Burgsdorf

“ I am glad you remember that day, for actually I had forgotten it."
"Most gracious sir, I would like to bite out my own tongue and swallow it," screamed Burgsdorf, raving. "I am a genuine old ass, and you do well to dismiss me forthwith; for I deserve nothing better, and am served quite right. Just speak out at once, your highness. I am discharged, am I not?"
"Quietly, Burgsdorf!" commanded the Elector sternly. "I am no longer the Electoral Prince at whom you can scold and bluster, as you did that time in the palace of Berlin."
"You always go back to the old story," groaned Burgsdorf. ”

“ I saw enough solitary, ruined villages, waste and empty towns, uncultivated and ravaged fields on my journey hither to prove to me what the poor inhabitants of the Mark have had to suffer in these evil days of war."
"Have had to suffer, says your highness?" cried Burgsdorf impatiently; "they still suffer continuously, and their suffering will be without cessation or end if your highness does not take pity upon the poor people, upon us all."
"I?" asked Frederick William, astonished. ”

“ I am still young, I am learning and waiting."
"You are learning and waiting," cried Burgsdorf, beside himself, "and meanwhile your land is going wholly to ruin; the people are hungry and in despair; the noblemen are reduced to beggary or have, in their desperation, gone over to Schwarzenberg—that is to say, to the Emperor—who pays a rich annuity to each one who adheres faithfully to him. And when your grace has waited and learned enough, then will come the day when Count Schwarzenberg will hunt you from your heritage, even as he has hunted the Margrave of Jägerndorf ”

“ The Burgsdorf fish pond, a lonely, reedy sheet of water in the middle of the wood, lay glittering in the sun in the still morning hours. Willibald had chosen for himself a shady place upon the bank, and gave himself up, with as much perseverance as comfort, to the delights of angling, while the impatient Hartmut wandered here and there, now scaring a bird, now breaking off a branch for the blossoms, and at last, after a series of gymnastic performances, seating himself on the trunk of an old tree which lay half in the water. "Can you never be quiet in any place? ”

“ I have given my word to be back at Burgsdorf in two hours."
"Really," said Zalika, sharply and sarcastically; "I thought so. Usually you are nothing but a boy, whose every step is prescribed; whose every moment counted out; who ought not even to have his own thoughts; but as soon as the retaining of you is concerned, you are given the independence of a man. ”

“ Hartmut Falkenried, like the young heir of Burgsdorf, stood upon the boundary line where boyhood and manhood meet, but it needed only a glance to recognize that he was his friend's superior in every respect. ”

“ Yes, I shall learn and wait, for I see plainly the last night of the world has not come yet, and my dearest master will not always have to act so on the defensive as now; when the right time comes, he will strike and prove to all his enemies, even the mightiest of them, that he is more powerful than they. Mark now, mark my words; Schwarzenberg may look out!"
"But meanwhile let Burgsdorf look out! Farewell now, Burgsdorf, you have received my orders. Execute them."
"Now," cried the Elector, after the colonel had left the room—"now, my dear Leuchtmar, you know all my views and plans. ”

“ They must have good steeds, those pursuers, for they seem to come nearer and nearer.
"Friends, better die than fall into the hands of the enemy!" shouts the count. "I tell you the very moment Burgsdorf touches me I shall shoot myself. Greet my friends for me. Bid them farewell forever!"
"You will not shoot yourself, count, for the enemy will not overtake us. ”

“ Look once more right sharply and closely, and you will perceive your error and comprehend that this is not Count Adolphus Schwarzenberg, to whom I could never have granted an audience in my cabinet. Only look closer and you will see, old Burgsdorf, that there is nought in the window niche but a great sheet of parchment, inscribed with manifold characters, furnished with the seal of the empire, and signed by the Emperor Ferdinand's own hand. ”

“ There has been an awful turmoil in all Burgsdorf for three days, as if the place were conjured. Hartmut is full of foolishness from head to toe. When once he gets free from the rein which his father draws so tight there is no getting on with him. And you, of course, go with him through thick and thin, following obediently everything that your lord and master starts. You are a fine team!"
This lecture, delivered in very loud tones, came from the lips of Frau von Eschenhagen of Burgsdorf, who sat at breakfast with her son and brother. ”

“ I should like to know how to go about it."
"Gracious sir, I will tell you," replied Burgsdorf, with smothered voice and coming close up to the Prince. "Only say that you will place yourself at our head; give me only a couple of words in your own handwriting to give assurance to your friends and adherents that you will at their head battle for your good rights and for the faith and law of the land. ”

“ Leuchtmar read on: "'And if you pick perhaps two hundred able-bodied men out of the six hundred, there remain four hundred feeble, sickly fellows, who would fall down like dead flies on the very first march.'" [35]
"You see that Schwarzenberg does not maintain that you enlisted six hundred able-bodied men."
"Your highness!" cried Burgsdorf, trembling with passion, "this I see, that you have had me called here in order to dismiss me, to banish me forever from your presence—and yet I have served you so faithfully, and have always hoped that you would forgive me."
"Forgive?" asked the Elector. ”

“ I shall stand firm at my word. Willibald knows the condition under which alone I will return to Burgsdorf. If he does not fulfil it--the separation remains."
"He knows better," said Schonan dryly, "than to give up his bride-elect and marriage solely because she does not suit his Frau mamma. Such conditions are never fulfilled."
"You express yourself very amiably indeed," returned Frau von Eschenhagen angrily. "Of course, what do you know of the love and anxiety of a mother, or of the gratitude her children owe her? ”

“ Even in the forest one felt something of the intense heat which flickered upon meadows and fields. Upon the forest path a little group walked beneath the tall firs. It was General Falkenried, with his son and daughter, who were accompanying him a part of the way to Burgsdorf, where he intended making a visit. ”

“ Deathlike stillness lay over the forest outside, and it was as still in the house where a corpse lay. The steward and servants had retired, as had Frau von Eschenhagen. Exhausted nature demanded its due. She had made the long, tedious journey from Burgsdorf without stop, and had lived through the hard, trying day.
Only a few windows were dimly lighted; they belonged to the rooms which had been appointed to Frau von Wallmoden and Colonel Falkenried, which lay near together, separated only by an ante-room.
Falkenried intended to accompany the widow back to the Residenz on the morrow. ”

“ You have been in Burgsdorf since day before yesterday; how long do you expect to remain?"
"About two weeks. I haven't much time at my disposal, and am for that matter only nominally Willibald's guardian, for my diplomatic position keeps me out of the country most of the time. The guardianship really rests in the hands of my sister, who rules over everything."
"Well, Regine is equal to the position. She governs the great estate and the numerous servants as though she were a man." ”

“ The dispatches he sent forthwith by a courier to Königsberg, and the servant was hurried off to the fortress of Küstrin, that he might be unable to communicate with us."
"That is bad news indeed," said John Adolphus thoughtfully. "It also explains to me why Burgsdorf and his men have taken up their abode here, and frequently talk so captiously and insolently when excited by wine. It is palpable that he has been commissioned to watch and, if need be, arrest us. We must therefore be on our guard, too, and render him harmless; that is to say, we must imprison him, so that he can not imprison us." ”

“ One could love without the consent of parent or guardian; such freedom was not confined to India alone—it often happened in Germany as well. A promise given thoughtlessly and blindly could be broken, but what then? Yes, then came the fate which Hartmut had pictured so beautifully, yet so vividly. Will was fully determined to transfer the lesson which Arivana had taught him to Burgsdorf. Surely the punishment invoked by the furious priestcraft, would be no worse than the vial of Frau von Eschenhagen's wrath. ”

“ Place two more sentinels at the garden railing opposite the palace. They are to watch the windows night and day, sounding an alarm as soon as they observe anything suspicious. Come now. Reconnoiter the outer doors and post the sentinels. I am going to report to the Stadtholder."
Colonel Burgsdorf left the count's palace, and repaired to the Electoral castle, where the Margrave Ernest von Jägerndorf had taken up his residence. ”

“ But late people do not get anything to eat--you know that."
"Yes, I know it," returned Hartmut, quite unconcerned; "therefore I got the housekeeper to give me some breakfast. You can't starve me out, Aunt Regine. I am on too good terms with all your people."
"So you think you will be able to take all sorts of liberties unpunished," cried the lady of the house angrily. "You break all the rules of the house; you leave no person nor thing in peace; you stand all Burgsdorf upon its head! ”

“ You know a man must sometimes swallow bitter medicine when he is sick and faint, and the bitterest will appear sweet if he drinks it in order to imbibe new life and health. My poor country is, indeed, sick unto death, and therefore I go to Warsaw to swallow a bitter pill for the health and salvation of my land. But we go on crutches, two hard crutches."
"I know the names of those crutches, your highness," said Burgsdorf. "One crutch is called 'Imperial,' the other 'Polish.'"
"You have guessed correctly, old friend," answered the Elector. ”

“ Would you go out to battle with your regiment of two thousand six hundred men, and win back for me my contested territories?"
"I beg your highness not to speak of my two thousand six hundred men. You know well that they have long since melted away, because there was no money wherewith to pay them."
"Well then," said the Elector, "I will gratify you by forgetting that splendid regiment, and by no longer reminding you of the things that were. But this I tell you, Burgsdorf, under my administration everything must correspond, and what is noted down on paper must really exist. ”

“ But besides this, the Emperor expressly adds sixty thousand dollars, to be employed in enlisting soldiers; and the money will be paid out to those leaders and colonels who have recruited such and such a number of soldiers. For each soldier they get eight rixdollars."
"I shall recruit!" shouted Burgsdorf. "I shall go as commandant to
Küstrin, and enlist a regiment besides!"
"It is a matter of course that we all recruit," said General von Klitzing, "for such is the command and desire of the Elector, and him as our commander in chief we are bound to obey." ”

“ When the harvest-time came and the Burghalfen needed laborers for his fields, he had only to walk through the village street, and old and young flocked to his service and worked for him with zeal until the harvest was safely garnered. But the spirit of helpfulness was mutual; whoever was in distress would say, “I will go to the Burghalfen,” and he would do so, confident that no sacrifice would be too great, no service too burdensome to him, when the welfare of others was concerned. “Live and let live” was his principle and his habit. ”

“ When those important epochs came round, it was Burgo's practice to charter a hansom, and be driven into the City, to the office of Mr. Garden, his uncle's lawyer, have ten minutes' chat and a glass of dry sherry with him, pocket the cheque which was always waiting for him, give a receipt in due form, and then lounge back westward, with a fine glow of satisfaction such as he had not been conscious of half-an-hour before. "You have heard the news, I presume," said Mr. Garden on the present occasion, as he shook hands with the young man. ”

“ Despite verandahs and trees, the sunshine soaks down into every corner—genially, languorously warm. All Burghersdorp basks. You see half-a-dozen yoke of bullocks with a waggon, standing placidly in the street, too lazy even to swish their tails against the flies; pass by an hour later, and they are still there, and the black man lounging by the leaders has hardly shifted one leg; pass by at evening, and they have moved on three hundred yards, and are resting again. In the daytime hens peck and cackle in every street; at nightfall the bordering veldt hums with crickets and bullfrogs. ”

“ The burgomaster said: "I am so ill that I can't stand on my feet; no doctor can help me."
But the watchmen insisted, and so the burgomaster told his servant to take him on his back and carry him to the place. The servant carried him along, and the watchmen called at the churchwarden's to ask for some holy water.
When they came near to the charnel-house, Jura thought it was his brother bringing the ram, so he called out: "Are you bringing him?"
The servant was frightened, and let the burgomaster fall and ran away. The burgomaster was terrified too. He jumped up and ran after the servant. ”

“ The first burgomaster of Stralsund, Christopher Lorbeer, had two sons, who spent their time in the chase, in the taverns, and at the brilliant receptions of the nobility and of the opulent burgher class. They took it for granted that they might do anything they liked, and operated with dogs and nets on Greifswald territory. It so happened, though, that several young nobles and rich burghers of the latter town had excellent packs of hounds, and were, in consequence, often invited by the prince. ”