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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5545.txt b/5545.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..922304b --- /dev/null +++ b/5545.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2369 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook In The Fire Of The Forge, by Georg Ebers, v3 +#106 in our series by Georg Ebers + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**EBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These EBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers***** + + +Title: In The Fire Of The Forge, Volume 3. + +Author: Georg Ebers + +Release Date: April, 2004 [EBook #5545] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on July 26, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + + + + + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FIRE OF THE FORGE, BY EBERS, V3 *** + + + +This eBook was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + + + +[NOTE: There is a short list of bookmarks, or pointers, at the end of the +file for those who may wish to sample the author's ideas before making an +entire meal of them. D.W.] + + + + + +IN THE FIRE OF THE FORGE + +A ROMANCE OF OLD NUREMBERG + +By Georg Ebers + +Volume 3. + + + +CHAPTER X. + +One person only besides Sir Seitz Siebenburg had not been deceived--the +young knight Boemund Altrosen, whose love for Cordula was genuine, and +who, by its unerring instinct, felt that she had invented her tale and +for a purpose which did honour to her kindness of heart. So his calm +black eyes rested upon the woman he loved with proud delight, while Seitz +Siebenburg twisted his mustache fiercely. Not a look or movement of +either of the two girls had escaped his notice, and Cordula's bold +interference in behalf of the reckless Swiss knight, who now seemed to +have ensnared his future sister-in-law also, increased the envy and +jealousy which tortured him until he was forced to exert the utmost self- +restraint in order not to tell the countess to her face that he, at +least, was far from being deceived by such a fable. Yet he succeeded in +controlling himself. But as he forced his lips to silence he gazed with +the most open scorn at the bales of merchandise heaped around him. He +would show the others that, though the husband of a merchant's daughter, +he retained the prejudices of his knightly rank. + +But no one heeded the disagreeable fellow, who had no intimate friends in +the group. Most of the company were pressing round Heinz Schorlin with +jests and questions, but bluff Count von Montfort warmly clasped Els's +hand, while he apologised for the bold jest of his young daughter who, in +spite of her recklessness, meant kindly. + +Nothing could have been more unwelcome to a girl in so unpleasant a +situation than this delay. She longed most ardently to get away but, +ere she succeeded in escaping from the friendly old noble, two gentlemen +hastily entered the brightly lighted entry, at sight of whom her heart +seemed to stop beating. + +The old count, who noticed her blanched face, released her, asking +sympathisingly what troubled her, but Els did not hear him. + +When she felt him loose her hand she would fain have fled up the stairs +to her mother and sister, to avoid the discussions which must now follow. +But she knew into what violent outbursts of sudden anger her usually +prudent father could be hurried if there was no one at hand to warn him. + +There he stood in the doorway, his stern, gloomy expression forming a +strange contrast to the merry party who had entered in such a jovial +mood. + +His companion, Herr Casper Eysvogel, had already noticed his future +daughter-in-law, recognised her by an amazed shrug of the shoulders which +was anything but a friendly greeting, and now eyed the excited revellers +with a look as grave and repellent as that of the owner of the house. +Herr Casper's unusual height permitted him to gaze over the heads of the +party though, with the exception of Count von Montfort, they were all +tall, nay, remarkably tall men, and the delicacy of his clear-cut, +pallid, beardless face had never seemed to Els handsomer or more +sinister. True, he was the father of her Wolff, but the son resembled +this cold-hearted man only in his unusual stature, and a chill ran +through her veins as she felt the stately old merchant's blue eyes, +still keen and glittering, rest upon her. + +On the day of her betrothal she had rushed into his arms with a warm and +grateful heart, and he had kissed her, as custom dictated; but it was +done in a strange way--his thin, well-cut lips had barely brushed her +brow. Then he stepped back and turned to his wife with the low command, +"It is your turn now, Rosalinde." Her future mother-in-law rose quickly, +and doubtless intended to embrace her affectionately, but a loud cough +from her own mother seemed to check her, for ere she opened her arms to +Els she turned to her and excused her act by the words, "He wishes it." +Yet Els was finally clasped in Frau Rosalinde's arms and kissed more +warmly than--from what had previously occurred--she had expected. + +Wolff's grandmother, old Countess Rotterbach, who rarely left the huge +gilt armchair in her daughter's sitting-room, had watched the whole scene +with a scornful smile; then, thrusting her prominent chin still farther +forward, she said to her daughter, loud enough for Els to hear, "This +into the bargain?" + +All these things returned to the young girl's memory as she gazed at the +cold, statuesque face of her lover's father. It seemed as if he held his +tall, noble figure more haughtily erect than usual, and that his plain +dark garments were of richer material and more faultless cut than ever; +nay, she even fancied that, like the lion, which crouches and strains +every muscle ere it springs upon its victim, he was summoning all his +pride and sternness to crush her. + +Els was innocent; nay, the motive which had brought her here to defend +her sister could not fail to be approved by every well-disposed person, +and certainly not last by her father, and it would have suited her +truthful nature to contradict openly Countess Cordula's friendly +falsehood had not her dread of fatally exposing Eva imposed silence. + +How her father's cheeks glowed already! With increasing anxiety, she +attributed it to the indignation which overpowered him, yet he was only +heated by the haste with which, accompanied by his future son-in-law's +father, he had rushed here from the Frauenthor as fast as his feet would +carry him. Casper Eysvogel had also attended the Vorchtel entertainment +and accompanied Ernst Ortlieb into the street to discuss some business +matters. + +He intended to persuade him to advance the capital for which he had just +vainly asked Herr Vorchtel. He stood in most urgent need for the next +few days of this great sum, of which his son and business partner must +have no knowledge, and at first Wolff Eysvogel's future father-in-law saw +no reason to refuse. But Herr Ernst was a cautious man, and when his +companion imposed the condition that his son should be kept in ignorance +of the loan, he was puzzled. He wished to learn why the business partner +should not know what must be recorded in the books of the house; but +Casper Eysvogel needed this capital to silence the Jew Pfefferkorn, from +whom he had secretly borrowed large sums to conceal the heavy losses +sustained in Venice the year before at the gaming table. + +At first courteously, then with rising anger, he evaded the questions +of the business man, and his manner of doing so, with the little +contradictions in which the arrogant man, unaccustomed to falsehood, +involved himself, showed Herr Ernst that all was not as it should be. + +By the time they reached the Frauenthor, he had told Casper Eysvogel +positively that he would not fulfil the request until Wolff was informed +of the matter. + +Then the sorely pressed man perceived that nothing but a frank confession +could lead him to his goal. But what an advantage it would give his +companion, what a humiliation it would impose upon himself! He could not +force his lips to utter it, but resolved to venture a last essay by +appealing to the father, instead of to the business man; and therefore, +with the haughty, condescending manner natural to him, he asked Herr +Ernst, as if it were his final word, whether he had considered that his +refusal of a request, which twenty other men would deem it an honour to +fulfil, might give their relations a form very undesirable both to his +daughter and himself? + +"No, I did not suppose that a necessity," replied his companion firmly, +and then added in an irritated tone: "But if you need the loan so much +that you require for your son a father-in-law who will advance it to you +more readily, why, then, Herr Casper--" + +Here he paused abruptly. A flood of light streamed into the street from +the doorway of the Ortlieb house. It must be a fire, and with the +startled cry, "St. Florian aid us! my entry is burning!" he rushed +forward with his companion to the endangered house so quickly that the +torchbearers, who even in this bright night did good service in the +narrow streets, whose lofty houses barred out the moonlight, could +scarcely follow. + +Thus Herr Ernst, far more anxious about his invalid, helpless wife than +his imperilled wares, soon reached his own door. His companion crossed +the threshold close behind him, sullen, deeply incensed, and determined +to order his son to choose between his love and favour and the daughter +of this unfriendly man, whom only a sudden accident had prevented from +breaking the betrothal. + +The sight of so many torches blazing here was an exasperating spectacle +to Ernst Ortlieb, who with wise caution and love of order insisted that +nothing but lanterns should be used to light his house, which contained +inflammable wares of great value; but other things disturbed his +composure, already wavering, to an even greater degree. + +What was his Els doing at this hour among these gentlemen, all of whom +were strangers? + +Without heeding them or the countess, he was hastening towards her to +obtain a solution of this enigma, but the young Burgrave Eitelfritz von +Zollern, the Knight of Altrosen, Cordula von Montfort, and others barred +his way by greeting him and eagerly entreating him to pardon their +intrusion at so late an hour. + +Having no alternative, he curtly assented, and was somewhat soothed as he +saw old Count von Montfort, who was still standing beside Els, engaged in +an animated conversation with her. His daughter's presence was probably +due to that of the guests quartered in his home, especially Cordula, +whom, since she disturbed the peace of his quiet household night after +night, he regarded as the personification of restlessness and reckless +freedom. He would have preferred to pass her unnoticed, but she had +clung to his arm and was trying, with coaxing graciousness, to soften his +indignation by gaily relating how she had come here and what had detained +her and her companions. But Ernst Ortlieb, who would usually have been +very susceptible to such an advance from a young and aristocratic lady, +could not now succeed in smoothing his brow. In his excitement he was +not even able to grasp the meaning of the story she related merrily, +though with well-feigned contrition. While listening to her with one +ear, he was straining the other to catch what Sir Seitz Siebenburg was +saying to his father-in-law, Casper Eysvogel. + +He gathered from Countess Cordula's account that she had succeeded in +playing some bold prank in connection with Els and the Swiss knight Heinz +Schorlin, and the words "the Mustache" was whispering to his father-in- +law-the direction of his glance betrayed it--also referred to Els and the +Swiss. But the less Herr Ernst heard of this conversation the more +painfully it excited his already perturbed spirit. + +Suddenly his pleasant features, which, on account of the lady at his +side, he had hitherto forced to wear a gracious aspect, assumed an +expression which filled the reckless countess with grave anxiety, and +urged the terrified Els, who had not turned her eyes from him, to a hasty +resolution. That was her father's look when on the point of an outbreak +of fury, and at this hour, surrounded by these people, he must not allow +himself to yield to rage; he must maintain a tolerable degree of +composure. + +Without heeding the young Burgrave Eitelfritz or Sir Boemund Altrosen, +who were just approaching her, she forced her way nearer to her father, +He still maintained his self-control, but already the veins on his brow +had swollen and his short figure was rigidly erect. The cause of his +excitement--she had noticed it--was some word uttered by Seitz +Siebenburg. Her father was the only person who had understood it, but +she was not mistaken in the conjecture that it referred to her and the +Swiss knight, and she believed it to be base and spiteful. + +In fact, after his father-in-law had told him that Ernst Ortlieb thought +his house was on fire, "the Mustache," in reply to Herr Casper's enquiry +how his son's betrothed bride happened to be there, answered scornfully: +"Els? She did not hasten hither, like the old man, to put the fire out, +but because one flame was not enough for her. Wolff must know it to- +morrow. By day the slender little flame of honourable betrothed love +flickers for him; by night it blazes more brightly for yonder Swiss +scoundrel. And the young lady chooses for the scene of this toying with +fire the easily ignited warehouse of her own father!" + +"I will secure mine against such risks," Casper Eysvogel answered; then, +casting a contemptuous glance at Els and a wrathful one at the Swiss +knight, he added with angry resolution: "It is not yet too late. So long +as I am myself no one shall bring peril and disgrace upon my house and my +son." + +Then Herr Ernst had suddenly become aware of the suspicion with which his +beautiful, brave, self-sacrificing child was regarded. Pale as death, he +struggled for composure, and when his eyes met the imploring gaze of the +basely defamed girl, he said to himself that he must maintain his self- +control in order not to afford the frivolous revellers who surrounded him +an entertaining spectacle. + +Wolff was dear to him, but before he would have led his Els to the house +where the miserable "Mustache" lived, and whose head was the coldhearted, +gloomy man whose words had just struck him like a poisoned arrow, he, +whom the Lord had bereft of his beloved, gallant son, would have been +ready to deprive himself of his daughters also and take both to the +convent. Eva longed to go, and Els might find there a new and beautiful +happiness, like his sister, the Abbess Kunigunde. In the Eysvogel house, +never! + +During these hasty reflections Els extended her hand toward him, and the +shining gold circlet which her lover had placed on her ring finger +glittered in the torchlight. A thought darted through his brain with the +speed of lightning, and without hesitation he drew the ring from the hand +of his astonished daughter, whispering curtly, yet tenderly, in reply to +her anxious cry, "What are you doing?" + +"Trust me, child." + +Then hastily approaching Casper Eysvogel, he beckoned to him to move a +little aside from the group. + +The other followed, believing that Herr Ernst would now promise the sum +requested, yet firmly resolved, much as he needed it, to refuse. + +Ernst Ortlieb, however, made no allusion to business matters, but with a +swift gesture handed him the ring which united their two children. Then, +after a rapid glance around had assured him that no one had followed +them, he whispered to Herr Casper: "Tell your Wolff that he was, and +would have remained, dear to us; but my daughter seems to me too good for +his father's house and for kindred who fear that she will bring injury +and shame upon them. Your wish is fulfilled. I hereby break the +betrothal." + +"And, in so doing, you only anticipate the step which I intended to take +with more cogent motives," replied Casper Eysvogel with cool composure, +shrugging his shoulders contemptuously. "The city will judge to-morrow +which of the two parties was compelled to sever a bond sacred in the +sight of God and men. Unfortunately, it is impossible for me to give +your daughter the good opinion you cherish of my son." + +Drawing his stately figure to its full height as he spoke, he gazed at +his diminutive adversary with a look of haughty contempt and, without +vouchsafing a word in farewell, turned his back upon him. + +Repressed fury was seething in Ernst Ortlieb's breast, and he would +scarcely have succeeded in controlling himself longer but for the +consolation afforded by the thought that every tie was sundered between +his daughter and this cold, arrogant, unjust man and his haughty, evil +disposed kindred. But when he again looked for the daughter on whom his +hasty act had doubtless inflicted a severe blow, she was no longer +visible. + +Directly after he took the ring she had glided silently, unnoticed by +most of the company, up the stairs to the second story. Cordula von +Montfort told him this in a low tone. + +Els had made no answer to her questions, but her imploring, tearful eyes +pierced the young countess to the heart. Her quick ear had caught +Siebenburg's malicious words and Casper Eysvogel's harsh response and, +with deep pity, she felt how keenly the poor girl must suffer. + +The happiness of a whole life destroyed without any fault of her own! +From their first meeting Els had seemed to her incapable of any careless +error, and she had merely tried, by her bold, interference, to protect +her from the gossip of evil tongues. But Heinz Schorlin had just +approached and whispered that, by his knightly honour, Els was a total +stranger to him, and he only wished he might find his own dear sister at +home as pure and free from any fault. + +Poor child! But the countess knew who had frustrated her intervention in +behalf of Els. It was Sir Seitz Siebenburg, "the Mustache," whose +officious homage, at first amusing, had long since become repulsive. Her +heart shrank from the thought that, merely from vain pleasure in having a +throng of admirers, she had given this scoundrel more than one glance of +encouragement. The riding whip fairly quivered in her right hand as, +after informing Ernst Ortlieb where Els had gone, she warned the +gentlemen that it was time to depart, and Seitz Siebenburg submissively, +yet as familiarly as if he had a right to her special favour, held out +his hand in farewell. + +But Countess Cordula withdrew hers with visible dislike, saying in a tone +of chilling repulse: "Remember me to your wife, Sir Knight. Tell her to +take care that her twin sons resemble their father as little as +possible." + +"Then you want to have two ardent admirers the less?" asked Siebenburg +gaily, supposing that the countess's remark was a jest. + +But when she did not, as he expected, give these insulting words an +interpretation favourable to him, but merely shrugged her shoulders +scornfully, he added, glancing fiercely at the Swiss knight: + +"True, you would doubtless be better pleased should the boys grow up to +resemble the lucky Sir Heinz Schorlin, for whose sake you proved yourself +the inventor of tales more marvellous, if not more credible, than the +most skilful travelling minstrel." + +"Perhaps so," replied the countess with contemptuous brevity. "But I +should be satisfied if the twins--and this agrees with my first wish +should grow up honest men. If you should pay me the honour of a visit +during the next few days, Sir Seitz, I could not receive it." + +With these words she turned away, paying no further heed to him, though +he called her name aloud, as if half frantic. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +It was after midnight when the servants closed the heavy door of the +Ortlieb mansion. The late guests had left it, mounted their horses, and +ridden away together through the Frauenthor into the city. + +The moon no longer lighted their way. A sultry wind had swept from the +southwest masses of grey clouds, which constantly grew denser and darker. +Heinz Schorlin did not notice it, but his follower, Biberli, called his +attention to the rising storm and entreated him to choose the nearest +road to the city. To remain outside the gate in such darkness would be +uncomfortable, nay, perhaps not without peril, but the knight merely +flung him the peevish answer, "So much the better," and, to Biberli's +surprise, turned into St. Klarengasse, which brought him by no means +nearer to his distant lodgings in the Bindergasse. + +It was unfortunate to be warmly devoted to a master who had no fear, whom +he was obliged to serve as a messenger of love, and who now probably +scarcely knew himself whither this love would lead him. + +But true and steadfast Biberli would really have followed Sir Heinz, not +only in a dangerous nocturnal ramble, but through all the terrors of. +hell. So he only glanced down at his long, lean legs, which would be +exposed here to the bites of the dogs, with whom he stood on especially +bad terms, raised his long robe higher, as the paths over which they must +pass were of doubtful cleanliness, and deemed it a good omen when his +foot struck against a stout stick, which his patron saint had perhaps +thrown in his way as a weapon. Its possession was somewhat soothing, it +is true, yet he did not regain the pleasant consciousness of peace in +which his soul had rejoiced a few short hours before. + +He knew what to expect from the irritable mood into which recent events +appeared to have thrown his master. Heinz usually soon forgot any such +trivial disappointment, but the difficulty threatening himself and +Katterle was far worse--nay, might even assume terrible proportions. + +These alarming thoughts made him sigh so deeply that Heinz turned towards +him. + +He would gladly have relieved his own troubled breast in the same way. +Never before had the soul of this light-hearted child of good fortune +served as the arena for so fierce a struggle of contending emotions. + +He loved Eva, and the image of her white, supernaturally beautiful +figure, flooded by the moonlight, still stood before him as distinctly as +when, after her disappearance, he had resolved to plead his suit for her +to her sister; but the usually reckless fellow asked himself, shuddering, +what would have happened had he obeyed Eva's summons and been found with +her, as he had just been surprised with her sister. She was not wholly +free from guilt, for her note had really contained an invitation to a +meeting; yet she escaped. But his needless impetuosity and her sudden +appearance before the house had placed her modest, charming sister, the +betrothed bride of the gallant fellow who had fought with him in the +Marchfield, in danger of being misunderstood and despised. If the finger +of scorn were pointed at her, if a stain rested on her fair fame, the +austere Wolff Eysvogel would hardly desire to make her his wife, and then +this also would be his fault. + +His kind, honest heart suffered keenly under these self-accusations, the +first which he had ever heeded. + +Hitherto the volatile young fellow, who had often gaily risked his life +in battle and his last penny at the gaming table, had never thought of +seriously examining his own soul, battling by his own strength of will +against some secret longing and shunning its cause. On the contrary, +from childhood he had accustomed himself to rely on the protection and +aid of the Virgin and the saints; and when they passed the image with the +ever-burning lamp, where Katterle had just sought and found consolation, +he implored it not to let his bold intrusion into the home of the maiden +he loved bring evil upon her and her sister. He also vowed to the +convent and its saint--which, come what might, should also be his--a rich +gift whenever the Emperor or the gaming table again filled his purse. + +The thought of being burdened his whole life long with the reproach of +having made two such charming, innocent creatures miserable seemed +unendurable. He would gladly have given gold and blood to remove it. + +It was too late that day, but he resolved to go to the confessional on +the morrow, for absolution had always relieved and lightened his heart. +But how trivial his errors had been! True, the wrong he had now +committed was not a mortal sin, and would hardly impose a severe penance +upon him, yet it burdened him like the most infamous crime. He did not +understand himself, and often wondered why he, reckless Heinz, thus made +a mountain out of a molehill. Yet when, after this reflection, he +uttered a sigh of relief, it seemed as if a voice within commanded him +not to think lightly of what had passed, for on that evening he had +ceased to bestow pleasure on every one, and instead of, as usual, being +helpful and agreeable, he had plunged others who had done him no wrong-- +nay, perhaps a whole household, whose daughter had given him the first +love of her young heart-into misery and disgrace. Had he considered the +consequences of his act, he would still be merry Heinz. Then he +remembered how, when a boy, playing with other lads high up among the +mountains just as it was beginning to thaw, he had hurled the work they +had finished with so much toil, a snow man, down the slope, rejoicing +with his playfellows over its swift descent towards the valley, until +they noticed with what frightful speed its bulk increased as it sped over +its snowy road, till at last, like a terrible avalanche, it swept away a +herdsman's hut--fortunately an empty one. Now, also, his heedlessness +had set in motion a mass which constantly rolled onward, and how terrible +might be the harm it would do! + +If Hartmann, the Emperor's son, were only there! He confided everything +to him, for he was sure of his silence. Both his duty as a knight and +his conscience forbade him to relate his experiences and ask counsel from +any one else. + +He was still absorbed in these gloomy thoughts when, just before reaching +the Walch, he heard Biberli's deep sigh. Here, behind and beside the +frames of the cloth weavers, stood the tents before which the followers +and soldiers of the princes and dignitaries who had come to the Reichstag +were still sitting around the camp fire, carousing and laughing. + +Any interruption was welcome to him, and to Biberli it seemed like a +deliverance to be permitted to use his poor endangered tongue, for his +master had asked what grief oppressed him. + +"If you desired to know what trouble did not burden my soul I could find +a speedier answer," replied Biberli piteously. "Oh, this night, my lord! +What has it not brought upon us and others! Look at the black clouds +rising in the south. They are like the dark days impending over us poor +mortals." + +Then he confided to Heinz his fears for himself and Katterle. The +knight's assurance that he would intercede for him and, if necessary, +even appeal to the Emperor's favour, somewhat cheered his servitor's +drooping spirits, it is true, but by no means restored his composure, +and his tone was lugubrious enough as he went on: + +"And the poor innocent girl in the Ortlieb house! Your little lady, +my lord, broke the bread she must now eat herself, but the other, the +older E." + +"I know," interrupted the knight sorrowfully. "But if the gracious +Virgin aids us, they will continue to believe in the wager Cordula von +Montfort----" + +"She! she!" Biberli exclaimed, enthusiastically waving his stick aloft. +"The Lord created her in a good hour. Such a heart! Such friendly +kindness! And to think that she interposed so graciously for you--you, +Sir Heinz, to whom she showed the favour of combing your locks, as if +you were already her promised husband, and who afterwards, for another's +sake, left her at the ball as if she wore a fern cap and had become +invisible. I saw the whole from the musician's gallery. True, the +somnambulist is marvellously beautiful." + +But the knight interrupted him by exclaiming so vehemently: "Silence!" +that he paused. + +Both walked on without speaking for some distance ere Heinz began again: + +"Even though I live to grow old and grey, never shall I behold aught more +beautiful than the vision of that white-robed girlish figure on the +stairs." + +True and steadfast Biberli sighed faintly. Love for Eva Ortlieb held his +master as if in a vise; but a Schorlin seemed to him far too good a match +for a Nuremberg maiden who had grown up among sacks of pepper and chests +of goods and, moreover, was a somnambulist. He looked higher for his +Heinz, and had already found the right match for him. So, turning to him +again, he said earnestly: + +"Drive the bewitching vision from your mind, Sir Heinz. You don't know +--but I could tell you some tales about women who walk in their sleep by +moonlight." + +"Well?" asked Heinz eagerly. + +"As a maiden," Biberli continued impressively, with the pious intention +of guarding his master from injury, "the somnambulist merely runs the +risk of falling from the roof, or whatever accident may happen to a +sleepwalker; but if she enters the estate of holy matrimony, the evil +power which has dominion over her sooner or later transforms her at +midnight into a troll, which seizes her husband's throat in his sleep and +strangles him." + +"Nursery tales!" cried Heinz angrily, but Biberli answered calmly: + +"It can make no difference to you what occurs in the case of such +possessed women, for henceforward the Ortlieb house will be closed +against you. And--begging your pardon--it is fortunate. For, my lord, +the horse mounted by the first Schorlin--the chaplain showed it to you in +the picture--came from the ark in which Noah saved it with the other +animals from the deluge, and the first Lady Schorlin whom the family +chronicles mention was a countess. Your ancestresses came from citadels +and castles; no Schorlin ever yet brought his bride from a tradesman's +house. You, the proudest of them all, will scarcely think of making such +an error, though it is true--" + +"Ernst Ortlieb, spite of his trade, is a man of knightly lineage, to whom +the king of arms opens the lists at every tournament!" exclaimed Heinz +indignantly. + +"In the combat with blunt weapons," replied Biberli contemptuously. + +"Nay, for the jousts and single combat," cried Heinz excitedly. +"The Emperor Frederick himself dubbed Herr Ernst a knight." + +"You know best," replied Biberli modestly. But his coat of arms, like +his entry, smells of cloves and pepper. Here is another, however, who, +like your first ancestress, has a countess's title, and who has a right-- +My name isn't Biberli if your lady mother at home would not be more than +happy were I to inform her that the Countess von Montfort and the darling +of her heart, which you are: + +"The name of Montfort and what goes with it," Heinz interrupted, "would +surely please those at home. But the rest! Where could a girl be found +who, setting aside Cordula's kind heart, would be so great a contrast to +my mother in every respect?" + +"Stormy mornings merge into quiet days," said the servant. "Everything +depends, my lord, upon the heart of which you speak so slightingly--the +heart and, even above that, upon the blood. 'Help is needed there,' +cried the kind heart just now, and then the blood did its 'devoir'. The +act followed the desire as the sound follows the blow of the hammer, the +thunder the flash of lightning. Well for the castle that is ruled by +such a mistress! I am only the servant, and respect commands me to curb +my tongue; but to-day I had news from home through the Provost Werner, of +Lucerne, whom I knew at Stansstadt. I meant to tell you of it over the +wine at the Thirsty Troopers, but that accursed note and the misfortune +which followed prevented. It will not make either of us more cheerful, +but whoever is ordered by the leech to drink gall and wormwood does +wisely to swallow the dose at one gulp. Do you wish to empty the cup +now?" + +The knight nodded assent, and Biberli went on. "Home affairs are not +going as they ought. Though your uncle's hair is already grey, the +knightly blood in his veins makes him grasp the sword too quickly. The +quarrel about the bridge-toll has broken out again more violently than +ever. The townsfolk drove off our cattle as security and, by way of +punishment, your uncle seized the goods of their merchants, and they came +to blows. True, the Schorlin retainers forced back the men from town +with bloody heads, but if the feud lasts much longer we cannot hold out, +for the others have the money, and since the war cry has sounded less +frequently there has been no lack of men at arms who will serve any one +who pays. Besides, the townsfolk can appeal to the treaty of peace, and +if your uncle continues to seize the merchant's wares they will apply to +the imperial magistrate, and then: + +"Then," cried Heinz eagerly, "then the time will have come for me to +leave the court and return home to look after my rights." + +"A single arm, no matter how strong it may be, can avail nothing there, +my lord," Biberli protested earnestly. "Your Uncle Ramsweg has scarcely +his peer as a leader, but even were it not so you could not bring +yourself to send the old man home and put yourself in his place. +Besides, it would be as unwise as it is unjust. What is lacking at home +is money to pay the town what it demands for the use of the bridge, or to +increase the number of your men, and therefore: + +"Well?" asked Heinz eagerly. + +"Therefore seek the Countess von Montfort, who favours you above every +one else," was the reply; "for with her all you need will be yours +without effort. Her dowry will suffice to settle twenty such bridge +dues, and if it should come to a fray, the brave huntress will ride to +the field at your side with helmet and spear. Which of the four Fs did +Countess Cordula von Montfort ever lack?" + +"The four Fs?" asked Heinz, listening intently. "The Fs," explained the +ex-pedagogue, "are the four letters which marriageable knights should +consider. They are: Family, figure, favour, and fortune. But hold your +cap on! What a hot blast this is, as if the storm were coming straight +from the jaws of hell. And the dust! Where did all these withered +leaves come from in the month of June? They are whirling about as if the +foliage had already fallen. There are big raindrops driving into my face +too B-r-r! You need all four Fs. No rain will wash a single one of +them away, and I hope it won't efface the least word of my speech either. +What, according to human foresight, could be lacking to secure the +fairest happiness, if you and the countess--" + +"Love," replied Heinz Schorlin curtly. + +"That will come of itself," cried Biberli, as if sure of what he was +saying, "if the bride is Countess Cordula." + +"Possibly," answered the knight, "but the heart must not be filled by +another's image." + +Here he paused, for in the darkness he had stumbled into the ditch by the +road. + +The whirlwind which preceded the bursting of the storm blew such clouds +of dust and everything it contained into their faces that it was +difficult to advance. But Biberli was glad, for he had not yet found a +fitting answer. He struggled silently on beside his master against the +wind, until it suddenly subsided, and a violent storm of rain streamed in +big warm drops on the thirsty earth and the belated pedestrians. Then, +spite of Heinz's protestations, Biberli hurriedly snatched the long robe +embroidered with the St from his shoulders and threw it over his master, +declaring that his shirt was as safe from injury as his skin, but the +rain would ruin the knight's delicate embroidered doublet. + +Then he drew over his head the hood which hung from his coat, and +meanwhile must have decided upon an answer, for as soon as they moved on +he began again: "You must drive your love for the beautiful sleepwalker +out of your mind. Try to do so, my dear, dear master, for the sake of +your lady mother, your young sister who will soon be old enough to marry, +our light-hearted Maria, and the good old castle. For your own +happiness, your lofty career, which began so gloriously, you must hear +me! O master, my dear master, tear from your heart the image of the +little Nuremberg witch, tempting though it is, I admit. The wound will +bleed for a brief time, but after so much mirthful pleasure a fleeting +disappointment in love, I should think, would not be too hard to bear if +it will be speedily followed by the fairest and most enduring happiness." + +Here a flash of lightning, which illumined the hospital door close before +them, and made every surrounding object as bright as day, interrupted the +affectionate entreaty of the faithful fellow, and at the same time a +tremendous peal of thunder crashed and rattled through the air. + +Master and servant crossed themselves, but Heinz exclaimed: + +"That struck the tower yonder. A little farther to the left, and all +doubts and misgivings would have been ended." + +"You can say that!" exclaimed Biberli reproachfully while passing with +his master through the gate which had just been opened for an imperial +messenger. "And you dare to make such a speech in the midst of this +heavenly wrath! For the sake of a pair of lovely eyes you are ready to +execrate a life which the saints have so blessed with every gift that +thousands and tens of thousands would not give it up from sheer gratitude +and joy, even if it were not a blasphemous crime!" + +Again the lightning and thunder drowned his words. Biberli's heart +trembled, and muttering prayers beseeching protection from the avenging +hand above, he walked swiftly onward till they reached the Corn Market. +Here they were again stopped, for, notwithstanding the late hour, a +throng of people, shouting and wailing, was just pouring from the +Ledergasse into the square, headed by a night watchman provided with +spear, horn, and lantern, a bailiff, torchbearers, and some police +officers, who were vainly trying to silence the loudest outcries. + +Again a brilliant flash of lightning pierced the black mass of clouds, +and Heinz, shuddering, pointed to the crowd and asked, "Do you suppose +the lightning killed the man whom they are carrying yonder?" + +"Let me see," replied Biberli, among whose small vices curiosity was by +no means the least. He must have understood news gathering thoroughly, +for he soon returned and informed Heinz, who had sought shelter from the +rain under the broad bow window of a lofty house, that the bearers were +just carrying to his parents' home a young man whose thread of life had +been suddenly severed by a stab through the breast in a duel. After the +witnesses had taken the corpse to the leech Otto, in the Ledergasse, and +the latter said that the youth was dead, they had quickly dispersed, +fearing a severe punishment on account of the breach of the peace. The +murdered man was Ulrich Vorchtel, the oldest son of the wealthy Berthold +Vorchel, who collected the imperial taxes. + +Again Heinz shuddered. He had seen the unfortunate young man the +day before yesterday at the fencing school, and yesterday, full of +overflowing mirth, at the dance, and knew that he, too, had fought in +the battle of Marchfield. His foe must have been master of the art of +wielding the sword, for the dead man had been a skilful fencer, and was +tall and stalwart in figure. + +When the servant ended his story Heinz stood still in the darkness for a +time, silently listening. The bells had begun to ring, the blast of the +watchman's horn blended with the wailing notes summoning aid, and in two +places--near the Thiergartenthor and the Frauenthor--the sky was +crimsoned by the reflection of a conflagration, probably kindled by some +flash of lightning, which flickered over the clouds, alternately rising +and falling, sometimes deeper and anon paler in hue. Throngs of people, +shouting "Fire!" pressed from the cross streets into the square. The +stillness of the night was over. + +When Heinz again turned to Biberli he said in a hollow tone: + +"If the earth should swallow up Nuremberg tonight it would not surprise +me. But over yonder--look, Biber, the Duke of Pomerania's quarters in +the Green Shield are still lighted. I'll wager that they are yet at the +gaming table. A plague upon it! I would be there, too, if my purse +allowed. I feel as if yonder dead man and his coffin were burdening my +soul. If it was really good fortune in love that snatched the zecchins +from my purse yesterday: + +"Then," cried Biberli eagerly, "to-night is the very time, ere Countess +Cordula teaches you to forget what troubles you, to win them back. The +gold for the first stake is at your disposal." + +"From the Duke of Pomerania, you think?" asked Heinz; then, in a quick, +resolute tone, added: "No! Often as the duke has offered me his purse, +I never borrow from my peers when the prospect of repayment looks so +uncertain." + +"Gently, my lord," returned Biberli, slapping his belt importantly. +"Here is what you need for the stake as your own property. No miracles +have been wrought for us, only I forgot But look! There are the black +clouds rolling northward over the castle. That was a frightful storm! +But a spendthrift doesn't keep house long-and the thunder has not yet +followed that last flash of lightning. There is plenty of uproar without +it. It's hard work to hear one's self speak amid all the ringing, +trumpeting, yelling, and shrieking. It seems as if they expected to +put out the fire with noise. The fathers of the city can attend to that. +It doesn't appear to disturb the duke and his guests at their dice; and +here, my lord, are fifty florins which, I think, will do for the +beginning." + +Biberli handed the knight a little bag containing this sum, and when +Heinz asked in perplexity where he obtained it, the ex-schoolmaster +answered gaily: "They came just in the nick of time. I received them +from Suss, the jockey, while you were out riding this afternoon." + +"For the black?" Heinz enquired. + +"Certainly, my lord. It's a pity about the splendid stallion. But, +as you know, he has the staggers, and when I struck him on the coronet +he stood as if rooted to the earth, and the equerry, who was there, said +that the disease was proved. So the Jew silently submitted, let the +horse be led away, and paid back what we gave him. Fifty heavy florins! +More than enough for a beginning. If I may advise you, count on the two +and the five when fixed numbers are to be thrown or hit. Why? Because +you must turn your ill luck in love to advantage: and those from whom it +comes are the two beautiful Ortlieb Es, as Nuremberg folk call the ladies +Els and Eva. That makes the two. But E is the fifth letter in the +alphabet, so I should choose the five. If Biberli did not put things +together shrewdly--" + +"He would be as oversharp as he has often been already," Heinz +interrupted, but he patted Biberli's wet arm as he spoke, and added +kindly "Yet every day proves that my Biberli is a true and steadfast +fellow; but where in the wide world did you, a schoolmaster, gain +instruction in the art of throwing the dice?" + +"While we were studying in Paris, with my dead foster brother," replied +the servant with evident emotion. "But now go up, my lord, before the +fire alarm, and I know not what else, makes the people upstairs separate. +The iron must be forged during this wild night. Only a few drops of rain +are falling. You can cross the street dry even without my long garment." + +While speaking he divested the knight of his robe, and continued eagerly: +"Now, my lord, from the coffin, or let us say rather the leaden weight, +which oppresses your soul, let a bolt be melted that will strike +misfortune to the heart. Glittering gold has a cheering colour." + +"Stop! stop!" Heinz interrupted positively. "No good wishes on the +eve of hunting or gaming. + +"But if I come bounding down the stairs of the Green Shield with a purse +as heavy as my heart is just now--why, Biberli, success puts a new face +on many things, and yours shall again look at me without anxiety." + + + + +CHAPTER XII, + +The thunderclouds had gathered in the blackest masses above the +Frauenthor and the Ortlieb mansion. Ere the storm burst the oppressive +atmosphere had burdened the hearts within as heavily as it weighed +outside upon tree, bush, and all animated creation. + +In the servants' rooms under the roof the maids slept quietly and +dreamlessly; and the men, with their mouths wide open, snored after the +labour of the day, unconscious of what was passing outside in the sky or +the events within which had destroyed the peace of their master and his +family. + +The only bed unoccupied was the one in the little room next to the +stairs leading to the garret, which was occupied by Katterle. The Swiss, +kneeling before it with her face buried in the coarse linen pillow case, +alternately sobbed, prayed, and cursed herself and her recklessness. + +When the gale, which preceded the thunderstorm, blew leaves and straws +in through the open window she started violently, imagining that Herr +Ortlieb had come to call her to account and her trial was to begin. The +barber's widow, whom she had seen a few days before in the pillory, with +a stone around her neck, because she had allowed a cloth weaver's +heedless daughter to come to her lodging with a handsome trumpeter who +belonged to the city musicians, rose before her mental vision. How the +poor thing had trembled and moaned after the executioner's assistant hung +the heavy stone around her neck! Then, driven frantic by the jeers and +insults of the people, the missiles flung by the street boys, and the +unbearable burden, she could control herself no longer but, pouring forth +a flood of curses, thrust out her tongue at her tormentors. + +What a spectacle! But ere she, Katterle, would submit to such disgrace +she would bid farewell to life with all its joys; and even to the +countryman to whom her heart clung, and who, spite of his well-proven +truth and steadfastness, had brought misery upon her. + +Now the memory of the hateful word which she, too, had called to the +barber's widow weighed heavily on her heart. Never, never again would +she be arrogant to a neighbour who had fallen into misfortune. + +This vow, and many others, she made to St. Clare; then her thoughts +wandered to the city moat, to the Pegnitz, the Fischbach, and all the +other streams in and near Nuremberg, where it was possible to drown and +thus escape the terrible disgrace which threatened her. But in so doing +she had doubtless committed a heavy sin; for while recalling the Dutzen +Pond, from whose dark surface she had often gathered white water lilies +after passing through the Frauenthor into the open fields, and wondering +in what part of its reedy shore her design could be most easily executed, +a brilliant flash of lightning blazed through her room, and at the same +time a peal of thunder shook the old mansion to its foundations. + +That was meant for her and her wicked thoughts. No! For the sake of +escaping disgrace here on earth, she dared not trifle with eternal +salvation and the hope of seeing her dead mother in the other world. + +The remembrance of that dear mother, who had laboured so earnestly to +train her in every good path, soothed her. Surely she was looking down +upon her and knew that she had remained upright and honest, that she had +not defrauded her employers of even a pin, and that the little fault +which was to be so grievously punished had been committed solely out of +love for her countryman, who in his truth and steadfastness meant +honestly by her. What Biberli requested her to do could be no heavy sin. + +But the powers above seemed to be of a different opinion; for again a +dazzling glare of light illumined the room, and the crash and rattle of +the thunder of the angry heavens accompanied it with a deafening din. +Katterle shrieked aloud; it seemed as if the gates of hell had opened +before her, or the destruction of the world had begun. + +Frantic with terror, she sprang back from the window, through which the +raindrops were already sprinkling her face. They cooled her flushed +cheeks and brought her back to reality. The offence she had just +committed was no trivial one. She, whom Herr Ortlieb, with entire +confidence, had placed in the service of the fair young girl whose +invalid mother could not care for her, had permitted herself to be +induced to persuade Eva, who was scarcely beyond childhood, to a +rendezvous with a man whom she represented to the inexperienced maiden as +a godly, virtuous knight, though she knew from Biberli how far the latter +surpassed his master in fidelity and steadfastness. + +"Lead us not into temptation!" How often she had repeated the words in +the Lord's Prayer, and now she herself had become the serpent that +tempted into sin the innocent child whom duty should have commanded her +to guard. + +No, no! The guilt for which she was threatened with punishment was by no +means small, and even if her earthly judge did not call her to account, +she would go to confession to-morrow and honestly perform the penance +imposed. + +Moved by these thoughts, she gazed across the courtyard to the convent. +Just at that moment the lightning again flashed, the thunder pealed, and +she covered her face with her hands. When she lowered her arms she saw +on the roof of the nuns' granary, which adjoined the cow-stable, a +slender column of smoke, followed by a narrow tongue of flame, which grew +steadily brighter. + +The lightning had set it on fire. + +Sympathy for the danger and losses of others forced her own grief and +anxiety into the background and, without pausing to think, she slipped on +her shoes, snatched her shawl from the chest, and ran downstairs, +shouting: "The lightning has struck! The convent is burning!" + +Just at that moment the door of the chamber occupied by the two sisters +opened, and Ernst Ortlieb, with tangled hair and pallid cheeks, came +toward her. + +Within the room the dim light of the little lamp and the fiery glare of +the lightning illumined tear-stained, agitated faces. + +After Heinz Schorlin had called to her, and Els had hurried to her aid, +Eva, clad in her long, plain night robe, and barefooted, just as she had +risen from her couch, followed the maid to her room. What must the +knight, who but yesterday, she knew, had looked up to her as to a saint, +think of her now? + +She felt as if she were disgraced, stained with shame. Yet it was +through no fault of her own, and overwhelmed by the terrible conviction +that mysterious, supernatural powers, against which resistance was +hopeless, were playing a cruel game with her, she had felt as if the +stormy sea were tossing her in a rudderless boat on its angry surges. + +Unable to seek consolation in prayer, as usual, she had given herself up +to dull despair, but only for a short time. Els had soon returned, and +the firm, quiet manner with which her prudent, helpful friend and sister +met her, and even tried to raise her drooping courage by a jest ere she +sent her to their mother's sick room, had fallen on her soul like +refreshing dew; not because Els promised to act for her--on the contrary, +what she intended to do roused her to resistance. + +She had been far too guilty and oppressed to oppose her, yet indignation +concerning the sharp words which Els had uttered about the knight, and +her intention of forbidding him the house, perhaps forever, had +stimulated her like strong acid wine. + +Not until after her sister had left her did she become capable of clearly +understanding what she had felt during her period of somnambulism. + +While her mother, thanks to a narcotic, slept soundly, breathing quietly, +and in the entry below something, she knew not what, perhaps due to her +father's return, was occurring, she sat thinking, pondering, while an +impetuous throng of rebellious wishes raised their voices, alternately +asking and denying, in her agitated breast. + +How she had happened to rise from her couch and go out had vanished +utterly from her memory, but she was still perfectly conscious of her +feelings during the night walk. If hitherto she had yearned to drain +heavenly bliss from the chalice of faith, during her wanderings through +the house she had longed for nothing save to drink her fill from the cup +of earthly joy. Ardent kisses, of which she had forbidden herself even +to think, she awaited with blissful delight. Her timorous heart, held in +check by virgin modesty, accustomed to desire nothing save what she could +have confessed to her sister and the abbess, seemed as if it had cast off +every fetter and boldly resolved to risk the most daring deeds. The +somnambulist had longed for the moment when, after Heinz Schorlin's +confession that he loved her, she could throw her arms around his neck +with rapturous gratitude. + +If, while awake, she had desired only to speak to him of her saint and of +his duty to overthrow the foes of the Church, she had wished while gazing +at the moon from the stairs, and in front of the house door, to whisper +sweet words of love, listen to his, and in so doing forget herself, the +world, and everything which did not belong to him, to her, and their +love. + +And she remembered this longing and yearning in a way very unlike a mere +dream. It seemed rather as if, while the moon was attracting her by its +magic power, something, which had long slumbered in the depths of her +soul, had waked to life; something, from which formerly, ere her heart +and mind had been able rightly to understand it, she had shrunk with +pious horror, had assumed a tangible form. + +Now she dreaded this newly recognised sinful part of her own nature, +which she had imagined a pure vessel that had room only for what was +noble, sacred, and innocent. + +She, too--she knew it now--was only a girl like those on whose desire for +love she had looked down with arrogant contempt, no bride of heaven or +saint. + +She had not yet taken the veil, and it was fortunate, for what would have +become of her had she not discovered until after her profession this part +of her nature, which she thought every true nun, if she possessed it, +must discard, like the hair which was shorn from her head, before taking +the vow of the order. + +During this self-inspection it became more and more evident that she was +not one person, but two in one--a twofold nature with a single body and +two distinct souls; and this conviction caused her as much pain as if the +cut which had produced the separation were still bleeding. + +Just at that moment her eyes fell upon the image of the Virgin opposite, +and the usual impulse to lift her soul in prayer took possession of her +even more powerfully than a short time before. + +With fervent warmth she besought her to release her from this newly +awakened nature, which surely could not be pleasing in the sight of +Heaven, and let her once more become what she was before the unfortunate +ramble in the moonlight. + +But the composure she needed for prayer was soon destroyed, for the image +of the knight rose before her again and again, and it seemed as if her +own name, which he had called with such ardent longing, once more rang in +her ears. + +Whoever thus raises his voice in appeal to another loves that person. +Heinz Schorlin's love was great and sincere and, instead of heeding the +inner voice that warned her to return to prayer, she cried defiantly, +"I will not!" + +She could not yet part from the man for whom her heart throbbed with such +passionate yearning, who was so brave and godly, so ardently devoted to +her. + +True, it had been peacefully beautiful to dream herself into the bright +glory of heaven, yet the stormy rapture she had felt while thinking of +him and his love seemed richer and greater. She could not, would not +part from him. + +Then she remembered her sister's intention of driving Heinz--Eva already +called the knight by that name in her soliloquy--from her presence, and +the thought that she might perhaps wound him so keenly that knightly +honour would forbid his return alarmed and incensed her. + +What right had Els to distrust him? A godly knight played no base game +with the chosen lady of, his heart, and that, yes, that she certainly +was, since she had named her colour to him. Nothing should separate +them. She needed him for her happiness as much as she did light and air. +Hitherto she had longed for bliss in another world, but she was so young +she probably had a long life before her, and what could existence on +earth offer if robbed of the hope of his possession? + +The newly awakened part of her nature demanded its rights. It would +never again allow itself to be forced into the old slumber. + +If her sister came back and boasted of having driven away the dangerous +animal forever, she would show her that she had a different opinion of +the knight, and would permit no one to interpose between them. But, +while still pondering over this plan, the door of the sick-room was +softly opened and her father beckoned to her to follow him. + +Silently leading the way through the dusky corridor, no longer illumined +by the moonlight, he entered his daughter's room before her. The lamp, +still burning there, revealed the agitated face of her sister who, +resting her chin on her hand, sat on the stool beside the spinning wheel. + +Eva's courage, which had blazed up so brightly, instantly fell again. + +"Good heavens! What has happened?" she cried in terror; but her father +answered in a hollow tone: + +"For the sake of your noble sister, to whom I pledged my word, I will +force myself to remain calm. But look at her! Her poor heart must be +like a graveyard, for she was doomed to bury what she held dearest. And +who," he continued furiously, so carried away by grief and indignation as +to be unmindful of his promise to maintain his composure, "who is to +blame for it all, save you and your boundless imprudence?" + +Eva, with uplifted hands, tried to explain how, unconscious of her acts, +she had walked in her sleep down the stairs and out of the house, but he +imperiously cut her short with: + +"Silence! I know all. My daughter gave a worthless tempter the right +to expect the worst from her. You, whom we deemed the ornament of this +house, whose purity hitherto was stainless, are to blame if people +passing on the street point at it! Alas! alas! Our honour, our ancient, +unsullied name!" + +Groaning aloud, the father struck his brow with his clenched hand; but +when Els rose and passed her arm around his shoulders to speak words of +consolation, Eva, who hitherto had vainly struggled for words, could +endure no more. + +"Whoever says that of me, my father," she exclaimed with flashing eyes; +scarcely able to control her voice, "has opened his ears to slander; +and whoever terms Heinz Schorlin a worthless tempter, is blinded by a +delusion, and I call him to his face, even were it my own father, +to whom I owe gratitude and respect--" + +But here she stopped and extended her arms to keep off the deeply angered +man, for he had started forward with quivering lips, and--she perceived +it clearly--was already under the spell of one of the terrible fits of +fury which might lead him to the most unprecedented deeds. Els, however, +had clung to him and, while holding him back with all her strength, cried +out in a tone of keen reproach, "Is this the way you keep your promise?" + +Then, lowering her voice, she continued with loving entreaty: "My dear, +dear father, can you doubt that she was asleep, unconscious of her acts, +when she did what has brought so much misery upon us?" + +And, interrupting herself, she added eagerly in a tone of the firmest +conviction: "No, no, neither shame nor misery has yet touched you, my +father, nor the poor child yonder. The suspicion of evil rests on me, +and me alone, and if any one here must be wretched it is I." + +Then Herr Ernst, regaining his self-control, drew back from Eva, but the +latter, as if fairly frantic, exclaimed: "Do you want to drive me out of +my senses by your mysterious words and accusations? What, in the name of +all the saints, has happened that can plunge my Els into misery and +shame?" + +"Into misery and shame," repeated her father in a hollow tone, throwing +himself into a chair, where he sat motionless, with his face buried in +his hands, while Els told her sister what had occurred when she went down +into the entry to speak to the knight. + +Eva listened to her story, fairly gasping for breath. For one brief +moment she cherished the suspicion that Cordula had not acted from pure +sympathy, but to impose upon Heinz Schorlin a debt of gratitude which +would bind him to her more firmly. Yet when she heard that her father +had given back his daughter's ring to Herr Casper Eysvogel and broken his +child's betrothal she thought of nothing save her sister's grief and, +sobbing aloud, threw herself into Els's arms. + +The girls held each other in a close embrace until the first flash of +lightning and peal of thunder interrupted the conversation. + +The father and daughters had been so deeply agitated that they had not +heard the storm rising outside, and the outbreak of the tempest surprised +them. The peal of thunder, which so swiftly followed the lightning, also +startled them and when, soon after, a second one shook the house with its +crashing, rattling roar, Herr Ernst went out to wake the chief packer. +But old Endres was already keeping watch among the wares entrusted to him +and when, after a brief absence, the master of the house returned, he +found Eva again clasped in her sister's arms, and saw the latter kissing +her brow and eyes as she tenderly strove to comfort her. + +But Eva seemed deaf to her soothing words. Els, her faithful Els, was no +longer the betrothed bride of her Wolff; her great, beautiful happiness +was destroyed forever. On the morrow all Nuremberg would learn that Herr +Casper had broken his son's betrothal pledge, because his bride, for the +sake of a tempter, Sir Heinz Schorlin, had failed to keep her troth with +him. + +How deeply all this pierced Eva's heart! how terrible was the torture +of the thought that she was the cause of this frightful misfortune! +Dissolved in an agony of tears, she entreated the poor girl to forgive +her; and Els did so willingly, and in a way that touched her father to +the very depths of his heart. How good the girls must be who, spite of +the sore suffering which one had brought upon the other, were still so +loving and loyal! + +Convinced that Eva, too, had done nothing worthy of punishment, he went +towards them to clasp both in his arms, but ere he could do so the clap +of thunder which had frightened Katterle so terribly shook the whole +room. "St. Clare, aid us!" cried Eva, crossing herself and falling upon +her knees; but Els rushed to the window, opened it, and looked down the +street. Nothing was visible there save a faint red glow on the distant +northern horizon, and two mailed soldiers who were riding into the city +at a rapid trot. They had been sent from the stables in the Marienthurm +to keep order in case a fire should break out. Several men with hooks +and poles followed, also hurrying to the Frauenthor. + +In reply to the question where the fire was and where they going, they +answered: "To the Fischbach, to help. Flames have burst out apparently +under the fortress at the Thiergartenthor." + +The long-drawn call for help from the warder's horn, which came at the +same moment, proved that the men were right. + +Herr Ernst hastened out of the room just as Katterle's shriek, "The +lightning struck! the convent is burning!" rung from the upper step of +the stairs. + +He had already pronounced her sentence, and the sight of her roused his +wrath again so vehemently that, spite of the urgent peril, he shouted to +her that, whatever claimed his attention now, she certainly should not +escape the most severe punishment for her shameful conduct. + +Then he ordered old Endres and two of the menservants to watch the +sleeping-room of his invalid wife, that in case anything should happen +the helpless woman might be instantly borne to a place of safety. + +Ere he himself went to the scene of the conflagration he hurried back to +his daughters. + +While the girls were giving him his hat and cloak he told them where the +fire had broken out, and this caused another detention of the anxious +master of the house, for Eva seized her shoes and stockings and, kicking +her little slippers from her feet, declared that she, too, would not +remain absent from the place when her dear nuns were in danger. But her +father commanded her to stay with her mother and sister, and went to the +door, turning back once more on the threshold to his daughters with the +anxious entreaty: "Think of your mother!" + +Another peal of thunder drowned the sound of his footsteps hurrying down +the stairs. When Els, who had watched her father from the window a short +time, went back to her sister, Eva dried her eyes and cheeks, saying: +"Perhaps he is right; but whenever my heart urges me to obey any warm +impulse, obstacles are put in my way. What a weak nonentity is the +daughter of an honourable Nuremberg family!" + +Els heard this complaint with astonishment. Was this her Eva, her +"little saint," who yesterday had desired nothing more ardently than with +humble obedience, far from the tumult of the world, to become worthy of +her Heavenly Bridegroom, and in the quiet peace of the convent raise her +soul to God? What had so changed the girl in these few hours? Even the +most worldly-minded of her friends would have taken such an impeachment +ill. + +But she had no time now to appeal to the conscience of her misguided +sister. Love and duty summoned her to her mother's couch. And then! +The child had become aware of her love, and was she, Els, who had been +parted from Wolff by her own father, and yet did not mean to give him up, +justified in advising her sister to cast aside her love and the hope of +future happiness with and through the man to whom she had given her +heart? + +What miracles love wrought! If in a single night it had transformed the +devout future Bride of Heaven into an ardently loving woman, it could +accomplish the impossible for her also. + +While Eva was gazing out of the window Els returned to her mother. She +was still asleep and, without permitting either curiosity or longing to +divert her from her duty, Els kept her place beside the couch of the +beloved invalid, spite of the fire alarm which, though somewhat subdued, +was heard in the room. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +Eva was standing at the open window. The violence of the storm seemed +exhausted. The clouds were rolling northward, and the thunder followed +the flashes of lightning at longer and longer intervals. Peace was +restored to the heavens, but the crowd and noise in the city and the +street constantly increased. + +The iron tongues of the alarm bells had never swung so violently, the +warder's horn had never made the air quiver with such resonant appeals +for aid. + +Nor did the metallic voices above call for help in vain, for while a +roseate glow tinged the linden in front of her window and the houses on +the opposite side of the street with the hues of dawn, the crowds +thronging from the Frauenthor to St. Klarengasse grew denser and denser. + +The convent was not visible from her chamber, but the acrid odor of the +smoke and the loud voices which reached her ear from that direction +proved that the fire was no trivial one. While she was seeking out the +spot from which Heinz must have looked up to her window, the Ortlieb +menservants, with some of the Montfort retainers, came out of the house +with pails and ladders. + +A female figure glided into the dark street after them. A black shawl +concealed her head and the upper part of her figure, and she held a +bundle in her hand. + +It must be Katterle. + +Where was she going at this hour? As she was carrying the package, she +could scarcely intend to help in putting out the fire. Was she stealing +away from fear of punishment? Poor thing! Even the maid was hurled into +misfortune through her guilt. + +It pierced her very heart. But while she called to Katterle to stop her, +something else, which engrossed her still more, diverted her attention-- +the loud voice of Countess Cordula reached her from the street door. +With whom was she talking? Did the girl, who ventured upon so many +things which ill-beseemed a modest maiden, intend to join the men? Eva +forgot that she, too, would have hurried to the nuns had not her father +prevented it. The countess was already standing in the courtyard. + +After Eva had given her a hasty glance she again looked for the maid, but +Katterle had already vanished in the darkness. This grieved her; she had +neglected something which might have saved the girl, to whom she was +warmly attached, from some imprudent act. But while attracted by the +strange appearance of the countess she had forgotten the other. + +Cordula had probably just left her couch, for she wore only a plain dress +tucked up very high, short boots, which she probably used in hunting, and +a shawl crossed over her bosom; another was wound round her head in the +fashion of the peasant women who brought their goods to market on cold +winter days. No farmer's wife could be more simply clad, and yet--Eva +was forced to admit it--there was something aristocratic in her firm +bearing. + +Her companions were her father's chaplain and the equerry who had grown +grey in his service. Both were trying to dissuade her. The former +pointed to a troop of women who were following the chief of police and +some city constables, and said warningly: "Those are all wanton queans, +whom the law of this city compels to lend their aid in putting out fires. +How would it beseem your rank to join these who shame their sex---- +No, no! It would be said to-morrow that the ornament of the house of +Montfort had----" + +"That Countess Cordula had used her hands in extinguishing the fire," she +interrupted with gay self-confidence. "Is there any disgrace in that? +Must my noble birth debar me from being numbered among those who help +their neighbours so far as lies in their power? If any good is +accomplished here, those poor women yonder will make it no worse by +their aid. If people here believe that they do, it will give me double +pleasure to ennoble it by working with them. Putting out the flames will +not degrade me, and will make the women better. So, forward! See how +the fire is blazing yonder! Help is needed there and, thank Heaven, I am +no weakling. Besides, there are women who want assistance and, to women +in peril, the most welcome aid is woman's." + +The old equerry, his eyes glittering with tears, nodded assent, and led +the way into the street; but the countess, instead of following +instantly, glanced back for the page who was to carry the bandages which +she had learned to use among her retainers at home. The agile boy did +not delay her long; but while his mistress was looking to see that he had +forgotten nothing of importance, he perceived at the window Eva, whose +beauty had long since fired his young heart, and cast a languishing +glance at her. Then Cordula also noticed her and called a pleasant +greeting. Eva was on the point of answering in the same tone, when she +remembered that Cordula had spoken of Heinz Schorlin in the presence of +others as if he were awaiting her in all submission. Anger surged hotly +in her breast, and she drew back into the room as if she had not heard +the salutation. + +The countess perceived it, and shrugged her shoulders pityingly. + +Eva, dissatisfied with herself, continued to gaze down into the street +long after the crowds of people flocking from the city had concealed +Cordula from her eyes. It seemed as though she would never again succeed +in anything that would bring contentment. Never had she felt so weak, so +ill-tempered, so devoid of self-reliance. Yet she could not, as usual, +seek consolation with her saint. There was so much here below to divert +her attention. + +The roseate glow on the linden had become a crimson glare, the flickering +light on the opposite walls a dazzling illumination. The wind, now +blowing from the west, bore from St. Klarengasse burning objects which +scattered sparks around them--bundles of hay caught by the flames--from +the convent barn to the Marienthurm opposite, and into the street. +Besides, the noise above and behind, before and below her, grew louder +and louder. The ringing of the bells and the blare of trumpets from the +steeples continued, and with this constant ringing, pealing, and crashing +from above, mingled the high, clear voices of the choir of nuns in the +convent, beseeching in fervent litanies the help of their patron saint. +True, the singing was often drowned by the noise from the street, for the +fire marshals and quartermasters had been informed in time, and watchmen, +soldiers in the pay of the city, men from the hospital, and the abandoned +women (required by law to help put out the fires) came in little groups, +while bailiffs and servants of the Council, barbers (who were obliged to +lend their aid, but whose surgical skill could find little employment +here), members of the Council, priests and monks arrived singly. The +street also echoed with the trampling of many steeds, for mounted +troopers in coats of mail first dashed by to aid the bailiffs in +maintaining order, then the inspector of water works, with his chief +subordinate, trotted along to St. Klarengasse on the clumsy horses placed +at their disposal by the Council in case of fire. He was followed by the +millers, with brass fire engines. While their well-fed nags drew on +sledges, with little noise, through the mire of the streets now softened +by the rain, the heavy wooden water barrels needed in the work of +extinguishing the flames, there was a loud rattling and clanking as the +carts appeared on which the men from the Public Works building were +bringing large and small ladders, hooks and levers, pails and torches, +to the scene of the conflagration. + +Besides those who were constrained by the law, many others desired to aid +the popular Sisters of St. Clare and thereby earn a reward from God. A +brewer had furnished his powerful stallions to convey to the scene of +action, with their tools, the eight masons whose duty it was to use their +skill in extinguishing the flames. All sorts of people--men and women-- +followed, yelling and shrieking, to seek their own profit during the work +of rescue. But the bailiffs kept a sharp eye on them, and made way when +the commander of the German knights, with several companions on whose +black mantles the white cross gleamed, appeared on horseback, and at last +old Herr Berthold Vorchtel trotted up on his noble grey, which was known +to the whole city. He still had a firm seat in the saddle, but his head +was bowed, and whoever knew that only one hour before the corpse of his +oldest son, slain in a duel, had been brought home, admired the aged +magistrate's strength of will. As First Losunger and commander in chief +he was the head of the Council, and therefore of the city also. Duty had +commanded him to mount his steed, but how pale and haggard was his shrewd +face, usually so animated! + +Just in front of the Ortlieb mansion the commander of the German knights +rode to his side, and Eva saw how warmly he shook him by the hand, as if +he desired to show the old man very cordially his deep sympathy in some +sore trouble which had assailed him. + +Ever since Wolff's betrothal to Els had been announced the Vorchtels had +ceased to be on terms of intimacy with the Ortliebs; but old Herr +Berthold, though he himself had probably regarded young Eysvogel as his +"Ursel's" future husband, had always treated Eva kindly, and she was not +mistaken--tears were glittering on his cheeks in the torchlight. The +sight touched the young girl's inmost heart. How eagerly she desired to +know what had befallen the Vorchtels, and to give the old man some token +of sympathy! What could have caused him so much sorrow? Only a few +hours before her father had returned from a gay entertainment at his +house. It could scarcely concern Herr Berthold's wife, his daughter +Ursula, or either of his two vigorous sons. Perhaps death had only +bereft him of some more distant, though beloved relative, yet surely she +would have known that, for the Ortliebs were connected by marriage both +with the old gentleman and his wife. + +Tortured by a presentiment of evil, Eva gazed after him, and also watched +for Heinz Schorlin among the people in the street. Must not anxiety for +her bring him hither, if he learned how near her house the fire was +burning? + +Whenever a helmet or knight's baret appeared above the crowd she thought +that he was coming. Once she believed that she had certainly recognised +him, for a tall young man of knightly bearing appeared, not mounted, but +on foot, and stopped opposite to the Ortlieb house. That must be he! +But when he looked up to her window, the reflection of the fire showed +that the man who had made her heart beat so quickly was indeed a young +and handsome knight, but by no means the person for whom she had mistaken +him. It was Boemund Altrosen, famed as victor in many a tournament, who +when a boy had often been at the house of her uncle, Herr Pfinzing. +There was no mistaking his coal-black, waving locks. It was said that +the dark-blue sleeve of a woman's robe which he wore on his helmet in the +jousts belonged to the Countess von Montfort. She was his lady, for whom +he had won so many victories. + +Heinz Schorlin had mentioned him at the ball as his friend, and told her +that the gallant knight would vainly strive to win the reckless countess. +Perhaps he was now looking at the house so intently on Cordula's account. +Or had Heinz, his friend, sent him to watch over her while he was +possibly detained by the Emperor? + +But, no; he had just gone nearer to the house to question a man in the +von Montfort livery, and the reply now led him to move on towards the +convent. + +Were the tears which filled Eva's eyes caused by the smoke that poured +from the fire more and more densely into the street, or to disappointment +and bitter anguish? + +The danger which threatened her aunt and her beloved nuns also increased +her excitement. True, the sisters themselves seemed to feel safe, for +snatches of their singing were still audible amid the ringing of the +bells and the blare of the trumpets, but the fire must have been very +hard to extinguish. This was proved by the bright glow on the linden +tree and the shouts of command which, though unintelligible, rose above +every other sound. + +The street below was becoming less crowded. Most of those who had left +their beds to render aid had already reached the scene of the +conflagration. Only a few stragglers still passed through the open gate +towards the Marienthurm. Among them were horsemen, and Eva's heart again +throbbed more quickly, but only for a short time. Heinz Schorlin was far +taller than the man who had again deceived her, and his way would hardly +have been lighted by two mounted torch bearers. Soon her rosy lips even +parted in a smile, for the sturdy little man on the big, strong-boned +Vinzgau steed, whom she now saw distinctly, was her dearest relative, her +godfather, the kind, shrewd, imperial magistrate, Berthold Pfinzing, the +husband of her father's sister, good Aunt Christine. + +If he looked up he would tell her about old Herr Vorchtel. Nor did he +ride past his darling's house without a glance at her window, and when he +saw Eva beckon he ordered the servants to keep back, and stopped behind +the chains. + +After he had briefly greeted his niece and she had enquired what had +befallen the Vorchtels, he asked anxiously: "Then you know nothing yet? +And Els--has it been kept from her, too?" + +"What, in the name of all the saints?" asked Eva, with increasing alarm. + +Then Herr Pfinzing, who saw that the door of the house was open, asked +her to come down. Eva was soon standing beside her godfather's big bay, +and while patting the smooth neck of the splendid animal he said +hurriedly, in a low tone: "It's fortunate that it happened so. You can +break it gradually to your sister, child. To-night Summon up your +courage, for there are things which even a man--To make the story short, +then: Tonight Wolff Eysvogel and young Vorchtel quarreled, or rather +Ulrich irritated your Wolff so cruelly that he drew his sword--" + +"Wolff!" shrieked Eva, whose hand had already dropped from the horse. +"Wolff! He is so terribly strong, and if he drew his sword in anger----" + +"He dealt his foe one powerful thrust," replied the imperial magistrate +with an expressive gesture. "The sword pierced him through. But I must +go on Only this one thing more: Ulrich was borne back to his parents as +a corpse. And Wolff Where is he hiding? May the saints long be the +only ones who know! A quarrel with such a result under the Emperor's +eyes, now when peace has just been declared throughout the land! Who +knows what sentence will be pronounced if the bailiffs show themselves +shrewder this time than usual! My office compelled me to set the pack +upon him. That is the reason I am so late. Tell Els as cautiously as +possible." + +He bowed gallantly and trotted on, but Eva, as if hunted by enemies, +rushed up the staircase, threw herself on her knees before the prie dieu, +and sobbed aloud. + +Young Vorchtel had undoubtedly heard of the events in the entry, taunted +Wolff with his betrothed bride's nocturnal interview with a knight, and +thus roused the strong man to fury. How terrible it all was! How could +she bear it! Her thoughtlessness had cost a human life, robbed parents +of their son! Through her fault her sister's betrothed husband, whom she +also loved, was in danger of being placed under ban, perhaps even of +being led to the executioner's block! + +She had no thought of any other motive which might have induced the hot- +blooded young men to cross swords and, firmly convinced that her luckless +letter had drawn Heinz Schorlin to the house and thus led to all these +terrible things, she vainly struggled for composure. + +Sometimes she beheld in imagination the despairing Els; sometimes the +aged Vorchtels, grieving themselves to death; sometimes Wolff, outlawed, +hiding like a hunted deer in the recesses of the forest; sometimes the +maid, fleeing with her little bundle into the darkness of the night; +sometimes the burning convent; and at intervals also Heinz Schorlin, as +he knelt before her and raised his clasped hands with passionate +entreaty. + +But she repelled every thought of him as a sin, and even repressed the +impulse to look out into the street to seek him. Her sole duty now was +to pray to her patron saint and the Mother of God in behalf of her +sister, whom she had hurled into misfortune, and her poor heart bleeding +from such deep wounds; but the consolation which usually followed the +mere uplifting of her soul in prayer did not come, and it could not be +otherwise, for amid her continual looking into her own heart and +listening to what went on around her no real devotion was possible. + +Although she constantly made fresh efforts to collect her thoughts, and +continued to kneel with clasped hands before the prie dieu, not a hoof- +beat, not a single loud voice, escaped her ear. Even the alternate +deepening and paling of the reflection of the fire, which streamed +through the window, attracted her attention, and the ringing of bells and +braying of trumpets, which still continued, maintained the agitation in +her soul. + +Yet prayer was the sole atonement she could make for the wrong she had +done her sister; so she did not cease her endeavours to plead for her to +the Great Helper above, but her efforts were futile. Yet even when she +heard voices close by the house, among which she distinguished Countess +Cordula's and--if she was not mistaken--her father's, she resisted the +impulse to rise from her knees. + +At last the vain struggle was ended by an interruption from without. +After unusually loud voices exclaiming and questioning had reached her +from the entry, the door of her chamber suddenly opened and old Martsche +looked in. The housekeeper was seeking something; but when she found the +devout child on her knees she did not wish to disturb her, and contented +herself with the evidence of her eyes. But Eva stopped her, and learned +that she was searching for Katterle, who could neither be found in her +room, or anywhere else. Herr Ortlieb had brought Countess von Montfort +home severely burned, and there were all sorts of things for the maid to +do. + +Eva clung shuddering to the back of the prie dieu, for the certainty that +the unfortunate girl had really fled was like strewing salt on her +wounds. + +When Martsche left her and Els entered, her excitement had risen to such +a pitch that she flung herself before her, as if frantic and, clinging to +her knees, heaping self-accusations upon herself with passionate +impetuosity, she pleaded, amid her sobs, for pardon and mercy. + +Meanwhile Els had been informed by her father of her lover's fatal deed, +and as soon as she perceived what tortured her sister she relieved her, +with loving words of explanation, from the reproach of being the cause of +this misfortune also, for the quarrel had taken place so early that no +tidings of the meeting in the entry could have reached young Vorchtel +when he became involved in the fray with Wolff. + +Nor was it solely to soothe Eva that she assured her that, deeply as she +mourned the death of the hapless Ulrich and his parents' grief, Wolff's +deed could not diminish either her love or her hope of becoming his. + +Eva listened to this statement with sparkling eyes. The love in her +sister's heart was as immovably firm as the ancient stones of her native +stronghold, which defied every storm, and on which even the destroying, +kindling lightning could inflict no injury. This made her doubly dear, +and from the depths of dull despair her soul, ever prone to soar upwards, +rose swiftly to the heights of hopeful exaltation. + +When Els at last entreated her to go to rest without her, she willingly +consented, for her mother was comfortable, and Sister Renata was watching +at her bedside. + +Eva kept her promise, after Els, who wanted to see the Countess von +Montfort, had satisfied her concerning the welfare of the nuns and +promised to go to rest herself as soon as possible. + +The stopping of the alarm bells proved that the fire was under control. +Even its reflection had disappeared, but the eastern sky was beginning to +be suffused with a faint tinge of rose colour. + +When her sister left her Eva herself drew the curtains before the window, +and sleep soon ended her thoughts and yearnings, her grief and her hope. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +Countess Cordula von Montfort's room faced the east and looked out into +the garden. The sun of the June morning had just risen, filling it with +cheerful light. + +The invalid's maid had wished to deny Els admittance, but the countess +called eagerly to her, and then ordered the windows to be opened, because +she never felt comfortable unless it was light around her and she could +breathe God's pure air. + +The morning breeze bore the smoke which still rose from the fire in +another direction, and thus a refreshing air really entered the room from +the garden, for the thunderstorm had refreshed all nature, and flower +beds and grass, bush and tree, exhaled a fresh odour of earth and leafage +which it was a delight to breathe. + +The leech Otto, to whom the severely wounded Ulrich Vorchtel had been +carried, had just left the countess. The burns on her hands and arms had +been bandaged--nay, the old gentleman had cut out the scorched portions +of her tresses with his own hand. Cordula's energetic action had made +the famous surgeon deem her worthy of such care. He had also advised her +to seek the nursing of the oldest daughter of her host, whose invalid +wife he was attending, and she had gladly assented; for Els had attracted +her from their first meeting, and she was accustomed to begin the day at +sunrise. + +"How does it happen that you neither weep nor even hang your head after +all the sorrow which last night brought you?" asked Cordula, as the +Nuremberg maiden sat down beside her bed. "You are a stranger to the +Swiss knight, and when we surprised you with him you had not come to a +meeting--I know that full well. But if so true and warm a love unites +you to young Eysvogel, how does it happen that your joyous courage is so +little damped by his father's denial and his own unhappy deed, which at +this time could scarcely escape punishment? You do not seem frivolous, +and yet--" + +"Yet," replied Els with a pleasant smile, "many things have made a deeper +impression. We are not all alike, Countess, yet there is much in your +nature which must render it easy for you to understand me; for, +Countess----" + +"Call me Cordula," interrupted the girl in a tone of friendly entreaty. +"Why should I deny that I am fond of you? and at the risk of making you +vain, I will betray----" + +"Well?" asked Els eagerly. + +"That the splendid old leech described you to me exactly as I had +imagined you," was the reply. You were one of those, he said, whose mere +presence beside a sick-bed was as good as medicine, and so you are; and, +dear Jungfrau Els, this salutary medicine benefits me." + +"If I am to dispense with the 'Countess,'" replied the other, "you must +spare me the 'Jungfrau.' Nursing you will give me all the more pleasure +on account of the warm gratitude----" + +"Never mind that," interrupted Cordula. "But please look at the bandage, +beneath which the flesh burns and aches more than is necessary, and then +go on with your explanation." + +Els examined the countess's arm, and then applied a household remedy +whose use she had learned from the wife of Herr Pfinzing, her Aunt +Christine, who was familiar with the healing art. It relieved the pain, +and when Cordula told her so, Els went on with her explanation. "When +all these blows fell upon me, they at first seemed, indeed, unprecedented +and scarcely possible to endure. When afterwards my Wolff's unhappy deed +was added, I felt as though I were standing in a dense, dark mist, where +each step forwards must lead me into a stifling morass or over a +precipice. Then I began to reflect upon what had happened, as is my +custom; I separated, in my thoughts, the evil menacing in the future from +the good, and had scarcely made a little progress in this way when morass +and abyss lost their terrors; both, I found, could be left to take care +of themselves, since neither Wolff nor I lack love and good will, and we +possess some degree of prudence and caution." + +"Yes, this thinking and considering!" cried the countess, with a faint +sigh. "It succeeds in my case, too, only, unluckily, I usually don't +begin until it is too late and the folly has been committed." + +"Then, henceforth, you must reverse the process," answered Els cheerily. +But directly after she changed her tone, which sounded serious enough as +she added: "The sorrow of the poor Vorchtels and the grief my betrothed +husband must endure, because the dead man was once a dear friend, +certainly casts a dark shadow upon many things; but you, who love the +chase, must surely be familiar with the misty autumn mornings to which I +allude. Everything, far and near, is covered by a thick veil, yet one +feels that there is bright sunshine behind it. Suddenly the mist +scatters----" + +"And mountain and forest, land and water, lie before us in the radiant +sunlight!" cried the countess. "How well I know such scenes! And how I +should rejoice if a favourable wind would sweep the grey mist away for +you right speedily! Only--indeed, I am not disposed to look on the dark +side--only, perhaps you do not know how resolute the Emperor is that the +peace of the country shall be maintained. If your lover allowed himself +to be carried away----" + +"This was not the first time," Els eagerly interrupted, "that young +Vorchtel tried to anger him in the presence of others; and he believed +that he was justified in bearing a grudge against his former friend--it +was considered a settled thing that Wolff and his sister Ursula were to +marry." + +"Until," Cordula broke in, "he gazed into your bright eyes." + +"How could you know that?" asked Els in confusion. + +"Because, in love and hate, as well as in reckoning, two and three +follow one," laughed the countess. "As for your Wolff, in particular, +I will gladly believe, with you, that he can succeed in clearing himself +before the judges. But with regard to old Eysvogel, who looks as though, +if he met our dear Lord Himself, he would think first which of the two +was the richer, your future brother-in-law Siebenburg, that disagreeable +'Mustache,' and his poor wife, who sits at home grieving over her +dissolute husband--what gratitude you can expect from such kindred--" + +"None," replied Els sadly. Yet a mischievous smile hovered around her +lips as, bending over the invalid, she added in a whisper: "But the good +I expect from all the evil is, that we and the Eysvogels will be +separated as if by wall and moat. They will never cross them, but Wolff +would find the way back to me, though we were parted by an ocean, and +mountains towering to the sky divided----" + +"This confidence, indeed, maintains the courage," said the countess, and +with a faint sigh she added: "Whatever evil may befall you, many might +envy you." + +"Then love has conquered you also?" Els began; but Cordula answered +evasively: + +"Let that pass, dear Jungfrau. Perhaps love treats me as a mother deals +with a froward child, because I asked too much of her. My life has +become an endless battue. Much game of all kinds is thus driven out to +be shot, but the sportsman finds true pleasure only in tracking the +single heathcock, the solitary chamois. Yet, no," and in her eagerness +she flung her bandaged hand so high into the air that she groaned with +pain and was forced to keep silence. When able to speak once more, still +tortured by severe suffering, she exclaimed angrily: "No, I want neither +driving nor stalking. What do I care for the prey? I am a woman, too. +I would fain be the poor persecuted game, which the hunter pursues at the +risk of breaking his bones and neck. It must be delightful; one would +willingly bear the pain of a wound for its sake. I don't mean these +pitiful burns, but a deep and deadly one." + +"You ought to have spared yourself these," said Els in a tone of +affectionate warning. "Consider what you are to your father, and how +your suffering pains him! To risk a precious human life for the sake of +a stupid brute--" + +"They call it a sin, I know," Cordula burst forth. "And yet I would +commit the same tomorrow at the risk of again--Oh, you cautious city +people, you maidens with snow-white hands! What do you know of a girl +like me? You cannot even imagine what my child life was; and yet it is +told in a single word--motherless! I was never permitted to see her, to +hear her dear, warning voice. She paid with her own life for giving me +mine. My father? How kind he is! He meant to supply his dead wife's +place by anticipating my every wish. Had I desired to feast my eyes on +the castle in flames, it would, perhaps, now lie in ashes. So I became +what I am. True--and this is something--I grew to be at least one +person's joy--his. No, no, at home there are others also, though they +dwell in wretched hovels, who would gladly welcome me back. But except +these, who will ask about the reckless countess? I myself do not care to +linger long when the mirror shows me my image. Do you wish to know what +this has to do with the fire? Much; for otherwise I should scarcely have +been wounded. The lightning had struck only the convent barn; the cow +stable, when we arrived, was still safe, but the flames soon reached +it also. Neither the nuns nor the men had thought of driving the cattle +out. Poor city cattle! In the country the animals have more friendly +care. When the work of rescue was at last commenced the cows naturally +refused to leave their old home. Some prudent person had torn the door +off the hinges that they might not stifle. Just in front of it stood +a pretty red cow with a white star on her face. A calf was by her side, +and the mother had already sunk on her knees and was licking it in mortal +terror. I pitied the poor thing, and as Boemund Altrosen, the black- +haired knight who entered your house with the rest after the ride to +Kadolzburg, had just come there, I told him to save the calf. Of course +he obeyed my wish, and as it struggled he dragged it out of the stable +with his strong arms. The building was already blazing, and the thatched +roof threatened to fall in. Just at that moment the old cow looked at me +so piteously and uttered such a mournful bellow that it touched me to the +heart. My eyes rested on the calf, and a voice within whispered that it +would be motherless, like me, and miss during the first part of its life +God's best gift. But since, as you have heard, I act before I think, +I went myself--I no longer know how--into the burning stable. It was +hard to breathe in the dense smoke, and fiery sparks scorched my shawl +and my hair, but I was conscious of one thought: You must save the +helpless little creature's mother! So I called and lured her, as I do at +home, where all the cows are fond of me, but it was useless; and just as +I perceived this the thatched roof fell in, and I should probably have +perished had not Altrosen this time carried my own by no means light +figure out of the stable instead of the calf." + +"And you?" asked Els eagerly. + +"I submitted," replied the countess. + +"No, no," urged Els. "Your heart throbbed faster with grateful joy, +for you saw the desire of your soul fulfilled. A hunter, and one of the +noblest of them all, risked his life in the pursuit of your love. O +Countess Cordula, I remember that knight well, and if the dark-blue +sleeve which he wore on his helm in the tournament was yours--" + +"I believe it was," Cordula interrupted indifferently. "But, what was of +more importance, when I opened my eyes again the cow was standing +outside, licking her recovered calf." + +"And the knight?" asked Els. "Whoever so heroically risks his life for +his lady's wish should be sure of her gratitude." + +"Boemund can rely on that," said Cordula positively. "At least, what +he did this time for my sake weighs more heavily in the scale than the +lances he has broken, his love songs, or the mute language of his longing +eyes. Those are shafts which do not pierce my heart. How reproachfully +you look at me! Let him take lessons from his friend Heinz Schorlin, and +he may improve. Yes, the Swiss knight! He would be the man for me, +spite of your involuntary meeting with him and your devout sister, for +whom he forgot every one else, and me also, in the dancing hall. O +Jungfrau Els, I have the hunter's eyes, which are keen-sighted! For his +sake your beautiful Eva, with her saintly gaze, might easily forget to +pray. It was not you, but she, who drew him to-night to your house. Had +this thought entered my head downstairs in the entry I should probably, +to be honest, have omitted my little fairy tale and let matters take +their course. St. Clare ought to have protected her future votary. +Besides, it pleases the arrogant little lady to show me as plainly as +possible, on every occasion, that I am a horror to her. Let those who +will accept such insults. My Christianity does not go far enough to +offer her the right cheek too. And shall I tell you something? To spoil +her game, I should be capable, in spite of all the life preservers in the +world, of binding Schorlin to me in good earnest." + +"Do not!" pleaded Els, raising her clasped hands beseechingly, and added, +as if in explanation: "For the noble Boemund Altrosen's sake, do not." + +"To promise that, my darling, is beyond my power," replied Cordula +coolly, "because I myself do not know what I may do or leave undone +tomorrow or the day after. I am like a beech leaf on the stream. Let us +see where the current will carry it. It is certain," and she looked at +her bandaged hands, "that my greatest beauty, my round arms, are +disfigured. Scars adorn a man; on a woman they are ugly and repulsive. +At a dance they can be hidden under tight sleeves, but how hot that would +be in the 'Schwabeln' and 'Rai'! So I had better keep away from these +foolish gaieties in future. A calf turns a countess out of a ballroom! +What do you think of that? New things often happen." + +Here she was interrupted; the housekeeper called Els. Sir Seitz +Siebenburg, spite of the untimely hour, had come to speak to her about +an important matter. Her father had gone to rest and sleep. The knight +also enquired sympathisingly about Countess von Montfort and presented +his respects. + +"Of which I can make no use!" cried Cordula angrily. "Tell him so, +Martsche." + +As the housekeeper withdrew she exclaimed impatiently: "How it burns! +The heat would be enough to convert the rescued calf into an appetising +roast. I wish I could sleep off the pain of my foolish prank! The +sunlight is beginning to be troublesome. I cannot bear it; it is +blinding. Draw the curtain over the window." + +Cordula's own maid hastened to obey the order. Els helped the countess +turn on her pillows, and as in doing so she touched her arm, the sufferer +cried angrily: "Who cares what hurts me? Not even you!" + +Here she paused. The pleading glance which Els had cast at her must have +pierced her soft heart, for her bosom suddenly heaved violently and, +struggling to repress her sobs, she gasped, "I know you mean kindly, but +I am not made of stone or iron either. I want to be alone and go to +sleep." + +She closed her eyes as she spoke and, when Els bent to kiss her, tears +bedewed her cheeks. + +Soon after Els went down into the entry to meet her lover's brother-in- +law. He had refused to enter the empty sitting-room. The Countess von +Montfort's unfriendly dismissal had vexed him sorely, yet it made no +lasting impression. Other events had forced into the background the +bitter attack of Cordula, for whom he had never felt any genuine regard. + +The experiences of the last few hours had converted the carefully +bedizened gallant into a coarse fellow, whose outward appearance bore +visible tokens of his mental depravity. The faultlessly cut garment was +pushed awry on his powerful limbs and soiled on the breast with wine +stains. The closely fitting steel chain armour, in which he had ridden +out, now hung in large folds upon his powerful frame. The long mustache, +which usually curled so arrogantly upwards, now drooped damp and limp +over his mouth and chin, and his long reddish hair fell in dishevelled +locks around his bloated face. His blue eyes, which usually sparkled so +brightly, now looked dull and bleared, and there were white spots on his +copper-coloured cheeks. + +Since Countess Cordula gave him the insulting message to his wife he had +undergone more than he usually experienced in the course of years. + +"An accursed night!" he had exclaimed, in reply to the housekeeper's +question concerning the cause of his disordered appearance. + +Els, too, was startled by his looks and the hoarse sound of his voice. +Nay, she even drew back from him, for his wandering glance made her fear +that he was intoxicated. + +Only a short time before, it is true, he had scarcely been able to stand +erect, but the terrible news which had assailed him had quickly sobered +him. + +He had come at this unwontedly early hour to enquire whether the Ortliebs +had heard anything of his brother-in-law Wolff. There was not a word of +allusion to the broken betrothal. + +In return for the promise that she would let the Eysvogels know as +soon as she received any tidings of her lover, which Els gave unasked, +Siebenburg, who had always treated her repellently or indifferently, +thanked her so humbly that she was surprised. She did not know how to +interpret it; nay, she anticipated nothing good when, with urgent +cordiality, he entreated her to forget the unpleasant events of the +preceding night, which she must attribute to a sudden fit of anger on +Herr Casper's part. She was far too dear to all the members of the +family for them to give her up so easily. What had occurred--she +must admit that herself--might have induced even her best friend to +misunderstand it. For one brief moment he, too, had been tempted to +doubt her innocence. If she knew old Eysvogel's terrible situation she +would certainly do everything in her power to persuade her father to +receive him that morning, or--which would be still better--go to his +office. The weal and woe of many persons were at stake, her own above +all, since, as Wolff's betrothed bride, she belonged to him inseparably. + +"Even without the ring?" interrupted Els bitterly; and when Siebenburg +eagerly lamented that he had not brought it back, she answered proudly +"Don't trouble yourself, Sir Seitz! I need this sacred pledge as little +as the man who still wears mine. Tell your kinsfolk so. I will inform +my father of Herr Casper's wish; he is asleep now. Shall I guess aright +in believing that the other disasters which have overtaken you are +connected with the waggon trains Wolff so anxiously expected?" + +Siebenburg, twirling his cap in confusion, assented to her question, +adding that he knew nothing except that they were lost and, after +repeating his entreaty that she would accomplish a meeting between the +two old gentlemen, left her. + +It would indeed have been painful for him to talk with Els, for a +messenger had brought tidings that the waggons had been attacked and +robbed, and the perpetrators of the deed were his own brothers and their +cousin and accomplice Absbach. True, Seitz himself had had no share in +the assault, yet he did not feel wholly blameless for what had occurred, +since over the wine and cards he had boasted, in the presence of the +robbers, of the costly wares which his father-in-law was expecting, and +mentioned the road they would take. + +Seitz Siebenburg's conscience was also burdened with something quite +different. + +Vexed and irritated by the countess's insulting rebuff, he had gone to +the Green Shield to forget his annoyance at the gaming table in the Duke +of Pomerania's quarters. He had fared ill. There was no lack of fiery +Rhine wine supplied by the generous host; the sultry atmosphere caused by +the rising thunderstorm increased his thirst and, half intoxicated, and +incensed by the luck of Heinz Schorlin, in whom he saw the preferred +lover of the lady who had so suddenly withdrawn her favour, he had been +led on to stakes of unprecedented amount. At last he risked the lands, +castle, and village which he possessed in Hersbruck as his wife's dower. +Moreover, he was aware of having said things which, though he could not +recall them to memory in detail, had roused the indignation of many of +those who were present. The remarks referred principally to the Ortlieb +sisters. + +Amid the wild uproar prevailing around the gaming table that night the +duel which had cost young Vorchtel his life was not mentioned until the +last dice had been thrown. In the discussion the victor's betrothed +bride had been named, and Siebenburg clearly remembered that he had +spoken of the breaking of his brother-in-law's engagement, and connected +it with accusations which involved him in a quarrel with several of the +guests, among them Heinz Schorlin. + +Similar occurrences were frequent, and he was brave, strong, and skilful +enough to cope with any one, even the dreaded Swiss; only he was vexed +and troubled because he had disputed with the man to whom he had lost his +property. Besides, his father-in-law had so earnestly enjoined it upon +him to put no obstacle in the way of his desire to make peace with the +Ortliebs that he was obliged to bow his stiff neck to them. + +The arrogant knight's position was critical, and real inward dignity was +unknown to him. Yet he would rather have been dragged with his brothers +to the executioner's block than humbled himself before the Swiss. But he +must talk with him for the sake of his twin sons, whose heritage he had +so shamefully gambled away. True, the utmost he intended was the +confession that, while intoxicated, he had staked his property at the +gaming table and said things which he regretted. Heinz Schorlin's +generosity was well known. Perhaps he might offer some acceptable +arrangement ere the notary conveyed his estate to him. He did not yet +feel that he could stoop so low as to receive a gift from this young +upstart. + +If his father-in-law, who supported him, was really ruined, as he had +just asserted, he would indeed be plunged into beggary, with his wife, +whose stately figure constantly rose before him, with a look of mute +reproach, his beautiful twin boys, and his load of debt. + +The gigantic man felt physically crushed by the terrible blows of fate +which had fallen upon him during this last wakeful night. He would fain +have gone to the nearest tavern and there left it to the wine to bring +forgetfulness. To drink, drink constantly, and in the intervals sleep +with his head resting on his arms, seemed the most tempting prospect. +But he was obliged to return to the Eysvogels. There was too much at +stake. Besides, he longed to see the twins who resembled him so closely, +and of whom Countess Cordula had said that she hoped they would not be +like their father. + + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Abandoned women (required by law to help put out the fires) +The heart must not be filled by another's image + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FIRE OF THE FORGE, BY EBERS, V3 *** + +********** This file should be named 5545.txt or 5545.zip ********** + +This eBook was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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