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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b8f8343 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #63629 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/63629) diff --git a/old/63629-0.txt b/old/63629-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 317d851..0000000 --- a/old/63629-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8645 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, Walda, by Mary Holland Kinkaid - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: Walda - A Novel - - -Author: Mary Holland Kinkaid - - - -Release Date: November 4, 2020 [eBook #63629] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WALDA*** - - -E-text prepared by Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by -Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/waldanovel00kinkiala - - -Transcriber’s note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - - - - -A Novel - -by - -MARY HOLLAND KINKAID - - -[Illustration] - - - - - - -New York and London -Harper & Brothers -Publishers ∴ MCMIII - -Copyright, 1903, by Harper & Brothers. - -All rights reserved. -Published March, 1903. - - - - - - PUBLISHERS’ NOTE - - -For obvious reasons, the real name of the community described herein is -withheld; but the scenes are pictured with almost photographic fidelity, -and the life portrayed is the life actually led to-day by a religious -co-operative community in a Western State. - - - - - WALDA - - -“So that is Zanah there at the foot of the hill? It is a pretty village, -Hans Peter. Step more quickly with my bag. You are slow, my boy. -Remember there is a quarter of a dollar for you in my pocket.” - -The tall, broad-shouldered man who spoke took a few strides along the -plank walk that led from the railway station to the village of Zanah, -half a mile away. Then he stopped to light a cigar while he waited for -the fat, short-legged figure that was bending under the weight of a -large valise to overtake him. The man was in the early prime of life. -When he took off the soft felt travelling-hat he wore, a strongly -modelled head was silhouetted against the sky. He looked across the -field of purple cabbages to the village that lay in the hush of the -summer evening. The gabled roofs of the houses were half hidden by -trees, but on a rise of ground the porch and belfry of a little church -were plainly visible. - -Hans Peter dropped his burden and, imitating the stranger, removed from -a shock of straw-colored hair a cap mended with red yarn. The boy wore -baggy trousers of blue denim buttoned to a blouse of the same material. -The man smiled as he looked at the odd figure. - -“Do you hear me, Hans Peter? There is a quarter in my pocket for you. I -will find two quarters if you walk faster. Do you know what I say to -you?” - -The boy replaced his cap, nodded his head, and answered, with a German -accent: - -“Thou art talking to the simple one, the village fool, sir. But Hans -Peter knows thou wouldst give him silver.” - -It was the first time that the boy had spoken since the station agent -had called him by name and told him to show the stranger to the inn in -the village of Zanah, just across the hill. The man gave his guide a -sharp look. Hans Peter had a round face that was as blank as if no human -emotion had ever been written upon it. His pale eyes had a sleepy look, -and yet there was nothing in their expression to indicate lack of -intelligence. - -“The village fool—nonsense,” said the stranger. “Here is one piece of -silver. See if it can’t loosen your tongue.” - -“Thy money belongs to Zanah, where no man is richer than another,” said -Hans Peter. “I will give it to the Herr Doktor.” - -“For a fool you speak well,” said the stranger, casting a glance of -curiosity at the boy. “Why are you called the simple one?” - -Hans Peter put his hands in his pockets and answered: - -“It may be because I talk too much to strangers.” - -The man laughed. He had a clear-cut, clean-shaven face, which was almost -stern in repose, but when he smiled it was plain that the spirit of -youth still dwelt in him. - -“Well, Hans Peter, we shall continue our march to Zanah,” he said. “One, -two, three. There! We are off at a better pace.” - -He took the valise from Hans Peter, who began to trot along at his side. -The lad was not taller than a twelve-year old boy, but there was -something so strange about him that the man asked him his age. - -“One-and-twenty,” replied Hans Peter. “If the Lord had not made me a -fool, thou wouldst know that I have a man’s years.” - -There was a little quiver in the voice of the village fool, and it -touched the heart of the stranger. He put his hand on the boy’s shoulder -and said, gently: - -“Of course, I knew you were not a child. You seemed small beside me; but -I should have noticed that you are a man. I am glad to know you first of -all in Zanah, for I want you to be my guide while I am among the people, -who are said to be different from those I know out there in the world.” - -The boy raised his eyes to the western bluffs, which seemed to touch the -crimson sky. Then he nodded his head. - -“Hans Peter will do what he can,” he promised, “but the colony elders -forbid us to talk to those who come from the wicked cities, where people -live not according to the ways of God.” - -They moved on through the cabbage-field, and the board walk presently -led to a grass-grown lane that widened into the village street. The -street wavered uncertainly between vine-covered fences which shut in -old-fashioned gardens all a tangle of flowers. Back in the gardens were -set stone houses with big chimneys and shut-in porches. On benches -before the largest houses milk-pans and pewter plates were leaning -against the weather-beaten walls. The diamond-paned windows reflected -the gold of the sunset. - -Up the street the stranger and the boy walked without meeting any one. -They came to a straggling stone house with many wings that opened upon -trellised verandas. It differed from the other stone buildings in not -being surrounded by a fence. Its hinged windows were thrown open and -white curtains flapped in the gentle breeze. Here the street broadened -into a public square, the centre of which was occupied by a well. Hans -Peter paused before the worn steps leading to the front door. - -“Sir, this is the _gasthaus_,” he said. - -The man looked up as if in search of a sign, but there was nothing to -indicate that it was an inn. - -“Where is the landlord?” he asked. “This seems to be a deserted -village.” - -Hans Peter stared at him. - -“Where are the people who live in Zanah?” the stranger inquired, -choosing words that the simple one would understand. - -“I will go for Diedrich Werther,” the boy said. “It is the sunset hour, -and the men and women of Zanah are busy getting all their work done -before evening prayer.” - -Hans Peter’s German accent reminded the stranger to ask whether it was -true that few people in Zanah knew any tongue except the German. He had -to make the question very plain, and then Hans Peter said: “It is only -the fool of Zanah and the great men like the Herr Doktor that know -English.” He appeared to be thinking hard for a moment, and after a -pause he explained: “The English makes the wickedness of the world easy -to learn. It is only the great men, who can put aside temptation, and -the fool, whose soul is accursed, that cannot be harmed by it.” - -The man gave the simple one a glance of surprise. He looked into the -boy’s face for a moment. - -“I am afraid the people of Zanah are not good Americans,” he said. -“English is the tongue of the United States, and all should speak it, -Hans Peter.” - -Hans Peter shook his head. - -“Some of our young men have learned the English and they have forsaken -the ways of the colony to go out into the world. They have listened to -Satan, and Zanah hath seen them no more. Two of our girls ran away. The -elders worry much about the people, for it is hard to keep out evil -things with the railway so near. We are forbidden to make images of -anything on earth, but colored pictures are sometimes brought to Zanah.” - -“The elders must have a hard task, indeed, if they would keep out sin, -Hans Peter.” The stranger laughed. “I am afraid the great world will -swallow up the colony some day.” - -“The elders will be guided, sir. Zanah is waiting for Walda Kellar to -speak with the voice of prophecy. She will be the inspired one who will -guide the people of the colony.” - -“Who is Walda Kellar?” asked the stranger. But the simple one was -silent. The question was repeated. - -“The fool hath talked too much,” said Hans Peter. - -“Go call the landlord of the inn,” commanded the stranger, turning to -seat himself in a splint-bottomed chair that stood in a corner of the -veranda. - -Diedrich Werther, the landlord, was slow in answering the summons of his -chance guest. When he made his appearance he walked with deliberation. -He was a short, stout man, with a red face, and he had a wisp of sandy -hair in the middle of his forehead. His trousers, supported by knitted -suspenders, were of such generous size that they reached nearly to his -arm-pits. He wore a blue shirt and carpet slippers. He received his -guest with a lack of hospitality which showed that visitors were of -small importance in his estimation. After making a bow, which included -the scraping of one of his carpet slippers as he bent his head, he -looked at the stranger with unwinking eyes that revealed not the -slightest sign of cordiality. - -“Do you permit travellers to stay at your inn?” inquired the guest, -first in English, but he received no response, and he had to resort to -the German picked up in his student days at Heidelberg. - -“Ja, ja,” said Werther, and he motioned to Hans Peter to carry the -valise inside the inn. - -“And can I have dinner here?” the stranger inquired. - -The landlord shook his head. Dinner was at mid-day, but a special supper -would be made ready after evening prayer. The stranger could rest in the -big chair. - -The church-bell rang out in solemn tones. It had not sounded twice -before the street became alive. From every door issued men, women, and -children. Gate latches clicked, and soon a silent, solemn line of -villagers passed the inn. From his corner in the porch the stranger -looked on unobserved. All the men were more or less like Diedrich -Werther. They wore the baggy, ill-fitting trousers and the blue shirt -which made the host of the inn of Zanah look like the figures on beer -mugs. The women had on gowns of blue calico, straight and full in the -skirts, and made with plain, gathered waists, over which were folded -three-cornered kerchiefs. Black hoods, with untied strings, covered -their hair. Most of the women of Zanah were stout of body and stolid of -face. They walked on the opposite side of the street from the men. Among -them were many young girls, with the beauty of face that health and -innocence give. The church-bell ceased its ringing. Peering out between -the vines, the stranger saw the meeting-house on the hill beyond a -bridge on the other side of the square where the street began to climb -the hill. One by one the villagers passed through its door. - -The bell rang again. Into the little square before the inn came a man -different from the others. He was tall and spare of figure. His oddly -cut clothing fitted his body with snugness. A broad-brimmed, gray felt -hat shaded a sensitive face marked with strong lines. Long hair, which -fell over the wide collar of his coat, gave him the look of one who -belonged to a past generation. Not old, and yet not young, this man of -Zanah had an unusual beauty of countenance that bespoke patience and -gentleness. At his heels trooped a dozen boys who quickly surrounded the -well. Standing on moss-covered stones, they took turns dipping water -from a gourd fastened to the curb. - -The man of Zanah stood with his face turned in the direction whence he -had come. Suddenly he doffed the gray felt hat and waited with uncovered -head while three women approached the well. Two were like the many who -had gone by within the quarter-hour. The third was young, and her beauty -was of such rare quality that the stranger stepped out to the edge of -the porch that he might better see her features. She was of more than -medium height, and she walked with a majestic bearing. Her face, -uplifted to the sky, was lighted by the sunset glow. Over her fair hair, -which fell in two long braids below her waist, she wore a cap of white -lawn, and the kerchief crossed upon her bosom was white. She appeared to -be unconscious of the presence of the man of Zanah until her gown -touched him. She turned her head and smiled with such sweetness and such -friendliness that the stranger, watching her, felt a pang of envy. The -man bent his head reverently, and the children stopped their play to -make obeisance to her. When she had passed, the man of Zanah stood -motionless for a moment. He was suddenly startled from his reverie by -the simple one, who ran from the inn and grasped his hand. - -For a third time the bell rang. The man of Zanah patted the fool on the -head and turned towards the meeting-house. After he had gone over the -bridge, the stranger hastened across the little square to the place -where Hans Peter was left standing alone. - -“Who is the man that has just gone up the street?” he inquired. - -The village fool said it was Gerson Brandt, the school-master. - -“And who was the girl—the one with the white cap?” - -Hans Peter pretended not to hear. - -“Was that the one who is to be your prophetess?” - -Hans Peter was silent. There was a look of cunning in his eyes. - -“Answer my question, Hans Peter,” said the stranger, with some -impatience. - -“The elders say wise men ask questions that fools may not answer,” -replied the simple one, and then he ran away across the bridge. - - - - - II - - -The village of Zanah awoke at sunrise. Looking from the front window of -the inn, the stranger, Stephen Everett, saw the quaint folk moving up -and down the little street. In the porches of a near-by kitchen women -were preparing breakfast. There was a strange quiet that at first -oppressed the visitor from the outside world. The men and women were -silent; the children walked with decorous steps; there was no unseemly -laughter. - -It was a perfect morning of late summer. Beyond flat breadths of fertile -fields the bluffs rose gently, and hill-side and plain were dotted with -vineyards. Winding roads led through interlocking trees from which birds -were taking flight. The flowers, heavily laden with dew, gave out a -delightful fragrance. In the sky was the pink flush of dawn, and the -morning star still kept watch over the hamlet from which the bustling, -every-day world was shut out. - -The stranger in Zanah went in to breakfast, which was served in a long, -low room that had a sanded floor. While he was standing at the table, -upon which the blue-gowned women waited, Adolph Schneider, the head of -the colony, came to him. Adolph Schneider showed that he was a man of -importance. He was stout and bald. A grizzled fringe of beard encircled -his chin, which, on account of his short neck, rested upon his black -cravat. He had small eyes, set close together, and he gave the -impression that shrewdness was the key-note of his character. - -“I am president of the Society of Zanah,” he said, in good English, “and -I am come to inquire wherefore thou hast visited the colony in which the -Lord’s people try to do his will in all humbleness and meekness.” - -The broad-rimmed straw hat that he wore set well down upon his ears: he -had the appearance of retiring into it and his black cravat for the -purpose of watching the stranger. Everett rose to meet him. - -“Chance brought me here,” he said, looking down upon the Herr Doktor. “I -am something of a student, and I want to see the books printed in Zanah. -Perhaps you will sell some of them to me?” - -Adolph Schneider leaned on the stout cane he carried to aid him in the -difficult process of walking, for he had gout, which was the result of a -long diet of fat meats, sauerkraut, and hot breads. He glanced at -Everett with a look of suspicion. - -“We have many strangers from the outside world,” he said, “but all come -here to buy the blankets and printed cloths of Zanah. We have none who -would look into our books.” - -His small eyes rested upon the fine face of the stranger, and there was -much in it to give any man confidence. The dark eyes had a frank -expression, and the lips and chin told that they belonged to one who had -command of himself while he was fitted to rule others. - -“I have heard that your German books are good specimens of hand-work, -and I coveted some of them because I am a collector,” said Everett. - -Schneider looked puzzled and repeated the word “collector.” Everett -explained about his library, and he was soon talking in the most -friendly manner to the Herr Doktor, whom he persuaded to sit at the -table and to drink coffee with him. When Everett had finished breakfast, -they went into the front room of the inn, where Mother Werther, the -landlord’s wife, sat behind a high counter keeping an eye on the -dog-eared register and the blue china match-safe. Everett offered cigars -to the Herr Doktor, who declined them, but was easily persuaded to try -the tobacco that was produced from the pocket of the stranger’s coat. -After they had smoked together Everett knew more about Zanah than he had -expected to learn, although his direct questions had been parried, and -it had required adroitness to obtain any information concerning the -colony. The prospect of a sale of books melted the heart of the village -president, who explained that he managed the money of the people. - -“If thou wouldst see the books, come with me to the school-master,” said -Schneider. “Gerson Brandt was an artist before he came into the colony, -fifteen years ago. He hath a rare gift in the laying on of colors, and -he hath made some of the books of Zanah good to look at.” - -They walked along the quiet street, crossed the rustic bridge, and -climbed the little hill to the meeting-house, which was a low stone -building covered with vines. In place of the steeple a modest little -belfry rose above the peaked roof. Beyond the meeting-house, and -separated from it by a stone wall, was the school-house, such a -rambling, weather-beaten wooden building as any artist would delight in. -It was entered from a latticed porch with long seats on either side of -the door. There was a garden in front of it—a well-kept garden, with -trim walks and well-weeded flower-beds. Over the porch a sturdy -rose-bush climbed. The hinged windows were thrown open and the buzz of -children’s voices could be heard. Suddenly all sounds were hushed. -Everett and the Herr Doktor ascended the wide steps, and as they were -about to push open the door a woman’s voice rose in a hymn. It was a -voice clear and sweet, and its minor cadence was sustained with -wonderful power. The words were German, and the tune was monotonous, but -the man from the outside world was strangely moved by the melody. -Everett uncovered his head and listened reverently. Adolph Schneider -leaned against the door-frame, smoking, as if he did not hear. When the -hymn was ended Everett asked, in a low tone: - -“Who is the woman that sang?” - -“Walda Kellar,” answered the old man. He took several puffs of his pipe -and then he added, “She is one called of God.” - -The Herr Doktor lifted the latch and stepped into the long school-room, -while Everett paused on the threshold. It was a strange scene that met -his gaze. Seated in orderly rows, more than one hundred boys faced the -school-master, who stood beside his high desk, but Gerson Brandt’s face -was turned away from his charges; his eyes were fixed upon a figure that -chained Everett’s attention. On the platform stood Walda Kellar. She was -turning the leaves of a big Bible which was held before her by the -village fool. The girl was as tall and straight as a sapling. The ample -folds of her blue print gown did not hide the slender grace of her -figure. The white kerchief crossed over her bosom revealed a rounded -neck, upon which her beautiful head was well set. Her cap was white -instead of black, like the head-coverings worn by the other women, and -beneath it her shining hair curled about a broad, low forehead. The face -was nobly moulded. Everett could not see each feature, but he knew that -a pair of wonderful eyes were the glory of her countenance, which had an -expression of exaltation he had never seen before on any face. - -Back of the girl, knitting as if all Zanah were dependent upon her for -winter mittens, sat a woman of sour visage. As her needles moved she -watched the school-master and the girl. When Adolph Schneider entered -the room Walda Kellar looked past him, and her eyes met those of the -stranger with a look that betrayed no consciousness of his presence, -although he blushed like a school-boy. Walda greeted the Herr Doktor -with a slight inclination of her head. Then she whispered to the simple -one, who closed the Bible, gave it to the school-master, and took his -place on a stool near the teacher’s platform. - -“Mother Kaufmann, we will go back to the _kinderhaus_,” said Walda -Kellar. She spoke the German so that it seemed the most musical tongue -Everett had ever heard. The elder woman rolled up her knitting and put -it into the capacious pocket of her gingham apron. - -“Gerson Brandt, thy boys are truly well behaved; thou hast done much -with them.” - -Walda spoke to the school-master, who bestowed upon her a look of -gratitude and tenderness. - -“It is thou who tamest all that is unruly in the children of Zanah,” he -said. And then he walked down the narrow aisle between the rows of -tow-headed urchins and flung open the door that she might pass out. - -“Come hither, friend Everett,” said Adolph Schneider, advancing to the -platform, where he met the school-master. “I want to make you acquainted -with Brother Brandt. Brother Brandt might have had that bubble men call -fame if he had continued to disobey the law of the Lord, for he made -images of the earth and sky, which is forbidden in the commandments. But -he forsook his idols before he was one-and-twenty and came into the safe -refuge of Zanah.” - -“Yet even now I long to behold great pictures,” declared Gerson Brandt, -as if he were confessing some secret vice. “It is a quarter of a century -since I have looked on one.” - -“Tut, tut, Brother Brandt,” said Schneider; “if thou wilt talk of -forbidden things, dismiss thy pupils.” - -The school-master lifted his hand, and with a benediction sent the -tow-headed boys homeward. The village fool alone of all the school -remained in his place. With his head bent forward he appeared to be -asleep. - -“We have come to see thy books,” said Adolph Schneider, when he had -taken the only chair in the room and placed his cane against the -black-board. “Is that thy Bible that thou hast put so much work upon?” -He pointed to the big volume from which Walda had been reading. It had a -linen cover neatly sewn upon it, and might have been the wordbook so -much thumbed by the pupils. - -Gerson Brandt went to the desk, and, putting his hand on the book, -answered: - -“This is my Bible, and I have been making the letters that begin the -chapters. I learned the secret of the colors long ago from a monk. It is -no sin to make the Holy Book beautiful, for I have put in it no images, -only the letters in colors that are symbolic.” - -He spoke as if he were making excuse for some transgression, but the -Herr Doktor laughed leniently. - -“Surely Zanah hath no fault to find with thy book,” Adolph Schneider -said. “I want the stranger to see the letters in it.” - -Gerson Brandt opened the Bible, and as he turned the pages Everett, who -stood beside him, felt an overwhelming desire to possess the volume. The -old German text was printed upon parchment. The pages had broad margins, -and the letters beginning the chapters were illuminated with designs so -delicate and so minutely worked out that each repaid long study. The -coloring was exquisite, and gold, of a brilliancy equalled in few books -Everett had ever seen, was applied with a generous hand. - -“How long have you worked on it?” he asked. - -“Five years,” the school-master said, “and it is not finished yet.” -Gerson Brandt loosened the linen that he might display the binding of -calfskin. On the front cover was a monogram, but before Everett could -decipher the letters the linen was replaced. - -“This is a beautiful book,” said Everett, taking it in his hand and -turning the pages. “I would give much for it. Will you sell it to me?” - -Gerson Brandt’s thin face paled. He stretched out a trembling hand and -seized the Bible as he answered, coldly: - -“This book was not made to be bartered to any man. It is mine. If there -is aught in it that commands thy favor it is because the making of the -letters has been a pleasant labor done with all my heart.” - -The school-master held the volume close to his breast. The simple one, -who had not left his place on the stool, opened his eyes. The Herr -Doktor glanced from beneath his bushy brows with a look of surprise. - -“Brother Brandt, thou speakest without proper forethought,” said -Schneider; “thou knowest that in Zanah all things belong to the Lord and -that thou hast not the right to say ‘my’ or ‘mine.’” - -A dull red swept over the face of the school-master, and in his eyes was -a look that told of rebellion in his soul. - -“For the good of Zanah we might be persuaded to sell this Bible,” the -Herr Doktor continued. “It is worth a great deal of money, for Brother -Brandt hath spent upon it much of the time that belonged to the colony. -How much wouldst thou give for it?” - -“I should not think of buying the Bible if the artist who illuminated it -is unwilling to give it up,” Everett declared. The fear in the -school-master’s face touched his heart. For the moment Gerson Brandt had -lost the look of youth which strangely sat on features that told of -suffering. There was a new dignity in the gaunt figure, clad in its -queer garments. Gerson Brandt’s head was thrown back and his lips were -tightly closed. The habit of repression, learned in the long years of -colony life, was not easily thrown off, and he stood motionless while -Adolph Schneider scowled at him. - -“Wouldst thou think one hundred dollars too much for the Bible?” the -village president inquired. He had risen and was leaning on his cane. -“Zanah needs money, for the harvests have been poor. Brother Brandt will -sell the book if thou canst pay the price.” - -“One hundred dollars is little enough for the Bible,” said Everett; “but -we shall not discuss its purchase now.” - -“Yet thou wilt buy it if it is offered to thee by Brother Brandt?” -Adolph Schneider asked, persistently pressing the subject of the sale. - -Everett looked straight at the school-master, and his friendly eyes gave -Gerson Brandt confidence. - -“I would buy it if it was cheerfully offered by Mr. Brandt,” he replied. - -The village fool aroused himself and stretched lazily. Then, taking from -his pocket a little yellow gourd, he marked upon it with a big -pocket-knife. - -As Schneider and Everett left the school-house they saw that something -unusual had happened, for a crowd was moving up the street. Women were -leaning over fences. Children followed the crowd at a distance. - -The Herr Doktor stood for a moment as if uncertain what to do. It was -quite impossible for him to hasten, and he was of a phlegmatic nature -not easily excited. - -“Some one must be hurt,” Everett remarked. “I think they are carrying a -man.” - -In an instant Hans Peter had run down the hill. The school-master, who -had remained in the school-house to put away the precious Bible, came to -the door to look out. The crowd had crossed the rustic bridge. - -“They are coming here,” Gerson Brandt exclaimed. “Can it be that aught -hath happened to Wilhelm Kellar?” - -He hastened down the street, and Schneider stepped out on the sidewalk. - -“Wilhelm Kellar hath charge of our flannel-mill. He liveth with Brother -Brandt,” explained the Herr Doktor. “I trust that no accident hath -befallen him.” - -It was plain that Adolph Schneider’s anxiety was twofold, and that he -thought of the loss which might be unavoidable in case the mill -superintendent became incapacitated. - -When Everett and the Herr Doktor met the villagers, Gerson Brandt had -stopped the crowd and was bending over the rude stretcher upon which lay -the unconscious form of an old man. - -“Wilhelm Kellar hath been stricken with a sudden illness,” said the -school-master. “The apothecary hath worked over him and cannot restore -him. Will not the Herr Doktor send for a physician?” - -“The nearest chirurgeon is eight miles away,” replied Adolph Schneider. -“Let the apothecary bleed Brother Kellar as soon as he is taken to his -bed.” - -Seeing that the man was emaciated and had no blood to lose, Everett -stepped forward. - -“I am a physician,” he said. “I will do what I can.” - -He directed the crowd to fall back so that the sick man could have more -air, and helped to carry the stretcher into an upper room of the -school-house. - - - - - III - - -In an upper room of the school-house Wilhelm Kellar lay upon a high-post -bedstead that was screened by chintz curtains drawn back so that the air -could reach him. His thin, wan face looked old and drawn as it rested on -a feather pillow. He was comfortable, he let Everett know, when the -physician went to visit him early in the morning after the seizure. His -tongue refused to frame the words he tried to utter, but his eyes showed -his gratitude. Everett took a seat in the heavy wooden chair at the foot -of the bed, which stood in a little alcove. Beyond the alcove the main -room stretched out beneath the roof, which gave it many queer corners. -Rows of books partially hid one wall. In one corner a high chest of -drawers held a pair of massive silver candlesticks. An old desk with a -sloping top occupied a little nook lighted by a diamond window; here -were quill-pens and bottles of colored ink. This upper room, occupied -jointly by Wilhelm Kellar and Gerson Brandt, bore the impress of the -school-master, who waited now, leaning on the back of an old wooden -arm-chair polished with much use. - -“He will be much better,” said Everett. “He may recover from the -paralysis, but it will be a long time before he leaves his room.” - -Behind the curtains there was something like a groan. The sick man tried -to say something, but neither Everett nor Brandt could understand him. -Suddenly his eyes looked past them, and there was a smile on his face. -Walda entered the outer room and came to her father, kneeling down -beside him, apparently unaware that there was any one except themselves -present. - -“Art thou better, father?” she asked, in the softest tone, and then, -burying her white-capped head in the pillow beside him, she murmured -something in a low voice. Everett and Gerson Brandt left the two -together and went into the larger room, where the physician began to -prepare some medicine. Presently Walda’s voice was heard in prayer. The -two men waited reverently until the last petition, uttered with the -fervency of great faith, had died away. - -“The daughter loveth her father; she hath a true heart,” said the -school-master. He turned to the little window and looked out. Everett, -who was distributing powders among a lot of little papers, went on with -his work without making reply. The old hour-glass on the high chest of -drawers had measured several minutes before any word was spoken. Then it -was Mother Kaufmann who broke the silence. She entered the room with a -heavy step, and with a “Good-day, Brother Brandt,” stood for a few -moments studying Everett. - -“Where is Walda?” she asked. Gerson Brandt made a little gesture towards -the alcove. - -“She hath no right to come here alone,” the woman replied, with a frown. -“She is my care, and she hath done a foolish act. I shall forbid her to -leave the House of the Women without me.” - -“Walda was drawn hither by anxiety concerning her father,” said Gerson -Brandt. “Thou wilt not wound her by a reprimand, Sister Kaufmann?” - -The woman went near to him and spoke in guttural German some words that -Everett could not catch, but from her furtive looks and glances he knew -she was talking of him. - -Walda passed through the room. Everett raised his eyes and they met the -girl’s glance. Then he bent his head in deferential recognition of her -presence. It was only a second that each had gazed at the other, but the -man from the outside world felt a heart-throb. He spilled the powder on -the tablecloth, and after he had brushed it off he hastily took up his -hat. He went down-stairs, Gerson Brandt and Mother Kaufmann following -him to ask about his patient. The three stood in the little porch -talking of Wilhelm Kellar. From the garden, Walda, who stood among the -flowers, watched them as if she would hear every word. Involuntarily she -was drawn to the little group. - -“Thou wilt tell me the truth about my father,” she said, addressing -Everett. She spoke in precise English, with a soft accent and full tone. - -“He is seriously ill, but he will recover from this attack,” Everett -answered. - -The girl folded her hands on her breast in the manner common to Zanah. - -“It is my duty to rejoice when death freeth the soul, and yet I cannot -think of my father’s illness with aught but sadness,” she said, as a -tear trickled down her cheek. - -“Thou art showing weakness,” admonished Mother Kaufmann. - -“Be not so stern,” said Gerson Brandt. “She hath not yet faced the -mystery of death. She is young, and she loveth her father.” - -“Always thou dost find excuse for Walda Kellar,” said the woman. “She is -near to the day of inspiration, and the things of this world should not -touch her.” - -Walda Kellar appeared not to hear Mother Kaufmann’s words. Her eyes were -fastened upon Everett’s face. - -“Thou art not going away from Zanah soon, art thou?” she asked. “Nay, -stay to watch my father until he shall be out of danger.” There was such -pleading in her tone that it touched the heart of the man of the world. -Her beauty cast a spell over him. - -“Thou forgettest that the stranger hath much to call him away,” -interposed Gerson Brandt. “Thou wouldst not be selfish?” - -“Oh, I would not think first of self, and yet I would pray that the -stranger might find it in his heart to remain in Zanah to aid him whom I -love above all, for, strive as I may, I cannot forget that he is my -father.” - -She stepped nearer to Everett; her lips quivered. - -“It may be many days before your father is entirely well. It will be a -privilege to be of service to you,” said Everett, remembering how seldom -he had been of any real use in the world. “I will remain until your -father is out of danger.” - -Mother Kaufmann took Walda by the arm and led her down the hill towards -the House of the Women. Everett felt a resentment towards the -unsympathetic colony “mother.” For a moment he was angry, and then he -tried to make himself believe that he was a fool to waste a thought upon -Walda Kellar or any of the villagers. Still he could not stifle his -curiosity. A dozen questions rose to his lips, but there was something -in the look of the school-master that forbade any inquiries. - -The man who belonged to the outside world walked down to the bridge, -and, turning, followed the turbulent little creek to a place where there -was a deserted windmill beside a broken dam. Here he sat upon a log, for -he suddenly made the discovery that it was a warm day. From the mill he -could look back into the village and out upon the vineyards and the -broad fields that surrounded the picturesque little settlement. - -The peaceful scene soothed him. He fell to wondering whether, after all, -the colonists might not be wise to bar out the world, but although his -thoughts travelled far away to the busy scenes in which he usually -moved, they always came back to Walda Kellar. - -The novelty of his position rather amused him. He had meant to spend -only a day or two in Zanah, and now he had made a promise that meant a -sojourn of several weeks, perhaps a month or two. He lighted a fresh -cigar and let his thoughts wander back to the friends who were waiting -for him in the Berkshire Hills, where he had intended to spend the -autumn weeks. He knew that they would concern themselves but little -about his absence, for he had always been erratic since, when a -school-boy, he was left, long ago, with an ample fortune and an -indulgent guardian. - -His reflections were suddenly interrupted, for he heard a soft footstep -inside the mill. In an instant the fool had darted out, and, running to -a tree that formed a foot-bridge across the little stream, he stooped to -conceal something in the roots. Everett was interested. It was clear -that Hans Peter was executing some commission that would not find favor -with the elders. Lest he might excite suspicion, Everett turned his back -and looked down the dusty road. The simple one ran lightly past him. - -Everett was still facing the road when he saw a girl come towards the -mill. She passed the stranger, who was almost hidden by the wild -clematis-vine that covered a bush near him. She was pretty, after the -flaxen-haired, pink-cheeked type. She went to the tree and took -something that looked like a letter from its roots. She opened it, read -it hastily, and concealed it beneath the black kerchief crossed upon her -breast. With quickened steps she turned back towards the village. -Half-way to the bridge she met the fool, who was returning to the mill. -They spoke a few words, and the simple one continued on his way. - -“So you are back?” said Everett, handing a coin to Hans Peter, who put -it in one of his bulging pockets. - -“What wouldst thou have me do?” asked the simple one. - -“I would have you sit there on the grass and answer my questions, Hans -Peter. First, who is the girl?” - -“She is Frieda Bergen, a village maid.” - -“What was it you put in the tree for her?” - -Hans Peter looked aghast. He thrust both hands into his pockets and -appeared to be thinking. He was a strange figure, for there was a -curious blending of shrewdness and foolishness in his expression as he -furtively glanced up at Everett. - -“Thou wouldst not tell the elders,” he pleaded, presently, “if I trusted -thee? I fear nothing, but I would not make the maid unhappy.” - -“Was it a love-letter that you put there for her?” - -Everett could not repress a smile. He was beginning to believe that he -might find some amusement in watching the people of Zanah. When the fool -remained silent he repeated his question. - -“I know not what was in the packet, as I carried it for another,” said -Hans Peter. “Thou forgettest that thou art talking to the fool of -Zanah.” - -“Your wisdom makes me lose sight of that fact, Hans Peter. Is not love -against the law of the colony?” - -“Yea, all except Hans Peter, the fool, hold it a sin to put their -affections on the things of this world. The simple one cannot understand -aught but that which is of the earth; he cannot reach up to heaven, and -so he seeth nothing wrong in love that maketh men and women happy.” - -Everett rose and paced up and down the little footpath. “I suppose the -elders are always above temptation?” he remarked, stopping before Hans -Peter. - -The simple one looked almost wise, and, apparently forgetting all -prudence, said: - -“Karl Weisel, head of the thirteen elders, hath been tempted for many -years. He loveth Gretchen Schneider, the daughter of the Herr Doktor -President, but he would have to give up his high place in Zanah if he -were to marry, and so he preacheth much against the wickedness of -loving.” - -“And what of Gretchen Schneider?” - -“She hath always a bad temper; she spieth on all the youths and maids. -Frieda Bergen and Joseph Hoff, who loveth her, fear Gretchen Schneider -most of all in Zanah.” - -“And what will be the punishment of Frieda Bergen and Joseph Hoff when -it is discovered that they love each other?” - -“Marriage,” said the simple one, solemnly. “The elders will rebuke them, -and if still they love not God above themselves they will be put in the -third, or lowest, grade in the colony.” - -“And will they ever be forgiven? Will the elders ever restore them to a -high place in Zanah?” - -Hans Peter made an awkward little gesture. - -“When they have found out each other’s faults they may repent; the -Lord’s hand may be heavy on them. Then, when they see that love bringeth -pain and grief, they may go before the elders, confess that they have -erred, and when they have proved that they can serve God with singleness -of purpose they will be put in the foremost rank.” - -Hans Peter spoke as if he were repeating a lesson often conned, and -Everett said: - -“You talk not like the simple one, my boy. If I closed my eyes I should -think the Herr Doktor himself were speaking to me. But tell me, Hans -Peter, among all the married people of the village, how many have failed -to repent?” - -“Diedrich Werther and Mother Werther alone love much. They are still in -the lowest grade, and it is fifteen years since they were married. Most -of the men and women of Zanah are in the second grade, but the Herr -Doktor and Mother Schneider are among the highest. It is said they hate -each other.” - -“This has been a half-hour well spent,” said Everett. “You shall have -another piece of silver, Hans Peter, and to-morrow you will tell me more -about the people of Zanah.” - -The simple one rose from his place on the grass, took the coin into his -square, fat hand, and slouched away with it. As he disappeared, Everett -thought of a hundred things he would have liked to ask about Walda -Kellar. Yet, strangely enough, he could not bring himself to speak her -name to the village fool. - - - - - IV - - -After giving his promise to stay in Zanah, Everett found that the day -dragged. Having finished questioning the fool, he went to the inn, where -he ate his noonday dinner in silence. Then he wandered among the lanes -and winding roads until it was time for the evening meal, at which two -taciturn women waited on him. He made an effort to talk to the women, -but they pretended not to understand his German, and insisted upon -offering him hot biscuits and honey. He found that he had no appetite, -and soon left the table. As he passed through the big room which served -as an office, he noticed that Diedrich Werther was not in his usual seat -beside a little, round table where at all hours the innkeeper was to be -seen smoking his pipe and drinking huge cupfuls of black coffee. Hans -Peter occupied his favorite nook on the settle near the fireplace. - -Everett went out on the porch, where he took possession of his host’s -arm-chair. Naturally his thoughts wandered to Walda. The girl was a -mystery to him. Although he was slow to acknowledge it, he knew that she -aroused in him an insistent interest. He who cared little for women -suddenly found his attention fixed upon a girl who belonged to a class -different from any other with which he had ever come in contact. He -usually classified all women he met. He found that they were easily -divided into comparatively few types. Here was one whose education and -whose traditions isolated her. He hoped she would pass by the inn. -Impatiently he looked at his watch; the hour for evening prayer was slow -in coming. He had risen with the intention of strolling about the -square, when he heard the meeting-house bell ring. In a moment the long -street again became alive. As the men and women went by on opposite -sides, many of them glanced at him. Even the demure, quiet girls allowed -their eyes to rest upon him for half a second. One, however, was -unconscious of his presence. Frieda Bergen, the village maid who had -taken the letter from the tree-trunk at the mill, looked across the -grass-grown road to a youth who kept his eyes upon her until the blood -mounted to her cheeks and her glance was cast upon the ground. - -The school-master walked with his head bowed, as if he were deep in -thought, and behind him followed the boys, who forgot to romp and play. -He stopped on the rustic bridge. When all the villagers had passed, -Walda Kellar came. Her hands were crossed upon her breast, and instead -of keeping her eyes upon the ground she had them fixed on the clouds, -where the crimson light was turning to purple and gray. On either side -of her walked women whom Everett had never seen before. One of them was -stout, and had passed her first youth. As Walda walked by Gerson Brandt -on the bridge, the school-master and his charges doffed their caps to -her. Everett could see that Walda smiled on the man of Zanah, and that -she spoke to him. The school-master waited in reverent attitude until -the future prophetess disappeared within the church porch. Then he -motioned to his pupils to go on, while he turned back towards the inn. -With lagging step he came into the village square. - -“Hast thou half an hour to spend with one who would speak to thee?” he -asked, addressing Everett. - -The stranger in Zanah hastened to assure the school-master that he -wanted companionship. Without being summoned, Hans Peter appeared with a -chair. Gerson Brandt dropped into it as if he were weary, and Everett -had a chance to notice that the delicate face was worn and haggard. -There was something extraordinarily impressive in the personality of -this man of Zanah. His gaunt form was well knit. Meekness and gentleness -sat upon a face that denoted an intense nature. The curve of the lip -told of unusual will-power, but the eyes revealed the fact that the soul -of a dreamer dwelt within the school-master. - -“I would talk to thee about Brother Kellar,” he said. “Walda Kellar is -concerned lest she hath been selfish in asking thee to stay in the -village. The women of Zanah have told her that thou hast much to do in -the world and that thou canst ill afford to waste thy time here in the -colony.” - -Everett forgot his reflections of the previous hour and replied: - -“I shall be glad to stay here. It is a privilege to be useful once in a -while.” - -“Dost thou work much?” asked the school-master. Gerson Brandt folded his -thin hands that bore the marks of toil and turned to scrutinize the -stranger. “It is long since I left the world,” he added. “I know little -of it as it is to-day, but I remember that it was a very busy place.” - -Everett could not repress a smile. - -“You speak as if the whole world were one great village, and Zanah’s -only rival,” he said. - -Gerson Brandt laughed, and for an instant his face was young. - -“We colonists live shut up in our little valley so closely that we can -hardly be called a part of the changing life of America,” he said. “Once -I loved the things of the world, and even now I sometimes long for what -were once my idols.” - -“Your idols?” - -“Once I dreamed of being a great artist,” confessed the school-master. -“That was when I was a youth in Munich. There came to me a -disappointment. Then it was shown to my soul that I must not fix my -hopes on the things of earth. I drifted to America. The world was cruel -to me. Somehow I found Zanah. My art was a help to the people of the -colony. They took me in.” - -He spoke simply, but there was a little quaver in his voice, and he -turned his head away. - -Everett rose and began to pace up and down the porch. The humble tragedy -in the life of the man of Zanah touched him and made him feel ashamed of -his own paltry aims. - -“Do you mean that you illuminated their books?” he asked. - -Gerson Brandt shook his head. - -“Not at first. I still loved beauty. I yet had ambition, and it was long -before I could trust myself to use the colors. I had a hard discipline. -For years I have made the designs for the blue calicoes that the mills -turn out.” - -“By Jove! I don’t know how a man can surrender all his ambitions. I -cannot make it out,” Everett exclaimed, pausing before the gentle -school-master. “How long have you been in Zanah?” - -“Fifteen years. I was two-and-twenty when I came. Some day, before I -die, I mean to go out to see what changes have taken place. I know that -men are doing marvellous things, for sometimes I talk to strangers. But -it is better not to know the world, for it gives a man so many interests -he forgets his God.” Gerson Brandt hesitated a moment. “Even under the -protection of Zanah it is hard for a man to subdue all the human forces -within him,” he added. - -“All human forces are not wicked. Such a creed as that is not taught in -the New Testament,” said Everett. He felt irresistibly drawn towards the -school-master. All the vigorous manhood in him resented the restrictions -that Zanah placed upon its disciples. - -“There are many that seem not so to me,” assented the school-master, -“but Zanah teaches that it is best to fix all one’s thoughts on heaven. -Of course we have our restless hours. We who have been touched by the -world find it hard to forget. Those whose thoughts have been centred -always in Zanah are the happy ones.” - -“Walda Kellar is one of the happy ones, is she not?” - -Everett felt that the question would be parried, and he hesitated to ask -it; but his impulse to speak of the girl who occupied his thoughts -gained the mastery. Gerson Brandt’s face reddened. - -“There is peace and faith in the heart of her whom the Lord hath chosen -to be his instrument,” said the school-master, and, rising, he turned as -if to leave the presence of the stranger. He paused and added: - -“I came here to talk with thee of Brother Wilhelm Kellar. He is the -closest to me of all Zanah, and I would ask thee to tell me the truth -concerning him. Hath the Lord called him, or will he be spared to go on -with his work in the colony?” - -“If no great shock and no unusual strain of work is put on him he may -live many years,” said Everett. “He appears to have much vitality, and I -expect to see him able to resume his duties within a month.” - -“The _Untersuchung_ is but a month off,” said Gerson Brandt, “and it -will be a sore trial to him if he is not able to see his daughter -anointed prophetess of Zanah.” - -Gerson Brandt did not listen to Everett’s reply; he rose and stood upon -the steps of the inn with his face turned towards the meeting-house. -Down the street came Mother Werther and Walda. The wife of the host of -the inn walked with the girl’s hand clasped in hers, and, entering the -square, she drew Walda to the place where the school-master stood. - -After the manner of the men of Zanah, Gerson Brandt made no sign until -Walda had spoken to him. - -“Thou wert missed at prayers, Gerson Brandt,” she said, “and because I -asked thee to do a service for me. Thou hast talked about my father to -the stranger?” - -The school-master nodded his head. - -“It hath been shown to me that I was selfish in begging thee to stay in -Zanah,” Walda said, addressing Everett. “Thou wilt forgive a girl who -hath not yet subdued her soul?” - -In her presence Everett felt abashed. He saw in her a mysterious -mingling of the child, the woman, and the prophetess. As she waited for -him to answer her, he had a chance to notice the noble outlines of her -face and the perfect poise of her lithe body. - -“Do not concern yourself about me,” he said. “I assure you I am glad to -stay in Zanah.” As he spoke the rare beauty of the girl again cast a -spell over him, and he meant what he said. Mother Werther put her arm -about Walda’s waist and would have drawn her inside the door of the inn -had not Everett stopped them. - -“One moment,” he said. “There is a condition that I should like to make. -Your father needs faithful nursing—the watchfulness that only love can -give him. If you will take care of him I shall feel that I have the -right help and that I shall not have cause to regret that I remained in -Zanah.” - -“That is a matter thou shouldst put before the Herr Doktor,” said Mother -Werther. “Brother Schneider is coming now; speak to him.” - -“Is it not customary for members of families here in the colony to nurse -one another?” Everett asked the school-master. - -“Not unless they are especially appointed to the task,” answered Gerson -Brandt. - -Adolph Schneider had reached the inn. He greeted Everett with a show of -cordiality, and, taking possession of the big arm-chair, lighted his -pipe. He began to talk of Wilhelm Kellar’s illness, and to lament the -loss of the elder’s aid in carrying on the business of the colony. Then -Everett found his chance to request Walda’s attendance at the bedside of -her father. - -“The _Untersuchung_ is at hand,” said the Herr Doktor, “and it is the -time for prayer and meditation. Thou knowest that we believe she will be -made the instrument of the Lord, and therefore she should live much -alone until the hour when she shall speak with a new tongue.” - -Adolph Schneider looked at Everett suspiciously. The man of the world -showed that he could outwit the man of Zanah. With an assumption of -indifference Everett replied: - -“Of course it makes little difference to me. I shall do the best I can -to help Wilhelm Kellar back to health, but if you send his daughter to -nurse him he is likely to recover twice as rapidly as he would -otherwise.” - -He resumed his promenade on the porch. As he walked back and forth the -president of the colony saw that he was a man of magnificent physique, -erect and athletic. With some misgiving he noticed that the stranger had -more than the ordinary share of physical beauty, and that he had the -indefinable air which belongs to those accustomed to command the best -the world has to give. - -“It is important that Wilhelm Kellar should be well as soon as it is -God’s will to restore him,” said Adolph Schneider. “His sickness is a -stroke of Providence we may not question. Still, it behooveth us to aid -in his speedy recovery. Walda Kellar shall be sent to nurse her father.” - -Everett put his hands behind him and turned his back as if he had not -heard. When the Herr Doktor repeated his decision the man of the world -said, in a quiet tone: - -“Very well. I shall expect to see the new nurse in the sick-room -to-morrow.” - - - - - V - - -When Everett went to see his patient the next morning he had a new -interest in the case. Mother Kaufmann met him at the door and took him -into the queer room under the eaves where, in his little alcove, lay -Wilhelm Kellar. The room was exquisitely neat. The little, hinged window -at the foot of the sick man’s bed was open, and it let in the fragrance -wafted from the garden. - -Everett looked around for Walda, but she was not in the room. He was too -wise to make any inquiry for her. He went to the bedside, and while -Mother Kaufmann leaned upon the foot-board he felt the pulse of the sick -man. Wilhelm Kellar cast a questioning look at the physician. - -“You are better,” Everett said, in German. “You will be out in a week or -two if nothing unforeseen happens.” - -He stepped out of the alcove to prepare his medicines in the larger -apartment. “Are you the nurse?” he inquired of the woman. - -“The Herr Doktor told me to help Walda Kellar, who will come after her -hour of prayer,” Mother Kaufmann replied. - -Everett left a few directions, and said he would call again. He returned -at sundown. The school-master was out on the little porch poring over a -yellow-paged book. He let Everett pass him without salutation. The -younger man hastened up the narrow stairs. The sick-room appeared quite -changed when he entered it. Flowers were arranged in a great blue bowl -on the table. In a clumsy-looking cage that hung by the window a -chaffinch fluttered back and forth. Plants bloomed in the bow-window at -which sat Walda Kellar. The girl’s long, slender hands were busy with -her knitting. The folds of her blue gown swept the sanded floor. The -kerchief folded on her breast was not whiter than her neck. One of her -braids fell over her bosom. She did not hear Everett, as she was looking -out upon the western bluffs even while her hands kept the needles -flying. He stepped into the room. Walda rose and, putting her finger on -her lips, said: - -“My father sleepeth.” In rising she dropped her ball of yarn. Everett -picked it up, and, slowly winding it, advanced until he was very close -to her. As he put the ball in her hand their fingers touched, but the -prophetess of Zanah appeared unconscious of the contact. Motioning him -to a chair she again took her place at the window. There was a long -silence, during which her knitting-needles flashed back and forth. The -girl showed no embarrassment; indeed, she seemed to have forgotten him. -In Zanah small talk was unknown. Walda Kellar, who was to be inspired of -the Lord, had been taught to speak only when she had something to say. - -Everett suddenly found himself dumb. He sat opposite Walda, and was as -uneasy as a school-boy who has not the courage to bestow the red apple -in his pocket upon his pretty neighbor across the aisle. As the minutes -went by he began to feel her presence restful. She sat immovable except -for her untiring hands. Once or twice she raised her calm eyes and -caught the stranger’s gaze resting on her. She appeared not to notice -it, and continued her knitting. At last the silence became unendurable, -and Everett said: - -“It will be a great help to me to have you here to nurse your father.” -The girl looked up and did not answer. - -“Much depends upon you,” he continued. “It is only with your aid that I -can do my best.” - -Walda Kellar again raised her eyes. Then, in her soft, deep voice, she -said: - -“The Lord hath sent thee to Zanah. Thou shalt have all my help. Thou -hast already won my gratitude.” - -Again a silence fell. Everett leaned back in the splint-bottomed chair -and resolved to make the most of his opportunities of being alone with -the prophetess. Upon his perch the chaffinch looked out through the bars -at the quiet room. - -Outside the crimson sky was turning to purple, the fields had become a -tender brown, and the bluffs made a dark line to the west. Everett, who -gazed at the distant hills, compared the surging world to which he -belonged with the peaceful colony of Zanah, the dwelling-place of Walda -Kellar. The contrast between his own life and that of the strange girl -impressed itself upon him. Now and then he brought his glance back from -the far bluffs to look at the fair woman who was oblivious of his -presence. - -The chaffinch chirped his drowsy notes, and Walda Kellar, looking up at -the bird, said: - -“What disturbeth thee, Piepmatz?” - -The bird turned his restless head back and forth, and Everett imagined -that the chaffinch might object to his presence. - -“Is that your bird?” he asked, relieved at even the paltriest excuse for -again starting a conversation. - -Walda stopped her knitting and, smiling, said: - -“Piepmatz is my _liebchen_; he hath a voice as clear as that of a lark. -He can whistle tunes; he knows a bar of the doxology.” - -Everett went to the cage and whistled softly. The bird chirped his -silvery note, and, thus encouraged, the man whistled the strain of a -love-song. The bird imitated three notes. - -“That is a noble hymn thou art whistling,” said Walda Kellar. “I have -heard that there is wonderful music out there in the world, and that -they play on strange instruments.” - -“And have you never heard an organ or a violin?” asked Everett. - -Walda Kellar shook her head. - -“And is even the piano barred out of Zanah?” - -“Zanah permits no musical instrument. Gerson Brandt keepeth yet a flute -that he brought with him from the world, but it is always silent here.” - -“Perhaps you will let me sing you the tune you seemed to like?” said -Everett. “Some day when I am not afraid of disturbing your father you -shall hear it all.” - -Wilhelm Kellar stirred in his bed; Walda was at his side in a moment. -Everett followed her. Wilhelm Kellar would have spoken, but his tongue -still refused to do his bidding. While he was looking up at his daughter -and the physician, Mother Kaufmann bustled in. - -“How comes it that thou art here alone with the stranger?” she asked, -casting an ugly look upon Walda. - -“I am here to serve my father,” said the girl, with a sweet dignity. -“Dost thou not know that the Herr Doktor hath assigned me here?” - -“He is foolish,” snapped Mother Kaufmann. - -“What art thou saying, woman?” asked the school-master, who had just -passed through the doorway. “Walda is in her father’s care and in my -care. It is not thy concern to ask questions.” - -The woman scowled and drew her thin lips tightly over her hideous teeth. - -“And thou art a second father to Walda, I suppose?” she sneered. - -“Yea, and more,” said the school-master. - -“Gerson Brandt hath spoken the truth. He is more than father to me in -that he is my teacher and my safe counsellor,” said Walda, stepping back -towards him. - -The school-master’s pale face flushed. - -“Thou art always my sacred charge for whom I pray,” said Gerson Brandt, -in a soft voice. “For thee and for thy happiness I would do all things -in my power.” There was that in his face which told the man of the world -all emotion had not died in the heart beating beneath the queer coat of -the school-master. - -“Ah, and I pray for thee every night when I ask a blessing for my -father,” spoke Walda. “I entreat wisdom and strength for thee.” - -Gerson Brandt looked into her eyes and a sudden light illumined his -face. - -“Thou needest much of divine aid for thy work with little children,” the -girl added. - -“Yea, yea,” the school-master said, as he turned away. - -“Yea, yea, didst thou say?” repeated the shrill voice of Mother -Kaufmann. “Just remember that thy conversation should be yea, yea and -nay, nay.” - -Ignoring the elder woman, Everett gave a few directions to Walda. Then -he passed out into the darkening evening. - - - - - VI - - -There was labor for all in Zanah. Early in the morning the villagers -took their hasty breakfasts in the kitchens and then went out to work in -the mills and fields. The children over six years of age were gathered -into the school-houses, the boys being accorded more privileges in the -way of learning than the girls, who were not permitted to enjoy the -instructions of Gerson Brandt. The future “mothers” of the colony were -kept many hours in a rambling building, where they were taught all the -domestic arts, with but now and then a lesson from the books borrowed -from the school-master. In the very centre of the village stood the -_kinderhaus_, where the babes of the colony were tended during the -working-hours of their mothers. A wide porch surrounded the _kinderhaus_ -on four sides, and a tangled garden of bloom divided it from the street. -In a vine-covered arbor, set among the flowers, Walda Kellar was -accustomed to spend her hours of meditation during her last month before -the _Untersuchung_. It was not long before Everett discovered this fact; -and when Mother Kaufmann relieved the girl in the sick-room he often -made excuse to speak to her as she went through the little wicket gate. -Outside the sick-room, however, she was always the prophetess of Zanah, -aloof in manner and difficult to reach by word. - -One day as he wandered down the street, after having assured himself -that Walda was poring over a book in the little arbor, he happened to -meet Adolph Schneider. Since the day when the stranger had shown a -willingness to pay a generous price for any book he might wish to buy -from the colony, the Herr Doktor had treated him with a perceptible -deference. Adolph Schneider stopped now, and, leaning on his cane, said: - -“If thou hast a mind to buy that Bible shown thee by Gerson Brandt, the -people of Zanah are willing to sell it to thee. Many times have I meant -to speak to thee concerning the barter, but thou knowest that the -sickness of Wilhelm Kellar hath interfered with all the business of the -colony.” - -Everett waited half a moment before he replied. He read in the face of -the Herr Doktor craftiness and greed, and he knew he must use tact if he -would spare Gerson Brandt the pang of parting with his precious book. - -“The Bible is not what I want,” he said. “Some smaller book will do as -well for me.” - -Adolph Schneider was too shrewd to be easily put off. - -“We have found that there is no writing for sale in Zanah. Of all our -books there is none that we can part with except the Bible. Zanah is -loath to part with that, but the colony hath need of money.” - -Again Everett said that he did not wish to make the purchase. - -Adolph Schneider was not to be balked. “I will send to the school-master -for the book,” he said, “and thou shalt examine it at thy leisure. I -will have it taken to the inn.” - -Everett walked away towards one of the large vineyards, which was -situated on a sunny slope of a hill just beyond the village. Here men -and women were silently picking the early grapes. Elders and village -mothers kept strict watch of the younger members of the colony. No one -appeared to take any notice of the stranger, and he went over to a place -where a pile of stones offered him a seat. It was a glorious summer day -with a premature promise of the autumn in its golden haziness. Along the -edges of the fences stalks of golden-rod here and there stood out among -the tall grasses. The fields stretched away in patches of brown and -green and yellow. He felt sure that there was no more tranquil spot in -all the earth. As the quiet colonists worked among the vines, Everett -asked himself if they were really reconciled to the barrenness of their -lives. The world, with its delights, its pains, its passions, was barred -out, but he wondered whether the men and women found it possible to -close their hearts to all human emotion. With heads bowed low the women -kept their faithful hands busy, each doing the work allotted to her. -Apparently the chagrins of coquetry, the pangs of aspiration, the -restlessness of unfulfilled ambition did not touch them; yet, now and -then, he caught the girls casting sly glances at the youths who labored -near them. - -When the afternoon had advanced until the long shadows began to fall -upon the fields, Mother Werther appeared, carrying two steaming tin -pails fastened to a bar that she balanced deftly. Her appearance was the -signal for every one to stop work. She put the pails down in an open -space, and, smiling kindly on men and maids alike, said: - -“Every man and woman here will be glad of a cup of coffee, I am sure, -and this to-day is stronger than any I have boiled for many a week. It -is from the Herr Doktor’s own bag.” - -There was a merry twinkle in her eye, and Everett was sure he saw her -wink at one of the village “mothers” who leaned against a near post that -supported a well-stripped vine. - -“Didst thou steal from Brother Schneider’s store?” inquired a fat old -man who was leisurely sorting the great bunches of grapes. “Fie, fie, -Sister Werther! I thought thou couldst be trusted, even though thou art -still in the lowest grade of Zanah’s colonists.” - -Several of the older women laughed, and Mother Werther made haste to -reply: - -“It was right that I should take the coffee, since my stock was gone. -Surely it should not be better than that we all drink, for here in Zanah -no one is entitled to more than another.” - -One or two of the men sneered perceptibly. - -“Hasten to serve us,” urged an impatient girl. - -“There are no cups,” said Joseph Hoff, who had drawn near to where -Frieda Bergen stood. - -“Ach! Where is that boy Hans Peter?” asked Mother Werther. “He was to -follow in my very footsteps.” She looked back across the field, and in -the distance the form of the simple one appeared. On his head Hans Peter -carried an immense basket. He walked slowly in his usual listless way, -and appeared unmindful of the numerous urgent calls to him. When he -finally reached Mother Werther he put the basket, which was heaped high -with tin cups, down upon the ground, and stood staring vacantly ahead of -him. - -“Thou art tardy, foolish one,” said a man who scowled down upon the boy -and took the topmost cup, which he dipped into one of the buckets of -coffee. Hans Peter made no reply. - -“Where is Gerson Brandt?” asked the overseer, who had been too closely -engaged in examining some of the vines to pay attention to anything that -was going on around him. “I need his advice, and he and all his troop of -boys should have been here a quarter-hour ago.” - -“The Herr Doktor hath kept him in the school-house. They are speaking -together,” explained the village fool. - -“Go tell him that the work cannot go on until he comes,” said the -overseer. - -Hans Peter turned and went back with lagging steps. The vineyard workers -paid little attention to him, however, for they were all intent upon -helping themselves to Mother Werther’s clear coffee. Joseph Hoff dipped -a cup into one of the buckets. Calling to Everett, he said: - -“Wilt thou not join the men of Zanah in drinking good luck to the -wine-presses?” - -Everett rose from his seat to take the proffered cup. He saw that Joseph -Hoff managed to pass by where Frieda Bergen sat upon the ground. They -spoke a word to each other, but no one noticed them. Under the cheering -influence of the coffee, more talking was permitted than the stranger in -Zanah had heard at any other time since he came to the colony. Now and -then the elder men and women exchanged a word. The young girls laughed -in low tones, and there was even something like playfulness among the -youths, some of whom wrestled, and some of whom cuffed one another in -rough play. - -“The quarter-hour is past,” said the overseer, and all the cups were -thrown upon the ground in a pile, while men and women, youths and -maidens, turned again to their work. Everett had half a mind to ask for -a knife with which to cut the great clusters of heavy fruit from the -vines. He felt that he would know how to do it quite as expertly as the -men whom he watched; but while he was hesitating about taking upon -himself anything that was like real work his attention was attracted by -the appearance of Hans Peter, accompanied by the school-master, who was -followed by his pupils. As the school-master came near, Everett saw that -he had a troubled look. - -“What hath detained thee, Brother Brandt?” inquired the overseer, who -was superintending the loading of the grapes upon heavy wagons. - -“I had mislaid a book,” the school-master said, simply. “I spent half an -hour searching for it.” - -“Thou wert ever absent in thy mind,” said Mother Werther, with a laugh. -“Thou wilt find it in some odd place where it ought not to be.” - -“I was sure I put it safely in my chest of drawers,” said the -school-master. “I recall the very day on which I laid it in the topmost -place.” - -“Now recall the day thou didst take it from the drawer,” said the -overseer. - -“Nay, I know it hath lain there undisturbed by my hand,” said Gerson -Brandt. - -“Was it a book of much worth?” inquired Mother Werther. - -“Yea, one most precious to me—the Bible that I have been illuminating -these many months.” - -“The Bible that the stranger coveted?” inquired the overseer, pointing -towards Everett, who stood by, listening to the conversation. - -The school-master nodded. - -It was not five minutes before every one working in the vineyard knew -that Gerson Brandt had lost his Bible, and there were some, Everett -noticed, among both men and women, who muttered to one another as if -they accused the school-master of some sinister design concerning the -book the colony claimed. Everett walked up and down among the rows of -vines, until he noticed that Adolph Schneider had come to the place -where Gerson Brandt had busied himself. He could see that the Herr -Doktor spoke emphatically and waved his cane, and that the school-master -replied with quiet dignity. - -“The Bible that thou wouldst buy hath disappeared in a strange manner,” -said Adolph Schneider, addressing Everett. “It will be found in the -space of a day or two, for we have no thieves in Zanah. The overseer and -I both believe Brother Brandt hath forgotten where he put it, and that -he will find it when he maketh a more thorough search.” - -There was something like insinuation in his tone, and Gerson Brandt’s -face flushed. - -“The book hath been taken from my room,” he said. “It is where I cannot -find it.” - -“Thou speakest as if thou wert brother to the simple one,” said Herr -Schneider. - -“I speak the truth,” said Gerson Brandt. - -“Yea, he telleth the truth,” declared Hans Peter, pulling himself up on -his knees and looking at the Herr Doktor. - -“The truth! What dost thou know about it—thou of little mind and less -judgment?” said Adolph Schneider. - -“I may know much, and I may know little,” said Hans Peter, swaying -himself back and forth on his knees. - -“Surely thou hast not taken my Bible?” said the school-master, with a -look of mingled hope and fear on his face. - -“Nay, I have not said that I took it,” replied the fool. - -“Yet thou hast knowledge of it, Hans Peter?” asked Gerson Brandt, his -eyes scanning the dull face of the simple one. - -“It is said I have knowledge of naught,” said Hans Peter, who rose to -his feet and, folding his arms across his ragged, blue blouse, -confronted the school-master and the Herr Doktor with fearless eyes. - -“Why bandy words with a fool?” said the overseer. “There is much to be -done.” - -The men and women of Zanah returned to their tasks. Some of the men -piled the grapes into large tubs, which were lifted on wagons drawn by -fat, sleek horses. The women, scattered among the vines, industriously -cut off the bunches of luscious fruit, and the boys who had accompanied -Gerson Brandt into the vineyard were sent back and forth, bearing pails -and baskets on their heads. Mother Werther gave Hans Peter the tin cups -to carry back to the village, and he went away unnoticed except by -Everett, who had the feeling that the simple one might be able to tell -what had become of Gerson Brandt’s treasured volume. - -The close of the summer day began to be noticed. The sun sank behind the -bluffs. Everett idly watched the workers in the vineyard prepare to go -home. The women were first to leave their tasks, and, with Mother -Werther at the head of the procession, they walked two and two towards -the road. As they walked they sang a dismal strain. The wagons creaked -as the wheels sank deeply into the soil, and marching beside them went -the men, carrying upon their shoulders scythes and rakes, which they had -used in an adjoining hay-field. The vineyard toilers wound down the -hill-side. All had apparently forgotten Everett, who had found a place -where he could lie upon the ground with his head pillowed upon a smooth -rock. The peace and quiet of the evening soothed him, and again, for the -hundredth time in the day, he thought of Walda Kellar. As if his -thoughts were suggested by her proximity, he saw, coming from the -hay-field, the prophetess of Zanah. She was leading a little child by -the hand, and behind her silently followed several of the “mothers” of -the colony. The women carried upon their heads great bundles of hay, -while back of them moved the harvest wagons, piled high with heavy loads -taken from the great stacks that dotted the broad fields. Walda appeared -not to notice the stranger, who lay quietly watching her. She was -talking in a low, soothing tone to the child, which apparently had been -crying for its mother. When Walda was within a few feet of him, Everett -quickly rose, but he hesitated to address her. With uncovered head, he -waited until she might see him. When she was very near him she raised -her eyes and started, as if surprised to find the stranger in the -vineyard. She would have passed on, but he detained her by seizing upon -the pretext that she must be interested in hearing about her father, -whom he had seen after she left the sick-room. He said: - -“Miss Kellar, your father is fast regaining strength. To-day I find that -he will soon be able to leave his bed.” - -The girl stopped, and, looking at him, answered: - -“Thou hast my prayers and my thanks, thou stranger in Zanah.” - -“If I have done anything to deserve your thanks, I am grateful, Miss -Kellar.” - -The women had stopped at a little distance from them, and he could see -that they were muttering something among themselves. Presently one of -them spoke: - -“Sir, thou art addressing the prophetess of Zanah with the vain title -used in the world outside. If thou must speak to her, thou shouldst call -her Walda Kellar.” - -Everett was embarrassed. He stood gazing at the girl, who smiled upon -him quite naturally. - -“Yea, thou shouldst call me Walda,” she said. “Thou knowest that in the -Bible the men and women addressed one another by their simple names.” - -“Then, if I am to follow the custom of Zanah, you must call me not -stranger, but Stephen,” he said. And she answered: - -“Yea, Stephen, already thou seemest scarcely a stranger.” - -He felt a sudden quickening of the pulses when the girl spoke to him by -his given name, so seldom used, for he was little burdened by kinsmen -and the intimacies of ordinary companionship. Stephen Everett had always -been a man who forbade those with whom he came in contact to take -liberties with him, yet he had the quiet friendliness that kept for him -the constancy and devotion of all who knew him. His name, spoken by the -prophetess of Zanah, had, however, a sound that suddenly glorified it. -As he stood there he could think of nothing to say, and she passed on, -leaving him to look after her, and to feel in a new and peculiar manner -that the world had changed for him. He saw that she walked with a firm -step and a light freedom of movement that gave her a rare grace. She -moved slowly, so that the little child could keep pace with her, and he -was grateful for the chance duty that gave him a longer glimpse of her. -She passed through the wooden gate which cut off the vineyard. Presently -he saw her disappear among the trees at the end of the village street, -and a sense of loneliness swept over him. He who had always been glad of -the opportunity to enjoy his own society felt something of the -homesickness of the soul. - - - - - VII - - -Gerson Brandt sat alone in his school-room. His elbows were propped on -the worn lid of his black, oaken desk, and his chin was supported in the -palms of his hands. His face had a worried look. The lines about his -mouth had deepened within the last few days, and his heavy brows were -drawn together. He was wondering what could have happened to the -precious Bible. Now that he had become accustomed to the changes brought -about in the routine of his daily life by the illness of Wilhelm Kellar, -he sorely missed the pleasant task of each day making a letter or two -upon the pages of the Sacred Word. It had been his joy and his -recreation, after the long school sessions, to turn to his pens and his -colored inks. Line by line he had wrought the delicate traceries with -many a thought of Walda and many a prayer for her well-being. He had -dwelt so long in the faith that inspired Zanah that he had felt in the -hope of her inspiration a peculiar satisfaction and contentment. He was -a poet and a dreamer, so he found it not hard to believe that this girl -of Zanah would be given a special power not vouchsafed to many souls -that come into the great domain of sin. - -It was a week since the loss of the Bible had been discovered. It was -apparent to him, whose nature was sensitive to every suggestion, that -the people of Zanah for some reason distrusted him, and imputed blame to -him because of the mysterious disappearance of the volume that might -have brought the colony the price of many rolls of flannel and many -bottles of wine. The Herr Doktor that very day had been to see him about -devising some means by which more effective search could be made for the -Bible. Notwithstanding Wilhelm Kellar’s illness, the room up-stairs had -been thoroughly searched. With Schneider standing by, he had been -obliged to submit to the humiliation of unlocking each drawer and -turning out upon the floor all his few personal possessions. From his -bed in the alcove Wilhelm Kellar had anxiously watched every movement, -and had shown keen disappointment when the big volume could not be -found. Mother Werther had been present, and had scrutinized each article -as it was put back in its accustomed place in the old-fashioned chest of -drawers. One thing alone she failed to examine, and that was his old -leather portfolio, much worn with long years of constant use. In this -portfolio was concealed his one forbidden possession—the sketch of Walda -made years before, when she was scarcely more than a child. Zanah -permitted not the image of anything on earth to be kept by a faithful -colonist; but he had treasured this, made in a moment of weakness and -loneliness. He had eased his conscience with the thought that he had -drawn not the woman of the future, but the prophetess who would some day -guide his people. - -Adolph Schneider had gone on his way but a few moments before. The -school-master still felt the sting of his last words—an injunction to -find the Bible within the next fortnight. Gerson Brandt had spent all -his unemployed waking moments in trying to account for the disappearance -of the big book. He felt sure that there was no boy in the village -mischievous enough to steal it, and no outsider except Everett had been -within the boundaries of Zanah for many a week. Instinctively he knew -that the colonists were judging him unkindly, for even in Zanah -jealousies and rivalries were not unknown. In all his years of colony -life he had escaped criticism, because he had been the one elder -untouched by personal ambition. His gentleness and sweetness of nature -had made even the most selfish and disagreeable person his friend, for -no one in all Zanah had performed the friendly services that belonged to -the record made by the school-master of the colony. - -Presently he turned his face towards the window and looked out upon the -summer landscape. The day seemed strangely silent. The late summer -already presaged the coming autumn. The birds had long ceased their -singing. There was not even the hum of a lazy insect. A sense of -loneliness crept over this man, accustomed to the peculiar isolation of -life in Zanah. He half realized that the loss of the Bible meant to him, -in a certain sense, a cutting off of a daily association of thought that -bound him to Walda. His mind had hardly turned towards the girl before -he heard her light footstep as she crossed the threshold. When he saw -her framed in the doorway that opened out on the little porch, he felt -foolishly glad, but although he rose to his feet he did not advance to -meet her. - -“Ah, Gerson Brandt, something is troubling thee,” said Walda. “For fully -two minutes I have been watching thee from the porch. What is in thy -mind to rob thee thus of peace?” - -“Nay, Walda, my peace is not gone, I trust,” said the school-master; but -he paused, as if the assertion made him cognizant that he might not be -speaking the whole truth. “I have been thinking much about the loss of -my Bible.” - -“Yea, that is very strange,” said Walda, standing before his desk, and -looking up into his eyes with an inquiring glance. “I cannot understand -what could befall it.” - -“If it cannot be found, my honor is touched,” said Gerson Brandt, and -there was something like a quiver on his sensitive lips. “There are -those in Zanah who will count it against me, because I put overmuch work -upon the book and grew to hold it as my best possession.” - -“Nay, nay, Gerson Brandt, the people love thee, and they will remember -the injunction that they must not judge one another.” - -Gerson Brandt stepped from the high platform. Motioning towards a bench -in front of the window, he said: - -“Sit here near me, Walda; I would speak to thee now alone, since there -may not come another chance before thy day of inspiration.” - -The girl took her place on the bench and Gerson Brandt stood before her. -For a moment he was silent. With hands folded across his spare chest, -and with his head bent, he gazed down upon the beautiful girl. He -noticed a change in her face. It had lost something of the childishness -of its expression. It had a graver look. The eyes bespoke a seriousness -he thought foretold the coming spiritual inspiration for which the -colony had waited so many years. - -“It is well, Walda, that thou hast reached this time in thy life without -being touched by worldly emotions. Zanah hath watched over thee with a -care that hath kept thee pure for thy consecration to the Lord’s work.” - -“To Zanah I owe all my service,” said Walda. “I trust that great things -may be revealed through me.” - -She spoke as if she thought of herself from an objective point of view. - -“This is an age when men should walk near God. There are strange things -going on in the great world, and every year Zanah’s safety is -jeopardized. Untoward manners and customs are already becoming known -among the young people. There is in my heart much gratitude that thou -hast escaped the temptations to fathom earthly love.” - -“Gerson Brandt, is love the greatest of all the sins?” asked Walda, -looking up into the face of the school-master, who bestowed upon her a -look searching and withal tender. - -“It is not given to me to judge what is the greatest sin a woman can -commit,” Gerson Brandt answered, slowly. “I have heard that love -bringeth pain and sorrow and disappointment.” - -“Yet there are many who do not seem afraid to risk sorrow for love. -Truly there must be some compensation for it,” said Walda. - -“There is, there is,” replied the school-master. “At first it -intoxicates; it bringeth fair dreams, high hopes, and a courage strong -enough to face all the ills that earth can bring to men and women.” - -“Surely thou speakest with authority, Gerson Brandt.” As Walda spoke -there was a little smile upon her lips. “I might almost think that thou -hadst known the joy and pain of loving.” - -“In books I have read of the love of men and women. There is one named -Shakespeare, who long ago wrote much of the history of the human heart.” - -“In the Bible are many stories of the love of men and women,” said -Walda, “and sometimes I have wondered why, in this late day, it should -have become so wrong a thing to find on earth a dear companionship.” - -Gerson Brandt turned away and walked across the room. When he came back -he spoke in a steady voice. - -“When the soul findeth on earth peace and happiness, it is easy to -forget there is a heaven that lasts through eternity, and that these -little years shall be swallowed up in the vast expanse of time. It were -better to deny one’s self joy here in order to be sure of happiness -hereafter.” - -“But even to me earth often seems so near and dear, and heaven so far -off, that now and then I can understand why the soul should reach out -towards some one who could share all the little every-day happinesses -and troubles,” said Walda. - -“It hath been given to man always to be lonely in the world,” answered -Gerson Brandt. “Each soul must travel like a stray pilgrim who can only -greet other wayfarers and pass on.” - -“Nay, Gerson Brandt, we need not be lonely here. In Zanah all are -friends and brothers. So long as thou livest I can never feel that I am -a solitary traveller.” - -A crimson flush swept over the face of the school-master, and when the -wave receded he was deathly pale. - -“All these years my care hath been over thee, Walda. My prayers have -been for thee; my hopes have been set on thee. When thou hast become, -indeed, the prophetess of Zanah, I shall know that thou art safe -forever. Then shall I find peace indeed.” - -“Safe, Gerson Brandt! What dost thou mean? Safe from what? I cannot be -safer than I am now.” - -Gerson Brandt made no reply. He walked to the window and looked out upon -the little garden. - -Walda was lost in thought for a moment or two. Presently she said: - -“Oh, Gerson Brandt, I know that I am like unto Eve, for when thou and -the elders warn me so much about love there comes to me the desire to -understand it.” - -“None can understand love, Walda. It is revealed to every man and every -woman in a different form. It is the all-compassing emotion that moveth -the world.” - -Walda rose to her feet. Stepping close to the school-master, she said: - -“Why, Gerson Brandt, there is that in thy voice that maketh me feel thou -dost know much concerning love, which thou sayest is sinful and -unworthy. Hast thou been tempted?” - -“Mayhap I have. Here in Zanah we who keep the precepts of the colony -close to our hearts are safe indeed. By much praying and constant -vigilance we can escape all danger.” - -“Surely earthly love could never touch thee or me, and why shouldst we -waste time talking about the pitfalls that will never come in the way of -our footsteps as we traverse the quiet paths of Zanah?” - -“It is well to remember, Walda, that even in Zanah, our Garden of Eden, -there is a tree of knowledge; but so long as we taste not the forbidden -fruit we need have no fears.” - -“Fears? My heart is so lifted up in these days there falleth upon me not -the smallest shadow of the smallest fear to disturb me. I am full of -gratitude and humility in the knowledge that I have been chosen to be -the prophetess of Zanah, and each day there comes to me a broader faith -and a surer conviction concerning the things revealed to us through the -Great Book.” - -Gerson Brandt was again silent for a long time. Once he took a step -towards the girl, who was still standing before the bench from which she -had risen. He hesitated a moment. Then he said, slowly: - -“Walda, when thou art given the tongue of the Spirit, thou wilt be -separated from all Zanah. Thou wilt then live close to thy Creator, and, -even though I am an elder, I shall be denied the privilege of speaking -to thee. Lest there be no opportunity to talk again to thee alone, I -will tell thee now that always my thoughts will dwell close to thee. In -my heart the memory of the little girl that I have known so many years -will remain forever.” - -The tremor in his voice and the solemnity of his manner cast a feeling -of awe upon Walda. Moved by an irresistible impulse, she dropped on her -knees at his feet. - -“Give me thy blessing, Gerson Brandt,” she said; and the man held his -hands high above her bent head as he said, simply: - -“God bless thee and keep thee, Walda Kellar.” - -The girl rose and slowly passed out of the door. - -Gerson Brandt went back to his desk. Again he put his elbows on the worn -lid. Again he rested his chin in his hands. He sat thus for half an -hour. Hans Peter, coming in on tiptoe, walked up a side aisle without -being noticed. He climbed upon the stool, and the school-master roused -himself to ask: - -“Dost thou want me?” - -“Thou wast thinking about thy lost Bible,” said the simple one, ignoring -the question. “Thou hast no cause to borrow trouble.” - -“What dost thou know about it?” demanded the school-master. - -“I know that it is where the Herr Doktor seems not to be able to find -it,” said the simple one, twirling his thumbs. “I know that it is lost. -I know thou canst not find it.” - -“Hush, hush, Hans Peter. The Bible is not a subject by which thou canst -display thy talent for speaking foolish words.” - - - - - VIII - - -It was the beginning of spinning-time in Zanah. The grape crop had been -gathered, the bare fields had been raked, and nothing remained to be -done outside that could not be accomplished by the men and boys. -Therefore the women of the colony were assigned the task of making the -linen used in the households at Zanah. Although the very latest -machinery had been installed in the mills, it was still the custom among -the women to spin the colony sheets and table napery. The large -dining-room in the inn had been cleared, and twenty wheels had been -distributed here and there for the use of the favored “mothers” -privileged to enjoy what was really an annual week of gossip. Gathered -in the great dining-room were Mother Schneider, Mother Kaufmann, Mother -Werther, and their nearest cronies. It was a bright afternoon, and the -sun came in through the vine-covered windows. The door on the wide porch -was open, and near it, in the choicest place in the room, sat Mother -Schneider busy at her wheel. She paused to put back one of the strings -of her black cap and asked: - -“What say they up at the school-house concerning the lost Bible, Sister -Kaufmann?” - -“They speak naught of it,” replied the sour-visaged woman, as she broke -her thread. “Many times have I tried to make Brother Brandt tell me what -he really thinks, but thou knowest he hath a way of holding his tongue.” - -“Walda Kellar hath made a good nurse,” said Mother Werther, who was busy -sorting the flax. “Anything that she undertaketh she doeth well.” - -“She hath too much freedom in that sick-room,” declared Mother -Schneider. - -“Yea, she hath,” agreed Mother Kaufmann. “There are many hours that I -cannot be there to watch her.” - -“Thou forgettest that Walda Kellar needeth not watching as do other -girls. She who hath been chosen to speak for the Lord surely can be -trusted. And then thou knowest she is with her own father.” - -Mother Werther cast an indignant glance at the wife of the Herr Doktor, -who had started the conversation. - -“I trust not that physician from the outside world,” said Mother -Kaufmann. “He hath queer ways that are not like those of the men of -Zanah.” - -“He is always most kind and thoughtful; he treats women with much -reverence,” said Mother Werther. “I know him best of all persons in -Zanah, for doth he not stay here at the _gasthaus_?” - -“Since when didst thou become a good judge of men?” asked Mother -Kaufmann, with a taunting laugh that showed her ugly tusks. “The wife -who after fifteen years hath not discovered the faults of her husband is -not fitted to pass judgment on any man. I do not like that Stephen -Everett.” - -“He is helping Wilhelm Kellar to regain his health,” said a meek, -middle-aged woman who sat in a far corner. - -“It is a fortnight since Brother Kellar was taken ill, and he is still -in bed,” said Mother Kaufmann. - -“Thou forgettest that Brother Kellar hath been nigh unto death,” said -Mother Werther. - -“That doctor from the world is a handsome man,” remarked Gretchen -Schneider, who had come in and taken her seat near her mother. - -“Tut, tut; I am ashamed of thee,” said Mother Schneider, in a tone of -reproof. “Thou forgettest that the maidens of Zanah must not look upon -men, and must not care whether they be handsome or hideous.” - -“Dost thou find him more comely than Karl Weisel, our respected elder?” -inquired Mother Werther; and, despite the scowl of the wife of the Herr -Doktor, smothered laughs were heard from various parts of the room. -Gretchen Schneider’s pale face flushed. Before she could reply her -mother retorted: - -“Thy words are unseemly, Sister Werther. I bid thee keep silence.” - -“I have the right of free speech,” the innkeeper’s wife answered; “and -there is none in Zanah who doth not know there would have been a wedding -long ago if the head of the thirteen elders had not loved his place of -authority better than the daughter of the Herr Doktor.” - -In a moment Mother Schneider flew into a rage, quite inconsistent with -the religious principles of Zanah. - -“Hold thou thy clattering tongue,” she commanded; and for the space of -two minutes not a word was spoken in the room. The whirring of the busy -wheels alone disturbed the quiet. - -The entrance of Frieda Bergen fortunately relieved the situation of its -tensity. The girl came into the room bearing on her head a bundle of -flax, which she deposited before Mother Werther. - -“This I brought from the station, whither I went with Mother Schmidt,” -she said. - -“Thou shouldst not have been allowed to go to the railroad,” said Mother -Kaufmann. “But what didst thou see there?” - -“A train came by while I stood on the platform. I looked through one of -the windows and saw silken-cushioned seats, and mirrors that showed -gayly dressed men and women. There was also a car in which were -dining-tables. Black men waited on women, who laughed and talked with -men. Some of the women wore on their fingers jewels that looked like -sparkling glass.” - -The wheels had all stopped. Every “mother” in the room was listening. - -“The sparkling glass that thou sawest was what is called a diamond,” -said Gretchen Schneider. “Jewels are worn by those who have vanity in -their souls.” - -“Truly, the rings were very beautiful,” said Frieda Bergen. - -“Thou wert ever a foolish maid,” said Mother Schneider, in a tone of -severe reproof. “Put out of thy thoughts what thou hast seen to-day. I -shall have the Herr Doktor forbid thee from going to the station.” - -“Nay, Sister Schneider, scold not Frieda. She hath done no harm,” said -Mother Werther. “It should not hurt her to get a glimpse of the vanities -of the world, for she is well grounded in the faith of Zanah. She -knoweth that the costly gauds are but the playthings of sin-ridden -women.” - -Standing in the middle of the room, Frieda Bergen shook her head -doubtfully. - -“Truly, those worldly ones appeared happy,” she said. “There were some -that read books and leaned back on velvet cushions. They looked as if -they never worked. Some of the women were beautiful. They wore no caps -upon their hair. Their frocks were not all alike, as they are here in -Zanah.” - -“See, the daughter of Zanah is touched by the temptations of the world,” -said Mother Schneider. “We have heard enough. Begin thy work, Frieda -Bergen.” - -“If what I hear is true, the elders should discipline Frieda,” said -Mother Kaufmann, with a sneer. “It hath come to my ears that she hath -often spoken with Joseph Hoff.” - -Frieda Bergen bent her head over her work. A telltale blush overspread -her delicate skin, and her hand trembled as she took up her distaff. - -“Frieda Bergen hath the right to love Joseph Hoff if she chooseth,” said -Mother Werther, rising from her chair and walking the length of the room -to the place where the girl sat. “Love may be a foolish thing in the -eyes of Zanah, but it bringeth its reward.” - -“Thou art teaching heresy, Sister Werther,” said Mother Schneider. “If -the elders knew of thy heterodoxy thou wouldst have to do penance -through some hard task.” - -Mother Werther smiled in a tantalizing way. She drew in a long breath as -she were about to retort, and then, thinking better of it, went back to -her work. - -“If Frieda is wise she will follow the example of some of us who have -served God faithfully all unmindful of man,” said Mother Kaufmann. Her -remark was too much for Mother Werther. Dropping her flax, the -innkeeper’s wife put her hands upon her hips and laughed. - -“And hast thou always been unmindful of Gerson Brandt?” she inquired. - -“Mother, thou shouldst put an end to this unseemly talk,” said Gretchen -Schneider. - -“Yea, thou hast something to fear lest it be remembered how narrowly -_thou_ hast escaped love,” said Mother Werther. - -“Stop thine unruly tongue,” admonished Mother Schneider. - -“Thou forgettest that in Zanah all men and women are equal,” said Mother -Werther. “Thy husband, the Herr Doktor, is enjoying but a brief -authority. Thou art not greater than any other woman in the colony.” - -Mother Schneider gasped in anger, but before she could reply a shadow -was cast upon the floor and Walda Kellar entered. Her sweet face wore an -untroubled look. She smiled upon all the women gathered in the room. - -“Something brought me here among you,” she said. “I have but just come -from my father’s sick-room, and as I walked long, thinking of the coming -_Untersuchung_, I felt that I wanted once more to spin with the women of -Zanah.” - -“Thou bringest peace with thee,” said Mother Werther. - -Frieda Bergen rose from her little, low-backed chair, and Walda Kellar -seated herself before the girl’s wheel. - -Silence fell upon the room. The girl’s presence commanded reverence. In -her eyes was a peculiar light, and her face was radiant. Slowly she -began to turn her wheel. - -“It is very good to be here,” she said, presently. “If the Lord giveth -me the tongue of inspiration there will be other tasks for me, and now -and then, when I am not quite so strong in the faith as I ought to be, I -wonder whether I shall not sometimes be an unworthy instrument of the -Lord, because the little things of life, it seemeth, will always have a -charm for me. While the great, leather-bound books of Zanah have much to -teach me, there are days when my inclinations draw me towards the labors -which belong to the women of the colony.” - -No one answered. For a few moments the wheels whirred again, and not a -word disturbed the pleasant hum of industry. Presently Walda’s voice -rose in a minor hymn. The deep, rich cadences swelled above the sound of -the wheels. It was a weird, plaintive tune to which she sang German -words which breathed a prayer for light upon the way that led through -the sin-encompassed world. She paused after the first verse. Appearing -to forget her work, she clasped her hands in her lap and sang again with -such sweetness and such pathos that Mother Werther wiped her eyes. The -singing had brought some one to the porch outside, but Walda appeared -not to hear the footstep. She sang on and on, and when the last verse -died upon her lips she sat very still, as if her soul had gone out with -the strange melody. - -Everett, who had come to the window, looking through the blinds, beheld -the prophetess. For the moment the woman was lost, and he felt an -overwhelming sense of her aloofness from him. There came to him a full -realization of the gulf between him and this woman of Zanah, who -belonged so little to the world and so much to heaven. For several -minutes he stood fascinated as he gazed upon her, but, summoning all his -will-power, he turned away lest he should be discovered spying upon the -women of Zanah. As he walked towards the bluffs he met Hans Peter moving -along in a leisurely manner. The witchery of Walda’s song was still upon -him, and he would have passed the simple one without a greeting, but -Hans Peter stepped directly in his path. - -“Thou hast made trouble in Zanah,” said the simple one, staring at him -with unblinking eyes and doubling up one fat fist. “The day that thou -goest hence to the wicked world where thou belongest will be a happy -one.” - -“You speak with but scant respect for the stranger within your gates,” -said Everett, who was amused by the vehemence of the village fool. - -Hans Peter removed his ragged cap. “Thou hast brought sorrow to Gerson -Brandt,” he continued, “for thou wouldst have taken the Bible that he -was making beautiful for Walda Kellar.” - -Everett studied the odd little figure before him for a moment. It was -the first time that Hans Peter had betrayed, in manner or countenance, -the least trace of emotion. Even now, as the simple one stood blinking -his eyes, the man of the world could not comprehend his motive in making -the unexpected accusation. - -“You seem almost excited, Hans Peter,” said Everett, presently, when the -boy had begun to show that the silence was uncomfortable. “And why are -you concerned about the Bible?” - -“The school-master setteth great store on the Sacred Book,” replied the -simple one. “He hath been kind to me, and I like not to see him -troubled.” - -“And is not every one kind to you, Hans Peter?” - -The simple one thrust his hand into his deep pocket and hung his head. - -“The people of Zanah are many times vexed with the fool,” he said. “They -have scant patience with one who believes not as they do. In all the -colony there are only three who seem to forget that Hans Peter is the -village fool.” - -“And who are they? Gerson Brandt is one, I know. Who are the others?” - -“The prophetess of Zanah and Mother Werther.” - -“And do you not believe in the prophetess of Zanah? Have you not faith -that she will be the inspired one?” - -“Why do you question the village fool?” asked Hans Peter, suddenly, wary -lest he should tell something that he wished to conceal. “Thou knowest -that to all the colony Walda Kellar is the revered one. Truly, she -walketh near to God.” - -“Then perhaps some day she will lead you into the full faith of Zanah?” -said Everett. But the fool shook his head. - -“Hans Peter loveth earth, not heaven. He would not be wise as the men of -Zanah are wise, for verily their wisdom bringeth them no joy.” - -“Hans Peter, you speak as one who has much knowledge, after all. I am -beginning to think that you are the wisest man in the colony.” - -“If there is wisdom in knowing one is a fool and being content in his -own folly, then am I wise. They say that the fool is often given the -power of prophecy; and when I was carving the day of the month upon one -of the gourds I keep to help my memory, there came to me the fear that -something was coming to Zanah through thee. I ran to seek thee that I -might give warning of the trouble thou art bringing to the colony.” - -Everett reached into the pocket of his coat, took out a cigar, and -lighted it. “Perhaps you will be kind enough to tell me in just what way -I am to bring more trouble to Zanah,” he said, with a smile. “I had -nothing to do with the loss of the Bible, for I have refused to buy it, -and I give you my word now, Hans Peter, that I will never take it away -from Gerson Brandt.” - -“Thy word is not needed now,” answered the fool. “The Bible is where -thou canst not get it.” - -“And you know where it is,” said Everett, so quickly that the fool was -taken off his guard. - -“And if I do, no one shall find it,” the simple one declared, with a -gesture of his arm and a stamp of his bare foot. - -“Don’t you think it would be wise for you to take back the Bible to -Gerson Brandt?” Everett inquired, walking a few steps to his right, -where there was a great tree against which he leaned. - -“If the Bible could be found it would not again be put in Gerson -Brandt’s hands. It is better that it should be lost forever than that he -should see it owned by another man.” - -“Why is this Bible so precious to the school-master? Can’t you tell me, -Hans Peter? Perhaps I may help you to restore it to him. You see, I -might buy it and give it back to Gerson Brandt.” - -“No man in Zanah can own anything. If the Bible should be given to -Gerson Brandt it would still belong to the colony, and it could be sold -again.” The simple one had thrown himself upon the ground, and, with -chin in his hands and elbows dug deeply in the earth, he appeared to be -thinking. - -“Tell me about the Bible,” urged Everett, and he waited as impatiently -for the village fool to speak as if some matter of tremendous importance -to him, the man of affairs out in the great world, hung in the balance. -There was something almost absurd in the contrast between the two who -talked there in the summer afternoon. Stephen Everett was a man to be -noticed anywhere. It was not altogether his physical beauty that -invariably commanded attention; he had an unusual charm of personality. - -Hans Peter, with his long, straight tow hair tangled upon his big, round -head, kicked his earth-stained feet in the air as he lay at length upon -the ground. His blue cotton shirt, torn down the back, revealed a strip -of white skin, and his baggy trousers were held by the one button which -attached them to a knitted suspender. The pocket in the back of his -trousers bulged with one of the gourds that he carried with him wherever -he went. - -“I am waiting for you to tell me about the Bible,” Everett remarked, -when he had smoked half of his cigar. - -Hans Peter reached back and removed the gourd from his pocket. Then, -sitting up, he began to examine it carefully. - -“It was long ago that it came to Hans Peter one day, as he watched -Gerson Brandt at work with his bright inks, that the school-master’s -thoughts were on Walda Kellar as he made the gay letters in the great -book. Lest the fool might forget, he marked on his gourd some lines to -make him remember. Many times after that he saw that the school-master -was praying for her who would be inspired. Hans Peter knew that the -Bible was for Walda Kellar, and that the school-master meant it for her -to read every day when she should become an instrument of the Lord. That -is why Gerson Brandt loved the Bible. That is why no other man should -have it.” - -Everett left his place at the tree, and, pacing back and forth, pondered -for a few moments upon the information that the simple one had given -him. - -“Ah, the school-master is a second father to Walda Kellar, I suppose?” -he said, presently, casting a furtive glance at the fool. - -“Nay, he hath not years enough to make it right he should love her as a -father,” declared Hans Peter, nodding his head. “The simple one hath -been taught that love is a wicked thing, but there is in Gerson Brandt’s -heart something that may be love, like that with which he worships -angels.” - -“Again I tell you, Hans Peter, you are the wisest of all the colonists -in Zanah,” said Everett. “There, go about your errands.” - -“But thou wilt promise not to buy the Bible, even if it is ever found?” -said Hans Peter, coming close to Everett and lowering his voice. - -“Yes, yes; you have my word for it. I shall not buy it unless it is to -aid Gerson Brandt,” Everett replied. “And, Hans Peter, give me your -hand. I pledge my word.” - -The fool hesitatingly put out his fat, work-hardened hand, and Everett -gave it a hearty clasp. - - - - - IX - - -Wilhelm Kellar lay propped up in the four-posted bedstead that stood in -his little alcove. His thin face showed the effect of his illness, and -the hand that played with the flowered coverlet was thin to the point of -translucency. His long, white hair was brushed straight back from his -high forehead; his eyes, which had sunk deep into their sockets, -wandered restlessly. - -“Walda, where art thou?” he said, in a thick, indistinct voice. Walda -pushed back the chintz curtains that divided the alcove from the larger -room, and, kneeling beside her father, took one of his hands in hers. - -“I have been thinking of the _Untersuchung_, daughter,” said the sick -man, “and I pray that I may be able to be present when the spirit -descends upon thee.” - -“Thou wilt be well in another month,” said Walda, soothingly, as she -stroked the white hair. “The physician hath said that thou canst soon -leave thy bed.” - -“But the _Untersuchung_ is only two weeks off,” said Wilhelm Kellar. “It -may be that if strength is not vouchsafed me so that I may walk again a -litter can be made for me. I would be carried to the place if I cannot -go there myself.” - -“There is some talk that the _Untersuchung_ may be delayed for a month,” -said Walda, “and then thou wilt surely be able to take thy place among -the elders.” - -“It would be well, indeed, to postpone the _Untersuchung_, for thou hast -been much distracted from thy meditations by my illness.” - -“Nay, nay, father. Strange thoughts have come to me since I have been -sitting here many hours a day in this room. Never hath heaven seemed so -near to me.” - -“It is well, indeed, that thou hast never been touched by earthly love,” -said the old man, scanning the face of his daughter. “It was to keep -thee free from it that I brought thee here when thou wast a little -child, for it putteth waywardness and frowardness into the heart of a -woman. Since I have been near to death it hath been shown to me that I -must warn thee again lest thou some time feel its evil influence. Thy -mother forgot all duty. She forfeited her soul for love.” - -The old man spoke with intense feeling; he trembled as a long-controlled -emotion swept over him. It was as if he had unlocked the flood-gates of -a passion barred for many years within his heart. - -“What dost thou mean, father?” asked Walda, rising to her feet. A -deathly pallor overspread her face, but the habit of repression, taught -so persistently in Zanah, prevented her from showing the terror with -which his words smote her. - -“I mean,” said Wilhelm Kellar, drawing a quick breath—“I mean—” But -suddenly his tongue stiffened and refused to frame the words he would -have spoken. - -“Thou wilt make thyself more ill,” said Walda. “Think not of the past.” -Taking a pewter cup of water from the table, she moistened his lips. The -old man clinched his fists and closed his eyes. He lay as if he were -dead. The frightened girl ran to the door of the room to summon help. -Stephen Everett was coming up the stairs. - -“Oh, hasten to my father!” Walda implored. “I fear greatly for him.” - -Everett went to the bedside, felt the old man’s pulse, listened to his -heart, and discovered that his patient had, indeed, some serious -symptoms. - -“Has anything happened to disturb your father?” he asked, turning to -Walda, who stood with hands clasped around one of the head-posts of the -bed while she watched him with breathless interest. - -“He began to talk to me of the past,” said the girl, with hesitation, -and Everett saw tears in her eyes. - -“And he recalled some memory that troubled him?” asked Everett. - -“Yea, yea; he would have told me something of my mother,” said the girl, -as she turned to go into the outer room. - -Everett administered a soothing-potion, and went out of the alcove to -find that Walda was sitting by the old carven table with her head bowed -upon her hands. - -“Do not be alarmed,” he said, “your father will recover from this -temporary relapse.” His voice and manner were so sympathetic that the -girl began to weep. - -“Be blind to my weakness, O stranger in Zanah,” she said, presently -lifting her head proudly and biting her trembling lips. “My faith -teacheth me that nothing which belongeth to earth is worth a tear. The -people of Zanah are trained to accept the decrees of God. For an hour I -have been thinking of self. Strength will be given me to put these -rebellious impulses from me.” She went to the window, where the -chaffinch was hanging in his wicker cage. - -“Piepmatz, thou hast no foolish tears; thou canst teach me a lesson that -I need; thou art undisturbed by any distrust in thy nature.” Piepmatz, -thrusting his head forward, looked out between the bars of his little -prison. Then he chirped a cheery note. Everett went close to the cage -and whistled to the bird, which paid no attention to him. - -“If I can be of service to you, you must command me,” he said to Walda -Kellar. “You must not think of me as the stranger in Zanah. Have I not -earned the right to be called a friend?” He did not look at her as he -spoke lest she might be awakened to the fact that he took more than a -passing interest in her. - -“We use not the word friend in Zanah,” said Walda. “Here we are all -brothers and sisters. And what dost thou mean by being a friend?” - -Out in the world Everett had the reputation of being ever ready with -words, but when the future prophetess of Zanah looked up at him with -questioning eyes he was abashed. - -“I mean,” he began—“I mean that I want you to feel you can trust me even -more than if I were a brother of Zanah,” he replied, rather lamely. - -Walda looked puzzled. - -“There is none whom I could trust more than the men of Zanah,” she said. -“I have been taught by Adolph Schneider and the elders that there is no -such thing as friendship between men and women. The Bible telleth that -David and Jonathan were friends, but truly I cannot remember that there -were men and women in Holy Writ who called each other by that word thou -wouldst have me give to thee in my thoughts.” - -Everett now sought in vain for an argument that he would dare make bold -to use. Suddenly he regretted that he had neglected to study the Bible -since his Sunday-school days had ended. He tried to think of all the -Scripture stories he knew, dimly hoping that somewhere he could recall -one that would be a fit illustration. He felt a disgust with himself -when he discovered how lamentably ignorant he was. If he could only have -commanded a text that would be convincing, he felt that he might be able -to win something more than an impersonal gratitude from the future -prophetess of Zanah, who had almost ignored him during the fortnight -that had passed since he had been serving her father for her sake. - -“Out in the world there are many friendships between men and women,” he -declared. - -“Then, indeed, must they be sinful,” said Walda, “for I have heard that -there be few who serve the Lord with singleness of purpose out there -beyond the bluffs.” - -“Do not condemn the world too severely. Surely you do not think that I -am such a wicked man?” His effort to draw attention to himself failed, -however, for Walda was gazing out upon the bluffs as if she had -forgotten him in thinking of the great world that Zanah barred out. - -“Still thou hast not told me the true meaning of a friend,” she said, -presently, and again Everett became aware that somehow he had lost the -gift of speech. - -“Perhaps I cannot find words to make the meaning of friendship plain,” -he said, finally, “but I will try to teach you what the word implies.” - -“Nay, Stephen Everett, it is not right that thou shouldst teach me -anything, since thou art of the world, to which thou wilt soon return.” - -“The world will never be the same to me after I leave Zanah,” said -Everett. - -“Hast thine eyes been opened to its wickedness?” - -“No. Since I came to the colony I have thought little of the world, but -my eyes have been opened to some things to which they were blind -before—things that do not belong to the every-day world.” - -Again he was afraid to let himself look at Walda, and he appeared to be -addressing Piepmatz. Walda did not reply to him. She was thinking again -of the life beyond the bluffs. - -“Often have I tried to imagine what life must be outside of Zanah,” -Walda remarked, by-and-by, after a long silence. “Now and then stray -memories come back to me, for thou knowest I was born in the world, and -that I was a little child who brought to the colony recollections of -another existence. It is these memories that compel me oftentimes to -pray that I may be spared temptation which should never assail a woman -of Zanah.” - -“Surely no temptation could come to you,” said Everett. - -“Thou knowest little of a woman’s heart. The seeds of vanity are here,” -she said, folding her hands upon her breast. “I find pleasure in the -flowers and the pretty things that God hath made.” - -“It seems to me a sin for the colonists to deny its members the highest -joys that have been given to men and women,” said Everett. “I have often -wondered whether you had any idea of all that you miss here in Zanah.” - -“I miss nothing that is best for my well-being,” said Walda. “Thou -wouldst not plant discontent in my heart, wouldst thou, Stephen -Everett?” - -“I would have you enjoy all that is most to be desired in life,” said -Everett; and as he spoke he felt for the hundredth time an overwhelming -impatience with the creed of the colony which denied to the young and -beautiful all that made living worth while. - -Walda went to the chest of drawers, and, taking her knitting from a -little basket, sank upon a low chair, from which she could get a glimpse -of her sleeping father. Everett felt that she had dismissed him. He took -up his hat and said: - -“You told me I might call you Walda, so I shall say, Good-night, Walda.” - -“Good-night,” said the girl. - -Everett hesitated. - -“Will you not say, ‘Good-night, Stephen’?” he asked. - -Walda stopped knitting. - -“Why wouldst thou have me say thy name again?” she inquired. - -For the twentieth time Everett was embarrassed. - -“Because it is the custom of friends to speak one another’s names,” he -explained. - -“But we are not friends,” said Walda. - -“At least you will repay me for my long stay here in the colony by -speaking my name now and then,” he insisted, hypocritically. - -There was the barest shadow of a smile on the lips of the future -prophetess of Zanah. “Good-night, Stephen,” she said; and because he -could find no excuse for lingering longer in the quaint room under the -eaves, he went away. - - - - - X - - -Wilhelm Kellar’s health mended slowly. Some days he felt strong enough -to be lifted out upon the chintz-covered lounge in the large room, but -every attempt to hasten convalescence appeared futile, and after a -morning spent out of bed he always felt a reaction. On one of his best -days he lay on the lounge, which had been pushed into the bay-window. -Above his head hung Piepmatz. When Everett came to make the first call -of the day, the bird was trilling his one bar of the doxology, with long -breaks now and then between the notes. Walda was trimming a plant that -stood on the table near which sat Gerson Brandt. The school-master -watched the future prophetess intently, and at first he did not notice -Everett’s entrance. - -“My patient must be better,” said Everett, passing to the window, and -Walda, turning from the table, answered: - -“We are happy, indeed, to-day. My father hath already begun to think -about his work in the colony.” - -“You must not be too ambitious,” said Everett, drawing a stool to the -foot of the lounge and placing himself where he could study the old -man’s face. - -“I have declared a half-holiday that I may celebrate the return of -health to Brother Kellar,” said Gerson Brandt, smiling upon his old -friend, who lay, weak and prostrated, among the pillows. At this point -Piepmatz abandoned the doxology and burst into a flood of song. - -“Hush, thou saucy bird,” Walda commanded. She went to the cage and -playfully shook her finger at the chaffinch. “See, he knoweth there is -reason to be glad,” she declared. “Verily he hath much wisdom.” - -“Piepmatz is something of a philosopher,” remarked Everett. “He makes -the best of his imprisonment. Like the people of Zanah, he appears to -care little for the great world.” - -“He hath taught me many a lesson of submission,” said Walda. - -“Still, his tiny heart is easily touched by worldly things,” said the -school-master. “He hath shown a dangerous inclination to take up the -song the stranger hath whistled.” - -“Let me see whether you have forgotten the worldly song.” It was Everett -who spoke. Going to the cage he whistled the minor strain of the -love-song. Piepmatz proudly imitated him. - -“You see, I might have been a good school-master if fate had not decreed -otherwise,” said Everett, addressing Gerson Brandt. - -“What is thy work in the world?” asked Walda. “Since my thoughtless plea -kept thee here I have often wondered about thy daily labors. At first I -thought thou didst tend the sick, but once I heard thee say that thou -hadst not yet begun that labor.” - -“So far I have not done any one thing,” Everett confessed, with a -feeling of shame. - -“How dost thou spend thy days?” the school-master inquired. - -Everett hesitated before answering. In all his life it had never -occurred to him to think how his days were spent. - -“Since I left college I have travelled a great deal,” he replied, -evasively. - -“And hast thou seen the whole world?” asked Walda. Wonder was written on -her face. - -“I have seen much of it.” - -Wilhelm Kellar made an inarticulate sound. - -“Perhaps it disturbeth Brother Kellar to hear thee speak of the wicked -world which he left long ago,” said Gerson Brandt. “Like thee, he hath -seen it all; he hath wandered over land and sea.” - -“Knowing the world, my father hath kept me safe from it.” Walda had -drawn the stool first occupied by Everett close to the head of the -lounge, and, sitting near to the sick man, she clasped one of his hands. - -“Thou knowest, dear, that I have put away from me all vain longings to -know aught of life outside of Zanah.” - -Wilhelm Kellar closed his eyes with a look of contentment. - -“Didst thou mean me to understand that thou art that abomination of the -Lord, an idle and slothful man?” he asked Everett, after a moment of -reflection. - -“I confess that I have not done half my duty,” said Everett, humbly; -“but I have spent many years in study; I have dipped into science.” - -“Science? Zanah hath naught to do with science,” said Gerson Brandt. -“Science would reveal the mysteries of nature that the Lord hath hidden -from his people.” - -“Don’t you think that the man who inquires just how the tiny body of -Piepmatz has had its origin in the egg, how the bones and muscles that -form the wing give him the power of flight, and how his mite of a brain -is made to be the home of at least a fragment of intelligence has a -wider conception of the omnipotence of God than he who knows nothing of -what you call the secrets of nature?” asked Everett. - -“I would not place my judgment against the judgment of Zanah,” said -Gerson Brandt. “And yet when I was a boy I learned about the growth of a -flower, and my soul was quickened with a new impulse towards worship.” - -“They tell me there is a magic force called electricity that is now -performing what would once have been called miracles,” said Walda. - -It seemed incredible to Everett that, notwithstanding all the barriers -placed between Zanah and the outside world, it could be possible so -completely to shut out all that was modern. - -“Yes; electricity propels cars; it gives men the power to talk when they -are hundreds of miles apart; it sends words across the continent, -literally, with lightning rapidity. You know the latest achievement of -science is the discovery of the x-ray, by which it is possible to look -through a man’s body so that the bones are visible.” - -“How strange it all is!” exclaimed Walda, who was still stroking her -father’s hand. - -“The wisdom of the world is so great that no one man can understand more -than the smallest fragment of it,” averred Gerson Brandt. - -Walda was lost in thought for another moment or two. - -“Thou makest it clear to me that we people of Zanah must seem strange, -indeed, to thee.” She spoke slowly. “According to thy standard, I, who -am thought wise enough to be chosen prophetess of the colony, must be -ignorant and childish. Out in the world they would jeer at me, would -they not?” - -“Thou wilt have a wisdom that the world cannot give,” said Gerson -Brandt. “Thou shalt be spared from contact with the mammon of -unrighteousness.” - -“Nay, Gerson, it seemeth to me there must be good men in the world. -Stephen Everett, the stranger who hath come to us, belongeth not to -those who are bound to the idols of sin.” - -Everett, who had been sitting in one of the splint-bottomed arm-chairs, -was touched by the girl’s artless words. He rose to his feet and -responded quickly: - -“According to Zanah’s standard I may not be a good man, but out in the -world I am not singled out as one of the profligates. I hold honor dear. -You people of Zanah may trust me.” - -“We have trusted thee,” said Gerson Brandt. “We have prayed much over -thee, and it hath been revealed to us that thou wert sent from the Lord. -We trust thee so much that we have let thee speak to Walda Kellar, who -hath never known any one belonging to the world.” - -Gerson Brandt stood up and faced Everett. An intensity in his tone gave -his words strong emphasis. Wilhelm Kellar turned his head on his pillow, -and his sunken eyes stared at Everett as if they would read his -uttermost thoughts. A deep flush overspread Everett’s face, and the -realization swept over him that perhaps he might have it in his power to -disturb all the plans of Zanah by turning Walda Kellar’s thoughts away -from what he regarded as the superstition of the colony. Human nature is -contradictory, and Gerson Brandt’s words presented clearly a temptation -that had but vaguely suggested itself to him. He could appear not to -recognize the insinuation conveyed by the school-master, and therefore -he replied, evasively: - -“My intentions are good. It was an unselfish motive that prompted me to -remain in the colony. When Wilhelm Kellar has recovered I shall go away, -and you will all forget that I ever came to Zanah.” - -“Nay, we shall not forget thee,” said Walda. “We shall always be -grateful to thee.” - -The conversation was interrupted at this point by the appearance of Karl -Weisel. He had scarcely finished his greetings when Mother Kaufmann and -Gretchen Schneider came into the room. - -“How is it that the prophetess of Zanah hath time to spend in the -company of men?” asked Mother Kaufmann. “It might be better to pass the -days alone, praying and reading the Bible.” - -“How is it that Mother Kaufmann dares to speak thus sharply in the -presence of the woman chosen to guide the colony of Zanah?” retorted -Gerson Brandt. - -“I like not this dispensation which permits Walda Kellar to be brought -under the influence of a sinful man of the world.” - -Mother Kaufmann spoke in her guttural German. She had advanced close to -Gerson Brandt. - -“The colony is not ruled by old women, and thy likes weigh little in -Zanah,” declared Karl Weisel, whose chair had been drawn near to the one -chosen by Gretchen Schneider. - -“If Zanah were ruled by old women the head of the thirteen elders would -not be coveting the daughter of the Herr Doktor,” said Mother Kaufmann, -losing all caution in her anger. - -Gretchen Schneider’s thin face turned a livid yellow, and Karl Weisel -sprang forward as if he would like to grasp the woman by the throat. - -“Peace, children of Zanah,” commanded Walda, rising in majestic -indignation. “Your words are shameful. Put away from you the spirit of -contention.” - -Wilhelm Kellar had made an effort to speak, but in the excitement of the -moment his tongue refused to frame the words. Everett, looking at him, -saw that there were beads of perspiration on his brow and that he looked -exhausted. - -“Send these people out of the room,” he said to Gerson Brandt. “Wilhelm -Kellar must be kept quiet.” He went to the table, where he began to mix -a soothing draught, while Gerson Brandt dismissed the three visitors. -The school-master preceded them out of the room, leaving Walda and -Everett to soothe the sick man, who showed signs of extreme exhaustion. -When the medicine had been administered, Walda drew together the white -curtains and placed a chintz screen before the window. - -“He looketh almost as if death were near,” she whispered to Everett. - -“Do not be alarmed,” he replied; “he will soon fall asleep, and when he -awakens he will be as well as he was this morning.” - -The girl bent over her father to watch the faint breathing. The old -man’s face was ghastly in its emaciation and pallor. - -“Thou wilt not leave me yet?” she said, entreatingly. “Sit here with me -until I am sure he is slumbering peacefully.” - -Walda took her place on an old oaken bench above which hung Gerson -Brandt’s book-shelves, and Everett drew one of the chairs close to the -table, near to the place where Walda sat. Instead of taking up her -knitting the girl leaned on the oaken arm of the bench, and with her -chin in her hands she became lost in thought. - -“Through thee it hath become plain to me that I am different from the -women out there in the world,” she said, presently. “Sometimes there -hath come over me a great fear lest one day I shall be sorely tempted to -go forth among men and women of the earth. In the days of my rebellion, -when I turned a deaf ear to the calling of the spirit, I dreamed of -going away from Zanah. Since I have known thee I have sometimes -faltered, even as my steps were being led near to the place of peace -which will be revealed to me when the inspiration cometh.” She spoke as -if she were thinking aloud, and Everett made no response, for he dared -not say the words that came to his lips. - -“Thou knowest the world,” she continued. “Dost thou think that I could -ever be tempted to forget my duty to the people of Zanah? Shall I be -able always to walk near to God?” - -“It is said that there is a supreme temptation for every man and for -every woman,” said Everett, not daring to look at her. “You may be -spared that, or, if it comes to you, you may be strong enough to resist -it.” - -“There are strange, earthly impulses in my heart that none but Gerson -Brandt can understand,” she said. “But even he will not let me speak of -them.” - -“What are your besetting sins?” Everett asked, gently. “Can’t you -confess them to me? Perhaps I can judge more fairly than any one in -Zanah, because mine must be the broader view.” - -Walda cast upon him a look of such trustfulness that his conscience -smote him. - -“Stephen, my faith in the devil is not strong. I like not to think of -the power of evil, for truly the world seemeth good to me. When I walk -forth into the fields something in me maketh me to love the beauty of -the sky, the vast stretches of rolling prairie, and the shining water of -the distant lake. The bird-voices seem human to me, and yet the -meadow-lark and the robin, the little creatures that God hath made, -appear not to know of Satan’s rule.” - -“Walda, you are not sinning. The Creator of all things is speaking to -you through nature.” - -“Dost thou believe that, Stephen?” - -“Yes; science teaches that. Have you not been taught that the wood which -burns so brightly on your hearth is giving out the sunshine stored for -years, so that in time man might use it?” - -Walda listened with parted lips. - -“Ah, that is good,” she said. “Perhaps thou couldst unlock many of the -mysteries that disturb me. Canst thou tell how the grain of wheat -groweth when it is put into the ground? Dost thou know how the egg is -changed into the nestling?” - -“Science has probed the secrets of the seed and the egg, and it has -discovered much. If it is permitted, I will send you books when I have -returned to the world.” - -“Nay, I am but a child in my ignorance. Canst thou not tell me about the -mysteries when thou comest here to this room?” - -“It would be a privilege to teach you,” said Everett. “We might have our -first lesson to-morrow.” - -“I have not told thee half my wayward impulses,” Walda declared, -presently. “When strangers have driven to the village I have caught -glimpses of women who wore gay clothes, and I have coveted the gowns of -exquisite color.” She hesitated for a moment, with something like -embarrassment. “And, Stephen,” she added, “I like thy garb better than -that of the men of Zanah. Thou hast a ring on thy finger that I think is -pretty, and when thou takest from thy pocket thy gold watch I have a -curiosity to look at it. This shows how easily I am tempted by earthly -gauds.” - -Everett could not repress a little laugh, but seeing how much in earnest -she was, he said, quite solemnly: - -“Walda, these are not sins. Your confessions show that you are a woman -with a woman’s impulses. Even a prophetess cannot help being a little -human.” - -He took his watch from his pocket and placed it in her lap. Drawing from -his finger a ring of beautifully wrought gold, he put it into her hand. -Walda’s face crimsoned. - -“Thou must not persuade me to put it on,” she half pleaded, as she -looked at the ring; and then, as if to prevent herself from succumbing -to temptation, she passed it back to Everett. The watch she examined -carefully. “This will mark the seconds, the moments, and the hours of -all thy life. It should remind one to make good account of his time.” - -“It has marked some very pleasant moments since I came to Zanah,” said -Everett, and his tones conveyed to Walda a dim impression that made her -suddenly shy. - -Some one knocked twice on the door, lifted the latch, and entered. It -was Hans Peter, who carried in his hand a package of books, letters, and -papers. - -“These have I brought from the post-office,” said the simple one, his -pale eyes wandering from Walda to Everett as they sat close together. It -was plain, even to a fool, that their conversation had been of a sort -interesting only to themselves. - -“The elders ordered that thy mail be given into thy hands, and I have -followed thee here that I might deliver the chronicles of the wicked -world into thy keeping.” - -Everett thanked the simple one, who made no move to leave the room. Hans -Peter still stood playing with his queer cap and balancing himself first -on one foot and then on the other. - -“Wouldst thou give me the newspaper when thou hast read it?” he asked, -with something like eagerness in his tone. - -“No, no, Hans Peter, I cannot disregard the rules of the colony,” -Everett said, carelessly. - -“Dost thou not know that the fool cannot be hurt?” asked the simple one. -“He hath so little knowledge that he knoweth not folly from wisdom. To -him the wicked appear good and the good wicked.” - -Everett’s mail was scattered on the table where the simple one had put -it. Among the envelopes the man of the world saw one that enclosed a -photograph. - -“This may be a picture that will interest you,” he said. “Will you -pardon me if I open it?” He tore off the envelope, and the photograph of -a young and beautiful girl was disclosed. The hair was dressed in rather -an elaborate fashion, and the gown was slightly décolleté. - -“This is my young cousin Beatrice,” he remarked. “She is one of my -favorite relatives. I want you to tell me what you think of her, Walda.” - -“It is forbidden in Zanah that we should make the image of anything on -earth,” declared Walda, turning her eyes away when Everett held the -photograph towards her. - -“I beg your pardon,” he said. - -The fool had come close to Everett’s chair, and he now looked over the -stranger’s shoulder. - -“Is she called beautiful?” he asked. - -“I believe she is,” said Everett. “Don’t you think she is a pretty -girl?” - -“I like her hair and her necklace,” the simple one said. “She hath no -cap or kerchief. Yea, she is like an angel.” He hesitated for a moment, -looking from the picture to Walda, as if he were comparing the two -faces, and he added: “She is not so fair as the prophetess of Zanah. -Dost thou think her more comely than Walda Kellar?” - -“Hush, Hans Peter; thou knowest it is a sin to see that a woman is fair -or comely,” warned Walda. - -The simple one shook his head of tangled, straw-colored hair, and -answered: - -“Thou forgettest the fool knoweth not right from wrong; he is the only -free man in the whole colony.” He threw his cap into the air, but his -stolid face betrayed no sign that he might be exulting over his -emancipation from the laws of Zanah. - -“Here, gather up these letters and papers and come with me to the inn,” -said Everett. He thrust the photograph into the outside pocket of his -coat. - -“Now, indeed, do I know that I am a daughter of Eve,” said Walda, -rising. “To-day it hath been made plain to me that I am not like unto -the women of the world. I—I—I would have one glimpse of thy cousin. Dost -thou think it would be very sinful if I looked at the image of thy -kinswoman?” - -“Sinful! I think it is your right to know something of the women outside -the colony,” Everett declared. He took the picture from his pocket and -put it into her hand. - -Walda studied the face for a few moments. - -“Thy cousin Beatrice is fair indeed.” As she spoke the faintest sigh -accompanied her words. “Wilt thou not tell me something of her?” she -asked. “Doth she wear this gown and this necklace when she worketh?” - -The picture of his cousin Beatrice working was so absurd that Everett -smiled. - -“This is the sort of a gown my cousin wears when she goes to a ball,” he -explained. - -“A ball! What is a ball?” asked Walda. - -“Oh, it is a party—an assembly of men and women where there are music -and flowers and brilliant lights.” - -“And what do the people do? Do they sing hymns and pray as we do at our -meetings?” - -Again Everett smiled. The spectacle of the guests at a modern ball -joining in hymns and prayers would be entertaining indeed, he thought. - -“They talk and dance, Walda.” - -“There is dancing spoken of in the Bible,” said Walda; “but the elders -of Zanah have told the people how the rite hath been degraded by the men -and women of the world. I have heard that dancing is no longer a -religious ceremony.” - -“That is true, indeed,” said Everett, and the memory of some of the -stage-dancing flashed across his brain. - -“What is thy cousin’s work?” Walda inquired, again studying the -photograph. - -“Work?” repeated Everett. “Why, she has no work.” - -“And doth all thy family belong to the drones?” Walda asked. “How is it -that out in the world some men and women are permitted to be idle while -others labor?” - -“Now, Walda, you have hit upon one of the great social problems. Out in -the world the people do not work for the common good. Selfishness rules. -Some men and some women are born to wealth, and some are born to -poverty.” - -“Thou meanest that some men are like Solomon and others are like the -beggars that lay outside the gates of Jerusalem?” - -“Yes, that is what I mean,” said Everett. - -“Art thou like Solomon? Hast thou gold that thou keepest from the poor -and hungry?” Walda placed the picture upon the table and withdrew -several steps from Everett. - -“I am not like Solomon, Walda,” Everett replied, with an uncomfortable -feeling that he belonged to a useless class. - -“But you have money so that you live without work?” - -“Yes,” admitted Everett, with some reluctance. - -“He carrieth much silver with him,” said Hans Peter, who had listened -intently to the conversation. “He hath tossed me many a piece when I -have run errands for him.” - -“Oh, thou dost give away thy money?” Walda’s tone betrayed her relief at -the thought that, after all, Everett might not be altogether selfish. - -“Yes, I give away some of my money,” Stephen answered; “but I have not -done half the good with it that I should. Perhaps I may learn here in -Zanah how to employ my time and my money to better advantage.” - -“Now, indeed, I know that the Lord hath sent thee here for thine own -good.” - -“Sometimes I am not so sure of it, Walda,” said Everett, and, turning -quickly, he took up his hat. He pushed open the door, motioned to the -simple one to pass out first, hesitated a moment, and then returned to -Walda’s side. - -“Don’t think of me as such a bad man,” he said. - -“Nay, there is something in my heart that maketh me believe only that -thou art wise and true.” - -Quickly he left the room, and as he went down the stairs he reflected -that one of the first steps in wisdom is that which takes a man away -from a great temptation. Walda, standing alone by the table, thought of -many things, and then, strangely enough, Piepmatz, looking from his -little cage, whistled the notes of the love-song that Everett had taught -him. - - - - - XI - - -After leaving Walda, Stephen Everett walked far out into the country. At -first he did not try to analyze his thoughts. He felt an unwonted -buoyancy and hope. Between him and the brilliant sky he saw the face of -the future prophetess of Zanah. He felt her sweet presence, and -gradually he came into a knowledge that the girl was gaining a mastering -power over him. Because he was more or less of a trifler in the great -world of action, he had been willing to stay in the colony long enough -to gain some new impressions. At first the girl had been only a central -figure in a quaint picture that seemed to belong to another time and to -another country. There had been days that had bored him, and a hundred -times he had repented of his rash pledge that held him in Zanah for an -indefinite period. Now he knew that Walda Kellar had become to him more -than a passing acquaintance. As he hastened away from the village, his -first exultation in having gained from her something of a personal -recognition led him to think of his own motives in attempting to win -what he called the friendship of this woman of Zanah. - -Beneath all his aimlessness and indifference, Everett held high ideals -of womanhood. He was a man who cherished chivalrous traditions, and when -his footsteps finally brought him back from the foot of the bluff to the -edge of the little lake, that now reflected a purple sky, he threw -himself upon the ground to think seriously of his intentions. It was -plain to him that the prophetess of Zanah never could belong wholly to -his world. The memory of his associations in New York and Newport made -him almost doubt his own identity. Visions of the fashionable and -frivolous women who were part of what is known as American society -presented themselves to him. He saw the gorgeous gowns and flashing -jewels of matrons and maids whom he knew. He recalled their rather -brilliant conversation. In his mind’s eye he pictured an autumn ball at -Tuxedo—he had just received a letter mentioning a great entertainment -that was to take place that very evening—and he tried to imagine how -Walda Kellar would appear as one of those whom the colony condemned. -There were girls belonging to the gayest circles of Eastern cities who -were pleased to call him friend, and yet he valued their favors as -nothing compared with the esteem that he coveted from the woman of -Zanah. In thinking of Walda he soothed his conscience by telling himself -that esteem was the word which described the interest he wished the girl -to feel for him. And then the thought came to him, insistently, that he -was playing the part of a contemptible egotist, and that he was secretly -longing to awaken in the heart of the prophetess of Zanah earthly love -that was forbidden to her. - -It is a human trait to desire what is beyond one’s reach, and Everett -acknowledged to himself that part of the charm which the girl of the -colony cast upon him was due to her elusiveness and to her ignorance of -all that pertained to what were the every-day experiences of ordinary -women. She was the one woman that he might claim unsullied and untouched -by love for any other man, and yet with a sudden sensation of shame he -realized that he was presumptuous to feel himself entitled to a love -that would, indeed, be sent from heaven. - -Everett took from his pocket some of the letters that he had received -during the week. All of them told of events that formerly had interested -him. The letters took him back to his own place in the broad life of -America. He reasoned with himself that he might leave Zanah within a -week. He would go away without striving further to probe the mysterious -nature of the prophetess of Zanah, and he would remember his sojourn in -the colony as one of the many pleasant incidents in his varied life. -Having settled the question to his own satisfaction, he experienced a -sensation of relief. He strolled back to the village. Entering the inn, -he found Diedrich Werther smoking a pipe behind the dog-eared register, -which had not recorded a name since his own had been written there. He -asked some questions about the hunting, and the innkeeper told him of a -distant pond where ducks were plentiful. Everett announced that he meant -to take his gun out early the next morning, and he asked whether Hans -Peter might accompany him. Incidentally he dropped the remark that he -expected to leave the colony within a few days. Then he borrowed the -old-fashioned ink-horn and a quill-pen, which he took to one of the -tables in a far corner of the main room of the inn. Selecting a dozen -sheets of yellow paper from Diedrich Werther’s store of stationery, he -began to write letters to the friends he had almost forgotten for a -fortnight. - -There was a woman in Newport to whom he had meant to send a note. He -thought of her amusement when she would receive a sample of Diedrich -Werther’s yellow stationery. He wrote the date line, and then he found -it difficult to frame a graceful and conventional greeting to one whom -he had quite forgotten for many days. He leaned back in his chair and -tried to imagine how this woman and Walda would appear if he saw them -together. The one was a typical product of American civilization, that -educates its women broadly, giving them the liberty to mingle freely -with the greatest of many lands—a woman born to wealth and station, one -who knew how to value her extraordinary advantages, and how to make the -most of them. She was still young, but she had learned much of the -world, for she had travelled widely and had read books of every class. -She had few illusions. He remembered that her broad grasp of life had -sometimes shocked him. She had studied much of philosophy, and had but -desultory connection with a fashionable church. She was witty, -brilliant, fascinating. She was an aristocrat, in the best sense of the -word. Her gowns were artistic masterpieces. A picture of her as he had -seen her at an Easter ball came back to him. He recalled the shimmering -satin and the frost of lace that set off her imperious beauty. That -night he had been almost persuaded that she was the one woman in the -world. For a moment he quite forgot Zanah. He was impatient to go back -to the gay world that held so much of beauty and brightness. It was a -strange vagary, this sojourn in the colony. He dipped the quill-pen into -the ink-horn again. He drew the ugly sheet of yellow paper towards him, -and then he heard the heavy step of Mother Werther as she hastened -across the great kitchen to the porch. - -“Walda, where art thou going?” she said. - -Before he knew what he was doing, Everett had dropped his pen and -sauntered out-of-doors into the little square where Walda had paused at -the well. She was giving a cup of water to a child, and at first she did -not see Everett. She was standing so that he could see only her profile, -and its purity of outline made him say to himself that he had never -beheld a face so clear-cut. The delicate line of the lips, which were -always firmly closed, denoted a strength of character that the chin -rather contradicted in its full curve. He went to her, and, taking the -cup from her hand, hung it in its accustomed place. - -“I am glad to have met you, Walda,” he said, with a little hesitation as -he spoke her name, “for I am thinking of going away this week—” - -The girl gave him a startled look. - -“Nay, tell me not that, Stephen Everett,” she answered. “Truly, thou -dost not mean thou wilt leave Zanah before the _Untersuchung_?” - -“Surely, you do not care whether I go or stay?” he said. - -The prophetess of Zanah knew no arts of coquetry. She did not understand -the significance of his words, and she looked into his face with clear, -untroubled eyes. - -“Ah, but I do care,” she exclaimed. “My father needs thee yet; he is not -so strong to-day.” - -She turned away from the well and began to walk towards the bridge. -Everett followed her. - -“Your father will get on without me,” he declared, with some coldness, -for the girl’s unconscious rebuff irritated him. - -“Nay, thou seemest to hold the power which keepeth him alive. I mean, -that although it is the Lord that hath vouchsafed to spare him, thou art -his instrument. My faith is not steadfast. I am weak, indeed; but thou -hast seemed to me a stay, a strong staff upon which I lean.” - -“It is good to know that you count me even a little help.” An intonation -in his voice told her that he felt himself aggrieved. - -“Thou must count me a selfish woman of Zanah,” she made haste to say. -“Thou hast stayed many days here in the colony, and neglected thine own -work that thou mightst minister to my father.” - -“I have but kept my pledge to you.” - -“Thou hast my gratitude, Stephen.” She paused on the bridge. “I cannot -estimate what sacrifice thou hast made to keep thy word, but thou hast -caused me to know that all who belong to the great world are not wicked. -Verily, Stephen, thou dost serve the Lord.” - -Everett did not reply immediately. He had a guilty sense of misleading -the prophetess of Zanah. He knew that of all his life but the smallest -fragments had been given to service of any sort. A sense of regret for -the futile years he had spent made him turn away, for the girl was -looking at him with a searching gaze that made him uncomfortable. - -“The darkness is falling; I must hasten on,” said Walda, but she did not -move. - -“Where were you going?” asked Everett. “Let me walk with you?” - -“It is not the custom for the men of Zanah to talk with the women, or to -walk with them,” said Walda. “It hath been decreed by the elders that I -shall go alone at this hour every night to pray at the grave of Marta -Bachmann.” - -“I am not a man of Zanah. The cemetery is half a mile from here, along a -lonely road. Let me go with you?” he pleaded, and, without waiting for -an answer, he took her permission for granted. It was the hour for the -evening meeting, and the street was quite deserted, so he knew that they -ran little risk of being seen together in the dusk of the late summer -day. - -They walked slowly up the hill beyond the bridge. They passed the -school-house, and Walda paused to look up at the little window of her -father’s room, whence shone a candle-beam. - -“When I think that through thy help I still have my father, there is so -much of gratitude in my heart that I cannot speak it,” she said. -“Surely, it will not be long before he is again able to mingle with the -colony?” - -“Not very long, if all goes well,” said Everett. “I hear that he is much -needed by the elders of Zanah.” - -“Bad luck hath come to the mills and the crops. I fear that we have not -looked steadfastly to the Lord for guidance. I pray that it may be -revealed through me what we shall do to increase the prosperity of -Zanah.” - -They were on the brow of the hill now, and had entered the wavering -road, arched with oak and maple trees. Everett was silent for a few -minutes while he pondered upon some method by which he could lead the -conversation away from general topics. While the girl betrayed no -uneasiness in his companionship, he knew that he must use the utmost -tact if he would appeal to the woman instead of the prophetess. - -“And when you are inspired, will you live apart from the people of -Zanah?” he said. “You will pardon me, but I have often wondered just -what your life will be. Are you never to know the duties and the joys -that belong to other women?” - -“I am to walk close to God. I am to forget self. I am to serve Zanah all -my life.” - -Walda spoke in a solemn tone, and her absolute resignation to the lot -that appeared to the man of the world a needless and ridiculous -sacrifice awoke a spirit of revolt in Everett’s heart. - -“Temptations have assailed me,” she confessed, after a pause. “Now and -then there hath been a restlessness within me. Thou hast sometimes -appeared to me as one sent from Satan, for thou hast painted the great -world most alluringly.” - -Walda drew away from Everett, and he could feel that she was looking at -him with fear and distrust. - -“You misunderstand me,” said Everett. “I know that you live near to -heaven, that you are better than the women I know. I reverence you, -I—I—” - -Although Everett made an effort to speak calmly, the intensity of his -voice and manner disturbed the unfathomed depths of Walda’s soul. After -the manner of Zanah she instinctively folded her hands over her bosom -with a gesture that signified to the colonists the warding off of all -worldly influences. - -“Hush!” she said. “Speak not thus to the prophetess of Zanah.” - -“I am not speaking to the prophetess now,” said Everett, taking a quick -step in front of her. “Walda, listen to me. Don’t you know that you are -choosing for your life loneliness and isolation? I think of you here in -Zanah in the years that are coming, and I cannot bear to feel that one -day will be just like another until the end.” - -“A man thou art who hath set his thoughts on earth. Stephen, dost thou -not know sorrow and trouble cannot touch me when I walk near to God? -Hast thy spirit never been lifted up above all that belongs to self? -Hast thou never been near to heaven in thy thoughts?” - -“Never until now,” said Everett. - -Into Walda’s face came a new light. - -“Dost thou mean that thou hast learned in Zanah to think less of the -world and to long for heaven?” - -The man looked down at the girl. She was so near him that the light -breeze blew her gown against him. He stifled a longing to put out his -hand to touch her. - -“Yes, Walda, I can say with all truthfulness that the world has become -as nothing to me, and that I long for heaven.” - -“Thou hast made me very happy, Stephen. It hath been a sorrow to me to -know that thou wert not numbered with those who strive to earn eternal -life.” - -“Then you have been troubled about me?” Everett questioned. - -The girl hesitated a moment. - -“I have hoped that I might meet thee in the other life, where there are -none of the barriers that divide men and women who would serve the -Lord.” - -Everett felt the blood pour out of his heart. The girl had made a -strange admission. For a brief moment he was glad with all the joy of an -unexpected victory. Exultant words came to his lips, but when he looked -at Walda he felt anew the awe that her innocence and her spirituality -cast upon him. She appeared absolutely unconscious of what her admission -meant to the man of the world. She moved onward. They emerged from the -wooded road and came to the shore of the placid little lake. The distant -bluffs beyond the lake were dimly outlined in the evening shadows, and -above them the last lingering purple of the sunset was fading in the -sky. In the trees behind them a bird trilled the fragment of a -dream-song. The beauty of the scene, the quiet of the night, and the -nearness of Walda stirred in Everett warring impulses, yet he was dumb -before the prophetess of Zanah. The girl’s attitude of perfect trust in -him forbade him to take advantage of the opportunity to tell her that -his heaven was not the one for which she lived and worked, and yet he -felt almost cowardly in letting her believe that his sudden aspiration -was a religious experience. - -“Stephen, I would have thee know what is in my heart,” she said, fixing -her clear eyes on him. “I would have thee understand that I am but a -weak woman of Zanah, called to do the Lord’s will. There have been times -when Satan tempted me with longing for the things forever denied to the -people of Zanah. There have been days when I begged that I might not be -compelled to be the prophetess. Often have I prayed to escape this work -of the Master, but since thou camest to Zanah there hath been a new -strength in me. Thou hast made me see many things unto which mine eyes -were closed; thou hast helped me to wisdom not vouchsafed to the colony -of Zanah. Since one day, when thou didst teach me to look from the -window of my father’s room, and behold the beauties of earth and sky, -peace hath come to me from the woods and fields whenever there was -unrest in my soul. Now that thou hast aspirations for heaven, I am -assured that thou art one sent from God to help the least of his -children.” - -“I am unworthy to be your teacher,” Everett faltered. - -They walked on until they came to the high, arched gate of the -graveyard. Everett unlatched the gate and they went in among the sunken -mounds, each of which was marked by a flat stone bearing the simple name -of some colonist who had passed out of the narrow life of Zanah. On a -little knoll, separated from the other graves, was one over which a -willow-tree trailed its low branches. Towards this Walda led the way, -and when they had come to it she said to Everett: - -“Thou must leave me now.” - -“I was thinking of going away from Zanah,” said Everett, with a sudden -memory of his letters. “When I took the liberty of walking with you -to-night it was my intention to say good-bye to you, Walda.” - -The girl turned on him a glance of such frank regret that he asked -again: - -“Will you miss me, Walda?” - -“Miss thee?” she repeated. “Yea, for I have come to count thee as one -who maketh each day better for me. Thou hast become like unto Gerson -Brandt in thy brotherly care.” - -Everett winced. - -“But I don’t want you to think of me as your brother,” he said. “I would -have you call me friend.” - -“Nay, friendship is denied between men and women in Zanah. Have I not -told thee that before? But surely thou wilt not go away before the -_Untersuchung_?” - -There was a tone of pleading in the girl’s voice. - -“Since I have to leave Zanah, since I have to go out into the world, -where I shall be lost to you, I may as well go now as at any future -time.” - -“Nay, wait in Zanah until after the spirit of strength hath taken -possession of me. When I am, indeed, the instrument of the Lord, then -can I see thee turn again to the world. Then can I know, indeed, it will -be well with me. Stephen, thou hast just said thou art near to heaven, -and I would send thee forth with a firm faith. From now until the day of -the _Untersuchung_ I will pray for thee.” - -“Your wishes shall be commands to me, Walda. But if I decide to stay in -Zanah, it will mean much to me. There may be days when I shall repent -that I changed my mind.” He stood looking at her for a moment. “I will -pledge myself to wait in Zanah until the day on which the colonists -expect to recognize you as their prophetess.” - -“Thou hast made me glad, Stephen. Since it is for thy good to stay here, -I can no longer feel that I am selfish.” - -“Inasmuch as you have accepted my pledge, you must let me take your hand -as a token of my promise,” said Everett. In the intensity of his longing -there was such a compelling force that Walda made no objection when, -without waiting for her permission, he took both her hands in his, and -held them for a moment. A deep flush suffused her pure face, and for the -first time in all their acquaintance her eyes refused to meet his. Her -hands trembled, and with a sudden awakening to something of the -consciousness that first comes to every woman who is loved, she suddenly -freed herself. - -“Peace be with thee to-night, Stephen,” she said. She turned quickly, -and took a few slow steps towards the grave of Marta Bachmann. Everett, -looking after her, beheld a strange shape rise above the tomb. He strode -forward to see what it might be, and in the dim light recognized Hans -Peter. - -“What are you doing here?” he demanded, in a stern voice. - -The fool leisurely seated himself upon the flat stone and answered: - -“The simple one doth not have to account to any man concerning himself. -The fool can do no harm. It is the man from the wicked world that should -be under watch among the people of Zanah.” - -Hans Peter swung his short legs over the edge of the gravestone; and if -his words had a sinister meaning, his round, immobile face betrayed not -the slightest expression of intelligence. He took from his pocket one of -his treasured gourds, calmly opened his knife, and made a few marks. - -“Hans Peter, thou shouldst remember to treat the stranger within our -gates with respect,” said Walda, reprovingly; but the fool seemed not to -hear her. - -Everett lingered beside the girl, as if he could not summon courage to -go away. - -“Leave me here alone,” Walda commanded, gently. “Hans Peter will take me -back to the village.” - -As Everett latched the gate to the cemetery he looked back to see Walda -kneeling at the grave, while Hans Peter, who had withdrawn to a little -distance, lay flat upon a sunken stone. - - - - - XII - - -Gerson Brandt went about his duties with a listless air. The boys who -gathered every morning in the learning-school noticed that he was less -exacting about their lessons, and that often his thoughts appeared far -away. When he ascended to the little platform, after returning from -morning prayers in the meeting-house, he looked down upon them with -compassion in his glance. It was noticed that his thin face was pinched -and that his eyes were sunken. When they opened their word-books for the -spelling-class he showed slight interest. During recess he sat with his -head resting on his hands and his eyes fixed on the old desk. One day, -when he was even more preoccupied than usual, Adolph Schneider and Karl -Weisel visited the school in order to inquire into the progress of the -boys of Zanah. Gerson Brandt called his pupils to order. - -“The Herr Doktor would speak with you,” he said. - -“Yea, I would know whether you are diligent in your lessons,” announced -Adolph Schneider. He pounded on the floor with his cane, and spoke in a -tone that frightened the more timid of the children. - -“Why was Adam cast out of the Garden of Eden?” - -There was a moment of silence. All the tow-headed boys, with arms folded -across their breasts, stared straight ahead of them. Karl Weisel, who -had taken the school-master’s chair, tipped it back against the -black-board, twirled his thumbs, and stared at the rows of benches with -something like a sneer on his heavy features. The school-master, -standing on the floor beside the platform, looked out of the nearest -window and waited patiently for the tardy answer. - -“Can any one tell me why Adam was cast out of the Garden of Eden?” - -The Herr Doktor repeated his question in a thundering tone. - -“Because he ate an apple,” piped a small voice from a far corner of the -room. - -“And art thou taught that it is wicked to eat an apple?” - -A dozen tow-heads were shaken emphatically. - -“The apple grew on the tree of knowledge.” It was a pale, red-haired -child who spoke. - -“It is Johann Werther who knows about the tree of knowledge,” said the -Herr Doktor. “At the _gasthaus_ Johann sometimes hath a glimpse of -forbidden things.” - -Scores of round eyes immediately were turned upon Johann with glances of -envy. - -“But did man fall through his own sinful desires?” questioned the Herr -Doktor, standing very straight, throwing out his chest, and lifting his -chin out of his big stock. - -“It was Eve who did tempt him,” announced a small boy that sat on the -front seat. - -“Right. Sin came into the world through a woman, and ever since then the -man who would reach heaven hath to guard against the wiles of the -temptress. If it had not been for a woman, we might now be living in the -Garden of Eden.” - -“Nay, Brother Schneider, teach not that women are evil.” Gerson Brandt -placed one thin hand on the desk and turned on the Herr Doktor a face in -which was a determined look. “It is meet that thou shouldst tell the -children how the world was saved through a woman, who was the mother of -Christ.” - -“Gerson Brandt, interrupt not this lesson. I have come here to measure -the knowledge of those intrusted to thy care.” Adolph Schneider again -pounded the floor with his cane. “Can the school tell me nothing more -about Eve’s fall?” Adolph Schneider asked. - -In the back part of the room rose the fool. He had in his hand one of -the gourds that he always carried with him. - -“The Bible teacheth us it was the serpent that did tempt Eve,” he said, -studying the gourd as if he were reading from it. - -“Ja, ja,” said the Herr Doktor; “but Eve, being a woman, was full of -curiosity; she inclined her ear to the serpent.” - -“And Adam did incline his ear to Eve,” the simple one announced. “It is -said it is always thus. Even in the colony I have noticed that the men -are keen, indeed, to hear what the women would say.” - -Something like a smile flitted over Karl Weisel’s face. He brought his -chair forward on its four legs, and listened for what was coming. - -“Take thy seat. How darest thou comment on the men and women of Zanah? -Thou art the simple one who cannot separate good from evil.” - -The fool still stood in his place with the gourd in his hand. - -“The fool hath ears that he can hear; he hath eyes that he can see.” - -“But what he seeth and heareth hath not the right meaning to him.” - -“The fool hath seen Karl Weisel, head of the thirteen elders, listen to -the words of Gretchen Schneider, the daughter of the leader of Zanah,” -declared the fool, still reading from his gourd. - -“Silence!” shouted the Herr Doktor. Turning to Gerson Brandt, he said: -“So the fool hath become a spy. He is more dangerous than a wise man.” - -“The truth is not in him,” said Karl Weisel, springing to his feet. -“Hans Peter should be kept in confinement where he cannot speak harmful -things.” - -“He meaneth nothing wrong,” said Gerson Brandt. “Be merciful to the -simple one.” - -“The main object in coming here to-day was to instruct you concerning -the _Untersuchung_,” said Adolph Schneider, when Karl Weisel had resumed -his seat and the children were once more gazing stolidly in front of -them. “I hope you are all prepared to give an account of your souls when -the elders of Zanah shall inquire into your spiritual condition. From -now until the day when we hope to behold the inspiration of a new -prophetess I want you all to think over your sins. I wonder how many of -you have told a lie this week.” Every boy in the school looked guilty. -“I should like to have all who have spoken only the truth stand up that -I may see them.” - -“Nay, ask not that,” said the school-master. “I fear lest the children -be tempted to forget their shortcomings and to act a falsehood because -they desire to appear well before thee.” - -“Since the loss of thine illuminated Bible thou art tender-hearted -towards liars,” said Karl Weisel, in an undertone. - -“Thy taunt shouldst cost thee dear, Karl Weisel, were it not forbidden -in Zanah that we should resent insult.” In an instant the gentle -school-master was transformed. He stood erect, and the scorn in his tone -made the head of the thirteen elders feel that the contempt of a -righteous man was something not to be easily ignored. The Herr Doktor -gave the boys no opportunity to perjure themselves. - -“I want you to prepare for the _Untersuchung_ with prayer and fasting,” -he said, and there was dismay upon every face before him. - -“It hath been shown the elders of Zanah that Walda Kellar is to be the -instrument of the Lord. From her lips will fall words of wisdom. You all -know her, for she hath often spoken to you. She hath sung to you hymns -of praise. She will no longer come among you, for she must live apart, -but it will be revealed to her what is best for the colony. You must no -longer run to her as if she were your mother. You must bow before her. -You must no longer speak unto her, for she will be above all the people -of the colony.” - -The hand of Johann Werther was raised, and, when he had been given -permission to speak, he asked: - -“Are all women daughters of Eve?” - -“Yea, yea,” declared the Herr Doktor. “Thou knowest that Eve was the -mother of all.” - -“And Walda Kellar is to be the instrument of the Lord?” - -“Why ask foolish questions? Thou knowest she is to be the inspired one.” - -“I would know why a man was not chosen instead of a daughter of Eve?” -said Johann. - -“Thou shouldst use thy silly brain for less mighty questions,” was the -stern reply. Turning to the school-master the Herr Doktor gave the -order: - -“Dismiss thy pupils.” Adding: “We would talk with thee.” - -Gerson Brandt sent the boys out-of-doors, and then waited for the -president of the colony to speak. - -“Brother Weisel and I are dissatisfied about many things in the colony,” -announced Adolph Schneider, taking a seat on the platform. “There is -general discontent. If the _Untersuchung_ were not so near, we should be -alarmed for the peace of Zanah. The loss of the Bible hath cast -suspicion upon thee, Brother Brandt. It is not my desire to say -unpleasant things to thee, but in Zanah we are all truthful. Thou wilt -not again be elected as elder unless thou canst trace the Bible.” - -“It would be better for thee to say that Brother Brandt cannot be -elected unless he decides to bring the Bible from the hidden place that -he hath found for it,” broke in Karl Weisel. - -“Silence!” commanded the school-master. “Thou shalt not accuse me of -stealing the Bible from the colony of Zanah and then of denying all -knowledge of it. Take back thy cowardly words.” - -“It is the custom to speak what we hold to be the truth,” said Karl -Weisel, in a mocking tone. “I believe that thou knowest where that Bible -is secreted.” - -“It hath been said that men always suspect other men of being what they -themselves are, and so I make some allowance for thy words; but thou -shalt ask my pardon.” Gerson Brandt spoke calmly, but his tone as well -as his words made the elder cringe. - -“I spoke merely for thine own good. It were better that I told thee what -I thought than that I thought these things and turned to thee a -dissembling face.” - -“Crave my pardon,” said Gerson Brandt. - -“I humiliate myself before no man,” said Karl Weisel. “It is my right to -say what I think.” - -“It is not thy right to cast aspersions on mine honor. I give thee one -more chance to retract thy base charges.” - -Karl Weisel put his fat hands into his deep pockets, rose from his -chair, and walked back and forth upon the platform. - -“This quarrel is most unseemly,” remarked Adolph Schneider, who had been -leaning on his cane and idly listening. - -“Speak!” said Gerson Brandt. “Thou shalt not leave this room until thou -hast taken back thy words.” - -Karl Weisel laughed, but in an instant the school-master had sprung upon -the platform. He clutched the man by the collar, and, with the strength -born of a tremendous indignation, he shook the heavy body of Karl Weisel -until the elder’s teeth chattered. - -“Loose thine hold upon me!” cried Karl Weisel, who had turned pale with -terror. - -Gerson Brandt flung him off. He knew he had forgotten all the precepts -of the colony, but again the elder laughed, this time to disguise his -fright. - -“I give thee a chance to defend thyself,” said Gerson Brandt. “As man to -man we shall fight this out.” - -Adolph Schneider put himself between the two combatants, but Gerson -Brandt, stepping past him, dragged Karl Weisel to the open space beside -the platform, and there, facing him, said: - -“I give thee thy last opportunity to beg my pardon.” - -Karl Weisel did not open his lips. Instead, he covertly measured the -distance to the door, and with a movement of unusual quickness turned in -flight. He had not gone half a dozen steps before Gerson Brandt had him -by the collar, and, dragging him back to his position, waited an instant -for him to recover himself. Then he struck a blow that felled the elder. - -“Help! Help!” shouted Adolph Schneider, who still stood upon the -platform. - -At first the prospect of a fight between the two influential men of the -colony had suggested possibilities likely to redound into material good -for himself, and he had been content to play the part of listener and -spectator. Now, as he looked at Gerson Brandt, he no longer saw the -school-master, but a man tall, sinewy, and muscular—a man in whose eye -flashed anger and whose pose revealed an unsuspected strength. - -“Help! Help!” he shouted again. - -Gerson Brandt assisted his adversary to rise. The elder was stunned; the -school-master pushed him into a chair, where he sat dazed and silent. -Just then Hans Peter came shuffling in at the door. He walked as if he -had heard an ordinary summons. - -“Didst thou call?” he asked, addressing the Herr Doktor. His pale eyes -rested on the figure of Karl Weisel, and there was just the faintest -gleam of understanding in them. Before Adolph Schneider had a chance to -answer, a rustle of skirts and a light step was heard on the stair that -led from Wilhelm Kellar’s room. - -“Hath anything gone amiss here?” asked Walda, throwing open the door and -standing on the threshold. With a woman’s intuition she saw that there -had been some quarrel. - -“Be not alarmed,” said Gerson Brandt, walking down a side aisle at the -end of the long benches. “The elder, Karl Weisel, accused me of stealing -the Bible and of bearing false witness concerning it. The man in me -resented the insult. He refused to apologize, and I struck him. Even now -I am sorry that I should have hurt one of my fellow-colonists.” - -“Nay, Gerson Brandt, thou didst forget that the Lord hath said, -‘Vengeance is Mine,’” cried Walda, going near to Gerson Brandt. “It is -not like thee to let human passions triumph.” - -“This will cost Gerson Brandt his place as an elder,” declared Karl -Weisel, coming to himself enough to smooth his ruffled hair and settle -his loosened stock. - -“This is bad, indeed!” exclaimed Adolph Schneider. “In all my years of -colony life I have never known one man in Zanah to raise his hand -against a brother-colonist.” - -“Surely my provocation was great,” said Gerson Brandt, “but I am sorry -that I allowed anger to control me even for a moment.” - -“This very night shall I prefer charges against thee,” Karl Weisel said, -rising and waving his hand with a threatening gesture. - -“This very night thou shouldst think well over the quarrel,” said Walda, -advancing. “Thou knowest there hath been wrong on both sides. Art thou -willing to confess that thou hast called thy brother a liar?” There was -a simple majesty in the pose of the girl. For the moment she was the -prophetess of Zanah. “Beware lest thou bring disgrace and dishonor to -the people of Zanah. It is best that this hour be forgotten. Blot out -thine enmities.” - -“When Gerson Brandt hath explained what became of the Bible the cause of -all the trouble will be removed,” said Karl Weisel, turning away from -the intense gaze of the girl. - -“Thou knowest the Good Book is lost. Thou knowest that Gerson Brandt -never told aught but the truth. How darest thou impute evil to him? He -hath been always one of the most faithful men in all Zanah.” - -Turning to the school-master, she said: - -“Ah, Gerson Brandt, I have prayed much about the Bible. Disturb not -thyself. I have faith that it will be found. I would that it could be -brought to thee to-day.” - -In the back of the school-room, Hans Peter, who had been sitting -cross-legged in the doorway, pulled himself to his feet. - -“I could find the Bible; it is not far away,” he said. - -“What dost thou know of it?” asked the Herr Doktor. - -“I know that it lieth in the earth beneath a great stone. It is safe. -Have no fears for it.” Hans Peter balanced himself first on one bare -foot, and then on the other, and in his face was such a stupid look that -Karl Weisel said: - -“Look at the fool! He would shield the school-master, to whom he shows a -dog’s devotion.” - -“Dost thou really know where the Bible is, Hans Peter?” asked Walda, -laying her hand upon the simple one’s shoulder. - -“I have not said I knew. I said I knew I could get it,” answered the -fool. - -“Nay, dissemble not,” pleaded Walda. “I know now it was thou that didst -hide the Bible from the elders.” - -The boy looked down to the floor. - -“Yea, I did take the Bible so that the stranger in Zanah could not buy -it with his silver. It was for thy sake and for Gerson Brandt’s that I -took it.” - -“Listen not to the fool,” said Karl Weisel. “I tell thee he would shield -Gerson Brandt.” - -“There is a likelihood of truth in his words,” declared the Herr Doktor. -Then, in a thundering tone, he commanded: “Bring the Bible to me.” - -“It may not be easily found,” Hans Peter answered, still keeping his -eyes on the floor. - -“Dare not try to put me off,” thundered Adolph Schneider, shaking his -cane at the simple one. “Without more ado, fetch it to me.” - -All this time Gerson Brandt had been standing silent and sad. He now -waited expectantly for the last answer. He knew that his precious book -was, indeed, in jeopardy. - -Hans Peter gently took Walda’s hand from his shoulder, and, backing to -the door, said, rolling his great head from side to side: - -“The fool hath no memory. If he would know the thing that happened -yesterday he must mark upon a gourd words that will bring back to his -poor mind what is past.” - -“Let him not make terms; let him not trade upon his folly,” interposed -Karl Weisel. - -“Thou hast not forgotten where the Bible is hidden?” inquired Walda, -very gently. - -“I did bury the gourd that told me where the Bible is, and upon another -gourd I marked where that gourd was hidden.” - -“Quick! We care not about thy lunatic pastimes. Bring the Bible!” -shouted the Herr Doktor, overcome with impatience. - -“And the second gourd I carried in my pocket until one day, when I was -marking on it something the stranger had told me, the Herr Doktor struck -it out of my hand with his cane and put his heel upon it. The Bible is -safe, but it cannot be found without long search.” - -When the simple one had made his tantalizing speech, the school-master -spoke in a quiet tone: - -“Hans Peter, thou knowest that the precious book may be spoiled in the -ground. Try to think where it is.” - -“Nay, I tell thee it is safe, for it is wrapped in the oil-skin in which -thou didst keep it, and it is nailed in a great box that is covered with -another box. I did work upon the boxes a large part of the night before -I buried the Bible.” - -“The village fool is not to be believed,” said Karl Weisel, “but he -ought to be locked up until he can be made to confess that what he is -telling is all a lie.” - -The Herr Doktor descended from the platform, and, going to the door, -clutched Hans Peter by the shoulder. “Thou shalt have a chance to -collect thy wits, my boy. Come with me. In a dark room in the cellar of -the _gasthaus_ thou canst stay until thou hast some memory about the -Bible.” - -“Before we part it is well that we all agree to forget this -misunderstanding,” said Walda. “I am sure Hans Peter will find the -Bible, and that we can cast out all anxiety concerning it.” - -Hans Peter made no reply. He stood with both hands thrust into his -capacious pockets. The Herr Doktor pulled him through the door, and, -followed by Karl Weisel, he went down the street towards the inn. - -Gerson Brandt turned a white and troubled face to Walda when they were -left alone together. - -“Thou hast seen me in the clutch of an earthly passion,” he said. “Thou -knowest now how unworthy I am to be counted as a counsellor of a -prophetess. I have naught to say in extenuation, except that in man -human impulses often triumph over the divine aspirations. Canst thou -forget that I have thus resented an insult?” - -Walda came closer to him. - -“Gerson Brandt, it may be wicked of me, but somehow I like thee better -because thou hast demanded that Karl Weisel retract his sinful words. He -hath called his brother a liar, and God will judge him for that.” - -“And I should have remembered that I am not the judge,” said Gerson -Brandt. “I should not have let myself take vengeance into mine own hand. -When thou art the prophetess thou wilt become my teacher, and, Walda, I -am half glad I shall need thine aid to overcome sin.” - -“Thou hast been my teacher so long it seemeth I could never have any -wisdom greater than thine.” - -Gerson Brandt looked into her eyes. - -“Being a woman, thou hast wisdom and power of which thou little -dreamest,” he said. - -“If I have aught of wisdom, it is because thou hast been my guide ever -since I was a child. Gerson Brandt, thou hast been nearer to me than my -father; thou hast been more to me than all the brothers in the colony.” - -“It hath always seemed, Walda, that thou wert sent to reconcile me to -life in Zanah. Thy presence hath helped me to overcome all rebellion. -Having prayed for the time of thine inspiration, it is a struggle for me -to give thee up. It is as if I were losing thee, even though thou wilt -still be in the colony.” - -“Nay, Gerson, it seemeth to me that when the light of inspiration cometh -to me thou must share it, for, after all, it is thy knowledge and thy -faith that is in me. There hath come to me lately something of the -illumination thou hast told me to expect, Gerson Brandt. There are days -when it is as if I stood on the threshold of heaven. My heart is lifted -up with a strange joy. I hear harmony in the rustling of the leaves in -the trees and the flowing of the water under the bridge and the faint -night-sounds that come to mine ears when the village hath gone to sleep. -Long after the curfew-bell hath sounded I open my casement and look out -into the sky. It is then I feel the vastness of the universe, and yet -know that God hath not forgotten me.” - -As Walda spoke her face was radiant with new joy, and Gerson Brandt knew -she was even then far removed from him. - -“Thou lookest from thy casement every night? Dost thou gaze at the -moon?” he asked. - -“Yea, Gerson Brandt, I look long at the moon.” - -“Walda, that is a habit maidens have when they think not of God but of -man. Thou hast in thy thought no human being?” - -“There is often a light in the inn; it shineth from the window of him -whom we not long ago called the stranger in Zanah. It bringeth him into -my mind, and I thank God for his coming to the colony.” - -Walda’s words smote the school-master. A faint color came into his thin -cheeks. He steadied himself against the desk. - -“It is not thy duty to pray for the stranger. The elders can do that,” -he declared. - -“Nay, but he hath helped me much. He hath brought me strength.” - -“Beware lest that strength become thy weakness.” There was a tremor in -Gerson Brandt’s voice, and his manner puzzled the girl. - -“Thou dost speak in riddles,” she said. “Thou knowest his world could -not touch me. When I gaze from my window I am glad, indeed, that the -bluffs shut me out from all the wickedness of the life beyond the -colony.” - -“I beg thy pardon, Walda. It was an unworthy suspicion that crossed my -mind. Surely to-day Satan is close to me. And when thou gazest at the -moon dost thou think of any one else?” - -“Of my father, Gerson Brandt, and always of thee.” - -“And how do I come to thee in thy thoughts, Walda?” - -“Thou comest as one that is ever dear to me. Since thou didst first take -me on thy knee thou hast shared with my father all the earthly love of -my heart. Have I not often told thee so?” - -“Thou didst never think of me as nearer to thine own age than thy -father? Do I always appear so old to thee?” - -“Truly, thou dost seem like my father.” In her voice was an infinite -tenderness, and the school-master, with a tremor in his voice, answered: - -“And yet I am but fifteen years thy senior.” - -“But thou lovest me as if I were thy daughter. I have always felt that -thou didst give me something more than the neighborly regard in which -all the people of Zanah hold one another.” - -Gerson Brandt made no answer. - -“Thou dost love me as if I were thy daughter?” she repeated. - -“Thou hast forever a place in the sanctuary of my heart, Walda.” - -The school-master and the prophetess of Zanah looked into each other’s -eyes for a brief moment. - -“Then I know that thou wilt always pray for me—that thou wilt always -keep me safe from all worldly temptations.” - -“Yea, thou wilt always have my care. Thou wilt always command my -services and my prayers. To-day I feel humble, indeed, because I lost my -self-control, but I shall strive always to be worthy to be counted as -one who walketh near to the prophetess of Zanah. Walda, to-day I am weak -indeed. I feel how much I shall need divine strength in the years to -come. My way is a lonely one. It is said that after the inspiration is -vouchsafed to a prophetess her soul withdraws itself from all human -companionship, and that even if it were not the custom to separate the -instrument of the Lord from the colonists of Zanah, there would be -naught in common between her and those who try to serve God in humbler -ways. Lately, Walda, I have looked forward with a feeling that the years -without thee will be weary. When thou art the prophetess there will be -none with whom I can speak of the dreams I have shared with thee.” - -“Thy dreams, as thou callest them, first made me feel the mysteries of -life. Gerson Brandt, it was thou who didst awaken my soul; it was thou -who didst turn my heart to God, and now, verily, thou wilt not be -sorrowful when my day of inspiration comes?” - -“To-day there is so much of self victorious in me that I know the day of -the _Untersuchung_ will make me sad. It was my intention on that day to -give thee the Bible that is lost. For many months thou knowest I worked -upon it, making the letters beautiful for thine eyes, and it was a -solace to me to feel, every day as I turned the pages upon which I had -worked with many a prayer and blessing for thy welfare, that thou -wouldst take pleasure in its beauty.” - -“And was that Bible for me, Gerson? On the last day when thou didst give -it to me to read before the school I did covet it.” - -“I did think that I should never tell thee, and it was a sore trouble -when Adolph Schneider demanded that it be sold. I tell thee this -because, as I have said to-day, I am weak, and I would say something in -extenuation of my unseemly conduct towards the head of the thirteen -elders.” - -“And I am very human, for I am glad that the book is lost, and that the -elders had no chance to take it from thee.” - -“I could not endure the thought that the stranger from the outside world -should possess what I had come to believe belonged to thee.” - -Walda turned her head away a moment. Then she answered: - -“I want the Bible very much indeed; but, Gerson Brandt, if any stranger -were to have it, it had been better it should go to Stephen Everett than -to any one else.” - -A look of pain came into the school-master’s face. His eyes sought the -girl’s with a glance that strove to read her heart. - -“And I would rather that the Bible be destroyed, that its pages be -scattered and its letters obliterated, than that Stephen Everett should -call it his own.” - -“Why, Gerson Brandt, thou speakest with much stress. Thou art, indeed, -unlike thyself to-day.” - -“Perhaps my real self is uppermost, Walda, and the school-master, who -was always so submissive and passive, is not the actual man.” - -“Peace to thy heart.” Walda came close to him. “Let me tell thee that I -should have held the Bible as a precious token from thee, and that I am -grateful for the kindly thought with which thou hast wrought it for me.” - -Tears were in her eyes. She hesitated a moment, as if waiting for an -answer. Gerson Brandt, with arms folded across his breast, pressed his -lips tightly together lest he might speak with the fervor of one who -covets from God a supreme gift that must be forever beyond reach. - - - - - XIII - - -When Hans Peter was led away from the school-room after his confession -concerning the Bible, Karl Weisel and Adolph Schneider conducted him -towards the inn. The Herr Doktor, thoroughly upset from his usual -phlegmatic tranquillity, held the ear of the simple one in a pinching -grasp. With a speed that caused the colony president to pant, the three -descended the hill on their way to the inn. - -“Hans Peter should be locked up until he confesseth that he hath borne -false witness,” said Karl Weisel. - -“I believe he knoweth where the Holy Book is hidden,” answered Adolph -Schneider. “We will lock him up where he can have a chance to think over -his transgressions.” - -Hans Peter, dragging slowly after the Herr Doktor, who every now and -then jerked his head, appeared not to hear what was said about him. - -“Tell us now what thou didst mean by thy foolish lie about the Bible,” -urged the head of the thirteen elders. - -“I spoke the truth. But not every one knoweth the truth to understand -it,” answered the simple one. - -“He still defieth us,” exclaimed Karl Weisel. Then, giving Hans Peter a -cuff, he added, addressing him: - -“Thou shalt spend the night in the cellar of the _gasthaus_, and if thou -dost not speak so as to make it clear that thou dost share all thy -knowledge with the elders and those in authority, thou shalt be put in -the stocks.” - -“Threaten not too hastily, Brother Weisel,” said the Herr Doktor. “Thou -knowest the stocks have not been used these ten years, and the -dismembered timbers pertaining to it are stored in the hay-loft of the -_gasthaus_ barn.” - -“The stocks can be put together easily enough,” muttered Karl Weisel; -and Hans Peter, turning his head as much as Adolph Schneider’s hold upon -his ear permitted, said: - -“The village fool feareth no punishment thou canst devise. Ye men of -Zanah shall never get possession of Gerson Brandt’s Bible.” - -“Hear! He defieth us!” cried Karl Weisel; and Adolph Schneider responded -with an angry grunt, that he punctuated with a superfluous pinch -administered to Hans Peter’s ear. - -They reached the inn, where Diedrich Werther received them with his -customary imperturbability. - -“Hast thou a place in the cellar where thou canst lock up this culprit?” -Karl Weisel inquired. At the same time the Herr Doktor pushed the simple -one into the middle of the room. - -“There is a heavy bolt on the potato-bin,” said Werther, taking his pipe -out of his mouth and leaning upon the dog-eared register. - -“Conduct Hans Peter to it, and be his jailer until to-morrow morning. -Mind that he hath no supper.” - -“What is Hans Peter’s offence?” Mother Werther asked, opening the door -from the kitchen and putting her black-capped head into the room. “Tut, -tut, my boy! I hope thou hast not been exhibiting thy folly in some -hazardous manner.” - -Hans Peter put his hands into his deep pockets, hung his head, and made -no reply. - -“The simple one is to be locked in your potato-bin until he tells the -truth about the Bible,” announced the Herr Doktor. - -“Nay, be not too severe with him. Hans Peter will tell—wilt not thou, -boy?” said Mother Werther, coaxingly. - -But the simple one only shook his round head. - -“You may have to stay down there in the darkness with the rats for a -week,” said Karl Weisel. - -“Yea, thou shalt not baffle the elders of Zanah,” declared the Herr -Doktor. “It will be the cellar or the stocks until thou dost wag thy -stubborn tongue to good purpose.” - -“Now thou art speaking wisely, Brother Schneider,” said Karl Weisel. -“Why dost thou not order Diedrich Werther to conduct the fool to his -prison?” - -“Take him away,” commanded the Herr Doktor. - -“Thou knowest I permit no rats in the _gasthaus_ cellar,” said Mother -Werther, shaking her head indignantly at Karl Weisel; and edging up to -Hans Peter, she bent low to whisper: “Thou shalt have the best supper I -can carry to thee.” - -“Verily, even Mother Werther appears to be encouraging sedition in -Zanah,” remarked Karl Weisel, pointing to the innkeeper’s wife with a -backward movement of his thumb. - -“If there is sedition in Zanah, it is thou that sowest discontent.” -Mother Werther put her arms on her broad hips, and looked at him for a -moment with such contempt in her kindly face that the head of the -thirteen elders slunk aside to a chair behind the high counter. - -“I will take Hans Peter to the potato-bin, and he shall have a clean -straw tick to lie on,” she said. “Come, Hans Peter.” - -Mother Werther put a hand on the simple one’s shoulder and walked out -into the kitchen with him. Presently they were heard descending the -stairs, and then their voices sounded from the distant place of -imprisonment. - -It was late that night when Everett returned to the inn after a walk far -a-field. At supper-time he had asked about Hans Peter, but he had -learned nothing of the whereabouts of the simple one. He had a faint -idea that he ought to search for the fool, but his thoughts were -absorbed by Walda. He spoke to Diedrich Werther, who dozed in an -arm-chair, and the landlord slowly lighted a tall tallow dip and passed -it to Everett. He lingered to ask whether any message had come from -Wilhelm Kellar. The landlord replied that the school-master had stopped -to ask for the stranger in Zanah, but it was nothing urgent, for Gerson -Brandt had told how fast Wilhelm Kellar was gaining strength. - -Everett stumbled along the dark, narrow passage that led to his room. A -draught blew out his candle, which he did not relight. Feeling his way -to his bed, he threw himself down upon it and tried to think what course -was wisest for him to pursue in winning Walda. He was not blind to the -many obstacles between them, but he was a man who was accustomed to -obtain what he coveted, and he admitted no thought of defeat. He wanted -Walda with all the intensity of a strong nature. He knew now that he -loved her, and he felt that she was his by right of that claim. A sense -of his own unworthiness haunted him when he thought of her innocence and -her unworldliness, but there had been born in him a new spirit that -consumed all his old desires. He knew that even if he could make the -prophetess of Zanah love him, it would be impossible for him to persuade -her to leave the colony as long as her father lived. He felt a hot wave -of shame every time he realized that if love came to Walda it would -bring her only dishonor before her people. Whenever this view of the end -of his wooing presented itself, he resolutely refused to face it. He -listened to the cry of his heart. He loved the woman of Zanah; he -coveted her for his wife. - -Women are happy to enshrine love in their hearts even when it must burn -in a vestal flame, but men are not content unless they can carry it as a -torch from which to light the fires in the hearts of those whom they -would make their own. Women can kneel before the embers of a great -passion and be grateful, even though it must burn out before it can -reach their own hearth-stones; men would snatch the holy fire at any -cost. Everett had slowly reached the point where he had deliberately -determined to make Walda love him. He had eased his conscience by the -plea that it was a crime for a woman of such rare beauty to be buried in -the colony. He was sure he could make her happy in the world that held -so much for him. He could reason himself into the belief that he was -saving her from a wasted life. Yet, with all his reasoning, he could not -see how he was to obtain her consent to marry him and to go away with -him. Still, he hugged to his heart the belief that fate would befriend -him, and he resolved not to look beyond the one great aim of making -Walda love him. - -He could not sleep. The thoughts that had harassed him, since suddenly -he had come to know Walda had all his love, disturbed him as he lay on -the high bed. He stared at the window, which afforded glimpses of a -starlit sky between the leaves and branches of a tree that had become -black in the night. Day was breaking before he began to feel drowsy. -Finally he fell into a deep slumber that was not disturbed until the sun -was high in the heavens. He was awakened by a remittent pounding, the -sound of which came from the front of the inn. He went to the latticed -window, whence he could see that several men were building something in -the village square. He made a hasty toilet in his primitive -dressing-room, where two buckets of water and a wooden wash-tub were -provided for his bath. The cold water refreshed him, but he still had a -sense of depression. - -Everett hastened out into the village square. In all the time he had -sojourned in Zanah nothing unusual had happened. It was pleasing to hope -that at last something out of the common might be taking place. Three -middle-aged men and two boys were engaged in putting together a most -extraordinary structure. They had fixed in place several weather-beaten -beams and a number of old planks that led up to the rude platform. - -“What are you building?” Everett asked, but the men pretended not to -understand, although he spoke in German. They kept on with their work. - -“Cannot you tell me what this is?” Everett asked. The men were still -uncommunicative, but one of the boys said: - -“These are the stocks in which Hans Peter must sit until he tells where -the school-master’s Bible is hidden.” - -“Where is Hans Peter now?” - -The boy had been silenced by the men, and he dared not reply. - -During the breakfast-hour Everett could obtain no further information. -He was desirous of seeing the simple one, for he felt in a measure -responsible for poor Hans Peter’s trouble. He made a perfunctory visit -to his patient. Walda Kellar had ceased to be on duty in the sick-room, -and the case had lost much of its interest. - -Wilhelm Kellar was sitting up in a big chair. He looked weak and ill, -but he proudly announced, with a tongue slow to respond to his thoughts: - -“I shall be able to attend the _Untersuchung_. The Lord hath decreed -that I shall see the day of my daughter’s final victory over earthly -temptations.” The old man’s joy smote Everett, to whom the -_Untersuchung_ might mean the loss of Walda. He turned to whistle to -Piepmatz. - -“I owe thee much for thine aid in helping nature to overcome my -illness,” said the old man, speaking slowly. “Thou hast been so kind -that thou hast won my enduring confidence. For the first time in a score -of years my faith in a man of the outside world is almost restored.” - -Again Everett’s heart smote him. He who had come to love Wilhelm -Kellar’s daughter knew that he stood ready to tempt Walda away from her -vocation as prophetess. He had always held honor first, and he was ill -at ease. The day had gone by, however, when he could consider the -possibility of renunciation where his heart’s desire was concerned. He -had meant to flee from Zanah, but he had stayed because he loved Walda, -and because he did not mean to be disappointed in the hope of winning -her. - -“You are not indebted to me,” he said to Wilhelm Kellar. “The weeks -spent in Zanah have been very pleasant to me.” - -“Thou art truly a good man, Stephen Everett, and I am thankful that the -Lord did turn thy steps to Zanah,” the old man replied. - -Piepmatz, looking out from his rustic cage, moved his head from side to -side as if he were listening to the conversation. Presently he whistled -the bar of the love-song that Everett had taught him. The first notes -sounded clear and true, and then Piepmatz sang a false note or two. He -began the bar a second time and broke down. Everett heard the song, and -the bird-voice carried with it an accusation against his loyalty. - -“You had better go back to your doxology,” he said, snapping his fingers -at the bird. - -He said a hasty farewell and went back to the inn. The stocks had been -completed and Hans Peter had just been placed in them. His fat, red -hands and his bare feet were held so firmly that it was plain the -pressure was most uncomfortable. The simple one’s face, however, -betrayed no sign of pain. He kept his eyes shut so that he could not see -the passers-by, who paused to stare at him. His shock of tow hair was -matted on his head, and his blue shirt-sleeves were torn from the -arm-holes by the unusual strain upon the garment, which was too small -for him. When Everett beheld the simple one thus ignominiously punished -his indignation arose. Without speaking to Hans Peter he went into the -inn, where he found Adolph Schneider and Karl Weisel. - -“It is only fair to believe you do not know you are inflicting a cruel -penalty upon Hans Peter,” he said, addressing the Herr Doktor. “You must -lessen the pressure on the boy’s wrists and ankles, and you must do it -now.” - -“Whence didst thou get thine authority to issue commands to the -president of the colony of Zanah?” asked Karl Weisel. - -“I was not addressing you,” answered Everett, and the head of the -thirteen elders, taking account of the athletic build of the man of the -world, deemed discretion the better part of valor. He forbore to pick a -quarrel. - -“Speaking as a physician, I must protest against the use of the stocks,” -said Everett. His tone was so cool and determined that Adolph Schneider -adopted a conciliatory manner. - -“Hans Peter will not remain long in the stocks,” he said, burying his -heavy chin in his neckcloth. “He will soon tell what he knows about the -Bible. He would have confessed this morning, but Mother Werther made him -so comfortable in the potato-bin that he did not take the trouble to -think over our injunction to lay bare the facts about the Bible.” - -“Even though Hans Peter may not remain in the stocks an hour, you must -confine his hands and feet less closely. I dare say he is numb now,” -Everett insisted. - -“Well, well, I will call one of the carpenters,” said the Herr Doktor, -but he did not move from his chair. - -“I will wait until the carpenter comes,” said Everett; “and he must come -without delay.” - -Adolph Schneider sullenly conceded to Everett’s humane demand, and they -went out to the stocks together. A crowd had gathered in the square, and -some of the boys who had escaped from Gerson Brandt’s care were jeering -at the simple one. Hans Peter made no sign until Everett spoke to him. - -Everett ascended the three steps to the platform of the stocks and -waited impatiently while Hans Peter’s hands and feet were freed -temporarily. The simple one was quite stiff when he was commanded to -stand up. He straightened his back with some difficulty, although he had -not been an hour in the stocks. Everett stooped to examine the marks -upon the lad’s ankles. - -“Can you call yourselves Christians, and torture a boy in this fashion?” -he inquired, in anger, addressing the Herr Doktor. - -“Hans Peter is none the worse for a little lesson that will teach him to -obey the commands of Zanah,” Adolph Schneider answered. - -“Do you intend to put him back?” Everett asked. - -Adolph Schneider showed some signs of hesitation, but Karl Weisel -replied: - -“He shall stay there until his contumacious spirit is broken. He must be -punished until he confesseth.” - -“Are you sure that you do not wish to tell where the Bible is?” Everett -asked, kindly. But the simple one replied: - -“They can keep me in the stocks until I die. I care not. I will not -deliver the Sacred Book into their hands.” His lips were white, and the -perspiration stood upon his forehead, over which his matted hair hung -into his eyes. He tried to raise his hand to his head, but the pain made -the effort futile. Everett took one of the simple one’s swollen hands in -his and began to chafe the arms, which were numb. - -The carpenters soon had their work done, and Karl Weisel ordered Hans -Peter back to his place in the stocks. - -“Isn’t there something I can do to prevent this outrage?” Everett spoke -in a threatening tone. “How can you stoop to such persecution?” - -Involuntarily he clinched his hands and drew himself up to his full -height. Towering above the men of Zanah, he looked from one to the -other, as if undecided which to knock down first. - -Karl Weisel took the precaution to leave the platform, and when safe on -the ground he answered, tauntingly: - -“Thine interference will not be tolerated in Zanah. Thou shalt not -defeat the ends of justice.” - -“Nay, mind not Hans Peter; the village fool doth not fear those who are -called wise in Zanah.” The simple one spoke calmly, and he moved past -Everett to the beam upon which he had been sitting. - -It occurred to Everett that any violent measures might only cause -another method of torture to be devised, and he went into the inn to -think about some means by which he could deliver Hans Peter. The day -wore away, and late in the afternoon the simple one was still in the -stocks. An attempt to discuss the matter with the Herr Doktor had proved -fruitless. Everett went to the school-master, and Gerson Brandt told him -that protest was useless. - -“I warned them that I would not consent to such a show of vengefulness,” -said Gerson Brandt, “but they laughed at me, and hinted that the simple -one was my accomplice.” He was sitting at his desk, and his attitude -betrayed the deepest despondency. - -Everett went back to the inn just as the afternoon bell rang. It was the -signal for the girls’ knitting-school and the boys’ learning-school to -dismiss pupils. At this hour the mill-hands had a brief respite for the -drinking of coffee. Soon the village street was full, and all the men, -women, and children turned their steps towards the square. Here they -stood in groups, talking in low tones, and casting glances up at the -simple one, whose face was not less stolid than usual. Hans Peter had -become deathly pale, but as he sat with bent back and bowed head he -appeared oblivious of the crowd that was gazing at him. - -“At last the village fool hath found his right place in the world,” -remarked Mother Kaufmann, taking a seat on the lowest step of the stocks -and beginning to knit. - -“I hope he will remember all the impertinent things he hath said to us, -and know that he is receiving his just dues,” said Gretchen Schneider, -who had come into the square with Mother Kaufmann. - -“It seemeth to me that Hans Peter is one possessed of a devil,” declared -Karl Weisel, joining Gretchen Schneider, and taking care to stand so -close to her that his coat-sleeve brushed her arm. - -On the other side of the stocks Frieda Bergen had stopped to look up at -the prisoner with compassion written on her pretty face. She wiped her -eyes on the corner of her apron, and Joseph Hoff, who saw her grief, -passed by her once or twice, biding his time until he could speak to her -without attracting the attention of the elders or colony mothers, among -whom his attachment for the girl had become common gossip. - -“Hans Peter may be free to-morrow,” he said, reassuringly. “Do not feel -bad for him.” - -“There is a tenderness in my heart for all God’s creatures, Joseph,” the -girl answered. - -“Be sure thou givest me most of thy sympathy,” Joseph Hoff said, and -they smiled into each other’s faces with a look of perfect -understanding. - -Many of the children gazed silently at the culprit, and some of them -climbed up the stout beams that supported the stocks. A few venturesome -boys seated themselves upon the heavy plank that held poor Hans Peter’s -hands. Mother Werther, who had been going back and forth all day between -the stocks and the inn, sought a place whence she could speak a cheering -word to the simple one. Several times Adolph Schneider had stepped to -the inn-porch, and, with a flourish of his cane, had admonished the -people of Zanah to preserve order. He had taken occasion to call -attention to the ways that the Lord found by which the wicked were -punished. He had just finished one of his exhortations when it was -whispered that Walda Kellar was coming. - -The prophetess of Zanah walked over the bridge with her head bent, as if -she were preoccupied. When she looked up it was plain that the crowd -astonished her. She quickened her steps, and, advancing with her eyes -fixed on the stocks, said, in a clear tone, which was heard by all the -people: - -“What meaneth this thing?” - -She turned flashing eyes from one to another in the throng, and those -near her fell back. - -“Where is some one who will answer me? I would speak to one of the -elders. By what authority is Hans Peter placed in the stocks? Who hath -dared to pass such severe judgment upon one of the most helpless in -Zanah?” - -There was no answer. Walda waited for a moment. - -“I would speak to Adolph Schneider or Karl Weisel,” she said; but -neither responded to her summons. Adolph Schneider had disappeared into -the _gasthaus_ when he saw her, and Karl Weisel had drifted out of -sight. Walda turned to survey the crowd. - -“Why are ye here, looking on calmly? Hath no one raised a voice in -behalf of him who hath harmed none in the colony?” she cried. - -She moved towards the stocks, men, women, and children separating to let -her pass. Ascending the steps, she looked down upon the colonists. -Suddenly she became clothed in a strange majesty. Her body swayed with -the strength of her emotion. She opened her lips as if to address the -throng, but some wiser impulse restrained her. She stood as if in -prayer, and presently, raising her hand to command attention, she said: - -“Hath it been forgotten that it is written in the Bible, ‘With what -judgment ye judge ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete it -shall be measured to you again’? Are ye so wise that ye can know how -guilty Hans Peter is in seizing the Bible? Can ye see into the heart of -him whom all have called the simple one? Can ye know his motives? Has -none of you, to whom the Lord hath given greater understanding than He -hath vouchsafed to this humble child of Zanah, sinned in larger measure -than Hans Peter? There hath been lost to Zanah a Bible of great value; -but where is your faith? Can ye not believe that if it is best it will -be returned unto you? Liberate Hans Peter, and I say unto you it shall -be made plain that ye have done what is good. Your mercy will be -rewarded twofold.” - -After she spoke the last words she paused for a moment. A murmur passed -over the crowd. One of the colonists cried: - -“Free him! Free him!” - -“Listen not to the voice of a woman’s pity,” warned Karl Weisel, from -his place on the well-curb, which raised him above the heads of the -crowd. - -“Nay, hear her. The power may be upon her. She may be foretelling what -will happen if Hans Peter is set free.” - -It was Mother Werther who raised her voice. She was standing upon the -steps of the inn, and her words caused a hush to fall upon the people of -Zanah. - -“All we in Zanah can learn a lesson to-day from Hans Peter,” said Walda -Kellar, turning towards the simple one, who made no sign that he had -heard her plea for him. “This poor lad hath meant no harm. He hath -followed some strong impulse, born of the belief that he is doing right, -and you put him into the stocks, where he remaineth firm in his -determination not to undo what he hath thought was a noble deed. For -some reason he hath desired to keep the Bible in Zanah, when you would -have bartered it for gold and silver. Can ye say that it was not God’s -will he should hide it so that it could not be sent out into the world, -where it might not be valued at its true worth? How can ye be sure that -it may not be you, instead of Hans Peter, who should be punished? Doth -this structure built by your hands appear to be work that was inspired -by God? Were not the stocks devised by Satan? Is it thus that the Father -in Heaven would have ye deal with those subjects in your power?” - -“Verily, she speaketh as if she were listening to the still, small voice -with which the Lord quickeneth the consciences of his people,” said the -meekest of the thirteen elders, a little, bent man, who supported -himself against a fence-rail. - -“The time draweth near for the _Untersuchung_, when you will listen to -words of wisdom from me,” continued Walda, her voice softening into a -tone of humility. “Much have I prayed that I may be worthy to be chosen -from among you to be the prophetess of Zanah. In these last few weeks -there hath come to me a new light. It is yet but as a candle-beam of -divine knowledge, but it hath made all things sacred in mine eyes. The -glory of God hath been revealed to me in the smallest ways. Instead of -feeling the majesty of the Ruler of the universe, I have known something -of the meaning of the eternal love which encompasseth the highest and -the lowliest. In the Father’s eyes, when the day of judgment cometh, -this hour in the stocks may be counted so much in outweighing the sins -of the simple one that he will be placed above us all. This day’s record -in the Book of Life may have a great significance.” - -Walda, looking down upon the upturned faces before her, read fear -written upon many and compassion upon a few. - -“I beseech you, with one voice declare Hans Peter free,” she said, -turning her face first towards one side of the square and then towards -the other, so that all gathered there felt she addressed each -separately. “Hesitate not. Each moment that ye wait adds to the pain -suffered by your prisoner.” - -“Dost thou believe the Lord will reward us if we show mercy?” asked the -Herr Doktor, who had come out of the inn to hear what Walda had to say. - -“The people of Zanah should not weigh the chance of reward for doing -what is just and right,” answered the prophetess. - -Walda stood as if she were listening for some word of pity from the -colonists. - -“If ye would show that ye have confidence in me, whom ye look to as the -prophetess of Zanah, permit me to liberate Hans Peter. Can ye deny me -this privilege?” she asked, presently. - -“It is meet that we shift the judgment of the simple one to her upon -whom the inspiration is already descending,” said Mother Werther. “Women -of Zanah, pledge her your faith.” - -Cries of “Give Walda Kellar the judgment!” “Let her loosen the stocks!” -“The prophetess of Zanah hath spoken!” were heard on every side. - -“Nay, the spirit hath not descended on her. Put not such power in a -girl’s hands,” shouted Mother Kaufmann, waving the hand that still -clasped her knitting. - -Her words were followed by low hisses, and instantly several of the men -were heard demanding Hans Peter’s release. - -“She did say that the value of the Bible might be returned twofold,” -said Diedrich Werther, who had been encouraged to speak by vigorous -nudges from his wife. Mother Werther had pushed him from his place on -the porch, where he had been hidden by the vines. - -“Walda Kellar, is it the spirit which prompts thee to say the value of -the Bible will be made good to the colony?” inquired the Herr Doktor. - -Again Walda Kellar stood with her head turned, as if she were listening -to the still, small voice of her conscience. - -“Nay, Adolph Schneider, I cannot say that it is the spirit; I know not -whether my words are words of prophecy. Yet my faith, looking up to God, -maketh me believe that if thou showest mercy to the foolish one, a -recompense will be given thee.” - -Her words came slowly. They fell upon the ears of the people in Zanah -with a distinctness and a fervor that awed them, and again the murmur -was heard in the square. - -“Free him! Free him!” shouted Joseph Hoff, and the cry was taken up by -men, women, and children. - -A tall, burly farm-hand pushed his way from the stocks to the porch of -the inn, where the Herr Doktor still stood. He was followed by three or -four of those who were known as the keepers of the vineyard. - -“Beware how thou dost challenge the curses of Heaven,” said the -farm-hand. “Dost thou intend to obey the prophetess, now that she hath -spoken?” - -“We have had bad luck enough already,” said one of the keepers of the -vineyard. “Defy not Heaven now.” - -Something like fear showed itself in the face of Adolph Schneider. He -cast his small eyes towards Karl Weisel, who shook his head. The people -had now turned their faces from the stocks, and the crowd gazed upon the -village president, who was plainly hesitating concerning what would be -the best policy. - -“The men of Zanah have spoken wisely,” declared the meek elder, from his -place near the fence. “Thou must listen to the voice of the people.” - -“Free him! Free him!” the crowd shouted. Amid all the clamor Walda -Kellar stood motionless, with her eyes fixed upon the far bluffs, and -Hans Peter sat with head drooped so that his face could not be seen. -While the crowd was threatening to become a mob, it was not noticed that -the school-master had crossed the fields, pushed his way to the stocks, -and ascended two steps. - -“Men and women of Zanah, if ye turn a deaf ear to Walda Kellar, let me -offer myself as the one upon whom to inflict the punishment ye deem -fitting because the Bible upon which I put much patient work hath -disappeared.” Gerson Brandt’s voice was low, but it had a determined -ring in it as he spoke to the colonists. He had removed his hat, and -those who looked upon his face marvelled that the gentle school-master -could be so threatening in mien and gesture. - -“Since the Sacred Book disappeared while it was in my custody, I am -responsible for it. If any one is to be put into the stocks, it is I, -that served you all as your elder—I, to whom you have intrusted the -training of your boys. This day’s work shall long be a reproach to -Zanah, for ye have stood by while the simple one hath been made to -suffer. Even though he may have been guilty of the offence imputed to -him, the penalty is greater than his deed hath merited.” - -The uproar that followed this speech caused the Herr Doktor to tremble -as he leaned upon his cane. - -“Surely no one in all Zanah would see Gerson Brandt put into the -stocks,” said Mother Werther, taking her place beside Adolph Schneider. -“For shame, brethren and sisters of Zanah! Give Hans Peter his liberty.” - -“We demand the release of the simple one,” said the vineyard workers. -“Let him go! Let him go!” - -“Gerson Brandt, thine offer to take Hans Peter’s place in the stocks is -an insult to thy high office as an elder of Zanah,” said the Herr -Doktor. “I will accede to the wishes of the people. Thou canst liberate -the village fool.” - -Adolph Schneider turned to go into the inn, and Stephen Everett, who had -been watching the strange scene from the corner of the porch, went out -into the square to offer aid to Gerson Brandt. The school-master had -acted quickly, and before Everett reached the stocks Hans Peter’s feet -were free. Everett loosed the simple one’s hands and raised him to an -upright position. Hans Peter was so stiff that he fell upon the rude -platform. - -“He is exhausted. I will take him into the inn,” said Everett, -addressing Walda, who was leaning over the prostrate form of Hans Peter. - -“I know that thou wilt minister to him, and that thou wilt restore his -senses. See, he hath swooned!” - -“I will take care of him. You can trust me to see that he is made -comfortable,” Everett promised. - -“Yea, I always trust thee, Stephen.” - -The man and woman bending over the form of the simple one looked into -each other’s eyes for a second. Then Everett lifted Hans Peter in his -arms, carried him down the steps, and, passing through the crowd, -disappeared within the door of the inn. - -Standing upon the platform of the stocks, Walda looked after them until -the inn-door had closed. Turning, she beheld Gerson Brandt staring at -her with terror in his eyes. He was ghastly pale, and his thin nostrils -were widely dilated with the quickness of his breathing. - -“Art thou ill, Gerson Brandt?” she asked. - -“Nay, I have my usual health. Just now, fear clutcheth at my heart.” - -“Fear, Gerson Brandt? Thou wert ever brave. What is it that thou couldst -fear?” - -“A shadow was cast over me. It hath passed.” - -Gerson Brandt stooped to pick up his hat, and motioned to Walda to pass -down the steps before him. As Walda walked through the square the people -bowed before her, in token of their recognition that she was, indeed, -the prophetess, for it was whispered that the stranger from the outside -world had given his word to Adolph Schneider that he would pay twice the -value of the Bible on condition that Hans Peter should not be further -punished. - - - - - XIV - - -Everett counted the days until the _Untersuchung_. Only ten intervened. -In less than a fortnight Walda would be cut off from all communication -with him. She would have entered into her duties as the leader of the -colony. She would be the prophetess—the inspired one. He tried to -imagine himself looking on during the quaint ceremony of the -_Untersuchung_, and he had to face the knowledge that he could not stand -by while the girl passed forever beyond his reach. Even while he dared -vaguely to plan some way by which he could win her for himself, he had a -few misgivings concerning her unfitness for his world, which he knew she -would find strange and cruel. He told himself that he could protect her, -that he could make her happy, and that he could help her to become -adjusted to a different sphere. With the unreason of the lover he -imagined how they would live for each other, aloof from all the ordinary -demands of every-day existence. He knew that she loved the few books -that had been open to her in Zanah, and he dreamed of the days when he -would guide her into a broader knowledge, when he would help her to -acquire the sort of an education suited to her unusual mind. He was -confident that her artistic nature would develop in a congenial -atmosphere. It would be his pride to cultivate her glorious voice, and -to teach her to understand the painter’s art, which Zanah held sinful. -His thoughts travelled over the same circle again and again, but always -he came back to the idea that he must act quickly if he would save her -from bondage to the colony—if he would awaken her to the meaning of his -love. - -He was thankful for the opportunity her daily prayers at the tomb of -Marta Bachmann gave him to meet her, but the next night after he had -walked with her to the little cemetery he had seen her cross the bridge -accompanied by no less a person than Mother Schneider herself. He had -been compelled to pace restlessly back and forth among the trees, -keeping out of sight lest his presence might be discovered. - -On the third night he watched for Walda at the point where the road -reached the shore of the lake. It was late, and he had almost given up -hope of seeing her when she came slowly towards him. For an hour he had -been reconnoitring the whole distance between the lake and the cemetery. -And now, when he beheld her, he felt as if he must claim her by the -right of his love for her. His better judgment, however, told him that -he must be circumspect in his wooing. One impetuous word might put her -on her guard. The touch of his hand had given her a prescience of -danger, for, according to her belief, love was the greatest danger that -could beset her path. When Walda saw him she appeared surprised at the -chance encounter. It was evident she had no suspicion that he had -deliberately waylaid her. - -“It is good that I should meet thee here, Stephen,” she said, “for my -heart is so full of joy I feel as if I must share my gladness with some -one.” - -“What has happened to make you so happy?” Everett asked. He saw that -there was a radiance in her face, and that her eyes shone with an -unusual brilliance. - -“There hath been no outward experience different from those that come to -me every day,” she said. “But, Stephen, my heart is lifted up -exceedingly. I feel in me a new strength. My spirit dwelleth in dreams.” - -“Dreams, Walda? What are your dreams like?” - -“They are misty—formless. It is as if a light were just breaking over -the darkness of my soul. I feel the whisperings of a divine knowledge; a -marvellous power hath been given to me. Stephen, I know the inspiration -is coming to me. All my doubts are vanishing. I feel very near to God.” - -She was transfigured with the intensity of her emotions. In her -exaltation of spirit she was so aloof from Everett that he stood dumb -before her. - -“Stephen, hast thou nothing to say? Dost thou not rejoice with me?” - -“I am glad to know that you are happy, Walda; but being just a man of -the world, I am selfish enough to feel unreconciled to your separation -from me. Walda, I crave a little part of your thoughts. I want to share -your joy. And now I behold you carried so far away from me that I cannot -even comprehend the transformation which is taking place in you. Is it -prayer that is raising your spirit above the earth?” - -“It is not prayer alone that hath made me behold new glories, Stephen, -for through all my years spent in Zanah I have prayed unceasingly. Thou -hast helped to open mine eyes; thou hast been the messenger that hath -turned my face to the light. Verily, it is written that the Lord doth -choose mysterious ways by which to work his will.” - -For a moment Everett felt he was, indeed, a hypocrite. He was not an -egotist, but his hopes, which a moment before had been cast down by the -girl’s extraordinary rapture, now rose, for he perceived that he had, -indeed, gained an influence over her. - -“I want to talk to you, Walda,” Everett said, after he had thought for a -moment. “Come with me down to the shore of the lake, where there is a -log that makes a comfortable seat.” - -Walda hesitated. - -“Nay, Stephen, I must hasten to Marta Bachmann’s grave.” - -“Don’t you think that sometimes it may be better to talk with the living -than to pray with the dead?” Everett asked. “I thought you were -interested in my welfare. Don’t you know that a few words from you may -change my whole life?” - -“If I could lead thee towards heaven it would be my duty to speak with -thee.” - -“Well, you can lead me to heaven.” - -Everett parted the low branches of the trees so that Walda could pass -through, and as she stepped into the little path to the water’s edge one -of her long, fair braids caught upon a twig. She turned her face -backward as she felt the sharp pull, and Everett, thanking his stars for -a lucky fate that appeared to be attending him on this particular -evening, disengaged the shining hair. He pretended to be very clumsy, -and his head was brought close to Walda’s. The slightest trace of -embarrassment showed itself in the manner of the prophetess of Zanah as -she smoothed the braid and adjusted her cap. She walked forward rather -hastily, and Everett pointed out the log, at one end of which the limbs -made a graceful back for the rustic seat. - -“Let me help you over these stones,” said Everett, and, taking her hand, -he led her to the log. He placed her comfortably, and, standing beside -her, told her to look at the wavering shadows in the water. - -“All is peace here, Stephen,” the girl said, looking up at him. “In -Zanah there is rest for the weary spirit. Couldst thou not be contented -here always?” - -“If we could always be together as we are now, Walda, it seems to me I -could never wish for anything more.” - -He seated himself upon the log quite close to her, and, leaning with his -elbow on his knee, studied every feature of her beautiful face. In his -heart was a tumultuous longing to make her know that he loved her, but -her presence overcame him with a feeling that she was too holy to be -disturbed by the knowledge of his passion. Walda said, presently: - -“It is strange that when I am with thee neither the past nor the future -harasses me. I am satisfied with the present; it is as if thou didst -encompass my soul with the fortress of thy strength. To-night all my -fears about the future are gone. I am happy, Stephen—strangely happy.” - -She leaned back against the gnarled limbs of the old tree, and turned -her face towards the lake. - -“Walda, has your religion never taught you that only in the union of a -man’s soul and a woman’s soul can there be perfect knowledge of life?” - -She thought a moment, and then answered: - -“Nay, Stephen, there is naught in the Bible which teacheth that the -prophets needed any but divine aid. In no place in the Bible were two -souls united in receiving the inspiration of God. Yet it hath seemed to -me that thou wert somehow joined to me in my inspiration. Instead of -separating me from thee, the knowledge that is coming to me maketh me -feel dependent upon thee.” - -Stephen touched her hand, and she drew it away to hide it in the folds -of her blue cotton gown. - -“You don’t mind having me near you, do you, Walda?” he asked. - -“Nay, Stephen; it hath seemed lately that I craved thy presence too -much.” - -Everett felt his pulses quicken. - -“I know that thou hast been sent to me by divine dispensation,” she -continued. “But since the spirit of prophecy hath begun to come to me, -thou dost stir my heart. I know that I must withdraw from association -with thee and with my people. To-night there cometh over me a vague -alarm. I am happy near thee, and yet I fear this peace may vanish.” - -“You cannot deny me the privilege of speaking to you in these few days -before the _Untersuchung_,” Everett answered. He gently took the hand -Walda had hidden in her gown, and, holding it in a firm clasp, said: - -“I have a mind never to let you go from me, Walda. I need you all my -life. I cannot look forward to the years out there in the world without -you.” - -“Dost thou mean, Stephen, that thou wouldst stay here in Zanah serving -the Lord with the men of the colony? Stay for the good of thy soul?” - -Everett pictured himself attired in colony garb and meekly accepting the -orders of Adolph Schneider and Karl Weisel; but, holding Walda’s hand, -the absurdity of such a position became every second less apparent to -him. He felt that no sacrifice could be too great if it kept him near to -the prophetess of Zanah. - -“Do you want me to stay, Walda?” he asked. - -“Yea, Stephen, even if I might not speak to thee, it would cheer me to -look upon thy face. I have thought much of thy going away, and I have -felt that Zanah will be dreary without thee. Sometimes I have feared -lest I might be tempted to carry thine image in my heart. It is -gratitude that maketh thee thus inhabit my thoughts.” - -“It is not your gratitude that I want, Walda,” Stephen said. “No, you -cannot take away your hand. I want to hold it while I talk to you. In -these few weeks in Zanah I have come to know that you will be always the -one woman who can command all my reverence, my respect, and my -allegiance. You have taught me that I have lived too much for self; you -have aroused in me an impulse to make more of my opportunities. You have -become my good angel. I cannot go back to the world, and to a lazy, -careless existence. I have forsaken my old idols, Walda.” - -“Thou hast builded thee a new altar, Stephen. And now thou wilt not -profane it.” - -It was the prophetess, not the woman, who spoke. Walda had forgotten all -the vague alarm. She was looking upon Stephen as a new disciple of Zanah -whom she was glad to welcome into the fold. - -“Yes, I have a new altar upon which I am willing to sacrifice all my old -habits, my previous interests,” he confessed. “To it I bring the incense -of love and service and loyalty. Before it I feel my own unworthiness. -Walda, I am but an ordinary man, one who has been content to live for -the day. Since I came to Zanah, my future years have a new meaning.” - -“When a man turneth his footsteps towards heaven, then, indeed, the -future is glorified. Henceforth thou wilt press onward towards the gates -of heaven.” - -“But, Walda, I may find the gates closed, after all. Don’t you know it -is you who hold the key?” - -“Nay, thou art almost blasphemous. I can only point the way.” - -They sat there silent for a few minutes. The twilight was gathering. The -shadows of evening closed out Zanah and all the earth. A soft wind -rippled the lake, which broke in tiny waves at their feet. - -“Walda, you who are so wise in the knowledge of things that pertain to -heaven are ignorant of many of the fundamental principles of life here -upon earth. Cannot you understand that at this very moment I am like a -wayfarer standing at the gate of paradise?” - -Involuntarily he tightened the clasp of his hand, and love, sleeping in -the heart of the woman, was suddenly disturbed. - -Walda drew her hand away, and, rising to her feet, looked at Everett -with fear in her face. - -“To-night thou dost speak in parables, Stephen,” she said. “To-night -thou dost cause me to tremble before thee. Let me go to the grave of -Marta Bachmann, where I can pray until my spirit is soothed.” - -Everett stood before her as if he would block her path. He uncovered her -head, and gazed at her with all the passionate longing of a strong -nature. He would have put out his arms to draw her close to him, but her -sweetness and innocence made him ashamed of the impulse. She was in his -power, but he saw that her momentary fear had passed away, for, with her -eyes raised to the stars that had appeared above the horizon, she was -praying. The man’s mood changed instantly. He could have knelt before -her to kiss the hem of her gown. - -“Walda, I ask your forgiveness for showing to-night that I am almost -unworthy of your trust in me,” he said. “Turn your face to me now, and -tell me that you will go away thinking of me as one who would hold you -so sacred that he would sacrifice his heart’s desire if in so doing he -could assure you of the fulfilment of life’s best promises.” - -Walda had folded her hands upon her breast. Having thus made the sign of -Zanah, which was believed to ward off all earthly influences, she said: - -“Verily, Stephen, thou hast put unrest in my heart, yet even now I feel -an abiding faith in thee.” - -“I shall try to be worthy of your faith, Walda.” - -While they stood close together the curfew-bell sounded from the village -belfry. It brought back to earth the man and woman who lingered thus -just outside the walls of paradise. - -“Good-night, Stephen. God be with thee.” - -Walda had again become the prophetess of Zanah. She passed him in the -narrow path from which he had stepped aside, and he let her go without a -word. She walked a few paces only, her face still uplifted to the sky -and her hands still folded across her breast. Then she paused to look -backward at the man whose parables had in them a meaning which she had -never found in the words of Holy Writ. - -And being a woman, as well as a prophetess, she saw that Everett was -good to look upon. - - - - - XV - - -It was a rainy day in Zanah. Early in the morning, when Everett looked -out of the diamond-paned window of his bedroom, he saw that the trees -and vines in the garden were dripping. The night-wind had beaten off -many of the leaves, which had grown yellow in the long drought and the -dying summer. The distant bluffs were hidden behind a curtain of mist. -Two village “mothers” passed, their shawls drawn over their heads and -their feet dragging slowly in their clumsy, wooden shoes. Everett -dressed quickly, for his room was dark, and the silence of the village -oppressed him. When he went out to his breakfast in the long, bare -dining-room, Mother Werther served him in silence. He wondered at her -unusual taciturnity, and he tried to start a cheerful conversation. She -replied to him in monosyllables. The entrance of a boy whom he -remembered seeing at the learning-school temporarily diverted Mother -Werther from her unpleasant thoughts. - -“This is my son Johann,” she said, pushing the lad forward. - -The boy hung his head, and Everett inquired why Johann was never at -home. - -“It is not wise that he should be kept at the _gasthaus_,” Mother -Werther explained, as she fixed a place for Johann at the distant end of -the table. - -“Does some unusual occurrence bring him here to-day?” Everett inquired, -with a show of interest. - -“It is the Day of Warning, and families hold communion before they go to -the meeting-house,” Mother Werther explained. “It is the last Sabbath -before the _Untersuchung_, and we make ready for the annual accounting -of our faults and follies.” - -The woman’s words brought uppermost in his mind the thought that had -harassed him in the hours of the night. The time of Walda’s ordination -as prophetess was very near. He rose from the table. He heard the rain -falling upon the slate roof of the side porch upon which the dining-room -opened. Lifting the heavy latch, he pushed the door slightly ajar. The -downpour was steady. - -“Does your prophetess take any special part in to-day’s ceremonies?” -Everett asked, because he felt that he must contrive to see Walda. - -“Nay, she will be present at the meeting, that is all,” said Mother -Werther, bustling out into the back kitchen. - -Everett sauntered into the office, which was occupied by Hans Peter. The -simple one had placed upon the mantel-shelf above the fireplace half a -dozen of his marked gourds, and he was studying them intently. He did -not pay any attention to Everett, who stepped up beside him. - -“Are you preparing for the Day of Warning and the _Untersuchung_, Hans -Peter?” Everett asked. - -The village fool shook his head. - -“Thou forgettest that Hans Peter is one whom the Lord hath forgotten,” -he said. “The Almighty taketh no account of the sayings and doings of -the simple one.” - -The simple one took into his hand a gourd which bore but one or two deep -cuts dried into its hardened surface. - -“This Hans Peter had in his pocket on the day that he carried the -carpet-bag of the stranger,” he said. - -“What do the marks stand for, Hans Peter? I hope they do not mean -anything uncomplimentary.” - -The simple one said that he did not understand, and Everett explained. - -“This meaneth that the stranger in Zanah bringeth trouble,” the village -fool answered. - -Everett paced up and down the sanded floor for a few moments. - -“You are not a prophet, Hans Peter,” he said, stopping to pull the -village fool’s ear. “Have I done any harm in Zanah?” - -“Thou hast sown some seeds of discord.” - -“Cannot you forgive me for the Bible episode? You know I have done my -best to make amends. You will not always blame me for your suffering in -the stocks, I hope.” - -The simple one put the gourd he had been examining into one of his deep -pockets. - -“Thou knowest the stocks were but the penalty of mine own deed,” he -said. “There are other things that even a fool can see and hear. Thou -hast a soft voice when thou speakest to the prophetess of Zanah. Thine -eyes watch her always when she is near thee.” - -Hans Peter folded his arms in imitation of Everett and stared at him -with unblinking eyes. - -“You are observant, Hans Peter. As I have often told you, every day I am -more and more convinced you are the wisest man in Zanah.” Everett -flicked the ashes from the cigar he was smoking and smiled down at the -queer little figure. “What conclusions do you draw from your two -discoveries?” - -“It seemeth that thine actions are like Joseph Hoff’s, and the people of -Zanah say that he hath earthly love in his heart.” - -“If my memory serves me right, it was you who aided Joseph Hoff to send -messages to the one he loves,” said Everett. - -“She was not a prophetess,” the fool declared. - -Hans Peter had selected a second gourd from the shelf, and had fled from -the room before Everett could sound him on the subject of acting as -errand-boy. - -Still the rain poured down. Everett chafed under his enforced -inactivity, for he felt that every hour meant much to him. Presently, -because he had nothing better to do, he took down from its place beside -Hans Peter’s gourds the old tinder-box, and lighted the wood that was -piled in the fireplace. He lounged upon the settle and idly watched the -flames creep along the logs. His thoughts flew out to Walda. He wondered -what she was doing. He felt a disgust for the fanaticism of the colony, -and he tried to think of some way of claiming the woman he loved. He was -ready to carry her off without any ado, but he knew that as long as her -father lived he could not persuade her to go away. Although he had not -yet made her realize she loved him, he would not harbor the thought that -he could lose her—and yet his suit appeared hopeless. - -His reflections were disturbed by the voice of Mother Werther raised in -indignant remonstrance. She was in the next room, and he heard her say: - -“Diedrich, thou dost vex me much lately. And now thou dost tell me thou -likest to gaze through the car-windows to behold the women of the world -as they pass by Zanah.” - -“They are comely,” the innkeeper answered, in his laconic fashion. - -“How darest thou tell me that? To-day I am half persuaded to confess to -the elders that at last I have learned the love of man is not to be -trusted. I have a mind to claim promotion to the second rank of the -colony, and who knows but I may soon hate thee enough to serve the Lord -in singleness of purpose!” - -“Thy tongue proveth thou mayst yet become like Mother Schneider and -Mother Kaufmann, who have long been in the third rank because they love -not men,” remarked Diedrich Werther. - -“Thou speakest hateful words.” Mother Werther’s voice was choked with -anger. “Many times hast thou tried me sorely, but never until to-day -have I seen that thou art indeed a man with sinful impulses. Thy feet -have been turned from the straight and narrow way. Thou hast a liking -for wicked things.” - -Everett smiled when he heard what he might take as an object-lesson of -the inevitable experience of even the most faithful of married couples. -He shrugged his shoulders, and thought that, after all, it was only the -few who knew the real meaning of love, the love that blended worship and -lofty aspiration. - -Diedrich Werther came into the office. It was plain that the berating he -had received had not disturbed his phlegmatic calm. He shuffled along in -his carpet slippers until he reached the desk, behind which he perched -himself on a high stool. Everett felt irritated at the unpleasant -interruption to his thoughts of Walda. He snatched up his soft felt hat -and went out into the muddy street. He turned his steps towards Wilhelm -Kellar’s room, where he found his patient sitting up in an arm-chair. -Gerson Brandt was with him. The two colonists showed an unusual -restraint in the presence of the stranger in Zanah. - -“I have been telling Brother Brandt that I need thy services no longer,” -said Wilhelm Kellar, addressing Everett. “There is nothing to hinder -thee from leaving Zanah to-morrow.” - -Everett noticed that Gerson Brandt watched him closely while Wilhelm -Kellar spoke. - -“I shall not go away for at least a week,” said Everett, leaning against -the chest of drawers, and assuming an indifferent manner. - -“It is strange that thou findest colony life so pleasant,” said Gerson -Brandt. - -“It is restful and interesting to me,” Everett replied, carelessly. - -As he faced the two elders of Zanah he felt a twinge of remorse, because -his dearest purpose in life was to win from them Walda Kellar. He who -had held honor first experienced a certain amount of self-abasement, but -he quieted his conscience, as he had many times before, by the thought -that love was the ruling power of the world, and that all things should -give way before it. - -“The colony of Zanah would recompense thee for thy services in helping -to restore me to health,” said Wilhelm Kellar. “Wilt thou render to me -thine accounting?” - -“Whatever aid you have received from me has not been given for money,” -Everett replied, in a voice so decided in its accents that both his -hearers felt there was beneath his words something which they could not -understand. - -“The colony never shirks the payment of its debts,” Wilhelm Kellar -declared, proudly. - -“If you think you owe me anything, accept the amount as a gift to -Zanah,” said Everett. - -A moment of embarrassment followed, and he was glad to take his leave -rather hastily. When he reached the inn, many of the villagers were -assembled in the main room and on the porches. The meeting-house bell -sounded as he went up the steps, and instantly the men and women moved -towards the old building on the hill. The women drew heavy shawls over -their heads to protect them from the rain, and the men, who walked apart -from them, now and then removed their caps to shake off the water which -ran down upon their hair and shoulders. No one spoke. It was evident -that the Day of Warning had its terrors for many of the colonists. -Everett stood on the topmost step watching the little children, who were -miniature reproductions of the men and women, and listening to the click -of the wooden shoes upon the board walk. He looked down the street in -the hope that he might see Walda Kellar, but he was disappointed. - -“Would I be admitted to the meeting-house?” he asked Diedrich Werther, -who was putting a long-tailed coat over a faded blue-gingham shirt. - -“Ja, ja; if thou desirest to attend a service of much solemnity, come -with me,” the innkeeper answered. - -The meeting-house was crowded when they entered. Its interior was as -devoid of ornament as its exterior. The bare, white walls were broken at -regular intervals with small-paned, clear glass windows, which let in -but little light on a gloomy day. A broad middle aisle led straight to a -platform upon which sat the thirteen elders, for Everett was astonished -to see that Wilhelm Kellar had been carried in his arm-chair from his -room in the near-by school-house. The men occupied rude benches on the -right side of the meeting-house, and the women sat on the left. The -children were placed in front, the boys on the men’s side and the girls -on the women’s. On a dais in the middle of the elders’ platform was a -heavy oaken chair. - -A few moments after Everett’s entrance a group of colonists, who still -lingered at the door, separated to allow some one to pass in. A hush -fell upon the assemblage, for Walda Kellar was walking up the aisle. -Over her blue gown she wore a long cloak with a pointed hood that she -put back from her head as she moved slowly forward. The damp air had -caused her hair to curl in many unruly ringlets about her forehead, and -her pure skin had the peculiar clearness and transparency that a rainy -day imparts to a delicate complexion. Everett could see only her -profile. There was a majesty in her carriage, a consciousness of power -in her pose, that made her seem far off from him. His heart beat wildly -as he looked at her, and when the villagers knelt in acknowledgment of -her presence, he obeyed the impulse of worship, and bent forward with a -despairing humility in his heart. He, to whom prayer had long ceased to -be a daily habit, breathed his heart’s sincere desire in a petition that -his love might be given its reward. - -When Everett raised his eyes again Walda had ascended the platform, and -had taken her place on the steps in front of the chair which it was -plain was the seat reserved for the prophetess. She had thrown aside her -cloak, and she sat with her hands folded in her lap. Adolph Schneider -spoke, in German, the words of a droning invocation. He left the front -of the platform, and Everett was surprised to see Walda come forward as -if she were about to speak. Instead of making an address, she began to -sing a monotonous hymn, to which her rich voice lent a glorious melody. - -While Walda sang, the man of the world listened in breathless awe. Her -voice thrilled with the diapason of hope. It rose in triumphant notes, -and then fell with a softened cadence. His soul went out to hers, but in -the tense moment that followed her hymn he felt as if she were far away -from him. Her purity rebuked the passion of love in him, and yet he -could scarcely restrain himself from the impulse to claim her there -before all Zanah. She went back to her place on the steps before the -chair of the prophetess, which she was to occupy before another week had -passed. - -Adolph Schneider commanded the colonists to listen with undivided -attention to what he had to say to them. It was the Day of Warning, when -all who felt they were not prepared for the _Untersuchung_ would make -confession. If there was any man or woman who desired to ask for -promotion in the colony, the time had come to show reason for a desire -for advancement. - -A tall, large-boned woman rose from her place far back in the -congregation. - -“I would seek advancement to the first grade of the colony,” she said. - -“What is thy ground for making this request? Why dost thou believe that -thou art worthy?” the Herr Doktor asked. - -“It is five years since I refused to listen to the elders of Zanah when -they told me of the trials earthly love would bring,” answered the -woman, turning a sallow, weather-beaten face towards the platform. “Now -have I learned that marriage is a hard discipline. Otto Schmidt hath -vexed me every day for forty months. I have found that the love of man -for woman is fleeting, and now do I know that I can worship God in -singleness of heart.” - -On the men’s side a stout mill-worker pulled himself to his feet. - -“Christina hath not suffered the smallest tithe of the mortification of -spirit that hath been mine,” he declared, in an emphatic tone. “It was -for her sake that I gave up my place in the first grade of Zanah’s -people, and now do I confess that the elders of Zanah are wise when they -entreat the people to beware of love. Love is but the fire of man’s -vanity kindled to flame by a woman’s wanton eyes.” - -“Nay, it is but a woman’s faith which is nourished by man’s false -promises of kindness and constancy,” replied the woman, who was still -standing. - -“Let the brother and sister of Zanah be seated,” commanded Adolph -Schneider. - -As she obeyed, Christina Schmidt cast a glance of hatred towards her -husband. - -The elders spoke together. While they were holding their conference, -Everett noticed that Hans Peter was creeping slowly up the aisle with a -letter in his hand. He passed the envelope up to Adolph Schneider and -tiptoed to a vacant place on the front seat. The elders examined the -letter. The colonists waited without any show of impatience. - -“It is my sad duty to announce that one of the colony youths hath looked -with longing eyes on a maid, and that he entreats permission to wed -her,” said the Herr Doktor, standing upon the edge of the platform and -looking down at the people with a stern expression on his face. His -small eyes scanned the women and then the men. “I would have Frieda -Bergen and Joseph Hoff step forward.” - -It would not have been in human nature for the people to remain -impassive. More than half of them turned their heads to look for the -culprits. Joseph Hoff made his way towards the elders. He carried his -head high, and had an air of bravado that showed how little he cared -because he was transgressing the laws of the colony. He waited for -Frieda Bergen, who came towards him with her head bent and her cheeks -flaming. “Be of good courage,” he whispered, as they faced Adolph -Schneider. - -“You two have made for yourselves idols here on earth,” said the -president of the colony in a thundering tone, which frightened every -youth and maiden in the meeting-house. “Ye have not heeded the behests -of Zanah. How did Satan manage to tempt you when all the safeguards of -Zanah were thrown around you?” - -Neither of the lovers spoke. - -“It is not permitted here in the colony for men and women who are -unmarried to speak together except on rare occasions, and never are they -allowed to talk when no one is near them; how then did ye two surrender -to the tempter?” - -Still there was no answer. - -“Speak, Joseph Hoff!” Adolph Schneider shouted, in a tone which showed -that he was filled with indignation. - -“Love needeth not words or messengers; love is carried on the winds that -blow across a woman’s cheek,” said Joseph. - -“Nay, it is like a prayer that cometh from the heart of man to the heart -of woman,” faltered Frieda, bending in a low courtesy. - -“Thou art blaspheming!” Adolph Schneider cried, looking on the maiden -with angry eyes. “It is plain that thou art made mad by what thou -callest love. To you two erring ones shall be given a chance to repent -between now and the _Untersuchung_, but if your eyes are then still -blind to your iniquities ye shall be allowed to marry. Ponder well upon -the testimony given here this day by Otto and Christina Schmidt. Human -love lasteth but a few years, and eternity is not long enough to blot -out the sorrow it can bring to a human soul. Go hence to pray that ye -may be delivered from paying the hard penalties earthly love bringeth to -all.” - -Tears were streaming from the girl’s eyes as she walked back to the -women’s side of the building, but in her face was no sign of repentance. - -Karl Weisel and the other elders had listened with stolid faces while -Adolph Schneider rebuked the people. After the young lovers had taken -their seats, Wilhelm Kellar pronounced a benediction. The colonists -filed slowly out of the meeting-house. Everett lingered in the hope that -by some happy circumstance he might speak to Walda, but she was detained -by the elders, who gathered around her. He had given up hope of getting -near her when it occurred to him to make Wilhelm Kellar’s imprudence an -excuse by which he might at least go closer to the woman he loved. He -went forward to where Wilhelm Kellar stood at the foot of the platform -steps. - -“You have taken a great risk,” he said, to his patient. “You should not -have come here to-day.” - -The old man drew himself up with a show of strength and said he was well -enough to make an effort to enter the Lord’s house. - -Walda, who had smiled upon Everett when she saw him coming towards her, -put her hand upon her father’s shoulder and persuaded him to be carried -back to his room. Gerson Brandt and another man of Zanah lifted the -invalid’s chair. Everett opened the side door that they might pass out. -Walda, who was anxious for her father’s comfort, would have gone into -the rain ahead of them, but Everett reminded her she had not put on her -cloak. He stepped up to the chair of the prophetess without taking -thought that he might be profaning the place of the elders, and, taking -the long garment, put it around her. Although Karl Weisel and the other -elders stood by, he calmly fastened the clasp at the neck and drew the -hood over the head of the prophetess. Walda, looking up into his face, -beheld in the deep-set eyes as they rested upon her something that sent -the blood to her face. Gerson Brandt, looking back over his shoulder, -saw Everett hold the door open while Walda went through, and he noticed -that the strong face of the man of the world had upon it a look of -tenderness such as he had never seen before. - -Everett hesitated a moment as he buttoned his mackintosh. He was -uncertain whether to go out into the woods for a long walk or whether to -return to the dreary inn. He turned his steps towards the inn, and he -had not gone half-way down the hill before he saw Walda coming from the -school-house. The prophetess was with Frieda Bergen, and behind them -walked two of the village “mothers.” Everett let them pass him, but he -noticed with a pang that Walda appeared not to see him as he stood with -uncovered head while she walked by. - -“The elders have asked me to entreat thee to overcome this love that -thou hast confessed,” he heard Walda say to Frieda Bergen; but they had -gone beyond ear-shot before the girl replied. - -They went into the inn, whither Everett followed them after a time. -Walda drew Frieda Bergen to the settle near the fire which Everett had -kindled. - -“Thou seemest so happy in thy sin that I would know what is thy -feeling,” said Walda. “Thou hast the look of one to whom heaven hath -been revealed.” - -“A great joy hath come to me, Walda. If it is wicked to love, then would -I continue in my sin,” answered Frieda. “Hast thou never known the -temptation of love? Hast thou never seen one who maketh the world seem -better to thee?” - -“Gerson Brandt and Stephen Everett have taught me much,” said Walda, -“but no one hath ever tempted me to forget God and to worship man. Doth -not thy conscience make thee repentant?” - -“Nay, I cannot believe that it is wicked to love.” - -“How didst thou come to know that thou lovest?” - -“One day, as we worked together, Joseph Hoff looked at me through the -trellis of a hop-vine. He was on one side and I was on the other. My -heart trembled, and thenceforth his face was often before me.” - -“That is but a small matter. The stranger in Zanah hath sometimes made -my heart leap, but that meaneth naught.” - -“After the hour in which Joseph Hoff looked at me, the day was happier -when I could see him. I no longer rebelled against the hard tasks given -me. I had sweet dreams,” declared Frieda. - -“I have felt as thou sayest thou feelest, but it was prayer and fasting -that made the earth like the outer courts of heaven. Frieda, Frieda, -thou hast mistaken the spirit of holiness for earthly love.” - -Walda Kellar leaned forward, clasping her hands together in a gesture -which betrayed her relief at what she supposed was her discovery of the -true state of her companion’s mind. - -“Nay, nay, it was love that made a new life for me,” insisted Frieda, -shaking her black-capped head and speaking in a low voice. - -“How couldst thou know?” - -“One day Joseph spoke to me sweet words; he touched my hand. Life became -changed again. In my heart thenceforth was a great loneliness except -when I was near Joseph Hoff. I trembled when he touched my hand, and I -would have had him always by my side.” - -“Ah, this that thou tellest me is strange indeed. I have known something -of this loneliness, but it was the loneliness of the soul that seeketh -God and feareth to lose the way to heaven. Tell me something more of thy -love.” - -“Joseph Hoff sometimes said I was like an angel to him. He spoke softly -of love.” - -“Thou wert wrong to listen,” said Walda. - -“Thou hast spoken often with the stranger in Zanah.” - -“True, but we talked of books, and the woods; of the wonders of the -heavens and the glories of the earth.” - -“We spoke few words, but they gave me strange strength. The earth seemed -a pleasanter place after we had talked together. Hast thou never known a -day when suddenly the flowers became more beautiful and the sun shone -brighter?” - -“Yea, lately, since the inspiration hath come to me, it is as if Zanah -were bathed in a heavenly radiance. But tell me more, Frieda.” - -“The days became pleasant; every one was joyous. There was in my heart a -singing that made me care not for the reproofs of the village mothers.” - -“I know what thou meanest. Thy experiences are not different from mine.” -Walda looked into her companion’s face with a smile of sympathy. -“Disturb not thyself any longer. Thou hast the revelation of divinity -that the Lord sendeth to those who serve Him. Why didst thou think this -new glory in thy life was an earthly love? Foolish girl, I am glad that -I did have this chance to probe thy heart to-day.” - -“It was not love of God that was in my heart, Walda.” Frieda looked into -the fire and shook her head thoughtfully. “Else why should I look each -day for a glimpse of Joseph Hoff? Why should the simplest word from him -be more to me than the longest prayer of any of the elders? Even if I -had thought in the beginning that the tumult in my heart was due to the -fervor of my religious faith, I found out very soon that it was Joseph -Hoff I loved.” - -“How did the revelation come?” Walda whispered. - -“One day, when I went back into the hay-field to find a rake I had left, -Joseph Hoff, who was working on the top of the stack, came down to the -field, and, taking both my hands, he kissed me.” Frieda lifted the -corner of her apron and half hid her face as she made this confession. - -“Ah, that was sinful, indeed!” exclaimed Walda, her eyes wide with -horror. “We of Zanah have been taught that a kiss is the password that -Satan giveth to weak and foolish men and women. I hope that thou didst -rebuke the bold and sinful youth.” - -Frieda raised her apron a little higher and made no reply. - -“What didst thou do when he had kissed thee?” Walda asked, after a -moment of silence. - -“I—I—waited for him to kiss me again.” - -Walda drew away from the girl beside her. “How couldst thou let any man -touch thy lips?” she exclaimed in indignation. - -“Because I loved him.” - -“And since Joseph Hoff hath kissed thee, hast thou not lost the sense of -holiness that belongeth to the people of Zanah?” - -“Nay, every kiss hath added a glory to the earth. I care no longer for -heaven if I may dwell with Joseph Hoff here in Zanah.” - -“Truly, thy state of mind doth alarm me, Frieda. Thou hast many of the -emotions that have come to me since the beginning of mine inspiration, -and yet thou hast fallen a victim to the wiles of man. Pray that thine -eyes may be opened to thine errors.” - -“Nay, I would not pray that, lest my prayer should be answered. If I -prayed from my heart, I would ask that many years might be given me to -live and love Joseph Hoff here on earth.” Frieda Bergen rose and walked -away, but she turned back to put her hand on Walda Kellar’s shoulder. - -“Forgive me if I seem of a stubborn spirit. I know that thou canst not -understand how the love of man can take possession of a woman’s heart. -Thou wilt be satisfied to live aloof from the people of Zanah that thou -mayst be near to God, but I would rather have the love of Joseph Hoff -than the inspiration that cometh to a prophetess of Zanah.” - -“It is my duty to reprimand thee for thy sin, but somehow, when thou -speakest of Joseph Hoff, I cannot feel the abhorrence for thy -transgression that should fill my heart. I will pray that the Lord may -show thee the right way.” - -Walda leaned her head against the settle and thought about Frieda -Bergen’s state of mind, but her thoughts were confused. Her reflections -were interrupted by Everett, who came into the inn. Drawing near to the -fireplace, he made a great show of drying his hat, which was wet from -the rain. Walda did not seem to notice his presence. - -“You appear to be troubled about something,” he said. - -“Yea. A matter of much moment hath been laid before me, and I have not -wisdom enough to see it in all its sinfulness.” - -“Do you suppose my worldly advice would help you?” Everett asked. - -“Nay, thou hast different measures of judgment from those set by the -people of Zanah. Thou dost not hold earthly love a sin.” - -“No, I do not, Walda.” Everett smiled. “I hold love—the earthly love you -are taught to try to escape—as the most precious gift the Creator gave -to the children of men.” - -His voice was low, and it betrayed an intensity of feeling that caused -Walda to give him a questioning glance. Everett looked at her with so -much tenderness she turned her head away. - -“Thou hast in thy tones the same sound that was strange in Frieda’s -voice. Dost thou love? Hast thou the same unreasoning rapture as Joseph -Hoff?” - -“Not the same, Walda. I love much more than any man in Zanah.” - -Walda’s face became as white as the cap upon her soft hair. She clasped -her hands tightly together and said, with a catch in her voice: - -“Stephen, why hast thou never told me of thy love?” - -“Because I thought you would not care to hear about it. Because it is -forbidden to speak of love in Zanah,” Everett answered. - -He seated himself beside her on the settle. From behind the high desk -Diedrich Werther now and then stared at them with a glimmer of suspicion -in his eyes. His recent contact with the world at the railway station -evidently had made him less trustful than his fellow-colonists. Everett -noticed the innkeeper’s watchfulness, and therefore was careful not to -betray emotion. - -“Walda, you are not angry because I have deceived you, are you?” he -said, when she did not answer him. - -“Angry with thee, Stephen? Nay, thy love cannot concern the prophetess -of Zanah.” Her lip quivered, but she held her head high, and disdained -to let him know that the heart beneath her kerchief was throbbing so -that her words were almost smothered in her throat. “Thy confession did -cause me to be abashed for a moment. I had never thought that out in the -world some woman loved thee.” - -She rose to her feet as she spoke, and she would have gone away without -another word but he boldly caught her hand and pulled her back upon the -settle. Diedrich Werther looked on with jaw dropped and pipe suspended -at elbow-length, but Everett defied him. - -“You misunderstand me, Walda. I want to explain to you, but this is not -the place.” - -“I—I would not hear what thou hast to say about thy love, Stephen,” she -said, with a faint smile. “Frieda hath told me her story, and it is -enough for me to think of in the watches of the night. Detain me not. I -must pray for Frieda Bergen. I must seek divine light for the -understanding of mortal weaknesses, of which love is said to be the most -dangerous. Verily, to-day I fear the inspiration hath been withdrawn -from me, for I am dull of comprehension.” - -Before Everett could reply, Gerson Brandt entered the room. The -school-master came towards them with a stern look upon his face. - -“Why dost thou talk here with the prophetess of Zanah?” he said, -addressing Everett. “Thou canst have nothing to say that will be worthy -of her hearing, since she is close to heaven and thou art of the wicked -world.” - -His long hair was wet as it lay upon his shoulders, and his thin face -was deeply lined. - -“We were talking of love—earthly love,” Walda said, leaving her place -beside Everett. “Gerson Brandt, he hath just told me that he loveth.” - -The school-master’s tall, gaunt form swayed beneath the burden of a -great emotion. - -“Tell me, sir, thou hast not dared to speak of love to the prophetess of -Zanah?” he cried. - -“Yes, I have spoken of love,” said Everett, going to the farther side of -the fireplace. “Yes, I have spoken of love.” He was again the cool, -well-poised man of the world. Carelessly he took up an old pair of -bellows, as he added: “But you need not fear. The prophetess of Zanah -did not care to hear about my love.” - -“Walda, thou wouldst not listen to any man who would dare to speak of -love to thee, wouldst thou?” Gerson Brandt asked, in an agony of fear. - -“Disturb not thyself, Gerson Brandt,” Walda answered. “What harm can -there be in Stephen Everett’s declaration that he loveth a woman out in -the world?” - -An expression of relief passed over the face of the school-master. Beads -of perspiration stood upon his white forehead. He was shaking so that he -had to steady himself against the end of the settle. - -“Thy time of inspiration is so near that thou shouldst not speak to the -stranger,” he said, in a softened tone. “Thou art close to heaven, and -it is not wise for thee to commune with any man.” - -“Must I speak no more with thee, Gerson Brandt?” Walda looked at him -with all the tenderness of a deep affection shining in her eyes. Everett -watched her as she addressed the school-master. The childish heart and -the unawakened soul associated with the majestic form of a woman had -fascinated him when he first came to Zanah, but he saw that the face, -once as placid as a nun’s, showed the inner disquietude that is the -recompense of those who come into a knowledge of the great emotions of -life. - -“Thou wouldst better dwell alone until the great day of the -_Untersuchung_,” Gerson Brandt said to Walda. “Go now to thy closet, -where thou canst pray until thou forgettest what thou hast heard of -earthly love.” - -Walda started to obey the counsel of the school-master, but she -hesitated after she had gone to the door. She glanced at Everett. His -tall form was outlined in the fire-light, but she could not see his -face, which was in the shadow. - -“I would speak a last word with Stephen Everett,” she said. Gerson -Brandt stood by the door while she went near to Everett. - -“Since this may be my last meeting with thee, I would offer thee -gratitude from my heart for all that thou hast done for my father and -for me,” she said. “Thou hast helped me to gain wisdom, Stephen.” - -“Do not speak of gratitude, Walda. You cannot say good-bye to me here, -for I shall see you again.” - -“Nay, I may not be permitted to see thee again.” She stopped, as if she -were taking care to speak wisely. “It is my prayer, Stephen, that thy -love shall bring happiness to thee and to the woman upon whom thou hast -set thine heart.” - -She was gone before she could hear Everett’s reply. - - - - - XVI - - -The evening of the Day of Warning closed in dark and dreary. The rain -stopped and a high wind came up. After tea in the inn, Everett walked up -and down the porch. The village square and the winding street were -deserted. At long intervals lights gleamed from fast-curtained windows. -At first he took it for granted that Walda would not make her nightly -visit to the grave of Marta Bachmann. When he thought over the matter, -however, it occurred to him that it might be well to walk out towards -the cemetery. He knew the fanaticism of the colonists caused them to be -punctilious in the smallest religious observances. He watched for Walda -in vain. After Gerson Brandt’s exhibition of evident unfriendliness to -him he knew that precautions might be taken to prevent Walda from -passing the _gasthaus_. As he had nothing else to do, he decided that a -walk out through the woods to the shore of the lake might possibly be -rewarded by a glimpse of the prophetess. He met no one on the way to the -cemetery, but when he reached the gate he could dimly discern the forms -of two women who were standing by the grave of Marta Bachmann. He -guessed that Mother Kaufmann had been sent with Walda. A tall hedge -surrounded the God’s-acre of Zanah, and he followed this evergreen wall -to the point where it was nearest the grave of the dead prophetess. He -was careful that his presence should not be discovered by the colony -“mother.” - -An old oak-tree spread its branches over the little plot of ground in -which the tomb of Marta Bachmann was situated. The wind waved the -branches of this tree and blew a shower of brown leaves upon the two -women. It wound Walda’s cloak about her and tore the shawl from Mother -Kaufmann’s shoulders. - -“This is a night to make the spirits of the dead walk about their old -haunts,” said Mother Kaufmann. - -“Put superstition away from thee,” Walda answered. “If thou hast fixed -thy faith on God, evil spirits cannot harm thee.” - -Mother Kaufmann put her hand to her forehead while she peered about her, -as if to discover some chance ghost. - -“Dost thou not hear footsteps among the dried leaves?” she asked Walda. - -“Nay, Mother Kaufmann. Why art thou so affrighted?” the girl replied. At -that moment a gust of wind almost swept them from their feet. Mother -Kaufmann uttered a scream of terror and pointed to a far corner of the -graveyard where a white form was moving about among the graves. She did -not wait to find out who or what the unexpected apparition might be. -Gathering her skirts in her hand she fled, leaving Walda alone beside -the grave. Everett stepped through the hedge and spoke gently to Walda. - -“Do not be afraid,” he said. “I will find out what sort of a ghost has -frightened Mother Kaufmann.” He walked towards the place, where what -appeared to be a headless form wrapped in a sheet was moving back and -forth. When he came near to it he saw that it was a most substantial -substance, for Hans Peter had borrowed a white rubber blanket, through -which he had thrust his head, and thus improvised a most serviceable -rain-coat. - -“What are you doing here?” Everett asked, in an angry tone of voice. “Do -you know that you have scared one of the colony women?” - -“Thou hast no concern in what my errand may be,” said the simple one, -gathering his rubber blanket around him and calmly seating himself upon -the nearest gravestone. “If Mother Kaufmann had been scared to death -there is none in Zanah who would have wept upon her bier.” - -“You had better go back to the village,” Everett advised, as he with -difficulty restrained a laugh. - -“Nay, it is thou who hast no occasion to linger near the cemetery,” the -simple one replied. “I have come to wait for Walda Kellar.” - -Another gust of wind, even stronger than the preceding one, carried -Everett’s hat away, and while he searched for it in the dark a tree was -uprooted. It fell with a crash that came from the direction of Marta -Bachmann’s grave, towards which Everett ran in a frenzy of fear lest -Walda had been injured. - -“Stephen, Stephen,” he heard her call. She took a few steps towards him, -and in a moment his arms were around her. - -“You are not hurt, are you?” he said, putting his right hand upon her -head, and drawing it close to him until it rested on his shoulder. He -felt her tremble, and he said: - -“You are quite safe now. I will take you home.” - -The simple one had come near. Without glancing towards Stephen and -Walda, he went to Marta Bachmann’s grave, and, climbing over the -branches of the fallen tree, began to search for something. Everett -gently put Walda away from him lest the simple one should notice them. -Then, taking her by the hand, he led her through the hedge and along the -road until they came to the open place by the lake. - -“Stephen, I have shown a grievous weakness and lack of faith,” said -Walda, catching her breath, and drawing her hand from his. “The -prophetess of Zanah should not know fear, and yet I felt a strength and -comfort in thine aid that my prayers have never given me.” - -Walda raised her face to him, and again he put his arms around her. - -“Walda, I mean to take care of you always,” he said. “I shall never let -you go. Cannot you understand that it is meant you should belong to me?” -He kissed her on the lips, and, abashed and trembling, she drew away -from him. - -“Stephen, thou dost betray my trust in thee. Why wouldst thou profane -the lips of a prophetess of Zanah?” she cried. She put her hands over -her heart, as if to still its wild beating, and her eyes were wide with -fear and astonishment. - -“Walda, I love you. I think I have loved you ever since the first day I -came to Zanah. I have kissed you because my heart claims you from all -the world. Life without you means nothing to me. Can’t you love me, -Walda?” - -“I know not what it means to love. I have been warned that it is selfish -and sinful for men and women to fix all their thoughts upon each other. -Oh, Stephen, what have I done that thou shouldst speak thus to me?” - -“You have made me centre all my hopes in you. You have won my reverence. -I know I am unworthy to touch your hand, but this love that has come to -me gives me a supreme courage. Walda, surely your heart answers mine. -Words are so clumsy that, now that my tongue should tell you how great -and holy a thing is the love of a man for a woman, I am but a poor -supplicant.” He took both her hands in his and drew her towards him. -Again he kissed her, and, instead of resenting the caress, she hid her -face upon his shoulder. He held her thus for a moment. He pushed back -the white cap and softly touched her hair. - -“Walda, do you know, I have often been afraid of the prophetess of -Zanah,” he said, in a low tone, “and if it were not for my great love I -would not have the courage to covet you for my wife. Love is stronger -than reason, and so I dare covet you for my own forever. You are mine, -for I could not love you so if you were not the woman destined to rule -my life. Cannot you find in your heart a little love for me?” - -“I know not what is in my heart,” she answered. “Thy kisses make me -ashamed, Stephen, and yet my heart is glad. This night my weakness hath -been revealed to me. Even now I cling to thee when I should bid thee go -away from me.” - -“You do love me, Walda. You must love me. It was fate that brought me to -Zanah to find you. I know that all my years I have been waiting for you. -You have been kept for me here in Zanah. Cannot you begin to comprehend -that love is the birthright of every man and woman? Zanah would have -cheated you, but now it cannot separate us.” - -“Thy words make me think of my duty, Stephen.” Walda’s voice trembled. -“Since thou hast kissed me, I am no longer fit to be the prophetess of -Zanah.” - -“You will be a wife instead of a prophetess, Walda. You can still be an -instrument of the Lord, for you will make the world outside better for -your presence.” - -She was very quiet for a moment. It was as if she had not heard him. - -“Is it love that maketh my heart beat? Is it love that casteth out fear -while thou hast thine arms around me?” she asked, presently. “What -meaning is there in a kiss that it should make me ashamed and yet happy, -Stephen? Verily, thy kisses are not like the kisses of good-fellowship -that the elders give one another at the _Untersuchung_; they are not -like the kisses the mothers have pressed upon my forehead.” - -“Of course they are not,” Everett said, and he laughed aloud in the joy -the knowledge of her love gave him. “Look up, Walda, and let me kiss you -again, and you will learn that the kiss of love is the token that -unlocks the hearts of men and women.” - -She looked into his eyes, and their lips met. - -“Thou speakest truly, Stephen,” Walda said. “Let us go back to the -village. I would think of thee and of love in solitude and with much -prayer. This hour hath robbed me of the mantle of the prophetess.” - -“But it has given you the highest heritage of life. It is better to be a -wife than a prophetess, Walda.” - - - - - XVII - - -Kneeling by the window in her bare little room, Walda tried to pray -after the manner of Zanah, yet no words of penitence came to the lips -that had been touched by a lover’s kiss. The soul that the good elders -had turned towards heaven as a mirror upon which the divine will might -be reflected held an earthly image. A human love was enshrined in the -heart that had been consecrated to God. As the girl prostrated herself, -the discipline of long years of religious training was forgotten. Her -Zanah life fell from her. New emotions swept over her, submerging her -old character and bringing strange, sweet hopes. The soul of the -priestess was consumed by the supreme passion of earth, and in its place -flamed the soul of a woman. - -One by one the lowly duties that had occupied her days came up before -her. She recalled the pious fervor that had made them pleasant. Looking -back to the time when Everett’s chance words in the sick-room had -tempted her to enjoy the beauties of sky and field, she realized how far -she had grown away from her former self since the almost imperceptible -beginning of the fuller life which she had unconsciously entered. -Kneeling there in the darkness, for the first time in all her life she -rebelled against the laws of Zanah. Her youth and womanhood demanded the -privilege of accepting human love. Everett’s influence was over her, and -she gave little thought to the future. It was enough to feel the -exaltation of love, to comprehend that she stood at the threshold of the -ultimate mystery of life. She looked out at the stars that shone above -the far horizon. She felt that she had ceased to belong to Zanah. It was -as if she had entered into a larger kinship with all nature. Love had -wrought the miracle that puts away all one’s years and leads the soul -into a new existence independent of the past, expectant of the future. - -Long after the village had gone to sleep Everett stayed out in the -starlight, thinking of the weeks he had spent in Zanah, and of the woman -who would henceforth claim his life’s allegiance. He dreamed of the -future that was his and Walda’s. He saw the girl’s stunted life -expanding under its new environments. His thoughts wandered over -imaginary years, and he beheld her clad in the ripened charm of -maturity. He saw the light of happiness in her eyes reflected in the -eyes of their children. Sometimes, perhaps, they would look back to -Zanah and thank God that among the middle-aged mothers with dwarfed -minds and cramped souls there was none that bore the name of Walda -Kellar. - -For Walda the next day dawned with mysterious splendor. Zanah had fallen -under a spell of enchantment, yet as the village awoke to life all its -influences once more stole over her. Looking out of her window, she -began to remember that she had been the prophetess of Zanah. She watched -the men and boys walk leisurely towards the factory. Ox-teams creaked up -the narrow street. The children solemnly wandered schoolward. She could -no longer put her father or Gerson Brandt from her thoughts. The -realization that she would give them pain burst upon her. - -She tried to think what Everett’s love meant to her, but she found it -impossible to get beyond the one idea that she was to be unfaithful to -the trust that the people of Zanah had put in her. She did not shrink -from facing the change in her position in the colony, but she could not -understand what her future would be. She recalled that Everett had taken -it for granted she would leave Zanah, but she knew she could not desert -her father, even though a greater love than that which she bore for him -might call her away. She was not sad, however, for underneath her new -anxieties there was the consciousness of the revelation of love, the -recognition of divinity that was so different from the one to which she -had looked forward since her childhood. It gradually came over her that -the inspiration she had felt came through a human medium, and not -directly from heaven. She fell upon her knees before the low table that -held her little German Bible. She tried to pray that she might know the -will of God, but she could not bring herself to plead that she would -have power to cast out from her heart the human love which had brought -to her life the holy exaltation she had hoped to obtain through rigid -conformity to the creed of Zanah. - -Walda went out of the house of the women and stood in the little street, -in which she felt suddenly that she was a stranger. She turned her steps -towards the hill, for she obeyed the impulse to go to her father. -Wilhelm Kellar was sitting in the window whence Walda had looked so many -times at the far-off bluffs. He was reading his Bible, and as Walda -entered the room he was mildly rebuking Piepmatz, who was singing the -doxology and the love-song, mingled in such a medley as was never before -heard from the throat of any bird. - -“Peace be with thee, daughter,” he said, taking off his horn spectacles -and stretching out his thin hand to her. - -Walda clasped his hands, and her eyes fell beneath his glance. “Thou art -feeling better, I hope?” she said, sinking upon a stool that was just -beneath Piepmatz’s cage. - -“The knowledge that the day of the _Untersuchung_ is so near giveth me -new life,” declared the old man. “To-day I am full of gratitude because -the Lord hath kept thee safe from the wiles of men. I have given thanks -unto the Lord that thou art to be the prophetess.” - -Walda’s face flushed and then became pale. Her heart beat so that she -could not answer. - -“Come near to me, Walda,” her father said. “I would tell thee that thou -hast crowned my life with happiness, that thou hast atoned for the sin -of the mother who bore thee.” - -Walda knelt before him and hid her face upon his knee. - -“Nay, nay, father,” she cried, “I am unworthy of thy trust. I am but a -weak woman such as thou sayest my mother was.” - -“It is right that thou shouldst feel humble, my daughter,” the old man -replied, putting both hands upon her head. “But thou hast not sinned in -deceiving those that trust thee. Thou hast not known the temptations of -a human love.” - -“Father, father!” Walda raised her head and looked up with tearful eyes. - -A knock sounded on the door, and Hans Peter, still tapping on the -door-jamb with one of his gourds, crossed the threshold. - -“The elders have sent me to tell thee they would consult with thee. They -bade me make ready the ink-horn and the papers, as they have business of -much importance,” he announced. - -Walda went away from her father’s room with her confession still -unspoken. She lingered for a moment on the school-house porch, for she -felt uncertain what to do with her day. For the first time in all her -Zanah life she had no inviting task before her. She was already removed -from the calm routine of duty. Ordinarily she would have gone to study -the heavy books kept in the elders’ room which occupied a little wing of -the meeting-house, but as she looked at the door, which stood invitingly -open, she felt that she would no longer need to be familiar with the -annals of former prophetesses and the discourses of the elders long -since sanctified by good works. She had a sense of being outside the -colony. A pang of homesickness made her sink upon the bench and look out -upon the quiet valley. - -The years had slipped by so noiselessly that she had come into womanhood -without realizing the changes wrought by time. When she was a child, the -colonists had labored in simple harmony and humble faith, content to -work for the common welfare. Each season their harvests had been more -abundant, their vineyards more fruitful, their lands more extensive. In -the midst of this well-preserved plenty she had been happy, although she -had often vexed the “mothers” by her sudden impulses and hasty actions. -Beneath the kerchief crossed upon her breast now an eager, restless -heart beat, and she comprehended that all the teachings of the good -elders had not altered her intense nature. It seemed to her that Zanah -had been metamorphosed since the coming of the early summer-time when -she had looked forward to the autumn with a large hope for the final -step towards her complete consecration to the service of God and the -colony. She felt that, somehow, mysterious influences were at work. -There was a general discontent. It had been a bad year for both the -mills and the harvest fields, and she had represented hope and wisdom to -the colonists. Tears came to her eyes when she thought that she had -betrayed the trust of Zanah, and yet underneath her remorse was the -consciousness that she was being led by the divine power in which she -had trusted. Love flamed beneath every shifting emotion. - -Through her tears Walda gazed down at the quaint village. The low-roofed -stone houses were almost hidden beneath the vines and shrubbery that -were turning to gorgeous color with the magic touch of the first frosts -which had come early. Beyond the village the little valley melted into -the plain, which rolled away to the far-off bluffs. The fields were -brown and gold, as the gleaners had left them after the harvests, except -here and there where the rich, black earth had been turned up by the -plough. Cattle grazed beside the placid river that flowed almost -imperceptibly onward to the Mississippi. The sunlight, mellowed by the -autumn haze, glorified even the commonest every-day things. The scene -had the beauty that gave it unreality. As her eyes rested upon the -familiar landscape Walda felt a vague fear that it might vanish, since -she had forfeited her right to remain in it as one of the faithful -colonists. While she was looking down the wavering street she saw Gerson -Brandt slowly climbing the hill. He had taken off the broad-rimmed hat -that distinguished him from the other men of Zanah, and Walda noticed -with a pang that his face had the stamp of pain upon it. He paused -half-way up the hill to look back upon the village, and the girl, whose -perceptions had been quickened with her recognition of an earthly love, -noticed that the school-master’s tall form was more stooped than usual. -When he resumed his walk towards the school-house Gerson Brandt caught -sight of Walda, and his face took on an expression of gladness. - -“Providence is kind to give me yet another chance to speak with thee -before the _Untersuchung_,” he said, pausing before her. He saw that -there were tears in her eyes, which refused to meet his glance. “Thou -hast no sorrow? Surely, I know that nothing can disturb thee, now that -thou art so near to thy Father in heaven. Yet why dost thou weep?” - -He pushed the long hair back from his forehead with a trembling hand -while he waited for her reply, but she remained silent, with only her -profile turned to him. The white kerchief on her breast moved with her -quick breathing. - -“Canst thou not answer me, Walda?” he asked, in the tender tone that she -remembered from her childhood. - -Walda rested her elbows on the back of the porch seat, and, with her -chin in her hands, shook her white-capped head. The tears began to fall -so rapidly that she dared not try to speak. Gerson Brandt sank upon the -seat opposite her. - -“It would be foolish for me to offer thee solace for thine aching heart, -for I know that thou, who art the prophetess of Zanah, no longer cravest -human sympathy. Forgive me for forgetting that thou art no longer the -colony maiden over whom I have felt a care all these years. Yet thy -tears are no more sacred to me now than they were in thine earliest -childhood, Walda. Thy griefs were always felt by me.” Gerson Brandt -leaned forward as if he would read what was in Walda’s heart, and he -paled with a formless fear. - -“Thy tears distress me,” he said, presently, “and yet I know that it is -but natural thou shouldst feel awe-stricken and oppressed with a weight -of responsibility, now that thou art so near to thy consecration.” - -“Speak not so. Thy words smite me,” exclaimed Walda, turning towards him -and blushing scarlet as she met his eyes. “I am not worthy to be the -prophetess. I—I—I am sorely troubled.” She put her face upon her arms -and sobbed. - -“To them whom the Lord maketh most strong He revealeth weakness,” the -school-master replied. - -“I shall need much strength,” said Walda, controlling herself with an -effort. - -“Yea, that is true,” agreed Gerson Brandt. “My prayers will help to -support thee, for thou art always in my mind. Much have I rejoiced to -know that thou hast escaped all danger from earthly love. Ah, now that -thou hast safely passed thy period of probation nothing can befall -thee.” - -“Gerson Brandt, tell me what would have happened if I had found an -earthly love?” asked Walda, turning to him with an intensity of interest -that was but lightly disguised. - -“Why wouldst thou waste time talking of such an unprofitable subject now -at this holy season? It is a sacrilege to link the name of the -prophetess of Zanah with an earthly love.” - -The school-master was looking far away as he answered, and he did not -see that his words caused the girl to clasp her hands tightly and to -bite her full, red lips. - -“Tell me, is human love such a wicked thing, after all? Thou didst once -speak to me as if thou hadst known it, and thou canst tell me whether it -hath in it something of the divine quality. If I had loved, wouldst thou -have condemned me as severely as would those of the colonists who live -like the cattle on the fields, feeling none of the mystery and the glory -of life?” - -“If thou hadst loved any man I should have sorrowed more than all the -colony, for I have longed to see thee spared the pangs and pains that -love brings.” - -“Doth love never bring happiness?” - -“The woman who loveth must suffer much,” declared Gerson Brandt. - -“But women are glad to suffer for love.” - -In Walda’s eyes shone the light of a new-born courage, and Gerson -Brandt, catching some of the spirit that had taken possession of her, -answered: - -“Walda, it passeth understanding that thou shouldst speak thus of love -now, when thou hast gone forever beyond the reach of temptation. Thy -mood doth confound me.” - -He went near to her, and, standing before her, studied her face. - -“In thine eyes I behold a mystery,” he said, presently, with a tremor in -his voice. “Thou hast lost the essence of childhood that lingered with -thee until—was it yesterday or to-day that thou didst lose it?” - -“The world hath been different to me since the sun set yesterday.” Walda -spoke the words softly, and Gerson Brandt beheld in her face a radiance -which made him ashamed of the vague suspicions that had sent a chill to -his heart. - -“Verily, the spirit of prophecy hath descended upon thee. Thou hast come -into the full possession of the divine gift.” He drew away from her, and -looked at her in awe. - -“Nay, nay,” Walda faltered; “thou art deceived.” - -Her gaze wandered past him as she spoke, and she saw, ascending the -hill, six of the village mothers. Gerson Brandt, following her glance, -said: “This is the day when thy vigil beginneth. The watchers are coming -for thee.” - -Walda’s face paled. - -“I had forgotten that the time had come,” she exclaimed. “I am not ready -for it. I am unworthy.” - -“It is the hour of our last talk together,” Gerson Brandt announced, in -a solemn tone. “Thy misgivings are only human.” He raised his hands -above her bowed head and gave her his blessing. He could not trust -himself to look at her again. Passing by her he entered the -school-house, closing the door tightly behind him, lest he might be -tempted to look back. - -Walda submissively followed the women, who led the way to the little -room that opened out of the bare auditorium of the meeting-house. It was -here that she had spent many hours of study among the elders’ books, but -its appearance was slightly changed. In one corner stood a cot covered -with white blankets of the finest weave that came from the looms of -Zanah. In the centre was a reading-desk, upon which a large Bible lay -open. Six chairs were ranged along the wall just outside the door that -led into the interior of the meeting-house. - -“Thou wilt find nothing to distract thy thoughts here,” said Mother -Kaufmann, glancing into the room. - -“We will take good care that thou art not disturbed,” asserted Mother -Schneider. - -Walda gave no sign that she heard. Crossing the threshold she closed the -door, shutting out the six women. She threw herself upon the bed, and -gave way to a paroxysm of weeping. The realization that she had missed -her opportunity to confess her love for Everett at first frightened her, -for she knew it was now too late to speak before going to the -_Untersuchung_. Zanah guarded a prophetess so carefully that when once -the door of the sanctuary in which Marta Bachmann had fasted and prayed -closed upon one supposed to be inspired, no word could be spoken. She -lay awake far into the night. When the day had faded, a single candle -had been put upon her reading-desk by Mother Kaufmann, who scanned her -face with the inquisitive look of a mischief-maker. Walda, sitting with -folded hands, had appeared oblivious of the woman’s presence. She had -heard the evening prayers of the colony gathered in the meeting-house. -She felt a dull pain when she recalled her father’s face. Underneath -every emotion that she experienced in the dreary watches of the night -she was always conscious of the memory of Everett’s voice as he pleaded -for her love. At first she had a faint hope that he might speak to her -through the window, or that, in some way, he would send her a token of -encouragement, but nothing disturbed the oppressive quiet of the laggard -hours. - -Walda was wakened early in the morning, after a brief and troubled -sleep, by the whispers of the women outside her door. She knew that the -watch was being changed, and that soon she would be expected to be -kneeling at her prayers. Rising from the cot she looked out of the one -window—it overlooked the school-house garden, and she saw Gerson Brandt -walking back and forth amid the tangled nasturtiums and late asters. As -he moved to and fro he never once turned his eyes towards the -meeting-house. With difficulty Walda repressed an impulse to call him to -her. Through all her childhood and girlhood he had bent a ready ear when -she told him her troubles, and now it seemed an easy matter to confide -in him. While she was still at the window, Gerson Brandt went up the -worn steps that led to the school-room. - -A long, dull day followed for Walda. Her pride enabled her to preserve -an outward calm when, on various pretexts, the women opened the door to -look in upon her. She tried to think what she ought to do. So great is -the power of love that it did not occur to her she might try to put out -of her heart the sacred emotion she had mistaken for religious -inspiration. She accepted it as the divine gift for which she had been -waiting. Although she knew that it was likely her father would forbid -her marriage to Everett, she told herself no one in Zanah could take -away from her the glory of an earthly love. Towards the end of the day -she fell again into the old habit of praying much. Kneeling at the -reading-desk, with her head upon the big Bible, she asked that she might -be given strength to do her duty to her father, and to submit to the -will of Zanah. - -For the second time the evening hymns were chanted outside the door. -Walda listened quite calmly, and, long after she knew the meeting-house -was emptied of all except the six watchers, she sat in the fading light -of the evening looking out into the schoolyard, and thinking serenely of -the life she was putting behind her. Presently her thoughts were -disturbed by a man’s voice. With a heart-flutter she recognized -Everett’s low, clear tones. She heard him command one of the women to -open the door. Rising to her feet, she listened breathlessly to the -protracted parley that followed. Without warning, a light knock sounded -on the door. - -“Let me in, Walda,” said Everett. - -Before she could go to the door, he had lifted the latch and had -entered, followed by the six women, all of whom spoke words of angry -protest. - -“So this is where they have hidden you, Walda?” he said, paying no -attention to the colony mothers. “I have searched for you all day, for I -have much that I wish to say to you.” - -His manner was quiet and determined. “I wish to be left alone with Walda -Kellar,” he said, turning to the watchers. “I have a message of much -importance to give to her.” - -“How darest thou break in upon the vigil of a prophetess of Zanah!” -shrieked Mother Kaufmann. “Dost thou not know that the instrument of the -Lord is not permitted to speak until the last hour of her probation hath -expired?” - -“Ja, ja, Mother Kaufmann is right. We will send for the elders if thou -dost not leave here this minute,” chorused the women. - -Everett coolly surveyed the group. Putting out his hand he grasped -Walda’s arm, and quickly drew her into the meeting-house assembly-room. -With a quick motion he slammed the door and turned the key, imprisoning -the six women, who immediately began to call for help. Reopening the -door for a little space he ordered them to keep silence, accompanying -his admonition with the remark that if they summoned a crowd they would -prove they were not fit to watch the prophetess. For the second time he -turned the big key. Walda had watched the proceeding with astonishment. -Her face was white and scared when he put his arms around her and drew -her to him. - -“There, do not be frightened,” he said, soothingly, as he kissed her on -the forehead. “I have come to take you away.” - -“Ah, Stephen; now, indeed, do I know that I was never fitted to be a -prophetess,” said Walda, looking up into his face. “My heart hath -thirsted for thee. With thine arms around me I feel as if I had found a -safe refuge from all my troubles. When thou didst kiss me I forgot for a -moment that I had been untrue to the people who trusted me.” - -“I mean never to let you go away from me again,” he said. “But come; we -are wasting time. Let us go now to your father and tell him that you are -to belong to me, and not to Zanah.” - -Walda drew away from him. “Nay, Stephen,” she said. “In the nights and -day that I have been alone there in that room, it hath been made plain -to me that I must tell all the people how I have betrayed their faith in -me.” - -“You owe the people nothing,” said Everett, with a trace of impatience -in his voice. “Come; there is no time to be lost. I mean to take you -away from Zanah this very night. Your father and Gerson Brandt can -explain to the colony why you are not to be their prophetess.” - -Walda shook her head. “Wouldst thou have me show a craven spirit?” she -inquired. “Dost thou think I could go away to be happy with thee and -forget my father, even if I could be unmindful of what I owe the men and -women of Zanah?” - -“Do you not think you owe me any duty?” Stephen asked. “Do not let us -stand here discussing what is right and wrong. It is right that you -should be my wife. You have been the victim of the bigotry and -superstition of a clannish, religious sect. Love has made you free. -Doesn’t your heart tell you to answer the call from my heart?” He -stretched out his arms to her, but she stepped beyond his reach. - -“Stephen, I have prayed constantly that wisdom might be given me, and my -way hath been made plain before me,” she answered, firmly. “I must go -before the _Untersuchung_, and, for my father’s sake, I must accept -whatever penalty is meted out to me.” - -“Do you mean that you would submit to any decree of the colony of Zanah? -That signifies that you do not love me, after all. It means that you are -lost to me forever.” - -The strong man’s voice trembled as he spoke. A wave of passion and -longing swept over him. He drew her to him and held her close, pillowing -her head upon his breast, and whispering to her that she was his; it was -not in her power to make the choice since love gave him the right to -her. - -“Thou dost affright me. There is something in thy love that terrifies -me,” she said, trying to make him free her. - -“I shall not let you go until you have promised that you will marry me,” -he said. - -“I cannot promise that, Stephen,” she said, so faintly that he scarcely -heard her. “Thou knowest I cannot leave my father, and surely thou -wouldst not be content to stay here in Zanah.” - -“I could live here or anywhere else with you. Promise.” - -“Nay, nay, I cannot,” she repeated. - -“Will you pledge yourself to marry me when your conscience tells you -that you are free?” - -“It is in my heart to promise that to thee, Stephen, but during my vigil -I have come to know that if thou shouldst live away from me out in the -world thou mightst no longer love me. Nay, I will not bind thee. The -only pledge I give thee is the pledge that I will love thee all my -life.” - -A furious knocking on the door made them remember the imprisoned -watchers. - -“If you refuse to go with me now what do you wish to do?” Stephen asked, -coming back to the subject of his original errand. - -“I want to wait until the _Untersuchung_, and I want thee to be patient -until thou hearest what the elders say. I shall pray that I may be given -to thee.” - -“There is no danger of your repenting of love, is there, Walda?” - -She smiled confidently and answered: “Thy love will dwell in my heart -forever.” - -He kissed her farewell, holding both her hands in his. - -“I wish I could spare you the ordeal of the _Untersuchung_,” he -exclaimed. “Why need we care for all the world?” - -“Hush!” she said. “We care not for Zanah or the whole world, but if we -would keep our love holy, we must be true, Stephen, to all our duties.” - -After he had kissed her for the last time, she stood before the elders’ -platform and looked up at the chair of the prophetess. Everett unlocked -the door. - -“I appreciate the opportunity you have given me of speaking to Walda -Kellar,” he said, with a suavity and courtesy to which the women of the -colony were so unaccustomed they did not know what it meant. They stood -scowling at him until Mother Kaufmann replied: - -“Thou wilt be ordered out of the colony for this day’s work.” - -“If you are wise—and I am sure you are, or you would not have been -chosen to attend the prophetess of Zanah—you will not make any -complaints.” He bowed deferentially to all of them, and passing Walda, -before whom he stopped to whisper “Farewell, until the _Untersuchung_,” -he went out of the meeting-house. - -“It must have been a message of much import that brought the stranger -here,” sneered Mother Kaufmann, as she seated herself on the nearest -chair. - -“He hath small respect for the laws of Zanah,” declared a second -watcher. - -Without uttering a word, Walda returned to her place of temporary -imprisonment. Kneeling before her reading-desk, she prayed that she -might be given strength and courage to accept whatever penalty the -elders might allot to her. - - - - - XVIII - - -The day of the _Untersuchung_ came at last. A brilliant sun shone upon -Zanah. An early frost had turned the maples yellow and had touched the -oaks with crimson. In the vineyards the last purple grapes hung in the -shrivelled foliage. Along the winding road the golden-rod was blossoming -in the tall, feathery grasses. A hush fell upon the quiet valley in the -morning. The brown fields on lowland and hill-side were deserted. At the -edge of the village the mill-wheels had ceased their busy whir. - -Everett had walked out under the autumn sky nearly all night. In the -days that had passed since his interview with Walda at the meeting-house -all the villagers had avoided him. Even the school-master had passed him -by with scarcely a nod of recognition. Time had dragged. Of all the -people of Zanah, Hans Peter alone remained on friendly terms with him. - -At dawn Everett arose from a brief sleep, and dressed himself with -unusual care. The thought came to him that before sundown he might be -robbed of Walda. All his strength left him. He dropped upon a chair near -the window. Love had become life to him. Sitting with his elbows on his -knees he looked out upon Zanah. Walda represented hope, worship, -aspiration. The touch of her lips had awakened all that was good in him. -He, who had rarely prayed, petitioned, in an agony of longing, that he -might be given the woman of Zanah. - -Some one knocked. Everett jumped to his feet to open the door. Hans -Peter, freshly scoured with soap until his round face shone, stood in -the hall, twirling a cap that had been recently mended. - -“The elders have sent me to tell thee that thou art to remain away from -the timber-land where the _Untersuchung_ is to be held,” announced the -simple one. - -“And why is my absence desirable?” Everett asked. - -“Question not the village fool,” Hans Peter replied. “He knoweth not -what the great men of Zanah think inside their wise heads.” - -“What do you think inside your foolish head?” Everett laughed, as if he -made light of the order. - -Hans Peter looked down at a pair of copper-toed shoes, which were to him -the insignia of an unusual occasion. - -“It seemeth to the simple one of Zanah that it is wise for the stranger -to be far away when the prophetess doth pledge herself to love only God -and the angels.” - -“I intend to go to the _Untersuchung_, Hans Peter, and I want you to -find a good place from which I can look on during the hours when the -people give their testimonies concerning the state of their souls.” - -“Thou canst not sit among the colonists,” said Hans Peter. “The men and -women of Zanah have turned against thee. They will not permit thee to -mingle with them on the most solemn day of all the year.” - -“Whether or not they permit me, I shall go to the _Untersuchung_,” -Everett replied. “Would it not be safe for me to wait behind the line of -poplars not far off from the platform upon which the elders will sit?” - -“If thou shouldst go out there early, and stay where the wild hop-vine -might hide thee, there is a chance no one would behold thee,” admitted -the simple one. - -“When does the prophetess go before the elders?” Everett inquired. “I -know nothing of to-day’s arrangements, because here at the inn no one -will give me any information. You are my only friend, Hans Peter. I -expect you to tell me all you know.” - -“Thou forgettest that the fool hath no memory.” - -“Where are your gourds? Is there not one that will help me to find out -when to hide among the poplars?” - -Hans Peter twirled his cap. - -“Thou wert merciful to me when I was in the stocks,” he said, slowly. -“The fool’s memory hath still a knowledge of that day. The fool doth -know that, last of all Zanah, Walda Kellar will appear before the -elders.” - -“That means I need not go to the _Untersuchung_ until this afternoon?” -queried Everett. - -“Yea, thou shouldst wait until late in the day.” Hans Peter turned as if -to run away, but Everett caught him by the sleeve of his gingham shirt. - -“Have you been to the meeting-house to-day?” Everett asked, looking at -the simple one with such entreaty in his eyes that Hans Peter answered: - -“Yea, I have but just come from the place where the prophetess of Zanah -hath been keeping her vigil.” - -“You went there on an errand, I suppose?” - -“I carried orders from the elders.” At this point Hans Peter closed his -mouth very tightly and stared stupidly. Everett saw that further -questioning would be of no avail. - -As soon as he had had breakfast Everett walked out to the timber-land -where the _Untersuchung_ was to be held. The elders had chosen a strip -of woods near the lake as a place for the ceremonies of the inquisition. -The road leading to it was that over which Everett had walked with Walda -the first day she visited the cemetery to pray at the grave of Marta -Bachmann. About two hundred yards from the shore of the lake a large -clearing had been made. A rude platform for the elders had been built -between the lake shore and rough benches, which had been arranged in -orderly rows beneath the intertwining trees. Everett saw that the line -of poplars was beyond the place where the path led into the out-door -chapel. Hidden there he could easily escape detection, and he would be -near enough to hear most of what was said from the platform. He walked -to the farther shore of the little lake, and lay down upon the ground to -wait as patiently as he could for the laggard hours to pass. The quiet -beauty of the day appealed to him, and, thinking of Walda, he was -finally lulled to sleep. It was mid-day when he awoke. He sauntered back -to the scene of the _Untersuchung_. He made a seat for himself at the -foot of one of the poplars where the vines were thick. Through the -screen of leaves he saw the people slowly gathering. The women occupied -the benches nearest him. - -By two o’clock all the colonists had assembled. The thirteen elders -formed a solemn row, Adolph Schneider holding the middle place, with -Wilhelm Kellar at one end of the platform and Gerson Brandt at the -other. After a droning hymn and a tedious prayer, those who were -candidates for preferment in the colony went before the elders. The men -first were catechised by Adolph Schneider, who did not rise from his -chair. Everett was astonished to see how few signified ambition for -colony honors. When the women’s turn came the applicants greatly -outnumbered the men. In both cases those who pleaded for advancement -boasted of spiritual conflicts and victories. Their sing-song voices -maddened the impatient lover. At last, when he had begun to fear that -Walda would not be summoned until the next day, Everett noticed that the -people, who had sat stolid and unmoved through the hours of dreary -recitative, stirred with something like interest. Everett pulled himself -to his feet, and, looking down the road, saw a sight that made his heart -beat. - -Two by two, a long line of girls approached slowly. All wore the blue -gowns of the colony, but white caps and white kerchiefs were substituted -for those of every-day use. Each carried in her hand a large hymnbook. -When the procession turned into the path of the woodland chapel Everett -caught sight of Walda, walking last of all. As they marched slowly -onward, the girls chanted a hymn. Walda carried her head in the old, -proud way, and her manner reassured the watcher who loved her. She was -clothed in a trailing gown, fashioned of the white flannel from the -colony mills. The clinging folds brought out the noble lines of her -figure. The kerchief crossed upon her bosom was of some thin material of -the same tint as the flannel. The cap, pushed back from her brow, -revealed the waves of her fair hair, which was confined in two long -braids. Her face was pale; her lips were firmly set; her eyes shone with -the light of peace and courage. The little procession passed quite near -Everett, but, although his heart called to her, and his eyes followed -her, she appeared unconscious of his presence. He noticed that her hands -hung at her sides, and he read a meaning in the fact that she no longer -crossed them upon her breast in the old fashion, signifying that she -would keep out the world and all its emotions. - -When the procession appeared before the colonists all the people knelt -in their places, none daring to lift curious eyes to her whom they -hailed as the instrument of the Lord. The procession moved back of the -assembly, crossing to the farther side of the clearing, and then -advancing to the front of the platform. Here Walda took the central -position, the girls separating to stand on either side of her. The -chanting ceased, and Walda bowed her head in prayer. - -All the elders rose to receive the prophetess of Zanah. Wilhelm Kellar, -still weak from his illness, leaned upon his cane and murmured a -thanksgiving to the Lord. Gerson Brandt, at the other end of the -platform, looked at Walda, and then turned his eyes away, as if the day -and hour held something that brought a severe test to the spirit long -disciplined to self-control. - -“Stand not before me, O ye elders,” Walda said, in a clear, steady -voice, lifting up one hand to claim attention. “Bow not, O ye people of -Zanah, for I am unworthy to be your prophetess.” - -“Speak not such words of humility,” said Adolph Schneider. “We know that -the inspiration hath come to thee. Thou hast already shown to us that -thou hast received the gift of tongues. To-day thou shalt be anointed -prophetess of Zanah.” - -“Amen!” shouted one of the elders, and the word was repeated in a chorus -by the men. - -Walda’s face became as white as marble. She stood immovable, with one -hand pressed against her breast as if she would stop the beating of her -heart. She would have spoken, but the Herr Doktor turned to command that -the chair of the prophetess be lifted to the centre of the platform. The -elders moved to give it space, and, when it had been put in position, -Adolph Schneider said: - -“Come hither to thy rightful place among the elders.” - -“My place is among the lowliest of the colonists,” said Walda. “Let me -stand here while I speak to the people of Zanah.” - -The elders shook their heads, and the people murmured that they could -not hear. Walda walked to the end of the platform where the steps -ascended. She moved slowly, pausing for a moment as she passed Gerson -Brandt. She crossed the platform with head bowed, but when she faced the -multitude there shone in her eyes a strange radiance that filled the -colonists with awe. - -“To all you of Zanah I have a last message,” she said, turning first to -the elders and then to the people. “From the years of my childhood ye -have led me in the ways of the Lord. Ye have looked upon me as the -instrument chosen to reveal the divine will of Zanah. I have prayed -through the months and years for the day of inspiration. It was not -until this summer that mine eyes were opened to the glory of God. In my -heart suddenly gushed a well-spring of happiness. I read meanings in the -stars, and the smallest things of earth spake to me. It was as if I -walked very near to God.” - -Walda, pausing, swept the assembly with her eyes. In the exaltation of -her mood she had become clothed in a majesty that overawed the people. -Some of the women fell to their knees, weeping. - -“Behold the prophetess! Behold the prophetess! Blessed be her name!” -shouted one of the elders. - -Walda continued, unheeding: - -“In my heart I felt a gratitude, for I believed that at last the divine -revelation had come to me. I thought that the love in my heart, which -made all that pertaineth to life sacred, belonged to heaven alone. I -thanked God that the baptism of the Holy Spirit had been given me.” - -Cries of joy ascended from the throng. - -“In the first days of the inspiration that had come to me I was -impatient for this time, when I could dedicate my whole life to the -service of Zanah. It seemed easy to live always near to God. Voices -spake to me. I believed that I was, indeed, the prophetess of Zanah—the -prophetess who could live untouched by human emotions. But one day there -was given to me a clearer vision. Just before the beginning of my vigil -it was shown to me that mine was not the rapture of the saints”—Walda -paused and caught her breath—“I came into the knowledge that my -inspiration had its origin in human love.” - -She pronounced the last words distinctly, with her eyes uplifted. Gerson -Brandt uttered her name in an agonized groan. Wilhelm Kellar strove to -speak, but his voice died in his throat. - -“What sayest thou, Walda Kellar?” demanded Adolph Schneider, rising from -his chair. The colonists listened stolidly, as if they did not -comprehend the meaning of Walda’s speech. - -“Nay, surely thou hast not been touched by an earthly love?” said Gerson -Brandt, in a tone which told that despair was clutching at his heart. -“Thy words are vague.” - -Walda saw the horror in her father’s face. She looked away from him and -the school-master, waiting a moment that she might choose her words so -that they would not give unnecessary pain. - -“We believe thou hast not looked with favor on any man,” Adolph -Schneider said, encouragingly, and then he added, as if to convey a -covert warning to the people of Zanah: “Yet thou art a woman, and all -that are made in the image of Eve are easy to be persuaded by the voice -of Satan, speaking through man.” - -“A love that is of heaven, and yet of earth, hath taken possession of my -heart,” declared Walda, fixing her eyes upon the people. “It came to me -like a great light shining through the gates of heaven. I did not know -the glory that enfolded me was what ye of Zanah call an earthly love, -for, truly, even now it seemeth to have in it more of heaven than of -that which pertaineth to earth. I did not fight against this love which -hath been revealed to me, for I did not know it was human love which -made me feel a kinship with God. Here, in Zanah, ye have taught me that -the love of men and women is a sinful thing, and there came to me no -prick of the conscience—no warning that I was transgressing the law of -God.” - -She was transfigured with the mystery and beauty of her new heritage of -love, and the people listened in awe. When she had stopped speaking, she -turned to her father with a look of such pleading and entreaty that the -old man, who had heard as one that dreams, moved his lips in an effort -to speak. Presently there arose a murmur from the people. The Herr -Doktor commanded that all should hold their peace. - -“What man in Zanah hath stolen thy thoughts from God?” the Herr Doktor -asked, in a stern voice. - -“I love Stephen Everett, the stranger who belongeth not to Zanah,” Walda -answered, in unfaltering tones. - -A wail arose from the people. It grew into a mighty sound that was like -the autumn winds rushing through the tall trees on the slopes of the -bluffs. - -“The tempter hath come to Walda Kellar even as he came to Marta -Bachmann, but repentance is possible for her who hath been chosen to be -the instrument of the Lord,” declared Adolph Schneider. “Daughter of -Zanah, pluck this love from thine heart.” - -“I have proclaimed to you that this love seemeth a holy thing sent from -heaven. It is fixed in my heart forever.” - -Walda was again the prophetess. She spoke slowly, and it was as if she -were but repeating the promptings of some inner voice. - -“Walda, I command thee, let the fountains of thy tears wash away this -earthly love!” Wilhelm Kellar cried, rising from his chair and lifting -his arms as if he were beseeching the intervention of Heaven. - -“Nay, I cannot repent. There is that which tells me this is the love -that is stronger than death,” Walda said, softly. “Father, I crave thy -forgiveness, and the forgiveness of all that belong to Zanah.” - -She went to him and knelt humbly before him. Gerson Brandt stood with -arms folded across his breast and head bowed over them. Karl Weisel -gathered some of the other elders close to him and talked to them in -whispers. The people looked on breathlessly. Suddenly, from her place -among the women, arose Mother Kaufmann. - -“Behold the unfaithful one asking for forgiveness,” she cried, in rage. -“Through her vanity and her weakness the divine messages that were to -direct Zanah how to prosper are withheld from the colony. Our crops may -fail and we may starve, but she careth for naught if she may love a man. -She hath chosen a stranger sent by Satan from the outside world to -confound us.” - -Cries of derision and reproach were heard among the women. At first they -were but low mutterings. Then an old hag jumped upon a bench and -shouted: - -“Send her back to the room where the watchers can guard her. Cast the -stranger out of Zanah.” - -“Yea, yea, cast out Satan’s messenger,” shouted the women. The men took -up the cry, and in a moment the orderly crowd of religionists became a -mob of fanatics which pressed towards the platform. - -“Repent, repent!” shouted the people. “Remember thy duty!” “Put aside -thy sinful love!” “Ask the Lord to forgive thee for thy transgression!” - -Walda faced the angry mob fearlessly. Her personality still impressed -the people, so that none dare lay hands upon her. - -“Let the curse of Heaven descend upon the head of the stranger in -Zanah!” Mother Kaufmann shrieked. - -“Curse him! Curse him!” called out the men, repeating the woman’s -imprecation. - -In an instant Walda compelled silence. She raised her arms in a warning -gesture, and shamed the people by the contempt she showed for their -weakness as she looked down upon them. - -“How are ye fitted to judge the stranger in Zanah?” she asked, in a -scornful tone. “Have ye the Christian charity the Bible enjoins you to -cherish in your hearts? If there is any one to be blamed for the loss of -your prophetess it is I, Walda Kellar, that should bear it all. But -again I tell you there is naught concerning love of which I would -repent.” - -“She would defy Heaven!” shouted Mother Kaufmann. “Let the elders take -her away that the sight of her shall not breed sinful thoughts of love -in the hearts of the maidens of Zanah.” - -“Yea, lock her up until she cometh to her right mind,” said the old hag, -waving her hands to invite the elders’ attention. - -The uproar became deafening. Gerson Brandt stepped forward where he -could stand between Walda and the mob. Through all the commotion -Everett, with difficulty, had restrained himself from rushing out to -protect Walda from the maddened colonists, but he realized that his -appearance would but fan the flame of wrath and increase the confusion. - -In the centre of the women’s division of the out-door chapel Mother -Schneider and her daughter Gretchen had been sitting. Both had taken -little part in the demonstration against the fallen prophetess. When -Gerson Brandt was seen to move forward on the platform Mother Schneider -said to the women near her: - -“It is a sorry day when the women of Zanah are permitted to hear a -maiden boast of a love that knoweth no bounds. It is an indecent -confession that Walda Kellar maketh. Truly, she belongeth to the class -of women that should be stoned.” - -“It is such as she that cast wicked spells upon men. Behold, the elders -fear to discipline her,” answered a mother, who that day had been -promoted to the highest grade of the colony because she testified that -she had found earthly love an unholy thing. - -“She should be stoned! She should be stoned!” repeated the women; and -the words passed from mouth to mouth until they reached a boy who -loitered on the edge of the crowd. The boy picked up a flat stone, and, -aiming it at Walda, threw it with all the force at his command. It -sailed above the heads of the people. Gerson Brandt, with a quick -movement, pulled Walda aside. The stone struck him on the forehead, -making a deep gash, from which the blood coursed down his cheek. Walda, -with a woman’s quick instinct of ministration, undid the kerchief around -her neck, and gave it to Gerson Brandt. - -“Stanch the blood with this,” she said, and when he made no effort to -take it, she pressed it against his cheek. - -Everett threw every consideration of prudence to the winds when he saw -the stone hurled towards Walda. He pushed his way to the platform, but -he had to fight his path through the crowd, which had been dazed at the -sight of the blood on the school-master’s face. The men frowned at him -sullenly, and some muttered low imprecations. Everett climbed to a place -near Walda. When the people of Zanah saw him they shouted in angry -protest. One burly man sought to lay hold of him, but he shook off the -colonist and would have gone closer to Walda, but Gerson Brandt put out -a restraining hand. - -“Profane not this place with thy presence,” said the school-master, -stepping between Everett and Walda. “Thou art a traitor. Thou hast -betrayed the trust we put in thee. The brother of Zanah doeth well to -hold thee back.” - -All the pent-up emotion of the hour suddenly burst out as Gerson Brandt -spoke. His gaunt form trembled with the strength of his passion. - -“It is this man who should bear all the curses of Zanah,” he continued, -turning to address the people. “We took him into close communion with -us, and he hath repaid our faith in him by seeking to ensnare the love -of our prophetess. He pledged me his honor, and he cared naught for his -word given with the seal of a hand-clasp. He is a Judas who hath worked -secretly for the undoing of Zanah—a Judas who hath cared for neither -honor nor truth, so that he might win the woman whom he coveted. He -deserveth not mercy. Let us cast him out of Zanah, and when he hath gone -back to the wicked world to which he belongeth, the soul of Walda Kellar -can be cleansed of the stain of an earthly love. Much prayer and fasting -will restore her to fellowship with God.” - -Everett moved close to Walda, and, laying his hand upon her arm, would -have drawn her away from the infuriated mob. When he touched her, the -sight of what seemed an assertion of his claim enraged Gerson Brandt. -The school-master was imbued with the strength of a giant. He thrust -Everett away with a mighty stroke of his arm. - -“Seize this man!” he commanded. “Bind him, and put him out of the sight -of the people!” - -Four or five colonists sprang forward to obey Gerson Brandt’s orders, -but Everett threw them off as lightly as if they were children. - -“You have no right to touch me,” he said, towering above even the -tallest. “I have broken no law, and I can hold you responsible if you -deprive me of my liberty.” - -The elders had gathered about Gerson Brandt and Walda. Wilhelm Kellar -tottered to his daughter’s side, and implored her to surrender her will -to the will of Zanah. - -“Shame on you! Shame on you, men of Zanah!” cried Mother Kaufmann, who -had climbed to the top of a high tree-stump. “Will ye let one man make -cowards of you? Do the bidding of Gerson Brandt.” - -Some of the women hissed, and a score of the mill-hands fought their way -to the platform. Surrounding Everett, they closed in upon him. One, more -daring than the rest, sought to seize him. Everett felled the colonist -with a quick blow. The others endeavored to detain him, but none was a -match for the athlete with muscles of steel. Knocking down two or three -of the most aggressive of his assailants, Everett went to Walda, who -trembled with fear for his safety. He drew her close to him. The -quavering voice of Wilhelm Kellar sounded in their ears. - -“Offend not the eyes of Zanah by parading your unseemly love,” he said, -raising his cane as if he would strike the man of the world. The effort -was too much for his feeble strength. He almost fell, and Walda knelt -before him to support him with her outstretched arms. His indignation -changed to grief, and, looking down at the daughter upon whom he had -built all his ambition, he gave way to bitter lamentation. - -“Oh, Lord, how have I deserved this punishment?” he cried. - -Walda sobbed, still holding his frail body close to her. “Forgive me, -father,” said she, looking up through her tears. - -“Nay, ask not my forgiveness,” he answered, sternly. “Seek the -forgiveness of the Lord, whom thou hast offended. Repent now, when it is -not yet too late.” - -“There is no repentance in my heart,” she said, rising to her feet. -“This love must ever seem to me a holy thing.” - -“Come away with me now, for I would talk to thee alone. Let us flee from -the presence of this man and the people of Zanah,” pleaded Wilhelm -Kellar. - -“Yea, we will go away together,” Walda answered. She drew his arm -through hers, and gently led him to the end of the platform. They slowly -descended the steps and walked to the middle aisle, which offered them a -chance of egress. As they passed the women, Mother Kaufmann hissed -Walda, and taunts and jeers from the crowd assailed her. Wilhelm Kellar -stopped. Raising himself on his cane, he said, with a tremendous effort: - -“Wag not your tongues, ye women of Zanah. Ye have no right to heap -insult upon her whom an hour ago ye were proud to hail as the -prophetess.” - -“Lo, this prophetess is but a Jezebel!” sneered Mother Kaufmann; and the -women near her repeated the name “Jezebel! Jezebel!” - -Wilhelm Kellar heard the insult to his daughter, and once more raising -himself on his cane, he called out: - -“Let your evil tongues be silent! There is none in Zanah who hath -suffered the bitterness of disappointment that hath come to me, yet now -do I forgive Walda Kellar, and bespeak for her your mercy and loving -kindness.” - -His voice died in a rattle in his throat. His gray head sank upon his -breast. His arm loosened its tense hold upon Walda, and he fell in a -heap at her feet. - -Walda bent over him with a cry of such agony and fear that it pierced to -the outer edge of the great assembly. - -Raising his head, she looked upon his face, ghastly with the touch of -death. In his eyes a last flicker of light faded as she stooped to -pillow his head upon her bosom. - -“Stephen, Stephen,” she called, “come to my father!” - -Everett gently lifted the emaciated form of the elder, and, waving the -crowd apart, laid his burden down upon the ground. A glance told him -that a soul had gone out of Zanah. - -“My father is dead! Dead!” shrieked Walda. Sinking on her knees, she -wrung her hands and gave way to her grief. - -“Wilhelm Kellar is dead,” Gerson Brandt announced, in solemn tones. - -He stood for a moment on the edge of the platform, where he could see -the white face upturned to the sky. Then his eyes fell upon Walda, who -was weeping with her head supported on the shoulder of Everett. The -school-master jumped from the platform, and, pointing to Everett, -ordered that he be bound. With his own hands he loosed the stranger’s -arms, and would have made the weeping girl lean upon him, but she -proudly drew away. - -“Brothers of Zanah, bind this man,” he said, repeating his command. -“Through him, death and grievous trouble have come to the colony.” -Everett waited, ready to defend himself, but the men hesitated before -making a second attempt to carry out the elder’s orders. - -“Let them bind thee, Stephen,” Walda said. “In the presence of death it -is not meet there should be strife.” - -“I want my liberty in order that I may defend you from these mad -zealots,” Everett answered. - -“Nay, Stephen, thou forgettest that I am in the Lord’s hand,” Walda -replied, with a little quiver of the lips. - -“I surrender myself as your prisoner,” Everett said, addressing Gerson -Brandt. “It will not be necessary for you to have me tied. I give you my -word that I will not try to escape.” - -“It hath been shown to me that thou hast no regard for thy promises,” -Gerson Brandt said, in an angry voice. “When thou art securely bound I -shall have faith in thy word, and not till then.” - -The insult kindled Everett’s anger. He would have retorted, but a sign -from Walda compelled his silence. He let the men tie his hands behind -him. They used the rope clumsily, and drew it so tightly over the flesh -that it was painful. During the process Gerson Brandt looked on, and -Walda stood with eyes upon the ground. The colonists waited quietly. The -elders on the platform had resumed the air of stolidity which generally -distinguished them. They watched the proceedings without interference. -By common consent they permitted Gerson Brandt to take the initiative in -dealing with the tragic climax of the _Untersuchung_. - -“Let a bier be brought that the body of Wilhelm Kellar, who hath fallen -into his last sleep, may be carried back to the village,” Gerson Brandt -directed. - -Diedrich Werther with three other colonists carried a heavy bier, over -which was thrown a black pall, down the grassy aisle of the out-door -chapel. Following it walked Hans Peter, carrying a gourd in his hand. -The body of Wilhelm Kellar was lifted upon the bier and covered with the -pall. When the men stooped to raise the bier, Adolph Schneider spoke: - -“Behold, this day we have lost one of the leading men of Zanah. Wilhelm -Kellar hath guided the business affairs of the colony. He hath been my -strong arm. Lo! he is slain by the frowardness of the daughter upon whom -he had centred too much affection. He hath suffered because he let her -become an idol of earth. If she repenteth, so that she may become the -prophetess of Zanah, her crime may be blotted out of the book of life.” - -He paused, but the people made no demonstration. - -“Repent, O daughter of Zanah!” the Herr Doktor shouted, in a voice -intended to terrify all who heard it. “Repent now. Pledge thyself to put -earthly love out of thy heart, and to serve the Lord forever.” - -“Love that hath taken root in the heart cannot be plucked out at will. -This love must remain always with me,” Walda replied. - -“Let thy shame be upon thine own head,” shouted Adolph Schneider. “Thou -art a woman possessed of Satan. Thou hast caused thy father’s death, and -yet thou darest to defy the laws of God and the laws of Zanah.” - -“She hath committed murder,” cried a woman. “The mark of Cain is set -upon her forehead.” - -The colonists surged around the place where Walda and Gerson Brandt -stood. Straining at his bonds, Everett, who had been dragged back upon -the platform and thrown before the vacant chair of the prophetess, -shouted to the elders to preserve order. Seeing Walda’s peril, he -demanded that he be released, and poured forth such a torrent of -invective and entreaty that Adolph Schneider and Karl Weisel were moved -to action. The two elders tried in vain to obtain a hearing. The crowd -was clamoring for revenge. Infuriated by disappointment and goaded by -superstition, the colonists pressed so closely upon Walda that she was -in danger of being crushed. - -Some of the women would have spat upon her, but Gerson Brandt pushed -them away. Terrible in his anger, he widened the circle around the -white-clad figure of the fallen prophetess, who seemed unmindful of the -turmoil about her. She stood with bowed head, and her lips moved in -prayer. - -“Make way for the bier!” Gerson Brandt said. Diedrich Werther and his -three companions lifted the bier, and slowly started down the grassy -aisle. When Walda would have followed, one of the most turbulent of the -colonists roughly shoved her back. Gerson Brandt threw out his arm with -a protecting gesture, and in the surging of the crowd Walda was pressed -close to him. His arms folded about her, and for one moment he felt her -heart beating upon his. In that moment the fires of life that had long -smouldered in him flamed up and illuminated his soul. In that moment -came to him the knowledge that he, the elder of Zanah, had long been -possessed of the earthly love against which he had preached so many -years. For a few seconds the golden autumn day faded from his sight. He -passed into a new existence. His divinity was unveiled to him. When the -mist before his eyes cleared away he looked into Walda’s face, and, -still clasping her close to his breast, said: - -“Canst thou forgive me for mine anger, which hath brought upon thee much -unnecessary trouble this day? Until this moment I have been blinded. I -have done thee and him whom thou lovest a grievous wrong.” - -“Thy provocation hath been great,” Walda answered. “Yet there is -resentment in my heart since thou hast caused Stephen Everett to be -bound.” - -“Forgive me, and I will make reparation for mine offence,” he pleaded. -“For the sake of the past, for thy father’s sake, bear no enmity against -me.” - -“Thou wilt see that no harm befalleth Stephen Everett?” she said. -Unconscious of the tumult in the school-master’s heart, and indifferent -to his touch, she thought only of the stranger in Zanah. The mob moved -forward, and Gerson Brandt gently put Walda away from him. - -“Let Walda Kellar follow the bier of her father,” he commanded. - -Again the women hissed their fallen prophetess. - -Raising her hands to heaven, Walda uttered the words: - -“Lord, have mercy upon us, thy people in Zanah. Forgive us our -transgressions.” - -The colonists’ jeers were silenced. As Walda passed down the aisle, the -majesty of her carriage and the exaltation that was written on her face -cast a fear upon the people. One woman who had but a moment before -uttered bitter gibes kissed the hem of the white garment of the fallen -prophetess. - -Hans Peter, who had been watching the proceedings from the limb of a -tree, slid from his high seat and walked a few feet behind Walda. - -A hush fell upon the multitude. Standing with uncovered head, Gerson -Brandt waited until the bier disappeared among the trees and the last -glimpse of Walda’s white-robed figure was obscured. - -The distant bell of the meeting-house tolled. The sunset hour of prayer -had come. Beneath the sky, dyed in crimson and purple, the people of -Zanah bowed their heads. - - - - - XIX - - -For three days after the _Untersuchung_ Zanah was in mourning. The body -of Wilhelm Kellar lay in the meeting-house, and there the colonists -spent many hours in prayer and fasting. Gerson Brandt shut himself in -the upper room where Wilhelm Kellar had been so long ill and where -Piepmatz still hung in the big wicker cage. The school-master sat for -hours looking towards the bluffs which shut out the busy world. He -thought constantly of Walda. He had given her a pledge that he would -make reparation for his part in the _Untersuchung_, but his heart -rebelled against his task. He coveted Walda with all the strength of a -nature in which the best human impulses had been thwarted. He knew that -he must give up the woman he loved to the stranger in Zanah, but his -soul cried out against the fate that took her from him. He looked back -upon the years in Zanah, and he knew that she had become all of life to -him. At first he was dead to the sense of his own unfaithfulness to the -colony. Gradually he realized that his had been the part of the -unconscious traitor. He felt relieved when he looked forward to his -release from the irksome duties of a leader of Zanah. - -A sense of terrible loneliness took possession of him whenever he -thought of the death of his friend, but his grief became more poignant -with the thought that Wilhelm Kellar’s death made Walda’s departure from -the colony possible. There was no reason why she should not go out into -the world as Everett’s wife. Night after night he battled with himself -to the end that he might be strong enough to help the woman he loved to -the attainment of happiness. He gained many partial victories over -himself, but at first he could not summon the courage to go to see Walda -in the House of the Women where she was kept under surveillance. The day -after the _Untersuchung_ he compelled himself to ask that Everett be -released, but he found that the cupidity of Adolph Schneider had been -aroused by the possibility of exacting a fine from the stranger, who was -locked in his room at the inn. It was a rule of the colony that a member -who brought money into the community should, in case of departure from -Zanah, receive just what he had contributed. Wilhelm Kellar’s share was -not small, and the danger of Walda’s marriage, and consequent demand for -her portion of her father’s property, was one that the elders desired to -avert. - -“Thou canst persuade Walda Kellar that the curse of God will descend -upon her if she leaveth Zanah,” Karl Weisel said to Gerson Brandt, at -the close of a long conference of the elders. “She is suffering from -remorse, and thou canst sway her woman’s heart.” - -“I refuse to have aught to do with inclining Walda’s will to the will of -Zanah,” said the school-master, in a tone so decisive that the matter -was dropped. - -It was two days after Wilhelm Kellar’s death that Gerson Brandt, who had -gone to look once more upon the still face of his friend, encountered -Walda. The girl was kneeling alone beside the bier. - -“See how peaceful he looketh,” she said, in a voice that was shaken with -sobs. “It is a comfort to remember that his last words told me and all -the people that he had forgiven my failure to fulfil his hopes.” - -“He hath attained greater wisdom. He knoweth that thou wast led by a -stronger power than thine own will,” the school-master answered. - -“As thou art my friend, point out the path of duty to me,” Walda -implored, rising to her feet. “I have prayed constantly, and it seemeth -that it is right I should stay here in Zanah serving the people, and -proving to them that while love must ever be in my heart, I can still -follow in the paths of righteousness.” - -Gerson Brandt was silent. He stood looking at her as if he would have -her image graven on his mind for all his coming years. The tempter spoke -to him. One word of counsel, given as from her father’s friend, and he -could keep her safe in Zanah. - -“Art thou strong enough to let Stephen Everett go back into the world -without thee?” he questioned. - -“I have prayed for fortitude. I have found courage to think of living on -here without him,” she replied. “I have seen myself an old woman of -Zanah who goes her way dreaming still of the love of her youth.” - -“Thou knowest that I would watch o’er thee,” said the school-master. - -“Yea; but thy brotherly compassion hath not the sustaining power of -love.” - -“Thou knowest not what sustaining power brotherly compassion may -reveal.” - -Gerson Brandt’s voice betrayed suppressed emotion, and, looking up, -Walda saw that his face had become suddenly old and drawn. - -“I have pained thee by my seeming ingratitude for all thy kindnesses,” -she said, putting her hand on his arm. The school-master’s face flushed, -for her touch made his heart throb. - -The tempter’s voice spoke insistently. - -“Shall I send Stephen Everett away?” Walda asked, after a brief pause. -“Direct me aright. Help me to do what my father would have me do.” - -Gerson Brandt did not answer. - -“The people of Zanah accused me of murdering my father,” Walda said, -after a long silence. “All the night after the _Untersuchung_ I was -filled with terror, but now I know that I could not have spared him the -sorrow. I was, indeed, but the instrument of fate. I had to tell the -truth as it was made clear to me. Oh, tell me that thou dost not deem me -guilty of my father’s death.” - -She was weeping again, and Gerson Brandt was stirred to compassion. - -“Cease thy lamentation,” he said, gently. “I have thought much about -thee ever since thou didst make thy confession of love. I have come to -know that thou must follow the dictates of thy heart. It is right that -thou shouldst go out into the world as Stephen Everett’s wife. There -thou wilt find pain and suffering, but all will be glorified by thy -love.” - -The tempter was vanquished. The school-master had listened to him for -the last time. - -“Nay, speak to me as my father would speak.” - -“As thy father’s friend, and as one who holds thee in the deep recesses -of his heart, I tell thee to go forth from Zanah with the man thou -lovest.” - -“And do I owe no duty to the colony? Is it not right that I should -strive to make amends for my unfaithfulness to the trust reposed in me? -Tell me the whole truth. Spare me not, for I would do the Lord’s will.” - -“The colony hath forfeited all claim upon thee, for the men and women -did shamelessly flout thee. Thy father hath recompensed the people of -Zanah a hundredfold for whatever may have been done for thee.” - -Walda gazed at the face of her dead father. Its calmness gave her -assurance of his forgiveness. Then the realization of her loss impressed -itself on her. She wept again. Stroking his stiffened hands, she prayed -that he might know she had not meant to disregard his teachings or to -bring him to dishonor. - -Distressed at the sight of her remorse, Gerson Brandt urged her to leave -the meeting-house, and when she gave no heed to him he led her away, -holding her hand as was his custom in the years of her childhood. Two -colony mothers were waiting on the steps. - -“Remember my counsel,” said the school-master. “There is but one path -for thee.” - -Walda walked slowly towards the House of the Women, and left him -standing on the threshold of the meeting-house. A mist came before -Gerson Brandt’s eyes, and as it cleared away he saw Hans Peter running -up the hill. - -“The stranger, who is still bound at the inn, would speak with thee,” -said the simple one, when he had reached the meeting-house steps. - -“What doth he want?” said the school-master. - -“He hath not talked with the village fool,” answered Hans Peter, “but -even the simple one might guess that he wants thee to have him set -free.” - -Gerson Brandt thought for a moment. Walda’s presence still exerted its -influence over him. He had not the courage to see the man she loved. - -“Tell Stephen Everett that I cannot go to him until after Wilhelm -Kellar’s funeral,” said the school-master, “and you may give him the -message that he may trust me to work for his deliverance.” - -“He hath made threats that he will not be patient much longer,” Hans -Peter volunteered. “He hath told the Herr Doktor that it will cost Zanah -much if he is imprisoned another day.” - -“According to the laws of the United States he hath right on his side,” -declared Gerson Brandt. - -“He hath offered to pay much money if they will let him take Walda -Kellar away, and every hour that he remaineth with his hands behind him -he is more wasteful of his dollars.” - -“Stand not here gossiping, Hans Peter. Hasten back with my reply to the -stranger’s message,” admonished the school-master, to whom the words of -the simple one had suggested an easy method of obtaining permission for -Walda to leave Zanah. If the elders were seeking to profit financially -from the loss of money as a compensation for the loss of their -prophetess, they would be likely to consent to let Walda leave the -colony on one condition—the forfeit of her property rights. - -In his room at the inn Everett received Hans Peter with much impatience, -and, after he had heard Gerson Brandt’s message, gave expression to his -views on Zanah’s methods of dealing with strangers. - -“So I am to remain bound until to-morrow,” he said. “Since Diedrich -Werther consented to tie my hands less tightly I am not so -uncomfortable. But I want you to summon the Herr Doktor immediately.” - -Adolph Schneider was slow in making his appearance, and Everett, who had -fretted under the delay, was not in his usual self-contained mood. - -“I sent for you to tell you that I am tired of this outrageous -treatment,” he said, as soon as the Herr Doktor’s burly form appeared at -the door. “You must come to an understanding with me to-night, or I will -show you that Zanah cannot ignore all the laws of the United States. I -will have you and all the leaders arrested for falsely imprisoning me. I -will cause an investigation of the affairs of the colony.” - -Adolph Schneider’s fat face was deeply lined and his thick skin was a -pallid yellow. He showed plainly that he was worried with the numerous -troubles that had come upon the colony. He sat upon the nearest chair, -and, letting his head sink into his neckcloth, studied Everett -furtively. - -“What do you intend to do with me?” the prisoner asked, after his first -outburst had remained unanswered. - -“After the funeral to-morrow thou art to have a trial, and then the -people of Zanah will fix thy penalty.” - -“Penalty? Penalty for what? I have broken no law. I have done nothing -for which you can deprive me of my liberty.” - -“Thou art not the judge of that,” declared the Herr Doktor. “Thou hast -acknowledged that thou hast wronged the people of Zanah, for hast thou -not offered to pay a fine?” - -“I have offered to buy my freedom, because I cannot expect to obtain -justice here among you bigots,” returned Everett. “I warn you that if -you do not take this rope off my arms, I shall see that you do not get a -penny from me, and that you pay for this week’s work.” - -“So long as Walda Kellar is guarded it will be safe to let thee have thy -freedom, but we take no chances now.” - -“Walda Kellar is my promised wife, and I demand her liberty as well as -my own.” - -“Walda Kellar belongeth to Zanah, and thou canst not assert any claim to -her,” Adolph Schneider retorted, angrily. - -“You will see what I can do,” Everett said. “But I do not want to try -coercion. Give your consent to our marriage, and I will make Zanah a -gift of money to signify my gratitude.” - -The Herr Doktor’s little eyes glittered. - -“How much?” he asked. - -“We will not discuss terms until I am freed from these ropes,” said -Everett. “My imprisonment would be much easier to bear if you would let -me have my hands free, so that I can smoke.” - -Adolph Schneider surveyed the stranger in Zanah with a look of -suspicion. - -“Zanah would not be doing the will of God if Walda Kellar was not -punished for causing her father’s death,” he remarked. - -“How dare you accuse her!” - -The prisoner strained his bonds, as if he would use his hands to some -purpose in defending the woman he loved. - -“Her confession broke her father’s heart,” said the Herr Doktor. - -“The cruelty of you zealots of Zanah made Wilhelm Kellar die,” declared -the prisoner. “I warn you to be careful how you blame an innocent girl, -who simply told the truth at your _Untersuchung_.” - -Everett’s face was so stern in its expression that the wily colonist -thought it wise not to pursue the subject. - -“When thou art ready to make an offer of money, the elders will weigh it -against Walda Kellar’s transgression,” he said. “If it is found better -for the colony that she be cast out with thee, consent to the marriage -may be given.” He thought for a moment, with his chin in his neckcloth. -Shaking his head, he added: “There is still a chance that Walda Kellar -may receive the true inspiration. She may yet lead the people. It is but -small hope that I can give thee.” - -He turned to go out. - -“Stop! How about these ropes? Have them taken off,” Everett said, in a -tone that was menacing. “I shall be here to my trial. Don’t think I -would miss that. I shall stay in Zanah until I can leave the colony with -Walda Kellar.” - -Adolph Schneider paid no attention to Everett’s demand. Instead, he -stalked through the door, his cane pounding in unison with every other -step. - - - - - XX - - -It was noontime when the colonists gathered in the meeting-house to -attend the funeral of Wilhelm Kellar. The bier, placed before the -platform of the elders, was covered with flowers—the late garden -blossoms of autumn. White dahlias and asters, intwined in wreaths, -almost concealed the lid of the coffin. The women, who wore gowns of -black calico, gathered solemnly on their side of the big, bare room. The -men stood in groups until the elders had taken their places on the -platform where the vacant chair of Wilhelm Kellar was draped in black. -This occupied the position formerly given to the chair of the -prophetess, which was pushed back and turned so that it faced the wall. - -The bell tolled the age of the dead elder. When its fiftieth stroke had -died away Walda was brought in from the room where she had held her -vigil before the _Untersuchung_. Mother Werther and Mother Kaufmann -accompanied her. Her appearance caused a hush to fall upon the assembly, -and some of the women covered their eyes, for it was seen that over her -black gown was thrown the scarlet cloak, which betokened that her soul -was clothed in the garment of sin. It was the same cloak that Marta -Bachmann had worn during the time of her probation, and some of the -softer-hearted of the colony “mothers” prayed that the fallen prophetess -might follow in Marta Bachmann’s footsteps until she reached the height -of final repentance. The maidens of Zanah gazed on Walda with fascinated -eyes. A few were bold enough to hope that she might be able to leave -Zanah with the stranger whose worldly ways and physical beauty had -charmed even those who had never spoken to him. At the head of the -coffin a stool had been provided for Walda, and she sank upon it as if -overcome with sudden weakness. For a moment she bowed her black-capped -head in prayer, and then, looking unflinchingly into the faces of the -colonists, waited with courage for the service to begin. She was very -pale, and once she threw off the cloak, as if it smothered her. In a -second she remembered its significance, and drew it about her shoulders. - -From his seat at one end of the platform Gerson Brandt, with pitying -eyes, looked upon Walda. His thin face had a pinched look, and from his -eyes had faded the last smouldering fires of youth and hope. He sat with -hands tensely clasped, except when, now and then, he pressed his thin -fingers to his temples, from which the long hair, touched with gray, -fell back to his shoulders. - -Karl Weisel read a long chapter from the Bible, and then a meek elder -offered a prayer. Adolph Schneider next told the people of their dead -brother’s services to the colony. His thick, droning voice, monotonous -in its cadences, did not hold Walda’s attention, until presently she -knew he was speaking of her and accusing her of unfaithfulness to Zanah. -She listened with downcast eyes, her lithe body quivering with emotion, -but she was too proud to show the pain she suffered. She choked back the -tears and prayed for strength. - -At last the funeral address was finished. The bier was carried out into -the golden sunshine. Walda rose as if to follow it, but one of the -elders detained her. - -“Is it meet that one who wears the scarlet cloak should walk first -behind the bier?” he asked. - -Gerson Brandt answered by going to Walda’s side, pulling her arm through -his, and waving the people aside. - -“He hath touched Walda Kellar’s hand, and he is no kin to her!” cried -Mother Kaufmann; but the school-master walked on as if he had not heard -her. Tenderly he supported Walda’s faltering footsteps. The procession -formed behind them, the men and women walking on opposite sides of the -village street, while Gerson Brandt and Walda kept in the middle of the -grass-grown road, directly behind Wilhelm Kellar’s coffin. - -“Gerson Brandt, thou art, indeed, a friend in mine hour of trouble,” -Walda said, when they had reached the strip of woods and the bier had -been put down in order that its bearers might rest. - -“Until death thou wilt be ever safe in my heart,” the school-master -answered, solemnly. - -“Pray that I may have fortitude when I see the earth cover my father’s -body,” she whispered, as the procession started again, and he pressed -her arm to give her the assurance of his aid. - -The school-master could have prayed that the walk to the graveyard might -last forever. He knew that, in all the coming years which might belong -to him on earth, he might never again touch her or be close to her. He -trembled in the excess of his joy. He felt a great strength taking -possession of him. They came to the lake, and he looked out upon it as -it lay undisturbed by wave or ripple. Around the water’s hem the -yellowing willows dipped into the placid pool. The sumach flamed among -the oak-trees. - -“When thou art gone from me out into the world I shall pray that thy -soul shall be untroubled as is this lake to-day,” he murmured, softly. - -“Ah! To-day I feel that I must remain here in Zanah to make atonement -for my betrayal of the people’s trust,” she answered. - -The tempter had spoken to him for the last time, and so he made haste to -say: - -“Thy love leads the way of thy duty. Harbor no longer the thought of -sacrificing thyself to no purpose.” - -They reached the high gate of the graveyard. The bier was carried to the -rise of ground where Marta Bachmann’s burial-place had been selected -many years before. A grave had been hollowed out near that of the -prophetess of revered memory. The colonists gathered around it. Walda -and the school-master stood on one side and the elders on the other -while the coffin was lowered. The simple one, who had not been seen at -the meeting-house or in the procession, looked on from a place of -vantage on the gravestone of Marta Bachmann. - -Adolph Schneider announced that there would be a reading of the -Scriptures. An awkward pause followed. It was discovered that the Bible -had been forgotten. The elders held a conference, while the villagers -waited stolidly. - -“Hans Peter shall be sent back for the Holy Book,” announced the Herr -Doktor, motioning to the simple one. - -Hans Peter advanced with slow steps. - -“There is a Bible here,” he said. - -“Bring it quickly, then,” ordered the elder. - -“It can be brought only after an understanding,” answered the simple -one. “Gerson Brandt’s lost Bible is hidden here. It belongeth now to the -stranger in Zanah. If it is the will of him who made it gay with colors -that it be given to the stranger I will bring the Bible forth.” - -“Would the fool make terms with the elders of Zanah? Bring forth the -Bible,” commanded the Herr Doktor. - -Hans Peter did not stir. - -“Dost thou defy me?” asked Adolph Schneider. - -The simple one made no sign that he heard. - -“Speak,” urged Gerson Brandt. “Stephen Everett shall have the Bible.” - -“When the promise is given that the elders will let me deliver it to the -owner I will find it,” said Hans Peter. - -The promise was given, after a brief consultation of the elders. Hans -Peter went back to Marta Bachmann’s gravestone, and from beneath it -pulled out a stout wooden box. This he opened with some difficulty, and -from it produced the Bible, which was wrapped in oil-cloth. Gerson -Brandt’s heart gave a throb of joy when he saw it. - -“Bring it here to me,” he commanded, and the simple one, almost -staggering under its weight, obeyed the wish of the school-master. - -The people whispered among themselves, and the elders looked sullenly at -the volume about which there had been so many conjectures. - -“I will read from the Scriptures,” announced Gerson Brandt, motioning to -the village fool to help him hold the heavy book. He turned to the -fourteenth chapter of St. John, and, scanning a page more beautiful in -its illumination than all the rest, he began to read the message of -peace. After he had finished he closed the Sacred Book. One of the -elders prayed, and while the people’s heads were bowed Hans Peter stole -away with the Bible. - -Diedrich Werther began to shovel the earth into the grave. Walda, with a -sudden feeling of horror, clutched Gerson Brandt’s arm, upon which she -buried her face. The school-master forgot the people of Zanah. He leaned -over her, whispering words of comfort and strength. Half fearfully he -touched her on the shoulder, and bade her remember that the Lord worketh -in wondrous ways. He told her that the Father in heaven had planned for -her deliverance from Zanah. - -The people had begun to leave the graveyard before Walda was calm. Two -of the colony “mothers” waited for her, and she bade the school-master -return to Zanah, leaving her alone with the women. - -Gerson Brandt hesitated, loath to walk away from the place that had -become to him one of the outer courts of heaven. - -“I would pray here for a time,” Walda said, “and thou shalt be -remembered in my petitions.” - -He looked at her, not trusting himself to speak. - -He led her close to the new-made grave and left her there. Not until he -had closed the graveyard gate behind him did he dare to look back. -Gazing with straining eyes he beheld the prophetess as she lay face -downward on the ground, with the scarlet cloak still wrapped around her. -From a place a little distant the colony women watched her. - - - - - XXI - - -Immediately after the funeral the colonists gathered in the village -square for the trial of Stephen Everett. The stocks still stood where -they had been erected for the punishment of Hans Peter, and upon the -high platform surrounding the culprit’s seat the elders met for the -purpose of passing judgment. The prisoner was not brought from the inn -until after all the villagers were assembled. He walked from the porch -of the _gasthaus_ with a step that showed he was glad to have a chance -to make a plea for liberty. An expression of scorn and anger was plainly -visible on his handsome face. He had been inclined to accept whatever -happened in Zanah as rather an amusing experience, but the events since -the morning of the _Untersuchung_ had awakened him to a full sense of -what he had at stake. He meant to have Walda at any hazard, but his -patience had been exhausted in his tiresome ordeal of imprisonment. His -old, careless manner asserted itself when he had ascended the steps to -the stocks and had taken a seat upon the great beam in which the simple -one’s feet had been fastened. - -At the first sight of him some of the villagers gave vent to indignant -murmurs, which were quickly quieted. - -“This man is accused of being one whom Satan hath sent to Zanah,” -announced Karl Weisel. “He hath stolen the affections of her who would -have been our prophetess; he hath tempted the Lord’s chosen one with an -earthly love. He hath broken his pledge to an elder of the colony. -Through his wicked plottings the plans of Zanah are overthrown. He hath -lost to the people who serve God the instrument that would have led the -people in the paths of pleasantness.” - -“He shall be punished!” shouted some of the people. - -“Yea; he shall be punished,” agreed the head of the thirteen elders, -puffing out his chest and knitting his brows. “He shall be punished; but -is there a penalty severe enough for offences such as his?” - -“He shall be made to pay a fine,” said Adolph Schneider. “Many thousand -dollars would not wipe out the harm he hath done to the crops since we -are deprived of the guidance of a prophetess.” - -“Cast him out of Zanah!” clamored many voices. - -At this point Gerson Brandt advanced from his place at the end of the -row of elders. - -“Who is fitted to determine the stranger’s punishment?” he asked. - -No one answered. With arms folded upon his breast Gerson Brandt waited -for a response. - -“In this case it seemeth just that only he who hath not succumbed to the -same temptation that Stephen Everett hath found here in Zanah is fit to -choose a penalty for this offence. Let the man of Zanah who hath lived -twenty-one years without loving a woman say what the stranger’s -punishment shall be.” - -The men of Zanah stared at one another. The women tiptoed to see if they -might read long-buried secrets in the faces of their husbands and -brothers. - -“There must be many here who have escaped the lure that lurketh in the -eyes of women,” the school-master said, presently. “It may be that my -meaning hath not been made plain. Let him who hath attained the age of -manhood without knowing what Zanah calleth an earthly love judge Stephen -Everett.” - -The men of Zanah looked at one another with shamefaced glances. - -“Is not he who hath loved and repented a better judge?” asked Karl -Weisel. - -“Nay; why should one that hath been weak in the presence of woman judge -another?” responded the school-master. “There are many men of Zanah who -have never married. Why do not they answer? Why do not they volunteer to -measure the sin of loving a woman?” - -A minute passed. - -“Is there none in Zanah qualified to judge the stranger?” inquired -Gerson Brandt. - -From the edge of the crowd came the simple one. - -“I, the fool of Zanah, have passed the age of one-and-twenty without -loving,” he declared, in a tone that betrayed not the least trace of any -feeling. - -His face was, as usual, absolutely without expression. - -“Set a fool to judge a fool,” sneered Mother Schneider. But the men had -nothing to say. - -“What is thy judgment, Hans Peter?” asked the school-master. - -“The simple one would have the stranger freed,” said Hans Peter. -Standing with both hands in his pockets, he waited to be dismissed. He -had uncovered his head, and as he stood there before the people -something of the tragedy of the simple one’s life was revealed to Zanah. -He was a creature apart; one who had reached the years of manhood -without attaining to the full stature and the full knowledge of -maturity. Some strange recesses of his brain were closed to memory, and -yet nature had made compensation by giving him queer flashes of wit and -odd shreds of intelligence that often confounded Zanah. In the crowd -were some, more superstitious than the rest, who looked at the village -fool with fear written on their faces. - -“Let us free the stranger and send him out of Zanah. He hath brought a -curse with him. The sooner he goeth from among us the better,” spoke -Mother Werther, who, since the _Untersuchung_, had gone about with care -marked upon her good-natured face. - -“He whom you call the simple one is the only man in Zanah who hath not -transgressed the colony law forbidding all who would attain to serve the -Lord in singleness of purpose to put away earthly love,” said the -school-master. “Would not your own weaknesses teach you lenity?” - -From his place on the stocks Everett scanned the dull faces below him. -The idea of associating sentiment or romance with the heavy-featured men -of Zanah brought a contemptuous smile to his lips. - -“How is it that thou dost not judge the stranger?” asked Mother -Kaufmann. “Surely thou hast not loved a daughter of Eve?” She laughed, -mockingly, showing her hideous tusks. - -“Let Gerson Brandt, the elder and school-master, be the judge of the -stranger,” cried a sturdy colonist, who had been quietly looking on from -the porch of the inn. - -A chorus of voices bade the school-master deal with the prisoner. - -Gerson Brandt motioned to Hans Peter to retire from the place in front -of the stocks. - -“Thou hast this day taught Zanah a lesson,” he declared, in a kindly -voice. “Thy verdict is right. It should be accepted by the people.” - -“Faugh! Wouldst thou let a fool decide a matter of great importance to -Zanah?” angrily inquired Adolph Schneider, who had with difficulty -smothered his rage when he saw the chief law of the colony made -ridiculous by Gerson Brandt’s declaration that the man who had never -loved should judge Stephen Everett. - -“We demand that the school-master shall fix the penalty,” shouted Mother -Schneider. “He knoweth best to what extent the madness of an earthly -love hath afflicted her who would have been a prophetess; he hath lost -his best friend through the iniquitous influence of the stranger.” - -The people became unruly, for their patience had been tried by the -suspense. They clamored for speedy justice to him who had made trouble -for them. - -“Gerson Brandt, thou shalt pass the verdict,” said Karl Weisel. “Since -thou didst order Stephen Everett made a prisoner, thou shouldst make -sure that he suffers for his misdeeds.” - -The school-master pushed back the hair from his forehead. He waited for -a moment, lifting his hands to invite the attention of the people. - -“None is more unworthy to judge this man for loving a woman than I, -Gerson Brandt,” he said, with a quaver in his voice. “It is my desire -that some of you fix his punishment, for even though you may set him -free, I shall do penance for him. I have sinned against Zanah more than -he.” - -“What meanest thou, Brother Brandt?” asked Adolph Schneider, confronting -him. “Beware how thou dost forfeit the respect of the people.” - -“I have treasured in my heart an earthly love,” the school-master -confessed, turning from Adolph Schneider and speaking to the colonists. - -His words caused even the most stoical of the elders to turn pale. It -meant much to the colony to lose the school-master from among those who -managed the affairs of the community. - -The people heard and yet appeared not to believe their ears. The square -became so quiet that when Piepmatz, hanging in his cage from a rafter of -the inn-porch, sang the one bar of the love-song, the bird-voice reached -every one in the throng, and presently broke the spell of amazement that -held the villagers. - -“Thy case shall be taken up presently,” said Karl Weisel, who was the -first to recover from astonishment. “Thy sin is minor to his, in that -thou didst not love the prophetess.” - -“Mine offence is greater than his,” answered Gerson Brandt. He had -gained complete control of himself, and he spoke in a voice clear and -unfaltering. “I have loved Walda Kellar even from the days of her -childhood with a love that is stronger than all else in life. I had -thought that mine affection was merely that of a teacher, a counsellor, -a friend, until, through the stranger, it became known to me that I -loved her who might have been the prophetess as a man loveth the woman -whom the Lord hath sent into the world for him to cherish until death. -There is no word of extenuation for me. I love Walda Kellar with the -longing to claim her from Zanah and all the world.” - -He paused, as if the flood-gates of his heart had broken, and the tide -of his emotion drowned his words. Stephen Everett, who had listened with -a shamed sense of his own good-fortune, gazed upon the school-master’s -face until he was compelled to turn his eyes away, for he saw despair -and pain so deeply graven there that the pity of it brought tears. - -“In the heat of what I thought a righteous anger I did order the -stranger to be bound,” Gerson Brandt said, after a brief pause. “But -there, in the place of the _Untersuchung_, it was made clear to me that -jealousy actuated me unworthily to use my power as an elder. For that -offence, I crave Stephen Everett’s pardon and Zanah’s forgiveness.” - -The people were stirred with indignation and sorrow. They began to speak -to one another, but Gerson Brandt compelled them to hear him to the end. - -“I would ask you to release the prisoner and to give Walda Kellar into -his keeping. The love I bear for this daughter of Zanah hath in it that -which giveth me the strength to surrender my heart’s desire, and so I -crave for her the happiness that cometh through the love of another man. -I plead with you to consent to the marriage of Stephen Everett and Walda -Kellar. Send them forth into the world together this night. Delay not in -meting out to them the judgment that will give them joy. The punishment -is mine.” - -Gerson Brandt leaned against one of the supports of the stocks. He was -dimly conscious that the elders whispered to one another and that the -people gathered in groups to talk earnestly. - -The afternoon was far advanced. A golden haze had settled upon the -valley. Above his head the dry leaves of the trees were rustled by a -gentle wind that soothed his spirit. He was conscious of a sudden -faintness. His little world, the colony of Zanah, slipped away from him -for a moment, but he remembered that he had not won his battle for -Walda’s freedom, and he steadied himself, calling all his senses to -serve him until the end of the day’s ordeal. - -“Art thou aware that when an elder lets human love into his heart he -must be put under the ban of silence?” asked Adolph Schneider. “It is -the law of Zanah. Thou art the first elder to prove himself too weak for -the high office.” - -Gerson Brandt made no response. Far down the road he caught sight of the -scarlet cloak worn by the fallen prophetess. - -The elders continued their conference, presently taking Stephen Everett -into their circle. The school-master kept his eyes on the approaching -figure of Walda, who came towards the square with lagging steps. Her -attendants followed her closely, and when the three at last came into -the crowd he saw that some of the villagers gathered about them. - -“Will Walda Kellar stand before the stocks,” commanded Karl Weisel, -seeing that the fallen prophetess had come into the square. - -Walda obeyed the summons. - -“Art thou willing to forsake Zanah in order that thou mayst go forth -into the world with a stranger?” he asked. - -Everett looked at her with pleading in his eyes, but she hesitated -before replying. He leaned forward in an agony of suspense. - -“Tell the elders that thou art under a law higher than any of Zanah,” -prompted Gerson Brandt. “Thou art led by the law of love, which ruleth -the world outside the colony. This day hath shown that it ruleth here, -even in Zanah.” - -“If in leaving Zanah I am not ignoring any allegiance I owe to the -memory of my father, I would go with Stephen Everett. This love that I -bear to him hath given me a desire to be always near him,” Walda -answered. - -“Thou shalt be cut off from the roll of those who serve the Lord in -Zanah,” declared the head of the thirteen elders. “Thou shalt leave -Zanah to-night, after the village hath closed its doors on thee, so that -the eyes of the men and women may not be offended by seeing the -beginning of thy journey into the world.” - -“I would give vent to my gratitude,” Walda said, tremulously. “Even now -I prayed at my father’s grave that if it be the will of God I might be -permitted to be the wife of Stephen Everett, and lo! when I least hoped -for it my prayer hath been answered.” - -“Silence! Dare not to rejoice in thy frowardness of heart here before -the people of Zanah,” Karl Weisel admonished. “Remember that there may -be a curse in answered prayer.” - -Walda shrank under the lash of his cruel words. She glanced around her -as if seeking sympathy from some of the women, but all who were nearest -her drew their skirts away as if they would not be defiled by the touch -of her scarlet cloak. Her pride came to the rescue, and, drawing the -crimson mantle around her, she stood proudly waiting for a sign that she -might pass on. - -“From this moment Walda Kellar, once hailed as the prophetess of Zanah, -is no longer to be counted with the colonists who live in the hope of -earning an entrance to heaven by walking in the paths of righteousness,” -announced Adolph Schneider, coming forward. “She hath listened to the -voice of Satan, and she hath been unfaithful to a most sacred trust. She -hath lost the gift of tongues; she hath turned a deaf ear to the voice -of prophecy. Henceforth, forever, her name shall not be spoken in Zanah. -Let her go in peace, and may she repent of her sin.” - -Some of the colonists shuddered as the Herr Doktor proclaimed the -excommunication of the fallen prophetess. Walda read reassurance and -encouragement in Gerson Brandt’s face. She stood gazing up at him, and -he held her spirit in calm submission. - -“Stephen Everett is hereby liberated. He hath consented to pay to Zanah -a goodly fine, which is still out of proportion to his great offence,” -Adolph Schneider next announced. “Through the agency of Gerson Brandt, -Walda Kellar hath waived all claim on her share of the property of -Zanah. She shall go forth from the colony penniless, and dependent upon -the stranger.” - -“That is good,” agreed some of the men. - -“To-night Stephen Everett and Walda Kellar shall leave Zanah, even as -Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden,” continued the Herr -Doktor, pronouncing the sentence so that it might intimidate all -possible lovers in the colony. “They shall go forth, never to return.” - -When Adolph Schneider dwelt on the words “never to return,” Gerson -Brandt caught his breath as if he felt a sudden pain. - -“It is my duty to pronounce upon Gerson Brandt the ban of silence,” Karl -Weisel said, taking the Herr Doktor’s place at the front of the -platform. “As head of the thirteen elders I hereby declare to the people -of Zanah that his office of counsellor and guide to the colony is -vacant. Like the fallen prophetess, he hath forfeited all right to a -high place in Zanah by opening his heart to an earthly love.” - -Walda could not repress an exclamation of surprise. She glanced -questioningly among the women, as if she would discover the one upon -whom the school-master had bestowed his heart, but she received such -looks of anger and indignation that she turned to Gerson Brandt, as if -she would read his secret. He gave her a smile, and she listened sadly -to the terrible sentence pronounced upon him. - -“For the space of a year no man or woman of Zanah shall speak to Gerson -Brandt,” the elder continued, in a loud voice. “Although he hath been -the school-master, the children shall not be permitted to utter one word -to him. He shall no longer be a teacher in the colony. Instead, he shall -dwell alone, avoided by all. Because Zanah harboreth no drones, he shall -serve the colony as night-watchman. During all the hours of darkness he -shall pace up and down the street of Zanah. He shall call out the hours -from sunset until sunrise, and he shall be forgotten by all who serve -the Lord.” - -Gerson Brandt heard the words unmoved, as if the sentence were of little -concern to him. In a moment, after Karl Weisel ceased speaking, his -thoughts were far away. He exulted over the solitude before him. He knew -that he could live in memories; precious dreams would be his. Each -night, while he walked alone, he told himself that he could send to -Walda his best hopes. He could speak her name in his prayers. After all, -he had triumphed over himself and over the laws of Zanah. Unconsciously -he drew his thin body to its full height. The light of victory illumined -his face. He looked at Walda and saw that she was weeping for him. Then -he was troubled. - -“This sentence is monstrous,” Everett asserted, with wrath in his voice. -“Gerson Brandt shall come out into the world with me. Walda Kellar and I -owe him whatever of happiness may be ours in the future, and we shall -see that he has some of the joys of life.” - -“Nay, nay,” spoke Gerson Brandt. “I would be out of place in the great -world. I thank thee, but I am better here. I shall be quite contented to -remain in Zanah. Outward conditions count for naught.” - -When Everett still would have insisted, he showed such evident -embarrassment and uneasiness that it was kindlier to cease to importune -him. - -“Stephen Everett, thou shalt take Walda Kellar to the _gasthaus_, there -to wait until darkness falls,” snarled Adolph Schneider, who had begun -to feel that he had not made the stranger’s fine large enough. - -Everett hastened to Walda’s side. When he gently took her by the arm, -Gerson Brandt turned his head away. The crowd began to disperse. The -school-master walked down the steps from the stocks. All the colonists -pretended not to see him. As he crossed the square a little girl ran to -him, clasping her arms about his knees. He stooped to disengage himself, -and a woman snatched the child away from him. A few steps farther on -several of the boys who had been his pupils ran away from him, one -hiding behind a tree to peep at him, as if he were an evil thing. He had -not reached the bridge before he felt some one touch him on the arm. It -was Hans Peter. - -“I shall dwell with thee,” said the simple one. “The laws of Zanah rule -not the village fool.” - - - - - XXII - - -Everett led Walda into the living-room of the inn and shut the door. -Taking the red cloak from her shoulders, he tenderly placed her in one -of the big rocking-chairs. - -“From this moment you are always to be in my care,” he said. “Ah, Walda, -I cannot realize that at last you are to be mine—all mine.” - -She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. - -“Stephen, it is strange, but now that I am about to go out into the -great world with thee I am full of misgivings,” she replied. - -He knelt beside her, and, taking her hand, said: - -“You have had a tragic day. You are exhausted. Surely, you are not -afraid to trust yourself to me?” - -“Nay, nay. When thou art close to me I feel safe from all trouble; yet -my heart trembles. Thy love hath a power that affrights me.” - -He had risen and kissed her, drawing her head upon his breast and -holding it there. She hid her face with a sudden shame while she asked: - -“Are we to be married to-morrow, Stephen?” - -“It was the agreement that we should leave Zanah at midnight. We shall -drive to a town twenty-five miles away, and there, at sunrise, you and I -will attend our own wedding.” - -“Thou art sure that my father would have had it so?” - -“Yes, Walda; I would have gained his consent. You are to forget all the -troubles that my love has brought to you. I shall try to atone for every -heartache of these last few days.” - -“Our love was sent from heaven. Truly thou believest that?” - -“Fate has given you to me. You must not ask any more questions. We are -to begin to be happy now.” He stroked her cheek and soothed her as if -she were a child, and his great strength gave her confidence. “The first -thing that I shall do will be to send for your white gown, so that you -can take off this mourning,” he said, lightly, when he saw that she was -more composed. “I bought from the elders the white gown and the red -cloak, for both have a significance for us—both have marked great days -in our lives.” - -She smiled faintly, and he began to unpin the black cap that she wore. -It was securely fastened to her fair hair. He had to ask her assistance -in getting rid of it. When it was loosened he threw it on the floor, and -then walked off to look at her. She was very pale, after the sorrow and -excitement of the day. Her black gown accentuated the fairness of her -skin, and her clear-cut features were brought out in relief against the -dark back of the chair. - -“You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen,” he said, with the -fervor of sincerity. “How often you will hear your praises sung when you -belong to the world.” - -“Art thou teaching me vanity so soon, Stephen?” she exclaimed, with a -sigh, for she was in no mood for gayety. - -“I am half afraid to take you into the world,” he answered, with some -seriousness. “You see, I have my misgivings. But you did not tell me -what disturbed you. Come over here to Mother Werther’s sofa, where you -can whisper to me all the vague fears of your heart.” - -“Thou knowest I shall need thy charity oftentimes,” Walda said, after -Stephen had made her rest her head upon his shoulder. “I shall not -understand many of thy ways—even thy thoughts will be too deep for me to -understand.” - -Everett laughed. - -“You forget that you have wisdom and goodness that I can never fathom.” - -“Here in Zanah those who love soon weary of each other. Surely, it is -not so in the world, where earthly love is not counted a sin. Is it?” -she questioned. - -“Our love is for all our life,” he said, softly. “I shall be faithful to -it always.” - -“And thou wilt be patient with me? Thou wilt teach me all that I should -learn, if I would be thy worthy companion?” - -“I would not have you changed in any way, Walda.” - -“Ah! but love bringeth wisdom, and I have thought much about our -marriage. I shall be unlike all the people thou knowest. When Gerson -Brandt said he would be out of place in the great world, his words smote -me.” - -“You shall learn all that you need to know about the ways of the world,” -Everett promised, easily. “Is there any other subject that is causing -you apprehension?” - -“Nay; none that I may voice to thee. When a woman is about to give -herself to the man she loveth there is a tumult in her heart. It is of -mingled faith and fear. Love carrieth both with it, for, while it exalts -the soul, it bringeth the wisdom that hath a far sight of the meanings -and mysteries of life.” - -Walda put her hands upon his shoulders, and, looking into his eyes, saw -in them something that gave her courage. - -“Let us be grateful in this hour of our deliverance,” she said, rising. -“Have the white gown—my wedding-gown—brought to me.” - -Everett went up to the room he had occupied during his last sojourn in -Zanah, leaving Walda alone while he made his preparations for the -journey. - -Walda, leaning on the window-sill, looked out upon the quiet village -that had been so long her home. One by one the lights in the stone -houses on the winding street went out. The footsteps of chance -passers-by became less frequent. The noises in the inn were hushed. At -last every door was closed against her. - -When the tall clock struck eleven, Everett entered the room. The -solitary candle had burned out, and Walda was sitting in the darkness. - -“Can you see to find your cloak?” he asked. “It is time for us to -start.” - -Walda caught up the wrap from its place on the sofa, and followed -Everett out on the porch of the _gasthaus_. There was not a sign of life -anywhere. - -“The carriage will be waiting for us on the other side of the square -beneath the old oak-tree,” said Everett. “Don’t you want to say good-bye -to Piepmatz, or would you like to take him with you?” - -“Nay, Stephen; Piepmatz is like the others that dwell in Zanah. He would -not feel at home in the great world,” Walda answered, going to the cage -where the chaffinch, with his head beneath his wing, slumbered in happy -unconsciousness of the influence of love-songs. - -On the bridge appeared a lantern. It came towards the inn, and when it -was a few feet away the form of the bearer, Gerson Brandt, was -discerned. By his side walked Hans Peter. - -“I was afraid I should not have the chance to say good-bye to thee, -Gerson Brandt,” Walda exclaimed, going down the steps to meet him. -Everett drew the simple one away, with the excuse that they would go to -see whether the carriage had come. - -“Nay, at any cost, I meant to send thee out into the world with my -blessing,” Gerson Brandt answered. He set down his lantern and put his -hands behind him lest he should be tempted to touch her. - -“It seemeth selfish of me to be so happy when thou art sad, Gerson -Brandt.” Walda put her hand upon his arm, and they looked into each -other’s faces with something of the old frankness in their glance. - -“In this hour of parting it is good to know that thou leavest Zanah with -a light heart.” Gerson Brandt spoke bravely, but his lips quivered. -“Farewell, Walda. If I never behold thy face again, remember thine image -is ever treasured in the memory of a man of Zanah. To him thou wilt -never grow old. Here in my thoughts thou shalt dwell always in thy youth -and beauty.” - -He trusted himself to let one hand reach out above her head. - -“Peace go with thee. The Lord bless and keep thee,” he said, softly, -lifting his face to heaven, because he could no longer depend upon his -human strength. - -They stood silent for a moment. - -Everett and Hans Peter returned to the inn to say that the carriage was -waiting. - -“Thou shalt have Piepmatz, if thou art willing to be burdened with the -care of the chaffinch,” said Walda, speaking to the simple one. - -“Nay, give him to both of us,” pleaded Gerson Brandt so earnestly that -she bestowed the bird upon him and Hans Peter, with the injunction that -they must not disagree over the partnership. - -Everett put the scarlet cloak upon Walda’s shoulders and led her away. -She went without waiting to say a last word to the man of Zanah, who had -lifted his lantern and held it so that it might give her light. Gerson -Brandt would have gone on ahead illuminating the way, but a sudden -weakness overcame him when he saw that Walda had forgotten his presence -in the excitement of her departure. He sank upon the well-curb, at the -very place where Everett had first seen him and Walda speak to each -other. He listened for the wheels of the carriage. He heard the horses -start and then stop suddenly. Hans Peter had run out of the inn carrying -on his shoulders the illuminated Bible which had become, by right of -purchase, the property of the stranger. - -Gerson Brandt quelled in his heart the rebellion he felt because to him -was denied even the privilege of giving to Walda the Sacred Book into -which he had wrought so many of his best thoughts and most precious -hopes. He buried his head in his hands, waiting patiently until he -should know that the woman he loved had gone forever beyond his reach. - -The horses’ hoofs struck the soft road with a muffled sound. The wheels -started a second time. Gerson Brandt closed his ears for a moment, and -then, rising, listened for the last sound of the carriage. He was still -standing in the deserted square when Hans Peter spoke to him. - -“It is almost the beginning of a new hour,” the fool said. - -Gerson Brandt examined his big, silver watch by the light of the -lantern. - -“Midnight!” he called, in a voice out of which all hope had gone. -“Midnight!—” - -“And all is well!” cried the simple one, taking up the words that Gerson -Brandt had not power to speak. - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - -Transcriber’s note: - - 1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. - - 2. 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- clear: both; - font-weight: bold; - font-size: 110%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - word-spacing: 0em; - letter-spacing: 0em; - line-height: 1; } - h4.pgx { text-align: center; - clear: both; - font-weight: bold; - font-size: 100%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - word-spacing: 0em; - letter-spacing: 0em; - line-height: 1; } - hr.pgx { width: 100%; - margin-top: 3em; - margin-bottom: 0em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - height: 4px; - border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ - border-style: solid; - border-color: #000000; - clear: both; } - </style> -</head> -<body> -<h1 class="pgx" title="">The Project Gutenberg eBook, Walda, by Mary Holland Kinkaid</h1> -<p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States -and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no -restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at <a -href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you are not -located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this ebook.</p> -<p>Title: Walda</p> -<p> A Novel</p> -<p>Author: Mary Holland Kinkaid</p> -<p>Release Date: November 4, 2020 [eBook #63629]</p> -<p>Language: English</p> -<p>Character set encoding: UTF-8</p> -<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WALDA***</p> -<p> </p> -<h4 class="pgx" title="">E-text prepared by Richard Tonsing<br /> - and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> - (https://www.pgdp.net)<br /> - from page images generously made available by<br /> - Internet Archive<br /> - (https://archive.org)</h4> -<p> </p> -<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> - <tr> - <td valign="top"> - Note: - </td> - <td> - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/waldanovel00kinkiala - </td> - </tr> -</table> -<p> </p> -<hr class="pgx" /> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> - -<div class='titlepage box'> - -<div class='dbox'> - -<div> - <h1 class='c001'><span class='color_red'>WALDA</span></h1> -</div> - -</div> -<div class='dbox'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><b>A Novel</b></div> - <div class='c003'><span class='small'>BY</span></div> - <div class='c002'><span class='large'>MARY HOLLAND KINKAID</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/title.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='dbox'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>NEW YORK AND LONDON</div> - <div>HARPER & BROTHERS</div> - <div>PUBLISHERS ∴ MCMIII</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c004'> - <div><span class='small'>Copyright, 1903, by <span class='sc'>Harper & Brothers</span>.</span></div> - <div class='c002'><span class='small'><i>All rights reserved.</i></span></div> - <div class='c002'><span class='small'>Published March, 1903.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <h2 class='c005'>PUBLISHERS’ NOTE</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>For obvious reasons, the real name of the community -described herein is withheld; but the scenes are pictured -with almost photographic fidelity, and the life -portrayed is the life actually led to-day by a religious -co-operative community in a Western State.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_1'>1</span> - <h2 class='c005'>WALDA</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c007'>“So that is Zanah there at the foot of the hill? -It is a pretty village, Hans Peter. Step more -quickly with my bag. You are slow, my boy. Remember -there is a quarter of a dollar for you in my -pocket.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The tall, broad-shouldered man who spoke took -a few strides along the plank walk that led from the -railway station to the village of Zanah, half a mile -away. Then he stopped to light a cigar while he -waited for the fat, short-legged figure that was bending -under the weight of a large valise to overtake -him. The man was in the early prime of life. When -he took off the soft felt travelling-hat he wore, a -strongly modelled head was silhouetted against the -sky. He looked across the field of purple cabbages -to the village that lay in the hush of the summer -evening. The gabled roofs of the houses were half -<span class='pageno' id='Page_2'>2</span>hidden by trees, but on a rise of ground the porch -and belfry of a little church were plainly visible.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter dropped his burden and, imitating the -stranger, removed from a shock of straw-colored hair -a cap mended with red yarn. The boy wore baggy -trousers of blue denim buttoned to a blouse of the -same material. The man smiled as he looked at the -odd figure.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Do you hear me, Hans Peter? There is a quarter -in my pocket for you. I will find two quarters if -you walk faster. Do you know what I say to you?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The boy replaced his cap, nodded his head, and -answered, with a German accent:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou art talking to the simple one, the village -fool, sir. But Hans Peter knows thou wouldst give -him silver.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was the first time that the boy had spoken since -the station agent had called him by name and told -him to show the stranger to the inn in the village of -Zanah, just across the hill. The man gave his guide -a sharp look. Hans Peter had a round face that -was as blank as if no human emotion had ever been -written upon it. His pale eyes had a sleepy look, and -yet there was nothing in their expression to indicate -lack of intelligence.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The village fool—nonsense,” said the stranger. -“Here is one piece of silver. See if it can’t loosen -your tongue.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span>“Thy money belongs to Zanah, where no man is -richer than another,” said Hans Peter. “I will give -it to the Herr Doktor.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“For a fool you speak well,” said the stranger, -casting a glance of curiosity at the boy. “Why are -you called the simple one?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter put his hands in his pockets and answered:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It may be because I talk too much to strangers.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The man laughed. He had a clear-cut, clean-shaven -face, which was almost stern in repose, but -when he smiled it was plain that the spirit of youth -still dwelt in him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, Hans Peter, we shall continue our march -to Zanah,” he said. “One, two, three. There! We -are off at a better pace.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>He took the valise from Hans Peter, who began to -trot along at his side. The lad was not taller than -a twelve-year old boy, but there was something so -strange about him that the man asked him his age.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“One-and-twenty,” replied Hans Peter. “If the -Lord had not made me a fool, thou wouldst know that -I have a man’s years.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was a little quiver in the voice of the village -fool, and it touched the heart of the stranger. He -put his hand on the boy’s shoulder and said, gently:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Of course, I knew you were not a child. You -seemed small beside me; but I should have noticed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span>that you are a man. I am glad to know you first of -all in Zanah, for I want you to be my guide while I -am among the people, who are said to be different -from those I know out there in the world.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The boy raised his eyes to the western bluffs, which -seemed to touch the crimson sky. Then he nodded -his head.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hans Peter will do what he can,” he promised, -“but the colony elders forbid us to talk to those who -come from the wicked cities, where people live not -according to the ways of God.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>They moved on through the cabbage-field, and the -board walk presently led to a grass-grown lane that -widened into the village street. The street wavered -uncertainly between vine-covered fences which shut -in old-fashioned gardens all a tangle of flowers. -Back in the gardens were set stone houses with big -chimneys and shut-in porches. On benches before -the largest houses milk-pans and pewter plates were -leaning against the weather-beaten walls. The diamond-paned -windows reflected the gold of the sunset.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Up the street the stranger and the boy walked -without meeting any one. They came to a straggling -stone house with many wings that opened upon -trellised verandas. It differed from the other stone -buildings in not being surrounded by a fence. Its -hinged windows were thrown open and white curtains -flapped in the gentle breeze. Here the street broadened -<span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>into a public square, the centre of which was -occupied by a well. Hans Peter paused before the -worn steps leading to the front door.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Sir, this is the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">gasthaus</span></i>,” he said.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The man looked up as if in search of a sign, but -there was nothing to indicate that it was an inn.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Where is the landlord?” he asked. “This seems -to be a deserted village.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter stared at him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Where are the people who live in Zanah?” the -stranger inquired, choosing words that the simple -one would understand.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I will go for Diedrich Werther,” the boy said. -“It is the sunset hour, and the men and women of -Zanah are busy getting all their work done before -evening prayer.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter’s German accent reminded the stranger -to ask whether it was true that few people in Zanah -knew any tongue except the German. He had to -make the question very plain, and then Hans Peter -said: “It is only the fool of Zanah and the great men -like the Herr Doktor that know English.” He appeared -to be thinking hard for a moment, and after a -pause he explained: “The English makes the wickedness -of the world easy to learn. It is only the great -men, who can put aside temptation, and the fool, -whose soul is accursed, that cannot be harmed by -it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>The man gave the simple one a glance of surprise. -He looked into the boy’s face for a moment.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I am afraid the people of Zanah are not good -Americans,” he said. “English is the tongue of the -United States, and all should speak it, Hans Peter.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter shook his head.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Some of our young men have learned the English -and they have forsaken the ways of the colony -to go out into the world. They have listened to -Satan, and Zanah hath seen them no more. Two of -our girls ran away. The elders worry much about -the people, for it is hard to keep out evil things with -the railway so near. We are forbidden to make -images of anything on earth, but colored pictures -are sometimes brought to Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The elders must have a hard task, indeed, if they -would keep out sin, Hans Peter.” The stranger -laughed. “I am afraid the great world will swallow -up the colony some day.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The elders will be guided, sir. Zanah is waiting -for Walda Kellar to speak with the voice of prophecy. -She will be the inspired one who will guide the people -of the colony.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Who is Walda Kellar?” asked the stranger. But -the simple one was silent. The question was repeated.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The fool hath talked too much,” said Hans -Peter.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>“Go call the landlord of the inn,” commanded the -stranger, turning to seat himself in a splint-bottomed -chair that stood in a corner of the veranda.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Diedrich Werther, the landlord, was slow in answering -the summons of his chance guest. When he -made his appearance he walked with deliberation. -He was a short, stout man, with a red face, and he had -a wisp of sandy hair in the middle of his forehead. -His trousers, supported by knitted suspenders, were -of such generous size that they reached nearly to his -arm-pits. He wore a blue shirt and carpet slippers. -He received his guest with a lack of hospitality -which showed that visitors were of small importance -in his estimation. After making a bow, which included -the scraping of one of his carpet slippers as -he bent his head, he looked at the stranger with unwinking -eyes that revealed not the slightest sign of -cordiality.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Do you permit travellers to stay at your inn?” -inquired the guest, first in English, but he received no -response, and he had to resort to the German picked -up in his student days at Heidelberg.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ja, ja,” said Werther, and he motioned to Hans -Peter to carry the valise inside the inn.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And can I have dinner here?” the stranger inquired.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The landlord shook his head. Dinner was at mid-day, -but a special supper would be made ready after -<span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>evening prayer. The stranger could rest in the big -chair.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The church-bell rang out in solemn tones. It had -not sounded twice before the street became alive. -From every door issued men, women, and children. -Gate latches clicked, and soon a silent, solemn line of -villagers passed the inn. From his corner in the -porch the stranger looked on unobserved. All the -men were more or less like Diedrich Werther. They -wore the baggy, ill-fitting trousers and the blue shirt -which made the host of the inn of Zanah look like -the figures on beer mugs. The women had on gowns -of blue calico, straight and full in the skirts, and -made with plain, gathered waists, over which were -folded three-cornered kerchiefs. Black hoods, with -untied strings, covered their hair. Most of the women -of Zanah were stout of body and stolid of face. They -walked on the opposite side of the street from the -men. Among them were many young girls, with the -beauty of face that health and innocence give. The -church-bell ceased its ringing. Peering out between -the vines, the stranger saw the meeting-house on the -hill beyond a bridge on the other side of the square -where the street began to climb the hill. One by -one the villagers passed through its door.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The bell rang again. Into the little square before -the inn came a man different from the others. He -was tall and spare of figure. His oddly cut clothing -<span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>fitted his body with snugness. A broad-brimmed, -gray felt hat shaded a sensitive face marked with -strong lines. Long hair, which fell over the wide -collar of his coat, gave him the look of one who belonged -to a past generation. Not old, and yet not -young, this man of Zanah had an unusual beauty -of countenance that bespoke patience and gentleness. -At his heels trooped a dozen boys who quickly surrounded -the well. Standing on moss-covered stones, -they took turns dipping water from a gourd fastened -to the curb.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The man of Zanah stood with his face turned in the -direction whence he had come. Suddenly he doffed -the gray felt hat and waited with uncovered head -while three women approached the well. Two were -like the many who had gone by within the quarter-hour. -The third was young, and her beauty was of -such rare quality that the stranger stepped out to the -edge of the porch that he might better see her features. -She was of more than medium height, and she walked -with a majestic bearing. Her face, uplifted to the -sky, was lighted by the sunset glow. Over her fair -hair, which fell in two long braids below her waist, -she wore a cap of white lawn, and the kerchief crossed -upon her bosom was white. She appeared to be unconscious -of the presence of the man of Zanah until -her gown touched him. She turned her head and -smiled with such sweetness and such friendliness that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>the stranger, watching her, felt a pang of envy. The -man bent his head reverently, and the children -stopped their play to make obeisance to her. When -she had passed, the man of Zanah stood motionless -for a moment. He was suddenly startled from his -reverie by the simple one, who ran from the inn and -grasped his hand.</p> - -<p class='c008'>For a third time the bell rang. The man of Zanah -patted the fool on the head and turned towards the -meeting-house. After he had gone over the bridge, -the stranger hastened across the little square to the -place where Hans Peter was left standing alone.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Who is the man that has just gone up the street?” -he inquired.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The village fool said it was Gerson Brandt, the -school-master.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And who was the girl—the one with the white -cap?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter pretended not to hear.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Was that the one who is to be your prophetess?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter was silent. There was a look of cunning -in his eyes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Answer my question, Hans Peter,” said the -stranger, with some impatience.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The elders say wise men ask questions that fools -may not answer,” replied the simple one, and then -he ran away across the bridge.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span> - <h2 class='c005'>II</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c007'>The village of Zanah awoke at sunrise. Looking -from the front window of the inn, the stranger, -Stephen Everett, saw the quaint folk moving up and -down the little street. In the porches of a near-by -kitchen women were preparing breakfast. There was -a strange quiet that at first oppressed the visitor from -the outside world. The men and women were silent; -the children walked with decorous steps; there was no -unseemly laughter.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was a perfect morning of late summer. Beyond -flat breadths of fertile fields the bluffs rose gently, and -hill-side and plain were dotted with vineyards. Winding -roads led through interlocking trees from which -birds were taking flight. The flowers, heavily laden -with dew, gave out a delightful fragrance. In the -sky was the pink flush of dawn, and the morning -star still kept watch over the hamlet from which the -bustling, every-day world was shut out.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The stranger in Zanah went in to breakfast, which -was served in a long, low room that had a sanded -floor. While he was standing at the table, upon -which the blue-gowned women waited, Adolph -<span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>Schneider, the head of the colony, came to him. -Adolph Schneider showed that he was a man of importance. -He was stout and bald. A grizzled fringe -of beard encircled his chin, which, on account of his -short neck, rested upon his black cravat. He had -small eyes, set close together, and he gave the impression -that shrewdness was the key-note of his -character.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I am president of the Society of Zanah,” he said, -in good English, “and I am come to inquire wherefore -thou hast visited the colony in which the Lord’s -people try to do his will in all humbleness and meekness.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The broad-rimmed straw hat that he wore set well -down upon his ears: he had the appearance of retiring -into it and his black cravat for the purpose of watching -the stranger. Everett rose to meet him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Chance brought me here,” he said, looking down -upon the Herr Doktor. “I am something of a student, -and I want to see the books printed in Zanah. Perhaps -you will sell some of them to me?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Adolph Schneider leaned on the stout cane he carried -to aid him in the difficult process of walking, -for he had gout, which was the result of a long diet -of fat meats, sauerkraut, and hot breads. He glanced -at Everett with a look of suspicion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We have many strangers from the outside world,” -he said, “but all come here to buy the blankets and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>printed cloths of Zanah. We have none who would -look into our books.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>His small eyes rested upon the fine face of the -stranger, and there was much in it to give any man -confidence. The dark eyes had a frank expression, -and the lips and chin told that they belonged to one -who had command of himself while he was fitted to -rule others.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I have heard that your German books are good -specimens of hand-work, and I coveted some of them -because I am a collector,” said Everett.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Schneider looked puzzled and repeated the word -“collector.” Everett explained about his library, -and he was soon talking in the most friendly manner -to the Herr Doktor, whom he persuaded to sit at the -table and to drink coffee with him. When Everett -had finished breakfast, they went into the front room -of the inn, where Mother Werther, the landlord’s wife, -sat behind a high counter keeping an eye on the dog-eared -register and the blue china match-safe. Everett -offered cigars to the Herr Doktor, who declined them, -but was easily persuaded to try the tobacco that was -produced from the pocket of the stranger’s coat. -After they had smoked together Everett knew more -about Zanah than he had expected to learn, although -his direct questions had been parried, and it had -required adroitness to obtain any information concerning -the colony. The prospect of a sale of books -<span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>melted the heart of the village president, who explained -that he managed the money of the people.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If thou wouldst see the books, come with me to -the school-master,” said Schneider. “Gerson Brandt -was an artist before he came into the colony, fifteen -years ago. He hath a rare gift in the laying on of -colors, and he hath made some of the books of Zanah -good to look at.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>They walked along the quiet street, crossed the rustic -bridge, and climbed the little hill to the meeting-house, -which was a low stone building covered with -vines. In place of the steeple a modest little belfry -rose above the peaked roof. Beyond the meeting-house, -and separated from it by a stone wall, was the -school-house, such a rambling, weather-beaten wooden -building as any artist would delight in. It was entered -from a latticed porch with long seats on either -side of the door. There was a garden in front of it—a -well-kept garden, with trim walks and well-weeded -flower-beds. Over the porch a sturdy rose-bush -climbed. The hinged windows were thrown open and -the buzz of children’s voices could be heard. Suddenly -all sounds were hushed. Everett and the Herr -Doktor ascended the wide steps, and as they were -about to push open the door a woman’s voice rose in -a hymn. It was a voice clear and sweet, and its minor -cadence was sustained with wonderful power. The -words were German, and the tune was monotonous, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>but the man from the outside world was strangely -moved by the melody. Everett uncovered his head -and listened reverently. Adolph Schneider leaned -against the door-frame, smoking, as if he did not hear. -When the hymn was ended Everett asked, in a low -tone:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Who is the woman that sang?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Walda Kellar,” answered the old man. He took -several puffs of his pipe and then he added, “She -is one called of God.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Herr Doktor lifted the latch and stepped into -the long school-room, while Everett paused on the -threshold. It was a strange scene that met his gaze. -Seated in orderly rows, more than one hundred boys -faced the school-master, who stood beside his high -desk, but Gerson Brandt’s face was turned away -from his charges; his eyes were fixed upon a figure -that chained Everett’s attention. On the platform -stood Walda Kellar. She was turning the leaves of -a big Bible which was held before her by the village -fool. The girl was as tall and straight as a sapling. -The ample folds of her blue print gown did not hide -the slender grace of her figure. The white kerchief -crossed over her bosom revealed a rounded neck, upon -which her beautiful head was well set. Her cap was -white instead of black, like the head-coverings worn -by the other women, and beneath it her shining hair -curled about a broad, low forehead. The face was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>nobly moulded. Everett could not see each feature, -but he knew that a pair of wonderful eyes were the -glory of her countenance, which had an expression of -exaltation he had never seen before on any face.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Back of the girl, knitting as if all Zanah were dependent -upon her for winter mittens, sat a woman of -sour visage. As her needles moved she watched the -school-master and the girl. When Adolph Schneider -entered the room Walda Kellar looked past him, and -her eyes met those of the stranger with a look that -betrayed no consciousness of his presence, although -he blushed like a school-boy. Walda greeted the -Herr Doktor with a slight inclination of her head. -Then she whispered to the simple one, who closed the -Bible, gave it to the school-master, and took his place -on a stool near the teacher’s platform.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Mother Kaufmann, we will go back to the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">kinderhaus</span></i>,” -said Walda Kellar. She spoke the German -so that it seemed the most musical tongue Everett -had ever heard. The elder woman rolled up her -knitting and put it into the capacious pocket of her -gingham apron.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Gerson Brandt, thy boys are truly well behaved; -thou hast done much with them.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda spoke to the school-master, who bestowed -upon her a look of gratitude and tenderness.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is thou who tamest all that is unruly in the -children of Zanah,” he said. And then he walked -<span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>down the narrow aisle between the rows of tow-headed -urchins and flung open the door that she -might pass out.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Come hither, friend Everett,” said Adolph Schneider, -advancing to the platform, where he met the -school-master. “I want to make you acquainted -with Brother Brandt. Brother Brandt might have -had that bubble men call fame if he had continued -to disobey the law of the Lord, for he made images of -the earth and sky, which is forbidden in the commandments. -But he forsook his idols before he was -one-and-twenty and came into the safe refuge of -Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yet even now I long to behold great pictures,” -declared Gerson Brandt, as if he were confessing some -secret vice. “It is a quarter of a century since I -have looked on one.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Tut, tut, Brother Brandt,” said Schneider; “if -thou wilt talk of forbidden things, dismiss thy pupils.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The school-master lifted his hand, and with a benediction -sent the tow-headed boys homeward. The -village fool alone of all the school remained in his -place. With his head bent forward he appeared to -be asleep.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We have come to see thy books,” said Adolph -Schneider, when he had taken the only chair in the -room and placed his cane against the black-board. -“Is that thy Bible that thou hast put so much work -<span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>upon?” He pointed to the big volume from which -Walda had been reading. It had a linen cover -neatly sewn upon it, and might have been the wordbook -so much thumbed by the pupils.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt went to the desk, and, putting his -hand on the book, answered:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This is my Bible, and I have been making the -letters that begin the chapters. I learned the secret -of the colors long ago from a monk. It is no sin to -make the Holy Book beautiful, for I have put in it no -images, only the letters in colors that are symbolic.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>He spoke as if he were making excuse for some -transgression, but the Herr Doktor laughed leniently.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Surely Zanah hath no fault to find with thy -book,” Adolph Schneider said. “I want the stranger -to see the letters in it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt opened the Bible, and as he turned -the pages Everett, who stood beside him, felt an overwhelming -desire to possess the volume. The old -German text was printed upon parchment. The -pages had broad margins, and the letters beginning -the chapters were illuminated with designs so delicate -and so minutely worked out that each repaid long -study. The coloring was exquisite, and gold, of a -brilliancy equalled in few books Everett had ever -seen, was applied with a generous hand.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How long have you worked on it?” he asked.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Five years,” the school-master said, “and it is not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>finished yet.” Gerson Brandt loosened the linen that -he might display the binding of calfskin. On the -front cover was a monogram, but before Everett -could decipher the letters the linen was replaced.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This is a beautiful book,” said Everett, taking it -in his hand and turning the pages. “I would give -much for it. Will you sell it to me?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt’s thin face paled. He stretched out -a trembling hand and seized the Bible as he answered, -coldly:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This book was not made to be bartered to any -man. It is mine. If there is aught in it that commands -thy favor it is because the making of the -letters has been a pleasant labor done with all my -heart.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The school-master held the volume close to his -breast. The simple one, who had not left his place -on the stool, opened his eyes. The Herr Doktor -glanced from beneath his bushy brows with a look -of surprise.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Brother Brandt, thou speakest without proper -forethought,” said Schneider; “thou knowest that -in Zanah all things belong to the Lord and that -thou hast not the right to say ‘my’ or ‘mine.’”</p> - -<p class='c008'>A dull red swept over the face of the school-master, -and in his eyes was a look that told of rebellion in his -soul.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“For the good of Zanah we might be persuaded to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>sell this Bible,” the Herr Doktor continued. “It is -worth a great deal of money, for Brother Brandt hath -spent upon it much of the time that belonged to the -colony. How much wouldst thou give for it?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I should not think of buying the Bible if the artist -who illuminated it is unwilling to give it up,” Everett -declared. The fear in the school-master’s face -touched his heart. For the moment Gerson Brandt -had lost the look of youth which strangely sat on features -that told of suffering. There was a new dignity -in the gaunt figure, clad in its queer garments. Gerson -Brandt’s head was thrown back and his lips were -tightly closed. The habit of repression, learned in -the long years of colony life, was not easily thrown -off, and he stood motionless while Adolph Schneider -scowled at him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Wouldst thou think one hundred dollars too much -for the Bible?” the village president inquired. He -had risen and was leaning on his cane. “Zanah needs -money, for the harvests have been poor. Brother -Brandt will sell the book if thou canst pay the -price.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“One hundred dollars is little enough for the Bible,” -said Everett; “but we shall not discuss its purchase -now.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yet thou wilt buy it if it is offered to thee by -Brother Brandt?” Adolph Schneider asked, persistently -pressing the subject of the sale.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>Everett looked straight at the school-master, and -his friendly eyes gave Gerson Brandt confidence.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I would buy it if it was cheerfully offered by Mr. -Brandt,” he replied.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The village fool aroused himself and stretched lazily. -Then, taking from his pocket a little yellow gourd, -he marked upon it with a big pocket-knife.</p> - -<p class='c008'>As Schneider and Everett left the school-house they -saw that something unusual had happened, for a -crowd was moving up the street. Women were leaning -over fences. Children followed the crowd at a -distance.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Herr Doktor stood for a moment as if uncertain -what to do. It was quite impossible for him to -hasten, and he was of a phlegmatic nature not easily -excited.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Some one must be hurt,” Everett remarked. “I -think they are carrying a man.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>In an instant Hans Peter had run down the hill. -The school-master, who had remained in the school-house -to put away the precious Bible, came to the -door to look out. The crowd had crossed the rustic -bridge.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“They are coming here,” Gerson Brandt exclaimed. -“Can it be that aught hath happened to Wilhelm -Kellar?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>He hastened down the street, and Schneider stepped -out on the sidewalk.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>“Wilhelm Kellar hath charge of our flannel-mill. -He liveth with Brother Brandt,” explained the Herr -Doktor. “I trust that no accident hath befallen -him.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was plain that Adolph Schneider’s anxiety was -twofold, and that he thought of the loss which might -be unavoidable in case the mill superintendent became -incapacitated.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When Everett and the Herr Doktor met the villagers, -Gerson Brandt had stopped the crowd and was -bending over the rude stretcher upon which lay the -unconscious form of an old man.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Wilhelm Kellar hath been stricken with a sudden -illness,” said the school-master. “The apothecary -hath worked over him and cannot restore him. Will -not the Herr Doktor send for a physician?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The nearest chirurgeon is eight miles away,” replied -Adolph Schneider. “Let the apothecary bleed -Brother Kellar as soon as he is taken to his bed.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Seeing that the man was emaciated and had no -blood to lose, Everett stepped forward.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I am a physician,” he said. “I will do what I -can.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>He directed the crowd to fall back so that the sick -man could have more air, and helped to carry the -stretcher into an upper room of the school-house.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span> - <h2 class='c005'>III</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c007'>In an upper room of the school-house Wilhelm -Kellar lay upon a high-post bedstead that was -screened by chintz curtains drawn back so that the -air could reach him. His thin, wan face looked old -and drawn as it rested on a feather pillow. He was -comfortable, he let Everett know, when the physician -went to visit him early in the morning after the seizure. -His tongue refused to frame the words he tried -to utter, but his eyes showed his gratitude. Everett -took a seat in the heavy wooden chair at the foot of -the bed, which stood in a little alcove. Beyond the -alcove the main room stretched out beneath the roof, -which gave it many queer corners. Rows of books -partially hid one wall. In one corner a high chest of -drawers held a pair of massive silver candlesticks. -An old desk with a sloping top occupied a little nook -lighted by a diamond window; here were quill-pens -and bottles of colored ink. This upper room, occupied -jointly by Wilhelm Kellar and Gerson Brandt, -bore the impress of the school-master, who waited -now, leaning on the back of an old wooden arm-chair -polished with much use.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>“He will be much better,” said Everett. “He may -recover from the paralysis, but it will be a long time -before he leaves his room.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Behind the curtains there was something like a -groan. The sick man tried to say something, but -neither Everett nor Brandt could understand him. -Suddenly his eyes looked past them, and there was a -smile on his face. Walda entered the outer room and -came to her father, kneeling down beside him, apparently -unaware that there was any one except themselves -present.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Art thou better, father?” she asked, in the softest -tone, and then, burying her white-capped head in the -pillow beside him, she murmured something in a low -voice. Everett and Gerson Brandt left the two together -and went into the larger room, where the physician -began to prepare some medicine. Presently -Walda’s voice was heard in prayer. The two men -waited reverently until the last petition, uttered with -the fervency of great faith, had died away.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The daughter loveth her father; she hath a true -heart,” said the school-master. He turned to the -little window and looked out. Everett, who was distributing -powders among a lot of little papers, went -on with his work without making reply. The old -hour-glass on the high chest of drawers had measured -several minutes before any word was spoken. -Then it was Mother Kaufmann who broke the silence. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>She entered the room with a heavy step, and with a -“Good-day, Brother Brandt,” stood for a few moments -studying Everett.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Where is Walda?” she asked. Gerson Brandt -made a little gesture towards the alcove.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“She hath no right to come here alone,” the woman -replied, with a frown. “She is my care, and she -hath done a foolish act. I shall forbid her to leave -the House of the Women without me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Walda was drawn hither by anxiety concerning -her father,” said Gerson Brandt. “Thou wilt not -wound her by a reprimand, Sister Kaufmann?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The woman went near to him and spoke in guttural -German some words that Everett could not catch, -but from her furtive looks and glances he knew she -was talking of him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda passed through the room. Everett raised -his eyes and they met the girl’s glance. Then he -bent his head in deferential recognition of her presence. -It was only a second that each had gazed at -the other, but the man from the outside world felt a -heart-throb. He spilled the powder on the tablecloth, -and after he had brushed it off he hastily took -up his hat. He went down-stairs, Gerson Brandt and -Mother Kaufmann following him to ask about his -patient. The three stood in the little porch talking -of Wilhelm Kellar. From the garden, Walda, who -stood among the flowers, watched them as if she -<span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>would hear every word. Involuntarily she was drawn -to the little group.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou wilt tell me the truth about my father,” she -said, addressing Everett. She spoke in precise English, -with a soft accent and full tone.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He is seriously ill, but he will recover from this -attack,” Everett answered.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The girl folded her hands on her breast in the manner -common to Zanah.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is my duty to rejoice when death freeth the -soul, and yet I cannot think of my father’s illness -with aught but sadness,” she said, as a tear trickled -down her cheek.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou art showing weakness,” admonished Mother -Kaufmann.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Be not so stern,” said Gerson Brandt. “She hath -not yet faced the mystery of death. She is young, -and she loveth her father.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Always thou dost find excuse for Walda Kellar,” -said the woman. “She is near to the day of inspiration, -and the things of this world should not touch -her.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda Kellar appeared not to hear Mother Kaufmann’s -words. Her eyes were fastened upon Everett’s -face.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou art not going away from Zanah soon, art -thou?” she asked. “Nay, stay to watch my father -until he shall be out of danger.” There was such -<span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>pleading in her tone that it touched the heart of the -man of the world. Her beauty cast a spell over him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou forgettest that the stranger hath much to -call him away,” interposed Gerson Brandt. “Thou -wouldst not be selfish?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, I would not think first of self, and yet I would -pray that the stranger might find it in his heart to -remain in Zanah to aid him whom I love above all, -for, strive as I may, I cannot forget that he is my -father.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>She stepped nearer to Everett; her lips quivered.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It may be many days before your father is entirely -well. It will be a privilege to be of service to -you,” said Everett, remembering how seldom he had -been of any real use in the world. “I will remain -until your father is out of danger.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mother Kaufmann took Walda by the arm and led -her down the hill towards the House of the Women. -Everett felt a resentment towards the unsympathetic -colony “mother.” For a moment he was angry, and -then he tried to make himself believe that he was a -fool to waste a thought upon Walda Kellar or any -of the villagers. Still he could not stifle his curiosity. -A dozen questions rose to his lips, but there was something -in the look of the school-master that forbade -any inquiries.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The man who belonged to the outside world walked -down to the bridge, and, turning, followed the turbulent -<span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span>little creek to a place where there was a deserted -windmill beside a broken dam. Here he sat upon a -log, for he suddenly made the discovery that it was a -warm day. From the mill he could look back into -the village and out upon the vineyards and the -broad fields that surrounded the picturesque little -settlement.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The peaceful scene soothed him. He fell to wondering -whether, after all, the colonists might not be -wise to bar out the world, but although his thoughts -travelled far away to the busy scenes in which he usually -moved, they always came back to Walda Kellar.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The novelty of his position rather amused him. He -had meant to spend only a day or two in Zanah, and -now he had made a promise that meant a sojourn of -several weeks, perhaps a month or two. He lighted -a fresh cigar and let his thoughts wander back to -the friends who were waiting for him in the Berkshire -Hills, where he had intended to spend the autumn -weeks. He knew that they would concern themselves -but little about his absence, for he had always -been erratic since, when a school-boy, he was left, -long ago, with an ample fortune and an indulgent -guardian.</p> - -<p class='c008'>His reflections were suddenly interrupted, for he -heard a soft footstep inside the mill. In an instant -the fool had darted out, and, running to a tree that -formed a foot-bridge across the little stream, he -<span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>stooped to conceal something in the roots. Everett -was interested. It was clear that Hans Peter was -executing some commission that would not find favor -with the elders. Lest he might excite suspicion, -Everett turned his back and looked down the dusty -road. The simple one ran lightly past him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett was still facing the road when he saw a -girl come towards the mill. She passed the stranger, -who was almost hidden by the wild clematis-vine that -covered a bush near him. She was pretty, after the -flaxen-haired, pink-cheeked type. She went to the -tree and took something that looked like a letter -from its roots. She opened it, read it hastily, and -concealed it beneath the black kerchief crossed upon -her breast. With quickened steps she turned back -towards the village. Half-way to the bridge she met -the fool, who was returning to the mill. They spoke a -few words, and the simple one continued on his way.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“So you are back?” said Everett, handing a coin to -Hans Peter, who put it in one of his bulging pockets.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What wouldst thou have me do?” asked the simple -one.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I would have you sit there on the grass and answer -my questions, Hans Peter. First, who is the -girl?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“She is Frieda Bergen, a village maid.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What was it you put in the tree for her?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter looked aghast. He thrust both hands -<span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>into his pockets and appeared to be thinking. He -was a strange figure, for there was a curious blending -of shrewdness and foolishness in his expression as he -furtively glanced up at Everett.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou wouldst not tell the elders,” he pleaded, -presently, “if I trusted thee? I fear nothing, but I -would not make the maid unhappy.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Was it a love-letter that you put there for -her?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett could not repress a smile. He was beginning -to believe that he might find some amusement in -watching the people of Zanah. When the fool remained -silent he repeated his question.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I know not what was in the packet, as I carried it -for another,” said Hans Peter. “Thou forgettest that -thou art talking to the fool of Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Your wisdom makes me lose sight of that fact, -Hans Peter. Is not love against the law of the colony?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, all except Hans Peter, the fool, hold it a sin -to put their affections on the things of this world. -The simple one cannot understand aught but that -which is of the earth; he cannot reach up to heaven, -and so he seeth nothing wrong in love that maketh -men and women happy.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett rose and paced up and down the little footpath. -“I suppose the elders are always above temptation?” -he remarked, stopping before Hans Peter.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>The simple one looked almost wise, and, apparently -forgetting all prudence, said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Karl Weisel, head of the thirteen elders, hath been -tempted for many years. He loveth Gretchen Schneider, -the daughter of the Herr Doktor President, but -he would have to give up his high place in Zanah if -he were to marry, and so he preacheth much against -the wickedness of loving.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And what of Gretchen Schneider?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“She hath always a bad temper; she spieth on all -the youths and maids. Frieda Bergen and Joseph -Hoff, who loveth her, fear Gretchen Schneider most of -all in Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And what will be the punishment of Frieda Bergen -and Joseph Hoff when it is discovered that they -love each other?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Marriage,” said the simple one, solemnly. “The -elders will rebuke them, and if still they love not God -above themselves they will be put in the third, or lowest, -grade in the colony.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And will they ever be forgiven? Will the elders -ever restore them to a high place in Zanah?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter made an awkward little gesture.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“When they have found out each other’s faults -they may repent; the Lord’s hand may be heavy on -them. Then, when they see that love bringeth pain -and grief, they may go before the elders, confess that -they have erred, and when they have proved that they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>can serve God with singleness of purpose they will be -put in the foremost rank.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter spoke as if he were repeating a lesson -often conned, and Everett said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You talk not like the simple one, my boy. If I -closed my eyes I should think the Herr Doktor himself -were speaking to me. But tell me, Hans Peter, -among all the married people of the village, how many -have failed to repent?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Diedrich Werther and Mother Werther alone love -much. They are still in the lowest grade, and it is -fifteen years since they were married. Most of the -men and women of Zanah are in the second grade, but -the Herr Doktor and Mother Schneider are among the -highest. It is said they hate each other.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This has been a half-hour well spent,” said Everett. -“You shall have another piece of silver, Hans -Peter, and to-morrow you will tell me more about the -people of Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The simple one rose from his place on the grass, took -the coin into his square, fat hand, and slouched away -with it. As he disappeared, Everett thought of a -hundred things he would have liked to ask about -Walda Kellar. Yet, strangely enough, he could not -bring himself to speak her name to the village fool.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span> - <h2 class='c005'>IV</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c007'>After giving his promise to stay in Zanah, Everett -found that the day dragged. Having finished -questioning the fool, he went to the inn, where -he ate his noonday dinner in silence. Then he wandered -among the lanes and winding roads until it -was time for the evening meal, at which two taciturn -women waited on him. He made an effort to talk to -the women, but they pretended not to understand -his German, and insisted upon offering him hot biscuits -and honey. He found that he had no appetite, -and soon left the table. As he passed through the -big room which served as an office, he noticed that -Diedrich Werther was not in his usual seat beside a -little, round table where at all hours the innkeeper -was to be seen smoking his pipe and drinking huge -cupfuls of black coffee. Hans Peter occupied his favorite -nook on the settle near the fireplace.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett went out on the porch, where he took -possession of his host’s arm-chair. Naturally his -thoughts wandered to Walda. The girl was a mystery -to him. Although he was slow to acknowledge -it, he knew that she aroused in him an insistent interest. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>He who cared little for women suddenly found -his attention fixed upon a girl who belonged to a class -different from any other with which he had ever come -in contact. He usually classified all women he met. -He found that they were easily divided into comparatively -few types. Here was one whose education -and whose traditions isolated her. He hoped -she would pass by the inn. Impatiently he looked at -his watch; the hour for evening prayer was slow in -coming. He had risen with the intention of strolling -about the square, when he heard the meeting-house -bell ring. In a moment the long street again became -alive. As the men and women went by on opposite -sides, many of them glanced at him. Even the demure, -quiet girls allowed their eyes to rest upon him -for half a second. One, however, was unconscious of -his presence. Frieda Bergen, the village maid who -had taken the letter from the tree-trunk at the mill, -looked across the grass-grown road to a youth who -kept his eyes upon her until the blood mounted to her -cheeks and her glance was cast upon the ground.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The school-master walked with his head bowed, as if -he were deep in thought, and behind him followed the -boys, who forgot to romp and play. He stopped on -the rustic bridge. When all the villagers had passed, -Walda Kellar came. Her hands were crossed upon -her breast, and instead of keeping her eyes upon the -ground she had them fixed on the clouds, where the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>crimson light was turning to purple and gray. On -either side of her walked women whom Everett had -never seen before. One of them was stout, and had -passed her first youth. As Walda walked by Gerson -Brandt on the bridge, the school-master and his -charges doffed their caps to her. Everett could see -that Walda smiled on the man of Zanah, and that she -spoke to him. The school-master waited in reverent -attitude until the future prophetess disappeared within -the church porch. Then he motioned to his pupils -to go on, while he turned back towards the inn. With -lagging step he came into the village square.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hast thou half an hour to spend with one who -would speak to thee?” he asked, addressing Everett.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The stranger in Zanah hastened to assure the -school-master that he wanted companionship. Without -being summoned, Hans Peter appeared with a -chair. Gerson Brandt dropped into it as if he were -weary, and Everett had a chance to notice that the -delicate face was worn and haggard. There was -something extraordinarily impressive in the personality -of this man of Zanah. His gaunt form was -well knit. Meekness and gentleness sat upon a face -that denoted an intense nature. The curve of the -lip told of unusual will-power, but the eyes revealed -the fact that the soul of a dreamer dwelt within the -school-master.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I would talk to thee about Brother Kellar,” he -<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>said. “Walda Kellar is concerned lest she hath been -selfish in asking thee to stay in the village. The women -of Zanah have told her that thou hast much to do -in the world and that thou canst ill afford to waste -thy time here in the colony.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett forgot his reflections of the previous hour -and replied:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I shall be glad to stay here. It is a privilege to -be useful once in a while.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Dost thou work much?” asked the school-master. -Gerson Brandt folded his thin hands that bore the -marks of toil and turned to scrutinize the stranger. -“It is long since I left the world,” he added. “I -know little of it as it is to-day, but I remember that -it was a very busy place.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett could not repress a smile.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You speak as if the whole world were one great -village, and Zanah’s only rival,” he said.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt laughed, and for an instant his face -was young.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We colonists live shut up in our little valley so -closely that we can hardly be called a part of the -changing life of America,” he said. “Once I loved -the things of the world, and even now I sometimes -long for what were once my idols.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Your idols?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Once I dreamed of being a great artist,” confessed -the school-master. “That was when I was a youth -<span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>in Munich. There came to me a disappointment. -Then it was shown to my soul that I must not fix my -hopes on the things of earth. I drifted to America. -The world was cruel to me. Somehow I found Zanah. -My art was a help to the people of the colony. They -took me in.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>He spoke simply, but there was a little quaver in -his voice, and he turned his head away.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett rose and began to pace up and down the -porch. The humble tragedy in the life of the man of -Zanah touched him and made him feel ashamed of -his own paltry aims.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Do you mean that you illuminated their books?” -he asked.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt shook his head.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Not at first. I still loved beauty. I yet had ambition, -and it was long before I could trust myself to -use the colors. I had a hard discipline. For years I -have made the designs for the blue calicoes that the -mills turn out.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“By Jove! I don’t know how a man can surrender -all his ambitions. I cannot make it out,” Everett -exclaimed, pausing before the gentle school-master. -“How long have you been in Zanah?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Fifteen years. I was two-and-twenty when I -came. Some day, before I die, I mean to go out to see -what changes have taken place. I know that men -are doing marvellous things, for sometimes I talk to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>strangers. But it is better not to know the world, for -it gives a man so many interests he forgets his God.” -Gerson Brandt hesitated a moment. “Even under -the protection of Zanah it is hard for a man to subdue -all the human forces within him,” he added.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“All human forces are not wicked. Such a creed -as that is not taught in the New Testament,” said -Everett. He felt irresistibly drawn towards the -school-master. All the vigorous manhood in him -resented the restrictions that Zanah placed upon its -disciples.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There are many that seem not so to me,” assented -the school-master, “but Zanah teaches that it is best -to fix all one’s thoughts on heaven. Of course we -have our restless hours. We who have been touched -by the world find it hard to forget. Those whose -thoughts have been centred always in Zanah are the -happy ones.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Walda Kellar is one of the happy ones, is she -not?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett felt that the question would be parried, and -he hesitated to ask it; but his impulse to speak of the -girl who occupied his thoughts gained the mastery. -Gerson Brandt’s face reddened.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There is peace and faith in the heart of her whom -the Lord hath chosen to be his instrument,” said the -school-master, and, rising, he turned as if to leave the -presence of the stranger. He paused and added:</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>“I came here to talk with thee of Brother Wilhelm -Kellar. He is the closest to me of all Zanah, and I -would ask thee to tell me the truth concerning him. -Hath the Lord called him, or will he be spared to go -on with his work in the colony?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If no great shock and no unusual strain of work is -put on him he may live many years,” said Everett. -“He appears to have much vitality, and I expect to -see him able to resume his duties within a month.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i> is but a month off,” said Gerson -Brandt, “and it will be a sore trial to him if he is -not able to see his daughter anointed prophetess of -Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt did not listen to Everett’s reply; he -rose and stood upon the steps of the inn with his face -turned towards the meeting-house. Down the street -came Mother Werther and Walda. The wife of the -host of the inn walked with the girl’s hand clasped in -hers, and, entering the square, she drew Walda to the -place where the school-master stood.</p> - -<p class='c008'>After the manner of the men of Zanah, Gerson -Brandt made no sign until Walda had spoken to him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou wert missed at prayers, Gerson Brandt,” she -said, “and because I asked thee to do a service for me. -Thou hast talked about my father to the stranger?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The school-master nodded his head.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It hath been shown to me that I was selfish in -begging thee to stay in Zanah,” Walda said, addressing -<span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>Everett. “Thou wilt forgive a girl who hath not -yet subdued her soul?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>In her presence Everett felt abashed. He saw in -her a mysterious mingling of the child, the woman, -and the prophetess. As she waited for him to answer -her, he had a chance to notice the noble outlines of -her face and the perfect poise of her lithe body.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Do not concern yourself about me,” he said. “I -assure you I am glad to stay in Zanah.” As he spoke -the rare beauty of the girl again cast a spell over him, -and he meant what he said. Mother Werther put her -arm about Walda’s waist and would have drawn her -inside the door of the inn had not Everett stopped -them.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“One moment,” he said. “There is a condition -that I should like to make. Your father needs faithful -nursing—the watchfulness that only love can give -him. If you will take care of him I shall feel that I -have the right help and that I shall not have cause -to regret that I remained in Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That is a matter thou shouldst put before the Herr -Doktor,” said Mother Werther. “Brother Schneider -is coming now; speak to him.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Is it not customary for members of families here -in the colony to nurse one another?” Everett asked -the school-master.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Not unless they are especially appointed to the -task,” answered Gerson Brandt.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>Adolph Schneider had reached the inn. He greeted -Everett with a show of cordiality, and, taking possession -of the big arm-chair, lighted his pipe. He -began to talk of Wilhelm Kellar’s illness, and to lament -the loss of the elder’s aid in carrying on the -business of the colony. Then Everett found his -chance to request Walda’s attendance at the bedside -of her father.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i> is at hand,” said the Herr Doktor, -“and it is the time for prayer and meditation. -Thou knowest that we believe she will be made the -instrument of the Lord, and therefore she should live -much alone until the hour when she shall speak with -a new tongue.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Adolph Schneider looked at Everett suspiciously. -The man of the world showed that he could outwit -the man of Zanah. With an assumption of indifference -Everett replied:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Of course it makes little difference to me. I -shall do the best I can to help Wilhelm Kellar back to -health, but if you send his daughter to nurse him he -is likely to recover twice as rapidly as he would otherwise.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>He resumed his promenade on the porch. As he -walked back and forth the president of the colony -saw that he was a man of magnificent physique, erect -and athletic. With some misgiving he noticed that -the stranger had more than the ordinary share of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>physical beauty, and that he had the indefinable air -which belongs to those accustomed to command the -best the world has to give.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is important that Wilhelm Kellar should be -well as soon as it is God’s will to restore him,” said -Adolph Schneider. “His sickness is a stroke of Providence -we may not question. Still, it behooveth us to -aid in his speedy recovery. Walda Kellar shall be -sent to nurse her father.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett put his hands behind him and turned his -back as if he had not heard. When the Herr Doktor -repeated his decision the man of the world said, in a -quiet tone:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Very well. I shall expect to see the new nurse in -the sick-room to-morrow.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span> - <h2 class='c005'>V</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c007'>When Everett went to see his patient the next -morning he had a new interest in the case. -Mother Kaufmann met him at the door and took -him into the queer room under the eaves where, in his -little alcove, lay Wilhelm Kellar. The room was exquisitely -neat. The little, hinged window at the foot -of the sick man’s bed was open, and it let in the fragrance -wafted from the garden.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett looked around for Walda, but she was not -in the room. He was too wise to make any inquiry -for her. He went to the bedside, and while Mother -Kaufmann leaned upon the foot-board he felt the -pulse of the sick man. Wilhelm Kellar cast a questioning -look at the physician.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You are better,” Everett said, in German. “You -will be out in a week or two if nothing unforeseen -happens.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>He stepped out of the alcove to prepare his medicines -in the larger apartment. “Are you the nurse?” -he inquired of the woman.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The Herr Doktor told me to help Walda Kellar, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>who will come after her hour of prayer,” Mother Kaufmann -replied.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett left a few directions, and said he would call -again. He returned at sundown. The school-master -was out on the little porch poring over a yellow-paged -book. He let Everett pass him without salutation. -The younger man hastened up the narrow stairs. -The sick-room appeared quite changed when he entered -it. Flowers were arranged in a great blue bowl -on the table. In a clumsy-looking cage that hung -by the window a chaffinch fluttered back and forth. -Plants bloomed in the bow-window at which sat Walda -Kellar. The girl’s long, slender hands were busy -with her knitting. The folds of her blue gown swept -the sanded floor. The kerchief folded on her breast -was not whiter than her neck. One of her braids fell -over her bosom. She did not hear Everett, as she was -looking out upon the western bluffs even while her -hands kept the needles flying. He stepped into the -room. Walda rose and, putting her finger on her -lips, said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My father sleepeth.” In rising she dropped her -ball of yarn. Everett picked it up, and, slowly winding -it, advanced until he was very close to her. As he -put the ball in her hand their fingers touched, but the -prophetess of Zanah appeared unconscious of the contact. -Motioning him to a chair she again took her -place at the window. There was a long silence, during -<span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>which her knitting-needles flashed back and forth. -The girl showed no embarrassment; indeed, she seemed -to have forgotten him. In Zanah small talk was -unknown. Walda Kellar, who was to be inspired of -the Lord, had been taught to speak only when she -had something to say.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett suddenly found himself dumb. He sat opposite -Walda, and was as uneasy as a school-boy who -has not the courage to bestow the red apple in his -pocket upon his pretty neighbor across the aisle. As -the minutes went by he began to feel her presence -restful. She sat immovable except for her untiring -hands. Once or twice she raised her calm eyes and -caught the stranger’s gaze resting on her. She appeared -not to notice it, and continued her knitting. -At last the silence became unendurable, and Everett -said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It will be a great help to me to have you here to -nurse your father.” The girl looked up and did not -answer.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Much depends upon you,” he continued. “It is -only with your aid that I can do my best.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda Kellar again raised her eyes. Then, in her -soft, deep voice, she said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The Lord hath sent thee to Zanah. Thou shalt -have all my help. Thou hast already won my gratitude.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Again a silence fell. Everett leaned back in the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>splint-bottomed chair and resolved to make the most -of his opportunities of being alone with the prophetess. -Upon his perch the chaffinch looked out through the -bars at the quiet room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Outside the crimson sky was turning to purple, the -fields had become a tender brown, and the bluffs made -a dark line to the west. Everett, who gazed at the -distant hills, compared the surging world to which he -belonged with the peaceful colony of Zanah, the -dwelling-place of Walda Kellar. The contrast between -his own life and that of the strange girl impressed -itself upon him. Now and then he brought -his glance back from the far bluffs to look at the fair -woman who was oblivious of his presence.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The chaffinch chirped his drowsy notes, and Walda -Kellar, looking up at the bird, said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What disturbeth thee, Piepmatz?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The bird turned his restless head back and forth, -and Everett imagined that the chaffinch might object -to his presence.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Is that your bird?” he asked, relieved at even the -paltriest excuse for again starting a conversation.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda stopped her knitting and, smiling, said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Piepmatz is my <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">liebchen</span></i>; he hath a voice as clear -as that of a lark. He can whistle tunes; he knows a -bar of the doxology.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett went to the cage and whistled softly. The -bird chirped his silvery note, and, thus encouraged, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>the man whistled the strain of a love-song. The bird -imitated three notes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That is a noble hymn thou art whistling,” said -Walda Kellar. “I have heard that there is wonderful -music out there in the world, and that they play -on strange instruments.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And have you never heard an organ or a violin?” -asked Everett.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda Kellar shook her head.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And is even the piano barred out of Zanah?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Zanah permits no musical instrument. Gerson -Brandt keepeth yet a flute that he brought with him -from the world, but it is always silent here.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Perhaps you will let me sing you the tune you -seemed to like?” said Everett. “Some day when I -am not afraid of disturbing your father you shall hear -it all.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wilhelm Kellar stirred in his bed; Walda was at his -side in a moment. Everett followed her. Wilhelm -Kellar would have spoken, but his tongue still refused -to do his bidding. While he was looking up at his -daughter and the physician, Mother Kaufmann bustled -in.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How comes it that thou art here alone with the -stranger?” she asked, casting an ugly look upon Walda.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I am here to serve my father,” said the girl, with -a sweet dignity. “Dost thou not know that the Herr -Doktor hath assigned me here?”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>“He is foolish,” snapped Mother Kaufmann.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What art thou saying, woman?” asked the school-master, -who had just passed through the doorway. -“Walda is in her father’s care and in my care. It is -not thy concern to ask questions.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The woman scowled and drew her thin lips tightly -over her hideous teeth.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And thou art a second father to Walda, I suppose?” -she sneered.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, and more,” said the school-master.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Gerson Brandt hath spoken the truth. He is -more than father to me in that he is my teacher and -my safe counsellor,” said Walda, stepping back towards -him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The school-master’s pale face flushed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou art always my sacred charge for whom I -pray,” said Gerson Brandt, in a soft voice. “For -thee and for thy happiness I would do all things in -my power.” There was that in his face which told the -man of the world all emotion had not died in the heart -beating beneath the queer coat of the school-master.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah, and I pray for thee every night when I ask a -blessing for my father,” spoke Walda. “I entreat -wisdom and strength for thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt looked into her eyes and a sudden -light illumined his face.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou needest much of divine aid for thy work -with little children,” the girl added.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>“Yea, yea,” the school-master said, as he turned -away.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, yea, didst thou say?” repeated the shrill -voice of Mother Kaufmann. “Just remember that -thy conversation should be yea, yea and nay, nay.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Ignoring the elder woman, Everett gave a few directions -to Walda. Then he passed out into the -darkening evening.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span> - <h2 class='c005'>VI</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c007'>There was labor for all in Zanah. Early in the -morning the villagers took their hasty breakfasts -in the kitchens and then went out to work in the mills -and fields. The children over six years of age were -gathered into the school-houses, the boys being accorded -more privileges in the way of learning than the -girls, who were not permitted to enjoy the instructions -of Gerson Brandt. The future “mothers” of the colony -were kept many hours in a rambling building, -where they were taught all the domestic arts, with -but now and then a lesson from the books borrowed -from the school-master. In the very centre of the -village stood the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">kinderhaus</span></i>, where the babes of the -colony were tended during the working-hours of their -mothers. A wide porch surrounded the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">kinderhaus</span></i> -on four sides, and a tangled garden of bloom divided -it from the street. In a vine-covered arbor, set -among the flowers, Walda Kellar was accustomed to -spend her hours of meditation during her last month -before the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>. It was not long before Everett -discovered this fact; and when Mother Kaufmann -relieved the girl in the sick-room he often made -<span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>excuse to speak to her as she went through the little -wicket gate. Outside the sick-room, however, she -was always the prophetess of Zanah, aloof in manner -and difficult to reach by word.</p> - -<p class='c008'>One day as he wandered down the street, after -having assured himself that Walda was poring over a -book in the little arbor, he happened to meet Adolph -Schneider. Since the day when the stranger had -shown a willingness to pay a generous price for any -book he might wish to buy from the colony, the Herr -Doktor had treated him with a perceptible deference. -Adolph Schneider stopped now, and, leaning on his -cane, said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If thou hast a mind to buy that Bible shown thee -by Gerson Brandt, the people of Zanah are willing to -sell it to thee. Many times have I meant to speak to -thee concerning the barter, but thou knowest that the -sickness of Wilhelm Kellar hath interfered with all -the business of the colony.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett waited half a moment before he replied. -He read in the face of the Herr Doktor craftiness and -greed, and he knew he must use tact if he would -spare Gerson Brandt the pang of parting with his -precious book.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The Bible is not what I want,” he said. “Some -smaller book will do as well for me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Adolph Schneider was too shrewd to be easily put -off.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>“We have found that there is no writing for sale -in Zanah. Of all our books there is none that we -can part with except the Bible. Zanah is loath to -part with that, but the colony hath need of money.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Again Everett said that he did not wish to make -the purchase.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Adolph Schneider was not to be balked. “I will -send to the school-master for the book,” he said, “and -thou shalt examine it at thy leisure. I will have it -taken to the inn.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett walked away towards one of the large vineyards, -which was situated on a sunny slope of a hill -just beyond the village. Here men and women were -silently picking the early grapes. Elders and village -mothers kept strict watch of the younger members of -the colony. No one appeared to take any notice of -the stranger, and he went over to a place where a pile -of stones offered him a seat. It was a glorious summer -day with a premature promise of the autumn in -its golden haziness. Along the edges of the fences -stalks of golden-rod here and there stood out among -the tall grasses. The fields stretched away in patches -of brown and green and yellow. He felt sure that -there was no more tranquil spot in all the earth. As -the quiet colonists worked among the vines, Everett -asked himself if they were really reconciled to the -barrenness of their lives. The world, with its delights, -its pains, its passions, was barred out, but he wondered -<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>whether the men and women found it possible -to close their hearts to all human emotion. With -heads bowed low the women kept their faithful hands -busy, each doing the work allotted to her. Apparently -the chagrins of coquetry, the pangs of aspiration, -the restlessness of unfulfilled ambition did not touch -them; yet, now and then, he caught the girls casting -sly glances at the youths who labored near them.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When the afternoon had advanced until the long -shadows began to fall upon the fields, Mother Werther -appeared, carrying two steaming tin pails fastened to -a bar that she balanced deftly. Her appearance was -the signal for every one to stop work. She put the -pails down in an open space, and, smiling kindly on -men and maids alike, said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Every man and woman here will be glad of a cup -of coffee, I am sure, and this to-day is stronger than -any I have boiled for many a week. It is from the -Herr Doktor’s own bag.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was a merry twinkle in her eye, and Everett -was sure he saw her wink at one of the village “mothers” -who leaned against a near post that supported a -well-stripped vine.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Didst thou steal from Brother Schneider’s store?” -inquired a fat old man who was leisurely sorting the -great bunches of grapes. “Fie, fie, Sister Werther! -I thought thou couldst be trusted, even though thou -art still in the lowest grade of Zanah’s colonists.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>Several of the older women laughed, and Mother -Werther made haste to reply:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It was right that I should take the coffee, since -my stock was gone. Surely it should not be better -than that we all drink, for here in Zanah no one is entitled -to more than another.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>One or two of the men sneered perceptibly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hasten to serve us,” urged an impatient girl.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There are no cups,” said Joseph Hoff, who had -drawn near to where Frieda Bergen stood.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ach! Where is that boy Hans Peter?” asked -Mother Werther. “He was to follow in my very footsteps.” -She looked back across the field, and in the -distance the form of the simple one appeared. On his -head Hans Peter carried an immense basket. He -walked slowly in his usual listless way, and appeared -unmindful of the numerous urgent calls to him. -When he finally reached Mother Werther he put the -basket, which was heaped high with tin cups, down -upon the ground, and stood staring vacantly ahead -of him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou art tardy, foolish one,” said a man who -scowled down upon the boy and took the topmost -cup, which he dipped into one of the buckets of coffee. -Hans Peter made no reply.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Where is Gerson Brandt?” asked the overseer, who -had been too closely engaged in examining some of the -vines to pay attention to anything that was going on -<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>around him. “I need his advice, and he and all his -troop of boys should have been here a quarter-hour -ago.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The Herr Doktor hath kept him in the school-house. -They are speaking together,” explained the -village fool.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Go tell him that the work cannot go on until he -comes,” said the overseer.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter turned and went back with lagging -steps. The vineyard workers paid little attention to -him, however, for they were all intent upon helping -themselves to Mother Werther’s clear coffee. Joseph -Hoff dipped a cup into one of the buckets. Calling -to Everett, he said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Wilt thou not join the men of Zanah in drinking -good luck to the wine-presses?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett rose from his seat to take the proffered cup. -He saw that Joseph Hoff managed to pass by where -Frieda Bergen sat upon the ground. They spoke a -word to each other, but no one noticed them. Under -the cheering influence of the coffee, more talking was -permitted than the stranger in Zanah had heard at -any other time since he came to the colony. Now -and then the elder men and women exchanged a word. -The young girls laughed in low tones, and there was -even something like playfulness among the youths, -some of whom wrestled, and some of whom cuffed one -another in rough play.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>“The quarter-hour is past,” said the overseer, -and all the cups were thrown upon the ground in a -pile, while men and women, youths and maidens, -turned again to their work. Everett had half a mind -to ask for a knife with which to cut the great clusters -of heavy fruit from the vines. He felt that he would -know how to do it quite as expertly as the men whom -he watched; but while he was hesitating about taking -upon himself anything that was like real work his -attention was attracted by the appearance of Hans -Peter, accompanied by the school-master, who was followed -by his pupils. As the school-master came near, -Everett saw that he had a troubled look.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What hath detained thee, Brother Brandt?” inquired -the overseer, who was superintending the loading -of the grapes upon heavy wagons.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I had mislaid a book,” the school-master said, -simply. “I spent half an hour searching for it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou wert ever absent in thy mind,” said Mother -Werther, with a laugh. “Thou wilt find it in some -odd place where it ought not to be.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I was sure I put it safely in my chest of drawers,” -said the school-master. “I recall the very day on -which I laid it in the topmost place.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Now recall the day thou didst take it from the -drawer,” said the overseer.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, I know it hath lain there undisturbed by my -hand,” said Gerson Brandt.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>“Was it a book of much worth?” inquired Mother -Werther.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, one most precious to me—the Bible that I -have been illuminating these many months.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The Bible that the stranger coveted?” inquired -the overseer, pointing towards Everett, who stood -by, listening to the conversation.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The school-master nodded.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was not five minutes before every one working in -the vineyard knew that Gerson Brandt had lost his -Bible, and there were some, Everett noticed, among -both men and women, who muttered to one another -as if they accused the school-master of some sinister -design concerning the book the colony claimed. Everett -walked up and down among the rows of vines, -until he noticed that Adolph Schneider had come to -the place where Gerson Brandt had busied himself. -He could see that the Herr Doktor spoke emphatically -and waved his cane, and that the school-master replied -with quiet dignity.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The Bible that thou wouldst buy hath disappeared -in a strange manner,” said Adolph Schneider, -addressing Everett. “It will be found in the -space of a day or two, for we have no thieves in -Zanah. The overseer and I both believe Brother -Brandt hath forgotten where he put it, and that -he will find it when he maketh a more thorough -search.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>There was something like insinuation in his tone, -and Gerson Brandt’s face flushed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The book hath been taken from my room,” he -said. “It is where I cannot find it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou speakest as if thou wert brother to the simple -one,” said Herr Schneider.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I speak the truth,” said Gerson Brandt.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, he telleth the truth,” declared Hans Peter, -pulling himself up on his knees and looking at the -Herr Doktor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The truth! What dost thou know about it—thou -of little mind and less judgment?” said Adolph -Schneider.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I may know much, and I may know little,” said -Hans Peter, swaying himself back and forth on his -knees.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Surely thou hast not taken my Bible?” said the -school-master, with a look of mingled hope and fear -on his face.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, I have not said that I took it,” replied the -fool.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yet thou hast knowledge of it, Hans Peter?” asked -Gerson Brandt, his eyes scanning the dull face of the -simple one.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is said I have knowledge of naught,” said -Hans Peter, who rose to his feet and, folding his arms -across his ragged, blue blouse, confronted the school-master -and the Herr Doktor with fearless eyes.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>“Why bandy words with a fool?” said the overseer. -“There is much to be done.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The men and women of Zanah returned to their -tasks. Some of the men piled the grapes into large -tubs, which were lifted on wagons drawn by fat, sleek -horses. The women, scattered among the vines, industriously -cut off the bunches of luscious fruit, and -the boys who had accompanied Gerson Brandt into -the vineyard were sent back and forth, bearing pails -and baskets on their heads. Mother Werther gave -Hans Peter the tin cups to carry back to the village, -and he went away unnoticed except by Everett, who -had the feeling that the simple one might be able to -tell what had become of Gerson Brandt’s treasured -volume.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The close of the summer day began to be noticed. -The sun sank behind the bluffs. Everett idly watched -the workers in the vineyard prepare to go home. -The women were first to leave their tasks, and, with -Mother Werther at the head of the procession, they -walked two and two towards the road. As they -walked they sang a dismal strain. The wagons -creaked as the wheels sank deeply into the soil, and -marching beside them went the men, carrying upon -their shoulders scythes and rakes, which they had -used in an adjoining hay-field. The vineyard toilers -wound down the hill-side. All had apparently forgotten -Everett, who had found a place where he -<span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>could lie upon the ground with his head pillowed -upon a smooth rock. The peace and quiet of the -evening soothed him, and again, for the hundredth -time in the day, he thought of Walda Kellar. As if -his thoughts were suggested by her proximity, he saw, -coming from the hay-field, the prophetess of Zanah. -She was leading a little child by the hand, and behind -her silently followed several of the “mothers” of the -colony. The women carried upon their heads great -bundles of hay, while back of them moved the harvest -wagons, piled high with heavy loads taken from -the great stacks that dotted the broad fields. Walda -appeared not to notice the stranger, who lay quietly -watching her. She was talking in a low, soothing -tone to the child, which apparently had been crying -for its mother. When Walda was within a few feet of -him, Everett quickly rose, but he hesitated to address -her. With uncovered head, he waited until she -might see him. When she was very near him she -raised her eyes and started, as if surprised to find the -stranger in the vineyard. She would have passed on, -but he detained her by seizing upon the pretext that -she must be interested in hearing about her father, -whom he had seen after she left the sick-room. He -said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Miss Kellar, your father is fast regaining strength. -To-day I find that he will soon be able to leave his -bed.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>The girl stopped, and, looking at him, answered:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou hast my prayers and my thanks, thou -stranger in Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If I have done anything to deserve your thanks, -I am grateful, Miss Kellar.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The women had stopped at a little distance from -them, and he could see that they were muttering -something among themselves. Presently one of -them spoke:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Sir, thou art addressing the prophetess of Zanah -with the vain title used in the world outside. If thou -must speak to her, thou shouldst call her Walda -Kellar.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett was embarrassed. He stood gazing at the -girl, who smiled upon him quite naturally.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, thou shouldst call me Walda,” she said. -“Thou knowest that in the Bible the men and women -addressed one another by their simple names.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Then, if I am to follow the custom of Zanah, you -must call me not stranger, but Stephen,” he said. -And she answered:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, Stephen, already thou seemest scarcely a -stranger.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>He felt a sudden quickening of the pulses when the -girl spoke to him by his given name, so seldom used, -for he was little burdened by kinsmen and the intimacies -of ordinary companionship. Stephen Everett -had always been a man who forbade those with whom -<span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>he came in contact to take liberties with him, yet he -had the quiet friendliness that kept for him the constancy -and devotion of all who knew him. His name, -spoken by the prophetess of Zanah, had, however, a -sound that suddenly glorified it. As he stood there -he could think of nothing to say, and she passed on, -leaving him to look after her, and to feel in a new and -peculiar manner that the world had changed for him. -He saw that she walked with a firm step and a light -freedom of movement that gave her a rare grace. -She moved slowly, so that the little child could keep -pace with her, and he was grateful for the chance -duty that gave him a longer glimpse of her. She -passed through the wooden gate which cut off the -vineyard. Presently he saw her disappear among the -trees at the end of the village street, and a sense of -loneliness swept over him. He who had always been -glad of the opportunity to enjoy his own society felt -something of the homesickness of the soul.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span> - <h2 class='c005'>VII</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c007'>Gerson Brandt sat alone in his school-room. -His elbows were propped on the worn lid of his -black, oaken desk, and his chin was supported in the -palms of his hands. His face had a worried look. -The lines about his mouth had deepened within the -last few days, and his heavy brows were drawn together. -He was wondering what could have happened -to the precious Bible. Now that he had become -accustomed to the changes brought about in -the routine of his daily life by the illness of Wilhelm -Kellar, he sorely missed the pleasant task of -each day making a letter or two upon the pages of -the Sacred Word. It had been his joy and his recreation, -after the long school sessions, to turn to -his pens and his colored inks. Line by line he had -wrought the delicate traceries with many a thought -of Walda and many a prayer for her well-being. He -had dwelt so long in the faith that inspired Zanah -that he had felt in the hope of her inspiration a peculiar -satisfaction and contentment. He was a poet -and a dreamer, so he found it not hard to believe -that this girl of Zanah would be given a special -<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>power not vouchsafed to many souls that come into -the great domain of sin.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was a week since the loss of the Bible had been -discovered. It was apparent to him, whose nature -was sensitive to every suggestion, that the people of -Zanah for some reason distrusted him, and imputed -blame to him because of the mysterious disappearance -of the volume that might have brought the -colony the price of many rolls of flannel and many -bottles of wine. The Herr Doktor that very day -had been to see him about devising some means by -which more effective search could be made for the -Bible. Notwithstanding Wilhelm Kellar’s illness, the -room up-stairs had been thoroughly searched. With -Schneider standing by, he had been obliged to submit -to the humiliation of unlocking each drawer and -turning out upon the floor all his few personal possessions. -From his bed in the alcove Wilhelm Kellar -had anxiously watched every movement, and had -shown keen disappointment when the big volume -could not be found. Mother Werther had been present, -and had scrutinized each article as it was put -back in its accustomed place in the old-fashioned -chest of drawers. One thing alone she failed to examine, -and that was his old leather portfolio, much -worn with long years of constant use. In this portfolio -was concealed his one forbidden possession—the -sketch of Walda made years before, when she was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>scarcely more than a child. Zanah permitted not the -image of anything on earth to be kept by a faithful -colonist; but he had treasured this, made in a moment -of weakness and loneliness. He had eased his -conscience with the thought that he had drawn not -the woman of the future, but the prophetess who -would some day guide his people.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Adolph Schneider had gone on his way but a few -moments before. The school-master still felt the -sting of his last words—an injunction to find the -Bible within the next fortnight. Gerson Brandt had -spent all his unemployed waking moments in trying -to account for the disappearance of the big book. He -felt sure that there was no boy in the village mischievous -enough to steal it, and no outsider except -Everett had been within the boundaries of Zanah for -many a week. Instinctively he knew that the colonists -were judging him unkindly, for even in Zanah -jealousies and rivalries were not unknown. In all his -years of colony life he had escaped criticism, because -he had been the one elder untouched by personal ambition. -His gentleness and sweetness of nature had -made even the most selfish and disagreeable person -his friend, for no one in all Zanah had performed the -friendly services that belonged to the record made by -the school-master of the colony.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Presently he turned his face towards the window -and looked out upon the summer landscape. The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>day seemed strangely silent. The late summer already -presaged the coming autumn. The birds had -long ceased their singing. There was not even the -hum of a lazy insect. A sense of loneliness crept over -this man, accustomed to the peculiar isolation of life -in Zanah. He half realized that the loss of the Bible -meant to him, in a certain sense, a cutting off of a -daily association of thought that bound him to Walda. -His mind had hardly turned towards the girl before -he heard her light footstep as she crossed the threshold. -When he saw her framed in the doorway that -opened out on the little porch, he felt foolishly glad, -but although he rose to his feet he did not advance to -meet her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah, Gerson Brandt, something is troubling thee,” -said Walda. “For fully two minutes I have been -watching thee from the porch. What is in thy mind -to rob thee thus of peace?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, Walda, my peace is not gone, I trust,” said -the school-master; but he paused, as if the assertion -made him cognizant that he might not be speaking -the whole truth. “I have been thinking much about -the loss of my Bible.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, that is very strange,” said Walda, standing -before his desk, and looking up into his eyes with an -inquiring glance. “I cannot understand what could -befall it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If it cannot be found, my honor is touched,” said -<span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>Gerson Brandt, and there was something like a quiver -on his sensitive lips. “There are those in Zanah who -will count it against me, because I put overmuch -work upon the book and grew to hold it as my best -possession.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, nay, Gerson Brandt, the people love thee, -and they will remember the injunction that they must -not judge one another.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt stepped from the high platform. -Motioning towards a bench in front of the window, he -said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Sit here near me, Walda; I would speak to thee -now alone, since there may not come another chance -before thy day of inspiration.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The girl took her place on the bench and Gerson -Brandt stood before her. For a moment he was silent. -With hands folded across his spare chest, and with -his head bent, he gazed down upon the beautiful girl. -He noticed a change in her face. It had lost something -of the childishness of its expression. It had a -graver look. The eyes bespoke a seriousness he -thought foretold the coming spiritual inspiration for -which the colony had waited so many years.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is well, Walda, that thou hast reached this time -in thy life without being touched by worldly emotions. -Zanah hath watched over thee with a care -that hath kept thee pure for thy consecration to the -Lord’s work.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>“To Zanah I owe all my service,” said Walda. “I -trust that great things may be revealed through me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>She spoke as if she thought of herself from an objective -point of view.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This is an age when men should walk near God. -There are strange things going on in the great world, -and every year Zanah’s safety is jeopardized. Untoward -manners and customs are already becoming -known among the young people. There is in my -heart much gratitude that thou hast escaped the -temptations to fathom earthly love.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Gerson Brandt, is love the greatest of all the -sins?” asked Walda, looking up into the face of the -school-master, who bestowed upon her a look searching -and withal tender.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is not given to me to judge what is the greatest -sin a woman can commit,” Gerson Brandt answered, -slowly. “I have heard that love bringeth pain and -sorrow and disappointment.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yet there are many who do not seem afraid to -risk sorrow for love. Truly there must be some compensation -for it,” said Walda.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There is, there is,” replied the school-master. “At -first it intoxicates; it bringeth fair dreams, high hopes, -and a courage strong enough to face all the ills that -earth can bring to men and women.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Surely thou speakest with authority, Gerson -Brandt.” As Walda spoke there was a little smile -<span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>upon her lips. “I might almost think that thou hadst -known the joy and pain of loving.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“In books I have read of the love of men and -women. There is one named Shakespeare, who long -ago wrote much of the history of the human heart.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“In the Bible are many stories of the love of men -and women,” said Walda, “and sometimes I have -wondered why, in this late day, it should have become -so wrong a thing to find on earth a dear companionship.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt turned away and walked across the -room. When he came back he spoke in a steady -voice.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“When the soul findeth on earth peace and happiness, -it is easy to forget there is a heaven that lasts -through eternity, and that these little years shall be -swallowed up in the vast expanse of time. It were -better to deny one’s self joy here in order to be sure -of happiness hereafter.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But even to me earth often seems so near and -dear, and heaven so far off, that now and then I can -understand why the soul should reach out towards -some one who could share all the little every-day happinesses -and troubles,” said Walda.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It hath been given to man always to be lonely in -the world,” answered Gerson Brandt. “Each soul -must travel like a stray pilgrim who can only greet -other wayfarers and pass on.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>“Nay, Gerson Brandt, we need not be lonely here. -In Zanah all are friends and brothers. So long as -thou livest I can never feel that I am a solitary traveller.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>A crimson flush swept over the face of the school-master, -and when the wave receded he was deathly -pale.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“All these years my care hath been over thee, Walda. -My prayers have been for thee; my hopes have -been set on thee. When thou hast become, indeed, -the prophetess of Zanah, I shall know that thou art -safe forever. Then shall I find peace indeed.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Safe, Gerson Brandt! What dost thou mean? -Safe from what? I cannot be safer than I am now.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt made no reply. He walked to the -window and looked out upon the little garden.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda was lost in thought for a moment or two. -Presently she said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Gerson Brandt, I know that I am like unto -Eve, for when thou and the elders warn me so much -about love there comes to me the desire to understand -it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“None can understand love, Walda. It is revealed -to every man and every woman in a different form. -It is the all-compassing emotion that moveth the -world.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda rose to her feet. Stepping close to the -school-master, she said:</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>“Why, Gerson Brandt, there is that in thy voice -that maketh me feel thou dost know much concerning -love, which thou sayest is sinful and unworthy. -Hast thou been tempted?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Mayhap I have. Here in Zanah we who keep the -precepts of the colony close to our hearts are safe indeed. -By much praying and constant vigilance we -can escape all danger.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Surely earthly love could never touch thee or me, -and why shouldst we waste time talking about the -pitfalls that will never come in the way of our footsteps -as we traverse the quiet paths of Zanah?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is well to remember, Walda, that even in Zanah, -our Garden of Eden, there is a tree of knowledge; but -so long as we taste not the forbidden fruit we need -have no fears.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Fears? My heart is so lifted up in these days -there falleth upon me not the smallest shadow of the -smallest fear to disturb me. I am full of gratitude -and humility in the knowledge that I have been -chosen to be the prophetess of Zanah, and each day -there comes to me a broader faith and a surer conviction -concerning the things revealed to us through -the Great Book.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt was again silent for a long time. -Once he took a step towards the girl, who was still -standing before the bench from which she had risen. -He hesitated a moment. Then he said, slowly:</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>“Walda, when thou art given the tongue of the -Spirit, thou wilt be separated from all Zanah. Thou -wilt then live close to thy Creator, and, even though -I am an elder, I shall be denied the privilege of speaking -to thee. Lest there be no opportunity to talk -again to thee alone, I will tell thee now that always -my thoughts will dwell close to thee. In my heart -the memory of the little girl that I have known so -many years will remain forever.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The tremor in his voice and the solemnity of his -manner cast a feeling of awe upon Walda. Moved by -an irresistible impulse, she dropped on her knees at his -feet.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Give me thy blessing, Gerson Brandt,” she said; -and the man held his hands high above her bent head -as he said, simply:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“God bless thee and keep thee, Walda Kellar.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The girl rose and slowly passed out of the door.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt went back to his desk. Again he -put his elbows on the worn lid. Again he rested his -chin in his hands. He sat thus for half an hour. -Hans Peter, coming in on tiptoe, walked up a side -aisle without being noticed. He climbed upon the -stool, and the school-master roused himself to ask:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Dost thou want me?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou wast thinking about thy lost Bible,” said -the simple one, ignoring the question. “Thou hast -no cause to borrow trouble.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>“What dost thou know about it?” demanded the -school-master.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I know that it is where the Herr Doktor seems not -to be able to find it,” said the simple one, twirling his -thumbs. “I know that it is lost. I know thou canst -not find it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hush, hush, Hans Peter. The Bible is not a subject -by which thou canst display thy talent for speaking -foolish words.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span> - <h2 class='c005'>VIII</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c007'>It was the beginning of spinning-time in Zanah. -The grape crop had been gathered, the bare fields -had been raked, and nothing remained to be done -outside that could not be accomplished by the men -and boys. Therefore the women of the colony were -assigned the task of making the linen used in the -households at Zanah. Although the very latest machinery -had been installed in the mills, it was still the -custom among the women to spin the colony sheets -and table napery. The large dining-room in the inn -had been cleared, and twenty wheels had been distributed -here and there for the use of the favored -“mothers” privileged to enjoy what was really an -annual week of gossip. Gathered in the great dining-room -were Mother Schneider, Mother Kaufmann, -Mother Werther, and their nearest cronies. It was a -bright afternoon, and the sun came in through the -vine-covered windows. The door on the wide porch -was open, and near it, in the choicest place in the -room, sat Mother Schneider busy at her wheel. She -paused to put back one of the strings of her black cap -and asked:</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>“What say they up at the school-house concerning -the lost Bible, Sister Kaufmann?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“They speak naught of it,” replied the sour-visaged -woman, as she broke her thread. “Many times have -I tried to make Brother Brandt tell me what he really -thinks, but thou knowest he hath a way of holding -his tongue.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Walda Kellar hath made a good nurse,” said -Mother Werther, who was busy sorting the flax. -“Anything that she undertaketh she doeth well.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“She hath too much freedom in that sick-room,” -declared Mother Schneider.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, she hath,” agreed Mother Kaufmann. -“There are many hours that I cannot be there to -watch her.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou forgettest that Walda Kellar needeth not -watching as do other girls. She who hath been -chosen to speak for the Lord surely can be trusted. -And then thou knowest she is with her own father.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mother Werther cast an indignant glance at the wife -of the Herr Doktor, who had started the conversation.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I trust not that physician from the outside world,” -said Mother Kaufmann. “He hath queer ways that -are not like those of the men of Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He is always most kind and thoughtful; he treats -women with much reverence,” said Mother Werther. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>“I know him best of all persons in Zanah, for doth he -not stay here at the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">gasthaus</span></i>?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Since when didst thou become a good judge of -men?” asked Mother Kaufmann, with a taunting laugh -that showed her ugly tusks. “The wife who after fifteen -years hath not discovered the faults of her husband -is not fitted to pass judgment on any man. I -do not like that Stephen Everett.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He is helping Wilhelm Kellar to regain his health,” -said a meek, middle-aged woman who sat in a far -corner.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is a fortnight since Brother Kellar was taken -ill, and he is still in bed,” said Mother Kaufmann.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou forgettest that Brother Kellar hath been -nigh unto death,” said Mother Werther.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That doctor from the world is a handsome man,” -remarked Gretchen Schneider, who had come in and -taken her seat near her mother.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Tut, tut; I am ashamed of thee,” said Mother -Schneider, in a tone of reproof. “Thou forgettest that -the maidens of Zanah must not look upon men, and -must not care whether they be handsome or hideous.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Dost thou find him more comely than Karl Weisel, -our respected elder?” inquired Mother Werther; and, -despite the scowl of the wife of the Herr Doktor, -smothered laughs were heard from various parts of -the room. Gretchen Schneider’s pale face flushed. -Before she could reply her mother retorted:</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>“Thy words are unseemly, Sister Werther. I bid -thee keep silence.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I have the right of free speech,” the innkeeper’s -wife answered; “and there is none in Zanah who doth -not know there would have been a wedding long ago -if the head of the thirteen elders had not loved his -place of authority better than the daughter of the -Herr Doktor.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>In a moment Mother Schneider flew into a rage, quite -inconsistent with the religious principles of Zanah.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hold thou thy clattering tongue,” she commanded; -and for the space of two minutes not a word was -spoken in the room. The whirring of the busy wheels -alone disturbed the quiet.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The entrance of Frieda Bergen fortunately relieved -the situation of its tensity. The girl came into the -room bearing on her head a bundle of flax, which she -deposited before Mother Werther.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This I brought from the station, whither I went -with Mother Schmidt,” she said.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou shouldst not have been allowed to go to the -railroad,” said Mother Kaufmann. “But what didst -thou see there?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“A train came by while I stood on the platform. I -looked through one of the windows and saw silken-cushioned -seats, and mirrors that showed gayly dressed -men and women. There was also a car in which -were dining-tables. Black men waited on women, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>who laughed and talked with men. Some of the -women wore on their fingers jewels that looked like -sparkling glass.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The wheels had all stopped. Every “mother” in -the room was listening.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The sparkling glass that thou sawest was what is -called a diamond,” said Gretchen Schneider. “Jewels -are worn by those who have vanity in their -souls.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Truly, the rings were very beautiful,” said Frieda -Bergen.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou wert ever a foolish maid,” said Mother -Schneider, in a tone of severe reproof. “Put out of -thy thoughts what thou hast seen to-day. I shall -have the Herr Doktor forbid thee from going to the -station.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, Sister Schneider, scold not Frieda. She hath -done no harm,” said Mother Werther. “It should not -hurt her to get a glimpse of the vanities of the world, -for she is well grounded in the faith of Zanah. She -knoweth that the costly gauds are but the playthings -of sin-ridden women.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Standing in the middle of the room, Frieda Bergen -shook her head doubtfully.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Truly, those worldly ones appeared happy,” she -said. “There were some that read books and leaned -back on velvet cushions. They looked as if they -never worked. Some of the women were beautiful. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>They wore no caps upon their hair. Their frocks -were not all alike, as they are here in Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“See, the daughter of Zanah is touched by the -temptations of the world,” said Mother Schneider. -“We have heard enough. Begin thy work, Frieda -Bergen.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If what I hear is true, the elders should discipline -Frieda,” said Mother Kaufmann, with a sneer. “It -hath come to my ears that she hath often spoken with -Joseph Hoff.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Frieda Bergen bent her head over her work. A telltale -blush overspread her delicate skin, and her hand -trembled as she took up her distaff.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Frieda Bergen hath the right to love Joseph Hoff -if she chooseth,” said Mother Werther, rising from her -chair and walking the length of the room to the place -where the girl sat. “Love may be a foolish thing in -the eyes of Zanah, but it bringeth its reward.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou art teaching heresy, Sister Werther,” said -Mother Schneider. “If the elders knew of thy heterodoxy -thou wouldst have to do penance through -some hard task.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mother Werther smiled in a tantalizing way. She -drew in a long breath as she were about to retort, and -then, thinking better of it, went back to her work.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If Frieda is wise she will follow the example of -some of us who have served God faithfully all unmindful -of man,” said Mother Kaufmann. Her remark -<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>was too much for Mother Werther. Dropping -her flax, the innkeeper’s wife put her hands upon her -hips and laughed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And hast thou always been unmindful of Gerson -Brandt?” she inquired.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Mother, thou shouldst put an end to this unseemly -talk,” said Gretchen Schneider.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, thou hast something to fear lest it be remembered -how narrowly <em>thou</em> hast escaped love,” said -Mother Werther.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Stop thine unruly tongue,” admonished Mother -Schneider.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou forgettest that in Zanah all men and women -are equal,” said Mother Werther. “Thy husband, the -Herr Doktor, is enjoying but a brief authority. Thou -art not greater than any other woman in the colony.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mother Schneider gasped in anger, but before she -could reply a shadow was cast upon the floor and -Walda Kellar entered. Her sweet face wore an untroubled -look. She smiled upon all the women gathered -in the room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Something brought me here among you,” she said. -“I have but just come from my father’s sick-room, -and as I walked long, thinking of the coming <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>, -I felt that I wanted once more to spin with -the women of Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou bringest peace with thee,” said Mother -Werther.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>Frieda Bergen rose from her little, low-backed -chair, and Walda Kellar seated herself before the -girl’s wheel.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Silence fell upon the room. The girl’s presence -commanded reverence. In her eyes was a peculiar -light, and her face was radiant. Slowly she began to -turn her wheel.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is very good to be here,” she said, presently. -“If the Lord giveth me the tongue of inspiration there -will be other tasks for me, and now and then, when I -am not quite so strong in the faith as I ought to be, I -wonder whether I shall not sometimes be an unworthy -instrument of the Lord, because the little things of -life, it seemeth, will always have a charm for me. -While the great, leather-bound books of Zanah have -much to teach me, there are days when my inclinations -draw me towards the labors which belong to the -women of the colony.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>No one answered. For a few moments the wheels -whirred again, and not a word disturbed the pleasant -hum of industry. Presently Walda’s voice rose in a -minor hymn. The deep, rich cadences swelled above -the sound of the wheels. It was a weird, plaintive -tune to which she sang German words which breathed -a prayer for light upon the way that led through the -sin-encompassed world. She paused after the first -verse. Appearing to forget her work, she clasped her -hands in her lap and sang again with such sweetness -<span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>and such pathos that Mother Werther wiped her eyes. -The singing had brought some one to the porch outside, -but Walda appeared not to hear the footstep. -She sang on and on, and when the last verse died upon -her lips she sat very still, as if her soul had gone out -with the strange melody.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett, who had come to the window, looking -through the blinds, beheld the prophetess. For the -moment the woman was lost, and he felt an overwhelming -sense of her aloofness from him. There -came to him a full realization of the gulf between him -and this woman of Zanah, who belonged so little to -the world and so much to heaven. For several minutes -he stood fascinated as he gazed upon her, but, -summoning all his will-power, he turned away lest -he should be discovered spying upon the women of -Zanah. As he walked towards the bluffs he met -Hans Peter moving along in a leisurely manner. The -witchery of Walda’s song was still upon him, and -he would have passed the simple one without a -greeting, but Hans Peter stepped directly in his -path.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou hast made trouble in Zanah,” said the simple -one, staring at him with unblinking eyes and -doubling up one fat fist. “The day that thou goest -hence to the wicked world where thou belongest will -be a happy one.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You speak with but scant respect for the stranger -<span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>within your gates,” said Everett, who was amused by -the vehemence of the village fool.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter removed his ragged cap. “Thou hast -brought sorrow to Gerson Brandt,” he continued, -“for thou wouldst have taken the Bible that he was -making beautiful for Walda Kellar.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett studied the odd little figure before him for -a moment. It was the first time that Hans Peter had -betrayed, in manner or countenance, the least trace -of emotion. Even now, as the simple one stood blinking -his eyes, the man of the world could not comprehend -his motive in making the unexpected accusation.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You seem almost excited, Hans Peter,” said Everett, -presently, when the boy had begun to show that -the silence was uncomfortable. “And why are you -concerned about the Bible?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The school-master setteth great store on the Sacred -Book,” replied the simple one. “He hath been -kind to me, and I like not to see him troubled.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And is not every one kind to you, Hans Peter?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The simple one thrust his hand into his deep pocket -and hung his head.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The people of Zanah are many times vexed with -the fool,” he said. “They have scant patience with -one who believes not as they do. In all the colony -there are only three who seem to forget that Hans -Peter is the village fool.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>“And who are they? Gerson Brandt is one, I -know. Who are the others?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The prophetess of Zanah and Mother Werther.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And do you not believe in the prophetess of Zanah? -Have you not faith that she will be the inspired one?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why do you question the village fool?” asked -Hans Peter, suddenly, wary lest he should tell something -that he wished to conceal. “Thou knowest -that to all the colony Walda Kellar is the revered one. -Truly, she walketh near to God.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Then perhaps some day she will lead you into -the full faith of Zanah?” said Everett. But the fool -shook his head.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hans Peter loveth earth, not heaven. He would -not be wise as the men of Zanah are wise, for verily -their wisdom bringeth them no joy.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hans Peter, you speak as one who has much -knowledge, after all. I am beginning to think that -you are the wisest man in the colony.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If there is wisdom in knowing one is a fool and -being content in his own folly, then am I wise. They -say that the fool is often given the power of prophecy; -and when I was carving the day of the month upon -one of the gourds I keep to help my memory, there -came to me the fear that something was coming to -Zanah through thee. I ran to seek thee that I might -give warning of the trouble thou art bringing to the -colony.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>Everett reached into the pocket of his coat, took -out a cigar, and lighted it. “Perhaps you will be kind -enough to tell me in just what way I am to bring -more trouble to Zanah,” he said, with a smile. “I -had nothing to do with the loss of the Bible, for I have -refused to buy it, and I give you my word now, Hans -Peter, that I will never take it away from Gerson -Brandt.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thy word is not needed now,” answered the fool. -“The Bible is where thou canst not get it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And you know where it is,” said Everett, so -quickly that the fool was taken off his guard.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And if I do, no one shall find it,” the simple one -declared, with a gesture of his arm and a stamp of his -bare foot.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Don’t you think it would be wise for you to take -back the Bible to Gerson Brandt?” Everett inquired, -walking a few steps to his right, where there was a -great tree against which he leaned.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If the Bible could be found it would not again be -put in Gerson Brandt’s hands. It is better that it -should be lost forever than that he should see it owned -by another man.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why is this Bible so precious to the school-master? -Can’t you tell me, Hans Peter? Perhaps I may help -you to restore it to him. You see, I might buy it and -give it back to Gerson Brandt.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No man in Zanah can own anything. If the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>Bible should be given to Gerson Brandt it would still -belong to the colony, and it could be sold again.” -The simple one had thrown himself upon the ground, -and, with chin in his hands and elbows dug deeply in -the earth, he appeared to be thinking.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Tell me about the Bible,” urged Everett, and he -waited as impatiently for the village fool to speak as -if some matter of tremendous importance to him, the -man of affairs out in the great world, hung in the balance. -There was something almost absurd in the -contrast between the two who talked there in the -summer afternoon. Stephen Everett was a man to -be noticed anywhere. It was not altogether his physical -beauty that invariably commanded attention; he -had an unusual charm of personality.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter, with his long, straight tow hair tangled -upon his big, round head, kicked his earth-stained feet -in the air as he lay at length upon the ground. His -blue cotton shirt, torn down the back, revealed a strip -of white skin, and his baggy trousers were held by the -one button which attached them to a knitted suspender. -The pocket in the back of his trousers bulged -with one of the gourds that he carried with him wherever -he went.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I am waiting for you to tell me about the Bible,” -Everett remarked, when he had smoked half of his -cigar.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter reached back and removed the gourd -<span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>from his pocket. Then, sitting up, he began to examine -it carefully.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It was long ago that it came to Hans Peter one -day, as he watched Gerson Brandt at work with his -bright inks, that the school-master’s thoughts were on -Walda Kellar as he made the gay letters in the great -book. Lest the fool might forget, he marked on his -gourd some lines to make him remember. Many -times after that he saw that the school-master was -praying for her who would be inspired. Hans Peter -knew that the Bible was for Walda Kellar, and that -the school-master meant it for her to read every day -when she should become an instrument of the Lord. -That is why Gerson Brandt loved the Bible. That is -why no other man should have it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett left his place at the tree, and, pacing back -and forth, pondered for a few moments upon the information -that the simple one had given him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah, the school-master is a second father to Walda -Kellar, I suppose?” he said, presently, casting a furtive -glance at the fool.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, he hath not years enough to make it right -he should love her as a father,” declared Hans Peter, -nodding his head. “The simple one hath been taught -that love is a wicked thing, but there is in Gerson -Brandt’s heart something that may be love, like that -with which he worships angels.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Again I tell you, Hans Peter, you are the wisest -<span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>of all the colonists in Zanah,” said Everett. “There, -go about your errands.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But thou wilt promise not to buy the Bible, even -if it is ever found?” said Hans Peter, coming close to -Everett and lowering his voice.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, yes; you have my word for it. I shall not -buy it unless it is to aid Gerson Brandt,” Everett replied. -“And, Hans Peter, give me your hand. I -pledge my word.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The fool hesitatingly put out his fat, work-hardened -hand, and Everett gave it a hearty clasp.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span> - <h2 class='c005'>IX</h2> -</div> -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c007'>Wilhelm Kellar lay propped up in the four-posted -bedstead that stood in his little alcove. -His thin face showed the effect of his illness, and the -hand that played with the flowered coverlet was thin -to the point of translucency. His long, white hair -was brushed straight back from his high forehead; his -eyes, which had sunk deep into their sockets, wandered -restlessly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Walda, where art thou?” he said, in a thick, indistinct -voice. Walda pushed back the chintz curtains -that divided the alcove from the larger room, -and, kneeling beside her father, took one of his hands -in hers.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I have been thinking of the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>, daughter,” -said the sick man, “and I pray that I may be -able to be present when the spirit descends upon -thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou wilt be well in another month,” said Walda, -soothingly, as she stroked the white hair. “The physician -hath said that thou canst soon leave thy bed.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i> is only two weeks off,” said -Wilhelm Kellar. “It may be that if strength is not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>vouchsafed me so that I may walk again a litter can -be made for me. I would be carried to the place if I -cannot go there myself.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There is some talk that the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i> may be -delayed for a month,” said Walda, “and then thou -wilt surely be able to take thy place among the -elders.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It would be well, indeed, to postpone the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>, -for thou hast been much distracted from thy -meditations by my illness.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, nay, father. Strange thoughts have come -to me since I have been sitting here many hours a day -in this room. Never hath heaven seemed so near to -me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is well, indeed, that thou hast never been -touched by earthly love,” said the old man, scanning -the face of his daughter. “It was to keep thee free -from it that I brought thee here when thou wast a -little child, for it putteth waywardness and frowardness -into the heart of a woman. Since I have been -near to death it hath been shown to me that I must -warn thee again lest thou some time feel its evil influence. -Thy mother forgot all duty. She forfeited -her soul for love.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The old man spoke with intense feeling; he trembled -as a long-controlled emotion swept over him. It -was as if he had unlocked the flood-gates of a passion -barred for many years within his heart.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span>“What dost thou mean, father?” asked Walda, rising -to her feet. A deathly pallor overspread her face, -but the habit of repression, taught so persistently in -Zanah, prevented her from showing the terror with -which his words smote her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I mean,” said Wilhelm Kellar, drawing a quick -breath—“I mean—” But suddenly his tongue stiffened -and refused to frame the words he would have -spoken.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou wilt make thyself more ill,” said Walda. -“Think not of the past.” Taking a pewter cup of -water from the table, she moistened his lips. The old -man clinched his fists and closed his eyes. He lay as -if he were dead. The frightened girl ran to the door -of the room to summon help. Stephen Everett was -coming up the stairs.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, hasten to my father!” Walda implored. “I -fear greatly for him.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett went to the bedside, felt the old man’s -pulse, listened to his heart, and discovered that his -patient had, indeed, some serious symptoms.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Has anything happened to disturb your father?” -he asked, turning to Walda, who stood with hands -clasped around one of the head-posts of the bed while -she watched him with breathless interest.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He began to talk to me of the past,” said the -girl, with hesitation, and Everett saw tears in her -eyes.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>“And he recalled some memory that troubled him?” -asked Everett.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, yea; he would have told me something of my -mother,” said the girl, as she turned to go into the -outer room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett administered a soothing-potion, and went -out of the alcove to find that Walda was sitting by -the old carven table with her head bowed upon her -hands.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Do not be alarmed,” he said, “your father will recover -from this temporary relapse.” His voice and -manner were so sympathetic that the girl began to -weep.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Be blind to my weakness, O stranger in Zanah,” -she said, presently lifting her head proudly and biting -her trembling lips. “My faith teacheth me that -nothing which belongeth to earth is worth a tear. -The people of Zanah are trained to accept the decrees -of God. For an hour I have been thinking of -self. Strength will be given me to put these rebellious -impulses from me.” She went to the window, -where the chaffinch was hanging in his wicker -cage.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Piepmatz, thou hast no foolish tears; thou canst -teach me a lesson that I need; thou art undisturbed -by any distrust in thy nature.” Piepmatz, thrusting -his head forward, looked out between the bars of his -little prison. Then he chirped a cheery note. Everett -<span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span>went close to the cage and whistled to the bird, -which paid no attention to him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If I can be of service to you, you must command -me,” he said to Walda Kellar. “You must not think -of me as the stranger in Zanah. Have I not earned -the right to be called a friend?” He did not look at -her as he spoke lest she might be awakened to the -fact that he took more than a passing interest in her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We use not the word friend in Zanah,” said Walda. -“Here we are all brothers and sisters. And what dost -thou mean by being a friend?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Out in the world Everett had the reputation of -being ever ready with words, but when the future -prophetess of Zanah looked up at him with questioning -eyes he was abashed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I mean,” he began—“I mean that I want you to -feel you can trust me even more than if I were a -brother of Zanah,” he replied, rather lamely.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda looked puzzled.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There is none whom I could trust more than the -men of Zanah,” she said. “I have been taught by -Adolph Schneider and the elders that there is no -such thing as friendship between men and women. -The Bible telleth that David and Jonathan were -friends, but truly I cannot remember that there were -men and women in Holy Writ who called each other -by that word thou wouldst have me give to thee in -my thoughts.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>Everett now sought in vain for an argument that -he would dare make bold to use. Suddenly he regretted -that he had neglected to study the Bible -since his Sunday-school days had ended. He tried to -think of all the Scripture stories he knew, dimly hoping -that somewhere he could recall one that would be -a fit illustration. He felt a disgust with himself when -he discovered how lamentably ignorant he was. If -he could only have commanded a text that would be -convincing, he felt that he might be able to win something -more than an impersonal gratitude from the -future prophetess of Zanah, who had almost ignored -him during the fortnight that had passed since he had -been serving her father for her sake.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Out in the world there are many friendships between -men and women,” he declared.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Then, indeed, must they be sinful,” said Walda, -“for I have heard that there be few who serve the -Lord with singleness of purpose out there beyond the -bluffs.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Do not condemn the world too severely. Surely -you do not think that I am such a wicked man?” His -effort to draw attention to himself failed, however, for -Walda was gazing out upon the bluffs as if she had -forgotten him in thinking of the great world that -Zanah barred out.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Still thou hast not told me the true meaning of a -friend,” she said, presently, and again Everett became -<span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>aware that somehow he had lost the gift of -speech.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Perhaps I cannot find words to make the meaning -of friendship plain,” he said, finally, “but I will try to -teach you what the word implies.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, Stephen Everett, it is not right that thou -shouldst teach me anything, since thou art of the -world, to which thou wilt soon return.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The world will never be the same to me after I -leave Zanah,” said Everett.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hast thine eyes been opened to its wickedness?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No. Since I came to the colony I have thought -little of the world, but my eyes have been opened to -some things to which they were blind before—things -that do not belong to the every-day world.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Again he was afraid to let himself look at Walda, -and he appeared to be addressing Piepmatz. Walda -did not reply to him. She was thinking again of the -life beyond the bluffs.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Often have I tried to imagine what life must be -outside of Zanah,” Walda remarked, by-and-by, after -a long silence. “Now and then stray memories come -back to me, for thou knowest I was born in the world, -and that I was a little child who brought to the colony -recollections of another existence. It is these memories -that compel me oftentimes to pray that I may be -spared temptation which should never assail a woman -of Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>“Surely no temptation could come to you,” said -Everett.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou knowest little of a woman’s heart. The seeds -of vanity are here,” she said, folding her hands upon -her breast. “I find pleasure in the flowers and the -pretty things that God hath made.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It seems to me a sin for the colonists to deny its -members the highest joys that have been given to -men and women,” said Everett. “I have often wondered -whether you had any idea of all that you miss -here in Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I miss nothing that is best for my well-being,” -said Walda. “Thou wouldst not plant discontent in -my heart, wouldst thou, Stephen Everett?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I would have you enjoy all that is most to be desired -in life,” said Everett; and as he spoke he felt -for the hundredth time an overwhelming impatience -with the creed of the colony which denied to the young -and beautiful all that made living worth while.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda went to the chest of drawers, and, taking her -knitting from a little basket, sank upon a low chair, -from which she could get a glimpse of her sleeping -father. Everett felt that she had dismissed him. He -took up his hat and said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You told me I might call you Walda, so I shall -say, Good-night, Walda.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Good-night,” said the girl.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett hesitated.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>“Will you not say, ‘Good-night, Stephen’?” he -asked.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda stopped knitting.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why wouldst thou have me say thy name again?” -she inquired.</p> - -<p class='c008'>For the twentieth time Everett was embarrassed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Because it is the custom of friends to speak one -another’s names,” he explained.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But we are not friends,” said Walda.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“At least you will repay me for my long stay here -in the colony by speaking my name now and then,” -he insisted, hypocritically.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was the barest shadow of a smile on the lips -of the future prophetess of Zanah. “Good-night, -Stephen,” she said; and because he could find no excuse -for lingering longer in the quaint room under the -eaves, he went away.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span> - <h2 class='c005'>X</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c007'>Wilhelm Kellar’s health mended slowly. -Some days he felt strong enough to be lifted out -upon the chintz-covered lounge in the large room, but -every attempt to hasten convalescence appeared futile, -and after a morning spent out of bed he always -felt a reaction. On one of his best days he lay on the -lounge, which had been pushed into the bay-window. -Above his head hung Piepmatz. When Everett came -to make the first call of the day, the bird was trilling -his one bar of the doxology, with long breaks now -and then between the notes. Walda was trimming a -plant that stood on the table near which sat Gerson -Brandt. The school-master watched the future prophetess -intently, and at first he did not notice Everett’s -entrance.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My patient must be better,” said Everett, passing -to the window, and Walda, turning from the table, -answered:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We are happy, indeed, to-day. My father hath -already begun to think about his work in the colony.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You must not be too ambitious,” said Everett, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>drawing a stool to the foot of the lounge and placing -himself where he could study the old man’s face.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I have declared a half-holiday that I may celebrate -the return of health to Brother Kellar,” said -Gerson Brandt, smiling upon his old friend, who lay, -weak and prostrated, among the pillows. At this -point Piepmatz abandoned the doxology and burst -into a flood of song.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hush, thou saucy bird,” Walda commanded. She -went to the cage and playfully shook her finger at -the chaffinch. “See, he knoweth there is reason to -be glad,” she declared. “Verily he hath much wisdom.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Piepmatz is something of a philosopher,” remarked -Everett. “He makes the best of his imprisonment. -Like the people of Zanah, he appears to care little -for the great world.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He hath taught me many a lesson of submission,” -said Walda.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Still, his tiny heart is easily touched by worldly -things,” said the school-master. “He hath shown a -dangerous inclination to take up the song the stranger -hath whistled.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Let me see whether you have forgotten the worldly -song.” It was Everett who spoke. Going to the -cage he whistled the minor strain of the love-song. -Piepmatz proudly imitated him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You see, I might have been a good school-master -<span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>if fate had not decreed otherwise,” said Everett, addressing -Gerson Brandt.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What is thy work in the world?” asked Walda. -“Since my thoughtless plea kept thee here I have -often wondered about thy daily labors. At first I -thought thou didst tend the sick, but once I heard -thee say that thou hadst not yet begun that labor.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“So far I have not done any one thing,” Everett -confessed, with a feeling of shame.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How dost thou spend thy days?” the school-master -inquired.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett hesitated before answering. In all his life -it had never occurred to him to think how his days -were spent.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Since I left college I have travelled a great deal,” -he replied, evasively.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And hast thou seen the whole world?” asked -Walda. Wonder was written on her face.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I have seen much of it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wilhelm Kellar made an inarticulate sound.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Perhaps it disturbeth Brother Kellar to hear thee -speak of the wicked world which he left long ago,” -said Gerson Brandt. “Like thee, he hath seen it all; -he hath wandered over land and sea.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Knowing the world, my father hath kept me safe -from it.” Walda had drawn the stool first occupied -by Everett close to the head of the lounge, and, sitting -near to the sick man, she clasped one of his hands.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>“Thou knowest, dear, that I have put away from me -all vain longings to know aught of life outside of -Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wilhelm Kellar closed his eyes with a look of contentment.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Didst thou mean me to understand that thou art -that abomination of the Lord, an idle and slothful -man?” he asked Everett, after a moment of reflection.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I confess that I have not done half my duty,” said -Everett, humbly; “but I have spent many years in -study; I have dipped into science.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Science? Zanah hath naught to do with science,” -said Gerson Brandt. “Science would reveal the mysteries -of nature that the Lord hath hidden from his -people.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Don’t you think that the man who inquires just -how the tiny body of Piepmatz has had its origin in -the egg, how the bones and muscles that form the -wing give him the power of flight, and how his mite of -a brain is made to be the home of at least a fragment -of intelligence has a wider conception of the -omnipotence of God than he who knows nothing -of what you call the secrets of nature?” asked Everett.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I would not place my judgment against the judgment -of Zanah,” said Gerson Brandt. “And yet when -I was a boy I learned about the growth of a flower, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>and my soul was quickened with a new impulse towards -worship.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“They tell me there is a magic force called electricity -that is now performing what would once have -been called miracles,” said Walda.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It seemed incredible to Everett that, notwithstanding -all the barriers placed between Zanah and the outside -world, it could be possible so completely to shut -out all that was modern.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes; electricity propels cars; it gives men the power -to talk when they are hundreds of miles apart; it -sends words across the continent, literally, with lightning -rapidity. You know the latest achievement of -science is the discovery of the x-ray, by which it is -possible to look through a man’s body so that the -bones are visible.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How strange it all is!” exclaimed Walda, who was -still stroking her father’s hand.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The wisdom of the world is so great that no one -man can understand more than the smallest fragment -of it,” averred Gerson Brandt.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda was lost in thought for another moment or -two.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou makest it clear to me that we people of -Zanah must seem strange, indeed, to thee.” She -spoke slowly. “According to thy standard, I, who -am thought wise enough to be chosen prophetess -of the colony, must be ignorant and childish. Out -<span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>in the world they would jeer at me, would they -not?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou wilt have a wisdom that the world cannot -give,” said Gerson Brandt. “Thou shalt be spared -from contact with the mammon of unrighteousness.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, Gerson, it seemeth to me there must be good -men in the world. Stephen Everett, the stranger -who hath come to us, belongeth not to those who are -bound to the idols of sin.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett, who had been sitting in one of the splint-bottomed -arm-chairs, was touched by the girl’s artless -words. He rose to his feet and responded quickly:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“According to Zanah’s standard I may not be a -good man, but out in the world I am not singled out -as one of the profligates. I hold honor dear. You -people of Zanah may trust me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We have trusted thee,” said Gerson Brandt. “We -have prayed much over thee, and it hath been revealed -to us that thou wert sent from the Lord. We -trust thee so much that we have let thee speak to -Walda Kellar, who hath never known any one belonging -to the world.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt stood up and faced Everett. An -intensity in his tone gave his words strong emphasis. -Wilhelm Kellar turned his head on his pillow, and his -sunken eyes stared at Everett as if they would read -his uttermost thoughts. A deep flush overspread -Everett’s face, and the realization swept over him -<span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>that perhaps he might have it in his power to disturb -all the plans of Zanah by turning Walda Kellar’s -thoughts away from what he regarded as the superstition -of the colony. Human nature is contradictory, -and Gerson Brandt’s words presented clearly a temptation -that had but vaguely suggested itself to him. -He could appear not to recognize the insinuation conveyed -by the school-master, and therefore he replied, -evasively:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My intentions are good. It was an unselfish motive -that prompted me to remain in the colony. When -Wilhelm Kellar has recovered I shall go away, and -you will all forget that I ever came to Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, we shall not forget thee,” said Walda. “We -shall always be grateful to thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The conversation was interrupted at this point by -the appearance of Karl Weisel. He had scarcely -finished his greetings when Mother Kaufmann and -Gretchen Schneider came into the room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How is it that the prophetess of Zanah hath time -to spend in the company of men?” asked Mother -Kaufmann. “It might be better to pass the days -alone, praying and reading the Bible.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How is it that Mother Kaufmann dares to speak -thus sharply in the presence of the woman chosen -to guide the colony of Zanah?” retorted Gerson -Brandt.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I like not this dispensation which permits Walda -<span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span>Kellar to be brought under the influence of a sinful -man of the world.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mother Kaufmann spoke in her guttural German. -She had advanced close to Gerson Brandt.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The colony is not ruled by old women, and thy -likes weigh little in Zanah,” declared Karl Weisel, -whose chair had been drawn near to the one chosen -by Gretchen Schneider.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If Zanah were ruled by old women the head of the -thirteen elders would not be coveting the daughter of -the Herr Doktor,” said Mother Kaufmann, losing all -caution in her anger.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gretchen Schneider’s thin face turned a livid yellow, -and Karl Weisel sprang forward as if he would like to -grasp the woman by the throat.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Peace, children of Zanah,” commanded Walda, rising -in majestic indignation. “Your words are shameful. -Put away from you the spirit of contention.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wilhelm Kellar had made an effort to speak, but in -the excitement of the moment his tongue refused to -frame the words. Everett, looking at him, saw that -there were beads of perspiration on his brow and that -he looked exhausted.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Send these people out of the room,” he said to -Gerson Brandt. “Wilhelm Kellar must be kept -quiet.” He went to the table, where he began to -mix a soothing draught, while Gerson Brandt dismissed -the three visitors. The school-master preceded -<span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>them out of the room, leaving Walda and Everett -to soothe the sick man, who showed signs of -extreme exhaustion. When the medicine had been -administered, Walda drew together the white curtains -and placed a chintz screen before the window.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He looketh almost as if death were near,” she -whispered to Everett.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Do not be alarmed,” he replied; “he will soon fall -asleep, and when he awakens he will be as well as he -was this morning.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The girl bent over her father to watch the faint -breathing. The old man’s face was ghastly in its -emaciation and pallor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou wilt not leave me yet?” she said, entreatingly. -“Sit here with me until I am sure he is slumbering -peacefully.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda took her place on an old oaken bench above -which hung Gerson Brandt’s book-shelves, and Everett -drew one of the chairs close to the table, near to -the place where Walda sat. Instead of taking up her -knitting the girl leaned on the oaken arm of the -bench, and with her chin in her hands she became -lost in thought.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Through thee it hath become plain to me that I -am different from the women out there in the world,” -she said, presently. “Sometimes there hath come -over me a great fear lest one day I shall be sorely -tempted to go forth among men and women of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>earth. In the days of my rebellion, when I turned a -deaf ear to the calling of the spirit, I dreamed of going -away from Zanah. Since I have known thee I have -sometimes faltered, even as my steps were being led -near to the place of peace which will be revealed to -me when the inspiration cometh.” She spoke as if -she were thinking aloud, and Everett made no response, -for he dared not say the words that came to -his lips.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou knowest the world,” she continued. “Dost -thou think that I could ever be tempted to forget my -duty to the people of Zanah? Shall I be able always -to walk near to God?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is said that there is a supreme temptation for -every man and for every woman,” said Everett, not -daring to look at her. “You may be spared that, or, -if it comes to you, you may be strong enough to resist -it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There are strange, earthly impulses in my heart -that none but Gerson Brandt can understand,” she -said. “But even he will not let me speak of them.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What are your besetting sins?” Everett asked, -gently. “Can’t you confess them to me? Perhaps -I can judge more fairly than any one in Zanah, because -mine must be the broader view.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda cast upon him a look of such trustfulness -that his conscience smote him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Stephen, my faith in the devil is not strong. I -<span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>like not to think of the power of evil, for truly the -world seemeth good to me. When I walk forth into -the fields something in me maketh me to love the -beauty of the sky, the vast stretches of rolling prairie, -and the shining water of the distant lake. The bird-voices -seem human to me, and yet the meadow-lark -and the robin, the little creatures that God hath made, -appear not to know of Satan’s rule.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Walda, you are not sinning. The Creator of all -things is speaking to you through nature.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Dost thou believe that, Stephen?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes; science teaches that. Have you not been -taught that the wood which burns so brightly on -your hearth is giving out the sunshine stored for years, -so that in time man might use it?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda listened with parted lips.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah, that is good,” she said. “Perhaps thou -couldst unlock many of the mysteries that disturb -me. Canst thou tell how the grain of wheat groweth -when it is put into the ground? Dost thou know how -the egg is changed into the nestling?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Science has probed the secrets of the seed and the -egg, and it has discovered much. If it is permitted, I -will send you books when I have returned to the -world.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, I am but a child in my ignorance. Canst -thou not tell me about the mysteries when thou -comest here to this room?”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>“It would be a privilege to teach you,” said Everett. -“We might have our first lesson to-morrow.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I have not told thee half my wayward impulses,” -Walda declared, presently. “When strangers have -driven to the village I have caught glimpses of women -who wore gay clothes, and I have coveted the gowns -of exquisite color.” She hesitated for a moment, with -something like embarrassment. “And, Stephen,” she -added, “I like thy garb better than that of the men -of Zanah. Thou hast a ring on thy finger that I -think is pretty, and when thou takest from thy pocket -thy gold watch I have a curiosity to look at it. This -shows how easily I am tempted by earthly gauds.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett could not repress a little laugh, but seeing -how much in earnest she was, he said, quite solemnly:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Walda, these are not sins. Your confessions show -that you are a woman with a woman’s impulses. Even -a prophetess cannot help being a little human.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>He took his watch from his pocket and placed it in -her lap. Drawing from his finger a ring of beautifully -wrought gold, he put it into her hand. Walda’s face -crimsoned.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou must not persuade me to put it on,” she half -pleaded, as she looked at the ring; and then, as if to -prevent herself from succumbing to temptation, she -passed it back to Everett. The watch she examined -carefully. “This will mark the seconds, the moments, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>and the hours of all thy life. It should remind -one to make good account of his time.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It has marked some very pleasant moments since -I came to Zanah,” said Everett, and his tones conveyed -to Walda a dim impression that made her suddenly -shy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Some one knocked twice on the door, lifted the -latch, and entered. It was Hans Peter, who carried -in his hand a package of books, letters, and papers.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“These have I brought from the post-office,” said -the simple one, his pale eyes wandering from Walda -to Everett as they sat close together. It was plain, -even to a fool, that their conversation had been of a -sort interesting only to themselves.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The elders ordered that thy mail be given into thy -hands, and I have followed thee here that I might -deliver the chronicles of the wicked world into thy -keeping.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett thanked the simple one, who made no move -to leave the room. Hans Peter still stood playing -with his queer cap and balancing himself first on one -foot and then on the other.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Wouldst thou give me the newspaper when thou -hast read it?” he asked, with something like eagerness -in his tone.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, no, Hans Peter, I cannot disregard the rules -of the colony,” Everett said, carelessly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Dost thou not know that the fool cannot be hurt?” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>asked the simple one. “He hath so little knowledge -that he knoweth not folly from wisdom. To him the -wicked appear good and the good wicked.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett’s mail was scattered on the table where the -simple one had put it. Among the envelopes the man -of the world saw one that enclosed a photograph.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This may be a picture that will interest you,” he -said. “Will you pardon me if I open it?” He tore -off the envelope, and the photograph of a young and -beautiful girl was disclosed. The hair was dressed in -rather an elaborate fashion, and the gown was slightly -décolleté.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This is my young cousin Beatrice,” he remarked. -“She is one of my favorite relatives. I want you to -tell me what you think of her, Walda.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is forbidden in Zanah that we should make the -image of anything on earth,” declared Walda, turning -her eyes away when Everett held the photograph -towards her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I beg your pardon,” he said.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The fool had come close to Everett’s chair, and he -now looked over the stranger’s shoulder.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Is she called beautiful?” he asked.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I believe she is,” said Everett. “Don’t you think -she is a pretty girl?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I like her hair and her necklace,” the simple one -said. “She hath no cap or kerchief. Yea, she is like -an angel.” He hesitated for a moment, looking from -<span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>the picture to Walda, as if he were comparing the -two faces, and he added: “She is not so fair as the -prophetess of Zanah. Dost thou think her more -comely than Walda Kellar?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hush, Hans Peter; thou knowest it is a sin to see -that a woman is fair or comely,” warned Walda.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The simple one shook his head of tangled, straw-colored -hair, and answered:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou forgettest the fool knoweth not right from -wrong; he is the only free man in the whole colony.” -He threw his cap into the air, but his stolid face betrayed -no sign that he might be exulting over his -emancipation from the laws of Zanah.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Here, gather up these letters and papers and come -with me to the inn,” said Everett. He thrust the -photograph into the outside pocket of his coat.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Now, indeed, do I know that I am a daughter of -Eve,” said Walda, rising. “To-day it hath been made -plain to me that I am not like unto the women of -the world. I—I—I would have one glimpse of thy -cousin. Dost thou think it would be very sinful if I -looked at the image of thy kinswoman?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Sinful! I think it is your right to know something -of the women outside the colony,” Everett declared. -He took the picture from his pocket and put it into -her hand.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda studied the face for a few moments.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thy cousin Beatrice is fair indeed.” As she spoke -<span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span>the faintest sigh accompanied her words. “Wilt thou -not tell me something of her?” she asked. “Doth she -wear this gown and this necklace when she worketh?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The picture of his cousin Beatrice working was so -absurd that Everett smiled.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This is the sort of a gown my cousin wears when -she goes to a ball,” he explained.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“A ball! What is a ball?” asked Walda.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, it is a party—an assembly of men and women -where there are music and flowers and brilliant lights.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And what do the people do? Do they sing hymns -and pray as we do at our meetings?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Again Everett smiled. The spectacle of the guests -at a modern ball joining in hymns and prayers would -be entertaining indeed, he thought.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“They talk and dance, Walda.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There is dancing spoken of in the Bible,” said -Walda; “but the elders of Zanah have told the people -how the rite hath been degraded by the men and -women of the world. I have heard that dancing is no -longer a religious ceremony.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That is true, indeed,” said Everett, and the memory -of some of the stage-dancing flashed across his -brain.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What is thy cousin’s work?” Walda inquired, -again studying the photograph.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Work?” repeated Everett. “Why, she has no -work.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>“And doth all thy family belong to the drones?” -Walda asked. “How is it that out in the world some -men and women are permitted to be idle while others -labor?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Now, Walda, you have hit upon one of the great -social problems. Out in the world the people do not -work for the common good. Selfishness rules. Some -men and some women are born to wealth, and some -are born to poverty.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou meanest that some men are like Solomon -and others are like the beggars that lay outside the -gates of Jerusalem?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, that is what I mean,” said Everett.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Art thou like Solomon? Hast thou gold that thou -keepest from the poor and hungry?” Walda placed -the picture upon the table and withdrew several steps -from Everett.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I am not like Solomon, Walda,” Everett replied, -with an uncomfortable feeling that he belonged to a -useless class.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But you have money so that you live without -work?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes,” admitted Everett, with some reluctance.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He carrieth much silver with him,” said Hans -Peter, who had listened intently to the conversation. -“He hath tossed me many a piece when I have run -errands for him.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, thou dost give away thy money?” Walda’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>tone betrayed her relief at the thought that, after all, -Everett might not be altogether selfish.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, I give away some of my money,” Stephen -answered; “but I have not done half the good with it -that I should. Perhaps I may learn here in Zanah -how to employ my time and my money to better advantage.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Now, indeed, I know that the Lord hath sent thee -here for thine own good.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Sometimes I am not so sure of it, Walda,” said -Everett, and, turning quickly, he took up his hat. He -pushed open the door, motioned to the simple one to -pass out first, hesitated a moment, and then returned -to Walda’s side.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Don’t think of me as such a bad man,” he said.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, there is something in my heart that maketh -me believe only that thou art wise and true.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Quickly he left the room, and as he went down the -stairs he reflected that one of the first steps in wisdom -is that which takes a man away from a great temptation. -Walda, standing alone by the table, thought of -many things, and then, strangely enough, Piepmatz, -looking from his little cage, whistled the notes of the -love-song that Everett had taught him.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span> - <h2 class='c005'>XI</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c007'>After leaving Walda, Stephen Everett walked far -out into the country. At first he did not try to -analyze his thoughts. He felt an unwonted buoyancy -and hope. Between him and the brilliant sky -he saw the face of the future prophetess of Zanah. -He felt her sweet presence, and gradually he came -into a knowledge that the girl was gaining a mastering -power over him. Because he was more or less of -a trifler in the great world of action, he had been willing -to stay in the colony long enough to gain some -new impressions. At first the girl had been only a -central figure in a quaint picture that seemed to belong -to another time and to another country. There -had been days that had bored him, and a hundred -times he had repented of his rash pledge that held -him in Zanah for an indefinite period. Now he knew -that Walda Kellar had become to him more than a -passing acquaintance. As he hastened away from the -village, his first exultation in having gained from her -something of a personal recognition led him to think -of his own motives in attempting to win what he -called the friendship of this woman of Zanah.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span>Beneath all his aimlessness and indifference, Everett -held high ideals of womanhood. He was a man -who cherished chivalrous traditions, and when his -footsteps finally brought him back from the foot of -the bluff to the edge of the little lake, that now reflected -a purple sky, he threw himself upon the ground -to think seriously of his intentions. It was plain to -him that the prophetess of Zanah never could belong -wholly to his world. The memory of his associations -in New York and Newport made him almost doubt -his own identity. Visions of the fashionable and frivolous -women who were part of what is known as -American society presented themselves to him. He -saw the gorgeous gowns and flashing jewels of matrons -and maids whom he knew. He recalled their rather -brilliant conversation. In his mind’s eye he pictured -an autumn ball at Tuxedo—he had just received a -letter mentioning a great entertainment that was to -take place that very evening—and he tried to imagine -how Walda Kellar would appear as one of those whom -the colony condemned. There were girls belonging -to the gayest circles of Eastern cities who were -pleased to call him friend, and yet he valued their -favors as nothing compared with the esteem that he -coveted from the woman of Zanah. In thinking of -Walda he soothed his conscience by telling himself -that esteem was the word which described the interest -he wished the girl to feel for him. And then the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>thought came to him, insistently, that he was playing -the part of a contemptible egotist, and that he was -secretly longing to awaken in the heart of the prophetess -of Zanah earthly love that was forbidden to her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It is a human trait to desire what is beyond one’s -reach, and Everett acknowledged to himself that part -of the charm which the girl of the colony cast upon -him was due to her elusiveness and to her ignorance -of all that pertained to what were the every-day experiences -of ordinary women. She was the one woman -that he might claim unsullied and untouched by -love for any other man, and yet with a sudden sensation -of shame he realized that he was presumptuous -to feel himself entitled to a love that would, indeed, -be sent from heaven.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett took from his pocket some of the letters -that he had received during the week. All of them -told of events that formerly had interested him. The -letters took him back to his own place in the broad -life of America. He reasoned with himself that he -might leave Zanah within a week. He would go away -without striving further to probe the mysterious nature -of the prophetess of Zanah, and he would remember -his sojourn in the colony as one of the many pleasant -incidents in his varied life. Having settled the -question to his own satisfaction, he experienced a -sensation of relief. He strolled back to the village. -Entering the inn, he found Diedrich Werther smoking -<span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>a pipe behind the dog-eared register, which had not -recorded a name since his own had been written there. -He asked some questions about the hunting, and the -innkeeper told him of a distant pond where ducks -were plentiful. Everett announced that he meant to -take his gun out early the next morning, and he asked -whether Hans Peter might accompany him. Incidentally -he dropped the remark that he expected to -leave the colony within a few days. Then he borrowed -the old-fashioned ink-horn and a quill-pen, -which he took to one of the tables in a far corner of -the main room of the inn. Selecting a dozen sheets -of yellow paper from Diedrich Werther’s store of stationery, -he began to write letters to the friends he had -almost forgotten for a fortnight.</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was a woman in Newport to whom he had -meant to send a note. He thought of her amusement -when she would receive a sample of Diedrich Werther’s -yellow stationery. He wrote the date line, and then he -found it difficult to frame a graceful and conventional -greeting to one whom he had quite forgotten for many -days. He leaned back in his chair and tried to imagine -how this woman and Walda would appear if he -saw them together. The one was a typical product -of American civilization, that educates its women -broadly, giving them the liberty to mingle freely with -the greatest of many lands—a woman born to wealth -and station, one who knew how to value her extraordinary -<span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span>advantages, and how to make the most of them. -She was still young, but she had learned much of the -world, for she had travelled widely and had read -books of every class. She had few illusions. He remembered -that her broad grasp of life had sometimes -shocked him. She had studied much of philosophy, -and had but desultory connection with a fashionable -church. She was witty, brilliant, fascinating. She -was an aristocrat, in the best sense of the word. Her -gowns were artistic masterpieces. A picture of her -as he had seen her at an Easter ball came back to him. -He recalled the shimmering satin and the frost of lace -that set off her imperious beauty. That night he had -been almost persuaded that she was the one woman -in the world. For a moment he quite forgot Zanah. -He was impatient to go back to the gay world that -held so much of beauty and brightness. It was a -strange vagary, this sojourn in the colony. He dipped -the quill-pen into the ink-horn again. He drew the -ugly sheet of yellow paper towards him, and then -he heard the heavy step of Mother Werther as she -hastened across the great kitchen to the porch.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Walda, where art thou going?” she said.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Before he knew what he was doing, Everett had -dropped his pen and sauntered out-of-doors into the -little square where Walda had paused at the well. She -was giving a cup of water to a child, and at first she -did not see Everett. She was standing so that he -<span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span>could see only her profile, and its purity of outline -made him say to himself that he had never beheld a -face so clear-cut. The delicate line of the lips, which -were always firmly closed, denoted a strength of character -that the chin rather contradicted in its full -curve. He went to her, and, taking the cup from her -hand, hung it in its accustomed place.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I am glad to have met you, Walda,” he said, with -a little hesitation as he spoke her name, “for I am -thinking of going away this week—”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The girl gave him a startled look.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, tell me not that, Stephen Everett,” she answered. -“Truly, thou dost not mean thou wilt leave -Zanah before the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Surely, you do not care whether I go or stay?” he -said.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The prophetess of Zanah knew no arts of coquetry. -She did not understand the significance of his words, -and she looked into his face with clear, untroubled -eyes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah, but I do care,” she exclaimed. “My father -needs thee yet; he is not so strong to-day.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>She turned away from the well and began to walk -towards the bridge. Everett followed her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Your father will get on without me,” he declared, -with some coldness, for the girl’s unconscious rebuff -irritated him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, thou seemest to hold the power which keepeth -<span class='pageno' id='Page_122'>122</span>him alive. I mean, that although it is the Lord -that hath vouchsafed to spare him, thou art his instrument. -My faith is not steadfast. I am weak, -indeed; but thou hast seemed to me a stay, a strong -staff upon which I lean.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is good to know that you count me even a little -help.” An intonation in his voice told her that he -felt himself aggrieved.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou must count me a selfish woman of Zanah,” -she made haste to say. “Thou hast stayed many -days here in the colony, and neglected thine own -work that thou mightst minister to my father.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I have but kept my pledge to you.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou hast my gratitude, Stephen.” She paused -on the bridge. “I cannot estimate what sacrifice -thou hast made to keep thy word, but thou hast -caused me to know that all who belong to the great -world are not wicked. Verily, Stephen, thou dost -serve the Lord.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett did not reply immediately. He had a -guilty sense of misleading the prophetess of Zanah. -He knew that of all his life but the smallest fragments -had been given to service of any sort. A sense of -regret for the futile years he had spent made him turn -away, for the girl was looking at him with a searching -gaze that made him uncomfortable.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The darkness is falling; I must hasten on,” said -Walda, but she did not move.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span>“Where were you going?” asked Everett. “Let -me walk with you?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is not the custom for the men of Zanah to talk -with the women, or to walk with them,” said Walda. -“It hath been decreed by the elders that I shall go -alone at this hour every night to pray at the grave of -Marta Bachmann.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I am not a man of Zanah. The cemetery is half -a mile from here, along a lonely road. Let me go -with you?” he pleaded, and, without waiting for an -answer, he took her permission for granted. It was -the hour for the evening meeting, and the street was -quite deserted, so he knew that they ran little risk of -being seen together in the dusk of the late summer -day.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They walked slowly up the hill beyond the bridge. -They passed the school-house, and Walda paused to -look up at the little window of her father’s room, -whence shone a candle-beam.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“When I think that through thy help I still have -my father, there is so much of gratitude in my heart -that I cannot speak it,” she said. “Surely, it will not -be long before he is again able to mingle with the -colony?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Not very long, if all goes well,” said Everett. “I -hear that he is much needed by the elders of Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Bad luck hath come to the mills and the crops. I -fear that we have not looked steadfastly to the Lord -<span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>for guidance. I pray that it may be revealed through -me what we shall do to increase the prosperity of -Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>They were on the brow of the hill now, and had entered -the wavering road, arched with oak and maple -trees. Everett was silent for a few minutes while he -pondered upon some method by which he could lead -the conversation away from general topics. While -the girl betrayed no uneasiness in his companionship, -he knew that he must use the utmost tact -if he would appeal to the woman instead of the -prophetess.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And when you are inspired, will you live apart -from the people of Zanah?” he said. “You will pardon -me, but I have often wondered just what your -life will be. Are you never to know the duties and -the joys that belong to other women?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I am to walk close to God. I am to forget self. -I am to serve Zanah all my life.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda spoke in a solemn tone, and her absolute -resignation to the lot that appeared to the man of the -world a needless and ridiculous sacrifice awoke a spirit -of revolt in Everett’s heart.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Temptations have assailed me,” she confessed, -after a pause. “Now and then there hath been a restlessness -within me. Thou hast sometimes appeared -to me as one sent from Satan, for thou hast painted -the great world most alluringly.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span>Walda drew away from Everett, and he could feel -that she was looking at him with fear and distrust.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You misunderstand me,” said Everett. “I know -that you live near to heaven, that you are better than -the women I know. I reverence you, I—I—”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Although Everett made an effort to speak calmly, -the intensity of his voice and manner disturbed the -unfathomed depths of Walda’s soul. After the manner -of Zanah she instinctively folded her hands over -her bosom with a gesture that signified to the colonists -the warding off of all worldly influences.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hush!” she said. “Speak not thus to the prophetess -of Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I am not speaking to the prophetess now,” said -Everett, taking a quick step in front of her. “Walda, -listen to me. Don’t you know that you are choosing -for your life loneliness and isolation? I think of you -here in Zanah in the years that are coming, and I cannot -bear to feel that one day will be just like another -until the end.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“A man thou art who hath set his thoughts on -earth. Stephen, dost thou not know sorrow and -trouble cannot touch me when I walk near to God? -Hast thy spirit never been lifted up above all that belongs -to self? Hast thou never been near to heaven -in thy thoughts?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Never until now,” said Everett.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Into Walda’s face came a new light.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span>“Dost thou mean that thou hast learned in Zanah -to think less of the world and to long for heaven?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The man looked down at the girl. She was so near -him that the light breeze blew her gown against him. -He stifled a longing to put out his hand to touch her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, Walda, I can say with all truthfulness that -the world has become as nothing to me, and that I -long for heaven.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou hast made me very happy, Stephen. It -hath been a sorrow to me to know that thou wert not -numbered with those who strive to earn eternal life.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Then you have been troubled about me?” Everett -questioned.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The girl hesitated a moment.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I have hoped that I might meet thee in the other -life, where there are none of the barriers that divide -men and women who would serve the Lord.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett felt the blood pour out of his heart. The -girl had made a strange admission. For a brief moment -he was glad with all the joy of an unexpected -victory. Exultant words came to his lips, but when -he looked at Walda he felt anew the awe that her innocence -and her spirituality cast upon him. She -appeared absolutely unconscious of what her admission -meant to the man of the world. She moved onward. -They emerged from the wooded road and -came to the shore of the placid little lake. The distant -bluffs beyond the lake were dimly outlined in the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>evening shadows, and above them the last lingering -purple of the sunset was fading in the sky. In the -trees behind them a bird trilled the fragment of a -dream-song. The beauty of the scene, the quiet of -the night, and the nearness of Walda stirred in Everett -warring impulses, yet he was dumb before the -prophetess of Zanah. The girl’s attitude of perfect -trust in him forbade him to take advantage of the opportunity -to tell her that his heaven was not the one -for which she lived and worked, and yet he felt almost -cowardly in letting her believe that his sudden aspiration -was a religious experience.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Stephen, I would have thee know what is in my -heart,” she said, fixing her clear eyes on him. “I -would have thee understand that I am but a weak -woman of Zanah, called to do the Lord’s will. There -have been times when Satan tempted me with longing -for the things forever denied to the people of -Zanah. There have been days when I begged that I -might not be compelled to be the prophetess. Often -have I prayed to escape this work of the Master, but -since thou camest to Zanah there hath been a new -strength in me. Thou hast made me see many things -unto which mine eyes were closed; thou hast helped -me to wisdom not vouchsafed to the colony of Zanah. -Since one day, when thou didst teach me to look from -the window of my father’s room, and behold the beauties -of earth and sky, peace hath come to me from -<span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span>the woods and fields whenever there was unrest in my -soul. Now that thou hast aspirations for heaven, I -am assured that thou art one sent from God to help -the least of his children.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I am unworthy to be your teacher,” Everett faltered.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They walked on until they came to the high, arched -gate of the graveyard. Everett unlatched the gate -and they went in among the sunken mounds, each of -which was marked by a flat stone bearing the simple -name of some colonist who had passed out of the narrow -life of Zanah. On a little knoll, separated from -the other graves, was one over which a willow-tree -trailed its low branches. Towards this Walda led the -way, and when they had come to it she said to Everett:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou must leave me now.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I was thinking of going away from Zanah,” said -Everett, with a sudden memory of his letters. “When -I took the liberty of walking with you to-night it was -my intention to say good-bye to you, Walda.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The girl turned on him a glance of such frank regret -that he asked again:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Will you miss me, Walda?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Miss thee?” she repeated. “Yea, for I have come -to count thee as one who maketh each day better for -me. Thou hast become like unto Gerson Brandt in -thy brotherly care.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span>Everett winced.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But I don’t want you to think of me as your -brother,” he said. “I would have you call me -friend.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, friendship is denied between men and women -in Zanah. Have I not told thee that before? But -surely thou wilt not go away before the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was a tone of pleading in the girl’s voice.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Since I have to leave Zanah, since I have to go out -into the world, where I shall be lost to you, I may as -well go now as at any future time.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, wait in Zanah until after the spirit of -strength hath taken possession of me. When I am, -indeed, the instrument of the Lord, then can I see thee -turn again to the world. Then can I know, indeed, -it will be well with me. Stephen, thou hast just said -thou art near to heaven, and I would send thee forth -with a firm faith. From now until the day of the -<i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i> I will pray for thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Your wishes shall be commands to me, Walda. -But if I decide to stay in Zanah, it will mean much to -me. There may be days when I shall repent that I -changed my mind.” He stood looking at her for a -moment. “I will pledge myself to wait in Zanah until -the day on which the colonists expect to recognize -you as their prophetess.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou hast made me glad, Stephen. Since it is for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>thy good to stay here, I can no longer feel that I am -selfish.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Inasmuch as you have accepted my pledge, you -must let me take your hand as a token of my promise,” -said Everett. In the intensity of his longing -there was such a compelling force that Walda made -no objection when, without waiting for her permission, -he took both her hands in his, and held them for a -moment. A deep flush suffused her pure face, and for -the first time in all their acquaintance her eyes refused -to meet his. Her hands trembled, and with a sudden -awakening to something of the consciousness that first -comes to every woman who is loved, she suddenly -freed herself.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Peace be with thee to-night, Stephen,” she said. -She turned quickly, and took a few slow steps towards -the grave of Marta Bachmann. Everett, looking -after her, beheld a strange shape rise above the tomb. -He strode forward to see what it might be, and in the -dim light recognized Hans Peter.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What are you doing here?” he demanded, in a -stern voice.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The fool leisurely seated himself upon the flat stone -and answered:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The simple one doth not have to account to any -man concerning himself. The fool can do no harm. -It is the man from the wicked world that should be -under watch among the people of Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>Hans Peter swung his short legs over the edge of -the gravestone; and if his words had a sinister meaning, -his round, immobile face betrayed not the slightest -expression of intelligence. He took from his -pocket one of his treasured gourds, calmly opened -his knife, and made a few marks.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hans Peter, thou shouldst remember to treat the -stranger within our gates with respect,” said Walda, -reprovingly; but the fool seemed not to hear her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett lingered beside the girl, as if he could not -summon courage to go away.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Leave me here alone,” Walda commanded, gently. -“Hans Peter will take me back to the village.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>As Everett latched the gate to the cemetery he -looked back to see Walda kneeling at the grave, -while Hans Peter, who had withdrawn to a little distance, -lay flat upon a sunken stone.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span> - <h2 class='c005'>XII</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c007'>Gerson Brandt went about his duties with a -listless air. The boys who gathered every morning -in the learning-school noticed that he was less -exacting about their lessons, and that often his -thoughts appeared far away. When he ascended to -the little platform, after returning from morning -prayers in the meeting-house, he looked down upon -them with compassion in his glance. It was noticed -that his thin face was pinched and that his eyes were -sunken. When they opened their word-books for the -spelling-class he showed slight interest. During recess -he sat with his head resting on his hands and his -eyes fixed on the old desk. One day, when he was -even more preoccupied than usual, Adolph Schneider -and Karl Weisel visited the school in order to inquire -into the progress of the boys of Zanah. Gerson -Brandt called his pupils to order.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The Herr Doktor would speak with you,” he said.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, I would know whether you are diligent in -your lessons,” announced Adolph Schneider. He -pounded on the floor with his cane, and spoke in a -tone that frightened the more timid of the children.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>“Why was Adam cast out of the Garden of Eden?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was a moment of silence. All the tow-headed -boys, with arms folded across their breasts, stared -straight ahead of them. Karl Weisel, who had taken -the school-master’s chair, tipped it back against the -black-board, twirled his thumbs, and stared at the -rows of benches with something like a sneer on his -heavy features. The school-master, standing on the -floor beside the platform, looked out of the nearest -window and waited patiently for the tardy answer.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Can any one tell me why Adam was cast out of the -Garden of Eden?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Herr Doktor repeated his question in a thundering -tone.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Because he ate an apple,” piped a small voice -from a far corner of the room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And art thou taught that it is wicked to eat an -apple?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>A dozen tow-heads were shaken emphatically.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The apple grew on the tree of knowledge.” It -was a pale, red-haired child who spoke.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is Johann Werther who knows about the tree -of knowledge,” said the Herr Doktor. “At the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">gasthaus</span></i> -Johann sometimes hath a glimpse of forbidden -things.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Scores of round eyes immediately were turned upon -Johann with glances of envy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But did man fall through his own sinful desires?” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>questioned the Herr Doktor, standing very straight, -throwing out his chest, and lifting his chin out of his -big stock.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It was Eve who did tempt him,” announced a -small boy that sat on the front seat.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Right. Sin came into the world through a woman, -and ever since then the man who would reach -heaven hath to guard against the wiles of the temptress. -If it had not been for a woman, we might now -be living in the Garden of Eden.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, Brother Schneider, teach not that women -are evil.” Gerson Brandt placed one thin hand on -the desk and turned on the Herr Doktor a face in -which was a determined look. “It is meet that thou -shouldst tell the children how the world was saved -through a woman, who was the mother of Christ.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Gerson Brandt, interrupt not this lesson. I have -come here to measure the knowledge of those intrusted -to thy care.” Adolph Schneider again pounded the -floor with his cane. “Can the school tell me nothing -more about Eve’s fall?” Adolph Schneider asked.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the back part of the room rose the fool. He had -in his hand one of the gourds that he always carried -with him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The Bible teacheth us it was the serpent that did -tempt Eve,” he said, studying the gourd as if he were -reading from it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ja, ja,” said the Herr Doktor; “but Eve, being a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>woman, was full of curiosity; she inclined her ear to -the serpent.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And Adam did incline his ear to Eve,” the simple -one announced. “It is said it is always thus. Even -in the colony I have noticed that the men are keen, -indeed, to hear what the women would say.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Something like a smile flitted over Karl Weisel’s -face. He brought his chair forward on its four legs, -and listened for what was coming.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Take thy seat. How darest thou comment on the -men and women of Zanah? Thou art the simple one -who cannot separate good from evil.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The fool still stood in his place with the gourd in -his hand.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The fool hath ears that he can hear; he hath eyes -that he can see.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But what he seeth and heareth hath not the right -meaning to him.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The fool hath seen Karl Weisel, head of the thirteen -elders, listen to the words of Gretchen Schneider, -the daughter of the leader of Zanah,” declared the -fool, still reading from his gourd.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Silence!” shouted the Herr Doktor. Turning to -Gerson Brandt, he said: “So the fool hath become a -spy. He is more dangerous than a wise man.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The truth is not in him,” said Karl Weisel, springing -to his feet. “Hans Peter should be kept in confinement -where he cannot speak harmful things.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>“He meaneth nothing wrong,” said Gerson Brandt. -“Be merciful to the simple one.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The main object in coming here to-day was to instruct -you concerning the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>,” said Adolph -Schneider, when Karl Weisel had resumed his seat -and the children were once more gazing stolidly in -front of them. “I hope you are all prepared to give -an account of your souls when the elders of Zanah -shall inquire into your spiritual condition. From -now until the day when we hope to behold the inspiration -of a new prophetess I want you all to think over -your sins. I wonder how many of you have told a lie -this week.” Every boy in the school looked guilty. -“I should like to have all who have spoken only the -truth stand up that I may see them.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, ask not that,” said the school-master. “I -fear lest the children be tempted to forget their shortcomings -and to act a falsehood because they desire -to appear well before thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Since the loss of thine illuminated Bible thou art -tender-hearted towards liars,” said Karl Weisel, in an -undertone.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thy taunt shouldst cost thee dear, Karl Weisel, -were it not forbidden in Zanah that we should resent -insult.” In an instant the gentle school-master was -transformed. He stood erect, and the scorn in his -tone made the head of the thirteen elders feel that the -contempt of a righteous man was something not to be -<span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span>easily ignored. The Herr Doktor gave the boys no -opportunity to perjure themselves.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I want you to prepare for the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i> with -prayer and fasting,” he said, and there was dismay -upon every face before him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It hath been shown the elders of Zanah that Walda -Kellar is to be the instrument of the Lord. From -her lips will fall words of wisdom. You all know her, -for she hath often spoken to you. She hath sung to -you hymns of praise. She will no longer come among -you, for she must live apart, but it will be revealed to -her what is best for the colony. You must no longer -run to her as if she were your mother. You must -bow before her. You must no longer speak unto -her, for she will be above all the people of the -colony.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The hand of Johann Werther was raised, and, when -he had been given permission to speak, he asked:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Are all women daughters of Eve?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, yea,” declared the Herr Doktor. “Thou -knowest that Eve was the mother of all.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And Walda Kellar is to be the instrument of the -Lord?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why ask foolish questions? Thou knowest she is -to be the inspired one.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I would know why a man was not chosen instead -of a daughter of Eve?” said Johann.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou shouldst use thy silly brain for less mighty -<span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span>questions,” was the stern reply. Turning to the -school-master the Herr Doktor gave the order:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Dismiss thy pupils.” Adding: “We would talk -with thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt sent the boys out-of-doors, and then -waited for the president of the colony to speak.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Brother Weisel and I are dissatisfied about many -things in the colony,” announced Adolph Schneider, -taking a seat on the platform. “There is general discontent. -If the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i> were not so near, we -should be alarmed for the peace of Zanah. The loss -of the Bible hath cast suspicion upon thee, Brother -Brandt. It is not my desire to say unpleasant things -to thee, but in Zanah we are all truthful. Thou wilt -not again be elected as elder unless thou canst trace -the Bible.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It would be better for thee to say that Brother -Brandt cannot be elected unless he decides to bring -the Bible from the hidden place that he hath found -for it,” broke in Karl Weisel.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Silence!” commanded the school-master. “Thou -shalt not accuse me of stealing the Bible from the -colony of Zanah and then of denying all knowledge -of it. Take back thy cowardly words.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is the custom to speak what we hold to be the -truth,” said Karl Weisel, in a mocking tone. “I believe -that thou knowest where that Bible is secreted.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It hath been said that men always suspect other -<span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>men of being what they themselves are, and so I make -some allowance for thy words; but thou shalt ask my -pardon.” Gerson Brandt spoke calmly, but his tone -as well as his words made the elder cringe.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I spoke merely for thine own good. It were better -that I told thee what I thought than that I -thought these things and turned to thee a dissembling -face.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Crave my pardon,” said Gerson Brandt.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I humiliate myself before no man,” said Karl -Weisel. “It is my right to say what I think.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is not thy right to cast aspersions on mine -honor. I give thee one more chance to retract thy -base charges.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Karl Weisel put his fat hands into his deep pockets, -rose from his chair, and walked back and forth upon -the platform.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This quarrel is most unseemly,” remarked Adolph -Schneider, who had been leaning on his cane and idly -listening.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Speak!” said Gerson Brandt. “Thou shalt not -leave this room until thou hast taken back thy -words.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Karl Weisel laughed, but in an instant the school-master -had sprung upon the platform. He clutched -the man by the collar, and, with the strength born of -a tremendous indignation, he shook the heavy body of -Karl Weisel until the elder’s teeth chattered.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span>“Loose thine hold upon me!” cried Karl Weisel, -who had turned pale with terror.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt flung him off. He knew he had forgotten -all the precepts of the colony, but again the -elder laughed, this time to disguise his fright.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I give thee a chance to defend thyself,” said Gerson -Brandt. “As man to man we shall fight this -out.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Adolph Schneider put himself between the two combatants, -but Gerson Brandt, stepping past him, dragged -Karl Weisel to the open space beside the platform, -and there, facing him, said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I give thee thy last opportunity to beg my pardon.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Karl Weisel did not open his lips. Instead, he covertly -measured the distance to the door, and with a -movement of unusual quickness turned in flight. He -had not gone half a dozen steps before Gerson Brandt -had him by the collar, and, dragging him back to his -position, waited an instant for him to recover himself. -Then he struck a blow that felled the elder.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Help! Help!” shouted Adolph Schneider, who -still stood upon the platform.</p> - -<p class='c008'>At first the prospect of a fight between the two influential -men of the colony had suggested possibilities -likely to redound into material good for himself, and -he had been content to play the part of listener and -spectator. Now, as he looked at Gerson Brandt, he no -<span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span>longer saw the school-master, but a man tall, sinewy, -and muscular—a man in whose eye flashed anger and -whose pose revealed an unsuspected strength.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Help! Help!” he shouted again.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt assisted his adversary to rise. The -elder was stunned; the school-master pushed him into -a chair, where he sat dazed and silent. Just then -Hans Peter came shuffling in at the door. He walked -as if he had heard an ordinary summons.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Didst thou call?” he asked, addressing the Herr -Doktor. His pale eyes rested on the figure of Karl -Weisel, and there was just the faintest gleam of understanding -in them. Before Adolph Schneider had -a chance to answer, a rustle of skirts and a light step -was heard on the stair that led from Wilhelm Kellar’s -room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hath anything gone amiss here?” asked Walda, -throwing open the door and standing on the threshold. -With a woman’s intuition she saw that there -had been some quarrel.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Be not alarmed,” said Gerson Brandt, walking -down a side aisle at the end of the long benches. “The -elder, Karl Weisel, accused me of stealing the Bible -and of bearing false witness concerning it. The man -in me resented the insult. He refused to apologize, -and I struck him. Even now I am sorry that I should -have hurt one of my fellow-colonists.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, Gerson Brandt, thou didst forget that the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>Lord hath said, ‘Vengeance is Mine,’” cried Walda, -going near to Gerson Brandt. “It is not like thee to -let human passions triumph.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This will cost Gerson Brandt his place as an elder,” -declared Karl Weisel, coming to himself enough -to smooth his ruffled hair and settle his loosened -stock.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This is bad, indeed!” exclaimed Adolph Schneider. -“In all my years of colony life I have never known -one man in Zanah to raise his hand against a brother-colonist.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Surely my provocation was great,” said Gerson -Brandt, “but I am sorry that I allowed anger to control -me even for a moment.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This very night shall I prefer charges against -thee,” Karl Weisel said, rising and waving his hand -with a threatening gesture.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This very night thou shouldst think well over the -quarrel,” said Walda, advancing. “Thou knowest -there hath been wrong on both sides. Art thou willing -to confess that thou hast called thy brother a liar?” -There was a simple majesty in the pose of the girl. -For the moment she was the prophetess of Zanah. -“Beware lest thou bring disgrace and dishonor to the -people of Zanah. It is best that this hour be forgotten. -Blot out thine enmities.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“When Gerson Brandt hath explained what became -of the Bible the cause of all the trouble will be -<span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span>removed,” said Karl Weisel, turning away from the -intense gaze of the girl.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou knowest the Good Book is lost. Thou -knowest that Gerson Brandt never told aught but the -truth. How darest thou impute evil to him? He -hath been always one of the most faithful men in all -Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Turning to the school-master, she said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah, Gerson Brandt, I have prayed much about -the Bible. Disturb not thyself. I have faith that it -will be found. I would that it could be brought to -thee to-day.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the back of the school-room, Hans Peter, who -had been sitting cross-legged in the doorway, pulled -himself to his feet.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I could find the Bible; it is not far away,” he said.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What dost thou know of it?” asked the Herr -Doktor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I know that it lieth in the earth beneath a great -stone. It is safe. Have no fears for it.” Hans -Peter balanced himself first on one bare foot, and then -on the other, and in his face was such a stupid look -that Karl Weisel said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Look at the fool! He would shield the school-master, -to whom he shows a dog’s devotion.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Dost thou really know where the Bible is, Hans -Peter?” asked Walda, laying her hand upon the simple -one’s shoulder.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>“I have not said I knew. I said I knew I could get -it,” answered the fool.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, dissemble not,” pleaded Walda. “I know -now it was thou that didst hide the Bible from the -elders.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The boy looked down to the floor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, I did take the Bible so that the stranger in -Zanah could not buy it with his silver. It was for thy -sake and for Gerson Brandt’s that I took it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Listen not to the fool,” said Karl Weisel. “I -tell thee he would shield Gerson Brandt.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There is a likelihood of truth in his words,” declared -the Herr Doktor. Then, in a thundering tone, -he commanded: “Bring the Bible to me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It may not be easily found,” Hans Peter answered, -still keeping his eyes on the floor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Dare not try to put me off,” thundered Adolph -Schneider, shaking his cane at the simple one. “Without -more ado, fetch it to me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>All this time Gerson Brandt had been standing -silent and sad. He now waited expectantly for the -last answer. He knew that his precious book was, -indeed, in jeopardy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter gently took Walda’s hand from his -shoulder, and, backing to the door, said, rolling his -great head from side to side:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The fool hath no memory. If he would know the -thing that happened yesterday he must mark upon a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_145'>145</span>gourd words that will bring back to his poor mind -what is past.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Let him not make terms; let him not trade upon -his folly,” interposed Karl Weisel.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou hast not forgotten where the Bible is hidden?” -inquired Walda, very gently.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I did bury the gourd that told me where the Bible -is, and upon another gourd I marked where that -gourd was hidden.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Quick! We care not about thy lunatic pastimes. -Bring the Bible!” shouted the Herr Doktor, overcome -with impatience.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And the second gourd I carried in my pocket until -one day, when I was marking on it something the -stranger had told me, the Herr Doktor struck it out -of my hand with his cane and put his heel upon it. -The Bible is safe, but it cannot be found without long -search.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>When the simple one had made his tantalizing -speech, the school-master spoke in a quiet tone:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hans Peter, thou knowest that the precious book -may be spoiled in the ground. Try to think where it -is.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, I tell thee it is safe, for it is wrapped in the -oil-skin in which thou didst keep it, and it is nailed in -a great box that is covered with another box. I did -work upon the boxes a large part of the night before I -buried the Bible.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span>“The village fool is not to be believed,” said Karl -Weisel, “but he ought to be locked up until he can be -made to confess that what he is telling is all a lie.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Herr Doktor descended from the platform, and, -going to the door, clutched Hans Peter by the shoulder. -“Thou shalt have a chance to collect thy wits, -my boy. Come with me. In a dark room in the -cellar of the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">gasthaus</span></i> thou canst stay until thou hast -some memory about the Bible.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Before we part it is well that we all agree to forget -this misunderstanding,” said Walda. “I am sure -Hans Peter will find the Bible, and that we can cast -out all anxiety concerning it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter made no reply. He stood with both -hands thrust into his capacious pockets. The Herr -Doktor pulled him through the door, and, followed by -Karl Weisel, he went down the street towards the inn.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt turned a white and troubled face to -Walda when they were left alone together.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou hast seen me in the clutch of an earthly passion,” -he said. “Thou knowest now how unworthy -I am to be counted as a counsellor of a prophetess. I -have naught to say in extenuation, except that in man -human impulses often triumph over the divine aspirations. -Canst thou forget that I have thus resented -an insult?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda came closer to him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Gerson Brandt, it may be wicked of me, but somehow -<span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span>I like thee better because thou hast demanded -that Karl Weisel retract his sinful words. He hath -called his brother a liar, and God will judge him for -that.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And I should have remembered that I am not the -judge,” said Gerson Brandt. “I should not have let -myself take vengeance into mine own hand. When -thou art the prophetess thou wilt become my teacher, -and, Walda, I am half glad I shall need thine aid to -overcome sin.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou hast been my teacher so long it seemeth I -could never have any wisdom greater than thine.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt looked into her eyes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Being a woman, thou hast wisdom and power of -which thou little dreamest,” he said.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If I have aught of wisdom, it is because thou hast -been my guide ever since I was a child. Gerson -Brandt, thou hast been nearer to me than my father; -thou hast been more to me than all the brothers in the -colony.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It hath always seemed, Walda, that thou wert sent -to reconcile me to life in Zanah. Thy presence hath -helped me to overcome all rebellion. Having prayed -for the time of thine inspiration, it is a struggle for me -to give thee up. It is as if I were losing thee, even -though thou wilt still be in the colony.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, Gerson, it seemeth to me that when the light -of inspiration cometh to me thou must share it, for, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span>after all, it is thy knowledge and thy faith that is in -me. There hath come to me lately something of the -illumination thou hast told me to expect, Gerson -Brandt. There are days when it is as if I stood on the -threshold of heaven. My heart is lifted up with a -strange joy. I hear harmony in the rustling of the -leaves in the trees and the flowing of the water under -the bridge and the faint night-sounds that come to -mine ears when the village hath gone to sleep. Long -after the curfew-bell hath sounded I open my casement -and look out into the sky. It is then I feel the -vastness of the universe, and yet know that God hath -not forgotten me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>As Walda spoke her face was radiant with new joy, -and Gerson Brandt knew she was even then far removed -from him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou lookest from thy casement every night? -Dost thou gaze at the moon?” he asked.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, Gerson Brandt, I look long at the moon.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Walda, that is a habit maidens have when they -think not of God but of man. Thou hast in thy -thought no human being?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There is often a light in the inn; it shineth from -the window of him whom we not long ago called -the stranger in Zanah. It bringeth him into my -mind, and I thank God for his coming to the -colony.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda’s words smote the school-master. A faint -<span class='pageno' id='Page_149'>149</span>color came into his thin cheeks. He steadied himself -against the desk.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is not thy duty to pray for the stranger. The -elders can do that,” he declared.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, but he hath helped me much. He hath -brought me strength.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Beware lest that strength become thy weakness.” -There was a tremor in Gerson Brandt’s voice, and his -manner puzzled the girl.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou dost speak in riddles,” she said. “Thou -knowest his world could not touch me. When I gaze -from my window I am glad, indeed, that the bluffs -shut me out from all the wickedness of the life beyond -the colony.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I beg thy pardon, Walda. It was an unworthy -suspicion that crossed my mind. Surely to-day Satan -is close to me. And when thou gazest at the moon -dost thou think of any one else?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Of my father, Gerson Brandt, and always of thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And how do I come to thee in thy thoughts, -Walda?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou comest as one that is ever dear to me. Since -thou didst first take me on thy knee thou hast shared -with my father all the earthly love of my heart. Have -I not often told thee so?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou didst never think of me as nearer to thine -own age than thy father? Do I always appear so old -to thee?”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_150'>150</span>“Truly, thou dost seem like my father.” In her -voice was an infinite tenderness, and the school-master, -with a tremor in his voice, answered:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And yet I am but fifteen years thy senior.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But thou lovest me as if I were thy daughter. I -have always felt that thou didst give me something -more than the neighborly regard in which all the people -of Zanah hold one another.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt made no answer.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou dost love me as if I were thy daughter?” -she repeated.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou hast forever a place in the sanctuary of my -heart, Walda.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The school-master and the prophetess of Zanah -looked into each other’s eyes for a brief moment.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Then I know that thou wilt always pray for me—that -thou wilt always keep me safe from all worldly -temptations.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, thou wilt always have my care. Thou wilt -always command my services and my prayers. To-day -I feel humble, indeed, because I lost my self-control, -but I shall strive always to be worthy to be -counted as one who walketh near to the prophetess -of Zanah. Walda, to-day I am weak indeed. I feel -how much I shall need divine strength in the years to -come. My way is a lonely one. It is said that after -the inspiration is vouchsafed to a prophetess her soul -withdraws itself from all human companionship, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span>that even if it were not the custom to separate the -instrument of the Lord from the colonists of Zanah, -there would be naught in common between her and -those who try to serve God in humbler ways. Lately, -Walda, I have looked forward with a feeling that the -years without thee will be weary. When thou art the -prophetess there will be none with whom I can speak -of the dreams I have shared with thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thy dreams, as thou callest them, first made me -feel the mysteries of life. Gerson Brandt, it was thou -who didst awaken my soul; it was thou who didst turn -my heart to God, and now, verily, thou wilt not be sorrowful -when my day of inspiration comes?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“To-day there is so much of self victorious in me -that I know the day of the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i> will make -me sad. It was my intention on that day to give thee -the Bible that is lost. For many months thou knowest -I worked upon it, making the letters beautiful for -thine eyes, and it was a solace to me to feel, every day -as I turned the pages upon which I had worked with -many a prayer and blessing for thy welfare, that thou -wouldst take pleasure in its beauty.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And was that Bible for me, Gerson? On the last -day when thou didst give it to me to read before the -school I did covet it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I did think that I should never tell thee, and it -was a sore trouble when Adolph Schneider demanded -that it be sold. I tell thee this because, as I have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>said to-day, I am weak, and I would say something -in extenuation of my unseemly conduct towards the -head of the thirteen elders.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And I am very human, for I am glad that the book -is lost, and that the elders had no chance to take it -from thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I could not endure the thought that the stranger -from the outside world should possess what I had -come to believe belonged to thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda turned her head away a moment. Then she -answered:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I want the Bible very much indeed; but, Gerson -Brandt, if any stranger were to have it, it had been -better it should go to Stephen Everett than to any -one else.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>A look of pain came into the school-master’s face. -His eyes sought the girl’s with a glance that strove to -read her heart.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And I would rather that the Bible be destroyed, -that its pages be scattered and its letters obliterated, -than that Stephen Everett should call it his own.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why, Gerson Brandt, thou speakest with much -stress. Thou art, indeed, unlike thyself to-day.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Perhaps my real self is uppermost, Walda, and the -school-master, who was always so submissive and -passive, is not the actual man.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Peace to thy heart.” Walda came close to him. -“Let me tell thee that I should have held the Bible as -<span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>a precious token from thee, and that I am grateful for -the kindly thought with which thou hast wrought it -for me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Tears were in her eyes. She hesitated a moment, as -if waiting for an answer. Gerson Brandt, with arms -folded across his breast, pressed his lips tightly together -lest he might speak with the fervor of one who -covets from God a supreme gift that must be forever -beyond reach.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span> - <h2 class='c005'>XIII</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c007'>When Hans Peter was led away from the school-room -after his confession concerning the Bible, -Karl Weisel and Adolph Schneider conducted him -towards the inn. The Herr Doktor, thoroughly upset -from his usual phlegmatic tranquillity, held the -ear of the simple one in a pinching grasp. With a -speed that caused the colony president to pant, the -three descended the hill on their way to the inn.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hans Peter should be locked up until he confesseth -that he hath borne false witness,” said Karl -Weisel.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I believe he knoweth where the Holy Book is hidden,” -answered Adolph Schneider. “We will lock -him up where he can have a chance to think over his -transgressions.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter, dragging slowly after the Herr Doktor, -who every now and then jerked his head, appeared -not to hear what was said about him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Tell us now what thou didst mean by thy foolish -lie about the Bible,” urged the head of the thirteen -elders.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I spoke the truth. But not every one knoweth -<span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span>the truth to understand it,” answered the simple -one.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He still defieth us,” exclaimed Karl Weisel. Then, -giving Hans Peter a cuff, he added, addressing him:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou shalt spend the night in the cellar of the -<i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">gasthaus</span></i>, and if thou dost not speak so as to make it -clear that thou dost share all thy knowledge with the -elders and those in authority, thou shalt be put in the -stocks.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Threaten not too hastily, Brother Weisel,” said -the Herr Doktor. “Thou knowest the stocks have -not been used these ten years, and the dismembered -timbers pertaining to it are stored in the hay-loft of -the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">gasthaus</span></i> barn.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The stocks can be put together easily enough,” -muttered Karl Weisel; and Hans Peter, turning his -head as much as Adolph Schneider’s hold upon his -ear permitted, said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The village fool feareth no punishment thou canst -devise. Ye men of Zanah shall never get possession -of Gerson Brandt’s Bible.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hear! He defieth us!” cried Karl Weisel; and -Adolph Schneider responded with an angry grunt, that -he punctuated with a superfluous pinch administered -to Hans Peter’s ear.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They reached the inn, where Diedrich Werther received -them with his customary imperturbability.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hast thou a place in the cellar where thou canst -<span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>lock up this culprit?” Karl Weisel inquired. At the -same time the Herr Doktor pushed the simple one -into the middle of the room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There is a heavy bolt on the potato-bin,” said -Werther, taking his pipe out of his mouth and leaning -upon the dog-eared register.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Conduct Hans Peter to it, and be his jailer until -to-morrow morning. Mind that he hath no supper.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What is Hans Peter’s offence?” Mother Werther -asked, opening the door from the kitchen and putting -her black-capped head into the room. “Tut, tut, my -boy! I hope thou hast not been exhibiting thy folly -in some hazardous manner.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter put his hands into his deep pockets, -hung his head, and made no reply.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The simple one is to be locked in your potato-bin -until he tells the truth about the Bible,” announced -the Herr Doktor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, be not too severe with him. Hans Peter -will tell—wilt not thou, boy?” said Mother Werther, -coaxingly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>But the simple one only shook his round head.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You may have to stay down there in the darkness -with the rats for a week,” said Karl Weisel.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, thou shalt not baffle the elders of Zanah,” -declared the Herr Doktor. “It will be the cellar or -the stocks until thou dost wag thy stubborn tongue -to good purpose.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span>“Now thou art speaking wisely, Brother Schneider,” -said Karl Weisel. “Why dost thou not order -Diedrich Werther to conduct the fool to his prison?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Take him away,” commanded the Herr Doktor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou knowest I permit no rats in the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">gasthaus</span></i> -cellar,” said Mother Werther, shaking her head indignantly -at Karl Weisel; and edging up to Hans Peter, -she bent low to whisper: “Thou shalt have the best -supper I can carry to thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Verily, even Mother Werther appears to be encouraging -sedition in Zanah,” remarked Karl Weisel, -pointing to the innkeeper’s wife with a backward -movement of his thumb.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If there is sedition in Zanah, it is thou that sowest -discontent.” Mother Werther put her arms on her -broad hips, and looked at him for a moment with such -contempt in her kindly face that the head of the thirteen -elders slunk aside to a chair behind the high -counter.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I will take Hans Peter to the potato-bin, and he -shall have a clean straw tick to lie on,” she said. -“Come, Hans Peter.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mother Werther put a hand on the simple one’s -shoulder and walked out into the kitchen with him. -Presently they were heard descending the stairs, and -then their voices sounded from the distant place of -imprisonment.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was late that night when Everett returned to the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span>inn after a walk far a-field. At supper-time he had -asked about Hans Peter, but he had learned nothing -of the whereabouts of the simple one. He had a faint -idea that he ought to search for the fool, but his -thoughts were absorbed by Walda. He spoke to -Diedrich Werther, who dozed in an arm-chair, and the -landlord slowly lighted a tall tallow dip and passed it -to Everett. He lingered to ask whether any message -had come from Wilhelm Kellar. The landlord replied -that the school-master had stopped to ask for the -stranger in Zanah, but it was nothing urgent, for -Gerson Brandt had told how fast Wilhelm Kellar was -gaining strength.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett stumbled along the dark, narrow passage -that led to his room. A draught blew out his candle, -which he did not relight. Feeling his way to his bed, -he threw himself down upon it and tried to think -what course was wisest for him to pursue in winning -Walda. He was not blind to the many obstacles between -them, but he was a man who was accustomed -to obtain what he coveted, and he admitted no -thought of defeat. He wanted Walda with all the -intensity of a strong nature. He knew now that he -loved her, and he felt that she was his by right of that -claim. A sense of his own unworthiness haunted -him when he thought of her innocence and her unworldliness, -but there had been born in him a new -spirit that consumed all his old desires. He knew -<span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>that even if he could make the prophetess of Zanah -love him, it would be impossible for him to persuade -her to leave the colony as long as her father lived. He -felt a hot wave of shame every time he realized that if -love came to Walda it would bring her only dishonor -before her people. Whenever this view of the end of -his wooing presented itself, he resolutely refused to -face it. He listened to the cry of his heart. He loved -the woman of Zanah; he coveted her for his wife.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Women are happy to enshrine love in their hearts -even when it must burn in a vestal flame, but men are -not content unless they can carry it as a torch from -which to light the fires in the hearts of those whom -they would make their own. Women can kneel before -the embers of a great passion and be grateful, -even though it must burn out before it can reach their -own hearth-stones; men would snatch the holy fire -at any cost. Everett had slowly reached the point -where he had deliberately determined to make Walda -love him. He had eased his conscience by the plea -that it was a crime for a woman of such rare beauty -to be buried in the colony. He was sure he could -make her happy in the world that held so much for -him. He could reason himself into the belief that he -was saving her from a wasted life. Yet, with all his -reasoning, he could not see how he was to obtain her -consent to marry him and to go away with him. -Still, he hugged to his heart the belief that fate -<span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>would befriend him, and he resolved not to look beyond -the one great aim of making Walda love him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He could not sleep. The thoughts that had harassed -him, since suddenly he had come to know Walda -had all his love, disturbed him as he lay on the -high bed. He stared at the window, which afforded -glimpses of a starlit sky between the leaves and -branches of a tree that had become black in the night. -Day was breaking before he began to feel drowsy. -Finally he fell into a deep slumber that was not disturbed -until the sun was high in the heavens. He -was awakened by a remittent pounding, the sound of -which came from the front of the inn. He went to -the latticed window, whence he could see that several -men were building something in the village square. -He made a hasty toilet in his primitive dressing-room, -where two buckets of water and a wooden wash-tub -were provided for his bath. The cold water refreshed -him, but he still had a sense of depression.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett hastened out into the village square. In -all the time he had sojourned in Zanah nothing unusual -had happened. It was pleasing to hope that at -last something out of the common might be taking -place. Three middle-aged men and two boys were -engaged in putting together a most extraordinary -structure. They had fixed in place several weather-beaten -beams and a number of old planks that led up -to the rude platform.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span>“What are you building?” Everett asked, but the -men pretended not to understand, although he spoke -in German. They kept on with their work.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Cannot you tell me what this is?” Everett asked. -The men were still uncommunicative, but one of the -boys said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“These are the stocks in which Hans Peter must -sit until he tells where the school-master’s Bible is -hidden.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Where is Hans Peter now?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The boy had been silenced by the men, and he dared -not reply.</p> - -<p class='c008'>During the breakfast-hour Everett could obtain no -further information. He was desirous of seeing the -simple one, for he felt in a measure responsible for -poor Hans Peter’s trouble. He made a perfunctory -visit to his patient. Walda Kellar had ceased to be -on duty in the sick-room, and the case had lost much -of its interest.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Wilhelm Kellar was sitting up in a big chair. He -looked weak and ill, but he proudly announced, with -a tongue slow to respond to his thoughts:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I shall be able to attend the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>. The -Lord hath decreed that I shall see the day of my -daughter’s final victory over earthly temptations.” -The old man’s joy smote Everett, to whom the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i> -might mean the loss of Walda. He turned -to whistle to Piepmatz.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span>“I owe thee much for thine aid in helping nature -to overcome my illness,” said the old man, speaking -slowly. “Thou hast been so kind that thou hast won -my enduring confidence. For the first time in a score -of years my faith in a man of the outside world is almost -restored.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Again Everett’s heart smote him. He who had -come to love Wilhelm Kellar’s daughter knew that he -stood ready to tempt Walda away from her vocation -as prophetess. He had always held honor first, and -he was ill at ease. The day had gone by, however, -when he could consider the possibility of renunciation -where his heart’s desire was concerned. He had -meant to flee from Zanah, but he had stayed because -he loved Walda, and because he did not mean to be -disappointed in the hope of winning her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You are not indebted to me,” he said to Wilhelm -Kellar. “The weeks spent in Zanah have been very -pleasant to me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou art truly a good man, Stephen Everett, and -I am thankful that the Lord did turn thy steps to -Zanah,” the old man replied.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Piepmatz, looking out from his rustic cage, moved -his head from side to side as if he were listening to the -conversation. Presently he whistled the bar of the -love-song that Everett had taught him. The first -notes sounded clear and true, and then Piepmatz sang -a false note or two. He began the bar a second time -<span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span>and broke down. Everett heard the song, and the -bird-voice carried with it an accusation against his -loyalty.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You had better go back to your doxology,” he -said, snapping his fingers at the bird.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He said a hasty farewell and went back to the inn. -The stocks had been completed and Hans Peter had -just been placed in them. His fat, red hands and his -bare feet were held so firmly that it was plain the -pressure was most uncomfortable. The simple one’s -face, however, betrayed no sign of pain. He kept his -eyes shut so that he could not see the passers-by, who -paused to stare at him. His shock of tow hair was -matted on his head, and his blue shirt-sleeves were -torn from the arm-holes by the unusual strain upon -the garment, which was too small for him. When -Everett beheld the simple one thus ignominiously -punished his indignation arose. Without speaking -to Hans Peter he went into the inn, where he found -Adolph Schneider and Karl Weisel.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is only fair to believe you do not know you are -inflicting a cruel penalty upon Hans Peter,” he said, -addressing the Herr Doktor. “You must lessen the -pressure on the boy’s wrists and ankles, and you must -do it now.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Whence didst thou get thine authority to issue -commands to the president of the colony of Zanah?” -asked Karl Weisel.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span>“I was not addressing you,” answered Everett, and -the head of the thirteen elders, taking account of the -athletic build of the man of the world, deemed discretion -the better part of valor. He forbore to pick -a quarrel.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Speaking as a physician, I must protest against -the use of the stocks,” said Everett. His tone was so -cool and determined that Adolph Schneider adopted -a conciliatory manner.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hans Peter will not remain long in the stocks,” he -said, burying his heavy chin in his neckcloth. “He -will soon tell what he knows about the Bible. He -would have confessed this morning, but Mother Werther -made him so comfortable in the potato-bin that -he did not take the trouble to think over our injunction -to lay bare the facts about the Bible.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Even though Hans Peter may not remain in the -stocks an hour, you must confine his hands and feet -less closely. I dare say he is numb now,” Everett insisted.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, well, I will call one of the carpenters,” said -the Herr Doktor, but he did not move from his chair.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I will wait until the carpenter comes,” said Everett; -“and he must come without delay.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Adolph Schneider sullenly conceded to Everett’s -humane demand, and they went out to the stocks together. -A crowd had gathered in the square, and -some of the boys who had escaped from Gerson -<span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span>Brandt’s care were jeering at the simple one. Hans -Peter made no sign until Everett spoke to him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett ascended the three steps to the platform -of the stocks and waited impatiently while Hans -Peter’s hands and feet were freed temporarily. The -simple one was quite stiff when he was commanded to -stand up. He straightened his back with some difficulty, -although he had not been an hour in the stocks. -Everett stooped to examine the marks upon the lad’s -ankles.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Can you call yourselves Christians, and torture a -boy in this fashion?” he inquired, in anger, addressing -the Herr Doktor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hans Peter is none the worse for a little lesson -that will teach him to obey the commands of Zanah,” -Adolph Schneider answered.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Do you intend to put him back?” Everett asked.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Adolph Schneider showed some signs of hesitation, -but Karl Weisel replied:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He shall stay there until his contumacious spirit -is broken. He must be punished until he confesseth.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Are you sure that you do not wish to tell where -the Bible is?” Everett asked, kindly. But the simple -one replied:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“They can keep me in the stocks until I die. I care -not. I will not deliver the Sacred Book into their -hands.” His lips were white, and the perspiration -stood upon his forehead, over which his matted hair -<span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span>hung into his eyes. He tried to raise his hand to his -head, but the pain made the effort futile. Everett -took one of the simple one’s swollen hands in his and -began to chafe the arms, which were numb.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The carpenters soon had their work done, and Karl -Weisel ordered Hans Peter back to his place in the -stocks.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Isn’t there something I can do to prevent this -outrage?” Everett spoke in a threatening tone. -“How can you stoop to such persecution?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Involuntarily he clinched his hands and drew himself -up to his full height. Towering above the men -of Zanah, he looked from one to the other, as if undecided -which to knock down first.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Karl Weisel took the precaution to leave the platform, -and when safe on the ground he answered, -tauntingly:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thine interference will not be tolerated in Zanah. -Thou shalt not defeat the ends of justice.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, mind not Hans Peter; the village fool doth -not fear those who are called wise in Zanah.” The -simple one spoke calmly, and he moved past Everett -to the beam upon which he had been sitting.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It occurred to Everett that any violent measures -might only cause another method of torture to be devised, -and he went into the inn to think about some -means by which he could deliver Hans Peter. The -day wore away, and late in the afternoon the simple -<span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span>one was still in the stocks. An attempt to discuss -the matter with the Herr Doktor had proved fruitless. -Everett went to the school-master, and Gerson Brandt -told him that protest was useless.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I warned them that I would not consent to such -a show of vengefulness,” said Gerson Brandt, “but -they laughed at me, and hinted that the simple one -was my accomplice.” He was sitting at his desk, -and his attitude betrayed the deepest despondency.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett went back to the inn just as the afternoon -bell rang. It was the signal for the girls’ knitting-school -and the boys’ learning-school to dismiss pupils. -At this hour the mill-hands had a brief respite for the -drinking of coffee. Soon the village street was full, -and all the men, women, and children turned their -steps towards the square. Here they stood in groups, -talking in low tones, and casting glances up at the -simple one, whose face was not less stolid than usual. -Hans Peter had become deathly pale, but as he sat -with bent back and bowed head he appeared oblivious -of the crowd that was gazing at him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“At last the village fool hath found his right place -in the world,” remarked Mother Kaufmann, taking a -seat on the lowest step of the stocks and beginning to -knit.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I hope he will remember all the impertinent things -he hath said to us, and know that he is receiving his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span>just dues,” said Gretchen Schneider, who had come -into the square with Mother Kaufmann.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It seemeth to me that Hans Peter is one possessed -of a devil,” declared Karl Weisel, joining Gretchen -Schneider, and taking care to stand so close to her -that his coat-sleeve brushed her arm.</p> - -<p class='c008'>On the other side of the stocks Frieda Bergen had -stopped to look up at the prisoner with compassion -written on her pretty face. She wiped her eyes on -the corner of her apron, and Joseph Hoff, who saw her -grief, passed by her once or twice, biding his time -until he could speak to her without attracting the -attention of the elders or colony mothers, among -whom his attachment for the girl had become common -gossip.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hans Peter may be free to-morrow,” he said, reassuringly. -“Do not feel bad for him.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There is a tenderness in my heart for all God’s -creatures, Joseph,” the girl answered.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Be sure thou givest me most of thy sympathy,” -Joseph Hoff said, and they smiled into each other’s -faces with a look of perfect understanding.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Many of the children gazed silently at the culprit, -and some of them climbed up the stout beams that -supported the stocks. A few venturesome boys seated -themselves upon the heavy plank that held poor -Hans Peter’s hands. Mother Werther, who had been -going back and forth all day between the stocks and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_169'>169</span>the inn, sought a place whence she could speak a cheering -word to the simple one. Several times Adolph -Schneider had stepped to the inn-porch, and, with a -flourish of his cane, had admonished the people of -Zanah to preserve order. He had taken occasion to -call attention to the ways that the Lord found by -which the wicked were punished. He had just finished -one of his exhortations when it was whispered -that Walda Kellar was coming.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The prophetess of Zanah walked over the bridge -with her head bent, as if she were preoccupied. When -she looked up it was plain that the crowd astonished -her. She quickened her steps, and, advancing with -her eyes fixed on the stocks, said, in a clear tone, -which was heard by all the people:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What meaneth this thing?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>She turned flashing eyes from one to another in the -throng, and those near her fell back.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Where is some one who will answer me? I would -speak to one of the elders. By what authority is -Hans Peter placed in the stocks? Who hath dared -to pass such severe judgment upon one of the most -helpless in Zanah?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>There was no answer. Walda waited for a moment.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I would speak to Adolph Schneider or Karl Weisel,” -she said; but neither responded to her summons. -Adolph Schneider had disappeared into the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">gasthaus</span></i> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_170'>170</span>when he saw her, and Karl Weisel had drifted out of -sight. Walda turned to survey the crowd.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why are ye here, looking on calmly? Hath no -one raised a voice in behalf of him who hath harmed -none in the colony?” she cried.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She moved towards the stocks, men, women, and -children separating to let her pass. Ascending the -steps, she looked down upon the colonists. Suddenly -she became clothed in a strange majesty. Her body -swayed with the strength of her emotion. She opened -her lips as if to address the throng, but some wiser -impulse restrained her. She stood as if in prayer, and -presently, raising her hand to command attention, -she said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hath it been forgotten that it is written in the -Bible, ‘With what judgment ye judge ye shall be -judged; and with what measure ye mete it shall be -measured to you again’? Are ye so wise that ye can -know how guilty Hans Peter is in seizing the Bible? -Can ye see into the heart of him whom all have called -the simple one? Can ye know his motives? Has none -of you, to whom the Lord hath given greater understanding -than He hath vouchsafed to this humble -child of Zanah, sinned in larger measure than Hans -Peter? There hath been lost to Zanah a Bible of -great value; but where is your faith? Can ye not -believe that if it is best it will be returned unto you? -Liberate Hans Peter, and I say unto you it shall be -<span class='pageno' id='Page_171'>171</span>made plain that ye have done what is good. Your -mercy will be rewarded twofold.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>After she spoke the last words she paused for a -moment. A murmur passed over the crowd. One -of the colonists cried:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Free him! Free him!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Listen not to the voice of a woman’s pity,” warned -Karl Weisel, from his place on the well-curb, which -raised him above the heads of the crowd.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, hear her. The power may be upon her. She -may be foretelling what will happen if Hans Peter is -set free.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was Mother Werther who raised her voice. She -was standing upon the steps of the inn, and her words -caused a hush to fall upon the people of Zanah.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“All we in Zanah can learn a lesson to-day from -Hans Peter,” said Walda Kellar, turning towards the -simple one, who made no sign that he had heard her -plea for him. “This poor lad hath meant no harm. -He hath followed some strong impulse, born of the belief -that he is doing right, and you put him into the -stocks, where he remaineth firm in his determination -not to undo what he hath thought was a noble deed. -For some reason he hath desired to keep the Bible in -Zanah, when you would have bartered it for gold -and silver. Can ye say that it was not God’s will he -should hide it so that it could not be sent out into the -world, where it might not be valued at its true worth? -<span class='pageno' id='Page_172'>172</span>How can ye be sure that it may not be you, instead -of Hans Peter, who should be punished? Doth this -structure built by your hands appear to be work that -was inspired by God? Were not the stocks devised -by Satan? Is it thus that the Father in Heaven -would have ye deal with those subjects in your -power?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Verily, she speaketh as if she were listening to the -still, small voice with which the Lord quickeneth the -consciences of his people,” said the meekest of the -thirteen elders, a little, bent man, who supported himself -against a fence-rail.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The time draweth near for the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>, when -you will listen to words of wisdom from me,” continued -Walda, her voice softening into a tone of humility. -“Much have I prayed that I may be worthy -to be chosen from among you to be the prophetess of -Zanah. In these last few weeks there hath come to -me a new light. It is yet but as a candle-beam of divine -knowledge, but it hath made all things sacred in -mine eyes. The glory of God hath been revealed to -me in the smallest ways. Instead of feeling the majesty -of the Ruler of the universe, I have known something -of the meaning of the eternal love which encompasseth -the highest and the lowliest. In the Father’s -eyes, when the day of judgment cometh, this hour in -the stocks may be counted so much in outweighing -the sins of the simple one that he will be placed above -<span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span>us all. This day’s record in the Book of Life may -have a great significance.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda, looking down upon the upturned faces before -her, read fear written upon many and compassion -upon a few.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I beseech you, with one voice declare Hans Peter -free,” she said, turning her face first towards one side -of the square and then towards the other, so that all -gathered there felt she addressed each separately. -“Hesitate not. Each moment that ye wait adds to -the pain suffered by your prisoner.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Dost thou believe the Lord will reward us if we -show mercy?” asked the Herr Doktor, who had come -out of the inn to hear what Walda had to say.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The people of Zanah should not weigh the chance -of reward for doing what is just and right,” answered -the prophetess.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda stood as if she were listening for some word -of pity from the colonists.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If ye would show that ye have confidence in me, -whom ye look to as the prophetess of Zanah, permit -me to liberate Hans Peter. Can ye deny me this -privilege?” she asked, presently.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is meet that we shift the judgment of the -simple one to her upon whom the inspiration is already -descending,” said Mother Werther. “Women -of Zanah, pledge her your faith.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Cries of “Give Walda Kellar the judgment!” “Let -<span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span>her loosen the stocks!” “The prophetess of Zanah -hath spoken!” were heard on every side.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, the spirit hath not descended on her. Put -not such power in a girl’s hands,” shouted Mother -Kaufmann, waving the hand that still clasped her -knitting.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Her words were followed by low hisses, and instantly -several of the men were heard demanding Hans -Peter’s release.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“She did say that the value of the Bible might be -returned twofold,” said Diedrich Werther, who had -been encouraged to speak by vigorous nudges from -his wife. Mother Werther had pushed him from his -place on the porch, where he had been hidden by the -vines.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Walda Kellar, is it the spirit which prompts thee -to say the value of the Bible will be made good to the -colony?” inquired the Herr Doktor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Again Walda Kellar stood with her head turned, as -if she were listening to the still, small voice of her -conscience.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, Adolph Schneider, I cannot say that it is the -spirit; I know not whether my words are words of -prophecy. Yet my faith, looking up to God, maketh -me believe that if thou showest mercy to the foolish -one, a recompense will be given thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Her words came slowly. They fell upon the ears -of the people in Zanah with a distinctness and a fervor -<span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span>that awed them, and again the murmur was heard in -the square.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Free him! Free him!” shouted Joseph Hoff, and -the cry was taken up by men, women, and children.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A tall, burly farm-hand pushed his way from the -stocks to the porch of the inn, where the Herr Doktor -still stood. He was followed by three or four of those -who were known as the keepers of the vineyard.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Beware how thou dost challenge the curses of -Heaven,” said the farm-hand. “Dost thou intend -to obey the prophetess, now that she hath spoken?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We have had bad luck enough already,” said one -of the keepers of the vineyard. “Defy not Heaven -now.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Something like fear showed itself in the face of -Adolph Schneider. He cast his small eyes towards -Karl Weisel, who shook his head. The people had -now turned their faces from the stocks, and the crowd -gazed upon the village president, who was plainly -hesitating concerning what would be the best policy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The men of Zanah have spoken wisely,” declared -the meek elder, from his place near the fence. “Thou -must listen to the voice of the people.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Free him! Free him!” the crowd shouted. Amid -all the clamor Walda Kellar stood motionless, with -her eyes fixed upon the far bluffs, and Hans Peter sat -with head drooped so that his face could not be seen. -While the crowd was threatening to become a mob, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span>it was not noticed that the school-master had crossed -the fields, pushed his way to the stocks, and ascended -two steps.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Men and women of Zanah, if ye turn a deaf ear to -Walda Kellar, let me offer myself as the one upon -whom to inflict the punishment ye deem fitting because -the Bible upon which I put much patient work -hath disappeared.” Gerson Brandt’s voice was low, -but it had a determined ring in it as he spoke to the -colonists. He had removed his hat, and those who -looked upon his face marvelled that the gentle school-master -could be so threatening in mien and gesture.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Since the Sacred Book disappeared while it was in -my custody, I am responsible for it. If any one is to -be put into the stocks, it is I, that served you all as -your elder—I, to whom you have intrusted the training -of your boys. This day’s work shall long be a reproach -to Zanah, for ye have stood by while the simple -one hath been made to suffer. Even though he -may have been guilty of the offence imputed to him, -the penalty is greater than his deed hath merited.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The uproar that followed this speech caused the -Herr Doktor to tremble as he leaned upon his cane.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Surely no one in all Zanah would see Gerson -Brandt put into the stocks,” said Mother Werther, -taking her place beside Adolph Schneider. “For -shame, brethren and sisters of Zanah! Give Hans -Peter his liberty.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span>“We demand the release of the simple one,” said -the vineyard workers. “Let him go! Let him go!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Gerson Brandt, thine offer to take Hans Peter’s -place in the stocks is an insult to thy high office as an -elder of Zanah,” said the Herr Doktor. “I will accede -to the wishes of the people. Thou canst liberate -the village fool.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Adolph Schneider turned to go into the inn, and -Stephen Everett, who had been watching the strange -scene from the corner of the porch, went out into the -square to offer aid to Gerson Brandt. The school-master -had acted quickly, and before Everett reached -the stocks Hans Peter’s feet were free. Everett loosed -the simple one’s hands and raised him to an upright -position. Hans Peter was so stiff that he fell upon -the rude platform.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He is exhausted. I will take him into the inn,” -said Everett, addressing Walda, who was leaning over -the prostrate form of Hans Peter.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I know that thou wilt minister to him, and that -thou wilt restore his senses. See, he hath swooned!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I will take care of him. You can trust me to -see that he is made comfortable,” Everett promised.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, I always trust thee, Stephen.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The man and woman bending over the form of the -simple one looked into each other’s eyes for a second. -Then Everett lifted Hans Peter in his arms, carried -<span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span>him down the steps, and, passing through the crowd, -disappeared within the door of the inn.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Standing upon the platform of the stocks, Walda -looked after them until the inn-door had closed. Turning, -she beheld Gerson Brandt staring at her with terror -in his eyes. He was ghastly pale, and his thin -nostrils were widely dilated with the quickness of his -breathing.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Art thou ill, Gerson Brandt?” she asked.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, I have my usual health. Just now, fear -clutcheth at my heart.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Fear, Gerson Brandt? Thou wert ever brave. -What is it that thou couldst fear?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“A shadow was cast over me. It hath passed.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt stooped to pick up his hat, and motioned -to Walda to pass down the steps before him. -As Walda walked through the square the people -bowed before her, in token of their recognition that -she was, indeed, the prophetess, for it was whispered -that the stranger from the outside world had given -his word to Adolph Schneider that he would pay twice -the value of the Bible on condition that Hans Peter -should not be further punished.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span> - <h2 class='c005'>XIV</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c007'>Everett counted the days until the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>. -Only ten intervened. In less than a fortnight -Walda would be cut off from all communication -with him. She would have entered into her duties as -the leader of the colony. She would be the prophetess—the -inspired one. He tried to imagine himself looking -on during the quaint ceremony of the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>, -and he had to face the knowledge that he could -not stand by while the girl passed forever beyond his -reach. Even while he dared vaguely to plan some -way by which he could win her for himself, he had a -few misgivings concerning her unfitness for his world, -which he knew she would find strange and cruel. He -told himself that he could protect her, that he could -make her happy, and that he could help her to become -adjusted to a different sphere. With the unreason of -the lover he imagined how they would live for each -other, aloof from all the ordinary demands of every-day -existence. He knew that she loved the few books -that had been open to her in Zanah, and he dreamed -of the days when he would guide her into a broader -knowledge, when he would help her to acquire the sort -<span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span>of an education suited to her unusual mind. He was -confident that her artistic nature would develop in a -congenial atmosphere. It would be his pride to cultivate -her glorious voice, and to teach her to understand -the painter’s art, which Zanah held sinful. His -thoughts travelled over the same circle again and -again, but always he came back to the idea that he -must act quickly if he would save her from bondage to -the colony—if he would awaken her to the meaning -of his love.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He was thankful for the opportunity her daily prayers -at the tomb of Marta Bachmann gave him to meet -her, but the next night after he had walked with her -to the little cemetery he had seen her cross the bridge -accompanied by no less a person than Mother Schneider -herself. He had been compelled to pace restlessly -back and forth among the trees, keeping out of sight -lest his presence might be discovered.</p> - -<p class='c008'>On the third night he watched for Walda at the -point where the road reached the shore of the lake. -It was late, and he had almost given up hope of seeing -her when she came slowly towards him. For an -hour he had been reconnoitring the whole distance -between the lake and the cemetery. And now, when -he beheld her, he felt as if he must claim her by the -right of his love for her. His better judgment, however, -told him that he must be circumspect in his -wooing. One impetuous word might put her on her -<span class='pageno' id='Page_181'>181</span>guard. The touch of his hand had given her a prescience -of danger, for, according to her belief, love was -the greatest danger that could beset her path. When -Walda saw him she appeared surprised at the chance -encounter. It was evident she had no suspicion that -he had deliberately waylaid her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is good that I should meet thee here, Stephen,” -she said, “for my heart is so full of joy I feel as if I -must share my gladness with some one.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What has happened to make you so happy?” Everett -asked. He saw that there was a radiance in her -face, and that her eyes shone with an unusual brilliance.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There hath been no outward experience different -from those that come to me every day,” she said. -“But, Stephen, my heart is lifted up exceedingly. I -feel in me a new strength. My spirit dwelleth in -dreams.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Dreams, Walda? What are your dreams like?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“They are misty—formless. It is as if a light were -just breaking over the darkness of my soul. I feel the -whisperings of a divine knowledge; a marvellous power -hath been given to me. Stephen, I know the inspiration -is coming to me. All my doubts are vanishing. -I feel very near to God.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>She was transfigured with the intensity of her emotions. -In her exaltation of spirit she was so aloof -from Everett that he stood dumb before her.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_182'>182</span>“Stephen, hast thou nothing to say? Dost thou -not rejoice with me?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I am glad to know that you are happy, Walda; -but being just a man of the world, I am selfish enough -to feel unreconciled to your separation from me. Walda, -I crave a little part of your thoughts. I want to -share your joy. And now I behold you carried so -far away from me that I cannot even comprehend -the transformation which is taking place in you. Is -it prayer that is raising your spirit above the -earth?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is not prayer alone that hath made me behold -new glories, Stephen, for through all my years spent -in Zanah I have prayed unceasingly. Thou hast -helped to open mine eyes; thou hast been the messenger -that hath turned my face to the light. Verily, it -is written that the Lord doth choose mysterious ways -by which to work his will.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>For a moment Everett felt he was, indeed, a hypocrite. -He was not an egotist, but his hopes, which a -moment before had been cast down by the girl’s extraordinary -rapture, now rose, for he perceived that -he had, indeed, gained an influence over her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I want to talk to you, Walda,” Everett said, after -he had thought for a moment. “Come with me down -to the shore of the lake, where there is a log that makes -a comfortable seat.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda hesitated.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span>“Nay, Stephen, I must hasten to Marta Bachmann’s -grave.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Don’t you think that sometimes it may be better -to talk with the living than to pray with the dead?” -Everett asked. “I thought you were interested in -my welfare. Don’t you know that a few words from -you may change my whole life?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If I could lead thee towards heaven it would be -my duty to speak with thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Well, you can lead me to heaven.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett parted the low branches of the trees so that -Walda could pass through, and as she stepped into the -little path to the water’s edge one of her long, fair -braids caught upon a twig. She turned her face backward -as she felt the sharp pull, and Everett, thanking -his stars for a lucky fate that appeared to be attending -him on this particular evening, disengaged the -shining hair. He pretended to be very clumsy, and -his head was brought close to Walda’s. The slightest -trace of embarrassment showed itself in the manner -of the prophetess of Zanah as she smoothed the braid -and adjusted her cap. She walked forward rather -hastily, and Everett pointed out the log, at one end of -which the limbs made a graceful back for the rustic -seat.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Let me help you over these stones,” said Everett, -and, taking her hand, he led her to the log. He -placed her comfortably, and, standing beside her, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span>told her to look at the wavering shadows in the -water.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“All is peace here, Stephen,” the girl said, looking -up at him. “In Zanah there is rest for the weary -spirit. Couldst thou not be contented here always?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If we could always be together as we are now, -Walda, it seems to me I could never wish for anything -more.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>He seated himself upon the log quite close to her, -and, leaning with his elbow on his knee, studied every -feature of her beautiful face. In his heart was a tumultuous -longing to make her know that he loved her, -but her presence overcame him with a feeling that she -was too holy to be disturbed by the knowledge of his -passion. Walda said, presently:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is strange that when I am with thee neither the -past nor the future harasses me. I am satisfied with -the present; it is as if thou didst encompass my soul -with the fortress of thy strength. To-night all my -fears about the future are gone. I am happy, Stephen—strangely -happy.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>She leaned back against the gnarled limbs of the -old tree, and turned her face towards the lake.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Walda, has your religion never taught you that -only in the union of a man’s soul and a woman’s soul -can there be perfect knowledge of life?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>She thought a moment, and then answered:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, Stephen, there is naught in the Bible which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_185'>185</span>teacheth that the prophets needed any but divine aid. -In no place in the Bible were two souls united in receiving -the inspiration of God. Yet it hath seemed -to me that thou wert somehow joined to me in my -inspiration. Instead of separating me from thee, the -knowledge that is coming to me maketh me feel dependent -upon thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Stephen touched her hand, and she drew it away -to hide it in the folds of her blue cotton gown.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You don’t mind having me near you, do you, -Walda?” he asked.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, Stephen; it hath seemed lately that I craved -thy presence too much.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett felt his pulses quicken.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I know that thou hast been sent to me by divine -dispensation,” she continued. “But since the spirit -of prophecy hath begun to come to me, thou dost -stir my heart. I know that I must withdraw -from association with thee and with my people. To-night -there cometh over me a vague alarm. I am -happy near thee, and yet I fear this peace may -vanish.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You cannot deny me the privilege of speaking -to you in these few days before the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>,” -Everett answered. He gently took the hand Walda -had hidden in her gown, and, holding it in a firm -clasp, said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I have a mind never to let you go from me, Walda. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_186'>186</span>I need you all my life. I cannot look forward to the -years out there in the world without you.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Dost thou mean, Stephen, that thou wouldst stay -here in Zanah serving the Lord with the men of the -colony? Stay for the good of thy soul?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett pictured himself attired in colony garb and -meekly accepting the orders of Adolph Schneider and -Karl Weisel; but, holding Walda’s hand, the absurdity -of such a position became every second less apparent -to him. He felt that no sacrifice could be too great -if it kept him near to the prophetess of Zanah.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Do you want me to stay, Walda?” he asked.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, Stephen, even if I might not speak to thee, it -would cheer me to look upon thy face. I have thought -much of thy going away, and I have felt that Zanah -will be dreary without thee. Sometimes I have feared -lest I might be tempted to carry thine image in my -heart. It is gratitude that maketh thee thus inhabit -my thoughts.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is not your gratitude that I want, Walda,” -Stephen said. “No, you cannot take away your hand. -I want to hold it while I talk to you. In these few -weeks in Zanah I have come to know that you will be -always the one woman who can command all my reverence, -my respect, and my allegiance. You have -taught me that I have lived too much for self; you have -aroused in me an impulse to make more of my opportunities. -You have become my good angel. I cannot -<span class='pageno' id='Page_187'>187</span>go back to the world, and to a lazy, careless existence. -I have forsaken my old idols, Walda.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou hast builded thee a new altar, Stephen. -And now thou wilt not profane it.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was the prophetess, not the woman, who spoke. -Walda had forgotten all the vague alarm. She was -looking upon Stephen as a new disciple of Zanah -whom she was glad to welcome into the fold.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, I have a new altar upon which I am willing -to sacrifice all my old habits, my previous interests,” -he confessed. “To it I bring the incense of love and -service and loyalty. Before it I feel my own unworthiness. -Walda, I am but an ordinary man, one -who has been content to live for the day. Since I -came to Zanah, my future years have a new meaning.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“When a man turneth his footsteps towards heaven, -then, indeed, the future is glorified. Henceforth -thou wilt press onward towards the gates of heaven.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But, Walda, I may find the gates closed, after all. -Don’t you know it is you who hold the key?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, thou art almost blasphemous. I can only -point the way.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>They sat there silent for a few minutes. The twilight -was gathering. The shadows of evening closed -out Zanah and all the earth. A soft wind rippled the -lake, which broke in tiny waves at their feet.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Walda, you who are so wise in the knowledge of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_188'>188</span>things that pertain to heaven are ignorant of many -of the fundamental principles of life here upon earth. -Cannot you understand that at this very moment I -am like a wayfarer standing at the gate of paradise?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Involuntarily he tightened the clasp of his hand, -and love, sleeping in the heart of the woman, was suddenly -disturbed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda drew her hand away, and, rising to her feet, -looked at Everett with fear in her face.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“To-night thou dost speak in parables, Stephen,” -she said. “To-night thou dost cause me to tremble -before thee. Let me go to the grave of Marta Bachmann, -where I can pray until my spirit is soothed.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett stood before her as if he would block her -path. He uncovered her head, and gazed at her with -all the passionate longing of a strong nature. He -would have put out his arms to draw her close to him, -but her sweetness and innocence made him ashamed -of the impulse. She was in his power, but he saw -that her momentary fear had passed away, for, with -her eyes raised to the stars that had appeared above -the horizon, she was praying. The man’s mood -changed instantly. He could have knelt before her -to kiss the hem of her gown.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Walda, I ask your forgiveness for showing to-night -that I am almost unworthy of your trust in me,” -he said. “Turn your face to me now, and tell me -that you will go away thinking of me as one who -<span class='pageno' id='Page_189'>189</span>would hold you so sacred that he would sacrifice his -heart’s desire if in so doing he could assure you of the -fulfilment of life’s best promises.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda had folded her hands upon her breast. Having -thus made the sign of Zanah, which was believed -to ward off all earthly influences, she said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Verily, Stephen, thou hast put unrest in my heart, -yet even now I feel an abiding faith in thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I shall try to be worthy of your faith, Walda.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>While they stood close together the curfew-bell -sounded from the village belfry. It brought back to -earth the man and woman who lingered thus just -outside the walls of paradise.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Good-night, Stephen. God be with thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda had again become the prophetess of Zanah. -She passed him in the narrow path from which he -had stepped aside, and he let her go without a word. -She walked a few paces only, her face still uplifted to -the sky and her hands still folded across her breast. -Then she paused to look backward at the man whose -parables had in them a meaning which she had never -found in the words of Holy Writ.</p> - -<p class='c008'>And being a woman, as well as a prophetess, she -saw that Everett was good to look upon.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_190'>190</span> - <h2 class='c005'>XV</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c007'>It was a rainy day in Zanah. Early in the morning, -when Everett looked out of the diamond-paned -window of his bedroom, he saw that the trees -and vines in the garden were dripping. The night-wind -had beaten off many of the leaves, which had -grown yellow in the long drought and the dying -summer. The distant bluffs were hidden behind a -curtain of mist. Two village “mothers” passed, their -shawls drawn over their heads and their feet dragging -slowly in their clumsy, wooden shoes. Everett -dressed quickly, for his room was dark, and the silence -of the village oppressed him. When he went -out to his breakfast in the long, bare dining-room, -Mother Werther served him in silence. He wondered -at her unusual taciturnity, and he tried to start a -cheerful conversation. She replied to him in monosyllables. -The entrance of a boy whom he remembered -seeing at the learning-school temporarily -diverted Mother Werther from her unpleasant -thoughts.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This is my son Johann,” she said, pushing the lad -forward.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_191'>191</span>The boy hung his head, and Everett inquired why -Johann was never at home.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is not wise that he should be kept at the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">gasthaus</span></i>,” -Mother Werther explained, as she fixed a place -for Johann at the distant end of the table.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Does some unusual occurrence bring him here to-day?” -Everett inquired, with a show of interest.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is the Day of Warning, and families hold communion -before they go to the meeting-house,” Mother -Werther explained. “It is the last Sabbath before -the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>, and we make ready for the annual -accounting of our faults and follies.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The woman’s words brought uppermost in his mind -the thought that had harassed him in the hours of the -night. The time of Walda’s ordination as prophetess -was very near. He rose from the table. He heard -the rain falling upon the slate roof of the side porch -upon which the dining-room opened. Lifting the -heavy latch, he pushed the door slightly ajar. The -downpour was steady.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Does your prophetess take any special part in to-day’s -ceremonies?” Everett asked, because he felt that -he must contrive to see Walda.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, she will be present at the meeting, that is -all,” said Mother Werther, bustling out into the back -kitchen.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett sauntered into the office, which was occupied -by Hans Peter. The simple one had placed upon -<span class='pageno' id='Page_192'>192</span>the mantel-shelf above the fireplace half a dozen of his -marked gourds, and he was studying them intently. -He did not pay any attention to Everett, who stepped -up beside him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Are you preparing for the Day of Warning and the -<i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>, Hans Peter?” Everett asked.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The village fool shook his head.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou forgettest that Hans Peter is one whom the -Lord hath forgotten,” he said. “The Almighty -taketh no account of the sayings and doings of the -simple one.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The simple one took into his hand a gourd which -bore but one or two deep cuts dried into its hardened -surface.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This Hans Peter had in his pocket on the day -that he carried the carpet-bag of the stranger,” he -said.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What do the marks stand for, Hans Peter? I -hope they do not mean anything uncomplimentary.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The simple one said that he did not understand, and -Everett explained.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This meaneth that the stranger in Zanah bringeth -trouble,” the village fool answered.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett paced up and down the sanded floor for a -few moments.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You are not a prophet, Hans Peter,” he said, -stopping to pull the village fool’s ear. “Have I done -any harm in Zanah?”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_193'>193</span>“Thou hast sown some seeds of discord.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Cannot you forgive me for the Bible episode? You -know I have done my best to make amends. You -will not always blame me for your suffering in the -stocks, I hope.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The simple one put the gourd he had been examining -into one of his deep pockets.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou knowest the stocks were but the penalty of -mine own deed,” he said. “There are other things -that even a fool can see and hear. Thou hast a soft -voice when thou speakest to the prophetess of Zanah. -Thine eyes watch her always when she is near thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter folded his arms in imitation of Everett -and stared at him with unblinking eyes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You are observant, Hans Peter. As I have often -told you, every day I am more and more convinced -you are the wisest man in Zanah.” Everett flicked -the ashes from the cigar he was smoking and smiled -down at the queer little figure. “What conclusions -do you draw from your two discoveries?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It seemeth that thine actions are like Joseph -Hoff’s, and the people of Zanah say that he hath -earthly love in his heart.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If my memory serves me right, it was you who -aided Joseph Hoff to send messages to the one he -loves,” said Everett.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“She was not a prophetess,” the fool declared.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter had selected a second gourd from the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_194'>194</span>shelf, and had fled from the room before Everett could -sound him on the subject of acting as errand-boy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Still the rain poured down. Everett chafed under -his enforced inactivity, for he felt that every hour -meant much to him. Presently, because he had nothing -better to do, he took down from its place beside -Hans Peter’s gourds the old tinder-box, and lighted -the wood that was piled in the fireplace. He lounged -upon the settle and idly watched the flames creep -along the logs. His thoughts flew out to Walda. He -wondered what she was doing. He felt a disgust for -the fanaticism of the colony, and he tried to think of -some way of claiming the woman he loved. He was -ready to carry her off without any ado, but he knew -that as long as her father lived he could not persuade -her to go away. Although he had not yet made her -realize she loved him, he would not harbor the thought -that he could lose her—and yet his suit appeared -hopeless.</p> - -<p class='c008'>His reflections were disturbed by the voice of -Mother Werther raised in indignant remonstrance. -She was in the next room, and he heard her say:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Diedrich, thou dost vex me much lately. And -now thou dost tell me thou likest to gaze through -the car-windows to behold the women of the world -as they pass by Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“They are comely,” the innkeeper answered, in his -laconic fashion.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_195'>195</span>“How darest thou tell me that? To-day I am half -persuaded to confess to the elders that at last I have -learned the love of man is not to be trusted. I have -a mind to claim promotion to the second rank of the -colony, and who knows but I may soon hate thee -enough to serve the Lord in singleness of purpose!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thy tongue proveth thou mayst yet become like -Mother Schneider and Mother Kaufmann, who have -long been in the third rank because they love not -men,” remarked Diedrich Werther.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou speakest hateful words.” Mother Werther’s -voice was choked with anger. “Many times hast -thou tried me sorely, but never until to-day have I -seen that thou art indeed a man with sinful impulses. -Thy feet have been turned from the straight and narrow -way. Thou hast a liking for wicked things.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett smiled when he heard what he might take -as an object-lesson of the inevitable experience of even -the most faithful of married couples. He shrugged -his shoulders, and thought that, after all, it was only -the few who knew the real meaning of love, the love -that blended worship and lofty aspiration.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Diedrich Werther came into the office. It was -plain that the berating he had received had not disturbed -his phlegmatic calm. He shuffled along in his -carpet slippers until he reached the desk, behind which -he perched himself on a high stool. Everett felt irritated -at the unpleasant interruption to his thoughts -<span class='pageno' id='Page_196'>196</span>of Walda. He snatched up his soft felt hat and went -out into the muddy street. He turned his steps towards -Wilhelm Kellar’s room, where he found his patient -sitting up in an arm-chair. Gerson Brandt was -with him. The two colonists showed an unusual restraint -in the presence of the stranger in Zanah.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I have been telling Brother Brandt that I need -thy services no longer,” said Wilhelm Kellar, addressing -Everett. “There is nothing to hinder thee -from leaving Zanah to-morrow.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett noticed that Gerson Brandt watched him -closely while Wilhelm Kellar spoke.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I shall not go away for at least a week,” said Everett, -leaning against the chest of drawers, and assuming -an indifferent manner.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is strange that thou findest colony life so pleasant,” -said Gerson Brandt.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is restful and interesting to me,” Everett replied, -carelessly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>As he faced the two elders of Zanah he felt a twinge -of remorse, because his dearest purpose in life was to -win from them Walda Kellar. He who had held honor -first experienced a certain amount of self-abasement, -but he quieted his conscience, as he had many -times before, by the thought that love was the ruling -power of the world, and that all things should give -way before it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The colony of Zanah would recompense thee for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_197'>197</span>thy services in helping to restore me to health,” said -Wilhelm Kellar. “Wilt thou render to me thine accounting?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Whatever aid you have received from me has not -been given for money,” Everett replied, in a voice so -decided in its accents that both his hearers felt there -was beneath his words something which they could -not understand.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The colony never shirks the payment of its debts,” -Wilhelm Kellar declared, proudly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If you think you owe me anything, accept the -amount as a gift to Zanah,” said Everett.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A moment of embarrassment followed, and he was -glad to take his leave rather hastily. When he reached -the inn, many of the villagers were assembled in -the main room and on the porches. The meeting-house -bell sounded as he went up the steps, and instantly -the men and women moved towards the old -building on the hill. The women drew heavy shawls -over their heads to protect them from the rain, and -the men, who walked apart from them, now and then -removed their caps to shake off the water which ran -down upon their hair and shoulders. No one spoke. -It was evident that the Day of Warning had its terrors -for many of the colonists. Everett stood on the topmost -step watching the little children, who were miniature -reproductions of the men and women, and -listening to the click of the wooden shoes upon the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_198'>198</span>board walk. He looked down the street in the hope -that he might see Walda Kellar, but he was disappointed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Would I be admitted to the meeting-house?” he -asked Diedrich Werther, who was putting a long-tailed -coat over a faded blue-gingham shirt.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ja, ja; if thou desirest to attend a service of much -solemnity, come with me,” the innkeeper answered.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The meeting-house was crowded when they entered. -Its interior was as devoid of ornament as its -exterior. The bare, white walls were broken at regular -intervals with small-paned, clear glass windows, -which let in but little light on a gloomy day. A -broad middle aisle led straight to a platform upon -which sat the thirteen elders, for Everett was astonished -to see that Wilhelm Kellar had been carried in -his arm-chair from his room in the near-by school-house. -The men occupied rude benches on the right -side of the meeting-house, and the women sat on the -left. The children were placed in front, the boys on -the men’s side and the girls on the women’s. On a -dais in the middle of the elders’ platform was a heavy -oaken chair.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A few moments after Everett’s entrance a group of -colonists, who still lingered at the door, separated to -allow some one to pass in. A hush fell upon the assemblage, -for Walda Kellar was walking up the aisle. -Over her blue gown she wore a long cloak with a pointed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_199'>199</span>hood that she put back from her head as she moved -slowly forward. The damp air had caused her hair -to curl in many unruly ringlets about her forehead, -and her pure skin had the peculiar clearness and transparency -that a rainy day imparts to a delicate complexion. -Everett could see only her profile. There was -a majesty in her carriage, a consciousness of power -in her pose, that made her seem far off from him. His -heart beat wildly as he looked at her, and when the -villagers knelt in acknowledgment of her presence, he -obeyed the impulse of worship, and bent forward with -a despairing humility in his heart. He, to whom -prayer had long ceased to be a daily habit, breathed -his heart’s sincere desire in a petition that his love -might be given its reward.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When Everett raised his eyes again Walda had ascended -the platform, and had taken her place on the -steps in front of the chair which it was plain was the -seat reserved for the prophetess. She had thrown -aside her cloak, and she sat with her hands folded in -her lap. Adolph Schneider spoke, in German, the -words of a droning invocation. He left the front of -the platform, and Everett was surprised to see Walda -come forward as if she were about to speak. Instead -of making an address, she began to sing a monotonous -hymn, to which her rich voice lent a glorious -melody.</p> - -<p class='c008'>While Walda sang, the man of the world listened -<span class='pageno' id='Page_200'>200</span>in breathless awe. Her voice thrilled with the diapason -of hope. It rose in triumphant notes, and then -fell with a softened cadence. His soul went out to -hers, but in the tense moment that followed her hymn -he felt as if she were far away from him. Her purity -rebuked the passion of love in him, and yet he could -scarcely restrain himself from the impulse to claim -her there before all Zanah. She went back to her -place on the steps before the chair of the prophetess, -which she was to occupy before another week had -passed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Adolph Schneider commanded the colonists to listen -with undivided attention to what he had to say to -them. It was the Day of Warning, when all who felt -they were not prepared for the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i> would -make confession. If there was any man or woman -who desired to ask for promotion in the colony, the -time had come to show reason for a desire for advancement.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A tall, large-boned woman rose from her place far -back in the congregation.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I would seek advancement to the first grade of the -colony,” she said.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What is thy ground for making this request? Why -dost thou believe that thou art worthy?” the Herr -Doktor asked.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is five years since I refused to listen to the elders -of Zanah when they told me of the trials earthly love -<span class='pageno' id='Page_201'>201</span>would bring,” answered the woman, turning a sallow, -weather-beaten face towards the platform. “Now -have I learned that marriage is a hard discipline. -Otto Schmidt hath vexed me every day for forty -months. I have found that the love of man for woman -is fleeting, and now do I know that I can worship -God in singleness of heart.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>On the men’s side a stout mill-worker pulled himself -to his feet.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Christina hath not suffered the smallest tithe of -the mortification of spirit that hath been mine,” he -declared, in an emphatic tone. “It was for her sake -that I gave up my place in the first grade of Zanah’s -people, and now do I confess that the elders of Zanah -are wise when they entreat the people to beware of -love. Love is but the fire of man’s vanity kindled to -flame by a woman’s wanton eyes.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, it is but a woman’s faith which is nourished -by man’s false promises of kindness and constancy,” -replied the woman, who was still standing.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Let the brother and sister of Zanah be seated,” -commanded Adolph Schneider.</p> - -<p class='c008'>As she obeyed, Christina Schmidt cast a glance of -hatred towards her husband.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The elders spoke together. While they were holding -their conference, Everett noticed that Hans Peter -was creeping slowly up the aisle with a letter in his -hand. He passed the envelope up to Adolph Schneider -<span class='pageno' id='Page_202'>202</span>and tiptoed to a vacant place on the front seat. -The elders examined the letter. The colonists waited -without any show of impatience.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is my sad duty to announce that one of the -colony youths hath looked with longing eyes on a -maid, and that he entreats permission to wed her,” -said the Herr Doktor, standing upon the edge of the -platform and looking down at the people with a stern -expression on his face. His small eyes scanned the -women and then the men. “I would have Frieda -Bergen and Joseph Hoff step forward.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>It would not have been in human nature for the -people to remain impassive. More than half of them -turned their heads to look for the culprits. Joseph -Hoff made his way towards the elders. He carried -his head high, and had an air of bravado that showed -how little he cared because he was transgressing the -laws of the colony. He waited for Frieda Bergen, -who came towards him with her head bent and her -cheeks flaming. “Be of good courage,” he whispered, -as they faced Adolph Schneider.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You two have made for yourselves idols here on -earth,” said the president of the colony in a thundering -tone, which frightened every youth and maiden in -the meeting-house. “Ye have not heeded the behests -of Zanah. How did Satan manage to tempt you when -all the safeguards of Zanah were thrown around you?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Neither of the lovers spoke.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_203'>203</span>“It is not permitted here in the colony for men and -women who are unmarried to speak together except -on rare occasions, and never are they allowed to talk -when no one is near them; how then did ye two surrender -to the tempter?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Still there was no answer.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Speak, Joseph Hoff!” Adolph Schneider shouted, -in a tone which showed that he was filled with indignation.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Love needeth not words or messengers; love is -carried on the winds that blow across a woman’s -cheek,” said Joseph.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, it is like a prayer that cometh from the heart -of man to the heart of woman,” faltered Frieda, bending -in a low courtesy.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou art blaspheming!” Adolph Schneider cried, -looking on the maiden with angry eyes. “It is plain -that thou art made mad by what thou callest love. -To you two erring ones shall be given a chance to repent -between now and the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>, but if your -eyes are then still blind to your iniquities ye shall be -allowed to marry. Ponder well upon the testimony -given here this day by Otto and Christina Schmidt. -Human love lasteth but a few years, and eternity is -not long enough to blot out the sorrow it can bring to -a human soul. Go hence to pray that ye may be delivered -from paying the hard penalties earthly love -bringeth to all.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_204'>204</span>Tears were streaming from the girl’s eyes as she -walked back to the women’s side of the building, but -in her face was no sign of repentance.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Karl Weisel and the other elders had listened with -stolid faces while Adolph Schneider rebuked the people. -After the young lovers had taken their seats, -Wilhelm Kellar pronounced a benediction. The colonists -filed slowly out of the meeting-house. Everett -lingered in the hope that by some happy circumstance -he might speak to Walda, but she was detained by the -elders, who gathered around her. He had given up -hope of getting near her when it occurred to him to -make Wilhelm Kellar’s imprudence an excuse by -which he might at least go closer to the woman he -loved. He went forward to where Wilhelm Kellar -stood at the foot of the platform steps.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You have taken a great risk,” he said, to his patient. -“You should not have come here to-day.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The old man drew himself up with a show of -strength and said he was well enough to make an effort -to enter the Lord’s house.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda, who had smiled upon Everett when she -saw him coming towards her, put her hand upon her -father’s shoulder and persuaded him to be carried -back to his room. Gerson Brandt and another man of -Zanah lifted the invalid’s chair. Everett opened the -side door that they might pass out. Walda, who was -anxious for her father’s comfort, would have gone into -<span class='pageno' id='Page_205'>205</span>the rain ahead of them, but Everett reminded her she -had not put on her cloak. He stepped up to the chair -of the prophetess without taking thought that he -might be profaning the place of the elders, and, taking -the long garment, put it around her. Although Karl -Weisel and the other elders stood by, he calmly fastened -the clasp at the neck and drew the hood over the -head of the prophetess. Walda, looking up into his -face, beheld in the deep-set eyes as they rested upon -her something that sent the blood to her face. Gerson -Brandt, looking back over his shoulder, saw Everett -hold the door open while Walda went through, -and he noticed that the strong face of the man of the -world had upon it a look of tenderness such as he had -never seen before.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett hesitated a moment as he buttoned his -mackintosh. He was uncertain whether to go out -into the woods for a long walk or whether to return -to the dreary inn. He turned his steps towards the -inn, and he had not gone half-way down the hill before -he saw Walda coming from the school-house. -The prophetess was with Frieda Bergen, and behind -them walked two of the village “mothers.” Everett -let them pass him, but he noticed with a pang that -Walda appeared not to see him as he stood with uncovered -head while she walked by.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The elders have asked me to entreat thee to overcome -this love that thou hast confessed,” he heard -<span class='pageno' id='Page_206'>206</span>Walda say to Frieda Bergen; but they had gone beyond -ear-shot before the girl replied.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They went into the inn, whither Everett followed -them after a time. Walda drew Frieda Bergen to the -settle near the fire which Everett had kindled.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou seemest so happy in thy sin that I would -know what is thy feeling,” said Walda. “Thou hast -the look of one to whom heaven hath been revealed.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“A great joy hath come to me, Walda. If it is -wicked to love, then would I continue in my sin,” -answered Frieda. “Hast thou never known the -temptation of love? Hast thou never seen one who -maketh the world seem better to thee?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Gerson Brandt and Stephen Everett have taught -me much,” said Walda, “but no one hath ever tempted -me to forget God and to worship man. Doth not -thy conscience make thee repentant?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, I cannot believe that it is wicked to love.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How didst thou come to know that thou lovest?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“One day, as we worked together, Joseph Hoff -looked at me through the trellis of a hop-vine. He -was on one side and I was on the other. My heart -trembled, and thenceforth his face was often before -me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That is but a small matter. The stranger in Zanah -hath sometimes made my heart leap, but that -meaneth naught.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“After the hour in which Joseph Hoff looked at me, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_207'>207</span>the day was happier when I could see him. I no longer -rebelled against the hard tasks given me. I had -sweet dreams,” declared Frieda.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I have felt as thou sayest thou feelest, but it was -prayer and fasting that made the earth like the outer -courts of heaven. Frieda, Frieda, thou hast mistaken -the spirit of holiness for earthly love.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda Kellar leaned forward, clasping her hands -together in a gesture which betrayed her relief at -what she supposed was her discovery of the true state -of her companion’s mind.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, nay, it was love that made a new life for -me,” insisted Frieda, shaking her black-capped head -and speaking in a low voice.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How couldst thou know?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“One day Joseph spoke to me sweet words; he -touched my hand. Life became changed again. In -my heart thenceforth was a great loneliness except -when I was near Joseph Hoff. I trembled when he -touched my hand, and I would have had him always -by my side.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah, this that thou tellest me is strange indeed. I -have known something of this loneliness, but it was -the loneliness of the soul that seeketh God and feareth -to lose the way to heaven. Tell me something -more of thy love.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Joseph Hoff sometimes said I was like an angel to -him. He spoke softly of love.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_208'>208</span>“Thou wert wrong to listen,” said Walda.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou hast spoken often with the stranger in -Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“True, but we talked of books, and the woods; of the -wonders of the heavens and the glories of the earth.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We spoke few words, but they gave me strange -strength. The earth seemed a pleasanter place after -we had talked together. Hast thou never known a -day when suddenly the flowers became more beautiful -and the sun shone brighter?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, lately, since the inspiration hath come to me, -it is as if Zanah were bathed in a heavenly radiance. -But tell me more, Frieda.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The days became pleasant; every one was joyous. -There was in my heart a singing that made me care -not for the reproofs of the village mothers.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I know what thou meanest. Thy experiences are -not different from mine.” Walda looked into her -companion’s face with a smile of sympathy. “Disturb -not thyself any longer. Thou hast the revelation -of divinity that the Lord sendeth to those who -serve Him. Why didst thou think this new glory in -thy life was an earthly love? Foolish girl, I am glad -that I did have this chance to probe thy heart to-day.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It was not love of God that was in my heart, Walda.” -Frieda looked into the fire and shook her head -thoughtfully. “Else why should I look each day for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_209'>209</span>a glimpse of Joseph Hoff? Why should the simplest -word from him be more to me than the longest prayer -of any of the elders? Even if I had thought in the beginning -that the tumult in my heart was due to the -fervor of my religious faith, I found out very soon -that it was Joseph Hoff I loved.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How did the revelation come?” Walda whispered.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“One day, when I went back into the hay-field to -find a rake I had left, Joseph Hoff, who was working -on the top of the stack, came down to the field, and, -taking both my hands, he kissed me.” Frieda lifted -the corner of her apron and half hid her face as she -made this confession.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah, that was sinful, indeed!” exclaimed Walda, -her eyes wide with horror. “We of Zanah have been -taught that a kiss is the password that Satan giveth -to weak and foolish men and women. I hope that -thou didst rebuke the bold and sinful youth.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Frieda raised her apron a little higher and made no -reply.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What didst thou do when he had kissed thee?” -Walda asked, after a moment of silence.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I—I—waited for him to kiss me again.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda drew away from the girl beside her. “How -couldst thou let any man touch thy lips?” she exclaimed -in indignation.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Because I loved him.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And since Joseph Hoff hath kissed thee, hast thou -<span class='pageno' id='Page_210'>210</span>not lost the sense of holiness that belongeth to the -people of Zanah?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, every kiss hath added a glory to the earth. -I care no longer for heaven if I may dwell with Joseph -Hoff here in Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Truly, thy state of mind doth alarm me, Frieda. -Thou hast many of the emotions that have come to -me since the beginning of mine inspiration, and yet -thou hast fallen a victim to the wiles of man. Pray -that thine eyes may be opened to thine errors.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, I would not pray that, lest my prayer should -be answered. If I prayed from my heart, I would ask -that many years might be given me to live and love -Joseph Hoff here on earth.” Frieda Bergen rose and -walked away, but she turned back to put her hand -on Walda Kellar’s shoulder.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Forgive me if I seem of a stubborn spirit. I -know that thou canst not understand how the love of -man can take possession of a woman’s heart. Thou -wilt be satisfied to live aloof from the people of Zanah -that thou mayst be near to God, but I would rather -have the love of Joseph Hoff than the inspiration that -cometh to a prophetess of Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is my duty to reprimand thee for thy sin, but -somehow, when thou speakest of Joseph Hoff, I cannot -feel the abhorrence for thy transgression that should -fill my heart. I will pray that the Lord may show -thee the right way.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_211'>211</span>Walda leaned her head against the settle and -thought about Frieda Bergen’s state of mind, but her -thoughts were confused. Her reflections were interrupted -by Everett, who came into the inn. Drawing -near to the fireplace, he made a great show of drying -his hat, which was wet from the rain. Walda did -not seem to notice his presence.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You appear to be troubled about something,” he -said.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea. A matter of much moment hath been laid -before me, and I have not wisdom enough to see it in -all its sinfulness.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Do you suppose my worldly advice would help -you?” Everett asked.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, thou hast different measures of judgment -from those set by the people of Zanah. Thou dost -not hold earthly love a sin.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“No, I do not, Walda.” Everett smiled. “I hold -love—the earthly love you are taught to try to escape—as -the most precious gift the Creator gave to the -children of men.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>His voice was low, and it betrayed an intensity of -feeling that caused Walda to give him a questioning -glance. Everett looked at her with so much tenderness -she turned her head away.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou hast in thy tones the same sound that was -strange in Frieda’s voice. Dost thou love? Hast -thou the same unreasoning rapture as Joseph Hoff?”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_212'>212</span>“Not the same, Walda. I love much more than -any man in Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda’s face became as white as the cap upon her -soft hair. She clasped her hands tightly together and -said, with a catch in her voice:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Stephen, why hast thou never told me of thy -love?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Because I thought you would not care to hear -about it. Because it is forbidden to speak of love in -Zanah,” Everett answered.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He seated himself beside her on the settle. From -behind the high desk Diedrich Werther now and then -stared at them with a glimmer of suspicion in his -eyes. His recent contact with the world at the railway -station evidently had made him less trustful than -his fellow-colonists. Everett noticed the innkeeper’s -watchfulness, and therefore was careful not to betray -emotion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Walda, you are not angry because I have deceived -you, are you?” he said, when she did not answer him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Angry with thee, Stephen? Nay, thy love cannot -concern the prophetess of Zanah.” Her lip quivered, -but she held her head high, and disdained to let -him know that the heart beneath her kerchief was -throbbing so that her words were almost smothered -in her throat. “Thy confession did cause me to be -abashed for a moment. I had never thought that -out in the world some woman loved thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_213'>213</span>She rose to her feet as she spoke, and she would -have gone away without another word but he boldly -caught her hand and pulled her back upon the settle. -Diedrich Werther looked on with jaw dropped and -pipe suspended at elbow-length, but Everett defied -him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You misunderstand me, Walda. I want to explain -to you, but this is not the place.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I—I would not hear what thou hast to say about -thy love, Stephen,” she said, with a faint smile. -“Frieda hath told me her story, and it is enough for -me to think of in the watches of the night. Detain -me not. I must pray for Frieda Bergen. I must -seek divine light for the understanding of mortal -weaknesses, of which love is said to be the most dangerous. -Verily, to-day I fear the inspiration hath -been withdrawn from me, for I am dull of comprehension.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Before Everett could reply, Gerson Brandt entered -the room. The school-master came towards them -with a stern look upon his face.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why dost thou talk here with the prophetess of -Zanah?” he said, addressing Everett. “Thou canst -have nothing to say that will be worthy of her hearing, -since she is close to heaven and thou art of the -wicked world.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>His long hair was wet as it lay upon his shoulders, -and his thin face was deeply lined.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_214'>214</span>“We were talking of love—earthly love,” Walda -said, leaving her place beside Everett. “Gerson -Brandt, he hath just told me that he loveth.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The school-master’s tall, gaunt form swayed beneath -the burden of a great emotion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Tell me, sir, thou hast not dared to speak of love -to the prophetess of Zanah?” he cried.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, I have spoken of love,” said Everett, going -to the farther side of the fireplace. “Yes, I have -spoken of love.” He was again the cool, well-poised -man of the world. Carelessly he took up an old pair -of bellows, as he added: “But you need not fear. The -prophetess of Zanah did not care to hear about my -love.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Walda, thou wouldst not listen to any man who -would dare to speak of love to thee, wouldst thou?” -Gerson Brandt asked, in an agony of fear.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Disturb not thyself, Gerson Brandt,” Walda answered. -“What harm can there be in Stephen Everett’s -declaration that he loveth a woman out in the -world?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>An expression of relief passed over the face of -the school-master. Beads of perspiration stood -upon his white forehead. He was shaking so that -he had to steady himself against the end of the -settle.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thy time of inspiration is so near that thou -shouldst not speak to the stranger,” he said, in a softened -<span class='pageno' id='Page_215'>215</span>tone. “Thou art close to heaven, and it is not -wise for thee to commune with any man.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Must I speak no more with thee, Gerson Brandt?” -Walda looked at him with all the tenderness of a deep -affection shining in her eyes. Everett watched her -as she addressed the school-master. The childish -heart and the unawakened soul associated with the -majestic form of a woman had fascinated him when -he first came to Zanah, but he saw that the face, once -as placid as a nun’s, showed the inner disquietude -that is the recompense of those who come into a -knowledge of the great emotions of life.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou wouldst better dwell alone until the great -day of the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>,” Gerson Brandt said to Walda. -“Go now to thy closet, where thou canst pray -until thou forgettest what thou hast heard of earthly -love.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda started to obey the counsel of the school-master, -but she hesitated after she had gone to the -door. She glanced at Everett. His tall form was -outlined in the fire-light, but she could not see his -face, which was in the shadow.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I would speak a last word with Stephen Everett,” -she said. Gerson Brandt stood by the door while -she went near to Everett.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Since this may be my last meeting with thee, I -would offer thee gratitude from my heart for all -that thou hast done for my father and for me,” she -<span class='pageno' id='Page_216'>216</span>said. “Thou hast helped me to gain wisdom, Stephen.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Do not speak of gratitude, Walda. You cannot -say good-bye to me here, for I shall see you again.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, I may not be permitted to see thee again.” -She stopped, as if she were taking care to speak wisely. -“It is my prayer, Stephen, that thy love shall bring -happiness to thee and to the woman upon whom thou -hast set thine heart.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>She was gone before she could hear Everett’s reply.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_217'>217</span> - <h2 class='c005'>XVI</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c007'>The evening of the Day of Warning closed in dark -and dreary. The rain stopped and a high wind -came up. After tea in the inn, Everett walked up and -down the porch. The village square and the winding -street were deserted. At long intervals lights gleamed -from fast-curtained windows. At first he took it -for granted that Walda would not make her nightly -visit to the grave of Marta Bachmann. When he -thought over the matter, however, it occurred to him -that it might be well to walk out towards the cemetery. -He knew the fanaticism of the colonists -caused them to be punctilious in the smallest religious -observances. He watched for Walda in vain. After -Gerson Brandt’s exhibition of evident unfriendliness -to him he knew that precautions might be taken to -prevent Walda from passing the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">gasthaus</span></i>. As he had -nothing else to do, he decided that a walk out through -the woods to the shore of the lake might possibly be -rewarded by a glimpse of the prophetess. He met no -one on the way to the cemetery, but when he reached -the gate he could dimly discern the forms of two women -who were standing by the grave of Marta Bachmann. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_218'>218</span>He guessed that Mother Kaufmann had been -sent with Walda. A tall hedge surrounded the God’s-acre -of Zanah, and he followed this evergreen wall to -the point where it was nearest the grave of the dead -prophetess. He was careful that his presence should -not be discovered by the colony “mother.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>An old oak-tree spread its branches over the little -plot of ground in which the tomb of Marta Bachmann -was situated. The wind waved the branches of this -tree and blew a shower of brown leaves upon the two -women. It wound Walda’s cloak about her and tore -the shawl from Mother Kaufmann’s shoulders.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This is a night to make the spirits of the dead -walk about their old haunts,” said Mother Kaufmann.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Put superstition away from thee,” Walda answered. -“If thou hast fixed thy faith on God, evil -spirits cannot harm thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Mother Kaufmann put her hand to her forehead -while she peered about her, as if to discover some -chance ghost.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Dost thou not hear footsteps among the dried -leaves?” she asked Walda.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, Mother Kaufmann. Why art thou so affrighted?” -the girl replied. At that moment a gust -of wind almost swept them from their feet. Mother -Kaufmann uttered a scream of terror and pointed to -a far corner of the graveyard where a white form was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_219'>219</span>moving about among the graves. She did not wait -to find out who or what the unexpected apparition -might be. Gathering her skirts in her hand she fled, -leaving Walda alone beside the grave. Everett stepped -through the hedge and spoke gently to Walda.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Do not be afraid,” he said. “I will find out what -sort of a ghost has frightened Mother Kaufmann.” -He walked towards the place, where what appeared to -be a headless form wrapped in a sheet was moving -back and forth. When he came near to it he saw that -it was a most substantial substance, for Hans Peter -had borrowed a white rubber blanket, through which -he had thrust his head, and thus improvised a most -serviceable rain-coat.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What are you doing here?” Everett asked, in an -angry tone of voice. “Do you know that you have -scared one of the colony women?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou hast no concern in what my errand may be,” -said the simple one, gathering his rubber blanket -around him and calmly seating himself upon the nearest -gravestone. “If Mother Kaufmann had been -scared to death there is none in Zanah who would have -wept upon her bier.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You had better go back to the village,” Everett -advised, as he with difficulty restrained a laugh.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, it is thou who hast no occasion to linger near -the cemetery,” the simple one replied. “I have come -to wait for Walda Kellar.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span>Another gust of wind, even stronger than the preceding -one, carried Everett’s hat away, and while he -searched for it in the dark a tree was uprooted. It -fell with a crash that came from the direction of -Marta Bachmann’s grave, towards which Everett ran -in a frenzy of fear lest Walda had been injured.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Stephen, Stephen,” he heard her call. She took -a few steps towards him, and in a moment his arms -were around her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You are not hurt, are you?” he said, putting his -right hand upon her head, and drawing it close to him -until it rested on his shoulder. He felt her tremble, -and he said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You are quite safe now. I will take you home.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The simple one had come near. Without glancing -towards Stephen and Walda, he went to Marta Bachmann’s -grave, and, climbing over the branches of the -fallen tree, began to search for something. Everett -gently put Walda away from him lest the simple one -should notice them. Then, taking her by the hand, -he led her through the hedge and along the road until -they came to the open place by the lake.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Stephen, I have shown a grievous weakness and -lack of faith,” said Walda, catching her breath, and -drawing her hand from his. “The prophetess of -Zanah should not know fear, and yet I felt a strength -and comfort in thine aid that my prayers have never -given me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_221'>221</span>Walda raised her face to him, and again he put his -arms around her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Walda, I mean to take care of you always,” he -said. “I shall never let you go. Cannot you understand -that it is meant you should belong to me?” He -kissed her on the lips, and, abashed and trembling, she -drew away from him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Stephen, thou dost betray my trust in thee. Why -wouldst thou profane the lips of a prophetess of -Zanah?” she cried. She put her hands over her heart, -as if to still its wild beating, and her eyes were wide -with fear and astonishment.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Walda, I love you. I think I have loved you ever -since the first day I came to Zanah. I have kissed -you because my heart claims you from all the world. -Life without you means nothing to me. Can’t you -love me, Walda?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I know not what it means to love. I have been -warned that it is selfish and sinful for men and -women to fix all their thoughts upon each other. Oh, -Stephen, what have I done that thou shouldst speak -thus to me?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You have made me centre all my hopes in you. -You have won my reverence. I know I am unworthy -to touch your hand, but this love that has come to me -gives me a supreme courage. Walda, surely your -heart answers mine. Words are so clumsy that, now -that my tongue should tell you how great and holy a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_222'>222</span>thing is the love of a man for a woman, I am but a poor -supplicant.” He took both her hands in his and -drew her towards him. Again he kissed her, and, -instead of resenting the caress, she hid her face upon -his shoulder. He held her thus for a moment. He -pushed back the white cap and softly touched her -hair.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Walda, do you know, I have often been afraid of -the prophetess of Zanah,” he said, in a low tone, “and -if it were not for my great love I would not have the -courage to covet you for my wife. Love is stronger -than reason, and so I dare covet you for my own forever. -You are mine, for I could not love you so if you -were not the woman destined to rule my life. Cannot -you find in your heart a little love for me?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I know not what is in my heart,” she answered. -“Thy kisses make me ashamed, Stephen, and yet my -heart is glad. This night my weakness hath been revealed -to me. Even now I cling to thee when I should -bid thee go away from me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You do love me, Walda. You must love me. It -was fate that brought me to Zanah to find you. I -know that all my years I have been waiting for you. -You have been kept for me here in Zanah. Cannot -you begin to comprehend that love is the birthright -of every man and woman? Zanah would have cheated -you, but now it cannot separate us.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thy words make me think of my duty, Stephen.” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_223'>223</span>Walda’s voice trembled. “Since thou hast kissed me, -I am no longer fit to be the prophetess of Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You will be a wife instead of a prophetess, Walda. -You can still be an instrument of the Lord, for you -will make the world outside better for your presence.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>She was very quiet for a moment. It was as if she -had not heard him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Is it love that maketh my heart beat? Is it -love that casteth out fear while thou hast thine arms -around me?” she asked, presently. “What meaning -is there in a kiss that it should make me ashamed and -yet happy, Stephen? Verily, thy kisses are not like -the kisses of good-fellowship that the elders give one -another at the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>; they are not like the -kisses the mothers have pressed upon my forehead.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Of course they are not,” Everett said, and he -laughed aloud in the joy the knowledge of her love -gave him. “Look up, Walda, and let me kiss you -again, and you will learn that the kiss of love is the -token that unlocks the hearts of men and women.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>She looked into his eyes, and their lips met.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou speakest truly, Stephen,” Walda said. “Let -us go back to the village. I would think of thee and -of love in solitude and with much prayer. This hour -hath robbed me of the mantle of the prophetess.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But it has given you the highest heritage of life. -It is better to be a wife than a prophetess, Walda.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_224'>224</span> - <h2 class='c005'>XVII</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c007'>Kneeling by the window in her bare little room, -Walda tried to pray after the manner of Zanah, -yet no words of penitence came to the lips that had -been touched by a lover’s kiss. The soul that the -good elders had turned towards heaven as a mirror -upon which the divine will might be reflected held an -earthly image. A human love was enshrined in the -heart that had been consecrated to God. As the girl -prostrated herself, the discipline of long years of religious -training was forgotten. Her Zanah life fell -from her. New emotions swept over her, submerging -her old character and bringing strange, sweet hopes. -The soul of the priestess was consumed by the supreme -passion of earth, and in its place flamed the soul -of a woman.</p> - -<p class='c008'>One by one the lowly duties that had occupied her -days came up before her. She recalled the pious -fervor that had made them pleasant. Looking back -to the time when Everett’s chance words in the sick-room -had tempted her to enjoy the beauties of sky -and field, she realized how far she had grown away -from her former self since the almost imperceptible -<span class='pageno' id='Page_225'>225</span>beginning of the fuller life which she had unconsciously -entered. Kneeling there in the darkness, for the -first time in all her life she rebelled against the laws -of Zanah. Her youth and womanhood demanded the -privilege of accepting human love. Everett’s influence -was over her, and she gave little thought to the -future. It was enough to feel the exaltation of love, -to comprehend that she stood at the threshold of the -ultimate mystery of life. She looked out at the stars -that shone above the far horizon. She felt that she -had ceased to belong to Zanah. It was as if she -had entered into a larger kinship with all nature. -Love had wrought the miracle that puts away -all one’s years and leads the soul into a new existence -independent of the past, expectant of the -future.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Long after the village had gone to sleep Everett -stayed out in the starlight, thinking of the weeks he -had spent in Zanah, and of the woman who would -henceforth claim his life’s allegiance. He dreamed -of the future that was his and Walda’s. He saw the -girl’s stunted life expanding under its new environments. -His thoughts wandered over imaginary years, -and he beheld her clad in the ripened charm of maturity. -He saw the light of happiness in her eyes reflected -in the eyes of their children. Sometimes, perhaps, -they would look back to Zanah and thank God -that among the middle-aged mothers with dwarfed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_226'>226</span>minds and cramped souls there was none that bore the -name of Walda Kellar.</p> - -<p class='c008'>For Walda the next day dawned with mysterious -splendor. Zanah had fallen under a spell of enchantment, -yet as the village awoke to life all its influences -once more stole over her. Looking out of her window, -she began to remember that she had been the prophetess -of Zanah. She watched the men and boys walk -leisurely towards the factory. Ox-teams creaked up -the narrow street. The children solemnly wandered -schoolward. She could no longer put her father or -Gerson Brandt from her thoughts. The realization -that she would give them pain burst upon her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>She tried to think what Everett’s love meant to her, -but she found it impossible to get beyond the one idea -that she was to be unfaithful to the trust that the people -of Zanah had put in her. She did not shrink from -facing the change in her position in the colony, but -she could not understand what her future would be. -She recalled that Everett had taken it for granted she -would leave Zanah, but she knew she could not desert -her father, even though a greater love than that which -she bore for him might call her away. She was not -sad, however, for underneath her new anxieties there -was the consciousness of the revelation of love, the -recognition of divinity that was so different from the -one to which she had looked forward since her childhood. -It gradually came over her that the inspiration -<span class='pageno' id='Page_227'>227</span>she had felt came through a human medium, and -not directly from heaven. She fell upon her knees -before the low table that held her little German Bible. -She tried to pray that she might know the will of God, -but she could not bring herself to plead that she would -have power to cast out from her heart the human love -which had brought to her life the holy exaltation she -had hoped to obtain through rigid conformity to the -creed of Zanah.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda went out of the house of the women and -stood in the little street, in which she felt suddenly -that she was a stranger. She turned her steps towards -the hill, for she obeyed the impulse to go to her -father. Wilhelm Kellar was sitting in the window -whence Walda had looked so many times at the far-off -bluffs. He was reading his Bible, and as Walda entered -the room he was mildly rebuking Piepmatz, who -was singing the doxology and the love-song, mingled -in such a medley as was never before heard from the -throat of any bird.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Peace be with thee, daughter,” he said, taking off -his horn spectacles and stretching out his thin hand to -her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda clasped his hands, and her eyes fell beneath -his glance. “Thou art feeling better, I hope?” she -said, sinking upon a stool that was just beneath Piepmatz’s -cage.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The knowledge that the day of the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_228'>228</span>is so near giveth me new life,” declared the old man. -“To-day I am full of gratitude because the Lord hath -kept thee safe from the wiles of men. I have given -thanks unto the Lord that thou art to be the prophetess.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda’s face flushed and then became pale. Her -heart beat so that she could not answer.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Come near to me, Walda,” her father said. “I -would tell thee that thou hast crowned my life with -happiness, that thou hast atoned for the sin of the -mother who bore thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda knelt before him and hid her face upon his -knee.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, nay, father,” she cried, “I am unworthy of -thy trust. I am but a weak woman such as thou -sayest my mother was.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is right that thou shouldst feel humble, my -daughter,” the old man replied, putting both hands -upon her head. “But thou hast not sinned in deceiving -those that trust thee. Thou hast not known -the temptations of a human love.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Father, father!” Walda raised her head and -looked up with tearful eyes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A knock sounded on the door, and Hans Peter, still -tapping on the door-jamb with one of his gourds, -crossed the threshold.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The elders have sent me to tell thee they would -consult with thee. They bade me make ready the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_229'>229</span>ink-horn and the papers, as they have business of -much importance,” he announced.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda went away from her father’s room with her -confession still unspoken. She lingered for a moment -on the school-house porch, for she felt uncertain what -to do with her day. For the first time in all her Zanah -life she had no inviting task before her. She was already -removed from the calm routine of duty. Ordinarily -she would have gone to study the heavy books -kept in the elders’ room which occupied a little wing -of the meeting-house, but as she looked at the door, -which stood invitingly open, she felt that she would no -longer need to be familiar with the annals of former -prophetesses and the discourses of the elders long -since sanctified by good works. She had a sense of -being outside the colony. A pang of homesickness -made her sink upon the bench and look out upon the -quiet valley.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The years had slipped by so noiselessly that she had -come into womanhood without realizing the changes -wrought by time. When she was a child, the colonists -had labored in simple harmony and humble faith, -content to work for the common welfare. Each season -their harvests had been more abundant, their -vineyards more fruitful, their lands more extensive. -In the midst of this well-preserved plenty she had been -happy, although she had often vexed the “mothers” -by her sudden impulses and hasty actions. Beneath -<span class='pageno' id='Page_230'>230</span>the kerchief crossed upon her breast now an eager, -restless heart beat, and she comprehended that all the -teachings of the good elders had not altered her intense -nature. It seemed to her that Zanah had been -metamorphosed since the coming of the early summer-time -when she had looked forward to the autumn -with a large hope for the final step towards her complete -consecration to the service of God and the colony. -She felt that, somehow, mysterious influences -were at work. There was a general discontent. It -had been a bad year for both the mills and the harvest -fields, and she had represented hope and wisdom to -the colonists. Tears came to her eyes when she -thought that she had betrayed the trust of Zanah, and -yet underneath her remorse was the consciousness -that she was being led by the divine power in which -she had trusted. Love flamed beneath every shifting -emotion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Through her tears Walda gazed down at the quaint -village. The low-roofed stone houses were almost -hidden beneath the vines and shrubbery that were -turning to gorgeous color with the magic touch of the -first frosts which had come early. Beyond the village -the little valley melted into the plain, which rolled -away to the far-off bluffs. The fields were brown -and gold, as the gleaners had left them after the harvests, -except here and there where the rich, black -earth had been turned up by the plough. Cattle -<span class='pageno' id='Page_231'>231</span>grazed beside the placid river that flowed almost imperceptibly -onward to the Mississippi. The sunlight, -mellowed by the autumn haze, glorified even the commonest -every-day things. The scene had the beauty -that gave it unreality. As her eyes rested upon the -familiar landscape Walda felt a vague fear that it -might vanish, since she had forfeited her right to remain -in it as one of the faithful colonists. While she -was looking down the wavering street she saw Gerson -Brandt slowly climbing the hill. He had taken off -the broad-rimmed hat that distinguished him from -the other men of Zanah, and Walda noticed with a -pang that his face had the stamp of pain upon it. He -paused half-way up the hill to look back upon the -village, and the girl, whose perceptions had been -quickened with her recognition of an earthly love, -noticed that the school-master’s tall form was more -stooped than usual. When he resumed his walk towards -the school-house Gerson Brandt caught sight of -Walda, and his face took on an expression of gladness.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Providence is kind to give me yet another chance -to speak with thee before the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>,” he said, -pausing before her. He saw that there were tears in -her eyes, which refused to meet his glance. “Thou -hast no sorrow? Surely, I know that nothing can disturb -thee, now that thou art so near to thy Father in -heaven. Yet why dost thou weep?”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_232'>232</span>He pushed the long hair back from his forehead -with a trembling hand while he waited for her reply, -but she remained silent, with only her profile turned to -him. The white kerchief on her breast moved with -her quick breathing.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Canst thou not answer me, Walda?” he asked, in -the tender tone that she remembered from her childhood.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda rested her elbows on the back of the porch -seat, and, with her chin in her hands, shook her white-capped -head. The tears began to fall so rapidly that -she dared not try to speak. Gerson Brandt sank upon -the seat opposite her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It would be foolish for me to offer thee solace for -thine aching heart, for I know that thou, who art the -prophetess of Zanah, no longer cravest human sympathy. -Forgive me for forgetting that thou art no -longer the colony maiden over whom I have felt a care -all these years. Yet thy tears are no more sacred to -me now than they were in thine earliest childhood, -Walda. Thy griefs were always felt by me.” Gerson -Brandt leaned forward as if he would read what was -in Walda’s heart, and he paled with a formless fear.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thy tears distress me,” he said, presently, “and -yet I know that it is but natural thou shouldst feel -awe-stricken and oppressed with a weight of responsibility, -now that thou art so near to thy consecration.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_233'>233</span>“Speak not so. Thy words smite me,” exclaimed -Walda, turning towards him and blushing scarlet as -she met his eyes. “I am not worthy to be the prophetess. -I—I—I am sorely troubled.” She put her -face upon her arms and sobbed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“To them whom the Lord maketh most strong He -revealeth weakness,” the school-master replied.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I shall need much strength,” said Walda, controlling -herself with an effort.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, that is true,” agreed Gerson Brandt. “My -prayers will help to support thee, for thou art always -in my mind. Much have I rejoiced to know that thou -hast escaped all danger from earthly love. Ah, now -that thou hast safely passed thy period of probation -nothing can befall thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Gerson Brandt, tell me what would have happened -if I had found an earthly love?” asked Walda, turning -to him with an intensity of interest that was but -lightly disguised.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Why wouldst thou waste time talking of such an -unprofitable subject now at this holy season? It is a -sacrilege to link the name of the prophetess of Zanah -with an earthly love.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The school-master was looking far away as he answered, -and he did not see that his words caused the -girl to clasp her hands tightly and to bite her full, red -lips.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Tell me, is human love such a wicked thing, after -<span class='pageno' id='Page_234'>234</span>all? Thou didst once speak to me as if thou hadst -known it, and thou canst tell me whether it hath in -it something of the divine quality. If I had loved, -wouldst thou have condemned me as severely as would -those of the colonists who live like the cattle on the -fields, feeling none of the mystery and the glory of -life?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If thou hadst loved any man I should have sorrowed -more than all the colony, for I have longed to -see thee spared the pangs and pains that love brings.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Doth love never bring happiness?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The woman who loveth must suffer much,” declared -Gerson Brandt.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“But women are glad to suffer for love.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>In Walda’s eyes shone the light of a new-born courage, -and Gerson Brandt, catching some of the spirit -that had taken possession of her, answered:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Walda, it passeth understanding that thou -shouldst speak thus of love now, when thou hast -gone forever beyond the reach of temptation. Thy -mood doth confound me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>He went near to her, and, standing before her, -studied her face.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“In thine eyes I behold a mystery,” he said, presently, -with a tremor in his voice. “Thou hast lost -the essence of childhood that lingered with thee until—was -it yesterday or to-day that thou didst lose it?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The world hath been different to me since the sun -<span class='pageno' id='Page_235'>235</span>set yesterday.” Walda spoke the words softly, and -Gerson Brandt beheld in her face a radiance which -made him ashamed of the vague suspicions that had -sent a chill to his heart.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Verily, the spirit of prophecy hath descended upon -thee. Thou hast come into the full possession of the -divine gift.” He drew away from her, and looked at -her in awe.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, nay,” Walda faltered; “thou art deceived.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Her gaze wandered past him as she spoke, and she -saw, ascending the hill, six of the village mothers. -Gerson Brandt, following her glance, said: “This is -the day when thy vigil beginneth. The watchers are -coming for thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda’s face paled.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I had forgotten that the time had come,” she exclaimed. -“I am not ready for it. I am unworthy.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is the hour of our last talk together,” Gerson -Brandt announced, in a solemn tone. “Thy misgivings -are only human.” He raised his hands above -her bowed head and gave her his blessing. He could -not trust himself to look at her again. Passing by -her he entered the school-house, closing the door tightly -behind him, lest he might be tempted to look back.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda submissively followed the women, who led -the way to the little room that opened out of the bare -auditorium of the meeting-house. It was here that -she had spent many hours of study among the elders’ -<span class='pageno' id='Page_236'>236</span>books, but its appearance was slightly changed. In -one corner stood a cot covered with white blankets of -the finest weave that came from the looms of Zanah. -In the centre was a reading-desk, upon which a large -Bible lay open. Six chairs were ranged along the -wall just outside the door that led into the interior of -the meeting-house.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou wilt find nothing to distract thy thoughts -here,” said Mother Kaufmann, glancing into the -room.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We will take good care that thou art not disturbed,” -asserted Mother Schneider.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda gave no sign that she heard. Crossing the -threshold she closed the door, shutting out the six -women. She threw herself upon the bed, and gave -way to a paroxysm of weeping. The realization that -she had missed her opportunity to confess her love for -Everett at first frightened her, for she knew it was now -too late to speak before going to the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>. -Zanah guarded a prophetess so carefully that when -once the door of the sanctuary in which Marta Bachmann -had fasted and prayed closed upon one supposed -to be inspired, no word could be spoken. She -lay awake far into the night. When the day had -faded, a single candle had been put upon her reading-desk -by Mother Kaufmann, who scanned her face -with the inquisitive look of a mischief-maker. Walda, -sitting with folded hands, had appeared oblivious -<span class='pageno' id='Page_237'>237</span>of the woman’s presence. She had heard the evening -prayers of the colony gathered in the meeting-house. -She felt a dull pain when she recalled her father’s face. -Underneath every emotion that she experienced in -the dreary watches of the night she was always conscious -of the memory of Everett’s voice as he pleaded -for her love. At first she had a faint hope that he -might speak to her through the window, or that, in -some way, he would send her a token of encouragement, -but nothing disturbed the oppressive quiet of -the laggard hours.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda was wakened early in the morning, after a -brief and troubled sleep, by the whispers of the women -outside her door. She knew that the watch was -being changed, and that soon she would be expected -to be kneeling at her prayers. Rising from the cot -she looked out of the one window—it overlooked the -school-house garden, and she saw Gerson Brandt -walking back and forth amid the tangled nasturtiums -and late asters. As he moved to and fro he never -once turned his eyes towards the meeting-house. -With difficulty Walda repressed an impulse to call him -to her. Through all her childhood and girlhood he -had bent a ready ear when she told him her troubles, -and now it seemed an easy matter to confide in -him. While she was still at the window, Gerson -Brandt went up the worn steps that led to the school-room.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_238'>238</span>A long, dull day followed for Walda. Her pride -enabled her to preserve an outward calm when, on -various pretexts, the women opened the door to look -in upon her. She tried to think what she ought to do. -So great is the power of love that it did not occur to -her she might try to put out of her heart the sacred -emotion she had mistaken for religious inspiration. -She accepted it as the divine gift for which she had -been waiting. Although she knew that it was likely -her father would forbid her marriage to Everett, -she told herself no one in Zanah could take away -from her the glory of an earthly love. Towards the -end of the day she fell again into the old habit of -praying much. Kneeling at the reading-desk, with -her head upon the big Bible, she asked that she might -be given strength to do her duty to her father, and to -submit to the will of Zanah.</p> - -<p class='c008'>For the second time the evening hymns were chanted -outside the door. Walda listened quite calmly, -and, long after she knew the meeting-house was emptied -of all except the six watchers, she sat in the fading -light of the evening looking out into the schoolyard, -and thinking serenely of the life she was putting -behind her. Presently her thoughts were disturbed -by a man’s voice. With a heart-flutter she recognized -Everett’s low, clear tones. She heard him command -one of the women to open the door. Rising to her -feet, she listened breathlessly to the protracted parley -<span class='pageno' id='Page_239'>239</span>that followed. Without warning, a light knock sounded -on the door.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Let me in, Walda,” said Everett.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Before she could go to the door, he had lifted the -latch and had entered, followed by the six women, all -of whom spoke words of angry protest.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“So this is where they have hidden you, Walda?” -he said, paying no attention to the colony mothers. -“I have searched for you all day, for I have much that -I wish to say to you.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>His manner was quiet and determined. “I wish to -be left alone with Walda Kellar,” he said, turning to -the watchers. “I have a message of much importance -to give to her.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How darest thou break in upon the vigil of a -prophetess of Zanah!” shrieked Mother Kaufmann. -“Dost thou not know that the instrument of the Lord -is not permitted to speak until the last hour of her -probation hath expired?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ja, ja, Mother Kaufmann is right. We will send -for the elders if thou dost not leave here this minute,” -chorused the women.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett coolly surveyed the group. Putting out -his hand he grasped Walda’s arm, and quickly drew -her into the meeting-house assembly-room. With a -quick motion he slammed the door and turned the -key, imprisoning the six women, who immediately -began to call for help. Reopening the door for a little -<span class='pageno' id='Page_240'>240</span>space he ordered them to keep silence, accompanying -his admonition with the remark that if they summoned -a crowd they would prove they were not fit to -watch the prophetess. For the second time he turned -the big key. Walda had watched the proceeding -with astonishment. Her face was white and scared -when he put his arms around her and drew her to -him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There, do not be frightened,” he said, soothingly, -as he kissed her on the forehead. “I have come to -take you away.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah, Stephen; now, indeed, do I know that I was -never fitted to be a prophetess,” said Walda, looking -up into his face. “My heart hath thirsted for thee. -With thine arms around me I feel as if I had found a -safe refuge from all my troubles. When thou didst -kiss me I forgot for a moment that I had been untrue -to the people who trusted me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I mean never to let you go away from me again,” -he said. “But come; we are wasting time. Let us -go now to your father and tell him that you are to -belong to me, and not to Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda drew away from him. “Nay, Stephen,” -she said. “In the nights and day that I have been -alone there in that room, it hath been made plain to -me that I must tell all the people how I have betrayed -their faith in me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You owe the people nothing,” said Everett, with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_241'>241</span>a trace of impatience in his voice. “Come; there is no -time to be lost. I mean to take you away from Zanah -this very night. Your father and Gerson Brandt can -explain to the colony why you are not to be their -prophetess.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda shook her head. “Wouldst thou have me -show a craven spirit?” she inquired. “Dost thou -think I could go away to be happy with thee and forget -my father, even if I could be unmindful of what I -owe the men and women of Zanah?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Do you not think you owe me any duty?” Stephen -asked. “Do not let us stand here discussing what is -right and wrong. It is right that you should be my -wife. You have been the victim of the bigotry and -superstition of a clannish, religious sect. Love has -made you free. Doesn’t your heart tell you to answer -the call from my heart?” He stretched out his -arms to her, but she stepped beyond his reach.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Stephen, I have prayed constantly that wisdom -might be given me, and my way hath been made plain -before me,” she answered, firmly. “I must go before -the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>, and, for my father’s sake, I must -accept whatever penalty is meted out to me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Do you mean that you would submit to any decree -of the colony of Zanah? That signifies that you -do not love me, after all. It means that you are lost -to me forever.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The strong man’s voice trembled as he spoke. A -<span class='pageno' id='Page_242'>242</span>wave of passion and longing swept over him. He -drew her to him and held her close, pillowing her head -upon his breast, and whispering to her that she was -his; it was not in her power to make the choice since -love gave him the right to her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou dost affright me. There is something in thy -love that terrifies me,” she said, trying to make him -free her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I shall not let you go until you have promised -that you will marry me,” he said.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I cannot promise that, Stephen,” she said, so -faintly that he scarcely heard her. “Thou knowest -I cannot leave my father, and surely thou wouldst -not be content to stay here in Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I could live here or anywhere else with you. -Promise.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, nay, I cannot,” she repeated.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Will you pledge yourself to marry me when your -conscience tells you that you are free?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is in my heart to promise that to thee, Stephen, -but during my vigil I have come to know that if thou -shouldst live away from me out in the world thou -mightst no longer love me. Nay, I will not bind thee. -The only pledge I give thee is the pledge that I will -love thee all my life.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>A furious knocking on the door made them remember -the imprisoned watchers.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If you refuse to go with me now what do you wish -<span class='pageno' id='Page_243'>243</span>to do?” Stephen asked, coming back to the subject of -his original errand.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I want to wait until the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>, and I want -thee to be patient until thou hearest what the elders -say. I shall pray that I may be given to thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There is no danger of your repenting of love, is -there, Walda?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>She smiled confidently and answered: “Thy love -will dwell in my heart forever.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>He kissed her farewell, holding both her hands in -his.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I wish I could spare you the ordeal of the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>,” -he exclaimed. “Why need we care for all -the world?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hush!” she said. “We care not for Zanah or the -whole world, but if we would keep our love holy, we -must be true, Stephen, to all our duties.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>After he had kissed her for the last time, she stood -before the elders’ platform and looked up at the chair -of the prophetess. Everett unlocked the door.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I appreciate the opportunity you have given me -of speaking to Walda Kellar,” he said, with a suavity -and courtesy to which the women of the colony were -so unaccustomed they did not know what it meant. -They stood scowling at him until Mother Kaufmann -replied:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou wilt be ordered out of the colony for this -day’s work.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_244'>244</span>“If you are wise—and I am sure you are, or you -would not have been chosen to attend the prophetess -of Zanah—you will not make any complaints.” He -bowed deferentially to all of them, and passing Walda, -before whom he stopped to whisper “Farewell, until -the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>,” he went out of the meeting-house.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It must have been a message of much import that -brought the stranger here,” sneered Mother Kaufmann, -as she seated herself on the nearest chair.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He hath small respect for the laws of Zanah,” declared -a second watcher.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Without uttering a word, Walda returned to her -place of temporary imprisonment. Kneeling before -her reading-desk, she prayed that she might be given -strength and courage to accept whatever penalty the -elders might allot to her.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_245'>245</span> - <h2 class='c005'>XVIII</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c007'>The day of the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i> came at last. A -brilliant sun shone upon Zanah. An early frost -had turned the maples yellow and had touched the -oaks with crimson. In the vineyards the last purple -grapes hung in the shrivelled foliage. Along the -winding road the golden-rod was blossoming in the -tall, feathery grasses. A hush fell upon the quiet -valley in the morning. The brown fields on lowland -and hill-side were deserted. At the edge of the village -the mill-wheels had ceased their busy whir.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett had walked out under the autumn sky -nearly all night. In the days that had passed since -his interview with Walda at the meeting-house all the -villagers had avoided him. Even the school-master -had passed him by with scarcely a nod of recognition. -Time had dragged. Of all the people of Zanah, Hans -Peter alone remained on friendly terms with him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>At dawn Everett arose from a brief sleep, and dressed -himself with unusual care. The thought came to -him that before sundown he might be robbed of Walda. -All his strength left him. He dropped upon a -chair near the window. Love had become life to him. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_246'>246</span>Sitting with his elbows on his knees he looked out -upon Zanah. Walda represented hope, worship, aspiration. -The touch of her lips had awakened all -that was good in him. He, who had rarely prayed, -petitioned, in an agony of longing, that he might be -given the woman of Zanah.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Some one knocked. Everett jumped to his feet to -open the door. Hans Peter, freshly scoured with soap -until his round face shone, stood in the hall, twirling a -cap that had been recently mended.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The elders have sent me to tell thee that thou art -to remain away from the timber-land where the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i> -is to be held,” announced the simple one.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And why is my absence desirable?” Everett asked.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Question not the village fool,” Hans Peter replied. -“He knoweth not what the great men of Zanah think -inside their wise heads.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What do you think inside your foolish head?” -Everett laughed, as if he made light of the order.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter looked down at a pair of copper-toed -shoes, which were to him the insignia of an unusual -occasion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It seemeth to the simple one of Zanah that it is -wise for the stranger to be far away when the prophetess -doth pledge herself to love only God and the -angels.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I intend to go to the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>, Hans Peter, -and I want you to find a good place from which I can -<span class='pageno' id='Page_247'>247</span>look on during the hours when the people give their -testimonies concerning the state of their souls.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou canst not sit among the colonists,” said -Hans Peter. “The men and women of Zanah have -turned against thee. They will not permit thee to -mingle with them on the most solemn day of all the -year.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Whether or not they permit me, I shall go to the -<i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>,” Everett replied. “Would it not be -safe for me to wait behind the line of poplars not -far off from the platform upon which the elders will -sit?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If thou shouldst go out there early, and stay where -the wild hop-vine might hide thee, there is a chance -no one would behold thee,” admitted the simple one.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“When does the prophetess go before the elders?” -Everett inquired. “I know nothing of to-day’s arrangements, -because here at the inn no one will give -me any information. You are my only friend, Hans -Peter. I expect you to tell me all you know.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou forgettest that the fool hath no memory.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Where are your gourds? Is there not one that -will help me to find out when to hide among the poplars?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter twirled his cap.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou wert merciful to me when I was in the -stocks,” he said, slowly. “The fool’s memory hath -still a knowledge of that day. The fool doth know -<span class='pageno' id='Page_248'>248</span>that, last of all Zanah, Walda Kellar will appear before -the elders.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That means I need not go to the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i> -until this afternoon?” queried Everett.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, thou shouldst wait until late in the day.” -Hans Peter turned as if to run away, but Everett -caught him by the sleeve of his gingham shirt.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Have you been to the meeting-house to-day?” -Everett asked, looking at the simple one with such -entreaty in his eyes that Hans Peter answered:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, I have but just come from the place where -the prophetess of Zanah hath been keeping her vigil.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You went there on an errand, I suppose?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I carried orders from the elders.” At this point -Hans Peter closed his mouth very tightly and stared -stupidly. Everett saw that further questioning -would be of no avail.</p> - -<p class='c008'>As soon as he had had breakfast Everett walked -out to the timber-land where the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i> was to -be held. The elders had chosen a strip of woods near -the lake as a place for the ceremonies of the inquisition. -The road leading to it was that over which Everett -had walked with Walda the first day she visited -the cemetery to pray at the grave of Marta Bachmann. -About two hundred yards from the shore of -the lake a large clearing had been made. A rude -platform for the elders had been built between the -lake shore and rough benches, which had been arranged -<span class='pageno' id='Page_249'>249</span>in orderly rows beneath the intertwining -trees. Everett saw that the line of poplars was beyond -the place where the path led into the out-door -chapel. Hidden there he could easily escape detection, -and he would be near enough to hear most of -what was said from the platform. He walked to the -farther shore of the little lake, and lay down upon the -ground to wait as patiently as he could for the laggard -hours to pass. The quiet beauty of the day appealed -to him, and, thinking of Walda, he was finally lulled -to sleep. It was mid-day when he awoke. He sauntered -back to the scene of the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>. He made -a seat for himself at the foot of one of the poplars -where the vines were thick. Through the screen of -leaves he saw the people slowly gathering. The women -occupied the benches nearest him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>By two o’clock all the colonists had assembled. The -thirteen elders formed a solemn row, Adolph Schneider -holding the middle place, with Wilhelm Kellar at -one end of the platform and Gerson Brandt at the -other. After a droning hymn and a tedious prayer, -those who were candidates for preferment in the colony -went before the elders. The men first were catechised -by Adolph Schneider, who did not rise from -his chair. Everett was astonished to see how few -signified ambition for colony honors. When the -women’s turn came the applicants greatly outnumbered -the men. In both cases those who pleaded for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_250'>250</span>advancement boasted of spiritual conflicts and victories. -Their sing-song voices maddened the impatient -lover. At last, when he had begun to fear that -Walda would not be summoned until the next day, -Everett noticed that the people, who had sat stolid -and unmoved through the hours of dreary recitative, -stirred with something like interest. Everett pulled -himself to his feet, and, looking down the road, saw -a sight that made his heart beat.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Two by two, a long line of girls approached slowly. -All wore the blue gowns of the colony, but white caps -and white kerchiefs were substituted for those of every-day -use. Each carried in her hand a large hymnbook. -When the procession turned into the path of -the woodland chapel Everett caught sight of Walda, -walking last of all. As they marched slowly onward, -the girls chanted a hymn. Walda carried her head -in the old, proud way, and her manner reassured the -watcher who loved her. She was clothed in a trailing -gown, fashioned of the white flannel from the colony -mills. The clinging folds brought out the noble lines -of her figure. The kerchief crossed upon her bosom -was of some thin material of the same tint as the flannel. -The cap, pushed back from her brow, revealed -the waves of her fair hair, which was confined in two -long braids. Her face was pale; her lips were firmly -set; her eyes shone with the light of peace and courage. -The little procession passed quite near Everett, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_251'>251</span>but, although his heart called to her, and his eyes followed -her, she appeared unconscious of his presence. -He noticed that her hands hung at her sides, and he -read a meaning in the fact that she no longer crossed -them upon her breast in the old fashion, signifying that -she would keep out the world and all its emotions.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When the procession appeared before the colonists -all the people knelt in their places, none daring to lift -curious eyes to her whom they hailed as the instrument -of the Lord. The procession moved back of the -assembly, crossing to the farther side of the clearing, -and then advancing to the front of the platform. -Here Walda took the central position, the girls separating -to stand on either side of her. The chanting -ceased, and Walda bowed her head in prayer.</p> - -<p class='c008'>All the elders rose to receive the prophetess of Zanah. -Wilhelm Kellar, still weak from his illness, leaned -upon his cane and murmured a thanksgiving to the -Lord. Gerson Brandt, at the other end of the platform, -looked at Walda, and then turned his eyes away, -as if the day and hour held something that brought a -severe test to the spirit long disciplined to self-control.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Stand not before me, O ye elders,” Walda said, -in a clear, steady voice, lifting up one hand to claim -attention. “Bow not, O ye people of Zanah, for I -am unworthy to be your prophetess.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Speak not such words of humility,” said Adolph -Schneider. “We know that the inspiration hath -<span class='pageno' id='Page_252'>252</span>come to thee. Thou hast already shown to us that -thou hast received the gift of tongues. To-day thou -shalt be anointed prophetess of Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Amen!” shouted one of the elders, and the word -was repeated in a chorus by the men.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda’s face became as white as marble. She stood -immovable, with one hand pressed against her breast -as if she would stop the beating of her heart. She -would have spoken, but the Herr Doktor turned to -command that the chair of the prophetess be lifted -to the centre of the platform. The elders moved to -give it space, and, when it had been put in position, -Adolph Schneider said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Come hither to thy rightful place among the elders.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My place is among the lowliest of the colonists,” -said Walda. “Let me stand here while I speak to the -people of Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The elders shook their heads, and the people murmured -that they could not hear. Walda walked to -the end of the platform where the steps ascended. She -moved slowly, pausing for a moment as she passed -Gerson Brandt. She crossed the platform with head -bowed, but when she faced the multitude there shone -in her eyes a strange radiance that filled the colonists -with awe.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“To all you of Zanah I have a last message,” she -said, turning first to the elders and then to the people. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_253'>253</span>“From the years of my childhood ye have led me in -the ways of the Lord. Ye have looked upon me as -the instrument chosen to reveal the divine will of -Zanah. I have prayed through the months and -years for the day of inspiration. It was not until -this summer that mine eyes were opened to the glory -of God. In my heart suddenly gushed a well-spring -of happiness. I read meanings in the stars, and the -smallest things of earth spake to me. It was as if I -walked very near to God.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda, pausing, swept the assembly with her eyes. -In the exaltation of her mood she had become clothed -in a majesty that overawed the people. Some of the -women fell to their knees, weeping.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Behold the prophetess! Behold the prophetess! -Blessed be her name!” shouted one of the elders.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda continued, unheeding:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“In my heart I felt a gratitude, for I believed that -at last the divine revelation had come to me. I -thought that the love in my heart, which made all -that pertaineth to life sacred, belonged to heaven -alone. I thanked God that the baptism of the Holy -Spirit had been given me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Cries of joy ascended from the throng.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“In the first days of the inspiration that had come -to me I was impatient for this time, when I could dedicate -my whole life to the service of Zanah. It seemed -easy to live always near to God. Voices spake to me. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_254'>254</span>I believed that I was, indeed, the prophetess of Zanah—the -prophetess who could live untouched by human -emotions. But one day there was given to me a -clearer vision. Just before the beginning of my vigil -it was shown to me that mine was not the rapture of -the saints”—Walda paused and caught her breath—“I -came into the knowledge that my inspiration had -its origin in human love.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>She pronounced the last words distinctly, with her -eyes uplifted. Gerson Brandt uttered her name in an -agonized groan. Wilhelm Kellar strove to speak, but -his voice died in his throat.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What sayest thou, Walda Kellar?” demanded -Adolph Schneider, rising from his chair. The colonists -listened stolidly, as if they did not comprehend -the meaning of Walda’s speech.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, surely thou hast not been touched by an -earthly love?” said Gerson Brandt, in a tone which -told that despair was clutching at his heart. “Thy -words are vague.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda saw the horror in her father’s face. She -looked away from him and the school-master, waiting -a moment that she might choose her words so that -they would not give unnecessary pain.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We believe thou hast not looked with favor on any -man,” Adolph Schneider said, encouragingly, and then -he added, as if to convey a covert warning to the people -of Zanah: “Yet thou art a woman, and all that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_255'>255</span>are made in the image of Eve are easy to be persuaded -by the voice of Satan, speaking through man.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“A love that is of heaven, and yet of earth, hath -taken possession of my heart,” declared Walda, fixing -her eyes upon the people. “It came to me like a -great light shining through the gates of heaven. I -did not know the glory that enfolded me was what ye -of Zanah call an earthly love, for, truly, even now it -seemeth to have in it more of heaven than of that -which pertaineth to earth. I did not fight against -this love which hath been revealed to me, for I did not -know it was human love which made me feel a kinship -with God. Here, in Zanah, ye have taught me that -the love of men and women is a sinful thing, and there -came to me no prick of the conscience—no warning -that I was transgressing the law of God.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>She was transfigured with the mystery and beauty -of her new heritage of love, and the people listened -in awe. When she had stopped speaking, she turned -to her father with a look of such pleading and entreaty -that the old man, who had heard as one that -dreams, moved his lips in an effort to speak. Presently -there arose a murmur from the people. The -Herr Doktor commanded that all should hold their -peace.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What man in Zanah hath stolen thy thoughts -from God?” the Herr Doktor asked, in a stern voice.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I love Stephen Everett, the stranger who belongeth -<span class='pageno' id='Page_256'>256</span>not to Zanah,” Walda answered, in unfaltering -tones.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A wail arose from the people. It grew into a mighty -sound that was like the autumn winds rushing through -the tall trees on the slopes of the bluffs.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The tempter hath come to Walda Kellar even as -he came to Marta Bachmann, but repentance is possible -for her who hath been chosen to be the instrument -of the Lord,” declared Adolph Schneider. “Daughter -of Zanah, pluck this love from thine heart.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I have proclaimed to you that this love seemeth -a holy thing sent from heaven. It is fixed in my -heart forever.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda was again the prophetess. She spoke slowly, -and it was as if she were but repeating the promptings -of some inner voice.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Walda, I command thee, let the fountains of thy -tears wash away this earthly love!” Wilhelm Kellar -cried, rising from his chair and lifting his arms as if he -were beseeching the intervention of Heaven.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, I cannot repent. There is that which tells -me this is the love that is stronger than death,” -Walda said, softly. “Father, I crave thy forgiveness, -and the forgiveness of all that belong to Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>She went to him and knelt humbly before him. -Gerson Brandt stood with arms folded across his -breast and head bowed over them. Karl Weisel -gathered some of the other elders close to him and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_257'>257</span>talked to them in whispers. The people looked on -breathlessly. Suddenly, from her place among the -women, arose Mother Kaufmann.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Behold the unfaithful one asking for forgiveness,” -she cried, in rage. “Through her vanity and her weakness -the divine messages that were to direct Zanah -how to prosper are withheld from the colony. Our -crops may fail and we may starve, but she careth for -naught if she may love a man. She hath chosen a -stranger sent by Satan from the outside world to -confound us.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Cries of derision and reproach were heard among -the women. At first they were but low mutterings. -Then an old hag jumped upon a bench and shouted:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Send her back to the room where the watchers -can guard her. Cast the stranger out of Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, yea, cast out Satan’s messenger,” shouted -the women. The men took up the cry, and in a moment -the orderly crowd of religionists became a mob -of fanatics which pressed towards the platform.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Repent, repent!” shouted the people. “Remember -thy duty!” “Put aside thy sinful love!” “Ask -the Lord to forgive thee for thy transgression!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda faced the angry mob fearlessly. Her personality -still impressed the people, so that none dare -lay hands upon her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Let the curse of Heaven descend upon the head of -the stranger in Zanah!” Mother Kaufmann shrieked.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_258'>258</span>“Curse him! Curse him!” called out the men, repeating -the woman’s imprecation.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In an instant Walda compelled silence. She raised -her arms in a warning gesture, and shamed the people -by the contempt she showed for their weakness -as she looked down upon them.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How are ye fitted to judge the stranger in Zanah?” -she asked, in a scornful tone. “Have ye the Christian -charity the Bible enjoins you to cherish in your -hearts? If there is any one to be blamed for the loss -of your prophetess it is I, Walda Kellar, that should -bear it all. But again I tell you there is naught concerning -love of which I would repent.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“She would defy Heaven!” shouted Mother Kaufmann. -“Let the elders take her away that the sight -of her shall not breed sinful thoughts of love in the -hearts of the maidens of Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, lock her up until she cometh to her right -mind,” said the old hag, waving her hands to invite -the elders’ attention.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The uproar became deafening. Gerson Brandt stepped -forward where he could stand between Walda -and the mob. Through all the commotion Everett, -with difficulty, had restrained himself from rushing -out to protect Walda from the maddened colonists, -but he realized that his appearance would but fan the -flame of wrath and increase the confusion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In the centre of the women’s division of the out-door -<span class='pageno' id='Page_259'>259</span>chapel Mother Schneider and her daughter -Gretchen had been sitting. Both had taken little -part in the demonstration against the fallen prophetess. -When Gerson Brandt was seen to move forward -on the platform Mother Schneider said to the -women near her:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is a sorry day when the women of Zanah are -permitted to hear a maiden boast of a love that knoweth -no bounds. It is an indecent confession that -Walda Kellar maketh. Truly, she belongeth to the -class of women that should be stoned.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is such as she that cast wicked spells upon men. -Behold, the elders fear to discipline her,” answered a -mother, who that day had been promoted to the highest -grade of the colony because she testified that she -had found earthly love an unholy thing.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“She should be stoned! She should be stoned!” repeated -the women; and the words passed from mouth -to mouth until they reached a boy who loitered on the -edge of the crowd. The boy picked up a flat stone, -and, aiming it at Walda, threw it with all the force at -his command. It sailed above the heads of the people. -Gerson Brandt, with a quick movement, pulled -Walda aside. The stone struck him on the forehead, -making a deep gash, from which the blood coursed -down his cheek. Walda, with a woman’s quick instinct -of ministration, undid the kerchief around her -neck, and gave it to Gerson Brandt.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_260'>260</span>“Stanch the blood with this,” she said, and when -he made no effort to take it, she pressed it against his -cheek.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett threw every consideration of prudence to -the winds when he saw the stone hurled towards Walda. -He pushed his way to the platform, but he had -to fight his path through the crowd, which had been -dazed at the sight of the blood on the school-master’s -face. The men frowned at him sullenly, and some -muttered low imprecations. Everett climbed to a -place near Walda. When the people of Zanah saw -him they shouted in angry protest. One burly man -sought to lay hold of him, but he shook off the colonist -and would have gone closer to Walda, but Gerson -Brandt put out a restraining hand.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Profane not this place with thy presence,” said -the school-master, stepping between Everett and -Walda. “Thou art a traitor. Thou hast betrayed -the trust we put in thee. The brother of Zanah -doeth well to hold thee back.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>All the pent-up emotion of the hour suddenly burst -out as Gerson Brandt spoke. His gaunt form trembled -with the strength of his passion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is this man who should bear all the curses of -Zanah,” he continued, turning to address the people. -“We took him into close communion with us, and he -hath repaid our faith in him by seeking to ensnare the -love of our prophetess. He pledged me his honor, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_261'>261</span>and he cared naught for his word given with the seal -of a hand-clasp. He is a Judas who hath worked secretly -for the undoing of Zanah—a Judas who hath -cared for neither honor nor truth, so that he might -win the woman whom he coveted. He deserveth not -mercy. Let us cast him out of Zanah, and when he -hath gone back to the wicked world to which he belongeth, -the soul of Walda Kellar can be cleansed of -the stain of an earthly love. Much prayer and fasting -will restore her to fellowship with God.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett moved close to Walda, and, laying his hand -upon her arm, would have drawn her away from the -infuriated mob. When he touched her, the sight of -what seemed an assertion of his claim enraged Gerson -Brandt. The school-master was imbued with the -strength of a giant. He thrust Everett away with a -mighty stroke of his arm.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Seize this man!” he commanded. “Bind him, -and put him out of the sight of the people!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Four or five colonists sprang forward to obey Gerson -Brandt’s orders, but Everett threw them off as -lightly as if they were children.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You have no right to touch me,” he said, towering -above even the tallest. “I have broken no law, -and I can hold you responsible if you deprive me of -my liberty.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The elders had gathered about Gerson Brandt and -Walda. Wilhelm Kellar tottered to his daughter’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_262'>262</span>side, and implored her to surrender her will to the -will of Zanah.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Shame on you! Shame on you, men of Zanah!” -cried Mother Kaufmann, who had climbed to the top -of a high tree-stump. “Will ye let one man make -cowards of you? Do the bidding of Gerson Brandt.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Some of the women hissed, and a score of the mill-hands -fought their way to the platform. Surrounding -Everett, they closed in upon him. One, more -daring than the rest, sought to seize him. Everett -felled the colonist with a quick blow. The others endeavored -to detain him, but none was a match for the -athlete with muscles of steel. Knocking down two -or three of the most aggressive of his assailants, Everett -went to Walda, who trembled with fear for his -safety. He drew her close to him. The quavering -voice of Wilhelm Kellar sounded in their ears.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Offend not the eyes of Zanah by parading your -unseemly love,” he said, raising his cane as if he would -strike the man of the world. The effort was too much -for his feeble strength. He almost fell, and Walda -knelt before him to support him with her outstretched -arms. His indignation changed to grief, and, looking -down at the daughter upon whom he had built all his -ambition, he gave way to bitter lamentation.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Oh, Lord, how have I deserved this punishment?” -he cried.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda sobbed, still holding his frail body close to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_263'>263</span>her. “Forgive me, father,” said she, looking up -through her tears.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, ask not my forgiveness,” he answered, sternly. -“Seek the forgiveness of the Lord, whom thou -hast offended. Repent now, when it is not yet too -late.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There is no repentance in my heart,” she said, rising -to her feet. “This love must ever seem to me a -holy thing.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Come away with me now, for I would talk to -thee alone. Let us flee from the presence of this -man and the people of Zanah,” pleaded Wilhelm -Kellar.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea, we will go away together,” Walda answered. -She drew his arm through hers, and gently led him -to the end of the platform. They slowly descended -the steps and walked to the middle aisle, which offered -them a chance of egress. As they passed the women, -Mother Kaufmann hissed Walda, and taunts and jeers -from the crowd assailed her. Wilhelm Kellar stopped. -Raising himself on his cane, he said, with a tremendous -effort:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Wag not your tongues, ye women of Zanah. Ye -have no right to heap insult upon her whom an hour -ago ye were proud to hail as the prophetess.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Lo, this prophetess is but a Jezebel!” sneered -Mother Kaufmann; and the women near her repeated -the name “Jezebel! Jezebel!”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_264'>264</span>Wilhelm Kellar heard the insult to his daughter, -and once more raising himself on his cane, he called -out:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Let your evil tongues be silent! There is none in -Zanah who hath suffered the bitterness of disappointment -that hath come to me, yet now do I forgive -Walda Kellar, and bespeak for her your mercy and -loving kindness.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>His voice died in a rattle in his throat. His gray -head sank upon his breast. His arm loosened its -tense hold upon Walda, and he fell in a heap at her -feet.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda bent over him with a cry of such agony and -fear that it pierced to the outer edge of the great assembly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Raising his head, she looked upon his face, ghastly -with the touch of death. In his eyes a last flicker of -light faded as she stooped to pillow his head upon her -bosom.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Stephen, Stephen,” she called, “come to my -father!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett gently lifted the emaciated form of the -elder, and, waving the crowd apart, laid his burden -down upon the ground. A glance told him that a soul -had gone out of Zanah.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“My father is dead! Dead!” shrieked Walda. -Sinking on her knees, she wrung her hands and gave -way to her grief.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_265'>265</span>“Wilhelm Kellar is dead,” Gerson Brandt announced, -in solemn tones.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He stood for a moment on the edge of the platform, -where he could see the white face upturned to -the sky. Then his eyes fell upon Walda, who was -weeping with her head supported on the shoulder -of Everett. The school-master jumped from the -platform, and, pointing to Everett, ordered that -he be bound. With his own hands he loosed the -stranger’s arms, and would have made the weeping -girl lean upon him, but she proudly drew -away.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Brothers of Zanah, bind this man,” he said, repeating -his command. “Through him, death and -grievous trouble have come to the colony.” Everett -waited, ready to defend himself, but the men hesitated -before making a second attempt to carry out -the elder’s orders.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Let them bind thee, Stephen,” Walda said. “In -the presence of death it is not meet there should be -strife.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I want my liberty in order that I may defend you -from these mad zealots,” Everett answered.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, Stephen, thou forgettest that I am in the -Lord’s hand,” Walda replied, with a little quiver of -the lips.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I surrender myself as your prisoner,” Everett said, -addressing Gerson Brandt. “It will not be necessary -<span class='pageno' id='Page_266'>266</span>for you to have me tied. I give you my word that I -will not try to escape.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It hath been shown to me that thou hast no regard -for thy promises,” Gerson Brandt said, in an -angry voice. “When thou art securely bound I shall -have faith in thy word, and not till then.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The insult kindled Everett’s anger. He would have -retorted, but a sign from Walda compelled his silence. -He let the men tie his hands behind him. They used -the rope clumsily, and drew it so tightly over the -flesh that it was painful. During the process Gerson -Brandt looked on, and Walda stood with eyes upon -the ground. The colonists waited quietly. The elders -on the platform had resumed the air of stolidity -which generally distinguished them. They watched -the proceedings without interference. By common -consent they permitted Gerson Brandt to take the -initiative in dealing with the tragic climax of the -<i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Let a bier be brought that the body of Wilhelm -Kellar, who hath fallen into his last sleep, may be -carried back to the village,” Gerson Brandt directed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Diedrich Werther with three other colonists carried -a heavy bier, over which was thrown a black pall, -down the grassy aisle of the out-door chapel. Following -it walked Hans Peter, carrying a gourd in -his hand. The body of Wilhelm Kellar was lifted -upon the bier and covered with the pall. When the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_267'>267</span>men stooped to raise the bier, Adolph Schneider -spoke:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Behold, this day we have lost one of the leading -men of Zanah. Wilhelm Kellar hath guided the business -affairs of the colony. He hath been my strong -arm. Lo! he is slain by the frowardness of the daughter -upon whom he had centred too much affection. -He hath suffered because he let her become an idol of -earth. If she repenteth, so that she may become the -prophetess of Zanah, her crime may be blotted out of -the book of life.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>He paused, but the people made no demonstration.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Repent, O daughter of Zanah!” the Herr Doktor -shouted, in a voice intended to terrify all who heard -it. “Repent now. Pledge thyself to put earthly love -out of thy heart, and to serve the Lord forever.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Love that hath taken root in the heart cannot be -plucked out at will. This love must remain always -with me,” Walda replied.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Let thy shame be upon thine own head,” shouted -Adolph Schneider. “Thou art a woman possessed of -Satan. Thou hast caused thy father’s death, and yet -thou darest to defy the laws of God and the laws of -Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“She hath committed murder,” cried a woman. -“The mark of Cain is set upon her forehead.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The colonists surged around the place where Walda -and Gerson Brandt stood. Straining at his bonds, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_268'>268</span>Everett, who had been dragged back upon the platform -and thrown before the vacant chair of the -prophetess, shouted to the elders to preserve order. -Seeing Walda’s peril, he demanded that he be released, -and poured forth such a torrent of invective and entreaty -that Adolph Schneider and Karl Weisel were -moved to action. The two elders tried in vain to -obtain a hearing. The crowd was clamoring for revenge. -Infuriated by disappointment and goaded -by superstition, the colonists pressed so closely upon -Walda that she was in danger of being crushed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Some of the women would have spat upon her, but -Gerson Brandt pushed them away. Terrible in his -anger, he widened the circle around the white-clad -figure of the fallen prophetess, who seemed unmindful -of the turmoil about her. She stood with bowed head, -and her lips moved in prayer.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Make way for the bier!” Gerson Brandt said. -Diedrich Werther and his three companions lifted the -bier, and slowly started down the grassy aisle. When -Walda would have followed, one of the most turbulent -of the colonists roughly shoved her back. Gerson -Brandt threw out his arm with a protecting -gesture, and in the surging of the crowd Walda was -pressed close to him. His arms folded about her, and -for one moment he felt her heart beating upon his. In -that moment the fires of life that had long smouldered -in him flamed up and illuminated his soul. In -<span class='pageno' id='Page_269'>269</span>that moment came to him the knowledge that he, the -elder of Zanah, had long been possessed of the earthly -love against which he had preached so many years. -For a few seconds the golden autumn day faded from -his sight. He passed into a new existence. His divinity -was unveiled to him. When the mist before -his eyes cleared away he looked into Walda’s face, -and, still clasping her close to his breast, said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Canst thou forgive me for mine anger, which hath -brought upon thee much unnecessary trouble this -day? Until this moment I have been blinded. I -have done thee and him whom thou lovest a grievous -wrong.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thy provocation hath been great,” Walda answered. -“Yet there is resentment in my heart since -thou hast caused Stephen Everett to be bound.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Forgive me, and I will make reparation for mine -offence,” he pleaded. “For the sake of the past, for -thy father’s sake, bear no enmity against me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou wilt see that no harm befalleth Stephen Everett?” -she said. Unconscious of the tumult in the -school-master’s heart, and indifferent to his touch, -she thought only of the stranger in Zanah. The mob -moved forward, and Gerson Brandt gently put Walda -away from him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Let Walda Kellar follow the bier of her father,” -he commanded.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Again the women hissed their fallen prophetess.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_270'>270</span>Raising her hands to heaven, Walda uttered the -words:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Lord, have mercy upon us, thy people in Zanah. -Forgive us our transgressions.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The colonists’ jeers were silenced. As Walda passed -down the aisle, the majesty of her carriage and the -exaltation that was written on her face cast a fear -upon the people. One woman who had but a moment -before uttered bitter gibes kissed the hem of the -white garment of the fallen prophetess.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter, who had been watching the proceedings -from the limb of a tree, slid from his high seat -and walked a few feet behind Walda.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A hush fell upon the multitude. Standing with -uncovered head, Gerson Brandt waited until the bier -disappeared among the trees and the last glimpse of -Walda’s white-robed figure was obscured.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The distant bell of the meeting-house tolled. The -sunset hour of prayer had come. Beneath the sky, -dyed in crimson and purple, the people of Zanah -bowed their heads.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_271'>271</span> - <h2 class='c005'>XIX</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c007'>For three days after the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i> Zanah was -in mourning. The body of Wilhelm Kellar lay -in the meeting-house, and there the colonists spent -many hours in prayer and fasting. Gerson Brandt -shut himself in the upper room where Wilhelm Kellar -had been so long ill and where Piepmatz still hung in -the big wicker cage. The school-master sat for hours -looking towards the bluffs which shut out the busy -world. He thought constantly of Walda. He had -given her a pledge that he would make reparation for -his part in the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>, but his heart rebelled -against his task. He coveted Walda with all the -strength of a nature in which the best human impulses -had been thwarted. He knew that he must give up -the woman he loved to the stranger in Zanah, but his -soul cried out against the fate that took her from him. -He looked back upon the years in Zanah, and he -knew that she had become all of life to him. At first -he was dead to the sense of his own unfaithfulness to -the colony. Gradually he realized that his had been -the part of the unconscious traitor. He felt relieved -<span class='pageno' id='Page_272'>272</span>when he looked forward to his release from the irksome -duties of a leader of Zanah.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A sense of terrible loneliness took possession of him -whenever he thought of the death of his friend, but -his grief became more poignant with the thought that -Wilhelm Kellar’s death made Walda’s departure from -the colony possible. There was no reason why she -should not go out into the world as Everett’s wife. -Night after night he battled with himself to the end -that he might be strong enough to help the woman -he loved to the attainment of happiness. He gained -many partial victories over himself, but at first he -could not summon the courage to go to see Walda in -the House of the Women where she was kept under -surveillance. The day after the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i> he compelled -himself to ask that Everett be released, but he -found that the cupidity of Adolph Schneider had been -aroused by the possibility of exacting a fine from the -stranger, who was locked in his room at the inn. It -was a rule of the colony that a member who brought -money into the community should, in case of departure -from Zanah, receive just what he had contributed. -Wilhelm Kellar’s share was not small, and the -danger of Walda’s marriage, and consequent demand -for her portion of her father’s property, was one that -the elders desired to avert.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou canst persuade Walda Kellar that the curse -of God will descend upon her if she leaveth Zanah,” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_273'>273</span>Karl Weisel said to Gerson Brandt, at the close of a -long conference of the elders. “She is suffering from -remorse, and thou canst sway her woman’s heart.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I refuse to have aught to do with inclining Walda’s -will to the will of Zanah,” said the school-master, in a -tone so decisive that the matter was dropped.</p> - -<p class='c008'>It was two days after Wilhelm Kellar’s death that -Gerson Brandt, who had gone to look once more upon -the still face of his friend, encountered Walda. The -girl was kneeling alone beside the bier.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“See how peaceful he looketh,” she said, in a voice -that was shaken with sobs. “It is a comfort to remember -that his last words told me and all the people -that he had forgiven my failure to fulfil his hopes.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He hath attained greater wisdom. He knoweth -that thou wast led by a stronger power than thine own -will,” the school-master answered.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“As thou art my friend, point out the path of duty -to me,” Walda implored, rising to her feet. “I have -prayed constantly, and it seemeth that it is right I -should stay here in Zanah serving the people, and -proving to them that while love must ever be in my -heart, I can still follow in the paths of righteousness.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt was silent. He stood looking at her -as if he would have her image graven on his mind for -all his coming years. The tempter spoke to him. One -word of counsel, given as from her father’s friend, and -he could keep her safe in Zanah.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_274'>274</span>“Art thou strong enough to let Stephen Everett go -back into the world without thee?” he questioned.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I have prayed for fortitude. I have found courage -to think of living on here without him,” she replied. -“I have seen myself an old woman of Zanah -who goes her way dreaming still of the love of her -youth.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou knowest that I would watch o’er thee,” said -the school-master.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea; but thy brotherly compassion hath not the -sustaining power of love.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou knowest not what sustaining power brotherly -compassion may reveal.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt’s voice betrayed suppressed emotion, -and, looking up, Walda saw that his face had -become suddenly old and drawn.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I have pained thee by my seeming ingratitude for -all thy kindnesses,” she said, putting her hand on his -arm. The school-master’s face flushed, for her touch -made his heart throb.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The tempter’s voice spoke insistently.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Shall I send Stephen Everett away?” Walda -asked, after a brief pause. “Direct me aright. Help -me to do what my father would have me do.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt did not answer.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The people of Zanah accused me of murdering my -father,” Walda said, after a long silence. “All the -night after the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i> I was filled with terror, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_275'>275</span>but now I know that I could not have spared him the -sorrow. I was, indeed, but the instrument of fate. I -had to tell the truth as it was made clear to me. Oh, -tell me that thou dost not deem me guilty of my father’s -death.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>She was weeping again, and Gerson Brandt was -stirred to compassion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Cease thy lamentation,” he said, gently. “I have -thought much about thee ever since thou didst make -thy confession of love. I have come to know that -thou must follow the dictates of thy heart. It is right -that thou shouldst go out into the world as Stephen -Everett’s wife. There thou wilt find pain and suffering, -but all will be glorified by thy love.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The tempter was vanquished. The school-master -had listened to him for the last time.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, speak to me as my father would speak.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“As thy father’s friend, and as one who holds thee -in the deep recesses of his heart, I tell thee to go forth -from Zanah with the man thou lovest.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And do I owe no duty to the colony? Is it not -right that I should strive to make amends for my unfaithfulness -to the trust reposed in me? Tell me the -whole truth. Spare me not, for I would do the Lord’s -will.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The colony hath forfeited all claim upon thee, -for the men and women did shamelessly flout thee. -Thy father hath recompensed the people of Zanah a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_276'>276</span>hundredfold for whatever may have been done for -thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda gazed at the face of her dead father. Its -calmness gave her assurance of his forgiveness. Then -the realization of her loss impressed itself on her. She -wept again. Stroking his stiffened hands, she prayed -that he might know she had not meant to disregard -his teachings or to bring him to dishonor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Distressed at the sight of her remorse, Gerson -Brandt urged her to leave the meeting-house, and -when she gave no heed to him he led her away, holding -her hand as was his custom in the years of her -childhood. Two colony mothers were waiting on the -steps.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Remember my counsel,” said the school-master. -“There is but one path for thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda walked slowly towards the House of the -Women, and left him standing on the threshold of the -meeting-house. A mist came before Gerson Brandt’s -eyes, and as it cleared away he saw Hans Peter running -up the hill.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The stranger, who is still bound at the inn, would -speak with thee,” said the simple one, when he had -reached the meeting-house steps.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What doth he want?” said the school-master.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He hath not talked with the village fool,” answered -Hans Peter, “but even the simple one might -guess that he wants thee to have him set free.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_277'>277</span>Gerson Brandt thought for a moment. Walda’s -presence still exerted its influence over him. He had -not the courage to see the man she loved.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Tell Stephen Everett that I cannot go to him until -after Wilhelm Kellar’s funeral,” said the school-master, -“and you may give him the message that he may -trust me to work for his deliverance.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He hath made threats that he will not be patient -much longer,” Hans Peter volunteered. “He hath -told the Herr Doktor that it will cost Zanah much if -he is imprisoned another day.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“According to the laws of the United States he hath -right on his side,” declared Gerson Brandt.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He hath offered to pay much money if they will let -him take Walda Kellar away, and every hour that he -remaineth with his hands behind him he is more -wasteful of his dollars.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Stand not here gossiping, Hans Peter. Hasten -back with my reply to the stranger’s message,” admonished -the school-master, to whom the words of -the simple one had suggested an easy method of -obtaining permission for Walda to leave Zanah. If -the elders were seeking to profit financially from the -loss of money as a compensation for the loss of their -prophetess, they would be likely to consent to let -Walda leave the colony on one condition—the forfeit -of her property rights.</p> - -<p class='c008'>In his room at the inn Everett received Hans Peter -<span class='pageno' id='Page_278'>278</span>with much impatience, and, after he had heard Gerson -Brandt’s message, gave expression to his views -on Zanah’s methods of dealing with strangers.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“So I am to remain bound until to-morrow,” he -said. “Since Diedrich Werther consented to tie my -hands less tightly I am not so uncomfortable. But I -want you to summon the Herr Doktor immediately.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Adolph Schneider was slow in making his appearance, -and Everett, who had fretted under the delay, -was not in his usual self-contained mood.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I sent for you to tell you that I am tired of this -outrageous treatment,” he said, as soon as the Herr -Doktor’s burly form appeared at the door. “You -must come to an understanding with me to-night, or I -will show you that Zanah cannot ignore all the laws of -the United States. I will have you and all the leaders -arrested for falsely imprisoning me. I will cause an -investigation of the affairs of the colony.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Adolph Schneider’s fat face was deeply lined and -his thick skin was a pallid yellow. He showed plainly -that he was worried with the numerous troubles that -had come upon the colony. He sat upon the nearest -chair, and, letting his head sink into his neckcloth, -studied Everett furtively.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What do you intend to do with me?” the prisoner -asked, after his first outburst had remained unanswered.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“After the funeral to-morrow thou art to have a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_279'>279</span>trial, and then the people of Zanah will fix thy penalty.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Penalty? Penalty for what? I have broken no -law. I have done nothing for which you can deprive -me of my liberty.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou art not the judge of that,” declared the Herr -Doktor. “Thou hast acknowledged that thou hast -wronged the people of Zanah, for hast thou not offered -to pay a fine?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I have offered to buy my freedom, because I cannot -expect to obtain justice here among you bigots,” -returned Everett. “I warn you that if you do not -take this rope off my arms, I shall see that you do not -get a penny from me, and that you pay for this week’s -work.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“So long as Walda Kellar is guarded it will be safe -to let thee have thy freedom, but we take no chances -now.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Walda Kellar is my promised wife, and I demand -her liberty as well as my own.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Walda Kellar belongeth to Zanah, and thou canst -not assert any claim to her,” Adolph Schneider retorted, -angrily.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You will see what I can do,” Everett said. “But -I do not want to try coercion. Give your consent to -our marriage, and I will make Zanah a gift of money -to signify my gratitude.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The Herr Doktor’s little eyes glittered.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_280'>280</span>“How much?” he asked.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We will not discuss terms until I am freed from -these ropes,” said Everett. “My imprisonment would -be much easier to bear if you would let me have my -hands free, so that I can smoke.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Adolph Schneider surveyed the stranger in Zanah -with a look of suspicion.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Zanah would not be doing the will of God if Walda -Kellar was not punished for causing her father’s -death,” he remarked.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How dare you accuse her!”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The prisoner strained his bonds, as if he would use -his hands to some purpose in defending the woman he -loved.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Her confession broke her father’s heart,” said the -Herr Doktor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The cruelty of you zealots of Zanah made Wilhelm -Kellar die,” declared the prisoner. “I warn you to be -careful how you blame an innocent girl, who simply -told the truth at your <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett’s face was so stern in its expression that the -wily colonist thought it wise not to pursue the subject.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“When thou art ready to make an offer of money, -the elders will weigh it against Walda Kellar’s transgression,” -he said. “If it is found better for the -colony that she be cast out with thee, consent to the -marriage may be given.” He thought for a moment, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_281'>281</span>with his chin in his neckcloth. Shaking his head, he -added: “There is still a chance that Walda Kellar -may receive the true inspiration. She may yet lead -the people. It is but small hope that I can give thee.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>He turned to go out.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Stop! How about these ropes? Have them -taken off,” Everett said, in a tone that was menacing. -“I shall be here to my trial. Don’t think I would -miss that. I shall stay in Zanah until I can leave the -colony with Walda Kellar.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Adolph Schneider paid no attention to Everett’s -demand. Instead, he stalked through the door, his -cane pounding in unison with every other step.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_282'>282</span> - <h2 class='c005'>XX</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c007'>It was noontime when the colonists gathered in the -meeting-house to attend the funeral of Wilhelm -Kellar. The bier, placed before the platform of the -elders, was covered with flowers—the late garden -blossoms of autumn. White dahlias and asters, intwined -in wreaths, almost concealed the lid of the -coffin. The women, who wore gowns of black calico, -gathered solemnly on their side of the big, bare room. -The men stood in groups until the elders had taken -their places on the platform where the vacant chair of -Wilhelm Kellar was draped in black. This occupied -the position formerly given to the chair of the prophetess, -which was pushed back and turned so that it -faced the wall.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The bell tolled the age of the dead elder. When -its fiftieth stroke had died away Walda was brought -in from the room where she had held her vigil before -the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>. Mother Werther and Mother -Kaufmann accompanied her. Her appearance caused -a hush to fall upon the assembly, and some of the -women covered their eyes, for it was seen that over -her black gown was thrown the scarlet cloak, which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_283'>283</span>betokened that her soul was clothed in the garment of -sin. It was the same cloak that Marta Bachmann -had worn during the time of her probation, and some -of the softer-hearted of the colony “mothers” prayed -that the fallen prophetess might follow in Marta Bachmann’s -footsteps until she reached the height of final -repentance. The maidens of Zanah gazed on Walda -with fascinated eyes. A few were bold enough to -hope that she might be able to leave Zanah with the -stranger whose worldly ways and physical beauty had -charmed even those who had never spoken to him. -At the head of the coffin a stool had been provided for -Walda, and she sank upon it as if overcome with sudden -weakness. For a moment she bowed her black-capped -head in prayer, and then, looking unflinchingly -into the faces of the colonists, waited with courage -for the service to begin. She was very pale, and once -she threw off the cloak, as if it smothered her. In a -second she remembered its significance, and drew it -about her shoulders.</p> - -<p class='c008'>From his seat at one end of the platform Gerson -Brandt, with pitying eyes, looked upon Walda. His -thin face had a pinched look, and from his eyes had -faded the last smouldering fires of youth and hope. -He sat with hands tensely clasped, except when, now -and then, he pressed his thin fingers to his temples, -from which the long hair, touched with gray, fell back -to his shoulders.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_284'>284</span>Karl Weisel read a long chapter from the Bible, and -then a meek elder offered a prayer. Adolph Schneider -next told the people of their dead brother’s services -to the colony. His thick, droning voice, monotonous -in its cadences, did not hold Walda’s attention, -until presently she knew he was speaking of her and -accusing her of unfaithfulness to Zanah. She listened -with downcast eyes, her lithe body quivering with -emotion, but she was too proud to show the pain she -suffered. She choked back the tears and prayed for -strength.</p> - -<p class='c008'>At last the funeral address was finished. The bier -was carried out into the golden sunshine. Walda rose -as if to follow it, but one of the elders detained her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Is it meet that one who wears the scarlet cloak -should walk first behind the bier?” he asked.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt answered by going to Walda’s side, -pulling her arm through his, and waving the people -aside.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He hath touched Walda Kellar’s hand, and he -is no kin to her!” cried Mother Kaufmann; but the -school-master walked on as if he had not heard her. -Tenderly he supported Walda’s faltering footsteps. -The procession formed behind them, the men and -women walking on opposite sides of the village street, -while Gerson Brandt and Walda kept in the middle -of the grass-grown road, directly behind Wilhelm Kellar’s -coffin.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_285'>285</span>“Gerson Brandt, thou art, indeed, a friend in mine -hour of trouble,” Walda said, when they had reached -the strip of woods and the bier had been put down in -order that its bearers might rest.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Until death thou wilt be ever safe in my heart,” -the school-master answered, solemnly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Pray that I may have fortitude when I see the -earth cover my father’s body,” she whispered, as the -procession started again, and he pressed her arm to -give her the assurance of his aid.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The school-master could have prayed that the walk -to the graveyard might last forever. He knew that, -in all the coming years which might belong to him on -earth, he might never again touch her or be close to -her. He trembled in the excess of his joy. He felt a -great strength taking possession of him. They came -to the lake, and he looked out upon it as it lay undisturbed -by wave or ripple. Around the water’s hem -the yellowing willows dipped into the placid pool. -The sumach flamed among the oak-trees.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“When thou art gone from me out into the world I -shall pray that thy soul shall be untroubled as is this -lake to-day,” he murmured, softly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah! To-day I feel that I must remain here in -Zanah to make atonement for my betrayal of the people’s -trust,” she answered.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The tempter had spoken to him for the last time, -and so he made haste to say:</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_286'>286</span>“Thy love leads the way of thy duty. Harbor no -longer the thought of sacrificing thyself to no purpose.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>They reached the high gate of the graveyard. The -bier was carried to the rise of ground where Marta -Bachmann’s burial-place had been selected many -years before. A grave had been hollowed out near -that of the prophetess of revered memory. The colonists -gathered around it. Walda and the school-master -stood on one side and the elders on the other -while the coffin was lowered. The simple one, who -had not been seen at the meeting-house or in the procession, -looked on from a place of vantage on the -gravestone of Marta Bachmann.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Adolph Schneider announced that there would be -a reading of the Scriptures. An awkward pause followed. -It was discovered that the Bible had been -forgotten. The elders held a conference, while the -villagers waited stolidly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Hans Peter shall be sent back for the Holy Book,” -announced the Herr Doktor, motioning to the simple -one.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter advanced with slow steps.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There is a Bible here,” he said.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Bring it quickly, then,” ordered the elder.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It can be brought only after an understanding,” -answered the simple one. “Gerson Brandt’s lost Bible -is hidden here. It belongeth now to the stranger in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_287'>287</span>Zanah. If it is the will of him who made it gay with -colors that it be given to the stranger I will bring the -Bible forth.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Would the fool make terms with the elders of -Zanah? Bring forth the Bible,” commanded the -Herr Doktor.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Hans Peter did not stir.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Dost thou defy me?” asked Adolph Schneider.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The simple one made no sign that he heard.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Speak,” urged Gerson Brandt. “Stephen Everett -shall have the Bible.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“When the promise is given that the elders will let -me deliver it to the owner I will find it,” said Hans -Peter.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The promise was given, after a brief consultation of -the elders. Hans Peter went back to Marta Bachmann’s -gravestone, and from beneath it pulled out a -stout wooden box. This he opened with some difficulty, -and from it produced the Bible, which was -wrapped in oil-cloth. Gerson Brandt’s heart gave a -throb of joy when he saw it.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Bring it here to me,” he commanded, and the simple -one, almost staggering under its weight, obeyed -the wish of the school-master.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The people whispered among themselves, and the -elders looked sullenly at the volume about which there -had been so many conjectures.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I will read from the Scriptures,” announced Gerson -<span class='pageno' id='Page_288'>288</span>Brandt, motioning to the village fool to help him -hold the heavy book. He turned to the fourteenth -chapter of St. John, and, scanning a page more beautiful -in its illumination than all the rest, he began -to read the message of peace. After he had finished -he closed the Sacred Book. One of the elders prayed, -and while the people’s heads were bowed Hans Peter -stole away with the Bible.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Diedrich Werther began to shovel the earth into -the grave. Walda, with a sudden feeling of horror, -clutched Gerson Brandt’s arm, upon which she buried -her face. The school-master forgot the people of -Zanah. He leaned over her, whispering words of comfort -and strength. Half fearfully he touched her on -the shoulder, and bade her remember that the Lord -worketh in wondrous ways. He told her that the -Father in heaven had planned for her deliverance -from Zanah.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The people had begun to leave the graveyard before -Walda was calm. Two of the colony “mothers” -waited for her, and she bade the school-master return -to Zanah, leaving her alone with the women.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt hesitated, loath to walk away from -the place that had become to him one of the outer -courts of heaven.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I would pray here for a time,” Walda said, “and -thou shalt be remembered in my petitions.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>He looked at her, not trusting himself to speak.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_289'>289</span>He led her close to the new-made grave and left her -there. Not until he had closed the graveyard gate -behind him did he dare to look back. Gazing with -straining eyes he beheld the prophetess as she lay face -downward on the ground, with the scarlet cloak still -wrapped around her. From a place a little distant -the colony women watched her.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_290'>290</span> - <h2 class='c005'>XXI</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c007'>Immediately after the funeral the colonists gathered -in the village square for the trial of Stephen -Everett. The stocks still stood where they had been -erected for the punishment of Hans Peter, and upon -the high platform surrounding the culprit’s seat the -elders met for the purpose of passing judgment. The -prisoner was not brought from the inn until after all -the villagers were assembled. He walked from the -porch of the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">gasthaus</span></i> with a step that showed he was -glad to have a chance to make a plea for liberty. An -expression of scorn and anger was plainly visible on -his handsome face. He had been inclined to accept -whatever happened in Zanah as rather an amusing -experience, but the events since the morning of the -<i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i> had awakened him to a full sense of -what he had at stake. He meant to have Walda at -any hazard, but his patience had been exhausted in -his tiresome ordeal of imprisonment. His old, careless -manner asserted itself when he had ascended the -steps to the stocks and had taken a seat upon the -great beam in which the simple one’s feet had been -fastened.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_291'>291</span>At the first sight of him some of the villagers gave -vent to indignant murmurs, which were quickly -quieted.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This man is accused of being one whom Satan -hath sent to Zanah,” announced Karl Weisel. “He -hath stolen the affections of her who would have been -our prophetess; he hath tempted the Lord’s chosen -one with an earthly love. He hath broken his pledge -to an elder of the colony. Through his wicked plottings -the plans of Zanah are overthrown. He hath -lost to the people who serve God the instrument that -would have led the people in the paths of pleasantness.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He shall be punished!” shouted some of the -people.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yea; he shall be punished,” agreed the head of the -thirteen elders, puffing out his chest and knitting his -brows. “He shall be punished; but is there a penalty -severe enough for offences such as his?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He shall be made to pay a fine,” said Adolph -Schneider. “Many thousand dollars would not wipe -out the harm he hath done to the crops since we are -deprived of the guidance of a prophetess.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Cast him out of Zanah!” clamored many voices.</p> - -<p class='c008'>At this point Gerson Brandt advanced from his -place at the end of the row of elders.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Who is fitted to determine the stranger’s punishment?” -he asked.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_292'>292</span>No one answered. With arms folded upon his -breast Gerson Brandt waited for a response.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“In this case it seemeth just that only he who hath -not succumbed to the same temptation that Stephen -Everett hath found here in Zanah is fit to choose a -penalty for this offence. Let the man of Zanah who -hath lived twenty-one years without loving a woman -say what the stranger’s punishment shall be.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The men of Zanah stared at one another. The -women tiptoed to see if they might read long-buried -secrets in the faces of their husbands and brothers.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“There must be many here who have escaped the -lure that lurketh in the eyes of women,” the school-master -said, presently. “It may be that my meaning -hath not been made plain. Let him who hath -attained the age of manhood without knowing what -Zanah calleth an earthly love judge Stephen Everett.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The men of Zanah looked at one another with -shamefaced glances.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Is not he who hath loved and repented a better -judge?” asked Karl Weisel.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay; why should one that hath been weak in the -presence of woman judge another?” responded the -school-master. “There are many men of Zanah who -have never married. Why do not they answer? Why -do not they volunteer to measure the sin of loving a -woman?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>A minute passed.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_293'>293</span>“Is there none in Zanah qualified to judge the -stranger?” inquired Gerson Brandt.</p> - -<p class='c008'>From the edge of the crowd came the simple one.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I, the fool of Zanah, have passed the age of one-and-twenty -without loving,” he declared, in a tone -that betrayed not the least trace of any feeling.</p> - -<p class='c008'>His face was, as usual, absolutely without expression.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Set a fool to judge a fool,” sneered Mother Schneider. -But the men had nothing to say.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What is thy judgment, Hans Peter?” asked the -school-master.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The simple one would have the stranger freed,” -said Hans Peter. Standing with both hands in his -pockets, he waited to be dismissed. He had uncovered -his head, and as he stood there before the people -something of the tragedy of the simple one’s life was -revealed to Zanah. He was a creature apart; one who -had reached the years of manhood without attaining -to the full stature and the full knowledge of maturity. -Some strange recesses of his brain were closed to memory, -and yet nature had made compensation by giving -him queer flashes of wit and odd shreds of intelligence -that often confounded Zanah. In the crowd -were some, more superstitious than the rest, who -looked at the village fool with fear written on their -faces.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Let us free the stranger and send him out of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_294'>294</span>Zanah. He hath brought a curse with him. The -sooner he goeth from among us the better,” spoke -Mother Werther, who, since the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>, had -gone about with care marked upon her good-natured -face.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“He whom you call the simple one is the only man -in Zanah who hath not transgressed the colony law -forbidding all who would attain to serve the Lord in -singleness of purpose to put away earthly love,” said -the school-master. “Would not your own weaknesses -teach you lenity?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>From his place on the stocks Everett scanned the -dull faces below him. The idea of associating sentiment -or romance with the heavy-featured men of -Zanah brought a contemptuous smile to his lips.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“How is it that thou dost not judge the stranger?” -asked Mother Kaufmann. “Surely thou hast not -loved a daughter of Eve?” She laughed, mockingly, -showing her hideous tusks.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Let Gerson Brandt, the elder and school-master, -be the judge of the stranger,” cried a sturdy colonist, -who had been quietly looking on from the porch of the -inn.</p> - -<p class='c008'>A chorus of voices bade the school-master deal with -the prisoner.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt motioned to Hans Peter to retire -from the place in front of the stocks.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou hast this day taught Zanah a lesson,” he -<span class='pageno' id='Page_295'>295</span>declared, in a kindly voice. “Thy verdict is right. -It should be accepted by the people.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Faugh! Wouldst thou let a fool decide a matter -of great importance to Zanah?” angrily inquired -Adolph Schneider, who had with difficulty smothered -his rage when he saw the chief law of the colony -made ridiculous by Gerson Brandt’s declaration that -the man who had never loved should judge Stephen -Everett.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“We demand that the school-master shall fix the -penalty,” shouted Mother Schneider. “He knoweth -best to what extent the madness of an earthly love -hath afflicted her who would have been a prophetess; -he hath lost his best friend through the iniquitous influence -of the stranger.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The people became unruly, for their patience had -been tried by the suspense. They clamored for speedy -justice to him who had made trouble for them.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Gerson Brandt, thou shalt pass the verdict,” said -Karl Weisel. “Since thou didst order Stephen Everett -made a prisoner, thou shouldst make sure that -he suffers for his misdeeds.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The school-master pushed back the hair from his -forehead. He waited for a moment, lifting his hands -to invite the attention of the people.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“None is more unworthy to judge this man for loving -a woman than I, Gerson Brandt,” he said, with a -quaver in his voice. “It is my desire that some of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_296'>296</span>you fix his punishment, for even though you may set -him free, I shall do penance for him. I have sinned -against Zanah more than he.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“What meanest thou, Brother Brandt?” asked -Adolph Schneider, confronting him. “Beware how -thou dost forfeit the respect of the people.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I have treasured in my heart an earthly love,” the -school-master confessed, turning from Adolph Schneider -and speaking to the colonists.</p> - -<p class='c008'>His words caused even the most stoical of the elders -to turn pale. It meant much to the colony to -lose the school-master from among those who managed -the affairs of the community.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The people heard and yet appeared not to believe -their ears. The square became so quiet that when -Piepmatz, hanging in his cage from a rafter of the inn-porch, -sang the one bar of the love-song, the bird-voice -reached every one in the throng, and presently -broke the spell of amazement that held the villagers.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thy case shall be taken up presently,” said Karl -Weisel, who was the first to recover from astonishment. -“Thy sin is minor to his, in that thou didst -not love the prophetess.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Mine offence is greater than his,” answered Gerson -Brandt. He had gained complete control of himself, -and he spoke in a voice clear and unfaltering. “I -have loved Walda Kellar even from the days of her -childhood with a love that is stronger than all else in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_297'>297</span>life. I had thought that mine affection was merely -that of a teacher, a counsellor, a friend, until, through -the stranger, it became known to me that I loved her -who might have been the prophetess as a man loveth -the woman whom the Lord hath sent into the world -for him to cherish until death. There is no word of -extenuation for me. I love Walda Kellar with the -longing to claim her from Zanah and all the world.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>He paused, as if the flood-gates of his heart had -broken, and the tide of his emotion drowned his words. -Stephen Everett, who had listened with a shamed -sense of his own good-fortune, gazed upon the school-master’s -face until he was compelled to turn his eyes -away, for he saw despair and pain so deeply graven -there that the pity of it brought tears.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“In the heat of what I thought a righteous anger I -did order the stranger to be bound,” Gerson Brandt -said, after a brief pause. “But there, in the place of -the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Untersuchung</span></i>, it was made clear to me that jealousy -actuated me unworthily to use my power as an -elder. For that offence, I crave Stephen Everett’s -pardon and Zanah’s forgiveness.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>The people were stirred with indignation and sorrow. -They began to speak to one another, but Gerson -Brandt compelled them to hear him to the end.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I would ask you to release the prisoner and to give -Walda Kellar into his keeping. The love I bear for -this daughter of Zanah hath in it that which giveth -<span class='pageno' id='Page_298'>298</span>me the strength to surrender my heart’s desire, and so -I crave for her the happiness that cometh through the -love of another man. I plead with you to consent to -the marriage of Stephen Everett and Walda Kellar. -Send them forth into the world together this night. -Delay not in meting out to them the judgment that -will give them joy. The punishment is mine.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt leaned against one of the supports -of the stocks. He was dimly conscious that the elders -whispered to one another and that the people -gathered in groups to talk earnestly.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The afternoon was far advanced. A golden haze -had settled upon the valley. Above his head the dry -leaves of the trees were rustled by a gentle wind that -soothed his spirit. He was conscious of a sudden -faintness. His little world, the colony of Zanah, -slipped away from him for a moment, but he remembered -that he had not won his battle for Walda’s freedom, -and he steadied himself, calling all his senses to -serve him until the end of the day’s ordeal.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Art thou aware that when an elder lets human -love into his heart he must be put under the ban of -silence?” asked Adolph Schneider. “It is the law of -Zanah. Thou art the first elder to prove himself too -weak for the high office.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt made no response. Far down the -road he caught sight of the scarlet cloak worn by the -fallen prophetess.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_299'>299</span>The elders continued their conference, presently -taking Stephen Everett into their circle. The school-master -kept his eyes on the approaching figure of -Walda, who came towards the square with lagging -steps. Her attendants followed her closely, and when -the three at last came into the crowd he saw that some -of the villagers gathered about them.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Will Walda Kellar stand before the stocks,” commanded -Karl Weisel, seeing that the fallen prophetess -had come into the square.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda obeyed the summons.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Art thou willing to forsake Zanah in order that -thou mayst go forth into the world with a stranger?” -he asked.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett looked at her with pleading in his eyes, but -she hesitated before replying. He leaned forward in -an agony of suspense.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Tell the elders that thou art under a law higher -than any of Zanah,” prompted Gerson Brandt. -“Thou art led by the law of love, which ruleth the -world outside the colony. This day hath shown that -it ruleth here, even in Zanah.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“If in leaving Zanah I am not ignoring any allegiance -I owe to the memory of my father, I would go -with Stephen Everett. This love that I bear to him -hath given me a desire to be always near him,” Walda -answered.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou shalt be cut off from the roll of those who -<span class='pageno' id='Page_300'>300</span>serve the Lord in Zanah,” declared the head of the -thirteen elders. “Thou shalt leave Zanah to-night, -after the village hath closed its doors on thee, so that -the eyes of the men and women may not be offended -by seeing the beginning of thy journey into the world.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I would give vent to my gratitude,” Walda said, -tremulously. “Even now I prayed at my father’s -grave that if it be the will of God I might be permitted -to be the wife of Stephen Everett, and lo! when I least -hoped for it my prayer hath been answered.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Silence! Dare not to rejoice in thy frowardness of -heart here before the people of Zanah,” Karl Weisel -admonished. “Remember that there may be a curse -in answered prayer.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda shrank under the lash of his cruel words. -She glanced around her as if seeking sympathy -from some of the women, but all who were nearest -her drew their skirts away as if they would not be -defiled by the touch of her scarlet cloak. Her pride -came to the rescue, and, drawing the crimson mantle -around her, she stood proudly waiting for a sign that -she might pass on.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“From this moment Walda Kellar, once hailed as -the prophetess of Zanah, is no longer to be counted -with the colonists who live in the hope of earning an -entrance to heaven by walking in the paths of righteousness,” -announced Adolph Schneider, coming forward. -“She hath listened to the voice of Satan, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_301'>301</span>she hath been unfaithful to a most sacred trust. She -hath lost the gift of tongues; she hath turned a deaf -ear to the voice of prophecy. Henceforth, forever, -her name shall not be spoken in Zanah. Let her go -in peace, and may she repent of her sin.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Some of the colonists shuddered as the Herr Doktor -proclaimed the excommunication of the fallen prophetess. -Walda read reassurance and encouragement -in Gerson Brandt’s face. She stood gazing up at him, -and he held her spirit in calm submission.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Stephen Everett is hereby liberated. He hath -consented to pay to Zanah a goodly fine, which is still -out of proportion to his great offence,” Adolph Schneider -next announced. “Through the agency of Gerson -Brandt, Walda Kellar hath waived all claim on -her share of the property of Zanah. She shall go -forth from the colony penniless, and dependent upon -the stranger.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“That is good,” agreed some of the men.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“To-night Stephen Everett and Walda Kellar shall -leave Zanah, even as Adam and Eve were cast out of -the Garden of Eden,” continued the Herr Doktor, -pronouncing the sentence so that it might intimidate -all possible lovers in the colony. “They shall go -forth, never to return.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>When Adolph Schneider dwelt on the words “never -to return,” Gerson Brandt caught his breath as if he -felt a sudden pain.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_302'>302</span>“It is my duty to pronounce upon Gerson Brandt -the ban of silence,” Karl Weisel said, taking the Herr -Doktor’s place at the front of the platform. “As -head of the thirteen elders I hereby declare to the people -of Zanah that his office of counsellor and guide to -the colony is vacant. Like the fallen prophetess, he -hath forfeited all right to a high place in Zanah by -opening his heart to an earthly love.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda could not repress an exclamation of surprise. -She glanced questioningly among the women, as if she -would discover the one upon whom the school-master -had bestowed his heart, but she received such looks -of anger and indignation that she turned to Gerson -Brandt, as if she would read his secret. He gave her -a smile, and she listened sadly to the terrible sentence -pronounced upon him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“For the space of a year no man or woman of Zanah -shall speak to Gerson Brandt,” the elder continued, in -a loud voice. “Although he hath been the school-master, -the children shall not be permitted to utter -one word to him. He shall no longer be a teacher in -the colony. Instead, he shall dwell alone, avoided -by all. Because Zanah harboreth no drones, he shall -serve the colony as night-watchman. During all the -hours of darkness he shall pace up and down the street -of Zanah. He shall call out the hours from sunset -until sunrise, and he shall be forgotten by all who -serve the Lord.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_303'>303</span>Gerson Brandt heard the words unmoved, as if the -sentence were of little concern to him. In a moment, -after Karl Weisel ceased speaking, his thoughts were -far away. He exulted over the solitude before him. -He knew that he could live in memories; precious -dreams would be his. Each night, while he walked -alone, he told himself that he could send to Walda his -best hopes. He could speak her name in his prayers. -After all, he had triumphed over himself and over the -laws of Zanah. Unconsciously he drew his thin body -to its full height. The light of victory illumined his -face. He looked at Walda and saw that she was -weeping for him. Then he was troubled.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“This sentence is monstrous,” Everett asserted, -with wrath in his voice. “Gerson Brandt shall come -out into the world with me. Walda Kellar and I owe -him whatever of happiness may be ours in the future, -and we shall see that he has some of the joys of -life.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, nay,” spoke Gerson Brandt. “I would be -out of place in the great world. I thank thee, but I -am better here. I shall be quite contented to remain -in Zanah. Outward conditions count for naught.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>When Everett still would have insisted, he showed -such evident embarrassment and uneasiness that it -was kindlier to cease to importune him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Stephen Everett, thou shalt take Walda Kellar to -the <i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">gasthaus</span></i>, there to wait until darkness falls,” snarled -<span class='pageno' id='Page_304'>304</span>Adolph Schneider, who had begun to feel that he -had not made the stranger’s fine large enough.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett hastened to Walda’s side. When he gently -took her by the arm, Gerson Brandt turned his head -away. The crowd began to disperse. The school-master -walked down the steps from the stocks. All -the colonists pretended not to see him. As he crossed -the square a little girl ran to him, clasping her arms -about his knees. He stooped to disengage himself, -and a woman snatched the child away from him. A -few steps farther on several of the boys who had been -his pupils ran away from him, one hiding behind a -tree to peep at him, as if he were an evil thing. He -had not reached the bridge before he felt some one -touch him on the arm. It was Hans Peter.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I shall dwell with thee,” said the simple one. -“The laws of Zanah rule not the village fool.”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_305'>305</span> - <h2 class='c005'>XXII</h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c007'>Everett led Walda into the living-room of the -inn and shut the door. Taking the red cloak -from her shoulders, he tenderly placed her in one of -the big rocking-chairs.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“From this moment you are always to be in my -care,” he said. “Ah, Walda, I cannot realize that at -last you are to be mine—all mine.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>She looked up at him with tears in her eyes.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Stephen, it is strange, but now that I am about to -go out into the great world with thee I am full of misgivings,” -she replied.</p> - -<p class='c008'>He knelt beside her, and, taking her hand, said:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You have had a tragic day. You are exhausted. -Surely, you are not afraid to trust yourself to me?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, nay. When thou art close to me I feel safe -from all trouble; yet my heart trembles. Thy love -hath a power that affrights me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>He had risen and kissed her, drawing her head upon -his breast and holding it there. She hid her face with -a sudden shame while she asked:</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Are we to be married to-morrow, Stephen?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It was the agreement that we should leave Zanah -<span class='pageno' id='Page_306'>306</span>at midnight. We shall drive to a town twenty-five -miles away, and there, at sunrise, you and I will attend -our own wedding.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou art sure that my father would have had it -so?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Yes, Walda; I would have gained his consent. -You are to forget all the troubles that my love has -brought to you. I shall try to atone for every heartache -of these last few days.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Our love was sent from heaven. Truly thou believest -that?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Fate has given you to me. You must not ask any -more questions. We are to begin to be happy now.” -He stroked her cheek and soothed her as if she were -a child, and his great strength gave her confidence. -“The first thing that I shall do will be to send for -your white gown, so that you can take off this mourning,” -he said, lightly, when he saw that she was more -composed. “I bought from the elders the white -gown and the red cloak, for both have a significance -for us—both have marked great days in our lives.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>She smiled faintly, and he began to unpin the black -cap that she wore. It was securely fastened to her -fair hair. He had to ask her assistance in getting rid -of it. When it was loosened he threw it on the floor, -and then walked off to look at her. She was very pale, -after the sorrow and excitement of the day. Her -black gown accentuated the fairness of her skin, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_307'>307</span>her clear-cut features were brought out in relief -against the dark back of the chair.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You are the most beautiful woman I have ever -seen,” he said, with the fervor of sincerity. “How -often you will hear your praises sung when you belong -to the world.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Art thou teaching me vanity so soon, Stephen?” -she exclaimed, with a sigh, for she was in no mood for -gayety.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I am half afraid to take you into the world,” he -answered, with some seriousness. “You see, I have -my misgivings. But you did not tell me what disturbed -you. Come over here to Mother Werther’s -sofa, where you can whisper to me all the vague fears -of your heart.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou knowest I shall need thy charity oftentimes,” -Walda said, after Stephen had made her rest -her head upon his shoulder. “I shall not understand -many of thy ways—even thy thoughts will be too -deep for me to understand.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett laughed.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You forget that you have wisdom and goodness -that I can never fathom.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Here in Zanah those who love soon weary of each -other. Surely, it is not so in the world, where earthly -love is not counted a sin. Is it?” she questioned.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Our love is for all our life,” he said, softly. “I -shall be faithful to it always.”</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_308'>308</span>“And thou wilt be patient with me? Thou wilt -teach me all that I should learn, if I would be thy -worthy companion?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“I would not have you changed in any way, Walda.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Ah! but love bringeth wisdom, and I have thought -much about our marriage. I shall be unlike all the -people thou knowest. When Gerson Brandt said he -would be out of place in the great world, his words -smote me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“You shall learn all that you need to know about -the ways of the world,” Everett promised, easily. -“Is there any other subject that is causing you apprehension?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay; none that I may voice to thee. When a -woman is about to give herself to the man she loveth -there is a tumult in her heart. It is of mingled faith -and fear. Love carrieth both with it, for, while it exalts -the soul, it bringeth the wisdom that hath a far -sight of the meanings and mysteries of life.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda put her hands upon his shoulders, and, looking -into his eyes, saw in them something that gave her -courage.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Let us be grateful in this hour of our deliverance,” -she said, rising. “Have the white gown—my wedding-gown—brought -to me.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett went up to the room he had occupied during -his last sojourn in Zanah, leaving Walda alone -while he made his preparations for the journey.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_309'>309</span>Walda, leaning on the window-sill, looked out upon -the quiet village that had been so long her home. -One by one the lights in the stone houses on the winding -street went out. The footsteps of chance passers-by -became less frequent. The noises in the inn were -hushed. At last every door was closed against her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>When the tall clock struck eleven, Everett entered -the room. The solitary candle had burned out, and -Walda was sitting in the darkness.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Can you see to find your cloak?” he asked. “It -is time for us to start.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>Walda caught up the wrap from its place on the -sofa, and followed Everett out on the porch of the -<i><span lang="de" xml:lang="de">gasthaus</span></i>. There was not a sign of life anywhere.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“The carriage will be waiting for us on the other -side of the square beneath the old oak-tree,” said -Everett. “Don’t you want to say good-bye to Piepmatz, -or would you like to take him with you?”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, Stephen; Piepmatz is like the others that -dwell in Zanah. He would not feel at home in the -great world,” Walda answered, going to the cage -where the chaffinch, with his head beneath his wing, -slumbered in happy unconsciousness of the influence -of love-songs.</p> - -<p class='c008'>On the bridge appeared a lantern. It came towards -the inn, and when it was a few feet away the -form of the bearer, Gerson Brandt, was discerned. -By his side walked Hans Peter.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_310'>310</span>“I was afraid I should not have the chance to say -good-bye to thee, Gerson Brandt,” Walda exclaimed, -going down the steps to meet him. Everett drew the -simple one away, with the excuse that they would go -to see whether the carriage had come.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, at any cost, I meant to send thee out into -the world with my blessing,” Gerson Brandt answered. -He set down his lantern and put his hands behind him -lest he should be tempted to touch her.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It seemeth selfish of me to be so happy when thou -art sad, Gerson Brandt.” Walda put her hand upon -his arm, and they looked into each other’s faces with -something of the old frankness in their glance.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“In this hour of parting it is good to know that thou -leavest Zanah with a light heart.” Gerson Brandt -spoke bravely, but his lips quivered. “Farewell, -Walda. If I never behold thy face again, remember -thine image is ever treasured in the memory of a man -of Zanah. To him thou wilt never grow old. Here -in my thoughts thou shalt dwell always in thy youth -and beauty.”</p> - -<p class='c008'>He trusted himself to let one hand reach out above -her head.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Peace go with thee. The Lord bless and keep -thee,” he said, softly, lifting his face to heaven, because -he could no longer depend upon his human -strength.</p> - -<p class='c008'>They stood silent for a moment.</p> - -<p class='c008'><span class='pageno' id='Page_311'>311</span>Everett and Hans Peter returned to the inn to say -that the carriage was waiting.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Thou shalt have Piepmatz, if thou art willing to be -burdened with the care of the chaffinch,” said Walda, -speaking to the simple one.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Nay, give him to both of us,” pleaded Gerson -Brandt so earnestly that she bestowed the bird upon -him and Hans Peter, with the injunction that they -must not disagree over the partnership.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Everett put the scarlet cloak upon Walda’s shoulders -and led her away. She went without waiting to -say a last word to the man of Zanah, who had lifted -his lantern and held it so that it might give her light. -Gerson Brandt would have gone on ahead illuminating -the way, but a sudden weakness overcame him -when he saw that Walda had forgotten his presence -in the excitement of her departure. He sank upon -the well-curb, at the very place where Everett had -first seen him and Walda speak to each other. He -listened for the wheels of the carriage. He heard the -horses start and then stop suddenly. Hans Peter -had run out of the inn carrying on his shoulders the -illuminated Bible which had become, by right of purchase, -the property of the stranger.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt quelled in his heart the rebellion he -felt because to him was denied even the privilege of -giving to Walda the Sacred Book into which he had -wrought so many of his best thoughts and most precious -<span class='pageno' id='Page_312'>312</span>hopes. He buried his head in his hands, waiting -patiently until he should know that the woman he -loved had gone forever beyond his reach.</p> - -<p class='c008'>The horses’ hoofs struck the soft road with a muffled -sound. The wheels started a second time. Gerson -Brandt closed his ears for a moment, and then, -rising, listened for the last sound of the carriage. He -was still standing in the deserted square when Hans -Peter spoke to him.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“It is almost the beginning of a new hour,” the fool -said.</p> - -<p class='c008'>Gerson Brandt examined his big, silver watch by -the light of the lantern.</p> - -<p class='c008'>“Midnight!” he called, in a voice out of which all -hope had gone. “Midnight!—”</p> - -<p class='c008'>“And all is well!” cried the simple one, taking up -the words that Gerson Brandt had not power to -speak.</p> - - -<div class='pbb'> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> - <hr class='pb c002' /> -<p> </p> -</div> -<div class='tnotes'> - -<div class='section ph2'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c004'> - <div>TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - - <ol class='ol_1 c003'> - <li>Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. - - </li> - <li>Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed. - </li> - </ol> -</div> - -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<hr class="pgx" /> -<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WALDA***</p> -<p>******* This file should be named 63629-h.htm or 63629-h.zip *******</p> -<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> -<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/3/6/2/63629">http://www.gutenberg.org/6/3/6/2/63629</a></p> -<p> -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed.</p> - -<p>Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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