He adores you. One word from you would
+give to our life a new being; one word from you and Prince Theobald
+would reside here."
+
+Angela ceased fanning herself; with an angry gesture she folded her
+hands, and turned an angry look upon Ivan.
+
+"Do you know that the subject you have just mentioned is so
+distasteful to me that any one who has ventured to name it to me has
+forfeited my acquaintance?"
+
+"I am quite aware of the fact, countess."
+
+"And why have you dared to approach the subject?"
+
+"I will tell you, countess. Because of an old connection between our
+families."
+
+"Ah, that is something quite new. I have never heard of it."
+
+"Possibly not. One of your ancestors was a cardinal, and one of mine
+was a minister in Patak--a great difference in their relative
+positions, no doubt; and this difference had a terrible result for my
+ancestor. The cardinal condemned him to the galleys for life. The
+minister had, however, only one word to speak, as the cardinal told
+him, and he would be free. That word was _abrenuncio_--'I renounce,'
+or 'recant.' He would not say the word, however, and so he went to the
+galleys. As they were putting round his neck the iron collar, from
+which the chains hang which fasten the slave to his bench, your
+ancestor, the cardinal, who was not a hard-hearted man, with tears in
+his eyes entreated my ancestor to say the word 'abrenuncio.' The
+minister, however, not only refused, but called out 'Non abrenuncio.'
+In the same manner I now stand opposite to you and repeat the same
+words--'Non abrenuncio.' This is the _rapport_ between us. Would you
+treat me as the cardinal did my ancestor?"
+
+Countess Angela tapped her fan upon her knee as she whispered between
+her small white teeth, and with a cruel smile upon her lips:
+
+"What a pity that those days are past! If I were in the place of my
+ancestor I would order you to have iron goads driven under your
+nails."
+
+At this formidable threat Ivan burst out laughing. After a minute
+Angela followed his example and laughed also.
+
+It was rather a bold experiment to meet the young beauty's wrath with
+a burst of laughter, but it was a good answer to her foolish speech.
+The countess felt now that she had given cause for laughter; but she
+was offended, nevertheless, and with a haughty look at the offender
+she seated herself.
+
+Ivan did not move from her side. A cotillon, even though it be the
+"Hungarian," has its uses. One partner cannot leave the other if they
+wish to separate.
+
+In the meantime a young man, one of the stupid persons of society,
+came to Ivan and whispered in his ear that Edmund sent him to say he
+should return to his game; the luck had changed, and the heap of gold
+Ivan had left was lost.
+
+"Tell him he has done well," returned Ivan; and he took his
+pocket-book from his breast-pocket and handed it to the messenger.
+"Tell him to make use of what is in this," he said, "and lose it, if
+necessary." And he remained where he was.
+
+Angela never turned her head to him again. The cotillon lasted a long
+time; Count Geza, who led it, wished to show that the Hungarian
+presented as many opportunities for new figures as the German
+cotillon, and the demonstration lasted two hours. Ivan remained to the
+end, although Angela preserved her cold silence. When they had to join
+in the waltz circle she leaned on his shoulder, her fingers pressed
+his, her breath touched his face; when she returned to her place she
+resumed her coldness, and kept her head steadily averted.
+
+When the cotillon was over Edmund brought Ivan the news that this long
+dance had cost him a thousand gulden. Ivan shrugged his shoulders, as
+if the loss didn't concern him.
+
+"Wonderful man!" thought Edmund. Presently he said to his cousin:
+
+"It seems that you kept Ritter Magnet all to yourself, my pretty
+cousin."
+
+Angela raised her white shoulder to him, while she said, angrily:
+
+"This man has bored me for a long time."
+
+From the moment that these words were spoken by the queen of fashion a
+marked change took place in the opinion of the world as to Ivan's
+merits. He was no longer considered a capital fellow, but was looked
+upon as a pushing _parvenu_. Angela said nothing more, but this one
+sentence conveyed much. There are men of low origin whose own vanity
+misinterprets the true meaning of the condescension shown to them by
+those above them in station, and by so doing make terrible mistakes
+which must be punished. Such bold _parvenus_ must be taught to curb
+their wishes. Ivan was counted as one of these. The foolish man had
+imagined that a high-born lady, a Bondavara, because she was
+patriotic, would, forsooth, stoop to such as he; he had mistaken her
+graciousness for the encouragement she might give to one of her own
+class. He must be ostracized, and that speedily.
+
+The signal had been given by those words of the countess's: "He has
+for a long time bored me." The first means taken under such
+circumstances is to make the offender ridiculous. This can be done in
+different ways. The victim remarks that his weak points are held up,
+that he is never left in peace, that he is perpetually placed in
+situations which are arranged to make him a laughing-stock. Not that
+any one is rude enough to laugh at him openly; on the contrary, they
+are most polite to him, but it is a politeness that provokes laughter.
+He soon finds that no one is his friend, no one makes any intimacy
+with him, although no one actually insults him; but if he is a man of
+any intelligence he soon feels that he is not one of the society, and
+that his best part will be to take his hat and go.
+
+This happened now to Ivan, but his habitual phlegm did not desert him;
+he understood the situation, and was determined to stand his ground to
+the bitter end. He was invited to take part in an amateur opera, made
+up of most aristocratic personages; it was done on purpose to subject
+him to a mortification. He was given the _r�le_ of the "King." He made
+a sensation; his voice was a fine, melodious bass. Angela was the
+"Elvira"; Salista, "Ernani"; but the "King" was the favorite.
+
+"The devil is in the man," growled the marquis. "He has been an actor,
+I'll bet."
+
+On another occasion he was invited to a fox-hunt at Count Stefan's
+splendid hunting-seat near Pesth. The _�lite_ of the country round
+gathered at these hunts, which took place in the beginning of the
+season. It was arranged that Ivan should be mounted on a fiery
+Arabian. This was considered a great joke. It would be such fun to see
+the quiet book-worm in the saddle; he would have to cling on, for the
+Arabian would hardly allow his owner to ride. It would be rare sport.
+But here was another disappointment; Ivan sat the fiery racer as if he
+had grown in the saddle. When Salista saw him mounted, he muttered
+between his teeth:
+
+"The devil is in the fellow. I would take a bet he has been a hussar."
+
+Countess Angela took part in the first run at Count Stefan's. She sat
+her horse splendidly; she was quite at home in the field.
+
+About ten sportsmen drew the first cover; the hounds had the fox out
+of the bushes, and the cavalcade rode after Renard, who took his
+course over a slope of a hill, which was divided by a cleft in the
+rock, at the bottom of which ran a mountain stream. The fox took
+refuge in this cleft; he probably thought he might find there an empty
+fox-hole, into which he might sneak. In any case he might escape by
+the skin of his teeth, as the horses could not venture to follow him.
+It was a chance, for if the dogs hunted him out of the burrow he could
+make tracks by the right-hand side. The hunt was on the left.
+
+"Forward!" cried the daring Countess Angela, and put her horse to leap
+the cleft.
+
+It was a breakneck jump. How many will risk their lives to follow her?
+When she reached the other side she turned and looked back. Ivan was
+beside her. The dogs pursued the fox, who had taken to the stream; the
+rest of the hunt galloped along the left side of the chasm. Angela
+thought as little about them as they did of her. In every one's mind
+there was only one idea--the fox. The countess rode at the very edge
+of the chasm, taking no heed of the dizzy height she was on and the
+dangerous depths into which one false step of her horse might
+precipitate her. She followed poor Renard, who was seeking an outlet,
+distracted as he was by his pursuers. Suddenly he rushed out through
+the riders on the left bank and took to the woods.
+
+"After him! Tally ho!" resounded along the hillside, and soon fox,
+dogs, and horsemen were lost to Angela's sight. At once she turned
+her horse's bridle; she made for a short-cut through the mountain,
+over which she meant to jump her horse, and so join the hunt without
+loss of time. She never looked back to see if Ivan followed her, but
+galloped up the steep mountain-side, sitting her horse in splendid
+style. At the turn of the path a hare suddenly broke from the cover
+under the horse's feet. The animal shied, and swerved violently to one
+side, throwing the countess out of the saddle. In the fall the long
+skirt of her habit got entangled in the saddle and kept her fastened
+to the horse. Her head hung, with all her hair streaming on the
+ground. The frightened horse ran towards the crevice; if he dragged
+his rider down its side her head would be battered to pieces by the
+trunks of the trees. Ivan fortunately caught his bridle in time. He
+freed the foolhardy rider from the saddle; she was unconscious. Ivan
+laid her upon the soft turf, and pillowed her head upon the stump of a
+moss-grown tree. Then he saw how the fall had disarranged her dress.
+The malachite buttons had come off the body of her habit, and the
+bodice was treacherously open. Ivan drew from his necktie his
+breast-pin, and with it closed the countess's corselet.
+
+When Angela came to herself she was alone. Both the horses were tied
+to a tree by their bridles. In the distance through the gathering mist
+she saw a man coming towards her from the valley below. It was Ivan,
+who had gone to fill his hunting-flask with water. The countess rose
+at once to her feet; she needed no help. Ivan offered her the water;
+she thanked him, but said she was quite herself. Ivan threw the water
+away.
+
+"I think it would be well if you were to return to the castle."
+
+"I will do so."
+
+"It is not far. I know a short way through the wood. We can lead the
+horses."
+
+"Very well," returned the countess, submissively. But when she looked
+at her dress and saw how it was fastened a hot blush covered her face.
+When she was in the shade of the wood she turned to Ivan, and said,
+suddenly, "Have you ever heard of Julia Gonzaga?"
+
+"No, countess."
+
+"She was the Chatelaine of Fondi. Barbarossa had surprised Fondi in
+the night and carried off Julia. A noble knight came to her rescue,
+and she escaped with him from the freebooter. It was in the night, and
+she had to ride barefooted, for she had just risen from her couch. Do
+you know how she rewarded her deliverer? She stabbed him through the
+heart with the first dagger that came to her hand."
+
+"And she did right," returned Ivan. "A strange man should not have
+seen her naked feet."
+
+"And the man?" asked Angela.
+
+"Ah, poor fellow! he had the misfortune of enjoying too much
+happiness."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+ONLY A TRIFLE
+
+
+The fox was taken. Out of the far distance a triumphant "Halali!" was
+heard, and then the horn sounded to collect the scattered members of
+the hunt. Countess Angela and her escort were by this time at the
+border of the wood. Ivan sounded his horn in answer to the summons,
+and to show the others that they were already on their way home. They
+arrived at the castle a quarter of an hour before the rest of the
+company. Then they separated, and did not meet again until
+supper-time. The huntsmen spent the interval talking over the day's
+exploits, and the ladies were occupied with their toilettes.
+
+Countess Angela told her aunt what had happened. She was incapable of
+any sort of deceit. Lies, which come so easily to the lips of some
+women, were impossible to her. If she did not tell a thing she kept
+silent; but to speak what was not true--never! But what if Ivan
+related to the men what had occurred? It was so much the habit to talk
+over the day's sport, and make a jest of everything. Why should he not
+make capital of such an adventure--a rescued lady--a beauty in
+_d�shabille_?
+
+When supper-time came it struck every one that the countess had a
+constrained manner, and closer observers noticed that she avoided
+looking at Ivan. She was dressed all in black, which was, perhaps,
+the reason that she was so pale. She was silent and preoccupied; she
+was wondering if they all knew what Ivan knew. The gentlemen tried to
+amuse her. They were full of the day's run, how the fox had doubled,
+how they thought they would never catch him, how they regretted that
+the countess had not been present, how unfortunate it was that she had
+been on the opposite side of the mountain, but that it was far better
+for her to have lost the run than to have ventured to leap the
+crevice. That would, indeed, have been madness; an accident would
+certainly have been the result. No one alluded to the fact that she
+had met an ugly one; but, then, well-bred people never do allude to
+anything unpleasant, which, though otherwise agreeable, has this
+drawback, that one never knows how much or how little they know.
+
+It was a remark of her cousin Edmund that convinced Angela eventually
+that Ivan had kept his own counsel as to her accident.
+
+"Did Behrend accompany you to the house?" he asked. (No one now called
+him Ritter Magnet, nor were there any familiar jokes with him).
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And his escort was not agreeable to you?"
+
+"What makes you say that?" inquired Angela, hastily.
+
+"From Ivan's manner; he seems terribly down in his luck. He hasn't a
+word to say to a dog, and he avoids looking at you. Don't you remark
+it? You have, I think, made the place too hot for him; he won't stay
+longer. Have I guessed right?"
+
+"Yes, quite right."
+
+"Shall I give him a hint to go?"
+
+"Do, for my sake; but without harshness. I will not have him
+offended."
+
+"Do you think I am such a bungler? I have an excellent plan to get him
+away quietly."
+
+"You must tell me what it is. I am not vexed with the man, only he
+bores me. Do you understand? I won't have him driven away by any of
+you; but if he goes by his own free choice, I should be glad if he
+were at the antipodes."
+
+"Well, I have no objection to tell you what I mean to do. This man is
+a scholar, a philosopher, as you know. He holds very different
+opinions from us who live in the world. For one thing, he abhors
+duelling. Don't spoil your pretty face by frowning. I am not going to
+call him out, neither is any one else, so far as I know; that would be
+a stupid joke. But this evening, in the smoking-room, Salista and I
+will get up a dispute about some trifle or another; the end of it will
+be a challenge. I will ask Behrend and Geza to be my seconds. Now,
+what will happen? If Behrend refuses, which is most likely, he will
+have to withdraw from our party--that is the etiquette--and we will
+have nothing more to say to him. If, on the contrary, he accepts, then
+the other seconds will manage to fall out about the arrangements of
+our meeting--Salista's and mine--and the regular consequence of such a
+falling out is that the seconds challenge one another; then our
+philosopher packs up his traps, thanks us for our hospitality, goes
+back to brew his gas. He doesn't fight, not he; for I hold that,
+although it is within the bounds of possibility that even a
+philosopher, if deeply insulted, may have recourse to his pistol to
+punish the offender, yet, when it is a matter of pure, worldly
+etiquette, it is only your born gentleman who will stand up in a
+duel."
+
+"But suppose he does consent to fight this duel?"
+
+"Then my plot has failed. We should then have a sort of court-martial,
+and it would have to decide that no offence was meant and none given.
+We would all shake hands, and the little comedy would be at an end."
+
+Angela yawned, as if weary of the subject. "Do as you like," she said.
+"But take care. This man can show his teeth; he can bite."
+
+"Leave that to me."
+
+That evening at supper the conversation was purposely turned on
+duelling, for the purpose of convincing Angela that Ivan's views on
+the subject were sound as regarded his own safety. The opportunity
+offered, for the latest event in fashionable life was a duel, in which
+the only son of a well-known and distinguished family had lost his
+life for some silly dispute about a trifle.
+
+"I hold the duel to be not merely a mistake, but a crime," said Ivan.
+"It is flying in the face of God to take the law into our own hands.
+The _Te Deum_ which the conqueror sings over his murderous act is a
+disgrace; it cries to Heaven for vengeance. The appeal to weapons as
+satisfaction is likewise an offence against society, for it hinders
+the possibility of telling the truth. The man who tells us our faults
+openly to our face is a benefactor, but by the present laws of society
+we are bound to challenge him, and to kill him if we can; we have no
+other course, so it must be false compliments or the duello."
+
+Edmund continued the discussion. "I take a different view of the
+matter," he said. "If duelling were not a law of society it would be
+in a sense a denial of God's mercy, for if you look at it in this way
+it cannot be denied that one man is weak, another man strong, and
+that this is a decree of Providence. The result of this difference in
+many instances would be that the weaker would be the slave of the
+stronger, who could box his ears, insult him, and all the law would
+give him would be, perhaps, a couple of pounds. This chasm between the
+law of God and the law of man is filled by the pistol-ball, which puts
+the strong and the weak on the same level. The pistol is not a judge,
+for it often decides the cause unjustly. Nevertheless, this unwritten
+law, and the respect, not to say fear, it infuses, has a salutary
+effect, and makes it impossible for the bully to tyrannize over a man
+of more education but less physical strength."
+
+"But that it should be so is a crime of society," answered Ivan. "A
+false sentiment of honor has dictated this law. The world has no right
+to make such a rule; it should honor those equally, be they poor or
+rich, well-born or humble, who keep the law of the land as it is
+constituted. But what does society do? If a gentleman gets a box on
+the ear from another, and does not immediately demand satisfaction for
+the insult, and, _nolens volens_, make himself a target to be shot at
+by perhaps a better marksman than himself, what happens? He is at once
+dishonored; society ostracizes him. The world, if it pretend to any
+justice in the matter, should reform this absurd principle, and punish
+the man who has given the first offence. Then society, and not a
+leaden ball, would be judge."
+
+"That is all very fine in theory, my dear sir; but I ask you, as a man
+of honor, to put yourself in the position in which, for some reason or
+another, you find it necessary to have satisfaction for an affront."
+
+"I could not imagine myself placed in any such position," Ivan
+answered, quietly. "I offend no one intentionally, and should I do so
+inadvertently, I would at once apologize. I give no man the
+opportunity to asperse my honor, and if he were foolish enough to do
+so I would call upon those who know, and I should deem myself indeed
+unfortunate if they did not clear me of any such accusation."
+
+"But suppose the honor of some one near and dear to you were
+attacked?"
+
+"I have no one who stands to me in that close relationship."
+
+This last remark cut short the discussion. Nevertheless, before many
+hours had passed the Marquis Salista proved to Ivan that there was one
+person whose good name was dear to him.
+
+It was at supper, and Angela was present. The marquis was entertaining
+her with anecdotes of the revolution, in which he had taken part. He
+was bragging fearfully that when he was lieutenant of the cuirassiers
+he performed prodigies. At the battle of Izsasseg, with only a handful
+of men, he routed the entire regiment of Lehel Hussars, and at Alt
+Gzoney he cut the Wilhelm Hussars to pieces, and didn't spare a man.
+
+Not a feature in Ivan's face moved. He listened silently to these
+wonderful tales. Angela at last grew weary of all this boasting and
+glorification of the Austrians over the degraded Hungarians; she
+turned to Ivan, and put to him a direct question:
+
+"Is this all true?"
+
+Ivan shrugged his shoulders. "What can I, a poor miner who lives
+underground, know of what goes on on the surface of the great earth?"
+
+Angela need not have anxiety about him. He is a philosopher, and there
+is no fear he will go too near the fire.
+
+After supper the company separated; Count Stefan, with Countess
+Theudelinde and some other ladies, went into the drawing-room. The
+moon shone through the bow-windows. The countess played the piano, and
+Angela came and spoke to Ivan.
+
+"Here is your pin," she said. "You know the old superstition--a
+present of sharp-pointed instruments dissolves friendship, and those
+who wish to be friends never give them?"
+
+"But," answered Ivan, smiling, "the superstition provides an antidote
+which breaks the spell. Both friends must laugh over the present."
+
+"Ah, that is why you laughed when I spoke of the iron goads. There,
+take back your pin, and let us laugh for superstition's sake!"
+
+And they laughed together, because it was a superstition so to do.
+Then Angela went out on the balcony, and took counsel from the soft
+air of the summer's evening; she leaned over the balustrade, waiting
+for Count Edmund, who had promised to bring her the first news of how
+the plot had worked.
+
+The gentlemen stayed late in the smoking-room; the night is their time
+for enjoying themselves, so Angela had a long vigil. The moon had long
+disappeared behind the high tops of the poplar-trees before Angela
+heard Edmund's step coming through the drawing-room to the bow-window.
+The ladies were still playing the piano; they could talk unreservedly.
+
+"Well, what has happened?" asked Angela.
+
+Edmund was agitated. "Our trifle has turned out a rank piece of
+folly," he said, crossly.
+
+"How?"
+
+"I should not tell you, Angela, but the situation is such that it
+would be wrong to conceal anything from you. We had it all arranged
+just as I told you. When we were in the smoking-room we began to play
+our practical joke. Some one said how pleased you seemed to be with
+Hungary--"
+
+"Oh, how stupid of you!" said Angela, angrily.
+
+"I know now it was a stupid thing to do. I wish I had seen it before;
+but it always happens the knowledge comes too late."
+
+"What business had you, or any one, to mention my name? I gave no
+permission to have it done."
+
+"I know, I know; but in men's society, unfortunately, no one asks a
+lady's permission to mention her name. It was only a joke. It had been
+settled among us that I, being your cousin, should protest against
+this chatter in connection with your name; then Salista was to say
+that he knew well that what kept you in Pesth was the fine eyes of a
+certain gentleman, that I was to get angry, and forbid him to say any
+more, and that then we should get up the mock duel."
+
+Angela was trembling with anger, but, anxious to hear more, she
+controlled herself with difficulty.
+
+"I never heard such a childish joke," she said. "It was a college
+trick."
+
+"It would have been good for us all if it had ended like a college
+trick. When I told you that we had prepared a trick you approved of
+it, Angela; you know you did. None of us thought for a moment that it
+would end as it has done. Behrend was sitting at the chess-table;
+Salista was opposite to him, leaning against the chimney-piece. After
+Salista had said the words, 'I know that a certain pair of eyes keeps
+Countess Angela in Pesth,' and before I had time to make the answer
+agreed upon, Ivan threw down the gauntlet. 'That is a lie!' he said."
+
+"Ah!" cried Angela, while an electric thrill ran through her veins.
+
+"We all sprang to our feet; the joke had ended badly. Salista grew
+pale; he had not counted upon this. 'Sir,' he said to Behrend, 'take
+back that word of yours; it is a word that in my life no man has said
+to me.'"
+
+"And Behrend?" asked Angela, seizing Edmund's hand.
+
+"Behrend stood up from the table, and answered quietly, in a cold
+voice, 'It is possible that up to the present you have given no
+occasion for this reproach to be cast in your face; but to-night I
+repeat that you have lied.' Then he left the room. I ran after him to
+try and smooth down matters. I met him in the hall. He turned to me
+and said, quietly, 'My dear friend, you know what must now happen. I
+beg that you will ask Count Geza in my name, and that you and he will
+be my seconds. You will communicate to me what has been settled; all
+is in your hands.' In this way he invited me to play the part which I
+had destined for him. Now he is the duellist, and I am the second. I
+tried to drive him into a corner. I represented to him that it was not
+his right to throw down the gauntlet for the Countess Angela. He
+answered, 'It is the right and the duty of every gentleman to protect
+the lady whose guest he is.' This answer, from a chivalrous point of
+view, is perfectly correct, but it sounds strangely from the lips of
+the man who a couple of hours ago told us there was no one in the
+world for whose good name he would fight a duel."
+
+Angela sank back in her chair. "Oh, what terrible folly it has all
+been!" she wailed. "No, no, this duel cannot be! I shall prevent it!"
+
+"I wish you would tell me what means you intend to take to prevent
+it."
+
+"I will at once speak with Ivan Behrend--this moment; do you hear?"
+
+"Unfortunately, that is impossible. When he left me he gave the order
+to put his horses to. There, you hear those wheels? That is his
+carriage. Geza has gone with him, and we four are to follow him
+presently. One cannot arrange this sort of thing in a strange house;
+that is done only on the stage. The principals must wait in their own
+houses to hear what we have decided to do."
+
+"But, my God! I will not let it be done; do you hear? I will speak to
+Uncle Stefan."
+
+"I have told you everything, so that our sudden departure should not
+surprise you; but I can tell you exactly what Count Stefan will
+say--that no fuss must be made; let the whole thing be done quickly
+and quietly. The seconds, too, must act with great prudence, and not
+irritate the principals by much delay."
+
+"What do you mean by saying the seconds should act with prudence?"
+
+"So far as depends upon them they must determine the issue of the
+duel, and either soften or accentuate the conditions according to
+circumstances. In this case we will soften. Your name will not appear
+as the cause of the challenge. We will induce Behrend to say that he
+used the word 'lie' in connection with Salista's expressions
+concerning the Hungarian troops. This plausible ground for a challenge
+will be accepted as sufficient by both sides, and in this way your
+name need never be mentioned."
+
+"But I do not care! What does that matter? If any one is killed for my
+sake--"
+
+"Compose yourself, my dear cousin; the seconds will be prudent. We
+shall place them thirty feet apart, and give them worn-out pistols
+with which, at half the distance, the aim would be uncertain; then we
+shall not allow them to take aim more than a minute, and you may be
+certain if they were both as thick as an elephant and protected like
+robin red-breasts they couldn't be safer; they may fire away for hours
+and never hit one another. Now, my dear child, be sensible, I beg of
+you. When you have a husband he will have many an affair of this kind
+upon his hands, and all for your beautiful eyes. But I must be going,
+the carriage is at the door, and we start at daylight."
+
+And Edmund took himself off with a hasty good-bye.
+
+This little joke had spoiled all the sport. The loss of six men made
+it impossible to continue hunting the next day; therefore every one
+resolved to return to Pesth in the morning. The night was disturbed.
+The companion of the Countess Angela, who slept in her room, told
+everyone that her mistress had hardly slept a wink, that she was
+constantly getting up and lighting the candle, saying that it must be
+daylight and time to set off for the city.
+
+The next morning, at ten o'clock, when all the guests had left, and
+Countess Theudelinde and her suite were already in Pesth, Countess
+Angela went to her room, and walked up and down restlessly until about
+eleven o'clock, when Count Edmund was announced.
+
+He came in pale and disturbed, and Angela, who tried to read his face,
+concluded that something had happened.
+
+"In God's name, what is it?" she asked. "Who is hurt?"
+
+"No one," replied Edmund, dryly; "but the affair is in a worse state
+than it was."
+
+"Has the duel taken place?"
+
+"Yes and no. It has begun, but is not finished."
+
+"I do not understand."
+
+"I own it is something quite new. I have never known such a thing in
+my experience. If you wish, I will tell you all about it."
+
+"Oh, for Heaven's sake, do!"
+
+"As agreed, I called at Behrend's house at six o'clock to fetch him;
+Geza went on with the doctor. When we got to Lassloosky, Salista was
+just getting out of his carriage. Ivan lifted his cap and wished him
+good-morning; he probably did not know that this is not usual. The
+principals never greet one another. Salista did not return his bow,
+although he might have done so, seeing that Ivan was evidently
+ignorant of the proper etiquette. From Lassloosky we all drove
+together to Leopold's Field, where we got out of the carriages and
+went on foot through the forest. When we reached the appointed place,
+a clearing in the wood, we stopped, and the seconds on both sides
+asked the principals, according to precedent, whether they would not
+make up their difference. Both sides refused. Upon which we measured
+the distance, marked the barrier with our pocket-handkerchiefs, and
+loaded the pistols. When this was over, the principals, who had been
+pulling blades of grass and standing about, took their places. We
+handed them their pistols; the signal was given by Geza clapping his
+hands. Salista made two steps forward and shot. Just as I expected, he
+did not hit his man. Ivan called out in a loud voice, 'To the
+barrier!' and Salista advanced to where the white pocket-handkerchief
+lay, while Ivan went to his barrier. Then he said, addressing Salista,
+'You did not return my salutation, but if I hit your head-piece you
+will have to take off your cap to me.' He then took aim; the
+half-minute during which he held his pistol showed us his nerve was
+perfect. The pistol went off, and Salista stood opposite his adversary
+bareheaded; his helmet lay two perches behind him, with the gold rose
+torn from its front."
+
+"Ah!" cried Angela.
+
+"This man shoots as well as Robin Hood. We loaded the pistols again,
+because, according to the agreement, they were to have three shots
+each."
+
+"Three shots!" exclaimed Angela.
+
+"Yes. We all agreed it was better to have the affair on a proper
+footing, so far as the conditions went. Thirty steps is a great
+distance; besides, the pistols were bad. In addition, both men were
+wrapped up to the chin; one had a black coat, the other a dark gray
+military cloak--colors bad for hitting; and both had their
+shirt-collars concealed. There was not a point about either that would
+serve for a target. But the cap business had changed the nature of the
+whole affair, and made much bad blood. It proved, for one thing, that
+Behrend was a first-rate shot, and this put Salista's military spirit
+on its metal. The barriers were withdrawn for the second shot. Salista
+took off his gray cloak, tied back his hussar jacket, so that his red
+waistcoat and white shirt stood out clear, and instead of standing, as
+is usual in a duel, with one side to your adversary, he presented to
+him a full front, and this with red and white, the best colors, as
+every one knows, for a mark. Yes, and while we were loading the
+pistols, what do you think he did? But Salista is a madman when he is
+roused! He took his cigar-case out of his pocket, and lighted one to
+show his indifference. For the second time it was his turn to begin.
+He took much more pains than the first time; in fact, he was such a
+time taking aim that we had to call to him to shoot. Again he missed.
+The leaves of the branches under which Ivan stood fell upon his head;
+the ball had gone into the tree."
+
+Angela shuddered.
+
+"Ivan now addressed his opponent. 'Sir,' he said, 'it is not fitting
+that at such a supreme moment as this you should smoke a cigar.'
+Salista made no answer, but stood fronting Behrend; his face was
+slightly turned to one side, and he blew clouds of smoke into the air.
+Ivan raised his pistol for a second, took deliberate aim, then a sharp
+report, and Salista's cigar flew from his mouth into space."
+
+An involuntary smile spread over Angela's lips, but it was gone in an
+instant, and her face resumed its immovable expression, as if cut out
+of stone.
+
+Count Edmund went on. "In a fury Salista threw his pistol upon the
+ground. 'The devil take me,' he cried, stamping with rage, 'if I shoot
+any more with this man! He is Beelzebub in person. He has shot the cap
+from my head, the cigar from my mouth, and the third time he will
+shoot the spurs from my boots. He shoots all round me; he is like a
+Chinese juggler. I will not shoot any more with him; that's flat!' His
+seconds in vain tried to persuade him; he would not listen to them; he
+was furious; he would hear nothing. He wasn't going to be such a fool
+as to stand up there to be a mark for a second William Tell, who would
+not only shoot the apple from his head, but aim right at his heart. If
+they wanted to have a fair fight, with all his heart--but let it be
+with swords; then one would see who was the best man. We all talked to
+him, told him not to play the fool, that he must stand his adversary's
+fire no matter where he was shot, in his spur or his head. The
+duellist has no power to refuse; he is in the hands of his seconds. At
+last Behrend got curious to know what the row was about; he called to
+me and Geza, and we had to tell him that Salista would not stand
+another shot, but had demanded that the duel should be decided by
+swords. To our surprise Ivan answered, coolly, 'With all my heart.
+Give us the sabres.' 'Do you consent?' 'I consent to fight with
+scythes if he wishes.' So it was agreed. Salista's seconds heard this
+discussion with great satisfaction; they were very much put out by his
+outbreak, it being quite unusual to change the weapons in a duel; and
+there would have been a regular scandal if Ivan had used his right of
+refusing any such alteration in the conditions under which the duel
+was to be fought."
+
+"And you have allowed such an innovation to be made?" said Angela,
+looking at her cousin with contracted eyebrows.
+
+"Certainly, when the challenger has agreed to it."
+
+"It was shameful of you!" Angela continued, with suppressed tears in
+her voice--"ungenerous to allow such an unequal fight. One man has
+practised fencing all his life; it is his profession; the other has
+never had a sword in his hand."
+
+"The fight will be drawn at the first blood," said Edmund, in a
+soothing voice.
+
+"But you had no right to agree to such a bloodthirsty idea; you have
+overstepped your duty as second. You should have said to Salista's
+seconds that the affair should conclude then or never."
+
+"That is quite true; and we should have done so, only Behrend chose to
+interfere."
+
+"You should not have allowed it; you could have stopped it. When does
+the duel take place?"
+
+"As we had no swords we could not fight this morning. It is against
+the law to have a duel in the afternoon, therefore we have postponed
+the second meeting until to-morrow at daylight."
+
+"Before daylight to-morrow I will put a stop to the duel."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"I shall speak to Behrend; I shall explain everything to him."
+
+"If you tell him that this affair has arisen out of a joke, the result
+will be that, instead of fighting a duel with one man, Behrend will
+have six duels on his hands."
+
+"I will tell him in such a way that he will not ask to fight with any
+of you."
+
+"Then you will have ruined Salista."
+
+"How so? What has he to do with it?"
+
+"If this half-finished _rencontre_ gets wind, and it reaches the ears
+of the authorities that an officer refused his adversary's third fire,
+Salista will have to leave his regiment, he will be received nowhere,
+and he would have to go back to the pope's army as zouave."
+
+"For my part, I don't care if he becomes the devil's zouave! What do I
+care about him? Let him go to the Sultan of Dahomey. He is only fit to
+be the general of his army. For my part, he may go quite to the bad;
+he is half-way there already. But who cares what happens to him? _I_
+don't. Your duty is clear; you should protect your man. Isn't that
+so?"
+
+Edmund looked with astonishment at the excitement into which the
+countess had thrown herself; she was trembling, and her eyes gleamed
+with passion.
+
+"This is quite a new view of the affair," he said. "If you look upon
+it in this light, I must agree that we have been wrong, and you most
+certainly right. I shall go at once and look for Geza; we will both
+repair to Behrend, and tell him our opinion."
+
+He bowed low before his cousin, and left. In an hour he returned. He
+found Angela in the same place.
+
+"Well, what is done? Is it all settled?"
+
+"Listen. Geza and I went to Ivan. I explained to him that we
+considered it our duty not to infringe the conditions laid down in
+such matters, and that we were resolved not to allow the duel with
+swords to proceed. He pressed both our hands warmly. 'I thank you,' he
+said, 'for the friendship you have shown me, and since your
+convictions will not allow you to stand by me in this affair, I shall
+not try to persuade you. I shall go to the nearest barracks, the Karls
+Kaserne, and I shall tell the first two officers I may meet that I am
+engaged in an affair of honor to be fought with swords, that I am a
+stranger in the town, and that I throw myself upon their kindness to
+be my seconds.'"
+
+Angela, with a despairing gesture, clasped her hands together.
+
+"You said the truth," continued Edmund, "when you prophesied that this
+man would show his teeth. He has the grip of a bull-dog when he gets
+an idea. We told him that Salista was a celebrated swordsman. He took
+it quite coolly. 'If the devil himself was my adversary, I should look
+him in the face,' was all he said."
+
+Angela sat down and hid her face in her hands.
+
+"We had no other course than to assure him, so far as our services
+went, he was free to make use of us. So it was settled. We go for him
+to-morrow at daybreak. How it will all end, God only knows!"
+
+With these words Edmund took himself away. Angela never noticed he had
+left the room.
+
+That night she never lay down. All through the long hours of the night
+she walked to and fro in her room. When fatigue forced her to sit
+down for a moment she could not rest. Once only the thought that was
+in her mind found expression in words:
+
+"I have treated him as Julia Gonzaga treated the man who saved her
+life."
+
+When daylight broke she threw herself, dressed as she was, upon her
+bed. The maid next morning found the pillow, in which she had buried
+her face, wet with tears.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THIRTY-THREE PARTS
+
+
+It must certainly be said of our philosopher that he was acting
+somewhat inconsistently. He had left his home and property, where he
+had lived a simple country life amid his own people, happy in the
+study of those mysterious powers--fire and water; he had abandoned all
+his scientific pursuits to belong to a world to which he was, and must
+ever be, a stranger, feeling more or less like a fish upon dry land.
+Even his science he had turned into a farce, so bringing it into
+disgrace. He had lent himself to lectures and tableaux, to singing
+operas, and dancing Hungarian cotillons, to hunting foxes at breakneck
+speed, to rescuing beautiful ladies, mixing himself up therewhile in
+the affairs of noble families, to fighting duels with officers for the
+sake of lovely countesses, and running the risk of being sabred by an
+intemperate savage! It was no wonder that, reviewing all this, Ivan
+should say to himself, "Good heavens, what an ass I have made, and am
+making, of myself! What have I to do with all the nonsense that goes
+on in this fashionable world of Pesth? Above all, what is it to me
+whether Countess Angela is at war with her grandfather, whether she
+goes to Vienna, or whether he comes to Pesth? Why is it necessary for
+me to remain here, leading such an uncongenial life, apparently
+without any object?--and, although I have an object, yet if this were
+known to the world I should be considered an even greater fool than I
+am at present deemed to be."
+
+Now, as Ivan's reflections have been made public, it is only proper
+that the reason of his apparently objectless conduct should be laid
+before the reader of these pages, so that he or she may be in a
+position to judge whether he was a fool or a wise man, or something
+between the two--a man of sentiment and feeling, who does what his
+heart commands him to do. With some natures the heart cannot be
+silenced; it has its rights. We may remember that when the Abb� Samuel
+paid his first visit to Ivan, he found that gentleman in the act of
+writing a refusal to the Countess Theudelinde's invitation; that he
+was, in fact, upon the point of returning to Bondavara, and that the
+arrival of a letter changed all his plans, and was the cause of his
+remaining in Pesth. This letter came from Vienna; the writer was a
+certain pianist whose name had been for some years mentioned among the
+first class of artists--Arpad Belenyi.
+
+Nearly fourteen years before our story began Ivan had lived for a long
+time in the house of the Belenyis. We shall know later what he did
+there. Arpad was at that time a child of five years old; he was
+already counted a prodigy, and could play long pieces upon the piano.
+At that time warlike and patriotic marches were all the fashion. One
+day the bread-winner of the family, the father, died suddenly. The
+widow was in despair, especially for her orphaned boy. Ivan consoled
+her with the promise that he would look after him, and provide for his
+education.
+
+On account of certain circumstances, some months after, however, Ivan
+had to leave the family Belenyi somewhat suddenly, and it seemed
+doubtful if he should ever see them again. Ivan at parting gave all
+the money he could spare to the widow, and told her to get Arpad a
+good musical education, such as would fit him for an artistic career.
+The boy, he thought, would attain eminence, and make a livelihood by
+his art. And here let it be clearly understood that Ivan was neither a
+friend of Belenyi nor the lover of Madame Belenyi; neither was he
+connected with the family in any way, nor was he in duty bound to do
+as he did. For years the Belenyis heard nothing from Ivan, nor he from
+them. Once, on his inquiring about them, he was told that in
+consequence of a lawsuit they had lost their house, had left the town,
+and that neither mother nor son had since been heard of. Then, after
+another spell of years, Arpad Belenyi's name began to be mentioned in
+different newspapers, always as a young and astonishingly clever
+artist. From this time Ivan took in regularly a musical paper or
+magazine, and so followed attentively his adopted son's career. The
+latter, however, knew nothing of his kind benefactor until, later,
+Ivan's name also appeared in the papers. His discourse at the Academy
+led to his being traced by his adopted son, who at once wrote him a
+letter, beginning with the words, "My dear father." It was a letter
+full of simple, boyish sentiments, through which broke at intervals
+the natural fun and playful humor of the artist. He told Ivan
+everything concerning himself; how he had travelled in many countries,
+accompanied always by his mother, to whom he had always to give an
+account of his actions as near the truth as possibly could be. He had
+already given concerts before crowned heads, and had received several
+orders which he was allowed to wear only on Sundays; the other days of
+the week they were locked up by his mother. He had earned a good deal
+of money, but he was not permitted to spend much. Mamma gave him
+every day a five-shilling piece for pocket-money; the rest she put by
+to buy back her little house which "old Raize" had robbed her of. He,
+therefore, to make more money, gave music-lessons and played
+accompaniments for artists. This was well paid, particularly of late,
+when he had fallen in with a little artist, a new singer, who paid
+splendidly. She was said to be the wife of Felix Kaulmann, the rich
+banker.
+
+When he came to this passage Ivan's heart began to beat. He laid down
+the letter, then took it up again, and read it with renewed attention.
+
+"This girl is a mixture of Muse and M�nad," wrote Arpad. "Now she is a
+petulant child, the next minute a wild Amazon; a born artist, full of
+genius, yet she is not likely ever to rise above mediocrity. She is
+full of intelligence and life, and with this often as stupid as a
+donkey. There is no doubt she could attain an unenviable notoriety,
+but she shrinks from it, for although she conducts herself like a
+courtesan, I would take my oath she is in reality as innocent as the
+child she really is. She is very trying to me, full of mischief and
+petulance, and this because I treat her to no soft manners, but scold
+her well for being so naughty. If you could only see, dear papa, what
+a splendid master I am, always serious, no frivolity allowed! Now I
+have photographed myself for you, have I not? Do not think, however,
+that I would have scrawled all over my paper this monologue about my
+pupil, as if I had nothing better or wiser to write about. I have done
+so because the subject has a certain interest for you. You must know
+this curious little angel confides in me as if I were her confessor.
+Sometimes she chatters all through her lesson, telling me where she
+has been, what she has done, everything that has happened to her; and
+she often tells me things which, if I were in her place, I would not
+talk about. Have a little patience, my dear good papa. This lady has
+thirty-three different _r�les_, all of them of different kinds. They
+are not, strictly speaking, stage parts, but monologues, which are
+composed expressly for her. These scenes we rehearse together; I play
+her accompaniment, while she sings and acts.
+
+"I am coming now to the kernel of the nut. I am going to crack
+it for you. Here are the names of the actress's thirty-three
+parts--'Loreley,' 'Cleopatra,' 'The Queen of the Sun,' 'The Greek
+Slave,' 'The Bacchante,' 'Nourmahal,' 'The Bride,' 'The Matron's
+Cap,' 'The Bayad�re,' 'Claudia Laeta, the Vestal,' 'Amalasontha,'
+'Magdalene,' 'Ninon,' 'La Somnambula,' 'Medea,' 'Salome,' 'The
+Houris,' 'The Despair of Hero,' 'The Phrygian Cap,' 'Turandot,' 'The
+Peasant Girl,' 'The Mother,' 'Jeanne la Folle,' 'Ophelia,' 'Judith,'
+'Zuleika Potiphar,' 'The Market Woman,' 'The Grisette,' 'The
+Creole,' 'Lucretia,' 'The Will-o'-the-Wisp,' 'Julia Gonzaga.'
+
+"The thirty-third part I do not know; we have not as yet rehearsed it.
+But why the deuce does she learn all these parts, for she never treads
+the boards? The report is that the reason why this lady's talent is so
+much cultivated is that she is engaged to sing at the Opera-house.
+This seems even more strange, and I, for one, am slow to believe it. A
+banker like Kaulmann, who is a millionaire, and whose wife pays for
+her apartment four thousand florins! Besides, she would have to give
+her singing-master, who has got her the engagement, six thousand; to
+the leader of the orchestra, two thousand; four thousand to the
+newspapers to puff her; another three thousand to the _claqueurs_; and
+something else to the men who throw the wreaths and flowers. There
+would remain for her about a thousand florins; that would hardly pay
+for her scents. So you see the absurdity of the whole thing. Where are
+we now? This pretty creature, who wishes also to be a famous artist,
+has several lovers who can easily pay their court to madame, seeing
+that she and her husband live in separate apartments. This is only
+natural; the banker could not have his mind, which is occupied with
+important speculations, disturbed by constant _solfeggi_. There are
+several persons in Vienna who bear the title of the 'M�cenas of Art';
+they are gentlemen of high position, who have great weight in the
+departmental government, and whose voices are heard in all social and
+official capacities. These have been allowed the privilege of being
+present during the rehearsals of the thirty-two monologues; the
+thirty-third has not as yet been played before any one. In all this I
+can assure you everything is conducted with the greatest propriety, I
+am always present, also the husband, who remains so long as the comedy
+continues. Among the company are representatives of the highest
+nobility, counts, princes, senators, and ministers. They are good sort
+of people, and call one another Fritz, Nazi, Muke, etc. Among others
+we have two princes, who come every time we have a rehearsal--the
+Prince Mari and the Prince Baldi; the names they received on baptism
+being Waldemar and Theobald. Yesterday Eveline--for so is my pupil
+named--was not inclined to work, and without my asking her what ailed
+her, with her usual frankness she came out with her annoyance.
+
+"'Only fancy,' she said; 'that odious Prince Waldemar, when he was in
+my opera-box last night, threatened that if I did not let him come to
+our next rehearsal he would ruin Lixi.' (Lixi is short for Felix, her
+husband's name.)
+
+"'Why don't you admit him?' I asked. 'He is not worse than the other
+jackanapes who come here.'
+
+"'Because I cannot endure him. I told Lixi what Prince Waldemar had
+said, and Lixi answered that he would ruin the prince. At the same
+time he gave me to understand that Prince Theobald must be invited to
+the rehearsal.'
+
+"'All right,' said I; 'he is a fine old gentleman. You can have no
+objection to him; he is old enough to be your grandfather.'
+
+"The young wife bit her lips, and, with a frown on her lovely face,
+said:
+
+"'I have to ask him to do something. What do you think it is? Oh, you
+could never guess! It is to give his signature that he will consent to
+a certain affair which will cost him nothing, but which will help Lixi
+greatly. You know that Lixi has a grand speculation on hand, a
+gigantic coal company, which is to start the business with I don't
+know how many millions of money; but the place where the coal-mines
+are situated, the Bondavara property, belongs to Prince Theobald and
+his sister. The countess has already given her consent, but without
+his ratification the shares would not be taken up at the exchange.
+Prince Waldemar is working against us, and therefore I am to win over
+the old prince to our side. Lixi says it will be very easy to get
+round him just at the present moment, because his granddaughter,
+Countess Angela, of whom he is very fond, has quarrelled with him and
+left him. The poor old man is very sad and lonely, and Lixi says
+whoever cheers him up will be able to do anything with him; and,' she
+added, with a wise look, 'we are not deceiving him, for the Bondavara
+coal is the finest in the world.'
+
+"I burst out laughing; I could not help it. Then she pulled my hair
+and said:
+
+"'Why do you laugh, you ridiculous donkey? I think I must be a judge
+of coal, for I worked as day-laborer for ten years in the mines of
+Herr Behrend.'
+
+"At these words my astonishment was so great that I jumped up from my
+seat.
+
+"'You may stare your eyes out of your head,' she said, laughing at my
+amazement, 'but it is quite true. I used to shove the coal-wagons, and
+barefoot into the bargain.'
+
+"'Gracious lady, believe me, I did not jump up from astonishment; I
+was surprised to hear you name Ivan Behrend. What do you know of him?
+Pray tell me.'
+
+"'He was the owner of the coal-mines in Bondavara, near which Felix is
+going to open works upon an enormous scale. He was my master; God
+bless him, wherever he goes!'
+
+"Now, dear papa, I have come to the heart of the business, after, it
+must be owned, an unconscionably long prelude. With my weak intellect
+I have thought out the whole thing. Here is my kind friend, my adopted
+father, the owner of a mine in Bondavara, and beside him men with I
+don't know how many millions at their backs are going to form a coal
+company. It would be a good thing to let him know, that he may act in
+time; it may be good for him, but it would seem to me that it may also
+be very bad. Here the air is full of speculation; you see, I am
+already slightly bitten. Let me know how and in what manner the affair
+affects you and your interests. I shall write to you what goes on
+here, for I shall be behind the scenes; this little fool tells me
+everything."
+
+The receipt of this letter had decided Ivan to accept the Countess
+Theudelinde's invitation to give a romantic reading at her house, and
+to enter into the society of Pesth. He wrote to Arpad, and begged him
+to give him every day an exact account of what he heard through Evila
+of the progress of the coal-mine company.
+
+From this time Ivan received regularly every week two or three letters
+from Vienna.
+
+"The old prince nibbles at the bait. Kaulmann has brought him to the
+rehearsal of the new piece. Eveline sings and acts enchantingly; that
+is, when she is within four walls, and has only a few people for
+audience. If she acted like this on the stage she would be a
+celebrated actress in no time; but so soon as she comes before the
+footlights stage-fright seizes upon her, she trembles, forgets
+everything, stands there like a stick, and, worst of all, sings quite
+false. These rehearsals have been given on the pretext that the prince
+should have an opportunity of judging of her talent, so that he may
+influence those in power to give her an engagement at the opera. I
+know what their real object is. The prince is a real connoisseur in
+music, and he understands not alone art, but artists. He knows that
+there is a price set upon such black diamonds as sparkle in Eveline's
+eyes. There is the additional incentive that Prince Waldemar is
+desperately in love with this woman, and Prince Theobald, for certain
+reasons, will do anything to prevent her falling into his hands. He
+would even go the length of taking her himself sooner than such a
+misadventure should happen.
+
+"A short time since Prince Waldemar met me, and offered me one hundred
+ducats for every leaf of the album in which are the portraits of
+Madame Kaulmann in her character costumes. You must know, of late,
+each day that we rehearse one of the monologues at the piano a
+photographer is present and takes the artist in her costume.
+Everything must be finished in the house, and not more than four
+pictures are allowed to be executed; one of these is for Prince
+Theobald, one is kept by herself, one she presents to me, and the
+fourth is for my friend Felix. The negative is then broken. I would
+not sell my photographs to Prince Waldemar, but I send them to you as
+they follow one another. Mamma does not like to see such pictures in
+my room."
+
+Ivan received with each letter a photograph; each portrait represented
+Evila as a lovely creation in a most graceful pose. Arpad had not the
+least idea what a hell of different passions were raised in Ivan's
+breast as he looked at the beautiful image of the woman he had and
+still loved.
+
+In the first portrait she was represented as "Loreley" the fairy, who,
+in the whirlpool of the Rhine, sings her magic song and combs her hair
+with a golden comb, while her left shoulder rises from the waves,
+which partially conceal her form. Her eyes gaze invitingly at the
+fisherman, whom she entices to his ruin. In the second photograph she
+appeared as "Cleopatra" at Tarsus, where she is displaying all her
+charms to seduce her conqueror and make him her slave; a rich
+portrait, in which the lascivious queen is represented laden with
+splendid dresses and jewels, while the expression of the beautiful
+face was an admirable mixture of pride, dignity, and weakness. The
+third photograph presented the sun-queen, "Atahualpa," the wife of the
+last Inca. Her look was haughty and sublime; the sublimity of the
+expression diverts attention from the uncovered arms, white as marble,
+round as an infant's, which are raised to heaven, offering as a
+sacrifice a human heart. Her face mirrored the coldness of heaven
+itself. The fourth, as the "Greek Slave"; she represented the
+tortured beauty, who in vain tries to break the chains of shame in
+which she is bound--a lovely marble statue, equal in conception to one
+by Thorwaldsen or Pradier. The fifth was the "Bacchante," from one of
+the Roman bas-reliefs, which represents the procession of Bacchus. A
+wild, bold, dissolute conception; showing accessories of surprising
+drapery, panther skins, cups, etc., an ideal debauch; limbs in wild
+movement. The sixth portrait was of a bride; a white lace dress, upon
+her head a white garland, her figure concealed by a white veil, on her
+face an expression of soft emotion at the approaching realization of
+her happiness, in her eyes tears, on her lips a tremulous smile. With
+what wonderful charm she stretches out her hand to receive the
+betrothal ring! The eighth portrayed a young woman who for the first
+time puts the matron's cap upon her head. Pride, shame, and conscious
+triumph are all in her face. She feels that the cap upon her head is a
+well-deserved crown--a crown for which she has sacrificed a garland.
+
+Ivan contemplated this picture for a long time; his heart was full of
+the bitterness of disappointed love. His adopted son's present had
+been somewhat unfortunate.
+
+The ninth photograph represented Evila as a "Bayad�re," in the
+artistic dress of the Indian dancer, striking the tambourine over her
+head. Round her slight figure a shawl embroidered in gold was wound in
+careless folds, on her neck a chain of gold coins, her small feet
+bare, and strings of pearls up to the knee.
+
+In the tenth portrait she appeared as "Claudia Laeta," the vestal
+virgin, at the moment when she is led to the stake because she has
+refused the solicitations of Caracalla; on her face an expression of
+horror, of virginal modesty. With one hand she tries to cover her
+head with her cloak to escape from the gaze of the multitude.
+
+How is it possible for one woman to play so many parts? Arpad
+accompanied these pictures with diffuse explanations, which were so
+many arrows in the heart of Ivan. The result of all this posturing
+was, he said, becoming every day clearer.
+
+"The prince is more and more fascinated; he is falling deeper and
+deeper into the net spread for him. After each rehearsal he declares
+that a real treasure has been concealed, which has been a loss to art
+that must be at once remedied."
+
+But such treasures are very costly, especially when a man has reached
+the age of sixty-eight, close on seventy, and has a marriageable
+granddaughter; then it is necessary to look very closely into his
+check-book to see if it would be possible to provide for the
+grandchild and at the same time satisfy the caprices of a beautiful
+young woman.
+
+Not long ago Prince Theobald had built a splendid palace in the
+Maximilian Strasse; it was destined for the Countess Angela, in the
+case that she agreed to her grandfather's wish as to her marriage. The
+palace was furnished with the utmost magnificence. The countess,
+however, had thought otherwise. She broke off her marriage with
+Sondersheim; she had good reasons, no doubt, but she need not have
+openly defied her grandfather. It was unwise of her so to do, for
+Evila was weaving her spell closer round the old man's heart, and
+Angela had best be prudent, and return speedily to Vienna, else the
+palace in the Maximilian Strasse will be presented, without a shadow
+of doubt, to Madame Kaulmann.
+
+Arpad's letters had made Ivan acquainted with the ins and outs of the
+whole affair; through them he had learned that the woman he had loved
+had become the wife of another man, and was likely to be the mistress
+of a third. The first blow he could bear with a certain resignation;
+he wished her all happiness; but that she should sink up to the neck
+in shame, led thither by the act of her own husband, was a bitter
+thought! No, that she should be saved from, if Ivan could compass her
+deliverance. For this end he remained in Pesth. Hence it seemed to him
+he could pull the strings of this complex drama, and defeat the
+conspiracy against Evila's honor; for this purpose he went into a
+world that he despised, affected a manner of life totally inconsistent
+with his ideas, and cultivated a friendship with the Countess Angela,
+that his influence might induce her to play the part of the good
+angel.
+
+Was he a fool to sacrifice his own feelings for a woman who had
+inflicted upon him the severest mortification a man can endure? Those
+whose hearts are dominated by cold prudence will judge his folly
+perhaps rightly; those who have hearts that feel for others will
+acknowledge that he did well in obeying its dictates, and from his own
+point of view, perhaps, he acted for his own ultimate advantage.
+
+If Prince Theobald is induced to consent to the lease of his property
+to the Bondavara Company, Ivan's little coal-mine is ruined. Good if
+he can, while working for another, help himself. A man of business is
+always a speculator; therefore we say to the warm-hearted and
+compassionate that Ivan acted a part to save Evila from shame, and to
+the cold-hearted and unfeeling that it was all in the way of business,
+to save, if he could, his little all from the monster company ready to
+devour it bodily.
+
+Arpad continued to send the photographs. They were of all kinds,
+tragic and comic. "Medea," with her murderous revenge and jealousy;
+the daughter of Herod, with her voluptuous dance to gain the saint's
+head; the cruelty of "Judith," the wild laughter of "Jeanne la Folle,"
+the devotion of a holy nun, the coquettish tricks of a _grisette_, a
+languid Creole, a supernatural "Will-o'-the-Wisp"--these were the
+principal representations in which Ivan found rather studied effort at
+catching an artistic effect than natural instinct or expression. This
+was the school of Madame Grissac, to whom Felix had intrusted Evila's
+education. Two portraits that came at the end produced upon Ivan a
+painful impression. One represented a mother by the cradle of her
+child, the other a peasant girl, a coal-carrier, with her hair plaited
+down her back, and a red frock tucked up above her ankles. It pained
+Ivan deeply that she should profane these two sacred subjects. Why
+take a mother's love to be made a vehicle to create an old man's
+admiration? And the girl with the red frock! Ah, that was
+unpardonable! He could not forgive her for having wounded him to the
+very heart.
+
+One day the artist wrote to Ivan--
+
+"My good patron, Felix Kaulmann, is an out-and-out scoundrel. Up to
+the present he generally attends the rehearsals when the prince is
+present. Yesterday Prince Theobald seemed quite excited, so much so
+that Kaulmann was struck by it. To his question the prince said that
+he was very happy. He had received a letter from his granddaughter,
+the Countess Angela. She wrote in the most friendly manner. She told
+him that she had met a certain Ivan Behrend, who had the courage to
+give her a regular scolding, and had told her to her face what was the
+duty of the Hungarian magnates towards their country, a duty in which
+they were wanting, and which Prince Theobald would fulfil if he left
+Vienna and came to reside in Pesth, in which case the countess would
+agree to a reconciliation. The old prince seemed so happy at the idea
+of seeing his child again! Kaulmann, however, looked very black,
+blacker still when the prince said he would consider the matter; but
+that, as the countess had taken a fancy to Pesth, he thought he would
+go there. Inwardly Felix gnashed his teeth with rage, outwardly he
+expressed great satisfaction that the countess had at last broken the
+ice; it was a good sign that she was getting tired of her obstinacy.
+But if he were in the prince's situation he would try and persuade the
+countess to come to Vienna, instead of going himself to Pesth. The
+prince listened to this suggestion; he fell into the trap, and will
+not go at once to Pesth, but will try to bring back the countess. In
+the meantime we are to have the two last rehearsals. The thirty-second
+is the representation of 'Julia Gonzaga,' whose story you will find in
+any library. The most interesting part of this scene is the toilette
+of the heroine, who appears in a night-dress made of muslin, with her
+feet naked. In spite of this rather risky costume the lady's virtue
+was irreproachable, for in her hand she held a dagger, and threatened
+to kill any one who ventured to look at her feet. As I wrote to you,
+Kaulmann has always been present at these rehearsals, but from this
+one of 'Julia Gonzaga' he is obliged to absent himself, as he has to
+go away for a few days. I believe that my office should be called
+_garde des dames_. As it happens, however, on this occasion I, too, am
+unavoidably prevented from being present. When I went home and showed
+mamma the enclosed photograph she shuddered, and positively forbade me
+to assist at a rehearsal in which a woman appeared in such a costume.
+I must plead illness or any other cause, but stay at home I must. I
+thought over several lies, but at last I decided that I would tell my
+gracious pupil the truth; so I did.
+
+"'Listen,' I said. 'My mother will not allow me to accompany you if
+you sing barefoot. If it is really the point of the piece that 'Julia'
+must present herself without stockings on her feet, then I must deny
+myself the pleasure of playing on the piano.'
+
+"The silly child laughed very much, and said she would get somebody
+else. She may do as she likes; I don't care. Mamma is perfectly right
+in forbidding me to go, and I think that I have done perfectly right
+to tell my pupil why I refuse to accompany her."
+
+This letter depressed Ivan. For a long time he looked at the
+photograph, considering it from every point of view. Evila in a dress
+the thin material of which showed every motion of her plastic limbs;
+in one hand she gathered the folds across her breast, her eyes had a
+murderous glare in their violet depths, her long and beautiful hair
+fell to her feet; in her right hand she pointed a dagger towards a
+motionless form which lay at her feet covered by a rug. This was the
+second time that Ivan had heard the story from a lady.
+
+The next day he received another letter from Arpad; he found it on his
+return from the first meeting with Salista.
+
+"Eveline," wrote the artist, "performed her tableau before the prince
+without the accompaniment of the piano and without the company of her
+husband. She looked so lovely that all the prince's good principles
+melted away like snow before the sun. He took her hand and kissed it;
+then the murderous look disappeared from her sweet eyes; she broke out
+into a ripple of laughter.
+
+"'Prince, do you not see that I have a knife in my hand?'
+
+"'I can take it from you.'
+
+"The young girl laughed again; and we all know how easy it is to take
+anything from a smiling woman.
+
+"At this moment there resounded through the room an echo of Eveline's
+laugh; that is to say, if you can call a frog's croak an echo of a
+nightingale's song. Out of the conservatory, which ornaments one side
+of the room, there came a crippled dwarf, who supported himself upon
+crutches. His long head was sunk between his high shoulders, and his
+white, satyr-like face was distorted by an odious grin as he dragged
+himself between the prince and his inamorata.
+
+"'Prince, we are not alone,' laughed Eveline, freeing her hand from
+the clasp of the astonished nobleman.
+
+"'In Heaven's name, who is this splendid specimen of a toad?' he
+cried, with an air of disgust.
+
+"'This is my only beloved little brother,' cried Eveline, putting her
+arms round the little monster, and covering him with kisses while she
+stroked his head. 'My dear, only little brother, my all, my dearest;
+my ugly, cross, quarrelsome little tyrant, who comes to me whenever he
+likes.'
+
+"'A horrible creature!' said the prince. 'The hobgoblins who kept
+watch over the gate of the Witch of Endor were cherubims as compared
+with this monster. I beg of you, Eveline, not to kiss his face, as it
+takes away forever the pleasure one would have in kissing so lovely a
+mouth.'
+
+"Eveline made no answer, but, suddenly turning away, she threw a
+burnoose round her shoulders, put her tiny feet into a pair of
+slippers, and said, demurely:
+
+"'Prince, the thirty-second rehearsal is over, and there only remains
+the thirty-third to complete the course.'
+
+"The prince asked what the title of this last should be, and Eveline
+whispered in his ear that he would know the next day but one.
+
+"'And how many more will know it?'
+
+"'No one but you.'
+
+"'Not this Caliban?'
+
+"'Certainly not.'
+
+"The prince took his leave in an ecstasy, firmly convinced that at the
+last representation he would have Eveline all to himself. Eveline
+needed a day to prepare herself.
+
+"The scene was repeated to me by the cripple, who likes me very much,
+and comes nearly every evening to share my supper; for although
+everything possible for his comfort is provided by Eveline, he is
+never happy unless he begs from some one. If he were a prince, I do
+believe the creature would get out of his carriage to ask for alms. He
+finds such a wonderful pleasure in begging. For a stick of
+sugar-barley he will tell me everything. What pleased him most was the
+prince's remark about his being a splendid specimen of a toad. He
+imitated for me how he crept out of the conservatory on his crutches,
+and how he laughed when he saw the gentleman wanted to take the knife
+from his sister. You will hear from me again the day after to-morrow."
+
+The day after to-morrow! These words to a man who might be lying stark
+and stiff by that time! They gave Ivan a sudden chill; but he said to
+himself he would not die easily, he would fight for his life.
+
+That night he dreamed a curious dream, in which he saw two "Julia
+Gonzagas," who both wanted to kill him, and yet he had deserved
+nothing but good at their hands.
+
+So goes the world!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+TWO POINTS
+
+
+A duel with swords has this distinct advantage over a duel with
+pistols: you need have no concealment concerning it; the day before it
+is spoken of as an interesting wager would be. In former times it
+happened rarely that a duel with swords had a fatal ending, and
+therefore it is surrounded with none of the mystery that attends the
+more serious affair; for the seconds, likewise, there is far less
+responsibility. If a principal gets severely hurt, the attending
+surgeon declares that the sufferer has not died of the wound, but that
+there was some trouble in the organism which would have probably
+killed him within the next forty-eight hours. And who, nowadays, would
+make a fuss over a man who was doomed to die in forty-eight hours?
+
+The duel which was to take place between the Marquis Salista and Ivan
+was spoken of at the club with indifference, as a thing that had a
+foregone conclusion. Salista spoke most of it himself, and at six
+o'clock the evening before stood at the chimney-piece and entertained
+a select group of friends, among whom were the four seconds, with his
+ideas on the subject.
+
+The golden youth of Pesth, being in the habit of having constant
+fencing-bouts at the different gymnasiums, know well who is the most
+skilful fencer, and are therefore able to predicate, accurately enough
+in many cases, what the result will be. Salista had the reputation of
+being a first-rate swordsman; he had already fought several duels, and
+always been the victor; he had one particular stroke, a master-stroke,
+which few fencers could parry; it was a quick thrust in the stomach,
+which, passing round the point of his adversary's sword, ripped up his
+abdomen. If the other intercepted the thrust, he was likely to get out
+of time, so that his face, being left uncovered, was exposed to a
+well-delivered thrust which would spoil his beauty, if it did not have
+more dangerous consequences. Some men would have felt that the
+circumstances connected with the preceding duel required explanation,
+that the refusal to stand your adversary's fire had a doubtful sound.
+For a similar offence others had been rigorously punished by having to
+leave Vienna for some weeks, and being sometimes kept in Coventry even
+longer. Salista was, however, a privileged person; his courage was not
+called in question. He was, moreover, a cool hand, and carried off his
+difficult position with the most astounding _aplomb_. As he now stood
+upon the rug he talked with a good deal of swagger as to what would
+happen on the morrow.
+
+"We shall see what stuff this Admirable Crichton is made of.
+Sword-exercise is not like pistol-shooting; there can be no
+mathematics. We will ask him how he construes the under-cut when the
+sabre takes his legs from under him."
+
+Count Geza rebuked the boaster. "You must remember," he said, "that
+Ivan acted towards you in the most chivalrous manner when he accepted
+the sword instead of the pistol, and you must also consider that he is
+a man of learning, very much thought of, and likely to be of service
+in his generation."
+
+"Very good. You needn't be afraid, I shall not kill him; I shall only
+slice a piece off his nose, that he may carry home a souvenir of
+Pesth. A scholar like him will not care if his beauty is spoiled;
+science is not sniffed up like snuff, and his nose is no use for
+looking through the telescope at the stars."
+
+Here Edmund interfered, and protested hotly against any injury being
+done to the nose of his principal. At last the marquis had to content
+himself with a slice off his ear; but Edmund still remonstrated.
+
+"You should be satisfied with a cut on his hand," he said; "the whole
+matter is not worth more."
+
+Count Stefan here made a suggestion in his quiet way.
+
+"My good Salista, what if this coal-heaver were to cut _you_ down?"
+
+"What!" blustered the marquis, standing with long legs apart in front
+of the chimney-piece. "To show you what I think of him, I will give
+him two points; I will let him have two cuts at me on my arm, and then
+I will cut him down. You shall see! You can make your bets. Who holds
+the wager?" So he went on boasting until the discussion came to an
+end. His last question was whether the seconds would be quick enough
+to interfere before he made a cripple of their great scholar.
+
+On the following day the two parties met. The large ball-room in the
+hotel had been thought the most suitable place, as it was generally
+hired for such occasions. The seconds had chalked the floor with
+pulverized chalk to prevent the combatants from slipping. In an
+adjoining room both the principals had to strip to the waist; then
+they were led into the room. There was no necessity to draw lots as to
+the placing of the men, as the room was panelled all round with
+looking-glasses. Before they were given the sabres the following
+conditions were read out:
+
+"First blood. Stabbing is not allowed."
+
+Salista protested. He would not hear of first blood. The duel should
+go on until one of the combatants declared himself no longer able to
+fight. Every one tried to persuade him to be more moderate, but he
+would not give in.
+
+"Give us the swords!" cried Ivan, out of all patience. "I am getting a
+chill, half-naked as I am."
+
+This interruption decided the matter. The paces were measured, the
+principals placed in position, and their swords handed to them.
+
+Both were naked to their waists. Salista exhibited Herculean muscles,
+Ivan had a well-developed form. He had certainly not so much flesh as
+his adversary, but was bony, had long arms, and a vaulted chest. The
+fight began in the usual manner. Both men held the points of their
+swords towards each other, had the left hand drawn back, and their
+heads protected by their arms. Now and again they crossed their swords
+dexterously, trying to find a place for a good thrust, and striking
+one another softly. Each stared into his adversary's eyes, seeking to
+read his intentions. Salista essayed to give his adversary a thrust
+which would injure his face. This was very difficult, for the face is
+always protected by the arm. Ivan, on his side, endeavored to give his
+opponent the double thrust. This requires extraordinary agility; but
+he succeeded. He tore the top muscle of Salista's right arm the whole
+way down. That this blow does not bleed at once is explained by the
+cellular texture of the muscles.
+
+"Forward!" cried Salista. "No blood!"
+
+He now gave up all efforts at injuring his adversary in the face, and
+resorted to his well-known trick, the belly-thrust, which is difficult
+to parry, and if it hits is often deadly in its effect. If it is not
+parried, the effect is certain; and if it is, the giver can, if he is
+a good swordsman, hit his adversary a terrible cut over the head. Ivan
+did not parry, good or bad. Salista had not forgotten that the
+duelling-sword is shorter than the cavalry practise-sword; but he
+forgot, or rather didn't know, that his adversary had arms of unusual
+length. This is, therefore, what happened. Ivan did not attempt to
+parry the belly-thrust; he raised his arm, and let the sword-point of
+his opponent pass at a distance of two lines over his body, while he
+aimed straight at the other's arm, cutting him crossways in the same
+place where he had before cut lengthways.
+
+These were the two points. Through this cross-cut the difference of
+strength between the two men was equalized. This last defeat filled
+Salista with fury. With the roar of a wild beast he threw himself upon
+his adversary, and with all his strength made two cuts at the head. He
+cut as a butcher cuts with his axe; it was a miracle that both swords
+didn't break in two, for, according to rule, Ivan received both
+thrusts upon the handle of his sword, and before the other could give
+him a third he gave him quickly a thrust in front with such strength
+and precision that it came with full force on the head and face of the
+marquis. It was lucky that the sword was light, otherwise he would
+have split his skull in two. Salista reeled under the blow, then
+raised his left arm to protect his head, tottered sideways, and fell
+down, supporting himself upon the handle of his sword. His seconds ran
+to him to raise him up and lead him away. Ivan stood with his
+sword-point lowered, his face apathetic, as if turned to marble. His
+seconds congratulated him.
+
+"Are the gentlemen content?" he asked.
+
+"I dare swear they are," returned Count Edmund. "Nothing could have
+turned out better; the affair is at an end."
+
+With these words they conducted Ivan into the next room to dress
+himself.
+
+When he returned to the hall he found that his adversary had recovered
+consciousness; the two doctors were with him, one binding up his head,
+the other his arm.
+
+According to the usual etiquette, Ivan went to him.
+
+"Forgive me, comrade," he said.
+
+Salista gave him his left hand, and said, cordially, "It is not worth
+talking about; but it was a splendid fight. The other two don't count,
+because I had said I would give you 'two points;' the third--ah, that
+was a cut! But I shall be all right in a week."
+
+Ivan asked the doctors if the wounds were dangerous, but Salista
+answered for them.
+
+"Soldier's luck," he said. "I have given similar cuts a hundred times;
+now it is my turn, and I don't complain. Only one thing troubles me.
+Neither arnica nor ice-bandages can do me any good; but _you_ who have
+caused this suffering can mitigate it. Confess, now, that you have
+been in the army."
+
+"Without doubt," returned Ivan. "During the War of Freedom I was
+lieutenant of hussars."
+
+"May the devil fetch you! Why didn't you tell us before? In what
+regiment did you serve?"
+
+"In the Wilhelm Hussars. Therefore I am the sole survivor and witness
+of that memorable exploit of yours, when you cut us to pieces."
+
+Everybody burst out laughing. No one laughed more than the wounded
+man. The doctors reminded him that he must not laugh, else the bandage
+over his face would get disturbed.
+
+"Very good," said Salista. "I shall laugh only on one side of my face.
+Comrade, God bless you! I shall not think any more of the cut now that
+I know it was the work of a soldier, and not of a civilian. Come, kiss
+me on the other cheek, the one you have left me whole and entire. So,
+my brother. I cannot give you my right hand, for you have given me a
+cross-cut there that will show a scar for many a day. It was
+first-rate, that cut, a regular hussar cut, and, therefore, I don't in
+the least mind it."
+
+And the combatants kissed one another.
+
+The next moment the wounds began to bleed afresh, and Salista fainted
+from loss of blood. Ivan held his head upon his knees while the
+doctors bound up the veins; then he helped to carry him to the
+carriage.
+
+Every one said, "What a capital fellow!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+GOOD-BYE
+
+
+The friends and acquaintances of both parties were assembled at Count
+Stefan's to hear the result of the duel. The seconds on both sides had
+promised to come and give the earliest news. All the _habitu�s_ of
+society were waiting; there was suppressed excitement; bets were made
+upon which should be wounded, and whether Salista would give a heavy
+wound or only a slight scratch to his adversary. Count Stefan had the
+courage to bet ten to one that Salista would get a scratch; he also
+risked "even money" that the marquis would be the only one wounded.
+That Ivan would escape with a whole skin no one else for an instant
+imagined. If they had done so they might have offered a hundred to
+one, and even at that no one of the party would have taken the bet.
+
+The outposts planted themselves at the windows, to be the first to see
+the carriage with the seconds. When a cab drove up, they shouted to
+the others:
+
+"Edmund and Geza have arrived!"
+
+"Then I have won my bet," said Count Stefan; "the seconds of the man
+who is least hurt get away first."
+
+Count Edmund went to the countess's apartment to let her know what had
+happened, while Geza ascended to Count Stefan's rooms. He rushed in
+with the triumphant air a victorious second should have.
+
+"He has put him to the sword."
+
+"Who? Who? Ivan? Salista?" cried the company, surrounding the
+messenger in their excitement.
+
+"Ivan has put the marquis."
+
+An "A-ah!" was the incredulous rejoinder of the others.
+
+"But I tell you he has," repeated the young count; "he has cut him
+into a jelly."
+
+"And Ivan?"
+
+"He is as untouched as I am."
+
+"Ah, you are making fun of us."
+
+"It is no subject for fun. Ask Salista."
+
+"But where is Ivan?"
+
+"He will be here immediately, and will convince the unbelievers, who
+will find no wounds into which they can poke their fingers. He went
+home with the doctors, for Salista had two, who have at last succeeded
+in stitching him together."
+
+Then he related to them circumstantially all that had happened. For
+those who did not clearly understand, he demonstrated with the help of
+two walking-sticks the course the duel took. He came to the
+double-cut.
+
+"In this way Ivan parried the stomach-thrust and gave the
+fore-cut--the final a _tempo contre coup_. The performer of these
+wonderful exploits had not even turned a hair."
+
+"Why, he is a miracle!"
+
+"No such thing," protested Count Geza. "He has been in the
+army--captain in the hussars." (He advanced him a grade, but captain
+sounds better than lieutenant.) "He fought all through the revolution;
+he was nineteen times in action, and fought with the Cossacks besides.
+He has also received a good-service medal."
+
+All this the count imagined might be the fact, although he had
+certainly not heard a word of such a history from Ivan. Once a man has
+scored one success, he is credited with twenty more.
+
+"Truly a wonderful man!" said Baron Oscar. "For three months he has
+been among us every day, and has never mentioned his soldiering
+experiences."
+
+"Now we have really landed him upon us, like a Sindbad that can never
+be shaken off," remarked Baron Edward. "We wanted to be rid of him,
+and instead we have raised him into the saddle. He will never
+dismount; he is saddled on us forever. No one would dare now to speak
+to him."
+
+"Good God of Saxony!" cried Baron Oscar, "how the man will carry his
+nose in the air! There will be no standing him, for the women will, of
+course, make the deuce of a fuss about him, and men must have a
+certain respect for him. _Sacr� bleu!_ A man who can shoot and fence
+like this fellow! But I would bet anything that it was a mere
+accident."
+
+"I think quite the contrary," remarked Count Stefan, "and I very much
+fear that Ivan will leave us all cooling our heels here, and not show
+his face. He will never cross any of our thresholds again."
+
+"Oh, he wouldn't be such a confounded fool! I bet you a hundred to
+one."
+
+"First pay me the bet you have lost."
+
+Baron Oscar put his hand in his pocket, but before he drew out his
+pocket-book a happy thought struck him.
+
+"But how if Geza and his brother second were playing off a joke? They
+may have concocted this story. Perhaps the truth is that at the last
+moment the quarrel was made up and there was no duel, and that they
+have both come from a luncheon where no blood, but plenty of
+champagne, flowed."
+
+"If you don't believe me, then drive to Salista. My cab is at the
+door. Go and convince yourself."
+
+The baron rushed off. On the staircase he met Count Edmund coming up
+from the ladies. He asked where Oscar was rushing in such haste.
+
+"He doesn't believe Geza's story."
+
+"That is just the way the ladies have treated me; they won't believe
+me. They say, 'If nothing has happened to Ivan, where is he?' The
+Countess Theudelinde sheds tears like a river; she execrates us all,
+and declares we have killed her hero. The cuckoo only knows which of
+the two ladies is the most in love with him. Up to this I thought I
+knew, but now I am all in the dark."
+
+Baron Oscar returned at this moment. He didn't say a word, but took
+out his pocket-book and paid Count Stefan his bet. It was a very
+convincing answer.
+
+"Well, how is Salista?" asked several voices together.
+
+"He is terribly disfigured."
+
+On this every one took out their purses and paid their lost bets; they
+did it with very sour faces. If only Ritter Magnet had been
+disfigured!
+
+Just then Ivan was announced. The sour faces changed with marvellous
+rapidity into friendly smiles. He was greeted warmly; every one wanted
+to shake hands with him. He was the hero of the hour, but he looked
+tired and very serious. Count Stefan was the last to press his hand.
+
+"I rejoice," he said, "to see you uninjured."
+
+Two young fellows said to one another, "Old Stefan may very well
+rejoice; he has made a good thing of the handicap, and cleared us out
+jollily." But in spite of their losses, they, too, congratulated the
+victor.
+
+Every one seemed pleased except, perhaps, Ivan. "I thank you all," he
+said, in his grave voice, "for your warm sympathy; and I thank you,
+count, in particular, for your cordial reception, and for the
+friendship which you have accorded to me. I shall always preserve a
+grateful remembrance of your kindness. I beg of you to bear me
+likewise in your recollection, for I have come now to take leave. I am
+returning to my home to-morrow."
+
+The count winked with his left eye at Baron Oscar, as who should say,
+"Did I not tell you so?" But he spoke no word to induce Ivan to
+rescind his resolution. He pressed his hand warmly as he said:
+
+"Be assured that I have a sincere esteem for you, and wherever we may
+meet again always consider me as an old friend. God bless you!"
+
+Baron Oscar made much more fuss. He held Ivan with both hands on his
+arm.
+
+"My dear friend, we cannot allow this. Such a good fellow as you have
+proved yourself to be cannot slip away from us in this manner--just at
+the moment, too, when you are going to be the lion of the season. You
+sha'n't escape; you belong to us."
+
+Ivan laughed; gentle sarcasm, half pain, half irony, totally unmixed
+with bitterness, was in the laugh. Then he answered this burst of
+friendship:
+
+"I thank you, comrade, for the honor you do me, but I am not fit to be
+Governor of Barataria; it is far better for me to be at home. I go to
+get my 'grison' saddled, and I ride away."
+
+(Any one who is conversant with "Don Quixote" will remember the skit
+upon the island of Barataria, and the affecting meeting between the
+ass and his master.)
+
+When he had finished speaking, Ivan made a deep bow to the company
+and left the room. Count Stefan followed him, and, in spite of his
+protestations, accompanied him down the stairs to Theudelinde's door.
+He was much moved by Ivan's last words.
+
+When he returned he found the entire company still in a very
+uncomfortable frame of mind, discussing the scene that had just
+happened with much annoyance.
+
+"Who has told him the joke about the island of Barataria?" asked Baron
+Oscar.
+
+Each one gave his word of honor that he had not betrayed confidence.
+
+"Then may the devil fly away with me if I don't believe it was the
+abb�."
+
+But Count Stefan shook his head. "No, my friends," he said, "believe
+me, no one has told Behrend anything. He is a man of acute
+penetration, and he has read you like a book without appearing to take
+notice."
+
+Geza, however, swore that the priest had blabbed.
+
+We swear to nothing, but think it right to mention that a few days
+previous the Abb� Samuel had received a letter from Vienna with the
+words, "What are you about? You are ruining the whole thing. That ass
+Behrend is bringing about a reconciliation between the countess and
+the old prince. Get him out of Pesth, for he is working dead against
+us.--FELIX."
+
+"At all events, we have pleased my pretty cousin," remarked Count
+Edmund. "She wanted him to be sent about his business, and we have
+done it."
+
+"Oh, is that so?" And Count Stefan smiled sardonically. "_Cherchez la
+femme_, as Talleyrand said. But I know the dear, capricious sex. When
+Ivan tells the ladies down-stairs that he is leaving, there will be a
+reaction, and your pretty cousin will cry out, 'Then we shall go
+together!'"
+
+The others laughed incredulously; only Edmund assumed the air of
+Pontius Pilate.
+
+"I should not be surprised," he said. "_Enfin_, there would be nothing
+disgraceful in the affair. The fellow is a gentleman; he was a
+soldier, and is of good birth. His land joins the Bondavara property;
+his income is something under two hundred thousand florins. Angela is
+heiress to twenty millions; but then, if our well-beloved uncle,
+Prince Theobald, lives another ten years and carries on as he is
+doing, it may result that Ivan and Angela may be on the same platform
+as regards their fortunes. So far as rank is in question, if the
+government continues to play the game they are playing with our rights
+and privileges, and if under the new parliamentary _r�gime_ the
+peasant's coat is to ascend the tribune, then I shall ask to be
+_raised_ to the peasantry."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Countesses Theudelinde and Angela received Ivan in their private
+sitting-room--a mark of close intimacy. He came in with a constrained
+air; his face was pale, and the emotion he could not suppress gave
+softness to his usually stern expression. Theudelinde came to meet him
+with outstretched hands. When she drew near she took his in her clasp,
+and pressed his fingers warmly. Her lips trembled, and with difficulty
+she kept the tears which filled her eyes from coursing down her
+cheeks. She could not speak, but simply nodded to Ivan to take his
+place before a small table, upon which a splendid bouquet stood.
+Theudelinde sat on the sofa, Angela beside her. The young countess was
+simply dressed; she had not even a flower in her hair. She was grave,
+and hardly raised her eyes to Ivan.
+
+It was Theudelinde who broke the rather embarrassing silence.
+
+"We have been in terrible trouble about you," she said. "You cannot
+imagine what tortures of anxiety we have gone through during these two
+days."
+
+Angela's eyes were on the carpet; she was included in the "we."
+
+"I cannot forgive myself, countess, for the share I have had in
+causing you pain. I can only do penance for my fault, and to-morrow I
+am going into banishment at Bondathal."
+
+"Ah!" Theudelinde's voice expressed surprise. "You are going to leave
+us? What are you going to do in Bondathal?"
+
+"I will return to my business, which I have too long neglected."
+
+"And do you like to live in Bondathal?"
+
+"I am tranquil there."
+
+"Have you relatives?"
+
+"I have none."
+
+"You have a household?"
+
+"So far as I can, I do everything for myself."
+
+"You have surely friends and acquaintances who form a pleasant circle
+around you?"
+
+"I have only my workmen and my machines."
+
+"You live there a hermit's life?"
+
+"No, countess, for a hermit lives alone, while I have my books and my
+work; I am never alone."
+
+The countess's face assumed almost a solemn expression.
+
+"Herr von Behrend, give me your hand, and stay here."
+
+Ivan got up, and bowed low before her. "The kind feeling which has
+prompted your words, as well as the honor you have done me, shall
+never be forgotten by me. It is a proof to me of your great goodness,
+and I beg of you to accept my heartfelt thanks."
+
+"Then you will remain? How long?"
+
+"Until to-morrow morning."
+
+"Ah," cried the countess, with a petulant air, "when I ask you to
+stay!"
+
+Her disappointment was so transparent, her annoyance so sincere, that
+it was impossible not to feel sorry for her. Theudelinde looked at
+Angela as if she expected her to come to her help; but Angela never
+raised her eyes, shaded by their long lashes, while her fingers
+plucked nervously at the petals of a marguerite, as if she were
+consulting that well-known oracle.
+
+"Countess," said Ivan, still standing, and with his hand on the back
+of his chair, "when I answer a friendly invitation such as yours with
+an apparently uncivil refusal to remain, as you so kindly wish me to
+do, I feel that it is incumbent on me to give you my true reason for
+withdrawing myself from your society. I cannot say to you what I would
+to a mere acquaintance; I cannot make such excuses as 'that I have
+business at home; that I have been too long here; that I shall return
+soon.' To you I must confess that I go away because no inducement
+would prevail on me to remain, and that when I go I mean never to
+return. Countess, this is not my world; here I _could_ not live. I
+have spent three months here; I have been a daily guest in the best
+circles; I have lived with members of the highest and most cultivated
+society, have studied closely their manner of life. I quite agree that
+these people have every right to live in what manner they choose; but
+I, who have been accustomed to a totally different manner of life, who
+have been taught to consider existence from a different point of view,
+to reverence the higher aims and obey its finer instincts, _I_ should
+be acting a lie and violating my own principles were I to remain in
+such an atmosphere and live after such a fashion. Here, in this
+exalted rank, you are all solitary rings, while we in the lower order
+hang together as links of one chain. You are totally independent one
+of the other, therefore you follow each one his own inclinations. With
+us the pressure of life knits us more closely together, and we call
+egotism and generosity by different names from what you do. I am,
+therefore, not fit for your circle. I am ashamed to be haughty towards
+those upon whom you look down, and I cannot bend before those whom you
+delight to honor. I do not recognize the gods whom you adore, neither
+can I mock at _my_ God, and ignore Him as you do. In this world of
+yours there is a malicious demon who transforms all that is good in
+man's nature, and who prompts him to laugh and deny every inclination
+to virtue. Who tells his friend or neighbor the truth to his face, and
+who cares for any one who is not present? Dear friends race together
+over hill and dale; but suppose one makes a false step and breaks his
+neck, good-bye to him, the dear friend is gone. Another does not break
+his neck in the race, but he dissipates all his fortune; those who are
+running with him never say to him, 'Step out of the course; you are
+going to the bottom.' All at once he stumbles, and his fortune and the
+honors of his ancestors lie tumbled in the dust. Good-bye to him; his
+name is struck out of the club-list; that dear friend is no more. It
+is true we knew yesterday and the day before yesterday that he would
+surely get a bad fall, but no one else knew of it, so we rode with our
+dear friend to the last. Now all the world is aware of his tumble in
+the dust, therefore we know him no more. If any one wishes to go on
+his own way, and live a rational life to himself, oh, then, he is a
+coward, a miser, a carpet knight! And how do the women fare in this
+world of yours? What about domestic life, and the sweet joys of the
+home? What tragedies are enacted inside those splendid mansions, and
+outside what fun is made of them by friends and acquaintances! What
+refinement in sin! what idolatry of false joys! And when these are
+over, what _ennui_ of life, what endless weariness! No, countess, this
+life is not for me. I should be poisoned in such an atmosphere. You
+can bear it, you grace it by your presence; but for me, I should go
+mad were I to remain. Therefore I go, and all that is now left is to
+ask your forgiveness for my bold words. I acknowledge my indiscretion;
+I have spoken bitterly of society, and yet I stand on its parquet
+floor. I have been ungrateful; I have given expression to my
+antipathies in the presence of those who have shown tolerance towards
+my faults and my awkward manners; who have accompanied me to the door
+of the circle where I have often played a ridiculous part, and,
+notwithstanding, have never been laughed at before my face. But,
+countess, the words I have uttered I have felt, so to speak,
+constrained by your goodness to say. You have, with extraordinary
+kindness, asked me to remain, and I would prove to you that I am
+forced to leave by a power stronger than myself."
+
+During Ivan's rather lengthy address Countess Theudelinde had risen to
+her feet. Her eyes began to light up, her face to wear a glorified
+expression, her lips to move as if she repeated each word he said; and
+when he had spoken the concluding sentence she seized both his hands,
+while she stammered out:
+
+"You speak the truth--the truth--nothing but the truth; you speak as I
+spoke forty years ago, when _I_ left the world as you are doing now!
+The world is ever the same; it does not change." Here she wrung her
+hands passionately. "Go home," she sobbed out; "go back to your
+solitude, hide yourself under the earth, conceal yourself in your
+mine, God will be with you wherever you are--everywhere! God bless
+you! God bless you!"
+
+She did not remark that Angela had also risen from her seat, and as
+Ivan took his leave she made a step forward, and said, in a firm,
+decided voice:
+
+"If you go away, you do not go alone, for I shall go with you." Her
+whole face glowed as she spoke these words.
+
+Ivan was master of the situation. Standing upon this giddy height, he
+did not for that reason lose his balance. With wonderful presence of
+mind he answered the excited girl:
+
+"You will do well, countess. To-morrow is your grandfather's birthday,
+and early to-morrow you can be with him. He is ready to clasp you in
+his arms."
+
+Angela grew white as a marble statue. She sank back in her armchair,
+the leaves she had plucked from the flower lay scattered at her feet.
+Ivan bowed to her respectfully, kissed the hand of Countess
+Theudelinde, and quitted the room.
+
+Ah, there are men who never forget their first and only love!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Not long after Ivan had left, Count Edmund dropped in to see the
+ladies. He appeared to come by accident, but he was dying with
+curiosity. Countess Angela was more amiable than usual. When he was
+leaving, she said to her cousin:
+
+"Go to Salista, and tell him that I have inquired for him."
+
+Count Edmund was courtier enough to conceal the astonishment he most
+certainly felt, but as he went down the stairs he began to hum
+Figaro's song from the _Barber of Seville_:
+
+   "The falseness of women
+    One never can know,
+    One never can know!"
+
+Countess Angela wrote that same evening to her grandfather. Ivan was
+right in saying the next day was his birthday, and this was her
+birthday greeting:
+
+"I am not coming home. Adieu."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+For two days every one in Pesth spoke of Ivan and his duel with
+Salista; the third day he was forgotten. Good-bye to him!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE LAST REHEARSAL
+
+
+On the morning of his birthday Prince Theobald received a letter. It
+was from his only grandchild, and ended with the word "Adieu."
+
+The prince's birthday had been always a festival. From Angela's
+childhood up to the last anniversary of the day she had each year
+given him a remembrance. On this day it had been a bitter gift.
+
+Among his treasures the old man kept a particular casket, handsomely
+fitted with gold mountings, in which he preserved these birthday
+offerings. There was the wreath Angela had given him when she was nine
+years old; the scrawl she had written in her childish handwriting on a
+sheet of Bristol-board; the bit of embroidery, worked in pearls and
+gold, which later she had done for him with her own hand. To these
+gifts the prince, with a deep sigh, added her last letter, with its
+cold farewell.
+
+Prince Theobald was easily moved to anger, while his heart was
+sensitive to affection. When he reflected calmly he found he had every
+right to exact obedience from his granddaughter. Angela owed a duty to
+him, to his position, to the princely house from which she sprang. If,
+indeed, her heart stood in the way of agreeing to his wishes, one
+might, perhaps, excuse her; but Angela, he knew, loved no one. Why,
+therefore, should she seek to defy him for a mere foolish whim?
+Prince Theobald went to Eveline's last rehearsal with his mind in a
+tumult of annoyance and excitement; his blood circulated wildly. He
+could send a strange answer to her farewell. Yes, and he would!
+
+When he reached Eveline's house the servant admitted him as a favored
+_habitu�_, without a word, and left him in the drawing-room while he
+went to announce him to his mistress. The prince looked round him; it
+was the room where Eveline usually gave her representations. The
+rose-colored curtains were drawn, one corner was filled with
+greenhouse exotics, the air was perfumed with the scent of the
+flowers. In another corner two turtle-doves cooed melodiously, while
+from behind a little _bosquet_ a nightingale sang its soft stave of
+love, sorrow, and triumph. One could hardly imagine one's self in an
+ordinary drawing-room; it was more like the throne of a nymph, or
+fairy, in the depth of a wood.
+
+The prince seated himself upon a sofa, and, taking up an album which
+lay upon the table, he turned over the leaves. It was a collection of
+photographs of Eveline in her different parts. He went through it from
+cover to cover, examining each tempting and seductive portrait
+carefully, and as he did so there rose before his memory the casket in
+which Angela's letters and embroidery were preserved. His thoughts
+were so absorbed in these recollections that, with a start, he found
+himself at the last page in the book before him. He roused himself to
+look at the beautiful figure in a common stuff frock. How captivating,
+how simple, how lovely!
+
+The nightingale sang, the doves cooed, the air grew heavy with the
+scent of the pomegranates. The prince wondered in what form of
+enchantment would his hostess appear. And now there fell on his ear,
+coming from a distance, a forgotten tune. Once he had heard it, long
+ago; but the air he remembered. It moved him strangely. It was a
+simple volkslied, the same with which the nurse was wont to rock the
+cradle of Angela when she was a baby--a Slav tune. The text was
+unknown to him.
+
+After a few minutes the song ceased, the door of Eveline's
+dressing-room opened, and she came in--and how? In what new and
+captivating costume did she appear?
+
+She wore a simple white-and-black dress of crape cloth; her hair was
+smoothly combed back from her young face, and hung down in a long
+plait; a white lace collar was round her throat.
+
+Softly, modestly, and yet with the confidence of a child, she drew
+near to the prince, and when she was close to him she handed him a
+little sachet of white satin, upon which was embroidered the kneeling
+figure of a child. Then raising her eyes, full of tears, to his face,
+she said, in a low voice, which trembled with emotion:
+
+"My lord, will you accept this little birthday gift from me? May
+Heaven preserve your days."
+
+This scene was so devoid of all acting, it was so full of feeling and
+sincerity, that Prince Theobald, thrown off his guard, forgot himself,
+and, instead of the formal "madame," said:
+
+"My child--"
+
+At these words the young girl, sobbing wildly, threw herself into his
+arms.
+
+"Oh, prince," she cried, "do not recall those words; call me your
+child. There is on this earth no creature more desolate, more unhappy
+than I am."
+
+Prince Theobald laid, his hand kindly upon the fair head of the
+sobbing girl and kissed her gently on the forehead.
+
+"Be it so," he said. "Look up and smile, Eveline. I am in earnest. You
+are almost a child, and you shall be one to me. I will be your
+father--no, your grandfather. Fathers love their children sometimes,
+but not always; but grandfathers never fail in loving their
+grandchildren. You shall be my little granddaughter. When I am sad you
+will cheer me with your gay chatter; you will read or sing to me when
+I cannot sleep; you will care for me and nurse me when I am ill. I
+shall adopt you as my child. I shall take care of you, and provide you
+with all that you want. In return you will obey me; you will listen to
+me; you will bear with an old man's whims and his petulant temper; you
+will try and please me. I promise you that you shall be treated well.
+You shall be mistress over all that I have; you shall have everything
+suitable to the position of my daughter; but I must exact the
+obedience of a child."
+
+Eveline answered by kissing her benefactor's hand.
+
+"Are you pleased at my proposal? Do you think you will be happy?"
+
+Eveline laughed in childish delight. She danced about the room in her
+joy, and fell down at the prince's feet, crying out:
+
+"Oh, my dear, dear grandpapa!"
+
+Prince Theobald threw himself back on the sofa and burst into a harsh,
+bitter laugh.
+
+Eveline drew back, hurt and frightened by the horrid discord in the
+laugh.
+
+"I am not laughing at you, my dear," said the prince, kindly. "Come,
+my pretty granddaughter, and sit beside me." (He had laughed at the
+answer he could now make to Angela's farewell.) He stroked Eveline's
+hair tenderly. "Now we must talk seriously. Listen to what I have to
+say, for my words are commands. In _our_ family there is only one
+master, whom all obey. First of all, there is your husband to be
+considered. It seems to me he takes the responsibilities of his
+position lightly. Still, he must give his consent to my adoption of
+you. I don't apprehend, however, any difficulty in obtaining it; you
+may leave that to me. After that you will take up your residence in my
+palace in the Maximilian Strasse. It shall be yours on one
+condition--that you receive no visitors without previously consulting
+me. Kaulmann is included in this condition. You must have no
+intercourse with him, except on matters of business. Will it pain you
+to be separated from him?"
+
+"I could not be pained by that. We have always lived apart."
+
+The prince pressed her hand kindly. "Poor child!" he said. "Your
+husband is a scoundrel. He has treated you as one of his speculations,
+and has attained his end. One thing, however, you receive from
+him--his name. He cannot take that from you. By-and-by you will learn
+what an inestimable advantage it is to a woman to bear her husband's
+name. It is a passport; but I do not think Kaulmann meant it in that
+light. Well, let us talk no more of him, but of your future. I shall
+procure for you an engagement at the Opera-house. You must have a
+certain position before the world, by whom the secret tie between us
+would not be understood. The title of actress is like the mantle of a
+queen; it gives you the _entr�e_ to the _salons_ of a certain artistic
+world. Your future shall be my care. You have talent; if you study you
+will succeed. You must rise to the head of your profession, so that
+when I die you will be able to support yourself."
+
+"If I could only get over my stage-fright!" said Eveline, sadly.
+
+"You will when you get accustomed to the footlights. You will learn by
+experience that in this world, and especially on the stage, every one
+is taken at his own valuation. Any one who makes little of himself
+goes cheap. Above all, you must be most careful how you choose your
+friends. This is important, and on this point you must allow me to
+judge for you. If you feel a preference for any one person you must
+tell me with frankness, and I shall know whether it will be a safe
+friendship for you."
+
+"Oh, prince," cried Eveline, "I shall be guided in all things by you!"
+
+"My child, do not promise too much. Engagements made in a moment of
+enthusiasm or sentiment are speedily forgotten; but there is one
+promise I would have from you. There is one man whom you must give
+your word to me that you will _never_ receive--that you will never
+break the seal of a letter that comes from him; that you will never
+accept a present from him, never take up a bouquet he may throw you,
+never notice his applause. This man must not exist for you; you must
+take as little notice of him as if he were a crossing-sweeper. This
+man is Prince Waldemar."
+
+"Oh, sir, I already hate him. I shudder at his approach."
+
+"I am glad to hear it. He deserves every good woman's hatred; but he
+is rich, young, handsome. He raves of you. Women are flattered by the
+love of such as he; and circumstances may arise to alter your ideas.
+Wealth has a wonderful attraction, and poverty is a great temptation.
+The time must come when I shall no longer be here. You must swear to
+me that when I am dead or removed from you you will keep your oath to
+accept nothing from Prince Waldemar."
+
+"I swear it to you by what is most sacred--the memory of my dead
+mother."
+
+"Now allow me to kiss your forehead. I am going to Kaulmann to make
+the necessary arrangements. I thank you for your remembrance of my
+birthday. Your little present has made me rich. I came here in a very
+perturbed state of mind; I go away with a tranquil heart. I shall
+always be grateful to you. God bless you!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Some days later Eveline removed to Prince Theobald's palace in the
+Maximilian Strasse, where she was surrounded by every splendor and
+luxury.
+
+The world supposed--and we must acknowledge there was reason for the
+supposition--that Kaulmann's wife was the Prince's mistress. The
+prince imagined that he would frighten the Countess Angela and bring
+her to reason, and Eveline thought she was fulfilling her duty as a
+wife when she obeyed her contemptible husband by sacrificing her good
+name to further his ambitious schemes.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At this time, and as the result of Eveline's obedience, the
+Joint-Stock Mining Company received the assent of Prince Theobald
+Bondavary to the contract already signed by his sister, Countess
+Theudelinde.
+
+And in this manner the Bondavara property passed away from the last
+two possessors. If Countess Angela had followed Ivan Behrend's advice
+this would not have happened, and the property would have been hers.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Why was the Countess Angela so obstinate? Why did she behave so
+foolishly as regarded her own interests, so ungratefully towards her
+kind grandfather? A word must be said in her defence. This Prince
+Sondersheim, whom Prince Theobald wished his granddaughter to take as
+her husband, was the same Prince Waldemar of whom mention has already
+been made. Prince Theobald knew his character well. We have heard what
+he said to Eveline. The world had the worst opinion of him, and Angela
+knew what the world thought of her future husband.
+
+Was it any wonder she refused to give herself to such a man? Could she
+act otherwise than she did? Women are the best judges on this point.
+Men cannot witness against themselves.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+FINANCIAL WISDOM
+
+
+The Bondavara Joint-Stock Company was about to issue its prospectus;
+the speculation had been advertised largely, and now it only waited
+the necessary capital of ten millions to start the railway which was
+to put the finest coal-mines in the kingdom within the reach of the
+markets of the great cities. The speculation did not, however, attract
+the public. Who knows about the value of the mine? said one. Who
+believes what the papers say? We all know that trick. The gudgeons
+held off, and did not rise to the bait offered.
+
+One day Felix Kaulmann brought one of the directors to see Ivan
+Behrend, and while these two were in conversation he noticed, lying on
+the table, a piece of coal from the Bondavara mine, upon which was
+distinctly visible the outline of a plant about the size of a finger.
+
+"Is this the impression of an antediluvian bird's claw?" he asked.
+
+"No," returned Ivan; "it is a petrified plant."
+
+"Ah, I am making a collection of petrifactions."
+
+"Then take that to add to it," said Ivan, carelessly.
+
+Felix carried away the piece of coal in his pocket.
+
+Shortly before the prospectus was issued there appeared in one of the
+best-known scientific journals an illustration and article descriptive
+of the petrified _bird's foot_ which had been found in the Bondavara
+mine. The article was signed "Doctor Felicius."
+
+All the _savants_ were excited. "We must see this impression!" they
+cried.
+
+The discoverer had given to the creature, whose foot-mark had remained
+unalterably impressed upon the tender (!) coal, the learned name of
+_Protornithos lithanthracoides_.
+
+"Ho, ho!" exclaimed the united bodies of geologists, physiologists,
+professors, philosophers, artisans, and artesian-well borers, "that is
+indeed a long word!"
+
+One set of learned men declared the thing to be possible, another
+denied its possibility.
+
+And why was it not possible? Because at the period of coal-formations
+neither birds nor any one of the mammalia could exist, or did exist,
+in the bowels of the earth. There we find only traces of plants, of
+mussels, of fish sometimes.
+
+And why is it credible? Because in these days we make discoveries
+every day. Humboldt declared that in the antediluvian world no apes
+had ever lived, for the reason that the fossil of an ape had never
+been found. Since then one fossil ape has been discovered in England,
+in France three of the Ourang species.
+
+By degrees the strife raged in every newspaper; it was taken up in
+English, French, German, and American publications. At last it was
+proposed that the matter should be referred to a commission of five
+well-known professors, to whom the petrifaction should be submitted,
+and who should decide the question in dispute. Doctor Felicius offered
+one thousand ducats to the one who would prove that his bird's claw
+was not a bird's claw.
+
+The tribunal of the five learned judges examined the petrifaction
+with microscopical attention, and after a long sitting brought in a
+unanimous verdict that the impression was not made by the claw of a
+Protornithos, but was that of a leaf belonging to the plant _Annularia
+longefolia_; in fact, there could be no question of the bird species,
+as the specimen of coal produced was not brown coal, but the _purest_
+black, in which coal formation it was not possible for even a bird to
+exist.
+
+Doctor Felix Kaulmann quietly paid the thousand ducats, and thanked
+the whole republic of professors for the service they had rendered to
+the Bondavara coal; such an advertisement could not have been obtained
+at an expense of forty thousand ducats. Let people say that the
+Protornithos was a humbug--who cares? The reputation of the Bondavara
+coal was firmly established on the best scientific grounds.
+
+The period had now arrived when the undertaking should be floated at
+the exchange. This, perhaps, is the greatest science on earth. The
+stock-exchange has its good and its bad days. Sometimes it is full of
+electricity, the sheep frolic in the meadow; at other times they hang
+their heads and will not touch the beautiful grass. Sometimes they
+come bleating to the shepherd to beg that he will shear them, for
+their wool presses too heavily on them; another day they butt their
+heads together and will not listen to their leader. Again, and no one
+can tell why, when the bell-wether begins to run, all the rest of the
+flock run after him; neither the shepherd nor his dog can stop them.
+The science lies in knowing when there is good weather on the
+stock-exchange. On a favorable day men are in such excellent
+humor--there is so much gold in every pocket, everything goes
+well--that even a company for the excavation and alienation of the
+icebergs would find bidders. On a bad day the best and safest
+speculation would get not a single offer.
+
+It was on one of the good days that the Bondavara Coal Company made
+its _d�but_ at the Vienna Stock-exchange. It caught on, and by the day
+on which the subscriptions should be paid into the Bank of Kaulmann
+came round it was necessary to have a military cordon drawn across the
+street, to allow the stream of people to pass through in any sort of
+order. The subscribers had, in fact, collected before the doors early
+in the morning; those who were strong trusted to their own strength to
+make way for themselves by elbow force. In the crush battered hats and
+torn coats were matters of small consequence; verbal insults and
+personal injuries, such as pushing and squeezing, were treated as
+nothing. The windows of the bank which looked on the street were burst
+open, and some excited individual called out:
+
+"I subscribe ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million!"
+
+When at last six o'clock struck, and the doors of the bank were
+closed, a stentorian voice called from the balcony to the crowd below:
+
+"The subscription is closed!"
+
+What a disappointment for those who had not been able to get their
+money in in time! They went away dejected men.
+
+The Bondavara mine had indeed "caught on." Instead of ten millions,
+eight hundred and twenty thousand millions had been subscribed. Did
+the subscribers really possess all that money? Certainly not. Each one
+deposited the tenth portion of the sum subscribed as a guarantee, and
+this only on paper; actual money the company did not as yet touch.
+Those who made part of the vast crowd, who tore the coats from one
+another's backs, were not blessed with a superfluity of money, neither
+had they the slightest interest in the production of coal, but to-day
+it is fine weather on the exchange; the Bondavara Company's bonds
+stand at par. Every one wanted to make this small profit; that done
+they care no more for the bonds or the company.
+
+It is, however, a fact that trees do not grow in heaven. Prince
+Waldemar was at the head of the countermine, and he was one of the
+cleverest, most astute men "on 'change."
+
+To understand the business the reader should be himself a speculator.
+It is carried on something after this fashion. Those who want to buy
+in are oftentimes men of straw; they merely want shares to sell them
+at once to the first bidder. As a natural consequence, this lowers the
+value; there is a fall, sometimes a total collapse. If the investment
+is a sound one it recovers vitality, and the shares go up again. There
+is, however, a way to guard against this trick. Almost every company
+has a syndicate, whose office is to ascertain whether the applicants
+for shares are men of straw or not. Pending the inquiry, the time is
+made use of to employ certain agents, to whom a free gift is made of,
+say, five hundred shares. These men immediately set up a tremendous
+uproar; they drive up the shares, they tear the certificates out of
+one another's hands, screaming out the high rate at which they are
+buying. But the general market sees no shares pass; the experienced
+ones know that this is all a well-acted farce, and that any one who
+has ready-money need only go to the fountain-head and buy as many
+shares as he wants at par. On the other hand, the bears are waiting
+their time to rush in and cause such a depreciation as will run down
+the shares to almost nothing. When they have got them at this low
+figure they may allow them to rise again.
+
+The only one who loses in this cruel game is the small capitalist, who
+has ventured, poor soul, on ice, and who has sacrificed his little all
+at the shrine of the golden calf, taken his carefully hoarded store,
+his hard-earned salary out of his drawer, and has cast it upon these
+unprofitable waters, tempted by the tales of high interest, and the
+like. All of a sudden the bears have rushed in, the mine has exploded,
+his hopes are blown into air, vanished like a dream; his shares are so
+much waste-paper. He goes home certainly a sadder if not a wiser man.
+Well for him if he is not a beggar. This is how they manage matters on
+the stock-exchange.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+FILTHY LUCRE
+
+
+In the town of X---- there is a street called Greek Street. It is a
+circle, or crescent, of pretty houses, which at one time were erected
+and peopled by Greek merchants. In the middle of the street stands a
+church with a fa�ade of marble and a splendid gilt tower, whose bells
+are the most tuneful in the whole town. It is said that when those
+bells were cast the Greeks threw, with both hands, silver coins into
+the liquid metal.
+
+Old Francis Csanta was now the last of the race. Once he had been a
+jovial fellow, a careless, free liver, towards ladies a gallant
+cavalier, among men a desperate gambler. With years he became silent,
+moody, miserly, avoided the company of his fellow man or woman, and
+was a hater of music and all pleasure. The more he indulged in
+solitude the worse his peculiarities grew. So soon as one of his
+former friends, or relations, or boon companions died, he bought the
+house in which they had lived. By degrees the whole street belonged to
+him; only one house remained, and that next door to his own. This had
+been occupied by a connection of his who had left one daughter.
+Strangely enough, she had not followed the general custom of celibacy,
+but had married, and was the wife of a music-master, who enjoyed the
+Magyar name of Belenyi. This pair had in due course a son born to
+them, to whom they gave the name of Arpad.
+
+This vexed old Csanta sorely. Why should the last remaining Greek girl
+have married--above all, married a music-master? Why should there be a
+son? Why should that son be baptized Arpad? And why should these
+annoying circumstances take place under his very nose? The house, too,
+was an offence; the only house in the street that did not belong to
+him. The church was his; no one went in except himself; the clergyman
+said mass for him only. He was the patron, the congregation, the
+curator, the vestryman, the supporter; he filled every office; he was
+everything. When he was dead the church would be closed, the grass
+would grow upon the threshold.
+
+The generation in the next house showed no sign of dying; the boy
+Arpad was as lively as an eel. At the age of five he threw his ball
+over the roof, and it fell into the old Greek's garden, who there and
+then confiscated it. The lad gave him much more annoyance.
+
+About this time evil days came to the country. The Hungarians and the
+Austrians killed one another. The reason of their so doing is hard to
+find. Historians of the present day say that it was all child's play,
+and that the cause lay in the refusal of the Hungarian sepoys--who are
+Mohammedans--to bite off cartridges which had been prepared with the
+fat of swine--the German method. Or did this happen in India? Nowadays
+it is all uncertain; mostly what is known about it comes through the
+songs of the poets, and who believes them?
+
+What interests us in this old story is that it has to do with Ivan
+Behrend, and how he came to dwell in the Belenyi's house. It so
+happened that he was one of the regiment who repulsed an assault on
+the town, and in consequence he was billeted on the music-master and
+his wife. He was well liked. He was young then, and had good spirits.
+One day the poor musician, coming home through the streets, was struck
+by a shell, and brought into his house dead. Such things happen
+occasionally in time of war. Little Arpad was an orphan, and then it
+was that Ivan adopted him as his son. A short time after this Ivan
+laid down his arms and retired into private life. Why he did so, and
+where he went, is quite immaterial. Before he went Ivan gave the widow
+Belenyi all the gold he had with him, so that with this money Arpad's
+musical education might be paid for. He did not care for the gold, and
+he could not have employed it better. If he had taken it with him, who
+knows into what worthless hands it would have fallen?
+
+He hadn't been long gone when a Hungarian government official stood in
+the market-place of X----, and, to the accompaniment of much drumming,
+gave out the government order that all German bank-notes should be
+brought to the great square, and there made into a funeral-pile and
+set fire to. Any one refusing to obey this order should be dealt with
+accordingly. Every one knew what this meant, and all who didn't wish
+_to be dealt with_ hastened to bring their bank-notes, which were then
+and there burned.
+
+The widow Belenyi had her little savings, a few hundred gulden. What
+should she do? It went hard with her to see her money thrown into the
+fire. She went to her rich neighbor and besought him to help her, and
+to change her money into Hungarian bank-notes. The old Greek at first
+refused to listen, but by-and-by he relented and did as she wished. He
+even did more, for after a week had passed he came to her and said:
+
+"I will no longer keep the money which your father lent to me at the
+rate of six per cent. Here it is for you--ten thousand gulden; take
+it, and make what you can of it." As he spoke he paid her the whole
+sum in Hungarian bank-notes.
+
+A week later another commandant arrived in the town; this one was a
+German. The next morning more drumming was heard in the market-place,
+and the order was given that all who possessed Hungarian bank-notes
+must give them up to have them burned. Those who refused would be shot
+or hanged.
+
+The poor widow ran weeping to her neighbor, and asked what she should
+do. The whole sum he had given her lay in her drawer untouched. If it
+were taken from her she and her child must beg or starve. Why had he
+given her this money? Why had he changed her German notes if he knew
+that this was going to happen?
+
+"How could I know it?" shrieked Csanta; and, still screaming, he went
+on to lament over himself. "If you are beggared, so am I--ten thousand
+times more beggared than any one. I haven't a copper coin in the
+house. I don't know how I can pay even for a bit of meat. I shall have
+a hundred thousand bank-notes burned. I am ruined! I am a beggar!"
+
+And he fell to cursing both Germans and Hungarians, until the widow
+Belenyi implored him not to shriek so loud, else he would be heard,
+and, God help us all! hanged.
+
+"Let them hear, then! Let them hang me! I don't care. I shall go to
+the market-place and tell them to their faces they are robbers, and if
+they won't hang me I'll hang myself. I am only considering whether I
+shall suspend myself from the pump-handle or from the steeple of the
+tower."
+
+The widow besought him, for Heaven's sake, not to do such a terrible
+deed.
+
+"And what's to become of me? Am I to go round with a hat and beg for a
+penny? Here, these are my last halfpence."
+
+He drew a few coins from his pocket, and began to weep piteously; his
+tears flowed in streams. The poor woman tried her best to console him.
+She begged him not to despair; the butcher and the baker knew him, and
+would trust him. She was tempted to offer him a piece of twenty
+groschen.
+
+"Oh, you will soon see!" sobbed the old man. "Come to-morrow morning
+early, and you will see me hanging from a hook in the passage. I
+couldn't survive this!"
+
+What could she do? The poor soul carried her Hungarian bank-notes to
+the commander, and saw them consumed in the market-place.
+
+Oh, it was a laughable joke! To this day when people talk of it their
+eyes fill with tears.
+
+For the widow, and many like her, there followed months and years of
+grinding poverty. She had lost all the capital saved for her by her
+father; there remained nothing but the house. The front rooms she let
+as a shop, and in the back she lived and eked out her miserable income
+as best she could.
+
+For a long time she looked with a frightened gaze at her neighbor's
+passage, expecting to see the old man hanging from an iron hook; but
+she was spared this sight. The old man had no notion of ending his
+days. He had certainly lost a few thousand gulden, but these were only
+the chaff; the corn was safe. He had a secret hiding-place to which he
+could have access by a secret passage underneath his house; the cellar
+was, in fact, underneath the water. A mason from Vienna had built it
+for him, and the people of the town knew nothing of it. The cellar was
+full of casks, and every cask was full of silver; the old man's cellar
+concealed a treasure. By means of secret machinery constructed in his
+bedroom the owner was able by touching a spring to open a sluice
+concealed in the bed of the stream, and thus in a few minutes to
+submerge his cave. No robber could have penetrated there. All the gold
+and silver pieces which came into Csanta's hand found their way to
+this subterranean hiding-place, and never saw the light of day again.
+
+Meantime his neighbor, the widow, suffered the grip of poverty; she
+sewed her fingers to the bone to keep things together and to earn
+their daily bread. The gold pieces Ivan had given she wouldn't have
+touched even to save herself from starvation; they were used for the
+purpose for which he gave them--for Arpad's musical education, and
+musical instruction was so dear. The child was a genius.
+
+But living grew dearer, work harder to get. The widow was forced to
+get a loan upon the house; she asked her neighbor, and he gave it
+readily. The loan grew and grew until it reached a good sum of money,
+and then Csanta asked it back. Frau Belenyi was not able to refund,
+and the old man instituted proceedings, and as he was the only
+mortgagee he got it for one-quarter its real value. The amount over
+and above the debt and the costs were handed to the widow, and there
+was nothing left but to leave. Madame Belenyi took her son to Vienna,
+to begin in earnest his artistic education.
+
+The old Greek possessed the whole street; there was no one left to
+annoy him in his immediate neighborhood; he suffered neither from
+children, dogs, or birds. And his treasure increased more and more.
+The casks which filled the cellar that lay beneath the water were
+filled to overflowing, and the contents were always silver.
+
+One day Csanta received a visit. It was an old acquaintance, a banker
+from Vienna, whose father had been a friend of the old man's, and at
+whose counting-house he could always get exchange for his bank-notes
+and other little accommodations. The visitor was Felix Kaulmann.
+
+"To what circumstance do I owe the honor? What good news do you bring
+me?"
+
+"My worthy friend, I shall not make any preamble. Time is precious to
+you, as it is to me, and therefore I go straight to the point. By the
+authorization of the Prince of Bondavara I have been placed at the
+head of a joint-stock company, who have just started some gigantic
+coal-works, whose capital has risen from ten millions to eight hundred
+and twenty millions."
+
+"That is eighty-two millions more than you would require."
+
+"The money is the least part. What I stand in need of is well-known
+men for the administration, for the result of the whole undertaking
+rests upon the zeal, the capability, the intelligence of the governing
+body."
+
+"Well, such men are not difficult to find if there is a prospect of a
+good dividend."
+
+"The dividend is not to be despised. The bonus to each member of the
+administration will be, yearly, five or six thousand gulden."
+
+"Really? What a nice income!--a stroke of luck for those who are
+chosen."
+
+"Well, I have chosen you for a member, my worthy friend."
+
+"An honor, a great honor for me; but how much must I put down before I
+am admitted?"
+
+"Neither before nor after shall you be asked to put down anything. The
+only condition is that every member of the administration must hold
+one thousand shares."
+
+"That means paying in a deal of money, my young friend."
+
+"I didn't say a word of paying in; I only spoke of holding."
+
+"But, my young friend, although I am only a provincial merchant in a
+small way, I know that, so far as money is in question, to subscribe
+is another word for payment."
+
+"With this exception--if both subscriptions equalize one another. Ah,
+I see you do not like even a question of subscribing. Well, listen. We
+will suppose that you take one thousand shares in my coal company, and
+at the same time I give you an undertaking to take over one thousand
+shares at par from _you_; in this way we are even, and neither of us
+loses a shilling."
+
+"Hem! But what is the necessity for such a joke?"
+
+"I will be frank with you. The world has its eyes fixed upon the
+actions of important men; if these stir in any affair, the others stir
+likewise. If on 'change it is known that you, my worthy friend, have
+bought a thousand shares, a hundred small speculators will immediately
+invest in shares. In this way you secure to yourself a sinecure which
+will give you five or six thousand gulden, and I will secure for my
+undertaking a splendid future. Now, have I not spoken the truth?"
+
+"H'm! I will consider the affair. Meet me to-morrow at the
+restaurant."
+
+Csanta spent all the morning in the restaurant; he listened to all
+that was said of the Bondavara speculation, and came to the conclusion
+that he would risk nothing, since all danger was covered by Kaulmann's
+bond. When Felix arrived he had made up his mind.
+
+"Good! I shall draw the shares; but none of them shall hang round my
+neck, for I don't like paper. Paper is only paper, and silver is
+always silver."
+
+"Don't be afraid, my friend, I shall retain all shares for myself. I
+deposit the caution for you, and I pay the instalments."
+
+Felix completely satisfied the old Greek as to his upright intentions
+in the matter of the shares, and left in his hands the undertaking in
+which he pledged himself to take them over at par.
+
+Now began the manoeuvre behind the scenes. The agents, the makers of
+books, the brokers rushed in; the Bondavara shares rose rapidly. The
+syndicate had, all this time, never given a share into any one's hand.
+The bears had not yet begun to dance. Herr Csanta had become a student
+of the newspapers. True, his eyes never left one column, but that
+contained for him the tree of all knowledge; it spoke golden truth.
+With amazement he read how every day the value of the Bondavara shares
+increased. The profit grew higher and higher; it went up in leaps and
+bounds; sixteen, eighteen, at last twenty gulden over par. Those who
+had put down two hundred thousand gulden had won in two weeks twenty
+thousand gulden. A splendid speculation, indeed, in less than a
+fortnight to make a fortune! Compare the case of an honest,
+hard-working usurer like himself. What difficulties he had to go
+through to extract twenty per cent. out of his miserable clients! The
+work was hardly worth the gain; the fatigue of trapping some silly
+idiot, the odium and hatred incurred by exacting his rights from some
+miserable beggar with a family, or taking the pillow from under the
+head of a dying man; these things go against the grain, but they must
+be done if you want to fill your cellar with silver coins. And here a
+wretched, good-for-nothing speculator, by merely a stroke of the pen,
+makes in two short weeks a fortune. Luck is not evenly meted out to
+mortals.
+
+The time had come when Felix Kaulmann could demand from Csanta the
+thousand shares upon which he could now make a profit of twenty
+thousand gulden. No honest man could allow such an iniquitous robbery
+of his rights, or, at least, not without making a struggle. It is only
+a fool who allows himself to be made a tool of. A man may steal for
+himself; to rob the widow and the orphan to fill another man's purse,
+that is wicked and immoral.
+
+When Felix Kaulmann came again to the town of X----, the old Greek
+received him with great ceremony and seeming cordiality.
+
+"I hope you bring good news, my dear young friend," he said, clasping
+Kaulmann's hand in his.
+
+"I have come about that little business of the shares," returned
+Felix, with the air of a man of business. "You remember our
+agreement?"
+
+"What shares do you mean? Oh, the Bondavara! Is it pressing?"
+
+"Yes, for the first instalment of interest is now due; two gulden each
+bond, which, as the shares are in my name, will make an addition to my
+savings."
+
+"Oh, so you intend to call in the shares?"
+
+"But that was our agreement."
+
+"And if I do not wish to surrender more than five hundred?"
+
+Kaulmann drew in his lips. "Well, I suppose I should be content."
+
+"And if I do not wish to surrender any of the shares?"
+
+Kaulmann looked at him uneasily. "Sir," he said, "I thought I was
+dealing with an honest man. Besides, you forget I gave you a written
+agreement."
+
+"My friend, my good young friend, that is true. You gave me a written
+agreement signed with your name, which covenanted that you were
+obliged to take these shares from me at par; but I gave you no signed
+document, and there is nothing that can force me to hand you over
+these shares. There you have the whole thing in a nutshell."
+
+"But, my good sir," repeated the banker, taking hold of the lapels of
+the old Greek's coat, "listen to me. Don't you know that it is one of
+the laws in the Chamber of Commerce that there is no need of written
+indenture? If I take shares from you I have only to make a note in my
+pocket-book. Surely you know that this is the law on 'change?"
+
+"What do I know of the laws they make there? I never set my foot in
+the place."
+
+Kaulmann made an effort to laugh. "I must confess I have never been so
+sold by any one. I have found my master. Will you give me none of the
+shares?"
+
+"Not half a one."
+
+"Very good. Then you must count out the sum-total agreed upon."
+
+"Certainly. I shall pay down the money."
+
+"I mean the whole sum. Do you understand?"
+
+"Undoubtedly. Don't be afraid; the money is ready; this house is bail
+for more than that amount. If needs be I can pay you in gold, if needs
+be in silver."
+
+"Well," cried Kaulmann, bringing his clinched fist down on the table,
+"I would never have believed that in this little town I should have
+been so sold."
+
+Csanta suspected that were he to fail in paying his first instalment
+his shares might be annulled. He therefore lost no time in placing the
+first thirty-five per cent. into the bank. But this was not an easy
+task. To transport seventy thousand silver gulden to Vienna would
+necessitate a conveyance, and not only a conveyance, but an escort of
+gendarmes, and this paraphernalia would make people stare. Well, let
+them stare!
+
+When the old man descended into his cellar and looked at the casks
+which contained the necessary sum, his heart beat, his limbs trembled.
+These casks contained the treasure he had garnered up; his solid
+capital. It was foolish, he knew, still he could not help tears coming
+to his eyes as he chose seven casks from the twenty which should be
+the first to go. He wept as he spoke to these children of his heart.
+
+"You shall have no cause to reproach me, you who remain here," he
+said; "those that are now leaving you shall soon return. They are
+going on a safe journey, not on a wild, venturous sea, where there
+would be danger of shipwreck, but on a safe railroad, to increase and
+multiply. Once I have the shares in my hand, they shall not stay a
+night in my possession. I shall sell them at once, and get back my
+silver. The profits, too, I shall change into silver. Instead of seven
+casks I shall return with nine."
+
+In this way did the old Greek miser comfort himself for the temporary
+loss of his silver pieces. He counted them that night when the day's
+work was done, and then set about arranging the transport of his
+treasure to Vienna.
+
+The day before Csanta had decided upon this step the "bears" had begun
+to explode their mine. It was, however, only a trial; they wanted
+merely to show their teeth. Specie was in demand; if silver goes up,
+paper securities fall. The seven casks from Csanta's cellar arrived
+opportunely. Two wagons laden with leaden casks, and guarded by
+gendarmes with drawn sabres as they went slowly through the streets,
+attracted the attention of passers-by. When it came to be known that
+these casks were full of silver, and that all this silver was to be
+paid as the first instalment of some Bondavara shares, there was
+considerable excitement. Peru and Brazil were opening their
+floodgates. The firm of Kaulmann very naturally made as much as
+possible of the event, as being a feather in their commercial cap. The
+delivery arrived, as it happened, during the absence of the chief
+cashier, which involved an immense amount of running hither and
+thither in search of him, as it was necessary Csanta should receive
+his receipt. In the afternoon the shares were handed over and the
+silver was counted. All this made much stir and business in the
+Kaulmann Bank. Kaulmann intrusted the conduct of the affair to his
+most capable clerk. He instructed him how to act in regard to the
+matter, and added that if the old Greek gave him a gratuity, he was to
+kiss his hand, and to place himself altogether at his service. This
+man's name was Spitzhase.
+
+Later in the day Spitzhase brought Csanta his account, regularly drawn
+up, together with the shares, and begged to inform his excellency
+"that he had brought seven hundred gulden more than was necessary, for
+the reason that since yesterday silver had risen one per cent."
+
+"H'm!" thought Csanta, "this is an honest fellow; I shall give him a
+gratuity." And he gave him a bank-note of twenty gulden.
+
+Spitzhase overpowered him with thanks; then took his hand, and kissed
+it.
+
+"H'm!" thought Csanta, "I have given him too much; perhaps five gulden
+would have been sufficient." Aloud, he said:
+
+"I made a mistake. Give me that note back; I will give you another."
+And he gave him a bank-note of the value of five gulden.
+
+Spitzhase thanked him warmly, and kissed his hand.
+
+"H'm! this is really a good fellow--quite after my heart. Give me back
+those five gulden; here is another note. I made a mistake." And he
+handed him a note of fifty gulden.
+
+Spitzhase kissed both his hands, and showered blessings upon him.
+Csanta was now convinced that he had made this man his friend for
+life.
+
+"If I had brought the silver to-morrow, I should have got more," he
+said, reflectively.
+
+"No, you may believe me, to-day was the right moment; to-morrow silver
+will fall two per cent."
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"Oh, I am acquainted with the weather on the stock-exchange."
+
+"You are? Then why don't you speculate if you know so well the ins and
+outs?"
+
+"Because one must have money, and I have none. I can only dabble in
+trifling matters."
+
+"Are you well known on 'change?"
+
+"I spend all my time there, except when I am asleep."
+
+"Then take me to the stock-exchange. I should like to look about me."
+
+Csanta meant, as soon as he could find a suitable purchaser, to sell
+his Bondavara shares.
+
+"One can go in the evening?" he asked, as they went along.
+
+"That is the most lively time, particularly on a day like this."
+
+Csanta was now introduced into the Temple of Mammon. Even outside the
+door he could hear a strange noise and tumult of voices, and as he
+stepped inside his head almost reeled at the strange spectacle. The
+large hall was stuffed full of men, who circulated in a narrow circle.
+Each one spoke, or rather shrieked, as if all were quarrelling. They
+gesticulated with their hands, holding up pieces of paper in the air,
+making signs and figures on their fingers, and screaming out names and
+making offers until the noise was deafening.
+
+Spitzhase, who was perfectly at home, led Csanta through the throng.
+The old merchant was indignant at the manner in which he was pushed
+and driven about, no one even begging pardon for his rudeness. He
+would have liked to know what was meant by the words so constantly
+repeated, "I give!" "I take!" His attention, however, was at once
+riveted by another word which seemed to be in every man's mouth, and
+which gradually became plainer: "Puntafar! Puntafar!" It dawned upon
+him that it must be Bondavar. He stopped and timidly asked one of
+those who were shrieking, "Who wants 'Puntafar'? What is the price at
+which the Bondavara shares are selling?"
+
+"Thirty over par."
+
+Csanta's eyes blazed. "It is impossible; it cannot be!" he said.
+"Yesterday they were at twenty."
+
+"That was yesterday. To-day they are thirty. If you want to buy to
+morrow you will have to pay thirty-five. The whole world is buying
+the scrip. A rich nabob from India has brought all his silver here,
+and bought Puntafar shares. The Dey of Morocco and a Russian prince,
+who both own silver mines, have each ordered ten thousand shares. Even
+the little folk, who have only a few hundreds, are tearing the shares
+out of one another's hands; they won't have anything but Puntafar.
+What will you take?"
+
+Csanta had very little idea that he united in his own person the East
+Indian nabob, the Dey of Morocco, and the Russian prince, as likewise
+that it was he who had caused this uproar. Far from such an idea
+crossing his mind, he believed that this man was making game of him.
+
+"Oh, sir," he said, "thirty gulden exchange is too much. I can give
+you a thousand Bondavara shares at five-and-twenty."
+
+These words caused such a tumult as hardly ever had been heard on
+'change. Every one crowded round Csanta; he was set upon from all
+sides--behind, before, at his side, on his back--he was fairly mobbed.
+People fought with one another over his head, and flourished their
+fists in his face.
+
+"Who is he? Who is he? A bear, a conspirator, a thief, an agent! Out
+with him! Bonnet him! Pitch him out! Twenty-five, will he take? Give
+him twenty-five blows on his back and tear his coat in pieces!"
+
+Spitzhase could hardly manage to get him out. He was in a deplorable
+condition when he issued forth, his hat smashed, his clothes all awry,
+his face pale, his breath short. Once in the open air his rescuer
+began to scold him.
+
+"What the devil did you do that for? Just at the moment when the cabal
+was silenced and trampled in the dust, to come forward as one of them
+to run down your own shares!"
+
+"I did not want to run them down; I only wanted to ascertain if it was
+really the case that such an advance on the price could be realized."
+
+"Oh, that's the way with you," returned Spitzhase, in an aggrieved
+tone. "Well, I can tell you the exchange is not a good place to try
+jokes in. It was all quite authentic. The Bondavara scrip is as sound
+as ready-money. To-day it is thirty for scrip, eight-and-twenty for
+gold; to-morrow it will be thirty-two, and so on--always getting
+higher. If I had the money I would put in my last farthing. I know
+what I know, and I have studied the weather on 'change, but what I
+have learned from Kaulmann I cannot tell; my lips are sealed."
+
+Upon this Csanta pressed the clerk very hard. "You can tell me," he
+said; "I am already in the boat. What have you heard?"
+
+"Well," said Spitzhase, lowering his voice and looking round
+cautiously, "what you say is true; you are a large holder of stock, so
+perhaps I may give you this hint. _Puntafar has not reached its
+highest point yet._ Oho! they are very tricky who hold over. I am in
+the secret, and there is a plan, the details of which I durst not
+reveal, which will give such an impulse as will drive the shares still
+higher. In six months one impulse will be given, in another six months
+another. Oh, the world will open its eyes and its ears; but what I say
+to you, you will see! In a year's time Puntafar will be at one hundred
+over par."
+
+"A hundred!" repeated Csanta, falling back against the wall in his
+astonishment. But he soon recovered himself. He was angry with
+Spitzhase for treating him as if he were a fool.
+
+"I tell you what you are," he said; "you are a great boaster. Leave
+me; I shall get home by myself." And he dismissed Spitzhase angrily.
+
+The next morning his first word was to ask the waiter for the papers.
+His eyes eagerly sought the exchange column, and there, just as
+Spitzhase had prophesied, silver currency had dropped two per cent.
+Bondavara stood at thirty to thirty-two florins, and what is written
+is gospel truth.
+
+"Not one shall I sell!" cried Csanta, clapping his hands.
+
+And then he got up and dressed himself. Here was a stroke of luck. It
+was like a fairy-tale; a man had only to leave the window open at
+night and next morning his pockets are full of gold.
+
+He was swallowing his breakfast when Spitzhase was ushered in, his
+face beaming with triumph.
+
+"Now, what did I tell you?" he cried, as he laid down the paper before
+Csanta, pointing with his finger to the exchange column.
+
+The old Greek said not a word of having read the good news; he nodded
+his head as he answered, with great composure:
+
+"Is it really true? Well, that is satisfactory."
+
+"I rather think so; by the evening they will be up to thirty-two. Oh,
+if I had only some money!"
+
+"Well, here is another note for you. Go and buy yourself a share.
+There, don't kiss my hand. I cannot allow it." But he did allow it.
+
+"Don't sell the share," he went on; "keep it for yourself. When the
+next instalment comes due I will pay it for you. For God's sake, don't
+kiss my hand again! I will do more than that for you. If you kiss my
+hand every time I shall have no hands left. Remember that I shall
+expect you to show your gratitude in a more tangible manner. You must
+let me know the first thing if the head of your bank is going to try
+any tricks with the bonds. You will be sure to give me the first news
+as to when I should sell. Do you understand me? Good! Now that you
+have a share yourself you have an interest in the matter, and if we
+sell our shares are we not entitled to a commission?"
+
+Spitzhase kissed every finger of the old man's hand.
+
+"I implore one thing of you, master," he said; "don't betray me to
+Kaulmann. If he found out that I betrayed his secrets to any one he
+would dismiss me on the spot."
+
+"Don't be afraid. You have to do with an honorable gentleman,"
+returned the Greek, with an air of dignity.
+
+The honorable gentleman believed that he had won over the honest clerk
+to betray the secrets of the honorable banker, his employer. It was an
+honorable game all round. We shall see which of the honorable
+gentlemen played it best.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+NO, EVELINE!
+
+
+It was high time Ivan returned to his coal-mine; he was needed there.
+While he was fighting duels in Pesth, strange things were happening in
+Bondathal. Not far from his workmen's colony there arose enormous
+buildings with almost miraculous quickness. As often happens when no
+difficulty is made as to price, the only question asked is, how soon
+shall the work be finished? The shares had not yet been issued, and
+the company had already spent in the interest of the undertaking a
+million of money. Everything was pressed forward at fever-heat. Here
+was a new invention for making tiles by machinery, there a
+donkey-engine supplied the materials for building the walls. The
+earthworks were in a most advanced condition, the chimneys smoked, the
+roofs were covered, a whole street was already built, a new town was
+rising as if by magic.
+
+Of all this activity Ivan had been kept in ignorance by his assistant,
+Raun�, who had, likewise, been silent as to another disturbing element
+which had made its appearance for the first time among the workmen,
+and which disputed the palm with "choke-damp" and "foul air," and was
+quite as fatal as either. This new element was "a strike." A portion
+of Ivan's workmen struck for higher wages, otherwise they would join
+the new coal-mine, which was called "The Gentleman's Colony." It
+offered nearly double the wages, certainly more than the half again,
+of what Ivan paid. This happened after Raun� had explained to the men
+that he had accepted the office of director, which had been offered to
+him by the new company, and he naturally wished to take with him the
+best and cleverest among Ivan's men, so that they, too, might profit
+by the higher wages. Who could resist such advantageous offers? Miners
+are like all other men; they have their price.
+
+Ivan now gnawed the bitter bread of self-reproach. He saw the folly he
+had committed in taking into his service and admitting into the
+secrets of the business the paid director of a company created to
+bring about his own ruin.
+
+A scientific man is not a good business man. While he was making
+investigations as to the probability of animal life existing in the
+antediluvian strata of coal-mines, he was blind to the danger of a
+rival company close to his own factory. Nay, more; he had allowed
+himself to be hoodwinked by an inferior intelligence, and had fallen
+into the trap set for him by his old friend Felix. Ivan was
+philosopher enough to accommodate himself to circumstances. There was
+little use, he told himself, in crying over spilt milk; he had broad
+shoulders, and they should, if it were possible, push the wheel of
+fortune. But though he said this, he had little hope of succeeding.
+
+On his return, and when he got, as he thought, to the bottom of the
+evil, he called his workmen together.
+
+"Comrades," he said, "a great undertaking has risen up beside us; the
+company of the new coal-mines offers you wages which I give you my
+word of honor it is impossible to pay without considerable loss to
+themselves. Up to the present I have worked my mines with a certain
+amount of profit; I offer you to-day, in addition to your usual wages,
+a share out of this profit. For the future we shall divide with one
+another what we earn. At the end of the year I shall lay my accounts
+before you; one of your number, chosen by yourselves, shall examine
+and audit them, and according to the wages of each man and the work he
+has done he shall receive his share. If you agree to this fair offer I
+shall continue the work. If, however, you think it better for your
+interests to take the higher wages offered by the company, I shall not
+enter into competition with men who have millions to spend; it would
+be a folly on my part. I shall, therefore, sell them my mine, and you
+may then be certain of one thing, that when they have both mines in
+their own hands, and find that no rivalry is possible, the rate of
+wages will be lowered. To those who stand by me I offer a contract
+_for life_; the profits of this mine, so long as I live, shall be
+divided between myself and my workmen."
+
+This was an excellent stroke, especially as the company could not
+imitate it. More than half the men closed with Ivan's offer, and
+undertook to remain with him. A great number, however, influenced by
+paid agents, who were sent about to stir them up, went over to the
+"Gentleman's Colony."
+
+Those who remained had a great deal to suffer from the ones who left.
+Not a Sunday passed without fights taking place between the two
+parties.
+
+Ivan soon heard that his powerful rival had found a way of checkmating
+him. His customers, to whom he sent large consignments not only of
+coal but also of copper and iron bars, wrote to him that the new
+Bondavara Coal Company had offered the same class of goods at fifty
+per cent. less, and that therefore, unless he was prepared to make a
+similar reduction, they could not deal with him. Fifty per cent.
+higher wages and fifty per cent. less profit means working for
+nothing. Raun� had Ivan's business in the hollow of his hand; he could
+ruin it, and he meant to do so. Ivan saw this quite clearly, but he
+did not lose heart. He wrote to all his former customers that it was
+not possible to give either the coal or the iron a farthing cheaper,
+not if it hung round his neck as a dead weight. The consequence was
+his coal and his iron accumulated in his warehouses; scarcely a wagon
+with his name was to be seen in the streets of Bondathal. He had to
+work the mine and the foundry for himself alone.
+
+For the men who had remained true to him there was, indeed, a bad
+outlook. Their former comrades jeered at them in the open street.
+"Where is the profit?" was a popular cry. Ivan tried to quiet the
+disappointed men; he asked them to wait patiently. By the end of the
+year, he prophesied, they would be on the right side. To give things
+for nothing was not trade, and if the company chose to do it he wasn't
+going to follow such a suicidal example.
+
+The great buildings of the new colony being now completed, the
+directors of the company announced that they would hold high festival
+in honor of the opening of the undertaking. The principals, directors,
+managers, shareholders were to come from Vienna and be entertained at
+a banquet. The largest room in the factory was fitted up as a
+dining-room, the tables being laid for workmen as well as for the
+distinguished company of strangers. It was widely circulated that the
+prince was coming. The company had chosen him as their president. Both
+the princes were patrons of commercial and industrial undertakings,
+but Prince Theobald possessed an extraordinary financial talent; any
+speculation he engaged in was a sound and sure one, so it was said, as
+also that he had taken a million shares in the new company. It was so
+far true that Kaulmann had offered him this million, which was to
+increase the value of the Bondavara property, but it is needless to
+remark that the million of shares had no tangible existence. Previous
+to the inaugural ceremony a religious service was to take place, and,
+as was only fitting, this was to be conducted by the eminent Abb�
+Samuel. Before such distinguished guests it would hardly be in keeping
+to have a man such as pastor Mohak, although it was true that he
+slaved all through the year among the people.
+
+The guests came from the castle, where they had arrived the previous
+day. They drove into the town in splendid coaches. That of Prince
+Theobald came first, with his armorial bearings emblazoned on the
+panels. Behind two footmen with dazzling liveries of scarlet and gold.
+On the box the coachman with a powdered wig and three-cornered hat.
+The coach drew up at the church door, the footmen jumped down and
+opened the carriage door. There alighted first an old gentleman with
+white hair, a clean-shaven, soft, friendly face, and a very
+distinguished air. He gave his hand to a splendidly dressed lady in a
+velvet and lace costume, who descended from the equipage with graceful
+nonchalance. The crowd saw her violet velvet boots and embroidered
+silk stockings.
+
+"What a great lady!" cried the boors to one another. "She must be a
+princess, for all the gentlemen at the church door received her hat in
+hand."
+
+Only one man in a rough workman's coat called out: "Evila!"
+
+It was Peter Saffran who had recognized her.
+
+The lady heard the exclamation, and turned a laughing face to the
+crowd outside.
+
+"No," she said; "it is _Eveline_."
+
+She bowed her head sweetly as she crossed the threshold of the church.
+
+Eveline's vanity had brought her to Bondathal; she wanted to show her
+silk stockings to her former companions, who had seen her in wooden
+shoes with no stockings, except on occasions. It was the vanity of the
+peasant girl--not pride, take notice, but mere vanity. She did not
+look down upon her friends, as some upstarts do; she wanted to do good
+to every one of them. She was ready to give them money, to earn their
+grateful thanks, particularly to those who had been kind to her in the
+old days; to those especially she wished to prove that, although she
+had risen to a high position, she had never forgotten how much she
+owed to them. She would now, in her turn, do them good. Eveline had
+looked forward to seeing her former bridegroom. Most probably he had
+long since consoled himself for her loss, and had married another. A
+present of money would make _him_ happy. She had also counted on
+meeting Ivan. She had the most grateful remembrance of his goodness,
+and she was glad to think she had it in her power to prove her
+gratitude by deeds. She could not give him a present, but she could
+tell him of the dangers that threatened his property from the large
+undertaking of the company, and she promised herself to use all her
+influence to make the best terms for Ivan in case he would consent to
+arrange matters with his gigantic rival.
+
+Yes, it was indeed the vain desire of doing good that had brought
+Eveline to Bondathal. She had arranged how and where she would have
+her first meeting with Ivan.
+
+The notabilities and proprietors of the neighborhood had been invited
+in the name of the prince to the banquet, which was to inaugurate the
+opening of the works. No one could refuse such an invitation. It was
+true that when Eveline had proposed to the Abb� Samuel that he should
+undertake the office of intermediary, and call on his learned
+colleague Behrend, and bring him with him to the banquet, the abb� had
+exclaimed not for all the world would he venture to propose such a
+thing as that Behrend should wait upon their excellencies. And when he
+said this he knew very well what he was saying.
+
+To return to the church door. As Peter Saffran stood stock-still,
+gazing after the vanishing figure of his former betrothed, he felt
+some one tap him on the shoulder; turning round, he saw standing
+behind him Felix Kaulmann. Peter's face went deadly white, partly with
+fear, more from inward rage. Felix, however, laughed carelessly, with
+the indifference of a great man, to what was, in his opinion, only a
+good joke.
+
+"Good-day, fellow. Mind you come to the dinner," he said, as he
+followed the prince into the church.
+
+Peter Saffran remained gaping at the noble gentlemen as they got out
+of their carriages, and when the crowd began to move into the church
+he followed in the stream. He made his way into the darkest corner,
+before the shrine of a saint, knelt down, with both his hands laid
+upon the wall and his head upon his folded arms, and there he made a
+vow--an awful, terrible vow. Those who saw him in his kneeling
+attitude, with bent head, imagined he had been struck at last by
+grace, and was repenting of his sins. When he had finished his
+prayer, or his curse, he got up quickly, and, without waiting for the
+end of the splendid ceremonial, hastened out of the church, casting a
+wild look behind him as he went, for he imagined that the saint in the
+shrine was pointing her finger at him and calling out, "Take him
+prisoner! He is a murderer!"
+
+The church service being over, the distinguished company drove to the
+company's colony, and went over the works. They drove under triumphal
+arches which were erected in the streets, and were received by a
+deputation of workmen. The best orator made a speech, which would have
+been very eloquent only he stuck fast in the middle. The young girl
+who recited some verses was more happy in her delivery, and her
+youngest sister presented a bouquet to Eveline, who kissed the child.
+
+"Ah! you are little Marie. Don't you know me?"
+
+The child, however, was too frightened at this beautiful lady to make
+her an answer.
+
+The guests visited the buildings under the guidance of Herr Raun�, who
+spared them nothing--the factory, the machinery, the iron-works. They
+were terribly tired of it all, and glad to get into the large rooms
+which had been temporarily arranged as the banqueting-hall. Here they
+were received by two bands playing Rakoczy's "March." To the banquet
+came a crowd of guests alike invited and uninvited--gentlemen,
+peasants, clergymen, and Bohemians. Eveline, however, looked in vain
+for her former master. Ivan was not among the guests. He had not even
+sent an excuse. What an uncouth man! and yet, perhaps, he had reason.
+If you drink beforehand to the skin of the bear, the bear has every
+right to decline being present at the feast. Peter Saffran, however,
+came; he was treated as the chief guest, and given the first place at
+the workman's table. This struck even his obtuse senses. Looking
+round he saw he was the only representative of the Bondathal mine.
+
+The banquet lasted far on into the evening. Gentlemen and workmen were
+exceedingly merry. Towards the close of the feast Felix sent for
+Peter. He presented him to the prince.
+
+"Here is the brave miner of whom I have told your excellency."
+
+Saffran felt the blood rush to his face.
+
+"Well, my good friend," continued Felix, "how has the world treated
+you since I last saw you? Are you still afraid of 'the doctor'?
+There's a plaster for you; it will heal any remains of your former
+injuries." So saying, he took out of his pocket-book a note for a
+hundred gulden and put it into Peter's hand. "No," he added, "don't
+thank me, but thank the kind lady there, who remembered you."
+
+He pointed to Eveline, and Peter kissed her hand, or, rather, her
+beautiful mauve glove.
+
+What a transformation in the man-eater! He had grown obedient and
+gentle.
+
+"That good lady," continued Felix, "wishes you well. At her request
+his excellency, Prince Theobald, has given you the post of overseer in
+the new company's colony, at the yearly salary of a thousand gulden.
+What do you say to that?"
+
+What could he say? He kissed the hand of his excellency.
+
+Kaulmann filled a large goblet to the brim with foaming champagne and
+handed it to Peter.
+
+"Toss that off," he said. "But first drink to the long life of his
+excellency, our generous prince."
+
+"And to the health of this dear lady," added the prince, gallantly, at
+which the trumpets sounded shrilly, and Peter Saffran, the prince,
+the banker, and Eveline drank to one another.
+
+This scene delighted the working-men. Here was no pride, the gentlemen
+clinking glasses with the common miner. This was the right spirit.
+
+Peter Saffran, meantime, was wondering within himself which of the two
+gentlemen was Eveline's husband, and in what relation did the other
+stand to her? He emptied his glass and put it down again, but it did
+not occur to him to put the question to either of the three, therefore
+it remained unanswered.
+
+The festival closed with a splendid display of fireworks. The sparks
+from the Catherine wheels fell in a shower of molten gold into Ivan's
+mine.
+
+The following morning Saffran came to Behrend and informed him that he
+had taken service with the company.
+
+"You also?" said Ivan, bitterly. "Well, go!"
+
+Peter was paler than ever. He had expected reproaches for his
+treachery, but as none came he suddenly burst out with what had been
+for some time in his mind.
+
+"Why did you _that time_ call your friend a doctor?"
+
+"Because he is one. He is a doctor of law."
+
+Saffran raised his finger in a threatening manner. "Nevertheless, it
+was very wrong of you to call him _that time_ a doctor." And then he
+turned on his heel and went his way.
+
+Ivan's strength of mind was more and more put to the proof. Each day
+brought fresh defections. His best men left him to go over to his
+enemy, who, like some horrid monster, raised large furnaces which
+crushed the very life out of his smaller chimneys. His business
+friends fell away from him. They looked upon him as an obstinate
+fool, carrying on such an unequal fight; but the darker the outlook
+the stronger grew his determination to see the affair to the bitter
+end. He would not leave his old home, his own little territory; he
+would carry on the unequal, perhaps the fruitless, task of opposing
+his apparently triumphant adversary.
+
+In the depth of his misfortune one true, reliable friend remained to
+him, and saved him from utter despair. This friend was the
+multiplication-table. Before he began to calculate he put these
+questions to himself, as if he were some one else:
+
+"Is this colony a company of commercial men? No, a company of
+speculators. A joint-stock company? No, it is a game of chance. Is it
+a factory? No, a tower of Babel." Then he went on to consider this
+point. "Two and two make four, and, turn it how you like, it makes
+nothing _but_ four; and if all the kings and emperors in Europe, with
+decrees and ukases, were to tell their individual subjects that two
+and two make five, and if the pope fulminated a bull to enjoin on all
+true believers that two and two make five, and if even the best
+financial authority was to declare that we should count two and two as
+five, all these--kings, emperors, popes, and accountants--would not
+alter the fact that two and two make four. These generous shareholders
+of the Bondavara Company are working against a well-known fact. The
+new company builds, creates, invents, contracts, buys, and sells
+without taking any heed of the primary rule of arithmetic; therefore
+it is clear that the company is not working for the future, but merely
+for present gain. Therefore, I will live down this swindle."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At the end of the year the company gave their shareholders a surprise.
+The Bondavara shares began to fluctuate between thirty-five and forty
+florins exchange, although the date of the payment of second
+instalments of capital was at hand. At such times all the early bonds
+are handed in. Csanta thought this would be a good time for him to
+bring in his shares and to get his silver back. He was contemplating a
+visit to the bank when he received a private note from Spitzhase,
+putting him on his guard not to fall into such a mistake as to sell.
+"This very day the board of directors had met, and a resolution had
+been carried unanimously that at the next general meeting the
+shareholders should be surprised by getting a bonus of twenty per
+cent., upon which the shares would at once rise higher. This was a
+profound secret, but he could not allow his good friend to remain in
+ignorance."
+
+And at the next general meeting the commercial world heard the same
+story. The first two months of the Bondavara Coal Company had been
+such a signal success that, besides the usual rate of interest, the
+directors were enabled to offer upon each share a bonus of six
+florins, which amounted (with the usual rate) to thirty-five per
+cent., an unheard-of profit in two months.
+
+When Ivan read this in the newspaper he burst into a loud laugh. He
+knew, no one better, what amount of profit the factory had made, but
+it is easy to manipulate accounts so that the ledger presents these
+remarkable results. What do the unbusiness-like, credulous
+shareholders understand of such matters? The board of directors know
+very well how matters really stand; but they have their own ends to
+serve. The outside world may bleed; what is that to them? There is no
+court-martial in the stock-exchange, and no justice for the injured.
+
+Csanta did not sell his shares. He paid his second instalment in
+silver pieces, rejoiced over the bonus, and blessed Spitzhase for
+preventing him from selling his bonds at thirty-five. They had now
+risen to forty florins, and continued to rise.
+
+Ivan watched this diabolical swindle with calmness. He said to
+himself:
+
+"How long will the game last?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+RESPECT FOR HALINA CLOTH
+
+
+It was a singular coincidence that in the same moment that Ivan said
+to himself, "How long will this game last?" Prince Waldemar, meeting
+Felix Kaulmann, beaming with triumph, at the exchange, put to him the
+question, "How long, do you think, will this comedy last?"
+
+"The third act is still wanting," replied the banker.
+
+"Yes, the third instalment. Then I shall hoist you on your own
+petard."
+
+"We will see about that."
+
+The bears could not imagine what Kaulmann had in his head. That he had
+a plan was certain; what it was no one knew but the Abb� Samuel and
+Prince Theobald.
+
+The third act was not the instalment; it was the Bondavara Railway.
+This question bristled with difficulties. The government was irritated
+against Hungary, and in their irritation would not listen to any
+proposals as to railways and the like. Even the country party was
+sulky. Let the country go to the devil; what did they care? And no
+doubt they had justification for their righteous indignation. Every
+Hungarian who wore "broadcloth" was against them. The body of
+officials, the middle class, the intelligence of the country,
+preferred to lay down place and to give up government patronage sooner
+than submit to the chimeras which the cabinet at Vienna indulged in
+by way of government. Good! So far as officials went, men were easily
+got to fill the places the others had resigned, for when a good table
+is spread, needless to say, guests are not hard to find. The hired
+troop pocketed their salary, took the oath, stuffed their pockets, but
+did nothing to promote the government measures. Between the men who
+had resigned and the newly appointed officials there was only this
+difference: that one set openly declared they would do nothing; the
+others pretended to do something, but found it impossible to
+accomplish anything. They tried to shove, but the cart would not move
+an inch. From those who wore cloth among the middle classes the
+government had to expect nothing, that was evident. Formerly those who
+wore silk and satin acted as a sort of counterpoise--the high and
+mighty, and the magnates, the lawyers, and the priests--but now all
+these held aloof. The primate remonstrated, the bishops advised the
+nobility, the higher classes collected in Pesth and talked treason.
+
+_Flectere si nequeo superos_--
+
+Let us turn now to the Halina cloth. Halina cloth is, as every one
+knows, the commonest description of cloth, only worn by the poorer
+classes. This cloth was suddenly adopted in the capital of the
+Austrian empire. This was no capricious freak of fashion set in motion
+by some high lady who "imagined" her elegance could give dignity to
+the roughest material; this was another affair altogether, inaugurated
+by the legislative body of the kingdom, who were all clothed in
+Halina. Well, what has any one to say against this? Why not? Are we
+not democrats? It is true that these right-minded men hardly
+understood a word of the language in which the legislative debates
+were carried on, but this had the inestimable advantage that they
+could make no long speeches, and therefore could in no way impede the
+course of business. Neither did they possess any knowledge of the laws
+of nations, the rights of citizens, the complicated details of
+finance, nor the construction of budgets; and this pastoral innocence
+entitled them to universal respect and confidence, for it placed them
+above suspicion. No one could suspect these honorable deputies of
+siding with the government because they held government appointments.
+
+We repeat that the introducer of Halina cloth to be worn by the
+legislative assembly was a man of talent. But in Hungary, also, the
+fashion should be adopted. Were there not one hundred and eight seats
+in the legislative assembly ready for so many excellent men? These
+should not be left vacant. To fill these seats, however, there was one
+lever necessary, and that was the influence of the clerical party.
+
+The clergy in Hungary were such poor creatures, so ignorant and
+uneducated, that they actually preferred to remain faithful to the
+traditions of Rakoczy than to adopt the new-fangled ideas promulgated
+at Vienna. Even such an insignificant pastor as Herr Mahok returned
+the decree which had been sent to him from headquarters, with
+directions to read it on Sundays to his flock, saying that it was a
+mistake; he was not the village crier. If the government wished to
+issue a protocol, let it be done in the market-place, by order of the
+judge of the district, and accompanied by the drum and trumpet. The
+pulpit was not the place for government protocols. The like refusal
+came from every pastor in Hungary, and in face of this flat rebellion
+the ministers resolved that the power of the clerical party should be
+broken.
+
+"Now is the time to act," said Felix Kaulmann to the Abb� Samuel.
+
+The primate had been in Vienna; he had been refused an audience; he
+had fallen into disgrace. The Bishop of Siebenburg had been elevated
+to the primate's seat, and given all its honors and dignities. The
+clerical party in Hungary was doomed. Against it the sword was drawn;
+the moment was approaching when it would be cut in two.
+
+The Bondavara Railway was the _gradus ad Parnassum_. If it succeeded,
+if it was worked properly, the house of Kaulmann would rank with that
+of the Pereires and Strousbergs; then, also, the pontifical loan upon
+the Church property in Hungary could be effected. All this with one
+blow! Rank in the world, power in the country, influence in the
+empire, success in the money-market, and the triumph of the Church.
+
+The Abb� Samuel had begun his ambitious career. The first task was to
+introduce the hundred and eight Hungarian wearers of Halina cloth into
+the legislative body, and thus to secure the Bondavara Railway, the
+title of bishop, and a seat in the House of Peers. These three things
+lay in the hollow of his hand, for he had three strings ready to pull,
+which would set in motion the statesman, the financier, and the
+influence of woman.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+On one Saturday Ivan, to his surprise, received a visit from Raun�,
+who, in a few words, stated the matter which had brought him. The
+proprietors and inhabitants of the different parts of Bondathal wished
+to send a deputation to Vienna, to lay before the government and
+Parliament their request that the means of communication between their
+mountainous territory and the other parts of the empire should be put
+on a better footing. This matter interested Ivan equally with the
+rest, and therefore it would be desirable that he and his workmen
+should attend the mass-meeting which would be held on the next day.
+
+Ivan at once refused all co-operation. "We live," he said, "under
+exceptional laws, which forbid political meetings. This mass-meeting
+has a political object, and therefore I refuse to disobey the law."
+
+In spite of this protest the assembly took place next day, and the
+Abb� Samuel made a brilliant speech. His dignified appearance imposed
+respect, his proposal was intelligible and for the general good; its
+usefulness could not be gainsaid. To insure its popularity the astute
+abb� took care not to introduce into his speech the hated word
+"Reichstag." The resolution was carried unanimously that a deputation
+of twelve men should be chosen to proceed at once to Vienna, and there
+present the wishes of the people. The twelve delegates were then
+chosen by the abb�, and his choice was received with loud shouts of
+approbation. The Bondavara shareholders came forward with unexampled
+generosity, and presented each member of the deputation not only the
+price of the journey, but a cloak made of Halina cloth, a hat, and a
+pair of boots. Twelve new suits! That was worth going to Vienna for.
+Still, it went against the grain. A peasant is suspicious; they don't
+care to crack nuts with gentlemen; they mistrust presents that most
+probably will be dearly bought. If any man in a black coat had made
+the proposal it would have encountered vigorous opposition, but a
+priest, a distinguished priest, his advice can safely be followed;
+there is nothing to be afraid of when he is at the head of the
+deputation. All will go well, even although they may have to undertake
+heavy responsibilities which may some day involve loss. But what
+loss? Ah! time will tell. Once on a time twelve men went to Vienna,
+and sold the rights of their fellow-countrymen to the devil. God knows
+what might happen, only that the priest is with them; there is the
+plank of safety.
+
+Nevertheless, the twelve men had to swear, man to man, before they put
+on the new suits, upon their souls, that they would deny that they
+could write. They were to sign nothing, and if they were asked if such
+a one in Bondathal had houses and fields, and, above all, sons, they
+were not to give any answer.
+
+The deputation started in a couple of days after the meeting, under
+the guidance of the abb�. Peter Saffran went also. He had been named
+one of the twelve, for he was specially wanted in Vienna.
+
+A day or so later Ivan was cited before the military officer
+commanding the district; he was accused of having acted against the
+law by causing the "Reichstag" to be lowered in the eyes of the
+people, of having kept the people, especially his own workmen, from
+taking part in legal demonstrations, of having insulted members of the
+legislature, and of having allied himself with secret societies. He
+was cautioned to avoid anything of the sort in future. The next time
+things would be more serious; he was at liberty to go this time
+unpunished.
+
+Ivan knew perfectly well from what quarter this denunciation had come.
+To destroy his business utterly it would be necessary to place its
+owner for a year in confinement; his innocence would then be
+established, and he would be allowed to go scot-free. In the meantime
+his property would be ruined. It was lucky for Ivan that on this
+occasion the jailer's wife was ill. It would have been necessary to
+remove her from the rooms which were set apart for prisoners under
+suspicion, and so Ivan was allowed to go his way.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Ah, it was a great day when the twelve men from Bondathal, in the
+twelve new suits of Halina cloth, arrived in the metropolis. Here they
+are! Here are the Hungarians, the indomitable sons of the soil. A
+deputation to the Reichsrath, an acknowledgment of the February
+patent, the first pioneers! They deserve three times three.
+
+All the newspapers hastened to congratulate them; the leading articles
+of all political shades were full of this new and remarkable
+demonstration.
+
+The minister gave the deputation a private audience, where the abb�
+set forth their demand in a well-expressed speech, laying great stress
+upon the fact that it was the people themselves who wished to free
+their country from its present condition, having learned to
+distinguish their real benefactors from those false prophets who
+wished to condemn them to a baneful and ruinous inactivity. The abb�
+dwelt expressly upon the great intelligence of the men who formed the
+deputation. In return his excellency the minister pressed the hand of
+the abb�, and assured him that the bishopric would soon be vacant, and
+that it would be his care to see that a loyal prelate should fill the
+seat. His excellency then entered into conversation with the members
+of the deputation, and as none of them understood a word of his
+language, they were much pleased with what he said. His excellency,
+having been told by the abb� that Peter Saffran was the most
+distinguished of the party, took especial notice of him. He pressed
+his hand, while he expressed a hope that the members of the deputation
+would attend the morning sitting; places would be reserved in the
+gallery--for the present in _the gallery_.
+
+Peter promised for his fellow-members. He could speak German as well
+as French; he had picked up both languages during his ship
+experiences.
+
+All this time the minister had said nothing as to the grant to the
+Bondathal Railway, and that was the principal thing.
+
+At the next sitting of the Reichsrath the front row of the gallery was
+reserved for the distinguished guests. They sat in arm-chairs, leaning
+their elbows on the cushions, and letting their round hats hang over
+the rails.
+
+His excellency the minister gave a discourse which lasted over an
+hour. The opposition maintained that during his speech his excellency
+had glanced fifty-two times at the gallery, to see the effect he was
+producing upon the Hungarians. One fell asleep, and let his hat fall
+into the hall. The hat fell upon one of the deputies, and awoke him
+from a sweet doze.
+
+For three days this trivial circumstance gave food to the government
+papers; then it became the absolute property of the accredited wit or
+fun journals, which put into the mouths of the Hungarians all manner
+of things which they had never said. Never mind; those excellent men
+couldn't read German, so it didn't matter. They stuck fast to their
+arm-chairs in the gallery as long as the sitting lasted; they were
+more comfortable than their beds.
+
+The last evening of their stay they were taken to the theatre. Not to
+the Burg Theatre--that would not do for them--but to the Treumann
+Theatre, where a piece was playing suitable for them, with plenty of
+fun, singing, dancing, laughing; and the great joke of all was that
+the principal part was to be played by the beautiful Eveline, Frau
+von Kaulmann. Will Peter Saffran recognize her?
+
+It had not been possible to get an engagement at the Opera-house for
+Eveline, for there was an Italian season running. When it finished
+there would be a prospect of an engagement for her if she first
+learned the routine of acting at some less important theatre, and grew
+accustomed to the footlights. Therefore, she played _en amateur_ on
+the boards of the Treumann Theatre. Her natural gifts and her
+extraordinary beauty caused a sensation. The _jeunesse dor�e_ went mad
+over this new favorite of the hour. The piece which was played in
+honor of the peasants was one of Offenbach's frivolous operas, in
+which the ladies appear in the very scantiest of costumes. The noble
+portion of the audience enjoy these displays more than do the poorer;
+it did not, at all events, amuse the simple folk in Halina cloth. The
+ballet, with the lightly clothed nymphs, their coquettish movements,
+their seductive smiles, their bold display of limbs, and their short
+petticoats, was not to the taste of the Bondavara miners. It was true
+that the girls in the coal-pit wore no petticoats to speak of, but
+then they were working. Who thought anything of that? Chivalry belongs
+to the peasant as much as to the gentleman; the former indeed practise
+the motto, "Honi soit qui mal y pense" more than do their
+better-educated superiors. But now as Eveline entered they felt
+ashamed. She came on as a fairy or goddess, concealed in gold-colored
+clouds; the clouds were, however, transparent. Peter glowed with rage
+to think all the world could penetrate this slight transparency; he
+burned with jealous fury as Eveline smiled, coquetted, cast glances
+here, there, and was stared at through a hundred opera-glasses. Peter
+forgot that this was only a stage, and that the fairies who played
+their parts upon it for an hour or so were many of them most virtuous
+women, excellent wives and daughters; for what happens on the stage is
+only play, not actuality. The former bridegroom did not reason in this
+wise. You see, he was an uneducated peasant in coarse Halina cloth,
+and his ignorant mind was filled with horror, disgust, rage. That she
+should allow herself to be kissed, to be made love to--shame! No, my
+good Peter, it was no shame, but a great honor. Out of the boxes
+bouquets and wreaths fell on the stage; there was hardly a place where
+she could put her feet; it was all flowers. The house resounded with
+applause. This was not shame, but honor--certainly not of the same
+kind that would be offered to a saint or a good woman; it was more the
+worship offered to an idol, and most women like to be worshipped as
+idols.
+
+Peter told himself all the sex are alike, and comforted himself with
+the thought that not one of his companions would recognize Eveline.
+But Peter took a sore heart back to his inn.
+
+In the hall he met the abb�, and asked him, "When are we going back?"
+
+"Are you weary of Vienna, Peter?"
+
+"I am."
+
+"Have a little patience. To-morrow we must pay a visit to a charming
+lady."
+
+"What have we to do with charming ladies?"
+
+"Don't ask the why or the wherefore. If we want to attain our end we
+must leave no means untried. We must beg this lady to interest herself
+for us. One word from her to his excellency the minister will do more
+than if we said a whole litany."
+
+"Very good; then we had better see her."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+TWO SUPPLIANTS
+
+
+The next day, at eleven o'clock, Abb� Samuel came to fetch his
+followers, and conduct them to the house of the influential lady whose
+one word had more weight with his excellency than the most carefully
+arranged speeches of priests and orators.
+
+The carriage stopped before a splendid palace; a porter in a
+magnificent scarlet livery, with a bear-skin cap, answered the bell,
+and between a double row of marble pillars they ascended the steps.
+The staircase was also of marble, covered with a soft, thick carpet.
+The school-master at home, if he had a bit of this stuff, would have
+made a fine coat of it. Up the staircase were such beautiful statues
+that the poor peasants would have liked to kneel to kiss their hands.
+The staircase was roofed in with glass and heated with hot air, so
+that the lovely hot-house plants and costly china groups suffered no
+injury from the cold air. In the anteroom servants wearing silver
+epaulettes conducted the visitors into the drawing-room. The sight
+almost took away their breath. There was no wall to be seen; it was
+panelled in the most sumptuous silk brocade; the curtains of the same
+texture had gold rods, and splendid pictures in rich frames hung on
+the silk panels. The upper portion of the windows was of stained
+glass, such as is seen in cathedrals, and opposite the windows was a
+large fireplace of white marble, upon whose mantelpiece stood a
+wonderful clock, with a beautiful figure which moved in time to the
+melodious tick. The furniture was all of mahogany. From the ceiling,
+upon which the arabesques in gold were a feast to the eye, there hung
+a lustre with a hundred lights, whose thousand glass drops sent out
+all the prismatic colors of the rainbow.
+
+The good peasants of Bondathal had hardly time to take in the wonders
+of this fairy palace when a gentleman in a black coat and a spotless
+white tie came out of an adjoining room. This grand personage, whom
+they imagined to be the master of the house, turned out to be an
+equally important person--the groom of the chambers. He informed them
+that his mistress was in the next room, and ready to receive them.
+
+There was no door to this inner apartment, only curtains of heavy
+damask, such as church banners are made of. This second drawing-room
+was still more wonderful than the first. The walls were panelled in
+dove-colored silk. From the ceiling to the floor there were enormous
+mirrors set in china frames, and between each mirror were _consoles_
+with marble statuettes representing dancing nymphs. The stone floor
+was covered with a soft carpet, into which the foot sank as into
+summer grass. The fireplace was of black marble, with a silver
+grating. The furniture was of the Versailles pattern; tables and
+chairs, arm-chairs and foot-stools, of delicate coloring; chairs of
+S�vres, with feet and elbow rests ornamented with delicate
+flower-garlands and charming Watteau figures. Every piece of furniture
+was a masterpiece. Upon the centre-table and _consoles_ were Japanese
+vases of different and most elegant shapes. In one of the windows an
+aquarium had been constructed full of gold-fish and sea-anemones.
+
+The poor peasants did not notice all these beautiful objects; their
+attention was fixed upon their own reflections in the long glasses,
+and which in their ignorance they imagined were other deputations,
+headed by another abb� wearing a gold cross. But even this strange
+spectacle was lost sight of in their amazement at the beauty of the
+great lady who now came forward to receive them. She was a lovely
+vision. Her dress of violet silk was covered with the most costly
+lace, her black hair fell in curls over her shoulders; her face was so
+beautiful, so fascinating, so dignified, that every man in the
+deputation was ready to fall at her feet.
+
+Peter Saffran was the only one who recognized her; it was Eveline, his
+promised bride.
+
+Now the abb�, bowing low, addressed her in most respectful language,
+as he laid before her the desire of the deputation, that she would
+accord her powerful protection to the Bondathal population. The lady
+answered most graciously, and promised that, as far as possible, she
+would exert her influence. She was heart and soul in the matter, for
+she added, smiling:
+
+"I am myself a child of Bondathal."
+
+At these words the deputation exchanged glances, and every one thought
+she must be the daughter or wife of one of the Bondavara magnates.
+Only Saffran was gloomy.
+
+"What is she?" he thought. "Only last night she was singing, dancing,
+and acting; her beauty was displayed to the eyes of a crowd, who
+looked at her through opera-glasses, while I had to cover my eyes with
+my hat so as not to look on her degradation, and here to-day she is a
+sort of queen, promising us her influence with cabinet ministers.
+What is the truth? Was last night a comedy, or is to-day a clever
+farce played by her and the priest?"
+
+You see, Peter Saffran had been in the Fiji Islands, and he remembered
+how amazed the savages had been when the white man washed the black
+from his hands, and showed their natural color; only here it was the
+whole body that was in question.
+
+The abb�, who seemed highly pleased with the success of his interview,
+now gave those behind him a sign to move on, and bowed respectfully to
+the lady, who whispered a few words in his ear.
+
+The abb� stopped Peter Saffran as he was leaving the room, and said,
+in a low voice:
+
+"You are to remain; this kind lady wishes to speak with you."
+
+Saffran felt the blood rush to his head. He almost tottered, and as he
+returned to the room he could hardly move. But Eveline hastened to
+him, holding out both her hands. She had taken off her gloves, and he
+felt the soft, velvety clasp of her fingers as she pressed his horny
+hand in hers; he heard in his ear the sweet, fresh ring of her voice,
+to which he had often listened.
+
+"Ah, Peter, say a word to me--a kind word;" and she patted him two or
+three times on the back. "Are you still angry with me? There, Peter,
+don't be vexed any more. Stay and dine with me, and we shall drink to
+our reconciliation."
+
+And she put her arm into his, and stroked his cheek with her delicate
+little hand, which looked as if it had never known what hardship was.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Eveline had kept religiously to her promise of always informing Prince
+Theobald when she expected guests, and the prince reserved to himself
+the right of a veto if he did not approve of their reception, for
+there were among the _dilettante_, and even among apparently most
+respectable gentlemen, certain individuals who should not have the
+_entr�e_ to the drawing-room of a lady who is not living under her
+husband's roof.
+
+The prince liked pleasant society, and, if he approved of the company,
+enjoyed himself all the more that Eveline did the honors for him.
+
+On this particular day Eveline had told the prince she expected two
+visitors. One was Peter Saffran.
+
+The prince laughed. "Poor fellow!" he said, "treat him well; it will
+do him good." But when he heard his excellency the minister was coming
+he frowned heavily. "What is this?" he asked. "What brings _him_ to
+see _you_?"
+
+"Why! Is he a woman-hater?"
+
+"On the contrary, he is a scoundrel, only he wears a hypocrite's
+cloak. Great men who are at the helm and guide public affairs have
+their weaknesses, but they dare not sin openly. A man in his position
+might as soon become a member of the Jockey Club as visit a beautiful
+actress, unless he had some ostensible reason to give for so doing."
+
+"But he has a reason, and a very good one. I asked him to make the
+appointment."
+
+"_You invited him here!_" The prince's face grew more cloudy.
+
+"That is to say, I asked him to give me a private audience, and his
+secretary wrote to say his excellency would prefer to come here."
+
+"And for what purpose do you require an audience?"
+
+"Felix desired me to ask for it."
+
+"Ah, it was Kaulmann's doing! Wherefore?"
+
+"He wants these documents to be signed."
+
+Eveline showed the prince a folded parchment.
+
+The prince glanced at it and shook his head. "And does his excellency
+know that this is the reason why you asked for an audience?"
+
+Eveline burst into a laugh. "Oh dear, no! When his secretary first
+wrote he asked why I required an audience; I answered it was about my
+engagement at the Opera, and then he said he would come. He knows
+nothing of this," she added, touching the papers in her hand.
+
+"And Kaulmann told you to do this?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then Kaulmann is a refined villain. Do as he has told you; but you
+may take my word that your husband deceives himself if he imagines you
+can snare a savage with a silken net. You can receive your guest, but
+I do not think you will succeed in your scheme."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Eveline put her hand upon Peter Saffran's, and led him into another
+room, where there was a wonderful display of silver, and thence,
+through a private door, into a fourth apartment, the walls of which
+were wainscoted with dark wood; the ceiling, too, was supported by
+cross-beams of wood, and finished with painted shell-work.
+
+No one was in the room. Eveline sat down on the sofa, and made Peter
+sit beside her.
+
+"Listen, Peter," she said, laying her hand on the rough sleeve of his
+Halina-cloth coat. "It was the will of God that I should separate from
+you. It grieved me very much to leave you, because, you know, we had
+been called in church three times. But, then, you could not bear my
+little brother; you were cruel to him, and you beat me. I don't bear
+you any malice now. I have forgotten and forgiven, but at the time I
+was very angry with you, not so much because you ill-treated me, but
+I followed you that night to the cottage in the wood. I was quite
+ready to forgive and forget, only I looked through the window, and I
+saw you dancing with Ezifra Mauczi. I saw you kiss her, and I was
+angry in downright earnest."
+
+Peter gnashed his teeth. He felt the tables were turned against him,
+and he could say nothing. It would be very different if it were his
+wife who accused him of such things; he would know how to treat a
+jealous, scolding wife; but he couldn't take this beautiful lady by
+the hair, and drag her round the room, and beat her on the head until
+she begged for pardon.
+
+"But, as I said," continued Eveline, smiling again, "we are not going
+to talk about bygones. It was all God's will, and for the best. We
+would have been a most unhappy couple, for I am passionate and
+jealous, and you would have given me cause. Now you can do as you
+like, and I have the happiness of doing good. I like to help as many
+people as possible, and every day twenty poor creatures are fed in my
+house. Oh, I do more than that; I get heaps of things done for the
+poor! I speak a good word for them, and get them helped by rich
+people. Also, I mean to be a benefactress to your valley; thousands
+and thousands of people will bless my name for what I shall do for
+them. Is it not a happiness to be able to help others?"
+
+Eveline paused for an answer. Peter felt he ought to say something, if
+it was only to show that he had not become dumb.
+
+"And does all this money come from the Bondavara Company?" he asked.
+
+Eveline blushed scarlet. How was she to answer such a question?
+
+"Not altogether. I earn a good deal by my art; for every performance I
+receive five hundred gulden."
+
+"Five hundred gulden!" thought Peter. "That explains a great deal. A
+good salary indeed! A woman might spare some of her clothing to earn
+so much money. It is money got by work, and not such hard work as
+carrying coals. She had to show her legs for that also. But all said
+and done, it was money honestly earned."
+
+Peter's face began to clear.
+
+"There, you look more like yourself. Don't look wicked again," pleaded
+Eveline; "and when you go back home tell every one that you have seen
+me, and that we had a great talk together, and are good friends again.
+If at any time you know of any one in want, send me a line, and, if it
+is in my power, I will gladly help them. You must marry, if you are
+not already married. No? Well, then, you must choose a good girl,
+Peter. There is Panna, she is just the wife for you, and she was
+always a friend of mine, or there is Amaza, she liked you, I know, and
+she is an excellent housekeeper; only, don't marry Mauczi; you would
+be very unhappy with her, she is a bad girl. And in case you do marry,
+Peter, here are my wedding-presents for your wife; and remember, I
+advise you to marry Panna. Here are a pair of ear-rings, a necklace,
+and a brooch; and to you I give, as a remembrance of myself, this gold
+watch. See, Peter, my likeness is on the back. Think of me sometimes
+when you are very happy."
+
+When she said these words Eveline's eyes overflowed, and her lips
+trembled convulsively. Peter saw it, and drew the conclusion that with
+all her splendor she was not happy. One thought now took possession of
+him. He gave no heed to the bridal presents. Whether they were of
+gold or lead was all one to him, no one should ever see them; but what
+he thought was:
+
+"She has a good heart, she is generous, she gives with an open hand;
+but I do not care for her gifts. If she will only kiss me once I will
+bless her. What is a kiss to her? An alms, one out of the numbers she
+gives to those fellows on the stage, with their smeared, painted
+faces."
+
+Poor fool! he didn't know that stage kisses are only mock kisses, just
+as stage champagne is only lemonade or pure water. Peter believed that
+one kiss from Eveline would satisfy his thirst; it would assuage the
+pangs of regret, of jealousy, or rage that had consumed him since the
+previous night. All would vanish when he would touch her cold, fresh
+lips. And, after all, had they not been betrothed to one another--all
+but man and wife? Who could object? Only he didn't know how to express
+what was in his mind.
+
+"And now let us eat together, Peter," said Eveline, kindly. "I am
+certain that you are tired of all the good things you get every day;
+you are satiated with the Vienna cookery. Wait, and I shall cook you
+something myself--your favorite dish, Peter, which you often said no
+one cooked so well as I did. I shall make you some porridge."
+
+Peter was electrified. A smile broke out all over his face, either at
+the mention of his favorite dish, or at the thought that his hostess
+would herself prepare it. But how is she to cook? There is no hearth,
+no cooking-vessels.
+
+"Everything will be here," said Eveline, laughing joyously. "I shall
+change my dress; I cannot cook in this."
+
+She ran off as she spoke, and returned in two minutes. Actresses
+learn how to dress quickly. She now wore a white embroidered maid's
+frock, and a little cap on her head. She called no one to help her,
+but laid a cloth on the oak table, filled a silver kettle with water,
+set it to boil on a spirit-lamp. She turned up the sleeves of her
+dress to the elbows, and shook with a light hand the meal into the
+boiling water; then she turned the mixture deftly with a silver spoon
+round and round until it became thick. Then she took the kettle by the
+handle, emptied it on to a glazed clay plate--yes, actually a clay
+plate!--and poured some cream over the mixture. She fetched two wooden
+spoons, one for Peter, one for herself.
+
+"Let us eat off the one plate, Peter."
+
+And they ate this porridge off one plate. Peter felt a strange
+moisture fill his eyes; he had not wept since he was a child. The
+porridge was excellent; all the cooks in Vienna put together couldn't
+have given him a meal so much to his mind. There was wine on the
+table, but no glasses.
+
+Peasants never drink during meals; but when they had finished Eveline
+fetched a clay jug and asked Peter to drink, after, as is the custom,
+she had taken a draught.
+
+"Drink this, Peter; it is your old favorite."
+
+There was mead in the jug--a very innocent sort of drink--and Peter
+thought it was his duty to empty the last drop. The hell that had been
+raging in his breast seemed all at once to be extinguished. He said to
+himself:
+
+"Yes, I shall go back to the church, and to the spot where I made that
+awful vow; I shall implore the Holy Mother to allow me to take it
+back. I shall hurt no one; I shall take no revenge. Let the green
+grass grow again in the fields, and let her live in splendor in the
+smiles of the great ones. I shall not grudge her her happiness. This
+day, when she has received me so kindly, has banished from my memory
+the day upon which she left me. But I shall ask her for one kiss, so
+that I may remember nothing but that."
+
+He delayed, however, too long in putting his desire into words. They
+were, indeed, hovering on his lips when the door suddenly opened, and
+a servant announced that his excellency was in the drawing-room.
+
+(Now, Peter, God help you; you may go hence without your kiss!)
+
+Eveline could hardly say good-bye; she had to change her dress. The
+footman showed him out at the secret door; there another footman led
+him down the back stairs, and, opening another door, left Peter in a
+narrow street, where he had never been before. While he made the best
+of his way to the hotel he had leisure to think over what he should
+say to Evila if he ever again had the chance of being alone with her
+in the round room. The recollection of how he had missed his
+opportunity roused the demon again in his mind. The burning lava of
+hell began once more to fill his veins, the stream of sulphur which
+the lost souls are ever drinking. He kept repeating to himself, "The
+grass shall not grow again!"
+
+By the time he reached the inn he brought with him a goodly
+company--hatred, envy, rage at his own weakness, horror at his own
+wickedness, mixed with political fanaticism. A delightful gathering in
+one man's breast.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+FINANCIAL INTRIGUE
+
+
+We can give no authentic account of the interview between his
+excellency the minister and his beautiful hostess. We were not
+present, and neither had we a phonograph.
+
+No doubt he complimented her upon her charming talent, and promised
+her his powerful interest, and as in this world nothing is given for
+nothing, there is every probability that his excellency, who was an
+undoubted scoundrel, hinted at the reward he would expect for using
+his powerful interest in her behalf; upon which Eveline, like a
+prudent woman, wishing to have everything in black and white, produced
+from the drawer of her writing-table the parchment which we have
+already heard of.
+
+His excellency took the paper, probably believing it was a petition to
+grant her an engagement. He held it in his hand while he smilingly
+assured her that the matter was as good as concluded. It is, however,
+more than probable that when he gave a hurried glance at the contents
+his face assumed its official expression; he saw it did not refer to
+an operatic engagement, but to the grant for the Bondavara Railway.
+Seeing this, it is likely that his excellency got up at once, and, hat
+in hand, explained to his lovely hostess how distressed he felt not to
+be in a position to comply with her wishes, as there were insuperable
+objections in the way, great opposition from the legislative body, and
+yet greater opposition in the Upper House, where Prince Sondersheim
+was working heaven and earth against the Bondavara Railway, and,
+therefore, from political and financial reasons, from the condition of
+the country and many other causes, it would be impossible, or almost
+impossible, to hold out any hope of granting the Bondavara Railway a
+guarantee from the government. That then his excellency made a
+profound bow and left the room may be considered a fact. It is
+psychologically certain that he descended the staircase with a frown
+of vexation on his face, and that he murmured between his teeth:
+
+"If I had known that I was going to talk to the _banker's wife_ I
+should never have come here." As he got into his carriage--and this is
+historical--he banged the door with such violence that the glass
+window was shattered in pieces.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At the very hour when this interview was taking place a
+committee-meeting was being held in Prince Theobald's palace, which
+had for its object to lay before the shareholders the necessity of
+paying the third instalment--a critical operation, this attack upon
+the pockets of the public. The Bondavara Railway now played its part.
+Felix Kaulmann announced he had every confidence that in a couple of
+weeks it would be a fact. The deputation from Bondathal had caused a
+sensation, besides which the company had the interest of a very
+influential person, who could persuade his excellency to do anything,
+even give the grant for the railroad. The finely cut, aristocratic
+face of the president did not betray by a sign that he knew who this
+person was.
+
+Kaulmann never for a moment suspected that Eveline told the prince the
+names of all the visitors who came to the palace during his absence,
+and that they were admitted through the little door. He would have
+called such stupidity by an ugly name.
+
+While the meeting was sitting a note was brought to Kaulmann, who at
+once recognized Eveline's writing. He read the letter quickly, then
+laid it on the table with a discontented air.
+
+"What is that?" asked the prince, pointing to a roll of paper.
+
+It was the unsigned document which Eveline had returned.
+
+Kaulmann wrote on a slip of paper, "Another hitch in that damned
+railway."
+
+The prince said to himself, "Then his wife has again escaped." Then he
+bent over Kaulmann, and, laying his hand upon his shoulder, whispered
+to him:
+
+"My dear friend, one doesn't get everything by a pair of black eyes."
+
+Spitzhase was the secretary of the meeting. After this little scene he
+wrote upon a piece of paper, and, twisting it up, handed it to
+Kaulmann. Kaulmann read it; then tore it in small pieces and shrugged
+his shoulders.
+
+"I know all _that_," he said, sulkily. "I don't want any advice."
+
+The committee went away in bad humor with one another. The expense of
+bringing the deputation from Bondathal had been two thousand gulden,
+and this comedy had been of no use. The last stake should now be
+played. Csanta had determined not to pay the third instalment. He
+would sell all his shares at the price quoted and refill his casks
+with silver. On the day of the Proclamation, however, he received a
+letter from Spitzhase, which ran as follows:
+
+      "SIR,--To-morrow Herr Kaulmann is going to you to
+      offer to buy all your shares at forty-five florins
+      exchange. Be on your guard. I can assure you that the
+      government has signed a grant for the Bondavara
+      Railway, and so soon as this is public the shares will
+      rise another twenty per cent."
+
+Csanta believed in Spitzhase as in an oracle, and with reason. All
+happened as he said. Immediately upon the issue of the Proclamation,
+and when the shares were a little flat, Kaulmann appeared in X----,
+and offered him forty-five florins exchange upon his shares. But the
+old Greek was firm, not one would he part with; he would rather take
+his last cask to Vienna and empty its contents than part with one
+share.
+
+He was rewarded for his firmness. Two days later he read in the
+newspaper how generously both Houses had voted a grant to the
+Bondavara Railway.
+
+His excellency the prime-minister had himself pleaded for the cause in
+the Lords and Deputies House, and had proved conclusively that, from
+the political point of view, from the present favorable condition of
+the money market, as also from the side of the landed interest, from
+every point of view--strategical, financial, co-operative, and
+universal--the government guarantee for the Bondavara Railway was
+absolutely necessary, and, as a natural consequence, the motion was
+carried. Prince Waldemar, indeed, opposed it vigorously, but his
+following was small, so nobody minded him.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At the next audit of the Bondavara Company's accounts presented to the
+shareholders there appeared under the heading of expenditure this
+remarkable entry: "Expense of foundations, forty thousand gulden."
+
+"What does this mean?" said the shareholders, with one voice.
+
+Kaulmann whispered something to the man nearest him; he passed the
+whisper on, whereupon every one nodded his head, and tried to think it
+was all right. So it appeared to be, for after the government grant to
+the railway the Bondavara shares rose to seventy florins above par.
+Nothing could be more convincing. Csanta had punch at dinner, and got
+drunk for joy.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Some evenings later Eveline met his excellency in the green-room of
+the Treumann Theatre. The minister thought it was time to press for
+payment of his services.
+
+"My dear lady," he said, "have I not obeyed your wishes in regard to
+the Bondavara Railway?"
+
+Eveline made him a low courtesy. She wore the costume of the Duchess
+of Gerolstein.
+
+"I am eternally indebted to your excellency," she said. "To-morrow
+evening I shall blow you _forty thousand_ kisses."
+
+At the words "forty thousand" his excellency grew red. He turned on
+his heel, and for the future Eveline was relieved from his attentions;
+but it was also quite certain that she had lost all chance of an
+engagement at the Opera-house. She might sing like a nightingale, but
+her petition would never be signed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+THE BONDAVARA RAILWAY
+
+
+The Bondavara Railway was begun. Prince Waldemar and his followers,
+the bears, were crushed--there _are_ always people who die of hunger
+in the midst of a plenteous harvest.
+
+Prince Waldemar met his noble relative, Prince Theobald, at the Jockey
+Club. Their encounter was hardly a friendly one, considering their
+close relationship.
+
+Said Prince Waldemar: "You have chosen to put yourself at the head of
+my enemies. You have done your utmost to trump my best card. You have
+allied yourself with that man Kaulmann, with whom I am on bad terms. I
+sought your granddaughter in marriage; you promised she should be my
+wife, and then you sent her away from Vienna. You have invented all
+manner of pretexts to keep her at Pesth, and now the secret is
+out--she is betrothed to Salista. I had a fancy for a pretty little
+woman, and just to prevent my having her you invite her to your palace
+and forbid her to receive my visits. Worse than all, you have given
+over your only unmortgaged property, Bondavara, to a swindling
+company, who want to set themselves over me; and you have become their
+president. You have schemed and jockeyed the government into giving
+the guarantee for a railway that won't pay two per cent. You haven't
+an idea how you are implicated in these transactions. I pity you--for
+I have always felt esteem for you--and I intend to set myself the task
+of regulating _your_ affairs some day. Meantime take care, for if I
+succeed in upsetting the human pyramid upon whose shoulders you stand
+the greatest _fall_ will be yours."
+
+Of all this long harangue Prince Theobald only gathered the fact that
+Angela had chosen the Marquis Salista for her husband, and had never
+written to tell him. She let him hear it from another.
+
+The Bondavara Railway was being pressed forward; it was nearly
+finished. There was no further need for a woman's black-diamond eyes.
+They had done their work. One day Eveline visited her husband. Felix
+received her with apparent satisfaction.
+
+"I have come," she said, "to ask you a question. Prince Theobald has
+been for some days so sad; it is melancholy to see his distress. Have
+you any idea of its cause?"
+
+"I have. His granddaughter, the Countess Angela, is married, and her
+husband, the Marquis Salista, is taking steps to put the prince under
+restraint, on account of the foolish manner in which he is squandering
+his fortune."
+
+"And much of this foolish extravagance is spent on me."
+
+"You are really wonderfully sharp, Eveline."
+
+"I shall put an end to his spending his money on me. I shall tell the
+prince that I must leave his palace. I shall be always grateful to
+him; he has been a benefactor to me--and so have you. I ought to have
+mentioned you first. You have had me educated; you have taught me a
+great deal. I have to thank you for being what I am. I can earn my own
+living, thanks to you. I mean to become a real artist. But I must
+leave Vienna; I do not care to remain here any longer."
+
+"I think, Eveline, you have decided well, and our minds have really a
+wonderful sympathy. I was about to advise the very course to you. By
+all means, leave Vienna; by all means, make use of your talents, and
+take up work seriously. I shall continue to do my duty as your
+husband. I shall take you to Paris; I shall settle myself in my house
+there on purpose to be of assistance to you. You will make a hit
+there, I know, and we shall be always good friends."
+
+In spite of her previous experience of this man's character, Eveline
+was weak enough to be touched by his words and to blame herself for
+having done him injustice, for it was a great sacrifice on his part to
+leave Vienna for her sake. She could never have supposed that this
+sacrifice was part of his well-considered plan for ridding himself of
+her. She had played _her_ part in making his fortune, and now she
+could go where she chose--to her native coal-pit if she liked. Once in
+Paris, he would be able to say, "Madam, you are here under the French
+law, and as no _civil ceremony_ has passed between us, you are not my
+wife; you are at liberty to call yourself unmarried."
+
+Felix had another reason for settling himself in Paris. It was here he
+counted on carrying out the second part of his programme. Now that the
+Bondavara Railway was nearly finished, the castles in the air of the
+Abb� Samuel were beginning to take shape; the next step should be a
+gigantic loan in the interest of the Church. This loan would be
+another means of aggrandizing the house of Kaulmann; its reputation
+would be world-wide. Already Kaulmann's name was of European
+celebrity; he belonged to the stars of the first order in the
+financial world. From being a _baron_ of the stock-exchange he had
+become a prince. If he succeeded in effecting this loan he would be a
+_king_ of the money-market, before whose name even that of Rothschild
+would pale.
+
+A halo was also beginning to surround the name of the Abb� Samuel. The
+government had begun to see that this popular orator held the people
+in his hand, and could lead them as he chose. The people looked upon
+him as their benefactor, a man whose influence could get them
+benefits. Was not the Bondavara Railway a proof of this? The twelve
+Halinacoats were firmly persuaded that the abb� had carried back in
+his pocket the government grant. The clerical party acknowledged him
+as a new light. In Rome he was lauded for his zeal in the papal cause.
+If he was made bishop, which was almost a certainty, he would be the
+first Hungarian prelate who had taken his seat in the Austrian House
+of Lords. The minister would stare when he found his scheme for the
+secularization of Hungarian Church property met by another scheme from
+the new bishop, which, while proposing a gigantic loan upon these same
+Church lands, had for its object the elevation of the Holy See by
+these very means. The money-markets of France, Belgium, and the Roman
+States would vie with one another in promoting the loan, and the
+pontiff would look upon the man who had conceived such a project as
+the saviour of the pontificate; his name should be written in letters
+of gold. In Hungary, also, the scheme would be favorably received as a
+means of saving the church property already threatened, for the
+government dared not refuse this alternative.
+
+Moreover, the primate was an old man; the pope was still older. All
+the wheels were in readiness; the machine could now be put in motion.
+
+The day the first locomotive steamed out of the Bondavara station the
+Abb� Samuel might say to himself, "The way to Rome is clear." It would
+be also safe to prophesy that on this day Ivan Behrend's ruin would be
+complete.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+This railroad would bring the goods of the Joint-Stock Company into
+the markets of the world, where they could compete with the coal of
+Prussia and the English coal. But, it will be said, Ivan had the same
+chance; his coals were equally good, and the giant with the seven-mile
+boots would carry his coal as well as his enemies'. But here was where
+the shoes pinched. What was of use to the company was destruction to
+him.
+
+The railway was not to run through the valley where his mine was
+situated, although that line was the best and most natural course to
+take; instead of which mountains had to be made level, tunnels had to
+be bored through the hills, to avoid his colliery and to carry the
+rails close to the company's mine. In consequence of this, Ivan would
+be obliged to make a circuit of a half-day's journey to get to the
+railway, and so the freightage to the station made his goods five or
+six per cent. dearer than those of the company. For him, therefore,
+the railroad was a crushing blow.
+
+In the meantime the end of the year drew near, the time when the
+miners were to receive their share from the profits. But profit there
+was none. Neither coal nor iron had any sale. The company's low prices
+had taken every customer from Ivan.
+
+Any one who possesses ready money can always _say_, even if he loses,
+that he wins; the common people call this eating your own entrails.
+Ivan had a sum by him, which he had carefully gathered in better days.
+It amounted, all told, to several thousands, and he calculated he
+could hold his own against his giant rivals for at least ten years. He
+forgot that the giants were cunning as well as strong, and that they
+did not despise the smallest artifice.
+
+When the railway directors issued their prospectus, inviting all
+contractors to send in contracts for iron rails, etc., Ivan thought to
+himself, "Now, I will have some fun. The shareholders of the
+Joint-Stock Company offer their iron six per cent. cheaper than it
+costs them. I will offer to the railway directors to deliver iron
+rails at ten per cent. cheaper than they cost _me_. I shall lose fifty
+thousand gulden, but I shall have the satisfaction of punishing my
+neighbors for their folly in lowering the price of the raw material."
+
+Simple fool! Just as an honorable gentleman imagines that when a
+letter is sealed no one would venture to open it, so Ivan thought that
+all the offers were read together, and that the most advantageous to
+the company was accepted.
+
+Good gracious! nothing of the kind.
+
+It is always settled beforehand who is to have the contract. When the
+proposals come in it sometimes happens that some one makes a yet lower
+offer than that of the _prot�g�_, and this last is then told to take
+pen and ink and write an offer proposing to give the goods half per
+cent. lower than the offer made by the outsider.
+
+This is a well-known trick, and it is only men like Ivan, whose minds
+are occupied with petrifactions and the stars, who are in ignorance
+that such things are done.
+
+The contract offered by the shareholders was half per cent. lower than
+the one offered by Ivan.
+
+But even this rebuff didn't daunt him. Two and two make four, and
+those who sin against multiplication must come to ruin sooner or
+later.
+
+Ivan continued making in his workshop iron bars and rails. He
+accumulated a store in his magazines. Some time they would be wanted.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Bondavara Railroad was to be made.
+
+Csanta wanted to sell his houses in X----; the whole street was for
+sale. He said he was going to live in Vienna, and to fill his office
+of one of the directors to the company. He was to receive a large
+salary, and to have little or nothing to do. He had changed all his
+gold into papers--there is no use nowadays for houses or land or
+cattle or mines; nothing is good but paper. _It_ wants neither groom
+nor manure nor pay nor machinery.
+
+Therefore, he wished to sell the whole street. Fortunately, there was
+so little money in X---- that the inhabitants of the whole town put
+together couldn't produce enough money to buy a poor little street.
+
+The Bondavara Railway was in progress. Along the line the navvies were
+working like a swarm of ants; they shoved wheelbarrows from morning
+until night; they dug the ground, blew up rocks, bored mountains,
+rammed plugs into water-sources, hewed stones, dammed rivers.
+
+In the dark mouth of the Bondavara mine one man stood immovable. He
+was ever watching the work. His gloomy, threatening face was fixed
+steadily upon a windlass.
+
+This man was Peter Saffran. He held in his hand a lump of coal, and as
+he looked back from the noisy landscape to the remnant of trees his
+eyes seemed to say, "Thou art the cause of all this tumult, this
+wealth, this splendor; thou art a living power--thou!" And he hurled
+the coal against the wall.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+THE POOR DEAR PRINCE
+
+
+"You have something to tell me: what is it?" asked Prince Theobald, as
+he entered Eveline's drawing-room in answer to a letter from her,
+written after her interview with her husband.
+
+"I wish to leave Vienna."
+
+"Ah! this is sudden. And where are you going?"
+
+"My husband is obliged to go to Paris. I am going with him."
+
+The prince looked inquiringly at her. "Have you, then, grown tired of
+being under my care?"
+
+"I am afraid I cannot deny it. I am like a slave in a gilded cage. I
+am a sort of prisoner, and I want to see life."
+
+"You repent, then, of the promise you made me? Well, then, I release
+you; but stay with me."
+
+"I should be too proud to receive benefits from any one to whom I am
+ungrateful. Besides, it would be enough for me to know that you are
+the master of the palace to take all sense of freedom from me. I don't
+want to receive any more favors."
+
+"You wish to become an actress?"
+
+"I do wish that." Eveline laid a stress on the last word.
+
+"From ambition?"
+
+"I cannot say so. If I were ambitious I should be more diligent. I
+want my freedom. I don't want my wings clipped. I like to feel I can
+use them as I choose."
+
+"That is rather a dangerous experiment for any one so young and pretty
+as you are."
+
+"One never falls so low that one cannot rise again."
+
+"Where did you learn that?"
+
+"From what I see every day."
+
+"You are resolved to leave me?"
+
+"I am--I am--I am!" Eveline repeated these words impatiently.
+
+"Then I had better free you from my disagreeable society as soon as
+possible," said the prince, taking up his hat. Then, with an ironical
+bow, he added, "Forgive me, madam, for the weary hours I must have
+imposed upon you."
+
+Eveline, with an impatient stamp of her foot, turned her back upon
+him. The prince, when he had got as far as the anteroom, found that he
+had forgotten his walking-stick in the drawing-room. It had been a
+Christmas present from Eveline, and he would not leave it with her. He
+went back to fetch it.
+
+He opened the door gently, and he saw a sight that surprised him.
+Eveline still stood with her back to him. She had in her hands the
+stick he had come for, which she kissed two or three times, sobbing
+bitterly. The prince withdrew gently. Everything was made clear to
+him. Eveline quarrelled with him to make the separation less hard for
+him. She pretended to be mean and ungrateful in order that he might
+forget her more easily. Why did she do this?
+
+The next day the prince found the solution of this riddle. His servant
+brought him the key of Eveline's apartments. The lady had left by the
+very earliest train. The prince hastened to the palace, and he then
+understood why it was that Eveline had left. She had taken nothing;
+everything was there. She was a pearl among women. A lock of her hair
+was wound round the handle of the walking-stick--her beautiful hair,
+which fell from the crown of her head to her feet.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Eveline arrived in Paris before Kaulmann. It had been settled between
+them that she should stop at a hotel until he arranged where she
+should live.
+
+Some weeks later Felix came and said: "Your house is ready for you.
+Will you come and see it?"
+
+Eveline drove with Felix to her new home, which was in the Rue
+Sebastopol, one of the best situations in Paris, the first floor. As
+she came into the apartment her heart beat. Everything was familiar to
+her eyes--the cherry-colored curtains, the carpets, the dove-colored
+panels, the black marble fireplace, the oval frames in china, the
+window looking into the garden--all as in Vienna. The same pictures,
+the same service of silver, the wardrobes, the jewel-cases, even to
+the glove which she had left upon the table.
+
+The tears fell from her eyes as she murmured to herself, "The good,
+kind prince!"
+
+Felix, however, with perfect _aplomb_, took all the credit to himself,
+and asked her, "Have I not arranged your apartment to your taste?"
+
+Eveline made him no answer. Her thoughts were with the good, kind
+prince, her best friend. To him she owed her engagement at the
+Opera-house in Paris, the wreaths that were thrown to her on her first
+appearance, the carriage she drove in every day. All was due to the
+paternal interest of Prince Theobald, who, from the day he called her
+his daughter, had never ceased to care for her as his child.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+DIES IR�
+
+
+One gloomy day in late autumn Ivan went from the forge to his mine,
+and upon the way his thoughts ran in a sad groove. "What a curious
+world we live in; everything goes wrong--at least, for most people.
+Bread is not for the wise man, nor success for the strong; it was so
+in the days of Solomon. One bad year follows the other, for even
+nature acts like a step-mother to men. The poor are hungry and beg for
+bread, and when they have eaten they forget from whom they received
+nourishment. All the great proprietors go to their graves without
+doing, either for their country or their neighbor, anything worth
+mentioning; all the burden of the present and the future seems to fall
+upon the less numerous and more exhausted class. The patriots are all
+hollow; they weep when they are in their cups; they show their fists,
+but no one dares to strike a blow. All manly strength is gone; there
+is not a man worth the name in the whole country. And the women--they
+are all the same, from the high-born dame to the peasant girl--false
+and heartless. Even in the bowels of the earth it is no better. For
+the last two days there has been choke-damp in the mine; the escape of
+gas has been so great that the men cannot work; it is as likely as not
+that there will be an explosion while I am in the pit."
+
+You see, Ivan's thoughts were as black as the landscape, and suited
+to its gloom. His road from the forge to the mine led him past the
+workmen's houses, and as he passed one of these a miner came stumbling
+out of the door. The house was a wine-shop. The miner had his back
+towards Ivan, who did not recognize him, but he noticed that the man
+had great difficulty in walking straight.
+
+"I wonder who it is that has got drunk so early in the day?" thought
+Ivan, and hastened after the man to find out who he was. When he got
+up with him he saw, to his surprise, that it was Peter Saffran. This
+struck Ivan unpleasantly; he recalled how, on the day when Evila had
+eloped, Saffran had sworn never again to touch brandy; he knew also
+that Peter had kept this oath. He recollected also, but imperfectly,
+that when he said that he wouldn't drink any more he had let fall some
+threat. Well, it didn't much matter; if he got drunk, that was his
+affair. But why did he come to Ivan's village to get drunk? Why didn't
+he go to the tavern in his own colony?
+
+Ivan hailed the man. "Good-morning, Peter."
+
+Peter did not return the greeting; he stared like a stupid dog who
+doesn't know his own master. He looked at Ivan with a wild eye, he
+pressed his lips together, and his nostrils extended. He drew his cap
+down over his eyes.
+
+Ivan asked him, "Has the choke-damp got into your pit?"
+
+No answer from Peter. He shoved his cap from off his forehead, and,
+opening his mouth to its full extent, bent his face to that of Ivan,
+and let his hot, spirit-laden breath blow over him. Then, without
+saying a syllable, he turned away, and set off running in the
+direction of the company's mine.
+
+The heated breath of the man, with the sickening smell of bad brandy,
+sent a shudder through Ivan's frame. He stood still, staring after the
+runaway, who, when he had got a certain distance, stopped and looked
+back. Ivan could see his face distinctly. He looked like a madman; his
+lips hung apart, like those of a mad dog; his white teeth gleamed in
+contrast to his red gums. His whole appearance was so strange and
+desperate that Ivan laid hold of the revolver in his pocket. For one
+moment the thought passed through his mind that he would be doing a
+good work in freeing the world of such a creature, but on second
+thoughts he let him go unharmed, and continued his way to the mine to
+look after the ventilators.
+
+In the vault the proportion between the hydrogen and the air was three
+to seven. Ivan forbade any work to be done in the mine, or any pumping
+out of the dangerous gas. He employed his men in the open air,
+removing the coal that was required, and only allowed those to remain
+below who had to look after the air-pumps.
+
+He remained the whole day on the spot, controlling everything and
+keeping a close watch. Towards evening he left the mine and returned
+to his house. Everything was apparently safe. It was a nasty, foggy,
+gloomy evening; the state of the atmosphere reacted upon the mind and
+body alike. When nature is out of sorts, man suffers; when the sky is
+overcast, he, too, is gloomy. And when the earth is sick, when worms
+and mould destroy the fruit, when the harvest is ruined by blight, and
+the cattle are decimated by pestilence--above all, when the noxious
+vapors from the coal-mines rise to the surface and poison the very
+air--then men sicken and die.
+
+All through the day Ivan had felt cold shudders running over his whole
+body. His limbs were contracted by that unpleasant feeling called
+goose-skin, and when he got home he shivered, although his room was
+warm. He was restless, uneasy. He could occupy himself with nothing;
+everything palled upon him. The worst symptom of all, he could not
+even work.
+
+When a man refuses food or drink, when he does not care for the
+company of a pretty woman, when his club wearies him, these are
+unhealthy signs; but when he turns away from work, and finds no longer
+any interest in his usual occupation, then it is time to send for the
+physician.
+
+Ivan's head throbbed, yet he could not sleep, and to stay awake was
+torture. He lay down, and with a resolute effort closed his eyes. A
+panorama of past, present, and future kept dancing before him. Peter
+Saffran's hot, stinking breath seemed to breathe again in his
+nostrils, and the very horror brought back to his memory the man's
+long-forgotten words:
+
+"No more during my life shall I drink brandy--_only once_; and when I
+do, and when you smell from my breath that I have been drinking, or
+see me coming out of the public-house, then take my advice and stop
+safe at home, for on that day no man shall know in what manner he
+shall die."
+
+Who cares for the threat of a drunken man? Let me sleep. No, the
+drunken man would not allow Ivan to sleep; his breath was there.
+Faugh! it made him sick. His blear-eyed, pallid face was there bending
+over the bed, looking into Ivan's eyes with his blood-shot eyes; his
+open mouth and shut teeth came quite close to the sleeper, who, vainly
+beating his arms in the air, tried to drive away this horrid
+nightmare.
+
+Ah, what is that sound? A crack like the crack of doom awoke Ivan; not
+alone awoke him, but threw him violently out of bed and on to the
+floor, where he lay stunned.
+
+His first consecutive thoughts were, "The choke-damp has exploded! My
+mine is in ruins!" This was enough to get him on his legs and to send
+him out in the darkness--darkness, raven-black darkness, the stillness
+only broken by a whistling sound in the air. Ivan stood for a moment
+wondering. He felt the earth swaying under his feet; he heard a
+subterranean grumbling. There! the pitch-dark night was suddenly
+illumined; a bright pillar of fire rose out of the Bondavara Company's
+mine. At the same moment another fearful explosion was heard, worse
+than the last. The windows of the house were shattered in a thousand
+pieces, the chimneys, the roofs fell in. The pressure of the air
+forced Ivan back and threw him against the door of his own house. By
+the strong light of the demoniacal pillar he could see his own workmen
+all on their knees with a horrified expression upon their ghastly
+faces. Women and children were gathered at the doors of the houses,
+but the terror was so great that every one was speechless.
+
+The entire valley glowed like the crater of a volcano. It vomited
+forth a rain of fire-sparks, as in Gomorrah. The flames reached almost
+to the clouds, and heaven sent forth clap upon clap of thunder, the
+like of which in the most terrible thunder-storm had never been heard.
+
+Two minutes later the flames were extinguished. The whole valley was
+again enveloped in pitch-darkness, only over the company's mine
+floated a filmy white cloud.
+
+"The neighboring mine has exploded!" shrieked Ivan. "Help! help!" He
+never remembered that it was his enemy's mine; he only thought that
+there, in the bowels of the earth, a fearful, indescribably fearful,
+calamity had happened. "Help! help!" he cried, and ran to the
+alarm-bell, at which he pulled with all the strength of his body.
+
+His own men came rushing in hot haste, all repeating to one another,
+as if it were something new, "The neighboring mine has exploded!"
+
+Then followed a significant pause. The men carrying lanterns
+surrounded Ivan, and looked at him questioningly, waiting for him to
+speak.
+
+How had he guessed their thoughts?
+
+Those who under God's free heavens drew their breath were bound to go
+to the rescue of those who lay buried underground, and who perchance
+still lived. Here it was no case of friend or foe. They were human
+beings; that was enough.
+
+"We must get the ventilators, the well-buckets to work!" called Ivan.
+"Let each man bring a thick cloth to tie over his mouth. Bring
+crow-bars, cords, ladders, india-rubber tubes, hose-pipes. The women
+only are to remain behind. Forward, my men!"
+
+He threw on an old coat, seized a strong iron bar, which he carried on
+his shoulder, placed himself at the head of his men, and led the way
+to the company's mine.
+
+It was not easy to force an entrance into the works. The proprietors
+had set up all manner of barricades in order to prevent Ivan's carts
+from making any use of the new road. On the gates there were boards
+with "No trespassing. No one to pass this way without a written
+order."
+
+No one now minded these orders. If a door or a gate impeded their
+progress, Ivan thrust his iron rod through it and soon made a passage,
+through which his men rushed pell-mell. The miners did not pause to
+harness any horses to the machines. They harnessed themselves, while
+others shoved behind, and drove them on over sticks and stones down to
+the mouth of the pit. Like an army of lunatics the party of rescuers
+rushed on through the night, making their way as best they could by
+means of the lanterns fastened to their waistbands. Soon, however, the
+darkness was again illumined. The forge nearest to the pit, and
+consequently the most exposed to the fiery heat, blew up suddenly, and
+the flames from the heating-oven filled the air with a red glow. The
+miners avoided, however, the direction in which it burned, as it would
+be impossible to predicate the direction which the molten metal would
+take.
+
+When they reached the pit an awful spectacle presented itself. The
+ventilation-ovens which were placed over the shaft-mouth were gone.
+The bricks and tiles were scattered in a thousand directions all over
+the fields. The large windlass of cast-iron lay on the ground at a
+considerable distance from its former position, and of the conical,
+bell-shaped buildings hardly a stone was left. Only one wall was still
+standing; the iron fasteners hung from its side. The northern entrance
+to the pit had fallen in. The handsome stone gates lay in ruins.
+Stones, beams, iron bars, coals were all mixed up together in
+heterogeneous confusion, as if a volcano had vomited them out.
+
+The air was filled with the cries of weeping women. Hundreds upon
+hundreds of women and children, probably widows and orphans, held up
+their hands to heaven and wept. Under their feet their husbands, their
+fathers, brothers, lovers lay buried, and no one could help them.
+
+More from recklessness than from actual courage some men had already
+attempted to go down into the pit. They had been at once stunned by
+the pressure of the gas, and now their comrades, at the risk of their
+own lives, were trying to drag them out by cords and slings. Already
+one lay on the grass, while the women stood round him wringing their
+hands.
+
+Ivan now began to make his plans. "In the first place," he said, "no
+one is to venture near the pit. Let all wait until I return."
+
+He took his way towards the house of the directors. He forgot that he
+had sworn never to hold any communication with Raun�. In any case, he
+was not to be found. In the next town there was high festival. The
+directors of the new railway had given a banquet in honor of the
+completion of the tunnel. Raun� was there. Ivan, however, met the
+second engineer coming out of his house. He was a cool, phlegmatic
+man, and consoled himself with the trite reflection that these things
+happened everywhere. "The gates must be rebuilt," he said. "The pit
+roads must again be re-made, and probably we shall have to sink
+another shaft. It will cost a lot of money. _Voila tout!_"
+
+"How many men are below?" asked Ivan.
+
+"Probably about a hundred and fifty."
+
+"Only! And what is to be done for them?"
+
+"It will be a hard job to get them out, for they were at work at the
+passage which we were making between the north pit and the east to
+improve the ventilation."
+
+"Therefore there is no other entrance to the pit but the one which has
+fallen in?"
+
+"No; and the eastern shaft is also in ruins. The flames came from
+there; you must have seen them."
+
+"Yes; and I couldn't understand how it was that the second explosion
+followed the first after an interval of a few minutes."
+
+"That is easily explained. The communicating wall was already so thin
+that the explosion in the north pit blew it into fragments; the gas in
+the east pit undoubtedly was not kindled by the flames, for they had
+already gone out, but by the strong pressure of the air, which was
+heated to fever-heat by the accumulation of coal, and which,
+therefore, exploded through the shaft. So it is when you put sand into
+the barrel of a gun; the powder bursts the barrel before it throws out
+the sand."
+
+It was plain that the engineer took a very cold-blooded view of the
+whole affair, and that the design for the new stone gate was a matter
+of more interest to him than the hundred and fifty lives which were in
+jeopardy. Ivan saw there was little assistance to be got from him.
+
+"Before we can attempt the rescue of the men who are buried in the
+pit," he said, "we must pump the gas out of the opening of the cavern.
+Where is your air-pump?"
+
+"Up there," returned the engineer, pointing to the sky; "that is to
+say, if it hasn't fallen down."
+
+"You have no portable ventilator?"
+
+"We never contemplated the necessity of having one."
+
+"I have brought mine, if we can adjust it."
+
+"I would gladly know how that can be done. If the ventilator has a
+copper tube, it would be impossible to introduce it through all the
+zigzag of the rubbish and general wreck; if it has an india-rubber
+pipe it would be too weak, and wouldn't stand being shoved forward."
+
+"Some one must carry it into the pit."
+
+"Some one?" repeated the engineer, with an air of amazement. "Look
+yonder; they are drawing up the third man who was foolish enough to
+venture down there; he is dead, like the other two!"
+
+"No, none of them are dead; they will soon recover consciousness; they
+are stifled by the foul air."
+
+"All the same, I can hardly believe that you will find a man mad
+enough to be the first to carry a tube fifty steps through all the
+wreckage."
+
+"I have already found the man. I shall do it."
+
+The engineer shrugged his shoulders, but he made no effort to dissuade
+him.
+
+Ivan went back to the men, who meantime had been getting ready for
+work. He called the oldest miner on one side.
+
+"Paul," he said, "some one must carry the india-rubber tube of the
+ventilator into the mouth of the pit."
+
+"Good. Let us draw lots."
+
+"We shall do nothing of the kind. I shall go. You are all husbands and
+fathers with families. You have wives and children to provide for. I
+have no one. How long can a man hold out in that foul air without
+drawing his breath?"
+
+"A hundred beats of his pulse; no longer."
+
+"Good. Fetch me the pipe. Bind a cord round my body and hold the other
+end. When you see that I no longer carry the pipe, draw the cord
+slowly back, but take care to draw slowly, in case that I should have
+fainted and that a sudden pull might strangle me."
+
+Ivan loosened the woollen band from his waist, steeped it in a vessel
+of vinegar, and wrung it out and wrapped his face in it, so that his
+nose and mouth were covered. He then bound the cord firmly round his
+body, took the foremost end of the india-rubber pipe upon his
+shoulder, and began to make his way through the rubbish and _d�bris_
+at the pit's mouth.
+
+The old miner called after him, in a broken voice: "Count the seconds.
+Fifty for going, fifty for coming back."
+
+Ivan vanished behind the ruins. The miners took off their caps and
+folded their hands. The old man held the fingers of his right hand on
+the wrist of his left and counted his pulse. He had already counted
+over fifty and the other end of the pipe had not moved. It had passed
+sixty and was near seventy when suddenly it was pulled forward. Ivan
+had penetrated into the deadly atmosphere. The old miner wiped the
+perspiration from his brow. He counted eighty, ninety, a hundred
+seconds. They shall never see him again. Then the pipe remained
+steady.
+
+Now they began to draw the rope. It was slack, and not tightened by
+any burden. Ivan was, therefore, so far safe; he was still walking,
+for the rope continued slack. Suddenly it got stiffer. Be careful now.
+The cord again slackened; the old miner counted a hundred and sixty
+seconds. Suddenly Ivan was seen coming out of the pit's mouth,
+supporting himself upon the fallen stones of the archway; but his
+strength failed, and as the men rushed to his assistance he tottered
+and fell into their arms. His face was like that of a dying man.
+
+They rubbed him with vinegar, and the fresh air soon revived him. He
+sat up, and told them he was all right, but--
+
+"The air down there is something awful," he said. "What is happening
+to those poor creatures who are buried below?"
+
+It never occurred to him to remember that those poor creatures were
+the same ungrateful men who had deserted him, who had taken service
+with the men who had sworn to ruin him, who had formed a conspiracy
+against him, who were ready to murder him, who had sent a deputation
+to the enemies of their native land. Here they lay, buried in the
+depths of mother-earth, which thus revenged upon them their treachery.
+Ivan had forgotten their sin against him and their country, and his
+only thought was to save them if there was yet time.
+
+Now that the ventilator had been set in motion, the work of rescue
+might begin; but all the same it was a terribly hard fight.
+
+Ivan divided his band of men into two divisions. Each man was only to
+stay an hour at the dangerous work of clearing away the rubbish. Every
+one must have his face covered by a cloth steeped in vinegar. So soon
+as he began to feel faint he was to be carried away by his comrades.
+
+When the day began to break the wreck of the fallen entrance had been
+moved to one side, but in the mouth of the pit the sun could not
+penetrate. The vault of slate-clay had fallen altogether to one side,
+so that Ivan, when he had carried the pipe into the pit, had found
+there was scarcely room to allow it to wind through the chasms. In the
+spot where he had placed the mouth of the pipe the vault was
+altogether destroyed.
+
+It was an undertaking almost superhuman. What had been the work of
+weeks had to be done in so many days. And yet it must be done.
+
+In their work of clearing away the rubbish Ivan's men had very little
+assistance from the company's men for this reason: the explosion had
+taken place at the time when the miners were relieved. When men are
+working in collieries it is usual to relieve them four times. It was
+the time of the midnight relief when the accident happened. One party
+of the miners had already gone down the shaft; they were undoubtedly
+suffocated. The other party were on their way out, and were killed at
+once by the explosion. There was another party who had only reached
+the resting-stage, where neither the flames nor the fragments could
+touch them. These men were buried alive. It therefore resulted that of
+all the company's miners only from twenty to thirty were available.
+
+The men who worked the forge were forbidden by the director to give
+any help in the work of rescue. In all the ovens the metal was in a
+liquid state; if it was not attended to it would turn into rammers.
+The workmen give the name of _ram_, or _rammer_, to a solid mass of
+iron, which, in consequence of faulty melting, cannot be removed from
+the oven, and it and the oven have to be thrown away as useless
+lumber. The forge-work was urgently needed. The railway greaves had to
+be finished by a certain date, or a large fine would have to be paid.
+Ivan therefore had to set his men almost unaided to the task of
+clearing the pit. The women helped with all their strength. Their
+husbands, the bread-winners, were underneath the ruins.
+
+What a terrible undertaking! In consequence of the falling in of the
+arches the roof had, at a distance of six feet, to be supported on
+plugs, and a sort of street made through the ruins, where at every
+corner a new enemy waited for the intrepid pioneers.
+
+After the explosion the pit had been overflowed by water. The
+water-pipes had to be set to work, and where these were not sufficient
+the men were obliged to empty out the black slime in buckets, standing
+for hours in stinking mud, breathing foul air, threatened with death
+or mutilation from the constant falling of stones and wreckage.
+Undaunted by these obstacles, the men made their way step by step into
+the bowels of the earth.
+
+In the afternoon Raun� arrived. In the middle of a convivial festival
+he had heard the news. He was raging. He came down the shaft and
+cursed all the dead men.
+
+"The scoundrels! They have cost the company a million of money! What
+does it matter if they are all killed? Serves them right! Why should
+any of them be saved? Stuff and nonsense! Let them suffocate, the
+drunken dogs!"
+
+The workers made him no answer. First, because they could not take up
+their time talking, and, secondly, because every man's mouth was
+covered. The clearing of a mine is very silent work.
+
+But in the midst of his curses Raun� encountered one workman, who
+placed himself in front of him and confronted him with a steady look.
+This man was covered with mud and coal like the other laborers, his
+face was tied up with a cloth, and only the eyes were visible; they,
+too, were blackened with coal-dust, but Raun� knew by their expression
+that it was Ivan. No one who had ever looked into his eyes could
+forget him.
+
+Raun� turned away without another word, and, in company with his
+engineer, left the pit. He interfered no further with Ivan's work.
+
+Four days and four nights the men never ceased working. They triumphed
+over every obstacle and cut a pathway through every difficulty. During
+those four days Ivan never for one hour left the mine. He ate his
+meals sitting on a stone, and snatched an hour's sleep in some corner.
+
+On the fourth day the workmen came upon one of the missing men. A
+man--no, but a mass, flattened against the wall, of flesh and bones,
+which had once been a man.
+
+Some feet farther on there lay another body on the ground, but the
+head was nowhere to be seen. They tried to get him on one of the
+wheelbarrows which were for drawing coal, but he was all in fragments;
+splinters and shreds of that human body were sticking to everything.
+
+Then they came upon the charred, blackened corpses of the men who had
+been burned. They were not recognizable.
+
+Farther on there was a group of fifteen men crushed by a huge weight
+of slate stratum. This could not be moved, so they were left. It was
+more necessary to look after the living than the dead. Everywhere they
+found corpses; still the number of the missing was not complete.
+
+The miners employed by the company told Ivan that if any of the men
+were still living they would be found at the resting-stage, where they
+left their coats before they began to work and fetched them again as
+they went up. In the passages, however, there had been such a total
+upset that the oldest hand could not find his way. In many places the
+explosion had torn down the partition wall, in other places the
+entrance was stopped up with rubbish, or the roof taken off some of
+the passages which led into the inner vaults. It was all in such utter
+confusion that no one could find out where the large vault lay.
+
+At last it struck Ivan that underneath a mass of coal and slack he
+heard a faint, whimpering sound. He said to the men, "Dig this spot."
+
+At once they set to work to clear away the rubbish, and as they
+cleared the company's men began to recognize different landmarks,
+which convinced them they were at the right place.
+
+"Yes, here is the door which leads to the resting-stage." The pressure
+of the air had shut the door close, the side walls had fallen in, and
+so these, who had been safe from the conflagration, had been buried
+alive.
+
+The whimpering cry for help, like that of an infant's wail, was heard
+now more distinctly. The door, too, was plainly visible, and as it was
+swung off its hinges Ivan took a light and peered into the dark cavern
+below.
+
+No cry of joy reached him; the rescued men had not the strength to
+make a sound. They were about a hundred in all. They lay there
+still, speechless. Life had almost ebbed away, but not altogether.
+They had suffered the tortures of hunger and thirst, they had been
+suffocated by the foul air, broken-hearted, despairing. And now
+these human skeletons, when they saw the light, could hardly raise a
+finger to show they were alive. A heart-rending whimper, in which
+there was no human tone, rose from the hundred parched throats. When
+the explosion came they had been thrown upon their faces. Their
+lamps had gone out, and it would have been madness to relight them.
+They had remained in total darkness. After a little the danger of
+their situation increased. Soon they began to feel that the water
+was gradually--slowly at first--filling the space which served them
+as a refuge and a grave, and this space or vault was, they knew, a
+fathom deeper than the pit. They tried--for at first they were not
+so weak--to get hold of some boards and plugs that lay about, and
+out of these they made a sort of stage or platform, upon which they
+all clambered, and there waited for death--the death that might come
+either through hunger, foul air, or drowning. When their rescuers
+opened the door the water had reached the threshold and touched the
+bottom of the wooden stage.
+
+Ivan directed that the poor creatures should be carried carefully and
+silently out of their living grave. They did not press forward, for
+they could not stand. Each man lay where he was, and waited until his
+turn came. The foretaste of death made every one tranquil. Some of
+them could not at first open their eyes, but all were alive, and Ivan
+could not help thinking how wonderful is the strength of human nature.
+
+He had saved them all, but the work was not yet finished. How if,
+beyond the breach of which the engineer had spoken, there were more
+men waiting for deliverance? One thing they must ascertain
+positively--if the explosion had finished the work begun by the
+engineer's men, and had carried away the wall which had divided one
+pit from the other. If this were so, it would considerably lighten the
+work of those who had come to seek for the victims. At the opening of
+the breach-tunnel lay a man's body; he was such a charred, burned mass
+that he was unrecognizable. The dead man held in his hand his
+safety-lamp. _It was open._
+
+So this was the accursed one who had done the hellish deed, and it was
+human folly that had caused this demoniacal explosion.
+
+The corpse was not recognizable, the clothing was burned to ashes. In
+his girdle, however, they found a small steel casket, and in this
+casket a gold watch; upon the enamelled back was the portrait of a
+lovely woman.
+
+When the watch was brought to Ivan he recognized the portrait. It was
+Eveline. With the watch there was also a bank-note for a hundred
+gulden. It was half burned. Upon the back was written:
+
+"A year ago to-day I received this money; to-day I pay it back." What
+a fearful repayment!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Ivan was now able to grasp the connection between the words and the
+acts of this terrible man, whose recollection of his own act of eating
+human flesh had prompted him to an unexampled and most horrid
+massacre. His threats after Evila's elopement, his entering into the
+company's service, the last occasion upon which he had drunk brandy,
+and the breath he had blown into Ivan's face. All was now explained.
+This was part of the drama. This man had a character such as
+Antichrist might be possessed of. His soul and body were full of
+concealed demons, who prompted him to take revenge of those who had
+offended him, ridiculed him, stolen from him, scorned him, treated him
+as a fool, insulted him with money, tempted him with luxuries, and
+taken advantage of his simplicity to pull him by the nose.
+
+All of them should fall. He would pull the foundation-stone from under
+their feet, even if he dug his own grave in so doing. They should fall
+from their high estate--the banker, the pastor, the capitalist, the
+minister, and the actress.
+
+In hell the demons could teach Peter nothing.
+
+Ivan stood before the unsightly corpse deep in thought. In his heart
+there raged a wild conflict of passions. He also had been robbed,
+oppressed by the wealth of his enemies, his heart wounded by a hundred
+poisoned arrows, and this by the same men upon whom the revengeful
+hate of Peter Saffran had fallen. Ivan had come to their help. He had
+saved the lives and the property of his foes--at least, what they
+called their property; the monstrous treasure which lies in the very
+bowels of the earth does not, in truth, belong altogether to any man,
+but to all men; it is the treasure-trove of the state, destined to
+serve and minister to all ages.
+
+And yet a great dread, an unconquerable fear, possessed Ivan. He dared
+not mention his fear to any one, for if he were to share his
+suspicion with any one of the workmen, who up to this had followed him
+obediently through every peril, they would, without another word, have
+turned their backs and fled for their lives.
+
+The wire cylinder of Saffran's safety-lamp was filled to the very top
+with a red flame. This was a warning that the atmosphere was still
+charged with one-third of hydrogen gas, and that only two-thirds were
+of fresh air.
+
+But there is an even greater danger to be feared than the pit-gas. Its
+fearful spirit had been laid; the victims lay silent upon the
+wheelbarrows. Yet another and a worse spirit lurks in ambush--a foe
+who goes about with closed eyes, whose presence is awful in its
+consequences: it is the carbon from the coals.
+
+When the men had made the breach through the tunnel, they found, just
+as the engineer had said, that the explosion had burst through the
+partition wall, and that the _d�bris_ had only to be removed, and the
+passage between the east and the north pits would be established. Not
+one of the workmen could remain long at this work. After some moments
+each one returned coughing, and complaining that in that place his
+safety-lamp would not burn.
+
+In the pits the flame of the lamp filled the whole cylinder; this was
+not reassuring. But in the neighborhood of the ruins it would hardly
+burn; this was a far more serious sign.
+
+The last miner who returned said that as he removed a large lump of
+coal such a terrible stench had penetrated through his mouth-protector
+that he had almost fainted. The smell was like that of putrid
+vegetable matter.
+
+The old hands knew what this putrid stench signified. Paul suggested
+to Ivan that he should go and examine whence it came. Let him cover
+his mouth very carefully, and hasten back as soon as possible.
+
+Ivan took his iron rod and his lamp, and went. Seizing hold of the rod
+with both hands, he struck it with all his strength into a mass of
+coal, upon which the lump rolled with a great noise into the adjoining
+space. He then fastened his lamp to the hook of his rod and pushed it
+into the hollow. The lamp went out at once, and as he looked from the
+darkness into the hollow, to his horror he saw in the next vault a red
+glow which lighted up the space. He knew at once there was no time to
+lose. He never paused to withdraw his rod, but rushed back to the men.
+
+"The east pit is burning!" he cried.
+
+No one answered, but the men seized hold of Ivan, and bore him with
+them out of the pit into the open air. Behind them followed the
+horrible stench--not merely that of foul air such as accompanies "bad
+weather," often with fatal effect; this was the more insidious carbon,
+that which kindles pit-fires, baffles the ingenuity of man, respects
+neither the brave nor the scientific, and which, when once it has
+begun, can never be turned back. There is nothing to do but to run for
+the bare life.
+
+In a few minutes the pit was empty.
+
+As they issued into the light of day they were surrounded by countless
+women and children, weeping and screaming in their joy at being
+reunited to their lost ones.
+
+The engineer was also there. Ivan went straight to him. Taking the
+cloth from his mouth, he said:
+
+"Do you know, sir, what is going on down there in your mine? Complete,
+utter ruin! The east pit is burning; it must have been alight some
+days, for the whole pit is red-hot. I shall never forget the sight.
+Now let me tell you what this means. It is not the hand of human
+wickedness, neither is it the avenging hand of God; it is altogether
+caused by the negligence of the overseer. You, who are a great
+scientist, know as well as I do that collieries take fire when sulphur
+gets mixed with coal-dust and is allowed to lie in a heap. It is
+always hot down there, and when the stuff is fanned by the air it
+lights of itself. Your pit is full of this dangerous burning mist. And
+now both your pit and my mine are finished. The colliery fire can
+never be extinguished. You have heard of the burning mountain of
+Dutweeler? A hundred and twenty years ago that coal-mine took fire; it
+is still burning. Here we shall experience another such tragedy.
+Good-morning."
+
+The engineer only shrugged his shoulders; it was nothing to him.
+
+Ivan shook the dust of the God-forsaken colony off his feet. He and
+his men returned to his own side of the mountain.
+
+Meantime what had happened to his own mine? He had been absent four
+days and four nights, and had never given it a thought.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS
+
+
+Any one who wishes to understand the meaning of the proverb, "There is
+only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous," should gamble on
+the stock-exchange; there he will learn the full meaning of the words.
+
+To-day you are a deity, to-morrow the meanest of street curs. To-day
+sixty agents shriek out the name of your speculation; you are a sort
+of king, and all the other kings on 'change study your countenance to
+see how the wind shifts. To-day, so soon as one o'clock strikes by the
+town clock, a swarm of buyers come round you. Your note-book is held
+up to the view of all the agents. It is handed from one to another; it
+is placed upon the back of an agent, and the competitors write the
+number of shares they want. To-day all hands point to the percentage,
+which is the proof of your high estate. To-day the crowd who are
+speculating on your credit fill all the passages; they scream out, "I
+sell!" "I buy!" Even outside the stock-exchange sweet creatures of the
+opposite sex, who like dabbling in stock quite as much as do the male
+creation, make their books. Women are prohibited from showing their
+faces on 'change; but they gamble all the same. Hundreds of ladies
+wait upon the stock-broker, with a copy of the exchange list in their
+hands; they have marked your shares. Still greater ladies sit outside
+the exchange in their grand carriages. In their eagerness they stretch
+their heads out of their carriage windows to know from the first-comer
+at what figure the shares--your shares--stand.
+
+This is all to-day. To-morrow you are not to be found; your name is
+scratched out of the exchange list. Every one knows that your affair
+has "burst." You are nowhere. You are nobody. Your place is empty.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The firm of Kaulmann stood at the summit of its triumph. Felix and his
+bosom friend, the Abb� Samuel, were enjoying their afternoon siesta.
+The room was full of a cloud of smoke, and under its soothing
+influence the friends were building castles in the air.
+
+"To-morrow," said Felix, "the pope's loan upon the Hungarian Church
+lands will be floated at the exchange."
+
+"To-morrow I shall receive from Vienna my appointment as titular
+Bishop of the Siebenb�rger."
+
+"The silver kings are ready to plank down their millions on the loan."
+
+"The pope gives it his blessing," murmured the abb�. "The cardinal's
+hat is ready for my head."
+
+"The legitimist financiers have shown a decided objection to my wife
+appearing on the stage. This may injure the loan; therefore I intend
+to-morrow to explain to her that she is not legally my wife."
+
+"Is it true that Prince Waldemar has arrived in Paris?"
+
+"Yes, he has come after Eveline."
+
+"But his presence here will be injurious to our speculation. He is our
+declared enemy."
+
+"He cannot injure us now. Since he met such a total defeat in the
+matter of the Bondavara mine and the railway his teeth have been
+drawn. He and his bears have kept very quiet."
+
+"Then it is Eveline who has brought him here?"
+
+"He is mad about her; he follows her everywhere like a dog, and is
+only anxious to pick up any crumb she will give him."
+
+"But she cannot endure him."
+
+"That is the worse for her. It was greatly Prince Theobald's doing.
+That old fellow is mad."
+
+"Is it not the case that the Countess Angela's husband wants to put
+the prince's affairs into the hands of trustees?"
+
+"Before we left Vienna there was some talk of it."
+
+"Will this affect in any way the Bondavara shares?"
+
+"In no way. The only unmortgaged portion of his capital is absolutely
+made over to the company. I can assure you, the Bondavara speculation
+is built upon a rock of gold."
+
+As he spoke three telegraphic despatches were brought in by the
+servant. One of these was addressed to the abb�, under cover to the
+firm of Kaulmann.
+
+"Lupus in fabul�," said Kaulmann, as he handed the first telegram to
+the abb�. The abb� read:
+
+      "The Prince Theobald has been declared incapable of
+      managing his own affairs."
+
+"Poor Eveline, she will have leisure to repent!" remarked Felix, with
+a cynical smile.
+
+As he was speaking the abb� opened the telegram addressed to him. He
+handed it to Felix, saying:
+
+"And I, too, shall have time to repent."
+
+The telegram ran:
+
+      "The minister has resigned; the emperor has accepted
+      his resignation; the whole system is to be changed."
+
+      "Good-bye to the bishop's mitre, to the cardinal's
+      hat; good-bye to the velvet arm-chair in the House of
+      Peers."
+
+They read the third telegram together. It contained these words:
+
+      "Explosion in the Bondavara colliery. The whole mine
+      is on fire."
+
+"This is indeed a blow," said Felix, as he let the telegram fall from
+his hand. The three telegrams had come like three flashes of
+lightning. The last was the worst.
+
+When the news reached Prince Waldemar he would let the bears loose
+with a vengeance. Something must be done to avert the imminent
+danger--but what?
+
+If there was only time allowed to float the papal loan such small
+things as the Bondavara shares and the burning of mines would be of
+little consequence. But could the enemy be reduced to silence?
+
+It was settled that the abb� should without delay repair to Eveline,
+and that Kaulmann should speak to Prince Waldemar.
+
+The beaming faces of the two men now wore a sombre air. They had only
+one card to play--the smile of a woman was their only salvation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+TWO CHILDREN
+
+
+Eveline had arrived in Paris at a very important moment. Two great
+changes had been made in the world of fashion: the Empress Eugenie had
+decreed that the crinoline should be laid aside, and Cardinal Chigi,
+the papal nuncio, had pronounced that dresses closed to the throat
+should be worn at receptions. Piety had become the rage. It was
+considered good taste to go to church and to wait for the sermon.
+
+Piety being, therefore, the fashion, no better moment could have been
+chosen by Kaulmann for floating the papal loan. He was well pleased to
+find that Eveline was as eager in the pursuit of piety as any of her
+fair sisters, the truth being that it harmonized with the poor child's
+frame of mind. A few days after her arrival in Paris her cripple
+brother had died. A celebrated surgeon had performed an operation
+which had put him out of pain forever. Eveline grieved over her loss;
+now she felt alone in the world, she had no one to love, no one to
+live for. She kept the boy's useless crutches in her room, one on each
+side of her dressing-table, and twice a week she went to the
+church-yard and put fresh flowers on the little grave. The penitential
+fashion just suited her. She preferred to sing Mozart and Handel in
+the church than Verdi at the opera.
+
+One day she conceived the idea that she would have a sacred concert
+in her own drawing-room; the price of the tickets should be high, and
+the proceeds would be for some good purpose--God knows what! perhaps
+to buy arms for the papal zouaves. She was busy making out her
+programme when the door opened, and Arpad Belenyi, unannounced, rushed
+in in his old unceremonious way.
+
+Eveline was delighted to see her former friend. She threw down her
+pen, ran to meet him, holding out both her hands.
+
+"Oh, you delightful person, what has brought you here?"
+
+"My profession. I am looking for some place where I may strike the
+cymbals and give a concert."
+
+"What a coincidence; you have come at the right moment. But how did
+you find me out?"
+
+"Not much difficulty in that. If I didn't see your name in the list at
+the Opera, I couldn't avoid seeing it outside St. Eustache."
+
+"Then you have heard me sing?"
+
+"In both places--the theatre and the church. I must tell you I think
+the good fathers lay it on pretty strong. For twelve francs I heard
+you at the Opera, and had the play into the bargain; but I didn't get
+out of the church so cheap. A beautiful lady took twenty francs from
+me."
+
+"You silly man! Well, I will pay it back to you. What are your terms?"
+
+"May I ask your reason for the question?"
+
+"How stupid you are! I am not going to engage you for a restaurant.
+What are your terms for playing the piano at an evening concert?"
+
+"To you, merely thanks; to the public, five hundred francs."
+
+"But if it is for a charitable purpose?"
+
+"Then either not at all or for money."
+
+"No, no. You are a cynical creature! Don't you feel sympathy for any
+one? Would you do nothing for the poor?"
+
+"I know a poor woman to whom I owe everything; that is my mother.
+Every farthing which I give to another is taken from her. When the
+world has given back to her all that she has lost, then I shall give
+to the world all that I possess; but until then everything belongs to
+my mother."
+
+"Very good; you shall pay your mother. You shall have the five hundred
+francs; but for this you must play something super-excellent--Liszt's
+Mass or one of Handel's oratorios."
+
+"What is the concert got up for? Is it to help a religious object? or
+is it for the papal zouaves?"
+
+"Yes. I am arranging it."
+
+"Then I can do nothing."
+
+"Why so?"
+
+"Why, because I shall not play for Garibaldi's enemies!"
+
+"Oh, what a goose you are, to be sure! Who asks you to play for
+Garibaldi's enemies? You play for my friends."
+
+But the young man kept repeating no, no, he wouldn't, and in his
+excitement he got up from his seat, and, throwing back his waistcoat,
+showed her that he wore a red shirt.
+
+Eveline laughed unrestrainedly. "A red shirt! So that means that you
+have enlisted as a Garibaldian?"
+
+"I should have done so long ago only for my mother."
+
+"And what would you do if your hand was shot off?"
+
+"Then I should become a pensioner to some fine lady, who would, I
+know, support me."
+
+Eveline burst into tears. His words had touched a chord in her tender
+heart. Arpad, however, could not imagine what he had said to grieve
+her; he tried to console her, and asked how he had offended her. Still
+sobbing, she said:
+
+"My poor little brother is dead. There by my table I keep his
+crutches."
+
+"I am sorry for you; with all my heart I sympathize in your grief. He
+and I were good friends; we had plenty of fun together."
+
+"Yes; you liked him. The world is quite dead to me; everything is
+changed. I listen for the sound of his crutches scratching along the
+floor up the stairs. Ah, my little brother! I have no one now. I want
+some one to take care of. I should like to nurse some one--an artist
+who had lost his eyesight; a musician whose right hand had been shot
+off; or a political hero, who, being pursued, concealed himself in my
+room, and to whom I should be benefactress, protectress, bread-winner,
+everything."
+
+"Why don't you go to Garibaldi?"
+
+She was laughing now; her moods were as variable as an April day.
+
+"You have heard me sing in public. What do you say of me?"
+
+"I say you would be a great artist if you could sing for the devils as
+well as you do for the angels."
+
+"I don't understand. What do you mean by the devils?"
+
+"You surely have heard from the pulpit that the theatre is the devil's
+synagogue?"
+
+"You rude man! Don't you know that I belong to the theatre?"
+
+"I beg pardon a thousand times. I believed that in the daytime you
+were an abbess and at night you were an actress; that would be a fair
+bargain."
+
+"You silly boy! Why do you think I am an abbess?"
+
+"Because you are dressed as such."
+
+"This is only a penitential dress. You godless creature, you are
+making fun of religion!"
+
+"No, madame. I agree that it is a great mortification to wear gray
+silk, a great penance to play the coquette with downcast eyes, a real
+fast to eat crawfish at twenty francs the dish. I am also told that
+the reason the fashionable ladies of Paris have taken to wearing high
+dresses is that they discipline the flesh so severely that their
+shoulders and necks are one mass of scars, and therefore the effects
+of their flagellations must be concealed."
+
+"That is not true. We don't do anything of the kind."
+
+"The world says so. I don't want to inquire; it is your secret."
+
+"It is not true," Eveline repeated. "We do not flagellate ourselves;
+look!" And kneeling down before Arpad she raised the lace collar which
+was round her neck and made him look at her fair skin.
+
+They were a pair of children.
+
+Arpad took his hat and his leave. He left a card with his address, but
+he would have no share in her concert.
+
+Eveline, however, went on writing her programme.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+IMMACULATE
+
+
+Eveline was still writing her programme when the Abb� Samuel was
+announced. In Paris it is not thought out of the way for an abb� to
+visit an actress, and, for the rest, the abb� was an old friend, well
+known to both husband and wife. He was naturally very much interested
+in the concert, and read the programme most attentively.
+
+"It would have been all so nice," said Eveline, in a vexed tone, "only
+for that stupid Arpad. See, father, just there, between my song and
+the violoncello solo, he would have come in so well."
+
+"Is Arpad in town?"
+
+"Yes, he has only just gone. I begged of him to help my concert; and
+my song from the Stabat Mater would have gone so much better to the
+harmonium, and he accompanies beautifully; but he has grown quite
+silly; he has become a heretic."
+
+The priest shook his sides with laughter, and then a sudden idea
+struck him. It was plain Eveline liked Arpad, which was only natural,
+for they were about the same age. He was twenty, she nineteen--a pair
+of children, and children like to amuse themselves. They don't care
+for serious things; that comes later. What if he made use of Arpad to
+introduce Waldemar?
+
+"I should like to take a bet with you that Arpad Belenyi will play
+the piano at your concert, and that, moreover, he will accompany your
+Stabat Mater on the harmonium. If he does so, what will you give me?"
+
+"Oh, he won't do it; you may be sure of that! I know him well; he is
+very obstinate once he takes anything into his cockatoo's head, and if
+_I_ have not been able to persuade him--"
+
+Eveline had immense faith in the magic power of her black eyes.
+
+"Well, you shall see. What will you give me if I succeed?" repeated
+the abb�.
+
+Eveline replied to this question by another:
+
+"How do you mean to get round him?" She said nothing of what she would
+give in case he succeeded.
+
+"Oh, there are many ways; for instance, I might say to him that if he
+played in your drawing-room it is very likely he may be engaged by the
+empress, and that then his fortune was made--at least, for this
+season. An artist would at once see what a chance this would be. Then
+I would offer him money."
+
+"I have done that already--five hundred francs."
+
+"Well, although a young man may turn up his nose at five hundred
+francs, an old woman will appreciate a hundred Napoleons at their true
+value. Arpad must obey his mother's wishes, and what she promises for
+him he must do. I know the circumstances."
+
+"You are a very sensible man. I should have begun with the mother, but
+it never occurred to me. Well, manage it all for me. If you only
+accomplish it I shall do whatever you ask me."
+
+She was in such good-humor that the abb� saw he could ask her
+anything; still, it was with a slight hesitation that he said:
+
+"I want you to give me an invitation for your charity concert for a
+friend of mine."
+
+"You shall have ten," cried Eveline, joyfully.
+
+"I only require one, but this invitation must be written with your own
+hand."
+
+"Give me the name of your friend and I will write the card this
+moment."
+
+As she spoke she seated herself at her writing-table, took an
+invitation-card from her drawer, and made all ready to begin.
+
+"Now the name."
+
+"Prince Waldemar Sondersheim."
+
+When she heard the name Eveline threw down her pen and sprang hastily
+to her feet.
+
+"No," she said, decidedly, "never!"
+
+The abb� burst into a shrill laugh. "Your excitement is very
+becoming," he said. "You are a fine actress."
+
+"I shall not invite Prince Sondersheim to my concert," returned
+Eveline, seating herself on the sofa with a defiant air.
+
+"Is the prince disagreeable to you?"
+
+"I loathe him."
+
+"Do you imagine that the world contains nothing but simpletons like
+Arpad Belenyi?"
+
+Eveline got up from the sofa, went to the writing-table, and tore the
+programme she had been writing into a hundred pieces.
+
+"Arpad may stay at home, tied to his mother's apron-strings. I don't
+want him nor any one. I'll give up the concert;" and she threw the
+torn fragments of her programme into the fireplace.
+
+The abb� rose from his seat and took the excited girl by the hand.
+
+"Compose yourself, my dear young lady," he said. "I have come to you
+on a most urgent matter--a matter which is of serious consequence to
+you and your husband, and I do not deny that it is of great moment to
+me. I may, in fact, call it of vital importance to each one of us. If
+it should turn out as badly as it threatens your husband shall have to
+go to America, I must return to my monastery, and what will become of
+you I do not know."
+
+Eveline sat down again on the sofa. She listened to him attentively.
+
+"At all events, you will have to go out of this," went on the abb�,
+"and that without loss of time. You must know that the old Prince
+Theobald, after you had returned to him the palace in the Maximilian
+Strasse, which he had made a present to you, took shares in your name
+in the Bondavara Company to the amount of a million."
+
+"I never knew it," said Eveline.
+
+"That proves that you never thought of asking your husband what the
+expense of this splendid hotel was, to say nothing of your magnificent
+carriage and horses, your numerous servants, your conservatory--"
+
+"I thought that my salary, added to what Herr Kaulmann--" She stopped
+suddenly; the incredulous smile on the abb�'s lips made her silent. He
+continued:
+
+"All this splendor is at an end. A telegram which came a few hours ago
+brings the news that, at the suit of his son-in-law, Prince Theobald's
+affairs have been placed in the hands of trustees; the trustees will,
+without any doubt, seize the shares taken for you."
+
+"They may do as they like," returned the girl, indifferently.
+
+"Oh, there may be a lawsuit! But there is worse to come. Another
+telegram brings the news that last week there was a fearful explosion
+at the Bondavara colliery."
+
+At this news Eveline gave a cry; then quickly asked:
+
+"And Herr Behrend, has his mine also exploded?"
+
+The abb� looked somewhat surprised, but continued, in his earnest
+manner:
+
+"I believe not. The company's shares, however, have received a
+terrible blow. The more so, that one of the collieries is still
+burning, with no chance of being extinguished."
+
+As he spoke he looked fixedly at her, and his penetration soon took in
+the truth: that her joy at the escape of Behrend's property outweighed
+her sorrow for her husband's loss.
+
+"You can understand," continued the abb�, "in what danger we are of
+actual ruin; everything now depends upon one thing. Of course, you are
+aware that, in consequence of the Bondavara Company, Kaulmann's
+reputation is one of the highest in the financial world. Millions of
+money have actually been put into the affair, and ten times as much is
+floating in the air of the stock-exchange. Money is not a tangible
+quantity. This catastrophe--which, after all, may still be averted,
+for it is possible that the fire may be extinguished--will be a
+terrible engine in the hands of the enemies of the company, who want,
+above all things, to upset Kaulmann. The colliery explosion is a
+powder-mine in the hands of the bears. To-day he is a king, hands full
+of gold are stretched out to him, a hundred millions are eagerly
+offered to him; to-morrow these very people will surround him,
+clamoring to get back their money, which they have intrusted to him.
+Whether the cry is raised or not depends altogether on one man, and
+this man is Prince Waldemar Sondersheim. He is here; he arrived
+to-day. Probably he has had news of the explosion sooner than
+Kaulmann, whose director, Raun�, no doubt, hoped against hope to get
+the fire under. Kaulmann's fate lies in the hands of Prince
+Sondersheim, and so does my own. I do not conceal it. I was the pivot
+of an enormous, world-wide project. To-morrow Kaulmann's proposal for
+the Church loan was to be laid before the financial world of Paris and
+Brussels; it is an important crisis that may give to history a new
+page. If Prince Waldemar makes use of his knowledge of the collapse of
+the Bondavara Company to raise a cry against us, then the whole fabric
+upon which so much is built vanishes as a dream. If he or his bears
+call out on the exchange that the Bondavara shares are sixty per cent.
+below par we are lost. If he keeps silent the loan will float
+splendidly, and then the Bondavara misfortune will sink into a matter
+of small importance, such as constantly occurs in the money-market.
+Now you can understand what an effect a word from you may have, and
+what you can do if you speak this word."
+
+Eveline shook her head, and laid her finger on her lips; she looked
+the very genius of silence.
+
+"What!" cried the abb�, his anger getting the better of him, "you
+refuse? You think more of one word that can cost you nothing than of
+the consequences? The Holy See may be overthrown, the standard of
+infidelity may be unfurled, the saints torn from their shrines--and
+all for a woman's caprice."
+
+Eveline spread out her arms as if she were engaged in a combat with a
+giant. She called out, in a resolute voice:
+
+"No; I cannot speak to that man."
+
+The abb� grew angry. He said to himself if he could not persuade this
+vexatious woman, at least he would give himself the pleasure of
+wounding her in a tender point. He took his hat in his hand, and,
+holding it behind his back, said, in a cold, cutting voice:
+
+"I neither understand your dislike to the prince nor your extreme
+delicacy. Prince Sondersheim is no way inferior to the men you have
+admitted to your intimacy."
+
+At this insult Eveline seized the hand of the abb�, and cried, with a
+sudden abandonment of her usual reserve:
+
+"Oh, father, I have never been a wife; I am still as innocent as a
+child!"
+
+The abb� looked at her in unfeigned astonishment. He saw by her
+burning blushes, her modest, downcast eyes, her childish sobs, that
+she was speaking the truth. He sighed deeply; he could not help it. It
+was his last stake, and he had lost. Good-bye to glory, to greatness.
+All had vanished into thin air at Eveline's words; they had scattered
+his dreams. He recognized that all the great deeds which have made men
+famous were as dust and ashes in comparison with the real nobility of
+soul possessed by this peasant girl, this woman who, in obedience to
+her husband's infamous commands, and because she had sworn to obey
+him, had worn the mask of a Phryne while she preserved the purity of a
+saint. By no act of his should she descend from her pedestal.
+
+"Eveline," he said, in a voice of deep emotion, "the words you have
+spoken banish me to my cell. My dreams of power and splendor lie in
+the dust--their fitting place. You said,'I am still innocent'; my
+child, keep yourself so. The French law recognizes no marriage unless
+it has been contracted before the civil authorities. Your marriage
+with Felix Kaulmann is in this country null and void; you are here
+Mademoiselle Eva Dirkmal, nothing more. You can tell Kaulmann that I
+have told you this. I have given him the same information, as he
+wished to free himself from this nominal tie to you. And now,
+farewell; I return to my monastery, to reconcile myself with an
+offended God."
+
+Eva Dirkmal threw herself at the feet of the priest, and covered his
+hands with tears and kisses.
+
+"Put your hand upon my head," she sobbed, "and ask God to bless me."
+
+"My daughter," said the abb�, "an invincible hand watches over you and
+protects you. May you ever be thus safely guarded."
+
+With these words the priest left the room. He did as he said; he
+sought no further interview with Kaulmann, but went straight to the
+railway, and buried himself in his monastery. The world knew him no
+more.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+MAN AND WIFE
+
+
+Felix lost no time in seeking an interview with Prince Waldemar. He
+preferred to look for him in his own house than to meet him
+accidentally on 'change.
+
+Waldemar did not keep him long waiting, neither did he treat him to
+any display of his superior rank. He received him in his study.
+
+"Ah, your highness is occupied with business," said Felix, with the
+airy manner of an intimate friend; but he was secretly astonished to
+see that a man of the prince's high position was actually cutting the
+pages of the pamphlet before him, and underlining with red and blue
+pencil-marks the passages that pleased him most.
+
+The prince laid down the pamphlet, and asked Felix to take a chair.
+
+"I have only this moment heard," continued the banker, "that your
+excellency had arrived in Paris, and I hastened to be the first to pay
+my respects."
+
+"Strange! At this very moment, I, too, was occupying myself with your
+affairs," returned the prince, with a peculiar smile, which Felix
+noted and thought he understood. He tried to put on a jaunty air as he
+made answer:
+
+"I have come as an envoy under the protection of a flag of truce into
+the enemy's country."
+
+The prince thought to himself, "The fellow's flag of truce is a
+handkerchief worked with the letter E."
+
+"Even greater powers than we," went on Felix, twirling his hat in his
+fingers with some embarrassment, "have in sudden emergencies
+co-operated, and from being enemies have become fast friends,
+recognizing that to bury the hatchet was for their mutual advantage."
+
+"And may I inquire what is for our mutual advantage?"
+
+"My projected loan."
+
+The prince said nothing, but the smile that played upon his thin lips
+was a sufficient and most irritating answer. Felix began to lose his
+calmness. He rose from his chair, and in his earnestness leaned over
+the table at which the prince was sitting.
+
+"Prince," he said "this loan is for the benefit of the Holy See. You
+are, I know, a good Catholic."
+
+"Who has betrayed my secret?"
+
+"Besides, you are a thorough aristocrat. It must go against your
+highness's feelings to see that while in Hungary a bureaucratic
+minister pillages the Church and puts its revenues in his pocket, a
+band of freebooters throws the patrimony of St. Peter to the mob. All
+this can be prevented by our striking one blow. You will strike it,
+for you are a nobleman in the best sense of the word."
+
+"What else am I?"
+
+"Above all, you are a financier. It cannot escape your keen eye that
+this loan is one of the greatest, the soundest of speculations; for
+you are a prudent man, and you know how to add two and two."
+
+"Have I any other qualifications?"
+
+Waldemar's cold, sarcastic rejoinders did not put Felix out of
+countenance. His face assumed a still more amiable expression as he
+offered his hand to the prince, saying, in a cordial manner:
+
+"I trust you will be the honored friend of the house of Kaulmann."
+
+These words would be met either by a warm shake of the hand or by a
+box on the ear. He ran the risk, waiting breathlessly for the answer,
+which was different from, and yet worse than, that he expected. The
+prince took up the pamphlet which he had been busy underlining with
+red and blue pencil.
+
+"Now, my excellent brother in the faith, my fellow aristocrat, my
+comrade in finance, and my best friend, just you throw your eye over
+this little brochure, for there you will find my answer. I beg that
+you will take your time."
+
+He handed the pamphlet to Felix, and while that gentleman cast his eye
+over it the prince pared his nails carefully.
+
+Felix laid down the pamphlet. "This purports to be my biography."
+
+"As I think the title-page mentions."
+
+"Your highness is, I presume, the writer?"
+
+"I have given the heads."
+
+"There are all manner of affairs mentioned here in which I have played
+a sorry part by throwing dust in the eyes of the public, principally,
+however, in the Bondavara speculation, in which, it seems, I have
+announced a false balance and a feigned bonus, drawn ten millions out
+of the capital, which capital is now irrecoverably lost by the late
+catastrophe in the mine. It is a terrible indictment against me."
+
+"Perhaps it is not true?"
+
+"_It is true!_ Your highness is my faithful biographer; but allow me
+to fill up the details of the memoir. The unlooked-for misfortune of
+yesterday can be repaired to-morrow; the unlucky speculation may be
+glossed over if a better takes its place; a small defeat is
+compensated by a great victory. What use does your highness intend to
+make of this brochure?"
+
+"Frankly, I intend, as soon as you declare your new loan, to circulate
+this pamphlet freely on 'change. I shall then set the bears to work,
+so that in no time your shares shall be driven out of the market."
+
+"I guessed as much, and, to be frank, it was on this very account that
+I have come here, to prevent, if I can, such ruin to myself."
+
+Felix tried by continuous winking of his eyes to express his despair.
+He put his right hand into his vest, and in a low voice added:
+
+"Perhaps when you see me stretched dead before you your aim will then
+be accomplished."
+
+Prince Waldemar broke into an irrepressible fit of laughter and
+clapped Kaulmann on the shoulder.
+
+"I beg of you not to act a farce for my benefit. You did not come here
+to blow your brains out. Nothing of the sort; you came to sell me
+something. You are a ruined speculator, but you still possess one
+jewel of value, a wonderful black carbuncle which you found in the
+coal-mine and got smoothly cut, which you have already sold at a great
+profit, but which is now back on your hands. You are perfectly aware
+that I desire to get this jewel if I can, that I am willing to offer
+all I have for it; and this is why you have come here to-day. Let us
+understand one another. I will treat with you. What is your price?"
+
+The prince threw himself back in his chair, but he let Kaulmann stand
+without again asking him to be seated.
+
+The banker gave up his tragic manner, and resumed his customary cool,
+hard, matter-of-fact voice.
+
+"First of all, this;" and he laid his hand upon the pamphlet.
+
+"Good! You shall have it--a thousand copies and the manuscript. You
+can burn it, unless you care to keep it as a souvenir."
+
+"Secondly," went on Felix, "you must abandon your conspiracy against
+me. During the three days of raising the loan your bears are to keep
+quiet; there are to be no manoeuvres. Thirdly, your name must appear in
+the list of subscribers with a good sum after it."
+
+"Good! We shall understand one another. Now listen to my modifications
+of your proposal. On the first day when the shares of the new loan are
+drawn I undertake to keep the bears quiet, but I shall take no shares.
+On the second day I shall also keep quiet, but I shall not give you a
+shove. On the third day I shall take one million shares, and from that
+time I undertake to push your speculation as if I were your best
+friend."
+
+"And why not on the first two days?"
+
+"I will tell you what is to happen on those days. This very day you
+must go to madame and tell her that Prince Theobald's fortune is
+sequestrated and that she can no longer occupy his hotel. Madame was
+once generous enough to return to the prince his palace in the
+Maximilian Strasse, together with all it contained. She will have to
+repeat this act of renunciation and return to her husband's roof. Her
+husband must celebrate this happy event by a splendid entertainment,
+to which he will, as a matter of course, invite his best friend." Here
+the prince laid, with a significant gesture, his little finger on his
+breast. "The friend will take this opportunity to show madame a
+photograph of his summer palace, which is situated on the Lake of
+Constance, and only waits for the presence of its mistress to be
+perfection, while she stands in great need of the lovely breezes of
+the lake to restore her."
+
+"You are really very thoughtful."
+
+"Do not praise me too soon. On the second day you must have an
+explanation with madame. You will tell her that in France a marriage,
+to be legal, must be contracted before the civil magistrate; therefore
+you will go with her before the registrar and have yourself legally
+married."
+
+"But, prince," cried Felix, with a horrified expression upon his face,
+"why should I do that?"
+
+"Why?" returned the prince, standing up in his turn, so as to be able
+the better to overwhelm his victim. "Because I wish to defeat your
+little game. You took to yourself a wife in another country, knowing
+you could repudiate her here. It is my wish that madame shall bear
+your name always; otherwise you would have it in your power on the
+fourth day to say to me, 'I gave you what was not mine to give.' I
+shall have the diamond in its proper setting. I shall not remove the
+centre-stone from your wedding-ring; but I shall wear it on _my_
+finger."
+
+Kaulmann could not conceal his embarrassment. "This whim is
+incomprehensible," he said.
+
+"On the contrary," returned the other, with a devilish sneer, "it is
+quite clear; it simply means that _I know you au fond_. And now to my
+own affairs. I am desperately in love with one woman, and she detests
+me. She will not even look at me. But she little thinks I know the
+reason of her abhorrence. Your wife is a virtuous woman. You look
+surprised--naturally. It is no merit of yours that she has remained
+so. Oh, you need not protest! Prince Theobald has told me the whole
+history. Among other things, he made her swear that she would never
+receive me. Poor old fool! He did not act with much knowledge of human
+nature. If he had not interfered it's very likely I should have tired
+of pursuing a woman who did not care for me; but the mystery that
+surrounded her has added to my interest. I adore her, not alone for
+her beauty, her charm, but for her innocence, her goodness. She
+requires nothing to raise her in my estimation; but before the world
+she must take her fitting place. She must have the shield of her
+husband's name, the right to his protection. Now you understand what I
+require of you."
+
+"Prince, your ideas are demoniacal. You wish to bind me to my
+dishonor."
+
+"To your dishonor!" and the prince laughed scornfully. "My good
+Kaulmann, who asked you to come here and sell your honor? Ah, you
+cannot answer that! Never mind, we shall keep our secret; the world
+shall know nothing. In society the head of the house of Kaulmann shall
+be considered an honorable gentleman, an excellent husband, a good
+family man. In the commercial world he will be looked upon as a sound
+financier. Honors will crowd upon him; he will go far. .�.�. His real
+position will be known to only three people. There, my good friend,
+don't feign so much virtuous indignation. You are overacting, which
+always spoils the effect. I will take it all for granted. Time is
+short; it will be better to make use of it."
+
+This was true. Every moment was precious. Felix abandoned all attempts
+at outraged feelings of honor and the like, and, composing his
+agitated features, held out his hand to the prince. The latter,
+however, did not take it.
+
+"There's no need to shake hands over our honorable compact. Take your
+note-book and write down the conditions, and be sure you put the dates
+correctly. To-morrow, if I receive by one o'clock the card of
+invitation to your entertainment, I shall remain away from the
+exchange. The next day I do the same; that is, if I receive _before_
+one o'clock the official notification that your civil marriage has
+taken place. On the _fourth_ day, if _before_ one o'clock your
+solicitor brings me the news that you have set off to Brussels to
+negotiate the papal loan, and that he hands me the key of your house,
+with the request that I will look after the business in your absence,
+then I shall go down to the exchange, and push your affair as if it
+were my own. Now you may go, sir, and indulge your outraged feelings
+in private."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+EVA DIRKMAL
+
+
+Felix Kaulmann felt that he had made good use of his opportunity. All
+would now go well. The prince would no longer avail himself of the
+Bondavara catastrophe to ruin him; on the contrary, his influence
+would stem the panic which the news had, no doubt, already caused in
+the Vienna money-market, and when the papal loan was concluded all
+would be smooth. There was Eveline, of course; but a man such as
+Kaulmann, whose conscience had long since been as withered as was his
+heart, soon found excuses for any ill-doing. No one could blame him
+for the prince's infatuation; it would be only a fool who wouldn't
+take advantage of it, especially one in his situation. A drowning man
+catches at any plank; and as for Eveline, she owed him a debt of
+gratitude. Had he not raised her from the very dust of the coal-pit to
+her present situation, saved her from a brutal husband like the savage
+Saffran, educated her, made her a fit companion for a prince? Better
+women than she would be glad of the elevation that was awaiting her;
+and this reminded him that the Abb� Samuel's interview must have
+opened the matter, so he went in search of him. The priest, however,
+was not to be found at any of his usual haunts. Felix, therefore,
+repaired to Eveline's hotel; neither was she at home. She had gone to
+the theatre; it was one of her acting nights.
+
+Felix drove to the Opera-house. He went first to his wife's box, where
+there was no one but her companion. He took a view of the house. In
+the pit there were numerous _claqueurs_. In one of the front boxes he
+saw Prince Waldemar. Then he went behind the scenes, for he was known
+as the husband of the prima donna and was allowed access to her
+dressing-room.
+
+Eveline was dressed for her part and waiting to go on. When she saw
+Kaulmann she turned away angrily. Why did he disturb her when she was
+busy with her calling?
+
+"I have only come to wish you good-evening," he said.
+
+"You might have waited until to-morrow."
+
+"To wish you good-evening? Ha! ha!"
+
+"No; but you know I am always so nervous before I go on--"
+
+"I only wished to tell you that the cream of Parisian society are
+fighting to get tickets for your concert. Have you reserved one for
+me?" Felix was full of amiability and admiration.
+
+"I have reserved none."
+
+"Ah! And why not?" He said this in a soft, complaining voice.
+
+"Because I have given up the concert. It shall not take place."
+
+The face of her husband suddenly lengthened. "Will you kindly tell me
+the reason of this change?"
+
+"After I have come off. My scene has come. I must go." So saying, she
+left the room and went to the wings.
+
+Felix followed to a point from which he could see his wife on the
+stage and have a general view of the house.
+
+Eveline played badly and sang worse. Her voice trembled, she was out
+of tune, and her runs and _roulades_ were imperfect. She was evidently
+nervous. Nevertheless, she was applauded to the echo, the _claque_
+worked hard; and Prince Waldemar, from his box, clapped as if he had
+been paid for it. When she had finished her last song a shower of
+bouquets and wreaths came from the prince's box and fell at her feet.
+
+Eveline left them on the stage and hurried away to her dressing-room.
+Kaulmann followed her.
+
+"Why didn't you pick up those lovely bouquets?" he asked, carelessly.
+
+"I felt I didn't deserve any. I know I did badly to-night."
+
+"But surely for the sake of the giver you should have taken one of the
+bouquets."
+
+"Ah, you would like that."
+
+"I?"
+
+"Yes. All those flowers came from you--at least, so I have always
+understood."
+
+"Pardon me, _ma ch�re_. Didn't you notice that they all came from the
+side box? Didn't you recognize who was in that box?"
+
+"I never looked."
+
+"It was Prince Waldemar."
+
+"The man who is your enemy--who wants to ruin you?"
+
+"Oh, that is not so! He has quite changed. He is now _our_ best
+friend."
+
+"_Our_ friend? Whom do you include in 'our'?"
+
+"You, as well as myself."
+
+"Thanks; but I decline my share."
+
+"I am afraid you will find it difficult to stand aloof, for I consider
+Prince Waldemar as my best friend, and henceforth my house is open to
+him as to a brother."
+
+"As you please. My house shall be shut in his face."
+
+"I am sorry, but your words oblige me to break a disagreeable piece of
+news to you. But I see you are busy; you don't take any interest--"
+
+"Go on talking," returned Eveline, who was standing before the
+looking-glass washing the paint off her face. "I am listening."
+
+"For the future, I regret to say, you will not have a house of your
+own. The affairs of your friend, Prince Theobald, have been
+sequestrated; his property is now in the hands of trustees. I need not
+tell you, for I am sure you have known all along, that the hotel you
+occupy, together with all your expenses, has been paid for by him.
+This, naturally, is at an end. In my circumstances I could not afford
+to give you a separate establishment; we will, therefore, be obliged
+to live together, and it follows naturally that I shall expect my wife
+to receive as her guests _my friends_, and to make them welcome."
+
+Eveline had laid aside her queenly robes; she now took off her diadem,
+and as she slowly unfastened her bracelets she turned and faced Felix.
+
+"And do you think," she said, "that when I leave my hotel I cannot get
+for myself a garret somewhere, where there will be a door with a
+strong bolt, with which I can bar the entrance of any unpleasant
+visitors?"
+
+Felix looked at her in amazement; he constrained himself to take a
+more friendly tone.
+
+"I must call your attention to one fact. We are in Paris, and the
+French marital law is strict. A wife must dwell under her husband's
+roof. She must go where he goes. She must obey him."
+
+Eveline was now busy undoing the gold sandals which bound her feet.
+She looked steadily at Kaulmann, with her eyes glowing like lamps.
+
+"I must call your attention," she said, "to one fact. We are in Paris,
+and according to the French law those persons who have been married
+before the altar, and not before the civil authorities, are not
+considered legally married, and that, therefore, our marriage is null
+and void."
+
+Kaulmann sprang to his feet as if he had been bitten by a tarantula.
+
+"What are you saying?" he cried, in a voice that was almost a shriek.
+
+Eveline had loosened the golden sandals. She stood before Felix in her
+bare feet, and threw him the sandals.
+
+"These belong to you. I am once more Eva Dirkmal. I belong to myself."
+
+"Who has told you this?" stammered the banker, pale with rage.
+
+"The Abb� Samuel, who advised you to treat me in the same manner."
+
+Kaulmann felt the room going round.
+
+"And now," continued Eveline, with a dignified motion of her hand, "I
+must remind you that this is the dressing-room of a young girl."
+
+Felix did not wait to have his dismissal repeated; he took his hat and
+went without another word. He ran away, and he ran so fast that he
+took no heed where he was going till he stumbled and fell.
+
+All was over; he had played his last card and lost. Everything was
+gone; there was no more help. He had two courses open to him: he might
+put a pistol to his head, and so end the drama, or he might take all
+the money in his counting-house and fly. He chose the last.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+CRUSHED
+
+
+Eveline felt as if she had been given new life. She was no longer
+married, and yet she was not a widow. She had to shed no tears over
+happiness that had vanished, no regrets for domestic joys. Her heart
+was full of newly awakened desires, hopes she hardly dared to confess
+to herself, dreams that delighted while they embarrassed her--a
+delicious riddle that she feared to guess. Next day, however, when she
+heard that Kaulmann had absconded and would never return, she
+recognized fully that her chains had fallen off.
+
+When the caged bird has escaped into the open air of heaven, does he
+ever regret his gilded cage and all its luxurious comforts or the
+tender endearments of his owner? The bird enjoys his freedom, and
+rejoices he is no longer a slave. It may be that wilder and stronger
+birds tear him in pieces; that the frost and rain may chill his body,
+unused to exposure. He cares not. He wings his flight still higher; he
+seeks for a branch; he cooes to his lady-love; he is happy.
+
+Eveline never for one moment reflected that she was in any way
+implicated in the fall of Kaulmann and the shame that attended his
+ruin. She had no idea that her name was bandied about. She who had
+been as a queen, who had been so admired, had such a _succ�s_! What
+was to become of her now? She belongs to no one. No one knows
+anything of her past; but it is pretty safe to prophesy her future.
+She will have another protector. Of course; but who will he be? Which
+of her many admirers? She has a legion of adorers from which to
+choose.
+
+This was the talk of the clubs and the gossip of society. While
+Eveline sat in her room, rejoicing at her new life of freedom, an idea
+suddenly came into her head. She looked for Arpad's visiting-card,
+ordered her carriage, and drove out to visit the Belenyis. They lived
+some little way from Paris, in the suburbs, where houses can still be
+had with rooms on the ground floor. Madame Belenyi liked to live on
+the ground floor. The house she had lost was of this sort, and it had
+the advantage that, having her own kitchen, she could cook for her
+son, and feel sure he was not dining at some tavern in bad company.
+Unless on special occasions Arpad invariably came home to dine with
+his mother; he would not have missed doing so for a splendid feast. He
+thought there was nothing to compare with her dishes of pig's ear and
+delicately cooked vegetables.
+
+Eveline's coachman found it hard to make out the narrow little street
+in the neighborhood of Montmartre, where the Belenyis had established
+themselves. Eveline would not let the carriage go farther than the
+corner; there she got out, and, accompanied by her footman, walked up
+the street, looking for the right house. It was an old fashioned
+cottage, in which Madame Belenyi had hired two rooms divided by a
+kitchen. A girl who was working in the garden showed Eveline where the
+young gentleman lived. As Eveline pushed open the kitchen-door very
+gently she noticed that the door of the inner room opened suddenly and
+a woman looked out. This was undoubtedly Arpad's mother, who was
+curious to see who had come to visit her son.
+
+Eveline went on her toes to the door of the opposite apartment, and
+noiselessly turned the handle; she wanted to surprise Arpad.
+
+His room was the picture of comfort and order. It was easy to see how
+carefully it was kept by his mother. The table, the walls, were
+crowded with handsome pictures and ornaments, the gift of different
+persons--cups, wood-carvings, antique weapons, classical paintings;
+the windows were supplied with plants in bloom; there were bookcases
+full of books. Everything was well arranged; there was taste and
+comfort, and Arpad liked to be at home better than anywhere else. The
+hired piano was from Erard's manufactory, and was now open. Arpad was
+sitting with his back to it, brush in hand; he was painting. The
+pianoforte-player was also a painter. Artists, many of them, indulge
+in these freaks. One of our most distinguished portrait-painters loves
+to torture his neighbors by scratching like a cat upon the strings of
+a violin; so also a well-known musician spends his time writing feeble
+verses; and a third, who is a real poet, produces unsightly
+excrescences in marble and terra-cotta.
+
+What was Arpad painting?
+
+Eveline stepped softly behind his back, but the rustle of her silk
+dress betrayed her presence.
+
+Arpad turned scarlet, shoved the picture into a drawer, and, getting
+up quickly, confronted his visitor, who had only time to see that it
+was a portrait he was painting.
+
+"Ah, it is you," he stammered, in an embarrassed voice. "I thought it
+was my mother."
+
+"Aha, you are doing something you should not! Your mother does not
+allow you to paint; isn't that it? Well, it is a silly thing, I must
+say, for a pianoforte-player to spend his time painting; and what is
+the subject?"
+
+"Oh, nothing--a flower!"
+
+("What a lie!" thought Eveline; "it was a portrait.")
+
+"Then if it is a flower, give it to me."
+
+"I should rather not."
+
+"But if it is only a flower?"
+
+"I am not going to give it to you."
+
+"Don't be so cross. Won't you ask me to sit down?"
+
+Arpad was really vexed. Why had she come to disturb him just at this
+moment? Any other time she would have been welcome. This beginning
+spoiled the happy hour; for the picture was not Eveline's portrait.
+
+"Sit near me, else I shall think you are afraid of me. I expected that
+you would have come to see me, to find fault with me for my
+performance yesterday evening. Tell me frankly--didn't I sing badly?"
+
+"Very badly," returned Arpad, discontentedly. "You are going back
+instead of forward; and you seem to forget all you learn. I was quite
+ashamed of you. And your acting! I thought I was looking at an
+automaton."
+
+"To tell you the truth, I was in a miserable state of mind; I had
+several domestic troubles. I am separated from Kaulmann."
+
+"That was no reason to sing false; he wasn't worth risking your
+engagement for, and playing in such a perfunctory manner--singing,
+too, all out of tune. You never troubled yourself much about him."
+(Arpad knew nothing of what had happened to Kaulmann; the news had not
+penetrated to Montmartre.) "And, at all events, you should have had
+the discretion not to order a shower of bouquets when you were doing
+so badly; it doesn't look well."
+
+Eveline was very much wounded at this unjust accusation. She answered,
+almost crying:
+
+"I beg to assure you I have never ordered bouquets to be thrown to
+me."
+
+"Well, it was one of your adorers, that crazy prince. It is all the
+same thing. To be handsome, to sing badly, and to receive wreaths,
+those are three sins rolled into one. The world cannot distinguish
+between them."
+
+"Very well; go on finding fault, go on scolding, my excellent old
+master. What else have I done that is displeasing to you?"
+
+Arpad began to laugh, and held out his hand to Eveline.
+
+"Forgive me," he said. "My roughness is only the grumble of the
+preceptor; it is over. Now we shall be young again and chat. Shall I
+fetch the draught-board? Shall we play for love or for nothing?"
+
+This tone warmed Eveline's heart. She laughed, and slapped Arpad's
+hand, which he did not like.
+
+"What are you going to do now you have got rid of Kaulmann?" he said.
+"Will you marry again? Is another man ready for the yoke? Men are as
+plentiful as blackberries. Or are you going to preserve the autonomy
+of the actress?"
+
+Eveline cast down her eyes and grew suddenly grave.
+
+"I have no one," she said, sorrowfully.
+
+"Ah, that does not mean that there are not plenty you can have if you
+like."
+
+"It means the same thing. I shall belong to no one. I shall never take
+a husband who is above me in station. Do you see, the girl who went
+barefoot in the coal-mine must stay in her own class. If I could give
+any one a place in my heart, it would be to one who was as free and
+independent as I am. He should owe nothing to great people; he should
+depend absolutely on his own genius; live absolutely by his own work.
+He should be esteemed not for his money nor his rank, but for his
+talent; he should glory in being an artist."
+
+This was a frank confession for any one who understood. Arpad
+understood; he became more discontented.
+
+"H'm! Then I am afraid you are walking in a path that leads you away
+from such a man as you describe."
+
+"What _do you_ mean?"
+
+Arpad got up from his chair. "Artists have many strange ideas; these
+are inseparable from the artistic temperament. Do you see that antique
+goblet there in the centre of the table? It was a present to me from
+Count Demidoff on the occasion of a concert. It was an heirloom in his
+family. It is a wonderful relic; a classical work. Princes, generals,
+rulers have drunk out of it. I have a great respect for it, and I keep
+my visitors' cards in it. But I never drink out of it; I prefer a
+common glass, for which I have paid fifteen pence, but out of which no
+one has drunk but myself."
+
+Eveline flushed deeply at this cruel speech.
+
+Arpad had, however, resolved to make the matter still clearer.
+
+"You say," he went on, "that you would like to find an artist, a
+genius, a proud, independent man; him you would choose for your
+husband! And you imagine that a man of this type would submit to sit
+by your side as you drove in the Champs �lys�es, knowing that the
+people driving behind in other carriages or walking along the path
+were saying, 'There is the curled and scented Hyperion, but the steeds
+that draw him are not paid for by _his_ muse, they are the
+blood-horses of Prince X----; and his wife is not content with the
+glory of _his_ name, she wears the diamonds provided by Marquis
+G----.' Do you think you will easily find such a husband?"
+
+Poor Eveline! She tried to defend herself against this cruel boy.
+
+"But I am ready to throw away all splendor--everything that is not
+earned by my honest labor. I wish to live by my art, to be what I
+am--an actress. I would work night and day to perfect myself. I do not
+want any other distinction but that of an artist."
+
+Arpad then told her what she had never heard until now. Children and
+fools speak the truth, and in Arpad there was a mixture of both; he
+was a child in years, and a fool as regarded the claims of art.
+
+"My dear Eveline, you are not an artist; you will never be an actress;
+you are one of the step-daughters of the muses. There are many such,
+to whom have been given great capabilities; one only is
+wanting--courage. You sing wonderfully well, you act with feeling,
+with humor--_at home_, before three people; but so soon as the lights
+of the proscenium are lit your voice grows weak, you sing false, you
+see and hear nothing, and you act like a wooden doll. This is called
+stage-fright, and it is _never cured_; it has ruined more brilliant
+careers than the critics have. You shake your head and appeal to your
+former triumphs. Don't deceive yourself; I know the machinery of the
+stage well, and how artificial thunder and lightning are manufactured.
+At every performance you gain a triumph; you receive thunders of
+applause, mountains of flowers. The morning after your performance
+your breakfast-table is covered with newspapers teeming with laudatory
+criticisms. This is all gold-dust, and will only last as long as some
+rich admirer pays the piper. But try the experiment of closing your
+doors to your wealthy patrons, and step on the boards with no help
+but your own talents; ask to be applauded for your own sake. Then you
+will learn the price of the entertainment, and that the critic's
+praise is only to be bought."
+
+Eveline's head sank. She knew that every word he said was true. Arpad
+viewed the matter not so much from the artistic side as from his
+youthful, ardent nature. He was indignant against the fashions of the
+world; he was indignant that Eveline should have lent herself to these
+low intrigues, and so taken the place of better artists, better
+musicians, better actresses; but in his heart he was sorry for her.
+She had been kind to him; she had never offended him. Why was he so
+cruel to her? It was due to the petulance of his boy's nature. Why had
+_she_ disturbed him when he was happy at his painting? Why had she
+asked him questions? What was it to her whether it were a flower, and,
+if it were a flower, why should she want it? And when he put out his
+hand, why should she tap it in that intimate manner? The picture was
+not painted for her.
+
+"What shall I do? What am I fit for?" asked Eveline, with a downcast
+air. Her beautiful eyes were full of tears; she was crushed to the
+earth.
+
+The young man considered a few minutes what he should answer. As she
+had asked to drink the chalice she should do so to the dregs.
+
+"You have two courses open to you, for I would not advise you to take
+a third and return to your husband. If I were a woman I would prefer
+to lie stretched out at the morgue than be the joint possessor of that
+man's ill-gotten wealth. We therefore have only the two courses to
+consider. Either you continue on the stage as before, take the bought
+applause and the flowers paid for by your noble patrons, or return
+from whence you came, and be content to shove wheelbarrows for the
+rest of your life."
+
+Eveline rose from her seat, drew her wrap round her shoulders, and,
+with a low, constrained voice, murmured:
+
+"Thank you." Then she silently left the room.
+
+Tears came into Arpad's eyes. But why had she come here? Why had she
+disturbed him when he was happy painting? The moment she had closed
+the door he returned to the table and took from the drawer _his
+flower_, to see if it had sustained any injury. It was in one sense a
+flower--a fair child with blue eyes!
+
+The door opened again; the picture was hastily concealed. No one,
+however, came in. Arpad's mother spoke through the half-opened door.
+
+"Arpad, my son, who was that beautiful lady who was here just now? A
+princess, was she not?"
+
+"She was a poor woman who came to beg from me."
+
+"H'm! Surprising! What extraordinary beggars there are in this
+city--beggars dressed in silk, with a Persian shawl for a wrap. Did
+you give her anything, Arpad?"
+
+"Mother, I had nothing to give her."
+
+"You have done well, my boy." And she shut the door and went back to
+her own room to finish stitching at her son's shirt-collar.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+CHARCOAL
+
+
+Eveline had resolved to make a great effort. She recognized that there
+was truth in what Arpad had said; only in one particular he was wrong:
+he had not measured the gulf between "can" and "must."
+
+She felt herself possessed by sudden energy; her resolution to succeed
+grew in proportion as her chance of success was less. Many people have
+found strength in the thought, "If I have no one to care for me, I, at
+least, am master of myself." She would carve her own future; she
+_would_ be an actress. She would show the world what was in her. She
+would nerve herself to courage before the footlights. The very
+circumstances which had deprived her of all courage would now give her
+strength; she would sing to the public as if she were alone. The crowd
+should go for nothing, except in being sharers in her triumph.
+
+She spent a miserable night. The luxury which surrounded her, the
+works of art which lay upon her tables, in her cabinets, the costly
+vases, seemed silently to reproach her; the cups set with precious
+stones recalled Arpad's words. Better to be a glass of fifteen sous
+than a goblet of silver!
+
+At last sleep fell upon her tired eyelids, and in the morning she
+awoke refreshed and full of fresh energy.
+
+This day the opera in which she had sung the day before yesterday was
+to be repeated. The rehearsal was to take place in the morning. At
+this rehearsal, then, she would show what she could do; she would look
+at no one; she would sing like a blind nightingale.
+
+She ordered her carriage. When she reached the theatre she told the
+servants to return for her in two hours.
+
+As she entered the vestibule the stage-manager came to meet her, and
+told her that her part had been given to another singer.
+
+Eveline flew into a passion. Why had it been taken away from her, and
+in such a manner, without asking her permission? Such a want of proper
+deference towards her!
+
+The man regretted the circumstance, but either could not or would not
+offer any explanation. Would she like to see the manager?
+
+Eveline, in a very excited frame of mind, went to look for him; but he
+was not in his office. His secretary, however, handed her a letter,
+which the manager had desired him to send to her address.
+
+Eveline took the letter, and when she was in the hall she broke the
+seal and read it. It was a dismissal, immediate, discourteous, on the
+grounds that she was quite unequal to fill the position of prima
+donna.
+
+How she got out of the theatre and into the street she did not know;
+she came to herself when she saw the crowd of passers-by staring at
+her. She felt that it was no wonder they looked at her. She was
+walking like one who was dead; her body moved forward, but her mind
+was lifeless. It was strange to feel one's self thus annihilated.
+
+Then it was true; the cruel boy was right. The clouds were golden only
+so long as the sun shone. All her splendor had been on the outside.
+There was nothing tangible; nothing came from herself. The whole thing
+had been a _fata morgana_; it had now vanished forever.
+
+Eveline wandered, she didn't know where. Suddenly she found herself
+opposite her own house. She would not have thought it strange if some
+one had told her at the door of the hotel that no one of her name
+lived there, that she had been dead and buried years ago. She thought
+she was too stunned to feel either astonishment or pain, but her
+composure soon gave way under a new trial.
+
+She walked up-stairs, still in a dream, and through her apartment
+until she reached her dressing-room. When she entered it she saw,
+stretched in an arm-chair, Prince Waldemar.
+
+He was faultlessly attired, with a most elegant _tournure_, carefully
+arranged hair, and fair whiskers, hanging down on both sides in what
+were then called "cutlets"; his mustache was pointed and waxed.
+
+Eveline called out, in a voice of fear, mixed with anger:
+
+"May I ask, sir, what you want here?"
+
+"I was waiting to see you," said the prince, with well-bred
+nonchalance; but he never rose from the seat in which he lounged so
+comfortably.
+
+"Who gave you permission to enter my room?"
+
+"I asked for no permission."
+
+"What right have you to intrude yourself here?"
+
+With a lazy air the prince put his hand into the pocket of his coat
+and drew out a red paper like a bill; this he handed to Eveline with a
+slight motion of his head, which conveyed, "This is the cause of my
+presence here."
+
+Eveline took the paper, which trembled in her hand.
+
+"What is it? I do not understand it."
+
+"It is, however, very intelligible," said the prince, at last getting
+out of the chair. "The creditors of Kaulmann have seized your things.
+Kaulmann was careless or thoughtless enough--I really cannot say
+which--to announce that what belonged to his wife was _his_, and
+therefore his creditors have seized everything here, believing it is
+his. During your absence this morning they got the law officers to
+break open your door and to take possession. They affixed a notice
+outside, inviting all passers-by to come in and inspect the things for
+sale. In consequence of this invitation I am here. I came in to look
+about me. You will observe that there are government seals upon
+everything. I am here in the right of purchaser."
+
+Eveline looked round, and saw that what he said was true.
+
+"But, sir, it is impossible. Kaulmann knew perfectly that nothing here
+was his property."
+
+"I am sure of that. It was gross negligence on your lawyer's side; he
+should have protected your interests better. Every one knows that
+Kaulmann brought the goods here; it was supposed that he bought them.
+In any case, he cannot testify in your favor. A misfortune has
+happened to him. When he saw that the police were after him he jumped
+out of the railway-carriage he was in. Unfortunately, he broke his
+neck and died immediately."
+
+Eveline fell back upon the sofa and hid her face in her hands.
+
+"If you wish to shed a few tears to the memory of Kaulmann I will
+retire to the window," remarked Prince Waldemar, with ironical
+courtesy.
+
+Eveline made him no answer. In her mind everything was in confusion;
+she could think of nothing. Let everything go; what did it matter?
+Should she institute a law-suit to recover her property? Should she
+bring witnesses to prove that this ornament, these costly hangings,
+these rich carpets were not the property of her husband, but the gifts
+to her from a gray-beard--the most upright, the dearest of men, a
+Hungarian magnate, who had adopted her, an actress, to be his own
+child, with no self-seeking, no sinful gratification, but out of pure
+affection? No one would credit her story. She would tell it to no one.
+She would not subject the name of her benefactor to the jeers and
+laughter of the incredulous. Sooner let everything go.
+
+"I am not weeping, sir," she said to the prince. "If you have anything
+further to tell me I am ready to listen."
+
+"I could tell you many other unfortunate circumstances," returned
+Waldemar, leaning against the fireplace with the silver grate. "For
+one thing, Prince Theobald, your former patron, has been placed by his
+family under legal restraint, and cannot take any active part in the
+affairs of this world."
+
+"I know that."
+
+"The shares which he took as a provision for you in the Bondavara
+Company have been also sequestrated by law."
+
+"That has been told to me already."
+
+"This loss, however, has a compensation: those shares are now almost
+worthless. Since the colliery explosion, and the impossibility of
+extinguishing the fire in the mine, they have fallen to nothing."
+
+"That does not concern me."
+
+"I have not quite finished. The clergyman who was your friend, whose
+dreams were of a bishop's mitre, has returned to his monastery."
+
+"I have known that some time."
+
+"You seem to have learned everything. Perhaps you know also that your
+manager has cancelled your engagement and given your part to another
+actress?"
+
+"Here is the letter," answered Eveline, drawing a crumpled paper from
+her pocket. And then she looked at the prince with proud contempt. She
+was wondrously beautiful. "Have you taken the trouble to come here to
+tell me all this?" she asked, her eyes gleaming not through tears but
+with indignation.
+
+"I did not come here on that account," answered the prince, sitting
+down on the sofa and bending over her. "I came to speak to you
+frankly. Do you not see that the whole fabric upon which your golden
+dreams were built has crumbled? The Bondavara mine is on fire; the
+shares are falling; the prime-minister is disgraced; the prince is
+under restraint; your husband is dead; your property will be sold by
+auction; you are dismissed from the theatre. The five acts of the
+drama are played out. Let us applaud the finish, if we are so minded,
+and let us begin again. I can give you back your shares. I can get you
+a palace in the Maximilian Strasse. I can buy back for you all your
+seized goods--your furniture, your diamonds, your horses. I can
+arrange matters with the manager of the theatre; you shall be
+reinstated as prima donna on better terms than before. I can give you
+a far greater position than you have ever enjoyed, and I can offer you
+a truer, more self-sacrificing, more adoring lover than you have
+possessed. His name is Waldemar Sondersheim." He bowed low before her.
+
+Eveline looked with intense gravity at the top of his boots.
+
+Waldemar was now certain that he was master of the situation. He took
+from his waistcoat-pocket a watch, and pressed it into her hand.
+
+"My sweetest love, my time is precious. I am expected at the
+stock-exchange. The Kaulmann speculation has to be crushed. It is just
+twelve o'clock. I give you one hour to think over what I have said and
+to decide your own fate. I am content to wait until then; it is only
+one word I ask for--yes or no."
+
+Eveline gave him a yet shorter answer. She dashed the timepiece which
+he had put into her hand with such force on the floor that it flew
+into a hundred pieces. That was her answer!
+
+Prince Waldemar laughed, put his hand in his left-hand
+waistcoat-pocket, took out another watch, and said, dryly:
+
+"I expected just such an answer, and therefore I brought with me
+another watch. I beg of you to break this one also. I shall be only
+too happy to provide you with a third."
+
+This time, however, Eveline did not take the timepiece in her hand.
+She sprang to her feet, and, pointing with her hand towards the door,
+cried out:
+
+"If you have bought my things, take everything away; but the apartment
+is still mine. _Go!_"
+
+Prince Waldemar looked at her haughtily, although he was still
+smiling.
+
+"My dear lady, this is easily said; but reflect a moment. What will
+become of you if you reject me? You have no other expedient."
+
+"I have a shelter," returned the girl, bitterly, "to which I can turn,
+and that is charcoal."
+
+Prince Waldemar made her a low bow, and, without uttering another
+word, took his hat and left her.
+
+A woman who appeals to charcoal needs no man's friendship. In the
+metropolis of fashion many poor wretches have found their last refuge
+there.
+
+That evening Eveline paid a visit to her jeweller. She brought him a
+pair of diamond ear-rings. They were all she had; her ornaments had
+been seized by the law officers. She sold these to the jeweller, and
+left the purchase-money in his care, to be spent in a yearly sum on
+her little brother's grave in P�re la Chaise, to have sods of green
+grass round it, and have fresh flowers placed there on All-Souls' Day.
+The jeweller promised, for she had been a good customer. She told him
+she was going to travel. Apparently it was a long journey, for the
+next morning a bundle was found by the police on the banks of the
+Seine. It was tied up in a cashmere shawl, which her maid recognized
+as belonging to the lost actress.
+
+Prince Waldemar offered a large reward to whoever found the body. But
+it was never found, for the bundle laid at the water-side was only a
+pretence; and while every one was dragging the river, Eveline had kept
+her word and sought refuge in the charcoal pit.
+
+Prince Waldemar never heard of her again. He and his household wore
+mourning in memory of her for six weeks.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+
+CSANTA'S LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT
+
+
+We have now to go back to the Bondavara Company before the crash came,
+and when the shares stood at sixty over par, and looked as if they
+would go even higher. But Csanta was satisfied to sell at sixty. There
+could be too much of even a good thing. One should not be too
+grasping, and sixty thousand gulden is a nice profit in one year. He
+thought he would act as Spitzhase had often recommended, and sell out
+his shares in small quantities until they were all gone. It would add
+to the pleasure not to do it all at once.
+
+For some time the quotations had been stationary. He was accustomed to
+go every morning to the caf� and read the exchange column, and had
+always seen the same quotation--"Bondavara, sixty above par."
+
+On the morning of the day upon which Csanta had arranged to send the
+first instalment of his shares to Vienna he went to his caf�, and,
+while waiting to be served, took up the first newspaper that came to
+hand. As usual he commenced by reading it backwards, beginning at the
+exchange column. The first thing that caught his eye was, "Bondavara,
+sixty _below par_."
+
+A printer's error; and a very serious one! The printer was drunk when
+he printed it. The fellow ought to be put in prison. If there is any
+police in Vienna, or justice in the government, such a thing should
+not pass unpunished; it is enough to shake the nerves of any man not
+made of iron. If this is not a disturbance of the peace, I don't know
+what you can call it.
+
+Then he took another paper. The same mistake! He went through the
+round of the daily papers, and found that all the printers must have
+chosen this day for a drinking-bout, as each one made the same error
+between _above_ and _below_ par.
+
+Csanta was convinced that some great mistake had been made; but as he
+could not rest until it was cleared up, he telegraphed to Spitzhase.
+
+A telegram from Spitzhase crossed his. It ran:
+
+      "Great misfortune. The Bondavara mine is on fire.
+      Great panic. The shares are sixty below par. Every one
+      is selling."
+
+Csanta cursed and swore with rage. "The devil take him! Sixty below
+par; a loss of sixty thousand gulden! That means for me extinction.
+Where is the cord and the nail? Let me hang myself! Six casks full of
+silver gone! I shall murder some one! I must go to Vienna. I shall
+knock the whole place about their ears like a card house if I don't
+get back my silver. I didn't take my money to Vienna to leave it
+there."
+
+He foamed like a madman, dragged his bonds out of his safe, threw them
+on the floor and stamped upon them.
+
+"Villains! knaves! paper beggars! It is you who have eaten up my
+silver crowns! You have swallowed my sixty thousand silver crowns! I
+will tear you in pieces! I will cut my crowns out of your stomachs! I
+will kill you dead!"
+
+The upsetting of his safe had disturbed his papers. He suddenly
+caught sight of a deed. He looked at it closely. His mood changed.
+
+"What a fool I have been. I don't lose as much as my finger-nail. Here
+is my young friend's signature. How lucky I didn't destroy this, or
+light my pipe with it. He binds himself _at any time_, subject to my
+desire, to take over a thousand shares _at par_. Ah, well done,
+Csanta! You are an old bird not easily caught with chaff. I am saved,
+thanks to my own sagacity, to my prudent, far-seeing nose that smells
+danger ahead. This letter covers all loss. So far as I am concerned,
+stones may fall from the sky. I am safe."
+
+He folded the shares tenderly, and locked them and the precious letter
+safely up in his safe. He then sat down and wrote to his dear young
+friend in Paris. Fortunately he had the address. He asked him
+politely--seeing how the matter stood--to send at once some accredited
+person to take over the bonds, according to their previous agreement,
+and to arrange in what manner the money should be paid. As for the
+outstanding interest, some compromise or arrangement could be made.
+
+A week passed, and no answer came; but, after all, it is more than a
+cat's jump from X---- to Paris.
+
+During the week he received twice every day, morning and evening, a
+telegram from Spitzhase pressing him to part with his shares, for
+every day they were falling ten per cent. lower. At the end of the
+week they had gone down still more. The bears had won the day.
+
+Csanta never moved a finger. He hugged himself in his own safety; and
+as for the others, their shares might go to the bottom of the sea for
+all he cared. He had no shares. They were all Kaulmann's. "Take them
+away, and give me back my silver!" This was his cry. "Rogue! villain!
+I have you by the neck!"
+
+The accounts that he read of the sudden collapse of the company and
+the ruin of the shareholders did not in the least disturb him. The
+losses of others could not affect him. On the ninth day, however, he
+began to tremble. The morning's paper contained an account,
+telegraphed from Paris, of the flight of the banker, Felix Kaulmann,
+leaving his affairs in the uttermost confusion. This was succeeded by
+a second telegram, announcing that the banker, Kaulmann, seeing that
+the officers of police were on his track, had thrown himself from the
+window of the railway-carriage, and had been killed instantaneously.
+
+Csanta narrowly missed an apoplectic stroke. When he came to he
+telegraphed to Spitzhase to sell all his shares for what they would
+fetch.
+
+Spitzhase answered by return:
+
+      "Too late; they are quoted at _seventy_, but this is
+      only nominal. There are neither buyers nor sellers.
+      The mine is gone; the railway is gone; everything is
+      gone. Why didn't you part with them a week ago, when I
+      advised you? Now you can put your shares in the fire,
+      and cook chestnuts at the blaze."
+
+"All is over with me!" sobbed Csanta. "Let me get home; let me lie
+down and die! I cannot live! I shall not be alive in three days!"
+
+He took leave of his acquaintances; he had no friends. He told them
+they need not be afraid, he would do himself no injury. He was simply
+dying of grief, just as a man might die of sickness.
+
+All gone!
+
+Some compassionate souls had pity on the old man and took him home. If
+he had been alone he had never found his own house. Once arrived
+there, he insisted on going down to his cellar, to see with his own
+eyes if it were not some hideous dream, from which he would wake and
+find his beloved casks in their old places. When he saw all were gone,
+he set up a fearful cry, "Fool! fool! fool!" and fell forward on his
+face.
+
+They carried him up-stairs, tenderly undressed him as if he were a
+child, and put him to bed. He shrieked for a priest, so they fetched
+him one. He made his confession, and received the sacrament.
+
+His lawyer then appeared on the scene, and his last will was written
+out and duly signed. He had still something to leave. There were his
+houses, the whole street front; the church into which no one came, on
+whose threshold between the stones the grass grew thick, in whose
+court-yard the school-boys played ball on Thursday half-holidays.
+
+The church, notwithstanding, was endowed with a priest, a verger, and
+a bell-ringer. The priest should say mass, the bell-ringer should ring
+the bell, the verger should open the door _every day_; just as a
+hundred years ago, when through the open church doors a stream of men
+passed, with silver buttons on their jackets, and women with long silk
+veils. The old man now dying is the last descendant left on this earth
+of the old Greek traders. The church shall remain standing in memory
+of them.
+
+The house next door to his own he bequeathed to the widow, who was the
+daughter of the last Greek. This woman and he had quarrelled long ago.
+God alone can decide the justice of a quarrel that has to do with
+paper money, which to-day is worth a great deal and to-morrow not a
+penny. Therefore, he bequeathed to her and her son the heap of cursed,
+worthless papers called shares in the Bondavara Company, which have
+caused his unexpected death. They shall have these papers, whether for
+good or ill.
+
+After he had made these depositions and arranged his affairs his will
+was sealed and inscribed by himself. He divided among his neighbors
+and servants his few remaining possessions. He called the bell-ringer,
+and enjoined him to toll the bell three times every two hours, and if
+any one asked the reason why, he should answer, "The Greek, Csanta, is
+dead." Then he sent every one out of the room.
+
+When next morning they returned he was dead. He had died of grief,
+just as an aged husband will not survive the loss of his wife with
+whom he had grown old. So a man with a strong will dies when he has
+said that he can no longer support life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV
+
+THE GROUND BURNS UNDER HIS FEET
+
+
+Peter Saffran's curse seemed likely to be fulfilled: "Upon this field
+no grass shall grow for evermore."
+
+It was true the green grass grew still upon the field, but who could
+tell what was seething underneath, in the bosom of the earth?
+
+The directors of the company's mine believed that when they closed all
+the entrances and openings to the shafts and vaults, they had given,
+by so doing, a check to the conflagration; by preventing the current
+of the outer air from getting in, they felt sure the fire must in a
+short time be extinguished.
+
+On the other hand, there was the irremediable evil that the supply of
+coal gradually diminished; even the necessary material for keeping the
+forge heated was wanting. They tried to heat it with wood--there were
+plenty of trees in the forest--but without coal the heater would not
+work, and much iron was lost in consequence. Instead of iron bars, a
+great quantity of "rammers" lay scattered about. It was soon patent
+that, from all these causes combined, the company were not in a
+condition to fulfil their contract for supplying the railway
+contractors with iron rails. The guarantee was in danger, as was also
+that of the railway company, in case the railway could not be opened
+for traffic at the time promised in their agreement.
+
+The Bondavara Mine Company and Railway Company were, so to speak,
+glued to one another; one could hardly take a step without dragging
+the other down the dangerous path on which both were going headlong to
+ruin.
+
+Being in such evil straits, the directors began to look for help to
+the other mine. Coal they must have. In Ivan Behrend's colliery there
+must be a large supply. For a whole year he had sold none. They must
+buy from him, even at an advanced price.
+
+Raun� also bethought himself of begging for coal from the same source.
+Surely no one could refuse to oblige an old friend and neighbor.
+
+His letter, however, came back to him with the seal unbroken. At this
+moment Raun� was terribly hard pressed. He resolved to wait upon Ivan,
+and make his request in person.
+
+His visit was a short one. He was in all less than two seconds in
+Ivan's room, from which the first thing that issued was his hat, which
+he followed promptly. After this Ivan's voice was heard.
+
+"I hold no conversation with spies."
+
+Raun� wrote the directors a long letter, in which he said that Behrend
+was a boorish, selfish man, who was determined to profit by the
+misfortune which had happened to the Bondavara mine, and would not
+give his coal at _any_ price; instead of selling, he was using it in
+the manufacture of a quantity of iron rails, and speculating on the
+chance that the company would be forced to buy at any sum he chose to
+ask.
+
+The result of his letter was very different from what he had looked
+for. The railway directors wrote at once to Ivan, and made him an
+advantageous offer for his iron rails; and if he had asked fifty per
+cent. more they were prepared to accede to his demand.
+
+The profit for Ivan's faithful workmen was a very full harvest. The
+deserters to the enemies' camp now implored to be taken on again; they
+had no work. But they were not received by their former comrades; a
+committee of the men decided, without a dissentient voice, against
+taking on one of the deserters, but took on a total stranger. This
+decision settled the matter, and Ivan was forced to acknowledge it was
+just. The new member was bound to work for a year as a common laborer,
+and the committee were not to decide whether he should be admitted to
+the rights of the existing colony, and entitled to his share of the
+profit; this should be put to the vote.
+
+Meantime the work was splendidly done. Each man looked upon the mine
+as his own property; there were few blunders, and the success was
+remarkable; neither labor nor time was spared. Order was preserved,
+discipline maintained, and there was no necessity for harsh measures,
+nor for overseers.
+
+Under all this fine weather, however, there lurked clouds. In the far
+distance storms were gathering, evident to an experienced eye.
+
+Ivan noted the coming danger, but he did not let it escape his lips.
+It could not be averted. His mine was threatened; the fire that was
+consuming the neighboring colliery might spread to his. This thought
+filled his mind by day and by night. From the situation of the
+coal-stratum he could draw the conclusion that the conflagration must
+spread to Bondathal. It might take years, but in the end the Bondathal
+mine would share the same fate as its neighbor of Bondavara, and be
+reduced to ashes.
+
+The earth has buried many such wrecks in its bosom. But not alone
+below, but on the earth itself this Bondavara misfortune had ruined a
+multitude of people.
+
+In the beginning the board of directors, who administered the affairs
+of the shareholders, hit upon the idea that with the ready money at
+their command they would buy up all the shares in the market, and in
+this way serve a double purpose. In the first place, they would secure
+for themselves the shares which had been issued at par at a price far
+below par, and in the next they would check any further fall.
+
+The board, however, by this manoeuvre only effected a more rapid smash;
+the money in the treasury dwindled away until at last for the
+necessary expenses there was nothing left.
+
+Prince Waldemar knew how to make use of the daily papers. He was
+always ready, and the shares having, through him, fallen thirty per
+cent. lower, he was resolved to send them still further down. The time
+was at hand when they would stand at _nil_, and then the owner of
+these miserable shares would be glad to _offer_ one per cent. to any
+one who would take them off his hands.
+
+It was a wicked game to play. Thousands were made beggars. The poorer
+people suffered most--those who a short year ago came with their
+little savings in their hands, crying to take shares. Poor souls! the
+high interest had tempted them to their ruin. Ah, it is an old story
+this, that repeats itself with periodic fidelity; the clerk, the old
+man, the widow, the old maid, the governess or teacher--these are the
+victims of this cruel Juggernaut. The cashier who has gambled with his
+master's money fills in the picture. But there are not wanting others
+who suffer, but are not reduced altogether to want. Solid tradesmen
+are crippled, people who drove their carriages have to walk, lovers
+whose wedding-day was fixed have to wait, and sometimes pine away in
+single blessedness. Woe! woe! on every side.
+
+But the Bondavara catastrophe had ruined not alone poor and well-to-do
+people; it had dragged down in its fall the high and powerful family
+of Bondavary, one of the most ancient in Hungary. The Marquis Salista
+had learned a severe lesson; he found that you cannot take away the
+centrepiece of a building without endangering the whole edifice. The
+sequestration of the prince's property had drawn the whole body of
+creditors upon him. And so it came to pass that the large property of
+a great nobleman, a reigning prince, fell under the administration of
+his creditors; the heirs had really burned the ground under their own
+feet.
+
+If the stewards and agents in the prince's time had been thieves, the
+administration of the property by the creditors was the very
+realization of plunder on all sides.
+
+The result was disastrous so far as the Countess Theudelinde was in
+question; there was no one responsible, so it appeared, for her forty
+thousand pounds. All the family charges and mortgages came first on
+the list of payments. Let her grasp hers--if she could.
+
+The one who suffered most was the Countess Angela. Her husband,
+Marquis Salista, had from the first lived in the extravagant manner
+befitting a man who has come into a fortune of twenty millions. It was
+impossible to induce him to change his ideas. This led to sharp
+conflicts between the married pair.
+
+On the other side, Angela showed him plainly that she had married him
+not from liking, but out of pique.
+
+The marquis knew it--and so did Ivan; but he had something else to
+think of. The ground was burning under _his_ feet.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI
+
+CHILD'S PLAY
+
+
+The concert season was in full swing when the Belenyis received the
+news that Csanta was dead and had bequeathed to them their former
+house. If Arpad had been engaged to play a quartet with Beethoven,
+Mozart, and Haydn he would have thrown up his engagement and flown
+back with railway speed to his old home. His mother was just as eager
+to be gone as he was. Not a day did they stay; they were off the very
+same evening.
+
+On their arrival at X---- the magistrate unlocked the door of their
+old home and gave Madame Belenyi possession. Everything was exactly as
+they had left it, only the dust of years covered all the pretty
+things.
+
+Arpad's first thought was to run down to the garden. The magistrate,
+however, detained him. He had another legacy to make over to him, a
+large iron case fastened with three iron locks. It contained the
+Bondavara shares.
+
+"The devil take his shares!" cried Arpad, laughing. "Unluckily it is
+summer, so we don't want to make a fire."
+
+"They are down to nothing," said the magistrate. "They are quoted
+to-day at ten guldens. They killed poor Csanta."
+
+They had to take the shares all the same. You must not look a
+gift-horse in the mouth.
+
+Arpad slipped out of the room and ran down to the garden. The
+fruit-trees were untouched, and all in full bloom. The cherry-tree was
+one mass of rosy blossom. He remembered well how he daren't touch a
+blossom under pain of a good whipping. And the forget-me-nots on the
+bank of the stream, which flowed past the end of the garden, and the
+May bells were ringing in a chorus, to which no one listened.
+
+Everything was just as it had been, only grown. The trees had such
+long branches that they were entangled with those on the opposite
+shore.
+
+He laid himself down in the green grass, all dotted over with yellow
+cowslips. No one could beat him now. He might waste his time and drink
+his fill of lazy enjoyment. Fame, the chatter of the newspapers over
+his sudden disappearance, the ladies who would regret him--what were
+they all in comparison with this? In a hiding-place on the river-bank
+he sought for the little flute he had secretly made in those old days.
+To his great joy it was there, just as he had left it.
+
+Arpad took from his pocket a newspaper full of his Parisian triumphs,
+an announcement of his next appearance. Where is Paris now? Out of the
+sheet he made a large boat with sails, that it might take a cargo on
+board. He pulled a bunch of the cherry blossom; he set the tiny vessel
+on the water, and while it danced over the little bubbles in the
+stream he laid down again among the forget-me-nots and played upon his
+flute the national air, "Rep�lj fecsk�m."
+
+At the sound of the flute another child appeared. She came from the
+house opposite: a young girl about fifteen. She had a round, fair,
+laughing face and beautiful blue eyes. Timidly, like a frightened
+fawn, she made a few steps, then stopped and listened. By-and-by she
+drew nearer, then stood still again. She did not see the flute-player;
+she noticed nothing but his flute and his boat with the cherry
+blossoms.
+
+The girl had come quite close to the bank without Arpad having seen
+her approach. He was made aware of her presence by hearing her laugh.
+The laugh of a child is as clear as a bell. Arpad looked up,
+surprised.
+
+"Ah, is that you, Sophie? How pretty you have grown! I beg you will
+send me back my boat."
+
+Sophie did not want to be asked twice. She held up her frock with one
+hand, tucked it between her knees, and after she had replaced the red
+cherry blossoms by some white flowers, she gave the little boat such a
+hearty shove that it came back to the opposite side. Then the game
+began again. It was so amusing!
+
+Madame Belenyi saw the pair from the window. She didn't disturb them,
+but let them amuse themselves until the sun went down and the air
+began to get chill. Then the most prudent of the two children--it was
+the girl, no doubt--suggested to the other that the grass was wet with
+dew, and that it would be well to go back to the house.
+
+Arpad took his boat out of the water, and put it and the flute back in
+their hiding-place, and returned to his mother.
+
+Madame Belenyi did not scold him. She did not, however, kiss him on
+his forehead, as she was wont to do. She showed him all she had done
+to settle the house while he had been amusing himself in the garden.
+
+Arpad was very much pleased to find it so comfortable.
+
+"Mother," he said, "we will live here always."
+
+"I don't object to our living here, Arpad; only there is one
+condition. You must marry a good girl, and bring her here to help
+me."
+
+"I, mother?" returned Arpad, half pleased and yet astonished.
+
+"Yes, you. Why not? You are a young man. I cannot look after you
+always."
+
+Arpad laughed again. "So, because I have grown a young man, and that
+you cannot keep me any longer at your apron-string, I must take a wife
+who will keep me in better order than you can. Is that it, mother?"
+
+"My son, it is in the natural order," returned Madame Belenyi,
+gravely, and as if there were no other course for a young man but to
+have either a mother or a wife to look after him. It did not enter
+into her imagination that he could look after himself.
+
+"Sooner or later I shall obey your wishes; but just now, as we have
+got a house, I shall have enough to do to provide the house-keeping,
+and I could not take a wife with me here and there when I have to
+fulfil my professional engagements. For this sort of Bohemian life,
+vagabondizing from Paris to London, Petersburg to Vienna, is a bad
+thing for a woman, whether she goes with her husband or is left
+behind."
+
+"But we have something to live on, Arpad. I have been very lucky with
+your earnings, and there is a nice nest-egg in the bank. Besides,
+there are the shares. Don't laugh, you silly boy! Although they are
+only worth ten gulden, yet there are a thousand of them. If we realize
+them, that would be ten thousand gulden. In a small town like this
+that sum would be a fortune, and with it you need not scruple to take
+a wife."
+
+"Mamma, you don't understand about these shares. _One_ could easily be
+realized, but if the next day I were to go to the same place with
+another for sale they would kick me out. Any one who would offer a
+thousand Bondavara shares in the money-market would be sent to the
+mad-house. Put the shares away with those other important papers
+Csanta gave you, and, if you like, treasure the hope that one day they
+may be worth as much as the paper they are printed on."
+
+"Well, stranger things have happened. Did you ever think we would come
+back to this house? I am very sorry I did not keep the other papers. I
+burned them. Who knows what luck we may have with those bonds? If, one
+day, they rise again to par, we shall realize twice two hundred
+thousand gulden--"
+
+"I don't count on such strokes of luck as that, mamma. The worst
+compliment Providence can pay a man is to let him win in a lottery. It
+is just as if God said to him, 'You ass! I cannot keep you in any
+other manner.' God would not allow a man who has any intellect to win
+in a lottery. To such a one he would say, 'Wilt thou cease to beg alms
+of Me in such a shameless manner? Is it not sufficient that I have
+endowed thee with talent? My consolation prizes are reserved for the
+dunderheads.'" Then he added, "Mother, don't be afraid, we shall live
+from my art. Wait a little and you shall see; only give me time.
+Meantime I shall buy for the little girl a doll with a china head as a
+plaything. You must take care of me for a little longer."
+
+At these words the widow embraced her boy tenderly. She was happy; but
+that evening Arpad, when it was moonlight, went out and sat under the
+weeping-willow and played a melancholy air on his flute. Sometimes he
+stopped to listen to a soft silvery voice singing a national air on
+the other side of the stream. The singer, however, when she heard the
+flute no more, knew that he was listening, and stopped her song. It is
+so sweet to be young!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+EUREKA
+
+
+Ivan's fears as to the safety of his own colliery were growing day by
+day. One morning he found that the amount of hydrogen was scarcely
+perceptible; still there was water in the pit. This discovery made him
+thoughtful; he could not understand it. He descended into the cavern
+where the pond was. Not one drop of water!
+
+Ivan remained for three hours, watching anxiously to see would the
+water rise; but none came.
+
+At the end of three hours he was relieved by the men, and it was then
+arranged that during the night they would take turns in watching the
+tank. As soon as the water began to rise they were to call him. Ivan
+went home, lay down, and fell into a deep sleep, from which he did not
+awake until the sun was high in the heavens. He wondered that no one
+had called him, as had been agreed.
+
+It might be that the men had also been overcome by sleep. Poor
+wretches, they also were exhausted. He hastened to the pit. The men
+told him they had watched all night, but there had been no sign of
+water in the tank. He waited patiently for twenty-four hours. Not a
+sign of water!
+
+Ivan thought he could explain the absence of the water by the theory
+of the periodic springs--a theory too complicated to enter upon here.
+It is sufficient to say that the water-supply of the mine was worked
+by the pressure of the air upon these springs. If the water did not
+now return, it would be attributable to one of two causes: either the
+pipe which conducted the water from the larger basin had suddenly
+closed, and was no longer subject to atmospherical pressure, on which
+it depended to keep open; or some split or crevice had come in the
+stone masonry which protected the basins, and the force of the air had
+driven the water down farther into the bowels of the earth, where, no
+doubt, another basin was ready for its reception. We will remember
+that from the first Ivan had the idea that some such reservoir
+existed. But where?--that was the problem; and if the reservoirs were
+not found, what then?
+
+The cavern where Ivan stood was empty. The black portals which guarded
+the subterranean kingdom of death stood open to him. He could enter
+the labyrinth; he could discover what he had long sought, the
+communication between the upper and the lower water basins. One
+difficulty lay in his way. He should take a workman with him. He
+called the old miner, Paul.
+
+"Paul, how old are you?"
+
+"Sixty-nine."
+
+"You would like, no doubt, to complete your seventieth year."
+
+"I should like to see the gold wedding of this pit. Next year it will
+be just fifty years since it was opened."
+
+"And if you die before then?"
+
+"I should say, 'The name of the Lord be blessed.'"
+
+"Are your sons grown to man's estate?"
+
+"My grandson is able to keep himself."
+
+"Would you be ready to accompany me on a dangerous expedition--one
+where the chances are we might never return?"
+
+"I think I have run that chance before now."
+
+"You must understand, Paul, the whole risk before you agree. We are
+going to look for the water that has left the tank. It is a matter of
+life and death to every one of us, and, therefore, I think God will
+help us; but it may not be so. The Almighty may say, 'Why should you
+mere worms of the earth dare to interfere between me and the sentence
+I have passed against you and yours? I did not listen to the
+entreaties of Lot, and now the Dead Sea covers the ruins of the city.
+You men of Bondathal are not better than the men of Gomorrah.' Do you
+understand me? I have often sought for the source of the spring
+through the narrow winding paths of this cavern. These windings are so
+narrow that one must sometimes press through them by mere force, at
+other times creep along upon one's stomach. Great abysses yawn under
+the feet; a fall down one of these would be fatal; we will have to
+cling to the wall as we creep along. Again, we will pass through
+stinking sewers, up to our elbows in putrid filth. All these clefts
+and fissures have been made some time--God knows when--by an
+earthquake which has caused the uprooting of the coal stratum. Now it
+is quite possible that this last explosion has closed again many of
+these clefts and opened others. If it has happened, as I surmise, that
+the aperture has been shut which communicated between the pit beneath
+us and the one above--if this has taken place, then we have a tank
+full of water over our heads. If we, in our search through the bowels
+of the earth, come upon this aperture, and accidentally break the
+smallest hole, not the size of a pin's point, the water in the basin
+over our heads will burst through and annihilate us; if we hear it
+roaring we are already lost. But, on the other hand, it may be that
+the explosion caused a rent in the upper cleft, and if so the water
+has rushed through it to the lower basin under our feet. What we have
+to do, whether we die in the search or not, is to find out where the
+water is."
+
+"I have no idea what you mean; all I know is that I am ready to go
+with you."
+
+"Then go home and take leave of your family, as if you were going a
+long journey. Go to your priest and make your peace with God. Then
+come back, and tell no one where we are going."
+
+Ivan now made his own preparations. From this adventure he might never
+return. He made his will. He bequeathed his mine to his workmen, his
+money to Paul's family. This was an act of justice. If the old man
+were killed, it was in a measure his, Ivan's, doing.
+
+When this was all done he went out and took his leave of light and air
+before going into the blackness of everlasting night. It was well
+under the free air of heaven. The sky might be bluer elsewhere, the
+grass greener; still, it was not eternal darkness.
+
+The post brought him a letter. It was from Arpad Belenyi. It told him
+all that we already know--the fall of Kaulmann, the disappearance of
+Eveline, whom every one thought had drowned herself. Ivan's heart was
+stirred by deep sorrow. The sky lost its brightness; the meadow was no
+longer green; the blackness of the pit would be welcome to him. This
+news acted upon him as a tonic; he felt braced; his fears vanished.
+Life was now more worthless than before.
+
+He set about the necessary preparations with calmness. He collected
+the instruments which would be needed for this strange search--the
+levelling instrument, the circumferentor, the plumb-line. He put them
+in a bag, which he tied round his neck. Paul carried the pick, the
+iron rod, and a strong cord.
+
+With this equipment they descended into the cavern, and vanished
+through the windings of the water-course. After six hours they
+reappeared. This went on day after day.
+
+Ivan took the measurements of all the windings of the labyrinth, and
+when he was at home compared them carefully. It took him hours. At
+night he retired into his laboratory, heated deadly gases in his
+retorts, and forced the mysterious elements to surrender their
+long-concealed secrets. He fought with demons who refused to obey him.
+
+"Which of you is the spirit that can extinguish fire? Appear! appear!
+Not with Alpha and Omega, not with Solomon's Seal, not in the name of
+Abraxas and Mithras do I conjure you, but by the force of all-powerful
+science I order you appear!"
+
+But no spirit appeared.
+
+This double battle, the one under the earth, the one in the air above
+it, this fight with the two great demons of the world's creation, went
+on day by day, in daylight and darkness. Ivan had no rest.
+
+One morning he was told that the water in the castle well was hot, and
+it had a decided taste of sulphur. He began now to despair. The
+subterranean conflagration was closing round him sooner than he had
+looked for it. The situation was lost; one year, and the whole place
+would be consumed.
+
+Raun�, when this fact became known, threw up his appointment and
+openly took service with Prince Waldemar. He was commissioned by his
+employer to write--as an authentic witness--the accounts of the
+catastrophe, which appeared constantly in the Vienna papers.
+
+Ivan threw himself with the energy of despair into the search; he
+penetrated farther into the subterranean labyrinth. Paul was like a
+ghost; his very soul was steeped in terror, but he held bravely to his
+master.
+
+One day, amidst the confusion of the different winding passages in the
+rock, they came to a place out of which there seemed to be no exit.
+They struck the wall. It returned a hollow sound, so that they drew
+the conclusion that on the other side there was a large cavern, or
+space of some sort. The tumbled masses of slate-stratum fallen over
+one another was a proof that the blockade had been recently made.
+
+"We must clear a passage here," said Ivan, taking the pick in his
+hand.
+
+Paul cowered down, clinging to the wall. He trembled at every blow of
+the pick given by the vigorous arm of Ivan, who worked with terrible
+earnestness. So might a despairing soul beat against the gates of hell
+and summon the devil to single combat.
+
+At last the pick made a small hole, through which Ivan passed the iron
+rod, and raised a whole mass of slates.
+
+"Now, if the water is overhead the crack of doom has come."
+
+The old man crossed himself, and recommended his soul to God.
+
+Ivan, however, shouted with all the joy of a discoverer: "Do you hear?
+The rubbish as it falls makes a splash. The lower basin I am in search
+of _is here_, underneath us!"
+
+But what if the one above is full? They had still to wait while they
+counted a hundred beats of the pulse.
+
+Never was a pulse felt under such terrible circumstances, not even
+when Ivan had gone down into the burning mine. Not a sound was heard.
+In the bosom of the earth all is quiet. Ivan was trembling with joyful
+excitement.
+
+"Found at last!" he cried. "Now bind the cord round me, and lower me
+into the well cavern."
+
+It was done. The old miner, as he held the rope, prayed fervently to
+the Blessed Mother that she would forgive this heretic, who did not
+know what he was doing. Meantime the lamp sank deeper and deeper.
+
+Suddenly Ivan cried out, "Pull me up!"
+
+His old comrade drew him slowly out of the depths of the earth. As he
+held out his hand to help him, Ivan suddenly threw his arms round him
+and embraced him.
+
+"We have reached our goal," he said. "The plumb-line shows a monstrous
+depth of water."
+
+Paul's brain began to clear. For the first time he had a dim idea of
+the aims of their labors.
+
+"Now let us get into daylight."
+
+As soon as Ivan got out of the pit he ran home as fast as he could. He
+compared his measurements, and was well content with the result. At
+night he shut himself in his laboratory. He was flushed with triumph;
+another victory would be his. He would also conquer the demon that had
+hitherto resisted his will. He had the proud feeling of a victorious
+general who demands the last stronghold to surrender.
+
+"I have already conquered," he said. "You are the next to submit. God
+sometimes lends to his creature immortal gifts, moments of creative
+power, when the infinite takes, as it were, shape, and the finite
+cries to the infinite, 'Eureka!'"
+
+Ivan poured out ten drops of the water he had brought from the well.
+There was not more than would be held in the point of a pen. The
+laboratory became suddenly dark. The strong heat of the burning coal
+in the oven went out as if by magic. All was dark; black as night.
+This darkness was the light for which Ivan had been seeking.
+
+"I have found it!" he cried aloud. "I have found it!" he cried to his
+workmen, among whom he rushed, half undressed, with his hat off, like
+a lunatic.
+
+They did not know what he had found, but they felt certain the
+discovery which was considered so important by their guide and master
+must be a matter of rejoicing, in proof of which the miners cheered
+lustily.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII
+
+AT PAR
+
+
+The devil's comedy was being played daily on the stock-exchange. The
+Bondavara Company's shares, the Bondavara Railway shares were tossed
+here and there, from one hand to another. The tragedy had turned to
+comedy--that is, for some people, who found the game very humorous.
+The very word Bondavara made the stockbrokers laugh. When it happened
+that some fool bought a share, no one could help laughing. The shares,
+in fact, were given in exchange for anything of little value--for
+instance, as make-weight with an old umbrella for a new one. They were
+also presented to charitable institutions.
+
+One witty man went to a fancy ball in a coat made of the shares. This
+conceit was thought diverting. The exchange, however, was still the
+field where a desultory fight was kept up by the shareholders. These
+poor wretches fought for the last flicker of the lamp, which the bears
+wanted to extinguish altogether.
+
+Prince Waldemar, the leader of the conspiracy, forced the shares day
+by day lower and lower. At last they fell to one and a half per cent.,
+then to one and a quarter, and this quarter was to go lower, the
+prince wanting to banish the shares from the quotation list. The
+owners were making a fight to prevent this--an ineffectual one, it
+seemed to be. They were almost agreed to give up the fight as a
+forlorn hope. How could they make head against such odds? The day upon
+which Raun�'s report was in the newspapers they resolved to lay down
+their arms; there seemed no good in protracting the struggle. The
+report in question was the one which stated what was the nature of the
+elements that, since the fire in the Bondavara mine, had been found
+mixed with the water on the lake of the castle; this caused a great
+"sensation," and was the last straw upon the back of the unfortunate
+shareholders.
+
+Prince Waldemar had the news proclaimed on 'change that on the last
+day of the month he would sell his Bondavara Company shares at ten
+florins. Some people took up the gauntlet he had thrown down. These
+were shareholders who knew that they would lose by taking this wager,
+but at the same time hoped by this stroke of policy to prevent the
+shares from disappearing altogether from the share list. If,
+therefore, at the end of the month the shares went down to six gulden,
+they must pay the other side twenty thousand gulden difference; if the
+shares went up, the other side must do the same.
+
+About noon a broker came to the bank, and said, loud enough for all
+bystanders to hear, that a gentleman was present who would take five
+hundred Bondavara shares at par.
+
+If some one had struck a hammer upon the open keys of a piano no
+greater whir and whiz could have been heard than now ran through the
+hall. Screams of laughter, exclamations of astonishment, howls of joy,
+curses, and ejaculations of incredulity were raised in every corner.
+Who is he? Is he a lunatic? At par! Bondavara shares! Where is the
+man?
+
+The broker pointed him out. He was evidently a provincial gentleman,
+very unassuming in his appearance. He was leaning against a pillar,
+calmly surveying the Olympian games.
+
+"He is evidently a silly knave who wants to have a joke," scoffed
+Prince Waldemar. "Go to him," he went on to the agent, "and ask him
+for his name. We must know what is the name of any one who treats with
+us."
+
+The broker returned in a few minutes with the news that the gentleman
+gave his name as a Hundred Thousand Gulden, saying that money was the
+best surname. He showed his hands full of bank-notes, which he
+received from the stranger.
+
+"Who sells five hundred Bondavara shares at par?"
+
+This cry caused a revolution on 'change. Tranquillity was at an end;
+tumult took its place; uproar and confusion reigned. Credulous and
+incredulous people surrounded the stranger; they pressed upon him,
+overwhelming him with questions, stretching over one another to thrust
+their note-books into his hands. The unknown met all this noise with
+cool indifference, merely pointing out to his broker the crowd who
+were ready to do business with him.
+
+Prince Waldemar now made his way through the mob to where the
+new-comer stood. With the most refined impertinence he drew the brim
+of his hat over his eyes and stuck his hand into his waistcoat pockets
+as he surveyed the other.
+
+"Sir, your appearance has caused a sudden revolution. May I ask your
+name?"
+
+"My name is Ivan Behrend," returned the stranger, without changing his
+negligent attitude.
+
+"Ah," said the prince, suddenly taking off his hat and bowing low. "I
+have had the honor of hearing of you. Are you not the renowned
+pistol-shot, who can shoot a cigar out of a man's mouth? I am a nobody
+in comparison; I am only Prince Waldemar Sondersheim. I cannot shoot
+as you do. But let us talk sensibly. You want to buy Bondavara shares
+at par? Have you inherited suddenly the fortune of an Indian nabob,
+who made it a condition that you should buy the shares at par?"
+
+"No. I buy them because they are worth that price."
+
+"Don't you know that the Bondavara mine is on fire?"
+
+"I happen to own the adjoining one, therefore I am quite aware that
+such is the fact."
+
+"Then your mine will be on fire next."
+
+"Not so. I extinguished the fire in mine a fortnight ago."
+
+At these words the noise rose to a regular tumult; the shareholders
+pressed round Ivan, and nearly suffocated him. The man is there who
+can extinguish the fire. The mine will soon be again in working order.
+Bondavara stands once more at par.
+
+The bears had to retire. The joyful shareholders surrounded Ivan and
+carried him in triumph out of the hall.
+
+That same evening a large meeting was held, at which Ivan, before an
+enormous audience, filling the room to suffocation, declared
+authoritatively that he had an infallible plan, which had, in fact,
+been tried on the Bondavara mine, and had put out the conflagration.
+He invited every one present to see the experiment tested next day in
+the open air, when it would be distinctly proved that his words were
+no idle boast.
+
+The following morning, in presence of a large crowd, he fulfilled his
+promise, succeeding admirably in the demonstration. A funeral pile of
+coal and turf, over which petroleum had been poured, was set fire to,
+and when blazing to its greatest height was put out in a few minutes
+by some drops from a small bottle.
+
+The jubilant public conducted Ivan back to the town in triumph, and
+at the next general meeting of shareholders it was resolved to offer
+him a remuneration of six hundred thousand gulden if he would
+undertake to bring the Bondavara mine into working order.
+
+There were not wanting, however, plenty of opponents. Foremost there
+was Prince Waldemar, who possessed the largest proportion of shares,
+and who, nevertheless, offered the most determined opposition. He did
+everything to embarrass and obstruct Ivan's scientific propositions.
+
+"I grant," he said, "that you may be able to put out with one bucket
+of fluid six cubit feet of burning coals; but consider for a moment
+that in the Bondavara pit, reckoning from the place where the
+explosion took place to the castle, there must be at least sixty
+thousand cubit feet of burning stratum. You must have, to meet this,
+ten thousand buckets of fluid ready to shoot over the mass. What
+machine have you that would be able for such an operation as this?"
+
+"I have not forgotten that such a machine would be necessary,"
+returned Ivan, quietly.
+
+"Let us suppose," continued the prince, "that you do succeed in
+getting a sufficient quantity of fluid to bear upon the burning mass.
+Don't you perceive that this very supply will develop a monstrous
+amount of gas, which would permeate the pit from top to bottom, and
+cause another and still worse explosion?"
+
+"I have foreseen this danger."
+
+"And, finally, if you possess any idea, which you evidently do, of the
+mechanism of machines and the expenditure necessary to procure the
+best, you must face the problem that a million of money will not be
+sufficient to procure the necessary materials which would be wanting
+to make the experiment successful."
+
+"I have drawn up an estimate of probable outlay."
+
+The shareholders here shouted out to him that they undertook all
+expenses, even if they amounted to a million, and on the spot it was
+agreed that Ivan should receive full powers to do for the Bondavara
+mine what he considered necessary, let the cost be what it might.
+
+Prince Sondersheim saw that he could not stem the course of Ivan's
+popularity; it must have its way. While the assembled shareholders
+were signing the deed of authorization, he took Ivan aside, and said
+to him:
+
+"Ivan Behrend, whether the undertaking you have engaged in succeeds or
+not--I do not believe that it will succeed--you will have taken out of
+my pocket a million--a million net. Besides this, you have squandered
+five hundred gulden of your own money, without reckoning what is yet
+to be spent. Let that be. You have done this by fixing the quotations
+at par. It is true that the shares will neither be bought nor sold,
+for both sides will be afraid, and will hold back; nevertheless, the
+quotation will stand at par, and I am obliged to pay the difference on
+this--that will cost me a million. But that is nothing; I have lost as
+much before now, and recovered it again. One has only to play the
+waiting game. If, however, in a fortnight's time you find that you
+miscalculated your powers, and that your experiment fails, you have
+only to let it be known, and I shall pay one million into your hand."
+
+Ivan answered this contemptible proposal with business-like composure.
+
+"Prince Sondersheim, the stock-exchange is, as I am well aware, a
+privileged place. Here a man can say things without having any fear of
+consequences. What a man says or does, what proposals he
+makes--everything is, in a sense, allowable, and the ordinary rules
+which govern the outside world do not apply. Here one man may ask the
+other, 'How much do you ask for selling the honor of your company?'
+and if the answer is, 'It is not for sale,' that is enough. Here there
+is plain speaking; no one is offended at being asked to be an
+accomplice in a robbery. It would be no reflection on his character;
+he would assume no airs of righteousness, but simply answer, 'I really
+haven't time.' If men quarrel, if they spit at one another, tear the
+hats off one another's heads, that is nothing; it goes no further; no
+one turns round to look at them. They wipe the spittle off their
+faces, pick up their hats, and after half an hour walk about arm in
+arm. No one remembers that they were fighting; it was only a little
+'difference,' which led to an animated scene. Therefore, to the
+proposal made by Sondersheim, the Bondavara coal-merchant, to Behrend,
+the Bondavara coal-trader, there is but one answer, 'Sir, I cannot
+entertain your offer.' Prince Waldemar Sondersheim will, however, do
+well to remember not to repeat outside the stock-exchange such a
+proposal to Ivan Behrend."
+
+The prince laughed. "I guessed as much. I have often heard of you, and
+if you behave well you shall hear how it came to pass that I know so
+much about you. Once upon a time you took my part in a very energetic
+manner; and to a very pretty woman. I do not know why you should have
+done so; it is sufficient for me that you did. Also, you withdrew your
+own claim to the favor of this very pretty woman. But it was no good,
+she is now the wife of an unworthy fellow; but your unexplained
+intervention in my favor, which could not have been a business
+manoeuvre, but must have sprung from almost a chivalrous Puritanism,
+has placed me under a debt of gratitude towards you. If that lady had
+listened to your advice, things would have been very different. No
+sulphur deposit would have been found in the castle lake; the whole
+speculation, in fact, would have had no existence. Outside the
+exchange we will not recur to the subject. I have mentioned it from a
+sense of gratitude, and I shall note it in my book. If you succeed in
+extinguishing the fire you are to receive six hundred thousand gulden
+from the company; if you fail you shall have a million from me."
+
+This long conversation between Ivan and the prince excited some alarm
+among the shareholders; they tried to interrupt it.
+
+"No tampering, prince. Let our man alone." They were afraid he would
+turn round.
+
+"Don't be afraid," returned the prince; "we are talking of a lady whom
+we both admired."
+
+But the shareholders' suspicions were not allayed by these words. They
+chose from among themselves a commission of three members, who should
+accompany Ivan in every step he took, never leave him, eat with him,
+sleep outside his door, keep watch under his window, so that their
+enemy should not approach him without their knowledge. This was all
+done under the pretence of giving him assistance, and for the purpose
+of keeping him supplied with money.
+
+Ivan procured the necessary machines and workmen, and travelled back
+with them and his three companions to Bondavara.
+
+His three commissioners were likewise to furnish the company with a
+daily report of the progress of the work. One of the three was the
+clerk Spitzhase, who had the reputation of being the most circumspect,
+careful, and impudent servant of the company. This last epithet is
+not meant in the worst sense of the word. In money matters modesty and
+meekness are oftentimes great faults, and the contrary qualities are
+of infinite use. The word is therefore meant in praise. Ivan many
+times chucked Spitzhase out at the door, but the clerk always returned
+by the window.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX
+
+THE UNDERGROUND WORLD
+
+
+The three commissioners for the first fortnight had little to say;
+their report was meagre of incident. Behrend came morning and evening
+to dine and sup with them in the little village inn; the rest of the
+day and of the night he spent continuously underground. When they
+asked him what he was doing, he said, shortly, that everything was
+going on well.
+
+Things might be going well, but there was nothing visible to the
+commissioners. And, moreover, there was _one_ very suspicious
+circumstance which struck Spitzhase especially, and this was that
+Behrend spent his time in his _own colliery_. It was there that all
+the expensive machines had been set up and all the chemical stuffs had
+been taken. Not a single thing had been done to the company's mine;
+not a bit of rubbish had been cleared away, not one of the entrances
+had been opened; in fact, a fortnight had slipped away, and no work
+had been undertaken. It was undoubtedly true that the machines were
+always at work, and cart-loads of clay and stones were perpetually
+being wheeled away.
+
+The whole thing was incomprehensible, and Behrend would not give the
+slightest explanation.
+
+At the beginning of the following week Spitzhase lost all patience.
+
+"Sir," he said to Ivan, with suppressed irritation, "you promised
+that in a fortnight the conflagration in our mine would be
+extinguished. The time is up, and I have not seen that anything has
+been even attempted."
+
+"That is very probable," returned Ivan, quietly.
+
+"Do you maintain still that everything is progressing satisfactorily?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"Can I see for myself what has been done?"
+
+"Where you are standing it would be impossible for you to judge."
+
+"Well, let me go where I can see something."
+
+"Do you really wish to go below? It is not a pleasant place."
+
+"Where you go, so can I; for my part, I don't care if it was hell
+itself."
+
+"It is not unlike what hell must be."
+
+"Well, I am resolved to pay it a visit. I want to make the
+acquaintance of the devil; perhaps I could make an arrangement with
+him to supply us with coal."
+
+"You may come on one condition: if you accompany me you must
+understand that I cannot let you stand gaping about. There is not room
+in the place for more than two people, and they must both work."
+
+"I am not afraid of work. I am the devil for work."
+
+"Very good, then, come along," said Ivan; "and if the other gentlemen
+would like to accompany us to where the machines are working they can
+follow us."
+
+The others seized the opportunity.
+
+Ivan made them put on miners' dress. They were then hoisted into the
+crane, and descended into the shaft. Each one had a safety-lamp
+fastened to his belt and wore a thick felt hat.
+
+Ivan led them through the different windings of the pit until they
+came to the iron door of the cavern in which, not long since, the
+pond used periodically to come and go. The middle of this space was
+now filled by a large mill-like machine, which was kept in motion by
+an endless strap worked from above. In this mill some substance was
+being ground, and, when reduced to fine powder, was carried, by means
+of certain mechanical contrivances, through a pipe and over a bridge,
+where it disappeared from view.
+
+Ivan led his guests through still more tortuous ways. Once they
+descended the shaft of a well; once they mounted high ladders, finding
+themselves when they had done so in a small chamber, not measuring six
+feet in circumference, in which two miners were waiting--an old and a
+young man.
+
+"Now," said Ivan to Spitzhase, "here is our dressing-room; we must put
+on our costume."
+
+"What! have we another change of clothes?"
+
+"Yes, we have to don a coat of mail in the tournament in which we are
+going to take part; we require armor."
+
+At a sign from him the miners came forward and began to prepare the
+two gentlemen. The equipment was something similar to that of a
+fireman--a coat and stockings, the outer stuff being made of asbestos,
+while the space between that and the lining was filled with pulverized
+charcoal; the hands and arms were also covered with long gloves made
+of asbestos, the fingers being air-proof.
+
+"We could pass for knights," said Spitzhase, jestingly.
+
+"Wait until you see our helmets," returned Ivan.
+
+The miners brought two helmets made of glass, each of which had a
+hollow space with twelve joints and three apertures. Ivan explained
+the use of these.
+
+"The place into which we are about to descend is full of coal-gas. We
+must have an apparatus which will enable us to pass through fire and
+to dive under water."
+
+Spitzhase began to repent that he had been so venturesome, but he was
+ashamed to turn back now, and he had a certain amount of pluck.
+
+"We need," continued Ivan, "an apparatus which is a combination of the
+diver's and the fireman's dress. To the glass helmet, which will be
+attached to the coat-collar by means of air-proof caoutchouc, there
+will be fastened two tubes, through one of which the necessary amount
+of air will be conveyed to us, and through the other the bad air will
+be expelled. The ends of both the tubes will remain here, while we
+drag them after us in the same manner as does the diver. Although all
+bad air escapes from our helmets, still we shall find the air rather
+warmer than it is up here, and it will smell like vulcanized
+india-rubber; still we cannot suffocate. To this third aperture an
+elastic tube will be fixed, which unites both helmets; through this
+tube each will hear what the other says, for the glass is so thick
+that no sound penetrates it, and when you have it on your head you
+will with difficulty hear what is said by me."
+
+Spitzhase had begun to feel very uncomfortable, for now the miner
+proceeded to adjust the glass helmet to his head. When the tubes were
+being fixed into the three apertures he perceived that he had become
+suddenly stone deaf. He saw the lips of the two commissioners moving,
+but not one word could he hear. He no longer belonged to the world.
+Only one sound reached him, and that was the voice of the man to whose
+head he was fastened.
+
+"Take one end of the hose upon your arm," shouted the voice into his
+helmet; yet the sound seemed to come from a long way off, or as if out
+of a tunnel.
+
+Mechanically he took the coil on his shoulder.
+
+"Let us go," shouted Ivan, taking the other end of the coil on his
+shoulder, and, opening a thick oak door, which had hitherto escaped
+Spitzhase's observation, they passed through.
+
+The two commissioners had heard nothing that had passed between the
+two "knights"; but when they saw the oak door open they hurriedly
+asked the miners whether the foul air did not come in. The older
+workman reassured them; the carbon was much heavier than oxygen, and
+even thicker than hydrogen. The foul air remained below, where the two
+divers had gone. They might have every confidence so long as the
+safety-lamps burned. Meantime, the others had penetrated into a roomy
+cavern, the walls of which proved it had not been made by the hands of
+men, but was a natural formation. Each partition of the wall fitted
+into another, like the blocks of a puzzle, and each block was as
+smooth as a steel mirror. They were masses of coal set obliquely one
+upon another. The cavern was bridged over with thick, strong wooden
+planks. The gearing strap, which had made its way from the cavern in
+serpent-like fashion, had set a wheel in motion, and the noise of the
+clapper resounded under the bridge, and made a sound as if it were
+working in deep water. From this bridge a narrow path led obliquely
+into the stone layers. Once beyond the entrance into this dark path
+the lamps ceased to burn; the coal-gas had begun its sway. Upon the
+bridge an electric machine was placed, whose brilliant light was
+shaded by a wire screen.
+
+The old miner set the machine working, and the light flashed into
+every nook and cranny of the subterranean cavern. It lighted up the
+narrow tunnel which, for the last month, Ivan had been boring from his
+own mine to that of his neighbor. He had told no one what he had been
+doing, but now the work was almost finished; it only required to be
+broken through. This work, which would take another week to complete,
+needed to be done in a diver's equipment. The length of the narrow
+tunnel was perfectly illumined by the electric machine, as if in the
+broad light of the sun. Where it turned out of its course high
+looking-glasses of polished steel were placed in positions which
+reflected the light itself until it faded away to a faint glimmer. The
+two divers could now hardly discern an object.
+
+"We shall soon be in darkness," said Spitzhase to Ivan.
+
+"We shall have light enough," returned Ivan; and he led the way
+farther into the tunnel.
+
+Spitzhase was forced to follow, for his head was fastened to Ivan's
+head. Wonderful pair of Siamese twins! If the pipe that bound them
+together were to break, both were dead men.
+
+"Halt!" cried Ivan. "Here is the pump. Give me the pipe."
+
+In the half-darkness a little machine three feet high was discernible;
+it was provided with a spring wheel. This suction-pipe had been
+brought here only the day before. Ivan took the caoutchouc coil from
+his companion's shoulder, and screwed the pipe to the aperture of the
+machine; then he set the wheel in motion, and in a few seconds it,
+with the heavy balls attached, was revolving with velocity. Then he
+took the end of the pipe and gave the coil back to Spitzhase with this
+difference: instead of putting it over his arm he hung the hose over
+his neck. Spitzhase felt as if the pipe were about a hundredweight
+heavier, and that it had grown suddenly stiff.
+
+"Forward! quick march!" shouted Ivan into his helmet.
+
+"It begins to be hot as hell itself," grumbled Spitzhase, who was
+suffering horribly.
+
+"Because we are in a part of the mine where the fire has been put
+out."
+
+Both the men wore on their feet glass slippers, otherwise they would
+have felt that the ashes through which they were wading were glowing
+with heat.
+
+The india-rubber hose hung round Spitzhase's neck. It grew darker and
+darker, until at last it was as dark as Erebus.
+
+"I can see nothing," shouted Spitzhase.
+
+"You are safe if you follow me," returned Ivan.
+
+It began to grow somewhat lighter. The light, however, was rose color;
+there was twilight, then, in the bowels of the earth.
+
+Spitzhase complained he could hardly draw his breath.
+
+"That will get better presently," said Ivan, encouraging him.
+
+They had now turned the corner of the road, and the terrible tragedy
+of hell itself lay before them. Yes, hell itself was there. A burning
+labyrinth, in whose glowing passages the prismatic colors changed
+every moment. The blue-green flames leaped from the ground and blended
+with the flames of brilliant scarlet which played upon the burning
+wall, and again faded in the far distance into a deep purple color. It
+was like a fairy transparency at a pantomime. Through the fissures and
+crevices sheets of white sun-rays poured like molten silver. Amid the
+glowing coals there seemed to rise shapes as of demons dancing,
+creatures with green hair and red beards, and from the red sulphate
+of the vaulting there fell slowly a golden shower, a melting rain of
+sparks. From the clefts in the side walls the gas, let loose from all
+restraint, hissed like so many demoniacal serpents, and kindled a
+subterranean flame of its own. Out of the depths of the pit a
+waterspout of fire shot suddenly, sending in every direction a shower
+of sparks. Over the whole floated a milk-colored cloud, which filled
+the vault with a nebulous vapor, wandering as a will-o'-the-wisp here
+and there, and threatening every moment to envelop the rash visitors
+to hell in its chill embrace. Spitzhase, alarmed out of all control,
+pressed closer to the wall; fright was overcoming him.
+
+"Let go the hose!" shouted Ivan. The hose fell like a serpent
+unchained, wriggling backward and forward. "Now follow me. Hold the
+pipe on your arm;" and he drew Spitzhase after him.
+
+He was constrained to follow, although his heart was in his mouth;
+their heads were fastened to each other. If he had had sufficient
+strength to free himself from this terrible companionship, it would
+have in no way helped him, for the carbon would have killed him
+instantaneously.
+
+Mechanically he allowed himself to be drawn on. Hell with all its
+horrors disclosed itself to his affrighted gaze. His companion seemed
+to fear nothing. Was he a human being, or a fiend, who was in reality
+possessed of power over the demons of hell? He dragged him to the very
+border of the fiery lake; then he took from his shoulder the hose,
+which lay in rings and coils, and, opening the mouth of the stop-cock,
+directed its force at the bosom of hell. The hose shot forth a flash
+like a diamond; the water-spirit fell into the glowing Gehenna.
+
+"Hold tight!" shouted Ivan.
+
+And from the force which the stream from the pipe exercised upon the
+burning mass the air was filled with dark clouds of smoke, which
+peopled the still brilliantly lighted cavern with strange, unearthly,
+spectral-like shadows, which, dissolving suddenly into steam, covered
+the two adventurous visitors with a damp moisture. One of them
+tottered.
+
+"Fear nothing," calls out the other; "we are quite safe here."
+
+"It is suffocating; I am burning!" cried Spitzhase.
+
+"Do not be afraid; follow me," said Ivan, and drew his trembling
+comrade after him over the wet rocks, over the charred, burning
+mounds. Every spot where he saw the flames rising he directed the
+hose, and a shower of cool, refreshing water fell from the
+india-rubber pipe upon the burning, seething demoniacal flames. The
+gas hissed, the hot steam boiled round them, the flames, beaten down
+in one place, sprang up in another, but on they went. He was afraid of
+nothing. "Forward! go on! forward!" The mysterious clouds hovered over
+him.
+
+"We are lost!" moaned the other poor mortal, whose fear began to be
+uncontrollable. He fell on his knees.
+
+"You of little faith," said the conqueror of hell, "get up. Let us go
+back." And he lifted him up, as the Redeemer did Peter on the stormy
+Sea of Galilee.
+
+Then he rolled the hose once more round his neck, and took it back to
+the suction-pump; this he closed, and then led his comrade again to
+the little room where they had put on their equipment.
+
+Spitzhase sank back when he reached this haven. When his helmet was
+taken off he panted like a man who was suffocating for want of air.
+Ivan looked at him compassionately.
+
+The miners gave each of them a glass of fresh lemonade to drink, and
+rubbed their temples with vinegar. They then undressed them to the
+skin, put them into a tub of cold water, took them out in two seconds,
+and rubbed them with coarse towels. Spitzhase began to recover his
+senses.
+
+As they put on their usual clothes Ivan said to him, "Well, sir, how
+did you like being below?"
+
+Spitzhase was no fool, but he answered, good-humoredly, "I wouldn't
+have missed going down for a hundred gulden, but I would pay twice
+that sum rather than go there again."
+
+"Now you know what to write to your board of directors. Paul, take
+this gentleman home. I remain here to continue the work."
+
+Spitzhase wrote a glowing account of what he called "the fight with
+the world of spirits" to the Vienna papers.
+
+The next day Ivan said to the commissioners, "We have now laid pipes
+four inches in diameter to work upon the very heart of the fire. So
+soon as I am ready we shall set the high-pressure machine at work.
+This will empty in four hours ten thousand buckets of fluid on the
+burning mass."
+
+"The devil take it!" cried Spitzhase. "Will this farce never have an
+end until the escaped gas blows up the colliery, and makes of it and
+of us a new Pompeii?"
+
+"Do not be afraid. I have thought of this danger. We have taken care
+to stop all the outlets to the quarry gallery with sand-bags. We have
+walled up every possible fissure, crevice, and exit. The entrance to
+the well-shaft has been provided with a strong iron door, over which
+we have fastened a thick bed of clay. If, therefore, it should happen
+that in the gallery, where the conflagration is at its worst, and
+where the fluid must be poured freely, the mass of gas should develop
+in such force that it must explode, then the iron door will prove our
+salvation. It will resist all attack, and the force of the gas will be
+broken."
+
+The members of the commission shook with fright. Here was a pleasant
+prospect! Ivan, however, had no time to spare on reassuring them; the
+crisis was at hand, and he had still much to do. Prudence, foresight
+was necessary. At mid-day he returned to the quarry gallery.
+
+As the clock struck twelve he gave the signal at which the large
+suction-pump was to be set in motion. He remained from this time at
+his post, never leaving the machine until the work was finished. To
+their honor be it spoken, the three commissioners remained with him;
+they kept their places without moving, never speaking a word. During
+the awful time that followed no voice was heard but that of Ivan. Soon
+after the signal was given a rushing sound was heard underground,
+faint at first, but growing louder. It sounded as if in the distance
+water was pouring from an open sluice.
+
+At first the machine was worked at only half its strength. After half
+an hour or so there mingled with the rushing sound a great tumult, as
+if many bells were vibrating in the air. The noise did not die away;
+on the contrary, the vibration grew every moment stronger.
+
+The earth was in labor; the ground heaved and trembled, and those who
+felt its throes trembled also. The earth's sufferings were shared by
+her children. Only one man was calm; the master-spirit was not afraid.
+
+With close attention Ivan watched the pendulum and the thermometer of
+the machine; he marked the variations in the condition of the
+barometer, the ozonometer, and electrometer, writing his observations
+in his note-book. After another hour he made a sign to the man working
+the machine to put on more pressure.
+
+Thereupon arose from below a terrible uproar; it was the battle of the
+Cyclops. The bowels of the earth sent up a dull roar like the rolling
+of thunder; occasionally came a shock as of an earthquake. The houses
+began to rock, the tops of the tall trees and the cross upon the tower
+tottered, and its fall added to the anxiety felt by the entire valley.
+The underground fight grew every moment fiercer; the giants joined
+issue with their foes. They howled in rage; they put their gigantic
+shoulders together and tried to upset the earth. To their cries was
+added the bellowing of the hurricane confined in the cave, and the
+tumult was indescribable.
+
+The listeners to this fearful scene looked with a stony stare of
+horror; they were speechless, but their look seemed to say, "What rash
+act have you done? Are you inciting the spirits who dwell under the
+earth to war against one another?"
+
+Ivan answered with another look of calm superiority. "Fear nothing; I
+have my foot upon the head of the giant."
+
+The underground battle had lasted three hours. The people were beside
+themselves with fright; they turned upon Ivan and cursed him.
+
+"Do you think you are a God," they cried, "and can create an
+earthquake?"
+
+Ivan paid no attention either to their fears or their curses; he gave
+another signal to the men at the machine--
+
+"With the whole power!"
+
+The machine, the outcome of the wonderful inventive genius of man,
+stormed the very gates of hell itself. The underground tremblings
+followed one another rapidly, growing stronger and stronger; the deep
+groaning rose to a stentorian, deafening roar.
+
+"It is all over!" shrieked the people in the valley, and fell upon
+their knees.
+
+In the air a shrill, whistling sound was now heard, as if an engine
+had suddenly let off steam, and out of the shaft of the company's mine
+there arose rapidly a white column of steam, which, as soon as it
+encountered the cold regions of space, shot up into the sky, where it
+formed itself into a white cloud, which cloud suddenly broke into a
+deluge of rain. At once the underground convulsion ceased, and the
+shrill whistling died away in the distance.
+
+Ivan, looking round, said, quickly, "Paul, collect the rain-water; I
+must know what it is made of." Upon this he gave the machinist the
+signal to stop the machine. There was not even a drop of perspiration
+upon his forehead. He took the bottle of rain-water that Paul brought
+him and put it in his pocket. "Now, gentlemen," he said, "you can go
+to supper. The work is accomplished."
+
+"Is the fire extinguished?" asked Spitzhase.
+
+"Absolutely."
+
+"And the pillar of steam yonder?"
+
+"Will remain in the sky until midnight and then slowly damp away. Go
+to supper. I have something of importance to do at home."
+
+Who cared to eat supper?
+
+The pillar of steam still continued to rise from the shaft, and to
+form a cloud from which a steady downpour of rain fell continuously,
+occasionally interspersed by flashes of lightning; but no one thought
+of going indoors. The richer members of society wrapped themselves in
+mackintoshes, the workmen in their cloaks, and all continued to watch
+the strange appearance, until at last, towards ten o'clock, it began
+to grow smaller. The whistling sound was interrupted now and again by
+a piercing shriek, and sometimes a flash of lightning illumined the
+shadow of the pillar--the white cloud.
+
+The steam giant then sank back; not all at once, but by degrees, into
+the pit from which it had arisen. Only occasionally, from time to
+time, its head reappeared for a second, but the whistling ceased
+altogether; so, too, did the heaving of the earth. The unearthly
+tumult was silenced. In the church the sound of the organ was heard,
+and voices intoning "Alleluia! Alleluia!" The people walked in
+procession, carrying lanterns and banners.
+
+The commissioners made their way to the inn, where they found Ivan
+eating his supper. He could eat now; it struck him that he was mortal
+and wanted food.
+
+"I have finished the chemical examination," he said to the other three
+with polite indifference, "and I can give you the satisfactory news
+that in the residue 0.75 of carbonic acid is to be found."
+
+Spitzhase did not understand. "What good is it," he asked, "if
+seventy-five parts of carbonic acid are in the residuum?"
+
+"To-morrow we can open both entrances to the colliery, and after the
+air-pumps have been settled the work can be resumed."
+
+Alleluia! Alleluia!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL
+
+ANGELA IS EVEN WITH IVAN
+
+
+Success brings with it fame, fortune, and universal esteem. Men
+worship success, and with justice.
+
+He who has saved a great treasure, who has restored to thousands of
+people their country, their industry; he who has overcome a universal
+calamity which threatened an entire province; he who has given to
+thousands on the verge of beggary their livelihood, who has dried the
+tears of the widow and the orphan--he is near to God himself.
+
+Honors and rewards were showered upon Ivan. The government gave him
+for all time the patent for his discovery. By the Joint-Stock Mining
+Company he was handsomely remunerated. A monster deputation obliged
+him to accept the place of director. Scientific societies at home and
+abroad elected him member. His picture and biography appeared in all
+the illustrated papers of Europe and America. The simple villagers in
+Bondathal prayed for him night and morning; and when the first train
+steamed out of the Bondavara station, the locomotive bore the name of
+"Behrend." It was only God's providence that preserved him from
+receiving "an order."
+
+Perhaps the most interesting testimony, and the one most valued by
+Ivan, was a letter which the Countess Angela wrote to him with her own
+hand.
+
+The countess told him frankly all that had happened to her since they
+had met; how she had married the Marquis Salista; how unhappy he had
+made her by the pressure he brought to bear upon her grandfather,
+Prince Theobald, which ended in his property being sequestrated, to
+the ruin of the whole family of Bondavary. She had suffered greatly in
+consequence, and had known what privation meant; also the income of
+the Countess Theudelinde had been considerably diminished, and the old
+lady had been forced to reduce her household. This condition of
+affairs had shown them their former friends in their true light--among
+others, Salista, her husband, who had gone to Mexico, and left her to
+shift for herself. Then Ivan had come to the rescue. Prince Waldemar's
+triumphal progress had been effectually checked. The million of money
+placed by Prince Theobald in the Bondavara Company had regained its
+value. The prince had arranged with his creditors, and his affairs
+were once more settled. She had been reconciled to him, and lived with
+him. Countess Theudelinde likewise had recovered her rents. The great
+family of Bondavary, which had been so near ruin, was reinstated in
+its former position. And for its new lease of life it had to thank a
+certain beneficent, clever--
+
+Here Countess Angela's letter broke off. There was, however, a
+postscript:
+
+"Answer this letter. I beg for one word. Write 'I forgive you.'"
+
+Ivan answered her immediately. He expressed his gratitude for her kind
+remembrance of him, but he could not imagine what he had to forgive.
+On the contrary, he had a lively recollection of the many kindnesses
+he had received from the Countess Angela Salista.
+
+The letter was evidently written with an effort to be cold and polite.
+It was followed by a second letter from Angela, which ran thus:
+
+"Do not answer me in that way. I have sinned against you. You do not
+reproach me, but my own heart and conscience do. To quiet these
+tormentors I need your pardon. Answer me sincerely. Can you ever
+forgive me? I should not have treated you as I did--"
+
+Ivan answered this by a long, confidential letter. He confessed to her
+secrets of his heart, made to her confessions which never before
+passed his lips. The countess might be confident that she had never
+offended him. She had never forfeited the place she held in his
+respect.
+
+A third letter came from Angela.
+
+"If you can do so from your heart, write upon a piece of paper,
+'Angela Bondavary, I forgive you, from my heart.'"
+
+Ivan wrote these words and nothing else.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+One evening two carriages drove into the court-yard of Ivan's house.
+He lived now in the handsome residence provided by the company for the
+director of the mines. The porter exchanged some words with the person
+who sat in the first carriage, and then came to Ivan with two
+visiting-cards.
+
+Ivan, to his surprise, read the names--
+
+     _Countess Theudelinde Bondavary._
+
+     _Countess Angela Bondavary._
+
+These names caused a great disturbance in Ivan's mind. What did they
+want? Why did they come to him? He told the porter to show the ladies
+in, and then, taking up the cards again, it struck him as odd that
+the Countess Angela's did not bear the name of her husband.
+
+The door opened, and only one lady entered. She was dressed in
+mourning, and her face was covered by a thick veil, the thick crape
+concealing her features. It was the Countess Theudelinde. She had on a
+long black travelling-cloak with two capes. She came to Ivan and held
+out to him the finger-tips of her black glove, which he carried to his
+lips, while she murmured some words of greeting.
+
+"Where is the marquise?" asked Ivan, anxiously.
+
+"She will be here immediately; but it is very difficult to bring her
+in."
+
+Ivan conducted the lady to a sofa and asked her to be seated.
+
+"Do not go to meet her," continued the countess. "She will find her
+way. You will receive her kindly, won't you?"
+
+"Oh, countess," Ivan began; but Theudelinde interrupted impatiently.
+
+"No phrases, please. We have not come here for polite words or to
+exchange compliments. We come to make a request; the answer is simple.
+Yes or no. Angela wants to remain here."
+
+"Here!" repeated Ivan, horrified.
+
+"Yes, here! Do not be afraid; not in this house, but in the
+neighborhood. She wishes to remain near you--never to leave you--that
+is her desire; and she has a right to have her wishes granted."
+
+Ivan began to think he must be dreaming; he did not know what to say,
+but his thoughts were distracted by a strange noise outside. Along the
+passage came the heavy tread of several men. The door opened and four
+miners came in, carrying between them a metal coffin, on the lid of
+which lay a white wreath of _repouss�_ silver.
+
+The wreath surrounded the arms of the Bondavary family, and underneath
+was carved in gold letters--
+
+     ANGELA BONDAVARY.
+
+The coffin was placed upon the oak table. Ivan stood as if he were
+turned into a statue, his eyes fixed upon the wreath and the name
+underneath.
+
+Theudelinde got up and seized his hand, saying, in a low, agitated
+voice:
+
+"This is the Countess Angela Bondavary, who begs of you, as the master
+here in Bondavara, to find for her a small place in the family vault
+of the castle, where she may lie among her own people, waiting for the
+coming of Jesus Christ--the Bridegroom of all poor women whose lives
+have been desolated."
+
+"How is it possible that she is dead?" said Ivan, who was deeply
+moved.
+
+"How? Very easily! When you throw a rose into the fire, in two minutes
+you will only find its ashes. I had just heard her laugh; she was
+quite gay. Then she went too near the stove; the next moment she
+screamed, and I saw her enveloped in flames!"
+
+"She was burned to death!" cried Ivan, covering his face with his
+hands. Then, after a pause, "Was there no one near to save her?"
+
+"Was there no one?" answered Theudelinde. "Were you, then, asleep at
+midnight? Did you not hear her call, 'Ivan, help me!'? Did you not see
+her standing beside your bed in flames--an angel with hell in her
+heart? Why were you not by her side to hold her in your arms, to
+stifle the flames, to snatch her from the jaws of death? Where were
+you, who should have saved her? Now she is here, and says to you, 'I
+am gone. I am no one. Let us be united.'"
+
+Ivan felt as if an iron band had been laid upon his heart.
+
+"She lived," continued Theudelinde, "for two days. She suffered the
+most terrible pain. When I think of all she went through I feel as if
+my senses were leaving me. To the last she was conscious. She spoke--
+But no--why should I tell you what she said? Just before she died she
+asked for a pencil, and wrote a few words to you. Here they are in
+this envelope. Do not break the seal, do not read them, so long as I
+am here. I would rather give you no explanation. If you have anything
+to ask, ask it from her. Here is the key of the coffin; I give it to
+you."
+
+Ivan recoiled from receiving such a present.
+
+"Why should you be afraid? Why do you object to opening the coffin?
+There is nothing to fear. The body is embalmed, and the flames did not
+touch her face. You will see that she smiles."
+
+Ivan forced himself to raise the coffin-lid and to look on the face of
+the dead. There was no smile on her lips. She was calm and cold; as
+when she lay insensible in the wood, with her head upon a cushion of
+moss, so now she lay upon her white satin cushion. Ivan felt that if
+she could open her eyes for one minute she would look at him proudly
+and say, "I want nothing," and close them again. How beautiful she
+was, with her still, marble face, her immovable eyebrows. Ivan would
+not disturb its calm loveliness by even one kiss. He would have felt
+it to be dishonorable, and yet, if she could have come to life again,
+who knows--? As on the day when he had closed her dress with his
+breast-pin, so now he shrouded her secret with the coffin-lid. Her
+secret was safe with him.
+
+"Keep the key," said Theudelinde. "The coffin, its key, and the
+treasure it holds are yours; that is settled. You are the master of
+the vault; it is your duty to take her there. You cannot escape it."
+
+With eyes that were hot and tearless, Theudelinde looked through her
+veil at Ivan. He returned the glance. If either had shed a tear, or
+even let a sob escape, both would have burst into passionate weeping,
+for grief is infectious; but each one of them was resolved to show
+mental strength in the presence of the other. They could even command
+their emotions.
+
+"Do you undertake the duty?"
+
+Ivan bowed his head.
+
+"Then you will perform it alone. Alive I shall never enter the family
+vault. You know why."
+
+Both were silent. Then Theudelinde burst out:
+
+"Why was I not left in my castle? Why was I undeceived when I imagined
+that my ancestors visited me? If I had not been shaken in my delusions
+I should still have been happy. I should never have gone into the
+world, where I have only found misery; Angela would not have come to
+me; my brother Theobald would not have been ruined; hell would not
+have been let loose in the Bondavara mines; I should have never known
+you; all--all would have been different!" Then, after a pause, she
+went on: "There is no need of a clergyman; there is no need of any
+ceremony. You can say some prayers. You are a Protestant--so was
+Angela. She became one that she might get a separation from her
+unworthy husband. Let them carry the coffin quietly and reverently to
+the family vault. There I shall leave you and it, for I shall not go
+inside--never, until I am dead. You will put the coffin in its place,
+and then I return whence I came, where I am wanted by no one."
+
+Ivan called the miners to take the coffin again upon their shoulders,
+and told them to carry it through the vestibule to the private door
+which led into the park. The park separated the director's house from
+the castle.
+
+As they walked through the winding paths of the park the trees shed
+their golden leaves upon the coffin and the titmice in the brushwood
+chanted the dirge.
+
+Ivan walked bareheaded behind the coffin, and behind him came Countess
+Theudelinde.
+
+When they reached the entrance of the vault Ivan told the bearers to
+put the coffin down, and, kneeling down beside it, he remained for a
+long time praying. God hears us if we speak to Him in a whisper; nay,
+He hears us, even although we do not speak, but feel.
+
+Theudelinde bent over Ivan and kissed his forehead.
+
+"I thank you. You walked behind her with your head uncovered. Now she
+is all yours." Then she returned by the winding path, as if she were
+afraid that Ivan would make her take away what she had brought.
+
+Ivan placed the coffin in its resting-place and sent away the bearers;
+then he remained for many hours beside it. By the light of the torches
+he read Angela's last words to him--
+
+"For whom shall I wait on the shore of the new world?"
+
+Ivan sighed deeply. "Who will wait for me on the shore of the new
+world?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Then he made his way back to the house. There was no trace of either
+the countess's travelling carriage or Angela's hearse.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI
+
+HOW IVAN MOURNED
+
+
+They were both gone, the high-born lady and the peasant girl--gone
+where there is no sorrow and no more sin. One had lost her life by
+charcoal, the other by fire--two vengeful spirits.
+
+Ivan thought of both with bitter regret. He felt now that he was alone
+in the world. He would have given all the fame he had acquired, the
+money he had earned, the good he had done, to have been able to save
+even one of these women. He mourned for them not in black, not with
+crape on his hat. What good are these signs of grief?
+
+The European mourns in black, the Chinese in yellow, the Mussulman in
+green; in the classical age they mourned in white; the former
+generation of Hungarians in violet; the Jews in rags; the philosopher
+in his heart. The wise man never shares his grief, but he does his
+joys.
+
+Meantime, in the Bondavara Valley there reigned peace and plenty;
+where there had been a half-savage race there was a happy people. The
+worst characters had settled down, morality had grown popular.
+
+Ivan sent the young men at his own expense to factories abroad, where
+they learned the arts of civilization. He brought wood-carvers from
+Switzerland and lace-workers from Holstein to teach their trades to
+the women and children, so that they might unite artistic labor with
+increase of wages. For a population where every one, big and little,
+works either from necessity or for amusement--a people who look upon
+work as pleasure and who feel it no privation to be employed--such a
+people are ennobled by their toil.
+
+Ivan looked after the schools. He emancipated the national teachers
+from the misery of their national tyrants; he rewarded the student
+with scholarships, the school-boy with useful prizes; in every parish
+he established a library and reading-room. He accustomed the people to
+put by the pence they could spare; he taught them how to help one
+another; he established in Bondavara a savings-bank and a hospital.
+
+His own colliery was a model. The miners and himself were the joint
+owners, and shared the profit. Whoever was taken on in this colliery
+should pass an examination and work one year on trial. This rule
+applied to women and men alike. This trial year was not easy,
+particularly for the girls.
+
+Nowhere was a girl so looked after; not in her mother's house or in a
+convent or state institution was there more particularity as to
+manners and morals than in Ivan Behrend's colliery. Every word, every
+act was watched. If any one failed to be up to the mark during his
+year of probation, no one taunted him, nor was he despised. He was
+simply told to go and work in the company's colliery, where there was
+better pay; and the workman or workwoman imagined this was an advance,
+not a degradation. In the company's colliery there was certainly more
+freedom, the rules being less strict.
+
+If, however, at the end of the trial year the applicant had fulfilled
+all requirements, he or she was received into the colony and became a
+shareholder, so far as the profit was in question. Besides this, a
+prize for virtue was given once a year, on the anniversary of the
+great pit-burning, to the most modest, well-conducted girl in the
+colony.
+
+Ivan spent on this prize fifty ducats, and the miners on their side
+promised the winner a handsome wedding present.
+
+It was, of course, an understood thing that no one went in for the
+prize. No one knew who was likely to get it. The elders took notes; it
+was their secret.
+
+The giving of this prize was not to be attended with any ceremonial.
+It would take place on an ordinary working day, when all the miners
+would have picks and shovels in their hands, so that every one could
+see that the reward was not for a pretty face, but for a good heart
+and industrious fingers. It was to be a day of general rejoicing.
+
+This was how Ivan mourned.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII
+
+EVILA
+
+
+It was the anniversary of the great pit fire. Old Paul had gone to
+look for Ivan at his house in the principal colony, but Ivan had
+already started for the smaller colliery. He saw Paul on the road,
+and, stopping his carriage, took the miner up.
+
+"This day last year was a memorable day," said Paul.
+
+"I recollect it well," returned Ivan; "but to-day we have to give the
+prize for virtue. Have the jury settled to whom it is to be given?"
+
+"They are agreed. A girl who has been little less than a year in the
+colliery."
+
+"And she has fulfilled all conditions?"
+
+"In every way. The child is most industrious. She is every morning the
+first to come and the last to leave. She never complains of the work,
+as many of them do; she treats it as if it were a pleasure to her. If
+her wheelbarrow is overloaded, she encourages the digger to put on
+still more; then she runs away gayly with her burden, and comes back
+singing as if she had been amusing herself. At the end of the
+recreation she drives the other girls back to their work."
+
+"Is she vain?"
+
+"No; she wears the same holiday clothes in which she was dressed when
+she came a year ago; naturally they are not quite as fresh as they
+were. She has a little string of beads round her throat, and in her
+hair a narrow ribbon. At night she washes her clothes in the stream,
+for she has one peculiarity--she wears fresh linen every day; but she
+makes it up herself, so she alone has the trouble."
+
+"Is she saving?"
+
+"She has more in our savings-bank than any one of the girls. She would
+have still more, only that on Sundays she gives a whole day's wages to
+the beggar who sits at the church door."
+
+"Does she go to church regularly?"
+
+"Every Sunday she comes with us, but she never sits with the other
+girls; she kneels before a side-altar, covers her face with her hands,
+and prays all through mass."
+
+"Is she good-tempered?"
+
+"She has offended no one and has never been angry. Once a woman said
+something very offensive to her, for which we gave her a heavy fine.
+The woman was ready to pay it, but the girl denied that she had been
+offended. Soon after the woman got ill; she had no one to nurse her,
+because she is a solitary widow, and this girl nursed her every night,
+and fetched the medicine from the apothecary for her."
+
+"Do you think she is a hypocrite?"
+
+"She is too merry for that, and ready for a joke. Hypocrites are
+gloomy folk. Our people would soon find her out if she wasn't on the
+square; but she is a prime favorite with every one. We don't choose
+our words exactly, but we can make a fair guess at the girl who
+respects herself. We like one that gives a good box on the ear to a
+fellow who would make too free. Sharp with the hand, but soft with her
+tongue; that's our sort. And still, sometimes I have watched her when
+she was in quite another mood; for instance, on Sunday afternoons,
+when we sit under the mulberry-trees, they all get round me and make
+me tell them--God knows how often!--the story of how you carried the
+pipe of the air-pump into the gallery of the Bondavara mine, and how
+we all thought you were a dead man. Women and children hold their
+breath while I tell it. I believe I do tell that story well, for they
+know it by heart, and yet they cannot but listen. They take it in
+different ways; but this girl, I have noticed her, she covers up her
+face and cries the whole time."
+
+"And is she a modest girl?"
+
+"To ascertain this point we had to call a jury of married women. They
+couldn't bring forward a single charge against her. Then we got the
+girls together, and we pressed them very close, if there was anything
+with the young men, but they all said--no. And there was no need for
+them to deny, for a peasant girl is fitly mated with a miner, and if
+he wants her he can have her."
+
+They had now reached the colliery, and went into the station-house,
+which stood at the corner of the branch railroad. There was now
+another line, which ran underground and connected the two collieries.
+Here Ivan found a great many of the miners. He sent for the rest, and
+told them work was over for the day. Men and women assembled by
+degrees, and only one group of girls still remained working. These had
+agreed not to leave off until they had driven their load of coals to
+the coal-hill, which lay between the entrance to the quarry gallery
+and the station-house where Ivan sat waiting. He could not see the
+girls; he could only hear their clear voices as they called to one
+another to make haste and get the work finished.
+
+Some one began to sing. The melody was familiar to Ivan--one of those
+sad Slav airs in which the singer seems on the brink of tears; and the
+voice was sweet and tuneful as a bell, full, too, of feeling.
+
+  "Say when I smoothed thy hair,
+    Showed I not tender care?
+    Say when I dressed my child,
+    Was I not fond and mild?"
+
+Ivan's face clouded. "Why do they sing that air? Why should it be on
+the lips of any one? Why not let it fall into oblivion?"
+
+"The girl is coming," said old Paul. "I hear her singing; she is now
+coming down the hill with her wheelbarrow."
+
+The next moment the girl appeared upon the summit of the coal-hill.
+With a run she had shoved her wheelbarrow forward and emptied the
+contents with extraordinary dexterity; the big lumps of coal rolled
+down the hill. She was a young, well-developed girl in a blue jacket
+and a short petticoat; but this red petticoat was not tucked up--it
+fell over her ankles, and only showed her feet. The colored
+handkerchief on her head had fallen backward, and the rich plaits
+wound round her small head could be seen. Her face was smudged with
+coal-dust and was beaming with good-humor--earthly dirt, supernatural
+glory. But what the coal-dust could not conceal were the two large
+black eyes shining like two brilliants--the darkness illumined by
+dazzling stars.
+
+The girl stood immovable on the summit of the coal-hill, then looked
+down with some surprise on the crowd gathered in and around the
+station-house.
+
+The next moment Ivan was beside her. In his joy he had made one bound
+from the station-house across the rails and had rushed up the
+coal-hill.
+
+"Eveline!" he cried, clasping the girl's hand in his.
+
+She shook her head, smiling at him. "No, sir," she said, "Evila."
+
+"You here! You have come back here!"
+
+"I have been in your colliery, sir, for a year, and if you will keep
+me on I should like to stay."
+
+"You shall stay only on one condition--as my wife," cried Ivan,
+pressing her hand to his heart.
+
+All who were at the foot of the hill saw this action; they could
+almost hear his words.
+
+Evila shook her head and drew away her hand. "No, no. Allow me to be
+your servant, a maid in your house, the maid of your wife. I shall be
+quite happy; I expect nothing more."
+
+"But I wish it. You have come back to me; you are mine. How could you
+be so cruel as to be a year so near me and never to tell me?"
+
+"Oh, sir, you cannot raise me to your position!" said Evila, with a
+sad yet dignified expression. "If you knew all you would never forgive
+me."
+
+"I know everything, and forgive everything."
+
+These words proved that Ivan knew nothing. If he had known the truth
+he would have been aware there was absolutely nothing to forgive. As
+it was, he pressed his young love close to his heart, while she
+murmured:
+
+"You may forgive me, but the world will never pardon _you_."
+
+"The world!" cried Ivan, raising his head proudly. "My world is
+_here_"--laying his hand on his breast. "The world! Look round you
+from this hill. Everything that lives in this valley owes its breath
+to me; every blade of grass has to thank _me_ that it is now green.
+Hill and valley know that, under God, I have saved them from
+destruction. I have acquired a million, and I have not despoiled any
+one. With every penny I receive a blessing. In the palace of the
+prince and in the cottage of the widow I have dried the tears of
+despair; I have delivered my enemies from a living grave, and I have
+saved their wives and children from the misfortune of being widows and
+orphans. My name is spoken of with admiration all over the globe, and
+yet I have hid myself _here_, not to be troubled with their praises; I
+do not care for praise. The most lovely of women has smiled on me and
+loved me, but she was not of _my_ world. She is dead, and the key of
+her coffin is a perpetual reminder to me that her world has passed
+away. My world is within me, and into that inner world of mine no one
+has ever entered, no one _will_ ever enter, _but you_! Speak, Evila;
+answer me. Will you try to love me?"
+
+The girl's eyes sank before the ardent gaze of her lover. Many men had
+made love to her, but none like this man, whose face shone like
+Jupiter's when, with a look, he killed Semele.
+
+"Oh, sir," she murmured, "if I do not die I shall love you always; but
+my mind misgives me that I shall die."
+
+As she spoke she fell back fainting, her brilliant color faded to a
+waxen pallor, the flashing eyes closed; her body, which a moment
+before was like a blooming rose, was now as lifeless as a withered
+leaf.
+
+Ivan held her motionless form in his arms. The woman whom he had so
+loved, for whom he had suffered so much, was his, just as her pulse
+ceased to beat, just as she had said, "I shall love you always, but I
+know that I shall die."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But she did not die.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII
+
+THE DIAMOND REMAINED ALWAYS A DIAMOND
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME
+
+
+_DO�A PERFECTA._ _By B. P�rez Gald�s. $1�00._
+
+_PARISIAN POINTS OF VIEW._ _By Ludovic Hal�vy. $1�00._
+
+_DAME CARE._ _By Hermann Sudermann. $1�00._
+
+_TALES OF TWO COUNTRIES._ _By Alexander Kielland. $1�00._
+
+_TEN TALES BY FRAN�OIS COPP�E._ _With 50 Illustrations by Albert E.
+    Sterner. $1�25._
+
+_MODERN GHOSTS._ _Selected from the Works of Guy de Maupassant, Pedro
+    Antonio de Alarc�n, Alexander Kielland, and Others. $1�00._
+
+_THE HOUSE BY THE MEDLAR-TREE._ _By Giovanni Verga. $1�00._
+
+_PASTELS IN PROSE._ (From the French.) _With 150 Illustrations by
+    H.�W. McVickar. $1�25._
+
+_MAR�A: A SOUTH AMERICAN ROMANCE._ _By Jorge Isaacs. $1�00._
+
+_THE ODD NUMBER: THIRTEEN TALES._ _By Guy de Maupassant. $1�00._
+
+Published by Harper & Brothers, New York.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors present in the
+original print edition have been corrected in this electronic edition.
+In Chapter VIII, "been witnsss" was changed to "been witness".
+
+In Chapter XIII, a missing quotation mark was added after "less
+physical strength".
+
+In Chapter XVIII, "if he is not a begger" was changed to "if he is not
+a beggar".
+
+In Chapter XXI, "traditions of Radoczy" was changed to "traditions of
+Rakoczy".
+
+In Chapter XXIV, "Jocky Club" was changed to "Jockey Club".
+
+In Chapter XXVI, a period was changed to a question mark after "the
+tavern in his own colony", "predicate the direction" was changed to
+"predict the direction", and "at the pit's month" was changed to "at
+the pit's mouth".
+
+In Chapter XXIX, a period was changed to a question mark after
+"introduce Waldemar".
+
+In Chapter XXXI, "claquers" was changed to "claqueurs", and "did badly
+to night" was changed to "did badly to-night".
+
+In Chapter XXXII, "classsical work" was changed to "classical work".
+
+In Chapter XXXIX, "the three apartures" was changed to "the three
+apertures".
+
+In Chapter XL, a quotation mark was deleted after "She had never
+forfeited the place she held in his respect".
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Black Diamonds, by M�r J�kai
+
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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Black Diamonds, by M�r J�kai.
+    </title>
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+    .pagenum  { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Black Diamonds, by M�r J�kai
+
+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: Black Diamonds
+
+Author: M�r J�kai
+
+Translator: Frances A. Gerard
+
+Release Date: June 3, 2010 [EBook #32668]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACK DIAMONDS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<p class="center bigtext">MAURUS JOKAI</p>
+
+<h1>BLACK DIAMONDS</h1>
+
+<p class="center"><b>A Novel</b></p>
+
+<p class="center">TRANSLATED BY<br />
+<span class="bigtext">FRANCES A. GERARD</span></p>
+
+<p class="center">NEW YORK<br />
+HARPER &amp; BROTHERS PUBLISHERS</p>
+
+<p class="center">Copyright, 1896, by HARPER &amp; BROTHERS.</p>
+
+<p class="center"><i>All rights reserved.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" summary="Table of Contents">
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum smalltext">CHAPTER</td>
+<td class="chapname">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="chappage smalltext">PAGE</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">I.</td>
+<td class="chapname">A Black Place</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">1</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">II.</td>
+<td class="chapname">The Slave of the Black Diamonds</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">11</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">III.</td>
+<td class="chapname">The Man-eater</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">27</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">IV.</td>
+<td class="chapname">A Modern Alchemist</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">35</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">V.</td>
+<td class="chapname">The Doctor</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">50</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">VI.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Countess Theudelinde</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">63</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">VII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">The Countess's Album</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">79</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">VIII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">The Exorcist</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">95</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">IX.</td>
+<td class="chapname">"An Obstinate Fellow"</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">132</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">X.</td>
+<td class="chapname">The Higher Mathematics</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">146</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XI.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Soir&eacute;es Amalgamantes</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">155</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Ritter Magnet</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">166</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XIII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Only a Trifle</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">189</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XIV.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Thirty-three Parts</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">207</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XV.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Two Points</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">225</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XVI.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Good-bye</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">232</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XVII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">The Last Rehearsal</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">245</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XVIII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Financial Wisdom</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">253</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XIX.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Filthy Lucre</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">259</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XX.</td>
+<td class="chapname">No, Eveline!</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">278</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXI.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Respect for Halina Cloth</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">291</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Two Suppliants</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">301</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXIII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Financial Intrigue</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">312</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXIV.</td>
+<td class="chapname">The Bondavara Railway</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">317</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXV.</td>
+<td class="chapname">The Poor Dear Prince</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">324</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXVI.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Dies Ir&aelig;</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">327</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXVII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">From the Sublime to the Ridiculous</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">348</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXVIII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Two Children</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">352</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXIX.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Immaculate</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">357</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXX.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Man and Wife</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">365</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXXI.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Eva Dirkmal</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">373</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXXII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Crushed</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII">378</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXXIII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Charcoal</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII">387</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXXIV.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Csanta's Last Will and Testament</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV">395</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXXV.</td>
+<td class="chapname">The Ground Burns under His Feet</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV">401</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXXVI.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Child's Play</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVI">406</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXXVII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Eureka</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVII">411</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXXVIII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">At Par</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVIII">419</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XXXIX.</td>
+<td class="chapname">The Underground World</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIX">428</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XL.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Angela is Even with Ivan</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XL">442</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XLI.</td>
+<td class="chapname">How Ivan Mourned</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLI">450</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XLII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">Evila</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLII">453</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="chapnum">XLIII.</td>
+<td class="chapname">The Diamond Remained Always a Diamond</td>
+<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XLIII">459</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p>
+
+<h1><a name="BLACK_DIAMONDS" id="BLACK_DIAMONDS"></a>BLACK DIAMONDS</h1>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I<br />
+<span class="smalltext">A BLACK PLACE</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>We are in the depths of an underground cavern. It is bad enough to be
+underground, but here we are all enveloped in black as well: the
+ceiling is black, so are the walls; they are made of blocks of coal.
+The floor is one great black looking-glass. It is a sort of pond,
+polished as steel. Over this polished surface glistens the reflection
+of a solitary light, the light of a safety-lamp shining through a wire
+net.</p>
+
+<p>A man guides himself over the pond in a narrow boat. By the doubtful
+light of the lamp he sees high pillars, which rise out of the depths
+below and reach to the very roof of the cavern&mdash;pillars slender, like
+the columns of a Moorish palace. These pillars are half white and half
+black; up to a certain point only are they coal black, beyond that
+they are light in color.</p>
+
+<p>What are these pillars?</p>
+
+<p>They are the stems of pines and palm-trees. These gigantic stems are
+quite at home in the layers over the coal-mine, but how have they
+descended here? They belong to another world&mdash;the world of light and
+air.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> The coal layers overhead sometimes take fire of themselves, and
+the fire, being intense, has loosened the hold of these giants and
+sent them below.</p>
+
+<p>Coal-pits kindle of themselves often, as every novice knows, but in
+this case who extinguished the flames? That is the question.</p>
+
+<p>The solitary occupant of the rudely shaped boat or canoe goes
+restlessly here and there, up and down. He is a man of about thirty
+years, with a pale face and a dark beard. His firmly closed lips give
+him an expression of earnestness, or strong, decided will; while his
+forehead, which is broad, with large bumps over the eyes, shows that
+he is a deep thinker. His head is uncovered, for here in this vault
+the air is heavy, and his curly black hair is in thick masses, so that
+he needs no covering.</p>
+
+<p>What is he doing here?</p>
+
+<p>He drives his boat over the black looking-glass of the lake; round and
+round he goes, searching the black walls with anxiety, his lamp raised
+in his disengaged hand. Does he imagine that a secret is hidden there?
+Does he think that by touching a spring, and saying "Open Sesame," the
+treasure hidden there for hundreds of years will spring forth?</p>
+
+<p>In truth, he does find treasures. Here and there from the black
+wall&mdash;weakly constructed in some places by Nature's hand&mdash;a piece of
+stone loosens itself&mdash;upon it the impression of a leaf belonging to a
+long-ago-extinct species. A wonderful treasure this! In other places
+he comes upon unknown crystals, to which science has not as yet given
+a name; or upon a new conglomeration of different quartz, metal, and
+stone&mdash;a silent testimony to a convulsion of Nature before this world
+was. All these witnesses speak.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>The pillars, too; over them the water of the pond has by degrees
+formed a crustation of crystals, small, but visible even without a
+glass. This, too, gives testimony.</p>
+
+<p>The pond is in itself wonderful. It has ebb and flow: twice in the day
+it empties itself; twice in the day it fills. The water rushes in
+leaps and bounds, joyously, tumultuously, into this dark, sullen
+vault; fills it higher, higher, until it reaches the point on the
+pillars where the color changes. There it remains, sometimes for two
+hours, stationary, smooth, and placid as a glass. Then it begins to
+sink, slowly, surely, until it vanishes away into the secret
+hiding-places from whence it has come. Curious, mysterious visitor!
+The man in the boat knows its ways; he has studied them. He waits
+patiently, until, with a sullen, gurgling sound, as if lamenting the
+necessity, the last current of water vanishes behind a projecting mass
+of coal. Then he hurriedly casts off his coat, his shoes, his
+stockings; he has nothing on but his shirt and trousers. He fastens
+round him a leather pocket, in which is a hammer and chisel; he takes
+his safety-lamp and fastens it to his belt; and, so equipped, he
+glides into one of the fissures in the black rock. He is following the
+vanishing stream. He is a courageous man to undertake such a task, for
+his way lies through the palace of death. It needs a heart of stone to
+be there alone in the awful silence. It is a strong motive that brings
+him. He is seeking the secret which lies under seven seals, the
+treasure which Nature has concealed for thousands of years. But this
+man knows not what fear is. He remains three hours seeking. If he had
+any one&mdash;a wife, a sister, even a faithful servant, who knew where he
+was, what danger he was in, how their souls would have gone out in
+agony of fear for what might happen!</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>But he has no one; he is alone&mdash;always alone. There is no one to weep
+for his absence or to be joyful at his coming; his life is solitary,
+in the clear air of daylight as well as in the depths of the cavern.</p>
+
+<p>The vanished stream is as capricious as a coquettish maiden, as full
+of tricks and humors. Sometimes it does not show itself for three or
+four hours; at other moments it comes frolicking back in one, and woe
+to the unfortunate wight who is caught in its embrace in the narrow
+windings of the coal-vault! But this man knows the humors of the
+stream; he has studied them. He and it are old acquaintances; he knows
+the signs upon which he can depend, and he knows how long the pause
+will last. He can gauge its duration by the underground wind. When it
+whistles through the clefts and fissures, then he knows the stream is
+at hand. Should he wait until the shrill piping ceases, then he is a
+dead man.</p>
+
+<p>In the darkness a ghostly sound is heard&mdash;it is like a long-drawn
+sigh, the far-away sobbing of an &AElig;olian harp; and immediately the
+shimmer of the lamp is seen coming nearer and nearer, and in a minute
+the mysterious searcher of the hidden secret appears.</p>
+
+<p>His countenance is paler than before&mdash;deathly; and drops of sweat
+course down his forehead and cheeks. Down below the air must be
+heavier in the cavern, or the nightmare of the abyss has caused this
+cold damp. He throws his well-filled wallet into the boat, and seats
+himself in it again.</p>
+
+<p>It was time. Scarcely has he taken his place when a gurgling is heard,
+and out of the fissures of the rock comes a gush of black water,
+shooting forth with a loud, bubbling noise. Then follows a few
+minutes' pause, and again another gush of water. The cavern is filling
+rapidly. In a short time, over the smooth surface of the wall,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> the
+watermark shows itself. Clear as a looking-glass it rises,
+noiselessly, surely, until it has reached the black line upon the
+pillars.</p>
+
+<p>The boat, with its silent, watchful occupant, floats upon the water
+like the ghost of the cavern. The water is not like ordinary water; it
+is heavy like metal. The boat moves slowly, only now the rower does
+not care to look into the depths of the black looking-glass; he pays
+no attention to the mysterious signs on the walls. He is occupied
+taking stock of the air about him, which is growing denser every
+moment, and he looks carefully at his safety-lamp, but it is closely
+shut. No escape there.</p>
+
+<p>There is a great fog all round the lamp. The air in this underground
+abyss takes a blue shade. The man in the boat knows well what this
+means. The flame of the safety-lamp flares high, and the wick turns
+red&mdash;bad signs these! The angel of death is hovering near.</p>
+
+<p>Two spirits dwell in these subterranean regions&mdash;two fearfully wicked
+spirits. The pitmen call one Stormy Weather, the other Bad Weather;
+and these two evil spirits haunt every coal-mine, under different
+names. Bad Weather steals upon its victim, lies like a thick vapor
+upon his chest, follows the miner step by step, takes away his breath
+and his speech, laughs at his alarm, and vanishes, when it has reached
+its height, just as suddenly as it came. Stormy Weather is far more
+cruel&mdash;fearful. It comes like a whirlwind; it sets everything in a
+flame, kindles the lumps of coal, shatters the vaults, destroys the
+shaft, burns the ground, and dashes human beings to pieces. Those who
+gain their livelihood by working underground can never tell when they
+may meet one or other of these evil spirits.</p>
+
+<p>The secret of "stormy weather," whence it comes, when it may come, no
+man has yet discovered. It is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> believed that it arises from the
+contact of the hydrogen gases with the acid gases which are contained
+in the open air; and "bad weather" needs only a spark to turn into
+"stormy weather." The thoughtless opening of a safety-lamp, the
+striking of a match, is sufficient to fuse the two evil spirits into
+one.</p>
+
+<p>The solitary man whom we have been shadowing sees, with an anxiety
+that increases every moment, how the air becomes more and more the
+color of an opal. Already it is enveloping him in a thin cloud. He
+does not wait for the flood to rise to its highest point, for, when he
+reaches a place in the wall where a sort of landing-stage has been
+made, he jumps upon it, draws the boat by its chain, and moors it
+fast, and then, ascending by some rude steps to a strong iron door, he
+opens it with a key, and, closing it behind him, finds himself in a
+passage which leads him straight into the pit.</p>
+
+<p>Here he is in a busy world, very different from the solitude he has
+left. The streets, which are narrow and close, are full of miners hard
+at work with their hammers. The men are nearly naked, the boys who
+push the wagons are wholly so. There is no sound heard but that of the
+never-ceasing hammers. In the mine there are no jolly songs, no hearty
+laughter. Over the mouth of each miner a thick cloth is tied, through
+which he breathes.</p>
+
+<p>Some of the passages are so narrow that the worker is obliged to lie
+upon his back, and in this position to reach the coal with his pick.
+When he has loosened it he drops it into the little wagon, which the
+naked boys, crawling upon their stomachs, push before them to the
+opening.</p>
+
+<p>The man who has come out of the dark cavern does not differ in dress
+from any of the others. He is clothed, certainly, but his clothes are
+covered with coal-dust, his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> hands are just as coarse, and he carries
+a pick and a hammer on his shoulder. Nevertheless, they all know him;
+there is a rough civility in the tone of each man as he answers the
+other's greeting, "Good-evening. Bad Weather is coming."</p>
+
+<p>The word is repeated all round.</p>
+
+<p>It was true. Bad Weather <i>was</i> close at hand, and these men and boys,
+who quietly come and go, hammer, shove the wagons, lie on their backs,
+all know, as well as the convict who is awaiting the execution of his
+sentence, that death is near.</p>
+
+<p>The heavy, damp fog which lies upon each man's chest, and which fills
+the mine with its unwholesome smell, needs only a spark, and those who
+now live and move are dead men, buried underground, while overhead a
+hundred widows and orphans weep and clamor for their lost ones.</p>
+
+<p>And yet, knowing this, the miners continue calmly to work, as if quite
+unconscious that the dread Angel of Death is hovering about them.</p>
+
+<p>The man who has just entered is Ivan Behrend, the owner of the mine.
+He unites in himself the office of overseer, director, surveyor, and
+bookkeeper. He has enough to do; but we all know the proverb, and, if
+we have lived long enough, have tested its truth, "If you want a thing
+well done, do it yourself." Moreover, it is an encouragement to the
+worker if he sees his employer go shoulder to shoulder with him in the
+work. Therefore, as we have just seen, the master greets all his
+workmen with the words, "Bad Weather is coming," and they all know
+that the master does not consider <i>his</i> life of more value than
+theirs; he does not fly and leave them all the danger, because he is
+the owner and gets all the profit. Quietly, with the most perfect
+composure,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> he gives his orders&mdash;the ventilators are to be opened&mdash;a
+charge of cool air at once to the heated coal; and the workers are to
+go off work after three instead of six hours. He gets into the pail,
+covered with buffalo-skin, and lets himself down to the bottom of the
+shaft, to see if the new openings are dangerous. He turns over
+carefully with an iron bar the coal-dust, to try if any of it is
+heated, or if gas is there concealed which might cause an explosion.
+Then, as the ventilators below and the air-pump above begin to work,
+he takes his place at the anometer. This is a tender little machine,
+something like the humming-top of children. Its axle turns upon a
+ruby, and the spring sets a wheel with a hundred teeth in motion; the
+velocity of this wheel shows the strength of the current of air in the
+shaft. It should neither be stronger nor weaker than the motion of the
+"bad weather."</p>
+
+<p>He has now seen to everything; he has taken every precaution, he has
+left nothing to chance, and, when all the miners have quitted the pit,
+he is the last to ascend in the basket to the fresh air and the
+daylight.</p>
+
+<p>Fresh air&mdash;daylight!</p>
+
+<p>In Bondavara the sun never shines, the shadow of the smoke hangs like
+a thick cloud over the land; it is a black country, painted in chalk.
+The roads are black with coal-tracks; the houses are black from the
+coal-dust, which the wind carries here and there from the large coal
+warehouses; the men and the women are black. It is a wonder the birds
+over there in the woods are not black also.</p>
+
+<p>The mouth of the Bondavara pit is on the slope of a hill, which, when
+you ascend it, gives you a fine view over the whole country. On the
+other side, in the valley, are the tall chimneys of the
+distilling-ovens. These<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> chimneys are busy night and day, vomiting
+forth smoke, sometimes white, but generally coal-black; for here is
+distilled the sulphur which forms a component of the coal.</p>
+
+<p>The metal can only be melted when in this condition. One of the
+principal customers of the coal-mine is the iron-foundry on the
+neighboring mountain, which has five chimneys from which the smoke
+issues. If the hammer throws up white smoke, then the oven distils
+black smoke, and so contrariwise. Both factories working together cast
+over the valley a continuous veil of cloud and smoke, through which
+even the beams of the sun look brown and dingy.</p>
+
+<p>From the foundry flows a rusty-red stream, and out of the coal-mine
+another, which is as black as ink. In the valley both these streams
+unite and continue their course together. For a little the rusty-red
+tries to get the better of the inky-black, but it has to give up, and
+the black rivulet flows on triumphantly through the black meadow
+lands.</p>
+
+<p>It is a most depressing landscape, and it is saddening to reflect that
+in such a place men have grown from childhood to middle age, from
+middle age to old age, and have never seen the green fields or the
+blue sky of God's heaven.</p>
+
+<p>But Ivan Behrend, when he ascended from the pit into the open air,
+found little contrast between the upper and the under ground. Below,
+there was the stifling smell of gas; above, a suffocating fog: below,
+the black vault of the mine; above, the murky vault of the heavens:
+and the same men above and below.</p>
+
+<p>It was then evening; the sun had gone down, and for the moment even
+the vile smoke could not rob it of its setting glory. The towers of
+the distant castle of Bon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>davara were touched with its gleam, and the
+chimneys of the distilling-houses were aglow with this crimson light.
+The miners were standing about idly; the women and the girls, who are
+employed in shoving the wheelbarrows, sat gossiping together, as is
+the manner of the sex. One of them, a young girl, began to sing&mdash;a
+simple little song, with simple words. It was a Slav volkslied&mdash;a sort
+of romance. A mother is taking leave of her daughter, a bride of a few
+hours; she recalls to the girl her childish days and her mother's care
+in these words:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0q">"Wenn ich das Haar dir strich,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Zerr' ich am Haare dich?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Wenn ich dich wusch, mein Kind,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">War ich je ungelind?"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The melody was touching, with the sad strain that all the Slav music
+has, as if composed with tears; and the voice of the one who sang was
+musical and full of feeling. Ivan stopped to listen to the song until
+the singer and her companions disappeared behind the houses.</p>
+
+<p>At this moment it seemed to him that there was a great difference
+between life underground and life in the open.</p>
+
+<p>The song still sounded in the distance; the clouds had passed over and
+extinguished the light of the setting sun, enveloping the landscape in
+total darkness. No star, no white house; only the light from the
+windows of the foundry lighted up the darkness of night; and the smoke
+of the distilling-factory rose from the chimneys and cast yellow
+circles upon the sky.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II<br />
+<span class="smalltext">THE SLAVE OF THE BLACK DIAMONDS</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>There is nothing startling or new in the declaration that when we
+speak of "black diamonds" we mean <i>coal</i>. That beautiful, brilliant
+stone, the diamond, is made of carbon. So is your house-coal&mdash;the only
+difference being, the one is transparent, the other black; and the
+first is the demon, the last the angel.</p>
+
+<p>Coal moves the world. The spirit of progress comes from it; railroads,
+steamboats borrow from it their wonderful strength. Every machine that
+is, and works, has its existence from coal. It makes the earth
+habitable; it gives to the great cities their mighty blaze and
+splendor. It is a treasure, the last gift presented by earth to
+extravagant man.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore it is that we call coal "black diamonds."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan Behrend, the owner of the Bondavara coal-mine, was not exactly in
+the condition of some of his pitmen. He had seen God's heaven, and
+knew how in happier lands life was bright, careless, sunny as the
+cloudless sky itself. But for an existence which was all play and no
+work, Ivan would not have cared. He had inherited the coal-mine from
+his father, who had left him also an inheritance of a strong will and
+inflexible perseverance. No trifle, nor even a great obstacle, could
+stand in the way of Ivan's wishes, and his wish and his pride was to
+work the Bondavara mine without any help but what<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> his pitmen gave
+him. It was his ambition&mdash;perhaps a foolish one&mdash;to have no company at
+his back, no shareholders to find fault, no widows and orphans to be
+involved in possible ruin; the mine was his, and his it should be
+absolutely. Therefore it was a quiet business. The foundry and the
+inhabitants of the nearest town consumed the yearly output at an
+uncommonly low price. It never could be, unless with enormous outlay,
+a great money-making business, seeing that the mine was too far away
+from any of the great centres. Nevertheless, it brought in a steady
+income, especially as Ivan paid no useless expenses, and was, as we
+have said, his own overseer and accountant. He knew everything that
+went on, he understood his own business perfectly, and he took a
+pleasure in looking after his own affairs; and these three
+qualifications, as any business man knows, insure ultimate success.</p>
+
+<p>It was well, however, that he enjoyed such good health, and that this
+superabundance of vital energy kept him always occupied, and, by a
+natural consequence, never dull. There was no denying that it was a
+solitary life for so young a man.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan was very little over thirty, and when he opened the door of his
+small house with his key, and closed the door behind him, he was
+alone. He hadn't even a dog to come and greet him. He waited upon
+himself; and in this he was a great man. Eating he looked upon as an
+unnecessary waste of time; nevertheless, he ate a great deal, for his
+muscular and mental system needed food. He was not delicate in his
+appetite. He dined every day at the tavern. His food was very little
+better than that of his pitmen, the only difference being that he
+avoided the strong drinks they indulged in&mdash;for this reason, that they
+worked only with their bodies; he had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> to bring to his work a clear
+intellect, not a soddened one. His bed needed no making. It was a
+wooden plank, upon which a mattress was placed, covered with a
+sheep-skin. There was no use in brushing his clothes; they were always
+permeated with coal-dust.</p>
+
+<p>Any one who would offer, by way of doing him a service, to clear out
+his room, would, in fact, have done him a deadly injury. It was full
+of every sort of thing&mdash;new books half cut, minerals, scientific
+instruments, plans, pictures, retorts. Not one of these should be
+moved from its place. There was order in the disorder, and in the
+heterogeneous mass Ivan could find what he wanted. In one corner was
+Lavoisier's pyrometer; in another Berard's gas food-warmer. Over there
+a wonderful sun-telescope; against the wall Bunsen's galvanic battery,
+together with every conceivable invention, every sort of chemical
+apparatus for analyzing and searching into the mysteries of Nature.</p>
+
+<p>Amongst these things Ivan was wont to spend the long nights. Another
+man, tired as he must have been with his day's work, would have flung
+himself upon his bed, and have sought in sleep some compensation for
+the labors of the day, or if not weary enough for this, would have sat
+before his door and breathed the fresh air, which at night was free
+from smoke and coal-dust. But this student of the unseen withdrew into
+his inner chamber, lit his fire, made his lamp blaze, and busied
+himself breaking lumps of coal, cooking seeds, developing deadly
+gases, a breath of which was enough to send a man into eternity.</p>
+
+<p>What was it he searched for? Was he seeking the secret of the
+philosopher's stone? Did he abandon sleep to find out how diamonds can
+be made out of coal? Did he strive to extract deadly poisons, or was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>
+he simply pursuing the <i>ignis fatuus</i> of knowledge&mdash;trying
+experiments, grubbing in the dark until, in the hopeless endeavor, the
+over-strained brain would give way, and there would be only the wreck
+of what was once a noble intellect?</p>
+
+<p>Nothing of the sort. This man had a purpose; he wanted to learn a
+secret which would be of infinite benefit to mankind&mdash;at least, to
+those who are buried in the pits and caverns of the earth. He wanted
+to find out by what means it would be possible to extinguish fire in
+burning pits. To discover this he consumed his nights and the years of
+his youth and his manhood. It was no thought born of to-day or
+yesterday; it had been his one desire for many years. He had seen so
+much misery, such heartrending scenes enacted before these pit
+mouths&mdash;these monsters which swallow up human life like the
+Juggernauts of old. He wanted to prevent this amount of sacrifice&mdash;a
+sacrifice never thought of by those who profit from the labor of these
+victims, whose very blood is spilled to keep others warm. It is
+possible this one idea might drive him mad, or he might lose his life;
+but the knowledge, if he did gain it, would be, in his opinion, worth
+the loss. After all, what is the loss of one life against the saving
+of millions? This man had a fine nature; there was no tinge of self in
+Ivan Behrend. Also, he had a certain enjoyment in his search.
+Enjoyment is not the word. Whenever he got even a glimpse of what he
+wanted, his joy was something unearthly. Surely these moments were
+worth all the pleasures the world could offer him; and if we can bring
+our minds to understand this, then we shall comprehend how a young man
+preferred to be shut up in a cavern, in danger of losing his life, or
+in a stifling room, trying risky experiments, rather than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> spend the
+night with beautiful maidens or pleasant fellows, drinking, dancing,
+and love-making. There is a charm in Science to those who know her
+that far surpasses carnal joys.</p>
+
+<p>To-night, however, it must be confessed, Ivan's experiments fell a
+little flat. Either he was tired, or some other cause was at work.
+Could it be possible that a girl's song&mdash; Yes, such was the
+humiliating condition of affairs. At the moment when he least expected
+it, this thing had unexpectedly seized upon him.</p>
+
+<p>With an effort Ivan lit his lamp and lighted his furnace. His
+experiments, however, were a failure. That girl's song kept running in
+his head, and the words&mdash;how did they go?</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0q">"Say when I smoothed thy hair,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Showed I not tender care?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Say when I dressed my child,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Was I not fond and mild?"<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> These lines have been kindly translated from the original
+by Miss Troutbeck.</p></div>
+
+<p>It was very pretty, and the voice wonderful&mdash;so sweet and clear and
+melodious. To-morrow evening she might be at the pit's mouth again,
+and then he would find out her name. Even if she were not there, the
+other girls would know; there were not so many singers among them.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0q">"Say when I smoothed thy hair"&mdash;<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Oh, he could settle down to nothing with this tiresome song!&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0q">"Showed I not tender care?"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>He wished he had seen her face, merely to know if it matched the
+voice. Very likely not. She would be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> hard-featured, like the other
+girls&mdash;bold, unwomanly creatures; beauty and modesty were rare gifts
+in Bondavara.</p>
+
+<p>The next day Ivan was early at the pit. The opening of the air-oven
+had done its work; there was only a fractional quantity of hydrogen
+mixed with the pit air. The ventilators could be shut, and Ivan was
+able to spend some time in the open.</p>
+
+<p>At twelve o'clock the bell rang to leave off work. As the girls came
+from the wheelbarrows, he again heard the clear young voice singing
+the same song. He had not been wrong as to the voice; it was fresh and
+lovely, like the blackbird in the woods, uneducated and unspoiled, but
+full of natural charm, tender and joyous as the feathered songster. He
+could now see the singer&mdash;a very young girl, not more than sixteen.
+The common blue bodice she wore showed every undulation of her girlish
+figure, untrammelled by any fashionable stays. Her short red skirt,
+tucked up on one side, and fastened to her waist, disclosed her still
+shorter chemise, which only reached to her knees, so that her legs
+were uncovered. They might have been modelled for a statue of Hebe, so
+perfect were they in shape&mdash;the ankles small, and little feet
+beautifully rounded, like a child's. About her head the girl had wound
+a colored cloth, and under this she had tucked away her hair; her
+face, like those of her companions, was blackened by the coal-dust,
+but even this enemy to beauty could not disfigure her. You could see
+that her features were regular, her eyebrows thick and dark, her lips
+red. There was a mixture of earthly dirt and supernatural beauty about
+this child; besides, she had one thing that even coal-dust could not
+conceal or dim, her eyes&mdash;her large black eyes&mdash;shining like two
+diamonds, which lit up the darkness as two stars.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>As these wonderful eyes met Ivan's glance, it seemed to that
+philosopher as if these diamonds cut away a portion of the glass phial
+in which he had preserved his heart, and so kept it untouched up to
+this. But he did not know that this was only the beginning; his glass
+protector will soon lie in fragments all round him.</p>
+
+<p>The girl made a little curtsey to her employer, and accompanied this
+small act of duty with a smile which showed two rows of beautiful,
+pearly-white teeth.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan felt like an enchanted knight in a fairy tale. He forgot what had
+brought him here, and what he wanted to say; he remained rooted to the
+spot, gazing blankly after the retreating figure of the girl and her
+companions. He hoped, without exactly defining what his hope was, that
+she would look back. That little action would have broken the charm
+under which he lay. But she did not look back, although one of her
+companions called her by her name, "Evila." Ivan could see them
+talking to her, whispering, no doubt, about him. This did not seem to
+rouse any curiosity in her. She and they had now come to an open shed.
+Here they seated themselves upon the ground, took out of their pockets
+pieces of black bread and wild apples, and ate their meal with as much
+zest as if it had been chicken and grapes.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan returned to his house. For the first time in his life it struck
+him how lonely it was. It was his custom to keep a sort of log-book,
+in which he entered his personal notes upon all his work-people. He
+found this practice very necessary; he knew that a skilled workman of
+good conduct is far more useful at high wages than a lazy,
+good-for-nothing fellow of doubtful character who would come for half
+the wage. At the footnote by the name "Evila" he read&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"A young orphan; supports a crippled brother younger<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> than herself,
+who goes upon crutches, and whose tongue is paralyzed. She is very
+steady, and does not go to the town."</p>
+
+<p>It was certain, therefore, that he must have seen this child before,
+but had given no attention to her. Every Saturday he paid every
+workman, every girl and lad in the pit; how, then, had he escaped
+noticing those wonderful eyes? He did not know, learned as he was,
+that there is an affinity between two souls destined for one another.
+It is like an electric shock, this sudden birth of love; but Ivan
+ridiculed such an idea. Love? Nonsense! He in love with a girl out of
+the pit? Ridiculous! It was compassion, merely pity for a pretty
+child, left without either father or mother to watch over her tender
+age, and, still worse, with a deformed brother to care for and provide
+with food and medicines. No doubt she gave him the best of everything,
+while she had to be content with black bread and wild apples, and all
+the time remained an honest, steady girl. She never even turned her
+head to look after him. There was nothing but pity in his heart for
+this coal-black Naiad; it was only pity made him wish to cover those
+tender little feet with proper shoes; it was only a proper regard for
+the weakest among his work-people which would cause him to make
+inquiries as to this poor forlorn child. Oh, self-deception, what a
+part you play in men's hearts!</p>
+
+<p>The following Saturday the workers came to receive their weekly wages.
+Ivan, who always paid them himself, remained at his desk until the
+last one came. On this occasion Evila was the last. Ivan sat at a
+table, on which was placed the sum to be paid, which was regulated by
+the account of the work done, which was registered in the day-book.</p>
+
+<p>When the girl, who was dressed as when we first saw<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> her in her blue
+bodice and red skirt, presented herself, Ivan said to her kindly&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"My child, I have determined to increase your wages; from this day you
+shall have double pay."</p>
+
+<p>The girl opened her large eyes, and stared in surprise. "Why so?" she
+asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Because I am told that you have a crippled brother, whom you have to
+keep out of your small earnings. You cannot have enough to clothe and
+feed both him and yourself. I have also heard that you are a
+well-conducted, honest girl, and therefore it gives me pleasure to
+reward you by giving you double pay."</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot take it."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because I know what the others would say. They would joke and tease
+me about your being my lover, and I should get so tormented that I
+could not stay in the place."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan was so confounded by this na&iuml;ve explanation, given without the
+slightest confusion, that he could make no answer. He counted out the
+usual week's wages, which she stowed away in the bosom of her bodice,
+wished him good morning, and went her way.</p>
+
+<p>He remained, his thoughts in a maze. In all his experience&mdash;and he had
+a good deal, for his time had not been always spent in Bondavara, and
+out in the world he had known many women&mdash;he had known no woman like
+this.</p>
+
+<p>She is afraid they will say I am her lover; she is afraid they will
+tease her so much on that account that she may have to leave the
+place! Has she, then, no idea that once I, the master, loved a girl
+here, she would not push the wheelbarrow any more? Does she even know
+what a lover is? She knows well that she must<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> guard herself against
+one. Poor child! How earnest she was, and yet she laughed, and she did
+not know why she laughed, nor yet why she was grave. A savage in the
+guise of an angel!</p>
+
+<p>He got up, locked his desk, and turned to leave his office; then again
+remained, thinking.</p>
+
+<p>She is unlike every other woman. I doubt if she knows how beautiful
+she is, or what is the worth of beauty. She is Eve, a perfect copy of
+Eve&mdash;the Eve of Scripture, and the Eve of Milton. She is Eve, in not
+knowing wherefore she should blush over her own nakedness&mdash;the type of
+the beautiful in its primitive state, unwashed, savage, with hair
+unconfined, who wanders through the garden, fearing nothing, and even
+playing with a serpent. With men she is a woman, by herself she is a
+child, and yet she displays a motherly care for her little brother.
+Her figure is a model for a sculptor, her countenance is full of mind,
+her eyes bewitching, her voice melodious; and yet her hands are hard
+with the barrow-poles, her mind is troubled with sordid cares for her
+daily bread, her face is covered with coal-smut, and she has learned
+her songs in the street.</p>
+
+<p>"The worse for her!" and, after a pause, Ivan added with a sigh, "and
+the worse for another besides her."</p>
+
+<p>In his mind a total revolution had taken place. The intellectual
+spirits had for the nonce deserted him, and in their place others had
+come of a very different order&mdash;those demons which the blessed Antony
+had fought with such good effect in the desert.</p>
+
+<p>When poor Ivan tried to banish these tempters by burying himself in
+his books and his scientific instruments the form of Evila came
+between him and the experiment he was busy on, just as Marguerite
+appeared to Doctor Faust in his laboratory; her voice sounded in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> his
+ear, her eyes glowed in the coals, and when he tried to write he found
+himself drawing a maiden in a blue bodice and short red skirt. It was
+the same with everything he undertook. Some mocking demon seemed bent
+on tormenting him.</p>
+
+<p>Abandoning his experiments, this unfortunate man took to reading a
+volume of light literature. What did he open on? The loves of great
+and nobly-born men for lowly-born and inferior women. Thus Lord
+Douglas fell in love with a shepherdess, and became a shepherd for her
+sake; Count Pelletier took for his wife a gypsy girl, and went about
+the streets turning an organ; Bernadotte, the King of Sweden, sought
+the hand of a young girl who watched a flock of geese for a farmer;
+Archduke John married the daughter of a postmaster; and another
+Austrian duke raised an actress to the position of grand duchess; the
+consort of Peter the Great was the daughter of a villager; a Bonaparte
+married a washerwoman who had been his mistress.</p>
+
+<p>And why not? Are not beauty, sweetness, fidelity, and true worth to be
+found under a woollen as well as under a silken frock? And, on the
+other hand, do we not find sinners enough in the upper circles?</p>
+
+<p>Did not Zoraida kill her own children, and was she not a born
+princess? Faustina took money from her lovers, although she was the
+daughter of an emperor; the Marquise Astorgas ran a hairpin through
+her husband's heart; Semiramis strewed a whole churchyard with the
+corpses of her spouses; King Otto was poisoned in a grove by his
+queen; Joanna of Naples treasured the ribbon with which the king, her
+husband, was strangled; Jeanne Lafolle tormented her husband to death;
+the Empress Catharine betrayed her sovereign and consort, and connived
+at his murder; and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> Borgias, Tudors, Cillis, all had wives who
+became notorious in that they wore entwined in their crowns the girdle
+of Aphrodite.</p>
+
+<p>And do we not find the most exalted virtue in what is called low life?
+The actress Gaussin, to whom her wealthy lover gave a check with
+<i>carte blanche</i> to write a million thereupon, only wrote that she
+would always love him, Quintilla, another actress, bit off her tongue,
+lest she should betray her lover, who was implicated in a conspiracy;
+Alice, who undertook to fight a duel for her husband, and was killed;
+and many others who have suffered silently and died for very love.</p>
+
+<p>Philosophy and history both conspired against Ivan. And then came
+sleep.</p>
+
+<p>A dream is a magic mirror in which we see ourselves as we would be if
+our own wishes and inclinations were all-powerful. In his dream the
+bald man has hair and the blind sees.</p>
+
+<p>Towards the end of the following week Ivan made the discovery that he
+had lost the use of his understanding. The more he endeavored to force
+his mind back to its original groove of abstract theories, the more
+the demons ranged themselves against him. One evening, in a fit of
+absence of mind, he overheated one of the retorts, so that it burst in
+his face, and the small glass particles cut his nose and cheek, and he
+was forced to bind up his wounds with bits of sticking-plaster. It did
+not occur to him that these strips of black diachylon placed obliquely
+across his nose did not improve his appearance. He was, however, very
+angry at his own folly&mdash;a folly which went still further, for he began
+to argue with himself in this way:</p>
+
+<p>"It would be better to marry this girl than to become mad for her
+sake. Marry her? Who ever heard the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> like? A pit-girl! What a
+<i>m&eacute;salliance</i>! And who cares? Am I not alone in the world? Do I not
+form the whole family? And does not this constant thought of her come
+between me and my business? If this goes on I shall be ruined; and as
+for the <i>m&eacute;salliance</i>, is there a soul for six miles round who
+understands the meaning of the word? Not one; and if there should be
+one, he would have to seek me in the coal-pit, and he would find my
+face blackened with coal-dust, so that no one could see me blush for
+shame."</p>
+
+<p>All the same, he never sought the girl. He waited for the Saturday,
+when he knew she would come for her weekly wages, and on that day she
+appeared, as usual, the last, because she was the youngest, and stood
+before him as he sat at his desk. But this time, when Ivan had put the
+money into Evila's hand, he kept the little fingers in his firm clasp.
+The girl laughed&mdash;perhaps at the plasters, which still ornamented her
+lover's face.</p>
+
+<p>"Listen to me, Evila. I have something to say to you."</p>
+
+<p>Evila looked uneasy; she ceased to laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you have me for your lover? Nay, my child, I mean you no harm;
+only one must play the lover before one talks of marriage."</p>
+
+<p>The girl nodded, and then shook her head. "It is not possible," she
+said.</p>
+
+<p>"Not possible! Why not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because I am already engaged."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan let go his clasp of her hand. "To whom?"</p>
+
+<p>"That I am not going to tell you," said Evila, "for if I did, I know
+very well what you would do. You would discharge him, or you would
+keep him back, and we cannot be married until he is taken on as a
+regular pitman."</p>
+
+<p>"You mean as a day laborer?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"And you think more of this low fellow than you do of me, your
+employer?"</p>
+
+<p>The girl shrugged her shoulders, held her head a little to one side,
+and threw a look at Ivan which sent the blood coursing to his head.
+Then she went on, quietly&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I gave him my promise before mother died, and I must keep my word."</p>
+
+<p>"To the devil with your father and your mother!" cried Ivan, out of
+himself with baffled hope and rage. "Do you imagine I care what you
+have promised to a fellow like that? I ask you again, will you give
+him up and come to me?"</p>
+
+<p>Again Evila shook her head. "I dare not. My bridegroom is a wild,
+desperate fellow; he would think nothing of doing for you, and setting
+the pit on fire into the bargain when bad weather was on.
+Good-evening!" And so saying, she ran away quickly, and mingled with
+her companions.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan threw the day-book from him so violently that the leaves flew
+from one corner to another. A common creature, a wheelbarrow-girl, a
+half-savage, had dared to cross his wishes and refuse his offer! And
+for a dirty, miserable, underground miner&mdash;a common mole!</p>
+
+<p>Ivan had a hard battle to fight with himself when he was once more
+alone in the solitude of the night. The suppressed passion of the
+ascetic had suddenly broken through the dams, which moderation had set
+up to restrain its course.</p>
+
+<p>Beware of the man who professes to be above human passion, who glories
+in his iron will and his heart of ice; avoid him and the quiet, holy,
+studious man of soft tongue, who turns away his eyes from women, and
+shuns what others enjoy. It is upon such as these that out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>raged human
+nature revenges itself; and once the demon within gets loose, he plays
+a fine game to indemnify himself for all the restraint he has
+undergone. The love of the worldling is a small dog; that of the
+hermit is a lion.</p>
+
+<p>With this wild beast, which he had suddenly unchained, did Ivan, the
+man of science, spend the long night, now walking up and down the
+narrow room, now throwing himself on his bed, a prey to the most
+horrible temptations, his heart beating with a thousand passionate
+desires, his thoughts running in as many evil directions. The
+opposition that had been made to its wishes by Evila had stimulated
+his passion, and also roused the pride of his nature. The master of
+the Bondavara mine was a man of fiery temper, kept in check by his
+strong command over himself; but this command seemed now at fault. He
+had no longer any power to lay this demon, which had got possession of
+him, tempting him from every side. With his powerful fist he struck
+himself a blow upon his chest, near to his throbbing heart.</p>
+
+<p>"Wilt thou be silent? Who is master, thou or I? Do thy duty, slave. I
+am thy lord, thy king. Thy duty consists in nothing but keeping my
+arteries in motion, in pumping the air into my lungs, in forcing the
+blood in the right direction. When you cease your work, your illness
+is atrophy; but you cannot be my master, for the sovereign ruler is my
+will."</p>
+
+<p>And as Ivan beat his breast, it seemed to him as if in a magic mirror
+there were reflected two forms&mdash;himself and another Ivan, with whom he
+waged a deadly combat. It appeared to him as if this other self had
+robbed him of his form and features, to perpetrate in his name the
+most odious sins, and as he hit out against this horrid image of
+himself, it slowly vanished; and then Ivan, falling back upon his
+pillow, cried out in a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> loud voice, "Never return, O fiend; never
+defile my sight again!"</p>
+
+<p>In another hour, pale and exhausted, Ivan was seated quietly before
+his desk. It required an heroic effort on his part to go into prosaic
+calculations, to add up long columns of figures; but he forced his
+weary brain, his tired fingers to the task, and the slave obeyed its
+master, the body submitted to the mind.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III<br />
+<span class="smalltext">THE MAN-EATER</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>The morning light found Ivan still seated at his table. As daybreak
+and lamplight did not agree, he extinguished his lamp, threw aside his
+papers, and gave himself a momentary rest.</p>
+
+<p>He had conquered; he was himself again. All the fire of passion had
+died out, the sinful images had vanished, and in his breast reigned
+profound peace. He had resolved upon his course; an angel had been at
+his side and inspired him.</p>
+
+<p>It was Sunday morning. The engines which work the distillery were at
+rest. On Sundays the enormous water-basin, or trough, which fed the
+steam-pump was utilized to remove the dirt of the week from the
+miners. From six to seven the basin was free to the women, from
+half-past seven to nine to the men. The keys of the great pump-house
+were given over by the machine superintendent on every Saturday night
+to Ivan, so that no curious or peeping Tom of Coventry could hide
+himself there, and see these Venuses bathing through a little window,
+which gave upon the basin, and which was placed there to allow the
+stoker to see that the water-course was not disturbed when the pumps
+were at work.</p>
+
+<p>It had never once entered Ivan's brain that he could play Tom if he
+were so minded. But on this Sunday morning he took the key from its
+nail and put it in his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> pocket. Don't start; he did this, not between
+six and seven, but shortly after eight o'clock. He wanted to see the
+men bathing, unseen himself. And wherefore? Because he knew the
+customs which prevail in coal-mines, and that when a pair are engaged,
+it is customary to inscribe the name of the girl upon the man's naked
+body. Where the miners have got this Indian and savage method is hard
+to say. There is a certain tenderness in it, and tenderness is more
+often found with the savage than the civilized man. The lovers tattoo
+themselves with a needle, upon the arm or shoulder, and then rub in a
+corrosive acid, either red or blue. Such a testimony is ineffaceable.
+Sometimes some poetic temperament adds two hearts transfixed by an
+arrow, or a couple of doves, or it may be the signs of the miner&mdash;the
+mallet and the pick. It occasionally happens that the relations alter,
+and the lover would gladly remove the name of the fickle one from his
+album. This can be done by placing a blister over the name, and then
+the writing vanishes, together with the skin; a new skin grows, and
+upon this a new name can be written. It is a real palimpsest. Many are
+not so discreet. They punctuate a fresh name under the old one, and
+let the register increase, until sometimes there is not a vacant
+place.</p>
+
+<p>It did not give Ivan much trouble to find the man he sought. As soon
+as the water removed the black soot from the bodies of the bathers, he
+saw on the shoulder of one of them the name of Evila, the letters in
+blue, two hearts in red. His rival was an intelligent, most
+industrious laborer; he was called Peter Saffran, and his comrades had
+added the nickname&mdash;the man-eater. To this misnomer Peter had never
+taken any umbrage. He was a particularly quiet man, and when they
+teased him he took no notice. He never com<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>plained of anything, and
+never entered either the church or the tavern. Towards children he had
+a particular antipathy. If one came near him he drove it away, ground
+his teeth together, and threw anything he had in his hand at it. This
+peculiarity was so well known that the mothers always cautioned the
+little ones against the man-eater. For the rest, he was on good terms
+with every one.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan, having found what he wanted, left the pump-house and returned
+home, placing himself before the door, so that he could see the people
+as they went by presently in groups towards the neighboring village to
+the church. He noticed that Evila was among them. He examined her
+critically and in cold blood, and he came to quite a scientific
+conclusion as to the peculiar character of her beauty, which showed a
+mixture of races. The small hands and feet, the slender form, the
+narrow forehead, the finely cut nose, the silky black hair&mdash;all spoke
+the Indian or Hindoo type; but the short upper lip and the long,
+serpent-like eyebrows were derivable from some Slav ancestor. The
+starry, seductive eyes were decidedly Eastern, the chin and the
+coloring recalled the Malay race, and the quick, sudden rising of the
+red blood to the velvet cheek the Caucasian&mdash;for this people blush
+constantly, owing to the cellular texture being fine almost to
+transparency.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan pondered on all this as Evila passed him; he wondered also why
+her lover was not with her, for this was an established custom in
+Bondavara. Peter, however, evidently did not mind these rules of
+courtship; he was lounging on one of the benches outside the gates of
+the ventilation-oven, close to the pitmouth, his head in the air, his
+chin in his hand.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>Ivan went to him. "Good-morning, Peter. What are you doing there, my
+man?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am listening to the wind that is coming from below."</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't you go to church?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because I never pray at all."</p>
+
+<p>"And why not?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do nobody any harm. I neither rob nor murder, and if there is a
+God, He knows better than I do what is good for me."</p>
+
+<p>"You are quite wrong there, Peter. In these matters there is an
+immense difference between educated people and what are called the
+children of Nature. I have my science and thought to fall back on&mdash;my
+intellect is my guide, and preserves me from temptation; but with you,
+and men like you, it is otherwise. Those who have no other knowledge
+but what concerns their daily labor have need of faith, of hope, of
+consolation, and of forgiveness." As he spoke, Ivan seated himself
+beside the other and laid his hand upon his shoulder. "Something is on
+your mind, Peter?"</p>
+
+<p>Peter nodded. "There is something."</p>
+
+<p>"Does it weigh on your soul?"</p>
+
+<p>"On my soul, on my body&mdash;everywhere!"</p>
+
+<p>"Is it a secret, Peter?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, it is not. If you care to hear it, I will tell it you."</p>
+
+<p>"A murder?"</p>
+
+<p>"Worse than that."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you think you had better not tell it to me? It may place you in
+danger."</p>
+
+<p>"There is no danger for me. If it were published on the Market Cross,
+the law could not touch me; besides, most people know it. You would
+hear it from some one else if not from me."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>"Then tell me."</p>
+
+<p>"It is a short story. When I was only a lad, not quite twenty, I went
+to sea to seek my fortune. I bound myself as stoker on board a Trieste
+steamboat. We sailed with a cargo of meal to the Brazils. Our voyage
+there was prosperous. On our return we took black coffee and wool. On
+this side of the equator we met a tornado, which broke our engine,
+smashed our mainmast, and drove the vessel upon a sandbank, where she
+foundered. Some of the passengers took to the boat; they went only a
+short way when she upset, and they were all drowned. The rest made a
+raft from the planks of the sunken ship, and trusted to this frail
+thing on the open sea. I was one of them. We were in all thirty-nine,
+including the captain, the steersman, and a merchant from Rio de
+Janeiro, with his wife and a three-year-old child. We had no other
+woman or child, for the rest had perished in the open boat. We thought
+them unfortunate, but now I think they were happy. Better, far better,
+to have died then. Out of our thirty-nine, soon only nine remained.
+Oh, how I wish I had been among the dead! For eight days we floated
+upon the water, the sport of the waves; now buffeted here and there,
+again in a calm, immovable, nailed as it were to the ocean, without
+one drop of water to quench our thirst or one morsel of food. Ten of
+us had died of hunger. For two days we had never eaten, and the ninth
+day came, and no hope of succor. The sun was burning us up, and the
+water reflected the heat, so that we lay between two fires. Oh, the
+horror of that awful time! That evening we took the resolve that one
+of us should be a victim for the others&mdash;that is, that we should draw
+lots which should be eaten by the others. We threw our names into a
+hat, and we made the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> innocent child draw for us. That child drew its
+own name.</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot tell you, sir, the rest of the ghastly business. Often I
+dream the whole thing over again, and I always awake at the moment
+when the miserable mother cursed all those who partook of that
+horrible meal, invoking heaven that we might never again have peace.
+At the recollection of her words I spring out of my bed, I run into
+the woods and wait, to see if I shall be changed into a wolf. It would
+serve me right.</p>
+
+<p>"Of the partakers of the cursed meal I am the only survivor. The
+thought haunts me; it burns into my very soul. Besides my own blood,
+the blood of another human being circulates in my veins. Fearful
+thoughts pursue me. The piece of human flesh that I have eaten is in
+me still; it has taken away all wish for any other food. I understand
+the delight of the cannibals. I never see a rosy-faced child without
+thinking what a delicious morsel his little rounded arm would be. When
+I behold a sickly, pale baby, the idea at once occurs to me&mdash;Why let
+it live? Would it not be better&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>He shuddered, and stood up. He hid his hands in his blouse, and after
+a pause, went on&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me now, sir, is there any relief for what I suffer? Is there a
+physician who can cure me, or a priest who will absolve me? I have
+told my story to both priest and doctor, and one has enjoined me to
+fast and to chastise myself, the other to drink no brandy and to have
+myself bled. Neither of them is worth a straw, and such counsel only
+makes the matter worse."</p>
+
+<p>"I will advise you," said Ivan. "Marry."</p>
+
+<p>Saffran looked with some surprise at his employer, and after a minute
+a feeble smile stole over his face.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>"I have thought of that. Perhaps if I had children of my own this
+horror of them would disappear."</p>
+
+<p>"Then why don't you marry?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because I am such a poor devil. If two beggars come together, then
+you have a couple of paupers instead of one. One must first have
+something to live on."</p>
+
+<p>"That is true; but you are an industrious fellow. I have long wanted
+to have you as a first-class pitman, but I waited to advance you until
+you got married. It is my rule to give all the best places to married
+men. I have found by experience that the unmarried ones, when they get
+higher pay, go straight to the bad. There is more dependence to be
+placed in a married man; he won't leave his place for a mere nothing.
+Therefore, consider the matter. After the first Saturday on which you
+can tell me that you have been called in church with your intended,
+you will receive the pay of a pitman, and I shall give you a
+dwelling-house for yourself."</p>
+
+<p>Peter's face was a study. He could not believe that what he heard was
+real earnest. When this was made clear to him, he was ready to fall at
+the feet of his benefactor; he almost sobbed as he stammered forth
+some words of thanks.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," cried Ivan, with friendly encouragement, "to-day is a Sunday.
+Does nothing occur to you, my friend?"</p>
+
+<p>The man sprang to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>"Service has not yet begun," went on Ivan; "the congregation have not
+all arrived at the church yet. I think there would be time for you to
+catch up your bride and go with her to the clergyman."</p>
+
+<p>Peter said no word to this proposal, but he began to run; his legs
+were long, and he was soon out of sight.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> He was bareheaded; he had
+forgotten his hat upon the seat. Ivan saw it, and took it into his
+house to keep, but he stood looking after the fleet lover until he had
+disappeared behind the stone wall at the turning. Then he went in,
+with Saffran's hat in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"How happy he is!" he thought, and sighed.</p>
+
+<p>When he was in his room he wrote in his day-book that from the
+following day, Monday, he had engaged Peter Saffran as a first-class
+pitman with the usual wages, and that in his place another day-laborer
+should be taken on. When he had closed the book, his heart whispered&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"My cruel master, art thou content?"</p>
+
+<p>But Ivan had his misgivings, and answered his heart thus&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I don't believe in you, since I have seen how easy it was for you to
+slip on the ice. I must for the future watch closely. I am not sure of
+the purity of my own motives even now. God knows what lies under this
+apparent abnegation. Perhaps you think as a young wife&mdash;But I shall
+watch you closely, traitorous heart of mine; you shall lead me into no
+more pitfalls."</p>
+
+<p>Again he consulted his account-book, and found that the increase in
+this year's income allowed him to take on an overseer at a very fair
+salary. He wrote out the proper advertisement, and despatched it that
+very evening to different papers for insertion. In this way he would
+not be thrown into daily contact with his work-people.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV<br />
+<span class="smalltext">A MODERN ALCHEMIST</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>A fortnight had passed since Ivan sent his advertisement for
+insertion, when, one morning, and again it was Saturday morning, Peter
+Saffran came and told him that two gentlemen had just arrived, who
+wished to see the mine.</p>
+
+<p>"They must be foreigners," he added, "since they spoke French
+together." Peter's life as a sailor had given him some knowledge of
+the French tongue.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be with them immediately," returned Ivan, who was busy
+pouring a green liquid through a pointed felt hat. "Let them meanwhile
+get into the usual miner's dress."</p>
+
+<p>"That is already done; they are all ready for you."</p>
+
+<p>"Very good. I am going. And how are you getting on, Peter?"</p>
+
+<p>"With the wedding? Everything is in order; to-morrow we shall be
+called in church for the third time."</p>
+
+<p>"And when shall you be betrothed?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is just now Advent, and our priest will not marry us; but on the
+first Sunday after the Three Kings we shall have the wedding. I am not
+at all annoyed at the delay, for I have to get together a little
+money. When a man marries he must have all sorts of things&mdash;furniture
+and the like; and something for the cold winter into the bargain."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>"And have you put by nothing out of your wages?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir; I had over a hundred and fifty gulden laid by. I had spared
+everything on myself&mdash;food and drink, and even the pipe&mdash;and I had got
+together this sum. Then what should the devil do but bring the
+recruiting commission down here, and I had to give all my money into
+the greasy palm of the examining doctor, so that he might report me as
+being unfit for service because I squinted. It's a trick I have. I can
+squint for a quarter of an hour together, although my eyes are
+straight; on this account I shall be let off by the doctor, but my
+hundred and fifty gulden are gone. I shall have to squint at the
+marriage ceremony, for the priest only marries me because I am unfit
+for service."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Peter, you may count upon some help from me."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, sir, but I don't like loans; that is like eating one's
+supper at dinner."</p>
+
+<p>By this time they had reached the place where the strangers were
+waiting.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," cried Ivan, "so it is you, Felix!" and he held out his hand
+cordially to the visitor.</p>
+
+<p>The old acquaintance whom Ivan called Felix looked as if he belonged
+to another generation. His soft complexion, carefully waxed mustache,
+short imperial, his fine, dark-blue eyes, and particularly the shape
+of his head, and the way it was placed on his shoulders, taken
+together with his elegant dress, which the rough miner's blouse could
+not quite conceal, betrayed the man of the world. When he spoke, his
+voice was almost womanly; the tone was clear and high, like one of the
+Pope's choir.</p>
+
+<p>Felix hastened at once to put his friend's mind at ease upon a
+necessary part of his visit.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>"I hope you will forgive our putting up at the inn. I was sure you
+would have made us welcome, but you are a busy man, and you would not
+care to be at the bother of entertaining us; besides, like all men of
+business, you are, I dare say, a little in the rough, and the inn is
+really very comfortable. May I introduce you to my travelling
+companion, Gustav Raun&eacute;? He is a mine-surveyor and engineer."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan was well pleased at his friend's forethought in the matter of
+hospitality; not that he would not have made him welcome so far as lay
+in his power&mdash;and there were unoccupied rooms in the house which would
+have accommodated the two men&mdash;but his manner of life would have been
+disturbed. He had never for one moment thought of entertaining a
+guest.</p>
+
+<p>"My house," he said, frankly, "is not fitted to receive my friends,
+and, indeed, none come; but the inn is also mine. I trust you will
+consider yourselves my guests while you remain here."</p>
+
+<p>"We accept your offer," returned the other; "the more readily, since
+we have really come here on your business. Yesterday I read your
+advertisement. You require an overseer?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do." Ivan looked doubtfully at the two gentlemen.</p>
+
+<p>"No, no; it is not for me," laughed Felix. "I understand nothing of
+the business; but Raun&eacute; is inclined to join you, should he find that
+there are capabilities here for real work. Raun&eacute; is an old friend of
+mine. He has learned his business under Erenzoter. You know the firm
+of Erenzoter? He is thoroughly up in the whole thing."</p>
+
+<p>Raun&eacute; all this time said not a word, perhaps for the best of reasons,
+that, being a Frenchman, he did not understand the language in which
+the others spoke. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> was a small man, slight, and well-made, with
+penetrating eyes, a sharp-cut face, and very long mustache.</p>
+
+<p>To this gentleman Ivan explained in fluent French that he would be
+glad to show him all the properties of the Bondavara mine before going
+closer into the matter of engaging him permanently.</p>
+
+<p>After these courtesies they went down into the pit. Here the two men
+were soon convinced that each was thoroughly conversant with the whole
+machinery and working of a mine. Sometimes they held different
+opinions upon certain systems, and in the dispute or argument which
+would arise each disputant saw that the other had nothing to learn
+from him.</p>
+
+<p>Raun&eacute; displayed extraordinary quickness and knowledge in valuing the
+coal stratum. Even without looking at the geometrical maps he was able
+to decide upon the probable profit, as also upon the probable extent
+of the layer or stratum beyond the actual ground covered by Ivan's
+pit. His valuation agreed in almost every particular with that already
+made by Ivan. By mid-day the inspection was over, and they went to the
+inn for dinner, having first given some time to washing and general
+purification. A visit to a pit is by no means a cleanly undertaking.</p>
+
+<p>The afternoon was devoted to the inspection of the distilling-ovens,
+and in the evening they went over the foundry. When they returned from
+the foundry, Felix went in with Ivan to his house, while Raun&eacute;
+returned to the inn.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan led his old acquaintance into his workroom, where, in truth, a
+wonderful disorder prevailed, cleared a chair, full of maps and books,
+for him to sit upon, and told him to light his cigar at a chemical
+lamp of a new construction. After a pause Felix began:</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>"You were always of an inquiring mind, Ivan. I remember well how at
+college you distanced every one. As for me, I was a pygmy near a
+giant. Now, tell me truly, have all your science, your industry, and
+your physical exertions made you a rich man?"</p>
+
+<p>Ivan laughed. "This mine gives me an annual income of ten thousand
+gulden."</p>
+
+<p>"In other words, it produces nothing, or, at least, next to nothing.
+You are director, overseer, cashier, engineer, secretary, bookkeeper,
+and conveyer of goods, and you receive, roughly calculated, just what
+you would have to pay these employ&eacute;s if you had not united all their
+different offices in yourself. In other words, your work, your talent,
+your studies, your zeal, your expenditure of thought and strength upon
+this mine of yours only bring you in the miserable return which any
+proprietor would give to a man who filled only one of these offices.
+As a fact, you don't get a farthing by it."</p>
+
+<p>"The mine is not to blame, neither am I; it is the result of a small
+consumption, and, in consequence of this, the production cannot be
+increased."</p>
+
+<p>"I will tell you in two words where the fault lies. In the present day
+strength is alone to be found in co-operation. In the political world
+the smaller states go to the wall; they are forced to tack themselves
+on to larger ones, and so form a union. It is the same in the
+commercial world; small tradesmen must give way to the larger
+co-operative centres, and it is better for them to understand this,
+and make part of a company."</p>
+
+<p>"There is no danger of our foundry closing; our iron and our coal take
+a first place, and could not be crushed out."</p>
+
+<p>"An additional reason for developing my idea&mdash;an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> idea which, I may as
+well tell you, was the factor that brought me here. You have already
+guessed, I imagine, that I am not such a good fellow as to undertake
+the journey solely on Raun&eacute;'s account. He is not a chicken, and could
+have introduced himself. I have a great plan in my head. I intend to
+make you a wealthy man, and, naturally, I shall feather my own nest at
+the same time."</p>
+
+<p>"How so?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know where I once read this short synopsis of how different
+nations acquire money: 'The Hungarian seeks it, the German earns it,
+the Frenchman wins it, and the American makes it.' It is a most
+characteristic description. You have only to watch the Hungarian, how
+he seeks in every hole and puddle for a piece of gold; the German will
+work in the sweat of his brow till he gets his reward, a piece of
+gold; the light-hearted Frenchman will win the last piece of gold his
+victim has; but the Yankee sits in a corner, gnaws his finger-nails,
+and makes his pile. Yes, gold lies in undiscovered millions, only
+waiting to be 'made.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Where does it lie?"</p>
+
+<p>"In the capabilities of life, in bold undertakings, in the concealed
+treasures of the earth, which require development, and in the outlay
+of capital; in new discoveries, in the extension of the means of
+communication, in the increase of luxury, in the follies of mankind,
+in the exertions made by scientists; and especially in the money-box
+where small capitalists keep their gold, which should circulate
+through large channels to be of use. The number of small capitals
+should be thrown into one large, commercial mart, and by means of this
+credit every gulden would bring in three times its value. This is the
+art of the American; this is how to make a pile of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> gold. It is a
+splendid art, an honest art, and it seems to thrive with those who
+adopt it."</p>
+
+<p>When he had concluded this rather long-winded exordium, Felix threw
+himself back in his chair with an air as who should say, "Are you not
+dazzled with the brilliancy of my conception? Is not Felix Kaulmann
+one of the greatest financiers of the day? Surely you are convinced
+that he is."</p>
+
+<p>So far as that went, the name had a fair reputation. The Kaulmanns had
+always been in finance, and were well-known bankers. Of late, since
+Felix had inherited the business from his father, the firm were more
+before the public. Ivan knew his old schoolfellow well; he looked at
+him now quietly.</p>
+
+<p>"How do you propose to make a pile out of my pit?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have a big scheme in my head."</p>
+
+<p>"But the whole pit is anything but big."</p>
+
+<p>"So it appears to you, because you don't view it from my standpoint.
+You have sought for diamonds in the mine, but it has never occurred to
+you that there may be iron ore. This pit produces, you tell me, a
+profit of ten thousand gulden; that is the interest of two hundred
+thousand florins. I can get you a company who will buy the whole place
+out and out for two hundred thousand florins."</p>
+
+<p>"But I would not part with my pit at any price. I am here in my
+element, like the mud-worm in the mud."</p>
+
+<p>"You need not leave it&mdash;certainly not; on the contrary, if you wished
+to go, I would keep you chained, if necessary. The company will start
+with a recognized capital of four millions; we will form a large
+business, which on one side will ruin Prussian coal, on the other side
+will drive the English iron out of market. You shall be the principal
+director of the business, with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> yearly salary of ten thousand
+florins, and two shares in the business; besides which you will be
+allowed to take, if you wish it, a portion of the purchase-money in
+bonds at par, and these will bear interest at twenty per cent. You
+will enjoy an income of thirty thousand florins, instead of your
+beggarly ten thousand florins, which you now have, and, into the
+bargain, hardly any work."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan listened to this proposal without interrupting the speaker. When
+Felix had finished, he said, in a calm voice&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"My dear Felix, if I were to propose to a company ready provided with
+four millions the purchase of a business which up to the present had
+only produced ten thousand guldens profit, and which profit could
+never in the future realize more than eight hundred thousand gulden,
+do you not think I would be a despicable villain? If, on the other
+hand, I placed my own money in such a company, I should be equally a
+perfect fool."</p>
+
+<p>At this clear definition of his recent proposal Felix burst into a
+peal of laughter. Then, passing his pliant little walking-stick behind
+his back, he placed both his hands on the ends, and said with an air
+of profound wisdom&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"You have not heard all my plan. It has not altogether to do with your
+colony. You know well that your pit is only a small portion of the
+monster coal stratum of the Bonda Valley, which stretches far away&mdash;as
+far, indeed, as Muld Valley. I intend to buy this entire region; it
+can be had now for a mere song, and when properly worked it will be
+worth millions&mdash;millions earned by honest means. No stealing or taking
+unfair advantage of any one. We only raise a treasure which lies at
+our feet, so to speak, which is there ready for us,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> or for any one.
+It needs only sufficient strength on the part of those who lift it."</p>
+
+<p>"That is quite another thing. Now I can understand your scheme. I will
+also not contradict your assertion that it is lawful and generous; but
+it is just because it is so that it is full of holes. It is quite true
+that the treasure which lies concealed in the Bonda Valley is
+immense&mdash;it is possible that it represents millions; but this treasure
+cannot be discovered, for the Bondavara property is not for sale."</p>
+
+<p>"Really!"</p>
+
+<p>"I will tell you why; because at this moment it belongs to Prince
+Bondavary, who is one of the richest men in this country."</p>
+
+<p>"I should imagine that no one knows better than I do how rich he is."</p>
+
+<p>"In the next place, this man is one of the proudest of our
+aristocrats, to whom I, for one, would not venture to make the
+proposal to turn his old family property&mdash;the cradle, we might say, of
+his race&mdash;into a mine to be worked by a company."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, so far as that goes, we have seen many an ancient race glad to do
+a bit of commercial dirt. The King of Italy is a crowned king; and,
+nevertheless, he has sold Savoy, the place from which his family took
+their name and the right to have a cross on their shield."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, suppose the old prince were inclined to sell this property, he
+could not do so as long as his sister, the Countess Bondavary, is
+alive. Her father left the castle and the property round about to his
+daughter, who is now nearly fifty-eight, and may live yet another
+thirty years. She has grown up in that castle; she has, to my
+knowledge, never left it, not even for one day; she hates the world,
+and no human power would induce<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> her to part with her beloved
+Bondavara to a coal company, not if the last remaining stratum were to
+be found under the castle, and without this the world should perish
+from want of fuel."</p>
+
+<p>Felix laughed, then answered with an air of ineffable conceit&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I have conquered greater difficulties than an old maid's fad, and for
+the matter of that, women's hearts are not locked with a Bramah key."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, let us suppose," said Ivan, good-humoredly, "that you have
+overcome the prejudices of the prince and his sister, and that you
+have actually started your monster company. Then begin all the
+technical difficulties; for what is the first necessary to an
+undertaking of the kind?"</p>
+
+<p>"A sufficient supply of money."</p>
+
+<p>"By no means. A sufficient supply of workmen."</p>
+
+<p>"Wherever money is plentiful, human beings are pretty sure to flock."</p>
+
+<p>"Between men and men there is a wonderful difference. This is an
+article in which one is likely to be easily deceived. With us there is
+a want of first-class workmen."</p>
+
+<p>"We would get men from France and Belgium."</p>
+
+<p>"But the men who would come from France and Belgium would not work for
+the wages we give our men. They would ask double. In such a commercial
+undertaking, the first false step would be to raise the wages to more
+than the old system, for my conviction is that every industrial
+enterprise to be safe must work upon its own internal capabilities. We
+should measure our strength according to the circumstances in which we
+find ourselves, and we should educate our own workmen; draw them to us
+by learning together. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> trade should extend slowly, but surely, by
+small experiments."</p>
+
+<p>"You are too cautious. I can convince you to the contrary. For
+instance, a steam-engine of a hundred-horse power needs just the same
+labor to work it as one of four-horse power; and a small business
+requires as many account-books as a large one, and small undertakings
+in like manner, even if they are in themselves lucrative, will
+eventually be swamped by the larger ones on account of the want of the
+proper activity, without which all trade dies of itself."</p>
+
+<p>"Nevertheless, there is less danger of sudden collapse in a small
+business," returned Ivan, reflectively. "I like a certainty."</p>
+
+<p>"And what certainty have you? Suppose, just for the sake of argument,
+that one bright morning the Austrian minister of trade listens to the
+petition of the English iron masters, and that the free importation of
+raw iron is allowed. Your neighbor over there will at once shut his
+foundry, and you may go and sell your coal to the smithy, eh, Ivan?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have gone into all that. Our raw iron can compete with the English,
+and there would be&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Your ideas are <i>rococo</i>; they belong to the last century. If America
+had worked on these lines she would not have overshadowed Europe."</p>
+
+<p>"That may be. What I maintain is that foreign workmen are a bad
+investment. Those who come to us are, for the most part, men who
+cannot get on in their own country; restless fellows, ever wanting
+change; members of secret societies, socialists, and atheists; and so
+soon as they get among our men they begin disseminating their vicious
+doctrines, and the next thing is a strike for higher wages."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>"Have you ever had a strike here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Never!"</p>
+
+<p>"How do you prevent it?"</p>
+
+<p>"That is my secret, which cannot be told in a few words. I am,
+however, convinced of one thing: the first obstacle a company would
+have to contend against would be the price of labor, and the second
+difficulty would be to secure the services of a really capable
+overseer; one who would understand the <i>technique</i> of the business."</p>
+
+<p>"We could easily get one from abroad."</p>
+
+<p>"That might be; but I, as a private individual, could get one easily
+if I had sufficient money to pay him, for I could choose the best for
+my purpose, and could give him what I chose, as far as his merits
+deserved."</p>
+
+<p>Felix laughed at Ivan's description. "That is it exactly, as if you
+read it out of a book; and just on this account I intend to give the
+complete direction of the business to a man who understands it to a T,
+and this man is you."</p>
+
+<p>"That is a complete mistake. I do understand the working of my own
+small business, but I am quite ignorant of the ways of a great
+concern. Like many another small man, I should be a child in the hands
+of big speculators, and I should probably wreck the whole concern."</p>
+
+<p>"You are too modest. On the contrary, I think you would outwit the big
+speculators."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, suppose all went according to your wishes, or, rather, as it
+presents itself to your imagination. The great business is in full
+swing, delivers goods at moderate prices, and in sufficient quantity.
+Now comes the real objection&mdash;the topographical impediment. The Bonda
+coal-mine is twenty miles from the nearest rail<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>way, and twenty-five
+miles from the nearest river. On your way here you must have noticed
+the state of the roads. During four months of the year we can send no
+freight to a distance, and at any time the cost of transporting our
+coal and iron adds so much to the price that it is impossible for us
+to compete with either Prussia or England."</p>
+
+<p>"I know all that," said Felix, stroking his beard with the coral head
+of his stick; "but a light railway would soon settle all this. We
+could run it from Bonda Valley to the principal emporium." He spoke as
+if running light railways were a mere trifle.</p>
+
+<p>"A railway through the Bonda Valley!" returned Ivan, in a tone of
+surprise. "And do you really believe that with a capital of four
+millions you could construct a railway twenty miles long?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly not. That would be quite a separate affair."</p>
+
+<p>"And do you think you would find people ready to advance money for
+such an uncertain return as mere luggage traffic would insure to the
+shareholders in such a railway?"</p>
+
+<p>Felix moved his stick from his beard to his mouth, and began to suck
+the top.</p>
+
+<p>"And why not," he said, at last, "when the state would guarantee a
+certain rate of interest on the advance?"</p>
+
+<p>Ivan opened his eyes still wider, and placed upon each word an
+emphasis.</p>
+
+<p>"The state will give to this railway a guarantee of interest! You will
+excuse me, Kaulmann&mdash;that is not possible."</p>
+
+<p>Felix answered, after some consideration, "There are certain keys by
+which the bureaus of even ministers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> of state can be opened." After
+this oracular speech he was silent, pressing the top of his stick upon
+his lips, as if to restrain his words.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan drew out the drawer of his writing-desk and took therefrom a
+piece of black bread.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you see this? People who eat such coarse stuff don't dance
+attendance upon ministers."</p>
+
+<p>Felix threw his head back with a scornful laugh and twisted his stick
+impatiently between his fingers.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Allons, n'en parlons plus</i>," he said. "You have plenty of time to
+make up your mind, for what I have once resolved to do, that I do. I
+am quite ready to bet with you that I shall secure the Bonda Valley
+property from under the nose of the old prince and the faddy countess,
+and that the largest factory in the kingdom shall be established
+<i>here</i>, and the trade carried on with the outside world. This will all
+come to pass, as sure as my name is Felix Kaulmann."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I wish you every luck in your undertaking, but for my part I
+will have none of it."</p>
+
+<p>The arrival of Raun&eacute; interrupted the conversation. The Frenchman
+explained that he had considered Ivan's offer, and was ready to agree
+to his conditions and to enter on its office at once. Thereupon Ivan
+gave him his hand as a sign that the agreement was concluded. Then he
+handed him the books and the strong-box, the former with the complete
+list of the pitmen, the laborers, the girls, and boys engaged in the
+mine; the latter with the money which was paid to them for the week's
+work, and he asked the new overseer to appoint a room in the inn,
+where he was going to live, as the place where the miners should come
+to be paid.</p>
+
+<p>As it happened, this was a Saturday, and therefore<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> on this evening
+the overseer should enter on his new duties.</p>
+
+<p>The inn was exactly opposite to Ivan's house. Groups of pitmen
+collected on the vacant space between the two houses. Ivan went to the
+window to see in what order the payments would be made by the new
+director. Felix also amused himself by means of his pocket-glass,
+staring at all the women.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" he exclaimed, suddenly, "that little Cinderella over there in
+the red skirt wouldn't be bad for the model of a bronze statuette. I
+should like her to teach me how to say 'I love you' in the Slav
+language."</p>
+
+<p>"Take care," laughed Ivan; "she is betrothed, and her lover is called
+a man-eater."</p>
+
+<p>Just then Peter Saffran came out of the tavern. He had received
+Evila's money with his own, and offered it to her. She, however,
+refused to take it, and the pair went off together in good-humor with
+one another. The young girl's hand was upon Peter's arm, and as she
+passed the window they heard her singing.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Saperlot!</i> What a voice!" exclaimed the banker. "Why, she beats
+Th&eacute;r&egrave;se. If she were in Paris&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>He didn't finish his sentence. Ivan lit a cigar, and sat smoking
+silently.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V<br />
+<span class="smalltext">THE DOCTOR</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>The next day was Sunday. Ivan took Felix and Raun&eacute; through the
+workmen's colony to show them the dwelling-houses, which were
+clustered together like a village. This village had been made by
+Ivan's father. The district had been formerly occupied by the very
+poorest, who eat nothing but potatoes; but now the miners who lived
+here were well-fed and well-lodged. Each pitman had his own cottage
+and fruit-garden.</p>
+
+<p>When the three men came to the house in which Evila lived they stood
+still and looked into the little yard beyond. They felt obliged to do
+so, first, because the door stood open, and secondly, because in the
+yard a scene was going on of which they were unseen spectators.</p>
+
+<p>Peter Saffran was beating Evila. The lover held his betrothed by her
+long black hair, which fell over her shoulders nearly to the ground.
+He had the rich masses gathered up in his left hand and wound round
+his wrist, while in his right hand he had a thick plaited cord with
+which he struck the poor girl over the shoulders, neck, and back. As
+he did so, his eyes expanded until nearly all the white was visible,
+his eyebrows almost touched one another, his countenance grew white
+with rage, and through his open lips his white teeth looked like those
+of an infuriated tiger. At each blow of the rope he growled out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"So you will have your own way, will you? You will defy me, will you?"</p>
+
+<p>The girl made no protest against her lover's violence. She did not
+cry, neither did she beg him to spare her. She pressed her apron to
+her lips, and looked at her cruel persecutor with eyes full of the
+most divine compassion.</p>
+
+<p>"What a beast!" cried Felix. "And he is her lover!"</p>
+
+<p>"Just so," replied Ivan, indifferently.</p>
+
+<p>"But you should interfere; you should not allow that pretty child to
+be ill-used by the savage."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan shrugged his shoulders. "He has the right; she is his betrothed,
+and if I were to interfere he would beat her more. Besides, don't you
+see he has been at the brandy flask? There would be no use in
+reasoning with him."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I shall reason with him to some purpose," returned Felix. "I am
+not going to stand by and see that pretty creature beaten."</p>
+
+<p>"You will do no good, I warn you. The underground laborer has no
+respect for men in black coats."</p>
+
+<p>"We shall soon see as to that. Do me the favor to call out 'doctor' as
+soon as you see me take the fellow by his arm."</p>
+
+<p>As he spoke, the elegantly attired Felix rushed across the narrow
+passage which led to the yard, and confronted the infuriated savage.</p>
+
+<p>"You brute!" he cried. "Let go that girl. Why do you beat her?"</p>
+
+<p>Saffran answered phlegmatically, "What is that to you? She is my
+betrothed." He smelled fearfully of brandy.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, so you are thinking of marrying, are you?" re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>turned Felix,
+looking at the Hercules, to whose shoulder he hardly reached. "And how
+is it that you are not on military service, my friend?"</p>
+
+<p>The cord slipped from Peter's hand. "I could not pass," he said, in a
+low voice. "I have it in black and white. I am not fit."</p>
+
+<p>"Could not pass&mdash;not fit&mdash;when you can use your arms so well? Who was
+the upright doctor that gave you that certificate in black and white?
+Such muscles&mdash;" He touched with the tips of his gray gloves the
+starting muscles on the brawny arm.</p>
+
+<p>"Doctor!" called out Ivan.</p>
+
+<p>When Peter heard this exclamation, and felt the pressure of Felix's
+fingers, he let go his hold of Evila's hair. She was free.</p>
+
+<p>"You just wait till to-morrow, young man," continued Felix, shaking
+his cane before Peter's nose&mdash;"till to-morrow, and you shall have a
+second examination. I shall be curious to find out what is the secret
+impediment which makes <i>you</i> unfit to serve your country. That is my
+business here."</p>
+
+<p>Peter began suddenly to squint.</p>
+
+<p>Felix burst out laughing. "Two can play that game, young man," and he,
+too, fell to squinting. "I shall pay you a visit to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>At this Peter took to his heels, and making one rush of it, was soon
+over the wall of the yard, and never ceased running until he reached
+the wood.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan was astonished at the result of Felix's interference. He, who was
+twice as strong mentally and physically as this effeminate town-bred
+man, would have been routed signally, and behold, the weak one in gray
+gloves had chased the savage from the field, and was master of the
+situation! He felt vexed, yet he wished<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> to conceal his vexation. He
+saw Felix calmly conversing with Evila, whose deliverer he had been.
+Ivan was not going to stand open-mouthed looking at the hero.</p>
+
+<p>"Let us go on," he said to Raun&eacute;. "Herr Kaulmann can follow us if he
+wishes."</p>
+
+<p>Herr Kaulmann was not inclined to continue his walk. A full hour
+afterwards, when they were returning, he met them. He said he had been
+looking everywhere for them without effect. He had done a good
+morning's work in their absence. Finding himself alone in the yard
+with the girl, he had spoken to her in a sympathizing tone.</p>
+
+<p>"My poor child, what did you do to that brute, that he should ill-use
+you so cruelly?"</p>
+
+<p>The girl dried her eyes with the corner of her apron and made an
+effort to smile. It was a piteous attempt, tragic in its effort to
+hide her sufferings.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, sir, the whole thing was only a joke. He only pretended to strike
+me."</p>
+
+<p>"A nice joke! Look at the welts his blows have made."</p>
+
+<p>He took from his pocket a little case, which held his pocket-comb, a
+dandified affair with a small looking-glass, which he held before her
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Evila reddened over face and neck when she saw the disfiguring marks
+of her lover's affection. She spoke with some anger in her voice&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Sir, you have been very kind, and I will tell you all about it. I
+have a little brother who is a cripple. As soon as father died mother
+married again. Her husband was a drunkard, and when he was tipsy he
+would beat us and tear my hair. Once he threw my brother, who was only
+three years old, down a height, and since then he has been crippled.
+His bones are bent and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> weak, and he has to go on crutches; his
+breath, too, is affected; he can hardly breathe from asthma, and this
+was stepfather's doing. But that did not soften him; on the contrary,
+he persecuted the poor baby, and it was ten times worse after mother
+died. How many blows I have had to bear, and glad I was to get them if
+I could only spare the child! At last stepfather fell from the shaft;
+he was drunk, and he broke his neck. A good thing it was, too; and
+since then we have lived alone, and what I earn does for us both. But
+now I am going to marry Peter, and Peter hates my poor crippled
+brother. He says he must go out and beg; that an object like him on
+crutches could stand at the church-door on Sundays, and in the market
+on week-days, and get pence enough to support himself. Oh, it is
+shameful of him! And to-day we had a quarrel about it. He came to take
+me to church, where we were to be called for the third time. I was
+nearly ready, but I said I should first give my little brother some
+warm milk, and I went to fetch it. The boy was sitting on the doorstep
+waiting for it.</p>
+
+<p>"'Warm milk!' cried Peter, in a rage. 'I will give him what will make
+him fat!' and then he struck the child and tore at his ear as if he
+would tear it from his head. The child has a peculiarity&mdash;strange for
+a child&mdash;he never cries, although you might beat him to death. He
+opens his eyes and his mouth, but says nothing, and gives out no
+sound. I implored Peter to let the poor thing alone, for I loved him.
+This set him in a horrible rage.</p>
+
+<p>"'Then let the dwarf go packing!' he screamed. 'Give him a beggar's
+wallet, and let him beg from door to door; there never was a more
+unsightly cripple than he is, so let him bring home something for his
+keep, the scarecrow!'"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>The tears ran down the girl's face as she told this.</p>
+
+<p>"How can he help being so ugly and deformed?" she went on. "It was not
+God who made him so, it was stepfather; and so I told Peter, and that
+I would rather he would beat me than that he should touch the child.</p>
+
+<p>"'And I will beat you,' he said, 'if you say another word'; and then
+he seized hold of the child and kicked him. 'Get out of my sight, you
+little monster of ugliness!' he said. 'Go to the church-door and beg,
+or I will eat you.' And he made such a horrible face that my poor
+little brother shrieked with fright. I could not stand seeing him
+tortured in this way. I took him from him, and would have covered him
+up in my arms, but he ran and hid himself in the chimney. I <i>was</i> very
+angry.</p>
+
+<p>"'If you torment him like this,' I said, 'I shall break with you.'</p>
+
+<p>"Then he seized me by my hair and fell to beating me, as you saw. Now
+he will do it every day."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no," returned Felix. "The fellow will have to serve his term; a
+muscular giant like him cannot shirk military duty. If every one did
+that, who the deuce would defend the country and the emperor? It
+cannot be winked at&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Then are you really a doctor?" said Evila, doubting.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I am, when I say I am."</p>
+
+<p>A faint reflection of pleasure crossed the girl's face.</p>
+
+<p>"Then perhaps you can tell me if my little brother can ever be cured?"
+she said, eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"I can tell you. Bring me the child."</p>
+
+<p>Evila went into the kitchen, and after some trouble persuaded the
+cripple to come out of his shelter in the chimney. This poor victim of
+man's cruelty was a miserable object. He looked as if nature had
+exhausted the stuff of which he was made; not one of his limbs<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> fitted
+the other, and his will seemed to have no power over his body.</p>
+
+<p>Evila took the sick boy upon her knee, and kissing his cheek, withered
+like a bit of dried parchment, told him not to be afraid, for that the
+stranger was a kind gentleman.</p>
+
+<p>Felix examined the limbs of the cripple with all the attention of an
+experienced surgeon, and then with a professional air said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"The injury can still be cured; it requires only time and care. There
+is in Vienna an orthopedic institution expressly for such cases;
+cripples are there treated, and grow up strong, healthy boys."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" cried the girl, taking hold of Felix's hand. "Would they take
+Janoska there? But it would cost money, which I haven't got. I might
+get employment in this institution where cripples are made straight
+again. I would serve them well if they would cure my little brother."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see any reason why he shouldn't be admitted," returned Felix,
+gravely, "especially on my recommendation. I have great influence, and
+a word from me&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"You will say it, won't you, and God will forever bless you?" cried
+the girl, throwing herself on her knees and covering the hands and
+feet of the pretended doctor with kisses. "I will serve them; I will
+work for them day and night. They need not keep a dog; I will be their
+dog, and guard the house for them, if they will make Janoska straight,
+so that he need not beg at the church-door. Is it far to Vienna?"</p>
+
+<p>Felix laughed. "You don't think you could carry the boy to Vienna, do
+you? I will manage the journey for you. When I have once promised, I
+keep my word. I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> have my carriage here; I will, if you like, take you
+both to Vienna."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I will sit by the coachman, with Janoska on my lap!"</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, my child," returned Felix, with the air of a patron. "I am
+glad to help you; therefore, if you have resolved to take your brother
+to Vienna to have him cured, I shall give you the opportunity. Be
+ready to-morrow morning when you hear the post-horn sound. That rough
+fellow who beat you just now will be taken by the pioneers corps, who
+recruit next week, and he will have to serve his four years. Now, here
+is some money for you, that you may buy some warm clothing for the
+boy, for the nights are cold, and I travel day and night."</p>
+
+<p>The sum of money he placed in the girl's hand took away her breath,
+and left her no voice to thank him. Two bank-notes, ten pounds each&mdash;a
+fortune to a poor girl. The gentleman was a great nobleman; he was a
+prince. He was, however, already on his way before she could speak a
+word, and it would not do to run through the street after him.</p>
+
+<p>Evila then gave way to her joy like a child, as she was. She laughed,
+ran about the room carrying the boy, set him on a seat, knelt before
+him, kissed and hugged in her arms his emaciated body.</p>
+
+<p>"We are going away, Janoska, my heart's darling, in a coach to Vienna.
+Ho, ho, little horse, ho! In a coach with four gee-gees all hung with
+little bells! And Janoska will sit in my lap. Janoska will have good
+medicine and good food, and his feet and his hands, his back and his
+chest will get straight. He will be a big fellow, like other boys.
+Then we will come home, not in a coach, but on our feet. We go in a
+coach, and we come back on two feet without a crutch!"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>Then the poor little cripple began to laugh like her. Evila ran off to
+the store, and bought for the child a warm winter jacket, a cap, and
+boots; still, she could not, even with these stupendous purchases,
+spend half of the money. What she had left she determined to return to
+the gentleman.</p>
+
+<p>Now it was full time to go to church. Her friends wondered to see her
+come in alone. They asked her where was Peter? Evila answered she had
+not seen him that day. It went against her conscience to tell a lie
+before mass, but then, when one is placed in a situation that one must
+lie, what can be done? A woman or a girl who has been beaten by her
+betrothed or her husband must deny it. God pardons the lie, and
+society demands it.</p>
+
+<p>Peter Saffran was nowhere to be seen in the church. Evila felt
+terribly ashamed when the clergyman from the pulpit gave out for the
+third time the banns of her marriage. And there would be no marriage!
+Tears came into her eyes and sorrow filled her heart at the thought
+that she was leaving her home, her bridegroom, her friends, all the
+places she knew, the things she was accustomed to, and was going out
+into the world alone. These thoughts preyed upon her all day, until
+she was obliged to go out and look for Peter Saffran. She suspected
+where she would find him.</p>
+
+<p>In the depths of the woods at the bottom of a mountain ravine lay a
+cottage, or hut, where, at the time of the recruiting, the men and
+boys who wanted to avoid the conscription would hide themselves for
+weeks, until the officers would have gone on to another place. Not one
+betrayed their hiding-place; and here, no doubt, Peter lay concealed.
+Evila went blindly through the thicket. The night was dark, the wood
+still darker.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> From the mountain came the growling of the hungry
+wolves. The girl trembled with fear, but went her way, nevertheless,
+resolved to find her betrothed, although she was sure he would again
+beat her. On the path she picked up a stick, and as she went along she
+beat the bushes, crying, "Go away, wolf!" But her heart beat wildly
+when, with a rustling sound, some beast flew away through the
+brushwood. She was getting deeper into the wood, and every moment it
+was growing darker; still she kept on her way.</p>
+
+<p>At last through the darkness she saw the glimmer of a light in a
+window. This was the hut. Her breath came shorter as she drew near to
+the house, from whence came the sound of bagpipes mixed with shouts.
+They were very merry inside. She stole softly to the lighted window,
+and peeped in. They were dancing. Evila knew the girls who were there;
+they were none of her companions; she and her friends crossed the
+street when they met these. The piper sat upon the pig-trough, and
+when he blew his instrument grunted like so many pigs.</p>
+
+<p>Among the men Evila saw Peter Saffran. He was in high spirits, leaping
+so high as he danced that his fist struck the ceiling. He danced with
+a girl whose cheeks had two spots of red paint. Peter had both his
+arms round her waist; he threw her up and caught her again, kissing
+her painted face.</p>
+
+<p>Evila turned away in disgust and hastened back through the woods,
+unmindful of the cries of the wolves and the howling of the wind. She
+had not even her stick; that she had dropped, and she had no means of
+beating the bushes.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>That evening Felix Kaulmann came again to Ivan.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>"I want to have your last word," he said. "Will you join my
+speculation?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't change my mind so quickly," returned Ivan, coldly. "My answer
+is the same as it was this morning&mdash;I will not."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well. I have acted in a friendly manner in this matter, and now
+I tell you frankly that, as you do not choose to join me, I shall
+start the company alone, always leaving it open to you to rescind your
+determination and to join me if you wish. I cannot say fairer than
+this, and I trust we shall always be good friends. You will forgive me
+if I try to pick up some of the diamonds which are scattered about."</p>
+
+<p>"I leave you perfectly free to do what you can."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall avail myself of your permission, and the day will come when I
+shall remind you of your words."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan's forehead contracted as he thought, "What does he mean? What can
+he take from me? Not my coal-mine; that is mine by right of
+possession, and the law protects me. The cut on the neighboring
+mountain? So he may! What I have suffices for me."</p>
+
+<p>"Good-luck to your company!" he said, aloud; "and many thanks to the
+director."</p>
+
+<p>So they parted. Early next morning Ivan was roused from his sleep. It
+was the post-horn which sounded the note of Felix Kaulmann's
+departure. Ivan wished him a happy journey, then fell asleep again.
+Later, as he was leaving his house, he met Peter Saffran at the door.
+The miner presented a sorry figure. His features bore the impression
+of his night's dissipation; his eyes were bloodshot, his hair ragged,
+his dress in disorder.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, what is it?" asked Ivan, angrily.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir," said the man, in a hoarse voice, "that doctor who was with you
+yesterday&mdash;his name?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>"What do you want with him?"</p>
+
+<p>"He has carried off Evila!" burst out Peter. In wild agitation he
+snatched the hat off his head, tore his hair, and raised both his
+hands to heaven.</p>
+
+<p>In the first moment Ivan was conscious of feeling a cruel
+satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>"It serves you right, you beast!" he said. "Serves you right! What
+business had you to ill-use the girl&mdash;your promised wife&mdash;on the very
+day that you were called for the third time?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, sir," cried the miserable man, his teeth chattering, and beating
+his head with his hands, "I was drunk! I did not know what I did; and,
+after all, it was only a few blows with a light strap. What was that?
+With us common people it is nothing. A woman likes a man the better
+when he cudgels her. It is true; but to leave me for a gentleman&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Ivan shrugged his shoulders and went on his way. The miner caught him
+by the tail of his coat.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, sir, what shall I do? Tell me, what shall I do?"</p>
+
+<p>Ivan, however, was in no mood for giving advice; he was angry. He
+pushed Peter away, saying, sternly:</p>
+
+<p>"Go to hell! Run to the tavern, drink brandy, then choose among the
+girls whose company you frequent another bride, who will be only too
+glad if you are drunk every day in the year."</p>
+
+<p>Peter took up his hat, put it on his head, looked Ivan in the face,
+and, in an altered voice, said:</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir, I shall never drink brandy again; only once in my life shall
+I taste the accursed thing&mdash;once. You will remember what I say, and
+when I smell of it, when I am seen coming out of the public-house, or
+when you hear that I have been there, then stay at home, for on that
+day no one will know how or when he will die."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>Ivan left the man standing, and going back into his house, shut the
+door behind him. His first satisfaction at the news was passing away.
+This miserable peasant, who had dared to be his successful rival, had
+lost the treasure which he coveted. The fool had the pearl in his
+keeping, but he didn't know how to value it, and he had let it fall.
+That was good; but where had it fallen, this pearl so white and lovely
+in its purity and innocence? His soul was full of sorrow as he thought
+how in his eyes it had lost all its value. The girl who had seemed to
+him so virtuous, who kept her troth so faithfully, whose simplicity
+had been what he really loved&mdash;she had fallen at the first word from a
+villain. She refused her master, who had honorably offered her his
+name, his house, his all. But he had not the gifts of the other; he
+was not a dressed-up fellow, with town manners and seductive ways; he
+had not the tongue of a seducer, and had not promised her jewels and
+fine clothes, balls and operas. It was the same story with all women,
+and Mahomet was right when he gave them no souls, and no place either
+on earth or in heaven.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI<br />
+<span class="smalltext">COUNTESS THEUDELINDE</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>The mistress of Bondavara was at this time fifty-eight years old. Ivan
+had not overstated her age when he gave Felix the information.
+Countess Theudelinde had long since given up the world. The
+renunciation cost her very little; she had never been in touch with
+it. Up to her fourteenth year she had grown up in the house of her
+father, the prince; at that period her mother, the princess, died. The
+governess of Theudelinde was beautiful, the prince was old. The
+countess&mdash;only the first-born can have the princely title; the younger
+children are all counts and countesses&mdash;could not, for various
+reasons, remain under the paternal roof; she was sent out of the way
+and to finish her education at a convent. Before she went, however,
+she was betrothed to the Marquis Don Antonio de Padua, only son of the
+Marquis de Colomorano, then eighteen years of age. It was settled
+between the two fathers that when Antonio was twenty-four and
+Theudelinde twenty, she should be fetched out of her convent, and both
+should be united in wedlock by Holy Church. This arrangement was
+carried out so far as Theudelinde spending six blameless years in a
+most highly respectable convent. She was then brought home, and the
+marriage bells were set ringing. But, horror of horrors, when the girl
+saw her betrothed husband, she shrieked and ran away! This<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> was not
+the man she had promised to marry; this one had a mustache!
+(Naturally, for he was an officer in the hussars.)</p>
+
+<p>Theudelinde had never seen a man with a mustache. Six years before,
+when she was at home, all the distinguished guests who came to her
+father's house, the magnates, the ambassadors, were all smooth-shaved,
+so were the man-servants, even the coachman. In the convent there was
+only one man, the father confessor; his face was like a glass. And now
+they proposed to marry her to a man all hair! Impossible! The saints
+and the prophets of old wore beards, that was true; some of them had a
+good deal of hair, but none had it only on the upper-lip. The only one
+she could remember with this adornment was the servant of the
+high-priest in the Stations of the Cross, which, to a pious mind like
+Theudelinde's, was conclusive. She would hear no more of the marriage;
+the betrothal rings were returned on both sides, and the alliance was
+at an end.</p>
+
+<p>After this the countess avoided all worldly amusements. Nothing would
+induce her go to a ball, or to the theatre. Nevertheless, she did not
+seem inclined to take the veil; she had strong leanings towards this
+wicked world, only she wanted one of a different sort, without the
+wickedness. She desired out of the general chaos to create an ideal,
+and this ideal should be her husband. He should be tender, faithful,
+no wine-drinker, no smoker; a man with a smooth face, a pure soul, a
+sweet-sounding voice; a gifted, sympathetic, patient, amiable, soft,
+romantic, domestic, pious man; prudent, scientific, literary,
+distinguished, well-born, much respected, covered with orders, rich,
+loyal, brave, and titled. Such a <i>rara avis</i> was impossible to find.
+Countess Theudelinde spent the best days of her life<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> seeking a
+portrait to fit the frame she had made, but she sought in vain; there
+was no husband for her.</p>
+
+<p>When the countess had reached thirty there was a halt. The ideal was
+as far off as ever. She was anxious to come to terms with the world,
+but the world would have none of her. Her day was past; she had no
+right to any pretensions. She found herself in the position of having
+to choose between utter renunciation or acceptance of the world, with
+all its wickedness. At this critical juncture the old prince, her
+father, died, leaving the countess the property of Bondavara, together
+with the castle. Here Theudelinde retired to nurse her ideal, and
+mourn over her shattered idols. Here she was absolute mistress, her
+brother, to whom the property reverted, leaving her to her own
+devices.</p>
+
+<p>The countess carried out, therefore, her theories unmolested, and her
+dislike to beards and mustaches had free play. The growers of these
+enormities were banished from her presence, and, as was only a natural
+consequence, as time went on her hatred of the male sex increased. No
+man was allowed in the neighborhood of the countess. She only suffered
+women about her&mdash;not alone in the house, but outside. The garden, the
+conservatories, were attended to by women&mdash;unmarried women, all.
+Matrimony was as a red rag to Theudelinde, and no one durst mention
+the word in her presence. Any girl who showed any inclination to wear
+the "matron's cap" was at once dismissed with contumely. Even the
+"coachman" was a woman; and for the reason that it would not have been
+fitting to sit upon a coach-box in woman's clothes, this female Jehu
+was allowed to wear a long coachman's cloak, a man's coat, as also a
+certain garment, at the bare mention of which an Englishwoman calls
+out, "Oh, how shocking!" and straightway<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> faints. Truly, at the time
+this history was written, in our good land of Hungary, this very
+garment played a serious part, since it was the shibboleth and visible
+sign of fidelity to the governing powers, and of submission to the
+mediators; in truth, ever since those days the "leg of the boot" has
+been worn. So it came to pass that Mrs. Liese wore this thing, the
+only one of the kind to be seen in the castle. Liese, also, was
+allowed to drink wine, and to smoke tobacco, and, needless to say, she
+did both.</p>
+
+<p>Fraulein Emerenzia, the countess's companion, was, so to speak, the
+exact counterpart of her noble mistress. The countess was tall and
+slender; she had a white skin, her features were sharp, her nose
+almost transparent, her lips, scarlet in color, were shaped like a
+bow; her cadaverous form bent forward; her eyelids fell over her
+lack-lustre eyes, her face appeared to have two sides which didn't
+belong to one another, each half having a totally different
+expression; even the wrinkles didn't correspond. She wore her hair as
+it was worn in the days of her youth, as it was worn when Caroline Pia
+was married, and as it is possible it will be worn again. Her hands
+were fine, transparent; they were not strong enough to cut the leaves
+of a book with a paper-knife. Her whole being was nerveless and
+sensitive. At the slightest noise she would shriek, be seized with a
+cramp, or go off in hysterics. She had certain antipathies to beasts,
+flowers, air, food, motion, and emotion. At the sight of a cat she was
+ready to faint; if she saw a flesh-colored flower her blood grew
+excited. Silver gave everything an unpleasant taste, so her spoons
+were all of gold. If any women crossed their legs she sent them out of
+the room. If the spoons, knives, or forks were by accident laid
+crosswise on the table, she would not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> sit down; and if she were to
+see velvet on any of her attendants she was thrown into a nervous
+attack, from the bare idea that perhaps her hand might come in contact
+with this electric and antipathetic substance.</p>
+
+<p>Fortunately for her household her nervous fears kept her quiet at
+night. She locked and double-locked the door of her room, and never
+opened it until the morning came&mdash;no, not if the house were burning
+over her head.</p>
+
+<p>Fraulein Emerenzia was, as we have before said, the counterpart of her
+mistress, in so far that she affected a close imitation of her ways,
+for in her appearance she was a direct contrast, Emerenzia being a
+round, short, fat woman, with a full face, the skin of which was so
+tightly stretched that it was almost as white as the countess's; she
+had a snub nose, which in secret was addicted to the vice of
+snuff-taking. Her dress and her manner of doing her hair were
+identical with the countess's fashion in each, only that the stiff-set
+clothes had on her small body a humorous expression. She affected to
+be as nerveless as the countess; her hands were as weak&mdash;they could
+not break a chicken bone. Her eyes were as sensitive to light, her
+antipathies were as numerous, and she was as prone to faints and
+hysterics as her patroness. In this direction, indeed, she went
+further. So soon as she observed that there was any cause for
+emotional display, she set up trembling and screaming, and so got the
+start of the countess, and generally managed to sob for a minute
+longer; and when Theudelinde fell fainting upon one sofa Emerenzia
+dropped lifeless upon another; likewise, she took longer coming to
+than did her mistress. At night Emerenzia slept profoundly. Her room
+was only separated from that of the countess by an ante-chamber, but
+Theudelinde might tear down all the bells in the castle without waking
+her com<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>panion, who maintained that her sleep was a species of nervous
+trance.</p>
+
+<p>One man only was ever allowed entrance into the Castle of Bondavara.
+What do we say?&mdash;no man, no <i>masculinum</i>. The language of dogma has
+defined that the priest is <i>neutrius generis</i>, is more and less than a
+being of the male sex; bodily he can be no man's father, spiritually
+he is father of thousands. No one need think he will here read any
+calumnies against the priesthood. The pastor Mahok was a brave, honest
+man; he said mass devoutly, baptized, married, buried when called
+upon, would get up in the middle of the night to attend the death-bed
+of a parishioner, and would never grumble at the sacristan for waking
+him out of his first sleep. The pastor wrote no articles in the
+<i>Church News</i>, neither did he ever read one. If he wanted a newspaper
+he borrowed from the steward the daily paper. When his clerk collected
+Peter's pence, Pastor Mahok sent it with an additional gulden or two
+to the office of the chief priest; but this did not prevent him
+sitting down in the evening to play "tarok" with the Lutheran pastor
+and the infidel steward. He held to having a good cellar; he had a
+whole family of bees in his garden, and was a successful cultivator of
+fruit. In politics he was a loyalist, and confessed he belonged to the
+middle party, which in the country means just this, and no more, "We
+vote for the tobacco monopoly, but we smoke virgin tobacco because it
+is good and we have it."</p>
+
+<p>From this account every one will understand that during the course of
+this narrative this excellent gentleman will offend no one. We would,
+in fact, have nothing to say to him were it not that he came every
+day, punctually at eleven o'clock, to Bondavara Castle to hear the
+countess's confession, and that done, he remained to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> dinner, and in
+both directions he honestly earned his small honorarium. There was a
+general air of satisfaction in his whole appearance, in his double
+chin, in his fresh color, in his round, shining face.</p>
+
+<p>To-day the excellent man was punctual. The countess, however, was not.
+Just as eleven o'clock struck, the spiritual man knocked at the door
+of the sitting-room. Only the voice of Emerenzia answered, "Come in!"</p>
+
+<p>The smile of greeting on the countenance of the visitor was reflected
+on that of the companion. It was the meeting of two full moons.</p>
+
+<p>"The countess is still locked in her room," Emerenzia said in a
+whisper, as if afraid that her voice could penetrate into the third
+room.</p>
+
+<p>The pastor expressed by a movement of his hand and an elevation of his
+eyebrows that the sleep of the just was not to be disturbed. The good
+man was not aware that it was the toilette of the just that was then
+in progress. These mysteries were conducted by the countess in
+private. No one, not even a faithful maid, was admitted until
+Theudelinde was clothed, and for this reason her garments were made to
+close in front.</p>
+
+<p>The priest made use of this unexpected delay to search in the pocket
+of his coat, and to draw from thence a mysterious something, which,
+after first casting a look round the room, to make sure no one was
+spying on him, he pressed into the fat hand of the countess's
+companion, who hastily concealed this surreptitious something in the
+depths of the pocket of her dress, expressing her gratitude by a
+friendly nod, which the pastor returned by a courteous movement
+which expressed, "No thanks are necessary for so small a service."
+Whereupon Emerenzia, turning away, half-shyly drew<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> the something
+carefully out of her pocket, peered into the contents of the same,
+held it close to her nose, drinking in the scent of the something,
+turning her eyes up to heaven, and again to the pastor, who, on his
+part, expressed by the motion of the thumb and forefinger of his
+left hand, "Excellent&mdash;special brand!" Then, no longer able to
+restrain her feelings, the companion took from the mysterious packet
+between the thumb and forefinger of <i>her</i> right hand something which
+she placed in both nostrils, and sniffed up in silent ecstasy. It
+was the pastor's pleasure to fill Emerenzia's snuff-box with the
+very best mixture. This was the platonic bond which existed between
+them&mdash;the mutual desire of two noses for one ideal.</p>
+
+<p>Yellow snuff is not an unattainable ideal. In the ordinary way of
+business a quarter of a pound can be procured for a few pence; but
+common snuff was as different from the priest's mixture as cherry
+brandy is from Chartreuse, or Veuve Cliquot from the vintage of
+Presburg. This is easily understood by those who take snuff. How is it
+that a clergyman always has the best tobacco? How does he prepare it?
+Does he get it prepared? These are broad questions that a man of
+liberal mind dare not ventilate. Even if he knew, it would not be
+advisable to make use of his knowledge. One thing is certain, the best
+tobacco is used by the Church. A bishop, who died not long since, left
+behind him a hundredweight of the most heavenly stuff, two ounces of
+which fetched a ducat.</p>
+
+<p>The quiet <i>t&ecirc;te-&agrave;-t&ecirc;te</i> between the two snuff-takers was disturbed by
+the sound of a bell; then a metal slide in the door of the countess's
+room opened, and a tray with an empty teacup was put through. This was
+a sign that the countess had breakfasted.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>Every door in the castle had sliding panels, some large, others
+small. The slides were made of copper, the doors of strong wood,
+with brass locks and fasteners. The door of the countess's bedroom
+was all of iron, covered on the inside with a tapestry curtain.
+Since no man was allowed in the house, it was necessary to have a
+defence system against any possible attack. This system included
+some cleverly-constructed machinery, by means of which the countess,
+by pressing her foot, could raise up the flooring, and precipitate
+any bold invader of the sacred precincts of her bedroom into a
+cellar without light or exit. From the alcove of her bed an electric
+telegraph connected with the fire-tower, so that by raising her
+finger the alarm-bell could be set ringing, and in case of danger
+the masculine inhabitants of the adjacent farm-houses and
+hunting-lodges could be summoned without a moment's delay. In
+Emerenzia's room there was likewise a communication with this
+electric apparatus, and to the door were affixed the different signs
+by which the countess expressed her wishes. The cup signified that
+the waiting-maid was required, a book would have meant that the
+companion was needed.</p>
+
+<p>Emerenzia, therefore, sent the girl to her mistress. When her work was
+finished the bell rang again, the book appeared, and the companion
+went to the countess. After a short time she returned, and opened the
+door for the pastor, while she whispered to him softly&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"She has seen the spirits again; she has much to tell you."</p>
+
+<p>We will follow the pastor into his penitent's room; but no one need be
+afraid that he or she is about to listen to the lady's confession.
+When the pastor had closed the door behind him, he came to the
+countess, who sat in a large armchair, looking pale and exhausted.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>
+She signed to the priest to take his place in another armchair
+opposite to her.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you seen them again?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I have," said the countess, in an awed whisper. "All happened in the
+same way as usual. So soon as the clock-tower had sounded midnight,
+there rose from below, as if out of the vault, a fearful chorus of
+voices intoning the <i>De Profundis</i>. It was a ghostly, terrible sound.
+I could distinguish the solo of the celebrant, the antiphon, the
+chorus; and between them loud laughter, diabolical words, the shrieks
+of women, and the clatter of glasses. I heard comic songs accompanied
+by wild howls; then, again, the soft, pious hymn succeeded by the wild
+disorder. I pinched my arm to see did I dream. Here you can see the
+mark. 'Twas not dreaming. I got up; I wished to convince myself that I
+was awake. I took my pencil and note-paper, and when a distinct tune
+reached my ear I wrote it down. Here is the paper. You understand
+music."</p>
+
+<p>The priest threw a hasty glance over the ghostly melody, and
+recognized a well-known Hungarian volkslied&mdash;"Maiden with the black
+eyes, let me taste thy lips." Undoubtedly an unclean song to issue
+from the family vault at midnight!</p>
+
+<p>"And, gracious countess, have you never heard the peasants singing
+this in the fields?"</p>
+
+<p>The countess drew herself up with dignity. "Do I frequent the places
+where peasants sing?" she made answer; and then continued her story.
+"These notes are sufficient proof that I was awake; my nerves were too
+excited to allow me to sleep again. Moreover, I was drawn by an
+invincible desire to go to the spot from whence the sound came. I
+dressed myself. I am certain that I took out my grass-green skirt of
+Gros de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> Naples, with a flounce of cashmere. I called none of my
+servants; every one in the house was asleep. An extraordinary courage
+awoke in me. Quite alone I descended the steps which lead to the
+family vault. When I reached the door both sides opened of themselves;
+I entered, and found myself in the presence of my departed ancestors.
+The monuments were all removed, the niches empty; the occupiers of
+both sat round the long table which stands in the vault, in the
+identical dress in which they are painted in the portraits which hang
+in the hall, and by which their calling in life is distinguishable. My
+great-uncle, the archbishop, in full canonicals, celebrated mass
+before the requiem altar; my grandfather, the chancellor, had large
+parchment documents before him, upon which he affixed the state seal.
+My great-uncle, the field-marshal, in armor, and with the marshal's
+baton in his hand, gave orders. My ancestress Katherine, who was a
+lady of the court, and of remarkable beauty, rolled her eyes about,
+and in her whole face no feature moved but those glittering eyes; and
+my aunt Clementina, the abbess of the Ursuline Convent, sang psalms
+with my uncle, in which the others from time to time joined."</p>
+
+<p>"But the laughter, the tumult, the comic songs?" asked the pastor.</p>
+
+<p>"I am coming to that. At the other end of the table sat some of my
+more distant relatives&mdash;my young cousin Clarissa, who danced herself
+to death; and a cousin, who was a celebrated flute player; and my
+great-uncle Otto, who was devoted to hazard, and now rattled dice into
+a copper goblet, and cursed his bad-luck when he made a bad throw;
+also another cousin, who died on the very night of her marriage, and
+still wore a faded wedding wreath; finally, my uncle Ladislaus, who
+was ban<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>ished from the family circle early in the century, and whose
+frame hangs in the picture-gallery empty, his portrait being removed."</p>
+
+<p>"How did you know him, then?" By this question the pastor hoped to
+check the flow of the countess's visions.</p>
+
+<p>Theudelinde, however, answered that her uncle Ladislaus, being a rebel
+and a heretic, had not alone been declared a traitor, but had incurred
+the ban of excommunication. He was taken prisoner and beheaded. "And
+therefore," she added, with an air of conviction, "it was easy to
+recognize him by his death's-head. Likewise, during his lifetime he
+ignored the king's express command, and was the first to introduce
+tobacco-smoke into the country, and on this account, at his execution,
+he received the punishment awarded to the smoker, of having a
+pipe-handle run through his nose. Last night, as he sat at the table,
+he held between the teeth of his monstrous death's-head a large
+meerschaum pipe, and the whole vault smelled in the most fearful
+manner of tobacco-smoke."</p>
+
+<p>This remark convinced the priest that the countess had been dreaming.</p>
+
+<p>"Between both my cousins," she went on, "the nun and the bride, there
+was an empty chair. There I felt obliged to seat myself. The bride
+wished to hear of the fashions; she praised the stuff of my Gros de
+Naples dress, taking it between her fingers, which, when they touched
+mine, were cold as death itself. The upper end of the table was
+covered with green cloth, the lower end with a yellow silk
+table-cloth, embroidered with many-colored flowers. At this end every
+one laughed, talked, sang noisy songs; while at the top the psalms
+were intoned and the antiphon was sung. Both sounded hor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>rible in my
+ears. The dishes contained cooked hazel-hens and roast pheasants, with
+the feathers sticking in their heads; sparkling wine filled the cups.
+I was pressed to eat and drink, but neither the food nor the liquor
+had any taste. Once the bride, my cousin, as is the custom with very
+young girls, offered me the spur of the pheasant's breast, saying,
+jokingly, 'Break this spur with me, and we shall see which of us two
+gets a husband first.' I seized hold of my end of the spur; I tugged
+and tugged, and at last broke it. The largest half remained in my
+hand. The bride laughed. 'Theudelinde shall be the first married!' she
+cried. I blushed; it seemed to me something terrible that the spirits
+of my dead ancestors should be so frivolous."</p>
+
+<p>The worthy pastor said nothing. Nevertheless, he was minded to agree
+with his penitent. He could not imagine why blessed souls, or even
+condemned ones, should occupy themselves breaking pheasant bones with
+an old maid, of all people in the world.</p>
+
+<p>"What gave me most offence," continued Theudelinde, "was the
+outrageous behavior of my uncle Ladislaus. One minute he shrieked,
+then laughed loudly, sang horrid songs. Again he broke out into
+fearful curses, scorned the saints, the pope, the sacraments, made
+witticisms that brought a blush to the faces of the ladies, and blew
+all his tobacco-smoke over me. I shook the skirt of my green silk to
+prevent the horrid smell sticking to it, but I felt this precaution
+was of little use. My uncle Ladislaus began then to tease me, and said
+I had concealed the prophetic bone in the pocket of my green dress. My
+face glowed with shame, for it was true. I denied it, however,
+whereupon he began to swear in his heathenish way, and to thump with
+his fists on the table until the vault re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>sounded with his blows. My
+cousins put their hands over his mouth. Then he spoke through his
+empty eye-sockets. It was terrible! He cursed all the saints in the
+calendar and the emperor. My great-uncle, the archbishop, stretched
+out his hands and damned him; my grandfather, the chancellor, sealed
+the sentence; and my great-uncle, the field-marshal, drew his sword
+and cut off my uncle's death's-head. The head rolled over, and fell at
+my feet, still holding the pipe between its teeth, and blew its filthy
+breath over me. Then I arose and fled."</p>
+
+<p>The pastor had now made up his mind that the whole story was nothing
+but the dream of an hysterical woman. It was strange, however, that
+the countess should have the same vision so often, and that it should
+always begin in the same manner.</p>
+
+<p>As she now concluded her recital with the words, "As I took off my
+silk dress it smelled horribly of tobacco-smoke," a brilliant idea
+came to Father Mahok.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you excuse my asking you where your green dress is?" he asked,
+gravely.</p>
+
+<p>The countess betrayed some embarrassment.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know. My wardrobe is in the care of Fraulein Emerenzia&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Allow me to ask you the question, did you not take the dress off in
+this apartment?"</p>
+
+<p>"I no longer remember. Emerenzia has been here since; she may know."</p>
+
+<p>"Will you grant me the favor, countess, to send for Fraulein
+Emerenzia?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly. She will be here in a minute."</p>
+
+<p>The countess pressed her finger twice on the electric apparatus, and
+the companion entered.</p>
+
+<p>"Fraulein," said the countess, "you remember my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> green Gros de Naples
+silk, bordered with a trimming of fur?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; it is a pelisse of peculiar cut, with hanging sleeves, and
+fastened by a silk band and buckle."</p>
+
+<p>"That is the dress," returned the countess. "Where is it?"</p>
+
+<p>"In the wardrobe. I hung it there myself, first putting camphor in the
+sleeves, that the moths might not get at the fur."</p>
+
+<p>"When did you do this?"</p>
+
+<p>"Last summer."</p>
+
+<p>The pastor laughed slyly to himself. "Now," thought he, "the countess
+must be convinced that she dreamed the whole scene she has so
+accurately described."</p>
+
+<p>"Have I not worn it since last summer?" questioned Theudelinde.</p>
+
+<p>"Not once. The open-hanging sleeves are only for the hottest weather."</p>
+
+<p>"Impossible!"</p>
+
+<p>"But, countess," put in the priest, "it is easy to convince yourself
+of what ma'm'selle says. You have only to look into the wardrobe. Who
+keeps the key?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ma'm'selle Emerenzia."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you command me to open the press?" asked the companion, with a
+discomfited look.</p>
+
+<p>"I do," answered the countess, nodding to the pastor to follow her
+into the next room.</p>
+
+<p>Emerenzia, her face puckered into an expression of annoyance, drew her
+bunch of keys from her pocket, and placed one in the lock of an
+antique and highly ornamented press, of which she threw the doors
+open. At least fifty silk dresses hung there, side by side. The
+countess never allowed any of her clothes to get into strange hands;
+no man's eye should ever rest upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> what she had worn. Through this
+museum of old clothes Emerenzia's fingers went with unerring
+certainty, and drew forth the oft-mentioned green silk dress with the
+fur trimming.</p>
+
+<p>"Here it is," she said, shortly.</p>
+
+<p>The pastor was triumphant, but the countess, whose nerves were more
+impressionable than those of ordinary mortals, grew suddenly pale and
+began to shake all over.</p>
+
+<p>"Take that dress down," she said, in a whisper. And Emerenzia, with a
+jerk, tore it from its peg. What, in Heaven's name, had come to the
+pastor and her mistress?</p>
+
+<p>The countess took it from her hand, and held it, while she turned her
+head the other way, across his nose.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you smell it?" she said. "Is it tobacco-smoke?"</p>
+
+<p>Father Mahok was astonished. This fine silk dress, straight from out
+of a lady's wardrobe, smelled as strongly of the commonest tobacco as
+the coat of a peasant who had passed his night in an ale-house. Before
+he could answer Theudelinde's question she was ready with another.
+From the pocket of the green Gros de Naples she now drew forth a
+broken pheasant bone.</p>
+
+<p>"And this?" she asked. But here her strength was exhausted. Without
+waiting for a reply, she fell fainting on the sofa.</p>
+
+<p>Emerenzia, sobbing loudly, fell helplessly into an arm-chair. The
+clergyman was so upset by the whole thing that, in his embarrassment,
+he opened the doors of three more wardrobes before finding the one
+which communicated with the sitting-room. Then he summoned the
+servants to attend to their mistress. <i>The evidence of witchcraft was
+proved.</i></p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">THE COUNTESS'S ALBUM</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>The worthy Pastor Mahok was of opinion that the mystery of the
+countess's dress smelling so strongly of tobacco-smoke could not be
+accounted for by any law of Nature, and judged, therefore, by the
+light of his priestly office, as well as from his worldly experience,
+that these diabolical visions were matters worthy of deep
+consideration on his part. They occupied his mind during dinner, which
+he partook of in company with the countess's companion, but of the
+subject of his thoughts he spoke no word to her. They were alone at
+table. The countess remained in her room, as was her habit when she
+suffered from what was called "cramps," and her only refreshment was
+some light soup. After dinner she again sent for the pastor.</p>
+
+<p>He found her lying on the sofa, pale and exhausted; her first words
+had reference to the subject which filled both their minds.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you now convinced," she said, "that what I told you was, indeed,
+no dream?"</p>
+
+<p>"Doubtless there has been some strange work going on."</p>
+
+<p>"Is it the work, think you, of good or bad spirits?" asked the
+countess, raising her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"That can only be ascertained by a trial."</p>
+
+<p>"What sort of a trial, holy father?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>"An attempt to exorcise them. If these spirits who every night leave
+their graves are good, they must, by the strength of the exorcism,
+return to their resting-places, and remain there till summoned by the
+angel's trumpet to arise on the last day."</p>
+
+<p>"And in case they don't return?" inquired the countess, anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>"Then they are bad spirits."</p>
+
+<p>"That is to say, damned. How do you know that?"</p>
+
+<p>For a minute there was a struggle in the pastor's mind; then he
+answered, boldly:</p>
+
+<p>"This night I shall keep watch in the castle."</p>
+
+<p>"And if you hear the unearthly noises?"</p>
+
+<p>"Then I shall descend into the vault, and scatter the ghosts with holy
+water."</p>
+
+<p>The countess's face glowed with fervor as she exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"Holy father, I shall accompany you."</p>
+
+<p>"No, countess; no one shall accompany me but my sacristan."</p>
+
+<p>"The sacristan! A man! He shall not put his foot in this house!" cried
+the countess, excitedly.</p>
+
+<p>The pastor, in a soothing voice, explained to her that his sacristan
+was almost as much a part of the Church as himself; moreover, that he
+was absolutely necessary on this occasion for the performance of the
+exorcism; in fact, without him the ceremony could not take place,
+seeing that the sacred vessel containing the holy water, the
+crucibulum and lanterns, should be carried before him to give all due
+effect to the religious rite.</p>
+
+<p>Under these circumstances Countess Theudelinde gave her consent, on
+the condition that the obnoxious male intruder should not enter the
+castle itself. Still<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> more, the pastor promised to watch in the
+greenhouse after the castle gates were locked.</p>
+
+<p>According to these arrangements, when it began to get dark, Father
+Mahok arrived, bringing with him his sacristan, a man of about forty,
+with a closely shaved mustache and a very copper-colored face. The
+pastor left him in the greenhouse, and proceeded himself to the
+dining-room, where the countess was awaiting him for supper. No one
+ate a morsel. The pastor had no appetite, neither had the countess,
+nor her companion. The air was too full of the coming event to allow
+of such a gross thing as eating.</p>
+
+<p>After supper the countess withdrew to her room, and Herr Mahok went to
+the greenhouse, where the sacristan had made himself comfortable with
+wine and meat, and had kept up the fires in the oven. The servants had
+been kept in ignorance of what was going on; they had never heard the
+midnight mass, nor the wild shrieks and infamous songs of the
+inhabitants of the vault, and the countess would not allow the ears of
+her innocent handmaidens to be polluted with such horrors. Therefore,
+every one in the castle slept. The pastor watched alone. At first Herr
+Mahok tried to pass the long hours of the night in reading his
+prayers, but as his habitual hour for sleep drew near he had to fight
+a hard battle with his closing eyelids. He was afraid that if he
+slumbered his imagination would reproduce the countess's dream, to
+which, be it said, he did not give credence; at the same time, he did
+not wholly doubt. Generally, he found that his breviary provoked
+sleep, and now he thought it better to close the book, and try what
+conversation with the sacristan would do as a means to keep awake.</p>
+
+<p>The clerk's discourse naturally turned upon ghostly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> appearances; he
+told stories of a monk without a head, of spirits that appeared on
+certain nights in the year, of hobgoblins and witches, all of which he
+had either seen with his own eyes or had heard of from persons whose
+veracity was unimpeachable.</p>
+
+<p>"Folly! lies!" said the excellent pastor; but he could not help a
+creeping sensation coming over him. If he could even have smoked, it
+would have strengthened his nerves; but smoking was forbidden in the
+castle. The countess would have smelled it, as the giant in the old
+fairy tale smelled human flesh.</p>
+
+<p>When the sacristan found that all his wonderful tales of ghosts and
+hobgoblins were considered lies, he thought it was no use tiring
+himself talking, and as soon as he ceased sleep began to fall upon his
+eyelids. Seated upon a stool, his head leaning against the wall, his
+mouth open, he slept profoundly, to the envy, if not the admiration,
+of the good pastor, who would willingly have followed his example.
+Soon some very unmusical sounds made themselves heard. The sacristan
+snored in all manner of keys, in all variations of nasal discord,
+which so jarred on the pastor's nerves that he several times shook the
+sleeper to awake him, with the result that he slept again in no time.</p>
+
+<p>At last the clock on the castle tower chimed twelve. Herr Mahok struck
+the sacristan a good blow on his shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"Get up!" he said. "I did not bring you here to sleep."</p>
+
+<p>The clerk rubbed his eyes, already drunk with sleep. The pastor took
+his snuff-box to brighten himself up with a pinch of snuff, when
+suddenly both men were roused out of all the torpor of sleep by other
+means. Just as the last beat of the clock had finished striking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> the
+unearthly mass began to be intoned in the vault below. Through the
+profound silence of the night was heard the voice of the priest
+singing the Latin mass, with the responses of the choir, accompanied
+by some instrument that sounded like an organ, but which had a
+shriller tone, and seemed to be a parody of the same.</p>
+
+<p>Over the whole body of Herr Mahok crept a ghostly shiver.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you hear it?" he asked the sacristan, in a whisper.</p>
+
+<p>"Hear it? Who could help hearing it? Mass is saying somewhere."</p>
+
+<p>"Here, under us, in the vault."</p>
+
+<p>"Who can it be?"</p>
+
+<p>"The devil! All good spirits praise the Lord," stammered the worthy
+pastor, making the sign of the cross three times.</p>
+
+<p>"But it seems that the evil spirits praise the Lord as well as the
+good ones," returned the clerk.</p>
+
+<p>This assertion of his was, however, quickly contradicted, for in the
+middle of the next psalm a diabolical chorus struck in wildly, and the
+air resounded with&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0q">"Come, dearest, come to me,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Come, I am at home;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Two gypsies play for me.<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">And here I dance alone."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Then followed shrieks of laughter, in which women's shrill cackle
+mingled with the hoarse roar of men and the wildest discord, as if
+hell itself were let loose.</p>
+
+<p>The poor priest, who had trembled at the pious psalms, nearly fell to
+the ground on hearing this pandemonium. A cold sweat broke out all
+over him; he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> knew now that the countess was right, and that this was,
+in truth, the work of the evil one.</p>
+
+<p>"Michael," he said, his teeth chattering with fear, "have you heard&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I must be stone deaf if I didn't&mdash;such an infernal din!" replied the
+other. "All the spirits of hell are holding a Sabbath&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Just then there was the tinkle of a bell. The tumult subsided, and the
+voice of the celebrant was once more heard intoning mass.</p>
+
+<p>"What shall we do?" asked Herr Mahok.</p>
+
+<p>"What shall we do? Descend into the vault and exorcise the evil
+spirits."</p>
+
+<p>"What!" cried the priest. "Alone?"</p>
+
+<p>"Alone!" repeated Michael, with religious fervor. "Are we alone when
+we come in the name of the Lord of armies? Besides, we are two. If I
+were a priest, and if I were invested with the stole, had I the right
+to wear the three-cornered hat, I should go into the vault, carrying
+the holy water, and with the words, 'Apage Satanas,' I would drive
+before me all the legions of hell itself."</p>
+
+<p>The excellent pastor felt ashamed that his ignorant sacristan should
+possess greater faith, and show more courage in this combat with the
+powers of darkness, than himself; still, fear predominated over his
+shame.</p>
+
+<p>"I would willingly face these demons," he said, in a somewhat
+hesitating manner, "were it not that the gout has suddenly seized my
+right foot. I am not able to walk."</p>
+
+<p>"But consider what a scandal it will be if we, who have heard the
+spirits, have not pluck enough to send them packing."</p>
+
+<p>"But my foot, Michael; I cannot move my foot."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>"Well, then, I will carry you on my back. You can hold the holy water
+and I will take the lantern."</p>
+
+<p>There was no way out of this friendly offer. The pastor commended his
+soul to God, and, taking heart, resolved to fight the demons below,
+armed only with the holy insignia of his office. The good man,
+however, did not mount, like Anchises on the back of &AElig;neas, without
+much inward misgiving.</p>
+
+<p>"You will be careful, Michael; you will not let me fall?" he said, in
+a somewhat quavering voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be afraid, pastor," returned the sacristan, as he stooped and
+raised the pastor on his shoulders. "Now, forward!" he cried, taking
+the lantern in his hands, while Herr Mahok carried the vessels
+necessary for the exorcism.</p>
+
+<p>A cold blast of air saluted them as they issued from the greenhouse
+and crossed the large hall of the castle, which the glimmering light
+from the small lantern only faintly illumined. Half of it remained in
+darkness; but on the side of the wall where hung the portraits of the
+armed knights an occasional gleam showed Herr Mahok the faces of the
+countess's warlike ancestors, who had done in their day good service
+against the Turks. They looked at him, he thought, somewhat
+contemptuously, and seemed to say, "What sort of man is this, who goes
+to fight pickaback?"</p>
+
+<p>Michael stopped before a strong iron door in the centre of the hall.
+This was the entrance to the subterranean vaults and cellars
+underneath the castle. And now the pastor suddenly remembered he had
+left the key of this gate in the greenhouse. There was nothing for it
+but to retrace their steps. Just as they reached the threshold,
+however, Michael suggested that something very hard was pressing
+against his side.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> Could it be the key which was, after all, in his
+reverence's pocket? This suggestion proved correct, and once more he
+had to run the gantlet of the old crusaders and their contemptuous
+superiority.</p>
+
+<p>The key creaked as it turned in the lock, and a heavy, damp smell
+struck upon them as they passed through the iron gate.</p>
+
+<p>"Leave the door open," said the pastor, with an eye to securing a safe
+retreat.</p>
+
+<p>And now they began to descend the steps, Herr Mahok remarking that his
+horse was not too sure-footed. He tottered in going down the steps so
+much that the pastor, in his fright, caught him with his left hand
+tightly by the collar, while he pressed the other more closely round
+his throat, a proceeding which Michael resented by calling out, in a
+strangled voice:</p>
+
+<p>"Reverend sir, don't squeeze me so; I am suffocating!"</p>
+
+<p>"What was that?"</p>
+
+<p>A black object whizzed past them, circling round their heads. A bat,
+the well-known attendant upon ghosts!</p>
+
+<p>"We shall be there in a few minutes," said the clerk, to encourage his
+rider, whose teeth chattered audibly.</p>
+
+<p>While they were descending the steps the noise in the vault had been
+less audible, but now, as they came into the passages which ran
+underneath the hall, it broke out again in the most horrible discord.
+The passage was long, and there were two wings; one led to the cellars
+proper, the other to the vaults. Opposite to the steps there was a
+cross passage, at the end of which, by ascending some seven or eight
+steps and passing through a lattice door, you could get into the open
+air. This lattice served likewise as a means of ventilating the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>
+passages, and on this particular night there was such a strong current
+of air that the light in the lantern was in danger every minute of
+being blown out. It would have been well if that were all. The
+sacristan hadn't taken three steps in the direction of the vault
+before a terrible sight revealed itself to both men.</p>
+
+<p>At the other end of the passage a blue flame burned; before the flame
+there stood, or sat, or jumped, a dwarfish figure all in white. It was
+not three feet in height, and, nevertheless, its head was of monstrous
+size. As the sacristan, with the pastor, drew near this horrid
+appearance, the blue flame suddenly flared up, throwing a bright,
+whitish light all over the passage, and by this light the terrified
+spectators beheld the dwarfish figure stretch itself out, and grow
+taller and taller&mdash;six, eight, twelve feet&mdash;and still it grew and
+grew. Its shadow danced in the light of the blue flame upon the marble
+floor of the passage like a black serpent. Then the fearful appearance
+raised its head, and the vaulted roof echoed with its howls and
+shrieks.</p>
+
+<p>Michael's courage flew out of the window. He turned, and, burdened as
+he was with the weight of the pastor on his back, he ran back as fast
+as he could. In the middle of the passage, however, he made a false
+step and fell, with Herr Mahok, flat upon his face. In the fall he
+broke the lantern, the light went out, and left them in the dark.
+Groping along with outstretched hands, they missed the steps which led
+up to the iron gate, but after some time found themselves in the cross
+passage, and saw the soft light of the moon shining through the
+lattice window. They made at once for the door. At first there was
+some difficulty in opening it, but Michael managed to force it, and,
+to their great joy, they were once more in the open air. Over the
+stubble,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> through the thorn-bushes they flew, never pausing to look
+back. Singularly enough, the gout in the pastor's foot in no way
+affected his speed. He ran quite as fast as Michael, and in less than
+a quarter of an hour was in his bed. So, too, the sacristan, whose
+fright produced an attack of fever, which kept him a prisoner there
+for three days.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning Herr Mahok, with many inward qualms, went up to the
+castle. His was an honest, simple mind; he preferred rather to believe
+in the wiles of the devil than in the wickedness of human nature; he
+credited what he had seen with his own eyes, and never sought to
+penetrate the dark veil which shrouds many supernatural mysteries. He
+believed firmly that he had now to do with damned spirits, who at
+their midnight orgies cracked pheasant bones to see who should first
+be married.</p>
+
+<p>He found the countess in good humor; she was friendly, lively, and
+received her visitor with a smiling countenance. This change did not
+surprise Herr Mahok. He was by this time accustomed to the caprices of
+Countess Theudelinde. One day she was out of humor, the next all
+serenity.</p>
+
+<p>The pastor went straight to the kernel he had to crack.</p>
+
+<p>"I watched last night," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, father, thanks, ten thousand thanks! Your mere presence has been
+sufficient to banish the evil spirits which have haunted the castle
+for so long. Last night all was peace; not a sound did I hear."</p>
+
+<p>"Not a sound!" cried the pastor, rising from his chair in his
+astonishment at such a statement. "Countess, is it possible that you
+did not hear the noise?"</p>
+
+<p>"Profound repose, Arcadian peace, reigned in the house, both up-stairs
+and below."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>"But I was there, and awake. I did not dream it. And, moreover, I can
+show you the bruises and abrasions on my elbow; they witness to the
+fall we had, to say nothing of Michael, the sacristan, who is this
+moment in a high fever in consequence. No, never did any one hear so
+demoniacal, so terrible a noise as echoed through the vault last
+night. I was there myself, countess, in my own person. I was ready to
+encounter the wicked spirits; I would have met them armed with all the
+terrors of Mother Church, but the courage of my weak-kneed sacristan
+failed. I have now come to tell you that my knowledge is at an end.
+This castle is bewitched, and, countess, my advice to you is to leave
+it without delay, and to take up your residence in a city, where your
+family ghost cannot follow you."</p>
+
+<p>The countess placed the middle finger of her left hand upon her
+breast, and spoke with haughty dignity:</p>
+
+<p>"I leave this castle because the spirits of my ancestors dwell here!
+Your advice, reverend father, shows how little you know me. To my
+mind, it is a powerful reason for remaining. Here the spirits of my
+forefathers, the ghosts of ancestors, surround me. They know me, they
+claim me as theirs; they honor me with their visits, with their
+invitations, and you counsel me to abandon them. Never! Bondavara is
+dearer to me than ever; the presence of my ancestors has doubled its
+value a hundredfold."</p>
+
+<p>It was on the tip of Herr Mahok's tongue to answer, "Well, then,
+remain here by all means, but for my part I give my resignation;
+provide yourself with another confessor." He restrained himself,
+however, and said, quietly:</p>
+
+<p>"Will you tell me, countess, how it happens that, if you have these
+close relations with your ancestors'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> spirits, you heard nothing of
+the witch's Sabbath they kept last night?"</p>
+
+<p>At this bold question the countess's pale cheeks were suddenly
+decorated by two carnation spots; her eyes fell before the sharp look
+of her father confessor, and, striking her breast with her hand, she
+sank slowly on her knees, whispering, in great agitation:</p>
+
+<p>"Pater, peccavi. There is something which I have never confessed to
+you, and which lies heavy on my conscience."</p>
+
+<p>"What is it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I fear to tell you!"</p>
+
+<p>"Daughter, fear nothing," said the priest, soothingly. "God is
+merciful to human weakness."</p>
+
+<p>"I believe that; but I am more afraid that you will laugh at me."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" And the pastor, at this strange speech, fell back in his chair,
+smiling to himself.</p>
+
+<p>The countess rose from her kneeling position and went to her
+writing-table; she opened a secret drawer, and took from thence an
+album. It was a splendid book with an ivory cover, chasings of gilt
+enamel, and clasp of the same.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you look through this album, father?"</p>
+
+<p>The priest opened the clasp, took off the cover, and saw a collection
+of cabinet photographs, such as are generally to be found on drawing
+room tables. There were portraits of eminent statesmen, poets, actors,
+with whose likenesses all the world is familiar. Two points were
+remarkable in this gallery&mdash;one, that no one was included who had any
+scandal connected with his name; secondly, it was only clean-shaved
+men who had a place in the volume. Herr Mahok recognized many whom he
+knew either by sight or personally&mdash;Liszt, Rem&eacute;nyi, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> actors
+Lendvay, Szerdahelyi, and others, together with many foreign
+celebrities, who wore neither beard nor mustache. Another peculiarity
+struck the pastor. Several of the leaves, instead of portraits, had
+pieces of black crape inserted into the frames. This circumstance made
+him reflective.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a very interesting volume," he said, closing the book' "but
+what has it to do with the present circumstances?"</p>
+
+<p>"I confess to you," said the countess, in a low voice, "that this book
+is a memorial of my folly and weakness. A picture-dealer in Vienna has
+for many years had an order from me; he sends me every photograph that
+comes out of clean-shaved men, and I seek among them for my ideal. I
+have been seeking many years. Sometimes I imagine I have found it;
+some one of the portraits takes my fancy. I call the man whom it
+represents my betrothed. I place the photograph before me; I dream for
+hours looking at it; I almost fancy that it speaks to me. We say to
+one another all manner of things&mdash;sweet nothings, but they fill my
+mind with a sort of ecstasy. It is silly, I know, and something tells
+me that it is worse than silly, that it is sinful. I have been for a
+long time wondering whether I should confess this as a sin, or keep
+silence about such foolish nonsense. What is your opinion, father?"</p>
+
+<p>Herr Mahok, in truth, did not know what to say. It was true that in
+the Scripture some words were said about sinning with the eyes, but
+photographs were not named. He answered, vaguely&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Anything further, my daughter?"</p>
+
+<p>"After I had for some time been silly over one of the portraits, I saw
+in a dream the man it represented. He appeared to me as a beautiful
+apparition, we walked to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>gether through fields and meadows,
+arm-in-arm; a sort of heavenly halo surrounded us, flowers sprang up
+under our feet. We were young, and we loved one another." The poor
+lady wept bitterly as she related her dream, and she sobbed as she
+said, "Is not this a sin, father?"</p>
+
+<p>Herr Mahok had no hesitation in answering. He had found the name of
+the sin&mdash;it was witchcraft; but the form the penance should take
+puzzled him. The countess, however, helped him to a decision.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," she said, sadly, "I thought it was some demoniac possession; and
+for these visions, sweet as they were, I must now do penance. Is it
+not so, father? Will it satisfy for my fault if I burn in the fire the
+portrait of the man who appeared to me in my dream, and fill the empty
+space in my book with black crape?"</p>
+
+<p>This remark explained the many frames filled with crape. The pastor
+thought that the penance was well chosen. Nothing could be better than
+a burnt-offering.</p>
+
+<p>Theudelinde continued, "During these visions I lie in a profound
+slumber. My soul is no longer on the earth; I am in the paradise of
+lovers. No earthly feeling chains me here below; I am a clear spirit,
+consequently no sound reaches me. I am as deaf to this world as if I
+were already dead."</p>
+
+<p>"Therefore the ghostly tumult never reached you last night; you were
+wandering in your dream world."</p>
+
+<p>"I confess it was so," whispered the countess, covering her face with
+her hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, here is a nice state of things!" thought the pastor. "The dead
+ancestors play all manner of pranks in the family vault, while their
+descendant projects herself out of her human body to make love in some
+other region. They are, indeed, an extraordinary race. A poor man
+daren't even think of such extravagances, and how<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> can I, a poor
+parish priest, deal with such queer goings-on? I only know how to
+settle with the every-day penitent, who commits the usual sins."</p>
+
+<p>This complication, in truth, of the ghosts below and the bewitched
+countess above, was too much for a man of his calibre to deal with. It
+required a superior genius to exorcise the spirits and to calm the
+hysterical mind of Theudelinde. In the difficulty it appeared to him
+better to temporize.</p>
+
+<p>"My daughter, the penance you have imposed upon yourself is well
+thought of. Have you already committed to the flames the portrait of
+the last demoniacal appearance?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," answered the countess, with all the hesitation a young girl
+would have in speaking of her lover's picture.</p>
+
+<p>"And why not?" questioned the priest, almost sternly. He was glad to
+find some tangible fault.</p>
+
+<p>"It would be wrong, I think, to throw this particular portrait into
+the fire."</p>
+
+<p>"And wherefore should it be wrong?"</p>
+
+<p>Before she replied the countess opened a concealed pocket of the album
+and drew forth what it contained.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" cried the pastor as he took the photograph, which he at once
+recognized as the Abb&eacute; Samuel, the head of an influential order which
+possessed many different branches.</p>
+
+<p>"The photographer in Vienna had my directions to send me the
+photograph of every clean-shaven celebrity. He, therefore, has
+committed the sin of sending me the portrait of an eminent priest. The
+fault is mine, not his."</p>
+
+<p>"And in your dreams have you wandered arm-in-arm with the original of
+this?" asked Herr Mahok, still holding in his hand the photograph.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>"I am guilty!" stammered the countess, laying her hands upon her
+breast.</p>
+
+<p>"Then," said the pastor, "Heaven inspired you not to throw this
+portrait, like that of the others, into the fire, for in this man you
+will find a physician able to cure your sick soul. It is really
+providential that this portrait should be in your hands, for the
+others were idle, foolish dreams. Here you have found your ideal,
+under whose guidance you may hope to find health and salvation. He
+will lead you, not in a dream, but in reality, to the blessed regions
+of peace and true piety, where alone, my daughter, real happiness is
+to be found. This man possesses strength of mind and elevation of
+character sufficient to exorcise all the spirits which haunt your
+castle, and to banish from your mind those temptations which spring
+from the same source as the more visible demons which we call
+ghosts."</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">THE EXORCIST</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>Acting upon the advice of Herr Mahok, the countess resolved to lay all
+her troubles before a new physician for her soul. That very day the
+pastor wrote to Abb&eacute; Samuel, who was then in Pesth, inviting him to
+come to Bondavara Castle.</p>
+
+<p>The abb&eacute; was a man of high calling; one of those priests who are more
+or less independent in their ideas. He had friendly relations with
+certain personages, and the initiated knew that certain articles with
+the signature "S," which appeared in the opposition paper, were from
+his pen. In society he was agreeable and polished, and his presence
+never hindered rational enjoyment. In intellectual circles he shone;
+his lectures, which were prepared with great care, were attended by
+the <i>&eacute;lite</i> of society, and, as a natural consequence, the
+ultramontane papers were much against him. Once, even, the police had
+paid him a domiciliary visit, although they themselves did not know
+wherein he had given cause for suspicion. All these circumstances had
+raised his reputation, which had lately been increased by the
+appearance of his picture in a first-rate illustrated journal. This
+won for him the general public. So stately was his air, his high,
+broad forehead, manly, expressive features, well-marked eyebrows, and
+frank, fearless look, with nothing sinister or cunning in it. For the
+rest,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> there was little of the priest about him; his well-knit,
+robust, muscular form was rather that of a gladiator. Through the
+whole country he was well-known as the independent priest, who
+ventured to tell the government what he thought.</p>
+
+<p>For this reason the excellent Herr Mahok had for him the greatest
+respect. He, as an insignificant parish priest, could do nothing for
+his fatherland. It was true that, many years ago, he had fought more
+than twenty battles with the Honv&eacute;d Battalion; he had preached to his
+men how they should love their country, and for this he had been
+sentenced to death, which sentence had been commuted to ten years'
+imprisonment; he had passed five of those years in chains, and his
+feet still bore the marks of the wounds made by the heavy irons. But
+what were these trifles, of which Herr Mahok thought little, in
+comparison to the bold deeds of the Abb&eacute; Samuel, who dared to write
+independent articles in the papers, and to sign them with the initial
+of his name. To have fought with Haynau against the Russians under
+fire of heavy cannon, to have been in the galleys, that was a mere
+joke. To have the fearful police upon your track, that was serious.
+Herr Mahok thought most highly of the abb&eacute;'s capabilities, measuring
+them by the loss of his own physical and mental energy&mdash;for after
+fifteen years, five of which had been spent in heavy iron chains, a
+man is not what he was.</p>
+
+<p>After some days the invited guest arrived at the parsonage of Herr
+Mahok. The pastor related to him, circumstantially, all that had
+reference to the countess, with the exception, of course, of such
+matters as were under the sacred seal of confession. He told him about
+the ghosts, and his own experience under that head.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>Herr Samuel received the narration with fits of laughter.</p>
+
+<p>"You may laugh here as much as you like, but I beg of you not to do so
+before the countess; she holds to her ghosts," remarked the pastor,
+with an air of one who knew what he was saying.</p>
+
+<p>The abb&eacute; then asked for information concerning the disposition of the
+rooms in the castle, how they were situated in regard to one another.
+He made the pastor describe minutely every particular of what he had
+himself been witness to, also how he and his sacristan had made good
+their escape through the lattice door.</p>
+
+<p>The equipage of the countess came at the usual hour to fetch both the
+guests to the castle, which lay at some little distance from the
+village.</p>
+
+<p>It was only natural, all things taken into account, that the countess
+on her first introduction to the abb&eacute; should lose all control of her
+nerves, and that she should give way to several hysterical symptoms,
+which could only be calmed by the abb&eacute; laying his hand in paternal
+benediction upon her forehead. Fraulein Emerenzia's nerves, in
+accordance with the sympathy which existed between her and her
+mistress, became at once similarly affected, and required a similar
+imposition of hands; but neither of the priests troubled themselves
+about her, and when the countess recovered from her attack, the
+companion did likewise.</p>
+
+<p>During dinner, which was served with great elegance, the abb&eacute;
+discoursed upon every possible subject, and made inquiries as to the
+prospects of the country, the occupations of the people, the age of
+the servants, and so forth. He addressed a great deal of his
+conversation to Fraulein Emerenzia, attended to her wants; when he
+offered her wine she covered her glass with her hand,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> and declared
+she never tasted anything but water, which seemed infinitely to
+surprise him; also, when he wished to know whether the ring on her
+finger was one of betrothal, Emerenzia tried to blush, and gave him to
+understand that, from her own choice, she meant to live and die a
+maid.</p>
+
+<p>After dinner was over, Herr Mahok remained in the dining-room to
+entertain the Fraulein&mdash;that is to say, he seated himself in an
+armchair, folded his hands upon his rotund stomach, closed his eyes,
+and during a sweet doze heard the clatter of Emerenzia's sharp voice.</p>
+
+<p>The abb&eacute; went with the countess into her private sitting-room. She sat
+upon the sofa, her eyes on the ground, waiting with much inward
+trepidation to hear what sentence so exalted a personage would
+pronounce upon the demoniacal possession. As he did not speak, she in
+a timid voice began&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Has my confessor told you the terrible secret of the castle?"</p>
+
+<p>"He has told me all that he knows."</p>
+
+<p>"And what view would the authorities of the Church take, do you
+think?"</p>
+
+<p>"My individual opinion, countess, is that the whole thing is a
+conspiracy of the living."</p>
+
+<p>"Of the living!" repented the countess. "And my visions?"</p>
+
+<p>"Those can be explained by psychological means. You are of a
+susceptible, nervous temperament; your senses are made acquainted with
+the first portion of the history, your imagination works out the
+remainder. Your dreams, countess, are hallucinations, nothing else.
+Visible ghosts do not exist; those who are dead cannot live and move,
+for the reason that their organic powers are at an end."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>The countess shook her head incredulously. To say the truth, she was
+ill-pleased. She had expected from so high and intellectual an
+ecclesiastic a very different explanation. If he could only tell us
+this, it was, indeed, lost trouble to send so far for him.</p>
+
+<p>Herr Samuel was quick enough to read in her face what was passing in
+her mind, and hastened to apply a radical cure.</p>
+
+<p>"Countess, I know you doubt what I say, because you have firm faith in
+what your eyes have seen, your ears have heard. You are quite
+convinced that you yourself have been many times in the haunted vault,
+and have there seen the spirits of your departed ancestors."</p>
+
+<p>"Only last night," whispered the countess, in an awed voice, "the
+tumult was fearful. They told me they would come again to-night, that
+they would expect me."</p>
+
+<p>"And have you promised to go to them?"</p>
+
+<p>"When day comes I shudder from the idea, but at night some strange,
+mysterious power draws me to the vault; I know all fear will vanish,
+and I shall not be able to stay away."</p>
+
+<p>"Very good. Then to-night I shall go with you to the vault of your
+ancestors."</p>
+
+<p>At these words a sudden flush covered the pale face of the countess.
+The living portrait! She should go with him&mdash;where? Perhaps into hell.
+She trembled at the thought; then with a violent effort recovered her
+composure, and said, in a hesitating manner&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know. I do not think it would be possible. I should have to
+let my household into the secret."</p>
+
+<p>The abb&eacute; understood the nature of the question, and all the
+consequences it involved.</p>
+
+<p>"That would not be necessary. On the contrary, your household must
+know nothing of my visit."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>The countess looked at him. She was puzzled, agitated. What could he
+mean? He could not imagine for a moment that he was to spend the night
+with her&mdash;alone?</p>
+
+<p>The abb&eacute; read her thought and answered quietly&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I shall go away now with Pastor Mahok. I shall return about midnight,
+and will knock at your door to announce my arrival."</p>
+
+<p>Theudelinde shook her head. "That is impossible. In winter every door
+in my house is locked by seven o'clock. To reach my suite of rooms,
+you should pass through no less than seven doors. First the castle
+door. This is watched by my portress, an old woman who never sleeps;
+besides, two monstrous bloodhounds keep guard there. They are chained
+to the door with long chains; they would eat you if you tried to pass.
+Then comes the door of the corridor, to which there are two locks; my
+companion keeps the key of one, my housekeeper the key of the other,
+and to open it you must awake both. The third is the door to the
+staircase; the cook has the key under her pillow, and she sleeps so
+soundly, and the whole house is astir before she moves. The fourth is
+the entrance to the secret lattice passage; this is in the keeping of
+the housemaid, a nervous girl, who, when it grows dark, would not go
+into the next room. The fifth door leads to the chamber of my own
+maid, a very modest young person, who would not open the door to a man
+were he prophet or saint. The sixth door is that of Fraulein
+Emerenzia, my companion; she falls into violent hysterics if at night
+any one turns the handle of her door. The seventh and last door is
+that of my dressing-room, which is fitted with a peculiar self-acting
+lock, a new invention. I ask your reverence if, under such conditions,
+you could make your way here at midnight?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>"Permit me, in my turn, to put a question to you. You have given me to
+understand that you descend constantly to the vault of your ancestors.
+How does it happen that you pass through all these well-guarded
+doors?"</p>
+
+<p>Over the countenance of the countess a triumphant smile passed. The
+superstitious woman could repel the attack of the scientist.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I do not pass through any of them! From my bedroom a secret
+staircase leads to the chapel vault. I go down this staircase."</p>
+
+<p>It would have been only natural that the abb&eacute; on hearing this should
+have proposed to conceal himself in the library, and there await the
+countess. But he read the character of his hostess and knew that such
+a proposal would have shocked her prudish mind and have offended her
+so deeply that, in all probability, she would have refused to listen
+any further. She required the most delicate management; this the
+quick-seeing abb&eacute; recognized perfectly.</p>
+
+<p>"I am still of the same mind," he said, calmly. "I shall knock at your
+door this night at twelve o'clock."</p>
+
+<p>At these words the countess was seized with a nervous shudder, but the
+abb&eacute; went on without taking any notice&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"If you believe that there are unearthly beings who are possessed of
+mysterious powers by which they pass through locked doors and make
+themselves visible to some human beings, invisible to others, then why
+should I not have this power also? But you imagine that because I am
+only a man born of dust I cannot infringe the laws of nature. Let me
+remind you that there is a natural explanation for all that may seem
+to you incomprehensible. Witchcraft is now no longer a mystery.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> We do
+not now burn Boscos and Galuches upon funeral piles. Do not for a
+moment think that I am a Bosco or a Paracelsus. I repeat that what I
+promise I will perform; at the same hour at which the ghosts begin
+their orgies will I knock at your door with the words, <i>In nomine
+Domini aperientur port&aelig; fidelium</i>&mdash;'In the name of the Lord may the
+doors of the faithful be opened.' Remember, no one but us two is to
+know anything of my coming to-night. Till then may the blessing of God
+be with you."</p>
+
+<p>Theudelinde was much impressed by her strange visitor. His confidence
+infused courage into her weak mind, while his masterful ways
+influenced her like a spell. He addressed her from such a superior
+height that she felt it would be almost desecration not to place the
+utmost faith in his promises, and, nevertheless, he had promised to
+perform an impossible thing. How could she reconcile the two, unless,
+indeed, she had to do with a being of another world? She saw from the
+window the carriage drive away with the two clergymen. She watched
+them get in; she remained at her post until the carriage returned
+empty.</p>
+
+<p>The female Jehu showed to the other servants the <i>pourboire</i> she had
+received; it was a new silver piece. It passed from hand to hand. What
+a miracle! Of the fifteen million inhabitants of Hungary, fourteen
+million five hundred thousand had never seen such a thing as a silver
+piece of money. There was a clergyman for you, of a very different
+pattern from that other, who gave, every Sunday, a fourpenny piece
+wrapped carefully in a piece of paper, to be <i>divided</i> among the
+waitresses!</p>
+
+<p>The time passed slowly to the countess; the clock seemed to go with
+leaden weights. She wandered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> through all the rooms, her mind
+revolving in what possible manner, by what possible entrance a man
+could find his way into the castle. When it had struck seven o'clock
+she saw herself that every door which communicated with her wing was
+carefully locked; then she sat herself down in her own room. She took
+out the plan of the castle, which had been prepared by the Florentine
+artist who had built it. It was not the first time she had studied it;
+when she had received the castle as a present from her father, she had
+made herself mistress of every particular concerning it. The building
+was three times larger than her income could afford to maintain. She
+had, therefore, to choose which wing she would occupy. In the centre
+there were fine reception-rooms, a banqueting-hall, an armory, and a
+museum for pictures and curiosities. This portion was out of the
+question. Also, from this portion of the castle a concealed staircase
+led to a subterranean passage. This could be used as a means of
+escape, and had no doubt served such a purpose when the old castle had
+been besieged by the Turks. The grandfather of the countess had walled
+up these steps, and no one could now get into the secret passage. The
+left wing, which was similarly constructed to the one which the
+countess inhabited, had served as a sort of pleasure residence to her
+pleasure-loving ancestors. There were all manner of secret holes and
+corners in it, communications of all kinds connecting the rooms, doors
+behind pictures, concealed alcoves, and the like. The architect's plan
+showed these without any reticence. Theudelinde naturally turned away
+in horror from the idea of inhabiting this tainted wing, so full of
+sinful associations; she set up her Lares and Penates in the less
+handsome, but more homely, right wing, where were a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> few good rooms
+fitted for domestic life, an excellent library, and the family vault
+below. It contained no other secret staircase than the one which led
+to the tombs of the departed members of the family. For the rest,
+Countess Theudelinde had taken care to wall up all the passages which
+led to either the centre or left wing of the castle, and there was no
+means of communication between them and her apartments. All the
+chimneys had iron gates to shut off any possible entrance that way;
+every window was provided with strong iron bars. It would have been
+impossible for even a cat to effect an entrance into this enchanted
+castle.</p>
+
+<p>The countess, meditating on all these precautions, came to the
+conclusion that there was only one way by which the Abb&eacute; Samuel could
+introduce himself into the house, and that was by a secret
+understanding with some one of her household. But again, setting
+altogether aside the high character borne by the priest, which would
+render such an act upon his part improbable, the very nature of the
+circumstances attending his visit made it impossible. He had never
+been absent from the countess for a minute, except during his short
+walk to the carriage, and then Herr Mahok had been his companion.
+Theudelinde, therefore, dismissed the idea from her mind. She sent her
+household early to bed; she complained to Fraulein Emerenzia of
+suffering from pains on one side of her head. Immediately that
+sympathetic companion complained of pains on the other side of her
+head. When the countess thought she would try to sleep, Emerenzia felt
+the like desire; she wrapped her whole head up in warm cotton wool,
+and snored without mercy.</p>
+
+<p>Theudelinde shut herself up in her bedroom and counted the minutes.
+She tried to play Patience, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> the cards would not come right; her
+mind was too much disturbed. She took out her Bible, splendidly
+illustrated by Dor&eacute;. She looked at all the pictures; she counted the
+figures of the different men and women upon those two hundred and
+thirty large plates; then the horses and the camels, till she came to
+the scenes of murders. Then she tried to pass the time by reading the
+text. She counted which letter of the alphabet was repeated the most
+frequently upon one side of the page. For the greater part the letter
+<i>a</i> was the favorite, <i>e</i> came next, then <i>o</i>, also <i>u</i>; <i>i</i> was the
+worst represented. This was in the French print. In the Hungarian text
+<i>e</i> had the majority, then <i>a</i>, <i>o</i>, and <i>i</i>, and, last of all, <i>b</i>
+and <i>u</i>. But of this she also wearied. Then she sat down to the piano,
+and tried to calm her agitation by playing dreamy fantasias; neither
+did this succeed. Her hands trembled, and she could not sustain
+herself at the instrument, she was so wearied; and as the fatal hour
+of midnight drew nearer she gave up making efforts to distract her
+mind, and abandoned herself to thoughts of the impending ghostly
+tumult. She found herself altogether under the influence of her
+ancestral spectres, for she was always consumed with <i>ennui</i> until the
+noise began. Then a sort of fever would come to her; she would undress
+herself, crawl into bed, draw the coverings over her head until she
+broke into a perspiration, and then fall into a deep sleep. The next
+morning, when she awoke, she really believed that she had witnessed
+the scenes of which she had only dreamed.</p>
+
+<p>This night she drew forth her talisman, the photograph of the abb&eacute;,
+and tried to find some strength by considering it. She placed it
+before her on the reading-desk and sat gazing at it. Was he really a
+superior being, at whose command the doors of the castle would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> fly
+open, spectres would vanish, and the gates of hell would close upon
+them? It could not be that such things would happen. The more the
+night advanced the greater grew her nervous fears. Her heart beat
+loudly. It was not so much the nightly ghosts that she dreaded, but
+this new and equally unearthly visitor. What was he? A wizard, an
+enchanter like Merlin of old, or a saint come to exorcise and banish
+her tormentors?</p>
+
+<p>The weary lagging hours went by, until at last the pendulum of the old
+clock began to vibrate, and its iron tongue gave out midnight. The
+countess counted every stroke. Its vibration had hardly ceased when,
+punctual to its usual time, the infernal noise began; from the vault
+below the tones of the mass reached Theudelinde's ears. She was,
+however, listening for another sound, listening with feverish anxiety
+to catch a stealthy footfall in the adjoining room, to hear the rattle
+of a key surreptitiously moving in the lock. Nothing! She came to the
+door, and, putting her head to the keyhole, strained her ears in vain.
+All was still. It was now a quarter past midnight; the tumult in the
+vault below was in full swing&mdash;the witches' Sabbath, as it might be
+called, with its yells, shouts, songs, prayers; it was as if all the
+devils of hell had given one another rendezvous in the company of the
+countess's ancestors.</p>
+
+<p>"He will not come," she thought, and trembled in every limb of her
+fever-stricken body. It was folly to expect it. How could a man
+accomplish what is only permitted to spirits?</p>
+
+<p>She retired to the alcove and prepared to lie down. At this moment she
+heard a tap at the door of her sitting-room, and, after a moment, a
+low voice spoke in firm tones<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"In nomine Domini aperientur port&aelig; fidelium."</p>
+
+<p>It was the signal given by the abb&eacute;. Theudelinde gave a shriek; she
+nearly lost her senses from fright, but gathered herself together with
+a supreme effort. It was real; no hallucination, no dream! He was at
+the door, her deliverer. Forward!</p>
+
+<p>The countess ran to the door and opened it. The crisis gave her
+unusual strength. This might be a trap, and instead of a deliverer she
+might find herself opposite to a robber or murderer. Under the carpet
+lay concealed the trap-door; the midnight visitor stood on the very
+spot. One pressure of the secret spring and down he went into the
+abyss below. Theudelinde had her foot on the spring as she undid the
+door.</p>
+
+<p>There stood the abb&eacute; before her. No appearance of his clerical calling
+was to be seen. He wore a long coat, which reached to his feet, and
+carried neither bell, book, nor candle, wherewith to exorcise the
+spirits. In his right hand he held a thick stick made of rhinoceros'
+skin, and in the left a dark lantern.</p>
+
+<p>"Remain where you are," said the countess, in a commanding voice.
+"Before you set foot in this room you shall tell me how you got here.
+Was it with the help of God, of man, or of the devil?"</p>
+
+<p>"Countess," returned the abb&eacute;, "look about you. Do you not see that
+every door in your castle stands open? Through these open doors I have
+passed easily. How I passed through the court is another thing. I will
+tell you that later."</p>
+
+<p>"And my household, who sleep in those rooms?" said the countess, in an
+incredulous voice.</p>
+
+<p>"The curtains hang round every bed; I have not raised them. If your
+household be asleep, they will no doubt sleep as the just do, without
+waking."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>The countess listened, only half believing what she heard; she was
+growing nerveless again. She led the abb&eacute; into the sitting-room, and
+sank exhausted upon the sofa.</p>
+
+<p>The tumult in the vault was indescribable.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you hear <i>it</i>?" she said, in a whisper.</p>
+
+<p>"I do hear, and I know whence it comes. I am here to face those who
+cause this unseemly riot."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you the weapons that Holy Church has provided for such a task?"
+asked Theudelinde, anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>The priest for all answer held towards her the strong staff he
+carried.</p>
+
+<p>"I have this good stick, countess."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you hear above all the tumult that strident voice? It is my uncle
+Ladislaus," cried the countess, grasping the abb&eacute;'s arm with both her
+hands. "Do you hear that horrible laugh? It is my uncle's laugh."</p>
+
+<p>"We will soon learn the author of that unpleasant cachinnation,"
+remarked the priest, quietly.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, what do you propose to do?"</p>
+
+<p>"I shall go down and join the worshipful society below."</p>
+
+<p>"You will descend into the vault? What to do?"</p>
+
+<p>"To pass judgment upon that unruly gang, countess. You promised to
+accompany me."</p>
+
+<p>"I promised!" and Theudelinde retreated from him, her eyes staring
+wildly, her hands pressed to her breast.</p>
+
+<p>"It was your own wish."</p>
+
+<p>"True, true! I am so confused; my thoughts are all astray. I cannot
+recollect them. You here, and that fearful noise below! I am terribly
+afraid."</p>
+
+<p>"How? You who had the courage to go among the ghosts by yourself, are
+you afraid now that <i>I</i> am with you? Give me your hand."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>The countess placed her trembling fingers in the abb&eacute;'s hand, and as
+she felt the firm, manly clasp, an unusual sense of strength and
+protection possessed her; she ceased to shake and shiver, her eyes no
+longer saw shapes and fantasies moving before them; her heart began to
+beat steadily. The bare touch of this man's hand gave her new life.</p>
+
+<p>"Come with me," he said, in a decided voice, while he stuck his whip
+under his left arm, and with the right drew the countess after him.
+"Where are the keys of the secret staircase, and of the room through
+which we must pass?"</p>
+
+<p>Theudelinde felt that she could not let go his hand for one minute.
+She was for the moment, so to speak, mesmerized by his superior mind.
+She crawled after him submissively; she should follow him, were it to
+the very gates of hell itself. Without a word she pointed to the key
+cabinet, an antique piece of furniture which would have made the joy
+of a bric-&agrave;-brac collector, and in which there was a drawer full of
+keys.</p>
+
+<p>Without a moment's hesitation the priest put his hand on the ones that
+were wanted. It was no miracle that he should do so, although to the
+weakened mind of his companion it appeared to be miraculous; on one of
+the keys there was the well-known sign of a vault key, the crucifix.</p>
+
+<p>The abb&eacute; now drew aside the curtain which concealed the secret passage
+to the library, and here, at the first step, he was met by a certain
+proof, if such were wanting, to show him the credit to be given to the
+countess's statements that she was in the habit of descending to the
+vault: as he opened the door a mass of cobwebs blew into his face. The
+countess, however, was firm in her hallucination. It is a phase of
+such nervous dis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>orders as hers to believe that what they have dreamed
+is actual fact; they can even supply small details.</p>
+
+<p>As the countess went up the steps she whispered to her companion&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"A window is broken here, and the wind whistles through it." And as
+they turned the angle of the steps there was a narrow slip-window
+which in the daytime gave light to the staircase, the panes of which
+were actually broken. She had never seen this. When they came to the
+door of the library she confided to the abb&eacute; that she was always
+frightened to pass the threshold.</p>
+
+<p>"It is such a ghostly place!" she said. "When the moon shines through
+the shutter of the upper window it throws white specks upon the mosaic
+pattern of the marble floor, which makes it look like some mysterious
+writing. In one of the corners between two presses there is a glass
+case with a skeleton in it; in another case the wax impression, taken
+after death, of Ignatius Loyola."</p>
+
+<p>Everything was precisely as the countess related. The moon shone
+through the upper panes of glass, the skeleton stood in his glass
+case, the waxen head of the dead saint lay in the other, but the
+countess had never crossed the threshold. In her childhood her nurse
+had told her these tales of the Bondavara Castle, and when she had
+become its mistress her first care had been to lock these rooms. Ten
+years' dust lay on the carpets, on the chairs and tables; cobwebs hung
+from the ceilings, mice played games in the deep wainscots, for no one
+ever came here.</p>
+
+<p>At the moment in which the countess and her companion entered the
+library a certain peace reigned in the vault below. The tumult seemed
+lulled; there were neither shrieks nor demoniacal songs to be heard.
+From<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> the mortuary chapel, however, the notes of the organ reached the
+ears of the two listeners. It sounded like the prelude which is played
+in church before mass begins, only the chords of the prelude were all
+discords; it was as if the organ were played by a condemned spirit.</p>
+
+<p>The countess stood before the chapel door, her breast heaving with
+emotion. She caught hold of the abb&eacute;'s hand with a strong grasp, and
+kept him from turning the key in the lock. She trembled in every limb.</p>
+
+<p>"What are those fearful tones?"</p>
+
+<p>Then came a confused sound, as of many voices intoning the vespers.
+One voice, which imitated the monotonous delivery of the celebrant,
+began to sing in Latin the words of a hymn&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0q">"Bacchus, prepare the libation."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Another voice answered in the same tone&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0q">"And hasten, brethren, to drink!"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Then a third took up the text in a parody of the <i>Gloria</i>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Gloria Baccho, et fili&aelig; ejus Cerevisi&aelig; et Spiritui vini, sicut erat
+in Baccho natus, et nunc, et semper, et per omnia pocula poculorum.
+Stramen."</p>
+
+<p>The countess felt her whole body turning into ice; fear mingled with
+horror. She understood the impious parody.</p>
+
+<p>Now the organ accompanied the antiphon.</p>
+
+<p>"Date nobis de cerevisia vestra; quia sitiunt guttura nostra"&mdash;"Give
+us of your beer; our throats are dry."</p>
+
+<p>Then followed the psalm&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Brother to brother spoke these words: shall two goblets of beer
+quench man's thirst?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>"Two, three, five, six are not enough for man's satiety."</p>
+
+<p>"Blessed be Bacchus, who gave us beer."</p>
+
+<p>Then followed the Capitulum.</p>
+
+<p>"Brethren, attend, and do as I command ye. Before ye leave the
+ale-house for your own homes empty all the pots, leave not a drop
+therein, but tilt them and drain every drop of wine. This do from
+goblet to goblet. Stramen."</p>
+
+<p>The countess felt, as she listened to this profanity, what a damned
+soul must experience when for the first time it consorts with devils.
+But now a hellish chorus broke forth of men's and women's voices,
+yelling out a parody of a hymn&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0q">"Bacchus, who gave us drink,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Art thou not called the god of liquor?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Grant us all the holy grace,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Strength to drink in every place,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So that, drinking everywhere,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We for glory may prepare<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In thy everlasting wine-cellar."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>This was followed by the ringing of the bell, and the priest's voice
+intoned the blessing.</p>
+
+<p>"Bacchus be with you."</p>
+
+<p>The chorus answered, "And with thy pint-pots."</p>
+
+<p>Then came the Oratio&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Let us eat. O all-powerful Bacchus, since thou hast created this
+society of ours for thine own honor, grant to us its continuance, and
+give to us a constant supply of brave topers, who never may cease
+drinking from goblet to goblet."</p>
+
+<p>And the chorus answered, "Stramen."</p>
+
+<p>The countess was not able any longer to hold herself up. She sank upon
+her knees, and looked up at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> priest in mute horror. Hardly knowing
+what she did, she gazed in utter despair at the tall figure lit up as
+it was by the rays of the moon, which played round his head like a
+halo.</p>
+
+<p>The abb&eacute; put the key into the lock of the chapel door. The countess
+caught his hand; her fright amounted to agony.</p>
+
+<p>"Do not&mdash;do not open it!" she cried. "Inside is hell let loose."</p>
+
+<p>With an elevation of his head, the abb&eacute; answered proudly&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Nec port&aelig; inferi&mdash;the gates of hell shall not prevail"; and then he
+turned the key, and the heavy iron door swung open, and disclosed the
+actors in the strange drama.</p>
+
+<p>On the altar all the candles were lighted, and their light showed with
+distinctness every incident of the performance, every feature in the
+faces of the performers.</p>
+
+<p>What a scene!</p>
+
+<p>On one side of the vault ran a long table, round which was seated,
+eating and drinking, not the countess's ancestors and ancestresses,
+but all the servants of her household. The maids, who were so strictly
+guarded, were here in the company of the men who were so rigorously
+excluded. The countess could, therefore, see that these were
+flesh-and-blood ghosts which had so long haunted her ancient castle.
+Each of her handmaidens had a lover in either the steward, bailiff,
+gamekeeper, or clerk in the neighborhood. The nervous housemaid, who
+at night was afraid of her own shadow, was now drinking out of the
+glass of the innkeeper; the virtuous maid was embraced by the mayor's
+footman; the portress, an elderly virgin, held a jug in her hand,
+while she executed a clog-dance upon the table. All the rest clapped
+hands, shrieked, sang at the top of their voices, and beat the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> table
+as if it were a big drum. The shepherd, who represented the countess's
+grandfather, sat upon the monument of the chancellor, his legs round
+the cross, and played the bagpipes. It was this instrument which at
+the burlesque of vespers imitated the harmonium. Upon the gravestone
+of the first archbishop the beer-barrel was set up. The maids were all
+dressed in the countess's silk dresses, with the exception of the
+female coachman, who, as usual, wore man's clothes, but by way of
+symmetry her lover, the coachman of the neighboring brewery, was
+dressed in woman's clothes. The countess recognized on the head of
+this bearded fellow her nightcap, and round his body her cloak,
+trimmed with her best lace. Worst of all, at the top of the table sat
+Fraulein Emerenzia, on very intimate terms with her neighbor, a young
+lawyer. She wore the skirt of a favorite dress of Theudelinde's, a
+flame-colored brocade; the body could not fit her corpulent form, so
+she had her mistress's best lace shawl wrapped round her. Her face was
+red; she had a large tumbler of wine before her, and she smoked a
+pipe. The modest Emerenzia!</p>
+
+<p>The men were all drunk and noisy, the women screamed in an unearthly
+manner; the bagpipes squealed; the table resounded with thumps and the
+clatter of the portress's clogs. From the altar came the voice of the
+mock priest, his arms outstretched in blessing. Through the din the
+words "Bacchus vobiscum" were heard, and the tinkle of the bell. This
+mock priest was no other than Michael the sacristan, who brought all
+the church ornaments confided to his care. He wore the pastor's
+vestments, and on his head an improvised skull-cap. The acolyte was
+the parish bell-ringer.</p>
+
+<p>The countess was cut to the heart. The terrible ingratitude,
+especially of these girls, to whom she had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> been as a mother&mdash;more
+anxious indeed than their own mothers to keep them pure and
+innocent&mdash;wounded the poor lady who had taught them to sing hymns on
+Sunday, had fed them from her own table, and had never allowed them to
+read a novel or hear a bad word. And this was the outcome of her
+efforts. They insulted the graves of her ancestors, played upon her
+nervous fears, destroyed her rest, nearly drove her mad with their
+ghostly noises, wore her clothes at their orgies, and, worse insult of
+all, she, a high-born lady and a pure woman, had the degradation of
+wearing these same garments, defiled as they were with the smell of
+wine and stale tobacco.</p>
+
+<p>Bitter as such ingratitude was, it counted as nothing in comparison
+with the profanation of using the holiest things of religion, the
+sacred ornaments of the Church, to carry out these impious rites. "Woe
+to them from whom scandal cometh," says the Scripture, and this woe
+means pain and suffering that no soothing balsam can alleviate.</p>
+
+<p>A mortal terror still filled the countess's heart. She was in the
+presence of those who had no control over their already besotted
+senses. If these drunken savages, these unsexed women, found their
+revels were discovered, what was to hinder them tearing her to pieces?
+There was only one man between her and them. Theudelinde looked at her
+solitary protector. His eyes gleamed with such apostolic anger that
+her timid soul grew fearful of the consequences, both to him and to
+herself, of his just wrath. She seized both his hands, to hold him
+from venturing among such demons. The abb&eacute; easily freed himself from
+the clasp of her weak fingers. In one bound he sprang down the steps,
+fell upon the false priest as he was in the act of pronouncing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> his
+final stramen; with the butt-end of his rhinoceros whip he gave him
+two blows.</p>
+
+<p>What the countess now witnessed was truly no vision. She saw how one
+man, armed with no more formidable weapon than a horsewhip, ventured
+into the midst of the hellish assembly, with one hand seized the table
+and overturned it and all that was on it of dishes, glasses, and
+wine-cups, with the other cracked his whip in the faces of the guests,
+who sprang to their feet in all the terror of detection, like to the
+profaners of the Temple. They were driven towards the door of the
+vault, the abb&eacute;'s whip descending on their shoulders with impartial
+justice. They went tumbling over one another, howling and screaming,
+pressing onwards and pursued by the flagellation of the abb&eacute;. The
+bagpipe player in his haste missed his footing, those behind stumbled
+over him, and so lay all in a heap together. Not one went without
+carrying a remembrance of the abb&eacute;'s strong arm, for he spared no one.
+No effort was made at reprisals; the criminal who is caught seldom
+shows fight. These last were, moreover, taken by surprise, and the
+clergyman was possessed of extraordinary strength; one man who tried
+to drag the horsewhip from his hand was dealt such a blow in his face
+that he was glad to relinquish his hold and take to his heels without
+loss of time.</p>
+
+<p>"Give it to them! give it to them!" cried the countess, who had no
+pity for her former servants, who had to pass her as they made their
+way pell-mell to the door. Emerenzia covered her head, not from shame,
+but fearing her face might get a blow. Almost the last was the
+sacristan, whose clerical dress hindered his speed, and whose back was
+so battered by the abb&eacute; that the vestment he wore hung in ribbons.</p>
+
+<p>After the last guest had departed, the abb&eacute; closed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> the heavy door of
+the vault and returned to where the countess was standing. His face
+wore an almost glorified expression; it was the consciousness of
+having asserted his strength. As he approached the countess fell on
+her knees, and made as if she would kiss his feet, but the abb&eacute; raised
+her.</p>
+
+<p>"Compose yourself, countess. Your present situation needs all your
+strength. Do you know that at this moment there are only two persons
+in this castle, for I have locked the door which leads to the
+court-yard. This folly is played out. You see now that no wicked
+spirit had any part in it. It was no ghost, only human beings who have
+had to do with this miserable business."</p>
+
+<p>"What shall I do?" asked the countess, constraining herself to speak
+calmly.</p>
+
+<p>"Take my lantern. I am going to lock the lattice door, so as to stop
+any entrance from this side. But you can return by the way we came,
+back to your own apartment, where I advise you to make yourself some
+tea; you are freezing with cold."</p>
+
+<p>"Must I go back all that way alone?"</p>
+
+<p>"Remember the words, 'If God is with me, who is against me,' and you
+can never be alone. To see ghosts is an illness; the method of curing
+it must be heroic."</p>
+
+<p>And as he saw that the countess, in spite of her efforts, could not
+subdue her nervous tremor, he took her by the hand, and, returning
+with her to the library, led her to the glass case which enclosed the
+skeleton, and opened the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Were you afraid of this? Why, it is nothing to fear. It is a standing
+proof of the wisdom of God. Every limb of this wonderful collection of
+bones tells us the Almighty created man to be ruler of the earth. Look
+at the skull; upon this arched forehead is written the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> birthright of
+humanity, in every corner and line of the face the superiority of the
+white race over all others. This skull teaches us how deep should be
+our gratitude to an all-seeing Providence who has created us the
+superior over all other beings on the earth. The sight of a skull
+should cause no shudder in the breast of man; it should give rise to
+feelings of thankfulness and reverence, for it is the symbol of the
+great love which our Heavenly Maker has for the creature He has made
+and chosen from all eternity."</p>
+
+<p>As he spoke the priest laid Theudelinde's cold hand upon the skull of
+the skeleton. The countess trembled no more. New life and strength
+born of the words of this singular man seemed to infuse themselves
+into her veins. She looked another being.</p>
+
+<p>"Now go to your room," said the abb&eacute;. "I shall soon follow, but I must
+first put out the torches on the altar. We must not have a
+conflagration on our hands."</p>
+
+<p>"I am quite ready to go alone," returned the countess. "My foolish
+fears are cured, but I am now concerned for you. Perhaps those
+wretched servants of mine are still about, and if you venture into the
+vault in the dark they may fall upon you and take their revenge for
+being discovered."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I am provided with what would soon scatter such cowards as they
+are," said the abb&eacute;, drawing a revolver from a secret pocket. "I had
+resolved to use stringent measures with them if necessary. Now, in
+God's name, retire to your room, countess."</p>
+
+<p>Theudelinde, without another word, took the lantern and went through
+the long library. The priest watched her until she had crossed the
+passage, and had opened the door of her own apartment. He then
+hastened back<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> to the vault. In the passage he saw a blue flame
+burning on a tin dish.</p>
+
+<p>"Alcohol and ammonia mixed together," murmured the priest. "This is
+what frightened Herr Mahok." Close to it lay the winding-sheet and
+mask. The abb&eacute; pushed the vessel with the flame into the corner, for
+he knew that in an encounter with an adversary it would be little
+profit to have an illumination, and then he went down the dark passage
+carefully. No one was there; they had all run away, and were probably
+running still. The lattice door stood open; he drew it to, and barred
+it carefully; then he returned into the vault and locked it also,
+having first extinguished the lights, with the exception of one, which
+he took to light him back to the countess's room.</p>
+
+<p>He found her sitting composedly before the tea equipage. She had
+obeyed him. As he entered the room she rose, and, folding her hands
+upon her breast, cried:</p>
+
+<p>"Most holy saint and apostle!"</p>
+
+<p>"You must not give me such exalted titles," said the abb&eacute;, smiling.
+"What I have done does not merit such high-sounding terms. I have
+accomplished no miracle, for I had to do with mortals only. One
+circumstance which appears to you in a miraculous light is easily
+explained. I allude to my entering a house wherein all the doors were
+locked. But first, will you pour out the tea?&mdash;and if you will give me
+a cup I shall be grateful, for the occurrences of the last hour have
+somewhat excited me. Then we will talk the whole affair over."</p>
+
+<p>The countess gave her guest his tea, then sank back in her arm-chair,
+and wrapped herself in her cloak; she was still shivering.</p>
+
+<p>"That the supposed ghostly appearances and noises were in no sense
+supernatural was borne in on me,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> continued the abb&eacute;, as he sipped
+his tea, "from the first moment Herr Mahok took me into his
+confidence. I was convinced that the nocturnal disturbance was the
+work of your own household, and it served their purpose to make it as
+ghost-like as possible. The situation had been created by your
+over-caution, countess. Your women servants were not allowed to hold
+communication with the opposite sex; they, therefore, found other
+means to meet, and to give a cover to these illicit meetings they set
+up an atmosphere of ghostly mystery, by which their goings-on were
+well concealed. The conspiracy was perfectly carried out. If they had
+conducted their sinful intercourse on any other lines you would have
+long since discovered them. When the pastor told me that he and his
+sacristan had escaped through the lattice door, I suspected that it
+was through this door the men found their way into the vault, and that
+the sacristan must be a participator in the plot, whatever it was.
+Moreover, I calculated that the women must, of necessity, find their
+way through the cellar passage, and that, therefore, they would
+naturally leave every door in the house <i>open</i>, so that their return
+might be conducted without any danger of awaking you by noise, such as
+unlocking doors. The countenance, the coloring, the eyes of your
+companion betray her; it is easy to see what she has been, and that,
+moreover, she drinks. I knew to-day at dinner that she was a
+hypocrite. She held forth against all alcoholic drinks; that settled
+her with me. I had no doubt that I should find all the doors open, and
+I did. In order to make no noise I came on foot to the garden door.
+Countless footsteps in the fresh snow showed me that the company had
+already assembled. From the open garden door the foot-prints led to
+the lattice door, and thence to the vault.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> This door was put to. I
+pushed it open and was in the passage. I went to the left, up the
+steps to the cellar passage; the door was open. I could not count upon
+finding every door open; it was exactly as I imagined. The only
+difficulty lay in passing through your wardrobe-room, which has no
+key, but a peculiarly constructed spring-lock. I felt certain that
+your maids would borrow some of their mistress's silk dresses, and
+therefore the spring-lock would be arranged so as not to betray by its
+loud snap the return of the stolen garments to their proper place. On
+looking closely I found this to be the case; the lock was kept in its
+place by the insertion of a penknife, which could be easily withdrawn.
+Therefore, countess, you have, night after night, slept in this castle
+with every door open&mdash;in real danger&mdash;at the mercy of robbers, or even
+murderers; all the time frightened to death with ghostly noises, which
+kept you a prisoner to your room, not venturing to call your
+treacherous servants. Countess, you have been terribly punished."</p>
+
+<p>"Punished!" stammered the countess, her face growing even paler.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, punished; for you have richly deserved to suffer."</p>
+
+<p>Theudelinde fixed a horrified look on the abb&eacute;.</p>
+
+<p>"Countess, at your door," said the priest, sternly, "lies the heaviest
+portion of the sins into which your servants have fallen. You have, in
+fact, driven them into vice. Your eccentric rules, bizarre and
+ridiculous ideas, made your women servants liars and induced their
+irregularities. Nature punishes those who revolt against her, and the
+long years during which you have isolated yourself from the world and
+from society have been flat rebellion, which has brought its own
+punishment. You<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> now stand before two judges, Heaven and the World;
+Heaven is ready to punish you, the world to laugh at you; and the
+wrath of Heaven and the ridicule of the world is equally hard to bear.
+How do you mean to protect yourself against both?"</p>
+
+<p>The countess sank back annihilated. Only just recovered from the
+anxieties, horrors, and dangers of this dreadful night, she was not
+able to face the denunciations of the priest, which were, in fact,
+only the echo of her own conscience. The torture was greater than all
+she had undergone. There was silence in the room, during which the
+words rang in Theudelinde's ears like the tolling of a bell.</p>
+
+<p>"How shall you face the anger of Heaven and the ridicule of the
+world?"</p>
+
+<p>At last she thought of a way out of the difficulty, and, raising her
+head, she said, in a low voice:</p>
+
+<p>"I will hide my miserable head in a convent. <i>There</i> the ridicule of
+the world will not reach me; there, kneeling before the altar, I will
+day and night pray to God to pardon my fault. You, oh most reverend
+father, will perhaps use your influence with the abbess of some
+convent&mdash;I should prefer the very strictest order&mdash;and get me
+admitted. There I shall find a living grave, and no one will ever hear
+my name. I shall leave this castle, and all my fortune, together with
+my savings of the last few years, to your order, with only one
+condition, that every night at twelve o'clock vespers shall be sung in
+the family vault, which has been desecrated by such abominations as
+have been practised there."</p>
+
+<p>The countess's voice, which was low and broken in the beginning,
+gathered strength as she made this renunciation of her worldly goods.</p>
+
+<p>The abb&eacute; rose up as she finished, and took her trem<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>bling hand in his,
+while, with a haughty elevation of his head, he answered:</p>
+
+<p>"That everything may be quite clear, I beg you will understand,
+countess, that neither I nor my order need, nor would accept, the
+donation of your castle, your property, or your money. It is not our
+custom to take advantage of weak-minded persons in a moment of
+contrition, and to extort from them compensation for their sins in the
+shape of their worldly goods. We have no desire to acquire property in
+so sneaking and contemptible a manner, and therefore, countess, in the
+name of my order, I decline to spend the night singing vespers in your
+family vault, or the day in living on your fortune. This idea you may
+dismiss altogether from your mind."</p>
+
+<p>These words filled the countess with admiration. She had already felt
+herself singularly attracted by this man. This proof of his
+disinterestedness and indifference to worldly considerations completed
+his dominion over her mind, and subjugated her to his authority. She
+listened submissively while he continued his admonitions.</p>
+
+<p>"For the rest," he said, "I should recommend you to abandon all ideas
+of conventual life, which is quite unsuited to a person of your
+nervous, excitable nature. You would find neither peace nor happiness;
+on the contrary, you would be a prey to all manner of scruples and
+disquieting thoughts. There are those who find a refuge and salvation
+in a cloister; for you it would be a foretaste of damnation, and in
+all probability you would end like the hermit who fled from the world
+to pray to God, and instead of praying, cursed Him."</p>
+
+<p>The eyes of the countess glared at this awful prospect, but she
+murmured to herself, "True, quite true!"</p>
+
+<p>"The recollection of your faults has banished you from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> the Church and
+has robbed you of all power to pray," continued the priest, in a harsh
+voice.</p>
+
+<p>"True, quite true!" sobbed the countess, and beat her breast. "I can
+never again enter a church, and I dare not pray." Then with a cry of
+despair she threw herself at the feet of the abb&eacute;, and with feverish
+strength clasped both his hands, while she screamed out, "Where shall
+I go, if not to the Church of God? Who shall help me, if I cannot pray
+to Him?"</p>
+
+<p>The clergyman saw it was necessary to soothe her terrible excitement.</p>
+
+<p>"Your proper refuge is in your own heart," he said, gently, "and your
+good deeds shall plead for you."</p>
+
+<p>Theudelinde pressed the priest's hand to her burning forehead. Then
+she rose from her kneeling position and stretched out her arms.</p>
+
+<p>"Command me. Advise me. What shall I do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Return to society, and take the place your rank and wealth entitle
+you to hold."</p>
+
+<p>The countess fell back a step, and stared at the abb&eacute;, her face all
+astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>"Return to the world! <i>I</i> who left it five-and-twenty years ago! I
+should be the laughing-stock of every one were I to seek, at my age,
+pleasures which I long ago renounced."</p>
+
+<p>"Countess, you have voluntarily thrown away that portion of your life
+to which the world offers its best gifts; but there still remains to
+you that other half, wherein you can acquire the esteem of the
+world&mdash;that is, if you avail yourself of the means necessary for
+success."</p>
+
+<p>"My father, remember that in that circle which you wish me to enter I
+shall meet nothing but contempt and humiliations. The present
+generation don't know my name, my contemporaries despise me."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>"But there is a magic circle in which every one is recognized and no
+one is despised. Would you wish to enter this circle?"</p>
+
+<p>"Place me in this circle, father. Where is it to be found?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will tell you, countess. Your nation is passing through a crisis;
+it may be called the battle for intellectual freedom. All are striving
+to place themselves on a footing with the intellectuality of other
+nations&mdash;philosophers, poets, industrials; men, women, boys,
+gray-beards, magnates, and peasants. If they all knew how to strive
+together they might attain their purpose, but all are divided; each
+works for himself and by himself. Individual effort is doomed to
+failure, but united, certain of success."</p>
+
+<p>The countess listened in breathless astonishment. She did not
+understand where the abb&eacute; was leading her.</p>
+
+<p>"What is wanting in this tremendous struggle is a centre. The country
+has no centre. Debreczyn is thoroughly Hungarian, but its religious
+exclusiveness has narrowed its sphere of influence. Szegedin is well
+suited, but it is far too democratic. Klausenburg is indeed a
+Hungarian town. The aristocracy are to be found there, and a certain
+amount of culture, but it lies beyond the Kiralyhago, and the days of
+the Bethlens and the Bocskais are over. Pesth would be the proper
+centre; it has every qualification. I have been through the five
+quarters of the globe, and nowhere have I found such a place. In Pesth
+no man troubles himself about his neighbor, and each man believes that
+the world is made for him alone. The first look of the city takes one
+by surprise; the fine embankment along the broad Danube River, the
+beautiful squares and streets, with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> the six-story tin houses, each in
+a different style of architecture. Side by side are palaces built in
+the Roman, Moorish, Spanish, or Renaissance style, with, perhaps, the
+occasional introduction of a quaint Dutch mansion or Gothic structure.
+Opposite to the great edifice of the chain bridge rises a large stone
+bandbox with four towers; this is called the Basilica, but it looks
+more like a giant scaffold than anything else. On all sides rage
+monster factory chimneys, which vomit forth volumes of poisonous smoke
+upon the town. Factories, docks, academical palaces, redoubts, tin
+card-houses, art conservatories, are crowded one over the other. The
+academy interferes with the business of the docks, and the noise of
+the shipping-trade disturbs the academicians. The smoke of the
+steam-engines suffocates every one; while the town-hall, with all its
+ornamented peaks and minarets, says to the stranger, 'Come nearer,
+friend; this is Constantinople.'"</p>
+
+<p>The countess could not help smiling over this graphic description.</p>
+
+<p>"The inner town," continued the abb&eacute;, "is a labyrinth of narrow,
+irregular streets, which were built when the site of the present
+town-hall was only a marsh for the pigs to wallow in. In spite of the
+narrow proportions, these streets contain some of the finest shops in
+Europe. The contrasts are something wonderful; the finest equipages
+jammed against the overladen wagons conveying merchandise; the most
+elegantly dressed women jostling against beggars in rags. The
+prettiest women are to be seen in this quarter, and this in face of a
+wind that drives all the dust into the eyes. In the suburbs houses are
+rising on all sides with marvellous rapidity, little and big, in every
+style and variety, giving more dust for the wind to play tricks with.
+The whole<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> place is a stony wilderness, with here and there a small
+green oasis not bigger than a private garden. Round about the city
+lies a Sahara, the earth of which is constantly dug up, so that the
+sirocco is never in want of dust. This is the exterior appearance of
+Pesth, which in itself presents the different features of a
+manufacturing town, an emporium for trade, and a city of arts and
+science, as well as those of the capital of an empire and of an
+American colony, where men of all classes assemble to make their pile
+of gold, but when this is secured hurry away to spend their winnings
+in other places.</p>
+
+<p>"So far as social conditions are concerned, and these, after all,
+concern us most," said the abb&eacute;, with a quick look at his listener,
+"they are as complicated as the commercial interests of Pesth. Each
+class is surrounded, so to speak, with a Chinese wall. Trade and the
+stock-exchange are altogether in the hands of Jews and Germans. This
+would not be so much an evil were it not that a great amount of
+fraudulent speculation goes on, and at every turn of the money market
+in Vienna the funds go down. The Hungarian element is made up of
+tobacco-merchants and hand-workers; there are, besides these, about
+twenty thousand Slavonians from the hills, who are day-laborers. Pesth
+is, or should be, the headquarters of national education. It is,
+however, not the fashion to support it. It should be also the centre
+of science and literature; it is not, however, considered good 'ton'
+to cultivate anything but foreign literature. Pesth can boast of very
+distinguished <i>savants</i>, and of a very haughty aristocracy; but no one
+is allowed to enter this magic circle but those who belong to the
+upper ten. The whole society is on a wrong footing; each one fights
+his own battle, bears his own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> burden; the finest ideas are lost
+because no one understands the other. A common standpoint is wanting.
+All healthy life is dying out, full freedom of thought and action
+being strangled by the iron laws of the short-sighted government,
+which forbids discussion of any kind.</p>
+
+<p>"The Reichstag and the Comitatshaus are both closed. The only free
+ground left is that of general society; but here class prejudices step
+in. A certain portion of our aristocracy are too indifferent to
+trouble themselves to do anything for the general good; the rest are
+too fond of their own ease and amusement; they acknowledge no other
+aim in life but their own pleasure. There are some, however, who do
+know what their duty is, and who would willingly make sacrifices to
+fulfil it, but during the last ten years they have suffered such a
+loss of income that they are no longer in a position to bear the
+expense which would be entailed by opening their houses. There are
+others, those most fitted by intellect as well as by position to be
+leaders. Alas! they will never return to Pesth; it is to them full of
+tragic memories, which haunt the houses where they once lived, and
+which have banished forever the laugh and jest from those walls.
+Therefore it is that we have arrived at this position, that there is
+not a single centre where the clever, the good, the nobleman, and the
+gentleman can meet on equal terms; and without this no real good can
+be done."</p>
+
+<p>"Then let me create this centre!" cried the countess, rising to her
+feet and addressing the abb&eacute; with an inspired look. Her whole being
+seemed changed by this new thought, which had been skilfully suggested
+by the words of the clergyman, who seemed well pleased at the effect
+he had produced.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>"Then you understood," he said; "and for you the advantages will be
+incalculable. Here is the shelter you require. If you come to Pesth,
+if you live there as befits your rank and your fortune, you can
+assemble round you the very cream of society. To your <i>salon</i> will
+come every one, distinguished not alone by birth, but by
+talent&mdash;politicians, artists, poets, magnates, priests, prelates, and
+laymen, the aristocracy of the land and the aristocracy of intellect
+shall be alike represented. Your mission will be to further by this
+means the apostolate of truth, of culture; and, by so doing, to assist
+the progress and development of your own nation, and for the rest your
+own position will be most honorable. As hostess and mistress of such
+you will be respected and admired."</p>
+
+<p>The countess seized the clergyman's hand in both hers, and covered it
+with kisses, while in her excitement she sobbed:</p>
+
+<p>"I thank you, I thank you, I thank you!"</p>
+
+<p>"Do you not see, countess, that there is a vocation for you besides
+that of conventual life?"</p>
+
+<p>"You are a prophet."</p>
+
+<p>"In the meantime, may I ask you a practical question? For the task
+which you have undertaken with such praiseworthy zeal there are
+certain material qualifications absolutely necessary, the first being
+a sufficient income. May I ask you to give me your confidence on this
+delicate subject?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am rich," answered Theudelinde. "I have my capital at good
+interest. Likewise, out of my savings I have bought a fine mansion
+situated in the best part of Pesth; it is at present let."</p>
+
+<p>"You will now take it into your own hands," said the abb&eacute;, "and have
+it properly appointed, suitable to your rank. So far as your
+securities go, it may be better to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> invest your capital differently.
+We shall see. How much does your yearly income from the Bondavara
+estate amount to?"</p>
+
+<p>"About twenty thousand florins."</p>
+
+<p>"How large is the estate?"</p>
+
+<p>"From about nine to ten thousand acres."</p>
+
+<p>"Then the return is far too small. The agent is to blame for this;
+this income would be too little to support the position you now intend
+to hold. Twenty thousand florins would not be nearly enough to keep up
+an establishment on a proper footing in Pesth."</p>
+
+<p>The countess was surprised. She said, humbly, "I imagined it was a
+great deal of money."</p>
+
+<p>"So it is for living in the country; but Pesth is as dear, if not
+dearer, than Paris. To keep a proper establishment going, and take the
+position of a leader of society, such as it is your ambition to be,
+you must at least command a yearly income of forty thousand florins."</p>
+
+<p>"But I cannot do that. What shall I do?" Theudelinde said, in great
+distress.</p>
+
+<p>The abb&eacute;'s lips parted in a smile. "Oh, we will manage it for you! For
+the rest it will not be difficult. The rental of the estate must be
+overhauled; you must get a better agent, a more enterprising steward.
+I myself do not understand finance, but I have friends in the inner
+circle of the stock-exchange, and one or other of these will undertake
+to advise you as to your affairs when you are settled in Pesth. In any
+case, I am quite certain that your land is let too low, it should
+bring in double the interest you get from it. I know so much of
+political economy."</p>
+
+<p>The countess was delighted at these words. What a friend to have! Her
+income to be doubled! Truly this abb&eacute; was sent to her from heaven.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>"Do as you think best," she said. "I give you full power to act for
+me."</p>
+
+<p>"Then, if you will allow me, I shall have your property revalued, and
+fresh leases made. This will double your income, and it will only cost
+you a trifle&mdash;a factor's fee, in fact."</p>
+
+<p>Theudelinde was like a child in her joy&mdash;like a child in her
+submission to her spiritual adviser, to whom she looked up as a
+father, a counsellor, a true friend.</p>
+
+<p>All this he might be; but it was also true that from the date of this
+conversation the owner of Bondavara lost her hold on her own property
+forever.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX<br />
+<span class="smalltext">"AN OBSTINATE FELLOW"</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>Countess Theudelinde was beside herself with joy. She ran to her
+bell-apparatus, touched the spring, and the machine put itself into
+motion.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you doing, countess?" asked the abb&eacute;, in some amazement.</p>
+
+<p>"I am desiring my steward to be sent for at once."</p>
+
+<p>"By what messenger?"</p>
+
+<p>And then for the first time the countess remembered there was not a
+living soul in the house.</p>
+
+<p>She grew very grave.</p>
+
+<p>"It is truly a problem," continued the priest, "to know how we are to
+get out of the castle."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean?" asked Theudelinde, who was so weak-minded that she
+always required to have everything explained to her.</p>
+
+<p>"We two are quite alone in this house," returned the abb&eacute;. "If I go
+away to get the necessary assistance for packing up your things and
+making the arrangements for departure I must leave you alone here."</p>
+
+<p>"I would not for all the world remain alone here."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you have the alternative of accompanying me on foot to the
+nearest post-house in the adjacent village."</p>
+
+<p>As he spoke the snow-storm was heard outside beating against the
+window. Theudelinde shivered.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>"Why cannot we drive? My horses are in the stable."</p>
+
+<p>"But I can neither harness them nor drive them."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I should never think of such a thing!"</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, the countess had now to consider whether she should
+remain alone in the castle or take the alternative of accompanying the
+priest in a heavy fall of snow.</p>
+
+<p>"Somebody is knocking at the door," said the abb&eacute;.</p>
+
+<p>"It must be my steward," returned Theudelinde. "He has heard what has
+happened, and has come to our assistance."</p>
+
+<p>"But there is no one to open the door. Your portress was one of the
+ghosts."</p>
+
+<p>"She was the old witch who danced on the table."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you by chance a second key?"</p>
+
+<p>"It hangs there on that large bunch to the right."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I will take it with me, in case there is none in the lock."</p>
+
+<p>"But the dogs, father, they will tear you in pieces. They are fierce
+to strangers."</p>
+
+<p>"I will call them by their names, if you will tell me what they are."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know their names," returned the countess, who never troubled
+herself about such a common thing as a watch-dog's name.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I must shoot them."</p>
+
+<p>"But, father, as gently as you can." By this Theudelinde did not mean
+to appeal to his compassion for the dogs, but to remind him to spare
+her sensitive nerves.</p>
+
+<p>The abb&eacute; took his revolver and went on his mission; he carried no
+lantern with him, for daylight had come.</p>
+
+<p>Both the watch-dogs lay one on each side of the doorway. They were
+chained loosely, so that they could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> keep well clear of one another,
+but it was impossible to pass between them to the door, if you escaped
+being bitten by one, the other was sure to tear you. The abb&eacute;,
+therefore, to get to the door, had to shoot one and wound the other.
+He then drew the bolt, and saw a man standing before him, a revolver
+in <i>his</i> hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Who are you? What do you want?" asked the priest.</p>
+
+<p>"Who are you, and what brings you here?" returned the stranger.</p>
+
+<p>"I am the Abb&eacute; Samuel, the countess's confessor."</p>
+
+<p>"And I am Ivan Behrend, the countess's next neighbor."</p>
+
+<p>The abb&eacute; lowered his pistol, and changed his tone to one of courtesy.</p>
+
+<p>"You must confess that it is rather an unusual hour for you to come,"
+he said, smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"Honi soit qui mal y pense," said Ivan, putting his weapon into his
+pocket. "I came at this unusual hour in consequence of a letter which
+I received this very night, in which I was informed that the castle
+was in a state of confusion, and the countess was in great need of
+help."</p>
+
+<p>"The cause of the confusion&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I know, that was also in the letter. Therefore, I have come to do
+what I can, although I am aware the countess admits no man into her
+house, especially at this hour."</p>
+
+<p>"She will receive <i>you</i> most certainly. Allow me first to close the
+door. There is absolutely no one in the house. Take care of the dog on
+the left-hand side; he is still alive."</p>
+
+<p>"You have shot the other?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; you heard the shot and drew your revolver?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>"Naturally. I did not know who might have fired the pistol."</p>
+
+<p>Both men ascended to the apartments of the countess. The abb&eacute; entered
+first to prepare her.</p>
+
+<p>"We have got unexpected help," he said; "a neighbor of yours, Ivan
+Behrend."</p>
+
+<p>"A doubtful person," returned Theudelinde, scornfully. "He is an
+atheist."</p>
+
+<p>"It does not matter in the present crisis whether he be a Thug, a
+Mormon, or a Manich&aelig;an, we have great need of his help. Some one told
+him of the plight you are in, and he wishes to see you."</p>
+
+<p>"I will not see him, or speak to him. I beg you will confer with him
+instead of me."</p>
+
+<p>"Countess, if this man is what you say, a heretic, he may say that he
+will not confer with one of my cloth."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well. I suppose I must see him, but you will be present?"</p>
+
+<p>"If it should be necessary."</p>
+
+<p>The countess rolled her shawl round her, and went into the
+reception-room, into which the morning light was breaking. Abb&eacute; Samuel
+thought it necessary, however, to light the candelabras on the
+chimney.</p>
+
+<p>Theudelinde, with a freezing air, asked Ivan to take a chair, and
+placed herself at a considerable distance from her visitor. She signed
+to him to begin the conversation.</p>
+
+<p>"Countess, this night while I was busy reading, some one tapped at my
+window, and when I opened it thrust this note into my hand. It is
+written by your steward."</p>
+
+<p>"By my steward!" exclaimed the countess, in a tone of surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"It is written in his style, and quite unfit for you to read. I will
+tell you what interests you. The steward<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> says that your entire
+household, without any exception of sex, have made good their escape,
+and that he is following their example."</p>
+
+<p>"My steward also! And for what reason?"</p>
+
+<p>"He gives the reason in his letter. I suspect, however, it is only a
+pretext on his part to conceal a very criminal design. I am of opinion
+that he has robbed you."</p>
+
+<p>"Robbed me!" repeated the countess.</p>
+
+<p>"Do not alarm yourself; there are different sorts of robbery, such as
+being an unfaithful steward, injuring your land, making profit to
+himself to your disadvantage. This man, I imagine, played this game,
+and has now tried to give a humorous turn to his flight, so that the
+laugh may be turned against you. This is my idea."</p>
+
+<p>The countess was obliged to acknowledge that her neighbor was both a
+clever and a kind-hearted man.</p>
+
+<p>"In this letter," continued Ivan, "your steward states that after what
+has happened he could never dare to look you in the face again, as he
+could not convince you that the late scandals in the castle had gone
+on without his knowledge. I did not believe these words. I felt
+certain that you had dismissed your household on finding out how
+grossly they had deceived you; therefore, my first care on getting
+this letter was to send a messenger on horseback to the nearest
+telegraph-station with a message to your banker in Pesth, to tell him
+that the agent of the Bondavara estate had absconded, and on no
+account to honor his checks. I thought it was probable he had liberty
+to draw in your name."</p>
+
+<p>"This was really very practical and thoughtful on your part," said the
+abb&eacute;. "The countess must feel most grateful to you."</p>
+
+<p>Theudelinde bowed her head graciously.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>"One reason that brought me here," continued Ivan, "was to know if you
+approved of what I had done, and also to offer you my assistance in
+case you wish to leave the castle. I will help you to get away, and I
+will send my people to look after your property till you can make
+further arrangements."</p>
+
+<p>"This is really most neighborly and friendly, and the countess owes
+you a debt of gratitude," repeated the priest, again assuming all
+responsibility.</p>
+
+<p>"I am merely doing my duty," returned Ivan. "And I would add that if
+you should be in any difficulty as to the necessary funds, which is
+very likely, as the steward and bailiff have both made off, don't let
+this for a moment distress you; I can lend you ten thousand florins."</p>
+
+<p>The Abb&eacute; Samuel whispered to the countess to accept this offer in the
+spirit in which it was meant, and on no account to say anything of
+interest.</p>
+
+<p>Theudelinde accordingly held out her hand with gracious dignity to her
+chivalrous neighbor, who drew from his pocket the money in bank-notes.
+The countess wished to give him an acknowledgment, which he declined,
+saying the money was lent for such a short time that it was not
+necessary.</p>
+
+<p>"And about leaving the castle," he said. "How soon do you start?"</p>
+
+<p>"The sooner the better!" cried the countess.</p>
+
+<p>"Then, if you will allow me to suggest a plan for accomplishing the
+first stage of the journey, which is the difficult part of the
+business, in the first place it will be necessary to pack up what you
+need. Will you be good enough, countess, to select the trunks you mean
+to bring? When this is done I will harness the horses; then we must
+lock and seal the rooms, and my servants will watch them until you
+send your proper people. This done,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> we can set out; and as we shall
+have to pass the steward's house, we can call there, and look for any
+books he may have for keeping the accounts of the estate. They would
+be useful."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall not go there; I don't want any accounts."</p>
+
+<p>"Very good. Then we shall go straight to the inn in my village."</p>
+
+<p>"What to do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because the post is there. We must get post-horses."</p>
+
+<p>"And why post-horses? Cannot I drive my own horses?"</p>
+
+<p>"No."</p>
+
+<p>"And why not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because they are screws. They would not reach the next station."</p>
+
+<p>"My horses! Why do you say they are screws?" asked the countess,
+angrily.</p>
+
+<p>"Because they are in bad condition."</p>
+
+<p>"Bear!" thought Theudelinde. "He answers me so roughly."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall not enter the inn," she said, determinedly. "I go nowhere
+where men drink. Cannot I wait at your house until the horses are
+changed?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly. I am charmed to receive you, countess; only you will find
+nothing suitable for you. I live alone <i>en gar&ccedil;on</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, that does not matter," returned the countess, with an air of
+indifference.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you have the goodness, then," said Ivan, "to begin your
+preparations and select the clothes you mean to pack up?"</p>
+
+<p>Theudelinde gave a strange smile. "My packing will not take long; my
+luggage will not be heavy. Will you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> make a good fire while I go to my
+wardrobe? It is very cold in this room."</p>
+
+<p>In the sitting-room there was a large marble fireplace, and in the
+ashes of the grate some sparks still lingered. Ivan put some wood on
+the smouldering fire, and soon a genial blaze glowed in the chimney.
+It welcomed the countess, who presently returned, carrying in her arms
+a heap of dresses and clothes of all description.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan looked at her in dismay. "You are going to pack all those?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and as many more, which still remain in my wardrobe."</p>
+
+<p>"But, countess, where?"</p>
+
+<p>"Here," returned Theudelinde, as she flung the bundle on the fire.</p>
+
+<p>It filled up the whole fireplace, and the fire, catching the light
+materials, there was presently a crackling sound, while the old
+chimney roared again with joy over such a splendid contribution.</p>
+
+<p>The two men looked on in silence at this <i>auto-da-f&eacute;</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Ten times did Theudelinde go backward and forward to her room, each
+time returning with fresh armfuls of finery, and when these were
+exhausted, her linen, boots, shoes, etc., followed; while at each
+sacrifice the flames in the chimney leaped and danced, and the wind
+blew the flames up the chimney, where they roared like so many demons.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, this sort of packing makes short work," thought Ivan, but said
+nothing.</p>
+
+<p>The clergyman stood with his hands behind his back. The countess's
+eyes danced, her cheeks were flushed, her activity was unceasing. When
+all was consumed she turned to Ivan with a triumphant air.</p>
+
+<p>"It is finished," she said.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>"And may I ask in what toilette your ladyship intends to travel?"</p>
+
+<p>"In the clothes I wear, and my fur cloak."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I shall go and get the carriage."</p>
+
+<p>When he was gone the countess, assisted by the abb&eacute;, put on her fur
+pelisse lined with sable. She took with her nothing that she had ever
+used; in her opinion everything was defiled.</p>
+
+<p>After a few minutes Ivan returned, and announced that the carriage was
+at the entrance. The doors were then locked, and a seal affixed to
+each.</p>
+
+<p>When they entered the hall the sight of the dog which the abb&eacute; had
+spared presented a difficulty. If they left him he would die of
+hunger. The countess thought it would be better to shoot him also.
+Ivan, however, was more merciful.</p>
+
+<p>"I will chain him to the carriage, and he will follow us."</p>
+
+<p>Theudelinde was certain the hound would bite him; but the dog's
+instinct assured him that it was a friend who now approached. He
+allowed Ivan to put on his chain, and licked his hand to show his
+gratitude. All was now done, Ivan locked the gates, gave the key to
+the abb&eacute;, who with the countess was already seated in the carriage,
+jumped on the coach-box, and drove away from Bondavara Castle. They
+went slowly, for the two miserable nags, which were dignified with the
+name of carriage horses, could hardly drag them along. They were spent
+with age and starvation, and were only fit for the knacker's yard.</p>
+
+<p>As the vehicle turned in the direction of the coal-mine Ivan remarked
+a cloud of smoke in the distance, and soon after they met a group of
+laborers carrying requisites for putting out a fire, hurrying in the
+direction of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> the smoke. On being questioned they said the granary of
+the noble countess was burning, but that they hoped to extinguish the
+fire.</p>
+
+<p>"I think it will be easily done," Ivan said. "The steward set it on
+fire to conceal the defalcation in the crop."</p>
+
+<p>The countess was indignant, but Ivan remarked dryly that property had
+its duties, and that those who never looked after their own interests
+were fair game for the thief.</p>
+
+<p>A rough, ill-mannered man!</p>
+
+<p>It was full daylight before the noble coach, drawn by the pair of
+noble nags, made its way through the heavy snow into the Bergwerk
+Colony. The wretched beasts were steaming as they drew up at Ivan's
+door. Ivan's first care was to call the postmaster to take them to his
+stable, and to order a good pair of fresh horses to replace them. Then
+he led his tired guests into his workroom. All the other rooms were
+cold and cheerless, so he took them where there was warmth and light.</p>
+
+<p>In the room everything was in the utmost disorder; it was hard to find
+a place where the countess could sit down. She looked about her with
+astonishment at the strange objects which encumbered the tables and
+chairs; every available spot was taken up by some extraordinary,
+diabolical-looking invention. She cast a look of terror at the
+chemical laboratory, upon whose furnace the coals still glimmered,
+testifying to the experiment upon which Ivan had been at work when
+interrupted by the steward's tap at the window.</p>
+
+<p>"Cagliostro's workshop," she whispered to the abb&eacute;. "There are
+mysterious things done here."</p>
+
+<p>What annoyed the countess far more than the evidences of mystery and
+magic which surrounded her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> was the idea that she was the guest and
+the debtor of this rough, common fellow. She, rich, well-born, a
+faithful child of the Church, owed her rescue from a most unpleasant
+position to this obscure, godless tradesman. If she could only pay him
+the heaviest interest for his loan, and had not to say "thank you!"
+And yet she had to swallow the indignity.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan, after an absence of a few minutes, returned, followed by a maid
+carrying a tray with the steaming breakfast. She laid the cloth, and
+set out the cups and coffee-cans. The countess would gladly have made
+some excuse to avoid tasting the food presented by her unholy host,
+but the abb&eacute;, who was a man of the world, drew his chair to the table,
+and invited Theudelinde to follow his example, "For," he said, "we
+shall not get anything to eat till the evening, as there are no inns
+on our road; and you want refreshment before your long journey."</p>
+
+<p>When the countess saw that no demons seized upon the clergyman, and
+that the coffee of the Warlock seemed innocent of all evil, she, too,
+came to the table and sipped a few spoonfuls, but she found it was
+execrable stuff; the milk was not so bad, and she contented herself
+with that and bread.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan began to talk about the weather&mdash;a very general subject of
+conversation; but herein there was this difference. Instead of an
+ignoramus, it was a meteorologist who handled the theme. Ivan assured
+the countess that both the barometer and his English glass pointed to
+fine weather, the sun was as warm as in May, their journey would be
+excellent. As he spoke, Ivan drew back the thick green window
+curtains, and let in the bright sunlight to enliven the half-darkened
+room. The first effect of this sudden eruption of light was to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> show
+the countess her own face reflected in a large concave mirror which
+hung on the wall opposite to her.</p>
+
+<p>It is an undoubted fact that we all like to see our reflection in a
+glass; our eyes wander to it naturally, and the most earnest orator,
+in the midst of his finest peroration, will gesticulate to his own
+image with more satisfaction than to a crowded audience; but it is a
+totally different thing if it should be a magnifying-glass. What a
+horrible distortion of ourselves&mdash;head as large as a cask, features of
+a giant, expression that of a satyr; a sight too dreadful to
+contemplate.</p>
+
+<p>"What an awful glass you have there," said the countess, peevishly, as
+she turned her back to the mirror.</p>
+
+<p>"It is undoubtedly not a toilette mirror; it is a glass which we use
+in chemical experiments to test the highest degrees of heat."</p>
+
+<p>Here the abb&eacute;, who wished to air his scientific knowledge, put in&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"As, for example, for burning a diamond."</p>
+
+<p>"Just so," returned Ivan. "That is one of the uses of a concave
+mirror; it is necessary for burning a diamond, which requires the
+flame of a gas retort."</p>
+
+<p>The countess was grateful for the abb&eacute;'s remark, for it gave her a
+happy inspiration.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean to tell me," she said, addressing Ivan, "that a diamond
+is combustible?"</p>
+
+<p>"Undoubtedly, for the diamond is, in fact, nothing but coal in the
+form of a crystal. With the necessary degrees of heat you can extract
+from the patrician diamond ninety florins carat weight, the same
+amount of invisible gas or oxide of coal as from the plebeian lump of
+coal."</p>
+
+<p>"That is proved by the focus of the magnifier," remarked the abb&eacute;.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>"I don't believe it," said the countess, throwing back her head.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry," returned Ivan, "that I cannot give you a proof that the
+diamond is combustible. We do not use such costly things for mere
+experiment, but have splints for the purpose, which are cheap in
+comparison. I have, however, none of these by me."</p>
+
+<p>"I should like to be convinced, for I do not believe it," repeated the
+countess. "Will you make the experiment with this?" As she spoke she
+unfastened a brooch from her dress, and handed it to her host. The
+centre stone was a fine two-carat brilliant. Theudelinde expected that
+Ivan would return it to her, saying, "Oh, it would be a pity to use
+this beautiful stone;" and then she would reply, "Then pray keep it as
+a slight remembrance;" and in this manner this perverse individual
+would have been paid and forgotten. But, to her amazement, the
+countess found she had deceived herself.</p>
+
+<p>With the indifference of a philosopher and the courtesy of a gentleman
+Ivan took the brooch from its owner.</p>
+
+<p>"I conclude you do not wish to have the ornament melted," he said,
+quietly. "I will take the diamond out of its setting, and if it should
+not burn you can have it reset."</p>
+
+<p>Without another word he extracted the stone with a little pincers, and
+placed it at the bottom of a flat clay saucepan; then he opened the
+window, which lay in the full blaze of the sun. He placed the saucepan
+upon a stand in the middle of the room and just in front of the
+countess; then he took the magnifying-glass and went outside, for in
+the room the sun's rays had not power to concentrate themselves upon
+the mirror.</p>
+
+<p>The countess was now certain that the trick would not succeed, and
+that she would have an opportunity of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> offering the diamond to Ivan on
+the pretext of repeating the experiment when the sun's rays would be
+more powerful.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan, when he had found the proper spot outside the window, directed
+the rays from the apex of the burning-glass straight upon the
+saucepan, where the diamond was waiting the moment of its
+annihilation. The stone emitted a thousand sparks. As the sun's rays
+touched it, it threw out as many colors as are in the rainbow; it
+seemed as if it were to be the victor in this fight. All of a sudden
+the fiery rays condensed themselves in a narrower circle upon the
+doomed diamond, the small room was filled with a blinding light that
+turned everything into silver; not a shadow remained. Out of the
+saucepan shot a ball of fire like a flash of lightning; the next
+minute the burning-glass ceased to work.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan still stood outside the window. He spoke to the countess, who was
+transfixed with astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>"What is in the saucepan?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan returned to the room, hung the mirror in its place, and returned
+to the countess her brooch without its centre stone.</p>
+
+<p>The abb&eacute; could not help remarking, dryly, "That little drama is fit to
+be played before a queen."</p>
+
+<p>But now the postilion blew his horn, the countess put on her fur
+pelisse, and was escorted to the carriage by Ivan. She was obliged to
+give him her hand, and to say the words, "God be with you."</p>
+
+<p>When the carriage had gone a little way she said to the abb&eacute;, "That
+man is a sorcerer."</p>
+
+<p>But the clergyman shook his head. "He is far worse; he is an inquirer
+into the secrets of nature."</p>
+
+<p>"H'm! he is an obstinate, disagreeable man."</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X<br />
+<span class="smalltext">THE HIGHER MATHEMATICS</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>The counting-house of the firm of Kaulmann stands in the same place
+where it stood fifty years ago. The entrance is as it was, and the
+very panes of glass are identical with those through which the founder
+of the house, in 1811, was wont to make his observations&mdash;as from an
+observatory&mdash;upon the countenances of the passers-by, when a rise or
+fall in the funds was expected. He knew what an excellent barometer
+the faces of a crowd make, and how much can be gleaned by observation;
+so too a chance word, which is let fall as it were by accident, often
+contains the germ of much truth, and is, to an experienced man, in a
+measure prophetic.</p>
+
+<p>The young head of the house did not set much store by the
+counting-house business. He had higher aims. He lived on the first
+floor in luxurious bachelor chambers; his sitting-room was a museum,
+and his writing-table was crowded with bronzes and antiques; his
+inkstand was a masterpiece of Benvenuto Cellini's&mdash;or, perhaps, a
+good imitation in galvanized plaster; his pen was gold, with a
+diamond top; he used gold sand for blotting-paper; the sand-sifter
+was made of porphyry, the pen-holder was a branch of real coral, the
+paper-weight a mosaic from Pompeii, the candle-shades of real
+crystal, the cover of the blotting-book Japanese. Every article had
+a value of its own, from the Turkish paper<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> knife to the paper
+itself, which was of all sorts and descriptions, from the thickest
+vellum to the most delicate straw note, perfumed with mignonette and
+musk. In spite of these elaborate arrangements, no one had ever been
+known to write at this so-called writing-table. The science
+cultivated by Felix Kaulmann did not require the use of pen and ink;
+it was purely mental work. Felix worked night and day; during his
+sleep, even, he worked, but no trace of his labor was to be found on
+paper. When he amused himself&mdash;dancing, riding, making love&mdash;he
+seemed altogether occupied with the subject on hand; he worked,
+nevertheless, all the time. He had a certain goal at which he was
+aiming; for this he lived, for this he strove, and this alone
+aroused his interest and his enthusiasm; he never forgot for one
+moment the aim of his life. He had something more to do than to make
+a pen travel over paper; he had to move men.</p>
+
+<p>One day, not long after the events in the Castle of Bondavara, the
+Abb&eacute; Samuel was seated in Felix Kaulmann's room. Both were engaged in
+serious conversation. Before them an elegant equipage of fragrant
+Mocha, whose fumes mingled with that of the Latakia, which our friend
+the abb&eacute; smoked from a genuine Turkish pipe. Felix only smoked cigars.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, here is your agreement with the countess. As you wished for
+thirty-two years, it is regularly drawn up. And now I should like to
+know of what use it can possibly be to either you or your company. It
+is not enough for the countess to sign it; it wants the signature of
+the prince to make the contract advantageous to you, for the countess
+has only a life-interest in the Bondavara property. As soon as she
+dies it goes to the prince, or to his grandson, and then your
+agreement is null."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>"I know that," returned Felix, knocking the ash from his cigar; "and
+for this reason we must take care and keep the old girl alive. Let her
+have a good time, and she will live to a great age. It is very hard to
+kill an old maid, especially if she has lots of money. Besides, I am
+not so careless as you suppose. I have looked into the matter; I have
+seen the will of the old prince, and I know all its provisions. There
+is a clause that makes me pretty safe. When Countess Theudelinde goes
+off the reel, her brother, the present man, or his heirs, are obliged
+to compensate all those, either tenants, householders, or creditors,
+who may have erected any buildings on the estate. You see, the old
+prince considered that it would be more than probable that his crazy
+daughter might, in a fit of holy enthusiasm, build either a church or
+a convent, and he thought he would give the heirs the advantage of her
+generosity. It never entered into his head that any one would erect a
+factory, a refinery, or open a mine. Now you see how useful this
+clause is to me, the heirs will not be in a position to refund us the
+two millions of money we are putting on the property."</p>
+
+<p>"Unless they find another company to advance them the money."</p>
+
+<p>"That would not be so easy. First of all, it would have to go into the
+very intricate affairs of the Bondavara family; then it would require
+immense capital, great energy, and a certain amount of risk. For the
+rest, I can see as far as my neighbors. I don't sit with my hands in
+my lap, I can tell you, and I have not put all my money on one card."</p>
+
+<p>"Right! By-the-way, what has become of the little wild kitten you
+brought away from the Bondavara mine?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>"I have placed her for the present in Madame Risan's school; she is
+being educated, for she has extraordinary capabilities, although in a
+general way she is a stupid creature. She has a splendid voice, but
+she cannot sing, as singing is nowadays; she has a wonderfully
+expressive face, but does not know how to make use of it; she is full
+of feeling, and speaks no language but her mother-tongue."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean to educate her for the stage?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly."</p>
+
+<p>"And then?"</p>
+
+<p>"I intend to marry her."</p>
+
+<p>The abb&eacute; raised his eyebrows in some astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>"I should hardly have thought," he said, coldly, "that a pupil of
+Madame Risan's would be likely to make a satisfactory wife, although
+she might be an excellent actress."</p>
+
+<p>Felix looked haughtily at his visitor, then shrugged his shoulders, as
+who would say the abb&eacute;'s opinion on this point was indifferent to him.
+For a few minutes the men smoked in silence; then, with a sudden
+clearing of his face, Kaulmann said, in his blandest manner:</p>
+
+<p>"I want to ask you a question. You know the ins and outs of the
+marriage laws. Is there any means by which a marriage can be set aside
+without having recourse to the divorce court? That is always attended
+with great expense and a good deal of scandal; and if the other side
+should be obstinate and malicious, it can drag for an interminable
+time."</p>
+
+<p>"I know of only one other method. We will suppose that you are already
+married according to the rules of the Church in this country. You
+wish, for some reason, for a dissolution of this marriage. Well, you
+have only to go to Paris, and take up your residence in the
+bank<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>ing-house your firm has there. Your father was a French subject,
+so are you. According to the French law, no marriage is valid that is
+not solemnized before the civil authorities; therefore, the remedy
+would be in your hands. A short time ago the process was tried by the
+French court. A certain count had married in Spain; the eldest son of
+this marriage sought to recover his birthright, which had been
+forfeited in consequence of his father's having neglected to be
+remarried before the registrar in France. The court, however,
+pronounced the Spanish marriage invalid, and yours would be a similar
+case."</p>
+
+<p>Felix got up from his seat. "I thank you," he said, "more than I can
+say. If the recollection of our youthful friendship didn't remind me
+that our compact was always to <i>love</i> one another, I should certainly
+feel that I owed you a heavy debt."</p>
+
+<p>"For what?" returned the abb&eacute;, lifting his eyes in some surprise. "It
+is well for you to remind me of our young days. Was I not then the
+debtor of your father? What did he not do for me? He found me a
+miserable, overworked, ill-paid student; he made me your tutor, and so
+opened for me the road to better things. Oh, I never forget! But let
+us not talk any more of the past."</p>
+
+<p>"No, for the future is before us, and we shall work together. Now, I
+must ask you, as the countess's representative, to sign the necessary
+papers. There is the contract, and here is the check for the first
+half-year's rent, and here is another check for the sum of forty
+thousand gulden on my cashier."</p>
+
+<p>"To whom payable?"</p>
+
+<p>Felix answered by pressing the check into the abb&eacute;'s hand, while he
+whispered in his ear:</p>
+
+<p>"To the friendly representative."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>The other shook his head, with a wounded look on his face. "You mean
+to offer <i>me</i> a present?" he said, haughtily.</p>
+
+<p>"You do not understand," returned Felix. "This money does not come
+from me; it forms part of the expenses of the company, and in all such
+undertakings figures under the head of 'necessary expenses.'"</p>
+
+<p>As he spoke, Felix lit another cigar, and looked slyly at his
+companion, as who should say, "You see what a capital fellow I am!"
+Round the abb&eacute; Samuel's mouth a contemptuous smile flickered as he
+tore the check for forty thousand gulden into four pieces; then he
+laid his hand upon the banker's shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear boy," he said, "I had the whole Bondavara property in the
+hollow of my hand; it was mine to do as I chose with it. I did with it
+as I do with these pieces of paper." He threw the torn check into the
+grate. "Know me, once for all. I am no begging monk. I am a candidate
+for high honors; nothing will content me but to be ruler of a
+kingdom."</p>
+
+<p>The haughty air with which the abb&eacute; said these words impressed the
+banker so much that he laid down his cigar and stared vacantly at his
+visitor.</p>
+
+<p>"That is a great word," he said, slowly.</p>
+
+<p>"Sit down and listen to what I shall disclose to you," returned the
+priest, who, with his hands behind his back, now began to walk up and
+down the room, pausing from time to time before his astonished
+listener, to whom he poured out a torrent of words.</p>
+
+<p>"The whole world is in labor," he said, "and brings forth nothing but
+mice. And wherefore? Because the lions will not come into the world.
+Chaos rules everywhere&mdash;in finance, in diplomacy, in the Church. One
+man who would have intellect enough to see clearly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> could be master of
+the situation. But where is he to be found? Fools in embroidered coats
+are the leaders; therefore we see a country governed by incapables,
+who do not know even where to begin. They would fain force it to
+submit, but are afraid to use the necessary means. They oppress it,
+and at the same time live in dread of what it may do. And this same
+country does not itself know what to-morrow may bring, whether it
+shall submit, pay the demands of its oppressors, or appeal to arms
+against their tyranny; neither does it know who is its foe, who is its
+friend, with whom to ally itself, against whom to fight; whether it
+will go on submitting, whether it shall break out into curses or wild
+laughter at its own follies. The country still possesses one element,
+which stands, as it were, neutral between the two parties; this
+element is the clerical; the Church is a power in Hungary."</p>
+
+<p>Felix's face grew darker; he could not imagine what all this would
+lead to. But the abb&eacute; had now paused, and was standing before him.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think, my son," he said, "would be the reward due to the
+man who could find a way out of this mass of confusion&mdash;who could
+unite the classes, and bring them into conformity with the wishes of
+the government? Do you not think that there is nothing which would
+better further your Bondavara speculation than a submissive deputation
+of priests and people, who would give a promise of fidelity to the
+minister? One hand washes the other; he who brings about such an
+unlooked-for condition of affairs must be recompensed. Now do you
+understand what use this would be to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think I begin to see."</p>
+
+<p>"And what office do you think should be offered to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> the man who brings
+the peasant's frock into subjection and elevates the mitre?"</p>
+
+<p>Felix clasped his hands together. That was his answer. The clergyman
+resumed his walk up and down the room; his lips were compressed, his
+head in the air.</p>
+
+<p>"The primate is an old man," he said, suddenly.</p>
+
+<p>Felix leaned back in his chair. He could see better in this position
+the various expressions which passed over the abb&eacute;'s face. He started
+when the abb&eacute; murmured, almost under his breath:</p>
+
+<p>"The pope is still older."</p>
+
+<p>There was a moment's silence, and then the abb&eacute; continued, speaking
+fast and with excitement:</p>
+
+<p>"Dwarfs are at the rudder, my son; dwarfs who believe that their
+impotent efforts will stem the storm. The Church is in danger of going
+to pieces, and they make use of the old worn-out means of support.
+Listen to my words. All the efforts of Rome are fruitless; it tries to
+maintain its dignity with Peter's pence, and has allowed millions to
+slip through its fingers. Only here in Hungary has the Church any
+property left. I know well that in the minister's drawer there is a
+paper prepared which only needs the signature of the state to become
+law; it only requires a slight pretext, and Vienna will declare war
+against the clerical power in Hungary. She will fight it upon the
+liberal principle, and those who oppose will be the unpopular, the
+losing side. It is only a question of time. The deficit grows daily,
+the government is in a hole, the treasury is empty, there is no loan
+possible. Hence a fight over the budget, or a trifling war somewhere.
+You know the proverb, 'When the devil is hungry he eats flies.' The
+clerical property in Hungary is the fly, and Austria will make one
+bite at it. The chair of St. Peter and the Church property in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> Hungary
+are both in danger. How is the danger to be averted? Let us put our
+shoulders to the wheel; let us be more patriotic than the democrats,
+more loyal than the prime-minister, more liberal than revolutionists;
+let us save the Church property from the government, and the Church
+itself from the revolution. Let us throw into the market a gigantic
+loan of a hundred millions upon the property of the Hungarian Church
+for the rescue of the throne of St. Peter. What do you now think of
+the man who could do this thing? What should be his reward?"</p>
+
+<p>"Everything," stammered Felix, his mind confused over this
+bewildering, yet fascinating, programme.</p>
+
+<p>"To this great work I have destined you," said the abb&eacute;, with a
+solemn, majestic air. "Your Bondavara speculation is necessary, for
+with it you can make a <i>coup</i> which shall bring you a world-wide
+reputation, your name shall be on a par with that of the Strousbergs,
+the Pereiras, with that of Rothschild itself. This is the reason why I
+have given you my support. When you are firmly established, then I
+shall say to you, 'Lend me your shoulder,' upon which I shall climb
+where I will."</p>
+
+<p>After this Felix sank into a waking dream. Before his eyes gleamed the
+gigantic loan, and through a mist he saw the tall form of the abb&eacute;
+with a crown upon his head.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI<br />
+<span class="smalltext">SOIR&Eacute;ES AMALGAMANTES</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>One winter's morning Ivan Behrend, to his great astonishment, received
+a notice from the president of the Hungarian Academy of Arts and
+Science. This notice set forth that the members of the physical,
+scientific, and mathematical department had in the last general
+assembly chosen him as an honorary member of the before-mentioned
+departments; and before being elected member of the academy itself he
+should, in conformity to the established custom, read before the
+assembly his first address. Ivan was petrified with amazement. How had
+such an honor come to him? He who had never written a scientific paper
+in any periodical; who had no connections or friend in the academical
+assembly, who was not a magnate, or had played no part in political
+life. He was puzzled; he could not conceive who had brought forward
+his name. Could it have been, he thought, that in some way his
+chemical researches had reached their ears? In which case, as he told
+himself, every director of a mine, every manager of a factory, would
+be considered a philosopher and made member of the Academy, for every
+one of them possessed as much knowledge as he did. There was no use in
+thinking about it; the honor had come to him, and should be accepted.
+Ivan thought it best not to look the gift-horse in the mouth; he
+therefore wrote to the secretary,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> expressing his gratitude for the
+unlooked-for honor conferred upon him, and stating that towards the
+end of the year he would present himself in Pesth, and read before the
+illustrious assembly his inaugural address. Then he considered the
+subject of this address long and carefully, and spent much of his time
+over its elaboration. It was an account of microscopical crustations,
+the study of which he had followed closely during the boring of an
+artesian well, and which during ten years he had perfectly mastered.
+It took him until late in the autumn to complete his essay on the
+subject.</p>
+
+<p>In many places, where such scientific research is valued at its proper
+merit, his paper would have been appreciated, and would have even
+caused a sensation; but we are bound in honesty to confess that it did
+not do so in Pesth, and that during the sixty minutes allowed by the
+canon law of all institutions for such lectures, the microscopical
+crustations produced an amount of yawning unprecedented, even among
+academicians.</p>
+
+<p>After the reading of the lecture was over the very first person to
+greet the neophyte and offer his congratulations was the Abb&eacute; Samuel,
+and then a light burst suddenly upon Ivan. He now saw who it was who
+had discovered his talents, and who had been his patron. It was
+something of a fall to his vanity; he had thought&mdash;well, it didn't
+matter, the abb&eacute; was doubtless as learned as any one in the assembly,
+and his thanks were due to him. Small attentions, it is said,
+consolidate friendship.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan decided to spend some days in Pesth; he had business to do.
+During the week several papers noticed his academical address; the
+most merciful was one which announced he had given an interesting
+lecture upon the "Volcanic Origin of the Stalactites." Ivan's only
+consolation was that in his own country no one read<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> <i>The Referate</i>,
+and that abroad no one understood it, as it was written in Hungarian.
+He was wrong, however; some one did read it&mdash;but of this again. One
+day, as Ivan was making his preparations for his homeward journey, he
+received from the Countess Theudelinde Bondavara a card of invitation
+for a <i>soir&eacute;e</i>, which would take place three evenings later.</p>
+
+<p>"Aha!" thought Ivan, "another thank-offering. It is well that it did
+not come sooner."</p>
+
+<p>He sat down to his writing-table and answered the invitation in the
+most courteous manner, regretting his inability to avail himself of it
+in consequence of his immediate departure from Pesth. He was in the
+act of sealing the letter when the door opened and the Abb&eacute; Samuel was
+announced. Ivan expressed his great pleasure at receiving so
+distinguished a visitor.</p>
+
+<p>"I could not let you leave Pesth without coming," answered the abb&eacute;,
+in his most friendly manner. "My visit was due, not only because I am
+much indebted for your kind assistance at Bondavara, but also because
+I felt it a necessity to tell you what an honor I count it to know
+such a distinguished scholar as you have proved yourself to be."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan felt inclined to say that he was neither distinguished nor a
+scholar; he remained, however, silent.</p>
+
+<p>"I trust," continued the abb&eacute;, seating himself upon the sofa, "that
+you intend to make a long stay in Pesth?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am leaving to-morrow," returned Ivan, dryly.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, impossible! We cannot lose you so soon. I imagine you have a card
+for the Countess Theudelinde's next <i>soir&eacute;e</i>?"</p>
+
+<p>"I regret that I am prevented from accepting her agreeable invitation;
+I have pressing business which necessitates my return."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>The abb&eacute; laughed. "Confess honestly," he said, "that if you had no
+other reason to return home, you would run away from an entertainment
+which would bore you infinitely."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, if you will have the truth, I do confess that a <i>soir&eacute;e</i>
+is to me something of a penance."</p>
+
+<p>"These <i>soir&eacute;es</i>, however, are on a different footing from those
+<i>r&eacute;unions</i> which, I agree with you, are more pain than pleasure, and
+where a stranger feels himself 'out of it,' as the saying goes.
+Countess Theudelinde aims at having a <i>salon</i>, and succeeds admirably.
+She receives all the best people. I don't mean by that generic word
+only the upper ten, but the best in the true sense, the best that
+Pesth affords in art, in literature, in science; the aristocracy of
+birth, talent, and beauty."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan shook his head incredulously. "And how does such a mixed
+gathering answer?"</p>
+
+<p>The abb&eacute; did not reply at once; he scratched his nose thoughtfully.</p>
+
+<p>"Until they get to know one another, it is perhaps somewhat stiff. But
+with intellectual people this stiffness must soon disappear, and each
+one will do something to keep the ball rolling. You have an excellent
+delivery; I noticed it the night of your lecture. You could easily
+find a subject on which to lecture which would interest your listeners
+by its novelty, surprise them by its profundity, and amuse them by its
+variety; their intellect and their imagination would be equally
+engaged."</p>
+
+<p>It was Ivan's turn to laugh, which he did loudly. "My excellent sir,
+such a subject is unknown to me. I confess my ignorance; neither in
+print nor in manuscript have I met with it."</p>
+
+<p>The clergyman joined in the laugh.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>At this moment a servant brought Ivan a despatch, which claimed
+instant attention, so that the receipt might be given to the messenger
+who waited for it. Ivan begged his guest to excuse him if he opened
+this urgent document. The abb&eacute;, with a wave of his hand, requested him
+not to mind his presence.</p>
+
+<p>As Ivan read the letter a remarkable change passed over his face; he
+grew suddenly pale, his eyebrows contracted, then a sudden rush of
+color came into his cheeks. He held the letter before him, read it
+several times, while his eyes had a wild stare, as if he had seen a
+ghost. Then all at once he fell to laughing. He thrust the letter into
+his pocket, and returned to the subject he had been discussing.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes," he said, "I shall go to Countess Theudelinde's <i>soir&eacute;e</i>,
+and I shall give a lecture before her guests such as they have never
+heard the equal; that I promise you. Science and poetry, imagination
+and learning mixed together, with dates and genealogy, so that the
+<i>savants</i> present will not know what to think; I shall give a lecture
+which will make every geologist a prince, and every princess a
+geologist. Do you follow me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Perfectly," returned the other; not, indeed, that he saw what Ivan
+meant, but that he wished to encourage him. "That will be the very
+thing&mdash;first-rate!"</p>
+
+<p>"What do you say to illustrations by means of an electric-magnetic
+machine, eh?"</p>
+
+<p>"A capital idea, and amusing. My dear friend, you will have a
+<i>succ&egrave;s</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"May I ask you to convey to the countess my acceptance of her
+invitation? I shall require a large apparatus."</p>
+
+<p>"I can assure you in advance that the countess will be charmed at your
+kind offer. As for the apparatus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> and arrangement, leave that to her,
+she will be overjoyed when she hears that she is to expect you."</p>
+
+<p>The abb&eacute; then took his leave, fully contented with his visit. Ivan
+again read his letter, and again sat staring into space, as if a ghost
+had appeared to him.</p>
+
+<p>People said the Countess Theudelinde's <i>Soir&eacute;es Amalgamantes</i> would
+certainly make history. The mixture was excellent: grandees jostled
+elbows with poets; academicians with prelates; musicians, painters,
+sculptors, actors, critics, professors, physicians, editors,
+sportsmen, and politicians of all shades gathered under one roof. It
+was a bold experiment, a brilliant society <i>in thesi</i>. Neither was
+there wanting the element of female attraction; all that Pesth held of
+beauty, charm, and grace lent its aid to the scheme of amalgamation.</p>
+
+<p>Count Stefan, a cousin of Countess Theudelinde, was a great help to
+her <i>soir&eacute;es</i>, for he was a well-informed and cultivated young man,
+able to talk on all subjects, and especially on the poetry of the
+world. As for the Countess Angela, she was a classic beauty; her
+grandfather was a political celebrity&mdash;a great man, who had a
+surrounding of all kinds, bad and good. It was therefore quite in
+keeping, according to the usages of society, that when an unfortunate
+outsider was presented to Countess Angela, he should, after the third
+word or so, make mention of her illustrious grandfather, Prince
+Theobald of Bondavara, and inquire after his health. After this
+question, however, the Countess Angela never addressed the stranger
+another word. She allowed him to speak, if he so wished, and to retire
+in some confusion. Even the most dried-up specimen of university
+learning felt aggrieved. His heart could not resist the first glance
+of those heavenly eyes, so sweet and friendly, now so cold and
+haughty. And yet what had he done?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> The poor man will probably never
+know; he is not in the inner circle.</p>
+
+<p>Countess Angela was indeed a perfect ideal beauty; this cannot be too
+often repeated. A pure, noble face, with classical, well-proportioned
+features, nose and lips finely cut, long, straight eyebrows and
+lashes, which veiled the eyes of a goddess. When these eyes glowed, or
+when they were half-closed under their downy lids, they looked black,
+but when they laughed at you, you would swear they were blue. Her hair
+was rich, of that most lovely of all shades, chestnut brown; her whole
+countenance betrayed that she knew herself to be charming, that she
+was aware that she was the centre, at all times, of admiration, and
+that such knowledge pleased her well. And why not? A woman must be
+very silly not to be aware that beauty is a gift and a power.</p>
+
+<p>But what was the reason of her cold looks at the mention of her
+grandfather's name? Just what one might expect from a woman with her
+face. All the world&mdash;that is, her world&mdash;knew that she and her
+grandfather, Prince Theobald of Bondavara, were at daggers drawn. The
+wily old politician had given his only and beautiful granddaughter to
+a German, Prince Sondersheim. She was to consolidate some political
+matter, only she didn't see it in that light, and refused to ratify
+the bargain, not caring for Sondersheim; and, for the matter of that,
+neither did he care for her. But, then, it didn't mean so much to him.
+Angela had her ideal of married life, however, and so she quarrelled
+with her grandfather because he pooh-poohed her ideals and called them
+romantic folly. Upon this she vowed she would never speak to him
+again, and he, being angry, told her to leave his house, which she did
+at once, and came to her Aunt Theudelinde, who had just set up at
+Pesth, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> was glad to have so bright and beautiful a niece. Since
+then she had refused all communication with her grandfather. This was
+the reason that she would not even hear his name mentioned; and it
+never was, except by ignorant outsiders, or "know-nothings," as the
+Yankees call them.</p>
+
+<p>The Abb&eacute; Samuel had wit enough to see that the <i>Soir&eacute;es Amalgamantes</i>
+were not the success they should be. Conversation did not suffice;
+amalgamation was at a standstill. The young girls sat in one room, the
+married women in another; the men herded together, looking glum, but
+not so bored as the women. Then the abb&eacute;, considering what ought to be
+done, had a happy idea. He introduced dramatic representations,
+dramatic readings, concerts, which were a decided success. Soon
+conversation became lively, strangers got to know one another; when
+they rehearsed together duets and little pieces their stiffness wore
+off. The women seemed different in morning dress, free from the
+restraints of the grand toilette; they grew quite friendly, and later
+on they found a subject upon which they discoursed quite at their
+ease. It must be confessed, however, that after midnight, when the
+readings, the concert, or the representation was over, and the
+outsiders had gone home to their beds, society began to enjoy itself.
+The young people danced, the old played whist or tarok, and they
+stayed till daybreak. They would have done the same had the
+scientists, the poets, the artists remained; they didn't want them to
+leave, but, naturally, these people felt themselves out of it, and,
+besides, they could not sit up all night like the others, so they went
+home very properly; they knew their place.</p>
+
+<p>The Abb&eacute; Samuel understood how to manage matters. Whenever the
+countess was to have a particularly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> good evening he took care it
+should get talked about, and the names of the performers, their
+parentage and history, together with any interesting circumstance,
+true or false, should be subjects of conversation for days before. In
+this way he sent about Ivan Behrend's name with a great many details
+as to his interesting life in the mines, his extraordinary cleverness,
+and the wonderful lecture he was going to give at the countess's next
+<i>soir&eacute;e</i>.</p>
+
+<p>The abb&eacute; knew his world, and how to whet its curiosity by exaggerated
+reports.</p>
+
+<p>"Is it true that, for one experiment only, he burned a brilliant
+belonging to Countess Theudelinde which was worth eight hundred
+gulden?"</p>
+
+<p>"The stone weighed four carats, and was worth fifteen hundred pounds."</p>
+
+<p>"We must give him a good reception. See, here he comes, escorted by
+Abb&eacute; Samuel!"</p>
+
+<p>The gentleman who had just spoken, and who was the Countess Angela's
+cousin, was Count Edmund, a handsome young man of about twenty-two
+years of age. He hastened to meet Ivan and the abb&eacute; as they entered
+the door, and introduced himself as nephew to the lady of the house.
+He took Ivan by the arm in the most friendly manner, and led him to
+Count Stefan, uncle to the countess. The count was a man of
+intelligence and reading; he assured Ivan there were those in the room
+who were much interested to hear his lecture. After this he was
+presented by his new friend to several distinguished-looking persons
+with decorations, who all pressed his hand, and spoke in the most
+friendly manner. The beginning of the evening was the most agreeable
+portion. The abb&eacute; and Ivan finally made their way into the next room,
+where the ladies were as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>sembled, and here they found the Countess
+Theudelinde, who received them, and especially Ivan, most graciously.
+The young man, Count Edmund, again took possession of him, and,
+laughing and talking, led him up to the Countess Angela, to whom he
+was introduced with a great flourish. Before this lovely vision Ivan
+bowed, feeling somewhat stunned, yet not shy or awkward.</p>
+
+<p>"You come very seldom to Pesth," said the young countess, with a
+reassuring smile.</p>
+
+<p>"It is some time since I have been here; but I understand this is your
+first visit, countess. You have never lived in Pesth?"</p>
+
+<p>Angela's face assumed its cold expression; she felt sure he was going
+to inquire for Prince Theobald.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not see," she said, in a sarcastic voice, "what it is to any one
+whether I have ever been in Pesth."</p>
+
+<p>"It is not an uncommon accident," returned Ivan, quietly, "that a man
+visits a place where he has never been before; but when many people
+meet in the same spot, it looks as if there was something more than
+accident in such a gathering; and in this instance, where so many
+brilliant personages are brought together, it seems as if Providence
+had more to do with it than mere chance."</p>
+
+<p>At these words Angela's face cleared. "Then you believe in Providence?
+you acknowledge there is such a thing as Divine ordinance?"</p>
+
+<p>"Undoubtedly, I do believe."</p>
+
+<p>"Then we shall be friends." She turned away as she spoke, and Ivan
+took this movement as a signal to retire.</p>
+
+<p>After a quarter of an hour's further waiting, Edmund came to tell him
+that everything was in readiness in the lecture-room, and the company
+had already gathered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> there in considerable numbers. Ivan, therefore,
+ascended the stage, which had been erected at the farther end of the
+large room, and, holding his papers in his hand, addressed his
+audience. He had a pleasant voice, his manner of address was perfectly
+unaffected, composed, and taking. From the first moment he held the
+attention of the audience&mdash;his subject was <i>Magnetism</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">RITTER MAGNET</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>When the lecture had concluded the lamps were carried out of the room,
+and only the candles in the lustre were left lighted. Ivan then
+exhibited to the astonished spectators the electric light. Many of
+them had never seen such a clear, beautiful light as this ball of
+virgin-like purity. It looked like one of the heavenly planets, as if
+Venus had descended from her place in the firmament and was shining on
+the company. The candles in the lustre burned blue, and threw shadows
+on the wall. Every face lost all trace of color from the effect of
+this strange illumination; people whispered to one another, almost
+frightened. Ivan, standing upon the platform, looked like some
+magician of old, his features chiselled like a statue, his eyes in
+deep shadow; and what added considerably to the picturesque effect,
+and heightened the charm of this noble assembly, was the strange
+coloring given by the light to the splendid national costume worn by
+the company, and the enamelled appearance of the jewels on the ladies'
+necks and arms.</p>
+
+<p>The eyes of every one were directed to two persons, while an
+involuntary "Ah!" was whispered about at the extraordinary
+transformation produced in their appearance. One was Countess Angela.
+The light seemed to have taken from her face that pride and
+self-satisfaction<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> which, although natural in one so beautiful, gave
+an earthly expression to her face, and somewhat marred its beauty. Now
+she looked a heavenly vision, with the expression of a glorified
+spirit who had done with earth and had soared upward to her true home
+in heaven; all earthly passions, joy, sorrow, love, and pride, had
+vanished. Such was the miraculous effect of the magic light. The other
+transformation was in Countess Theudelinde. She was seated in an
+armchair, raised upon a sort of divan. The magic light touched her
+face gently, and gave it a fairy-like expression; the noble features
+were spiritualized, her naturally pale coloring became transparent,
+the brilliants in her magnificent tiara sparkled over her forehead as
+a garland of stars; she was sublime, and for five minutes the most
+beautiful among the beautiful. It was, nevertheless, many a long year
+since her mirror had told her she was beautiful. This, too, was the
+miraculous effect of the magic light. Round the hall there were large
+pier-glasses set into the wainscot, which reflected every one of the
+company. Theudelinde, therefore, could see herself beautified. She
+sighed as she thought, "I look like Queen Mab."</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the miraculous light went out, and the room, lit only by the
+candles, seemed in total darkness. "Ah!" in sorrowful tones was echoed
+through the assembly; people rubbed their eyes and recognized the
+familiar faces again. Alas! it was over too soon. There were no more
+angels, fairies, queens, or heroes; only a group of excellent
+every-day people, counts and countesses. The face of Angela again wore
+its proud, vain expression, and Theudelinde was once more stiff and
+ill-tempered.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan now descended from his platform, and received the congratulations
+and compliments due to his efforts.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> There were different opinions, of
+course, but they were private. Every one joined in praising the
+lecturer to himself.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan thanked every one for their approval, but with a coldly reticent
+manner, and soon disengaged himself from his admirers to go in search
+of his hostess; he wished to thank her for her kindness.</p>
+
+<p>Theudelinde received him with smiles. Countess Angela was with her,
+leaning on the back of her aunt's chair. The young girl had just said:</p>
+
+<p>"You looked, auntie, quite lovely&mdash;a perfect Queen Mab."</p>
+
+<p>The smile these words had called to Theudelinde's face still lingered
+round her lips when Ivan presented himself. For these five minutes of
+beauty she was indebted to this man, and was not ungrateful. She gave
+him her hand, and thanked him in the most gracious manner for the
+enjoyment he had given her.</p>
+
+<p>"I owe you something," returned Ivan. "When you honored my house with
+a visit, you gave me a diamond which you allowed me to burn before
+your eyes. I now in return for your goodness on that occasion give you
+this diamond, which was created before your eyes." With these words he
+handed her a piece of carbon, which he had taken from the voltaic
+pillar. "As I explained to you in my lecture, coal can be changed by
+electricity into a diamond, and in this condition can cut glass."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" cried the Countess Angela, her eyes beaming with pleasure, "let
+us try the experiment now. Where is there a glass? Yes, one of the
+pier-glasses. Come."</p>
+
+<p>Countess Theudelinde was also excited. She stood up, and went with the
+others to the pier-glass.</p>
+
+<p>"Write one of the letters of the alphabet," said Angela, and watched
+Ivan attentively. She was curious to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> see the letter he would choose.
+If he were vain, as very likely he was, he would write his own initial
+"I"; if a toady and flatterer, like most of the people round her aunt,
+he would choose "T," as the countess's initial; and if he were a silly
+fool, like so many other men, he would write "A." In either of these
+cases he would have seen on the beauty's face a scornful smile.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan took the piece of coal, and with the point wrote on the glass the
+letter "X." Both ladies expressed their astonishment at seeing the
+coal write, and Countess Theudelinde assured Ivan it should be
+preserved carefully with her other jewels.</p>
+
+<p>Countess Angela stood so near Ivan that the folds of her dress touched
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe," she said, slowly, "every word you told us. I beg of you
+do not tell me that all your romantic descriptions were but the
+necessary clothing of a dry scientific subject, meant to make it
+palatable to your silly, ignorant audience, and to raise in their
+minds a wish to seek further, so that they might in so seeking acquire
+a taste for knowledge. I do not want to seek, I believe implicitly all
+you said; but of this world of wonder and miracles I would know more.
+How far does it go? What more do you see, for the magician must know
+everything?"</p>
+
+<p>The young countess looked into Ivan's eyes as she spoke with a strange
+magnetic power impossible to resist. Such a look as this had often
+dazzled men's brains.</p>
+
+<p>"You said, also," continued Angela, "how fiery and strong are those
+who live in this magnetic kingdom, but that they have no credit for
+the virtues they possess; it is due to the working of magnetism. I
+believe this also. Magnetism has, however, two poles, the north and
+the south pole. I have read that the opposite poles are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> drawn to one
+another, and the homogeneous drift asunder. If, therefore, in the
+magnetic kingdom hearts are drawn to one another, seek one another,
+love one another, which is an immutable fact, so also is it an
+immutable fact that there must be human beings who hate one another
+with an undying, a deadly hatred, and that such hatred is no sin. Am I
+not right?"</p>
+
+<p>Ivan felt that he was driven into a corner; he understood the drift of
+the countess's question. Here his knowledge of natural philosophy came
+to his assistance.</p>
+
+<p>"It is true," he said, "that so far as life upon the earth is in
+question, there must also exist antipathies and sympathies. You have
+studied magnetism, you have read of the poles, therefore you must know
+that there exists an equator, or line, which is neither north nor
+south. This is the magnetic equator, that neither draws the magnet nor
+repulses it, and here there is perfect peace. Just such an equator is
+found in every human heart, and however a man may be carried away by
+the passions of love or hatred, his line remains unchangeable, and
+those who dwell there dwell in peace."</p>
+
+<p>"And who are the people who live under the magnetic equator?" asked
+the countess, with curiosity.</p>
+
+<p>"For example, parents and their children should dwell there."</p>
+
+<p>The young girl's face was covered with a vivid blush; her beautiful
+eyes shot a battery of lightning glances at Ivan, who remained quite
+unmoved under this battery.</p>
+
+<p>"We must talk more of this," she said, with sudden dignity.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan bowed before the haughty beauty, who turned and left him to the
+company of her aunt or of his own sex. He preferred the latter.</p>
+
+<p>Meantime, the lecture being over, a rush had been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> made to the
+refreshments. The army of outsiders were the first in the field. If
+they were of little account elsewhere, they took first place at the
+buffet, and here the citizen showed distinctly his origin.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan mixed with the company, and conducted himself as one accustomed
+to such society, and quite at his ease in it, and he was well
+received. The men were very civil towards him; every man under forty
+used the friendly "thou" in addressing him; he was made one of
+themselves. It didn't matter much, as he was said to be leaving Pesth
+the next day, and would be lost in the depths of Mesopotamia. Some one
+said he came from Africa. They tried teasing him a bit, all in a
+friendly way, and were pleased to find this pedant was an excellent
+fellow, who took the joke in good part, laughed heartily at a
+well-delivered thrust, and returned it with a sly hit, which never
+offended any one's feelings.</p>
+
+<p>"He is one of us," they said. "This man is up to everything; he is a
+capital fellow. We must give him a good time."</p>
+
+<p>"Is it true that you don't drink wine?" asked the Marquis Salista of
+Ivan.</p>
+
+<p>"Once a year."</p>
+
+<p>"And to-day is not the anniversary?"</p>
+
+<p>"No."</p>
+
+<p>"Then we have drunk enough for one year; let us be moving."</p>
+
+<p>Some of the men returned to the drawing-room; these were, for the most
+part, the young fellows, and those who wished to dance. The ladies,
+after their tea, had begun to play quadrilles, and even the "Cs&aacute;rd&aacute;s"
+for those who wished for it.</p>
+
+<p>Count Stefan, however, drew away the better portion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> of the men to his
+quarters, which were on the second story of the countess's house. Here
+he entertained in his way. His rooms being on the other side of the
+house, no noise penetrated to the story below, which was necessary, as
+the count's champagne was of the very best, and given with no sort of
+stint; it flowed, in fact. Ivan, who was of the party, showed himself
+in a new light; he drank wine; his toasts were spicy, his anecdotes
+fresh and amusing, his wit sharp and unrestrained; and although he
+drank freely, he didn't turn a hair, he was quite steady.</p>
+
+<p>"Brother," hiccoughed Count Geza, who towards two o'clock was half
+drunk, "the captain and I have agreed that when you are quite done up
+we shall carry you home and put you to bed; but, my dear friend, my
+dear Ritter Magnet, the misery is that I don't think I can get up the
+stairs; I am quite done. Therefore, take your wings and fly, and let
+the captain take his, and both of you fly home. As for me&mdash;" Here the
+count laid down on the sofa and fell asleep.</p>
+
+<p>Every one laughed; but the name he had given Ivan&mdash;Ritter
+Magnet&mdash;stuck to him.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you care to play cards, my learned one?" said the Marquis Salista.</p>
+
+<p>"Once every three years."</p>
+
+<p>"That is not often enough."</p>
+
+<p>The marquis could not at this moment explain why it was not often
+enough, for at this moment Count Stefan acquainted his guests that it
+was time for them to depart, seeing that the ball below stairs had
+broken up, and every one had gone away. The countess's rest,
+therefore, might be disturbed by any noise overhead. Every one agreed
+that this was quite proper.</p>
+
+<p>"Only," said Salista, "there is no need for us to go<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> home. Let us
+have the card-table. Let us spend our time well. Who is for a game?"</p>
+
+<p>Three players soon presented themselves; Baron Oscar was one of the
+first. But the fourth? The captain called to Ivan.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, my learned friend."</p>
+
+<p>Count Stefan thought it necessary to inform the stranger, who was his
+guest, that at the tarok-table the stakes were very high.</p>
+
+<p>"Only a kreuzer the point," said the captain.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but kreuzer points in such a game often amount to seven or eight
+hundred gulden to the losing side. These gentlemen have changed a
+simple game into a hazardous venture."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan laughed. "Every day of my life I play hazard with nature itself;
+every day I speculate with all I have on a mere chance, and play only
+one card." So saying, he rolled his chair to the green table.</p>
+
+<p>The game commenced. The game of hazard, as it is generally played, is
+a game of chance, it needs only luck and boldness; a drunken man can
+almost win by accident. But as it is played in Pesth it is something
+quite different; what is called luck, chance, accident, is here allied
+to skill, prudence, consideration, and boldness. The tarok-player must
+not only study his cards, but also the faces of his adversaries. He
+must be Lavater and Tartuffe in one; he must be a general who develops
+at every moment a fresh plan of campaign, and a Bosco who can, from
+the first card that is played, divine the whole situation; he must,
+however, be generous, and sacrifice himself for the sake of the
+general good. Therefore it was that the spectators pitied Ivan when he
+sat down to the card-table to play with these three masters of the
+game.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>It was seven o'clock when the players rose from the card-table. As
+Ivan pushed back his chair, the marquis said to him:</p>
+
+<p>"Well, comrade, it is a good thing for the world at large that you
+only drink once a year and play cards once in three years, for if you
+did both every day there would be no more wine in Salista's cellar nor
+no gold left in Rothschild's bank."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan had, in truth, stripped the three gentlemen.</p>
+
+<p>"Nevertheless, we must have a parting cup," continued Salista. "Where
+is the absinthe?" As he spoke he filled two large glasses with the
+green, sparkling spirit, of which moderate people, regretting this
+prudence, it may be, never drink more than a liqueur glass.</p>
+
+<p>Count Stefan shook his head over what he considered a bad joke, but
+Ivan did not shrink from the challenge; he clinked his glass with that
+of the captain, and emptied it without drawing breath. Then, with his
+most courteous bow, he took leave of his host, Count Stefan, who on
+his side assured him it would always be a pleasure to receive so
+delightful a guest.</p>
+
+<p>As Ivan made his way into the anteroom his step was steady, his air
+composed. Not so the marquis; the dose had been too potent for him. He
+insisted upon claiming Ivan's astrakhan cap as his, and, as there was
+no use arguing the matter with an inebriate, Ivan had to go home in
+the military helmet of a hussar officer. On the staircase the captain
+maintained that he could fly, that he was one of the inhabitants of
+the magnetic kingdom, and had wings. The others had all the trouble in
+the world to get him down the stairs. When he came to the first floor
+he thought of paying the Countess Theudelinde a visit, to thank her
+for her kind reception of his lecture, for he was the lecturer, and he
+was ready<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> to blow out the brains of any one who contradicted him. He
+was with great difficulty got into a <i>fiacre</i>, and driven to his
+hotel. When he got there he had to be carried to his bed, where he lay
+in a deep sleep until late in the following day.</p>
+
+<p>Meantime Ivan, after a short rest, went about as usual, wrote his
+letters, and paid some visits.</p>
+
+<p>"He carries his liquor like a man," said Count Stefan. And from this
+time all the world called him the knight of the magnet.</p>
+
+<p>The knight was to be met everywhere. He had numerous visitors; he was
+invited to the best houses. He was elected honorary member of the
+club; he had been introduced by the abb&eacute;. The club had three classes
+of members&mdash;the day grubs and the evening and the night birds. In the
+daytime the library, which was an excellent collection of rare books,
+was visited by all the <i>litt&eacute;rateurs</i> of Pesth. From six to eight came
+the lawyers and the politicians to play whist and talk politics, and
+from eight until midnight the men of fashion had their innings. In
+this way two men might go every day to the club and never meet one
+another.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan first ransacked the library, then he distributed his time
+equally. He thought no more of returning home. He enjoyed everything
+and went everywhere, never missing on the opera nights to pay a visit
+to the Countess Theudelinde's box on the grand tier.</p>
+
+<p>In the second week of his stay the countess gave her ball. Ivan was
+invited, and went.</p>
+
+<p>"Shall you dance?" asked the captain.</p>
+
+<p>"I haven't done so for fifteen years."</p>
+
+<p>"It suits men of our years to look on," remarked the marquis,
+languidly. "No man dances now after two-and-thirty."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>Looking on was pleasant enough. The nameless grace and wonderful
+agility displayed by the aristocratic, fashionable woman was a sight
+for the gods to admire. Countess Angela was to-night surpassing fair.
+She wore a rose-colored dress, with a body, in the Hungarian fashion,
+all studded with pearls; the sleeves were of lace. She had taken a
+fancy to dress her hair like the peasant girls, in two long tresses
+plaited with ribbons; it suited her to perfection. But men get tired
+of everything, even of a sight fit for the gods. After supper one said
+to the other:</p>
+
+<p>"Let us make use of our time; the young fellows can dance; let us play
+tarok."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan played cards every day. He played most games well; he never
+disputed with his partners. He could lose with a good grace; when he
+won was not elated. When he held bad cards he showed no ill-temper,
+and seldom made a mistake. He was looked upon as an acquisition, and
+for a <i>savant</i> he was really a useful man. On this evening he was in
+exceptionally good-luck.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Count Edmund came into the card-room in a violent hurry. He
+said to Ivan:</p>
+
+<p>"Throw down your cards. Angela wishes to dance a turn of the Hungarian
+cotillon with you."</p>
+
+<p>Hungarian cotillon! Strange times, that we should have a Hungarian
+court, a Hungarian ministry, Hungarian silver and gold coins. That is
+nothing wonderful; it is only natural, it is fate, and due to us. But
+a Hungarian cotillon belongs to the day of agitators. We dance the
+cotillon to the air of "Cs&aacute;rd&aacute;s."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan obeyed Angela's mandate. When he came to her he bowed low before
+her.</p>
+
+<p>"You wouldn't have troubled yourself to come near<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> me only I sent for
+you," she said, in a tone of gentle reproach.</p>
+
+<p>"Into the presence of a queen one doesn't intrude; we wait to be
+summoned."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't try and flatter me; if you do like the others I shall treat you
+as I do them, and not speak one word to you. I much prefer your way,
+although you are always offending me."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not remember to have ever offended you."</p>
+
+<p>"Because you do nothing else. You know that very well."</p>
+
+<p>It was now their turn; they joined the waltzers, and no one would have
+guessed that it was fifteen years since Ivan had danced.</p>
+
+<p>Meantime, in the card-room there was some gossip over this new whim of
+the young countess. Count Edmund, as he shuffled the cards, declared
+his cousin Angela was bewitched about this Ritter Magnet.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, is that so?" cried the Marquis Salista.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you believe him," interrupted Count Stefan. "I know our pretty
+Angela; she is as full of mischief as a kitten. As soon as she remarks
+that a man has a hobby-horse, she makes him ride it, puts it through
+all its paces, caracoling, leaping, <i>haute &eacute;cole</i>. This is her trick:
+once she knows the subject which interests a man, she talks of it with
+such an earnest face, such sympathetic eyes; and when he has left her,
+charmed at her intelligence, her sweetness, she ridicules the
+unfortunate devil. This is the way she treated poor Sondersheim, a
+very brave young fellow, who has only one fault, that he worships
+Angela, and she abhors him. She laughs at everybody."</p>
+
+<p>"That is true; but she praises Ivan, not to his face, but behind his
+back to me, and not because he is a man<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> of science, a geologist, but
+because he is such a brave man."</p>
+
+<p>"That is another of her tricks; the artful puss knows right well that
+the praise which comes at third-hand is the sweetest of all flattery."</p>
+
+<p>"I take good care not to repeat one word to Ivan."</p>
+
+<p>"There you show him real friendship," remarked Salista, laughing.</p>
+
+<p>In the ball-room the dancers had returned to their places.</p>
+
+<p>"You were ready to leave Pesth," Angela was saying, with a charming
+pout. "You needn't deny it; the abb&eacute; told me."</p>
+
+<p>"Since then circumstances have detained me longer than I expected,"
+returned Ivan, coolly.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you got a family at home?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have no one belonging to me in the world."</p>
+
+<p>"And why have you not?"</p>
+
+<p>This was a searching question.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps you already know what my business is. I have a colliery; I
+work with the miners, and spend my day underground."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, that explains everything," said Angela, regarding him with tender
+sympathy. "Now I understand that you are indeed right. It would be
+terrible to condemn a woman to the sufferings a miner's wife must
+endure. What can be more terrible than to take leave of her husband
+each morning, not knowing whether they will ever meet again; to know
+he is in the depths of the earth while she breathes the fresh air of
+heaven; to fancy her beloved is perhaps buried alive, and she cannot
+hear his cries for help; that even if it is not so, that he is
+surrounded by a deadly atmosphere, that it only needs a spark to
+become a hell, in which her darling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> would be lost to her forever? I
+can understand how a woman's heart would break under such a daily
+agony; even to her child she would say, 'Do not run so fast, else a
+stone may fall on your father's head and kill him.'" Then, with a
+sudden change of expression, Angela turned angrily to Ivan. "But why
+do you stay down in the mine like a common miner?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because it is my element, as the battle-field is that of the soldier,
+the sea of the sailor, the desert of the traveller. It is with me as
+it is with them&mdash;a passion. I love the mysterious darkness of the
+world underground."</p>
+
+<p>The warmth with which Ivan spoke these words kindled an answering
+enthusiasm in his listener.</p>
+
+<p>"Every passion is absorbing," she said, "especially the passion for
+creation and for destruction. I understand how a woman would follow a
+man she loved, not only to the field, but into the battle itself,
+although the art of war has now become a very prosaic and second-class
+affair, and has lost every trace of idealism. I confess, however, the
+heroism of the miner is to me incomprehensible. A man who occupies
+himself with dead, cold stones is to me like that Prince Badrul-Buder
+in the 'Arabian Nights,' who was turned into a stone, and whose wife
+preferred a living slave to her marble husband. I prefer those who
+penetrate to unknown regions of the globe, and I could envy the wife
+of Sir Samuel Baker, who travelled by his side all through the deserts
+of South Africa, holding in one hand a pistol, while the other hand
+was clasped in that of her husband. Together they bore the burning
+heat, together repulsed the savage wild beasts. Hand in hand they
+appeared before the King of Morocco, and what the arm of the husband
+failed to procure was given to the charms of the wife. I can place
+myself in the position of this woman,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> who, alone and deserted in the
+Mangave wood, sat through the livelong night with the head of the
+wounded traveller on her lap and a loaded pistol beside her. To heal
+his wounds she ventured into the woods and found herbs; for his food
+she contrived to cook in the desert. She did this for the only man she
+loved, whose only love she is and has ever been. Her name is known and
+revered in every place where Europeans have penetrated."</p>
+
+<p>Again they had to join the circle of dancers, and when they returned
+to their place Angela resumed the conversation:</p>
+
+<p>"What I said just now was sheer nonsense; the whole thing was the
+outcome of despicable vanity. A miserable idea to travel through
+countries where a woman is hardly to be distinguished from a beast,
+and that because she walks upright; where the ideal of beauty is to
+have the upper lip bored into a big hole, so that when laughing the
+nose is visible&mdash;ridiculous! And then to be proud because she was the
+most beautiful woman, and her husband perforce was faithful to her. A
+great thing, indeed, to be the queen of beauty amid monsters of
+ugliness! No, no; I know of something better, far bolder. A woman,
+Fraulein Christian, has accomplished a journey alone on horseback all
+across the steppes of Asia. What if a man and a woman had the courage
+to penetrate through the Polenia Canal to the warm seas discovered by
+Kane? or if a man and a woman had the courage to cast anchor in the
+regions of the north pole, and to the inhabitants of that magnetic
+kingdom boldly say, 'Compare yourselves with us; we are handsomer,
+stronger, more faithful, happier than you are'? That would be a
+triumph; and such a journey I would willingly undertake."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>As she said these words, Angela's eyes gleamed upon Ivan with the
+splendor of the aurora borealis. Ivan decided within himself upon a
+sudden experiment.</p>
+
+<p>"Countess, if you have the passion or desire to visit strange worlds,
+and to excite the benighted inhabitants to a proper emulation for
+something better, truer, more intellectual than that they have
+hitherto known, if this is really your laudable wish, I can recommend
+to your notice a country equally in need of such enlightenment, and
+infinitely nearer to you."</p>
+
+<p>"What is it?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is Hungary."</p>
+
+<p>"But are we not in Hungary already?"</p>
+
+<p>"Countess, you are in it, but not of it. You are merely visiting us.
+You do not know what and who we are. You need not go so far as the
+poles or Abyssinia; here is a new world open to you, a large field
+where your passion for creating and improving can be easily
+gratified."</p>
+
+<p>Angela opened her fan, and with an air of indifference fanned her
+white bosom.</p>
+
+<p>"What can <i>I</i> do? I am not my own mistress."</p>
+
+<p>"You are not your own mistress, and, nevertheless, you rule."</p>
+
+<p>"Over whom?"</p>
+
+<p>"Countess, it would only need one word from you to bring the green
+palace and all it contains from Vienna to Pesth. The society here
+requires that leading personality which now in Vienna is lost among
+the crowd, whose existence is spent in aimless inaction. Pesth needs
+the prince, your grandfather. He adores you. One word from you would
+give to our life a new being; one word from you and Prince Theobald
+would reside here."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>Angela ceased fanning herself; with an angry gesture she folded her
+hands, and turned an angry look upon Ivan.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know that the subject you have just mentioned is so
+distasteful to me that any one who has ventured to name it to me has
+forfeited my acquaintance?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am quite aware of the fact, countess."</p>
+
+<p>"And why have you dared to approach the subject?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will tell you, countess. Because of an old connection between our
+families."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, that is something quite new. I have never heard of it."</p>
+
+<p>"Possibly not. One of your ancestors was a cardinal, and one of mine
+was a minister in Patak&mdash;a great difference in their relative
+positions, no doubt; and this difference had a terrible result for my
+ancestor. The cardinal condemned him to the galleys for life. The
+minister had, however, only one word to speak, as the cardinal told
+him, and he would be free. That word was <i>abrenuncio</i>&mdash;'I renounce,'
+or 'recant.' He would not say the word, however, and so he went to the
+galleys. As they were putting round his neck the iron collar, from
+which the chains hang which fasten the slave to his bench, your
+ancestor, the cardinal, who was not a hard-hearted man, with tears in
+his eyes entreated my ancestor to say the word 'abrenuncio.' The
+minister, however, not only refused, but called out 'Non abrenuncio.'
+In the same manner I now stand opposite to you and repeat the same
+words&mdash;'Non abrenuncio.' This is the <i>rapport</i> between us. Would you
+treat me as the cardinal did my ancestor?"</p>
+
+<p>Countess Angela tapped her fan upon her knee as she whispered between
+her small white teeth, and with a cruel smile upon her lips:</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>"What a pity that those days are past! If I were in the place of my
+ancestor I would order you to have iron goads driven under your
+nails."</p>
+
+<p>At this formidable threat Ivan burst out laughing. After a minute
+Angela followed his example and laughed also.</p>
+
+<p>It was rather a bold experiment to meet the young beauty's wrath with
+a burst of laughter, but it was a good answer to her foolish speech.
+The countess felt now that she had given cause for laughter; but she
+was offended, nevertheless, and with a haughty look at the offender
+she seated herself.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan did not move from her side. A cotillon, even though it be the
+"Hungarian," has its uses. One partner cannot leave the other if they
+wish to separate.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime a young man, one of the stupid persons of society,
+came to Ivan and whispered in his ear that Edmund sent him to say he
+should return to his game; the luck had changed, and the heap of gold
+Ivan had left was lost.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell him he has done well," returned Ivan; and he took his
+pocket-book from his breast-pocket and handed it to the messenger.
+"Tell him to make use of what is in this," he said, "and lose it, if
+necessary." And he remained where he was.</p>
+
+<p>Angela never turned her head to him again. The cotillon lasted a long
+time; Count Geza, who led it, wished to show that the Hungarian
+presented as many opportunities for new figures as the German
+cotillon, and the demonstration lasted two hours. Ivan remained to the
+end, although Angela preserved her cold silence. When they had to join
+in the waltz circle she leaned on his shoulder, her fingers pressed
+his, her breath touched<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> his face; when she returned to her place she
+resumed her coldness, and kept her head steadily averted.</p>
+
+<p>When the cotillon was over Edmund brought Ivan the news that this long
+dance had cost him a thousand gulden. Ivan shrugged his shoulders, as
+if the loss didn't concern him.</p>
+
+<p>"Wonderful man!" thought Edmund. Presently he said to his cousin:</p>
+
+<p>"It seems that you kept Ritter Magnet all to yourself, my pretty
+cousin."</p>
+
+<p>Angela raised her white shoulder to him, while she said, angrily:</p>
+
+<p>"This man has bored me for a long time."</p>
+
+<p>From the moment that these words were spoken by the queen of fashion a
+marked change took place in the opinion of the world as to Ivan's
+merits. He was no longer considered a capital fellow, but was looked
+upon as a pushing <i>parvenu</i>. Angela said nothing more, but this one
+sentence conveyed much. There are men of low origin whose own vanity
+misinterprets the true meaning of the condescension shown to them by
+those above them in station, and by so doing make terrible mistakes
+which must be punished. Such bold <i>parvenus</i> must be taught to curb
+their wishes. Ivan was counted as one of these. The foolish man had
+imagined that a high-born lady, a Bondavara, because she was
+patriotic, would, forsooth, stoop to such as he; he had mistaken her
+graciousness for the encouragement she might give to one of her own
+class. He must be ostracized, and that speedily.</p>
+
+<p>The signal had been given by those words of the countess's: "He has
+for a long time bored me." The first means taken under such
+circumstances is to make the offender ridiculous. This can be done in
+different<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> ways. The victim remarks that his weak points are held up,
+that he is never left in peace, that he is perpetually placed in
+situations which are arranged to make him a laughing-stock. Not that
+any one is rude enough to laugh at him openly; on the contrary, they
+are most polite to him, but it is a politeness that provokes laughter.
+He soon finds that no one is his friend, no one makes any intimacy
+with him, although no one actually insults him; but if he is a man of
+any intelligence he soon feels that he is not one of the society, and
+that his best part will be to take his hat and go.</p>
+
+<p>This happened now to Ivan, but his habitual phlegm did not desert him;
+he understood the situation, and was determined to stand his ground to
+the bitter end. He was invited to take part in an amateur opera, made
+up of most aristocratic personages; it was done on purpose to subject
+him to a mortification. He was given the <i>r&ocirc;le</i> of the "King." He made
+a sensation; his voice was a fine, melodious bass. Angela was the
+"Elvira"; Salista, "Ernani"; but the "King" was the favorite.</p>
+
+<p>"The devil is in the man," growled the marquis. "He has been an actor,
+I'll bet."</p>
+
+<p>On another occasion he was invited to a fox-hunt at Count Stefan's
+splendid hunting-seat near Pesth. The <i>&eacute;lite</i> of the country round
+gathered at these hunts, which took place in the beginning of the
+season. It was arranged that Ivan should be mounted on a fiery
+Arabian. This was considered a great joke. It would be such fun to see
+the quiet book-worm in the saddle; he would have to cling on, for the
+Arabian would hardly allow his owner to ride. It would be rare sport.
+But here was another disappointment; Ivan sat the fiery racer as if he
+had grown in the saddle. When Salista saw him mounted, he muttered
+between his teeth:</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>"The devil is in the fellow. I would take a bet he has been a hussar."</p>
+
+<p>Countess Angela took part in the first run at Count Stefan's. She sat
+her horse splendidly; she was quite at home in the field.</p>
+
+<p>About ten sportsmen drew the first cover; the hounds had the fox out
+of the bushes, and the cavalcade rode after Renard, who took his
+course over a slope of a hill, which was divided by a cleft in the
+rock, at the bottom of which ran a mountain stream. The fox took
+refuge in this cleft; he probably thought he might find there an empty
+fox-hole, into which he might sneak. In any case he might escape by
+the skin of his teeth, as the horses could not venture to follow him.
+It was a chance, for if the dogs hunted him out of the burrow he could
+make tracks by the right-hand side. The hunt was on the left.</p>
+
+<p>"Forward!" cried the daring Countess Angela, and put her horse to leap
+the cleft.</p>
+
+<p>It was a breakneck jump. How many will risk their lives to follow her?
+When she reached the other side she turned and looked back. Ivan was
+beside her. The dogs pursued the fox, who had taken to the stream; the
+rest of the hunt galloped along the left side of the chasm. Angela
+thought as little about them as they did of her. In every one's mind
+there was only one idea&mdash;the fox. The countess rode at the very edge
+of the chasm, taking no heed of the dizzy height she was on and the
+dangerous depths into which one false step of her horse might
+precipitate her. She followed poor Renard, who was seeking an outlet,
+distracted as he was by his pursuers. Suddenly he rushed out through
+the riders on the left bank and took to the woods.</p>
+
+<p>"After him! Tally ho!" resounded along the hillside, and soon fox,
+dogs, and horsemen were lost to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> Angela's sight. At once she turned
+her horse's bridle; she made for a short-cut through the mountain,
+over which she meant to jump her horse, and so join the hunt without
+loss of time. She never looked back to see if Ivan followed her, but
+galloped up the steep mountain-side, sitting her horse in splendid
+style. At the turn of the path a hare suddenly broke from the cover
+under the horse's feet. The animal shied, and swerved violently to one
+side, throwing the countess out of the saddle. In the fall the long
+skirt of her habit got entangled in the saddle and kept her fastened
+to the horse. Her head hung, with all her hair streaming on the
+ground. The frightened horse ran towards the crevice; if he dragged
+his rider down its side her head would be battered to pieces by the
+trunks of the trees. Ivan fortunately caught his bridle in time. He
+freed the foolhardy rider from the saddle; she was unconscious. Ivan
+laid her upon the soft turf, and pillowed her head upon the stump of a
+moss-grown tree. Then he saw how the fall had disarranged her dress.
+The malachite buttons had come off the body of her habit, and the
+bodice was treacherously open. Ivan drew from his necktie his
+breast-pin, and with it closed the countess's corselet.</p>
+
+<p>When Angela came to herself she was alone. Both the horses were tied
+to a tree by their bridles. In the distance through the gathering mist
+she saw a man coming towards her from the valley below. It was Ivan,
+who had gone to fill his hunting-flask with water. The countess rose
+at once to her feet; she needed no help. Ivan offered her the water;
+she thanked him, but said she was quite herself. Ivan threw the water
+away.</p>
+
+<p>"I think it would be well if you were to return to the castle."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>"I will do so."</p>
+
+<p>"It is not far. I know a short way through the wood. We can lead the
+horses."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well," returned the countess, submissively. But when she looked
+at her dress and saw how it was fastened a hot blush covered her face.
+When she was in the shade of the wood she turned to Ivan, and said,
+suddenly, "Have you ever heard of Julia Gonzaga?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, countess."</p>
+
+<p>"She was the Chatelaine of Fondi. Barbarossa had surprised Fondi in
+the night and carried off Julia. A noble knight came to her rescue,
+and she escaped with him from the freebooter. It was in the night, and
+she had to ride barefooted, for she had just risen from her couch. Do
+you know how she rewarded her deliverer? She stabbed him through the
+heart with the first dagger that came to her hand."</p>
+
+<p>"And she did right," returned Ivan. "A strange man should not have
+seen her naked feet."</p>
+
+<p>"And the man?" asked Angela.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, poor fellow! he had the misfortune of enjoying too much
+happiness."</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">ONLY A TRIFLE</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>The fox was taken. Out of the far distance a triumphant "Halali!" was
+heard, and then the horn sounded to collect the scattered members of
+the hunt. Countess Angela and her escort were by this time at the
+border of the wood. Ivan sounded his horn in answer to the summons,
+and to show the others that they were already on their way home. They
+arrived at the castle a quarter of an hour before the rest of the
+company. Then they separated, and did not meet again until
+supper-time. The huntsmen spent the interval talking over the day's
+exploits, and the ladies were occupied with their toilettes.</p>
+
+<p>Countess Angela told her aunt what had happened. She was incapable of
+any sort of deceit. Lies, which come so easily to the lips of some
+women, were impossible to her. If she did not tell a thing she kept
+silent; but to speak what was not true&mdash;never! But what if Ivan
+related to the men what had occurred? It was so much the habit to talk
+over the day's sport, and make a jest of everything. Why should he not
+make capital of such an adventure&mdash;a rescued lady&mdash;a beauty in
+<i>d&eacute;shabille</i>?</p>
+
+<p>When supper-time came it struck every one that the countess had a
+constrained manner, and closer observers noticed that she avoided
+looking at Ivan. She was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> dressed all in black, which was, perhaps,
+the reason that she was so pale. She was silent and preoccupied; she
+was wondering if they all knew what Ivan knew. The gentlemen tried to
+amuse her. They were full of the day's run, how the fox had doubled,
+how they thought they would never catch him, how they regretted that
+the countess had not been present, how unfortunate it was that she had
+been on the opposite side of the mountain, but that it was far better
+for her to have lost the run than to have ventured to leap the
+crevice. That would, indeed, have been madness; an accident would
+certainly have been the result. No one alluded to the fact that she
+had met an ugly one; but, then, well-bred people never do allude to
+anything unpleasant, which, though otherwise agreeable, has this
+drawback, that one never knows how much or how little they know.</p>
+
+<p>It was a remark of her cousin Edmund that convinced Angela eventually
+that Ivan had kept his own counsel as to her accident.</p>
+
+<p>"Did Behrend accompany you to the house?" he asked. (No one now called
+him Ritter Magnet, nor were there any familiar jokes with him).</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"And his escort was not agreeable to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"What makes you say that?" inquired Angela, hastily.</p>
+
+<p>"From Ivan's manner; he seems terribly down in his luck. He hasn't a
+word to say to a dog, and he avoids looking at you. Don't you remark
+it? You have, I think, made the place too hot for him; he won't stay
+longer. Have I guessed right?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, quite right."</p>
+
+<p>"Shall I give him a hint to go?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>"Do, for my sake; but without harshness. I will not have him
+offended."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think I am such a bungler? I have an excellent plan to get him
+away quietly."</p>
+
+<p>"You must tell me what it is. I am not vexed with the man, only he
+bores me. Do you understand? I won't have him driven away by any of
+you; but if he goes by his own free choice, I should be glad if he
+were at the antipodes."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I have no objection to tell you what I mean to do. This man is
+a scholar, a philosopher, as you know. He holds very different
+opinions from us who live in the world. For one thing, he abhors
+duelling. Don't spoil your pretty face by frowning. I am not going to
+call him out, neither is any one else, so far as I know; that would be
+a stupid joke. But this evening, in the smoking-room, Salista and I
+will get up a dispute about some trifle or another; the end of it will
+be a challenge. I will ask Behrend and Geza to be my seconds. Now,
+what will happen? If Behrend refuses, which is most likely, he will
+have to withdraw from our party&mdash;that is the etiquette&mdash;and we will
+have nothing more to say to him. If, on the contrary, he accepts, then
+the other seconds will manage to fall out about the arrangements of
+our meeting&mdash;Salista's and mine&mdash;and the regular consequence of such a
+falling out is that the seconds challenge one another; then our
+philosopher packs up his traps, thanks us for our hospitality, goes
+back to brew his gas. He doesn't fight, not he; for I hold that,
+although it is within the bounds of possibility that even a
+philosopher, if deeply insulted, may have recourse to his pistol to
+punish the offender, yet, when it is a matter of pure, worldly
+etiquette, it is only your born gentleman who will stand up in a
+duel."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>"But suppose he does consent to fight this duel?"</p>
+
+<p>"Then my plot has failed. We should then have a sort of court-martial,
+and it would have to decide that no offence was meant and none given.
+We would all shake hands, and the little comedy would be at an end."</p>
+
+<p>Angela yawned, as if weary of the subject. "Do as you like," she said.
+"But take care. This man can show his teeth; he can bite."</p>
+
+<p>"Leave that to me."</p>
+
+<p>That evening at supper the conversation was purposely turned on
+duelling, for the purpose of convincing Angela that Ivan's views on
+the subject were sound as regarded his own safety. The opportunity
+offered, for the latest event in fashionable life was a duel, in which
+the only son of a well-known and distinguished family had lost his
+life for some silly dispute about a trifle.</p>
+
+<p>"I hold the duel to be not merely a mistake, but a crime," said Ivan.
+"It is flying in the face of God to take the law into our own hands.
+The <i>Te Deum</i> which the conqueror sings over his murderous act is a
+disgrace; it cries to Heaven for vengeance. The appeal to weapons as
+satisfaction is likewise an offence against society, for it hinders
+the possibility of telling the truth. The man who tells us our faults
+openly to our face is a benefactor, but by the present laws of society
+we are bound to challenge him, and to kill him if we can; we have no
+other course, so it must be false compliments or the duello."</p>
+
+<p>Edmund continued the discussion. "I take a different view of the
+matter," he said. "If duelling were not a law of society it would be
+in a sense a denial of God's mercy, for if you look at it in this way
+it cannot be denied that one man is weak, another man strong, and
+that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> this is a decree of Providence. The result of this difference in
+many instances would be that the weaker would be the slave of the
+stronger, who could box his ears, insult him, and all the law would
+give him would be, perhaps, a couple of pounds. This chasm between the
+law of God and the law of man is filled by the pistol-ball, which puts
+the strong and the weak on the same level. The pistol is not a judge,
+for it often decides the cause unjustly. Nevertheless, this unwritten
+law, and the respect, not to say fear, it infuses, has a salutary
+effect, and makes it impossible for the bully to tyrannize over a man
+of more education but less physical strength."</p>
+
+<p>"But that it should be so is a crime of society," answered Ivan. "A
+false sentiment of honor has dictated this law. The world has no right
+to make such a rule; it should honor those equally, be they poor or
+rich, well-born or humble, who keep the law of the land as it is
+constituted. But what does society do? If a gentleman gets a box on
+the ear from another, and does not immediately demand satisfaction for
+the insult, and, <i>nolens volens</i>, make himself a target to be shot at
+by perhaps a better marksman than himself, what happens? He is at once
+dishonored; society ostracizes him. The world, if it pretend to any
+justice in the matter, should reform this absurd principle, and punish
+the man who has given the first offence. Then society, and not a
+leaden ball, would be judge."</p>
+
+<p>"That is all very fine in theory, my dear sir; but I ask you, as a man
+of honor, to put yourself in the position in which, for some reason or
+another, you find it necessary to have satisfaction for an affront."</p>
+
+<p>"I could not imagine myself placed in any such position," Ivan
+answered, quietly. "I offend no one intentionally, and should I do so
+inadvertently, I would at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> once apologize. I give no man the
+opportunity to asperse my honor, and if he were foolish enough to do
+so I would call upon those who know, and I should deem myself indeed
+unfortunate if they did not clear me of any such accusation."</p>
+
+<p>"But suppose the honor of some one near and dear to you were
+attacked?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have no one who stands to me in that close relationship."</p>
+
+<p>This last remark cut short the discussion. Nevertheless, before many
+hours had passed the Marquis Salista proved to Ivan that there was one
+person whose good name was dear to him.</p>
+
+<p>It was at supper, and Angela was present. The marquis was entertaining
+her with anecdotes of the revolution, in which he had taken part. He
+was bragging fearfully that when he was lieutenant of the cuirassiers
+he performed prodigies. At the battle of Izsasseg, with only a handful
+of men, he routed the entire regiment of Lehel Hussars, and at Alt
+Gzoney he cut the Wilhelm Hussars to pieces, and didn't spare a man.</p>
+
+<p>Not a feature in Ivan's face moved. He listened silently to these
+wonderful tales. Angela at last grew weary of all this boasting and
+glorification of the Austrians over the degraded Hungarians; she
+turned to Ivan, and put to him a direct question:</p>
+
+<p>"Is this all true?"</p>
+
+<p>Ivan shrugged his shoulders. "What can I, a poor miner who lives
+underground, know of what goes on on the surface of the great earth?"</p>
+
+<p>Angela need not have anxiety about him. He is a philosopher, and there
+is no fear he will go too near the fire.</p>
+
+<p>After supper the company separated; Count Stefan, with Countess
+Theudelinde and some other ladies, went<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> into the drawing-room. The
+moon shone through the bow-windows. The countess played the piano, and
+Angela came and spoke to Ivan.</p>
+
+<p>"Here is your pin," she said. "You know the old superstition&mdash;a
+present of sharp-pointed instruments dissolves friendship, and those
+who wish to be friends never give them?"</p>
+
+<p>"But," answered Ivan, smiling, "the superstition provides an antidote
+which breaks the spell. Both friends must laugh over the present."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, that is why you laughed when I spoke of the iron goads. There,
+take back your pin, and let us laugh for superstition's sake!"</p>
+
+<p>And they laughed together, because it was a superstition so to do.
+Then Angela went out on the balcony, and took counsel from the soft
+air of the summer's evening; she leaned over the balustrade, waiting
+for Count Edmund, who had promised to bring her the first news of how
+the plot had worked.</p>
+
+<p>The gentlemen stayed late in the smoking-room; the night is their time
+for enjoying themselves, so Angela had a long vigil. The moon had long
+disappeared behind the high tops of the poplar-trees before Angela
+heard Edmund's step coming through the drawing-room to the bow-window.
+The ladies were still playing the piano; they could talk unreservedly.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what has happened?" asked Angela.</p>
+
+<p>Edmund was agitated. "Our trifle has turned out a rank piece of
+folly," he said, crossly.</p>
+
+<p>"How?"</p>
+
+<p>"I should not tell you, Angela, but the situation is such that it
+would be wrong to conceal anything from you. We had it all arranged
+just as I told you. When we were in the smoking-room we began to play
+our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> practical joke. Some one said how pleased you seemed to be with
+Hungary&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, how stupid of you!" said Angela, angrily.</p>
+
+<p>"I know now it was a stupid thing to do. I wish I had seen it before;
+but it always happens the knowledge comes too late."</p>
+
+<p>"What business had you, or any one, to mention my name? I gave no
+permission to have it done."</p>
+
+<p>"I know, I know; but in men's society, unfortunately, no one asks a
+lady's permission to mention her name. It was only a joke. It had been
+settled among us that I, being your cousin, should protest against
+this chatter in connection with your name; then Salista was to say
+that he knew well that what kept you in Pesth was the fine eyes of a
+certain gentleman, that I was to get angry, and forbid him to say any
+more, and that then we should get up the mock duel."</p>
+
+<p>Angela was trembling with anger, but, anxious to hear more, she
+controlled herself with difficulty.</p>
+
+<p>"I never heard such a childish joke," she said. "It was a college
+trick."</p>
+
+<p>"It would have been good for us all if it had ended like a college
+trick. When I told you that we had prepared a trick you approved of
+it, Angela; you know you did. None of us thought for a moment that it
+would end as it has done. Behrend was sitting at the chess-table;
+Salista was opposite to him, leaning against the chimney-piece. After
+Salista had said the words, 'I know that a certain pair of eyes keeps
+Countess Angela in Pesth,' and before I had time to make the answer
+agreed upon, Ivan threw down the gauntlet. 'That is a lie!' he said."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" cried Angela, while an electric thrill ran through her veins.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>"We all sprang to our feet; the joke had ended badly. Salista grew
+pale; he had not counted upon this. 'Sir,' he said to Behrend, 'take
+back that word of yours; it is a word that in my life no man has said
+to me.'"</p>
+
+<p>"And Behrend?" asked Angela, seizing Edmund's hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Behrend stood up from the table, and answered quietly, in a cold
+voice, 'It is possible that up to the present you have given no
+occasion for this reproach to be cast in your face; but to-night I
+repeat that you have lied.' Then he left the room. I ran after him to
+try and smooth down matters. I met him in the hall. He turned to me
+and said, quietly, 'My dear friend, you know what must now happen. I
+beg that you will ask Count Geza in my name, and that you and he will
+be my seconds. You will communicate to me what has been settled; all
+is in your hands.' In this way he invited me to play the part which I
+had destined for him. Now he is the duellist, and I am the second. I
+tried to drive him into a corner. I represented to him that it was not
+his right to throw down the gauntlet for the Countess Angela. He
+answered, 'It is the right and the duty of every gentleman to protect
+the lady whose guest he is.' This answer, from a chivalrous point of
+view, is perfectly correct, but it sounds strangely from the lips of
+the man who a couple of hours ago told us there was no one in the
+world for whose good name he would fight a duel."</p>
+
+<p>Angela sank back in her chair. "Oh, what terrible folly it has all
+been!" she wailed. "No, no, this duel cannot be! I shall prevent it!"</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you would tell me what means you intend to take to prevent
+it."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>"I will at once speak with Ivan Behrend&mdash;this moment; do you hear?"</p>
+
+<p>"Unfortunately, that is impossible. When he left me he gave the order
+to put his horses to. There, you hear those wheels? That is his
+carriage. Geza has gone with him, and we four are to follow him
+presently. One cannot arrange this sort of thing in a strange house;
+that is done only on the stage. The principals must wait in their own
+houses to hear what we have decided to do."</p>
+
+<p>"But, my God! I will not let it be done; do you hear? I will speak to
+Uncle Stefan."</p>
+
+<p>"I have told you everything, so that our sudden departure should not
+surprise you; but I can tell you exactly what Count Stefan will
+say&mdash;that no fuss must be made; let the whole thing be done quickly
+and quietly. The seconds, too, must act with great prudence, and not
+irritate the principals by much delay."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean by saying the seconds should act with prudence?"</p>
+
+<p>"So far as depends upon them they must determine the issue of the
+duel, and either soften or accentuate the conditions according to
+circumstances. In this case we will soften. Your name will not appear
+as the cause of the challenge. We will induce Behrend to say that he
+used the word 'lie' in connection with Salista's expressions
+concerning the Hungarian troops. This plausible ground for a challenge
+will be accepted as sufficient by both sides, and in this way your
+name need never be mentioned."</p>
+
+<p>"But I do not care! What does that matter? If any one is killed for my
+sake&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Compose yourself, my dear cousin; the seconds will be prudent. We
+shall place them thirty feet apart, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> give them worn-out pistols
+with which, at half the distance, the aim would be uncertain; then we
+shall not allow them to take aim more than a minute, and you may be
+certain if they were both as thick as an elephant and protected like
+robin red-breasts they couldn't be safer; they may fire away for hours
+and never hit one another. Now, my dear child, be sensible, I beg of
+you. When you have a husband he will have many an affair of this kind
+upon his hands, and all for your beautiful eyes. But I must be going,
+the carriage is at the door, and we start at daylight."</p>
+
+<p>And Edmund took himself off with a hasty good-bye.</p>
+
+<p>This little joke had spoiled all the sport. The loss of six men made
+it impossible to continue hunting the next day; therefore every one
+resolved to return to Pesth in the morning. The night was disturbed.
+The companion of the Countess Angela, who slept in her room, told
+everyone that her mistress had hardly slept a wink, that she was
+constantly getting up and lighting the candle, saying that it must be
+daylight and time to set off for the city.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning, at ten o'clock, when all the guests had left, and
+Countess Theudelinde and her suite were already in Pesth, Countess
+Angela went to her room, and walked up and down restlessly until about
+eleven o'clock, when Count Edmund was announced.</p>
+
+<p>He came in pale and disturbed, and Angela, who tried to read his face,
+concluded that something had happened.</p>
+
+<p>"In God's name, what is it?" she asked. "Who is hurt?"</p>
+
+<p>"No one," replied Edmund, dryly; "but the affair is in a worse state
+than it was."</p>
+
+<p>"Has the duel taken place?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>"Yes and no. It has begun, but is not finished."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not understand."</p>
+
+<p>"I own it is something quite new. I have never known such a thing in
+my experience. If you wish, I will tell you all about it."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, for Heaven's sake, do!"</p>
+
+<p>"As agreed, I called at Behrend's house at six o'clock to fetch him;
+Geza went on with the doctor. When we got to Lassloosky, Salista was
+just getting out of his carriage. Ivan lifted his cap and wished him
+good-morning; he probably did not know that this is not usual. The
+principals never greet one another. Salista did not return his bow,
+although he might have done so, seeing that Ivan was evidently
+ignorant of the proper etiquette. From Lassloosky we all drove
+together to Leopold's Field, where we got out of the carriages and
+went on foot through the forest. When we reached the appointed place,
+a clearing in the wood, we stopped, and the seconds on both sides
+asked the principals, according to precedent, whether they would not
+make up their difference. Both sides refused. Upon which we measured
+the distance, marked the barrier with our pocket-handkerchiefs, and
+loaded the pistols. When this was over, the principals, who had been
+pulling blades of grass and standing about, took their places. We
+handed them their pistols; the signal was given by Geza clapping his
+hands. Salista made two steps forward and shot. Just as I expected, he
+did not hit his man. Ivan called out in a loud voice, 'To the
+barrier!' and Salista advanced to where the white pocket-handkerchief
+lay, while Ivan went to his barrier. Then he said, addressing Salista,
+'You did not return my salutation, but if I hit your head-piece you
+will have to take off your cap to me.' He then took aim; the
+half-minute during which he held his pistol<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> showed us his nerve was
+perfect. The pistol went off, and Salista stood opposite his adversary
+bareheaded; his helmet lay two perches behind him, with the gold rose
+torn from its front."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" cried Angela.</p>
+
+<p>"This man shoots as well as Robin Hood. We loaded the pistols again,
+because, according to the agreement, they were to have three shots
+each."</p>
+
+<p>"Three shots!" exclaimed Angela.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. We all agreed it was better to have the affair on a proper
+footing, so far as the conditions went. Thirty steps is a great
+distance; besides, the pistols were bad. In addition, both men were
+wrapped up to the chin; one had a black coat, the other a dark gray
+military cloak&mdash;colors bad for hitting; and both had their
+shirt-collars concealed. There was not a point about either that would
+serve for a target. But the cap business had changed the nature of the
+whole affair, and made much bad blood. It proved, for one thing, that
+Behrend was a first-rate shot, and this put Salista's military spirit
+on its metal. The barriers were withdrawn for the second shot. Salista
+took off his gray cloak, tied back his hussar jacket, so that his red
+waistcoat and white shirt stood out clear, and instead of standing, as
+is usual in a duel, with one side to your adversary, he presented to
+him a full front, and this with red and white, the best colors, as
+every one knows, for a mark. Yes, and while we were loading the
+pistols, what do you think he did? But Salista is a madman when he is
+roused! He took his cigar-case out of his pocket, and lighted one to
+show his indifference. For the second time it was his turn to begin.
+He took much more pains than the first time; in fact, he was such a
+time taking aim that we had to call to him to shoot. Again he missed.
+The leaves of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> branches under which Ivan stood fell upon his head;
+the ball had gone into the tree."</p>
+
+<p>Angela shuddered.</p>
+
+<p>"Ivan now addressed his opponent. 'Sir,' he said, 'it is not fitting
+that at such a supreme moment as this you should smoke a cigar.'
+Salista made no answer, but stood fronting Behrend; his face was
+slightly turned to one side, and he blew clouds of smoke into the air.
+Ivan raised his pistol for a second, took deliberate aim, then a sharp
+report, and Salista's cigar flew from his mouth into space."</p>
+
+<p>An involuntary smile spread over Angela's lips, but it was gone in an
+instant, and her face resumed its immovable expression, as if cut out
+of stone.</p>
+
+<p>Count Edmund went on. "In a fury Salista threw his pistol upon the
+ground. 'The devil take me,' he cried, stamping with rage, 'if I shoot
+any more with this man! He is Beelzebub in person. He has shot the cap
+from my head, the cigar from my mouth, and the third time he will
+shoot the spurs from my boots. He shoots all round me; he is like a
+Chinese juggler. I will not shoot any more with him; that's flat!' His
+seconds in vain tried to persuade him; he would not listen to them; he
+was furious; he would hear nothing. He wasn't going to be such a fool
+as to stand up there to be a mark for a second William Tell, who would
+not only shoot the apple from his head, but aim right at his heart. If
+they wanted to have a fair fight, with all his heart&mdash;but let it be
+with swords; then one would see who was the best man. We all talked to
+him, told him not to play the fool, that he must stand his adversary's
+fire no matter where he was shot, in his spur or his head. The
+duellist has no power to refuse; he is in the hands of his seconds. At
+last Behrend got curious to know<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> what the row was about; he called to
+me and Geza, and we had to tell him that Salista would not stand
+another shot, but had demanded that the duel should be decided by
+swords. To our surprise Ivan answered, coolly, 'With all my heart.
+Give us the sabres.' 'Do you consent?' 'I consent to fight with
+scythes if he wishes.' So it was agreed. Salista's seconds heard this
+discussion with great satisfaction; they were very much put out by his
+outbreak, it being quite unusual to change the weapons in a duel; and
+there would have been a regular scandal if Ivan had used his right of
+refusing any such alteration in the conditions under which the duel
+was to be fought."</p>
+
+<p>"And you have allowed such an innovation to be made?" said Angela,
+looking at her cousin with contracted eyebrows.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, when the challenger has agreed to it."</p>
+
+<p>"It was shameful of you!" Angela continued, with suppressed tears in
+her voice&mdash;"ungenerous to allow such an unequal fight. One man has
+practised fencing all his life; it is his profession; the other has
+never had a sword in his hand."</p>
+
+<p>"The fight will be drawn at the first blood," said Edmund, in a
+soothing voice.</p>
+
+<p>"But you had no right to agree to such a bloodthirsty idea; you have
+overstepped your duty as second. You should have said to Salista's
+seconds that the affair should conclude then or never."</p>
+
+<p>"That is quite true; and we should have done so, only Behrend chose to
+interfere."</p>
+
+<p>"You should not have allowed it; you could have stopped it. When does
+the duel take place?"</p>
+
+<p>"As we had no swords we could not fight this morning. It is against
+the law to have a duel in the after<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>noon, therefore we have postponed
+the second meeting until to-morrow at daylight."</p>
+
+<p>"Before daylight to-morrow I will put a stop to the duel."</p>
+
+<p>"How so?"</p>
+
+<p>"I shall speak to Behrend; I shall explain everything to him."</p>
+
+<p>"If you tell him that this affair has arisen out of a joke, the result
+will be that, instead of fighting a duel with one man, Behrend will
+have six duels on his hands."</p>
+
+<p>"I will tell him in such a way that he will not ask to fight with any
+of you."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you will have ruined Salista."</p>
+
+<p>"How so? What has he to do with it?"</p>
+
+<p>"If this half-finished <i>rencontre</i> gets wind, and it reaches the ears
+of the authorities that an officer refused his adversary's third fire,
+Salista will have to leave his regiment, he will be received nowhere,
+and he would have to go back to the pope's army as zouave."</p>
+
+<p>"For my part, I don't care if he becomes the devil's zouave! What do I
+care about him? Let him go to the Sultan of Dahomey. He is only fit to
+be the general of his army. For my part, he may go quite to the bad;
+he is half-way there already. But who cares what happens to him? <i>I</i>
+don't. Your duty is clear; you should protect your man. Isn't that
+so?"</p>
+
+<p>Edmund looked with astonishment at the excitement into which the
+countess had thrown herself; she was trembling, and her eyes gleamed
+with passion.</p>
+
+<p>"This is quite a new view of the affair," he said. "If you look upon
+it in this light, I must agree that we have been wrong, and you most
+certainly right. I shall go at once and look for Geza; we will both
+repair to Behrend, and tell him our opinion."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>He bowed low before his cousin, and left. In an hour he returned. He
+found Angela in the same place.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, what is done? Is it all settled?"</p>
+
+<p>"Listen. Geza and I went to Ivan. I explained to him that we
+considered it our duty not to infringe the conditions laid down in
+such matters, and that we were resolved not to allow the duel with
+swords to proceed. He pressed both our hands warmly. 'I thank you,' he
+said, 'for the friendship you have shown me, and since your
+convictions will not allow you to stand by me in this affair, I shall
+not try to persuade you. I shall go to the nearest barracks, the Karls
+Kaserne, and I shall tell the first two officers I may meet that I am
+engaged in an affair of honor to be fought with swords, that I am a
+stranger in the town, and that I throw myself upon their kindness to
+be my seconds.'"</p>
+
+<p>Angela, with a despairing gesture, clasped her hands together.</p>
+
+<p>"You said the truth," continued Edmund, "when you prophesied that this
+man would show his teeth. He has the grip of a bull-dog when he gets
+an idea. We told him that Salista was a celebrated swordsman. He took
+it quite coolly. 'If the devil himself was my adversary, I should look
+him in the face,' was all he said."</p>
+
+<p>Angela sat down and hid her face in her hands.</p>
+
+<p>"We had no other course than to assure him, so far as our services
+went, he was free to make use of us. So it was settled. We go for him
+to-morrow at daybreak. How it will all end, God only knows!"</p>
+
+<p>With these words Edmund took himself away. Angela never noticed he had
+left the room.</p>
+
+<p>That night she never lay down. All through the long hours of the night
+she walked to and fro in her room.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> When fatigue forced her to sit
+down for a moment she could not rest. Once only the thought that was
+in her mind found expression in words:</p>
+
+<p>"I have treated him as Julia Gonzaga treated the man who saved her
+life."</p>
+
+<p>When daylight broke she threw herself, dressed as she was, upon her
+bed. The maid next morning found the pillow, in which she had buried
+her face, wet with tears.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV<br />
+<span class="smalltext">THIRTY-THREE PARTS</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>It must certainly be said of our philosopher that he was acting
+somewhat inconsistently. He had left his home and property, where he
+had lived a simple country life amid his own people, happy in the
+study of those mysterious powers&mdash;fire and water; he had abandoned all
+his scientific pursuits to belong to a world to which he was, and must
+ever be, a stranger, feeling more or less like a fish upon dry land.
+Even his science he had turned into a farce, so bringing it into
+disgrace. He had lent himself to lectures and tableaux, to singing
+operas, and dancing Hungarian cotillons, to hunting foxes at breakneck
+speed, to rescuing beautiful ladies, mixing himself up therewhile in
+the affairs of noble families, to fighting duels with officers for the
+sake of lovely countesses, and running the risk of being sabred by an
+intemperate savage! It was no wonder that, reviewing all this, Ivan
+should say to himself, "Good heavens, what an ass I have made, and am
+making, of myself! What have I to do with all the nonsense that goes
+on in this fashionable world of Pesth? Above all, what is it to me
+whether Countess Angela is at war with her grandfather, whether she
+goes to Vienna, or whether he comes to Pesth? Why is it necessary for
+me to remain here, leading such an uncongenial life, apparently
+without any object?&mdash;and, although I have an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> object, yet if this were
+known to the world I should be considered an even greater fool than I
+am at present deemed to be."</p>
+
+<p>Now, as Ivan's reflections have been made public, it is only proper
+that the reason of his apparently objectless conduct should be laid
+before the reader of these pages, so that he or she may be in a
+position to judge whether he was a fool or a wise man, or something
+between the two&mdash;a man of sentiment and feeling, who does what his
+heart commands him to do. With some natures the heart cannot be
+silenced; it has its rights. We may remember that when the Abb&eacute; Samuel
+paid his first visit to Ivan, he found that gentleman in the act of
+writing a refusal to the Countess Theudelinde's invitation; that he
+was, in fact, upon the point of returning to Bondavara, and that the
+arrival of a letter changed all his plans, and was the cause of his
+remaining in Pesth. This letter came from Vienna; the writer was a
+certain pianist whose name had been for some years mentioned among the
+first class of artists&mdash;Arpad Belenyi.</p>
+
+<p>Nearly fourteen years before our story began Ivan had lived for a long
+time in the house of the Belenyis. We shall know later what he did
+there. Arpad was at that time a child of five years old; he was
+already counted a prodigy, and could play long pieces upon the piano.
+At that time warlike and patriotic marches were all the fashion. One
+day the bread-winner of the family, the father, died suddenly. The
+widow was in despair, especially for her orphaned boy. Ivan consoled
+her with the promise that he would look after him, and provide for his
+education.</p>
+
+<p>On account of certain circumstances, some months after, however, Ivan
+had to leave the family Belenyi somewhat suddenly, and it seemed
+doubtful if he should<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> ever see them again. Ivan at parting gave all
+the money he could spare to the widow, and told her to get Arpad a
+good musical education, such as would fit him for an artistic career.
+The boy, he thought, would attain eminence, and make a livelihood by
+his art. And here let it be clearly understood that Ivan was neither a
+friend of Belenyi nor the lover of Madame Belenyi; neither was he
+connected with the family in any way, nor was he in duty bound to do
+as he did. For years the Belenyis heard nothing from Ivan, nor he from
+them. Once, on his inquiring about them, he was told that in
+consequence of a lawsuit they had lost their house, had left the town,
+and that neither mother nor son had since been heard of. Then, after
+another spell of years, Arpad Belenyi's name began to be mentioned in
+different newspapers, always as a young and astonishingly clever
+artist. From this time Ivan took in regularly a musical paper or
+magazine, and so followed attentively his adopted son's career. The
+latter, however, knew nothing of his kind benefactor until, later,
+Ivan's name also appeared in the papers. His discourse at the Academy
+led to his being traced by his adopted son, who at once wrote him a
+letter, beginning with the words, "My dear father." It was a letter
+full of simple, boyish sentiments, through which broke at intervals
+the natural fun and playful humor of the artist. He told Ivan
+everything concerning himself; how he had travelled in many countries,
+accompanied always by his mother, to whom he had always to give an
+account of his actions as near the truth as possibly could be. He had
+already given concerts before crowned heads, and had received several
+orders which he was allowed to wear only on Sundays; the other days of
+the week they were locked up by his mother. He had earned a good deal
+of money, but he was not permitted to spend much.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> Mamma gave him
+every day a five-shilling piece for pocket-money; the rest she put by
+to buy back her little house which "old Raize" had robbed her of. He,
+therefore, to make more money, gave music-lessons and played
+accompaniments for artists. This was well paid, particularly of late,
+when he had fallen in with a little artist, a new singer, who paid
+splendidly. She was said to be the wife of Felix Kaulmann, the rich
+banker.</p>
+
+<p>When he came to this passage Ivan's heart began to beat. He laid down
+the letter, then took it up again, and read it with renewed attention.</p>
+
+<p>"This girl is a mixture of Muse and M&aelig;nad," wrote Arpad. "Now she is a
+petulant child, the next minute a wild Amazon; a born artist, full of
+genius, yet she is not likely ever to rise above mediocrity. She is
+full of intelligence and life, and with this often as stupid as a
+donkey. There is no doubt she could attain an unenviable notoriety,
+but she shrinks from it, for although she conducts herself like a
+courtesan, I would take my oath she is in reality as innocent as the
+child she really is. She is very trying to me, full of mischief and
+petulance, and this because I treat her to no soft manners, but scold
+her well for being so naughty. If you could only see, dear papa, what
+a splendid master I am, always serious, no frivolity allowed! Now I
+have photographed myself for you, have I not? Do not think, however,
+that I would have scrawled all over my paper this monologue about my
+pupil, as if I had nothing better or wiser to write about. I have done
+so because the subject has a certain interest for you. You must know
+this curious little angel confides in me as if I were her confessor.
+Sometimes she chatters all through her lesson, telling me where she
+has been, what she has done, everything that has happened to her; and
+she often tells me things<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> which, if I were in her place, I would not
+talk about. Have a little patience, my dear good papa. This lady has
+thirty-three different <i>r&ocirc;les</i>, all of them of different kinds. They
+are not, strictly speaking, stage parts, but monologues, which are
+composed expressly for her. These scenes we rehearse together; I play
+her accompaniment, while she sings and acts.</p>
+
+<p>"I am coming now to the kernel of the nut. I am going to crack
+it for you. Here are the names of the actress's thirty-three
+parts&mdash;'Loreley,' 'Cleopatra,' 'The Queen of the Sun,' 'The Greek
+Slave,' 'The Bacchante,' 'Nourmahal,' 'The Bride,' 'The Matron's
+Cap,' 'The Bayad&egrave;re,' 'Claudia Laeta, the Vestal,' 'Amalasontha,'
+'Magdalene,' 'Ninon,' 'La Somnambula,' 'Medea,' 'Salome,' 'The
+Houris,' 'The Despair of Hero,' 'The Phrygian Cap,' 'Turandot,' 'The
+Peasant Girl,' 'The Mother,' 'Jeanne la Folle,' 'Ophelia,' 'Judith,'
+'Zuleika Potiphar,' 'The Market Woman,' 'The Grisette,' 'The
+Creole,' 'Lucretia,' 'The Will-o'-the-Wisp,' 'Julia Gonzaga.'</p>
+
+<p>"The thirty-third part I do not know; we have not as yet rehearsed it.
+But why the deuce does she learn all these parts, for she never treads
+the boards? The report is that the reason why this lady's talent is so
+much cultivated is that she is engaged to sing at the Opera-house.
+This seems even more strange, and I, for one, am slow to believe it. A
+banker like Kaulmann, who is a millionaire, and whose wife pays for
+her apartment four thousand florins! Besides, she would have to give
+her singing-master, who has got her the engagement, six thousand; to
+the leader of the orchestra, two thousand; four thousand to the
+newspapers to puff her; another three thousand to the <i>claqueurs</i>; and
+something else to the men who throw the wreaths and flowers. There
+would remain for her about a thousand florins;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> that would hardly pay
+for her scents. So you see the absurdity of the whole thing. Where are
+we now? This pretty creature, who wishes also to be a famous artist,
+has several lovers who can easily pay their court to madame, seeing
+that she and her husband live in separate apartments. This is only
+natural; the banker could not have his mind, which is occupied with
+important speculations, disturbed by constant <i>solfeggi</i>. There are
+several persons in Vienna who bear the title of the 'M&aelig;cenas of Art';
+they are gentlemen of high position, who have great weight in the
+departmental government, and whose voices are heard in all social and
+official capacities. These have been allowed the privilege of being
+present during the rehearsals of the thirty-two monologues; the
+thirty-third has not as yet been played before any one. In all this I
+can assure you everything is conducted with the greatest propriety, I
+am always present, also the husband, who remains so long as the comedy
+continues. Among the company are representatives of the highest
+nobility, counts, princes, senators, and ministers. They are good sort
+of people, and call one another Fritz, Nazi, Muke, etc. Among others
+we have two princes, who come every time we have a rehearsal&mdash;the
+Prince Mari and the Prince Baldi; the names they received on baptism
+being Waldemar and Theobald. Yesterday Eveline&mdash;for so is my pupil
+named&mdash;was not inclined to work, and without my asking her what ailed
+her, with her usual frankness she came out with her annoyance.</p>
+
+<p>"'Only fancy,' she said; 'that odious Prince Waldemar, when he was in
+my opera-box last night, threatened that if I did not let him come to
+our next rehearsal he would ruin Lixi.' (Lixi is short for Felix, her
+husband's name.)</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>"'Why don't you admit him?' I asked. 'He is not worse than the other
+jackanapes who come here.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Because I cannot endure him. I told Lixi what Prince Waldemar had
+said, and Lixi answered that he would ruin the prince. At the same
+time he gave me to understand that Prince Theobald must be invited to
+the rehearsal.'</p>
+
+<p>"'All right,' said I; 'he is a fine old gentleman. You can have no
+objection to him; he is old enough to be your grandfather.'</p>
+
+<p>"The young wife bit her lips, and, with a frown on her lovely face,
+said:</p>
+
+<p>"'I have to ask him to do something. What do you think it is? Oh, you
+could never guess! It is to give his signature that he will consent to
+a certain affair which will cost him nothing, but which will help Lixi
+greatly. You know that Lixi has a grand speculation on hand, a
+gigantic coal company, which is to start the business with I don't
+know how many millions of money; but the place where the coal-mines
+are situated, the Bondavara property, belongs to Prince Theobald and
+his sister. The countess has already given her consent, but without
+his ratification the shares would not be taken up at the exchange.
+Prince Waldemar is working against us, and therefore I am to win over
+the old prince to our side. Lixi says it will be very easy to get
+round him just at the present moment, because his granddaughter,
+Countess Angela, of whom he is very fond, has quarrelled with him and
+left him. The poor old man is very sad and lonely, and Lixi says
+whoever cheers him up will be able to do anything with him; and,' she
+added, with a wise look, 'we are not deceiving him, for the Bondavara
+coal is the finest in the world.'</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>"I burst out laughing; I could not help it. Then she pulled my hair
+and said:</p>
+
+<p>"'Why do you laugh, you ridiculous donkey? I think I must be a judge
+of coal, for I worked as day-laborer for ten years in the mines of
+Herr Behrend.'</p>
+
+<p>"At these words my astonishment was so great that I jumped up from my
+seat.</p>
+
+<p>"'You may stare your eyes out of your head,' she said, laughing at my
+amazement, 'but it is quite true. I used to shove the coal-wagons, and
+barefoot into the bargain.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Gracious lady, believe me, I did not jump up from astonishment; I
+was surprised to hear you name Ivan Behrend. What do you know of him?
+Pray tell me.'</p>
+
+<p>"'He was the owner of the coal-mines in Bondavara, near which Felix is
+going to open works upon an enormous scale. He was my master; God
+bless him, wherever he goes!'</p>
+
+<p>"Now, dear papa, I have come to the heart of the business, after, it
+must be owned, an unconscionably long prelude. With my weak intellect
+I have thought out the whole thing. Here is my kind friend, my adopted
+father, the owner of a mine in Bondavara, and beside him men with I
+don't know how many millions at their backs are going to form a coal
+company. It would be a good thing to let him know, that he may act in
+time; it may be good for him, but it would seem to me that it may also
+be very bad. Here the air is full of speculation; you see, I am
+already slightly bitten. Let me know how and in what manner the affair
+affects you and your interests. I shall write to you what goes on
+here, for I shall be behind the scenes; this little fool tells me
+everything."</p>
+
+<p>The receipt of this letter had decided Ivan to accept<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> the Countess
+Theudelinde's invitation to give a romantic reading at her house, and
+to enter into the society of Pesth. He wrote to Arpad, and begged him
+to give him every day an exact account of what he heard through Evila
+of the progress of the coal-mine company.</p>
+
+<p>From this time Ivan received regularly every week two or three letters
+from Vienna.</p>
+
+<p>"The old prince nibbles at the bait. Kaulmann has brought him to the
+rehearsal of the new piece. Eveline sings and acts enchantingly; that
+is, when she is within four walls, and has only a few people for
+audience. If she acted like this on the stage she would be a
+celebrated actress in no time; but so soon as she comes before the
+footlights stage-fright seizes upon her, she trembles, forgets
+everything, stands there like a stick, and, worst of all, sings quite
+false. These rehearsals have been given on the pretext that the prince
+should have an opportunity of judging of her talent, so that he may
+influence those in power to give her an engagement at the opera. I
+know what their real object is. The prince is a real connoisseur in
+music, and he understands not alone art, but artists. He knows that
+there is a price set upon such black diamonds as sparkle in Eveline's
+eyes. There is the additional incentive that Prince Waldemar is
+desperately in love with this woman, and Prince Theobald, for certain
+reasons, will do anything to prevent her falling into his hands. He
+would even go the length of taking her himself sooner than such a
+misadventure should happen.</p>
+
+<p>"A short time since Prince Waldemar met me, and offered me one hundred
+ducats for every leaf of the album in which are the portraits of
+Madame Kaulmann in her character costumes. You must know, of late,
+each day that we rehearse one of the monologues at the piano<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> a
+photographer is present and takes the artist in her costume.
+Everything must be finished in the house, and not more than four
+pictures are allowed to be executed; one of these is for Prince
+Theobald, one is kept by herself, one she presents to me, and the
+fourth is for my friend Felix. The negative is then broken. I would
+not sell my photographs to Prince Waldemar, but I send them to you as
+they follow one another. Mamma does not like to see such pictures in
+my room."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan received with each letter a photograph; each portrait represented
+Evila as a lovely creation in a most graceful pose. Arpad had not the
+least idea what a hell of different passions were raised in Ivan's
+breast as he looked at the beautiful image of the woman he had and
+still loved.</p>
+
+<p>In the first portrait she was represented as "Loreley" the fairy, who,
+in the whirlpool of the Rhine, sings her magic song and combs her hair
+with a golden comb, while her left shoulder rises from the waves,
+which partially conceal her form. Her eyes gaze invitingly at the
+fisherman, whom she entices to his ruin. In the second photograph she
+appeared as "Cleopatra" at Tarsus, where she is displaying all her
+charms to seduce her conqueror and make him her slave; a rich
+portrait, in which the lascivious queen is represented laden with
+splendid dresses and jewels, while the expression of the beautiful
+face was an admirable mixture of pride, dignity, and weakness. The
+third photograph presented the sun-queen, "Atahualpa," the wife of the
+last Inca. Her look was haughty and sublime; the sublimity of the
+expression diverts attention from the uncovered arms, white as marble,
+round as an infant's, which are raised to heaven, offering as a
+sacrifice a human heart. Her face mirrored the coldness of heaven
+itself. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> fourth, as the "Greek Slave"; she represented the
+tortured beauty, who in vain tries to break the chains of shame in
+which she is bound&mdash;a lovely marble statue, equal in conception to one
+by Thorwaldsen or Pradier. The fifth was the "Bacchante," from one of
+the Roman bas-reliefs, which represents the procession of Bacchus. A
+wild, bold, dissolute conception; showing accessories of surprising
+drapery, panther skins, cups, etc., an ideal debauch; limbs in wild
+movement. The sixth portrait was of a bride; a white lace dress, upon
+her head a white garland, her figure concealed by a white veil, on her
+face an expression of soft emotion at the approaching realization of
+her happiness, in her eyes tears, on her lips a tremulous smile. With
+what wonderful charm she stretches out her hand to receive the
+betrothal ring! The eighth portrayed a young woman who for the first
+time puts the matron's cap upon her head. Pride, shame, and conscious
+triumph are all in her face. She feels that the cap upon her head is a
+well-deserved crown&mdash;a crown for which she has sacrificed a garland.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan contemplated this picture for a long time; his heart was full of
+the bitterness of disappointed love. His adopted son's present had
+been somewhat unfortunate.</p>
+
+<p>The ninth photograph represented Evila as a "Bayad&egrave;re," in the
+artistic dress of the Indian dancer, striking the tambourine over her
+head. Round her slight figure a shawl embroidered in gold was wound in
+careless folds, on her neck a chain of gold coins, her small feet
+bare, and strings of pearls up to the knee.</p>
+
+<p>In the tenth portrait she appeared as "Claudia Laeta," the vestal
+virgin, at the moment when she is led to the stake because she has
+refused the solicitations of Caracalla; on her face an expression of
+horror,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> of virginal modesty. With one hand she tries to cover her
+head with her cloak to escape from the gaze of the multitude.</p>
+
+<p>How is it possible for one woman to play so many parts? Arpad
+accompanied these pictures with diffuse explanations, which were so
+many arrows in the heart of Ivan. The result of all this posturing
+was, he said, becoming every day clearer.</p>
+
+<p>"The prince is more and more fascinated; he is falling deeper and
+deeper into the net spread for him. After each rehearsal he declares
+that a real treasure has been concealed, which has been a loss to art
+that must be at once remedied."</p>
+
+<p>But such treasures are very costly, especially when a man has reached
+the age of sixty-eight, close on seventy, and has a marriageable
+granddaughter; then it is necessary to look very closely into his
+check-book to see if it would be possible to provide for the
+grandchild and at the same time satisfy the caprices of a beautiful
+young woman.</p>
+
+<p>Not long ago Prince Theobald had built a splendid palace in the
+Maximilian Strasse; it was destined for the Countess Angela, in the
+case that she agreed to her grandfather's wish as to her marriage. The
+palace was furnished with the utmost magnificence. The countess,
+however, had thought otherwise. She broke off her marriage with
+Sondersheim; she had good reasons, no doubt, but she need not have
+openly defied her grandfather. It was unwise of her so to do, for
+Evila was weaving her spell closer round the old man's heart, and
+Angela had best be prudent, and return speedily to Vienna, else the
+palace in the Maximilian Strasse will be presented, without a shadow
+of doubt, to Madame Kaulmann.</p>
+
+<p>Arpad's letters had made Ivan acquainted with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> ins and outs of the
+whole affair; through them he had learned that the woman he had loved
+had become the wife of another man, and was likely to be the mistress
+of a third. The first blow he could bear with a certain resignation;
+he wished her all happiness; but that she should sink up to the neck
+in shame, led thither by the act of her own husband, was a bitter
+thought! No, that she should be saved from, if Ivan could compass her
+deliverance. For this end he remained in Pesth. Hence it seemed to him
+he could pull the strings of this complex drama, and defeat the
+conspiracy against Evila's honor; for this purpose he went into a
+world that he despised, affected a manner of life totally inconsistent
+with his ideas, and cultivated a friendship with the Countess Angela,
+that his influence might induce her to play the part of the good
+angel.</p>
+
+<p>Was he a fool to sacrifice his own feelings for a woman who had
+inflicted upon him the severest mortification a man can endure? Those
+whose hearts are dominated by cold prudence will judge his folly
+perhaps rightly; those who have hearts that feel for others will
+acknowledge that he did well in obeying its dictates, and from his own
+point of view, perhaps, he acted for his own ultimate advantage.</p>
+
+<p>If Prince Theobald is induced to consent to the lease of his property
+to the Bondavara Company, Ivan's little coal-mine is ruined. Good if
+he can, while working for another, help himself. A man of business is
+always a speculator; therefore we say to the warm-hearted and
+compassionate that Ivan acted a part to save Evila from shame, and to
+the cold-hearted and unfeeling that it was all in the way of business,
+to save, if he could, his little all from the monster company ready to
+devour it bodily.</p>
+
+<p>Arpad continued to send the photographs. They were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> of all kinds,
+tragic and comic. "Medea," with her murderous revenge and jealousy;
+the daughter of Herod, with her voluptuous dance to gain the saint's
+head; the cruelty of "Judith," the wild laughter of "Jeanne la Folle,"
+the devotion of a holy nun, the coquettish tricks of a <i>grisette</i>, a
+languid Creole, a supernatural "Will-o'-the-Wisp"&mdash;these were the
+principal representations in which Ivan found rather studied effort at
+catching an artistic effect than natural instinct or expression. This
+was the school of Madame Grissac, to whom Felix had intrusted Evila's
+education. Two portraits that came at the end produced upon Ivan a
+painful impression. One represented a mother by the cradle of her
+child, the other a peasant girl, a coal-carrier, with her hair plaited
+down her back, and a red frock tucked up above her ankles. It pained
+Ivan deeply that she should profane these two sacred subjects. Why
+take a mother's love to be made a vehicle to create an old man's
+admiration? And the girl with the red frock! Ah, that was
+unpardonable! He could not forgive her for having wounded him to the
+very heart.</p>
+
+<p>One day the artist wrote to Ivan&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"My good patron, Felix Kaulmann, is an out-and-out scoundrel. Up to
+the present he generally attends the rehearsals when the prince is
+present. Yesterday Prince Theobald seemed quite excited, so much so
+that Kaulmann was struck by it. To his question the prince said that
+he was very happy. He had received a letter from his granddaughter,
+the Countess Angela. She wrote in the most friendly manner. She told
+him that she had met a certain Ivan Behrend, who had the courage to
+give her a regular scolding, and had told her to her face what was the
+duty of the Hungarian magnates towards their country, a duty in which
+they were wanting, and which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> Prince Theobald would fulfil if he left
+Vienna and came to reside in Pesth, in which case the countess would
+agree to a reconciliation. The old prince seemed so happy at the idea
+of seeing his child again! Kaulmann, however, looked very black,
+blacker still when the prince said he would consider the matter; but
+that, as the countess had taken a fancy to Pesth, he thought he would
+go there. Inwardly Felix gnashed his teeth with rage, outwardly he
+expressed great satisfaction that the countess had at last broken the
+ice; it was a good sign that she was getting tired of her obstinacy.
+But if he were in the prince's situation he would try and persuade the
+countess to come to Vienna, instead of going himself to Pesth. The
+prince listened to this suggestion; he fell into the trap, and will
+not go at once to Pesth, but will try to bring back the countess. In
+the meantime we are to have the two last rehearsals. The thirty-second
+is the representation of 'Julia Gonzaga,' whose story you will find in
+any library. The most interesting part of this scene is the toilette
+of the heroine, who appears in a night-dress made of muslin, with her
+feet naked. In spite of this rather risky costume the lady's virtue
+was irreproachable, for in her hand she held a dagger, and threatened
+to kill any one who ventured to look at her feet. As I wrote to you,
+Kaulmann has always been present at these rehearsals, but from this
+one of 'Julia Gonzaga' he is obliged to absent himself, as he has to
+go away for a few days. I believe that my office should be called
+<i>garde des dames</i>. As it happens, however, on this occasion I, too, am
+unavoidably prevented from being present. When I went home and showed
+mamma the enclosed photograph she shuddered, and positively forbade me
+to assist at a rehearsal in which a woman appeared in such a costume.
+I must plead illness or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> any other cause, but stay at home I must. I
+thought over several lies, but at last I decided that I would tell my
+gracious pupil the truth; so I did.</p>
+
+<p>"'Listen,' I said. 'My mother will not allow me to accompany you if
+you sing barefoot. If it is really the point of the piece that 'Julia'
+must present herself without stockings on her feet, then I must deny
+myself the pleasure of playing on the piano.'</p>
+
+<p>"The silly child laughed very much, and said she would get somebody
+else. She may do as she likes; I don't care. Mamma is perfectly right
+in forbidding me to go, and I think that I have done perfectly right
+to tell my pupil why I refuse to accompany her."</p>
+
+<p>This letter depressed Ivan. For a long time he looked at the
+photograph, considering it from every point of view. Evila in a dress
+the thin material of which showed every motion of her plastic limbs;
+in one hand she gathered the folds across her breast, her eyes had a
+murderous glare in their violet depths, her long and beautiful hair
+fell to her feet; in her right hand she pointed a dagger towards a
+motionless form which lay at her feet covered by a rug. This was the
+second time that Ivan had heard the story from a lady.</p>
+
+<p>The next day he received another letter from Arpad; he found it on his
+return from the first meeting with Salista.</p>
+
+<p>"Eveline," wrote the artist, "performed her tableau before the prince
+without the accompaniment of the piano and without the company of her
+husband. She looked so lovely that all the prince's good principles
+melted away like snow before the sun. He took her hand and kissed it;
+then the murderous look disappeared from her sweet eyes; she broke out
+into a ripple of laughter.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>"'Prince, do you not see that I have a knife in my hand?'</p>
+
+<p>"'I can take it from you.'</p>
+
+<p>"The young girl laughed again; and we all know how easy it is to take
+anything from a smiling woman.</p>
+
+<p>"At this moment there resounded through the room an echo of Eveline's
+laugh; that is to say, if you can call a frog's croak an echo of a
+nightingale's song. Out of the conservatory, which ornaments one side
+of the room, there came a crippled dwarf, who supported himself upon
+crutches. His long head was sunk between his high shoulders, and his
+white, satyr-like face was distorted by an odious grin as he dragged
+himself between the prince and his inamorata.</p>
+
+<p>"'Prince, we are not alone,' laughed Eveline, freeing her hand from
+the clasp of the astonished nobleman.</p>
+
+<p>"'In Heaven's name, who is this splendid specimen of a toad?' he
+cried, with an air of disgust.</p>
+
+<p>"'This is my only beloved little brother,' cried Eveline, putting her
+arms round the little monster, and covering him with kisses while she
+stroked his head. 'My dear, only little brother, my all, my dearest;
+my ugly, cross, quarrelsome little tyrant, who comes to me whenever he
+likes.'</p>
+
+<p>"'A horrible creature!' said the prince. 'The hobgoblins who kept
+watch over the gate of the Witch of Endor were cherubims as compared
+with this monster. I beg of you, Eveline, not to kiss his face, as it
+takes away forever the pleasure one would have in kissing so lovely a
+mouth.'</p>
+
+<p>"Eveline made no answer, but, suddenly turning away, she threw a
+burnoose round her shoulders, put her tiny feet into a pair of
+slippers, and said, demurely:</p>
+
+<p>"'Prince, the thirty-second rehearsal is over, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> there only remains
+the thirty-third to complete the course.'</p>
+
+<p>"The prince asked what the title of this last should be, and Eveline
+whispered in his ear that he would know the next day but one.</p>
+
+<p>"'And how many more will know it?'</p>
+
+<p>"'No one but you.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Not this Caliban?'</p>
+
+<p>"'Certainly not.'</p>
+
+<p>"The prince took his leave in an ecstasy, firmly convinced that at the
+last representation he would have Eveline all to himself. Eveline
+needed a day to prepare herself.</p>
+
+<p>"The scene was repeated to me by the cripple, who likes me very much,
+and comes nearly every evening to share my supper; for although
+everything possible for his comfort is provided by Eveline, he is
+never happy unless he begs from some one. If he were a prince, I do
+believe the creature would get out of his carriage to ask for alms. He
+finds such a wonderful pleasure in begging. For a stick of
+sugar-barley he will tell me everything. What pleased him most was the
+prince's remark about his being a splendid specimen of a toad. He
+imitated for me how he crept out of the conservatory on his crutches,
+and how he laughed when he saw the gentleman wanted to take the knife
+from his sister. You will hear from me again the day after to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>The day after to-morrow! These words to a man who might be lying stark
+and stiff by that time! They gave Ivan a sudden chill; but he said to
+himself he would not die easily, he would fight for his life.</p>
+
+<p>That night he dreamed a curious dream, in which he saw two "Julia
+Gonzagas," who both wanted to kill him, and yet he had deserved
+nothing but good at their hands.</p>
+
+<p>So goes the world!</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV<br />
+<span class="smalltext">TWO POINTS</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>A duel with swords has this distinct advantage over a duel with
+pistols: you need have no concealment concerning it; the day before it
+is spoken of as an interesting wager would be. In former times it
+happened rarely that a duel with swords had a fatal ending, and
+therefore it is surrounded with none of the mystery that attends the
+more serious affair; for the seconds, likewise, there is far less
+responsibility. If a principal gets severely hurt, the attending
+surgeon declares that the sufferer has not died of the wound, but that
+there was some trouble in the organism which would have probably
+killed him within the next forty-eight hours. And who, nowadays, would
+make a fuss over a man who was doomed to die in forty-eight hours?</p>
+
+<p>The duel which was to take place between the Marquis Salista and Ivan
+was spoken of at the club with indifference, as a thing that had a
+foregone conclusion. Salista spoke most of it himself, and at six
+o'clock the evening before stood at the chimney-piece and entertained
+a select group of friends, among whom were the four seconds, with his
+ideas on the subject.</p>
+
+<p>The golden youth of Pesth, being in the habit of having constant
+fencing-bouts at the different gymnasiums, know well who is the most
+skilful fencer, and are therefore able to predicate, accurately enough
+in many cases,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> what the result will be. Salista had the reputation of
+being a first-rate swordsman; he had already fought several duels, and
+always been the victor; he had one particular stroke, a master-stroke,
+which few fencers could parry; it was a quick thrust in the stomach,
+which, passing round the point of his adversary's sword, ripped up his
+abdomen. If the other intercepted the thrust, he was likely to get out
+of time, so that his face, being left uncovered, was exposed to a
+well-delivered thrust which would spoil his beauty, if it did not have
+more dangerous consequences. Some men would have felt that the
+circumstances connected with the preceding duel required explanation,
+that the refusal to stand your adversary's fire had a doubtful sound.
+For a similar offence others had been rigorously punished by having to
+leave Vienna for some weeks, and being sometimes kept in Coventry even
+longer. Salista was, however, a privileged person; his courage was not
+called in question. He was, moreover, a cool hand, and carried off his
+difficult position with the most astounding <i>aplomb</i>. As he now stood
+upon the rug he talked with a good deal of swagger as to what would
+happen on the morrow.</p>
+
+<p>"We shall see what stuff this Admirable Crichton is made of.
+Sword-exercise is not like pistol-shooting; there can be no
+mathematics. We will ask him how he construes the under-cut when the
+sabre takes his legs from under him."</p>
+
+<p>Count Geza rebuked the boaster. "You must remember," he said, "that
+Ivan acted towards you in the most chivalrous manner when he accepted
+the sword instead of the pistol, and you must also consider that he is
+a man of learning, very much thought of, and likely to be of service
+in his generation."</p>
+
+<p>"Very good. You needn't be afraid, I shall not kill<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> him; I shall only
+slice a piece off his nose, that he may carry home a souvenir of
+Pesth. A scholar like him will not care if his beauty is spoiled;
+science is not sniffed up like snuff, and his nose is no use for
+looking through the telescope at the stars."</p>
+
+<p>Here Edmund interfered, and protested hotly against any injury being
+done to the nose of his principal. At last the marquis had to content
+himself with a slice off his ear; but Edmund still remonstrated.</p>
+
+<p>"You should be satisfied with a cut on his hand," he said; "the whole
+matter is not worth more."</p>
+
+<p>Count Stefan here made a suggestion in his quiet way.</p>
+
+<p>"My good Salista, what if this coal-heaver were to cut <i>you</i> down?"</p>
+
+<p>"What!" blustered the marquis, standing with long legs apart in front
+of the chimney-piece. "To show you what I think of him, I will give
+him two points; I will let him have two cuts at me on my arm, and then
+I will cut him down. You shall see! You can make your bets. Who holds
+the wager?" So he went on boasting until the discussion came to an
+end. His last question was whether the seconds would be quick enough
+to interfere before he made a cripple of their great scholar.</p>
+
+<p>On the following day the two parties met. The large ball-room in the
+hotel had been thought the most suitable place, as it was generally
+hired for such occasions. The seconds had chalked the floor with
+pulverized chalk to prevent the combatants from slipping. In an
+adjoining room both the principals had to strip to the waist; then
+they were led into the room. There was no necessity to draw lots as to
+the placing of the men, as the room was panelled all round with
+looking-glasses. Be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>fore they were given the sabres the following
+conditions were read out:</p>
+
+<p>"First blood. Stabbing is not allowed."</p>
+
+<p>Salista protested. He would not hear of first blood. The duel should
+go on until one of the combatants declared himself no longer able to
+fight. Every one tried to persuade him to be more moderate, but he
+would not give in.</p>
+
+<p>"Give us the swords!" cried Ivan, out of all patience. "I am getting a
+chill, half-naked as I am."</p>
+
+<p>This interruption decided the matter. The paces were measured, the
+principals placed in position, and their swords handed to them.</p>
+
+<p>Both were naked to their waists. Salista exhibited Herculean muscles,
+Ivan had a well-developed form. He had certainly not so much flesh as
+his adversary, but was bony, had long arms, and a vaulted chest. The
+fight began in the usual manner. Both men held the points of their
+swords towards each other, had the left hand drawn back, and their
+heads protected by their arms. Now and again they crossed their swords
+dexterously, trying to find a place for a good thrust, and striking
+one another softly. Each stared into his adversary's eyes, seeking to
+read his intentions. Salista essayed to give his adversary a thrust
+which would injure his face. This was very difficult, for the face is
+always protected by the arm. Ivan, on his side, endeavored to give his
+opponent the double thrust. This requires extraordinary agility; but
+he succeeded. He tore the top muscle of Salista's right arm the whole
+way down. That this blow does not bleed at once is explained by the
+cellular texture of the muscles.</p>
+
+<p>"Forward!" cried Salista. "No blood!"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>He now gave up all efforts at injuring his adversary in the face, and
+resorted to his well-known trick, the belly-thrust, which is difficult
+to parry, and if it hits is often deadly in its effect. If it is not
+parried, the effect is certain; and if it is, the giver can, if he is
+a good swordsman, hit his adversary a terrible cut over the head. Ivan
+did not parry, good or bad. Salista had not forgotten that the
+duelling-sword is shorter than the cavalry practise-sword; but he
+forgot, or rather didn't know, that his adversary had arms of unusual
+length. This is, therefore, what happened. Ivan did not attempt to
+parry the belly-thrust; he raised his arm, and let the sword-point of
+his opponent pass at a distance of two lines over his body, while he
+aimed straight at the other's arm, cutting him crossways in the same
+place where he had before cut lengthways.</p>
+
+<p>These were the two points. Through this cross-cut the difference of
+strength between the two men was equalized. This last defeat filled
+Salista with fury. With the roar of a wild beast he threw himself upon
+his adversary, and with all his strength made two cuts at the head. He
+cut as a butcher cuts with his axe; it was a miracle that both swords
+didn't break in two, for, according to rule, Ivan received both
+thrusts upon the handle of his sword, and before the other could give
+him a third he gave him quickly a thrust in front with such strength
+and precision that it came with full force on the head and face of the
+marquis. It was lucky that the sword was light, otherwise he would
+have split his skull in two. Salista reeled under the blow, then
+raised his left arm to protect his head, tottered sideways, and fell
+down, supporting himself upon the handle of his sword. His seconds ran
+to him to raise him up and lead him away. Ivan stood with his
+sword-point low<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>ered, his face apathetic, as if turned to marble. His
+seconds congratulated him.</p>
+
+<p>"Are the gentlemen content?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I dare swear they are," returned Count Edmund. "Nothing could have
+turned out better; the affair is at an end."</p>
+
+<p>With these words they conducted Ivan into the next room to dress
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>When he returned to the hall he found that his adversary had recovered
+consciousness; the two doctors were with him, one binding up his head,
+the other his arm.</p>
+
+<p>According to the usual etiquette, Ivan went to him.</p>
+
+<p>"Forgive me, comrade," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Salista gave him his left hand, and said, cordially, "It is not worth
+talking about; but it was a splendid fight. The other two don't count,
+because I had said I would give you 'two points;' the third&mdash;ah, that
+was a cut! But I shall be all right in a week."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan asked the doctors if the wounds were dangerous, but Salista
+answered for them.</p>
+
+<p>"Soldier's luck," he said. "I have given similar cuts a hundred times;
+now it is my turn, and I don't complain. Only one thing troubles me.
+Neither arnica nor ice-bandages can do me any good; but <i>you</i> who have
+caused this suffering can mitigate it. Confess, now, that you have
+been in the army."</p>
+
+<p>"Without doubt," returned Ivan. "During the War of Freedom I was
+lieutenant of hussars."</p>
+
+<p>"May the devil fetch you! Why didn't you tell us before? In what
+regiment did you serve?"</p>
+
+<p>"In the Wilhelm Hussars. Therefore I am the sole survivor and witness
+of that memorable exploit of yours, when you cut us to pieces."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>Everybody burst out laughing. No one laughed more than the wounded
+man. The doctors reminded him that he must not laugh, else the bandage
+over his face would get disturbed.</p>
+
+<p>"Very good," said Salista. "I shall laugh only on one side of my face.
+Comrade, God bless you! I shall not think any more of the cut now that
+I know it was the work of a soldier, and not of a civilian. Come, kiss
+me on the other cheek, the one you have left me whole and entire. So,
+my brother. I cannot give you my right hand, for you have given me a
+cross-cut there that will show a scar for many a day. It was
+first-rate, that cut, a regular hussar cut, and, therefore, I don't in
+the least mind it."</p>
+
+<p>And the combatants kissed one another.</p>
+
+<p>The next moment the wounds began to bleed afresh, and Salista fainted
+from loss of blood. Ivan held his head upon his knees while the
+doctors bound up the veins; then he helped to carry him to the
+carriage.</p>
+
+<p>Every one said, "What a capital fellow!"</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI<br />
+<span class="smalltext">GOOD-BYE</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>The friends and acquaintances of both parties were assembled at Count
+Stefan's to hear the result of the duel. The seconds on both sides had
+promised to come and give the earliest news. All the <i>habitu&eacute;s</i> of
+society were waiting; there was suppressed excitement; bets were made
+upon which should be wounded, and whether Salista would give a heavy
+wound or only a slight scratch to his adversary. Count Stefan had the
+courage to bet ten to one that Salista would get a scratch; he also
+risked "even money" that the marquis would be the only one wounded.
+That Ivan would escape with a whole skin no one else for an instant
+imagined. If they had done so they might have offered a hundred to
+one, and even at that no one of the party would have taken the bet.</p>
+
+<p>The outposts planted themselves at the windows, to be the first to see
+the carriage with the seconds. When a cab drove up, they shouted to
+the others:</p>
+
+<p>"Edmund and Geza have arrived!"</p>
+
+<p>"Then I have won my bet," said Count Stefan; "the seconds of the man
+who is least hurt get away first."</p>
+
+<p>Count Edmund went to the countess's apartment to let her know what had
+happened, while Geza ascended to Count Stefan's rooms. He rushed in
+with the triumphant air a victorious second should have.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>"He has put him to the sword."</p>
+
+<p>"Who? Who? Ivan? Salista?" cried the company, surrounding the
+messenger in their excitement.</p>
+
+<p>"Ivan has put the marquis."</p>
+
+<p>An "A-ah!" was the incredulous rejoinder of the others.</p>
+
+<p>"But I tell you he has," repeated the young count; "he has cut him
+into a jelly."</p>
+
+<p>"And Ivan?"</p>
+
+<p>"He is as untouched as I am."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, you are making fun of us."</p>
+
+<p>"It is no subject for fun. Ask Salista."</p>
+
+<p>"But where is Ivan?"</p>
+
+<p>"He will be here immediately, and will convince the unbelievers, who
+will find no wounds into which they can poke their fingers. He went
+home with the doctors, for Salista had two, who have at last succeeded
+in stitching him together."</p>
+
+<p>Then he related to them circumstantially all that had happened. For
+those who did not clearly understand, he demonstrated with the help of
+two walking-sticks the course the duel took. He came to the
+double-cut.</p>
+
+<p>"In this way Ivan parried the stomach-thrust and gave the
+fore-cut&mdash;the final a <i>tempo contre coup</i>. The performer of these
+wonderful exploits had not even turned a hair."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, he is a miracle!"</p>
+
+<p>"No such thing," protested Count Geza. "He has been in the
+army&mdash;captain in the hussars." (He advanced him a grade, but captain
+sounds better than lieutenant.) "He fought all through the revolution;
+he was nineteen times in action, and fought with the Cossacks besides.
+He has also received a good-service medal."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>All this the count imagined might be the fact, although he had
+certainly not heard a word of such a history from Ivan. Once a man has
+scored one success, he is credited with twenty more.</p>
+
+<p>"Truly a wonderful man!" said Baron Oscar. "For three months he has
+been among us every day, and has never mentioned his soldiering
+experiences."</p>
+
+<p>"Now we have really landed him upon us, like a Sindbad that can never
+be shaken off," remarked Baron Edward. "We wanted to be rid of him,
+and instead we have raised him into the saddle. He will never
+dismount; he is saddled on us forever. No one would dare now to speak
+to him."</p>
+
+<p>"Good God of Saxony!" cried Baron Oscar, "how the man will carry his
+nose in the air! There will be no standing him, for the women will, of
+course, make the deuce of a fuss about him, and men must have a
+certain respect for him. <i>Sacr&eacute; bleu!</i> A man who can shoot and fence
+like this fellow! But I would bet anything that it was a mere
+accident."</p>
+
+<p>"I think quite the contrary," remarked Count Stefan, "and I very much
+fear that Ivan will leave us all cooling our heels here, and not show
+his face. He will never cross any of our thresholds again."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, he wouldn't be such a confounded fool! I bet you a hundred to
+one."</p>
+
+<p>"First pay me the bet you have lost."</p>
+
+<p>Baron Oscar put his hand in his pocket, but before he drew out his
+pocket-book a happy thought struck him.</p>
+
+<p>"But how if Geza and his brother second were playing off a joke? They
+may have concocted this story. Perhaps the truth is that at the last
+moment the quarrel was made up and there was no duel, and that they
+have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> both come from a luncheon where no blood, but plenty of
+champagne, flowed."</p>
+
+<p>"If you don't believe me, then drive to Salista. My cab is at the
+door. Go and convince yourself."</p>
+
+<p>The baron rushed off. On the staircase he met Count Edmund coming up
+from the ladies. He asked where Oscar was rushing in such haste.</p>
+
+<p>"He doesn't believe Geza's story."</p>
+
+<p>"That is just the way the ladies have treated me; they won't believe
+me. They say, 'If nothing has happened to Ivan, where is he?' The
+Countess Theudelinde sheds tears like a river; she execrates us all,
+and declares we have killed her hero. The cuckoo only knows which of
+the two ladies is the most in love with him. Up to this I thought I
+knew, but now I am all in the dark."</p>
+
+<p>Baron Oscar returned at this moment. He didn't say a word, but took
+out his pocket-book and paid Count Stefan his bet. It was a very
+convincing answer.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, how is Salista?" asked several voices together.</p>
+
+<p>"He is terribly disfigured."</p>
+
+<p>On this every one took out their purses and paid their lost bets; they
+did it with very sour faces. If only Ritter Magnet had been
+disfigured!</p>
+
+<p>Just then Ivan was announced. The sour faces changed with marvellous
+rapidity into friendly smiles. He was greeted warmly; every one wanted
+to shake hands with him. He was the hero of the hour, but he looked
+tired and very serious. Count Stefan was the last to press his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I rejoice," he said, "to see you uninjured."</p>
+
+<p>Two young fellows said to one another, "Old Stefan may very well
+rejoice; he has made a good thing of the handicap, and cleared us out
+jollily." But in spite of their losses, they, too, congratulated the
+victor.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>Every one seemed pleased except, perhaps, Ivan. "I thank you all," he
+said, in his grave voice, "for your warm sympathy; and I thank you,
+count, in particular, for your cordial reception, and for the
+friendship which you have accorded to me. I shall always preserve a
+grateful remembrance of your kindness. I beg of you to bear me
+likewise in your recollection, for I have come now to take leave. I am
+returning to my home to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>The count winked with his left eye at Baron Oscar, as who should say,
+"Did I not tell you so?" But he spoke no word to induce Ivan to
+rescind his resolution. He pressed his hand warmly as he said:</p>
+
+<p>"Be assured that I have a sincere esteem for you, and wherever we may
+meet again always consider me as an old friend. God bless you!"</p>
+
+<p>Baron Oscar made much more fuss. He held Ivan with both hands on his
+arm.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear friend, we cannot allow this. Such a good fellow as you have
+proved yourself to be cannot slip away from us in this manner&mdash;just at
+the moment, too, when you are going to be the lion of the season. You
+sha'n't escape; you belong to us."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan laughed; gentle sarcasm, half pain, half irony, totally unmixed
+with bitterness, was in the laugh. Then he answered this burst of
+friendship:</p>
+
+<p>"I thank you, comrade, for the honor you do me, but I am not fit to be
+Governor of Barataria; it is far better for me to be at home. I go to
+get my 'grison' saddled, and I ride away."</p>
+
+<p>(Any one who is conversant with "Don Quixote" will remember the skit
+upon the island of Barataria, and the affecting meeting between the
+ass and his master.)</p>
+
+<p>When he had finished speaking, Ivan made a deep<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> bow to the company
+and left the room. Count Stefan followed him, and, in spite of his
+protestations, accompanied him down the stairs to Theudelinde's door.
+He was much moved by Ivan's last words.</p>
+
+<p>When he returned he found the entire company still in a very
+uncomfortable frame of mind, discussing the scene that had just
+happened with much annoyance.</p>
+
+<p>"Who has told him the joke about the island of Barataria?" asked Baron
+Oscar.</p>
+
+<p>Each one gave his word of honor that he had not betrayed confidence.</p>
+
+<p>"Then may the devil fly away with me if I don't believe it was the
+abb&eacute;."</p>
+
+<p>But Count Stefan shook his head. "No, my friends," he said, "believe
+me, no one has told Behrend anything. He is a man of acute
+penetration, and he has read you like a book without appearing to take
+notice."</p>
+
+<p>Geza, however, swore that the priest had blabbed.</p>
+
+<p>We swear to nothing, but think it right to mention that a few days
+previous the Abb&eacute; Samuel had received a letter from Vienna with the
+words, "What are you about? You are ruining the whole thing. That ass
+Behrend is bringing about a reconciliation between the countess and
+the old prince. Get him out of Pesth, for he is working dead against
+us.&mdash;<span class="smcap">Felix</span>."</p>
+
+<p>"At all events, we have pleased my pretty cousin," remarked Count
+Edmund. "She wanted him to be sent about his business, and we have
+done it."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, is that so?" And Count Stefan smiled sardonically. "<i>Cherchez la
+femme</i>, as Talleyrand said. But I know the dear, capricious sex. When
+Ivan tells the ladies down-stairs that he is leaving, there will be a
+reaction, and your pretty cousin will cry out, 'Then we shall go
+together!'"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>The others laughed incredulously; only Edmund assumed the air of
+Pontius Pilate.</p>
+
+<p>"I should not be surprised," he said. "<i>Enfin</i>, there would be nothing
+disgraceful in the affair. The fellow is a gentleman; he was a
+soldier, and is of good birth. His land joins the Bondavara property;
+his income is something under two hundred thousand florins. Angela is
+heiress to twenty millions; but then, if our well-beloved uncle,
+Prince Theobald, lives another ten years and carries on as he is
+doing, it may result that Ivan and Angela may be on the same platform
+as regards their fortunes. So far as rank is in question, if the
+government continues to play the game they are playing with our rights
+and privileges, and if under the new parliamentary <i>r&eacute;gime</i> the
+peasant's coat is to ascend the tribune, then I shall ask to be
+<i>raised</i> to the peasantry."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The Countesses Theudelinde and Angela received Ivan in their private
+sitting-room&mdash;a mark of close intimacy. He came in with a constrained
+air; his face was pale, and the emotion he could not suppress gave
+softness to his usually stern expression. Theudelinde came to meet him
+with outstretched hands. When she drew near she took his in her clasp,
+and pressed his fingers warmly. Her lips trembled, and with difficulty
+she kept the tears which filled her eyes from coursing down her
+cheeks. She could not speak, but simply nodded to Ivan to take his
+place before a small table, upon which a splendid bouquet stood.
+Theudelinde sat on the sofa, Angela beside her. The young countess was
+simply dressed; she had not even a flower in her hair. She was grave,
+and hardly raised her eyes to Ivan.</p>
+
+<p>It was Theudelinde who broke the rather embarrassing silence.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>"We have been in terrible trouble about you," she said. "You cannot
+imagine what tortures of anxiety we have gone through during these two
+days."</p>
+
+<p>Angela's eyes were on the carpet; she was included in the "we."</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot forgive myself, countess, for the share I have had in
+causing you pain. I can only do penance for my fault, and to-morrow I
+am going into banishment at Bondathal."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah!" Theudelinde's voice expressed surprise. "You are going to leave
+us? What are you going to do in Bondathal?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will return to my business, which I have too long neglected."</p>
+
+<p>"And do you like to live in Bondathal?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am tranquil there."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you relatives?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have none."</p>
+
+<p>"You have a household?"</p>
+
+<p>"So far as I can, I do everything for myself."</p>
+
+<p>"You have surely friends and acquaintances who form a pleasant circle
+around you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have only my workmen and my machines."</p>
+
+<p>"You live there a hermit's life?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, countess, for a hermit lives alone, while I have my books and my
+work; I am never alone."</p>
+
+<p>The countess's face assumed almost a solemn expression.</p>
+
+<p>"Herr von Behrend, give me your hand, and stay here."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan got up, and bowed low before her. "The kind feeling which has
+prompted your words, as well as the honor you have done me, shall
+never be forgotten by me. It is a proof to me of your great goodness,
+and I beg of you to accept my heartfelt thanks."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>"Then you will remain? How long?"</p>
+
+<p>"Until to-morrow morning."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," cried the countess, with a petulant air, "when I ask you to
+stay!"</p>
+
+<p>Her disappointment was so transparent, her annoyance so sincere, that
+it was impossible not to feel sorry for her. Theudelinde looked at
+Angela as if she expected her to come to her help; but Angela never
+raised her eyes, shaded by their long lashes, while her fingers
+plucked nervously at the petals of a marguerite, as if she were
+consulting that well-known oracle.</p>
+
+<p>"Countess," said Ivan, still standing, and with his hand on the back
+of his chair, "when I answer a friendly invitation such as yours with
+an apparently uncivil refusal to remain, as you so kindly wish me to
+do, I feel that it is incumbent on me to give you my true reason for
+withdrawing myself from your society. I cannot say to you what I would
+to a mere acquaintance; I cannot make such excuses as 'that I have
+business at home; that I have been too long here; that I shall return
+soon.' To you I must confess that I go away because no inducement
+would prevail on me to remain, and that when I go I mean never to
+return. Countess, this is not my world; here I <i>could</i> not live. I
+have spent three months here; I have been a daily guest in the best
+circles; I have lived with members of the highest and most cultivated
+society, have studied closely their manner of life. I quite agree that
+these people have every right to live in what manner they choose; but
+I, who have been accustomed to a totally different manner of life, who
+have been taught to consider existence from a different point of view,
+to reverence the higher aims and obey its finer instincts, <i>I</i> should
+be acting a lie and violating my own principles were I to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> remain in
+such an atmosphere and live after such a fashion. Here, in this
+exalted rank, you are all solitary rings, while we in the lower order
+hang together as links of one chain. You are totally independent one
+of the other, therefore you follow each one his own inclinations. With
+us the pressure of life knits us more closely together, and we call
+egotism and generosity by different names from what you do. I am,
+therefore, not fit for your circle. I am ashamed to be haughty towards
+those upon whom you look down, and I cannot bend before those whom you
+delight to honor. I do not recognize the gods whom you adore, neither
+can I mock at <i>my</i> God, and ignore Him as you do. In this world of
+yours there is a malicious demon who transforms all that is good in
+man's nature, and who prompts him to laugh and deny every inclination
+to virtue. Who tells his friend or neighbor the truth to his face, and
+who cares for any one who is not present? Dear friends race together
+over hill and dale; but suppose one makes a false step and breaks his
+neck, good-bye to him, the dear friend is gone. Another does not break
+his neck in the race, but he dissipates all his fortune; those who are
+running with him never say to him, 'Step out of the course; you are
+going to the bottom.' All at once he stumbles, and his fortune and the
+honors of his ancestors lie tumbled in the dust. Good-bye to him; his
+name is struck out of the club-list; that dear friend is no more. It
+is true we knew yesterday and the day before yesterday that he would
+surely get a bad fall, but no one else knew of it, so we rode with our
+dear friend to the last. Now all the world is aware of his tumble in
+the dust, therefore we know him no more. If any one wishes to go on
+his own way, and live a rational life to himself, oh, then, he is a
+coward, a miser, a carpet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> knight! And how do the women fare in this
+world of yours? What about domestic life, and the sweet joys of the
+home? What tragedies are enacted inside those splendid mansions, and
+outside what fun is made of them by friends and acquaintances! What
+refinement in sin! what idolatry of false joys! And when these are
+over, what <i>ennui</i> of life, what endless weariness! No, countess, this
+life is not for me. I should be poisoned in such an atmosphere. You
+can bear it, you grace it by your presence; but for me, I should go
+mad were I to remain. Therefore I go, and all that is now left is to
+ask your forgiveness for my bold words. I acknowledge my indiscretion;
+I have spoken bitterly of society, and yet I stand on its parquet
+floor. I have been ungrateful; I have given expression to my
+antipathies in the presence of those who have shown tolerance towards
+my faults and my awkward manners; who have accompanied me to the door
+of the circle where I have often played a ridiculous part, and,
+notwithstanding, have never been laughed at before my face. But,
+countess, the words I have uttered I have felt, so to speak,
+constrained by your goodness to say. You have, with extraordinary
+kindness, asked me to remain, and I would prove to you that I am
+forced to leave by a power stronger than myself."</p>
+
+<p>During Ivan's rather lengthy address Countess Theudelinde had risen to
+her feet. Her eyes began to light up, her face to wear a glorified
+expression, her lips to move as if she repeated each word he said; and
+when he had spoken the concluding sentence she seized both his hands,
+while she stammered out:</p>
+
+<p>"You speak the truth&mdash;the truth&mdash;nothing but the truth; you speak as I
+spoke forty years ago, when <i>I</i> left the world as you are doing now!
+The world is ever the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> same; it does not change." Here she wrung her
+hands passionately. "Go home," she sobbed out; "go back to your
+solitude, hide yourself under the earth, conceal yourself in your
+mine, God will be with you wherever you are&mdash;everywhere! God bless
+you! God bless you!"</p>
+
+<p>She did not remark that Angela had also risen from her seat, and as
+Ivan took his leave she made a step forward, and said, in a firm,
+decided voice:</p>
+
+<p>"If you go away, you do not go alone, for I shall go with you." Her
+whole face glowed as she spoke these words.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan was master of the situation. Standing upon this giddy height, he
+did not for that reason lose his balance. With wonderful presence of
+mind he answered the excited girl:</p>
+
+<p>"You will do well, countess. To-morrow is your grandfather's birthday,
+and early to-morrow you can be with him. He is ready to clasp you in
+his arms."</p>
+
+<p>Angela grew white as a marble statue. She sank back in her armchair,
+the leaves she had plucked from the flower lay scattered at her feet.
+Ivan bowed to her respectfully, kissed the hand of Countess
+Theudelinde, and quitted the room.</p>
+
+<p>Ah, there are men who never forget their first and only love!</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Not long after Ivan had left, Count Edmund dropped in to see the
+ladies. He appeared to come by accident, but he was dying with
+curiosity. Countess Angela was more amiable than usual. When he was
+leaving, she said to her cousin:</p>
+
+<p>"Go to Salista, and tell him that I have inquired for him."</p>
+
+<p>Count Edmund was courtier enough to conceal the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> astonishment he most
+certainly felt, but as he went down the stairs he began to hum
+Figaro's song from the <i>Barber of Seville</i>:</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0q">"The falseness of women<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">One never can know,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">One never can know!"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Countess Angela wrote that same evening to her grandfather. Ivan was
+right in saying the next day was his birthday, and this was her
+birthday greeting:</p>
+
+<p>"I am not coming home. Adieu."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>For two days every one in Pesth spoke of Ivan and his duel with
+Salista; the third day he was forgotten. Good-bye to him!</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">THE LAST REHEARSAL</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>On the morning of his birthday Prince Theobald received a letter. It
+was from his only grandchild, and ended with the word "Adieu."</p>
+
+<p>The prince's birthday had been always a festival. From Angela's
+childhood up to the last anniversary of the day she had each year
+given him a remembrance. On this day it had been a bitter gift.</p>
+
+<p>Among his treasures the old man kept a particular casket, handsomely
+fitted with gold mountings, in which he preserved these birthday
+offerings. There was the wreath Angela had given him when she was nine
+years old; the scrawl she had written in her childish handwriting on a
+sheet of Bristol-board; the bit of embroidery, worked in pearls and
+gold, which later she had done for him with her own hand. To these
+gifts the prince, with a deep sigh, added her last letter, with its
+cold farewell.</p>
+
+<p>Prince Theobald was easily moved to anger, while his heart was
+sensitive to affection. When he reflected calmly he found he had every
+right to exact obedience from his granddaughter. Angela owed a duty to
+him, to his position, to the princely house from which she sprang. If,
+indeed, her heart stood in the way of agreeing to his wishes, one
+might, perhaps, excuse her; but Angela, he knew, loved no one. Why,
+therefore, should<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> she seek to defy him for a mere foolish whim?
+Prince Theobald went to Eveline's last rehearsal with his mind in a
+tumult of annoyance and excitement; his blood circulated wildly. He
+could send a strange answer to her farewell. Yes, and he would!</p>
+
+<p>When he reached Eveline's house the servant admitted him as a favored
+<i>habitu&eacute;</i>, without a word, and left him in the drawing-room while he
+went to announce him to his mistress. The prince looked round him; it
+was the room where Eveline usually gave her representations. The
+rose-colored curtains were drawn, one corner was filled with
+greenhouse exotics, the air was perfumed with the scent of the
+flowers. In another corner two turtle-doves cooed melodiously, while
+from behind a little <i>bosquet</i> a nightingale sang its soft stave of
+love, sorrow, and triumph. One could hardly imagine one's self in an
+ordinary drawing-room; it was more like the throne of a nymph, or
+fairy, in the depth of a wood.</p>
+
+<p>The prince seated himself upon a sofa, and, taking up an album which
+lay upon the table, he turned over the leaves. It was a collection of
+photographs of Eveline in her different parts. He went through it from
+cover to cover, examining each tempting and seductive portrait
+carefully, and as he did so there rose before his memory the casket in
+which Angela's letters and embroidery were preserved. His thoughts
+were so absorbed in these recollections that, with a start, he found
+himself at the last page in the book before him. He roused himself to
+look at the beautiful figure in a common stuff frock. How captivating,
+how simple, how lovely!</p>
+
+<p>The nightingale sang, the doves cooed, the air grew heavy with the
+scent of the pomegranates. The prince wondered in what form of
+enchantment would his hostess<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> appear. And now there fell on his ear,
+coming from a distance, a forgotten tune. Once he had heard it, long
+ago; but the air he remembered. It moved him strangely. It was a
+simple volkslied, the same with which the nurse was wont to rock the
+cradle of Angela when she was a baby&mdash;a Slav tune. The text was
+unknown to him.</p>
+
+<p>After a few minutes the song ceased, the door of Eveline's
+dressing-room opened, and she came in&mdash;and how? In what new and
+captivating costume did she appear?</p>
+
+<p>She wore a simple white-and-black dress of crape cloth; her hair was
+smoothly combed back from her young face, and hung down in a long
+plait; a white lace collar was round her throat.</p>
+
+<p>Softly, modestly, and yet with the confidence of a child, she drew
+near to the prince, and when she was close to him she handed him a
+little sachet of white satin, upon which was embroidered the kneeling
+figure of a child. Then raising her eyes, full of tears, to his face,
+she said, in a low voice, which trembled with emotion:</p>
+
+<p>"My lord, will you accept this little birthday gift from me? May
+Heaven preserve your days."</p>
+
+<p>This scene was so devoid of all acting, it was so full of feeling and
+sincerity, that Prince Theobald, thrown off his guard, forgot himself,
+and, instead of the formal "madame," said:</p>
+
+<p>"My child&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>At these words the young girl, sobbing wildly, threw herself into his
+arms.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, prince," she cried, "do not recall those words; call me your
+child. There is on this earth no creature more desolate, more unhappy
+than I am."</p>
+
+<p>Prince Theobald laid, his hand kindly upon the fair<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> head of the
+sobbing girl and kissed her gently on the forehead.</p>
+
+<p>"Be it so," he said. "Look up and smile, Eveline. I am in earnest. You
+are almost a child, and you shall be one to me. I will be your
+father&mdash;no, your grandfather. Fathers love their children sometimes,
+but not always; but grandfathers never fail in loving their
+grandchildren. You shall be my little granddaughter. When I am sad you
+will cheer me with your gay chatter; you will read or sing to me when
+I cannot sleep; you will care for me and nurse me when I am ill. I
+shall adopt you as my child. I shall take care of you, and provide you
+with all that you want. In return you will obey me; you will listen to
+me; you will bear with an old man's whims and his petulant temper; you
+will try and please me. I promise you that you shall be treated well.
+You shall be mistress over all that I have; you shall have everything
+suitable to the position of my daughter; but I must exact the
+obedience of a child."</p>
+
+<p>Eveline answered by kissing her benefactor's hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you pleased at my proposal? Do you think you will be happy?"</p>
+
+<p>Eveline laughed in childish delight. She danced about the room in her
+joy, and fell down at the prince's feet, crying out:</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, my dear, dear grandpapa!"</p>
+
+<p>Prince Theobald threw himself back on the sofa and burst into a harsh,
+bitter laugh.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline drew back, hurt and frightened by the horrid discord in the
+laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"I am not laughing at you, my dear," said the prince, kindly. "Come,
+my pretty granddaughter, and sit beside me." (He had laughed at the
+answer he could now make to Angela's farewell.) He stroked Eveline's
+hair<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> tenderly. "Now we must talk seriously. Listen to what I have to
+say, for my words are commands. In <i>our</i> family there is only one
+master, whom all obey. First of all, there is your husband to be
+considered. It seems to me he takes the responsibilities of his
+position lightly. Still, he must give his consent to my adoption of
+you. I don't apprehend, however, any difficulty in obtaining it; you
+may leave that to me. After that you will take up your residence in my
+palace in the Maximilian Strasse. It shall be yours on one
+condition&mdash;that you receive no visitors without previously consulting
+me. Kaulmann is included in this condition. You must have no
+intercourse with him, except on matters of business. Will it pain you
+to be separated from him?"</p>
+
+<p>"I could not be pained by that. We have always lived apart."</p>
+
+<p>The prince pressed her hand kindly. "Poor child!" he said. "Your
+husband is a scoundrel. He has treated you as one of his speculations,
+and has attained his end. One thing, however, you receive from
+him&mdash;his name. He cannot take that from you. By-and-by you will learn
+what an inestimable advantage it is to a woman to bear her husband's
+name. It is a passport; but I do not think Kaulmann meant it in that
+light. Well, let us talk no more of him, but of your future. I shall
+procure for you an engagement at the Opera-house. You must have a
+certain position before the world, by whom the secret tie between us
+would not be understood. The title of actress is like the mantle of a
+queen; it gives you the <i>entr&eacute;e</i> to the <i>salons</i> of a certain artistic
+world. Your future shall be my care. You have talent; if you study you
+will succeed. You must rise to the head of your profession, so that
+when I die you will be able to support yourself."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>"If I could only get over my stage-fright!" said Eveline, sadly.</p>
+
+<p>"You will when you get accustomed to the footlights. You will learn by
+experience that in this world, and especially on the stage, every one
+is taken at his own valuation. Any one who makes little of himself
+goes cheap. Above all, you must be most careful how you choose your
+friends. This is important, and on this point you must allow me to
+judge for you. If you feel a preference for any one person you must
+tell me with frankness, and I shall know whether it will be a safe
+friendship for you."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, prince," cried Eveline, "I shall be guided in all things by you!"</p>
+
+<p>"My child, do not promise too much. Engagements made in a moment of
+enthusiasm or sentiment are speedily forgotten; but there is one
+promise I would have from you. There is one man whom you must give
+your word to me that you will <i>never</i> receive&mdash;that you will never
+break the seal of a letter that comes from him; that you will never
+accept a present from him, never take up a bouquet he may throw you,
+never notice his applause. This man must not exist for you; you must
+take as little notice of him as if he were a crossing-sweeper. This
+man is Prince Waldemar."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, sir, I already hate him. I shudder at his approach."</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad to hear it. He deserves every good woman's hatred; but he
+is rich, young, handsome. He raves of you. Women are flattered by the
+love of such as he; and circumstances may arise to alter your ideas.
+Wealth has a wonderful attraction, and poverty is a great temptation.
+The time must come when I shall no longer be here. You must swear to
+me that when I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> am dead or removed from you you will keep your oath to
+accept nothing from Prince Waldemar."</p>
+
+<p>"I swear it to you by what is most sacred&mdash;the memory of my dead
+mother."</p>
+
+<p>"Now allow me to kiss your forehead. I am going to Kaulmann to make
+the necessary arrangements. I thank you for your remembrance of my
+birthday. Your little present has made me rich. I came here in a very
+perturbed state of mind; I go away with a tranquil heart. I shall
+always be grateful to you. God bless you!"</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Some days later Eveline removed to Prince Theobald's palace in the
+Maximilian Strasse, where she was surrounded by every splendor and
+luxury.</p>
+
+<p>The world supposed&mdash;and we must acknowledge there was reason for the
+supposition&mdash;that Kaulmann's wife was the Prince's mistress. The
+prince imagined that he would frighten the Countess Angela and bring
+her to reason, and Eveline thought she was fulfilling her duty as a
+wife when she obeyed her contemptible husband by sacrificing her good
+name to further his ambitious schemes.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>At this time, and as the result of Eveline's obedience, the
+Joint-Stock Mining Company received the assent of Prince Theobald
+Bondavary to the contract already signed by his sister, Countess
+Theudelinde.</p>
+
+<p>And in this manner the Bondavara property passed away from the last
+two possessors. If Countess Angela had followed Ivan Behrend's advice
+this would not have happened, and the property would have been hers.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Why was the Countess Angela so obstinate? Why<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> did she behave so
+foolishly as regarded her own interests, so ungratefully towards her
+kind grandfather? A word must be said in her defence. This Prince
+Sondersheim, whom Prince Theobald wished his granddaughter to take as
+her husband, was the same Prince Waldemar of whom mention has already
+been made. Prince Theobald knew his character well. We have heard what
+he said to Eveline. The world had the worst opinion of him, and Angela
+knew what the world thought of her future husband.</p>
+
+<p>Was it any wonder she refused to give herself to such a man? Could she
+act otherwise than she did? Women are the best judges on this point.
+Men cannot witness against themselves.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">FINANCIAL WISDOM</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>The Bondavara Joint-Stock Company was about to issue its prospectus;
+the speculation had been advertised largely, and now it only waited
+the necessary capital of ten millions to start the railway which was
+to put the finest coal-mines in the kingdom within the reach of the
+markets of the great cities. The speculation did not, however, attract
+the public. Who knows about the value of the mine? said one. Who
+believes what the papers say? We all know that trick. The gudgeons
+held off, and did not rise to the bait offered.</p>
+
+<p>One day Felix Kaulmann brought one of the directors to see Ivan
+Behrend, and while these two were in conversation he noticed, lying on
+the table, a piece of coal from the Bondavara mine, upon which was
+distinctly visible the outline of a plant about the size of a finger.</p>
+
+<p>"Is this the impression of an antediluvian bird's claw?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"No," returned Ivan; "it is a petrified plant."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, I am making a collection of petrifactions."</p>
+
+<p>"Then take that to add to it," said Ivan, carelessly.</p>
+
+<p>Felix carried away the piece of coal in his pocket.</p>
+
+<p>Shortly before the prospectus was issued there appeared in one of the
+best-known scientific journals an illustration and article descriptive
+of the petrified <i>bird's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> foot</i> which had been found in the Bondavara
+mine. The article was signed "Doctor Felicius."</p>
+
+<p>All the <i>savants</i> were excited. "We must see this impression!" they
+cried.</p>
+
+<p>The discoverer had given to the creature, whose foot-mark had remained
+unalterably impressed upon the tender (!) coal, the learned name of
+<i>Protornithos lithanthracoides</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"Ho, ho!" exclaimed the united bodies of geologists, physiologists,
+professors, philosophers, artisans, and artesian-well borers, "that is
+indeed a long word!"</p>
+
+<p>One set of learned men declared the thing to be possible, another
+denied its possibility.</p>
+
+<p>And why was it not possible? Because at the period of coal-formations
+neither birds nor any one of the mammalia could exist, or did exist,
+in the bowels of the earth. There we find only traces of plants, of
+mussels, of fish sometimes.</p>
+
+<p>And why is it credible? Because in these days we make discoveries
+every day. Humboldt declared that in the antediluvian world no apes
+had ever lived, for the reason that the fossil of an ape had never
+been found. Since then one fossil ape has been discovered in England,
+in France three of the Ourang species.</p>
+
+<p>By degrees the strife raged in every newspaper; it was taken up in
+English, French, German, and American publications. At last it was
+proposed that the matter should be referred to a commission of five
+well-known professors, to whom the petrifaction should be submitted,
+and who should decide the question in dispute. Doctor Felicius offered
+one thousand ducats to the one who would prove that his bird's claw
+was not a bird's claw.</p>
+
+<p>The tribunal of the five learned judges examined the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> petrifaction
+with microscopical attention, and after a long sitting brought in a
+unanimous verdict that the impression was not made by the claw of a
+Protornithos, but was that of a leaf belonging to the plant <i>Annularia
+longefolia</i>; in fact, there could be no question of the bird species,
+as the specimen of coal produced was not brown coal, but the <i>purest</i>
+black, in which coal formation it was not possible for even a bird to
+exist.</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Felix Kaulmann quietly paid the thousand ducats, and thanked
+the whole republic of professors for the service they had rendered to
+the Bondavara coal; such an advertisement could not have been obtained
+at an expense of forty thousand ducats. Let people say that the
+Protornithos was a humbug&mdash;who cares? The reputation of the Bondavara
+coal was firmly established on the best scientific grounds.</p>
+
+<p>The period had now arrived when the undertaking should be floated at
+the exchange. This, perhaps, is the greatest science on earth. The
+stock-exchange has its good and its bad days. Sometimes it is full of
+electricity, the sheep frolic in the meadow; at other times they hang
+their heads and will not touch the beautiful grass. Sometimes they
+come bleating to the shepherd to beg that he will shear them, for
+their wool presses too heavily on them; another day they butt their
+heads together and will not listen to their leader. Again, and no one
+can tell why, when the bell-wether begins to run, all the rest of the
+flock run after him; neither the shepherd nor his dog can stop them.
+The science lies in knowing when there is good weather on the
+stock-exchange. On a favorable day men are in such excellent
+humor&mdash;there is so much gold in every pocket, everything goes
+well&mdash;that even a company for the excavation and alienation of the
+icebergs would find bidders.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> On a bad day the best and safest
+speculation would get not a single offer.</p>
+
+<p>It was on one of the good days that the Bondavara Coal Company made
+its <i>d&eacute;but</i> at the Vienna Stock-exchange. It caught on, and by the day
+on which the subscriptions should be paid into the Bank of Kaulmann
+came round it was necessary to have a military cordon drawn across the
+street, to allow the stream of people to pass through in any sort of
+order. The subscribers had, in fact, collected before the doors early
+in the morning; those who were strong trusted to their own strength to
+make way for themselves by elbow force. In the crush battered hats and
+torn coats were matters of small consequence; verbal insults and
+personal injuries, such as pushing and squeezing, were treated as
+nothing. The windows of the bank which looked on the street were burst
+open, and some excited individual called out:</p>
+
+<p>"I subscribe ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million!"</p>
+
+<p>When at last six o'clock struck, and the doors of the bank were
+closed, a stentorian voice called from the balcony to the crowd below:</p>
+
+<p>"The subscription is closed!"</p>
+
+<p>What a disappointment for those who had not been able to get their
+money in in time! They went away dejected men.</p>
+
+<p>The Bondavara mine had indeed "caught on." Instead of ten millions,
+eight hundred and twenty thousand millions had been subscribed. Did
+the subscribers really possess all that money? Certainly not. Each one
+deposited the tenth portion of the sum subscribed as a guarantee, and
+this only on paper; actual money the company did not as yet touch.
+Those who made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> part of the vast crowd, who tore the coats from one
+another's backs, were not blessed with a superfluity of money, neither
+had they the slightest interest in the production of coal, but to-day
+it is fine weather on the exchange; the Bondavara Company's bonds
+stand at par. Every one wanted to make this small profit; that done
+they care no more for the bonds or the company.</p>
+
+<p>It is, however, a fact that trees do not grow in heaven. Prince
+Waldemar was at the head of the countermine, and he was one of the
+cleverest, most astute men "on 'change."</p>
+
+<p>To understand the business the reader should be himself a speculator.
+It is carried on something after this fashion. Those who want to buy
+in are oftentimes men of straw; they merely want shares to sell them
+at once to the first bidder. As a natural consequence, this lowers the
+value; there is a fall, sometimes a total collapse. If the investment
+is a sound one it recovers vitality, and the shares go up again. There
+is, however, a way to guard against this trick. Almost every company
+has a syndicate, whose office is to ascertain whether the applicants
+for shares are men of straw or not. Pending the inquiry, the time is
+made use of to employ certain agents, to whom a free gift is made of,
+say, five hundred shares. These men immediately set up a tremendous
+uproar; they drive up the shares, they tear the certificates out of
+one another's hands, screaming out the high rate at which they are
+buying. But the general market sees no shares pass; the experienced
+ones know that this is all a well-acted farce, and that any one who
+has ready-money need only go to the fountain-head and buy as many
+shares as he wants at par. On the other hand, the bears are waiting
+their time to rush in and cause such a depreciation as will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> run down
+the shares to almost nothing. When they have got them at this low
+figure they may allow them to rise again.</p>
+
+<p>The only one who loses in this cruel game is the small capitalist, who
+has ventured, poor soul, on ice, and who has sacrificed his little all
+at the shrine of the golden calf, taken his carefully hoarded store,
+his hard-earned salary out of his drawer, and has cast it upon these
+unprofitable waters, tempted by the tales of high interest, and the
+like. All of a sudden the bears have rushed in, the mine has exploded,
+his hopes are blown into air, vanished like a dream; his shares are so
+much waste-paper. He goes home certainly a sadder if not a wiser man.
+Well for him if he is not a beggar. This is how they manage matters on
+the stock-exchange.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX<br />
+<span class="smalltext">FILTHY LUCRE</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>In the town of X&mdash;&mdash; there is a street called Greek Street. It is a
+circle, or crescent, of pretty houses, which at one time were erected
+and peopled by Greek merchants. In the middle of the street stands a
+church with a fa&ccedil;ade of marble and a splendid gilt tower, whose bells
+are the most tuneful in the whole town. It is said that when those
+bells were cast the Greeks threw, with both hands, silver coins into
+the liquid metal.</p>
+
+<p>Old Francis Csanta was now the last of the race. Once he had been a
+jovial fellow, a careless, free liver, towards ladies a gallant
+cavalier, among men a desperate gambler. With years he became silent,
+moody, miserly, avoided the company of his fellow man or woman, and
+was a hater of music and all pleasure. The more he indulged in
+solitude the worse his peculiarities grew. So soon as one of his
+former friends, or relations, or boon companions died, he bought the
+house in which they had lived. By degrees the whole street belonged to
+him; only one house remained, and that next door to his own. This had
+been occupied by a connection of his who had left one daughter.
+Strangely enough, she had not followed the general custom of celibacy,
+but had married, and was the wife of a music-master, who enjoyed the
+Magyar name of Belenyi. This pair had in due course a son born to
+them, to whom they gave the name of Arpad.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>This vexed old Csanta sorely. Why should the last remaining Greek girl
+have married&mdash;above all, married a music-master? Why should there be a
+son? Why should that son be baptized Arpad? And why should these
+annoying circumstances take place under his very nose? The house, too,
+was an offence; the only house in the street that did not belong to
+him. The church was his; no one went in except himself; the clergyman
+said mass for him only. He was the patron, the congregation, the
+curator, the vestryman, the supporter; he filled every office; he was
+everything. When he was dead the church would be closed, the grass
+would grow upon the threshold.</p>
+
+<p>The generation in the next house showed no sign of dying; the boy
+Arpad was as lively as an eel. At the age of five he threw his ball
+over the roof, and it fell into the old Greek's garden, who there and
+then confiscated it. The lad gave him much more annoyance.</p>
+
+<p>About this time evil days came to the country. The Hungarians and the
+Austrians killed one another. The reason of their so doing is hard to
+find. Historians of the present day say that it was all child's play,
+and that the cause lay in the refusal of the Hungarian sepoys&mdash;who are
+Mohammedans&mdash;to bite off cartridges which had been prepared with the
+fat of swine&mdash;the German method. Or did this happen in India? Nowadays
+it is all uncertain; mostly what is known about it comes through the
+songs of the poets, and who believes them?</p>
+
+<p>What interests us in this old story is that it has to do with Ivan
+Behrend, and how he came to dwell in the Belenyi's house. It so
+happened that he was one of the regiment who repulsed an assault on
+the town, and in consequence he was billeted on the music-master and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>
+his wife. He was well liked. He was young then, and had good spirits.
+One day the poor musician, coming home through the streets, was struck
+by a shell, and brought into his house dead. Such things happen
+occasionally in time of war. Little Arpad was an orphan, and then it
+was that Ivan adopted him as his son. A short time after this Ivan
+laid down his arms and retired into private life. Why he did so, and
+where he went, is quite immaterial. Before he went Ivan gave the widow
+Belenyi all the gold he had with him, so that with this money Arpad's
+musical education might be paid for. He did not care for the gold, and
+he could not have employed it better. If he had taken it with him, who
+knows into what worthless hands it would have fallen?</p>
+
+<p>He hadn't been long gone when a Hungarian government official stood in
+the market-place of X&mdash;&mdash;, and, to the accompaniment of much drumming,
+gave out the government order that all German bank-notes should be
+brought to the great square, and there made into a funeral-pile and
+set fire to. Any one refusing to obey this order should be dealt with
+accordingly. Every one knew what this meant, and all who didn't wish
+<i>to be dealt with</i> hastened to bring their bank-notes, which were then
+and there burned.</p>
+
+<p>The widow Belenyi had her little savings, a few hundred gulden. What
+should she do? It went hard with her to see her money thrown into the
+fire. She went to her rich neighbor and besought him to help her, and
+to change her money into Hungarian bank-notes. The old Greek at first
+refused to listen, but by-and-by he relented and did as she wished. He
+even did more, for after a week had passed he came to her and said:</p>
+
+<p>"I will no longer keep the money which your father<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> lent to me at the
+rate of six per cent. Here it is for you&mdash;ten thousand gulden; take
+it, and make what you can of it." As he spoke he paid her the whole
+sum in Hungarian bank-notes.</p>
+
+<p>A week later another commandant arrived in the town; this one was a
+German. The next morning more drumming was heard in the market-place,
+and the order was given that all who possessed Hungarian bank-notes
+must give them up to have them burned. Those who refused would be shot
+or hanged.</p>
+
+<p>The poor widow ran weeping to her neighbor, and asked what she should
+do. The whole sum he had given her lay in her drawer untouched. If it
+were taken from her she and her child must beg or starve. Why had he
+given her this money? Why had he changed her German notes if he knew
+that this was going to happen?</p>
+
+<p>"How could I know it?" shrieked Csanta; and, still screaming, he went
+on to lament over himself. "If you are beggared, so am I&mdash;ten thousand
+times more beggared than any one. I haven't a copper coin in the
+house. I don't know how I can pay even for a bit of meat. I shall have
+a hundred thousand bank-notes burned. I am ruined! I am a beggar!"</p>
+
+<p>And he fell to cursing both Germans and Hungarians, until the widow
+Belenyi implored him not to shriek so loud, else he would be heard,
+and, God help us all! hanged.</p>
+
+<p>"Let them hear, then! Let them hang me! I don't care. I shall go to
+the market-place and tell them to their faces they are robbers, and if
+they won't hang me I'll hang myself. I am only considering whether I
+shall suspend myself from the pump-handle or from the steeple of the
+tower."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>The widow besought him, for Heaven's sake, not to do such a terrible
+deed.</p>
+
+<p>"And what's to become of me? Am I to go round with a hat and beg for a
+penny? Here, these are my last halfpence."</p>
+
+<p>He drew a few coins from his pocket, and began to weep piteously; his
+tears flowed in streams. The poor woman tried her best to console him.
+She begged him not to despair; the butcher and the baker knew him, and
+would trust him. She was tempted to offer him a piece of twenty
+groschen.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, you will soon see!" sobbed the old man. "Come to-morrow morning
+early, and you will see me hanging from a hook in the passage. I
+couldn't survive this!"</p>
+
+<p>What could she do? The poor soul carried her Hungarian bank-notes to
+the commander, and saw them consumed in the market-place.</p>
+
+<p>Oh, it was a laughable joke! To this day when people talk of it their
+eyes fill with tears.</p>
+
+<p>For the widow, and many like her, there followed months and years of
+grinding poverty. She had lost all the capital saved for her by her
+father; there remained nothing but the house. The front rooms she let
+as a shop, and in the back she lived and eked out her miserable income
+as best she could.</p>
+
+<p>For a long time she looked with a frightened gaze at her neighbor's
+passage, expecting to see the old man hanging from an iron hook; but
+she was spared this sight. The old man had no notion of ending his
+days. He had certainly lost a few thousand gulden, but these were only
+the chaff; the corn was safe. He had a secret hiding-place to which he
+could have access by a secret passage underneath his house; the cellar
+was, in fact, underneath the water. A mason from Vienna had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> built it
+for him, and the people of the town knew nothing of it. The cellar was
+full of casks, and every cask was full of silver; the old man's cellar
+concealed a treasure. By means of secret machinery constructed in his
+bedroom the owner was able by touching a spring to open a sluice
+concealed in the bed of the stream, and thus in a few minutes to
+submerge his cave. No robber could have penetrated there. All the gold
+and silver pieces which came into Csanta's hand found their way to
+this subterranean hiding-place, and never saw the light of day again.</p>
+
+<p>Meantime his neighbor, the widow, suffered the grip of poverty; she
+sewed her fingers to the bone to keep things together and to earn
+their daily bread. The gold pieces Ivan had given she wouldn't have
+touched even to save herself from starvation; they were used for the
+purpose for which he gave them&mdash;for Arpad's musical education, and
+musical instruction was so dear. The child was a genius.</p>
+
+<p>But living grew dearer, work harder to get. The widow was forced to
+get a loan upon the house; she asked her neighbor, and he gave it
+readily. The loan grew and grew until it reached a good sum of money,
+and then Csanta asked it back. Frau Belenyi was not able to refund,
+and the old man instituted proceedings, and as he was the only
+mortgagee he got it for one-quarter its real value. The amount over
+and above the debt and the costs were handed to the widow, and there
+was nothing left but to leave. Madame Belenyi took her son to Vienna,
+to begin in earnest his artistic education.</p>
+
+<p>The old Greek possessed the whole street; there was no one left to
+annoy him in his immediate neighborhood; he suffered neither from
+children, dogs, or birds.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> And his treasure increased more and more.
+The casks which filled the cellar that lay beneath the water were
+filled to overflowing, and the contents were always silver.</p>
+
+<p>One day Csanta received a visit. It was an old acquaintance, a banker
+from Vienna, whose father had been a friend of the old man's, and at
+whose counting-house he could always get exchange for his bank-notes
+and other little accommodations. The visitor was Felix Kaulmann.</p>
+
+<p>"To what circumstance do I owe the honor? What good news do you bring
+me?"</p>
+
+<p>"My worthy friend, I shall not make any preamble. Time is precious to
+you, as it is to me, and therefore I go straight to the point. By the
+authorization of the Prince of Bondavara I have been placed at the
+head of a joint-stock company, who have just started some gigantic
+coal-works, whose capital has risen from ten millions to eight hundred
+and twenty millions."</p>
+
+<p>"That is eighty-two millions more than you would require."</p>
+
+<p>"The money is the least part. What I stand in need of is well-known
+men for the administration, for the result of the whole undertaking
+rests upon the zeal, the capability, the intelligence of the governing
+body."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, such men are not difficult to find if there is a prospect of a
+good dividend."</p>
+
+<p>"The dividend is not to be despised. The bonus to each member of the
+administration will be, yearly, five or six thousand gulden."</p>
+
+<p>"Really? What a nice income!&mdash;a stroke of luck for those who are
+chosen."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I have chosen you for a member, my worthy friend."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>"An honor, a great honor for me; but how much must I put down before I
+am admitted?"</p>
+
+<p>"Neither before nor after shall you be asked to put down anything. The
+only condition is that every member of the administration must hold
+one thousand shares."</p>
+
+<p>"That means paying in a deal of money, my young friend."</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't say a word of paying in; I only spoke of holding."</p>
+
+<p>"But, my young friend, although I am only a provincial merchant in a
+small way, I know that, so far as money is in question, to subscribe
+is another word for payment."</p>
+
+<p>"With this exception&mdash;if both subscriptions equalize one another. Ah,
+I see you do not like even a question of subscribing. Well, listen. We
+will suppose that you take one thousand shares in my coal company, and
+at the same time I give you an undertaking to take over one thousand
+shares at par from <i>you</i>; in this way we are even, and neither of us
+loses a shilling."</p>
+
+<p>"Hem! But what is the necessity for such a joke?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will be frank with you. The world has its eyes fixed upon the
+actions of important men; if these stir in any affair, the others stir
+likewise. If on 'change it is known that you, my worthy friend, have
+bought a thousand shares, a hundred small speculators will immediately
+invest in shares. In this way you secure to yourself a sinecure which
+will give you five or six thousand gulden, and I will secure for my
+undertaking a splendid future. Now, have I not spoken the truth?"</p>
+
+<p>"H'm! I will consider the affair. Meet me to-morrow at the
+restaurant."</p>
+
+<p>Csanta spent all the morning in the restaurant; he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> listened to all
+that was said of the Bondavara speculation, and came to the conclusion
+that he would risk nothing, since all danger was covered by Kaulmann's
+bond. When Felix arrived he had made up his mind.</p>
+
+<p>"Good! I shall draw the shares; but none of them shall hang round my
+neck, for I don't like paper. Paper is only paper, and silver is
+always silver."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be afraid, my friend, I shall retain all shares for myself. I
+deposit the caution for you, and I pay the instalments."</p>
+
+<p>Felix completely satisfied the old Greek as to his upright intentions
+in the matter of the shares, and left in his hands the undertaking in
+which he pledged himself to take them over at par.</p>
+
+<p>Now began the man&#339;uvre behind the scenes. The agents, the makers of
+books, the brokers rushed in; the Bondavara shares rose rapidly. The
+syndicate had, all this time, never given a share into any one's hand.
+The bears had not yet begun to dance. Herr Csanta had become a student
+of the newspapers. True, his eyes never left one column, but that
+contained for him the tree of all knowledge; it spoke golden truth.
+With amazement he read how every day the value of the Bondavara shares
+increased. The profit grew higher and higher; it went up in leaps and
+bounds; sixteen, eighteen, at last twenty gulden over par. Those who
+had put down two hundred thousand gulden had won in two weeks twenty
+thousand gulden. A splendid speculation, indeed, in less than a
+fortnight to make a fortune! Compare the case of an honest,
+hard-working usurer like himself. What difficulties he had to go
+through to extract twenty per cent. out of his miserable clients! The
+work was hardly worth the gain; the fatigue of trapping some silly
+idiot, the odium<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> and hatred incurred by exacting his rights from some
+miserable beggar with a family, or taking the pillow from under the
+head of a dying man; these things go against the grain, but they must
+be done if you want to fill your cellar with silver coins. And here a
+wretched, good-for-nothing speculator, by merely a stroke of the pen,
+makes in two short weeks a fortune. Luck is not evenly meted out to
+mortals.</p>
+
+<p>The time had come when Felix Kaulmann could demand from Csanta the
+thousand shares upon which he could now make a profit of twenty
+thousand gulden. No honest man could allow such an iniquitous robbery
+of his rights, or, at least, not without making a struggle. It is only
+a fool who allows himself to be made a tool of. A man may steal for
+himself; to rob the widow and the orphan to fill another man's purse,
+that is wicked and immoral.</p>
+
+<p>When Felix Kaulmann came again to the town of X&mdash;&mdash;, the old Greek
+received him with great ceremony and seeming cordiality.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you bring good news, my dear young friend," he said, clasping
+Kaulmann's hand in his.</p>
+
+<p>"I have come about that little business of the shares," returned
+Felix, with the air of a man of business. "You remember our
+agreement?"</p>
+
+<p>"What shares do you mean? Oh, the Bondavara! Is it pressing?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, for the first instalment of interest is now due; two gulden each
+bond, which, as the shares are in my name, will make an addition to my
+savings."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, so you intend to call in the shares?"</p>
+
+<p>"But that was our agreement."</p>
+
+<p>"And if I do not wish to surrender more than five hundred?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>Kaulmann drew in his lips. "Well, I suppose I should be content."</p>
+
+<p>"And if I do not wish to surrender any of the shares?"</p>
+
+<p>Kaulmann looked at him uneasily. "Sir," he said, "I thought I was
+dealing with an honest man. Besides, you forget I gave you a written
+agreement."</p>
+
+<p>"My friend, my good young friend, that is true. You gave me a written
+agreement signed with your name, which covenanted that you were
+obliged to take these shares from me at par; but I gave you no signed
+document, and there is nothing that can force me to hand you over
+these shares. There you have the whole thing in a nutshell."</p>
+
+<p>"But, my good sir," repeated the banker, taking hold of the lapels of
+the old Greek's coat, "listen to me. Don't you know that it is one of
+the laws in the Chamber of Commerce that there is no need of written
+indenture? If I take shares from you I have only to make a note in my
+pocket-book. Surely you know that this is the law on 'change?"</p>
+
+<p>"What do I know of the laws they make there? I never set my foot in
+the place."</p>
+
+<p>Kaulmann made an effort to laugh. "I must confess I have never been so
+sold by any one. I have found my master. Will you give me none of the
+shares?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not half a one."</p>
+
+<p>"Very good. Then you must count out the sum-total agreed upon."</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly. I shall pay down the money."</p>
+
+<p>"I mean the whole sum. Do you understand?"</p>
+
+<p>"Undoubtedly. Don't be afraid; the money is ready; this house is bail
+for more than that amount. If needs be I can pay you in gold, if needs
+be in silver."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," cried Kaulmann, bringing his clinched fist<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> down on the table,
+"I would never have believed that in this little town I should have
+been so sold."</p>
+
+<p>Csanta suspected that were he to fail in paying his first instalment
+his shares might be annulled. He therefore lost no time in placing the
+first thirty-five per cent. into the bank. But this was not an easy
+task. To transport seventy thousand silver gulden to Vienna would
+necessitate a conveyance, and not only a conveyance, but an escort of
+gendarmes, and this paraphernalia would make people stare. Well, let
+them stare!</p>
+
+<p>When the old man descended into his cellar and looked at the casks
+which contained the necessary sum, his heart beat, his limbs trembled.
+These casks contained the treasure he had garnered up; his solid
+capital. It was foolish, he knew, still he could not help tears coming
+to his eyes as he chose seven casks from the twenty which should be
+the first to go. He wept as he spoke to these children of his heart.</p>
+
+<p>"You shall have no cause to reproach me, you who remain here," he
+said; "those that are now leaving you shall soon return. They are
+going on a safe journey, not on a wild, venturous sea, where there
+would be danger of shipwreck, but on a safe railroad, to increase and
+multiply. Once I have the shares in my hand, they shall not stay a
+night in my possession. I shall sell them at once, and get back my
+silver. The profits, too, I shall change into silver. Instead of seven
+casks I shall return with nine."</p>
+
+<p>In this way did the old Greek miser comfort himself for the temporary
+loss of his silver pieces. He counted them that night when the day's
+work was done, and then set about arranging the transport of his
+treasure to Vienna.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>The day before Csanta had decided upon this step the "bears" had begun
+to explode their mine. It was, however, only a trial; they wanted
+merely to show their teeth. Specie was in demand; if silver goes up,
+paper securities fall. The seven casks from Csanta's cellar arrived
+opportunely. Two wagons laden with leaden casks, and guarded by
+gendarmes with drawn sabres as they went slowly through the streets,
+attracted the attention of passers-by. When it came to be known that
+these casks were full of silver, and that all this silver was to be
+paid as the first instalment of some Bondavara shares, there was
+considerable excitement. Peru and Brazil were opening their
+floodgates. The firm of Kaulmann very naturally made as much as
+possible of the event, as being a feather in their commercial cap. The
+delivery arrived, as it happened, during the absence of the chief
+cashier, which involved an immense amount of running hither and
+thither in search of him, as it was necessary Csanta should receive
+his receipt. In the afternoon the shares were handed over and the
+silver was counted. All this made much stir and business in the
+Kaulmann Bank. Kaulmann intrusted the conduct of the affair to his
+most capable clerk. He instructed him how to act in regard to the
+matter, and added that if the old Greek gave him a gratuity, he was to
+kiss his hand, and to place himself altogether at his service. This
+man's name was Spitzhase.</p>
+
+<p>Later in the day Spitzhase brought Csanta his account, regularly drawn
+up, together with the shares, and begged to inform his excellency
+"that he had brought seven hundred gulden more than was necessary, for
+the reason that since yesterday silver had risen one per cent."</p>
+
+<p>"H'm!" thought Csanta, "this is an honest fellow; I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> shall give him a
+gratuity." And he gave him a bank-note of twenty gulden.</p>
+
+<p>Spitzhase overpowered him with thanks; then took his hand, and kissed
+it.</p>
+
+<p>"H'm!" thought Csanta, "I have given him too much; perhaps five gulden
+would have been sufficient." Aloud, he said:</p>
+
+<p>"I made a mistake. Give me that note back; I will give you another."
+And he gave him a bank-note of the value of five gulden.</p>
+
+<p>Spitzhase thanked him warmly, and kissed his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"H'm! this is really a good fellow&mdash;quite after my heart. Give me back
+those five gulden; here is another note. I made a mistake." And he
+handed him a note of fifty gulden.</p>
+
+<p>Spitzhase kissed both his hands, and showered blessings upon him.
+Csanta was now convinced that he had made this man his friend for
+life.</p>
+
+<p>"If I had brought the silver to-morrow, I should have got more," he
+said, reflectively.</p>
+
+<p>"No, you may believe me, to-day was the right moment; to-morrow silver
+will fall two per cent."</p>
+
+<p>"How do you know?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I am acquainted with the weather on the stock-exchange."</p>
+
+<p>"You are? Then why don't you speculate if you know so well the ins and
+outs?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because one must have money, and I have none. I can only dabble in
+trifling matters."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you well known on 'change?"</p>
+
+<p>"I spend all my time there, except when I am asleep."</p>
+
+<p>"Then take me to the stock-exchange. I should like to look about me."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>Csanta meant, as soon as he could find a suitable purchaser, to sell
+his Bondavara shares.</p>
+
+<p>"One can go in the evening?" he asked, as they went along.</p>
+
+<p>"That is the most lively time, particularly on a day like this."</p>
+
+<p>Csanta was now introduced into the Temple of Mammon. Even outside the
+door he could hear a strange noise and tumult of voices, and as he
+stepped inside his head almost reeled at the strange spectacle. The
+large hall was stuffed full of men, who circulated in a narrow circle.
+Each one spoke, or rather shrieked, as if all were quarrelling. They
+gesticulated with their hands, holding up pieces of paper in the air,
+making signs and figures on their fingers, and screaming out names and
+making offers until the noise was deafening.</p>
+
+<p>Spitzhase, who was perfectly at home, led Csanta through the throng.
+The old merchant was indignant at the manner in which he was pushed
+and driven about, no one even begging pardon for his rudeness. He
+would have liked to know what was meant by the words so constantly
+repeated, "I give!" "I take!" His attention, however, was at once
+riveted by another word which seemed to be in every man's mouth, and
+which gradually became plainer: "Puntafar! Puntafar!" It dawned upon
+him that it must be Bondavar. He stopped and timidly asked one of
+those who were shrieking, "Who wants 'Puntafar'? What is the price at
+which the Bondavara shares are selling?"</p>
+
+<p>"Thirty over par."</p>
+
+<p>Csanta's eyes blazed. "It is impossible; it cannot be!" he said.
+"Yesterday they were at twenty."</p>
+
+<p>"That was yesterday. To-day they are thirty. If you want to buy to
+morrow you will have to pay thirty-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>five. The whole world is buying
+the scrip. A rich nabob from India has brought all his silver here,
+and bought Puntafar shares. The Dey of Morocco and a Russian prince,
+who both own silver mines, have each ordered ten thousand shares. Even
+the little folk, who have only a few hundreds, are tearing the shares
+out of one another's hands; they won't have anything but Puntafar.
+What will you take?"</p>
+
+<p>Csanta had very little idea that he united in his own person the East
+Indian nabob, the Dey of Morocco, and the Russian prince, as likewise
+that it was he who had caused this uproar. Far from such an idea
+crossing his mind, he believed that this man was making game of him.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, sir," he said, "thirty gulden exchange is too much. I can give
+you a thousand Bondavara shares at five-and-twenty."</p>
+
+<p>These words caused such a tumult as hardly ever had been heard on
+'change. Every one crowded round Csanta; he was set upon from all
+sides&mdash;behind, before, at his side, on his back&mdash;he was fairly mobbed.
+People fought with one another over his head, and flourished their
+fists in his face.</p>
+
+<p>"Who is he? Who is he? A bear, a conspirator, a thief, an agent! Out
+with him! Bonnet him! Pitch him out! Twenty-five, will he take? Give
+him twenty-five blows on his back and tear his coat in pieces!"</p>
+
+<p>Spitzhase could hardly manage to get him out. He was in a deplorable
+condition when he issued forth, his hat smashed, his clothes all awry,
+his face pale, his breath short. Once in the open air his rescuer
+began to scold him.</p>
+
+<p>"What the devil did you do that for? Just at the moment when the cabal
+was silenced and trampled in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> the dust, to come forward as one of them
+to run down your own shares!"</p>
+
+<p>"I did not want to run them down; I only wanted to ascertain if it was
+really the case that such an advance on the price could be realized."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, that's the way with you," returned Spitzhase, in an aggrieved
+tone. "Well, I can tell you the exchange is not a good place to try
+jokes in. It was all quite authentic. The Bondavara scrip is as sound
+as ready-money. To-day it is thirty for scrip, eight-and-twenty for
+gold; to-morrow it will be thirty-two, and so on&mdash;always getting
+higher. If I had the money I would put in my last farthing. I know
+what I know, and I have studied the weather on 'change, but what I
+have learned from Kaulmann I cannot tell; my lips are sealed."</p>
+
+<p>Upon this Csanta pressed the clerk very hard. "You can tell me," he
+said; "I am already in the boat. What have you heard?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Spitzhase, lowering his voice and looking round
+cautiously, "what you say is true; you are a large holder of stock, so
+perhaps I may give you this hint. <i>Puntafar has not reached its
+highest point yet.</i> Oho! they are very tricky who hold over. I am in
+the secret, and there is a plan, the details of which I durst not
+reveal, which will give such an impulse as will drive the shares still
+higher. In six months one impulse will be given, in another six months
+another. Oh, the world will open its eyes and its ears; but what I say
+to you, you will see! In a year's time Puntafar will be at one hundred
+over par."</p>
+
+<p>"A hundred!" repeated Csanta, falling back against the wall in his
+astonishment. But he soon recovered himself. He was angry with
+Spitzhase for treating him as if he were a fool.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>"I tell you what you are," he said; "you are a great boaster. Leave
+me; I shall get home by myself." And he dismissed Spitzhase angrily.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning his first word was to ask the waiter for the papers.
+His eyes eagerly sought the exchange column, and there, just as
+Spitzhase had prophesied, silver currency had dropped two per cent.
+Bondavara stood at thirty to thirty-two florins, and what is written
+is gospel truth.</p>
+
+<p>"Not one shall I sell!" cried Csanta, clapping his hands.</p>
+
+<p>And then he got up and dressed himself. Here was a stroke of luck. It
+was like a fairy-tale; a man had only to leave the window open at
+night and next morning his pockets are full of gold.</p>
+
+<p>He was swallowing his breakfast when Spitzhase was ushered in, his
+face beaming with triumph.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, what did I tell you?" he cried, as he laid down the paper before
+Csanta, pointing with his finger to the exchange column.</p>
+
+<p>The old Greek said not a word of having read the good news; he nodded
+his head as he answered, with great composure:</p>
+
+<p>"Is it really true? Well, that is satisfactory."</p>
+
+<p>"I rather think so; by the evening they will be up to thirty-two. Oh,
+if I had only some money!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, here is another note for you. Go and buy yourself a share.
+There, don't kiss my hand. I cannot allow it." But he did allow it.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't sell the share," he went on; "keep it for yourself. When the
+next instalment comes due I will pay it for you. For God's sake, don't
+kiss my hand again! I will do more than that for you. If you kiss my
+hand every time I shall have no hands left. Re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>member that I shall
+expect you to show your gratitude in a more tangible manner. You must
+let me know the first thing if the head of your bank is going to try
+any tricks with the bonds. You will be sure to give me the first news
+as to when I should sell. Do you understand me? Good! Now that you
+have a share yourself you have an interest in the matter, and if we
+sell our shares are we not entitled to a commission?"</p>
+
+<p>Spitzhase kissed every finger of the old man's hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I implore one thing of you, master," he said; "don't betray me to
+Kaulmann. If he found out that I betrayed his secrets to any one he
+would dismiss me on the spot."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be afraid. You have to do with an honorable gentleman,"
+returned the Greek, with an air of dignity.</p>
+
+<p>The honorable gentleman believed that he had won over the honest clerk
+to betray the secrets of the honorable banker, his employer. It was an
+honorable game all round. We shall see which of the honorable
+gentlemen played it best.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a>CHAPTER XX<br />
+<span class="smalltext">NO, EVELINE!</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>It was high time Ivan returned to his coal-mine; he was needed there.
+While he was fighting duels in Pesth, strange things were happening in
+Bondathal. Not far from his workmen's colony there arose enormous
+buildings with almost miraculous quickness. As often happens when no
+difficulty is made as to price, the only question asked is, how soon
+shall the work be finished? The shares had not yet been issued, and
+the company had already spent in the interest of the undertaking a
+million of money. Everything was pressed forward at fever-heat. Here
+was a new invention for making tiles by machinery, there a
+donkey-engine supplied the materials for building the walls. The
+earthworks were in a most advanced condition, the chimneys smoked, the
+roofs were covered, a whole street was already built, a new town was
+rising as if by magic.</p>
+
+<p>Of all this activity Ivan had been kept in ignorance by his assistant,
+Raun&eacute;, who had, likewise, been silent as to another disturbing element
+which had made its appearance for the first time among the workmen,
+and which disputed the palm with "choke-damp" and "foul air," and was
+quite as fatal as either. This new element was "a strike." A portion
+of Ivan's workmen struck for higher wages, otherwise they would join
+the new coal-mine, which was called "The Gentleman's Colony." It<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>
+offered nearly double the wages, certainly more than the half again,
+of what Ivan paid. This happened after Raun&eacute; had explained to the men
+that he had accepted the office of director, which had been offered to
+him by the new company, and he naturally wished to take with him the
+best and cleverest among Ivan's men, so that they, too, might profit
+by the higher wages. Who could resist such advantageous offers? Miners
+are like all other men; they have their price.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan now gnawed the bitter bread of self-reproach. He saw the folly he
+had committed in taking into his service and admitting into the
+secrets of the business the paid director of a company created to
+bring about his own ruin.</p>
+
+<p>A scientific man is not a good business man. While he was making
+investigations as to the probability of animal life existing in the
+antediluvian strata of coal-mines, he was blind to the danger of a
+rival company close to his own factory. Nay, more; he had allowed
+himself to be hoodwinked by an inferior intelligence, and had fallen
+into the trap set for him by his old friend Felix. Ivan was
+philosopher enough to accommodate himself to circumstances. There was
+little use, he told himself, in crying over spilt milk; he had broad
+shoulders, and they should, if it were possible, push the wheel of
+fortune. But though he said this, he had little hope of succeeding.</p>
+
+<p>On his return, and when he got, as he thought, to the bottom of the
+evil, he called his workmen together.</p>
+
+<p>"Comrades," he said, "a great undertaking has risen up beside us; the
+company of the new coal-mines offers you wages which I give you my
+word of honor it is impossible to pay without considerable loss to
+themselves. Up to the present I have worked my mines with a cer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>tain
+amount of profit; I offer you to-day, in addition to your usual wages,
+a share out of this profit. For the future we shall divide with one
+another what we earn. At the end of the year I shall lay my accounts
+before you; one of your number, chosen by yourselves, shall examine
+and audit them, and according to the wages of each man and the work he
+has done he shall receive his share. If you agree to this fair offer I
+shall continue the work. If, however, you think it better for your
+interests to take the higher wages offered by the company, I shall not
+enter into competition with men who have millions to spend; it would
+be a folly on my part. I shall, therefore, sell them my mine, and you
+may then be certain of one thing, that when they have both mines in
+their own hands, and find that no rivalry is possible, the rate of
+wages will be lowered. To those who stand by me I offer a contract
+<i>for life</i>; the profits of this mine, so long as I live, shall be
+divided between myself and my workmen."</p>
+
+<p>This was an excellent stroke, especially as the company could not
+imitate it. More than half the men closed with Ivan's offer, and
+undertook to remain with him. A great number, however, influenced by
+paid agents, who were sent about to stir them up, went over to the
+"Gentleman's Colony."</p>
+
+<p>Those who remained had a great deal to suffer from the ones who left.
+Not a Sunday passed without fights taking place between the two
+parties.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan soon heard that his powerful rival had found a way of checkmating
+him. His customers, to whom he sent large consignments not only of
+coal but also of copper and iron bars, wrote to him that the new
+Bondavara Coal Company had offered the same class of goods at fifty
+per cent. less, and that therefore, unless he was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> prepared to make a
+similar reduction, they could not deal with him. Fifty per cent.
+higher wages and fifty per cent. less profit means working for
+nothing. Raun&eacute; had Ivan's business in the hollow of his hand; he could
+ruin it, and he meant to do so. Ivan saw this quite clearly, but he
+did not lose heart. He wrote to all his former customers that it was
+not possible to give either the coal or the iron a farthing cheaper,
+not if it hung round his neck as a dead weight. The consequence was
+his coal and his iron accumulated in his warehouses; scarcely a wagon
+with his name was to be seen in the streets of Bondathal. He had to
+work the mine and the foundry for himself alone.</p>
+
+<p>For the men who had remained true to him there was, indeed, a bad
+outlook. Their former comrades jeered at them in the open street.
+"Where is the profit?" was a popular cry. Ivan tried to quiet the
+disappointed men; he asked them to wait patiently. By the end of the
+year, he prophesied, they would be on the right side. To give things
+for nothing was not trade, and if the company chose to do it he wasn't
+going to follow such a suicidal example.</p>
+
+<p>The great buildings of the new colony being now completed, the
+directors of the company announced that they would hold high festival
+in honor of the opening of the undertaking. The principals, directors,
+managers, shareholders were to come from Vienna and be entertained at
+a banquet. The largest room in the factory was fitted up as a
+dining-room, the tables being laid for workmen as well as for the
+distinguished company of strangers. It was widely circulated that the
+prince was coming. The company had chosen him as their president. Both
+the princes were patrons of commercial and industrial undertakings,
+but Prince Theo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>bald possessed an extraordinary financial talent; any
+speculation he engaged in was a sound and sure one, so it was said, as
+also that he had taken a million shares in the new company. It was so
+far true that Kaulmann had offered him this million, which was to
+increase the value of the Bondavara property, but it is needless to
+remark that the million of shares had no tangible existence. Previous
+to the inaugural ceremony a religious service was to take place, and,
+as was only fitting, this was to be conducted by the eminent Abb&eacute;
+Samuel. Before such distinguished guests it would hardly be in keeping
+to have a man such as pastor Mohak, although it was true that he
+slaved all through the year among the people.</p>
+
+<p>The guests came from the castle, where they had arrived the previous
+day. They drove into the town in splendid coaches. That of Prince
+Theobald came first, with his armorial bearings emblazoned on the
+panels. Behind two footmen with dazzling liveries of scarlet and gold.
+On the box the coachman with a powdered wig and three-cornered hat.
+The coach drew up at the church door, the footmen jumped down and
+opened the carriage door. There alighted first an old gentleman with
+white hair, a clean-shaven, soft, friendly face, and a very
+distinguished air. He gave his hand to a splendidly dressed lady in a
+velvet and lace costume, who descended from the equipage with graceful
+nonchalance. The crowd saw her violet velvet boots and embroidered
+silk stockings.</p>
+
+<p>"What a great lady!" cried the boors to one another. "She must be a
+princess, for all the gentlemen at the church door received her hat in
+hand."</p>
+
+<p>Only one man in a rough workman's coat called out: "Evila!"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span>It was Peter Saffran who had recognized her.</p>
+
+<p>The lady heard the exclamation, and turned a laughing face to the
+crowd outside.</p>
+
+<p>"No," she said; "it is <i>Eveline</i>."</p>
+
+<p>She bowed her head sweetly as she crossed the threshold of the church.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline's vanity had brought her to Bondathal; she wanted to show her
+silk stockings to her former companions, who had seen her in wooden
+shoes with no stockings, except on occasions. It was the vanity of the
+peasant girl&mdash;not pride, take notice, but mere vanity. She did not
+look down upon her friends, as some upstarts do; she wanted to do good
+to every one of them. She was ready to give them money, to earn their
+grateful thanks, particularly to those who had been kind to her in the
+old days; to those especially she wished to prove that, although she
+had risen to a high position, she had never forgotten how much she
+owed to them. She would now, in her turn, do them good. Eveline had
+looked forward to seeing her former bridegroom. Most probably he had
+long since consoled himself for her loss, and had married another. A
+present of money would make <i>him</i> happy. She had also counted on
+meeting Ivan. She had the most grateful remembrance of his goodness,
+and she was glad to think she had it in her power to prove her
+gratitude by deeds. She could not give him a present, but she could
+tell him of the dangers that threatened his property from the large
+undertaking of the company, and she promised herself to use all her
+influence to make the best terms for Ivan in case he would consent to
+arrange matters with his gigantic rival.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, it was indeed the vain desire of doing good that had brought
+Eveline to Bondathal. She had arranged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> how and where she would have
+her first meeting with Ivan.</p>
+
+<p>The notabilities and proprietors of the neighborhood had been invited
+in the name of the prince to the banquet, which was to inaugurate the
+opening of the works. No one could refuse such an invitation. It was
+true that when Eveline had proposed to the Abb&eacute; Samuel that he should
+undertake the office of intermediary, and call on his learned
+colleague Behrend, and bring him with him to the banquet, the abb&eacute; had
+exclaimed not for all the world would he venture to propose such a
+thing as that Behrend should wait upon their excellencies. And when he
+said this he knew very well what he was saying.</p>
+
+<p>To return to the church door. As Peter Saffran stood stock-still,
+gazing after the vanishing figure of his former betrothed, he felt
+some one tap him on the shoulder; turning round, he saw standing
+behind him Felix Kaulmann. Peter's face went deadly white, partly with
+fear, more from inward rage. Felix, however, laughed carelessly, with
+the indifference of a great man, to what was, in his opinion, only a
+good joke.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-day, fellow. Mind you come to the dinner," he said, as he
+followed the prince into the church.</p>
+
+<p>Peter Saffran remained gaping at the noble gentlemen as they got out
+of their carriages, and when the crowd began to move into the church
+he followed in the stream. He made his way into the darkest corner,
+before the shrine of a saint, knelt down, with both his hands laid
+upon the wall and his head upon his folded arms, and there he made a
+vow&mdash;an awful, terrible vow. Those who saw him in his kneeling
+attitude, with bent head, imagined he had been struck at last by
+grace, and was repenting of his sins. When he had finished his
+prayer,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> or his curse, he got up quickly, and, without waiting for the
+end of the splendid ceremonial, hastened out of the church, casting a
+wild look behind him as he went, for he imagined that the saint in the
+shrine was pointing her finger at him and calling out, "Take him
+prisoner! He is a murderer!"</p>
+
+<p>The church service being over, the distinguished company drove to the
+company's colony, and went over the works. They drove under triumphal
+arches which were erected in the streets, and were received by a
+deputation of workmen. The best orator made a speech, which would have
+been very eloquent only he stuck fast in the middle. The young girl
+who recited some verses was more happy in her delivery, and her
+youngest sister presented a bouquet to Eveline, who kissed the child.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! you are little Marie. Don't you know me?"</p>
+
+<p>The child, however, was too frightened at this beautiful lady to make
+her an answer.</p>
+
+<p>The guests visited the buildings under the guidance of Herr Raun&eacute;, who
+spared them nothing&mdash;the factory, the machinery, the iron-works. They
+were terribly tired of it all, and glad to get into the large rooms
+which had been temporarily arranged as the banqueting-hall. Here they
+were received by two bands playing Rakoczy's "March." To the banquet
+came a crowd of guests alike invited and uninvited&mdash;gentlemen,
+peasants, clergymen, and Bohemians. Eveline, however, looked in vain
+for her former master. Ivan was not among the guests. He had not even
+sent an excuse. What an uncouth man! and yet, perhaps, he had reason.
+If you drink beforehand to the skin of the bear, the bear has every
+right to decline being present at the feast. Peter Saffran, however,
+came; he was treated as the chief guest, and given the first place at
+the workman's table. This struck even<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> his obtuse senses. Looking
+round he saw he was the only representative of the Bondathal mine.</p>
+
+<p>The banquet lasted far on into the evening. Gentlemen and workmen were
+exceedingly merry. Towards the close of the feast Felix sent for
+Peter. He presented him to the prince.</p>
+
+<p>"Here is the brave miner of whom I have told your excellency."</p>
+
+<p>Saffran felt the blood rush to his face.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, my good friend," continued Felix, "how has the world treated
+you since I last saw you? Are you still afraid of 'the doctor'?
+There's a plaster for you; it will heal any remains of your former
+injuries." So saying, he took out of his pocket-book a note for a
+hundred gulden and put it into Peter's hand. "No," he added, "don't
+thank me, but thank the kind lady there, who remembered you."</p>
+
+<p>He pointed to Eveline, and Peter kissed her hand, or, rather, her
+beautiful mauve glove.</p>
+
+<p>What a transformation in the man-eater! He had grown obedient and
+gentle.</p>
+
+<p>"That good lady," continued Felix, "wishes you well. At her request
+his excellency, Prince Theobald, has given you the post of overseer in
+the new company's colony, at the yearly salary of a thousand gulden.
+What do you say to that?"</p>
+
+<p>What could he say? He kissed the hand of his excellency.</p>
+
+<p>Kaulmann filled a large goblet to the brim with foaming champagne and
+handed it to Peter.</p>
+
+<p>"Toss that off," he said. "But first drink to the long life of his
+excellency, our generous prince."</p>
+
+<p>"And to the health of this dear lady," added the prince, gallantly, at
+which the trumpets sounded shrilly,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> and Peter Saffran, the prince,
+the banker, and Eveline drank to one another.</p>
+
+<p>This scene delighted the working-men. Here was no pride, the gentlemen
+clinking glasses with the common miner. This was the right spirit.</p>
+
+<p>Peter Saffran, meantime, was wondering within himself which of the two
+gentlemen was Eveline's husband, and in what relation did the other
+stand to her? He emptied his glass and put it down again, but it did
+not occur to him to put the question to either of the three, therefore
+it remained unanswered.</p>
+
+<p>The festival closed with a splendid display of fireworks. The sparks
+from the Catherine wheels fell in a shower of molten gold into Ivan's
+mine.</p>
+
+<p>The following morning Saffran came to Behrend and informed him that he
+had taken service with the company.</p>
+
+<p>"You also?" said Ivan, bitterly. "Well, go!"</p>
+
+<p>Peter was paler than ever. He had expected reproaches for his
+treachery, but as none came he suddenly burst out with what had been
+for some time in his mind.</p>
+
+<p>"Why did you <i>that time</i> call your friend a doctor?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because he is one. He is a doctor of law."</p>
+
+<p>Saffran raised his finger in a threatening manner. "Nevertheless, it
+was very wrong of you to call him <i>that time</i> a doctor." And then he
+turned on his heel and went his way.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan's strength of mind was more and more put to the proof. Each day
+brought fresh defections. His best men left him to go over to his
+enemy, who, like some horrid monster, raised large furnaces which
+crushed the very life out of his smaller chimneys. His business
+friends fell away from him. They looked upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> him as an obstinate
+fool, carrying on such an unequal fight; but the darker the outlook
+the stronger grew his determination to see the affair to the bitter
+end. He would not leave his old home, his own little territory; he
+would carry on the unequal, perhaps the fruitless, task of opposing
+his apparently triumphant adversary.</p>
+
+<p>In the depth of his misfortune one true, reliable friend remained to
+him, and saved him from utter despair. This friend was the
+multiplication-table. Before he began to calculate he put these
+questions to himself, as if he were some one else:</p>
+
+<p>"Is this colony a company of commercial men? No, a company of
+speculators. A joint-stock company? No, it is a game of chance. Is it
+a factory? No, a tower of Babel." Then he went on to consider this
+point. "Two and two make four, and, turn it how you like, it makes
+nothing <i>but</i> four; and if all the kings and emperors in Europe, with
+decrees and ukases, were to tell their individual subjects that two
+and two make five, and if the pope fulminated a bull to enjoin on all
+true believers that two and two make five, and if even the best
+financial authority was to declare that we should count two and two as
+five, all these&mdash;kings, emperors, popes, and accountants&mdash;would not
+alter the fact that two and two make four. These generous shareholders
+of the Bondavara Company are working against a well-known fact. The
+new company builds, creates, invents, contracts, buys, and sells
+without taking any heed of the primary rule of arithmetic; therefore
+it is clear that the company is not working for the future, but merely
+for present gain. Therefore, I will live down this swindle."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>At the end of the year the company gave their shareholders a surprise.
+The Bondavara shares began to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> fluctuate between thirty-five and forty
+florins exchange, although the date of the payment of second
+instalments of capital was at hand. At such times all the early bonds
+are handed in. Csanta thought this would be a good time for him to
+bring in his shares and to get his silver back. He was contemplating a
+visit to the bank when he received a private note from Spitzhase,
+putting him on his guard not to fall into such a mistake as to sell.
+"This very day the board of directors had met, and a resolution had
+been carried unanimously that at the next general meeting the
+shareholders should be surprised by getting a bonus of twenty per
+cent., upon which the shares would at once rise higher. This was a
+profound secret, but he could not allow his good friend to remain in
+ignorance."</p>
+
+<p>And at the next general meeting the commercial world heard the same
+story. The first two months of the Bondavara Coal Company had been
+such a signal success that, besides the usual rate of interest, the
+directors were enabled to offer upon each share a bonus of six
+florins, which amounted (with the usual rate) to thirty-five per
+cent., an unheard-of profit in two months.</p>
+
+<p>When Ivan read this in the newspaper he burst into a loud laugh. He
+knew, no one better, what amount of profit the factory had made, but
+it is easy to manipulate accounts so that the ledger presents these
+remarkable results. What do the unbusiness-like, credulous
+shareholders understand of such matters? The board of directors know
+very well how matters really stand; but they have their own ends to
+serve. The outside world may bleed; what is that to them? There is no
+court-martial in the stock-exchange, and no justice for the injured.</p>
+
+<p>Csanta did not sell his shares. He paid his second<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> instalment in
+silver pieces, rejoiced over the bonus, and blessed Spitzhase for
+preventing him from selling his bonds at thirty-five. They had now
+risen to forty florins, and continued to rise.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan watched this diabolical swindle with calmness. He said to
+himself:</p>
+
+<p>"How long will the game last?"</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI<br />
+<span class="smalltext">RESPECT FOR HALINA CLOTH</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>It was a singular coincidence that in the same moment that Ivan said
+to himself, "How long will this game last?" Prince Waldemar, meeting
+Felix Kaulmann, beaming with triumph, at the exchange, put to him the
+question, "How long, do you think, will this comedy last?"</p>
+
+<p>"The third act is still wanting," replied the banker.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, the third instalment. Then I shall hoist you on your own
+petard."</p>
+
+<p>"We will see about that."</p>
+
+<p>The bears could not imagine what Kaulmann had in his head. That he had
+a plan was certain; what it was no one knew but the Abb&eacute; Samuel and
+Prince Theobald.</p>
+
+<p>The third act was not the instalment; it was the Bondavara Railway.
+This question bristled with difficulties. The government was irritated
+against Hungary, and in their irritation would not listen to any
+proposals as to railways and the like. Even the country party was
+sulky. Let the country go to the devil; what did they care? And no
+doubt they had justification for their righteous indignation. Every
+Hungarian who wore "broadcloth" was against them. The body of
+officials, the middle class, the intelligence of the country,
+preferred to lay down place and to give up government patronage sooner
+than submit to the chimeras which the cabinet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> at Vienna indulged in
+by way of government. Good! So far as officials went, men were easily
+got to fill the places the others had resigned, for when a good table
+is spread, needless to say, guests are not hard to find. The hired
+troop pocketed their salary, took the oath, stuffed their pockets, but
+did nothing to promote the government measures. Between the men who
+had resigned and the newly appointed officials there was only this
+difference: that one set openly declared they would do nothing; the
+others pretended to do something, but found it impossible to
+accomplish anything. They tried to shove, but the cart would not move
+an inch. From those who wore cloth among the middle classes the
+government had to expect nothing, that was evident. Formerly those who
+wore silk and satin acted as a sort of counterpoise&mdash;the high and
+mighty, and the magnates, the lawyers, and the priests&mdash;but now all
+these held aloof. The primate remonstrated, the bishops advised the
+nobility, the higher classes collected in Pesth and talked treason.</p>
+
+<p><i>Flectere si nequeo superos</i>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>Let us turn now to the Halina cloth. Halina cloth is, as every one
+knows, the commonest description of cloth, only worn by the poorer
+classes. This cloth was suddenly adopted in the capital of the
+Austrian empire. This was no capricious freak of fashion set in motion
+by some high lady who "imagined" her elegance could give dignity to
+the roughest material; this was another affair altogether, inaugurated
+by the legislative body of the kingdom, who were all clothed in
+Halina. Well, what has any one to say against this? Why not? Are we
+not democrats? It is true that these right-minded men hardly
+understood a word of the language in which the legislative debates
+were carried on, but this had the in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>estimable advantage that they
+could make no long speeches, and therefore could in no way impede the
+course of business. Neither did they possess any knowledge of the laws
+of nations, the rights of citizens, the complicated details of
+finance, nor the construction of budgets; and this pastoral innocence
+entitled them to universal respect and confidence, for it placed them
+above suspicion. No one could suspect these honorable deputies of
+siding with the government because they held government appointments.</p>
+
+<p>We repeat that the introducer of Halina cloth to be worn by the
+legislative assembly was a man of talent. But in Hungary, also, the
+fashion should be adopted. Were there not one hundred and eight seats
+in the legislative assembly ready for so many excellent men? These
+should not be left vacant. To fill these seats, however, there was one
+lever necessary, and that was the influence of the clerical party.</p>
+
+<p>The clergy in Hungary were such poor creatures, so ignorant and
+uneducated, that they actually preferred to remain faithful to the
+traditions of Rakoczy than to adopt the new-fangled ideas promulgated
+at Vienna. Even such an insignificant pastor as Herr Mahok returned
+the decree which had been sent to him from headquarters, with
+directions to read it on Sundays to his flock, saying that it was a
+mistake; he was not the village crier. If the government wished to
+issue a protocol, let it be done in the market-place, by order of the
+judge of the district, and accompanied by the drum and trumpet. The
+pulpit was not the place for government protocols. The like refusal
+came from every pastor in Hungary, and in face of this flat rebellion
+the ministers resolved that the power of the clerical party should be
+broken.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>"Now is the time to act," said Felix Kaulmann to the Abb&eacute; Samuel.</p>
+
+<p>The primate had been in Vienna; he had been refused an audience; he
+had fallen into disgrace. The Bishop of Siebenburg had been elevated
+to the primate's seat, and given all its honors and dignities. The
+clerical party in Hungary was doomed. Against it the sword was drawn;
+the moment was approaching when it would be cut in two.</p>
+
+<p>The Bondavara Railway was the <i>gradus ad Parnassum</i>. If it succeeded,
+if it was worked properly, the house of Kaulmann would rank with that
+of the Pereires and Strousbergs; then, also, the pontifical loan upon
+the Church property in Hungary could be effected. All this with one
+blow! Rank in the world, power in the country, influence in the
+empire, success in the money-market, and the triumph of the Church.</p>
+
+<p>The Abb&eacute; Samuel had begun his ambitious career. The first task was to
+introduce the hundred and eight Hungarian wearers of Halina cloth into
+the legislative body, and thus to secure the Bondavara Railway, the
+title of bishop, and a seat in the House of Peers. These three things
+lay in the hollow of his hand, for he had three strings ready to pull,
+which would set in motion the statesman, the financier, and the
+influence of woman.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>On one Saturday Ivan, to his surprise, received a visit from Raun&eacute;,
+who, in a few words, stated the matter which had brought him. The
+proprietors and inhabitants of the different parts of Bondathal wished
+to send a deputation to Vienna, to lay before the government and
+Parliament their request that the means of communication between their
+mountainous territory and the other parts of the empire should be put
+on a better foot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span>ing. This matter interested Ivan equally with the
+rest, and therefore it would be desirable that he and his workmen
+should attend the mass-meeting which would be held on the next day.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan at once refused all co-operation. "We live," he said, "under
+exceptional laws, which forbid political meetings. This mass-meeting
+has a political object, and therefore I refuse to disobey the law."</p>
+
+<p>In spite of this protest the assembly took place next day, and the
+Abb&eacute; Samuel made a brilliant speech. His dignified appearance imposed
+respect, his proposal was intelligible and for the general good; its
+usefulness could not be gainsaid. To insure its popularity the astute
+abb&eacute; took care not to introduce into his speech the hated word
+"Reichstag." The resolution was carried unanimously that a deputation
+of twelve men should be chosen to proceed at once to Vienna, and there
+present the wishes of the people. The twelve delegates were then
+chosen by the abb&eacute;, and his choice was received with loud shouts of
+approbation. The Bondavara shareholders came forward with unexampled
+generosity, and presented each member of the deputation not only the
+price of the journey, but a cloak made of Halina cloth, a hat, and a
+pair of boots. Twelve new suits! That was worth going to Vienna for.
+Still, it went against the grain. A peasant is suspicious; they don't
+care to crack nuts with gentlemen; they mistrust presents that most
+probably will be dearly bought. If any man in a black coat had made
+the proposal it would have encountered vigorous opposition, but a
+priest, a distinguished priest, his advice can safely be followed;
+there is nothing to be afraid of when he is at the head of the
+deputation. All will go well, even although they may have to undertake
+heavy responsibilities which may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> some day involve loss. But what
+loss? Ah! time will tell. Once on a time twelve men went to Vienna,
+and sold the rights of their fellow-countrymen to the devil. God knows
+what might happen, only that the priest is with them; there is the
+plank of safety.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, the twelve men had to swear, man to man, before they put
+on the new suits, upon their souls, that they would deny that they
+could write. They were to sign nothing, and if they were asked if such
+a one in Bondathal had houses and fields, and, above all, sons, they
+were not to give any answer.</p>
+
+<p>The deputation started in a couple of days after the meeting, under
+the guidance of the abb&eacute;. Peter Saffran went also. He had been named
+one of the twelve, for he was specially wanted in Vienna.</p>
+
+<p>A day or so later Ivan was cited before the military officer
+commanding the district; he was accused of having acted against the
+law by causing the "Reichstag" to be lowered in the eyes of the
+people, of having kept the people, especially his own workmen, from
+taking part in legal demonstrations, of having insulted members of the
+legislature, and of having allied himself with secret societies. He
+was cautioned to avoid anything of the sort in future. The next time
+things would be more serious; he was at liberty to go this time
+unpunished.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan knew perfectly well from what quarter this denunciation had come.
+To destroy his business utterly it would be necessary to place its
+owner for a year in confinement; his innocence would then be
+established, and he would be allowed to go scot-free. In the meantime
+his property would be ruined. It was lucky for Ivan that on this
+occasion the jailer's wife was ill. It would have been necessary to
+remove her from the rooms<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> which were set apart for prisoners under
+suspicion, and so Ivan was allowed to go his way.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Ah, it was a great day when the twelve men from Bondathal, in the
+twelve new suits of Halina cloth, arrived in the metropolis. Here they
+are! Here are the Hungarians, the indomitable sons of the soil. A
+deputation to the Reichsrath, an acknowledgment of the February
+patent, the first pioneers! They deserve three times three.</p>
+
+<p>All the newspapers hastened to congratulate them; the leading articles
+of all political shades were full of this new and remarkable
+demonstration.</p>
+
+<p>The minister gave the deputation a private audience, where the abb&eacute;
+set forth their demand in a well-expressed speech, laying great stress
+upon the fact that it was the people themselves who wished to free
+their country from its present condition, having learned to
+distinguish their real benefactors from those false prophets who
+wished to condemn them to a baneful and ruinous inactivity. The abb&eacute;
+dwelt expressly upon the great intelligence of the men who formed the
+deputation. In return his excellency the minister pressed the hand of
+the abb&eacute;, and assured him that the bishopric would soon be vacant, and
+that it would be his care to see that a loyal prelate should fill the
+seat. His excellency then entered into conversation with the members
+of the deputation, and as none of them understood a word of his
+language, they were much pleased with what he said. His excellency,
+having been told by the abb&eacute; that Peter Saffran was the most
+distinguished of the party, took especial notice of him. He pressed
+his hand, while he expressed a hope that the members of the deputation
+would attend the morning sitting;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> places would be reserved in the
+gallery&mdash;for the present in <i>the gallery</i>.</p>
+
+<p>Peter promised for his fellow-members. He could speak German as well
+as French; he had picked up both languages during his ship
+experiences.</p>
+
+<p>All this time the minister had said nothing as to the grant to the
+Bondathal Railway, and that was the principal thing.</p>
+
+<p>At the next sitting of the Reichsrath the front row of the gallery was
+reserved for the distinguished guests. They sat in arm-chairs, leaning
+their elbows on the cushions, and letting their round hats hang over
+the rails.</p>
+
+<p>His excellency the minister gave a discourse which lasted over an
+hour. The opposition maintained that during his speech his excellency
+had glanced fifty-two times at the gallery, to see the effect he was
+producing upon the Hungarians. One fell asleep, and let his hat fall
+into the hall. The hat fell upon one of the deputies, and awoke him
+from a sweet doze.</p>
+
+<p>For three days this trivial circumstance gave food to the government
+papers; then it became the absolute property of the accredited wit or
+fun journals, which put into the mouths of the Hungarians all manner
+of things which they had never said. Never mind; those excellent men
+couldn't read German, so it didn't matter. They stuck fast to their
+arm-chairs in the gallery as long as the sitting lasted; they were
+more comfortable than their beds.</p>
+
+<p>The last evening of their stay they were taken to the theatre. Not to
+the Burg Theatre&mdash;that would not do for them&mdash;but to the Treumann
+Theatre, where a piece was playing suitable for them, with plenty of
+fun, singing, dancing, laughing; and the great joke of all was that
+the principal part was to be played by the beautiful<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> Eveline, Frau
+von Kaulmann. Will Peter Saffran recognize her?</p>
+
+<p>It had not been possible to get an engagement at the Opera-house for
+Eveline, for there was an Italian season running. When it finished
+there would be a prospect of an engagement for her if she first
+learned the routine of acting at some less important theatre, and grew
+accustomed to the footlights. Therefore, she played <i>en amateur</i> on
+the boards of the Treumann Theatre. Her natural gifts and her
+extraordinary beauty caused a sensation. The <i>jeunesse dor&eacute;e</i> went mad
+over this new favorite of the hour. The piece which was played in
+honor of the peasants was one of Offenbach's frivolous operas, in
+which the ladies appear in the very scantiest of costumes. The noble
+portion of the audience enjoy these displays more than do the poorer;
+it did not, at all events, amuse the simple folk in Halina cloth. The
+ballet, with the lightly clothed nymphs, their coquettish movements,
+their seductive smiles, their bold display of limbs, and their short
+petticoats, was not to the taste of the Bondavara miners. It was true
+that the girls in the coal-pit wore no petticoats to speak of, but
+then they were working. Who thought anything of that? Chivalry belongs
+to the peasant as much as to the gentleman; the former indeed practise
+the motto, "Honi soit qui mal y pense" more than do their
+better-educated superiors. But now as Eveline entered they felt
+ashamed. She came on as a fairy or goddess, concealed in gold-colored
+clouds; the clouds were, however, transparent. Peter glowed with rage
+to think all the world could penetrate this slight transparency; he
+burned with jealous fury as Eveline smiled, coquetted, cast glances
+here, there, and was stared at through a hundred opera-glasses. Peter
+forgot that this was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> only a stage, and that the fairies who played
+their parts upon it for an hour or so were many of them most virtuous
+women, excellent wives and daughters; for what happens on the stage is
+only play, not actuality. The former bridegroom did not reason in this
+wise. You see, he was an uneducated peasant in coarse Halina cloth,
+and his ignorant mind was filled with horror, disgust, rage. That she
+should allow herself to be kissed, to be made love to&mdash;shame! No, my
+good Peter, it was no shame, but a great honor. Out of the boxes
+bouquets and wreaths fell on the stage; there was hardly a place where
+she could put her feet; it was all flowers. The house resounded with
+applause. This was not shame, but honor&mdash;certainly not of the same
+kind that would be offered to a saint or a good woman; it was more the
+worship offered to an idol, and most women like to be worshipped as
+idols.</p>
+
+<p>Peter told himself all the sex are alike, and comforted himself with
+the thought that not one of his companions would recognize Eveline.
+But Peter took a sore heart back to his inn.</p>
+
+<p>In the hall he met the abb&eacute;, and asked him, "When are we going back?"</p>
+
+<p>"Are you weary of Vienna, Peter?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am."</p>
+
+<p>"Have a little patience. To-morrow we must pay a visit to a charming
+lady."</p>
+
+<p>"What have we to do with charming ladies?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't ask the why or the wherefore. If we want to attain our end we
+must leave no means untried. We must beg this lady to interest herself
+for us. One word from her to his excellency the minister will do more
+than if we said a whole litany."</p>
+
+<p>"Very good; then we had better see her."</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">TWO SUPPLIANTS</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>The next day, at eleven o'clock, Abb&eacute; Samuel came to fetch his
+followers, and conduct them to the house of the influential lady whose
+one word had more weight with his excellency than the most carefully
+arranged speeches of priests and orators.</p>
+
+<p>The carriage stopped before a splendid palace; a porter in a
+magnificent scarlet livery, with a bear-skin cap, answered the bell,
+and between a double row of marble pillars they ascended the steps.
+The staircase was also of marble, covered with a soft, thick carpet.
+The school-master at home, if he had a bit of this stuff, would have
+made a fine coat of it. Up the staircase were such beautiful statues
+that the poor peasants would have liked to kneel to kiss their hands.
+The staircase was roofed in with glass and heated with hot air, so
+that the lovely hot-house plants and costly china groups suffered no
+injury from the cold air. In the anteroom servants wearing silver
+epaulettes conducted the visitors into the drawing-room. The sight
+almost took away their breath. There was no wall to be seen; it was
+panelled in the most sumptuous silk brocade; the curtains of the same
+texture had gold rods, and splendid pictures in rich frames hung on
+the silk panels. The upper portion of the windows was of stained
+glass, such as is seen in cathedrals, and opposite the windows was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> a
+large fireplace of white marble, upon whose mantelpiece stood a
+wonderful clock, with a beautiful figure which moved in time to the
+melodious tick. The furniture was all of mahogany. From the ceiling,
+upon which the arabesques in gold were a feast to the eye, there hung
+a lustre with a hundred lights, whose thousand glass drops sent out
+all the prismatic colors of the rainbow.</p>
+
+<p>The good peasants of Bondathal had hardly time to take in the wonders
+of this fairy palace when a gentleman in a black coat and a spotless
+white tie came out of an adjoining room. This grand personage, whom
+they imagined to be the master of the house, turned out to be an
+equally important person&mdash;the groom of the chambers. He informed them
+that his mistress was in the next room, and ready to receive them.</p>
+
+<p>There was no door to this inner apartment, only curtains of heavy
+damask, such as church banners are made of. This second drawing-room
+was still more wonderful than the first. The walls were panelled in
+dove-colored silk. From the ceiling to the floor there were enormous
+mirrors set in china frames, and between each mirror were <i>consoles</i>
+with marble statuettes representing dancing nymphs. The stone floor
+was covered with a soft carpet, into which the foot sank as into
+summer grass. The fireplace was of black marble, with a silver
+grating. The furniture was of the Versailles pattern; tables and
+chairs, arm-chairs and foot-stools, of delicate coloring; chairs of
+S&egrave;vres, with feet and elbow rests ornamented with delicate
+flower-garlands and charming Watteau figures. Every piece of furniture
+was a masterpiece. Upon the centre-table and <i>consoles</i> were Japanese
+vases of different and most elegant shapes. In one of the windows an
+aquari<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span>um had been constructed full of gold-fish and sea-anemones.</p>
+
+<p>The poor peasants did not notice all these beautiful objects; their
+attention was fixed upon their own reflections in the long glasses,
+and which in their ignorance they imagined were other deputations,
+headed by another abb&eacute; wearing a gold cross. But even this strange
+spectacle was lost sight of in their amazement at the beauty of the
+great lady who now came forward to receive them. She was a lovely
+vision. Her dress of violet silk was covered with the most costly
+lace, her black hair fell in curls over her shoulders; her face was so
+beautiful, so fascinating, so dignified, that every man in the
+deputation was ready to fall at her feet.</p>
+
+<p>Peter Saffran was the only one who recognized her; it was Eveline, his
+promised bride.</p>
+
+<p>Now the abb&eacute;, bowing low, addressed her in most respectful language,
+as he laid before her the desire of the deputation, that she would
+accord her powerful protection to the Bondathal population. The lady
+answered most graciously, and promised that, as far as possible, she
+would exert her influence. She was heart and soul in the matter, for
+she added, smiling:</p>
+
+<p>"I am myself a child of Bondathal."</p>
+
+<p>At these words the deputation exchanged glances, and every one thought
+she must be the daughter or wife of one of the Bondavara magnates.
+Only Saffran was gloomy.</p>
+
+<p>"What is she?" he thought. "Only last night she was singing, dancing,
+and acting; her beauty was displayed to the eyes of a crowd, who
+looked at her through opera-glasses, while I had to cover my eyes with
+my hat so as not to look on her degradation, and here to-day she is a
+sort of queen, promising us her influence with cabinet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> ministers.
+What is the truth? Was last night a comedy, or is to-day a clever
+farce played by her and the priest?"</p>
+
+<p>You see, Peter Saffran had been in the Fiji Islands, and he remembered
+how amazed the savages had been when the white man washed the black
+from his hands, and showed their natural color; only here it was the
+whole body that was in question.</p>
+
+<p>The abb&eacute;, who seemed highly pleased with the success of his interview,
+now gave those behind him a sign to move on, and bowed respectfully to
+the lady, who whispered a few words in his ear.</p>
+
+<p>The abb&eacute; stopped Peter Saffran as he was leaving the room, and said,
+in a low voice:</p>
+
+<p>"You are to remain; this kind lady wishes to speak with you."</p>
+
+<p>Saffran felt the blood rush to his head. He almost tottered, and as he
+returned to the room he could hardly move. But Eveline hastened to
+him, holding out both her hands. She had taken off her gloves, and he
+felt the soft, velvety clasp of her fingers as she pressed his horny
+hand in hers; he heard in his ear the sweet, fresh ring of her voice,
+to which he had often listened.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, Peter, say a word to me&mdash;a kind word;" and she patted him two or
+three times on the back. "Are you still angry with me? There, Peter,
+don't be vexed any more. Stay and dine with me, and we shall drink to
+our reconciliation."</p>
+
+<p>And she put her arm into his, and stroked his cheek with her delicate
+little hand, which looked as if it had never known what hardship was.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Eveline had kept religiously to her promise of always informing Prince
+Theobald when she expected guests, and the prince reserved to himself
+the right of a veto if<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> he did not approve of their reception, for
+there were among the <i>dilettante</i>, and even among apparently most
+respectable gentlemen, certain individuals who should not have the
+<i>entr&eacute;e</i> to the drawing-room of a lady who is not living under her
+husband's roof.</p>
+
+<p>The prince liked pleasant society, and, if he approved of the company,
+enjoyed himself all the more that Eveline did the honors for him.</p>
+
+<p>On this particular day Eveline had told the prince she expected two
+visitors. One was Peter Saffran.</p>
+
+<p>The prince laughed. "Poor fellow!" he said, "treat him well; it will
+do him good." But when he heard his excellency the minister was coming
+he frowned heavily. "What is this?" he asked. "What brings <i>him</i> to
+see <i>you</i>?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why! Is he a woman-hater?"</p>
+
+<p>"On the contrary, he is a scoundrel, only he wears a hypocrite's
+cloak. Great men who are at the helm and guide public affairs have
+their weaknesses, but they dare not sin openly. A man in his position
+might as soon become a member of the Jockey Club as visit a beautiful
+actress, unless he had some ostensible reason to give for so doing."</p>
+
+<p>"But he has a reason, and a very good one. I asked him to make the
+appointment."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>You invited him here!</i>" The prince's face grew more cloudy.</p>
+
+<p>"That is to say, I asked him to give me a private audience, and his
+secretary wrote to say his excellency would prefer to come here."</p>
+
+<p>"And for what purpose do you require an audience?"</p>
+
+<p>"Felix desired me to ask for it."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, it was Kaulmann's doing! Wherefore?"</p>
+
+<p>"He wants these documents to be signed."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span>Eveline showed the prince a folded parchment.</p>
+
+<p>The prince glanced at it and shook his head. "And does his excellency
+know that this is the reason why you asked for an audience?"</p>
+
+<p>Eveline burst into a laugh. "Oh dear, no! When his secretary first
+wrote he asked why I required an audience; I answered it was about my
+engagement at the Opera, and then he said he would come. He knows
+nothing of this," she added, touching the papers in her hand.</p>
+
+<p>"And Kaulmann told you to do this?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes."</p>
+
+<p>"Then Kaulmann is a refined villain. Do as he has told you; but you
+may take my word that your husband deceives himself if he imagines you
+can snare a savage with a silken net. You can receive your guest, but
+I do not think you will succeed in your scheme."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Eveline put her hand upon Peter Saffran's, and led him into another
+room, where there was a wonderful display of silver, and thence,
+through a private door, into a fourth apartment, the walls of which
+were wainscoted with dark wood; the ceiling, too, was supported by
+cross-beams of wood, and finished with painted shell-work.</p>
+
+<p>No one was in the room. Eveline sat down on the sofa, and made Peter
+sit beside her.</p>
+
+<p>"Listen, Peter," she said, laying her hand on the rough sleeve of his
+Halina-cloth coat. "It was the will of God that I should separate from
+you. It grieved me very much to leave you, because, you know, we had
+been called in church three times. But, then, you could not bear my
+little brother; you were cruel to him, and you beat me. I don't bear
+you any malice now. I have forgotten and forgiven, but at the time I
+was very angry<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> with you, not so much because you ill-treated me, but
+I followed you that night to the cottage in the wood. I was quite
+ready to forgive and forget, only I looked through the window, and I
+saw you dancing with Ezifra Mauczi. I saw you kiss her, and I was
+angry in downright earnest."</p>
+
+<p>Peter gnashed his teeth. He felt the tables were turned against him,
+and he could say nothing. It would be very different if it were his
+wife who accused him of such things; he would know how to treat a
+jealous, scolding wife; but he couldn't take this beautiful lady by
+the hair, and drag her round the room, and beat her on the head until
+she begged for pardon.</p>
+
+<p>"But, as I said," continued Eveline, smiling again, "we are not going
+to talk about bygones. It was all God's will, and for the best. We
+would have been a most unhappy couple, for I am passionate and
+jealous, and you would have given me cause. Now you can do as you
+like, and I have the happiness of doing good. I like to help as many
+people as possible, and every day twenty poor creatures are fed in my
+house. Oh, I do more than that; I get heaps of things done for the
+poor! I speak a good word for them, and get them helped by rich
+people. Also, I mean to be a benefactress to your valley; thousands
+and thousands of people will bless my name for what I shall do for
+them. Is it not a happiness to be able to help others?"</p>
+
+<p>Eveline paused for an answer. Peter felt he ought to say something, if
+it was only to show that he had not become dumb.</p>
+
+<p>"And does all this money come from the Bondavara Company?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline blushed scarlet. How was she to answer such a question?</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span>"Not altogether. I earn a good deal by my art; for every performance I
+receive five hundred gulden."</p>
+
+<p>"Five hundred gulden!" thought Peter. "That explains a great deal. A
+good salary indeed! A woman might spare some of her clothing to earn
+so much money. It is money got by work, and not such hard work as
+carrying coals. She had to show her legs for that also. But all said
+and done, it was money honestly earned."</p>
+
+<p>Peter's face began to clear.</p>
+
+<p>"There, you look more like yourself. Don't look wicked again," pleaded
+Eveline; "and when you go back home tell every one that you have seen
+me, and that we had a great talk together, and are good friends again.
+If at any time you know of any one in want, send me a line, and, if it
+is in my power, I will gladly help them. You must marry, if you are
+not already married. No? Well, then, you must choose a good girl,
+Peter. There is Panna, she is just the wife for you, and she was
+always a friend of mine, or there is Amaza, she liked you, I know, and
+she is an excellent housekeeper; only, don't marry Mauczi; you would
+be very unhappy with her, she is a bad girl. And in case you do marry,
+Peter, here are my wedding-presents for your wife; and remember, I
+advise you to marry Panna. Here are a pair of ear-rings, a necklace,
+and a brooch; and to you I give, as a remembrance of myself, this gold
+watch. See, Peter, my likeness is on the back. Think of me sometimes
+when you are very happy."</p>
+
+<p>When she said these words Eveline's eyes overflowed, and her lips
+trembled convulsively. Peter saw it, and drew the conclusion that with
+all her splendor she was not happy. One thought now took possession of
+him. He gave no heed to the bridal presents. Whether they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> were of
+gold or lead was all one to him, no one should ever see them; but what
+he thought was:</p>
+
+<p>"She has a good heart, she is generous, she gives with an open hand;
+but I do not care for her gifts. If she will only kiss me once I will
+bless her. What is a kiss to her? An alms, one out of the numbers she
+gives to those fellows on the stage, with their smeared, painted
+faces."</p>
+
+<p>Poor fool! he didn't know that stage kisses are only mock kisses, just
+as stage champagne is only lemonade or pure water. Peter believed that
+one kiss from Eveline would satisfy his thirst; it would assuage the
+pangs of regret, of jealousy, or rage that had consumed him since the
+previous night. All would vanish when he would touch her cold, fresh
+lips. And, after all, had they not been betrothed to one another&mdash;all
+but man and wife? Who could object? Only he didn't know how to express
+what was in his mind.</p>
+
+<p>"And now let us eat together, Peter," said Eveline, kindly. "I am
+certain that you are tired of all the good things you get every day;
+you are satiated with the Vienna cookery. Wait, and I shall cook you
+something myself&mdash;your favorite dish, Peter, which you often said no
+one cooked so well as I did. I shall make you some porridge."</p>
+
+<p>Peter was electrified. A smile broke out all over his face, either at
+the mention of his favorite dish, or at the thought that his hostess
+would herself prepare it. But how is she to cook? There is no hearth,
+no cooking-vessels.</p>
+
+<p>"Everything will be here," said Eveline, laughing joyously. "I shall
+change my dress; I cannot cook in this."</p>
+
+<p>She ran off as she spoke, and returned in two minutes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> Actresses
+learn how to dress quickly. She now wore a white embroidered maid's
+frock, and a little cap on her head. She called no one to help her,
+but laid a cloth on the oak table, filled a silver kettle with water,
+set it to boil on a spirit-lamp. She turned up the sleeves of her
+dress to the elbows, and shook with a light hand the meal into the
+boiling water; then she turned the mixture deftly with a silver spoon
+round and round until it became thick. Then she took the kettle by the
+handle, emptied it on to a glazed clay plate&mdash;yes, actually a clay
+plate!&mdash;and poured some cream over the mixture. She fetched two wooden
+spoons, one for Peter, one for herself.</p>
+
+<p>"Let us eat off the one plate, Peter."</p>
+
+<p>And they ate this porridge off one plate. Peter felt a strange
+moisture fill his eyes; he had not wept since he was a child. The
+porridge was excellent; all the cooks in Vienna put together couldn't
+have given him a meal so much to his mind. There was wine on the
+table, but no glasses.</p>
+
+<p>Peasants never drink during meals; but when they had finished Eveline
+fetched a clay jug and asked Peter to drink, after, as is the custom,
+she had taken a draught.</p>
+
+<p>"Drink this, Peter; it is your old favorite."</p>
+
+<p>There was mead in the jug&mdash;a very innocent sort of drink&mdash;and Peter
+thought it was his duty to empty the last drop. The hell that had been
+raging in his breast seemed all at once to be extinguished. He said to
+himself:</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I shall go back to the church, and to the spot where I made that
+awful vow; I shall implore the Holy Mother to allow me to take it
+back. I shall hurt no one; I shall take no revenge. Let the green
+grass<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> grow again in the fields, and let her live in splendor in the
+smiles of the great ones. I shall not grudge her her happiness. This
+day, when she has received me so kindly, has banished from my memory
+the day upon which she left me. But I shall ask her for one kiss, so
+that I may remember nothing but that."</p>
+
+<p>He delayed, however, too long in putting his desire into words. They
+were, indeed, hovering on his lips when the door suddenly opened, and
+a servant announced that his excellency was in the drawing-room.</p>
+
+<p>(Now, Peter, God help you; you may go hence without your kiss!)</p>
+
+<p>Eveline could hardly say good-bye; she had to change her dress. The
+footman showed him out at the secret door; there another footman led
+him down the back stairs, and, opening another door, left Peter in a
+narrow street, where he had never been before. While he made the best
+of his way to the hotel he had leisure to think over what he should
+say to Evila if he ever again had the chance of being alone with her
+in the round room. The recollection of how he had missed his
+opportunity roused the demon again in his mind. The burning lava of
+hell began once more to fill his veins, the stream of sulphur which
+the lost souls are ever drinking. He kept repeating to himself, "The
+grass shall not grow again!"</p>
+
+<p>By the time he reached the inn he brought with him a goodly
+company&mdash;hatred, envy, rage at his own weakness, horror at his own
+wickedness, mixed with political fanaticism. A delightful gathering in
+one man's breast.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">FINANCIAL INTRIGUE</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>We can give no authentic account of the interview between his
+excellency the minister and his beautiful hostess. We were not
+present, and neither had we a phonograph.</p>
+
+<p>No doubt he complimented her upon her charming talent, and promised
+her his powerful interest, and as in this world nothing is given for
+nothing, there is every probability that his excellency, who was an
+undoubted scoundrel, hinted at the reward he would expect for using
+his powerful interest in her behalf; upon which Eveline, like a
+prudent woman, wishing to have everything in black and white, produced
+from the drawer of her writing-table the parchment which we have
+already heard of.</p>
+
+<p>His excellency took the paper, probably believing it was a petition to
+grant her an engagement. He held it in his hand while he smilingly
+assured her that the matter was as good as concluded. It is, however,
+more than probable that when he gave a hurried glance at the contents
+his face assumed its official expression; he saw it did not refer to
+an operatic engagement, but to the grant for the Bondavara Railway.
+Seeing this, it is likely that his excellency got up at once, and, hat
+in hand, explained to his lovely hostess how distressed he felt not to
+be in a position to comply with her wishes,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> as there were insuperable
+objections in the way, great opposition from the legislative body, and
+yet greater opposition in the Upper House, where Prince Sondersheim
+was working heaven and earth against the Bondavara Railway, and,
+therefore, from political and financial reasons, from the condition of
+the country and many other causes, it would be impossible, or almost
+impossible, to hold out any hope of granting the Bondavara Railway a
+guarantee from the government. That then his excellency made a
+profound bow and left the room may be considered a fact. It is
+psychologically certain that he descended the staircase with a frown
+of vexation on his face, and that he murmured between his teeth:</p>
+
+<p>"If I had known that I was going to talk to the <i>banker's wife</i> I
+should never have come here." As he got into his carriage&mdash;and this is
+historical&mdash;he banged the door with such violence that the glass
+window was shattered in pieces.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>At the very hour when this interview was taking place a
+committee-meeting was being held in Prince Theobald's palace, which
+had for its object to lay before the shareholders the necessity of
+paying the third instalment&mdash;a critical operation, this attack upon
+the pockets of the public. The Bondavara Railway now played its part.
+Felix Kaulmann announced he had every confidence that in a couple of
+weeks it would be a fact. The deputation from Bondathal had caused a
+sensation, besides which the company had the interest of a very
+influential person, who could persuade his excellency to do anything,
+even give the grant for the railroad. The finely cut, aristocratic
+face of the president did not betray by a sign that he knew who this
+person was.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span>Kaulmann never for a moment suspected that Eveline told the prince the
+names of all the visitors who came to the palace during his absence,
+and that they were admitted through the little door. He would have
+called such stupidity by an ugly name.</p>
+
+<p>While the meeting was sitting a note was brought to Kaulmann, who at
+once recognized Eveline's writing. He read the letter quickly, then
+laid it on the table with a discontented air.</p>
+
+<p>"What is that?" asked the prince, pointing to a roll of paper.</p>
+
+<p>It was the unsigned document which Eveline had returned.</p>
+
+<p>Kaulmann wrote on a slip of paper, "Another hitch in that damned
+railway."</p>
+
+<p>The prince said to himself, "Then his wife has again escaped." Then he
+bent over Kaulmann, and, laying his hand upon his shoulder, whispered
+to him:</p>
+
+<p>"My dear friend, one doesn't get everything by a pair of black eyes."</p>
+
+<p>Spitzhase was the secretary of the meeting. After this little scene he
+wrote upon a piece of paper, and, twisting it up, handed it to
+Kaulmann. Kaulmann read it; then tore it in small pieces and shrugged
+his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>"I know all <i>that</i>," he said, sulkily. "I don't want any advice."</p>
+
+<p>The committee went away in bad humor with one another. The expense of
+bringing the deputation from Bondathal had been two thousand gulden,
+and this comedy had been of no use. The last stake should now be
+played. Csanta had determined not to pay the third instalment. He
+would sell all his shares at the price quoted and refill his casks
+with silver. On the day of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> the Proclamation, however, he received a
+letter from Spitzhase, which ran as follows:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,&mdash;To-morrow Herr Kaulmann is going to you to
+offer to buy all your shares at forty-five florins
+exchange. Be on your guard. I can assure you that the
+government has signed a grant for the Bondavara
+Railway, and so soon as this is public the shares will
+rise another twenty per cent."</p></div>
+
+<p>Csanta believed in Spitzhase as in an oracle, and with reason. All
+happened as he said. Immediately upon the issue of the Proclamation,
+and when the shares were a little flat, Kaulmann appeared in X&mdash;&mdash;,
+and offered him forty-five florins exchange upon his shares. But the
+old Greek was firm, not one would he part with; he would rather take
+his last cask to Vienna and empty its contents than part with one
+share.</p>
+
+<p>He was rewarded for his firmness. Two days later he read in the
+newspaper how generously both Houses had voted a grant to the
+Bondavara Railway.</p>
+
+<p>His excellency the prime-minister had himself pleaded for the cause in
+the Lords and Deputies House, and had proved conclusively that, from
+the political point of view, from the present favorable condition of
+the money market, as also from the side of the landed interest, from
+every point of view&mdash;strategical, financial, co-operative, and
+universal&mdash;the government guarantee for the Bondavara Railway was
+absolutely necessary, and, as a natural consequence, the motion was
+carried. Prince Waldemar, indeed, opposed it vigorously, but his
+following was small, so nobody minded him.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>At the next audit of the Bondavara Company's accounts presented to the
+shareholders there appeared under the heading of expenditure this
+remarkable entry: "Expense of foundations, forty thousand gulden."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span>"What does this mean?" said the shareholders, with one voice.</p>
+
+<p>Kaulmann whispered something to the man nearest him; he passed the
+whisper on, whereupon every one nodded his head, and tried to think it
+was all right. So it appeared to be, for after the government grant to
+the railway the Bondavara shares rose to seventy florins above par.
+Nothing could be more convincing. Csanta had punch at dinner, and got
+drunk for joy.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Some evenings later Eveline met his excellency in the green-room of
+the Treumann Theatre. The minister thought it was time to press for
+payment of his services.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear lady," he said, "have I not obeyed your wishes in regard to
+the Bondavara Railway?"</p>
+
+<p>Eveline made him a low courtesy. She wore the costume of the Duchess
+of Gerolstein.</p>
+
+<p>"I am eternally indebted to your excellency," she said. "To-morrow
+evening I shall blow you <i>forty thousand</i> kisses."</p>
+
+<p>At the words "forty thousand" his excellency grew red. He turned on
+his heel, and for the future Eveline was relieved from his attentions;
+but it was also quite certain that she had lost all chance of an
+engagement at the Opera-house. She might sing like a nightingale, but
+her petition would never be signed.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV<br />
+<span class="smalltext">THE BONDAVARA RAILWAY</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>The Bondavara Railway was begun. Prince Waldemar and his followers,
+the bears, were crushed&mdash;there <i>are</i> always people who die of hunger
+in the midst of a plenteous harvest.</p>
+
+<p>Prince Waldemar met his noble relative, Prince Theobald, at the Jockey
+Club. Their encounter was hardly a friendly one, considering their
+close relationship.</p>
+
+<p>Said Prince Waldemar: "You have chosen to put yourself at the head of
+my enemies. You have done your utmost to trump my best card. You have
+allied yourself with that man Kaulmann, with whom I am on bad terms. I
+sought your granddaughter in marriage; you promised she should be my
+wife, and then you sent her away from Vienna. You have invented all
+manner of pretexts to keep her at Pesth, and now the secret is
+out&mdash;she is betrothed to Salista. I had a fancy for a pretty little
+woman, and just to prevent my having her you invite her to your palace
+and forbid her to receive my visits. Worse than all, you have given
+over your only unmortgaged property, Bondavara, to a swindling
+company, who want to set themselves over me; and you have become their
+president. You have schemed and jockeyed the government into giving
+the guarantee for a railway that won't pay two per cent. You haven't
+an idea how you are implicated in these transactions.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> I pity you&mdash;for
+I have always felt esteem for you&mdash;and I intend to set myself the task
+of regulating <i>your</i> affairs some day. Meantime take care, for if I
+succeed in upsetting the human pyramid upon whose shoulders you stand
+the greatest <i>fall</i> will be yours."</p>
+
+<p>Of all this long harangue Prince Theobald only gathered the fact that
+Angela had chosen the Marquis Salista for her husband, and had never
+written to tell him. She let him hear it from another.</p>
+
+<p>The Bondavara Railway was being pressed forward; it was nearly
+finished. There was no further need for a woman's black-diamond eyes.
+They had done their work. One day Eveline visited her husband. Felix
+received her with apparent satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>"I have come," she said, "to ask you a question. Prince Theobald has
+been for some days so sad; it is melancholy to see his distress. Have
+you any idea of its cause?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have. His granddaughter, the Countess Angela, is married, and her
+husband, the Marquis Salista, is taking steps to put the prince under
+restraint, on account of the foolish manner in which he is squandering
+his fortune."</p>
+
+<p>"And much of this foolish extravagance is spent on me."</p>
+
+<p>"You are really wonderfully sharp, Eveline."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall put an end to his spending his money on me. I shall tell the
+prince that I must leave his palace. I shall be always grateful to
+him; he has been a benefactor to me&mdash;and so have you. I ought to have
+mentioned you first. You have had me educated; you have taught me a
+great deal. I have to thank you for being what I am. I can earn my own
+living, thanks to you. I mean to become a real artist. But I must
+leave Vienna; I do not care to remain here any longer."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span>"I think, Eveline, you have decided well, and our minds have really a
+wonderful sympathy. I was about to advise the very course to you. By
+all means, leave Vienna; by all means, make use of your talents, and
+take up work seriously. I shall continue to do my duty as your
+husband. I shall take you to Paris; I shall settle myself in my house
+there on purpose to be of assistance to you. You will make a hit
+there, I know, and we shall be always good friends."</p>
+
+<p>In spite of her previous experience of this man's character, Eveline
+was weak enough to be touched by his words and to blame herself for
+having done him injustice, for it was a great sacrifice on his part to
+leave Vienna for her sake. She could never have supposed that this
+sacrifice was part of his well-considered plan for ridding himself of
+her. She had played <i>her</i> part in making his fortune, and now she
+could go where she chose&mdash;to her native coal-pit if she liked. Once in
+Paris, he would be able to say, "Madam, you are here under the French
+law, and as no <i>civil ceremony</i> has passed between us, you are not my
+wife; you are at liberty to call yourself unmarried."</p>
+
+<p>Felix had another reason for settling himself in Paris. It was here he
+counted on carrying out the second part of his programme. Now that the
+Bondavara Railway was nearly finished, the castles in the air of the
+Abb&eacute; Samuel were beginning to take shape; the next step should be a
+gigantic loan in the interest of the Church. This loan would be
+another means of aggrandizing the house of Kaulmann; its reputation
+would be world-wide. Already Kaulmann's name was of European
+celebrity; he belonged to the stars of the first order in the
+financial world. From being a <i>baron</i> of the stock-exchange he had
+become a prince. If he succeeded in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> effecting this loan he would be a
+<i>king</i> of the money-market, before whose name even that of Rothschild
+would pale.</p>
+
+<p>A halo was also beginning to surround the name of the Abb&eacute; Samuel. The
+government had begun to see that this popular orator held the people
+in his hand, and could lead them as he chose. The people looked upon
+him as their benefactor, a man whose influence could get them
+benefits. Was not the Bondavara Railway a proof of this? The twelve
+Halinacoats were firmly persuaded that the abb&eacute; had carried back in
+his pocket the government grant. The clerical party acknowledged him
+as a new light. In Rome he was lauded for his zeal in the papal cause.
+If he was made bishop, which was almost a certainty, he would be the
+first Hungarian prelate who had taken his seat in the Austrian House
+of Lords. The minister would stare when he found his scheme for the
+secularization of Hungarian Church property met by another scheme from
+the new bishop, which, while proposing a gigantic loan upon these same
+Church lands, had for its object the elevation of the Holy See by
+these very means. The money-markets of France, Belgium, and the Roman
+States would vie with one another in promoting the loan, and the
+pontiff would look upon the man who had conceived such a project as
+the saviour of the pontificate; his name should be written in letters
+of gold. In Hungary, also, the scheme would be favorably received as a
+means of saving the church property already threatened, for the
+government dared not refuse this alternative.</p>
+
+<p>Moreover, the primate was an old man; the pope was still older. All
+the wheels were in readiness; the machine could now be put in motion.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span>The day the first locomotive steamed out of the Bondavara station the
+Abb&eacute; Samuel might say to himself, "The way to Rome is clear." It would
+be also safe to prophesy that on this day Ivan Behrend's ruin would be
+complete.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>This railroad would bring the goods of the Joint-Stock Company into
+the markets of the world, where they could compete with the coal of
+Prussia and the English coal. But, it will be said, Ivan had the same
+chance; his coals were equally good, and the giant with the seven-mile
+boots would carry his coal as well as his enemies'. But here was where
+the shoes pinched. What was of use to the company was destruction to
+him.</p>
+
+<p>The railway was not to run through the valley where his mine was
+situated, although that line was the best and most natural course to
+take; instead of which mountains had to be made level, tunnels had to
+be bored through the hills, to avoid his colliery and to carry the
+rails close to the company's mine. In consequence of this, Ivan would
+be obliged to make a circuit of a half-day's journey to get to the
+railway, and so the freightage to the station made his goods five or
+six per cent. dearer than those of the company. For him, therefore,
+the railroad was a crushing blow.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime the end of the year drew near, the time when the
+miners were to receive their share from the profits. But profit there
+was none. Neither coal nor iron had any sale. The company's low prices
+had taken every customer from Ivan.</p>
+
+<p>Any one who possesses ready money can always <i>say</i>, even if he loses,
+that he wins; the common people call this eating your own entrails.
+Ivan had a sum by him, which he had carefully gathered in better days.
+It amounted,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> all told, to several thousands, and he calculated he
+could hold his own against his giant rivals for at least ten years. He
+forgot that the giants were cunning as well as strong, and that they
+did not despise the smallest artifice.</p>
+
+<p>When the railway directors issued their prospectus, inviting all
+contractors to send in contracts for iron rails, etc., Ivan thought to
+himself, "Now, I will have some fun. The shareholders of the
+Joint-Stock Company offer their iron six per cent. cheaper than it
+costs them. I will offer to the railway directors to deliver iron
+rails at ten per cent. cheaper than they cost <i>me</i>. I shall lose fifty
+thousand gulden, but I shall have the satisfaction of punishing my
+neighbors for their folly in lowering the price of the raw material."</p>
+
+<p>Simple fool! Just as an honorable gentleman imagines that when a
+letter is sealed no one would venture to open it, so Ivan thought that
+all the offers were read together, and that the most advantageous to
+the company was accepted.</p>
+
+<p>Good gracious! nothing of the kind.</p>
+
+<p>It is always settled beforehand who is to have the contract. When the
+proposals come in it sometimes happens that some one makes a yet lower
+offer than that of the <i>prot&eacute;g&eacute;</i>, and this last is then told to take
+pen and ink and write an offer proposing to give the goods half per
+cent. lower than the offer made by the outsider.</p>
+
+<p>This is a well-known trick, and it is only men like Ivan, whose minds
+are occupied with petrifactions and the stars, who are in ignorance
+that such things are done.</p>
+
+<p>The contract offered by the shareholders was half per cent. lower than
+the one offered by Ivan.</p>
+
+<p>But even this rebuff didn't daunt him. Two and two make four, and
+those who sin against multiplication must come to ruin sooner or
+later.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span>Ivan continued making in his workshop iron bars and rails. He
+accumulated a store in his magazines. Some time they would be wanted.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The Bondavara Railroad was to be made.</p>
+
+<p>Csanta wanted to sell his houses in X&mdash;&mdash;; the whole street was for
+sale. He said he was going to live in Vienna, and to fill his office
+of one of the directors to the company. He was to receive a large
+salary, and to have little or nothing to do. He had changed all his
+gold into papers&mdash;there is no use nowadays for houses or land or
+cattle or mines; nothing is good but paper. <i>It</i> wants neither groom
+nor manure nor pay nor machinery.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore, he wished to sell the whole street. Fortunately, there was
+so little money in X&mdash;&mdash; that the inhabitants of the whole town put
+together couldn't produce enough money to buy a poor little street.</p>
+
+<p>The Bondavara Railway was in progress. Along the line the navvies were
+working like a swarm of ants; they shoved wheelbarrows from morning
+until night; they dug the ground, blew up rocks, bored mountains,
+rammed plugs into water-sources, hewed stones, dammed rivers.</p>
+
+<p>In the dark mouth of the Bondavara mine one man stood immovable. He
+was ever watching the work. His gloomy, threatening face was fixed
+steadily upon a windlass.</p>
+
+<p>This man was Peter Saffran. He held in his hand a lump of coal, and as
+he looked back from the noisy landscape to the remnant of trees his
+eyes seemed to say, "Thou art the cause of all this tumult, this
+wealth, this splendor; thou art a living power&mdash;thou!" And he hurled
+the coal against the wall.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV<br />
+<span class="smalltext">THE POOR DEAR PRINCE</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>"You have something to tell me: what is it?" asked Prince Theobald, as
+he entered Eveline's drawing-room in answer to a letter from her,
+written after her interview with her husband.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish to leave Vienna."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! this is sudden. And where are you going?"</p>
+
+<p>"My husband is obliged to go to Paris. I am going with him."</p>
+
+<p>The prince looked inquiringly at her. "Have you, then, grown tired of
+being under my care?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid I cannot deny it. I am like a slave in a gilded cage. I
+am a sort of prisoner, and I want to see life."</p>
+
+<p>"You repent, then, of the promise you made me? Well, then, I release
+you; but stay with me."</p>
+
+<p>"I should be too proud to receive benefits from any one to whom I am
+ungrateful. Besides, it would be enough for me to know that you are
+the master of the palace to take all sense of freedom from me. I don't
+want to receive any more favors."</p>
+
+<p>"You wish to become an actress?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do wish that." Eveline laid a stress on the last word.</p>
+
+<p>"From ambition?"</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot say so. If I were ambitious I should be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> more diligent. I
+want my freedom. I don't want my wings clipped. I like to feel I can
+use them as I choose."</p>
+
+<p>"That is rather a dangerous experiment for any one so young and pretty
+as you are."</p>
+
+<p>"One never falls so low that one cannot rise again."</p>
+
+<p>"Where did you learn that?"</p>
+
+<p>"From what I see every day."</p>
+
+<p>"You are resolved to leave me?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am&mdash;I am&mdash;I am!" Eveline repeated these words impatiently.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I had better free you from my disagreeable society as soon as
+possible," said the prince, taking up his hat. Then, with an ironical
+bow, he added, "Forgive me, madam, for the weary hours I must have
+imposed upon you."</p>
+
+<p>Eveline, with an impatient stamp of her foot, turned her back upon
+him. The prince, when he had got as far as the anteroom, found that he
+had forgotten his walking-stick in the drawing-room. It had been a
+Christmas present from Eveline, and he would not leave it with her. He
+went back to fetch it.</p>
+
+<p>He opened the door gently, and he saw a sight that surprised him.
+Eveline still stood with her back to him. She had in her hands the
+stick he had come for, which she kissed two or three times, sobbing
+bitterly. The prince withdrew gently. Everything was made clear to
+him. Eveline quarrelled with him to make the separation less hard for
+him. She pretended to be mean and ungrateful in order that he might
+forget her more easily. Why did she do this?</p>
+
+<p>The next day the prince found the solution of this riddle. His servant
+brought him the key of Eveline's apartments. The lady had left by the
+very earliest train. The prince hastened to the palace, and he then
+under<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span>stood why it was that Eveline had left. She had taken nothing;
+everything was there. She was a pearl among women. A lock of her hair
+was wound round the handle of the walking-stick&mdash;her beautiful hair,
+which fell from the crown of her head to her feet.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Eveline arrived in Paris before Kaulmann. It had been settled between
+them that she should stop at a hotel until he arranged where she
+should live.</p>
+
+<p>Some weeks later Felix came and said: "Your house is ready for you.
+Will you come and see it?"</p>
+
+<p>Eveline drove with Felix to her new home, which was in the Rue
+Sebastopol, one of the best situations in Paris, the first floor. As
+she came into the apartment her heart beat. Everything was familiar to
+her eyes&mdash;the cherry-colored curtains, the carpets, the dove-colored
+panels, the black marble fireplace, the oval frames in china, the
+window looking into the garden&mdash;all as in Vienna. The same pictures,
+the same service of silver, the wardrobes, the jewel-cases, even to
+the glove which she had left upon the table.</p>
+
+<p>The tears fell from her eyes as she murmured to herself, "The good,
+kind prince!"</p>
+
+<p>Felix, however, with perfect <i>aplomb</i>, took all the credit to himself,
+and asked her, "Have I not arranged your apartment to your taste?"</p>
+
+<p>Eveline made him no answer. Her thoughts were with the good, kind
+prince, her best friend. To him she owed her engagement at the
+Opera-house in Paris, the wreaths that were thrown to her on her first
+appearance, the carriage she drove in every day. All was due to the
+paternal interest of Prince Theobald, who, from the day he called her
+his daughter, had never ceased to care for her as his child.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI<br />
+<span class="smalltext">DIES IR&AElig;</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>One gloomy day in late autumn Ivan went from the forge to his mine,
+and upon the way his thoughts ran in a sad groove. "What a curious
+world we live in; everything goes wrong&mdash;at least, for most people.
+Bread is not for the wise man, nor success for the strong; it was so
+in the days of Solomon. One bad year follows the other, for even
+nature acts like a step-mother to men. The poor are hungry and beg for
+bread, and when they have eaten they forget from whom they received
+nourishment. All the great proprietors go to their graves without
+doing, either for their country or their neighbor, anything worth
+mentioning; all the burden of the present and the future seems to fall
+upon the less numerous and more exhausted class. The patriots are all
+hollow; they weep when they are in their cups; they show their fists,
+but no one dares to strike a blow. All manly strength is gone; there
+is not a man worth the name in the whole country. And the women&mdash;they
+are all the same, from the high-born dame to the peasant girl&mdash;false
+and heartless. Even in the bowels of the earth it is no better. For
+the last two days there has been choke-damp in the mine; the escape of
+gas has been so great that the men cannot work; it is as likely as not
+that there will be an explosion while I am in the pit."</p>
+
+<p>You see, Ivan's thoughts were as black as the land<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span>scape, and suited
+to its gloom. His road from the forge to the mine led him past the
+workmen's houses, and as he passed one of these a miner came stumbling
+out of the door. The house was a wine-shop. The miner had his back
+towards Ivan, who did not recognize him, but he noticed that the man
+had great difficulty in walking straight.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder who it is that has got drunk so early in the day?" thought
+Ivan, and hastened after the man to find out who he was. When he got
+up with him he saw, to his surprise, that it was Peter Saffran. This
+struck Ivan unpleasantly; he recalled how, on the day when Evila had
+eloped, Saffran had sworn never again to touch brandy; he knew also
+that Peter had kept this oath. He recollected also, but imperfectly,
+that when he said that he wouldn't drink any more he had let fall some
+threat. Well, it didn't much matter; if he got drunk, that was his
+affair. But why did he come to Ivan's village to get drunk? Why didn't
+he go to the tavern in his own colony?</p>
+
+<p>Ivan hailed the man. "Good-morning, Peter."</p>
+
+<p>Peter did not return the greeting; he stared like a stupid dog who
+doesn't know his own master. He looked at Ivan with a wild eye, he
+pressed his lips together, and his nostrils extended. He drew his cap
+down over his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan asked him, "Has the choke-damp got into your pit?"</p>
+
+<p>No answer from Peter. He shoved his cap from off his forehead, and,
+opening his mouth to its full extent, bent his face to that of Ivan,
+and let his hot, spirit-laden breath blow over him. Then, without
+saying a syllable, he turned away, and set off running in the
+direction of the company's mine.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span>The heated breath of the man, with the sickening smell of bad brandy,
+sent a shudder through Ivan's frame. He stood still, staring after the
+runaway, who, when he had got a certain distance, stopped and looked
+back. Ivan could see his face distinctly. He looked like a madman; his
+lips hung apart, like those of a mad dog; his white teeth gleamed in
+contrast to his red gums. His whole appearance was so strange and
+desperate that Ivan laid hold of the revolver in his pocket. For one
+moment the thought passed through his mind that he would be doing a
+good work in freeing the world of such a creature, but on second
+thoughts he let him go unharmed, and continued his way to the mine to
+look after the ventilators.</p>
+
+<p>In the vault the proportion between the hydrogen and the air was three
+to seven. Ivan forbade any work to be done in the mine, or any pumping
+out of the dangerous gas. He employed his men in the open air,
+removing the coal that was required, and only allowed those to remain
+below who had to look after the air-pumps.</p>
+
+<p>He remained the whole day on the spot, controlling everything and
+keeping a close watch. Towards evening he left the mine and returned
+to his house. Everything was apparently safe. It was a nasty, foggy,
+gloomy evening; the state of the atmosphere reacted upon the mind and
+body alike. When nature is out of sorts, man suffers; when the sky is
+overcast, he, too, is gloomy. And when the earth is sick, when worms
+and mould destroy the fruit, when the harvest is ruined by blight, and
+the cattle are decimated by pestilence&mdash;above all, when the noxious
+vapors from the coal-mines rise to the surface and poison the very
+air&mdash;then men sicken and die.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span>All through the day Ivan had felt cold shudders running over his whole
+body. His limbs were contracted by that unpleasant feeling called
+goose-skin, and when he got home he shivered, although his room was
+warm. He was restless, uneasy. He could occupy himself with nothing;
+everything palled upon him. The worst symptom of all, he could not
+even work.</p>
+
+<p>When a man refuses food or drink, when he does not care for the
+company of a pretty woman, when his club wearies him, these are
+unhealthy signs; but when he turns away from work, and finds no longer
+any interest in his usual occupation, then it is time to send for the
+physician.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan's head throbbed, yet he could not sleep, and to stay awake was
+torture. He lay down, and with a resolute effort closed his eyes. A
+panorama of past, present, and future kept dancing before him. Peter
+Saffran's hot, stinking breath seemed to breathe again in his
+nostrils, and the very horror brought back to his memory the man's
+long-forgotten words:</p>
+
+<p>"No more during my life shall I drink brandy&mdash;<i>only once</i>; and when I
+do, and when you smell from my breath that I have been drinking, or
+see me coming out of the public-house, then take my advice and stop
+safe at home, for on that day no man shall know in what manner he
+shall die."</p>
+
+<p>Who cares for the threat of a drunken man? Let me sleep. No, the
+drunken man would not allow Ivan to sleep; his breath was there.
+Faugh! it made him sick. His blear-eyed, pallid face was there bending
+over the bed, looking into Ivan's eyes with his blood-shot eyes; his
+open mouth and shut teeth came quite close to the sleeper, who, vainly
+beating his arms in the air, tried to drive away this horrid
+nightmare.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span>Ah, what is that sound? A crack like the crack of doom awoke Ivan; not
+alone awoke him, but threw him violently out of bed and on to the
+floor, where he lay stunned.</p>
+
+<p>His first consecutive thoughts were, "The choke-damp has exploded! My
+mine is in ruins!" This was enough to get him on his legs and to send
+him out in the darkness&mdash;darkness, raven-black darkness, the stillness
+only broken by a whistling sound in the air. Ivan stood for a moment
+wondering. He felt the earth swaying under his feet; he heard a
+subterranean grumbling. There! the pitch-dark night was suddenly
+illumined; a bright pillar of fire rose out of the Bondavara Company's
+mine. At the same moment another fearful explosion was heard, worse
+than the last. The windows of the house were shattered in a thousand
+pieces, the chimneys, the roofs fell in. The pressure of the air
+forced Ivan back and threw him against the door of his own house. By
+the strong light of the demoniacal pillar he could see his own workmen
+all on their knees with a horrified expression upon their ghastly
+faces. Women and children were gathered at the doors of the houses,
+but the terror was so great that every one was speechless.</p>
+
+<p>The entire valley glowed like the crater of a volcano. It vomited
+forth a rain of fire-sparks, as in Gomorrah. The flames reached almost
+to the clouds, and heaven sent forth clap upon clap of thunder, the
+like of which in the most terrible thunder-storm had never been heard.</p>
+
+<p>Two minutes later the flames were extinguished. The whole valley was
+again enveloped in pitch-darkness, only over the company's mine
+floated a filmy white cloud.</p>
+
+<p>"The neighboring mine has exploded!" shrieked Ivan. "Help! help!" He
+never remembered that it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> was his enemy's mine; he only thought that
+there, in the bowels of the earth, a fearful, indescribably fearful,
+calamity had happened. "Help! help!" he cried, and ran to the
+alarm-bell, at which he pulled with all the strength of his body.</p>
+
+<p>His own men came rushing in hot haste, all repeating to one another,
+as if it were something new, "The neighboring mine has exploded!"</p>
+
+<p>Then followed a significant pause. The men carrying lanterns
+surrounded Ivan, and looked at him questioningly, waiting for him to
+speak.</p>
+
+<p>How had he guessed their thoughts?</p>
+
+<p>Those who under God's free heavens drew their breath were bound to go
+to the rescue of those who lay buried underground, and who perchance
+still lived. Here it was no case of friend or foe. They were human
+beings; that was enough.</p>
+
+<p>"We must get the ventilators, the well-buckets to work!" called Ivan.
+"Let each man bring a thick cloth to tie over his mouth. Bring
+crow-bars, cords, ladders, india-rubber tubes, hose-pipes. The women
+only are to remain behind. Forward, my men!"</p>
+
+<p>He threw on an old coat, seized a strong iron bar, which he carried on
+his shoulder, placed himself at the head of his men, and led the way
+to the company's mine.</p>
+
+<p>It was not easy to force an entrance into the works. The proprietors
+had set up all manner of barricades in order to prevent Ivan's carts
+from making any use of the new road. On the gates there were boards
+with "No trespassing. No one to pass this way without a written
+order."</p>
+
+<p>No one now minded these orders. If a door or a gate impeded their
+progress, Ivan thrust his iron rod through it and soon made a passage,
+through which his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> men rushed pell-mell. The miners did not pause to
+harness any horses to the machines. They harnessed themselves, while
+others shoved behind, and drove them on over sticks and stones down to
+the mouth of the pit. Like an army of lunatics the party of rescuers
+rushed on through the night, making their way as best they could by
+means of the lanterns fastened to their waistbands. Soon, however, the
+darkness was again illumined. The forge nearest to the pit, and
+consequently the most exposed to the fiery heat, blew up suddenly, and
+the flames from the heating-oven filled the air with a red glow. The
+miners avoided, however, the direction in which it burned, as it would
+be impossible to predict the direction which the molten metal would
+take.</p>
+
+<p>When they reached the pit an awful spectacle presented itself. The
+ventilation-ovens which were placed over the shaft-mouth were gone.
+The bricks and tiles were scattered in a thousand directions all over
+the fields. The large windlass of cast-iron lay on the ground at a
+considerable distance from its former position, and of the conical,
+bell-shaped buildings hardly a stone was left. Only one wall was still
+standing; the iron fasteners hung from its side. The northern entrance
+to the pit had fallen in. The handsome stone gates lay in ruins.
+Stones, beams, iron bars, coals were all mixed up together in
+heterogeneous confusion, as if a volcano had vomited them out.</p>
+
+<p>The air was filled with the cries of weeping women. Hundreds upon
+hundreds of women and children, probably widows and orphans, held up
+their hands to heaven and wept. Under their feet their husbands, their
+fathers, brothers, lovers lay buried, and no one could help them.</p>
+
+<p>More from recklessness than from actual courage<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> some men had already
+attempted to go down into the pit. They had been at once stunned by
+the pressure of the gas, and now their comrades, at the risk of their
+own lives, were trying to drag them out by cords and slings. Already
+one lay on the grass, while the women stood round him wringing their
+hands.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan now began to make his plans. "In the first place," he said, "no
+one is to venture near the pit. Let all wait until I return."</p>
+
+<p>He took his way towards the house of the directors. He forgot that he
+had sworn never to hold any communication with Raun&eacute;. In any case, he
+was not to be found. In the next town there was high festival. The
+directors of the new railway had given a banquet in honor of the
+completion of the tunnel. Raun&eacute; was there. Ivan, however, met the
+second engineer coming out of his house. He was a cool, phlegmatic
+man, and consoled himself with the trite reflection that these things
+happened everywhere. "The gates must be rebuilt," he said. "The pit
+roads must again be re-made, and probably we shall have to sink
+another shaft. It will cost a lot of money. <i>Voila tout!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>"How many men are below?" asked Ivan.</p>
+
+<p>"Probably about a hundred and fifty."</p>
+
+<p>"Only! And what is to be done for them?"</p>
+
+<p>"It will be a hard job to get them out, for they were at work at the
+passage which we were making between the north pit and the east to
+improve the ventilation."</p>
+
+<p>"Therefore there is no other entrance to the pit but the one which has
+fallen in?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; and the eastern shaft is also in ruins. The flames came from
+there; you must have seen them."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; and I couldn't understand how it was that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span> second explosion
+followed the first after an interval of a few minutes."</p>
+
+<p>"That is easily explained. The communicating wall was already so thin
+that the explosion in the north pit blew it into fragments; the gas in
+the east pit undoubtedly was not kindled by the flames, for they had
+already gone out, but by the strong pressure of the air, which was
+heated to fever-heat by the accumulation of coal, and which,
+therefore, exploded through the shaft. So it is when you put sand into
+the barrel of a gun; the powder bursts the barrel before it throws out
+the sand."</p>
+
+<p>It was plain that the engineer took a very cold-blooded view of the
+whole affair, and that the design for the new stone gate was a matter
+of more interest to him than the hundred and fifty lives which were in
+jeopardy. Ivan saw there was little assistance to be got from him.</p>
+
+<p>"Before we can attempt the rescue of the men who are buried in the
+pit," he said, "we must pump the gas out of the opening of the cavern.
+Where is your air-pump?"</p>
+
+<p>"Up there," returned the engineer, pointing to the sky; "that is to
+say, if it hasn't fallen down."</p>
+
+<p>"You have no portable ventilator?"</p>
+
+<p>"We never contemplated the necessity of having one."</p>
+
+<p>"I have brought mine, if we can adjust it."</p>
+
+<p>"I would gladly know how that can be done. If the ventilator has a
+copper tube, it would be impossible to introduce it through all the
+zigzag of the rubbish and general wreck; if it has an india-rubber
+pipe it would be too weak, and wouldn't stand being shoved forward."</p>
+
+<p>"Some one must carry it into the pit."</p>
+
+<p>"Some one?" repeated the engineer, with an air of amazement. "Look
+yonder; they are drawing up the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> third man who was foolish enough to
+venture down there; he is dead, like the other two!"</p>
+
+<p>"No, none of them are dead; they will soon recover consciousness; they
+are stifled by the foul air."</p>
+
+<p>"All the same, I can hardly believe that you will find a man mad
+enough to be the first to carry a tube fifty steps through all the
+wreckage."</p>
+
+<p>"I have already found the man. I shall do it."</p>
+
+<p>The engineer shrugged his shoulders, but he made no effort to dissuade
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan went back to the men, who meantime had been getting ready for
+work. He called the oldest miner on one side.</p>
+
+<p>"Paul," he said, "some one must carry the india-rubber tube of the
+ventilator into the mouth of the pit."</p>
+
+<p>"Good. Let us draw lots."</p>
+
+<p>"We shall do nothing of the kind. I shall go. You are all husbands and
+fathers with families. You have wives and children to provide for. I
+have no one. How long can a man hold out in that foul air without
+drawing his breath?"</p>
+
+<p>"A hundred beats of his pulse; no longer."</p>
+
+<p>"Good. Fetch me the pipe. Bind a cord round my body and hold the other
+end. When you see that I no longer carry the pipe, draw the cord
+slowly back, but take care to draw slowly, in case that I should have
+fainted and that a sudden pull might strangle me."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan loosened the woollen band from his waist, steeped it in a vessel
+of vinegar, and wrung it out and wrapped his face in it, so that his
+nose and mouth were covered. He then bound the cord firmly round his
+body, took the foremost end of the india-rubber pipe upon his
+shoulder, and began to make his way through the rubbish and <i>d&eacute;bris</i>
+at the pit's mouth.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span>The old miner called after him, in a broken voice: "Count the seconds.
+Fifty for going, fifty for coming back."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan vanished behind the ruins. The miners took off their caps and
+folded their hands. The old man held the fingers of his right hand on
+the wrist of his left and counted his pulse. He had already counted
+over fifty and the other end of the pipe had not moved. It had passed
+sixty and was near seventy when suddenly it was pulled forward. Ivan
+had penetrated into the deadly atmosphere. The old miner wiped the
+perspiration from his brow. He counted eighty, ninety, a hundred
+seconds. They shall never see him again. Then the pipe remained
+steady.</p>
+
+<p>Now they began to draw the rope. It was slack, and not tightened by
+any burden. Ivan was, therefore, so far safe; he was still walking,
+for the rope continued slack. Suddenly it got stiffer. Be careful now.
+The cord again slackened; the old miner counted a hundred and sixty
+seconds. Suddenly Ivan was seen coming out of the pit's mouth,
+supporting himself upon the fallen stones of the archway; but his
+strength failed, and as the men rushed to his assistance he tottered
+and fell into their arms. His face was like that of a dying man.</p>
+
+<p>They rubbed him with vinegar, and the fresh air soon revived him. He
+sat up, and told them he was all right, but&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"The air down there is something awful," he said. "What is happening
+to those poor creatures who are buried below?"</p>
+
+<p>It never occurred to him to remember that those poor creatures were
+the same ungrateful men who had deserted him, who had taken service
+with the men who had sworn to ruin him, who had formed a con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span>spiracy
+against him, who were ready to murder him, who had sent a deputation
+to the enemies of their native land. Here they lay, buried in the
+depths of mother-earth, which thus revenged upon them their treachery.
+Ivan had forgotten their sin against him and their country, and his
+only thought was to save them if there was yet time.</p>
+
+<p>Now that the ventilator had been set in motion, the work of rescue
+might begin; but all the same it was a terribly hard fight.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan divided his band of men into two divisions. Each man was only to
+stay an hour at the dangerous work of clearing away the rubbish. Every
+one must have his face covered by a cloth steeped in vinegar. So soon
+as he began to feel faint he was to be carried away by his comrades.</p>
+
+<p>When the day began to break the wreck of the fallen entrance had been
+moved to one side, but in the mouth of the pit the sun could not
+penetrate. The vault of slate-clay had fallen altogether to one side,
+so that Ivan, when he had carried the pipe into the pit, had found
+there was scarcely room to allow it to wind through the chasms. In the
+spot where he had placed the mouth of the pipe the vault was
+altogether destroyed.</p>
+
+<p>It was an undertaking almost superhuman. What had been the work of
+weeks had to be done in so many days. And yet it must be done.</p>
+
+<p>In their work of clearing away the rubbish Ivan's men had very little
+assistance from the company's men for this reason: the explosion had
+taken place at the time when the miners were relieved. When men are
+working in collieries it is usual to relieve them four times. It was
+the time of the midnight relief when the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> accident happened. One party
+of the miners had already gone down the shaft; they were undoubtedly
+suffocated. The other party were on their way out, and were killed at
+once by the explosion. There was another party who had only reached
+the resting-stage, where neither the flames nor the fragments could
+touch them. These men were buried alive. It therefore resulted that of
+all the company's miners only from twenty to thirty were available.</p>
+
+<p>The men who worked the forge were forbidden by the director to give
+any help in the work of rescue. In all the ovens the metal was in a
+liquid state; if it was not attended to it would turn into rammers.
+The workmen give the name of <i>ram</i>, or <i>rammer</i>, to a solid mass of
+iron, which, in consequence of faulty melting, cannot be removed from
+the oven, and it and the oven have to be thrown away as useless
+lumber. The forge-work was urgently needed. The railway greaves had to
+be finished by a certain date, or a large fine would have to be paid.
+Ivan therefore had to set his men almost unaided to the task of
+clearing the pit. The women helped with all their strength. Their
+husbands, the bread-winners, were underneath the ruins.</p>
+
+<p>What a terrible undertaking! In consequence of the falling in of the
+arches the roof had, at a distance of six feet, to be supported on
+plugs, and a sort of street made through the ruins, where at every
+corner a new enemy waited for the intrepid pioneers.</p>
+
+<p>After the explosion the pit had been overflowed by water. The
+water-pipes had to be set to work, and where these were not sufficient
+the men were obliged to empty out the black slime in buckets, standing
+for hours in stinking mud, breathing foul air, threatened with death
+or mutilation from the constant falling of stones and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span> wreckage.
+Undaunted by these obstacles, the men made their way step by step into
+the bowels of the earth.</p>
+
+<p>In the afternoon Raun&eacute; arrived. In the middle of a convivial festival
+he had heard the news. He was raging. He came down the shaft and
+cursed all the dead men.</p>
+
+<p>"The scoundrels! They have cost the company a million of money! What
+does it matter if they are all killed? Serves them right! Why should
+any of them be saved? Stuff and nonsense! Let them suffocate, the
+drunken dogs!"</p>
+
+<p>The workers made him no answer. First, because they could not take up
+their time talking, and, secondly, because every man's mouth was
+covered. The clearing of a mine is very silent work.</p>
+
+<p>But in the midst of his curses Raun&eacute; encountered one workman, who
+placed himself in front of him and confronted him with a steady look.
+This man was covered with mud and coal like the other laborers, his
+face was tied up with a cloth, and only the eyes were visible; they,
+too, were blackened with coal-dust, but Raun&eacute; knew by their expression
+that it was Ivan. No one who had ever looked into his eyes could
+forget him.</p>
+
+<p>Raun&eacute; turned away without another word, and, in company with his
+engineer, left the pit. He interfered no further with Ivan's work.</p>
+
+<p>Four days and four nights the men never ceased working. They triumphed
+over every obstacle and cut a pathway through every difficulty. During
+those four days Ivan never for one hour left the mine. He ate his
+meals sitting on a stone, and snatched an hour's sleep in some corner.</p>
+
+<p>On the fourth day the workmen came upon one of the missing men. A
+man&mdash;no, but a mass, flattened against the wall, of flesh and bones,
+which had once been a man.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span>Some feet farther on there lay another body on the ground, but the
+head was nowhere to be seen. They tried to get him on one of the
+wheelbarrows which were for drawing coal, but he was all in fragments;
+splinters and shreds of that human body were sticking to everything.</p>
+
+<p>Then they came upon the charred, blackened corpses of the men who had
+been burned. They were not recognizable.</p>
+
+<p>Farther on there was a group of fifteen men crushed by a huge weight
+of slate stratum. This could not be moved, so they were left. It was
+more necessary to look after the living than the dead. Everywhere they
+found corpses; still the number of the missing was not complete.</p>
+
+<p>The miners employed by the company told Ivan that if any of the men
+were still living they would be found at the resting-stage, where they
+left their coats before they began to work and fetched them again as
+they went up. In the passages, however, there had been such a total
+upset that the oldest hand could not find his way. In many places the
+explosion had torn down the partition wall, in other places the
+entrance was stopped up with rubbish, or the roof taken off some of
+the passages which led into the inner vaults. It was all in such utter
+confusion that no one could find out where the large vault lay.</p>
+
+<p>At last it struck Ivan that underneath a mass of coal and slack he
+heard a faint, whimpering sound. He said to the men, "Dig this spot."</p>
+
+<p>At once they set to work to clear away the rubbish, and as they
+cleared the company's men began to recognize different landmarks,
+which convinced them they were at the right place.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span>"Yes, here is the door which leads to the resting-stage." The pressure
+of the air had shut the door close, the side walls had fallen in, and
+so these, who had been safe from the conflagration, had been buried
+alive.</p>
+
+<p>The whimpering cry for help, like that of an infant's wail, was heard
+now more distinctly. The door, too, was plainly visible, and as it was
+swung off its hinges Ivan took a light and peered into the dark cavern
+below.</p>
+
+<p>No cry of joy reached him; the rescued men had not the strength to
+make a sound. They were about a hundred in all. They lay there
+still, speechless. Life had almost ebbed away, but not altogether.
+They had suffered the tortures of hunger and thirst, they had been
+suffocated by the foul air, broken-hearted, despairing. And now
+these human skeletons, when they saw the light, could hardly raise a
+finger to show they were alive. A heart-rending whimper, in which
+there was no human tone, rose from the hundred parched throats. When
+the explosion came they had been thrown upon their faces. Their
+lamps had gone out, and it would have been madness to relight them.
+They had remained in total darkness. After a little the danger of
+their situation increased. Soon they began to feel that the water
+was gradually&mdash;slowly at first&mdash;filling the space which served them
+as a refuge and a grave, and this space or vault was, they knew, a
+fathom deeper than the pit. They tried&mdash;for at first they were not
+so weak&mdash;to get hold of some boards and plugs that lay about, and
+out of these they made a sort of stage or platform, upon which they
+all clambered, and there waited for death&mdash;the death that might come
+either through hunger, foul air, or drowning. When their rescuers
+opened the door the water had reached the threshold and touched the
+bottom of the wooden stage.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan directed that the poor creatures should be carried<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span> carefully and
+silently out of their living grave. They did not press forward, for
+they could not stand. Each man lay where he was, and waited until his
+turn came. The foretaste of death made every one tranquil. Some of
+them could not at first open their eyes, but all were alive, and Ivan
+could not help thinking how wonderful is the strength of human nature.</p>
+
+<p>He had saved them all, but the work was not yet finished. How if,
+beyond the breach of which the engineer had spoken, there were more
+men waiting for deliverance? One thing they must ascertain
+positively&mdash;if the explosion had finished the work begun by the
+engineer's men, and had carried away the wall which had divided one
+pit from the other. If this were so, it would considerably lighten the
+work of those who had come to seek for the victims. At the opening of
+the breach-tunnel lay a man's body; he was such a charred, burned mass
+that he was unrecognizable. The dead man held in his hand his
+safety-lamp. <i>It was open.</i></p>
+
+<p>So this was the accursed one who had done the hellish deed, and it was
+human folly that had caused this demoniacal explosion.</p>
+
+<p>The corpse was not recognizable, the clothing was burned to ashes. In
+his girdle, however, they found a small steel casket, and in this
+casket a gold watch; upon the enamelled back was the portrait of a
+lovely woman.</p>
+
+<p>When the watch was brought to Ivan he recognized the portrait. It was
+Eveline. With the watch there was also a bank-note for a hundred
+gulden. It was half burned. Upon the back was written:</p>
+
+<p>"A year ago to-day I received this money; to-day I pay it back." What
+a fearful repayment!</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Ivan was now able to grasp the connection between<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span> the words and the
+acts of this terrible man, whose recollection of his own act of eating
+human flesh had prompted him to an unexampled and most horrid
+massacre. His threats after Evila's elopement, his entering into the
+company's service, the last occasion upon which he had drunk brandy,
+and the breath he had blown into Ivan's face. All was now explained.
+This was part of the drama. This man had a character such as
+Antichrist might be possessed of. His soul and body were full of
+concealed demons, who prompted him to take revenge of those who had
+offended him, ridiculed him, stolen from him, scorned him, treated him
+as a fool, insulted him with money, tempted him with luxuries, and
+taken advantage of his simplicity to pull him by the nose.</p>
+
+<p>All of them should fall. He would pull the foundation-stone from under
+their feet, even if he dug his own grave in so doing. They should fall
+from their high estate&mdash;the banker, the pastor, the capitalist, the
+minister, and the actress.</p>
+
+<p>In hell the demons could teach Peter nothing.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan stood before the unsightly corpse deep in thought. In his heart
+there raged a wild conflict of passions. He also had been robbed,
+oppressed by the wealth of his enemies, his heart wounded by a hundred
+poisoned arrows, and this by the same men upon whom the revengeful
+hate of Peter Saffran had fallen. Ivan had come to their help. He had
+saved the lives and the property of his foes&mdash;at least, what they
+called their property; the monstrous treasure which lies in the very
+bowels of the earth does not, in truth, belong altogether to any man,
+but to all men; it is the treasure-trove of the state, destined to
+serve and minister to all ages.</p>
+
+<p>And yet a great dread, an unconquerable fear, possessed Ivan. He dared
+not mention his fear to any one,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span> for if he were to share his
+suspicion with any one of the workmen, who up to this had followed him
+obediently through every peril, they would, without another word, have
+turned their backs and fled for their lives.</p>
+
+<p>The wire cylinder of Saffran's safety-lamp was filled to the very top
+with a red flame. This was a warning that the atmosphere was still
+charged with one-third of hydrogen gas, and that only two-thirds were
+of fresh air.</p>
+
+<p>But there is an even greater danger to be feared than the pit-gas. Its
+fearful spirit had been laid; the victims lay silent upon the
+wheelbarrows. Yet another and a worse spirit lurks in ambush&mdash;a foe
+who goes about with closed eyes, whose presence is awful in its
+consequences: it is the carbon from the coals.</p>
+
+<p>When the men had made the breach through the tunnel, they found, just
+as the engineer had said, that the explosion had burst through the
+partition wall, and that the <i>d&eacute;bris</i> had only to be removed, and the
+passage between the east and the north pits would be established. Not
+one of the workmen could remain long at this work. After some moments
+each one returned coughing, and complaining that in that place his
+safety-lamp would not burn.</p>
+
+<p>In the pits the flame of the lamp filled the whole cylinder; this was
+not reassuring. But in the neighborhood of the ruins it would hardly
+burn; this was a far more serious sign.</p>
+
+<p>The last miner who returned said that as he removed a large lump of
+coal such a terrible stench had penetrated through his mouth-protector
+that he had almost fainted. The smell was like that of putrid
+vegetable matter.</p>
+
+<p>The old hands knew what this putrid stench signified. Paul suggested
+to Ivan that he should go and examine<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span> whence it came. Let him cover
+his mouth very carefully, and hasten back as soon as possible.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan took his iron rod and his lamp, and went. Seizing hold of the rod
+with both hands, he struck it with all his strength into a mass of
+coal, upon which the lump rolled with a great noise into the adjoining
+space. He then fastened his lamp to the hook of his rod and pushed it
+into the hollow. The lamp went out at once, and as he looked from the
+darkness into the hollow, to his horror he saw in the next vault a red
+glow which lighted up the space. He knew at once there was no time to
+lose. He never paused to withdraw his rod, but rushed back to the men.</p>
+
+<p>"The east pit is burning!" he cried.</p>
+
+<p>No one answered, but the men seized hold of Ivan, and bore him with
+them out of the pit into the open air. Behind them followed the
+horrible stench&mdash;not merely that of foul air such as accompanies "bad
+weather," often with fatal effect; this was the more insidious carbon,
+that which kindles pit-fires, baffles the ingenuity of man, respects
+neither the brave nor the scientific, and which, when once it has
+begun, can never be turned back. There is nothing to do but to run for
+the bare life.</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes the pit was empty.</p>
+
+<p>As they issued into the light of day they were surrounded by countless
+women and children, weeping and screaming in their joy at being
+reunited to their lost ones.</p>
+
+<p>The engineer was also there. Ivan went straight to him. Taking the
+cloth from his mouth, he said:</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know, sir, what is going on down there in your mine? Complete,
+utter ruin! The east pit is burning; it must have been alight some
+days, for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span> whole pit is red-hot. I shall never forget the sight.
+Now let me tell you what this means. It is not the hand of human
+wickedness, neither is it the avenging hand of God; it is altogether
+caused by the negligence of the overseer. You, who are a great
+scientist, know as well as I do that collieries take fire when sulphur
+gets mixed with coal-dust and is allowed to lie in a heap. It is
+always hot down there, and when the stuff is fanned by the air it
+lights of itself. Your pit is full of this dangerous burning mist. And
+now both your pit and my mine are finished. The colliery fire can
+never be extinguished. You have heard of the burning mountain of
+Dutweeler? A hundred and twenty years ago that coal-mine took fire; it
+is still burning. Here we shall experience another such tragedy.
+Good-morning."</p>
+
+<p>The engineer only shrugged his shoulders; it was nothing to him.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan shook the dust of the God-forsaken colony off his feet. He and
+his men returned to his own side of the mountain.</p>
+
+<p>Meantime what had happened to his own mine? He had been absent four
+days and four nights, and had never given it a thought.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>Any one who wishes to understand the meaning of the proverb, "There is
+only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous," should gamble on
+the stock-exchange; there he will learn the full meaning of the words.</p>
+
+<p>To-day you are a deity, to-morrow the meanest of street curs. To-day
+sixty agents shriek out the name of your speculation; you are a sort
+of king, and all the other kings on 'change study your countenance to
+see how the wind shifts. To-day, so soon as one o'clock strikes by the
+town clock, a swarm of buyers come round you. Your note-book is held
+up to the view of all the agents. It is handed from one to another; it
+is placed upon the back of an agent, and the competitors write the
+number of shares they want. To-day all hands point to the percentage,
+which is the proof of your high estate. To-day the crowd who are
+speculating on your credit fill all the passages; they scream out, "I
+sell!" "I buy!" Even outside the stock-exchange sweet creatures of the
+opposite sex, who like dabbling in stock quite as much as do the male
+creation, make their books. Women are prohibited from showing their
+faces on 'change; but they gamble all the same. Hundreds of ladies
+wait upon the stock-broker, with a copy of the exchange list in their
+hands; they have marked your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> shares. Still greater ladies sit outside
+the exchange in their grand carriages. In their eagerness they stretch
+their heads out of their carriage windows to know from the first-comer
+at what figure the shares&mdash;your shares&mdash;stand.</p>
+
+<p>This is all to-day. To-morrow you are not to be found; your name is
+scratched out of the exchange list. Every one knows that your affair
+has "burst." You are nowhere. You are nobody. Your place is empty.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The firm of Kaulmann stood at the summit of its triumph. Felix and his
+bosom friend, the Abb&eacute; Samuel, were enjoying their afternoon siesta.
+The room was full of a cloud of smoke, and under its soothing
+influence the friends were building castles in the air.</p>
+
+<p>"To-morrow," said Felix, "the pope's loan upon the Hungarian Church
+lands will be floated at the exchange."</p>
+
+<p>"To-morrow I shall receive from Vienna my appointment as titular
+Bishop of the Siebenb&uuml;rger."</p>
+
+<p>"The silver kings are ready to plank down their millions on the loan."</p>
+
+<p>"The pope gives it his blessing," murmured the abb&eacute;. "The cardinal's
+hat is ready for my head."</p>
+
+<p>"The legitimist financiers have shown a decided objection to my wife
+appearing on the stage. This may injure the loan; therefore I intend
+to-morrow to explain to her that she is not legally my wife."</p>
+
+<p>"Is it true that Prince Waldemar has arrived in Paris?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, he has come after Eveline."</p>
+
+<p>"But his presence here will be injurious to our speculation. He is our
+declared enemy."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span>"He cannot injure us now. Since he met such a total defeat in the
+matter of the Bondavara mine and the railway his teeth have been
+drawn. He and his bears have kept very quiet."</p>
+
+<p>"Then it is Eveline who has brought him here?"</p>
+
+<p>"He is mad about her; he follows her everywhere like a dog, and is
+only anxious to pick up any crumb she will give him."</p>
+
+<p>"But she cannot endure him."</p>
+
+<p>"That is the worse for her. It was greatly Prince Theobald's doing.
+That old fellow is mad."</p>
+
+<p>"Is it not the case that the Countess Angela's husband wants to put
+the prince's affairs into the hands of trustees?"</p>
+
+<p>"Before we left Vienna there was some talk of it."</p>
+
+<p>"Will this affect in any way the Bondavara shares?"</p>
+
+<p>"In no way. The only unmortgaged portion of his capital is absolutely
+made over to the company. I can assure you, the Bondavara speculation
+is built upon a rock of gold."</p>
+
+<p>As he spoke three telegraphic despatches were brought in by the
+servant. One of these was addressed to the abb&eacute;, under cover to the
+firm of Kaulmann.</p>
+
+<p>"Lupus in fabul&acirc;," said Kaulmann, as he handed the first telegram to
+the abb&eacute;. The abb&eacute; read:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"The Prince Theobald has been declared incapable of
+managing his own affairs."</p></div>
+
+<p>"Poor Eveline, she will have leisure to repent!" remarked Felix, with
+a cynical smile.</p>
+
+<p>As he was speaking the abb&eacute; opened the telegram addressed to him. He
+handed it to Felix, saying:</p>
+
+<p>"And I, too, shall have time to repent."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span>The telegram ran:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"The minister has resigned; the emperor has accepted
+his resignation; the whole system is to be changed."</p>
+
+<p>"Good-bye to the bishop's mitre, to the cardinal's
+hat; good-bye to the velvet arm-chair in the House of
+Peers."</p></div>
+
+<p>They read the third telegram together. It contained these words:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Explosion in the Bondavara colliery. The whole mine
+is on fire."</p></div>
+
+<p>"This is indeed a blow," said Felix, as he let the telegram fall from
+his hand. The three telegrams had come like three flashes of
+lightning. The last was the worst.</p>
+
+<p>When the news reached Prince Waldemar he would let the bears loose
+with a vengeance. Something must be done to avert the imminent
+danger&mdash;but what?</p>
+
+<p>If there was only time allowed to float the papal loan such small
+things as the Bondavara shares and the burning of mines would be of
+little consequence. But could the enemy be reduced to silence?</p>
+
+<p>It was settled that the abb&eacute; should without delay repair to Eveline,
+and that Kaulmann should speak to Prince Waldemar.</p>
+
+<p>The beaming faces of the two men now wore a sombre air. They had only
+one card to play&mdash;the smile of a woman was their only salvation.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">TWO CHILDREN</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>Eveline had arrived in Paris at a very important moment. Two great
+changes had been made in the world of fashion: the Empress Eugenie had
+decreed that the crinoline should be laid aside, and Cardinal Chigi,
+the papal nuncio, had pronounced that dresses closed to the throat
+should be worn at receptions. Piety had become the rage. It was
+considered good taste to go to church and to wait for the sermon.</p>
+
+<p>Piety being, therefore, the fashion, no better moment could have been
+chosen by Kaulmann for floating the papal loan. He was well pleased to
+find that Eveline was as eager in the pursuit of piety as any of her
+fair sisters, the truth being that it harmonized with the poor child's
+frame of mind. A few days after her arrival in Paris her cripple
+brother had died. A celebrated surgeon had performed an operation
+which had put him out of pain forever. Eveline grieved over her loss;
+now she felt alone in the world, she had no one to love, no one to
+live for. She kept the boy's useless crutches in her room, one on each
+side of her dressing-table, and twice a week she went to the
+church-yard and put fresh flowers on the little grave. The penitential
+fashion just suited her. She preferred to sing Mozart and Handel in
+the church than Verdi at the opera.</p>
+
+<p>One day she conceived the idea that she would have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span> a sacred concert
+in her own drawing-room; the price of the tickets should be high, and
+the proceeds would be for some good purpose&mdash;God knows what! perhaps
+to buy arms for the papal zouaves. She was busy making out her
+programme when the door opened, and Arpad Belenyi, unannounced, rushed
+in in his old unceremonious way.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline was delighted to see her former friend. She threw down her
+pen, ran to meet him, holding out both her hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, you delightful person, what has brought you here?"</p>
+
+<p>"My profession. I am looking for some place where I may strike the
+cymbals and give a concert."</p>
+
+<p>"What a coincidence; you have come at the right moment. But how did
+you find me out?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not much difficulty in that. If I didn't see your name in the list at
+the Opera, I couldn't avoid seeing it outside St. Eustache."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you have heard me sing?"</p>
+
+<p>"In both places&mdash;the theatre and the church. I must tell you I think
+the good fathers lay it on pretty strong. For twelve francs I heard
+you at the Opera, and had the play into the bargain; but I didn't get
+out of the church so cheap. A beautiful lady took twenty francs from
+me."</p>
+
+<p>"You silly man! Well, I will pay it back to you. What are your terms?"</p>
+
+<p>"May I ask your reason for the question?"</p>
+
+<p>"How stupid you are! I am not going to engage you for a restaurant.
+What are your terms for playing the piano at an evening concert?"</p>
+
+<p>"To you, merely thanks; to the public, five hundred francs."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span>"But if it is for a charitable purpose?"</p>
+
+<p>"Then either not at all or for money."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no. You are a cynical creature! Don't you feel sympathy for any
+one? Would you do nothing for the poor?"</p>
+
+<p>"I know a poor woman to whom I owe everything; that is my mother.
+Every farthing which I give to another is taken from her. When the
+world has given back to her all that she has lost, then I shall give
+to the world all that I possess; but until then everything belongs to
+my mother."</p>
+
+<p>"Very good; you shall pay your mother. You shall have the five hundred
+francs; but for this you must play something super-excellent&mdash;Liszt's
+Mass or one of Handel's oratorios."</p>
+
+<p>"What is the concert got up for? Is it to help a religious object? or
+is it for the papal zouaves?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. I am arranging it."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I can do nothing."</p>
+
+<p>"Why so?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, because I shall not play for Garibaldi's enemies!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, what a goose you are, to be sure! Who asks you to play for
+Garibaldi's enemies? You play for my friends."</p>
+
+<p>But the young man kept repeating no, no, he wouldn't, and in his
+excitement he got up from his seat, and, throwing back his waistcoat,
+showed her that he wore a red shirt.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline laughed unrestrainedly. "A red shirt! So that means that you
+have enlisted as a Garibaldian?"</p>
+
+<p>"I should have done so long ago only for my mother."</p>
+
+<p>"And what would you do if your hand was shot off?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span>"Then I should become a pensioner to some fine lady, who would, I
+know, support me."</p>
+
+<p>Eveline burst into tears. His words had touched a chord in her tender
+heart. Arpad, however, could not imagine what he had said to grieve
+her; he tried to console her, and asked how he had offended her. Still
+sobbing, she said:</p>
+
+<p>"My poor little brother is dead. There by my table I keep his
+crutches."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry for you; with all my heart I sympathize in your grief. He
+and I were good friends; we had plenty of fun together."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; you liked him. The world is quite dead to me; everything is
+changed. I listen for the sound of his crutches scratching along the
+floor up the stairs. Ah, my little brother! I have no one now. I want
+some one to take care of. I should like to nurse some one&mdash;an artist
+who had lost his eyesight; a musician whose right hand had been shot
+off; or a political hero, who, being pursued, concealed himself in my
+room, and to whom I should be benefactress, protectress, bread-winner,
+everything."</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't you go to Garibaldi?"</p>
+
+<p>She was laughing now; her moods were as variable as an April day.</p>
+
+<p>"You have heard me sing in public. What do you say of me?"</p>
+
+<p>"I say you would be a great artist if you could sing for the devils as
+well as you do for the angels."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't understand. What do you mean by the devils?"</p>
+
+<p>"You surely have heard from the pulpit that the theatre is the devil's
+synagogue?"</p>
+
+<p>"You rude man! Don't you know that I belong to the theatre?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span>"I beg pardon a thousand times. I believed that in the daytime you
+were an abbess and at night you were an actress; that would be a fair
+bargain."</p>
+
+<p>"You silly boy! Why do you think I am an abbess?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because you are dressed as such."</p>
+
+<p>"This is only a penitential dress. You godless creature, you are
+making fun of religion!"</p>
+
+<p>"No, madame. I agree that it is a great mortification to wear gray
+silk, a great penance to play the coquette with downcast eyes, a real
+fast to eat crawfish at twenty francs the dish. I am also told that
+the reason the fashionable ladies of Paris have taken to wearing high
+dresses is that they discipline the flesh so severely that their
+shoulders and necks are one mass of scars, and therefore the effects
+of their flagellations must be concealed."</p>
+
+<p>"That is not true. We don't do anything of the kind."</p>
+
+<p>"The world says so. I don't want to inquire; it is your secret."</p>
+
+<p>"It is not true," Eveline repeated. "We do not flagellate ourselves;
+look!" And kneeling down before Arpad she raised the lace collar which
+was round her neck and made him look at her fair skin.</p>
+
+<p>They were a pair of children.</p>
+
+<p>Arpad took his hat and his leave. He left a card with his address, but
+he would have no share in her concert.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline, however, went on writing her programme.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXIX<br />
+<span class="smalltext">IMMACULATE</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>Eveline was still writing her programme when the Abb&eacute; Samuel was
+announced. In Paris it is not thought out of the way for an abb&eacute; to
+visit an actress, and, for the rest, the abb&eacute; was an old friend, well
+known to both husband and wife. He was naturally very much interested
+in the concert, and read the programme most attentively.</p>
+
+<p>"It would have been all so nice," said Eveline, in a vexed tone, "only
+for that stupid Arpad. See, father, just there, between my song and
+the violoncello solo, he would have come in so well."</p>
+
+<p>"Is Arpad in town?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, he has only just gone. I begged of him to help my concert; and
+my song from the Stabat Mater would have gone so much better to the
+harmonium, and he accompanies beautifully; but he has grown quite
+silly; he has become a heretic."</p>
+
+<p>The priest shook his sides with laughter, and then a sudden idea
+struck him. It was plain Eveline liked Arpad, which was only natural,
+for they were about the same age. He was twenty, she nineteen&mdash;a pair
+of children, and children like to amuse themselves. They don't care
+for serious things; that comes later. What if he made use of Arpad to
+introduce Waldemar?</p>
+
+<p>"I should like to take a bet with you that Arpad Be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span>lenyi will play
+the piano at your concert, and that, moreover, he will accompany your
+Stabat Mater on the harmonium. If he does so, what will you give me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, he won't do it; you may be sure of that! I know him well; he is
+very obstinate once he takes anything into his cockatoo's head, and if
+<i>I</i> have not been able to persuade him&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Eveline had immense faith in the magic power of her black eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you shall see. What will you give me if I succeed?" repeated
+the abb&eacute;.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline replied to this question by another:</p>
+
+<p>"How do you mean to get round him?" She said nothing of what she would
+give in case he succeeded.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, there are many ways; for instance, I might say to him that if he
+played in your drawing-room it is very likely he may be engaged by the
+empress, and that then his fortune was made&mdash;at least, for this
+season. An artist would at once see what a chance this would be. Then
+I would offer him money."</p>
+
+<p>"I have done that already&mdash;five hundred francs."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, although a young man may turn up his nose at five hundred
+francs, an old woman will appreciate a hundred Napoleons at their true
+value. Arpad must obey his mother's wishes, and what she promises for
+him he must do. I know the circumstances."</p>
+
+<p>"You are a very sensible man. I should have begun with the mother, but
+it never occurred to me. Well, manage it all for me. If you only
+accomplish it I shall do whatever you ask me."</p>
+
+<p>She was in such good-humor that the abb&eacute; saw he could ask her
+anything; still, it was with a slight hesitation that he said:</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span>"I want you to give me an invitation for your charity concert for a
+friend of mine."</p>
+
+<p>"You shall have ten," cried Eveline, joyfully.</p>
+
+<p>"I only require one, but this invitation must be written with your own
+hand."</p>
+
+<p>"Give me the name of your friend and I will write the card this
+moment."</p>
+
+<p>As she spoke she seated herself at her writing-table, took an
+invitation-card from her drawer, and made all ready to begin.</p>
+
+<p>"Now the name."</p>
+
+<p>"Prince Waldemar Sondersheim."</p>
+
+<p>When she heard the name Eveline threw down her pen and sprang hastily
+to her feet.</p>
+
+<p>"No," she said, decidedly, "never!"</p>
+
+<p>The abb&eacute; burst into a shrill laugh. "Your excitement is very
+becoming," he said. "You are a fine actress."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall not invite Prince Sondersheim to my concert," returned
+Eveline, seating herself on the sofa with a defiant air.</p>
+
+<p>"Is the prince disagreeable to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I loathe him."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you imagine that the world contains nothing but simpletons like
+Arpad Belenyi?"</p>
+
+<p>Eveline got up from the sofa, went to the writing-table, and tore the
+programme she had been writing into a hundred pieces.</p>
+
+<p>"Arpad may stay at home, tied to his mother's apron-strings. I don't
+want him nor any one. I'll give up the concert;" and she threw the
+torn fragments of her programme into the fireplace.</p>
+
+<p>The abb&eacute; rose from his seat and took the excited girl by the hand.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span>"Compose yourself, my dear young lady," he said. "I have come to you
+on a most urgent matter&mdash;a matter which is of serious consequence to
+you and your husband, and I do not deny that it is of great moment to
+me. I may, in fact, call it of vital importance to each one of us. If
+it should turn out as badly as it threatens your husband shall have to
+go to America, I must return to my monastery, and what will become of
+you I do not know."</p>
+
+<p>Eveline sat down again on the sofa. She listened to him attentively.</p>
+
+<p>"At all events, you will have to go out of this," went on the abb&eacute;,
+"and that without loss of time. You must know that the old Prince
+Theobald, after you had returned to him the palace in the Maximilian
+Strasse, which he had made a present to you, took shares in your name
+in the Bondavara Company to the amount of a million."</p>
+
+<p>"I never knew it," said Eveline.</p>
+
+<p>"That proves that you never thought of asking your husband what the
+expense of this splendid hotel was, to say nothing of your magnificent
+carriage and horses, your numerous servants, your conservatory&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I thought that my salary, added to what Herr Kaulmann&mdash;" She stopped
+suddenly; the incredulous smile on the abb&eacute;'s lips made her silent. He
+continued:</p>
+
+<p>"All this splendor is at an end. A telegram which came a few hours ago
+brings the news that, at the suit of his son-in-law, Prince Theobald's
+affairs have been placed in the hands of trustees; the trustees will,
+without any doubt, seize the shares taken for you."</p>
+
+<p>"They may do as they like," returned the girl, indifferently.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, there may be a lawsuit! But there is worse to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span> come. Another
+telegram brings the news that last week there was a fearful explosion
+at the Bondavara colliery."</p>
+
+<p>At this news Eveline gave a cry; then quickly asked:</p>
+
+<p>"And Herr Behrend, has his mine also exploded?"</p>
+
+<p>The abb&eacute; looked somewhat surprised, but continued, in his earnest
+manner:</p>
+
+<p>"I believe not. The company's shares, however, have received a
+terrible blow. The more so, that one of the collieries is still
+burning, with no chance of being extinguished."</p>
+
+<p>As he spoke he looked fixedly at her, and his penetration soon took in
+the truth: that her joy at the escape of Behrend's property outweighed
+her sorrow for her husband's loss.</p>
+
+<p>"You can understand," continued the abb&eacute;, "in what danger we are of
+actual ruin; everything now depends upon one thing. Of course, you are
+aware that, in consequence of the Bondavara Company, Kaulmann's
+reputation is one of the highest in the financial world. Millions of
+money have actually been put into the affair, and ten times as much is
+floating in the air of the stock-exchange. Money is not a tangible
+quantity. This catastrophe&mdash;which, after all, may still be averted,
+for it is possible that the fire may be extinguished&mdash;will be a
+terrible engine in the hands of the enemies of the company, who want,
+above all things, to upset Kaulmann. The colliery explosion is a
+powder-mine in the hands of the bears. To-day he is a king, hands full
+of gold are stretched out to him, a hundred millions are eagerly
+offered to him; to-morrow these very people will surround him,
+clamoring to get back their money, which they have intrusted to him.
+Whether the cry is raised or not depends altogether on one man, and
+this man is Prince Waldemar Sondersheim. He is here; he ar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span>rived
+to-day. Probably he has had news of the explosion sooner than
+Kaulmann, whose director, Raun&eacute;, no doubt, hoped against hope to get
+the fire under. Kaulmann's fate lies in the hands of Prince
+Sondersheim, and so does my own. I do not conceal it. I was the pivot
+of an enormous, world-wide project. To-morrow Kaulmann's proposal for
+the Church loan was to be laid before the financial world of Paris and
+Brussels; it is an important crisis that may give to history a new
+page. If Prince Waldemar makes use of his knowledge of the collapse of
+the Bondavara Company to raise a cry against us, then the whole fabric
+upon which so much is built vanishes as a dream. If he or his bears
+call out on the exchange that the Bondavara shares are sixty per cent.
+below par we are lost. If he keeps silent the loan will float
+splendidly, and then the Bondavara misfortune will sink into a matter
+of small importance, such as constantly occurs in the money-market.
+Now you can understand what an effect a word from you may have, and
+what you can do if you speak this word."</p>
+
+<p>Eveline shook her head, and laid her finger on her lips; she looked
+the very genius of silence.</p>
+
+<p>"What!" cried the abb&eacute;, his anger getting the better of him, "you
+refuse? You think more of one word that can cost you nothing than of
+the consequences? The Holy See may be overthrown, the standard of
+infidelity may be unfurled, the saints torn from their shrines&mdash;and
+all for a woman's caprice."</p>
+
+<p>Eveline spread out her arms as if she were engaged in a combat with a
+giant. She called out, in a resolute voice:</p>
+
+<p>"No; I cannot speak to that man."</p>
+
+<p>The abb&eacute; grew angry. He said to himself if he could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span> not persuade this
+vexatious woman, at least he would give himself the pleasure of
+wounding her in a tender point. He took his hat in his hand, and,
+holding it behind his back, said, in a cold, cutting voice:</p>
+
+<p>"I neither understand your dislike to the prince nor your extreme
+delicacy. Prince Sondersheim is no way inferior to the men you have
+admitted to your intimacy."</p>
+
+<p>At this insult Eveline seized the hand of the abb&eacute;, and cried, with a
+sudden abandonment of her usual reserve:</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, father, I have never been a wife; I am still as innocent as a
+child!"</p>
+
+<p>The abb&eacute; looked at her in unfeigned astonishment. He saw by her
+burning blushes, her modest, downcast eyes, her childish sobs, that
+she was speaking the truth. He sighed deeply; he could not help it. It
+was his last stake, and he had lost. Good-bye to glory, to greatness.
+All had vanished into thin air at Eveline's words; they had scattered
+his dreams. He recognized that all the great deeds which have made men
+famous were as dust and ashes in comparison with the real nobility of
+soul possessed by this peasant girl, this woman who, in obedience to
+her husband's infamous commands, and because she had sworn to obey
+him, had worn the mask of a Phryne while she preserved the purity of a
+saint. By no act of his should she descend from her pedestal.</p>
+
+<p>"Eveline," he said, in a voice of deep emotion, "the words you have
+spoken banish me to my cell. My dreams of power and splendor lie in
+the dust&mdash;their fitting place. You said,'I am still innocent'; my
+child, keep yourself so. The French law recognizes no marriage unless
+it has been contracted before the civil authorities. Your marriage
+with Felix Kaulmann is in this country null and void; you are here
+Mademoiselle Eva Dirkmal, nothing more. You can tell Kaulmann that I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span>
+have told you this. I have given him the same information, as he
+wished to free himself from this nominal tie to you. And now,
+farewell; I return to my monastery, to reconcile myself with an
+offended God."</p>
+
+<p>Eva Dirkmal threw herself at the feet of the priest, and covered his
+hands with tears and kisses.</p>
+
+<p>"Put your hand upon my head," she sobbed, "and ask God to bless me."</p>
+
+<p>"My daughter," said the abb&eacute;, "an invincible hand watches over you and
+protects you. May you ever be thus safely guarded."</p>
+
+<p>With these words the priest left the room. He did as he said; he
+sought no further interview with Kaulmann, but went straight to the
+railway, and buried himself in his monastery. The world knew him no
+more.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a>CHAPTER XXX<br />
+<span class="smalltext">MAN AND WIFE</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>Felix lost no time in seeking an interview with Prince Waldemar. He
+preferred to look for him in his own house than to meet him
+accidentally on 'change.</p>
+
+<p>Waldemar did not keep him long waiting, neither did he treat him to
+any display of his superior rank. He received him in his study.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, your highness is occupied with business," said Felix, with the
+airy manner of an intimate friend; but he was secretly astonished to
+see that a man of the prince's high position was actually cutting the
+pages of the pamphlet before him, and underlining with red and blue
+pencil-marks the passages that pleased him most.</p>
+
+<p>The prince laid down the pamphlet, and asked Felix to take a chair.</p>
+
+<p>"I have only this moment heard," continued the banker, "that your
+excellency had arrived in Paris, and I hastened to be the first to pay
+my respects."</p>
+
+<p>"Strange! At this very moment, I, too, was occupying myself with your
+affairs," returned the prince, with a peculiar smile, which Felix
+noted and thought he understood. He tried to put on a jaunty air as he
+made answer:</p>
+
+<p>"I have come as an envoy under the protection of a flag of truce into
+the enemy's country."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span>The prince thought to himself, "The fellow's flag of truce is a
+handkerchief worked with the letter E."</p>
+
+<p>"Even greater powers than we," went on Felix, twirling his hat in his
+fingers with some embarrassment, "have in sudden emergencies
+co-operated, and from being enemies have become fast friends,
+recognizing that to bury the hatchet was for their mutual advantage."</p>
+
+<p>"And may I inquire what is for our mutual advantage?"</p>
+
+<p>"My projected loan."</p>
+
+<p>The prince said nothing, but the smile that played upon his thin lips
+was a sufficient and most irritating answer. Felix began to lose his
+calmness. He rose from his chair, and in his earnestness leaned over
+the table at which the prince was sitting.</p>
+
+<p>"Prince," he said "this loan is for the benefit of the Holy See. You
+are, I know, a good Catholic."</p>
+
+<p>"Who has betrayed my secret?"</p>
+
+<p>"Besides, you are a thorough aristocrat. It must go against your
+highness's feelings to see that while in Hungary a bureaucratic
+minister pillages the Church and puts its revenues in his pocket, a
+band of freebooters throws the patrimony of St. Peter to the mob. All
+this can be prevented by our striking one blow. You will strike it,
+for you are a nobleman in the best sense of the word."</p>
+
+<p>"What else am I?"</p>
+
+<p>"Above all, you are a financier. It cannot escape your keen eye that
+this loan is one of the greatest, the soundest of speculations; for
+you are a prudent man, and you know how to add two and two."</p>
+
+<p>"Have I any other qualifications?"</p>
+
+<p>Waldemar's cold, sarcastic rejoinders did not put Felix out of
+countenance. His face assumed a still<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span> more amiable expression as he
+offered his hand to the prince, saying, in a cordial manner:</p>
+
+<p>"I trust you will be the honored friend of the house of Kaulmann."</p>
+
+<p>These words would be met either by a warm shake of the hand or by a
+box on the ear. He ran the risk, waiting breathlessly for the answer,
+which was different from, and yet worse than, that he expected. The
+prince took up the pamphlet which he had been busy underlining with
+red and blue pencil.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, my excellent brother in the faith, my fellow aristocrat, my
+comrade in finance, and my best friend, just you throw your eye over
+this little brochure, for there you will find my answer. I beg that
+you will take your time."</p>
+
+<p>He handed the pamphlet to Felix, and while that gentleman cast his eye
+over it the prince pared his nails carefully.</p>
+
+<p>Felix laid down the pamphlet. "This purports to be my biography."</p>
+
+<p>"As I think the title-page mentions."</p>
+
+<p>"Your highness is, I presume, the writer?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have given the heads."</p>
+
+<p>"There are all manner of affairs mentioned here in which I have played
+a sorry part by throwing dust in the eyes of the public, principally,
+however, in the Bondavara speculation, in which, it seems, I have
+announced a false balance and a feigned bonus, drawn ten millions out
+of the capital, which capital is now irrecoverably lost by the late
+catastrophe in the mine. It is a terrible indictment against me."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps it is not true?"</p>
+
+<p>"<i>It is true!</i> Your highness is my faithful biographer; but allow me
+to fill up the details of the memoir.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span> The unlooked-for misfortune of
+yesterday can be repaired to-morrow; the unlucky speculation may be
+glossed over if a better takes its place; a small defeat is
+compensated by a great victory. What use does your highness intend to
+make of this brochure?"</p>
+
+<p>"Frankly, I intend, as soon as you declare your new loan, to circulate
+this pamphlet freely on 'change. I shall then set the bears to work,
+so that in no time your shares shall be driven out of the market."</p>
+
+<p>"I guessed as much, and, to be frank, it was on this very account that
+I have come here, to prevent, if I can, such ruin to myself."</p>
+
+<p>Felix tried by continuous winking of his eyes to express his despair.
+He put his right hand into his vest, and in a low voice added:</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps when you see me stretched dead before you your aim will then
+be accomplished."</p>
+
+<p>Prince Waldemar broke into an irrepressible fit of laughter and
+clapped Kaulmann on the shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"I beg of you not to act a farce for my benefit. You did not come here
+to blow your brains out. Nothing of the sort; you came to sell me
+something. You are a ruined speculator, but you still possess one
+jewel of value, a wonderful black carbuncle which you found in the
+coal-mine and got smoothly cut, which you have already sold at a great
+profit, but which is now back on your hands. You are perfectly aware
+that I desire to get this jewel if I can, that I am willing to offer
+all I have for it; and this is why you have come here to-day. Let us
+understand one another. I will treat with you. What is your price?"</p>
+
+<p>The prince threw himself back in his chair, but he let Kaulmann stand
+without again asking him to be seated.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span>The banker gave up his tragic manner, and resumed his customary cool,
+hard, matter-of-fact voice.</p>
+
+<p>"First of all, this;" and he laid his hand upon the pamphlet.</p>
+
+<p>"Good! You shall have it&mdash;a thousand copies and the manuscript. You
+can burn it, unless you care to keep it as a souvenir."</p>
+
+<p>"Secondly," went on Felix, "you must abandon your conspiracy against
+me. During the three days of raising the loan your bears are to keep
+quiet; there are to be no man&#339;uvres. Thirdly, your name must appear in
+the list of subscribers with a good sum after it."</p>
+
+<p>"Good! We shall understand one another. Now listen to my modifications
+of your proposal. On the first day when the shares of the new loan are
+drawn I undertake to keep the bears quiet, but I shall take no shares.
+On the second day I shall also keep quiet, but I shall not give you a
+shove. On the third day I shall take one million shares, and from that
+time I undertake to push your speculation as if I were your best
+friend."</p>
+
+<p>"And why not on the first two days?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will tell you what is to happen on those days. This very day you
+must go to madame and tell her that Prince Theobald's fortune is
+sequestrated and that she can no longer occupy his hotel. Madame was
+once generous enough to return to the prince his palace in the
+Maximilian Strasse, together with all it contained. She will have to
+repeat this act of renunciation and return to her husband's roof. Her
+husband must celebrate this happy event by a splendid entertainment,
+to which he will, as a matter of course, invite his best friend." Here
+the prince laid, with a significant gesture, his little finger on his
+breast. "The friend will take this opportunity to show madame a
+photograph of his summer palace, which is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span> situated on the Lake of
+Constance, and only waits for the presence of its mistress to be
+perfection, while she stands in great need of the lovely breezes of
+the lake to restore her."</p>
+
+<p>"You are really very thoughtful."</p>
+
+<p>"Do not praise me too soon. On the second day you must have an
+explanation with madame. You will tell her that in France a marriage,
+to be legal, must be contracted before the civil magistrate; therefore
+you will go with her before the registrar and have yourself legally
+married."</p>
+
+<p>"But, prince," cried Felix, with a horrified expression upon his face,
+"why should I do that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why?" returned the prince, standing up in his turn, so as to be able
+the better to overwhelm his victim. "Because I wish to defeat your
+little game. You took to yourself a wife in another country, knowing
+you could repudiate her here. It is my wish that madame shall bear
+your name always; otherwise you would have it in your power on the
+fourth day to say to me, 'I gave you what was not mine to give.' I
+shall have the diamond in its proper setting. I shall not remove the
+centre-stone from your wedding-ring; but I shall wear it on <i>my</i>
+finger."</p>
+
+<p>Kaulmann could not conceal his embarrassment. "This whim is
+incomprehensible," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"On the contrary," returned the other, with a devilish sneer, "it is
+quite clear; it simply means that <i>I know you au fond</i>. And now to my
+own affairs. I am desperately in love with one woman, and she detests
+me. She will not even look at me. But she little thinks I know the
+reason of her abhorrence. Your wife is a virtuous woman. You look
+surprised&mdash;naturally. It is no merit of yours that she has remained
+so. Oh, you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span> need not protest! Prince Theobald has told me the whole
+history. Among other things, he made her swear that she would never
+receive me. Poor old fool! He did not act with much knowledge of human
+nature. If he had not interfered it's very likely I should have tired
+of pursuing a woman who did not care for me; but the mystery that
+surrounded her has added to my interest. I adore her, not alone for
+her beauty, her charm, but for her innocence, her goodness. She
+requires nothing to raise her in my estimation; but before the world
+she must take her fitting place. She must have the shield of her
+husband's name, the right to his protection. Now you understand what I
+require of you."</p>
+
+<p>"Prince, your ideas are demoniacal. You wish to bind me to my
+dishonor."</p>
+
+<p>"To your dishonor!" and the prince laughed scornfully. "My good
+Kaulmann, who asked you to come here and sell your honor? Ah, you
+cannot answer that! Never mind, we shall keep our secret; the world
+shall know nothing. In society the head of the house of Kaulmann shall
+be considered an honorable gentleman, an excellent husband, a good
+family man. In the commercial world he will be looked upon as a sound
+financier. Honors will crowd upon him; he will go far. .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. His real
+position will be known to only three people. There, my good friend,
+don't feign so much virtuous indignation. You are overacting, which
+always spoils the effect. I will take it all for granted. Time is
+short; it will be better to make use of it."</p>
+
+<p>This was true. Every moment was precious. Felix abandoned all attempts
+at outraged feelings of honor and the like, and, composing his
+agitated features, held out his hand to the prince. The latter,
+however, did not take it.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span>"There's no need to shake hands over our honorable compact. Take your
+note-book and write down the conditions, and be sure you put the dates
+correctly. To-morrow, if I receive by one o'clock the card of
+invitation to your entertainment, I shall remain away from the
+exchange. The next day I do the same; that is, if I receive <i>before</i>
+one o'clock the official notification that your civil marriage has
+taken place. On the <i>fourth</i> day, if <i>before</i> one o'clock your
+solicitor brings me the news that you have set off to Brussels to
+negotiate the papal loan, and that he hands me the key of your house,
+with the request that I will look after the business in your absence,
+then I shall go down to the exchange, and push your affair as if it
+were my own. Now you may go, sir, and indulge your outraged feelings
+in private."</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXI" id="CHAPTER_XXXI"></a>CHAPTER XXXI<br />
+<span class="smalltext">EVA DIRKMAL</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>Felix Kaulmann felt that he had made good use of his opportunity. All
+would now go well. The prince would no longer avail himself of the
+Bondavara catastrophe to ruin him; on the contrary, his influence
+would stem the panic which the news had, no doubt, already caused in
+the Vienna money-market, and when the papal loan was concluded all
+would be smooth. There was Eveline, of course; but a man such as
+Kaulmann, whose conscience had long since been as withered as was his
+heart, soon found excuses for any ill-doing. No one could blame him
+for the prince's infatuation; it would be only a fool who wouldn't
+take advantage of it, especially one in his situation. A drowning man
+catches at any plank; and as for Eveline, she owed him a debt of
+gratitude. Had he not raised her from the very dust of the coal-pit to
+her present situation, saved her from a brutal husband like the savage
+Saffran, educated her, made her a fit companion for a prince? Better
+women than she would be glad of the elevation that was awaiting her;
+and this reminded him that the Abb&eacute; Samuel's interview must have
+opened the matter, so he went in search of him. The priest, however,
+was not to be found at any of his usual haunts. Felix, therefore,
+repaired to Eveline's hotel; neither was she at home. She had gone to
+the theatre; it was one of her acting nights.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span>Felix drove to the Opera-house. He went first to his wife's box, where
+there was no one but her companion. He took a view of the house. In
+the pit there were numerous <i>claqueurs</i>. In one of the front boxes he
+saw Prince Waldemar. Then he went behind the scenes, for he was known
+as the husband of the prima donna and was allowed access to her
+dressing-room.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline was dressed for her part and waiting to go on. When she saw
+Kaulmann she turned away angrily. Why did he disturb her when she was
+busy with her calling?</p>
+
+<p>"I have only come to wish you good-evening," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"You might have waited until to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"To wish you good-evening? Ha! ha!"</p>
+
+<p>"No; but you know I am always so nervous before I go on&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I only wished to tell you that the cream of Parisian society are
+fighting to get tickets for your concert. Have you reserved one for
+me?" Felix was full of amiability and admiration.</p>
+
+<p>"I have reserved none."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah! And why not?" He said this in a soft, complaining voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Because I have given up the concert. It shall not take place."</p>
+
+<p>The face of her husband suddenly lengthened. "Will you kindly tell me
+the reason of this change?"</p>
+
+<p>"After I have come off. My scene has come. I must go." So saying, she
+left the room and went to the wings.</p>
+
+<p>Felix followed to a point from which he could see his wife on the
+stage and have a general view of the house.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline played badly and sang worse. Her voice<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span> trembled, she was out
+of tune, and her runs and <i>roulades</i> were imperfect. She was evidently
+nervous. Nevertheless, she was applauded to the echo, the <i>claque</i>
+worked hard; and Prince Waldemar, from his box, clapped as if he had
+been paid for it. When she had finished her last song a shower of
+bouquets and wreaths came from the prince's box and fell at her feet.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline left them on the stage and hurried away to her dressing-room.
+Kaulmann followed her.</p>
+
+<p>"Why didn't you pick up those lovely bouquets?" he asked, carelessly.</p>
+
+<p>"I felt I didn't deserve any. I know I did badly to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"But surely for the sake of the giver you should have taken one of the
+bouquets."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, you would like that."</p>
+
+<p>"I?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. All those flowers came from you&mdash;at least, so I have always
+understood."</p>
+
+<p>"Pardon me, <i>ma ch&egrave;re</i>. Didn't you notice that they all came from the
+side box? Didn't you recognize who was in that box?"</p>
+
+<p>"I never looked."</p>
+
+<p>"It was Prince Waldemar."</p>
+
+<p>"The man who is your enemy&mdash;who wants to ruin you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, that is not so! He has quite changed. He is now <i>our</i> best
+friend."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Our</i> friend? Whom do you include in 'our'?"</p>
+
+<p>"You, as well as myself."</p>
+
+<p>"Thanks; but I decline my share."</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid you will find it difficult to stand aloof, for I consider
+Prince Waldemar as my best friend, and henceforth my house is open to
+him as to a brother."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a></span>"As you please. My house shall be shut in his face."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry, but your words oblige me to break a disagreeable piece of
+news to you. But I see you are busy; you don't take any interest&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Go on talking," returned Eveline, who was standing before the
+looking-glass washing the paint off her face. "I am listening."</p>
+
+<p>"For the future, I regret to say, you will not have a house of your
+own. The affairs of your friend, Prince Theobald, have been
+sequestrated; his property is now in the hands of trustees. I need not
+tell you, for I am sure you have known all along, that the hotel you
+occupy, together with all your expenses, has been paid for by him.
+This, naturally, is at an end. In my circumstances I could not afford
+to give you a separate establishment; we will, therefore, be obliged
+to live together, and it follows naturally that I shall expect my wife
+to receive as her guests <i>my friends</i>, and to make them welcome."</p>
+
+<p>Eveline had laid aside her queenly robes; she now took off her diadem,
+and as she slowly unfastened her bracelets she turned and faced Felix.</p>
+
+<p>"And do you think," she said, "that when I leave my hotel I cannot get
+for myself a garret somewhere, where there will be a door with a
+strong bolt, with which I can bar the entrance of any unpleasant
+visitors?"</p>
+
+<p>Felix looked at her in amazement; he constrained himself to take a
+more friendly tone.</p>
+
+<p>"I must call your attention to one fact. We are in Paris, and the
+French marital law is strict. A wife must dwell under her husband's
+roof. She must go where he goes. She must obey him."</p>
+
+<p>Eveline was now busy undoing the gold sandals which bound her feet.
+She looked steadily at Kaulmann, with her eyes glowing like lamps.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span>"I must call your attention," she said, "to one fact. We are in Paris,
+and according to the French law those persons who have been married
+before the altar, and not before the civil authorities, are not
+considered legally married, and that, therefore, our marriage is null
+and void."</p>
+
+<p>Kaulmann sprang to his feet as if he had been bitten by a tarantula.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you saying?" he cried, in a voice that was almost a shriek.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline had loosened the golden sandals. She stood before Felix in her
+bare feet, and threw him the sandals.</p>
+
+<p>"These belong to you. I am once more Eva Dirkmal. I belong to myself."</p>
+
+<p>"Who has told you this?" stammered the banker, pale with rage.</p>
+
+<p>"The Abb&eacute; Samuel, who advised you to treat me in the same manner."</p>
+
+<p>Kaulmann felt the room going round.</p>
+
+<p>"And now," continued Eveline, with a dignified motion of her hand, "I
+must remind you that this is the dressing-room of a young girl."</p>
+
+<p>Felix did not wait to have his dismissal repeated; he took his hat and
+went without another word. He ran away, and he ran so fast that he
+took no heed where he was going till he stumbled and fell.</p>
+
+<p>All was over; he had played his last card and lost. Everything was
+gone; there was no more help. He had two courses open to him: he might
+put a pistol to his head, and so end the drama, or he might take all
+the money in his counting-house and fly. He chose the last.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXII" id="CHAPTER_XXXII"></a>CHAPTER XXXII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">CRUSHED</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>Eveline felt as if she had been given new life. She was no longer
+married, and yet she was not a widow. She had to shed no tears over
+happiness that had vanished, no regrets for domestic joys. Her heart
+was full of newly awakened desires, hopes she hardly dared to confess
+to herself, dreams that delighted while they embarrassed her&mdash;a
+delicious riddle that she feared to guess. Next day, however, when she
+heard that Kaulmann had absconded and would never return, she
+recognized fully that her chains had fallen off.</p>
+
+<p>When the caged bird has escaped into the open air of heaven, does he
+ever regret his gilded cage and all its luxurious comforts or the
+tender endearments of his owner? The bird enjoys his freedom, and
+rejoices he is no longer a slave. It may be that wilder and stronger
+birds tear him in pieces; that the frost and rain may chill his body,
+unused to exposure. He cares not. He wings his flight still higher; he
+seeks for a branch; he cooes to his lady-love; he is happy.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline never for one moment reflected that she was in any way
+implicated in the fall of Kaulmann and the shame that attended his
+ruin. She had no idea that her name was bandied about. She who had
+been as a queen, who had been so admired, had such a <i>succ&egrave;s</i>! What
+was to become of her now? She belongs to no one. No<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span> one knows
+anything of her past; but it is pretty safe to prophesy her future.
+She will have another protector. Of course; but who will he be? Which
+of her many admirers? She has a legion of adorers from which to
+choose.</p>
+
+<p>This was the talk of the clubs and the gossip of society. While
+Eveline sat in her room, rejoicing at her new life of freedom, an idea
+suddenly came into her head. She looked for Arpad's visiting-card,
+ordered her carriage, and drove out to visit the Belenyis. They lived
+some little way from Paris, in the suburbs, where houses can still be
+had with rooms on the ground floor. Madame Belenyi liked to live on
+the ground floor. The house she had lost was of this sort, and it had
+the advantage that, having her own kitchen, she could cook for her
+son, and feel sure he was not dining at some tavern in bad company.
+Unless on special occasions Arpad invariably came home to dine with
+his mother; he would not have missed doing so for a splendid feast. He
+thought there was nothing to compare with her dishes of pig's ear and
+delicately cooked vegetables.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline's coachman found it hard to make out the narrow little street
+in the neighborhood of Montmartre, where the Belenyis had established
+themselves. Eveline would not let the carriage go farther than the
+corner; there she got out, and, accompanied by her footman, walked up
+the street, looking for the right house. It was an old fashioned
+cottage, in which Madame Belenyi had hired two rooms divided by a
+kitchen. A girl who was working in the garden showed Eveline where the
+young gentleman lived. As Eveline pushed open the kitchen-door very
+gently she noticed that the door of the inner room opened suddenly and
+a woman looked out. This was undoubtedly Arpad's mother, who was
+curious to see who had come to visit her son.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span>Eveline went on her toes to the door of the opposite apartment, and
+noiselessly turned the handle; she wanted to surprise Arpad.</p>
+
+<p>His room was the picture of comfort and order. It was easy to see how
+carefully it was kept by his mother. The table, the walls, were
+crowded with handsome pictures and ornaments, the gift of different
+persons&mdash;cups, wood-carvings, antique weapons, classical paintings;
+the windows were supplied with plants in bloom; there were bookcases
+full of books. Everything was well arranged; there was taste and
+comfort, and Arpad liked to be at home better than anywhere else. The
+hired piano was from Erard's manufactory, and was now open. Arpad was
+sitting with his back to it, brush in hand; he was painting. The
+pianoforte-player was also a painter. Artists, many of them, indulge
+in these freaks. One of our most distinguished portrait-painters loves
+to torture his neighbors by scratching like a cat upon the strings of
+a violin; so also a well-known musician spends his time writing feeble
+verses; and a third, who is a real poet, produces unsightly
+excrescences in marble and terra-cotta.</p>
+
+<p>What was Arpad painting?</p>
+
+<p>Eveline stepped softly behind his back, but the rustle of her silk
+dress betrayed her presence.</p>
+
+<p>Arpad turned scarlet, shoved the picture into a drawer, and, getting
+up quickly, confronted his visitor, who had only time to see that it
+was a portrait he was painting.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, it is you," he stammered, in an embarrassed voice. "I thought it
+was my mother."</p>
+
+<p>"Aha, you are doing something you should not! Your mother does not
+allow you to paint; isn't that it? Well, it is a silly thing, I must
+say, for a pianoforte-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span>player to spend his time painting; and what is
+the subject?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, nothing&mdash;a flower!"</p>
+
+<p>("What a lie!" thought Eveline; "it was a portrait.")</p>
+
+<p>"Then if it is a flower, give it to me."</p>
+
+<p>"I should rather not."</p>
+
+<p>"But if it is only a flower?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am not going to give it to you."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be so cross. Won't you ask me to sit down?"</p>
+
+<p>Arpad was really vexed. Why had she come to disturb him just at this
+moment? Any other time she would have been welcome. This beginning
+spoiled the happy hour; for the picture was not Eveline's portrait.</p>
+
+<p>"Sit near me, else I shall think you are afraid of me. I expected that
+you would have come to see me, to find fault with me for my
+performance yesterday evening. Tell me frankly&mdash;didn't I sing badly?"</p>
+
+<p>"Very badly," returned Arpad, discontentedly. "You are going back
+instead of forward; and you seem to forget all you learn. I was quite
+ashamed of you. And your acting! I thought I was looking at an
+automaton."</p>
+
+<p>"To tell you the truth, I was in a miserable state of mind; I had
+several domestic troubles. I am separated from Kaulmann."</p>
+
+<p>"That was no reason to sing false; he wasn't worth risking your
+engagement for, and playing in such a perfunctory manner&mdash;singing,
+too, all out of tune. You never troubled yourself much about him."
+(Arpad knew nothing of what had happened to Kaulmann; the news had not
+penetrated to Montmartre.) "And, at all events, you should have had
+the discretion not to order a shower of bouquets when you were doing
+so badly; it doesn't look well."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span>Eveline was very much wounded at this unjust accusation. She answered,
+almost crying:</p>
+
+<p>"I beg to assure you I have never ordered bouquets to be thrown to
+me."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it was one of your adorers, that crazy prince. It is all the
+same thing. To be handsome, to sing badly, and to receive wreaths,
+those are three sins rolled into one. The world cannot distinguish
+between them."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well; go on finding fault, go on scolding, my excellent old
+master. What else have I done that is displeasing to you?"</p>
+
+<p>Arpad began to laugh, and held out his hand to Eveline.</p>
+
+<p>"Forgive me," he said. "My roughness is only the grumble of the
+preceptor; it is over. Now we shall be young again and chat. Shall I
+fetch the draught-board? Shall we play for love or for nothing?"</p>
+
+<p>This tone warmed Eveline's heart. She laughed, and slapped Arpad's
+hand, which he did not like.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you going to do now you have got rid of Kaulmann?" he said.
+"Will you marry again? Is another man ready for the yoke? Men are as
+plentiful as blackberries. Or are you going to preserve the autonomy
+of the actress?"</p>
+
+<p>Eveline cast down her eyes and grew suddenly grave.</p>
+
+<p>"I have no one," she said, sorrowfully.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, that does not mean that there are not plenty you can have if you
+like."</p>
+
+<p>"It means the same thing. I shall belong to no one. I shall never take
+a husband who is above me in station. Do you see, the girl who went
+barefoot in the coal-mine must stay in her own class. If I could give
+any one a place in my heart, it would be to one who was as free and
+independent as I am. He should owe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span> nothing to great people; he should
+depend absolutely on his own genius; live absolutely by his own work.
+He should be esteemed not for his money nor his rank, but for his
+talent; he should glory in being an artist."</p>
+
+<p>This was a frank confession for any one who understood. Arpad
+understood; he became more discontented.</p>
+
+<p>"H'm! Then I am afraid you are walking in a path that leads you away
+from such a man as you describe."</p>
+
+<p>"What <i>do you</i> mean?"</p>
+
+<p>Arpad got up from his chair. "Artists have many strange ideas; these
+are inseparable from the artistic temperament. Do you see that antique
+goblet there in the centre of the table? It was a present to me from
+Count Demidoff on the occasion of a concert. It was an heirloom in his
+family. It is a wonderful relic; a classical work. Princes, generals,
+rulers have drunk out of it. I have a great respect for it, and I keep
+my visitors' cards in it. But I never drink out of it; I prefer a
+common glass, for which I have paid fifteen pence, but out of which no
+one has drunk but myself."</p>
+
+<p>Eveline flushed deeply at this cruel speech.</p>
+
+<p>Arpad had, however, resolved to make the matter still clearer.</p>
+
+<p>"You say," he went on, "that you would like to find an artist, a
+genius, a proud, independent man; him you would choose for your
+husband! And you imagine that a man of this type would submit to sit
+by your side as you drove in the Champs &Eacute;lys&eacute;es, knowing that the
+people driving behind in other carriages or walking along the path
+were saying, 'There is the curled and scented Hyperion, but the steeds
+that draw him are not paid for by <i>his</i> muse, they are the
+blood-horses of Prince X&mdash;&mdash;; and his wife is not content with the
+glory of <i>his</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span> name, she wears the diamonds provided by Marquis
+G&mdash;&mdash;.' Do you think you will easily find such a husband?"</p>
+
+<p>Poor Eveline! She tried to defend herself against this cruel boy.</p>
+
+<p>"But I am ready to throw away all splendor&mdash;everything that is not
+earned by my honest labor. I wish to live by my art, to be what I
+am&mdash;an actress. I would work night and day to perfect myself. I do not
+want any other distinction but that of an artist."</p>
+
+<p>Arpad then told her what she had never heard until now. Children and
+fools speak the truth, and in Arpad there was a mixture of both; he
+was a child in years, and a fool as regarded the claims of art.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear Eveline, you are not an artist; you will never be an actress;
+you are one of the step-daughters of the muses. There are many such,
+to whom have been given great capabilities; one only is
+wanting&mdash;courage. You sing wonderfully well, you act with feeling,
+with humor&mdash;<i>at home</i>, before three people; but so soon as the lights
+of the proscenium are lit your voice grows weak, you sing false, you
+see and hear nothing, and you act like a wooden doll. This is called
+stage-fright, and it is <i>never cured</i>; it has ruined more brilliant
+careers than the critics have. You shake your head and appeal to your
+former triumphs. Don't deceive yourself; I know the machinery of the
+stage well, and how artificial thunder and lightning are manufactured.
+At every performance you gain a triumph; you receive thunders of
+applause, mountains of flowers. The morning after your performance
+your breakfast-table is covered with newspapers teeming with laudatory
+criticisms. This is all gold-dust, and will only last as long as some
+rich admirer pays the piper. But try the experiment of closing your
+doors to your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</a></span> wealthy patrons, and step on the boards with no help
+but your own talents; ask to be applauded for your own sake. Then you
+will learn the price of the entertainment, and that the critic's
+praise is only to be bought."</p>
+
+<p>Eveline's head sank. She knew that every word he said was true. Arpad
+viewed the matter not so much from the artistic side as from his
+youthful, ardent nature. He was indignant against the fashions of the
+world; he was indignant that Eveline should have lent herself to these
+low intrigues, and so taken the place of better artists, better
+musicians, better actresses; but in his heart he was sorry for her.
+She had been kind to him; she had never offended him. Why was he so
+cruel to her? It was due to the petulance of his boy's nature. Why had
+<i>she</i> disturbed him when he was happy at his painting? Why had she
+asked him questions? What was it to her whether it were a flower, and,
+if it were a flower, why should she want it? And when he put out his
+hand, why should she tap it in that intimate manner? The picture was
+not painted for her.</p>
+
+<p>"What shall I do? What am I fit for?" asked Eveline, with a downcast
+air. Her beautiful eyes were full of tears; she was crushed to the
+earth.</p>
+
+<p>The young man considered a few minutes what he should answer. As she
+had asked to drink the chalice she should do so to the dregs.</p>
+
+<p>"You have two courses open to you, for I would not advise you to take
+a third and return to your husband. If I were a woman I would prefer
+to lie stretched out at the morgue than be the joint possessor of that
+man's ill-gotten wealth. We therefore have only the two courses to
+consider. Either you continue on the stage as before, take the bought
+applause and the flowers paid for by your noble patrons, or return
+from whence you came, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</a></span> be content to shove wheelbarrows for the
+rest of your life."</p>
+
+<p>Eveline rose from her seat, drew her wrap round her shoulders, and,
+with a low, constrained voice, murmured:</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you." Then she silently left the room.</p>
+
+<p>Tears came into Arpad's eyes. But why had she come here? Why had she
+disturbed him when he was happy painting? The moment she had closed
+the door he returned to the table and took from the drawer <i>his
+flower</i>, to see if it had sustained any injury. It was in one sense a
+flower&mdash;a fair child with blue eyes!</p>
+
+<p>The door opened again; the picture was hastily concealed. No one,
+however, came in. Arpad's mother spoke through the half-opened door.</p>
+
+<p>"Arpad, my son, who was that beautiful lady who was here just now? A
+princess, was she not?"</p>
+
+<p>"She was a poor woman who came to beg from me."</p>
+
+<p>"H'm! Surprising! What extraordinary beggars there are in this
+city&mdash;beggars dressed in silk, with a Persian shawl for a wrap. Did
+you give her anything, Arpad?"</p>
+
+<p>"Mother, I had nothing to give her."</p>
+
+<p>"You have done well, my boy." And she shut the door and went back to
+her own room to finish stitching at her son's shirt-collar.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXXIII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">CHARCOAL</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>Eveline had resolved to make a great effort. She recognized that there
+was truth in what Arpad had said; only in one particular he was wrong:
+he had not measured the gulf between "can" and "must."</p>
+
+<p>She felt herself possessed by sudden energy; her resolution to succeed
+grew in proportion as her chance of success was less. Many people have
+found strength in the thought, "If I have no one to care for me, I, at
+least, am master of myself." She would carve her own future; she
+<i>would</i> be an actress. She would show the world what was in her. She
+would nerve herself to courage before the footlights. The very
+circumstances which had deprived her of all courage would now give her
+strength; she would sing to the public as if she were alone. The crowd
+should go for nothing, except in being sharers in her triumph.</p>
+
+<p>She spent a miserable night. The luxury which surrounded her, the
+works of art which lay upon her tables, in her cabinets, the costly
+vases, seemed silently to reproach her; the cups set with precious
+stones recalled Arpad's words. Better to be a glass of fifteen sous
+than a goblet of silver!</p>
+
+<p>At last sleep fell upon her tired eyelids, and in the morning she
+awoke refreshed and full of fresh energy.</p>
+
+<p>This day the opera in which she had sung the day be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</a></span>fore yesterday was
+to be repeated. The rehearsal was to take place in the morning. At
+this rehearsal, then, she would show what she could do; she would look
+at no one; she would sing like a blind nightingale.</p>
+
+<p>She ordered her carriage. When she reached the theatre she told the
+servants to return for her in two hours.</p>
+
+<p>As she entered the vestibule the stage-manager came to meet her, and
+told her that her part had been given to another singer.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline flew into a passion. Why had it been taken away from her, and
+in such a manner, without asking her permission? Such a want of proper
+deference towards her!</p>
+
+<p>The man regretted the circumstance, but either could not or would not
+offer any explanation. Would she like to see the manager?</p>
+
+<p>Eveline, in a very excited frame of mind, went to look for him; but he
+was not in his office. His secretary, however, handed her a letter,
+which the manager had desired him to send to her address.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline took the letter, and when she was in the hall she broke the
+seal and read it. It was a dismissal, immediate, discourteous, on the
+grounds that she was quite unequal to fill the position of prima
+donna.</p>
+
+<p>How she got out of the theatre and into the street she did not know;
+she came to herself when she saw the crowd of passers-by staring at
+her. She felt that it was no wonder they looked at her. She was
+walking like one who was dead; her body moved forward, but her mind
+was lifeless. It was strange to feel one's self thus annihilated.</p>
+
+<p>Then it was true; the cruel boy was right. The clouds were golden only
+so long as the sun shone. All<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</a></span> her splendor had been on the outside.
+There was nothing tangible; nothing came from herself. The whole thing
+had been a <i>fata morgana</i>; it had now vanished forever.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline wandered, she didn't know where. Suddenly she found herself
+opposite her own house. She would not have thought it strange if some
+one had told her at the door of the hotel that no one of her name
+lived there, that she had been dead and buried years ago. She thought
+she was too stunned to feel either astonishment or pain, but her
+composure soon gave way under a new trial.</p>
+
+<p>She walked up-stairs, still in a dream, and through her apartment
+until she reached her dressing-room. When she entered it she saw,
+stretched in an arm-chair, Prince Waldemar.</p>
+
+<p>He was faultlessly attired, with a most elegant <i>tournure</i>, carefully
+arranged hair, and fair whiskers, hanging down on both sides in what
+were then called "cutlets"; his mustache was pointed and waxed.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline called out, in a voice of fear, mixed with anger:</p>
+
+<p>"May I ask, sir, what you want here?"</p>
+
+<p>"I was waiting to see you," said the prince, with well-bred
+nonchalance; but he never rose from the seat in which he lounged so
+comfortably.</p>
+
+<p>"Who gave you permission to enter my room?"</p>
+
+<p>"I asked for no permission."</p>
+
+<p>"What right have you to intrude yourself here?"</p>
+
+<p>With a lazy air the prince put his hand into the pocket of his coat
+and drew out a red paper like a bill; this he handed to Eveline with a
+slight motion of his head, which conveyed, "This is the cause of my
+presence here."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</a></span>Eveline took the paper, which trembled in her hand.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it? I do not understand it."</p>
+
+<p>"It is, however, very intelligible," said the prince, at last getting
+out of the chair. "The creditors of Kaulmann have seized your things.
+Kaulmann was careless or thoughtless enough&mdash;I really cannot say
+which&mdash;to announce that what belonged to his wife was <i>his</i>, and
+therefore his creditors have seized everything here, believing it is
+his. During your absence this morning they got the law officers to
+break open your door and to take possession. They affixed a notice
+outside, inviting all passers-by to come in and inspect the things for
+sale. In consequence of this invitation I am here. I came in to look
+about me. You will observe that there are government seals upon
+everything. I am here in the right of purchaser."</p>
+
+<p>Eveline looked round, and saw that what he said was true.</p>
+
+<p>"But, sir, it is impossible. Kaulmann knew perfectly that nothing here
+was his property."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure of that. It was gross negligence on your lawyer's side; he
+should have protected your interests better. Every one knows that
+Kaulmann brought the goods here; it was supposed that he bought them.
+In any case, he cannot testify in your favor. A misfortune has
+happened to him. When he saw that the police were after him he jumped
+out of the railway-carriage he was in. Unfortunately, he broke his
+neck and died immediately."</p>
+
+<p>Eveline fell back upon the sofa and hid her face in her hands.</p>
+
+<p>"If you wish to shed a few tears to the memory of Kaulmann I will
+retire to the window," remarked Prince Waldemar, with ironical
+courtesy.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</a></span>Eveline made him no answer. In her mind everything was in confusion;
+she could think of nothing. Let everything go; what did it matter?
+Should she institute a law-suit to recover her property? Should she
+bring witnesses to prove that this ornament, these costly hangings,
+these rich carpets were not the property of her husband, but the gifts
+to her from a gray-beard&mdash;the most upright, the dearest of men, a
+Hungarian magnate, who had adopted her, an actress, to be his own
+child, with no self-seeking, no sinful gratification, but out of pure
+affection? No one would credit her story. She would tell it to no one.
+She would not subject the name of her benefactor to the jeers and
+laughter of the incredulous. Sooner let everything go.</p>
+
+<p>"I am not weeping, sir," she said to the prince. "If you have anything
+further to tell me I am ready to listen."</p>
+
+<p>"I could tell you many other unfortunate circumstances," returned
+Waldemar, leaning against the fireplace with the silver grate. "For
+one thing, Prince Theobald, your former patron, has been placed by his
+family under legal restraint, and cannot take any active part in the
+affairs of this world."</p>
+
+<p>"I know that."</p>
+
+<p>"The shares which he took as a provision for you in the Bondavara
+Company have been also sequestrated by law."</p>
+
+<p>"That has been told to me already."</p>
+
+<p>"This loss, however, has a compensation: those shares are now almost
+worthless. Since the colliery explosion, and the impossibility of
+extinguishing the fire in the mine, they have fallen to nothing."</p>
+
+<p>"That does not concern me."</p>
+
+<p>"I have not quite finished. The clergyman who was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</a></span> your friend, whose
+dreams were of a bishop's mitre, has returned to his monastery."</p>
+
+<p>"I have known that some time."</p>
+
+<p>"You seem to have learned everything. Perhaps you know also that your
+manager has cancelled your engagement and given your part to another
+actress?"</p>
+
+<p>"Here is the letter," answered Eveline, drawing a crumpled paper from
+her pocket. And then she looked at the prince with proud contempt. She
+was wondrously beautiful. "Have you taken the trouble to come here to
+tell me all this?" she asked, her eyes gleaming not through tears but
+with indignation.</p>
+
+<p>"I did not come here on that account," answered the prince, sitting
+down on the sofa and bending over her. "I came to speak to you
+frankly. Do you not see that the whole fabric upon which your golden
+dreams were built has crumbled? The Bondavara mine is on fire; the
+shares are falling; the prime-minister is disgraced; the prince is
+under restraint; your husband is dead; your property will be sold by
+auction; you are dismissed from the theatre. The five acts of the
+drama are played out. Let us applaud the finish, if we are so minded,
+and let us begin again. I can give you back your shares. I can get you
+a palace in the Maximilian Strasse. I can buy back for you all your
+seized goods&mdash;your furniture, your diamonds, your horses. I can
+arrange matters with the manager of the theatre; you shall be
+reinstated as prima donna on better terms than before. I can give you
+a far greater position than you have ever enjoyed, and I can offer you
+a truer, more self-sacrificing, more adoring lover than you have
+possessed. His name is Waldemar Sondersheim." He bowed low before her.</p>
+
+<p>Eveline looked with intense gravity at the top of his boots.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</a></span>Waldemar was now certain that he was master of the situation. He took
+from his waistcoat-pocket a watch, and pressed it into her hand.</p>
+
+<p>"My sweetest love, my time is precious. I am expected at the
+stock-exchange. The Kaulmann speculation has to be crushed. It is just
+twelve o'clock. I give you one hour to think over what I have said and
+to decide your own fate. I am content to wait until then; it is only
+one word I ask for&mdash;yes or no."</p>
+
+<p>Eveline gave him a yet shorter answer. She dashed the timepiece which
+he had put into her hand with such force on the floor that it flew
+into a hundred pieces. That was her answer!</p>
+
+<p>Prince Waldemar laughed, put his hand in his left-hand
+waistcoat-pocket, took out another watch, and said, dryly:</p>
+
+<p>"I expected just such an answer, and therefore I brought with me
+another watch. I beg of you to break this one also. I shall be only
+too happy to provide you with a third."</p>
+
+<p>This time, however, Eveline did not take the timepiece in her hand.
+She sprang to her feet, and, pointing with her hand towards the door,
+cried out:</p>
+
+<p>"If you have bought my things, take everything away; but the apartment
+is still mine. <i>Go!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>Prince Waldemar looked at her haughtily, although he was still
+smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear lady, this is easily said; but reflect a moment. What will
+become of you if you reject me? You have no other expedient."</p>
+
+<p>"I have a shelter," returned the girl, bitterly, "to which I can turn,
+and that is charcoal."</p>
+
+<p>Prince Waldemar made her a low bow, and, without uttering another
+word, took his hat and left her.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</a></span>A woman who appeals to charcoal needs no man's friendship. In the
+metropolis of fashion many poor wretches have found their last refuge
+there.</p>
+
+<p>That evening Eveline paid a visit to her jeweller. She brought him a
+pair of diamond ear-rings. They were all she had; her ornaments had
+been seized by the law officers. She sold these to the jeweller, and
+left the purchase-money in his care, to be spent in a yearly sum on
+her little brother's grave in P&egrave;re la Chaise, to have sods of green
+grass round it, and have fresh flowers placed there on All-Souls' Day.
+The jeweller promised, for she had been a good customer. She told him
+she was going to travel. Apparently it was a long journey, for the
+next morning a bundle was found by the police on the banks of the
+Seine. It was tied up in a cashmere shawl, which her maid recognized
+as belonging to the lost actress.</p>
+
+<p>Prince Waldemar offered a large reward to whoever found the body. But
+it was never found, for the bundle laid at the water-side was only a
+pretence; and while every one was dragging the river, Eveline had kept
+her word and sought refuge in the charcoal pit.</p>
+
+<p>Prince Waldemar never heard of her again. He and his household wore
+mourning in memory of her for six weeks.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXXIV<br />
+<span class="smalltext">CSANTA'S LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>We have now to go back to the Bondavara Company before the crash came,
+and when the shares stood at sixty over par, and looked as if they
+would go even higher. But Csanta was satisfied to sell at sixty. There
+could be too much of even a good thing. One should not be too
+grasping, and sixty thousand gulden is a nice profit in one year. He
+thought he would act as Spitzhase had often recommended, and sell out
+his shares in small quantities until they were all gone. It would add
+to the pleasure not to do it all at once.</p>
+
+<p>For some time the quotations had been stationary. He was accustomed to
+go every morning to the caf&eacute; and read the exchange column, and had
+always seen the same quotation&mdash;"Bondavara, sixty above par."</p>
+
+<p>On the morning of the day upon which Csanta had arranged to send the
+first instalment of his shares to Vienna he went to his caf&eacute;, and,
+while waiting to be served, took up the first newspaper that came to
+hand. As usual he commenced by reading it backwards, beginning at the
+exchange column. The first thing that caught his eye was, "Bondavara,
+sixty <i>below par</i>."</p>
+
+<p>A printer's error; and a very serious one! The printer was drunk when
+he printed it. The fellow ought to be put in prison. If there is any
+police in Vienna, or justice in the government, such a thing should
+not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</a></span> pass unpunished; it is enough to shake the nerves of any man not
+made of iron. If this is not a disturbance of the peace, I don't know
+what you can call it.</p>
+
+<p>Then he took another paper. The same mistake! He went through the
+round of the daily papers, and found that all the printers must have
+chosen this day for a drinking-bout, as each one made the same error
+between <i>above</i> and <i>below</i> par.</p>
+
+<p>Csanta was convinced that some great mistake had been made; but as he
+could not rest until it was cleared up, he telegraphed to Spitzhase.</p>
+
+<p>A telegram from Spitzhase crossed his. It ran:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Great misfortune. The Bondavara mine is on fire.
+Great panic. The shares are sixty below par. Every one
+is selling."</p></div>
+
+<p>Csanta cursed and swore with rage. "The devil take him! Sixty below
+par; a loss of sixty thousand gulden! That means for me extinction.
+Where is the cord and the nail? Let me hang myself! Six casks full of
+silver gone! I shall murder some one! I must go to Vienna. I shall
+knock the whole place about their ears like a card house if I don't
+get back my silver. I didn't take my money to Vienna to leave it
+there."</p>
+
+<p>He foamed like a madman, dragged his bonds out of his safe, threw them
+on the floor and stamped upon them.</p>
+
+<p>"Villains! knaves! paper beggars! It is you who have eaten up my
+silver crowns! You have swallowed my sixty thousand silver crowns! I
+will tear you in pieces! I will cut my crowns out of your stomachs! I
+will kill you dead!"</p>
+
+<p>The upsetting of his safe had disturbed his papers.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</a></span> He suddenly
+caught sight of a deed. He looked at it closely. His mood changed.</p>
+
+<p>"What a fool I have been. I don't lose as much as my finger-nail. Here
+is my young friend's signature. How lucky I didn't destroy this, or
+light my pipe with it. He binds himself <i>at any time</i>, subject to my
+desire, to take over a thousand shares <i>at par</i>. Ah, well done,
+Csanta! You are an old bird not easily caught with chaff. I am saved,
+thanks to my own sagacity, to my prudent, far-seeing nose that smells
+danger ahead. This letter covers all loss. So far as I am concerned,
+stones may fall from the sky. I am safe."</p>
+
+<p>He folded the shares tenderly, and locked them and the precious letter
+safely up in his safe. He then sat down and wrote to his dear young
+friend in Paris. Fortunately he had the address. He asked him
+politely&mdash;seeing how the matter stood&mdash;to send at once some accredited
+person to take over the bonds, according to their previous agreement,
+and to arrange in what manner the money should be paid. As for the
+outstanding interest, some compromise or arrangement could be made.</p>
+
+<p>A week passed, and no answer came; but, after all, it is more than a
+cat's jump from X&mdash;&mdash; to Paris.</p>
+
+<p>During the week he received twice every day, morning and evening, a
+telegram from Spitzhase pressing him to part with his shares, for
+every day they were falling ten per cent. lower. At the end of the
+week they had gone down still more. The bears had won the day.</p>
+
+<p>Csanta never moved a finger. He hugged himself in his own safety; and
+as for the others, their shares might go to the bottom of the sea for
+all he cared. He had no shares. They were all Kaulmann's. "Take them
+away, and give me back my silver!" This was his cry. "Rogue! villain!
+I have you by the neck!"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[Pg 398]</a></span>The accounts that he read of the sudden collapse of the company and
+the ruin of the shareholders did not in the least disturb him. The
+losses of others could not affect him. On the ninth day, however, he
+began to tremble. The morning's paper contained an account,
+telegraphed from Paris, of the flight of the banker, Felix Kaulmann,
+leaving his affairs in the uttermost confusion. This was succeeded by
+a second telegram, announcing that the banker, Kaulmann, seeing that
+the officers of police were on his track, had thrown himself from the
+window of the railway-carriage, and had been killed instantaneously.</p>
+
+<p>Csanta narrowly missed an apoplectic stroke. When he came to he
+telegraphed to Spitzhase to sell all his shares for what they would
+fetch.</p>
+
+<p>Spitzhase answered by return:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"Too late; they are quoted at <i>seventy</i>, but this is
+only nominal. There are neither buyers nor sellers.
+The mine is gone; the railway is gone; everything is
+gone. Why didn't you part with them a week ago, when I
+advised you? Now you can put your shares in the fire,
+and cook chestnuts at the blaze."</p></div>
+
+<p>"All is over with me!" sobbed Csanta. "Let me get home; let me lie
+down and die! I cannot live! I shall not be alive in three days!"</p>
+
+<p>He took leave of his acquaintances; he had no friends. He told them
+they need not be afraid, he would do himself no injury. He was simply
+dying of grief, just as a man might die of sickness.</p>
+
+<p>All gone!</p>
+
+<p>Some compassionate souls had pity on the old man and took him home. If
+he had been alone he had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[Pg 399]</a></span> never found his own house. Once arrived
+there, he insisted on going down to his cellar, to see with his own
+eyes if it were not some hideous dream, from which he would wake and
+find his beloved casks in their old places. When he saw all were gone,
+he set up a fearful cry, "Fool! fool! fool!" and fell forward on his
+face.</p>
+
+<p>They carried him up-stairs, tenderly undressed him as if he were a
+child, and put him to bed. He shrieked for a priest, so they fetched
+him one. He made his confession, and received the sacrament.</p>
+
+<p>His lawyer then appeared on the scene, and his last will was written
+out and duly signed. He had still something to leave. There were his
+houses, the whole street front; the church into which no one came, on
+whose threshold between the stones the grass grew thick, in whose
+court-yard the school-boys played ball on Thursday half-holidays.</p>
+
+<p>The church, notwithstanding, was endowed with a priest, a verger, and
+a bell-ringer. The priest should say mass, the bell-ringer should ring
+the bell, the verger should open the door <i>every day</i>; just as a
+hundred years ago, when through the open church doors a stream of men
+passed, with silver buttons on their jackets, and women with long silk
+veils. The old man now dying is the last descendant left on this earth
+of the old Greek traders. The church shall remain standing in memory
+of them.</p>
+
+<p>The house next door to his own he bequeathed to the widow, who was the
+daughter of the last Greek. This woman and he had quarrelled long ago.
+God alone can decide the justice of a quarrel that has to do with
+paper money, which to-day is worth a great deal and to-morrow not a
+penny. Therefore, he bequeathed to her and her son the heap of cursed,
+worthless papers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[Pg 400]</a></span> called shares in the Bondavara Company, which have
+caused his unexpected death. They shall have these papers, whether for
+good or ill.</p>
+
+<p>After he had made these depositions and arranged his affairs his will
+was sealed and inscribed by himself. He divided among his neighbors
+and servants his few remaining possessions. He called the bell-ringer,
+and enjoined him to toll the bell three times every two hours, and if
+any one asked the reason why, he should answer, "The Greek, Csanta, is
+dead." Then he sent every one out of the room.</p>
+
+<p>When next morning they returned he was dead. He had died of grief,
+just as an aged husband will not survive the loss of his wife with
+whom he had grown old. So a man with a strong will dies when he has
+said that he can no longer support life.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[Pg 401]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXV" id="CHAPTER_XXXV"></a>CHAPTER XXXV<br />
+<span class="smalltext">THE GROUND BURNS UNDER HIS FEET</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>Peter Saffran's curse seemed likely to be fulfilled: "Upon this field
+no grass shall grow for evermore."</p>
+
+<p>It was true the green grass grew still upon the field, but who could
+tell what was seething underneath, in the bosom of the earth?</p>
+
+<p>The directors of the company's mine believed that when they closed all
+the entrances and openings to the shafts and vaults, they had given,
+by so doing, a check to the conflagration; by preventing the current
+of the outer air from getting in, they felt sure the fire must in a
+short time be extinguished.</p>
+
+<p>On the other hand, there was the irremediable evil that the supply of
+coal gradually diminished; even the necessary material for keeping the
+forge heated was wanting. They tried to heat it with wood&mdash;there were
+plenty of trees in the forest&mdash;but without coal the heater would not
+work, and much iron was lost in consequence. Instead of iron bars, a
+great quantity of "rammers" lay scattered about. It was soon patent
+that, from all these causes combined, the company were not in a
+condition to fulfil their contract for supplying the railway
+contractors with iron rails. The guarantee was in danger, as was also
+that of the railway company, in case the railway could not be opened
+for traffic at the time promised in their agreement.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[Pg 402]</a></span>The Bondavara Mine Company and Railway Company were, so to speak,
+glued to one another; one could hardly take a step without dragging
+the other down the dangerous path on which both were going headlong to
+ruin.</p>
+
+<p>Being in such evil straits, the directors began to look for help to
+the other mine. Coal they must have. In Ivan Behrend's colliery there
+must be a large supply. For a whole year he had sold none. They must
+buy from him, even at an advanced price.</p>
+
+<p>Raun&eacute; also bethought himself of begging for coal from the same source.
+Surely no one could refuse to oblige an old friend and neighbor.</p>
+
+<p>His letter, however, came back to him with the seal unbroken. At this
+moment Raun&eacute; was terribly hard pressed. He resolved to wait upon Ivan,
+and make his request in person.</p>
+
+<p>His visit was a short one. He was in all less than two seconds in
+Ivan's room, from which the first thing that issued was his hat, which
+he followed promptly. After this Ivan's voice was heard.</p>
+
+<p>"I hold no conversation with spies."</p>
+
+<p>Raun&eacute; wrote the directors a long letter, in which he said that Behrend
+was a boorish, selfish man, who was determined to profit by the
+misfortune which had happened to the Bondavara mine, and would not
+give his coal at <i>any</i> price; instead of selling, he was using it in
+the manufacture of a quantity of iron rails, and speculating on the
+chance that the company would be forced to buy at any sum he chose to
+ask.</p>
+
+<p>The result of his letter was very different from what he had looked
+for. The railway directors wrote at once to Ivan, and made him an
+advantageous offer for his iron rails; and if he had asked fifty per
+cent. more they were prepared to accede to his demand.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[Pg 403]</a></span>The profit for Ivan's faithful workmen was a very full harvest. The
+deserters to the enemies' camp now implored to be taken on again; they
+had no work. But they were not received by their former comrades; a
+committee of the men decided, without a dissentient voice, against
+taking on one of the deserters, but took on a total stranger. This
+decision settled the matter, and Ivan was forced to acknowledge it was
+just. The new member was bound to work for a year as a common laborer,
+and the committee were not to decide whether he should be admitted to
+the rights of the existing colony, and entitled to his share of the
+profit; this should be put to the vote.</p>
+
+<p>Meantime the work was splendidly done. Each man looked upon the mine
+as his own property; there were few blunders, and the success was
+remarkable; neither labor nor time was spared. Order was preserved,
+discipline maintained, and there was no necessity for harsh measures,
+nor for overseers.</p>
+
+<p>Under all this fine weather, however, there lurked clouds. In the far
+distance storms were gathering, evident to an experienced eye.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan noted the coming danger, but he did not let it escape his lips.
+It could not be averted. His mine was threatened; the fire that was
+consuming the neighboring colliery might spread to his. This thought
+filled his mind by day and by night. From the situation of the
+coal-stratum he could draw the conclusion that the conflagration must
+spread to Bondathal. It might take years, but in the end the Bondathal
+mine would share the same fate as its neighbor of Bondavara, and be
+reduced to ashes.</p>
+
+<p>The earth has buried many such wrecks in its bosom. But not alone
+below, but on the earth itself this Bondavara misfortune had ruined a
+multitude of people.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[Pg 404]</a></span>In the beginning the board of directors, who administered the affairs
+of the shareholders, hit upon the idea that with the ready money at
+their command they would buy up all the shares in the market, and in
+this way serve a double purpose. In the first place, they would secure
+for themselves the shares which had been issued at par at a price far
+below par, and in the next they would check any further fall.</p>
+
+<p>The board, however, by this man&#339;uvre only effected a more rapid smash;
+the money in the treasury dwindled away until at last for the
+necessary expenses there was nothing left.</p>
+
+<p>Prince Waldemar knew how to make use of the daily papers. He was
+always ready, and the shares having, through him, fallen thirty per
+cent. lower, he was resolved to send them still further down. The time
+was at hand when they would stand at <i>nil</i>, and then the owner of
+these miserable shares would be glad to <i>offer</i> one per cent. to any
+one who would take them off his hands.</p>
+
+<p>It was a wicked game to play. Thousands were made beggars. The poorer
+people suffered most&mdash;those who a short year ago came with their
+little savings in their hands, crying to take shares. Poor souls! the
+high interest had tempted them to their ruin. Ah, it is an old story
+this, that repeats itself with periodic fidelity; the clerk, the old
+man, the widow, the old maid, the governess or teacher&mdash;these are the
+victims of this cruel Juggernaut. The cashier who has gambled with his
+master's money fills in the picture. But there are not wanting others
+who suffer, but are not reduced altogether to want. Solid tradesmen
+are crippled, people who drove their carriages have to walk, lovers
+whose wedding-day was fixed have to wait, and sometimes pine away in
+single blessedness. Woe! woe! on every side.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[Pg 405]</a></span>But the Bondavara catastrophe had ruined not alone poor and well-to-do
+people; it had dragged down in its fall the high and powerful family
+of Bondavary, one of the most ancient in Hungary. The Marquis Salista
+had learned a severe lesson; he found that you cannot take away the
+centrepiece of a building without endangering the whole edifice. The
+sequestration of the prince's property had drawn the whole body of
+creditors upon him. And so it came to pass that the large property of
+a great nobleman, a reigning prince, fell under the administration of
+his creditors; the heirs had really burned the ground under their own
+feet.</p>
+
+<p>If the stewards and agents in the prince's time had been thieves, the
+administration of the property by the creditors was the very
+realization of plunder on all sides.</p>
+
+<p>The result was disastrous so far as the Countess Theudelinde was in
+question; there was no one responsible, so it appeared, for her forty
+thousand pounds. All the family charges and mortgages came first on
+the list of payments. Let her grasp hers&mdash;if she could.</p>
+
+<p>The one who suffered most was the Countess Angela. Her husband,
+Marquis Salista, had from the first lived in the extravagant manner
+befitting a man who has come into a fortune of twenty millions. It was
+impossible to induce him to change his ideas. This led to sharp
+conflicts between the married pair.</p>
+
+<p>On the other side, Angela showed him plainly that she had married him
+not from liking, but out of pique.</p>
+
+<p>The marquis knew it&mdash;and so did Ivan; but he had something else to
+think of. The ground was burning under <i>his</i> feet.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[Pg 406]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXXVI<br />
+<span class="smalltext">CHILD'S PLAY</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>The concert season was in full swing when the Belenyis received the
+news that Csanta was dead and had bequeathed to them their former
+house. If Arpad had been engaged to play a quartet with Beethoven,
+Mozart, and Haydn he would have thrown up his engagement and flown
+back with railway speed to his old home. His mother was just as eager
+to be gone as he was. Not a day did they stay; they were off the very
+same evening.</p>
+
+<p>On their arrival at X&mdash;&mdash; the magistrate unlocked the door of their
+old home and gave Madame Belenyi possession. Everything was exactly as
+they had left it, only the dust of years covered all the pretty
+things.</p>
+
+<p>Arpad's first thought was to run down to the garden. The magistrate,
+however, detained him. He had another legacy to make over to him, a
+large iron case fastened with three iron locks. It contained the
+Bondavara shares.</p>
+
+<p>"The devil take his shares!" cried Arpad, laughing. "Unluckily it is
+summer, so we don't want to make a fire."</p>
+
+<p>"They are down to nothing," said the magistrate. "They are quoted
+to-day at ten guldens. They killed poor Csanta."</p>
+
+<p>They had to take the shares all the same. You must not look a
+gift-horse in the mouth.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[Pg 407]</a></span>Arpad slipped out of the room and ran down to the garden. The
+fruit-trees were untouched, and all in full bloom. The cherry-tree was
+one mass of rosy blossom. He remembered well how he daren't touch a
+blossom under pain of a good whipping. And the forget-me-nots on the
+bank of the stream, which flowed past the end of the garden, and the
+May bells were ringing in a chorus, to which no one listened.</p>
+
+<p>Everything was just as it had been, only grown. The trees had such
+long branches that they were entangled with those on the opposite
+shore.</p>
+
+<p>He laid himself down in the green grass, all dotted over with yellow
+cowslips. No one could beat him now. He might waste his time and drink
+his fill of lazy enjoyment. Fame, the chatter of the newspapers over
+his sudden disappearance, the ladies who would regret him&mdash;what were
+they all in comparison with this? In a hiding-place on the river-bank
+he sought for the little flute he had secretly made in those old days.
+To his great joy it was there, just as he had left it.</p>
+
+<p>Arpad took from his pocket a newspaper full of his Parisian triumphs,
+an announcement of his next appearance. Where is Paris now? Out of the
+sheet he made a large boat with sails, that it might take a cargo on
+board. He pulled a bunch of the cherry blossom; he set the tiny vessel
+on the water, and while it danced over the little bubbles in the
+stream he laid down again among the forget-me-nots and played upon his
+flute the national air, "Rep&uuml;lj fecsk&eacute;m."</p>
+
+<p>At the sound of the flute another child appeared. She came from the
+house opposite: a young girl about fifteen. She had a round, fair,
+laughing face and beautiful blue eyes. Timidly, like a frightened
+fawn, she made a few steps, then stopped and listened. By-and-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[Pg 408]</a></span>by she
+drew nearer, then stood still again. She did not see the flute-player;
+she noticed nothing but his flute and his boat with the cherry
+blossoms.</p>
+
+<p>The girl had come quite close to the bank without Arpad having seen
+her approach. He was made aware of her presence by hearing her laugh.
+The laugh of a child is as clear as a bell. Arpad looked up,
+surprised.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, is that you, Sophie? How pretty you have grown! I beg you will
+send me back my boat."</p>
+
+<p>Sophie did not want to be asked twice. She held up her frock with one
+hand, tucked it between her knees, and after she had replaced the red
+cherry blossoms by some white flowers, she gave the little boat such a
+hearty shove that it came back to the opposite side. Then the game
+began again. It was so amusing!</p>
+
+<p>Madame Belenyi saw the pair from the window. She didn't disturb them,
+but let them amuse themselves until the sun went down and the air
+began to get chill. Then the most prudent of the two children&mdash;it was
+the girl, no doubt&mdash;suggested to the other that the grass was wet with
+dew, and that it would be well to go back to the house.</p>
+
+<p>Arpad took his boat out of the water, and put it and the flute back in
+their hiding-place, and returned to his mother.</p>
+
+<p>Madame Belenyi did not scold him. She did not, however, kiss him on
+his forehead, as she was wont to do. She showed him all she had done
+to settle the house while he had been amusing himself in the garden.</p>
+
+<p>Arpad was very much pleased to find it so comfortable.</p>
+
+<p>"Mother," he said, "we will live here always."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't object to our living here, Arpad; only there is one
+condition. You must marry a good girl, and bring her here to help
+me."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[Pg 409]</a></span>"I, mother?" returned Arpad, half pleased and yet astonished.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, you. Why not? You are a young man. I cannot look after you
+always."</p>
+
+<p>Arpad laughed again. "So, because I have grown a young man, and that
+you cannot keep me any longer at your apron-string, I must take a wife
+who will keep me in better order than you can. Is that it, mother?"</p>
+
+<p>"My son, it is in the natural order," returned Madame Belenyi,
+gravely, and as if there were no other course for a young man but to
+have either a mother or a wife to look after him. It did not enter
+into her imagination that he could look after himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Sooner or later I shall obey your wishes; but just now, as we have
+got a house, I shall have enough to do to provide the house-keeping,
+and I could not take a wife with me here and there when I have to
+fulfil my professional engagements. For this sort of Bohemian life,
+vagabondizing from Paris to London, Petersburg to Vienna, is a bad
+thing for a woman, whether she goes with her husband or is left
+behind."</p>
+
+<p>"But we have something to live on, Arpad. I have been very lucky with
+your earnings, and there is a nice nest-egg in the bank. Besides,
+there are the shares. Don't laugh, you silly boy! Although they are
+only worth ten gulden, yet there are a thousand of them. If we realize
+them, that would be ten thousand gulden. In a small town like this
+that sum would be a fortune, and with it you need not scruple to take
+a wife."</p>
+
+<p>"Mamma, you don't understand about these shares. <i>One</i> could easily be
+realized, but if the next day I were to go to the same place with
+another for sale they would kick me out. Any one who would offer a
+thousand Bondavara shares in the money-market would be sent to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[Pg 410]</a></span>
+mad-house. Put the shares away with those other important papers
+Csanta gave you, and, if you like, treasure the hope that one day they
+may be worth as much as the paper they are printed on."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, stranger things have happened. Did you ever think we would come
+back to this house? I am very sorry I did not keep the other papers. I
+burned them. Who knows what luck we may have with those bonds? If, one
+day, they rise again to par, we shall realize twice two hundred
+thousand gulden&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't count on such strokes of luck as that, mamma. The worst
+compliment Providence can pay a man is to let him win in a lottery. It
+is just as if God said to him, 'You ass! I cannot keep you in any
+other manner.' God would not allow a man who has any intellect to win
+in a lottery. To such a one he would say, 'Wilt thou cease to beg alms
+of Me in such a shameless manner? Is it not sufficient that I have
+endowed thee with talent? My consolation prizes are reserved for the
+dunderheads.'" Then he added, "Mother, don't be afraid, we shall live
+from my art. Wait a little and you shall see; only give me time.
+Meantime I shall buy for the little girl a doll with a china head as a
+plaything. You must take care of me for a little longer."</p>
+
+<p>At these words the widow embraced her boy tenderly. She was happy; but
+that evening Arpad, when it was moonlight, went out and sat under the
+weeping-willow and played a melancholy air on his flute. Sometimes he
+stopped to listen to a soft silvery voice singing a national air on
+the other side of the stream. The singer, however, when she heard the
+flute no more, knew that he was listening, and stopped her song. It is
+so sweet to be young!</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[Pg 411]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXXVII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">EUREKA</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>Ivan's fears as to the safety of his own colliery were growing day by
+day. One morning he found that the amount of hydrogen was scarcely
+perceptible; still there was water in the pit. This discovery made him
+thoughtful; he could not understand it. He descended into the cavern
+where the pond was. Not one drop of water!</p>
+
+<p>Ivan remained for three hours, watching anxiously to see would the
+water rise; but none came.</p>
+
+<p>At the end of three hours he was relieved by the men, and it was then
+arranged that during the night they would take turns in watching the
+tank. As soon as the water began to rise they were to call him. Ivan
+went home, lay down, and fell into a deep sleep, from which he did not
+awake until the sun was high in the heavens. He wondered that no one
+had called him, as had been agreed.</p>
+
+<p>It might be that the men had also been overcome by sleep. Poor
+wretches, they also were exhausted. He hastened to the pit. The men
+told him they had watched all night, but there had been no sign of
+water in the tank. He waited patiently for twenty-four hours. Not a
+sign of water!</p>
+
+<p>Ivan thought he could explain the absence of the water by the theory
+of the periodic springs&mdash;a theory<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[Pg 412]</a></span> too complicated to enter upon here.
+It is sufficient to say that the water-supply of the mine was worked
+by the pressure of the air upon these springs. If the water did not
+now return, it would be attributable to one of two causes: either the
+pipe which conducted the water from the larger basin had suddenly
+closed, and was no longer subject to atmospherical pressure, on which
+it depended to keep open; or some split or crevice had come in the
+stone masonry which protected the basins, and the force of the air had
+driven the water down farther into the bowels of the earth, where, no
+doubt, another basin was ready for its reception. We will remember
+that from the first Ivan had the idea that some such reservoir
+existed. But where?&mdash;that was the problem; and if the reservoirs were
+not found, what then?</p>
+
+<p>The cavern where Ivan stood was empty. The black portals which guarded
+the subterranean kingdom of death stood open to him. He could enter
+the labyrinth; he could discover what he had long sought, the
+communication between the upper and the lower water basins. One
+difficulty lay in his way. He should take a workman with him. He
+called the old miner, Paul.</p>
+
+<p>"Paul, how old are you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sixty-nine."</p>
+
+<p>"You would like, no doubt, to complete your seventieth year."</p>
+
+<p>"I should like to see the gold wedding of this pit. Next year it will
+be just fifty years since it was opened."</p>
+
+<p>"And if you die before then?"</p>
+
+<p>"I should say, 'The name of the Lord be blessed.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Are your sons grown to man's estate?"</p>
+
+<p>"My grandson is able to keep himself."</p>
+
+<p>"Would you be ready to accompany me on a dangerous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[Pg 413]</a></span> expedition&mdash;one
+where the chances are we might never return?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think I have run that chance before now."</p>
+
+<p>"You must understand, Paul, the whole risk before you agree. We are
+going to look for the water that has left the tank. It is a matter of
+life and death to every one of us, and, therefore, I think God will
+help us; but it may not be so. The Almighty may say, 'Why should you
+mere worms of the earth dare to interfere between me and the sentence
+I have passed against you and yours? I did not listen to the
+entreaties of Lot, and now the Dead Sea covers the ruins of the city.
+You men of Bondathal are not better than the men of Gomorrah.' Do you
+understand me? I have often sought for the source of the spring
+through the narrow winding paths of this cavern. These windings are so
+narrow that one must sometimes press through them by mere force, at
+other times creep along upon one's stomach. Great abysses yawn under
+the feet; a fall down one of these would be fatal; we will have to
+cling to the wall as we creep along. Again, we will pass through
+stinking sewers, up to our elbows in putrid filth. All these clefts
+and fissures have been made some time&mdash;God knows when&mdash;by an
+earthquake which has caused the uprooting of the coal stratum. Now it
+is quite possible that this last explosion has closed again many of
+these clefts and opened others. If it has happened, as I surmise, that
+the aperture has been shut which communicated between the pit beneath
+us and the one above&mdash;if this has taken place, then we have a tank
+full of water over our heads. If we, in our search through the bowels
+of the earth, come upon this aperture, and accidentally break the
+smallest hole, not the size of a pin's point, the water in the basin
+over our heads will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[Pg 414]</a></span> burst through and annihilate us; if we hear it
+roaring we are already lost. But, on the other hand, it may be that
+the explosion caused a rent in the upper cleft, and if so the water
+has rushed through it to the lower basin under our feet. What we have
+to do, whether we die in the search or not, is to find out where the
+water is."</p>
+
+<p>"I have no idea what you mean; all I know is that I am ready to go
+with you."</p>
+
+<p>"Then go home and take leave of your family, as if you were going a
+long journey. Go to your priest and make your peace with God. Then
+come back, and tell no one where we are going."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan now made his own preparations. From this adventure he might never
+return. He made his will. He bequeathed his mine to his workmen, his
+money to Paul's family. This was an act of justice. If the old man
+were killed, it was in a measure his, Ivan's, doing.</p>
+
+<p>When this was all done he went out and took his leave of light and air
+before going into the blackness of everlasting night. It was well
+under the free air of heaven. The sky might be bluer elsewhere, the
+grass greener; still, it was not eternal darkness.</p>
+
+<p>The post brought him a letter. It was from Arpad Belenyi. It told him
+all that we already know&mdash;the fall of Kaulmann, the disappearance of
+Eveline, whom every one thought had drowned herself. Ivan's heart was
+stirred by deep sorrow. The sky lost its brightness; the meadow was no
+longer green; the blackness of the pit would be welcome to him. This
+news acted upon him as a tonic; he felt braced; his fears vanished.
+Life was now more worthless than before.</p>
+
+<p>He set about the necessary preparations with calmness. He collected
+the instruments which would be needed for this strange search&mdash;the
+levelling instru<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[Pg 415]</a></span>ment, the circumferentor, the plumb-line. He put them
+in a bag, which he tied round his neck. Paul carried the pick, the
+iron rod, and a strong cord.</p>
+
+<p>With this equipment they descended into the cavern, and vanished
+through the windings of the water-course. After six hours they
+reappeared. This went on day after day.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan took the measurements of all the windings of the labyrinth, and
+when he was at home compared them carefully. It took him hours. At
+night he retired into his laboratory, heated deadly gases in his
+retorts, and forced the mysterious elements to surrender their
+long-concealed secrets. He fought with demons who refused to obey him.</p>
+
+<p>"Which of you is the spirit that can extinguish fire? Appear! appear!
+Not with Alpha and Omega, not with Solomon's Seal, not in the name of
+Abraxas and Mithras do I conjure you, but by the force of all-powerful
+science I order you appear!"</p>
+
+<p>But no spirit appeared.</p>
+
+<p>This double battle, the one under the earth, the one in the air above
+it, this fight with the two great demons of the world's creation, went
+on day by day, in daylight and darkness. Ivan had no rest.</p>
+
+<p>One morning he was told that the water in the castle well was hot, and
+it had a decided taste of sulphur. He began now to despair. The
+subterranean conflagration was closing round him sooner than he had
+looked for it. The situation was lost; one year, and the whole place
+would be consumed.</p>
+
+<p>Raun&eacute;, when this fact became known, threw up his appointment and
+openly took service with Prince Waldemar. He was commissioned by his
+employer to write&mdash;as an authentic witness&mdash;the accounts of the
+catas<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[Pg 416]</a></span>trophe, which appeared constantly in the Vienna papers.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan threw himself with the energy of despair into the search; he
+penetrated farther into the subterranean labyrinth. Paul was like a
+ghost; his very soul was steeped in terror, but he held bravely to his
+master.</p>
+
+<p>One day, amidst the confusion of the different winding passages in the
+rock, they came to a place out of which there seemed to be no exit.
+They struck the wall. It returned a hollow sound, so that they drew
+the conclusion that on the other side there was a large cavern, or
+space of some sort. The tumbled masses of slate-stratum fallen over
+one another was a proof that the blockade had been recently made.</p>
+
+<p>"We must clear a passage here," said Ivan, taking the pick in his
+hand.</p>
+
+<p>Paul cowered down, clinging to the wall. He trembled at every blow of
+the pick given by the vigorous arm of Ivan, who worked with terrible
+earnestness. So might a despairing soul beat against the gates of hell
+and summon the devil to single combat.</p>
+
+<p>At last the pick made a small hole, through which Ivan passed the iron
+rod, and raised a whole mass of slates.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, if the water is overhead the crack of doom has come."</p>
+
+<p>The old man crossed himself, and recommended his soul to God.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan, however, shouted with all the joy of a discoverer: "Do you hear?
+The rubbish as it falls makes a splash. The lower basin I am in search
+of <i>is here</i>, underneath us!"</p>
+
+<p>But what if the one above is full? They had still to wait while they
+counted a hundred beats of the pulse.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[Pg 417]</a></span>Never was a pulse felt under such terrible circumstances, not even
+when Ivan had gone down into the burning mine. Not a sound was heard.
+In the bosom of the earth all is quiet. Ivan was trembling with joyful
+excitement.</p>
+
+<p>"Found at last!" he cried. "Now bind the cord round me, and lower me
+into the well cavern."</p>
+
+<p>It was done. The old miner, as he held the rope, prayed fervently to
+the Blessed Mother that she would forgive this heretic, who did not
+know what he was doing. Meantime the lamp sank deeper and deeper.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Ivan cried out, "Pull me up!"</p>
+
+<p>His old comrade drew him slowly out of the depths of the earth. As he
+held out his hand to help him, Ivan suddenly threw his arms round him
+and embraced him.</p>
+
+<p>"We have reached our goal," he said. "The plumb-line shows a monstrous
+depth of water."</p>
+
+<p>Paul's brain began to clear. For the first time he had a dim idea of
+the aims of their labors.</p>
+
+<p>"Now let us get into daylight."</p>
+
+<p>As soon as Ivan got out of the pit he ran home as fast as he could. He
+compared his measurements, and was well content with the result. At
+night he shut himself in his laboratory. He was flushed with triumph;
+another victory would be his. He would also conquer the demon that had
+hitherto resisted his will. He had the proud feeling of a victorious
+general who demands the last stronghold to surrender.</p>
+
+<p>"I have already conquered," he said. "You are the next to submit. God
+sometimes lends to his creature immortal gifts, moments of creative
+power, when the infinite takes, as it were, shape, and the finite
+cries to the infinite, 'Eureka!'"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[Pg 418]</a></span>Ivan poured out ten drops of the water he had brought from the well.
+There was not more than would be held in the point of a pen. The
+laboratory became suddenly dark. The strong heat of the burning coal
+in the oven went out as if by magic. All was dark; black as night.
+This darkness was the light for which Ivan had been seeking.</p>
+
+<p>"I have found it!" he cried aloud. "I have found it!" he cried to his
+workmen, among whom he rushed, half undressed, with his hat off, like
+a lunatic.</p>
+
+<p>They did not know what he had found, but they felt certain the
+discovery which was considered so important by their guide and master
+must be a matter of rejoicing, in proof of which the miners cheered
+lustily.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[Pg 419]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXXVIII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">AT PAR</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>The devil's comedy was being played daily on the stock-exchange. The
+Bondavara Company's shares, the Bondavara Railway shares were tossed
+here and there, from one hand to another. The tragedy had turned to
+comedy&mdash;that is, for some people, who found the game very humorous.
+The very word Bondavara made the stockbrokers laugh. When it happened
+that some fool bought a share, no one could help laughing. The shares,
+in fact, were given in exchange for anything of little value&mdash;for
+instance, as make-weight with an old umbrella for a new one. They were
+also presented to charitable institutions.</p>
+
+<p>One witty man went to a fancy ball in a coat made of the shares. This
+conceit was thought diverting. The exchange, however, was still the
+field where a desultory fight was kept up by the shareholders. These
+poor wretches fought for the last flicker of the lamp, which the bears
+wanted to extinguish altogether.</p>
+
+<p>Prince Waldemar, the leader of the conspiracy, forced the shares day
+by day lower and lower. At last they fell to one and a half per cent.,
+then to one and a quarter, and this quarter was to go lower, the
+prince wanting to banish the shares from the quotation list. The
+owners were making a fight to prevent this&mdash;an ineffectual one, it
+seemed to be. They were almost agreed to give up the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[Pg 420]</a></span> fight as a
+forlorn hope. How could they make head against such odds? The day upon
+which Raun&eacute;'s report was in the newspapers they resolved to lay down
+their arms; there seemed no good in protracting the struggle. The
+report in question was the one which stated what was the nature of the
+elements that, since the fire in the Bondavara mine, had been found
+mixed with the water on the lake of the castle; this caused a great
+"sensation," and was the last straw upon the back of the unfortunate
+shareholders.</p>
+
+<p>Prince Waldemar had the news proclaimed on 'change that on the last
+day of the month he would sell his Bondavara Company shares at ten
+florins. Some people took up the gauntlet he had thrown down. These
+were shareholders who knew that they would lose by taking this wager,
+but at the same time hoped by this stroke of policy to prevent the
+shares from disappearing altogether from the share list. If,
+therefore, at the end of the month the shares went down to six gulden,
+they must pay the other side twenty thousand gulden difference; if the
+shares went up, the other side must do the same.</p>
+
+<p>About noon a broker came to the bank, and said, loud enough for all
+bystanders to hear, that a gentleman was present who would take five
+hundred Bondavara shares at par.</p>
+
+<p>If some one had struck a hammer upon the open keys of a piano no
+greater whir and whiz could have been heard than now ran through the
+hall. Screams of laughter, exclamations of astonishment, howls of joy,
+curses, and ejaculations of incredulity were raised in every corner.
+Who is he? Is he a lunatic? At par! Bondavara shares! Where is the
+man?</p>
+
+<p>The broker pointed him out. He was evidently a provincial gentleman,
+very unassuming in his appearance.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[Pg 421]</a></span> He was leaning against a pillar,
+calmly surveying the Olympian games.</p>
+
+<p>"He is evidently a silly knave who wants to have a joke," scoffed
+Prince Waldemar. "Go to him," he went on to the agent, "and ask him
+for his name. We must know what is the name of any one who treats with
+us."</p>
+
+<p>The broker returned in a few minutes with the news that the gentleman
+gave his name as a Hundred Thousand Gulden, saying that money was the
+best surname. He showed his hands full of bank-notes, which he
+received from the stranger.</p>
+
+<p>"Who sells five hundred Bondavara shares at par?"</p>
+
+<p>This cry caused a revolution on 'change. Tranquillity was at an end;
+tumult took its place; uproar and confusion reigned. Credulous and
+incredulous people surrounded the stranger; they pressed upon him,
+overwhelming him with questions, stretching over one another to thrust
+their note-books into his hands. The unknown met all this noise with
+cool indifference, merely pointing out to his broker the crowd who
+were ready to do business with him.</p>
+
+<p>Prince Waldemar now made his way through the mob to where the
+new-comer stood. With the most refined impertinence he drew the brim
+of his hat over his eyes and stuck his hand into his waistcoat pockets
+as he surveyed the other.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir, your appearance has caused a sudden revolution. May I ask your
+name?"</p>
+
+<p>"My name is Ivan Behrend," returned the stranger, without changing his
+negligent attitude.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah," said the prince, suddenly taking off his hat and bowing low. "I
+have had the honor of hearing of you. Are you not the renowned
+pistol-shot, who can shoot a cigar out of a man's mouth? I am a nobody
+in com<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[Pg 422]</a></span>parison; I am only Prince Waldemar Sondersheim. I cannot shoot
+as you do. But let us talk sensibly. You want to buy Bondavara shares
+at par? Have you inherited suddenly the fortune of an Indian nabob,
+who made it a condition that you should buy the shares at par?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. I buy them because they are worth that price."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you know that the Bondavara mine is on fire?"</p>
+
+<p>"I happen to own the adjoining one, therefore I am quite aware that
+such is the fact."</p>
+
+<p>"Then your mine will be on fire next."</p>
+
+<p>"Not so. I extinguished the fire in mine a fortnight ago."</p>
+
+<p>At these words the noise rose to a regular tumult; the shareholders
+pressed round Ivan, and nearly suffocated him. The man is there who
+can extinguish the fire. The mine will soon be again in working order.
+Bondavara stands once more at par.</p>
+
+<p>The bears had to retire. The joyful shareholders surrounded Ivan and
+carried him in triumph out of the hall.</p>
+
+<p>That same evening a large meeting was held, at which Ivan, before an
+enormous audience, filling the room to suffocation, declared
+authoritatively that he had an infallible plan, which had, in fact,
+been tried on the Bondavara mine, and had put out the conflagration.
+He invited every one present to see the experiment tested next day in
+the open air, when it would be distinctly proved that his words were
+no idle boast.</p>
+
+<p>The following morning, in presence of a large crowd, he fulfilled his
+promise, succeeding admirably in the demonstration. A funeral pile of
+coal and turf, over which petroleum had been poured, was set fire to,
+and when blazing to its greatest height was put out in a few minutes
+by some drops from a small bottle.</p>
+
+<p>The jubilant public conducted Ivan back to the town<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[Pg 423]</a></span> in triumph, and
+at the next general meeting of shareholders it was resolved to offer
+him a remuneration of six hundred thousand gulden if he would
+undertake to bring the Bondavara mine into working order.</p>
+
+<p>There were not wanting, however, plenty of opponents. Foremost there
+was Prince Waldemar, who possessed the largest proportion of shares,
+and who, nevertheless, offered the most determined opposition. He did
+everything to embarrass and obstruct Ivan's scientific propositions.</p>
+
+<p>"I grant," he said, "that you may be able to put out with one bucket
+of fluid six cubit feet of burning coals; but consider for a moment
+that in the Bondavara pit, reckoning from the place where the
+explosion took place to the castle, there must be at least sixty
+thousand cubit feet of burning stratum. You must have, to meet this,
+ten thousand buckets of fluid ready to shoot over the mass. What
+machine have you that would be able for such an operation as this?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have not forgotten that such a machine would be necessary,"
+returned Ivan, quietly.</p>
+
+<p>"Let us suppose," continued the prince, "that you do succeed in
+getting a sufficient quantity of fluid to bear upon the burning mass.
+Don't you perceive that this very supply will develop a monstrous
+amount of gas, which would permeate the pit from top to bottom, and
+cause another and still worse explosion?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have foreseen this danger."</p>
+
+<p>"And, finally, if you possess any idea, which you evidently do, of the
+mechanism of machines and the expenditure necessary to procure the
+best, you must face the problem that a million of money will not be
+sufficient to procure the necessary materials which would be wanting
+to make the experiment successful."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[Pg 424]</a></span>"I have drawn up an estimate of probable outlay."</p>
+
+<p>The shareholders here shouted out to him that they undertook all
+expenses, even if they amounted to a million, and on the spot it was
+agreed that Ivan should receive full powers to do for the Bondavara
+mine what he considered necessary, let the cost be what it might.</p>
+
+<p>Prince Sondersheim saw that he could not stem the course of Ivan's
+popularity; it must have its way. While the assembled shareholders
+were signing the deed of authorization, he took Ivan aside, and said
+to him:</p>
+
+<p>"Ivan Behrend, whether the undertaking you have engaged in succeeds or
+not&mdash;I do not believe that it will succeed&mdash;you will have taken out of
+my pocket a million&mdash;a million net. Besides this, you have squandered
+five hundred gulden of your own money, without reckoning what is yet
+to be spent. Let that be. You have done this by fixing the quotations
+at par. It is true that the shares will neither be bought nor sold,
+for both sides will be afraid, and will hold back; nevertheless, the
+quotation will stand at par, and I am obliged to pay the difference on
+this&mdash;that will cost me a million. But that is nothing; I have lost as
+much before now, and recovered it again. One has only to play the
+waiting game. If, however, in a fortnight's time you find that you
+miscalculated your powers, and that your experiment fails, you have
+only to let it be known, and I shall pay one million into your hand."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan answered this contemptible proposal with business-like composure.</p>
+
+<p>"Prince Sondersheim, the stock-exchange is, as I am well aware, a
+privileged place. Here a man can say things without having any fear of
+consequences. What a man says or does, what proposals he
+makes&mdash;every<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[Pg 425]</a></span>thing is, in a sense, allowable, and the ordinary rules
+which govern the outside world do not apply. Here one man may ask the
+other, 'How much do you ask for selling the honor of your company?'
+and if the answer is, 'It is not for sale,' that is enough. Here there
+is plain speaking; no one is offended at being asked to be an
+accomplice in a robbery. It would be no reflection on his character;
+he would assume no airs of righteousness, but simply answer, 'I really
+haven't time.' If men quarrel, if they spit at one another, tear the
+hats off one another's heads, that is nothing; it goes no further; no
+one turns round to look at them. They wipe the spittle off their
+faces, pick up their hats, and after half an hour walk about arm in
+arm. No one remembers that they were fighting; it was only a little
+'difference,' which led to an animated scene. Therefore, to the
+proposal made by Sondersheim, the Bondavara coal-merchant, to Behrend,
+the Bondavara coal-trader, there is but one answer, 'Sir, I cannot
+entertain your offer.' Prince Waldemar Sondersheim will, however, do
+well to remember not to repeat outside the stock-exchange such a
+proposal to Ivan Behrend."</p>
+
+<p>The prince laughed. "I guessed as much. I have often heard of you, and
+if you behave well you shall hear how it came to pass that I know so
+much about you. Once upon a time you took my part in a very energetic
+manner; and to a very pretty woman. I do not know why you should have
+done so; it is sufficient for me that you did. Also, you withdrew your
+own claim to the favor of this very pretty woman. But it was no good,
+she is now the wife of an unworthy fellow; but your unexplained
+intervention in my favor, which could not have been a business
+man&#339;uvre, but must have sprung from almost a chivalrous Puritanism,
+has placed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[Pg 426]</a></span> me under a debt of gratitude towards you. If that lady had
+listened to your advice, things would have been very different. No
+sulphur deposit would have been found in the castle lake; the whole
+speculation, in fact, would have had no existence. Outside the
+exchange we will not recur to the subject. I have mentioned it from a
+sense of gratitude, and I shall note it in my book. If you succeed in
+extinguishing the fire you are to receive six hundred thousand gulden
+from the company; if you fail you shall have a million from me."</p>
+
+<p>This long conversation between Ivan and the prince excited some alarm
+among the shareholders; they tried to interrupt it.</p>
+
+<p>"No tampering, prince. Let our man alone." They were afraid he would
+turn round.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be afraid," returned the prince; "we are talking of a lady whom
+we both admired."</p>
+
+<p>But the shareholders' suspicions were not allayed by these words. They
+chose from among themselves a commission of three members, who should
+accompany Ivan in every step he took, never leave him, eat with him,
+sleep outside his door, keep watch under his window, so that their
+enemy should not approach him without their knowledge. This was all
+done under the pretence of giving him assistance, and for the purpose
+of keeping him supplied with money.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan procured the necessary machines and workmen, and travelled back
+with them and his three companions to Bondavara.</p>
+
+<p>His three commissioners were likewise to furnish the company with a
+daily report of the progress of the work. One of the three was the
+clerk Spitzhase, who had the reputation of being the most circumspect,
+careful, and impudent servant of the company. This last epithet is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[Pg 427]</a></span>
+not meant in the worst sense of the word. In money matters modesty and
+meekness are oftentimes great faults, and the contrary qualities are
+of infinite use. The word is therefore meant in praise. Ivan many
+times chucked Spitzhase out at the door, but the clerk always returned
+by the window.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[Pg 428]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXXIX<br />
+<span class="smalltext">THE UNDERGROUND WORLD</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>The three commissioners for the first fortnight had little to say;
+their report was meagre of incident. Behrend came morning and evening
+to dine and sup with them in the little village inn; the rest of the
+day and of the night he spent continuously underground. When they
+asked him what he was doing, he said, shortly, that everything was
+going on well.</p>
+
+<p>Things might be going well, but there was nothing visible to the
+commissioners. And, moreover, there was <i>one</i> very suspicious
+circumstance which struck Spitzhase especially, and this was that
+Behrend spent his time in his <i>own colliery</i>. It was there that all
+the expensive machines had been set up and all the chemical stuffs had
+been taken. Not a single thing had been done to the company's mine;
+not a bit of rubbish had been cleared away, not one of the entrances
+had been opened; in fact, a fortnight had slipped away, and no work
+had been undertaken. It was undoubtedly true that the machines were
+always at work, and cart-loads of clay and stones were perpetually
+being wheeled away.</p>
+
+<p>The whole thing was incomprehensible, and Behrend would not give the
+slightest explanation.</p>
+
+<p>At the beginning of the following week Spitzhase lost all patience.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir," he said to Ivan, with suppressed irritation,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[Pg 429]</a></span> "you promised
+that in a fortnight the conflagration in our mine would be
+extinguished. The time is up, and I have not seen that anything has
+been even attempted."</p>
+
+<p>"That is very probable," returned Ivan, quietly.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you maintain still that everything is progressing satisfactorily?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do."</p>
+
+<p>"Can I see for myself what has been done?"</p>
+
+<p>"Where you are standing it would be impossible for you to judge."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, let me go where I can see something."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you really wish to go below? It is not a pleasant place."</p>
+
+<p>"Where you go, so can I; for my part, I don't care if it was hell
+itself."</p>
+
+<p>"It is not unlike what hell must be."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I am resolved to pay it a visit. I want to make the
+acquaintance of the devil; perhaps I could make an arrangement with
+him to supply us with coal."</p>
+
+<p>"You may come on one condition: if you accompany me you must
+understand that I cannot let you stand gaping about. There is not room
+in the place for more than two people, and they must both work."</p>
+
+<p>"I am not afraid of work. I am the devil for work."</p>
+
+<p>"Very good, then, come along," said Ivan; "and if the other gentlemen
+would like to accompany us to where the machines are working they can
+follow us."</p>
+
+<p>The others seized the opportunity.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan made them put on miners' dress. They were then hoisted into the
+crane, and descended into the shaft. Each one had a safety-lamp
+fastened to his belt and wore a thick felt hat.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan led them through the different windings of the pit until they
+came to the iron door of the cavern in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[Pg 430]</a></span> which, not long since, the
+pond used periodically to come and go. The middle of this space was
+now filled by a large mill-like machine, which was kept in motion by
+an endless strap worked from above. In this mill some substance was
+being ground, and, when reduced to fine powder, was carried, by means
+of certain mechanical contrivances, through a pipe and over a bridge,
+where it disappeared from view.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan led his guests through still more tortuous ways. Once they
+descended the shaft of a well; once they mounted high ladders, finding
+themselves when they had done so in a small chamber, not measuring six
+feet in circumference, in which two miners were waiting&mdash;an old and a
+young man.</p>
+
+<p>"Now," said Ivan to Spitzhase, "here is our dressing-room; we must put
+on our costume."</p>
+
+<p>"What! have we another change of clothes?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, we have to don a coat of mail in the tournament in which we are
+going to take part; we require armor."</p>
+
+<p>At a sign from him the miners came forward and began to prepare the
+two gentlemen. The equipment was something similar to that of a
+fireman&mdash;a coat and stockings, the outer stuff being made of asbestos,
+while the space between that and the lining was filled with pulverized
+charcoal; the hands and arms were also covered with long gloves made
+of asbestos, the fingers being air-proof.</p>
+
+<p>"We could pass for knights," said Spitzhase, jestingly.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait until you see our helmets," returned Ivan.</p>
+
+<p>The miners brought two helmets made of glass, each of which had a
+hollow space with twelve joints and three apertures. Ivan explained
+the use of these.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[Pg 431]</a></span>"The place into which we are about to descend is full of coal-gas. We
+must have an apparatus which will enable us to pass through fire and
+to dive under water."</p>
+
+<p>Spitzhase began to repent that he had been so venturesome, but he was
+ashamed to turn back now, and he had a certain amount of pluck.</p>
+
+<p>"We need," continued Ivan, "an apparatus which is a combination of the
+diver's and the fireman's dress. To the glass helmet, which will be
+attached to the coat-collar by means of air-proof caoutchouc, there
+will be fastened two tubes, through one of which the necessary amount
+of air will be conveyed to us, and through the other the bad air will
+be expelled. The ends of both the tubes will remain here, while we
+drag them after us in the same manner as does the diver. Although all
+bad air escapes from our helmets, still we shall find the air rather
+warmer than it is up here, and it will smell like vulcanized
+india-rubber; still we cannot suffocate. To this third aperture an
+elastic tube will be fixed, which unites both helmets; through this
+tube each will hear what the other says, for the glass is so thick
+that no sound penetrates it, and when you have it on your head you
+will with difficulty hear what is said by me."</p>
+
+<p>Spitzhase had begun to feel very uncomfortable, for now the miner
+proceeded to adjust the glass helmet to his head. When the tubes were
+being fixed into the three apertures he perceived that he had become
+suddenly stone deaf. He saw the lips of the two commissioners moving,
+but not one word could he hear. He no longer belonged to the world.
+Only one sound reached him, and that was the voice of the man to whose
+head he was fastened.</p>
+
+<p>"Take one end of the hose upon your arm," shouted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[Pg 432]</a></span> the voice into his
+helmet; yet the sound seemed to come from a long way off, or as if out
+of a tunnel.</p>
+
+<p>Mechanically he took the coil on his shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"Let us go," shouted Ivan, taking the other end of the coil on his
+shoulder, and, opening a thick oak door, which had hitherto escaped
+Spitzhase's observation, they passed through.</p>
+
+<p>The two commissioners had heard nothing that had passed between the
+two "knights"; but when they saw the oak door open they hurriedly
+asked the miners whether the foul air did not come in. The older
+workman reassured them; the carbon was much heavier than oxygen, and
+even thicker than hydrogen. The foul air remained below, where the two
+divers had gone. They might have every confidence so long as the
+safety-lamps burned. Meantime, the others had penetrated into a roomy
+cavern, the walls of which proved it had not been made by the hands of
+men, but was a natural formation. Each partition of the wall fitted
+into another, like the blocks of a puzzle, and each block was as
+smooth as a steel mirror. They were masses of coal set obliquely one
+upon another. The cavern was bridged over with thick, strong wooden
+planks. The gearing strap, which had made its way from the cavern in
+serpent-like fashion, had set a wheel in motion, and the noise of the
+clapper resounded under the bridge, and made a sound as if it were
+working in deep water. From this bridge a narrow path led obliquely
+into the stone layers. Once beyond the entrance into this dark path
+the lamps ceased to burn; the coal-gas had begun its sway. Upon the
+bridge an electric machine was placed, whose brilliant light was
+shaded by a wire screen.</p>
+
+<p>The old miner set the machine working, and the light flashed into
+every nook and cranny of the subterranean<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[Pg 433]</a></span> cavern. It lighted up the
+narrow tunnel which, for the last month, Ivan had been boring from his
+own mine to that of his neighbor. He had told no one what he had been
+doing, but now the work was almost finished; it only required to be
+broken through. This work, which would take another week to complete,
+needed to be done in a diver's equipment. The length of the narrow
+tunnel was perfectly illumined by the electric machine, as if in the
+broad light of the sun. Where it turned out of its course high
+looking-glasses of polished steel were placed in positions which
+reflected the light itself until it faded away to a faint glimmer. The
+two divers could now hardly discern an object.</p>
+
+<p>"We shall soon be in darkness," said Spitzhase to Ivan.</p>
+
+<p>"We shall have light enough," returned Ivan; and he led the way
+farther into the tunnel.</p>
+
+<p>Spitzhase was forced to follow, for his head was fastened to Ivan's
+head. Wonderful pair of Siamese twins! If the pipe that bound them
+together were to break, both were dead men.</p>
+
+<p>"Halt!" cried Ivan. "Here is the pump. Give me the pipe."</p>
+
+<p>In the half-darkness a little machine three feet high was discernible;
+it was provided with a spring wheel. This suction-pipe had been
+brought here only the day before. Ivan took the caoutchouc coil from
+his companion's shoulder, and screwed the pipe to the aperture of the
+machine; then he set the wheel in motion, and in a few seconds it,
+with the heavy balls attached, was revolving with velocity. Then he
+took the end of the pipe and gave the coil back to Spitzhase with this
+difference: instead of putting it over his arm he hung the hose over
+his neck. Spitzhase felt as if the pipe were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[Pg 434]</a></span> about a hundredweight
+heavier, and that it had grown suddenly stiff.</p>
+
+<p>"Forward! quick march!" shouted Ivan into his helmet.</p>
+
+<p>"It begins to be hot as hell itself," grumbled Spitzhase, who was
+suffering horribly.</p>
+
+<p>"Because we are in a part of the mine where the fire has been put
+out."</p>
+
+<p>Both the men wore on their feet glass slippers, otherwise they would
+have felt that the ashes through which they were wading were glowing
+with heat.</p>
+
+<p>The india-rubber hose hung round Spitzhase's neck. It grew darker and
+darker, until at last it was as dark as Erebus.</p>
+
+<p>"I can see nothing," shouted Spitzhase.</p>
+
+<p>"You are safe if you follow me," returned Ivan.</p>
+
+<p>It began to grow somewhat lighter. The light, however, was rose color;
+there was twilight, then, in the bowels of the earth.</p>
+
+<p>Spitzhase complained he could hardly draw his breath.</p>
+
+<p>"That will get better presently," said Ivan, encouraging him.</p>
+
+<p>They had now turned the corner of the road, and the terrible tragedy
+of hell itself lay before them. Yes, hell itself was there. A burning
+labyrinth, in whose glowing passages the prismatic colors changed
+every moment. The blue-green flames leaped from the ground and blended
+with the flames of brilliant scarlet which played upon the burning
+wall, and again faded in the far distance into a deep purple color. It
+was like a fairy transparency at a pantomime. Through the fissures and
+crevices sheets of white sun-rays poured like molten silver. Amid the
+glowing coals there seemed to rise shapes as of demons dancing,
+creatures with green hair<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[Pg 435]</a></span> and red beards, and from the red sulphate
+of the vaulting there fell slowly a golden shower, a melting rain of
+sparks. From the clefts in the side walls the gas, let loose from all
+restraint, hissed like so many demoniacal serpents, and kindled a
+subterranean flame of its own. Out of the depths of the pit a
+waterspout of fire shot suddenly, sending in every direction a shower
+of sparks. Over the whole floated a milk-colored cloud, which filled
+the vault with a nebulous vapor, wandering as a will-o'-the-wisp here
+and there, and threatening every moment to envelop the rash visitors
+to hell in its chill embrace. Spitzhase, alarmed out of all control,
+pressed closer to the wall; fright was overcoming him.</p>
+
+<p>"Let go the hose!" shouted Ivan. The hose fell like a serpent
+unchained, wriggling backward and forward. "Now follow me. Hold the
+pipe on your arm;" and he drew Spitzhase after him.</p>
+
+<p>He was constrained to follow, although his heart was in his mouth;
+their heads were fastened to each other. If he had had sufficient
+strength to free himself from this terrible companionship, it would
+have in no way helped him, for the carbon would have killed him
+instantaneously.</p>
+
+<p>Mechanically he allowed himself to be drawn on. Hell with all its
+horrors disclosed itself to his affrighted gaze. His companion seemed
+to fear nothing. Was he a human being, or a fiend, who was in reality
+possessed of power over the demons of hell? He dragged him to the very
+border of the fiery lake; then he took from his shoulder the hose,
+which lay in rings and coils, and, opening the mouth of the stop-cock,
+directed its force at the bosom of hell. The hose shot forth a flash
+like a diamond; the water-spirit fell into the glowing Gehenna.</p>
+
+<p>"Hold tight!" shouted Ivan.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">[Pg 436]</a></span>And from the force which the stream from the pipe exercised upon the
+burning mass the air was filled with dark clouds of smoke, which
+peopled the still brilliantly lighted cavern with strange, unearthly,
+spectral-like shadows, which, dissolving suddenly into steam, covered
+the two adventurous visitors with a damp moisture. One of them
+tottered.</p>
+
+<p>"Fear nothing," calls out the other; "we are quite safe here."</p>
+
+<p>"It is suffocating; I am burning!" cried Spitzhase.</p>
+
+<p>"Do not be afraid; follow me," said Ivan, and drew his trembling
+comrade after him over the wet rocks, over the charred, burning
+mounds. Every spot where he saw the flames rising he directed the
+hose, and a shower of cool, refreshing water fell from the
+india-rubber pipe upon the burning, seething demoniacal flames. The
+gas hissed, the hot steam boiled round them, the flames, beaten down
+in one place, sprang up in another, but on they went. He was afraid of
+nothing. "Forward! go on! forward!" The mysterious clouds hovered over
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"We are lost!" moaned the other poor mortal, whose fear began to be
+uncontrollable. He fell on his knees.</p>
+
+<p>"You of little faith," said the conqueror of hell, "get up. Let us go
+back." And he lifted him up, as the Redeemer did Peter on the stormy
+Sea of Galilee.</p>
+
+<p>Then he rolled the hose once more round his neck, and took it back to
+the suction-pump; this he closed, and then led his comrade again to
+the little room where they had put on their equipment.</p>
+
+<p>Spitzhase sank back when he reached this haven. When his helmet was
+taken off he panted like a man who was suffocating for want of air.
+Ivan looked at him compassionately.</p>
+
+<p>The miners gave each of them a glass of fresh lemon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">[Pg 437]</a></span>ade to drink, and
+rubbed their temples with vinegar. They then undressed them to the
+skin, put them into a tub of cold water, took them out in two seconds,
+and rubbed them with coarse towels. Spitzhase began to recover his
+senses.</p>
+
+<p>As they put on their usual clothes Ivan said to him, "Well, sir, how
+did you like being below?"</p>
+
+<p>Spitzhase was no fool, but he answered, good-humoredly, "I wouldn't
+have missed going down for a hundred gulden, but I would pay twice
+that sum rather than go there again."</p>
+
+<p>"Now you know what to write to your board of directors. Paul, take
+this gentleman home. I remain here to continue the work."</p>
+
+<p>Spitzhase wrote a glowing account of what he called "the fight with
+the world of spirits" to the Vienna papers.</p>
+
+<p>The next day Ivan said to the commissioners, "We have now laid pipes
+four inches in diameter to work upon the very heart of the fire. So
+soon as I am ready we shall set the high-pressure machine at work.
+This will empty in four hours ten thousand buckets of fluid on the
+burning mass."</p>
+
+<p>"The devil take it!" cried Spitzhase. "Will this farce never have an
+end until the escaped gas blows up the colliery, and makes of it and
+of us a new Pompeii?"</p>
+
+<p>"Do not be afraid. I have thought of this danger. We have taken care
+to stop all the outlets to the quarry gallery with sand-bags. We have
+walled up every possible fissure, crevice, and exit. The entrance to
+the well-shaft has been provided with a strong iron door, over which
+we have fastened a thick bed of clay. If, therefore, it should happen
+that in the gallery, where the conflagration is at its worst, and
+where the fluid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">[Pg 438]</a></span> must be poured freely, the mass of gas should develop
+in such force that it must explode, then the iron door will prove our
+salvation. It will resist all attack, and the force of the gas will be
+broken."</p>
+
+<p>The members of the commission shook with fright. Here was a pleasant
+prospect! Ivan, however, had no time to spare on reassuring them; the
+crisis was at hand, and he had still much to do. Prudence, foresight
+was necessary. At mid-day he returned to the quarry gallery.</p>
+
+<p>As the clock struck twelve he gave the signal at which the large
+suction-pump was to be set in motion. He remained from this time at
+his post, never leaving the machine until the work was finished. To
+their honor be it spoken, the three commissioners remained with him;
+they kept their places without moving, never speaking a word. During
+the awful time that followed no voice was heard but that of Ivan. Soon
+after the signal was given a rushing sound was heard underground,
+faint at first, but growing louder. It sounded as if in the distance
+water was pouring from an open sluice.</p>
+
+<p>At first the machine was worked at only half its strength. After half
+an hour or so there mingled with the rushing sound a great tumult, as
+if many bells were vibrating in the air. The noise did not die away;
+on the contrary, the vibration grew every moment stronger.</p>
+
+<p>The earth was in labor; the ground heaved and trembled, and those who
+felt its throes trembled also. The earth's sufferings were shared by
+her children. Only one man was calm; the master-spirit was not afraid.</p>
+
+<p>With close attention Ivan watched the pendulum and the thermometer of
+the machine; he marked the varia<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">[Pg 439]</a></span>tions in the condition of the
+barometer, the ozonometer, and electrometer, writing his observations
+in his note-book. After another hour he made a sign to the man working
+the machine to put on more pressure.</p>
+
+<p>Thereupon arose from below a terrible uproar; it was the battle of the
+Cyclops. The bowels of the earth sent up a dull roar like the rolling
+of thunder; occasionally came a shock as of an earthquake. The houses
+began to rock, the tops of the tall trees and the cross upon the tower
+tottered, and its fall added to the anxiety felt by the entire valley.
+The underground fight grew every moment fiercer; the giants joined
+issue with their foes. They howled in rage; they put their gigantic
+shoulders together and tried to upset the earth. To their cries was
+added the bellowing of the hurricane confined in the cave, and the
+tumult was indescribable.</p>
+
+<p>The listeners to this fearful scene looked with a stony stare of
+horror; they were speechless, but their look seemed to say, "What rash
+act have you done? Are you inciting the spirits who dwell under the
+earth to war against one another?"</p>
+
+<p>Ivan answered with another look of calm superiority. "Fear nothing; I
+have my foot upon the head of the giant."</p>
+
+<p>The underground battle had lasted three hours. The people were beside
+themselves with fright; they turned upon Ivan and cursed him.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think you are a God," they cried, "and can create an
+earthquake?"</p>
+
+<p>Ivan paid no attention either to their fears or their curses; he gave
+another signal to the men at the machine&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"With the whole power!"</p>
+
+<p>The machine, the outcome of the wonderful inventive<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">[Pg 440]</a></span> genius of man,
+stormed the very gates of hell itself. The underground tremblings
+followed one another rapidly, growing stronger and stronger; the deep
+groaning rose to a stentorian, deafening roar.</p>
+
+<p>"It is all over!" shrieked the people in the valley, and fell upon
+their knees.</p>
+
+<p>In the air a shrill, whistling sound was now heard, as if an engine
+had suddenly let off steam, and out of the shaft of the company's mine
+there arose rapidly a white column of steam, which, as soon as it
+encountered the cold regions of space, shot up into the sky, where it
+formed itself into a white cloud, which cloud suddenly broke into a
+deluge of rain. At once the underground convulsion ceased, and the
+shrill whistling died away in the distance.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan, looking round, said, quickly, "Paul, collect the rain-water; I
+must know what it is made of." Upon this he gave the machinist the
+signal to stop the machine. There was not even a drop of perspiration
+upon his forehead. He took the bottle of rain-water that Paul brought
+him and put it in his pocket. "Now, gentlemen," he said, "you can go
+to supper. The work is accomplished."</p>
+
+<p>"Is the fire extinguished?" asked Spitzhase.</p>
+
+<p>"Absolutely."</p>
+
+<p>"And the pillar of steam yonder?"</p>
+
+<p>"Will remain in the sky until midnight and then slowly damp away. Go
+to supper. I have something of importance to do at home."</p>
+
+<p>Who cared to eat supper?</p>
+
+<p>The pillar of steam still continued to rise from the shaft, and to
+form a cloud from which a steady downpour of rain fell continuously,
+occasionally interspersed by flashes of lightning; but no one thought
+of going in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">[Pg 441]</a></span>doors. The richer members of society wrapped themselves in
+mackintoshes, the workmen in their cloaks, and all continued to watch
+the strange appearance, until at last, towards ten o'clock, it began
+to grow smaller. The whistling sound was interrupted now and again by
+a piercing shriek, and sometimes a flash of lightning illumined the
+shadow of the pillar&mdash;the white cloud.</p>
+
+<p>The steam giant then sank back; not all at once, but by degrees, into
+the pit from which it had arisen. Only occasionally, from time to
+time, its head reappeared for a second, but the whistling ceased
+altogether; so, too, did the heaving of the earth. The unearthly
+tumult was silenced. In the church the sound of the organ was heard,
+and voices intoning "Alleluia! Alleluia!" The people walked in
+procession, carrying lanterns and banners.</p>
+
+<p>The commissioners made their way to the inn, where they found Ivan
+eating his supper. He could eat now; it struck him that he was mortal
+and wanted food.</p>
+
+<p>"I have finished the chemical examination," he said to the other three
+with polite indifference, "and I can give you the satisfactory news
+that in the residue 0.75 of carbonic acid is to be found."</p>
+
+<p>Spitzhase did not understand. "What good is it," he asked, "if
+seventy-five parts of carbonic acid are in the residuum?"</p>
+
+<p>"To-morrow we can open both entrances to the colliery, and after the
+air-pumps have been settled the work can be resumed."</p>
+
+<p>Alleluia! Alleluia!</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">[Pg 442]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XL" id="CHAPTER_XL"></a>CHAPTER XL<br />
+<span class="smalltext">ANGELA IS EVEN WITH IVAN</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>Success brings with it fame, fortune, and universal esteem. Men
+worship success, and with justice.</p>
+
+<p>He who has saved a great treasure, who has restored to thousands of
+people their country, their industry; he who has overcome a universal
+calamity which threatened an entire province; he who has given to
+thousands on the verge of beggary their livelihood, who has dried the
+tears of the widow and the orphan&mdash;he is near to God himself.</p>
+
+<p>Honors and rewards were showered upon Ivan. The government gave him
+for all time the patent for his discovery. By the Joint-Stock Mining
+Company he was handsomely remunerated. A monster deputation obliged
+him to accept the place of director. Scientific societies at home and
+abroad elected him member. His picture and biography appeared in all
+the illustrated papers of Europe and America. The simple villagers in
+Bondathal prayed for him night and morning; and when the first train
+steamed out of the Bondavara station, the locomotive bore the name of
+"Behrend." It was only God's providence that preserved him from
+receiving "an order."</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps the most interesting testimony, and the one most valued by
+Ivan, was a letter which the Countess Angela wrote to him with her own
+hand.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443">[Pg 443]</a></span>The countess told him frankly all that had happened to her since they
+had met; how she had married the Marquis Salista; how unhappy he had
+made her by the pressure he brought to bear upon her grandfather,
+Prince Theobald, which ended in his property being sequestrated, to
+the ruin of the whole family of Bondavary. She had suffered greatly in
+consequence, and had known what privation meant; also the income of
+the Countess Theudelinde had been considerably diminished, and the old
+lady had been forced to reduce her household. This condition of
+affairs had shown them their former friends in their true light&mdash;among
+others, Salista, her husband, who had gone to Mexico, and left her to
+shift for herself. Then Ivan had come to the rescue. Prince Waldemar's
+triumphal progress had been effectually checked. The million of money
+placed by Prince Theobald in the Bondavara Company had regained its
+value. The prince had arranged with his creditors, and his affairs
+were once more settled. She had been reconciled to him, and lived with
+him. Countess Theudelinde likewise had recovered her rents. The great
+family of Bondavary, which had been so near ruin, was reinstated in
+its former position. And for its new lease of life it had to thank a
+certain beneficent, clever&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>Here Countess Angela's letter broke off. There was, however, a
+postscript:</p>
+
+<p>"Answer this letter. I beg for one word. Write 'I forgive you.'"</p>
+
+<p>Ivan answered her immediately. He expressed his gratitude for her kind
+remembrance of him, but he could not imagine what he had to forgive.
+On the contrary, he had a lively recollection of the many kindnesses
+he had received from the Countess Angela Salista.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_444" id="Page_444">[Pg 444]</a></span>The letter was evidently written with an effort to be cold and polite.
+It was followed by a second letter from Angela, which ran thus:</p>
+
+<p>"Do not answer me in that way. I have sinned against you. You do not
+reproach me, but my own heart and conscience do. To quiet these
+tormentors I need your pardon. Answer me sincerely. Can you ever
+forgive me? I should not have treated you as I did&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Ivan answered this by a long, confidential letter. He confessed to her
+secrets of his heart, made to her confessions which never before
+passed his lips. The countess might be confident that she had never
+offended him. She had never forfeited the place she held in his
+respect.</p>
+
+<p>A third letter came from Angela.</p>
+
+<p>"If you can do so from your heart, write upon a piece of paper,
+'Angela Bondavary, I forgive you, from my heart.'"</p>
+
+<p>Ivan wrote these words and nothing else.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>One evening two carriages drove into the court-yard of Ivan's house.
+He lived now in the handsome residence provided by the company for the
+director of the mines. The porter exchanged some words with the person
+who sat in the first carriage, and then came to Ivan with two
+visiting-cards.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan, to his surprise, read the names&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="center"><i>Countess Theudelinde Bondavary.</i><br />
+<br /><i>Countess Angela Bondavary.</i></p>
+
+<p>These names caused a great disturbance in Ivan's mind. What did they
+want? Why did they come to him? He told the porter to show the ladies
+in, and then,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_445" id="Page_445">[Pg 445]</a></span> taking up the cards again, it struck him as odd that
+the Countess Angela's did not bear the name of her husband.</p>
+
+<p>The door opened, and only one lady entered. She was dressed in
+mourning, and her face was covered by a thick veil, the thick crape
+concealing her features. It was the Countess Theudelinde. She had on a
+long black travelling-cloak with two capes. She came to Ivan and held
+out to him the finger-tips of her black glove, which he carried to his
+lips, while she murmured some words of greeting.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is the marquise?" asked Ivan, anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>"She will be here immediately; but it is very difficult to bring her
+in."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan conducted the lady to a sofa and asked her to be seated.</p>
+
+<p>"Do not go to meet her," continued the countess. "She will find her
+way. You will receive her kindly, won't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, countess," Ivan began; but Theudelinde interrupted impatiently.</p>
+
+<p>"No phrases, please. We have not come here for polite words or to
+exchange compliments. We come to make a request; the answer is simple.
+Yes or no. Angela wants to remain here."</p>
+
+<p>"Here!" repeated Ivan, horrified.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, here! Do not be afraid; not in this house, but in the
+neighborhood. She wishes to remain near you&mdash;never to leave you&mdash;that
+is her desire; and she has a right to have her wishes granted."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan began to think he must be dreaming; he did not know what to say,
+but his thoughts were distracted by a strange noise outside. Along the
+passage came the heavy tread of several men. The door opened and four
+miners came in, carrying between them a metal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_446" id="Page_446">[Pg 446]</a></span> coffin, on the lid of
+which lay a white wreath of <i>repouss&eacute;</i> silver.</p>
+
+<p>The wreath surrounded the arms of the Bondavary family, and underneath
+was carved in gold letters&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Angela Bondavary.</span></p>
+
+<p>The coffin was placed upon the oak table. Ivan stood as if he were
+turned into a statue, his eyes fixed upon the wreath and the name
+underneath.</p>
+
+<p>Theudelinde got up and seized his hand, saying, in a low, agitated
+voice:</p>
+
+<p>"This is the Countess Angela Bondavary, who begs of you, as the master
+here in Bondavara, to find for her a small place in the family vault
+of the castle, where she may lie among her own people, waiting for the
+coming of Jesus Christ&mdash;the Bridegroom of all poor women whose lives
+have been desolated."</p>
+
+<p>"How is it possible that she is dead?" said Ivan, who was deeply
+moved.</p>
+
+<p>"How? Very easily! When you throw a rose into the fire, in two minutes
+you will only find its ashes. I had just heard her laugh; she was
+quite gay. Then she went too near the stove; the next moment she
+screamed, and I saw her enveloped in flames!"</p>
+
+<p>"She was burned to death!" cried Ivan, covering his face with his
+hands. Then, after a pause, "Was there no one near to save her?"</p>
+
+<p>"Was there no one?" answered Theudelinde. "Were you, then, asleep at
+midnight? Did you not hear her call, 'Ivan, help me!'? Did you not see
+her standing beside your bed in flames&mdash;an angel with hell in her
+heart? Why were you not by her side to hold her in your arms, to
+stifle the flames, to snatch her from the jaws of death? Where were
+you, who should have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_447" id="Page_447">[Pg 447]</a></span> saved her? Now she is here, and says to you, 'I
+am gone. I am no one. Let us be united.'"</p>
+
+<p>Ivan felt as if an iron band had been laid upon his heart.</p>
+
+<p>"She lived," continued Theudelinde, "for two days. She suffered the
+most terrible pain. When I think of all she went through I feel as if
+my senses were leaving me. To the last she was conscious. She spoke&mdash;
+But no&mdash;why should I tell you what she said? Just before she died she
+asked for a pencil, and wrote a few words to you. Here they are in
+this envelope. Do not break the seal, do not read them, so long as I
+am here. I would rather give you no explanation. If you have anything
+to ask, ask it from her. Here is the key of the coffin; I give it to
+you."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan recoiled from receiving such a present.</p>
+
+<p>"Why should you be afraid? Why do you object to opening the coffin?
+There is nothing to fear. The body is embalmed, and the flames did not
+touch her face. You will see that she smiles."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan forced himself to raise the coffin-lid and to look on the face of
+the dead. There was no smile on her lips. She was calm and cold; as
+when she lay insensible in the wood, with her head upon a cushion of
+moss, so now she lay upon her white satin cushion. Ivan felt that if
+she could open her eyes for one minute she would look at him proudly
+and say, "I want nothing," and close them again. How beautiful she
+was, with her still, marble face, her immovable eyebrows. Ivan would
+not disturb its calm loveliness by even one kiss. He would have felt
+it to be dishonorable, and yet, if she could have come to life again,
+who knows&mdash;? As on the day when he had closed her dress with his
+breast-pin, so now he shrouded her secret with the coffin-lid. Her
+secret was safe with him.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_448" id="Page_448">[Pg 448]</a></span>"Keep the key," said Theudelinde. "The coffin, its key, and the
+treasure it holds are yours; that is settled. You are the master of
+the vault; it is your duty to take her there. You cannot escape it."</p>
+
+<p>With eyes that were hot and tearless, Theudelinde looked through her
+veil at Ivan. He returned the glance. If either had shed a tear, or
+even let a sob escape, both would have burst into passionate weeping,
+for grief is infectious; but each one of them was resolved to show
+mental strength in the presence of the other. They could even command
+their emotions.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you undertake the duty?"</p>
+
+<p>Ivan bowed his head.</p>
+
+<p>"Then you will perform it alone. Alive I shall never enter the family
+vault. You know why."</p>
+
+<p>Both were silent. Then Theudelinde burst out:</p>
+
+<p>"Why was I not left in my castle? Why was I undeceived when I imagined
+that my ancestors visited me? If I had not been shaken in my delusions
+I should still have been happy. I should never have gone into the
+world, where I have only found misery; Angela would not have come to
+me; my brother Theobald would not have been ruined; hell would not
+have been let loose in the Bondavara mines; I should have never known
+you; all&mdash;all would have been different!" Then, after a pause, she
+went on: "There is no need of a clergyman; there is no need of any
+ceremony. You can say some prayers. You are a Protestant&mdash;so was
+Angela. She became one that she might get a separation from her
+unworthy husband. Let them carry the coffin quietly and reverently to
+the family vault. There I shall leave you and it, for I shall not go
+inside&mdash;never, until I am dead. You will put the coffin in its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_449" id="Page_449">[Pg 449]</a></span> place,
+and then I return whence I came, where I am wanted by no one."</p>
+
+<p>Ivan called the miners to take the coffin again upon their shoulders,
+and told them to carry it through the vestibule to the private door
+which led into the park. The park separated the director's house from
+the castle.</p>
+
+<p>As they walked through the winding paths of the park the trees shed
+their golden leaves upon the coffin and the titmice in the brushwood
+chanted the dirge.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan walked bareheaded behind the coffin, and behind him came Countess
+Theudelinde.</p>
+
+<p>When they reached the entrance of the vault Ivan told the bearers to
+put the coffin down, and, kneeling down beside it, he remained for a
+long time praying. God hears us if we speak to Him in a whisper; nay,
+He hears us, even although we do not speak, but feel.</p>
+
+<p>Theudelinde bent over Ivan and kissed his forehead.</p>
+
+<p>"I thank you. You walked behind her with your head uncovered. Now she
+is all yours." Then she returned by the winding path, as if she were
+afraid that Ivan would make her take away what she had brought.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan placed the coffin in its resting-place and sent away the bearers;
+then he remained for many hours beside it. By the light of the torches
+he read Angela's last words to him&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"For whom shall I wait on the shore of the new world?"</p>
+
+<p>Ivan sighed deeply. "Who will wait for me on the shore of the new
+world?"</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Then he made his way back to the house. There was no trace of either
+the countess's travelling carriage or Angela's hearse.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_450" id="Page_450">[Pg 450]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLI" id="CHAPTER_XLI"></a>CHAPTER XLI<br />
+<span class="smalltext">HOW IVAN MOURNED</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>They were both gone, the high-born lady and the peasant girl&mdash;gone
+where there is no sorrow and no more sin. One had lost her life by
+charcoal, the other by fire&mdash;two vengeful spirits.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan thought of both with bitter regret. He felt now that he was alone
+in the world. He would have given all the fame he had acquired, the
+money he had earned, the good he had done, to have been able to save
+even one of these women. He mourned for them not in black, not with
+crape on his hat. What good are these signs of grief?</p>
+
+<p>The European mourns in black, the Chinese in yellow, the Mussulman in
+green; in the classical age they mourned in white; the former
+generation of Hungarians in violet; the Jews in rags; the philosopher
+in his heart. The wise man never shares his grief, but he does his
+joys.</p>
+
+<p>Meantime, in the Bondavara Valley there reigned peace and plenty;
+where there had been a half-savage race there was a happy people. The
+worst characters had settled down, morality had grown popular.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan sent the young men at his own expense to factories abroad, where
+they learned the arts of civilization. He brought wood-carvers from
+Switzerland and lace-workers from Holstein to teach their trades to
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_451" id="Page_451">[Pg 451]</a></span> women and children, so that they might unite artistic labor with
+increase of wages. For a population where every one, big and little,
+works either from necessity or for amusement&mdash;a people who look upon
+work as pleasure and who feel it no privation to be employed&mdash;such a
+people are ennobled by their toil.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan looked after the schools. He emancipated the national teachers
+from the misery of their national tyrants; he rewarded the student
+with scholarships, the school-boy with useful prizes; in every parish
+he established a library and reading-room. He accustomed the people to
+put by the pence they could spare; he taught them how to help one
+another; he established in Bondavara a savings-bank and a hospital.</p>
+
+<p>His own colliery was a model. The miners and himself were the joint
+owners, and shared the profit. Whoever was taken on in this colliery
+should pass an examination and work one year on trial. This rule
+applied to women and men alike. This trial year was not easy,
+particularly for the girls.</p>
+
+<p>Nowhere was a girl so looked after; not in her mother's house or in a
+convent or state institution was there more particularity as to
+manners and morals than in Ivan Behrend's colliery. Every word, every
+act was watched. If any one failed to be up to the mark during his
+year of probation, no one taunted him, nor was he despised. He was
+simply told to go and work in the company's colliery, where there was
+better pay; and the workman or workwoman imagined this was an advance,
+not a degradation. In the company's colliery there was certainly more
+freedom, the rules being less strict.</p>
+
+<p>If, however, at the end of the trial year the applicant had fulfilled
+all requirements, he or she was received into the colony and became a
+shareholder, so far as the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_452" id="Page_452">[Pg 452]</a></span> profit was in question. Besides this, a
+prize for virtue was given once a year, on the anniversary of the
+great pit-burning, to the most modest, well-conducted girl in the
+colony.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan spent on this prize fifty ducats, and the miners on their side
+promised the winner a handsome wedding present.</p>
+
+<p>It was, of course, an understood thing that no one went in for the
+prize. No one knew who was likely to get it. The elders took notes; it
+was their secret.</p>
+
+<p>The giving of this prize was not to be attended with any ceremonial.
+It would take place on an ordinary working day, when all the miners
+would have picks and shovels in their hands, so that every one could
+see that the reward was not for a pretty face, but for a good heart
+and industrious fingers. It was to be a day of general rejoicing.</p>
+
+<p>This was how Ivan mourned.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_453" id="Page_453">[Pg 453]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLII" id="CHAPTER_XLII"></a>CHAPTER XLII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">EVILA</span></h2>
+
+
+<p>It was the anniversary of the great pit fire. Old Paul had gone to
+look for Ivan at his house in the principal colony, but Ivan had
+already started for the smaller colliery. He saw Paul on the road,
+and, stopping his carriage, took the miner up.</p>
+
+<p>"This day last year was a memorable day," said Paul.</p>
+
+<p>"I recollect it well," returned Ivan; "but to-day we have to give the
+prize for virtue. Have the jury settled to whom it is to be given?"</p>
+
+<p>"They are agreed. A girl who has been little less than a year in the
+colliery."</p>
+
+<p>"And she has fulfilled all conditions?"</p>
+
+<p>"In every way. The child is most industrious. She is every morning the
+first to come and the last to leave. She never complains of the work,
+as many of them do; she treats it as if it were a pleasure to her. If
+her wheelbarrow is overloaded, she encourages the digger to put on
+still more; then she runs away gayly with her burden, and comes back
+singing as if she had been amusing herself. At the end of the
+recreation she drives the other girls back to their work."</p>
+
+<p>"Is she vain?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; she wears the same holiday clothes in which she was dressed when
+she came a year ago; naturally they are not quite as fresh as they
+were. She has a little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_454" id="Page_454">[Pg 454]</a></span> string of beads round her throat, and in her
+hair a narrow ribbon. At night she washes her clothes in the stream,
+for she has one peculiarity&mdash;she wears fresh linen every day; but she
+makes it up herself, so she alone has the trouble."</p>
+
+<p>"Is she saving?"</p>
+
+<p>"She has more in our savings-bank than any one of the girls. She would
+have still more, only that on Sundays she gives a whole day's wages to
+the beggar who sits at the church door."</p>
+
+<p>"Does she go to church regularly?"</p>
+
+<p>"Every Sunday she comes with us, but she never sits with the other
+girls; she kneels before a side-altar, covers her face with her hands,
+and prays all through mass."</p>
+
+<p>"Is she good-tempered?"</p>
+
+<p>"She has offended no one and has never been angry. Once a woman said
+something very offensive to her, for which we gave her a heavy fine.
+The woman was ready to pay it, but the girl denied that she had been
+offended. Soon after the woman got ill; she had no one to nurse her,
+because she is a solitary widow, and this girl nursed her every night,
+and fetched the medicine from the apothecary for her."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think she is a hypocrite?"</p>
+
+<p>"She is too merry for that, and ready for a joke. Hypocrites are
+gloomy folk. Our people would soon find her out if she wasn't on the
+square; but she is a prime favorite with every one. We don't choose
+our words exactly, but we can make a fair guess at the girl who
+respects herself. We like one that gives a good box on the ear to a
+fellow who would make too free. Sharp with the hand, but soft with her
+tongue; that's our sort. And still, sometimes I have watched her when
+she was in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_455" id="Page_455">[Pg 455]</a></span> quite another mood; for instance, on Sunday afternoons,
+when we sit under the mulberry-trees, they all get round me and make
+me tell them&mdash;God knows how often!&mdash;the story of how you carried the
+pipe of the air-pump into the gallery of the Bondavara mine, and how
+we all thought you were a dead man. Women and children hold their
+breath while I tell it. I believe I do tell that story well, for they
+know it by heart, and yet they cannot but listen. They take it in
+different ways; but this girl, I have noticed her, she covers up her
+face and cries the whole time."</p>
+
+<p>"And is she a modest girl?"</p>
+
+<p>"To ascertain this point we had to call a jury of married women. They
+couldn't bring forward a single charge against her. Then we got the
+girls together, and we pressed them very close, if there was anything
+with the young men, but they all said&mdash;no. And there was no need for
+them to deny, for a peasant girl is fitly mated with a miner, and if
+he wants her he can have her."</p>
+
+<p>They had now reached the colliery, and went into the station-house,
+which stood at the corner of the branch railroad. There was now
+another line, which ran underground and connected the two collieries.
+Here Ivan found a great many of the miners. He sent for the rest, and
+told them work was over for the day. Men and women assembled by
+degrees, and only one group of girls still remained working. These had
+agreed not to leave off until they had driven their load of coals to
+the coal-hill, which lay between the entrance to the quarry gallery
+and the station-house where Ivan sat waiting. He could not see the
+girls; he could only hear their clear voices as they called to one
+another to make haste and get the work finished.</p>
+
+<p>Some one began to sing. The melody was familiar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_456" id="Page_456">[Pg 456]</a></span> to Ivan&mdash;one of those
+sad Slav airs in which the singer seems on the brink of tears; and the
+voice was sweet and tuneful as a bell, full, too, of feeling.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0q">"Say when I smoothed thy hair,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Showed I not tender care?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Say when I dressed my child,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Was I not fond and mild?"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Ivan's face clouded. "Why do they sing that air? Why should it be on
+the lips of any one? Why not let it fall into oblivion?"</p>
+
+<p>"The girl is coming," said old Paul. "I hear her singing; she is now
+coming down the hill with her wheelbarrow."</p>
+
+<p>The next moment the girl appeared upon the summit of the coal-hill.
+With a run she had shoved her wheelbarrow forward and emptied the
+contents with extraordinary dexterity; the big lumps of coal rolled
+down the hill. She was a young, well-developed girl in a blue jacket
+and a short petticoat; but this red petticoat was not tucked up&mdash;it
+fell over her ankles, and only showed her feet. The colored
+handkerchief on her head had fallen backward, and the rich plaits
+wound round her small head could be seen. Her face was smudged with
+coal-dust and was beaming with good-humor&mdash;earthly dirt, supernatural
+glory. But what the coal-dust could not conceal were the two large
+black eyes shining like two brilliants&mdash;the darkness illumined by
+dazzling stars.</p>
+
+<p>The girl stood immovable on the summit of the coal-hill, then looked
+down with some surprise on the crowd gathered in and around the
+station-house.</p>
+
+<p>The next moment Ivan was beside her. In his joy he had made one bound
+from the station-house across the rails and had rushed up the
+coal-hill.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_457" id="Page_457">[Pg 457]</a></span>"Eveline!" he cried, clasping the girl's hand in his.</p>
+
+<p>She shook her head, smiling at him. "No, sir," she said, "Evila."</p>
+
+<p>"You here! You have come back here!"</p>
+
+<p>"I have been in your colliery, sir, for a year, and if you will keep
+me on I should like to stay."</p>
+
+<p>"You shall stay only on one condition&mdash;as my wife," cried Ivan,
+pressing her hand to his heart.</p>
+
+<p>All who were at the foot of the hill saw this action; they could
+almost hear his words.</p>
+
+<p>Evila shook her head and drew away her hand. "No, no. Allow me to be
+your servant, a maid in your house, the maid of your wife. I shall be
+quite happy; I expect nothing more."</p>
+
+<p>"But I wish it. You have come back to me; you are mine. How could you
+be so cruel as to be a year so near me and never to tell me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, sir, you cannot raise me to your position!" said Evila, with a
+sad yet dignified expression. "If you knew all you would never forgive
+me."</p>
+
+<p>"I know everything, and forgive everything."</p>
+
+<p>These words proved that Ivan knew nothing. If he had known the truth
+he would have been aware there was absolutely nothing to forgive. As
+it was, he pressed his young love close to his heart, while she
+murmured:</p>
+
+<p>"You may forgive me, but the world will never pardon <i>you</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"The world!" cried Ivan, raising his head proudly. "My world is
+<i>here</i>"&mdash;laying his hand on his breast. "The world! Look round you
+from this hill. Everything that lives in this valley owes its breath
+to me; every blade of grass has to thank <i>me</i> that it is now green.
+Hill and valley know that, under God, I have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_458" id="Page_458">[Pg 458]</a></span> saved them from
+destruction. I have acquired a million, and I have not despoiled any
+one. With every penny I receive a blessing. In the palace of the
+prince and in the cottage of the widow I have dried the tears of
+despair; I have delivered my enemies from a living grave, and I have
+saved their wives and children from the misfortune of being widows and
+orphans. My name is spoken of with admiration all over the globe, and
+yet I have hid myself <i>here</i>, not to be troubled with their praises; I
+do not care for praise. The most lovely of women has smiled on me and
+loved me, but she was not of <i>my</i> world. She is dead, and the key of
+her coffin is a perpetual reminder to me that her world has passed
+away. My world is within me, and into that inner world of mine no one
+has ever entered, no one <i>will</i> ever enter, <i>but you</i>! Speak, Evila;
+answer me. Will you try to love me?"</p>
+
+<p>The girl's eyes sank before the ardent gaze of her lover. Many men had
+made love to her, but none like this man, whose face shone like
+Jupiter's when, with a look, he killed Semele.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, sir," she murmured, "if I do not die I shall love you always; but
+my mind misgives me that I shall die."</p>
+
+<p>As she spoke she fell back fainting, her brilliant color faded to a
+waxen pallor, the flashing eyes closed; her body, which a moment
+before was like a blooming rose, was now as lifeless as a withered
+leaf.</p>
+
+<p>Ivan held her motionless form in his arms. The woman whom he had so
+loved, for whom he had suffered so much, was his, just as her pulse
+ceased to beat, just as she had said, "I shall love you always, but I
+know that I shall die."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>But she did not die.</p>
+
+<p class="newchapter"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_459" id="Page_459">[Pg 459]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XLIII" id="CHAPTER_XLIII"></a>CHAPTER XLIII<br />
+<span class="smalltext">THE DIAMOND REMAINED ALWAYS A DIAMOND</span></h2>
+
+
+<p class="center">THE END</p>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p class="center bigtext">UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME</p>
+
+<p class="advertisement"><i>DO&Ntilde;A PERFECTA.</i> <i>By B. P&eacute;rez Gald&oacute;s. $1&nbsp;00.</i></p>
+
+<p class="advertisement"><i>PARISIAN POINTS OF VIEW.</i> <i>By Ludovic Hal&eacute;vy. $1&nbsp;00.</i></p>
+
+<p class="advertisement"><i>DAME CARE.</i> <i>By Hermann Sudermann. $1&nbsp;00.</i></p>
+
+<p class="advertisement"><i>TALES OF TWO COUNTRIES.</i> <i>By Alexander Kielland. $1&nbsp;00.</i></p>
+
+<p class="advertisement"><i>TEN TALES BY FRAN&Ccedil;OIS COPP&Eacute;E.</i> <i>With 50 Illustrations by Albert E. Sterner. $1&nbsp;25.</i></p>
+
+<p class="advertisement"><i>MODERN GHOSTS.</i> <i>Selected from the Works of Guy de Maupassant, Pedro Antonio de Alarc&oacute;n, Alexander Kielland, and Others. $1&nbsp;00.</i></p>
+
+<p class="advertisement"><i>THE HOUSE BY THE MEDLAR-TREE.</i> <i>By Giovanni Verga. $1&nbsp;00.</i></p>
+
+<p class="advertisement"><i>PASTELS IN PROSE.</i> (<span class="smcap">From the French.</span>) <i>With 150 Illustrations by H.&nbsp;W. McVickar. $1&nbsp;25.</i></p>
+
+<p class="advertisement"><i>MAR&Iacute;A: A SOUTH AMERICAN ROMANCE.</i> <i>By Jorge Isaacs. $1&nbsp;00.</i></p>
+
+<p class="advertisement"><i>THE ODD NUMBER: THIRTEEN TALES.</i> <i>By Guy de Maupassant. $1&nbsp;00.</i></p>
+
+<p class="center">Published by <span class="smcap">Harper &amp; Brothers</span>, New York.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors present in the
+original print edition have been corrected in this electronic edition.</p>
+
+<p>In Chapter VIII, "been witnsss" was changed to "been witness".</p>
+
+<p>In Chapter XIII, a missing quotation mark was added after "less
+physical strength".</p>
+
+<p>In Chapter XVIII, "if he is not a begger" was changed to "if he is not
+a beggar".</p>
+
+<p>In Chapter XXI, "traditions of Radoczy" was changed to "traditions of
+Rakoczy".</p>
+
+<p>In Chapter XXIV, "Jocky Club" was changed to "Jockey Club".</p>
+
+<p>In Chapter XXVI, a period was changed to a question mark after "the
+tavern in his own colony", "predicate the direction" was changed to "predict the
+direction", and "at the pit's month" was changed to "at the pit's
+mouth".</p>
+
+<p>In Chapter XXIX, a period was changed to a question mark after
+"introduce Waldemar".</p>
+
+<p>In Chapter XXXI, "claquers" was changed to "claqueurs", and "did badly
+to night" was changed to "did badly to-night".</p>
+
+<p>In Chapter XXXII, "classsical work" was changed to "classical work".</p>
+
+<p>In Chapter XXXIX, "the three apartures" was changed to "the three
+apertures".</p>
+
+<p>In Chapter XL, a quotation mark was deleted after "She had never
+forfeited the place she held in his respect".</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Black Diamonds, by M�r J�kai
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Black Diamonds, by Mor Jokai
+
+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: Black Diamonds
+
+Author: Mor Jokai
+
+Translator: Frances A. Gerard
+
+Release Date: June 3, 2010 [EBook #32668]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLACK DIAMONDS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Budapest 1896 17/III Dr. Jokai Mor]
+
+
+
+
+MAURUS JOKAI
+
+
+BLACK DIAMONDS
+
+
+A Novel
+
+TRANSLATED BY
+FRANCES A. GERARD
+
+
+NEW YORK
+HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
+
+Copyright, 1896, by HARPER & BROTHERS.
+
+All rights reserved.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER                                          PAGE
+I.        A BLACK PLACE                             1
+II.       THE SLAVE OF THE BLACK DIAMONDS          11
+III.      THE MAN-EATER                            27
+IV.       A MODERN ALCHEMIST                       35
+V.        THE DOCTOR                               50
+VI.       COUNTESS THEUDELINDE                     63
+VII.      THE COUNTESS'S ALBUM                     79
+VIII.     THE EXORCIST                             95
+IX.       "AN OBSTINATE FELLOW"                   132
+X.        THE HIGHER MATHEMATICS                  146
+XI.       SOIREES AMALGAMANTES                    155
+XII.      RITTER MAGNET                           166
+XIII.     ONLY A TRIFLE                           189
+XIV.      THIRTY-THREE PARTS                      207
+XV.       TWO POINTS                              225
+XVI.      GOOD-BYE                                232
+XVII.     THE LAST REHEARSAL                      245
+XVIII.    FINANCIAL WISDOM                        253
+XIX.      FILTHY LUCRE                            259
+XX.       NO, EVELINE!                            278
+XXI.      RESPECT FOR HALINA CLOTH                291
+XXII.     TWO SUPPLIANTS                          301
+XXIII.    FINANCIAL INTRIGUE                      312
+XXIV.     THE BONDAVARA RAILWAY                   317
+XXV.      THE POOR DEAR PRINCE                    324
+XXVI.     DIES IRAE                                327
+XXVII.    FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS      348
+XXVIII.   TWO CHILDREN                            352
+XXIX.     IMMACULATE                              357
+XXX.      MAN AND WIFE                            365
+XXXI.     EVA DIRKMAL                             373
+XXXII.    CRUSHED                                 378
+XXXIII.   CHARCOAL                                387
+XXXIV.    CSANTA'S LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT        395
+XXXV.     THE GROUND BURNS UNDER HIS FEET         401
+XXXVI.    CHILD'S PLAY                            406
+XXXVII.   EUREKA                                  411
+XXXVIII.  AT PAR                                  419
+XXXIX.    THE UNDERGROUND WORLD                   428
+XL.       ANGELA IS EVEN WITH IVAN                442
+XLI.      HOW IVAN MOURNED                        450
+XLII.     EVILA                                   453
+XLIII.    THE DIAMOND REMAINED ALWAYS A DIAMOND   459
+
+
+
+
+
+BLACK DIAMONDS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+A BLACK PLACE
+
+
+We are in the depths of an underground cavern. It is bad enough to be
+underground, but here we are all enveloped in black as well: the
+ceiling is black, so are the walls; they are made of blocks of coal.
+The floor is one great black looking-glass. It is a sort of pond,
+polished as steel. Over this polished surface glistens the reflection
+of a solitary light, the light of a safety-lamp shining through a wire
+net.
+
+A man guides himself over the pond in a narrow boat. By the doubtful
+light of the lamp he sees high pillars, which rise out of the depths
+below and reach to the very roof of the cavern--pillars slender, like
+the columns of a Moorish palace. These pillars are half white and half
+black; up to a certain point only are they coal black, beyond that
+they are light in color.
+
+What are these pillars?
+
+They are the stems of pines and palm-trees. These gigantic stems are
+quite at home in the layers over the coal-mine, but how have they
+descended here? They belong to another world--the world of light and
+air. The coal layers overhead sometimes take fire of themselves, and
+the fire, being intense, has loosened the hold of these giants and
+sent them below.
+
+Coal-pits kindle of themselves often, as every novice knows, but in
+this case who extinguished the flames? That is the question.
+
+The solitary occupant of the rudely shaped boat or canoe goes
+restlessly here and there, up and down. He is a man of about thirty
+years, with a pale face and a dark beard. His firmly closed lips give
+him an expression of earnestness, or strong, decided will; while his
+forehead, which is broad, with large bumps over the eyes, shows that
+he is a deep thinker. His head is uncovered, for here in this vault
+the air is heavy, and his curly black hair is in thick masses, so that
+he needs no covering.
+
+What is he doing here?
+
+He drives his boat over the black looking-glass of the lake; round and
+round he goes, searching the black walls with anxiety, his lamp raised
+in his disengaged hand. Does he imagine that a secret is hidden there?
+Does he think that by touching a spring, and saying "Open Sesame," the
+treasure hidden there for hundreds of years will spring forth?
+
+In truth, he does find treasures. Here and there from the black
+wall--weakly constructed in some places by Nature's hand--a piece of
+stone loosens itself--upon it the impression of a leaf belonging to a
+long-ago-extinct species. A wonderful treasure this! In other places
+he comes upon unknown crystals, to which science has not as yet given
+a name; or upon a new conglomeration of different quartz, metal, and
+stone--a silent testimony to a convulsion of Nature before this world
+was. All these witnesses speak.
+
+The pillars, too; over them the water of the pond has by degrees
+formed a crustation of crystals, small, but visible even without a
+glass. This, too, gives testimony.
+
+The pond is in itself wonderful. It has ebb and flow: twice in the day
+it empties itself; twice in the day it fills. The water rushes in
+leaps and bounds, joyously, tumultuously, into this dark, sullen
+vault; fills it higher, higher, until it reaches the point on the
+pillars where the color changes. There it remains, sometimes for two
+hours, stationary, smooth, and placid as a glass. Then it begins to
+sink, slowly, surely, until it vanishes away into the secret
+hiding-places from whence it has come. Curious, mysterious visitor!
+The man in the boat knows its ways; he has studied them. He waits
+patiently, until, with a sullen, gurgling sound, as if lamenting the
+necessity, the last current of water vanishes behind a projecting mass
+of coal. Then he hurriedly casts off his coat, his shoes, his
+stockings; he has nothing on but his shirt and trousers. He fastens
+round him a leather pocket, in which is a hammer and chisel; he takes
+his safety-lamp and fastens it to his belt; and, so equipped, he
+glides into one of the fissures in the black rock. He is following the
+vanishing stream. He is a courageous man to undertake such a task, for
+his way lies through the palace of death. It needs a heart of stone to
+be there alone in the awful silence. It is a strong motive that brings
+him. He is seeking the secret which lies under seven seals, the
+treasure which Nature has concealed for thousands of years. But this
+man knows not what fear is. He remains three hours seeking. If he had
+any one--a wife, a sister, even a faithful servant, who knew where he
+was, what danger he was in, how their souls would have gone out in
+agony of fear for what might happen!
+
+But he has no one; he is alone--always alone. There is no one to weep
+for his absence or to be joyful at his coming; his life is solitary,
+in the clear air of daylight as well as in the depths of the cavern.
+
+The vanished stream is as capricious as a coquettish maiden, as full
+of tricks and humors. Sometimes it does not show itself for three or
+four hours; at other moments it comes frolicking back in one, and woe
+to the unfortunate wight who is caught in its embrace in the narrow
+windings of the coal-vault! But this man knows the humors of the
+stream; he has studied them. He and it are old acquaintances; he knows
+the signs upon which he can depend, and he knows how long the pause
+will last. He can gauge its duration by the underground wind. When it
+whistles through the clefts and fissures, then he knows the stream is
+at hand. Should he wait until the shrill piping ceases, then he is a
+dead man.
+
+In the darkness a ghostly sound is heard--it is like a long-drawn
+sigh, the far-away sobbing of an AEolian harp; and immediately the
+shimmer of the lamp is seen coming nearer and nearer, and in a minute
+the mysterious searcher of the hidden secret appears.
+
+His countenance is paler than before--deathly; and drops of sweat
+course down his forehead and cheeks. Down below the air must be
+heavier in the cavern, or the nightmare of the abyss has caused this
+cold damp. He throws his well-filled wallet into the boat, and seats
+himself in it again.
+
+It was time. Scarcely has he taken his place when a gurgling is heard,
+and out of the fissures of the rock comes a gush of black water,
+shooting forth with a loud, bubbling noise. Then follows a few
+minutes' pause, and again another gush of water. The cavern is filling
+rapidly. In a short time, over the smooth surface of the wall, the
+watermark shows itself. Clear as a looking-glass it rises,
+noiselessly, surely, until it has reached the black line upon the
+pillars.
+
+The boat, with its silent, watchful occupant, floats upon the water
+like the ghost of the cavern. The water is not like ordinary water; it
+is heavy like metal. The boat moves slowly, only now the rower does
+not care to look into the depths of the black looking-glass; he pays
+no attention to the mysterious signs on the walls. He is occupied
+taking stock of the air about him, which is growing denser every
+moment, and he looks carefully at his safety-lamp, but it is closely
+shut. No escape there.
+
+There is a great fog all round the lamp. The air in this underground
+abyss takes a blue shade. The man in the boat knows well what this
+means. The flame of the safety-lamp flares high, and the wick turns
+red--bad signs these! The angel of death is hovering near.
+
+Two spirits dwell in these subterranean regions--two fearfully wicked
+spirits. The pitmen call one Stormy Weather, the other Bad Weather;
+and these two evil spirits haunt every coal-mine, under different
+names. Bad Weather steals upon its victim, lies like a thick vapor
+upon his chest, follows the miner step by step, takes away his breath
+and his speech, laughs at his alarm, and vanishes, when it has reached
+its height, just as suddenly as it came. Stormy Weather is far more
+cruel--fearful. It comes like a whirlwind; it sets everything in a
+flame, kindles the lumps of coal, shatters the vaults, destroys the
+shaft, burns the ground, and dashes human beings to pieces. Those who
+gain their livelihood by working underground can never tell when they
+may meet one or other of these evil spirits.
+
+The secret of "stormy weather," whence it comes, when it may come, no
+man has yet discovered. It is believed that it arises from the
+contact of the hydrogen gases with the acid gases which are contained
+in the open air; and "bad weather" needs only a spark to turn into
+"stormy weather." The thoughtless opening of a safety-lamp, the
+striking of a match, is sufficient to fuse the two evil spirits into
+one.
+
+The solitary man whom we have been shadowing sees, with an anxiety
+that increases every moment, how the air becomes more and more the
+color of an opal. Already it is enveloping him in a thin cloud. He
+does not wait for the flood to rise to its highest point, for, when he
+reaches a place in the wall where a sort of landing-stage has been
+made, he jumps upon it, draws the boat by its chain, and moors it
+fast, and then, ascending by some rude steps to a strong iron door, he
+opens it with a key, and, closing it behind him, finds himself in a
+passage which leads him straight into the pit.
+
+Here he is in a busy world, very different from the solitude he has
+left. The streets, which are narrow and close, are full of miners hard
+at work with their hammers. The men are nearly naked, the boys who
+push the wagons are wholly so. There is no sound heard but that of the
+never-ceasing hammers. In the mine there are no jolly songs, no hearty
+laughter. Over the mouth of each miner a thick cloth is tied, through
+which he breathes.
+
+Some of the passages are so narrow that the worker is obliged to lie
+upon his back, and in this position to reach the coal with his pick.
+When he has loosened it he drops it into the little wagon, which the
+naked boys, crawling upon their stomachs, push before them to the
+opening.
+
+The man who has come out of the dark cavern does not differ in dress
+from any of the others. He is clothed, certainly, but his clothes are
+covered with coal-dust, his hands are just as coarse, and he carries
+a pick and a hammer on his shoulder. Nevertheless, they all know him;
+there is a rough civility in the tone of each man as he answers the
+other's greeting, "Good-evening. Bad Weather is coming."
+
+The word is repeated all round.
+
+It was true. Bad Weather _was_ close at hand, and these men and boys,
+who quietly come and go, hammer, shove the wagons, lie on their backs,
+all know, as well as the convict who is awaiting the execution of his
+sentence, that death is near.
+
+The heavy, damp fog which lies upon each man's chest, and which fills
+the mine with its unwholesome smell, needs only a spark, and those who
+now live and move are dead men, buried underground, while overhead a
+hundred widows and orphans weep and clamor for their lost ones.
+
+And yet, knowing this, the miners continue calmly to work, as if quite
+unconscious that the dread Angel of Death is hovering about them.
+
+The man who has just entered is Ivan Behrend, the owner of the mine.
+He unites in himself the office of overseer, director, surveyor, and
+bookkeeper. He has enough to do; but we all know the proverb, and, if
+we have lived long enough, have tested its truth, "If you want a thing
+well done, do it yourself." Moreover, it is an encouragement to the
+worker if he sees his employer go shoulder to shoulder with him in the
+work. Therefore, as we have just seen, the master greets all his
+workmen with the words, "Bad Weather is coming," and they all know
+that the master does not consider _his_ life of more value than
+theirs; he does not fly and leave them all the danger, because he is
+the owner and gets all the profit. Quietly, with the most perfect
+composure, he gives his orders--the ventilators are to be opened--a
+charge of cool air at once to the heated coal; and the workers are to
+go off work after three instead of six hours. He gets into the pail,
+covered with buffalo-skin, and lets himself down to the bottom of the
+shaft, to see if the new openings are dangerous. He turns over
+carefully with an iron bar the coal-dust, to try if any of it is
+heated, or if gas is there concealed which might cause an explosion.
+Then, as the ventilators below and the air-pump above begin to work,
+he takes his place at the anometer. This is a tender little machine,
+something like the humming-top of children. Its axle turns upon a
+ruby, and the spring sets a wheel with a hundred teeth in motion; the
+velocity of this wheel shows the strength of the current of air in the
+shaft. It should neither be stronger nor weaker than the motion of the
+"bad weather."
+
+He has now seen to everything; he has taken every precaution, he has
+left nothing to chance, and, when all the miners have quitted the pit,
+he is the last to ascend in the basket to the fresh air and the
+daylight.
+
+Fresh air--daylight!
+
+In Bondavara the sun never shines, the shadow of the smoke hangs like
+a thick cloud over the land; it is a black country, painted in chalk.
+The roads are black with coal-tracks; the houses are black from the
+coal-dust, which the wind carries here and there from the large coal
+warehouses; the men and the women are black. It is a wonder the birds
+over there in the woods are not black also.
+
+The mouth of the Bondavara pit is on the slope of a hill, which, when
+you ascend it, gives you a fine view over the whole country. On the
+other side, in the valley, are the tall chimneys of the
+distilling-ovens. These chimneys are busy night and day, vomiting
+forth smoke, sometimes white, but generally coal-black; for here is
+distilled the sulphur which forms a component of the coal.
+
+The metal can only be melted when in this condition. One of the
+principal customers of the coal-mine is the iron-foundry on the
+neighboring mountain, which has five chimneys from which the smoke
+issues. If the hammer throws up white smoke, then the oven distils
+black smoke, and so contrariwise. Both factories working together cast
+over the valley a continuous veil of cloud and smoke, through which
+even the beams of the sun look brown and dingy.
+
+From the foundry flows a rusty-red stream, and out of the coal-mine
+another, which is as black as ink. In the valley both these streams
+unite and continue their course together. For a little the rusty-red
+tries to get the better of the inky-black, but it has to give up, and
+the black rivulet flows on triumphantly through the black meadow
+lands.
+
+It is a most depressing landscape, and it is saddening to reflect that
+in such a place men have grown from childhood to middle age, from
+middle age to old age, and have never seen the green fields or the
+blue sky of God's heaven.
+
+But Ivan Behrend, when he ascended from the pit into the open air,
+found little contrast between the upper and the under ground. Below,
+there was the stifling smell of gas; above, a suffocating fog: below,
+the black vault of the mine; above, the murky vault of the heavens:
+and the same men above and below.
+
+It was then evening; the sun had gone down, and for the moment even
+the vile smoke could not rob it of its setting glory. The towers of
+the distant castle of Bondavara were touched with its gleam, and the
+chimneys of the distilling-houses were aglow with this crimson light.
+The miners were standing about idly; the women and the girls, who are
+employed in shoving the wheelbarrows, sat gossiping together, as is
+the manner of the sex. One of them, a young girl, began to sing--a
+simple little song, with simple words. It was a Slav volkslied--a sort
+of romance. A mother is taking leave of her daughter, a bride of a few
+hours; she recalls to the girl her childish days and her mother's care
+in these words:
+
+   "Wenn ich das Haar dir strich,
+      Zerr' ich am Haare dich?
+    Wenn ich dich wusch, mein Kind,
+      War ich je ungelind?"
+
+The melody was touching, with the sad strain that all the Slav music
+has, as if composed with tears; and the voice of the one who sang was
+musical and full of feeling. Ivan stopped to listen to the song until
+the singer and her companions disappeared behind the houses.
+
+At this moment it seemed to him that there was a great difference
+between life underground and life in the open.
+
+The song still sounded in the distance; the clouds had passed over and
+extinguished the light of the setting sun, enveloping the landscape in
+total darkness. No star, no white house; only the light from the
+windows of the foundry lighted up the darkness of night; and the smoke
+of the distilling-factory rose from the chimneys and cast yellow
+circles upon the sky.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE SLAVE OF THE BLACK DIAMONDS
+
+
+There is nothing startling or new in the declaration that when we
+speak of "black diamonds" we mean _coal_. That beautiful, brilliant
+stone, the diamond, is made of carbon. So is your house-coal--the only
+difference being, the one is transparent, the other black; and the
+first is the demon, the last the angel.
+
+Coal moves the world. The spirit of progress comes from it; railroads,
+steamboats borrow from it their wonderful strength. Every machine that
+is, and works, has its existence from coal. It makes the earth
+habitable; it gives to the great cities their mighty blaze and
+splendor. It is a treasure, the last gift presented by earth to
+extravagant man.
+
+Therefore it is that we call coal "black diamonds."
+
+Ivan Behrend, the owner of the Bondavara coal-mine, was not exactly in
+the condition of some of his pitmen. He had seen God's heaven, and
+knew how in happier lands life was bright, careless, sunny as the
+cloudless sky itself. But for an existence which was all play and no
+work, Ivan would not have cared. He had inherited the coal-mine from
+his father, who had left him also an inheritance of a strong will and
+inflexible perseverance. No trifle, nor even a great obstacle, could
+stand in the way of Ivan's wishes, and his wish and his pride was to
+work the Bondavara mine without any help but what his pitmen gave
+him. It was his ambition--perhaps a foolish one--to have no company at
+his back, no shareholders to find fault, no widows and orphans to be
+involved in possible ruin; the mine was his, and his it should be
+absolutely. Therefore it was a quiet business. The foundry and the
+inhabitants of the nearest town consumed the yearly output at an
+uncommonly low price. It never could be, unless with enormous outlay,
+a great money-making business, seeing that the mine was too far away
+from any of the great centres. Nevertheless, it brought in a steady
+income, especially as Ivan paid no useless expenses, and was, as we
+have said, his own overseer and accountant. He knew everything that
+went on, he understood his own business perfectly, and he took a
+pleasure in looking after his own affairs; and these three
+qualifications, as any business man knows, insure ultimate success.
+
+It was well, however, that he enjoyed such good health, and that this
+superabundance of vital energy kept him always occupied, and, by a
+natural consequence, never dull. There was no denying that it was a
+solitary life for so young a man.
+
+Ivan was very little over thirty, and when he opened the door of his
+small house with his key, and closed the door behind him, he was
+alone. He hadn't even a dog to come and greet him. He waited upon
+himself; and in this he was a great man. Eating he looked upon as an
+unnecessary waste of time; nevertheless, he ate a great deal, for his
+muscular and mental system needed food. He was not delicate in his
+appetite. He dined every day at the tavern. His food was very little
+better than that of his pitmen, the only difference being that he
+avoided the strong drinks they indulged in--for this reason, that they
+worked only with their bodies; he had to bring to his work a clear
+intellect, not a soddened one. His bed needed no making. It was a
+wooden plank, upon which a mattress was placed, covered with a
+sheep-skin. There was no use in brushing his clothes; they were always
+permeated with coal-dust.
+
+Any one who would offer, by way of doing him a service, to clear out
+his room, would, in fact, have done him a deadly injury. It was full
+of every sort of thing--new books half cut, minerals, scientific
+instruments, plans, pictures, retorts. Not one of these should be
+moved from its place. There was order in the disorder, and in the
+heterogeneous mass Ivan could find what he wanted. In one corner was
+Lavoisier's pyrometer; in another Berard's gas food-warmer. Over there
+a wonderful sun-telescope; against the wall Bunsen's galvanic battery,
+together with every conceivable invention, every sort of chemical
+apparatus for analyzing and searching into the mysteries of Nature.
+
+Amongst these things Ivan was wont to spend the long nights. Another
+man, tired as he must have been with his day's work, would have flung
+himself upon his bed, and have sought in sleep some compensation for
+the labors of the day, or if not weary enough for this, would have sat
+before his door and breathed the fresh air, which at night was free
+from smoke and coal-dust. But this student of the unseen withdrew into
+his inner chamber, lit his fire, made his lamp blaze, and busied
+himself breaking lumps of coal, cooking seeds, developing deadly
+gases, a breath of which was enough to send a man into eternity.
+
+What was it he searched for? Was he seeking the secret of the
+philosopher's stone? Did he abandon sleep to find out how diamonds can
+be made out of coal? Did he strive to extract deadly poisons, or was
+he simply pursuing the _ignis fatuus_ of knowledge--trying
+experiments, grubbing in the dark until, in the hopeless endeavor, the
+over-strained brain would give way, and there would be only the wreck
+of what was once a noble intellect?
+
+Nothing of the sort. This man had a purpose; he wanted to learn a
+secret which would be of infinite benefit to mankind--at least, to
+those who are buried in the pits and caverns of the earth. He wanted
+to find out by what means it would be possible to extinguish fire in
+burning pits. To discover this he consumed his nights and the years of
+his youth and his manhood. It was no thought born of to-day or
+yesterday; it had been his one desire for many years. He had seen so
+much misery, such heartrending scenes enacted before these pit
+mouths--these monsters which swallow up human life like the
+Juggernauts of old. He wanted to prevent this amount of sacrifice--a
+sacrifice never thought of by those who profit from the labor of these
+victims, whose very blood is spilled to keep others warm. It is
+possible this one idea might drive him mad, or he might lose his life;
+but the knowledge, if he did gain it, would be, in his opinion, worth
+the loss. After all, what is the loss of one life against the saving
+of millions? This man had a fine nature; there was no tinge of self in
+Ivan Behrend. Also, he had a certain enjoyment in his search.
+Enjoyment is not the word. Whenever he got even a glimpse of what he
+wanted, his joy was something unearthly. Surely these moments were
+worth all the pleasures the world could offer him; and if we can bring
+our minds to understand this, then we shall comprehend how a young man
+preferred to be shut up in a cavern, in danger of losing his life, or
+in a stifling room, trying risky experiments, rather than spend the
+night with beautiful maidens or pleasant fellows, drinking, dancing,
+and love-making. There is a charm in Science to those who know her
+that far surpasses carnal joys.
+
+To-night, however, it must be confessed, Ivan's experiments fell a
+little flat. Either he was tired, or some other cause was at work.
+Could it be possible that a girl's song-- Yes, such was the
+humiliating condition of affairs. At the moment when he least expected
+it, this thing had unexpectedly seized upon him.
+
+With an effort Ivan lit his lamp and lighted his furnace. His
+experiments, however, were a failure. That girl's song kept running in
+his head, and the words--how did they go?
+
+   "Say when I smoothed thy hair,
+      Showed I not tender care?
+    Say when I dressed my child,
+      Was I not fond and mild?"[1]
+
+     [Footnote 1: These lines have been kindly translated
+     from the original by Miss Troutbeck.]
+
+It was very pretty, and the voice wonderful--so sweet and clear and
+melodious. To-morrow evening she might be at the pit's mouth again,
+and then he would find out her name. Even if she were not there, the
+other girls would know; there were not so many singers among them.
+
+    "Say when I smoothed thy hair"--
+
+Oh, he could settle down to nothing with this tiresome song!--
+
+    "Showed I not tender care?"
+
+He wished he had seen her face, merely to know if it matched the
+voice. Very likely not. She would be hard-featured, like the other
+girls--bold, unwomanly creatures; beauty and modesty were rare gifts
+in Bondavara.
+
+The next day Ivan was early at the pit. The opening of the air-oven
+had done its work; there was only a fractional quantity of hydrogen
+mixed with the pit air. The ventilators could be shut, and Ivan was
+able to spend some time in the open.
+
+At twelve o'clock the bell rang to leave off work. As the girls came
+from the wheelbarrows, he again heard the clear young voice singing
+the same song. He had not been wrong as to the voice; it was fresh and
+lovely, like the blackbird in the woods, uneducated and unspoiled, but
+full of natural charm, tender and joyous as the feathered songster. He
+could now see the singer--a very young girl, not more than sixteen.
+The common blue bodice she wore showed every undulation of her girlish
+figure, untrammelled by any fashionable stays. Her short red skirt,
+tucked up on one side, and fastened to her waist, disclosed her still
+shorter chemise, which only reached to her knees, so that her legs
+were uncovered. They might have been modelled for a statue of Hebe, so
+perfect were they in shape--the ankles small, and little feet
+beautifully rounded, like a child's. About her head the girl had wound
+a colored cloth, and under this she had tucked away her hair; her
+face, like those of her companions, was blackened by the coal-dust,
+but even this enemy to beauty could not disfigure her. You could see
+that her features were regular, her eyebrows thick and dark, her lips
+red. There was a mixture of earthly dirt and supernatural beauty about
+this child; besides, she had one thing that even coal-dust could not
+conceal or dim, her eyes--her large black eyes--shining like two
+diamonds, which lit up the darkness as two stars.
+
+As these wonderful eyes met Ivan's glance, it seemed to that
+philosopher as if these diamonds cut away a portion of the glass phial
+in which he had preserved his heart, and so kept it untouched up to
+this. But he did not know that this was only the beginning; his glass
+protector will soon lie in fragments all round him.
+
+The girl made a little curtsey to her employer, and accompanied this
+small act of duty with a smile which showed two rows of beautiful,
+pearly-white teeth.
+
+Ivan felt like an enchanted knight in a fairy tale. He forgot what had
+brought him here, and what he wanted to say; he remained rooted to the
+spot, gazing blankly after the retreating figure of the girl and her
+companions. He hoped, without exactly defining what his hope was, that
+she would look back. That little action would have broken the charm
+under which he lay. But she did not look back, although one of her
+companions called her by her name, "Evila." Ivan could see them
+talking to her, whispering, no doubt, about him. This did not seem to
+rouse any curiosity in her. She and they had now come to an open shed.
+Here they seated themselves upon the ground, took out of their pockets
+pieces of black bread and wild apples, and ate their meal with as much
+zest as if it had been chicken and grapes.
+
+Ivan returned to his house. For the first time in his life it struck
+him how lonely it was. It was his custom to keep a sort of log-book,
+in which he entered his personal notes upon all his work-people. He
+found this practice very necessary; he knew that a skilled workman of
+good conduct is far more useful at high wages than a lazy,
+good-for-nothing fellow of doubtful character who would come for half
+the wage. At the footnote by the name "Evila" he read--
+
+"A young orphan; supports a crippled brother younger than herself,
+who goes upon crutches, and whose tongue is paralyzed. She is very
+steady, and does not go to the town."
+
+It was certain, therefore, that he must have seen this child before,
+but had given no attention to her. Every Saturday he paid every
+workman, every girl and lad in the pit; how, then, had he escaped
+noticing those wonderful eyes? He did not know, learned as he was,
+that there is an affinity between two souls destined for one another.
+It is like an electric shock, this sudden birth of love; but Ivan
+ridiculed such an idea. Love? Nonsense! He in love with a girl out of
+the pit? Ridiculous! It was compassion, merely pity for a pretty
+child, left without either father or mother to watch over her tender
+age, and, still worse, with a deformed brother to care for and provide
+with food and medicines. No doubt she gave him the best of everything,
+while she had to be content with black bread and wild apples, and all
+the time remained an honest, steady girl. She never even turned her
+head to look after him. There was nothing but pity in his heart for
+this coal-black Naiad; it was only pity made him wish to cover those
+tender little feet with proper shoes; it was only a proper regard for
+the weakest among his work-people which would cause him to make
+inquiries as to this poor forlorn child. Oh, self-deception, what a
+part you play in men's hearts!
+
+The following Saturday the workers came to receive their weekly wages.
+Ivan, who always paid them himself, remained at his desk until the
+last one came. On this occasion Evila was the last. Ivan sat at a
+table, on which was placed the sum to be paid, which was regulated by
+the account of the work done, which was registered in the day-book.
+
+When the girl, who was dressed as when we first saw her in her blue
+bodice and red skirt, presented herself, Ivan said to her kindly--
+
+"My child, I have determined to increase your wages; from this day you
+shall have double pay."
+
+The girl opened her large eyes, and stared in surprise. "Why so?" she
+asked.
+
+"Because I am told that you have a crippled brother, whom you have to
+keep out of your small earnings. You cannot have enough to clothe and
+feed both him and yourself. I have also heard that you are a
+well-conducted, honest girl, and therefore it gives me pleasure to
+reward you by giving you double pay."
+
+"I cannot take it."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because I know what the others would say. They would joke and tease
+me about your being my lover, and I should get so tormented that I
+could not stay in the place."
+
+Ivan was so confounded by this naive explanation, given without the
+slightest confusion, that he could make no answer. He counted out the
+usual week's wages, which she stowed away in the bosom of her bodice,
+wished him good morning, and went her way.
+
+He remained, his thoughts in a maze. In all his experience--and he had
+a good deal, for his time had not been always spent in Bondavara, and
+out in the world he had known many women--he had known no woman like
+this.
+
+She is afraid they will say I am her lover; she is afraid they will
+tease her so much on that account that she may have to leave the
+place! Has she, then, no idea that once I, the master, loved a girl
+here, she would not push the wheelbarrow any more? Does she even know
+what a lover is? She knows well that she must guard herself against
+one. Poor child! How earnest she was, and yet she laughed, and she did
+not know why she laughed, nor yet why she was grave. A savage in the
+guise of an angel!
+
+He got up, locked his desk, and turned to leave his office; then again
+remained, thinking.
+
+She is unlike every other woman. I doubt if she knows how beautiful
+she is, or what is the worth of beauty. She is Eve, a perfect copy of
+Eve--the Eve of Scripture, and the Eve of Milton. She is Eve, in not
+knowing wherefore she should blush over her own nakedness--the type of
+the beautiful in its primitive state, unwashed, savage, with hair
+unconfined, who wanders through the garden, fearing nothing, and even
+playing with a serpent. With men she is a woman, by herself she is a
+child, and yet she displays a motherly care for her little brother.
+Her figure is a model for a sculptor, her countenance is full of mind,
+her eyes bewitching, her voice melodious; and yet her hands are hard
+with the barrow-poles, her mind is troubled with sordid cares for her
+daily bread, her face is covered with coal-smut, and she has learned
+her songs in the street.
+
+"The worse for her!" and, after a pause, Ivan added with a sigh, "and
+the worse for another besides her."
+
+In his mind a total revolution had taken place. The intellectual
+spirits had for the nonce deserted him, and in their place others had
+come of a very different order--those demons which the blessed Antony
+had fought with such good effect in the desert.
+
+When poor Ivan tried to banish these tempters by burying himself in
+his books and his scientific instruments the form of Evila came
+between him and the experiment he was busy on, just as Marguerite
+appeared to Doctor Faust in his laboratory; her voice sounded in his
+ear, her eyes glowed in the coals, and when he tried to write he found
+himself drawing a maiden in a blue bodice and short red skirt. It was
+the same with everything he undertook. Some mocking demon seemed bent
+on tormenting him.
+
+Abandoning his experiments, this unfortunate man took to reading a
+volume of light literature. What did he open on? The loves of great
+and nobly-born men for lowly-born and inferior women. Thus Lord
+Douglas fell in love with a shepherdess, and became a shepherd for her
+sake; Count Pelletier took for his wife a gypsy girl, and went about
+the streets turning an organ; Bernadotte, the King of Sweden, sought
+the hand of a young girl who watched a flock of geese for a farmer;
+Archduke John married the daughter of a postmaster; and another
+Austrian duke raised an actress to the position of grand duchess; the
+consort of Peter the Great was the daughter of a villager; a Bonaparte
+married a washerwoman who had been his mistress.
+
+And why not? Are not beauty, sweetness, fidelity, and true worth to be
+found under a woollen as well as under a silken frock? And, on the
+other hand, do we not find sinners enough in the upper circles?
+
+Did not Zoraida kill her own children, and was she not a born
+princess? Faustina took money from her lovers, although she was the
+daughter of an emperor; the Marquise Astorgas ran a hairpin through
+her husband's heart; Semiramis strewed a whole churchyard with the
+corpses of her spouses; King Otto was poisoned in a grove by his
+queen; Joanna of Naples treasured the ribbon with which the king, her
+husband, was strangled; Jeanne Lafolle tormented her husband to death;
+the Empress Catharine betrayed her sovereign and consort, and connived
+at his murder; and the Borgias, Tudors, Cillis, all had wives who
+became notorious in that they wore entwined in their crowns the girdle
+of Aphrodite.
+
+And do we not find the most exalted virtue in what is called low life?
+The actress Gaussin, to whom her wealthy lover gave a check with
+_carte blanche_ to write a million thereupon, only wrote that she
+would always love him, Quintilla, another actress, bit off her tongue,
+lest she should betray her lover, who was implicated in a conspiracy;
+Alice, who undertook to fight a duel for her husband, and was killed;
+and many others who have suffered silently and died for very love.
+
+Philosophy and history both conspired against Ivan. And then came
+sleep.
+
+A dream is a magic mirror in which we see ourselves as we would be if
+our own wishes and inclinations were all-powerful. In his dream the
+bald man has hair and the blind sees.
+
+Towards the end of the following week Ivan made the discovery that he
+had lost the use of his understanding. The more he endeavored to force
+his mind back to its original groove of abstract theories, the more
+the demons ranged themselves against him. One evening, in a fit of
+absence of mind, he overheated one of the retorts, so that it burst in
+his face, and the small glass particles cut his nose and cheek, and he
+was forced to bind up his wounds with bits of sticking-plaster. It did
+not occur to him that these strips of black diachylon placed obliquely
+across his nose did not improve his appearance. He was, however, very
+angry at his own folly--a folly which went still further, for he began
+to argue with himself in this way:
+
+"It would be better to marry this girl than to become mad for her
+sake. Marry her? Who ever heard the like? A pit-girl! What a
+_mesalliance_! And who cares? Am I not alone in the world? Do I not
+form the whole family? And does not this constant thought of her come
+between me and my business? If this goes on I shall be ruined; and as
+for the _mesalliance_, is there a soul for six miles round who
+understands the meaning of the word? Not one; and if there should be
+one, he would have to seek me in the coal-pit, and he would find my
+face blackened with coal-dust, so that no one could see me blush for
+shame."
+
+All the same, he never sought the girl. He waited for the Saturday,
+when he knew she would come for her weekly wages, and on that day she
+appeared, as usual, the last, because she was the youngest, and stood
+before him as he sat at his desk. But this time, when Ivan had put the
+money into Evila's hand, he kept the little fingers in his firm clasp.
+The girl laughed--perhaps at the plasters, which still ornamented her
+lover's face.
+
+"Listen to me, Evila. I have something to say to you."
+
+Evila looked uneasy; she ceased to laugh.
+
+"Will you have me for your lover? Nay, my child, I mean you no harm;
+only one must play the lover before one talks of marriage."
+
+The girl nodded, and then shook her head. "It is not possible," she
+said.
+
+"Not possible! Why not?"
+
+"Because I am already engaged."
+
+Ivan let go his clasp of her hand. "To whom?"
+
+"That I am not going to tell you," said Evila, "for if I did, I know
+very well what you would do. You would discharge him, or you would
+keep him back, and we cannot be married until he is taken on as a
+regular pitman."
+
+"You mean as a day laborer?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And you think more of this low fellow than you do of me, your
+employer?"
+
+The girl shrugged her shoulders, held her head a little to one side,
+and threw a look at Ivan which sent the blood coursing to his head.
+Then she went on, quietly--
+
+"I gave him my promise before mother died, and I must keep my word."
+
+"To the devil with your father and your mother!" cried Ivan, out of
+himself with baffled hope and rage. "Do you imagine I care what you
+have promised to a fellow like that? I ask you again, will you give
+him up and come to me?"
+
+Again Evila shook her head. "I dare not. My bridegroom is a wild,
+desperate fellow; he would think nothing of doing for you, and setting
+the pit on fire into the bargain when bad weather was on.
+Good-evening!" And so saying, she ran away quickly, and mingled with
+her companions.
+
+Ivan threw the day-book from him so violently that the leaves flew
+from one corner to another. A common creature, a wheelbarrow-girl, a
+half-savage, had dared to cross his wishes and refuse his offer! And
+for a dirty, miserable, underground miner--a common mole!
+
+Ivan had a hard battle to fight with himself when he was once more
+alone in the solitude of the night. The suppressed passion of the
+ascetic had suddenly broken through the dams, which moderation had set
+up to restrain its course.
+
+Beware of the man who professes to be above human passion, who glories
+in his iron will and his heart of ice; avoid him and the quiet, holy,
+studious man of soft tongue, who turns away his eyes from women, and
+shuns what others enjoy. It is upon such as these that outraged human
+nature revenges itself; and once the demon within gets loose, he plays
+a fine game to indemnify himself for all the restraint he has
+undergone. The love of the worldling is a small dog; that of the
+hermit is a lion.
+
+With this wild beast, which he had suddenly unchained, did Ivan, the
+man of science, spend the long night, now walking up and down the
+narrow room, now throwing himself on his bed, a prey to the most
+horrible temptations, his heart beating with a thousand passionate
+desires, his thoughts running in as many evil directions. The
+opposition that had been made to its wishes by Evila had stimulated
+his passion, and also roused the pride of his nature. The master of
+the Bondavara mine was a man of fiery temper, kept in check by his
+strong command over himself; but this command seemed now at fault. He
+had no longer any power to lay this demon, which had got possession of
+him, tempting him from every side. With his powerful fist he struck
+himself a blow upon his chest, near to his throbbing heart.
+
+"Wilt thou be silent? Who is master, thou or I? Do thy duty, slave. I
+am thy lord, thy king. Thy duty consists in nothing but keeping my
+arteries in motion, in pumping the air into my lungs, in forcing the
+blood in the right direction. When you cease your work, your illness
+is atrophy; but you cannot be my master, for the sovereign ruler is my
+will."
+
+And as Ivan beat his breast, it seemed to him as if in a magic mirror
+there were reflected two forms--himself and another Ivan, with whom he
+waged a deadly combat. It appeared to him as if this other self had
+robbed him of his form and features, to perpetrate in his name the
+most odious sins, and as he hit out against this horrid image of
+himself, it slowly vanished; and then Ivan, falling back upon his
+pillow, cried out in a loud voice, "Never return, O fiend; never
+defile my sight again!"
+
+In another hour, pale and exhausted, Ivan was seated quietly before
+his desk. It required an heroic effort on his part to go into prosaic
+calculations, to add up long columns of figures; but he forced his
+weary brain, his tired fingers to the task, and the slave obeyed its
+master, the body submitted to the mind.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE MAN-EATER
+
+
+The morning light found Ivan still seated at his table. As daybreak
+and lamplight did not agree, he extinguished his lamp, threw aside his
+papers, and gave himself a momentary rest.
+
+He had conquered; he was himself again. All the fire of passion had
+died out, the sinful images had vanished, and in his breast reigned
+profound peace. He had resolved upon his course; an angel had been at
+his side and inspired him.
+
+It was Sunday morning. The engines which work the distillery were at
+rest. On Sundays the enormous water-basin, or trough, which fed the
+steam-pump was utilized to remove the dirt of the week from the
+miners. From six to seven the basin was free to the women, from
+half-past seven to nine to the men. The keys of the great pump-house
+were given over by the machine superintendent on every Saturday night
+to Ivan, so that no curious or peeping Tom of Coventry could hide
+himself there, and see these Venuses bathing through a little window,
+which gave upon the basin, and which was placed there to allow the
+stoker to see that the water-course was not disturbed when the pumps
+were at work.
+
+It had never once entered Ivan's brain that he could play Tom if he
+were so minded. But on this Sunday morning he took the key from its
+nail and put it in his pocket. Don't start; he did this, not between
+six and seven, but shortly after eight o'clock. He wanted to see the
+men bathing, unseen himself. And wherefore? Because he knew the
+customs which prevail in coal-mines, and that when a pair are engaged,
+it is customary to inscribe the name of the girl upon the man's naked
+body. Where the miners have got this Indian and savage method is hard
+to say. There is a certain tenderness in it, and tenderness is more
+often found with the savage than the civilized man. The lovers tattoo
+themselves with a needle, upon the arm or shoulder, and then rub in a
+corrosive acid, either red or blue. Such a testimony is ineffaceable.
+Sometimes some poetic temperament adds two hearts transfixed by an
+arrow, or a couple of doves, or it may be the signs of the miner--the
+mallet and the pick. It occasionally happens that the relations alter,
+and the lover would gladly remove the name of the fickle one from his
+album. This can be done by placing a blister over the name, and then
+the writing vanishes, together with the skin; a new skin grows, and
+upon this a new name can be written. It is a real palimpsest. Many are
+not so discreet. They punctuate a fresh name under the old one, and
+let the register increase, until sometimes there is not a vacant
+place.
+
+It did not give Ivan much trouble to find the man he sought. As soon
+as the water removed the black soot from the bodies of the bathers, he
+saw on the shoulder of one of them the name of Evila, the letters in
+blue, two hearts in red. His rival was an intelligent, most
+industrious laborer; he was called Peter Saffran, and his comrades had
+added the nickname--the man-eater. To this misnomer Peter had never
+taken any umbrage. He was a particularly quiet man, and when they
+teased him he took no notice. He never complained of anything, and
+never entered either the church or the tavern. Towards children he had
+a particular antipathy. If one came near him he drove it away, ground
+his teeth together, and threw anything he had in his hand at it. This
+peculiarity was so well known that the mothers always cautioned the
+little ones against the man-eater. For the rest, he was on good terms
+with every one.
+
+Ivan, having found what he wanted, left the pump-house and returned
+home, placing himself before the door, so that he could see the people
+as they went by presently in groups towards the neighboring village to
+the church. He noticed that Evila was among them. He examined her
+critically and in cold blood, and he came to quite a scientific
+conclusion as to the peculiar character of her beauty, which showed a
+mixture of races. The small hands and feet, the slender form, the
+narrow forehead, the finely cut nose, the silky black hair--all spoke
+the Indian or Hindoo type; but the short upper lip and the long,
+serpent-like eyebrows were derivable from some Slav ancestor. The
+starry, seductive eyes were decidedly Eastern, the chin and the
+coloring recalled the Malay race, and the quick, sudden rising of the
+red blood to the velvet cheek the Caucasian--for this people blush
+constantly, owing to the cellular texture being fine almost to
+transparency.
+
+Ivan pondered on all this as Evila passed him; he wondered also why
+her lover was not with her, for this was an established custom in
+Bondavara. Peter, however, evidently did not mind these rules of
+courtship; he was lounging on one of the benches outside the gates of
+the ventilation-oven, close to the pitmouth, his head in the air, his
+chin in his hand.
+
+Ivan went to him. "Good-morning, Peter. What are you doing there, my
+man?"
+
+"I am listening to the wind that is coming from below."
+
+"Why don't you go to church?"
+
+"Because I never pray at all."
+
+"And why not?"
+
+"I do nobody any harm. I neither rob nor murder, and if there is a
+God, He knows better than I do what is good for me."
+
+"You are quite wrong there, Peter. In these matters there is an
+immense difference between educated people and what are called the
+children of Nature. I have my science and thought to fall back on--my
+intellect is my guide, and preserves me from temptation; but with you,
+and men like you, it is otherwise. Those who have no other knowledge
+but what concerns their daily labor have need of faith, of hope, of
+consolation, and of forgiveness." As he spoke, Ivan seated himself
+beside the other and laid his hand upon his shoulder. "Something is on
+your mind, Peter?"
+
+Peter nodded. "There is something."
+
+"Does it weigh on your soul?"
+
+"On my soul, on my body--everywhere!"
+
+"Is it a secret, Peter?"
+
+"No, it is not. If you care to hear it, I will tell it you."
+
+"A murder?"
+
+"Worse than that."
+
+"Don't you think you had better not tell it to me? It may place you in
+danger."
+
+"There is no danger for me. If it were published on the Market Cross,
+the law could not touch me; besides, most people know it. You would
+hear it from some one else if not from me."
+
+"Then tell me."
+
+"It is a short story. When I was only a lad, not quite twenty, I went
+to sea to seek my fortune. I bound myself as stoker on board a Trieste
+steamboat. We sailed with a cargo of meal to the Brazils. Our voyage
+there was prosperous. On our return we took black coffee and wool. On
+this side of the equator we met a tornado, which broke our engine,
+smashed our mainmast, and drove the vessel upon a sandbank, where she
+foundered. Some of the passengers took to the boat; they went only a
+short way when she upset, and they were all drowned. The rest made a
+raft from the planks of the sunken ship, and trusted to this frail
+thing on the open sea. I was one of them. We were in all thirty-nine,
+including the captain, the steersman, and a merchant from Rio de
+Janeiro, with his wife and a three-year-old child. We had no other
+woman or child, for the rest had perished in the open boat. We thought
+them unfortunate, but now I think they were happy. Better, far better,
+to have died then. Out of our thirty-nine, soon only nine remained.
+Oh, how I wish I had been among the dead! For eight days we floated
+upon the water, the sport of the waves; now buffeted here and there,
+again in a calm, immovable, nailed as it were to the ocean, without
+one drop of water to quench our thirst or one morsel of food. Ten of
+us had died of hunger. For two days we had never eaten, and the ninth
+day came, and no hope of succor. The sun was burning us up, and the
+water reflected the heat, so that we lay between two fires. Oh, the
+horror of that awful time! That evening we took the resolve that one
+of us should be a victim for the others--that is, that we should draw
+lots which should be eaten by the others. We threw our names into a
+hat, and we made the innocent child draw for us. That child drew its
+own name.
+
+"I cannot tell you, sir, the rest of the ghastly business. Often I
+dream the whole thing over again, and I always awake at the moment
+when the miserable mother cursed all those who partook of that
+horrible meal, invoking heaven that we might never again have peace.
+At the recollection of her words I spring out of my bed, I run into
+the woods and wait, to see if I shall be changed into a wolf. It would
+serve me right.
+
+"Of the partakers of the cursed meal I am the only survivor. The
+thought haunts me; it burns into my very soul. Besides my own blood,
+the blood of another human being circulates in my veins. Fearful
+thoughts pursue me. The piece of human flesh that I have eaten is in
+me still; it has taken away all wish for any other food. I understand
+the delight of the cannibals. I never see a rosy-faced child without
+thinking what a delicious morsel his little rounded arm would be. When
+I behold a sickly, pale baby, the idea at once occurs to me--Why let
+it live? Would it not be better--"
+
+He shuddered, and stood up. He hid his hands in his blouse, and after
+a pause, went on--
+
+"Tell me now, sir, is there any relief for what I suffer? Is there a
+physician who can cure me, or a priest who will absolve me? I have
+told my story to both priest and doctor, and one has enjoined me to
+fast and to chastise myself, the other to drink no brandy and to have
+myself bled. Neither of them is worth a straw, and such counsel only
+makes the matter worse."
+
+"I will advise you," said Ivan. "Marry."
+
+Saffran looked with some surprise at his employer, and after a minute
+a feeble smile stole over his face.
+
+"I have thought of that. Perhaps if I had children of my own this
+horror of them would disappear."
+
+"Then why don't you marry?"
+
+"Because I am such a poor devil. If two beggars come together, then
+you have a couple of paupers instead of one. One must first have
+something to live on."
+
+"That is true; but you are an industrious fellow. I have long wanted
+to have you as a first-class pitman, but I waited to advance you until
+you got married. It is my rule to give all the best places to married
+men. I have found by experience that the unmarried ones, when they get
+higher pay, go straight to the bad. There is more dependence to be
+placed in a married man; he won't leave his place for a mere nothing.
+Therefore, consider the matter. After the first Saturday on which you
+can tell me that you have been called in church with your intended,
+you will receive the pay of a pitman, and I shall give you a
+dwelling-house for yourself."
+
+Peter's face was a study. He could not believe that what he heard was
+real earnest. When this was made clear to him, he was ready to fall at
+the feet of his benefactor; he almost sobbed as he stammered forth
+some words of thanks.
+
+"Now," cried Ivan, with friendly encouragement, "to-day is a Sunday.
+Does nothing occur to you, my friend?"
+
+The man sprang to his feet.
+
+"Service has not yet begun," went on Ivan; "the congregation have not
+all arrived at the church yet. I think there would be time for you to
+catch up your bride and go with her to the clergyman."
+
+Peter said no word to this proposal, but he began to run; his legs
+were long, and he was soon out of sight. He was bareheaded; he had
+forgotten his hat upon the seat. Ivan saw it, and took it into his
+house to keep, but he stood looking after the fleet lover until he had
+disappeared behind the stone wall at the turning. Then he went in,
+with Saffran's hat in his hand.
+
+"How happy he is!" he thought, and sighed.
+
+When he was in his room he wrote in his day-book that from the
+following day, Monday, he had engaged Peter Saffran as a first-class
+pitman with the usual wages, and that in his place another day-laborer
+should be taken on. When he had closed the book, his heart whispered--
+
+"My cruel master, art thou content?"
+
+But Ivan had his misgivings, and answered his heart thus--
+
+"I don't believe in you, since I have seen how easy it was for you to
+slip on the ice. I must for the future watch closely. I am not sure of
+the purity of my own motives even now. God knows what lies under this
+apparent abnegation. Perhaps you think as a young wife--But I shall
+watch you closely, traitorous heart of mine; you shall lead me into no
+more pitfalls."
+
+Again he consulted his account-book, and found that the increase in
+this year's income allowed him to take on an overseer at a very fair
+salary. He wrote out the proper advertisement, and despatched it that
+very evening to different papers for insertion. In this way he would
+not be thrown into daily contact with his work-people.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+A MODERN ALCHEMIST
+
+
+A fortnight had passed since Ivan sent his advertisement for
+insertion, when, one morning, and again it was Saturday morning, Peter
+Saffran came and told him that two gentlemen had just arrived, who
+wished to see the mine.
+
+"They must be foreigners," he added, "since they spoke French
+together." Peter's life as a sailor had given him some knowledge of
+the French tongue.
+
+"I shall be with them immediately," returned Ivan, who was busy
+pouring a green liquid through a pointed felt hat. "Let them meanwhile
+get into the usual miner's dress."
+
+"That is already done; they are all ready for you."
+
+"Very good. I am going. And how are you getting on, Peter?"
+
+"With the wedding? Everything is in order; to-morrow we shall be
+called in church for the third time."
+
+"And when shall you be betrothed?"
+
+"It is just now Advent, and our priest will not marry us; but on the
+first Sunday after the Three Kings we shall have the wedding. I am not
+at all annoyed at the delay, for I have to get together a little
+money. When a man marries he must have all sorts of things--furniture
+and the like; and something for the cold winter into the bargain."
+
+"And have you put by nothing out of your wages?"
+
+"Yes, sir; I had over a hundred and fifty gulden laid by. I had spared
+everything on myself--food and drink, and even the pipe--and I had got
+together this sum. Then what should the devil do but bring the
+recruiting commission down here, and I had to give all my money into
+the greasy palm of the examining doctor, so that he might report me as
+being unfit for service because I squinted. It's a trick I have. I can
+squint for a quarter of an hour together, although my eyes are
+straight; on this account I shall be let off by the doctor, but my
+hundred and fifty gulden are gone. I shall have to squint at the
+marriage ceremony, for the priest only marries me because I am unfit
+for service."
+
+"Well, Peter, you may count upon some help from me."
+
+"Thank you, sir, but I don't like loans; that is like eating one's
+supper at dinner."
+
+By this time they had reached the place where the strangers were
+waiting.
+
+"Ah," cried Ivan, "so it is you, Felix!" and he held out his hand
+cordially to the visitor.
+
+The old acquaintance whom Ivan called Felix looked as if he belonged
+to another generation. His soft complexion, carefully waxed mustache,
+short imperial, his fine, dark-blue eyes, and particularly the shape
+of his head, and the way it was placed on his shoulders, taken
+together with his elegant dress, which the rough miner's blouse could
+not quite conceal, betrayed the man of the world. When he spoke, his
+voice was almost womanly; the tone was clear and high, like one of the
+Pope's choir.
+
+Felix hastened at once to put his friend's mind at ease upon a
+necessary part of his visit.
+
+"I hope you will forgive our putting up at the inn. I was sure you
+would have made us welcome, but you are a busy man, and you would not
+care to be at the bother of entertaining us; besides, like all men of
+business, you are, I dare say, a little in the rough, and the inn is
+really very comfortable. May I introduce you to my travelling
+companion, Gustav Raune? He is a mine-surveyor and engineer."
+
+Ivan was well pleased at his friend's forethought in the matter of
+hospitality; not that he would not have made him welcome so far as lay
+in his power--and there were unoccupied rooms in the house which would
+have accommodated the two men--but his manner of life would have been
+disturbed. He had never for one moment thought of entertaining a
+guest.
+
+"My house," he said, frankly, "is not fitted to receive my friends,
+and, indeed, none come; but the inn is also mine. I trust you will
+consider yourselves my guests while you remain here."
+
+"We accept your offer," returned the other; "the more readily, since
+we have really come here on your business. Yesterday I read your
+advertisement. You require an overseer?"
+
+"I do." Ivan looked doubtfully at the two gentlemen.
+
+"No, no; it is not for me," laughed Felix. "I understand nothing of
+the business; but Raune is inclined to join you, should he find that
+there are capabilities here for real work. Raune is an old friend of
+mine. He has learned his business under Erenzoter. You know the firm
+of Erenzoter? He is thoroughly up in the whole thing."
+
+Raune all this time said not a word, perhaps for the best of reasons,
+that, being a Frenchman, he did not understand the language in which
+the others spoke. He was a small man, slight, and well-made, with
+penetrating eyes, a sharp-cut face, and very long mustache.
+
+To this gentleman Ivan explained in fluent French that he would be
+glad to show him all the properties of the Bondavara mine before going
+closer into the matter of engaging him permanently.
+
+After these courtesies they went down into the pit. Here the two men
+were soon convinced that each was thoroughly conversant with the whole
+machinery and working of a mine. Sometimes they held different
+opinions upon certain systems, and in the dispute or argument which
+would arise each disputant saw that the other had nothing to learn
+from him.
+
+Raune displayed extraordinary quickness and knowledge in valuing the
+coal stratum. Even without looking at the geometrical maps he was able
+to decide upon the probable profit, as also upon the probable extent
+of the layer or stratum beyond the actual ground covered by Ivan's
+pit. His valuation agreed in almost every particular with that already
+made by Ivan. By mid-day the inspection was over, and they went to the
+inn for dinner, having first given some time to washing and general
+purification. A visit to a pit is by no means a cleanly undertaking.
+
+The afternoon was devoted to the inspection of the distilling-ovens,
+and in the evening they went over the foundry. When they returned from
+the foundry, Felix went in with Ivan to his house, while Raune
+returned to the inn.
+
+Ivan led his old acquaintance into his workroom, where, in truth, a
+wonderful disorder prevailed, cleared a chair, full of maps and books,
+for him to sit upon, and told him to light his cigar at a chemical
+lamp of a new construction. After a pause Felix began:
+
+"You were always of an inquiring mind, Ivan. I remember well how at
+college you distanced every one. As for me, I was a pygmy near a
+giant. Now, tell me truly, have all your science, your industry, and
+your physical exertions made you a rich man?"
+
+Ivan laughed. "This mine gives me an annual income of ten thousand
+gulden."
+
+"In other words, it produces nothing, or, at least, next to nothing.
+You are director, overseer, cashier, engineer, secretary, bookkeeper,
+and conveyer of goods, and you receive, roughly calculated, just what
+you would have to pay these employes if you had not united all their
+different offices in yourself. In other words, your work, your talent,
+your studies, your zeal, your expenditure of thought and strength upon
+this mine of yours only bring you in the miserable return which any
+proprietor would give to a man who filled only one of these offices.
+As a fact, you don't get a farthing by it."
+
+"The mine is not to blame, neither am I; it is the result of a small
+consumption, and, in consequence of this, the production cannot be
+increased."
+
+"I will tell you in two words where the fault lies. In the present day
+strength is alone to be found in co-operation. In the political world
+the smaller states go to the wall; they are forced to tack themselves
+on to larger ones, and so form a union. It is the same in the
+commercial world; small tradesmen must give way to the larger
+co-operative centres, and it is better for them to understand this,
+and make part of a company."
+
+"There is no danger of our foundry closing; our iron and our coal take
+a first place, and could not be crushed out."
+
+"An additional reason for developing my idea--an idea which, I may as
+well tell you, was the factor that brought me here. You have already
+guessed, I imagine, that I am not such a good fellow as to undertake
+the journey solely on Raune's account. He is not a chicken, and could
+have introduced himself. I have a great plan in my head. I intend to
+make you a wealthy man, and, naturally, I shall feather my own nest at
+the same time."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"I do not know where I once read this short synopsis of how different
+nations acquire money: 'The Hungarian seeks it, the German earns it,
+the Frenchman wins it, and the American makes it.' It is a most
+characteristic description. You have only to watch the Hungarian, how
+he seeks in every hole and puddle for a piece of gold; the German will
+work in the sweat of his brow till he gets his reward, a piece of
+gold; the light-hearted Frenchman will win the last piece of gold his
+victim has; but the Yankee sits in a corner, gnaws his finger-nails,
+and makes his pile. Yes, gold lies in undiscovered millions, only
+waiting to be 'made.'"
+
+"Where does it lie?"
+
+"In the capabilities of life, in bold undertakings, in the concealed
+treasures of the earth, which require development, and in the outlay
+of capital; in new discoveries, in the extension of the means of
+communication, in the increase of luxury, in the follies of mankind,
+in the exertions made by scientists; and especially in the money-box
+where small capitalists keep their gold, which should circulate
+through large channels to be of use. The number of small capitals
+should be thrown into one large, commercial mart, and by means of this
+credit every gulden would bring in three times its value. This is the
+art of the American; this is how to make a pile of gold. It is a
+splendid art, an honest art, and it seems to thrive with those who
+adopt it."
+
+When he had concluded this rather long-winded exordium, Felix threw
+himself back in his chair with an air as who should say, "Are you not
+dazzled with the brilliancy of my conception? Is not Felix Kaulmann
+one of the greatest financiers of the day? Surely you are convinced
+that he is."
+
+So far as that went, the name had a fair reputation. The Kaulmanns had
+always been in finance, and were well-known bankers. Of late, since
+Felix had inherited the business from his father, the firm were more
+before the public. Ivan knew his old schoolfellow well; he looked at
+him now quietly.
+
+"How do you propose to make a pile out of my pit?"
+
+"I have a big scheme in my head."
+
+"But the whole pit is anything but big."
+
+"So it appears to you, because you don't view it from my standpoint.
+You have sought for diamonds in the mine, but it has never occurred to
+you that there may be iron ore. This pit produces, you tell me, a
+profit of ten thousand gulden; that is the interest of two hundred
+thousand florins. I can get you a company who will buy the whole place
+out and out for two hundred thousand florins."
+
+"But I would not part with my pit at any price. I am here in my
+element, like the mud-worm in the mud."
+
+"You need not leave it--certainly not; on the contrary, if you wished
+to go, I would keep you chained, if necessary. The company will start
+with a recognized capital of four millions; we will form a large
+business, which on one side will ruin Prussian coal, on the other side
+will drive the English iron out of market. You shall be the principal
+director of the business, with a yearly salary of ten thousand
+florins, and two shares in the business; besides which you will be
+allowed to take, if you wish it, a portion of the purchase-money in
+bonds at par, and these will bear interest at twenty per cent. You
+will enjoy an income of thirty thousand florins, instead of your
+beggarly ten thousand florins, which you now have, and, into the
+bargain, hardly any work."
+
+Ivan listened to this proposal without interrupting the speaker. When
+Felix had finished, he said, in a calm voice--
+
+"My dear Felix, if I were to propose to a company ready provided with
+four millions the purchase of a business which up to the present had
+only produced ten thousand guldens profit, and which profit could
+never in the future realize more than eight hundred thousand gulden,
+do you not think I would be a despicable villain? If, on the other
+hand, I placed my own money in such a company, I should be equally a
+perfect fool."
+
+At this clear definition of his recent proposal Felix burst into a
+peal of laughter. Then, passing his pliant little walking-stick behind
+his back, he placed both his hands on the ends, and said with an air
+of profound wisdom--
+
+"You have not heard all my plan. It has not altogether to do with your
+colony. You know well that your pit is only a small portion of the
+monster coal stratum of the Bonda Valley, which stretches far away--as
+far, indeed, as Muld Valley. I intend to buy this entire region; it
+can be had now for a mere song, and when properly worked it will be
+worth millions--millions earned by honest means. No stealing or taking
+unfair advantage of any one. We only raise a treasure which lies at
+our feet, so to speak, which is there ready for us, or for any one.
+It needs only sufficient strength on the part of those who lift it."
+
+"That is quite another thing. Now I can understand your scheme. I will
+also not contradict your assertion that it is lawful and generous; but
+it is just because it is so that it is full of holes. It is quite true
+that the treasure which lies concealed in the Bonda Valley is
+immense--it is possible that it represents millions; but this treasure
+cannot be discovered, for the Bondavara property is not for sale."
+
+"Really!"
+
+"I will tell you why; because at this moment it belongs to Prince
+Bondavary, who is one of the richest men in this country."
+
+"I should imagine that no one knows better than I do how rich he is."
+
+"In the next place, this man is one of the proudest of our
+aristocrats, to whom I, for one, would not venture to make the
+proposal to turn his old family property--the cradle, we might say, of
+his race--into a mine to be worked by a company."
+
+"Oh, so far as that goes, we have seen many an ancient race glad to do
+a bit of commercial dirt. The King of Italy is a crowned king; and,
+nevertheless, he has sold Savoy, the place from which his family took
+their name and the right to have a cross on their shield."
+
+"Well, suppose the old prince were inclined to sell this property, he
+could not do so as long as his sister, the Countess Bondavary, is
+alive. Her father left the castle and the property round about to his
+daughter, who is now nearly fifty-eight, and may live yet another
+thirty years. She has grown up in that castle; she has, to my
+knowledge, never left it, not even for one day; she hates the world,
+and no human power would induce her to part with her beloved
+Bondavara to a coal company, not if the last remaining stratum were to
+be found under the castle, and without this the world should perish
+from want of fuel."
+
+Felix laughed, then answered with an air of ineffable conceit--
+
+"I have conquered greater difficulties than an old maid's fad, and for
+the matter of that, women's hearts are not locked with a Bramah key."
+
+"Well, let us suppose," said Ivan, good-humoredly, "that you have
+overcome the prejudices of the prince and his sister, and that you
+have actually started your monster company. Then begin all the
+technical difficulties; for what is the first necessary to an
+undertaking of the kind?"
+
+"A sufficient supply of money."
+
+"By no means. A sufficient supply of workmen."
+
+"Wherever money is plentiful, human beings are pretty sure to flock."
+
+"Between men and men there is a wonderful difference. This is an
+article in which one is likely to be easily deceived. With us there is
+a want of first-class workmen."
+
+"We would get men from France and Belgium."
+
+"But the men who would come from France and Belgium would not work for
+the wages we give our men. They would ask double. In such a commercial
+undertaking, the first false step would be to raise the wages to more
+than the old system, for my conviction is that every industrial
+enterprise to be safe must work upon its own internal capabilities. We
+should measure our strength according to the circumstances in which we
+find ourselves, and we should educate our own workmen; draw them to us
+by learning together. The trade should extend slowly, but surely, by
+small experiments."
+
+"You are too cautious. I can convince you to the contrary. For
+instance, a steam-engine of a hundred-horse power needs just the same
+labor to work it as one of four-horse power; and a small business
+requires as many account-books as a large one, and small undertakings
+in like manner, even if they are in themselves lucrative, will
+eventually be swamped by the larger ones on account of the want of the
+proper activity, without which all trade dies of itself."
+
+"Nevertheless, there is less danger of sudden collapse in a small
+business," returned Ivan, reflectively. "I like a certainty."
+
+"And what certainty have you? Suppose, just for the sake of argument,
+that one bright morning the Austrian minister of trade listens to the
+petition of the English iron masters, and that the free importation of
+raw iron is allowed. Your neighbor over there will at once shut his
+foundry, and you may go and sell your coal to the smithy, eh, Ivan?"
+
+"I have gone into all that. Our raw iron can compete with the English,
+and there would be--"
+
+"Your ideas are _rococo_; they belong to the last century. If America
+had worked on these lines she would not have overshadowed Europe."
+
+"That may be. What I maintain is that foreign workmen are a bad
+investment. Those who come to us are, for the most part, men who
+cannot get on in their own country; restless fellows, ever wanting
+change; members of secret societies, socialists, and atheists; and so
+soon as they get among our men they begin disseminating their vicious
+doctrines, and the next thing is a strike for higher wages."
+
+"Have you ever had a strike here?"
+
+"Never!"
+
+"How do you prevent it?"
+
+"That is my secret, which cannot be told in a few words. I am,
+however, convinced of one thing: the first obstacle a company would
+have to contend against would be the price of labor, and the second
+difficulty would be to secure the services of a really capable
+overseer; one who would understand the _technique_ of the business."
+
+"We could easily get one from abroad."
+
+"That might be; but I, as a private individual, could get one easily
+if I had sufficient money to pay him, for I could choose the best for
+my purpose, and could give him what I chose, as far as his merits
+deserved."
+
+Felix laughed at Ivan's description. "That is it exactly, as if you
+read it out of a book; and just on this account I intend to give the
+complete direction of the business to a man who understands it to a T,
+and this man is you."
+
+"That is a complete mistake. I do understand the working of my own
+small business, but I am quite ignorant of the ways of a great
+concern. Like many another small man, I should be a child in the hands
+of big speculators, and I should probably wreck the whole concern."
+
+"You are too modest. On the contrary, I think you would outwit the big
+speculators."
+
+"Well, suppose all went according to your wishes, or, rather, as it
+presents itself to your imagination. The great business is in full
+swing, delivers goods at moderate prices, and in sufficient quantity.
+Now comes the real objection--the topographical impediment. The Bonda
+coal-mine is twenty miles from the nearest railway, and twenty-five
+miles from the nearest river. On your way here you must have noticed
+the state of the roads. During four months of the year we can send no
+freight to a distance, and at any time the cost of transporting our
+coal and iron adds so much to the price that it is impossible for us
+to compete with either Prussia or England."
+
+"I know all that," said Felix, stroking his beard with the coral head
+of his stick; "but a light railway would soon settle all this. We
+could run it from Bonda Valley to the principal emporium." He spoke as
+if running light railways were a mere trifle.
+
+"A railway through the Bonda Valley!" returned Ivan, in a tone of
+surprise. "And do you really believe that with a capital of four
+millions you could construct a railway twenty miles long?"
+
+"Certainly not. That would be quite a separate affair."
+
+"And do you think you would find people ready to advance money for
+such an uncertain return as mere luggage traffic would insure to the
+shareholders in such a railway?"
+
+Felix moved his stick from his beard to his mouth, and began to suck
+the top.
+
+"And why not," he said, at last, "when the state would guarantee a
+certain rate of interest on the advance?"
+
+Ivan opened his eyes still wider, and placed upon each word an
+emphasis.
+
+"The state will give to this railway a guarantee of interest! You will
+excuse me, Kaulmann--that is not possible."
+
+Felix answered, after some consideration, "There are certain keys by
+which the bureaus of even ministers of state can be opened." After
+this oracular speech he was silent, pressing the top of his stick upon
+his lips, as if to restrain his words.
+
+Ivan drew out the drawer of his writing-desk and took therefrom a
+piece of black bread.
+
+"Do you see this? People who eat such coarse stuff don't dance
+attendance upon ministers."
+
+Felix threw his head back with a scornful laugh and twisted his stick
+impatiently between his fingers.
+
+"_Allons, n'en parlons plus_," he said. "You have plenty of time to
+make up your mind, for what I have once resolved to do, that I do. I
+am quite ready to bet with you that I shall secure the Bonda Valley
+property from under the nose of the old prince and the faddy countess,
+and that the largest factory in the kingdom shall be established
+_here_, and the trade carried on with the outside world. This will all
+come to pass, as sure as my name is Felix Kaulmann."
+
+"Well, I wish you every luck in your undertaking, but for my part I
+will have none of it."
+
+The arrival of Raune interrupted the conversation. The Frenchman
+explained that he had considered Ivan's offer, and was ready to agree
+to his conditions and to enter on its office at once. Thereupon Ivan
+gave him his hand as a sign that the agreement was concluded. Then he
+handed him the books and the strong-box, the former with the complete
+list of the pitmen, the laborers, the girls, and boys engaged in the
+mine; the latter with the money which was paid to them for the week's
+work, and he asked the new overseer to appoint a room in the inn,
+where he was going to live, as the place where the miners should come
+to be paid.
+
+As it happened, this was a Saturday, and therefore on this evening
+the overseer should enter on his new duties.
+
+The inn was exactly opposite to Ivan's house. Groups of pitmen
+collected on the vacant space between the two houses. Ivan went to the
+window to see in what order the payments would be made by the new
+director. Felix also amused himself by means of his pocket-glass,
+staring at all the women.
+
+"Ah!" he exclaimed, suddenly, "that little Cinderella over there in
+the red skirt wouldn't be bad for the model of a bronze statuette. I
+should like her to teach me how to say 'I love you' in the Slav
+language."
+
+"Take care," laughed Ivan; "she is betrothed, and her lover is called
+a man-eater."
+
+Just then Peter Saffran came out of the tavern. He had received
+Evila's money with his own, and offered it to her. She, however,
+refused to take it, and the pair went off together in good-humor with
+one another. The young girl's hand was upon Peter's arm, and as she
+passed the window they heard her singing.
+
+"_Saperlot!_ What a voice!" exclaimed the banker. "Why, she beats
+Therese. If she were in Paris--"
+
+He didn't finish his sentence. Ivan lit a cigar, and sat smoking
+silently.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE DOCTOR
+
+
+The next day was Sunday. Ivan took Felix and Raune through the
+workmen's colony to show them the dwelling-houses, which were
+clustered together like a village. This village had been made by
+Ivan's father. The district had been formerly occupied by the very
+poorest, who eat nothing but potatoes; but now the miners who lived
+here were well-fed and well-lodged. Each pitman had his own cottage
+and fruit-garden.
+
+When the three men came to the house in which Evila lived they stood
+still and looked into the little yard beyond. They felt obliged to do
+so, first, because the door stood open, and secondly, because in the
+yard a scene was going on of which they were unseen spectators.
+
+Peter Saffran was beating Evila. The lover held his betrothed by her
+long black hair, which fell over her shoulders nearly to the ground.
+He had the rich masses gathered up in his left hand and wound round
+his wrist, while in his right hand he had a thick plaited cord with
+which he struck the poor girl over the shoulders, neck, and back. As
+he did so, his eyes expanded until nearly all the white was visible,
+his eyebrows almost touched one another, his countenance grew white
+with rage, and through his open lips his white teeth looked like those
+of an infuriated tiger. At each blow of the rope he growled out--
+
+"So you will have your own way, will you? You will defy me, will you?"
+
+The girl made no protest against her lover's violence. She did not
+cry, neither did she beg him to spare her. She pressed her apron to
+her lips, and looked at her cruel persecutor with eyes full of the
+most divine compassion.
+
+"What a beast!" cried Felix. "And he is her lover!"
+
+"Just so," replied Ivan, indifferently.
+
+"But you should interfere; you should not allow that pretty child to
+be ill-used by the savage."
+
+Ivan shrugged his shoulders. "He has the right; she is his betrothed,
+and if I were to interfere he would beat her more. Besides, don't you
+see he has been at the brandy flask? There would be no use in
+reasoning with him."
+
+"Well, I shall reason with him to some purpose," returned Felix. "I am
+not going to stand by and see that pretty creature beaten."
+
+"You will do no good, I warn you. The underground laborer has no
+respect for men in black coats."
+
+"We shall soon see as to that. Do me the favor to call out 'doctor' as
+soon as you see me take the fellow by his arm."
+
+As he spoke, the elegantly attired Felix rushed across the narrow
+passage which led to the yard, and confronted the infuriated savage.
+
+"You brute!" he cried. "Let go that girl. Why do you beat her?"
+
+Saffran answered phlegmatically, "What is that to you? She is my
+betrothed." He smelled fearfully of brandy.
+
+"Ah, so you are thinking of marrying, are you?" returned Felix,
+looking at the Hercules, to whose shoulder he hardly reached. "And how
+is it that you are not on military service, my friend?"
+
+The cord slipped from Peter's hand. "I could not pass," he said, in a
+low voice. "I have it in black and white. I am not fit."
+
+"Could not pass--not fit--when you can use your arms so well? Who was
+the upright doctor that gave you that certificate in black and white?
+Such muscles--" He touched with the tips of his gray gloves the
+starting muscles on the brawny arm.
+
+"Doctor!" called out Ivan.
+
+When Peter heard this exclamation, and felt the pressure of Felix's
+fingers, he let go his hold of Evila's hair. She was free.
+
+"You just wait till to-morrow, young man," continued Felix, shaking
+his cane before Peter's nose--"till to-morrow, and you shall have a
+second examination. I shall be curious to find out what is the secret
+impediment which makes _you_ unfit to serve your country. That is my
+business here."
+
+Peter began suddenly to squint.
+
+Felix burst out laughing. "Two can play that game, young man," and he,
+too, fell to squinting. "I shall pay you a visit to-morrow."
+
+At this Peter took to his heels, and making one rush of it, was soon
+over the wall of the yard, and never ceased running until he reached
+the wood.
+
+Ivan was astonished at the result of Felix's interference. He, who was
+twice as strong mentally and physically as this effeminate town-bred
+man, would have been routed signally, and behold, the weak one in gray
+gloves had chased the savage from the field, and was master of the
+situation! He felt vexed, yet he wished to conceal his vexation. He
+saw Felix calmly conversing with Evila, whose deliverer he had been.
+Ivan was not going to stand open-mouthed looking at the hero.
+
+"Let us go on," he said to Raune. "Herr Kaulmann can follow us if he
+wishes."
+
+Herr Kaulmann was not inclined to continue his walk. A full hour
+afterwards, when they were returning, he met them. He said he had been
+looking everywhere for them without effect. He had done a good
+morning's work in their absence. Finding himself alone in the yard
+with the girl, he had spoken to her in a sympathizing tone.
+
+"My poor child, what did you do to that brute, that he should ill-use
+you so cruelly?"
+
+The girl dried her eyes with the corner of her apron and made an
+effort to smile. It was a piteous attempt, tragic in its effort to
+hide her sufferings.
+
+"Oh, sir, the whole thing was only a joke. He only pretended to strike
+me."
+
+"A nice joke! Look at the welts his blows have made."
+
+He took from his pocket a little case, which held his pocket-comb, a
+dandified affair with a small looking-glass, which he held before her
+eyes.
+
+Evila reddened over face and neck when she saw the disfiguring marks
+of her lover's affection. She spoke with some anger in her voice--
+
+"Sir, you have been very kind, and I will tell you all about it. I
+have a little brother who is a cripple. As soon as father died mother
+married again. Her husband was a drunkard, and when he was tipsy he
+would beat us and tear my hair. Once he threw my brother, who was only
+three years old, down a height, and since then he has been crippled.
+His bones are bent and weak, and he has to go on crutches; his
+breath, too, is affected; he can hardly breathe from asthma, and this
+was stepfather's doing. But that did not soften him; on the contrary,
+he persecuted the poor baby, and it was ten times worse after mother
+died. How many blows I have had to bear, and glad I was to get them if
+I could only spare the child! At last stepfather fell from the shaft;
+he was drunk, and he broke his neck. A good thing it was, too; and
+since then we have lived alone, and what I earn does for us both. But
+now I am going to marry Peter, and Peter hates my poor crippled
+brother. He says he must go out and beg; that an object like him on
+crutches could stand at the church-door on Sundays, and in the market
+on week-days, and get pence enough to support himself. Oh, it is
+shameful of him! And to-day we had a quarrel about it. He came to take
+me to church, where we were to be called for the third time. I was
+nearly ready, but I said I should first give my little brother some
+warm milk, and I went to fetch it. The boy was sitting on the doorstep
+waiting for it.
+
+"'Warm milk!' cried Peter, in a rage. 'I will give him what will make
+him fat!' and then he struck the child and tore at his ear as if he
+would tear it from his head. The child has a peculiarity--strange for
+a child--he never cries, although you might beat him to death. He
+opens his eyes and his mouth, but says nothing, and gives out no
+sound. I implored Peter to let the poor thing alone, for I loved him.
+This set him in a horrible rage.
+
+"'Then let the dwarf go packing!' he screamed. 'Give him a beggar's
+wallet, and let him beg from door to door; there never was a more
+unsightly cripple than he is, so let him bring home something for his
+keep, the scarecrow!'"
+
+The tears ran down the girl's face as she told this.
+
+"How can he help being so ugly and deformed?" she went on. "It was not
+God who made him so, it was stepfather; and so I told Peter, and that
+I would rather he would beat me than that he should touch the child.
+
+"'And I will beat you,' he said, 'if you say another word'; and then
+he seized hold of the child and kicked him. 'Get out of my sight, you
+little monster of ugliness!' he said. 'Go to the church-door and beg,
+or I will eat you.' And he made such a horrible face that my poor
+little brother shrieked with fright. I could not stand seeing him
+tortured in this way. I took him from him, and would have covered him
+up in my arms, but he ran and hid himself in the chimney. I _was_ very
+angry.
+
+"'If you torment him like this,' I said, 'I shall break with you.'
+
+"Then he seized me by my hair and fell to beating me, as you saw. Now
+he will do it every day."
+
+"No, no," returned Felix. "The fellow will have to serve his term; a
+muscular giant like him cannot shirk military duty. If every one did
+that, who the deuce would defend the country and the emperor? It
+cannot be winked at--"
+
+"Then are you really a doctor?" said Evila, doubting.
+
+"Of course I am, when I say I am."
+
+A faint reflection of pleasure crossed the girl's face.
+
+"Then perhaps you can tell me if my little brother can ever be cured?"
+she said, eagerly.
+
+"I can tell you. Bring me the child."
+
+Evila went into the kitchen, and after some trouble persuaded the
+cripple to come out of his shelter in the chimney. This poor victim of
+man's cruelty was a miserable object. He looked as if nature had
+exhausted the stuff of which he was made; not one of his limbs fitted
+the other, and his will seemed to have no power over his body.
+
+Evila took the sick boy upon her knee, and kissing his cheek, withered
+like a bit of dried parchment, told him not to be afraid, for that the
+stranger was a kind gentleman.
+
+Felix examined the limbs of the cripple with all the attention of an
+experienced surgeon, and then with a professional air said--
+
+"The injury can still be cured; it requires only time and care. There
+is in Vienna an orthopedic institution expressly for such cases;
+cripples are there treated, and grow up strong, healthy boys."
+
+"Ah!" cried the girl, taking hold of Felix's hand. "Would they take
+Janoska there? But it would cost money, which I haven't got. I might
+get employment in this institution where cripples are made straight
+again. I would serve them well if they would cure my little brother."
+
+"I don't see any reason why he shouldn't be admitted," returned Felix,
+gravely, "especially on my recommendation. I have great influence, and
+a word from me--"
+
+"You will say it, won't you, and God will forever bless you?" cried
+the girl, throwing herself on her knees and covering the hands and
+feet of the pretended doctor with kisses. "I will serve them; I will
+work for them day and night. They need not keep a dog; I will be their
+dog, and guard the house for them, if they will make Janoska straight,
+so that he need not beg at the church-door. Is it far to Vienna?"
+
+Felix laughed. "You don't think you could carry the boy to Vienna, do
+you? I will manage the journey for you. When I have once promised, I
+keep my word. I have my carriage here; I will, if you like, take you
+both to Vienna."
+
+"Oh, I will sit by the coachman, with Janoska on my lap!"
+
+"Very well, my child," returned Felix, with the air of a patron. "I am
+glad to help you; therefore, if you have resolved to take your brother
+to Vienna to have him cured, I shall give you the opportunity. Be
+ready to-morrow morning when you hear the post-horn sound. That rough
+fellow who beat you just now will be taken by the pioneers corps, who
+recruit next week, and he will have to serve his four years. Now, here
+is some money for you, that you may buy some warm clothing for the
+boy, for the nights are cold, and I travel day and night."
+
+The sum of money he placed in the girl's hand took away her breath,
+and left her no voice to thank him. Two bank-notes, ten pounds each--a
+fortune to a poor girl. The gentleman was a great nobleman; he was a
+prince. He was, however, already on his way before she could speak a
+word, and it would not do to run through the street after him.
+
+Evila then gave way to her joy like a child, as she was. She laughed,
+ran about the room carrying the boy, set him on a seat, knelt before
+him, kissed and hugged in her arms his emaciated body.
+
+"We are going away, Janoska, my heart's darling, in a coach to Vienna.
+Ho, ho, little horse, ho! In a coach with four gee-gees all hung with
+little bells! And Janoska will sit in my lap. Janoska will have good
+medicine and good food, and his feet and his hands, his back and his
+chest will get straight. He will be a big fellow, like other boys.
+Then we will come home, not in a coach, but on our feet. We go in a
+coach, and we come back on two feet without a crutch!"
+
+Then the poor little cripple began to laugh like her. Evila ran off to
+the store, and bought for the child a warm winter jacket, a cap, and
+boots; still, she could not, even with these stupendous purchases,
+spend half of the money. What she had left she determined to return to
+the gentleman.
+
+Now it was full time to go to church. Her friends wondered to see her
+come in alone. They asked her where was Peter? Evila answered she had
+not seen him that day. It went against her conscience to tell a lie
+before mass, but then, when one is placed in a situation that one must
+lie, what can be done? A woman or a girl who has been beaten by her
+betrothed or her husband must deny it. God pardons the lie, and
+society demands it.
+
+Peter Saffran was nowhere to be seen in the church. Evila felt
+terribly ashamed when the clergyman from the pulpit gave out for the
+third time the banns of her marriage. And there would be no marriage!
+Tears came into her eyes and sorrow filled her heart at the thought
+that she was leaving her home, her bridegroom, her friends, all the
+places she knew, the things she was accustomed to, and was going out
+into the world alone. These thoughts preyed upon her all day, until
+she was obliged to go out and look for Peter Saffran. She suspected
+where she would find him.
+
+In the depths of the woods at the bottom of a mountain ravine lay a
+cottage, or hut, where, at the time of the recruiting, the men and
+boys who wanted to avoid the conscription would hide themselves for
+weeks, until the officers would have gone on to another place. Not one
+betrayed their hiding-place; and here, no doubt, Peter lay concealed.
+Evila went blindly through the thicket. The night was dark, the wood
+still darker. From the mountain came the growling of the hungry
+wolves. The girl trembled with fear, but went her way, nevertheless,
+resolved to find her betrothed, although she was sure he would again
+beat her. On the path she picked up a stick, and as she went along she
+beat the bushes, crying, "Go away, wolf!" But her heart beat wildly
+when, with a rustling sound, some beast flew away through the
+brushwood. She was getting deeper into the wood, and every moment it
+was growing darker; still she kept on her way.
+
+At last through the darkness she saw the glimmer of a light in a
+window. This was the hut. Her breath came shorter as she drew near to
+the house, from whence came the sound of bagpipes mixed with shouts.
+They were very merry inside. She stole softly to the lighted window,
+and peeped in. They were dancing. Evila knew the girls who were there;
+they were none of her companions; she and her friends crossed the
+street when they met these. The piper sat upon the pig-trough, and
+when he blew his instrument grunted like so many pigs.
+
+Among the men Evila saw Peter Saffran. He was in high spirits, leaping
+so high as he danced that his fist struck the ceiling. He danced with
+a girl whose cheeks had two spots of red paint. Peter had both his
+arms round her waist; he threw her up and caught her again, kissing
+her painted face.
+
+Evila turned away in disgust and hastened back through the woods,
+unmindful of the cries of the wolves and the howling of the wind. She
+had not even her stick; that she had dropped, and she had no means of
+beating the bushes.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+That evening Felix Kaulmann came again to Ivan.
+
+"I want to have your last word," he said. "Will you join my
+speculation?"
+
+"I don't change my mind so quickly," returned Ivan, coldly. "My answer
+is the same as it was this morning--I will not."
+
+"Very well. I have acted in a friendly manner in this matter, and now
+I tell you frankly that, as you do not choose to join me, I shall
+start the company alone, always leaving it open to you to rescind your
+determination and to join me if you wish. I cannot say fairer than
+this, and I trust we shall always be good friends. You will forgive me
+if I try to pick up some of the diamonds which are scattered about."
+
+"I leave you perfectly free to do what you can."
+
+"I shall avail myself of your permission, and the day will come when I
+shall remind you of your words."
+
+Ivan's forehead contracted as he thought, "What does he mean? What can
+he take from me? Not my coal-mine; that is mine by right of
+possession, and the law protects me. The cut on the neighboring
+mountain? So he may! What I have suffices for me."
+
+"Good-luck to your company!" he said, aloud; "and many thanks to the
+director."
+
+So they parted. Early next morning Ivan was roused from his sleep. It
+was the post-horn which sounded the note of Felix Kaulmann's
+departure. Ivan wished him a happy journey, then fell asleep again.
+Later, as he was leaving his house, he met Peter Saffran at the door.
+The miner presented a sorry figure. His features bore the impression
+of his night's dissipation; his eyes were bloodshot, his hair ragged,
+his dress in disorder.
+
+"Now, what is it?" asked Ivan, angrily.
+
+"Sir," said the man, in a hoarse voice, "that doctor who was with you
+yesterday--his name?"
+
+"What do you want with him?"
+
+"He has carried off Evila!" burst out Peter. In wild agitation he
+snatched the hat off his head, tore his hair, and raised both his
+hands to heaven.
+
+In the first moment Ivan was conscious of feeling a cruel
+satisfaction.
+
+"It serves you right, you beast!" he said. "Serves you right! What
+business had you to ill-use the girl--your promised wife--on the very
+day that you were called for the third time?"
+
+"Oh, sir," cried the miserable man, his teeth chattering, and beating
+his head with his hands, "I was drunk! I did not know what I did; and,
+after all, it was only a few blows with a light strap. What was that?
+With us common people it is nothing. A woman likes a man the better
+when he cudgels her. It is true; but to leave me for a gentleman--"
+
+Ivan shrugged his shoulders and went on his way. The miner caught him
+by the tail of his coat.
+
+"Ah, sir, what shall I do? Tell me, what shall I do?"
+
+Ivan, however, was in no mood for giving advice; he was angry. He
+pushed Peter away, saying, sternly:
+
+"Go to hell! Run to the tavern, drink brandy, then choose among the
+girls whose company you frequent another bride, who will be only too
+glad if you are drunk every day in the year."
+
+Peter took up his hat, put it on his head, looked Ivan in the face,
+and, in an altered voice, said:
+
+"No, sir, I shall never drink brandy again; only once in my life shall
+I taste the accursed thing--once. You will remember what I say, and
+when I smell of it, when I am seen coming out of the public-house, or
+when you hear that I have been there, then stay at home, for on that
+day no one will know how or when he will die."
+
+Ivan left the man standing, and going back into his house, shut the
+door behind him. His first satisfaction at the news was passing away.
+This miserable peasant, who had dared to be his successful rival, had
+lost the treasure which he coveted. The fool had the pearl in his
+keeping, but he didn't know how to value it, and he had let it fall.
+That was good; but where had it fallen, this pearl so white and lovely
+in its purity and innocence? His soul was full of sorrow as he thought
+how in his eyes it had lost all its value. The girl who had seemed to
+him so virtuous, who kept her troth so faithfully, whose simplicity
+had been what he really loved--she had fallen at the first word from a
+villain. She refused her master, who had honorably offered her his
+name, his house, his all. But he had not the gifts of the other; he
+was not a dressed-up fellow, with town manners and seductive ways; he
+had not the tongue of a seducer, and had not promised her jewels and
+fine clothes, balls and operas. It was the same story with all women,
+and Mahomet was right when he gave them no souls, and no place either
+on earth or in heaven.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+COUNTESS THEUDELINDE
+
+
+The mistress of Bondavara was at this time fifty-eight years old. Ivan
+had not overstated her age when he gave Felix the information.
+Countess Theudelinde had long since given up the world. The
+renunciation cost her very little; she had never been in touch with
+it. Up to her fourteenth year she had grown up in the house of her
+father, the prince; at that period her mother, the princess, died. The
+governess of Theudelinde was beautiful, the prince was old. The
+countess--only the first-born can have the princely title; the younger
+children are all counts and countesses--could not, for various
+reasons, remain under the paternal roof; she was sent out of the way
+and to finish her education at a convent. Before she went, however,
+she was betrothed to the Marquis Don Antonio de Padua, only son of the
+Marquis de Colomorano, then eighteen years of age. It was settled
+between the two fathers that when Antonio was twenty-four and
+Theudelinde twenty, she should be fetched out of her convent, and both
+should be united in wedlock by Holy Church. This arrangement was
+carried out so far as Theudelinde spending six blameless years in a
+most highly respectable convent. She was then brought home, and the
+marriage bells were set ringing. But, horror of horrors, when the girl
+saw her betrothed husband, she shrieked and ran away! This was not
+the man she had promised to marry; this one had a mustache!
+(Naturally, for he was an officer in the hussars.)
+
+Theudelinde had never seen a man with a mustache. Six years before,
+when she was at home, all the distinguished guests who came to her
+father's house, the magnates, the ambassadors, were all smooth-shaved,
+so were the man-servants, even the coachman. In the convent there was
+only one man, the father confessor; his face was like a glass. And now
+they proposed to marry her to a man all hair! Impossible! The saints
+and the prophets of old wore beards, that was true; some of them had a
+good deal of hair, but none had it only on the upper-lip. The only one
+she could remember with this adornment was the servant of the
+high-priest in the Stations of the Cross, which, to a pious mind like
+Theudelinde's, was conclusive. She would hear no more of the marriage;
+the betrothal rings were returned on both sides, and the alliance was
+at an end.
+
+After this the countess avoided all worldly amusements. Nothing would
+induce her go to a ball, or to the theatre. Nevertheless, she did not
+seem inclined to take the veil; she had strong leanings towards this
+wicked world, only she wanted one of a different sort, without the
+wickedness. She desired out of the general chaos to create an ideal,
+and this ideal should be her husband. He should be tender, faithful,
+no wine-drinker, no smoker; a man with a smooth face, a pure soul, a
+sweet-sounding voice; a gifted, sympathetic, patient, amiable, soft,
+romantic, domestic, pious man; prudent, scientific, literary,
+distinguished, well-born, much respected, covered with orders, rich,
+loyal, brave, and titled. Such a _rara avis_ was impossible to find.
+Countess Theudelinde spent the best days of her life seeking a
+portrait to fit the frame she had made, but she sought in vain; there
+was no husband for her.
+
+When the countess had reached thirty there was a halt. The ideal was
+as far off as ever. She was anxious to come to terms with the world,
+but the world would have none of her. Her day was past; she had no
+right to any pretensions. She found herself in the position of having
+to choose between utter renunciation or acceptance of the world, with
+all its wickedness. At this critical juncture the old prince, her
+father, died, leaving the countess the property of Bondavara, together
+with the castle. Here Theudelinde retired to nurse her ideal, and
+mourn over her shattered idols. Here she was absolute mistress, her
+brother, to whom the property reverted, leaving her to her own
+devices.
+
+The countess carried out, therefore, her theories unmolested, and her
+dislike to beards and mustaches had free play. The growers of these
+enormities were banished from her presence, and, as was only a natural
+consequence, as time went on her hatred of the male sex increased. No
+man was allowed in the neighborhood of the countess. She only suffered
+women about her--not alone in the house, but outside. The garden, the
+conservatories, were attended to by women--unmarried women, all.
+Matrimony was as a red rag to Theudelinde, and no one durst mention
+the word in her presence. Any girl who showed any inclination to wear
+the "matron's cap" was at once dismissed with contumely. Even the
+"coachman" was a woman; and for the reason that it would not have been
+fitting to sit upon a coach-box in woman's clothes, this female Jehu
+was allowed to wear a long coachman's cloak, a man's coat, as also a
+certain garment, at the bare mention of which an Englishwoman calls
+out, "Oh, how shocking!" and straightway faints. Truly, at the time
+this history was written, in our good land of Hungary, this very
+garment played a serious part, since it was the shibboleth and visible
+sign of fidelity to the governing powers, and of submission to the
+mediators; in truth, ever since those days the "leg of the boot" has
+been worn. So it came to pass that Mrs. Liese wore this thing, the
+only one of the kind to be seen in the castle. Liese, also, was
+allowed to drink wine, and to smoke tobacco, and, needless to say, she
+did both.
+
+Fraulein Emerenzia, the countess's companion, was, so to speak, the
+exact counterpart of her noble mistress. The countess was tall and
+slender; she had a white skin, her features were sharp, her nose
+almost transparent, her lips, scarlet in color, were shaped like a
+bow; her cadaverous form bent forward; her eyelids fell over her
+lack-lustre eyes, her face appeared to have two sides which didn't
+belong to one another, each half having a totally different
+expression; even the wrinkles didn't correspond. She wore her hair as
+it was worn in the days of her youth, as it was worn when Caroline Pia
+was married, and as it is possible it will be worn again. Her hands
+were fine, transparent; they were not strong enough to cut the leaves
+of a book with a paper-knife. Her whole being was nerveless and
+sensitive. At the slightest noise she would shriek, be seized with a
+cramp, or go off in hysterics. She had certain antipathies to beasts,
+flowers, air, food, motion, and emotion. At the sight of a cat she was
+ready to faint; if she saw a flesh-colored flower her blood grew
+excited. Silver gave everything an unpleasant taste, so her spoons
+were all of gold. If any women crossed their legs she sent them out of
+the room. If the spoons, knives, or forks were by accident laid
+crosswise on the table, she would not sit down; and if she were to
+see velvet on any of her attendants she was thrown into a nervous
+attack, from the bare idea that perhaps her hand might come in contact
+with this electric and antipathetic substance.
+
+Fortunately for her household her nervous fears kept her quiet at
+night. She locked and double-locked the door of her room, and never
+opened it until the morning came--no, not if the house were burning
+over her head.
+
+Fraulein Emerenzia was, as we have before said, the counterpart of her
+mistress, in so far that she affected a close imitation of her ways,
+for in her appearance she was a direct contrast, Emerenzia being a
+round, short, fat woman, with a full face, the skin of which was so
+tightly stretched that it was almost as white as the countess's; she
+had a snub nose, which in secret was addicted to the vice of
+snuff-taking. Her dress and her manner of doing her hair were
+identical with the countess's fashion in each, only that the stiff-set
+clothes had on her small body a humorous expression. She affected to
+be as nerveless as the countess; her hands were as weak--they could
+not break a chicken bone. Her eyes were as sensitive to light, her
+antipathies were as numerous, and she was as prone to faints and
+hysterics as her patroness. In this direction, indeed, she went
+further. So soon as she observed that there was any cause for
+emotional display, she set up trembling and screaming, and so got the
+start of the countess, and generally managed to sob for a minute
+longer; and when Theudelinde fell fainting upon one sofa Emerenzia
+dropped lifeless upon another; likewise, she took longer coming to
+than did her mistress. At night Emerenzia slept profoundly. Her room
+was only separated from that of the countess by an ante-chamber, but
+Theudelinde might tear down all the bells in the castle without waking
+her companion, who maintained that her sleep was a species of nervous
+trance.
+
+One man only was ever allowed entrance into the Castle of Bondavara.
+What do we say?--no man, no _masculinum_. The language of dogma has
+defined that the priest is _neutrius generis_, is more and less than a
+being of the male sex; bodily he can be no man's father, spiritually
+he is father of thousands. No one need think he will here read any
+calumnies against the priesthood. The pastor Mahok was a brave, honest
+man; he said mass devoutly, baptized, married, buried when called
+upon, would get up in the middle of the night to attend the death-bed
+of a parishioner, and would never grumble at the sacristan for waking
+him out of his first sleep. The pastor wrote no articles in the
+_Church News_, neither did he ever read one. If he wanted a newspaper
+he borrowed from the steward the daily paper. When his clerk collected
+Peter's pence, Pastor Mahok sent it with an additional gulden or two
+to the office of the chief priest; but this did not prevent him
+sitting down in the evening to play "tarok" with the Lutheran pastor
+and the infidel steward. He held to having a good cellar; he had a
+whole family of bees in his garden, and was a successful cultivator of
+fruit. In politics he was a loyalist, and confessed he belonged to the
+middle party, which in the country means just this, and no more, "We
+vote for the tobacco monopoly, but we smoke virgin tobacco because it
+is good and we have it."
+
+From this account every one will understand that during the course of
+this narrative this excellent gentleman will offend no one. We would,
+in fact, have nothing to say to him were it not that he came every
+day, punctually at eleven o'clock, to Bondavara Castle to hear the
+countess's confession, and that done, he remained to dinner, and in
+both directions he honestly earned his small honorarium. There was a
+general air of satisfaction in his whole appearance, in his double
+chin, in his fresh color, in his round, shining face.
+
+To-day the excellent man was punctual. The countess, however, was not.
+Just as eleven o'clock struck, the spiritual man knocked at the door
+of the sitting-room. Only the voice of Emerenzia answered, "Come in!"
+
+The smile of greeting on the countenance of the visitor was reflected
+on that of the companion. It was the meeting of two full moons.
+
+"The countess is still locked in her room," Emerenzia said in a
+whisper, as if afraid that her voice could penetrate into the third
+room.
+
+The pastor expressed by a movement of his hand and an elevation of his
+eyebrows that the sleep of the just was not to be disturbed. The good
+man was not aware that it was the toilette of the just that was then
+in progress. These mysteries were conducted by the countess in
+private. No one, not even a faithful maid, was admitted until
+Theudelinde was clothed, and for this reason her garments were made to
+close in front.
+
+The priest made use of this unexpected delay to search in the pocket
+of his coat, and to draw from thence a mysterious something, which,
+after first casting a look round the room, to make sure no one was
+spying on him, he pressed into the fat hand of the countess's
+companion, who hastily concealed this surreptitious something in the
+depths of the pocket of her dress, expressing her gratitude by a
+friendly nod, which the pastor returned by a courteous movement
+which expressed, "No thanks are necessary for so small a service."
+Whereupon Emerenzia, turning away, half-shyly drew the something
+carefully out of her pocket, peered into the contents of the same,
+held it close to her nose, drinking in the scent of the something,
+turning her eyes up to heaven, and again to the pastor, who, on his
+part, expressed by the motion of the thumb and forefinger of his
+left hand, "Excellent--special brand!" Then, no longer able to
+restrain her feelings, the companion took from the mysterious packet
+between the thumb and forefinger of _her_ right hand something which
+she placed in both nostrils, and sniffed up in silent ecstasy. It
+was the pastor's pleasure to fill Emerenzia's snuff-box with the
+very best mixture. This was the platonic bond which existed between
+them--the mutual desire of two noses for one ideal.
+
+Yellow snuff is not an unattainable ideal. In the ordinary way of
+business a quarter of a pound can be procured for a few pence; but
+common snuff was as different from the priest's mixture as cherry
+brandy is from Chartreuse, or Veuve Cliquot from the vintage of
+Presburg. This is easily understood by those who take snuff. How is it
+that a clergyman always has the best tobacco? How does he prepare it?
+Does he get it prepared? These are broad questions that a man of
+liberal mind dare not ventilate. Even if he knew, it would not be
+advisable to make use of his knowledge. One thing is certain, the best
+tobacco is used by the Church. A bishop, who died not long since, left
+behind him a hundredweight of the most heavenly stuff, two ounces of
+which fetched a ducat.
+
+The quiet _tete-a-tete_ between the two snuff-takers was disturbed by
+the sound of a bell; then a metal slide in the door of the countess's
+room opened, and a tray with an empty teacup was put through. This was
+a sign that the countess had breakfasted.
+
+Every door in the castle had sliding panels, some large, others
+small. The slides were made of copper, the doors of strong wood,
+with brass locks and fasteners. The door of the countess's bedroom
+was all of iron, covered on the inside with a tapestry curtain.
+Since no man was allowed in the house, it was necessary to have a
+defence system against any possible attack. This system included
+some cleverly-constructed machinery, by means of which the countess,
+by pressing her foot, could raise up the flooring, and precipitate
+any bold invader of the sacred precincts of her bedroom into a
+cellar without light or exit. From the alcove of her bed an electric
+telegraph connected with the fire-tower, so that by raising her
+finger the alarm-bell could be set ringing, and in case of danger
+the masculine inhabitants of the adjacent farm-houses and
+hunting-lodges could be summoned without a moment's delay. In
+Emerenzia's room there was likewise a communication with this
+electric apparatus, and to the door were affixed the different signs
+by which the countess expressed her wishes. The cup signified that
+the waiting-maid was required, a book would have meant that the
+companion was needed.
+
+Emerenzia, therefore, sent the girl to her mistress. When her work was
+finished the bell rang again, the book appeared, and the companion
+went to the countess. After a short time she returned, and opened the
+door for the pastor, while she whispered to him softly--
+
+"She has seen the spirits again; she has much to tell you."
+
+We will follow the pastor into his penitent's room; but no one need be
+afraid that he or she is about to listen to the lady's confession.
+When the pastor had closed the door behind him, he came to the
+countess, who sat in a large armchair, looking pale and exhausted.
+She signed to the priest to take his place in another armchair
+opposite to her.
+
+"Have you seen them again?" he asked.
+
+"I have," said the countess, in an awed whisper. "All happened in the
+same way as usual. So soon as the clock-tower had sounded midnight,
+there rose from below, as if out of the vault, a fearful chorus of
+voices intoning the _De Profundis_. It was a ghostly, terrible sound.
+I could distinguish the solo of the celebrant, the antiphon, the
+chorus; and between them loud laughter, diabolical words, the shrieks
+of women, and the clatter of glasses. I heard comic songs accompanied
+by wild howls; then, again, the soft, pious hymn succeeded by the wild
+disorder. I pinched my arm to see did I dream. Here you can see the
+mark. 'Twas not dreaming. I got up; I wished to convince myself that I
+was awake. I took my pencil and note-paper, and when a distinct tune
+reached my ear I wrote it down. Here is the paper. You understand
+music."
+
+The priest threw a hasty glance over the ghostly melody, and
+recognized a well-known Hungarian volkslied--"Maiden with the black
+eyes, let me taste thy lips." Undoubtedly an unclean song to issue
+from the family vault at midnight!
+
+"And, gracious countess, have you never heard the peasants singing
+this in the fields?"
+
+The countess drew herself up with dignity. "Do I frequent the places
+where peasants sing?" she made answer; and then continued her story.
+"These notes are sufficient proof that I was awake; my nerves were too
+excited to allow me to sleep again. Moreover, I was drawn by an
+invincible desire to go to the spot from whence the sound came. I
+dressed myself. I am certain that I took out my grass-green skirt of
+Gros de Naples, with a flounce of cashmere. I called none of my
+servants; every one in the house was asleep. An extraordinary courage
+awoke in me. Quite alone I descended the steps which lead to the
+family vault. When I reached the door both sides opened of themselves;
+I entered, and found myself in the presence of my departed ancestors.
+The monuments were all removed, the niches empty; the occupiers of
+both sat round the long table which stands in the vault, in the
+identical dress in which they are painted in the portraits which hang
+in the hall, and by which their calling in life is distinguishable. My
+great-uncle, the archbishop, in full canonicals, celebrated mass
+before the requiem altar; my grandfather, the chancellor, had large
+parchment documents before him, upon which he affixed the state seal.
+My great-uncle, the field-marshal, in armor, and with the marshal's
+baton in his hand, gave orders. My ancestress Katherine, who was a
+lady of the court, and of remarkable beauty, rolled her eyes about,
+and in her whole face no feature moved but those glittering eyes; and
+my aunt Clementina, the abbess of the Ursuline Convent, sang psalms
+with my uncle, in which the others from time to time joined."
+
+"But the laughter, the tumult, the comic songs?" asked the pastor.
+
+"I am coming to that. At the other end of the table sat some of my
+more distant relatives--my young cousin Clarissa, who danced herself
+to death; and a cousin, who was a celebrated flute player; and my
+great-uncle Otto, who was devoted to hazard, and now rattled dice into
+a copper goblet, and cursed his bad-luck when he made a bad throw;
+also another cousin, who died on the very night of her marriage, and
+still wore a faded wedding wreath; finally, my uncle Ladislaus, who
+was banished from the family circle early in the century, and whose
+frame hangs in the picture-gallery empty, his portrait being removed."
+
+"How did you know him, then?" By this question the pastor hoped to
+check the flow of the countess's visions.
+
+Theudelinde, however, answered that her uncle Ladislaus, being a rebel
+and a heretic, had not alone been declared a traitor, but had incurred
+the ban of excommunication. He was taken prisoner and beheaded. "And
+therefore," she added, with an air of conviction, "it was easy to
+recognize him by his death's-head. Likewise, during his lifetime he
+ignored the king's express command, and was the first to introduce
+tobacco-smoke into the country, and on this account, at his execution,
+he received the punishment awarded to the smoker, of having a
+pipe-handle run through his nose. Last night, as he sat at the table,
+he held between the teeth of his monstrous death's-head a large
+meerschaum pipe, and the whole vault smelled in the most fearful
+manner of tobacco-smoke."
+
+This remark convinced the priest that the countess had been dreaming.
+
+"Between both my cousins," she went on, "the nun and the bride, there
+was an empty chair. There I felt obliged to seat myself. The bride
+wished to hear of the fashions; she praised the stuff of my Gros de
+Naples dress, taking it between her fingers, which, when they touched
+mine, were cold as death itself. The upper end of the table was
+covered with green cloth, the lower end with a yellow silk
+table-cloth, embroidered with many-colored flowers. At this end every
+one laughed, talked, sang noisy songs; while at the top the psalms
+were intoned and the antiphon was sung. Both sounded horrible in my
+ears. The dishes contained cooked hazel-hens and roast pheasants, with
+the feathers sticking in their heads; sparkling wine filled the cups.
+I was pressed to eat and drink, but neither the food nor the liquor
+had any taste. Once the bride, my cousin, as is the custom with very
+young girls, offered me the spur of the pheasant's breast, saying,
+jokingly, 'Break this spur with me, and we shall see which of us two
+gets a husband first.' I seized hold of my end of the spur; I tugged
+and tugged, and at last broke it. The largest half remained in my
+hand. The bride laughed. 'Theudelinde shall be the first married!' she
+cried. I blushed; it seemed to me something terrible that the spirits
+of my dead ancestors should be so frivolous."
+
+The worthy pastor said nothing. Nevertheless, he was minded to agree
+with his penitent. He could not imagine why blessed souls, or even
+condemned ones, should occupy themselves breaking pheasant bones with
+an old maid, of all people in the world.
+
+"What gave me most offence," continued Theudelinde, "was the
+outrageous behavior of my uncle Ladislaus. One minute he shrieked,
+then laughed loudly, sang horrid songs. Again he broke out into
+fearful curses, scorned the saints, the pope, the sacraments, made
+witticisms that brought a blush to the faces of the ladies, and blew
+all his tobacco-smoke over me. I shook the skirt of my green silk to
+prevent the horrid smell sticking to it, but I felt this precaution
+was of little use. My uncle Ladislaus began then to tease me, and said
+I had concealed the prophetic bone in the pocket of my green dress. My
+face glowed with shame, for it was true. I denied it, however,
+whereupon he began to swear in his heathenish way, and to thump with
+his fists on the table until the vault resounded with his blows. My
+cousins put their hands over his mouth. Then he spoke through his
+empty eye-sockets. It was terrible! He cursed all the saints in the
+calendar and the emperor. My great-uncle, the archbishop, stretched
+out his hands and damned him; my grandfather, the chancellor, sealed
+the sentence; and my great-uncle, the field-marshal, drew his sword
+and cut off my uncle's death's-head. The head rolled over, and fell at
+my feet, still holding the pipe between its teeth, and blew its filthy
+breath over me. Then I arose and fled."
+
+The pastor had now made up his mind that the whole story was nothing
+but the dream of an hysterical woman. It was strange, however, that
+the countess should have the same vision so often, and that it should
+always begin in the same manner.
+
+As she now concluded her recital with the words, "As I took off my
+silk dress it smelled horribly of tobacco-smoke," a brilliant idea
+came to Father Mahok.
+
+"Will you excuse my asking you where your green dress is?" he asked,
+gravely.
+
+The countess betrayed some embarrassment.
+
+"I do not know. My wardrobe is in the care of Fraulein Emerenzia--"
+
+"Allow me to ask you the question, did you not take the dress off in
+this apartment?"
+
+"I no longer remember. Emerenzia has been here since; she may know."
+
+"Will you grant me the favor, countess, to send for Fraulein
+Emerenzia?"
+
+"Certainly. She will be here in a minute."
+
+The countess pressed her finger twice on the electric apparatus, and
+the companion entered.
+
+"Fraulein," said the countess, "you remember my green Gros de Naples
+silk, bordered with a trimming of fur?"
+
+"Yes; it is a pelisse of peculiar cut, with hanging sleeves, and
+fastened by a silk band and buckle."
+
+"That is the dress," returned the countess. "Where is it?"
+
+"In the wardrobe. I hung it there myself, first putting camphor in the
+sleeves, that the moths might not get at the fur."
+
+"When did you do this?"
+
+"Last summer."
+
+The pastor laughed slyly to himself. "Now," thought he, "the countess
+must be convinced that she dreamed the whole scene she has so
+accurately described."
+
+"Have I not worn it since last summer?" questioned Theudelinde.
+
+"Not once. The open-hanging sleeves are only for the hottest weather."
+
+"Impossible!"
+
+"But, countess," put in the priest, "it is easy to convince yourself
+of what ma'm'selle says. You have only to look into the wardrobe. Who
+keeps the key?"
+
+"Ma'm'selle Emerenzia."
+
+"Do you command me to open the press?" asked the companion, with a
+discomfited look.
+
+"I do," answered the countess, nodding to the pastor to follow her
+into the next room.
+
+Emerenzia, her face puckered into an expression of annoyance, drew her
+bunch of keys from her pocket, and placed one in the lock of an
+antique and highly ornamented press, of which she threw the doors
+open. At least fifty silk dresses hung there, side by side. The
+countess never allowed any of her clothes to get into strange hands;
+no man's eye should ever rest upon what she had worn. Through this
+museum of old clothes Emerenzia's fingers went with unerring
+certainty, and drew forth the oft-mentioned green silk dress with the
+fur trimming.
+
+"Here it is," she said, shortly.
+
+The pastor was triumphant, but the countess, whose nerves were more
+impressionable than those of ordinary mortals, grew suddenly pale and
+began to shake all over.
+
+"Take that dress down," she said, in a whisper. And Emerenzia, with a
+jerk, tore it from its peg. What, in Heaven's name, had come to the
+pastor and her mistress?
+
+The countess took it from her hand, and held it, while she turned her
+head the other way, across his nose.
+
+"Do you smell it?" she said. "Is it tobacco-smoke?"
+
+Father Mahok was astonished. This fine silk dress, straight from out
+of a lady's wardrobe, smelled as strongly of the commonest tobacco as
+the coat of a peasant who had passed his night in an ale-house. Before
+he could answer Theudelinde's question she was ready with another.
+From the pocket of the green Gros de Naples she now drew forth a
+broken pheasant bone.
+
+"And this?" she asked. But here her strength was exhausted. Without
+waiting for a reply, she fell fainting on the sofa.
+
+Emerenzia, sobbing loudly, fell helplessly into an arm-chair. The
+clergyman was so upset by the whole thing that, in his embarrassment,
+he opened the doors of three more wardrobes before finding the one
+which communicated with the sitting-room. Then he summoned the
+servants to attend to their mistress. _The evidence of witchcraft was
+proved._
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE COUNTESS'S ALBUM
+
+
+The worthy Pastor Mahok was of opinion that the mystery of the
+countess's dress smelling so strongly of tobacco-smoke could not be
+accounted for by any law of Nature, and judged, therefore, by the
+light of his priestly office, as well as from his worldly experience,
+that these diabolical visions were matters worthy of deep
+consideration on his part. They occupied his mind during dinner, which
+he partook of in company with the countess's companion, but of the
+subject of his thoughts he spoke no word to her. They were alone at
+table. The countess remained in her room, as was her habit when she
+suffered from what was called "cramps," and her only refreshment was
+some light soup. After dinner she again sent for the pastor.
+
+He found her lying on the sofa, pale and exhausted; her first words
+had reference to the subject which filled both their minds.
+
+"Are you now convinced," she said, "that what I told you was, indeed,
+no dream?"
+
+"Doubtless there has been some strange work going on."
+
+"Is it the work, think you, of good or bad spirits?" asked the
+countess, raising her eyes.
+
+"That can only be ascertained by a trial."
+
+"What sort of a trial, holy father?"
+
+"An attempt to exorcise them. If these spirits who every night leave
+their graves are good, they must, by the strength of the exorcism,
+return to their resting-places, and remain there till summoned by the
+angel's trumpet to arise on the last day."
+
+"And in case they don't return?" inquired the countess, anxiously.
+
+"Then they are bad spirits."
+
+"That is to say, damned. How do you know that?"
+
+For a minute there was a struggle in the pastor's mind; then he
+answered, boldly:
+
+"This night I shall keep watch in the castle."
+
+"And if you hear the unearthly noises?"
+
+"Then I shall descend into the vault, and scatter the ghosts with holy
+water."
+
+The countess's face glowed with fervor as she exclaimed:
+
+"Holy father, I shall accompany you."
+
+"No, countess; no one shall accompany me but my sacristan."
+
+"The sacristan! A man! He shall not put his foot in this house!" cried
+the countess, excitedly.
+
+The pastor, in a soothing voice, explained to her that his sacristan
+was almost as much a part of the Church as himself; moreover, that he
+was absolutely necessary on this occasion for the performance of the
+exorcism; in fact, without him the ceremony could not take place,
+seeing that the sacred vessel containing the holy water, the
+crucibulum and lanterns, should be carried before him to give all due
+effect to the religious rite.
+
+Under these circumstances Countess Theudelinde gave her consent, on
+the condition that the obnoxious male intruder should not enter the
+castle itself. Still more, the pastor promised to watch in the
+greenhouse after the castle gates were locked.
+
+According to these arrangements, when it began to get dark, Father
+Mahok arrived, bringing with him his sacristan, a man of about forty,
+with a closely shaved mustache and a very copper-colored face. The
+pastor left him in the greenhouse, and proceeded himself to the
+dining-room, where the countess was awaiting him for supper. No one
+ate a morsel. The pastor had no appetite, neither had the countess,
+nor her companion. The air was too full of the coming event to allow
+of such a gross thing as eating.
+
+After supper the countess withdrew to her room, and Herr Mahok went to
+the greenhouse, where the sacristan had made himself comfortable with
+wine and meat, and had kept up the fires in the oven. The servants had
+been kept in ignorance of what was going on; they had never heard the
+midnight mass, nor the wild shrieks and infamous songs of the
+inhabitants of the vault, and the countess would not allow the ears of
+her innocent handmaidens to be polluted with such horrors. Therefore,
+every one in the castle slept. The pastor watched alone. At first Herr
+Mahok tried to pass the long hours of the night in reading his
+prayers, but as his habitual hour for sleep drew near he had to fight
+a hard battle with his closing eyelids. He was afraid that if he
+slumbered his imagination would reproduce the countess's dream, to
+which, be it said, he did not give credence; at the same time, he did
+not wholly doubt. Generally, he found that his breviary provoked
+sleep, and now he thought it better to close the book, and try what
+conversation with the sacristan would do as a means to keep awake.
+
+The clerk's discourse naturally turned upon ghostly appearances; he
+told stories of a monk without a head, of spirits that appeared on
+certain nights in the year, of hobgoblins and witches, all of which he
+had either seen with his own eyes or had heard of from persons whose
+veracity was unimpeachable.
+
+"Folly! lies!" said the excellent pastor; but he could not help a
+creeping sensation coming over him. If he could even have smoked, it
+would have strengthened his nerves; but smoking was forbidden in the
+castle. The countess would have smelled it, as the giant in the old
+fairy tale smelled human flesh.
+
+When the sacristan found that all his wonderful tales of ghosts and
+hobgoblins were considered lies, he thought it was no use tiring
+himself talking, and as soon as he ceased sleep began to fall upon his
+eyelids. Seated upon a stool, his head leaning against the wall, his
+mouth open, he slept profoundly, to the envy, if not the admiration,
+of the good pastor, who would willingly have followed his example.
+Soon some very unmusical sounds made themselves heard. The sacristan
+snored in all manner of keys, in all variations of nasal discord,
+which so jarred on the pastor's nerves that he several times shook the
+sleeper to awake him, with the result that he slept again in no time.
+
+At last the clock on the castle tower chimed twelve. Herr Mahok struck
+the sacristan a good blow on his shoulder.
+
+"Get up!" he said. "I did not bring you here to sleep."
+
+The clerk rubbed his eyes, already drunk with sleep. The pastor took
+his snuff-box to brighten himself up with a pinch of snuff, when
+suddenly both men were roused out of all the torpor of sleep by other
+means. Just as the last beat of the clock had finished striking the
+unearthly mass began to be intoned in the vault below. Through the
+profound silence of the night was heard the voice of the priest
+singing the Latin mass, with the responses of the choir, accompanied
+by some instrument that sounded like an organ, but which had a
+shriller tone, and seemed to be a parody of the same.
+
+Over the whole body of Herr Mahok crept a ghostly shiver.
+
+"Do you hear it?" he asked the sacristan, in a whisper.
+
+"Hear it? Who could help hearing it? Mass is saying somewhere."
+
+"Here, under us, in the vault."
+
+"Who can it be?"
+
+"The devil! All good spirits praise the Lord," stammered the worthy
+pastor, making the sign of the cross three times.
+
+"But it seems that the evil spirits praise the Lord as well as the
+good ones," returned the clerk.
+
+This assertion of his was, however, quickly contradicted, for in the
+middle of the next psalm a diabolical chorus struck in wildly, and the
+air resounded with--
+
+   "Come, dearest, come to me,
+      Come, I am at home;
+    Two gypsies play for me.
+      And here I dance alone."
+
+Then followed shrieks of laughter, in which women's shrill cackle
+mingled with the hoarse roar of men and the wildest discord, as if
+hell itself were let loose.
+
+The poor priest, who had trembled at the pious psalms, nearly fell to
+the ground on hearing this pandemonium. A cold sweat broke out all
+over him; he knew now that the countess was right, and that this was,
+in truth, the work of the evil one.
+
+"Michael," he said, his teeth chattering with fear, "have you heard--"
+
+"I must be stone deaf if I didn't--such an infernal din!" replied the
+other. "All the spirits of hell are holding a Sabbath--"
+
+Just then there was the tinkle of a bell. The tumult subsided, and the
+voice of the celebrant was once more heard intoning mass.
+
+"What shall we do?" asked Herr Mahok.
+
+"What shall we do? Descend into the vault and exorcise the evil
+spirits."
+
+"What!" cried the priest. "Alone?"
+
+"Alone!" repeated Michael, with religious fervor. "Are we alone when
+we come in the name of the Lord of armies? Besides, we are two. If I
+were a priest, and if I were invested with the stole, had I the right
+to wear the three-cornered hat, I should go into the vault, carrying
+the holy water, and with the words, 'Apage Satanas,' I would drive
+before me all the legions of hell itself."
+
+The excellent pastor felt ashamed that his ignorant sacristan should
+possess greater faith, and show more courage in this combat with the
+powers of darkness, than himself; still, fear predominated over his
+shame.
+
+"I would willingly face these demons," he said, in a somewhat
+hesitating manner, "were it not that the gout has suddenly seized my
+right foot. I am not able to walk."
+
+"But consider what a scandal it will be if we, who have heard the
+spirits, have not pluck enough to send them packing."
+
+"But my foot, Michael; I cannot move my foot."
+
+"Well, then, I will carry you on my back. You can hold the holy water
+and I will take the lantern."
+
+There was no way out of this friendly offer. The pastor commended his
+soul to God, and, taking heart, resolved to fight the demons below,
+armed only with the holy insignia of his office. The good man,
+however, did not mount, like Anchises on the back of AEneas, without
+much inward misgiving.
+
+"You will be careful, Michael; you will not let me fall?" he said, in
+a somewhat quavering voice.
+
+"Don't be afraid, pastor," returned the sacristan, as he stooped and
+raised the pastor on his shoulders. "Now, forward!" he cried, taking
+the lantern in his hands, while Herr Mahok carried the vessels
+necessary for the exorcism.
+
+A cold blast of air saluted them as they issued from the greenhouse
+and crossed the large hall of the castle, which the glimmering light
+from the small lantern only faintly illumined. Half of it remained in
+darkness; but on the side of the wall where hung the portraits of the
+armed knights an occasional gleam showed Herr Mahok the faces of the
+countess's warlike ancestors, who had done in their day good service
+against the Turks. They looked at him, he thought, somewhat
+contemptuously, and seemed to say, "What sort of man is this, who goes
+to fight pickaback?"
+
+Michael stopped before a strong iron door in the centre of the hall.
+This was the entrance to the subterranean vaults and cellars
+underneath the castle. And now the pastor suddenly remembered he had
+left the key of this gate in the greenhouse. There was nothing for it
+but to retrace their steps. Just as they reached the threshold,
+however, Michael suggested that something very hard was pressing
+against his side. Could it be the key which was, after all, in his
+reverence's pocket? This suggestion proved correct, and once more he
+had to run the gantlet of the old crusaders and their contemptuous
+superiority.
+
+The key creaked as it turned in the lock, and a heavy, damp smell
+struck upon them as they passed through the iron gate.
+
+"Leave the door open," said the pastor, with an eye to securing a safe
+retreat.
+
+And now they began to descend the steps, Herr Mahok remarking that his
+horse was not too sure-footed. He tottered in going down the steps so
+much that the pastor, in his fright, caught him with his left hand
+tightly by the collar, while he pressed the other more closely round
+his throat, a proceeding which Michael resented by calling out, in a
+strangled voice:
+
+"Reverend sir, don't squeeze me so; I am suffocating!"
+
+"What was that?"
+
+A black object whizzed past them, circling round their heads. A bat,
+the well-known attendant upon ghosts!
+
+"We shall be there in a few minutes," said the clerk, to encourage his
+rider, whose teeth chattered audibly.
+
+While they were descending the steps the noise in the vault had been
+less audible, but now, as they came into the passages which ran
+underneath the hall, it broke out again in the most horrible discord.
+The passage was long, and there were two wings; one led to the cellars
+proper, the other to the vaults. Opposite to the steps there was a
+cross passage, at the end of which, by ascending some seven or eight
+steps and passing through a lattice door, you could get into the open
+air. This lattice served likewise as a means of ventilating the
+passages, and on this particular night there was such a strong current
+of air that the light in the lantern was in danger every minute of
+being blown out. It would have been well if that were all. The
+sacristan hadn't taken three steps in the direction of the vault
+before a terrible sight revealed itself to both men.
+
+At the other end of the passage a blue flame burned; before the flame
+there stood, or sat, or jumped, a dwarfish figure all in white. It was
+not three feet in height, and, nevertheless, its head was of monstrous
+size. As the sacristan, with the pastor, drew near this horrid
+appearance, the blue flame suddenly flared up, throwing a bright,
+whitish light all over the passage, and by this light the terrified
+spectators beheld the dwarfish figure stretch itself out, and grow
+taller and taller--six, eight, twelve feet--and still it grew and
+grew. Its shadow danced in the light of the blue flame upon the marble
+floor of the passage like a black serpent. Then the fearful appearance
+raised its head, and the vaulted roof echoed with its howls and
+shrieks.
+
+Michael's courage flew out of the window. He turned, and, burdened as
+he was with the weight of the pastor on his back, he ran back as fast
+as he could. In the middle of the passage, however, he made a false
+step and fell, with Herr Mahok, flat upon his face. In the fall he
+broke the lantern, the light went out, and left them in the dark.
+Groping along with outstretched hands, they missed the steps which led
+up to the iron gate, but after some time found themselves in the cross
+passage, and saw the soft light of the moon shining through the
+lattice window. They made at once for the door. At first there was
+some difficulty in opening it, but Michael managed to force it, and,
+to their great joy, they were once more in the open air. Over the
+stubble, through the thorn-bushes they flew, never pausing to look
+back. Singularly enough, the gout in the pastor's foot in no way
+affected his speed. He ran quite as fast as Michael, and in less than
+a quarter of an hour was in his bed. So, too, the sacristan, whose
+fright produced an attack of fever, which kept him a prisoner there
+for three days.
+
+The next morning Herr Mahok, with many inward qualms, went up to the
+castle. His was an honest, simple mind; he preferred rather to believe
+in the wiles of the devil than in the wickedness of human nature; he
+credited what he had seen with his own eyes, and never sought to
+penetrate the dark veil which shrouds many supernatural mysteries. He
+believed firmly that he had now to do with damned spirits, who at
+their midnight orgies cracked pheasant bones to see who should first
+be married.
+
+He found the countess in good humor; she was friendly, lively, and
+received her visitor with a smiling countenance. This change did not
+surprise Herr Mahok. He was by this time accustomed to the caprices of
+Countess Theudelinde. One day she was out of humor, the next all
+serenity.
+
+The pastor went straight to the kernel he had to crack.
+
+"I watched last night," he said.
+
+"Oh, father, thanks, ten thousand thanks! Your mere presence has been
+sufficient to banish the evil spirits which have haunted the castle
+for so long. Last night all was peace; not a sound did I hear."
+
+"Not a sound!" cried the pastor, rising from his chair in his
+astonishment at such a statement. "Countess, is it possible that you
+did not hear the noise?"
+
+"Profound repose, Arcadian peace, reigned in the house, both up-stairs
+and below."
+
+"But I was there, and awake. I did not dream it. And, moreover, I can
+show you the bruises and abrasions on my elbow; they witness to the
+fall we had, to say nothing of Michael, the sacristan, who is this
+moment in a high fever in consequence. No, never did any one hear so
+demoniacal, so terrible a noise as echoed through the vault last
+night. I was there myself, countess, in my own person. I was ready to
+encounter the wicked spirits; I would have met them armed with all the
+terrors of Mother Church, but the courage of my weak-kneed sacristan
+failed. I have now come to tell you that my knowledge is at an end.
+This castle is bewitched, and, countess, my advice to you is to leave
+it without delay, and to take up your residence in a city, where your
+family ghost cannot follow you."
+
+The countess placed the middle finger of her left hand upon her
+breast, and spoke with haughty dignity:
+
+"I leave this castle because the spirits of my ancestors dwell here!
+Your advice, reverend father, shows how little you know me. To my
+mind, it is a powerful reason for remaining. Here the spirits of my
+forefathers, the ghosts of ancestors, surround me. They know me, they
+claim me as theirs; they honor me with their visits, with their
+invitations, and you counsel me to abandon them. Never! Bondavara is
+dearer to me than ever; the presence of my ancestors has doubled its
+value a hundredfold."
+
+It was on the tip of Herr Mahok's tongue to answer, "Well, then,
+remain here by all means, but for my part I give my resignation;
+provide yourself with another confessor." He restrained himself,
+however, and said, quietly:
+
+"Will you tell me, countess, how it happens that, if you have these
+close relations with your ancestors' spirits, you heard nothing of
+the witch's Sabbath they kept last night?"
+
+At this bold question the countess's pale cheeks were suddenly
+decorated by two carnation spots; her eyes fell before the sharp look
+of her father confessor, and, striking her breast with her hand, she
+sank slowly on her knees, whispering, in great agitation:
+
+"Pater, peccavi. There is something which I have never confessed to
+you, and which lies heavy on my conscience."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"Oh, I fear to tell you!"
+
+"Daughter, fear nothing," said the priest, soothingly. "God is
+merciful to human weakness."
+
+"I believe that; but I am more afraid that you will laugh at me."
+
+"Ah!" And the pastor, at this strange speech, fell back in his chair,
+smiling to himself.
+
+The countess rose from her kneeling position and went to her
+writing-table; she opened a secret drawer, and took from thence an
+album. It was a splendid book with an ivory cover, chasings of gilt
+enamel, and clasp of the same.
+
+"Will you look through this album, father?"
+
+The priest opened the clasp, took off the cover, and saw a collection
+of cabinet photographs, such as are generally to be found on drawing
+room tables. There were portraits of eminent statesmen, poets, actors,
+with whose likenesses all the world is familiar. Two points were
+remarkable in this gallery--one, that no one was included who had any
+scandal connected with his name; secondly, it was only clean-shaved
+men who had a place in the volume. Herr Mahok recognized many whom he
+knew either by sight or personally--Liszt, Remenyi, the actors
+Lendvay, Szerdahelyi, and others, together with many foreign
+celebrities, who wore neither beard nor mustache. Another peculiarity
+struck the pastor. Several of the leaves, instead of portraits, had
+pieces of black crape inserted into the frames. This circumstance made
+him reflective.
+
+"It is a very interesting volume," he said, closing the book' "but
+what has it to do with the present circumstances?"
+
+"I confess to you," said the countess, in a low voice, "that this book
+is a memorial of my folly and weakness. A picture-dealer in Vienna has
+for many years had an order from me; he sends me every photograph that
+comes out of clean-shaved men, and I seek among them for my ideal. I
+have been seeking many years. Sometimes I imagine I have found it;
+some one of the portraits takes my fancy. I call the man whom it
+represents my betrothed. I place the photograph before me; I dream for
+hours looking at it; I almost fancy that it speaks to me. We say to
+one another all manner of things--sweet nothings, but they fill my
+mind with a sort of ecstasy. It is silly, I know, and something tells
+me that it is worse than silly, that it is sinful. I have been for a
+long time wondering whether I should confess this as a sin, or keep
+silence about such foolish nonsense. What is your opinion, father?"
+
+Herr Mahok, in truth, did not know what to say. It was true that in
+the Scripture some words were said about sinning with the eyes, but
+photographs were not named. He answered, vaguely--
+
+"Anything further, my daughter?"
+
+"After I had for some time been silly over one of the portraits, I saw
+in a dream the man it represented. He appeared to me as a beautiful
+apparition, we walked together through fields and meadows,
+arm-in-arm; a sort of heavenly halo surrounded us, flowers sprang up
+under our feet. We were young, and we loved one another." The poor
+lady wept bitterly as she related her dream, and she sobbed as she
+said, "Is not this a sin, father?"
+
+Herr Mahok had no hesitation in answering. He had found the name of
+the sin--it was witchcraft; but the form the penance should take
+puzzled him. The countess, however, helped him to a decision.
+
+"Ah," she said, sadly, "I thought it was some demoniac possession; and
+for these visions, sweet as they were, I must now do penance. Is it
+not so, father? Will it satisfy for my fault if I burn in the fire the
+portrait of the man who appeared to me in my dream, and fill the empty
+space in my book with black crape?"
+
+This remark explained the many frames filled with crape. The pastor
+thought that the penance was well chosen. Nothing could be better than
+a burnt-offering.
+
+Theudelinde continued, "During these visions I lie in a profound
+slumber. My soul is no longer on the earth; I am in the paradise of
+lovers. No earthly feeling chains me here below; I am a clear spirit,
+consequently no sound reaches me. I am as deaf to this world as if I
+were already dead."
+
+"Therefore the ghostly tumult never reached you last night; you were
+wandering in your dream world."
+
+"I confess it was so," whispered the countess, covering her face with
+her hands.
+
+"Now, here is a nice state of things!" thought the pastor. "The dead
+ancestors play all manner of pranks in the family vault, while their
+descendant projects herself out of her human body to make love in some
+other region. They are, indeed, an extraordinary race. A poor man
+daren't even think of such extravagances, and how can I, a poor
+parish priest, deal with such queer goings-on? I only know how to
+settle with the every-day penitent, who commits the usual sins."
+
+This complication, in truth, of the ghosts below and the bewitched
+countess above, was too much for a man of his calibre to deal with. It
+required a superior genius to exorcise the spirits and to calm the
+hysterical mind of Theudelinde. In the difficulty it appeared to him
+better to temporize.
+
+"My daughter, the penance you have imposed upon yourself is well
+thought of. Have you already committed to the flames the portrait of
+the last demoniacal appearance?"
+
+"No," answered the countess, with all the hesitation a young girl
+would have in speaking of her lover's picture.
+
+"And why not?" questioned the priest, almost sternly. He was glad to
+find some tangible fault.
+
+"It would be wrong, I think, to throw this particular portrait into
+the fire."
+
+"And wherefore should it be wrong?"
+
+Before she replied the countess opened a concealed pocket of the album
+and drew forth what it contained.
+
+"Ah!" cried the pastor as he took the photograph, which he at once
+recognized as the Abbe Samuel, the head of an influential order which
+possessed many different branches.
+
+"The photographer in Vienna had my directions to send me the
+photograph of every clean-shaven celebrity. He, therefore, has
+committed the sin of sending me the portrait of an eminent priest. The
+fault is mine, not his."
+
+"And in your dreams have you wandered arm-in-arm with the original of
+this?" asked Herr Mahok, still holding in his hand the photograph.
+
+"I am guilty!" stammered the countess, laying her hands upon her
+breast.
+
+"Then," said the pastor, "Heaven inspired you not to throw this
+portrait, like that of the others, into the fire, for in this man you
+will find a physician able to cure your sick soul. It is really
+providential that this portrait should be in your hands, for the
+others were idle, foolish dreams. Here you have found your ideal,
+under whose guidance you may hope to find health and salvation. He
+will lead you, not in a dream, but in reality, to the blessed regions
+of peace and true piety, where alone, my daughter, real happiness is
+to be found. This man possesses strength of mind and elevation of
+character sufficient to exorcise all the spirits which haunt your
+castle, and to banish from your mind those temptations which spring
+from the same source as the more visible demons which we call
+ghosts."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE EXORCIST
+
+
+Acting upon the advice of Herr Mahok, the countess resolved to lay all
+her troubles before a new physician for her soul. That very day the
+pastor wrote to Abbe Samuel, who was then in Pesth, inviting him to
+come to Bondavara Castle.
+
+The abbe was a man of high calling; one of those priests who are more
+or less independent in their ideas. He had friendly relations with
+certain personages, and the initiated knew that certain articles with
+the signature "S," which appeared in the opposition paper, were from
+his pen. In society he was agreeable and polished, and his presence
+never hindered rational enjoyment. In intellectual circles he shone;
+his lectures, which were prepared with great care, were attended by
+the _elite_ of society, and, as a natural consequence, the
+ultramontane papers were much against him. Once, even, the police had
+paid him a domiciliary visit, although they themselves did not know
+wherein he had given cause for suspicion. All these circumstances had
+raised his reputation, which had lately been increased by the
+appearance of his picture in a first-rate illustrated journal. This
+won for him the general public. So stately was his air, his high,
+broad forehead, manly, expressive features, well-marked eyebrows, and
+frank, fearless look, with nothing sinister or cunning in it. For the
+rest, there was little of the priest about him; his well-knit,
+robust, muscular form was rather that of a gladiator. Through the
+whole country he was well-known as the independent priest, who
+ventured to tell the government what he thought.
+
+For this reason the excellent Herr Mahok had for him the greatest
+respect. He, as an insignificant parish priest, could do nothing for
+his fatherland. It was true that, many years ago, he had fought more
+than twenty battles with the Honved Battalion; he had preached to his
+men how they should love their country, and for this he had been
+sentenced to death, which sentence had been commuted to ten years'
+imprisonment; he had passed five of those years in chains, and his
+feet still bore the marks of the wounds made by the heavy irons. But
+what were these trifles, of which Herr Mahok thought little, in
+comparison to the bold deeds of the Abbe Samuel, who dared to write
+independent articles in the papers, and to sign them with the initial
+of his name. To have fought with Haynau against the Russians under
+fire of heavy cannon, to have been in the galleys, that was a mere
+joke. To have the fearful police upon your track, that was serious.
+Herr Mahok thought most highly of the abbe's capabilities, measuring
+them by the loss of his own physical and mental energy--for after
+fifteen years, five of which had been spent in heavy iron chains, a
+man is not what he was.
+
+After some days the invited guest arrived at the parsonage of Herr
+Mahok. The pastor related to him, circumstantially, all that had
+reference to the countess, with the exception, of course, of such
+matters as were under the sacred seal of confession. He told him about
+the ghosts, and his own experience under that head.
+
+Herr Samuel received the narration with fits of laughter.
+
+"You may laugh here as much as you like, but I beg of you not to do so
+before the countess; she holds to her ghosts," remarked the pastor,
+with an air of one who knew what he was saying.
+
+The abbe then asked for information concerning the disposition of the
+rooms in the castle, how they were situated in regard to one another.
+He made the pastor describe minutely every particular of what he had
+himself been witness to, also how he and his sacristan had made good
+their escape through the lattice door.
+
+The equipage of the countess came at the usual hour to fetch both the
+guests to the castle, which lay at some little distance from the
+village.
+
+It was only natural, all things taken into account, that the countess
+on her first introduction to the abbe should lose all control of her
+nerves, and that she should give way to several hysterical symptoms,
+which could only be calmed by the abbe laying his hand in paternal
+benediction upon her forehead. Fraulein Emerenzia's nerves, in
+accordance with the sympathy which existed between her and her
+mistress, became at once similarly affected, and required a similar
+imposition of hands; but neither of the priests troubled themselves
+about her, and when the countess recovered from her attack, the
+companion did likewise.
+
+During dinner, which was served with great elegance, the abbe
+discoursed upon every possible subject, and made inquiries as to the
+prospects of the country, the occupations of the people, the age of
+the servants, and so forth. He addressed a great deal of his
+conversation to Fraulein Emerenzia, attended to her wants; when he
+offered her wine she covered her glass with her hand, and declared
+she never tasted anything but water, which seemed infinitely to
+surprise him; also, when he wished to know whether the ring on her
+finger was one of betrothal, Emerenzia tried to blush, and gave him to
+understand that, from her own choice, she meant to live and die a
+maid.
+
+After dinner was over, Herr Mahok remained in the dining-room to
+entertain the Fraulein--that is to say, he seated himself in an
+armchair, folded his hands upon his rotund stomach, closed his eyes,
+and during a sweet doze heard the clatter of Emerenzia's sharp voice.
+
+The abbe went with the countess into her private sitting-room. She sat
+upon the sofa, her eyes on the ground, waiting with much inward
+trepidation to hear what sentence so exalted a personage would
+pronounce upon the demoniacal possession. As he did not speak, she in
+a timid voice began--
+
+"Has my confessor told you the terrible secret of the castle?"
+
+"He has told me all that he knows."
+
+"And what view would the authorities of the Church take, do you
+think?"
+
+"My individual opinion, countess, is that the whole thing is a
+conspiracy of the living."
+
+"Of the living!" repented the countess. "And my visions?"
+
+"Those can be explained by psychological means. You are of a
+susceptible, nervous temperament; your senses are made acquainted with
+the first portion of the history, your imagination works out the
+remainder. Your dreams, countess, are hallucinations, nothing else.
+Visible ghosts do not exist; those who are dead cannot live and move,
+for the reason that their organic powers are at an end."
+
+The countess shook her head incredulously. To say the truth, she was
+ill-pleased. She had expected from so high and intellectual an
+ecclesiastic a very different explanation. If he could only tell us
+this, it was, indeed, lost trouble to send so far for him.
+
+Herr Samuel was quick enough to read in her face what was passing in
+her mind, and hastened to apply a radical cure.
+
+"Countess, I know you doubt what I say, because you have firm faith in
+what your eyes have seen, your ears have heard. You are quite
+convinced that you yourself have been many times in the haunted vault,
+and have there seen the spirits of your departed ancestors."
+
+"Only last night," whispered the countess, in an awed voice, "the
+tumult was fearful. They told me they would come again to-night, that
+they would expect me."
+
+"And have you promised to go to them?"
+
+"When day comes I shudder from the idea, but at night some strange,
+mysterious power draws me to the vault; I know all fear will vanish,
+and I shall not be able to stay away."
+
+"Very good. Then to-night I shall go with you to the vault of your
+ancestors."
+
+At these words a sudden flush covered the pale face of the countess.
+The living portrait! She should go with him--where? Perhaps into hell.
+She trembled at the thought; then with a violent effort recovered her
+composure, and said, in a hesitating manner--
+
+"I do not know. I do not think it would be possible. I should have to
+let my household into the secret."
+
+The abbe understood the nature of the question, and all the
+consequences it involved.
+
+"That would not be necessary. On the contrary, your household must
+know nothing of my visit."
+
+The countess looked at him. She was puzzled, agitated. What could he
+mean? He could not imagine for a moment that he was to spend the night
+with her--alone?
+
+The abbe read her thought and answered quietly--
+
+"I shall go away now with Pastor Mahok. I shall return about midnight,
+and will knock at your door to announce my arrival."
+
+Theudelinde shook her head. "That is impossible. In winter every door
+in my house is locked by seven o'clock. To reach my suite of rooms,
+you should pass through no less than seven doors. First the castle
+door. This is watched by my portress, an old woman who never sleeps;
+besides, two monstrous bloodhounds keep guard there. They are chained
+to the door with long chains; they would eat you if you tried to pass.
+Then comes the door of the corridor, to which there are two locks; my
+companion keeps the key of one, my housekeeper the key of the other,
+and to open it you must awake both. The third is the door to the
+staircase; the cook has the key under her pillow, and she sleeps so
+soundly, and the whole house is astir before she moves. The fourth is
+the entrance to the secret lattice passage; this is in the keeping of
+the housemaid, a nervous girl, who, when it grows dark, would not go
+into the next room. The fifth door leads to the chamber of my own
+maid, a very modest young person, who would not open the door to a man
+were he prophet or saint. The sixth door is that of Fraulein
+Emerenzia, my companion; she falls into violent hysterics if at night
+any one turns the handle of her door. The seventh and last door is
+that of my dressing-room, which is fitted with a peculiar self-acting
+lock, a new invention. I ask your reverence if, under such conditions,
+you could make your way here at midnight?"
+
+"Permit me, in my turn, to put a question to you. You have given me to
+understand that you descend constantly to the vault of your ancestors.
+How does it happen that you pass through all these well-guarded
+doors?"
+
+Over the countenance of the countess a triumphant smile passed. The
+superstitious woman could repel the attack of the scientist.
+
+"Oh, I do not pass through any of them! From my bedroom a secret
+staircase leads to the chapel vault. I go down this staircase."
+
+It would have been only natural that the abbe on hearing this should
+have proposed to conceal himself in the library, and there await the
+countess. But he read the character of his hostess and knew that such
+a proposal would have shocked her prudish mind and have offended her
+so deeply that, in all probability, she would have refused to listen
+any further. She required the most delicate management; this the
+quick-seeing abbe recognized perfectly.
+
+"I am still of the same mind," he said, calmly. "I shall knock at your
+door this night at twelve o'clock."
+
+At these words the countess was seized with a nervous shudder, but the
+abbe went on without taking any notice--
+
+"If you believe that there are unearthly beings who are possessed of
+mysterious powers by which they pass through locked doors and make
+themselves visible to some human beings, invisible to others, then why
+should I not have this power also? But you imagine that because I am
+only a man born of dust I cannot infringe the laws of nature. Let me
+remind you that there is a natural explanation for all that may seem
+to you incomprehensible. Witchcraft is now no longer a mystery. We do
+not now burn Boscos and Galuches upon funeral piles. Do not for a
+moment think that I am a Bosco or a Paracelsus. I repeat that what I
+promise I will perform; at the same hour at which the ghosts begin
+their orgies will I knock at your door with the words, _In nomine
+Domini aperientur portae fidelium_--'In the name of the Lord may the
+doors of the faithful be opened.' Remember, no one but us two is to
+know anything of my coming to-night. Till then may the blessing of God
+be with you."
+
+Theudelinde was much impressed by her strange visitor. His confidence
+infused courage into her weak mind, while his masterful ways
+influenced her like a spell. He addressed her from such a superior
+height that she felt it would be almost desecration not to place the
+utmost faith in his promises, and, nevertheless, he had promised to
+perform an impossible thing. How could she reconcile the two, unless,
+indeed, she had to do with a being of another world? She saw from the
+window the carriage drive away with the two clergymen. She watched
+them get in; she remained at her post until the carriage returned
+empty.
+
+The female Jehu showed to the other servants the _pourboire_ she had
+received; it was a new silver piece. It passed from hand to hand. What
+a miracle! Of the fifteen million inhabitants of Hungary, fourteen
+million five hundred thousand had never seen such a thing as a silver
+piece of money. There was a clergyman for you, of a very different
+pattern from that other, who gave, every Sunday, a fourpenny piece
+wrapped carefully in a piece of paper, to be _divided_ among the
+waitresses!
+
+The time passed slowly to the countess; the clock seemed to go with
+leaden weights. She wandered through all the rooms, her mind
+revolving in what possible manner, by what possible entrance a man
+could find his way into the castle. When it had struck seven o'clock
+she saw herself that every door which communicated with her wing was
+carefully locked; then she sat herself down in her own room. She took
+out the plan of the castle, which had been prepared by the Florentine
+artist who had built it. It was not the first time she had studied it;
+when she had received the castle as a present from her father, she had
+made herself mistress of every particular concerning it. The building
+was three times larger than her income could afford to maintain. She
+had, therefore, to choose which wing she would occupy. In the centre
+there were fine reception-rooms, a banqueting-hall, an armory, and a
+museum for pictures and curiosities. This portion was out of the
+question. Also, from this portion of the castle a concealed staircase
+led to a subterranean passage. This could be used as a means of
+escape, and had no doubt served such a purpose when the old castle had
+been besieged by the Turks. The grandfather of the countess had walled
+up these steps, and no one could now get into the secret passage. The
+left wing, which was similarly constructed to the one which the
+countess inhabited, had served as a sort of pleasure residence to her
+pleasure-loving ancestors. There were all manner of secret holes and
+corners in it, communications of all kinds connecting the rooms, doors
+behind pictures, concealed alcoves, and the like. The architect's plan
+showed these without any reticence. Theudelinde naturally turned away
+in horror from the idea of inhabiting this tainted wing, so full of
+sinful associations; she set up her Lares and Penates in the less
+handsome, but more homely, right wing, where were a few good rooms
+fitted for domestic life, an excellent library, and the family vault
+below. It contained no other secret staircase than the one which led
+to the tombs of the departed members of the family. For the rest,
+Countess Theudelinde had taken care to wall up all the passages which
+led to either the centre or left wing of the castle, and there was no
+means of communication between them and her apartments. All the
+chimneys had iron gates to shut off any possible entrance that way;
+every window was provided with strong iron bars. It would have been
+impossible for even a cat to effect an entrance into this enchanted
+castle.
+
+The countess, meditating on all these precautions, came to the
+conclusion that there was only one way by which the Abbe Samuel could
+introduce himself into the house, and that was by a secret
+understanding with some one of her household. But again, setting
+altogether aside the high character borne by the priest, which would
+render such an act upon his part improbable, the very nature of the
+circumstances attending his visit made it impossible. He had never
+been absent from the countess for a minute, except during his short
+walk to the carriage, and then Herr Mahok had been his companion.
+Theudelinde, therefore, dismissed the idea from her mind. She sent her
+household early to bed; she complained to Fraulein Emerenzia of
+suffering from pains on one side of her head. Immediately that
+sympathetic companion complained of pains on the other side of her
+head. When the countess thought she would try to sleep, Emerenzia felt
+the like desire; she wrapped her whole head up in warm cotton wool,
+and snored without mercy.
+
+Theudelinde shut herself up in her bedroom and counted the minutes.
+She tried to play Patience, but the cards would not come right; her
+mind was too much disturbed. She took out her Bible, splendidly
+illustrated by Dore. She looked at all the pictures; she counted the
+figures of the different men and women upon those two hundred and
+thirty large plates; then the horses and the camels, till she came to
+the scenes of murders. Then she tried to pass the time by reading the
+text. She counted which letter of the alphabet was repeated the most
+frequently upon one side of the page. For the greater part the letter
+_a_ was the favorite, _e_ came next, then _o_, also _u_; _i_ was the
+worst represented. This was in the French print. In the Hungarian text
+_e_ had the majority, then _a_, _o_, and _i_, and, last of all, _b_
+and _u_. But of this she also wearied. Then she sat down to the piano,
+and tried to calm her agitation by playing dreamy fantasias; neither
+did this succeed. Her hands trembled, and she could not sustain
+herself at the instrument, she was so wearied; and as the fatal hour
+of midnight drew nearer she gave up making efforts to distract her
+mind, and abandoned herself to thoughts of the impending ghostly
+tumult. She found herself altogether under the influence of her
+ancestral spectres, for she was always consumed with _ennui_ until the
+noise began. Then a sort of fever would come to her; she would undress
+herself, crawl into bed, draw the coverings over her head until she
+broke into a perspiration, and then fall into a deep sleep. The next
+morning, when she awoke, she really believed that she had witnessed
+the scenes of which she had only dreamed.
+
+This night she drew forth her talisman, the photograph of the abbe,
+and tried to find some strength by considering it. She placed it
+before her on the reading-desk and sat gazing at it. Was he really a
+superior being, at whose command the doors of the castle would fly
+open, spectres would vanish, and the gates of hell would close upon
+them? It could not be that such things would happen. The more the
+night advanced the greater grew her nervous fears. Her heart beat
+loudly. It was not so much the nightly ghosts that she dreaded, but
+this new and equally unearthly visitor. What was he? A wizard, an
+enchanter like Merlin of old, or a saint come to exorcise and banish
+her tormentors?
+
+The weary lagging hours went by, until at last the pendulum of the old
+clock began to vibrate, and its iron tongue gave out midnight. The
+countess counted every stroke. Its vibration had hardly ceased when,
+punctual to its usual time, the infernal noise began; from the vault
+below the tones of the mass reached Theudelinde's ears. She was,
+however, listening for another sound, listening with feverish anxiety
+to catch a stealthy footfall in the adjoining room, to hear the rattle
+of a key surreptitiously moving in the lock. Nothing! She came to the
+door, and, putting her head to the keyhole, strained her ears in vain.
+All was still. It was now a quarter past midnight; the tumult in the
+vault below was in full swing--the witches' Sabbath, as it might be
+called, with its yells, shouts, songs, prayers; it was as if all the
+devils of hell had given one another rendezvous in the company of the
+countess's ancestors.
+
+"He will not come," she thought, and trembled in every limb of her
+fever-stricken body. It was folly to expect it. How could a man
+accomplish what is only permitted to spirits?
+
+She retired to the alcove and prepared to lie down. At this moment she
+heard a tap at the door of her sitting-room, and, after a moment, a
+low voice spoke in firm tones--
+
+"In nomine Domini aperientur portae fidelium."
+
+It was the signal given by the abbe. Theudelinde gave a shriek; she
+nearly lost her senses from fright, but gathered herself together with
+a supreme effort. It was real; no hallucination, no dream! He was at
+the door, her deliverer. Forward!
+
+The countess ran to the door and opened it. The crisis gave her
+unusual strength. This might be a trap, and instead of a deliverer she
+might find herself opposite to a robber or murderer. Under the carpet
+lay concealed the trap-door; the midnight visitor stood on the very
+spot. One pressure of the secret spring and down he went into the
+abyss below. Theudelinde had her foot on the spring as she undid the
+door.
+
+There stood the abbe before her. No appearance of his clerical calling
+was to be seen. He wore a long coat, which reached to his feet, and
+carried neither bell, book, nor candle, wherewith to exorcise the
+spirits. In his right hand he held a thick stick made of rhinoceros'
+skin, and in the left a dark lantern.
+
+"Remain where you are," said the countess, in a commanding voice.
+"Before you set foot in this room you shall tell me how you got here.
+Was it with the help of God, of man, or of the devil?"
+
+"Countess," returned the abbe, "look about you. Do you not see that
+every door in your castle stands open? Through these open doors I have
+passed easily. How I passed through the court is another thing. I will
+tell you that later."
+
+"And my household, who sleep in those rooms?" said the countess, in an
+incredulous voice.
+
+"The curtains hang round every bed; I have not raised them. If your
+household be asleep, they will no doubt sleep as the just do, without
+waking."
+
+The countess listened, only half believing what she heard; she was
+growing nerveless again. She led the abbe into the sitting-room, and
+sank exhausted upon the sofa.
+
+The tumult in the vault was indescribable.
+
+"Do you hear _it_?" she said, in a whisper.
+
+"I do hear, and I know whence it comes. I am here to face those who
+cause this unseemly riot."
+
+"Have you the weapons that Holy Church has provided for such a task?"
+asked Theudelinde, anxiously.
+
+The priest for all answer held towards her the strong staff he
+carried.
+
+"I have this good stick, countess."
+
+"Do you hear above all the tumult that strident voice? It is my uncle
+Ladislaus," cried the countess, grasping the abbe's arm with both her
+hands. "Do you hear that horrible laugh? It is my uncle's laugh."
+
+"We will soon learn the author of that unpleasant cachinnation,"
+remarked the priest, quietly.
+
+"Why, what do you propose to do?"
+
+"I shall go down and join the worshipful society below."
+
+"You will descend into the vault? What to do?"
+
+"To pass judgment upon that unruly gang, countess. You promised to
+accompany me."
+
+"I promised!" and Theudelinde retreated from him, her eyes staring
+wildly, her hands pressed to her breast.
+
+"It was your own wish."
+
+"True, true! I am so confused; my thoughts are all astray. I cannot
+recollect them. You here, and that fearful noise below! I am terribly
+afraid."
+
+"How? You who had the courage to go among the ghosts by yourself, are
+you afraid now that _I_ am with you? Give me your hand."
+
+The countess placed her trembling fingers in the abbe's hand, and as
+she felt the firm, manly clasp, an unusual sense of strength and
+protection possessed her; she ceased to shake and shiver, her eyes no
+longer saw shapes and fantasies moving before them; her heart began to
+beat steadily. The bare touch of this man's hand gave her new life.
+
+"Come with me," he said, in a decided voice, while he stuck his whip
+under his left arm, and with the right drew the countess after him.
+"Where are the keys of the secret staircase, and of the room through
+which we must pass?"
+
+Theudelinde felt that she could not let go his hand for one minute.
+She was for the moment, so to speak, mesmerized by his superior mind.
+She crawled after him submissively; she should follow him, were it to
+the very gates of hell itself. Without a word she pointed to the key
+cabinet, an antique piece of furniture which would have made the joy
+of a bric-a-brac collector, and in which there was a drawer full of
+keys.
+
+Without a moment's hesitation the priest put his hand on the ones that
+were wanted. It was no miracle that he should do so, although to the
+weakened mind of his companion it appeared to be miraculous; on one of
+the keys there was the well-known sign of a vault key, the crucifix.
+
+The abbe now drew aside the curtain which concealed the secret passage
+to the library, and here, at the first step, he was met by a certain
+proof, if such were wanting, to show him the credit to be given to the
+countess's statements that she was in the habit of descending to the
+vault: as he opened the door a mass of cobwebs blew into his face. The
+countess, however, was firm in her hallucination. It is a phase of
+such nervous disorders as hers to believe that what they have dreamed
+is actual fact; they can even supply small details.
+
+As the countess went up the steps she whispered to her companion--
+
+"A window is broken here, and the wind whistles through it." And as
+they turned the angle of the steps there was a narrow slip-window
+which in the daytime gave light to the staircase, the panes of which
+were actually broken. She had never seen this. When they came to the
+door of the library she confided to the abbe that she was always
+frightened to pass the threshold.
+
+"It is such a ghostly place!" she said. "When the moon shines through
+the shutter of the upper window it throws white specks upon the mosaic
+pattern of the marble floor, which makes it look like some mysterious
+writing. In one of the corners between two presses there is a glass
+case with a skeleton in it; in another case the wax impression, taken
+after death, of Ignatius Loyola."
+
+Everything was precisely as the countess related. The moon shone
+through the upper panes of glass, the skeleton stood in his glass
+case, the waxen head of the dead saint lay in the other, but the
+countess had never crossed the threshold. In her childhood her nurse
+had told her these tales of the Bondavara Castle, and when she had
+become its mistress her first care had been to lock these rooms. Ten
+years' dust lay on the carpets, on the chairs and tables; cobwebs hung
+from the ceilings, mice played games in the deep wainscots, for no one
+ever came here.
+
+At the moment in which the countess and her companion entered the
+library a certain peace reigned in the vault below. The tumult seemed
+lulled; there were neither shrieks nor demoniacal songs to be heard.
+From the mortuary chapel, however, the notes of the organ reached the
+ears of the two listeners. It sounded like the prelude which is played
+in church before mass begins, only the chords of the prelude were all
+discords; it was as if the organ were played by a condemned spirit.
+
+The countess stood before the chapel door, her breast heaving with
+emotion. She caught hold of the abbe's hand with a strong grasp, and
+kept him from turning the key in the lock. She trembled in every limb.
+
+"What are those fearful tones?"
+
+Then came a confused sound, as of many voices intoning the vespers.
+One voice, which imitated the monotonous delivery of the celebrant,
+began to sing in Latin the words of a hymn--
+
+    "Bacchus, prepare the libation."
+
+Another voice answered in the same tone--
+
+    "And hasten, brethren, to drink!"
+
+Then a third took up the text in a parody of the _Gloria_--
+
+"Gloria Baccho, et filiae ejus Cerevisiae et Spiritui vini, sicut erat
+in Baccho natus, et nunc, et semper, et per omnia pocula poculorum.
+Stramen."
+
+The countess felt her whole body turning into ice; fear mingled with
+horror. She understood the impious parody.
+
+Now the organ accompanied the antiphon.
+
+"Date nobis de cerevisia vestra; quia sitiunt guttura nostra"--"Give
+us of your beer; our throats are dry."
+
+Then followed the psalm--
+
+"Brother to brother spoke these words: shall two goblets of beer
+quench man's thirst?"
+
+"Two, three, five, six are not enough for man's satiety."
+
+"Blessed be Bacchus, who gave us beer."
+
+Then followed the Capitulum.
+
+"Brethren, attend, and do as I command ye. Before ye leave the
+ale-house for your own homes empty all the pots, leave not a drop
+therein, but tilt them and drain every drop of wine. This do from
+goblet to goblet. Stramen."
+
+The countess felt, as she listened to this profanity, what a damned
+soul must experience when for the first time it consorts with devils.
+But now a hellish chorus broke forth of men's and women's voices,
+yelling out a parody of a hymn--
+
+   "Bacchus, who gave us drink,
+    Art thou not called the god of liquor?
+    Grant us all the holy grace,
+    Strength to drink in every place,
+    So that, drinking everywhere,
+    We for glory may prepare
+    In thy everlasting wine-cellar."
+
+This was followed by the ringing of the bell, and the priest's voice
+intoned the blessing.
+
+"Bacchus be with you."
+
+The chorus answered, "And with thy pint-pots."
+
+Then came the Oratio--
+
+"Let us eat. O all-powerful Bacchus, since thou hast created this
+society of ours for thine own honor, grant to us its continuance, and
+give to us a constant supply of brave topers, who never may cease
+drinking from goblet to goblet."
+
+And the chorus answered, "Stramen."
+
+The countess was not able any longer to hold herself up. She sank upon
+her knees, and looked up at the priest in mute horror. Hardly knowing
+what she did, she gazed in utter despair at the tall figure lit up as
+it was by the rays of the moon, which played round his head like a
+halo.
+
+The abbe put the key into the lock of the chapel door. The countess
+caught his hand; her fright amounted to agony.
+
+"Do not--do not open it!" she cried. "Inside is hell let loose."
+
+With an elevation of his head, the abbe answered proudly--
+
+"Nec portae inferi--the gates of hell shall not prevail"; and then he
+turned the key, and the heavy iron door swung open, and disclosed the
+actors in the strange drama.
+
+On the altar all the candles were lighted, and their light showed with
+distinctness every incident of the performance, every feature in the
+faces of the performers.
+
+What a scene!
+
+On one side of the vault ran a long table, round which was seated,
+eating and drinking, not the countess's ancestors and ancestresses,
+but all the servants of her household. The maids, who were so strictly
+guarded, were here in the company of the men who were so rigorously
+excluded. The countess could, therefore, see that these were
+flesh-and-blood ghosts which had so long haunted her ancient castle.
+Each of her handmaidens had a lover in either the steward, bailiff,
+gamekeeper, or clerk in the neighborhood. The nervous housemaid, who
+at night was afraid of her own shadow, was now drinking out of the
+glass of the innkeeper; the virtuous maid was embraced by the mayor's
+footman; the portress, an elderly virgin, held a jug in her hand,
+while she executed a clog-dance upon the table. All the rest clapped
+hands, shrieked, sang at the top of their voices, and beat the table
+as if it were a big drum. The shepherd, who represented the countess's
+grandfather, sat upon the monument of the chancellor, his legs round
+the cross, and played the bagpipes. It was this instrument which at
+the burlesque of vespers imitated the harmonium. Upon the gravestone
+of the first archbishop the beer-barrel was set up. The maids were all
+dressed in the countess's silk dresses, with the exception of the
+female coachman, who, as usual, wore man's clothes, but by way of
+symmetry her lover, the coachman of the neighboring brewery, was
+dressed in woman's clothes. The countess recognized on the head of
+this bearded fellow her nightcap, and round his body her cloak,
+trimmed with her best lace. Worst of all, at the top of the table sat
+Fraulein Emerenzia, on very intimate terms with her neighbor, a young
+lawyer. She wore the skirt of a favorite dress of Theudelinde's, a
+flame-colored brocade; the body could not fit her corpulent form, so
+she had her mistress's best lace shawl wrapped round her. Her face was
+red; she had a large tumbler of wine before her, and she smoked a
+pipe. The modest Emerenzia!
+
+The men were all drunk and noisy, the women screamed in an unearthly
+manner; the bagpipes squealed; the table resounded with thumps and the
+clatter of the portress's clogs. From the altar came the voice of the
+mock priest, his arms outstretched in blessing. Through the din the
+words "Bacchus vobiscum" were heard, and the tinkle of the bell. This
+mock priest was no other than Michael the sacristan, who brought all
+the church ornaments confided to his care. He wore the pastor's
+vestments, and on his head an improvised skull-cap. The acolyte was
+the parish bell-ringer.
+
+The countess was cut to the heart. The terrible ingratitude,
+especially of these girls, to whom she had been as a mother--more
+anxious indeed than their own mothers to keep them pure and
+innocent--wounded the poor lady who had taught them to sing hymns on
+Sunday, had fed them from her own table, and had never allowed them to
+read a novel or hear a bad word. And this was the outcome of her
+efforts. They insulted the graves of her ancestors, played upon her
+nervous fears, destroyed her rest, nearly drove her mad with their
+ghostly noises, wore her clothes at their orgies, and, worse insult of
+all, she, a high-born lady and a pure woman, had the degradation of
+wearing these same garments, defiled as they were with the smell of
+wine and stale tobacco.
+
+Bitter as such ingratitude was, it counted as nothing in comparison
+with the profanation of using the holiest things of religion, the
+sacred ornaments of the Church, to carry out these impious rites. "Woe
+to them from whom scandal cometh," says the Scripture, and this woe
+means pain and suffering that no soothing balsam can alleviate.
+
+A mortal terror still filled the countess's heart. She was in the
+presence of those who had no control over their already besotted
+senses. If these drunken savages, these unsexed women, found their
+revels were discovered, what was to hinder them tearing her to pieces?
+There was only one man between her and them. Theudelinde looked at her
+solitary protector. His eyes gleamed with such apostolic anger that
+her timid soul grew fearful of the consequences, both to him and to
+herself, of his just wrath. She seized both his hands, to hold him
+from venturing among such demons. The abbe easily freed himself from
+the clasp of her weak fingers. In one bound he sprang down the steps,
+fell upon the false priest as he was in the act of pronouncing his
+final stramen; with the butt-end of his rhinoceros whip he gave him
+two blows.
+
+What the countess now witnessed was truly no vision. She saw how one
+man, armed with no more formidable weapon than a horsewhip, ventured
+into the midst of the hellish assembly, with one hand seized the table
+and overturned it and all that was on it of dishes, glasses, and
+wine-cups, with the other cracked his whip in the faces of the guests,
+who sprang to their feet in all the terror of detection, like to the
+profaners of the Temple. They were driven towards the door of the
+vault, the abbe's whip descending on their shoulders with impartial
+justice. They went tumbling over one another, howling and screaming,
+pressing onwards and pursued by the flagellation of the abbe. The
+bagpipe player in his haste missed his footing, those behind stumbled
+over him, and so lay all in a heap together. Not one went without
+carrying a remembrance of the abbe's strong arm, for he spared no one.
+No effort was made at reprisals; the criminal who is caught seldom
+shows fight. These last were, moreover, taken by surprise, and the
+clergyman was possessed of extraordinary strength; one man who tried
+to drag the horsewhip from his hand was dealt such a blow in his face
+that he was glad to relinquish his hold and take to his heels without
+loss of time.
+
+"Give it to them! give it to them!" cried the countess, who had no
+pity for her former servants, who had to pass her as they made their
+way pell-mell to the door. Emerenzia covered her head, not from shame,
+but fearing her face might get a blow. Almost the last was the
+sacristan, whose clerical dress hindered his speed, and whose back was
+so battered by the abbe that the vestment he wore hung in ribbons.
+
+After the last guest had departed, the abbe closed the heavy door of
+the vault and returned to where the countess was standing. His face
+wore an almost glorified expression; it was the consciousness of
+having asserted his strength. As he approached the countess fell on
+her knees, and made as if she would kiss his feet, but the abbe raised
+her.
+
+"Compose yourself, countess. Your present situation needs all your
+strength. Do you know that at this moment there are only two persons
+in this castle, for I have locked the door which leads to the
+court-yard. This folly is played out. You see now that no wicked
+spirit had any part in it. It was no ghost, only human beings who have
+had to do with this miserable business."
+
+"What shall I do?" asked the countess, constraining herself to speak
+calmly.
+
+"Take my lantern. I am going to lock the lattice door, so as to stop
+any entrance from this side. But you can return by the way we came,
+back to your own apartment, where I advise you to make yourself some
+tea; you are freezing with cold."
+
+"Must I go back all that way alone?"
+
+"Remember the words, 'If God is with me, who is against me,' and you
+can never be alone. To see ghosts is an illness; the method of curing
+it must be heroic."
+
+And as he saw that the countess, in spite of her efforts, could not
+subdue her nervous tremor, he took her by the hand, and, returning
+with her to the library, led her to the glass case which enclosed the
+skeleton, and opened the door.
+
+"Were you afraid of this? Why, it is nothing to fear. It is a standing
+proof of the wisdom of God. Every limb of this wonderful collection of
+bones tells us the Almighty created man to be ruler of the earth. Look
+at the skull; upon this arched forehead is written the birthright of
+humanity, in every corner and line of the face the superiority of the
+white race over all others. This skull teaches us how deep should be
+our gratitude to an all-seeing Providence who has created us the
+superior over all other beings on the earth. The sight of a skull
+should cause no shudder in the breast of man; it should give rise to
+feelings of thankfulness and reverence, for it is the symbol of the
+great love which our Heavenly Maker has for the creature He has made
+and chosen from all eternity."
+
+As he spoke the priest laid Theudelinde's cold hand upon the skull of
+the skeleton. The countess trembled no more. New life and strength
+born of the words of this singular man seemed to infuse themselves
+into her veins. She looked another being.
+
+"Now go to your room," said the abbe. "I shall soon follow, but I must
+first put out the torches on the altar. We must not have a
+conflagration on our hands."
+
+"I am quite ready to go alone," returned the countess. "My foolish
+fears are cured, but I am now concerned for you. Perhaps those
+wretched servants of mine are still about, and if you venture into the
+vault in the dark they may fall upon you and take their revenge for
+being discovered."
+
+"Oh, I am provided with what would soon scatter such cowards as they
+are," said the abbe, drawing a revolver from a secret pocket. "I had
+resolved to use stringent measures with them if necessary. Now, in
+God's name, retire to your room, countess."
+
+Theudelinde, without another word, took the lantern and went through
+the long library. The priest watched her until she had crossed the
+passage, and had opened the door of her own apartment. He then
+hastened back to the vault. In the passage he saw a blue flame
+burning on a tin dish.
+
+"Alcohol and ammonia mixed together," murmured the priest. "This is
+what frightened Herr Mahok." Close to it lay the winding-sheet and
+mask. The abbe pushed the vessel with the flame into the corner, for
+he knew that in an encounter with an adversary it would be little
+profit to have an illumination, and then he went down the dark passage
+carefully. No one was there; they had all run away, and were probably
+running still. The lattice door stood open; he drew it to, and barred
+it carefully; then he returned into the vault and locked it also,
+having first extinguished the lights, with the exception of one, which
+he took to light him back to the countess's room.
+
+He found her sitting composedly before the tea equipage. She had
+obeyed him. As he entered the room she rose, and, folding her hands
+upon her breast, cried:
+
+"Most holy saint and apostle!"
+
+"You must not give me such exalted titles," said the abbe, smiling.
+"What I have done does not merit such high-sounding terms. I have
+accomplished no miracle, for I had to do with mortals only. One
+circumstance which appears to you in a miraculous light is easily
+explained. I allude to my entering a house wherein all the doors were
+locked. But first, will you pour out the tea?--and if you will give me
+a cup I shall be grateful, for the occurrences of the last hour have
+somewhat excited me. Then we will talk the whole affair over."
+
+The countess gave her guest his tea, then sank back in her arm-chair,
+and wrapped herself in her cloak; she was still shivering.
+
+"That the supposed ghostly appearances and noises were in no sense
+supernatural was borne in on me," continued the abbe, as he sipped
+his tea, "from the first moment Herr Mahok took me into his
+confidence. I was convinced that the nocturnal disturbance was the
+work of your own household, and it served their purpose to make it as
+ghost-like as possible. The situation had been created by your
+over-caution, countess. Your women servants were not allowed to hold
+communication with the opposite sex; they, therefore, found other
+means to meet, and to give a cover to these illicit meetings they set
+up an atmosphere of ghostly mystery, by which their goings-on were
+well concealed. The conspiracy was perfectly carried out. If they had
+conducted their sinful intercourse on any other lines you would have
+long since discovered them. When the pastor told me that he and his
+sacristan had escaped through the lattice door, I suspected that it
+was through this door the men found their way into the vault, and that
+the sacristan must be a participator in the plot, whatever it was.
+Moreover, I calculated that the women must, of necessity, find their
+way through the cellar passage, and that, therefore, they would
+naturally leave every door in the house _open_, so that their return
+might be conducted without any danger of awaking you by noise, such as
+unlocking doors. The countenance, the coloring, the eyes of your
+companion betray her; it is easy to see what she has been, and that,
+moreover, she drinks. I knew to-day at dinner that she was a
+hypocrite. She held forth against all alcoholic drinks; that settled
+her with me. I had no doubt that I should find all the doors open, and
+I did. In order to make no noise I came on foot to the garden door.
+Countless footsteps in the fresh snow showed me that the company had
+already assembled. From the open garden door the foot-prints led to
+the lattice door, and thence to the vault. This door was put to. I
+pushed it open and was in the passage. I went to the left, up the
+steps to the cellar passage; the door was open. I could not count upon
+finding every door open; it was exactly as I imagined. The only
+difficulty lay in passing through your wardrobe-room, which has no
+key, but a peculiarly constructed spring-lock. I felt certain that
+your maids would borrow some of their mistress's silk dresses, and
+therefore the spring-lock would be arranged so as not to betray by its
+loud snap the return of the stolen garments to their proper place. On
+looking closely I found this to be the case; the lock was kept in its
+place by the insertion of a penknife, which could be easily withdrawn.
+Therefore, countess, you have, night after night, slept in this castle
+with every door open--in real danger--at the mercy of robbers, or even
+murderers; all the time frightened to death with ghostly noises, which
+kept you a prisoner to your room, not venturing to call your
+treacherous servants. Countess, you have been terribly punished."
+
+"Punished!" stammered the countess, her face growing even paler.
+
+"Yes, punished; for you have richly deserved to suffer."
+
+Theudelinde fixed a horrified look on the abbe.
+
+"Countess, at your door," said the priest, sternly, "lies the heaviest
+portion of the sins into which your servants have fallen. You have, in
+fact, driven them into vice. Your eccentric rules, bizarre and
+ridiculous ideas, made your women servants liars and induced their
+irregularities. Nature punishes those who revolt against her, and the
+long years during which you have isolated yourself from the world and
+from society have been flat rebellion, which has brought its own
+punishment. You now stand before two judges, Heaven and the World;
+Heaven is ready to punish you, the world to laugh at you; and the
+wrath of Heaven and the ridicule of the world is equally hard to bear.
+How do you mean to protect yourself against both?"
+
+The countess sank back annihilated. Only just recovered from the
+anxieties, horrors, and dangers of this dreadful night, she was not
+able to face the denunciations of the priest, which were, in fact,
+only the echo of her own conscience. The torture was greater than all
+she had undergone. There was silence in the room, during which the
+words rang in Theudelinde's ears like the tolling of a bell.
+
+"How shall you face the anger of Heaven and the ridicule of the
+world?"
+
+At last she thought of a way out of the difficulty, and, raising her
+head, she said, in a low voice:
+
+"I will hide my miserable head in a convent. _There_ the ridicule of
+the world will not reach me; there, kneeling before the altar, I will
+day and night pray to God to pardon my fault. You, oh most reverend
+father, will perhaps use your influence with the abbess of some
+convent--I should prefer the very strictest order--and get me
+admitted. There I shall find a living grave, and no one will ever hear
+my name. I shall leave this castle, and all my fortune, together with
+my savings of the last few years, to your order, with only one
+condition, that every night at twelve o'clock vespers shall be sung in
+the family vault, which has been desecrated by such abominations as
+have been practised there."
+
+The countess's voice, which was low and broken in the beginning,
+gathered strength as she made this renunciation of her worldly goods.
+
+The abbe rose up as she finished, and took her trembling hand in his,
+while, with a haughty elevation of his head, he answered:
+
+"That everything may be quite clear, I beg you will understand,
+countess, that neither I nor my order need, nor would accept, the
+donation of your castle, your property, or your money. It is not our
+custom to take advantage of weak-minded persons in a moment of
+contrition, and to extort from them compensation for their sins in the
+shape of their worldly goods. We have no desire to acquire property in
+so sneaking and contemptible a manner, and therefore, countess, in the
+name of my order, I decline to spend the night singing vespers in your
+family vault, or the day in living on your fortune. This idea you may
+dismiss altogether from your mind."
+
+These words filled the countess with admiration. She had already felt
+herself singularly attracted by this man. This proof of his
+disinterestedness and indifference to worldly considerations completed
+his dominion over her mind, and subjugated her to his authority. She
+listened submissively while he continued his admonitions.
+
+"For the rest," he said, "I should recommend you to abandon all ideas
+of conventual life, which is quite unsuited to a person of your
+nervous, excitable nature. You would find neither peace nor happiness;
+on the contrary, you would be a prey to all manner of scruples and
+disquieting thoughts. There are those who find a refuge and salvation
+in a cloister; for you it would be a foretaste of damnation, and in
+all probability you would end like the hermit who fled from the world
+to pray to God, and instead of praying, cursed Him."
+
+The eyes of the countess glared at this awful prospect, but she
+murmured to herself, "True, quite true!"
+
+"The recollection of your faults has banished you from the Church and
+has robbed you of all power to pray," continued the priest, in a harsh
+voice.
+
+"True, quite true!" sobbed the countess, and beat her breast. "I can
+never again enter a church, and I dare not pray." Then with a cry of
+despair she threw herself at the feet of the abbe, and with feverish
+strength clasped both his hands, while she screamed out, "Where shall
+I go, if not to the Church of God? Who shall help me, if I cannot pray
+to Him?"
+
+The clergyman saw it was necessary to soothe her terrible excitement.
+
+"Your proper refuge is in your own heart," he said, gently, "and your
+good deeds shall plead for you."
+
+Theudelinde pressed the priest's hand to her burning forehead. Then
+she rose from her kneeling position and stretched out her arms.
+
+"Command me. Advise me. What shall I do?"
+
+"Return to society, and take the place your rank and wealth entitle
+you to hold."
+
+The countess fell back a step, and stared at the abbe, her face all
+astonishment.
+
+"Return to the world! _I_ who left it five-and-twenty years ago! I
+should be the laughing-stock of every one were I to seek, at my age,
+pleasures which I long ago renounced."
+
+"Countess, you have voluntarily thrown away that portion of your life
+to which the world offers its best gifts; but there still remains to
+you that other half, wherein you can acquire the esteem of the
+world--that is, if you avail yourself of the means necessary for
+success."
+
+"My father, remember that in that circle which you wish me to enter I
+shall meet nothing but contempt and humiliations. The present
+generation don't know my name, my contemporaries despise me."
+
+"But there is a magic circle in which every one is recognized and no
+one is despised. Would you wish to enter this circle?"
+
+"Place me in this circle, father. Where is it to be found?"
+
+"I will tell you, countess. Your nation is passing through a crisis;
+it may be called the battle for intellectual freedom. All are striving
+to place themselves on a footing with the intellectuality of other
+nations--philosophers, poets, industrials; men, women, boys,
+gray-beards, magnates, and peasants. If they all knew how to strive
+together they might attain their purpose, but all are divided; each
+works for himself and by himself. Individual effort is doomed to
+failure, but united, certain of success."
+
+The countess listened in breathless astonishment. She did not
+understand where the abbe was leading her.
+
+"What is wanting in this tremendous struggle is a centre. The country
+has no centre. Debreczyn is thoroughly Hungarian, but its religious
+exclusiveness has narrowed its sphere of influence. Szegedin is well
+suited, but it is far too democratic. Klausenburg is indeed a
+Hungarian town. The aristocracy are to be found there, and a certain
+amount of culture, but it lies beyond the Kiralyhago, and the days of
+the Bethlens and the Bocskais are over. Pesth would be the proper
+centre; it has every qualification. I have been through the five
+quarters of the globe, and nowhere have I found such a place. In Pesth
+no man troubles himself about his neighbor, and each man believes that
+the world is made for him alone. The first look of the city takes one
+by surprise; the fine embankment along the broad Danube River, the
+beautiful squares and streets, with the six-story tin houses, each in
+a different style of architecture. Side by side are palaces built in
+the Roman, Moorish, Spanish, or Renaissance style, with, perhaps, the
+occasional introduction of a quaint Dutch mansion or Gothic structure.
+Opposite to the great edifice of the chain bridge rises a large stone
+bandbox with four towers; this is called the Basilica, but it looks
+more like a giant scaffold than anything else. On all sides rage
+monster factory chimneys, which vomit forth volumes of poisonous smoke
+upon the town. Factories, docks, academical palaces, redoubts, tin
+card-houses, art conservatories, are crowded one over the other. The
+academy interferes with the business of the docks, and the noise of
+the shipping-trade disturbs the academicians. The smoke of the
+steam-engines suffocates every one; while the town-hall, with all its
+ornamented peaks and minarets, says to the stranger, 'Come nearer,
+friend; this is Constantinople.'"
+
+The countess could not help smiling over this graphic description.
+
+"The inner town," continued the abbe, "is a labyrinth of narrow,
+irregular streets, which were built when the site of the present
+town-hall was only a marsh for the pigs to wallow in. In spite of the
+narrow proportions, these streets contain some of the finest shops in
+Europe. The contrasts are something wonderful; the finest equipages
+jammed against the overladen wagons conveying merchandise; the most
+elegantly dressed women jostling against beggars in rags. The
+prettiest women are to be seen in this quarter, and this in face of a
+wind that drives all the dust into the eyes. In the suburbs houses are
+rising on all sides with marvellous rapidity, little and big, in every
+style and variety, giving more dust for the wind to play tricks with.
+The whole place is a stony wilderness, with here and there a small
+green oasis not bigger than a private garden. Round about the city
+lies a Sahara, the earth of which is constantly dug up, so that the
+sirocco is never in want of dust. This is the exterior appearance of
+Pesth, which in itself presents the different features of a
+manufacturing town, an emporium for trade, and a city of arts and
+science, as well as those of the capital of an empire and of an
+American colony, where men of all classes assemble to make their pile
+of gold, but when this is secured hurry away to spend their winnings
+in other places.
+
+"So far as social conditions are concerned, and these, after all,
+concern us most," said the abbe, with a quick look at his listener,
+"they are as complicated as the commercial interests of Pesth. Each
+class is surrounded, so to speak, with a Chinese wall. Trade and the
+stock-exchange are altogether in the hands of Jews and Germans. This
+would not be so much an evil were it not that a great amount of
+fraudulent speculation goes on, and at every turn of the money market
+in Vienna the funds go down. The Hungarian element is made up of
+tobacco-merchants and hand-workers; there are, besides these, about
+twenty thousand Slavonians from the hills, who are day-laborers. Pesth
+is, or should be, the headquarters of national education. It is,
+however, not the fashion to support it. It should be also the centre
+of science and literature; it is not, however, considered good 'ton'
+to cultivate anything but foreign literature. Pesth can boast of very
+distinguished _savants_, and of a very haughty aristocracy; but no one
+is allowed to enter this magic circle but those who belong to the
+upper ten. The whole society is on a wrong footing; each one fights
+his own battle, bears his own burden; the finest ideas are lost
+because no one understands the other. A common standpoint is wanting.
+All healthy life is dying out, full freedom of thought and action
+being strangled by the iron laws of the short-sighted government,
+which forbids discussion of any kind.
+
+"The Reichstag and the Comitatshaus are both closed. The only free
+ground left is that of general society; but here class prejudices step
+in. A certain portion of our aristocracy are too indifferent to
+trouble themselves to do anything for the general good; the rest are
+too fond of their own ease and amusement; they acknowledge no other
+aim in life but their own pleasure. There are some, however, who do
+know what their duty is, and who would willingly make sacrifices to
+fulfil it, but during the last ten years they have suffered such a
+loss of income that they are no longer in a position to bear the
+expense which would be entailed by opening their houses. There are
+others, those most fitted by intellect as well as by position to be
+leaders. Alas! they will never return to Pesth; it is to them full of
+tragic memories, which haunt the houses where they once lived, and
+which have banished forever the laugh and jest from those walls.
+Therefore it is that we have arrived at this position, that there is
+not a single centre where the clever, the good, the nobleman, and the
+gentleman can meet on equal terms; and without this no real good can
+be done."
+
+"Then let me create this centre!" cried the countess, rising to her
+feet and addressing the abbe with an inspired look. Her whole being
+seemed changed by this new thought, which had been skilfully suggested
+by the words of the clergyman, who seemed well pleased at the effect
+he had produced.
+
+"Then you understood," he said; "and for you the advantages will be
+incalculable. Here is the shelter you require. If you come to Pesth,
+if you live there as befits your rank and your fortune, you can
+assemble round you the very cream of society. To your _salon_ will
+come every one, distinguished not alone by birth, but by
+talent--politicians, artists, poets, magnates, priests, prelates, and
+laymen, the aristocracy of the land and the aristocracy of intellect
+shall be alike represented. Your mission will be to further by this
+means the apostolate of truth, of culture; and, by so doing, to assist
+the progress and development of your own nation, and for the rest your
+own position will be most honorable. As hostess and mistress of such
+you will be respected and admired."
+
+The countess seized the clergyman's hand in both hers, and covered it
+with kisses, while in her excitement she sobbed:
+
+"I thank you, I thank you, I thank you!"
+
+"Do you not see, countess, that there is a vocation for you besides
+that of conventual life?"
+
+"You are a prophet."
+
+"In the meantime, may I ask you a practical question? For the task
+which you have undertaken with such praiseworthy zeal there are
+certain material qualifications absolutely necessary, the first being
+a sufficient income. May I ask you to give me your confidence on this
+delicate subject?"
+
+"I am rich," answered Theudelinde. "I have my capital at good
+interest. Likewise, out of my savings I have bought a fine mansion
+situated in the best part of Pesth; it is at present let."
+
+"You will now take it into your own hands," said the abbe, "and have
+it properly appointed, suitable to your rank. So far as your
+securities go, it may be better to invest your capital differently.
+We shall see. How much does your yearly income from the Bondavara
+estate amount to?"
+
+"About twenty thousand florins."
+
+"How large is the estate?"
+
+"From about nine to ten thousand acres."
+
+"Then the return is far too small. The agent is to blame for this;
+this income would be too little to support the position you now intend
+to hold. Twenty thousand florins would not be nearly enough to keep up
+an establishment on a proper footing in Pesth."
+
+The countess was surprised. She said, humbly, "I imagined it was a
+great deal of money."
+
+"So it is for living in the country; but Pesth is as dear, if not
+dearer, than Paris. To keep a proper establishment going, and take the
+position of a leader of society, such as it is your ambition to be,
+you must at least command a yearly income of forty thousand florins."
+
+"But I cannot do that. What shall I do?" Theudelinde said, in great
+distress.
+
+The abbe's lips parted in a smile. "Oh, we will manage it for you! For
+the rest it will not be difficult. The rental of the estate must be
+overhauled; you must get a better agent, a more enterprising steward.
+I myself do not understand finance, but I have friends in the inner
+circle of the stock-exchange, and one or other of these will undertake
+to advise you as to your affairs when you are settled in Pesth. In any
+case, I am quite certain that your land is let too low, it should
+bring in double the interest you get from it. I know so much of
+political economy."
+
+The countess was delighted at these words. What a friend to have! Her
+income to be doubled! Truly this abbe was sent to her from heaven.
+
+"Do as you think best," she said. "I give you full power to act for
+me."
+
+"Then, if you will allow me, I shall have your property revalued, and
+fresh leases made. This will double your income, and it will only cost
+you a trifle--a factor's fee, in fact."
+
+Theudelinde was like a child in her joy--like a child in her
+submission to her spiritual adviser, to whom she looked up as a
+father, a counsellor, a true friend.
+
+All this he might be; but it was also true that from the date of this
+conversation the owner of Bondavara lost her hold on her own property
+forever.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+"AN OBSTINATE FELLOW"
+
+
+Countess Theudelinde was beside herself with joy. She ran to her
+bell-apparatus, touched the spring, and the machine put itself into
+motion.
+
+"What are you doing, countess?" asked the abbe, in some amazement.
+
+"I am desiring my steward to be sent for at once."
+
+"By what messenger?"
+
+And then for the first time the countess remembered there was not a
+living soul in the house.
+
+She grew very grave.
+
+"It is truly a problem," continued the priest, "to know how we are to
+get out of the castle."
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Theudelinde, who was so weak-minded that she
+always required to have everything explained to her.
+
+"We two are quite alone in this house," returned the abbe. "If I go
+away to get the necessary assistance for packing up your things and
+making the arrangements for departure I must leave you alone here."
+
+"I would not for all the world remain alone here."
+
+"Then you have the alternative of accompanying me on foot to the
+nearest post-house in the adjacent village."
+
+As he spoke the snow-storm was heard outside beating against the
+window. Theudelinde shivered.
+
+"Why cannot we drive? My horses are in the stable."
+
+"But I can neither harness them nor drive them."
+
+"Oh, I should never think of such a thing!"
+
+Nevertheless, the countess had now to consider whether she should
+remain alone in the castle or take the alternative of accompanying the
+priest in a heavy fall of snow.
+
+"Somebody is knocking at the door," said the abbe.
+
+"It must be my steward," returned Theudelinde. "He has heard what has
+happened, and has come to our assistance."
+
+"But there is no one to open the door. Your portress was one of the
+ghosts."
+
+"She was the old witch who danced on the table."
+
+"Have you by chance a second key?"
+
+"It hangs there on that large bunch to the right."
+
+"Then I will take it with me, in case there is none in the lock."
+
+"But the dogs, father, they will tear you in pieces. They are fierce
+to strangers."
+
+"I will call them by their names, if you will tell me what they are."
+
+"I don't know their names," returned the countess, who never troubled
+herself about such a common thing as a watch-dog's name.
+
+"Then I must shoot them."
+
+"But, father, as gently as you can." By this Theudelinde did not mean
+to appeal to his compassion for the dogs, but to remind him to spare
+her sensitive nerves.
+
+The abbe took his revolver and went on his mission; he carried no
+lantern with him, for daylight had come.
+
+Both the watch-dogs lay one on each side of the doorway. They were
+chained loosely, so that they could keep well clear of one another,
+but it was impossible to pass between them to the door, if you escaped
+being bitten by one, the other was sure to tear you. The abbe,
+therefore, to get to the door, had to shoot one and wound the other.
+He then drew the bolt, and saw a man standing before him, a revolver
+in _his_ hand.
+
+"Who are you? What do you want?" asked the priest.
+
+"Who are you, and what brings you here?" returned the stranger.
+
+"I am the Abbe Samuel, the countess's confessor."
+
+"And I am Ivan Behrend, the countess's next neighbor."
+
+The abbe lowered his pistol, and changed his tone to one of courtesy.
+
+"You must confess that it is rather an unusual hour for you to come,"
+he said, smiling.
+
+"Honi soit qui mal y pense," said Ivan, putting his weapon into his
+pocket. "I came at this unusual hour in consequence of a letter which
+I received this very night, in which I was informed that the castle
+was in a state of confusion, and the countess was in great need of
+help."
+
+"The cause of the confusion--"
+
+"Oh, I know, that was also in the letter. Therefore, I have come to do
+what I can, although I am aware the countess admits no man into her
+house, especially at this hour."
+
+"She will receive _you_ most certainly. Allow me first to close the
+door. There is absolutely no one in the house. Take care of the dog on
+the left-hand side; he is still alive."
+
+"You have shot the other?"
+
+"Yes; you heard the shot and drew your revolver?"
+
+"Naturally. I did not know who might have fired the pistol."
+
+Both men ascended to the apartments of the countess. The abbe entered
+first to prepare her.
+
+"We have got unexpected help," he said; "a neighbor of yours, Ivan
+Behrend."
+
+"A doubtful person," returned Theudelinde, scornfully. "He is an
+atheist."
+
+"It does not matter in the present crisis whether he be a Thug, a
+Mormon, or a Manichaean, we have great need of his help. Some one told
+him of the plight you are in, and he wishes to see you."
+
+"I will not see him, or speak to him. I beg you will confer with him
+instead of me."
+
+"Countess, if this man is what you say, a heretic, he may say that he
+will not confer with one of my cloth."
+
+"Very well. I suppose I must see him, but you will be present?"
+
+"If it should be necessary."
+
+The countess rolled her shawl round her, and went into the
+reception-room, into which the morning light was breaking. Abbe Samuel
+thought it necessary, however, to light the candelabras on the
+chimney.
+
+Theudelinde, with a freezing air, asked Ivan to take a chair, and
+placed herself at a considerable distance from her visitor. She signed
+to him to begin the conversation.
+
+"Countess, this night while I was busy reading, some one tapped at my
+window, and when I opened it thrust this note into my hand. It is
+written by your steward."
+
+"By my steward!" exclaimed the countess, in a tone of surprise.
+
+"It is written in his style, and quite unfit for you to read. I will
+tell you what interests you. The steward says that your entire
+household, without any exception of sex, have made good their escape,
+and that he is following their example."
+
+"My steward also! And for what reason?"
+
+"He gives the reason in his letter. I suspect, however, it is only a
+pretext on his part to conceal a very criminal design. I am of opinion
+that he has robbed you."
+
+"Robbed me!" repeated the countess.
+
+"Do not alarm yourself; there are different sorts of robbery, such as
+being an unfaithful steward, injuring your land, making profit to
+himself to your disadvantage. This man, I imagine, played this game,
+and has now tried to give a humorous turn to his flight, so that the
+laugh may be turned against you. This is my idea."
+
+The countess was obliged to acknowledge that her neighbor was both a
+clever and a kind-hearted man.
+
+"In this letter," continued Ivan, "your steward states that after what
+has happened he could never dare to look you in the face again, as he
+could not convince you that the late scandals in the castle had gone
+on without his knowledge. I did not believe these words. I felt
+certain that you had dismissed your household on finding out how
+grossly they had deceived you; therefore, my first care on getting
+this letter was to send a messenger on horseback to the nearest
+telegraph-station with a message to your banker in Pesth, to tell him
+that the agent of the Bondavara estate had absconded, and on no
+account to honor his checks. I thought it was probable he had liberty
+to draw in your name."
+
+"This was really very practical and thoughtful on your part," said the
+abbe. "The countess must feel most grateful to you."
+
+Theudelinde bowed her head graciously.
+
+"One reason that brought me here," continued Ivan, "was to know if you
+approved of what I had done, and also to offer you my assistance in
+case you wish to leave the castle. I will help you to get away, and I
+will send my people to look after your property till you can make
+further arrangements."
+
+"This is really most neighborly and friendly, and the countess owes
+you a debt of gratitude," repeated the priest, again assuming all
+responsibility.
+
+"I am merely doing my duty," returned Ivan. "And I would add that if
+you should be in any difficulty as to the necessary funds, which is
+very likely, as the steward and bailiff have both made off, don't let
+this for a moment distress you; I can lend you ten thousand florins."
+
+The Abbe Samuel whispered to the countess to accept this offer in the
+spirit in which it was meant, and on no account to say anything of
+interest.
+
+Theudelinde accordingly held out her hand with gracious dignity to her
+chivalrous neighbor, who drew from his pocket the money in bank-notes.
+The countess wished to give him an acknowledgment, which he declined,
+saying the money was lent for such a short time that it was not
+necessary.
+
+"And about leaving the castle," he said. "How soon do you start?"
+
+"The sooner the better!" cried the countess.
+
+"Then, if you will allow me to suggest a plan for accomplishing the
+first stage of the journey, which is the difficult part of the
+business, in the first place it will be necessary to pack up what you
+need. Will you be good enough, countess, to select the trunks you mean
+to bring? When this is done I will harness the horses; then we must
+lock and seal the rooms, and my servants will watch them until you
+send your proper people. This done, we can set out; and as we shall
+have to pass the steward's house, we can call there, and look for any
+books he may have for keeping the accounts of the estate. They would
+be useful."
+
+"I shall not go there; I don't want any accounts."
+
+"Very good. Then we shall go straight to the inn in my village."
+
+"What to do?"
+
+"Because the post is there. We must get post-horses."
+
+"And why post-horses? Cannot I drive my own horses?"
+
+"No."
+
+"And why not?"
+
+"Because they are screws. They would not reach the next station."
+
+"My horses! Why do you say they are screws?" asked the countess,
+angrily.
+
+"Because they are in bad condition."
+
+"Bear!" thought Theudelinde. "He answers me so roughly."
+
+"I shall not enter the inn," she said, determinedly. "I go nowhere
+where men drink. Cannot I wait at your house until the horses are
+changed?"
+
+"Certainly. I am charmed to receive you, countess; only you will find
+nothing suitable for you. I live alone _en garcon_."
+
+"Oh, that does not matter," returned the countess, with an air of
+indifference.
+
+"Will you have the goodness, then," said Ivan, "to begin your
+preparations and select the clothes you mean to pack up?"
+
+Theudelinde gave a strange smile. "My packing will not take long; my
+luggage will not be heavy. Will you make a good fire while I go to my
+wardrobe? It is very cold in this room."
+
+In the sitting-room there was a large marble fireplace, and in the
+ashes of the grate some sparks still lingered. Ivan put some wood on
+the smouldering fire, and soon a genial blaze glowed in the chimney.
+It welcomed the countess, who presently returned, carrying in her arms
+a heap of dresses and clothes of all description.
+
+Ivan looked at her in dismay. "You are going to pack all those?"
+
+"Yes, and as many more, which still remain in my wardrobe."
+
+"But, countess, where?"
+
+"Here," returned Theudelinde, as she flung the bundle on the fire.
+
+It filled up the whole fireplace, and the fire, catching the light
+materials, there was presently a crackling sound, while the old
+chimney roared again with joy over such a splendid contribution.
+
+The two men looked on in silence at this _auto-da-fe_.
+
+Ten times did Theudelinde go backward and forward to her room, each
+time returning with fresh armfuls of finery, and when these were
+exhausted, her linen, boots, shoes, etc., followed; while at each
+sacrifice the flames in the chimney leaped and danced, and the wind
+blew the flames up the chimney, where they roared like so many demons.
+
+"Well, this sort of packing makes short work," thought Ivan, but said
+nothing.
+
+The clergyman stood with his hands behind his back. The countess's
+eyes danced, her cheeks were flushed, her activity was unceasing. When
+all was consumed she turned to Ivan with a triumphant air.
+
+"It is finished," she said.
+
+"And may I ask in what toilette your ladyship intends to travel?"
+
+"In the clothes I wear, and my fur cloak."
+
+"Then I shall go and get the carriage."
+
+When he was gone the countess, assisted by the abbe, put on her fur
+pelisse lined with sable. She took with her nothing that she had ever
+used; in her opinion everything was defiled.
+
+After a few minutes Ivan returned, and announced that the carriage was
+at the entrance. The doors were then locked, and a seal affixed to
+each.
+
+When they entered the hall the sight of the dog which the abbe had
+spared presented a difficulty. If they left him he would die of
+hunger. The countess thought it would be better to shoot him also.
+Ivan, however, was more merciful.
+
+"I will chain him to the carriage, and he will follow us."
+
+Theudelinde was certain the hound would bite him; but the dog's
+instinct assured him that it was a friend who now approached. He
+allowed Ivan to put on his chain, and licked his hand to show his
+gratitude. All was now done, Ivan locked the gates, gave the key to
+the abbe, who with the countess was already seated in the carriage,
+jumped on the coach-box, and drove away from Bondavara Castle. They
+went slowly, for the two miserable nags, which were dignified with the
+name of carriage horses, could hardly drag them along. They were spent
+with age and starvation, and were only fit for the knacker's yard.
+
+As the vehicle turned in the direction of the coal-mine Ivan remarked
+a cloud of smoke in the distance, and soon after they met a group of
+laborers carrying requisites for putting out a fire, hurrying in the
+direction of the smoke. On being questioned they said the granary of
+the noble countess was burning, but that they hoped to extinguish the
+fire.
+
+"I think it will be easily done," Ivan said. "The steward set it on
+fire to conceal the defalcation in the crop."
+
+The countess was indignant, but Ivan remarked dryly that property had
+its duties, and that those who never looked after their own interests
+were fair game for the thief.
+
+A rough, ill-mannered man!
+
+It was full daylight before the noble coach, drawn by the pair of
+noble nags, made its way through the heavy snow into the Bergwerk
+Colony. The wretched beasts were steaming as they drew up at Ivan's
+door. Ivan's first care was to call the postmaster to take them to his
+stable, and to order a good pair of fresh horses to replace them. Then
+he led his tired guests into his workroom. All the other rooms were
+cold and cheerless, so he took them where there was warmth and light.
+
+In the room everything was in the utmost disorder; it was hard to find
+a place where the countess could sit down. She looked about her with
+astonishment at the strange objects which encumbered the tables and
+chairs; every available spot was taken up by some extraordinary,
+diabolical-looking invention. She cast a look of terror at the
+chemical laboratory, upon whose furnace the coals still glimmered,
+testifying to the experiment upon which Ivan had been at work when
+interrupted by the steward's tap at the window.
+
+"Cagliostro's workshop," she whispered to the abbe. "There are
+mysterious things done here."
+
+What annoyed the countess far more than the evidences of mystery and
+magic which surrounded her was the idea that she was the guest and
+the debtor of this rough, common fellow. She, rich, well-born, a
+faithful child of the Church, owed her rescue from a most unpleasant
+position to this obscure, godless tradesman. If she could only pay him
+the heaviest interest for his loan, and had not to say "thank you!"
+And yet she had to swallow the indignity.
+
+Ivan, after an absence of a few minutes, returned, followed by a maid
+carrying a tray with the steaming breakfast. She laid the cloth, and
+set out the cups and coffee-cans. The countess would gladly have made
+some excuse to avoid tasting the food presented by her unholy host,
+but the abbe, who was a man of the world, drew his chair to the table,
+and invited Theudelinde to follow his example, "For," he said, "we
+shall not get anything to eat till the evening, as there are no inns
+on our road; and you want refreshment before your long journey."
+
+When the countess saw that no demons seized upon the clergyman, and
+that the coffee of the Warlock seemed innocent of all evil, she, too,
+came to the table and sipped a few spoonfuls, but she found it was
+execrable stuff; the milk was not so bad, and she contented herself
+with that and bread.
+
+Ivan began to talk about the weather--a very general subject of
+conversation; but herein there was this difference. Instead of an
+ignoramus, it was a meteorologist who handled the theme. Ivan assured
+the countess that both the barometer and his English glass pointed to
+fine weather, the sun was as warm as in May, their journey would be
+excellent. As he spoke, Ivan drew back the thick green window
+curtains, and let in the bright sunlight to enliven the half-darkened
+room. The first effect of this sudden eruption of light was to show
+the countess her own face reflected in a large concave mirror which
+hung on the wall opposite to her.
+
+It is an undoubted fact that we all like to see our reflection in a
+glass; our eyes wander to it naturally, and the most earnest orator,
+in the midst of his finest peroration, will gesticulate to his own
+image with more satisfaction than to a crowded audience; but it is a
+totally different thing if it should be a magnifying-glass. What a
+horrible distortion of ourselves--head as large as a cask, features of
+a giant, expression that of a satyr; a sight too dreadful to
+contemplate.
+
+"What an awful glass you have there," said the countess, peevishly, as
+she turned her back to the mirror.
+
+"It is undoubtedly not a toilette mirror; it is a glass which we use
+in chemical experiments to test the highest degrees of heat."
+
+Here the abbe, who wished to air his scientific knowledge, put in--
+
+"As, for example, for burning a diamond."
+
+"Just so," returned Ivan. "That is one of the uses of a concave
+mirror; it is necessary for burning a diamond, which requires the
+flame of a gas retort."
+
+The countess was grateful for the abbe's remark, for it gave her a
+happy inspiration.
+
+"Do you mean to tell me," she said, addressing Ivan, "that a diamond
+is combustible?"
+
+"Undoubtedly, for the diamond is, in fact, nothing but coal in the
+form of a crystal. With the necessary degrees of heat you can extract
+from the patrician diamond ninety florins carat weight, the same
+amount of invisible gas or oxide of coal as from the plebeian lump of
+coal."
+
+"That is proved by the focus of the magnifier," remarked the abbe.
+
+"I don't believe it," said the countess, throwing back her head.
+
+"I am sorry," returned Ivan, "that I cannot give you a proof that the
+diamond is combustible. We do not use such costly things for mere
+experiment, but have splints for the purpose, which are cheap in
+comparison. I have, however, none of these by me."
+
+"I should like to be convinced, for I do not believe it," repeated the
+countess. "Will you make the experiment with this?" As she spoke she
+unfastened a brooch from her dress, and handed it to her host. The
+centre stone was a fine two-carat brilliant. Theudelinde expected that
+Ivan would return it to her, saying, "Oh, it would be a pity to use
+this beautiful stone;" and then she would reply, "Then pray keep it as
+a slight remembrance;" and in this manner this perverse individual
+would have been paid and forgotten. But, to her amazement, the
+countess found she had deceived herself.
+
+With the indifference of a philosopher and the courtesy of a gentleman
+Ivan took the brooch from its owner.
+
+"I conclude you do not wish to have the ornament melted," he said,
+quietly. "I will take the diamond out of its setting, and if it should
+not burn you can have it reset."
+
+Without another word he extracted the stone with a little pincers, and
+placed it at the bottom of a flat clay saucepan; then he opened the
+window, which lay in the full blaze of the sun. He placed the saucepan
+upon a stand in the middle of the room and just in front of the
+countess; then he took the magnifying-glass and went outside, for in
+the room the sun's rays had not power to concentrate themselves upon
+the mirror.
+
+The countess was now certain that the trick would not succeed, and
+that she would have an opportunity of offering the diamond to Ivan on
+the pretext of repeating the experiment when the sun's rays would be
+more powerful.
+
+Ivan, when he had found the proper spot outside the window, directed
+the rays from the apex of the burning-glass straight upon the
+saucepan, where the diamond was waiting the moment of its
+annihilation. The stone emitted a thousand sparks. As the sun's rays
+touched it, it threw out as many colors as are in the rainbow; it
+seemed as if it were to be the victor in this fight. All of a sudden
+the fiery rays condensed themselves in a narrower circle upon the
+doomed diamond, the small room was filled with a blinding light that
+turned everything into silver; not a shadow remained. Out of the
+saucepan shot a ball of fire like a flash of lightning; the next
+minute the burning-glass ceased to work.
+
+Ivan still stood outside the window. He spoke to the countess, who was
+transfixed with astonishment.
+
+"What is in the saucepan?" he asked.
+
+"Nothing."
+
+Ivan returned to the room, hung the mirror in its place, and returned
+to the countess her brooch without its centre stone.
+
+The abbe could not help remarking, dryly, "That little drama is fit to
+be played before a queen."
+
+But now the postilion blew his horn, the countess put on her fur
+pelisse, and was escorted to the carriage by Ivan. She was obliged to
+give him her hand, and to say the words, "God be with you."
+
+When the carriage had gone a little way she said to the abbe, "That
+man is a sorcerer."
+
+But the clergyman shook his head. "He is far worse; he is an inquirer
+into the secrets of nature."
+
+"H'm! he is an obstinate, disagreeable man."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE HIGHER MATHEMATICS
+
+
+The counting-house of the firm of Kaulmann stands in the same place
+where it stood fifty years ago. The entrance is as it was, and the
+very panes of glass are identical with those through which the founder
+of the house, in 1811, was wont to make his observations--as from an
+observatory--upon the countenances of the passers-by, when a rise or
+fall in the funds was expected. He knew what an excellent barometer
+the faces of a crowd make, and how much can be gleaned by observation;
+so too a chance word, which is let fall as it were by accident, often
+contains the germ of much truth, and is, to an experienced man, in a
+measure prophetic.
+
+The young head of the house did not set much store by the
+counting-house business. He had higher aims. He lived on the first
+floor in luxurious bachelor chambers; his sitting-room was a museum,
+and his writing-table was crowded with bronzes and antiques; his
+inkstand was a masterpiece of Benvenuto Cellini's--or, perhaps, a
+good imitation in galvanized plaster; his pen was gold, with a
+diamond top; he used gold sand for blotting-paper; the sand-sifter
+was made of porphyry, the pen-holder was a branch of real coral, the
+paper-weight a mosaic from Pompeii, the candle-shades of real
+crystal, the cover of the blotting-book Japanese. Every article had
+a value of its own, from the Turkish paper knife to the paper
+itself, which was of all sorts and descriptions, from the thickest
+vellum to the most delicate straw note, perfumed with mignonette and
+musk. In spite of these elaborate arrangements, no one had ever been
+known to write at this so-called writing-table. The science
+cultivated by Felix Kaulmann did not require the use of pen and ink;
+it was purely mental work. Felix worked night and day; during his
+sleep, even, he worked, but no trace of his labor was to be found on
+paper. When he amused himself--dancing, riding, making love--he
+seemed altogether occupied with the subject on hand; he worked,
+nevertheless, all the time. He had a certain goal at which he was
+aiming; for this he lived, for this he strove, and this alone
+aroused his interest and his enthusiasm; he never forgot for one
+moment the aim of his life. He had something more to do than to make
+a pen travel over paper; he had to move men.
+
+One day, not long after the events in the Castle of Bondavara, the
+Abbe Samuel was seated in Felix Kaulmann's room. Both were engaged in
+serious conversation. Before them an elegant equipage of fragrant
+Mocha, whose fumes mingled with that of the Latakia, which our friend
+the abbe smoked from a genuine Turkish pipe. Felix only smoked cigars.
+
+"Well, here is your agreement with the countess. As you wished for
+thirty-two years, it is regularly drawn up. And now I should like to
+know of what use it can possibly be to either you or your company. It
+is not enough for the countess to sign it; it wants the signature of
+the prince to make the contract advantageous to you, for the countess
+has only a life-interest in the Bondavara property. As soon as she
+dies it goes to the prince, or to his grandson, and then your
+agreement is null."
+
+"I know that," returned Felix, knocking the ash from his cigar; "and
+for this reason we must take care and keep the old girl alive. Let her
+have a good time, and she will live to a great age. It is very hard to
+kill an old maid, especially if she has lots of money. Besides, I am
+not so careless as you suppose. I have looked into the matter; I have
+seen the will of the old prince, and I know all its provisions. There
+is a clause that makes me pretty safe. When Countess Theudelinde goes
+off the reel, her brother, the present man, or his heirs, are obliged
+to compensate all those, either tenants, householders, or creditors,
+who may have erected any buildings on the estate. You see, the old
+prince considered that it would be more than probable that his crazy
+daughter might, in a fit of holy enthusiasm, build either a church or
+a convent, and he thought he would give the heirs the advantage of her
+generosity. It never entered into his head that any one would erect a
+factory, a refinery, or open a mine. Now you see how useful this
+clause is to me, the heirs will not be in a position to refund us the
+two millions of money we are putting on the property."
+
+"Unless they find another company to advance them the money."
+
+"That would not be so easy. First of all, it would have to go into the
+very intricate affairs of the Bondavara family; then it would require
+immense capital, great energy, and a certain amount of risk. For the
+rest, I can see as far as my neighbors. I don't sit with my hands in
+my lap, I can tell you, and I have not put all my money on one card."
+
+"Right! By-the-way, what has become of the little wild kitten you
+brought away from the Bondavara mine?"
+
+"I have placed her for the present in Madame Risan's school; she is
+being educated, for she has extraordinary capabilities, although in a
+general way she is a stupid creature. She has a splendid voice, but
+she cannot sing, as singing is nowadays; she has a wonderfully
+expressive face, but does not know how to make use of it; she is full
+of feeling, and speaks no language but her mother-tongue."
+
+"Do you mean to educate her for the stage?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"And then?"
+
+"I intend to marry her."
+
+The abbe raised his eyebrows in some astonishment.
+
+"I should hardly have thought," he said, coldly, "that a pupil of
+Madame Risan's would be likely to make a satisfactory wife, although
+she might be an excellent actress."
+
+Felix looked haughtily at his visitor, then shrugged his shoulders, as
+who would say the abbe's opinion on this point was indifferent to him.
+For a few minutes the men smoked in silence; then, with a sudden
+clearing of his face, Kaulmann said, in his blandest manner:
+
+"I want to ask you a question. You know the ins and outs of the
+marriage laws. Is there any means by which a marriage can be set aside
+without having recourse to the divorce court? That is always attended
+with great expense and a good deal of scandal; and if the other side
+should be obstinate and malicious, it can drag for an interminable
+time."
+
+"I know of only one other method. We will suppose that you are already
+married according to the rules of the Church in this country. You
+wish, for some reason, for a dissolution of this marriage. Well, you
+have only to go to Paris, and take up your residence in the
+banking-house your firm has there. Your father was a French subject,
+so are you. According to the French law, no marriage is valid that is
+not solemnized before the civil authorities; therefore, the remedy
+would be in your hands. A short time ago the process was tried by the
+French court. A certain count had married in Spain; the eldest son of
+this marriage sought to recover his birthright, which had been
+forfeited in consequence of his father's having neglected to be
+remarried before the registrar in France. The court, however,
+pronounced the Spanish marriage invalid, and yours would be a similar
+case."
+
+Felix got up from his seat. "I thank you," he said, "more than I can
+say. If the recollection of our youthful friendship didn't remind me
+that our compact was always to _love_ one another, I should certainly
+feel that I owed you a heavy debt."
+
+"For what?" returned the abbe, lifting his eyes in some surprise. "It
+is well for you to remind me of our young days. Was I not then the
+debtor of your father? What did he not do for me? He found me a
+miserable, overworked, ill-paid student; he made me your tutor, and so
+opened for me the road to better things. Oh, I never forget! But let
+us not talk any more of the past."
+
+"No, for the future is before us, and we shall work together. Now, I
+must ask you, as the countess's representative, to sign the necessary
+papers. There is the contract, and here is the check for the first
+half-year's rent, and here is another check for the sum of forty
+thousand gulden on my cashier."
+
+"To whom payable?"
+
+Felix answered by pressing the check into the abbe's hand, while he
+whispered in his ear:
+
+"To the friendly representative."
+
+The other shook his head, with a wounded look on his face. "You mean
+to offer _me_ a present?" he said, haughtily.
+
+"You do not understand," returned Felix. "This money does not come
+from me; it forms part of the expenses of the company, and in all such
+undertakings figures under the head of 'necessary expenses.'"
+
+As he spoke, Felix lit another cigar, and looked slyly at his
+companion, as who should say, "You see what a capital fellow I am!"
+Round the abbe Samuel's mouth a contemptuous smile flickered as he
+tore the check for forty thousand gulden into four pieces; then he
+laid his hand upon the banker's shoulder.
+
+"My dear boy," he said, "I had the whole Bondavara property in the
+hollow of my hand; it was mine to do as I chose with it. I did with it
+as I do with these pieces of paper." He threw the torn check into the
+grate. "Know me, once for all. I am no begging monk. I am a candidate
+for high honors; nothing will content me but to be ruler of a
+kingdom."
+
+The haughty air with which the abbe said these words impressed the
+banker so much that he laid down his cigar and stared vacantly at his
+visitor.
+
+"That is a great word," he said, slowly.
+
+"Sit down and listen to what I shall disclose to you," returned the
+priest, who, with his hands behind his back, now began to walk up and
+down the room, pausing from time to time before his astonished
+listener, to whom he poured out a torrent of words.
+
+"The whole world is in labor," he said, "and brings forth nothing but
+mice. And wherefore? Because the lions will not come into the world.
+Chaos rules everywhere--in finance, in diplomacy, in the Church. One
+man who would have intellect enough to see clearly could be master of
+the situation. But where is he to be found? Fools in embroidered coats
+are the leaders; therefore we see a country governed by incapables,
+who do not know even where to begin. They would fain force it to
+submit, but are afraid to use the necessary means. They oppress it,
+and at the same time live in dread of what it may do. And this same
+country does not itself know what to-morrow may bring, whether it
+shall submit, pay the demands of its oppressors, or appeal to arms
+against their tyranny; neither does it know who is its foe, who is its
+friend, with whom to ally itself, against whom to fight; whether it
+will go on submitting, whether it shall break out into curses or wild
+laughter at its own follies. The country still possesses one element,
+which stands, as it were, neutral between the two parties; this
+element is the clerical; the Church is a power in Hungary."
+
+Felix's face grew darker; he could not imagine what all this would
+lead to. But the abbe had now paused, and was standing before him.
+
+"What do you think, my son," he said, "would be the reward due to the
+man who could find a way out of this mass of confusion--who could
+unite the classes, and bring them into conformity with the wishes of
+the government? Do you not think that there is nothing which would
+better further your Bondavara speculation than a submissive deputation
+of priests and people, who would give a promise of fidelity to the
+minister? One hand washes the other; he who brings about such an
+unlooked-for condition of affairs must be recompensed. Now do you
+understand what use this would be to you?"
+
+"I think I begin to see."
+
+"And what office do you think should be offered to the man who brings
+the peasant's frock into subjection and elevates the mitre?"
+
+Felix clasped his hands together. That was his answer. The clergyman
+resumed his walk up and down the room; his lips were compressed, his
+head in the air.
+
+"The primate is an old man," he said, suddenly.
+
+Felix leaned back in his chair. He could see better in this position
+the various expressions which passed over the abbe's face. He started
+when the abbe murmured, almost under his breath:
+
+"The pope is still older."
+
+There was a moment's silence, and then the abbe continued, speaking
+fast and with excitement:
+
+"Dwarfs are at the rudder, my son; dwarfs who believe that their
+impotent efforts will stem the storm. The Church is in danger of going
+to pieces, and they make use of the old worn-out means of support.
+Listen to my words. All the efforts of Rome are fruitless; it tries to
+maintain its dignity with Peter's pence, and has allowed millions to
+slip through its fingers. Only here in Hungary has the Church any
+property left. I know well that in the minister's drawer there is a
+paper prepared which only needs the signature of the state to become
+law; it only requires a slight pretext, and Vienna will declare war
+against the clerical power in Hungary. She will fight it upon the
+liberal principle, and those who oppose will be the unpopular, the
+losing side. It is only a question of time. The deficit grows daily,
+the government is in a hole, the treasury is empty, there is no loan
+possible. Hence a fight over the budget, or a trifling war somewhere.
+You know the proverb, 'When the devil is hungry he eats flies.' The
+clerical property in Hungary is the fly, and Austria will make one
+bite at it. The chair of St. Peter and the Church property in Hungary
+are both in danger. How is the danger to be averted? Let us put our
+shoulders to the wheel; let us be more patriotic than the democrats,
+more loyal than the prime-minister, more liberal than revolutionists;
+let us save the Church property from the government, and the Church
+itself from the revolution. Let us throw into the market a gigantic
+loan of a hundred millions upon the property of the Hungarian Church
+for the rescue of the throne of St. Peter. What do you now think of
+the man who could do this thing? What should be his reward?"
+
+"Everything," stammered Felix, his mind confused over this
+bewildering, yet fascinating, programme.
+
+"To this great work I have destined you," said the abbe, with a
+solemn, majestic air. "Your Bondavara speculation is necessary, for
+with it you can make a _coup_ which shall bring you a world-wide
+reputation, your name shall be on a par with that of the Strousbergs,
+the Pereiras, with that of Rothschild itself. This is the reason why I
+have given you my support. When you are firmly established, then I
+shall say to you, 'Lend me your shoulder,' upon which I shall climb
+where I will."
+
+After this Felix sank into a waking dream. Before his eyes gleamed the
+gigantic loan, and through a mist he saw the tall form of the abbe
+with a crown upon his head.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+SOIREES AMALGAMANTES
+
+
+One winter's morning Ivan Behrend, to his great astonishment, received
+a notice from the president of the Hungarian Academy of Arts and
+Science. This notice set forth that the members of the physical,
+scientific, and mathematical department had in the last general
+assembly chosen him as an honorary member of the before-mentioned
+departments; and before being elected member of the academy itself he
+should, in conformity to the established custom, read before the
+assembly his first address. Ivan was petrified with amazement. How had
+such an honor come to him? He who had never written a scientific paper
+in any periodical; who had no connections or friend in the academical
+assembly, who was not a magnate, or had played no part in political
+life. He was puzzled; he could not conceive who had brought forward
+his name. Could it have been, he thought, that in some way his
+chemical researches had reached their ears? In which case, as he told
+himself, every director of a mine, every manager of a factory, would
+be considered a philosopher and made member of the Academy, for every
+one of them possessed as much knowledge as he did. There was no use in
+thinking about it; the honor had come to him, and should be accepted.
+Ivan thought it best not to look the gift-horse in the mouth; he
+therefore wrote to the secretary, expressing his gratitude for the
+unlooked-for honor conferred upon him, and stating that towards the
+end of the year he would present himself in Pesth, and read before the
+illustrious assembly his inaugural address. Then he considered the
+subject of this address long and carefully, and spent much of his time
+over its elaboration. It was an account of microscopical crustations,
+the study of which he had followed closely during the boring of an
+artesian well, and which during ten years he had perfectly mastered.
+It took him until late in the autumn to complete his essay on the
+subject.
+
+In many places, where such scientific research is valued at its proper
+merit, his paper would have been appreciated, and would have even
+caused a sensation; but we are bound in honesty to confess that it did
+not do so in Pesth, and that during the sixty minutes allowed by the
+canon law of all institutions for such lectures, the microscopical
+crustations produced an amount of yawning unprecedented, even among
+academicians.
+
+After the reading of the lecture was over the very first person to
+greet the neophyte and offer his congratulations was the Abbe Samuel,
+and then a light burst suddenly upon Ivan. He now saw who it was who
+had discovered his talents, and who had been his patron. It was
+something of a fall to his vanity; he had thought--well, it didn't
+matter, the abbe was doubtless as learned as any one in the assembly,
+and his thanks were due to him. Small attentions, it is said,
+consolidate friendship.
+
+Ivan decided to spend some days in Pesth; he had business to do.
+During the week several papers noticed his academical address; the
+most merciful was one which announced he had given an interesting
+lecture upon the "Volcanic Origin of the Stalactites." Ivan's only
+consolation was that in his own country no one read _The Referate_,
+and that abroad no one understood it, as it was written in Hungarian.
+He was wrong, however; some one did read it--but of this again. One
+day, as Ivan was making his preparations for his homeward journey, he
+received from the Countess Theudelinde Bondavara a card of invitation
+for a _soiree_, which would take place three evenings later.
+
+"Aha!" thought Ivan, "another thank-offering. It is well that it did
+not come sooner."
+
+He sat down to his writing-table and answered the invitation in the
+most courteous manner, regretting his inability to avail himself of it
+in consequence of his immediate departure from Pesth. He was in the
+act of sealing the letter when the door opened and the Abbe Samuel was
+announced. Ivan expressed his great pleasure at receiving so
+distinguished a visitor.
+
+"I could not let you leave Pesth without coming," answered the abbe,
+in his most friendly manner. "My visit was due, not only because I am
+much indebted for your kind assistance at Bondavara, but also because
+I felt it a necessity to tell you what an honor I count it to know
+such a distinguished scholar as you have proved yourself to be."
+
+Ivan felt inclined to say that he was neither distinguished nor a
+scholar; he remained, however, silent.
+
+"I trust," continued the abbe, seating himself upon the sofa, "that
+you intend to make a long stay in Pesth?"
+
+"I am leaving to-morrow," returned Ivan, dryly.
+
+"Oh, impossible! We cannot lose you so soon. I imagine you have a card
+for the Countess Theudelinde's next _soiree_?"
+
+"I regret that I am prevented from accepting her agreeable invitation;
+I have pressing business which necessitates my return."
+
+The abbe laughed. "Confess honestly," he said, "that if you had no
+other reason to return home, you would run away from an entertainment
+which would bore you infinitely."
+
+"Well, then, if you will have the truth, I do confess that a _soiree_
+is to me something of a penance."
+
+"These _soirees_, however, are on a different footing from those
+_reunions_ which, I agree with you, are more pain than pleasure, and
+where a stranger feels himself 'out of it,' as the saying goes.
+Countess Theudelinde aims at having a _salon_, and succeeds admirably.
+She receives all the best people. I don't mean by that generic word
+only the upper ten, but the best in the true sense, the best that
+Pesth affords in art, in literature, in science; the aristocracy of
+birth, talent, and beauty."
+
+Ivan shook his head incredulously. "And how does such a mixed
+gathering answer?"
+
+The abbe did not reply at once; he scratched his nose thoughtfully.
+
+"Until they get to know one another, it is perhaps somewhat stiff. But
+with intellectual people this stiffness must soon disappear, and each
+one will do something to keep the ball rolling. You have an excellent
+delivery; I noticed it the night of your lecture. You could easily
+find a subject on which to lecture which would interest your listeners
+by its novelty, surprise them by its profundity, and amuse them by its
+variety; their intellect and their imagination would be equally
+engaged."
+
+It was Ivan's turn to laugh, which he did loudly. "My excellent sir,
+such a subject is unknown to me. I confess my ignorance; neither in
+print nor in manuscript have I met with it."
+
+The clergyman joined in the laugh.
+
+At this moment a servant brought Ivan a despatch, which claimed
+instant attention, so that the receipt might be given to the messenger
+who waited for it. Ivan begged his guest to excuse him if he opened
+this urgent document. The abbe, with a wave of his hand, requested him
+not to mind his presence.
+
+As Ivan read the letter a remarkable change passed over his face; he
+grew suddenly pale, his eyebrows contracted, then a sudden rush of
+color came into his cheeks. He held the letter before him, read it
+several times, while his eyes had a wild stare, as if he had seen a
+ghost. Then all at once he fell to laughing. He thrust the letter into
+his pocket, and returned to the subject he had been discussing.
+
+"Yes, yes," he said, "I shall go to Countess Theudelinde's _soiree_,
+and I shall give a lecture before her guests such as they have never
+heard the equal; that I promise you. Science and poetry, imagination
+and learning mixed together, with dates and genealogy, so that the
+_savants_ present will not know what to think; I shall give a lecture
+which will make every geologist a prince, and every princess a
+geologist. Do you follow me?"
+
+"Perfectly," returned the other; not, indeed, that he saw what Ivan
+meant, but that he wished to encourage him. "That will be the very
+thing--first-rate!"
+
+"What do you say to illustrations by means of an electric-magnetic
+machine, eh?"
+
+"A capital idea, and amusing. My dear friend, you will have a
+_succes_."
+
+"May I ask you to convey to the countess my acceptance of her
+invitation? I shall require a large apparatus."
+
+"I can assure you in advance that the countess will be charmed at your
+kind offer. As for the apparatus and arrangement, leave that to her,
+she will be overjoyed when she hears that she is to expect you."
+
+The abbe then took his leave, fully contented with his visit. Ivan
+again read his letter, and again sat staring into space, as if a ghost
+had appeared to him.
+
+People said the Countess Theudelinde's _Soirees Amalgamantes_ would
+certainly make history. The mixture was excellent: grandees jostled
+elbows with poets; academicians with prelates; musicians, painters,
+sculptors, actors, critics, professors, physicians, editors,
+sportsmen, and politicians of all shades gathered under one roof. It
+was a bold experiment, a brilliant society _in thesi_. Neither was
+there wanting the element of female attraction; all that Pesth held of
+beauty, charm, and grace lent its aid to the scheme of amalgamation.
+
+Count Stefan, a cousin of Countess Theudelinde, was a great help to
+her _soirees_, for he was a well-informed and cultivated young man,
+able to talk on all subjects, and especially on the poetry of the
+world. As for the Countess Angela, she was a classic beauty; her
+grandfather was a political celebrity--a great man, who had a
+surrounding of all kinds, bad and good. It was therefore quite in
+keeping, according to the usages of society, that when an unfortunate
+outsider was presented to Countess Angela, he should, after the third
+word or so, make mention of her illustrious grandfather, Prince
+Theobald of Bondavara, and inquire after his health. After this
+question, however, the Countess Angela never addressed the stranger
+another word. She allowed him to speak, if he so wished, and to retire
+in some confusion. Even the most dried-up specimen of university
+learning felt aggrieved. His heart could not resist the first glance
+of those heavenly eyes, so sweet and friendly, now so cold and
+haughty. And yet what had he done? The poor man will probably never
+know; he is not in the inner circle.
+
+Countess Angela was indeed a perfect ideal beauty; this cannot be too
+often repeated. A pure, noble face, with classical, well-proportioned
+features, nose and lips finely cut, long, straight eyebrows and
+lashes, which veiled the eyes of a goddess. When these eyes glowed, or
+when they were half-closed under their downy lids, they looked black,
+but when they laughed at you, you would swear they were blue. Her hair
+was rich, of that most lovely of all shades, chestnut brown; her whole
+countenance betrayed that she knew herself to be charming, that she
+was aware that she was the centre, at all times, of admiration, and
+that such knowledge pleased her well. And why not? A woman must be
+very silly not to be aware that beauty is a gift and a power.
+
+But what was the reason of her cold looks at the mention of her
+grandfather's name? Just what one might expect from a woman with her
+face. All the world--that is, her world--knew that she and her
+grandfather, Prince Theobald of Bondavara, were at daggers drawn. The
+wily old politician had given his only and beautiful granddaughter to
+a German, Prince Sondersheim. She was to consolidate some political
+matter, only she didn't see it in that light, and refused to ratify
+the bargain, not caring for Sondersheim; and, for the matter of that,
+neither did he care for her. But, then, it didn't mean so much to him.
+Angela had her ideal of married life, however, and so she quarrelled
+with her grandfather because he pooh-poohed her ideals and called them
+romantic folly. Upon this she vowed she would never speak to him
+again, and he, being angry, told her to leave his house, which she did
+at once, and came to her Aunt Theudelinde, who had just set up at
+Pesth, and was glad to have so bright and beautiful a niece. Since
+then she had refused all communication with her grandfather. This was
+the reason that she would not even hear his name mentioned; and it
+never was, except by ignorant outsiders, or "know-nothings," as the
+Yankees call them.
+
+The Abbe Samuel had wit enough to see that the _Soirees Amalgamantes_
+were not the success they should be. Conversation did not suffice;
+amalgamation was at a standstill. The young girls sat in one room, the
+married women in another; the men herded together, looking glum, but
+not so bored as the women. Then the abbe, considering what ought to be
+done, had a happy idea. He introduced dramatic representations,
+dramatic readings, concerts, which were a decided success. Soon
+conversation became lively, strangers got to know one another; when
+they rehearsed together duets and little pieces their stiffness wore
+off. The women seemed different in morning dress, free from the
+restraints of the grand toilette; they grew quite friendly, and later
+on they found a subject upon which they discoursed quite at their
+ease. It must be confessed, however, that after midnight, when the
+readings, the concert, or the representation was over, and the
+outsiders had gone home to their beds, society began to enjoy itself.
+The young people danced, the old played whist or tarok, and they
+stayed till daybreak. They would have done the same had the
+scientists, the poets, the artists remained; they didn't want them to
+leave, but, naturally, these people felt themselves out of it, and,
+besides, they could not sit up all night like the others, so they went
+home very properly; they knew their place.
+
+The Abbe Samuel understood how to manage matters. Whenever the
+countess was to have a particularly good evening he took care it
+should get talked about, and the names of the performers, their
+parentage and history, together with any interesting circumstance,
+true or false, should be subjects of conversation for days before. In
+this way he sent about Ivan Behrend's name with a great many details
+as to his interesting life in the mines, his extraordinary cleverness,
+and the wonderful lecture he was going to give at the countess's next
+_soiree_.
+
+The abbe knew his world, and how to whet its curiosity by exaggerated
+reports.
+
+"Is it true that, for one experiment only, he burned a brilliant
+belonging to Countess Theudelinde which was worth eight hundred
+gulden?"
+
+"The stone weighed four carats, and was worth fifteen hundred pounds."
+
+"We must give him a good reception. See, here he comes, escorted by
+Abbe Samuel!"
+
+The gentleman who had just spoken, and who was the Countess Angela's
+cousin, was Count Edmund, a handsome young man of about twenty-two
+years of age. He hastened to meet Ivan and the abbe as they entered
+the door, and introduced himself as nephew to the lady of the house.
+He took Ivan by the arm in the most friendly manner, and led him to
+Count Stefan, uncle to the countess. The count was a man of
+intelligence and reading; he assured Ivan there were those in the room
+who were much interested to hear his lecture. After this he was
+presented by his new friend to several distinguished-looking persons
+with decorations, who all pressed his hand, and spoke in the most
+friendly manner. The beginning of the evening was the most agreeable
+portion. The abbe and Ivan finally made their way into the next room,
+where the ladies were assembled, and here they found the Countess
+Theudelinde, who received them, and especially Ivan, most graciously.
+The young man, Count Edmund, again took possession of him, and,
+laughing and talking, led him up to the Countess Angela, to whom he
+was introduced with a great flourish. Before this lovely vision Ivan
+bowed, feeling somewhat stunned, yet not shy or awkward.
+
+"You come very seldom to Pesth," said the young countess, with a
+reassuring smile.
+
+"It is some time since I have been here; but I understand this is your
+first visit, countess. You have never lived in Pesth?"
+
+Angela's face assumed its cold expression; she felt sure he was going
+to inquire for Prince Theobald.
+
+"I do not see," she said, in a sarcastic voice, "what it is to any one
+whether I have ever been in Pesth."
+
+"It is not an uncommon accident," returned Ivan, quietly, "that a man
+visits a place where he has never been before; but when many people
+meet in the same spot, it looks as if there was something more than
+accident in such a gathering; and in this instance, where so many
+brilliant personages are brought together, it seems as if Providence
+had more to do with it than mere chance."
+
+At these words Angela's face cleared. "Then you believe in Providence?
+you acknowledge there is such a thing as Divine ordinance?"
+
+"Undoubtedly, I do believe."
+
+"Then we shall be friends." She turned away as she spoke, and Ivan
+took this movement as a signal to retire.
+
+After a quarter of an hour's further waiting, Edmund came to tell him
+that everything was in readiness in the lecture-room, and the company
+had already gathered there in considerable numbers. Ivan, therefore,
+ascended the stage, which had been erected at the farther end of the
+large room, and, holding his papers in his hand, addressed his
+audience. He had a pleasant voice, his manner of address was perfectly
+unaffected, composed, and taking. From the first moment he held the
+attention of the audience--his subject was _Magnetism_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+RITTER MAGNET
+
+
+When the lecture had concluded the lamps were carried out of the room,
+and only the candles in the lustre were left lighted. Ivan then
+exhibited to the astonished spectators the electric light. Many of
+them had never seen such a clear, beautiful light as this ball of
+virgin-like purity. It looked like one of the heavenly planets, as if
+Venus had descended from her place in the firmament and was shining on
+the company. The candles in the lustre burned blue, and threw shadows
+on the wall. Every face lost all trace of color from the effect of
+this strange illumination; people whispered to one another, almost
+frightened. Ivan, standing upon the platform, looked like some
+magician of old, his features chiselled like a statue, his eyes in
+deep shadow; and what added considerably to the picturesque effect,
+and heightened the charm of this noble assembly, was the strange
+coloring given by the light to the splendid national costume worn by
+the company, and the enamelled appearance of the jewels on the ladies'
+necks and arms.
+
+The eyes of every one were directed to two persons, while an
+involuntary "Ah!" was whispered about at the extraordinary
+transformation produced in their appearance. One was Countess Angela.
+The light seemed to have taken from her face that pride and
+self-satisfaction which, although natural in one so beautiful, gave
+an earthly expression to her face, and somewhat marred its beauty. Now
+she looked a heavenly vision, with the expression of a glorified
+spirit who had done with earth and had soared upward to her true home
+in heaven; all earthly passions, joy, sorrow, love, and pride, had
+vanished. Such was the miraculous effect of the magic light. The other
+transformation was in Countess Theudelinde. She was seated in an
+armchair, raised upon a sort of divan. The magic light touched her
+face gently, and gave it a fairy-like expression; the noble features
+were spiritualized, her naturally pale coloring became transparent,
+the brilliants in her magnificent tiara sparkled over her forehead as
+a garland of stars; she was sublime, and for five minutes the most
+beautiful among the beautiful. It was, nevertheless, many a long year
+since her mirror had told her she was beautiful. This, too, was the
+miraculous effect of the magic light. Round the hall there were large
+pier-glasses set into the wainscot, which reflected every one of the
+company. Theudelinde, therefore, could see herself beautified. She
+sighed as she thought, "I look like Queen Mab."
+
+Suddenly the miraculous light went out, and the room, lit only by the
+candles, seemed in total darkness. "Ah!" in sorrowful tones was echoed
+through the assembly; people rubbed their eyes and recognized the
+familiar faces again. Alas! it was over too soon. There were no more
+angels, fairies, queens, or heroes; only a group of excellent
+every-day people, counts and countesses. The face of Angela again wore
+its proud, vain expression, and Theudelinde was once more stiff and
+ill-tempered.
+
+Ivan now descended from his platform, and received the congratulations
+and compliments due to his efforts. There were different opinions, of
+course, but they were private. Every one joined in praising the
+lecturer to himself.
+
+Ivan thanked every one for their approval, but with a coldly reticent
+manner, and soon disengaged himself from his admirers to go in search
+of his hostess; he wished to thank her for her kindness.
+
+Theudelinde received him with smiles. Countess Angela was with her,
+leaning on the back of her aunt's chair. The young girl had just said:
+
+"You looked, auntie, quite lovely--a perfect Queen Mab."
+
+The smile these words had called to Theudelinde's face still lingered
+round her lips when Ivan presented himself. For these five minutes of
+beauty she was indebted to this man, and was not ungrateful. She gave
+him her hand, and thanked him in the most gracious manner for the
+enjoyment he had given her.
+
+"I owe you something," returned Ivan. "When you honored my house with
+a visit, you gave me a diamond which you allowed me to burn before
+your eyes. I now in return for your goodness on that occasion give you
+this diamond, which was created before your eyes." With these words he
+handed her a piece of carbon, which he had taken from the voltaic
+pillar. "As I explained to you in my lecture, coal can be changed by
+electricity into a diamond, and in this condition can cut glass."
+
+"Ah!" cried the Countess Angela, her eyes beaming with pleasure, "let
+us try the experiment now. Where is there a glass? Yes, one of the
+pier-glasses. Come."
+
+Countess Theudelinde was also excited. She stood up, and went with the
+others to the pier-glass.
+
+"Write one of the letters of the alphabet," said Angela, and watched
+Ivan attentively. She was curious to see the letter he would choose.
+If he were vain, as very likely he was, he would write his own initial
+"I"; if a toady and flatterer, like most of the people round her aunt,
+he would choose "T," as the countess's initial; and if he were a silly
+fool, like so many other men, he would write "A." In either of these
+cases he would have seen on the beauty's face a scornful smile.
+
+Ivan took the piece of coal, and with the point wrote on the glass the
+letter "X." Both ladies expressed their astonishment at seeing the
+coal write, and Countess Theudelinde assured Ivan it should be
+preserved carefully with her other jewels.
+
+Countess Angela stood so near Ivan that the folds of her dress touched
+him.
+
+"I believe," she said, slowly, "every word you told us. I beg of you
+do not tell me that all your romantic descriptions were but the
+necessary clothing of a dry scientific subject, meant to make it
+palatable to your silly, ignorant audience, and to raise in their
+minds a wish to seek further, so that they might in so seeking acquire
+a taste for knowledge. I do not want to seek, I believe implicitly all
+you said; but of this world of wonder and miracles I would know more.
+How far does it go? What more do you see, for the magician must know
+everything?"
+
+The young countess looked into Ivan's eyes as she spoke with a strange
+magnetic power impossible to resist. Such a look as this had often
+dazzled men's brains.
+
+"You said, also," continued Angela, "how fiery and strong are those
+who live in this magnetic kingdom, but that they have no credit for
+the virtues they possess; it is due to the working of magnetism. I
+believe this also. Magnetism has, however, two poles, the north and
+the south pole. I have read that the opposite poles are drawn to one
+another, and the homogeneous drift asunder. If, therefore, in the
+magnetic kingdom hearts are drawn to one another, seek one another,
+love one another, which is an immutable fact, so also is it an
+immutable fact that there must be human beings who hate one another
+with an undying, a deadly hatred, and that such hatred is no sin. Am I
+not right?"
+
+Ivan felt that he was driven into a corner; he understood the drift of
+the countess's question. Here his knowledge of natural philosophy came
+to his assistance.
+
+"It is true," he said, "that so far as life upon the earth is in
+question, there must also exist antipathies and sympathies. You have
+studied magnetism, you have read of the poles, therefore you must know
+that there exists an equator, or line, which is neither north nor
+south. This is the magnetic equator, that neither draws the magnet nor
+repulses it, and here there is perfect peace. Just such an equator is
+found in every human heart, and however a man may be carried away by
+the passions of love or hatred, his line remains unchangeable, and
+those who dwell there dwell in peace."
+
+"And who are the people who live under the magnetic equator?" asked
+the countess, with curiosity.
+
+"For example, parents and their children should dwell there."
+
+The young girl's face was covered with a vivid blush; her beautiful
+eyes shot a battery of lightning glances at Ivan, who remained quite
+unmoved under this battery.
+
+"We must talk more of this," she said, with sudden dignity.
+
+Ivan bowed before the haughty beauty, who turned and left him to the
+company of her aunt or of his own sex. He preferred the latter.
+
+Meantime, the lecture being over, a rush had been made to the
+refreshments. The army of outsiders were the first in the field. If
+they were of little account elsewhere, they took first place at the
+buffet, and here the citizen showed distinctly his origin.
+
+Ivan mixed with the company, and conducted himself as one accustomed
+to such society, and quite at his ease in it, and he was well
+received. The men were very civil towards him; every man under forty
+used the friendly "thou" in addressing him; he was made one of
+themselves. It didn't matter much, as he was said to be leaving Pesth
+the next day, and would be lost in the depths of Mesopotamia. Some one
+said he came from Africa. They tried teasing him a bit, all in a
+friendly way, and were pleased to find this pedant was an excellent
+fellow, who took the joke in good part, laughed heartily at a
+well-delivered thrust, and returned it with a sly hit, which never
+offended any one's feelings.
+
+"He is one of us," they said. "This man is up to everything; he is a
+capital fellow. We must give him a good time."
+
+"Is it true that you don't drink wine?" asked the Marquis Salista of
+Ivan.
+
+"Once a year."
+
+"And to-day is not the anniversary?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then we have drunk enough for one year; let us be moving."
+
+Some of the men returned to the drawing-room; these were, for the most
+part, the young fellows, and those who wished to dance. The ladies,
+after their tea, had begun to play quadrilles, and even the "Csardas"
+for those who wished for it.
+
+Count Stefan, however, drew away the better portion of the men to his
+quarters, which were on the second story of the countess's house. Here
+he entertained in his way. His rooms being on the other side of the
+house, no noise penetrated to the story below, which was necessary, as
+the count's champagne was of the very best, and given with no sort of
+stint; it flowed, in fact. Ivan, who was of the party, showed himself
+in a new light; he drank wine; his toasts were spicy, his anecdotes
+fresh and amusing, his wit sharp and unrestrained; and although he
+drank freely, he didn't turn a hair, he was quite steady.
+
+"Brother," hiccoughed Count Geza, who towards two o'clock was half
+drunk, "the captain and I have agreed that when you are quite done up
+we shall carry you home and put you to bed; but, my dear friend, my
+dear Ritter Magnet, the misery is that I don't think I can get up the
+stairs; I am quite done. Therefore, take your wings and fly, and let
+the captain take his, and both of you fly home. As for me--" Here the
+count laid down on the sofa and fell asleep.
+
+Every one laughed; but the name he had given Ivan--Ritter
+Magnet--stuck to him.
+
+"Do you care to play cards, my learned one?" said the Marquis Salista.
+
+"Once every three years."
+
+"That is not often enough."
+
+The marquis could not at this moment explain why it was not often
+enough, for at this moment Count Stefan acquainted his guests that it
+was time for them to depart, seeing that the ball below stairs had
+broken up, and every one had gone away. The countess's rest,
+therefore, might be disturbed by any noise overhead. Every one agreed
+that this was quite proper.
+
+"Only," said Salista, "there is no need for us to go home. Let us
+have the card-table. Let us spend our time well. Who is for a game?"
+
+Three players soon presented themselves; Baron Oscar was one of the
+first. But the fourth? The captain called to Ivan.
+
+"Now, my learned friend."
+
+Count Stefan thought it necessary to inform the stranger, who was his
+guest, that at the tarok-table the stakes were very high.
+
+"Only a kreuzer the point," said the captain.
+
+"Yes, but kreuzer points in such a game often amount to seven or eight
+hundred gulden to the losing side. These gentlemen have changed a
+simple game into a hazardous venture."
+
+Ivan laughed. "Every day of my life I play hazard with nature itself;
+every day I speculate with all I have on a mere chance, and play only
+one card." So saying, he rolled his chair to the green table.
+
+The game commenced. The game of hazard, as it is generally played, is
+a game of chance, it needs only luck and boldness; a drunken man can
+almost win by accident. But as it is played in Pesth it is something
+quite different; what is called luck, chance, accident, is here allied
+to skill, prudence, consideration, and boldness. The tarok-player must
+not only study his cards, but also the faces of his adversaries. He
+must be Lavater and Tartuffe in one; he must be a general who develops
+at every moment a fresh plan of campaign, and a Bosco who can, from
+the first card that is played, divine the whole situation; he must,
+however, be generous, and sacrifice himself for the sake of the
+general good. Therefore it was that the spectators pitied Ivan when he
+sat down to the card-table to play with these three masters of the
+game.
+
+It was seven o'clock when the players rose from the card-table. As
+Ivan pushed back his chair, the marquis said to him:
+
+"Well, comrade, it is a good thing for the world at large that you
+only drink once a year and play cards once in three years, for if you
+did both every day there would be no more wine in Salista's cellar nor
+no gold left in Rothschild's bank."
+
+Ivan had, in truth, stripped the three gentlemen.
+
+"Nevertheless, we must have a parting cup," continued Salista. "Where
+is the absinthe?" As he spoke he filled two large glasses with the
+green, sparkling spirit, of which moderate people, regretting this
+prudence, it may be, never drink more than a liqueur glass.
+
+Count Stefan shook his head over what he considered a bad joke, but
+Ivan did not shrink from the challenge; he clinked his glass with that
+of the captain, and emptied it without drawing breath. Then, with his
+most courteous bow, he took leave of his host, Count Stefan, who on
+his side assured him it would always be a pleasure to receive so
+delightful a guest.
+
+As Ivan made his way into the anteroom his step was steady, his air
+composed. Not so the marquis; the dose had been too potent for him. He
+insisted upon claiming Ivan's astrakhan cap as his, and, as there was
+no use arguing the matter with an inebriate, Ivan had to go home in
+the military helmet of a hussar officer. On the staircase the captain
+maintained that he could fly, that he was one of the inhabitants of
+the magnetic kingdom, and had wings. The others had all the trouble in
+the world to get him down the stairs. When he came to the first floor
+he thought of paying the Countess Theudelinde a visit, to thank her
+for her kind reception of his lecture, for he was the lecturer, and he
+was ready to blow out the brains of any one who contradicted him. He
+was with great difficulty got into a _fiacre_, and driven to his
+hotel. When he got there he had to be carried to his bed, where he lay
+in a deep sleep until late in the following day.
+
+Meantime Ivan, after a short rest, went about as usual, wrote his
+letters, and paid some visits.
+
+"He carries his liquor like a man," said Count Stefan. And from this
+time all the world called him the knight of the magnet.
+
+The knight was to be met everywhere. He had numerous visitors; he was
+invited to the best houses. He was elected honorary member of the
+club; he had been introduced by the abbe. The club had three classes
+of members--the day grubs and the evening and the night birds. In the
+daytime the library, which was an excellent collection of rare books,
+was visited by all the _litterateurs_ of Pesth. From six to eight came
+the lawyers and the politicians to play whist and talk politics, and
+from eight until midnight the men of fashion had their innings. In
+this way two men might go every day to the club and never meet one
+another.
+
+Ivan first ransacked the library, then he distributed his time
+equally. He thought no more of returning home. He enjoyed everything
+and went everywhere, never missing on the opera nights to pay a visit
+to the Countess Theudelinde's box on the grand tier.
+
+In the second week of his stay the countess gave her ball. Ivan was
+invited, and went.
+
+"Shall you dance?" asked the captain.
+
+"I haven't done so for fifteen years."
+
+"It suits men of our years to look on," remarked the marquis,
+languidly. "No man dances now after two-and-thirty."
+
+Looking on was pleasant enough. The nameless grace and wonderful
+agility displayed by the aristocratic, fashionable woman was a sight
+for the gods to admire. Countess Angela was to-night surpassing fair.
+She wore a rose-colored dress, with a body, in the Hungarian fashion,
+all studded with pearls; the sleeves were of lace. She had taken a
+fancy to dress her hair like the peasant girls, in two long tresses
+plaited with ribbons; it suited her to perfection. But men get tired
+of everything, even of a sight fit for the gods. After supper one said
+to the other:
+
+"Let us make use of our time; the young fellows can dance; let us play
+tarok."
+
+Ivan played cards every day. He played most games well; he never
+disputed with his partners. He could lose with a good grace; when he
+won was not elated. When he held bad cards he showed no ill-temper,
+and seldom made a mistake. He was looked upon as an acquisition, and
+for a _savant_ he was really a useful man. On this evening he was in
+exceptionally good-luck.
+
+Suddenly Count Edmund came into the card-room in a violent hurry. He
+said to Ivan:
+
+"Throw down your cards. Angela wishes to dance a turn of the Hungarian
+cotillon with you."
+
+Hungarian cotillon! Strange times, that we should have a Hungarian
+court, a Hungarian ministry, Hungarian silver and gold coins. That is
+nothing wonderful; it is only natural, it is fate, and due to us. But
+a Hungarian cotillon belongs to the day of agitators. We dance the
+cotillon to the air of "Csardas."
+
+Ivan obeyed Angela's mandate. When he came to her he bowed low before
+her.
+
+"You wouldn't have troubled yourself to come near me only I sent for
+you," she said, in a tone of gentle reproach.
+
+"Into the presence of a queen one doesn't intrude; we wait to be
+summoned."
+
+"Don't try and flatter me; if you do like the others I shall treat you
+as I do them, and not speak one word to you. I much prefer your way,
+although you are always offending me."
+
+"I do not remember to have ever offended you."
+
+"Because you do nothing else. You know that very well."
+
+It was now their turn; they joined the waltzers, and no one would have
+guessed that it was fifteen years since Ivan had danced.
+
+Meantime, in the card-room there was some gossip over this new whim of
+the young countess. Count Edmund, as he shuffled the cards, declared
+his cousin Angela was bewitched about this Ritter Magnet.
+
+"Ah, is that so?" cried the Marquis Salista.
+
+"Don't you believe him," interrupted Count Stefan. "I know our pretty
+Angela; she is as full of mischief as a kitten. As soon as she remarks
+that a man has a hobby-horse, she makes him ride it, puts it through
+all its paces, caracoling, leaping, _haute ecole_. This is her trick:
+once she knows the subject which interests a man, she talks of it with
+such an earnest face, such sympathetic eyes; and when he has left her,
+charmed at her intelligence, her sweetness, she ridicules the
+unfortunate devil. This is the way she treated poor Sondersheim, a
+very brave young fellow, who has only one fault, that he worships
+Angela, and she abhors him. She laughs at everybody."
+
+"That is true; but she praises Ivan, not to his face, but behind his
+back to me, and not because he is a man of science, a geologist, but
+because he is such a brave man."
+
+"That is another of her tricks; the artful puss knows right well that
+the praise which comes at third-hand is the sweetest of all flattery."
+
+"I take good care not to repeat one word to Ivan."
+
+"There you show him real friendship," remarked Salista, laughing.
+
+In the ball-room the dancers had returned to their places.
+
+"You were ready to leave Pesth," Angela was saying, with a charming
+pout. "You needn't deny it; the abbe told me."
+
+"Since then circumstances have detained me longer than I expected,"
+returned Ivan, coolly.
+
+"Have you got a family at home?"
+
+"I have no one belonging to me in the world."
+
+"And why have you not?"
+
+This was a searching question.
+
+"Perhaps you already know what my business is. I have a colliery; I
+work with the miners, and spend my day underground."
+
+"Ah, that explains everything," said Angela, regarding him with tender
+sympathy. "Now I understand that you are indeed right. It would be
+terrible to condemn a woman to the sufferings a miner's wife must
+endure. What can be more terrible than to take leave of her husband
+each morning, not knowing whether they will ever meet again; to know
+he is in the depths of the earth while she breathes the fresh air of
+heaven; to fancy her beloved is perhaps buried alive, and she cannot
+hear his cries for help; that even if it is not so, that he is
+surrounded by a deadly atmosphere, that it only needs a spark to
+become a hell, in which her darling would be lost to her forever? I
+can understand how a woman's heart would break under such a daily
+agony; even to her child she would say, 'Do not run so fast, else a
+stone may fall on your father's head and kill him.'" Then, with a
+sudden change of expression, Angela turned angrily to Ivan. "But why
+do you stay down in the mine like a common miner?"
+
+"Because it is my element, as the battle-field is that of the soldier,
+the sea of the sailor, the desert of the traveller. It is with me as
+it is with them--a passion. I love the mysterious darkness of the
+world underground."
+
+The warmth with which Ivan spoke these words kindled an answering
+enthusiasm in his listener.
+
+"Every passion is absorbing," she said, "especially the passion for
+creation and for destruction. I understand how a woman would follow a
+man she loved, not only to the field, but into the battle itself,
+although the art of war has now become a very prosaic and second-class
+affair, and has lost every trace of idealism. I confess, however, the
+heroism of the miner is to me incomprehensible. A man who occupies
+himself with dead, cold stones is to me like that Prince Badrul-Buder
+in the 'Arabian Nights,' who was turned into a stone, and whose wife
+preferred a living slave to her marble husband. I prefer those who
+penetrate to unknown regions of the globe, and I could envy the wife
+of Sir Samuel Baker, who travelled by his side all through the deserts
+of South Africa, holding in one hand a pistol, while the other hand
+was clasped in that of her husband. Together they bore the burning
+heat, together repulsed the savage wild beasts. Hand in hand they
+appeared before the King of Morocco, and what the arm of the husband
+failed to procure was given to the charms of the wife. I can place
+myself in the position of this woman, who, alone and deserted in the
+Mangave wood, sat through the livelong night with the head of the
+wounded traveller on her lap and a loaded pistol beside her. To heal
+his wounds she ventured into the woods and found herbs; for his food
+she contrived to cook in the desert. She did this for the only man she
+loved, whose only love she is and has ever been. Her name is known and
+revered in every place where Europeans have penetrated."
+
+Again they had to join the circle of dancers, and when they returned
+to their place Angela resumed the conversation:
+
+"What I said just now was sheer nonsense; the whole thing was the
+outcome of despicable vanity. A miserable idea to travel through
+countries where a woman is hardly to be distinguished from a beast,
+and that because she walks upright; where the ideal of beauty is to
+have the upper lip bored into a big hole, so that when laughing the
+nose is visible--ridiculous! And then to be proud because she was the
+most beautiful woman, and her husband perforce was faithful to her. A
+great thing, indeed, to be the queen of beauty amid monsters of
+ugliness! No, no; I know of something better, far bolder. A woman,
+Fraulein Christian, has accomplished a journey alone on horseback all
+across the steppes of Asia. What if a man and a woman had the courage
+to penetrate through the Polenia Canal to the warm seas discovered by
+Kane? or if a man and a woman had the courage to cast anchor in the
+regions of the north pole, and to the inhabitants of that magnetic
+kingdom boldly say, 'Compare yourselves with us; we are handsomer,
+stronger, more faithful, happier than you are'? That would be a
+triumph; and such a journey I would willingly undertake."
+
+As she said these words, Angela's eyes gleamed upon Ivan with the
+splendor of the aurora borealis. Ivan decided within himself upon a
+sudden experiment.
+
+"Countess, if you have the passion or desire to visit strange worlds,
+and to excite the benighted inhabitants to a proper emulation for
+something better, truer, more intellectual than that they have
+hitherto known, if this is really your laudable wish, I can recommend
+to your notice a country equally in need of such enlightenment, and
+infinitely nearer to you."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"It is Hungary."
+
+"But are we not in Hungary already?"
+
+"Countess, you are in it, but not of it. You are merely visiting us.
+You do not know what and who we are. You need not go so far as the
+poles or Abyssinia; here is a new world open to you, a large field
+where your passion for creating and improving can be easily
+gratified."
+
+Angela opened her fan, and with an air of indifference fanned her
+white bosom.
+
+"What can _I_ do? I am not my own mistress."
+
+"You are not your own mistress, and, nevertheless, you rule."
+
+"Over whom?"
+
+"Countess, it would only need one word from you to bring the green
+palace and all it contains from Vienna to Pesth. The society here
+requires that leading personality which now in Vienna is lost among
+the crowd, whose existence is spent in aimless inaction. Pesth needs
+the prince, your grandfather. He adores you. One word from you would
+give to our life a new being; one word from you and Prince Theobald
+would reside here."
+
+Angela ceased fanning herself; with an angry gesture she folded her
+hands, and turned an angry look upon Ivan.
+
+"Do you know that the subject you have just mentioned is so
+distasteful to me that any one who has ventured to name it to me has
+forfeited my acquaintance?"
+
+"I am quite aware of the fact, countess."
+
+"And why have you dared to approach the subject?"
+
+"I will tell you, countess. Because of an old connection between our
+families."
+
+"Ah, that is something quite new. I have never heard of it."
+
+"Possibly not. One of your ancestors was a cardinal, and one of mine
+was a minister in Patak--a great difference in their relative
+positions, no doubt; and this difference had a terrible result for my
+ancestor. The cardinal condemned him to the galleys for life. The
+minister had, however, only one word to speak, as the cardinal told
+him, and he would be free. That word was _abrenuncio_--'I renounce,'
+or 'recant.' He would not say the word, however, and so he went to the
+galleys. As they were putting round his neck the iron collar, from
+which the chains hang which fasten the slave to his bench, your
+ancestor, the cardinal, who was not a hard-hearted man, with tears in
+his eyes entreated my ancestor to say the word 'abrenuncio.' The
+minister, however, not only refused, but called out 'Non abrenuncio.'
+In the same manner I now stand opposite to you and repeat the same
+words--'Non abrenuncio.' This is the _rapport_ between us. Would you
+treat me as the cardinal did my ancestor?"
+
+Countess Angela tapped her fan upon her knee as she whispered between
+her small white teeth, and with a cruel smile upon her lips:
+
+"What a pity that those days are past! If I were in the place of my
+ancestor I would order you to have iron goads driven under your
+nails."
+
+At this formidable threat Ivan burst out laughing. After a minute
+Angela followed his example and laughed also.
+
+It was rather a bold experiment to meet the young beauty's wrath with
+a burst of laughter, but it was a good answer to her foolish speech.
+The countess felt now that she had given cause for laughter; but she
+was offended, nevertheless, and with a haughty look at the offender
+she seated herself.
+
+Ivan did not move from her side. A cotillon, even though it be the
+"Hungarian," has its uses. One partner cannot leave the other if they
+wish to separate.
+
+In the meantime a young man, one of the stupid persons of society,
+came to Ivan and whispered in his ear that Edmund sent him to say he
+should return to his game; the luck had changed, and the heap of gold
+Ivan had left was lost.
+
+"Tell him he has done well," returned Ivan; and he took his
+pocket-book from his breast-pocket and handed it to the messenger.
+"Tell him to make use of what is in this," he said, "and lose it, if
+necessary." And he remained where he was.
+
+Angela never turned her head to him again. The cotillon lasted a long
+time; Count Geza, who led it, wished to show that the Hungarian
+presented as many opportunities for new figures as the German
+cotillon, and the demonstration lasted two hours. Ivan remained to the
+end, although Angela preserved her cold silence. When they had to join
+in the waltz circle she leaned on his shoulder, her fingers pressed
+his, her breath touched his face; when she returned to her place she
+resumed her coldness, and kept her head steadily averted.
+
+When the cotillon was over Edmund brought Ivan the news that this long
+dance had cost him a thousand gulden. Ivan shrugged his shoulders, as
+if the loss didn't concern him.
+
+"Wonderful man!" thought Edmund. Presently he said to his cousin:
+
+"It seems that you kept Ritter Magnet all to yourself, my pretty
+cousin."
+
+Angela raised her white shoulder to him, while she said, angrily:
+
+"This man has bored me for a long time."
+
+From the moment that these words were spoken by the queen of fashion a
+marked change took place in the opinion of the world as to Ivan's
+merits. He was no longer considered a capital fellow, but was looked
+upon as a pushing _parvenu_. Angela said nothing more, but this one
+sentence conveyed much. There are men of low origin whose own vanity
+misinterprets the true meaning of the condescension shown to them by
+those above them in station, and by so doing make terrible mistakes
+which must be punished. Such bold _parvenus_ must be taught to curb
+their wishes. Ivan was counted as one of these. The foolish man had
+imagined that a high-born lady, a Bondavara, because she was
+patriotic, would, forsooth, stoop to such as he; he had mistaken her
+graciousness for the encouragement she might give to one of her own
+class. He must be ostracized, and that speedily.
+
+The signal had been given by those words of the countess's: "He has
+for a long time bored me." The first means taken under such
+circumstances is to make the offender ridiculous. This can be done in
+different ways. The victim remarks that his weak points are held up,
+that he is never left in peace, that he is perpetually placed in
+situations which are arranged to make him a laughing-stock. Not that
+any one is rude enough to laugh at him openly; on the contrary, they
+are most polite to him, but it is a politeness that provokes laughter.
+He soon finds that no one is his friend, no one makes any intimacy
+with him, although no one actually insults him; but if he is a man of
+any intelligence he soon feels that he is not one of the society, and
+that his best part will be to take his hat and go.
+
+This happened now to Ivan, but his habitual phlegm did not desert him;
+he understood the situation, and was determined to stand his ground to
+the bitter end. He was invited to take part in an amateur opera, made
+up of most aristocratic personages; it was done on purpose to subject
+him to a mortification. He was given the _role_ of the "King." He made
+a sensation; his voice was a fine, melodious bass. Angela was the
+"Elvira"; Salista, "Ernani"; but the "King" was the favorite.
+
+"The devil is in the man," growled the marquis. "He has been an actor,
+I'll bet."
+
+On another occasion he was invited to a fox-hunt at Count Stefan's
+splendid hunting-seat near Pesth. The _elite_ of the country round
+gathered at these hunts, which took place in the beginning of the
+season. It was arranged that Ivan should be mounted on a fiery
+Arabian. This was considered a great joke. It would be such fun to see
+the quiet book-worm in the saddle; he would have to cling on, for the
+Arabian would hardly allow his owner to ride. It would be rare sport.
+But here was another disappointment; Ivan sat the fiery racer as if he
+had grown in the saddle. When Salista saw him mounted, he muttered
+between his teeth:
+
+"The devil is in the fellow. I would take a bet he has been a hussar."
+
+Countess Angela took part in the first run at Count Stefan's. She sat
+her horse splendidly; she was quite at home in the field.
+
+About ten sportsmen drew the first cover; the hounds had the fox out
+of the bushes, and the cavalcade rode after Renard, who took his
+course over a slope of a hill, which was divided by a cleft in the
+rock, at the bottom of which ran a mountain stream. The fox took
+refuge in this cleft; he probably thought he might find there an empty
+fox-hole, into which he might sneak. In any case he might escape by
+the skin of his teeth, as the horses could not venture to follow him.
+It was a chance, for if the dogs hunted him out of the burrow he could
+make tracks by the right-hand side. The hunt was on the left.
+
+"Forward!" cried the daring Countess Angela, and put her horse to leap
+the cleft.
+
+It was a breakneck jump. How many will risk their lives to follow her?
+When she reached the other side she turned and looked back. Ivan was
+beside her. The dogs pursued the fox, who had taken to the stream; the
+rest of the hunt galloped along the left side of the chasm. Angela
+thought as little about them as they did of her. In every one's mind
+there was only one idea--the fox. The countess rode at the very edge
+of the chasm, taking no heed of the dizzy height she was on and the
+dangerous depths into which one false step of her horse might
+precipitate her. She followed poor Renard, who was seeking an outlet,
+distracted as he was by his pursuers. Suddenly he rushed out through
+the riders on the left bank and took to the woods.
+
+"After him! Tally ho!" resounded along the hillside, and soon fox,
+dogs, and horsemen were lost to Angela's sight. At once she turned
+her horse's bridle; she made for a short-cut through the mountain,
+over which she meant to jump her horse, and so join the hunt without
+loss of time. She never looked back to see if Ivan followed her, but
+galloped up the steep mountain-side, sitting her horse in splendid
+style. At the turn of the path a hare suddenly broke from the cover
+under the horse's feet. The animal shied, and swerved violently to one
+side, throwing the countess out of the saddle. In the fall the long
+skirt of her habit got entangled in the saddle and kept her fastened
+to the horse. Her head hung, with all her hair streaming on the
+ground. The frightened horse ran towards the crevice; if he dragged
+his rider down its side her head would be battered to pieces by the
+trunks of the trees. Ivan fortunately caught his bridle in time. He
+freed the foolhardy rider from the saddle; she was unconscious. Ivan
+laid her upon the soft turf, and pillowed her head upon the stump of a
+moss-grown tree. Then he saw how the fall had disarranged her dress.
+The malachite buttons had come off the body of her habit, and the
+bodice was treacherously open. Ivan drew from his necktie his
+breast-pin, and with it closed the countess's corselet.
+
+When Angela came to herself she was alone. Both the horses were tied
+to a tree by their bridles. In the distance through the gathering mist
+she saw a man coming towards her from the valley below. It was Ivan,
+who had gone to fill his hunting-flask with water. The countess rose
+at once to her feet; she needed no help. Ivan offered her the water;
+she thanked him, but said she was quite herself. Ivan threw the water
+away.
+
+"I think it would be well if you were to return to the castle."
+
+"I will do so."
+
+"It is not far. I know a short way through the wood. We can lead the
+horses."
+
+"Very well," returned the countess, submissively. But when she looked
+at her dress and saw how it was fastened a hot blush covered her face.
+When she was in the shade of the wood she turned to Ivan, and said,
+suddenly, "Have you ever heard of Julia Gonzaga?"
+
+"No, countess."
+
+"She was the Chatelaine of Fondi. Barbarossa had surprised Fondi in
+the night and carried off Julia. A noble knight came to her rescue,
+and she escaped with him from the freebooter. It was in the night, and
+she had to ride barefooted, for she had just risen from her couch. Do
+you know how she rewarded her deliverer? She stabbed him through the
+heart with the first dagger that came to her hand."
+
+"And she did right," returned Ivan. "A strange man should not have
+seen her naked feet."
+
+"And the man?" asked Angela.
+
+"Ah, poor fellow! he had the misfortune of enjoying too much
+happiness."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+ONLY A TRIFLE
+
+
+The fox was taken. Out of the far distance a triumphant "Halali!" was
+heard, and then the horn sounded to collect the scattered members of
+the hunt. Countess Angela and her escort were by this time at the
+border of the wood. Ivan sounded his horn in answer to the summons,
+and to show the others that they were already on their way home. They
+arrived at the castle a quarter of an hour before the rest of the
+company. Then they separated, and did not meet again until
+supper-time. The huntsmen spent the interval talking over the day's
+exploits, and the ladies were occupied with their toilettes.
+
+Countess Angela told her aunt what had happened. She was incapable of
+any sort of deceit. Lies, which come so easily to the lips of some
+women, were impossible to her. If she did not tell a thing she kept
+silent; but to speak what was not true--never! But what if Ivan
+related to the men what had occurred? It was so much the habit to talk
+over the day's sport, and make a jest of everything. Why should he not
+make capital of such an adventure--a rescued lady--a beauty in
+_deshabille_?
+
+When supper-time came it struck every one that the countess had a
+constrained manner, and closer observers noticed that she avoided
+looking at Ivan. She was dressed all in black, which was, perhaps,
+the reason that she was so pale. She was silent and preoccupied; she
+was wondering if they all knew what Ivan knew. The gentlemen tried to
+amuse her. They were full of the day's run, how the fox had doubled,
+how they thought they would never catch him, how they regretted that
+the countess had not been present, how unfortunate it was that she had
+been on the opposite side of the mountain, but that it was far better
+for her to have lost the run than to have ventured to leap the
+crevice. That would, indeed, have been madness; an accident would
+certainly have been the result. No one alluded to the fact that she
+had met an ugly one; but, then, well-bred people never do allude to
+anything unpleasant, which, though otherwise agreeable, has this
+drawback, that one never knows how much or how little they know.
+
+It was a remark of her cousin Edmund that convinced Angela eventually
+that Ivan had kept his own counsel as to her accident.
+
+"Did Behrend accompany you to the house?" he asked. (No one now called
+him Ritter Magnet, nor were there any familiar jokes with him).
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And his escort was not agreeable to you?"
+
+"What makes you say that?" inquired Angela, hastily.
+
+"From Ivan's manner; he seems terribly down in his luck. He hasn't a
+word to say to a dog, and he avoids looking at you. Don't you remark
+it? You have, I think, made the place too hot for him; he won't stay
+longer. Have I guessed right?"
+
+"Yes, quite right."
+
+"Shall I give him a hint to go?"
+
+"Do, for my sake; but without harshness. I will not have him
+offended."
+
+"Do you think I am such a bungler? I have an excellent plan to get him
+away quietly."
+
+"You must tell me what it is. I am not vexed with the man, only he
+bores me. Do you understand? I won't have him driven away by any of
+you; but if he goes by his own free choice, I should be glad if he
+were at the antipodes."
+
+"Well, I have no objection to tell you what I mean to do. This man is
+a scholar, a philosopher, as you know. He holds very different
+opinions from us who live in the world. For one thing, he abhors
+duelling. Don't spoil your pretty face by frowning. I am not going to
+call him out, neither is any one else, so far as I know; that would be
+a stupid joke. But this evening, in the smoking-room, Salista and I
+will get up a dispute about some trifle or another; the end of it will
+be a challenge. I will ask Behrend and Geza to be my seconds. Now,
+what will happen? If Behrend refuses, which is most likely, he will
+have to withdraw from our party--that is the etiquette--and we will
+have nothing more to say to him. If, on the contrary, he accepts, then
+the other seconds will manage to fall out about the arrangements of
+our meeting--Salista's and mine--and the regular consequence of such a
+falling out is that the seconds challenge one another; then our
+philosopher packs up his traps, thanks us for our hospitality, goes
+back to brew his gas. He doesn't fight, not he; for I hold that,
+although it is within the bounds of possibility that even a
+philosopher, if deeply insulted, may have recourse to his pistol to
+punish the offender, yet, when it is a matter of pure, worldly
+etiquette, it is only your born gentleman who will stand up in a
+duel."
+
+"But suppose he does consent to fight this duel?"
+
+"Then my plot has failed. We should then have a sort of court-martial,
+and it would have to decide that no offence was meant and none given.
+We would all shake hands, and the little comedy would be at an end."
+
+Angela yawned, as if weary of the subject. "Do as you like," she said.
+"But take care. This man can show his teeth; he can bite."
+
+"Leave that to me."
+
+That evening at supper the conversation was purposely turned on
+duelling, for the purpose of convincing Angela that Ivan's views on
+the subject were sound as regarded his own safety. The opportunity
+offered, for the latest event in fashionable life was a duel, in which
+the only son of a well-known and distinguished family had lost his
+life for some silly dispute about a trifle.
+
+"I hold the duel to be not merely a mistake, but a crime," said Ivan.
+"It is flying in the face of God to take the law into our own hands.
+The _Te Deum_ which the conqueror sings over his murderous act is a
+disgrace; it cries to Heaven for vengeance. The appeal to weapons as
+satisfaction is likewise an offence against society, for it hinders
+the possibility of telling the truth. The man who tells us our faults
+openly to our face is a benefactor, but by the present laws of society
+we are bound to challenge him, and to kill him if we can; we have no
+other course, so it must be false compliments or the duello."
+
+Edmund continued the discussion. "I take a different view of the
+matter," he said. "If duelling were not a law of society it would be
+in a sense a denial of God's mercy, for if you look at it in this way
+it cannot be denied that one man is weak, another man strong, and
+that this is a decree of Providence. The result of this difference in
+many instances would be that the weaker would be the slave of the
+stronger, who could box his ears, insult him, and all the law would
+give him would be, perhaps, a couple of pounds. This chasm between the
+law of God and the law of man is filled by the pistol-ball, which puts
+the strong and the weak on the same level. The pistol is not a judge,
+for it often decides the cause unjustly. Nevertheless, this unwritten
+law, and the respect, not to say fear, it infuses, has a salutary
+effect, and makes it impossible for the bully to tyrannize over a man
+of more education but less physical strength."
+
+"But that it should be so is a crime of society," answered Ivan. "A
+false sentiment of honor has dictated this law. The world has no right
+to make such a rule; it should honor those equally, be they poor or
+rich, well-born or humble, who keep the law of the land as it is
+constituted. But what does society do? If a gentleman gets a box on
+the ear from another, and does not immediately demand satisfaction for
+the insult, and, _nolens volens_, make himself a target to be shot at
+by perhaps a better marksman than himself, what happens? He is at once
+dishonored; society ostracizes him. The world, if it pretend to any
+justice in the matter, should reform this absurd principle, and punish
+the man who has given the first offence. Then society, and not a
+leaden ball, would be judge."
+
+"That is all very fine in theory, my dear sir; but I ask you, as a man
+of honor, to put yourself in the position in which, for some reason or
+another, you find it necessary to have satisfaction for an affront."
+
+"I could not imagine myself placed in any such position," Ivan
+answered, quietly. "I offend no one intentionally, and should I do so
+inadvertently, I would at once apologize. I give no man the
+opportunity to asperse my honor, and if he were foolish enough to do
+so I would call upon those who know, and I should deem myself indeed
+unfortunate if they did not clear me of any such accusation."
+
+"But suppose the honor of some one near and dear to you were
+attacked?"
+
+"I have no one who stands to me in that close relationship."
+
+This last remark cut short the discussion. Nevertheless, before many
+hours had passed the Marquis Salista proved to Ivan that there was one
+person whose good name was dear to him.
+
+It was at supper, and Angela was present. The marquis was entertaining
+her with anecdotes of the revolution, in which he had taken part. He
+was bragging fearfully that when he was lieutenant of the cuirassiers
+he performed prodigies. At the battle of Izsasseg, with only a handful
+of men, he routed the entire regiment of Lehel Hussars, and at Alt
+Gzoney he cut the Wilhelm Hussars to pieces, and didn't spare a man.
+
+Not a feature in Ivan's face moved. He listened silently to these
+wonderful tales. Angela at last grew weary of all this boasting and
+glorification of the Austrians over the degraded Hungarians; she
+turned to Ivan, and put to him a direct question:
+
+"Is this all true?"
+
+Ivan shrugged his shoulders. "What can I, a poor miner who lives
+underground, know of what goes on on the surface of the great earth?"
+
+Angela need not have anxiety about him. He is a philosopher, and there
+is no fear he will go too near the fire.
+
+After supper the company separated; Count Stefan, with Countess
+Theudelinde and some other ladies, went into the drawing-room. The
+moon shone through the bow-windows. The countess played the piano, and
+Angela came and spoke to Ivan.
+
+"Here is your pin," she said. "You know the old superstition--a
+present of sharp-pointed instruments dissolves friendship, and those
+who wish to be friends never give them?"
+
+"But," answered Ivan, smiling, "the superstition provides an antidote
+which breaks the spell. Both friends must laugh over the present."
+
+"Ah, that is why you laughed when I spoke of the iron goads. There,
+take back your pin, and let us laugh for superstition's sake!"
+
+And they laughed together, because it was a superstition so to do.
+Then Angela went out on the balcony, and took counsel from the soft
+air of the summer's evening; she leaned over the balustrade, waiting
+for Count Edmund, who had promised to bring her the first news of how
+the plot had worked.
+
+The gentlemen stayed late in the smoking-room; the night is their time
+for enjoying themselves, so Angela had a long vigil. The moon had long
+disappeared behind the high tops of the poplar-trees before Angela
+heard Edmund's step coming through the drawing-room to the bow-window.
+The ladies were still playing the piano; they could talk unreservedly.
+
+"Well, what has happened?" asked Angela.
+
+Edmund was agitated. "Our trifle has turned out a rank piece of
+folly," he said, crossly.
+
+"How?"
+
+"I should not tell you, Angela, but the situation is such that it
+would be wrong to conceal anything from you. We had it all arranged
+just as I told you. When we were in the smoking-room we began to play
+our practical joke. Some one said how pleased you seemed to be with
+Hungary--"
+
+"Oh, how stupid of you!" said Angela, angrily.
+
+"I know now it was a stupid thing to do. I wish I had seen it before;
+but it always happens the knowledge comes too late."
+
+"What business had you, or any one, to mention my name? I gave no
+permission to have it done."
+
+"I know, I know; but in men's society, unfortunately, no one asks a
+lady's permission to mention her name. It was only a joke. It had been
+settled among us that I, being your cousin, should protest against
+this chatter in connection with your name; then Salista was to say
+that he knew well that what kept you in Pesth was the fine eyes of a
+certain gentleman, that I was to get angry, and forbid him to say any
+more, and that then we should get up the mock duel."
+
+Angela was trembling with anger, but, anxious to hear more, she
+controlled herself with difficulty.
+
+"I never heard such a childish joke," she said. "It was a college
+trick."
+
+"It would have been good for us all if it had ended like a college
+trick. When I told you that we had prepared a trick you approved of
+it, Angela; you know you did. None of us thought for a moment that it
+would end as it has done. Behrend was sitting at the chess-table;
+Salista was opposite to him, leaning against the chimney-piece. After
+Salista had said the words, 'I know that a certain pair of eyes keeps
+Countess Angela in Pesth,' and before I had time to make the answer
+agreed upon, Ivan threw down the gauntlet. 'That is a lie!' he said."
+
+"Ah!" cried Angela, while an electric thrill ran through her veins.
+
+"We all sprang to our feet; the joke had ended badly. Salista grew
+pale; he had not counted upon this. 'Sir,' he said to Behrend, 'take
+back that word of yours; it is a word that in my life no man has said
+to me.'"
+
+"And Behrend?" asked Angela, seizing Edmund's hand.
+
+"Behrend stood up from the table, and answered quietly, in a cold
+voice, 'It is possible that up to the present you have given no
+occasion for this reproach to be cast in your face; but to-night I
+repeat that you have lied.' Then he left the room. I ran after him to
+try and smooth down matters. I met him in the hall. He turned to me
+and said, quietly, 'My dear friend, you know what must now happen. I
+beg that you will ask Count Geza in my name, and that you and he will
+be my seconds. You will communicate to me what has been settled; all
+is in your hands.' In this way he invited me to play the part which I
+had destined for him. Now he is the duellist, and I am the second. I
+tried to drive him into a corner. I represented to him that it was not
+his right to throw down the gauntlet for the Countess Angela. He
+answered, 'It is the right and the duty of every gentleman to protect
+the lady whose guest he is.' This answer, from a chivalrous point of
+view, is perfectly correct, but it sounds strangely from the lips of
+the man who a couple of hours ago told us there was no one in the
+world for whose good name he would fight a duel."
+
+Angela sank back in her chair. "Oh, what terrible folly it has all
+been!" she wailed. "No, no, this duel cannot be! I shall prevent it!"
+
+"I wish you would tell me what means you intend to take to prevent
+it."
+
+"I will at once speak with Ivan Behrend--this moment; do you hear?"
+
+"Unfortunately, that is impossible. When he left me he gave the order
+to put his horses to. There, you hear those wheels? That is his
+carriage. Geza has gone with him, and we four are to follow him
+presently. One cannot arrange this sort of thing in a strange house;
+that is done only on the stage. The principals must wait in their own
+houses to hear what we have decided to do."
+
+"But, my God! I will not let it be done; do you hear? I will speak to
+Uncle Stefan."
+
+"I have told you everything, so that our sudden departure should not
+surprise you; but I can tell you exactly what Count Stefan will
+say--that no fuss must be made; let the whole thing be done quickly
+and quietly. The seconds, too, must act with great prudence, and not
+irritate the principals by much delay."
+
+"What do you mean by saying the seconds should act with prudence?"
+
+"So far as depends upon them they must determine the issue of the
+duel, and either soften or accentuate the conditions according to
+circumstances. In this case we will soften. Your name will not appear
+as the cause of the challenge. We will induce Behrend to say that he
+used the word 'lie' in connection with Salista's expressions
+concerning the Hungarian troops. This plausible ground for a challenge
+will be accepted as sufficient by both sides, and in this way your
+name need never be mentioned."
+
+"But I do not care! What does that matter? If any one is killed for my
+sake--"
+
+"Compose yourself, my dear cousin; the seconds will be prudent. We
+shall place them thirty feet apart, and give them worn-out pistols
+with which, at half the distance, the aim would be uncertain; then we
+shall not allow them to take aim more than a minute, and you may be
+certain if they were both as thick as an elephant and protected like
+robin red-breasts they couldn't be safer; they may fire away for hours
+and never hit one another. Now, my dear child, be sensible, I beg of
+you. When you have a husband he will have many an affair of this kind
+upon his hands, and all for your beautiful eyes. But I must be going,
+the carriage is at the door, and we start at daylight."
+
+And Edmund took himself off with a hasty good-bye.
+
+This little joke had spoiled all the sport. The loss of six men made
+it impossible to continue hunting the next day; therefore every one
+resolved to return to Pesth in the morning. The night was disturbed.
+The companion of the Countess Angela, who slept in her room, told
+everyone that her mistress had hardly slept a wink, that she was
+constantly getting up and lighting the candle, saying that it must be
+daylight and time to set off for the city.
+
+The next morning, at ten o'clock, when all the guests had left, and
+Countess Theudelinde and her suite were already in Pesth, Countess
+Angela went to her room, and walked up and down restlessly until about
+eleven o'clock, when Count Edmund was announced.
+
+He came in pale and disturbed, and Angela, who tried to read his face,
+concluded that something had happened.
+
+"In God's name, what is it?" she asked. "Who is hurt?"
+
+"No one," replied Edmund, dryly; "but the affair is in a worse state
+than it was."
+
+"Has the duel taken place?"
+
+"Yes and no. It has begun, but is not finished."
+
+"I do not understand."
+
+"I own it is something quite new. I have never known such a thing in
+my experience. If you wish, I will tell you all about it."
+
+"Oh, for Heaven's sake, do!"
+
+"As agreed, I called at Behrend's house at six o'clock to fetch him;
+Geza went on with the doctor. When we got to Lassloosky, Salista was
+just getting out of his carriage. Ivan lifted his cap and wished him
+good-morning; he probably did not know that this is not usual. The
+principals never greet one another. Salista did not return his bow,
+although he might have done so, seeing that Ivan was evidently
+ignorant of the proper etiquette. From Lassloosky we all drove
+together to Leopold's Field, where we got out of the carriages and
+went on foot through the forest. When we reached the appointed place,
+a clearing in the wood, we stopped, and the seconds on both sides
+asked the principals, according to precedent, whether they would not
+make up their difference. Both sides refused. Upon which we measured
+the distance, marked the barrier with our pocket-handkerchiefs, and
+loaded the pistols. When this was over, the principals, who had been
+pulling blades of grass and standing about, took their places. We
+handed them their pistols; the signal was given by Geza clapping his
+hands. Salista made two steps forward and shot. Just as I expected, he
+did not hit his man. Ivan called out in a loud voice, 'To the
+barrier!' and Salista advanced to where the white pocket-handkerchief
+lay, while Ivan went to his barrier. Then he said, addressing Salista,
+'You did not return my salutation, but if I hit your head-piece you
+will have to take off your cap to me.' He then took aim; the
+half-minute during which he held his pistol showed us his nerve was
+perfect. The pistol went off, and Salista stood opposite his adversary
+bareheaded; his helmet lay two perches behind him, with the gold rose
+torn from its front."
+
+"Ah!" cried Angela.
+
+"This man shoots as well as Robin Hood. We loaded the pistols again,
+because, according to the agreement, they were to have three shots
+each."
+
+"Three shots!" exclaimed Angela.
+
+"Yes. We all agreed it was better to have the affair on a proper
+footing, so far as the conditions went. Thirty steps is a great
+distance; besides, the pistols were bad. In addition, both men were
+wrapped up to the chin; one had a black coat, the other a dark gray
+military cloak--colors bad for hitting; and both had their
+shirt-collars concealed. There was not a point about either that would
+serve for a target. But the cap business had changed the nature of the
+whole affair, and made much bad blood. It proved, for one thing, that
+Behrend was a first-rate shot, and this put Salista's military spirit
+on its metal. The barriers were withdrawn for the second shot. Salista
+took off his gray cloak, tied back his hussar jacket, so that his red
+waistcoat and white shirt stood out clear, and instead of standing, as
+is usual in a duel, with one side to your adversary, he presented to
+him a full front, and this with red and white, the best colors, as
+every one knows, for a mark. Yes, and while we were loading the
+pistols, what do you think he did? But Salista is a madman when he is
+roused! He took his cigar-case out of his pocket, and lighted one to
+show his indifference. For the second time it was his turn to begin.
+He took much more pains than the first time; in fact, he was such a
+time taking aim that we had to call to him to shoot. Again he missed.
+The leaves of the branches under which Ivan stood fell upon his head;
+the ball had gone into the tree."
+
+Angela shuddered.
+
+"Ivan now addressed his opponent. 'Sir,' he said, 'it is not fitting
+that at such a supreme moment as this you should smoke a cigar.'
+Salista made no answer, but stood fronting Behrend; his face was
+slightly turned to one side, and he blew clouds of smoke into the air.
+Ivan raised his pistol for a second, took deliberate aim, then a sharp
+report, and Salista's cigar flew from his mouth into space."
+
+An involuntary smile spread over Angela's lips, but it was gone in an
+instant, and her face resumed its immovable expression, as if cut out
+of stone.
+
+Count Edmund went on. "In a fury Salista threw his pistol upon the
+ground. 'The devil take me,' he cried, stamping with rage, 'if I shoot
+any more with this man! He is Beelzebub in person. He has shot the cap
+from my head, the cigar from my mouth, and the third time he will
+shoot the spurs from my boots. He shoots all round me; he is like a
+Chinese juggler. I will not shoot any more with him; that's flat!' His
+seconds in vain tried to persuade him; he would not listen to them; he
+was furious; he would hear nothing. He wasn't going to be such a fool
+as to stand up there to be a mark for a second William Tell, who would
+not only shoot the apple from his head, but aim right at his heart. If
+they wanted to have a fair fight, with all his heart--but let it be
+with swords; then one would see who was the best man. We all talked to
+him, told him not to play the fool, that he must stand his adversary's
+fire no matter where he was shot, in his spur or his head. The
+duellist has no power to refuse; he is in the hands of his seconds. At
+last Behrend got curious to know what the row was about; he called to
+me and Geza, and we had to tell him that Salista would not stand
+another shot, but had demanded that the duel should be decided by
+swords. To our surprise Ivan answered, coolly, 'With all my heart.
+Give us the sabres.' 'Do you consent?' 'I consent to fight with
+scythes if he wishes.' So it was agreed. Salista's seconds heard this
+discussion with great satisfaction; they were very much put out by his
+outbreak, it being quite unusual to change the weapons in a duel; and
+there would have been a regular scandal if Ivan had used his right of
+refusing any such alteration in the conditions under which the duel
+was to be fought."
+
+"And you have allowed such an innovation to be made?" said Angela,
+looking at her cousin with contracted eyebrows.
+
+"Certainly, when the challenger has agreed to it."
+
+"It was shameful of you!" Angela continued, with suppressed tears in
+her voice--"ungenerous to allow such an unequal fight. One man has
+practised fencing all his life; it is his profession; the other has
+never had a sword in his hand."
+
+"The fight will be drawn at the first blood," said Edmund, in a
+soothing voice.
+
+"But you had no right to agree to such a bloodthirsty idea; you have
+overstepped your duty as second. You should have said to Salista's
+seconds that the affair should conclude then or never."
+
+"That is quite true; and we should have done so, only Behrend chose to
+interfere."
+
+"You should not have allowed it; you could have stopped it. When does
+the duel take place?"
+
+"As we had no swords we could not fight this morning. It is against
+the law to have a duel in the afternoon, therefore we have postponed
+the second meeting until to-morrow at daylight."
+
+"Before daylight to-morrow I will put a stop to the duel."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"I shall speak to Behrend; I shall explain everything to him."
+
+"If you tell him that this affair has arisen out of a joke, the result
+will be that, instead of fighting a duel with one man, Behrend will
+have six duels on his hands."
+
+"I will tell him in such a way that he will not ask to fight with any
+of you."
+
+"Then you will have ruined Salista."
+
+"How so? What has he to do with it?"
+
+"If this half-finished _rencontre_ gets wind, and it reaches the ears
+of the authorities that an officer refused his adversary's third fire,
+Salista will have to leave his regiment, he will be received nowhere,
+and he would have to go back to the pope's army as zouave."
+
+"For my part, I don't care if he becomes the devil's zouave! What do I
+care about him? Let him go to the Sultan of Dahomey. He is only fit to
+be the general of his army. For my part, he may go quite to the bad;
+he is half-way there already. But who cares what happens to him? _I_
+don't. Your duty is clear; you should protect your man. Isn't that
+so?"
+
+Edmund looked with astonishment at the excitement into which the
+countess had thrown herself; she was trembling, and her eyes gleamed
+with passion.
+
+"This is quite a new view of the affair," he said. "If you look upon
+it in this light, I must agree that we have been wrong, and you most
+certainly right. I shall go at once and look for Geza; we will both
+repair to Behrend, and tell him our opinion."
+
+He bowed low before his cousin, and left. In an hour he returned. He
+found Angela in the same place.
+
+"Well, what is done? Is it all settled?"
+
+"Listen. Geza and I went to Ivan. I explained to him that we
+considered it our duty not to infringe the conditions laid down in
+such matters, and that we were resolved not to allow the duel with
+swords to proceed. He pressed both our hands warmly. 'I thank you,' he
+said, 'for the friendship you have shown me, and since your
+convictions will not allow you to stand by me in this affair, I shall
+not try to persuade you. I shall go to the nearest barracks, the Karls
+Kaserne, and I shall tell the first two officers I may meet that I am
+engaged in an affair of honor to be fought with swords, that I am a
+stranger in the town, and that I throw myself upon their kindness to
+be my seconds.'"
+
+Angela, with a despairing gesture, clasped her hands together.
+
+"You said the truth," continued Edmund, "when you prophesied that this
+man would show his teeth. He has the grip of a bull-dog when he gets
+an idea. We told him that Salista was a celebrated swordsman. He took
+it quite coolly. 'If the devil himself was my adversary, I should look
+him in the face,' was all he said."
+
+Angela sat down and hid her face in her hands.
+
+"We had no other course than to assure him, so far as our services
+went, he was free to make use of us. So it was settled. We go for him
+to-morrow at daybreak. How it will all end, God only knows!"
+
+With these words Edmund took himself away. Angela never noticed he had
+left the room.
+
+That night she never lay down. All through the long hours of the night
+she walked to and fro in her room. When fatigue forced her to sit
+down for a moment she could not rest. Once only the thought that was
+in her mind found expression in words:
+
+"I have treated him as Julia Gonzaga treated the man who saved her
+life."
+
+When daylight broke she threw herself, dressed as she was, upon her
+bed. The maid next morning found the pillow, in which she had buried
+her face, wet with tears.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THIRTY-THREE PARTS
+
+
+It must certainly be said of our philosopher that he was acting
+somewhat inconsistently. He had left his home and property, where he
+had lived a simple country life amid his own people, happy in the
+study of those mysterious powers--fire and water; he had abandoned all
+his scientific pursuits to belong to a world to which he was, and must
+ever be, a stranger, feeling more or less like a fish upon dry land.
+Even his science he had turned into a farce, so bringing it into
+disgrace. He had lent himself to lectures and tableaux, to singing
+operas, and dancing Hungarian cotillons, to hunting foxes at breakneck
+speed, to rescuing beautiful ladies, mixing himself up therewhile in
+the affairs of noble families, to fighting duels with officers for the
+sake of lovely countesses, and running the risk of being sabred by an
+intemperate savage! It was no wonder that, reviewing all this, Ivan
+should say to himself, "Good heavens, what an ass I have made, and am
+making, of myself! What have I to do with all the nonsense that goes
+on in this fashionable world of Pesth? Above all, what is it to me
+whether Countess Angela is at war with her grandfather, whether she
+goes to Vienna, or whether he comes to Pesth? Why is it necessary for
+me to remain here, leading such an uncongenial life, apparently
+without any object?--and, although I have an object, yet if this were
+known to the world I should be considered an even greater fool than I
+am at present deemed to be."
+
+Now, as Ivan's reflections have been made public, it is only proper
+that the reason of his apparently objectless conduct should be laid
+before the reader of these pages, so that he or she may be in a
+position to judge whether he was a fool or a wise man, or something
+between the two--a man of sentiment and feeling, who does what his
+heart commands him to do. With some natures the heart cannot be
+silenced; it has its rights. We may remember that when the Abbe Samuel
+paid his first visit to Ivan, he found that gentleman in the act of
+writing a refusal to the Countess Theudelinde's invitation; that he
+was, in fact, upon the point of returning to Bondavara, and that the
+arrival of a letter changed all his plans, and was the cause of his
+remaining in Pesth. This letter came from Vienna; the writer was a
+certain pianist whose name had been for some years mentioned among the
+first class of artists--Arpad Belenyi.
+
+Nearly fourteen years before our story began Ivan had lived for a long
+time in the house of the Belenyis. We shall know later what he did
+there. Arpad was at that time a child of five years old; he was
+already counted a prodigy, and could play long pieces upon the piano.
+At that time warlike and patriotic marches were all the fashion. One
+day the bread-winner of the family, the father, died suddenly. The
+widow was in despair, especially for her orphaned boy. Ivan consoled
+her with the promise that he would look after him, and provide for his
+education.
+
+On account of certain circumstances, some months after, however, Ivan
+had to leave the family Belenyi somewhat suddenly, and it seemed
+doubtful if he should ever see them again. Ivan at parting gave all
+the money he could spare to the widow, and told her to get Arpad a
+good musical education, such as would fit him for an artistic career.
+The boy, he thought, would attain eminence, and make a livelihood by
+his art. And here let it be clearly understood that Ivan was neither a
+friend of Belenyi nor the lover of Madame Belenyi; neither was he
+connected with the family in any way, nor was he in duty bound to do
+as he did. For years the Belenyis heard nothing from Ivan, nor he from
+them. Once, on his inquiring about them, he was told that in
+consequence of a lawsuit they had lost their house, had left the town,
+and that neither mother nor son had since been heard of. Then, after
+another spell of years, Arpad Belenyi's name began to be mentioned in
+different newspapers, always as a young and astonishingly clever
+artist. From this time Ivan took in regularly a musical paper or
+magazine, and so followed attentively his adopted son's career. The
+latter, however, knew nothing of his kind benefactor until, later,
+Ivan's name also appeared in the papers. His discourse at the Academy
+led to his being traced by his adopted son, who at once wrote him a
+letter, beginning with the words, "My dear father." It was a letter
+full of simple, boyish sentiments, through which broke at intervals
+the natural fun and playful humor of the artist. He told Ivan
+everything concerning himself; how he had travelled in many countries,
+accompanied always by his mother, to whom he had always to give an
+account of his actions as near the truth as possibly could be. He had
+already given concerts before crowned heads, and had received several
+orders which he was allowed to wear only on Sundays; the other days of
+the week they were locked up by his mother. He had earned a good deal
+of money, but he was not permitted to spend much. Mamma gave him
+every day a five-shilling piece for pocket-money; the rest she put by
+to buy back her little house which "old Raize" had robbed her of. He,
+therefore, to make more money, gave music-lessons and played
+accompaniments for artists. This was well paid, particularly of late,
+when he had fallen in with a little artist, a new singer, who paid
+splendidly. She was said to be the wife of Felix Kaulmann, the rich
+banker.
+
+When he came to this passage Ivan's heart began to beat. He laid down
+the letter, then took it up again, and read it with renewed attention.
+
+"This girl is a mixture of Muse and Maenad," wrote Arpad. "Now she is a
+petulant child, the next minute a wild Amazon; a born artist, full of
+genius, yet she is not likely ever to rise above mediocrity. She is
+full of intelligence and life, and with this often as stupid as a
+donkey. There is no doubt she could attain an unenviable notoriety,
+but she shrinks from it, for although she conducts herself like a
+courtesan, I would take my oath she is in reality as innocent as the
+child she really is. She is very trying to me, full of mischief and
+petulance, and this because I treat her to no soft manners, but scold
+her well for being so naughty. If you could only see, dear papa, what
+a splendid master I am, always serious, no frivolity allowed! Now I
+have photographed myself for you, have I not? Do not think, however,
+that I would have scrawled all over my paper this monologue about my
+pupil, as if I had nothing better or wiser to write about. I have done
+so because the subject has a certain interest for you. You must know
+this curious little angel confides in me as if I were her confessor.
+Sometimes she chatters all through her lesson, telling me where she
+has been, what she has done, everything that has happened to her; and
+she often tells me things which, if I were in her place, I would not
+talk about. Have a little patience, my dear good papa. This lady has
+thirty-three different _roles_, all of them of different kinds. They
+are not, strictly speaking, stage parts, but monologues, which are
+composed expressly for her. These scenes we rehearse together; I play
+her accompaniment, while she sings and acts.
+
+"I am coming now to the kernel of the nut. I am going to crack
+it for you. Here are the names of the actress's thirty-three
+parts--'Loreley,' 'Cleopatra,' 'The Queen of the Sun,' 'The Greek
+Slave,' 'The Bacchante,' 'Nourmahal,' 'The Bride,' 'The Matron's
+Cap,' 'The Bayadere,' 'Claudia Laeta, the Vestal,' 'Amalasontha,'
+'Magdalene,' 'Ninon,' 'La Somnambula,' 'Medea,' 'Salome,' 'The
+Houris,' 'The Despair of Hero,' 'The Phrygian Cap,' 'Turandot,' 'The
+Peasant Girl,' 'The Mother,' 'Jeanne la Folle,' 'Ophelia,' 'Judith,'
+'Zuleika Potiphar,' 'The Market Woman,' 'The Grisette,' 'The
+Creole,' 'Lucretia,' 'The Will-o'-the-Wisp,' 'Julia Gonzaga.'
+
+"The thirty-third part I do not know; we have not as yet rehearsed it.
+But why the deuce does she learn all these parts, for she never treads
+the boards? The report is that the reason why this lady's talent is so
+much cultivated is that she is engaged to sing at the Opera-house.
+This seems even more strange, and I, for one, am slow to believe it. A
+banker like Kaulmann, who is a millionaire, and whose wife pays for
+her apartment four thousand florins! Besides, she would have to give
+her singing-master, who has got her the engagement, six thousand; to
+the leader of the orchestra, two thousand; four thousand to the
+newspapers to puff her; another three thousand to the _claqueurs_; and
+something else to the men who throw the wreaths and flowers. There
+would remain for her about a thousand florins; that would hardly pay
+for her scents. So you see the absurdity of the whole thing. Where are
+we now? This pretty creature, who wishes also to be a famous artist,
+has several lovers who can easily pay their court to madame, seeing
+that she and her husband live in separate apartments. This is only
+natural; the banker could not have his mind, which is occupied with
+important speculations, disturbed by constant _solfeggi_. There are
+several persons in Vienna who bear the title of the 'Maecenas of Art';
+they are gentlemen of high position, who have great weight in the
+departmental government, and whose voices are heard in all social and
+official capacities. These have been allowed the privilege of being
+present during the rehearsals of the thirty-two monologues; the
+thirty-third has not as yet been played before any one. In all this I
+can assure you everything is conducted with the greatest propriety, I
+am always present, also the husband, who remains so long as the comedy
+continues. Among the company are representatives of the highest
+nobility, counts, princes, senators, and ministers. They are good sort
+of people, and call one another Fritz, Nazi, Muke, etc. Among others
+we have two princes, who come every time we have a rehearsal--the
+Prince Mari and the Prince Baldi; the names they received on baptism
+being Waldemar and Theobald. Yesterday Eveline--for so is my pupil
+named--was not inclined to work, and without my asking her what ailed
+her, with her usual frankness she came out with her annoyance.
+
+"'Only fancy,' she said; 'that odious Prince Waldemar, when he was in
+my opera-box last night, threatened that if I did not let him come to
+our next rehearsal he would ruin Lixi.' (Lixi is short for Felix, her
+husband's name.)
+
+"'Why don't you admit him?' I asked. 'He is not worse than the other
+jackanapes who come here.'
+
+"'Because I cannot endure him. I told Lixi what Prince Waldemar had
+said, and Lixi answered that he would ruin the prince. At the same
+time he gave me to understand that Prince Theobald must be invited to
+the rehearsal.'
+
+"'All right,' said I; 'he is a fine old gentleman. You can have no
+objection to him; he is old enough to be your grandfather.'
+
+"The young wife bit her lips, and, with a frown on her lovely face,
+said:
+
+"'I have to ask him to do something. What do you think it is? Oh, you
+could never guess! It is to give his signature that he will consent to
+a certain affair which will cost him nothing, but which will help Lixi
+greatly. You know that Lixi has a grand speculation on hand, a
+gigantic coal company, which is to start the business with I don't
+know how many millions of money; but the place where the coal-mines
+are situated, the Bondavara property, belongs to Prince Theobald and
+his sister. The countess has already given her consent, but without
+his ratification the shares would not be taken up at the exchange.
+Prince Waldemar is working against us, and therefore I am to win over
+the old prince to our side. Lixi says it will be very easy to get
+round him just at the present moment, because his granddaughter,
+Countess Angela, of whom he is very fond, has quarrelled with him and
+left him. The poor old man is very sad and lonely, and Lixi says
+whoever cheers him up will be able to do anything with him; and,' she
+added, with a wise look, 'we are not deceiving him, for the Bondavara
+coal is the finest in the world.'
+
+"I burst out laughing; I could not help it. Then she pulled my hair
+and said:
+
+"'Why do you laugh, you ridiculous donkey? I think I must be a judge
+of coal, for I worked as day-laborer for ten years in the mines of
+Herr Behrend.'
+
+"At these words my astonishment was so great that I jumped up from my
+seat.
+
+"'You may stare your eyes out of your head,' she said, laughing at my
+amazement, 'but it is quite true. I used to shove the coal-wagons, and
+barefoot into the bargain.'
+
+"'Gracious lady, believe me, I did not jump up from astonishment; I
+was surprised to hear you name Ivan Behrend. What do you know of him?
+Pray tell me.'
+
+"'He was the owner of the coal-mines in Bondavara, near which Felix is
+going to open works upon an enormous scale. He was my master; God
+bless him, wherever he goes!'
+
+"Now, dear papa, I have come to the heart of the business, after, it
+must be owned, an unconscionably long prelude. With my weak intellect
+I have thought out the whole thing. Here is my kind friend, my adopted
+father, the owner of a mine in Bondavara, and beside him men with I
+don't know how many millions at their backs are going to form a coal
+company. It would be a good thing to let him know, that he may act in
+time; it may be good for him, but it would seem to me that it may also
+be very bad. Here the air is full of speculation; you see, I am
+already slightly bitten. Let me know how and in what manner the affair
+affects you and your interests. I shall write to you what goes on
+here, for I shall be behind the scenes; this little fool tells me
+everything."
+
+The receipt of this letter had decided Ivan to accept the Countess
+Theudelinde's invitation to give a romantic reading at her house, and
+to enter into the society of Pesth. He wrote to Arpad, and begged him
+to give him every day an exact account of what he heard through Evila
+of the progress of the coal-mine company.
+
+From this time Ivan received regularly every week two or three letters
+from Vienna.
+
+"The old prince nibbles at the bait. Kaulmann has brought him to the
+rehearsal of the new piece. Eveline sings and acts enchantingly; that
+is, when she is within four walls, and has only a few people for
+audience. If she acted like this on the stage she would be a
+celebrated actress in no time; but so soon as she comes before the
+footlights stage-fright seizes upon her, she trembles, forgets
+everything, stands there like a stick, and, worst of all, sings quite
+false. These rehearsals have been given on the pretext that the prince
+should have an opportunity of judging of her talent, so that he may
+influence those in power to give her an engagement at the opera. I
+know what their real object is. The prince is a real connoisseur in
+music, and he understands not alone art, but artists. He knows that
+there is a price set upon such black diamonds as sparkle in Eveline's
+eyes. There is the additional incentive that Prince Waldemar is
+desperately in love with this woman, and Prince Theobald, for certain
+reasons, will do anything to prevent her falling into his hands. He
+would even go the length of taking her himself sooner than such a
+misadventure should happen.
+
+"A short time since Prince Waldemar met me, and offered me one hundred
+ducats for every leaf of the album in which are the portraits of
+Madame Kaulmann in her character costumes. You must know, of late,
+each day that we rehearse one of the monologues at the piano a
+photographer is present and takes the artist in her costume.
+Everything must be finished in the house, and not more than four
+pictures are allowed to be executed; one of these is for Prince
+Theobald, one is kept by herself, one she presents to me, and the
+fourth is for my friend Felix. The negative is then broken. I would
+not sell my photographs to Prince Waldemar, but I send them to you as
+they follow one another. Mamma does not like to see such pictures in
+my room."
+
+Ivan received with each letter a photograph; each portrait represented
+Evila as a lovely creation in a most graceful pose. Arpad had not the
+least idea what a hell of different passions were raised in Ivan's
+breast as he looked at the beautiful image of the woman he had and
+still loved.
+
+In the first portrait she was represented as "Loreley" the fairy, who,
+in the whirlpool of the Rhine, sings her magic song and combs her hair
+with a golden comb, while her left shoulder rises from the waves,
+which partially conceal her form. Her eyes gaze invitingly at the
+fisherman, whom she entices to his ruin. In the second photograph she
+appeared as "Cleopatra" at Tarsus, where she is displaying all her
+charms to seduce her conqueror and make him her slave; a rich
+portrait, in which the lascivious queen is represented laden with
+splendid dresses and jewels, while the expression of the beautiful
+face was an admirable mixture of pride, dignity, and weakness. The
+third photograph presented the sun-queen, "Atahualpa," the wife of the
+last Inca. Her look was haughty and sublime; the sublimity of the
+expression diverts attention from the uncovered arms, white as marble,
+round as an infant's, which are raised to heaven, offering as a
+sacrifice a human heart. Her face mirrored the coldness of heaven
+itself. The fourth, as the "Greek Slave"; she represented the
+tortured beauty, who in vain tries to break the chains of shame in
+which she is bound--a lovely marble statue, equal in conception to one
+by Thorwaldsen or Pradier. The fifth was the "Bacchante," from one of
+the Roman bas-reliefs, which represents the procession of Bacchus. A
+wild, bold, dissolute conception; showing accessories of surprising
+drapery, panther skins, cups, etc., an ideal debauch; limbs in wild
+movement. The sixth portrait was of a bride; a white lace dress, upon
+her head a white garland, her figure concealed by a white veil, on her
+face an expression of soft emotion at the approaching realization of
+her happiness, in her eyes tears, on her lips a tremulous smile. With
+what wonderful charm she stretches out her hand to receive the
+betrothal ring! The eighth portrayed a young woman who for the first
+time puts the matron's cap upon her head. Pride, shame, and conscious
+triumph are all in her face. She feels that the cap upon her head is a
+well-deserved crown--a crown for which she has sacrificed a garland.
+
+Ivan contemplated this picture for a long time; his heart was full of
+the bitterness of disappointed love. His adopted son's present had
+been somewhat unfortunate.
+
+The ninth photograph represented Evila as a "Bayadere," in the
+artistic dress of the Indian dancer, striking the tambourine over her
+head. Round her slight figure a shawl embroidered in gold was wound in
+careless folds, on her neck a chain of gold coins, her small feet
+bare, and strings of pearls up to the knee.
+
+In the tenth portrait she appeared as "Claudia Laeta," the vestal
+virgin, at the moment when she is led to the stake because she has
+refused the solicitations of Caracalla; on her face an expression of
+horror, of virginal modesty. With one hand she tries to cover her
+head with her cloak to escape from the gaze of the multitude.
+
+How is it possible for one woman to play so many parts? Arpad
+accompanied these pictures with diffuse explanations, which were so
+many arrows in the heart of Ivan. The result of all this posturing
+was, he said, becoming every day clearer.
+
+"The prince is more and more fascinated; he is falling deeper and
+deeper into the net spread for him. After each rehearsal he declares
+that a real treasure has been concealed, which has been a loss to art
+that must be at once remedied."
+
+But such treasures are very costly, especially when a man has reached
+the age of sixty-eight, close on seventy, and has a marriageable
+granddaughter; then it is necessary to look very closely into his
+check-book to see if it would be possible to provide for the
+grandchild and at the same time satisfy the caprices of a beautiful
+young woman.
+
+Not long ago Prince Theobald had built a splendid palace in the
+Maximilian Strasse; it was destined for the Countess Angela, in the
+case that she agreed to her grandfather's wish as to her marriage. The
+palace was furnished with the utmost magnificence. The countess,
+however, had thought otherwise. She broke off her marriage with
+Sondersheim; she had good reasons, no doubt, but she need not have
+openly defied her grandfather. It was unwise of her so to do, for
+Evila was weaving her spell closer round the old man's heart, and
+Angela had best be prudent, and return speedily to Vienna, else the
+palace in the Maximilian Strasse will be presented, without a shadow
+of doubt, to Madame Kaulmann.
+
+Arpad's letters had made Ivan acquainted with the ins and outs of the
+whole affair; through them he had learned that the woman he had loved
+had become the wife of another man, and was likely to be the mistress
+of a third. The first blow he could bear with a certain resignation;
+he wished her all happiness; but that she should sink up to the neck
+in shame, led thither by the act of her own husband, was a bitter
+thought! No, that she should be saved from, if Ivan could compass her
+deliverance. For this end he remained in Pesth. Hence it seemed to him
+he could pull the strings of this complex drama, and defeat the
+conspiracy against Evila's honor; for this purpose he went into a
+world that he despised, affected a manner of life totally inconsistent
+with his ideas, and cultivated a friendship with the Countess Angela,
+that his influence might induce her to play the part of the good
+angel.
+
+Was he a fool to sacrifice his own feelings for a woman who had
+inflicted upon him the severest mortification a man can endure? Those
+whose hearts are dominated by cold prudence will judge his folly
+perhaps rightly; those who have hearts that feel for others will
+acknowledge that he did well in obeying its dictates, and from his own
+point of view, perhaps, he acted for his own ultimate advantage.
+
+If Prince Theobald is induced to consent to the lease of his property
+to the Bondavara Company, Ivan's little coal-mine is ruined. Good if
+he can, while working for another, help himself. A man of business is
+always a speculator; therefore we say to the warm-hearted and
+compassionate that Ivan acted a part to save Evila from shame, and to
+the cold-hearted and unfeeling that it was all in the way of business,
+to save, if he could, his little all from the monster company ready to
+devour it bodily.
+
+Arpad continued to send the photographs. They were of all kinds,
+tragic and comic. "Medea," with her murderous revenge and jealousy;
+the daughter of Herod, with her voluptuous dance to gain the saint's
+head; the cruelty of "Judith," the wild laughter of "Jeanne la Folle,"
+the devotion of a holy nun, the coquettish tricks of a _grisette_, a
+languid Creole, a supernatural "Will-o'-the-Wisp"--these were the
+principal representations in which Ivan found rather studied effort at
+catching an artistic effect than natural instinct or expression. This
+was the school of Madame Grissac, to whom Felix had intrusted Evila's
+education. Two portraits that came at the end produced upon Ivan a
+painful impression. One represented a mother by the cradle of her
+child, the other a peasant girl, a coal-carrier, with her hair plaited
+down her back, and a red frock tucked up above her ankles. It pained
+Ivan deeply that she should profane these two sacred subjects. Why
+take a mother's love to be made a vehicle to create an old man's
+admiration? And the girl with the red frock! Ah, that was
+unpardonable! He could not forgive her for having wounded him to the
+very heart.
+
+One day the artist wrote to Ivan--
+
+"My good patron, Felix Kaulmann, is an out-and-out scoundrel. Up to
+the present he generally attends the rehearsals when the prince is
+present. Yesterday Prince Theobald seemed quite excited, so much so
+that Kaulmann was struck by it. To his question the prince said that
+he was very happy. He had received a letter from his granddaughter,
+the Countess Angela. She wrote in the most friendly manner. She told
+him that she had met a certain Ivan Behrend, who had the courage to
+give her a regular scolding, and had told her to her face what was the
+duty of the Hungarian magnates towards their country, a duty in which
+they were wanting, and which Prince Theobald would fulfil if he left
+Vienna and came to reside in Pesth, in which case the countess would
+agree to a reconciliation. The old prince seemed so happy at the idea
+of seeing his child again! Kaulmann, however, looked very black,
+blacker still when the prince said he would consider the matter; but
+that, as the countess had taken a fancy to Pesth, he thought he would
+go there. Inwardly Felix gnashed his teeth with rage, outwardly he
+expressed great satisfaction that the countess had at last broken the
+ice; it was a good sign that she was getting tired of her obstinacy.
+But if he were in the prince's situation he would try and persuade the
+countess to come to Vienna, instead of going himself to Pesth. The
+prince listened to this suggestion; he fell into the trap, and will
+not go at once to Pesth, but will try to bring back the countess. In
+the meantime we are to have the two last rehearsals. The thirty-second
+is the representation of 'Julia Gonzaga,' whose story you will find in
+any library. The most interesting part of this scene is the toilette
+of the heroine, who appears in a night-dress made of muslin, with her
+feet naked. In spite of this rather risky costume the lady's virtue
+was irreproachable, for in her hand she held a dagger, and threatened
+to kill any one who ventured to look at her feet. As I wrote to you,
+Kaulmann has always been present at these rehearsals, but from this
+one of 'Julia Gonzaga' he is obliged to absent himself, as he has to
+go away for a few days. I believe that my office should be called
+_garde des dames_. As it happens, however, on this occasion I, too, am
+unavoidably prevented from being present. When I went home and showed
+mamma the enclosed photograph she shuddered, and positively forbade me
+to assist at a rehearsal in which a woman appeared in such a costume.
+I must plead illness or any other cause, but stay at home I must. I
+thought over several lies, but at last I decided that I would tell my
+gracious pupil the truth; so I did.
+
+"'Listen,' I said. 'My mother will not allow me to accompany you if
+you sing barefoot. If it is really the point of the piece that 'Julia'
+must present herself without stockings on her feet, then I must deny
+myself the pleasure of playing on the piano.'
+
+"The silly child laughed very much, and said she would get somebody
+else. She may do as she likes; I don't care. Mamma is perfectly right
+in forbidding me to go, and I think that I have done perfectly right
+to tell my pupil why I refuse to accompany her."
+
+This letter depressed Ivan. For a long time he looked at the
+photograph, considering it from every point of view. Evila in a dress
+the thin material of which showed every motion of her plastic limbs;
+in one hand she gathered the folds across her breast, her eyes had a
+murderous glare in their violet depths, her long and beautiful hair
+fell to her feet; in her right hand she pointed a dagger towards a
+motionless form which lay at her feet covered by a rug. This was the
+second time that Ivan had heard the story from a lady.
+
+The next day he received another letter from Arpad; he found it on his
+return from the first meeting with Salista.
+
+"Eveline," wrote the artist, "performed her tableau before the prince
+without the accompaniment of the piano and without the company of her
+husband. She looked so lovely that all the prince's good principles
+melted away like snow before the sun. He took her hand and kissed it;
+then the murderous look disappeared from her sweet eyes; she broke out
+into a ripple of laughter.
+
+"'Prince, do you not see that I have a knife in my hand?'
+
+"'I can take it from you.'
+
+"The young girl laughed again; and we all know how easy it is to take
+anything from a smiling woman.
+
+"At this moment there resounded through the room an echo of Eveline's
+laugh; that is to say, if you can call a frog's croak an echo of a
+nightingale's song. Out of the conservatory, which ornaments one side
+of the room, there came a crippled dwarf, who supported himself upon
+crutches. His long head was sunk between his high shoulders, and his
+white, satyr-like face was distorted by an odious grin as he dragged
+himself between the prince and his inamorata.
+
+"'Prince, we are not alone,' laughed Eveline, freeing her hand from
+the clasp of the astonished nobleman.
+
+"'In Heaven's name, who is this splendid specimen of a toad?' he
+cried, with an air of disgust.
+
+"'This is my only beloved little brother,' cried Eveline, putting her
+arms round the little monster, and covering him with kisses while she
+stroked his head. 'My dear, only little brother, my all, my dearest;
+my ugly, cross, quarrelsome little tyrant, who comes to me whenever he
+likes.'
+
+"'A horrible creature!' said the prince. 'The hobgoblins who kept
+watch over the gate of the Witch of Endor were cherubims as compared
+with this monster. I beg of you, Eveline, not to kiss his face, as it
+takes away forever the pleasure one would have in kissing so lovely a
+mouth.'
+
+"Eveline made no answer, but, suddenly turning away, she threw a
+burnoose round her shoulders, put her tiny feet into a pair of
+slippers, and said, demurely:
+
+"'Prince, the thirty-second rehearsal is over, and there only remains
+the thirty-third to complete the course.'
+
+"The prince asked what the title of this last should be, and Eveline
+whispered in his ear that he would know the next day but one.
+
+"'And how many more will know it?'
+
+"'No one but you.'
+
+"'Not this Caliban?'
+
+"'Certainly not.'
+
+"The prince took his leave in an ecstasy, firmly convinced that at the
+last representation he would have Eveline all to himself. Eveline
+needed a day to prepare herself.
+
+"The scene was repeated to me by the cripple, who likes me very much,
+and comes nearly every evening to share my supper; for although
+everything possible for his comfort is provided by Eveline, he is
+never happy unless he begs from some one. If he were a prince, I do
+believe the creature would get out of his carriage to ask for alms. He
+finds such a wonderful pleasure in begging. For a stick of
+sugar-barley he will tell me everything. What pleased him most was the
+prince's remark about his being a splendid specimen of a toad. He
+imitated for me how he crept out of the conservatory on his crutches,
+and how he laughed when he saw the gentleman wanted to take the knife
+from his sister. You will hear from me again the day after to-morrow."
+
+The day after to-morrow! These words to a man who might be lying stark
+and stiff by that time! They gave Ivan a sudden chill; but he said to
+himself he would not die easily, he would fight for his life.
+
+That night he dreamed a curious dream, in which he saw two "Julia
+Gonzagas," who both wanted to kill him, and yet he had deserved
+nothing but good at their hands.
+
+So goes the world!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+TWO POINTS
+
+
+A duel with swords has this distinct advantage over a duel with
+pistols: you need have no concealment concerning it; the day before it
+is spoken of as an interesting wager would be. In former times it
+happened rarely that a duel with swords had a fatal ending, and
+therefore it is surrounded with none of the mystery that attends the
+more serious affair; for the seconds, likewise, there is far less
+responsibility. If a principal gets severely hurt, the attending
+surgeon declares that the sufferer has not died of the wound, but that
+there was some trouble in the organism which would have probably
+killed him within the next forty-eight hours. And who, nowadays, would
+make a fuss over a man who was doomed to die in forty-eight hours?
+
+The duel which was to take place between the Marquis Salista and Ivan
+was spoken of at the club with indifference, as a thing that had a
+foregone conclusion. Salista spoke most of it himself, and at six
+o'clock the evening before stood at the chimney-piece and entertained
+a select group of friends, among whom were the four seconds, with his
+ideas on the subject.
+
+The golden youth of Pesth, being in the habit of having constant
+fencing-bouts at the different gymnasiums, know well who is the most
+skilful fencer, and are therefore able to predicate, accurately enough
+in many cases, what the result will be. Salista had the reputation of
+being a first-rate swordsman; he had already fought several duels, and
+always been the victor; he had one particular stroke, a master-stroke,
+which few fencers could parry; it was a quick thrust in the stomach,
+which, passing round the point of his adversary's sword, ripped up his
+abdomen. If the other intercepted the thrust, he was likely to get out
+of time, so that his face, being left uncovered, was exposed to a
+well-delivered thrust which would spoil his beauty, if it did not have
+more dangerous consequences. Some men would have felt that the
+circumstances connected with the preceding duel required explanation,
+that the refusal to stand your adversary's fire had a doubtful sound.
+For a similar offence others had been rigorously punished by having to
+leave Vienna for some weeks, and being sometimes kept in Coventry even
+longer. Salista was, however, a privileged person; his courage was not
+called in question. He was, moreover, a cool hand, and carried off his
+difficult position with the most astounding _aplomb_. As he now stood
+upon the rug he talked with a good deal of swagger as to what would
+happen on the morrow.
+
+"We shall see what stuff this Admirable Crichton is made of.
+Sword-exercise is not like pistol-shooting; there can be no
+mathematics. We will ask him how he construes the under-cut when the
+sabre takes his legs from under him."
+
+Count Geza rebuked the boaster. "You must remember," he said, "that
+Ivan acted towards you in the most chivalrous manner when he accepted
+the sword instead of the pistol, and you must also consider that he is
+a man of learning, very much thought of, and likely to be of service
+in his generation."
+
+"Very good. You needn't be afraid, I shall not kill him; I shall only
+slice a piece off his nose, that he may carry home a souvenir of
+Pesth. A scholar like him will not care if his beauty is spoiled;
+science is not sniffed up like snuff, and his nose is no use for
+looking through the telescope at the stars."
+
+Here Edmund interfered, and protested hotly against any injury being
+done to the nose of his principal. At last the marquis had to content
+himself with a slice off his ear; but Edmund still remonstrated.
+
+"You should be satisfied with a cut on his hand," he said; "the whole
+matter is not worth more."
+
+Count Stefan here made a suggestion in his quiet way.
+
+"My good Salista, what if this coal-heaver were to cut _you_ down?"
+
+"What!" blustered the marquis, standing with long legs apart in front
+of the chimney-piece. "To show you what I think of him, I will give
+him two points; I will let him have two cuts at me on my arm, and then
+I will cut him down. You shall see! You can make your bets. Who holds
+the wager?" So he went on boasting until the discussion came to an
+end. His last question was whether the seconds would be quick enough
+to interfere before he made a cripple of their great scholar.
+
+On the following day the two parties met. The large ball-room in the
+hotel had been thought the most suitable place, as it was generally
+hired for such occasions. The seconds had chalked the floor with
+pulverized chalk to prevent the combatants from slipping. In an
+adjoining room both the principals had to strip to the waist; then
+they were led into the room. There was no necessity to draw lots as to
+the placing of the men, as the room was panelled all round with
+looking-glasses. Before they were given the sabres the following
+conditions were read out:
+
+"First blood. Stabbing is not allowed."
+
+Salista protested. He would not hear of first blood. The duel should
+go on until one of the combatants declared himself no longer able to
+fight. Every one tried to persuade him to be more moderate, but he
+would not give in.
+
+"Give us the swords!" cried Ivan, out of all patience. "I am getting a
+chill, half-naked as I am."
+
+This interruption decided the matter. The paces were measured, the
+principals placed in position, and their swords handed to them.
+
+Both were naked to their waists. Salista exhibited Herculean muscles,
+Ivan had a well-developed form. He had certainly not so much flesh as
+his adversary, but was bony, had long arms, and a vaulted chest. The
+fight began in the usual manner. Both men held the points of their
+swords towards each other, had the left hand drawn back, and their
+heads protected by their arms. Now and again they crossed their swords
+dexterously, trying to find a place for a good thrust, and striking
+one another softly. Each stared into his adversary's eyes, seeking to
+read his intentions. Salista essayed to give his adversary a thrust
+which would injure his face. This was very difficult, for the face is
+always protected by the arm. Ivan, on his side, endeavored to give his
+opponent the double thrust. This requires extraordinary agility; but
+he succeeded. He tore the top muscle of Salista's right arm the whole
+way down. That this blow does not bleed at once is explained by the
+cellular texture of the muscles.
+
+"Forward!" cried Salista. "No blood!"
+
+He now gave up all efforts at injuring his adversary in the face, and
+resorted to his well-known trick, the belly-thrust, which is difficult
+to parry, and if it hits is often deadly in its effect. If it is not
+parried, the effect is certain; and if it is, the giver can, if he is
+a good swordsman, hit his adversary a terrible cut over the head. Ivan
+did not parry, good or bad. Salista had not forgotten that the
+duelling-sword is shorter than the cavalry practise-sword; but he
+forgot, or rather didn't know, that his adversary had arms of unusual
+length. This is, therefore, what happened. Ivan did not attempt to
+parry the belly-thrust; he raised his arm, and let the sword-point of
+his opponent pass at a distance of two lines over his body, while he
+aimed straight at the other's arm, cutting him crossways in the same
+place where he had before cut lengthways.
+
+These were the two points. Through this cross-cut the difference of
+strength between the two men was equalized. This last defeat filled
+Salista with fury. With the roar of a wild beast he threw himself upon
+his adversary, and with all his strength made two cuts at the head. He
+cut as a butcher cuts with his axe; it was a miracle that both swords
+didn't break in two, for, according to rule, Ivan received both
+thrusts upon the handle of his sword, and before the other could give
+him a third he gave him quickly a thrust in front with such strength
+and precision that it came with full force on the head and face of the
+marquis. It was lucky that the sword was light, otherwise he would
+have split his skull in two. Salista reeled under the blow, then
+raised his left arm to protect his head, tottered sideways, and fell
+down, supporting himself upon the handle of his sword. His seconds ran
+to him to raise him up and lead him away. Ivan stood with his
+sword-point lowered, his face apathetic, as if turned to marble. His
+seconds congratulated him.
+
+"Are the gentlemen content?" he asked.
+
+"I dare swear they are," returned Count Edmund. "Nothing could have
+turned out better; the affair is at an end."
+
+With these words they conducted Ivan into the next room to dress
+himself.
+
+When he returned to the hall he found that his adversary had recovered
+consciousness; the two doctors were with him, one binding up his head,
+the other his arm.
+
+According to the usual etiquette, Ivan went to him.
+
+"Forgive me, comrade," he said.
+
+Salista gave him his left hand, and said, cordially, "It is not worth
+talking about; but it was a splendid fight. The other two don't count,
+because I had said I would give you 'two points;' the third--ah, that
+was a cut! But I shall be all right in a week."
+
+Ivan asked the doctors if the wounds were dangerous, but Salista
+answered for them.
+
+"Soldier's luck," he said. "I have given similar cuts a hundred times;
+now it is my turn, and I don't complain. Only one thing troubles me.
+Neither arnica nor ice-bandages can do me any good; but _you_ who have
+caused this suffering can mitigate it. Confess, now, that you have
+been in the army."
+
+"Without doubt," returned Ivan. "During the War of Freedom I was
+lieutenant of hussars."
+
+"May the devil fetch you! Why didn't you tell us before? In what
+regiment did you serve?"
+
+"In the Wilhelm Hussars. Therefore I am the sole survivor and witness
+of that memorable exploit of yours, when you cut us to pieces."
+
+Everybody burst out laughing. No one laughed more than the wounded
+man. The doctors reminded him that he must not laugh, else the bandage
+over his face would get disturbed.
+
+"Very good," said Salista. "I shall laugh only on one side of my face.
+Comrade, God bless you! I shall not think any more of the cut now that
+I know it was the work of a soldier, and not of a civilian. Come, kiss
+me on the other cheek, the one you have left me whole and entire. So,
+my brother. I cannot give you my right hand, for you have given me a
+cross-cut there that will show a scar for many a day. It was
+first-rate, that cut, a regular hussar cut, and, therefore, I don't in
+the least mind it."
+
+And the combatants kissed one another.
+
+The next moment the wounds began to bleed afresh, and Salista fainted
+from loss of blood. Ivan held his head upon his knees while the
+doctors bound up the veins; then he helped to carry him to the
+carriage.
+
+Every one said, "What a capital fellow!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+GOOD-BYE
+
+
+The friends and acquaintances of both parties were assembled at Count
+Stefan's to hear the result of the duel. The seconds on both sides had
+promised to come and give the earliest news. All the _habitues_ of
+society were waiting; there was suppressed excitement; bets were made
+upon which should be wounded, and whether Salista would give a heavy
+wound or only a slight scratch to his adversary. Count Stefan had the
+courage to bet ten to one that Salista would get a scratch; he also
+risked "even money" that the marquis would be the only one wounded.
+That Ivan would escape with a whole skin no one else for an instant
+imagined. If they had done so they might have offered a hundred to
+one, and even at that no one of the party would have taken the bet.
+
+The outposts planted themselves at the windows, to be the first to see
+the carriage with the seconds. When a cab drove up, they shouted to
+the others:
+
+"Edmund and Geza have arrived!"
+
+"Then I have won my bet," said Count Stefan; "the seconds of the man
+who is least hurt get away first."
+
+Count Edmund went to the countess's apartment to let her know what had
+happened, while Geza ascended to Count Stefan's rooms. He rushed in
+with the triumphant air a victorious second should have.
+
+"He has put him to the sword."
+
+"Who? Who? Ivan? Salista?" cried the company, surrounding the
+messenger in their excitement.
+
+"Ivan has put the marquis."
+
+An "A-ah!" was the incredulous rejoinder of the others.
+
+"But I tell you he has," repeated the young count; "he has cut him
+into a jelly."
+
+"And Ivan?"
+
+"He is as untouched as I am."
+
+"Ah, you are making fun of us."
+
+"It is no subject for fun. Ask Salista."
+
+"But where is Ivan?"
+
+"He will be here immediately, and will convince the unbelievers, who
+will find no wounds into which they can poke their fingers. He went
+home with the doctors, for Salista had two, who have at last succeeded
+in stitching him together."
+
+Then he related to them circumstantially all that had happened. For
+those who did not clearly understand, he demonstrated with the help of
+two walking-sticks the course the duel took. He came to the
+double-cut.
+
+"In this way Ivan parried the stomach-thrust and gave the
+fore-cut--the final a _tempo contre coup_. The performer of these
+wonderful exploits had not even turned a hair."
+
+"Why, he is a miracle!"
+
+"No such thing," protested Count Geza. "He has been in the
+army--captain in the hussars." (He advanced him a grade, but captain
+sounds better than lieutenant.) "He fought all through the revolution;
+he was nineteen times in action, and fought with the Cossacks besides.
+He has also received a good-service medal."
+
+All this the count imagined might be the fact, although he had
+certainly not heard a word of such a history from Ivan. Once a man has
+scored one success, he is credited with twenty more.
+
+"Truly a wonderful man!" said Baron Oscar. "For three months he has
+been among us every day, and has never mentioned his soldiering
+experiences."
+
+"Now we have really landed him upon us, like a Sindbad that can never
+be shaken off," remarked Baron Edward. "We wanted to be rid of him,
+and instead we have raised him into the saddle. He will never
+dismount; he is saddled on us forever. No one would dare now to speak
+to him."
+
+"Good God of Saxony!" cried Baron Oscar, "how the man will carry his
+nose in the air! There will be no standing him, for the women will, of
+course, make the deuce of a fuss about him, and men must have a
+certain respect for him. _Sacre bleu!_ A man who can shoot and fence
+like this fellow! But I would bet anything that it was a mere
+accident."
+
+"I think quite the contrary," remarked Count Stefan, "and I very much
+fear that Ivan will leave us all cooling our heels here, and not show
+his face. He will never cross any of our thresholds again."
+
+"Oh, he wouldn't be such a confounded fool! I bet you a hundred to
+one."
+
+"First pay me the bet you have lost."
+
+Baron Oscar put his hand in his pocket, but before he drew out his
+pocket-book a happy thought struck him.
+
+"But how if Geza and his brother second were playing off a joke? They
+may have concocted this story. Perhaps the truth is that at the last
+moment the quarrel was made up and there was no duel, and that they
+have both come from a luncheon where no blood, but plenty of
+champagne, flowed."
+
+"If you don't believe me, then drive to Salista. My cab is at the
+door. Go and convince yourself."
+
+The baron rushed off. On the staircase he met Count Edmund coming up
+from the ladies. He asked where Oscar was rushing in such haste.
+
+"He doesn't believe Geza's story."
+
+"That is just the way the ladies have treated me; they won't believe
+me. They say, 'If nothing has happened to Ivan, where is he?' The
+Countess Theudelinde sheds tears like a river; she execrates us all,
+and declares we have killed her hero. The cuckoo only knows which of
+the two ladies is the most in love with him. Up to this I thought I
+knew, but now I am all in the dark."
+
+Baron Oscar returned at this moment. He didn't say a word, but took
+out his pocket-book and paid Count Stefan his bet. It was a very
+convincing answer.
+
+"Well, how is Salista?" asked several voices together.
+
+"He is terribly disfigured."
+
+On this every one took out their purses and paid their lost bets; they
+did it with very sour faces. If only Ritter Magnet had been
+disfigured!
+
+Just then Ivan was announced. The sour faces changed with marvellous
+rapidity into friendly smiles. He was greeted warmly; every one wanted
+to shake hands with him. He was the hero of the hour, but he looked
+tired and very serious. Count Stefan was the last to press his hand.
+
+"I rejoice," he said, "to see you uninjured."
+
+Two young fellows said to one another, "Old Stefan may very well
+rejoice; he has made a good thing of the handicap, and cleared us out
+jollily." But in spite of their losses, they, too, congratulated the
+victor.
+
+Every one seemed pleased except, perhaps, Ivan. "I thank you all," he
+said, in his grave voice, "for your warm sympathy; and I thank you,
+count, in particular, for your cordial reception, and for the
+friendship which you have accorded to me. I shall always preserve a
+grateful remembrance of your kindness. I beg of you to bear me
+likewise in your recollection, for I have come now to take leave. I am
+returning to my home to-morrow."
+
+The count winked with his left eye at Baron Oscar, as who should say,
+"Did I not tell you so?" But he spoke no word to induce Ivan to
+rescind his resolution. He pressed his hand warmly as he said:
+
+"Be assured that I have a sincere esteem for you, and wherever we may
+meet again always consider me as an old friend. God bless you!"
+
+Baron Oscar made much more fuss. He held Ivan with both hands on his
+arm.
+
+"My dear friend, we cannot allow this. Such a good fellow as you have
+proved yourself to be cannot slip away from us in this manner--just at
+the moment, too, when you are going to be the lion of the season. You
+sha'n't escape; you belong to us."
+
+Ivan laughed; gentle sarcasm, half pain, half irony, totally unmixed
+with bitterness, was in the laugh. Then he answered this burst of
+friendship:
+
+"I thank you, comrade, for the honor you do me, but I am not fit to be
+Governor of Barataria; it is far better for me to be at home. I go to
+get my 'grison' saddled, and I ride away."
+
+(Any one who is conversant with "Don Quixote" will remember the skit
+upon the island of Barataria, and the affecting meeting between the
+ass and his master.)
+
+When he had finished speaking, Ivan made a deep bow to the company
+and left the room. Count Stefan followed him, and, in spite of his
+protestations, accompanied him down the stairs to Theudelinde's door.
+He was much moved by Ivan's last words.
+
+When he returned he found the entire company still in a very
+uncomfortable frame of mind, discussing the scene that had just
+happened with much annoyance.
+
+"Who has told him the joke about the island of Barataria?" asked Baron
+Oscar.
+
+Each one gave his word of honor that he had not betrayed confidence.
+
+"Then may the devil fly away with me if I don't believe it was the
+abbe."
+
+But Count Stefan shook his head. "No, my friends," he said, "believe
+me, no one has told Behrend anything. He is a man of acute
+penetration, and he has read you like a book without appearing to take
+notice."
+
+Geza, however, swore that the priest had blabbed.
+
+We swear to nothing, but think it right to mention that a few days
+previous the Abbe Samuel had received a letter from Vienna with the
+words, "What are you about? You are ruining the whole thing. That ass
+Behrend is bringing about a reconciliation between the countess and
+the old prince. Get him out of Pesth, for he is working dead against
+us.--FELIX."
+
+"At all events, we have pleased my pretty cousin," remarked Count
+Edmund. "She wanted him to be sent about his business, and we have
+done it."
+
+"Oh, is that so?" And Count Stefan smiled sardonically. "_Cherchez la
+femme_, as Talleyrand said. But I know the dear, capricious sex. When
+Ivan tells the ladies down-stairs that he is leaving, there will be a
+reaction, and your pretty cousin will cry out, 'Then we shall go
+together!'"
+
+The others laughed incredulously; only Edmund assumed the air of
+Pontius Pilate.
+
+"I should not be surprised," he said. "_Enfin_, there would be nothing
+disgraceful in the affair. The fellow is a gentleman; he was a
+soldier, and is of good birth. His land joins the Bondavara property;
+his income is something under two hundred thousand florins. Angela is
+heiress to twenty millions; but then, if our well-beloved uncle,
+Prince Theobald, lives another ten years and carries on as he is
+doing, it may result that Ivan and Angela may be on the same platform
+as regards their fortunes. So far as rank is in question, if the
+government continues to play the game they are playing with our rights
+and privileges, and if under the new parliamentary _regime_ the
+peasant's coat is to ascend the tribune, then I shall ask to be
+_raised_ to the peasantry."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Countesses Theudelinde and Angela received Ivan in their private
+sitting-room--a mark of close intimacy. He came in with a constrained
+air; his face was pale, and the emotion he could not suppress gave
+softness to his usually stern expression. Theudelinde came to meet him
+with outstretched hands. When she drew near she took his in her clasp,
+and pressed his fingers warmly. Her lips trembled, and with difficulty
+she kept the tears which filled her eyes from coursing down her
+cheeks. She could not speak, but simply nodded to Ivan to take his
+place before a small table, upon which a splendid bouquet stood.
+Theudelinde sat on the sofa, Angela beside her. The young countess was
+simply dressed; she had not even a flower in her hair. She was grave,
+and hardly raised her eyes to Ivan.
+
+It was Theudelinde who broke the rather embarrassing silence.
+
+"We have been in terrible trouble about you," she said. "You cannot
+imagine what tortures of anxiety we have gone through during these two
+days."
+
+Angela's eyes were on the carpet; she was included in the "we."
+
+"I cannot forgive myself, countess, for the share I have had in
+causing you pain. I can only do penance for my fault, and to-morrow I
+am going into banishment at Bondathal."
+
+"Ah!" Theudelinde's voice expressed surprise. "You are going to leave
+us? What are you going to do in Bondathal?"
+
+"I will return to my business, which I have too long neglected."
+
+"And do you like to live in Bondathal?"
+
+"I am tranquil there."
+
+"Have you relatives?"
+
+"I have none."
+
+"You have a household?"
+
+"So far as I can, I do everything for myself."
+
+"You have surely friends and acquaintances who form a pleasant circle
+around you?"
+
+"I have only my workmen and my machines."
+
+"You live there a hermit's life?"
+
+"No, countess, for a hermit lives alone, while I have my books and my
+work; I am never alone."
+
+The countess's face assumed almost a solemn expression.
+
+"Herr von Behrend, give me your hand, and stay here."
+
+Ivan got up, and bowed low before her. "The kind feeling which has
+prompted your words, as well as the honor you have done me, shall
+never be forgotten by me. It is a proof to me of your great goodness,
+and I beg of you to accept my heartfelt thanks."
+
+"Then you will remain? How long?"
+
+"Until to-morrow morning."
+
+"Ah," cried the countess, with a petulant air, "when I ask you to
+stay!"
+
+Her disappointment was so transparent, her annoyance so sincere, that
+it was impossible not to feel sorry for her. Theudelinde looked at
+Angela as if she expected her to come to her help; but Angela never
+raised her eyes, shaded by their long lashes, while her fingers
+plucked nervously at the petals of a marguerite, as if she were
+consulting that well-known oracle.
+
+"Countess," said Ivan, still standing, and with his hand on the back
+of his chair, "when I answer a friendly invitation such as yours with
+an apparently uncivil refusal to remain, as you so kindly wish me to
+do, I feel that it is incumbent on me to give you my true reason for
+withdrawing myself from your society. I cannot say to you what I would
+to a mere acquaintance; I cannot make such excuses as 'that I have
+business at home; that I have been too long here; that I shall return
+soon.' To you I must confess that I go away because no inducement
+would prevail on me to remain, and that when I go I mean never to
+return. Countess, this is not my world; here I _could_ not live. I
+have spent three months here; I have been a daily guest in the best
+circles; I have lived with members of the highest and most cultivated
+society, have studied closely their manner of life. I quite agree that
+these people have every right to live in what manner they choose; but
+I, who have been accustomed to a totally different manner of life, who
+have been taught to consider existence from a different point of view,
+to reverence the higher aims and obey its finer instincts, _I_ should
+be acting a lie and violating my own principles were I to remain in
+such an atmosphere and live after such a fashion. Here, in this
+exalted rank, you are all solitary rings, while we in the lower order
+hang together as links of one chain. You are totally independent one
+of the other, therefore you follow each one his own inclinations. With
+us the pressure of life knits us more closely together, and we call
+egotism and generosity by different names from what you do. I am,
+therefore, not fit for your circle. I am ashamed to be haughty towards
+those upon whom you look down, and I cannot bend before those whom you
+delight to honor. I do not recognize the gods whom you adore, neither
+can I mock at _my_ God, and ignore Him as you do. In this world of
+yours there is a malicious demon who transforms all that is good in
+man's nature, and who prompts him to laugh and deny every inclination
+to virtue. Who tells his friend or neighbor the truth to his face, and
+who cares for any one who is not present? Dear friends race together
+over hill and dale; but suppose one makes a false step and breaks his
+neck, good-bye to him, the dear friend is gone. Another does not break
+his neck in the race, but he dissipates all his fortune; those who are
+running with him never say to him, 'Step out of the course; you are
+going to the bottom.' All at once he stumbles, and his fortune and the
+honors of his ancestors lie tumbled in the dust. Good-bye to him; his
+name is struck out of the club-list; that dear friend is no more. It
+is true we knew yesterday and the day before yesterday that he would
+surely get a bad fall, but no one else knew of it, so we rode with our
+dear friend to the last. Now all the world is aware of his tumble in
+the dust, therefore we know him no more. If any one wishes to go on
+his own way, and live a rational life to himself, oh, then, he is a
+coward, a miser, a carpet knight! And how do the women fare in this
+world of yours? What about domestic life, and the sweet joys of the
+home? What tragedies are enacted inside those splendid mansions, and
+outside what fun is made of them by friends and acquaintances! What
+refinement in sin! what idolatry of false joys! And when these are
+over, what _ennui_ of life, what endless weariness! No, countess, this
+life is not for me. I should be poisoned in such an atmosphere. You
+can bear it, you grace it by your presence; but for me, I should go
+mad were I to remain. Therefore I go, and all that is now left is to
+ask your forgiveness for my bold words. I acknowledge my indiscretion;
+I have spoken bitterly of society, and yet I stand on its parquet
+floor. I have been ungrateful; I have given expression to my
+antipathies in the presence of those who have shown tolerance towards
+my faults and my awkward manners; who have accompanied me to the door
+of the circle where I have often played a ridiculous part, and,
+notwithstanding, have never been laughed at before my face. But,
+countess, the words I have uttered I have felt, so to speak,
+constrained by your goodness to say. You have, with extraordinary
+kindness, asked me to remain, and I would prove to you that I am
+forced to leave by a power stronger than myself."
+
+During Ivan's rather lengthy address Countess Theudelinde had risen to
+her feet. Her eyes began to light up, her face to wear a glorified
+expression, her lips to move as if she repeated each word he said; and
+when he had spoken the concluding sentence she seized both his hands,
+while she stammered out:
+
+"You speak the truth--the truth--nothing but the truth; you speak as I
+spoke forty years ago, when _I_ left the world as you are doing now!
+The world is ever the same; it does not change." Here she wrung her
+hands passionately. "Go home," she sobbed out; "go back to your
+solitude, hide yourself under the earth, conceal yourself in your
+mine, God will be with you wherever you are--everywhere! God bless
+you! God bless you!"
+
+She did not remark that Angela had also risen from her seat, and as
+Ivan took his leave she made a step forward, and said, in a firm,
+decided voice:
+
+"If you go away, you do not go alone, for I shall go with you." Her
+whole face glowed as she spoke these words.
+
+Ivan was master of the situation. Standing upon this giddy height, he
+did not for that reason lose his balance. With wonderful presence of
+mind he answered the excited girl:
+
+"You will do well, countess. To-morrow is your grandfather's birthday,
+and early to-morrow you can be with him. He is ready to clasp you in
+his arms."
+
+Angela grew white as a marble statue. She sank back in her armchair,
+the leaves she had plucked from the flower lay scattered at her feet.
+Ivan bowed to her respectfully, kissed the hand of Countess
+Theudelinde, and quitted the room.
+
+Ah, there are men who never forget their first and only love!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Not long after Ivan had left, Count Edmund dropped in to see the
+ladies. He appeared to come by accident, but he was dying with
+curiosity. Countess Angela was more amiable than usual. When he was
+leaving, she said to her cousin:
+
+"Go to Salista, and tell him that I have inquired for him."
+
+Count Edmund was courtier enough to conceal the astonishment he most
+certainly felt, but as he went down the stairs he began to hum
+Figaro's song from the _Barber of Seville_:
+
+   "The falseness of women
+    One never can know,
+    One never can know!"
+
+Countess Angela wrote that same evening to her grandfather. Ivan was
+right in saying the next day was his birthday, and this was her
+birthday greeting:
+
+"I am not coming home. Adieu."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+For two days every one in Pesth spoke of Ivan and his duel with
+Salista; the third day he was forgotten. Good-bye to him!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE LAST REHEARSAL
+
+
+On the morning of his birthday Prince Theobald received a letter. It
+was from his only grandchild, and ended with the word "Adieu."
+
+The prince's birthday had been always a festival. From Angela's
+childhood up to the last anniversary of the day she had each year
+given him a remembrance. On this day it had been a bitter gift.
+
+Among his treasures the old man kept a particular casket, handsomely
+fitted with gold mountings, in which he preserved these birthday
+offerings. There was the wreath Angela had given him when she was nine
+years old; the scrawl she had written in her childish handwriting on a
+sheet of Bristol-board; the bit of embroidery, worked in pearls and
+gold, which later she had done for him with her own hand. To these
+gifts the prince, with a deep sigh, added her last letter, with its
+cold farewell.
+
+Prince Theobald was easily moved to anger, while his heart was
+sensitive to affection. When he reflected calmly he found he had every
+right to exact obedience from his granddaughter. Angela owed a duty to
+him, to his position, to the princely house from which she sprang. If,
+indeed, her heart stood in the way of agreeing to his wishes, one
+might, perhaps, excuse her; but Angela, he knew, loved no one. Why,
+therefore, should she seek to defy him for a mere foolish whim?
+Prince Theobald went to Eveline's last rehearsal with his mind in a
+tumult of annoyance and excitement; his blood circulated wildly. He
+could send a strange answer to her farewell. Yes, and he would!
+
+When he reached Eveline's house the servant admitted him as a favored
+_habitue_, without a word, and left him in the drawing-room while he
+went to announce him to his mistress. The prince looked round him; it
+was the room where Eveline usually gave her representations. The
+rose-colored curtains were drawn, one corner was filled with
+greenhouse exotics, the air was perfumed with the scent of the
+flowers. In another corner two turtle-doves cooed melodiously, while
+from behind a little _bosquet_ a nightingale sang its soft stave of
+love, sorrow, and triumph. One could hardly imagine one's self in an
+ordinary drawing-room; it was more like the throne of a nymph, or
+fairy, in the depth of a wood.
+
+The prince seated himself upon a sofa, and, taking up an album which
+lay upon the table, he turned over the leaves. It was a collection of
+photographs of Eveline in her different parts. He went through it from
+cover to cover, examining each tempting and seductive portrait
+carefully, and as he did so there rose before his memory the casket in
+which Angela's letters and embroidery were preserved. His thoughts
+were so absorbed in these recollections that, with a start, he found
+himself at the last page in the book before him. He roused himself to
+look at the beautiful figure in a common stuff frock. How captivating,
+how simple, how lovely!
+
+The nightingale sang, the doves cooed, the air grew heavy with the
+scent of the pomegranates. The prince wondered in what form of
+enchantment would his hostess appear. And now there fell on his ear,
+coming from a distance, a forgotten tune. Once he had heard it, long
+ago; but the air he remembered. It moved him strangely. It was a
+simple volkslied, the same with which the nurse was wont to rock the
+cradle of Angela when she was a baby--a Slav tune. The text was
+unknown to him.
+
+After a few minutes the song ceased, the door of Eveline's
+dressing-room opened, and she came in--and how? In what new and
+captivating costume did she appear?
+
+She wore a simple white-and-black dress of crape cloth; her hair was
+smoothly combed back from her young face, and hung down in a long
+plait; a white lace collar was round her throat.
+
+Softly, modestly, and yet with the confidence of a child, she drew
+near to the prince, and when she was close to him she handed him a
+little sachet of white satin, upon which was embroidered the kneeling
+figure of a child. Then raising her eyes, full of tears, to his face,
+she said, in a low voice, which trembled with emotion:
+
+"My lord, will you accept this little birthday gift from me? May
+Heaven preserve your days."
+
+This scene was so devoid of all acting, it was so full of feeling and
+sincerity, that Prince Theobald, thrown off his guard, forgot himself,
+and, instead of the formal "madame," said:
+
+"My child--"
+
+At these words the young girl, sobbing wildly, threw herself into his
+arms.
+
+"Oh, prince," she cried, "do not recall those words; call me your
+child. There is on this earth no creature more desolate, more unhappy
+than I am."
+
+Prince Theobald laid, his hand kindly upon the fair head of the
+sobbing girl and kissed her gently on the forehead.
+
+"Be it so," he said. "Look up and smile, Eveline. I am in earnest. You
+are almost a child, and you shall be one to me. I will be your
+father--no, your grandfather. Fathers love their children sometimes,
+but not always; but grandfathers never fail in loving their
+grandchildren. You shall be my little granddaughter. When I am sad you
+will cheer me with your gay chatter; you will read or sing to me when
+I cannot sleep; you will care for me and nurse me when I am ill. I
+shall adopt you as my child. I shall take care of you, and provide you
+with all that you want. In return you will obey me; you will listen to
+me; you will bear with an old man's whims and his petulant temper; you
+will try and please me. I promise you that you shall be treated well.
+You shall be mistress over all that I have; you shall have everything
+suitable to the position of my daughter; but I must exact the
+obedience of a child."
+
+Eveline answered by kissing her benefactor's hand.
+
+"Are you pleased at my proposal? Do you think you will be happy?"
+
+Eveline laughed in childish delight. She danced about the room in her
+joy, and fell down at the prince's feet, crying out:
+
+"Oh, my dear, dear grandpapa!"
+
+Prince Theobald threw himself back on the sofa and burst into a harsh,
+bitter laugh.
+
+Eveline drew back, hurt and frightened by the horrid discord in the
+laugh.
+
+"I am not laughing at you, my dear," said the prince, kindly. "Come,
+my pretty granddaughter, and sit beside me." (He had laughed at the
+answer he could now make to Angela's farewell.) He stroked Eveline's
+hair tenderly. "Now we must talk seriously. Listen to what I have to
+say, for my words are commands. In _our_ family there is only one
+master, whom all obey. First of all, there is your husband to be
+considered. It seems to me he takes the responsibilities of his
+position lightly. Still, he must give his consent to my adoption of
+you. I don't apprehend, however, any difficulty in obtaining it; you
+may leave that to me. After that you will take up your residence in my
+palace in the Maximilian Strasse. It shall be yours on one
+condition--that you receive no visitors without previously consulting
+me. Kaulmann is included in this condition. You must have no
+intercourse with him, except on matters of business. Will it pain you
+to be separated from him?"
+
+"I could not be pained by that. We have always lived apart."
+
+The prince pressed her hand kindly. "Poor child!" he said. "Your
+husband is a scoundrel. He has treated you as one of his speculations,
+and has attained his end. One thing, however, you receive from
+him--his name. He cannot take that from you. By-and-by you will learn
+what an inestimable advantage it is to a woman to bear her husband's
+name. It is a passport; but I do not think Kaulmann meant it in that
+light. Well, let us talk no more of him, but of your future. I shall
+procure for you an engagement at the Opera-house. You must have a
+certain position before the world, by whom the secret tie between us
+would not be understood. The title of actress is like the mantle of a
+queen; it gives you the _entree_ to the _salons_ of a certain artistic
+world. Your future shall be my care. You have talent; if you study you
+will succeed. You must rise to the head of your profession, so that
+when I die you will be able to support yourself."
+
+"If I could only get over my stage-fright!" said Eveline, sadly.
+
+"You will when you get accustomed to the footlights. You will learn by
+experience that in this world, and especially on the stage, every one
+is taken at his own valuation. Any one who makes little of himself
+goes cheap. Above all, you must be most careful how you choose your
+friends. This is important, and on this point you must allow me to
+judge for you. If you feel a preference for any one person you must
+tell me with frankness, and I shall know whether it will be a safe
+friendship for you."
+
+"Oh, prince," cried Eveline, "I shall be guided in all things by you!"
+
+"My child, do not promise too much. Engagements made in a moment of
+enthusiasm or sentiment are speedily forgotten; but there is one
+promise I would have from you. There is one man whom you must give
+your word to me that you will _never_ receive--that you will never
+break the seal of a letter that comes from him; that you will never
+accept a present from him, never take up a bouquet he may throw you,
+never notice his applause. This man must not exist for you; you must
+take as little notice of him as if he were a crossing-sweeper. This
+man is Prince Waldemar."
+
+"Oh, sir, I already hate him. I shudder at his approach."
+
+"I am glad to hear it. He deserves every good woman's hatred; but he
+is rich, young, handsome. He raves of you. Women are flattered by the
+love of such as he; and circumstances may arise to alter your ideas.
+Wealth has a wonderful attraction, and poverty is a great temptation.
+The time must come when I shall no longer be here. You must swear to
+me that when I am dead or removed from you you will keep your oath to
+accept nothing from Prince Waldemar."
+
+"I swear it to you by what is most sacred--the memory of my dead
+mother."
+
+"Now allow me to kiss your forehead. I am going to Kaulmann to make
+the necessary arrangements. I thank you for your remembrance of my
+birthday. Your little present has made me rich. I came here in a very
+perturbed state of mind; I go away with a tranquil heart. I shall
+always be grateful to you. God bless you!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Some days later Eveline removed to Prince Theobald's palace in the
+Maximilian Strasse, where she was surrounded by every splendor and
+luxury.
+
+The world supposed--and we must acknowledge there was reason for the
+supposition--that Kaulmann's wife was the Prince's mistress. The
+prince imagined that he would frighten the Countess Angela and bring
+her to reason, and Eveline thought she was fulfilling her duty as a
+wife when she obeyed her contemptible husband by sacrificing her good
+name to further his ambitious schemes.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At this time, and as the result of Eveline's obedience, the
+Joint-Stock Mining Company received the assent of Prince Theobald
+Bondavary to the contract already signed by his sister, Countess
+Theudelinde.
+
+And in this manner the Bondavara property passed away from the last
+two possessors. If Countess Angela had followed Ivan Behrend's advice
+this would not have happened, and the property would have been hers.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Why was the Countess Angela so obstinate? Why did she behave so
+foolishly as regarded her own interests, so ungratefully towards her
+kind grandfather? A word must be said in her defence. This Prince
+Sondersheim, whom Prince Theobald wished his granddaughter to take as
+her husband, was the same Prince Waldemar of whom mention has already
+been made. Prince Theobald knew his character well. We have heard what
+he said to Eveline. The world had the worst opinion of him, and Angela
+knew what the world thought of her future husband.
+
+Was it any wonder she refused to give herself to such a man? Could she
+act otherwise than she did? Women are the best judges on this point.
+Men cannot witness against themselves.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+FINANCIAL WISDOM
+
+
+The Bondavara Joint-Stock Company was about to issue its prospectus;
+the speculation had been advertised largely, and now it only waited
+the necessary capital of ten millions to start the railway which was
+to put the finest coal-mines in the kingdom within the reach of the
+markets of the great cities. The speculation did not, however, attract
+the public. Who knows about the value of the mine? said one. Who
+believes what the papers say? We all know that trick. The gudgeons
+held off, and did not rise to the bait offered.
+
+One day Felix Kaulmann brought one of the directors to see Ivan
+Behrend, and while these two were in conversation he noticed, lying on
+the table, a piece of coal from the Bondavara mine, upon which was
+distinctly visible the outline of a plant about the size of a finger.
+
+"Is this the impression of an antediluvian bird's claw?" he asked.
+
+"No," returned Ivan; "it is a petrified plant."
+
+"Ah, I am making a collection of petrifactions."
+
+"Then take that to add to it," said Ivan, carelessly.
+
+Felix carried away the piece of coal in his pocket.
+
+Shortly before the prospectus was issued there appeared in one of the
+best-known scientific journals an illustration and article descriptive
+of the petrified _bird's foot_ which had been found in the Bondavara
+mine. The article was signed "Doctor Felicius."
+
+All the _savants_ were excited. "We must see this impression!" they
+cried.
+
+The discoverer had given to the creature, whose foot-mark had remained
+unalterably impressed upon the tender (!) coal, the learned name of
+_Protornithos lithanthracoides_.
+
+"Ho, ho!" exclaimed the united bodies of geologists, physiologists,
+professors, philosophers, artisans, and artesian-well borers, "that is
+indeed a long word!"
+
+One set of learned men declared the thing to be possible, another
+denied its possibility.
+
+And why was it not possible? Because at the period of coal-formations
+neither birds nor any one of the mammalia could exist, or did exist,
+in the bowels of the earth. There we find only traces of plants, of
+mussels, of fish sometimes.
+
+And why is it credible? Because in these days we make discoveries
+every day. Humboldt declared that in the antediluvian world no apes
+had ever lived, for the reason that the fossil of an ape had never
+been found. Since then one fossil ape has been discovered in England,
+in France three of the Ourang species.
+
+By degrees the strife raged in every newspaper; it was taken up in
+English, French, German, and American publications. At last it was
+proposed that the matter should be referred to a commission of five
+well-known professors, to whom the petrifaction should be submitted,
+and who should decide the question in dispute. Doctor Felicius offered
+one thousand ducats to the one who would prove that his bird's claw
+was not a bird's claw.
+
+The tribunal of the five learned judges examined the petrifaction
+with microscopical attention, and after a long sitting brought in a
+unanimous verdict that the impression was not made by the claw of a
+Protornithos, but was that of a leaf belonging to the plant _Annularia
+longefolia_; in fact, there could be no question of the bird species,
+as the specimen of coal produced was not brown coal, but the _purest_
+black, in which coal formation it was not possible for even a bird to
+exist.
+
+Doctor Felix Kaulmann quietly paid the thousand ducats, and thanked
+the whole republic of professors for the service they had rendered to
+the Bondavara coal; such an advertisement could not have been obtained
+at an expense of forty thousand ducats. Let people say that the
+Protornithos was a humbug--who cares? The reputation of the Bondavara
+coal was firmly established on the best scientific grounds.
+
+The period had now arrived when the undertaking should be floated at
+the exchange. This, perhaps, is the greatest science on earth. The
+stock-exchange has its good and its bad days. Sometimes it is full of
+electricity, the sheep frolic in the meadow; at other times they hang
+their heads and will not touch the beautiful grass. Sometimes they
+come bleating to the shepherd to beg that he will shear them, for
+their wool presses too heavily on them; another day they butt their
+heads together and will not listen to their leader. Again, and no one
+can tell why, when the bell-wether begins to run, all the rest of the
+flock run after him; neither the shepherd nor his dog can stop them.
+The science lies in knowing when there is good weather on the
+stock-exchange. On a favorable day men are in such excellent
+humor--there is so much gold in every pocket, everything goes
+well--that even a company for the excavation and alienation of the
+icebergs would find bidders. On a bad day the best and safest
+speculation would get not a single offer.
+
+It was on one of the good days that the Bondavara Coal Company made
+its _debut_ at the Vienna Stock-exchange. It caught on, and by the day
+on which the subscriptions should be paid into the Bank of Kaulmann
+came round it was necessary to have a military cordon drawn across the
+street, to allow the stream of people to pass through in any sort of
+order. The subscribers had, in fact, collected before the doors early
+in the morning; those who were strong trusted to their own strength to
+make way for themselves by elbow force. In the crush battered hats and
+torn coats were matters of small consequence; verbal insults and
+personal injuries, such as pushing and squeezing, were treated as
+nothing. The windows of the bank which looked on the street were burst
+open, and some excited individual called out:
+
+"I subscribe ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million!"
+
+When at last six o'clock struck, and the doors of the bank were
+closed, a stentorian voice called from the balcony to the crowd below:
+
+"The subscription is closed!"
+
+What a disappointment for those who had not been able to get their
+money in in time! They went away dejected men.
+
+The Bondavara mine had indeed "caught on." Instead of ten millions,
+eight hundred and twenty thousand millions had been subscribed. Did
+the subscribers really possess all that money? Certainly not. Each one
+deposited the tenth portion of the sum subscribed as a guarantee, and
+this only on paper; actual money the company did not as yet touch.
+Those who made part of the vast crowd, who tore the coats from one
+another's backs, were not blessed with a superfluity of money, neither
+had they the slightest interest in the production of coal, but to-day
+it is fine weather on the exchange; the Bondavara Company's bonds
+stand at par. Every one wanted to make this small profit; that done
+they care no more for the bonds or the company.
+
+It is, however, a fact that trees do not grow in heaven. Prince
+Waldemar was at the head of the countermine, and he was one of the
+cleverest, most astute men "on 'change."
+
+To understand the business the reader should be himself a speculator.
+It is carried on something after this fashion. Those who want to buy
+in are oftentimes men of straw; they merely want shares to sell them
+at once to the first bidder. As a natural consequence, this lowers the
+value; there is a fall, sometimes a total collapse. If the investment
+is a sound one it recovers vitality, and the shares go up again. There
+is, however, a way to guard against this trick. Almost every company
+has a syndicate, whose office is to ascertain whether the applicants
+for shares are men of straw or not. Pending the inquiry, the time is
+made use of to employ certain agents, to whom a free gift is made of,
+say, five hundred shares. These men immediately set up a tremendous
+uproar; they drive up the shares, they tear the certificates out of
+one another's hands, screaming out the high rate at which they are
+buying. But the general market sees no shares pass; the experienced
+ones know that this is all a well-acted farce, and that any one who
+has ready-money need only go to the fountain-head and buy as many
+shares as he wants at par. On the other hand, the bears are waiting
+their time to rush in and cause such a depreciation as will run down
+the shares to almost nothing. When they have got them at this low
+figure they may allow them to rise again.
+
+The only one who loses in this cruel game is the small capitalist, who
+has ventured, poor soul, on ice, and who has sacrificed his little all
+at the shrine of the golden calf, taken his carefully hoarded store,
+his hard-earned salary out of his drawer, and has cast it upon these
+unprofitable waters, tempted by the tales of high interest, and the
+like. All of a sudden the bears have rushed in, the mine has exploded,
+his hopes are blown into air, vanished like a dream; his shares are so
+much waste-paper. He goes home certainly a sadder if not a wiser man.
+Well for him if he is not a beggar. This is how they manage matters on
+the stock-exchange.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+FILTHY LUCRE
+
+
+In the town of X---- there is a street called Greek Street. It is a
+circle, or crescent, of pretty houses, which at one time were erected
+and peopled by Greek merchants. In the middle of the street stands a
+church with a facade of marble and a splendid gilt tower, whose bells
+are the most tuneful in the whole town. It is said that when those
+bells were cast the Greeks threw, with both hands, silver coins into
+the liquid metal.
+
+Old Francis Csanta was now the last of the race. Once he had been a
+jovial fellow, a careless, free liver, towards ladies a gallant
+cavalier, among men a desperate gambler. With years he became silent,
+moody, miserly, avoided the company of his fellow man or woman, and
+was a hater of music and all pleasure. The more he indulged in
+solitude the worse his peculiarities grew. So soon as one of his
+former friends, or relations, or boon companions died, he bought the
+house in which they had lived. By degrees the whole street belonged to
+him; only one house remained, and that next door to his own. This had
+been occupied by a connection of his who had left one daughter.
+Strangely enough, she had not followed the general custom of celibacy,
+but had married, and was the wife of a music-master, who enjoyed the
+Magyar name of Belenyi. This pair had in due course a son born to
+them, to whom they gave the name of Arpad.
+
+This vexed old Csanta sorely. Why should the last remaining Greek girl
+have married--above all, married a music-master? Why should there be a
+son? Why should that son be baptized Arpad? And why should these
+annoying circumstances take place under his very nose? The house, too,
+was an offence; the only house in the street that did not belong to
+him. The church was his; no one went in except himself; the clergyman
+said mass for him only. He was the patron, the congregation, the
+curator, the vestryman, the supporter; he filled every office; he was
+everything. When he was dead the church would be closed, the grass
+would grow upon the threshold.
+
+The generation in the next house showed no sign of dying; the boy
+Arpad was as lively as an eel. At the age of five he threw his ball
+over the roof, and it fell into the old Greek's garden, who there and
+then confiscated it. The lad gave him much more annoyance.
+
+About this time evil days came to the country. The Hungarians and the
+Austrians killed one another. The reason of their so doing is hard to
+find. Historians of the present day say that it was all child's play,
+and that the cause lay in the refusal of the Hungarian sepoys--who are
+Mohammedans--to bite off cartridges which had been prepared with the
+fat of swine--the German method. Or did this happen in India? Nowadays
+it is all uncertain; mostly what is known about it comes through the
+songs of the poets, and who believes them?
+
+What interests us in this old story is that it has to do with Ivan
+Behrend, and how he came to dwell in the Belenyi's house. It so
+happened that he was one of the regiment who repulsed an assault on
+the town, and in consequence he was billeted on the music-master and
+his wife. He was well liked. He was young then, and had good spirits.
+One day the poor musician, coming home through the streets, was struck
+by a shell, and brought into his house dead. Such things happen
+occasionally in time of war. Little Arpad was an orphan, and then it
+was that Ivan adopted him as his son. A short time after this Ivan
+laid down his arms and retired into private life. Why he did so, and
+where he went, is quite immaterial. Before he went Ivan gave the widow
+Belenyi all the gold he had with him, so that with this money Arpad's
+musical education might be paid for. He did not care for the gold, and
+he could not have employed it better. If he had taken it with him, who
+knows into what worthless hands it would have fallen?
+
+He hadn't been long gone when a Hungarian government official stood in
+the market-place of X----, and, to the accompaniment of much drumming,
+gave out the government order that all German bank-notes should be
+brought to the great square, and there made into a funeral-pile and
+set fire to. Any one refusing to obey this order should be dealt with
+accordingly. Every one knew what this meant, and all who didn't wish
+_to be dealt with_ hastened to bring their bank-notes, which were then
+and there burned.
+
+The widow Belenyi had her little savings, a few hundred gulden. What
+should she do? It went hard with her to see her money thrown into the
+fire. She went to her rich neighbor and besought him to help her, and
+to change her money into Hungarian bank-notes. The old Greek at first
+refused to listen, but by-and-by he relented and did as she wished. He
+even did more, for after a week had passed he came to her and said:
+
+"I will no longer keep the money which your father lent to me at the
+rate of six per cent. Here it is for you--ten thousand gulden; take
+it, and make what you can of it." As he spoke he paid her the whole
+sum in Hungarian bank-notes.
+
+A week later another commandant arrived in the town; this one was a
+German. The next morning more drumming was heard in the market-place,
+and the order was given that all who possessed Hungarian bank-notes
+must give them up to have them burned. Those who refused would be shot
+or hanged.
+
+The poor widow ran weeping to her neighbor, and asked what she should
+do. The whole sum he had given her lay in her drawer untouched. If it
+were taken from her she and her child must beg or starve. Why had he
+given her this money? Why had he changed her German notes if he knew
+that this was going to happen?
+
+"How could I know it?" shrieked Csanta; and, still screaming, he went
+on to lament over himself. "If you are beggared, so am I--ten thousand
+times more beggared than any one. I haven't a copper coin in the
+house. I don't know how I can pay even for a bit of meat. I shall have
+a hundred thousand bank-notes burned. I am ruined! I am a beggar!"
+
+And he fell to cursing both Germans and Hungarians, until the widow
+Belenyi implored him not to shriek so loud, else he would be heard,
+and, God help us all! hanged.
+
+"Let them hear, then! Let them hang me! I don't care. I shall go to
+the market-place and tell them to their faces they are robbers, and if
+they won't hang me I'll hang myself. I am only considering whether I
+shall suspend myself from the pump-handle or from the steeple of the
+tower."
+
+The widow besought him, for Heaven's sake, not to do such a terrible
+deed.
+
+"And what's to become of me? Am I to go round with a hat and beg for a
+penny? Here, these are my last halfpence."
+
+He drew a few coins from his pocket, and began to weep piteously; his
+tears flowed in streams. The poor woman tried her best to console him.
+She begged him not to despair; the butcher and the baker knew him, and
+would trust him. She was tempted to offer him a piece of twenty
+groschen.
+
+"Oh, you will soon see!" sobbed the old man. "Come to-morrow morning
+early, and you will see me hanging from a hook in the passage. I
+couldn't survive this!"
+
+What could she do? The poor soul carried her Hungarian bank-notes to
+the commander, and saw them consumed in the market-place.
+
+Oh, it was a laughable joke! To this day when people talk of it their
+eyes fill with tears.
+
+For the widow, and many like her, there followed months and years of
+grinding poverty. She had lost all the capital saved for her by her
+father; there remained nothing but the house. The front rooms she let
+as a shop, and in the back she lived and eked out her miserable income
+as best she could.
+
+For a long time she looked with a frightened gaze at her neighbor's
+passage, expecting to see the old man hanging from an iron hook; but
+she was spared this sight. The old man had no notion of ending his
+days. He had certainly lost a few thousand gulden, but these were only
+the chaff; the corn was safe. He had a secret hiding-place to which he
+could have access by a secret passage underneath his house; the cellar
+was, in fact, underneath the water. A mason from Vienna had built it
+for him, and the people of the town knew nothing of it. The cellar was
+full of casks, and every cask was full of silver; the old man's cellar
+concealed a treasure. By means of secret machinery constructed in his
+bedroom the owner was able by touching a spring to open a sluice
+concealed in the bed of the stream, and thus in a few minutes to
+submerge his cave. No robber could have penetrated there. All the gold
+and silver pieces which came into Csanta's hand found their way to
+this subterranean hiding-place, and never saw the light of day again.
+
+Meantime his neighbor, the widow, suffered the grip of poverty; she
+sewed her fingers to the bone to keep things together and to earn
+their daily bread. The gold pieces Ivan had given she wouldn't have
+touched even to save herself from starvation; they were used for the
+purpose for which he gave them--for Arpad's musical education, and
+musical instruction was so dear. The child was a genius.
+
+But living grew dearer, work harder to get. The widow was forced to
+get a loan upon the house; she asked her neighbor, and he gave it
+readily. The loan grew and grew until it reached a good sum of money,
+and then Csanta asked it back. Frau Belenyi was not able to refund,
+and the old man instituted proceedings, and as he was the only
+mortgagee he got it for one-quarter its real value. The amount over
+and above the debt and the costs were handed to the widow, and there
+was nothing left but to leave. Madame Belenyi took her son to Vienna,
+to begin in earnest his artistic education.
+
+The old Greek possessed the whole street; there was no one left to
+annoy him in his immediate neighborhood; he suffered neither from
+children, dogs, or birds. And his treasure increased more and more.
+The casks which filled the cellar that lay beneath the water were
+filled to overflowing, and the contents were always silver.
+
+One day Csanta received a visit. It was an old acquaintance, a banker
+from Vienna, whose father had been a friend of the old man's, and at
+whose counting-house he could always get exchange for his bank-notes
+and other little accommodations. The visitor was Felix Kaulmann.
+
+"To what circumstance do I owe the honor? What good news do you bring
+me?"
+
+"My worthy friend, I shall not make any preamble. Time is precious to
+you, as it is to me, and therefore I go straight to the point. By the
+authorization of the Prince of Bondavara I have been placed at the
+head of a joint-stock company, who have just started some gigantic
+coal-works, whose capital has risen from ten millions to eight hundred
+and twenty millions."
+
+"That is eighty-two millions more than you would require."
+
+"The money is the least part. What I stand in need of is well-known
+men for the administration, for the result of the whole undertaking
+rests upon the zeal, the capability, the intelligence of the governing
+body."
+
+"Well, such men are not difficult to find if there is a prospect of a
+good dividend."
+
+"The dividend is not to be despised. The bonus to each member of the
+administration will be, yearly, five or six thousand gulden."
+
+"Really? What a nice income!--a stroke of luck for those who are
+chosen."
+
+"Well, I have chosen you for a member, my worthy friend."
+
+"An honor, a great honor for me; but how much must I put down before I
+am admitted?"
+
+"Neither before nor after shall you be asked to put down anything. The
+only condition is that every member of the administration must hold
+one thousand shares."
+
+"That means paying in a deal of money, my young friend."
+
+"I didn't say a word of paying in; I only spoke of holding."
+
+"But, my young friend, although I am only a provincial merchant in a
+small way, I know that, so far as money is in question, to subscribe
+is another word for payment."
+
+"With this exception--if both subscriptions equalize one another. Ah,
+I see you do not like even a question of subscribing. Well, listen. We
+will suppose that you take one thousand shares in my coal company, and
+at the same time I give you an undertaking to take over one thousand
+shares at par from _you_; in this way we are even, and neither of us
+loses a shilling."
+
+"Hem! But what is the necessity for such a joke?"
+
+"I will be frank with you. The world has its eyes fixed upon the
+actions of important men; if these stir in any affair, the others stir
+likewise. If on 'change it is known that you, my worthy friend, have
+bought a thousand shares, a hundred small speculators will immediately
+invest in shares. In this way you secure to yourself a sinecure which
+will give you five or six thousand gulden, and I will secure for my
+undertaking a splendid future. Now, have I not spoken the truth?"
+
+"H'm! I will consider the affair. Meet me to-morrow at the
+restaurant."
+
+Csanta spent all the morning in the restaurant; he listened to all
+that was said of the Bondavara speculation, and came to the conclusion
+that he would risk nothing, since all danger was covered by Kaulmann's
+bond. When Felix arrived he had made up his mind.
+
+"Good! I shall draw the shares; but none of them shall hang round my
+neck, for I don't like paper. Paper is only paper, and silver is
+always silver."
+
+"Don't be afraid, my friend, I shall retain all shares for myself. I
+deposit the caution for you, and I pay the instalments."
+
+Felix completely satisfied the old Greek as to his upright intentions
+in the matter of the shares, and left in his hands the undertaking in
+which he pledged himself to take them over at par.
+
+Now began the manoeuvre behind the scenes. The agents, the makers of
+books, the brokers rushed in; the Bondavara shares rose rapidly. The
+syndicate had, all this time, never given a share into any one's hand.
+The bears had not yet begun to dance. Herr Csanta had become a student
+of the newspapers. True, his eyes never left one column, but that
+contained for him the tree of all knowledge; it spoke golden truth.
+With amazement he read how every day the value of the Bondavara shares
+increased. The profit grew higher and higher; it went up in leaps and
+bounds; sixteen, eighteen, at last twenty gulden over par. Those who
+had put down two hundred thousand gulden had won in two weeks twenty
+thousand gulden. A splendid speculation, indeed, in less than a
+fortnight to make a fortune! Compare the case of an honest,
+hard-working usurer like himself. What difficulties he had to go
+through to extract twenty per cent. out of his miserable clients! The
+work was hardly worth the gain; the fatigue of trapping some silly
+idiot, the odium and hatred incurred by exacting his rights from some
+miserable beggar with a family, or taking the pillow from under the
+head of a dying man; these things go against the grain, but they must
+be done if you want to fill your cellar with silver coins. And here a
+wretched, good-for-nothing speculator, by merely a stroke of the pen,
+makes in two short weeks a fortune. Luck is not evenly meted out to
+mortals.
+
+The time had come when Felix Kaulmann could demand from Csanta the
+thousand shares upon which he could now make a profit of twenty
+thousand gulden. No honest man could allow such an iniquitous robbery
+of his rights, or, at least, not without making a struggle. It is only
+a fool who allows himself to be made a tool of. A man may steal for
+himself; to rob the widow and the orphan to fill another man's purse,
+that is wicked and immoral.
+
+When Felix Kaulmann came again to the town of X----, the old Greek
+received him with great ceremony and seeming cordiality.
+
+"I hope you bring good news, my dear young friend," he said, clasping
+Kaulmann's hand in his.
+
+"I have come about that little business of the shares," returned
+Felix, with the air of a man of business. "You remember our
+agreement?"
+
+"What shares do you mean? Oh, the Bondavara! Is it pressing?"
+
+"Yes, for the first instalment of interest is now due; two gulden each
+bond, which, as the shares are in my name, will make an addition to my
+savings."
+
+"Oh, so you intend to call in the shares?"
+
+"But that was our agreement."
+
+"And if I do not wish to surrender more than five hundred?"
+
+Kaulmann drew in his lips. "Well, I suppose I should be content."
+
+"And if I do not wish to surrender any of the shares?"
+
+Kaulmann looked at him uneasily. "Sir," he said, "I thought I was
+dealing with an honest man. Besides, you forget I gave you a written
+agreement."
+
+"My friend, my good young friend, that is true. You gave me a written
+agreement signed with your name, which covenanted that you were
+obliged to take these shares from me at par; but I gave you no signed
+document, and there is nothing that can force me to hand you over
+these shares. There you have the whole thing in a nutshell."
+
+"But, my good sir," repeated the banker, taking hold of the lapels of
+the old Greek's coat, "listen to me. Don't you know that it is one of
+the laws in the Chamber of Commerce that there is no need of written
+indenture? If I take shares from you I have only to make a note in my
+pocket-book. Surely you know that this is the law on 'change?"
+
+"What do I know of the laws they make there? I never set my foot in
+the place."
+
+Kaulmann made an effort to laugh. "I must confess I have never been so
+sold by any one. I have found my master. Will you give me none of the
+shares?"
+
+"Not half a one."
+
+"Very good. Then you must count out the sum-total agreed upon."
+
+"Certainly. I shall pay down the money."
+
+"I mean the whole sum. Do you understand?"
+
+"Undoubtedly. Don't be afraid; the money is ready; this house is bail
+for more than that amount. If needs be I can pay you in gold, if needs
+be in silver."
+
+"Well," cried Kaulmann, bringing his clinched fist down on the table,
+"I would never have believed that in this little town I should have
+been so sold."
+
+Csanta suspected that were he to fail in paying his first instalment
+his shares might be annulled. He therefore lost no time in placing the
+first thirty-five per cent. into the bank. But this was not an easy
+task. To transport seventy thousand silver gulden to Vienna would
+necessitate a conveyance, and not only a conveyance, but an escort of
+gendarmes, and this paraphernalia would make people stare. Well, let
+them stare!
+
+When the old man descended into his cellar and looked at the casks
+which contained the necessary sum, his heart beat, his limbs trembled.
+These casks contained the treasure he had garnered up; his solid
+capital. It was foolish, he knew, still he could not help tears coming
+to his eyes as he chose seven casks from the twenty which should be
+the first to go. He wept as he spoke to these children of his heart.
+
+"You shall have no cause to reproach me, you who remain here," he
+said; "those that are now leaving you shall soon return. They are
+going on a safe journey, not on a wild, venturous sea, where there
+would be danger of shipwreck, but on a safe railroad, to increase and
+multiply. Once I have the shares in my hand, they shall not stay a
+night in my possession. I shall sell them at once, and get back my
+silver. The profits, too, I shall change into silver. Instead of seven
+casks I shall return with nine."
+
+In this way did the old Greek miser comfort himself for the temporary
+loss of his silver pieces. He counted them that night when the day's
+work was done, and then set about arranging the transport of his
+treasure to Vienna.
+
+The day before Csanta had decided upon this step the "bears" had begun
+to explode their mine. It was, however, only a trial; they wanted
+merely to show their teeth. Specie was in demand; if silver goes up,
+paper securities fall. The seven casks from Csanta's cellar arrived
+opportunely. Two wagons laden with leaden casks, and guarded by
+gendarmes with drawn sabres as they went slowly through the streets,
+attracted the attention of passers-by. When it came to be known that
+these casks were full of silver, and that all this silver was to be
+paid as the first instalment of some Bondavara shares, there was
+considerable excitement. Peru and Brazil were opening their
+floodgates. The firm of Kaulmann very naturally made as much as
+possible of the event, as being a feather in their commercial cap. The
+delivery arrived, as it happened, during the absence of the chief
+cashier, which involved an immense amount of running hither and
+thither in search of him, as it was necessary Csanta should receive
+his receipt. In the afternoon the shares were handed over and the
+silver was counted. All this made much stir and business in the
+Kaulmann Bank. Kaulmann intrusted the conduct of the affair to his
+most capable clerk. He instructed him how to act in regard to the
+matter, and added that if the old Greek gave him a gratuity, he was to
+kiss his hand, and to place himself altogether at his service. This
+man's name was Spitzhase.
+
+Later in the day Spitzhase brought Csanta his account, regularly drawn
+up, together with the shares, and begged to inform his excellency
+"that he had brought seven hundred gulden more than was necessary, for
+the reason that since yesterday silver had risen one per cent."
+
+"H'm!" thought Csanta, "this is an honest fellow; I shall give him a
+gratuity." And he gave him a bank-note of twenty gulden.
+
+Spitzhase overpowered him with thanks; then took his hand, and kissed
+it.
+
+"H'm!" thought Csanta, "I have given him too much; perhaps five gulden
+would have been sufficient." Aloud, he said:
+
+"I made a mistake. Give me that note back; I will give you another."
+And he gave him a bank-note of the value of five gulden.
+
+Spitzhase thanked him warmly, and kissed his hand.
+
+"H'm! this is really a good fellow--quite after my heart. Give me back
+those five gulden; here is another note. I made a mistake." And he
+handed him a note of fifty gulden.
+
+Spitzhase kissed both his hands, and showered blessings upon him.
+Csanta was now convinced that he had made this man his friend for
+life.
+
+"If I had brought the silver to-morrow, I should have got more," he
+said, reflectively.
+
+"No, you may believe me, to-day was the right moment; to-morrow silver
+will fall two per cent."
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"Oh, I am acquainted with the weather on the stock-exchange."
+
+"You are? Then why don't you speculate if you know so well the ins and
+outs?"
+
+"Because one must have money, and I have none. I can only dabble in
+trifling matters."
+
+"Are you well known on 'change?"
+
+"I spend all my time there, except when I am asleep."
+
+"Then take me to the stock-exchange. I should like to look about me."
+
+Csanta meant, as soon as he could find a suitable purchaser, to sell
+his Bondavara shares.
+
+"One can go in the evening?" he asked, as they went along.
+
+"That is the most lively time, particularly on a day like this."
+
+Csanta was now introduced into the Temple of Mammon. Even outside the
+door he could hear a strange noise and tumult of voices, and as he
+stepped inside his head almost reeled at the strange spectacle. The
+large hall was stuffed full of men, who circulated in a narrow circle.
+Each one spoke, or rather shrieked, as if all were quarrelling. They
+gesticulated with their hands, holding up pieces of paper in the air,
+making signs and figures on their fingers, and screaming out names and
+making offers until the noise was deafening.
+
+Spitzhase, who was perfectly at home, led Csanta through the throng.
+The old merchant was indignant at the manner in which he was pushed
+and driven about, no one even begging pardon for his rudeness. He
+would have liked to know what was meant by the words so constantly
+repeated, "I give!" "I take!" His attention, however, was at once
+riveted by another word which seemed to be in every man's mouth, and
+which gradually became plainer: "Puntafar! Puntafar!" It dawned upon
+him that it must be Bondavar. He stopped and timidly asked one of
+those who were shrieking, "Who wants 'Puntafar'? What is the price at
+which the Bondavara shares are selling?"
+
+"Thirty over par."
+
+Csanta's eyes blazed. "It is impossible; it cannot be!" he said.
+"Yesterday they were at twenty."
+
+"That was yesterday. To-day they are thirty. If you want to buy to
+morrow you will have to pay thirty-five. The whole world is buying
+the scrip. A rich nabob from India has brought all his silver here,
+and bought Puntafar shares. The Dey of Morocco and a Russian prince,
+who both own silver mines, have each ordered ten thousand shares. Even
+the little folk, who have only a few hundreds, are tearing the shares
+out of one another's hands; they won't have anything but Puntafar.
+What will you take?"
+
+Csanta had very little idea that he united in his own person the East
+Indian nabob, the Dey of Morocco, and the Russian prince, as likewise
+that it was he who had caused this uproar. Far from such an idea
+crossing his mind, he believed that this man was making game of him.
+
+"Oh, sir," he said, "thirty gulden exchange is too much. I can give
+you a thousand Bondavara shares at five-and-twenty."
+
+These words caused such a tumult as hardly ever had been heard on
+'change. Every one crowded round Csanta; he was set upon from all
+sides--behind, before, at his side, on his back--he was fairly mobbed.
+People fought with one another over his head, and flourished their
+fists in his face.
+
+"Who is he? Who is he? A bear, a conspirator, a thief, an agent! Out
+with him! Bonnet him! Pitch him out! Twenty-five, will he take? Give
+him twenty-five blows on his back and tear his coat in pieces!"
+
+Spitzhase could hardly manage to get him out. He was in a deplorable
+condition when he issued forth, his hat smashed, his clothes all awry,
+his face pale, his breath short. Once in the open air his rescuer
+began to scold him.
+
+"What the devil did you do that for? Just at the moment when the cabal
+was silenced and trampled in the dust, to come forward as one of them
+to run down your own shares!"
+
+"I did not want to run them down; I only wanted to ascertain if it was
+really the case that such an advance on the price could be realized."
+
+"Oh, that's the way with you," returned Spitzhase, in an aggrieved
+tone. "Well, I can tell you the exchange is not a good place to try
+jokes in. It was all quite authentic. The Bondavara scrip is as sound
+as ready-money. To-day it is thirty for scrip, eight-and-twenty for
+gold; to-morrow it will be thirty-two, and so on--always getting
+higher. If I had the money I would put in my last farthing. I know
+what I know, and I have studied the weather on 'change, but what I
+have learned from Kaulmann I cannot tell; my lips are sealed."
+
+Upon this Csanta pressed the clerk very hard. "You can tell me," he
+said; "I am already in the boat. What have you heard?"
+
+"Well," said Spitzhase, lowering his voice and looking round
+cautiously, "what you say is true; you are a large holder of stock, so
+perhaps I may give you this hint. _Puntafar has not reached its
+highest point yet._ Oho! they are very tricky who hold over. I am in
+the secret, and there is a plan, the details of which I durst not
+reveal, which will give such an impulse as will drive the shares still
+higher. In six months one impulse will be given, in another six months
+another. Oh, the world will open its eyes and its ears; but what I say
+to you, you will see! In a year's time Puntafar will be at one hundred
+over par."
+
+"A hundred!" repeated Csanta, falling back against the wall in his
+astonishment. But he soon recovered himself. He was angry with
+Spitzhase for treating him as if he were a fool.
+
+"I tell you what you are," he said; "you are a great boaster. Leave
+me; I shall get home by myself." And he dismissed Spitzhase angrily.
+
+The next morning his first word was to ask the waiter for the papers.
+His eyes eagerly sought the exchange column, and there, just as
+Spitzhase had prophesied, silver currency had dropped two per cent.
+Bondavara stood at thirty to thirty-two florins, and what is written
+is gospel truth.
+
+"Not one shall I sell!" cried Csanta, clapping his hands.
+
+And then he got up and dressed himself. Here was a stroke of luck. It
+was like a fairy-tale; a man had only to leave the window open at
+night and next morning his pockets are full of gold.
+
+He was swallowing his breakfast when Spitzhase was ushered in, his
+face beaming with triumph.
+
+"Now, what did I tell you?" he cried, as he laid down the paper before
+Csanta, pointing with his finger to the exchange column.
+
+The old Greek said not a word of having read the good news; he nodded
+his head as he answered, with great composure:
+
+"Is it really true? Well, that is satisfactory."
+
+"I rather think so; by the evening they will be up to thirty-two. Oh,
+if I had only some money!"
+
+"Well, here is another note for you. Go and buy yourself a share.
+There, don't kiss my hand. I cannot allow it." But he did allow it.
+
+"Don't sell the share," he went on; "keep it for yourself. When the
+next instalment comes due I will pay it for you. For God's sake, don't
+kiss my hand again! I will do more than that for you. If you kiss my
+hand every time I shall have no hands left. Remember that I shall
+expect you to show your gratitude in a more tangible manner. You must
+let me know the first thing if the head of your bank is going to try
+any tricks with the bonds. You will be sure to give me the first news
+as to when I should sell. Do you understand me? Good! Now that you
+have a share yourself you have an interest in the matter, and if we
+sell our shares are we not entitled to a commission?"
+
+Spitzhase kissed every finger of the old man's hand.
+
+"I implore one thing of you, master," he said; "don't betray me to
+Kaulmann. If he found out that I betrayed his secrets to any one he
+would dismiss me on the spot."
+
+"Don't be afraid. You have to do with an honorable gentleman,"
+returned the Greek, with an air of dignity.
+
+The honorable gentleman believed that he had won over the honest clerk
+to betray the secrets of the honorable banker, his employer. It was an
+honorable game all round. We shall see which of the honorable
+gentlemen played it best.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+NO, EVELINE!
+
+
+It was high time Ivan returned to his coal-mine; he was needed there.
+While he was fighting duels in Pesth, strange things were happening in
+Bondathal. Not far from his workmen's colony there arose enormous
+buildings with almost miraculous quickness. As often happens when no
+difficulty is made as to price, the only question asked is, how soon
+shall the work be finished? The shares had not yet been issued, and
+the company had already spent in the interest of the undertaking a
+million of money. Everything was pressed forward at fever-heat. Here
+was a new invention for making tiles by machinery, there a
+donkey-engine supplied the materials for building the walls. The
+earthworks were in a most advanced condition, the chimneys smoked, the
+roofs were covered, a whole street was already built, a new town was
+rising as if by magic.
+
+Of all this activity Ivan had been kept in ignorance by his assistant,
+Raune, who had, likewise, been silent as to another disturbing element
+which had made its appearance for the first time among the workmen,
+and which disputed the palm with "choke-damp" and "foul air," and was
+quite as fatal as either. This new element was "a strike." A portion
+of Ivan's workmen struck for higher wages, otherwise they would join
+the new coal-mine, which was called "The Gentleman's Colony." It
+offered nearly double the wages, certainly more than the half again,
+of what Ivan paid. This happened after Raune had explained to the men
+that he had accepted the office of director, which had been offered to
+him by the new company, and he naturally wished to take with him the
+best and cleverest among Ivan's men, so that they, too, might profit
+by the higher wages. Who could resist such advantageous offers? Miners
+are like all other men; they have their price.
+
+Ivan now gnawed the bitter bread of self-reproach. He saw the folly he
+had committed in taking into his service and admitting into the
+secrets of the business the paid director of a company created to
+bring about his own ruin.
+
+A scientific man is not a good business man. While he was making
+investigations as to the probability of animal life existing in the
+antediluvian strata of coal-mines, he was blind to the danger of a
+rival company close to his own factory. Nay, more; he had allowed
+himself to be hoodwinked by an inferior intelligence, and had fallen
+into the trap set for him by his old friend Felix. Ivan was
+philosopher enough to accommodate himself to circumstances. There was
+little use, he told himself, in crying over spilt milk; he had broad
+shoulders, and they should, if it were possible, push the wheel of
+fortune. But though he said this, he had little hope of succeeding.
+
+On his return, and when he got, as he thought, to the bottom of the
+evil, he called his workmen together.
+
+"Comrades," he said, "a great undertaking has risen up beside us; the
+company of the new coal-mines offers you wages which I give you my
+word of honor it is impossible to pay without considerable loss to
+themselves. Up to the present I have worked my mines with a certain
+amount of profit; I offer you to-day, in addition to your usual wages,
+a share out of this profit. For the future we shall divide with one
+another what we earn. At the end of the year I shall lay my accounts
+before you; one of your number, chosen by yourselves, shall examine
+and audit them, and according to the wages of each man and the work he
+has done he shall receive his share. If you agree to this fair offer I
+shall continue the work. If, however, you think it better for your
+interests to take the higher wages offered by the company, I shall not
+enter into competition with men who have millions to spend; it would
+be a folly on my part. I shall, therefore, sell them my mine, and you
+may then be certain of one thing, that when they have both mines in
+their own hands, and find that no rivalry is possible, the rate of
+wages will be lowered. To those who stand by me I offer a contract
+_for life_; the profits of this mine, so long as I live, shall be
+divided between myself and my workmen."
+
+This was an excellent stroke, especially as the company could not
+imitate it. More than half the men closed with Ivan's offer, and
+undertook to remain with him. A great number, however, influenced by
+paid agents, who were sent about to stir them up, went over to the
+"Gentleman's Colony."
+
+Those who remained had a great deal to suffer from the ones who left.
+Not a Sunday passed without fights taking place between the two
+parties.
+
+Ivan soon heard that his powerful rival had found a way of checkmating
+him. His customers, to whom he sent large consignments not only of
+coal but also of copper and iron bars, wrote to him that the new
+Bondavara Coal Company had offered the same class of goods at fifty
+per cent. less, and that therefore, unless he was prepared to make a
+similar reduction, they could not deal with him. Fifty per cent.
+higher wages and fifty per cent. less profit means working for
+nothing. Raune had Ivan's business in the hollow of his hand; he could
+ruin it, and he meant to do so. Ivan saw this quite clearly, but he
+did not lose heart. He wrote to all his former customers that it was
+not possible to give either the coal or the iron a farthing cheaper,
+not if it hung round his neck as a dead weight. The consequence was
+his coal and his iron accumulated in his warehouses; scarcely a wagon
+with his name was to be seen in the streets of Bondathal. He had to
+work the mine and the foundry for himself alone.
+
+For the men who had remained true to him there was, indeed, a bad
+outlook. Their former comrades jeered at them in the open street.
+"Where is the profit?" was a popular cry. Ivan tried to quiet the
+disappointed men; he asked them to wait patiently. By the end of the
+year, he prophesied, they would be on the right side. To give things
+for nothing was not trade, and if the company chose to do it he wasn't
+going to follow such a suicidal example.
+
+The great buildings of the new colony being now completed, the
+directors of the company announced that they would hold high festival
+in honor of the opening of the undertaking. The principals, directors,
+managers, shareholders were to come from Vienna and be entertained at
+a banquet. The largest room in the factory was fitted up as a
+dining-room, the tables being laid for workmen as well as for the
+distinguished company of strangers. It was widely circulated that the
+prince was coming. The company had chosen him as their president. Both
+the princes were patrons of commercial and industrial undertakings,
+but Prince Theobald possessed an extraordinary financial talent; any
+speculation he engaged in was a sound and sure one, so it was said, as
+also that he had taken a million shares in the new company. It was so
+far true that Kaulmann had offered him this million, which was to
+increase the value of the Bondavara property, but it is needless to
+remark that the million of shares had no tangible existence. Previous
+to the inaugural ceremony a religious service was to take place, and,
+as was only fitting, this was to be conducted by the eminent Abbe
+Samuel. Before such distinguished guests it would hardly be in keeping
+to have a man such as pastor Mohak, although it was true that he
+slaved all through the year among the people.
+
+The guests came from the castle, where they had arrived the previous
+day. They drove into the town in splendid coaches. That of Prince
+Theobald came first, with his armorial bearings emblazoned on the
+panels. Behind two footmen with dazzling liveries of scarlet and gold.
+On the box the coachman with a powdered wig and three-cornered hat.
+The coach drew up at the church door, the footmen jumped down and
+opened the carriage door. There alighted first an old gentleman with
+white hair, a clean-shaven, soft, friendly face, and a very
+distinguished air. He gave his hand to a splendidly dressed lady in a
+velvet and lace costume, who descended from the equipage with graceful
+nonchalance. The crowd saw her violet velvet boots and embroidered
+silk stockings.
+
+"What a great lady!" cried the boors to one another. "She must be a
+princess, for all the gentlemen at the church door received her hat in
+hand."
+
+Only one man in a rough workman's coat called out: "Evila!"
+
+It was Peter Saffran who had recognized her.
+
+The lady heard the exclamation, and turned a laughing face to the
+crowd outside.
+
+"No," she said; "it is _Eveline_."
+
+She bowed her head sweetly as she crossed the threshold of the church.
+
+Eveline's vanity had brought her to Bondathal; she wanted to show her
+silk stockings to her former companions, who had seen her in wooden
+shoes with no stockings, except on occasions. It was the vanity of the
+peasant girl--not pride, take notice, but mere vanity. She did not
+look down upon her friends, as some upstarts do; she wanted to do good
+to every one of them. She was ready to give them money, to earn their
+grateful thanks, particularly to those who had been kind to her in the
+old days; to those especially she wished to prove that, although she
+had risen to a high position, she had never forgotten how much she
+owed to them. She would now, in her turn, do them good. Eveline had
+looked forward to seeing her former bridegroom. Most probably he had
+long since consoled himself for her loss, and had married another. A
+present of money would make _him_ happy. She had also counted on
+meeting Ivan. She had the most grateful remembrance of his goodness,
+and she was glad to think she had it in her power to prove her
+gratitude by deeds. She could not give him a present, but she could
+tell him of the dangers that threatened his property from the large
+undertaking of the company, and she promised herself to use all her
+influence to make the best terms for Ivan in case he would consent to
+arrange matters with his gigantic rival.
+
+Yes, it was indeed the vain desire of doing good that had brought
+Eveline to Bondathal. She had arranged how and where she would have
+her first meeting with Ivan.
+
+The notabilities and proprietors of the neighborhood had been invited
+in the name of the prince to the banquet, which was to inaugurate the
+opening of the works. No one could refuse such an invitation. It was
+true that when Eveline had proposed to the Abbe Samuel that he should
+undertake the office of intermediary, and call on his learned
+colleague Behrend, and bring him with him to the banquet, the abbe had
+exclaimed not for all the world would he venture to propose such a
+thing as that Behrend should wait upon their excellencies. And when he
+said this he knew very well what he was saying.
+
+To return to the church door. As Peter Saffran stood stock-still,
+gazing after the vanishing figure of his former betrothed, he felt
+some one tap him on the shoulder; turning round, he saw standing
+behind him Felix Kaulmann. Peter's face went deadly white, partly with
+fear, more from inward rage. Felix, however, laughed carelessly, with
+the indifference of a great man, to what was, in his opinion, only a
+good joke.
+
+"Good-day, fellow. Mind you come to the dinner," he said, as he
+followed the prince into the church.
+
+Peter Saffran remained gaping at the noble gentlemen as they got out
+of their carriages, and when the crowd began to move into the church
+he followed in the stream. He made his way into the darkest corner,
+before the shrine of a saint, knelt down, with both his hands laid
+upon the wall and his head upon his folded arms, and there he made a
+vow--an awful, terrible vow. Those who saw him in his kneeling
+attitude, with bent head, imagined he had been struck at last by
+grace, and was repenting of his sins. When he had finished his
+prayer, or his curse, he got up quickly, and, without waiting for the
+end of the splendid ceremonial, hastened out of the church, casting a
+wild look behind him as he went, for he imagined that the saint in the
+shrine was pointing her finger at him and calling out, "Take him
+prisoner! He is a murderer!"
+
+The church service being over, the distinguished company drove to the
+company's colony, and went over the works. They drove under triumphal
+arches which were erected in the streets, and were received by a
+deputation of workmen. The best orator made a speech, which would have
+been very eloquent only he stuck fast in the middle. The young girl
+who recited some verses was more happy in her delivery, and her
+youngest sister presented a bouquet to Eveline, who kissed the child.
+
+"Ah! you are little Marie. Don't you know me?"
+
+The child, however, was too frightened at this beautiful lady to make
+her an answer.
+
+The guests visited the buildings under the guidance of Herr Raune, who
+spared them nothing--the factory, the machinery, the iron-works. They
+were terribly tired of it all, and glad to get into the large rooms
+which had been temporarily arranged as the banqueting-hall. Here they
+were received by two bands playing Rakoczy's "March." To the banquet
+came a crowd of guests alike invited and uninvited--gentlemen,
+peasants, clergymen, and Bohemians. Eveline, however, looked in vain
+for her former master. Ivan was not among the guests. He had not even
+sent an excuse. What an uncouth man! and yet, perhaps, he had reason.
+If you drink beforehand to the skin of the bear, the bear has every
+right to decline being present at the feast. Peter Saffran, however,
+came; he was treated as the chief guest, and given the first place at
+the workman's table. This struck even his obtuse senses. Looking
+round he saw he was the only representative of the Bondathal mine.
+
+The banquet lasted far on into the evening. Gentlemen and workmen were
+exceedingly merry. Towards the close of the feast Felix sent for
+Peter. He presented him to the prince.
+
+"Here is the brave miner of whom I have told your excellency."
+
+Saffran felt the blood rush to his face.
+
+"Well, my good friend," continued Felix, "how has the world treated
+you since I last saw you? Are you still afraid of 'the doctor'?
+There's a plaster for you; it will heal any remains of your former
+injuries." So saying, he took out of his pocket-book a note for a
+hundred gulden and put it into Peter's hand. "No," he added, "don't
+thank me, but thank the kind lady there, who remembered you."
+
+He pointed to Eveline, and Peter kissed her hand, or, rather, her
+beautiful mauve glove.
+
+What a transformation in the man-eater! He had grown obedient and
+gentle.
+
+"That good lady," continued Felix, "wishes you well. At her request
+his excellency, Prince Theobald, has given you the post of overseer in
+the new company's colony, at the yearly salary of a thousand gulden.
+What do you say to that?"
+
+What could he say? He kissed the hand of his excellency.
+
+Kaulmann filled a large goblet to the brim with foaming champagne and
+handed it to Peter.
+
+"Toss that off," he said. "But first drink to the long life of his
+excellency, our generous prince."
+
+"And to the health of this dear lady," added the prince, gallantly, at
+which the trumpets sounded shrilly, and Peter Saffran, the prince,
+the banker, and Eveline drank to one another.
+
+This scene delighted the working-men. Here was no pride, the gentlemen
+clinking glasses with the common miner. This was the right spirit.
+
+Peter Saffran, meantime, was wondering within himself which of the two
+gentlemen was Eveline's husband, and in what relation did the other
+stand to her? He emptied his glass and put it down again, but it did
+not occur to him to put the question to either of the three, therefore
+it remained unanswered.
+
+The festival closed with a splendid display of fireworks. The sparks
+from the Catherine wheels fell in a shower of molten gold into Ivan's
+mine.
+
+The following morning Saffran came to Behrend and informed him that he
+had taken service with the company.
+
+"You also?" said Ivan, bitterly. "Well, go!"
+
+Peter was paler than ever. He had expected reproaches for his
+treachery, but as none came he suddenly burst out with what had been
+for some time in his mind.
+
+"Why did you _that time_ call your friend a doctor?"
+
+"Because he is one. He is a doctor of law."
+
+Saffran raised his finger in a threatening manner. "Nevertheless, it
+was very wrong of you to call him _that time_ a doctor." And then he
+turned on his heel and went his way.
+
+Ivan's strength of mind was more and more put to the proof. Each day
+brought fresh defections. His best men left him to go over to his
+enemy, who, like some horrid monster, raised large furnaces which
+crushed the very life out of his smaller chimneys. His business
+friends fell away from him. They looked upon him as an obstinate
+fool, carrying on such an unequal fight; but the darker the outlook
+the stronger grew his determination to see the affair to the bitter
+end. He would not leave his old home, his own little territory; he
+would carry on the unequal, perhaps the fruitless, task of opposing
+his apparently triumphant adversary.
+
+In the depth of his misfortune one true, reliable friend remained to
+him, and saved him from utter despair. This friend was the
+multiplication-table. Before he began to calculate he put these
+questions to himself, as if he were some one else:
+
+"Is this colony a company of commercial men? No, a company of
+speculators. A joint-stock company? No, it is a game of chance. Is it
+a factory? No, a tower of Babel." Then he went on to consider this
+point. "Two and two make four, and, turn it how you like, it makes
+nothing _but_ four; and if all the kings and emperors in Europe, with
+decrees and ukases, were to tell their individual subjects that two
+and two make five, and if the pope fulminated a bull to enjoin on all
+true believers that two and two make five, and if even the best
+financial authority was to declare that we should count two and two as
+five, all these--kings, emperors, popes, and accountants--would not
+alter the fact that two and two make four. These generous shareholders
+of the Bondavara Company are working against a well-known fact. The
+new company builds, creates, invents, contracts, buys, and sells
+without taking any heed of the primary rule of arithmetic; therefore
+it is clear that the company is not working for the future, but merely
+for present gain. Therefore, I will live down this swindle."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At the end of the year the company gave their shareholders a surprise.
+The Bondavara shares began to fluctuate between thirty-five and forty
+florins exchange, although the date of the payment of second
+instalments of capital was at hand. At such times all the early bonds
+are handed in. Csanta thought this would be a good time for him to
+bring in his shares and to get his silver back. He was contemplating a
+visit to the bank when he received a private note from Spitzhase,
+putting him on his guard not to fall into such a mistake as to sell.
+"This very day the board of directors had met, and a resolution had
+been carried unanimously that at the next general meeting the
+shareholders should be surprised by getting a bonus of twenty per
+cent., upon which the shares would at once rise higher. This was a
+profound secret, but he could not allow his good friend to remain in
+ignorance."
+
+And at the next general meeting the commercial world heard the same
+story. The first two months of the Bondavara Coal Company had been
+such a signal success that, besides the usual rate of interest, the
+directors were enabled to offer upon each share a bonus of six
+florins, which amounted (with the usual rate) to thirty-five per
+cent., an unheard-of profit in two months.
+
+When Ivan read this in the newspaper he burst into a loud laugh. He
+knew, no one better, what amount of profit the factory had made, but
+it is easy to manipulate accounts so that the ledger presents these
+remarkable results. What do the unbusiness-like, credulous
+shareholders understand of such matters? The board of directors know
+very well how matters really stand; but they have their own ends to
+serve. The outside world may bleed; what is that to them? There is no
+court-martial in the stock-exchange, and no justice for the injured.
+
+Csanta did not sell his shares. He paid his second instalment in
+silver pieces, rejoiced over the bonus, and blessed Spitzhase for
+preventing him from selling his bonds at thirty-five. They had now
+risen to forty florins, and continued to rise.
+
+Ivan watched this diabolical swindle with calmness. He said to
+himself:
+
+"How long will the game last?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+RESPECT FOR HALINA CLOTH
+
+
+It was a singular coincidence that in the same moment that Ivan said
+to himself, "How long will this game last?" Prince Waldemar, meeting
+Felix Kaulmann, beaming with triumph, at the exchange, put to him the
+question, "How long, do you think, will this comedy last?"
+
+"The third act is still wanting," replied the banker.
+
+"Yes, the third instalment. Then I shall hoist you on your own
+petard."
+
+"We will see about that."
+
+The bears could not imagine what Kaulmann had in his head. That he had
+a plan was certain; what it was no one knew but the Abbe Samuel and
+Prince Theobald.
+
+The third act was not the instalment; it was the Bondavara Railway.
+This question bristled with difficulties. The government was irritated
+against Hungary, and in their irritation would not listen to any
+proposals as to railways and the like. Even the country party was
+sulky. Let the country go to the devil; what did they care? And no
+doubt they had justification for their righteous indignation. Every
+Hungarian who wore "broadcloth" was against them. The body of
+officials, the middle class, the intelligence of the country,
+preferred to lay down place and to give up government patronage sooner
+than submit to the chimeras which the cabinet at Vienna indulged in
+by way of government. Good! So far as officials went, men were easily
+got to fill the places the others had resigned, for when a good table
+is spread, needless to say, guests are not hard to find. The hired
+troop pocketed their salary, took the oath, stuffed their pockets, but
+did nothing to promote the government measures. Between the men who
+had resigned and the newly appointed officials there was only this
+difference: that one set openly declared they would do nothing; the
+others pretended to do something, but found it impossible to
+accomplish anything. They tried to shove, but the cart would not move
+an inch. From those who wore cloth among the middle classes the
+government had to expect nothing, that was evident. Formerly those who
+wore silk and satin acted as a sort of counterpoise--the high and
+mighty, and the magnates, the lawyers, and the priests--but now all
+these held aloof. The primate remonstrated, the bishops advised the
+nobility, the higher classes collected in Pesth and talked treason.
+
+_Flectere si nequeo superos_--
+
+Let us turn now to the Halina cloth. Halina cloth is, as every one
+knows, the commonest description of cloth, only worn by the poorer
+classes. This cloth was suddenly adopted in the capital of the
+Austrian empire. This was no capricious freak of fashion set in motion
+by some high lady who "imagined" her elegance could give dignity to
+the roughest material; this was another affair altogether, inaugurated
+by the legislative body of the kingdom, who were all clothed in
+Halina. Well, what has any one to say against this? Why not? Are we
+not democrats? It is true that these right-minded men hardly
+understood a word of the language in which the legislative debates
+were carried on, but this had the inestimable advantage that they
+could make no long speeches, and therefore could in no way impede the
+course of business. Neither did they possess any knowledge of the laws
+of nations, the rights of citizens, the complicated details of
+finance, nor the construction of budgets; and this pastoral innocence
+entitled them to universal respect and confidence, for it placed them
+above suspicion. No one could suspect these honorable deputies of
+siding with the government because they held government appointments.
+
+We repeat that the introducer of Halina cloth to be worn by the
+legislative assembly was a man of talent. But in Hungary, also, the
+fashion should be adopted. Were there not one hundred and eight seats
+in the legislative assembly ready for so many excellent men? These
+should not be left vacant. To fill these seats, however, there was one
+lever necessary, and that was the influence of the clerical party.
+
+The clergy in Hungary were such poor creatures, so ignorant and
+uneducated, that they actually preferred to remain faithful to the
+traditions of Rakoczy than to adopt the new-fangled ideas promulgated
+at Vienna. Even such an insignificant pastor as Herr Mahok returned
+the decree which had been sent to him from headquarters, with
+directions to read it on Sundays to his flock, saying that it was a
+mistake; he was not the village crier. If the government wished to
+issue a protocol, let it be done in the market-place, by order of the
+judge of the district, and accompanied by the drum and trumpet. The
+pulpit was not the place for government protocols. The like refusal
+came from every pastor in Hungary, and in face of this flat rebellion
+the ministers resolved that the power of the clerical party should be
+broken.
+
+"Now is the time to act," said Felix Kaulmann to the Abbe Samuel.
+
+The primate had been in Vienna; he had been refused an audience; he
+had fallen into disgrace. The Bishop of Siebenburg had been elevated
+to the primate's seat, and given all its honors and dignities. The
+clerical party in Hungary was doomed. Against it the sword was drawn;
+the moment was approaching when it would be cut in two.
+
+The Bondavara Railway was the _gradus ad Parnassum_. If it succeeded,
+if it was worked properly, the house of Kaulmann would rank with that
+of the Pereires and Strousbergs; then, also, the pontifical loan upon
+the Church property in Hungary could be effected. All this with one
+blow! Rank in the world, power in the country, influence in the
+empire, success in the money-market, and the triumph of the Church.
+
+The Abbe Samuel had begun his ambitious career. The first task was to
+introduce the hundred and eight Hungarian wearers of Halina cloth into
+the legislative body, and thus to secure the Bondavara Railway, the
+title of bishop, and a seat in the House of Peers. These three things
+lay in the hollow of his hand, for he had three strings ready to pull,
+which would set in motion the statesman, the financier, and the
+influence of woman.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+On one Saturday Ivan, to his surprise, received a visit from Raune,
+who, in a few words, stated the matter which had brought him. The
+proprietors and inhabitants of the different parts of Bondathal wished
+to send a deputation to Vienna, to lay before the government and
+Parliament their request that the means of communication between their
+mountainous territory and the other parts of the empire should be put
+on a better footing. This matter interested Ivan equally with the
+rest, and therefore it would be desirable that he and his workmen
+should attend the mass-meeting which would be held on the next day.
+
+Ivan at once refused all co-operation. "We live," he said, "under
+exceptional laws, which forbid political meetings. This mass-meeting
+has a political object, and therefore I refuse to disobey the law."
+
+In spite of this protest the assembly took place next day, and the
+Abbe Samuel made a brilliant speech. His dignified appearance imposed
+respect, his proposal was intelligible and for the general good; its
+usefulness could not be gainsaid. To insure its popularity the astute
+abbe took care not to introduce into his speech the hated word
+"Reichstag." The resolution was carried unanimously that a deputation
+of twelve men should be chosen to proceed at once to Vienna, and there
+present the wishes of the people. The twelve delegates were then
+chosen by the abbe, and his choice was received with loud shouts of
+approbation. The Bondavara shareholders came forward with unexampled
+generosity, and presented each member of the deputation not only the
+price of the journey, but a cloak made of Halina cloth, a hat, and a
+pair of boots. Twelve new suits! That was worth going to Vienna for.
+Still, it went against the grain. A peasant is suspicious; they don't
+care to crack nuts with gentlemen; they mistrust presents that most
+probably will be dearly bought. If any man in a black coat had made
+the proposal it would have encountered vigorous opposition, but a
+priest, a distinguished priest, his advice can safely be followed;
+there is nothing to be afraid of when he is at the head of the
+deputation. All will go well, even although they may have to undertake
+heavy responsibilities which may some day involve loss. But what
+loss? Ah! time will tell. Once on a time twelve men went to Vienna,
+and sold the rights of their fellow-countrymen to the devil. God knows
+what might happen, only that the priest is with them; there is the
+plank of safety.
+
+Nevertheless, the twelve men had to swear, man to man, before they put
+on the new suits, upon their souls, that they would deny that they
+could write. They were to sign nothing, and if they were asked if such
+a one in Bondathal had houses and fields, and, above all, sons, they
+were not to give any answer.
+
+The deputation started in a couple of days after the meeting, under
+the guidance of the abbe. Peter Saffran went also. He had been named
+one of the twelve, for he was specially wanted in Vienna.
+
+A day or so later Ivan was cited before the military officer
+commanding the district; he was accused of having acted against the
+law by causing the "Reichstag" to be lowered in the eyes of the
+people, of having kept the people, especially his own workmen, from
+taking part in legal demonstrations, of having insulted members of the
+legislature, and of having allied himself with secret societies. He
+was cautioned to avoid anything of the sort in future. The next time
+things would be more serious; he was at liberty to go this time
+unpunished.
+
+Ivan knew perfectly well from what quarter this denunciation had come.
+To destroy his business utterly it would be necessary to place its
+owner for a year in confinement; his innocence would then be
+established, and he would be allowed to go scot-free. In the meantime
+his property would be ruined. It was lucky for Ivan that on this
+occasion the jailer's wife was ill. It would have been necessary to
+remove her from the rooms which were set apart for prisoners under
+suspicion, and so Ivan was allowed to go his way.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Ah, it was a great day when the twelve men from Bondathal, in the
+twelve new suits of Halina cloth, arrived in the metropolis. Here they
+are! Here are the Hungarians, the indomitable sons of the soil. A
+deputation to the Reichsrath, an acknowledgment of the February
+patent, the first pioneers! They deserve three times three.
+
+All the newspapers hastened to congratulate them; the leading articles
+of all political shades were full of this new and remarkable
+demonstration.
+
+The minister gave the deputation a private audience, where the abbe
+set forth their demand in a well-expressed speech, laying great stress
+upon the fact that it was the people themselves who wished to free
+their country from its present condition, having learned to
+distinguish their real benefactors from those false prophets who
+wished to condemn them to a baneful and ruinous inactivity. The abbe
+dwelt expressly upon the great intelligence of the men who formed the
+deputation. In return his excellency the minister pressed the hand of
+the abbe, and assured him that the bishopric would soon be vacant, and
+that it would be his care to see that a loyal prelate should fill the
+seat. His excellency then entered into conversation with the members
+of the deputation, and as none of them understood a word of his
+language, they were much pleased with what he said. His excellency,
+having been told by the abbe that Peter Saffran was the most
+distinguished of the party, took especial notice of him. He pressed
+his hand, while he expressed a hope that the members of the deputation
+would attend the morning sitting; places would be reserved in the
+gallery--for the present in _the gallery_.
+
+Peter promised for his fellow-members. He could speak German as well
+as French; he had picked up both languages during his ship
+experiences.
+
+All this time the minister had said nothing as to the grant to the
+Bondathal Railway, and that was the principal thing.
+
+At the next sitting of the Reichsrath the front row of the gallery was
+reserved for the distinguished guests. They sat in arm-chairs, leaning
+their elbows on the cushions, and letting their round hats hang over
+the rails.
+
+His excellency the minister gave a discourse which lasted over an
+hour. The opposition maintained that during his speech his excellency
+had glanced fifty-two times at the gallery, to see the effect he was
+producing upon the Hungarians. One fell asleep, and let his hat fall
+into the hall. The hat fell upon one of the deputies, and awoke him
+from a sweet doze.
+
+For three days this trivial circumstance gave food to the government
+papers; then it became the absolute property of the accredited wit or
+fun journals, which put into the mouths of the Hungarians all manner
+of things which they had never said. Never mind; those excellent men
+couldn't read German, so it didn't matter. They stuck fast to their
+arm-chairs in the gallery as long as the sitting lasted; they were
+more comfortable than their beds.
+
+The last evening of their stay they were taken to the theatre. Not to
+the Burg Theatre--that would not do for them--but to the Treumann
+Theatre, where a piece was playing suitable for them, with plenty of
+fun, singing, dancing, laughing; and the great joke of all was that
+the principal part was to be played by the beautiful Eveline, Frau
+von Kaulmann. Will Peter Saffran recognize her?
+
+It had not been possible to get an engagement at the Opera-house for
+Eveline, for there was an Italian season running. When it finished
+there would be a prospect of an engagement for her if she first
+learned the routine of acting at some less important theatre, and grew
+accustomed to the footlights. Therefore, she played _en amateur_ on
+the boards of the Treumann Theatre. Her natural gifts and her
+extraordinary beauty caused a sensation. The _jeunesse doree_ went mad
+over this new favorite of the hour. The piece which was played in
+honor of the peasants was one of Offenbach's frivolous operas, in
+which the ladies appear in the very scantiest of costumes. The noble
+portion of the audience enjoy these displays more than do the poorer;
+it did not, at all events, amuse the simple folk in Halina cloth. The
+ballet, with the lightly clothed nymphs, their coquettish movements,
+their seductive smiles, their bold display of limbs, and their short
+petticoats, was not to the taste of the Bondavara miners. It was true
+that the girls in the coal-pit wore no petticoats to speak of, but
+then they were working. Who thought anything of that? Chivalry belongs
+to the peasant as much as to the gentleman; the former indeed practise
+the motto, "Honi soit qui mal y pense" more than do their
+better-educated superiors. But now as Eveline entered they felt
+ashamed. She came on as a fairy or goddess, concealed in gold-colored
+clouds; the clouds were, however, transparent. Peter glowed with rage
+to think all the world could penetrate this slight transparency; he
+burned with jealous fury as Eveline smiled, coquetted, cast glances
+here, there, and was stared at through a hundred opera-glasses. Peter
+forgot that this was only a stage, and that the fairies who played
+their parts upon it for an hour or so were many of them most virtuous
+women, excellent wives and daughters; for what happens on the stage is
+only play, not actuality. The former bridegroom did not reason in this
+wise. You see, he was an uneducated peasant in coarse Halina cloth,
+and his ignorant mind was filled with horror, disgust, rage. That she
+should allow herself to be kissed, to be made love to--shame! No, my
+good Peter, it was no shame, but a great honor. Out of the boxes
+bouquets and wreaths fell on the stage; there was hardly a place where
+she could put her feet; it was all flowers. The house resounded with
+applause. This was not shame, but honor--certainly not of the same
+kind that would be offered to a saint or a good woman; it was more the
+worship offered to an idol, and most women like to be worshipped as
+idols.
+
+Peter told himself all the sex are alike, and comforted himself with
+the thought that not one of his companions would recognize Eveline.
+But Peter took a sore heart back to his inn.
+
+In the hall he met the abbe, and asked him, "When are we going back?"
+
+"Are you weary of Vienna, Peter?"
+
+"I am."
+
+"Have a little patience. To-morrow we must pay a visit to a charming
+lady."
+
+"What have we to do with charming ladies?"
+
+"Don't ask the why or the wherefore. If we want to attain our end we
+must leave no means untried. We must beg this lady to interest herself
+for us. One word from her to his excellency the minister will do more
+than if we said a whole litany."
+
+"Very good; then we had better see her."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+TWO SUPPLIANTS
+
+
+The next day, at eleven o'clock, Abbe Samuel came to fetch his
+followers, and conduct them to the house of the influential lady whose
+one word had more weight with his excellency than the most carefully
+arranged speeches of priests and orators.
+
+The carriage stopped before a splendid palace; a porter in a
+magnificent scarlet livery, with a bear-skin cap, answered the bell,
+and between a double row of marble pillars they ascended the steps.
+The staircase was also of marble, covered with a soft, thick carpet.
+The school-master at home, if he had a bit of this stuff, would have
+made a fine coat of it. Up the staircase were such beautiful statues
+that the poor peasants would have liked to kneel to kiss their hands.
+The staircase was roofed in with glass and heated with hot air, so
+that the lovely hot-house plants and costly china groups suffered no
+injury from the cold air. In the anteroom servants wearing silver
+epaulettes conducted the visitors into the drawing-room. The sight
+almost took away their breath. There was no wall to be seen; it was
+panelled in the most sumptuous silk brocade; the curtains of the same
+texture had gold rods, and splendid pictures in rich frames hung on
+the silk panels. The upper portion of the windows was of stained
+glass, such as is seen in cathedrals, and opposite the windows was a
+large fireplace of white marble, upon whose mantelpiece stood a
+wonderful clock, with a beautiful figure which moved in time to the
+melodious tick. The furniture was all of mahogany. From the ceiling,
+upon which the arabesques in gold were a feast to the eye, there hung
+a lustre with a hundred lights, whose thousand glass drops sent out
+all the prismatic colors of the rainbow.
+
+The good peasants of Bondathal had hardly time to take in the wonders
+of this fairy palace when a gentleman in a black coat and a spotless
+white tie came out of an adjoining room. This grand personage, whom
+they imagined to be the master of the house, turned out to be an
+equally important person--the groom of the chambers. He informed them
+that his mistress was in the next room, and ready to receive them.
+
+There was no door to this inner apartment, only curtains of heavy
+damask, such as church banners are made of. This second drawing-room
+was still more wonderful than the first. The walls were panelled in
+dove-colored silk. From the ceiling to the floor there were enormous
+mirrors set in china frames, and between each mirror were _consoles_
+with marble statuettes representing dancing nymphs. The stone floor
+was covered with a soft carpet, into which the foot sank as into
+summer grass. The fireplace was of black marble, with a silver
+grating. The furniture was of the Versailles pattern; tables and
+chairs, arm-chairs and foot-stools, of delicate coloring; chairs of
+Sevres, with feet and elbow rests ornamented with delicate
+flower-garlands and charming Watteau figures. Every piece of furniture
+was a masterpiece. Upon the centre-table and _consoles_ were Japanese
+vases of different and most elegant shapes. In one of the windows an
+aquarium had been constructed full of gold-fish and sea-anemones.
+
+The poor peasants did not notice all these beautiful objects; their
+attention was fixed upon their own reflections in the long glasses,
+and which in their ignorance they imagined were other deputations,
+headed by another abbe wearing a gold cross. But even this strange
+spectacle was lost sight of in their amazement at the beauty of the
+great lady who now came forward to receive them. She was a lovely
+vision. Her dress of violet silk was covered with the most costly
+lace, her black hair fell in curls over her shoulders; her face was so
+beautiful, so fascinating, so dignified, that every man in the
+deputation was ready to fall at her feet.
+
+Peter Saffran was the only one who recognized her; it was Eveline, his
+promised bride.
+
+Now the abbe, bowing low, addressed her in most respectful language,
+as he laid before her the desire of the deputation, that she would
+accord her powerful protection to the Bondathal population. The lady
+answered most graciously, and promised that, as far as possible, she
+would exert her influence. She was heart and soul in the matter, for
+she added, smiling:
+
+"I am myself a child of Bondathal."
+
+At these words the deputation exchanged glances, and every one thought
+she must be the daughter or wife of one of the Bondavara magnates.
+Only Saffran was gloomy.
+
+"What is she?" he thought. "Only last night she was singing, dancing,
+and acting; her beauty was displayed to the eyes of a crowd, who
+looked at her through opera-glasses, while I had to cover my eyes with
+my hat so as not to look on her degradation, and here to-day she is a
+sort of queen, promising us her influence with cabinet ministers.
+What is the truth? Was last night a comedy, or is to-day a clever
+farce played by her and the priest?"
+
+You see, Peter Saffran had been in the Fiji Islands, and he remembered
+how amazed the savages had been when the white man washed the black
+from his hands, and showed their natural color; only here it was the
+whole body that was in question.
+
+The abbe, who seemed highly pleased with the success of his interview,
+now gave those behind him a sign to move on, and bowed respectfully to
+the lady, who whispered a few words in his ear.
+
+The abbe stopped Peter Saffran as he was leaving the room, and said,
+in a low voice:
+
+"You are to remain; this kind lady wishes to speak with you."
+
+Saffran felt the blood rush to his head. He almost tottered, and as he
+returned to the room he could hardly move. But Eveline hastened to
+him, holding out both her hands. She had taken off her gloves, and he
+felt the soft, velvety clasp of her fingers as she pressed his horny
+hand in hers; he heard in his ear the sweet, fresh ring of her voice,
+to which he had often listened.
+
+"Ah, Peter, say a word to me--a kind word;" and she patted him two or
+three times on the back. "Are you still angry with me? There, Peter,
+don't be vexed any more. Stay and dine with me, and we shall drink to
+our reconciliation."
+
+And she put her arm into his, and stroked his cheek with her delicate
+little hand, which looked as if it had never known what hardship was.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Eveline had kept religiously to her promise of always informing Prince
+Theobald when she expected guests, and the prince reserved to himself
+the right of a veto if he did not approve of their reception, for
+there were among the _dilettante_, and even among apparently most
+respectable gentlemen, certain individuals who should not have the
+_entree_ to the drawing-room of a lady who is not living under her
+husband's roof.
+
+The prince liked pleasant society, and, if he approved of the company,
+enjoyed himself all the more that Eveline did the honors for him.
+
+On this particular day Eveline had told the prince she expected two
+visitors. One was Peter Saffran.
+
+The prince laughed. "Poor fellow!" he said, "treat him well; it will
+do him good." But when he heard his excellency the minister was coming
+he frowned heavily. "What is this?" he asked. "What brings _him_ to
+see _you_?"
+
+"Why! Is he a woman-hater?"
+
+"On the contrary, he is a scoundrel, only he wears a hypocrite's
+cloak. Great men who are at the helm and guide public affairs have
+their weaknesses, but they dare not sin openly. A man in his position
+might as soon become a member of the Jockey Club as visit a beautiful
+actress, unless he had some ostensible reason to give for so doing."
+
+"But he has a reason, and a very good one. I asked him to make the
+appointment."
+
+"_You invited him here!_" The prince's face grew more cloudy.
+
+"That is to say, I asked him to give me a private audience, and his
+secretary wrote to say his excellency would prefer to come here."
+
+"And for what purpose do you require an audience?"
+
+"Felix desired me to ask for it."
+
+"Ah, it was Kaulmann's doing! Wherefore?"
+
+"He wants these documents to be signed."
+
+Eveline showed the prince a folded parchment.
+
+The prince glanced at it and shook his head. "And does his excellency
+know that this is the reason why you asked for an audience?"
+
+Eveline burst into a laugh. "Oh dear, no! When his secretary first
+wrote he asked why I required an audience; I answered it was about my
+engagement at the Opera, and then he said he would come. He knows
+nothing of this," she added, touching the papers in her hand.
+
+"And Kaulmann told you to do this?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then Kaulmann is a refined villain. Do as he has told you; but you
+may take my word that your husband deceives himself if he imagines you
+can snare a savage with a silken net. You can receive your guest, but
+I do not think you will succeed in your scheme."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Eveline put her hand upon Peter Saffran's, and led him into another
+room, where there was a wonderful display of silver, and thence,
+through a private door, into a fourth apartment, the walls of which
+were wainscoted with dark wood; the ceiling, too, was supported by
+cross-beams of wood, and finished with painted shell-work.
+
+No one was in the room. Eveline sat down on the sofa, and made Peter
+sit beside her.
+
+"Listen, Peter," she said, laying her hand on the rough sleeve of his
+Halina-cloth coat. "It was the will of God that I should separate from
+you. It grieved me very much to leave you, because, you know, we had
+been called in church three times. But, then, you could not bear my
+little brother; you were cruel to him, and you beat me. I don't bear
+you any malice now. I have forgotten and forgiven, but at the time I
+was very angry with you, not so much because you ill-treated me, but
+I followed you that night to the cottage in the wood. I was quite
+ready to forgive and forget, only I looked through the window, and I
+saw you dancing with Ezifra Mauczi. I saw you kiss her, and I was
+angry in downright earnest."
+
+Peter gnashed his teeth. He felt the tables were turned against him,
+and he could say nothing. It would be very different if it were his
+wife who accused him of such things; he would know how to treat a
+jealous, scolding wife; but he couldn't take this beautiful lady by
+the hair, and drag her round the room, and beat her on the head until
+she begged for pardon.
+
+"But, as I said," continued Eveline, smiling again, "we are not going
+to talk about bygones. It was all God's will, and for the best. We
+would have been a most unhappy couple, for I am passionate and
+jealous, and you would have given me cause. Now you can do as you
+like, and I have the happiness of doing good. I like to help as many
+people as possible, and every day twenty poor creatures are fed in my
+house. Oh, I do more than that; I get heaps of things done for the
+poor! I speak a good word for them, and get them helped by rich
+people. Also, I mean to be a benefactress to your valley; thousands
+and thousands of people will bless my name for what I shall do for
+them. Is it not a happiness to be able to help others?"
+
+Eveline paused for an answer. Peter felt he ought to say something, if
+it was only to show that he had not become dumb.
+
+"And does all this money come from the Bondavara Company?" he asked.
+
+Eveline blushed scarlet. How was she to answer such a question?
+
+"Not altogether. I earn a good deal by my art; for every performance I
+receive five hundred gulden."
+
+"Five hundred gulden!" thought Peter. "That explains a great deal. A
+good salary indeed! A woman might spare some of her clothing to earn
+so much money. It is money got by work, and not such hard work as
+carrying coals. She had to show her legs for that also. But all said
+and done, it was money honestly earned."
+
+Peter's face began to clear.
+
+"There, you look more like yourself. Don't look wicked again," pleaded
+Eveline; "and when you go back home tell every one that you have seen
+me, and that we had a great talk together, and are good friends again.
+If at any time you know of any one in want, send me a line, and, if it
+is in my power, I will gladly help them. You must marry, if you are
+not already married. No? Well, then, you must choose a good girl,
+Peter. There is Panna, she is just the wife for you, and she was
+always a friend of mine, or there is Amaza, she liked you, I know, and
+she is an excellent housekeeper; only, don't marry Mauczi; you would
+be very unhappy with her, she is a bad girl. And in case you do marry,
+Peter, here are my wedding-presents for your wife; and remember, I
+advise you to marry Panna. Here are a pair of ear-rings, a necklace,
+and a brooch; and to you I give, as a remembrance of myself, this gold
+watch. See, Peter, my likeness is on the back. Think of me sometimes
+when you are very happy."
+
+When she said these words Eveline's eyes overflowed, and her lips
+trembled convulsively. Peter saw it, and drew the conclusion that with
+all her splendor she was not happy. One thought now took possession of
+him. He gave no heed to the bridal presents. Whether they were of
+gold or lead was all one to him, no one should ever see them; but what
+he thought was:
+
+"She has a good heart, she is generous, she gives with an open hand;
+but I do not care for her gifts. If she will only kiss me once I will
+bless her. What is a kiss to her? An alms, one out of the numbers she
+gives to those fellows on the stage, with their smeared, painted
+faces."
+
+Poor fool! he didn't know that stage kisses are only mock kisses, just
+as stage champagne is only lemonade or pure water. Peter believed that
+one kiss from Eveline would satisfy his thirst; it would assuage the
+pangs of regret, of jealousy, or rage that had consumed him since the
+previous night. All would vanish when he would touch her cold, fresh
+lips. And, after all, had they not been betrothed to one another--all
+but man and wife? Who could object? Only he didn't know how to express
+what was in his mind.
+
+"And now let us eat together, Peter," said Eveline, kindly. "I am
+certain that you are tired of all the good things you get every day;
+you are satiated with the Vienna cookery. Wait, and I shall cook you
+something myself--your favorite dish, Peter, which you often said no
+one cooked so well as I did. I shall make you some porridge."
+
+Peter was electrified. A smile broke out all over his face, either at
+the mention of his favorite dish, or at the thought that his hostess
+would herself prepare it. But how is she to cook? There is no hearth,
+no cooking-vessels.
+
+"Everything will be here," said Eveline, laughing joyously. "I shall
+change my dress; I cannot cook in this."
+
+She ran off as she spoke, and returned in two minutes. Actresses
+learn how to dress quickly. She now wore a white embroidered maid's
+frock, and a little cap on her head. She called no one to help her,
+but laid a cloth on the oak table, filled a silver kettle with water,
+set it to boil on a spirit-lamp. She turned up the sleeves of her
+dress to the elbows, and shook with a light hand the meal into the
+boiling water; then she turned the mixture deftly with a silver spoon
+round and round until it became thick. Then she took the kettle by the
+handle, emptied it on to a glazed clay plate--yes, actually a clay
+plate!--and poured some cream over the mixture. She fetched two wooden
+spoons, one for Peter, one for herself.
+
+"Let us eat off the one plate, Peter."
+
+And they ate this porridge off one plate. Peter felt a strange
+moisture fill his eyes; he had not wept since he was a child. The
+porridge was excellent; all the cooks in Vienna put together couldn't
+have given him a meal so much to his mind. There was wine on the
+table, but no glasses.
+
+Peasants never drink during meals; but when they had finished Eveline
+fetched a clay jug and asked Peter to drink, after, as is the custom,
+she had taken a draught.
+
+"Drink this, Peter; it is your old favorite."
+
+There was mead in the jug--a very innocent sort of drink--and Peter
+thought it was his duty to empty the last drop. The hell that had been
+raging in his breast seemed all at once to be extinguished. He said to
+himself:
+
+"Yes, I shall go back to the church, and to the spot where I made that
+awful vow; I shall implore the Holy Mother to allow me to take it
+back. I shall hurt no one; I shall take no revenge. Let the green
+grass grow again in the fields, and let her live in splendor in the
+smiles of the great ones. I shall not grudge her her happiness. This
+day, when she has received me so kindly, has banished from my memory
+the day upon which she left me. But I shall ask her for one kiss, so
+that I may remember nothing but that."
+
+He delayed, however, too long in putting his desire into words. They
+were, indeed, hovering on his lips when the door suddenly opened, and
+a servant announced that his excellency was in the drawing-room.
+
+(Now, Peter, God help you; you may go hence without your kiss!)
+
+Eveline could hardly say good-bye; she had to change her dress. The
+footman showed him out at the secret door; there another footman led
+him down the back stairs, and, opening another door, left Peter in a
+narrow street, where he had never been before. While he made the best
+of his way to the hotel he had leisure to think over what he should
+say to Evila if he ever again had the chance of being alone with her
+in the round room. The recollection of how he had missed his
+opportunity roused the demon again in his mind. The burning lava of
+hell began once more to fill his veins, the stream of sulphur which
+the lost souls are ever drinking. He kept repeating to himself, "The
+grass shall not grow again!"
+
+By the time he reached the inn he brought with him a goodly
+company--hatred, envy, rage at his own weakness, horror at his own
+wickedness, mixed with political fanaticism. A delightful gathering in
+one man's breast.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+FINANCIAL INTRIGUE
+
+
+We can give no authentic account of the interview between his
+excellency the minister and his beautiful hostess. We were not
+present, and neither had we a phonograph.
+
+No doubt he complimented her upon her charming talent, and promised
+her his powerful interest, and as in this world nothing is given for
+nothing, there is every probability that his excellency, who was an
+undoubted scoundrel, hinted at the reward he would expect for using
+his powerful interest in her behalf; upon which Eveline, like a
+prudent woman, wishing to have everything in black and white, produced
+from the drawer of her writing-table the parchment which we have
+already heard of.
+
+His excellency took the paper, probably believing it was a petition to
+grant her an engagement. He held it in his hand while he smilingly
+assured her that the matter was as good as concluded. It is, however,
+more than probable that when he gave a hurried glance at the contents
+his face assumed its official expression; he saw it did not refer to
+an operatic engagement, but to the grant for the Bondavara Railway.
+Seeing this, it is likely that his excellency got up at once, and, hat
+in hand, explained to his lovely hostess how distressed he felt not to
+be in a position to comply with her wishes, as there were insuperable
+objections in the way, great opposition from the legislative body, and
+yet greater opposition in the Upper House, where Prince Sondersheim
+was working heaven and earth against the Bondavara Railway, and,
+therefore, from political and financial reasons, from the condition of
+the country and many other causes, it would be impossible, or almost
+impossible, to hold out any hope of granting the Bondavara Railway a
+guarantee from the government. That then his excellency made a
+profound bow and left the room may be considered a fact. It is
+psychologically certain that he descended the staircase with a frown
+of vexation on his face, and that he murmured between his teeth:
+
+"If I had known that I was going to talk to the _banker's wife_ I
+should never have come here." As he got into his carriage--and this is
+historical--he banged the door with such violence that the glass
+window was shattered in pieces.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At the very hour when this interview was taking place a
+committee-meeting was being held in Prince Theobald's palace, which
+had for its object to lay before the shareholders the necessity of
+paying the third instalment--a critical operation, this attack upon
+the pockets of the public. The Bondavara Railway now played its part.
+Felix Kaulmann announced he had every confidence that in a couple of
+weeks it would be a fact. The deputation from Bondathal had caused a
+sensation, besides which the company had the interest of a very
+influential person, who could persuade his excellency to do anything,
+even give the grant for the railroad. The finely cut, aristocratic
+face of the president did not betray by a sign that he knew who this
+person was.
+
+Kaulmann never for a moment suspected that Eveline told the prince the
+names of all the visitors who came to the palace during his absence,
+and that they were admitted through the little door. He would have
+called such stupidity by an ugly name.
+
+While the meeting was sitting a note was brought to Kaulmann, who at
+once recognized Eveline's writing. He read the letter quickly, then
+laid it on the table with a discontented air.
+
+"What is that?" asked the prince, pointing to a roll of paper.
+
+It was the unsigned document which Eveline had returned.
+
+Kaulmann wrote on a slip of paper, "Another hitch in that damned
+railway."
+
+The prince said to himself, "Then his wife has again escaped." Then he
+bent over Kaulmann, and, laying his hand upon his shoulder, whispered
+to him:
+
+"My dear friend, one doesn't get everything by a pair of black eyes."
+
+Spitzhase was the secretary of the meeting. After this little scene he
+wrote upon a piece of paper, and, twisting it up, handed it to
+Kaulmann. Kaulmann read it; then tore it in small pieces and shrugged
+his shoulders.
+
+"I know all _that_," he said, sulkily. "I don't want any advice."
+
+The committee went away in bad humor with one another. The expense of
+bringing the deputation from Bondathal had been two thousand gulden,
+and this comedy had been of no use. The last stake should now be
+played. Csanta had determined not to pay the third instalment. He
+would sell all his shares at the price quoted and refill his casks
+with silver. On the day of the Proclamation, however, he received a
+letter from Spitzhase, which ran as follows:
+
+      "SIR,--To-morrow Herr Kaulmann is going to you to
+      offer to buy all your shares at forty-five florins
+      exchange. Be on your guard. I can assure you that the
+      government has signed a grant for the Bondavara
+      Railway, and so soon as this is public the shares will
+      rise another twenty per cent."
+
+Csanta believed in Spitzhase as in an oracle, and with reason. All
+happened as he said. Immediately upon the issue of the Proclamation,
+and when the shares were a little flat, Kaulmann appeared in X----,
+and offered him forty-five florins exchange upon his shares. But the
+old Greek was firm, not one would he part with; he would rather take
+his last cask to Vienna and empty its contents than part with one
+share.
+
+He was rewarded for his firmness. Two days later he read in the
+newspaper how generously both Houses had voted a grant to the
+Bondavara Railway.
+
+His excellency the prime-minister had himself pleaded for the cause in
+the Lords and Deputies House, and had proved conclusively that, from
+the political point of view, from the present favorable condition of
+the money market, as also from the side of the landed interest, from
+every point of view--strategical, financial, co-operative, and
+universal--the government guarantee for the Bondavara Railway was
+absolutely necessary, and, as a natural consequence, the motion was
+carried. Prince Waldemar, indeed, opposed it vigorously, but his
+following was small, so nobody minded him.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At the next audit of the Bondavara Company's accounts presented to the
+shareholders there appeared under the heading of expenditure this
+remarkable entry: "Expense of foundations, forty thousand gulden."
+
+"What does this mean?" said the shareholders, with one voice.
+
+Kaulmann whispered something to the man nearest him; he passed the
+whisper on, whereupon every one nodded his head, and tried to think it
+was all right. So it appeared to be, for after the government grant to
+the railway the Bondavara shares rose to seventy florins above par.
+Nothing could be more convincing. Csanta had punch at dinner, and got
+drunk for joy.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Some evenings later Eveline met his excellency in the green-room of
+the Treumann Theatre. The minister thought it was time to press for
+payment of his services.
+
+"My dear lady," he said, "have I not obeyed your wishes in regard to
+the Bondavara Railway?"
+
+Eveline made him a low courtesy. She wore the costume of the Duchess
+of Gerolstein.
+
+"I am eternally indebted to your excellency," she said. "To-morrow
+evening I shall blow you _forty thousand_ kisses."
+
+At the words "forty thousand" his excellency grew red. He turned on
+his heel, and for the future Eveline was relieved from his attentions;
+but it was also quite certain that she had lost all chance of an
+engagement at the Opera-house. She might sing like a nightingale, but
+her petition would never be signed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+THE BONDAVARA RAILWAY
+
+
+The Bondavara Railway was begun. Prince Waldemar and his followers,
+the bears, were crushed--there _are_ always people who die of hunger
+in the midst of a plenteous harvest.
+
+Prince Waldemar met his noble relative, Prince Theobald, at the Jockey
+Club. Their encounter was hardly a friendly one, considering their
+close relationship.
+
+Said Prince Waldemar: "You have chosen to put yourself at the head of
+my enemies. You have done your utmost to trump my best card. You have
+allied yourself with that man Kaulmann, with whom I am on bad terms. I
+sought your granddaughter in marriage; you promised she should be my
+wife, and then you sent her away from Vienna. You have invented all
+manner of pretexts to keep her at Pesth, and now the secret is
+out--she is betrothed to Salista. I had a fancy for a pretty little
+woman, and just to prevent my having her you invite her to your palace
+and forbid her to receive my visits. Worse than all, you have given
+over your only unmortgaged property, Bondavara, to a swindling
+company, who want to set themselves over me; and you have become their
+president. You have schemed and jockeyed the government into giving
+the guarantee for a railway that won't pay two per cent. You haven't
+an idea how you are implicated in these transactions. I pity you--for
+I have always felt esteem for you--and I intend to set myself the task
+of regulating _your_ affairs some day. Meantime take care, for if I
+succeed in upsetting the human pyramid upon whose shoulders you stand
+the greatest _fall_ will be yours."
+
+Of all this long harangue Prince Theobald only gathered the fact that
+Angela had chosen the Marquis Salista for her husband, and had never
+written to tell him. She let him hear it from another.
+
+The Bondavara Railway was being pressed forward; it was nearly
+finished. There was no further need for a woman's black-diamond eyes.
+They had done their work. One day Eveline visited her husband. Felix
+received her with apparent satisfaction.
+
+"I have come," she said, "to ask you a question. Prince Theobald has
+been for some days so sad; it is melancholy to see his distress. Have
+you any idea of its cause?"
+
+"I have. His granddaughter, the Countess Angela, is married, and her
+husband, the Marquis Salista, is taking steps to put the prince under
+restraint, on account of the foolish manner in which he is squandering
+his fortune."
+
+"And much of this foolish extravagance is spent on me."
+
+"You are really wonderfully sharp, Eveline."
+
+"I shall put an end to his spending his money on me. I shall tell the
+prince that I must leave his palace. I shall be always grateful to
+him; he has been a benefactor to me--and so have you. I ought to have
+mentioned you first. You have had me educated; you have taught me a
+great deal. I have to thank you for being what I am. I can earn my own
+living, thanks to you. I mean to become a real artist. But I must
+leave Vienna; I do not care to remain here any longer."
+
+"I think, Eveline, you have decided well, and our minds have really a
+wonderful sympathy. I was about to advise the very course to you. By
+all means, leave Vienna; by all means, make use of your talents, and
+take up work seriously. I shall continue to do my duty as your
+husband. I shall take you to Paris; I shall settle myself in my house
+there on purpose to be of assistance to you. You will make a hit
+there, I know, and we shall be always good friends."
+
+In spite of her previous experience of this man's character, Eveline
+was weak enough to be touched by his words and to blame herself for
+having done him injustice, for it was a great sacrifice on his part to
+leave Vienna for her sake. She could never have supposed that this
+sacrifice was part of his well-considered plan for ridding himself of
+her. She had played _her_ part in making his fortune, and now she
+could go where she chose--to her native coal-pit if she liked. Once in
+Paris, he would be able to say, "Madam, you are here under the French
+law, and as no _civil ceremony_ has passed between us, you are not my
+wife; you are at liberty to call yourself unmarried."
+
+Felix had another reason for settling himself in Paris. It was here he
+counted on carrying out the second part of his programme. Now that the
+Bondavara Railway was nearly finished, the castles in the air of the
+Abbe Samuel were beginning to take shape; the next step should be a
+gigantic loan in the interest of the Church. This loan would be
+another means of aggrandizing the house of Kaulmann; its reputation
+would be world-wide. Already Kaulmann's name was of European
+celebrity; he belonged to the stars of the first order in the
+financial world. From being a _baron_ of the stock-exchange he had
+become a prince. If he succeeded in effecting this loan he would be a
+_king_ of the money-market, before whose name even that of Rothschild
+would pale.
+
+A halo was also beginning to surround the name of the Abbe Samuel. The
+government had begun to see that this popular orator held the people
+in his hand, and could lead them as he chose. The people looked upon
+him as their benefactor, a man whose influence could get them
+benefits. Was not the Bondavara Railway a proof of this? The twelve
+Halinacoats were firmly persuaded that the abbe had carried back in
+his pocket the government grant. The clerical party acknowledged him
+as a new light. In Rome he was lauded for his zeal in the papal cause.
+If he was made bishop, which was almost a certainty, he would be the
+first Hungarian prelate who had taken his seat in the Austrian House
+of Lords. The minister would stare when he found his scheme for the
+secularization of Hungarian Church property met by another scheme from
+the new bishop, which, while proposing a gigantic loan upon these same
+Church lands, had for its object the elevation of the Holy See by
+these very means. The money-markets of France, Belgium, and the Roman
+States would vie with one another in promoting the loan, and the
+pontiff would look upon the man who had conceived such a project as
+the saviour of the pontificate; his name should be written in letters
+of gold. In Hungary, also, the scheme would be favorably received as a
+means of saving the church property already threatened, for the
+government dared not refuse this alternative.
+
+Moreover, the primate was an old man; the pope was still older. All
+the wheels were in readiness; the machine could now be put in motion.
+
+The day the first locomotive steamed out of the Bondavara station the
+Abbe Samuel might say to himself, "The way to Rome is clear." It would
+be also safe to prophesy that on this day Ivan Behrend's ruin would be
+complete.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+This railroad would bring the goods of the Joint-Stock Company into
+the markets of the world, where they could compete with the coal of
+Prussia and the English coal. But, it will be said, Ivan had the same
+chance; his coals were equally good, and the giant with the seven-mile
+boots would carry his coal as well as his enemies'. But here was where
+the shoes pinched. What was of use to the company was destruction to
+him.
+
+The railway was not to run through the valley where his mine was
+situated, although that line was the best and most natural course to
+take; instead of which mountains had to be made level, tunnels had to
+be bored through the hills, to avoid his colliery and to carry the
+rails close to the company's mine. In consequence of this, Ivan would
+be obliged to make a circuit of a half-day's journey to get to the
+railway, and so the freightage to the station made his goods five or
+six per cent. dearer than those of the company. For him, therefore,
+the railroad was a crushing blow.
+
+In the meantime the end of the year drew near, the time when the
+miners were to receive their share from the profits. But profit there
+was none. Neither coal nor iron had any sale. The company's low prices
+had taken every customer from Ivan.
+
+Any one who possesses ready money can always _say_, even if he loses,
+that he wins; the common people call this eating your own entrails.
+Ivan had a sum by him, which he had carefully gathered in better days.
+It amounted, all told, to several thousands, and he calculated he
+could hold his own against his giant rivals for at least ten years. He
+forgot that the giants were cunning as well as strong, and that they
+did not despise the smallest artifice.
+
+When the railway directors issued their prospectus, inviting all
+contractors to send in contracts for iron rails, etc., Ivan thought to
+himself, "Now, I will have some fun. The shareholders of the
+Joint-Stock Company offer their iron six per cent. cheaper than it
+costs them. I will offer to the railway directors to deliver iron
+rails at ten per cent. cheaper than they cost _me_. I shall lose fifty
+thousand gulden, but I shall have the satisfaction of punishing my
+neighbors for their folly in lowering the price of the raw material."
+
+Simple fool! Just as an honorable gentleman imagines that when a
+letter is sealed no one would venture to open it, so Ivan thought that
+all the offers were read together, and that the most advantageous to
+the company was accepted.
+
+Good gracious! nothing of the kind.
+
+It is always settled beforehand who is to have the contract. When the
+proposals come in it sometimes happens that some one makes a yet lower
+offer than that of the _protege_, and this last is then told to take
+pen and ink and write an offer proposing to give the goods half per
+cent. lower than the offer made by the outsider.
+
+This is a well-known trick, and it is only men like Ivan, whose minds
+are occupied with petrifactions and the stars, who are in ignorance
+that such things are done.
+
+The contract offered by the shareholders was half per cent. lower than
+the one offered by Ivan.
+
+But even this rebuff didn't daunt him. Two and two make four, and
+those who sin against multiplication must come to ruin sooner or
+later.
+
+Ivan continued making in his workshop iron bars and rails. He
+accumulated a store in his magazines. Some time they would be wanted.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Bondavara Railroad was to be made.
+
+Csanta wanted to sell his houses in X----; the whole street was for
+sale. He said he was going to live in Vienna, and to fill his office
+of one of the directors to the company. He was to receive a large
+salary, and to have little or nothing to do. He had changed all his
+gold into papers--there is no use nowadays for houses or land or
+cattle or mines; nothing is good but paper. _It_ wants neither groom
+nor manure nor pay nor machinery.
+
+Therefore, he wished to sell the whole street. Fortunately, there was
+so little money in X---- that the inhabitants of the whole town put
+together couldn't produce enough money to buy a poor little street.
+
+The Bondavara Railway was in progress. Along the line the navvies were
+working like a swarm of ants; they shoved wheelbarrows from morning
+until night; they dug the ground, blew up rocks, bored mountains,
+rammed plugs into water-sources, hewed stones, dammed rivers.
+
+In the dark mouth of the Bondavara mine one man stood immovable. He
+was ever watching the work. His gloomy, threatening face was fixed
+steadily upon a windlass.
+
+This man was Peter Saffran. He held in his hand a lump of coal, and as
+he looked back from the noisy landscape to the remnant of trees his
+eyes seemed to say, "Thou art the cause of all this tumult, this
+wealth, this splendor; thou art a living power--thou!" And he hurled
+the coal against the wall.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+THE POOR DEAR PRINCE
+
+
+"You have something to tell me: what is it?" asked Prince Theobald, as
+he entered Eveline's drawing-room in answer to a letter from her,
+written after her interview with her husband.
+
+"I wish to leave Vienna."
+
+"Ah! this is sudden. And where are you going?"
+
+"My husband is obliged to go to Paris. I am going with him."
+
+The prince looked inquiringly at her. "Have you, then, grown tired of
+being under my care?"
+
+"I am afraid I cannot deny it. I am like a slave in a gilded cage. I
+am a sort of prisoner, and I want to see life."
+
+"You repent, then, of the promise you made me? Well, then, I release
+you; but stay with me."
+
+"I should be too proud to receive benefits from any one to whom I am
+ungrateful. Besides, it would be enough for me to know that you are
+the master of the palace to take all sense of freedom from me. I don't
+want to receive any more favors."
+
+"You wish to become an actress?"
+
+"I do wish that." Eveline laid a stress on the last word.
+
+"From ambition?"
+
+"I cannot say so. If I were ambitious I should be more diligent. I
+want my freedom. I don't want my wings clipped. I like to feel I can
+use them as I choose."
+
+"That is rather a dangerous experiment for any one so young and pretty
+as you are."
+
+"One never falls so low that one cannot rise again."
+
+"Where did you learn that?"
+
+"From what I see every day."
+
+"You are resolved to leave me?"
+
+"I am--I am--I am!" Eveline repeated these words impatiently.
+
+"Then I had better free you from my disagreeable society as soon as
+possible," said the prince, taking up his hat. Then, with an ironical
+bow, he added, "Forgive me, madam, for the weary hours I must have
+imposed upon you."
+
+Eveline, with an impatient stamp of her foot, turned her back upon
+him. The prince, when he had got as far as the anteroom, found that he
+had forgotten his walking-stick in the drawing-room. It had been a
+Christmas present from Eveline, and he would not leave it with her. He
+went back to fetch it.
+
+He opened the door gently, and he saw a sight that surprised him.
+Eveline still stood with her back to him. She had in her hands the
+stick he had come for, which she kissed two or three times, sobbing
+bitterly. The prince withdrew gently. Everything was made clear to
+him. Eveline quarrelled with him to make the separation less hard for
+him. She pretended to be mean and ungrateful in order that he might
+forget her more easily. Why did she do this?
+
+The next day the prince found the solution of this riddle. His servant
+brought him the key of Eveline's apartments. The lady had left by the
+very earliest train. The prince hastened to the palace, and he then
+understood why it was that Eveline had left. She had taken nothing;
+everything was there. She was a pearl among women. A lock of her hair
+was wound round the handle of the walking-stick--her beautiful hair,
+which fell from the crown of her head to her feet.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Eveline arrived in Paris before Kaulmann. It had been settled between
+them that she should stop at a hotel until he arranged where she
+should live.
+
+Some weeks later Felix came and said: "Your house is ready for you.
+Will you come and see it?"
+
+Eveline drove with Felix to her new home, which was in the Rue
+Sebastopol, one of the best situations in Paris, the first floor. As
+she came into the apartment her heart beat. Everything was familiar to
+her eyes--the cherry-colored curtains, the carpets, the dove-colored
+panels, the black marble fireplace, the oval frames in china, the
+window looking into the garden--all as in Vienna. The same pictures,
+the same service of silver, the wardrobes, the jewel-cases, even to
+the glove which she had left upon the table.
+
+The tears fell from her eyes as she murmured to herself, "The good,
+kind prince!"
+
+Felix, however, with perfect _aplomb_, took all the credit to himself,
+and asked her, "Have I not arranged your apartment to your taste?"
+
+Eveline made him no answer. Her thoughts were with the good, kind
+prince, her best friend. To him she owed her engagement at the
+Opera-house in Paris, the wreaths that were thrown to her on her first
+appearance, the carriage she drove in every day. All was due to the
+paternal interest of Prince Theobald, who, from the day he called her
+his daughter, had never ceased to care for her as his child.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+DIES IRAE
+
+
+One gloomy day in late autumn Ivan went from the forge to his mine,
+and upon the way his thoughts ran in a sad groove. "What a curious
+world we live in; everything goes wrong--at least, for most people.
+Bread is not for the wise man, nor success for the strong; it was so
+in the days of Solomon. One bad year follows the other, for even
+nature acts like a step-mother to men. The poor are hungry and beg for
+bread, and when they have eaten they forget from whom they received
+nourishment. All the great proprietors go to their graves without
+doing, either for their country or their neighbor, anything worth
+mentioning; all the burden of the present and the future seems to fall
+upon the less numerous and more exhausted class. The patriots are all
+hollow; they weep when they are in their cups; they show their fists,
+but no one dares to strike a blow. All manly strength is gone; there
+is not a man worth the name in the whole country. And the women--they
+are all the same, from the high-born dame to the peasant girl--false
+and heartless. Even in the bowels of the earth it is no better. For
+the last two days there has been choke-damp in the mine; the escape of
+gas has been so great that the men cannot work; it is as likely as not
+that there will be an explosion while I am in the pit."
+
+You see, Ivan's thoughts were as black as the landscape, and suited
+to its gloom. His road from the forge to the mine led him past the
+workmen's houses, and as he passed one of these a miner came stumbling
+out of the door. The house was a wine-shop. The miner had his back
+towards Ivan, who did not recognize him, but he noticed that the man
+had great difficulty in walking straight.
+
+"I wonder who it is that has got drunk so early in the day?" thought
+Ivan, and hastened after the man to find out who he was. When he got
+up with him he saw, to his surprise, that it was Peter Saffran. This
+struck Ivan unpleasantly; he recalled how, on the day when Evila had
+eloped, Saffran had sworn never again to touch brandy; he knew also
+that Peter had kept this oath. He recollected also, but imperfectly,
+that when he said that he wouldn't drink any more he had let fall some
+threat. Well, it didn't much matter; if he got drunk, that was his
+affair. But why did he come to Ivan's village to get drunk? Why didn't
+he go to the tavern in his own colony?
+
+Ivan hailed the man. "Good-morning, Peter."
+
+Peter did not return the greeting; he stared like a stupid dog who
+doesn't know his own master. He looked at Ivan with a wild eye, he
+pressed his lips together, and his nostrils extended. He drew his cap
+down over his eyes.
+
+Ivan asked him, "Has the choke-damp got into your pit?"
+
+No answer from Peter. He shoved his cap from off his forehead, and,
+opening his mouth to its full extent, bent his face to that of Ivan,
+and let his hot, spirit-laden breath blow over him. Then, without
+saying a syllable, he turned away, and set off running in the
+direction of the company's mine.
+
+The heated breath of the man, with the sickening smell of bad brandy,
+sent a shudder through Ivan's frame. He stood still, staring after the
+runaway, who, when he had got a certain distance, stopped and looked
+back. Ivan could see his face distinctly. He looked like a madman; his
+lips hung apart, like those of a mad dog; his white teeth gleamed in
+contrast to his red gums. His whole appearance was so strange and
+desperate that Ivan laid hold of the revolver in his pocket. For one
+moment the thought passed through his mind that he would be doing a
+good work in freeing the world of such a creature, but on second
+thoughts he let him go unharmed, and continued his way to the mine to
+look after the ventilators.
+
+In the vault the proportion between the hydrogen and the air was three
+to seven. Ivan forbade any work to be done in the mine, or any pumping
+out of the dangerous gas. He employed his men in the open air,
+removing the coal that was required, and only allowed those to remain
+below who had to look after the air-pumps.
+
+He remained the whole day on the spot, controlling everything and
+keeping a close watch. Towards evening he left the mine and returned
+to his house. Everything was apparently safe. It was a nasty, foggy,
+gloomy evening; the state of the atmosphere reacted upon the mind and
+body alike. When nature is out of sorts, man suffers; when the sky is
+overcast, he, too, is gloomy. And when the earth is sick, when worms
+and mould destroy the fruit, when the harvest is ruined by blight, and
+the cattle are decimated by pestilence--above all, when the noxious
+vapors from the coal-mines rise to the surface and poison the very
+air--then men sicken and die.
+
+All through the day Ivan had felt cold shudders running over his whole
+body. His limbs were contracted by that unpleasant feeling called
+goose-skin, and when he got home he shivered, although his room was
+warm. He was restless, uneasy. He could occupy himself with nothing;
+everything palled upon him. The worst symptom of all, he could not
+even work.
+
+When a man refuses food or drink, when he does not care for the
+company of a pretty woman, when his club wearies him, these are
+unhealthy signs; but when he turns away from work, and finds no longer
+any interest in his usual occupation, then it is time to send for the
+physician.
+
+Ivan's head throbbed, yet he could not sleep, and to stay awake was
+torture. He lay down, and with a resolute effort closed his eyes. A
+panorama of past, present, and future kept dancing before him. Peter
+Saffran's hot, stinking breath seemed to breathe again in his
+nostrils, and the very horror brought back to his memory the man's
+long-forgotten words:
+
+"No more during my life shall I drink brandy--_only once_; and when I
+do, and when you smell from my breath that I have been drinking, or
+see me coming out of the public-house, then take my advice and stop
+safe at home, for on that day no man shall know in what manner he
+shall die."
+
+Who cares for the threat of a drunken man? Let me sleep. No, the
+drunken man would not allow Ivan to sleep; his breath was there.
+Faugh! it made him sick. His blear-eyed, pallid face was there bending
+over the bed, looking into Ivan's eyes with his blood-shot eyes; his
+open mouth and shut teeth came quite close to the sleeper, who, vainly
+beating his arms in the air, tried to drive away this horrid
+nightmare.
+
+Ah, what is that sound? A crack like the crack of doom awoke Ivan; not
+alone awoke him, but threw him violently out of bed and on to the
+floor, where he lay stunned.
+
+His first consecutive thoughts were, "The choke-damp has exploded! My
+mine is in ruins!" This was enough to get him on his legs and to send
+him out in the darkness--darkness, raven-black darkness, the stillness
+only broken by a whistling sound in the air. Ivan stood for a moment
+wondering. He felt the earth swaying under his feet; he heard a
+subterranean grumbling. There! the pitch-dark night was suddenly
+illumined; a bright pillar of fire rose out of the Bondavara Company's
+mine. At the same moment another fearful explosion was heard, worse
+than the last. The windows of the house were shattered in a thousand
+pieces, the chimneys, the roofs fell in. The pressure of the air
+forced Ivan back and threw him against the door of his own house. By
+the strong light of the demoniacal pillar he could see his own workmen
+all on their knees with a horrified expression upon their ghastly
+faces. Women and children were gathered at the doors of the houses,
+but the terror was so great that every one was speechless.
+
+The entire valley glowed like the crater of a volcano. It vomited
+forth a rain of fire-sparks, as in Gomorrah. The flames reached almost
+to the clouds, and heaven sent forth clap upon clap of thunder, the
+like of which in the most terrible thunder-storm had never been heard.
+
+Two minutes later the flames were extinguished. The whole valley was
+again enveloped in pitch-darkness, only over the company's mine
+floated a filmy white cloud.
+
+"The neighboring mine has exploded!" shrieked Ivan. "Help! help!" He
+never remembered that it was his enemy's mine; he only thought that
+there, in the bowels of the earth, a fearful, indescribably fearful,
+calamity had happened. "Help! help!" he cried, and ran to the
+alarm-bell, at which he pulled with all the strength of his body.
+
+His own men came rushing in hot haste, all repeating to one another,
+as if it were something new, "The neighboring mine has exploded!"
+
+Then followed a significant pause. The men carrying lanterns
+surrounded Ivan, and looked at him questioningly, waiting for him to
+speak.
+
+How had he guessed their thoughts?
+
+Those who under God's free heavens drew their breath were bound to go
+to the rescue of those who lay buried underground, and who perchance
+still lived. Here it was no case of friend or foe. They were human
+beings; that was enough.
+
+"We must get the ventilators, the well-buckets to work!" called Ivan.
+"Let each man bring a thick cloth to tie over his mouth. Bring
+crow-bars, cords, ladders, india-rubber tubes, hose-pipes. The women
+only are to remain behind. Forward, my men!"
+
+He threw on an old coat, seized a strong iron bar, which he carried on
+his shoulder, placed himself at the head of his men, and led the way
+to the company's mine.
+
+It was not easy to force an entrance into the works. The proprietors
+had set up all manner of barricades in order to prevent Ivan's carts
+from making any use of the new road. On the gates there were boards
+with "No trespassing. No one to pass this way without a written
+order."
+
+No one now minded these orders. If a door or a gate impeded their
+progress, Ivan thrust his iron rod through it and soon made a passage,
+through which his men rushed pell-mell. The miners did not pause to
+harness any horses to the machines. They harnessed themselves, while
+others shoved behind, and drove them on over sticks and stones down to
+the mouth of the pit. Like an army of lunatics the party of rescuers
+rushed on through the night, making their way as best they could by
+means of the lanterns fastened to their waistbands. Soon, however, the
+darkness was again illumined. The forge nearest to the pit, and
+consequently the most exposed to the fiery heat, blew up suddenly, and
+the flames from the heating-oven filled the air with a red glow. The
+miners avoided, however, the direction in which it burned, as it would
+be impossible to predicate the direction which the molten metal would
+take.
+
+When they reached the pit an awful spectacle presented itself. The
+ventilation-ovens which were placed over the shaft-mouth were gone.
+The bricks and tiles were scattered in a thousand directions all over
+the fields. The large windlass of cast-iron lay on the ground at a
+considerable distance from its former position, and of the conical,
+bell-shaped buildings hardly a stone was left. Only one wall was still
+standing; the iron fasteners hung from its side. The northern entrance
+to the pit had fallen in. The handsome stone gates lay in ruins.
+Stones, beams, iron bars, coals were all mixed up together in
+heterogeneous confusion, as if a volcano had vomited them out.
+
+The air was filled with the cries of weeping women. Hundreds upon
+hundreds of women and children, probably widows and orphans, held up
+their hands to heaven and wept. Under their feet their husbands, their
+fathers, brothers, lovers lay buried, and no one could help them.
+
+More from recklessness than from actual courage some men had already
+attempted to go down into the pit. They had been at once stunned by
+the pressure of the gas, and now their comrades, at the risk of their
+own lives, were trying to drag them out by cords and slings. Already
+one lay on the grass, while the women stood round him wringing their
+hands.
+
+Ivan now began to make his plans. "In the first place," he said, "no
+one is to venture near the pit. Let all wait until I return."
+
+He took his way towards the house of the directors. He forgot that he
+had sworn never to hold any communication with Raune. In any case, he
+was not to be found. In the next town there was high festival. The
+directors of the new railway had given a banquet in honor of the
+completion of the tunnel. Raune was there. Ivan, however, met the
+second engineer coming out of his house. He was a cool, phlegmatic
+man, and consoled himself with the trite reflection that these things
+happened everywhere. "The gates must be rebuilt," he said. "The pit
+roads must again be re-made, and probably we shall have to sink
+another shaft. It will cost a lot of money. _Voila tout!_"
+
+"How many men are below?" asked Ivan.
+
+"Probably about a hundred and fifty."
+
+"Only! And what is to be done for them?"
+
+"It will be a hard job to get them out, for they were at work at the
+passage which we were making between the north pit and the east to
+improve the ventilation."
+
+"Therefore there is no other entrance to the pit but the one which has
+fallen in?"
+
+"No; and the eastern shaft is also in ruins. The flames came from
+there; you must have seen them."
+
+"Yes; and I couldn't understand how it was that the second explosion
+followed the first after an interval of a few minutes."
+
+"That is easily explained. The communicating wall was already so thin
+that the explosion in the north pit blew it into fragments; the gas in
+the east pit undoubtedly was not kindled by the flames, for they had
+already gone out, but by the strong pressure of the air, which was
+heated to fever-heat by the accumulation of coal, and which,
+therefore, exploded through the shaft. So it is when you put sand into
+the barrel of a gun; the powder bursts the barrel before it throws out
+the sand."
+
+It was plain that the engineer took a very cold-blooded view of the
+whole affair, and that the design for the new stone gate was a matter
+of more interest to him than the hundred and fifty lives which were in
+jeopardy. Ivan saw there was little assistance to be got from him.
+
+"Before we can attempt the rescue of the men who are buried in the
+pit," he said, "we must pump the gas out of the opening of the cavern.
+Where is your air-pump?"
+
+"Up there," returned the engineer, pointing to the sky; "that is to
+say, if it hasn't fallen down."
+
+"You have no portable ventilator?"
+
+"We never contemplated the necessity of having one."
+
+"I have brought mine, if we can adjust it."
+
+"I would gladly know how that can be done. If the ventilator has a
+copper tube, it would be impossible to introduce it through all the
+zigzag of the rubbish and general wreck; if it has an india-rubber
+pipe it would be too weak, and wouldn't stand being shoved forward."
+
+"Some one must carry it into the pit."
+
+"Some one?" repeated the engineer, with an air of amazement. "Look
+yonder; they are drawing up the third man who was foolish enough to
+venture down there; he is dead, like the other two!"
+
+"No, none of them are dead; they will soon recover consciousness; they
+are stifled by the foul air."
+
+"All the same, I can hardly believe that you will find a man mad
+enough to be the first to carry a tube fifty steps through all the
+wreckage."
+
+"I have already found the man. I shall do it."
+
+The engineer shrugged his shoulders, but he made no effort to dissuade
+him.
+
+Ivan went back to the men, who meantime had been getting ready for
+work. He called the oldest miner on one side.
+
+"Paul," he said, "some one must carry the india-rubber tube of the
+ventilator into the mouth of the pit."
+
+"Good. Let us draw lots."
+
+"We shall do nothing of the kind. I shall go. You are all husbands and
+fathers with families. You have wives and children to provide for. I
+have no one. How long can a man hold out in that foul air without
+drawing his breath?"
+
+"A hundred beats of his pulse; no longer."
+
+"Good. Fetch me the pipe. Bind a cord round my body and hold the other
+end. When you see that I no longer carry the pipe, draw the cord
+slowly back, but take care to draw slowly, in case that I should have
+fainted and that a sudden pull might strangle me."
+
+Ivan loosened the woollen band from his waist, steeped it in a vessel
+of vinegar, and wrung it out and wrapped his face in it, so that his
+nose and mouth were covered. He then bound the cord firmly round his
+body, took the foremost end of the india-rubber pipe upon his
+shoulder, and began to make his way through the rubbish and _debris_
+at the pit's mouth.
+
+The old miner called after him, in a broken voice: "Count the seconds.
+Fifty for going, fifty for coming back."
+
+Ivan vanished behind the ruins. The miners took off their caps and
+folded their hands. The old man held the fingers of his right hand on
+the wrist of his left and counted his pulse. He had already counted
+over fifty and the other end of the pipe had not moved. It had passed
+sixty and was near seventy when suddenly it was pulled forward. Ivan
+had penetrated into the deadly atmosphere. The old miner wiped the
+perspiration from his brow. He counted eighty, ninety, a hundred
+seconds. They shall never see him again. Then the pipe remained
+steady.
+
+Now they began to draw the rope. It was slack, and not tightened by
+any burden. Ivan was, therefore, so far safe; he was still walking,
+for the rope continued slack. Suddenly it got stiffer. Be careful now.
+The cord again slackened; the old miner counted a hundred and sixty
+seconds. Suddenly Ivan was seen coming out of the pit's mouth,
+supporting himself upon the fallen stones of the archway; but his
+strength failed, and as the men rushed to his assistance he tottered
+and fell into their arms. His face was like that of a dying man.
+
+They rubbed him with vinegar, and the fresh air soon revived him. He
+sat up, and told them he was all right, but--
+
+"The air down there is something awful," he said. "What is happening
+to those poor creatures who are buried below?"
+
+It never occurred to him to remember that those poor creatures were
+the same ungrateful men who had deserted him, who had taken service
+with the men who had sworn to ruin him, who had formed a conspiracy
+against him, who were ready to murder him, who had sent a deputation
+to the enemies of their native land. Here they lay, buried in the
+depths of mother-earth, which thus revenged upon them their treachery.
+Ivan had forgotten their sin against him and their country, and his
+only thought was to save them if there was yet time.
+
+Now that the ventilator had been set in motion, the work of rescue
+might begin; but all the same it was a terribly hard fight.
+
+Ivan divided his band of men into two divisions. Each man was only to
+stay an hour at the dangerous work of clearing away the rubbish. Every
+one must have his face covered by a cloth steeped in vinegar. So soon
+as he began to feel faint he was to be carried away by his comrades.
+
+When the day began to break the wreck of the fallen entrance had been
+moved to one side, but in the mouth of the pit the sun could not
+penetrate. The vault of slate-clay had fallen altogether to one side,
+so that Ivan, when he had carried the pipe into the pit, had found
+there was scarcely room to allow it to wind through the chasms. In the
+spot where he had placed the mouth of the pipe the vault was
+altogether destroyed.
+
+It was an undertaking almost superhuman. What had been the work of
+weeks had to be done in so many days. And yet it must be done.
+
+In their work of clearing away the rubbish Ivan's men had very little
+assistance from the company's men for this reason: the explosion had
+taken place at the time when the miners were relieved. When men are
+working in collieries it is usual to relieve them four times. It was
+the time of the midnight relief when the accident happened. One party
+of the miners had already gone down the shaft; they were undoubtedly
+suffocated. The other party were on their way out, and were killed at
+once by the explosion. There was another party who had only reached
+the resting-stage, where neither the flames nor the fragments could
+touch them. These men were buried alive. It therefore resulted that of
+all the company's miners only from twenty to thirty were available.
+
+The men who worked the forge were forbidden by the director to give
+any help in the work of rescue. In all the ovens the metal was in a
+liquid state; if it was not attended to it would turn into rammers.
+The workmen give the name of _ram_, or _rammer_, to a solid mass of
+iron, which, in consequence of faulty melting, cannot be removed from
+the oven, and it and the oven have to be thrown away as useless
+lumber. The forge-work was urgently needed. The railway greaves had to
+be finished by a certain date, or a large fine would have to be paid.
+Ivan therefore had to set his men almost unaided to the task of
+clearing the pit. The women helped with all their strength. Their
+husbands, the bread-winners, were underneath the ruins.
+
+What a terrible undertaking! In consequence of the falling in of the
+arches the roof had, at a distance of six feet, to be supported on
+plugs, and a sort of street made through the ruins, where at every
+corner a new enemy waited for the intrepid pioneers.
+
+After the explosion the pit had been overflowed by water. The
+water-pipes had to be set to work, and where these were not sufficient
+the men were obliged to empty out the black slime in buckets, standing
+for hours in stinking mud, breathing foul air, threatened with death
+or mutilation from the constant falling of stones and wreckage.
+Undaunted by these obstacles, the men made their way step by step into
+the bowels of the earth.
+
+In the afternoon Raune arrived. In the middle of a convivial festival
+he had heard the news. He was raging. He came down the shaft and
+cursed all the dead men.
+
+"The scoundrels! They have cost the company a million of money! What
+does it matter if they are all killed? Serves them right! Why should
+any of them be saved? Stuff and nonsense! Let them suffocate, the
+drunken dogs!"
+
+The workers made him no answer. First, because they could not take up
+their time talking, and, secondly, because every man's mouth was
+covered. The clearing of a mine is very silent work.
+
+But in the midst of his curses Raune encountered one workman, who
+placed himself in front of him and confronted him with a steady look.
+This man was covered with mud and coal like the other laborers, his
+face was tied up with a cloth, and only the eyes were visible; they,
+too, were blackened with coal-dust, but Raune knew by their expression
+that it was Ivan. No one who had ever looked into his eyes could
+forget him.
+
+Raune turned away without another word, and, in company with his
+engineer, left the pit. He interfered no further with Ivan's work.
+
+Four days and four nights the men never ceased working. They triumphed
+over every obstacle and cut a pathway through every difficulty. During
+those four days Ivan never for one hour left the mine. He ate his
+meals sitting on a stone, and snatched an hour's sleep in some corner.
+
+On the fourth day the workmen came upon one of the missing men. A
+man--no, but a mass, flattened against the wall, of flesh and bones,
+which had once been a man.
+
+Some feet farther on there lay another body on the ground, but the
+head was nowhere to be seen. They tried to get him on one of the
+wheelbarrows which were for drawing coal, but he was all in fragments;
+splinters and shreds of that human body were sticking to everything.
+
+Then they came upon the charred, blackened corpses of the men who had
+been burned. They were not recognizable.
+
+Farther on there was a group of fifteen men crushed by a huge weight
+of slate stratum. This could not be moved, so they were left. It was
+more necessary to look after the living than the dead. Everywhere they
+found corpses; still the number of the missing was not complete.
+
+The miners employed by the company told Ivan that if any of the men
+were still living they would be found at the resting-stage, where they
+left their coats before they began to work and fetched them again as
+they went up. In the passages, however, there had been such a total
+upset that the oldest hand could not find his way. In many places the
+explosion had torn down the partition wall, in other places the
+entrance was stopped up with rubbish, or the roof taken off some of
+the passages which led into the inner vaults. It was all in such utter
+confusion that no one could find out where the large vault lay.
+
+At last it struck Ivan that underneath a mass of coal and slack he
+heard a faint, whimpering sound. He said to the men, "Dig this spot."
+
+At once they set to work to clear away the rubbish, and as they
+cleared the company's men began to recognize different landmarks,
+which convinced them they were at the right place.
+
+"Yes, here is the door which leads to the resting-stage." The pressure
+of the air had shut the door close, the side walls had fallen in, and
+so these, who had been safe from the conflagration, had been buried
+alive.
+
+The whimpering cry for help, like that of an infant's wail, was heard
+now more distinctly. The door, too, was plainly visible, and as it was
+swung off its hinges Ivan took a light and peered into the dark cavern
+below.
+
+No cry of joy reached him; the rescued men had not the strength to
+make a sound. They were about a hundred in all. They lay there
+still, speechless. Life had almost ebbed away, but not altogether.
+They had suffered the tortures of hunger and thirst, they had been
+suffocated by the foul air, broken-hearted, despairing. And now
+these human skeletons, when they saw the light, could hardly raise a
+finger to show they were alive. A heart-rending whimper, in which
+there was no human tone, rose from the hundred parched throats. When
+the explosion came they had been thrown upon their faces. Their
+lamps had gone out, and it would have been madness to relight them.
+They had remained in total darkness. After a little the danger of
+their situation increased. Soon they began to feel that the water
+was gradually--slowly at first--filling the space which served them
+as a refuge and a grave, and this space or vault was, they knew, a
+fathom deeper than the pit. They tried--for at first they were not
+so weak--to get hold of some boards and plugs that lay about, and
+out of these they made a sort of stage or platform, upon which they
+all clambered, and there waited for death--the death that might come
+either through hunger, foul air, or drowning. When their rescuers
+opened the door the water had reached the threshold and touched the
+bottom of the wooden stage.
+
+Ivan directed that the poor creatures should be carried carefully and
+silently out of their living grave. They did not press forward, for
+they could not stand. Each man lay where he was, and waited until his
+turn came. The foretaste of death made every one tranquil. Some of
+them could not at first open their eyes, but all were alive, and Ivan
+could not help thinking how wonderful is the strength of human nature.
+
+He had saved them all, but the work was not yet finished. How if,
+beyond the breach of which the engineer had spoken, there were more
+men waiting for deliverance? One thing they must ascertain
+positively--if the explosion had finished the work begun by the
+engineer's men, and had carried away the wall which had divided one
+pit from the other. If this were so, it would considerably lighten the
+work of those who had come to seek for the victims. At the opening of
+the breach-tunnel lay a man's body; he was such a charred, burned mass
+that he was unrecognizable. The dead man held in his hand his
+safety-lamp. _It was open._
+
+So this was the accursed one who had done the hellish deed, and it was
+human folly that had caused this demoniacal explosion.
+
+The corpse was not recognizable, the clothing was burned to ashes. In
+his girdle, however, they found a small steel casket, and in this
+casket a gold watch; upon the enamelled back was the portrait of a
+lovely woman.
+
+When the watch was brought to Ivan he recognized the portrait. It was
+Eveline. With the watch there was also a bank-note for a hundred
+gulden. It was half burned. Upon the back was written:
+
+"A year ago to-day I received this money; to-day I pay it back." What
+a fearful repayment!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Ivan was now able to grasp the connection between the words and the
+acts of this terrible man, whose recollection of his own act of eating
+human flesh had prompted him to an unexampled and most horrid
+massacre. His threats after Evila's elopement, his entering into the
+company's service, the last occasion upon which he had drunk brandy,
+and the breath he had blown into Ivan's face. All was now explained.
+This was part of the drama. This man had a character such as
+Antichrist might be possessed of. His soul and body were full of
+concealed demons, who prompted him to take revenge of those who had
+offended him, ridiculed him, stolen from him, scorned him, treated him
+as a fool, insulted him with money, tempted him with luxuries, and
+taken advantage of his simplicity to pull him by the nose.
+
+All of them should fall. He would pull the foundation-stone from under
+their feet, even if he dug his own grave in so doing. They should fall
+from their high estate--the banker, the pastor, the capitalist, the
+minister, and the actress.
+
+In hell the demons could teach Peter nothing.
+
+Ivan stood before the unsightly corpse deep in thought. In his heart
+there raged a wild conflict of passions. He also had been robbed,
+oppressed by the wealth of his enemies, his heart wounded by a hundred
+poisoned arrows, and this by the same men upon whom the revengeful
+hate of Peter Saffran had fallen. Ivan had come to their help. He had
+saved the lives and the property of his foes--at least, what they
+called their property; the monstrous treasure which lies in the very
+bowels of the earth does not, in truth, belong altogether to any man,
+but to all men; it is the treasure-trove of the state, destined to
+serve and minister to all ages.
+
+And yet a great dread, an unconquerable fear, possessed Ivan. He dared
+not mention his fear to any one, for if he were to share his
+suspicion with any one of the workmen, who up to this had followed him
+obediently through every peril, they would, without another word, have
+turned their backs and fled for their lives.
+
+The wire cylinder of Saffran's safety-lamp was filled to the very top
+with a red flame. This was a warning that the atmosphere was still
+charged with one-third of hydrogen gas, and that only two-thirds were
+of fresh air.
+
+But there is an even greater danger to be feared than the pit-gas. Its
+fearful spirit had been laid; the victims lay silent upon the
+wheelbarrows. Yet another and a worse spirit lurks in ambush--a foe
+who goes about with closed eyes, whose presence is awful in its
+consequences: it is the carbon from the coals.
+
+When the men had made the breach through the tunnel, they found, just
+as the engineer had said, that the explosion had burst through the
+partition wall, and that the _debris_ had only to be removed, and the
+passage between the east and the north pits would be established. Not
+one of the workmen could remain long at this work. After some moments
+each one returned coughing, and complaining that in that place his
+safety-lamp would not burn.
+
+In the pits the flame of the lamp filled the whole cylinder; this was
+not reassuring. But in the neighborhood of the ruins it would hardly
+burn; this was a far more serious sign.
+
+The last miner who returned said that as he removed a large lump of
+coal such a terrible stench had penetrated through his mouth-protector
+that he had almost fainted. The smell was like that of putrid
+vegetable matter.
+
+The old hands knew what this putrid stench signified. Paul suggested
+to Ivan that he should go and examine whence it came. Let him cover
+his mouth very carefully, and hasten back as soon as possible.
+
+Ivan took his iron rod and his lamp, and went. Seizing hold of the rod
+with both hands, he struck it with all his strength into a mass of
+coal, upon which the lump rolled with a great noise into the adjoining
+space. He then fastened his lamp to the hook of his rod and pushed it
+into the hollow. The lamp went out at once, and as he looked from the
+darkness into the hollow, to his horror he saw in the next vault a red
+glow which lighted up the space. He knew at once there was no time to
+lose. He never paused to withdraw his rod, but rushed back to the men.
+
+"The east pit is burning!" he cried.
+
+No one answered, but the men seized hold of Ivan, and bore him with
+them out of the pit into the open air. Behind them followed the
+horrible stench--not merely that of foul air such as accompanies "bad
+weather," often with fatal effect; this was the more insidious carbon,
+that which kindles pit-fires, baffles the ingenuity of man, respects
+neither the brave nor the scientific, and which, when once it has
+begun, can never be turned back. There is nothing to do but to run for
+the bare life.
+
+In a few minutes the pit was empty.
+
+As they issued into the light of day they were surrounded by countless
+women and children, weeping and screaming in their joy at being
+reunited to their lost ones.
+
+The engineer was also there. Ivan went straight to him. Taking the
+cloth from his mouth, he said:
+
+"Do you know, sir, what is going on down there in your mine? Complete,
+utter ruin! The east pit is burning; it must have been alight some
+days, for the whole pit is red-hot. I shall never forget the sight.
+Now let me tell you what this means. It is not the hand of human
+wickedness, neither is it the avenging hand of God; it is altogether
+caused by the negligence of the overseer. You, who are a great
+scientist, know as well as I do that collieries take fire when sulphur
+gets mixed with coal-dust and is allowed to lie in a heap. It is
+always hot down there, and when the stuff is fanned by the air it
+lights of itself. Your pit is full of this dangerous burning mist. And
+now both your pit and my mine are finished. The colliery fire can
+never be extinguished. You have heard of the burning mountain of
+Dutweeler? A hundred and twenty years ago that coal-mine took fire; it
+is still burning. Here we shall experience another such tragedy.
+Good-morning."
+
+The engineer only shrugged his shoulders; it was nothing to him.
+
+Ivan shook the dust of the God-forsaken colony off his feet. He and
+his men returned to his own side of the mountain.
+
+Meantime what had happened to his own mine? He had been absent four
+days and four nights, and had never given it a thought.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS
+
+
+Any one who wishes to understand the meaning of the proverb, "There is
+only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous," should gamble on
+the stock-exchange; there he will learn the full meaning of the words.
+
+To-day you are a deity, to-morrow the meanest of street curs. To-day
+sixty agents shriek out the name of your speculation; you are a sort
+of king, and all the other kings on 'change study your countenance to
+see how the wind shifts. To-day, so soon as one o'clock strikes by the
+town clock, a swarm of buyers come round you. Your note-book is held
+up to the view of all the agents. It is handed from one to another; it
+is placed upon the back of an agent, and the competitors write the
+number of shares they want. To-day all hands point to the percentage,
+which is the proof of your high estate. To-day the crowd who are
+speculating on your credit fill all the passages; they scream out, "I
+sell!" "I buy!" Even outside the stock-exchange sweet creatures of the
+opposite sex, who like dabbling in stock quite as much as do the male
+creation, make their books. Women are prohibited from showing their
+faces on 'change; but they gamble all the same. Hundreds of ladies
+wait upon the stock-broker, with a copy of the exchange list in their
+hands; they have marked your shares. Still greater ladies sit outside
+the exchange in their grand carriages. In their eagerness they stretch
+their heads out of their carriage windows to know from the first-comer
+at what figure the shares--your shares--stand.
+
+This is all to-day. To-morrow you are not to be found; your name is
+scratched out of the exchange list. Every one knows that your affair
+has "burst." You are nowhere. You are nobody. Your place is empty.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The firm of Kaulmann stood at the summit of its triumph. Felix and his
+bosom friend, the Abbe Samuel, were enjoying their afternoon siesta.
+The room was full of a cloud of smoke, and under its soothing
+influence the friends were building castles in the air.
+
+"To-morrow," said Felix, "the pope's loan upon the Hungarian Church
+lands will be floated at the exchange."
+
+"To-morrow I shall receive from Vienna my appointment as titular
+Bishop of the Siebenbuerger."
+
+"The silver kings are ready to plank down their millions on the loan."
+
+"The pope gives it his blessing," murmured the abbe. "The cardinal's
+hat is ready for my head."
+
+"The legitimist financiers have shown a decided objection to my wife
+appearing on the stage. This may injure the loan; therefore I intend
+to-morrow to explain to her that she is not legally my wife."
+
+"Is it true that Prince Waldemar has arrived in Paris?"
+
+"Yes, he has come after Eveline."
+
+"But his presence here will be injurious to our speculation. He is our
+declared enemy."
+
+"He cannot injure us now. Since he met such a total defeat in the
+matter of the Bondavara mine and the railway his teeth have been
+drawn. He and his bears have kept very quiet."
+
+"Then it is Eveline who has brought him here?"
+
+"He is mad about her; he follows her everywhere like a dog, and is
+only anxious to pick up any crumb she will give him."
+
+"But she cannot endure him."
+
+"That is the worse for her. It was greatly Prince Theobald's doing.
+That old fellow is mad."
+
+"Is it not the case that the Countess Angela's husband wants to put
+the prince's affairs into the hands of trustees?"
+
+"Before we left Vienna there was some talk of it."
+
+"Will this affect in any way the Bondavara shares?"
+
+"In no way. The only unmortgaged portion of his capital is absolutely
+made over to the company. I can assure you, the Bondavara speculation
+is built upon a rock of gold."
+
+As he spoke three telegraphic despatches were brought in by the
+servant. One of these was addressed to the abbe, under cover to the
+firm of Kaulmann.
+
+"Lupus in fabula," said Kaulmann, as he handed the first telegram to
+the abbe. The abbe read:
+
+      "The Prince Theobald has been declared incapable of
+      managing his own affairs."
+
+"Poor Eveline, she will have leisure to repent!" remarked Felix, with
+a cynical smile.
+
+As he was speaking the abbe opened the telegram addressed to him. He
+handed it to Felix, saying:
+
+"And I, too, shall have time to repent."
+
+The telegram ran:
+
+      "The minister has resigned; the emperor has accepted
+      his resignation; the whole system is to be changed."
+
+      "Good-bye to the bishop's mitre, to the cardinal's
+      hat; good-bye to the velvet arm-chair in the House of
+      Peers."
+
+They read the third telegram together. It contained these words:
+
+      "Explosion in the Bondavara colliery. The whole mine
+      is on fire."
+
+"This is indeed a blow," said Felix, as he let the telegram fall from
+his hand. The three telegrams had come like three flashes of
+lightning. The last was the worst.
+
+When the news reached Prince Waldemar he would let the bears loose
+with a vengeance. Something must be done to avert the imminent
+danger--but what?
+
+If there was only time allowed to float the papal loan such small
+things as the Bondavara shares and the burning of mines would be of
+little consequence. But could the enemy be reduced to silence?
+
+It was settled that the abbe should without delay repair to Eveline,
+and that Kaulmann should speak to Prince Waldemar.
+
+The beaming faces of the two men now wore a sombre air. They had only
+one card to play--the smile of a woman was their only salvation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+TWO CHILDREN
+
+
+Eveline had arrived in Paris at a very important moment. Two great
+changes had been made in the world of fashion: the Empress Eugenie had
+decreed that the crinoline should be laid aside, and Cardinal Chigi,
+the papal nuncio, had pronounced that dresses closed to the throat
+should be worn at receptions. Piety had become the rage. It was
+considered good taste to go to church and to wait for the sermon.
+
+Piety being, therefore, the fashion, no better moment could have been
+chosen by Kaulmann for floating the papal loan. He was well pleased to
+find that Eveline was as eager in the pursuit of piety as any of her
+fair sisters, the truth being that it harmonized with the poor child's
+frame of mind. A few days after her arrival in Paris her cripple
+brother had died. A celebrated surgeon had performed an operation
+which had put him out of pain forever. Eveline grieved over her loss;
+now she felt alone in the world, she had no one to love, no one to
+live for. She kept the boy's useless crutches in her room, one on each
+side of her dressing-table, and twice a week she went to the
+church-yard and put fresh flowers on the little grave. The penitential
+fashion just suited her. She preferred to sing Mozart and Handel in
+the church than Verdi at the opera.
+
+One day she conceived the idea that she would have a sacred concert
+in her own drawing-room; the price of the tickets should be high, and
+the proceeds would be for some good purpose--God knows what! perhaps
+to buy arms for the papal zouaves. She was busy making out her
+programme when the door opened, and Arpad Belenyi, unannounced, rushed
+in in his old unceremonious way.
+
+Eveline was delighted to see her former friend. She threw down her
+pen, ran to meet him, holding out both her hands.
+
+"Oh, you delightful person, what has brought you here?"
+
+"My profession. I am looking for some place where I may strike the
+cymbals and give a concert."
+
+"What a coincidence; you have come at the right moment. But how did
+you find me out?"
+
+"Not much difficulty in that. If I didn't see your name in the list at
+the Opera, I couldn't avoid seeing it outside St. Eustache."
+
+"Then you have heard me sing?"
+
+"In both places--the theatre and the church. I must tell you I think
+the good fathers lay it on pretty strong. For twelve francs I heard
+you at the Opera, and had the play into the bargain; but I didn't get
+out of the church so cheap. A beautiful lady took twenty francs from
+me."
+
+"You silly man! Well, I will pay it back to you. What are your terms?"
+
+"May I ask your reason for the question?"
+
+"How stupid you are! I am not going to engage you for a restaurant.
+What are your terms for playing the piano at an evening concert?"
+
+"To you, merely thanks; to the public, five hundred francs."
+
+"But if it is for a charitable purpose?"
+
+"Then either not at all or for money."
+
+"No, no. You are a cynical creature! Don't you feel sympathy for any
+one? Would you do nothing for the poor?"
+
+"I know a poor woman to whom I owe everything; that is my mother.
+Every farthing which I give to another is taken from her. When the
+world has given back to her all that she has lost, then I shall give
+to the world all that I possess; but until then everything belongs to
+my mother."
+
+"Very good; you shall pay your mother. You shall have the five hundred
+francs; but for this you must play something super-excellent--Liszt's
+Mass or one of Handel's oratorios."
+
+"What is the concert got up for? Is it to help a religious object? or
+is it for the papal zouaves?"
+
+"Yes. I am arranging it."
+
+"Then I can do nothing."
+
+"Why so?"
+
+"Why, because I shall not play for Garibaldi's enemies!"
+
+"Oh, what a goose you are, to be sure! Who asks you to play for
+Garibaldi's enemies? You play for my friends."
+
+But the young man kept repeating no, no, he wouldn't, and in his
+excitement he got up from his seat, and, throwing back his waistcoat,
+showed her that he wore a red shirt.
+
+Eveline laughed unrestrainedly. "A red shirt! So that means that you
+have enlisted as a Garibaldian?"
+
+"I should have done so long ago only for my mother."
+
+"And what would you do if your hand was shot off?"
+
+"Then I should become a pensioner to some fine lady, who would, I
+know, support me."
+
+Eveline burst into tears. His words had touched a chord in her tender
+heart. Arpad, however, could not imagine what he had said to grieve
+her; he tried to console her, and asked how he had offended her. Still
+sobbing, she said:
+
+"My poor little brother is dead. There by my table I keep his
+crutches."
+
+"I am sorry for you; with all my heart I sympathize in your grief. He
+and I were good friends; we had plenty of fun together."
+
+"Yes; you liked him. The world is quite dead to me; everything is
+changed. I listen for the sound of his crutches scratching along the
+floor up the stairs. Ah, my little brother! I have no one now. I want
+some one to take care of. I should like to nurse some one--an artist
+who had lost his eyesight; a musician whose right hand had been shot
+off; or a political hero, who, being pursued, concealed himself in my
+room, and to whom I should be benefactress, protectress, bread-winner,
+everything."
+
+"Why don't you go to Garibaldi?"
+
+She was laughing now; her moods were as variable as an April day.
+
+"You have heard me sing in public. What do you say of me?"
+
+"I say you would be a great artist if you could sing for the devils as
+well as you do for the angels."
+
+"I don't understand. What do you mean by the devils?"
+
+"You surely have heard from the pulpit that the theatre is the devil's
+synagogue?"
+
+"You rude man! Don't you know that I belong to the theatre?"
+
+"I beg pardon a thousand times. I believed that in the daytime you
+were an abbess and at night you were an actress; that would be a fair
+bargain."
+
+"You silly boy! Why do you think I am an abbess?"
+
+"Because you are dressed as such."
+
+"This is only a penitential dress. You godless creature, you are
+making fun of religion!"
+
+"No, madame. I agree that it is a great mortification to wear gray
+silk, a great penance to play the coquette with downcast eyes, a real
+fast to eat crawfish at twenty francs the dish. I am also told that
+the reason the fashionable ladies of Paris have taken to wearing high
+dresses is that they discipline the flesh so severely that their
+shoulders and necks are one mass of scars, and therefore the effects
+of their flagellations must be concealed."
+
+"That is not true. We don't do anything of the kind."
+
+"The world says so. I don't want to inquire; it is your secret."
+
+"It is not true," Eveline repeated. "We do not flagellate ourselves;
+look!" And kneeling down before Arpad she raised the lace collar which
+was round her neck and made him look at her fair skin.
+
+They were a pair of children.
+
+Arpad took his hat and his leave. He left a card with his address, but
+he would have no share in her concert.
+
+Eveline, however, went on writing her programme.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+IMMACULATE
+
+
+Eveline was still writing her programme when the Abbe Samuel was
+announced. In Paris it is not thought out of the way for an abbe to
+visit an actress, and, for the rest, the abbe was an old friend, well
+known to both husband and wife. He was naturally very much interested
+in the concert, and read the programme most attentively.
+
+"It would have been all so nice," said Eveline, in a vexed tone, "only
+for that stupid Arpad. See, father, just there, between my song and
+the violoncello solo, he would have come in so well."
+
+"Is Arpad in town?"
+
+"Yes, he has only just gone. I begged of him to help my concert; and
+my song from the Stabat Mater would have gone so much better to the
+harmonium, and he accompanies beautifully; but he has grown quite
+silly; he has become a heretic."
+
+The priest shook his sides with laughter, and then a sudden idea
+struck him. It was plain Eveline liked Arpad, which was only natural,
+for they were about the same age. He was twenty, she nineteen--a pair
+of children, and children like to amuse themselves. They don't care
+for serious things; that comes later. What if he made use of Arpad to
+introduce Waldemar?
+
+"I should like to take a bet with you that Arpad Belenyi will play
+the piano at your concert, and that, moreover, he will accompany your
+Stabat Mater on the harmonium. If he does so, what will you give me?"
+
+"Oh, he won't do it; you may be sure of that! I know him well; he is
+very obstinate once he takes anything into his cockatoo's head, and if
+_I_ have not been able to persuade him--"
+
+Eveline had immense faith in the magic power of her black eyes.
+
+"Well, you shall see. What will you give me if I succeed?" repeated
+the abbe.
+
+Eveline replied to this question by another:
+
+"How do you mean to get round him?" She said nothing of what she would
+give in case he succeeded.
+
+"Oh, there are many ways; for instance, I might say to him that if he
+played in your drawing-room it is very likely he may be engaged by the
+empress, and that then his fortune was made--at least, for this
+season. An artist would at once see what a chance this would be. Then
+I would offer him money."
+
+"I have done that already--five hundred francs."
+
+"Well, although a young man may turn up his nose at five hundred
+francs, an old woman will appreciate a hundred Napoleons at their true
+value. Arpad must obey his mother's wishes, and what she promises for
+him he must do. I know the circumstances."
+
+"You are a very sensible man. I should have begun with the mother, but
+it never occurred to me. Well, manage it all for me. If you only
+accomplish it I shall do whatever you ask me."
+
+She was in such good-humor that the abbe saw he could ask her
+anything; still, it was with a slight hesitation that he said:
+
+"I want you to give me an invitation for your charity concert for a
+friend of mine."
+
+"You shall have ten," cried Eveline, joyfully.
+
+"I only require one, but this invitation must be written with your own
+hand."
+
+"Give me the name of your friend and I will write the card this
+moment."
+
+As she spoke she seated herself at her writing-table, took an
+invitation-card from her drawer, and made all ready to begin.
+
+"Now the name."
+
+"Prince Waldemar Sondersheim."
+
+When she heard the name Eveline threw down her pen and sprang hastily
+to her feet.
+
+"No," she said, decidedly, "never!"
+
+The abbe burst into a shrill laugh. "Your excitement is very
+becoming," he said. "You are a fine actress."
+
+"I shall not invite Prince Sondersheim to my concert," returned
+Eveline, seating herself on the sofa with a defiant air.
+
+"Is the prince disagreeable to you?"
+
+"I loathe him."
+
+"Do you imagine that the world contains nothing but simpletons like
+Arpad Belenyi?"
+
+Eveline got up from the sofa, went to the writing-table, and tore the
+programme she had been writing into a hundred pieces.
+
+"Arpad may stay at home, tied to his mother's apron-strings. I don't
+want him nor any one. I'll give up the concert;" and she threw the
+torn fragments of her programme into the fireplace.
+
+The abbe rose from his seat and took the excited girl by the hand.
+
+"Compose yourself, my dear young lady," he said. "I have come to you
+on a most urgent matter--a matter which is of serious consequence to
+you and your husband, and I do not deny that it is of great moment to
+me. I may, in fact, call it of vital importance to each one of us. If
+it should turn out as badly as it threatens your husband shall have to
+go to America, I must return to my monastery, and what will become of
+you I do not know."
+
+Eveline sat down again on the sofa. She listened to him attentively.
+
+"At all events, you will have to go out of this," went on the abbe,
+"and that without loss of time. You must know that the old Prince
+Theobald, after you had returned to him the palace in the Maximilian
+Strasse, which he had made a present to you, took shares in your name
+in the Bondavara Company to the amount of a million."
+
+"I never knew it," said Eveline.
+
+"That proves that you never thought of asking your husband what the
+expense of this splendid hotel was, to say nothing of your magnificent
+carriage and horses, your numerous servants, your conservatory--"
+
+"I thought that my salary, added to what Herr Kaulmann--" She stopped
+suddenly; the incredulous smile on the abbe's lips made her silent. He
+continued:
+
+"All this splendor is at an end. A telegram which came a few hours ago
+brings the news that, at the suit of his son-in-law, Prince Theobald's
+affairs have been placed in the hands of trustees; the trustees will,
+without any doubt, seize the shares taken for you."
+
+"They may do as they like," returned the girl, indifferently.
+
+"Oh, there may be a lawsuit! But there is worse to come. Another
+telegram brings the news that last week there was a fearful explosion
+at the Bondavara colliery."
+
+At this news Eveline gave a cry; then quickly asked:
+
+"And Herr Behrend, has his mine also exploded?"
+
+The abbe looked somewhat surprised, but continued, in his earnest
+manner:
+
+"I believe not. The company's shares, however, have received a
+terrible blow. The more so, that one of the collieries is still
+burning, with no chance of being extinguished."
+
+As he spoke he looked fixedly at her, and his penetration soon took in
+the truth: that her joy at the escape of Behrend's property outweighed
+her sorrow for her husband's loss.
+
+"You can understand," continued the abbe, "in what danger we are of
+actual ruin; everything now depends upon one thing. Of course, you are
+aware that, in consequence of the Bondavara Company, Kaulmann's
+reputation is one of the highest in the financial world. Millions of
+money have actually been put into the affair, and ten times as much is
+floating in the air of the stock-exchange. Money is not a tangible
+quantity. This catastrophe--which, after all, may still be averted,
+for it is possible that the fire may be extinguished--will be a
+terrible engine in the hands of the enemies of the company, who want,
+above all things, to upset Kaulmann. The colliery explosion is a
+powder-mine in the hands of the bears. To-day he is a king, hands full
+of gold are stretched out to him, a hundred millions are eagerly
+offered to him; to-morrow these very people will surround him,
+clamoring to get back their money, which they have intrusted to him.
+Whether the cry is raised or not depends altogether on one man, and
+this man is Prince Waldemar Sondersheim. He is here; he arrived
+to-day. Probably he has had news of the explosion sooner than
+Kaulmann, whose director, Raune, no doubt, hoped against hope to get
+the fire under. Kaulmann's fate lies in the hands of Prince
+Sondersheim, and so does my own. I do not conceal it. I was the pivot
+of an enormous, world-wide project. To-morrow Kaulmann's proposal for
+the Church loan was to be laid before the financial world of Paris and
+Brussels; it is an important crisis that may give to history a new
+page. If Prince Waldemar makes use of his knowledge of the collapse of
+the Bondavara Company to raise a cry against us, then the whole fabric
+upon which so much is built vanishes as a dream. If he or his bears
+call out on the exchange that the Bondavara shares are sixty per cent.
+below par we are lost. If he keeps silent the loan will float
+splendidly, and then the Bondavara misfortune will sink into a matter
+of small importance, such as constantly occurs in the money-market.
+Now you can understand what an effect a word from you may have, and
+what you can do if you speak this word."
+
+Eveline shook her head, and laid her finger on her lips; she looked
+the very genius of silence.
+
+"What!" cried the abbe, his anger getting the better of him, "you
+refuse? You think more of one word that can cost you nothing than of
+the consequences? The Holy See may be overthrown, the standard of
+infidelity may be unfurled, the saints torn from their shrines--and
+all for a woman's caprice."
+
+Eveline spread out her arms as if she were engaged in a combat with a
+giant. She called out, in a resolute voice:
+
+"No; I cannot speak to that man."
+
+The abbe grew angry. He said to himself if he could not persuade this
+vexatious woman, at least he would give himself the pleasure of
+wounding her in a tender point. He took his hat in his hand, and,
+holding it behind his back, said, in a cold, cutting voice:
+
+"I neither understand your dislike to the prince nor your extreme
+delicacy. Prince Sondersheim is no way inferior to the men you have
+admitted to your intimacy."
+
+At this insult Eveline seized the hand of the abbe, and cried, with a
+sudden abandonment of her usual reserve:
+
+"Oh, father, I have never been a wife; I am still as innocent as a
+child!"
+
+The abbe looked at her in unfeigned astonishment. He saw by her
+burning blushes, her modest, downcast eyes, her childish sobs, that
+she was speaking the truth. He sighed deeply; he could not help it. It
+was his last stake, and he had lost. Good-bye to glory, to greatness.
+All had vanished into thin air at Eveline's words; they had scattered
+his dreams. He recognized that all the great deeds which have made men
+famous were as dust and ashes in comparison with the real nobility of
+soul possessed by this peasant girl, this woman who, in obedience to
+her husband's infamous commands, and because she had sworn to obey
+him, had worn the mask of a Phryne while she preserved the purity of a
+saint. By no act of his should she descend from her pedestal.
+
+"Eveline," he said, in a voice of deep emotion, "the words you have
+spoken banish me to my cell. My dreams of power and splendor lie in
+the dust--their fitting place. You said,'I am still innocent'; my
+child, keep yourself so. The French law recognizes no marriage unless
+it has been contracted before the civil authorities. Your marriage
+with Felix Kaulmann is in this country null and void; you are here
+Mademoiselle Eva Dirkmal, nothing more. You can tell Kaulmann that I
+have told you this. I have given him the same information, as he
+wished to free himself from this nominal tie to you. And now,
+farewell; I return to my monastery, to reconcile myself with an
+offended God."
+
+Eva Dirkmal threw herself at the feet of the priest, and covered his
+hands with tears and kisses.
+
+"Put your hand upon my head," she sobbed, "and ask God to bless me."
+
+"My daughter," said the abbe, "an invincible hand watches over you and
+protects you. May you ever be thus safely guarded."
+
+With these words the priest left the room. He did as he said; he
+sought no further interview with Kaulmann, but went straight to the
+railway, and buried himself in his monastery. The world knew him no
+more.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+MAN AND WIFE
+
+
+Felix lost no time in seeking an interview with Prince Waldemar. He
+preferred to look for him in his own house than to meet him
+accidentally on 'change.
+
+Waldemar did not keep him long waiting, neither did he treat him to
+any display of his superior rank. He received him in his study.
+
+"Ah, your highness is occupied with business," said Felix, with the
+airy manner of an intimate friend; but he was secretly astonished to
+see that a man of the prince's high position was actually cutting the
+pages of the pamphlet before him, and underlining with red and blue
+pencil-marks the passages that pleased him most.
+
+The prince laid down the pamphlet, and asked Felix to take a chair.
+
+"I have only this moment heard," continued the banker, "that your
+excellency had arrived in Paris, and I hastened to be the first to pay
+my respects."
+
+"Strange! At this very moment, I, too, was occupying myself with your
+affairs," returned the prince, with a peculiar smile, which Felix
+noted and thought he understood. He tried to put on a jaunty air as he
+made answer:
+
+"I have come as an envoy under the protection of a flag of truce into
+the enemy's country."
+
+The prince thought to himself, "The fellow's flag of truce is a
+handkerchief worked with the letter E."
+
+"Even greater powers than we," went on Felix, twirling his hat in his
+fingers with some embarrassment, "have in sudden emergencies
+co-operated, and from being enemies have become fast friends,
+recognizing that to bury the hatchet was for their mutual advantage."
+
+"And may I inquire what is for our mutual advantage?"
+
+"My projected loan."
+
+The prince said nothing, but the smile that played upon his thin lips
+was a sufficient and most irritating answer. Felix began to lose his
+calmness. He rose from his chair, and in his earnestness leaned over
+the table at which the prince was sitting.
+
+"Prince," he said "this loan is for the benefit of the Holy See. You
+are, I know, a good Catholic."
+
+"Who has betrayed my secret?"
+
+"Besides, you are a thorough aristocrat. It must go against your
+highness's feelings to see that while in Hungary a bureaucratic
+minister pillages the Church and puts its revenues in his pocket, a
+band of freebooters throws the patrimony of St. Peter to the mob. All
+this can be prevented by our striking one blow. You will strike it,
+for you are a nobleman in the best sense of the word."
+
+"What else am I?"
+
+"Above all, you are a financier. It cannot escape your keen eye that
+this loan is one of the greatest, the soundest of speculations; for
+you are a prudent man, and you know how to add two and two."
+
+"Have I any other qualifications?"
+
+Waldemar's cold, sarcastic rejoinders did not put Felix out of
+countenance. His face assumed a still more amiable expression as he
+offered his hand to the prince, saying, in a cordial manner:
+
+"I trust you will be the honored friend of the house of Kaulmann."
+
+These words would be met either by a warm shake of the hand or by a
+box on the ear. He ran the risk, waiting breathlessly for the answer,
+which was different from, and yet worse than, that he expected. The
+prince took up the pamphlet which he had been busy underlining with
+red and blue pencil.
+
+"Now, my excellent brother in the faith, my fellow aristocrat, my
+comrade in finance, and my best friend, just you throw your eye over
+this little brochure, for there you will find my answer. I beg that
+you will take your time."
+
+He handed the pamphlet to Felix, and while that gentleman cast his eye
+over it the prince pared his nails carefully.
+
+Felix laid down the pamphlet. "This purports to be my biography."
+
+"As I think the title-page mentions."
+
+"Your highness is, I presume, the writer?"
+
+"I have given the heads."
+
+"There are all manner of affairs mentioned here in which I have played
+a sorry part by throwing dust in the eyes of the public, principally,
+however, in the Bondavara speculation, in which, it seems, I have
+announced a false balance and a feigned bonus, drawn ten millions out
+of the capital, which capital is now irrecoverably lost by the late
+catastrophe in the mine. It is a terrible indictment against me."
+
+"Perhaps it is not true?"
+
+"_It is true!_ Your highness is my faithful biographer; but allow me
+to fill up the details of the memoir. The unlooked-for misfortune of
+yesterday can be repaired to-morrow; the unlucky speculation may be
+glossed over if a better takes its place; a small defeat is
+compensated by a great victory. What use does your highness intend to
+make of this brochure?"
+
+"Frankly, I intend, as soon as you declare your new loan, to circulate
+this pamphlet freely on 'change. I shall then set the bears to work,
+so that in no time your shares shall be driven out of the market."
+
+"I guessed as much, and, to be frank, it was on this very account that
+I have come here, to prevent, if I can, such ruin to myself."
+
+Felix tried by continuous winking of his eyes to express his despair.
+He put his right hand into his vest, and in a low voice added:
+
+"Perhaps when you see me stretched dead before you your aim will then
+be accomplished."
+
+Prince Waldemar broke into an irrepressible fit of laughter and
+clapped Kaulmann on the shoulder.
+
+"I beg of you not to act a farce for my benefit. You did not come here
+to blow your brains out. Nothing of the sort; you came to sell me
+something. You are a ruined speculator, but you still possess one
+jewel of value, a wonderful black carbuncle which you found in the
+coal-mine and got smoothly cut, which you have already sold at a great
+profit, but which is now back on your hands. You are perfectly aware
+that I desire to get this jewel if I can, that I am willing to offer
+all I have for it; and this is why you have come here to-day. Let us
+understand one another. I will treat with you. What is your price?"
+
+The prince threw himself back in his chair, but he let Kaulmann stand
+without again asking him to be seated.
+
+The banker gave up his tragic manner, and resumed his customary cool,
+hard, matter-of-fact voice.
+
+"First of all, this;" and he laid his hand upon the pamphlet.
+
+"Good! You shall have it--a thousand copies and the manuscript. You
+can burn it, unless you care to keep it as a souvenir."
+
+"Secondly," went on Felix, "you must abandon your conspiracy against
+me. During the three days of raising the loan your bears are to keep
+quiet; there are to be no manoeuvres. Thirdly, your name must appear in
+the list of subscribers with a good sum after it."
+
+"Good! We shall understand one another. Now listen to my modifications
+of your proposal. On the first day when the shares of the new loan are
+drawn I undertake to keep the bears quiet, but I shall take no shares.
+On the second day I shall also keep quiet, but I shall not give you a
+shove. On the third day I shall take one million shares, and from that
+time I undertake to push your speculation as if I were your best
+friend."
+
+"And why not on the first two days?"
+
+"I will tell you what is to happen on those days. This very day you
+must go to madame and tell her that Prince Theobald's fortune is
+sequestrated and that she can no longer occupy his hotel. Madame was
+once generous enough to return to the prince his palace in the
+Maximilian Strasse, together with all it contained. She will have to
+repeat this act of renunciation and return to her husband's roof. Her
+husband must celebrate this happy event by a splendid entertainment,
+to which he will, as a matter of course, invite his best friend." Here
+the prince laid, with a significant gesture, his little finger on his
+breast. "The friend will take this opportunity to show madame a
+photograph of his summer palace, which is situated on the Lake of
+Constance, and only waits for the presence of its mistress to be
+perfection, while she stands in great need of the lovely breezes of
+the lake to restore her."
+
+"You are really very thoughtful."
+
+"Do not praise me too soon. On the second day you must have an
+explanation with madame. You will tell her that in France a marriage,
+to be legal, must be contracted before the civil magistrate; therefore
+you will go with her before the registrar and have yourself legally
+married."
+
+"But, prince," cried Felix, with a horrified expression upon his face,
+"why should I do that?"
+
+"Why?" returned the prince, standing up in his turn, so as to be able
+the better to overwhelm his victim. "Because I wish to defeat your
+little game. You took to yourself a wife in another country, knowing
+you could repudiate her here. It is my wish that madame shall bear
+your name always; otherwise you would have it in your power on the
+fourth day to say to me, 'I gave you what was not mine to give.' I
+shall have the diamond in its proper setting. I shall not remove the
+centre-stone from your wedding-ring; but I shall wear it on _my_
+finger."
+
+Kaulmann could not conceal his embarrassment. "This whim is
+incomprehensible," he said.
+
+"On the contrary," returned the other, with a devilish sneer, "it is
+quite clear; it simply means that _I know you au fond_. And now to my
+own affairs. I am desperately in love with one woman, and she detests
+me. She will not even look at me. But she little thinks I know the
+reason of her abhorrence. Your wife is a virtuous woman. You look
+surprised--naturally. It is no merit of yours that she has remained
+so. Oh, you need not protest! Prince Theobald has told me the whole
+history. Among other things, he made her swear that she would never
+receive me. Poor old fool! He did not act with much knowledge of human
+nature. If he had not interfered it's very likely I should have tired
+of pursuing a woman who did not care for me; but the mystery that
+surrounded her has added to my interest. I adore her, not alone for
+her beauty, her charm, but for her innocence, her goodness. She
+requires nothing to raise her in my estimation; but before the world
+she must take her fitting place. She must have the shield of her
+husband's name, the right to his protection. Now you understand what I
+require of you."
+
+"Prince, your ideas are demoniacal. You wish to bind me to my
+dishonor."
+
+"To your dishonor!" and the prince laughed scornfully. "My good
+Kaulmann, who asked you to come here and sell your honor? Ah, you
+cannot answer that! Never mind, we shall keep our secret; the world
+shall know nothing. In society the head of the house of Kaulmann shall
+be considered an honorable gentleman, an excellent husband, a good
+family man. In the commercial world he will be looked upon as a sound
+financier. Honors will crowd upon him; he will go far. . . . His real
+position will be known to only three people. There, my good friend,
+don't feign so much virtuous indignation. You are overacting, which
+always spoils the effect. I will take it all for granted. Time is
+short; it will be better to make use of it."
+
+This was true. Every moment was precious. Felix abandoned all attempts
+at outraged feelings of honor and the like, and, composing his
+agitated features, held out his hand to the prince. The latter,
+however, did not take it.
+
+"There's no need to shake hands over our honorable compact. Take your
+note-book and write down the conditions, and be sure you put the dates
+correctly. To-morrow, if I receive by one o'clock the card of
+invitation to your entertainment, I shall remain away from the
+exchange. The next day I do the same; that is, if I receive _before_
+one o'clock the official notification that your civil marriage has
+taken place. On the _fourth_ day, if _before_ one o'clock your
+solicitor brings me the news that you have set off to Brussels to
+negotiate the papal loan, and that he hands me the key of your house,
+with the request that I will look after the business in your absence,
+then I shall go down to the exchange, and push your affair as if it
+were my own. Now you may go, sir, and indulge your outraged feelings
+in private."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+EVA DIRKMAL
+
+
+Felix Kaulmann felt that he had made good use of his opportunity. All
+would now go well. The prince would no longer avail himself of the
+Bondavara catastrophe to ruin him; on the contrary, his influence
+would stem the panic which the news had, no doubt, already caused in
+the Vienna money-market, and when the papal loan was concluded all
+would be smooth. There was Eveline, of course; but a man such as
+Kaulmann, whose conscience had long since been as withered as was his
+heart, soon found excuses for any ill-doing. No one could blame him
+for the prince's infatuation; it would be only a fool who wouldn't
+take advantage of it, especially one in his situation. A drowning man
+catches at any plank; and as for Eveline, she owed him a debt of
+gratitude. Had he not raised her from the very dust of the coal-pit to
+her present situation, saved her from a brutal husband like the savage
+Saffran, educated her, made her a fit companion for a prince? Better
+women than she would be glad of the elevation that was awaiting her;
+and this reminded him that the Abbe Samuel's interview must have
+opened the matter, so he went in search of him. The priest, however,
+was not to be found at any of his usual haunts. Felix, therefore,
+repaired to Eveline's hotel; neither was she at home. She had gone to
+the theatre; it was one of her acting nights.
+
+Felix drove to the Opera-house. He went first to his wife's box, where
+there was no one but her companion. He took a view of the house. In
+the pit there were numerous _claqueurs_. In one of the front boxes he
+saw Prince Waldemar. Then he went behind the scenes, for he was known
+as the husband of the prima donna and was allowed access to her
+dressing-room.
+
+Eveline was dressed for her part and waiting to go on. When she saw
+Kaulmann she turned away angrily. Why did he disturb her when she was
+busy with her calling?
+
+"I have only come to wish you good-evening," he said.
+
+"You might have waited until to-morrow."
+
+"To wish you good-evening? Ha! ha!"
+
+"No; but you know I am always so nervous before I go on--"
+
+"I only wished to tell you that the cream of Parisian society are
+fighting to get tickets for your concert. Have you reserved one for
+me?" Felix was full of amiability and admiration.
+
+"I have reserved none."
+
+"Ah! And why not?" He said this in a soft, complaining voice.
+
+"Because I have given up the concert. It shall not take place."
+
+The face of her husband suddenly lengthened. "Will you kindly tell me
+the reason of this change?"
+
+"After I have come off. My scene has come. I must go." So saying, she
+left the room and went to the wings.
+
+Felix followed to a point from which he could see his wife on the
+stage and have a general view of the house.
+
+Eveline played badly and sang worse. Her voice trembled, she was out
+of tune, and her runs and _roulades_ were imperfect. She was evidently
+nervous. Nevertheless, she was applauded to the echo, the _claque_
+worked hard; and Prince Waldemar, from his box, clapped as if he had
+been paid for it. When she had finished her last song a shower of
+bouquets and wreaths came from the prince's box and fell at her feet.
+
+Eveline left them on the stage and hurried away to her dressing-room.
+Kaulmann followed her.
+
+"Why didn't you pick up those lovely bouquets?" he asked, carelessly.
+
+"I felt I didn't deserve any. I know I did badly to-night."
+
+"But surely for the sake of the giver you should have taken one of the
+bouquets."
+
+"Ah, you would like that."
+
+"I?"
+
+"Yes. All those flowers came from you--at least, so I have always
+understood."
+
+"Pardon me, _ma chere_. Didn't you notice that they all came from the
+side box? Didn't you recognize who was in that box?"
+
+"I never looked."
+
+"It was Prince Waldemar."
+
+"The man who is your enemy--who wants to ruin you?"
+
+"Oh, that is not so! He has quite changed. He is now _our_ best
+friend."
+
+"_Our_ friend? Whom do you include in 'our'?"
+
+"You, as well as myself."
+
+"Thanks; but I decline my share."
+
+"I am afraid you will find it difficult to stand aloof, for I consider
+Prince Waldemar as my best friend, and henceforth my house is open to
+him as to a brother."
+
+"As you please. My house shall be shut in his face."
+
+"I am sorry, but your words oblige me to break a disagreeable piece of
+news to you. But I see you are busy; you don't take any interest--"
+
+"Go on talking," returned Eveline, who was standing before the
+looking-glass washing the paint off her face. "I am listening."
+
+"For the future, I regret to say, you will not have a house of your
+own. The affairs of your friend, Prince Theobald, have been
+sequestrated; his property is now in the hands of trustees. I need not
+tell you, for I am sure you have known all along, that the hotel you
+occupy, together with all your expenses, has been paid for by him.
+This, naturally, is at an end. In my circumstances I could not afford
+to give you a separate establishment; we will, therefore, be obliged
+to live together, and it follows naturally that I shall expect my wife
+to receive as her guests _my friends_, and to make them welcome."
+
+Eveline had laid aside her queenly robes; she now took off her diadem,
+and as she slowly unfastened her bracelets she turned and faced Felix.
+
+"And do you think," she said, "that when I leave my hotel I cannot get
+for myself a garret somewhere, where there will be a door with a
+strong bolt, with which I can bar the entrance of any unpleasant
+visitors?"
+
+Felix looked at her in amazement; he constrained himself to take a
+more friendly tone.
+
+"I must call your attention to one fact. We are in Paris, and the
+French marital law is strict. A wife must dwell under her husband's
+roof. She must go where he goes. She must obey him."
+
+Eveline was now busy undoing the gold sandals which bound her feet.
+She looked steadily at Kaulmann, with her eyes glowing like lamps.
+
+"I must call your attention," she said, "to one fact. We are in Paris,
+and according to the French law those persons who have been married
+before the altar, and not before the civil authorities, are not
+considered legally married, and that, therefore, our marriage is null
+and void."
+
+Kaulmann sprang to his feet as if he had been bitten by a tarantula.
+
+"What are you saying?" he cried, in a voice that was almost a shriek.
+
+Eveline had loosened the golden sandals. She stood before Felix in her
+bare feet, and threw him the sandals.
+
+"These belong to you. I am once more Eva Dirkmal. I belong to myself."
+
+"Who has told you this?" stammered the banker, pale with rage.
+
+"The Abbe Samuel, who advised you to treat me in the same manner."
+
+Kaulmann felt the room going round.
+
+"And now," continued Eveline, with a dignified motion of her hand, "I
+must remind you that this is the dressing-room of a young girl."
+
+Felix did not wait to have his dismissal repeated; he took his hat and
+went without another word. He ran away, and he ran so fast that he
+took no heed where he was going till he stumbled and fell.
+
+All was over; he had played his last card and lost. Everything was
+gone; there was no more help. He had two courses open to him: he might
+put a pistol to his head, and so end the drama, or he might take all
+the money in his counting-house and fly. He chose the last.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+CRUSHED
+
+
+Eveline felt as if she had been given new life. She was no longer
+married, and yet she was not a widow. She had to shed no tears over
+happiness that had vanished, no regrets for domestic joys. Her heart
+was full of newly awakened desires, hopes she hardly dared to confess
+to herself, dreams that delighted while they embarrassed her--a
+delicious riddle that she feared to guess. Next day, however, when she
+heard that Kaulmann had absconded and would never return, she
+recognized fully that her chains had fallen off.
+
+When the caged bird has escaped into the open air of heaven, does he
+ever regret his gilded cage and all its luxurious comforts or the
+tender endearments of his owner? The bird enjoys his freedom, and
+rejoices he is no longer a slave. It may be that wilder and stronger
+birds tear him in pieces; that the frost and rain may chill his body,
+unused to exposure. He cares not. He wings his flight still higher; he
+seeks for a branch; he cooes to his lady-love; he is happy.
+
+Eveline never for one moment reflected that she was in any way
+implicated in the fall of Kaulmann and the shame that attended his
+ruin. She had no idea that her name was bandied about. She who had
+been as a queen, who had been so admired, had such a _succes_! What
+was to become of her now? She belongs to no one. No one knows
+anything of her past; but it is pretty safe to prophesy her future.
+She will have another protector. Of course; but who will he be? Which
+of her many admirers? She has a legion of adorers from which to
+choose.
+
+This was the talk of the clubs and the gossip of society. While
+Eveline sat in her room, rejoicing at her new life of freedom, an idea
+suddenly came into her head. She looked for Arpad's visiting-card,
+ordered her carriage, and drove out to visit the Belenyis. They lived
+some little way from Paris, in the suburbs, where houses can still be
+had with rooms on the ground floor. Madame Belenyi liked to live on
+the ground floor. The house she had lost was of this sort, and it had
+the advantage that, having her own kitchen, she could cook for her
+son, and feel sure he was not dining at some tavern in bad company.
+Unless on special occasions Arpad invariably came home to dine with
+his mother; he would not have missed doing so for a splendid feast. He
+thought there was nothing to compare with her dishes of pig's ear and
+delicately cooked vegetables.
+
+Eveline's coachman found it hard to make out the narrow little street
+in the neighborhood of Montmartre, where the Belenyis had established
+themselves. Eveline would not let the carriage go farther than the
+corner; there she got out, and, accompanied by her footman, walked up
+the street, looking for the right house. It was an old fashioned
+cottage, in which Madame Belenyi had hired two rooms divided by a
+kitchen. A girl who was working in the garden showed Eveline where the
+young gentleman lived. As Eveline pushed open the kitchen-door very
+gently she noticed that the door of the inner room opened suddenly and
+a woman looked out. This was undoubtedly Arpad's mother, who was
+curious to see who had come to visit her son.
+
+Eveline went on her toes to the door of the opposite apartment, and
+noiselessly turned the handle; she wanted to surprise Arpad.
+
+His room was the picture of comfort and order. It was easy to see how
+carefully it was kept by his mother. The table, the walls, were
+crowded with handsome pictures and ornaments, the gift of different
+persons--cups, wood-carvings, antique weapons, classical paintings;
+the windows were supplied with plants in bloom; there were bookcases
+full of books. Everything was well arranged; there was taste and
+comfort, and Arpad liked to be at home better than anywhere else. The
+hired piano was from Erard's manufactory, and was now open. Arpad was
+sitting with his back to it, brush in hand; he was painting. The
+pianoforte-player was also a painter. Artists, many of them, indulge
+in these freaks. One of our most distinguished portrait-painters loves
+to torture his neighbors by scratching like a cat upon the strings of
+a violin; so also a well-known musician spends his time writing feeble
+verses; and a third, who is a real poet, produces unsightly
+excrescences in marble and terra-cotta.
+
+What was Arpad painting?
+
+Eveline stepped softly behind his back, but the rustle of her silk
+dress betrayed her presence.
+
+Arpad turned scarlet, shoved the picture into a drawer, and, getting
+up quickly, confronted his visitor, who had only time to see that it
+was a portrait he was painting.
+
+"Ah, it is you," he stammered, in an embarrassed voice. "I thought it
+was my mother."
+
+"Aha, you are doing something you should not! Your mother does not
+allow you to paint; isn't that it? Well, it is a silly thing, I must
+say, for a pianoforte-player to spend his time painting; and what is
+the subject?"
+
+"Oh, nothing--a flower!"
+
+("What a lie!" thought Eveline; "it was a portrait.")
+
+"Then if it is a flower, give it to me."
+
+"I should rather not."
+
+"But if it is only a flower?"
+
+"I am not going to give it to you."
+
+"Don't be so cross. Won't you ask me to sit down?"
+
+Arpad was really vexed. Why had she come to disturb him just at this
+moment? Any other time she would have been welcome. This beginning
+spoiled the happy hour; for the picture was not Eveline's portrait.
+
+"Sit near me, else I shall think you are afraid of me. I expected that
+you would have come to see me, to find fault with me for my
+performance yesterday evening. Tell me frankly--didn't I sing badly?"
+
+"Very badly," returned Arpad, discontentedly. "You are going back
+instead of forward; and you seem to forget all you learn. I was quite
+ashamed of you. And your acting! I thought I was looking at an
+automaton."
+
+"To tell you the truth, I was in a miserable state of mind; I had
+several domestic troubles. I am separated from Kaulmann."
+
+"That was no reason to sing false; he wasn't worth risking your
+engagement for, and playing in such a perfunctory manner--singing,
+too, all out of tune. You never troubled yourself much about him."
+(Arpad knew nothing of what had happened to Kaulmann; the news had not
+penetrated to Montmartre.) "And, at all events, you should have had
+the discretion not to order a shower of bouquets when you were doing
+so badly; it doesn't look well."
+
+Eveline was very much wounded at this unjust accusation. She answered,
+almost crying:
+
+"I beg to assure you I have never ordered bouquets to be thrown to
+me."
+
+"Well, it was one of your adorers, that crazy prince. It is all the
+same thing. To be handsome, to sing badly, and to receive wreaths,
+those are three sins rolled into one. The world cannot distinguish
+between them."
+
+"Very well; go on finding fault, go on scolding, my excellent old
+master. What else have I done that is displeasing to you?"
+
+Arpad began to laugh, and held out his hand to Eveline.
+
+"Forgive me," he said. "My roughness is only the grumble of the
+preceptor; it is over. Now we shall be young again and chat. Shall I
+fetch the draught-board? Shall we play for love or for nothing?"
+
+This tone warmed Eveline's heart. She laughed, and slapped Arpad's
+hand, which he did not like.
+
+"What are you going to do now you have got rid of Kaulmann?" he said.
+"Will you marry again? Is another man ready for the yoke? Men are as
+plentiful as blackberries. Or are you going to preserve the autonomy
+of the actress?"
+
+Eveline cast down her eyes and grew suddenly grave.
+
+"I have no one," she said, sorrowfully.
+
+"Ah, that does not mean that there are not plenty you can have if you
+like."
+
+"It means the same thing. I shall belong to no one. I shall never take
+a husband who is above me in station. Do you see, the girl who went
+barefoot in the coal-mine must stay in her own class. If I could give
+any one a place in my heart, it would be to one who was as free and
+independent as I am. He should owe nothing to great people; he should
+depend absolutely on his own genius; live absolutely by his own work.
+He should be esteemed not for his money nor his rank, but for his
+talent; he should glory in being an artist."
+
+This was a frank confession for any one who understood. Arpad
+understood; he became more discontented.
+
+"H'm! Then I am afraid you are walking in a path that leads you away
+from such a man as you describe."
+
+"What _do you_ mean?"
+
+Arpad got up from his chair. "Artists have many strange ideas; these
+are inseparable from the artistic temperament. Do you see that antique
+goblet there in the centre of the table? It was a present to me from
+Count Demidoff on the occasion of a concert. It was an heirloom in his
+family. It is a wonderful relic; a classical work. Princes, generals,
+rulers have drunk out of it. I have a great respect for it, and I keep
+my visitors' cards in it. But I never drink out of it; I prefer a
+common glass, for which I have paid fifteen pence, but out of which no
+one has drunk but myself."
+
+Eveline flushed deeply at this cruel speech.
+
+Arpad had, however, resolved to make the matter still clearer.
+
+"You say," he went on, "that you would like to find an artist, a
+genius, a proud, independent man; him you would choose for your
+husband! And you imagine that a man of this type would submit to sit
+by your side as you drove in the Champs Elysees, knowing that the
+people driving behind in other carriages or walking along the path
+were saying, 'There is the curled and scented Hyperion, but the steeds
+that draw him are not paid for by _his_ muse, they are the
+blood-horses of Prince X----; and his wife is not content with the
+glory of _his_ name, she wears the diamonds provided by Marquis
+G----.' Do you think you will easily find such a husband?"
+
+Poor Eveline! She tried to defend herself against this cruel boy.
+
+"But I am ready to throw away all splendor--everything that is not
+earned by my honest labor. I wish to live by my art, to be what I
+am--an actress. I would work night and day to perfect myself. I do not
+want any other distinction but that of an artist."
+
+Arpad then told her what she had never heard until now. Children and
+fools speak the truth, and in Arpad there was a mixture of both; he
+was a child in years, and a fool as regarded the claims of art.
+
+"My dear Eveline, you are not an artist; you will never be an actress;
+you are one of the step-daughters of the muses. There are many such,
+to whom have been given great capabilities; one only is
+wanting--courage. You sing wonderfully well, you act with feeling,
+with humor--_at home_, before three people; but so soon as the lights
+of the proscenium are lit your voice grows weak, you sing false, you
+see and hear nothing, and you act like a wooden doll. This is called
+stage-fright, and it is _never cured_; it has ruined more brilliant
+careers than the critics have. You shake your head and appeal to your
+former triumphs. Don't deceive yourself; I know the machinery of the
+stage well, and how artificial thunder and lightning are manufactured.
+At every performance you gain a triumph; you receive thunders of
+applause, mountains of flowers. The morning after your performance
+your breakfast-table is covered with newspapers teeming with laudatory
+criticisms. This is all gold-dust, and will only last as long as some
+rich admirer pays the piper. But try the experiment of closing your
+doors to your wealthy patrons, and step on the boards with no help
+but your own talents; ask to be applauded for your own sake. Then you
+will learn the price of the entertainment, and that the critic's
+praise is only to be bought."
+
+Eveline's head sank. She knew that every word he said was true. Arpad
+viewed the matter not so much from the artistic side as from his
+youthful, ardent nature. He was indignant against the fashions of the
+world; he was indignant that Eveline should have lent herself to these
+low intrigues, and so taken the place of better artists, better
+musicians, better actresses; but in his heart he was sorry for her.
+She had been kind to him; she had never offended him. Why was he so
+cruel to her? It was due to the petulance of his boy's nature. Why had
+_she_ disturbed him when he was happy at his painting? Why had she
+asked him questions? What was it to her whether it were a flower, and,
+if it were a flower, why should she want it? And when he put out his
+hand, why should she tap it in that intimate manner? The picture was
+not painted for her.
+
+"What shall I do? What am I fit for?" asked Eveline, with a downcast
+air. Her beautiful eyes were full of tears; she was crushed to the
+earth.
+
+The young man considered a few minutes what he should answer. As she
+had asked to drink the chalice she should do so to the dregs.
+
+"You have two courses open to you, for I would not advise you to take
+a third and return to your husband. If I were a woman I would prefer
+to lie stretched out at the morgue than be the joint possessor of that
+man's ill-gotten wealth. We therefore have only the two courses to
+consider. Either you continue on the stage as before, take the bought
+applause and the flowers paid for by your noble patrons, or return
+from whence you came, and be content to shove wheelbarrows for the
+rest of your life."
+
+Eveline rose from her seat, drew her wrap round her shoulders, and,
+with a low, constrained voice, murmured:
+
+"Thank you." Then she silently left the room.
+
+Tears came into Arpad's eyes. But why had she come here? Why had she
+disturbed him when he was happy painting? The moment she had closed
+the door he returned to the table and took from the drawer _his
+flower_, to see if it had sustained any injury. It was in one sense a
+flower--a fair child with blue eyes!
+
+The door opened again; the picture was hastily concealed. No one,
+however, came in. Arpad's mother spoke through the half-opened door.
+
+"Arpad, my son, who was that beautiful lady who was here just now? A
+princess, was she not?"
+
+"She was a poor woman who came to beg from me."
+
+"H'm! Surprising! What extraordinary beggars there are in this
+city--beggars dressed in silk, with a Persian shawl for a wrap. Did
+you give her anything, Arpad?"
+
+"Mother, I had nothing to give her."
+
+"You have done well, my boy." And she shut the door and went back to
+her own room to finish stitching at her son's shirt-collar.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+CHARCOAL
+
+
+Eveline had resolved to make a great effort. She recognized that there
+was truth in what Arpad had said; only in one particular he was wrong:
+he had not measured the gulf between "can" and "must."
+
+She felt herself possessed by sudden energy; her resolution to succeed
+grew in proportion as her chance of success was less. Many people have
+found strength in the thought, "If I have no one to care for me, I, at
+least, am master of myself." She would carve her own future; she
+_would_ be an actress. She would show the world what was in her. She
+would nerve herself to courage before the footlights. The very
+circumstances which had deprived her of all courage would now give her
+strength; she would sing to the public as if she were alone. The crowd
+should go for nothing, except in being sharers in her triumph.
+
+She spent a miserable night. The luxury which surrounded her, the
+works of art which lay upon her tables, in her cabinets, the costly
+vases, seemed silently to reproach her; the cups set with precious
+stones recalled Arpad's words. Better to be a glass of fifteen sous
+than a goblet of silver!
+
+At last sleep fell upon her tired eyelids, and in the morning she
+awoke refreshed and full of fresh energy.
+
+This day the opera in which she had sung the day before yesterday was
+to be repeated. The rehearsal was to take place in the morning. At
+this rehearsal, then, she would show what she could do; she would look
+at no one; she would sing like a blind nightingale.
+
+She ordered her carriage. When she reached the theatre she told the
+servants to return for her in two hours.
+
+As she entered the vestibule the stage-manager came to meet her, and
+told her that her part had been given to another singer.
+
+Eveline flew into a passion. Why had it been taken away from her, and
+in such a manner, without asking her permission? Such a want of proper
+deference towards her!
+
+The man regretted the circumstance, but either could not or would not
+offer any explanation. Would she like to see the manager?
+
+Eveline, in a very excited frame of mind, went to look for him; but he
+was not in his office. His secretary, however, handed her a letter,
+which the manager had desired him to send to her address.
+
+Eveline took the letter, and when she was in the hall she broke the
+seal and read it. It was a dismissal, immediate, discourteous, on the
+grounds that she was quite unequal to fill the position of prima
+donna.
+
+How she got out of the theatre and into the street she did not know;
+she came to herself when she saw the crowd of passers-by staring at
+her. She felt that it was no wonder they looked at her. She was
+walking like one who was dead; her body moved forward, but her mind
+was lifeless. It was strange to feel one's self thus annihilated.
+
+Then it was true; the cruel boy was right. The clouds were golden only
+so long as the sun shone. All her splendor had been on the outside.
+There was nothing tangible; nothing came from herself. The whole thing
+had been a _fata morgana_; it had now vanished forever.
+
+Eveline wandered, she didn't know where. Suddenly she found herself
+opposite her own house. She would not have thought it strange if some
+one had told her at the door of the hotel that no one of her name
+lived there, that she had been dead and buried years ago. She thought
+she was too stunned to feel either astonishment or pain, but her
+composure soon gave way under a new trial.
+
+She walked up-stairs, still in a dream, and through her apartment
+until she reached her dressing-room. When she entered it she saw,
+stretched in an arm-chair, Prince Waldemar.
+
+He was faultlessly attired, with a most elegant _tournure_, carefully
+arranged hair, and fair whiskers, hanging down on both sides in what
+were then called "cutlets"; his mustache was pointed and waxed.
+
+Eveline called out, in a voice of fear, mixed with anger:
+
+"May I ask, sir, what you want here?"
+
+"I was waiting to see you," said the prince, with well-bred
+nonchalance; but he never rose from the seat in which he lounged so
+comfortably.
+
+"Who gave you permission to enter my room?"
+
+"I asked for no permission."
+
+"What right have you to intrude yourself here?"
+
+With a lazy air the prince put his hand into the pocket of his coat
+and drew out a red paper like a bill; this he handed to Eveline with a
+slight motion of his head, which conveyed, "This is the cause of my
+presence here."
+
+Eveline took the paper, which trembled in her hand.
+
+"What is it? I do not understand it."
+
+"It is, however, very intelligible," said the prince, at last getting
+out of the chair. "The creditors of Kaulmann have seized your things.
+Kaulmann was careless or thoughtless enough--I really cannot say
+which--to announce that what belonged to his wife was _his_, and
+therefore his creditors have seized everything here, believing it is
+his. During your absence this morning they got the law officers to
+break open your door and to take possession. They affixed a notice
+outside, inviting all passers-by to come in and inspect the things for
+sale. In consequence of this invitation I am here. I came in to look
+about me. You will observe that there are government seals upon
+everything. I am here in the right of purchaser."
+
+Eveline looked round, and saw that what he said was true.
+
+"But, sir, it is impossible. Kaulmann knew perfectly that nothing here
+was his property."
+
+"I am sure of that. It was gross negligence on your lawyer's side; he
+should have protected your interests better. Every one knows that
+Kaulmann brought the goods here; it was supposed that he bought them.
+In any case, he cannot testify in your favor. A misfortune has
+happened to him. When he saw that the police were after him he jumped
+out of the railway-carriage he was in. Unfortunately, he broke his
+neck and died immediately."
+
+Eveline fell back upon the sofa and hid her face in her hands.
+
+"If you wish to shed a few tears to the memory of Kaulmann I will
+retire to the window," remarked Prince Waldemar, with ironical
+courtesy.
+
+Eveline made him no answer. In her mind everything was in confusion;
+she could think of nothing. Let everything go; what did it matter?
+Should she institute a law-suit to recover her property? Should she
+bring witnesses to prove that this ornament, these costly hangings,
+these rich carpets were not the property of her husband, but the gifts
+to her from a gray-beard--the most upright, the dearest of men, a
+Hungarian magnate, who had adopted her, an actress, to be his own
+child, with no self-seeking, no sinful gratification, but out of pure
+affection? No one would credit her story. She would tell it to no one.
+She would not subject the name of her benefactor to the jeers and
+laughter of the incredulous. Sooner let everything go.
+
+"I am not weeping, sir," she said to the prince. "If you have anything
+further to tell me I am ready to listen."
+
+"I could tell you many other unfortunate circumstances," returned
+Waldemar, leaning against the fireplace with the silver grate. "For
+one thing, Prince Theobald, your former patron, has been placed by his
+family under legal restraint, and cannot take any active part in the
+affairs of this world."
+
+"I know that."
+
+"The shares which he took as a provision for you in the Bondavara
+Company have been also sequestrated by law."
+
+"That has been told to me already."
+
+"This loss, however, has a compensation: those shares are now almost
+worthless. Since the colliery explosion, and the impossibility of
+extinguishing the fire in the mine, they have fallen to nothing."
+
+"That does not concern me."
+
+"I have not quite finished. The clergyman who was your friend, whose
+dreams were of a bishop's mitre, has returned to his monastery."
+
+"I have known that some time."
+
+"You seem to have learned everything. Perhaps you know also that your
+manager has cancelled your engagement and given your part to another
+actress?"
+
+"Here is the letter," answered Eveline, drawing a crumpled paper from
+her pocket. And then she looked at the prince with proud contempt. She
+was wondrously beautiful. "Have you taken the trouble to come here to
+tell me all this?" she asked, her eyes gleaming not through tears but
+with indignation.
+
+"I did not come here on that account," answered the prince, sitting
+down on the sofa and bending over her. "I came to speak to you
+frankly. Do you not see that the whole fabric upon which your golden
+dreams were built has crumbled? The Bondavara mine is on fire; the
+shares are falling; the prime-minister is disgraced; the prince is
+under restraint; your husband is dead; your property will be sold by
+auction; you are dismissed from the theatre. The five acts of the
+drama are played out. Let us applaud the finish, if we are so minded,
+and let us begin again. I can give you back your shares. I can get you
+a palace in the Maximilian Strasse. I can buy back for you all your
+seized goods--your furniture, your diamonds, your horses. I can
+arrange matters with the manager of the theatre; you shall be
+reinstated as prima donna on better terms than before. I can give you
+a far greater position than you have ever enjoyed, and I can offer you
+a truer, more self-sacrificing, more adoring lover than you have
+possessed. His name is Waldemar Sondersheim." He bowed low before her.
+
+Eveline looked with intense gravity at the top of his boots.
+
+Waldemar was now certain that he was master of the situation. He took
+from his waistcoat-pocket a watch, and pressed it into her hand.
+
+"My sweetest love, my time is precious. I am expected at the
+stock-exchange. The Kaulmann speculation has to be crushed. It is just
+twelve o'clock. I give you one hour to think over what I have said and
+to decide your own fate. I am content to wait until then; it is only
+one word I ask for--yes or no."
+
+Eveline gave him a yet shorter answer. She dashed the timepiece which
+he had put into her hand with such force on the floor that it flew
+into a hundred pieces. That was her answer!
+
+Prince Waldemar laughed, put his hand in his left-hand
+waistcoat-pocket, took out another watch, and said, dryly:
+
+"I expected just such an answer, and therefore I brought with me
+another watch. I beg of you to break this one also. I shall be only
+too happy to provide you with a third."
+
+This time, however, Eveline did not take the timepiece in her hand.
+She sprang to her feet, and, pointing with her hand towards the door,
+cried out:
+
+"If you have bought my things, take everything away; but the apartment
+is still mine. _Go!_"
+
+Prince Waldemar looked at her haughtily, although he was still
+smiling.
+
+"My dear lady, this is easily said; but reflect a moment. What will
+become of you if you reject me? You have no other expedient."
+
+"I have a shelter," returned the girl, bitterly, "to which I can turn,
+and that is charcoal."
+
+Prince Waldemar made her a low bow, and, without uttering another
+word, took his hat and left her.
+
+A woman who appeals to charcoal needs no man's friendship. In the
+metropolis of fashion many poor wretches have found their last refuge
+there.
+
+That evening Eveline paid a visit to her jeweller. She brought him a
+pair of diamond ear-rings. They were all she had; her ornaments had
+been seized by the law officers. She sold these to the jeweller, and
+left the purchase-money in his care, to be spent in a yearly sum on
+her little brother's grave in Pere la Chaise, to have sods of green
+grass round it, and have fresh flowers placed there on All-Souls' Day.
+The jeweller promised, for she had been a good customer. She told him
+she was going to travel. Apparently it was a long journey, for the
+next morning a bundle was found by the police on the banks of the
+Seine. It was tied up in a cashmere shawl, which her maid recognized
+as belonging to the lost actress.
+
+Prince Waldemar offered a large reward to whoever found the body. But
+it was never found, for the bundle laid at the water-side was only a
+pretence; and while every one was dragging the river, Eveline had kept
+her word and sought refuge in the charcoal pit.
+
+Prince Waldemar never heard of her again. He and his household wore
+mourning in memory of her for six weeks.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV
+
+CSANTA'S LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT
+
+
+We have now to go back to the Bondavara Company before the crash came,
+and when the shares stood at sixty over par, and looked as if they
+would go even higher. But Csanta was satisfied to sell at sixty. There
+could be too much of even a good thing. One should not be too
+grasping, and sixty thousand gulden is a nice profit in one year. He
+thought he would act as Spitzhase had often recommended, and sell out
+his shares in small quantities until they were all gone. It would add
+to the pleasure not to do it all at once.
+
+For some time the quotations had been stationary. He was accustomed to
+go every morning to the cafe and read the exchange column, and had
+always seen the same quotation--"Bondavara, sixty above par."
+
+On the morning of the day upon which Csanta had arranged to send the
+first instalment of his shares to Vienna he went to his cafe, and,
+while waiting to be served, took up the first newspaper that came to
+hand. As usual he commenced by reading it backwards, beginning at the
+exchange column. The first thing that caught his eye was, "Bondavara,
+sixty _below par_."
+
+A printer's error; and a very serious one! The printer was drunk when
+he printed it. The fellow ought to be put in prison. If there is any
+police in Vienna, or justice in the government, such a thing should
+not pass unpunished; it is enough to shake the nerves of any man not
+made of iron. If this is not a disturbance of the peace, I don't know
+what you can call it.
+
+Then he took another paper. The same mistake! He went through the
+round of the daily papers, and found that all the printers must have
+chosen this day for a drinking-bout, as each one made the same error
+between _above_ and _below_ par.
+
+Csanta was convinced that some great mistake had been made; but as he
+could not rest until it was cleared up, he telegraphed to Spitzhase.
+
+A telegram from Spitzhase crossed his. It ran:
+
+      "Great misfortune. The Bondavara mine is on fire.
+      Great panic. The shares are sixty below par. Every one
+      is selling."
+
+Csanta cursed and swore with rage. "The devil take him! Sixty below
+par; a loss of sixty thousand gulden! That means for me extinction.
+Where is the cord and the nail? Let me hang myself! Six casks full of
+silver gone! I shall murder some one! I must go to Vienna. I shall
+knock the whole place about their ears like a card house if I don't
+get back my silver. I didn't take my money to Vienna to leave it
+there."
+
+He foamed like a madman, dragged his bonds out of his safe, threw them
+on the floor and stamped upon them.
+
+"Villains! knaves! paper beggars! It is you who have eaten up my
+silver crowns! You have swallowed my sixty thousand silver crowns! I
+will tear you in pieces! I will cut my crowns out of your stomachs! I
+will kill you dead!"
+
+The upsetting of his safe had disturbed his papers. He suddenly
+caught sight of a deed. He looked at it closely. His mood changed.
+
+"What a fool I have been. I don't lose as much as my finger-nail. Here
+is my young friend's signature. How lucky I didn't destroy this, or
+light my pipe with it. He binds himself _at any time_, subject to my
+desire, to take over a thousand shares _at par_. Ah, well done,
+Csanta! You are an old bird not easily caught with chaff. I am saved,
+thanks to my own sagacity, to my prudent, far-seeing nose that smells
+danger ahead. This letter covers all loss. So far as I am concerned,
+stones may fall from the sky. I am safe."
+
+He folded the shares tenderly, and locked them and the precious letter
+safely up in his safe. He then sat down and wrote to his dear young
+friend in Paris. Fortunately he had the address. He asked him
+politely--seeing how the matter stood--to send at once some accredited
+person to take over the bonds, according to their previous agreement,
+and to arrange in what manner the money should be paid. As for the
+outstanding interest, some compromise or arrangement could be made.
+
+A week passed, and no answer came; but, after all, it is more than a
+cat's jump from X---- to Paris.
+
+During the week he received twice every day, morning and evening, a
+telegram from Spitzhase pressing him to part with his shares, for
+every day they were falling ten per cent. lower. At the end of the
+week they had gone down still more. The bears had won the day.
+
+Csanta never moved a finger. He hugged himself in his own safety; and
+as for the others, their shares might go to the bottom of the sea for
+all he cared. He had no shares. They were all Kaulmann's. "Take them
+away, and give me back my silver!" This was his cry. "Rogue! villain!
+I have you by the neck!"
+
+The accounts that he read of the sudden collapse of the company and
+the ruin of the shareholders did not in the least disturb him. The
+losses of others could not affect him. On the ninth day, however, he
+began to tremble. The morning's paper contained an account,
+telegraphed from Paris, of the flight of the banker, Felix Kaulmann,
+leaving his affairs in the uttermost confusion. This was succeeded by
+a second telegram, announcing that the banker, Kaulmann, seeing that
+the officers of police were on his track, had thrown himself from the
+window of the railway-carriage, and had been killed instantaneously.
+
+Csanta narrowly missed an apoplectic stroke. When he came to he
+telegraphed to Spitzhase to sell all his shares for what they would
+fetch.
+
+Spitzhase answered by return:
+
+      "Too late; they are quoted at _seventy_, but this is
+      only nominal. There are neither buyers nor sellers.
+      The mine is gone; the railway is gone; everything is
+      gone. Why didn't you part with them a week ago, when I
+      advised you? Now you can put your shares in the fire,
+      and cook chestnuts at the blaze."
+
+"All is over with me!" sobbed Csanta. "Let me get home; let me lie
+down and die! I cannot live! I shall not be alive in three days!"
+
+He took leave of his acquaintances; he had no friends. He told them
+they need not be afraid, he would do himself no injury. He was simply
+dying of grief, just as a man might die of sickness.
+
+All gone!
+
+Some compassionate souls had pity on the old man and took him home. If
+he had been alone he had never found his own house. Once arrived
+there, he insisted on going down to his cellar, to see with his own
+eyes if it were not some hideous dream, from which he would wake and
+find his beloved casks in their old places. When he saw all were gone,
+he set up a fearful cry, "Fool! fool! fool!" and fell forward on his
+face.
+
+They carried him up-stairs, tenderly undressed him as if he were a
+child, and put him to bed. He shrieked for a priest, so they fetched
+him one. He made his confession, and received the sacrament.
+
+His lawyer then appeared on the scene, and his last will was written
+out and duly signed. He had still something to leave. There were his
+houses, the whole street front; the church into which no one came, on
+whose threshold between the stones the grass grew thick, in whose
+court-yard the school-boys played ball on Thursday half-holidays.
+
+The church, notwithstanding, was endowed with a priest, a verger, and
+a bell-ringer. The priest should say mass, the bell-ringer should ring
+the bell, the verger should open the door _every day_; just as a
+hundred years ago, when through the open church doors a stream of men
+passed, with silver buttons on their jackets, and women with long silk
+veils. The old man now dying is the last descendant left on this earth
+of the old Greek traders. The church shall remain standing in memory
+of them.
+
+The house next door to his own he bequeathed to the widow, who was the
+daughter of the last Greek. This woman and he had quarrelled long ago.
+God alone can decide the justice of a quarrel that has to do with
+paper money, which to-day is worth a great deal and to-morrow not a
+penny. Therefore, he bequeathed to her and her son the heap of cursed,
+worthless papers called shares in the Bondavara Company, which have
+caused his unexpected death. They shall have these papers, whether for
+good or ill.
+
+After he had made these depositions and arranged his affairs his will
+was sealed and inscribed by himself. He divided among his neighbors
+and servants his few remaining possessions. He called the bell-ringer,
+and enjoined him to toll the bell three times every two hours, and if
+any one asked the reason why, he should answer, "The Greek, Csanta, is
+dead." Then he sent every one out of the room.
+
+When next morning they returned he was dead. He had died of grief,
+just as an aged husband will not survive the loss of his wife with
+whom he had grown old. So a man with a strong will dies when he has
+said that he can no longer support life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV
+
+THE GROUND BURNS UNDER HIS FEET
+
+
+Peter Saffran's curse seemed likely to be fulfilled: "Upon this field
+no grass shall grow for evermore."
+
+It was true the green grass grew still upon the field, but who could
+tell what was seething underneath, in the bosom of the earth?
+
+The directors of the company's mine believed that when they closed all
+the entrances and openings to the shafts and vaults, they had given,
+by so doing, a check to the conflagration; by preventing the current
+of the outer air from getting in, they felt sure the fire must in a
+short time be extinguished.
+
+On the other hand, there was the irremediable evil that the supply of
+coal gradually diminished; even the necessary material for keeping the
+forge heated was wanting. They tried to heat it with wood--there were
+plenty of trees in the forest--but without coal the heater would not
+work, and much iron was lost in consequence. Instead of iron bars, a
+great quantity of "rammers" lay scattered about. It was soon patent
+that, from all these causes combined, the company were not in a
+condition to fulfil their contract for supplying the railway
+contractors with iron rails. The guarantee was in danger, as was also
+that of the railway company, in case the railway could not be opened
+for traffic at the time promised in their agreement.
+
+The Bondavara Mine Company and Railway Company were, so to speak,
+glued to one another; one could hardly take a step without dragging
+the other down the dangerous path on which both were going headlong to
+ruin.
+
+Being in such evil straits, the directors began to look for help to
+the other mine. Coal they must have. In Ivan Behrend's colliery there
+must be a large supply. For a whole year he had sold none. They must
+buy from him, even at an advanced price.
+
+Raune also bethought himself of begging for coal from the same source.
+Surely no one could refuse to oblige an old friend and neighbor.
+
+His letter, however, came back to him with the seal unbroken. At this
+moment Raune was terribly hard pressed. He resolved to wait upon Ivan,
+and make his request in person.
+
+His visit was a short one. He was in all less than two seconds in
+Ivan's room, from which the first thing that issued was his hat, which
+he followed promptly. After this Ivan's voice was heard.
+
+"I hold no conversation with spies."
+
+Raune wrote the directors a long letter, in which he said that Behrend
+was a boorish, selfish man, who was determined to profit by the
+misfortune which had happened to the Bondavara mine, and would not
+give his coal at _any_ price; instead of selling, he was using it in
+the manufacture of a quantity of iron rails, and speculating on the
+chance that the company would be forced to buy at any sum he chose to
+ask.
+
+The result of his letter was very different from what he had looked
+for. The railway directors wrote at once to Ivan, and made him an
+advantageous offer for his iron rails; and if he had asked fifty per
+cent. more they were prepared to accede to his demand.
+
+The profit for Ivan's faithful workmen was a very full harvest. The
+deserters to the enemies' camp now implored to be taken on again; they
+had no work. But they were not received by their former comrades; a
+committee of the men decided, without a dissentient voice, against
+taking on one of the deserters, but took on a total stranger. This
+decision settled the matter, and Ivan was forced to acknowledge it was
+just. The new member was bound to work for a year as a common laborer,
+and the committee were not to decide whether he should be admitted to
+the rights of the existing colony, and entitled to his share of the
+profit; this should be put to the vote.
+
+Meantime the work was splendidly done. Each man looked upon the mine
+as his own property; there were few blunders, and the success was
+remarkable; neither labor nor time was spared. Order was preserved,
+discipline maintained, and there was no necessity for harsh measures,
+nor for overseers.
+
+Under all this fine weather, however, there lurked clouds. In the far
+distance storms were gathering, evident to an experienced eye.
+
+Ivan noted the coming danger, but he did not let it escape his lips.
+It could not be averted. His mine was threatened; the fire that was
+consuming the neighboring colliery might spread to his. This thought
+filled his mind by day and by night. From the situation of the
+coal-stratum he could draw the conclusion that the conflagration must
+spread to Bondathal. It might take years, but in the end the Bondathal
+mine would share the same fate as its neighbor of Bondavara, and be
+reduced to ashes.
+
+The earth has buried many such wrecks in its bosom. But not alone
+below, but on the earth itself this Bondavara misfortune had ruined a
+multitude of people.
+
+In the beginning the board of directors, who administered the affairs
+of the shareholders, hit upon the idea that with the ready money at
+their command they would buy up all the shares in the market, and in
+this way serve a double purpose. In the first place, they would secure
+for themselves the shares which had been issued at par at a price far
+below par, and in the next they would check any further fall.
+
+The board, however, by this manoeuvre only effected a more rapid smash;
+the money in the treasury dwindled away until at last for the
+necessary expenses there was nothing left.
+
+Prince Waldemar knew how to make use of the daily papers. He was
+always ready, and the shares having, through him, fallen thirty per
+cent. lower, he was resolved to send them still further down. The time
+was at hand when they would stand at _nil_, and then the owner of
+these miserable shares would be glad to _offer_ one per cent. to any
+one who would take them off his hands.
+
+It was a wicked game to play. Thousands were made beggars. The poorer
+people suffered most--those who a short year ago came with their
+little savings in their hands, crying to take shares. Poor souls! the
+high interest had tempted them to their ruin. Ah, it is an old story
+this, that repeats itself with periodic fidelity; the clerk, the old
+man, the widow, the old maid, the governess or teacher--these are the
+victims of this cruel Juggernaut. The cashier who has gambled with his
+master's money fills in the picture. But there are not wanting others
+who suffer, but are not reduced altogether to want. Solid tradesmen
+are crippled, people who drove their carriages have to walk, lovers
+whose wedding-day was fixed have to wait, and sometimes pine away in
+single blessedness. Woe! woe! on every side.
+
+But the Bondavara catastrophe had ruined not alone poor and well-to-do
+people; it had dragged down in its fall the high and powerful family
+of Bondavary, one of the most ancient in Hungary. The Marquis Salista
+had learned a severe lesson; he found that you cannot take away the
+centrepiece of a building without endangering the whole edifice. The
+sequestration of the prince's property had drawn the whole body of
+creditors upon him. And so it came to pass that the large property of
+a great nobleman, a reigning prince, fell under the administration of
+his creditors; the heirs had really burned the ground under their own
+feet.
+
+If the stewards and agents in the prince's time had been thieves, the
+administration of the property by the creditors was the very
+realization of plunder on all sides.
+
+The result was disastrous so far as the Countess Theudelinde was in
+question; there was no one responsible, so it appeared, for her forty
+thousand pounds. All the family charges and mortgages came first on
+the list of payments. Let her grasp hers--if she could.
+
+The one who suffered most was the Countess Angela. Her husband,
+Marquis Salista, had from the first lived in the extravagant manner
+befitting a man who has come into a fortune of twenty millions. It was
+impossible to induce him to change his ideas. This led to sharp
+conflicts between the married pair.
+
+On the other side, Angela showed him plainly that she had married him
+not from liking, but out of pique.
+
+The marquis knew it--and so did Ivan; but he had something else to
+think of. The ground was burning under _his_ feet.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI
+
+CHILD'S PLAY
+
+
+The concert season was in full swing when the Belenyis received the
+news that Csanta was dead and had bequeathed to them their former
+house. If Arpad had been engaged to play a quartet with Beethoven,
+Mozart, and Haydn he would have thrown up his engagement and flown
+back with railway speed to his old home. His mother was just as eager
+to be gone as he was. Not a day did they stay; they were off the very
+same evening.
+
+On their arrival at X---- the magistrate unlocked the door of their
+old home and gave Madame Belenyi possession. Everything was exactly as
+they had left it, only the dust of years covered all the pretty
+things.
+
+Arpad's first thought was to run down to the garden. The magistrate,
+however, detained him. He had another legacy to make over to him, a
+large iron case fastened with three iron locks. It contained the
+Bondavara shares.
+
+"The devil take his shares!" cried Arpad, laughing. "Unluckily it is
+summer, so we don't want to make a fire."
+
+"They are down to nothing," said the magistrate. "They are quoted
+to-day at ten guldens. They killed poor Csanta."
+
+They had to take the shares all the same. You must not look a
+gift-horse in the mouth.
+
+Arpad slipped out of the room and ran down to the garden. The
+fruit-trees were untouched, and all in full bloom. The cherry-tree was
+one mass of rosy blossom. He remembered well how he daren't touch a
+blossom under pain of a good whipping. And the forget-me-nots on the
+bank of the stream, which flowed past the end of the garden, and the
+May bells were ringing in a chorus, to which no one listened.
+
+Everything was just as it had been, only grown. The trees had such
+long branches that they were entangled with those on the opposite
+shore.
+
+He laid himself down in the green grass, all dotted over with yellow
+cowslips. No one could beat him now. He might waste his time and drink
+his fill of lazy enjoyment. Fame, the chatter of the newspapers over
+his sudden disappearance, the ladies who would regret him--what were
+they all in comparison with this? In a hiding-place on the river-bank
+he sought for the little flute he had secretly made in those old days.
+To his great joy it was there, just as he had left it.
+
+Arpad took from his pocket a newspaper full of his Parisian triumphs,
+an announcement of his next appearance. Where is Paris now? Out of the
+sheet he made a large boat with sails, that it might take a cargo on
+board. He pulled a bunch of the cherry blossom; he set the tiny vessel
+on the water, and while it danced over the little bubbles in the
+stream he laid down again among the forget-me-nots and played upon his
+flute the national air, "Repuelj fecskem."
+
+At the sound of the flute another child appeared. She came from the
+house opposite: a young girl about fifteen. She had a round, fair,
+laughing face and beautiful blue eyes. Timidly, like a frightened
+fawn, she made a few steps, then stopped and listened. By-and-by she
+drew nearer, then stood still again. She did not see the flute-player;
+she noticed nothing but his flute and his boat with the cherry
+blossoms.
+
+The girl had come quite close to the bank without Arpad having seen
+her approach. He was made aware of her presence by hearing her laugh.
+The laugh of a child is as clear as a bell. Arpad looked up,
+surprised.
+
+"Ah, is that you, Sophie? How pretty you have grown! I beg you will
+send me back my boat."
+
+Sophie did not want to be asked twice. She held up her frock with one
+hand, tucked it between her knees, and after she had replaced the red
+cherry blossoms by some white flowers, she gave the little boat such a
+hearty shove that it came back to the opposite side. Then the game
+began again. It was so amusing!
+
+Madame Belenyi saw the pair from the window. She didn't disturb them,
+but let them amuse themselves until the sun went down and the air
+began to get chill. Then the most prudent of the two children--it was
+the girl, no doubt--suggested to the other that the grass was wet with
+dew, and that it would be well to go back to the house.
+
+Arpad took his boat out of the water, and put it and the flute back in
+their hiding-place, and returned to his mother.
+
+Madame Belenyi did not scold him. She did not, however, kiss him on
+his forehead, as she was wont to do. She showed him all she had done
+to settle the house while he had been amusing himself in the garden.
+
+Arpad was very much pleased to find it so comfortable.
+
+"Mother," he said, "we will live here always."
+
+"I don't object to our living here, Arpad; only there is one
+condition. You must marry a good girl, and bring her here to help
+me."
+
+"I, mother?" returned Arpad, half pleased and yet astonished.
+
+"Yes, you. Why not? You are a young man. I cannot look after you
+always."
+
+Arpad laughed again. "So, because I have grown a young man, and that
+you cannot keep me any longer at your apron-string, I must take a wife
+who will keep me in better order than you can. Is that it, mother?"
+
+"My son, it is in the natural order," returned Madame Belenyi,
+gravely, and as if there were no other course for a young man but to
+have either a mother or a wife to look after him. It did not enter
+into her imagination that he could look after himself.
+
+"Sooner or later I shall obey your wishes; but just now, as we have
+got a house, I shall have enough to do to provide the house-keeping,
+and I could not take a wife with me here and there when I have to
+fulfil my professional engagements. For this sort of Bohemian life,
+vagabondizing from Paris to London, Petersburg to Vienna, is a bad
+thing for a woman, whether she goes with her husband or is left
+behind."
+
+"But we have something to live on, Arpad. I have been very lucky with
+your earnings, and there is a nice nest-egg in the bank. Besides,
+there are the shares. Don't laugh, you silly boy! Although they are
+only worth ten gulden, yet there are a thousand of them. If we realize
+them, that would be ten thousand gulden. In a small town like this
+that sum would be a fortune, and with it you need not scruple to take
+a wife."
+
+"Mamma, you don't understand about these shares. _One_ could easily be
+realized, but if the next day I were to go to the same place with
+another for sale they would kick me out. Any one who would offer a
+thousand Bondavara shares in the money-market would be sent to the
+mad-house. Put the shares away with those other important papers
+Csanta gave you, and, if you like, treasure the hope that one day they
+may be worth as much as the paper they are printed on."
+
+"Well, stranger things have happened. Did you ever think we would come
+back to this house? I am very sorry I did not keep the other papers. I
+burned them. Who knows what luck we may have with those bonds? If, one
+day, they rise again to par, we shall realize twice two hundred
+thousand gulden--"
+
+"I don't count on such strokes of luck as that, mamma. The worst
+compliment Providence can pay a man is to let him win in a lottery. It
+is just as if God said to him, 'You ass! I cannot keep you in any
+other manner.' God would not allow a man who has any intellect to win
+in a lottery. To such a one he would say, 'Wilt thou cease to beg alms
+of Me in such a shameless manner? Is it not sufficient that I have
+endowed thee with talent? My consolation prizes are reserved for the
+dunderheads.'" Then he added, "Mother, don't be afraid, we shall live
+from my art. Wait a little and you shall see; only give me time.
+Meantime I shall buy for the little girl a doll with a china head as a
+plaything. You must take care of me for a little longer."
+
+At these words the widow embraced her boy tenderly. She was happy; but
+that evening Arpad, when it was moonlight, went out and sat under the
+weeping-willow and played a melancholy air on his flute. Sometimes he
+stopped to listen to a soft silvery voice singing a national air on
+the other side of the stream. The singer, however, when she heard the
+flute no more, knew that he was listening, and stopped her song. It is
+so sweet to be young!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII
+
+EUREKA
+
+
+Ivan's fears as to the safety of his own colliery were growing day by
+day. One morning he found that the amount of hydrogen was scarcely
+perceptible; still there was water in the pit. This discovery made him
+thoughtful; he could not understand it. He descended into the cavern
+where the pond was. Not one drop of water!
+
+Ivan remained for three hours, watching anxiously to see would the
+water rise; but none came.
+
+At the end of three hours he was relieved by the men, and it was then
+arranged that during the night they would take turns in watching the
+tank. As soon as the water began to rise they were to call him. Ivan
+went home, lay down, and fell into a deep sleep, from which he did not
+awake until the sun was high in the heavens. He wondered that no one
+had called him, as had been agreed.
+
+It might be that the men had also been overcome by sleep. Poor
+wretches, they also were exhausted. He hastened to the pit. The men
+told him they had watched all night, but there had been no sign of
+water in the tank. He waited patiently for twenty-four hours. Not a
+sign of water!
+
+Ivan thought he could explain the absence of the water by the theory
+of the periodic springs--a theory too complicated to enter upon here.
+It is sufficient to say that the water-supply of the mine was worked
+by the pressure of the air upon these springs. If the water did not
+now return, it would be attributable to one of two causes: either the
+pipe which conducted the water from the larger basin had suddenly
+closed, and was no longer subject to atmospherical pressure, on which
+it depended to keep open; or some split or crevice had come in the
+stone masonry which protected the basins, and the force of the air had
+driven the water down farther into the bowels of the earth, where, no
+doubt, another basin was ready for its reception. We will remember
+that from the first Ivan had the idea that some such reservoir
+existed. But where?--that was the problem; and if the reservoirs were
+not found, what then?
+
+The cavern where Ivan stood was empty. The black portals which guarded
+the subterranean kingdom of death stood open to him. He could enter
+the labyrinth; he could discover what he had long sought, the
+communication between the upper and the lower water basins. One
+difficulty lay in his way. He should take a workman with him. He
+called the old miner, Paul.
+
+"Paul, how old are you?"
+
+"Sixty-nine."
+
+"You would like, no doubt, to complete your seventieth year."
+
+"I should like to see the gold wedding of this pit. Next year it will
+be just fifty years since it was opened."
+
+"And if you die before then?"
+
+"I should say, 'The name of the Lord be blessed.'"
+
+"Are your sons grown to man's estate?"
+
+"My grandson is able to keep himself."
+
+"Would you be ready to accompany me on a dangerous expedition--one
+where the chances are we might never return?"
+
+"I think I have run that chance before now."
+
+"You must understand, Paul, the whole risk before you agree. We are
+going to look for the water that has left the tank. It is a matter of
+life and death to every one of us, and, therefore, I think God will
+help us; but it may not be so. The Almighty may say, 'Why should you
+mere worms of the earth dare to interfere between me and the sentence
+I have passed against you and yours? I did not listen to the
+entreaties of Lot, and now the Dead Sea covers the ruins of the city.
+You men of Bondathal are not better than the men of Gomorrah.' Do you
+understand me? I have often sought for the source of the spring
+through the narrow winding paths of this cavern. These windings are so
+narrow that one must sometimes press through them by mere force, at
+other times creep along upon one's stomach. Great abysses yawn under
+the feet; a fall down one of these would be fatal; we will have to
+cling to the wall as we creep along. Again, we will pass through
+stinking sewers, up to our elbows in putrid filth. All these clefts
+and fissures have been made some time--God knows when--by an
+earthquake which has caused the uprooting of the coal stratum. Now it
+is quite possible that this last explosion has closed again many of
+these clefts and opened others. If it has happened, as I surmise, that
+the aperture has been shut which communicated between the pit beneath
+us and the one above--if this has taken place, then we have a tank
+full of water over our heads. If we, in our search through the bowels
+of the earth, come upon this aperture, and accidentally break the
+smallest hole, not the size of a pin's point, the water in the basin
+over our heads will burst through and annihilate us; if we hear it
+roaring we are already lost. But, on the other hand, it may be that
+the explosion caused a rent in the upper cleft, and if so the water
+has rushed through it to the lower basin under our feet. What we have
+to do, whether we die in the search or not, is to find out where the
+water is."
+
+"I have no idea what you mean; all I know is that I am ready to go
+with you."
+
+"Then go home and take leave of your family, as if you were going a
+long journey. Go to your priest and make your peace with God. Then
+come back, and tell no one where we are going."
+
+Ivan now made his own preparations. From this adventure he might never
+return. He made his will. He bequeathed his mine to his workmen, his
+money to Paul's family. This was an act of justice. If the old man
+were killed, it was in a measure his, Ivan's, doing.
+
+When this was all done he went out and took his leave of light and air
+before going into the blackness of everlasting night. It was well
+under the free air of heaven. The sky might be bluer elsewhere, the
+grass greener; still, it was not eternal darkness.
+
+The post brought him a letter. It was from Arpad Belenyi. It told him
+all that we already know--the fall of Kaulmann, the disappearance of
+Eveline, whom every one thought had drowned herself. Ivan's heart was
+stirred by deep sorrow. The sky lost its brightness; the meadow was no
+longer green; the blackness of the pit would be welcome to him. This
+news acted upon him as a tonic; he felt braced; his fears vanished.
+Life was now more worthless than before.
+
+He set about the necessary preparations with calmness. He collected
+the instruments which would be needed for this strange search--the
+levelling instrument, the circumferentor, the plumb-line. He put them
+in a bag, which he tied round his neck. Paul carried the pick, the
+iron rod, and a strong cord.
+
+With this equipment they descended into the cavern, and vanished
+through the windings of the water-course. After six hours they
+reappeared. This went on day after day.
+
+Ivan took the measurements of all the windings of the labyrinth, and
+when he was at home compared them carefully. It took him hours. At
+night he retired into his laboratory, heated deadly gases in his
+retorts, and forced the mysterious elements to surrender their
+long-concealed secrets. He fought with demons who refused to obey him.
+
+"Which of you is the spirit that can extinguish fire? Appear! appear!
+Not with Alpha and Omega, not with Solomon's Seal, not in the name of
+Abraxas and Mithras do I conjure you, but by the force of all-powerful
+science I order you appear!"
+
+But no spirit appeared.
+
+This double battle, the one under the earth, the one in the air above
+it, this fight with the two great demons of the world's creation, went
+on day by day, in daylight and darkness. Ivan had no rest.
+
+One morning he was told that the water in the castle well was hot, and
+it had a decided taste of sulphur. He began now to despair. The
+subterranean conflagration was closing round him sooner than he had
+looked for it. The situation was lost; one year, and the whole place
+would be consumed.
+
+Raune, when this fact became known, threw up his appointment and
+openly took service with Prince Waldemar. He was commissioned by his
+employer to write--as an authentic witness--the accounts of the
+catastrophe, which appeared constantly in the Vienna papers.
+
+Ivan threw himself with the energy of despair into the search; he
+penetrated farther into the subterranean labyrinth. Paul was like a
+ghost; his very soul was steeped in terror, but he held bravely to his
+master.
+
+One day, amidst the confusion of the different winding passages in the
+rock, they came to a place out of which there seemed to be no exit.
+They struck the wall. It returned a hollow sound, so that they drew
+the conclusion that on the other side there was a large cavern, or
+space of some sort. The tumbled masses of slate-stratum fallen over
+one another was a proof that the blockade had been recently made.
+
+"We must clear a passage here," said Ivan, taking the pick in his
+hand.
+
+Paul cowered down, clinging to the wall. He trembled at every blow of
+the pick given by the vigorous arm of Ivan, who worked with terrible
+earnestness. So might a despairing soul beat against the gates of hell
+and summon the devil to single combat.
+
+At last the pick made a small hole, through which Ivan passed the iron
+rod, and raised a whole mass of slates.
+
+"Now, if the water is overhead the crack of doom has come."
+
+The old man crossed himself, and recommended his soul to God.
+
+Ivan, however, shouted with all the joy of a discoverer: "Do you hear?
+The rubbish as it falls makes a splash. The lower basin I am in search
+of _is here_, underneath us!"
+
+But what if the one above is full? They had still to wait while they
+counted a hundred beats of the pulse.
+
+Never was a pulse felt under such terrible circumstances, not even
+when Ivan had gone down into the burning mine. Not a sound was heard.
+In the bosom of the earth all is quiet. Ivan was trembling with joyful
+excitement.
+
+"Found at last!" he cried. "Now bind the cord round me, and lower me
+into the well cavern."
+
+It was done. The old miner, as he held the rope, prayed fervently to
+the Blessed Mother that she would forgive this heretic, who did not
+know what he was doing. Meantime the lamp sank deeper and deeper.
+
+Suddenly Ivan cried out, "Pull me up!"
+
+His old comrade drew him slowly out of the depths of the earth. As he
+held out his hand to help him, Ivan suddenly threw his arms round him
+and embraced him.
+
+"We have reached our goal," he said. "The plumb-line shows a monstrous
+depth of water."
+
+Paul's brain began to clear. For the first time he had a dim idea of
+the aims of their labors.
+
+"Now let us get into daylight."
+
+As soon as Ivan got out of the pit he ran home as fast as he could. He
+compared his measurements, and was well content with the result. At
+night he shut himself in his laboratory. He was flushed with triumph;
+another victory would be his. He would also conquer the demon that had
+hitherto resisted his will. He had the proud feeling of a victorious
+general who demands the last stronghold to surrender.
+
+"I have already conquered," he said. "You are the next to submit. God
+sometimes lends to his creature immortal gifts, moments of creative
+power, when the infinite takes, as it were, shape, and the finite
+cries to the infinite, 'Eureka!'"
+
+Ivan poured out ten drops of the water he had brought from the well.
+There was not more than would be held in the point of a pen. The
+laboratory became suddenly dark. The strong heat of the burning coal
+in the oven went out as if by magic. All was dark; black as night.
+This darkness was the light for which Ivan had been seeking.
+
+"I have found it!" he cried aloud. "I have found it!" he cried to his
+workmen, among whom he rushed, half undressed, with his hat off, like
+a lunatic.
+
+They did not know what he had found, but they felt certain the
+discovery which was considered so important by their guide and master
+must be a matter of rejoicing, in proof of which the miners cheered
+lustily.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII
+
+AT PAR
+
+
+The devil's comedy was being played daily on the stock-exchange. The
+Bondavara Company's shares, the Bondavara Railway shares were tossed
+here and there, from one hand to another. The tragedy had turned to
+comedy--that is, for some people, who found the game very humorous.
+The very word Bondavara made the stockbrokers laugh. When it happened
+that some fool bought a share, no one could help laughing. The shares,
+in fact, were given in exchange for anything of little value--for
+instance, as make-weight with an old umbrella for a new one. They were
+also presented to charitable institutions.
+
+One witty man went to a fancy ball in a coat made of the shares. This
+conceit was thought diverting. The exchange, however, was still the
+field where a desultory fight was kept up by the shareholders. These
+poor wretches fought for the last flicker of the lamp, which the bears
+wanted to extinguish altogether.
+
+Prince Waldemar, the leader of the conspiracy, forced the shares day
+by day lower and lower. At last they fell to one and a half per cent.,
+then to one and a quarter, and this quarter was to go lower, the
+prince wanting to banish the shares from the quotation list. The
+owners were making a fight to prevent this--an ineffectual one, it
+seemed to be. They were almost agreed to give up the fight as a
+forlorn hope. How could they make head against such odds? The day upon
+which Raune's report was in the newspapers they resolved to lay down
+their arms; there seemed no good in protracting the struggle. The
+report in question was the one which stated what was the nature of the
+elements that, since the fire in the Bondavara mine, had been found
+mixed with the water on the lake of the castle; this caused a great
+"sensation," and was the last straw upon the back of the unfortunate
+shareholders.
+
+Prince Waldemar had the news proclaimed on 'change that on the last
+day of the month he would sell his Bondavara Company shares at ten
+florins. Some people took up the gauntlet he had thrown down. These
+were shareholders who knew that they would lose by taking this wager,
+but at the same time hoped by this stroke of policy to prevent the
+shares from disappearing altogether from the share list. If,
+therefore, at the end of the month the shares went down to six gulden,
+they must pay the other side twenty thousand gulden difference; if the
+shares went up, the other side must do the same.
+
+About noon a broker came to the bank, and said, loud enough for all
+bystanders to hear, that a gentleman was present who would take five
+hundred Bondavara shares at par.
+
+If some one had struck a hammer upon the open keys of a piano no
+greater whir and whiz could have been heard than now ran through the
+hall. Screams of laughter, exclamations of astonishment, howls of joy,
+curses, and ejaculations of incredulity were raised in every corner.
+Who is he? Is he a lunatic? At par! Bondavara shares! Where is the
+man?
+
+The broker pointed him out. He was evidently a provincial gentleman,
+very unassuming in his appearance. He was leaning against a pillar,
+calmly surveying the Olympian games.
+
+"He is evidently a silly knave who wants to have a joke," scoffed
+Prince Waldemar. "Go to him," he went on to the agent, "and ask him
+for his name. We must know what is the name of any one who treats with
+us."
+
+The broker returned in a few minutes with the news that the gentleman
+gave his name as a Hundred Thousand Gulden, saying that money was the
+best surname. He showed his hands full of bank-notes, which he
+received from the stranger.
+
+"Who sells five hundred Bondavara shares at par?"
+
+This cry caused a revolution on 'change. Tranquillity was at an end;
+tumult took its place; uproar and confusion reigned. Credulous and
+incredulous people surrounded the stranger; they pressed upon him,
+overwhelming him with questions, stretching over one another to thrust
+their note-books into his hands. The unknown met all this noise with
+cool indifference, merely pointing out to his broker the crowd who
+were ready to do business with him.
+
+Prince Waldemar now made his way through the mob to where the
+new-comer stood. With the most refined impertinence he drew the brim
+of his hat over his eyes and stuck his hand into his waistcoat pockets
+as he surveyed the other.
+
+"Sir, your appearance has caused a sudden revolution. May I ask your
+name?"
+
+"My name is Ivan Behrend," returned the stranger, without changing his
+negligent attitude.
+
+"Ah," said the prince, suddenly taking off his hat and bowing low. "I
+have had the honor of hearing of you. Are you not the renowned
+pistol-shot, who can shoot a cigar out of a man's mouth? I am a nobody
+in comparison; I am only Prince Waldemar Sondersheim. I cannot shoot
+as you do. But let us talk sensibly. You want to buy Bondavara shares
+at par? Have you inherited suddenly the fortune of an Indian nabob,
+who made it a condition that you should buy the shares at par?"
+
+"No. I buy them because they are worth that price."
+
+"Don't you know that the Bondavara mine is on fire?"
+
+"I happen to own the adjoining one, therefore I am quite aware that
+such is the fact."
+
+"Then your mine will be on fire next."
+
+"Not so. I extinguished the fire in mine a fortnight ago."
+
+At these words the noise rose to a regular tumult; the shareholders
+pressed round Ivan, and nearly suffocated him. The man is there who
+can extinguish the fire. The mine will soon be again in working order.
+Bondavara stands once more at par.
+
+The bears had to retire. The joyful shareholders surrounded Ivan and
+carried him in triumph out of the hall.
+
+That same evening a large meeting was held, at which Ivan, before an
+enormous audience, filling the room to suffocation, declared
+authoritatively that he had an infallible plan, which had, in fact,
+been tried on the Bondavara mine, and had put out the conflagration.
+He invited every one present to see the experiment tested next day in
+the open air, when it would be distinctly proved that his words were
+no idle boast.
+
+The following morning, in presence of a large crowd, he fulfilled his
+promise, succeeding admirably in the demonstration. A funeral pile of
+coal and turf, over which petroleum had been poured, was set fire to,
+and when blazing to its greatest height was put out in a few minutes
+by some drops from a small bottle.
+
+The jubilant public conducted Ivan back to the town in triumph, and
+at the next general meeting of shareholders it was resolved to offer
+him a remuneration of six hundred thousand gulden if he would
+undertake to bring the Bondavara mine into working order.
+
+There were not wanting, however, plenty of opponents. Foremost there
+was Prince Waldemar, who possessed the largest proportion of shares,
+and who, nevertheless, offered the most determined opposition. He did
+everything to embarrass and obstruct Ivan's scientific propositions.
+
+"I grant," he said, "that you may be able to put out with one bucket
+of fluid six cubit feet of burning coals; but consider for a moment
+that in the Bondavara pit, reckoning from the place where the
+explosion took place to the castle, there must be at least sixty
+thousand cubit feet of burning stratum. You must have, to meet this,
+ten thousand buckets of fluid ready to shoot over the mass. What
+machine have you that would be able for such an operation as this?"
+
+"I have not forgotten that such a machine would be necessary,"
+returned Ivan, quietly.
+
+"Let us suppose," continued the prince, "that you do succeed in
+getting a sufficient quantity of fluid to bear upon the burning mass.
+Don't you perceive that this very supply will develop a monstrous
+amount of gas, which would permeate the pit from top to bottom, and
+cause another and still worse explosion?"
+
+"I have foreseen this danger."
+
+"And, finally, if you possess any idea, which you evidently do, of the
+mechanism of machines and the expenditure necessary to procure the
+best, you must face the problem that a million of money will not be
+sufficient to procure the necessary materials which would be wanting
+to make the experiment successful."
+
+"I have drawn up an estimate of probable outlay."
+
+The shareholders here shouted out to him that they undertook all
+expenses, even if they amounted to a million, and on the spot it was
+agreed that Ivan should receive full powers to do for the Bondavara
+mine what he considered necessary, let the cost be what it might.
+
+Prince Sondersheim saw that he could not stem the course of Ivan's
+popularity; it must have its way. While the assembled shareholders
+were signing the deed of authorization, he took Ivan aside, and said
+to him:
+
+"Ivan Behrend, whether the undertaking you have engaged in succeeds or
+not--I do not believe that it will succeed--you will have taken out of
+my pocket a million--a million net. Besides this, you have squandered
+five hundred gulden of your own money, without reckoning what is yet
+to be spent. Let that be. You have done this by fixing the quotations
+at par. It is true that the shares will neither be bought nor sold,
+for both sides will be afraid, and will hold back; nevertheless, the
+quotation will stand at par, and I am obliged to pay the difference on
+this--that will cost me a million. But that is nothing; I have lost as
+much before now, and recovered it again. One has only to play the
+waiting game. If, however, in a fortnight's time you find that you
+miscalculated your powers, and that your experiment fails, you have
+only to let it be known, and I shall pay one million into your hand."
+
+Ivan answered this contemptible proposal with business-like composure.
+
+"Prince Sondersheim, the stock-exchange is, as I am well aware, a
+privileged place. Here a man can say things without having any fear of
+consequences. What a man says or does, what proposals he
+makes--everything is, in a sense, allowable, and the ordinary rules
+which govern the outside world do not apply. Here one man may ask the
+other, 'How much do you ask for selling the honor of your company?'
+and if the answer is, 'It is not for sale,' that is enough. Here there
+is plain speaking; no one is offended at being asked to be an
+accomplice in a robbery. It would be no reflection on his character;
+he would assume no airs of righteousness, but simply answer, 'I really
+haven't time.' If men quarrel, if they spit at one another, tear the
+hats off one another's heads, that is nothing; it goes no further; no
+one turns round to look at them. They wipe the spittle off their
+faces, pick up their hats, and after half an hour walk about arm in
+arm. No one remembers that they were fighting; it was only a little
+'difference,' which led to an animated scene. Therefore, to the
+proposal made by Sondersheim, the Bondavara coal-merchant, to Behrend,
+the Bondavara coal-trader, there is but one answer, 'Sir, I cannot
+entertain your offer.' Prince Waldemar Sondersheim will, however, do
+well to remember not to repeat outside the stock-exchange such a
+proposal to Ivan Behrend."
+
+The prince laughed. "I guessed as much. I have often heard of you, and
+if you behave well you shall hear how it came to pass that I know so
+much about you. Once upon a time you took my part in a very energetic
+manner; and to a very pretty woman. I do not know why you should have
+done so; it is sufficient for me that you did. Also, you withdrew your
+own claim to the favor of this very pretty woman. But it was no good,
+she is now the wife of an unworthy fellow; but your unexplained
+intervention in my favor, which could not have been a business
+manoeuvre, but must have sprung from almost a chivalrous Puritanism,
+has placed me under a debt of gratitude towards you. If that lady had
+listened to your advice, things would have been very different. No
+sulphur deposit would have been found in the castle lake; the whole
+speculation, in fact, would have had no existence. Outside the
+exchange we will not recur to the subject. I have mentioned it from a
+sense of gratitude, and I shall note it in my book. If you succeed in
+extinguishing the fire you are to receive six hundred thousand gulden
+from the company; if you fail you shall have a million from me."
+
+This long conversation between Ivan and the prince excited some alarm
+among the shareholders; they tried to interrupt it.
+
+"No tampering, prince. Let our man alone." They were afraid he would
+turn round.
+
+"Don't be afraid," returned the prince; "we are talking of a lady whom
+we both admired."
+
+But the shareholders' suspicions were not allayed by these words. They
+chose from among themselves a commission of three members, who should
+accompany Ivan in every step he took, never leave him, eat with him,
+sleep outside his door, keep watch under his window, so that their
+enemy should not approach him without their knowledge. This was all
+done under the pretence of giving him assistance, and for the purpose
+of keeping him supplied with money.
+
+Ivan procured the necessary machines and workmen, and travelled back
+with them and his three companions to Bondavara.
+
+His three commissioners were likewise to furnish the company with a
+daily report of the progress of the work. One of the three was the
+clerk Spitzhase, who had the reputation of being the most circumspect,
+careful, and impudent servant of the company. This last epithet is
+not meant in the worst sense of the word. In money matters modesty and
+meekness are oftentimes great faults, and the contrary qualities are
+of infinite use. The word is therefore meant in praise. Ivan many
+times chucked Spitzhase out at the door, but the clerk always returned
+by the window.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX
+
+THE UNDERGROUND WORLD
+
+
+The three commissioners for the first fortnight had little to say;
+their report was meagre of incident. Behrend came morning and evening
+to dine and sup with them in the little village inn; the rest of the
+day and of the night he spent continuously underground. When they
+asked him what he was doing, he said, shortly, that everything was
+going on well.
+
+Things might be going well, but there was nothing visible to the
+commissioners. And, moreover, there was _one_ very suspicious
+circumstance which struck Spitzhase especially, and this was that
+Behrend spent his time in his _own colliery_. It was there that all
+the expensive machines had been set up and all the chemical stuffs had
+been taken. Not a single thing had been done to the company's mine;
+not a bit of rubbish had been cleared away, not one of the entrances
+had been opened; in fact, a fortnight had slipped away, and no work
+had been undertaken. It was undoubtedly true that the machines were
+always at work, and cart-loads of clay and stones were perpetually
+being wheeled away.
+
+The whole thing was incomprehensible, and Behrend would not give the
+slightest explanation.
+
+At the beginning of the following week Spitzhase lost all patience.
+
+"Sir," he said to Ivan, with suppressed irritation, "you promised
+that in a fortnight the conflagration in our mine would be
+extinguished. The time is up, and I have not seen that anything has
+been even attempted."
+
+"That is very probable," returned Ivan, quietly.
+
+"Do you maintain still that everything is progressing satisfactorily?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"Can I see for myself what has been done?"
+
+"Where you are standing it would be impossible for you to judge."
+
+"Well, let me go where I can see something."
+
+"Do you really wish to go below? It is not a pleasant place."
+
+"Where you go, so can I; for my part, I don't care if it was hell
+itself."
+
+"It is not unlike what hell must be."
+
+"Well, I am resolved to pay it a visit. I want to make the
+acquaintance of the devil; perhaps I could make an arrangement with
+him to supply us with coal."
+
+"You may come on one condition: if you accompany me you must
+understand that I cannot let you stand gaping about. There is not room
+in the place for more than two people, and they must both work."
+
+"I am not afraid of work. I am the devil for work."
+
+"Very good, then, come along," said Ivan; "and if the other gentlemen
+would like to accompany us to where the machines are working they can
+follow us."
+
+The others seized the opportunity.
+
+Ivan made them put on miners' dress. They were then hoisted into the
+crane, and descended into the shaft. Each one had a safety-lamp
+fastened to his belt and wore a thick felt hat.
+
+Ivan led them through the different windings of the pit until they
+came to the iron door of the cavern in which, not long since, the
+pond used periodically to come and go. The middle of this space was
+now filled by a large mill-like machine, which was kept in motion by
+an endless strap worked from above. In this mill some substance was
+being ground, and, when reduced to fine powder, was carried, by means
+of certain mechanical contrivances, through a pipe and over a bridge,
+where it disappeared from view.
+
+Ivan led his guests through still more tortuous ways. Once they
+descended the shaft of a well; once they mounted high ladders, finding
+themselves when they had done so in a small chamber, not measuring six
+feet in circumference, in which two miners were waiting--an old and a
+young man.
+
+"Now," said Ivan to Spitzhase, "here is our dressing-room; we must put
+on our costume."
+
+"What! have we another change of clothes?"
+
+"Yes, we have to don a coat of mail in the tournament in which we are
+going to take part; we require armor."
+
+At a sign from him the miners came forward and began to prepare the
+two gentlemen. The equipment was something similar to that of a
+fireman--a coat and stockings, the outer stuff being made of asbestos,
+while the space between that and the lining was filled with pulverized
+charcoal; the hands and arms were also covered with long gloves made
+of asbestos, the fingers being air-proof.
+
+"We could pass for knights," said Spitzhase, jestingly.
+
+"Wait until you see our helmets," returned Ivan.
+
+The miners brought two helmets made of glass, each of which had a
+hollow space with twelve joints and three apertures. Ivan explained
+the use of these.
+
+"The place into which we are about to descend is full of coal-gas. We
+must have an apparatus which will enable us to pass through fire and
+to dive under water."
+
+Spitzhase began to repent that he had been so venturesome, but he was
+ashamed to turn back now, and he had a certain amount of pluck.
+
+"We need," continued Ivan, "an apparatus which is a combination of the
+diver's and the fireman's dress. To the glass helmet, which will be
+attached to the coat-collar by means of air-proof caoutchouc, there
+will be fastened two tubes, through one of which the necessary amount
+of air will be conveyed to us, and through the other the bad air will
+be expelled. The ends of both the tubes will remain here, while we
+drag them after us in the same manner as does the diver. Although all
+bad air escapes from our helmets, still we shall find the air rather
+warmer than it is up here, and it will smell like vulcanized
+india-rubber; still we cannot suffocate. To this third aperture an
+elastic tube will be fixed, which unites both helmets; through this
+tube each will hear what the other says, for the glass is so thick
+that no sound penetrates it, and when you have it on your head you
+will with difficulty hear what is said by me."
+
+Spitzhase had begun to feel very uncomfortable, for now the miner
+proceeded to adjust the glass helmet to his head. When the tubes were
+being fixed into the three apertures he perceived that he had become
+suddenly stone deaf. He saw the lips of the two commissioners moving,
+but not one word could he hear. He no longer belonged to the world.
+Only one sound reached him, and that was the voice of the man to whose
+head he was fastened.
+
+"Take one end of the hose upon your arm," shouted the voice into his
+helmet; yet the sound seemed to come from a long way off, or as if out
+of a tunnel.
+
+Mechanically he took the coil on his shoulder.
+
+"Let us go," shouted Ivan, taking the other end of the coil on his
+shoulder, and, opening a thick oak door, which had hitherto escaped
+Spitzhase's observation, they passed through.
+
+The two commissioners had heard nothing that had passed between the
+two "knights"; but when they saw the oak door open they hurriedly
+asked the miners whether the foul air did not come in. The older
+workman reassured them; the carbon was much heavier than oxygen, and
+even thicker than hydrogen. The foul air remained below, where the two
+divers had gone. They might have every confidence so long as the
+safety-lamps burned. Meantime, the others had penetrated into a roomy
+cavern, the walls of which proved it had not been made by the hands of
+men, but was a natural formation. Each partition of the wall fitted
+into another, like the blocks of a puzzle, and each block was as
+smooth as a steel mirror. They were masses of coal set obliquely one
+upon another. The cavern was bridged over with thick, strong wooden
+planks. The gearing strap, which had made its way from the cavern in
+serpent-like fashion, had set a wheel in motion, and the noise of the
+clapper resounded under the bridge, and made a sound as if it were
+working in deep water. From this bridge a narrow path led obliquely
+into the stone layers. Once beyond the entrance into this dark path
+the lamps ceased to burn; the coal-gas had begun its sway. Upon the
+bridge an electric machine was placed, whose brilliant light was
+shaded by a wire screen.
+
+The old miner set the machine working, and the light flashed into
+every nook and cranny of the subterranean cavern. It lighted up the
+narrow tunnel which, for the last month, Ivan had been boring from his
+own mine to that of his neighbor. He had told no one what he had been
+doing, but now the work was almost finished; it only required to be
+broken through. This work, which would take another week to complete,
+needed to be done in a diver's equipment. The length of the narrow
+tunnel was perfectly illumined by the electric machine, as if in the
+broad light of the sun. Where it turned out of its course high
+looking-glasses of polished steel were placed in positions which
+reflected the light itself until it faded away to a faint glimmer. The
+two divers could now hardly discern an object.
+
+"We shall soon be in darkness," said Spitzhase to Ivan.
+
+"We shall have light enough," returned Ivan; and he led the way
+farther into the tunnel.
+
+Spitzhase was forced to follow, for his head was fastened to Ivan's
+head. Wonderful pair of Siamese twins! If the pipe that bound them
+together were to break, both were dead men.
+
+"Halt!" cried Ivan. "Here is the pump. Give me the pipe."
+
+In the half-darkness a little machine three feet high was discernible;
+it was provided with a spring wheel. This suction-pipe had been
+brought here only the day before. Ivan took the caoutchouc coil from
+his companion's shoulder, and screwed the pipe to the aperture of the
+machine; then he set the wheel in motion, and in a few seconds it,
+with the heavy balls attached, was revolving with velocity. Then he
+took the end of the pipe and gave the coil back to Spitzhase with this
+difference: instead of putting it over his arm he hung the hose over
+his neck. Spitzhase felt as if the pipe were about a hundredweight
+heavier, and that it had grown suddenly stiff.
+
+"Forward! quick march!" shouted Ivan into his helmet.
+
+"It begins to be hot as hell itself," grumbled Spitzhase, who was
+suffering horribly.
+
+"Because we are in a part of the mine where the fire has been put
+out."
+
+Both the men wore on their feet glass slippers, otherwise they would
+have felt that the ashes through which they were wading were glowing
+with heat.
+
+The india-rubber hose hung round Spitzhase's neck. It grew darker and
+darker, until at last it was as dark as Erebus.
+
+"I can see nothing," shouted Spitzhase.
+
+"You are safe if you follow me," returned Ivan.
+
+It began to grow somewhat lighter. The light, however, was rose color;
+there was twilight, then, in the bowels of the earth.
+
+Spitzhase complained he could hardly draw his breath.
+
+"That will get better presently," said Ivan, encouraging him.
+
+They had now turned the corner of the road, and the terrible tragedy
+of hell itself lay before them. Yes, hell itself was there. A burning
+labyrinth, in whose glowing passages the prismatic colors changed
+every moment. The blue-green flames leaped from the ground and blended
+with the flames of brilliant scarlet which played upon the burning
+wall, and again faded in the far distance into a deep purple color. It
+was like a fairy transparency at a pantomime. Through the fissures and
+crevices sheets of white sun-rays poured like molten silver. Amid the
+glowing coals there seemed to rise shapes as of demons dancing,
+creatures with green hair and red beards, and from the red sulphate
+of the vaulting there fell slowly a golden shower, a melting rain of
+sparks. From the clefts in the side walls the gas, let loose from all
+restraint, hissed like so many demoniacal serpents, and kindled a
+subterranean flame of its own. Out of the depths of the pit a
+waterspout of fire shot suddenly, sending in every direction a shower
+of sparks. Over the whole floated a milk-colored cloud, which filled
+the vault with a nebulous vapor, wandering as a will-o'-the-wisp here
+and there, and threatening every moment to envelop the rash visitors
+to hell in its chill embrace. Spitzhase, alarmed out of all control,
+pressed closer to the wall; fright was overcoming him.
+
+"Let go the hose!" shouted Ivan. The hose fell like a serpent
+unchained, wriggling backward and forward. "Now follow me. Hold the
+pipe on your arm;" and he drew Spitzhase after him.
+
+He was constrained to follow, although his heart was in his mouth;
+their heads were fastened to each other. If he had had sufficient
+strength to free himself from this terrible companionship, it would
+have in no way helped him, for the carbon would have killed him
+instantaneously.
+
+Mechanically he allowed himself to be drawn on. Hell with all its
+horrors disclosed itself to his affrighted gaze. His companion seemed
+to fear nothing. Was he a human being, or a fiend, who was in reality
+possessed of power over the demons of hell? He dragged him to the very
+border of the fiery lake; then he took from his shoulder the hose,
+which lay in rings and coils, and, opening the mouth of the stop-cock,
+directed its force at the bosom of hell. The hose shot forth a flash
+like a diamond; the water-spirit fell into the glowing Gehenna.
+
+"Hold tight!" shouted Ivan.
+
+And from the force which the stream from the pipe exercised upon the
+burning mass the air was filled with dark clouds of smoke, which
+peopled the still brilliantly lighted cavern with strange, unearthly,
+spectral-like shadows, which, dissolving suddenly into steam, covered
+the two adventurous visitors with a damp moisture. One of them
+tottered.
+
+"Fear nothing," calls out the other; "we are quite safe here."
+
+"It is suffocating; I am burning!" cried Spitzhase.
+
+"Do not be afraid; follow me," said Ivan, and drew his trembling
+comrade after him over the wet rocks, over the charred, burning
+mounds. Every spot where he saw the flames rising he directed the
+hose, and a shower of cool, refreshing water fell from the
+india-rubber pipe upon the burning, seething demoniacal flames. The
+gas hissed, the hot steam boiled round them, the flames, beaten down
+in one place, sprang up in another, but on they went. He was afraid of
+nothing. "Forward! go on! forward!" The mysterious clouds hovered over
+him.
+
+"We are lost!" moaned the other poor mortal, whose fear began to be
+uncontrollable. He fell on his knees.
+
+"You of little faith," said the conqueror of hell, "get up. Let us go
+back." And he lifted him up, as the Redeemer did Peter on the stormy
+Sea of Galilee.
+
+Then he rolled the hose once more round his neck, and took it back to
+the suction-pump; this he closed, and then led his comrade again to
+the little room where they had put on their equipment.
+
+Spitzhase sank back when he reached this haven. When his helmet was
+taken off he panted like a man who was suffocating for want of air.
+Ivan looked at him compassionately.
+
+The miners gave each of them a glass of fresh lemonade to drink, and
+rubbed their temples with vinegar. They then undressed them to the
+skin, put them into a tub of cold water, took them out in two seconds,
+and rubbed them with coarse towels. Spitzhase began to recover his
+senses.
+
+As they put on their usual clothes Ivan said to him, "Well, sir, how
+did you like being below?"
+
+Spitzhase was no fool, but he answered, good-humoredly, "I wouldn't
+have missed going down for a hundred gulden, but I would pay twice
+that sum rather than go there again."
+
+"Now you know what to write to your board of directors. Paul, take
+this gentleman home. I remain here to continue the work."
+
+Spitzhase wrote a glowing account of what he called "the fight with
+the world of spirits" to the Vienna papers.
+
+The next day Ivan said to the commissioners, "We have now laid pipes
+four inches in diameter to work upon the very heart of the fire. So
+soon as I am ready we shall set the high-pressure machine at work.
+This will empty in four hours ten thousand buckets of fluid on the
+burning mass."
+
+"The devil take it!" cried Spitzhase. "Will this farce never have an
+end until the escaped gas blows up the colliery, and makes of it and
+of us a new Pompeii?"
+
+"Do not be afraid. I have thought of this danger. We have taken care
+to stop all the outlets to the quarry gallery with sand-bags. We have
+walled up every possible fissure, crevice, and exit. The entrance to
+the well-shaft has been provided with a strong iron door, over which
+we have fastened a thick bed of clay. If, therefore, it should happen
+that in the gallery, where the conflagration is at its worst, and
+where the fluid must be poured freely, the mass of gas should develop
+in such force that it must explode, then the iron door will prove our
+salvation. It will resist all attack, and the force of the gas will be
+broken."
+
+The members of the commission shook with fright. Here was a pleasant
+prospect! Ivan, however, had no time to spare on reassuring them; the
+crisis was at hand, and he had still much to do. Prudence, foresight
+was necessary. At mid-day he returned to the quarry gallery.
+
+As the clock struck twelve he gave the signal at which the large
+suction-pump was to be set in motion. He remained from this time at
+his post, never leaving the machine until the work was finished. To
+their honor be it spoken, the three commissioners remained with him;
+they kept their places without moving, never speaking a word. During
+the awful time that followed no voice was heard but that of Ivan. Soon
+after the signal was given a rushing sound was heard underground,
+faint at first, but growing louder. It sounded as if in the distance
+water was pouring from an open sluice.
+
+At first the machine was worked at only half its strength. After half
+an hour or so there mingled with the rushing sound a great tumult, as
+if many bells were vibrating in the air. The noise did not die away;
+on the contrary, the vibration grew every moment stronger.
+
+The earth was in labor; the ground heaved and trembled, and those who
+felt its throes trembled also. The earth's sufferings were shared by
+her children. Only one man was calm; the master-spirit was not afraid.
+
+With close attention Ivan watched the pendulum and the thermometer of
+the machine; he marked the variations in the condition of the
+barometer, the ozonometer, and electrometer, writing his observations
+in his note-book. After another hour he made a sign to the man working
+the machine to put on more pressure.
+
+Thereupon arose from below a terrible uproar; it was the battle of the
+Cyclops. The bowels of the earth sent up a dull roar like the rolling
+of thunder; occasionally came a shock as of an earthquake. The houses
+began to rock, the tops of the tall trees and the cross upon the tower
+tottered, and its fall added to the anxiety felt by the entire valley.
+The underground fight grew every moment fiercer; the giants joined
+issue with their foes. They howled in rage; they put their gigantic
+shoulders together and tried to upset the earth. To their cries was
+added the bellowing of the hurricane confined in the cave, and the
+tumult was indescribable.
+
+The listeners to this fearful scene looked with a stony stare of
+horror; they were speechless, but their look seemed to say, "What rash
+act have you done? Are you inciting the spirits who dwell under the
+earth to war against one another?"
+
+Ivan answered with another look of calm superiority. "Fear nothing; I
+have my foot upon the head of the giant."
+
+The underground battle had lasted three hours. The people were beside
+themselves with fright; they turned upon Ivan and cursed him.
+
+"Do you think you are a God," they cried, "and can create an
+earthquake?"
+
+Ivan paid no attention either to their fears or their curses; he gave
+another signal to the men at the machine--
+
+"With the whole power!"
+
+The machine, the outcome of the wonderful inventive genius of man,
+stormed the very gates of hell itself. The underground tremblings
+followed one another rapidly, growing stronger and stronger; the deep
+groaning rose to a stentorian, deafening roar.
+
+"It is all over!" shrieked the people in the valley, and fell upon
+their knees.
+
+In the air a shrill, whistling sound was now heard, as if an engine
+had suddenly let off steam, and out of the shaft of the company's mine
+there arose rapidly a white column of steam, which, as soon as it
+encountered the cold regions of space, shot up into the sky, where it
+formed itself into a white cloud, which cloud suddenly broke into a
+deluge of rain. At once the underground convulsion ceased, and the
+shrill whistling died away in the distance.
+
+Ivan, looking round, said, quickly, "Paul, collect the rain-water; I
+must know what it is made of." Upon this he gave the machinist the
+signal to stop the machine. There was not even a drop of perspiration
+upon his forehead. He took the bottle of rain-water that Paul brought
+him and put it in his pocket. "Now, gentlemen," he said, "you can go
+to supper. The work is accomplished."
+
+"Is the fire extinguished?" asked Spitzhase.
+
+"Absolutely."
+
+"And the pillar of steam yonder?"
+
+"Will remain in the sky until midnight and then slowly damp away. Go
+to supper. I have something of importance to do at home."
+
+Who cared to eat supper?
+
+The pillar of steam still continued to rise from the shaft, and to
+form a cloud from which a steady downpour of rain fell continuously,
+occasionally interspersed by flashes of lightning; but no one thought
+of going indoors. The richer members of society wrapped themselves in
+mackintoshes, the workmen in their cloaks, and all continued to watch
+the strange appearance, until at last, towards ten o'clock, it began
+to grow smaller. The whistling sound was interrupted now and again by
+a piercing shriek, and sometimes a flash of lightning illumined the
+shadow of the pillar--the white cloud.
+
+The steam giant then sank back; not all at once, but by degrees, into
+the pit from which it had arisen. Only occasionally, from time to
+time, its head reappeared for a second, but the whistling ceased
+altogether; so, too, did the heaving of the earth. The unearthly
+tumult was silenced. In the church the sound of the organ was heard,
+and voices intoning "Alleluia! Alleluia!" The people walked in
+procession, carrying lanterns and banners.
+
+The commissioners made their way to the inn, where they found Ivan
+eating his supper. He could eat now; it struck him that he was mortal
+and wanted food.
+
+"I have finished the chemical examination," he said to the other three
+with polite indifference, "and I can give you the satisfactory news
+that in the residue 0.75 of carbonic acid is to be found."
+
+Spitzhase did not understand. "What good is it," he asked, "if
+seventy-five parts of carbonic acid are in the residuum?"
+
+"To-morrow we can open both entrances to the colliery, and after the
+air-pumps have been settled the work can be resumed."
+
+Alleluia! Alleluia!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL
+
+ANGELA IS EVEN WITH IVAN
+
+
+Success brings with it fame, fortune, and universal esteem. Men
+worship success, and with justice.
+
+He who has saved a great treasure, who has restored to thousands of
+people their country, their industry; he who has overcome a universal
+calamity which threatened an entire province; he who has given to
+thousands on the verge of beggary their livelihood, who has dried the
+tears of the widow and the orphan--he is near to God himself.
+
+Honors and rewards were showered upon Ivan. The government gave him
+for all time the patent for his discovery. By the Joint-Stock Mining
+Company he was handsomely remunerated. A monster deputation obliged
+him to accept the place of director. Scientific societies at home and
+abroad elected him member. His picture and biography appeared in all
+the illustrated papers of Europe and America. The simple villagers in
+Bondathal prayed for him night and morning; and when the first train
+steamed out of the Bondavara station, the locomotive bore the name of
+"Behrend." It was only God's providence that preserved him from
+receiving "an order."
+
+Perhaps the most interesting testimony, and the one most valued by
+Ivan, was a letter which the Countess Angela wrote to him with her own
+hand.
+
+The countess told him frankly all that had happened to her since they
+had met; how she had married the Marquis Salista; how unhappy he had
+made her by the pressure he brought to bear upon her grandfather,
+Prince Theobald, which ended in his property being sequestrated, to
+the ruin of the whole family of Bondavary. She had suffered greatly in
+consequence, and had known what privation meant; also the income of
+the Countess Theudelinde had been considerably diminished, and the old
+lady had been forced to reduce her household. This condition of
+affairs had shown them their former friends in their true light--among
+others, Salista, her husband, who had gone to Mexico, and left her to
+shift for herself. Then Ivan had come to the rescue. Prince Waldemar's
+triumphal progress had been effectually checked. The million of money
+placed by Prince Theobald in the Bondavara Company had regained its
+value. The prince had arranged with his creditors, and his affairs
+were once more settled. She had been reconciled to him, and lived with
+him. Countess Theudelinde likewise had recovered her rents. The great
+family of Bondavary, which had been so near ruin, was reinstated in
+its former position. And for its new lease of life it had to thank a
+certain beneficent, clever--
+
+Here Countess Angela's letter broke off. There was, however, a
+postscript:
+
+"Answer this letter. I beg for one word. Write 'I forgive you.'"
+
+Ivan answered her immediately. He expressed his gratitude for her kind
+remembrance of him, but he could not imagine what he had to forgive.
+On the contrary, he had a lively recollection of the many kindnesses
+he had received from the Countess Angela Salista.
+
+The letter was evidently written with an effort to be cold and polite.
+It was followed by a second letter from Angela, which ran thus:
+
+"Do not answer me in that way. I have sinned against you. You do not
+reproach me, but my own heart and conscience do. To quiet these
+tormentors I need your pardon. Answer me sincerely. Can you ever
+forgive me? I should not have treated you as I did--"
+
+Ivan answered this by a long, confidential letter. He confessed to her
+secrets of his heart, made to her confessions which never before
+passed his lips. The countess might be confident that she had never
+offended him. She had never forfeited the place she held in his
+respect.
+
+A third letter came from Angela.
+
+"If you can do so from your heart, write upon a piece of paper,
+'Angela Bondavary, I forgive you, from my heart.'"
+
+Ivan wrote these words and nothing else.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+One evening two carriages drove into the court-yard of Ivan's house.
+He lived now in the handsome residence provided by the company for the
+director of the mines. The porter exchanged some words with the person
+who sat in the first carriage, and then came to Ivan with two
+visiting-cards.
+
+Ivan, to his surprise, read the names--
+
+     _Countess Theudelinde Bondavary._
+
+     _Countess Angela Bondavary._
+
+These names caused a great disturbance in Ivan's mind. What did they
+want? Why did they come to him? He told the porter to show the ladies
+in, and then, taking up the cards again, it struck him as odd that
+the Countess Angela's did not bear the name of her husband.
+
+The door opened, and only one lady entered. She was dressed in
+mourning, and her face was covered by a thick veil, the thick crape
+concealing her features. It was the Countess Theudelinde. She had on a
+long black travelling-cloak with two capes. She came to Ivan and held
+out to him the finger-tips of her black glove, which he carried to his
+lips, while she murmured some words of greeting.
+
+"Where is the marquise?" asked Ivan, anxiously.
+
+"She will be here immediately; but it is very difficult to bring her
+in."
+
+Ivan conducted the lady to a sofa and asked her to be seated.
+
+"Do not go to meet her," continued the countess. "She will find her
+way. You will receive her kindly, won't you?"
+
+"Oh, countess," Ivan began; but Theudelinde interrupted impatiently.
+
+"No phrases, please. We have not come here for polite words or to
+exchange compliments. We come to make a request; the answer is simple.
+Yes or no. Angela wants to remain here."
+
+"Here!" repeated Ivan, horrified.
+
+"Yes, here! Do not be afraid; not in this house, but in the
+neighborhood. She wishes to remain near you--never to leave you--that
+is her desire; and she has a right to have her wishes granted."
+
+Ivan began to think he must be dreaming; he did not know what to say,
+but his thoughts were distracted by a strange noise outside. Along the
+passage came the heavy tread of several men. The door opened and four
+miners came in, carrying between them a metal coffin, on the lid of
+which lay a white wreath of _repousse_ silver.
+
+The wreath surrounded the arms of the Bondavary family, and underneath
+was carved in gold letters--
+
+     ANGELA BONDAVARY.
+
+The coffin was placed upon the oak table. Ivan stood as if he were
+turned into a statue, his eyes fixed upon the wreath and the name
+underneath.
+
+Theudelinde got up and seized his hand, saying, in a low, agitated
+voice:
+
+"This is the Countess Angela Bondavary, who begs of you, as the master
+here in Bondavara, to find for her a small place in the family vault
+of the castle, where she may lie among her own people, waiting for the
+coming of Jesus Christ--the Bridegroom of all poor women whose lives
+have been desolated."
+
+"How is it possible that she is dead?" said Ivan, who was deeply
+moved.
+
+"How? Very easily! When you throw a rose into the fire, in two minutes
+you will only find its ashes. I had just heard her laugh; she was
+quite gay. Then she went too near the stove; the next moment she
+screamed, and I saw her enveloped in flames!"
+
+"She was burned to death!" cried Ivan, covering his face with his
+hands. Then, after a pause, "Was there no one near to save her?"
+
+"Was there no one?" answered Theudelinde. "Were you, then, asleep at
+midnight? Did you not hear her call, 'Ivan, help me!'? Did you not see
+her standing beside your bed in flames--an angel with hell in her
+heart? Why were you not by her side to hold her in your arms, to
+stifle the flames, to snatch her from the jaws of death? Where were
+you, who should have saved her? Now she is here, and says to you, 'I
+am gone. I am no one. Let us be united.'"
+
+Ivan felt as if an iron band had been laid upon his heart.
+
+"She lived," continued Theudelinde, "for two days. She suffered the
+most terrible pain. When I think of all she went through I feel as if
+my senses were leaving me. To the last she was conscious. She spoke--
+But no--why should I tell you what she said? Just before she died she
+asked for a pencil, and wrote a few words to you. Here they are in
+this envelope. Do not break the seal, do not read them, so long as I
+am here. I would rather give you no explanation. If you have anything
+to ask, ask it from her. Here is the key of the coffin; I give it to
+you."
+
+Ivan recoiled from receiving such a present.
+
+"Why should you be afraid? Why do you object to opening the coffin?
+There is nothing to fear. The body is embalmed, and the flames did not
+touch her face. You will see that she smiles."
+
+Ivan forced himself to raise the coffin-lid and to look on the face of
+the dead. There was no smile on her lips. She was calm and cold; as
+when she lay insensible in the wood, with her head upon a cushion of
+moss, so now she lay upon her white satin cushion. Ivan felt that if
+she could open her eyes for one minute she would look at him proudly
+and say, "I want nothing," and close them again. How beautiful she
+was, with her still, marble face, her immovable eyebrows. Ivan would
+not disturb its calm loveliness by even one kiss. He would have felt
+it to be dishonorable, and yet, if she could have come to life again,
+who knows--? As on the day when he had closed her dress with his
+breast-pin, so now he shrouded her secret with the coffin-lid. Her
+secret was safe with him.
+
+"Keep the key," said Theudelinde. "The coffin, its key, and the
+treasure it holds are yours; that is settled. You are the master of
+the vault; it is your duty to take her there. You cannot escape it."
+
+With eyes that were hot and tearless, Theudelinde looked through her
+veil at Ivan. He returned the glance. If either had shed a tear, or
+even let a sob escape, both would have burst into passionate weeping,
+for grief is infectious; but each one of them was resolved to show
+mental strength in the presence of the other. They could even command
+their emotions.
+
+"Do you undertake the duty?"
+
+Ivan bowed his head.
+
+"Then you will perform it alone. Alive I shall never enter the family
+vault. You know why."
+
+Both were silent. Then Theudelinde burst out:
+
+"Why was I not left in my castle? Why was I undeceived when I imagined
+that my ancestors visited me? If I had not been shaken in my delusions
+I should still have been happy. I should never have gone into the
+world, where I have only found misery; Angela would not have come to
+me; my brother Theobald would not have been ruined; hell would not
+have been let loose in the Bondavara mines; I should have never known
+you; all--all would have been different!" Then, after a pause, she
+went on: "There is no need of a clergyman; there is no need of any
+ceremony. You can say some prayers. You are a Protestant--so was
+Angela. She became one that she might get a separation from her
+unworthy husband. Let them carry the coffin quietly and reverently to
+the family vault. There I shall leave you and it, for I shall not go
+inside--never, until I am dead. You will put the coffin in its place,
+and then I return whence I came, where I am wanted by no one."
+
+Ivan called the miners to take the coffin again upon their shoulders,
+and told them to carry it through the vestibule to the private door
+which led into the park. The park separated the director's house from
+the castle.
+
+As they walked through the winding paths of the park the trees shed
+their golden leaves upon the coffin and the titmice in the brushwood
+chanted the dirge.
+
+Ivan walked bareheaded behind the coffin, and behind him came Countess
+Theudelinde.
+
+When they reached the entrance of the vault Ivan told the bearers to
+put the coffin down, and, kneeling down beside it, he remained for a
+long time praying. God hears us if we speak to Him in a whisper; nay,
+He hears us, even although we do not speak, but feel.
+
+Theudelinde bent over Ivan and kissed his forehead.
+
+"I thank you. You walked behind her with your head uncovered. Now she
+is all yours." Then she returned by the winding path, as if she were
+afraid that Ivan would make her take away what she had brought.
+
+Ivan placed the coffin in its resting-place and sent away the bearers;
+then he remained for many hours beside it. By the light of the torches
+he read Angela's last words to him--
+
+"For whom shall I wait on the shore of the new world?"
+
+Ivan sighed deeply. "Who will wait for me on the shore of the new
+world?"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Then he made his way back to the house. There was no trace of either
+the countess's travelling carriage or Angela's hearse.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI
+
+HOW IVAN MOURNED
+
+
+They were both gone, the high-born lady and the peasant girl--gone
+where there is no sorrow and no more sin. One had lost her life by
+charcoal, the other by fire--two vengeful spirits.
+
+Ivan thought of both with bitter regret. He felt now that he was alone
+in the world. He would have given all the fame he had acquired, the
+money he had earned, the good he had done, to have been able to save
+even one of these women. He mourned for them not in black, not with
+crape on his hat. What good are these signs of grief?
+
+The European mourns in black, the Chinese in yellow, the Mussulman in
+green; in the classical age they mourned in white; the former
+generation of Hungarians in violet; the Jews in rags; the philosopher
+in his heart. The wise man never shares his grief, but he does his
+joys.
+
+Meantime, in the Bondavara Valley there reigned peace and plenty;
+where there had been a half-savage race there was a happy people. The
+worst characters had settled down, morality had grown popular.
+
+Ivan sent the young men at his own expense to factories abroad, where
+they learned the arts of civilization. He brought wood-carvers from
+Switzerland and lace-workers from Holstein to teach their trades to
+the women and children, so that they might unite artistic labor with
+increase of wages. For a population where every one, big and little,
+works either from necessity or for amusement--a people who look upon
+work as pleasure and who feel it no privation to be employed--such a
+people are ennobled by their toil.
+
+Ivan looked after the schools. He emancipated the national teachers
+from the misery of their national tyrants; he rewarded the student
+with scholarships, the school-boy with useful prizes; in every parish
+he established a library and reading-room. He accustomed the people to
+put by the pence they could spare; he taught them how to help one
+another; he established in Bondavara a savings-bank and a hospital.
+
+His own colliery was a model. The miners and himself were the joint
+owners, and shared the profit. Whoever was taken on in this colliery
+should pass an examination and work one year on trial. This rule
+applied to women and men alike. This trial year was not easy,
+particularly for the girls.
+
+Nowhere was a girl so looked after; not in her mother's house or in a
+convent or state institution was there more particularity as to
+manners and morals than in Ivan Behrend's colliery. Every word, every
+act was watched. If any one failed to be up to the mark during his
+year of probation, no one taunted him, nor was he despised. He was
+simply told to go and work in the company's colliery, where there was
+better pay; and the workman or workwoman imagined this was an advance,
+not a degradation. In the company's colliery there was certainly more
+freedom, the rules being less strict.
+
+If, however, at the end of the trial year the applicant had fulfilled
+all requirements, he or she was received into the colony and became a
+shareholder, so far as the profit was in question. Besides this, a
+prize for virtue was given once a year, on the anniversary of the
+great pit-burning, to the most modest, well-conducted girl in the
+colony.
+
+Ivan spent on this prize fifty ducats, and the miners on their side
+promised the winner a handsome wedding present.
+
+It was, of course, an understood thing that no one went in for the
+prize. No one knew who was likely to get it. The elders took notes; it
+was their secret.
+
+The giving of this prize was not to be attended with any ceremonial.
+It would take place on an ordinary working day, when all the miners
+would have picks and shovels in their hands, so that every one could
+see that the reward was not for a pretty face, but for a good heart
+and industrious fingers. It was to be a day of general rejoicing.
+
+This was how Ivan mourned.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII
+
+EVILA
+
+
+It was the anniversary of the great pit fire. Old Paul had gone to
+look for Ivan at his house in the principal colony, but Ivan had
+already started for the smaller colliery. He saw Paul on the road,
+and, stopping his carriage, took the miner up.
+
+"This day last year was a memorable day," said Paul.
+
+"I recollect it well," returned Ivan; "but to-day we have to give the
+prize for virtue. Have the jury settled to whom it is to be given?"
+
+"They are agreed. A girl who has been little less than a year in the
+colliery."
+
+"And she has fulfilled all conditions?"
+
+"In every way. The child is most industrious. She is every morning the
+first to come and the last to leave. She never complains of the work,
+as many of them do; she treats it as if it were a pleasure to her. If
+her wheelbarrow is overloaded, she encourages the digger to put on
+still more; then she runs away gayly with her burden, and comes back
+singing as if she had been amusing herself. At the end of the
+recreation she drives the other girls back to their work."
+
+"Is she vain?"
+
+"No; she wears the same holiday clothes in which she was dressed when
+she came a year ago; naturally they are not quite as fresh as they
+were. She has a little string of beads round her throat, and in her
+hair a narrow ribbon. At night she washes her clothes in the stream,
+for she has one peculiarity--she wears fresh linen every day; but she
+makes it up herself, so she alone has the trouble."
+
+"Is she saving?"
+
+"She has more in our savings-bank than any one of the girls. She would
+have still more, only that on Sundays she gives a whole day's wages to
+the beggar who sits at the church door."
+
+"Does she go to church regularly?"
+
+"Every Sunday she comes with us, but she never sits with the other
+girls; she kneels before a side-altar, covers her face with her hands,
+and prays all through mass."
+
+"Is she good-tempered?"
+
+"She has offended no one and has never been angry. Once a woman said
+something very offensive to her, for which we gave her a heavy fine.
+The woman was ready to pay it, but the girl denied that she had been
+offended. Soon after the woman got ill; she had no one to nurse her,
+because she is a solitary widow, and this girl nursed her every night,
+and fetched the medicine from the apothecary for her."
+
+"Do you think she is a hypocrite?"
+
+"She is too merry for that, and ready for a joke. Hypocrites are
+gloomy folk. Our people would soon find her out if she wasn't on the
+square; but she is a prime favorite with every one. We don't choose
+our words exactly, but we can make a fair guess at the girl who
+respects herself. We like one that gives a good box on the ear to a
+fellow who would make too free. Sharp with the hand, but soft with her
+tongue; that's our sort. And still, sometimes I have watched her when
+she was in quite another mood; for instance, on Sunday afternoons,
+when we sit under the mulberry-trees, they all get round me and make
+me tell them--God knows how often!--the story of how you carried the
+pipe of the air-pump into the gallery of the Bondavara mine, and how
+we all thought you were a dead man. Women and children hold their
+breath while I tell it. I believe I do tell that story well, for they
+know it by heart, and yet they cannot but listen. They take it in
+different ways; but this girl, I have noticed her, she covers up her
+face and cries the whole time."
+
+"And is she a modest girl?"
+
+"To ascertain this point we had to call a jury of married women. They
+couldn't bring forward a single charge against her. Then we got the
+girls together, and we pressed them very close, if there was anything
+with the young men, but they all said--no. And there was no need for
+them to deny, for a peasant girl is fitly mated with a miner, and if
+he wants her he can have her."
+
+They had now reached the colliery, and went into the station-house,
+which stood at the corner of the branch railroad. There was now
+another line, which ran underground and connected the two collieries.
+Here Ivan found a great many of the miners. He sent for the rest, and
+told them work was over for the day. Men and women assembled by
+degrees, and only one group of girls still remained working. These had
+agreed not to leave off until they had driven their load of coals to
+the coal-hill, which lay between the entrance to the quarry gallery
+and the station-house where Ivan sat waiting. He could not see the
+girls; he could only hear their clear voices as they called to one
+another to make haste and get the work finished.
+
+Some one began to sing. The melody was familiar to Ivan--one of those
+sad Slav airs in which the singer seems on the brink of tears; and the
+voice was sweet and tuneful as a bell, full, too, of feeling.
+
+  "Say when I smoothed thy hair,
+    Showed I not tender care?
+    Say when I dressed my child,
+    Was I not fond and mild?"
+
+Ivan's face clouded. "Why do they sing that air? Why should it be on
+the lips of any one? Why not let it fall into oblivion?"
+
+"The girl is coming," said old Paul. "I hear her singing; she is now
+coming down the hill with her wheelbarrow."
+
+The next moment the girl appeared upon the summit of the coal-hill.
+With a run she had shoved her wheelbarrow forward and emptied the
+contents with extraordinary dexterity; the big lumps of coal rolled
+down the hill. She was a young, well-developed girl in a blue jacket
+and a short petticoat; but this red petticoat was not tucked up--it
+fell over her ankles, and only showed her feet. The colored
+handkerchief on her head had fallen backward, and the rich plaits
+wound round her small head could be seen. Her face was smudged with
+coal-dust and was beaming with good-humor--earthly dirt, supernatural
+glory. But what the coal-dust could not conceal were the two large
+black eyes shining like two brilliants--the darkness illumined by
+dazzling stars.
+
+The girl stood immovable on the summit of the coal-hill, then looked
+down with some surprise on the crowd gathered in and around the
+station-house.
+
+The next moment Ivan was beside her. In his joy he had made one bound
+from the station-house across the rails and had rushed up the
+coal-hill.
+
+"Eveline!" he cried, clasping the girl's hand in his.
+
+She shook her head, smiling at him. "No, sir," she said, "Evila."
+
+"You here! You have come back here!"
+
+"I have been in your colliery, sir, for a year, and if you will keep
+me on I should like to stay."
+
+"You shall stay only on one condition--as my wife," cried Ivan,
+pressing her hand to his heart.
+
+All who were at the foot of the hill saw this action; they could
+almost hear his words.
+
+Evila shook her head and drew away her hand. "No, no. Allow me to be
+your servant, a maid in your house, the maid of your wife. I shall be
+quite happy; I expect nothing more."
+
+"But I wish it. You have come back to me; you are mine. How could you
+be so cruel as to be a year so near me and never to tell me?"
+
+"Oh, sir, you cannot raise me to your position!" said Evila, with a
+sad yet dignified expression. "If you knew all you would never forgive
+me."
+
+"I know everything, and forgive everything."
+
+These words proved that Ivan knew nothing. If he had known the truth
+he would have been aware there was absolutely nothing to forgive. As
+it was, he pressed his young love close to his heart, while she
+murmured:
+
+"You may forgive me, but the world will never pardon _you_."
+
+"The world!" cried Ivan, raising his head proudly. "My world is
+_here_"--laying his hand on his breast. "The world! Look round you
+from this hill. Everything that lives in this valley owes its breath
+to me; every blade of grass has to thank _me_ that it is now green.
+Hill and valley know that, under God, I have saved them from
+destruction. I have acquired a million, and I have not despoiled any
+one. With every penny I receive a blessing. In the palace of the
+prince and in the cottage of the widow I have dried the tears of
+despair; I have delivered my enemies from a living grave, and I have
+saved their wives and children from the misfortune of being widows and
+orphans. My name is spoken of with admiration all over the globe, and
+yet I have hid myself _here_, not to be troubled with their praises; I
+do not care for praise. The most lovely of women has smiled on me and
+loved me, but she was not of _my_ world. She is dead, and the key of
+her coffin is a perpetual reminder to me that her world has passed
+away. My world is within me, and into that inner world of mine no one
+has ever entered, no one _will_ ever enter, _but you_! Speak, Evila;
+answer me. Will you try to love me?"
+
+The girl's eyes sank before the ardent gaze of her lover. Many men had
+made love to her, but none like this man, whose face shone like
+Jupiter's when, with a look, he killed Semele.
+
+"Oh, sir," she murmured, "if I do not die I shall love you always; but
+my mind misgives me that I shall die."
+
+As she spoke she fell back fainting, her brilliant color faded to a
+waxen pallor, the flashing eyes closed; her body, which a moment
+before was like a blooming rose, was now as lifeless as a withered
+leaf.
+
+Ivan held her motionless form in his arms. The woman whom he had so
+loved, for whom he had suffered so much, was his, just as her pulse
+ceased to beat, just as she had said, "I shall love you always, but I
+know that I shall die."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But she did not die.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII
+
+THE DIAMOND REMAINED ALWAYS A DIAMOND
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME
+
+
+_DONA PERFECTA._ _By B. Perez Galdos. $1 00._
+
+_PARISIAN POINTS OF VIEW._ _By Ludovic Halevy. $1 00._
+
+_DAME CARE._ _By Hermann Sudermann. $1 00._
+
+_TALES OF TWO COUNTRIES._ _By Alexander Kielland. $1 00._
+
+_TEN TALES BY FRANCOIS COPPEE._ _With 50 Illustrations by Albert E.
+    Sterner. $1 25._
+
+_MODERN GHOSTS._ _Selected from the Works of Guy de Maupassant, Pedro
+    Antonio de Alarcon, Alexander Kielland, and Others. $1 00._
+
+_THE HOUSE BY THE MEDLAR-TREE._ _By Giovanni Verga. $1 00._
+
+_PASTELS IN PROSE._ (From the French.) _With 150 Illustrations by
+    H. W. McVickar. $1 25._
+
+_MARIA: A SOUTH AMERICAN ROMANCE._ _By Jorge Isaacs. $1 00._
+
+_THE ODD NUMBER: THIRTEEN TALES._ _By Guy de Maupassant. $1 00._
+
+Published by Harper & Brothers, New York.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note: The following typographical errors present in the
+original print edition have been corrected in this electronic edition.
+In Chapter VIII, "been witnsss" was changed to "been witness".
+
+In Chapter XIII, a missing quotation mark was added after "less
+physical strength".
+
+In Chapter XVIII, "if he is not a begger" was changed to "if he is not
+a beggar".
+
+In Chapter XXI, "traditions of Radoczy" was changed to "traditions of
+Rakoczy".
+
+In Chapter XXIV, "Jocky Club" was changed to "Jockey Club".
+
+In Chapter XXVI, a period was changed to a question mark after "the
+tavern in his own colony", "predicate the direction" was changed to
+"predict the direction", and "at the pit's month" was changed to "at
+the pit's mouth".
+
+In Chapter XXIX, a period was changed to a question mark after
+"introduce Waldemar".
+
+In Chapter XXXI, "claquers" was changed to "claqueurs", and "did badly
+to night" was changed to "did badly to-night".
+
+In Chapter XXXII, "classsical work" was changed to "classical work".
+
+In Chapter XXXIX, "the three apartures" was changed to "the three
+apertures".
+
+In Chapter XL, a quotation mark was deleted after "She had never
+forfeited the place she held in his respect".
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Black Diamonds, by Mor Jokai
+
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