""Not till you have delivered my message," said I, calmly.
""Then Bey"m Blitzen I will deliver it, and see how you "ll like it," cried he, as he stumped away down a pa.s.sage and entered a room at the end of it. I could soon hear the sound of voices, and for the moment I was almost determined to beat a retreat, when suddenly the old Jager came out and beckoned me forward. There was a grin of most diabolical delight on the old fellow"s features as I pa.s.sed into the room and closed the door behind me.
"As well as I could see in the imperfect light, for it was after sunset, the apartment was large and low-ceilinged, with bookshelves round the walls, and stands for weapons and military equipments here and there through it. At the stove, and busily engaged in watching a coffee-pot, sat the Feld himself, a loose gray overcoat covering his figure, and concealing all of him but two immense jackboots that peeped out beneath. He wore a Mutze, a kind of Hungarian cap, and a long pipe depended from his mouth, the bowl resting on the carpet. The most conspicuous feature of all was, however, his enormous moustache, which, white as snow, touched his collar-bone at either side.
"He never spoke a word as I entered, but stared at me steadfastly and sternly for full three or four minutes. Half abashed by this scrutiny, and indignant besides at the reception, I was about to--
[Ill.u.s.tration: 071]
""Franz Carl Infantry, third battalion," said I, instantly saluting with my hand.
""Your name?"
""Frank Dalton."
""Your business?"
""To visit my grand-uncle, the Field-Marshal von Auersberg."
""And is it thus, younker," cried he, rising, and drawing himself up to his full height, "that you dare to present yourself before a
Feldzeugmeister of the Imperial Army? Have they not taught you even the commonest rules of discipline? Have they left you in the native barbarism of your own savage country, that you dare, against my orders, present yourself before me?" ""I thought the claim of kindred--" began I.
""What know I of kindred, sirrah? What have kith and kin availed _me?_ I have stood alone in the world. It was not to kindred I owed my life on the field of Rosbach; nor was it a relative stanched my bleeding wounds at Wagram!"
""The name of Dalton--"
""I have won a prouder one, sir, and would not be reminded by you from what I "ve started. Where "s your character- certificate?"
""I have not brought it with me, Herr General. I scarcely thought it would be the first question my father"s uncle would put to me."
""There was prudence in the omission, too, sir," said he, not heeding my remark. "But I have it here." And he drew from a portfolio on the table a small slip of paper, and read: ""Cadet Dalton, second company of the third battalion, Franz Carl Regiment.----Smart on service, and quick in discipline, but forward and petulant with those above him in rank. Disposed to pride himself on birth and fortune, and not sufficiently submissive to orders. Twice in arrest, once, Kurzgeschlossen." A creditable character, sir!
Twice in arrest and once in irons! And with this you claim kindred with a count of the empire, and an imperial field- marshal! On the fifth of last month you entertained a party at dinner at the Wilde Man,--most of them men of high rank and large fortune. On the eighteenth you drove through Maria Tell with a team of four horses, and pa.s.sed the drawbridge and the moat in full gallop. So late as Wednesday last you hoisted a green flag on the steeple of the village church, on pretence of honoring your father"s birthday. I know each incident of your career, sir, and have watched you with shame and regret. Tell your father, when you write to him, that all the favor of my august master would not endure the test of two such proteges. And now, back to your quarters."
"He motioned me to retire with a gesture, and I fell back, almost glad at any cost to escape. I had just reached the stair, when the Jager called me back to his presence.
""Art an only son?" asked the Count, for the first time addressing me in the second person.
"I bowed.
""And hast three sisters?"
""Two, Herr General."
""Older or younger than thyself?"
""Both older, sir."
""How have they been brought up? Have they learned thrift and housecraft, or are they wasteful and reckless, as their native country and their name would bespeak them?"
""Our humble fortune is the best answer to that question, sir."
""It is not, sirrah!" cried he, angrily. "The spendthrift habit survives every remnant of the state that gave it birth, and the beggar can be as improvident as the prince.
Go; thou hast as much to learn of the world as of thy duty.
Head erect, sir; shoulders back; the right thumb more forwards. If the rest of the battalion be like thee, I"ll give them some work on the Prater ere long."
"A haughty wave of his hand now finished our interview, and, once outside the door, I descended the stairs, a whole flight at every bound, in terror lest anything should induce him to recall me.
"And this is Uncle Stephen, Nelly,--this the great protector we used to build our hopes upon, and flatter ourselves would be a second father to us!
"When I came out into the street, I knew not which way to turn. I dreaded the very sight of a comrade, lest he should ask me about our meeting, what pocket-money he had given me, and how soon I should be an officer. It was only when I saw Adolf coming towards me that I remembered all about my debt to him, of which I had not spoken one word to my uncle. I ought to have told him so, frankly. Yes, Nelly, I can hear the murmured displeasure with which you read my confession, "that I could n"t do it." I was unequal to the effort, and could not bring myself to destroy that whole fabric of fict.i.tious interest in which I had wrapped myself. What would Adolf have thought of me when I said, I have neither wealth nor station nor prospect,--as humble a soldier as the sentry you see yonder? What would become of that romance of life in which we have so often spent hours revelling in a brilliant future, every incident of which grew up in our united fancies, and seemed to a.s.sume reality as we discussed it? Where----oh, Nelly! to you I must reveal all----every weakness, every littleness of my nature--where would be the homage of respect the poor Bursche was wont to show the nephew of a field-marshal? No, it was above my strength; and so I took his arm, and talked away heedlessly about our meeting, avoiding, where I could, all mention of my uncle, and but jocularly affecting to think him an original, whose strange, old-fashioned manners almost concealed the strong traits of family affection.
""What of thy promotion, Frank?" asked Adolf.
""It will come in its own good time/ said I, carelessly.
"Nothing causes more dissatisfaction than the rapid advancement of cadets of n.o.ble family."
""But they could make thee a corporal, at least?"
"I laughed scornfully at the remark, and merely said, "They may skip over the whole sous-officier grade, and only remember me when I"m to be made a lieutenant/
""Thou hast grown haughtier, Frank," said he, half reproachfully, "since thy meeting with the "Feld." Mayhap in a day or two thou wilt not like to be seen in company with a "Wander-Bursche"?"
"I was bursting to throw my arms round his neck, and say, "Never, whatever fortune have in store for me; thy friendship is like a brother"s, and can never be forgotten; "but Pride--yes, Nelly, the cursed pride against which you used to warn me--sealed my lips; and when I spoke, it was something so cold, so meaningless, and so unworthy that he left me. I know not how! No sooner was I alone, Nelly, than I burst into tears. I cried for very shame; and if agony could expiate my fault, mine should have done so. What humiliation before my friend could equal that I now felt before my own heart! I thought of all your teachings, dearest Nelly; of the lessons you gave me over and over against this besetting sin of my nature! I thought of our home, where poor Hanserl was treated by us as a friend! I thought of our last parting, and the words you spoke to me in warning against this very pride, ign.o.ble and mean as it is; and, oh! what would I have given to have thrown myself into Adolfs arms, and told him everything! I have never seen him since; he wrote to me a few lines, saying that he should pa.s.s through Baden on his way to Frankfort, and offering to carry a letter for me; but not once did he allude to my debt, nor was there the slightest hint of its existence. On this I wrote an acknowledgment of the loan, and a pressing entreaty that he would come and see me; but he pretended one thing and another, affected engagements at the only hours I was free, and at last abruptly sent for my letter just when I was writing it. I had much more to tell you, Nelly, of myself, of the service, and of my daily life here; but my thoughts are now disturbed and scattered; and I feel, too, how your shame for my short-coming will take away interest from what I say. You, Nelly, will have courage to be just: tell him all that I have been weak enough to conceal; let him know what suffering my unworthy shame has cost me; and, above all, that I am not ungrateful.
"It seems like a dream all that you tell me of Kate. Is she still in Italy, and where? Would she write to me? I am ashamed to ask the question of herself. They spoke of our brigade being sent to Lombardy; but even there I might be far away from her; and if near, in the very same city, our stations would separate us still more widely. Oh, Nelly! is it worth all the success ever ambition the most successful won, thus to tear up the ties of family, and make brothers and sisters strangers? Would that I were back again with you, and dearest Kate, too! I see no future here; the dull round of daily discipline, teaching nothing but obedience, shuts out speculation and hope! Where are the glorious enterprises, the splendid chances I often dreamed of? My happiest moments now are recalling the past; the long winter evenings beside the hearth, while Hans was reading out to us. There are rumors of great changes in the world of Europe; but to us they are only the thunderings of a distant storm, to break out in what quarter we know not. Oh, Nelly!
if it should lead to war! if some glorious struggle were to break in upon this sluggish apathy!
"Adolf has sent again for this letter, so I must close it He will not, he says, pa.s.s through Baden, but will post this in Munich--so good-bye, dearest sister. Tell poor papa all that you dare to tell of me, and farewell.
"Frank Dalton.
"When you write it must be under cover to the "Herr Hauptman von Gauss, 2ten Compagnie, 3 Linien Bataillon, Franz Carl Infanterie." Don"t forget this long address, nor to add a line to the captain himself, who is a good-looking fellow, but somewhat conceited.
"I have just heard old Auersberg is to have a command again. I "m heartily sorry for it. So much for family influence!"
If the reader"s patience has lasted through this long letter of Frank"s, it was more than Peter Dalton"s did. For what between his ecstasy at Kate"s good fortune, his own rambling speculations on all that should follow from it, and, above all, what from the slurring monotonous tone in which Nelly pa.s.sed over such portions as she did not wish him to hear, he grew gradually more abstracted and dreamy, and at last fell off into a deep and most happy slumber. Not a syllable did he hear of the old Feld"s reception of Frank; nor did he even awake as little Hans stumped into the room, with a staff in either hand,--aids that, since his accident, he could never dispense with.
"I heard that you had letters, Fraulein," said he. "Do they bring good tidings?"
"Some would call them so, Hanserl," said she, with a sigh. "Kate is about to be married."
Hanserl made no reply, but sat slowly down, and crossed his arms before him.
"The great Russian Prince Midchekoff, of whom you may have heard."
"I have seen him, Fraulein; he was here in Baden, three years ago."