E. Werner

“ I shall tell the forester to keep an eye on him."
"A robber!" repeated Hartmut, as his eyes followed the heron, which now disappeared behind the tree-tops. "Yes, surely; but it must be beautiful--such a free robber's life high up in the air. To dash down from the heights like a flash of lightning--to grab the booty, then soar high with it again where no one can follow--that is worthy of the chase."
"Hartmut, I actually believe you have a good notion to lead such a robber's life," said Willy, with the deep horror of a well-raised boy for such inclinations. ”

“ Hartmut started. Sudden and glaring like that flash of lightning flamed up a remembrance in his mind--the resemblance of that hour when he had given a solemn word--a word of honor, and--had broken it!
Adelaide von Wallmoden straightened her slender figure; her features still showed the deathly pallor as she continued in a low but steady tone to Rojanow:
"Abandon this persecution which I have felt for weeks. I shudder before you--at your eyes, your words. I feel that it is destruction that goes out from you, and one does not love that." ”

“ You need not hide your tears from me, Ada; I am not jealous of the dead, for I loved him just as--he loved you."
"Eugene brought me his last greeting," said the young wife, in whose eyes shone the tears she had wished to conceal from her husband. "And Stadinger, too, wrote me to fulfill his dying master's last request. I fear the old man will not live much longer; his letter sounded as if he were utterly crushed."
"Poor Egon!" In Hartmut's voice sounded the deep pain he felt for his friend. "He was so full of sunny happiness and joy; he was created for it and to give it. ”

“ Glow and flame there; ice and night here! The cold, which had been intense already during the day, now grew to the breath of ice, in which all life seemed to become stark, and which chilled the lonely sentinel to the very marrow.
Although he was not the only one who had to do this hard duty, his comrades had not been spoiled by years of life in the Orient and the balmy air of Sicily. Hartmut had not lived through a northern winter since his boyhood; this cold grew disastrous to him, for it seemed to change the blood in his veins into ice. ”

“ You are perhaps a great poet, and perhaps the world overwhelms you with praise, but it tells me something different--this fervent, ardent doctrine of your Arivana. It has taught me to know its creator--a man who does not believe in anything, and to whom nothing in the world is sacred; no duty and no vow; no man's honor and no woman's virtue--who would not hesitate to drag the highest into the dust as play for his passion. I still believe in duty and honor; I still believe in myself, and with this faith I offer defiance to the doom you hold so triumphantly before me. ”

“ Have you not made an attempt since then to convince him?"
"No; he would believe me as little as Egon does. He who has once broken his word, has lost forever their faith, even if he would regain it with his life. Perhaps my death upon the battlefield would have enlightened them, but when I fall now by my own hand they will see in it only the deed of a despairing man--a guilty one--and will despise me even in my grave."
"Not everybody will do that," said Adelaide lowly. "I believe in you, Hartmut, in spite of everything." ”

“ Hartmut burst forth with terrible vehemence. "My mother has branded me as with a red-hot iron, and this closes to me every way to atonement--to salvation. I am cast out from the ranks of my people, where even the poorest peasant can fight; a privilege which is denied only to the dishonorable criminal, is denied also to me, for I am nothing else in Egon's eyes. He fears that I might become a traitor--a spy to my own brothers!"
He covered his face with both hands, and the last words died in a sob; then he felt a hand touch his arm gently.
"The brand is extinguished with the name Rojanow. ”

“ But what if this Marietta Volkmar should take a notion to visit her friend at Furstenstein? The young lord ought to have been horrified at the thought, and was convinced that he was horrified; but with all that the strange flash returned to his eyes. He suddenly saw in the reception room, at the piano where Toni had been a little while ago, a small, delicate figure, whose dark, curly head moved to and fro like a bird, and the thunder of the march changed into the soft, rippling notes of the old carol, while between all again sounded the gay, silvery laugh which also was music. ”

“ This old edifice, which nestles in the midst of the deep forest like a fairy castle, is a piece of forest poetry such as you could not find in any of my other possessions. I know your taste--but I must really leave you now. You will not drive with me over to Furstenstein?"
"No; I will enjoy your much-praised forest poetry, which, it appears, is already tiresome to you, as you wish to make calls."
"Yes; I am no poet like you, who can dream and be enthused all day," said Egon, laughing. ”

“ But who forces you?"
"Mamma, for God's sake!" shrieked Hartmut, terrified. But the encircling arms did not release him, and the hot, passionate whisper again reached his ear:
"What frightens you so at the thought? You will only go with your mother, who loves you devotedly, and who will henceforth live for you alone. You have told me repeatedly that you hate the vocation which is forced upon you, that you languish with longing for freedom. There is no choice there for you; when you return your father will keep you irrevocably in the fetters. ”

“ You are a poet. I felt it in spite of all when I heard your work, and poets are teachers of mankind. They can lead to happiness or destruction. The wild flames of your Arivana seem to burst forth from the depths of a life which you yourself seem to hate. Look there!" She pointed into the distance, which was now lighted up again in a flaming glow. "Those are also signs of flame, but they come from on high, and they point to another road---- Farewell!"
* * * * *
She had disappeared long ago, but Hartmut still stood as if rooted to the ground. ”

“ Egon had only known the lady at whose side he now walked in that cool, haughty composure which had made her so unapproachable to him and the world. Now this coldness had disappeared, and he saw and felt but could not decipher the strange change which had taken its place.
The young widow could not possibly mourn so deeply and seriously for a husband who was so far removed from her in age, and who, even had he been young, could never have given her the love youth demands, with his practical, coldly calculating nature. ”

“ It had been a dangerous mistake to believe that a woman like Zalika Rojanow, grown up in boundless freedom and accustomed to the uncontrolled, extravagant life of the families of the Bojars of her country, could ever submit herself to German views and conditions.
To gallop about on fiery horses; to associate freely with men who spent their time in hunting and gambling, and who surrounded themselves in their homes with a splendor which went hand in hand with the most corrupted indebtedness of estates--such was life as she had known it so far, and the only life which suited her. ”

“ He attempted to draw his daughter to his heart, but Regine came upon the other side and also attempted to draw her to her breast, crying out in just as pathetic tones: "Compose yourself, Toni. An awful blow confronts you, but you must bear it. You must show your betrothed that he and his betrayal are an abomination to your deepest soul."
This stormy sympathy was rather startling, but fortunately Antonie had strong nerves. So she freed herself from the double embrace, stepped back, and said with calm decision: "I do not think it so. I begin only now to really like Willy." ”

“ The Burgsdorf pond, a lonely water bordered by rushes in the midst of the forest, lay motionless, shining in the sunlight of the quiet morning hour.
The young lord found for himself a shady place upon the bank, and devoted himself comfortably and persistently to the interesting occupation of fishing, while the impatient Hartmut roamed around, starting a bird here, plucking rushes and flowers there, and finally indulging in gymnastics upon the trunk of a tree which lay half in the water.
"Can you never be quiet in one place? You scare off all the fishes," said Willy, displeased. ”

“ The furrow on Falkenried's brow sank deeper, and he released his son slowly from his embrace.
"That means, in other words, that you do not like to obey," he said harshly, "and just that is more important to you than to any one else."
"But I cannot bear any compulsion," Hartmut burst forth passionately, "and the military service is nothing but duty and fetters. To obey always and eternally--never to have a will of your own--to bow day after day to an iron discipline and strict, cold forms by which every individual movement is suppressed. ”

“ Zalika interrupted him passionately. "Then you can go before him and ask if he dares consider you with contempt. He would keep you upon the ground while you have wings which will carry you high up. He does not understand a nature like yours; he will never learn to understand it. Will you languish and go to ruin for only a word's sake? Go with me, my Hartmut--with me, to whom you are all in all--out into freedom." ”

“ Hartmut suddenly dropped the formal title. "Well, yes, by man it is called guilt, and they too punish it with death, without thinking that such punishment can be ecstasy. To perish in the flames after having tasted of the highest earthly happiness, and to embrace this happiness even in death--that is a glorious, divine death, worthy a long life of dull monotony. The eternal, undying right of love glows there like signs of flame in the sky, in spite of all laws of mankind. ”

“ I can leave you nothing. If I should close my eyes in death to-day or to-morrow you would have to struggle for yourself.' And I have remained good, and I will remain good, even if it is not made easy for me as it is for Toni, who is the daughter of a rich father, and only leaves her paternal home to go to the home of her husband. But I do not envy her the good fortune of calling you mother."
"Fraulein Volkmar, you forget yourself," cried Regine, highly offended, rising to her fullest height; but Marietta was not intimidated, she only grew more excited.
"Oh, no; it is not I who forget myself. ”

“ His arm yet lay around his father's neck, but Falkenried now straightened himself suddenly and pushed him back.
"I should consider the service an honor and no fetter," he said cuttingly. "It is sad that I should have to recall that to my son's mind. Freedom--light--life! You think perhaps that one can throw himself at seventeen years into life and grasp all its treasures. The longed-for freedom for you would be only recklessness, ruin, destruction."
"And what if it should be so!" cried Hartmut, totally beside himself. "Better go to ruin in freedom than to live in this depression. ”

“ And for that reason I shuddered before the man to whom nothing was sacred--who recognized no law but his will and his passions; but that winter night, when I saw you at your father's feet, showed me that you fell more through doom than guilt. Since then I have known that you can and must cast that unfortunate inheritance from your mother far from you. Rouse yourself, Hartmut. The road which I then showed you is still open; whether it leads to life or death--it leads upward. ”

“ If Wallmoden should recognize the son of his friend, whom he had known only as a boy, he might not be able to master his surprise.
Hartmut did not fear this meeting, even if it were inconvenient and uncomfortable to him. There was but one face in the whole world he feared--only one face to which he would not dare lift his eyes--and that face was far away; probably he would never see it again. Every one else he met with the proud defiance of a man who had only done right in withdrawing from a hated vocation. ”

“ Do not deceive yourself, Ada. When the divine spark falls into two souls it flames up, in the cold north as well as the fervent south, and it already burns within us. In this breath of fire, will and will-power die the death; it smothers everything that has existed, and nothing remains but the holy, blazing flame which shines and makes happy, even if it destroys. You love me, Ada--I know it--do not attempt to deny it, and I--I love you boundlessly. ”

“ Willibald stood there as if thunderstruck. He had, indeed, felt the injustice of his mother deeply, and wished to make it good to the best of his ability, and now he was treated like this! He stared at Marietta in deep perplexity, while she only grew angrier at his silence.
"And now you come and bring me flowers," she continued, with increasing passion, "secretly--behind your mother's back, and think that I will accept such an apology! You would better learn first how a man deports himself when he is witness to such injustice. ”

“ The Prince was silent.
"Egon!" Wild, stormy entreaty was in the tone. "You know I have never made a request of you--this is the first and last one. But now I beg--entreat you for this friendly service. It is the relief from the doom which has hung over me since that hour. The reconciliation with my father--the reconciliation with myself--you must help me!"
"I cannot," repeated the Prince. "The rejection to which you have been subjected may hurt you deeply--I believe it--but it is only just. ”

“ Now let me introduce you in proper form. Behold here, gentlemen, Peter Stadinger--celebrated for his unequaled churlishness and his moral lectures, which make one quake. He probably thinks I cannot exist without them, and he will doubtless give to me here also upon the battlefield the satisfaction of this friendly habit. I hope that some of it will fall upon your heads, gentlemen--and now begin, Stadinger!"
But the old man, instead of obeying, grasped the hand of his master in both of his and said in a heartrending tone: "Ach, Your Highness, how we have trembled and feared for you at Rodeck!" ”