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THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
Si
REGIN A
OR THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
BY
HERMANN SUDERMANN
TRANSLATED BT
BEATRICE ^MARSHALL
NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY, MCMXIII
LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD
COPYRIGHT, 1904, BY
JOHN LANE COMPANY
PUBLISHERS PRINTING COMPANY, MBW YOEK
College
Library
REGINA
OR THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
CHAPTER I
PEACE was signed, and the world, which for so long
had been the great Corsican's plaything, came to
itself again. It came to itself, bruised and mangled,
bleeding from a thousand wounds, and studded
with battle-fields like a body with festering sores.
Yet, in the rebound from bondage to freedom, men
did not realise that there was anything very pitiable
in their condition. The ground from which their
wheat sprang, they reflected, would bear all the
richer fruit from being soaked in blood, and if
bullets and bayonets had thinned their ranks, there
was now more elbow-room for those who were left.
The yawning vacuums in the seething human
caldron gave a man space to breathe in. One
great chorus of rejoicing from the Rock of Gibraltar
to the North Cape ascended heavenwards. Bells
in every steeple were set in motion, and from every
altar and from every humble hearth arose prayers
of thanksgiving. Mourners hid their diminished
A *
2081-142
2 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
heads, for the burst of victorious song drowned
their lamentations, and the earth absorbed their
tears as indifferently as it had sucked in the blood
of their fallen.
In glorious May weather the Peace of Paris was
concluded. Lilies bloomed once more out of lakes
of blood, and from the obscurity of lumber-rooms
the blood-saturated banner of the fleur de lys was
dragged forth into the light of day. The Bourbons
crept from their hiding-places, whither they had
been driven by fear of Robespierre's knife. They
rubbed their eyes and forthwith began to reign.
They had forgotten nothing and learnt nothing,
except a new catchword from Talleyrand's en tout
cos vocabulary, i.e. Legitimacy. The rest of the
world was too busily engaged in wreathing laurels
to crown the conquerors, and filling up bumpers
to drink their health in, to pay any attention to this
farce of Bourbon government. All eyes were
turned in a fever of expectancy towards the West,
whence were to come the conquering heroes, the
laurel-crowned warriors who had been willing to
sacrifice their lives for the honour of wife and child,
for justice, and for the sacred soil of their father-
land. They had been under the fire of the Corsican
Demon, the oppressor whom they in their turn had
hunted and run to earth, till at last he lay in
shackles at their feet.
When the victors began the homeward march, the
German oaks were bursting into leaf, soon to be
laughingly plundered of their young green foliage.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 3
On they came in swarms, first, joyous and light-
hearted, the pride and flower of the Fatherland, the
sons of the wealthy, who, as Volunteer Jagers, with
their own horses and their own arms, had gone
forth to the war of Liberation. Their progress
through Germany was one magnificent ovation.
Wherever they came, their path was strewn with
roses, the most beautiful of maidens longed for the
honour of winning their love, and the most costly
wines flowed like water. Behind them followed
a stream of Kossacks, riding over the German fields
with a loose rein. A year before, when they had
galloped like a troop of furies in the rear of the
hunted remnant of the Grande Arme'e, the whole
country had greeted them as saviours of Germany.
Public receptions had been organised in their
honour, hymns composed in their praise, and all
sorts of blue-eyed German sentiment was lavishly
poured out on the unwashed Tartar horde. To-day,
too, they were conscientiously fted, but the gaze
of all true-hearted Germans was directed with
intensest longing beyond them, looking for those
who were still to come, of whom they seemed but
the heralding shadows.
And at last these came, the men of the people,
who had taken all their capital, their bare lives, in
their hand, and gone forth to offer it up for the
Fatherland. They advanced with a sound as of
bursting trumpets, half hidden by dense columns of
dust. Not exalted and splendid beings as they had
often been painted in the imagination of the " stay-
4 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
at-homes," with a halo of diamonds flashing round
their heads, and a cloak flung proudly like a toga
round their shoulders. No; they were faded and
haggard, tired as overdriven horses, covered with
vermin, filthy and in rags ; their beards matted with
sweat and dust. This was the plight in which they
came home. Some were so emaciated and ghastly
pale that they looked as if they could hardly drag
one weary foot after the other; others wore a
greedy, brutalised expression, and the reflection of
the lurid glare of war seemed yet to linger in their
sunken, hollow eyes. They held their knotty fists
still clenched in the habitual cramp of murderous
lust. Only here and there shone tears of pure,
inspired emotion ; only here and there hands were
folded on the butt-end of muskets in reverent,
grateful prayer. But all were welcome, and none
were too coarse and hardened by their work of
blood and revenge to find balm in the tears and
kisses of their loved ones, and to greet with hope
the dawn of purer times. Of course it could not
be expected that passions which had been lashed
into such abnormal and furious activity, would all
at once calm down and slumber again. The hand
that has wielded a sword needs time before it can
accustom itself to the plough and scythe, and not
every man knows how to forget immediately the wild
licence of the camp in the hallowed atmosphere
of home.
Every peace is followed by a period of delirium.
It was thus in Germany in anno '14. That year,
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 5
from which to this generation nothing has descended
but the echo of a unison of paeans, swelling organ-
strains, and clash of bells, was in reality more re-
markable for tyranny and crime than any year before
or since. More especially was this the case in dis-
tricts where before the war the overweening arro-
gance and cruelty of the French occupier had been
most heavily felt. Here the beast was let loose in
man. The senses of those who stayed at home
had been so inflamed by the scent of blood from dis-
tant battle-fields, and the smoke of burning villages,
that they conjured up before their mental eyes
scenes of horror and devastation at which they had
not been present. Many thirsted for vengeance on
secret wrongs, on acts of cowardice and treachery
as yet unexpiated. After all, it seemed as if the
awakened fervour of patriotism, the flowing streams
of freshly-spilled blood, could not suffice even now
to wipe out the memory of the shame and humilia-
tion of previous years.
No one had any suspicion, then, that the Corsican
vulture, set fast in his island cage, was already be-
ginning to sharpen his iron beak, preparatory to
gnawing through its bars, and that before his final
capture thousands of veins were yet to be opened
and drained of their blood.
CHAPTER II
ONE August day in this memorable year, a party oi
young men were gathered together in the parlour
of a large country house.
The oak table round which they were seated pre-
sented a goodly array of tankards, and short, bulky
bottles containing schnaps. Their faces, flushed with
brandy and enthusiasm, were almost entirely con-
cealed from view by the dense clouds of smoke
they puffed from their huge pipes.
They were defenders of their country only lately
returned home, and were revelling in reminiscences
of the war. There was that distinct family likeness
among them which equality in birth, breeding, and
education often stamps on men between whom
there exists no tie of blood-relationship.
Warfare had coarsened their honest, healthy
countenances, and left its mark there in many a dis-
figuring scar and gash. Two or three still wore their
arms in slings, and evidently none of them had as yet
made up their minds to lay aside the black, frogged
military coat to which they had become so proudly
accustomed. For the most part they were well-to-
do yeomen belonging to the village of Heide and
its outlying hamlets, and though their homes were
6
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 7
sc. Ifcered they were united in a strong bond of
neighbourly friendship. Some still lived on their
fathers' patrimony, others had come into their own
estate. It had never been their lot to experience
the pinch of poverty, to till the soil and follow the
plough, and so they had remained unaffected by the
great changes Stein's new code a few years before
had brought about in the position of the peasantry.
In the spring, when the King's appeal to his subjects
had resounded through the land, they could afford
to leave their crops and, like the sons of the nobility,
hurry with their own arms and their own horses to
enlist in the ranks of the volunteer Jagers.
Only one member of the little group apparently
belonged to another station in life. He occupied
the one easy-chair the house boasted, an ungainly
piece of upholstery, much the worse for wear.
His face was pale, somewhat sallow in colouring.
The features were refined and delicately chiselled.
The brown, melancholy eyes were shaded by long
black lashes, which when he looked down cast a heavy
fringe of shadow on his thin cheeks. Though he
must certainly have been the youngest of them all,
having hardly completed his twenty-second year, he
looked like a man who had long ago ceased to take
any pleasure in the mere frivolities of life.
On his smooth, square brow were lines that
denoted energy and defiance, and in the blue hollows
round his eyes lay traces of a past sorrow. He
wore a grey overcoat that seemed too narrow across
the shoulders, and beneath it a woollen shirt finely
8 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
tucked, and ornamented with a row of mother-of-
oearl buttons. The only military thing about him was
the forage-cap bearing the Landwehr badge, which
he had pushed on to the back of his head, to prevent
the hard edge pressing on the scarcely healed wound
which made a lurid streak on his forehead, close to
where the dark hair clustered in heavy masses.
He was the cynosure of all eyes. Every one
waited anxiously for him to take the lead in con-
versation. Next to him, on his right, sat a muscular
youth, not much older than himself, who regarded
him with unceasing and tender solicitude. To all
appearances he was the host. There was a patch
of white plaster on one of his temples, but his
round, jovial face beamed radiantly nevertheless
out of its frame of unkempt fair hair that hung about
his neck and throat in wildest confusion.
" I say, lieutenant, you are positively drinking
nothing," he exclaimed, pushing the bottle nearer
him. "Because you aren't used to our beer, and
still less used to our schnaps, there's no reason
why you should be shy of swilling that red stuff of
which we have plenty to spare. . . . We aren't
rich, as you know, but if you stopped here till
Doomsday we could supply you every day with a
bottle like that. Couldn't we, lads ? "
The others assented, and pressed round him
eagerly to clink their mugs and liqueur-glasses
against his cracked wine-glass.
A ray of gratitude and pleasure illumined momen-
tarily the sad, pale face.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 9
"I knew," he said " I knew that if I came here
you'd make me feel at home. Otherwise I should
have gone on my way."
" That would have been kind of you, I must say,
cried the host "what did we enter into our
covenant of blood for, and swear to be true till
death after our first battle, don't you remember ? In
the church at ... where was it ? I never can pro-
nounce the name of the cursed hole ! "
" The hole was Dannigkow," answered the young
stranger addressed as " lieutenant"
" Ah, yes, that's it ! " the host went on. " And
do you imagine we went through that little cere-
mony with the sole purpose of letting you avoid us
in future ? Was it for that we chose you for our
commanding officer, and blindly followed you into
the thickest of the fight ? No, Baumgart, there's
no cement like blood and powder. So the devil
take it, man, you must promise to stay with us a
bit, now we've got you "
"Don't talk nonsense, old fellow, it is impos-
sible," the lieutenant replied, and blew thoughtfully
on the purple mirror of his wine. But his friend
was not to be silenced.
" You needn't be frightened," he continued, " that
we shall plague you with curious questions. From
the first we got into the way of looking on you as
a sort of mystery. When we others used to lie by
the bivouac fire and talk of our homes and parents,
our sweethearts and sisters, your lips were resolutely
sealed as they are now. And if one of us plucked
io THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
up courage to ask you where you came from, and
what you had been before the war, you always got
up and walked away. We gave up questioning you
at last, and thought to ourselves, 'He has gone
through a furnace, may be, that has spoilt his life,
and what concern is that of ours ? ' You were a
good comrade, all of us can testify to that, and
what is more, the most fearless, the bravest. . . .
Ah, well, the fact is, that you had only to tell one
of us to cut off his right hand, and he'd have done
it without a murmur. Isn't it true, lads ? "
An exclamation of assent went round the table.
" For mercy's sake, say no more," said the young
lieutenant. "I don't know which way to look
because of all this undeserved praise."
"Wait, I've more to say yet," the master of the
house insisted on continuing. " Once we were
really almost angry with you. You know why
that was. During the armistice, shortly before we
joined forces with the Lithuanians under Platen and
Billow, you were in the guard-room one evening,
when you suddenly made a clean breast of it and
announced that you must go away. You said,
' Don't ask me the reason, lads. But believe me,
I can't help myself. The Landwehr wants officers.
I know it is not much of an honour to leave the
Jagers, for the Landwehr ; but I'm going to do it, all
the same.' Those were your very words, weren't
they, Baumgart ? "
The lieutenant nodded, and a bitter smile played
round his lips.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS n
" Tears were in your eyes as you spoke, otherwise
one or other of us would have asked you if that was
all the thanks we were to get for the confidence we
had placed in you, to be deserted just then . . .
just when we longed to show those Platen fellows
what baiting the French really meant. . . . We let
you go without raising an objection, but our hearts
bled. . . . Afterwards we heard nothing of you,
no news in reply to all our inquiries; but I can
tell you this much, we never ceased to talk of you
every night for months. We racked our brains to
think what had taken you away; speculated on
where you were gone, and the like, till the men who
joined later and had known you got sick of it, and
implored us to give up talking about you, and to con-
sign you to the Landwehr refuse-heap once for all.
So you see how we pined for you ; and now, after
two days, you actually propose to turn your back
on us again ! It's a long journey from the Marne
to the Weichsel, and a solitary one to walk, and
your wounds still smarting. Stay and take a good
rest, and relate at your leisure what your adventures
with the greybeards really were, and how you
came to be taken prisoner ... it must have been a
strange accident that betrayed you into captivity ? "
He glanced down with ingenuous pride at the
iron cross which dangled between the froggings of
his coat. It had been bestowed on him in reward
for the intrepidity with which he had, unpardoned,
hewn his way out of a nest of French Hussars and
regained his liberty.
12 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
The lieutenant's breast was bare of ornament.
At the end of the campaign, when a shower of
decorations had rained down on the victorious
warriors, he had not been present to receive his
share. A painful sensation of being passed in
the race, almost akin to shame, swept over him.
He pushed his cap farther on to his brow, and
drew himself erect in his chair, as if its fusty
cushions threatened to suffocate him.
" Thank you," he said, " for your kind intentions,
but I must go to Konigsberg directly to report
myself to the Commandant."
" I'm afraid you'll have some difficulty in finding
him there," put in a curly-headed young man with
twinkling dark eyes, who wore his right arm in a
black sling.
" Don't you know that directly it came back the
Landwehr was disbanded ? "
" Even the staff is broken up/' remarked an-
other.
" Then I must try my luck with the Commis-
sioner-General," replied Lieutenant Baumgart. "I
have more reason, perhaps, than any one else to be
extra careful that my discharge papers are in good
order. At least, I fancy so. I don't want the
reproach to be fastened on me that I sneaked out
of the army secretly. So, please let me know as
soon as you can if there will be any conveyance
going to-morrow to Konigsberg ? "
A storm of indignation arose. They all left their
seats, some seizing his hand, some forming a cordon
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 13
round him, as if to prevent his departure by physical
force.
"Stay at least a little longer, lest the fete we are
organising in your honour should fall through," ex-
horted Karl Engelbert, the young host, as soon as
he could make his voice heard above the hubbub.
Baumgart turned to him with a quick gesture of
inquiry.
"In my honour?" he exclaimed. "Are you
mad?"
"There's no getting out of it now," was the an-
swer. "It was all settled the day you turned up
here. I despatched Johann Radtke at once with
a list of all the Jagers in the country round
who are at home. Then, you know, we have repre-
sentatives of six or seven regiments living about
here. . . . Especially did I impress on him that
he was to go to Schranden, where Merckel lives.
Merckel," he added, "went over to the Landwehr,
too ; for if he hadn't, he couldn't have made sure of
his lieutenancy. So there was more sense in his
taking the step."
Baumgart at the mention of his name winced, but
quickly recovering himself, gripped convulsively the
arms of the battered easy-chair, and, with head
bowed, listened in silence to what his well-meaning
friends had to say about the gala-day arranged in
his honour. He gave up protesting further, because
he saw open resistance was useless. But the un-
easy glances he cast about him seemed to indicate
that he was meditating immediate -flight.
14 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
His friends, however, did not observe his rest-
lessness. After the excitement of war which had
stirred their blood out of its normal channel, they
found it irksome to subside into the ordinary routine
of private life, and hailed with delight any excuse
for varying its monotony with a few hours' roister-
ing and dissipation. They were now engaged in
eagerly discussing the result of their messenger's
mission, whose return from Schranden, a few miles
away, they had been expecting hourly all the
morning.
"I wonder," said Peter Negenthin, the youth
with the black sling, "how the Schrandeners are
getting on with that fine landlord of theirs ? "
Lieutenant Baumgart started and listened with
all his ears.
" They set his house on fire long ago," remarked
another. " For five years he's been roosting among
the blackened ruins like an owl."
" Why didn't he build his castle up again ? "
asked a third.
"Why? Because the peasants and farmers
down in the village would have thrashed any one
at the cart-wheel who dared to work for him. Once
he tried getting labourers over from his foreign
estates, thinking that as they couldn't understand
German it would be all right; . . . but there was
a free fight one day down at the inn, and heigh
presto! the Poles were hounded back to where
they came from. Since then he hasn't made any
more attempts to cultivate his land "
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 15
" How does he live then ? "
" Who cares how he lives ! Let him starve."
In the midst of laughter, mingled with growls of
hate which this humane remark had called forth
from these doughty sons of the soil, the anxiously
awaited ambassador entered the room. He was
a stoutly built short man, whose straight fair hair,
as yellow and bright as new thatch, hung over his
round face, which was the colour of a lobster from
exposure to the heat of the sun. Steaming with
perspiration, and breathless from his hurried ride,
he seized the stone jug of monstrous girth that
stood in the middle of the table, before speaking a
word, and held it to his lips with both hands, where
it remained so long that it had at last to be torn
away from his mouth by force, much to the amuse-
ment of the company. After a fusilade of banter
and jokes had been discharged at him from all sides,
he blurted forth his news. The idea of the fte
had, it seemed, been caught at with enthusiasm.
Every one in the neighbourhood was willing to lend
his countenance to festivities in honour of those
who had done such splendid service in the cause of
German Unity. The only difference of opinion was
as to where they were to come off. The Schran-
deners, with Lieutenant Merckel at their head, de-
clared that no spot on earth could be a more
appropriate scene for their celebration than their
own village.
"Then you see, lads," explained the messenger,
"the Schrandeners have private reasons for being
1 6 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
particularly gay just now. They are dancing in
front of their houses, and scarcely know whether
they are standing on their head or their heels.
I'll tell you why. Perhaps you know that little
chorale that they've for the last seven years been
singing in church ?
* Our gracious Baron and Lord
Of Schrandeners* souls abhorred.
For the shame he's brought on our head)
O God t let the plague strike him dead."
"Well, in a fashion their prayer has been an-
swered. The betrayer of their country, who never
tired of cursing and damning them up hill and
down dale, and heaped on them every foul epithet
he could lay tongue to, may now lie and rot in a
ditch for all they care. They have sworn not to
bury him."
Then arose excited shouts and eager questioning.
11 Is he dead, the dog ? "
"Has the devil taken him to himself at last?
Hal ha! Bravo 1"
Suddenly, above the din of voices, a grinding
crunching noise was heard. Baumgart's arm had
clasped the back of his chair with such vehemence
that the long-suffering worm-eaten wood had col-
lapsed. He sat rigid and motionless, staring at the
speaker with wide, strained eyes, unconscious of
the injury he had inflicted on the ancestral piece
of furniture. Then garrulous Johann Radtke
proceeded
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 17
"Yes, happily enough, they were the cause of
his death at last. They have never ceased to
harass and torment him, and it was while they
were trying to demolish the Cats' Bridge that he
had a stroke of apoplexy from rage, and fell down
foaming at the mouth."
"Lieutenant, have you ever heard of the Cats'
Bridge?"
Still he neither moved nor uttered a word ; only
set his teeth on his under lip, till it bled. As if
turned to stone, he sat gazing fixedly up into the
speaker's face.
" It was by the Cats' Bridge that the French made
the famous, or rather I should say infamous, sortie
which surprised the Prussians, and it was the
Baron who showed them the secret path which
leads to it. You have heard of the Schranden inva-
sion, of course. It's recorded in every calendar ? "
The lieutenant nodded mechanically like a doomed
man, who, swooning, resigns himself to inevitable
fate.
"The stroke took him before their very eyes,"
Radtke went on. " His precious sweetheart, the
village carpenter's daughter, the baggage who lived
with him, you know, threw herself on his body,
for the Lord only knows what liberties they
might not have taken with it when their blood
was up."
" And now they refuse to bury him, you say ? "
interrupted the good-natured Karl Engelbert, shak-
ing his head meditatively. " Is such a scandalous
B
1 8 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
outrage as that allowed to pass unpunished in a
Christian country ? "
Johann laughed scoffingly.
" The Schrandeners are like a flock of sheep. If
one declines to pollute his hands with bearing such
carrion to the grave, all the rest decline also. And
who can blame them ? "
" But," some one suggested, " suppose it came
to the ear of the law ? "
"The law! Ha, ha! Old Merckel is their
magistrate, and he says, as far as he is concerned,
they might have flayed "
He broke off abruptly, for with a smothered cry
of pain, and a gesture half threatening, half self-
defensive, the young lieutenant had started to his
feet. He was whiter than the whitewashed wall
behind him, and a thin thread of crimson trickled
from his blanched lips, over his chin.
" Stop, for God's sake ! " he stammered in a
strange muffled almost inaudible voice, and those
who caught his words shrank away in horror.
" He was my father I "
CHAPTER III
THE moon had risen and flooded the tranquil heath
with its soft bluish radiance. Down in the marshes
the alder-bushes were tipped with crowns of light,
and the white, slender trunks of the birches which
flanked the highway in interminable rows shone
and shimmered, till the road seemed to stretch away
and lose itself between hedges of burnished silver.
Silence reigned everywhere. The last note of the
birds' evening chorale had long since died away.
Peace, the peace of well-being, peculiar to late
summer, pervaded the wide-stretching level fields.
Even the grasshopper in the ditch, and a field-
mouse scurrying in alarm through the tall blades of
corn, hardly broke the stillness.
A traveller with staff and knapsack came along
the road, gazing absently before him, evidently obli-
vious of the magic of the moon-lit landscape. It
was the young lieutenant, on his way home to bury
the father whose memory was held in such universal
detestation. His host had put his best equipage at
his disposal, but his comrade had firmly refused to
accept the offer, and he had been obliged to content
himself with accompanying his guest part of the
way on foot. At parting he had solemnly affirmed
20 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
that the compact of eternal friendship that they had
entered into as brothers-in-arms after their first
baptism of fire would hold good now and always,
" the sins of the fathers " notwithstanding. When-
ever he was in need of help and sympathy in the
future, he might rely on the good-will of him and
his neighbours.
This was meant well, but brought no comfort to
the young man's sore heart. The allusion to " the
sins of the fathers" stung him to the quick. It
sounded very much like an insult, yet an insult
that he was powerless to resent openly, as there
was no shuffling off the incubus of shame which,
as his father's heir, now weighed on his innocent
shoulders.
Thus fiercely brooding he walked on, and pictures
of the past involuntarily rose before his mental
vision. He had never loved his father the harsh,
tyrannical man who flogged the peasants, whose
laughter was more terrible than his oaths, to whom
he, his only son, had been not much more than the
pet dog that one minute was allowed to bite his
heels when he was in a good humour, only to be
hurled across the room the next with a savage kick.
As long as he could remember, the small muscular
figure, the sallow face with its high cheek-bones,
coal-black goat's beard, and little keen grey eyes,
had been the terror of his childhood. His mother
he had never known. She had succumbed, a few
years after his birth, to a long and tedious illness.
It was rumoured at the time, in the village, that her
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 21
lord's ungovernable passions had been the death of
her that his love was as terrible as his hate.
Her picture had hung at the end of a long line
of ghostly portraits in the dimly-lighted picture-
gallery with its vaulted roof, where one's footsteps
echoed uncannily between the stone walls, and
where it was possible to shiver with cold on the
hottest summer day. . . . The picture of a gentle,
tired-looking woman with thin bloodless lips, and
half-closed lids that seemed to droop from sheer
weariness and lack of spirit.
Many a time, unseen, the boy had stood by the
hour before this picture, and waited waited for the
heavy lids to lift, that one warm ray of maternal
love might at last be shed into his lonely young
life. He would fold his hands in prayer, and lift
a tear-stained face in eager anticipation, while his
heart beat for fear ; but the picture never came to
life. Tired and slumberous as ever, as if already
half -closed in their last long sleep, the heavily
shadowed, star-like eyes continued to look down
on him with a strange, cold, metallic gleam, till he
could bear it no longer, and would rush from the
spot half distracted with disappointment
Not far from his mother's picture hung another
still more remarkable the portrait of an exquisitely
beautiful woman with blue-black hair. The artist
had represented her in the act of mounting a horse.
A red velvet cloak, embroidered with gold and
bordered with fur, hung over her left shoulder, and
in her right hand, which was covered with a long,
22 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
wrinkled, gauntleted glove, she tenaciously grasped
her riding-whip. It was easy to imagine her bring-
ing it down with a will on the back of a mauvais
sujet. The whole figure was instinct with indomi-
table spirit and energy. Life glowed in the dark
eyes that flashed imperiously from the canvas, as
if demanding the homage of all who came within
their radius. This was his grandmother in her
youth the old lady whose shrill scolding tongue,
and witch-like appendages in the shape of gold-
headed canes, liqueur-glasses, and snuff-boxes, were
indissolubly associated with the boy's earliest
memories. She had been the evil star of his
house. Before her marriage, one of the most
admired beauties of the Polish Court in Saxony,
she had instilled into his father with the milk from
her breast love for the country of the Pole, so that
he, a nobleman of German name and lineage, living
on German soil, grew up to hate the land of his
birth, and to set all his affections on the moribund
chimera of Polish nationality. Though he had
married a German lady, he had not hesitated to
give his son a Polish name, which, to be doomed
to bear at a time when the spirit of hyper-sensitive
patriotism was rampant in the land, seemed a worse
misfortune by far than being afflicted by some
hereditary disease.
But what was the innocent name of Boleslav com-
pared with the indelible disgrace that his father,
through his insane infatuation for the Poles, had
since brought on him and his race ?
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 23
And now he was dead, this father, and of the
dead one should speak no evil. Yet even as he
repeated this truism to himself, the consciousness
of the stain with which he was branded, which no
power on earth could remove, overwhelmed him
with acutest anguish.
Passionately he threw up his arms towards the
soft, blue, star-spangled heavens, as if he fain
would demand that the soul of his father should
be instantly brought to judgment, no matter in
what remote planet it might be hiding.
Then came a reaction. His vehemence was suc-
ceeded by a gentler mood. He flung himself on the
damp, dewy grass by the roadside, and buried his
face in his hands. He felt he should like to cry.
But his lids remained dry and burning. The
thought of his immediate future was almost more
than he could bear. He reflected that in a few
hours he should find a forsaken wilderness, a
howling desolation, where once bathed in all the
rosy radiance of his boyish vision he had beheld a
scene of sylvan peace and beauty.
For though he had been a lonely, motherless
boy, it would have been wicked and ungrateful to
maintain that even his childhood had not had
its share of sunshine, and boasted its hours of
unalloyed delight. Had he not been allowed to
roam where he listed, through field and forest,
untrammelled by conventions about meals and bed-
time, as free to do as he pleased as any Robin
Hood or gipsy in Arcadia? When the soft May
24 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
zephyrs breathed on the shaking grasses, and the
yellow butterfly danced from flower to flower, he
had lain on his back between the tall blades and
meadow-sweet, looking up into the blue sky, his
day-dreams undisturbed. He might have stayed
there from morning till night; so long as he was
not hungry he did stay, and it mattered to no one.
If he took it into his head to wander off with the
shepherd to the distant moorlands, fro partake of
black bread from his wallet, and quench his thirst
at the babbling streams, who was there to prevent
it? He was his own master. Round the Castle,
which commanded an extensive view of the country,
flowed the sparkling, merry river, in great serpen-
tine curves, between its wooded banks and green
terraces. By the river-side there was always some-
thing of interest going on. There the grooms
watered the horses, the tanner washed his skins,
and the boys winked from behind their fishing-rods
at the servant-girls paddling bare-legged in and
out of the water. But greatest delight of all
when the sun went down behind the alders, the
stately wild deer would venture cautiously out of
the neighbouring thicket, climb down the steep
incline, through bush and briar, and thirstily lap up
the moisture with its parched tongue. Often it was
necessary to lie in ambush more than half-an-hour
without moving so much as a hair to witness this
enchanting spectacle, otherwise it would have
vanished like a mirage. And what in the world
could be more glorious than, when the moon rose
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 25
and cast a silver network on the ripples ; when the
alders looked like white-veiled princesses, and the
lively wenches sang over their griddle snatches of
plaintive song, to plunge into the depths of the
wood, and with a canopy of foliage overhead, and
moonbeams dancing round you, dream the night
away, and wake to greet the dawn ? He let his
hands fall from his face ; and stared round him with
vacant, wild eyes. The fields lay white and still
in the moonlight.
Only the tree under which he rested cast dark,
jagged bars of shadow over the peaceful landscape.
A pitiful sound like the scream of a child in distress
arose in the distance. It came from a young hare
that had lost itself in the furrows, and frightened
and hungry was crying for its mother, little sus-
pecting that every yell was but a fresh signal to its
murderers. He was thrilled with compassion for
the sufferings of dumb creation, as he rose and
pursued his way. . . . Reminiscences still kept
pace with his footsteps.
Now it was his school-days that came vividly back
to him the time when the old Pastor Gotz had
undertaken his education, and the white parsonage
among the nut-bushes became his second home.
No more vagabond roamings now, for the grey-
bearded, fiery -tempered old parson was a stern
disciplinarian, and kept his pupils in good order.
There were ten or twelve of them boys and girls
together ; children of the well-to-do farmer class.
He had, of course, never associated with the children
26 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
of the peasantry, who were allowed to run wild and
grow up like young cattle. This was not to be
wondered at, considering the village schoolmaster,
an ex-valet of his father's, superannuated through
drink, spent most of the time that should have been
engaged in teaching the young idea how to shoot, in
the various taverns of the neighbourhood.
Felix Merckel, son of the village innkeeper, was
the one of his comrades he remembered best a
strapping, unruly lad, who, at the age of ten, wore
top-boots and carried a gun, and whose tendency to
bully kept the whole school in subjection. Even
Boleslav himself, though two years younger, and
of a retiring nature that had little in common with
the elder boy's somewhat bumptious temperament,
was much influenced by him. Yet his position as
the squire's son was never lost sight of, and Felix
joined with his other schoolfellows in paying him a
sort of sly homage in deference to it. Felix was his
mentor in all boyish accomplishments. He taught
him to swim, to row, to snare birds, to make fire-
works, to shoot rabbits, and even to plunder the
poor peasants' garden during church time on Sun-
day evenings. And though the fruit in his own
garden, which he was at liberty to pick whenever
he liked, was a thousand times sweeter and more
luscious than the hard, sour stuff he clambered after
at the risk of breaking his neck, he could not with-
stand the allurements of those secret raids. After-
wards he was often seized with remorse on account
of them, and was so heartily ashamed of himseli
THL SINS OF THE FATHERS 27
that he would pay back in the morning a hundred-
fold what he had stolen over-night. Such acts of
reparation, nevertheless, were only received with
scowls or smiles of malice, for the unfortunate
canaille were compelled by benighted feudal laws
to plough and delve on his father's estates, and were
sorely oppressed ; therefore it was only natural that
the boy should reap to the full the harvest of bitter
hate sown by the father.
Of his other companions, especially of the girls,
he had nothing but the haziest recollection. There
was, of course, one exception. Her bright image
had floated before him, through all the pain and
heartache that had gradually darkened his whole
existence, pain which even the fascinations of war
could not alleviate. It was her image, that like a
lodestar had led him into the thickest of the fight,
and had not faded from him as he lay wounded,
and, as he believed, dying.
Intense longing for her had become identified with
that vague yearning after happiness which still
sometimes possessed him, just as if his chances of
happiness had not, by his father's misdeeds, been
irretrievably ruined.
How this love had sprung up in his breast and
grown apace, becoming stronger every day, till at
last the whole world seemed filled with its reflec-
tion, he hardly knew himself.
As a child, the pastor's small daughter had always
been distant in her manner. The fresh, neat, fairy-
'ike little creature never could be coaxed by any of
28 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
them into jumping a ditch, even if the bottom was
dry, and was very particular at hide-and-seek not
to allow her frocks to be caught hold of lest "the
gathers should go." Now and then, when they were
alone together, Helene would show off with pride the
glories of her doll's house, and point out that the
tiny towels had hemmed edges and a monogram.
They would be getting quite confidential till, in an
outburst of boyish spirits, he was sure to do some-
thing rough or clumsy which brought down on his
head a gentle rebuke, and he was reminded of the
limitations of their friendship. Hurt and ashamed,
he would afterwards try to keep out of her way,
but a smile of forgiveness never failed to bring him
to her feet, for there was a kind of sovereignty in
her little person that was not to be resisted.
Felix resented her power. He called her affected
and a mollycoddle, and teased her as only he could
tease. She, on her part, had an aggravating trick
of turning up her nose and appearing to look down
on him, though he was a good head taller, which
goaded him into tormenting her the more, and ended
in her running to her father, and with streaming
eyes begging that Felix might be punished.
At twelve years old, Boleslav left his birthplace.
Some relations on his mother's side, belonging to
the old Prussian official nobility, proposed to con-
tinue his education. His father had every reason
to congratulate himself at getting rid of him. The
life he had led since his wife died was scarcely
of a character to bear the scrutiny of innocent,
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 29
questioning, childish eyes. The Baron was in the
habit of bringing back to the castle from his visits
to the capital curious company, chiefly women, and
many a half-opened bud, indigenous to the soil, had
fallen an unwilling victim to his unbridled lust.
Not that he carried on his intrigues openly and
unashamed. It was simply that in his private life
he refused to recognise the restraint of any moral
law, and, after all, what he did was only, for the
most part, what his fathers had done before him.
Such amours were a part of the traditions of his
house, and were not likely to excite surprise or
comment, unless it were from the boy, who had
occasionally been an involuntary witness of assaults
on virtue and heartrending appeals for mercy.
There were many other transactions besides
these going on at the castle that were not meant
for his eyes. When the great Napoleon's call to
arms roused that miserable cat's-paw of European
ambitions, the lacerated country of Poland, from its
death-throes, mysterious movements were set on
foot in every quarter where the peculiar hiss of
Polish speech was heard, and even extended so
far as the unadulterated German regions of East
Prussia.
Foreigners with slim, supple figures, and sharply-
cut features used to arrive at Schranden Castle,
driving through the village at express speed in
small carriages, and leave again in the middle of
the night. The post brought innumerable sealed
packages bearing the Russian post-mark ; and for
30 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
weeks together the Baron's study was locked against
all intruders. He himself became taciturn and
pre-occupied, going about like a man in a dream,
actually permitting the stripes and weals on the
backs of his serfs to heal and fade away.
It was at this time that Boleslav migrated to his
relations in Konigsberg. Afterwards, years passed
calmly away, years in which he grew in stature and
developed in mind under the watchful care of the
widow of a former chancellor, who stood in the
place of a mother to him. All the leading families
in the town opened their houses to him, and by
degrees the old familiar scenes and faces of his
home became little more than shadowy memories.
His father's rare and hurried visits only demon-
strated how estranged he had become from his son,
and how little love was lost between them.
Then came that terrible winter in which the war-
fury was let loose, devastating the old Prussian
provinces, and the victorious march of Napoleonic
cohorts resounded between the Weichsel and the
Memel. Scores of provincial fugitives sought
refuge from the invaders within the walls of
Konigsberg. Every house, from cellar to garret,
was crammed with human beings, and in the
streets smouldered the bivouac-fires of the soldiers
who were camping out in the open air.
In the midst of war's alarms, to the accompani-
ment of beating of drums and bugle-blasts, it was
vouchsafed to Boleslav to dream for the first time
"love's young dream."
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 31
He had lately turned sixteen, and his upper lip
was already shaded with a pencilled line of down.
He knew Horace's odes to Chloe and Lydia by
heart, and the passion which Schiller, who had
recently died, had cherished for his Laura vras no
longer a mystery to him. One January evening
on his way home from the gymnasium, as he
crossed the castle square where Russian and
Prussian orderlies were galloping hither and thither,
he caught a glimpse of a pair of blue eyes which
seemed turned on him with an expression of
friendly inquiry. He blushed, but when he ven-
tured to look round the eyes had vanished. The
same thing happened again the next evening. Not
till it happened a third time could he summon
sufficient courage to watch more carefully and
discover that the eyes belonged to a fair young
face, which could boast besides a straight little
nose, delicately curved lips, which naively smiled
at him. The face reminded him of an old altar-
piece in the cathedral representing the Virgin Mary
standing in a garden of stiff white lilies and short-
stalked crimson roses. Of something else it re-
minded him too, and it puzzled him to think what.
He was racking his brains to remember, when a
rosy glow tinged the girl's fair cheeks, and the
charming lips opened.
" Boleslav ! " they lisped. " Is it you ? "
Now, of course, he knew.
" Helene, Helene ! You ! " he exclaimed joyously.
Had she not bashfully evaded him, he would have
32 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
embraced her then and there in the middle of
the crowded square, regardless of spectators in
the shape of giggling servant-maids and ribald
soldiers. They withdrew into a more secluded
street, and she told him that on the advance of
the enemy her father had sent her for the sake
of safety to board with an old aunt, who had set
up an institution for the daughters of poor clergy-
men. Here she was very happy, and was making
the most of her time, studying French and music,
for she hoped that in the future she might render
her father assistance with his school, for it was
not likely she would ever marry.
All this she related in a quiet, old-fashioned way,
which excited his respectful admiration, casting
smiling side-long glances at him as she talked.
Of his father she could not tell him much ; the last
time she had met him he had looked very fierce.
It was some time since she had had any news from
home, because the French were quartered there;
but Felix Merckel was in Konigsberg, and she saw
him now and then. He was apprenticed to a
corn merchant, and thought himself quite the fine
gentleman. He wasn't likely to come to any good
though, for he smoked cigars and wore loud Turkish
neckties. She ended by giving him leave to call
on her at her aunt's on Friday Friday being the
day for visitors at the institution.
Then she tripped lightly away, swaying her
slender limbs from side to side, and as he watched
her, he felt as if the Virgin in the altar-piece had
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 33
graciously condescended to appear to him in the
flesh, and was now returning to her lilies and
crimson roses.
On Friday he pulled the bell of the institution
and was admitted. He did not find her, it is true,
among lilies and roses, but there were some plants
of fuchsia and geranium in the room, whose faded,
dusty leaves made a pretty background to the
girlish figure. The glow of the winter sunset came
through the diamond-pane windows, and spread a
rosy veil over her face. Perhaps, too, the pleasure
of meeting an old friend made her blush a little.
The aunt, a toothless, antique spinster, with patches
and a powdered toup6e, exhausted herself with
curtseying and compliments, and after regaling the
distinguished visitor with chocolate, in a bowl of
superb old English china, vanished as noiselessly
as if the earth had swallowed her up. That was
the first of a succession of blissful, beatific
Fridays.
Troops went forth to battle and returned, but he
did not even notice them. The thunder of cannons
at Eylau reverberated through the town, but he was
deaf, and heard nothing. It often seemed to him,
as he looked up at the sky, that he must be lying
far down in the depths of the blue sea, and that
the world in which he had lived before was some-
where a long way off on the other side of the
azure empyrean. But that he still in reality be-
longed to that world, he was forcibly reminded
one Sunday afternoon, when the door of his attic-
C
34 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
chamber, where he was dreaming over his books, was
boisterously flung open, and his heaven invaded.
" Hurrah ! my boy ! " cried the intruder, with
outstretched arms. " I've been looking for you
everywhere for a year past, and it's been as diffi-
cult as searching for a needle in a bottle of hay.
Even now I mightn't have tracked you out if that
pious little girl Helene had not given me a hint
of your whereabouts."
It was the harum-scarum Felix, and the Turkish
necktie of which the beloved had spoken, flapped
over either shoulder in aggressive fly-away ends.
Boleslav returned the greeting more heartily than
a few weeks ago he would have thought possible;
since his meeting with Helene, the old home and
the old life had come back to him very distinctly,
and his heart felt drawn to this once inseparable
friend of his boyhood.
Felix did not stand on ceremony, but threw him-
self on the sofa, and as he stretched his legs on
the leather cushions looked round him in amazed
admiration. The room seemed to him the embodi-
ment of luxury and magnificence.
"You are domiciled here like a prince in the
'Arabian Nights,'" he exclaimed; "that's what
comes of being born a Junker, I suppose. I wish
I was. Such as we have to rough it, and "
He paused in order to shoot through his front
teeth a stream of dark-brown saliva, a habit he
had learnt from the sailors on the quays. After
this, he frequently visited Boleslav's sequestered
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 35
retreat, devoured the dainties his aunt sent up to
him, borrowed money and books, and initiated him
in the mysteries of life at the water's edge. In
short, he conducted himself as do most "men of
the world " between fifteen and nineteen years of
age, who are apt to gain an ascendency over deeper
and more thoughtful natures than their own.
Boleslav sometimes thought of making him his
confidant in his love affair, but never, when it came
to the point, could find the right words in which
to express himself. So his secret remained, as he
thought, buried in his heart of hearts. But one
day Felix astounded him by saying
" Don't think I am blind ! I have discovered
some time ago that you are head over heels in love
with a certain little prude. She's pretty enough,
but a bit too good for me."
The blood mounted swiftly and angrily to Bole-
slav's brow, and he demanded with dignity that
henceforth no disrespectful word be spoken of the
fair Helene in his presence. And Felix, though he
made a contemptuous grimace, was careful not to
offend again by any jibing allusion to his love.
Later he announced his intention of enlisting
in the English navy as a midshipman, that he might
be " revenged on the tyrant of his downtrodden
Fatherland," as he expressed it, and Boleslav looked
up to him in consequence with a profounder rever-
ence than ever.
Then a day came when this friend passed him in
the street without bestowing on him a shake of the
36 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
hand, or even a nod. Only a scornful shrug of the
shoulders indicated that he had seen him at all.
Utterly disconcerted, he gazed after the rapidly
disappearing figure that seemed anxious to get
out of his way as quickly as possible.
What could be the meaning of this extraordinary
behaviour ? The same evening, with tears pouring
down his face, he wrote asking for an explanation.
Before there was time for an answer, a messenger
brought him a parcel of books and a note that ran
as follows :
" To His Hochgeboren Herrn
Boleslav von Schranden.
11 Having become apprised of events that have
recently taken place in Schranden, I consider that
it would be beneath my dignity, and contrary to all
my patriotic principles, to continue our intercourse.
The books you have lent me are therefore returned.
The money will follow in due course as soon as I
have earned the same. Meanwhile the messenger
will hand you five silver groschens. In humble
submission, your Hochgeboren's obedient servant,
" FELIX MERCKEL."
Boleslav felt as if some one had struck him a blow
from behind. He was so bitterly humiliated that
for a whole day he daren't look any human being
in the face. At last he resolved to tell Helene of
his trouble, in the hope that she might be able to
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 37
give him tidings that would at least end his fearful
suspense. She had forbidden him to speak to her
in the street, because she considered such meetings
out of doors unnecessary and improper, as he was
allowed to call at the institution. Yet, in spite of
her veto, he waylaid her and showed her Felix's
letter. As usual, she smiled sweetly and consolingly,
but could throw little light on the matter. The last
time she had heard from her father, the letter had
been full of nothing but the unfortunate engagement
which had taken place in the wood near Schranden,
when the Prussian soldiers had been completely
routed. That had been in all the newspapers.
There was only one means of learning the whole
truth. Helene could walk along by the river's
bank, where the clerks from the great warehouses
lounged away their spare time, and make inquiries
of Felix. This she consented to do, though reluc-
tantly ; and he, in a fever of anxiety, waited for her
return on one of the bridges.
"He does think too much of himself!" she said,
as she came back slowly from her errand, the colour
deepening in her cheeks. "And so they all do,
these merchants' clerks. It's not likely that I should
allow any of them to make love to me ! "
She smiled, and hid her burning face in the blue
silk reticule she always carried.
" But you needn't mind him, dear Boleslav. Since
he has determined to go as a midshipman, he has
got love for the Fatherland on the brain."
" How have I interfered with his love for the
38 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
Fatherland ? " asked Boleslav. " Don't I abominate
that bloodhound Bonaparte as much as he does ? "
Helene was silent, and gathered the folds of her
cloak closer about her slender limbs, to keep out the
bitter winter wind. Then she continued
"You may rely on me. I will never bear a
grudge against you for it."
" For what ? Good God, tell me at once ! "
And then at last the mystery was cleared up.
"You mustn't take it too much to heart, dearest
Boleslav. At home in the village they all say that
your father showed the French the path by the
Cats' Bridge in the middle of the night, so that
they might surprise the Prussians ; and that gipsy-
looking Regina, the carpenter's daughter you re-
member the little curly -headed thing who was at
school with you and me she confessed it, because
it was she who really led the way. And now the
people call your father the betrayer of his country,
and refuse to work for him any more, and have
burnt down his house."
Ah ! so that was it. Now he knew all. In
that hour his life's budding joys and hopes were
withered like the blossoms of a tree struck by
lightning in May. How intolerable were these
memories of darkest hours of silent torture hours
in which he was oppressed with a sense of crime,
and when shame literally consumed him !
It was some time before the news of the betrayal
was openly spoken about in Konigsberg. Months
passed before the first signs that it had become
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 39
known manifested themselves, and during these
months his whole character underwent a complete
change.
His glance became shifty and uneasy, his colour
often forsook him. Shy and awkward he withdrew
himself more and more from society, and frequented
none of his old haunts. He would start and tremble
at every word unexpectedly addressed to him. Then
came days when the masters at the gymnasium began
to look askance at him, and the pupils to shun him
days in which his aunt kept her room to escape
his morning greeting, and the family sat in conclave
behind closed doors, when the servants began to set
his orders at defiance, and from time to time spat on
the ground as they passed his door.
So he watched it creeping on, nearer and nearer,
the cold, clammy monster, that, snake-like, was to
bind his limbs and freeze the blood in his veins.
He watched its v wriggling progress, heard the
gloating hiss of its approach, and defenceless,
paralysed, he stared it stonily in the face, lacking
the courage to cry out, or even to moan.
He had lost Helene too. Not through any fault
of hers. She had still allowed him to go on pulling
the institution bell on Fridays as if nothing had hap-
pened, and had been friendly as ever, and had even
tried to distract his thoughts from the painful subject
on which they incessantly brooded, with mild little
jokes. But was it because he was himself so altered
that he could only see the rest of the world through
a distorting mist of shame, or had she really, since
40 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
that day of the revelation, adopted a tone of pitying
compassion towards him ? Anyhow, he became
more and more embarrassed in her presence, and
dared not meet her eye.
One day, instead of Helene, the old schoolmistress
received him alone. She curtseyed and grinned as
usual, and assured him, a hundred times at least,
that she was his humblest servant; but what she
proceeded to unfold seemed to Boleslav the last
straw. Her dear nephew, the Herr Pastor, she
stuttered, thought it best that the intimacy between
his daughter and the young nobleman should ter-
minate, and in order that there should be no further
temptation to continue it, had decided to remove
her instantly from the town of Konigsberg. A note
sealed with blue sealing-wax contained Helene's
farewell :
" DEAR, DEAR BOLESLAV, My father commands
me to give up my friendship with you. I must obey
him. Good-bye. I shall always be fond of you
always. I swear it. Your
"HELENE."
Six hastily scribbled lines ! Were these to be
his food and drink through a life of longing and
renunciation ? Yet had he any right to expect
more ? Had she not promised to be true, and to
hold to him though every one else had cast him off?
From that time forward she became for him trans-
figured and a saint. Her face became more than
ever identified in his imagination with that of the
Madonna he had seen in the Cathedral, and when-
ever he pictured her he beheld her adorned with an
aureole, and surrounded by lilies and roses.
Had it not been for his extreme youth, energy"
and self-reliance might possibly have helped him
over the abyss of enervating grief; but a habit of
childlike respect, a latent instinct of veneration,
put the idea of asking his father to explain what
had happened, much less of calling him to account
for it, out of the question. It was his unexpected
appearance on the scene that at last roused in him
a spirit of revolt.
He was now seventeen, and would have been
ready to pass into the university, even if the authori-
ties of the gymnasium had not repeatedly hinted
that his withdrawal would be in every way desir-
able. Even his kindly aunt, who had carefully
avoided referring to the rumour through which she
herself suffered keenly, had, as mercifully as she
knew how, spoken to him about the advisability of
his going somewhere else to finish his studies.
Under other circumstances, his pride, his zeal for
fair play and his own honour, would have rebelled
against this unjust dismissal. But now, in his un-
speakable bitterness, he cherished only one wish, and
that was to hide away somewhere with his disgrace,
and be seen by no human eye.
And in this mood he stood one day face to face
with his father.
The baron had come to town, to call in the aid of
the law in dealing with his rebellious peasants, but
42 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
had found every door shut in his face. His fury
knew no bounds ; he appeared to have lost all con-
trol over himself, and his demeanour was one of
desperate defiance.
At the sight of the short, stubborn figure, the
bull-neck and the grey, fiery eyes rolling in their red
sockets, Boleslav was seized with the old boyish ter-
ror. He had to pull himself together with a tre-
mendous effort before he could bring the fatal ques-
tion over his lips.
"Father, is it true what people are saying,
that "
Suspicion blazed up in the small grey eyes.
"Eh ? what are people saying ?" he interrupted.
"That it was through you that the French found
out the path by the Cats' Bridge."
"And what if it was through me, you Hottentot ?
What if I did avenge the wrongs of the down-
trampled Pole on this pack of cowardly Russian
thieves? These hulking, stupid, lazy serfs, who
would only get their deserts if the great Napoleon
extirpated them altogether from off the face of the
earth. Don't gape at me like that, clown! What I
did was done as a sacred duty. Heavily chained,
scourged human beings cried out imploringly to me,
'Save us, save us!' I could not save them, it is
true ; that work was reserved for a greater than I
but I could at least help, help him, who like an
avenging angel swept over Europe and laid it waste
help to annihilate a handful of ruffians I saw
providentially delivered into my hand."
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 43
As he held forth thus, his short figure seemed
to grow. His eyes flashed fire. The demon of
fanaticism that so strongly resembles inspiration,
its angelic sister, enveloped him in its red-hot,
glowing mantle.
Boleslav shrank away, trembling. He felt keenly,
how completely every tie between him and this man
was now severed.
"Let them whisper, and nudge each other as I
pass," he continued, "and make faces; what the
devil do I care ? They daren't do it so long as the
Corsican lion held them in his claws. And after
ail, who is to prove it against me ? If it hadn't
been for that fool Regina, who let her father hunt
her down in the Bockshorn, every one would natu-
r ally have supposed that General Latour, with his
inventive brain, had found out the way over the
river and through the wood of his own accord. As
it is, the wretches are all at my throat. . , . The
peasants are no longer to be brought to heel with
the knout. They've always been so fond of me,
you see. If what the papers say is true, and the
king is willing to let the mutiny continue, they'll
lynch me, as sure as fate. You will have good
cause to congratulate yourself on your succession,
my boy ! "
Those were the last words his father had ever
spoken to him, for the conversation which had taken
place in his own study, was interrupted at this point
by the entrance of his aunt.
The aristocratic old lady recoiled from the touch
44 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
of the Baron's red muscular hand as from that of
some poisonous reptile. But mastering her repug-
nance, she asked for a few minutes' private talk with
him.
What decision they came to over his future he
was never to know, for even before the short inter-
view had elapsed, his former life already lay behind
him like a nightmare, and he stood in the street and
reflected through which of the city-gates he should
wander out into the wide world. Finally, the goal
of his travels proved to be a small property in a
remote corner of Lithuania, where he found rest in
hard work, and an opportunity of fitting himself
for the duties of a landed proprietor.
Years went by. For him they meant unremitting
labour for his daily bread a struggle for existence
full of hardships, which, however, could be engaged
in without shame, or any wounding of his amour
propre. For now he no longer bore the abhorred
name of his fathers. If at the same time he only
could have cast off, like a soiled garment, the host
of bitter recollections with which it was associated,
he would have been happier. But consciousness of
the infamy that clung to the discarded name re-
mained ever present. Love for his country, which
hitherto had only slumbered in his heart, now
bounded into full life. The passion of patriotism
grew and grew, till it became a tormenting demon
which scourged him with scorpions, drove the blood
from his face, the sleep from his eyes, and heaped
the guilt of Prussia's misfortunes on his shoulders.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 45
Only once during this time did news of his home
reach him. That was when he read in a Konigs-
berg news-sheet that Schranden Castle, which had
enjoyed such an unenviable notoriety in the winter
of 1807, had been burned down with all its outlying
buildings. Then he had folded his hands, and a
sound had escaped his lips like a prayer of thanks-
giving.
Expiation ! expiation ! must be the watchword of
his soul.
But as yet nothing could be expiated. Still
the unhappy Fatherland lay crushed beneath the
heel of the dictator. Then came the downfall of
the Great Army on the snow-covered plains of
Eastern Europe, and the rising of Prussia quickly
followed.
Now the hour had come. His hour ! He would
die give his life for the Fatherland, and expiate
his father's sin with his own blood
In the volunteer Jager Baumgart, who rode into
Konigsberg on the 5th of March 1813, no one recog-
nised the youthful Baron von Schranden, who, just
five years before, had fled from the town unable to
face the dishonour brought upon his name ; and
there were many now hailing him with shouts and
cheers of welcome, who then would have driven
him out with stones and brickbats.
He attached himself to a cluster of intrepid sons
of the soil, from whose mouths the dialect of his
lost home fell familiarly and musically on his ear.
He became their friend and their leader, till suddenly
46 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
a well-known face cropped up in the camp, the sight
of which immediately drove Lieutenant Baumgart
out of it.
Felix Merckel, he knew too well, would not have
hesitated to betray him to his comrades, and to in-
form them who it was that led them to battle.
What followed was like a ghastly confused phan-
tasmagoria, in which bloodshed, salvoes, and death-
rattles played their part. Why had he not died ?
How had he lived through it ? These were the
questions he asked himself on first regaining con-
sciousness and opening his eyes on the world, after
lying for months between life and death. For him,
then, no French sabre had been sharpened, no
French bullet fired.
The one complete atonement his conscience told
him it was in his power to make had been denied
him. Was a heavier one awaiting him now, as he
drew near the dusky woodlands of his birthplace
in the dim, grey dawn of day ?
CHAPTER IV
IT was eight o'clock in the morning, and already the
rays of the sun had strengthened, as Boleslav left
the wild tangle of the forest behind him, and beheld
his home stretched out at his feet.
He had not set eyes on it for ten years. His
first fierce impulse now was to shake his fist at the
village which lay there so hypocritically idyllic in
the calm of early morning, with its white toy cot-
tages set in bowrrs of green bushes, its curls ol
blue-grey smoke, and opalescent slate church spire
rising peacefully against the sky.
Beyond were the magnificent groups of old trees
with dark, almost black foliage and yellowish trunks
belonging to the Castle park, which sloped away on
the eastern side of the hill. But the Castle itself,
that had crowned the hill with its shining battle-
men ted twin-towers, and had queened the landscape
far and wide where was it ? Had the earth opened
and swallowed the imposing structure whole ? For
a moment he was startled and shocked at its total
disappearance. Then he remembered. How stupid
it was to have forgotten ! They had burnt it down,
razed it to the ground.
Many and many a time he had thought of that
47
48 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
deed of violence, which had laid waste the inherit-
ance of his fathers, with a sort of grim satisfaction.
But now, when he saw with his bodily eyes the
scene of the conflagration, he felt sullen resentment
rise in his heart.
" Incendiaries ! Accursed incendiaries ! " he cried,
and once more shook his fist at the homesteads of
his enemies. His enemies? Yes, in the flash of
a moment it seemed clearly demonstrated that his
father's enemies must be his enemies. Had he not
inherited them, together with these woods and fertile
valleys, with yonder smoked, blackened heap of
ruins (he now noticed it for the first time) that
reared itself like the mighty hand of a giant calling
down the wrath of Heaven together with that
awful crime, which no one on earth hated more
than he did, from which no one had suffered as he
had suffered. . . . And though, instead of filial love,
he had cherished nothing but a sensation of paralys-
ing fear towards his father, though for years he had
deliberately cut himself adrift from ties of kindred,
and the performance of duties that custom and
civilisation impose on those who are destined to
hand down an ancient name and inherit vast estates
in spite of it all, the fact remained that it was his
father's blood flowing in his veins, and he felt it
at this moment coursing through them tumultuously,
and rising in hot anger at the wrong that had been
done his race.
A wild gleam shone in his eyes as he fumbled
with his left hand for the leather case strung over
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 49
his shoulder, from which obtruded the burnished
knobs of a pair of cavalry pistols.
" Won't bury him ! " he murmured through his
clenched teeth, clasping the pistols close. "Won't
bury him, indeed ! We shall see ! " And with a
bitter, mirthless laugh, he walked resolutely down
into the village.
The one long straggling street lay before him,
deserted and basking in the brilliant sunshine.
The cart-ruts in the rich clay soil shone as if they
had been glazed; bottle-glass and rags from old
besoms filled the interstices to prevent the accu-
mulation of stones. On either side of the road stood
the thatched cottages of the peasants, shaded by
limes and chestnuts, some of whose leaves were
even now beginning to look autumnally sere and
yellow. These peasants had formerly been under
the jurisdiction of the Castle, and only since the
new rural laws came into force had been relieved
of their service and joined the freemen.
Here and there he saw a new fence painted in
glaring colours, as if the owner wished to mark off
his recently acquired possession from the rest of
the inhabited globe. In other respects the new
regime had left everything much the same. Sun-
flowers and herbs bloomed in the front gardens as
they had always done; damp mattresses hung out
of the windows to air just as of old. Only the
number of taverns had increased. Boleslav counted
three, whereas once the Black Eagle had reigned
supreme and met all the requirements of the place.
D
50 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
Nearer the church were the white houses of the
free artisans, burghers as they were called, who
paid to the Castle ground-rent, and therefore en-
joyed the privilege of cultivating their own vegetable
plots as they pleased. There were a couple of
blacksmiths with the sign of a horseshoe over the
entrance of their forges, two or three cobblers, a
wheelwright, a basketmaker, and a
He paused and let his eyes rest on a dilapidated
tumble-down hovel, the most wretched in the whole
row. A dirty green shield hung over the door, bear-
ing the almost obliterated inscription
"HANS HACKELBERG,
CARPENTER AND PARISH UNDERTAKER."
A coffin, also painted green, supported by pillars,
loomed down on the neglected garden, and gave to
those who couldn't read, the necessary information.
At the sight of it an incident long forgotten occurred
to Boleslav with extraordinary distinctness. He
saw again a little untidy girl with great, dark, tear-
ful eyes and a tangled cloud of black, curly hair
flying about her face and shoulders in wild dishevel-
ment. She had clung to this garden gate with one
hand, while with the other she held the corner of
her blue print pinafore convulsively pressed against
her bosom. A pack of village hobbledehoys were
pelting her with sticks and stones. He was not
much taller than she was, but at his approach the
little crowd made way for him, shy and awestruck.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 51
For he was the "young Junker" who had only to
lift his finger, they thought, to bring down blessings
or curses on their heads.
"What is going on here ? " he had asked, where-
upon the persecuted child had humbly advanced,
and opened her pinafore just wide enough for him to
get a glimpse inside.
"Beasts! They wanted to take it away from
me ! " she had exclaimed, lifting her wet eyes to
his, blazing with indignation.
A poor unfledged sparrow, which somehow or other
had fallen out of the nest, reposed in the pinafore.
" Give it to me," he had demanded, for he loved
young birds; and obediently she had held out her
pinafore for him to snatch it away. As beseemed
a lordling, he had not said thank you, or troubled
himself further about the giver.
And that was she the girl who, it was said, had
shown the French the path by the Cats' Bridge, and
had lived with his father as his mistress to the last.
Why had he defended her then? Why had he
prevented the pack hunting her down ? One blow
on the forehead from a stone might then and there
have cut short her mischievous career !
He walked on. Now and then a dull, dirty face
peered at him curiously through the small, dark
window-panes, or a cur barked. But he passed
unmolested through the village. It was unlikely
enough that any one would recognise him. The
parsonage came in view with its shady veranda,
trim flower-beds, and nut-trees. It looked as quiet
52 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
and peaceful as on that morning long ago, when,
with a sigh of relief at escaping from the pastor's
stern rule, he had seen it for the last time from the
post-chaise, and Helene had waved him farewell
with her little cambric handkerchief. With lower-
ing brow he now took a short cut that he might
avoid passing it. It seemed as if Helene must still
be standing on the lawn waving her handkerchief.
But what if she had been there? It would have
been impossible for him to go to her. A path on
his left led down to the river, which divided the
Castle domain from the villagers' territory. As he
turned into it he became aware of the frightful
ravages the fire had made. Instead of the long line
of barns and stables which had been ranged on this
side of the river stood a row of ruins, falling walls
and scorched beams, grown over with celandine and
valerian. Beyond could be seen, through gaps in
the walls, the courtyard, now a weedy, grass-grown
rubbish heap, and on the summit of the hill, behind
a lattice formed of the leafless branches of dead
elms, a black ruined mass of fantastically jagged
brickwork all that remained of the once proud
Castle.
His arms fell heavily to his sides. A sound
escaped him like a sob, a sob for vengeance.
He dragged his way laboriously along the banks
of the liver to the drawbridge, which was the main
mode of access to the island ; for, since his grand-
father's time, the whole of the Castle grounds had
been, by means of an aqueduct, practically con-
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 53
verted into an island. The drawbridge, at least,
was still en evidence. It looked like a remnant of
antiquity as it hung with its grey projecting timbers
on its black, clumsy buttresses, at the foot of which
the ripples broke with a gurgling sound. The rusty
chains were tightened, and between terra firma
and the floating edge of the bridge was a space of
about three feet, which could be jumped with ease.
Some one had evidently tried to draw it up, and
failed in the effort.
Boleslav sprang over and passed through the
stone gateway, whose nail-studded doors, half-
burnt, were thrown back on their hinges. Sud-
denly he heard a sharp clicking sound at his feet
resembling the snap of a bowstring. He stopped,
and saw, to his horror, the iron semicircle of a
fox-trap half-buried in the rubbish, and carefully
covered with birch- broom. The long pointed teeth
of the iron jaw had closed on each other in a
tenacious grip. By a miracle he had escaped an
accident which might have laid him up for many
weeks.
Feeling the ground with his stick, he pursued
his way more cautiously through the refuse and
litter, amongst which he came across occasionally
a disused waggon or the rotten barrel of a brandy
cask held together by iron hoops. He went on, up
the hill to the Castle. The path was overgrown
with brambles as tall as himself, and again he came
on traps, their wide open maws greedily eager to
seize him by the leg. The whole place seemed
54 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
strewn with them the only signs of civilisation
he had as yet encountered.
The Castle lay before him, with yawning window-
frames and sundered walls, a complete ruin. Piles
of fallen tiles and plaster, between which rank grass
and weeds had sprung up, formed a mound round
its foundations. The vestibule, with its drooping
rafters, had become a perfect bower of creepers
and evergreens, whose luxuriant growth seemed
almost impenetrable. A white tablet hung among
the leaves, on which, in his father's handwriting,
were the words, " Caution to trespassers"
He shuddered at this, the first trace he had seen
for six years of the man to whom he owed his
existence, and whom he had now come to bury.
In a few moments he would be standing probably
beside his corpse.
But how was he to find it? What resting-
place could his father have found here while yet
alive ?
No door or unbroken window, no signs of a
human habitation, were visible amidst all this fearful
wreckage. He turned, and walked slowly the length
of the Castle faade, past the towers which flanked
the gabled roof; here over the blackened stone-
work the ivy had begun to grow afresh, enshrouding
it in a peaceful melancholy. From this point his
eye caught a vista of the park, with its giant timber
and wealth of undergrowth. And then he saw a
few yards off, on the grass-plot where once had
stood the statue of the goddess Diana, of which
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 55
nothing now was left but the shattered fragments and
pedestal, a woman. ... A slender, strongly-built
woman, with long plaits of dark curling hair hang-
ing down her back. Her primitive costume consisted
of a red petticoat and a chemise. She was digging
energetically with a heavy spade in the dark rich
soil, and was apparently too engrossed to notice his
approach. She set her naked foot at regular inter-
vals, as if beating time on the hard edge of the spade,
and with the slightest possible pressure drove it
deep into the earth. As she dug she sang a song
on two notes, a high and a low, which welled out of
her full breast like the sound of a sweet-toned bell.
The chemise, a coarse and roughly made garment,
had slipped off her shoulders, laying bare the strong,
magnificently moulded neck. When he addressed
her, she drew herself erect with a sudden movement
of surprise and alarm, and stood before him half
naked.
She turned on him a pair of lustrous, large dark
eyes. " What do you want here ? " she asked,
grasping the spade tighter, as if intending to use it
as a weapon of defence. Then lifting her other
arm she calmly raised the chemise over her shapely
bosom.
" What do you want ? " she repeated.
Still he did not answer. "So this is she," he
was thinking, " the traitress, the courtesan, who
Should he point his pistol at her, and drive hei
instantly from the island, so that the ground he
trod on might at least be clean ? "
56 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
Meanwhile his bearing seemed to have convinced
her of the peacefulness of his intentions.
"This is no place for strangers," she went on.
"Go away again at once. You are lucky not to
have been caught in a wolf's trap."
She stood, drawn to her full height, and waved
him off. Then gradually she became confused
under his searching glance, and regarded him ner-
vously out of the corners of her eyes. Tossing
back the black tangle of hair from her sunburnt
cheeks, she began to fidget with her inadequate
garment, seeming conscious for the first time of her
half-nude condition.
" Show me his corpse ! " he asked imperatively.
She started and stared at him for a moment
with astonished, questioning eyes, then threw her-
self weeping at his feet.
"Gnadiger Herr /" she murmured, in a voice
stifled with emotion.
He felt her fingers seeking his hand, and pushed
her violently from him.
" Show me his corpse ! " he commanded again,
" and then you may go."
She rose slowly, kicked the spade away with her
foot, and led the way down to the park. As they
neared some bushes she turned round and said
timidly, " There's a trap here." He stepped quickly
to one side, otherwise he would have walked straight
into the snare. She held back the brambles of the
thicket through which they were making their way,
to prevent the thorns scratching his face. They
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 57
came to a clearing in the wood where stood a small
one-storied cottage with a tall chimney, surrounded
by broken hot-house frames and lime heaps. It
was the gardener's house, in which as a boy he had
often played with flower-pots, seeds, and bulbs ; the
one solitary building the ravages of the fire had left
untouched, because the incendiary had been unable
to find his way to it.
Again his guide warned him. " Take care ! That
is dangerous," she said, pointing to a heap of earth
like a mole-hill. "Whoever steps on it is a dead
man," she added half to herself. He knelt down,
and with his hands dug out the bomb that lay con-
cealed in the soft earth, and hurled it with all his
might far away, so that it exploded with a loud
report against the trunk of a tree. She cast a shy,
half-scandalised glance at him over her shoulder, for
to her what he had done was an act of desecration.
Then she opened the door, and he found himself
in a dark passage. The cottage had only two rooms.
The one on the left of the front-door had been the
gardener's dwelling-room, the other his workshop.
From the former, the door of which stood ajar,
issued a powerful death odour.
He went in. A body veiled in white lay on a low
bier in the middle of the close, gloomy little room.
" Leave me," he said, without looking round, and
he threw back the cloth.
His father's rigid features, covered with bristles,
stared up at him. The eyes had sunk far back in
his head ; the brows were contracted. In tte hoi-
$8 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
lows of his cheeks bushy black hair had sprouted,
while the beard had turned partially grey. The
short, thick nose had shrunk, and close to the
firmly-shut lips that had not parted in death lay
a deep line, denoting intense suffering, and, at the
same time, defiant scorn ; as Boleslav looked down
on it, the line seemed to deepen still more, and at
last to quiver and play round the mouth that was
still for ever.
He dropped on his knees, and, with folded hands,
prayed a paternoster. His tears fell fast, and
rained heavily on the waxen face of the dead man.
" Your guilt is my guilt," he whispered hoarsely.
"If I don't defend your memory, who else will?
No one in all the world."
Then he covered up the body again with the
white cloth, for flies were swarming round it. As
he turned away, he observed the girl's dark head
pressed against the foot of the bier. Her sym-
metrical neck and shoulders shone out in relief
from the shadowy background.
" What are you doing here ? " he demanded
roughly. She crouched down, shivering, and raised
her left shoulder, as if to ward off a threatened
blow. Her eyes flashed a warm ray through the
masses of her curly hair.
"No one has ever driven me away from him
before," she murmured.
"But / drive you away," he answered with
decision.
She rose and quietly vanished. He tore open a
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 59
window, for he felt half suffocated, and then took
a survey of the apartment. It was small and
wretched enough, and was filled up without any
attempt at arrangement with the most inappro-
priate and heterogeneous assortment of furniture,
most of it evidently rescued in haste from the
fire ; a gold-legged table harmonised ill with rickety
kitchen chairs ; a peasant's canopied bed stood near
gorgeous consoles of inlaid marble, and a cracked
Venetian mirror hung beside a bullfinch's simple
wicker cage. But nothing looked more out of its
element than the life-size portrait of the beautiful
Pole, his grandmother, and the original cause of all
the evil that had befallen him. Her haughty, arro-
gant eye still pierced the distance triumphantly ; the
small gloved hand still grasped the flexible riding-
whip. " Kneel, slave," the full proud lips seemed
to say. Only the diamond pin which used to glitter
in her bosom like a star was gone, for just there the
colour had warped, and the grey canvas beneath was
exposed to view. The once elegant and artistically
carved frame representing a garland of gilded roses
and cupids had suffered too, being chipped and
cracked in various places, where patches of coarse
orange paint had been daubed on to repair the
damage.
" Probably he took every care to save that first,"
thought Boleslav, and had not the presence of his
father's corpse restrained him, he would have
pulled it down from the wall, and trampled it
under foot
60 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
A case containing arms stood in a corner. The
newest and most costly of shooting weapons were
ranged there, including, every variety of pistol,
sword, and spear. Above it was unrolled a plan
of the Castle island, showing the spots where in-
geniously contrived man-traps, mines, and spring-
guns awaited the trespasser roughly calculated,
there were over a hundred of them.
Boleslav shuddered. Surely this unhappy man
had been punished enough for his misdeeds in the
life he had been compelled to lead during his last
few years on earth ! Caged up like a hunted wild
beast, his murderous contrivances were a perpetual
source of menace to himself, for to have forgotten
for a moment the position of one of his death-traps
must have instantly proved fatal.
When Boleslav went out at the door he stumbled
over Regina, who was cowering on the threshold.
She started to her feet with a low cry of pain, like
the whine of a trodden-on dog. He felt a momentary
thrill of compassion for her, but it vanished before
he had spoken the kind words that involuntarily
rose to his lips.
"What were you lying there for?" he inquired
harshly.
" It's my place," she answered, always regarding
him with the same humble, luminous glance.
" Indeed ? It's a dog's place as a rule."
" It's mine too."
" Your name is Regina Hackelberg ? "
"Yes, gnad'ger Junker"
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 61
" It was you who led the French over the Cats'
Bridge ? "
" Yes, gnacTger Junker."
" Why did you do it ? "
" Because I was told to do it."
"Who told you?"
She cast down her eyes.
" Why don't you answer ? "
" Because I was forbidden to tell."
" Who forbade you ; my he ? "
" Yes ; the gnad'ger Herr"
" So that's what you call him, eh ? "
" Yes, gnad^ger Junker."
" Call me, if you please, Herr, and not Junker.
I am not Junker"
" Very well, gnatfger Herr"
"Herr, I say simply Herr. Do you under-
stand ? "
" Yes, gnacTger Herr"
" Himmelkreuxdonnerwetter ! Didn't I say you
were to call me Herr, without any prefix ? "
She trembled nervously at his oath ; but when it
dawned on her what he meant, a smile of pleasure
illumined her face.
" I see, Herr" she said, and nodded.
"I shall expect you to tell me everything," he
went on. " Do you hear ? "
"The gndcTger Herr did not wish me to speak
about it. ... Not to any one."
" Did he say not to any one ? "
"Yes."
62 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
He bit his lip. Why should he inquire further
into the matter, when it was all as clear as day-
light ? This creature had been used as a tool
because she was stupid, and bad enough to let
herself be so used.
"How old were you at the time the French
came ? "
Again she cast down her eyes.
" Fifteen, Herr."
Once more he felt softened towards her, but
almost immediately dark suspicion stifled his pity.
" You were paid for your work ? " he asked
between his clenched teeth.
" Yes, Herr" she responded calmly.
He was overwhelmed with disgust
" How much was it ? Your bribe ? "
" I don't know, Herr."
" What ! You mean to say you did not stipulate
for a certain sum beforehand ? "
She seemed unable to comprehend.
" My father took it all away from me," she
answered. " He said it was the wages of sin. It
was a whole big handful of gold. I know that."
He looked at her in amazement.
The fine head, with its wealth of wild hair cluster-
ing on her neck, was humbly bent. She appeared
not to have the slightest perception of the scorn she
had aroused in him ; or was she so used to it that
she took his contempt as a matter of course ?
"What were you doing at the Castle when the
French were quartered there ? "
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 63
A dark flush suffused her face, neck and bosom.
He had struck some chord of memory that awakened
in her a spark of shame.
"I was helping with the sewing," she stammered.
"Why did you come to the Castle ?"
"My father told me I must. He said I was to
go up and ask the gnad'ger Herr if there was any
sewing for me to do. I was to earn my bread some-
how, he said."
"Oh, indeed !" There was a pause, then he con-
tinued: "Go and put on a jacket, Regina."
She passed her hand over her bosom and drew
her linen garment tighter round her chest, till the
string cut into the swelling flesh.
"Well, why don't you go?"
"I haven't got a jacket."
"What! Didn't he clothe you?"
"They tore my jacket off my back yesterday."
"W T ho?"
A gleam of burning hate flashed from her eyes.
"Who? Why, they the people down there, of
course," and she spat in the direction of the village.
A feeling of mingled surprise and satisfaction
arose within him, for here was a being who could
share his hatred ; some one whom fate was to asso-
ciate with him in the coming struggle with the
villagers below.
"So the people down there are your foes'?" He
said.
She laughed jeeringly.
"I should just think they were. TEey tKrow
64 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
stones at me whenever they get the chance stones
as big as this." She joined the hollows of her
hands together to show the size.
" For how long have they thrown stones at you ?"
" It must be six years," she said after a moment's
calculation.
" And how often have they hit you ? "
" Oh, lots of times. Look here ! " and she let the
chemise slip down again, to display a scar extending
from her shoulder to the root of her bosom, which
marked the warm olive skin with a thin line of
scarlet.
" But now I always take the tub with me."
"The tub?"
"Yes; the wash-tub. I hold it over my head
and neck when they come after me."
What a wretched existence was hers worse
than a dog's !
" Why have you gone on staying here when they
treat you thus?" he asked. "There are other
places in the world."
She gazed at him in astonishment, as if she did
not grasp his meaning.
" But I belong here," she said.
"You might at least have left the island, and
betaken yourself somewhere where your life would
not always be in danger."
She gave a short laugh.
"Was I to leave him to starve?" she asked;
and then, growing suddenly red, she added, correct-
ing herself shyly, " I mean the gnacTger fftrr."
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 65
He nodded to reassure her, for she looked as if
she expected to be chastised on the spot for her slip
of speech, poor miserable creature !
" I don't go down there oftener than I can help.
Generally I go over the Cats' Bridge by night to
Bockeldorf, three miles away. There, at Bockel-
dorf, I could get flour and meat, and everything
else that he the gnddiger Herr wanted, if I paid
double the price for it, and be back by the morning.
But sometimes it's impossible to get there in a
snow-storm, for instance, or a flood. So when the
weather was very bad I was obliged to go down to
the village, and had to pay still more money there,
and even then perhaps get nothing but blows. So "
she laughed a wild, almost cunning laugh " I
just took what came handy."
" That means you thieved ? "
She gaily nodded assent, as if the achievement was
deserving of special praise.
She was so depraved, then, this strange, savage
girl, that she was quite incapable of distinguishing
the difference between right and wrong !
" And what were you doing in the village yester-
day ? " he questioned anew.
" Yesterday ? Well, you see, he must be buried.
It's time, Herr } quite time. And I thought to my-
self, however much I cry, that won't get him under
the earth."
" So you cried, did you ? " he asked contemptu-
ously.
" Yes," she replied. " Was it wrong ? "
66 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
"Well, never mind : go on."
"And so I took the tub and went down to the
pastor's. But the pastor said I mustn't contaminate
his house by coming near it, so on I went to land-
lord Merckel, who is mayor as you know, Herr.
And there the soldiers saw me "
"What soldiers?"
" The soldiers who have just come from the war."
She paused again.
" Go on ! " he commanded.
"And the soldiers cried out 'Down with her
strike her down ! ' and then the chase began, and my
father joined in and called out ' Down with her ! ' too,
but he was only drunk, as he nearly always is. ...
The stones flew about, and the women and children
caught hold of me and held me fast, that they might
strike me; but I had the tub and held it with
both hands high over their heads, hacking with it
right and left like this." She illustrated her story
by holding up her rounded muscular arms in the
air, and bringing them down again like a pair of
clubs.
The tall, magnificent figure before him, reminded
him of some antique statue in bronze. Strange, that
in spite of all the degradation and vileness amidst
which she had been reared, it should have blossomed
into such fulness of triumphant splendour. There
was something classic, too, in the mere unaffected
freedom with which she exposed its charms. But
of course in reality she was nothing but a shameless
hussy, long since lost to all sense of decency.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 67
" Perhaps you have got a shawl, if not a jacket,"
he suggested, turning his back.
" Yes, I have a shawl, a woollen one."
" Then put it on at once."
She disappeared silently through the door before
which they had been standing, and after a few
moments returned in a brilliant red tippet which
she had crossed over her breast and tied in a knot
behind. Now that she had awakened to the fact that
her half-clothed condition shocked him, she began
to be ashamed of even her naked arms, which she
had no means of concealing. She kept them folded
behind her back, and crept into the darkest corner
of the passage.
"Did they refuse to bury the gnadiger Herr?"
he demanded.
"No no one said anything," she answered,
" because I never asked."
" Why not ? "
"Because I couldn't for the stones that were
hurled at me. And then I thought it was no good.
Nobody would ever come and fetch him. I might
as well shovel him in myself, as best I could."
" You proposed to do it ! Without help ? "
" If I could carry him from the Cats' Bridge into
the house without help, I ought to be able to bury
him too."
" Where in the churchyard ? "
" The churchyard ? Ha ! ha ! That would have
been a pretty piece of business. I should never
have got him through the village and been alive
68 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
afterwards to tell the tale. It was in the garden,
over by the Castle. I was in the middle of digging
the grave when the Herr arrived."
Now he felt strongly inclined to praise her.
Such canine fidelity, unquestioning, unhesitating,
touched him deeply. Did not the girl who had
faced death readily a thousand times for her
master's sake, deserve some sort of reward ? Yes.
He would repay her in coin ; good hard cash would
doubtless be more acceptable than anything else,
poor thing! And, directly he had laid his father
in his last resting - place, he would dismiss her
from his service. Till then she might stay where
she was.
But, at all costs, his father's bones must lie with
those of his ancestors. His first duty, his bounden
duty as a son, was to procure for him a decent
burial, such as was granted to every Christian
human being. No matter what difficulties might
stand in the way, he determined to accomplish the
sacred task, even if he were driven to resort to
extreme measures, and call in the aid of the law.
He knew at least one magistrate in Prussia, a
relative oj his mother's, who would take his side,
and enforce justice with an armed contingent if the
worst came to the worst.
He was just in the act of walking off in the
direction of the village, when it occurred to him
that it was impossible to take a hundred steps on
his own property without being snared into a
hundred death - traps. Without the woman he
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 69
detested to guide him, he was as helpless as a
child.
" Lead me to the drawbridge," he said ; M and
while I am gone clear away all the traps."
But she remained motionless, as if rooted to the
spot.
" What are you waiting for ? "
" I beg the Her^s pardon, but he has been travel-
ling all night, and I thought "
" What did you think ? "
" That the Herr must be very tired, and hungry
perhaps; and "
She was right. He could hardly stand from
sheer exhaustion. But the idea of taking even a
crust from her hands filled him with loathing.
Rather would he be fed by his enemies.
CHAPTER V
MEANWHILE in the Black Eagle a group of
Schrandeners, burghers and burghers' sons, were
enjoying their morning pint together. The Schran-
deners, who had always thought the ideal of a happy
life was to spend as much time as possible in the
tavern, were now at liberty to indulge their taste
from morning to night. What work they did
must have been accomplished very early in the
day, judging by the hour at which they began their
recreation.
Young Merckel presided at their carousals. He
had grown up into a fine, broad-shouldered young
fellow, with a cavalry moustache aggressively curled
up at the ends, which suited his cast of counte-
nance, and a manner, that even in bouts of clownish
dissipation retained a certain swaggering bonhomie.
At the conclusion of the war, instead of getting his
discharge, he had come home on leave, to consider
at his ease whether or not it would be advisable to
attach himself to a standing army. His profession
was not likely to interfere with his decision one way
or the other, as practically he had none.
Till his twenty-fourth year he had been employed
in "seeing life" in different parts of the world at
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 71
his father's expense, and had hailed with joy the
outbreak of war as a legitimate outlet for his energy,
which otherwise might have been turned into un-
worthy channels.
Like Baumgart he had entered the army as a
volunteer Jager; like him had passed into the
militia and had been promoted to the rank of lieu-
tenant, but unlike him, he wore as a recognition of
his bravery the iron cross dangling on his proudly
swelling breast. For the time being, he had no
intention of leaving his birthplace again, where he
was perfectly content to be regarded in the light of
a hero and a lion.
He drank, blustered, and helped to fan the flame
of hate against the traitor, hate which since the
return of the victorious soldiers had blazed up more
fiercely than ever. At his instigation the Schran-
deners had gone forth to destroy the Cats' Bridge in
order to cut the baron off, on his island. That he
would be struck dead before their very eyes none in
their boldest dreams had dared to hope, and with-
out having achieved their mission they had hurried
back to the village to proclaim the glad tidings.
It was a foregone conclusion that the man who
had betrayed his country would be refused Christian
burial. This would put the crown on their work of
vengeance. They gloried in reflecting on it. The
mayor was on their side ; the parson appeared to
shut his eyes to what was going on ; and there was
no reason to be afraid of the interference of higher
authority.
72 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
That a champion of the dead would arise at the
eleventh hour was the last thing any one expected.
For the Junker God alone knew what had
become of the Junker had he not totally dis-
appeared, probably to die of shame in a distant
land? . . .
" There's some one coming, wearing a Landwehr
cap," said Felix Merckel, looking out through a
crack in the blinds on to the market-place, which lay
glaring and dusty in the heat of the mid-day sun.
The sounds of revelry subsided, in expectation of
the advent of a stranger. Felix Merckel stretched
out his legs and began to toy indifferently with his
medal.
The door swung back. The new-comer brought
a momentary stream of sunlight into the cool,
darkened room. Without a word of greeting he
walked to the buffet, behind which a barmaid sat
knitting a stocking, and inquired if he could speak
a few words with the mayor. The mayor was not
at home ; he had just gone out into the fields, the
barmaid told him.
Herr Merckel was fond of leaving the inn in
charge of his son, for he found the beer disappeared
twice as fast from the barrels when he was not
present. Felix adopted a method of stimulating
customers to drink, which would not have been
becoming in the host. He couched his invitations
in military slang and in figures of speech learnt in
the camp ; to resist them would, the Schrandeners
held, be casting a slight on their lieutenant, so it
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 73
followed that Felix was the means of adding treasure
to his father's exchequer.
He was piqued at the stranger in the Landwehr
cap not vouchsafing him a salute, although he must
have seen the officer's badge on his coat, and deter-
mined to ignore him.
"Can I wait here till the mayor comes back?"
the stranger asked.
"Of course. This is the tap-room," the barmaid
replied.
He took a seat in the farthest corner from the
topers, with his back turned to them, put down his
knapsack, and bowed his head in his hands.
Herr Felix regarded such conduct as a kind of
challenge to himself. Like the true son of his
father, he was indignant at a stranger coming in
and ordering nothing to drink.
"Ask the gentleman, Amalie, what he will take,"
he called out, bursting with a sense of his own im-
portance. Apparently the stranger didn't hear, for
he took no notice. The barmaid stood behind his
chair and stammered something about the excellent
quality of Schrandener beer.
"Thank you; I will drink nothing," he replied,
without looking up.
Herr Felix twisted with vigour the ends of his
moustache. It was clear that a rebuke must be
administered to the stranger for his churlish be-
haviour. He therefore rose to his feet, and swing-
ing his tankard, began in a somewhat blatant tone
to address his boon-companions.
74 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
" Dear comrades and fellow-burghers and every
one present, Prussia's glorious battles have been
fought. Our beloved Fatherland has risen from
the dust in new and unsuspected splendour. Most
of us have bled on the field of glory, and felt the
enemy's bullets pierce our breast. Whoever is a
true Prussian patriot will now drink with me his
country's health and honour ! "
With high-pitched hurrahs, the mugs with one
accord were lifted to the revellers' mouths, but
before they could drink, an incisive " Halt ! " from
the lieutenant stopped them.
" I see there is some one here," he cried, " who
seems inclined to shirk this sacred duty ; " and he
rose and walked with clanking spurs across the
room to the stranger's table.
" Sir," he asked aggressively, " do I understand
you don't wish to drink to Prussia's fame and
glory?"
" I wish to be left in peace," answered the
stranger, not turning round.
" What, sir ? You who wear the honourable
symbol of a defender of your country in your cap,
decline "
A sudden movement on the part of the stranger,
who grasped his pistols, made him break off. The
next moment he saw firearms gleam in his hand,
saw him spring up, and stood aghast, staring into
a pale, overcast face that he knew well, but from
which two such angry eyes had never blazed at
him before.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 75
He understood the situation at once; he stood
face to face with a man desperately resolved to go
to any extremity if necessary.
" Look at me, Felix Merckel," said the stranger,
who was stranger no longer, " and learn that I wish
to have nothing to say to you. But understand
that if you or any of your friends come too near,
they will rue it. The first who approaches within
an inch of me I will shoot down like a dog."
Felix Merckel quickly regained his composure.
"Ah! the Herr Baron!" he exclaimed, with a
profound bow. "Now I am not surprised that
Prussia's "
The click of the double trigger of the cavalry
pistol made him stop short again.
" I warn you once more, Felix Merckel. I am
an officer as well as yourself."
And the reiterated warning had its effect.
" Certainly, it is not my concern," Felix said, and
with another low bow, went back to his place ; this
time the clatter of his spurs was scarcely audible.
The Schrandeners put their heads together and
whispered, and then old Merckel entered the room.
His round, sleek, clean-shaven face beamed with
prosperity and self-satisfaction. As beseemed the
village patriarch, he passed by the common drink-
ing-table with a dignified gait. A heavy silver
watch-chain hung on his greasy satin waistcoat,
suspended from a gold keeper in the form of a
Moor's head, to which was also attached an amber
heart
76 THE SINS O* THE FATHERS
" The Herr wished to speak to me ? " he asked,
with a profound obeisance, which, however, he
seemed to repent, when his little grey lynx eyes
remarked that the stranger had no glass before
him. To be obsequious to a non-drinker was a
waste of time.
The Schrandeners kept their ears open. Felix
had jumped up as if to seize this favourable oppor-
tunity of going for his whilom friend with his fists.
"I say, father, it's the young Herr Baron" he
exclaimed, with a discordant laugh.
Old Merckel withdrew a few steps. His bene-
volent smile died on his lips ; his fleshy fingers
fumbled nervously with the Moor's-head keeper.
" Can I speak to you alone ? "
" Oh ! Herr Baron -of course, Herr Baron is
the Herr Baron going to stay ? "
He flung wide a side door, which opened into the
little best parlour reserved for gentry. A sofa,
covered with slippery oil-cloth, and a few velvet,
bulky arm-chairs, were ready for the reception of
distinguished customers. Over a cabinet containing
tobacco hung a placard with the inscription, "Only
wine drunk here."
Before the host closed the door behind Boleslav,
he made a reassuring sign to his fellow-burghers
as if to allay their anxiety. Then from under his
drooping lids he took a rapid survey of the newly-
returned young aristocrat's person, which seemed to
fill him with satisfaction, for again his smug, slimy
smile played about his fat lips.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 77
"How the H err Junker has grown, to be sure!"
he began. " Wonderful ! "
Boleslav fixed his eyes on him silently.
"And the H err Junker pardon, I ought to say
Herr Baron has come home to find the old Herr
Baron no longer alive. A pity he was not in time
to close the eyes of the sainted dead "
He broke off, and caught violently at his amber
heart, for Boleslav's piercing, threatening gaze
began to make him feel uneasy. What if this was
a desperado, who would think nothing of taking
him by the throat ?
"At any rate I have come in time," Boleslav burst
forth at last, "to repair the shameful scandal that
has been perpetrated here in refusing my father the
last honour due to his position."
" Shameful scandal, my Herr Baron ? "
"I advise you, my worthy man, not to put on
that air of saint-like innocence. I can read you
through and through. Something has come to my
ears concerning you, for which you deserve to be
thrashed on the spot."
" Herr Baron ! " and he showed signs of taking
flight through the door.
"Stay where you are!" commanded Boleslav,
barring the way. Thank God that in confronting
this scum he felt the old inherited instinct of con-
scious power come back to him. " Is this the
gratitude you show my house, to whose favours
you owe everything ? "
This was true enough. The present landlord of
78 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
the Black Eagle had once hung about the Castle in
search of a situation, and had finally, as its ubiqui-
tous commissionaire, amassed a considerable fortune,
although he now chose to adopt an attitude of in-
jured virtue, and rubbed his hands self-righteously.
" Dear Herr Baron" he said, a paternal kindli-
ness suffusing his broad countenance, " I willingly
pardon the insults you have just neaped on me,
and will give you the best advice, as if nothing had
happened. Now, you will surely understand how
friendly are my intentions."
" I decline your friendship," thundered Boleslav.
"As mayor of the village of Schranden, you will
answer my questions. Beyond that, I have no
dealings with you."
" The Schrandeners, dear Herr Baron, are really
terrible people. I always have said so. I said so
many times to my dear wife. You knew her, Herr
Baron. Why, of course, she often took the little
Junker in her arms, Jittle thinking that "
"Keep to the point, if you please," Boleslav
interrupted.
"'Marianne,' I used to say, 'these Schrandeners,
when once they get an idea into their heads, nothing
will move them.' Once they took it into their heads
not to drink my brandy. Good, pure, beautiful
Wacholder, Herr Baron. In the same way they've
now got it into their heads not to bury the old noble
lord, and well, upon my word, no God and no
devil will force them to do it. It's no good your
trying either, Herr Baron. I'll tell you why. The
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 79
hearse belongs to the corporation, and they won't let
you have it. Horses, too, they wouldn't let out. . . .
As for bearers dear God ! Go round the village
and see if you can find one, and if you can, see if
he is not well flogged for it quarter of an hour after-
wards. Oh ! these Schrandeners ! And then there
is the Herr Pastor who really in the end has the
most voice in the matter. Go to the Herr Pastor,
and hear what he says. Putting ceremonials and
paternosters out of the question, you won't even get
the coffin made."
"We shall see," said Boleslav, gnashing his teeth.
He felt his spirit of resistance rise, the more clearly
he saw the web that hatred and malice were
weaving around him.
" You shall see," exclaimed old Merckel in badly
concealed triumph, "if you wish it, Herr Baron"
He opened the door of the tap-room, from whence
proceeded a low hum of many voices. Half the
village seemed to have collected there during
Boleslav's interview with the mayor.
" Hackelberg ! come here ! " he called, and then
hurriedly banged the door to again, for he saw
hands laid on it that threatened to tear it off its
hinges.
"If he has got over his debauch of yesterday,
Herr Baron, he will certainly come and himself
give you his views on the subject." For a moment
the little lynx eyes sparkled with malignant joy.
Then resuming his benevolent patriarchal smile, he
went on, twisting the amber heart.
8o THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
" You have repudiated my friendship, young man.
You have insulted me, and shown no respect for my
grey hairs I don't resent it. You wouldn't have
done it if you had known how I, at the risk of my
life for if the Schrandeners had got wind of it they
would have done me to death how I saved many
a time the noble baron, of blessed memory, from
starvation. Ask the Frdulein.
"WhatFrautem?"
"The pretty, faithful Frdulein Regina your
deceased father's best beloved. She is a pearl,
Herr Baron ; you ought to hold her in high esteem,
and take her away with you on your travels.
Often in the darkness of the night have I stuck a
loaf and a sausage in her apron, Herr Baron, and
sometimes a pound of coffee, Herr Baron, while I
have made my own breakfast off rye-bread for fear
of the embargo, Herr Baron"
" Weren't you paid for your trouble ? "
" Well ; yes, yes. When one risks one's life one
expects to be paid. There is still a little bill due,
however, Herr Baron, left standing from last winter ;
if the Herr Baron will have the goodness to "
"Write out your account, and the money shall
be sent you."
"There's no hurry, Herr Baron. I have con-
fidence ; can trust you, Herr Baron. What I wish
to say is, take the advice of an old and experienced
man, and go home now without more ado ; dig a grave
behind the Castle, and lay the deceased Herr in it
do it at night, mind, on the quiet, quite on the
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 8 1
quiet Frtiulein Regina will assist you then make
the turf perfectly smooth, so that no one will know
where you've laid him, and before the dawn of
another day ride away again with Fraulein Regina
on your saddle to where "
He paused suddenly, for Boleslav's hand was on
the butt - end of his pistols. Then the devilish
mockery beneath this suave old hypocrite's counsel
was goading him into drastic measures. While he
listened to it, a new thought had flashed across his
brain with vivid distinctness. The funeral would
after all only be the first step in the work that
it was incumbent on him to complete. Never
would he slink away under cover of night like a
criminal, and abandon what remained of the inherit-
ance of his ancestors to utter ruin. No ! he would
stay and endure all things. Set at defiance all
these malicious hyenas, the worst of whom stood
before him, now grinning, with greedily gleaming
eyes, only awaiting his opportunity to pounce on
the masterless unowned possessions.
Endure ! Endure !
Renunciation for the sins of the fathers must ever
be his lot. And did not the foul act that had laid
waste his property deserve retributive justice ? He
would be a deserter and renegade, indeed, were he
now to turn his back on his native place, and on the
beloved, who, though she seemed lost to him eter-
nally, might still be cherishing timid hopes of meet-
ing him once more. No! for the future his flag
should wave over the ruins of Schranden Castle,
F
82 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
with the single word " Revenge " blazoned on it
in fiery characters. And who but a cowardly cur
would leave his flag in the lurch ?
He stepped nearer the mayor, and with a threat-
ening glance that seemed to penetrate him through
and through, almost roared in his ear
"Who set fire to the Castle ?"
Herr Merckel winced as if his conscience pricked
him. Every Schrandener did the same when any
question arose as to who it was had perpetrated
the crime. Every Schrandener except one, and he
was the criminal himself.
Herr Merckel was gathering up his strength for
a glib answer when the suppressed murmur in the
tap-room gave place to a sound which had a louder
and more riotous note in it.
The landlord made a movement in the direction
of the door, to bolt it on coming events, but before
he could take the precaution it was stormed and
burst open. A troop of wild-looking creatures led
the assault, at the head of whom was a man of
puny stature, in rags and tatters, with straight,
black hair hanging in oiled ringlets to his shoulders,
a grey, stubbly beard, and a pair of glassy, besotted
eyes that rolled under red, lashless lids. He beat
the air with his fists and cried
" Where is the fellow the brute ? Let me catch
the brute and I'll strangle him ! "
Then he beheld Boleslav's tall, resolute form,
and swallowed his words with a gurgling hiss.
Behind him was a phalanx of angry, heated, in-
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 83
quisitive faces all turned on Boleslav as on a
recently captured beast of prey.
" Every man's hand is against me ! " he thought,
and his blood rose.
" Are you the carpenter Hackelberg ? " he asked,
holding the drunkard in thrall with his searching
glance.
He was associated with one of the dark memories
of his childhood. Once his pitiable howls had
frightened him out of his quiet, boyish slumbers,
and on looking from his window he had seen him
being whipped round the courtyard, for poaching.
Now he stood shaking his fists, grunting and
spluttering with rage.
"You supply the village with coffins, I under-
stand?"
The carpenter shook his head, stared vacantly in
front of him, and then answered in a sepulchral
voice
" I am at work on only two coffins one for
myself, and one for my poor erring daughter."
The Schrandeners laughed in their sleeve. This
formula was so familiar. When any one died in
the village the carpenter had to be fetched by
force, locked up with a bottle of brandy and the
necessary boards, and not let out till the coffir
was finished. Taken all in all, this Hackelberg
was a dangerous fellow, and no one knew it better
than the Schrandeners, who never let him otu
of their sight for long. He was watched am;
shadowed, and many an arm was ready to strut*
84 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
him down when the right moment should offer
itself.
Nevertheless they courted his society in the
tavern, made him drunk, and humoured him.
Sometimes they hung on his lips, at others, stopped
his mouth. Either they put him under lock and
key, or allowed him to bully them. It was as if
they had endowed their own bad conscience with
flesh and blood, and allowed it to run wild amongst
them in the shape of this unkempt, half-crazed sot.
"Who else makes coffins in the village besides
you ? " Boleslav asked again.
The Schrandeners burst into jeering laughter.
They knew how difficult he would find it to get
any direct answer to his question.
" My poor, wretched child," he growled, fastening
his glassy eyes on Herr Merckel's amber heart,
which appeared to possess a fascination for him.
Then suddenly rousing himself once more from
the half-stupor into which he had collapsed, he
threatened Boleslav with his fists, and cried out
excitedly
"What do you want from me, Herr? A coffin ?
Is that what you want ? For whom do you want
it? For the scamp, the dog, who betrayed his
country who seduced my child ? Do you think
I'd make a coffin for him? Look at me, Herr.
Did you ever see such a spectacle ? " He wrenched
open his shirt, and exposed to view his shaggy
breast. "I'm a beauty mere offal, that dogs
would turn up their noses at And whose fault is
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 85
that, my dear young nobleman ? Why, the Herr
Baron's, your deceased father's. He it was who
reduced me to this, and made me an unhappy,
forsaken, childless old man, such as you see." He
wiped his eyes with the ragged sleeve of his cor-
duroy jacket, while the Schrandeners applauded,
and backed him up in his maudlin oration. " My
child, my only child, was torn from my bosom. He
robbed me of my child "
" I believe you yourself sent her to the Castle,"
Boleslav interposed, without, however, making the
least impression.
" He made my child a prostitute, but what's worse,
young sir what most lacerates my father's heart
for though I'm a blackguard, I'm a patriot; for in
Prussia even blackguards love their country if
there are any blackguard Prussians . . . but my child
... ah ! do you know what he did with my child ?
. . . forced her with the lash to go out in the dark
night and But since then do you think I'd
own her ? No . . . she is my child no longer. I've
cursed her cast her off ! I said to her, ' You are
my own flesh and blood no longer.' That's what I
said, and "
" But you took the wage of her sin all the same,"
Boleslav was on the point of interrupting, but
recollected in time that in saying so he would be
admitting his father's guilt to this pack of wolves.
" ' And you are free,' I said. ' You may go where
you like, and whoever you meet may kill you
outright for all I care. Go to your gnadigen
86 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
Hermj I said, 'and ask him to protect you.' I
said "
At this juncture the shouts of the other Schran-
deners became so much louder that they drowned
the carpenter's speech. They closed round him,
and he was lost in the crowd; only his rasping
laugh was still audible.
" What did I prophesy, Herr Baron ? " asked old
Merckel, with his unctuous smile.
Boleslav leant against the end of the sofa, and
regarded the crew of Schrandeners pressing ever
nearer with clenched teeth and unflinching eye.
" If one strikes me," he thought to himself, " the
rest will tear me to pieces."
He felt how imperative it was to remain calm.
" Come, you people," he said, making a passage
through their ranks with his hands, " let me pass."
And whether it was his commanding air of cool
determination, or the cross which shone in his
military cap, that awed the tumultuous throng, not
one of them attempted to impede his progress. He
passed into the thick of the mob, expecting every
moment to be struck a fatal blow from behind;
but nothing of the sort happened unchallenged he
found himself in the open air. Felix Merckel had
kept in the background.
The whole mob, now including women and chil-
dren, surged after him down the road.
As he reached the parsonage garden, whose white
walls blazed in the rays of the mid-day sun, he was
aware of an aching sensation at his heart, that rose
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 87
in a lump to his throat. His last hope rested in
the hands of the old pastor. Would he too spurn
him from his threshold ? But at this moment that
was not his only anxiety. How could he help feeling
anxious as to what her reception of him would be,
she in whose power it was to exalt him from the
mire of shame and misery into a world of peace and
purity. If she saw him in his present condition,
dirty and dishevelled, with this escort of hooting
ruffians behind him, would she not recoil in horror ?
And she did.
A terrified hand threw back the glass door of the
veranda. It was she it must be she! For a
moment he saw the glimmer of a white, slender
figure ; saw her raise an arm, as if to wave off the
approach of him and the mob : and then, before
Boleslav could give one questioning, imploring look
at the beloved features, she vanished with a faint
cry of alarm.
There was a mist before his eyes. Half stunned,
he went up the steps of the veranda, closed the
door behind him, and awaited the next turn in the
course of events.
The Schrandeners blockaded the veranda, and
some flattened their noses against the glass in
order to see better what passed within. A pane
fell out; one of them had pushed his neighbour
through it, whereupon the revered voice of the
old pastor was heard raised in remonstrance. He
appeared on the veranda flourishing a thick,
notched walking-stick. His white hair blew about
88 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
his lofty temples. The nostrils of his hawk-like
nose dilated furiously as if they snorted battle.
Beneath the snow-white shaggy projecting brows
his eyes glowed like fiery torches. Such was the
venerable Pastor Gotz, who, in the March of the
year 1813, had gone from house to house, holding
the big cross from the altar in his hand, followed
by a drummer, and had beaten up recruits for the
holy war. And had he not been left fainting by the
roadside on the march to Konigsberg, in all pro-
bability he would have accompanied his soldier-
parishioners into the field of action.
The Schrandeners stood in no little dread of his
discipline, and no sooner did they catch sight of
his formidable stick than they retreated quickly
from the windows, and tried to regain the garden
gate.
" You hell-hounds, craven sheep ! " he shouted
from the glass door. "Come to God's house on
Sunday and I'll give you a dressing."
Then turning on Boleslav, he measured him from
head to foot with a scowling glance. His eye
rested on the military cap he held in his hand.
" You were in the campaign ? " he asked.
"Yes."
" If it were not for the cross I see on the brim
of your cap, I should ask was it for or against
Prussia ? "
Boleslav, whose thoughts had followed the fleet-
ing vision of light he had seen on the veranda,
at first did not understand him ; then he met the
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 89
insinuation with signs of passionate resentment.
But the old pastor was not the man to be easily
intimidated, and while they both glowered at each
other, he cried
"Boleslav von Schranden, am I, or am I not,
justified in cherishing such a suspicion ? "
Then Boleslav's eyes fell before the condemnation
in those of his former master. He opened the door
of his study, where between the book-shelves hung
pipe-racks and fire-arms, and said
" Out of respect for the cap I will not refuse you
entrance here. But make what you have to say as
brief as possible. In this house no Schranden is
a welcome guest."
He put his stick in a corner, and drawing his
flowered dressing-gown close about his loins, paced
up and down the room.
Boleslav cast about for words. He felt like a
criminal in the presence of this man, whose speech
was like molten brass. Of a truth it was no easy
matter, this taking the guilt of another on to one's
own guiltless shoulders.
11 H err Pastor" he began, stammering, "can't
you forget for a moment that I bear the name of
Schranden ? "
The old man laughed bitterly. "That's asking a
little too much," he murmured; "a little too much."
" Regard me simply in the light of a son who
wishes to bury his father, and who is prevented
from fulfilling that most sacred duty by the wicked-
ness and malice of the canaille. 1 '
90 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
For answer the old parson contracted his shaggy
brows without speaking.
" I appeal to you as a priest of the Christian
Church. Will you suffer such a scandal in your
parish ? "
" Such a thing cannot happen in my parish," the
old man declared. "Wherever it is my duty to
lead souls to God, every one must be granted a
decent burial."
" And yet they dare "
" Stop ! Whose burial is in question ! "
" My father's."
" The Freiherr Eberhard von Schranden ? "
"Yes."
" That man has been dead for seven years."
"Herr Pastor!"
"For seven years he lived ostracised from the
society of his fellow-creatures. Seven years he
practically rotted in the earth. Therefore, don't
trouble me about him further."
"Herr Pastor, I was once your pupil. From
your lips I first learnt the name of God. I always
thought you a brave, upright man. I retract that
opinion now ; for what you have just been saying
are lying, cowardly quibbles."
The old man drew himself up. His beard worked ;
his nostrils expanded. With lurid eyes he came
nearer to Boleslav.
" My son," he said, " do I look like a man who
would countenance a lie ? "
Boleslav maintained his defiant attitude. But,
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 91
much as he struggled against it, he felt the old,
long-forgotten sentiment of respect for the school-
master awaking in him once more.
" My son," went on the old man, " a word from
me, and the rabble that waits for you on the other
side of that hedge would lynch you , but, as I said
before, for the sake of the cap you wear, I will be
merciful. If you like, I can prove that what I said
just now is no lie."
He went to a cupboard, where stood a long line
of ragged folios, containing church and parish docu-
ments, took out a volume, and, opening it, pointed
to a page dated 1807.
" Here, my son, read this."
And Boleslav read
"On March 5th, died Hans Eberhard von
Schranden. Ex memoria hominum exstinguatur"
Beneath were three crosses.
" That is a forgery ! " exclaimed Boleslav.
" Yes, my son," the old man answered solemnly,
" that is a palpable, shameless forgery ; a stain on
my office; and if you choose to report it to the
magistrates, I shall be suspended and end my days
in prison. Do exactly as you think fit. My fate
lies in your hands."
A shudder of mingled horror'and reverence passed
through Boleslav. He had himself experienced too
often the wild Man and reckless delight of making
sacrifices for the love of his country, no: to under-
stand what impulse had driven the old clergyman
to this insane confession.
92 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
" With those crosses," he continued, " I buried
the man seven years ago the man who, in spite
of his cruelty and ungovernable passions, had till
then been my friend. From that day, whoever
dared to breathe so much as his name in my house
was sent out of it. Then came that night of arson,
when these walls were illumined by the reflection
of the burning Castle. I jumped out of my bed,
and, throwing myself on my knees, prayed God to
forgive the incendiaries, for it began to burn at all
four corners at once, a sure proof that the fire was
not an accident. Now, I thought, not only the
deed, but the scene of it, will be erased from men's
minds. I didn't concern myself in the least about
the spectre that was doomed to haunt the ruins of
Castle Schranden. And now you come, my son,
and tell me that that spectre was no spectre, but a
living creature, who only a few days ago gave up
the ghost, and now awaits interment. Well, I
forbid it Christian burial, on the strength of this
register. I never bury any one twice. Report
me, and and I shall be tried for my offence. But
you know I am prepared. Do as you like. Bury
the corpse with all the honours you consider due to
it; have a procession grander and more imposing
than an emperor's, but kindly leave me out of the
show."
He settled himself in his green-cushioned arm-
chair, supported his face with his wrinkled, muscular
hands, and stared vacantly at the open register.
There was nothing to hope from this iron-willed
THE SINS OF THE FAfHERS 93
man of God. It would be madness to keep up any
illusion on the subject, and that other illusion, that
the loved one might still be won on earth after long
waiting and renunciation, must be abandoned too.
All the shy dreams and hopes that he had yet dared
to cherish in his embittered heart now seemed
finally wrecked.
" So this is the divine grace, the forgiveness of
sins, you preach ! " he cried, tears of wrath filling
his eyes.
The old man rose slowly and let his hand fall
heavily on Boleslav's shoulder.
" Because of your cap, my son, I will reason with
you, although the sight of you is hateful to me.
Listen ! It is a year and a half now since there
came here from Russia a rabble of ragged French
beggars, starving and frost-bitten. The Schran-
deners would have felled them to the earth with
their scythes and pitchforks, and perhaps would
have had right on their side, for they were mere
carrion-serfs in the pay of Napoleon. But I opened
the church door to them that they might take refuge
in the shelter of God's altar. I kindled a fire for
them on the flagstones, and had a hot supper cooked
for them and gave them straw to lie on. I told the
Schrandeners that, though they were enemies, they
were human beings like themselves, bearing the
cross of human suffering as the Saviour once bore
it on His shoulders. I told them to go home and
pray that God might spare them as they had spared
those miserable Frenchmen. So you see I can be
94 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
pitiful and show mercy. ... To return to the
subject of the funeral. I have never refused any
sinner his lawful resting-place. If I could have my
will, even suicides should not be excluded from the
churchyard. That those who have been unhappy
in their lifetime should be comfortable in death has
always been my principle. And if the body of a
man who had murdered his mother was brought
here from the scaffold, I would go to his graveside
in full canonicals and pray the King of kings 'to
forgive him, for he knew not what he did.' Yes,
111 extend mercy to all, only not to your father.
For he who sins against his country outrages every
law human and divine; he disgraces the mother
who bore him and the children he propagates.
Such a one is a social outcast. He is like the leper
who brings death and corruption with him wher-
ever he goes, or a mad dog who spurts poison from
his jaw on every living thing that comes in his way.
And do you realise the extent of your father's guilt,
the mischief it has worked ? It is not so much the
lives of those two or three hundred Pomeranian
youths whose bones lie buried there on the common
that are to be reckoned against him. They would
probably have met death somewhere, later. The
grass grows high on their graves ; even their parents
have long since become reconciled to their loss.
No, it is not on their account that I bear the grudge.
But come here, my son "
He clutched Boleslav's hand and led him to the
window.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 95
"Look out what do you see on the other side
of the garden hedge? A gang of turbulent wild
animals thirsting for the blood of their prey, and yet
too craven-hearted to spring on it, even when they
have it within their reach. And look at me, my son.
I am here, appointed by God as His minister to
preach the gospel of love, and I preach hate. Words
sweet as honey should flow from my lips, and
instead, scorpions spring out of my mouth directly
I open it, for I too am become a wild animal. And
this is what your father's crime has made us. There
is no goodness left in Schranden ; the venom of your
father's hate ferments in us, is inoculated into our
children and children's children. So will it ever be
till the Lord not only wipes the scene of infamy,
but your accursed name with it, from off the face of
His blessed earth. Amen ! "
He stood with raised hands like some anathe-
matising prophet of the Cld Testament, and foam
rested in the corners of his mouth.
Boleslav, half-dazed and horror-stricken, turned
in silence to the door. The old man did not call him
back. As he crossed the hall he started violently,
for he was sure he heard the rustle of a woman's
dress behind a half-opened door. But not for the
world would he meet her now. Not in this dark
hour, when he was completely overpowered by a
sense of having had the remnants of all that was
good and noble in him shattered and laid in the
dust.
"If they are become wild beasts, I can become
96 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
one too," he thought, as he thrust his hand in the
breast-pocket that held his pistols, and walked
towards the Schrandeners. The old pastor was
right. Though they danced, whooped, and jostled
around him with the lust of murder gleaming in
their savage eyes, they dared not lay a finger on
him.
When he reached the drawbridge, behind the
palings of which a girl's figure crouched, awaiting
his return, he was full of a desperate resolve. His
father should be carried to his last resting-place by
an armed force.
"<A.e you ready to earn another large sum of
money 'I " he asked the girl, who flushed and stood
up quickly at his approach.
She looked at him for a moment in reflecti**
surprise, and then, as his meaning dawned on her,
she shook her head violently.
"Why not ?" he demanded.
She began to tremble. "What's the good of
money to me, Herr? " she asked, in subdued, bitter
tones. " They would only take it away from me."
"Who?"
"People those people. Please, oh please, give
me no money."
" Her mind is clearly unhinged," thought Boleslav.
" Besides, there is money enough," she continued
in a whisper, glancing round her timidly, "in the
cellar great boxes full where the wine is. I used
to take what I wanted from there for him, I mean
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS g-/
the gnad'ger Herr. For myself I never want any,
unless it's to buy a new jacket with."
" Will you earn a new jacket ? "
"There's no need to earn it, Herr. Next time
I go to Bockeldorf for the Herr must have food
I can get one."
So, unreasoning as a beast of burden, she per-
formed her duties, and expected no return except
her food !
" Will you, then, without earning anything, go a
long way for me this very night ? "
"Oh, won't I, Herr, if you wish it?"
CHAPTER VI
THE next day the village of Schranden received an
unexpected visitation that proved no small shock to
its inhabitants. At about five o'clock in the after-
noon two coaches appeared in the village street
each of which contained half-a-dozen occupants^
young fellows in Jager uniforms, with their muskets
slung over their shoulders from wide leather belts.
In the first cr^.ch there was also a female occu-
pant, who, the moment the horses' heads turned
in the direction of the space opposite the church,
alighted with a wild leap, and scudded away towards
the Castle.
Every Schrandener recognised in her the deceased
Baron's sweetheart, but all were too much taken
aback to think of following her.
The coaches halted before the Black Eagle, the
windows of which were eagerly opened, and before
the strangers had moved from their seats, an en-
thusiastic welcome was extended to them.
" The Heide boys Hurrah ! " shouted Felix
Merckel, who had many a time fought side by
side with these comrades of the Sellinthin
squadron, and he stretched a foaming jug out ,
the window
9*
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 99
His father threw open the door of the little room
reserved for "gentry," where only wine was drunk,
in the hopes that at least some of these wealthy
yeomen would patronise it. But, without answer-
ing the warm greetings, they proceeded in gloomy
silence to unharness the horses, and to take out of
their vehicles all manner of tools, such as hatchets,
files, and spades.
The Schrandeners were astounded.
"Good gracious ! have you lost your tongues ?"
Felix Merckel called from the window. "And why
haven't you brought your paragon, Lieutenant
Baumgart, with you?"
Still no answer.
The Schrandeners began to think these strangers
must be playing off a joke on them, and burst into
extravagant laughter.
Then Karl Engelbert, who evidently had the
command of the expedition, came under the window
from which Felix's broad-shouldered form obtruded
itself, and, greeting him with a half-military salute,
said
"With your permission, Herr Lieutenant, we
have come here not to take part in any festivities
or anything of that sort. We are a funeral party."
"But here in Schranden no one is going to be
buried," cried Felix Merckel, still laughing, but his
face appreciably lengthened.
"Indeed, Herr Lieutenant ! Nevertheless, we have
been invited to a funeral."
"Who has invited you?"
ioo THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
"Our former officer, Lieutenant Baumgart."
"Nonsense! There's no Lieutenant Baumgart
here. I thought you were going to bring him with
you."
"Pardon, Herr Lieutenant, he is here already."
"Where is the fellow hiding, then ?"
"Probably you know him better under another
name Herr von Schranden."
The stone jug in Felix's hand fell and crashed
to pieces at Engelbert's feet. The beer splashed
his legs up to the knee.
A tumult arose inside the inn. As if in prepara-
tion for battle, windows were speedily closed, and
Johann Radtke, driven by thirst to ascend the steps
to the main entrance, found the door banged in his
face.
"Hunted from the threshold like tramps !" grum-
bled the dark-haired Peter Negenthin, and clenched
his fist in his sling.
"Do you wish to perjure yourself?" asked Engel-
bert in a low voice, coming close to him. "If so,
then go back. What is required of us we must
do. Whoever forgets the church at Dannigkow is
a cur !"
"And if we are dry we must wet our whistles
with holy water, I suppose," added Radtke with a
sigh.
Engelbert shouldered his musket and gave the
orders to move on. The procession filed off in the
direction of the Castle, a handful of natives, out of
respect for the muskets, bringing up the rear.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 101
Boleslav stood on the bridge to receive his
friends.
He rushed towards them in delight, and could
hardly articulate, for emotion, the words of grati-
tude that rose to his lips.
Engelbert held out his hand in silence. Boleslav
was going to embrace him, but he drew back. In
his excitement Boleslav did not notice the rebuff.
"I knew you'd come," he stammered forth at last
knew that I had friends who would not leave
me undefended to the tender mercies of this pack
of wolves."
No one made any response. They stood drawn
up in an unbroken line, their eyes looking beyond
rather than at him, in embarrassment. Engelbert
was the first to break the silence. ,
"You have summoned us, and we have come
but our time is short; tell us what you want us
to do."
For a moment Boleslav wondered at being ad-
dressed in this curt, somewhat surly fashion, by the
comrade who, of all others, had been his favourite.
But it was only for a moment. Why should he
doubt them? Had they not come? And then, in-
coherently enough, he related how his father's dis-
grace had descended on him, and what he had re-
solved to do, with their help.
All the time a pair of shining eyes watched him
from the other side of a rubbish heap, and a
woman's figure that sat cowering there trembled
like an aspen.
102 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
" They are here they are in the village ! " she
had called out to him in timid excitement, as she
had flown into the yard like a Maenad. At first he
had not recognised her in a light cotton skirt, a bed-
jacket buttoned over her panting bosom, and a hand-
kerchief of many colours on her bead, tied under the
chin, according to a fashion of the peasant girls in
the neighbourhood.
" They gave me these things to put on," she had
added apologetically, on observing his puzzled looks.
And then in pleasure at the news that his friends
had arrived, he had forgotten her, till, while waiting
for them on the bridge, he had caught sight of hei
hovering about the ruins. The head-dress had fallen
on her neck, and the wild black tresses escaped, and
waved in confusion about her sunburnt face. She
seemed to be smiling absently to herself.
He was ashamed to think his friends had seen
this woman, and decided to pay her off and dismiss
her on the spot, so that they should not encounter
her again.
" What are you doing here ? " he demanded.
She started.
" Nothing, Herr" she replied, guiltily lowering
her eyes.
" Why did you smile ? "
" Ah, Herr? she murmured, " I was so glad."
"Why?"
" Because I had got safely back here again."
What strange fascination had this spot of earth
for the abandoned creature who had suffered on it
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 103
nothing 6ut shame and degradation and endless mis-
ery? He remembered to have heard of domestic
cats who, when the house to which they belong is
deserted by its inhabitants, prefer to starve beneath
its mouldering roof than to take up their abode else-
where. And if this cat-like propensity were incur-
able in her what then ? After all, perhaps it would
be cruel at this moment to pass sentence of banish-
ment upon her. She might as well stay till to-mor-
row morning, so long as she kept out of his way.
''Go," he had commanded, "and don't come near
me and my visitors again."
And she had hung her head humbly, and vanished
behind the rubbish heap, and there she cowered now,
in terror of being discovered.
When Boleslav had finished his story, Engelbert
exchanged significant glances with his friends, then
said
"We have brought the requisite tools with us. If
you can supply us with the wood, we will knock you
up a coffin in a very short time."
"Naturally it won't be a very grand one," re-
marked Peter Negenthin with a stony smile.
Engelbert looked at him reprovingly. A subdued
growl passed from mouth to mouth through the little
party, which Boleslav, in his most light-hearted con-
fidence in his friends' good will, did not hear.
"Do you remember," he exclaimed, "that coffin we
made for the young Count Dohna in the dark ? We
took two hours over it, though we couldn't see an
inch before our noses."
104 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
But his reminiscences met with no response.
"One of you hold the horses," said Engelbert,
" and the rest of us will go and look for wood. All
must be ready before nightfall."
Boleslav bethought him of the wine in the cellar,
which the fire had spared, where also was the frugal
larder, containing bread and salt meat, but not
enough with which to entertain his friends.
" I have next to nothing to offer you to eat," he
said, " but I wish you would at least refresh your-
selves with a bottle of wine before setting to work."
The friends were silent, and their faces clouded.
" Never mind refreshment," said Engelbert, trying
to assume a facetious tone. " Wine makes a man
lazy, and we haven't a minute to spare."
He stooped to test some scorched rafters that lay
about among the stable ruins.
"This will do," he said, "but we won't saw oft
the blackened part; that will serve us instead of
paint."
And he walked on farther with Boleslav to look
for more rafters. Something white rose suddenly
out of the earth in front of them, and disappeared
in a twinkling behind a neighbouring wall.
Boleslav instinctively balled his fists, for he had
recognised Regina.
" I ought to apologise," he said, " for not being
able to send you a better messenger. I had no one
else to send."
Engelbert was about to speak, but seemed t<
think better of it.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 105
"You were obliged to supply her with clothes, I
understand ? "
"Yes," answered Engelbert, his natural loquacity
getting the upper hand. " I found her lying on the
doorstep with scarcely a rag to her back. She was
dead beat. I got up in the night to see what the
dogs were barking at."
" What ? Was it in the night ? *
" Two o'clock in the morning. Here is a sound
rafter. We can use that. . . . She ran the twenty
miles in seven hours. I should never have thought
it possible ; she lay like an otter that has been shot
down so straight and fair and gasped for breath.
Your sheet of paper she clung to with both hands.
She tried to stand up, but fell backwards. Then I
fetched her brandy, rubbed her temples, and gave
her "
One of his companions who were following be-
hind, now came up, and gave him such a look of
astonishment and reproach that he broke off in the
middle of a sentence.
For the next few hours an industrious sawing
and hammering proceeded from the Castle island,
which sounds fell disagreeably on the ears of the
fierce and much perturbed Schrandeners on the
opposite bank of the river. It seemed to portend
that their nicely-laid plans were at the last moment
to be frustrated.
Old Hackelberg appeared in the street with his
gun, which, as a rule, lay buried in a dung-heap,
because he was afraid that it might be taken away
io6 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
from him, as had once happened when he amused
himself by shooting bats in the market-place, de-
claring that they followed him in swarms wherever
he went. With this famous gun he used in old
days to go out poaching every night, but since his
once unerring hand had become weak and tremulous
from drink, he had been obliged to give up the
trade. Only when he had drunk even more than
usual did the old sporting instinct rise strongly
within him, and he would rush to the shed, unearth
his gun, and bring down a swallow in full flight
through the air.
Now he was on the war-path, and with the bab-
bling rhetoric peculiar to him, shouted
" Schrandeners, duty calls ! Arm yourselves
against the traitors. I am an unhappy father.
Robbed of my child. I'll shoot him dead, the
brute."
" But he is dead," some one interposed.
"Is he? Well, it doesn't matter the other
must be shot all must be shot down."
Meanwhile Felix Merckel was ramping about the
parlour of the Black Eagle like a bull of Bashan.
He remembered enough about the Heide youths
to know that when once irritated or attacked they
would go any length. The inevitable result of
offering them opposition would be such bloodshed
as the rioters outside had no conception of. And
then what then ? Would not he as ringleader be
the first object on which the wrath of the outraged
law would expend itself?
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 107
On the other hand, did the swindler who had
dared under a false name to obtain a lieutenancy
and abuse the confidence of his comrades, thereby
incurring the contempt and abhorrence of every
honourable brother-in-arms did he deserve to be
allowed to score such a triumph ?
While his son was debating thus, Herr Merckel,
senior, was also troubled with anxiety from another
cause. It struck him as a pity that such a quantity
of noble enthusiasm should be seething about aim-
lessly in the open air, and determined to put an
end to the nuisance.
He stepped into the porch, and addressed the
rabble in his suavest, most paternal tones.
" I, as your local functionary, cannot bear to see
you, my children, turning our public square into a
bear-garden. Go under cover, and then you may
make as much noise as you please."
Of course, " under cover " could only mean the
parlour of the Black Eagle ; and, five minutes later,
the consumption of inspiriting stimulants left no-
thing to be desired.
Felix had bowed his curly head between his
hands, and stared gloomily into his glass.
Surely no Prussian patriot who had ever worn a
sword ought silently to look on at what was coming
to pass this night ? Rather die ! Rather !
He jumped up, and began to speak inspiringly to
the crowd.
His speech was not without effect. One after
the other stole out and returned with some sort
io8 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
of weapon, a flint -gun, a bent sabre, or a
scythe.
" Calm, and patriotic, my children ! " exclaimed
old Merckel, grinning, and counting the empty
tankards with his argus eye.
Night had come. The two flaring tallow candles
in the bar illumined the overcrowded, oppressively
hot room, and were reflected in the polished blades
of the scythes. Then two or three boys, who had
been stationed as spies on the drawbridge, burst in,
shouting at the top of their voices
" They're coming ! They're coming ! "
There arose a howl of fury. Every one pressed
to the door. Felix Merckel hurried into his bed-
room to take his sabre out of its scabbard, but
he did not come back. Probably the sight of the
weapon he had so often wielded in honourable war-
fare brought him to his senses.
His father continued to exhort the rioters to
calmness and caution, especially those who had not
yet paid for their drinks.
" Forwards ! " spluttered old Hackelberg, "avenge
my poor child. Mow them down ! "
Outside, in the market-place, the whole popula-
tion of the village was assembled. Even babies in
swaddling-clothes had been snatched out of their
cradles, and their squalling mingled with the babel
of many tongues. The moon came out from behind
some clouds, and shed a pale twilight on the scene.
The church tower rose dark and forbidding against
the sky, and the parsonage, too, remained silent and
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 109
dark. The old veteran had kept his word. He
heard and saw nothing of what was passing. A
dark-red fiery glow appeared behind the cottages
that lined the road to the river. Above the low
roofs rose columns of thick black smoke. Like the
reflection from a conflagration the purple vapour
encroached on the pale dusk of the summer night.
With one accord the rabble took the path to the
churchyard, which, a few yards from the last strag-
gling houses, lay close to the street. There by the
gate they would best be able to bar the way to the
invaders. Those who had been in the war fell into
rank and stood r^ady for action. As far as they
were concerned, it would be a case of soldiers pitted
against soldiers.
" Where is Merckel ? " one of them exclaimed in
astonishment, expecting to hear the lieutenant's
word of command. " Where is Merckel ? " was
echoed in consternation from all sides.
But the feeling that he must be coming, and had
only gone to arm himself, allayed any momentary
suspicion of his having shirked the business at the
last. The lurid glow drew nearer and nearer.
Soon the eye could distinguish something black and
square, framed as it were in flames.
"The coffin the coffin!" the crowd exclaimed,
and involuntarily shuddered. Then, suddenly
who began it no one knew it was as if it had
flashed across every brain at the same instant, in
a booming chorus the mob set up the weird
chorale
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
" Our noble Baron and Lord
Of Schrandenerf souls abhorred;
For the shame he has brought on our head,
O God, let the plague strike him dead."
And the coffin advanced. Already the light from
the torches shone on the faces of the singing mob,
and women and children retreated screaming.
The crowd opened wide enough for the proces-
sion to pass on, and closed again behind it. Six
men carried the coffin on their shoulders and swung
flaming pine-branches in their disengaged hands,
which scared the throng and made it draw to one
side. Six others followed with loaded muskets.
At their head Boleslav, with his pistols cocked in
his hand, his military cap on the back of his head,
piercing his antagonists with his burning gaze,
cleared a road for his father's corpse. Deeper
became the rent in the human vortex, thinner the
space that divided the procession from the armed
Schrandeners, who looked uneasily from side to
side, conscious that they were leaderless.
When Boleslav stood face to face with them they
were about to make a forward dash, but a short
military " Halt ! " such as they had often heard in
the campaign, compelled them to take a step back-
wards instead, for in spite of themselves, their
limbs insisted on complying with the old habit of
obedience. Boleslav, who had intended the order
for the bearers, saw its effect on the armed line in
front of him, and suddenly a new idea occurred
to him.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS in
" As you were ' " he commanded again. No one
moved a hair. His manner, his voice mastered
them. " Which of you have been soldiers ? Which
of you has helped his king to make his country free?"
An indistinct, half-resentful murmur went through
the ranks, but there was no answer.
"The king sent you home," he continued, "be-
cause he is now at peace with his enemies. Do
you suppose that he would be pleased to hear you
had taken it upon yourselves to break the peace
once more in his realm ? Bah ! he wouldn't be-
lieve it of you ! He might believe it of Poles, but
not of Prussians ! So make room, my good people.
Let us pass ! "
The line wavered and began to break in places.
For one moment the churchyard gate lay clear
before Boleslav's eyes, but the next, fresh figures
had moved up from behind and filled the breach.
Again the clamour arose, and mingling ,ith it a
loud, gurgling laugh of derision. In anot'ntr instant
something round, black, and polished was levelled
at Boleslav's head, and behind it sparkled a pair of
malignant eyes. He had only a second in which
to realise what was going to happen, before a figure,
supple as a panther's, shot past him and plunged
into the midst of the Schrandeners' troops, which
again showed signs of giving way. In the hiatus
thus made, Boleslav saw two forms wrestling on the
ground, one that of a woman, the othr a man's.
The woman overpowered her antagonist, and wrested
from his hand the gleaming bore of a gun.
112 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
It was the carpenter Hackelberg and his daughter.
She must, stealthily and unobserved, have followed
the funeral cortege, for since her disappearance on
the other side of the stable ruins Boleslav had seen
nothing of her. The crowd pushed forward, curious
to find out who was struggling on the ground, and
Boleslav, promptly taking advantage of the general
confusion, passed the combatants and gained the
churchyard gate, the coffin following close at his
he.ls.
Behind was heard the report of the gun, which
exploded in the hand-to-hand struggle.
"Guard the entrance!" he called to the six who
followed the coffin, while the bearers made their way
between the mounds and tombstones to the burial
vault of the Barons von Schranden.
, Karl Engelbert stationed himself as sentinel be-
neath the gateway, and saw, by aid of the last
flicker of the torches as they moved away, how
the crowd closed round the wrestling father and
daughter.
Three piercing shrieks escaped the girl's lips.
Evidently the mob intended to wreak its thwarted
fury on her. There seemed little doubt that she
would perish at its hands, unless some one came
quickly to her help.
"Leave her alone!" cried Engelbert, striking out
right and left with his powerful fists. And then the
figure, that had been so pitifully mauled and in such
dire extremity till he interfered, emerged from the
midst of her persecutors. She glided past him,
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 113
dived into the dry ditch that skirted the churchyard
wall, and then disappeared like a shadow, into the
darkness. The Schrandeners began, with whoops
and hoots, to pursue her.
" How about the burial ? " cried one.
" The devil take the burial ! " exclaimed another,
and cast a shy glance at the men standing on guard
by the churchyard gate men who looked as if they
were not to be trifled with. Certainly it was better
sport to give chase to a defenceless creature than to
risk one's skin in an encounter with them.
And the Schrandeners started off like blood-
hounds. The carpenter Hackelberg tried to do
likewise, but staggered instead into the ditch, where
he lay full length and fell asleep.
CHAPTER VII
THE last of the stone slabs that covered the vault
had crunched back in its place with a resounding
crash. Hans Eberhard von Schranden lay with his
ancestors. In the little chapel, the men who had
acted as grave-diggers bared their heads and said a
short prayer. The torches that had burnt down to
their sockets smouldered on the smooth surface of
the flagstones, and cast a lurid glow as they flickered
out over the stern faces of the worshippers.
Then without looking round at Boleslav they left
the chapel He stood in a remote corner with his
hands before his face, brooding fiercely on the future
that lay before him. The echoing footsteps roused
him, and silently he followed his friends, letting the
iron gate of the chapel that had been broken open
when they came in, swing back in the lock.
The moon had again pierced the clouds, and
illumined with a weird radiance the mounds and
crosses that stood in regular rows, like columns
drawn up for battle.
" Do you wish to bait me too ? " Boleslav murmured
as he contemplated the graves for a moment with a
bitter smile. At the gate he overtook his friends.
They joined the men on guard, who now had
"4
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 115
nothing to watch, for, with the exception of a group
of women and old men who stood gossiping by the
hedge, the street was empty. Hoots were heard
proceeding from the distant fields, where the mob
apparently were still in full pursuit.
" God have mercy on her, if they catch her ! " said
Karl Engelbert with folded hands. Then two of his
comrades, one of whom was Peter Negenthin, came
up to him and whispered earnestly in his ear.
Boleslav was too, lost in thought to notice their
strange and unnatural behaviour towards himself,
and was not even aware, as they walked through
the village, that he was always left to walk alone,
though now and then he stepped confidentially to
the side of one or other of them. He had accom-
plished the first chapter of his work. His father
was laid to rest as befitted his rank, and yet it
seemed as if the real work was only just beginning.
He beheld all he had to do towering like a great
inaccessible mountain in front of him. The moulder-
ing ruins must be built up again ; what was now
a waste overgrown by weeds must be restored to
a waving sea of golden corn ; he must strive to
endow his neglected property with new wealth, and
his tarnished name with new honour : and then he
saw, as the goal of all this striving, the face of the
beloved beckoning him onwards. If he was too
bowed down now with a consciousness of shame
and disgrace to look into her pure, maidenly eyes,
then he would be able to go to her and say, " Now,
all is expiated. I am worthy to lay myself at your
n6 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
feet." Yes, he would struggle tooth and nail work
day and night to attain this end.
At first it seemed almost madness to think of
such a gigantic undertaking. . . . But he had his
friends to help him. . . . After all, it would not be
a single-handed struggle. Had not they to-day
helped him to achieve the impossible ? Would
not they, true to their sacred oath, continue to
stand by him in need with their advice and sym-
pathy ? And perhaps their noble example would in
time break down the barrier that divided him from his
fellow-creatures, and lead to his father's sin being
at last consigned to the limbo of forgotten history.
Higher and higher rose his hopes as he meditated
thus. They had left the village street behind them,
and now reached the drawbridge, where the vehicles
had been put up. The horses, each with its nose
in a bundle of hay, waited patiently by the, fence
to which they were tethered. Immediately, without
a moment's delay, the comrades set to work to
harness them.
This frightened Boleslav out of his dream.
"What ! " he exclaimed. "Off already, before I
have thanked you ? "
No one spoke.
" Won't you take a glass of wine now the job is
finished ? And I wanted to ask your advice about
other matters."
Peter Negenthin strode up, and looking him
straight in the face, drew his clenched fist from the
sling.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 117
"We would rather die of thirst," he hissed
through his set teeth, " than take a drink of water
from your hand."
Boleslav staggered backwards as if he had been
hit between the eyes. He felt the earth reeling
beneath his feet.
Then Karl Engelbert stepped forth from his sullen
little band.
" It is much to be deplored, Baumgart I call you
so because you have been Baumgart to us till this
minute it is much to be deplored that you should
thus be bluntly told of what our present feelings are
towards you. Why did not you hold your tongue,
Negenthin ? . . . But the words have been spoken
and cannot be recalled, so now you may as well
know all. You summoned us, and we came. Some
of us, it is true, were of opinion that we weren't
obliged to obey your summons, considering you had
deceived us about your name ; but others said,
whether it was Baumgart or no, we were bound by
the oath taken in the church at Dannigkow, after
our first battle and none of us were desirous of
breaking an oath. That is why we are here. You
can imagine that we didn't come willingly. We are
honest fellows, and to tell the truth, the work you
gave us to do went against the grain. The long
and short of it is, that when we go home, and
people spit in our faces, we must put up with it,
for they will have right on their side."
" Why didn't you say all this before ? " Boleslav
stammered forth. "Why, oh why have you let it
n8 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
come to my standing here before you like a like
a Ha ! ha ! ha ! If you spit in my face, I must
put up with it / "
" You need not reproach yourself on our account,"
Engelbert replied. "You have quite enough to
bear without that. But now that we have dis-
charged our duty without grumbling, you must
admit I can only ask you, on behalf of myself and
my comrades, to release us from our oath, as we
release you from yours. Of course we cannot
compel you against your wish, but all I can say
is, that if you don't choose to do it, we must leave
home and kindred, and wander forth into the world,
lest people "
" Stop ! " cried Boleslav, feeling as if more would
kill him. "Your desire is fulfilled. I now wish
it as earnestly as you do. Of a truth I should
deserve my disgrace, were I ever to ask another
favour of you. ... I will not even insult you by
saying 'Many thanks' for the service you have
just rendered me. May God reward you, and may
He forgive you for having put me in my present
position; rather would I have thrown the corpse
into the river and myself after it; let us say no
more. Perhaps you will allow me to assist in
putting the horses in, as there is nothing else I can
do for you ? "
" I am sorry," Engelbert said, his voice quivering
with emotion; "it pains us deeply. We are as
fond of you yourself as we have ever been but,
you see "
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 119
" I see all, dear Engelbert ; no excuses are
necessary."
" Well then, we wish you farewell."
" Farewell ! "
The horses were put in. All were in readiness to
start. Staring vacantly before him, Boleslav leant
against the wall. Engelbert turned and took a last
look at him from the box-seat.
" And don't forget Regina ! " he said. " That is
to say, if she escapes with her life. It is to her,
not to us, you are indebted."
"Very well," answered Boleslav, not taking in
the meaning of what had been said to him.
"Adieu!"
" Adieu, and bon voyage ! "
The drivers cracked their whips; in another
moment the heavy wheels had thundered over the
loose flooring of the drawbridge. Like silver-girt
phantoms the coaches disappeared in the misty
moonlight.
He was alone more alone than any outcast in
God's wide world. What should he do ?
He began wearily to drag his footsteps up the
incline. The brambles that tangled the ground
wound round his ankles. A firefly made a zig-
zag thread of flame in front of him. From the top
of the hill the great, weird, dark masses of the
Castle ruins looked down on him, as if threatening
to fall on him and bury him beneath their debris.
Through the yawning window-casements the moon
shone, giving them the appearance of huge ghostly
120 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
eyes. He roamed absently past the towers, a sudden
exhaustion weighing like lead upon his limbs. If
only he could fall asleep and never wake again.
He tried to remember what it was his friend had
called out to him from the coach at parting. He
racked and racked his brains, but his memory failed
him.
The grass plot, where he had first found the half-
wild girl, lay before him brightly illumined by the
moon. The spot where she had begun to dig the
grave stood out in uncanny blackness from the rest
of the shining turf.
If only he had shovelled the corpse into it and
gone on his way, perhaps somewhere at the other
end of the world some sort of happiness might still
have been in store for him.
But now it was too late. Now all he could do
was to endure to complete the work of defiance
begun to-day under such gloomy circumstances.
Desolate and alone till the end. Never to feel again
the clasp of a friendly hand, never to look with trust
and affection into any human face, since the doughty
comrades he had so firmly believed in had recoiled
from him shuddering.
And had not the beloved shrunk from him too in
horror ? It seemed clear now for the first time why
she had avoided him and hidden herself.
He was cut adrift from all the joys and sorrows
that form a common bond between the hearts of
men cut adrift from love, hope, compassion, from
everything but ignominy and hate.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 121
With his face buried in his hands, he staggered
over the lawn in the direction of the gardener's cot-
tage, when his foot struck against something round
and soft that lay across the path. It was the figure
of a woman, lying with her head buried in the dry
leaves and her limbs outstretched. Regina posi-
tively it was Regina!
" What are you doing here ? Get up."
There was not a sound or a movement. Where
had he seen her last ? Ah ! to be sure ; under the
churchyard gateway, screening him from the gun
that was pointed at his brain. That ghastly moment
came back to him with all its terrors. For his sake
she had flung herself on the murderer ; for his sake
risked her life. And how had he rewarded her?
He had pushed carelessly past her; consigned her
to the mercy of the murderous, bloodthirsty crew
who were greedy to take her life, without a shadow
of a thought of how he might save her troubling
him for an instant. Even if she were the most
abandoned creature on the face of the earth, she
had not deserved such dastardly treatment at his
hands. Certainly she had not.
" Regina, wake up."
He bent over her and raised her, but her head
fell back lifeless among the bushes. There was
blood on his fingers from touching her. Her hair
was damp and matted.
Was she dead ? No ; it must not, could not
be. Sacrificed for him; that would mean adding
original guilt to the sin he had inherited, and the
122 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
idea of owing so much to such a degraded creature,
was in the last degree humiliating. She must at
least live till he had paid her. He tore open her
chemise with a rough, eager hand, and laid his ear
on the cool, rounded breast.
God be praised ! Her heart was still beating. And
as he raised her once more, she slowly opened her
great eyes and looked round her vacantly. As if
shocked at being caught holding her thus, he let her
head slip out of his arms.
She moaned slightly as she sank back, for the
swaying briars hurt her. Then regaining conscious-
ness, she lifted herself on her elbow and gazed at
him in dumb inquiry.
"Get up, Regina," he said.
The sound of his voice made her tremble. She
tried to struggle on to her feet, but fell back help-
lessly.
'Let me lie where I am," she begged, with a
timid, imploring glance.
"Stand up. I will help you."
"Must I go?" she asked, evading the proffered
support. Grief and anxiety were depicted on her
blood-stained, beautiful face.
"You would rather stay with me?"
"Ah, Herr, how can you ask?"
"But you'll have a bad time of it if you do."
"Oh, no, Herr. The gnadiger Herr used to whip
me every day. I am quite accustomed to it."
"But somewhere else they would treat you
better."
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 123
" Somewhere else ? " New consternation showed
itself on her features.
" Good God ! A woman like you, who is willing
and hard-working, and has such strong limbs, is
sure "
She shook her head violently. "I shouldn't go
far, Herr. If you hunt me away, I shall only lie
down in a ditch and starve to death."
A softer look came into his eyes. No matter how
bad, stupid, and corrupt she might be, she was the
only human being in the wide world who clung to
him. Why should he drive her from his threshold,
when he himself was despised, ostracised, and a
social outcast ? Were they not both under the ban
of the same misfortune ?
CHAPTER VIII
THE next few days proved how little he was in
a position to live on his own estate without her
services. He was far more dependent on her than
she on him. Helpless as a shipwrecked mariner on
a desert island, he stole about the ancestral grounds.
Though the mines and wolfs'-traps no longer dogged
his steps, finding his way among the chaos of smoked
and tumbling walls made him giddy, and decay had
altered everything so much, that the landmarks of
his childish memories afforded him no assistance.
Even the park, where once he had known every tree
and bush, through long years of neglect, had become
such a wilderness that at every step he nearly lost
himself in it.
When the first flush of his defiance and despair
had subsided, the question arose, " What was he to
do next ? " It was a problem that pressed for solution,
as the miserable rations of bread and meat in the
cellars were running out.
His pride prevented his seeking advice from
Regina; he had not spoken to her again. Appar-
ently she understood the wisdom of making herself
scarce. But when he returned of a morning from
the river, where he went for a bath, he found the
THE SINS OB THE FATHERS 125
red-flowered counterpane of the canopied bed neatly
arranged, the floor swept, and strewn with sand and
fragrant fir spikes, and saw awaiting him on the
gold-legged table (the fourth leg of which was
propped up with a brick) a steaming brown coffee-
pot, and dainty slices of black bread lying beside it.
His shyness at taking food from her hands had
soon to be got over. At first he had still hesitated
a little to break bread that she had brought him, but
it looked so appetising, and bathing in the cold
autumn mornings sharpened his hunger, that at last
his scruples had gone to the wall.
At midday, a soup made of bread, and slices of
roast meat, stood ready for him, not to mention a
bottle of good wine ; and in the evening, by some
clever stratagem, another meal of a different character
was contrived out of the same unpromising materials.
Thus she knew how to keep house with nothing but
the scanty larder he had found in the cellar at her
disposal.
He often saw her whisk past the window with
pots and kettles, on her way to wash them in the
river. When she came back she would cautiously
peer with her lustrous eyes through the shrubs, to
ascertain whether the coast was clear. If he hap-
pened to be at the door, or looking out of the
window, she would immediately disappear in the
wood.
She made the gardener's former workshop her
domain. One morning when he had watched her
go down to the river, he went in to look at it. He
126 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
found a low, sloping room, with a roof composed of
old greenhouse frames. The green, dusty, lead-
bordered panes were much cracked, and in places
let in the winds and rains of heaven. The ground
was neither floored nor paved, but covered with a
dark moist garden soil resembling peat. Attached
to the walls were rude wooden shelves, once used
by the gardener for his flower-pots. They now
held all the house's scanty stock of crockery. Pots,
plates, and dishes were arranged on them in perfect
order, and had been polished till they shone. A
blackened door off its hinges, evidently rescued
from the fire, supported by two wooden boxes about
two feet from the ground, was spread with straw
and a haircloth, of the kind that are thrown over
the backs of horses to protect them from cold.
This was her bed " Many a dog has a better,"
he thought. The brick fireplace was in the oppo-
site corner ; a home-made contrivance of beams was
meant to guide the belching smoke from the hearth
into its proper channel, but only partially succeeded.
In this smoky hole, with its cold damp floor, she
was domiciled, and desired nothing better. Here
her heart was centred as in a dearly cherished
Paradise. Poor, wretched woman ! and to be driven
forth from it meant to her death and perdition.
And then one evening she disappeared. He had
at last made up his mind to speak to her about the
provisions, and went to call her. No answer came.
The kitchen was empty. He sought her in the
park, among the ruins, on the bridge, all over the
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 127
island, but there was no sign of her. Her name rang
clearly out through the night air as he called her, and
had she been anywhere about she must have heard
it. He became suspicious. Probably after the hard
work of her lonely days, she took it out at night in
the arms of a swain. She was, of course, well versed
in the arts of vice, and would not scruple to yield
herself to the embraces of some rustic gallant.
Many of her persecutors below may have desired
the body they stoned. How otherwise could her ob-
stinate adherence to her present miserable mode of
living, after his father's death, be explained, except
by the existence of a new sin a sin which, per-
haps, had long been carried on hand-in-hand with
the old. He was filled with loathing and disgust
at the thought.
" If she can't behave herself, I'll pack her off
early to-morrow morning ; " and with this resolution
he retired to rest. But he could not sleep for
thinking of what the future would be without her.
To send her away would involve going himself the
same day.
At about six o'clock he was awakened out of a
doze by a stealthy opening of the outer door. He
got up and dressed himself quickly, determined to
call her to account without loss of time. He en-
tered the kitchen and found her on the hearth with
inflated cheeks, blowing the pine logs she had just
set alight into a flame.
She turned on him slowly, her eyes big with as-
tonishment, and said, " Good morning, Herr"
128 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
He trembled in angry excitement. "Where have
you been all night ?" he thundered.
Her arms fell to her sides, and she shrank away
terrified.
'Tell me at once."
"Ah, Herr," she stuttered, hanging her head, "I
thought you wouldn't notice I had gone, and that I
should be back before the Herr was awake "
"So, if I don't notice, you amuse yourself by run*
ning about all night?"
She had retreated still farther from him.
"But but I was obliged to go," she said, stam-
mering painfully. "There was scarcely anything
at all left and and the Herr has eaten nothing
but salt meat for so long."
The scales fell from his eyes.
"You went, then, to fetch food?"
"Of course, Herr. I have brought veal and fresh
eggs and butter and sausage and lots of things.
It's all in the cellar."
"Where did you get it?"
"Oh, I told you, Herr in Bockeldorf. I know
a grocer there, who gets ready a supply of what we
want beforehand, and when I knock at nights he
lets me in at the back door. Not a living soul be-
sides his wife knows. And he's not very dear. Herr
Merckel, down in the village, charges a thaler a
pound for meat, and swears at me into the bargain."
"And you have walked six miles there and back
to-night, and carried all those heavy parcels?"
Still frightened, she regarded him with surprise.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 129
" I think you know, Herr, that I can do it, for I told
you so before."
" But it's a physical impossibility. Don't lie
to me, girl. From my experience during the cam-
paign, I know how much fatigue a man can
stand."
Now that she saw he was no longer angry she
dared to draw herself to her full height. She ex-
hibited her powerful arms proudly, and exclaimed
with a pleased smile
" I can stand more than any man, Herr, else I
should be no good at all."
" For how long have you been going on these
journeys, Regina?"
" For five years, Herr. Every week. Sometimes
oftener. In summer it's child's play. But in
autumn and winter, when the snow lies two feet
thick in the wood, or when the meadows are flooded,
it's no joke. But there's one thing to be thankful
for, the nights are long then, and at least no one
can see you. And I'd a hundred times rather walk
the six miles than go to that beast I beg pardon,
I mean Herr Merckel who takes a thaler for a
pound of meat. Isn't that abominable ? And in
the village "
She paused suddenly, as if she feared being scolded
for talking too much.
" What were you going to say, Regina ? " he
asked in a kindlier tone.
" Oh, nothing, but I should like to beg the Herr"s
pardon for having gone without leave. But I thought
I*
130 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
he might perhaps like a change for breakfast a
fresh egg "
" Never mind, Regina," he said, turning away ;
"you are a good girl."
He went down to the river to bathe. When he
came back he found his room tidied as usual, only
the coffee was not there.
" She is so tired out that she's fallen asleep," he
thought, and resigned himself to wait. At least,
she should not be reprimanded any more to-day.
But in consequence of his bath he was bitterly
cold, and found he could not forego the customary
warm beverage much longer. So, in order not to
wake her he went on tiptoe into the kitchen to see
to the fire himself. But she was not asleep, though
at the first glance it looked like it She sat on the
edge of her couch, motionless, with her hands before
her face. Now and again a quiver passed through
her frame, a symptom of the sleep of exhaustion.
Yet on regarding her closer, he saw that glistening
tear-drops were falling through her red, plump fingers,
and her breast was shaking with gurgling sobs.
"What's the matter, Regina? Why are you
crying ? "
She did not answer, but her sobs became louder.
" Have I hurt your feelings, Regina ? I shouldn't
have scolded you if I had known where you had
been."
She let her hands fall from her face, and looked
at him with eyes swollen from weeping.
" Ah, Herr ! " she said in a voice half choked by
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 131
tears. " No one ever called me that before ; and
it's not true."
His mood changed and became harsh again. He
was not conscious of having used any abusive epi-
thet. It was too ridiculous of this creature, who was
accustomed to being hounded about from pillar to
post, to pretend to be thin-skinned and fastidious.
" What isn't true ? " he demanded.
" What you said."
" What did I say ? Good heavens ! "
"That I I was a good " She broke again
into convulsive sobs that stifled her voice.
He shook his head, perplexed at her distress.
He had never looked very deeply into the most
complex problems of the human soul, and did not
know that even dishonour has its code of honour.
Laughing, he laid his hand on her shoulder.
" Don't cry any more, Regina ; I meant no harm.
And now get my breakfast ready."
" May I bring it in ? " she asked, still sobbing.
" Do you want me to come and fetch it ? "
" I only thought I mightn't " She moved to
the hearth and began blowing the smouldering fire,
using her tear-stained cheeks as bellows.
After that she was no longer shy of entering his
room when he was there. Ever anxious to forestall
his wishes, she seemed to read his countenance
without a question passing her lips.
Boleslav had found, in the recesses of the cellar
in which money and wine were stored, great masses
of papers stuffed into chests, where chaos reigned
132 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
supreme. They contained the whole of his father'*
correspondence, deeds, and documents of every
description. His first search among them had
brought to light nothing less important than his
aunt's last will and testament, in which her Excel-
lency bequeathed to Boleslav von Schranden, the
only son of her favourite niece, the whole of her
fortune, " to compensate him for the wrong," so
ran the clause, " from which he would suffer to the
end of his days."
Boleslav's pleasure at first was not great ; it was
only when he considered that here was a weapon
put into his hand to use in the coming struggle,
that he began to appreciate the value of the gift.
He scarcely gave a thought to the giver, who had
always been kindness itself to him, so hardened
had he become, so completely was his mind en-
grossed by contemplation of the grim work that it
was his duty to carry on.
If only he could have seen a way clear before
him, which he could have pursued instantly, with-
out looking to the right or left, with the impetuous
zeal characteristic of his nature ! But for months
the prospect must be one of paralysing hopeless
inaction. The war which he had determined to
wage against the Schrandeners must be conducted
on an ambitious scale, if it were not to end in the
pitiful failure that had soured and impoverished the
last years of his father's life. It would need an
army of workmen to inspire the serfs, who had so
long run wild, with new respect And where were
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 133
these to be engaged, when there was not a soul in
the neighbourhood who would not have disdained to
enter his service ? But nearly everything is attain-
able with money, and doubtless many a swaggering
patriot, who now spat at the mention of his name,
could be brought, cringing and servile, to heel, by
the bribe of a triple wage. Only, for this his
means were not sufficient. The cash that at the first
glance had seemed such vast wealth, proved, on
nearer calculation, to be wholly inadequate to float
his scheme. It was 4500 thalers, left from out-
standing debts, that the old baron had hastily saved
from the conflagration, when the whole world must
have appeared to him to be melting into flame.
For the sort of existence that, following his father's
example, he was now leading with Regina, such a
sum would last for years ; but for the project he
had in view, it was a mere drop in the ocean.
Before the discovery of the will he had with a
heavy heart entertained the idea of offering the fine
old timber, which had been the pride of his ances-
tors, for sale, and to dispose of it below its value if
the need arose. Now he had abandoned the plan
as impracticable. Granted that he could find a
market for it as easily as he hoped, it must be
months before the actual cash came into his hands.
Besides winter was at hand, one of those severe
East Prussian winters, when work in the open air is
out of the question. For this year at least neither
building nor ploughing was to be thought of. Why,
then, make a sacrifice which with a little patience
134 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
might be avoided altogether ? If on the first of
April he claimed his legacy, and was able with full
pockets to enlist workers in his service, by May the
building would be in full swing, and possibly the
ground ready for the sowing of crops.
But till then till then ! How would he be able
to support the barren monotony of grey winter days
spent in enforced and dreary idleness when his
hands were burning to be at work ? How endure
the thought that his beloved was in the near neigh-
bourhood and he unable to ask her the fateful
question on which his life and happiness hung?
Would she wait ? Would she forgive ? Would
she steel her heart against the atmosphere of hate
and slander that surrounded her, and so keep her
affection for him unchanged ?
The Madonna in the cathedral came back to him.
He wondered if she still resembled it. If only
for one moment he might have gazed into her face !
There was a white and red mist before his eyes ; he
saw lilies and roses, and a radiant virgin figure
bending over them with a smile, but the features
of the girl he had loved he could only dimly
recall.
Veiled from his sight, perhaps she was destined
to be the invisible guardian-angel who was to watch
over his endeavours till his work was completed,
when she would set the crown to it by revealing
herself. He became gradually reconciled to the
thought, and ceased to yearn for a meeting ; and one
word or sign to assure him that his hopes in her
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 135
constancy were not ill-founded would have more
than satisfied him.
More and more he buried himself in the chaos of
papers, which seemed to increase instead of diminish,
in spite of his arduous sifting. The yellowed parch-
ments stood in great piles against the wall of his
sitting-room, reaching higher than the head of his
beautiful grandmother, and yet in the vaults there
still remained chests and boxes full, untouched.
The whole archives of the family seemed to have
been gathered together at a moment's notice, and
hurled into a place of safety without the slightest
regard to method or arrangement. Out of this
confusion he wanted to find documents relating
to the property, which were important, not to say
indispensable. Among others, were missing those
that concerned agreements with the emancipated
peasants relating to land boundaries. The canaille
below were certain to have grabbed from the do-
main that had become ownerless, more than their
legal share. He saw how law-suits would have
to be fought over almost every inch of ground, and
he must be able to back his claim with irrefragable
documentary proof.
Nevertheless he felt an insuperable aversion to
appealing to the courts. The picture of his father,
as he had seen him the last time alive, stood out
vividly in his memory; the ostracised baron, who
had been bold enough to seek the aid of the law,
had then found every door closed in his face. Truly
Prussia at that time was not itself. The walls of
136 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
the State were tottering to their foundations, and
the rats were having it all their ov/n way. But what
guarantee was there that the son of such a father
would find the ear of justice less deaf to his appeal ?
The law had shifts and resources in plenty by which
an unpopular person could be rendered powerless
to benefit by its help, and he did not doubt that he
would fall a victim to such casuistry. His deserted
and forlorn position so distorted his view of things
that law and order took the form of wild beasts
lying on the drawbridge in ambush for their prey.
Even his military duties had no interest for him
now. Lieutenant Baumgart was on the list of
killed. Why trouble the authorities with the work
of his resurrection ? They would not thank him
for it
A text from the Bible came into his mind : " His
hand shall be against every man, and every man's
hand against him." The curse that accompanied
Hagar's son through life, he by dint of stubborn
defiance would turn into a blessing.
Weeks went by, but he hardly observed the
flight of time. He sat immersed day after day in
his papers, wandering forth of an evening to stumble
about the ruins, or to take a walk in the overgrown
park. There was only one place he carefully
avoided. That was the path which led to the
Cats' Bridge. When he chanced to find himself
nearing it, his heart beat quicker, and he would
hurry breathlessly by the shrubs that concealed it
from view. Yet he was tormented by a grim desire
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 137
to stand on the scene of the disaster, a desire which
at length became almost irrepressible.
It was one evening towards the end of September
when, for the first time since his return home, the
moon was full. He roamed restlessly in the glades
of the park, the dry leaves rustled at his feet, and
the autumn wind shook the branches of the trees.
The moonbeams shimmered on the grass like
flocks of white sheep. Before him the shrubs rose
in a dark, jagged line of wall. An impulse of sinister
curiosity suddenly got the better of the superstitious
repugnance that had hitherto held him back, and he
plunged through the thicket that, with a sort of
protecting air, hid the path. The descent to the
river was steep, almost perpendicular, and the
mirror-like surface of the water was entirely con-
cealed by alder-bushes. A faint rippling and splash-
ing below fell mysteriously on his ear. From the
top of the precipice a railed plank shot boldly out
into mid-air. A rude scaffolding, planted firmly in
the rock of the precipice, supported it with iron bars.
On the opposite bank the trunk of a giant oak
formed the support. In the middle there was a
yawning gap of from ten to twelve feet. Like two
arms longingly outstretched but never meeting, the
planks branched forth on either side above the
abysmal depths.
If they had never reached each other the crime
would never have come to pass. But an easier job
for a joiner could not be conceived. The plank on
this side had two loose boards, which, by means of
138 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
a wedge, could easily be pushed across; and the
position of the hand-rail, by being unhinged, could
also be reversed. Everything seemed to have been
arranged expressly to facilitate the treacherous
transaction. As a memorial of eternal shame, the
dark, crude structure loomed out through the white
mists of the brilliant night.
Beneath, the splashing from the invisible river
grew more pronounced. It sounded as if its waters
were still foaming with rage at the deed that so
long ago had been enacted near at hand, and which
death itself could not consign to oblivion.
Like a man in a dream, he stepped on to the
plank, and looked down on the silver surface, which
seemed to be emitting myriads of diamond sparks.
Then he beheld the figure of a woman, who stood
up to her knees in the water, with her skirts
pinned round her waist. It was Regina, doing her
washing, and wringing out the articles among the
sandbanks and osiers.
His brows contracted. That he should encounter
her here of all places! But in common justice he
was obliged to admit it was not her fault. When-
ever she could she avoided him, and he had no
reason to complain that he saw too much of her.
He leant absently on the railing and watched her.
She had no idea that he was anywhere in the
neighbourhood. She bent low over the water, the
muscles in her neck and arms strained by her
exertions, and shook the wet clothes with a will f
sending up a spray of glistening drops. From time
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 139
to time she chanted the song on two notes, that he
had heard her hum while digging the grave, break-
ing off abruptly when the water spurted into her
nose and mouth.
What a hard worker she was ! He had imagined
her long ago gone to bed, and here she was instead,
at this time of night, washing as if her life depended
on it!
She started in alarm. His foot had disturbed
some small pebbles, which fell splashing into the
water close to where she stood. Her first thought
was that some one was lying in wait for her among
the shrubs, and she moved suspiciously nearer the
opposite bank. When at last it occurred to her to
look up at the Cats' Bridge, she gave a startled cry.
"Don't be frightened, Regina," he called down
to her. " I am not going to hurt you."
Whereupon she returned calmly to her washing.
" How do you get down there ? " he asked.
She wiped her face with her naked arm. " I'm
a good climber," she said, looking up at him for a
moment with blinking eyes.
" Doesn't the water freeze you ? So late in the
year, too ! "
She made some response that he did not under-
stand. He was curious to see how she would
clamber up the steep declivity with her burden,
so remained where he was and continued to watch
her.
In a few minutes she packed up her washing and
climbed on the bank. The moonlight cast a flashing
140
halo round the masses of her hair, which to-day
had been combed till it was almost smooth. She
looked as if she wore a coronet. With one shy
glance to ascertain that he was still standing there,
she dived into the shrubs, and he saw her dart
rapidly from branch to branch with the agility of a
wild-cat. At the top she let down her skirts, and
would have flown with her basket, had he not called
her back.
" Why do you do your washing at night ? " he
inquired, making an effort to look friendly disposed
towards her.
"Because in the daytime they give me no
peace."
" The villagers ? "
"Yes, Herr."
" What do they do to you ? M
"What they always do throw things at me."
" Over the river ? "
"Yes, Herr. n
" The next time any one assaults you, come and
fetch me."
She did not answer.
" Do you understand ? "
She folded her hands, and looked at him beseech-
ingly.
" What's the matter ? " he asked.
" Please, Herr, don't shoot at them," she stam-
mered. "They like you to do that. He the
gnddiger Herr, I mean tried it once. Then they
began to shoot too, from the other side, and there
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 141
was firing here and firing there ; the wonder was no
one got shot. Don't you see, if they get into the
habit of carrying guns about with them always, they
are certain to hit me one day, for I'm obliged to go
off the island sometimes ? "
It was the longest and most sensible speech he
had as yet heard from her lips. He had not
suspected the existence of so much thoughtful
wisdom behind that low brow, in its frame of wild
hair.
"You are right, Regina," he replied. "For your
sake I must forbear from provoking them."
He saw in the moonlight a dark flush suffuse her
face.
" For my sake, Herr ? " she said hesitatingly. " I
don't quite understand what you mean, Herr."
11 Oh, well, never mind," he answered evasively.
" What I wanted to ask you, Regina, was are you
satisfied in my service ? can I do anything to make
you more comfortable ? "
She stared at him in dumb amazement.
" You mustn't think, Regina," he went on, " that
I am unfriendly. My mind is occupied with many
things, and I prefer to be quite alone with my
troubles. So if I don't speak to you often you will
understand how it is."
Her eyes drooped. Her hands fumbled for the
balustrade as if seeking a support, then the next
moment she turned, and leaving her basket in the
lurch, scampered off, as if driven by furies.
" Strange creature ! " he muttered, as he looked
142 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
after her. "I must be kinder to her. She de-
serves it." Then he leant over the balustrade
again, and gazing into the silver water fancied
he saw growing there a garden of lilies and crimson
roses.
CHAPTER IX
LIEUTENANT MERCKEL was far from being pleased
at the course events had taken on the day of the
funeral. He called the Schrandeners poltroons and
old women, and declared they were unworthy ever
to have worn the king's uniform.
When some one ventured to ask why he had not
shown himself in it to the procession, and had left
the mob leaderless at a critical moment, he replied
that that was a different matter altogether: he was
an officer, and as such bound only to draw his sword
in the service of the king.
The Schrandeners, not accustomed to logical ar-
gument, accepted the explanation, and promised to
retrieve their reputation the next time the oppor-
tunity offered itself. But this did not satisfy Felix
Merckel.
"Father," he said, late one evening when the old
landlord was counting the cash taken during the
day, "I can't bear to think that scoundrelly cur
holds the rank of Royal Prussian officer as I do. I
am ashamed to have served with him. Our army
doesn't want to be associated with people like him.
It drags the cockade through the gutter, not to
M3
144 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
speak of the sword-knot. I know what I'll do; I'll
call him out and shoot him."
He stretched his legs on the settle, twisting his
cavalry moustache with a bland smile. The old man
let fall, in horrified dismay, a handful of silver that
he was counting, and the coins rolled away into the
cracks of the floor.
"Felixchen," he said, "you really mustn't drink
so much of that Wacholder brandy. It's good enough
for customers, but you, Felixchen, shall have a
bottle of light wine to-morrow, and perhaps some of
them will follow your example, and so it won't cost
me anything."
"Father, you are mistaken," Felix answered.
"It's my outraged sense of honour that gives me no
peace. I am a German lad, father, and a brave
officer. I can't stand the stain on my calling any
longer."
"Felixchen," said the old man, "go to bed, my son,
ond you'll get over it."
"Father," replied his son, "I am sorry to have to say
it, but you have no conception of what honour is."
"Felixchen," went on the old man, ignoring the
taunt, "you haven't enough occupation. If you
would only look after the bottles of course the
barmaid is there for the purpose but it would do
you good. It would distract your thoughts. Or
you might go out shooting sometimes."
"Where?"
"Lord bless my soul! there are the woods and
forest of Schranden. Whether the hares devour
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 145
each other, or you annex your share of them, is all
the same."
"That won't do for me, father. I am an officer,
and don't wish to be caught poaching."
"Good gracious, Felixchen, how you talk! Do you
forget that I am magistrate here. I am not likely to
sentence you to the gallows. But do as you like,
my boy. Of course you might go oftener to the
parsonage. The old pastor enjoys a game of chess ;
there's nothing to be gained by chess, I know, but
some people seem to like it, and then there's
Helene."
" Ah, Helene ! said Felix, stroking his chin and
looking flattered.
The old man examined the artificial fly in the
centre of his amber heart.
" I have a strong notion that she would be a good
match if the pastor consented, and she liked you."
" Why shouldn't she like me ? " asked Felix.
' Well, there might be some one else who n
Felix smiled sceptically.
"Or do you mean that she has already set her
heart on you ? "
Felix shrugged his shoulders.
" You see, Felixchen, that would be a great piece
of good fortune for us. People are constantly carping
at the way in which they think I acquired my bit
of money without the smallest ground of course.
If only the pastor gave you his daughter as wife, it
would stop their mouths once for all. A man like
Pastor Gotz has great weight and influence. Well
K
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
then, as I said, it's worth while your hanging about
there a little. Court her, and a fellow like you is
sure "
" Dear father, spare me your advice, if you please,"
interrupted his son. "Whether Helene becomes
my wife or not, is my own affair. I have not yet
made up my mind. She has a pretty enough little
phiz, but she is too thin. She might be fattened
up with advantage. Then there's something old-
maidish about her, something sharp and prudish
that I don't quite fancy. For instance, if you put
your arm round her waist she says, 'Ah, dear Herr
Lieutenant, how you frightened me ! ' and wriggles
away. And if you squeeze her arm, by Jokus, she
screams out directly, 'Oh, dear Herr Lieutenant,
don't do that, I've got such a delicate skin.' Of course
that's all airs and affectation, and perhaps if a man
caught hold of her firmly and didn't give in, she'd
allow herself to be kissed at last; but as I say, I
have not made up my mind, so don't build too much
on it."
The old landlord, who with deft hand was rolling
up his sovereigns in paper, looked proudly across
at this magnificent son of his. Then he became
anxious again.
" And you won't think any more about the duel,
eh, Felixchen ? That's all nonsense. . . . You
wouldn't go and risk your life so recklessly as
that."
Felix threw back his chest. "In affairs of
honour, father, please don't interfere, for you know
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 147
nothing about them. Directly I can find a respectable
second "
" What is that, Felixchen ? "
" Why, the man who'll take the challenge."
" Where to Boleslav ? "
" Of course."
" To the island ? "
" To the island."
" But, Felixchen, what are you thinking about ?
No Christian dare set foot on the island. It swarms
with wolf-traps, bombs, and other deadly instru-
ments. Look at Hackelberg; he was caught in one,
and limps to this day but never mention it. It
mustn't come out that Hackelberg was ever on the
island. Do you see ? ... As I was saying, you
wouldn't get any one to go on such a dangerous
errand or to come in contact with such a man as
that. No, my boy, think no more about it There's
nothing to be gained by it."
" But I will challenge him all the same to meet
me here," growled Felix.
The old man contemplated him with the greatest
:oncern for a few moments, then rose, filled a liqueur-
glass with peppermint-schnaps, and brought it over
to him.
"Drink it up, Felixchen," he said, "it'll soothe
you." Felix obeyed.
" Leave the matter in the hands of your good,
honest old father. Trust him to find in the night
some other means of satisfying your so-called sense
of honour. Good-night, Felixchen."
148 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
" The good, honest old father " had not promised
more than he was able to perform.
The next morning, when he met his son at the
breakfast table, he asked in an accent of benevolent
sympathy
"Well, Felixchen, have you slept off all those
silly notions ? "
Felix grew angry. " I told you, father, that on
that subject you were "
" Totally ignorant ! Very good, my boy. But I
want to be clear on one point. Is it with the Baron
von Schranden that you propose to fight a duel, or
with Lieutenant Baumgart ? "
Felix did not answer at once. A suspicion of what
his father was darkly hinting, dawned on him.
" Don't deal in subterfuges, father," he said. " I
am an upright, simple soldier, and don't understand
them."
"But, Felix, you needn't be so headstrong. I
mean well. As the Baron von Schranden never
was an officer, there is no reason why you should
concern yourself about him ; and as Lieutenant
Baumgart has proved a swindler, and assumed a
false name, he is equally beneath your notice."
"That is true," said Felix, spreading honey on
his bread and butter. "As a matter of fact, I
oughtn't to do him the honour of challenging him."
Then a new idea seemed to occur to Felix. " If
only," he added fiercely, " he could be stopped from
entitling himself lieutenant. That's what offends
my sense of honour more than anything."
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 149
His old father seemed prepared with an answer
to this remark.
"Why should he go on calling himself lieutenant?"
he asked, grinning and whistling under his breath.
" Only because his Superior officers are kept in
ignorance of the deception he has practised. If
they had an inkling of it, they'd be down on him
fast enough."
I
Felix understood. "You mean we ought "
he began.
" Of course we ought."
But Felix's hypersensitive sense of honour again
felt itself outraged. " Remember that I am an
officer, father," he exclaimed indignantly. "Your
proposal is in the highest degree insulting."
The host shrugged his shoulders. " Very well ;
if you don't wish it, leave it alone," he said.
Then the honourable young man saw a way of
escape.
" If only it could be done without a signature,"
he meditated aloud.
"That difficulty is easily overcome," responded
the old man. " I have a scheme in my head. Let
me draw it up. All you've got to do will be to sign
your name with the others at the foot. Then it will
be only one of many."
On the afternoon of the same day, the parish
crier, Hoffmann, invited all the country's defenders
in the village to assemble at the Black Eagle. It
was the merest matter of form, a tribute to the im-
portance of the business to be discussed, for they
ISO THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
were certain to have turned up there of their own
accord sooner or later without an invitation. The
tables were soon full (Schranden had sent a contin-
gent of thirty warriors to the War of Liberty) ; and
when Herr Merckel saw glasses emptying to right
and left of him, he stepped behind the bar, and ex-
changing glances with his son, rubbed his hands with
satisfaction, and began the following harangue :
"Dear fellow-burghers, I desire to speak a few
words to you. You are all brave soldiers, and have
fought in many a bloody battle for your Fatherland
in its dire extremity. You must have often been
thirsty in those days, and have longed for even a
few drops of dirty ditch-water. It's only to your
credit, then, that after the heat and burden of the
war, you turn into the Black Eagle occasionally, for
a good draught of pale ale. You have earned it
honestly with the sweat of your brow. Your health,
soldiers ! "
He flourished the mug that he kept specially for
occasions like the present, and then raised it to his
mouth, holding it there till he had assured himself
that no glass had been put down unemptied. Then
making a sign to the barmaid, he wiped his lips
energetically, and continued
" I, as your Mayor and magistrate, could not
accompany you to the seat of war, being obliged
to remain and look after the wants of those who
stayed at home." A murmur of approval came
from the audience. " But I am a patriot like you ;
my warm heart beats true for the honour of the
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 151
Fatherland, just as your hearts do, brave soldiers !
Fill up, Amalie, you slow-coach ! Herr Weichert is
nearly expiring for thirst." Herr Weichert pro-
tested, but in vain; his glass was snatched out of
his hand. "And my bosom swells with pride
when I look at my son, a gallant, upright soldier,
whom the confidence of his comrades and the
favour of his king promoted to the rank of officer.
I speak for you all, I know, when I call three
cheers for the joy of the village, the dutiful son,
the good comrade, the brave soldier, and honourable
officer, Lieutenant Merckel Hip, hip, hurrah ! "
The Schrandeners joined enthusiastically in the
cheering, and Herr Merckel observed with satis-
faction that several glasses had again become empty.
To give Amalie time to fill up, he made an effective
little pause, in which, in speechless emotion, he fell
on his son's breast : then he resumed the thread of
his discourse.
"All the more painful is it, therefore, to see
that the disgrace you, by your glorious deeds of
arms, did your best to remove from our beloved
and highly favoured village, now rests on it again,
through the presence here of the son of the man
who wrought it such dire mischief. On the site of
the fire he is now living with his father's mistress.
I'll not enter into details, but you know, my children,
what that implies."
There was a significant laugh, which changed
gradually into a sullen muttering.
"Yes, and what's more, this immoral outlaw
152 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
belongs to our glorious army. Under a false name
he enlisted in its ranks, and raised himself to the
position of officer. By lying, and cheating, and
devilish craft, he succeeded in obtaining what you
brave, honest fellows (with the exception of my
son, of course) could not attain to. Will you
tolerate this, you noble Schrandeners ? Will you,
I say, let a rascally cheat, the son of a traitor,
continue to look down on you as his inferiors ?
Was it for this that his gracious Majesty made you
free men ? "
The moment was a favourable one for drink-
ing his gracious Majesty's health, and Amalie, in
obedience to a signal, began the filling-up process
anew. Herr Merckel already felt he had cause to
congratulate himself on the result of his stirring
oration.
"No, brave Schrandeners," he went on, "such
a scandal must not be tolerated ! The army must
be purged of this black spot; otherwise you will
be ashamed, instead of proud, of calling yourselves
Prussian soldiers."
" Kill him ! kill him ! " cried several voices at
once.
" No, dear friends," he replied, with his unctuous
smirk. " You mustn't always be talking of killing.
I, as your Mayor, cannot countenance that," shaking
a warning fat forefinger at them ; " but I can give
you wiser counsel. The authorities, naturally, have
no suspicion of who it is has been masquerading as
Lieutenant Baumgart; last spring no one had time
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 153
to inquire into birth certificates and such-like details.
But now there will be leisure to investigate the
case of a Prussian officer passing under an assumed
name. And the case presses for attention. Do
you remember the story Johann Radtke related in
this very room, the day he came over from Heide,
when none of us had the slightest idea of what a
savage Jdnd of animal his celebrated hero, Lieu-
tenant Baumgart, really was ? "
He was interrupted by a laugh of pent-up hate
and fury. It proceeded from his son Felix.
" He is said to have tramped home from France
entirely alone, like a wandering journeyman. He
had been wounded and taken prisoner, and all the
rest of it. But mark my words, that signifies more
than you think. It means that he didn't get his
discharge that he sneaked out of the service like
a thief in the night, in the same straightforward
manner as he entered it. And do you know what
that is in good plain Prussian? Deserting! It
means he is a deserter."
A cry of jubilation arose, which Herr Merckel
greeted with profound approval, for, according to his
ripe experience, shouting rendered the throat dry.
He let the applause therefore exhaust itself, and
then went on.
"It is our sacred duty, as genuine patriots and
intrepid soldiers, to open the eyes of his Highness
the Commander-General to this young man's true
character. We owe it to our King, our Fatherland,
above all, to ourselves. We'll get him cashiered out
154 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
of our brave army, degraded and ruined. What is
done to him afterwards, whether he is shot or cast
into prison, is a matter of indifference to us. We
are not responsible for him."
At the mere suggestion of such a vengeance the
Schrandeners were beside themselves, and almost
howled with rage.
Herr Merckel drew a sheet of paper from his
breast-pocket.
" I have drawn up a little statement, in which I
have respectfully lodged a complaint to a Deputy-
General of high standing and noble birth. If you'll
allow me, dear friends "
He was in the act of unfolding the sheet when a
still happier thought occurred to him.
" I could lay the document before you at once and
ask you to sign it, but then it would be my compo-
sition, and not yours," he went on, beaming ; " and
I want every word well weighed and considered, and
altered if needful. I therefore propose that a com-
mittee of five comrades be elected from amongst you,
who shall withdraw with me and my son into the
best parlour, where we can hold a quiet consultation
over the wording of the address, while the rest of
you remain here."
Then he gave the names of those he considered
worthiest of filling this delicate office. They were
five young men whom he knew to be lavish spend-
thrifts, and whom he expected to acquit themselves
honourably in more senses than one. Half in envy,
half in malice, his choice was agreed to.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 155
The elected looked rather glum ; then they knew
what they had been let in for, but at the same time
they were too flattered by the invitation to decline it.
Heir Merckel, with the air of solemnity he always
considered due to any occasion on which the best
parlour was brought into requisition, flung open the
door, over which was inscribed the alluring caution,
fraught with so much significance " Only Wine
drunk here"
With a somewhat nervous air the chosen com-
mittee entered the sanctum of gentility, awkwardly
twirling their caps in their hands. The last to go
in was the son of the house. At the door, Herr
Merckel turned and called out in a loud impressive
voice
" Amalie, bring two bottles of Muscat for me and
the Herr Lieutenant ! "
Muscat was a wine made at home, from rum,
sugar, cinnamon, currant juice, and a judicious
quantity of water, and was sold to the Schrandeners
for a thaler the bottle. Herr Merckel ordered two
bottles, to demonstrate to his customers that he did
not expect any of them to go shares in a bottle.
There was now a profound silence in the tap-
room. Its occupants gazed with serious excited
faces at the closed door and then at each other.
Neither did any sound proceed from the reception
room, where a dumb pitched battle was going on
between the host and his guests. It was doubtful
at one time who would come off victor. But a few
minutes after the barmaid had hurried up from the
156 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
cellar with the two freshly filled bottles, Herr
Merckel tore open the door again, and shouted
triumphantly
"Amalie, five bottles more of Muscat!"
Tongues were loosened. The tension was over.
As was generally the case, the customers had been
mastered by the landlord. And soon the dull
monotonous sound of reading aloud reached the
ears of the listeners in the tap-room.
Herr Merckel, senior, when he retired to rest,
felt that his day had not been wasted.
His son had abandoned his dangerous project ;
the fate of the last of the Schrandens had been
sealed; and in the cash-box, beyond the usual
takings, was a surplus of eight thalers and twenty-
five silver groschens.
" Thus I have killed three birds with one stone ! "
he mused, with a self-satisfied grin, and, folding
his hands, fell into a gentle slumber.
CHAPTER X
WINTER had come. It had been preceded by a
season of decay, inexpressibly cheerless and trying
to the spirits. Boleslav, who had grown up in
closest communion with Nature and her moods,
could never have believed it possible that autumn's
symbolic melancholy would affect him so profoundly
and send such deathlike shivers through his limbs.
The mere calculation of time dismayed and oppressed
him.
His evenings began to be dismally long. Solitude
swooped over his head like a vulture in ever-narrow-
ing circles, till he began to fancy he felt the chill flap
of its wings across his face.
It was strange that he who all his life had been
much alone from choice, should now, when almost
every human being was his deadly foe, crave for the
society of his fellow-creatures.
He buried himself deeper and deeper in the mass
of papers and manuscripts, a dreary enough occu-
pation, without much object unless it were to help
the hours to drag a little less slowly. He tried
to convince himself that the portion of the past he
unearthed from these dust-heaps might be of service
to him in the future. But in reality he had found
157
158 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
what was absolutely necessary to his purpose without
much trouble, and the rest might as well have
perished in the flames.
Regina remained tongue-tied, and performed her
household duties swiftly and noiselessly. She moved
about his room without lifting her eyes to his face,
and if he addressed a word to her, shrank away
with a startled look. But her answers to his
questions, though given in a hesitating and em-
barrassed manner, were always clear, comprehensive,
and to the point. Sometimes days together went
by without their exchanging a syllable. Yet it was
on these days he observed her in secret all the more
closely, watching her as she laid the table, following
her with his eyes as she crossed the little plot of
garden and disappeared into the bushes. He caught
himself constantly wondering what was passing in
her mind. What did she think about all day long ?
Was it possible that her whole existence revolved
round him and his personal comforts, a man who
was nothing to her, who had not even rewarded her
labours so far, with a brass farthing ?
He felt ashamed when he thought of the innumer-
able self-sacrifices he accepted from her with such
haughty indifference, and determined to be more
friendly and conversational towards her in the
future, so that she might feel the unpleasantness of
her position less acutely. But a certain unaccount-
able shyness on his side seemed to hinder his
putting these good intentions into practice. He no
longer hated her. His aversion had yielded to
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 159
something like regard at sight of so much unselfish
loyalty and untiring industry; and the result was
that he felt more than ever a constraint in con-
versing with her. Something came between them,
a kind of mysterious veil that enveloped her and
rendered her unapproachable as a stranger. It
seemed almost as if the spirit of his father hovered
about her, preventing by its ghostly presence any
intercourse between them. Sometimes he wondered
if it were her shame that invested her with that
strange fascination that vice is said to exercise on
inexperienced youth. Or was it the magnitude of
her misfortunes that gave her an unconscious power
and charm ?
Often when she brought in his supper, or turned
back the counterpane from his bed, he would look
up from his work and endeavour to open a con-
versation. But his tongue would cleave to the roof
of his mouth, he could never think of anything to
talk to her about that was not beneath his dignity.
So, after all, only curt and harsh commands crossed
his lips.
He had remarked for a long time how much more
careful she had become about her personal appear-
ance, which had wonderfully improved. She no
longer went about ragged, unkempt, and d&olletie,
but wore her jacket buttoned up modestly to her
throat, with the ends neatly tucked under her waist-
band. A woollen scarf was knotted round her neck
by way of giving a finish to her costume, and her
skirt carefully brushed and mended. Her hah did
160 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
not hang about her as formerly, in untidy plaits and
a hundred rough, loose curls, but was combed
and neatly dressed. Of a morning the top of her
head sometimes presented a smooth, polished sur-
face, the effects of the shower-bath, by means of
which she brought her unruly mane into sub-
jection.
The weather grew bitterly cold, but she still shiv-
ered in her cotton gown, only throwing on the red
cross-over when she went into the open air.
One evening as she was preparing for her regular
weekly expedition for the purchase of provisions,
and had come to him for orders, he said
"Why have you brought no winter clothes back
with you yet, Regina?"
She looked on the ground and replied
"I should like to only "
"Only?"
"I wasn't sure whether I might."
"Of course you may. You mustn't freeze."
"There's a " she began eagerly, then stopped
and blushed.
"Well?"
"There's a jacket at the shop a blue cloth
one trimmed with beautiful fur. The shopman
says "
He smiled. "Thank God," he thought "she is
beginning to be human at last. A love of finery has
awakened in her."
"What does the shopman say ?" he asked.
"That it would fit me exactly. And I need
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 161
something warm and comfortable for the long walks.
But it's a real lady's jacket, and "
" All the more reason why you should have
it," he interrupted, laughing. "Don't come back
without the jacket, now mind. Good-night, and a
pleasant journey."
With a joyous exclamation she stooped to kiss
his hand, but he evaded the caress.
When her footsteps had died away in the dark-
ness, he took the lamp and went into the green-
house, which was her private apartment.
The fire still smouldered on the hearth, but the
room was icily cold and comfortless. A stray flake
or two whirled through the holes in the roof, for out-
side a gentle dusting of snow had begun to fall.
" Why doesn't she doctor the laths ? " he thought,
and resolved that the next morning he would come
and lay boards over the weak places. He climbed
on one of the boxes and tested with a tap the glass
roofing. Then he understood why Regina pre-
ferred to sleep half in the open air. The leaden
framework of the panes had become rotten and
brittle. At his mere touch the whole decrepit roof
rattled and trembled in all its joints. Any attempt
to mend it would bring it down altogether.
" It's a positive sin to allow her to be housed like
this," he said to himself.
He went back to his room and drew from under
his sheets as many of his feather mattresses as he
could do without, and carried them, with one of his
pillows, to her wretched resting-place. He carefully
L
1 62 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
made up a bed, and then threw her horse-cloth over
it, so that not a scrap of the bedding was visible.
" That will make her open her eyes," he thought,
" when, worn out, she comes to throw herself on her
pallet." And well satisfied with his evening's work,
he returned to his papers.
The next morning, when he awoke, his walls
shone with the dazzling reflection of the snow. In
the night the world had arrayed itself in the garb
of winter.
He dressed, and called Regina. There was no
answer. She had not come back.
He waited two hours, and then went to prepare
his own breakfast. Three snow-heaps had collected
underneath the holes in the glass roof, and a fourth
was accumulating on the hearth. A greenish twilight
filled the room. He took the shovel and broom, and
half mechanically swept the white mounds out at the
door; then he fetched a sheet of strong cardboard
that had served as a cover to the stacks of docu-
ments, cut it into strips, which he cautiously pushed
through the holes so that they roofed in the bad
places from the snow.
"That's the best I can do," he said, as he
shivered about the room, which he had now made
nearly as dark as night. Then, sighing heavily, he
went to the hearth, and lit the fire.
The day crept on, and still Regina did not return.
In all probability the snowstorm would detain her
at Bockeldorf till the next morning. He felt moped
to distraction as he sat over his work. Now and
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 163
then, to vary the dull monotony, he took a walk to
the Cats' Bridge, over which she was bound to come.
After he had bolted his cold dinner he did nothing
but watch the clock, whose hands seemed hardly to
move.
He missed Regina at every turn ; for though she
kept out of his way when at home, he knew he
had only to whistle to bring her instantly to his
elbow.
He put his papers aside, and to change the current
of his thoughts began to draw. On the back of a
coachbuilder's bill of fifty years ago he painted a
long garden border of stiff rows of stately lilies and
red roses. First he made a line of lilies, then one
of roses, then lilies again, and so on until the whole
resembled some gorgeous carpet. Then he threw
himself on the creaking sofa, and dreamed of the
Madonna who presided over that wall of flowers,
and shed the blessed light of her countenance on all
who had the courage to penetrate it.
Already it was dusk. There was a sound of
footsteps on the cobble-stones before the door. He
sprang to his feet and hurried out.
Regina came timidly over the threshold. She was
laden with bundles and parcels, and covered from
head to foot with snow ; even the little curls on her
forehead were powdered white. Her face glowed,
but there was an expression of fear in her brilliant
eyes as she lifted them to his.
"I ran, Herr, as fast as I could," she panted,
laying her right hand on her heart. " The shopman
1 64 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
wouldn't let me start till daylight, because he thought
the jacket might "
She broke off, looking guilty.
He smiled kindly. He was much too glad to
know that she was back again to scold her.
"Go and cook me something hot as quickly as
you can," he said. " You'll be glad of your supper
too."
She gazed at him in mute amazement
" Why don't you go? "
" I will but, oh ! " And then as if ashamed of
what she was on the point of saying, she rushed
past him into the kitchen.
" She almost claimed her flogging," he murmured,
laughing, as he looked after her.
He was sitting at his desk where he generally
worked, when she brought in the evening meal.
The lamp with its green shade cast a subdued
uncertain light over the apartment. He liked to
watch her as she moved swiftly to and fro, in and
out of the shadows. To-day her appearance almost
frightened him. She looked resplendently, proudly
beautiful. Not a trace of her former degradation
was apparent. The once forlorn and half-tamed
girl might have been taken for a duchess, so grace-
ful and distinguished were all her movements; so
pure and full of charm the contour of her young
erect figure. Was it the neat woollen dress, or
the new jacket with its silver-grey farkaeabeika,
as they called it in Poland that was responsible
for the transformation? As she laid the table
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 165
she smiled to herself a happy shame-faced little
smile, and every now and then flashed a rapid
stealthy glance across at him. It was evident she
wanted to be admired, but dared not attract his
attention.
When she came within the circle of light made
by the lamp, in order to place it on the supper
table, he turned his eyes quickly away to make
her think he had noticed nothing. But all the same
he could not resist letting fall a remark.
" How conceited we are of our new clothes I " he
said banteringly.
A vivid blush spread over her face and neck.
" They are much too good for me," she whispered,
still smiling, still glancing at him in half-ashamed
coquetry. But she was not yet daughter of Eve
enough to take a sidelong peep at herself in the
glass.
On going to turn down his bed for the night, she
was astonished to see how it had diminished in
size, but gulped back an exclamation of surprise,
lest he should be annoyed. Then wishing him
good-night she left the room.
With a grin of inward satisfaction he thought
of the great surprise that was in store for her,
and soon became engrossed in his manuscripts
again.
About an hour had elapsed, when he was startled
by a rustling sound at the back of his chair. He
turned round and found her standing beside him.
Her face was very white, her lips trembling, her
1 66 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
breath coming quick through dilated nostrils. The
fur collarette was unfastened at the throat, and
showed the coarse chemise underneath, the folds
of which rose and fell with her billowing breast.
In the excitement of the moment she had forgotten
to arrange her clothing.
" How handsome she is ! " he thought, filled with
involuntary admiration of her strange beauty, and
then he tried not to look at her.
" Now then, what's the matter ? " he asked in his
gentlest tones.
She made an effort to speak, but some moments
passed before a sound escaped her lips.
" Oh, Herr ! " she stammered forth at last, " was
it you did you do that with the beds ? "
" Yes, of course. Who else should do it ? "
" But why why ? " and she lifted her swimming
eyes in alarm and consternation.
Apparently his kindness frightened her. It was
necessary to adopt a firmer tone in order to become
master of his own emotions.
"Stupid girl," he said loftily, "do you think I
wish you to die out there of cold ? "
For a moment she stood like a statue, silent and
motionless, and big sparkling drops rolled down her
cheeks. And then suddenly she threw herself at
his feet, clung to both his hands, and covered them
with kisses and tears.
At first he was too unnerved and thrilled at the
sight of her agitation to speak. He had never
imagined that she would be so deeply moved.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 167
Then he collected himself, and withdrawing his
hands commanded her to rise.
" Don't make a scene, Regina," he said. " Go to
bed. I'm sure you must be tired out."
She would have wiped her eyes with her sleeve,
as was her habit, only she remembered the new
soft fur trimming in time, and so let her tears
run on.
" Ah, Her r /" she sobbed. " I hardly know what's
come over me. But were you really serious ? I
don't deserve all your kindness. First the beautiful
jacket, and then when I expected a whipping for
being gone the whole day for you to ... Oh "
" Say no more. I won't listen to another word,"
he insisted. "You must have some sort of bed.
Where used you to sleep before ? "
She started and cast down her eyes.
" Before ? " she murmured.
" Yes, in my father's time."
" Ah, then, I used to lie on the door-mat or "
she paused.
" Or where ? "
She still remained silent, and trembled.
" Where ? " he asked again.
Her eyes moved shyly in the direction of the
canopied bed.
"You know; ah, you know, Herr" she mur-
mured. And then overwhelmed with shame she
covered her face with her hands.
Yes, he knew. How could he forget it for a
moment.
1 68 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
" Begone ! " he cried, his voice shaking with
anger and disgust, and he motioned her to the
door.
Without a word she crept out, her head still
bowed in her hands.
CHAPTER XI
BOLESLAV was almost happy. He had hit on a
new and brilliant idea, and the hopes of carrying it
out brightened for a time the deadening monotony
of his existence. He believed he could clear his
father's memory.
How it had first occurred to him he hardly knew.
He had found certain letters from Polish noblemen
addressed to his father, which seemed to suggest
that the deceased had felt himself bound by a
hastily-made promise which at the time he had not
meant seriously, and that a chain of tragic circum-
stances had compelled him against his will to be a
party to the treachery. If this did not exonerate
him from all guilt, it at least put the slandered man
in a new light the light of a martyr.
If by minute study of the documents he could
trace the affair to its source, and make public a true
history of the disaster, in which he would demon-
strate that Eberhard von Schranden, far from having
played the devilish r61e that rumour attributed to
him, had only been a victim of circumstances, surely
there would at least arise some who would hold out
their hand in remorse to the sufferer's heir. The
more he absorbed himself in this task of vindication
1 70 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
the more he began to feel united with the dead man,
and accustomed to the idea of sacrificing his own
innocent reputation for his sake.
His brain was so much occupied with these
schemes that he slept little at night, and in the
daytime tore about the park like one possessed.
The less hope he cherished in his secret heart that
his plan would succeed, the more did he long for
some human soul into whose ear he could pour his
doubts and fears. But there was no one to speak
to but the taciturn woman, who glided past him
with eyes guiltily cast down.
One evening, when his solitude almost maddened
him, he said to her
" Regina, aren't you frozen in your kitchen ? "
" I never let the fire out, Herr"
"But what do you do in the evening, when it's
dark?"
" I sit by the fire and sew, till my fingers get
quite stiff."
" Then you have a light ? "
" I burn fir-cones."
He was silent; he gnawed his under-lip, and
hesitated as to what he should say next. Then he
took courage.
" Regina, if you like you may bring your sewing
into the sitting-room, after supper," he said.
She grew pale, and stammered out, " Yes, Herr"
He thought her wanting in gratitude.
"Of course, if you'd rather not " he said,
shrugging his shoulders.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 171
* Oh, Herr I should like to come."
"Very well, then, come; but you must make
yourself look respectable. Why have you given
up wearing your new clothes ? " Since that even-
ing she had taken to shivering about in the cotton
jacket again.
" I thought it would hurt them."
" Hurt them ! How ? "
" I mean," she said incoherently, " that when you
are angry with me, such as I, am not fit "
" Nonsense ! " he interrupted quickly, feeling that
if she went on he would be angry with her again.
After supper she appeared in some trepidation at
the door. Snowy linen shimmered in her hand.
She remained standing till he had impatiently in-
vited her to sit down.
"You want people to stand on ceremony with
you, as if you were some fine lady," he said.
She laughed in confusion.
"I am only nervous, Herr, because I am not
quite sure how to behave." And she turned to
her work.
No more passed between them that evening, and
it was more than a week before they broke into
conversation again.
He sat brooding over his yellow papers, and she
let her needle fly through the crackling calico.
When the clock struck eleven, she gathered up her
sewing, and whispering "Good-night," slipped out
on tiptoe without waiting for an answer.
"What are you working at so industriously?"
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
he asked her one evening, after he had watched
her intently for some minutes.
She looked up and pushed a curl off her forehead
with damp fingers.
"I am making shirts for you, Herr" was the
answer.
" So you undertake that too ? "
"Who else should do it, Herr?"
A short silence ; then he questioned her further.
" Who taught you all you know, Regina ? Your
mother ? "
She shook her head. " My mother died very
young, Herr. I can hardly remember her. , People
say my father beat her to death."
He thought of the thin pale face and tired eyelids
in the picture-gallery, of which the last trace had
perished in the great fire.
" Can you remember what your mother was like?"
he demanded again.
" She had long black hair, and eyes like mine, at
least, so I have heard people say ; and I can re-
member her hair, for she often wrapped me in it
when I was undressed. I used to sit in it as if
it were a cloak, and laugh ; and when father "
She stopped in sudden alarm. "But you won't
care to hear more, Herr?"
" Go on, tell me the rest," he exclaimed.
"And when father came home and wanted to
beat me, because he was drunk, you know, she
stood in front of me, and told me to get under her
dress ; and inside her dress it was like being in a
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 173
cave, quite dark and still, and father's swearing
sounded a long, long way off. And then she died.
It was on a Sunday yes, it was on a Sunday.
For I was standing by the hedge and wondering
whether she'd have a beautiful coffin a green one,
like the coffin on the trestle in the garden when
you, Herr, went by on your way to church. At
that time you were little, like me, and you had on
a blue coat with silver buttons, and a little sword at
your side; and you stopped and asked me why
I was crying, and I couldn't answer, I was so
frightened, and then you gave me an apple."
He had not the smallest recollection of the in-
cident, but he remembered how he had taken the
young sparrow away from her, and related the
story. She had not forgotten it. Her eyes be-
came illumined, as if lost in contemplation of some
blissful sight.
" I wonder, now, that you gave it up so meekly,"
he said.
" How could I have done otherwise ? " she
answered.
" You might easily have refused," he said.
She bent over her work. " I was only so glad
for you to have it," she said, in a low soft voice.
"It's not often that a poor little village girl gets
the chance of giving anything to a rich young
nobleman."
He bit his lips. Truly he had taken more from
her since than his pride and manliness should have
permitted.
174 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
"And besides," she went on, "even if I hadn't
wanted to give it to you, it was yours by right.
You were the Junker"
How perfectly natural the argument sounded
from her lips.
" Regina, tell me honestly," he said, " if you
haven't entirely forgotten the days when you ran
wild in the village."
"Oh no, Herr ; indeed I haven't," she replied,
with an almost roguish smile. " For instance, I
remember a great many things about the gnddiger
Junker"
He withdrew far back into the shadow of the
lamp-shade. "What splendid stuff she has in
her ! " he thought, and devoured her with his eyes.
And then he made her relate all her reminiscences
of him at that time. He did not appear in a very
amiable light. Once he had pushed her into a duck-
pond ; another time sent her floating down the river
in a flour-vat, till her cries of terror had brought
people to the bank with life-saving apparatus ; when
she had on a new white frock, given her by the
Castle housekeeper, he had painted her hands and
face with white chalk, and told her to stand motion-
less like one of the statues in the Park. She had
submitted meekly till the chalk got into her mouth
and eyes and made them smart, and then she had
burst out crying and run away.
She recalled all this with beaming eyes, as if his
pranks had been a source of infinite happiness to
her. Although when reminded of such and such
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 175
an escapade he recollected it perfectly, he could not
remember that it was Regina who had been the
victim of his caprice. A sensation of shame rose
within him. Instead of the dreamy, generous
young cavalier he had been in the habit of pictur-
ing himself, he saw a cruel little village tyrant, who
exercised his power over his small contemporaries
with a relentlessness that was almost vicious.
"And did I make no amends for my wicked
deeds ? " he inquired, hoping to hear he had at
least been capable of doing good sometimes.
" Oh, you used to give us things," she answered.
" ' Divide that/ you used to say, and scatter on
the ground either apples and nuts, or broken tin
soldiers, or a handful of counters. But, of course,
the strongest and biggest got everything. Felix
Merckel was the best at a scramble ; the girls only
had the leavings."
"And did you ever get anything from me,
Regina ? " he asked.
She flushed scarlet, and bowed lower over her
work. " Yes, Herr, once ! " she said softly.
" What was it ? "
She was silent, and dared not lift her eyes.
"Good heavens! why do you look so ashamed
about it ? "
" Because I . . . have it still."
"Oh, not really!" He smiled. A feeling of
pleasure shot through him.
Without answering, she felt in the pocket of her
dress, and laid before him on the table a little straw
1/6 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
box plaited out of coloured blades. It was hardly
bigger than a baby's fist.
He held it in his hand, and examined it all over
attentively. Something rattled inside.
" May I open it ? "
"You needn't ask, Herri"
It was a ring of glass beads blue, white, and
yellow, such as a little girl, following the first in-
stincts of vanity, threads for herself. He took it
out, and tried to force it on his little finger, but it
was far too narrow, and he couldn't get it over his
nail.
" Did I give you the ring too ? " he asked.
"No, Herr, it belonged to my dear mother. It
cut into her flesh once, and that's why I used to
wear it day and night till the thread broke. Then
she had been dead a long time, and as it was the
only keepsake I had of her, I threaded the beads
again, and have never parted with the ring, and I
always have it on me."
"In my little box?"
She nodded, and her head drooped. "Why
shouldn't I, Herr ? " she said in a whisper, " it brings
me luck."
He looked at her with a compassionate smile.
" Luck ? Brings you luck ? "
"I'll tell you how, Herr" she exclaimed trium-
phantly. " Every bead you count "
But at that moment he leant back in his chair,
and the ring slipped through his fingers on to the
floor.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 177
Regina started up and hurried round the table to
pick it up, but could not find it.
"The earth seems to have swallowed it up," she
said in alarm, and she dropped on to all fours close
by Boleslav's side.
He saw the nape f her beautiful neck with its
fringe of crisp, dark curls, gleaming near his knee.
His heart began to beat, a cold shiver thrilled
through his limbs. He stared down on her with a
fixed smile.
"Here it is!" she exclaimed, and raised herself
into a kneeling position to hand him the treasured
bauble.
He lifted his hand. He felt as if some occult
power had lifted it for him, and that it weighed
hundreds of pounds. Then with a timid, caressing
touch he laid it on her cheek.
She drew back trembling. A great light swam
in her eyes, that rested on him in dreamy inquiry.
His arm sank heavily to his side.
" Thank you," he murmured hoarsely.
She went back to her place, and there was a
profound stillness. It seemed to him that he had
committed a crime, and that every moment of silence
between them made it worse. He must force himself
to speak.
" What was I asking you ? Ah ! to be sure. Who
taught you to sew ? "
She had unthreaded her needle, and was trying
hard to pull the cotton through the eye again.
But the small glittering shaft oscillated between
If
i;8 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
her unsteady fingers like a reed shaken by the
wind.
"I learnt at the parsonage, fferr" she replied.
" Helene had a class ' She paused, embarrassed,
for at the sound of the beloved name, which he heard
for the first time from her lips such lips he winced
as if from the lash of a whip. She took his excite-
ment for anger, and added apologetically, " I mean
the Pastor's daughter."
" Never mind," he said, controlling himself with
difficulty. " Go to bed now."
That night Boleslav fought a severe battle with
himself. He felt as if his ideal of exalted purity
had been polluted since his eyes had rested with
favour on this abandoned woman. And he himself
was polluted too by that involuntary caress.
It was absolutely necessary to regain his peace of
mind and purity. He must come to some distinct
understanding with Helene without delay, in order
that he might be strengthened in his struggle against
his treacherous senses and benumbing doubt.
So urgent did it seem that his resolutions should
at once be put into force, that he rose in the middle
of the night, and by the glimmer of his night-light
wrote to Helene assuring her of his undying love
and eternal devotion, and imploring her to make
some sign to show that she stood by him in trouble
as she had once done in happiness, so that he might
know for certain it was worth while his continuing
to wage for her sake the fight against such enor-
mous odds. With every line he wrote, his anxiety
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 179
lessened, and when he lay down in his bed again, he
felt that, through bracing his energies for the task,
he had relieved himself of a load of care that had
long heavily oppressed him.
" Can you undertake, Regina," he asked the next
evening, " to deliver this letter unseen to the Frdu-
lein at the parsonage ? "
She regarded him for a second with wide eyes,
then looking down, she murmured, " Yes, Herr."
"But supposing they attack you down in the
village ? "
" Pah ! What do I care for them ?" she exclaimed,
shrugging her shoulders contemptuously, as she
always did when the villagers were in question.
Soon afterwards he saw her glide by the window
like a shadow and disappear in the gloaming.
Hours passed. She did not return. He began
to reproach himself for having engaged her in his
amatory mission when her life was at stake.
At last, towards midnight, he heard the front door
latch click.
She appeared on the threshold with chattering
teeth, blue with cold, the letter still grasped in
her cramped fingers.
He made her sit down by the stove, and gave her
Spanish wine to drink and gradually she found her
voice.
" I have been lying all this time in the snow
under the parsonage hedge," she said, "but there
was no possibility of getting at her. Just now she
put the light out in her bedroom, so I came home.
i8o THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
But don't be vexed, Herr. Perhaps I shall have
better luck to-morrow."
He wouldn't hear of her repeating the adventure,
but when she came to him the following evening
equipped for her walk, he did not forbid her to go.
This time she came back with glowing cheeks,
panting for breath. Two peasants on their way
home from the Black Eagle had seen her and given
chase.
"But to-morrow, Herr, to-morrow, I shall suc-
ceed."
She was right. More breathless than the evening
before, but radiant with delight, she came into the
room, and stood at the door, stretching out two
empty hands in triumph.
" Thank God," he thought, " that I shan't have to
send her a fourth time on a fool's errand."
In joyous excitement she told him all about it.
Sultan, the big dog in the kennel, knew her ; and as
a hostage she had taken him a bone, then he had
permitted her to stand at the back door and look
through the keyhole. She had seen Helene standing
at the great store-cupboard. " I knew that Helene,
I mean the pastor's Fraulein, went to the store-
cupboard every night to put out coffee and oatmeal
for the morning," she explained, " and sure enough
I just timed her right, for there was her candle
flickering in my face, and she standing within three
steps of me "
He gave a deep sigh. Happy creature 1 She had
seen her I
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 181
I opened the back door very softly, and called,
' Helene, Fraulein Helene ! ' And when she caught
sight of me, she screamed and let the candle fall.
4 Helene,' I said, ' I am not going to hurt you. Here
is a letter from Junker Boleslav.'
" She trembled so, she could hardly take the letter
out of my hand. And then she shrieked in horror,
' Go ! Go at once ! ' And almost before I could tell
her about the letter-box on the drawbridge, she had
slammed the door and bolted it in my face. Ah,
dear God ! " she added with a melancholy little
smile. " I am used to being treated in that way, but
she might have been kinder because I brought a
message from you ! "
He leant his head on his hands. Helene's con-
duct gave him food for meditation. Of course her
reception of her fallen playmate was in every way
excusable. No wonder that her chaste and maidenly
soul revolted at the sight of this unfortunate girl !
Every day Regina now ran down to the draw-
bridge to peep into the letter-box that was fastened
to a pillar there, to see if there was an answer from
Helene. But the letter-box remained empty; and
Boleslav's brighter mood soon clouded again. He
became more bitter and defiant than ever, and a
prey to tormenting reflections. In his pride he
would not allow that he had been spurned by the
woman he loved; yet it was hardly any longer a
matter for doubt that she wished in no way to be
associated with him in his dishonour. He saw his
great plans for the future fall in ruins in this
1 82 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
abandonment of hope of winning the love of his
youth.
Many days went by before he roused himself
from this fresh depression it was not till the
feverish unrest of waiting had subsided that he
slowly recovered his calmness and fortitude.
Then he threw himself with renewed energy into
the search for proofs of his father's innocence.
The evidence was contradictory and confused.
Letters in which his father was referred to as
the staunchest of Prussian patriots were counterbal-
anced by others in which he was addressed as the
pioneer of Polish liberty. That might possibly have
been a mere figure of flattering speech, designed to
win over the vacillating nobleman, but to make it
public" would be once more putting the deceased's
reputation in the pillory.
During these disheartening investigations of the
truth, his only refreshment was the evening hours
in which Regina's presence gave him something
else to think about. So soon as she came and sat
down opposite him he felt a curious satisfaction
mingled with uneasiness. Sometimes, before she
made her appearance, and he with bowed head
listened to the sounds that came from her kitchen,
he would be suddenly seized with Thixiety, and feel
as if he must jump up and call out, " Stay where
you are ! Don't come ! " And yet, when she walked
into the room he breathed more freely. " It is
loneliness that attracts me to her," he often told him-
self. " She has a human face and a human voice."
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 183
As she sat over her work silently putting in stitch
after stitch, he would pretend to be napping, and
with closed eyes listen to the rise and fall of her
breath. It was a full, slow, muffled sound, which
fell on his ear like suppressed music. It resembled
the ebbing and flowing of an ocean of restrained
life and energy. After she had been sitting for a
long time in a stooping attitude she would suddenly
straighten herself, and stretch her arms with closed
fingers over the sides of the chair, till the curve
of her bosom stood out in powerful grandeur, and
threatened to burst its bonds. It was as if from time
to time she was obliged to become conscious of the
fulness of life that pulsated and throbbed within her.
Then she resumed her old attitude and quietly
sewed on.
It lasted all too short a time. These hours spent
in hen society had unconsciously become dear to
him, and almost indispensable. The lamp seemed
to give a brighter light since its rays fell on that
pile of shining white linen ; the hand of the clock
accelerated its pace now he was not always looking
at it to hurry it onwards. The wind that used to
howl and whistle so dismally in the branches of the
trees now murmured soft lullabies, and even the
laths in the rotten roof cracked less ominously.
He. dreaded the evenings when at dusk she started
on her journey to Bockeldorf, and more than once
had meditated accompanying her.
But in their relations, that had become so friendly,
there was one blot, and the knowledge of it pierced
1 84 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
him at times like a poisonous arrow. Often, after
he had been watching her in silence, he was tor-
mented with a desire to penetrate into the secrets
of her past, and to cross-examine her on the subject
of her intercourse with the dead. For long he kept
back the questions that burned on the tip of his
tongue, feeling that little good could come of asking
them ; but at last he felt driven to speak.
" She is the only living witness of the catastrophe,"
he thought; "what's more, the only accomplice.
She alone can give authentic information."
And one evening he broke the silence which had
been so enjoyable to both, with a brusque demand
that she should tell him all she knew.
She changed colour, and dropped her hands in
her lap.
" You'll only be angry with me again, Herr" she
stammered.
" Do as I bid you."
She still hesitated. " It's ... so long ago," she
whispered piteously, " and I don't know how to tell
things."
" But you can at least answer questions."
Then she resigned herself to fate.
"Who was it that first suggested to you the
midnight sortie ? "
" The gnddiger Herr"
He clenched his teeth. " When and how ? "
" The gnddiger Herr ordered me to wait at table.
The great candelabra, that was hardly ever lit as a
rule, was burning, and shone on the gold uniforms
THE SINS OF THL FATHERS 185
of the French officers, and it was all so dazzling
I felt quite giddy when I carried the soup into the
hall. They all laughed and pointed at me, and
spoke in French, which I didn't understand."
" How many were there ? "
"Five, and one with grey hair, who was the
General, and had the most gold on his coat ; and
when I brought him the soup he caught hold of me
round the waist, and I put the plate down on his
finger and pinched it. Then .they all laughed again,
and the gnadiger Herr said, ' Don't be so clumsy,
Regina.' I felt so ashamed and vexed at his saying
that that I said, quite loud, I didn't see why I should
wait if I was only to be scolded for it. Then they
laughed louder than ever, and the General began to
speak German, like little children speak it. 'You
are a plucky, pretty little girl,' he said; and the
gnadiger Herr told him I was a girl who might
prove useful to him and them all or something of
the kind. And when I brought in the liqueur at
the end of dinner, he drew me down to him and
whispered in my ear. I was to go to him in the
night."
He started up. " And you went ? "
She cast down her eyes.
" Ah, Herr" she said imploringly, " why do you
ask me ? I wish you wouldn't. I had often done
it before, and I saw no harm in it then."
He felt his blood boiling.
" How old were you at that time ?"
"Fifteen."
1 86 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
" And so corrupt so " His voice died away
in wrath.
She cast an unspeakably sad and reproachful
glance at him.
" I knew you'd be angry," she said, " but I can't
make myself out better than I am."
" Continue your story," he cried.
"And when I went to him at midnight he was
still up, striding round the table, and he asked me
if I should like to earn a great sum of money. ' Of
course, gnadiger Herr] I said, ' I should like it very
much,' for then I was very poor. Whereupon he
asked me if I was afraid of the dark. I laughed,
and said he ought to know best ; and after a few
more questions it came out what he wanted me to
do. Could I be trusted to show the French the way
over the Cats' Bridge and through the wood in an
hour ? I began to cry, for the French had behaved
dreadfully since they had been quartered in the
Castle, running after and insulting all the servant-
girls, and I was afraid they might insult me too."
"Oh, you were afraid of that, were you?" he
interposed with a contemptuous smile.
" Yes ; and I told the gnadiger Herr nothing
would induce me to do it. But then he became
terribly angry, and thumped me on the shoulders
till I sank on my knees, and he cried out that I was
an ungrateful hussy, and that he would have me
sent back to the village in disgrace, and would tell
the Herr Pastor what sort of a wench I was, and
he would make me confess and do penance; and
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 187
then he took me by the throat, and when he had
almost throttled me, and I could scarcely draw a
breath, then, then ..."
"Say no more," interrupted Boleslav; and seiz-
ing the letters that were to establish his father's
innocence, he tore them to pieces.
CHAPTER XII
THE next morning he took one of the guns out of
the case, and wandered into the snowy forest. He
tramped about the whole day without meeting a
single human creature. The deer and hares were
left in peace, for he stared beyond them into
vacancy. At dusk he turned his footsteps home-
wards, dispirited and worn out.
He saw Regina standing like a statue on the
Cats' Bridge looking out for him. At first she
looked as if she intended to run and meet him,
but she changed her mind, and took the path to
the house, smiling and murmuring to herself as
she went.
But when she brought in his meal she was as
silent as usual. He sat without looking at her till
a sound like a short convulsive sob roused him
from his reverie.
" What's the matter with you ? " he asked.
Without answering, she ran out of the room.
He made a movement as if he were about to follow
her ; then set his teeth and sat down again. A dull
resentment devoured him. He could not forgive
her for depriving him of the illusion on which for
weeks he had been building so many vague hopes.
its
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 189
Now there was nothing for it but to drink the
cup of degradation to the dregs, no matter how
bitter the bottom might taste.
In a little while Regina appeared again, in her
outdoor things.
" You wish to go out to-night, then ? " he asked
harshly.
She kept her head half averted, so that he should
not see she had red eyes.
"To-morrow is Christmas, Herr the holy feast
day; and the grocer says that on Christmas night
he would rather not be disturbed."
Christmas ! holy feast ! How strange and like
a fairy tale that sounded. Then there was still
rejoicing and festivity going on in the world !
People still joined hands and frolicked round glit-
tering fir-tree !
"You wish to get your Christmas presents, I
suppose, Regina ? " he inquired, smiling bitterly.
"Oh no, Herr" she replied. "That has never
been the custom here. Besides, now I should take
no pleasure in such things."
"Why not?"
She hesitated, and then said in some embarrass-
ment, " Let me go, Herr"
" I have a great deal to ask you yet, Regina."
" Please, not now, else "
"Very well, go."
"Good-night, Herr."
" Good-night." Then he called her back. " Tell
me first, what did that sob mean just now."
ipo THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
A ray of half-ashamed happiness shone in the
eyes that were swollen from weeping.
" Can't you guess, Herr ? "
He shook his head.
"I had been so anxious about you. I thought
perhaps you weren't coming back, and then when
you did " She turned and fled through the
door. Her footsteps died away in the night. . . .
The following morning Boleslav was awakened
by a great rushing and roaring that had for some
time mingled with his dreams. A terrific storm
was raging. The topmost branches of the poplars
lashed each other in fury. Huge white clouds
were swept along the ground, but the air was
clear. Another fall of snow seemed improbable.
To-day he could not rest in the desolate, cold little
house, and went out to wrestle with the elements.
"She will have a bad time of it," he thought,
as the north wind hurled in his face a shower of
fine icicles that pricked like needles and almost
took his breath away. In the wood it was more
sheltered. There the tempest crashed and crunched
in the tops of the trees, seeming to vent all its
fury on them. He walked on, not knowing where
he was going, and then found himself on the road
to Bockeldorf.
" It looks as if I were running after her," he
murmured, chiding himself; and he struck into the
pathless thicket.
He thought how remarkable it was that this
degraded being should creep so much into his
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 191
thoughts. Of course it was because he had been
thrown with her day after day, and depended
upon her entirely for human society. Yet he was
alarmed, for he realised now, perhaps more than
he had ever done before, how he felt himself every
day more drawn towards her, and how much there
was in her that began to appear comprehensible,
excusable, and even noble, that once had only
seemed to testify to her innate coarseness, and
repelled him from her in disgust.
But without a doubt contact with her was doing
him no good. She was drawing him down into the
slough of her own worthless existence.
Something must be done. Above all, it was
necessary to stand in less familiar relations with
her, to repress her, and lower her again to her
old position of humble and despised servant-girl.
The festival of Christmas was a good opportunity
of paying her off with a loan, the handsomeness
of which would discharge his obligations to her
for all time. With a stroke of the pen he would
provide for her future, and thereby purchase the
right to regard her as what she actually was
his humble dependant and menial. She should
give him her company to-day for the last time.
She had not yet finished her evidence, and as he
had once broken the ice he might as well know
everything. Of those two awful nights of guilt
and shame, in which she had been a witness of
bloodshed and arson, he would hear the worst.
"And then when she has confessed all/' he
192 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
said to himself, "she shall keep to her green-house,
which is her proper place, even if she has to burn
all the timber in the park to prevent herself from
freezing."
It was not seemly that in this solitude he should
associate so much with her, and he made up his
mind to put an end to the intimacy once for all.
A hare crossed his path and turned his thoughts
into another channel. He aimed and hit it. The
little animal rotated three times, and then lay
motionless on its nose.
"She will be pleased," he thought, as he slung his
booty over his shoulder. Ah ! there he was thinking
of her again already.
The sky meanwhile had clouded. A sharp
shower of prickly white flakes cut through the trees ;
a wild hiss now mingled with the roar of the wind
that made him shiver involuntarily in every limb.
By aid of his compass he found the way home.
When he entered the open fields the snow-storm was
in full swing. He could scarcely stand against it.
The air was dark with the falling masses of snow.
There was not a trace visible of the shrubs in the
park only three hundred feet away.
"It's to be hoped she's got home," he thought, as
he struggled on.
Freshly fallen snow lay thick on the Cats' Bridge ;
there were no footprints in it, but they might easily
have been obliterated.
With a sinking heart, he ran to the house and
called her by name, but got no answer. The
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 193
hearth was unswept, the fire out, the beds unmade
as he had left them.
She had been overtaken by the storm, that she
feared more than she feared the Schrandeners. A
torturing uneasiness took possession of him. He
rushed from one room to the other, lit the fire and
extinguished it again, tried to eat, and then threw
down his knife and fork impatiently. It struck him
as ludicrous that he should be so anxious. Had
she not for six winters gone backwards and for-
wards in wind and rain and snow, and never yet
met with an accident ? Why should anything
happen to her to-day? To kill time he sat down
to his desk, and with numb fingers made out a
cheque. The sum amounted to three figures.
Regina ought to be satisfied.
Darkness set in. The hand of the clock pointed
to three, and yet it was already like night. He
could contain himself indoors no longer. He would
at least go as far as the Cats' Bridge and see if there
was any sign of her. To prevent the wind pitching
him over, he was obliged to hold on with all his
might to the balustrade. The rickety woodwork
shook in all its joints. On the ice beneath him
danced a maze of spiral patterns; lily-stems grew
upwards and sank again in heaps of white dust,
which in their turn were whirled away to make
room for other fantastic forms. The Madonna's
garden rose for a moment and then vanished; for
a figure drew nearer and nearer out of the twilight,
casting its shadow before it
N *
I 9 4 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
" Regina, thank God ! "
He was on the point of rushing to meet her, when
he was overcome with a sensation of shame that para-
lysed his limbs and drove the blood to his heart.
On this very spot where he now waited for her,
she had yesterday waited for him ; looking out into
the dusk because she had not been able to rest for
anxiety about him, just as to-day he could not rest
for anxiety about her.
For a moment he felt a strong inclination to dive
behind the bushes, so that she should not see him ;
but the next he was ashamed of being ashamed, and
stepped forward to meet her on the Cats' Bridge.
"You have had a bad time of it, Regina," he
called out ; and tried to relieve her of the sack she
carried on her back.
But she quickly dodged him, holding out her
elbows in protest. She was muffled to the eyes in
shawls, and could not speak. They walked to the
door in silence. On the threshold she turned and
tore the wraps from her face.
" I have a favour to ask, fferr," she said breath-
lessly.
" Well, what is it ? "
" Would you mind staying out another half-hour,
or going into the kitchen, so that I can warm the
room and tidy up a little ? "
" But you must rest first"
" Not now, Herr, if you don't mind."
And she went in, letting her burdens fall to the
floor in the darkness.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 195
'She may bustle about in there for a few
mmutes if she likes," he thought; and turned to
look for a temporary shelter among the ruins.
Warm air ascended from the cellars. He struck
a light, and went down the slippery steps. He felt
curiously light-hearted almost, as if Christmas had
biought him joy.
The rows of wine-bottles with their red and green
labels peeped at him festively from their places.
"She shall not forget it's Christmas," he said,
smiling ; and drew from the farthest niche where
the treasure of treasures was stored, two or three
bottles covered with dust and cobwebs. In these
reposed a nectar which had not seen the light since
an eighteenth-century sun had shone on it.
His latest resolution occurred to him. Of course,
he had not meant to put it into force till to-morrow
not on Christmas evening, when people consort
together, who at other times are not congenial to
each other. On Christmas evening no one ought
to be lonely and sorrowful.
Obedient to Regina's wishes, he patrolled the
ruins for half-an-hour beneath a roof of sparkling
icicles. Then he put the bottles under his arm,
and staggered out into the stormy night.
As he approached his dwelling, he saw with
amazement that the shutters were closed, a thing
that had never happened before. His first thought
was that the storm had penetrated the chinks, but
on nearer view he learnt they were still weather-
proof. Not till he stood in the vestibule did he
196 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
find a happy solution to the problem. Regina met
him beaming, and half-ashamed, and threw the par-
lour door wide open. Astounded at what he saw,
he remained rooted to the spot. He was greeted
by a festive shimmer of candles and a fragrant odour
of firs. In the centre of the dining-table, covered
with its pure white cloth, stood a Christmas tree,
adorned with wax tapers and gilded apples. The
whole apartment was brilliantly illuminated.
Never in his life before had a Christmas tree
been lit for him. Only from the thresholds of
strangers had he sometimes looked on with dim
eyes at strangers' happiness. And where was
Regina ? She had retreated behind him, and
stood in the remotest corner of the vestibule,
watching him with shy yet proud delight.
He took hold of her hand and led her into the
room.
" Who put it into your head, child ? " he asked.
"The grocer's wife was trimming her Christmas
tree when I got there at three o'clock, and I thought
it so pretty I said to myself, he shall have his tree
too, and shall know that there is at least one person
to think of him. I asked her to show me how to
gild apples, and gilded a supply while I was there,
and bought the lights and got a sack to put the
tree in, so that you shouldn't see it."
" And who gave you the tree ? "
" I cut it down myself at the edge of the forest
not far from here."
" In the middle of this storm ? "
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 197
She laughed contemptuously. "A little wind
wouldn't hinder me, Herr." And then with a sudden
outburst of joyous ecstasy, she exclaimed, "Oh, just
look, Herr, how beautifully it burns ! How pious it
looks. Hasn't it really a sort of pious face, as if an
angel had brought it ? "
He assented, laughing, and expressed his thanks
in a few words of forced condescension, for he was
afraid of being too gracious.
But she was more than satisfied. "Why should
you thank me, Herr?" she asked reproachfully.
" It's all bought with your money. I have none. I'm
only a poor girl. Else, ah, else " She threw up
her hands and clasped them above her head.
The cheque came into his mind. " This is to show
you," he said, handing it to her, " that I have thought
of your Christmas too."
She looked at him in bewilderment. "Am I to
read it ? " she asked, respectfully taking the piece of
paper between two of her fingers. After studying
it carefully, she still looked perplexed.
" Don't you understand what it is ? " he asked.
" Oh yes I understand . . . But to begin with,
you can't be in earnest. And even if you are, . . .
what good is it to me ? "
" It will provide for your future."
" My future is provided for. ... I have all I want.
Good food, . . . and I am dressed like a lady. What
can I possibly want besides ? "
"But we may not go on living always together
like this."
I 9 8 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
She gave a cry of dismay. "Are you thinking
of packing me off, Herr ? " she asked with tightly
clasped hands.
" Not now. But suppose I were to die."
She shook her head meditatively. " I should die
too," she said.
" Or I might have to go to the war again ? "
" Then I should go with you as a vivandiere."
Her persistence annoyed him. " Do as you
like," he said, " only take what I give you."
A bright idea seemed to occur to her.
"All right, Herr" she exclaimed, "I'll take it,
only next Christmas I shall buy you something with
it, that will be worth having." And happy at the
thought, she scampered away.
The Christmas-tree had burnt out. It stood now
dark and neglected in the corner by the stove, only
occasionally casting a glimmer from its golden fruit
on the table where master and servant sat opposite
each other.
Regina had been accorded permission to take her
supper with him this evening, and had been too
overcome to swallow a mouthful. She was almost
stunned with this great and unexpected pleasure.
Now the dishes were cleared away, and only
bottles and glasses stood between them. She drank,
thoughtlessly, of the old fire-kindling wine in long im-
moderate draughts. Her face began to glow. The
pupils of her brilliant eyes seemed to melt beneath
their drooping lids. She rocked to and fro on her
chair. A wild abandon had relaxed her in every limb.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 199
"Are you tired, Regina ? "
She shook her head impatiently. For once her
constraint in his presence had disappeared. There
was something even approaching audacity in the
brilliancy of her glance as she turned it on him from
time to time. She was intoxicated with happiness.
He too felt the wine flame up in him ; and his eyes
were riveted on her figure, which swayed before
him with the graceful motions of a Maenad.
All the time the tempest raged outside. It
whistled in the chimney and hurled a rattling fusi-
lade against the window shutters. There was a
grinding and crunching among the rafters of the
roof, which sounded as if the mouldy wood were
collapsing.
" I am afraid something will be blown down," he
said as he listened.
" Maybe," she answered with a dreamy smile,
huddling herself together. And then she began to
babble in a fragmentary but quite unrestrained
fashion. "Perhaps it isn't good for me, Herr,"
she said, " that you are so kind to me. All my life
I have never got anything but blows and abuse
first from my father, then from him, not to mention
other people. But if you spoil me, Herr, I shall
get proud and pride is a great vice, I have heard
the Pastor say I shall begin to think I'm a princess
who needn't earn her bread."
She burst into a peal of wild laughter, and let her
arms fall to her sides. Then in a low tone, as if
conversing with herself, she went on
200 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
" Sometimes I do wonder if I am only a servant.
I often feel really as if I were some enchanted
princess, and you, Herr, the knight who is to
deliver me. Will you be the knight ? "
She blinked at him over her wine-glass. He
nodded in friendly acquiescence. Let her revel in
her strange fancies. It was Christmas.
" There have been cases," she continued, " in
which princesses have been turned into quite com-
mon sluts. They have had stones thrown at them,
and been spat at, and men have called after them,
' Strike her down, the dirty slut ! ' And all the
time they were princesses in disguise."
" Do you believe in fairy tales, then ? " he asked,
wondering.
She laughed to herself. "Not exactly, Herr.
But when one passes so many hours alone, and has
to take long solitary walks as I have, one must
think. And when the rain beats down, and the
wind blows. . . . Hark at it now, what a to-do it's
making. . . . Think of me tramping along in this
and I have often been out when it's as bad, but
I've never lost my way. And sometimes, when I
come into the wood, I have asked myself, 'Which
would you rather be ? A queen sitting on a golden
throne, or the Catholics' Holy Virgin, who had our
dear Lord and Saviour for her little boy; or would
you rather be the devil's grandmother, and bury all
the Schrandeners in a manure-heap; or a noble
lady and " She paused.
" And ? " he queried.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 201
She drew herself up, and laughed in embarrass-
ment.
" I can't tell you that it is too silly. But I had
only to choose which I'd be. And as I march along
through the night shadows, I often imagine I am
one or other, till all of a sudden I find myself in
Bockeldorf, just as if I'd flown there often I think
I am flying. Ah ! things do happen in real life,
after all, very much the same as in the fairy tales.
Don't you think so, Herr?"
He contemplated her with curiosity and wonder,
as if he had never seen her before. And truly it
was the first time he had looked into her secret
soul. Now, when her tongue was loosened by wine,
much was revealed in her that before he had either
not observed or not understood.
" Blissful creature ! " he murmured.
" Am I ? " she replied, boldly planting her elbows
on the table, and regarding him with an expression
of joyous inquiry. "You mean, because I'm sitting
here with you drinking wine and being treated as if I
were human ? Oh ! it's exactly like being in heaven.
. . . Do you think I shall ever go to heaven ? . . .
I don't. I am far too wicked ! . . . And I think,
too, I should be afraid to go there. It must be
much livelier in hell. ... I should be more at
home there. The Herr Pastor often said I was like
a little devil, and I never fretted about it. Why
should I ? It seemed quite natural that I should
be the little devil and Helene the angel. An ex-
cellent arrangement. . . . Didn't Helene, Herr, look
202 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
just like an angel in the flesh ? So pink and white
and delicate, with her blue eyes and folded hands.
And she always wore ... a pretty ribbon . . .
round her neck . . . and smelt always of ... rose-
scented soap. . . ."
A cold shiver passed through him. He felt it was
degrading both to himself and the beloved to allow
this half-tipsy girl to speak of her as if she were an
equal.
" Stop ! " he demanded hoarsely.
She only answered him with a dreamy smile.
Wine and fatigue suddenly overpowered her. She
lay stretched out, her head thrown back on the arm
of the chair, and fought against sleep, like a Bacchante
exhausted after a whirl of dissipation.
A great anger, that rose and fell within him like
the sound of the storm outside, mastered him.
"This is what wine does," he thought, and yet
drank more.
He wanted to wake her, to send her out, but he
could not tear his eyes away from her face, and by
degrees he became gentler again.
" She meant no harm," he thought, as he moved
nearer to where she lay. "This is the last time
she will sit here with me; to-morrow a new leaf
will be turned. After to-morrow she shall find in
me nothing but the master."
Then he remembered all he had wanted to ask her.
" Well, never mind," he said to himself, " it can't
be helped. Why spoil her Christmas ? Some other
time will do."
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 203
The hurricane without seemed to have increased
in fury. It roared through the keyholes, and bat-
tered the shutters. How brutally cruel it was to
drive her out to sleep in a greenhouse on a night
like this ! But what was the use of being compas-
sionate when it had to be done ?
" Regina ! " he shouted, and tapped her on the
shoulder. At that moment there was a terrific
thundering crash, that made the walls tremble as
from a shock of earthquake. Regina screamed loud
in her sleep and tried to grasp his hand, then sank
back again into her old position. He went out to
see what was the cause of the noise. Nothing had
fallen in the vestibule, but on opening the door of the
greenhouse snow drifted in his face just as if he had
walked into the open air. All round was inky dark-
ness. He went back to fetch his lantern. It shed
its light on a scene of ruin that exceeded his worst
expectations. Regina's little kingdom, from which
she had ruled and regulated the menage so unosten-
tatiously, had seemingly been dispersed to the four
winds of heaven. The roof was blown off, and had
torn up part of the wall with it. Between the hearth
and the door was a barricade of snow as tall as him-
self, riddled with bricks, beams, and splinters of glass.
What was to be done now ? Where was Regina
to sleep ? Should he too let her lie like a dog on
his threshold ? No ! rather would he turn out into
the ruins himself, and seek a couch down in the
cellar. It was imperative to act at once, and there
was only one thing to be done. He drew Regina's
204 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
bedding out of the snow, shook it thoroughly till
not a flake remained hanging to it, and then dragged
it into his room. Beneath the shadow of the
Christmas-tree in the corner by the stove he made
up a bed on the boards.
Regina slept peacefully, her face illumined by
the light from the oil lamp. He came close to her,
shook and called her by name ; but nothing could
wake her. At last he lifted her up, to carry her
to the bed.
She gave a deep sigh, encircled his neck with
her arms, and let her head sink on his shoulder.
His heart beat faster. The fair body in the
first bloom of its superb young womanhood, gave
him a sensation of fear and uneasiness as it un-
consciously rested on him. He half carried, half
trailed her across the room. Her warm breath
fanned his face, her hair swept his throat.
As he let her sink on her mattress she raised her
arms, with a gesture of longing, in the air, and
pulled down the little fir-tree. He drew it from
under her, and then placed it as a screen and
sentinel between himself and her. " To-morrow I'll
rig up a partition," he thought Then he undressed
and went to bed.
The night-light burnt out, but there was no
thought of sleep for him. The tempest still raged,
and spent its fury on the locks and bolts. Boleslav
heeded it not. While he listened to the sleeping
woman's breath, his own fell on the night, in heavily-
drawn, anxious gasps.
CHAPTER XIII
" To His Lordship, Baron Bokslav
von Schranden, of Castle Schrandcn.
11 Your Hochwohlgeboren is requested to appear
in person on January $rd, annifuturi, at two o'clock
in the afternoon, at Herr Merckel's official residence,
and to bring the requisite papers relating to your
Hochwohlgeboren' s attachment, or non-attachment, to
the Prussian Landwehr.
" (Signed) ROYAL LANDRATH V. KROTKEIM,
Representative of Military Affairs
fvr the District"
Boleslav found this communication in the draw-
bridge letter-box on New Year's morning. The
threatening nature of its contents did not at once
strike him ; he was only staggered at the authorities
taking the trouble to investigate his case. He had
resolved, on again adopting his father's name, to
let the waters of oblivion close over Lieutenant
Baumgart. He had discharged his duty to his
country unconditionally ; bolder and more self-
sacrificing than thousands of others, he had gone
to face death. Now that there was peace, and he
had taken a great burden of inherited guilt on his
90S
206 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
shoulders, he had wished to avoid being involved
in any way with official red-tapism.
Only gradually did he realise the new dangers
that were gathering on his horizon. Pride in his
past as a soldier, afforded him the one prop and stay
in his present ruined life, and he felt that slipping
from under his feet. He stood defenceless in face
of imminent peril. It would need only a little
malice prepense to make him out a deserter from the
flag, and the fact of his having borne a false name
would go far to establish his guilt.
The son of Baron von Schranden had no reason
to hope that justice would be tempered with mercy
in his case. He would also have no reason to
complain of harsh measures, if he were put under
arrest on the spot, and brought before a court-
martial of the standing branch of his regiment.
For a moment he entertained thoughts of flight,
but afterwards thrust the idea from him in scorn.
He had too often valued his life cheaply, to now
think seriously of stealing into Poland to end his
wretched career in safety.
But what would become of Regina ?
At the thought of her, his heart smote him. She
had no suspicion of the new troubles with which he
was encompassed. Since Christmas night he had
not addressed a single word to her that was not
absolutely necessary, and even then his voice had
been imperious and severe. The thought of her now
seemed interwoven with a presentiment of coming
calamity, which oppressed him like a nightmare.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 207
At night he tossed about restlessly among his
pillows. She never stirred in her corner. Appar-
ently she fell asleep the moment she lay down.
But her soft, quick, regular breathing was sometimes
broken by a sigh. Perhaps, after all, she was not
sleeping, but watching, listening, as he listened. . . .
And then the day dawned on which Boleslav's
fate was to be decided. Towards morning he had
fallen into an uneasy sleep, and was first awakened
by the smoke that poured into the room from the
vestibule, where he had erected a temporary fire-
place, which would have to do as a makeshift till
milder weather made the repairing of the glass root
practicable. It was a clear, frosty morning. The
sunshine jewelled the hoar-frost on the twigs, and
dark purple shadows crept along the dazzling sheets
of snow.
He spent the morning in arranging his papers.
All that was compromising to his father's memory
should be destroyed, for were he put under arrest,
as seemed likely, strangers' hands would meddle in
this vortex. He held the sorted letters in his hand
ready to burn in the stove, when he thought better
of it. If he really were serious in his intentions of
bearing his father's guilt, he ought to conceal or
destroy nothing in order to lighten the burden. It
was not worth while purchasing truth with falsehood.
Rather die in disgrace, than live in honour founded
on lies and deceit.
When Regina brought him his midday meal he
vacillated an instant, as to whether he should tell
208 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
her all or nothing. But he shrank from a touching
scene, and decided on the latter course. A letter
would serve the same purpose. So he wrote : " If I
am not back at dusk, probably you will have difficulty
in seeing me again. Inquire at the Landrath's
office in Wartenstein. There they will tell you what
has become of me. I advise you to leave Schranden
at once. The draft I gave you will supply your
wants. What else remains shall all be yours later.
Good-bye, and accept my thanks."
He left the note in a conspicuous place, so that,
when she cleared away, she would find it. He was
in a hard and embittered mood, and in no humour
for a sentimental farewell.
But as he passed Regina in the vestibule where
she was occupied with the fire, he felt a strong
impulse to press her hand. For her sake, as much
as for his own, he went out without giving her a
word or a look. A group of staring louts, who
appeared to be waiting for him, were loafing near
the drawbridge. When they saw him coming, they
ran off helter-skelter with loud exclamations, to
the inn.
" My heralds," he said, and laughed.
Long before the stated hour the parlour of the
Black Eagle could not hold all the customers that
poured in, anxious to secure a foremost place for the
proceedings. There was an overflow that extended
as far as the churchyard square. Every one was
eager to witness with his own eyes the final degrada-
tion of the last of the Barons of Schranden.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 209
Three months had passed since the petition had
been sent to the judicial authorities of the province,
and even the most zealous patriots had begun to
despair of its producing any results. Then at last
had come the delightful intimation from the office
of the Landrath, that a day had been appointed to
wind up the case of the Crown v. Schranden, alias
Baumgart, and the presence of the petitioners was
urgently requested at the inquiry.
The Schrandeners had armed themselves in a
way worthy of the occasion. For three days they
had been busy polishing up their accoutrements.
Those among the disbanded Landwehr-men who still
possessed their Litewka had donned it, and pikes
and sabres were seen in the crowd. Possibly they
might be called upon to help in an instantaneous
administration of justice.
The Landrath's sleigh had entered the village at
one o'clock, and, as was customary, put up at the
parsonage stable, where Herr Merckel and his
son stood ready to welcome the high functionary.
There was no gendarme on the box, which greatly
mystified the Schrandeners. But perhaps the ser-
vices of one were not required when they could be
depended on to despatch the criminal at the first
signal.
Shortly before two, the Landrath, accompanied
by the old pastor, left the parsonage and entered
the inn by a side door, where Herr Merckel, senior,
again was to the fore to receive him, while Felix
slouched in the background, piqued at not being
O
210 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
treated with what he considered sufficient respect
by the civilian.
The Landrath von Krotkeim was a tall, extremely
slender man, whose hoary leonine head rose with
great effect from his contracted, sloping shoulders.
There was something awe-inspiring in its pose.
He wore, in defiance of the fashion of the period,
long whiskers, which flowed behind his ears,
mingling with his thick iron-grey mane.
His part in the formation of defences for the
Fatherland had been an important and distinguished
one. Two years before he had sat as a deputy for
the knighthood in the famous Land-tag to which
Germany owed the foundation of the Landwehr. He
had hailed old York with cheers, and helped to
draw up the address to the King. Afterwards he
had hastened back to his native place to set the
organisation on foot, and had achieved results which
made his district the brilliant model that excited
the admiring emulation of the whole country. Then
arose those marauders attendant on success, vanity
and egoism. What at first had been a labour of
noble disinterestedness, gradually degenerated into a
peg for self-advertisement and a means of memorial-
ising his own fame. For the rest, and long before
the treachery of the Cats' Bridge incident had been
generally made known to the world, Herr von
Krotkeim had by repute been a bitter enemy of
the house of Schranden. To hope any favour at
his hands would therefore be over-sanguine indeed.
Rut Boleslav had abandoned hope of any kind as
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 211
he entered the square in front of the church. He
advanced composed, and almost indifferent, towards
the crowd that formed a cordon round the inn.
He had, on his way, cast one shy glance at the
parsonage, where in a window he fancied he had
seen a fair face which withdrew into shadow directly
he smiled up at it. He was received by a murmur
of malignant tongues, but the cordon let him through,
understanding enough to know that, without him,
the game they were anticipating with such keen
relish could not be played.
At the entrance to the best parlour, he stood face
to face with the great man with the lion's mane,
on either side of whom sat the old pastor and
Herr Merckel. Felix lounged in the window-sill,
trying to assume an air of nonchalance. He now
considered his former playmate too inferior an
object on which even to bestow his hate. But the
old landlord greeted Boleslav with a benign smile.
Had he come there with the purpose of treating
every one present to a bottle of the celebrated
Muscat wine, the smile could not have been more
smugly servile.
Lightning-flashes irradiated from beneath the pro-
minent brows of the old pastor, and the Landrath
sat coolly contemplating his fingers, which were
white and bony as a skeleton's. Boleslav felt his
bosom swell proudly. " His hand against every
man ; every man's hand against him." It was the
old story!
A voice from the crowd hiccoughed out some
212 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
unflattering remark. The Schrandeners received
it with laughter.
"It's the poor father, the unhappy father," old
Merckel whispered to the Landrath, with a melan-
choly elevation of his eyebrows.
"As you have summoned me here," exclaimed
Boleslav, "I demand your protection from the in-
sults of the mob ! "
The Landrath drooped his eyelids and bowed.
" Silence, dear people ! " he commanded, stroking
his clean-shaven chin, and then he added, " I shall
have any person who makes a disturbance ejected."
He consulted a green portfolio that lay spread
before him on the table. Behind him a little man in
grey was energetically trying goose quills. Probably
he was the reporter.
The examination began. With frigid politeness
the Landrath put the usual questions.
" Where have you resided hitherto ? "
Boleslav enumerated several places.
"Your word is of course to be trusted, Herr
Baron, but have you proofs ? "
"No."
" Up to what date does your answer hold good ? "
"Till the spring of the year '13."
"After that?"
"I entered the army."
" Have you proofs to support that statement ? "
"No."
" I regret to say that the name von Schranden is
not to be found in the army list."
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 213
" I enlisted under another."
" Under the name of Baumgart ?"
"Yes."
" For what reason ? "
There was silence. Boleslav bit his lips.
" Ha, ha ! " came triumphantly from the window.
The exclamation put Boleslav on his mettle.
"To have borne my real name would have
involved me in difficulties."
"Why?"
" Because, through a rumour which I was power-
less to contradict, there was a blot on that
name,"
" What rumour ? "
It was clear this man intended to humiliate him
to the dust before passing on him the inevitable
sentence.
" You know it," he murmured faintly between his
closed teeth.
The Landrath bowed. "Nevertheless I must
ask for information on the subject."
" I decline to give it."
The mob sent up a shout of scornful laughter.
" Do for him at once ! put him in chains ! " roared
the same hiccoughing voice that had made use of an
abusive epithet earlier in the proceedings.
The Landrath gracefully waved his long white
hands.
"A note has been made of that refusal?" he
asked without turning round.
A small quavering pipe behind him, which greatly
214 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
amused the Schrandeners, answered in the affir-
mative.
Then he continued with imperturbable politeness.
" May I ask you, then, to tell me to which com-
pany you were attached ? "
Boleslav did so, and also gave the names of his
Heide comrades.
The Landrath turned over the leaves of his port-
folio with an air of ennui. The concerns of the
volunteer Jagers evidently had no interest for him.
" You were elected officer ? "
"Yes."
"I do not doubt your word, Herr Baron, but
have you proofs to back this statement ? "
"No."
"A note must be made of that negative. And
then you entered the Landwehr ? "
"Yes."
" Your reason ? "
Boleslav indicated, with a motion of his head, the
companion of his boyhood. " Because I did not
wish to meet that man."
Felix gave a scoffing laugh, and exclaimed, " Else
\he swindle would " A sign from the Landrath
silenced him.
" Your Landwehr regiment, if you please ? "
Boleslav cited the commandant's name.
The Landrath bowed low over the portfolio till
his shock of hair almost concealed his faded shrunken
face.
" So far that coincides with my information," he
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 215
said, and then read : " There was a Lieutenant
Baumgart, who at the time of the armistice entered
the regiment. Besides him there were four other
officers of this name in the army. The one in
question, however, met his death between the 1st
and 3rd of March on the Marne."
" How did you learn that, Herr Landrath ? "
" It is in the Gazette, Herr Baron. He is said to
have been sent on a special mission, and shot by
grenadiers in General Marmont's corps."
Boleslav felt his blood mount swiftly to his brow.
The proudest and most arduous moments of his life
rose vividly before him. "That is a mistake," he
cried ; " Lieutenant Baumgart fell into the hands of
the enemy severely wounded, but escaped with his
life."
" And it is your desire to be identified with that
fallen emissary ? "
" I believe I have clearly shown that it is my
desire."
" Very well, that being so, you will of course be
able to relate the incidents of the special mission."
" Certainly."
" Please proceed."
" The volunteers had been charged to get a mes-
sage delivered to General von Kleist. Some days
before a skirmish had taken place on the banks of
a river, Therouanne by name, through which the
General and his corps were cut off from communica-
tion with the main army. A reunion was not to
be effected owing to Marmont's and Mortier's troops,
216 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
to which Napoleon himself was said to be marching,
stopping the way. Field-Marshal Bliicher suddenly
resolved to retreat, in order, I believe, to pick up
reinforcements, and therefore it was, under the
circumstances, urgent to let General von Kleist
know at once, in case he should find himself entirely
isolated. It was necessary for the messenger to
evade the enemy's outposts at night-time. Among
those who volunteered to go on the mission, choice
fell on me. Major von Schaek led me to the Field-
Marshal, who entrusted me with a letter "
" One moment, please," interrupted the Landrath,
searching diligently among his papers ; then he added
casually, "And the letter of course contained the
necessary command."
"No."
"What, then?"
"The letter was designed to deceive the enemy
in case I should be shot from my horse on the way.
The Field-Marshal desired me to give his command
by word of mouth. I had to learn it by heart"
" How did it run ? "
" As follows : ' If on the morrow the enemy at-
tacks us on the right flank, General von Kleist is
not to join in the engagement, but to seize the op-
portunity of gaining the command of the Marne from
the south, so that he may bring himself in touch with
me. En route several bridges are to be destroyed.' "
The Landrath nodded. "And then Lieu-
tenant ? "
" I succeeded in delivering the message."
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 217
" You managed to evade the enemy and reach
your goal ? "
" I hope you have found proofs of it, Herr
Landrath, in the history of the war "
" Hum ! When were you wounded ? "
" On the way back."
" Why did you not remain where you were ? "
"Because I had undertaken to bring the Field-
Marshal an answer."
" You might have spared yourself this second act
of daring."
" I might have spared myself the first also."
" You wanted to achieve fame ? "
" I wanted among other things to escape the
privilege of this cross-examination."
The Landrath straightened himself and threw
back his mane. " Permit me to draw your attention
to the fact that you stand before the representative
of your king, Herr Baron von Schranden."
" Barefaced impudence ! " muttered the voice at
the window.
"I stand before my undoer," replied Boleslav,
looking steadily into the Landrath's eyes.
He fixed them on his papers again, with a sup-
pressed smile. " I have now come to the last stage of
my investigation," he continued. " It cannot be denied
that your statements bear a strong resemblance to the
facts, and that your claim to be one and the same
person as the Lieutenant Baumgart who served in
the Silesian Landwehr under Major von Wolzogen
has gained in probability. Only this admission has
218 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
to be weighed in the scale against the impossibility
of an honourable officer, as the said Baumgart seems
to have been, turning his back on the army in which
he had won honours and wounds, and deserting its
standard. He must have known a company of
soldiers could not be dispersed like a flock of
sparrows. And to think that the Landwehr " his
chest swelled and he tossed his mane, " the glorious
Landwehr, that has always stood in the first rank
for courage, love of order, and discipline, should have
thus been hoodwinked ! Freiherr von Schranden,
I fervently hope that Lieutenant Baumgart was not
guilty of this transgression, and am therefore bound
to wish that he met his death."
Boleslav felt the crisis was approaching. He
glanced round him and saw everywhere eyes flam-
ing with hate and thirst for vengeance. Felix
Merckel had laid his hand on the handle of his
sabre, as if in another moment he would raise
it. From the throngs behind him came a clash
and din of arms. Malignant satisfaction beamed
on the face of the old host of the Black Eagle.
Only the pastor sat with his dishevelled head
bowed in his hands, staring despondently on the
floor.
" It is not my fault, Herr Landrath, that the
dead man has been brought to life. He did his
duty, I think. Why should he not have been
allowed to rest in peace ? "
The Landrath shrugged his shoulders.
"A public indictment cannot be ignored."
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 219
" An indictment ! " cried Boleslav, his anger
blazing up, and his eye met young MerckeFs.
There he read, in unmistakable characters, the
story of the shameless plot against him. He smiled
in disgust.
" I see that I am answerable to a military tri-
bunal," he said. "I was prepared for it. I beg
you now to arrest me."
The mob pushed forward as if anxious to take
him at his word without delay. Boleslav, who all
this time had been standing on the threshold of
the inner parlour, was hurled forward against the
table, within a hair's-breadth of the Landrath, while
the fists of his enemies touched his neck from
behind.
"Patience, my dear friends," said the Landrath
in an amicable tone. "The first who lays hands
on him will himself be put in chains. One more
question, Herr Baron. If you were taken prisoner,
as you maintain, how was it that later, when the
disbanding followed, you were not registered and
discharged in the regular order ? "
" The French, in their hurried flight, left me lying
on the field, as I was badly wounded. I was picked
up by some peasants, in whose house I lay for
months at death's door. When I was able to
leave my rescuers, peace had been concluded, and
there were no allies in the neighbourhood."
" Your word of honour is of course sacred, Herr
Baron, but perhaps you can substantiate this with
proof?"
220 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
" Only with my scars, Herr Landrath?
"Ah ! ... Make a note of that " He pushed
back his leonine locks from his brow, and seemed
to be bracing himself for an impressive summing
up
" My friends ! Indomitable defenders of your
country, and inhabitants of Schranden ! The found-
ing of the Landwehr was the rising of a new sun,
which has never ceased to cast new lustre on the
fame of Prussia. Let us congratulate ourselves that
we have been born in a time when such great things
have been demanded of us, and that we have proved
ourselves worthy of, and equal to the demand.
Especially in this district, and foremost in this dis-
trict the parish of Schranden. If we look round us,
we see a very different spectacle in other quarters.
Not everywhere did the King's appeal meet with
such a warm and spontaneous echo.
" Oh, my friends, our hearts bleed when we hear
of how, in the districts of Konitz and Stargard, for
example, to escape serving, men took refuge in the
woods, and lay full-length amongst the wheat till
they had to be baited like bulls. Thousands took
flight across the frontier, and thus shirked the con-
scription altogether. And often what had been
beautifully drilled companies overnight, by the
morning were transformed into a shapeless mass of
panic-stricken deserters. But not in the district
that I have had the pleasure of mobilising.
" In less than two weeks, friends and comrades,
the Landwehr of the Wartenstein district was
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 221
ready drilled and armed from top to toe. The levies
were double in strength what the government had
required of us, and eighty per cent, consisted of
volunteers. From the parish of Schranden came
only volunteers."
The crowd set up loud hurrahs, and the pastor
nodded and smiled in grim satisfaction. He knew
whose work that had been.
" I must admit," continued the Landrath, with a
chilling sidelong glance at Boleslav, "that the parish
of Schranden has one hideous stain on its reputa-
tion " (several loud imprecations were audible)
" a stain which in spite of all its deeds of bravery
will never be dissociated from it " (renewed curses) ;
" but if it is the King's pleasure to overlook it, and
only to see the brighter side, his graciousness is
due to those who, in defending his realm, have
rendered him such able services, whose leader I
am happy and proud to call myself. The King's
favour ("Why does he harp thus on the King's
favour," thought Boleslav, " when he might wind up
the case and be done with it ") " has been abund-
antly lavished on us, and we are almost overpowered
with his blessings. Yet let all who reap the fruits
of the harvest remember they owe it to the men of
the Landwehr, and not least to their organiser, who
sowed for them the seeds of undying fame."
Again he began to turn over the leaves of
his portfolio, then he went on : " Take your caps
off, intrepid inhabitants of Schranden. Attention,
my brave men ! Gentlemen, if you please, rise I
222 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
Whoever keeps his cap on at the back there
will be ejected. I am commissioned to read over
to you an order of the Cabinet of supreme im-
port. It is as follows: 'Should it prove true that
the Freiherr von Schranden of Schloss Schranden
and Lieutenant Baumgart of the i$th Regiment of
the Silesian Landwehr, be one and the same per-
son, and that, as was naturally supposed of so
fearless an officer, he had no real intentions of
deserting, I appoint him to a captaincy in my
Landwehr, and entrust him with the command of
the company in his division. I also bestow on
him, in recognition of his extraordinary valour and
distinguished service, the iron cross of the first
class. The Landrath for the district shall invest
him with these honours in the presence of his
accusers. FRIEDRICH WILHELM REX.'"
The proclamation was received in profound
silence. The patriotic Schrandeners stood glower-
ing at each other in consternation. Felix Merckel
had sunk back on the window-seat. His fingers
clutched convulsively at the cross that shone be-
tween the black froggings on his coat. Boleslav
felt a buzzing sensation in his head. He was
obliged to cling to the door for support, for he
feared he might swoon. Not joy, only infinite
bitterness, welled up within him. He bit his lips
hard to keep back his tears.
The Landrath drew a small black case fron, the
depths of his coat pocket, and presented it to Boleslav
with an exaggeratedly obsequious bow. The cover
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 223
sprang back. The black smoothly polished scrap
of iron, on its background of blue velvet, seemed
surrounded by a halo of shimmering light. Boleslav
grasped it with one hand in growing excitement,
while he offered his other to the Landrath. The
latter retreated a step or two, closely regarding
his long, white, skinny hands, as if the act of
handing over the case had done them some injury.
Then he deliberately hid them behind his back.
" Herr Landrath, I offered you my hand," cried
Boleslav threateningly, .flushing darkly at this new
insult.
"According to his Majesty's wishes I have dis-
charged my duty. My instructions did not include
a shake of the hand."
At this moment a cross, like the one Boleslav had
just received, flew through the air and alighted at
his feet Felix Merckel had torn it from his breast
Swelling with righteous indignation, he swaggered
up to the official, whom he now felt sure he had
no reason to be afraid of, and cried
"There it may lie. I don't want it now. Any
decent soldier would be ashamed to wear it when
such as he is decorated with it."
A cry of mingled pain and fury escaped Boleslav's
lips, and with raised fists he turned fiercely on his
enemy.
Felix Merckel unsheathed his sabre, as if with
the intention of hewing down the unarmed man.
But the old landlord threw his corpulent form be-
tween them. The Landrath confined himself to
224 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
waving his hands soothingly ; and the pastor vigi-
lantly kept watch on his Schrandeners. He knew
his flock, and read murder in their glance.
"Back there! keep back!" he shouted to the
tumultuous throng in a voice of brass. With out-
stretched arms he sprang into the doorway, where
already a line of pikes appeared, ready to fell the
victim from behind.
Boleslav looked round and saw with a shudder
how near he stood to death.
The pastor, clinging to the roof of the doorway,
endeavoured to stem the murderous tide. Would
that frail and venerable frame be able to repulse this
onslaught of unmuzzled wolves ? Would it not be
swept away on the crest of this bloodthirsty wave ?
A weak shield to rely on, indeed ! Yet his was the
only authority not swamped by the tumult. The
Landrath's protesting hands waved impotently above
the seething heads, like limp towels ; the gentle flute-
like tones in which he declared the ringleaders of
the disturbance should be turned out and bludgeoned
were totally ignored. His parasite, the little port-
folio bearer, had taken the precaution to creep under
the table.
A voice within Boleslav cried, " What ! You will
let this old man protect you? Cannot you pro-
tect yourself ? " And a wild resolve consumed him.
This seemed a moment given him to balance his
account with fate a moment of all others in which
cowardice was to be avoided. He caught hold of
the old pastor in a grip of iron and drew him aside.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 225
"This is my place, reverend sir," he said, and
planted himself in the doorway.
He stretched out his arms above him, as the old
man had done, and offered his breast as a target
for the pointed weapons. His eye penetrated un-
flinchingly into the heart of the struggling and
ramping mob before him. He felt the foam from
their mouths bespatter him, and their hot, foul
breath fan his face.
"Here I stand!" he cried. "I have left my
pistols at home ; so you can make short work of
me. Any of you who have the courage."
But no one had the courage, for his back was not
turned to them now. Sabres were lowered, pikes
dropped.
"I see you don't wish to assassinate me after all,"
he said, holding them with his eyes. " You are going
to behave yourselves like men, and not like wild
beasts. Very well, then, I will speak to you as to
reasonable men. Move backwards and keep quiet."
The crowd wavered; the next moment he had
the threshold to himself.
" And now speak ! Tell me what you want
with me ? "
There was no answer, no sound in the room
except the laboured breathing of excited lungs.
" You hate me. You would like to take my life.
Tell me why ? Here in the presence of a representa-
tive of the King whom we all serve and fear, in the
presence of a representative of the God in whom I
believe and you too tell me what I have done ?
P
226 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
I submit myself to their judgment. Now is your
opportunity of charging me."
But the silence continued. Only one spluttering
voice arose for a moment and died away in a gurgle,
as if it were being stifled by force.
" You are dumb. You cannot say what my offence
has been, and you, gentlemen ! Won't you come
to the assistance of these poor, speechless people ?
There on the ground lies a cross, the mark of honour
our nation cherishes more highly than any other,
which some one threw away, because through my
possessing one like it, he considered it contaminated.
Some one else declined to shake hands with me just
now, a common act of courtesy which no man of
honour refuses another unless he be a blackguard. It
does not matter, Herr Landrath, if in this instance
judges and accusers unite in a common cause. Ac-
cuse me of what you like, condemn me! I am
prepared."
Another long pause. The Landrath twisted his
whiskers in embarrassment.
" And you, Herr Pastor it is hardly fitting that
I should call the instructor of my youth to account
but some months ago you showed me the door in
your own house. Could you not be spokesman now
for your parishioners ? "
The old man's jaws worked, his lips moved, but
no sound issued from them. He appeared to have
exhausted his strength, but the wild, fiery glance he
darted from beneath his bushy brows boded no
good to Boleslav.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 227
With a laugh he went on. " Then I must be my
own accuser." He felt intoxicated with his own
courage. " Your hand against every man, and every
man's hand against you," cried jubilantly within him.
" You think you ought to visit the sins of the fathers
on me ; empty the vials of your wrath on my head
because you cannot reach the dead. Very well. I
am his heir. I take his guilt upon me, and do not
refuse to do penance, when right and justice demand
it of me. But why were no steps taken against the
dead man himself? Why was he not tried ? Why
not dragged to the scaffold when he deserved it?
Herr Landrath, I ask you, as the embodiment of the
law, why did the State remain silent and suffer
these gallant men who smarted under wrong to take
revenge into their own hands ? And such a revenge !
So childish, so cruel, that one would have thought it
could only have occurred to the primitive brain of
bloodthirsty savages. Revenge for a deed which at
this hour I neither admit nor deny, because it lies
shrouded in mystery. Which of you can say how
it happened, or whether it happened at all ? And
in spite of this uncertainty, you have damned and
defamed him and his race, deprived them of honour
and justice. Is that fair play ? Now I ask you to
put us on our trial, me, and the dead man, and "
He paused, shocked at the thought that he had
nearly let fall Regina's name.
The pastor's eagle eye flashed ominously. Then
collecting himself, he continued : " Inquire, speak
out unravel the mystery, clear up the matter, and
228 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
then judge and pass sentence. But at the same
time sit in judgment and pass sentence on that
other crime, the crime that has wrecked my pro-
perty, and leaves me only uninhabitable ruins to
live in, a crime that cries aloud to Heaven for
vengeance. On the subject of other outrages and
indignities I will be silent threats of murder to me
and mine ; the blocking of the churchyard entrance
to my father's funeral cortege all that shall pass.
But the fire, that I swear shall be avenged ! If till
to-day justice has been blind to my wrongs, its
eyes shall be wrenched open. I will not rest day
or night till I have dragged the skulking authors of
that cowardly, atrocious deed into the light of day,
and may God have mercy on those who attempt to
screen or defend them."
Again the mob showed signs of uneasiness. Its
foremost ranks pressed back on the others, as if to
fly from the vengeance of the wrathful man who had
addressed them in words of such burning indigna-
tion. Again from the neighbourhood of the window
came hoarse, stuttering laughter that was choked off
as before.
The occupants of the best parlour made an effort
to appear as if they had not been listening to
Boleslav. The Landrath, who was really painfully
affected, busied himself with more zeal than ever
in looking through his papers. Old Merckel had
picked up the discarded cross, and was trying to
persuade his son, who resisted sulkily, to wear it
again. The little man in grey had come out from
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 229
under the table, and was employing himself in
carefully rubbing dust off his knees. Only the old
pastor was on the alert. He had propped his stick
against the table; the thin white hair that floated
round his bald skull quivered. He stood looking,
with his vulture profile, and small eyes flashing
beneath his sharply projecting brows, like a bird of
prey waiting to pounce on its booty.
Had Boleslav caught sight of him at that moment,
he might have hesitated to make a fresh challenge.
But he wanted to score all along the line and com-
plete his victory.
" In order that there may be a clear understanding
between us," he cried, "that all may see who has
right on his side and who wrong, I ask, which of
you has a charge to prefer against me ? To whom
have I done an injury ? How have I sinned ? "
Then the voice of the old pastor was raised be-
hind him. " Is Hackelberg, the carpenter, here ? "
Boleslav winced. That voice so close to his ear
sounded intimidating and uncanny, and prophetic
of coming evil. There was a scuffling and swaying
in the crowd. The ragged figure of the village
drunkard, by means of shoves and kicks, was pro-
pelled forward into the front row. He struggled
and beat the air with his hands, and when forced
on to the threshold of the inner parlour, tried to
duck beneath the legs of the men on either side
of him.
"There is nothing to be afraid of, Hackelberg,"
said the pastor. " I will see that you are not hurt."
230 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
Reassured, he drew himself up, and scanned the
gentlemen he had been brought before with a sus-
picious, glassy eye.
" What creature is this ? " inquired the Landrath,
scandalised. "Why is he not put under restraint ? "
" Because his condition is owing more to his mis-
fortune than his fault," the pastor answered.
Herr Merckel thought it his duty to whisper an
explanation to his superior.
" He is the poor father so much to be pitied," he
said, with a mock pathetic air, "whose sad story I
related to your Hochwohlgeboren"
At the same time he watched uneasily some
Schrandeners, who seemed to be waiting for a
signal to take the drunkard into custody.
"Have you nothing to say, Hackelberg?" as!.
the pastor.
"What should I have to say, Herr Pastor?" he
lisped, beginning to cringe again, and drawing the
lappets of his tattered coat over his naked breast.
" Have you no accusation to make ? "
" Let me go," he growled. " I haven't "
" Not even against him ? " and he pointed to
Boleslav.
A glimmer of intelligence came into the dull,
glazed eyes. He understood his cue. Old Merckel
nodded at him encouragingly, and he began to play
his favourite r61e. Floods of tears that the besotted
inebriate can always command so easily, poured
over his cheeks. He rubbed his wet face with his
black hands, till it resembled some hideous mask.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 231
" Poor fellow ! poor outraged father ! " crooned
Herr Merckel, senior, wiping his own eyes.
"What is the meaning of this absurd farce?"
asked Boleslav, with a scornful laugh. But his face
had become visibly paler.
" Here we don't enact farces, but sit in judgment,"
answered the pastor.
Boleslav shrugged his shoulders. " I am pleased
to hear it," he said, and there was a tremor in his
voice.
The Schrandeners craned their necks to get a
better view of the edifying scene, of which they
now expected to be spectators. In the momentary
calm that ensued, distant whoops and yells were
heard from the crowds who filled the square, having
stormed the inn in vain, and with the noise there
seemed to mingle a woman's voice crying for
succour.
What if it were Regina ? But it was not pos-
sible that it could be she ; and the idea vanished as
quickly as it had flashed into his brain.
" My child, my poor wretched child ! " howled
the carpenter, who now found himself in more
familiar waters.
" What have they done to your child, man ? "
asked the Land rath, who was not going to tolerate
the conduct of affairs being taken out of his hands.
"My child was seduced he ruined her my
fatherly heart is ... lacerated ... I am a poor
beg gar . . . Only one coffin "
"I fancy I have heard you harp on this string
232 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
before," the Landrath interrupted him sharply, " at
the time when I examined your daughter about the
Cats' Bridge disaster. If you haven't learnt anything
a little newer than that in five years, you'd better
nold your tongue. It seems/' he said, turning with
a smile to the pastor, " as if this ruffian were bent
on playing the part of Virginius."
The little man in grey laughed shrilly at this
facetious sally on the part of his chief, and then
was overcome with confusion at his own timerity.
But the old pastor was less disposed to appreciate
the Landrath's urbane humour.
" I will speak for you, Hackelberg," he said.
" My words must be taken seriously. I will speak
for you and for all of us in the name of our
Heavenly Father, whose commandments were not
made to be flouted and set at nought by aristo-
crats. Freiherr von Schranden, just now you
challenged me to speak. Will you listen to what
I am going to say ? "
He assented impatiently. For the second time
he fancied he heard that cry of distress rise above
the hubbub outside.
"You have entered into the inheritance of your
father?"
"Can there be any doubt in the matter ?"
" God knows ! None."
" What do you mean by that ? "
" I mean you have only too quickly appropriated
that which was his unlawful possession."
" Herr Pastor " But he could not go on.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 233
He felt a choking sensation in his throat, and a
stony horror creep over him.
"Where is your spirit?" he asked himself;
"your boasted defiance?"
"You found a woman, Herr Baron, on your
estate who had been your father's mistress. You
found her degraded, defiled, dragged through
the mire of wickedness and vice. Year -long
slavery had robbed her of the respect of every
living creature. She was treated as a mere animal
by animals. This wretched woman belonged to
my parish and to me. I reared her in the way she
should go. It was my hand that sprinkled the
baptismal water on her brow ; my hand that held
the chalice to her lips at the Holy Sacrament ; and
I promised and vowed before God, and in pre-
sence of my flock, to watch over this young soul;
doubly orphaned, because he who generated her
was not responsible for his actions."
" Ah, my poor orphaned child ! " maundered the
carpenter. " Only two, only one other coffin . . ."
"I am answerable for her to God and the
parish. I could not command your father to give
her up, for, as I told you, I had handed him over
to a heavenly tribunal ; but you, who have courted
this inquiry, I command to give her up, and, what
is more, in the present hour of reckoning I exhort
you to render account of what you have done for
her soul."
A red mist floated before Boleslav's eyes, and in
this mist the figure of the venerable priest seemed
234 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
to grow till it became almost god-like. He could
only stammer forth
" What should I . . . ? " And the old man took
up the thread of his speech again
" To-day you have been honoured before all men
by our King ; but, Boleslav von Schranden, look to
it that God holds you in equal esteem. What
should you have done, you ask ? This impure,
abandoned creature ought to have been more
awful, more sacred to you than any other earthly
being. What have you done to atone for the guilt
your father heaped on her ? Have you freed her
from the bondage into which she had sunk, loosed
her from the chain of her sin ? Have you pointed
her soul upwards to God, the All-gracious and All-
forgiving ? Or have you dragged her down deeper
and deeper into the hell that your own flesh and
blood created for her ? Above all, in what fashion
have you been living with her ? It is said that,
amidst the devastation of your island, there is only
one room habitable. Have you never lost sight of
the fact that by all laws, human and divine, your
father's property in this instance was for you for-
bidden ? Have you taught her to repent and pray,
or have you filled her poor undisciplined senses
with fresh poison ? And have you preserved your
own blood intact from sinful desires and lust ? Or
have you let your passions, like greedy beasts
waiting whom they may devour, keep watch on
her, ready to spring in an hour of weakness, thus
adding fresh shame ? "
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 235
" Cease ! " cried Boleslav. " This is too much ! "
Truly scorpions proceeded out of the mouth of
this mild Christian priest, who knew how to re-
veal and lash secret sins of the imagination, which
till this hour Boleslav never suspected had existed
in his.
But now he saw it all. Everything was clear.
Now he knew what it was had sent his blood tear-
ing impetuously through his veins in the long night
vigils, and had made him hold his breath, and listen
to hear whether that other breath did not come faster
or slower, showing that she, too, was sleepless and
on guard. It was sinful desire for her body the
body that had been dishonoured and abused, yet in
spite of all remained so triumphantly beautiful.
Thank God ! ah, thank God ! that the sin was
still confined to his inner consciousness. There
was yet time to lock it behind bolts and bars to
prevent its stealing forth over the fatal threshold.
So far he could claim the right to be his own judge,
to stand before the private judgment-seat of his
own conscience.
He looked round him, and his face was distraught
and ghastly pale. He saw triumph flame up again
in the eyes that watched him.
"What right have you to impute this crime to
me ? " he said to the pastor.
" I did not impute it I merely asked you," the
old man interposed quickly. "You have become
too pale, Htrr Baron, for us not to observe your
discomfiture."
236 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
"Condemned out of his own mouth, unhappy
man," murmured Heir Merckel, senior, with a sigh.
The Schrandeners, in the renewed hope of being
allowed to spring at his throat, set up a fearful howl,
and pressed forward once more.
Then above all the din there was distinctly heard
from the yard a shriek of anguish that caused
BoleslaVs marrow to freeze in his bones. There
could be no mistake now. That was Regina !
" Regina ! " he cried, and rushed to the window
that opened on the yard. There the mad chase
was in full cry. A crew of furious dishevelled
women were dashing over hedges, ditches, waggons,
barrels, and frozen dunghills, followed by boys
armed with clubs. The air was thick with flying
stones.
" Help ! help ! " shrieked Regina's voice. But she
herself was not visible.
But as he wrenched open the back door she flew
like a wounded bird into the dark corridor, followed
closely by her would-be assassins whooping and
panting.
He pulled her with a powerful movement of his
arm into the room, and shut the door on the furies
in pursuit.
She sank on the floor at his feet and pressed her
face against the hem of his coat.
Her hands relaxed their cramped grasp on two
splintered pieces of wood all that was left of her
tub, the shield with which she had been in the habit
of warding off assaults. Her hair was loose, her
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 237
dress torn, the pretty fur-trimming that she had been
so proud of, hanging about her in tatters.
u A charming pair of lovers," said Herr Merckel,
rubbing his hands in keen enjoyment of the scene,
while the Schrandeners displayed a strong disposi-
tion to continue the work begun outside by their
womankind. The very sight of Regina was suffi-
cient to excite to an uncontrollable degree their
predilection for "throwing something." With a
yell of delight they looked round them in search of
missiles, and already two earthenware mugs had
been hurled into the gentry's parlour, one of which
struck the carpenter on the shoulder. This instinct
for smiting was now stronger in them than the
thirst for a life.
The Landrath wrung his bony hands in despair.
All his courtesy and distinction of manner was lost
on this pack of devils.
" Herr Landrath" said Boleslav, pointing to the
woman cowering almost insensible at his feet, "I
beg you to make a note of this pandemonium. If
you do not feel inclined to interfere, I take the
liberty to warn you that you may have to appear in
your own august person as a witness in a court of
law against these gallant people."
Certainly the Landrath seemed hardly aware of
the pitiable figure he was cutting. His splendid
mane now hung in shaggy disorder about his face,
which had assumed a peevish ezpression.
"Merckel," he rasped, "you are mayor. I'll
have you superseded, unless you can maintain
238 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
order. Order ! do you hear, good people. Order !
This is breaking the public peace. You deserve
imprisonment in fact you shall be sent to prison.
Taken with arms in your hand, means three years,
not -a day less than three years, good people. To-
morrow I shall send gendarmes, three gendarmes."
It must have been his good angel that put this
threat into his head, for no other could have had
the same effect in bringing the rebels to their
senses. Since the war no gendarmes had been
stationed in Schranden, which was a piece of good
fortune not to be scouted at, for its inhabitants
feared gendarmes more than they feared the king.
Herr Merckel, who began to tremble for his
office, was now assiduous in his efforts to restore
peace. His son leant back with folded arms in the
corner of the window-seat, affecting to be highly
amused at the proceedings.
But the old pastor's gaze never wavered from
the pair, and seemed to be searching the innermost
recesses of their hearts.
"Stand up, Regina," said Boleslav to the kneeling
girl. " They shall not hurt you. I will defend you."
But she remained huddled at his feet, still quaking
with fear.
" It's not true, Herr, that they are going to take
you away?" she sobbed. "If it is, I will starve
myself and freeze to death."
" No, it's not true ; but get up, Regina."
"Master; ah, my dear, dear master!" and she
pressed her forehead against his knee.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 239
" Boleslav von Schranden, do you deny it now ? "
" Deny what ? " he asked. " That this poor un-
happy girl whom you have denounced and ostracised
regards me as her rescuer and saviour, because I
am the first who for years has spoken a kind word
to her? Or would you have me deny that this
same unhappy girl has endeared herself to me,
because she is the only human being on God's
earth who has clung to me in my hour of need,
when every one else has forsaken me ? I should
be an ungrateful ruffian if I did not value her after
all she has done for me. I never asked her to
share my solitude among the ruins. It is not so
comfortable or lively up there, and all my goodness
to her has consisted in my allowing her to sacrifice
herself for me. I have not been able to supply
her with pleasures. There has been no unlawful
intimacy between us. If she prefers to be my
body-slave to being stoned and harried to death,
that is no concern of any one's in the world, least
of all of you Schrandeners, and of that despicable
drunkard who prostituted his own flesh and blood."
Gently prompted by old Merckel, the carpenter
recommenced playing the rdle of injured father.
"Oh my daughter ! my poor, misguided daughter !"
he groaned.
"Do your duty," urged the landlord; "reclaim
her."
"Come, my child; come back to your broken-
hearted, deserted father. He has taken to drink
through grief . . . driven to it. He will only make
240 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
two more coffins ; one for himself and one
for "
He stretched out his dirty hand to her, which,
shuddering, she violently repulsed.
" Do not distress yourself further," said Boleslav.
"She belongs to me as I belong to her."
" Nevertheless, I demand her from you this day,
Boleslav von Schranden," said the old pastor, placing
his hand on Regina's head. She cowered, but let
it lie there.
" That you may be able to stone her better ? "
" I promise you that no harm shall come to her.
I will confide her to the care of one of my spiritual
brethren, who will see to her wants for this side
of the grave and the other. If you oppose her
redemption, you will only be knitting the chain of
your sin the closer."
Boleslav was silent. A thousand thoughts rushed
through his brain. This old man's word was to be
relied on ; he was no cheat. And what lawful claim
had he to this woman lying helpless at his feet?
How could he make it worth her while to perpetually
risk her life for him ?
Then the Landrath, who had partially recovered
from his panic, put in his word. " Is the young
person of age ? " he asked.
The pastor calculated a moment, and replied in
the affirmative.
"The vis paterna therefore cannot be enforced
against her wishes, otherwise she might be sent to
a penitentiary, where "
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 241
The rest of his speech was cut short by a burst of
ironical laughter from Boleslav.
" She may decide for herself. Does that satisfy
you, Herr Baron ? "
" I shall not influence her one way or the other,"
he muttered, and he felt the form at his feet vibrate.
He bent over her. " Regina, do you hear what the
pastor promises to do for you ? You know your
future is monetarily provided for. Will you leave
the rest, and go with him."
Then she lifted her glowing face streaming with
tears to his, and sobbed out, " Please, Herr, don't
make fun of me."
" You wish to stay with me ? "
" Ah, Herr, you know I wish it Why do you
ask?"
" Stand up then, and we will go."
The pastor barred their way. He had become
ashy pale, and his vulture gaze pierced Boleslav
through and through. He laid his hand solemnly
on his shoulder as he had done the day he had
demonstrated to him his father's guilt.
" My son," he said, " you too I received into holy
baptism, and taught you to lisp God's name, and
opened your eyes to the marvels of His creation.
You were to me as my own child, and more, because
you were the son of my terrestrial lord and master. I
have to answer for you too before the throne of God.
You have not been able to clear yourself of the sus-
picion that rests upon you, and if I read your soul
aright don't cast down your eyes I think I am not
Q
242 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
mistaken. Therefore, I again command you to give
up this woman. I command and exhort you to do
so in the name of your father, the name of the
parish, the name of our Master in heaven who is
the Father of all orphans and irresponsible children
who sin unconsciously. Give her up and you
shall be acquitted as blameless, and go your way
in peace."
Regina had raised herself, and now clung to his
arm, trembling from head to foot
" Come ! " Boleslav said. " It is to be hoped they
will let us pass," and he made a motion as if he were
going to push by the old man. But he planted
himself again in their way, and holding his arms
aloft, said
" Then you are worthy of your father. And as I
once cursed him, I curse you to-day, you and this
woman together. You shall be like Cain, whom the
Lord banished from His sight. . . . You shall be a
fugitive and an outcast on the earth, and your home
shall lie in ruins for evermore. There you shall abide
with this woman. . . . Now go! Make room for
them there ! and who lifts a hand against either of
them or lays a finger on them shall be cursed, as
they are cursed."
Boleslav uttered a sound that broke discordantly
on the solemn silence
" Come ! " he said, and took Regina's hand in his ;
" let the old man curse, it seems to be his trade ; "
but he felt a cold shiver run through him.
He saw a lane open which reached to the door,
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 243
in the densely-packed tap-room. Hand in hand he
and Regina walked down it.
No one laughed, no one sneered, no one stirred.
A superstitious awe seemed to have struck the on-
lookers dumb. The breath of the winter evening met
their faces with an icy tooth. Had some one spread
the news of what had happened within, among the
crowd that waited outside, or had they divined it by
instinct ? Here too was profound silence ; here too
a path was made for them, which they followed,
bending their footsteps river wards with bowed
heads.
CHAPTER XIV
THE glow in the evening sky faded. A violet
vapour hung about the bare tracery of the tree-tops,
and showers of sparkling crystals rained from the
branches.
Boles! av ground the snow under his heel. His
breath curled in front of him in slender columns.
The keen frosty air was balm to his fevered face.
He had sent Regina on before, and was trying to
regain calmness and presence of mind in solitary
wandering, for his brain boiled like a witch's
caldron.
The curse stood out intangibly in his ruminations ;
it was like the bogey that little children people the
darkness with. He saw it everywhere ; it haunted
him. How well his father's old enemy had availed
himself of the opportunity of doing what probably
he had long connived at, putting the son under the
same ban as the father.
But it was a terrible reflection to think he might
have deserved that curse. As it was, he had not
merited it ; a thousand times no ! What the veteran
priest in his dark suspicion had alluded to as an
accomplished brutal fact, had really only swept his
soul with phantom wings. Now that his conscience
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 245
was awakened to the danger of the situation, the
danger itself was over. After all, he ought to be
indebted to the pastor for showing him the yawning
precipice that lay at his unwary feet.
"Think no more of it," he said to himself; "I
am the master, she the servant, and I should be an
accursed "
He stopped. Was he not already accursed ?
Then he laughed at his foolish fears. It was childish
to mind. Bah ! he was too susceptible. At all
events, this day should be the beginning of a new
epoch in his relations with the outer world. The
possession of the iron cross was a proof that he was
not dishonoured or outside the pale of law and
justice. With it he might, if he had the courage,
outwit the knavish tricks of his personal enemies,
and appeal to the assistance of the Courts. If the
judge of the district had chosen to condone the fire
by ignoring it, he might in his turn light a fire that
would send forth such a blaze that the very holes
where the incendiaries skulked would be illuminated.
But it would involve dragging his father's dealings
also into the fierce light of day. Could he dare to
disturb the peace of the dead, like a body-snatcher,
and blazon forth the shame of his house in the face
of all the world ?
His mouth became distorted with the defiance that
inwardly consumed him. He felt for the moment
as if deliberate self-destruction were a mere joke.
Why should he hold back ; stop at anything ?
Was he not under a curse? A bitter laugh
246 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
rose in his throat. He could not forget that
curse !
Then he went into the house. Regina was laying
the table for supper. She had mended her jacket,
and smoothed out her hair with water. Her face
was as calm as if nothing in the least out of the
way had happened; only a scratch on her throat,
testified to the hours of peril she had lately lived
through.
With affected severity he asked, " What induced
you, Regina, to be so silly as to come near the inn ? "
She measured him with a shy "glance. " I beg
your pardon, Herr? she said, with a graceful bend
of her neck. " I found your letter, and I saw every-
thing swimming green and yellow before my eyes, it
made me feel so queer. I hardly knew what I was
about. I thought perhaps I could help to set you
free."
"Stupid child!" he said, and laughed; but a
feeling rose within him that had to be forcibly
repressed.
" Bring the wine," he ordered, as he sat down
to the table.
" Which kind, Herr?"
"The best. It is high festival and holiday
to-day ! "
She looked at him in surprise, and went.
" Fetch a glass for yourself," he said, as she
uncorked the grey cobwebby bottle.
"Oh, please, Herr, I'd rather not. It's too
strong."
THE SINS OF THE hAltiiLKb 247
14 Nonsense ! you will get used to it."
w Perhaps, Herr?
He poured out the wine. The dark-gold fluid
foamed sparkling into the slender-stemmed emerald
rummers, which, perishable as they were, had been
saved from the ruins,
" Clink ! " he said.
The glasses as they came in contact produced
music like muffled bells.
"The curse of a priest has to-day coupled me
with her," he thought, and his eyes sought hers
and probed their depths. " How extraordinary ! how
monstrous!" This woman was to be part of his
existence, the old man had said. This woman
why, oh, why this one ?
"A curse is a sanction," he meditated further.
" Something that never happened, and never would
have happened, through him has been substantiated
and vouched for before Heaven as if it were an
established fact."
And again his thoughts began to encroach
stealthily on that forbidden ground, in whose in-
surmountable barriers the preacher's words them-
selves had quarried access. " You are master," he
repeated the formula over and over to himself,
" she the servant ; " and then he added, " What is
more, she is your slave, and so let it be."
One course of action seemed clear enough at the
moment, and that was that progress must be made
immediately with his work of retaliation. He bade
Regina remove the dishes and bring another bottle
248 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
of wine. Then he fetched his writing materials and
motioned her to sit down in the place she had
occupied on Christmas evening. With shy delight
she obeyed, for since that night she had spent her
evenings till bed-time alone in the vestibule.
" I'm going to ask you, Regina," he began, " to
answer very briefly, and to the point, several
questions ! "
She started, then whispered, "Yes, Herr."
" Drink, and that will make you more talkative."
She struggled to do as he desired, but to-day the
effect the wine had upon her was to make her more
nervous and reserved, instead of less so.
"To go back to the night in which you led the
French across the Cats' Bridge. Was there any one
on the premises who knew of the expedition ? "
" No, Herr."
" How did it get wind in the village then ? "
She cast down her eyes. " I believe through me,
Herr" she stammered.
" To whom did you confide the information ? M
"To my father."
" How, and when ? "
"He used to come to the Castle secretly from
time to time to get money from me, and if I hadn't
any to give him he pinched and beat me."
" Why did you not call out for help ? "
"Because it was at night, Herr ; and if he had
been found there they would have flogged him."
"Goon."
" And so he came soon after . . . after the expedi-
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 249
tion, I mean . . . and asked me to do all sorts of
things. I was to get money from the gnddiger Herr
... or to turn out his pockets when no one was
looking ; and to be left in peace, I fetched the bag
the French General had given me. And when he
saw the moonlight shine on the coin that was in it,
he was half mad "
She paused abruptly.
"Well?"
"Must I say it, Herr?"
" Of course you must."
" But he is my father, Herr"
" You are to do as I command you."
She drew a deep sigh and went on. "And he
caught hold of me by the throat with one hand,
and beat me with the other, and hissed in my ear :
1 Unless you confess how you came by all that money,
I'll squeeze the life out of you ' And when I
could hardly breathe, I "
He laughed harshly to himself. His father and
her father both had resorted to the same chivalrous
measures.
Regina thought the laugh was at her expense.
"Ah, Herr" she went on with an imploring
upward glance, "I was so dreadfully stupid then.
Even a fortnight later, when they cross-examined
me, they could have strangled me before they would
have got anything out of me. But then I suppose
it was because he was my father "
"Oh yes, I understand. You told tales out of
school to your father. Well, what else ? "
250 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
"The very same night my conscience pricked
me, and in the morning when I took the gnadiger
Herr his coffee he would always have me take it
I told him all."
" And what did he say ? "
" He turned as white as chalk, but said nothing
at first. He took down a gun from the wall and
pointed it at me ; I folded my hands and closed my
eyes, and then I heard him utter an oath, and
then he put the gun over his shoulder and rushed
out. I thought to myself, he's gone to put an end
to father ! And I watched him run towards the
drawbridge with his two bloodhounds, and then
I, as quick as lightning, hurried through the park,
across the Cats' Bridge to the village, to let father
know his life was in danger. Had he been at home
I couldn't have saved him. But he was in the Black
Eagle, and had blabbed everything the night before,
and was now blind drunk. The gnadiger Herr won't
fetch him out of the Black Eagle, I thought and be-
sides it was too late, for Herr Merckel and every one
knew, and they all made a great hullabaloo when
they saw me, and caught hold of me, and tried to
force me to speak ; but I bit my tongue till it bled,
and kept silent. Then they let me go, and I ran to
meet the gnadiger Herr, and threw myself at his
feet, saying, ' Spare his life, for it will do no good to
take it. All the world knows now.' . . He gave me
a kick that made me faint, but he left father alone.
And then a fortnight after a gendarme came for me,
and took me to the Black Eagle. There, in the
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 251
wine-room, were assembled five or six gentlemen;
the Herr Landrath, who was there to-day, among
them. And they shut the door behind me, and
began to cross-question me. I felt as if I could do
nothing but cry, and then I grew calmer, and pre-
tended that father had dreamt it all in one of his
drunken fits. But they showed me the bag he
had taken from me and so Herr ... I was
obliged to say . . . that the money . . . was the . . .
reward . . . that I " She broke off, and hid
her face that was suffused with a dark crimson flush
of shame, in her hands.
" Proceed with your story," he commanded, grind
ing his teeth.
" They didn't believe me, Herr, but they saw it
was no good trying to get the truth out of me, and
asked me no more questions. And then they held
a consultation in low voices (but I have good ears,
and understood all they were saying), as to whether
they should lock me up till I found my tongue, and
arrest the gnddiger Herr, and so on, and then they
came to the conclusion that to blaze it abroad would
cause too great a scandal in the district, and be a
dishonour to the whole of Prussia, and as there was
no direct proof, the affair might be left in the dark.
I have forgotten the exact words, but it was some-
thing like that."
" And then they let you go ? "
"Yes. Herr Merckel said I was to take myself
off, or my presence might breed a pestilence in the
house."
2$2 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
A silence ensued : then hastily gulping down three
more glasses of the old wine, he said
" Now, then, for the night of the fire ! "
She jumped up from her chair and stared at him,
her eyes starting with horror.
" What ! I'm to tell you about the fire ? "
" All you can recollect."
"All! . . . Not all, Herr?"
" All."
" Herr ... I can't." The words rattled in her
throat like a death-agony.
" You mean you refuse ? " He too had risen, and
stood looking at her with dilated eyes.
She folded her hands on her breast. " I have
always been obedient, Herr, to your every wish. I
have never been unwilling or grumbled. I'll go on
doing all you order me to do. If you say, ' Go out
and be stoned to death,' I'll go. But just this one
thing, I beseech you from the bottom of my heart,
don't ask me ? "
He regarded her in wrathful amazement. So
accustomed had he become to her unconditional
obedience, that this explosion in her of a spark of
resistance was incomprehensible to him. Was his
power over her, that he had imagined unlimited,
thus suddenly to end ? Surely this woman had of
her own accord made herself his body-slave ? She
had sold herself body and soul to his house, and
therefore it was unpardonable presumption in her
to assert unexpectedly that she had a will of her
own.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 253
The blood mounted hotly to his head, and his
eyes flashed. "You shall! I say you shall!"
She retreated and shrank against the wall. From
the dark background her eyes shone out at him like
a persecuted wild-cat's. " I won't," she muttered.
All the inherited brutality of the feudal master
awoke in him. The wine, too, was doing its work.
He sprang on her, and caught her by the breast.
The buttons of her jacket burst beneath his
violent attack, and her bare bosom gleamed forth.
He transfixed her with the intensity of his gaze.
"Shall I throttle her, or shall I kiss her?" he
asked himself, and fumbled for her throat.
Then in her deadly terror she made a counter-
attack. Her hands were fastened in his shoulders
like iron rivets. It needed a gathering up of all his
strength to withstand their muscular pressure.
A noiseless struggle began. It lasted a minute,
and yet seemed to be no nearer its end. Embittered
and desperate at first as a wrestle for life and death,
it became eventually a sort of game. The combat-
ants apparently had lost sight of what it was they
were struggling for. His eyes, bloodshot and wild,
sought hers. Her bosom, wet with perspiration,
pressed hard against his. Their breathing mingled.
Tightly locked in each other's arms they staggered
and swayed to and fro. He pressed her in the
back of her knee, but she did not yield, and with
renewed vigour tried to draw him down to her.
For one second in their delirious grappling they
gazed dreamily into each other's eyes. Then she
254 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
vibrated from head to foot, and in the midst of the
conflict laid her cheek caressingly on the arm that
was raised against her. He saw the action, he saw
how her eyes hung on his face with melting solici-
tude saw the beautiful dishevelled head droop like
a broken flower.
"If you are cursed, why should it be for no-
thing?" And as the thought flashed through him,
he bent over her with a sigh, and kissed her on the
mouth.
She groaned aloud, clung heavily to him, and
buried her teeth, till they met, in his lips. Then,
overcome, with suddenly collapsed limbs, she slipped
from his arms on to the floor, and lay with the back
of her head flat on the bare boards.
He stared down at her half-stunned. She would
have looked as if she were dead, had it not been
for the heaving bosom, that seemed to fight lor
air. Blood trickled from his lip, and unconsciously
he wiped it away with his tongue.
" What next ? " he asked himself.
The longer he gazed at the prostrate form the
intenser became his anxiety, till it almost amounted
to insanity ; anxiety for what must come.
" Away ! out of the house ! Away before she
moves ! " an inward voice commanded. He tore
down his coat from the wall, crushed a fur cap over
his brow, and flew out into the bitter cold night, as
if chased by the devil.
But he could not escape could not run awa>
from her ; wherever he went she was beside him.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 255
A tornado raged in his breast, and lashed the
blood to froth in his veins.
He was fleeing from his young manhood's senses,
and they were in hot pursuit.
He dashed through the woods at full speed. The
frosty air did not cool him, nor the darkness restore
his serenity.
Was there no salvation ? None ?
He thought of the parsonage. A jeering laugh
rose to his lips. Helene had shrunk from him
when he had approached her with clean hands and
a pure heart. What would she do to-day if he
came into her presence bearing a curse and an in-
supportable burden of guilt upon him ?
And yet that one spot of earth was sacred to
memories of all that had been purest, most peace-
ful and happy in his blighted life. Ought such a
refuge of light to be denied to him, even if a
thousand curses had descended upon his head from
the outer darkness ?
Almost against his will his footsteps took the
road to the village. It was reposing peacefully.
Only from the windows of the Black Eagle a ruddy
glow was cast on the white expanse of snow. The
clock in the church tower struck one. He must
have been tramping about for five hours, and it
seemed like five minutes. Faint moonbeams shone
on the sleigh-ruts, which looked like long white rib-
bons unrolled on the ground, and the mass of icicles
hanging from the church roof spread a delicate silver
filigree on the dark, time-stained walls.
256 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
He passed the church and came to the parsonage
garden. There was a light in one of the gable
windows. His heart seemed to bound into his
throat. He swung himself over the hedge, and
strode through the deep snow to the summer-house,
which stood at a distance of twenty paces from the
gable. In its shadow he took up his position.
A white curtain was drawn across the illuminated
casement. On the surface of the chintz a delicate
tracery of leaves and stalks was reflected from
flower-pots inside. There was her virgin paradise ;
there she ruled as modestly and sweetly as the
Madonna in her rose-garden.
And again the picture in the cathedral rose before
his mental eyes, as it always did when he tried
to realise the presence of the beloved. Oh ! for
one second in which to feast his bodily eye on that
dear, forgotten face, so that what time and guilt
had deadened in him might revive and live anew !
For a moment the outline of a girl's figure
darkened the illuminated window-pane. A corner
of the curtain was lifted.
Instinctively he stretched out his arms. The
curtain dropped quickly, and a moment afterwards
the light within was extinguished.
He waited, hardly daring to draw a breath, for a
sign from the darkened spot. But none came. All
was motionless and still.
" It is madness to think of it ! " he said to himself.
" Probably she didn't recognise you. She only saw
a man's figure that gave her a fright. Make haste !
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 257
For the whole house will be roused and turned out
to hunt the supposed thief."
So he retraced his steps. In turning into the
street he was conscious that his blood was flowing
more calmly, and his pulses not throbbing so fiercely.
Being in her neighbourhood even for a few minutes
had soothed him.
" Where now ? " Anywhere in the world, but not
home. At the bare thought of that outstretched figure
on the floor, his veins began to pulsate again with
violence. Oh, she was a fiend, and he hated her !
He took a side path, not knowing where it led. It
was divided from the Castle island by stables and
carters' huts, and ended in an open field. On the
opposite side, he saw the indigo belt of woods that
encircled the flat white plains. The woods drew
him towards them again like a magnet. There he
would hide, in their majestic depths where the peace
of winter reigned and slept its mysterious dreamless
slumber.
He trod the pathless field covered with hills and
dales of snow which swept away before him like the
billows of a boundless ocean of liquid light. His
feet crunched through the frozen crust till he sank
to his knees, and then it needed all his powers to
step forwards once more. But with strenuous effort
he ploughed his way, still taking flight from his own
thoughts. There was something almost comforting
in this objectless striving. His lungs fought for
breath ; moisture poured from every pore of his body
as he plunged and stumbled on. Here and there
R
258 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
the crust was strong enough to bear him, and then
he felt as if he had been endowed with wings and
floated over the ground, till another crash laid him
low, grovelling on his hands and knees.
Now the wall of woods rose higher and darker
before him ; ... he was only a hundred steps from
his goal, when his eye was arrested by something in
the shape of a hillock extending a distance of about
fifty or sixty feet in the direction of the wood.
Coming nearer, he saw it was too regular in form
for a hillock, and its corners too sharply defined. A
few feet off there was a second mound of the same
description, and to the left again, a third. They
must be gravel heaps, he thought, that had been
dug up in the autumn and left to be removed till
after the thaw set in. Why should the peasants
not get gravel from his property when there was no
one to prevent them ?
But what did those crosses mean, that stood out
so solemnly and eerily in the night, at the foot of
each mound ? At first he had not noticed them against
the dark background of the woods. They were
three in number. Roughly hewn out of fir trunks,
they were so firmly planted in the earth, that they
did not move a hair's-breadth when he shook them.
They bore no inscription, and if they had, he would
not have been able to read it. Inscrutable as memo-
rials of forgotten misfortune, they stood ranged there
in the dim moonlight like rugged sentinels.
And then the mystery was solved. He saw what
they were. With a loud cry he dropped his face in
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 259
his hands. He had stumbled on the graves of the
men who had fallen on that accursed night in the
year '7. Here lay the bones of his father's victims.
What evil chance had led him here to-night ? Or
was it chance ? Had not a thousand invisible arms
beckoned him cajolingly and irresistibly along this
maniacal route, and let him fight his way through
snow and ice, till he was ready to faint from ex-
haustion ? It seemed as though fate had kept in
reserve the most excruciating lash of her scourge
till this hour of his bitterest humiliation; so that
he should no longer be in doubt as to there being
any salvation in store for him, and to demonstrate
once for all that he was doomed to sink for ever
under the weight of shame and despair.
" But it is well that I came," he said, conversing
with himself; " where better can I convince myself
that the old pastor's curse was not unjust and that
what was not a sin, has become one ? "
His eyes wandered over the row of flattened graves,
and now there seemed no end to them. ... How
many were buried there ? If they had been closely
packed, a hundred or more might rest in each grave
or perhaps even double that number. And they had
all been brave soldiers who had left their homes gaily,
in light-hearted devotion to fight for King and Father-
land. . . . Through foulest treachery they had been
butchered here in cold blood, under cover of night.
He clung to one of the crosses, and held his face
so tightly against the rough wood that splints dug
into his flesh.
260 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
" Arraign him before the whole world ! " some-
thing cried within him " him and her and then
go with her to perdition."
He gazed at the distant prospect, and sought
the outline of the ruins against the horizon. But
nothing was visible except the tall trees that crowned
the park, which were only dimly discernible. A
little behind to the right of them lay the Cats'
Bridge.
He could fancy her emerging from those trees
with the troop of remorselessly cruel Frenchmen
following her, bent on their work of blood. How
terrible must the regular echo of their marching
feet have sounded in her ears. Deeper and deeper
into the wood they must have gone, till they reached
that ravine which ran parallel with the thicket, al-
most in a half-circle. She had never told him the
road she had taken, but he saw exactly how it had
all happened. Everything was as plain as if he had
been there himself and seen it with his own eyes.
He stretched out his arm, and with a trembling
finger traced the path against the horizon.
And afterwards when they let her go, and she
had made her way home alone, with the wages of
her sin in her pocket how the cracking of bullets,
the beating of drums, the clouds of gunpowder, the
death-shrieks of the massacred, must have followed
her, galloping at her heels like an army of furies !
How she had gone on living with those awful
sounds ringing in her head, those ghastly pictures
floating before her eyes, he could not understand.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 261
If he had been in her place he would have sought
instant deliverance in the first halter or pond that
came handy.
But not she ! Visions were no terror to her.
Her conscience, instead of tormenting itself, was
apparently scarcely conscious of its guilt. She
had only the feelings of an animal or a demon.
He shuddered. And it was to her, her, that he had
been on the brink of succumbing !
Then in his sore distress he flung himself across
the grave, face downwards in the snow, folded his
hands and stammered forth an incoherent prayer,
while tears gushed from his eyes.
The intense cold of his exposed position stung
his face, and drove him to stand up again. He
patrolled the row of graves, unable to evolve a single
rational thought. He felt as if he were caught in a
brazen net, that was drawing its meshes tighter and
tighter around him.
" God in Heaven," he cried aloud, " visit not the
sins of the fathers on me ! Let the dead sleep. . . .
/ have not murdered them. Let something happen,
a miracle, a sign, that I may be shown that
Thou wilt not have me perish in this anguish of
despair." He cast his eye round him as if looking
for help.
But coldly and unsympathetically the moonlit,
lead-coloured sky looked down on him. There was
no sign, no miracle.
He laughed. "You are becoming imbecile/' he
murmured inwardly.
262 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
An unspeakable exhaustion overwhelmed him.
He reeled, and his feet gave way beneath him.
The next moment he was sitting in the cavity
which the weight of his prostrate figure had made
in the snow. He drew up the collar of his coat,
and nearly frozen, brooded on, half sleeping, half
waking.
When he rose with cramped limbs, happy to
have escaped falling asleep and being frozen to
death, one thin purple streak had appeared in the
eastern sky. An ague, hot and cold at the same
time, like the beginning of fever, shook his frame.
Now there was nothing for it, but to go home.
But where was he to find the strength necessary to
obliterate for ever from his mind what had happened
in the night that was over at last ? His tongue
instinctively felt for his lip. . . . The wound left by
the impress of her kiss burned there still.
And there had been no sign from Heaven, no
miracle. One course only remained that might save
him from the worst, and that was death.
Death ! The thought came to him like a ray of
light in the darkness, yet his brain was too weary,
his soul too dispirited for him to grasp it, and it
died out as quickly as it had come.
In his own footprints he walked back to the
village. No one was stirring out of doors, but here
and there a chimney smoked, and a cock from his
perch crowed a greeting to the new-born day.
As he took the path down to the river, he thought
he saw the fleeting shadow of a woman's figure
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 263
nurrying from the drawbridge. Perhaps it was
Regina, who after long waiting and watching had
now come to meet him.
But no ! Regina was not so slim and dainty.
Who in all the village could want to come to the
drawbridge at this unearthly hour ? His heart beat
fast. He had been seen. A soft, squealing sound
fell on the air, and the next instant the figure had
vanished down a bypath. He did not think of
following her. It might possibly be a dairymaid
who had been taking a morning dip, and was shy of
meeting him ; but on coming to the drawbridge
he saw footmarks on the freshly fallen hoarfrost,
and these came to an end at the pillar to which the
letter-box was fixed.
Who could be his nocturnal correspondent? It
was ridiculous, yet a flood of hope suffused his
soul.
He snatched the little key, that he always carried
about with him, from his pocket. The box opened
a letter fell out.
He broke the seal with shaking fingers. Helene's
signature ! Had God heard his petition ? Had He
after all sent him fresh strength for the struggle,
and deliverance ?
The dawn gave him sufficient light to read by,
but the lines danced before his eyes. Only here
and there he drank in a broken sentence or a single
word "Wait patiently." "The hour when I sum-
mon you to come to me." "Longing." "Child-
hood's days." " Happy."
264 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
And one thing that was not written there at all
he could read distinctly. The sign that he had
prayed for by the grave of the warriors had fallen
from Heaven. The miracle had happened !
Renewed confidence in himself possessed him.
He was not forsaken ; he need not yet despair of
his better self. This pure, bright angel, the good
genius of his youth, was still faithful, still believed
in him. Her trust should not be abused. Rather
die than, through despising himself, bring her to
feeling shame at her faith in him.
He turned his face towards the purple morning
glow, and, raising his hand solemnly, uttered the
following words :
" God, who art a great and just Judge, and
visitest the sins of the fathers on the children to the
third and fourth generation, I hereby swear to take
my life with my own hand rather than let the
curse of Thy priest gain ascendency over me.
Amen."
Then he walked towards the house as if freed
from an intolerable burden.
" Now the devil is exorcised ! " he said as he
entered the vestibule, heaving a deep sigh of relief;
nevertheless, the hand that lifted the latch still
trembled feverishly.
He surveyed the room with one quick shy glance.
In the rosy light of dawn he saw her crouching,
dressed on her bed, her hands clasped over her
knees. Her jacket was open ; her hair hung about
her face in tangled masses. Her dress was
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 265
exactly as it had been when he left her the evening
before.
She raised her head slowly, and gazed at him as
if in a dream with soft melting eyes.
He shrank before that gaze.
" Haven't you been to bed ? " he asked in as harsh
a tone as he could command.
She continued to look at him with the same bliss-
fully rigid expression, and said nothing.
" Didn't you hear ? " he asked again imperiously.
She did not start as she used to do when he
spoke thus; but a scarcely perceptible vibration
passed through her frame, as if the sound of his
voice filled her with ecstasy. She smiled a little.
" Hear what ? " she asked.
"My question as to why you hadn't been to
bed."
" I waited up for you, Herr"
" I did not order you to wait for me."
" Nor did you forbid me, Herr?
He clung to the back of a chair.
"Why are you afraid of her?" he asked him-
self. "You have just sworn that danger exists
no longer."
Then to get rid of her he told her to go and
prepare him something hot for breakfast.
She rose deliberately, stretching her stiff limbs.
A dreamy languor seemed to pervade her whole
being. Since last night she was completely trans-
formed.
Directly he had shut the door after her, he tore
266 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
the letter from his pocket, and read it to reassure
himself of 's happiness. It ran:
"DEAR FRIEND OF MY YOUTH, I hear from
papa that you have been highly honoured by our
wise and noble King that he has made you cap-
tain of your division, and given you the Iron Cross.
I congratulate you heartily, and am rejoiced at your
good fortune. What else passed papa wouldn't tell
me, but he was very excited about it, and in a
great rage when he mentioned you. Ah ! if only
you could have managed to win his affection and
the goodwill of the parishioners ! Then I shouldn't
have to be so careful, and could see and speak to
you often. . . . Dear Boleslav, I implore you never
to think of coming into the garden again.
" You know papa what he is ; and if he found
out ah ! I believe he would kill me ! Wait
patiently, my dear friend ! The Bible says, you
know, patience shall be rewarded. So have
patience till the hour when I shall summon you to
come to me ; then I will tell you all the news.
How full of longing I am to see you ! Oh, those
lovely days of childhood ! What has become of
them ? How happy I was then ! Your
" HELENE.
" Postscript. Never come to the garden again. I
will appoint another place of meeting. Not in the
garden."
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 267
Strange, that what a few minutes before had filled
him with delight now seemed flat and colourless,
and disappointed him. Doubtless the half-wild crea-
ture was to blame, whose close proximity confused
his judgment. A kind of delirium of bliss seemed
to have taken possession of her. And how she had
smiled ! how strangely she had stared into space !
She came back into the room, and moved about it
like a somnambulist.
" Regina ! "
She half closed her lids, and said, " Yes, Herr"
"What's the matter with you ?"
She smilingly shook her head. " Nothing, Herr"
she answered, and again that look came into her
eyes ; they seemed to swim in dreamful contempla-
tion of some infinite felicity.
He felt his throat contract. Clearly there was
still reason to be afraid of himself.
Then he resolved to speak and listen to her no
more, but to live in his work. He immersed himself
in his papers again, sorted and laid aside important
documents, filed, registered, and made copies of them.
It seemed to him that he must get everything in order
in anticipation of some pending catastrophe.
So the day went by, and the evening. Regina
crouched in the darkest and remotest corner she
could find and remained motionless. He dared
not cast even a glance in her direction. The blood
hammered in his temples, yellow circles danced
before his eyes, every nerve in his body was on
edge from over-fatigue.
268 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
On the stroke of ten she rose, murmured good-
night, and disappeared behind her curtain. He
neither answered nor looked up.
At eleven he put out the lights and went to
bed too.
" Why does your heart beat like this ? " he thought
" Remember your oath." But the superstitious,
indefinable dread of coming disaster haunted him
like a ghost in the darkness.
He got up again, and stole with bare feet across
the room to the case of weapons, that was dimly
illumined by the newly-risen moon. He caught up
one of his pistols, which he always kept loaded to
be forearmed against unforeseen events. It had
been his faithful friend and protector in many a
bloody fray. To-day it should protect him from
himself. With its trigger cocked, he laid it on the
small table by his bedside.
"It's doubtful whether you sleep a wink now,"
he said, as he nestled his head on the pillows.
Yet scarcely three seconds later he lost conscious-
ness, and slumber lapped his tired limbs.
...
A curious dream recalled him from profoundest
sleep into a half-dozing wakefulness. He fancied
he saw two bright eyes like a panther's glittering at
him out of the darkness. They were only a few
inches from his face, and seemed to be fixed on it
with fiery earnestness, as if with the intention of
bringing him under the spell of their enchantment.
His breath came slower, almost stopped, then
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 269
he felt another breath well over him in full soft
waves.
It was no dream after all, for his eyes were wide
open. The moon cast a patch of light on the
counterpane of his bed, and still those other lights
glowed on, devouring him with their fire. The
outline of a face was visible. A woman's white
figure bent over him.
A thrill of mingled pleasure and alarm ran
through his body.
" Regina," he murmured.
Then she sank on her knees by the bed and
covered his hands with kisses and tears. In the
enervation that had crept over him he would have
stroked the black tresses which streamed across
the pillow, only he lacked the strength to extricate
his hands from hers.
Then " Your oath, think of your oath ! " a voice
cried within him.
In dismay, he started up. Not yet fully awake,
he reeled forwards, and tearing his hands out of
her grasp, fumbled for the pistol.
"You, or her."
There was a report. Regina, with a cry of pain,
fell with her forehead against the edge of the bed,
and at the same moment a great rumbling and
crackling was heard from the opposite wall. The
portrait of his beautiful grandmother had crashed
to the ground.
He stared wildly round him, only just arriving
at complete consciousness.
270 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
" Are you wounded ? " he asked, laying his hand
gently on the dark head.
"I don't know, Herr" and then she glided
across the floor to her mattress.
He dressed himself and kindled a light. It now
all appeared a confused nightmare.
Ah ! but if she died, if he had killed her ?
When he drew aside the curtain, he beheld her
cowering and shivering in her corner, holding up
the counterpane in her teeth. It was smeared with
blood.
"For God's sake show me. Where were you
hit ? " he cried.
She let the counterpane drop as far as her breast,
and silently offered her naked shoulder for his in-
spection. Blood was streaming from it.
But the first glance satisfied him, the connoisseur
in wounds, that it was a mere surface shot. It
would heal of itself in a few days.
" Thank God ! Thank God ! "
She stared up at him absently with wide eyes.
"It is nothing," he stammered. "A scratch
nothing more."
She appeared not to hear what he said.
" Pull yourself together like a man. Not a word,
not a look, must betray your real feelings."
With this self- exhortation he withdrew, and
wearily put down the light on the table.
What now ? Where should he go ? To stay
meant ruin and damnation.
This very hour he must go away. Away ! Some-
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 271
wl/ere, anywhere, so long as a barrier of his
fellow-creatures separated him from her for ever-
more. And in breathless haste he began to gather
together papers that proved his father's guilt, as
if they were the most precious possessions in the
world.
CHAPTER XV
MORE than three months had passed away since
Boleslav von Schranden had turned his back on the
inheritance of his fathers.
In the meantime spring had come. Moss,
starred with anemones, grew amongst the short-
bladed grass ; the ditches were full of a luxuriant
growth of bindweed and nettles ; and at every
breeze the boughs rained a shower of crumbling
catkins. The plough left a trail of smooth, black
furrows on the bosom of the awakening earth, and
seed-cloths were already being put out to air.
It was the first spring for many and many a long
year that had begun in peace, and of which there
were hopes of its ending in peace.
Europe's evil genius was vanquished. Like
Prometheus he lay chained to his barren sea-girt
rock ; and so the sword was hung up to rust,
and the ploughshare and harrow resumed their
sway.
What had taken place on the shores of the Medi-
terranean in the month of March, the inhabitants
of quiet country towns and out-of-the-way moorland
villages had as yet no suspicion. Not a breath had
reached them of that interrupted quadrille at Prince
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 273
Metternich's ball, of the fury and consternation
of sovereigns and potentates ; they knew nothing of
foam-bespattered proscriptions issued against the
escaped rebel, of re-arming and rumours of war.
The lark's carolling in the sky seemed a jocund
invitation to resume labour in the fields , the womb
of the earth opened with yearning for the crops from
which it had fasted so long.
One day towards the end of April, a curious
regiment was seen on the king's highroad ap-
proaching the county town of Warten stein, which
excited the wondering interest of all whom they
passed by the way.
It was not easy to decide at once whether they
were soldiers or workmen. Most of them were
armed, but side by side with the gun on their
shoulders was a spade, and from the red bundles
slung across their backs peeped whetstones and
scythe-blades. Ten or twelve of them were mounted,
but behind came as baggage a stream of rough
waggons, composed of about twenty axle wheels,
loaded with bursting sacks of corn and implements
of every description. Altogether the regiment num-
bered about a hundred and fifty, marching in half
military fashion in double file. It consisted of mus-
cular youths, for the most part fair and of ruddy
complexions, with thickset figures. Their faces were
broad and bony, not German, and still less Polish,
in type. They spoke a language unknown in the
neighbourhood, and sang songs of which no one
knew the tune Notwithstanding, their leader was
S
274 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
German, and so was the discipline which had trained
their limbs and given to their movements a certain
dignity of bearing.
At the head of the procession rode one to whom
they looked up with awe and affection, and whose
brief and not unfriendly words of command they
obeyed with almost childlike zeal. It was Boleslav,
who came with this little army to reconquer his own
territory.
He had recruited it far away in the Lithuanian
East, on the remotest border of the province, whither
neither good nor evil reports of the name of Schran-
den had ever penetrated. During his five years' pre-
vious intercourse with this people, he had become
intimately acquainted with their habits and customs,
and took care to choose his pioneers from those who
had been in the war, and become accustomed to the
rigours of a soldier's life, but who were still unfa-
miliar enough with the German tongue to have their
minds poisoned by the Schrandeners' gossip.
Now he had every hope that the fate of his father,
who had failed to find either serf or labourer to bind
himself to work for him, would not be his. And
should the Schrandeners offer fight to these work-
people, as they had done to the Polish serfs whom
his father had been obliged to call to his assistance,
so much the worse for the Schrandeners ; they would
only be sent home with bleeding noses.
In proud self-reliance he looked coming events in
the face. He would willingly have returned home
earlier, only, to proscute his enterprise on the scale
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 275
it demanded, he was forced to wait till the time in
which he could claim his aunt's legacy, and so have
the necessary means at his disposal.
He had lived through hard times since that
January night, when, to flee the coercion of his hot
young blood, he had dashed out into the snow-clad,
moon-illumined landscape, followed by the cries of
the unhappy woman who could not understand what
ailed him.
It was long before the furnace within him abated,
and her beseeching, frightened eyes became dimmer
in his memory. In Konigsberg, where he had gone
direct from home, he had meditated obtaining, through
boldly seeking a trial, that justice long denied to his
house. But though the cross on his breast compelled
the doors that had been shut on his father to open to
him, the polite shrug of the shoulders with which
the judges promised to see what could be done, and
then coolly referred him to one Court of Appeal
after another, taught him that the passionate self-
surrender he had dreamed of would be here ill-timed
and out of place.
So he again packed up his father's correspondence,
which of his own free will he had desired to make
public in order to clear up every shadow of mystery,
and felt he must keep it till a more favourable op-
portunity offered itself. Besides, he had destroyed
too much that might have had a vindicating effect,
and to court the risk of his own condemnation might
after all be acting unfairly to his father's memory.
Contact with the outer world cooled and damped
276 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
in a singular way his ardour; and the feverish
tension of his emotions gradually relaxed, giving
place to a more normal state of mind. He was
confronted with reasoning instead of anathemas,
courteous words instead of threats and this worked
a soothing and beneficial influence on his nature.
He projected plans, and prepared himself with com-
posure and deliberation for what the future might
have in store for him.
At the same time the magic fascination the wild
girl had exercised on him was becoming dimmer
in his recollection. Every new face, every new
thought, alienated him further from her. Gradually
he ceased to reproach himself for having acted with
merciless cruelty towards her, and the mastery she
had acquired over his senses was now incompre-
hensible to him. Nevertheless, often when he sat
alone at dusk in his private room at the hostelry, he
saw those eyes again flashing soft fire, and felt her
presence thrill through his veins. Then it seemed as
if the scar, that furrowed horizontally his under lip,
began to burn like an inflammatory record of that
kiss, the only one that the lips of a woman had ever
imprinted on his, for his shy and reserved manner
had all his life repelled, and kept women at a distance.
At such times his whole existence seemed compressed
into that one moment's ecstasy. But of course this
was only a freak, illusive reverie played his senses,
which lamplight and work soon dispelled.
He had written to her once or twice in order to
set her mind at rest on the subject of his sudden
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 277
departure, or rather flight had asked for an answer,
and promised a speedy return.
Once he had had news of her a letter written
in bold characters and correctly expressed. After
all these years of bondage, the lessons she had
learnt in the old pastor's school still evidently stood
her in good stead.
In prospect of his near approach to his home, he
drew the sheet from his pocket, and read sitting in
the saddle the lines, which, in spite of himself, he
almost knew by heart.
"MY DEAR MASTER, Don't be anxious on my
account. No one will do anything to me. They
do not know down in the village that you are gone
away, and they are frightened of the wolf-traps, for
no one has told them that we cleared them away.
Every night I see to the pistols and guns in case
they should come; but they won't come. As for
the wound, I have quite forgotten it. The grocer
at Bockeldorf gave me some English sticking-plaster,
and when it peeled off, it was entirely healed. The
thaw and floods are now over, thank God. For
several days I was obliged to go with very little
food, because the water was too high on the
meadows for me to wade through, and I would
rather have died than go down to Herr Merckel.
Ah ! dear master, I am so glad that you are coming
home soon ; for I seem to have nothing to live for,
when I have not you to wait upon. I climb up on
the Cats' Bridge very often and wait for you there,
278 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
so that when you come you shall not find it
drawn up. Please don't come in the night, nor
on Thursday before seven, because then I shall
be going to Bockeldorf. The snow is all gone
now, and the grass is beginning to get quite green.
Yesterday I heard the swallows twittering in the
nest they have built in the eaves; but I haven't
seen them yet. Now and then I suffer from stitch
in my side, and giddiness, and I have not much
appetite. I believe it comes from being so much
alone, which I cannot bear. But I don't know why
I should tell you all this. Perhaps it is because
you were always so kind to me. I can't help
always remembering your great kindness to me.
Your Hochgeboreris humble servant,
REGINA HACKELBERG."
This letter had filled him with pleasure and
satisfaction, for it showed on the one hand that
she had very reasonably bowed to the inevitable,
and that there was no cause for his anxiety ; and
on the other, that she still faithfully clung and
belonged to him heart and soul. And glad as he
might be to feel his blood purged of the unwhole-
some excitement with which she had inspired it, he
could not help being pleased at this proof of her
remaining ever his true and willing servant.
His belief in Helene's sacred influence on his
destiny had, he imagined, received a new impetus,
since her note had saved him in an hour of im-
minent danger. He wore it gratefully as a talisman
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 279
on his heart, even if he did not read it so often,
and with such delight, as he read Regina's.
Soon after his arrival in the capital, an intense
yearning had drawn him to the Cathedral, where
he had sought out the old altar-piece, which con-
tained her living image. He experienced a bitter
disappointment The Madonna amidst her lilies and
roses appeared absolutely ridiculous. She looked
to him now as if she had been baked out of
Marzepan, and the flowers, with their stiff stalks
and drooping heads, appeared as unnatural and
insipid as their doll custodian.
And this was what he had carried about with
him for years, as the facsimile of his beloved !
Certainly it was high time she appeared in her
own person before his bodily eyes, otherwise he
would be in danger of loving a mere phantom.
And now, in this the hour of home-coming, it
was not she at all with whom he looked forward
to a joyous meeting; his senses saw only the pic-
ture of a girl waiting and watching for him, whose
fresh and unbounded loveliness was no myth.
It was early morning and the sun was shining.
He had made his last halt, the night before, at a
hamlet not far from Wartenstein, as he proposed
to pass rapidly through the town, to avoid being
gaped at, and exciting idle curiosity. Once there
he was within three miles and a quarter of home,
and hoped to enter his native village at the
hour for vespers, for his stalwart followers were
used to rapid marching. As he rode up to the
280 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
moss-grown ramparts, eight sounded from the
belfries of Wartenstein, and he counted on being
?,ble to quit the town quite early, and so escape
awkward questions.
Thus, he was little prepared for the surprises
awaiting him within its gates. The sentinel, in-
stead of stopping him and demanding his passport,
shouted up to a window in the gateway tower
"Ring the bells! ring the bells! The first
detachment is here ! "
Then he saluted with his pike, while a merry
peal clashed from the watch-towers of Wartenstein
to announce Boleslav's arrival.
"What can be the meaning of it?" he asked
himself, shaking his head; and his astonishment
increased, when on riding through the streets he
found them thronged with crowds of men, women,
and children, who waved their caps and handker-
chiefs, and welcomed him with resounding cheers.
His Lithuanians, who had been accustomed on
their triumphal marches to being received every-
where with open arms, took the present ovation as
a matter of course, and responded to the hurrahs
with lusty lungs.
But to Boleslav it was plain that there was some
misunderstanding, which in the next few minutes
would be explained.
As he entered the market-place, which, like the
streets, was filled with an enthusiastic crowd, the
Landrath, at the head of an impressive procession,
consisting of the Burgomaster, Corporation, and
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 281
other magnates of the town, advanced to meet him.
He laid his delicate, bony hand on his breast,
and cleared his throat with a rasp, preparatory to
speaking.
When he recognised Boleslav, who had quickly
sprung from his horse, he drew back in embarrass-
ment. Nevertheless he began
" I congratulate you, Freiherr von Schranden, on
your being the first who has hastened here with
your troops "
"Not so fast, Herr Landrath" Boleslav inter-
rupted. "There is an error somewhere. These
people are workmen, whom I have recruited in
Lithuania for domestic use. I am on my way with
them to Schranden."
An amused smirk passed through the ranks of
the town magnates. They enjoyed seeing the
Landrath make a fool of himself, even if they them-
selves were made to look foolish in the process.
"And you really haven' f beard yet?" he stam-
mered out, concealing his annoyance.
" I have come straight from the remotest corner
of Prussia, Herr Landrath"
"You haven't heard that Napoleon has escaped
from Elba, and that the King has again appealed to
his gallant Prussian subjects to arm ? "
Boleslav felt a rush of mingled horror a,nd joy
flood his heart.
So once more the world's history had absorbed
the solution of his career in its own, and he would
be saved further self-doubt and suspense with
282 THL SINS OF THE FATHERS
regard to it. His vast schemes, the work to which
he was to consecrate his life, lay shattered at his
feet scarcely begun, and now ended perhaps for
ever. But away with all regrets and fears. Did
not the Fatherland, his Fatherland, call him ?
" Thank you, Herr Landrath" he said, while he
endeavoured to still his wildly beating heart. " I
feel honoured at your thinking so well of me and
my contingent of Schrandeners. We will prove
ourselves worthy of your high opinion, and in four-
and-twenty hours be in readiness."
The Landrath held out his hand. He retreated a
step or two, and was in the act of repaying the
Landrath in his own coin for the insult he had not
long ago subjected him to.
Then he reflected. The Fatherland calls you, and
what is your petty hate or love weighed in the
balance ? And he seized the bony hand, which its
owner, offended, had already withdrawn, and shook
it heartily.
Then he learnt further particulars. The evening
before the King's proclamation, dated April 7, had
reached Wartenstein. All night the administration
had been hard at work getting the decrees ready for
local heads of departments, and arranging to send
out special mounted messengers to distribute them.
" Will one be sent to Schranden ? " asked
Boleslav.
" Certainly," was the answer.
" Then may I add a military order ? "
"Yes, if you wish."
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 283
He tore a sheet of paper from his pocket-book
and hastily scribbled the following lines :
" At five o'clock in the afternoon all troops liable
to service are to muster in the churchyard square,
bringing with them accoutrements and canteens.
The hour for marching will then be stated.
"VON SCHRANDEN, Landwehr Captain.
41 To the local administrator."
" And what will become of Regina ? " was a ques-
tion that rose warningly within him.
But he would not listen to it. He was almost
delirious. The fever for action possessed him.
He called his workpeople together, explained to
them that he no longer needed their services, and
bade each to return as quickly as possible to his
native place, from there to join his respective com-
pany. He paid them off, and took leave of them with
a shake of the hand and a blessing.
The stalwart youths, who had lost their hearts to
him, kissed the hem of his coat, and went their
way with tears in their eyes. Then he found a
place of safety for the waggons, whose freight alone
represented no small capital, made arrangements
for the sale of the seed and provender, and left the
horses at the disposal of a dealer.
Only the one on whose back he rode did he
keep for his own use.
It was half-past two before he had transacted
his business, and was free to start on his homeward
road.
284 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
He had seen hanging up for sale in a tailor's
shop an undress state-uniform, which, as the
officers of the Landwehr were forbidden any gor-
geous display of ornament, and it happened to fit
him exactly, he purchased promptly, first having the
braided collar replaced by a plain scarlet strip.
Thus respectably fitted out, he was ready to con-
front his Schrandeners, whom he now saw delivered
into his hand in a rather different manner from the
one he had anticipated.
*
While Boleslav was riding home, Lieutenant
Merckel was pacing up and down the back parlour
of the Black Eagle in furious excitement.
" I won't, no, I won't submit to being under the
command of that scoundrel," he roared at his father,
who, to soothe him, had the best wine in his cellar
(the best was sour enough) set on the table, and
never wearied of refilling the raving youth's glass.
"Felixchen," he supplicated, "be sensible. If
the King has ordered it so, and the authorities
demand "
" But what if my honour demands the contrary,
father ? " cried his son, angrily twirling the ends of
his moustache. " I am an officer, father ; I have
some sense of honour, and my sense of honour bids
me die by putting a bullet through my body with my
own hand, rather than follow and serve under that
son of a traitor."
"But if the King " repeated the old man in
desperation.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 285
" The King ! what does he know about it ? He
has been taken in, deceived, kept in the dark. But
I, / will open his eyes. I will say to him, ' Here,
your Majesty, are thirty brave soldiers, and an
honourable, upright officer, who would rather ' "
" Drink, Felixchen," entreated the old man, and
wiped the sweat of anxiety from his brow; "this
wine cost me, to begin with, a thaler the bottle.
Nowhere else in the world could you get anything
to compare with it."
"The devil take your swipes!" exclaimed the
dutiful son, smashing the bottle with his sabre-hilt.
" I don't intend to sacrifice my honour for any Judas
reward. My honour is not to be bribed into silence.
My honour dictates that I should tear the hound's
heart out of his breast. And 111 do it. The Father-
land must be rid of such a scandalous reproach once
for all. This plague-spot in the Prussian staff of
officers must and shall be branded out. I'll see
that it is. So sure as I am a brave soldier I will do
it, even if I die for honour's sake. . . . Good-bye for
the present, father ; I must go now and bid my little
sweetheart farewell." And rounding his lips for
a defiant whistle, the half-inebriated young man
swaggered out, his sabre-blade clanking the ground
at every step.
Boleslav, as he entered the village shortly after
four, found the street full of women and old people,
who ran from under the horse's hoofs, maintaining
a glum silence, and then followed like evil spirits
in his wake. He felt for the pistols in his side
286 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
pockets, and loosened the scabbard of his sabre ;
then he fully expected a skirmish of some sort.
" Even if they have no other officer with a soldier's
coat on, they may be planning to attack me from the
front this time," he reflected, and his breast expanded
proudly at the thought.
The crowd was denser in the churchyard square,
and he was obliged to rein in his horse to give it
time to get out of his way. Here and there a
smothered laugh or a half-whispered imprecation
fell on his ear. Otherwise total silence was the
order of the day. Close to the church, some twenty
paces from its flight of stone steps, he saw the
troops drawn up in double line, about fifteen or
sixteen squadrons in strength.
Lieutenant Merckel was parading up and down,
giving first one and then another as it seemed a
word of encouragement. His face was aflame, his
gait uncertain ; once or twice his cavalry sabre got
entangled with his legs and nearly tripped him up.
Boleslav cast one rapid, searching glance at the
parsonage. Its windows were closely curtained, and
in the garden too there was no sign of life.
He drew a deep breath, and rode into the heart
of the crowd, which closed behind him.
Once again he stood single-handed, face to face
with the Schrandener wolves, but this time he was
master.
The sense of iron calm and perfect coolness,
which he had always experienced at moments of
life and death issues, did not forsake him now.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 287
" I am waiting for your salute, Herr Lieutenant"
he cried in a threatening tone.
He was answered by a drunken, jeering laugh.
So they intended to mutiny! His suspicions
had not been ill founded.
He tore his sabre from the scabbard. " Halt ! "
he commanded.
There was a murmur of dissent. Two or three
stepped out of the ranks, and Lieutenant Merckel,
with an abusive epithet, drew his sabre and rushed
at Boleslav.
This was a moment in which hesitation would
have been fatal. A flash of steel, a whiz, and
Lieutenant Merckel sank howling on the sandy
earth.
The ranks broke their line, made as if they would
spring on him : but surprise and terror petrified
them.
" Halt ! " The command came forth for the
second time in a voice of thunder; and no one
dared move an eyelash.
Boleslav drew a pistol from the saddle-pocket,
and, holding it with the trigger cocked in his left
hand, he let the reins slip into his armed right.
" Men of the Landwehr ! " he shouted in a voice
that reverberated through the square, "you know
that during the last six hours you are bound in
obedience by a war-decree, and that the slightest
attempt at insubordination will cost you your lives.
What has taken place up to this moment I will over-
look, but whoever does not instantly comply with
288 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
my commands without grumbling will find that I
shall not scruple to send a bullet through his brain
on the spot."
Felix Merckel, who was bleeding copiously from
a wound in his head, regained consciousness, and
tried to raise himself. But the blood that streamed
over his face blinded him.
" Take away his sabre and bind him ! " were
Boleslav's instructions.
The men exchanged glances ; they had nothing
to bind him with.
Again to hesitate would be to lose the day; so
with a quick resolve he sprang off his horse, tore
the bridle from its bit, and handed the thongs to
the fliigelman on his left.
" Set to work, and two others help."
Reluctantly, and with evil sidelong glances, they
obeyed. The prostrate man hit out with hands
and feet, and endeavoured to wipe the blood out
of his eyes with his sleeve, but his struggles were
in vain ; the reins bound his wrists, and the foam-
spattered curb served as a gag.
Meanwhile the spirited black charger had broken
away, and was rearing among the terrified rabble.
Boleslav saw, as he looked behind him, that the
church door stood open for a farewell service, and
that the key was in the lock.
"Put him in the church," he commanded; and
at the same moment the old landlord of the inn
appeared on the scene, whimpering and wringing
his hands.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 289
" Felixchen ! " he yelled, " what are they doing
to you ? Don't give in ; cry for help. Help him,
dear people. I order you to help him. I am your
mayor. I insist I command you."
" It is my place to issue commands here," ex-
claimed Boleslav loftily.
Then the old man changed his tactics, and, by
cringing, tried to soften the disciplinarian's heart.
" Herr Captain, have compassion on a wretched
father. I have known you since you were a little
boy, who sat on my knee, and I always, always
was fond of you. Isn't it true, you people ?
Wouldn't any of us have willingly given our lives
for the Junker ? "
Had his corpulency permitted, he would have
thrown himself at Boleslav's feet. On seeing his
son hustled away, he ran after him in despair, and
made a futile attempt to hold him back by the coat-
tails. But the door was promptly closed on him.
" Give me the key ! " shouted Boleslav.
The old man hurled himself on the steps, and
pounded the oak panels of the door with his fists.
The key was delivered up by the flugelman and
his companions.
"Your name?"
"Michael Grossjohann ! " the Schrandener an-
swered curtly.
" And yours," turning to the two others.
" Franz Malky."
" Emil Rosner."
He entered the names in his pocket-book.
T
290 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
"You three will keep watch on the prisoner
through the night, and are answerable for him with
your heads."
Old Merckel, finding the church door did not
yield to his furious onslaughts, came to his senses,
and squinting askance at Boleslav, sneaked off in
the direction of the parsonage. The latter thought
he knew what he wanted there.
" Three more of you," he continued, " will kindly
guard the vestry door, the key of which I have not
got in my possession, and take care that no one
goes in and out except the barber, who is to
bandage the prisoner's wound."
Three voices quivering with suppressed anger
assured him his orders should be obeyed.
"Now then, to business!" he exclaimed. "Ac-
cording to the lists the village of Schranden is
capable of supplying troops to the number.*
And the mobilisation began.
CHAPTER XVI
Two hours later Boleslav quitted the gaping crowd,
who glowered at him with a sort of stony super-
stitious awe, as if he were a magician, and as he
crossed the open common he felt as if he had just
left a cage of wild beasts, the duty of taming
which, had fallen to his share. The danger seemed
safely over for the present. " Having mastered
them to-day, they won't dare to mutiny to-morrow,'*
he thought, and revelled in the joyous sensation of
having won a victory.
Now he had only to take leave of Regina, and
his troubles would be at an end. The world was all
before him once more ; an unknown future seemed
to be enticing him onwards with bugle-peals and
battle-cries.
" Regina ! now for Regina ! " welled up in him
with such jubilation, from the depths of his soul,
that he was frightened at himself. He took a round
by the wood before approaching the Cats' Bridge,
to brace and harden his nerves for this last and
most arduous encounter.
The sun pierced the topmost boughs of the trees.
Over the tender young green of the meadows floated
a shadowy haze, and an odour of fermenting slime
agz
292 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
rose from the damp ditches. Only the fir-wooo
looked as dark and mysterious as in winter, with
scarcely a light-green spike peeping anywhere from
its black, bare branches.
He threw himself on the mossy ground and
watched the sunbeams glint through the purple
haze that hung over the surrounding thicket.
Once again he reviewed the daring enterprise
of the last few hours, and the thickly curtained
windows of the parsonage recurred to his memory.
How careful she had been to keep herself out of his
sight and reach, and how well she had succeeded !
Surely she must know what had brought him into
the village must know that to-morrow he would
quit it, perhaps never to return.
Had she no longing to see him just once before
his departure, and to wish him God speed ? The
hour she had told him to wait patiently for, was it
not time it came to-day ? What availed the letter
he wore close to his heart, if the hand that penned
it was refused to him ? Her image was now quite
effaced from his heart ; it could no longer lead him
to battle, unless the impression was renewed.
" If she loves me, she will send for me. If she
doesn't send for me, she must be lost to me for ever."
Having arrived at this conclusion he left the
wood and bent his footsteps in the direction of the
river. The park, in its new spring dress of lightest
green, smiled him a welcome. A shimmering crown
of silver rested on the tall poplars, and the dark
masses of ivy glistened on their slender trunks.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 293
How beautiful was this home, that had been a
source of such infinite pain and sorrow ! How his
whole being yearned for that impoverished dwelling
where he had lodged like a criminal! Was this
longing owing to the woman who had voluntarily
shared his loneliness and wretchedness, and who
had tried to make her own misery the foundation
of a new happiness for him ?
But he had no reason to fear what was to come.
He felt that since the Fatherland had summoned
him, he was safe from all weak and vicious instincts.
Even long before this he believed he had completely
freed himself from her influence. Their relations
now were merely those of master and servant.
One more night, and the priest's curse would be
remembered only as an old man's idle babble. Yet
what would become of her ? She must look after
herself. He had provided for her future. No one
could say he was bound to do more. And to-day
he would renew his bounty twofold or threefold, so
that she would stand in the position of a wealthy
widow. When thousands of women and children
would perish of hunger in broken-hearted distress,
without any one heeding their fate, why should he
concern himself so much about deserting this one
strange girl and leaving her in solitude ?
He steeled and hardened his heart, for it had
begun to beat faster. . . .
And as he mounted the steep ascent to the Cats'
Bridge, he caught sight of the familiar figure among
the bushes above, illumined by the setting sun.
294 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
" Regina," he called. But she did not move.
" Come and meet me, Regina ! "
Then with elevated shoulders she slowly glided
nearer, the fingers of her left hand outspread, and
pressed against her breast.
He looked at her, and was horrified. " My God ! "
he exclaimed, " how changed you are ! "
Her appearance was wild and distraught in the
extreme. Her clothes were torn, her hair, which
under the frequent use of the comb had begun to fall
into such splendid glossy waves, once more hung
over her forehead and cheeks in a shaggy, unkempt
mass. Her eyes shone with feverish, almost uncanny
lustre from dark-blue cavities, and she dared not
raise them to his.
"She is pining away," something cried in him.
" She will die, because of you." He took hold of
her hand and it lay limply in his palm.
"Regina, do speak. Aren't you glad that I've
come back ? "
She ducked her head, as she had been in the
habit of doing when she instinctively expected blows
instead of kind words.
He stroked her rough, dry hair. " Poor thing ! "
he said. "You must have had a dreadfully dull
time of it, with not a human soul to speak to "
She shrank from his touch and was still silent.
"Why did you not write and tell me that you
found it so terribly lonely ? "
She shook her head, and then said timidly, " It
wasn't the loneliness."
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 29$
" What was it then ?
She looked at him nervously and said nothing.
" Well, what was it ? "
"I ... I thought . . . you weren't coming back."
" But, you foolish girl, didn't I write and say I was?"
" Yes, you wrote and said, ' I am coming perhaps
in about ten days,' and I went to the Cats' Bridge,
and there I waited day and night day and night
but you didn't come. And then three weeks after-
wards you wrote again, 'I shall come home per-
haps in about ten days.' And you never came, and
then I thought you were only putting me off with
promises ... so as not to break it to me suddenly
that you weren't coming back at all. And I thought
you repented being good to me, because I didn't
deserve it, and because I " She broke off and
buried her face for a moment in her hands.
" But your letter was so sensible."
" Yes, Herr" she faltered. " Would it have done
for me to write differently ? "
He bit his lip, and stared before him into the
lacework of the young green foliage. Did she
suspect what would befall her in a few hours ?
" But now all is right again, isn't it ? " he asked
unsteadily.
With a cry she sank on the ground, and clinging
to his knees exclaimed, " Yes, oh yes, Herr. When
you are here everything is right, everything is
different. If you were to go away again, Herr,
what should I do ? "
No, she suspected nothing. The heaviest, most
296 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
crushing blow of all was in store for her. He felt as
if there were a thunderbolt concealed in his sleeve,
which the next time he stirred would descend and
shatter her to fragments. But he had still time to
dispose of as he pleased. A few hours to devote
to this poor creature, in which to revive and make
her happy again before signing her death-warrant,
and in which she would unconsciously gather up
strength for the ordeal.
"Stand up, Regina," he said gently. "Let us
enjoy ourselves, and not think of the future."
Then they walked side by side through the dusky
garden, the neatly kept paths of which were strewn
with white gravel, and skirted, like glittering rivulets,
the smooth turf. The shrubs exhaled an indescrib-
able fragrance, the breath of spring mingled with
the scent of dying things, and in the tree-tops that
waved above their heads, they heard the subdued
whispering twitter of home-coming birds.
" How beautifully everything has come out here
since I went away ! " he exclaimed.
" Yes, Herr" she answered. " It has never been
so beautiful as it is now."
" It has become so all at once ? " he asked, smiling.
He looked at her sideways and noticed the hollows
in her cheeks. But an exquisite colour was already
tinging them.
She has begun to live again, he thought to him-
self, and it seemed as if the next few hours wece to
be the last vouchsafed to him too of a vanishing
happiness.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 297
" In spite of everything, you have worked hard,"
he said, striving to retain his tone of condescending
patronage, and he pointed to the neat borders in
which auriculas and primroses were planted.
She gave a proud little laugh. " I thought to
myself you should find everything in order if you
did come back, Herr"
" But you have neglected yourself, Regina. How
is that ? "
She turned her face away, blushing hotly.
"Shall I tell the truth, Htrr?" she stammered.
" Of course," he said.
"I thought ... I ... was . . . going to die
. . . and so ... it wouldn't matter."
He was silent. It was as if she poured forth an
ocean of infinite love with every word, and that its
waves rolled over him.
The lawn on the farther side of the Castle, sloping
gently down to the park, now opened before his
gaze. There stood the weather-beaten socket of the
Goddess Diana's pedestal. Regina had collected
the pieces and put them together again, but the
torso had been beyond her strength to lift, and
it lay in the grass, while the head, with its blank
white eyes, looked down on it. A few steps farther
on, a dark four-cornered patch stood out in relief
from the emerald turf. That was the spot where
he had first seen her busily employed in digging a
grave for her seducer, whom every one else refused
to bury.
" I left it as it was in memory of me," she said
298 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
apologetically, pointing to the turned-up clods that,
now overgrown with grass, had joined and formed
a bank.
Then they walked on towards the undergrowth
that surrounded the cottage like a thick hedge.
"And I have mended the glass roof too," she
said.
"Ah! indeed !"
Their eyes met for a moment, and then they both
quickly looked in front of them again. There
was an aspect of peaceful welcome about the little
house. Its window panes had caught a ray of
the departing sunlight, while all else lay buried in
deepest shadow.
A sense of contentment at being at home, and of
gladness that this was his home, overcame him, and
for a moment allayed his gnawing restlessness.
"Go," he said, "and cook me something for
supper; I am hungry and exhausted after a long
ride."
He remembered his horse for the first time, and
wondered where it had galloped to. Then the next
instant he forgot it again.
"And make yourself neat," he continued. "I
should like you to look your best when you come
to table."
"Yes, Herr I'll try."
They separated in the vestibule. He went into
the sitting-room, and she to her kitchen. He threw
himself with a deep sigh on the sofa, that creaked
beneath his weight. Everything seemed the same
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 299
as on the night he had left it, except that the
curtain had been taken away from the corner by
the stove, and the couch removed ; the portrait of
his grandmother, too, had disappeared. The shot
which grazed Regina's neck had proved its final
destruction, and reduced it to ribbons.
One of the windows was open. The strange
perfume of fermenting earth, which to-day he could
not get out of his nostrils, flooded the apartment.
But here it might possibly come from a lime heap,
which had been shovelled up at the gable end of the
house.
From minute to minute his unrest increased.
Why shorten for him and her the all too scanty
time ? He could tolerate solitude no longer, and got
up with the intention of going into the kitchen, but
when on the threshold he saw her cowering on the
hearth with naked shoulders, mending her jacket by
the firelight, he retreated, shocked. But in a few
seconds she came herself to open the door to him,
fully dressed.
" Is there anything I can do for you, Herr?" she
asked respectfully.
" Show me where you have repaired the roof," he
replied, not being able to think of anything else to
say. He praised her work, without looking at it.
Then he took up a position on the hearth and stared
at the tongues of flame in the grate. By this time
it was nearly dark, and the firelight flickered on
the rush walls.
" I'll help you to cook," he said.
300 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
"Ah, Herr ! You are laughing at me," she an-
swered. But her face lighted up with pleasure.
" What am I to have for supper ? "
"There isn't much in the house, Herr. Eggs
and fried ham a fresh salad and that's all."
" I shall thank God if I " he stopped abruptly.
He had nearly betrayed the secret of which as yet
she had no suspicion, and she should not, must not,
suspect anything. Till the dawn of to-morrow her
felicity should last.
"Very well, make haste," he laughed, while his
throat contracted in anxious suspense, "else I shall
expire of hunger."
"The water must boil first, Herr"
"All right, we'll wait, then." He squatted on one
of the wooden boxes. "And, Regina," he went on,
" come here ; do you know I am not satisfied with
your appearance even now ? Your hair "
" I've not had time to comb it yet, Herr. n
"Comb it now at once, then."
She flashed at him a. look of shy entreaty.
"While you are here, Herr?" she asked hesi-
tatingly.
" Why not ? Have you become prudish all in a
minute ? "
" It wasn't that "
" Then don't stand on ceremony."
She went into the far corner of the apartment,
where her bed stood, and with a quick movement
loosened the floating wealth of tresses till they
hung below her hips. In the middle of her comb-
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 301
ing, aware that his eyes were fixed on her in
admiration, she suddenly spread out her arms, as
if overcome with shame and joy, and threw herself
on her knees by the bed, burying her face in the
pillows.
He waited silently till she got up. When her
hair was done she went to the hearth and busied
herself among the pots and kettles, without looking
at him.
"Tell me, Regina, what have you been doing
with yourself all this time ? "
She shook her head. " Bockeldorf was the same
as ever; besides the grocer and his wife, I never
saw a single soul. During the floods I didn't go
once down to the village. As I told you in my
letter, I had to starve for a time, but I didn't
mind And then, during the last few weeks,- some
letters have come, from Wartenstein, and Konigs-
berg too and to-day one from "
" Ah, never mind ! I'll look at them later, when
you've brought some light."
What concern had he with the outer world to-day,
when he had burnt the bridges that connected him
with his past, and nothing remained of all he had
suffered and lived through ?
Then when the supper table was spread, and the
lamp shone at him from Regina's hand, he crossed
over with her to the sitting-room.
"You have not laid a place for yourself," he
remarked.
"May I, Herr?"
302 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
"Of course you may."
"And, Herr, what wine?"
He drew a long breath "None !"
And so once more they sat opposite each other in
the soft lamp-light, as they had so often done on
winter evenings, when the snow was driven against
the window panes, and gales shook the roof and
rattled in the beams. Now grey moths flapped
gently to and fro, bringing with them into the room
whiffs of the balmy outer air, and the rising moon,
which was full for the first time since Easter, shim-
mered through the young foliage.
He pushed his plate away. Not a morsel could
he eat. The precaution of leaving the wine in the
cellar had done no good, for the excitement he had
wished to shun was, notwithstanding, creeping over
him. He took a stolen glance at Regina, and
trembled. Her eyes rested on him in such a
transport of happiness, that she seemed oblivious
of everything in heaven and earth, except the fact
that he was sitting near her. Every trace of sorrow
and distress had vanished from her face as if by
magic. Its curves had taken a new roundness, a
new freshness bloomed in her cheeks. But what
struck him as most lovely in her, was the languorous,
yielding tenderness of her whole being, as if she
had loosened herself from the trammels of earth and
floated in space.
"Regina," he whispered. His heart seemed
throbbing violently in his throat. A voice of warn-
ing rose within him, saying, "Take care. Be on
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 303
your guard this is the last time she will lead you
into temptation."
" The last time ! " came a melancholy echo.
" Yes ; she will die perish of heart-sickness and
unsatisfied longing."
The scar on his under-lip began to burn.
"Take her in your arms and then kill her; that
will save her all further misery," was the next
thought that rushed through his brain. " But it
would be literal madness to do such a thing," he
added to himself, shuddering.
And again their eyes met and sank in each other's
depths. Their souls knew of no resistance, even
though their bodies still sought despairingly for
weapons of defence.
"Save yourself!" cried that warning voice again.
" Think of the curse ! Keep yourself pure and
unspotted for the Fatherland ! "
He tried to think of words to speak that would
break the spell of blissful enchantment; but none
would occur to him. Then he rose and walked to
the open window to bathe his hot brow in the
cool night air. " Speak act end this silence," he
exhorted himself. He thought of the letters she
had spoken of.
"Give me the letters," he said. His voice
sounded harsh.
She fetched a packet of white covers, which she
laid by his plate. He opened the first he came to,
and stared vacantly at the unfolded sheet. Would it
not be better to allude now to the unavoidable? Why
304 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
spare her allusion to a parting which was inevit-
able ? But he put the idea from him in horror.
"Till midnight she shall be happy. Take her in
your arms, and then "
" His Hochwohlgeboren the Freiherr Boleslav
von Schranden is hereby informed that his appeal
for an inquiry into the causes and events which
eventually led to the destruction by fire of Castle
Schranden, on the 6th of March 1809, is receiv-
ing attention, and that a day has been appointed
for "
With a discordant laugh he tossed the communi-
cation to one side, and fumbled for the next letter.
His eye fell on Helene's handwriting. A feeling
almost of aversion shot through him. What did
she want now ? Why disturb him at this the
eleventh hour?
" MY DEAREST BOLESLAV, I can't let you go to
the war again without once seeing and speaking to
you. I beg and implore you to meet me this even-
ing at nine o'clock, near the churchyard side-gate,
where I will wait for you. Your HELENE."
" Why not before," he murmured, " when there
was plenty of time to spare ? " Then suddenly it
flashed across him that again in an hour of danger
his guardian angel had put forth her rescuing hand
to him, and that it would be criminal folly on his
part to disregard the sign, and not respond to the
summons.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 305
"You must you must," he said to himself, "or
you won't be worth the cannon-ball that at this mo-
ment is being cast for you in France."
Was it not a special dispensation of divine grace
that the daughter should intervene at such a perilous
crisis as this to transform the father's curse into a
blessing? He looked at the clock. It wanted only
a few minutes to the hour mentioned. He dragged
himself on to his feet.
"I must go down to the village," he said. "There
is some one who wants to see me." And though he
avoided meeting her eyes, her pathetic, beseeching
glance penetrated to his innermost soul.
"I shall soon be back," he stammered.
She folded her hands, and placed herself silently
before him.
"What is it?" he asked.
She could hardly articulate her words.
"Herri I am so frightened I feel as if some-
thing dreadful was going to happen !"
"Since when have you been given to presenti-
ments ?" he said, trying to joke.
"I don't know but I feel so strange, Herri . . ,
something in my throat as if ... Oh ! I know it's
stupid of me, but I pray you not to go not
to-night "
He pushed her gently to one side. The hand that
she stretched out to hold him back fell helplessly.
"Please please don't go ! ... Herr!"
He set his teeth and went went to his guardian
angel.
U
CHAPTER XVII
THE Schrandeners, as many as could leave their
homes and property, were meanwhile gathered
together at the Black Eagle, engaged in a farewell
orgie.
Old Merckel served them himself. He stood
behind the bar, refilling unceasingly the empty
glasses, with the melancholy smile, which to-day
there was every reason to believe was not put on.
"Drink, dear friends," he exhorted; "don't let
the unhappy event in my family prevent you !
What does it matter even if he is shot ? He will
die a noble death for his honour and his Father-
land!"
He wiped the sweat from his shiny forehead,
while his little eyes wandered in uneasy antici-
pation from one face to the other.
"Go and take a glass, Amalie," he said, turning
to the barmaid, "over to those on guard. I won't
bear them malice for helping to bring him to his
ruin ! "
The Schrandeners, deeply touched at the expres-
sion of so much high-minded sentiment, gazed into
their tankards in moody ang>r. They would have
been ashamed of rushing to the inn and displaying
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 307
such avidity for a carousal in the face of their
landlord's private misfortune, had they not felt they
could not better show their sympathy than by taking
advantage of the old man's generous impulses. So
they poured beer and schnaps down their throats in
positive streams, and emulated each other as to who
could drink the fastest.
The barmaid, as fat and cunning as her master,
slipped out with a tray containing a dozen foaming
tankards, after she had received a few whispered
instructions from him, accompanied by a knowing
nod and wink.
"And if you should see old Hackelberg about,"
he called after her, " ask him in ask him in. He
has suffered too at the hands of the scoundrel. He
ought not to be missing on this sad occasion."
" Brave soldiers," he continued, wiping his eyes,
" drink ! drink ! You must try to forget that this
day your honour has been forfeited. Yes, indeed,
your case is lamentable even more lamentable than
that of my poor son, to whom it will at least be
granted to meet death for honour's sake. But you !
faugh, for shame! What will be your feelings
to-morrow morning, when you have to march away
under the leadership of that son of a traitor, the
villain whom our revered Herr Pastor has cursed ?
It'll be ' Braun, clean my boots ! ' and ' Bickler, hold
my stirrup ! ' and that sort of thing."
The two men mentioned thus by name started up
with an oath.
"And all you others, however much he may
308 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
oppress and bully you, you must submit because
he is your commander ; and if you dare to mutiny,
you'll only be shot down like vermin for your pains.
Such, my poor dear friends, is your pitiable lot!
Therefore I say drink, and bid farewell to your
military honour. To-morrow the very dogs will
hesitate to take a crust of bread from your hands ! "
A half-stifled murmur ran through the room,
more ominous than a howl of rage.
Then the carpenter Hackelberg, who had been
loafing about in the neighbourhood of the inn,
reeled into the common parlour, half-drunk as
usual.
He was received in silence. But old Merckel
advanced solemnly to meet him, seized him by the
hand, and led him to a seat of honour.
"You, too, are an unhappy father," he said to
him in a voice quivering with emotion. "Your
heart, like mine, has been broken by the ruin of
your child. You, as well as myself and us all, has
the tyrant up yonder, on his conscience. So sit
down, you miserable man, and take a drop of some-
thing with us ! "
The drunkard, who was used to being fisticuffed
and held up to derision, even by those who bore
him no ill-will, scarcely knew what to make of this
highly flattering reception. He glanced suspiciously
round him with his fishy eyes, and appeared to be
considering earnestly whether he should begin to
brag or to weep. Meanwhile he drank all he could
lay hands on.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 309
" Look at this deplorable victim of baronial lust,"
Herr Merckel continued. " A man who is deprived
of the possibility of revenge must lose his self-
respect as he has, and degenerate into a sloven.
Day and night he broods inwardly on the wrong
that has been done him. But even the trodden-on
worm turns at last, and who can blame us if we
wish with all our hearts that the miscreant should
not live to see another day ? "
"Strike him dead!" spluttered the carpenter,
suddenly waxing furious, but there was only a faint
echo in response, for to the men who were now
soldiers under orders for active service the glibly
made suggestion seemed no longer a trifle.
Herr Merckel assumed an air of holy horror.
" For shame, dear people ! we must not listen to
such treason. I, being your mayor, cannot counte-
nance it. To strike him down in broad daylight
would be an unwarrantable act of violence, and
I wonder you dare entertain such an idea for a
moment. But who can stem the torrent of righteous
wrath that vents itself in imprecations and ana-
themas ? And so it is my most earnest desire that
our arch-enemy and tyrant may die in his bed
to-night, or disappear and never be seen again, or
that his body may be found to-morrow morning in
the river Maraune. Then it would at least be
clearly proved that there is still a God above to
judge and condemn sinners. Amen."
"Amen," growled his listeners, and folded their
horny hands.
310 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
" But, alas ! it won't come to pass. We shall live
to see the miscreant fatten and prosper, and grow
grey in this vale of tears. To-morrow he will ride
up triumphantly and drag out my Felix like a lamb
to the slaughter. And others who have demurred
by a word or look will be sacrificed too. Indeed I
shall be very much surprised if any of you escape
with your lives. It is his intention, I firmly believe,
to extirpate every Schrandener from off the face of
the earth. Like a herd of cattle that has been
purchased for the shambles, he'll drive you forth to-
morrow morning, leaving your widows and orphans
behind to weep and bewail your fate."
An ejaculation of fury arose, so loud and violent
that even the inciter of it recoiled in alarm.
" Quietly, dear people, quietly ! No law-breaking.
Although, truly, there is no informer amongst us,
we would sooner bite our tongues out than betray
each other. Hackelberg knows that Thereby
hangs a tale, eh, old friend ? But who knows that
our Herr Captain may not himself be hanging about
outside, spying through the windows."
Five or six heads turned, and were pressed against
the panes.
" You think he wouldn't presume to spy on us ?
Oh, I can assure you he is not the one to stop short
at any low trick. I know what you'd like to say,
and I can't blame you for it that if you catch him
sneaking around at night-time, woe betide him ! "
"We'll strike him dead! Strike him dead!"
fumed the topers.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 311
"Don't be for ever screaming that, children; it
offends my ears. So much can be achieved quietly.
Thus, bang ! Some one has fired. Bang again
another report. Simply a poacher in the forest. It
swarms with deer, eh, Hackelberg ? " He laughed,
and clicked his tongue.
"You mustn't sit dozing there, my man. One
would think you had no more blood in your veins
than a jelly-fish. Have you forgotten how the late
Baron had you flogged till your skin hung in ribbons.
Potztausend! How you danced and bellowed ! It
was a charming spectacle."
Hackelberg writhed and grunted over his glass.
" At that time you were a sportsman, a terror to
your master, and your bullet never missed its mark
Drink away, man ! It's difficult to believe now that
you were ever a good shot."
" I am, still," lisped the carpenter.
" Ha, ha ! pardon my laughing, old fellow. To
begin with, you don't even know what you've done
with your gun."
" But I do."
"And besides, your hand has become too slack,
and your honour has evaporated, and your courage
with it."
The carpenter laughed. An evil light gleamed
in the corners of his eyes.
" What ? You would maintain that you have a
spark of honour left in your composition when you
submit without a murmur to your daughter being
brought to shame ? And what's more, you can bear
312 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
to see her and her seducer at large. Didn't she,
your own flesh and blood, scorn you and slap away
your proffered hand? Ungrateful, disrespectful
wench that she is ! "
The carpenter staggered to his feet.
"No one follow me," he roared, and shook his
fist.
" Where are you going ? "
" That's no business of any one's."
The Schrandeners, even in their wrath, could not
resist making fun of the drunkard, but Merckel
signed to them to let him go in peace.
" He is going to scratch up his gun from the
dungheap," he explained. " Still, what good will it
do ?" he added with a sigh, while his eyes wan-
dered uneasily to the door. " He'll take care not
to deliver himself into our hands at night. To-
morrow, at dawn of day, he'll come, when none
of you can defend yourselves, and hand you over
to your executioners, along with my son Felix,
and none of you will see Schranden again. So
drink your last, children take leave of old Father
Merckel Ah ! there comes Amalie," he said,
interrupting himself, and the lackadaisical expres-
sion of his face changed to one of cheerful expec-
tancy.
The door was thrown open, and Amalie burst in
greatly excited. She whispered something hurriedly
in his ear.
He beamed, and folded his fat hands as if in
prayer.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 313
"Children," he cried, "there is yet a judge in
Heaven. The Baron is in the village."
The Schrandeners rose from their seats yelling
with delight.
" Where is he ? Who has seen him ? "
" Tell them, Amalie ! " he urged the barmaid, and
sank back exhausted, like a person who is satisfied
that his day's work is done.
And Amalie told them. She had waited till the
men on guard had finished their beer, and had
taken a little stroll in the moonlight to get a breath
of fresh air. Then she had seen a man coming
across the fields from the Cats' Bridge. He was
going in the direction of the churchyard, and wore
an officer's coat with scarlet collar and gold buttons.
"Was he armed?" inquired a cautious son of
Schranden.
Yes; she had seen his sabre flash in the moon-
light.
This information afforded food for reflection.
" He has gone to inspect the guard," suggested
some one, scratching his head.
Herr Merckel laughed ironically.
" Since how long has it been customary to review
sentinels in the churchyard ? " he exclaimed. " I
tell you what he has gone there for. He wishes to
pay his dear, chaste Herr Papa a visit to swear
on his grave that he will avenge him, so soon as
you are delivered into his hands as soldiers. Con-
gratulate yourselves on the expedition."
At this juncture an ally cropped up on whom he
314 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
had ceased to count. The old carpenter rushed in
at the door, flourishing in his right hand an old
fowling-piece, on which hung straw and manure.
He seemed in a perfect transport of fury, beating
his breast and capering about like one possessed.
"Who said I had no sense of honour," he screamed;
" and that I allowed my child to be ruined ? Where's
the hussy who has brought shame and disgrace on
my grey hairs ? I won't make her a coffin. No ;
I'll shoot her down I'll shoot them both."
"Come along to the churchyard," cried a voice
among the villagers, who felt their courage rising.
The old landlord winced. "No, not to the
churchyard," he exhorted them. "In the first
place, the ground is sacred ; and in the second, you
might miss him there. If you really wish to settle
matters quietly with him once for all I'm not sup-
posed to know what you have against him, and
don't wish to know well, my advice to you is to
go to the Cats' Bridge. Just there, you know, the
bank is wooded not thickly, certainly, but thick
enough for you to hide behind."
"But suppose he returned by way of the village
and the drawbridge ? " put in the cautious trooper
again.
Herr Merckel knew better. " Not he !" he laughed.
"The Cats' Bridge is handier."
"Let's be off, then, to the Cats' Bridge," yelled
the carpenter, bumping the butt-end of his gun
against the chairs and tables. There was a general
stampede. Herr Merckel crammed bottles of schnaps
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 315
into as many pockets as he could catch hold of, as
his customers hurried out.
" Take it, friends," he cried, " and welcome !
Defend your honour defend your honour ! "
Then, when the last had gone, he mopped his
perspiring brow, and folding his hands, exclaimed
with an uneasy sigh
"Ah, Amalie, if only they don't offer him
violence ! n
CHAPTER XVIII
ON reaching the highroad Boleslav saw the figure
of a girl come out from the shadow of the church-
yard yews, and advance to meet him with hesitating
footsteps.
The moment to which he had looked forward with
tender yearning for eight years had come at last,
yet his heart beat no quicker. "You ought to be
pleased; congratulate yourself," he said inwardly.
" She loves you ! She saved you . . . has freed you
from Regina." And something echoed sadly within
him, " From Regina ! "
The contour of the too slender figure was sharply
defined against the moonlit background. The
shoulders looked angular, and her hips fell in
straight, ungraceful lines from the high-waisted
bodice.
He jumped over the ditch, and held out both his
hands to her. With a prudish simper she placed
hers behind her back.
" Don't be so impetuous," she lisped.
He was amazed. The action chilled him, and
almost excited his contempt ; but he was ashamed
of the emotion, and tried to suppress it.
"You have kept me waiting a long time, Regina."
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 317
The face she turned on him was illuminated by
the moon, and he saw plainly how insignificant
and meagre it had become. She tossed her head
scornfully.
"My name is Helene" she said. "I am sorry
you have forgotten it;" and pouting, she turned
her back.
He winced. " Pardon," he stammered ; " it was
a slip of the tongue."
This was certainly an unfortunate beginning.
She made another grimace, but seemed disposed to
accept his apology.
" Don't let us stay here," she begged. " I'm afraid."
"What of?"
" Of the churchyard ... if you will know."
Again he had to struggle against a feeling of
contempt. In all she said and did he found himself
involuntarily comparing her with Regina, and the
comparison was immeasurably to her disadvantage.
" You know how timid I am," she said, as they re-
traced their steps. "It was rash of me to have chosen
this place for an appointment; indeed it was exceed-
ingly rash to come at all and if it weren't "
Instead of finishing her sentence she cast at him
an affected sidelong glance. Then, as he offered
to help her over the ditch she gave a little scream
and said, " No, no ! "
His half-defined sensation of disappointment now
gave place to blank astonishment. She gazed round
her nervously.
" We can't stay here either," she whispered. " If
3i8 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
I were caught here alone with a gentleman, I believe
I should die of shame."
" Where do you wish to go, then ? H
" You must decide."
" Very well. Come into the wood."
She clasped her hands together with an agitated
old-maidish gesture.
" What are you thinking of ? " she exclaimed. ,
" At night . . . with a gentleman ! "
He rubbed his eyes. Was it really possible, what
he heard and saw ? Could this be Helene, the
guardian angel to whom he had looked up, as to a
being belonging to another world ?
But perhaps it was he who was to blame. Perhaps
the language of innocence and virtue was no longer
intelligible to him because of the fair savage who
had perverted his tastes, and filled his imagination
with impure pictures.
"Then let us walk quietly along the highroad,"
he said.
" But if some one comes ? w
" We can see that no one is coming."
" Yet some one might . . ."
He was at a loss for an answer. A silence ensued,
and then he said, " Won't you take my arm ? "
" Oh, I don't know whether I ought," replied the
love of his youth.
And again they walked on in silence. It almost
seemed as if they had nothing at all to say to each
other.
" Regina is waiting ! " a voice cried within him.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 319
" How silent you are ! " Helene lisped, playfully
pinching his elbow with two of the finger-tips that
lay on his arm. " You wicked man ! Haven't you
a little bit of liking left for me ? "
He felt he had no right to say " No." She had
been true to him, had trusted his word for eight
long years; he dared not prove himself unworthy
now of her faith in him. When he had reassured
her with a stammered " Of course, of course," she
sighed, a deep-drawn, languishing sigh.
" I hear such dreadful things about you," she said,
"that I don't know what to believe. Tell me it's
not true."
" What ? " he asked wearily.
"Ah, a girl can't discuss such matters. Immoral
things, I mean. In old days you were a good, noble
fellow, and I can't believe it's true that you've
altered so completely."
She drew a little closer to him. In doing so,
she dropped her blue silk reticule. As he stooped
with her to pick it up, the peak of his cap
brushed her face.
"Oh, take care!" she simpered, drawing back
hastily.
" A thousand pardons ! " he answered, in a tone of
rigid politeness, and bit his lips.
" Well, you don't answer my question," she con-
tinued. " Perhaps it is true, then, what people say !
I should be sorry to think that poor unhappy me
had been so deceived in you. But papa always
thought you would come to a bad end." She said
320 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
this with such a ludicrous little air of superiority,
that he could not help smiling.
She seemed to discern that she was appearing
absurd in his eyes, and went on in a deeply injured
tone, " Ah, it's all very well to laugh at a poor girl,
whose intentions towards you are so kind, and who
would give anything to prevent your ruin."
" Please, do not trouble yourself on my account,"
he replied.
" Now you are making yourself out worse than
you are," she interposed. " I know you have a noble
nature at bottom. And if fate parts us for ever, I
shall always, always keep a warm place for you in
my heart Oh, what bitter tears have I shed for you
many a time! And I've prayed every night to God
to keep the dear friend of my youth from sin, and
from wicked revengeful thoughts, and to give him a
good conscience."
" I am afraid the behaviour of the Schrandeners
is not exactly calculated to cure a man of revengeful
thoughts," he replied.
She turned up her sharp little nose. " The Schran-
deners are an uncouth lot," she remarked. " And one
can't have much to do with them. I would much
rather stay altogether with my aunt in Wartenstein.
There at least one associates with respectable, well-
mannered townspeople, who lift their hats to a lady
when they meet her in the street. Not a single
Schrandener, with the exception of Herr Merckel,
and Felix of course, dreams of doing such a thing.
Felix," she added with a sigh, " has the manners of
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 321
a gentleman and an officer." Then as if something
had suddenly recalled the events of the afternoon to
her mind, she screamed, wrung her hands and said,
" Oh, Boleslav, Boleslav ! "
" What is it, Helene ? "
" Boleslav, how could you be so wicked ! Poor,
poor Felix ! I did not see it myself, for I was in the
back-garden drawing radishes, but they told me
afterwards how you slashed at his head with your
drawn sabre, till it poured with blood." She shud-
dered and shook with suppressed sobs. Then she
wrenched her hand out of his arm and skipped to
the opposite side of the road. " Go ! I won't have
anything more to do with you," she cried. " You
acted in a harsh and cruel manner "
" But you don't understand, dear Helene," he
protested.
"And he was your schoolfellow and playmate,
and used to play hide-and-seek with us both in the
garden. He often climbed over the hedge for you
to get your ball when you had tossed it too far, and
he used to give you guinea-pigs. Have you for-
gotten everything? You ought to remember the
dear old times."
" Because of the guinea pigs, eh ?"
"Oh, and to think that you have shut him up
in the cold dark churchj Papa is of opinion that
you have no business to do it ; he says he will report
your conduct to the kommando, and that probably
you will get the worst of it"
She resembled her father so little, he thought, that
X
322 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
his words of thunder when repeated by her lips
sounded the most insipid chatter. And it was on
this cackling little hen that he had let the great
question of to be, or not to be, hang !
She had now come back to his side, and with a
mincing gesture pushed her hand again through
his arm.
"They say that you intend carrying him off
to-morrow a prisoner, to be tried by a court-
martial, and that he will be shot dead for certain.
But it must be a lie. It is, isn't it ? You couldn't
do such a thing ; I wouldn't believe it of you. You
are not so bad as all that."
He suppressed an exclamation of impatience.
" Say you won't ? " she besought, wiping her
eyes. " If / ask you, dear Boleslav, to let him go
free, you will grant me the favour I know you
will."
She spoke calmly, as if the request she made
were merely a casual one. But there was secret
anxiety in the eyes that glanced at his suspi-
ciously.
" Dear, dear Boleslav ! " she continued more
urgently, her arm trembling violently, " if you care
for me the very least little bit, don't let us part
before you have promised me this. I will cherish
your memory always in my heart, if Fate is cruel
enough to separate us for ever, and will at least
never cease to pray for you and bless you."
" I am sorry, Helene," he said, moved to speak-
ing more warmly by her now evident distress, " if
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 323
I must seem hard and inexorable to you. But it is all
of no good. Your wish cannot possibly be fulfilled."
She had not in the least expected this answer,
and regarded him for a second with a cold, angry
expression. Then suddenly she burst out weeping,
and sank against the trunk of a tree for support,
with her thin hands before her face.
At the same moment the report of a gun was
heard in the distance, the echo of which slowly
rolled through the woodlands.
Helene gave a frightened cry, and, throwing up
her hands, sobbed out
"Now they have shot him for certain, because
you, inhuman monster, have commanded itl Oh
dear ! have you no mercy ? "
Listening in the direction from which the gun-
shot had come, he did his best to soothe her.
That the shot had anything to do with Felix
Merckel was, of course, out of the question.
It had undoubtedly been fired in the wood, on the
farther side of the Castle, probably by a poacher on
the track of a wild red deer.
But she sobbed more violently than ever
"It's all very well . . . but you . . . you . . .
intend dragging him out to his death you know
you do."
Her increasing agitation began to bewilder Bole-
slav. He assured her he would do everything in
his power to ameliorate Felix's sentence. He him-
self would testify to his being hopelessly intoxicated
at the time. His old rancour against himself, his
324 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
wounded vanity, all should be cited in extenuation
of his offence, and might influence his judges to
mildness.
But she was not satisfied, and at last dropped on
her knees in the clay soil, and cried aloud
" Be merciful ! be noble ! Save him I "
" For God's sake, stand up ! "
" No, I shall not. In the dust 111 kneel to you
and implore your mercy."
"But don't you see that I shall be imputing to
myself a murderous design if I represent him as
innocent ? "
"Never mind," she sobbed. "If you really love
me, you won't object to making this little sacrifice
for my sake."
Then it began to dawn on him that it was not
for the pleasure of seeing him she had summoned
him to her side, but, in accordance with a precon-
ceived plan, to make use of his love for her on
behalf of another. And of such stuff as this the
woman was made, of whom for long years he had
considered himself unworthy ! This was the radiant
angel who had represented his ideal of purity and
goodness, whose name he had held too sacred to
mention in the same breath as Regina's !
And Regina, the dishonoured, the outcast !
What worlds she seemed now above this sly
virtue !
A wild laugh burst from him.
" Why did you not tell me at once that you were
in love with some one else ? "
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 325
She started. "That is a slander 1" she cried.
" I am an honest, innocent girl ! "
" Well, I presume you are betrothed ? *
She began to cry again, though even in her grief
she did not forget to carefully brush the mud from
her skirts.
"Oh, Boleslav," she wailed, "it's all your fault.
Why did you keep me waiting for you so long ?
And why have you given people so much cause to
gossip about you ? And then you know, there was
papa! His consent could never have been won!
What was I, poor girl, to do ? "
" Please, say no more. It really doesn't matter 1 "
he broke in cheerily.
" You aren't angry with me, then ? "
" Oh no ! not in the least ! "
In silence he accompanied Helene back to the
village, took a friendly farewell of her, and promised
to do all he could to save her fianct.
She thanked him, made a formal little curtsey,
and they parted.
And so ended the great love of his life.
As he watched the shadow of her meagre little
figure disappear behind the houses, his whole soul
cried out for Regina in uncontrollable boundless
jubilation. Now the road was free free for sinful,
exultant love.
But what was sin, when virtue had collapsed so
deplorably ? How could there be any evil, when
what was good appeared so absurd and contemp-
tible?
326 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
"Take her in your arms crush her to your
breast even to-morrow shall not cheat you of
her. . . . She shall follow you to the camp, from
battle to battle let her wear men's clothes like that
Leonore Prohaska, the heroine whom all Germany
admires and honours ! "
" Regina ! Regina ! " he carolled anew, stretching
out his arms exultingly, in anticipation. He bounded
over the moonlit meadows, and higher and darker
every minute rose the wooded bank of the river
before him.
She would be standing on the Cats' Bridge looking
out for him, as she had always done.
" Regina ! " he shouted over the river. But no
answer came. Deep silence all around. There was
only a faint rustle among the young leaves of the
willows that sounded like slumberous breathing
through half-closed lips; and a gentle splashing
came up from the invisible river. Its waters were
low, and broke on the sharp pebbles. He climbed
the steep steps.
" Regina ! " he called again. Still silence. Then
he saw that in the centre of the plank, the rickety
hand-rail had given way : rotten splinters hung on
either side. Horror-stricken, he looked down at
the river.
On its silver surface floated a woman's corpse.
CHAPTER XIX
WHEN the Schrandeners left the Black Eagle they
dispersed to their homes, with the intention of
arming themselves to the best of their ability.
Half of them did not turn up again. The others
about twenty in number careered in detachments
behind the limping carpenter, round the Castle island
in the direction of the Cats' Bridge. Once united
under the shelter of the bushes, they believed they
would be unseen and unfollowed. They sneaked
in silence through the damp grass; only the old
drunkard insisted on keeping up an incessant chatter
and mumbling. He conversed excitedly with his
gun as if it had been a human being shook and
exhorted it not to fail him. From time to time he
held the butt-end to his cheek in an aiming posi-
tion, and when his range of vision became confused
by the sight of his own dancing fingers, or imagi-
nary bats and fireflies, he would take a long pull
at his bottle to clear it
On reaching the Cats' Bridge, which darkly
spanned the river, its rivets glittering in the moon-
light, the Schrandeners divided, some going to one
side of it and the rest keeping to the other. As
noiselessly as their half-drunken condition would
permit, they slid down the decline in order to screen
328 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
themselves behind the alders. Those who had fire-
arms, led by the old carpenter, stationed themselves
on the edge of the sand-bank, so that they might
bring their victim down from the plank bridge,
should he by any chance escape the meditated
attack from below of pikes, scythes, and flails.
For the space of five minutes there was scarcely
a sound audible, beyond the crackling and swishing
among the twigs caused by some one stretching out
a hand for his bottle of schnaps. Death-like still-
ness reigned too on the island.
Then the carpenter, whose eyes were momentarily
sharpened by brandy, and who was on the alert like
a tiger crouching for a spring, discerned a figure
emerge and walk slowly and softly on to the Cats'
Bridge. It must have been cowering in the boscage
above, on the opposite bank, for several minutes.
As the figure came out of the shadow into the
full light of the moon, he recognised his daughter.
Clearly she had discovered the assassins, and was
now on her way to warn the Freiherr of his peril.
" Go back, you vermin ! " he cried, all a sportsman's
fury at being deprived of his certain prey taking
possession of him and clouding his erratic brain.
She ducked her head, but glided forwards, holding
on to the hand-rail.
" Back, or I'll aim ! "
With one frantic leap she tried to propel herself
forwards, but a shot was fired at the same instant,
and she sank noiselessly against the rotten balus-
trade. It snapped in two, and a dark, lifeless mass
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 329
fell from the heights of the Cats' Bridge into the river.
The water rose and fell in sparkling cascades. In
the shallow bottom the stones rolled and ground
against each other.
Then slowly the whirling, swaying body rose to
the surface of the ripples, till the face gazed upwards
and was brilliantly illumined by the moon.
A profound stillness reigned on the bank.
Motionless, and with bated breath, every one
stared down on the dead, upturned face, with its
wide-open eyes, which seemed full of warning and
rebuke. A corner of her skirt had caught on a
gnarled stump of a tree, which projected into the
river; thus she was anchored, and prevented from
drifting down with the stream.
Softly and cautiously, as if playing with it, the
current moved the body to and fro, and no one,
however much he might wish to avoid it, could help
seeing the head as it reposed on the water.
The silence lasted a full ten minutes, and then
one of the Schrandeners, who had helped to incar-
nate the evil conscience of the village, shyly with
bent head slunk away, making the bushes crackle
and rustle as he went. A second followed ; a third,
a fourth, . . . until at last the scene of the catas-
trophe was deserted.
The carpenter, who had been contemplating his
daughter's dead face, grumbling, and talking to
himself the while, found himself alone.
Suddenly he roared out hoarsely, " Fire ! fire !
fire ! " and hurled his gun at the corpse. It went
330 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
splashing to the bottom of the river, and he stag-
gered after the others as fast as his legs would
carry him.
Nothing stirred now near the Cats' Bridge.
Boleslav was safe!
Some time elapsed before he was able to take in
what he saw. He stared in stupefaction, first at the
floating corpse, then at the broken balustrade.
"You should have had it repaired long ago," he
thought, and toyed dazedly with the fragments.
Then, as if waking from a dream, he went back
to the bank, and climbed down the ravine, where he
found broken branches lying about, and freshly-
made footmarks. A vague suspicion of what had
happened dawned on him, and then quickly died
out; the hope that there might yet be time to
restore her to life absorbing his mind, to the
exclusion of every other emotion.
He crawled cautiously along the tree -stump
as near the body as he 'could get, and drew it
ashore with the hilt of his sabre. . . . Now she
lay on the shining sand, and a hundred little rivulets
ran from every part of her. He took his sabre-
blade and cut her wet jacket off her, and became
aware of the blood that had dyed her chemise
crimson. As he ripped this away, too, he found
the fount from which the stream flowed in a wound
beneath her left breast.
Now he knew what that gunshot had meant.
And when the first wild impulse for vengeance,
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 331
which seemed to scream in his ear, " Go and burn
their houses to the ground, and hew them down
till you yourself are hewn down ! " had subsided
and consumed its own rage, he flung himself on
the corpse, and broke into passionate weeping.
He lay thus for a long time, then slowly rose, and,
bearing her on his shoulders, carried her through
the footprints of her murderers up the steep incline
over the Cats' Bridge to the island. She was no
light burden, and three times he sank on to his
knees, gasping under her weight.
Near the shrubbery that surrounded the cottage
he was obliged to put her down, for he feared he
should swoon from his exertions. She lay on the
same spot where he had found her, motionless and
bleeding, after his father's funeral.
Now as then the moonbeams played on the still
pale face ; only now she would not revive, could
never be recalled to life.
" They have succeeded at last I " he cried, break-
ing into a loud, bitter laugh.
A sharp spasm of pain shot through the back of
his head ; he felt as if he must go raving mad if
those fixed, glazed eyes continued to look up at him
much longer.
But his anxiety to get the corpse interred before
he went away brought him to his senses. The
Schrandeners were capable of laying the murdered
girl beneath the earth somewhere in the heart of the
forest ; thereby removing all evidence of their crime,
and crippling the hands of justice.
332 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
The one person he felt could be relied on to do
what was right in the matter was the old pastor.
Much as he might have denounced and slandered
her hitherto, he, at all events, would not be a party
to this last foul outrage. Boleslav therefore resolved
to rouse him from his bed, and to bring him to the
spot, so that later when he himself was, God knew
where, a witness might not be wanting.
The belfry clock struck eleven as he reached the
village street. The sentinels were parading noise-
lessly up and down in front of the church door,
otherwise the whole world was apparently wrapped
in profound slumber.
But from one of the cottages he passed, loud
blows, oaths, and scolding cries fell upon his ear.
He looked over the hedge, and saw the green coffin
which was the carpenter Hackelberg's trade-mark,
looming uncannily from its stand.
The drunkard's imbecile formula occurred to him.
"His wish is likely to be fulfilled," he thought;
" he has now the chance of making a coffin for his
daughter ; " and in a bitterly ironical mood he deter-
mined to communicate to the old man, if he were
still in possession of his faculties, his child's terrible
end, and to demand the fulfilment of his promise.
He entered the gloomy passage. From a room
on the right proceeded the gurgling cries of the
thick, drunken voice which excited his involuntary
disgust. Mingled with it was a spasmodic hissing
and whizzing that he could not explain, till he had
lifted the latch and witnessed a spectacle so hor-
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 333
rible and revolting that, rich as the day had been
for him in horrors, he recoiled before it faint and
shuddering.
The old carpenter, his clothes half torn off, bleeding
from the throat and arms, the moonlight bringing
into prominence the hideous filthiness of the room,
plunged about as if seized with an attack of St.
Vitus's dance. Every limb quivered violently, and
he foamed at the mouth. His eyes rolled in a
maniacal frenzy, and the muscles of his face
twitched convulsively. A huge plane hung from
his right hand, the handle of which, formed in the
shape of a ring, had grazed his knuckles, and which
he vainly endeavoured to steady with his palsied
fingers. Whenever he came to a wooden surface,
whether on the table, the walls, or the planks that
covered the floor, he tried to plane it, and this
caused the hissing sound which always ended
abruptly with a rasping jerk.
" It'll soon be ready now ! " he cried. " One
more blow" . . . ssh . . . "and the shaping's
done." . . . ssh . . . ssh ..." Damn the bats . . . why
can't they leave a man alone ? " . . . ssh . . . ssh . . .
" Forwards . . . Listen ! Fire ! fire ! The Castle's
on fire ! Fire I fire ! Keep out of the way, you
baggage if you tell any one you've seen me with
the tinder and the bundle of flax" . . . ssh . . .
ssh ..." I won't finish your coffin." ... ss ...
ssh . . . "Get out of my sight, you snake." He
lunged against Boleslav, who, with a presentiment
of what ghastly disclosures were to be made to
334 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
him, had planted himself in his way. The drunkard
appeared to be labouring under the delusion that
Boleslav was his daughter. " Go back off the
Cats' Bridge the Baron shall get his deserts to-
day back or " He laid the plane against
his cheek, and took aim; then, as if confronted by
another vision, he yelled once more at the top of
his voice, trembling with fright, " Fire ! fire ! " and
made an attempt to creep under the table, planing
the tattered tails of his coat as he went. " Fire !
fire ! Get away I didn't do it ! My daughter is
a liar. . . . The flames are spreading. Fire ! fire !
Look at the flames ! "
With the flames he seemed to reach the zenith of
his delirium, and then gradually descended again to
the bats, which he made a feint of chivying out of
his way with his arms and legs, and then resumed
planing the legs of the table.
" Nearly ready, dear sir." . . . ssh . . . ssh . . .
" Just a couple more boards." ... ss ... ssh . . .
"My daughter's debauched . . . There can be
no mistake," ... ss ... ssh . . . "finely polished."
... ss ..." Now there she lies, and will howl no
more. . . . ssh ..." What, not gone yet ? Your
father'll drive you out." ... ss ... ssh . . .
"The Baron will get a shot lodged in his ribs
to-day." . . . ssh . . . "We want extra hands.
Furrah, men! Hurrah, Merckel!" ... ss ...
"Come off the plank down from the bridge, you
beast. Have you any more French behind you?
ou don't go at once
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 335
Here he made for Boleslav. He looked in the
moonlight, with his tottering legs, his palsied head,
and his flapping arms, like some ghastly phantasmal
monster, whose limbs were pieced together by a
hundred movable joints. Just as he was reaching
his goal, the flames began to pursue him once more,
and to escape from them he crept, with a piercing
shriek this time, beneath a stack of wood, where,
with dense swarms of bats, the fearful cycle of his
delusions recommenced.
Boleslav, shaken to the foundations of his being
by the awful truth the old man had revealed in his
delirious ravings, felt he could no longer bear to gaze
on such a hideous scene.
He fled from the house as if the imaginary flames
which so terrified the maniac were pursuing him too,
and he did not pause till he had left the village
behind him, and found himself encompassed by the
shadows of the ruins.
CHAPTER XX
THE church clock had struck the midnight hour, by
the time Boleslav got back to the spot where he had
left Regina's soulless body.
A protecting darkness now veiled the white face,
for the moon had passed behind a bank of clouds,
yet even from the darkness the great lustreless eyes
gazed appealingly up at him, as if asking a question
to which there was no answer here or hereafter.
He threw himself on his knees beside her, and,
saying good-bye to the two stars, whose light had
gone out, he tenderly closed their lids. She now
looked as if she were asleep, and he breathed more
freely. He felt something almost approaching a
painful satisfaction as he watched by her. "You
belong to me, only to me," he said. "No one else
shall have any part or lot in you, in death as in life."
What he had resolved to do, in a spirit of defiance,
as he left the murderer's house, in his present calmer
mood still seemed the most commendable course to
take. Past events appeared to him now like a brazen
chain of guilt, to which for years one link after the
other had been added. And into this chain had been
forged, till it was made a component part of it, an
unlawful love. For the sake of this love which was
336
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 337
sinful as hell and pure as heaven, that which only
the silence of the night had witnessed should in
the silence of the night be buried buried with
this corpse.
What retribution could be rendered by the poor
tribunal of man, in a case in which fate had so
clearly interfered and pronounced sentence ? Would
it not be profaning the dead body to drag it into
the glare of publicity, and so expose it to the snivel-
ling curiosity of the vulgar herd ?
Should he permit the priest who had cursed her
in her lifetime to consign her to the grave with a
perfunctory blessing ? And would not this involve
her being laid in a coffin manufactured by her father's
blood-guilty hands, followed by his accomplices as
mourners, hooting and throwing stones ?
Ah no; it should not be! She should be the
prey, now she was dead, of no Schrandener wolves.
He alone, for whom she had lived, for whom she
had gone to meet her death, must prepare her last
resting-place. He would hide her in the lap of
mother earth, and smooth the turf so carefully
above her that no body-snatcher would ever dis-
cover and profane the holy spot He lifted the
corpse in his arms and carried it to the grass-plot.
The moon had risen high in the heavens and shrouded
the landscape in a veil of silver. From the dewy
glistening grass rose the fragments of the old Diana
statue in dazzling whiteness. Here he bore her
and let her sink on the turf, her neck supported by
the cracked pedestal, so that with her face turned
Y
338 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
towards the moon, she looked as if she had fallen
asleep in a sitting position. Then he sought a burial-
place. His eye fell on the black, four-cornered
patch which Regina had intended for his father's
grave. How vividly she came back to him, as she
had looked then, in the full splendour of her sun-
burnt strength and beauty, driving the heavy spade
into the ground with her naked foot, as if it had been
a ramrod. If he had not then interrupted her in her
work, he would to-day have been spared his.
The service of love she had wished to render his
father it was now his duty to do for her. What
could be simpler than to go on digging deeper the
grave that she had begun that day, little dreaming
it would be her own ?
He fetched a spade from the kitchen, where the
fire she had kindled was still smouldering, and
began with all his strength to throw up the sod.
From time to time he paused and glanced at her.
She seemed well content to sit there in the bright
moonlight, and quietly contemplate his labours.
Now and then, when the shadow of a cloud flickered
on her face, he half fancied she moved, and was
going to rise to her feet.
Then that tormenting scepticism that all ex-
perience in the presence of their beloved dead
overwhelmed him. He called her name and rushed
to her side. Her hand rested on Diana's head,
which lay close to her in the grass. He dared not
touch her, and stole back to his work, his face
buried in his hands.
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 339
The grave began to grow deep, and he feared
that soon he might not be able to climb on to the
edge again. He went to get the flower-stand out
of the green-house, on the shelves of which she
had ranged the plates and dishes in such beautiful
order.
" No one shall eat off them again ! " he said,
and dashed the earthenware crockery on the floor,
where it broke to atoms. He placed the stand
against the inside of the grave, to serve as a
ladder, and then continued throwing out the soil
as before.
By the time the clock in the village had boomed
out the second hour of the morning, his melancholy
task was finished. He had no coffin for her, but
to prevent her lying on the black moist earth, he
fetched from his bed, which she had always taken
pains to keep so daintily clean and tidy, a quilt,
and two feather pillows, and lined the grave with
them.
And now the time for parting had come. He
raised her in his arms, and bore her to the edge of
the pit ; then sitting down on the mound of turf to
take breath, he lifted her head on to his knees.
Never before had he been able to look at her so
leisurely, for he had never dared trust himself to
let his eyes rest on her for long. Now he studied
lovingly every feature of the dead face, caressed the
stiff cheeks, and wrung the water from her heavy
curls. A cold shiver passed through his frame.
He had held the wet body, with its dripping skirts,
340 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
so long in his arms, that his own clothes were
damp from the contact.
" Farewell ! " he murmured, and kissed her on
the forehead. He was going to kiss her on the
lips, but drew back quickly.
" You disdained them in life," he said to himself.
" so in death they may not belong to you."
And then he edged the corpse nearer the grave,
and jumped down on to the top step of the stand.
Slowly and cautiously he lifted her in, stretched her
on the quilt, and cushioned her head on the soft
pillows.
Once more he wanted to kiss her, but was afraid
to leave the stand that bridged her feet; so he
contented himself with stroking her hands, which
he could reach from where he sat; then he clam-
bered out of the grave, drawing the stand after him
with the top of the spade-handle. But afterwards
he found he had forgotten to draw a corner of the
quilt over her face, to prevent the soil from falling
on it. " Flowers," he thought, " will do as well ; "
and he went in search of them. Under the trees in
the park grew great masses of anemones and blue-
bells, and there were violets and primroses, that she
herself had cultivated, in the garden.
He gathered all he could see in the uncertain
light. The anemones and primroses had closed
their calyxes in sleep, but the violets looked up at
him with their confiding blue eyes, as if inviting him
to pluck them.
With his hands full he returned to the grave, and,
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 341
as he looked down into it, stood spell-bound at
what he saw. It was indeed a picture of almost
magic loveliness. The moon had passed its height,
and, shining at the foot of the grave, illuminated it
on the east side, so that the head, reposing in its
deep resting-place, was thrown out clearly in relief,
while the blood-stained body was hidden in darkest
shadow.
The still, white face seemed to smile up at him,
as if lapped in blissful dreams.
He threw the flowers aside, and, crouching down
in the loose earth he had thrown up, stared and stared
down on her, holding a solemn and silent wake.
Thoughts chased each other through his brain in
a confused whirl, until gradually he came to a calmer
and more rational frame of mind.
He reflected on how she had gone through life
despised and guilt-laden, and yet unrepentant, ap-
pearing to be satisfied with her past rather than
regretting it.
Once, in an hour of dire perplexity, he had asked
himself whether it was the dull indifference of the
brute or the wiles of a devil that made her will so
strong and her conscience so lax, and he had not
known what to answer.
To-day, when it was too late, her true nature was
revealed to him.
No, she had not been a brute or a devil, but
simply a grand and complete human being. One
cf those perfect, fully developed individuals such
as Nature created before a herding social system,
342 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
with its paralysing ordinances, bungled her handi-
work, when every youthful creature was allowed to
bloom unhindered into the fulness of its power, and
to remain, in good and in evil, part and parcel of
the natural life.
And as he pondered thus, it seemed to him that
the mists which obscure the source of human exist-
ence from human knowledge had dispersed a little,
and that he had been granted a deeper glimpse than
most men into the fathomless gulf of the Unknown.
What is generally called good and bad drifted about
anchorless on the cloudy surface, but below lay
dreaming in majestic strength, the Natural.
" And those whom Nature favours," he said aloud
to himself, "she lets take root in her mysterious
depths, so that they spring boldly into the light,
with vision undimmed and conscience untrammelled
by the befogging illusions of morality and worldly
wisdom."
Such a highly favoured, completely endowed human
creature was this abused and abandoned woman.
"And I for whom she lived and died, have I
deserved such a sacrifice?" he meditated further.
" Was I worthy of the trust and confidence she so
unhesitatingly placed in me ? "
With ruthless severity he sat in judgment on
himself, and he came out of the ordeal anything but
unscathed.
" Of course I belong to the other type," he
thought, "to the people who are torn all their life
long between right and wrong, and who lose their
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 343
way in the fog. We regard the tribute Nature
demands of us as impurity and vice, and yet the
restraint of moral laws often appears to us hollow
and far-fetched. Thus we vacillate perpetually be-
tween defiance and fear of them. We crave for
the good opinion of the world, in which we don't
believe, and tremble in face of its condemnation,
which we despise and contemn in our hearts. Once
I thought it would be an indelible disgrace to bury my
father in this unconsecrated ground ; now I should
be glad if I had done so. Once I tried to forget
my bitterness in the ambition of restoring my an-
cestral inheritance to its pristine glory; now I am
delighted at the thought of shaking its dust from
my feet Then I held the Schrandeners to be mere
barbarous savages ; but to-day I awake to the fact
that my own race has made them what they are. . . .
Then I thought this woman too degraded to take
bread from her hand ; to-day I am weeping by her
grave. All my heart was centred on the extinguished
flame of youth's first foolish fancy; I insisted on
making the arbitress of my destiny a simpering,
prudish minx, for whom I really had long ceased
to care . . . and I repulsed in horror the most
splendid and satisfying of natural loves. But truly
this natural love represented deadly sin, and tempted
me to contaminate my blood.
" Yet when the worst came to the worst, and the
life that flowed in my veins had burst from the con-
trol of all laws, human and divine, could I not have
made atonement by paying the penalty of death ? "
344 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
And then the question occurred to him, whether
the body he talked so lightly of surrendering at his
own caprice belonged exclusively to him ? What
if it were the Fatherland's inviolable possession ?
Certainly, then, he was not privileged to desecrate it.
" It is well that in an hour of chaos like this,
when good and evil, right and wrong, honour and
dishonour, seem to be swaying about in hopeless
confusion, and when the old God of our childhood
with His Heaven seems to have vanished away . . .
it is well for swooning men to have one prop left to
lean on, one firm rock to cling to, on which even to
be shipwrecked were a delightful relief. Such a
prop, such a stay, have I in my country."
Thus spake the son of his country's betrayer, and
fervently folded his hands.
The moon had shifted its radiance away from the
grave, and the dead face it had illumined now lay in
shadow. It was scarcely possible to distinguish it
from the surrounding earth.
" The time has come," he said, and looked round
him.
In the east glimmered the first rosy streak of
dawn. A bluish haze suffused the landscape, and
above him in the branches began the dreamy twitter
of awakening birds. He was in the act of throwing
the flowers into the grave, when suddenly he changed
his mind, and with a frown cast them aside.
" What need of such fastidious effeminacy ? " he
asked himself rebukingly. " Dust has no reason to
fear meeting dust."
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 345
Then he seized the spade, and shutting his eyes,
began with zest to shovel the dark earth over the
beloved body. A quarter of an hour later the grave
was full. He laid the turf carefully in its original
place, and took care to remove the remnants of
superfluous soil and scattered flowers, so that when
the sun rose no one could have found the place
where Regina slept for ever.
As he searched for a stone to commemorate the
sacred spot, his eyes fell on the head of the ruined
statue, which smiled at him in stony vacancy. He
lifted it, and planted it in the turf.
"Diana, the chaste," he murmured, "shall serve
her as a tombstone. The sister by whom she will
keep eternal watch is not unworthy of her."
And again he flung himself on the grass and
became lost in meditation. On the stroke of six
he rose, and made preparations to depart.
"They will be fools indeed," he muttered to
himself, " if they don't make an end of me to-day."
He filled his pistols with new cartridges, and
sharpened his sabre, for he was determined his life
should be dearly purchased.
But when he crossed the drawbridge to the village,
he was greeted by familiar and friendly faces. They
belonged to Heide's sons, who were making their
way to the Schranden depdt. They pressed round
him and offered him their hands.
"We are come," said Karl Engelbert, "to put
ourselves under your command, for we wish to make
amends for our conduct to you in the past."
346 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS
" I thank you with my whole heart," he replied.
" All is forgiven and forgotten."
Then he walked up to Schranden's gallant troopers,
who, pale and with chattering teeth, cowered near
the church door, like criminals awaiting execution.
His comrades pointed out to each other in dismay
the blood-stains on his clothes, but not one dared
ask him to explain how they came there.
" Bring out the prisoner, and get a waggon for
him," he ordered. Felix Merckel was led out, but
Boleslav did not deign to give him a glance.
When farewells had been said, and all was in
readiness for the march, the old pastor made his
way through the crowd. His face was haggard
and his hands shook.
He hastened to Boleslav's side and whispered
in his ear: "I hear that Regina met her death
last night. ... I am willing to give her Christian
burial."
" Many thanks, your reverence," answered Bole-
slav, "but I have already buried her with Pagan
rites," and he turned away.
A Schrandener, who, to ingratiate himself, had
probably spent part of the night in capturing
Boleslav's horse, now came forward holding it, with
a servile grin.
He swung into the saddle, and his sabre flew out
of the scabbard. His voice rang out clear and
threatening above the beads of the crowd as he
gave the word of command.
" Right, left. Quick march ! "
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 347
They left the village behind them; the woods
loomed nearer.
He did not look back.
Of the career of Boleslav von Schranden after-
wards, very little is known. It was considered
advisable by the military authorities to gazette him
again into his old regiment, owing to the mutiny
that had taken place under his command.
While the East Prussian Landwehr remained
behind in the ancient provinces, he obtained the
much-coveted permission to go direct to the seat
of war.
It is supposed that he fell at Ligny.
THE END
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY, LOS ANGELES
COLLEGE LIBRARY
This book is due on the last date stamped below.
Book Slip-35m-7,'63(D8634s4)4280
A 001 214472 1
UCLA-College Library
PT 2640 K15E5 1904
College
Library
PT
2640
K15E5
1904
L 005 760 738 4
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