Reuss

“ The wind bellowed along the precipices, the Reuss shouted in its rocky bed, and once an express from Italy to the north passed high above us, streaming its lights through the darkness like sparks from a boy's squib. Yet those plutocratic travellers up in the wagons lits were not having anything like the "good time" we enjoyed, warm in our motor coats, sitting snug behind our rock, a lamp from the car illuminating our little party and shining on Molly's piquant profile as she brewed savoury messes in her magic cauldron. ”

“ Then at a corner they came face to face with Drexley. He was walking moodily along, but at the sight of them he stopped short upon the pavement. Emily de Reuss bowed and smiled. Drexley returned the salute with a furious glance at her companion. He felt like a man befooled. Douglas, too, sat forward in the carriage, a bright spot of colour in his cheeks. ”

“ A footman with powdered hair admitted them, another moved respectfully before them, and threw open the door of the room to which Emily de Reuss led him. He had only a mixed impression of pale and beautiful statuary, drooping flowers with strange perfumes, and the distant rippling of water; then he found himself in a tiny octagonal chamber draped in yellow and white—a woman's den, cosy, dainty, cool. She made him sit in an easy-chair, which seemed to sink below him almost to the ground, and moved herself to a little writing-table. ”

“ If I start, as I should, at once, I shall not have time to let Grubert Reuss and his family know about Freskel. Wilt thou go and carry the news to them? It will comfort little Blonda (who loves the poor lad) to know that I have gone to do what I could for him."
"I will be sure to visit them this very afternoon," replied Rolf Bresser.
It was three days before the pastor returned from Klingengolf, and when he did, he brought only bad news. After half an hour spent at his own house, the old man walked over to Grubert's cottage. ”

“ Meanwhile their numbers grew, the soil became Unequal to sustain them, and they crossed To the black mountain, far as Weissland, where, Concealed behind eternal walls of ice, Another people speak another tongue. They built the village Stanz, beside the Kernwald The village Altdorf, in the vale of Reuss; Yet, ever mindful of their parent stem, The men of Schwytz, from all the stranger race, That since that time have settled in the land, Each other recognize. Their hearts still know, And beat fraternally to kindred blood. ”

“ If you like I will read you a description of Douglas Guest."
Emily de Reuss looked him in the face and shrugged her shoulders.
"My good man," she said, "it is not necessary. I am not in the least interested in the young man, and when I tell you that I went to the trouble and expense of engaging a compartment you will perhaps understand that I should not for a moment have tolerated any intrusion on the part of a stranger. ”

“ At Erstfeld, half a mile from Klus, you cross the Reuss. At Rübshausen, a mile and a half further on, you begin the ascent of the mountain. All mountain ascents are pleasant in the fresh morning. You enter the forest at once, the breadth of the bottom land of the valley being hereabouts on the other bank of the Reuss. We found the forest on the mountain side frequently broken with little prairies, and enlivened here and there with châlets. Occasionally we got a good view down the valley, and of the opposite range. ”

“ Still he gave him his sympathy and his blessing with all kinds of protestations and restrictions.
“You are dear to me in every respect, dear Reuss—as a man and as a soldier and as a prince”—this is what he said to him repeatedly, and in various modes of speech—“but as a Prussian officer of course I reserve to myself the right, despite any family connection, of wishing for nothing so much as a future war, in which Austria may pay back handsomely the present victory snatched from her. The political question must be separated altogether from the personal. ”

“ The canton is composed of the upper valley of the Reuss, a mountain torrent that has cut for itself a deep bed, save in case of the basin of Ursern, near its upper end, and the plain of Altdorf, just before it forms the Lake of Lucerne. Hence, save in these two cases, the canton is made up of a wild Alpine valley, very picturesque in point of scenery, but not offering much chance of cultivation. ”

“ Its prosperity has always been bound up with the St Gotthard Pass, so that the successive improvements effected on that route (mule path in the 13th century, carriage road 1820–1830, and railway tunnel in 1882) have had much effect on its growth. It is beautifully situated on the banks of the river Reuss, just as it issues from the Lake of Lucerne, while to the south-west rises the rugged range of Pilatus, balanced on the east by the more smiling ridge of the Rigi and the calm waters of the lake. ”

“ The environing mountains look unusually hard and pitiless; in part of naked rock, in part clothed with stunted woods. On the west side of the village the Reuss races by, being joined in the village by the stream of the Maderaner Thal, of about the same volume, and quite as noisy. These, with the breadth of sky above, are all the objects in nature the peasants of Am Stag have to contemplate. And in winter everything is buried in snow. And, then, the capital, for the dissemination of ideas, is Altorf. ”

“ As the young lady grew up, and displayed more and more her beauty and wit, the pretensions and hopes of the mother to revive again the splendour of the expiring race rose in proportion. This lady possessed a quiet pride, which in common intercourse was not to be perceived, unless by her high respect to the family pedigree, which she considered the greatest ornament of the house. In the whole country there was, with the exception of the lords of Reuss, no family which she considered noble and ancient enough to transplant upon it the last flower of the Lauenstein tree ”

“ It consists of two parts, the old town on the right bank and the new town on the left bank of the river; it is rapidly growing and is regularly laid out. The principal buildings are the palace of the prince of Reuss-Greiz, surrounded by a fine park, the old château on a rocky hill overlooking the town, the summer palace with a fine garden, the old town church dating from 1225 and possessing a beautiful tower, the town hall, the governmental buildings and statues of the emperor William I. and of Bismarck. There are classical and modern schools and a school of textile industry. ”

“ Its chief river is the Reuss, which flows through it for a short distance only receiving the Kleine Emme that flows down through the Entlebuch. In the northern part the Wigger, the Suhr and the Wynen streams flow through shallow valleys, separated by low hills. The canton is fairly well supplied with railways. ”

“ There is Drexley, a broken man. Once he wrote prose, which of its sort was the best thing going. To-day he is absolutely nerveless. He cannot write a line, and he is drinking heavily. That he has not gone under altogether is simply because as yet he has not received his final dismissal. He still has his uses, so he is allowed to hang on a little longer. Now, Douglas Jesson, listen to one who knows. What you are and who you are—well, no matter. I liked you when we met here, and you have a splendid opportunity before you. Listen. Emily de Reuss will care nothing for your safety. ”

“ The gentleman who accompanied me to London was one of the house party at Maddenham Priory, and an old friend."
The officer closed his notebook with a little sigh and bowed.
"It only remains for me," he said, "to express to your ladyship my regrets at having troubled you in the matter. Personally, your statement confirms my own view of the case. The young lady is excitable, and has been deceived."
Emily de Reuss inclined her head, and touched the knob of an electric bell. At the door the officer turned back. ”

“ Rice said, "I would get the Courier to send you abroad. They would do it in a minute."
"Abroad?" Douglas looked across the table questioningly. It was a new idea to him. "Yes. You could visit odd places and write impressions of them. Yours is just the style for that sort of thing—quick and nervous, you know, and lots of colour. People are rabid for anything of that sort just now. Take my tip. Suggest it to Rawlinson."
"I think I will," Douglas said. "Yes, it is a good idea. I wonder—"
Rice leaned once more across the table.
"You wonder what the Countess de Reuss will say. Is that it?" ”

“ The local industries developed considerably between 1875 and 1905, and the city has important flour, wine and fruit export houses. There is a model farm belonging to the municipality in the suburbs. Reus has excellent primary, normal and higher grade state schools, many private schools, an academy of fine arts and a public library. The hospitals and foundling refuge, the institute and the town hall are handsome modern buildings. The earliest records of Reus date from about the middle of the 13th century. ”

“ Conquering his ‘great inclinations to cry,’ with an effort, Rousseau admired the Earl’s ‘open, animated, and noble physiognomy.’ Without ceremony, and acting as a Child of Nature, Jean-Jacques went and sat down beside the Earl on his sofa. In his noble eye Rousseau detected ‘something fine, piercing, yet in a way caressing.’ He became quite fond of the Earl. Wordsworth has justly remarked that you seldom see a grown-up male weeping freely on the public highway. ”

“ Brand came over and sat by Reist’s side. He was a tall, fair man, with keen eyes and weather-beaten skin—by no means unlike Erlito, save that his shoulders were not so broad, and he lacked the military carriage.
“I am interested in your country, Duke,” he said. “You are making history there. It seems to me that it may become European history.”
“Theos has fallen upon evil times,” Reist answered. “All that we pray of Europe is that we may be left alone. If that be granted us we shall right ourselves.”
Sara Van Decht looked across at him with frank interest. ”

“ After the fame of the Reformers had waned Switzerland drew the attention of all Europe to her cities again by the writings of Rousseau and Voltaire, the chief makers, I should say, of the French Revolution. Rousseau was the son of a watchmaker of Geneva and was born in 1712. He was a turbulent child and ran away from home to France at the age of sixteen. He returned to his native city a quarter of a century later. Rousseau was a revolutionary critic of society, and his Origin of Inequality, Émile, and The Social Contract attacked all the foundations of the then existing society. ”

“ Reist was wearing his uniform, for there had been a reception at the Austrian Minister’s. As though by accident he touched the hilt of his sword.
“Our honour is engaged, Marie,” he said. “You may safely leave all in my hands.”
“He is your King!” she reminded him, with a sidelong glance, as though anxious to watch the effect of her words.
“And I,” he answered, hotly, “am Nicholas, Duke of Reist. Since when, Marie, have the men of Tyrnaus reached a pinnacle when the Reists could not address them as equals? Our quarterings are more numerous, our House is more ancient than theirs. ”

“ Mr. Reiss goes slowly to the writing-table and sits down. Taking a blank cheque from a pocket-book he always carries, he fills it in and passes it to the boy without speaking.
“I don’t like taking it, uncle. I don’t, really—”
Mr. Reiss half turns round. He still says nothing, he does not even grunt. He knows that there are times when silence is golden. Moreover, he knows that money talks.
A few minutes later Mr. Adolf Reiss is again sitting alone, gazing into the fire. And he has another grievance against Life.
The philosophy of Mr. Reiss is a natural result of his early environment. ”

“ An exciting and heartening incident of the fighting round Liège was the capture by a brave Belgian boy of a German general.
A day may come when some of you British boys and girls will understand why grown-up people smile when they note that this boy’s name is Jean Jacques Rousseau. For Jean Jacques Rousseau was also the name of one who, if a great thinker and writer, was not, in a physical sense, a brave man ”

“ When they reached Rexow, they found Mrs. Nüssler, who was generally able to see the bright side of everything, looking sad and weary. "Oh, Mr. Behrens! My dear brother Charles!" she said. "That was a dreadful woman, and I have been in great distress about her, but indeed, all the governesses that I have tried have been dreadful people. That isn't the worst of it. I shall get over that in time. What makes me miserable is that my dear good little girls know nothing, and are learning nothing. ”

“ The farmer looked up; "I shall tell her," he said, and walked away.
"Our little affair is coming off splendidly," said Adèle as she tripped into the garden to speak to Jacques. "Yes, Miss, you are so clever, you deserve to succeed."
"We must not rejoice too soon; did you see Frank last night?"
"Yes, Miss."
"And he told you that he would come?"
"Yes, Miss; he gave me a letter for you but I must not give it to you now, I fancy Mr. Rougeant is watching us."
"You are quite right, leave it in the stable when you go there and I will fetch it. Has my father asked any questions?" ”

“ We meet the shy and awkward Rousseau even in the exclusive drawing room of the clever and witty but critical Marechale de Luxembourg, who presides over a world in which the graces rule—a world of elegant manners, of etiquette, and of forms. ”

“ The picturesque old fought a brave battle with the tinsel and tawdriness of the new. [Pg 7] If Nicholas of Reist could have had his way he would have built an impenetrable wall against this slow poison, the unwelcome heritage of western progress. He would have thrust the ages back a century and built bulwarks about his beloved country. He looked downwards, and his heart grew warm within him. Many of the people who shouted his name were from the country districts and wore the picturesque garb of their forefathers long extinct in the city. ”