Young Mrs. Nussler, who must have studied the peculiarities of her mother-in-law with great care, looked to see what was the matter, and found to her horror and dismay that the cap was gone from its stand.
Good gracious! what had become of it? She had plaited it up that very morning, and hung it on the stand. "Where"s my cap?" the old woman at last inquired. "Never mind, mother," said her daughter-in-law bending toward her, "I"ll get it directly." "Is it done up yet?" The young woman nodded, and thought, surely grandmother will be satisfied now, but the old woman glanced into every corner of the room to see what she could find out. Brasig"s countenance changed when he heard the cap spoken of, and he looked about him hastily to see where the "beastly thing" could have got to, but in another moment old Mrs. Nussler pointed at little Louisa Hawermann, and said with a venomous smile, like a stale roll dipped in fly-poison: "It must be plaited all over again." "What"s the matter?" cried her daughter-in-law, and starting up as she spoke, she saw the ends of the cap ribbons hanging down below the hem of the child"s frock; she lifted her niece off the chair, and was going to have picked up the cap, but the old woman was too quick for her. She seized her crumpled head-gear, and when she saw the flattened puffs, and Brasig"s bit of pack-thread hanging half in and half out of the caser, her wrath boiled over, and holding up her cap so that every one might see it, exclaimed: "Good for nothing chit!" and was going to have struck the little girl over the head with her cap.
But Brasig caught her by the arm and said: "The child had nothing to do with it," and then growled out in a half whisper: "The old cat!" At the same moment loud crying was to be heard behind the grandmother"s chair, and Mina sobbed: "I"ll never, never do it again," and Lina sobbed: "And I"ll never do it again." "Bless me!" cried young Mrs. Nussler, "it was the little girls who did all the mischief. Mother, it was our own children that did it." But the old woman had been too long accustomed to turn everything to her own advantage, not to know how to make a judicious use of her deafness; she never heard what she did not want to hear; and she did not want to hear now. "Come," she shouted, and signed to her husband. "Mother, mother," cried her daughter-in-law, "give me your cap, and I"ll set it to rights." "Who"s at the fold?" asked the old woman as she left the room with old Joseph. Young Joseph lighted his pipe again. "Good gracious!" said Mrs. Nussler, "she"s quite right there, I ought to be at the fold. Ah well, grandmother won"t be civil to me again for a month." "Crusty," said Brasig, "was an old dog, and Crusty had to give in at last." "Don"t cry any more, my pets," said the mother, wiping her little girls" eyes. "You didn"t know what harm you were doing, you are such stupid little things. Now be good children, and go and play with your cousin, I must go to my work. Joseph, just keep an eye on the children, please," and then Mrs. Nussler put on her chip-hat, and set off to the fold where the cows were milked.
"A mother-in-law"s the very devil!" said Brasig. "But you, young Joseph," he continued, turning to Mr. Nussler, who was smoking as calmly as if what had happened was nothing to him, "ought to be ashamed of yourself for allowing your mother to bully your wife." "But," said young Joseph, "how can I interfere? I am her son." "You needn"t actually _strike_ her," said Brasig, "because your parents are given you by G.o.d, but you might give her a little filial advice now and then, such as befits an obedient son, and so prevent the devil of dispeace getting into the house. And as for you, Charles Hawermann, don"t take a little tiff like this to heart, for your sister has a cheerful disposition, and an affectionate nature, so she"ll soon be on good terms with the old skin-flints again, and they can"t get on without her, she"s the mainstay of the household."
"But now," and he pulled an enormous watch out of his pocket, the kind of watch that is called a warming-pan, "it"s seven o"clock, and I must go and look after my work-people." "Wait," said Hawermann, "I"ll go part of the way with you. Good-by for the present, Joseph." "Good-by, brother-in-law," said young Joseph from his corner.
As soon as they were out of doors Hawermann asked "I say, Brasig, how could you speak of the old people in such a way before their son?" "He"s quite accustomed to it, Charles. No one has a good word for the two old misers, they"ve quarreled with all the neighbors, and as for the servants, _they_ take very good care to keep out of the old wretches"
sight." "My poor sister!" sighed Hawermann; "she used to be such a merry light-hearted girl, and now, shut up in a house with such people, and such a Nuss (slow) of a man." "You"re right enough there, Charles, he is an old Nuss, and Nussler (slow-coach) is his name; but _he_ never bullies your sister, and although he is such an a.s.s that he can manage nothing himself, he has sense enough to see that your sister is quite able to keep everything straight." "Poor girl! She married that man for my sake, to make my way easier for me, she said; and for our old mother"s sake, to give her a comfortable home with one of her children in her latter days." "I know, I know, Charles. I know it from my own experience. Don"t you remember it was during the rye-harvest, and you said to me, Zachariah, you said, you must be in love, for you"re leading in your rye quite wet. And I said; how so? On the Sunday before that we had had spruce-beer, and your sister was one of the party, or else I shouldn"t have led in the rye in such weather. And then I told you that if I didn"t change my mind your sister was the only one of my three sweethearts that I"d marry. Then you laughed heartily, and said, she was too young. What has being young to do with it? I asked. And then you said that my other two sweethearts came first, and so they ought to have the preference. And then you laughed again, and didn"t seem to believe that I was in earnest. A short time afterward my lord the Count changed _his_ mind, and said he wouldn"t have a married bailiff. And then a little more time pa.s.sed, and it was too late. Young Joseph made her an offer, and your mother begged her so hard to take him, that she consented. Ah well, that marriage ought never to have been," and Brasig looked down gravely. After a moment"s silence he went on--"When I saw the twins I felt drawn to them, and thought that they might have been my own, and I almost wished that the old woman, old Joseph, and young Joseph were in their graves. It was indeed a happy day for the old Jesuits when your sister brought her loving heart and cheerful nature into their house, if it had been any one else there would have been murder done long ago."
While they were talking they had left the village behind them, and were now beside the large garden. Suddenly Hawermann exclaimed: "Look there, the two old people are on the top of the hill yonder." "Yes," said Brasig with a derisive chuckle, "there they are, the hypocritical old Jesuits, standing in their hiding-place." "Hiding-place?" asked Hawermann, astonished. "Up there on the hill?" "Even so, Charles, the old creatures can trust no one, not even their own children, and when they want to say anything to each other that they can"t explain by their usual signs, they always go to the very top of the hill where they can see that there are no eavesdroppers, and shout their secrets in one another"s ears. Look at them cackling away, the old woman has laid another dragon"s egg, and now they"re both going to hatch it." "How eagerly they"re talking," said Hawermann. "Do you see how the old woman is gesticulating? What can it all be about?" "I know what they are laying down the law about, for I know them well. And Charles," he continued after a short silence, "it is better that you should understand the whole state of the case at once, and then you"ll know how to act."
"They"re talking about you, and your little girl." "About me, and my little girl!" repeated Hawermann in astonishment. "Yes, Charles--don"t you see. If you had come with a great purse full of money, they would have received you with open arms, for money is the only thing for which they have the slightest respect; but as it is they regard you and the child in the light of beggarly poor relations who will take the very bread out of the mouth of their unfortunate son." "Oh!" sighed Hawermann, "why didn"t I leave the child with the Ra.s.sows? Who is to take care of her? Can you advise me what to do? I can"t leave her here in my sister"s charge for my sister"s sake." "Of course you"d like to have her near you. Well, Charles, I"ll tell you something. You must remain at the Nusslers tonight. Tomorrow we"ll go and see the _Councillor_ at Pumpelhagen: if we succeed there we"ll look out for a good place for the child in the neighborhood; and if we don"t succeed, we"ll go to the town and board her for the present with Kurz, the shopkeeper. And now good-night, Charles! Don"t be down-hearted, everything will look brighter soon." And so he went away.
Brasig arrived in good time next morning to go to Pumpelhagen with Hawermann. Mrs. Nussler was sitting in the porch paying the farm-servants, and Joseph was sitting beside her smoking while she worked. Neither of the old people had come down yet, for the grandmother had said to her daughter-in-law, she, at least, could not join them in the parlor, for she had nothing to put on her head; and the grandfather had said, they could all be quite happy without him. "That"s really kind of them," said Brasig. "There"s no fear of our dinner being spoilt now by their bad temper, for, Mrs. Nussler, I"m going to spend the day with Charles. Come, Charles, we must be off. Good-by little round-heads."
When they were out in the yard Brasig stood still, and said: "Look, Charles, did you ever see anything more like the desert of Sahara? One heap of manure here and another there! And look, that"s the drain old Joseph cut from the farm-yard to the village horse-pond. And as for the roofs," he continued, "they have enough straw to make new ones, but the old people think money expended on thatching sheer waste. I come here often, and for two reasons; firstly because of my stomach, and secondly because of my heart. I"ve always found that well-cooked food is not only pleasant to the taste, but also produces a wholesome exhilaration when followed by one of the little rages I generally get into here. And I come here for the sake of your sister and the little round-heads. I know that I am of use to her, for young Joseph just rolls on smoothly like the wheel of the coach that runs every winter from here to Rostock. How I should like to have him as leader in a three-horse team, harnessed into a farm cart, and then drive him with my whip!" "Ah!" said Hawermann as they came to a field, "they"ve got very good wheat here." "Yes, it"s pretty fair, but what do you think they were going to have had there instead? Rye! And for what reason? Simply because old Joseph had sown rye in that field every year for twenty-one years!" "Does their farm extend to the other side of the hill?" "No, Charles, it isn"t quite such a fat morsel as all that, like bacon fried in b.u.t.ter and eaten with a spoon! No, no, the wheat on the top of the hill is mine." "Ah, well, it"s odd how soon one forgets. Then your land comes down as far as this?" "Yes, Charles; Warnitz is a long narrow estate, it extends from here on the one side as far as Haunerwiem on the other. Now stand still for a moment, I can show you the whole lie of the country from this point. Where we are standing belongs to your brother-in-law, his land reaches from my wheat-field up there to the right, as far as that small clump of fir-trees to the left. You see, Rexow is quite a small farm, there are only a few more acres belonging to it on the other side of the village. To the right up there is Warnitz; and in front of us, where the fallow ground begins, is Pumpelhagen; and down there to the left, behind the little clump of firs, is Gurlitz."
"Then Warnitz is the largest!" "No, Charles, you"ve mistaken me there.
Pumpelhagen is the best estate in the neighborhood, the wheat-land there produces forty-two loads, and that is eight more than Warnitz can show.
It would be a blessing if all the other places were like it. The _Councillor_ is a good man, and understands farming, but you see his profession obliges him to live in Schwerin, so he can"t attend to Pumpelhagen. He has had a good many bailiffs of one kind or another. He came into the estate when everything was very dear, and there are a considerable number of apothecaries[7] on it, so that he must often feel in want of money, and all the more so that his wife is extravagant, and likes to live in a constant whirl of gaiety. He is a worthy man and kind to his people, and although the von Rambows are of very old family--my master, the Count, often asks him to dinner, and _he_ will not admit any but members of the n.o.bility to the honor of his acquaintance--he goes about quite _doucimang_, and makes no fuss about his position."
Hawermann listened attentively to all that was said, for if he succeeded in getting the place of bailiff, these things would all be of importance to him, but his thoughts soon returned to the subject of his greatest present anxiety. "Brasig," he said, "who is the best person to take charge of my little girl?" "I can"t think of any one. I"m afraid that we must take her to the town to Kurz. Mrs. Kurz is an excellent woman, and he, well he is a good hand at a bargain like all tradesmen. Only think, he sold me a pair of trousers last year. I wanted them for Sundays--they were a sort of chocolate color: well listen: the first morning I put them on, I went through the clover-field, and when I came out of it, my trousers were as red as lobsters, as high as the knee--bright scarlet I a.s.sure you. And then he sent me some k.u.mmel, it was Prussian made, wretched sweet stuff, and very bad. I returned it, and told him a bit of my mind. But he won"t take the trousers back, and tells me he never wore them. Does the fellow imagine that _I_ will wear red trousers?
Look, Charles, that"s Gurlitz down there to the left." "And that, I suppose, is Gurlitz church-steeple?" asked Hawermann. "Yes!" said Brasig, raising his eye-brows till they were hidden by the brim of his hat--he always wore a hat on Sunday--and opening his mouth as wide as he could, he stared at Hawermann as if he wanted to look him through and through. "Charles," he exclaimed, "you spoke of Gurlitz church-steeple, and as sure as your nose is in the middle of your face the parson at Gurlitz must take your child." "Parson Behrens?" asked Hawermann. "Yes, the same Parson Behrens who taught you and me at old Knirkstadt." "Ah, Brasig, I was just wishing last night that such a thing were possible."
"Possible? He must do it. It would be the best thing in the world for him to have a little child toddling about his knees, and growing up under his care, for he has no children of his own, has let all the glebe land, and has nothing whatever to do but to read his books and study, till any other man would see green and yellow specks dancing before his eyes even with looking at him from a distance. It would be a capital thing for him, and Mrs. Behrens is so fond of children that the little ones in the village cling to her skirts whenever she goes there. She is also a most excellent worthy woman, and so cheerful that she and your sister get on capitally together."
"If it could only be," cried Hawermann. "What do we not both owe that man, Zachariah, don"t you remember that when he was a.s.sistant to the clergyman at Knirkstadt, he held an evening cla.s.s during the winter, and taught reading and writing, and how kind he always was to us stupid boys?" "Yes, Charles, and how Samuel Pomuchelskopp used to get behind the stove and snore till he nearly took the roof off, while we were learning the three R"s. Don"t you remember when we got to the rule of three in our sums, and tried to get the fourth unknown quant.i.ty?
"Ah yes, in quickness I had the best of it, but in correctness, you had.
You got on better than I did in o"thography, but in _style_, in writing letters, and in High German, I was before you. And in these points I"m much improved since then, for I"ve made them my study, and of course every one has his own _speshialitee_. Whenever I see the parson I feel bound to thank him for having educated me so well, but he always laughs and says he owes me far more for letting his glebe at such a good rent for him. He is on very friendly terms with me, and if you settle down here, I"ll take you to call and then you"ll see it for yourself."
Meanwhile they had reached Pumpelhagen, and Brasig took Hawermann quite under his protection as they crossed the court-yard, and addressing the old butler, asked if his master was at home and able to see them. He would announce the gentlemen, was the servant"s reply, and say that Mr.
Farm-bailiff Brasig was there. "Yes," said Brasig. "You see, Charles, that he knows me, and the _Councillor_ knows me also--and--did you notice?--announce! That"s what the n.o.bility always have done when any one calls on them. My lord the Count has three servants to announce his visitors; that is to say, one servant announces to another who it is that has called, and the valet tells his lordship. Sometimes queer mistakes are made, as with the huntsman the other day. The first foot man announced to the second: "The chief huntsman," and the second added the word "master," and the third announced the arrival of a "grandmaster of the huntsmen." So the Count came forward very cordially to receive the strange gentleman who had come to see him, and--he found no one but.
old Tibaul the rat-catcher."
The butler now returned and showed the two friends into a good-sized room, tastefully, but not luxuriously furnished, and in the centre of the room was a large table covered with papers and accounts. A tall thin man was standing beside the table when they entered; he was a thoughtful-looking, gentle-mannered man, and the same simplicity was observable in his dress as in the furniture of his room. He appeared to be about fifty-two or three, and his hair was of an iron gray color; he was perhaps shortsighted, for, as he went forward to receive his visitors, he picked up an eye-gla.s.s that was lying on the table, but without using it: "Ah, Mr. Brasig," he said quietly, "what can I do for you?" Uncle Brasig now involved himself in such a labyrinth of words in his desire to speak grandly as befitted his company, that he would never have extricated himself if the squire had not come to the rescue.
Looking more attentively at Hawermann he said: "You want * * *? but," he interrupted himself, "I ought to know you. Wait a moment. Were you not serving your apprenticeship twelve years ago on my brother"s estate?"
"Yes, Sir, and my name is Hawermann." "Of course it is. And to what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you here?" "I heard that you were looking out for a farm-bailiff, and as I was in want of just such a place * * *."
"But I thought you had a farm in Pomerania?" interrupted the squire. Now was the time for Brasig to speak if he was going to say anything of importance, so he exclaimed: "It"s quite true, Mr. Councillor von Rambow, that he had one, _had_ it, but has it no longer, and it"s no use crying over spilt milk. Like many other farmers he met with reverses, and the hardness and wickedness of his landlord ruined him. What do you think of that, Sir?"
At this moment there was a loud shout of laughter behind Brasig"s back, and when he turned round to see who it was he found himself face to face with a boy of ten or twelve years old. Mr. von Rambow also smiled, but fortunately it never occurred to Brasig that their amus.e.m.e.nt could mean anything but satisfaction with a well delivered speech, so he went on seriously: "And then he came a regular cropper." "I"m very sorry to hear it," said Mr. von Rambow. "Yes," he continued with a, sigh, "these are very hard times for farmers, I only hope they"ll change soon. But now to business--Alick, just run upstairs and see if breakfast is ready. It is quite true that I am looking out for a new bailiff, as I have been obliged to part with the last man, because of--well, his carelessness in keeping accounts--but," said he, as his son opened the door and announced that breakfast was ready, "you hav"n"t had breakfast yet, we can finish our talk while we eat it." He went to the door, and standing there signed to his guests to precede him. "Charles," whispered Brasig, "didn"t I tell you? Quite like one of ourselves?" But when Hawermann quietly obeyed the squire"s sign and went out first, he raised his eyebrows up to his hair, and stretched out his hand as though to pull his friend back by his coat-tails. Then sticking out one of his short legs and making a low bow, he said, "Pardon me--I couldn"t think of it--the _Councillor_ always has the _paw_." His way of bowing was no mere form, for as he had a long body and short legs it was both deep and reverential.
Mr. von Rambow went on first to escape his guest"s civilities, and Brasig brought up the rear. The whole business was talked over in all its bearings during breakfast; Hawermann got the place of bailiff with a good salary to be raised in five or six years, and only one condition was made, and that was that he should enter on his duties at once. The new bailiff promised to do so, and the following day was fixed for taking stock of everything in and about the farm, so that both he and his employer might know how matters stood before the squire had to leave Pumpelhagen. Then Brasig told the "sad life-story" of the old thoroughbred, which had come down to being odd horse about the farm, and which he "had had the honor of knowing from its birth," and told how it "had spavin, grease and a variety of other ailments, and so had been reduced to dragging a cart for its sins." After that he and Hawermann took leave of Mr. von Rambow.
"Brasig," said Hawermann, "a great load has been taken off my heart.
Thank G.o.d, I shall soon be at work again, and that will help me to bear my sorrow. Now for Gurlitz--Ah, if we are only as fortunate there."
"Yes, Charles, you may well say you are fortunate, for you are certainly wanting in the knowledge of life and fine tact that are necessary for any one to possess who has to deal with the n.o.bility. How _could_ you, how _could_ you go out of the room before the _Councillor_?" "I only did as he desired me, Brasig, and I was his guest, not his servant then. I wouldn"t do so _now_, and believe me, he"ll never ask me to do it again." "Well, Charles, let me manage the whole business for you at the parsonage. I"ll do it with the greatest _finesse_." "Certainly Brasig, it will be very kind of you to do it for me; if it were not for my dear little girl, I should never have the courage to ask such a favor. If you will take the task off my shoulders, I shall look upon it as the act of a true friend."
When they pa.s.sed Gurlitz church they heard from the singing that service was still going on, so they determined to wait in the parsonage till it was over, but on entering the sitting-room, a round active little woman about forty years old came forward to receive them. Everything about her was round, arms and fingers, head, cheeks and lips; and her round eyes twinkled so merrily in her round smiling face that one would at once jump to the conclusion that she had never known sorrow, and her every action was so cheery and full of life that one could easily see that she had a warm heart in her breast. "How d"ye do, Mr. Brasig, sit down, sit down. My pastor is still in church, but he would scold me if I allowed you to go away. Sit down, Sir--who are you? I should have liked to have gone to church today, but only think, the clergyman"s seat broke down last Sunday; lots of people go to it, you see, and one can"t say "no,"
and old Prusshawer, the carpenter, who was to have mended it this week, is down with a fever." Her words poured out smoothly like polished billiard-b.a.l.l.s rolled by a happy child over the green cloth.
Brasig now introduced Hawermann as Mrs. Nussler"s brother. "And so you are her brother Charles. _Do_ sit down, my pastor will be delighted to see you. Whenever Mrs. Nussler comes here she tells us something about you, and always in your praise--Mr. Brasig can vouch for that. Good gracious, Brasig, what have _you_ got to do with my hymn-book? Just put it down, will you. _You_ never read such things, you are nothing but an old heathen. These are hymns for the dying, and what are hymns for the dying to you? _You_ are going to live for ever. You"re not a whit better than the wandering Jew! One has to think of death sometimes, and as our seat is broken, and the old carpenter has a fever, I have been reading some meditations for the dying." While saying this she quickly picked up her books and put them away, carefully going through the unnecessary ceremony of dusting a spotless shelf before laying them down on it.
Suddenly she went to the door leading to the kitchen, and stood there listening; then exclaiming: "I was sure I heard it--the soup"s boiling over," hastened from the room. "Well, Charles--wasn"t I right? Isn"t she a cheery, wholesome-natured woman? I"ll go and arrange it all for you,"
and he followed Mrs. Behrens to the kitchen.
Hawermann looked round the room, and admired the cleanly, comfortable, home-like, and peaceful look of everything around him. Over the sofa was a picture of our Saviour, and encircling it, above and below, were portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Behrens" relations, some colored, some black, some large, and some small. In the picture of our Lord, His hands were raised in blessing, so Mrs. Behrens had hung the portraits of her relatives beneath it that they might have the best of the blessing, for she always regarded herself as the "nearest." She had hung her own portrait, taken when she was a girl, and that of her husband in the least prominent place over against the window, but G.o.d"s sun, which shone through the white window-curtains, and gilded the other pictures, lighted up these two first of all. There was a small book-case containing volumes of sacred and profane literature all mixed up together, but they looked very well indeed, for they were arranged more in accordance with the similarity of their bindings than with that of their contents. Let no one imagine that Mrs. Behrens did not care for reading really good standard works, because she spoke the Provincial German of her neighborhood. Whoever took the trouble to open one of the books, which had a mark in it, would see that she was quite able to appreciate good writing, and her cookery-book showed that she studied her own subjects as thoroughly as her husband did his, for the book was quite full of the notes and emendations she had written at the sides of the pages in the same way as Mr. Behrens made notes in his books. As for her husband"s favorite dishes she "knew them," she said, "by heart, and had not to put in a mark to show where they were to be found."
And it, was in this quiet home that Hawermann"s little daughter was to spend her childhood, if G.o.d let him have his wish. The raised hands in the Saviour"s picture would seem to bless his little girl, and the sunlight would shine upon her through these windows, and in those books she would read what great and good men had written, and by their help would gradually waken from childish dreams into the life and thoughts of womanhood.
As he was sitting there full of alternating hopes and fears, Mrs.
Behrens came back, her eyes red with weeping: "Don"t say another word, Mr. Hawermann, don"t say another word. Brasig has told me all, and though Brasig is a heathen, he is a good man, and a true friend to you and yours. And my pastor thinks the same as I do, I know that, for we have always been of one mind about everything. My goodness, what hard-hearted creatures the old Nusslers are," she added, tapping her foot impatiently on the floor. "The old woman," said Brasig, "is a perfect harpy." "You"re right, Brasig, that"s just what she is. My pastor must try to touch the conscience of the two old people; I don"t mean about the little girl, she will come here and live with us, or I know nothing of my pastor."
Whilst Hawermann was expressing his deep grat.i.tude to Mrs. Behrens her husband came in sight. She always talked of him as "_her_" pastor, because he belonged to her soul and body, and "_pastor_" because of his personal and official dignity. He had nothing on his head, for those high soft caps that our good protestant clergy now wear in common with the Russian popes were not the fashion at that time, in the country at least, and instead of wide bands, resembling the white porcelain plate on which the daughter of Herodias received the head of John the Baptist from her stepfather, he wore little narrow bands, which his dear wife Regina had sewed, starched and ironed for him in all Christian humility, and these little bits of lawn she rightly held to be the true insignia of his office, and not the gown, which was fastened to his collar with a small square piece of board. "For, my dear Mrs. Nussler," she said, "the clerk has a gown exactly the same as that, but he dar"n"t wear bands, and when I see my pastor in the pulpit with these signs of his office on, and watch them rising and falling as he speaks, I sometimes think that they look like angels" wings upon which one might go straight away up to heaven, except that the angels wear their wings behind, and my pastor"s are in front."
The parson was not an angel by any means, and was the last man in the world to think himself one, but still his conduct was so upright, and his face so expressive of love and good-will, that any one could see in a moment that he was a good man, and that his was a serious, thoughtful mode of life, and yet--when his wife had taken off his gown and bands--there was a bright sparkle in his eye that showed he did not at all disdain innocent mirth. He was a man who could give good counsel in worldly matters as well as in spiritual, and he was always ready to stretch out a helping hand to those in need of it.
He recognized Hawermann the moment he saw him, and welcomed him heartily. "How d"ye do, dear old friend, what an age it is since I saw you last. How are you getting on? Good morning, Mr. Brasig." Just as Brasig was about to explain the reason of his and Hawermann"s visit, Mrs. Behrens, who had begun to take off her husband"s clerical garments, called out: "Don"t speak, Mr. Hawermann; Brasig be quiet, leave it all to me. I"ll tell you all about it," she continued, turning to her husband, "for the story is a sad one--yes, Mr. Hawermann, terribly sad--and so it will be better for me to speak. Come," and she carried her pastor off to his study, saying in apology for doing so as she left the room: "I am the nearest to him, you know."
[Ill.u.s.tration: BIBLE LESSON BENJAMIN VAUTIER]
When Mr. Behrens returned to the parlor with his wife, he went straight up to Hawermann, and taking his hand, said: "Yes, dear Hawermann, yes, we"ll do it. We"ll do all that lies in our power with, very great pleasure. We have had no experience in the management of children, but we will learn--won"t we, Regina?" He spoke lightly, for he saw how deeply Hawermann felt his kindness, and therefore wished to set him at ease. "Reverend Sir," he exclaimed at last, "you did much for me in the old days, but this * * *." Little Mrs. Behrens seized her duster, her unfailing recourse in great joy or sorrow, and rubbed now this, and now that article of furniture vigorously, indeed there is no saying whether she might not have dried Hawermann"s tears with it, had he not turned away. She then went to the door and called to Frederika: "Here, Rika, just run down to the weaver"s wife, and ask her to send me her cradle, for," she added, addressing Brasig, "she doesn"t require it." And Brasig answered gravely: "But Mrs. Behrens, the child isn"t quite a baby." So the clergyman"s wife went to the door again, and called to the servant "Rika, Rika, not the cradle. Ask her to lend me a crib instead, and then go to the parish-clerk"s daughter, and see if she can come this afternoon. Good gracious! I forgot it was Sunday! But if thine a.s.s falls into a pit, and so on--yes, ask her if she will come and help me to stuff a couple of little mattresses. It isn"t a bit heathenish of me to do this, Brasig, for it"s a work of necessity, as much so as when you have to save the Count"s wheat on a Sunday afternoon. And, my dear Mr.
Hawermann, the little girl must come to us this very day, for Frank,"
turning to her husband, "the old Nusslers will grudge the child her food, and Brasig, bread that is grudged * * *" she stopped for breath, and Brasig put in: "Yes, Mrs. Behrens, bread that is grudged maketh fat, but the devil take that kind of fatness!" "You old heathen! How _dare_ you swear so in a Christian parsonage," cried Mrs. Behrens. "But the short and the long of it is that the child must come here today." "Yes, Mrs. Behrens," said Hawermann, "I"ll bring her to you this afternoon. My poor sister will be sorry; but it"s better for her and her household peace that it should be so, and for my little girl * * *." He then thanked the clergyman and his wife gratefully and heartily, and when he had said good-by, and he and Brasig were out of doors, he drew a long breath of relief, and said "Everything looked dark to me this morning, but now the sun has begun to shine again, and though I have a disagreeable bit of business before me, it is a happy day." "What is it that you have to do?" asked Brasig. "I must go to Rahnstadt to see old Moses. He has held a bill of mine for seventy-five pounds for the last eighteen months. He took no part in my bankruptcy, and I want to arrange matters with him." "Yes, Charles, you ought to make everything straight with him as soon as you can, for old Moses is by no means the worst of his kind. Now then, let"s lay out our plan of operations for today. We must return to Rexow at once, dine there, and after dinner young Joseph must get the carriage ready for you to take your little girl to Gurlitz; from Gurlitz you should drive on to Rahnstadt, and then in the evening come over to Warnitz and spend the night with me, and early next morning you can be at Pumpelhagen with the Councillor, who expects to see you in good time." "That will do very well," said Hawermann.
[Wheat was again growing in the field by the mill, as when Hawermann came to Pumpelhagen eleven years before. The same people still lived in the various villages and estates, only the manor house of Gurlitz had changed hands, for Pomuchelskopp, the man who had brought about Hawermann"s failure in Pomerania, lived there now. His was the only house which uncle Brasig shunned, everywhere else he was the welcome guest bringing sunshine whenever he arrived. His breezy common sense often recalled his friends from useless trains of thought. "Brasig,"
said Hawermann, "I don"t know what other people may think of it, but life and work always seem to me to be one and the same thing." "Oh, ho!
Charles, I have you now! You learnt that from pastor Behrens. But, Charles, that is a wrong way of looking at it, it goes clean against Scripture. The Bible tells us of the lilies of the field, how they toil not, neither do they spin, and yet our Heavenly Father feeds them. And if G.o.d feeds them, they are alive, and yet they do not work. And when I have that confounded gout, and can do nothing--absolutely nothing, except flap the beastly flies away from my face--can I be said to work?
And yet I am alive, and suffer horrible torture into the bargain."
Gradually this torture grew so unbearable that uncle Brasig had to submit to treatment at a watering place.]
Spring was gone, and summer had come, when one Sunday morning Hawermann received a letter from Brasig dated from Warnitz, in which his friend requested him to remain at home that day, for he had returned and intended to call on him that afternoon. When Brasig arrived, he sprang from his saddle with so much force that one might have thought he wanted to go through the road with both legs. "Oho!" cried Hawermann, "how brisk you are! You"re all right now, ar"n"t you?" "As right as a trivet, Charles. I"ve renewed my youth." "Well, how have you been getting on, old boy?" asked Hawermann, when they were seated on the sofa and their pipes were lighted. "Listen, Charles. Cold, damp, watery, clammy-that"s about what it comes to. It"s just turning a human being into a frog, and before a man"s nature is so changed, he has such a hard time of it that he begins to wish that he had come into the world a frog: still, it isn"t a bad thing! You begin the day with the common packing, as they call it. They wrap you up in cold, damp sheets, and then in woollen blankets, in which they fasten you up so tight that you can"t move any part of your body except your toes. In this condition they take you to a bath-room, and a man goes before you ringing a bell to warn the ladies to keep out of your way. Then they place you, just as G.o.d made you, in a bath, and dash three pails of water over your bald head, if you happen to have one, and after that they allow you to go away. Well, do you think that that"s the end of it? Nay, Charles, there"s more to follow; but it"s a good thing all the same. Now you"ve got to go for a walk in a place where you"ve nothing earthly to do. I"ve been accustomed all my life to walk a great deal, but then it was doing something, ploughing or harrowing, spreading manure or cutting corn, and there I"d no occupation whatever. While walking you are expected to drink ever so many tumblers of water, ever so many. Some of the people were exactly like sieves, they were always at it, and they used to gasp out "What splendid water it is!" Don"t believe them, Charles, it is nothing but talk. Water applied externally is bad enough in all conscience, but internally it"s still more horrible. Then comes the sitz-bath. Do you know what a bath at four degrees below zero is like?
It"s very much what you would feel if you were in h.e.l.l, and the devil had tied you down to a glowing iron chair, under which he kept up a roaring fire; still it"s a good thing! Then you"ve to walk again till dinner-time. And now comes dinner. Ah, Charles, you have no idea what a human being goes through at a water-cure place! You"ve got to drink no end of water. Charles, I"ve seen ladies, small and thin as real angels, drink each of them three caraffes as large as laundry-pails at a sitting--and then the potatoes! Good gracious, as many potatoes were eaten in a day as would have served to plant an acre of ground! These water-doctors are much to be pitied, their patients must eat them out of house and home. In the afternoon the water-drinking goes on as merrily as before, and you may now talk to the ladies if you like; but in the morning you may not approach them, for they are not then dressed for society. Before dinner some of them are to be seen running about with wet stockings, as if they had been walking through a field of clover, others have wet bandages tied round their heads, and all of them let their hair hang down over their shoulders, and wear a Venus" girdle round their waists, which last, however, is not visible. But in the afternoon, as I said, you may talk to them as much as you like, but will most likely get short answers unless you speak to them about their health, and ask them how often they have been packed, and what effect it had on them, for that is the sort of conversation that is most approved of at a water-cure establishment. After amusing yourself in this way for a little you must have a touche (douche), that is a great rush of ice-cold water--and that"s a good thing too. Above all, Charles, you must know that what every one most dislikes, and whatever is most intensely disagreeable is found to be wholesome and good for the const.i.tution." "Then you ought to be quite cured of your gout," said Hawermann, "for of all things in the world cold water was what you always disliked the most." "It"s easy to see from that speech that you"ve never been at the water-cure, Charles. Listen--this is how the doctor explained the whole thing to me. That confounded gout is the chief of all diseases--in other words, it is the source of them all, and it proceeds from the gouty humor which is in the bones, and which simply tears one to pieces with the pain, and this gouty substance comes from the poisonous matter one has swallowed as food--for example, k.u.mmel or tobacco--or as medicine at the apothecary"s. Now you must understand that any one who has gout must, if he wishes to be cured, be packed in damp sheets, till the water has drawn all the tobacco he has ever smoked, and all the kuimmel he has ever drunk out of his const.i.tution.
First the poisonous matter goes, then the gouty matter, and last of all the gout itself." "And has it been so with you?" "No." "Why didn"t you remain longer then? I should have stayed on, and have got rid of it once for all if I had been you." "You don"t know what you are talking about, Charles. No one could stand it, and no one has ever done it all at once.
* * * But now let me go on with my description of our daily life. After the touche you are expected to walk again, and by the time that is finished it has begun to grow dusk. You may remain out later if you like, and many people do so, both gentlemen and ladies, or you may go into the house and amuse yourself by reading. I always spent the evening in studying the water-books written by an author named Franck, who is, I understand, at the head of his profession. These books explain the plan on which the water-doctors proceed, and give reasons for all they do; but it"s very difficult to understand. I could never get further than the two first pages, and these were quite enough for me, for when I"d read them I felt as light-headed and giddy as if I had been standing on my head for half an hour. You imagine, no doubt, Charles, that the water in your well is water? He does not think so! Listen, fresh air is divided into three parts: oxygen, nitrogen, and black carbon; and water is divided into two parts: carbon and hydrogen. Now the whole water-cure the"ry is founded on water and air. And listen, Charles, just think of the wisdom of nature: when a human being goes out into the fresh air he inhales both black carbon and nitrogen through his windpipe, and as his const.i.tution can"t stand the combination of these two dreadful things, the art of curing by water steps in, and drives them out of his throat.
And the way that it does so is this the oxygen grapples with the carbon, and the hydrogen drives the nitrogen out of your body. Do you understand me, Charles?" "No," said Hawermann, laughing heartily, "you can hardly expect me to do that." "Never laugh at things you don"t understand, Charles. Listen--I have smelt the nitrogen myself, but as for the black carbon, what becomes of it? That is a difficult question, and I didn"t get on far enough with the water-science to be able to answer it. Perhaps you think that parson Behrens could explain the matter to me, but no, when I asked him yesterday he said that he knew nothing about it. And now, Charles, you"ll see that I"ve still got the black carbon in me, and that I shall have that beastly gout again."
"But, Zachariah, why didn"t you remain a little longer and get thoroughly cured?" "Because," and Brasig cast down his eyes, and looked uncomfortable, "I couldn"t. Something happened to me. Charles," he continued, raising his eyes to his friend"s face, "you"ve known me from my childhood, tell me, did you ever see me disrespectful to a woman?"
"No, Brasig, I can bear witness that I never did." "Well, then, just think what happened. A week ago last Friday the gout was very troublesome in my great toe--you know it always begins by attacking the small end of the human wedge--and the water-doctor said: "Mr. Bailiff,"
he said, "you must have an extra packing, Dr. Strump"s colchic.u.m is the cause of this, and we must get rid of it." Well, it was done; he packed me himself, and so tight that I had hardly room to breathe, telling me for my comfort that water was more necessary for me than air, and then he wanted to shut the window. "No," I said, "I understand the the"ry well enough to know that I must have fresh air, so please leave the window open." He did as I asked, and went away.[8] I lay quite still in my compress thinking no evil, when suddenly I heard a great humming and buzzing in my ears, and when I could look up, I saw a swarm of bees streaming in at my window, preceded by their queen. I knew her well, Charles, for as you know I am a bee-keeper. One spring the school-master at Zittelwitz and I got fifty-seven in a field. I now saw that the queen was going to settle on the blanket which the doctor had drawn over my head. What was to be done? I couldn"t move. I blew at her, and blew and blew till my breath was all gone. It was horrible! The queen settled right on the bald part of my head--for I had taken off my wig as usual to save it--and now the whole swarm flew at my face. That was enough for me.
Quickly I rolled out of bed, freed myself from the blanket, wriggled out of the wet sheets, and reached the door, for the devil was at my heels. I got out at the door, and striking out at my a.s.sailants blindly and madly, shrieked for help. G.o.d be praised and thanked for the existence of the water-doctor--his name is Ehrfurcht--he came to my rescue, and, taking me to another room, fetched me my clothes, and so after a few hours" rest I was able to go down to the dining-room-_salong_ as they call it--but I still had half a bushel of bee-stings in my body. I began to speak to the gentlemen, and they did nothing but laugh. Why did they laugh, Charles? You don"t know, nor do I. I turned to one of the ladies, and spoke to her in a friendly way about the weather; she blushed. What was there in the weather to make her red? I can"t tell, nor can you, Charles. I spoke to the lady who sings, and asked her very politely to let us hear the beautiful song which she sings every evening. What did she do, Charles? She turned her back upon me! I now busied myself with my own thoughts, but the water-doctor came up to me, and said courteously: "Don"t be angry with me, Mr. Bailiff, but you"ve made yourself very remarkable this afternoon." "How?" I asked. "Miss von Hinkefuss was crossing the pa.s.sage when you ran out of your room, and she has told every one else in strict confidence." "And so," I said, "you give me no sympathy, the gentlemen laugh at me, and the ladies turn their pretty backs upon me. No, I didn"t come here for that! If Miss von Hinkefuss had met _me_, if half a bushel of bee-stings had been planted in _her_ body, I should have asked her every morning with the utmost propriety how she was. But let her alone! There is no market where people can buy kind-heartedness! Come away, doctor, and pull the stings out of my body." He said he couldn"t do it. "What!" I asked, "can"t you pull bee-stings out of a man"s skin?" "No," he said, "that is to say, I _can_ do it, but I dare not, for that is an operation such as surgeons perform, and I have no diploma for surgery from the Mecklenburg government." "What?" I asked, "you are allowed to draw gout out of my bones, but it is illegal for you to draw a bee-sting out of my skin? You dare not meddle with the outer skin which you can see, and yet you presume to attack my internal maladies which you can"t see? _Thank_ you!" Well, Charles, from that moment I lost all faith in the water-doctor, and without faith they can do nothing as they themselves tell you when it comes to the point. So I went away quietly and got old Metz, the surgeon at Rahnstadt, to draw out the stings. That was the end of the water-cure; still it"s a good thing; one gets new ideas in a place like that, and even if one"s gout is not cured, one gains some notion of what a human being can suffer. And now, Charles, this is a water-book I have brought you, you can study it in the winter-evenings."
[Three more years had pa.s.sed, and Louisa Hawermann at the parsonage was repaying her father"s and her foster parents" love and care by growing up the loveliest girl of the neighborhood. Uncle Brasig, to be sure, would have qualified this by saying "next to his two round-heads." No qualification, however, was justified in the eyes of Frank von Rambow and Fred Triddelfitz, the two young men studying agriculture under Hawermann. They fell in love with her, each after his own fashion. Frank deeply and lastingly, Fred--whom uncle Brasig loved to call the "gray hound"--ardently if not irretrievably. This, however, he did not know, and as he felt his blood seething, he was thoroughly wretched.]
No human being can stand more than a certain amount of pain, after that it becomes unbearable and a remedy must be found; now the only remedy a lover finds effectual is an interview with his sweetheart. Matters had come to such a pa.s.s with Fred that he could no longer exist without seeing Louisa, so he began to lie in wait for her in all sorts of holes and corners. Every hollow-tree was a good hiding-place from which he could watch for her coming, every ditch was of use in concealing his advance, every hill was a look-out from which he could sweep the country with his gaze, and every thicket served him for an ambush. He was so much in earnest that he could not fail to succeed in his attempts to see her, and he often gave Louisa a great fright by pouncing out upon her, when she least expected him, and when she was perhaps thinking of * * *
we will not say Frank. Sometimes he was to be seen rearing his long slight figure out of a bush like a snake in the act of springing, sometimes his head would appear above the green ears of rye like a seal putting its head above water, and sometimes as she pa.s.sed under a tree he would drop down at her side from the branches where he had been crouched like a lynx waiting for its prey. At first she did not mind it much, for she looked upon it as a new form of his silly practical joking, and so she only laughed and talked to him about some indifferent subject; but she soon discovered that a very remarkable change had taken place in him. He spoke gravely and solemnly and uttered the merest nothings as if they had been the weightiest affairs of state. He pa.s.sed his hand meditatively across his forehead as if immersed in profound thought, and when she spoke of the weather, he laid his hand upon his heart as if he were suffering from a sudden pain in the side. When she asked him to come to Gurlitz he shook his head sadly, and said: Honor forbade him to do so. When she asked him about her father, his words poured forth like a swiftly flowing stream: The bailiff was an angel; there never was, and never would be such a man again on the face of the earth; _his_ father was good and kind, but _hers_ was the prince of fathers. When she asked after Miss Fidelia, he said: He never troubled himself about women, and was utterly indifferent to _almost_ all of them; but once when, as ill luck would have it, she asked him about Frank, his eyes flashed and he shouted "Ha!" once or twice with a sort of snort, laughed scornfully, caught hold of her hand, slipped a bit of paper into it, and plunged head foremost into the rye-field, where he was soon lost to sight. When she opened the paper she found that it contained the following effusion:
TO HER.