[Ill.u.s.tration: Thou mayst come, Hans 248]
And then for a while there was such hearty embracing of as much of the other four as each of them could grasp that the like of it all for good-will and lovingness never had been seen in a bakery before. And Gottlieb"s good angel exulted greatly; and the devil, who had lingered about the premises in the hope that even at the eleventh hour the powers of evil might get the better of the powers of good, acknowledged his defeat with a howl of baffled rage: and then fled away in a blue flame and a flash of lightning that made the waters of the East River (which stream he was compelled to wade, thanks to General Newton, who took away his stepping-stones) fairly hiss and bubble. And never did he dare to show so much as the end of his wicked nose in the Cafe Nurnberg again!
"But thou wilt not take from me this little one, my daughter, Hans?"
Gottlieb asked, when they had somewhat disentangled themselves. "Thou wilt come and live with us, and be my partner, and together we will make the good lebkuchen once more. Is it not so?"
Hans found this a trying question. He looked at Herr Sohnstein, doubtfully. "Ah," said Herr Sohnstein, "thou meanest that a very hard-hearted, money-lending man has hired a shop for thee and has made it the most splendid bakery and the finest restaurant on all the East Side, eh? And thou art afraid that this man, this old miser man, will keep thee to thy bargainings, already?"
Hans gave a deprecating nod of a.s.sent.
"Well, my boy Hans," Herr Sohnstein continued, with great good-humor, and sliding his arm well around Aunt Hedwig"s generous waist again as he spoke--"well, my boy Hans, let me tell thee that that bad old miser man is not one-half so bad as thou wouldst think. Dost thou remember that when he had a garden made upon the roof of that fine bakery, and thou toldst to him that to make a garden there was to waste his money, what he said? Did he not say that if he made the garden G.o.d would send the flowers? And when that fine sign was made with "Nurnberger Bakerei" upon it, and thou toldst to him that to take that name of Nurnberg was not fair to his old friend, did he not tell thee that with his old friend he would settle that matter so that there should be no broken bones? For did he not know already that for these five years past it has been the wish of Gottlieb"s heart to leave this old bakery--where his lease ends this very coming May--and to have just such a new fine bakery upon the Square as now you two together will have? Ah, this bad old miser man is not afraid but that his miser money will come back to him again; and he is not such a fool but that he had faith in his good friend Gottlieb, and knew that all would end well. And now, truly, all will be happiness: for Gottlieb, who has gained a good son, can spare to me this dear Hed-wig, his sister, and he will come to church with us and see us all married in one bright day."
Aunt Hedwig looked up into Herr Sohnstein"s face as he ended this long speech--not so fine, perhaps, as some of the speeches which he had delivered in the criminal courts, but much more moving and a great deal more genuine than the very best of them--and, with her eyes filling with happy tears, said to him: "And it is to thee that we owe it, this happiness!"
But Herr Sohnstein"s face grew grave and his voice grew reverent as he answered: "It is not so, my Hedwig. We owe our happiness to the good G.o.d who has taken away the evil that was in our dear Gottlieb"s heart." They all were very quiet for a little s.p.a.ce, and upon the silence broke the sweet sound of the clock bell in the near-by church-tower.
When the last stroke had sounded Herr Sohnstein spoke again, and in his customary jolly tone: "As for these young ones here, we will unlock the door and let them walk out and look for a little at the music-stand that they love so well in the Square. And Hedwig shall sit beside me while we smoke our pipes, Gottlieb, eh? It is a long time already, old friend, since thou and I have sat together and smoked our pipes."