//*
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 UNIV. OF CALTF. LIBRARY. LOS ANGKLKS
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS 
 WILL SOAR 
 
 A Romance of the Immediate Future 
 
 BY 
 
 BARONESS BERTHA VON SUTTNER 
 
 Author of " Lay down your Arms " 
 
 TRANSLATED BY 
 NATHAN HASKELL DOLE 
 
 BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
 HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 
 
 ?"$ Cambribge 
 1914
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
 Published June IQI+
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PRELUDE 3 
 
 I. FRANKA GARLETT 6 
 
 II. CHLODWIG HELMER . .31 
 
 III. FRANKA'S NEW HOME . . . . . . .39 
 
 IV. LIFE IN SlELENBURG CASTLE 46 
 
 INTERMEZZO 63 
 
 V. COUNT SIELEN'S WILL 68 
 
 VI. A SECOND ANONYMOUS MESSAGE . . .' . 82 
 
 VII. FRANKA'S SALON 98 
 
 VIII. THE OUTLINES OF A GREAT PLAN . . . .112 
 
 IX. FRANKA'S DEBUT AND CAREER 122 
 
 X. AT LUCERNE 139 
 
 XI. AN EVENING IN THE ROSE-PALACE . . . .152 
 XII. MR. TOKER'S ILLUSTRIOUS GUESTS . . . 165 
 
 XIII. A LUNCHEON PARTY 177 
 
 XIV. DREAMS OF LOVE 187 
 
 XV. RINOTTI AND PRINCE VICTOR ADOLPH . . .198 
 
 XVI. THE SIELENBURG PARTY 209 
 
 XVII. THE OPENING NIGHT 218 
 
 XVIII. FRANKA'S LECTURE 233 
 
 XIX. YE YOUNG MAIDENS, LISTEN TO ME ... 243 
 
 XX. ANOTHER LETTER FROM CHLODWIG HELMER . 257 
 
 XXI. NEW WONDERS 271 
 
 2133329
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 XXII. CHLODWIG HELMER'S LECTURE: THE CONQUEST 
 
 OF THE AIR 288 
 
 XXIII. A COZY SUPPER 311 
 
 XXIV. SUNDRY CONVERSATIONS 323 
 
 XXV. SCENES OF BEAUTY AND OF LOVE .... 352 
 
 XXVI. CLOUDS ON THE HORIZON 365 
 
 XXVII. SPEECHES AND LETTERS 378 
 
 XXVIII. A CORNUCOPIA FULL OF GIFTS .... 399 
 
 XXIX. FRANKA DECIDES HER FATE . . . .415 
 
 FINALE 435
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS 
 WILL SOAR 
 
 PRELUDE 
 
 MR. JOHN A. TOKER, the American multimillionaire, 
 flung down his newspaper in some excitement and 
 became lost in thought. 
 
 The paragraph that had so agitated him read : 
 
 "The sovereign expressed to Count Zeppelin his 
 regret at being unable on this occasion to see the air 
 ship which, he was convinced, was destined to fur 
 nish the weapon of the heights in future wars." 
 
 For more than an hour the little old gentleman 
 remained absorbed in his reflections; then he seized 
 pen and paper and made various notes. He was evi 
 dently drafting a rather complicated plan. He now 
 and again ran his pen through what he had written 
 and substituted other words. One sheet was filled 
 with a list of names the names of distinguished 
 contemporaries; another with figures, apparently a 
 schedule of estimated expenses, in which the individ 
 ual items for the most part had five or six numerals. 
 
 Even after an hour the plan was not as yet near 
 completion, but Mr. Toker was compelled to inter 
 rupt his labors in order to take up with other de 
 mands of the day. One of his secretaries, who had 
 made a careful preliminary sifting of the letters and 
 
 3
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 dispatches brought by the morning's mail, came 
 with such as he had found important enough to be 
 called to his master's attention. 
 
 Mr. Toker dictated various answers. When this 
 correspondence was cleared away, a host of other 
 affairs required his consideration : business con 
 nected with the management of his property ; reports 
 from the many concerns in which he was interested ; 
 audiences with the foremen of his enormous landed 
 estate, his farmers and agents. Moreover, the guests 
 at the castle and the members of his family could not 
 be neglected, and sport and exercise were necessary 
 to maintain his physical elasticity, while for the sat 
 isfaction of his intellectual cravings reading in many 
 fields had to be provided for indeed, the multimil 
 lionaire frequently found it exasperating to realize 
 that one man might be richer than others in money, 
 but not in time; one may have thousands of dollars 
 to spend every hour, but not more than sixteen wak 
 ing hours to spend in a day. 
 
 "Money is a great help in accomplishing big 
 things," Mr. Toker used to say with a sigh, "but 
 mostly those things require much time, and in this 
 respect I feel that I am a very poor fellow." 
 
 Several weeks passed without the American 
 Croesus being able to proceed with the elaboration 
 of his project. But he carried round with him the 
 idea that lay at the foundation of it. In his mind one 
 thought gave birth to another; visions arose without 
 any definite outlines ; suggestions flashed through his 
 brain, but served only as reminders of things that 
 might later become clear. 
 
 4
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 When he again took up the notes that he had 
 made, he canceled several names from the list and 
 added new ones. It was a varied assortment of from 
 thirty to forty of his contemporaries: Bjornson, 
 Maurice Maeterlinck, Eleanora Duse, Elihu Root, 
 the American statesman; Madame Curie, the dis 
 coverer of radium; Nansen, the Arctic explorer; 
 Prince Albert of Monaco, the oceanographic scien 
 tist; Tolstoi, Marconi, and many great men from the 
 scientific world, who had won distinction as path 
 finders in the domain of philosophy, sociology, his 
 tory, and natural science. 
 
 He also went over the sheet with the numbers, and 
 added a cipher in many cases. Thus, for example, 
 the item of " Roses," which had been set down at ten 
 thousand francs, he increased to a hundred thou 
 sand. Moreover, the word " roses" frequently ap 
 peared in his notes, and the thought of those queenly 
 flowers seemed especially to impress itself on his 
 mind, for the pencilings which he made on the edge 
 of the paper, as he strove to catch an idea, portrayed 
 very clearly, even if inartistically, the forms of roses 
 and rosebuds. 
 
 One sheet was filled with catchwords the meaning 
 of which to one uninitiated would have been scarcely 
 comprehensible: as, for instance, "Concentration 
 and accumulation of forces. Motion through explo 
 sions. Agglomeration of scattered atoms. Energy 
 radiating in all directions. Roses, roses . . . the 
 Power of Beauty. Subjugation of the forces of Na 
 ture. High flying. Revelations. New lights, new 
 tones, new thoughts, moss roses ..."
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 FRANKA GARLETT 
 
 A YOUNG girl stepped out of the gate of the Central 
 Cemetery of Vienna. For almost eight weeks she had 
 been going there to lay a few flowers on her father's 
 grave. That dearly beloved parent had been her only 
 stay in this world, and he had been so unexpectedly 
 and prematurely snatched away from her! Frank 
 Garlett had reached only the age of forty-five. His 
 sudden death had resulted from an accident: he 
 had fallen from the running-board of a tram-car, had 
 rolled under the wheels, and, severely injured, had 
 been brought to his dwelling by the Rescue Society, 
 and there a few hours later he had breathed his last 
 in the arms of his daughter, who was half-crazed with 
 terror and grief. 
 
 Franka walked slowly and wearily home from the 
 cemetery. Her lodgings, her empty, orphaned lodg 
 ings, were not far distant. Behind her, with steps 
 equally slow, strode a man who had caught sight of 
 her at the cemetery gate, and, dazzled by her bril 
 liant youthful beauty, which betrayed itself in spite 
 of her paleness and the traces of tears, was now fol 
 lowing her for the purpose of discovering who she 
 was. He was an elderly man of distinguished ap 
 pearance. 
 
 As Franka entered the front door, he also paused 
 there, but did not venture to address her. He 
 
 6
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 merely went to the porter's door and rang the bell. 
 A buxom woman came out and greeted him : 
 
 "What is it you wish?" 
 
 "I should like to make an inquiry; please allow 
 me to come in." 
 
 The woman moved aside and allowed the stranger 
 to pass in. He sat down in an armchair, took out of 
 his pocket his portemonnaie, and handed the woman 
 a ten-crown note. 
 
 "Tell me, who the young lady is who just entered 
 this house, dressed in deep mourning. And give me 
 all the information you can about her." 
 
 "Oh, she? . . . She's a Miss Garlett yes, a 
 pretty lass, but a poor little body! Her father died 
 not long ago, and now she's all alone. . . . She was 
 almost beside herself with grief when they took him 
 away. Now she 's a bit calmer. Every day she goes 
 out and visits him in the graveyard, but otherwise 
 she never goes out and no one comes to see her. And 
 no one came to see them when the old gentleman 
 in fact, he was not old was alive. You see he met 
 with an accident fell off the electric. When they 
 brought him in . . ." 
 
 "Who and what was Mr. Garlett?" asked the 
 other, interrupting her. 
 
 "A professor, or a philosopher, or something like 
 that. He gave lessons. That was how he earned 
 their living, I reckon. I'd like to know what the 
 poor little lass will have to live on now. The rent is 
 soon due, and it was always a hard pull to pay the 
 rent. . . . The two had to be mighty thrifty. They 
 had only one old woman who used to come in every 
 
 7
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 day to help, and they only nibbled like sparrows. 
 But books! their rooms were just piled up with 
 'em! He must have been a real bookworm, the poor 
 gentleman! and the little one used to be reading 
 all the time, too. . . . The only luxury they ever 
 allowed themselves was to go three or four times a 
 month to the fourth gallery of the opera house or to 
 the Burg Theater. But they were n't never down in 
 the mouth, neither of 'em, in spite of all the worry 
 and their little money; on the contrary, they were 
 as gay as larks especially the lassie. We always 
 heard her laughing and singing in her room, though 
 outside, to be sure, she was always serious and, so to 
 say, a bit haughty; perhaps she inherited a bit of 
 haughtiness from her departed mamma." 
 
 "Was Mr. Garlett a widower, and how long had 
 he been?" 
 
 "Oh, for fifteen years or so. That was quite a 
 romance. His wife was a count's daughter, it seems. 
 He had been private tutor to her brother at a cas 
 tle : the young lady fell in love with him he was 
 a handsome fellow indeed, he was. They eloped 
 and were married. The parents mighty stuck-up 
 folks they was was furious and put a curse on 
 their daughter." 
 
 "Ah, my dear lady, that only happens in old- 
 fashioned novels: parents cursing their children." 
 
 "I don't know nothing about these things, but 
 this much I know, they would n't have anything 
 more to do with her; never gave her no money, 
 sent back all her letters, and the dainty young lady, 
 who all her life had ridden in kerridges and had her
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 pony and ate nothin' but cakes and ice cream, and 
 al'ays had noblemen dancing attendance on her, 
 for she was heiress to a great estate and was 
 as pretty as a picture, just like her daughter, so 
 folks says, well, she could n't stand poverty and 
 living among common people, and so she just up 
 and died when her little girl was only five years 
 old." 
 
 The stranger arose. "I thank you; I have all the 
 information I wish." 
 
 Franka climbed the stairs up to her rooms, which 
 were situated on the fourth story. Painfully, cling 
 ing to the banister, often pausing to get her breath, 
 which always seemed to die away in a trembling 
 sigh, she made her way up. The deepest sigh she 
 drew as she opened the door and entered the ante 
 room. The anteroom? Really the kitchen; but the 
 kitchen hearth was hidden by a screen. The place 
 was rather dark and chilly. It was April, and the 
 weather was still pretty cold. 
 
 Franka passed through this place and pushed 
 open the door of a front room : her bedroom. Here it 
 was brighter and more comfortable. The furnish 
 ings were to the last degree simple, not to say 
 shabby, and yet a certain something in the arrange 
 ment of the furniture, in the articles and trinkets 
 disposed on the tables and the walls, betrayed a 
 taste for elegance. 
 
 She laid aside her hat and cloak and opened the 
 door into the adjacent room, which had served her 
 and her departed father as sitting-room and dining- 
 
 9
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 room, as study- and music-room. The door leading 
 into still another contiguous chamber was closed. 
 That was the room where Garlett had slept and 
 dressed, and where he had died. Franka glanced into 
 it as she always did when she returned, as if to 
 give a mute greeting to the place where she had last 
 seen the beloved form of the departed, cold in death; 
 then she softly closed the door again with a reverent 
 gesture, crossed the sitting-room, and stretched her 
 self out on the sofa with a long-drawn sigh half 
 lamentation, half ease. 
 
 She was so weary, so weary in body and soul at 
 this moment, that the goad of her grief began to 
 vanish from her consciousness, and she experienced 
 only a kind of over-saturation of pain and a keen 
 sense of yearning for rest. She drew over her chilly 
 limbs the skin rug that lay on the sofa and banished 
 all thought and feeling; she wished only to breathe 
 and rest. 
 
 She was not sleepy; her eyes remained wide open, 
 and she saw the rows of books which on the opposite 
 wall reached from the floor to the ceiling. She saw 
 her piano which had been silent and neglected for 
 weeks. She saw her writing-desk which stood by the 
 window, and the great center-table heaped with 
 many folios. Gradually it began to grow darker, and 
 through the window panes fell the glare from a row 
 of brightly lighted windows of the house opposite. 
 Up there was a printing establishment. The muffled 
 rumble of the rotary presses also came to her ears. 
 From the apartment on the floor below penetrated 
 the staccato strumming of a too familiar opera- 
 
 10
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 waltz repeated with obstinate pertinacity de 
 testable sounds! Oh, if one could but hear the musi 
 cal tinkle of a brook or the call of the cuckoo! 
 
 An overmastering love for nature, for its perfumes 
 and voices, for its green vistas and golden gleams, 
 had ever been one of Franka's strongest passions 
 an unfortunate passion, for the crushing struggle for 
 existence had enchained father and daughter almost 
 exclusively to the narrow streets of the suburbs, and 
 very rarely had opportunities been given for them to 
 get glimpses of the splendors of free nature. 
 
 Nevertheless, this young girl's mental life had not 
 been narrow. She had ventured to gaze off over 
 wide horizons, up to sublime heights, into mysteri 
 ous depths, in a manner seldom afforded to young 
 persons of her age and sex. Her father had been an 
 investigator, a scientist, a thinker, and a poet, and 
 he had made the child his comrade. She was no 
 bluestocking, thank Heaven from that she was 
 safeguarded by her temperament, by her inborn 
 charm ; besides, he had spared her all the dry details 
 of science, all the rubbishy accumulations of accu 
 racy, endeavoring rather to disclose to her only the 
 blossoms of the wonders of science, of the intellect 
 and of arts. But of life itself she had enjoyed ex 
 traordinarily little : no travel, no experiences, no love- 
 affairs (she had been far too rigorously and jealously 
 guarded against anything of that sort), no passions: 
 none of these things had penetrated into the 
 monotony and loneliness of her existence. All the 
 more, therefore, in place of these came visions, 
 hopes, air-castles, confident expectations that the 
 
 ii
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 future concealed in its folds some great good fortune 
 in store for her, a good fortune in which above all 
 others her beloved father would share. And instead 
 of this, a great, an absolutely incomprehensible piece 
 of evil fortune had come upon her: the sudden de 
 parture of her dearest and only friend, teacher, play 
 mate, protector, her all-in-all. 
 
 In her present desolation the only persons who had 
 interested themselves in her were an elderly couple 
 who had rooms on the same floor -7- a retired major 
 and his wife. When Mr. Garlett died, the major 
 had taken upon himself to make all the arrange 
 ments for the funeral, and the major's wife had done 
 her best to comfort and console the despairing girl. 
 
 The major had investigated the drawers in the 
 writing-table to see if a will or anything else were to 
 be found. There was no will, only a savings-bank 
 book calling for several hundred gulden, and of 
 course the only daughter inherited this: it was 
 enough to cover the funeral expenses and to leave a 
 small sum over. In a portfolio was a sealed letter 
 with the direction, "In case of my death to be 
 mailed." The address on it ran: 
 
 To His Excellency 
 
 Count Eduard von Sielen, 
 Geheimer Rat, etc., 
 Schloss Sielenburg, 
 Moravia. 
 
 This letter the major registered and mailed with 
 out letting Franka know anything about it, because 
 in these first days she was so dazed that she really 
 did not hear what was said to her. 
 
 12
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 It so happened that the major and his wife moved 
 from Vienna to Graz, and Franka was now really 
 alone. She realized that she was obliged to devise 
 some means of earning her livelihood, and yet she 
 had been putting off from day to day the effort of 
 taking the first steps in this direction. The money 
 in the bank was sufficient to allow her for a short 
 time to lead her own life. But this respite was, in 
 deed, brief, especially as the rent would be shortly 
 due. 
 
 Franka was not thinking of this at all as she lay 
 there in the twilight and gave herself up to the sense 
 of restfulness that was coming over her. Gradually 
 this absence of thought, between sleeping and wak 
 ing, transformed itself into a pleasant half-dream. 
 The waltz-rhythms from the neighbor's piano grew 
 into a murmurous combination of organ tones and 
 the distant roaring of the sea ; the gleam of light from 
 the printing-house opposite took on the prismatic 
 colors of an electric fountain ; and through her mind 
 or was it through her blood? vividly flashed the 
 consciousness, not expressed and not even formu 
 lated in thought: "I am young, I am beautiful, I 
 am alive . . ." 
 
 The next day Franka set out to look for a posi 
 tion. She thought she might become a companion or 
 a reader or something of that sort. She applied at 
 several employment bureaus. Her name was regis 
 tered, the booking- fee was put into the cash-drawer, 
 and then she was asked for references. She had 
 none. The woman who had charge of one bureau 
 
 13
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 remarked: "You have one great fault: you are too 
 young and too pretty." 
 
 The remark was to the point. Although she was 
 more than twenty, Franka seemed scarcely eighteen. 
 She was very tall and supple in figure ; her big black 
 eyes though much weeping had temporarily robbed 
 them of their usual fire were shaded by beauti 
 ful thick lashes ; her mouth had a fairly fascinating 
 loveliness; in her carriage and in every movement 
 there was something both charming and aristocratic. 
 
 "Do you know, miss," said the manageress, "you 
 would do better to go on the stage rather than try to 
 find a position." 
 
 Franka shook her head: "For that one needs 
 talent as well as special training." 
 
 "You might attend a theatrical training-school." 
 
 " I have not the means. Besides, I should not find 
 it congenial." 
 
 "You will find it very hard to get a place in a 
 home . . . without references and so dangerously 
 pretty. ... I should hesitate to recommend you. 
 There is nothing that I know of now to suit you. 
 However, perhaps something may turn up; if there 
 should, I will communicate with you." 
 
 When Franka got home after this unsuccessful 
 circuit, the maid met her with the information that a 
 gentleman had been there inquiring after her. He 
 said he had been acquainted with her late father and 
 that he would return in an hour. 
 
 Shortly after this the doorbell rang and the maid 
 brought her a visiting-card on which Franka read: 
 Freiherr Ludwig Malhof, k.k. Kammerer. 
 14
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 She admitted the visitor. At the first glance she 
 recognized in the person entering the elderly gentle 
 man who had recently followed her from the ceme 
 tery to the house. She had only once, when she 
 reached the door, turned around to glance at him, 
 but his appearance was too striking not to make an 
 immediate impression: a figure of more than ordi 
 nary height with broad shoulders and long, sweeping 
 gray side-whiskers. 
 
 " Pardon me, Fraulein, for introducing myself, yet 
 I might . . ." 
 
 "You knew my father?" said Franka, interrupt 
 ing his apology; "will you not sit down, Baron, and 
 tell me. . . ?" 
 
 She herself took a seat and indicated a chair for 
 her visitor. He sat down and placed his silk hat on 
 the floor. His eyes rested inquisitively on the lovely 
 maiden's face. 
 
 "In fact," said he, somewhat hesitatingly, "I am 
 ... I met Mr. Garlett at a friend's house where he 
 was giving lessons." His glance wandered to the 
 opposite wall on which hung a portrait. 
 
 "Is that your picture? A wonderful likeness." 
 
 "That is my mother's portrait." 
 
 "Ah! such a resemblance! . . . And have you lost 
 your mother also? So you are absolutely an orphan, 
 quite alone?" 
 
 "Quite alone." 
 
 "But you have some relatives?" 
 
 Franka shook her head. 
 
 "Then you have some protector? Perhaps a 
 sweetheart?" 
 
 15
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "No, no one." 
 
 "It does not seem possible that when one is so 
 beautiful, there has not been some love-affair ..." 
 
 A shade of annoyance flew over Franka's face: 
 "Sir, you desired to speak to me of my father ..." 
 
 "Exactly so, your father . . . but, my dear child, 
 let us rather speak of yourself." In the man's eyes 
 flashed a look of lustful eagerness. He quickly 
 dropped them, but Franka had seen it. "Yes, of 
 you," he continued; "your fate is worthy of all 
 sympathy. Mr. Garlett cannot have left much 
 property. . . . Your future is so uncertain. . . . You 
 are exposed to all sorts of dangers. . . . You need a 
 friend" he stretched out his hand "you need 
 a fatherly friend let me take your little white 
 hand." ... At the same time his voice began to 
 tremble with ill-restrained tenderness. 
 
 Franka stood up, and withdrew her hand which 
 the other had seized. She surveyed him with 
 haughty eyes. "Among the dangers of which you 
 speak certainly belongs that of an absolutely strange 
 man penetrating to my lodgings and offering me his 
 friendship." 
 
 The amorous cavalier realized that he had gone 
 too far. "This energetic sally on your part shows 
 me, my dear Miss Gartlett, that you know how to 
 protect yourself from certain dangers. You are a 
 very sensible young woman." He also had stood up, 
 and had taken possession of his hat. "I shall turn 
 this reasonableness to account. You will hear from 
 me again. ... I will leave you now; yet I beg of you 
 to be convinced that I wish you everything good." 
 
 16
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 A stiff bow and he went out without Franka's 
 making any attempt to retain him. 
 
 When she was left alone, she breathed a sigh of 
 relief. Still a shadow of doubt came over her, 
 whether she had done wrong in offending a possibly 
 harmless man who wanted to befriend her, whether 
 he had really known her father, and for that reason 
 had followed her from the cemetery. . . . Yet, no, 
 her feminine instinct had detected the lustful look 
 which had betrayed its forked flame in the eyes 
 and the honeyed smiles of the elegant old gentle 
 man. 
 
 Alas, to be alone and without means in this world, 
 and obliged to defend herself against such attacks! 
 
 Nowhere an arm to protect her, nowhere a heart 
 to which she might fly for refuge. . . . And now, 
 what? Supposing she should find no situation? And 
 even if she did, would she not be still just as lonely, 
 just as deserted among strangers? 
 
 "Oh, father, father," she cried aloud; "my noble, 
 my youthful-hearted father, why did you have to 
 die? Die without accomplishing the high tasks 
 which lay before you! ..." 
 
 Whether Garlett would have ever accomplished 
 the tasks to which his daughter made reference is 
 very doubtful. There had been literary plans which 
 he had long had in mind, but he had never brought 
 any of them to fulfillment. Was it from lack of time 
 
 for when one must give private instructions to 
 earn one's bread and butter, there is little leisure for 
 writing books or was it from lack of energy? He 
 had never got beyond projects, sketches, introduc- 
 
 17
 
 WHEN THpUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 tions. But in Franka's eyes he always was to be the 
 greatest author of his age. His masterpiece was 
 there it lay complete in his brain and required 
 only to be written out. 
 
 In their readings and their studies together, it had 
 often happened that he would pause and develop 
 some idea associated with what they had been pe 
 rusing, or would utter some deep remark, and add : 
 " I will write a book about that." Themes for essays 
 were on hand in abundance, and Franka had made a 
 collection of such utterances which she had jotted 
 down in a book. She had turned over these pages 
 every day since her father's death to her this 
 seemed like a continued spiritual communication 
 with him. Now, after her unexpected caller had 
 taken his departure, and feeling doubly unhappy 
 under the bitter impression that he had made upon 
 her, she went once more to the cupboard where those 
 papers were kept, in order to obtain from them 
 diversion and edification. 
 
 She would soon be obliged to part with the books 
 and all her household goods, for if she were burdened 
 with a library and furniture she could not enter the 
 house of strangers, but this beloved volume she 
 would keep forever and in all situations of life. From 
 it the very voice of the beloved father would speak ; 
 from it would flash up in her mind those momentary 
 pictures, which often a sentence or a word just 
 as a stereopticon throws them on a screen can 
 waken out of the depths of memory. 
 
 The leaf which she first took up contained only 
 brief notes in Garlett's handwriting. Were they 
 
 18
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 thoughts of his own, were they citations? Probably 
 both mingled together. Franka read : 
 
 The aim of men's active organization 
 
 Is the getting out of the World all the good it will yield, 
 Whether it be the domain of the Mind's creation, 
 
 Whether it be the crop of the well-eared field. 
 
 None of the fixed stars is nearer to us than four millions of 
 millions of miles. . . . And we call that speck Austria a great 
 country ! 
 
 Moral progress finally consists in the increase of the horror felt 
 against the infliction of pain. 
 
 Over abysses of night the eye of the Spirit can wander, 
 There to behold the gleaming of yet uncreated light. 
 
 Nothing great can ever be accomplished without inspiration. 
 
 Where to-day the vanguard camps, there to-morrow the rear 
 most rests. 
 
 "Of all good works, the long list through, 
 Which is the best for us to do?" 
 When his disciples of the Prophet 
 Asked this, what think you he made of it? 
 No good work with another can interfere : 
 Do each in its right time: that is clear." 
 
 O Napoleon, standing on the Vendome column, if the blood 
 that thou hast caused to be shed, were collected here on this 
 place, easily mightest thou drink of it, not stooping. 
 
 A few days later a packet was left at Franka's 
 door; she herself took it in. When she saw the post 
 man, she hoped that he was bringing her a notifica 
 tion from the employment bureau that a place had 
 been found for her. What would she do if her small 
 store of money should come to an end before she had 
 
 19
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 found any situation? There were still left the fur 
 niture and the books, but what they would bring 
 would be small and soon exhausted. She had already 
 made inquiries of second-hand dealers and anti 
 quaries: these had come and looked at her posses 
 sions and offered for the "whole business" a ridicu 
 lously small price. . . . 
 
 She opened the package: a jewel-case and a letter 
 were inclosed in it. The case contained a pair of 
 diamond studs. The letter read as follows: 
 
 DEAR FRAULEIN, 
 
 I promised that I would appeal to your reason. This is 
 what I am doing, and I picture to myself a sensible, a very 
 sensible young lady as reading these lines. I shall talk 
 very frankly with you. You must also be perfectly frank, 
 not only with me, but also with yourself, putting on no 
 mask, affecting no pose least of all those of virtue, such 
 as belong only to the heroines of Gartenlaube novels. 
 Real life must be taken and lived in another way, if one 
 is reasonable, and that you are, my lovely Franka! 
 
 Now, listen: I have fallen violently in love with you. I 
 saw you in the street and followed you. I made inquiries 
 about you and your circumstances. I know the whole 
 story ; you are without family and without means, and are 
 on the very threshold of bitter poverty. I also know that 
 you are endeavoring to find a paying situation, for I fol 
 lowed you when you went to the employment office. 
 
 Tell me, really, would you, with your striking beauty, 
 take up with a wage employment, be a dependent? Now 
 there is one thing that I might have done: I might have 
 tried little by little to sneak into your good graces and 
 then . . . but it goes against my grain to play the elderly 
 Don Juan. I am aware that I no longer have the appear 
 ance to warrant my attempting to win young maidens' 
 hearts ; but I can make a reasonable maiden happy : that 
 
 20
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 is, I can offer her a care-free life, a life full of enjoyments. 
 Only, there is to be no misunderstanding: this is not an 
 offer of marriage. I am a confirmed old bachelor and I 
 propose to remain one. What I offer you is better than the 
 fortune of being the wife of an unloved and jealous old 
 husband, for if you wished to deceive him it would entail 
 great worry in hiding it and it might cause a damaged 
 reputation besides. 
 
 I offer you freedom, perfect liberty, the unobtru 
 sive society of a lively man, not without wit, who will, as 
 they say, "look after you " as long as you will permit him 
 to do so. First and foremost he offers you luxury. Listen: 
 luxury. That means the essential element of beauty, the 
 only atmosphere for a creature like you. A splendid villa 
 in the cottage-quarter, servants, a carriage of your own, 
 gowns, jewelry: everything of this sort I lay at your feet. 
 This does not imply a retired and restricted life not at 
 all: in your salon we shall receive my friends and their 
 lady friends, artists and writers and interesting for 
 eigners : it shall be a real salon where everything sparkles 
 with intellect, music, and gayety; also theaters and con 
 certs to your heart's desire. And in summer: journeys, 
 trips to the seashore, the mountains . . . 
 
 As you see, Franka, child, a horn of plenty filled with 
 delights is going to be poured out for you. Only do not 
 be a narrow-minded Philistine; only no "principles" and 
 moral commandments after the type of ancient almanac 
 stories or complimentary gift literature for girls of riper 
 age. Life, my dear young lady, is entirely different from 
 the stale moralities that find their expression in the sam 
 plers of old maids and that are honored in the tea-table 
 chatter of suburban aunties, as they turn up their eyes 
 in holy horror! Life wants to be boldly grasped, to be 
 conquered with joyous pride; above all, to be enjoyed. 
 
 Such an opportunity is not offered to many of ycur sex; 
 how many, in spite of youth and beauty, must, if they are 
 poor, waste their lives in degrading, wearisome, laborious 
 occupations, struggling with all sorts of privations, only at 
 
 21
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 last to take up with some rough husband who will make 
 her wretched unless, indeed, the terrible, abominable 
 fate overtakes her, of which possibly you know nothing, 
 of becoming a victim of the international white-slave 
 traffic which not infrequently makes use of intelligence 
 offices. . . . 
 
 Was it not your good genius, your guardian angel, that 
 has so disposed matters that an elderly man, heart-free 
 and wise in experience, has crossed your path, has fallen 
 in love first with your pretty face, then with your whole 
 admirable personality, that this man has no other obliga 
 tion than the disposition of a very large estate, and that 
 he in fond expectation of your summons signs himself 
 Your humble Slave? 
 
 MALHOF. 
 
 After Franka had finished reading this letter, she 
 tore it into tiny bits, and, laying them on the pale- 
 yellow velvet of the jewel-case next the glittering 
 stones, made the whole into a package, which she 
 carefully tied up and sealed; and, after addressing 
 it to Baron Ludwig Malhof, hastened to mail it at 
 the nearest post-office station without taking a mo 
 ment's time for consideration. She felt a keen satis 
 faction in flinging the gift and the letter down at the 
 feet of her insulter. On receiving them back, he 
 would redden with shame as if he had been struck 
 by the rid ing- whip of an angry queen. 
 
 Or would he not rather laugh at her for her "vir 
 tuous pose," for her "moral Philistinism"? Franka 
 was conscious that it was not a conventional "vir 
 tue" which had stimulated her impulsive action, 
 but a mixture of one tenth sense of honor and nine 
 tenths aversion. . . . She was not quite ignorant as 
 regards the mysteries of love, although she had so 
 
 22
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 far had no love-affairs. Her father had delicately 
 initiated her, through studies of plants and animals, 
 into the secrets of the transmission of life, and her 
 comprehensive reading, begun when she was a little 
 child, the poets, somewhat later the German, 
 French, and English novelists, had given her an 
 insight into the whole world of passion, into the 
 tragedies and joys, the sorrows and dreams, of love; 
 also into the crimes and baseness, the ardent happi 
 ness and the depths of despair, which are found in 
 the domain of sex, and, on the whole, she had a 
 boundlessly high ideal of love. Perhaps for the very 
 reason that hitherto she had found no one to inspire 
 this feeling in her soul, because no little adventures 
 and gleams of romance had disillusioned her, her 
 ideas and presentiments, if by chance they swept 
 into this domain, were so highstrung. 
 
 A love union and paradise were to her two similar 
 conceptions. A pure fountain of devoted tenderness 
 and a glowing hearth of passionate yearnings were 
 concealed in her inmost being, still panoplied round 
 with virgin austerity, with a delicate, flower-like ter 
 ror of any impure touch. If ever she bestowed the 
 treasure of her love, it would be for the recipient and 
 for herself a sacred moment of the loftiest bliss. 
 
 And the idea of her throwing herself away for 
 money, for clothes, for precious stones, and in 
 stead of highest rapture to feel only deepest repul 
 sion, to endure the embraces of that old satyr, 
 the kisses of a shriveled, detestable mouth. . . . No! 
 Sooner die ! And should Fate never offer her the pos 
 sibility of giving that treasure to one truly beloved,
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 then were it better sunk in the depths of the sea ! 
 That hateful creature had written something about 
 a horn of plenty filled with joys yes, she pos 
 sessed such a one to pour out upon the dear life that 
 would be united with hers. . . . No ; that should not 
 be wasted and shattered! 
 
 The next day, as Baron Malhof was preparing to 
 go and get his answer from the young girl, an answer 
 which he did not doubt would be favorable, though 
 perhaps awkwardly expressed, he was interrupted in 
 the midst of his fastidious toilet by the arrival of the 
 package. After he had opened it, he hissed out two 
 words which expressed his whole sense of disgust : 
 "Stupid goose!" 
 
 Several weeks elapsed, and still no situation 
 offered. Now Franka was constrained to sell her 
 books in order to exist for a time and what an 
 existence! She was standing in front of the book 
 case, selecting the volumes which for the time being 
 she still felt unable to part with ; she intended to lay 
 these aside so that the second-hand dealer whom she 
 had summoned might not see them. 
 
 Tears stood in her eyes, for to her it was a great 
 and painful sacrifice. She would have preferred to 
 keep them all, for almost every one of those vol 
 umes was associated in her memory with joyous, 
 soul-stimulating hours all of Goethe, all of Shake 
 speare, Byron, Victor Hugo, and other classics of 
 universal literature. They must all go these good 
 spirits which had with their magical pictures glori 
 fied so many winter evenings for the two solitaries ! 
 
 24
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Also, away with the thick-bodied works of the phi 
 losophers, from Aristotle to Schopenhauer; away 
 with the works of history and the encyclopaedias; 
 away with the whole rows of modern fiction. 
 
 Only a shelf-full of scientific books by contempo 
 raneous authors, scientists, thinkers, and stylists 
 at the same time, Bolsche, Bruno Wille, Herbert 
 Spencer, Emerson, Anatole France, Haeckel, Ernst 
 Mach, Friedrich Jodl, and a few others, these she 
 would keep and take with her and plunge into again 
 in order to get edification from the remembrance 
 of the unforgettable words which her father had 
 spoken to her when they were reading them together. 
 
 "Child, these are revelations! What the human 
 mind which is certainly a part of God has 
 gradually glimpsed at and recognized is the dis 
 closure of the Highest, and therefore is what men 
 call Revelation. In astonishment and awe we are 
 learning things of which our fathers and the major 
 ity of our contemporaries had no suspicion. We are 
 penetrating into mysteries which bring before our 
 eyes the grandeur of the universe and its infinities 
 and which still remain mysteries for our con 
 sciousness only perceives but does not comprehend 
 them. We are standing on the threshold of per 
 fectly new apperceptions, and so at the threshold of 
 a wholly new epoch : fortunate are we who are to live 
 in this twentieth century. It is the cradle of some 
 newborn thing destined to the most glorious devel 
 opment. What will it be called? No one as yet 
 knows ; only posterity will find a name for it. 
 
 "Child, approach these revelations with a relig- 
 
 25
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 ious mind. You know what I call 'religious': to 
 have the sense of reverence, to know that there 
 are sublime things as yet unknown; to wish to be 
 worthy of the greatness and the goodness that every 
 where prevails and therefore to be good one's self. 
 Now, perhaps you may ask what I mean by ' good ' ? 
 There is no end in the chain of definitions ; do not 
 always try to explain, but rather to feel, and then 
 you have the right thing. ..." 
 
 In many of the books which Franka was now 
 glancing over were places marked by her father's 
 marginal notes; some of them, made with pencil, 
 were so pale that they were scarcely legible. Franka 
 got a pen and ink and retraced the lines. While she 
 was engaged in this work, she was interrupted by the 
 entrance of the maid : 
 
 "Excuse me, miss, there is a gentleman outside as 
 wishes to speak to you." 
 
 "Oh, yes, I was expecting him; please show him 
 in." 
 
 A comfortable-looking, well-dressed man of mid 
 dle age entered. He bowed politely. 
 
 "Miss Garlett? I take the liberty ..." 
 
 "You have come to see about the books?" 
 
 "What books?" 
 
 "Were you not sent by the dealer?" 
 
 "No, miss. I take the liberty of introducing my 
 self: Attorney Dr. Fixstern. It concerns a matter 
 which is of the highest importance for you." 
 
 "Oh, in regard to a situation ?" 
 
 A suspicion crossed her mind. She remembered 
 what Baron Malhof had written her regarding the 
 
 26
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 traps that sometimes are laid in the offers of em 
 ployment bureaus. She would be on her guard. 
 
 "No, not at all; something quite different. Will 
 you permit me to sit down as the interview may 
 be somewhat protracted?" And he drew a chair up 
 to the table. 
 
 "Please, I am listening; but I have not very much 
 time ..." And she herself sat down at some little 
 distance. 
 
 " Oh, you will give me all the time I want! What I 
 have to say to you is too agreeable for you to wish 
 to break off my communication, my dear very much 
 honored Miss Franka Garlett. That is your name, is 
 knot?" 
 
 "Yes, that is my name," she answered coldly. 
 
 " Daughter of the late Professor Garlett, and like 
 wise of his late lawful wife, Ida Garlett, born Count 
 ess Sielen of Sielenburg?" 
 
 "My father and I were not accustomed ever to 
 mention that title." 
 
 "Your father was very democratic in his notions, 
 was he not? But to the business in hand: I am the 
 attorney of His Excellency the old Count Sielen, and 
 I have come here at his request." 
 
 Franka listened in the greatest agitation ; this did 
 not sound like an offer of a situation and was, indeed, 
 surprising. 
 
 Dr. Fixstern took out of his breast-pocket an en 
 velope and laid it down before him on the table. 
 Then he went on to say: 
 
 "Your grandfather, miss, a short time after his 
 return from Egypt, where he had been sojourning on 
 
 27
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 account of his health, found waiting for him a letter 
 from Mr. Garlett. I have it here. Perhaps you are 
 familiar with its contents? . . . No? . . . Then, will 
 you please read it?" 
 
 With a throbbing heart Franka took the letter and 
 unfolded it. The beloved handwriting ! It was like a 
 greeting from beyond the grave. She read : 
 
 To THE COUNT OF SIELEN: 
 
 For almost a generation I have been to you like one 
 vanished. Never have I attempted to approach you. As 
 it were, an abyss lay between us we had both inflicted 
 the utmost pain on the other : you, by your harsh repudia 
 tion of my beloved wife, who died in consequence of it I 
 to you, by robbing you of your daughter. As long as we 
 lived we could not pardon each other. 
 
 But in the presence of death, all resentment, pride, and 
 everything of the sort which are the bitter prerogatives of 
 the living, disappear. 
 
 This letter comes into your hands only in case death has 
 stricken me before my Franka is provided for ; such is the 
 name of my daughter, your grandchild. Orphaned, left 
 without a farthing, she might be exposed to the deepest 
 poverty and the greatest dangers. This thought is my 
 sorrow and my torment. The maiden is sweet and good 
 and highly educated, and as you cannot read coldly 
 she has grown up to be the image of her mother feature 
 for feature. Graf Sielen, I beg of you : look after the young 
 girl. Do not let her suffer want or ruin. 
 
 The signature, with date and address, followed. 
 Having read it through, Franka gazed at the sheet 
 for a long time. 
 
 Dr. Fixstern awakened her out of her thoughts : 
 "Would you like to know, miss, how His Excel 
 lency responds to this letter of your father a letter 
 
 28
 
 which, it must be said, is very effective by reason of 
 its brevity?" 
 
 A warm stream of joy expanded Franka's heart. 
 The lawyer had already informed her that he had 
 pleasant news for her: so it was clear that her grand 
 father was going to look after her: there would be 
 some one to love her again. . . . 
 
 "Well, Doctor," she asked, with eagerness, "what 
 message do you bring me?" 
 
 "A pleasant one, my dear miss. The count has 
 instituted inquiries about you, has had you care 
 fully watched of late, and has now decided to invite 
 you to come to Sielenburg. He will provide for your 
 future. He himself would have come to Vienna to 
 fetch you, but illness confines him to his room the 
 old gentleman is now more than seventy Egypt 
 seems not to have done him any good. Now I am 
 commissioned, in the first place, to make this dis 
 closure to you, and, in the second place, to hand you 
 these lines." 
 
 He took a second sheet out of the envelope and 
 handed it to Franka, who read as follows : 
 
 SIELENBURG, May 20, 1909. 
 DEAR GRANDDAUGHTER: 
 
 I invite you to make your home with me. The bearer, 
 my attorney, will provide whatever is necessary and will 
 accompany you hither. God bless you. 
 
 COUNT EDUARD SIELEN. 
 
 "In the third place," proceeded Dr. Fixstern, "I 
 am to hand you a small sum of money," and suiting 
 the action to the word he laid on the table a bundle 
 
 29
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 of bank-notes there were ten one-hundred-kronen 
 bills, "and, in the fourth place, to consult with 
 you regarding the prospective journey to Moravia. 
 You probably require some little preparation and in 
 this my wife may be able to help you. . . . Now, my 
 dear miss, have you a little more time to spare for 
 me?" 
 
 Franka offered him her hand. She could not im 
 mediately find words it was like a dream, like a 
 fairy-tale. A home ! So suddenly to be rescued from 
 all her tribulation and all her desolation a home !
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 CHLODWIG HELMER 
 
 AT THE SlELENBURG, 1 909. 
 
 DEAR COUSIN AND BELOVED FRIEND! 
 
 It was a pleasant surprise when your letter, after long 
 wanderings, reached me here. I was convinced that you 
 had entirely forgotten me, ten long years we had lost 
 sight of each other, and now suddenly down upon me 
 rains this letter in which you relate to me the experiences 
 which you have been having in all this time and you want 
 to have the like from me. 
 
 Oh, how gladly do I fulfill your wish ! I am simply hun 
 gry for a regular outpouring of my mind. Your twenty 
 pages would make the basis of a fascinating novel : inter 
 esting events described in a fluent style. Now, my answer 
 ought not to prove much shorter : I shall devote to it a few 
 hours of leisure, but I shall not take much trouble about 
 polishing my style. "Unconstrained" do you remem 
 ber? That was the catchword that we selected at the time 
 when we became intimate friends as students in the same 
 class in the Theresianum. "Unconstrained" ah! in 
 this word lie whole revolutions, and you know well that I 
 have always been a revolutionist. 
 
 Now for my story. I will begin at the very end, that 
 is this very day. Before I confide to you what I have 
 been doing during these last years, you must know where 
 and what I am at the present moment. My residence is 
 called Schloss Sielenburg. It is surrounded by a great 
 park of twenty acres, and from the window is visible a 
 forest which is my delight. Many trees a hundred years 
 old, and one oak a thousand years old, stand in it, and 
 there are moss and shrubbery and the twitter of birds. 
 
 31
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 That there are still such forests on the earth can console 
 one for the existence of cities and suburbs. 
 
 From my window I can see the roof of the stables 
 where there are six pairs of carriage-horses and six saddle- 
 horses. A garage for the automobiles is just building. 
 Among the saddle-horses is a gray with a silken mane, 
 with some Arab in his build and behavior, with such 
 thoughtful and reproachful, and at the same time affec 
 tionate, eyes ah ! I tell you there are animals also here 
 below, the existence of which can console us for many 
 of the councilors and aldermen that are their contem 
 poraries ! So you may easily imagine how reconciled with 
 the world I feel as I ride on that gray through yonder 
 forest ! 
 
 I am not master of all this accumulated wealth : castle, 
 grounds, forests, stables, and garages are the property of 
 the Right Honorable Count Eduard Sielen a sick old 
 man. He exercises his dominion also over a secretary, 
 and that secretary am I. 
 
 Now you know I, the cabinet minister's son, over 
 whose future career we could not make plans sufficiently 
 ambitious, to be an ambassador was one of the lowest 
 of my expectations, am now in a subservient, humble 
 position, am obliged to be forever ready, at my gracious 
 master's beck and call, to write at his dictation or read 
 to him the newspapers, or anything else. And yet I feel 
 much more free than when I was in the government serv 
 ice, for I can throw up my place at any moment, and 
 the work which I am performing is independent of what 
 I think; it leaves my private character, my personal 
 actions, untouched, whereas in the service of the State 
 the master cannot be changed and one must subordinate 
 his whole " I " to his standards, and only act and work as 
 an unelastic system demands. 
 
 No, I could not have endured that yoke. I did not 
 endure it. After completing my volunteer year, I began 
 my regular service under a district chief ; once I ventured 
 to contradict my superior, and as a punishment was trans- 
 
 32
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 ferred to a smaller district at soul-killing labor and no 
 living wage ; one must practice for some years before one 
 gets a decent salary I left the service. 
 
 In the mean time my parents had died so I had no 
 need of asking any one's advice. I was free. I had inher 
 ited a small property profitably invested in industrials; 
 this made me independent. I traveled about the world 
 and I have seen a tremendous lot and learned a tremen 
 dous lot from my experiences. 
 
 Then suddenly the value of my industrials fell so far 
 below par that one fine day the bonds were so much waste 
 paper. That meant: "Go to work again." For a time I 
 was a journalist, but that also was an unendurable yoke. 
 I was obliged to bend my judgment to suit the opinions 
 of the paper on which I was engaged as an editorial 
 writer, and these opinions were, to tell the truth, no 
 opinions at all, but consisted in following the instructions 
 given out by the ministry. Here again was a form of 
 slavery, of gagging, which I could not put up with, and I 
 left the editorial sanctum just as I had left the govern 
 ment office. Then I was happy when I was offered a posi 
 tion as secretary to the old Count Sielen which I have 
 been filling for two years now. .Here I can at least poetize 
 and think as I please. 
 
 Yes, poetize. Perhaps you did not know that I have 
 discovered in myself the impulse to write verses, and a 
 collection of my poems has already appeared in print and 
 has been enthusiastically received by the critics. I will 
 not name the title and publisher, lest you may think that 
 I am hinting to you to buy it moreover, I have issued 
 it under a pseudonym which I will not divulge until my 
 reputation is established. At the present time I am put 
 ting the last touches to a four-act drama. You have no 
 notion what a delight, what an exalting consciousness of 
 accomplishment, lies in writing out from one's very soul 
 what moves it. And to create ! To enrich the world with 
 something new! The joy of creation is the highest of all 
 joys. If I were not a poet I would crave to be an in- 
 
 33
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 ventor. ... I do not know, for example, whether the name 
 "Edison" should not be spoken with as much respect as 
 the name "Shakespeare." I am now following enviously 
 the work of the aviators I look up to the Zeppelins 
 and the Wrights as to heroes and especially as to heralds. 
 They are sounding the call to a new era. They are sum 
 moning their fellow-men to vanquish an unheard-of 
 future perhaps without knowing it, for their minds are 
 fixed on the mechanical part of their work. The aerial 
 age ! Do you surmise what that signifies? Certainly, those 
 have no notion of it who would accomplish nothing else 
 with their sky-commanding apparatus than to elevate 
 into the air the ancient scourges of the depths. 
 
 In your story of the last ten years which you have so 
 kindly made me acquainted with, you write a vast amount 
 about your experiences in life and love. 
 
 Pardon me, if I do not tell you anything about my ex 
 periences in love. I do not want to profane, in dry epis 
 tolary prose, whatever has sanctified my life with tender 
 charm, and I would not soil my pen with vulgar adven 
 tures. Every man has in this domain a bit of magic 
 dreamland and a register of his peccadilloes. The one I 
 leave undisclosed, the other unconfessed. 
 
 On the Sielenburg at the present time not taking 
 into account the kitchen department there is no one 
 of the gentle sex dangerous to any man's heart or peace 
 of mind. The housekeeping is under the charge of the 
 count's widowed sister, the Countess Schollendorf , who is 
 at least sixty-two years old. She exercises control over 
 the household and the servants and she invites guests 
 according to her own idiosyncrasies for the most part 
 ancient female cousins. There are three of that sort here 
 now, accompanied by their maids and their lapdogs. One 
 of these females her name is Albertine has two ter 
 rible peculiarities : the first is sincerity, and the second is 
 that she is deeply concerned with the well-being of all her 
 fellow-men. It results from the first that she is always 
 telling people to their faces the most disagreeable truths, 
 
 34
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 and from the second that she expects of them every sort 
 of sacrifice and renunciation and other torments of 
 course, "only for their own good." 
 
 There are still other habitu6s of the establishment: the 
 castle chaplain and an aged ruined cousin four times re 
 moved, to whom Count Sielen furnishes bread and but 
 ter. As you see, it is not a very gay society, nor is the 
 conversation at table very enlivening. Yet, just now, the 
 count, because of his miserable health, is accustomed to 
 take his meals in his own room, and I keep him company, 
 which is preferable to sitting at the lower end of the table 
 in the big dining-room and listening to uninteresting 
 small-talk, mostly confined to the idle gossip of court and 
 society, unless, by chance, thanks to the old cousin, who 
 is an archreactionary, it skirts the domain of politics 
 which makes it particularly distasteful to me. This gen 
 tleman would especially like to see restored the conditions 
 that prevailed before the year 1848, and from this stand 
 point he illuminates the present-day events and questions 
 of which his newspaper the "Reichspost" brings 
 him an echo. 
 
 That his opposite neighbor at table has Jewish blood 
 in his veins you know my mother's grandfather was a 
 Jew does not prevent him from letting his opinion con 
 cerning regrettable disturbances culminate in the sen 
 tence: "The Jews are responsible for that": for exam 
 ple, the Russian revolution and the horrors connected 
 with it, all initiated by the Jews : the decay of morals, the 
 increase of poverty, the downfall of the old aristocratic 
 families, earthquakes and floods (these latter as God's 
 punishments) all these things are attributable to the 
 Jews. He does not say in so many words that the destruc 
 tion of this pernicious race would be a praiseworthy 
 remedy, but he leaves it to be plainly understood. 
 
 The chaplain I must give him due credit for this 
 does not agree with such truculences: he is a good man, a 
 gentle Christian, and as such avoids everything coarse 
 and spiteful. During these discussions I remain obsti- 
 
 35
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 nately dumb, for I cannot contend with Cousin Coriolan. 
 The eyes of his yearning are turned back to the past, 
 while mine look to the future, and it is impossible, while 
 standing back-to-back, to fence with him. 
 
 And do I hear you ask: "Your count, your employer, 
 what is he like?" He? A dear old fellow: I cannot say 
 anything else. Genial, jovial, simple, friendly, gay. He 
 must have been a man of captivating personality. Now, 
 indeed, he is old and ill, and yet his sense of humor has 
 not deserted him. 
 
 The count is a widower and childless. He had two chil 
 dren, but lost them both under tragic circumstances. The 
 daughter a marvelously beautiful girl ran off with 
 her brother's tutor. At that time the countess was still 
 living a terribly haughty and hard-hearted woman, 
 and nothing would induce her to pardon her daughter for 
 this step. The count would have gladly given in, but the 
 inexorable woman would not relent. 
 
 In a few years the daughter died, and shortly afterwards 
 the son met with a fatal accident in a boating-party. It 
 was whispered about that he was of very light weight, and 
 that he had showed great lack of love and respect for his 
 parents: consequently, his loss was not such a severe 
 blow to the count, although it deprived him of his only 
 son and heir. He was much more deeply affected by the 
 loss of his daughter ; in the first place, her elopement with a 
 man who was regarded as unworthy of her, and then her 
 death. But time has healed all those wounds. The cheer 
 ful, light-hearted temperament of my dear count (for I 
 really love the man) won the day. He had the reputation 
 of being the gayest and wittiest cavalier in his time, and 
 even only two years ago, when I first entered his house, he 
 was in the happiest state of mind and of a geniality which 
 simply captivated my heart. 
 
 Just now, indeed, he is a great sufferer, and old age, 
 which he has so long victoriously resisted, is at last get 
 ting in its detestable work. He is not and has never been 
 what is called a high intelligence. He is clever with a 
 
 36
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 somewhat superficial cleverness, without great depth 
 without complications, without subtlety, but abounding 
 in straightforward, honest, human understanding. His wit 
 never stings and never bites ; it merely smiles and winks ; 
 in short, my poor count is, as I rather disrespectfully 
 remarked above, a dear old fellow. 
 
 I have never made a confidant of him about my anony 
 mous poetizing: he has no inclination for poetry. His 
 reading that is, what I read to him consists exclu 
 sively of selections from the daily newspapers, the weekly 
 comic papers, French novels, but they must be 
 piquant; and for serious pabulum: memoirs of princes, 
 generals, and statesmen. Military and diplomatic his 
 tory, especially relating to the time in which he took an 
 active part, interests him. But all this has inspired me 
 with a great disgust at the kettle of chatter and intrigue 
 in which the soup of the unsuspecting people's destiny is 
 cooked. Aye! the nations have no suspicion what con 
 temptible means the great men who make universal his 
 tory use, what petty aims they pursue: personal jeal 
 ousies and ambitions, entanglements of lies and errors 
 and accidents, whereof are born the mighty events which 
 are explained as the expression of Divine Will, or of a 
 scheme of creation conditioned by natural laws. And, 
 vice versa, the great men high up know nothing of the 
 people: they fail to comprehend their sufferings and 
 hopes. Their awakening and stretching of limbs they 
 have no suspicion of ... 
 
 Two days later. 
 
 Since I wrote the above, something has happened. For 
 some time it has seemed to me that the count was con 
 cealing something from me. If his attorney, Dr. Fixstern, 
 came, I was dismissed from the room, and letters ad 
 dressed to him were not as usual dictated to me, but were 
 written by the count himself. And now I know what the 
 secret was ; early this morning the count confided in me : 
 The child left by the daughter who eloped with the tutor 
 
 37
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 has turned up, and the grandfather has invited the young 
 girl to make her home at the Sielenburg. She will be 
 coming now in a few days. The old gentleman is de 
 lighted. 
 
 I am full of curiosity. The young thing will scarcely 
 feel very comfortable at the Round Table which I de 
 scribed to you. Well, later in the summer there are vari 
 ous visitors from the neighboring castles, among them 
 young people, and in the autumn there are many brilliant 
 hunting-parties. Of course, owing to my position, I hold 
 aloof from all these things. My world is not this world of 
 aristocratic society my kingdom is that of the imagina 
 tion. There I sometimes indulge in revels and there I 
 hope to attain some rank not mediocre ; there ceases 
 my modesty. Artists must not be inwardly modest, 
 else they are not artists. Just as an athlete feels his mus 
 cles, so must the artist feel his power of creation. A host 
 of thoughts press forward to be formulated, and these 
 thoughts are elastic and swelling like an athlete's muscles! 
 A domain which no Pegasus' hoof has as yet ever touched 
 invites me. First I am going to finish my drama, which 
 treats of a social problem, and then I shall fly away to 
 that virgin land where horizons flooded with light open 
 out before me. I am going to compose the epic of the con 
 quest of the air. ... I shall fly up to the flaming corona 
 of the Sun, and from that I will pluck down forked flames 
 to annihilate all that is low and common. I am called 
 away, so I will mail this and will write again. 
 Yours ever, 
 
 CHLODWIG HELMER.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 FRANKA'S NEW HOME 
 
 FRANKA GARLETT leaned back with closed eyes in 
 one corner of the compartment. In another corner 
 sat Dr. Fixstern, in whose company the young girl 
 was making the trip to her new home. The railway 
 journey had already lasted four hours and they were 
 not far from their destination. 
 
 For some time Franka had been sitting there mo 
 tionless, as if she were asleep. But she was not sleep 
 ing ; she wanted undisturbed to give herself up to her 
 thoughts. Very mixed feelings stirred in her heart. 
 When she called up the idea of "home," which 
 had come to her mind at the first revelation of the 
 change impending in her destiny, she felt excite 
 ment and a sense of joy; but, immediately, this was 
 succeeded by a certain timidity. "Home!" that 
 is the cherished spot where all one's loves, all one's 
 accustomed habits, all one's recollections cluster; 
 but she was coming to an unknown place, among 
 absolutely strange people! Even though Count 
 Sielen was her grandfather, she had never seen him, 
 never even thought of him; between him and her 
 there was no common remembrance, except the fact 
 that he had been cruel to her parents. In Count 
 Sielen's eyes, Frank Garlett had been only the 
 shameless brigand who had robbed him of his daugh 
 ter: Count Sielen had never known what a splendid 
 
 39
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 man this unwelcome son-in-law had been. She would 
 tell her grandfather that, but would he believe it? 
 And would she be able to love the old man? And 
 would the great-aunt accept her? After the descrip 
 tion which Dr. Fixstern gave of her, a rather 
 proud, rather bigoted, rather narrow-minded old 
 lady, she had little hope that she would find a 
 mutually sympathetic relationship in that quarter. 
 Ah, she was so alone, so alone in the world, after 
 being accustomed to confidential comradeship with 
 her beloved father! . . . Two tears trickled down her 
 cheeks. 
 
 "Oh, Miss Garlett," cried the doctor, "I thought 
 you were asleep, and there you are crying!" 
 
 Franka straightened herself up: "Oh, I was think 
 ing of my poor dead father." 
 
 "Think rather of your grandfather, and instead 
 of tormenting yourself, rejoice ! Just think what an 
 unexpected piece of good fortune has come to you." 
 
 "You are right: it is ungrateful of me." 
 
 "Your grandfather will assuredly see to it that 
 you are suitably married." 
 
 "I don't intend to be married." 
 
 "You don't want to marry?" 
 
 "Oh, well, perhaps; why not? But to be married 
 off . . ." 
 
 "Oh, yes, I understand the distinction. But now 
 it is time for you to put on your hat and I will get the 
 traveling-bag down; the next station is ours." 
 
 Franka pinned on her hat; it was black, for she 
 still wore mourning, but it was pretty and very be 
 coming. Under the direction of Dr. Fixstern's wife, 
 
 40
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 she had provided herself with new and elegant 
 clothing, and she was not insensible to the comfort 
 able feeling of being neatly and correctly dressed, 
 although nothing was farther from her nature than 
 vanity and a love of finery. 
 
 The train came to a stop, and Franka's heart 
 began to beat: so now, now was the beginning of a 
 new life. . . . Would there be any one from the castle 
 to meet her and greet her? . . . The platform was 
 full of people, but merely passengers of the third 
 class, waiting for the next train peasants, market- 
 women with baskets or bundles. There was also a 
 servant in livery. He approached the coach from 
 which Franka and her escort were dismounting. On 
 the street in front of the station an automobile was 
 waiting a great open limousine, the white lacquer 
 of which glittered in the sun. The chauffeur was 
 standing beside it and helped Franka to enter. It 
 was the first time in her life that she had ever been 
 in such a vehicle. Indeed, a new life in every respect ! 
 
 Along a road between red-blooming clover-fields, 
 through a fir forest, the branches of which were 
 loaded with bright green cones, and then up a long 
 avenue of ancient chestnut trees, the chauffeur took 
 them toward the castle with its towers and pin 
 nacles, its bow-windows and verandas, which now 
 began to be visible against the horizon in the dis 
 tance. The weather was warm, but the air, fragrant 
 with spring, fanned Franka's face with refreshing 
 coolness as the machine swiftly sped along. Franka 
 took deep breaths ; her cheeks were aglow with color 
 and a smile of joy played around her young mouth.
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 She had only just been shedding tears, and now a 
 keen feeling of delight swept through her whole 
 being. The future must bring her something beau 
 tiful . . . she would not have to be always so 
 alone . . . ! The wide world is, indeed, a savings 
 bank in which rich funds of love are deposited, and 
 youth, in itself, is a kind of checkbook. 
 
 Along park drives bordered with shrubbery, past 
 flower-beds and pools, from which rose glittering 
 fountains, flew the machine, and came to a stop 
 under the porte-cochere of the castle. Several serv 
 ants stood waiting and took her hand-luggage. On 
 the steps above, Franka was received by the count's 
 sister. 
 
 "Welcome, dear child. . . . How are you, Dr. 
 Fixstern ... so you have brought the child with you 
 safely, have you? Come, Franka, we will go directly 
 to my brother he is waiting for you in great an 
 ticipation." 
 
 The lady spoke in a friendly tone, and her face 
 wore a friendly expression ; but the doctor, who knew 
 her well, could not help perceiving that both in her 
 voice and in the expression of her face there was a 
 tone and a look of insincerity. 
 
 Through a long corridor adorned with potted 
 plants and hung with paintings, Franka was con 
 ducted into another wing and ushered into the 
 count's apartment. It was a room paneled with 
 dark leather and filled with ancient furniture. In a 
 tall armchair near the window sat the count, a pil 
 low behind his head and a covering over his knees. 
 Pale and ill as he looked, he was a handsome old man. 
 
 42
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Noble, regular features, his white beard trimmed 
 close and to a point, large blue eyes beaming with 
 friendliness, his hair silver-white, but still brushed 
 up in a thick mass above his forehead. 
 
 "Here, Eduard, I bring you your granddaughter. 
 . . . Come, Dr. Fixstern, let us go into the adjoining 
 room; we will leave the two alone for a little." 
 
 A young man, who was sitting in one corner of the 
 room at a table covered with writings, stood up and 
 was about to leave the room. 
 
 " Remain, if you please, Mr. Helmer, and continue 
 your writing; you will not disturb me. And you, my 
 girl, come nearer, quite close, so that I may look at 
 you. . . . My eyes are growing dim ..." He held 
 out to her a slim white hand. 
 
 Franka went to him with quick steps, knelt on the 
 footstool that was placed near his chair, and kissed 
 the hand he offered her: "Grandfather! How kind 
 of you!" 
 
 He laid his hand on her head, and bent her face 
 back. 
 
 "So it is! you are the living picture of your poor 
 mother. Remarkable! I hope, however, you will 
 not resemble her in all respects ... at least, that you 
 will not also run away out of this with some young 
 rascal ..." 
 
 Franka sprang up. 
 
 "Count . . . this can be no home for me, where 
 my father is to be insulted." 
 
 "There, there! not so fast! I like it in you, that 
 you spring to the defense of your beloved father. I 
 beg your pardon. Besides, I did not mean anything 
 
 43
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 so very bad. The word 'rascal ' in my mouth carries 
 no insult I myself was one when I was young, and 
 I should be very glad if any one would call me an old 
 rascal now but here I must sit, tied down to this 
 chair . . . ' Count ! ' I will not let you scold me that 
 way; just say, as you did so prettily a moment ago, 
 'Grandfather.' . . . And I have still another thing 
 to ask your forgiveness for: that it was so long before 
 I took any notice of you. . . . That was cruel to you 
 and cruel to the memory of my daughter. . . . She 
 made a mistake . . . but of all mistakes is not im 
 placability one of the worst and stupidest? So, 
 little girl, be forgiving . . . call me 'Grandfather' 
 . . . that is right; a great French poet has written 
 a book entitled 'L'Art d'etre Grandpere."' 
 
 "Yes, Victor Hugo," assented Franka, nodding. 
 
 "You seem to be well read. . . . Now, you see, I 
 am beginning rather late to learn that art, but I 
 shall be an industrious scholar. And now, will you 
 be conducted to your room? I feel ill again ... a 
 real cross sickness is ... go, dear child." 
 
 Franka was about to bend over the old gentle 
 man's hand to kiss it again, but he lifted her head up 
 and imprinted a kiss on her brow. 
 
 An hour later Franka had already finished the 
 unpacking of her possessions; she had disposed her 
 books and photographs, and this communicated a 
 somewhat cozy appearance to the long unoccupied 
 chamber, with its stiff, old-fashioned furniture. It 
 was an enormous room with four windows looking 
 down into the park. Gay-flowered chintz covered 
 the chairs and sofas and the same material served as 
 
 44
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 hangings for the windows and the curtains of the 
 bed. Adjoining was a little toilet-room and bath 
 room. Next to this was the chamber of a maid 
 whose services were at the disposal of the "gnadiges 
 Fraulein." 
 
 So new, so unwonted was all this magnificence! 
 Ought not all these unexpected, these truly brilliant 
 surroundings to have awakened a measureless joy in 
 Franka, who had spent her young days in the midst 
 of such privations? But why was she so sad? 
 
 Ah, yes, if her father had only lived and she might 
 have shared these delights with him, or at least have 
 told him about them. . . . 
 
 Joys are like tones in order to sound, they must 
 have resonance.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 LIFE IN SIELENBURG CASTLE 
 
 FIVE months had passed and a cold gray autumn had 
 set in with pallid suns, soggy mists, wailing tempests. 
 As melancholy as the weather was Franka's mood. 
 Sielenburg had not proved a home for her: she felt 
 that she was a stranger, that she was in exile. Her 
 grandfather, who showed her friendly affection and 
 to whom her heart went out in sympathy, grew con 
 stantly worse, so that more and more rarely he sum 
 moned her to his side, and when she came, he had 
 but little to say ; he merely would ask her to tell him 
 about her past, to describe her early life, and to talk 
 about her parents. 
 
 He asked her very little about her present exist 
 ence, and even if he had done so she assuredly 
 would not have told him that she was wretchedly 
 unhappy; that the great-aunt always treated her 
 with the utmost coldness and reserve; that the 
 insipid conversation of the two other old ladies "got 
 on her nerves"; that the cousin, with his views ex 
 pressed so arrogantly and dogmatically, views so 
 diametrically opposed to all that she had learned 
 from her father, still more affected her, indeed, 
 caused her real agony all this and much more she 
 could not confide to her grandfather without trou 
 bling him, without making him think her ungrate 
 ful. Of all the inhabitants of the castle, Mr. Helmer, 
 
 46
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 the young secretary, would have been the most sym 
 pathetic, perhaps for the very reason that he was 
 young, and youth feels drawn by irresistible power 
 to youth; but she came scarcely at all into contact 
 with him, because he was rarely present at meals, and 
 when he was, he took no part in the conversation. 
 
 Only once had he made an exception to this re 
 serve. At table Cousin Coriolan had spoken about 
 the dirigible balloon: he said: "So then, the thing 
 seems to be feasible." 
 
 "And you remember, Baron," remarked the 
 priest, "that you have always expressed the opinion 
 that all these aeronautical and aviationary projects 
 were 'the utmost nonsense,' 'crack-brained balder 
 dash,' 'lunatic absurdity,' 'the summit of imbecil 
 ity ' I noticed your words particularly I like 
 your strong expressions ..." 
 
 "Well, well, Chaplain, to err is human . . . but I 
 venture even now to predict that nothing practical 
 or useful will ever come out of them . . . only catas 
 trophes. . . . What would happen if such a monster 
 should fall on the Emperor's roof at Schonbrunn? 
 . . . For reconnoitering in war, it would be extremely 
 dangerous, for naturally the enemy would shoot up 
 at them. The only good that they would accomplish 
 would be the scattering down of explosives but 
 they would never be able to take any great amount 
 up with them and the mark from such a height would 
 be very difficult to hit it would be like spitting 
 from the balcony on a nickel lying on the sidewalk, 
 the much-vaunted airship business will in the long 
 run" 
 
 47
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "Make of man another man," interrupted Chlod- 
 wig Helmer, raising his voice. Franka pricked up 
 her ears. "Behind the azure door which has been 
 flung open streams a light, destined to breathe 
 new souls aerial souls into new generations of 
 men." 
 
 The rest of the company exchanged glances as 
 much as to say: "What is the matter with the man? 
 What has got into him?" 
 
 Franka would gladly have heard him continue. 
 
 "Please, Mr. Helmer, explain what you mean . . ." 
 
 But he shook his head and said no more. 
 
 She occasionally met him in her grandfather's 
 room; but there also he generally remained silent. 
 If he spoke, as he did only to answer some direct 
 question, she found something particularly attrac 
 tive both in the sound of his voice and in the choice 
 of his words. 
 
 He was not handsome far from it ; he would be 
 rather more likely to be called ugly ; but it was not 
 a common ugliness, and whatever else he was, Mr. 
 Helmer was certainly a gentleman. 
 
 Franka had not failed to notice that she inspired 
 the young man with admiration: it betrayed itself 
 in his eyes, in his attitude, in the intonations of his 
 voice. It was a thoroughly respectful admiration 
 which strove to hide and not to betray itself, and 
 consequently Franka responded to it with many a 
 gracious word and friendly smile. 
 
 But an end soon came to this harmless little flirta 
 tion, if it could be called such. Six weeks after 
 Franka's arrival, Helmer was obliged to take his 
 
 48
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 departure from Sielenburg. Cousin Albertine had 
 indulged in some idle gossip concerning the two. 
 "Evidently," she said, "that crazy secretary is fall 
 ing in love with Franka." Something peculiar also 
 was noticed in Franka's behavior, and after her 
 mother's escapade the apple does not fall far from 
 the tree and it was to be feared that some similar 
 fatality might ensue. . . . These and other insinua 
 tions made to the count's sister, and by her com 
 municated to the count himself, resulted in the 
 young man's being dismissed. After his departure 
 Franka felt still more isolated. 
 
 In the course of the summer several times, but not 
 frequently, for an hour or two during the afternoon, 
 callers from the neighborhood came to the castle, 
 and were served with a cup of tea in the garden. 
 The conversation always revolved around the same 
 topics: society and family news, the prospects of 
 the harvest, hunting experiences, chronicles of sick 
 nesses, and the results of "cures" at the sea-baths, 
 gossip of the court mixed in with a dash of politics 
 (from the agrarian point of view), and with lamenta 
 tions over the degeneracy of the times (from the 
 clerical point of view). 
 
 It devolved on Franka, as the daughter of the 
 house, to pour the tea, yet the others treated her 
 with a shade of condescension, as if she were only 
 a kind of companion. She could never even try 
 to insinuate herself into the good graces of these 
 strangers; she remained taciturn and reserved. The 
 topics of conversation and the questions that occu 
 pied the lives of this little circle scarcely appealed to 
 
 49
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 her; perhaps, if she had grown up and been edu 
 cated among them, she might have found edification 
 in it, but it was all strange to her on the other 
 hand, the others had no comprehension of her aspira 
 tions, her ambitions, her realm of thought. 
 
 One day she had a surprising encounter. As she 
 entered the salon her eyes fell on a stranger who was 
 sitting in the midst of the usual circle. His back was 
 turned to the door, so she could not see his face, but 
 there was something strikingly familiar in his figure 
 and attitude. And with good reason for as she 
 came nearer, Countess Adele introduced him to her 
 as Baron Malhof. He manifested no surprise; he 
 evidently knew of the altered circumstances of 
 Franka's life. He made a low bow. 
 
 "It is a great pleasure to meet you again, Miss 
 Garlett." 
 
 "What, do you know my niece?" 
 
 "Yes, I made Miss Garlett's acquaintance a short 
 time ago and learned to have a high regard for her." 
 
 Malhof sat next to Franka at the tea-table. Unob 
 served by the others, he said to her in an under 
 tone : 
 
 " You seem to be still incensed with me but you 
 ought to know what I have done for you. I have 
 just been in to see your grandfather. I was well 
 aware that you were making your home here, for I 
 had learned the whole story from your landlady of 
 whom I have frequently inquired about what you 
 are doing. And to-day I told your grandfather the 
 whole story of the little comedy in which you and I 
 were the actors ..." 
 
 50
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "You did... ?" 
 
 "Yes, although the part I played was rather de 
 plorable ; for that very reason yours was all the more 
 brilliant, and I felt that I owed it to you to make this 
 reparation. Count Sielen had a right to know what 
 a brave, high-minded maiden his new-found grand 
 daughter is." 
 
 "Was that your opinion of my behavior, Baron 
 Malhof?" 
 
 "Not at the first moment to tell the honest 
 truth; at that time I was quite vexed and thought 
 your behavior simply pardon me the expression ! 
 simply stupid, terribly vieuxjeu; but here is a 
 somewhat old-fashioned milieu where all such heroic 
 actions of virtue awake a response and I said to 
 myself: 'If I tell the whole story to the old gentle 
 man, it may prove useful to the young lady who 
 so abused me . . . that letter you tore into bits ! it 
 will put her into a beautiful light and make her still 
 dearer to the old man's heart,' as you see, I am 
 capable also of noble impulses. There is one thing I 
 should like to ask you: Are you happy?" 
 
 "How could I fail to regard myself as happy? It 
 would be sheer ingratitude toward fate!" 
 
 "Well, yes, 'to regard yourself as happy,' but 'to 
 feel happy'? Life cannot be very gay among all 
 these wigs. ... I do not often come here only 
 when I am visiting their neighbors at the castle of 
 Dornhof, where I generally spend a week almost 
 every year. Then I make my respects here and I 
 have always found the house tedious to the last de 
 gree, except when the old count used to enliven it 
 
 51
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 with his presence ; but for the most part during the 
 last few years he has been away traveling. Of course, 
 I had heard about the family romance, the daugh 
 ter who ran off with the tutor, but that you were 
 the result of that elopement, I never suspected until 
 I made a fool of myself about you. . . . Do not look 
 so angry; that folly is past and gone. ... I have 
 taken my place toward you especially since I 
 have confessed to your grandfather as a kind of 
 honorary uncle." 
 
 On this episode Franka looked back with satis 
 faction. 
 
 On the other hand, she remembered something 
 very unpleasant that had happened to her during 
 the early days of her new life. She had been sum 
 moned at a quite unusual hour to her great-aunt's 
 chamber. She had scarcely crossed the threshold 
 when she realized that she had been invited to ap 
 pear as a defendant before a criminal court. Behind 
 the table sat the old Countess Schollendorf in her 
 sternest aspect, with her headdress askew, betoken 
 ing inward excitement; next her, in the capacity of 
 an assistant, Aunt Albertine, and on the table as 
 corpus delicti two books which Franka instantly 
 recognized as her property. 
 
 "Come in; sit down and explain yourself: How 
 came you by these books?" This was spoken in a 
 harsh, inquisitorial tone. 
 
 The books were Prince Kropotkin's "Memoirs of 
 a Revolutionist" and Bolsche's "Liebesleben in der 
 Natur." 
 
 Franka had calmly taken a seat. 
 
 52
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "I might rather ask," she replied, "how come 
 these books here, when they were locked up in my 
 bookcase?" 
 
 Miss Albertine, with a honeyed expression, put in 
 her word : 
 
 "My dear girl, this matter concerns your own 
 good : I myself brought the books down. The book 
 case was not locked; the key was in the door; I did 
 not break it open. It is perfectly natural that we 
 should be interested in what is read by a young per 
 son over whose well-being we have to watch. The 
 other books there I do not know. ... I should have 
 to read them first ; but the titles of these two are suf 
 ficient to condemn them. So I brought them down 
 to Aunt Adele. We have glanced through them 
 and . . ." 
 
 "And," said the superior judge, taking the words 
 out of the other's mouth, "I had you summoned to 
 tell you that you are to hand over to us your whole 
 library it was evidently your inheritance from 
 Professor Garlett, who seems to have been a Free 
 mason. . . . And I will speak to you with the utmost 
 frankness: you must know that a young girl of our 
 circles does not make the acquaintance of revolu 
 tionists and their works. . . . These are very, very 
 pernicious theories the worst possible. And then 
 Socialism and Feminism and Pacifism, and all these 
 new ' isms ' such as are coming into existence in our 
 day. . . . And now that ' Liebesleben ' ! I trust you 
 have not read it!" 
 
 "Oh, yes, I have I read it with my father." 
 
 "And are you not ashamed of yourself? This is 
 
 53
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 certainly the most extraordinary thing I ever heard 
 of! Why, one learns there how herrings break the 
 sixth commandment it is positively disgusting! 
 Do you not know that there are things which a sen 
 sible young maiden I will not say of our circles, 
 but any sensible maiden ought to have no sus 
 picion of? What have you to say in your defense?" 
 
 "Nothing." 
 
 Franka felt as if she would choke and she uttered 
 the word with a deep breath. 
 
 "What does this all mean? Do you wish to rouse 
 my anger?" 
 
 "Do not get excited, Adele," interrupted Miss 
 Albertine appeasingly; "just think the poor child 
 has not enjoyed the right sort of education ; she in 
 herited her mother's frivolous nature and on her 
 father's side she is of no family at all therefore, she 
 lacks the instinct of what becomes our world. . . . 
 Yes, you are lacking in many respects, Franka, and 
 if I speak in all sincerity, it is impossible for me 
 to be anything else than sincere, it is only with 
 the intention of being useful to you. You are still 
 young enough to learn a good deal, to change and to 
 become worthy of the great advantage that you are 
 enjoying here." 
 
 Franka's throat felt as if a tight band was fas 
 tened around it. It occurred to her to run away ; she 
 was almost tempted to kill herself to jump out of 
 the window. . . . But after a while, as Miss Albert- 
 ine's discourse kept on its even flow, she recovered 
 her self-control. 
 
 "I ask only one thing," she said "that this 
 
 54
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 whole charge be brought before my grandfather. I 
 will abide by his decision." 
 
 " Do you really wish this? I had intended tc spare 
 you this disgrace, and was going to say nothing to 
 my brother; but if you yourself desire it ... very 
 well, I will send and find out if we can see him." 
 
 When an affirmative answer was brought, the 
 three ladies betook themselves to the count's apart 
 ment. Miss Albertine held the corpus delicti under 
 her arm. The count was alone. He was sitting in his 
 accustomed place in the reclining-chair, and looked 
 exceptionally lively and well. 
 
 "What! Three man strong you march along!" he 
 exclaimed, greeting them. 
 
 " Yes, grandfather, you see here a judge, a witness, 
 and a defendant and I am the defendant ; now you 
 are to be the supreme judicial court." 
 
 "Oho! and is there no advocate for the defense?" 
 
 "I shall be my own advocate." 
 
 "Very good: now what is the complaint?" 
 
 " It is no joking matter," said the Countess Adele. 
 
 "Indeed, it is not," said Miss Albertine with em 
 phasis. "It concerns Franka's own good; else we 
 should not have bothered you with it. Your condi 
 tion demands perfect quiet you look very miser 
 able. . . . Forgive me, but I must tell you the truth 
 only for love of you so that you may take care of 
 yourself." 
 
 "Yes, yes, your frankness is touching. But to the 
 business. ..." 
 
 The two old ladies, using almost the identical 
 words as before, formulated their complaint and at 
 
 55
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 the same time handed him the books that were 
 under suspicion. 
 
 When they had had their say, Franka cried : " May 
 I now offer my defense? " 
 
 The count raised his hand. " No, what is the use? 
 I see clearly how the whole matter stands and can 
 render my judgment. A crime, at least a very de 
 testable misdemeanor, has been committed or, 
 rather, a whole series of misdemeanors: looting of 
 others' property; inquisitiveness and espionage; tale 
 bearing and making charges; injury and insult; 
 attempted moral constraint and tyranny!" 
 
 "But, Eduard," exclaimed the old countess re 
 proachfully, "do you blame us instead of th's erring 
 child?" 
 
 "Most certainly, I blame you. Franka is neither 
 in the path of error, nor is she a child. She has not 
 been brought up as you would have brought up your 
 daughters, and she has different ideas. Has she at 
 tempted to force these ideas on you? Has she ever 
 tactlessly and offensively expressed her ideas in 
 order to bring yours into unfavorable contrast?" 
 
 "No, she has done nothing of that kind. On the 
 contrary, she has hypocritically kept her terrible 
 ideas, imbibed from these terrible books, quite to 
 herself." 
 
 "Why do you say 'hypocritically'? I call it tact 
 ful. If one lives with people who belong to another 
 world of ideas, it is right to avoid bringing up 
 the discussion of questions whereon they would 
 differ; and so people, even though they think so 
 differently, can get along together very congenially. 
 
 56
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Moreover, there is nothing so very terrible about the 
 two books I happen to know them. Bolsche is a 
 scientist; Kropotkin an idealist. I do not exactly 
 share their point of view; I am an old country squire, 
 and have taken little interest in the natural sciences 
 and social problems; but I know that we live at a 
 time when much that is new is crowding out the old. 
 We can't make all shoes on one last, and we cannot 
 expect our grandchildren to be educated exactly as 
 our fathers were educated. And as far as education 
 goes, certainly nothing more needs be said about 
 Franka's. She will be of age in a few months: I had 
 her come here to a home, not to a young ladies' 
 boarding-school. I will not put up with her life being 
 spoiled by the others in this house." 
 
 "Oh! how good and kind you are!" stammered 
 Franka, who had once more knelt down on the foot 
 stool near Sielen's reclining-chair. 
 
 ' ' Never mind , my girl ; don' t bother your head about 
 
 it. The aunts meant well But now I will ask you 
 
 to leave me for a while. The affair has agitated me." 
 
 That ended the incident. To be sure, a little bit 
 terness remained, but the two old ladies from that 
 time forth avoided any nursery-governess tone 
 toward the young girl. The sick master's will was 
 law on the Sielenburg. 
 
 Still another incident, somewhat later, produced 
 a still deeper impression. It was a letter. Almost 
 never did the postman bring Franka any mail. In 
 all the more excitement she tore open the envelope 
 which she found one fine morning lying on her 
 breakfast-tray. It was in an unknown hand and 
 
 57
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 unsigned. After she read it, she easily guessed who 
 its writer was. 
 
 VIENNA, August 2, 1909. 
 
 My greetings to you, Franka! As an actual man I am 
 not justified in addressing you thus familiarly, but this is 
 only a kind of wave-motion from soul to soul. The reason 
 for this letter is, that you appeared to me last night in 
 a dream. You looked sad and troubled. Something of 
 questioning and yearning was expressed in your face and 
 was evident in your outstretched arms. In what direc 
 tion would your desires, your longings, your questionings 
 wing their flight? Your surroundings will give no fulfill 
 ment of them, no answer to them. Perhaps I may be able 
 to serve as a guide perhaps I may be able to solve some 
 of the riddles for you. And since you have appeared to me 
 in a dream and because I am fond of you I venture 
 to approach you as a bodyless teacher, a formless brother, 
 a lover who hopes for nothing. Or rather do not call 
 it presumptuous! I come to you as a priest. I have 
 religious consolation in readiness for you and I will lay 
 down religious commandments for you. 
 
 Yet, let this be for the last. We will first speak of 
 worldly things. The question which a pretty girl of 
 twenty asks of fate even though she does not acknowl 
 edge it to herself is, "Shall I be happily married?" 
 She might just as well ask, "Shall I find a needle in a 
 haystack?" For it is just as difficult, out of the hundred 
 thousand chances of an unhappy marriage, to secure the 
 one slender chance of a happy one, although every young 
 woman believes that for her particularly there are several 
 ready for choice. And the claims are not modest. Dozens 
 of conditions cluster around the idea of "happiness" 
 above all, love. And in it are united all the attributes 
 and aspects of this manifold phenomenon : the platonic 
 and erotic; passion, sentimentality, devotion, sweet tor 
 ment and tearful ecstasy, hot desire and the full and 
 peaceful possession and this whole medley, presumably 
 
 58
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 to last as long as life, based on eternal faithfulness . . . (il 
 faut en rabattre 1} 
 
 But love alone is not sufficient. To happiness, as 
 dreamed by the young maiden, some other things are 
 needed: if not wealth, at least perfect pecuniary inde 
 pendence, a comfortable and fairly elegant household, 
 continued good health, social recognition, pleasant occu 
 pation, pretty toilettes perhaps also handsome chil 
 dren. I am speaking of the average girl, not of the ultra 
 modern type before whom a quite special expression of 
 personality is held up, or from whom the well-known 
 "call of motherhood" is extorted. 
 
 To that class you do not belong ; you are not eccentric, 
 you are calm and reflective, but assuredly you are also 
 hungry for happiness. 
 
 Now the question for you is: "Will Destiny pay the 
 note which Youth and Beauty have drawn on her?" 
 Who can tell? It is a matter of accident. Accident is only 
 another name for Fate, and cannot give you any remedy 
 against her tricks. Consequently we must possess some 
 thing to raise us above all perils, above poverty and lone 
 liness, above illness and sorrow, yes, verily, above the 
 terrors of death ! 
 
 If you had been educated in a convent, such a talisman 
 would have been put into your possession : the knowledge 
 that you were a child of God, the belief in happiness 
 beyond the grave, the union with all that is sacred in 
 the eternal and in the infinite. But this golden talisman 
 would have been handed to you in a tin capsule of dog 
 mas, and you, like so many others to whose riper taste 
 and judgment the capsule no longer appealed, would have 
 flung the whole thing away, contents and cover ; or, like so 
 many others, you would have only clung to the outward 
 wrapping as a kind of symbol, as a ceremonial necessity. 
 
 At the present time, in this country, it is a part of good 
 form to be pious. By assiduous church attendance, by 
 friendly intercourse with the clergy, by scorn and con 
 tempt for all free thinking, one tickets one's self as belong- 
 
 59
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 ing to fine society. They are mere forms, to be sure, but 
 how can the man and the woman of society differentiate 
 themselves from the ordinary mass of humanity if not by 
 the observance of forms? Signing the cross, as one sits at 
 table, the way it is done of late in aristocratic houses, 
 is not a mark of reverence, but a "correct" gesture 
 equal to the conventional court curtsy. 
 
 I would not wish to imply that there are not actually 
 honest believers who in spite of the tin capsule penetrate 
 to the golden center of the talisman and are thereby ele 
 vated and strengthened. " Be good ! " is certainly the pro- 
 foundest meaning of every religious imperative honor 
 to the man who with voluntary obedience listens to this 
 commandment by reason of his faith. 
 
 You were not educated in a nunnery as I happen to 
 know. Do you possess that fervent Something, by means 
 of which a person is raised above all the eventualities of 
 life and above one's self? That I do not know. Let me 
 explain to you what I understand by this "Something": 
 let me be for half an hour your catechist ! 
 
 This is the mystery : Recognize as your home, that 
 is to say as the place to which you belong, a domain larger 
 than your house, than your family, than your parish, than 
 your earth the universe. You belong to it : it belongs to 
 you. Religionists have an inkling of this truth and they 
 call it "the fatherhood of God." Science has investigated 
 it and here it is called "indestructibility" and "homo 
 geneity of matter" and "eternal conservation of all 
 energy." This guarantees you immortality. The part 
 that you play in the great world-drama is important, just 
 as every one else's is, and it is never played to the end. 
 
 Do not shrug your shoulders and say: "What is the use 
 of a continued existence if, in another life, I do not remem 
 ber the former; if my ego has disappeared?" Certainly 
 "your 1 ' ego, in its present form, is lost, but in the new 
 form you will feel an ego in similar degree. Is your con 
 sciousness, your inner sense of life, lessened by the fact 
 that you do not remember the existences through which 
 
 60
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 you have passed in the infinity behind you? The past ego 
 was not "another one," nor will the ones that follow be, 
 
 they all are a part of the same ego of the universe, 
 divided billions and trillions of tinies. If one has learned 
 to feel one's self as a constituent of the eternal circle of 
 life, if one knows that one is akin to the plants and the 
 stars, if one feels in one's inmost soul the sparks flashing 
 from the flame of the Universal Spirit, then one is pene 
 trated by the sense of being a child of God just as much 
 as a nun kneeling in prayer on the stone flags. 
 
 Yet these are only impulses for especial exalted hours 
 
 not at all times can one feel consecrated to the All. 
 But there are also narrower circles into which one can 
 enter and escape one's own egotistical loneliness any 
 kind of a great community. For some, it is found in art ; 
 for some in the various so-called "Movements," or politi 
 cal campaigns, or even revolutions ; either in active co 
 operation or mainly in intense sympathy: in either case 
 one will be elevated above the everyday pettinesses and 
 ennuis of one's own existence, if it be petty and tiresome, 
 aye, if it be full of sadness! Listen, Franka, to the roaring 
 of the stream of Time ; see how human society is striving 
 to attain new goals, how it is engaged in the battle with 
 the powers of the traditional to acquire more light, 
 more freedom, more righteousness; in a word, more 
 happiness. 
 
 A mighty aid to this uplift of souls is found in the tech 
 nical marvels with which human invention is every day 
 transforming this world. We live in a great, great age! 
 Especially great, not so much in what is as in what is to 
 be ! To think of sharing in it all ! Do not miss the noble 
 enjoyment which every bold ascent is preparing! And 
 even if you yourself cannot attain a height, then rejoice in 
 the lofty flights of humanity. "Soaring " the word was 
 formerly applied to us men only figuratively, but now 
 you know what happened only a few days ago for the 
 first time a man flew over the Channel . . . and these 
 surprises, these triumphs will be enlarged. . . . Look and 
 
 61
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 listen ! Show yourself let us all show ourselves 
 worthy of having been born under the glory of the 
 twentieth century. . . . 
 
 Here the letter abruptly ended. It was not diffi 
 cult to guess from whom it came: only Mr. Helmer 
 could have been its author. Had any definite 
 address been attached to it or an answer been de 
 manded, perhaps Franka would have sent a letter 
 in return. She had hardly given a thought to the 
 young secretary since she no longer had occasion to 
 meet him. After the receipt of this letter, however, 
 which she read from beginning to end several times, 
 it was natural that her thoughts should turn fre 
 quently to Chlodwig Helmer. What especially 
 moved her was that something of the spirit of her 
 father seemed to breathe through this letter 
 there was the same trend of thought and at the same 
 time almost the same use of words and phrases. 
 This was not strange, for where ideas coincide, there 
 must be a similarity in expression of them; every 
 philosophy of life has its own terminology. Above 
 and beside all the abstract ideas contained in the 
 letter there was also the striking of a note which 
 awakened a melodious echo: the five words, "I 
 am fond of you"! Then it happened, apparently 
 in consequence of his statement that she had ap 
 peared to him in a dream, that she also two or three 
 times dreamed of him, and wonderful ! in the 
 dream his face was not homely not at all, but 
 rather fascinating. No second letter followed, the 
 dreams were not continued, and the whole incident 
 gradually grew faint and indefinite.
 
 INTERMEZZO 
 
 DURING all this time Mr. John A. Toker had been 
 elaborating his plan. In his brain, that which he 
 proposed to do was already formulated. Certainly 
 he knew that everything destined to come into exist 
 ence will, as soon as it has sufficient vitality, begin 
 to live, develop itself, branch out, and be changed in 
 a hundred different ways which its creator is unable 
 to foresee; yet the initial stage was clearly outlined 
 before Mr. Toker's inner eye. The motives and 
 ends, which at first had risen before him mistily and 
 indefinitely, he had long since supplanted with clear 
 and precise formulas. The whole was drafted into 
 two pieces of manuscript: one of them a letter, the 
 other a circular. A copy of each was now to be sent 
 to the addresses of those famous contemporaries 
 whose names he had inscribed on the day when the 
 project was conceived. Now a few names had dis 
 appeared from the list and a few others were added 
 to it. 
 
 THE LETTER 
 
 DEAR SIR (or MADAM): 
 
 I am doing myself the honor of inviting you most cor 
 dially to spend the first half of next June as my guest : not 
 in my American home, but in the center of Europe, at 
 Lucerne, where I am making suitable preparations for 
 entertaining you and my other guests. You will find the 
 names of other persons invited indicated in the inclosed 
 list. Any one in your family or your household whom you 
 
 63
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 would like to have as a companion will be most welcome. 
 The traveling expenses and, if agreeable, a considerable 
 honorarium will be supplied by me. The inclosed circular 
 will sufficiently show that this invitation is not for a mere 
 summer visit for personal ends, but includes cooperation 
 in a civilizing work of the greatest moment. 
 Counting upon your favorable answer, I am, 
 Yours respectfully, 
 
 JOHN A. TOKER. 
 
 THE PROSPECTUS 
 
 We are on the threshold of the aeronautic age. What 
 mankind, up to the present time, and especially in the 
 last two or three decades, has accomplished in the realm 
 of technic is simply fabulous is the triumphant anni 
 hilation of the antiquated concept "Impossible." 
 
 And this is to go on in constantly accelerating progress. 
 How feeble in their first beginnings, how widely separated 
 from one another in time and space have been the great 
 inventions and discoveries. And now! Scarcely a day 
 passes without some technical improvement being simul 
 taneously achieved in different places. The rapidity of 
 progress results in one marvel making another possible. 
 Thus, to take only one example, the dirigibility of the 
 air-balloon was attained only because automobilism had 
 created the light motor. 
 
 The intellectual and moral uplift of humanity has not 
 kept up with the technical. This is plainly seen in a single 
 paragraph the reading of which gave me the impulse to 
 make the proposed experiment. The paragraph read: 
 "The dirigible balloon is destined to become the chief 
 weapon in wars to come." 
 
 This is equivalent to saying: "We will use the latest 
 triumph of victorious civilization for the confirmation of 
 the most antiquated barbarism." This must not be! 
 
 What the physicists, the chemists, the engineers have 
 given us, one depending on another, each building a little 
 
 64
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 higher on the discoveries of his predecessors, what they 
 have done through comprehending and controlling the 
 forces of nature and making them our servants, is on the 
 point of changing one half the material half of our 
 world into a realm of magic. 
 
 But how does it stand with the spiritual half, the imma 
 terial half? The unhappiness of men, the wickedness of 
 men, the mutual hatreds of men, these ghastly things 
 give the answer to the above question : the spiritual half 
 is still far, far behind. The everlasting forces which rule 
 in this other half, and which, when they come to be 
 known, controlled, and made useful, would be able to 
 change this half also into a realm of magic : at the present 
 time they are as yet concealed and inactive. 
 
 The engineers, mechanicians, and technicians of the 
 moral forces are the poets and prophets, the philosophers 
 and artists ; they are the dynamic agents of thought, the 
 leaders of intellect, the pathfinders in the jungles of social 
 institutions, the aviators in the eternal sphere of ideas! 
 Yet they are scattered through the centuries, scattered in 
 space. One lives in New York ; another in Paris ; the third 
 at Yasnaya Polyana; their names go from the elite in one 
 land to the 61ite in other lands, but do not reach the 
 masses. How much more powerful their work would be if 
 it were coordinated, if the knowledge of their doctrines, 
 the glory of their names, the magic of their art, proceeding 
 from one central point, should radiate in all directions. 
 Motors and propellers have taught us that power must be 
 concentrated and compressed, in order by explosions to 
 drive the vehicle. 
 
 THE ROSE-WEEK IN LUCERNE 
 
 This festival-time, which in my opinion will surpass in 
 outward glory all the previous "aviation meets," all the 
 Wagner festivals in Bayreuth, all the carnivals in Rome 
 or Cologne, all the regattas at Kiel or at Cowes, all the 
 races at Baden-Baden, will last with its public functions 
 
 65
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 from the eighth until the fifteenth of June. The period 
 from the first till the eighth belongs to my guests for unin 
 terrupted social intercourse. I believe that my great con 
 temporaries will thus find unique opportunity for high 
 social enjoyment, for the most fruitful 1 inspiration. How 
 rarely is it vouchsafed for those who stand on the emi 
 nences of Humanity to consort with their fellows ! 
 
 The second week will belong to the public, which will 
 have the unique enjoyment of seeing and hearing the 
 laurel-crowned of all countries assembled in the same 
 place and of absorbing the lofty thoughts which will flow 
 from their words. 
 
 The attendance at the lectures and art performances 
 will in all probability be immense. 
 
 But what my guests will have to say is not to be 
 limited to those present. The echo of it will ring through 
 the whole world. The great journals will certainly send 
 their representatives who will telegraph long extracts 
 from the various addresses. And involuntarily the Press 
 will in this way fulfill what ought to be its most important 
 function : to further the great universal interests of man 
 kind instead of stirring up international strife and culti 
 vating local gossip. But we will not depend on them: 
 we ourselves will institute a large and complete staff of 
 secretaries and translators; we will employ a printing- 
 office and have the principal addresses set forth in 
 extenso, and send them out as pamphlets to all parts of the 
 world. And still more: gramophones will catch the very 
 intonations of the speakers, kinematographs will repro 
 duce the gestures of the orators, and the records and films 
 will be sent out to thousands of schools and settlements 
 all over the world. In all regions and in all classes shall be 
 scattered the messages of the Rose-Week! 
 
 What the men and women whom I have in mind will 
 say, is not for any particular race or class : its sole aim and 
 object will be, "to elevate all humanity." 
 
 And why roses? 
 
 That I have chosen out of the twelve months of the 
 
 66
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 year the month of roses, that I am going to conduct the 
 whole arrangement under the emblem of roses all the 
 programmes, all the invitations, and so forth, will be 
 adorned with these flowers; on the buildings and festal 
 arches roses will be garlanded as escutcheons a sar- 
 danapalian abundance of living, blooming roses will be 
 entwined around all the pillars, will adorn the tables and 
 walls; bushes blooming with roses and rose-beds will be 
 planted in the grounds intoxicating perfume of roses 
 will fill all the air a rose-bacchanal : all this is not, per 
 haps, a whimsical fancy, an ostentatious piece of extrava 
 gance such as the multimillionaires of Fifth Avenue are 
 accustomed to vulgarize their festivities with ; a deeper 
 symbolism is involved in it: the whole undertaking is to 
 stand under the protection and the shelter of Beauty!
 
 CHAPTER V 
 COUNT SIELEN'S WILL 
 
 THE gloomy autumnal sense of depression, which 
 had settled down on Franka's mind and the whole of 
 Sielenburg, grew ever deeper. Death was making 
 his entrance into the castle. For more than a week 
 the sick count's passing away had been expected 
 from hour to hour. The physicians had expressed 
 their opinion that it was inevitable and immediately 
 at hand. At Countess Adele's suggestion the priest 
 had already been summoned in order to administer 
 extreme unction to the man who lay unconscious in 
 his bed; the warder of the tower was ready at a 
 moment's notice to raise the black standard, and the 
 sexton of the adjacent church was only waiting for 
 the signal to ring the passing-bell. 
 
 Franka ventured several times to enter the sick 
 room which was now a death-chamber, and the 
 moans which came from the bed, and mingled with 
 the storm howling without in an unspeakably melan 
 choly dirge, rang incessantly in her ears, even after 
 she had left the room and repaired to her own, which 
 was situated in the other wing of the castle, where 
 the wind could not be heard. 
 
 Here she was now sitting in the dark, it was 
 about seven o'clock in the evening, and was 
 thinking of her own father's death, which so short 
 a time before had left her an orphan. Now, by the 
 
 68
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 loss of her grandfather, she would be once more quite 
 friendless in that house. Her tears flowed for the 
 poor departed father, for the poor departing count, 
 and likewise for the poor deserted maiden for 
 herself. 
 
 Suddenly she pricked up her ears. In the prevail 
 ing silence she heard a distant commotion : the open 
 ing and shutting of doors, hurrying footsteps, voices. 
 . . . With a throbbing heart she sprang up and 
 turned on the light. At the same instant her maid 
 came hurrying into the room. 
 
 "What has happened? . . . My grandfather? . . ." 
 "Yes, Miss Franka; the count has passed away!" 
 
 On the morning after the funeral, which was con 
 ducted with imposing state, the Countess Adele sent 
 for Franka. 
 
 " I have summoned you, my dear child, to have a 
 few serious words with you. Sit down." 
 
 "What can this mean?" queried Franka in some 
 perturbation. 
 
 "You have shown deep and, as it seems to me, 
 genuine sorrow at the death of my poor brother." 
 
 "Oh, yes, I loved him so!" 
 
 "And you were right, for he was very kind per 
 haps a little too kind to you. He has not left you 
 unprovided for. His will has not been opened as yet, 
 but I know about it, for he told me before you came 
 that he intended to leave you a legacy of forty or 
 fifty thousand crowns. That is a very neat little 
 fortune. It is enough to cover the bond and you 
 can marry an officer. Besides, that is your natural 
 
 69
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 vocation to marry. You could not be a canoness 
 because you have bourgeois blood; and since you 
 have bourgeois blood, you can have no claim to mar 
 riage in our class. Of course, you will not think of 
 remaining at the Sielenburg. Here you would have 
 no opportunity . . . and you do not get along very 
 well with us. I have never referred again to that 
 fatal matter of the books, but the sting remains. . . . 
 At all events, I would not think of casting you off. 
 After all, you are my beloved brother's granddaugh 
 ter he recognized you as such ... so you are not 
 to sink back into the sphere in which you were 
 brought up. Therefore, Cousin Albertine and I have 
 decided that she Cousin Albertine should take 
 charge of you. She lives in Teschen a little city in 
 Silesia. A very large garrison is quartered there, and 
 no doubt, as soon as it is known that you possess the 
 necessary amount, you will have suitors among the 
 officers, for you are a pretty girl. One should not 
 depend too much on mere physical beauty; still it 
 is a recommendation especially in matrimonial 
 affairs. . . . Albertine remained unmarried simply 
 because she was excessively homely . . . that is still 
 very evident. You will be very comfortable at her 
 house she keeps up a very nice establishment 
 all the officers' wives attend her 'At Homes,' and 
 young men will not stay away as soon as it is known 
 that the pretty niece is not quite without means. 
 But you must take great care not to give utterance 
 to such anti-military views as are preached in an 
 other terrible book which we found in your room 
 ' Das Rote Lachen ' what a title ! However, Aunt 
 
 70
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Albertine will instruct you in the proper rules of 
 behavior. As you know, she is very plain-spoken, for 
 she is extraordinarily frank but that should never 
 offend you! She means it for your best good." 
 
 Franka let the old lady talk on, and did not make 
 a sign. Formerly she would have rebelled against 
 much that her aunt said, especially against the ex 
 pressions, "sink back into the sphere in which she 
 had been brought up " ; but now, on the day after the 
 count's burial she would have no quarrel with his sis 
 ter. She keenly felt that she could not exist in the 
 "sphere" to which they were trying to elevate her; 
 she had decided to depart from the Sielenburg and to 
 refuse Aunt Albertine's offer. If it was true that her 
 good grandfather had so generously remembered her, 
 the amount mentioned seemed to her a very con 
 siderable sum, she was protected against poverty, 
 and was her own mistress. And even if there was 
 no legacy for her, she would prefer to go out into 
 the world and obtain some situation. Anything but 
 this state of dependence! Anything but this moral 
 dungeon ! 
 
 "Well, what do you say to this?" said the aunt in 
 conclusion, after she had gone on in the same tone 
 for some time. 
 
 "Excuse 'me, at present I have nothing to say. I 
 am so affected by the sad occurrences of the last 
 few days I really cannot answer." 
 
 "Very good; go back to your room again. I cer 
 tainly appreciate that you are quite unstrung, first 
 from grief at your grandfather's death and also by 
 joy at the brilliant prospects which I have disclosed
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 to you. . . . So, then, we will take up the subject 
 another time. There is no hurry Aunt Albertine 
 will not return to Teschen for six weeks ; till then you 
 can remain here." 
 
 Franka stood up. "May I go?" 
 
 "Yes, but at three o'clock this afternoon come to 
 the green salon. At that time we are to meet there 
 and Dr. Fixstern, who has Eduard's will, is to read 
 it. As you are probably mentioned in it, you should 
 attend the meeting." 
 
 At the specified hour all the members of the family 
 present at the castle assembled in the "green salon." 
 Besides the Countess Adele, Miss Albertine, and 
 Cousin Coriolan, there were a few distant relatives 
 who had come to the Sielenburg for the funeral. 
 Franka entered last and took her place in a chair by 
 the wall near the doorway. The others sat in a semi 
 circle in front of the table where Dr. Fixstern was 
 engaged in taking documents out of a portfolio. 
 
 "Are all the persons concerned present? " he asked 
 after he had taken his seat in the armchair. 
 
 "Yes, all are here," answered the Countess Adele. 
 "You may proceed, Doctor." 
 
 Great excitement was visible in the features of 
 those in the semicircle. They were all more or less 
 pale and breathless. The doctor straightened his 
 spectacles and began : 
 
 " Ladies and gentlemen, I have here the testament 
 of my honored patron and client, Count Eduard von 
 Sielen, and I will now read it before the assembled 
 family. For more than twenty years, I have had the 
 
 72
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 honor of serving as the attorney and agent of the 
 late count. It is, therefore, only natural that he 
 should have put into my hands the will which I and 
 my solicitor have signed as witnesses, and that he 
 should have designated me as his executor. I am 
 fully acquainted with the condition of his affairs and 
 I have an inventory of all the real estate and per 
 sonal property which he has left. Here it is: if you 
 will grant me permission, I will first put this fully 
 before you. 
 
 "The count's property was larger than might have 
 been supposed from his comparatively modest scale 
 of living. It consists: (i) Of the domain of Sielen- 
 burg in Moravia, of Grossmarkendorf in Lower 
 Austria, and of Hochberg in Carinthia. These pos 
 sessions amount altogether to 8700 acres of land and 
 are unencumbered; (2) the Sielen palace on the 
 Wieden in Vienna; (3) bank-deposits in English and 
 national banks amounting nominally to two mil 
 lion five hundred thousand crowns. I have also a 
 complete list of the jewels, silver plate, paintings, 
 and furniture to be found in the various castles, in 
 the Vienna palace, and also in storage. And now I 
 will proceed to the reading of the will." 
 
 The excitement in the semicircle had grown still 
 more intense, and while the lawyer was breaking the 
 seal of the envelope and unfolding a large sheet 
 of parchment, one might have heard the beating 
 hearts of those in the assembly. 
 
 Dr. Fixstern cleared his throat a second time and 
 read in a loud voice : 
 
 "This is my last will. 
 
 73
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 " I commend my soul to God. 
 
 "Since my property is not entailed, I am free to 
 dispose of it in accordance with my best judgment. 
 
 "I make my disposition as follows: I nominate 
 as my universal legatee my granddaughter, Franka 
 Garlett." 
 
 At this all uttered an " Ah! " which was more like a 
 shriek than an exclamation. Cries of astonishment, 
 of disillusionment, of indignation, of dismay. Only 
 the cry of joy was lacking, for Franka had sprung to 
 her feet, mute with terror, and then instantly sank 
 back again. She would have preferred to run away 
 to her father, that she might bring to him this 
 astounding piece of news ! to her grandfather that 
 she might thank him. . . . But they were both dead. 
 Here among the living there was no one who would 
 look on her with anything but envy. Then before 
 her mind arose the thought of her anonymous corre 
 spondent whose tender word had flown to her: "I 
 am fond of you "... If only he were by her side . . . ! 
 
 A moment passed before the general stupefaction 
 had subsided, and Dr. Fixstern could proceed. Now 
 followed various bequests. All the relatives, even 
 the most distant, were remembered with larger or 
 smaller legacies; for the functionaries and servants 
 were bequests either in money or in pensions; vari 
 ous charitable institutions were also remembered. 
 Mr. Chlodwig Helmer, "whose character I have 
 learned to value very highly," received a valuable 
 ring; Dr. Fixstern as the executor received a hand 
 some legacy. After the bequests were paid, the 
 property descending to the residuary legatee would 
 
 74
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 be diminished by not far from a million crowns. 
 After he had finished reading the document, Dr. 
 Fixstern arose and went to Franka, who was still 
 sitting near the entrance to the salon, and made a 
 low bow: 
 
 "Miss Garlett, receive my congratulations: you 
 are the mistress of Sielenburg." 
 
 The others came also and congratulated her with 
 bitter-sweet looks. Franka was still, as it were, 
 stunned. 
 
 "It seems to me," she said, "as if I ought to ask 
 the forgiveness of you all"; and the tension of her 
 nerves gave way in a spasmodic fit of weeping. 
 
 Aunt Albertine began to busy herself tenderly 
 with her: 
 
 " Come, come ; I will conduct you to your room . . . 
 you must recover from the shock ..." 
 
 The way from the green salon to Franka's cham 
 ber was through a suite of salons down the long 
 corridors, up the monumental staircase; and this 
 way, which she had so often taken, now seemed to 
 her wholly new it was all her own property, her 
 realm. . . . Under Miss Albertine's affectionate guid 
 ance she reached her room, but there she asked to be 
 left alone for a while she desired to rest, she felt so 
 unstrung. . . . 
 
 " Yes, my darling, now get a good rest. I will go." 
 Franka locked the door as soon as Miss Albertine 
 had left the room. No one must disturb her she 
 wanted to be alone with her great destiny. She drew 
 deep audible sighs just as one does after climbing a 
 mountain-peak. Indeed, it was a peak to which she 
 
 75
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 had been elevated a dizzy peak. What possibili 
 ties lay open before her what duties must she ful 
 fill! Like a flash of lightning the thought went 
 through her mind: " I must accomplish something!" 
 
 What? 
 
 That she knew not. This thought was only a 
 germ: but she felt that something would come to 
 fruition. A voice seemed to say to her: "Franka, 
 something great, something marvelous has happened 
 to you"; and in the depths of her soul came her 
 answer: " I will be worthy of this marvelous thing." 
 
 "Be worthy?" Where had she seen or heard that 
 word lately? Oh, yes, now she remembered : she took 
 from her writing-table Helmer's letter there it 
 was. "Show yourself let us all show ourselves 
 worthy of having been born under the glory of the 
 twentieth century. . . ." 
 
 Some one knocked at the door. Franka put the 
 letter back into the drawer and went to open the 
 door. 
 
 The Countess Adele entered. "So you wanted to 
 rest after your being so startled? Yes, it is startling, 
 to be sure. . . . Who could ever have imagined ! I 
 must have a little talk with you about it .... We 
 must have a clear understanding as to what is to be 
 done now." 
 
 She sat down, and Franka, resigning herself, took 
 a seat. What would Aunt Adele have to say now? 
 Probably a whole series of suggestions and coun 
 sels. . . . But in her heart the purpose stirred: "I 
 will do what I please." 
 
 "Well, aunt," she said aloud, "let us talk. It is 
 
 76
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 truly an unexpected, overpowering stroke of Fate. 
 I am still perfectly dazed by it." 
 
 "I can believe you. Now everything is changed. 
 Nothing more needs to be said about the plan of 
 your going to Teschen which we discussed this morn 
 ing. Albertine, of course, would be only too glad to 
 have you come to her she told us so before but 
 there would be no sense in it ; you will remain with 
 me at the Sielenburg until you are married." 
 
 "And whom am I going to marry?" 
 
 "That will take care of itself. You will not lack 
 suitors, now that you are a brilliant match. You 
 would bring your husband several landed estates, 
 a palace, and a considerable sum of money. Your 
 choice must fall on a solid, sensible man who under 
 stands the careful management of property. I could 
 suggest one to you, but it is premature to talk about 
 it as yet. But in the mean time we shall keep up the 
 establishment, have some great hunting-parties, and 
 the right person will come at the right moment. Of 
 course, for the present we shall live secluded you 
 see we shall be in mourning for a year, and it would 
 not do at all to go into society during these twelve 
 months. But you can utilize the time by trying to 
 cultivate good manners. You are so lacking in what 
 is required for the rank which you will take in our 
 circle ... I will invite two young nieces to come 
 here as companions for you, and you can improve 
 your ways by observing how they behave, and then 
 you can obtain from them good sound ideas the 
 dear girls have been educated in the Sacr Cceur 
 Convent and are very religious and ' comme il faut ' 
 
 77
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 in their opinions. Yet at the same time they are 
 merry as becomes their age and yours. . . . And if 
 you wish to keep these rooms as yours, it will be all 
 right. Or, if you like, I can have prepared for you 
 the apartments that belonged to your mother and 
 which have been unoccupied since her flight. You 
 need have no care concerning the housekeeping in 
 the first place, you do not understand anything about 
 it, and, besides, I have been in charge of it for years. 
 And naturally you know nothing about managing 
 the estate. . . . But we have an excellent intendant 
 and Cousin Coriolan will gladly have an eye to the 
 direction of affairs and take charge of the accounts. 
 I will talk with Dr. Fixstern about the management 
 of your property of course, you know nothing 
 about that either, and so you need not have any 
 bother about all that. For your own little expendi 
 tures toilet, charities, and so forth I will allow 
 you suitable pocket-money. Are you listening to 
 me? You look so distraite. 11 
 
 "I? Oh, yes, I have heard you." 
 
 "Well, and what have you to say?" 
 
 " I have nothing at all to say to-day. As you just 
 remarked, it is too soon. I must first collect my 
 thoughts." 
 
 "Well, you need not think and worry. Experi 
 enced people are here to relieve you. So we will talk 
 no more about these things now ' To-morrow is 
 another day.' Adieu for now, and do not be too late 
 in coming down to dinner." 
 
 "I should like to be excused for to-night, aunt. I 
 am going to bed very shortly." 
 
 78
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "That is a good idea; then I will have your dinner 
 sent up to you. Have a good night's sleep and wake 
 up to-morrow fresh and rested. You look so scared 
 not at all like the lucky creature that you are ; and 
 do not forget to fall on your knees and thank the 
 good God for pouring out such a blessing on you." 
 
 "Horrible!" exclaimed Franka aloud, as soon as 
 she was alone. And then she began to laugh. The 
 humor of the thing had not escaped her. That very 
 morning the countess had said to her that, of course, 
 her further stay at the Sielenburg was not to be 
 thought of, and now the old lady was willing to let 
 her stay "with her," and would undertake the man 
 agement of her whole future a future which lay 
 before her so great, so enigmatical, so full of power 
 and magnificence a future opening out before 
 such duties and possibilities. Again her mind turned 
 to the as yet unformulated germ of plans half-con 
 ceived such as Aunt Adele, in her narrow horizon, 
 had never even dreamed. No, no, this proposed 
 tyranny must be shaken off as speedily and as de 
 cisively as possible. Franka felt that she had the 
 courage and the power to do so, although she was 
 alone. 
 
 Alone in this milieu, yes; but she felt as if she had 
 comradeship and support in the world outside, in the 
 hovering spirit of her father, in the souls of those 
 new men who were striving for lofty aims, in how 
 had Chlodwig Helmer expressed it? in community 
 with all that is holy in the eternal and the infinite. . . . 
 All she needed was freedom, and this was now 
 brought to her by her wealth; also by the fact that 
 
 79
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 no sort of tradition or duty bound her to the environ 
 ment in which it was planned to asphyxiate and 
 strangle her, if she could not tear herself away from 
 it. But she could and she would. . . . She was mis 
 tress of the Sielenburg, and what was most precious 
 to her she was mistress of herself. 
 
 The following morning she sent for Dr. Fixstern to 
 come to her. She asked him to explain to her once 
 more her rights and her title in the property. Then 
 she told him of the Countess Schollendorf's pro 
 posals and of her own firm resolve not to accept 
 them. She was greatly relieved to find that Dr. 
 Fixstern was not at all on the side of the countess, as 
 she had feared, but wholly on hers. He was right 
 eously indignant at the old lady's presumption ; and 
 when Franka told him of her proposal to dole out to 
 the unrestricted possessor of millions a limited sum 
 of pocket-money he laughed heartily. 
 
 The conference lasted some time. Franka had 
 many questions to ask and Dr. Fixstern had also 
 many things to tell her, many explanations, much 
 good advice to give her. Only after the estate had 
 been fully settled would the exact amount of her for 
 tune be known, but in the mean time she would be 
 able to get some idea of what she would have by 
 glancing over the inventory that he had with him ; 
 and he read to her the figures representing the income 
 and the payments which would have to be deducted 
 from it. Franka listened with increasing delight as 
 she began to comprehend what enormous wealth had 
 fallen into her lap. The joyous sensation of the dis 
 coverer of a treasure filled her heart. For the very 
 
 80
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 reason that she had gone through the school of 
 poverty and deprivation, she was now able to appre 
 ciate the value of riches, and she had already got 
 an inkling of the independence, the esteem, and the 
 enjoyment which her property was to vouchsafe her. 
 
 At the same time, as a sort of absolution from 
 the sin of pride in possession, she cherished the con 
 sciousness that she should make use of the power 
 that had come to her for something noble and grand 
 and daring. 
 
 Franka expressed her desire to go that very win 
 ter to Vienna and take up her residence in her palace. 
 Dr. Fixstern entirely acquiesced, and declared that 
 he and his wife would do everything to aid her; he 
 assured her that she might depend upon him in 
 every way ; the long devotion which he had showed 
 to the late count he was ready now to show the 
 granddaughter.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 A SECOND ANONYMOUS MESSAGE 
 
 CHLODWIG HELMER was writing the last act of his 
 drama. He was well satisfied with his work. But he 
 knew how wide and perhaps impossible was the gulf 
 between the finishing of a theatrical piece and its 
 production. Yet even as it was, he felt his heart 
 swell with that comfortable sensation which every 
 creative artist experiences when he succeeds in 
 clothing in definite form that which has hovered in 
 his mind. 
 
 Ever since Helmer had left the Sielenburg, he had 
 occupied himself exclusively with literary work. His 
 dismissal had come to him very unexpectedly. One 
 morning Count Sielen had received him with these 
 words: 
 
 "My dear Helmer, I have something to say to 
 you. . . . During the two years since you have been 
 with me, I have become very fond of you. You are a 
 fine, sensible fellow, you have irreproachable man 
 ners I have no fault, absolutely no fault to find 
 with you and yet do not be surprised I am 
 giving you your cong6. . . . Do not ask my reasons, 
 but I give you my word of honor that you are not to 
 blame for my taking this step. As a proof that I feel 
 for you something more than good will, I am going 
 to give you recommendations as hearty as you could 
 desire. You will secure a place ten times better than 
 
 82
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 this ; and in order that you may have opportunity to 
 look about and to choose I am handing you a check 
 for a sum sufficient for you to live two years free 
 from anxiety. . . . No, no ! do not protest : you must 
 accept it out of love for me ... in order to console 
 me. It is painful enough for me to lose you. ... In 
 fact, I need the services of a physician rather than of 
 a secretary . . . but I shall miss you keenly, and I do 
 not want to have the additional sorrow of knowing 
 that you are worried ; it is not always easy to find a 
 place and you must not take the first that offers 
 in short, you dare not refuse to do this favor for your 
 old sick friend." 
 
 Helmer also had not found it easy to leave the 
 count. A few days after this peculiar notice and after 
 a very affectionate leave-taking from the old man, he 
 departed from the castle of Sielenburg. He had no 
 opportunity to say good-bye to Franka: on the day 
 of his departure she had gone for a visit in the neigh 
 borhood with the Countess Adele. Better so the 
 farewell would have been hard for him. And perhaps 
 it was better, on the whole, that he was going away, 
 for he would otherwise have been certain to fall 
 desperately in love with the beautiful girl. Already 
 he felt that he had partly lost his heart to her so 
 it was best as it was. He settled down in one of the 
 suburbs of Vienna where he proposed to devote him 
 self to literary work for a time. Perhaps, if he should 
 succeed, he might exclusively follow this career. 
 
 He took up his abode in a villa situated amid green 
 vegetation. He had easy access to his beloved for 
 est ; if he desired to go to the city it was a short and 
 
 83
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 speedy trip by the cars. There he frequently visited 
 his boyhood friend, Baron Franz Bruning the one 
 to whom he wrote the long letter from the Sielenburg 
 and who now had a Government position. Not that 
 Helmer found any especial enjoyment in this inter 
 course. The character and nature of his early play 
 mate had developed in a direction which was simply 
 uncongenial to him. But old associations always 
 form a bond not easily broken. He also associated 
 with a few young people in literary and artistic 
 circles. Nevertheless, he rarely, at most only twice a 
 week, went to town; for his work kept him fast in his 
 voluntary isolation. 
 
 "Curtain!" Now the last scene of the drama was 
 completed and he wrote the word "Curtain" with a 
 joyful sigh of relief. He was startled from the agree 
 able relaxation of the moment by a knock at the 
 door. He shouted, "Come in!" and there entered a 
 very elegantly dressed man of medium stature with 
 a highly colored, full-moon face adorned with a tiny 
 black mustache. 
 
 "Ah, is it you, Franz?" 
 
 "Yes, I had to hunt you down in your den if 
 for nothing else, to talk with you about the astonish 
 ing news." 
 
 "What news?" 
 
 " Give me a cigar first. Thanks! I mean the news 
 from Sielenburg." 
 
 "I know nothing about it." 
 
 "Do not you read your paper, man alive?" 
 
 " I confess I have been so busy the last few days 
 
 84
 
 WHEN .THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 with my work that I have scarcely glanced at the 
 papers." 
 
 "And you did not know that the old count is 
 dead?" 
 
 " Dead ! " exclaimed Chlodwig, in a tone of genuine 
 concern. "How? When?" 
 
 "A few days ago and his granddaughter, Miss 
 Franka, whom you admired so much, is left uni 
 versal legatee. . . . She seems to have succeeded in 
 making good. . . . Have not you a chance there? 
 She would be a match!" 
 
 Chlodwig was dumb with astonishment. He was, 
 indeed, glad that such a piece of extraordinary good 
 fortune had befallen the charming young lady ; but 
 one thing he contemplated with horror the crowd 
 of fortune-hunters that would surround her. 
 
 "If you had been a foxy fellow," pursued the 
 other, "you would have turned the girl's head 
 but, of course, you could not have foreseen what was 
 to happen to her." 
 
 Without paying any attention to these observa 
 tions, which seemed to him forced in their humor, 
 Chlodwig said : 
 
 "This news moves me deeply . . . the poor count 
 . . . and the granddaughter ... a remarkable ro 
 mance! . . . Where did you read all this?" 
 
 " In the ' Presse' ; three days ago the report of the 
 count's death, and this morning, the will." 
 
 Chlodwig glanced through the papers lying on his 
 table and found the paragraphs. 
 
 "Are you not going to condole with the orphan so 
 cruelly robbed of her grandpapa?" 
 
 85
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Chlodwig shrugged his shoulders. Bruning's tone 
 was particularly disagreeable to him to-day. 
 
 Franz stood up. "But I must look around a little 
 . . . you are charmingly situated. . . . What a view 
 out over the open ..." 
 
 From the window he went to the bookcases. 
 
 "Look! look! what a swarm of poets: Stefan 
 George, Hofmannsthal, Dehmel, Liliencron, Swin 
 burne, Rostand. . . . Verses, verses, verses. . . . Well, 
 as you yourself are a poet, of course you must 
 wade through them all. ... I cannot read more than 
 two lines of rhyme at one fell swoop . . . everything 
 exaggerated goes against my very soul ... a hun 
 dred, or say fifty, years ago, in the romantic epoch, 
 such things were at least permissible ; in these days 
 all this seems false to our prosaic world, which is avid 
 of money and power, and it finds no echo. To win 
 the battle, one must force one's way through with 
 one's elbows. As far as I am concerned, one may 
 indulge in a little wooing and cooing, but no ro 
 mances. . . . And what have you there! Technical 
 journals about airships and the technic of aviation? 
 Does that interest you? I can understand that. The 
 thing can be taken in earnest: a new sport, a new 
 weapon, a new industry . . ." 
 
 "Nothing else?" 
 
 "Well, yes; also new regulations for insurance 
 against aviation accidents." 
 
 He continued to rummage through the book 
 shelves "Oh, yes, you have the novels of aerial 
 warfare: Sand, Martin, Wells . . . those are mere 
 phantasmagorias. One must stick to the truth. One 
 
 86
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 must learn to know and to despise men and things 
 as they are then can one best conquer them and 
 make them useful. . . . But I see that you are not in 
 the mood to discuss to-day : you are generally ready 
 to go off half-cocked when I let some of my knowl 
 edge of the world shine upon you." 
 
 "Shine? Your pessimism has about as much 
 shine in it as a pair of snuffers . . . and snuffers, you 
 know, are things not used in our day : they were good 
 enough for tallow candles, but not for electric lamps 
 and search-lights." 
 
 "Now I recognize you again, you incorrigible 
 poet truly I can find no harsher expression. You 
 will be breaking your dainty wings bravely in our 
 rough reality, you there now, I have invented still 
 another insult you cloud-dweller! But I will no 
 longer beard you in your own den . . . besides, I have 
 no time you live horribly far away from the bound 
 aries of civilization. Let us see you before long. ..." 
 
 When he was left alone, Chlodwig sat down again 
 at his writing-table and attempted to read over the 
 last act of his just-completed drama, in order to put 
 in some last touches. But he could not fix his mind 
 on it. His thoughts kept flying to the old count's 
 deathbed and to the remarkable vicissitude in 
 Franka's fate. He felt impelled to speak to her, and 
 so he took a sheet of paper and began to write with 
 out being certain whether he should send the letter 
 or not. 
 
 Mistress of the Sielenburg, I salute you! 
 This time you have not appeared to me in a dream, but 
 you are vividly visible before my inward eye. For I have 
 
 87
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 just heard what has happened to you, and I see you sur 
 rounded by a thousand perils and by as many what is 
 the opposite of perils? I cannot find the right expression. 
 . . . Well, as perils signify threatening misfortune, so here 
 I mean "beckoning felicity." 
 
 In my previous letter I mentioned things which in 
 gloomy days and ways might offer shelter and refuge in 
 sorrow and poverty things whereby one may win the 
 power to rise above one's self. Now you are rich super 
 latively rich. You can command everything that belongs 
 among the so-called "amenities" of life: you are protected 
 against cares and privations and humiliations. With your 
 wealth you can escape innumerable forms of suffering; 
 whether you can purchase the highest forms of enjoyment 
 and pride in life depends on the strength of your spirit. 
 
 Against the peril of wealth I suggest the same talisman 
 as was contained in my former letter to elevate your 
 self above yourself to take hold on the life of the uni 
 verse, on the efforts of humanity. The peril for the rich is 
 in being drawn down into the abyss of the ordinary. 
 The banal duties of luxury waste time and stupefy the 
 intellect. The attempt will be made by pleasure-seekers 
 and pride-cankered people to whirl you away into social 
 dissipations ; smart hussars and dragoons will besiege you 
 in order, by securing your hand, to get possession of 
 estates where they can enjoy hunting and horse-racing, 
 tennis and automobiling, bridge and flirting, and, if they 
 chance to be aristocrats, will make you feel it bitterly that 
 you are not presentable at court. 
 
 Yet I know well that life is so full of the unexpected, 
 the uncalculated, and the marvelous, that such general 
 warnings, such sermonizing, sounding as they do rather 
 perfunctory, perhaps will find no application to what is 
 before you. But I could not endure that you should be 
 shunted over on that track where the society that sur 
 rounds you runs along empty of all lofty aims and deaf 
 and blind to the mighty changes that are in prepara 
 tion. . . . 
 
 88
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 I do not believe that the generation of our day has the 
 time to run the cars of tradition over the rails of conven 
 tion to the very end. There are ominous signs flashing 
 along the horizon. New and unheard-of events are coming 
 to pass and soon ! And they do not need come by a 
 revolution. That also is an ancient and probably anti 
 quated form of transformation. Quite new forms may 
 make their appearance. It may be that the flashing yon 
 der does not portend a tempest; perhaps it is only the 
 twilight of a rising sun a sun which none of us has seen 
 as yet, for we are still only children of Barbarism's polar 
 night which has lasted hundreds, nay, not merely hun 
 dreds but thousands of years. I want to see you, Franka, 
 among the heralds of the coming light, among those who 
 are storming the cloudy walls behind which it is still con 
 cealed. 
 
 Do not believe that, because you are a woman and 
 young and beautiful, such a part is not cast for you. The 
 new day offers women also the right of fighting in the 
 ranks, or rather they are winning it for themselves, 
 and assuredly the old sagas gave them spears and shields 
 the Valkyrie also are young and beautiful Hojo-to- 
 ho! Heia-ha! Franka, become great, or at least will 
 something great! 
 
 Mankind to-day but so few realize it stands at a 
 turning-point more decisive than any in its previous his 
 tory. This has often been said before all the instigators 
 of any political or scientific revolution have been accus 
 tomed to close their manifestoes with the ringing words : 
 "A new era is beginning"; and yet things remained ex 
 actly as they were before. But now : the mystery of 
 the air the uplift to the heights that is going to 
 change everything, everything that now goes under the 
 name of civilization. This will make the distinction be 
 tween the coming epoch and the present, one sharper 
 than between any of the so-called epochs of history. 
 Aye, everything, everything is to be changed, and in a 
 tempo which will be related to the changes of earlier times 
 
 89
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 somewhat as an electric locomotive compares with a 
 pedestrian's gait, or as a hurricane whirling up water 
 spouts compares with a summer breeze crinkling the sur 
 face of a pond. We shall not be able to stand against such 
 a tempest. We shall be either borne upon its wings, or 
 swept away by it. 
 
 A friend has just been scolding me as a "Poet," because 
 I have the fault of using figures of speech and have the 
 to him much worse fault of being an optimist. Do not 
 be deceived by this, Franka. I am not unreasonable. It 
 requires a far keener sense to perceive the aroma of 
 beauty and goodness which penetrates the atmosphere of 
 our lives than it does to behold only the harsh and hate 
 ful, or else to see it, even where it is not present. . . . 
 
 I cannot bring this letter to a close, so I will simply 
 stop. . . . 
 
 That morning Franka received a very abundant 
 mail, consisting of congratulations and letters of 
 fealty from the various persons employed on the 
 other estates that had become hers, begging letters 
 of the most extraordinary pretensions from unknown 
 persons, offers of commodities from all kinds of busi 
 ness houses; and among all the weeds one fresh 
 bouquet Chlodwig Helmer's second message to 
 her. 
 
 She read the letter and read it again, and it gave 
 her pleasure. What had hovered dimly before her 
 inward vision to dedicate her wealth to some 
 great and noble purpose was now put before her 
 as a command: "Be, or at least will, something 
 great." So then, there was one person who felt that 
 she was capable of forming such a purpose and of 
 carrying it out; and it was the same person whose 
 ideas so completely coincided with her dear father's. 
 
 90
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 She determined to take the advice of Chlodwig 
 Helmer, for she had no doubt that he was the 
 writer of the unsigned letter, and to ask him what 
 he considered the great work which she should go 
 forth, armed with spear and shield, to accomplish. 
 . . . Aye, it was true, he was rather inclined to speak 
 metaphorically, but behind his metaphors there 
 must be something actual and comprehensible: he 
 must tell her and answer her questions. 
 
 In the mean time, the letter served to confirm her 
 in her as yet unformulated aspirations. First of all, 
 she must escape from the nets and bonds which her 
 great-aunt was anxious to throw around her. Up to 
 the present time she had postponed making any 
 explanation; now Chlodwig's letter gave her the 
 impulse to declare her independence that very day. 
 She was certain of Dr. Fixstern's practical coopera 
 tion. 
 
 When at luncheon-time she entered the small 
 dining-room where the household were all assem 
 bled, she asked her aunt to grant her an interview as 
 soon as they had finished the meal. 
 
 "That will be perfectly convenient," replied 
 Aunt Adele. " I also have a number of things that I 
 want to say to you, and we must have a perfectly 
 clear understanding regarding those things which we 
 recently talked about." 
 
 They took their places at table. It was only a 
 small company. The relatives that had come from 
 a distance had taken their departure. Dr. Fixstern 
 also had gone to Vienna, and only Miss Albertine, 
 Cousin Coriolan, and the domestic chaplain were
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 present besides Franka and the countess. So far, the 
 affairs of the household had gone on without altera 
 tion Countess Adele held the reins, and no in 
 structions were asked from Franka. 
 
 Winter had set in. The trees were leafless and 
 the first fires were lighted. 
 
 "We shall soon have snow," remarked Coriolan. 
 "Oh, how gay it used to be here in years gone by 
 at this time of the year. . . . We always had great 
 hunting-parties ... a thousand hares on one day 
 and often twenty or thirty guests at the hunting- 
 dinner and then a famous jeu till late at night. 
 Listen, Franka, next year you must certainly give 
 a hunting-party ..." 
 
 "I will look out for that," remarked Countess 
 Adele; "we shall keep up to the traditions of the 
 Sielenburg. The Sielenburg Hunts were famous all 
 over the country. So they were at our other estates." 
 
 " Yes, the late count blessed be his memory 
 was very fond of hunting on his estate in Carinthia," 
 said the reverend father; "there's a splendid run for 
 stags." 
 
 "We let it this year," said the countess. 
 
 "Not to any manufacturer or Budapest Jew, I 
 hope?" exclaimed Cousin Coriolan. "I'd rather 
 have the game run wild all over the forest than per 
 mit unsuitable persons to hunt on a preserve, and 
 big game, too, so that brokers might put up a 
 sixteen-horned stag in their offices where they specu 
 late over futures in the grain-market." 
 
 "Since you are talking about grain, Herr Baron," 
 said the reverend father, " the price of flour has gone 
 
 92
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 up again and so have meat and milk. The poor 
 people, especially in the cities, will soon be unable to 
 exist. You will have an opportunity, Miss Franka, 
 to practice charity. Truly, there is much poverty 
 and the rising cost of provisions ..." 
 
 "Who is at fault?" interrupted Coriolan. "The 
 low classes no longer know what they ought to want. 
 They want to have theaters and concerts, and there 
 are always agitators who stir them up to discontent 
 unscrupulous people the so-called leaders, al 
 ways from the circle of the intellectuals, as the Free 
 masons and Jews like to call themselves. If some 
 radical way is not adopted to put an end to this 
 mob, I am in favor of driving them out, since it is 
 against the law to shoot them down. ..." 
 
 "But, Baron," said the reverend father sooth 
 ingly, "that would be rather too drastic. The 
 working-people are quite right in their desire to 
 better their condition!" 
 
 "What is that? 'better their condition' be 
 lieve me, your reverence, in the old days they were 
 all far more content, the artisans as well as the 
 peasants. My father and my grandfather always 
 used to tell how much better things were before 
 1848 than they are now. The common people were 
 under the protection of the nobles . . . they were 
 happy and satisfied and industrious, and they had 
 no thought of the foolish nonsense which is now 
 preached to them equal rights and the like. They 
 were far happier, indeed, they were. Moreover, 
 times are growing worse and worse. A firm govern 
 ment must take a hand and lock up these pestilen- 
 
 93
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 tial babblers on the Franzensring the Minister- 
 President ought ..." 
 
 "Oh, I beg your pardon, Coriolan, don't begin to 
 talk politics again," exclaimed Miss Albertine. "It 
 is almost rude to do so in the presence of ladies. You 
 know we are not interested in such things, because 
 we don't understand them at all, and we don't want 
 to understand them." 
 
 "I am talking with the chaplain . . . you are at 
 liberty to talk about your own feminine trash ..." 
 
 ' ' Feminine trash, indeed ! How coarse you are ! I 
 must tell you frankly that your manners often are 
 very objectionable! Do not be offended with me, but 
 I make the observation for your own best good." 
 
 After luncheon Countess Schollendorf invited 
 Franka to accompany her to her room. 
 
 "Here we shall be quite undisturbed. . . . There 
 . . . now tell me what you have to say." 
 
 She had sunk down on her little sofa, near which 
 stood a small work-table. She took up her knitting, 
 for she was assiduous in her endeavors to provide the 
 village children with knitted or crocheted caps and 
 underwear. Franka took her seat in an armchair at 
 the other side of the table. She was visibly agitated. 
 Her mourning-gown accentuated the pallor of her 
 face, and her mouth trembled slightly. It was not so 
 easy for her to speak what was on her mind. To be 
 sure, she had for several days gone over what she 
 intended to say, and her intention was unshaken, 
 but now, when the moment had come, she felt a 
 certain awkwardness. 
 
 " Now let us have it. What is the matter with you ? 
 
 94
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 You look quite disturbed, and at table you did not 
 speak a word . . . are you not quite well? You look 
 very pale. The way you dress your hair is not becom 
 ing to you . . . you must have it done in some other 
 way. When one has such a head of hair one should 
 wear it in braids, otherwise it looks disheveled." 
 
 "What I want to say to you, dear aunt, is this: I 
 am going to Vienna to-morrow and I intend to take 
 up my residence in my house on the Wieden and 
 manage my own housekeeping. I shall take of the 
 servants here only my maid; the rest may stay on 
 with you, as I am going to leave you in charge of the 
 Sielenburg so that you may manage it as long as you 
 wish, just as you have done." 
 
 Countess Schollendorf dropped the red woolen 
 jacket with its one completed sleeve into her lap. 
 She was speechless. 
 
 Franka, whose courage was gradually coming 
 back, continued : 
 
 "The administration of my property I am put 
 ting into the hands of Dr. Fixstern, who has always 
 enjoyed my grandfather's perfect confidence, and 
 who made only one condition, that I should select a 
 second assistant to share with him the labor and 
 responsibility of this function." 
 
 "What does all this mean? Have you lost your 
 wits? I do not understand you . . . you propose to 
 go to Vienna . . . well, as far as I am concerned, I 
 can go there perfectly well. The winter here is very 
 gloomy. But, of course, this year I cannot take you 
 out into society, for we are both in mourning. We 
 should naturally take the servants with us the 
 
 95
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 cook and the coachman ; then only the castellan and 
 a couple of housemaids would stay here . . . but 
 leave all that to me." 
 
 " Excuse me, aunt. You did not understand me. I 
 have invited you to consider the Sielenburg as your 
 home." 
 
 "You ... me? . . . invited?" 
 
 "Yes, for I intend to keep house in Vienna myself 
 and be my own mistress." 
 
 "You are going to live alone . . . you? A young 
 thing like you ... it is scandalous!" 
 
 "I am of age and perfectly independent, and I 
 know how to manage my own life in such a way that 
 no one will ever dare to apply the word ' scandalous ' 
 to me." 
 
 "What audacious language!" 
 
 "I will speak with perfect frankness. I propose 
 to take charge of my own destiny. You lately ex 
 plained to me that I was to accept from your hands 
 a husband, a couple of lady friends, and also a little 
 pocket-money . . . but I intend to choose my own 
 husband or not marry at all ; and as to my friends I 
 shall be able to find them among those who have 
 been brought up as I was and who think as I think. 
 If we two should remain together, dear aunt, there 
 would be an endless unprofitable battle. You would 
 always be striving to remodel me, to educate me, to 
 lay down all kinds of restrictions, and to enforce all 
 sorts of commands; and I, on my side, should try to 
 resist this whole guardianship, to escape from it, 
 and you would be vexed with me all the time, in 
 short, it would be for both of us a life of bitterness. 
 
 96
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 The separation cannot be painful to either of us, for I 
 was not brought up here I belong to another world 
 of ideas, I have quite another view of life. We have 
 lived together for only six months, and in that time 
 neither of us has taken to the other; very often you 
 have been annoyed with me, and likewise my whole 
 nature has revolted against the attempted domineer 
 ing. In spite of our relationship, we are still stran 
 gers. As for the respect due to the sister of my 
 generous beloved grandfather, I shall certainly never 
 fail in that ..." 
 
 "You call this respect? I call it unheard-of 
 impudence." 
 
 "You see how little we understand each other." 
 
 " I shall certainly not remain in Sielenburg if you 
 arrogate to yourself the claim of being the mistress 
 and allow me to stay here as a favor." 
 
 "I am not arrogating ..." She stopped. 
 
 "You mean, you are the mistress, and I am your 
 guest? Thank you most humbly." 
 
 " No, aunt. I certainly said the Sielenburg should 
 be your home with all that it contains and all that 
 appertains to it, and I am ready to grant you the use 
 of it as long as you live I mean for unrestricted 
 use, that is to say, with all the revenues that belong 
 to it ... by legal contract." 
 
 The old lady hesitated. That was an attractive 
 offer. For Franka herself she cared very little. Only 
 a short time before she had, so to speak, proposed 
 to expel her from the Sielenburg. She took up her 
 knitting again and mechanically took a few stitches. 
 
 "We will think it over," she said after a while.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 FRANKA'S SALON 
 
 WITH the aid of Dr. Fixstern and his wife, Franka 
 had established herself in the Vienna palace, hav 
 ing made first in the company of the doctor a trip 
 to Lower Austria and Carinthia for the purpose of 
 acquainting herself with her two other estates. The 
 castles there were fully as sumptuous and seigneurial 
 as Castle Sielenburg, even if not so comfortable and 
 homelike, and the reason for this was that its own 
 ers had always preferred Schloss Sielenburg, while 
 Grossmarkendorf and Hochberg generally stood 
 empty. The lands and industries belonging to them 
 were profitably rented, so that their administration 
 would not occasion any care to the possessor. The 
 fixed revenues were to be collected by the agent and 
 by him turned over to her. When Dr. Fixstern in 
 formed her of the amount of the income, she had to 
 suppress a cry of astonishment: so rich, so unbound 
 edly rich she was now! 
 
 "I must deserve it I must be worthy of this 
 unheard-of good fortune if I only knew how!" 
 
 She did not say that aloud. It was like a secret 
 burden of indebtedness which she had to carry 
 around with her. It would have to be paid that 
 was absolutely certain. Meantime, during this jour 
 ney through her domains, she gave herself up to the 
 
 98
 
 irresistibly joyful pride which the thought, "mine, 
 mine," is wont to arouse in any heart. 
 
 She found the Vienna palace in perfect order; 
 only a few slight alterations and refurnishings were 
 necessary to render comfortable and tasteful her 
 own suite of rooms. The domestics comprised the 
 major-domo, who had been connected with the 
 establishment for ten years, and his wife, who was 
 installed as housekeeper. Franka had brought her 
 own maid from the Sielenburg. The other servants 
 were new people. Franka had also engaged a com 
 panion. Her name was Eleonore von Rockhaus, the 
 daughter of a naval officer and the widow of a consul. 
 She had seen much of the world, and was a perfect 
 lady. Her age was about forty-five. Her hair was 
 just beginning to turn gray, but she had a youthfully 
 elastic figure, and delicate, friendly features ; she was 
 well read, almost an artist on the piano, an abso 
 lute mistress of French and English ; in short, she 
 was a jewel of a companion and chaperon. Perhaps 
 also she would prove to be a genuine friend, but as 
 to that the future would tell. Provisionally, the two 
 ladies were somewhat reserved in their intercourse 
 . . . first of all, they had to learn to know each other. 
 
 Franka did not open her heart to Eleonore von 
 Rockhaus. What was beginning to become a fixed 
 idea that the wealth lavished upon her as by a 
 gift of good fairies must be spent for some great pur 
 pose, that she herself must labor with her whole soul, 
 with all her energies, with all her gifts of body and 
 mind, so as to confer upon the world some advan 
 tage, some great blessing this dream, as yet vague 
 
 99
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 and unformulated, she did not confide to her com 
 panion. First she herself must go through a noviti 
 ate ; in other words, test herself, acquire more knowl 
 edge, look about her, clarify her thoughts. She 
 intended to question Helmer as to what reality 
 there was behind the visions which he outlined in 
 his letters. Yet even this she postponed. First she 
 desired to gain some experience from intercourse 
 with prominent men and women. To this end Dr. 
 Fixstern might be useful to her. As a highly re 
 spected lawyer, he had a wide circle of acquaint 
 ances, among them scientists, artists, statesmen, and 
 could bring the most interesting of them into the 
 Garlett palace. As for "Society," Franka had no 
 ambition at all. During the first year of mourning, 
 following her grandfather's death, that, as well as 
 attendance at concerts and theaters, would naturally 
 be out of question ; but besides, she felt no desire for 
 it: she knew that it might divert her from the serious 
 sacred duties to which she had consecrated herself, 
 although without having as yet settled in her own 
 mind what they should be. 
 
 It was four o'clock in the afternoon. The two 
 ladies had come in from their daily walk in the Pra 
 ter and were sitting in the little salon. A cheering 
 warmth and a rosy glow radiated from the gas-log; 
 the electric lights had not been turned on. It was 
 pleasanter to rest and chat in the twilight. 
 
 "It is delicious here," said Frau von Rockhaus, 
 leaning back in the comfortable armchair. "I look 
 forward with dismay to the time, probably not very 
 
 100
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 distant, when you will be getting married and will no 
 longer need me." 
 
 "I am not contemplating being married at 
 least, not for some time yet. ... I like my freedom. 
 Were you happy in your marriage, Frau Eleonore?" 
 
 " Not so very. My husband played me false with 
 the most exotic women. Besides, he was quarrel 
 some and very arbitrary. And yet, I liked him well 
 enough. That was unfortunate, because for that 
 very reason I was tormented with jealousy and suf 
 fered from his stern and cold behavior." 
 
 "That seems to me the most terrible thing: an 
 unloving or an unloved husband. I would only 
 marry when I was certain that I loved the man with 
 my whole heart, only when I knew that he was not 
 after my money but how can one know that? 
 And then, besides, I cannot possibly marry yet 
 awhile : I must remain my own mistress in order to 
 accomplish a certain task." 
 
 "A task? What?" 
 
 "Oh, no matter I am not talking about it as 
 yet." 
 
 "The first and most important duty which a per 
 son, especially a young and pretty girl, has to ful 
 fill is to be happy. Besides, what can a woman un 
 dertake and accomplish by herself? Of course, if we 
 lived in England, you might become a Suffragette or 
 join the Salvation Army, but here in Vienna? There 
 would be a chance for you to join one of the la 
 dies' committees in some charity organization, or to 
 meander down into the slums and distribute harm 
 less gifts, or catechise the children of the suburbs; 
 
 10 1
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 our circle of activities is so narrow ! Only indirectly 
 can we acquire any influence in public affairs, or even 
 help direct the course of history I mean when we 
 exert power over some powerful man!" 
 
 "And what profitable work can this influential 
 individual do, according to your idea?" 
 
 "Heavens! that I can't tell. Commonly she will 
 have to secure high positions for her friends or ..." 
 
 " Certainly," interrupted Franka ; " commonly one 
 does the common thing. But I am thinking of some 
 thing different. . . . Play to me, Frau Eleonore ; it is 
 so lovely to hear music in the twilight." 
 
 Frau von Rockhaus went to the grand piano. 
 "What shall it be? Also something out of the 
 ordinary?" 
 
 "Yes, 'Isoldens Liebestod,' please." 
 
 A moment later the sweet, passion-swept chords 
 were floating through the room. Franka closed her 
 eyes. She breathed deeply. What she felt was a sort 
 of anguish, for it was a longing, and, to tell the truth, 
 a longing not for something out of the ordinary, but 
 for the simplest and most commonplace thing which 
 even the simplest and most commonplace maiden 
 heart desires Love ! Yet what kind of a person 
 must he be, should she ever meet him the man 
 who should be her Tristan? 
 
 She roused herself from her dreaming. "No, no," 
 she said to herself as she had just said aloud : " I must 
 remain my own mistress." 
 
 Indeed, there was not a single young man in her 
 whole circle of acquaintance to whom she felt drawn, 
 and, besides, she had no business to be wishing and 
 
 102
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 seeking for such a one ... all her thoughts and feel 
 ings must be concentrated on the task that hovered 
 before her. 
 
 The servant announced a caller. Frau Eleonore 
 left the piano and turned on the electric lights. A 
 second visitor followed the first, and then a third, 
 and, before long, a little circle was gathered around 
 Franka. Dr. Fixstern had brought to her a number 
 of distinguished personages, just as she had wished 
 people who either had written successful books, 
 or had played leading parts in parliament, or had 
 delivered popular courses of lectures at the univer 
 sity, or who were famous as artists. There were also 
 a few ministers of state and foreign diplomats. In 
 short, Franka had good reason to expect that the 
 conversation in her drawing-room would be most 
 lively and interesting: discussions of learned topics, 
 alternating with witty anecdotes and edifying ob 
 servations. Yet she was gradually led to discover 
 that the conversational capacity of society does not 
 reach such a high level. Occasionally, indeed, stir 
 ring talk may occur in a salon, but only about as 
 frequently as oases in a desert; the average conver 
 sation consists of sand and simooms, for even choice 
 spirits sink down to the banal ground of ordinary 
 topics, especially when in a larger circle of merely 
 casual acquaintances: the weather, the latest the 
 atrical gossip, the sensational news sprung in the 
 morning papers, mingled with still tamer questions 
 and comments on health, projects of travel, and the 
 like. And then it is impossible to form a circle of 
 nothing but prominent people. There will always 
 
 103
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 be an intermixture of cordially futile Nobodies. One 
 cannot post on the front door the notice: "Admit 
 tance only for Somebodies!" 
 
 Now this afternoon the talk began to take a very 
 interesting direction. 
 
 A distinguished dramatic author was telling about 
 certain foreign colleagues whom he had met during a 
 summer journey, and he was relating in his cleverest 
 way characteristic anecdotes about their peculiari 
 ties. But first he was to describe the individuality 
 of the most original of the present day Bernard 
 Shaw. He was interrupted by the arrival of new 
 callers: Miss Albertine von Beck and the Baroness 
 Rinski. 
 
 Not very agreeably surprised, Franka went to 
 meet the new guests. 
 
 "You, dear Aunt Albertine?" 
 
 " I came to Vienna for a few days, and so of course 
 I came to see you, and I am bringing with me a 
 friend who is very desirous of making your acquaint 
 ance." 
 
 The Baroness Rinski was a little elderly lady of 
 unprepossessing appearance. Her name was not 
 unknown to Franka; she had frequently seen it in 
 the social columns of the papers among the person 
 ages who stand at the head of various charitable 
 organizations. 
 
 " I begged my friend to bring me to you, my dear 
 Miss Garlett, as I place great hopes on your aid." 
 
 "If I had known that you were entertaining so 
 many this afternoon," said Albertine, "we should 
 have come at another hour. I also have a message 
 
 104
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 from Aunt Adele. But you do not look particularly 
 well," she added in her most benevolent tone of 
 voice. 
 
 "Please, come with me, aunt, and you also, 
 Baroness, here we can talk undisturbed"; and 
 she led the two ladies to the remotest end of the 
 salon. This seemed preferable to introducing the 
 two ladies into the circle of the others; they could 
 continue listening to the revelations concerning 
 Bernard Shaw while she sacrificed herself to her new 
 visitors. She certainly felt that she was a martyr as 
 she sat down with the two and tried to be gracious. 
 
 "Well, what word did my great-aunt send to me? " 
 
 "She sends you her greeting. I think she is a very 
 good woman she no longer seems to be offended 
 with you." 
 
 "But why should she be offended with me?" 
 
 "Well, if you will permit me to say so for the 
 way you got rid of us all. . . . But we will not talk 
 about that now. Adele wanted me to tell you that 
 you must come and visit her at Sielenburg it 
 would please her." 
 
 "Thank you. Perhaps I will, next spring." And, 
 turning to the baroness, she said: "What do you 
 wish I should help you about, Baroness?" 
 
 You must not disappoint her, Franka," suggested 
 Albertine. "If you do what the Baroness Rinski is 
 going to ask you, it will be for your own great ad 
 vantage. You need something to occupy you and 
 give you some object in life, something that will 
 turn your great property to a good purpose." 
 
 Franka concealed her vexation. She had thought 
 105
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 that she was going to rid herself entirely of the 
 Sielenburg protectorate, and now it was cropping up 
 again. She could easily imagine what secret design 
 the Baroness Rinski cherished. She had no objection 
 to devoting large sums to charitable ends and she 
 had already done much in that direction ; yet on this 
 score she preferred to act in accordance with her own 
 judgment and her own impulse, and not after the 
 prescription of others, and she certainly did not wish 
 to be drawn into the game of charity as she hap 
 pened to know it was played by the baroness. As a 
 student of social economic literature under the wise 
 direction of her father, she had won too deep an 
 insight into the causes and the ramifications of hu 
 man misery, not to know that if she spent her whole 
 property in alms, it would be only a drop on a hot 
 stone. The lever must be applied in a very different 
 place, in order to eradicate the evil. 
 
 The little baroness took a few printed documents 
 out of her hand-bag. "See, my dear young lady, here 
 are the yearly reports of various societies on whose 
 boards I serve." And she began with great volubility 
 to describe the blessings afforded by these associa 
 tions for the rescue of babies, the protection of the 
 young, the guardianship of maidservants, and the 
 care of elderly persons; and she wanted Franka to 
 enroll herself as a patroness and undertake the office 
 of president of a new society for providing food for 
 needy school-children. 
 
 "There is nothing," she said in conclusion, "noth 
 ing which can better build a golden stair up to 
 heaven than beneficence. And even here below one 
 
 106
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 gains recognition by it; and even if one does not 
 belong to high society, it affords an opportunity to 
 meet with ladies of high standing, and one may even 
 expect to obtain the ' Elizabeth Order ' of the third 
 class." 
 
 Franka laughed and shook her head. " I am afraid 
 that there is danger of slipping off the heavenly 
 stairs if one has at the same time an eye for such 
 earthly things. However, Baroness, send me the 
 subscription-list of your associations I will gladly 
 put my name down according to my ability, but I will 
 not accept any offices." 
 
 "Oh, I hope that I shall be able to change your 
 mind." 
 
 Visitors taking their leave and the arrival of 
 others, whose names were announced, rescued 
 Franka. She was obliged to get up and abandon her 
 place between the two ladies in order to devote her 
 self to the departing and to the new-coming guests. 
 The Baroness Rinski put her documents back into 
 the bag: "Come, Albertine, we will call on your 
 niece at another time, when she is alone. Let us say 
 good-bye now." 
 
 Franka made no effort to detain them and accom 
 panied them to the door. "Well, I shall look for the 
 lists." 
 
 In the mean time the dramatic author had con 
 cluded his interesting anecdotes about the brilliant 
 British author, and the conversation had become 
 general, and was turning on the most unfortunate of 
 all subjects: Austrian politics; the German-Bohe 
 mian linguistic disputes, Hungarian confusions and 
 
 107
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 disorders, trade compacts and frontier obstructions, 
 new tariffs and increased prices, and all in a tone of 
 complaint and lamentation, such as is generally used 
 when great calamities or great crimes are discussed, 
 as if the whole activity of the municipality, of the 
 Parliament, and of the State consisted in accom 
 plishing as much harm and causing as much discon 
 tent as possible. Franka said to herself: " If Cousin 
 Coriolan were present, he would know of two sim 
 ple means of relief: to expel the Jews and establish 
 absolutism." 
 
 "Yes, you see, gentlemen and ladies," said a little 
 stout man with shining eyeglasses and equally shin 
 ing forehead which extended over to the back of his 
 neck, "this is the way things stand ..." 
 
 The others listened excitedly, for the speaker was 
 a highly respected publicist, who, as was well known, 
 enjoyed the confidence of influential political cir 
 cles in other words, of the ministers of internal 
 and external affairs. 
 
 "We have reached a great crisis in the history 
 of our country. Everything which you have been 
 lamenting and criticizing is in reality in a very 
 wretched condition. The dissensions among the 
 nationalities, the passion for independence on the 
 part of the Transleithan population, the dangers 
 from the Irredentists, the activities of the Socialists, 
 the quarrel over confession, and God knows what 
 else are things which make it seem as if we were a 
 thoroughly disunited and crumbling state; and so 
 many elements unfavorable to us or watching for 
 our inheritance may be supposed to be all ready to 
 
 108
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 do us harm ; and yet it has been already proved by 
 the crisis in the Balkans that we are nevertheless a 
 proud, brave, first-class power ; proud of our strength 
 and brave to the last degree; and that all petty in 
 ternal quarrels will disappear when necessity arises 
 to affirm ourselves against outside encroachments. 
 Thus we have compelled respect . . . with our con 
 stituted power we have proved that we can act, that 
 we can take hold together, that we will not allow 
 ourselves to be moved by international tribunals and 
 conferences, because we are ready to defend our 
 rights, or, if you please, our ' bon plaisir ' with 
 guns and ships. In presence of this resolute atti 
 tude, all the intrigues weaving against us went to 
 smash. It came near war, I know that; the men on 
 the General Staff were at fever heat to strike . . . the 
 population was enthusiastic, ready for every sacri 
 fice . . . and because our ally showed himself re 
 solved to stand by us to the ultimate consequences, 
 but especially because we were so firm and ener 
 getic, we won and that, too, without drawing the 
 sword. Now it is our duty to solidify this position 
 which we have acquired as a first-class power, if pos 
 sible to make it still stronger, still more unassail 
 able we must build dreadnoughts. Perhaps this 
 sounds harsh at a time when all sorts of peace fads 
 are taking possession of people, but of course only 
 among those who understand nothing of politics and 
 its modernest phases, among those who do not know 
 that this phase is imperialism. Unscrupulousness is 
 the key to a strong policy. Self-consciousness and 
 the development of force that is necessary if one 
 
 109
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 is not to be crushed, if one is to have a voice in the 
 council of the nations. ... But I beg the pardon of 
 the ladies, and particularly of our gracious hostess, 
 for having touched on a theme in which fortunately 
 ladies are not interested. There is scarcely any 
 thing more repulsive than women who meddle with 
 politics." 
 
 Franka felt a sense of suffocation in her throat and 
 a bitter taste in her mouth. The tone and the spirit 
 of the political speech to which she had just listened 
 were, indeed, detestable to her. She might have con 
 tradicted what he said ; for her father had been living 
 at the time of that crisis to which the imperialistic 
 publicist referred, and he had closely followed the 
 course of events and talked with her about them. 
 She knew that the populace, during the hasty and 
 secret mobilization, was the opposite of enthusiastic; 
 she knew that the war so eagerly desired in high 
 military circles was not allowed to break out for the 
 reason that the Emperor Franz Josef opposed it, 
 that peace was maintained not from fear of the 
 united bayonets of the central states, but because 
 the other powers desired to avoid a European war 
 and by continual yielding removed all the difficul 
 ties that pointed to an ultimatum. Franka might 
 have said all this, but she controlled herself and 
 replied : 
 
 "You need not ask pardon, Doctor; perfect free 
 dom of thought and of expression reigns here." 
 
 At this point some of those present took their 
 departure, and after a short time the rest followed, 
 and Franka was left alone with her companion. She 
 
 no
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 felt depressed a sense of loneliness and isolation 
 and unprotectedness overtook her, which is espe 
 cially sad when it comes over one not in actual 
 solitude, but as the aftermath of social inter 
 course.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE OUTLINES OF A GREAT PLAN 
 
 THE next day Franka asked Dr. Fixstern what had 
 become of the ring that her grandfather had left to 
 Herr Helmer . . . whether it had been as yet de 
 livered. Dr. Fixstern replied that the jewel was still 
 in his possession. 
 
 "Then please give it to me and write Mr. Helmer 
 to come here; I should like to hand him his legacy 
 myself." 
 
 A few days later, Franka chanced to be alone, 
 Frau Eleonore having gone out to make some pur 
 chases, and was again engaged in turning over the 
 leaves of her father's notebooks, when Chlodwig 
 Helmer was announced. 
 
 "Miss Garlett, you sent for me?" 
 
 "Yes, Mr. Helmer. I wanted to see you. . . . Will 
 you not come nearer? ... I have something to put 
 into your hands." 
 
 She went to her writing-table where the box with 
 the ring was lying. "You see, my grandfather in 
 tended this for you as a remembrance, and I felt it 
 important to deliver it to you myself." 
 
 Franka spoke with a rather unsteady voice, for 
 she was conscious that she was not speaking the 
 absolute truth. She did not regard the personal 
 transfer of the ring as so important, and what had 
 been the motive of her summoning the young man 
 
 112
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 had been the wish it was almost a longing for 
 his presence, as if she might find in him a refuge, a 
 support, a defense! He who cherished ideas very 
 similar to those that were expressed in those note 
 books he who had, so to speak, uttered his com 
 mand to do the "something great" for which her 
 inmost being yearned he might be able to show 
 her the way. . . . 
 
 Helmer took the ring and put it on his finger. 
 "This will always be a doubly cherished remem 
 brance I had a very high regard for Count Sielen. 
 He was a dear man, a noble mind . . . and that you, 
 yourself, Fraulein Franka . . ." he hesitated. 
 
 " Come, let us sit down and talk about my grand 
 father. You knew him much longer than I did." 
 
 The conversation stretched out for half an hour 
 without Franka's being able to muster courage to 
 direct it to the subject which was uppermost in her 
 mind. They talked about the late count, about the 
 life at the Sielenburg, about what had happened 
 since that time, but not a word was said about what 
 both were thinking. Each was regarding and study 
 ing the other as they talked, and each might have 
 observed that their thoughts were not on what they 
 were saying. 
 
 Franka's eyes rested inquisitively on Chlodwig 
 had he written the letters or not? His exterior ap 
 pearance seemed changed; was he unprepossessing? 
 Had she ever really thought him so? And yet cer 
 tainly no one could call him handsome; his clean 
 shaven face was too lean, his chin too long, his lips 
 too thin ; but if he was decidedly not handsome, his
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 features were certainly interesting. Franka also no 
 ticed something which she had not observed at 
 Sielenburg: Chlodwig had particularly expressive 
 hands narrow, white, well cared for, not at all 
 effeminately soft on the contrary, quite power 
 ful; and everything which their possessor said was 
 emphasized by these hands with quick and pecu 
 liarly vivacious gestures; these were aristocratic 
 hands, full of character. 
 
 Chlodwig also contemplated his companion. 
 Franka seemed to him slightly altered. The some 
 what childlike expression which had formerly char 
 acterized her features, and which even now came 
 evanescently into them when she smiled, had given 
 way to a more serious and energetic expression 
 she seemed to him more womanly, more mature. 
 After half an hour Chlodwig got up: "I fear 
 that I have stayed too long. Accept my thanks 
 again, Fraulein Franka, and permit me to say good 
 bye." 
 
 "No, no, sit down again; I have something else 
 that I want to talk with you about." 
 
 Helmer obeyed. A short pause ensued. 
 
 Franka was trying to find the right words to begin 
 with. Then with sudden resolution: "Did you write 
 me two letters?" 
 
 Chlodwig's cheeks grew red as fire. "Yes," he 
 answered. 
 
 "I knew it." 
 
 "Forgive the form which ..." 
 
 "Never mind the form; the substance is im 
 portant to me. You gave me some advice you 
 
 114
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 almost laid down the law, and I should like to do 
 what you demand of me ; only you must say what . . . 
 how! I must become great, at least, attempt to do 
 something great. What do you consider me capable 
 of doing? What do you consider great? Instead of 
 vague words, I desire to hear from you some definite, 
 tangible, feasible scheme." 
 
 Chlodwig's eyes beamed with delight. "Really, 
 you will ..." 
 
 "Yes. An enormous property has fallen into my 
 possession . . . that pledges me . . . what ought I to 
 do, what can I do, apart from so-called charity?" 
 
 "What can you do? In order to answer that, I 
 must know you better, Miss Franka; I must measure 
 the flying capacity of your soul. The young girl to 
 whom I wrote was more a vision of my fancy than of 
 my experience. What do I know of your real nature, 
 of your views, of your ideals, your powers?" 
 
 "I believe I have the same ideals as you have, 
 Mr. Helmer; otherwise your letters would not have 
 awakened an echo in my soul and as to my 
 views?" She took up from the table the notebooks 
 in which she had just been reading and handed them 
 to Helmer. "Glance over these notes . . . they are 
 extracts from the thoughts of my father and in 
 structor, who tried to form me after his own model. 
 You will find ideas and expressions like those in your 
 own letters. And, look, these are my favorite books." 
 She directed his attention to a book-rack which hung 
 on the wall behind her writing-table. "They came 
 from my father's library, and they are the fountains 
 from which he nourished my mind. My father's
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 ideas and yours are in accordance so, Chlodwig 
 Helmer, in spirit we are brother and sister ..." 
 
 At this moment Frau Eleonore entered the room 
 without knocking. She had several packages in her 
 hands: "Here I am, dear Franka. Forgive me if I 
 was gone too long ..." 
 
 The two others both thought simultaneously, 
 "Not long enough!" 
 
 Franka introduced her caller. Frau Eleonore 
 shook hands with him and then began to undo her 
 packages. "Please look, dear Franka, and see if 
 these are the right kind." 
 
 Helmer in the mean time was doing as he had 
 been bidden: he glanced through the notebooks 
 and examined the volumes. Then he came back to 
 Franka and said : 
 
 "May I go now? As soon as you send me word, I 
 will be at your service again." 
 
 "And will you give me the answer which I desired 
 just now? I mean that concrete plan ..." 
 
 "Will you permit me, in the mean time to lay 
 before you in writing, not the whole plan, but only 
 the sketch of it, in broad lines?" 
 
 "As you please . . . that will make the third letter 
 in my collection. Very good, then, I will expect the 
 broad lines. The details afterwards, by word of 
 mouth. Auf wiedersehen, Herr Helmer!" 
 
 "Who is that young man?" asked Frau Eleonore, 
 after the door had closed behind Chlodwig. 
 
 "A signpost at the crossing of the ways." 
 
 "What? I did not understand you." 
 
 "It is not necessary." 
 
 116
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "Not a suitor I hope?" 
 ''No, Godforfend!" 
 
 Franka was not kept waiting long for Chlodwig's 
 letter. She opened it with eagerness and read : 
 
 The third letter in the collection. So, then, it must be 
 written in the same tone as the first and the second 
 from soul to soul. I will not begin with the formal 
 "Gnadiges Fraulein" . . . that expression we will leave 
 for verbal intercourse, but with "Franka" again, and the 
 confidential "Du." We are brother and sister in spirit 
 you said so, yourself. 
 
 Now, then, the plan in broad outline: you ought to 
 be the proclaimer of a women's gospel the field- 
 marshal of a feminine crusade of conquest. Mankind 
 from now on is facing mighty tasks which it can accom 
 plish only when its two halves grasp and fulfill these tasks. 
 "All hands on deck" is the cry at sea at critical moments, 
 and when the ship "Mankind" is staggering on moun 
 tainous billows, then all hands must be at their posts. 
 My conviction that we are now, at this very moment, at 
 the beginning of a fateful revolution is founded on the 
 unheard-of marvel: a man can fly! His artificial wings 
 have conquered the tempest! His war-cry must hence 
 forth be "Up and away!" in all fields of activity. Active 
 service in the heights devolves upon him, and woman is 
 not exempted from this duty of service. The awakening 
 call must rouse her also, and I look upon you as the one 
 to give the alarm. 
 
 Perhaps you imagine that I am asking you to become a 
 militant feminist, to form a new Women's Union and join 
 your forces with the already widespread, and to a certain 
 extent successful, endeavors to gain for women the right 
 to play the same part in the academic and political arena 
 as men do. As a goal the doctor's cap, public offices, 
 "Votes for Women." This movement may go its own 
 
 117
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 way. I have no notion of putting any limit to it. But 
 what I have in mind is something quite different the 
 new woman is not to strive for the masculine positions 
 and functions in the State which we men have created 
 for ourselves; not the appropriation of those masculine 
 qualities which are required for the political game as we 
 men play it; least of all, the attainment of the privilege of 
 libertinism, in accordance with which we men live; but 
 she is to help in the construction of a State, of a political 
 machine, of a manner of life, worthy of noble women 
 sharing in it. 
 
 To this end, in the first place, it behooves women not to 
 stand aloof; not to remain in ignorance of the machinery 
 of the State, of the complicated intrigues and hidden wires 
 of politics, of the laws which rule economic and social 
 life. Secondly, they must cultivate to their richest flower 
 ing the virtues that are regarded as specifically feminine, 
 kindness, purity, tenderness, so that when they 
 enter public life, this also may be permeated with those 
 qualities. They will serve an ethical State they will 
 practice ethical politics. They will then be the most de 
 voted colleagues to those men who even now are setting 
 up an ethical ideal for State and politics, and who are 
 attacking the firmly intrenched error, that State and poli 
 tics stand on the other side of morals, a fatal error for 
 it is responsible for the condition of ignorance, of enmity, 
 and of barbarism from which poor humanity has up to the 
 present been suffering. To be sure, it has already made con 
 siderable progress though slowly from that aboriginal 
 barbarism ; the domain of security and solidarity has grad 
 ually been enlarged. But this " gradually " can no longer 
 satisfy us to-day, when the electric spark can be flashed 
 from the Eiffel Tower to the Statue of Liberty. To crawl 
 forward, to climb up that no longer belongs to our age, 
 now that we have learned to mount on wings. Up yonder 
 we need no winged devils to scatter melinite on our habi 
 tations ; our greatest haste is to become human : there 
 fore, "All hands on deck!" Therefore, whoever feels him- 
 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 self under a pledge to accomplish something great must 
 trumpet forth the alarm to awaken all the powers of rea 
 son and good will that are still slumbering. 
 
 And in what way, Franka, do I feel sure you are bound 
 to summon your sisters? By taking part in the Woman 
 Movement? That I have already answered in the nega 
 tive. By means of a book? Alas! how few read books! 
 No, through the living word, through the magic, the mag 
 netism, of personality, the might of individual enthusi 
 asm. I see you standing on the platform, your "Wal- 
 kiiren" fire under control of maidenly dignity, worshipful 
 as a priestess, glorified like a seeress . . . 
 
 Let me tell you : I .was still a very young boy when I 
 received a deep and overpowering impression from such 
 a priestly speaker, but who was not a priest, he was a 
 soldier, Moritz von Egidy, a Prussian colonel of hus 
 sars. He had begun by writing a book, called "Earnest 
 Thoughts," and at the same time they were free thoughts. 
 That was not regarded as compatible with discipline and 
 he was obliged to resign from the army. His leading mo 
 tive was: "Religion not as a part of our life, but our life as 
 religion." What he meant by religion was nothing dog 
 matic, only ethical. He had attained that idea by earnest 
 thoughts, and he proposed to bring his contemporaries to 
 a similar view by earnest willing! In almost all the Ger 
 man cities he gave public addresses with unexampled suc 
 cess. The largest halls in which he spoke were packed to 
 suffocation and thundered with sympathetic applause. 
 
 The effect was tremendous. Soon Egidy congregations 
 began to be formed. But all too quickly he was struck 
 down by death. What he thought, what he preached, 
 never in an unctuous, clerical tone, but with the military 
 voice of command, I need not tell you here. I only 
 wished to bring him up as an example for such is the 
 kind of work which it seems to me you ought to under 
 take: teacher, leader, prophetess, you must be! Unend 
 ingly rich can be the blessing flowing from your activity. 
 
 I imagine this influence as simply overpowering. You 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 would be the first and only person who ever came forward 
 in such a way. Never before was there a young maiden 
 who attempted such a thing, and the magic of youth and 
 beauty will magnify tenfold the might of personal magnet 
 ism. Your great property and your position in the world 
 will give you the opportunity of carrying out your scheme 
 without any material difficulty you can engage the 
 largest hall in every city entrance free to every one . . . 
 off the stage you will appear the great lady that you are. 
 
 Independent, beyond criticism, famous (you would be 
 famous in the very shortest time), admired and hon 
 ored, you would be able everywhere to gather around 
 you the heads of society and there use your influence. 
 You yourself would grow by your own work the higher 
 you try to fly, the greater will be your ability to use your 
 wings, and the traces of your spirit will be visible in the 
 moral progress of this generation and of those to come. 
 I do not say this to stimulate your ambition, but to 
 strengthen your spirit of sacrifice, for I know already that 
 your desire is to accomplish something noble, and to do 
 that, you must be prepared for many troubles and must 
 renounce much. Like the Maid of Orleans, you must 
 crush your own impulses and desires under your coat of 
 mail. For if you should give your heart and hand to any 
 man, it would be all up with your independence. And, 
 moreover, even if your chosen one should admit of your 
 independence, it would be all up with the magic influence. 
 For at least a decade you ought to devote yourself 
 entirely to your task. 
 
 You cannot begin immediately, not to-morrow. You 
 must have some time for preparation, for growth, for 
 study. A quiet novitiate before the dedication; and 
 because your position conditions your prestige, you must 
 first make your position solid. You must win the respect 
 of high society; you must win general admiration and 
 consideration. At your very first appearance on the plat 
 form, it must be known, to all the city and to the world, 
 that the person who is going to deliver the lecture is the 
 
 1 20
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 celebrated and beautiful young heiress of the Count 
 Sielen's estates, honored because of her generous expen 
 ditures and reputed to have refused many advantageous 
 offers ; then the hall for the very first time will be taken 
 by storm. And in order that the technical side be not 
 neglected, you must have taken instruction in the art of 
 elocution, in the modulating of your voice. 
 
 I have finished. I have really done more than lay down 
 the outlines of the plan I have also indicated some of 
 the details. 
 
 Now you can test yourself; you can demand of your 
 desires, of your conscience, whether a way has been indi 
 cated and whether you will follow it.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 FRANKA'S DEBUT AND CAREER 
 
 FRANKA read the letter over a second and a third 
 time then she let it sink into her lap and fell into 
 deep thoughts. She was sitting alone in her sleeping- 
 room; on the table before her stood the breakfast- 
 tray, and beside it her mail, as yet untouched. In 
 the stove a cheerful fire was burning: the windows, 
 through which could be seen the trees of the garden 
 behind the palace, were open and warm sunbeams 
 came laughing in, for it was already springtime. 
 There was occasionally a cool breath of air, full of 
 that spring fragrance which does not come from 
 violets, but suggests violets. Such a breath fans in 
 young hearts the fire of longing longing for the 
 joys of life. 
 
 Franka stood up, still holding the letter in her 
 hand, and went to the window. She looked down 
 into the garden ; it was not large, and behind the still 
 leafless trees could be seen the walls and roofs of the 
 houses beyond . . . 
 
 "How lovely it must be now in my parks and 
 forests," thought Franka. Nothing would prevent 
 her from journeying to them. A sense of pride in 
 possession and of joyous freedom swelled her heart. 
 The world lay open before her . . . how easily, how 
 freely might she not pluck all the blossoms of enjoy 
 ment. But she flung these thoughts away from her. 
 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "To accomplish something great" that was her 
 task, that was the aim, held up as a command be 
 fore her conscience, and now she had in her hands 
 what she wanted a concrete programme, a defi 
 nite way. 
 
 There were men in the world there was one 
 man who regarded her with confidence and 
 esteem, who had such a high idea of her that he 
 believed she might be an apostle, a leader . . . oh, if 
 that only might be, if only she had the strength, the 
 courage, and the fire to carry others along with her, 
 to lift them up! And like an electric shock there 
 flashed through her that lightning of the will which 
 bears the name of resolve: "Yes, I will do it!" 
 
 She stepped from the window and stood in front of 
 her great pier-glass as if to strengthen her resolution 
 by means of a vow spoken in presence of herself. 
 The mirror reflected a lovely picture. The tall, 
 graceful, maidenly figure, clasped in the folds of 
 a soft, white cashmere morning-gown, the head 
 crowned by a heavy diadem of braids and proudly 
 thrown back, the cheeks brilliantly colored, the 
 dark-red lips slightly parted and showing the 
 gleaming white teeth: so she stood for a little while, 
 and then she repeated the sentence aloud again: 
 "Yes, I will do it!" 
 
 Franka went to her desk and wrote a line or two, 
 then she rang for her maid: "Send this dispatch 
 immediately." The telegram was addressed to 
 Chlodwig Helmer and ran: " I expect you to-day for 
 a further talk." 
 
 Frau Eleonore entered the room: "Not yet 
 123
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 dressed, dear Franka? And we have such a busy 
 day before us ! Look I have jotted everything 
 down: at eleven o'clock the betrothal-service of the 
 Archduchess we have cards admitting us to the 
 Augustiner Church ; then Drecoll expects you to try 
 on three dresses that will take at least two hours. 
 There is the reception of the eight lady artists at 
 Pisco's you promised to go, and we must be sure 
 to see the exhibition of flowers at the Botanical 
 Society to-day is the last day. It is also Baroness 
 Rinski's jour; then . . ." 
 
 "Shut up your notebook I am not going out 
 at all. I am expecting a caller. All that you have 
 told me seems to me so trivial, so trivial . . . Frau 
 Eleonore, I am at the turning-point of my life ..." 
 
 "You are to be married! ... I ought to have 
 been prepared for it, but it is a hard blow for 
 me." 
 
 "No. I am not to be married. Yet, would that 
 affect you so?" 
 
 "Of course, because you would not need my serv 
 ices any longer." 
 
 " I shall need you more than ever. ... I want you 
 to accompany me on my journeys." 
 
 "What journeys?" 
 
 "I will explain it all to you later. Meanwhile I 
 will ask you to give orders that I am at home to no 
 one, absolutely no one, with the exception of Mr. 
 Helmer." 
 
 "That is an extraordinary order what will your 
 servants think. Especially this Mr. Helmer. ... I 
 wanted to tell you, the other day, when I found you 
 
 124
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 tte-a-tete with him, that it is not at least very good 
 form for you to . . ." 
 
 "Frau Eleonore," interrupted Franka, "I look on 
 you as my companion a very pleasant companion 
 
 who may very possibly become my friend but 
 not a governess, please!" 
 
 Frau Eleonore bit her lips. "Pardon me! Older 
 people always believe themselves justified in giving 
 younger ones advice on the ground of their experi 
 ence it is a bad habit." 
 
 It was late in the afternoon when Helmer was an 
 nounced. He had been away, and consequently had 
 not received the telegram in time. Franka was 
 beginning to grow impatient. She sat in her little 
 salon; Frau Eleonore was reading to her from the 
 evening paper, but Franka did not listen. If only 
 Chlodwig would come soon. 
 
 When the footman announced her caller, her heart 
 fluttered as if she were expecting a lover. But she 
 was not in love. Helmer seemed to her only as the 
 director of her future career ; he was not only going 
 to point out the way, but also to make it smooth for 
 her, support her first steps. And then that kinship in 
 ideas! Among all the strangers, among these indif 
 ferent people in whose midst she had lived since her 
 father's death, this was one person allied to her, a 
 fellow-countryman from the home region of her soul 
 
 actually a brother; and therefore her heart was 
 drawn toward him. 
 
 "Ask him to come in," said she to the footman; 
 and then, turning to her companion, she said: 
 "Remain here, but please do not interrupt with a 
 
 125
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 word or a question while we are talking; later you 
 will know all about it." 
 
 Chlodwig entered. He also was inwardly much 
 agitated. He had not expected that Franka would 
 so speedily accept his proposition. He was, there 
 fore, filled with pride and delight at the thought of 
 it ; and beneath it all there was also a vague sense of 
 being in love, yet without passion and without ex 
 pectation. When he first saw her, his imagination had 
 been somewhat kindled by her beauty, but never had 
 he gone to the extent of thinking that it was within 
 the bounds of possibility for him to win her ; still less 
 since she had become a millionairess. And now that 
 she desired to devote herself to the vestal consecra 
 tion of a great service, she seemed to him absolutely 
 removed from the domain of love and marriage. 
 
 He drew nearer: "You sent for me, gnadiges 
 Fraulein." 
 
 The presence of the stranger disturbed him. 
 Franka noticed it. She asked him to sit down. 
 
 " We can talk without constraint. My friend must 
 be initiated into all my plans she will accompany 
 me on my tournees. And now, how am I to begin?" 
 
 Helmer paused to consider. "The first step," he 
 said after a little while, "is the engagement of 
 an elocution teacher. The technical side must be 
 conquered. After that one may get the mastery of 
 the ideal side. Frau von Rockhaus will get the 
 notion," said he, in a different tone of voice, "that 
 you are intending to go on the stage if she hears us 
 talking of tournees and elocution masters. And yet 
 how far, how high above that, stands our plan! 
 
 126
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 What you propose to accomplish is related to the art 
 of acting however noble that may be as the 
 Zeppelin stands above a wheelbarrow." 
 
 "Your thoughts move much in the upper regions 
 of the air, Mr. Helmer." 
 
 "Yes, Miss Franka, the conquest of this element 
 gave me the impulse to my poetry and my aspira 
 tions, and this thought must also serve as the 
 foundation of your work." 
 
 "What is your poetry? What are your aspira 
 tions?" 
 
 Helmer explained. His poetry was not to be 
 understood merely in a figurative sense; he was 
 actually writing poetry ! He told of the books which 
 he had already written and those which he had in 
 mind to write. Above all, the great epic " Pinions." 
 And as he in eloquent, fiery words explained the 
 meaning and purpose of this poem, and recited some 
 of the lines, out of these words a light fell on Franka 
 as to the meaning of the work which lay before her. 
 The conversation lasted nearly two hours. The 
 plan was discussed alternately in its details and then 
 in its great outlines lines lost in sublime dis 
 tances, where to-day Franka's spiritual eyes for the 
 first time penetrated. 
 
 It had struck eight o'clock. Helmer was on the 
 point of taking his departure. 
 
 "No, no," cried Franka, "now you must have 
 supper with us informally just we three alone. 
 Please, Frau Eleonore, you are sitting near the bell, 
 ring for supper to be served. You poor creature 
 must be all used up by silently listening to all these 
 
 127
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 wonderful things. You need something to strengthen 
 you, and so do we two." 
 
 "Uff!" exclaimed Frau von Rockhaus as she 
 touched the bell, and after she had given the order 
 to the servant, "Supper for three," she again uttered 
 her "Uff!" adding, it was high time and ten minutes 
 more had turned her crazy. 
 
 Franka laughed: "Did you understand what we 
 were talking about?" 
 
 "Well, yes, fairly well. Mr. Helmer wants to 
 build a new flying-machine. You are going to fly up 
 into the air, and from up there deliver addresses 
 and so you need to have lessons in declamation. You 
 will not touch upon the right of 'Women to vote,' 
 but you will make the whole sex mobile so that they 
 can carry on their activities somewhere in the upper 
 regions. Then, there is to be a circuit through the 
 German cities or is it through an epic in ten 
 books? tending to introduce a new civilization; 
 and the requisites for this simple scheme are as far 
 as I could make out air-propellers, moral search 
 lights and a Valkyrie's horse." 
 
 Chlodwig laughed heartily, so heartily that 
 Franka listened in surprise; she had never heard him 
 laugh so before. It sounded so merry, so boyish, so 
 entirely different from what might have been ex 
 pected from that serious man who had just been 
 talking with her on the gravest of world-problems 
 a man whom she had judged, particularly from his 
 behavior on the Sielenburg and from the tone of his 
 letters, and also from the thoughtful expression of 
 his face, to be rather inclined to melancholy. 
 
 128
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Now all three were in the most cheerful mood, and 
 during the little supper not a word further was said 
 about the serious plans for the future; the jesting 
 tone that had been hit upon was preserved through 
 out; several times again, though more quietly, rang 
 out Helmer's characteristic laugh with its golden 
 ring of genuine merriment, and Franka was filled 
 with a sense of perfect ease and enjoyment, which 
 was doubly agreeable after the preceding strain of 
 intellectual excitement ; at the same time she realized 
 that her confidence in her brotherly young friend was 
 growing stronger only a good, pure-minded man 
 laughs like that. 
 
 After ten months of industrious study, Franka 
 felt prepared to begin her career. She had also ac 
 cepted Chlodwig's advice to go through all the books 
 of which he had furnished a list; these brought her 
 into touch with the history and present condition of 
 all the great questions stirring the world, and she 
 made him explain to her his standpoint in these 
 matters. 
 
 The result of this period of study was not merely 
 that she proved to be a good pupil who had passed 
 through her course creditably and was capable of 
 understanding and correctly rendering the ideas of 
 other people ; but during this period of preparation a 
 thousand original thoughts had arisen in her mind 
 and the material she had stored up put out further 
 blossoms ; views, convictions, aspirations were gath 
 ered, which grew so imperious that she felt inspired, 
 nay, compelled, to share them with others, to com- 
 
 129
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 pel others to adopt them. What lay before her at 
 least, so it seemed to her proud consciousness was 
 more than a great duty it was a mission. 
 
 "A Word to Young Girls" was the title of her 
 first lecture, and this title was to be seen in gigantic 
 letters on placards posted in every nook and corner 
 of Vienna. Above it was printed: "Great Music- 
 Union Hall, Sunday, January 15. Seven o'clock 
 in the evening. Admission free." And below it: 
 "Speaker: Franka Garlett." 
 
 The sensation in Vienna society was immense. . . . 
 What! that pretty Fraulein Garlett, Vienna's richest 
 heiress, she who had refused so many offers of mar 
 riage, who had been so generous in her charities, who 
 had gathered about her so many of the distinguished 
 men of the city, who had won universal admiration 
 for her charm of manner, her simplicity and her 
 loveliness was she coming out as a public speaker? 
 On what subject? Why? People cudgeled their 
 brains, and were somewhat scandalized at such a 
 thing! The idea was certainly quixotic! Was there 
 no one in the noble family of Sielen to put a stop to 
 such an absurdity? And what was she going to say 
 to the young girls? Possibly preach emancipation? 
 Advocate a doctor's career? Equal suffrage? or 
 perhaps free love ! Certainly these things did not 
 agree at all with her whole personality. But one 
 must be ready to expect anything from a person who 
 suddenly comes out on the platform no one would 
 ever have thought her capable of that! 
 
 The public came in crowds. Helmer had seen to it 
 that the lecture was well advertised in the newspa- 
 
 130
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 pers, and the fact that it came on a Sunday, and was 
 free, assured a large audience. The first two rows 
 and a few boxes were reserved for invited guests. 
 
 Long before the stated hour, the hall was packed 
 to overflowing and the entrances had to be closed. 
 Franka was waiting in the artists' room for the signal 
 to begin. Frau Eleonore, Dr. Fixstern, and Helmer 
 were in attendance on her. Her cheeks were pale, 
 for the terrible phantom which so delights in haunt 
 ing artists' rooms and the scenes of theaters, a 
 cousin of it is often found in the waiting-room of 
 dentists, stage-fright, le trac, "footlight-fever," or 
 whatever the thing is called, had seized her throat. 
 The others tried to encourage her a perfectly use 
 less attempt, which brings forth a still broader grin 
 on the face of the phantom. Now, really, it was no 
 little thing to step out for the first time in one's 
 life and deliver a lecture before so many thousand 
 people ! 
 
 "O my dear friends, I am frightened at the mere 
 idea of standing on the platform so alone with the 
 abyss before me!" 
 
 "Think of 'soaring,'" said Chlodwig; "think of 
 Bldriot, who also was alone high up between 
 heaven and the sea, apparently motionless, lost in 
 the universe." 
 
 "And do you believe that I should not be panic- 
 stricken up there? Oh, if I could only be in my room 
 if I were not obliged to go out before all those 
 strangers, perhaps hostile to me . . ." 
 
 "But, Franka, I don't know you," said Frau 
 Eleonore reproachfully. "I thought you were a
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 heroine. It was certainly not necessary for you to do 
 all this . . ." 
 
 Some one came in and announced: "It is time, 
 Fraulein. . . . The house is full. . . . The audience is 
 growing impatient." 
 
 A murmur of admiration went through the hall as 
 Franka went forward and took her place at the front 
 of the stage. They were not prepared to see such a 
 maidenly poetic apparition. She wore a very simple 
 white frock with long, open sleeves. Her arms and 
 hands were bare, without gloves, without bracelets, 
 without rings ; they were white and perfectly sculp 
 turesque in form. Her luxuriant hair was artlessly 
 arranged around the small head. A bouquet of 
 violets adorned her bodice. She had no manuscript 
 in her hand; nothing but a small ivory fan. Thus 
 she stood there for a moment. Her friends had 
 applauded as she entered, and now the others were 
 clapping their hands so as to inspire the pale girl with 
 confidence. She extended her arms toward the hall 
 as if commanding silence and advanced one more 
 step. The tumult ceased. Then she began in a clear, 
 firm, distinct voice: 
 
 "Dear sisters . . . for, although I see many men 
 in the hall, my message is to women only, particu 
 larly to young girls ..." 
 
 The sound of her own voice reassured her. Under 
 the tuition of an eminent professor her melodious 
 alto, capable of rich modulations, had been happily 
 trained and strengthened so that her clearly articu 
 lated words were borne to the farthest corners of the 
 hall. 
 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 She spoke for nearly two hours ; at first very slowly 
 and calmly, but gradually, as she grew more ani 
 mated, her pale cheeks took on color, her eyes 
 shone, and her voice intensified to a passionate 
 power. It was soon evident that she was in touch 
 with her audience, and repeatedly there was a mur 
 mur of approbation; occasionally, outbursts of ap 
 plause showed the effect of her words. This made her 
 feel as if she were borne aloft, and it happened that 
 many times, as if under inspiration, she used sen 
 tences and turns of speech which she had not thought 
 of during the preparation of her lecture, and these 
 very improvisations still further strengthened the 
 magnetic relationship between speaker and audi 
 ence. 
 
 The gist of her address had been expressed in her 
 introduction: "You all know the beautiful expres 
 sion of Goethe's Antigone : ' Not here for mutual hate, 
 but mutual love are we.' But, my sisters, the mod 
 ern time enforces upon us a second commandment: 
 'For mutual thinking are we here." 
 
 And then she went on to show what are the duties 
 of this latest age, the age of flying, and she 
 further showed how in the accomplishment of these 
 duties both halves of the human race must cooper 
 ate; how it behooved a woman not only to win for 
 herself the mastery of various professions, of various 
 offices which have hitherto been exclusively pre 
 empted by men, but also to realize that she must 
 no longer remain voluntarily aloof whenever the 
 highest interests of the community are in question. 
 Place and voice in the direction of public affairs? 
 
 133
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 That certainly is already on the programme of the 
 Woman Movement, but the most important thing is 
 a knowledge and understanding of the universal laws 
 that govern nature and the world ; then only can she 
 judge and cooperate where social arrangements are 
 to be decided. To take a hand in the transformation 
 of these arrangements, to become themselves law 
 givers: that is a goal the attainment of which may 
 stand for the future ; but even before having attained 
 this positive power, women, and maidens too, may 
 work through their influence. But how shall they 
 bring their views and their feelings to effectiveness if 
 they stay in voluntary ignorance of all those things 
 that regulate the conduct of social, political, and 
 economic life? If in the most important questions on 
 which depend welfare or misery, war or peace, they 
 are to have no voice because they always allow them 
 selves to be told: "You don't understand anything 
 about that!" They must acquire for themselves a 
 conception of the universe. First, they must under 
 stand; then they must share in councils; then at 
 last they can cooperate. . . . Indeed, they must un 
 derstand as well as the men ; then they will perhaps 
 do better work than men, because they will not 
 forget that they are there to share in love, that it is 
 their task to make goodness this highest of femi 
 nine virtues prevail in all situations and all actions. 
 "There is no reason why the flame on the home 
 altar should die down because we succeed in casting 
 its reflection on political life. Are really mildness and 
 gentleness, capacity for sympathy in sorrow and joy 
 purely feminine characteristics? No, they belong to 
 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 men as well. Are power and tenacity of purpose and 
 resoluteness and courage purely masculine virtues? 
 No; they belong to women as well. And the perfect 
 human race of both sexes, when once they are to 
 direct social life side by side, must apply thereto the 
 collective treasure of all their qualities." 
 
 Franka did not confine herself to such abstract 
 discussions throughout her lecture. She elucidated 
 in clear, simple words the conditions actually pre 
 vailing; she described the promising as well as the 
 threatening prospects of the future as conditioned 
 by the new discoveries, and she pointed out the 
 practical ways which young women of the present 
 day had to enter upon if they were to share in the 
 humanization nay, rather, the deification of the 
 humanity of the morrow. 
 
 The most concrete and practical announcement 
 which she made was that she had established out of 
 her own means a private free course of instruction 
 for mature young women. The lectures were not to 
 be given by her, but by university professors, and 
 she named certain distinguished persons, who 
 twice a week during the next four months would 
 give lectures in a large hall engaged by her for this 
 purpose. The following subjects were on the pro 
 gramme: Social science, philosophy, the doctrine of 
 evolution, the history and prospects of contempo 
 raneous movements, and, finally, ethics and aes 
 thetics. These two last were included, because the 
 realm of "scientific truth should always be pene 
 trated by the light of morality and beauty. All these 
 courses of study would be given without pedantic 
 
 135
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 insistence upon details, but would be presented in 
 synthetic method ; and all of them, if they were ab 
 sorbed into the mind of the students, would further 
 more produce that broader synthesis which deserves 
 the name of "world.-conception," that is, the vision 
 of the world, according to what we actually know it 
 is at present and as it presumably will be in the 
 future, in the line of ceaseless evolution. When she 
 had spoken the peroration in a tone of ardent enthu 
 siasm and with an expression of prophetic inspira 
 tion on her youthful features, there was at first a 
 moment of breathless silence and then a burst of 
 thunderous applause. She bowed modestly and left 
 the stage. 
 
 In the artists' room she sank exhausted on a sofa. 
 Her three friends surrounded her: "It was mar- 
 velously beautiful!" "Bravo, Franka !" Hel- 
 mer kissed her hand: "Heroine," he said in a 
 whisper. 
 
 In the hall the applause would not cease. 
 
 "They are calling for you," said Dr. Fixstern. 
 "The audience wants to see you again." 
 
 Franka shook her head. "No, I will not go out 
 again I am not a prima donna! " 
 
 "But just hear, how they are clapping, how they 
 are calling for you." 
 
 "I beg of you, dear Doctor, go out and tell them 
 that I have already left the hall." 
 
 Dr. Fixstern did as she ordered. 
 
 "Are you very tired, Franka?" asked Frau Eleo- 
 nore. ' ' How do you feel ? ' ' 
 
 "How do I feel? Happy!" 
 136
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 This was the beginning of Franka's career, and 
 now followed a series of triumphs. The newspapers 
 published long extracts from her addresses and en 
 thusiastic criticisms of her skill in the art of elocu 
 tion. A few days after her d6but she gave her second 
 lecture, which again packed the great Music Hall to 
 the last seat; then she spoke in the Workingmen's 
 Home, and here she kindled even more enthusiasm 
 than before. Among the young women of Vienna 
 there sprang up a regular Franka cult, her adherents 
 called themselves " Frankistinnen " ; as their badge 
 they wore a violet pin. There was in all the book 
 shops a special display of her portraits. In the toy 
 shops Franka dolls were put on sale and were eagerly 
 bought. The comic papers published caricatures of 
 her. Karl Kraus made a feature of her in a Garlett 
 number of "Die Fackel." Herds of autograph 
 hyenas came down upon her. An impresario offered 
 her an engagement for America. The gramophone 
 companies made her an offer to have her represented 
 on a record. A fashionable tailor introduced the 
 long, open Garlett sleeves. The pupils who at 
 tended the courses of instruction which Franka had 
 established were designated by the nickname of the 
 "Garlett girls." And, worse than all, vaudeville 
 theaters enriched their repertoires of topical songs 
 with a Garlett stanza. 
 
 Franka shuddered under this tidal wave of popu 
 larity ; it was almost mortifying to her. She had un 
 dertaken her work as a kind of vestal mission, and 
 now it was accompanied by such noisy publicity. 
 But like all sudden and exaggerated excitement, this 
 
 137
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 also gradually subsided; yet the quiet and earnest 
 effect continued and increased. She soon recovered, 
 in the estimation of all, her standing as a powerful 
 advocate and woman of irreproachable character. 
 The Sielen relatives, to be sure, turned their backs 
 on her. Adele and Albertine and their whole set 
 completely vanished. It was not a severe blow to 
 her. 
 
 After a few weeks she went on a lecture tournee to 
 all the principal cities of Germany. She was accom 
 panied only by Frau von Rockhaus and a maid. A 
 business manager preceded her, whose duty it was 
 to engage for her lecture-halls and suitable quarters 
 in the hotels. Everywhere she went, she was re 
 ceived not only in her public capacity as a speaker, 
 but also with special honors by society as a lady. In 
 the course of time her journeys extended beyond 
 Germany, first to the Scandinavian countries, then 
 to London and Paris. And after a few years her 
 fame was world-wide.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 AT LUCERNE 
 
 THE clock of Eternity has moved forward a few 
 seconds ; we are writing 191-. The twentieth century 
 is still "in its teens," but 1920 is not far away. The 
 impatient, the impetuous, those who a few years ago 
 were shouting, full of anxiety or full of hope, " Now, 
 now, everything is going to change a new era has 
 dawned mighty revolutions are before us," all 
 these have to confess that the face of the world, on 
 the whole, has not been very much altered, and that 
 the actual transformations, by reason of their grad 
 ual development, have been almost unnoticeable. 
 Terrible catastrophes like the sudden destruction 
 of cities by earthquakes, thrones overturned by 
 revolutions, rulers assassinated by the throwing of 
 bombs, colonial and other wars such things may 
 have devastated for a brief period the little strips 
 of land affected and aroused a general sensation, but 
 soon everything became calm again. This applies 
 not only to the great disasters, but also to great and 
 unexpected good fortune such as the announcement 
 of marvelous discoveries or world-redeeming ideas: 
 such things startle men for a moment out of their 
 apathy, and awaken the wildest hopes; but then they 
 quickly flatten out and become commonplace, dis 
 appear from the surface, and must pass through the 
 stages of gradual development, until they succeed in 
 
 139
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 changing the face of the world. So many a fountain 
 springs foaming'from the rocks, but only when it has, 
 after a long course, united with a thousand other 
 trickling rivulets, does it become a river. 
 
 The hotels at Lucerne were filled to overflowing. 
 It was once more time for the "Toker Rose- Week" 
 to begin. From year to year the " Rose Pilgrims," as 
 they called themselves, had been streaming thither 
 in greater and greater numbers. It had become the 
 fashion to spend seven days in Lucerne. Many came 
 not for the purpose of absorbing the lofty intellectual 
 enjoyments there offered, but in order to be seen. As 
 the hotels and private boarding-houses of the city 
 were no longer sufficient to harbor all the stran 
 gers, some automobile-owners had conceived the 
 idea of spending the nights in their machines, 
 for very abundant were the cars that were provided 
 with conveniences for sleeping and toilet, and a 
 vast automobile-park covered the fields around the 
 city. 
 
 During the first years Mr. Toker had been satis 
 fied to lodge his guests in a hotel engaged for the pur 
 pose, and all the exercises took place in its public 
 rooms. But now, the edifices and gardens which 
 he had planned were ready, and in their fairyland 
 beauty they had won the reputation of being one of 
 the sights of Europe. The list of invitations which 
 Mr. Toker sent out in 191- was very differently con 
 stituted from that which he had written down in his 
 first prospectus. For many of those who then bore 
 brilliant names in the firmament of fame had been 
 
 140
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 extinguished, and new stars had flamed into sight. 
 The aged die room for the young ! 
 
 It was the first day of the first week. Mr. Toker 
 was as yet alone, and was awaiting the arrival of his 
 illustrious guests. His friendly old face was radiant. 
 He was satisfied with his work. Success had at 
 tended it. The way the concentrated forces had 
 acted was astonishing and their effect was con 
 stantly increasing. As if unified in a central sun, the 
 flames of genius scattered over the earth were now 
 blazing in his Rose-Temple, and spread from there, 
 as by a mighty reflector, all over the earth, pene 
 trating all corners where their light had never before 
 shone. 
 
 From many indications, Toker was aware that the 
 level of Public Spirit had been elevated by the influ 
 ence that emanated from the Rose-Temple. Watch- 
 /vvords, winged phrases which had flown forth from 
 there, were circulated in newspapers and were quoted 
 in parliaments; the year-books, containing extracts 
 from the discourses delivered, were to be found in 
 the libraries of universities, and were widely used as 
 manuals for the instruction of the young ; the wide 
 international public listened to the addresses of these 
 great ones of the earth and accepted many of their 
 lofty thoughts and involuntarily introduced them 
 into social conversations; so that when Mr. Toker 
 jestingly said , ' ' This is my world-ennobling factory, ' ' 
 he did not claim too much. 
 
 Certainly, not all the dreams that John A. Toker 
 had conceived when he made his plan had been ful 
 filled. What had given him the impulse to take up 
 
 141
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 the work had been his indignation that the splendid 
 invention of a dirigible airship had been greeted as 
 a useful weapon for future wars. No ! against such a 
 notion, against such possibilities, a rain of anni 
 hilation from the sky, must a mighty storm of 
 protest be raised; he had called these great minds 
 together for this purpose. 
 
 On the very first week of the Rose-Festival, this 
 theme was printed on the programmes and flaming 
 anathemas against the barbarization of the air went 
 forth into the world, combined with the demand 
 to put an end to war itself. But no palpable result 
 followed the war ministries continued to install 
 their fleets of airships, and the construction of 
 fortifications and dreadnoughts went on without 
 interruption, in spite of the fact that these instru 
 ments of war would be superfluous and useless if once 
 they were exposed to the rain of explosives. 
 
 But John A. Toker had faith. Not in one year, 
 and not in two or three, could such a mighty work 
 be accomplished certainly, dirigible flights to 
 spiritual and moral altitudes were not easier of 
 attainment than those in the physical atmosphere. 
 
 "Well, papa, has not a single specimen of your 
 great menagerie arrived yet?" Toker's only daugh 
 ter, Gwendoline, a girl of eighteen, overflowing with 
 life, came and laid her hand on her father's shoulder 
 and laughingly put this question. And when she 
 laughed a whole scherzo of dazzling teeth, sparkling 
 eyes, and mischievous dimples was playing over her 
 piquant little face. "Are you expecting wholly 
 exotic birds this year?" she added. 
 
 142
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "Oh, Gwen, how can you be so lacking in rever 
 ence?" 
 
 Her features suddenly assumed the expression 
 which she herself called her "Sunday singing-book 
 face." 
 
 "Oh, papa, I am penetrated with awesome rev 
 erence! Only to think of all these laurel-crowned 
 moonshine occiputs, trumpeted together from every 
 corner of the globe, makes me shiver with respect! 
 And is it not true that this year a 'Jap' is coming?" 
 
 "A Japanese, yes, daughter. You know I do not 
 permit abbreviations for whole nations. Or do 
 you like it when your father is spoken of as the 
 'Yankee'?" 
 
 " Dear me, and what do you say when your daugh 
 ter is called a 'Gibson Girl,' or the 'Dollar Prin 
 cess'? . . . Oh, look! there is one flying now and 
 there is another. And there, away down on the 
 horizon, is not that an airship?" 
 
 The balcony on which father and daughter were 
 standing commanded a wide outlook over land and 
 lake. The edifices which Mr. Toker had caused to be 
 erected were situated only a short distance from the 
 shore. The narrow strip of land between the water 
 and the buildings seemed to be covered with a pale- 
 red giant carpet the whole piece was one single 
 bed of roses. The lake glittered in the sunshine and 
 innumerable sailboats and other craft were moving 
 on its surface. On the distant horizon snow-crowned 
 mountain peaks, and above all a cloudless sky, 
 against the brilliant blue of which were hovering 
 several dark dragon-flies the air-motors now no 
 
 H3
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 longer objects of wonder: no longer objects of 
 wonder, but nevertheless overpoweringly wonder 
 ful. Always, when at a greater or less distance such 
 an equipage was seen, men exclaimed just as Gwen 
 doline did: "See, an aeroplane, and there's another, 
 and yonder is an airship!" 
 
 Mr. Toker raised his head and shaded his eyes: 
 "Yes, my daughter, I see and rejoice! How high 
 they fly! Oh, but man will no longer soar to the 
 heights with impunity ..." 
 
 "'With impunity'? ... I don't understand . . ." 
 
 "No, you do not understand. You do not know, 
 as yet, why we are here. I have not informed you 
 what the object is which I am aiming at in my Rose- 
 Week. Perhaps I will tell you some other time 
 you have seemed to me still too young, too childish. 
 You are such a child still, Gwen, lucky girl!" 
 
 "When may I learn to fly, papa? When may I 
 have my little airship?" 
 
 "Do you see even that you would regard as a 
 toy!" 
 
 Three days later Toker's guests were all assem 
 bled in the Rose-Palace at Lucerne. Not quite all, 
 indeed, whom he had invited had responded to his 
 invitation; still, only a few stars from the firma 
 ment of living celebrities had failed him. If it was a 
 great privilege for the public to see gathered together 
 in one spot such a multitude of famous men and 
 women, and to hear them, it was for these guests 
 themselves a still greater pleasure to meet their 
 brethren and sisters of genius under one roof. 
 
 144
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Especially did the week that preceded the formal 
 exercises offer the most delightful opportunity for 
 quiet, intimate intercourse among those who had 
 been in the habit of coming for several years. Many 
 close friendships had already been formed. No one 
 who had once been a guest at the Rose- Palace, how 
 ever abounding in thoughts and experiences in his 
 own right, departed from the place without having 
 been enriched in many respects, without having 
 gained a general deepening of knowledge and a 
 broadening of the mental horizon. All kept through 
 out the year a delightful memory of the Rose-Days; 
 an invitation to be present was a lofty object of am 
 bition to those who had not as yet been guests there. 
 John A. Toker felt his heart swell with the most 
 joyful pride as he joined the circle of his guests. Was 
 it not the most noble assembly of kingly personages 
 that the world possessed? At brilliant court festivi 
 ties there might, indeed, be as many Excellencies, 
 Highnesses, and Majesties gathered together, but 
 the majority of these title-bearers would have sunk 
 into oblivion in the next generation, while the names 
 and works of the majority of Toker's Rose-Court 
 would be handed down to coming centuries. 
 
 In the hall of one of the first-class hotels at 
 Lucerne at tea-time, chattering groups are scattered 
 about in various corners and window-embrasures, 
 separated from one another by potted plants and by 
 pillars and screens which divide the immense room 
 with its niches and bay-windows into practically 
 small private parlors. The sofas and wide armchairs 
 
 145
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 of light-green straw are decked with cushions covered 
 with pale flowered silk and stuffed with eiderdown. 
 
 The larger and smaller groups and the solitary 
 persons sitting here and there, drinking tea, had 
 evidently come from all parts of the world. Al 
 though a certain international uniformity causes 
 people to be differentiated rather by the classes to 
 which they belong than by their nationalities, still 
 there are certain indications by which one can tell 
 with some certainty by the external appearance 
 whether the persons met with are English or French, 
 Germans or Americans, Slavs or Italians. In this 
 great hall you could also see some specimens of 
 quite exotic nationalities, for several Japanese and 
 an East Indian Rajah were present. 
 
 Two men, sitting at a small table on which the 
 waiter had just set a service of various liqueurs, 
 were amusing themselves in guessing what coun 
 try this or that person, seated near them or passing 
 by, came from. 
 
 "See, that family with the three tall daughters, 
 the haughty mother, and the papa reading the news 
 paper, is certainly English." 
 
 "That was not difficult to detect since that gigan 
 tic newspaper is the 'Times." 
 
 "That pretty little lady there, decked with tassels 
 and ribbons, and at the same time flirting with the 
 three men talking with her so vivaciously, must be 
 a Parisian." 
 
 "And that rather stout beauty over there, with 
 the suspicion of a mustache and a superfluity of 
 jewels, is probably from some Balkan State." 
 
 146
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "And that comfortable-looking, honest couple, so 
 old-fashioned in their dress, with their silver wed 
 ding celebrated long ago, and who make it very evi 
 dent that they are unhappy because they do not 
 have two jugs of beer in front of them, instead of that 
 insipid tea, evidently come from some little German 
 city." 
 
 "And that group by the window, very elegant, 
 but nothing conspicuous about them, it would 
 be rather difficult to tell what country they come 
 from. National characteristics betray themselves 
 generally by something like caricatures normal 
 men of the cultivated classes, with their air of assur 
 ance, with their correct dress, might come from 
 anywhere; you can tell what society they belong 
 to, that is, good society, but not from what 
 country." 
 
 A young man dressed entirely in white, remark 
 ably slender and tall, was just crossing the room on 
 his way to the street door. Half a step behind him 
 marched respectfully an elderly gentleman of mili 
 tary bearing, but in dark civilian dress. 
 
 "Who can that young man be? Nice-looking fel 
 low! I should take him for an American." 
 
 "That would be a mistake. It happens that I can 
 tell you about him. That is Prince Victor Adolph, 
 the fourth son of a German monarch. I also know 
 that he is not the ordinary kind; he is democratic, 
 not to say socialistic, in his tendencies; an enemy 
 to court etiquette and against everything military. 
 For that reason, apparently, he is compelled to have 
 the old general with him as a traveling companion. 
 
 147
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 That he is American in his appearance is perhaps 
 due to the fact that he spent a term studying at 
 Harvard University." 
 
 The two gentlemen engaged in this conversation 
 were from Vienna. They had become acquaintances 
 in the railway coup6 while coming to Lucerne. This 
 method of travel was still in use, although an or 
 ganized passenger service by airship had already 
 been established; just as at the end of the thirties 
 in the nineteenth century, after the opening of the 
 first railway the post-stage still ran merrily for a 
 time. And just as at that time many people vowed 
 that they would never, as long as they lived, enter 
 a railway train, so now the majority of people swore 
 that no money in the world would tempt them to 
 trust their precious lives to the mysterious ocean of 
 air. Besides, a new, safety-assuring power had come 
 into railway service, since everywhere was installed 
 the rapid and inexpensive and comfortable one-rail 
 system. 
 
 One of the two Viennese was Baron Franz B run- 
 ing, Chlodwig Helmer's boyhood friend. He had not 
 greatly changed; his full, round face had possibly 
 grown a trifle rounder, his black mustache a little 
 bushier. In his civil career he had been fortunate 
 enough to have risen to the rank of Hofrat. 
 
 The other, a personality pretty widely known 
 throughout the city, was named Oscar Regenburg. 
 When his name appeared in the papers, "Among 
 those present was noticed," it read: "Herr Oscar 
 Regenburg, the well-known sportsman." If any man 
 who has money and goes a good deal into society, 
 
 148
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 yet has no rank among the nobility, exercises no 
 calling, is not active in any business, is not honored 
 with any public appointment, but as a compensation 
 possesses several saddle-horses and an automobile, 
 then since every man must have some kind of 
 title he is called a "sportsman." 
 
 Sport, however, was not the goal of Oscar Regen- 
 burg's ambition. He would have much preferred to 
 bear the title of "art connoisseur"; for he was an 
 assiduous collector of paintings, old armor, and rare 
 china. His spare time he spent in visiting art col 
 lections, picture auctions and galleries. He also 
 evinced great interest in music and the theater 
 although he cultivated the stage not so much from 
 before the curtain as behind the scenes, especially 
 in the form of pretty operetta singers. Furthermore, 
 he was an amateur traveler, certainly not for the 
 purpose of enjoying beautiful scenery, but so as 
 to be present wherever expositions or horse-races 
 or aviation meetings or festivals of any kind were 
 taking place. Therefore, he could not fail to be, for 
 once at least, a visitor at the Lucerne Rose-Week. 
 
 Genuine deep passions were not at the bottom of 
 all these occupations ; Regenburg was a thoroughly 
 apathetic man, mediocre in every direction; his 
 whole object in life was to fill up his superfluous time 
 and spend his superfluous money. He was a man of 
 thirty-five, of insignificant external appearance, but 
 he always took pains to look elegant and chic by 
 following the latest fashion in dress, in behavior, and 
 in the use of slang. As, for example, the fashion had 
 obtained among men, to sit as negligently as possible 
 
 149
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 with the right foot on the left knee, moving the 
 point of the shoe up and down and at the same time 
 caressing the bright-colored silk stocking visible 
 almost to the top; there was no one who let his toes 
 play with more vivacity or expression, or who clasped 
 his own thin ankles more tenderly than he did. 
 
 The two men continued their conversation. 
 
 " I have no faith in these democratic poses among 
 the sons of rulers," said Bruning, as he poured him 
 self out a tiny glass of benedictine. 
 
 "As far as I have observed, you take the attitude 
 of 'I have no faith in it' toward most things." 
 
 "As a matter of fact, I regard it as a reasonable 
 and useful quality to be a skeptic. When a man has 
 collected some little experiences in life, and possesses 
 some little knowledge of men, and has attained 
 some insight behind the scenes of the various social, 
 political, and . . . other comedies which are being 
 played on the world's stage, one gets along best by 
 putting on the armor of doubt. Can it be that you 
 are an idealist nourished on illusions?" 
 
 "I? ... Oh, I am just nothing at all I live and 
 let live." 
 
 "That 's also a reasonable point of view. Well, but 
 I am curious to know what is to be offered in the 
 Rose- Booth yonder. It is interesting to see all the 
 living celebrities trotted out by the great dollar-ring 
 master; the play will certainly remind me of Ha- 
 genbeck, who makes long-maned lions and spitting 
 tiger-cats go through their paces in unnatural atti 
 tudes. What is still more comic in the whole show 
 is that there seems to be a civilizing and world- 
 ISO
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 improving aim bound up with it as if this world 
 could be improved! Man remains man, and when 
 I say that, I do not say anything very flattering. 
 And, above all, how can the world be made better 
 by a few self-conceited people making speeches be 
 fore a few other frivolous people? The only effect 
 that addresses have on me is to make me sleepy. I 
 never attend them on principle." 
 
 "What did you come here for, then?" 
 
 " Because an old friend of mine the poet Chlod- 
 wig Helmer belongs to the lion-tamer Toker's 
 gang of boarders. I get from this friend what the 
 whole object and aim of the circus of fame-crowned 
 animals amounts to . . ." 
 
 "Well, what is it?" 
 
 " Men are to learn to fly morally. Do you under 
 stand that?" 
 
 "Not altogether."
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 AN EVENING IN THE ROSE-PALACE 
 
 CHLODWIG HELMER had attained high literary rank 
 during these years. His drama, produced in the 
 Volkstheater at Vienna, won great applause, and 
 was soon added to the repertory of every playhouse 
 in the country. A second drama in verse was 
 granted the Schiller Prize. But his epic poem 
 "Schwingen" " Pinions" obtained the most 
 signal success. The whole campaign of the conquest 
 of the regions of the air, from Icarus to Zeppelin and 
 Bleriot, was celebrated. But, further, in prophetic 
 tone, dipping into the future, and this part of 
 the poem was by far the greatest, the changes were 
 described which would in all probability take place 
 in consequence of that mightiest among the achieve 
 ments of human genius. Particularly did the poet 
 sing those flights which, like a corollary to physical 
 soaring, should bear aloft into more luminous regions 
 the human intellect and the ethical aspiration of 
 man. 
 
 The epic aroused immense enthusiasm. Transla 
 tions into French and English were made and the 
 name of Helmer became famous throughout the 
 world, and of course reached the attention of John A. 
 Toker, who forwarded his invitation to the young 
 poet. He did it with all the more enthusiasm, be 
 cause he had discovered in "Schwingen" the very 
 
 152
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 same ideas as had given him the impulse to the 
 inauguration of the Rose- Week. It was a noteworthy 
 coincidence of thought. And yet, when you came to 
 think of it, not so remarkable after all. . . . Thoughts 
 which were afloat in an age are produced by the phe 
 nomena of that age, and they are precipitated simul 
 taneously in different places into different minds, so 
 that it frequently happens that great discoveries 
 and inventions are made at the same time by several 
 discoverers and inventors, quite independently of 
 one another. 
 
 Still another young celebrity was invited by Toker 
 for this year's Rose-Week at Lucerne: this was 
 Franka Garlett. 
 
 On the evening before the public exercises were 
 to take place, the guests of the Toker Rose- Palace 
 were gathered around the great table. When the 
 dessert was served, the master of the house tapped 
 on his glass. All became silent and listened : 
 
 "My dear and illustrious guests! The beneficent 
 custom here prevails that no formal toasts are ever 
 presented. All the eloquence that we are capable of 
 expending must be reserved for the public campaign 
 which begins to-morrow. But for the very reason 
 that this is the last evening which we are to have to 
 ourselves, I will take advantage of it, in order to tell 
 you something which I have on my mind." 
 
 He paused for a moment. All eyes were fixed upon 
 him with eager anticipation. His external appear 
 ance made a sympathetic and confidence-inspiring 
 picture: absolutely correct in his evening-dress, but 
 at the same time quite informal, almost negligent in 
 
 153
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 his attitude. His short-cropped hair was already 
 perfectly white, but his cheeks were of a bright rosy 
 color, and a joyous expression of the greatest good 
 nature showed itself in his face. In a somewhat al 
 tered voice he went on : 
 
 "When a few years ago I saw assembled here for 
 the first time this wreath of chosen men and women, 
 alas ! some of the blossoms have been blighted by 
 the frost of death, but others have come to take 
 their places, for such is the way of the world, 
 when for the first time I had conjured before me so 
 many spirits of light, I believed that from their col 
 lected brilliancy a sudden enlightenment might gush 
 out over the whole earth. That was an illusion ! The 
 thick darkness of ignorance, misery, stupidity, and 
 wickedness, in which our world is still densely en 
 veloped, is not to be so rapid dispelled. It will 
 take much further endeavor to drive it away. But 
 that the efforts which have gone forth from this 
 place have not been wholly vain, I, and assuredly 
 you, have the fullest conviction. What especially 
 pleases me, as the result of this fortnight in the 
 month of roses, is the advancement, the enjoyment, 
 the edification which you yourselves have all found 
 here by being able to hold familiar intercourse with 
 people of your own stamp from the domain of genius, 
 by mutually giving intellectual stimulus and enrich 
 ment to one another, by the consciousness that you, 
 all of you, whether you be masters in this art or that, 
 whether you be discoverers in this science or that, 
 whether you be prophets in this sphere of thought 
 or that that all of you, I say, still form only one 
 
 154
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 communion: that of the elevators of human life. 
 And a loftier life is to stream forth from here and 
 hasten that development through which all man 
 kind is to be brought up to a higher level. Oh, I 
 know right well what the doubters will reply : ' What 
 is carried away from your Rose-Parliament, in the 
 columns of innumerable newspapers, pamphlets, 
 and gramophone records, is merely words, words 
 . . . ideas . . . and what moves society are deeds and 
 needs. Not by reason, but by the passions, that is to 
 say, by violent feelings, are the masses moved; all 
 your beautiful speeches glitter arid burst like soap- 
 bubbles.' Of course, ideas are not the only impelling 
 forces ; more powerful are the instincts. It is always 
 a mistake to explain the complicated movements 
 of the world and of society by the working of one 
 element, of one force; for numberless elements, 
 numberless forces, are always in activity. And to 
 deny the force of thought is equivalent to ignoring 
 the half of the universe, which consists of matter 
 and of spirit." 
 
 "Is not papa a dear little old philosopher?" 
 whispered Gwendoline, who sat at the other end 
 of the table, to her neighbor, a famous English 
 novelist. 
 
 " Feelings regulate actions," continued Mr. Toker ; 
 "granted; but frequently feelings are ruled by 
 thoughts. Ideas, among them illusory ideas, are 
 what kindle the enthusiasm of the masses, and are 
 fought for. Forth from ideas proceeds that sublime 
 endeavor which is called the ideal. What was striven 
 for yesterday is the attained to-day, and gives way 
 
 155
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 to new endeavor, to new-born ideas, and that is 
 equivalent to saying to new ideals." 
 
 "Now he has said enough, don't you think so?" 
 murmured Gwendoline again. "One should not bore 
 one's guests." 
 
 The novelist glanced at her reprovingly: " It does 
 not bore me." 
 
 "Thoughts are the begetters of sensations; above 
 all, they are the foundations of knowledge. There 
 fore, whoever scatters thoughts into the world, scat 
 ters seed from which grow all those fruits that we 
 enjoy under the name of culture. There is much 
 bitter fruit in with it, because still many unworthy 
 thoughts are floating about. Progressive humanity 
 requires high thinking! Soaring thoughts. . . . 
 
 "This year, just as every year, a volume is to be 
 published which will contain your addresses: I pro 
 pose to entitle this volume, ' Menschliche Hochge- 
 danken' 'Thoughts that soar.' The beginning of 
 our Rose-Weeks coincided with the conquest of the 
 air. You know that the impulse of your joint ac 
 tion was given to me by the flights which were ac 
 complished by the first 'dirigible' through the sea 
 of ether. Now it is for us to bring about some vic 
 torious records by our flights into the azure realm 
 of the ideal. Thoughts are the vehicle for this 
 thoughts which soar above the clouds that is to 
 say, high above the vapors of petty private interests, 
 above the flats of national contentions in a word, 
 thoughts that soar! And so I close with one word, 
 the war-cry which must be the war-cry of the new, 
 height-conquering age: the cry, 'Upward!" 
 
 156
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "Upward!" responded the whole Table Round. 
 
 Thereupon all adjourned into the adjoining hall. 
 
 An illustrious company, indeed. There were few 
 young people among them, and not many women. 
 The wreaths of unquestioned glory are usually 
 twined around masculine heads, and there mostly 
 when they are bare. 
 
 The youngest of the thirty Rose-Knights was 
 Chlodwig Helmer; the youngest among the six 
 ladies of the Roses all of them wearing an enam 
 eled rose on the left breast was Franka Garlett. 
 
 As they sat or stood, they divided naturally into 
 various groups. Some passed through the open doors 
 to the terraces, and among these was Franka on 
 Helmer's arm. 
 
 It was a bright moonlit night in June; the air was 
 full of intoxicating fragrance rising from the dense 
 parterres of roses. On the neighboring lake glided 
 illuminated boats, and even up in the air could 
 occasionally be seen a light moving swiftly by 
 probably some sentimental aeronaut on an evening 
 flight. Quite unobtrusively yet distinctly was heard 
 the music of an orchestra playing in a neighboring 
 concert-hall. 
 
 Franka sat down in a rocking-chair at the end of 
 the terrace and Helmer stood by her side leaning 
 against the balustrade. They gazed and listened 
 for some little time without speaking. Franka 
 wrapped a trifle closer around her the white silken 
 scarf which she had thrown over her shoulders. 
 
 "A cool breeze blows from the lake," she re 
 marked. 
 
 157
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "Shall we go back to the hall?" 
 
 "Oh, no, it is fine here. Everything is so beautiful, 
 so dreamy, so magical. ... Is it not remarkable 
 that we two should meet here as colleagues in the 
 Knighthood of the Roses? How many years is it 
 since we first met in grandfather's chamber at the 
 Sielenburg? You a poor secretary, I a poor orphan 
 girl! You are now a great and celebrated poet!" 
 
 "And you the Garlett! The name has such a 
 distinction that nothing more needs to be added 
 to it." 
 
 "What I have come to be, Brother Chlodwig, I 
 owe to you. Had it not been for those letters ..." 
 
 "Well, yes; perhaps everything would have been 
 different perhaps more happily for you. ... I 
 find in your face a trace of seriousness, sometimes 
 of sadness, which was not there when I saw you 
 last." 
 
 It had been two years since that last time. Cir 
 cumstances had frequently separated these two 
 friends. Helmer had settled in Berlin, where, after 
 the successful performances of his drama, he had ac 
 cepted a position as a subdirector of the Royal Thea 
 ter. Franka had frequently been absent on her jour 
 neys, had spent one whole winter in southern Italy 
 for a complete rest; in short, there had always 
 been intervals of several months, and finally now 
 two years had elapsed without Franka and Helmer's 
 having met. 
 
 But their correspondence had gone on without 
 any cessation. They had remained constantly in 
 communication by letter. They exchanged full con- 
 
 158
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 fidences in regard to all their labors and plans ; they 
 shared their views over all external happenings ; but 
 they never actually wrote any personal confidences. 
 His poems and her lectures formed the chief topics 
 of their correspondence; as colleagues they had be 
 come strongly bound together; as man and woman 
 they had remained rather like strangers, although 
 their letters had always preserved that soul-relation 
 ship of brother and sister with which their corre 
 spondence had begun. It was for both a great and 
 genuine pleasure to be invited together as Mr. John A. 
 Toker's guests; it gave to the festivities of this week 
 a flavor of intimacy. During these days they had seen 
 a good deal of each other, every time he had been 
 her seat-mate at table, and they had told each 
 other all that was worth telling of their lives during 
 the past two years. 
 
 "So I look sad, do I?" replied Franka to Helmer's 
 observation. "And yet I have no sorrow; I am not 
 unhappy." 
 
 "That is only a negative assurance you do not 
 say that you feel happy. But I can imagine what 
 you lack ..." 
 
 "And I can guess what you imagine. . . . Well, it 
 is true that in the life that I am leading there is 
 more or less renunciation ; but is n't that necessary 
 whenever one dedicates one's self to any impersonal 
 service? How is it when a maiden devoted to piety 
 takes the veil?" 
 
 " Fortunately you have registered no vow, Franka. 
 You can always ..." 
 
 "Marry, do you mean? Let us talk of something 
 159
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 else. You are the last person to say such things to 
 me." 
 
 "It is true, I myself directed you to the path of 
 renunciation. As long as your task completely occu 
 pied you but does it still?" 
 
 " Do not ask me such confessional questions. The 
 task is great enough to fill any life; but I often feel 
 myself too small for the task. Are you quite satis 
 fied, are you quite happy, Helmer?" 
 
 "No; but that is not at all necessary. I believe 
 that no man has any rightful claim to be. Least of 
 all, we fighters. We need bitterness, hindrances 
 our goal must forever seem farther away from us." 
 
 At this instant the daughter of their host joined 
 them : 
 
 " I hope that I am not disturbing a flirtation. . . . 
 Do let me sit down with you, Miss Garlett. Oh, and 
 please, Mr. Helmer, do not go away . . . you are 
 among my favorites, because you are young still 
 comparatively speaking. The famous specimens of 
 wisdom which papa collects around him are all too 
 venerable for me; it is a genuine enjoyment to see 
 two such fresh geniuses as you are. . . . You ought 
 to marry pardon me, I am chattering absurdi 
 ties. Certainly, papa understands everything imag 
 inable: making money in heaps, carrying out gigan 
 tic undertakings, universal politics, and dozens of 
 other things but not the education of daughters. 
 Oh, look," she cried, interrupting herself, "isn't 
 that lovely?" 
 
 She pointed to the dark horizon, where at that 
 moment not merely one but four airships, each pro- 
 
 160
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 vided with dazzling lights, were maneuvering. They 
 darted up and swooped down, made "figure eights" 
 and loops, passed and repassed one another in pre 
 meditated regularity a regular air-quadrille. 
 
 "Is n't that still lovelier?" said Helmer, pointing 
 to a shady clump of bushes where irregular points of 
 light were flickering. "There, do you see? fire 
 flies ! Nature is everywhere more beautiful than any 
 of the works of men. And do you know also why 
 these little creatures, otherwise so invisible, have 
 put on such glittering coat-tails? They are in love 
 and they are out a-wooing. . . . Nature always 
 makes use of beauty when she is serving love." 
 
 " I cannot answer for that, Mr. Helmer. It is my 
 principle for I am a reservoir filled to the brim 
 with the strictest principles to turn the conver 
 sation as soon as a man speaks the word love." 
 
 "Yes, Miss Toker, you really give that impres 
 sion," laughed Franka. 
 
 Again a fascinating spectacle was presented to 
 them a great white quadrilateral sheet, such as 
 are seen on the stage of a moving-picture theater, 
 appeared on the horizon stretching up high into the 
 sky and on it were projected magnificently colored 
 living pictures. Immense pictures, for the force of the 
 imagination multiplied their dimensions in propor 
 tion to the distance apparently equal to that of the 
 stars ; and yet it was only the trickery of diminutive 
 films. It was a wholly new invention, based on the 
 laws of the Fata Morgana. Many of the people pres 
 ent saw this spectacle for the first time and it filled 
 them with wonder and awe. 
 
 161
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "What shall we not discover before we get through, 
 we worms of the earth!" cried Franka; "and how 
 deep into the heavens even now all our mechanical 
 apparatus penetrate!" 
 
 "Apparatus, yes," murmured Chlodwig; "but 
 not our minds!" 
 
 "Don't be ungrateful, Helmer," said Franka, 
 reproachfully. " Does not the great success of your 
 1 Schwingen ' prove sufficiently that a wide circle of 
 minds already feel a yearning for the heights? If it 
 were not so, would you be so understood, so cele 
 brated? Is n't it true, Miss Toker, that the English 
 translation of Helmer's poem has aroused the great 
 est admiration in England and America?" 
 
 "Yes, I believe so; at least, papa says so. He is 
 quite crazy over your 'Schwingen.' However, I 
 have n't read it. Papa thinks that you meant to 
 express in poetry exactly the same as he tries to 
 express with his Rose- Week . . . but what that 
 really means is a mystery to me. ... I believe he 
 would like just such a man for his son-in-law . . . 
 but you must not regard this as an offer of mar 
 riage, Mr. Helmer. ... I shall accept only an Amer 
 ican . . . and if it should chance to be a European, 
 then it must be at least a duke in the superlative 
 degree a grandduke or an archduke. . . . Those 
 titles please me, and especially the way those 
 grandees are addressed in German which, trans 
 lated into English, would mean 'Your Transpar 
 ency, Your Serene Transparency' . . . would not a 
 man appear like a bunch of Roentgen rays? . . . But 
 now I must trot back to the salon. Good-bye!" 
 
 162
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Franka, smiling, looked at her as she went, and 
 exclaimed: "What a dear little goosie!" 
 
 In the white frame against the evening sky now 
 appeared a magnificent picture : the Gods of 
 Olympus. It looked as if the heaven had opened and 
 allowed mortals down below to see how the Immor 
 tals exist. To be sure, they were only the immemori- 
 ally known forms of human fancy, such as had been 
 seen to satiety in paintings and on the stage; but the 
 vast space and the gigantic size of the apparition, 
 passing beyond all power of comprehension, evoked 
 admiration mingled with awe. Now, the Olympian 
 ones began to move: Hebe poured nectar into a cup 
 which she presented to Jupiter; Cupid shot an arrow 
 which fell out of the frame it might have pierced 
 one of the spectators down below; Venus, clothed in 
 glittering silvery veils, laid her arm around the War- 
 God's shoulder, and Juno caressed her peacock as it 
 stood with circling tail widespread. In a half-minute 
 all had disappeared. Then followed a picture from 
 the Catholic Heaven the Sistine Madonna, lovely 
 and motionless. Fantastic landscapes followed, the 
 like of which do not exist on earth, inhabited by 
 creatures such as have never been seen. It was as 
 if the impenetrable curtain, which is hung at a bil 
 lion-mile distance over the secret activities of the 
 world of stars, had been suddenly withdrawn, giving 
 men a glimpse into the regions of Mars or of Saturn. 
 To be sure, they were only pictures due to the power 
 of human imagination, which can never attain the 
 unknown realities, yet, appearing in the firmament, 
 they were like revelations from other worlds. 
 
 163
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Franka put her hand on Helmer's arm: "Ah, 
 Brother Chlodwig!" she sighed, shuddering. 
 
 He bent down to her: "What is it, Franka?" He 
 asked this as gently as one might inquire what 
 troubled a trembling child, and with his expressive 
 hand he made a motion as if he were going to caress 
 her forehead but he refrained. 
 
 "I know that it is only illusion but these 
 glances into unearthly, infinite distances fill me with 
 a weird, painful sense of loneliness, of nothing 
 ness . . ." 
 
 "I know that. . .?" 
 
 "You do, Chlodwig? I thought, the higher your 
 soul soars, the more at home you felt." 
 
 "The more reverent, perhaps, but 'at home'? 
 Infinite space is so cold we cannot build huts on the 
 Milky Way" he laid his hand on Franka's which 
 still rested on his arm. " Do you know the Schubert 
 song in which a will-o'-the-wisp holds up before 
 the lonely wanderer the realization of his deepest 
 yearning : a warm house and in it a well-beloved 
 heart? . . ." 
 
 "A well-beloved heart," repeated Franka dreamily. 
 
 They remained for a while silent, looking into 
 each other's eyes. Then Franka withdrew her hand 
 and stood up: "We will return to the salon."
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 MR. TOKER'S ILLUSTRIOUS GUESTS 
 
 BY this time there had assembled a still larger crowd 
 than before, visitors having come to join the house- 
 party. Whoever had letters of introduction to 
 either Mr. Toker or to one of his guests, was invited 
 once and for all to spend the evening in the Rose- 
 Palace. 
 
 When Franka entered the room, Mr. Toker came 
 toward her: "Ah, here you are. ... I was just look 
 ing for you. A gentleman is here who is eager to 
 be introduced to you. I will bring him immedi 
 ately." 
 
 He went away, and after a few moments came 
 back with a strikingly distinguished-looking young 
 man: 
 
 "Miss Garlett, here is Prince Victor Adolph, of 
 
 , who tells me that he has heard you speak in his 
 
 father's city and now is highly pleased to be able to 
 bring his homage to you." 
 
 After saying this, Mr. Toker withdrew and joined 
 his other guests. 
 
 Franka greeted her new acquaintance with a bow. 
 "I am very glad to meet you. . . . Your Highness 
 was at my lecture?" 
 
 "Yes, gnadiges Fraulein, and I am very much 
 pleased to be able to hear you again. The problem 
 that you are treating interests me deeply." 
 
 165
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 He spoke very deliberately in a low tone, almost 
 timidly. 
 
 "Is that so, Prince? Are you really interested in 
 the tasks that confront young women? For that is 
 the theme which I took for my lecture in your home 
 city." 
 
 "Heavens, I am interested in everything that is in 
 any degree revolutionary." 
 ,"A remarkable taste for an heir to a throne." 
 "I shall never mount the throne thank God!" 
 "That is a pity, for revolutionary monarchs are 
 exactly what our epoch might make use of." 
 "Do you think our epoch needs monarchs?" 
 This tone surprised Franka and appealed to her. 
 In order to be able to continue the conversation, she 
 sat down on a sofa which was just behind her. At 
 her invitation Victor Adolph took his place on the 
 sofa at a respectful distance from her. She let her 
 eyes rest with pleasure on his figure. He was slender, 
 sinewy, and very tall ; his head with its blond curly 
 hair was held high, as if he were a very haughty man ; 
 but this impression was contradicted by an exceed 
 ingly gentle expression about the mouth; the red 
 lips were not concealed by his slight mustache; his 
 eyes were intensely blue and full of vivacity; his eye 
 brows rather delicate and straight, also thick and 
 almost black. His age was about twenty-six. Taken 
 all in all, he was a fine specimen of the genus " Man." 
 With no less pleasure Victor Adolph 's eyes rested 
 on the womanly form next him, Indeed, Franka 
 now looked womanly and not girlish as at her first 
 arrival at the Sielenburg. Both the years and her 
 
 166
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 work had matured her. The earnest and passionate 
 mental work which she had to accomplish in her 
 chosen mission had imprinted on her face an expres 
 sion of almost gloomy resolution, but this wholly 
 disappeared when she opened her mouth to speak, or 
 still more when she smiled ; then dimples showed in 
 her cheeks and made her look much younger than she 
 was. Her figure also, though still slim and supple, 
 had lost its former ethereal delicacy. It was the figure 
 of a majestic Diana, not of an emaciated nymph, 
 such as " the new art" liked to paint. For the mat 
 ter of that, at this time the fashion had changed; 
 the angular, the osseous, thin-as-a-rail style was no 
 longer held up as the ideal of feminine beauty. Arms 
 like sticks, making a triangle at the elbow and ter 
 minating in huge hands; rectangular shoulders, from 
 between which rises conically a neck displaying all 
 the tendons; hips so narrow that the whole figure 
 has the shape of a perpendicular worm, writhing 
 even when it is not stepped on all this, according 
 to general taste, had given place again to the round, 
 soft, and wavy line which has always prevailed as the 
 line of beauty in the creations of Nature. 
 
 Franka practiced the greatest simplicity in her 
 dress; she wore only smooth materials of one color, 
 without any adornment of puffs, furbelows, or the 
 like. Even though her toilette followed the fashion 
 there was a stamp of originality and a personal 
 touch in it. Her sleeves had invariably the well- 
 known open Garlett shape. She always wore a bou 
 quet of fresh violets at her belt. Her hair also was 
 constantly dressed in the same way, the heavy black 
 
 167
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 braids coiled on top of her head and worn like a dia 
 dem. As adornment she wore only pearls, although 
 the Sielen family jewels consisted of diamonds and 
 all kinds of precious stones. 
 
 Victor Adolph's eyes studied her from head to foot 
 he was a great connoisseur and appraiser of the 
 art of feminine dress : art in the true sense of the word ; 
 for only an artistic sense can succeed in so conform 
 ing the style, the color, and the character of a gown 
 to the peculiarities of its wearer, so that the two 
 make a harmonious picture. That evening, Franka 
 wore a gown of light pale lilac ; her silken shoes and 
 stockings were also of lavender; a long string of 
 pearls hung around her neck, and she had the bunch 
 of violets at her breast, her white arms as usual were 
 without gloves, her hands innocent of rings. 
 
 " You asked if our epoch needs monarchs? Prince, 
 that is a strange question in your mouth." 
 
 " I have more than once noticed that if I say any 
 thing reasonable it arouses astonishment, because 
 I happen to be a prince. Does n't that in itself imply 
 that princes are superfluous? Indeed, is not the whole 
 history of social progress marked by the gradual dis 
 appearance of once acknowledged necessities?" 
 
 Thus they talked for a while about generalities, 
 but their interest and their thoughts were not so 
 much directed to the subject of their conversation 
 as to the mutual observation of their personalities; 
 what they each felt was that they were satisfied with 
 each other and that they were sympathetic. But 
 others soon joined them and Prince Victor Adolph 
 took his leave. 
 
 168
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 In another corner of the salon stood John A. Toker 
 surrounded by a dozen of his most distinguished 
 guests. 
 
 "I have just learned, my good friends," said Mr. 
 Toker, "that in the course of the next few days the 
 heads of two European countries are coming here 
 in order to be present at some of our public functions 
 the King of Italy and the President of the French 
 Republic. We must manage it so that the address 
 ' The War in the Air ' which is put down on our pro 
 gramme will be heard by these exalted personages. 
 In the first place, there is nothing more interesting 
 to the leaders of the nations than the subject, War. 
 There is no surer guarantee of their fame: if they 
 carry it on, they are glorious War- Lords; if they 
 manage to avoid it, then they are sublime Princes 
 of Peace. In the second place, the way in which the 
 war-problem is treated among us can only prove 
 useful when it reaches the rulers of human society." 
 
 "Or the wide masses," remarked one of the by 
 standers. 
 
 "Well, yes," assented Toker; "the masses also 
 constitute a ruling order. Whoever wishes the wel 
 fare of human society will not care whether it is at 
 tained from above or from below. Best of all, when 
 both meet and complement each other." 
 
 The same bystander again remarked: "Opposites 
 do not complement, but mutually destroy each 
 other." 
 
 "Ah, my worthy friend," retorted Toker, "we 
 must not be checked in our endeavors by such gener 
 alities. If phrases like that do contain a truth, still 
 
 169
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 we must find out whether they can be applied to 
 the special case that lies before us. A thing must 
 be seized from all sides. That offers the best chance 
 of finally hitting upon the right side or several right 
 sides. Not merely one road leads to Rome. All of 
 you, my dear Knights of the Rose, are a living proof 
 to me how varied are the ways that lead to the 
 heights of Humanity every one of you has struck 
 out in a different path, and yet they all meet in " 
 
 "Lucerne!" interpolated some one. 
 
 Toker nodded. "Quite right! In Lucerne: that 
 means, since our 'Rose- Week,' something else than 
 the mere name of a city." 
 
 With joyous pride he glanced around and summed 
 up in his mind the valuation of the intellects there 
 assembled. In fact, he had good reason to be proud, 
 for among the great men who had come to Lucerne 
 at his invitation were . . . Yet, the form in which 
 this story is told, allowing events to be projected 
 into the future, precludes calling the Knights of the 
 Rose Order by name ... So, then, no names only 
 a few incomplete data: 
 
 A French author, regarded by his countrymen as 
 the greatest of the living authors. No longer young, 
 he has an enormous list of books to his credit; all 
 brilliantly worked out with historical, prehistoric, 
 and imaginary background, full of irony and full of 
 wrath against social follies and absurdities, upright, 
 bold, a warm worshiper before the altar of beauty. 
 
 A young Russian poet. The events of the Manchu- 
 rian War, the horrors of the succeeding revolution, 
 and of the still-more horrible counter-revolution 
 
 170
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 still played on his soul, just as the tempest plays on 
 the strings of an aeolian harp, enticing forth the most 
 magical tones. He is waging a fierce, relentless war 
 against society's most arrant enemy : against stupid 
 ity in all its forms ; especially in the form of supersti 
 tion and in that of the criminal folly which impels men 
 to enthrall, to persecute, and to tear one another to 
 pieces. His eyes are unspeakably sad, but resolution 
 speaks from his features. He wields his lash savagely 
 and pitilessly, not because he hates or despises man 
 kind on the contrary, he sees in it a temple from 
 which he will drive the profaners in holy wrath. 
 
 A great tragedienne of the Latin stock. When she 
 plays, she appears to express the lament of her own 
 sorrow. Seeing her you involuntarily think of what 
 some artless Madonna paintings show; a bleeding 
 heart surrounded with a wreath of thorns. All the 
 majesty that halos misfortune is expressed in her 
 carriage, in the accent of her voice. She is beautiful, 
 but her beauty is as it were veiled behind a dark 
 crape. Truly her art is many-sided and she plays 
 even gay parts; but what especially characterizes 
 her is the reflection of human suffering which seems 
 rather the exposure of her own. You cannot be a 
 spectator of her acting and fail to be deeply moved, 
 and a soul subjected to such emotion is a soul en 
 nobled at least during the time while the emotion 
 lasts. 
 
 A German writer ; a deep student of natural sci 
 ences. A prophet of an infinitely poetic natural phi 
 losophy, thereby exposed to the scornful and super 
 cilious arrogance of technical and special scientists. 
 
 171
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Not for him, to pigeonhole, to ticket, and to num 
 ber; his outlook embraces the wide, all-circling hori 
 zon; his spirit penetrates into the All-Spirit; his 
 knowledge and love of Nature soar up into worship ; 
 his books are literary masterpieces. And for this 
 reason pedants are quivering with scorn, so that 
 their very souls, being so dry, crack if his name is 
 mentioned. 
 
 A French statesman and politician, a senator, and 
 experienced diplomat: a man of the world to his 
 finger-tips; full of witty turns and repartees in con 
 versation; full of clear, conclusive logic in public 
 speech; one of the most consistent and fearless 
 speakers in the Senate. Fearlessness characterizes his 
 eloquence, for he speaks against the tendencies of 
 the day, against the chauvinistic-patriotic majority, 
 against the proposals of his personal friend, the Min 
 ister of the Navy. In matters of international arbi 
 tration he is not only quick to support and suggest, 
 but moreover to accomplish. To him are due agree 
 ments, compromises, treaties; many a web of an 
 cient misunderstandings and jealousies has been 
 obliterated from the world through his agency, and 
 on this account the fanatical supporters of nation 
 alism have even threatened his life. 
 
 An American inventor one might rather say 
 a wholesale inventor. People call him the wizard". 
 He conducts his experiments en gros, by the bushel ! 
 The number of marvelous works for which his con 
 temporaries and those to come have to thank him, 
 the things which lift men up to higher levels of life, 
 are, beyond reckoning; and what is finest about them 
 
 172
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 is that not one of his instruments and pieces of 
 apparatus is designed or fitted to serve purposes of 
 destruction. The Mecca of all those who register 
 patents the ministries of war is closed to his in 
 ventions. What he has elaborated and accomplished 
 serves not for making human bodies into pulp; it 
 has the modest aim of making life easier, more beau 
 tiful, and more enjoyable, and of enriching human 
 society. One of his latest "trouvailles" that of 
 casting houses out of cement had, at the time 
 of the last Rose- Week at Lucerne, already found 
 so much popular acceptance that quite commonly 
 these cheap, quickly erected, and at the same time 
 aesthetic and hygienic domiciles were being built, 
 that is to say, cast, and simultaneously an end was 
 put to one of the greatest of evils the wretched 
 housing of the poor, from which a third of the prev 
 alent vice and illness springs. 
 
 A dramatic author from England ; sparkling with 
 wit and intellect, who writes the bitterest satires, 
 but with a background of tenderness ; also an ameli 
 orator of the world and mankind, not, indeed, by 
 saying to men, "Become better," but by endeavoring, 
 by his ridicule, to exterminate whatever makes them 
 bad. He tears off hypocritical masks and shows the 
 ugly grimaces behind them; on the other hand, he 
 has the knack of entwining a gentle halo around poor 
 and humble forms, around the oppressed, the mis 
 understood, the mistaken. Humor has been defined 
 as a smile and a tear; in his humor the contrast 
 is much stronger: it is the sobbing laughter of 
 scorn. 
 
 173
 
 ; WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 A Scandinavian woman devoted to philosophy, 
 full of the profound gentle wisdom of experience: 
 an aged woman, who had never married or borne 
 children, but who speaks with the tongue of angels 
 about the sacredness of marriage and the rights of 
 His Majesty the Child: a champion of free, proud 
 individuality that is to say, pretty much the same 
 thing as Goethe called personality and designated 
 as the loftiest happiness. 
 
 An American statesman: the man whose motto 
 runs: " The same moral law that holds among indi 
 viduals must also prevail among nations " ; a motto 
 which is diametrically opposed to the principles on 
 which hitherto the " classical polities " of the most 
 celebrated European statesmen have been founded. 
 Our American looks back on a long, beneficent ca 
 reer. Peaceful victories, positive, not negative, peace 
 ful victories, have been won by him. His great work 
 has been the successful bringing together of the two 
 halves of America into one great Union. Moreover, 
 during his administration he has concluded a large 
 number of permanent arbitration treaties with the 
 States of Europe. Practically unknown to the gen 
 eral European public, he has cultivated a large part 
 of that soil which modern culture has won away 
 from the ancient dominion of War. Toker had a 
 high regard for this man, who of all his guests stood 
 nearest to him. 
 
 Another poet. The son of a small European coun 
 try. To belong to a first-class Power is certainly not 
 a condition, not even necessarily a help, to individual 
 greatness. Dreamy, mysterious almost unreal are 
 
 174
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 this poet's stage productions. His prose works, on 
 the contrary, are those of a clear, perspicuous thinker. 
 
 A German historian: one who has triumphantly 
 introduced a new method into his range of studies 
 that of a philosophical synthesis. In his view, his 
 tory is not the arraying of events in sequence, not 
 the biographies of single personages who chance to 
 stand in the foreground, but a process of social de 
 velopment which conditions the events and the per 
 sonages not the reverse. And he sees and proves 
 that the way of this development leads always to 
 higher organization; and, because he knows that 
 and because he makes it known, he aids in hastening 
 hurfianity's course along this way. 
 
 Still another inventor. This one had not as yet 
 won world-repute, for his invention was of too re 
 cent occurrence. But Toker knew him and his work, 
 and knew that he merited a Grand Cross in the Order 
 of the Rose-Knights, not only for the greatness of his 
 invention, but also for the greatness of the object 
 which would be attained by it. Its first introduction 
 to the public, its first demonstration, was to surprise 
 the world during this very week. 
 
 A young composer from Russian Poland: a man 
 whose works had come to the notice of the world 
 during the last two years, but had taken the world 
 by storm. His operas and symphonies had the most 
 up-to-date richness of orchestration, the greatest 
 originality of harmony, but were permeated by a 
 heavenly sweetness of melody, such as had not in 
 long years, perhaps never before, been heard. For 
 this Rose- Week he had brought his latest creation, 
 
 175
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 never as yet publicly performed, a quartette for 
 violin, harmonium, harp, and baritone voice, en 
 titled "Le Chant des Roses." It was perfectly ap 
 propriate that music and song should also have their 
 part in this festal week which stood under the sym 
 bol of Height Achievement.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 A LUNCHEON PARTY 
 
 A SMALL company of hotel guests who had been 
 lunching together were sitting at their black coffee 
 in a large special salon. It was the first day of the 
 second Rose- Week, and the opening festival was to 
 take place that evening. The conversation of the gay 
 little party, which consisted of two ladies and four 
 gentlemen, turned on the programme of the exer 
 cises. 
 
 One of the ladies was a Russian countess, a woman 
 no longer young, she must have been more than 
 forty, but still handsome and very elegant; she 
 was the hostess at the luncheon. The other lady was 
 a young widow, Annette Felsen, the cousin and 
 companion of the countess; very lively, gay, and 
 coquettish. The gentlemen were an elderly French 
 man, easily recognized as a former officer; a tall 
 dark-eyed Italian, also past his first youth, for his 
 wavy black hair was shot through with many silver 
 threads. His name was Marchese Romeo Rinotti 
 a name which had a good repute in the political world 
 and played a prominent part in the ministerial coun 
 cil of the kingdom. The two other gentlemen were 
 Bruning and Regenburg. 
 
 The conversation ran now in French, now in Ger 
 man. Bruning had just been reading from the paper 
 the names of Toker's guests, and then remarked that 
 
 177
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Chlodwig Helmer, who on the following day was to 
 read from his poem " Schwingen," was a friend of his. 
 
 "Ah," cried the Countess Vera, "that is interest 
 ing you must introduce him to us I dote on 
 poets . . . not so much as on musicians, though. I 
 confess frankly that what attracts me most in the 
 whole programme is 'Le Chant des Roses.' This 
 young Pole is simply divine . . . though I don't like 
 the Poles, because they hate us. But what kind of 
 a man is your friend?" 
 
 "Oh, a fine fellow, only somewhat high-strung. I 
 also know Fraulein Garlett. She, too, comes from my 
 country. I should like to see these two make a match ; 
 they are admirably suited to each other: neither is 
 quite normal and she is extremely rich. I should like 
 to see my friend marry her." 
 
 " But is n't this girl an agitator for the emancipa 
 tion of women?" asked the old Frenchman, Baron 
 Gaston de la Rochere? " One does not marry such 
 a person." 
 
 Madame Annette Felsen laughed: "Why, but 
 you are quite vieuxjeu, my dear Baron, quite ancien 
 regime ..." 
 
 The baron straightened himself up. "Yes, I flat 
 ter myself. ... In this degenerating world there 
 certainly ought to be a few people who stand by the 
 old principles, the old true ideals. I am very anxious 
 to know what doctrines the ladies and gentlemen of 
 the Rose Order are going to preach. They will 
 scarcely develop in a fitting way the highest concept 
 there is : that of patriotism since they belong to 
 the most diversified countries, often opposed and
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 unfriendly to one another ; and then tact will forbid 
 their expressing openly their patriotic wishes. By 
 the whole make-up of the programme and by many 
 suspicious names among the participants for 
 example, I would never have sent here as a repre 
 sentative of France the Frenchman who is going to 
 speak by the various names, I believe there is 
 danger that revolutionary ideas will be put forward 
 more than is desirable. Indeed, the old order and 
 the sacred traditions are so shaken that only a good 
 war could possibly set things straight again. Then 
 we should have the chance to restore to the throne 
 of France a monarch appointed by God, one who 
 would once for all drive out the radical and free- 
 masonic rabble which at the present time puts our 
 country to shame. And even if there were no one 
 of royal blood, still if there were a victorious soldier 
 a war-hero ..." 
 
 Countess Vera uttered a little shriek. "Do not 
 speak of war, mon colonel ... it is now many years 
 ago . . . but the Manchurian campaign with all its 
 consequences still trembles in all my nerves. . . . 
 Did n't the peasants burn my castle? The war itself 
 would not have been anything . . . that is as God 
 wills; but the terrible revolution afterwards . . . and 
 that would break out again after another war . . . 
 there are so many nihilists among us. It was, indeed, 
 a piece of good luck that they could choke off the 
 revolution the saints helped once more, and gen 
 uine Russians remained faithful to the Tsar, who 
 ought never to have granted a constitution ..." 
 
 "Vera, Vera," interrupted Madame Annette, 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "do not talk about politics. There, please light a 
 cigarette. ... I will take one, too, and if politics is 
 to be talked about, then will you do the talking, 
 Marchese! you certainly ought to understand the 
 subject, you who are the diplomat, the prominent 
 statesman, the Italian Bismarck!" 
 
 The marchese offered the ladies a light. "A dip 
 lomat," said he, "should rather be silent than speak, 
 but I can comfort the colonel by saying that the 
 prospects for a war in Europe are growing brighter 
 and brighter. Perhaps he will see the beautiful times 
 of the ancien regime return. As far as I am concerned, 
 my yearning to bring back the past goes still farther 
 back. The only true, beautiful, fiery, proud life was at 
 the time of the Renaissance. Life was not regarded, 
 men took no care of it, but they lived intensely. . . . 
 Those adventures, those riotous magnificences of 
 living and of art, that wild existence, that lordly 
 power of unscrupulousness ! ..." 
 
 He had worked himself into a passion of eloquence, 
 and at his final words an almost Satanic smile, which 
 showed his white teeth, flickered around his mouth. 
 Annette looked at him in amazement : 
 
 "You would have made a splendid condottiere, 
 signor. What do you say, Herr Regenburg?" 
 
 The famous sportsman had scarcely understood; 
 he was not very fluent in French, but now that he 
 was called upon to give his opinion, he had to say 
 something, whether well or ill. He tittered rather 
 idiotically. 
 
 "Why, yes, my dear lady, it is fine to have a bit 
 of a row; we must have some slashing about. . . . 
 
 180
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 But you are quite right, Marchese, and so are you, 
 Colonel the old days ought to come back again." 
 
 He waved his liqueur-glass and emptied it at one 
 gulp. . . . 
 
 "Old times do not return," said Bruning; "neither 
 the times of Napoleon, nor those of the Sun-King, 
 nor those of the Medici. But whoever delights in 
 unscrupulousness and lack of consideration has no 
 need to mourn over the present: attacking and op 
 pressing, in order to attain power or to preserve it, 
 is still in sway, even though in a different manner, 
 and will probably always continue, for the emblems 
 of worldly success remain claws and teeth or at 
 least elbows." 
 
 A hotel valet came in and handed Bruning a 
 card. 
 
 "Ah, my friend Helmer," said he, rising. "Allow 
 me, ladies and gentlemen, to leave you ; I must re 
 ceive him." 
 
 "Is that the poet the author of 'Schwingen'?" 
 asked Countess Vera. " Please ask him to come here ; 
 we should all be so pleased to meet him." 
 
 "If you permit it"; and, turning to the servant: 
 "Show the gentleman in." 
 
 Bruning went to meet Helmer at the door: 
 " 'T was good of you to look me up. You find me in 
 a little company who are eager to make your ac 
 quaintance. Allow me to present you: my fellow- 
 countryman and schoolmate, the boldest aviator of 
 the present ..." 
 
 Helmer shook his head: " I have never been in an 
 airship in my life." 
 
 181
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 " But you fly up into the bluest heights on the wings 
 of your verse." 
 
 "Indeed; I had always heard only of verse- 
 feet." 
 
 Bruning continued his introductions: "The Count 
 ess Vera Petrovna Solnikova, of Petersburg, who 
 has had the kindness to invite us to a feast of Lucul- 
 lus; Madame Felsen, from Reval; Baron Gaston de 
 la Rochere, from Bretagne; His Excellency, Mar- 
 chese Rinotti, from Rome, the coming director of 
 the destinies of Italy; and this is Herr Regenburg, 
 the well-known Viennese sportsman. And now, tell 
 us does the Rose-Spectacle start off to-day?" 
 
 The Countess Vera motioned Helmer to sit down 
 and offered him a cup of coffee, which he ac 
 cepted. 
 
 "Yes," said she; "tell us how it is all planned 
 the programme is so indefinite. Shall we hear you 
 to-day?" 
 
 "No, not to-day. To-day a great man is going to 
 speak," and he mentioned the name of the French 
 author, "and there are to be others. Yet I must 
 not tell you. It is characteristic of Mr. Toker's pro 
 gramme, that no programme is announced. If the 
 public should know in advance on which day this or 
 that person was to speak and know what would be the 
 subject, then they would be able to pick and choose, 
 and Mr. Toker wants all to be heard by all. It is like 
 a salon, where the guests do not know what sort of 
 artistic offerings are to be presented. It is all a sur 
 prise." 
 
 "If I can only succeed in hearing one of that 
 182
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 7 
 
 divine Polish master's compositions, than I shall be 
 rewarded for having made the journey to Lucerne," 
 said the countess, with a sentimental upward glance 
 of her eyes. "And you, Annette, you are especially 
 crazy over Mile. Garlett, the famous feminist, 
 are n't you?" 
 
 "Yes, that I am, although I do not care about 
 women's rights, but I have heard so much about 
 that lady ..." 
 
 "Fraulein Garlett is no 'Feminist,'" interrupted 
 Helmer eagerly, "and she does not preach emancipa 
 tion. She is not so desirous of winning rights for 
 women as of doing away with ancient prerogatives, 
 which they possess to the injury of all." 
 
 "How so? what prerogatives?" asked the others. 
 
 "Of being idle; of having an empty brain; of dis 
 claiming all care for the common weal; of think 
 ing themselves absolved from the bother of logical 
 thought . . . and so of robbing humanity of half its 
 intellectual working power." 
 
 "I don't understand you," said Annette. 
 
 "Oh, I understand!" exclaimed M. de la Rochere. 
 "Women are to mix in politics. How advantageous 
 that is has been shown by the tricoteuses around the 
 guillotine and the petroleuses during the Commune. 
 . . . Woman is a creature d? amour. . . . Wife, mistress, 
 odalisque . . . that is our French ideal!" 
 
 " In Germany, also, a feminine ideal has been es 
 tablished," remarked Bruning; "that of three capital 
 K's: Kirche, Kinder, Kuche church, children, 
 kitchen." 
 
 The Italian Minister turned the conversation: 
 183
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "Do you know, Herr Helmer, two years ago, when 
 
 I was passing through Berlin, I attended the pre 
 miere of your last drama and was delighted at its 
 great success. I hope the piece is to be given soon 
 on the Italian stage." 
 
 " Indeed, Your Excellency, that has actually been 
 arranged for it is to be presented next winter at 
 Milan." 
 
 1 ' Unless in the mean time, ' ' said Bruning, laughing, 
 
 II the great European war should break out which 
 the signer marchese predicts." 
 
 Helmer shrugged his shoulders. " Oh, yes, that 
 famous unavoidable European war of the future, 
 which has been announced for many long years, 
 but which nevertheless, so far, has been warded 
 off." 
 
 "So you still think it avoidable, do you?" asked 
 the Countess Vera. 
 
 "I consider it impossible. Unless Europe takes 
 up with a suicidal policy." 
 
 Bruning tapped Helmer on the shoulder: "This 
 shows what an incorrigible idealist you are deaf 
 and blind to the coarse realities of life. You look on 
 men as angels, while in reality they are beasts." 
 
 Helmer impatiently shook Bruning's hand from 
 his shoulder: "Present company excepted, it is to 
 be hoped," said he. "But you know that I will not 
 have a controversy with you." 
 
 The sportsman wanted to smooth things over. " It 
 is to be hoped that Herr Helmer is right for if a 
 war were to break out, all securities would go down 
 seriously. But still, if it should happen, it would be 
 
 184
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 a wholesome letting of blood. And who can prevent 
 the decrees of history?" 
 
 "Oh, history, history," exclaimed Helmer, in a 
 tone of vexation. "Does history make us or do we 
 make history? If you put yourself before the mirror 
 and make up faces, can one say, when there is an 
 ugly reflection, ' who can prevent the grimaces of the 
 mirror'?" 
 
 "There is no use discussing," said the marchese. 
 "On general grounds it seems to me, my dear poet, 
 that you do not have a very sound comprehension 
 of affairs here below. You soar up into a world of 
 thought and do not see what positive facts bring. 
 You do not know what seething and fermentation 
 are going on in the lower regions of political and so 
 cial life ; how friction and tension are increasing, and 
 how ultimately and very soon, too, there must 
 be an explosion." 
 
 "In other words, you consider me blind, Your 
 Excellency? Of course, I know right well that there 
 is seething and fermentation. It certainly cannot 
 continue as it is now ; a mighty change what you 
 call an explosion is before us, I agree to that. 
 We have entered upon the age of the air, the age of 
 the heights. The depths are to be left behind. All 
 that is low is to be conquered. Not by forcible de 
 struction but it will disappear, will sink away. 
 . . . Have you ever made a voyage in an airship and 
 gone up high, Your Excellency? If you have, you 
 found that it was not so much a mounting into the 
 upper regions as it was a sinking away of what was 
 below. I know of things which are in preparation, 
 
 185
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 which are unknown to you and which are to be 
 revealed during our Rose- Week. In our midst so 
 journs an inventor, a conqueror . . . yet I must not 
 betray secrets." He stood up. "I must be going. 
 I hope I shall see you all this evening at our opening 
 session."
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 DREAMS OF LOVE 
 
 " Ninon, Ninon, que fais-tu de la vie, toi qui vis sans amour ? " 
 
 THE text of this song haunted Franka's memory. 
 She was reclining on the couch in her little salon, 
 her arms crossed behind her head, her eyes closed. 
 
 The red silk shades at the windows were drawn 
 and a ruddy twilight permeated the room. All the 
 salons in the suites put at the disposal of Mr. Toker's 
 guests had red hangings and white walls. The chairs 
 and sofas were rose-colored. The carpets showed red 
 roses on a white ground. The sleeping-rooms were 
 also upholstered in these two colors, and the bath 
 rooms attached to each apartment were fitted with 
 rose-marble. Toker did not want his guests to be for 
 a single minute free from the spell of roses. Even the 
 water, as it flowed through the faucets at the wash- 
 stands, was perfumed with roses, and rose-scented 
 soap was provided. The chandeliers were of pale- 
 rose glass and a rose-colored shade protected every 
 electric lamp. 
 
 Frau Eleonore was sitting at the writing-table of 
 the little salon and was writing picture-postcards for 
 the whole circle of her acquaintance. Now and then 
 she interrupted this occupation and glanced over at 
 Franka. 
 
 "There, you have been lying for almost an hour 
 perfectly motionless, my dear; were you asleep?" 
 
 187
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "No, only thinking." 
 
 "Were you meditating on your coming address? " 
 
 " No, I am thinking for a wonder of myself. 
 I am putting Franka Garlett timid questions and she 
 is answering them hesitatingly." 
 
 "Might one know what the subject of this inter 
 esting inquisition is?" 
 
 " It is too vague to be expressed in words." 
 
 "Yet I think I can imagine: the first question put 
 by the inquisitor to the victim runs: 'Confess! how 
 did yesterday's prince please you?" 
 
 "You think so, do you?" She shook her head, 
 laughing; "you are on the wrong track." 
 
 "Indeed! Then, perhaps . . ." 
 
 "Please do not you take upon yourself the office 
 of investigator. . . . Instead, please go on writing 
 your 'cordial greetings from Lucerne' and let me 
 think for a while longer." 
 
 "Very well; I must post a dozen or more cards 
 before the mail is collected." 
 
 Franka again took up the thread of her thoughts 
 as before ..." Toi qui vis sans amour. 1 ' . . . Now for 
 the first time, called up by Frau Eleonore's jesting 
 words, arose Victor Adolph's picture before her. She 
 had certainly not been thinking of him before. Only 
 of love in general : not even of that rather of the 
 sense of troublous unsatisfying yearning which occa 
 sionally took possession of her and caused her pain 
 a feeling of emptiness, of melancholy . . . and as 
 if to give some explanation for it, she had been re 
 peating to herself the words of that French song. 
 
 Was it possible that her life's failure consisted in the 
 
 188
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 fact that it was without love? She had given herself 
 with zeal and enthusiasm to a great idea, to a great 
 object, and had relentlessly waved aside everything 
 else. She had accomplished her lofty task and her 
 success had brought her great satisfaction. She had 
 made known perfectly new theories regarding the 
 rights and duties of women and had been able to 
 impose them on others. So successful had her work 
 been that she had won a reputation confirmed by 
 her enrollment in the Order of the Knights of the 
 Roses, and yet . . . and yet . . . there was this yearn 
 ing. . . . What for? If it were for love, how came it 
 that no one of those who had come into her vicinity 
 had awakened that passion in her heart? Not one 
 had attracted her, or even for a moment put her 
 senses into a tumult. Though often, whether in a 
 dream or in a book she was reading, the glamour 
 of artistic impressions or of mild spring nights, a sud 
 den glow swept through her veins, oppressing her, 
 it was never associated with the image of any special 
 man. And if an impulse swelled her heart toward 
 tenderness, not toward passionate bliss, but to 
 ward a sincere, gentle tenderness, then she had 
 no idea whom she should bless with it. 
 
 No, she had not been thinking of the prince; she 
 was trying to formulate another recollection of the 
 evening before : that moment, when in her terror at 
 a vision in the firmament, she had rested her hand 
 on Helmer's arm . . . and the feeling of calmness, 
 of refuge, of sweet security, which had come over 
 her. Once again, now that the interruption caused 
 by Frau Eleonore was past, she closed her eyes and 
 
 189
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 tried to recall her former sensation: she succeeded 
 in doing so: the sense of refuge and security was 
 there once more, and sweetly rang the words: "A 
 warm house and a loving heart in it" . . . 
 
 "Dear heart," she murmured. 
 
 Frau Eleonore stood up: "What did you say? Do 
 you wish anything?" 
 
 At the same instant a groom entered and brought 
 a great gilded basket filled with Parma violets. A 
 visiting-card lay in it: Prince Victor Adolph von 
 X . 
 
 When Helmer took his departure, Bruning also 
 bade good-bye to the little luncheon coterie with the 
 intention of accompanying his friend. 
 
 "You still owe me a call," said he; "won't you 
 come up to my room for a little while? No? Then let 
 me go a part of the way with you. How did you like 
 the two ladies? Shall I tell you something about 
 them?" 
 
 "I 'd rather hear about the Italian Minister 
 the man interests me." 
 
 "I can believe it. There is no one in all Europe 
 more interesting at the present time. He is of 
 the clay from which the Cavours, the Talleyrands, 
 the Bismarcks, and the Chamberlains are made. 
 One who can talk fluently of future events, of fer 
 mentations and collisions, because he himself is one 
 who causes events to come, who ferments and col 
 lides." 
 
 "Oh, is that so?" 
 
 " You swear by that school which does not believe 
 190
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 in the power of individuals to influence the history 
 of nations? It is your idea, that the nameless masses, 
 that all-powerful Necessity, and the like, condition 
 the course of history ..." 
 
 "There you are again with your 'history.' If you 
 mean by it the changes that result from universal 
 conditions, then, certainly, the laws of nature and 
 the nameless masses, unconsciously obeying them, 
 form the motive power ; but if it concerns the events 
 that are brought about by the intrigues of diplo 
 mats and despots and the newspapers that are sub 
 servient to them, then I grant that this kind of 
 history is made by ambitious and unscrupulous indi 
 viduals." 
 
 "Well, then, if that is undersood, my Romeo 
 Rinotti is just a history-maker. 'Unscrupulousness' 
 is his fetish ... in fact, it is the reasonable basis of 
 all real politics. Rinotti is not as yet at the helm, 
 else a portentious chapter in the history of our cen 
 tury would have been written long ago ; but he will 
 yet come to the helm, and then . . . well, he makes no 
 secret of the lofty aims which he has conceived for the 
 grandeur and glory of his country. Whether he will 
 attain them is, indeed, another question; I have my 
 doubts ; for fortunately we in Austria, we also have 
 resolute men in leading positions ... a fine, proud 
 imperialism has flowered since Aehrenthal's great 
 stroke of genius; and our military strength, as well 
 as that of our allies, is to be reckoned with. . . . Our 
 fleet of airships also makes a good showing. So Ri- 
 notti's bold plans will scarcely be fulfilled, in spite 
 of all Slavic assistance . . . but whatever the con- 
 
 191
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 sequences may be, the impulse will suffice, as I said, 
 to produce a mighty chapter in history. I must say, 
 although the man is really our enemy, he inspires 
 me with respect, because of his powerful will : univer 
 sal history needs such chaps. At the same time, he 
 is a fascinating man. . . . The women are all crazy 
 over him . . . that Baltic woman, for example. . . . 
 Did you notice how her eyes were riveted on him? 
 If the Countess Solnikova has not fallen under his 
 spell, it is only thanks to her fancy for your com 
 poser. . . . But here I am chattering away and you 
 do not say a word . . . apparently you are up in 
 the clouds again, your favorite habitation, and prob 
 ably have not been listening to what I said." 
 
 "On the contrary, I have been listening with all 
 attention. What you tell me of Rinotti interests me 
 immensely. It proves clearly, once more, how our 
 official world is still entangled in the ancient con 
 cepts and methods, how men cannot see what the 
 needs of the age are. They do not suspect that the 
 epoch of cabinet intrigues is just as obsolete, though 
 not so far removed from us, as the Tertiary or the 
 Miocene period. Or are we really still in the very 
 midst of it? Am I the one who does not see the actu 
 ality, because my eyes are fixed too eagerly on the 
 future, just as the eyes of the Rinottis and their ad 
 mirers are directed toward the past? However, I 
 am very grateful to you, for what you have told me 
 shows how imperative the work is which must be the 
 outcome of the Rose- Week." 
 
 "You incorrigible visionary ! Do you really im 
 agine that Toker, Helmer, and Company are going to 
 
 192
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 lift the world out of its hinges? I have permitted my 
 self to compare the undertaking of this worthy firm 
 to Hagenbeck; I might have said that it is a great 
 cosmopolitan variety-show . . . well, I am curious; 
 especially for your number on the programme: 
 ' Mr. Chlodwig Helmer, prestidigitator on the poets' 
 ladder.' But here we are at your lodgings I will 
 leave you. No offense, I hope ..." 
 
 Helmer shrugged his shoulders: "I know you of 
 old, and if I am inwardly annoyed at your cynicism, 
 I don't lay it up against you." 
 
 "And I likewise pardon you for calling my modi 
 cum of common sense and mother wit cynicism. 
 Such a long-established comradeship is n't going to 
 be broken up by such quizzing. The earth would be 
 boresome if it contained nothing but mere practical 
 people a few dreamers must be allowed to prac 
 tice their somnambulism. Servus, old fellow." 
 
 Bruning said good-bye at the entrance door of the 
 Rose- Palace; Helmer, however, did not go in, but 
 walked off in another direction. The conversation 
 with his boyhood friend had given a serious trend 
 to his thoughts, and he was not inclined at the mo 
 ment to meet any of Mr. Toker's guests and converse 
 with them. He preferred a solitary walk. 
 
 He knew a path which led from the shore of the 
 lake to a distant grove where it was very silent and 
 pleasant: thither he directed his steps. He had often 
 in his life found that when he was vexed with men 
 either with individual men or with human society at 
 large he was immediately pacified by taking ref 
 uge with Nature. To him Nature, the mother of all 
 
 193
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 creatures Nature, the generous, the life-abounding, 
 the sublime, the unfathomable, the inexorable keeper 
 of her own mysteries, the never disobedient servant 
 of her own laws, the spendthrift and miser of her own 
 treasures to him Nature was not some thing, but 
 some one. A some one whom he loved with awe 
 and whose magical gifts he accepted as the token of 
 some measure of reciprocal love. 
 
 He strolled for some distance along the shore of the 
 lake; boats large and small were darting across its 
 mirror-like surface. Snow-capped mountains arose in 
 the background. Helmer appreciated the imposing 
 beauty of the whole landscape; but what he wanted 
 to find was a retired, circumscribed spot without a 
 broad outlook, without the effect of theatrical deco 
 rations or panoramic views, a little place, where he 
 might be alone with a few trees and a few wild flow 
 ers. So he turned aside into a narrow path between 
 two wooded hills, and after a short walk entered the 
 dark, cool corner which he was looking for. There 
 nothing was to be seen worthy of being called "a 
 splendid region" or of being remarked as bearing 
 a characteristic Swiss flavor; the little assemblage 
 of firs and birches, of oaks and beeches, of stunted 
 bushes, of mossy stones, and tall grasses might have 
 been duplicated in any other place in Europe. The 
 sunlight danced in the lightly waving foliage and a 
 delicious perfume of gum and strawberries filled the 
 air. Blue and yellow and rose-colored flowers were 
 blooming all about, wooed by fluttering white butter 
 flies. Then there was a dreamily monotonous music 
 of humming bees, chirping crickets, and murmuring 
 
 194
 
 .WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 brooks, now and then interrupted by the clear call 
 of the blackbird. 
 
 Helmer flung himself down in the grass at the foot 
 of a leafy beech tree and breathed. Really he 
 did nothing else without thoughts, without recol 
 lections, he lay there awhile and merely breathed. 
 Long, joyous inhalations, just like all the plant 
 brethren around him, the life of which is scornfully 
 called "vegetating," although it is perhaps the pur 
 est form of the joy of existence. He contemplated 
 a tiny beetle which was climbing laboriously up a 
 swaying blade of grass, and in doing so lost its bal 
 ance. A pair of very industrious ants, laden with 
 building-materials, hastened by. A little green worm 
 wriggled circumspectly, and as it drew its tail up to 
 its head it made an arch, then stretched itself out 
 again in order to make another a complicated 
 method of locomotion. 
 
 Helmer followed with friendly eyes all these move 
 ments which seem so important to those who make 
 them. Also a beautiful gift of Nature, he said to him 
 self, this consciousness of importance which is com 
 mon to the most insignificant little creature, and 
 which confers upon it a sort of dignity. And thus he 
 began once more to take up the thread of thought. 
 And the things also which he wanted to escape from 
 began once more to recur in his mind : all the scorn 
 ful, stupid, harmful conversation of all those people 
 whose judgments and behavior lay so far removed 
 from the realm toward which his poetic activities 
 and yearning ran. In the circle of the Knighthood 
 of the Rose, to be sure, he had found kindred spirits, 
 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 all working like himself to prepare the coming king 
 dom ; but there were only two or three dozen of them, 
 and the others were millions, and among them the 
 very ones that had the most power and influence, 
 rank and station . . . they form the great public and 
 we ... we are a number or two in a variety -show. 
 
 He shook his head. No, that is not true. We also 
 have millions behind us dumb, yearning millions, 
 who are only waiting for the liberating act. The liber 
 ating act, however, must be forestalled by the liber 
 ating word ... so let us first say just what we have 
 to say. 
 
 He passed in review the scheme of his poem. Did 
 it express everything that in hours of inspiration 
 swept before his mind? Alas, no! Far, far from it 
 there still remained much work for him to do. The 
 problems, the subjects crowded in upon him 
 every day with its new experiences brought new 
 ideas. Especially this last week, by contact with the 
 great artists and thinkers, who surpassed him in so 
 many ways, so many new horizons had opened be 
 fore him. It was, indeed, a marvelous company. 
 Franka must assuredly be grateful to him that she 
 had been invited to be present, for he had suggested 
 to her the career which she had so brilliantly fol 
 lowed. Franka . . . his thoughts dwelt longer at this 
 name, at the picture which it called up. How con 
 fidingly, how beseechingly, as if asking his aid, she had 
 clung to him. ... It made his heart glow. He was 
 not thinking now of her genius, of her beauty, but 
 rather of that helplessness ... oh, if he could only 
 hold her in his arms to protect her and to comfort 
 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 her. . . . Pshaw, what nonsense ! she needed no pro 
 tection; she was a wealthy, influential lady, with 
 everything at her command. Yesterday, after that 
 brief minute on the terrace, she went into the salon 
 and was instantly surrounded ; that prince had paid 
 her his homage most openly. And such a handsome, 
 seductive man that Victor Adolph ... If she, the 
 proud beauty, wanted to have a love-affair, what 
 more did she need to do than make a sign in order 
 to have her pick among the highest, the most dis 
 tinguished? . . . "Can it be that I am jealous? . . . 
 No, thank God, I am not in love with her; one does 
 not covet the stars. I will even advise her now to 
 think of her own happiness. It was my fault to a 
 certain degree that she, so Joan-of- Arc-like, shut her 
 heart up in an iron breastplate. I gave her that 
 counsel, that terrible counsel . . ."
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 RINOTTI AND PRINCE VICTOR ADOLPH 
 
 THE MARCHESE RINOTTI, after having taken his 
 leave of the Countess Vera and her cousin, went to 
 his room to see whether during his absence any 
 thing had come to him by mail requiring his atten 
 tion. He was expecting important advices. Although 
 he was traveling for pleasure and recreation, still he 
 kept in constant touch with all the activities of his 
 post, and even here was working in the business 
 which he was secretly trying to further. 
 
 He was in a highly excited state of mind. The news 
 that he had read in the morning's papers indicated 
 a crisis in various controversies, the obscuration of 
 certain points on the political horizon ; and this fur 
 nished a favorable field for his plans. What espe 
 cially intensified his excitement was the retrospect of 
 the last two hours, during which it had become clear 
 to him that the pretty Baltic widow was passionately 
 in love with him. She had sat next him at table. 
 Those side glances, that coquettish smile, aye, even 
 that far from abrupt drawing back of her little foot 
 when he had accidentally touched it with his. . . . 
 Rinotti was accustomed to this kind of triumph, 
 but it always delighted him to see the evident signs 
 of his mastery of the female heart a double tri 
 umph, because he no longer possessed the attractive 
 power of youth; therefore it must be really some- 
 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 thing magnetic, something hypnotic and peculiar 
 in him ... or was it merely the force of his will, of 
 his violent desires? There is nothing like violence; 
 one may condemn it as brutal as much as one will 
 therein lies strength in war and in love. With 
 such "Renaissance" thoughts he took up his bundle 
 of letters, documents, and dispatches which were 
 waiting for him on his writing-table and now set to 
 work merrily. 
 
 He had an hour and a half free: at four o'clock he 
 was to call on Prince Victor Adolph, to whom, since 
 he was a royal highness, he wanted to show his pro 
 found respect. That the prince belonged to a country 
 with which, according to Rinotti's calculations, a con 
 flict was imminent, was no obstacle. The letters in 
 terested him intensely. The correspondents whom he 
 had delegated in England and France, in Germany 
 and Austria, in Russia and the Balkans, communi 
 cated to him details of all kinds of transparent in 
 trigues even when there was nothing to see through, 
 for they knew his predilections for diplomatic subter 
 fuges and underground paths, and realized that their 
 reports would be regarded as all the more sapient, 
 the more they discovered evil motives concealed be 
 hind all political transactions and demonstrations. 
 
 Rinotti jotted down on a sheet of paper notes 
 wherein swarmed a profusion of references to move 
 ments of troops, blockades of boundaries, commu 
 niques, airship works, and the like. In the same 
 breath he scribbled on another sheet of paper de 
 tached words and sentences like " Splendid creature," 
 "lovely one," "You must be mine," "devouring 
 
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 fire," and other ingredients of a glowing billet doux 
 which that very evening he proposed to slip into 
 Annette's hands at the Rose-Festival. 
 
 In the mean time Victor Adolph was expecting 
 the promised visit. He was sitting on his balcony 
 and lying back comfortably in a rocking-chair, with 
 a book in his hand and a cigarette between his lips. 
 He was not alone. His constant attendant, General 
 von Orell, adjutant, tutor, compagnon de plaisir, pa 
 ternal friend, and master of ceremonies, all in one 
 person, was resting in a second rocking-chair, also 
 engaged in smoking and reading. Only he was puffing 
 a strong imported cigar and was reading a military 
 aeronautical journal. 
 
 Victor Adolph glanced up from his reading : "Why, 
 he is a real poet, this Helmer. . . . You ought to read 
 'Schwingen,' Orell, since you are so much interested 
 in aviation, as I see from the title-picture of your 
 journal." 
 
 The general politely laid his journal aside, as his 
 prince was pleased to address him. 
 
 "Never read poems, Your Royal Highness." 
 
 "I know that, you are too 'matter-of-fact' for 
 such things." 
 
 "Too what?" The general did not understand the 
 English expression used by the prince. 
 
 "Too sober, too cold-hearted, too skeptical, 
 too . . ." 
 
 "Too prosaic. Granted. Dry common sense. 
 Practical mind. I flatter myself." 
 
 "What news in your journal? Any great advance 
 in the art of flying?" 
 
 200
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "Yes, great supplies of explosives can be carried 
 by airships." 
 
 "Really? What a blessing. . . . Will not Signor 
 Rinotti be here shortly?" 
 
 Orell glanced at his watch : 
 
 "Quarter of an hour." 
 
 The general preferred not to say more words 
 than were necessary. 
 
 " Have the violets been sent to the Rose-Palace? " 
 
 "Yes, Your Royal Highness. Pretty girl. But a 
 bluestocking. . . . Shame!" 
 
 " Fraulein Garlett does not give the impression of 
 being a bluestocking, but she is very clever." 
 
 "Women should not be clever." 
 
 The prince laughed. " You are fearfully vieuxjeu, 
 my dear Orell." 
 
 "Fearfully what?" 
 
 "Old-fashioned." 
 
 "I natter myself; hate all modern follies. Mod 
 ern technique, especially the technique of arms, also 
 the modern mode of warfare interests me. Your 
 Royal Highness is far too little interested in such 
 things. Here are the experiences of the Russo- 
 Japanese campaign. . . ." 
 
 "I know them. There is some of that in Vere- 
 sayef's 'Recollections of a Physician,' and in Leonid 
 Andreyef's 'Red Laughter.'" 
 
 "Your Royal Highness reads bad books with the 
 rest." 
 
 "A piece of genuine good fortune that my royal 
 father has not commissioned you to censor my read- 
 ing." 
 
 201
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "But his Majesty recommended me to procure 
 useful books for Your Royal Highness." 
 
 "Yes, yes; those dealing with military science and 
 Byzantine history. But I throw aside all such rub 
 bish." 
 
 "And read socialistic pamphlets." 
 
 "What if I do? The social question interests me." 
 
 "Me, too. Must be settled. I know how to." 
 
 "Truly, do you know that? Here behold me all 
 eagerness! Tell me how." 
 
 "Annihilate the whole crowd." 
 
 A cloud of dissatisfaction darkened Victor Adolph ' s 
 face, but he made no reply. He had no desire to be 
 drawn into a dispute. Orell's views were well known 
 to him and he avoided as far as possible affording 
 him any opportunity of expressing them. He took 
 up his book again and lighted a fresh cigarette. Yet 
 he did not read; he only let his mind dwell on the 
 theme that had been broached. The social question 
 really interested him intensely, and not superficially 
 either ; he had studied the thing itself. He had long 
 been secretly a subscriber to " Vorwarts," and many 
 times he had succeeded in smuggling himself into the 
 assemblies of the local labor union, and once he 
 had been present, unrecognized, at an international 
 congress of Socialists. Not everything was clear to 
 him in the doctrinaire aspects of the question, but 
 deep in his heart he was on the side of those who are 
 trying to obtain for the masses of the nations the 
 joys and dignities of life. In order to get a clear no 
 tion of the battle against poverty, he would have had 
 to make a study of poverty and see for himself ; and 
 
 202
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 then horrible abysses of woe would have opened be 
 fore him; abysses of which people of his class and 
 in general of all classes, that do not belong to the 
 proletariat, have for the most part no conception. 
 
 And one thing particularly embittered him: the 
 fearful lack of comprehension which he met with 
 when he merely mentioned the subject in his own 
 circles. No one seemed to have an idea of what was 
 at issue. Poverty? Yes, that was found everywhere, 
 but it always had existed and always would exist: 
 there is no remedy, except to distribute alms, to 
 establish free soup-kitchens, and so on, and that sort 
 of thing is provided generously. To practice charity 
 is certainly one of the cardinal virtues, and a host of 
 people, notably the women of princely families, are 
 in the front ranks, setting a good example! . . . 
 
 Naturally, there are also discontented people the 
 lazy who do not want to work or the rascally fellows 
 who are always after higher wages in order to have 
 more gin to drink. But especially guilty of the dis 
 content are the agitators, the so-called leaders, the 
 mischief-making demagogues. Opposition parties, 
 revolutionary parties, such have always been, 
 and the only remedy against them is iron firmness. 
 As a last resort one always has the military to pre 
 serve the established order. Force is the best, indeed, 
 the only security : the threat of armed force restrains 
 the rabble. Without this wholesome fear the Reds 
 would soon be on hand to plunder property-owners 
 or to vote that all property should be shared equally 
 such nonsense ! As if after such a division the 
 industrious and the clever would not shortly possess 
 
 203
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 more than the lazy and the rascally, and then there 
 would be an end of all the famous equality . . . no, 
 no, those are idle dreams. . . . Inequality is founded 
 on Nature. 
 
 These and similar phrases Victor Adolph had al 
 ways been obliged to hear when Socialism was men 
 tioned in his environment. With especial violence 
 the opponents of a cause always succeed in demolish 
 ing the postulates that are never put forward by its 
 advocates. "Equal division of property" what 
 Socialist would have ever demanded such a thing? 
 Public possession, State possession is not equally 
 divided possession it is common possession, like 
 the air we breathe. 
 
 The prevalent misconception which aroused Vic 
 tor Adolph's wrath extended not only to the nature 
 of the social movement, but also to its progress. 
 What it has already accomplished in organization, 
 in clearing the way, what it is on the point of doing, 
 those who stand aloof do not know. They frequently 
 talk about the laws of nature, but only to draw from 
 them the conclusion that all things will and must 
 remain as they are. And they are ready to assist 
 this well-beloved vis inertia with laws and clubs 
 and cannon, but what the existing circumstances, 
 what the events will bring forth in natural conse 
 quences; they have no notion about that. With 
 irresponsible frivolity they let come what may. They 
 see nothing of the approaching flood; should there 
 really be a shower or two, they have their umbrellas 
 ready. 
 
 Victor Adolph had not himself penetrated far 
 204
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 enough into the domain of social and economic af 
 fairs to predict how the movement would develop, 
 but he followed it with deep sympathy, and was im 
 pelled to do so by two honorable motives, desire 
 for knowledge and love for his fellow-men. 
 
 The prince was aroused from his thoughts by the 
 announcement "His Excellency, Marchese Ri- 
 notti." The general went to meet the visitor and 
 brought him to the prince. After the first ceremoni 
 ous greetings had been exchanged, obsequiously on 
 the part of the diplomat, with friendly dignity on the 
 part of the prince, the prince invited the marchese 
 to sit down, and began the conversation with the 
 question: " Is it decided that your king is coming here 
 this week?" 
 
 "Yes, Your Royal Highness, in three days His 
 Majesty will arrive." 
 
 "And will he attend the exercises in the Rose- 
 Palace?" 
 
 "That is his intention." 
 
 "A great honor for the American," remarked the 
 general. 
 
 The prince shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I doubt 
 if Mr. Toker has so much awe before crowned heads 
 as your loyal mind ascribes to him, my dear Orell." 
 
 "I have my doubts as to that point, also," said 
 Rinotti . "Mr. Toker belongs to that caste of moneyed 
 potentates who regard themselves as kings. And in 
 a certain sense they are, indeed, for they wield a 
 dominion over a monstrous, a sinister power. Old 
 Europe must take precious good care of her prestige, 
 must stick closer than ever to her traditions, if she 
 
 205
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 would hold her own against the spirit of Ameri 
 canism." 
 
 "That is a vague term," said the prince. "What 
 do you mean by 'Americanism'?" 
 
 Rinotti's keen-cut face took on a contemptuous 
 expression. "I mean by it stock-jobbery and wild 
 quest for money ; lack of ideality, of anything roman 
 tic, of heroism ; their poverty in historical recollec 
 tions and national art amply accounts for this. They 
 have nothing of all that which constitutes our pride, 
 which enriches and ennobles us: ancient monuments, 
 cathedrals, old paintings, famous field-marshals, il 
 lustrious families, glorious dynasties of rulers all 
 that is missing to the New World ; and what can it 
 offer in their place? sky-scrapers, gigantic steel, 
 meat, and oil trusts, California gold-mines, and pos 
 sibly Niagara Falls! That I will grant as the one 
 thing poetic but in everything else it is a land of 
 mediocrity, of aridity, of the barrenest prose." 
 
 The general nodded his assent: "Quite right." 
 
 Victor Adolph angrily crushed his cigarette into 
 theash-tray. "You say, 'Quite right.' I say,' Quite 
 false,' essentially false. I know America. You do not 
 know it. I spent a year at Harvard University. You 
 have no conception of the warmth of enthusiasm, 
 of the generosity, of the wide outlook, of the world- 
 embracing ideas in a word, of the lofty ideals which 
 animate that free, youthful-hearted people ..." 
 
 "What fire, Your Royal Highness!" exclaimed 
 the marchese. "Your own youthful enthusiasm is 
 speaking. I love it and I admire it, especially in a 
 Northerner." 
 
 206
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 The prince made an impatient deprecatory gesture 
 with his hand. "Do you know," said he, "that the 
 International Agricultural Institute in Rome, the 
 foundation of which was a great glory for King 
 Victor Emanuel III, because it is intended for the 
 service and advantage of all men, owes its origin to 
 an American? The man's name was Lubin. He 
 made a trip to Europe on purpose to bring this idea 
 of his to the sovereigns; with your king, whose mind 
 is open to grand new ideas, he found appreciation 
 and support." 
 
 "I am glad Your Royal Highness has so good an 
 opinion of my sovereign. I hope also that Italy 
 under his scepter will continue to accumulate stores 
 of glory. My country faces great tasks ..." 
 
 "Undoubtedly," interrupted Victor Adolph; " for 
 example, the amelioration of poverty in Sicily, 
 the drainage of all malaria-producing swamps, the 
 diminution of the illiterate . . .oh, great tasks are 
 to be performed everywhere, not in Italy alone ..." 
 
 "In America as well?" asked Rinotti ironically. 
 
 "Certainly, in America as well; and possibly the 
 example will be given us from there." 
 
 The prince stood up. Rinotti understood this to 
 be a hint that the interview was at an end : he also 
 arose and took a ceremonious farewell. The general 
 accompanied him to the door and then returned to 
 the prince. 
 
 "Desires to thank you again for your gracious 
 reception." 
 
 "The man is antipathetic to me," replied the 
 prince. 
 
 207
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "He is false. Intriguer. Mind full of mischief. 
 That is evident. Intends to play our ally nasty 
 tricks; only waiting till he becomes Prime Minister. 
 Then things will explode! Boundless ambition. Be 
 lieves that with the Italian airships and it is true 
 they are swift they can annihilate Austria's fleet. 
 But we are all ready for him." 
 
 "You are always imagining wars and rumors of 
 wars, my dear Orell, like the Old Men's chorus in 
 ' Faust.' But if that worthy statesman should really 
 have such notions up his sleeve, he would run counter 
 to his king's desire for peace. And, moreover, the 
 Italian people have some sense." 
 
 "What is that the people?"
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THE SIELENBURG PARTY 
 
 ELDERLY ladies of the Austrian aristocracy have 
 no great inclination for traveling. While for a hun 
 dred years it has been the fashion in England to 
 make a tour on the Continent, and while in the days 
 of mail-coaches, noblewomen, young and old, were 
 accustomed to accompany their spouses to Switzer 
 land and to Italy, to Paris and to the German baths, 
 the ladies of the Austrian nobility have only reluc 
 tantly quitted their castles in order to journey to 
 other countries. Since traveling has been made so 
 easy and expeditious, especially since automobiles 
 came into fashion, the younger feminine element of 
 the higher Austrian circles have ventured to make 
 trips into distant lands. But even at the time of the 
 Rose- Week, there were among the elder aristocratic 
 women some who had never before set foot outside 
 the boundaries of the Empire. Among these was 
 the Countess Adele Schollendorf . But, nevertheless, 
 one fine June morning the old lady, accompanied by 
 her cousin Albertine, started for Lucerne. Two cava 
 liers also made up the party: Cousin Coriolan and 
 Baron Ludwig Malhof. 
 
 The motive of the expedition was curiosity. Count 
 Sielen's sister had become quite estranged from her 
 grand-niece since the latter had begun to appear on 
 the public platform. The affair was too distasteful 
 
 209
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 to her it cut entirely across all her prejudices. 
 Franka had, indeed, lost nothing in reputation and 
 respect by her action on the contrary ; but the 
 old countess could not be reconciled to it. She did 
 not go so far as to indulge in open reproach and 
 rupture, being restrained by the fact that she was 
 indebted to Franka's generosity for her home at the 
 Sielenburg and the considerable revenues accruing 
 from this property; but she had renounced all per 
 sonal intercourse, which was the easier, because 
 Franka, on her part, took no pains to maintain it. 
 For no money in the world would the Countess 
 Adele have consented to attend the young girl's 
 lecture in Vienna. A connection a person with 
 the Sielen blood in her veins on the platform, 
 speaking in favor of the emancipation of women! 
 Horrible! But when one day Baron Malhof brought 
 the news that Franka Garlett had been invited to 
 take her place with the greatest celebrities of the day 
 at the Rose- Week celebration, and he described 
 the Toker Rose- Week with enthusiasm, having him 
 self been present at one, the old countess's curi 
 osity was awakened: "I should like to see it," she 
 exclaimed. 
 
 "Then let us go there," proposed Malhof. And he 
 argued so eloquently that the countess decided to 
 take the journey the first she had ever made out 
 of her own country. There, so far away, she might, 
 indeed, endure to see Franka on the platform; only 
 at home, among all her relatives and acquaintances, 
 it would have been too painful. But there "there " 
 being somewhat confused in her mind with the an- 
 
 210
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 tipodes one was, so to speak, incognito. Albertine 
 consented to accompany her cousin, although the 
 expedition seemed to her very portentous and ad 
 venturous; but, possibly, she might have the oppor 
 tunity of telling this Franka, who had so uncere 
 moniously slipped out from under her influence, a 
 few verities which would redound to her advan 
 tage. 
 
 Cousin Coriolan joined the party from the purpose 
 of studying into the ''humbug." . . . Toker was a 
 fool, and the whole affair was a piece of modern 
 sham. Baron Malhof, widely experienced, offered 
 his services as marshal for the journey: to engage 
 lodgings, to see to the luggage, to act as cicerone, 
 and in general to superintend all the details of the 
 trip. But when he suggested making the journey 
 to Lucerne in an airship, Countess Adele protested 
 with horror. 
 
 They arrived the evening before the exercises 
 were to begin ; they had enjoyed a good night's sleep, 
 and were now sitting at their breakfast-coffee in the 
 dining-room. They were glancing through the news 
 paper, to find what announcements were made 
 about the coming performances: but all they found 
 were the list of Toker's guests, and the statement 
 that the same motto should serve for all the ad 
 dresses: "When thoughts will soar ..." 
 
 "I am curious to know what that means," mut 
 tered Coriolan ; "probably a kind of preaching about 
 all sorts of high-flying, so called Ideals. It may be 
 very edifying, but not very exciting." 
 
 "As far as I can judge of you, my dear Coriolan," 
 211
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 said Malhof, "you would be neither excited nor 
 edified by the things which are to be heard here. 
 Just as the American and the operatic host which 
 he has invited are the representatives of the latest 
 and boldest ideas, so you . . ." 
 
 Countess Adele interrupted: "Well, if Franka's 
 emancipation absurdities are to be called soaring. 
 . . . This honey is famous taste it, Baron Malhof; 
 and this crisp-toasted bread ... it seems to me the 
 Swiss are used to an abundant breakfast." 
 
 "Kipfel are best with coffee," remarked Albertine 
 ecstatically. 
 
 Coriolan nodded assent. " But Gugelhupf has some 
 claim upon us," he added. 
 
 "We have wandered far from high-soaring 
 thoughts again," remarked Baron Malhof. 
 
 Countess Adele spread some more honey on her 
 toast. "I 'm curious to see how Franka looks ..." 
 
 " Probably prettier than ever she is a ravishing 
 creature ..." 
 
 "What fire, Baron Malhof!" 
 
 "Yes, I confess, Fraulein Garlett was my last 
 flame. . . . Oh, not a very creditable story, as far 
 as I was concerned. I tried to well, never mind 
 what I tried but she gave me a pretty rebuff. As 
 to emancipation, as you keep saying, Countess, 
 nothing of that could be seen in her. A virtuous 
 maiden of the old-fashioned model ..." 
 
 "Excuse me, but in order to resist you ..." 
 
 "One need not be so very virtuous were you 
 going to say, Madam? That is true, but the cir 
 cumstances under which I was repulsed, and the 
 
 212
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 way in which she did it, certainly indicated the much- 
 praised ' fundamental principles.' " 
 
 " Don't you approve of them?" 
 
 "I never have, most gracious Countess." 
 
 "I know, I know; you have the reputation of 
 having been a genuine Don Juan. However, as 
 far as Franka is concerned, she seems to have 
 kept her head. In spite of this adventurous life 
 this gallivanting about and making speeches, noth 
 ing discreditable has ever been charged against 
 her." 
 
 "So much the worse for her." 
 
 "What do you mean?" 
 
 "Well, if one hears nothing bad about a young 
 woman, it means that nothing pleasant has hap 
 pened to her." 
 
 "You are a terrible man! Albertine, we ought 
 never to have trusted ourselves to his escort!" 
 
 The old maid did not understand the joke. "Why 
 not?" she asked earnestly. "He is certainly a very 
 respectable gentleman. But do you know, Baron 
 Malhof, I should like to give you one piece of ad 
 vice: you ought not to comb your back hair over 
 your bald spot. Excuse my frankness ; but it is not 
 at all becoming to you." 
 
 The baron nervously and awkwardly moved his 
 hand over the place to which such invidious atten 
 tion had been called. "Good Heavens ! One does the 
 best one can ..." 
 
 "Oh, you, with your everlasting frankness," ex 
 claimed the countess reprovingly. 
 
 Coriolan went on reading his newspaper. "Here 
 213
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 among the names of the Rose comedians stands that 
 of a Herr Helmer; wasn't that fool Jew, who was 
 Eduard's last secretary, named Helmer?" 
 
 "Yes, that was his name," replied Countess 
 Adele. " But he was n't a Jew." 
 
 "Well, his maternal grandmother was Jewish, 
 and that is pretty much the same thing." 
 
 "So was our common ancestor Adam," said Mal- 
 hof angrily. " Especially here, in this free and dem 
 ocratic Switzerland, you should not assume that 
 tone. Here one must not brag too much of race 
 and rank." 
 
 A wrathful scowl contracted the brows of the 
 haughty aristocrat. "I certainly shall speak my 
 mind. Democracy does not impose on me. Besides, 
 here, in Switzerland there are a few very good old 
 families, even if they don't have titles. For instance, 
 there are the Hallwyls; only recently I subscribed 
 for their coat of arms for my collection ; . . . and 
 then, in our own country, thank God, the nobility 
 still means something it is the mainstay of the 
 throne, the support of the faith what do I care 
 for Switzerland?" 
 
 " I beg of you, Coriolan, do not lose your temper," 
 said the Countess Adele soothingly, "and don't 
 talk so loud. What were we just speaking about? 
 Oh, yes, that Helmer ... I wonder if it is the same 
 man?" 
 
 Malhof signified with a nod that he was: " He has 
 become a famous poet and has been a frequent vis 
 itor at the Garlett palace." 
 
 "So-o-!" exclaimed the countess. "That is cer- 
 214
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 tainly not safe. The young man was in love with 
 Franka. That is the reason Eduard dismissed him. 
 And he has become so famous since?" 
 
 "It certainly does not take much to make a per 
 son famous nowadays," remarked Coriolan. "No 
 longer are there any more classical poets. And as to 
 fame that is something that belongs only to great 
 men, great field-marshals and statesmen. Prince 
 Eugene, Wallenstein, Metternich, the Archduke 
 Karl, Radetzky those are names haloed with 
 glory. No such are to be found in this list." 
 
 "Don't you count great poets also?" asked Mal- 
 hof. 
 
 "Well, the classics, as far as I am concerned 
 Goethe and Schiller." 
 
 "With the best will in the world, Mr. Toker could 
 not invite them. But who knows whether there 
 may not be a future Schiller or Goethe among the 
 guests?" 
 
 Coriolan shrugged his shoulders disdainfully. " In 
 this wretched age of ours there are no more great 
 men either poets or heroes. All these suspicious 
 elements, this Socialism and Freemasonry must be 
 cleaned out once and for all. Authority must be set 
 up again and the people must have religion. Per 
 haps it will be better after the next war such a 
 steel bath is mighty wholesome ..." 
 
 "Can't you leave off discussing politics, cousin?" 
 sighed the countess. "Fortunately, nothing is said 
 now about war." 
 
 "Do you think so? This proves that you read 
 nothing in the newspapers except gossip and the 
 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 society news, and not the political part; otherwise 
 you would know that war is coming, and very soon, 
 too. Do you imagine we shall much longer endure 
 the gibes of the mischief-makers on the other side of 
 the Adriatic, and don't you know how in the Bal 
 kans they are only waiting their opportunity to 
 found a Great Servia? Austria will come out of a 
 war with such an increase of power that it will be 
 able to settle its internal affairs on a satisfactory 
 basis. And in the rest of Europe? The tension is 
 everywhere so great who knows but before this 
 so-called Rose-Week shall end, the canister will 
 begin to rattle somewhere?" 
 
 "There, now! that will do," cried the old countess. 
 " You are a horrible bird of evil omen ! It is n't true, 
 is it, Malhof, that things are so bad?" 
 
 "I am no prophet. I grant that we are standing 
 on volcanic ground, but I believe that it will be a rev 
 olution sooner than a war. It must come to a finan 
 cial crash if things go on as they are to strikes, 
 general strikes how do I know? or to an open 
 revolt. . . . But let us talk of other things. Let us 
 hope that everything will come out all right. Apres 
 nous le deluge! In the mean time, ladies, I propose 
 that in half an hour we set forth to have a little 
 glimpse of Lucerne. I will immediately order a 
 carriage. First of all, I will take you past the build 
 ings of the Rose-Palace. You must see how fairy- 
 like it all is. Even two years ago, when I was here, 
 it was dazzling in its magnificence. Since then I 
 understand Mr. Toker has introduced still further 
 embellishments and surprises. I have already pro- 
 
 216
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 cured the entrance cards for the opening exercises 
 this evening. This forenoon we will spend in explor 
 ing Lucerne. But Coriolan, you must take an oath 
 that you will not say another word about politics as 
 long as we are on our pleasure trip."
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 THE OPENING NIGHT 
 
 THE exercises began at half -past seven in the even 
 ing ; so at that time of the year it was still broad day 
 light. The public was admitted to the grounds flanked 
 with pillared halls, spreading out from the lake to 
 the palace and covering a wide stretch behind it. 
 Here there was unrestrained freedom of movement. 
 Thus the festival began like a large garden-party. 
 
 Mr. Toker, his daughter, and his celebrated 
 guests, recognizable by the rosebud fastened to the 
 breast, circulated among the others. An automatic 
 orchestrion, consisting of instruments like the organ 
 and the harmonium, played by electricity, and con 
 cealed behind trees, filled the place with delicate 
 harmonies, ringing like the music of the spheres. 
 The fountains played, and in their lofty columns of 
 water glittered fiery red the rays of the sinking sun. 
 In the air flying-machines like birds or dragon-flies 
 performed artistic evolutions. Suddenly arose a 
 balloon with an aeronaut costumed like the god 
 Mars: from the basket two big guns were pointed 
 threateningly toward the earth. This uncanny in 
 strument of war rose to a great height, followed by 
 the eyes and the shouts of the spectators. Some 
 shouts of disapprobation mingled with the others, 
 for there were many in the throng who felt disturbed 
 by being reminded of the terrors of battles in the 
 
 218
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 midst of a peaceful festival. It is true, men have 
 been accustomed to the military maneuvers attract 
 ing eager crowds to watch them, and at the world 
 expositions the military pavilion has always proved 
 to be a great drawing-card. But here, at this festival 
 of human exaltation, celebrated under the symbol 
 of the queen of flowers, they were really not pre 
 pared for the sight of cannon. But the slight dis 
 satisfaction soon resolved into pleasure, when from 
 the mouth of the threatening guns, instead of shells, 
 fresh rose-leaves were discharged over the throng, 
 and on their descent to the earth fluttered about in 
 the air like butterflies. There was universal applause. 
 Even a great cannon-founder who was among the 
 spectators, and who had recently signed very ad 
 vantageous contracts with several governments for 
 the delivery of balloon guns and of vertical cannon, 
 clapped his hands with the rest. One must be ready 
 to understand a joke; . . . the successful cannon- 
 king scarcely suspected with what deep seriousness 
 Mr. Toker prepared all the graceful details of his 
 work. 
 
 The little coterie of Austrian travelers were among 
 those present. But as both of the old ladies were too 
 weary to wander about, they took seats in one of the 
 marquees which had been pitched in the grounds. 
 Coriolan stayed with them, but Malhof went out to 
 mingle with the promenaders. He had hardly taken 
 two steps ere he fell in with Franka, who happened 
 to be going in the direction of the marquee where 
 her relatives were sitting. Malhof stopped in front 
 of her: 
 
 219
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "Your very humble servant, Fraulein Garlett. 
 Do you remember me?" 
 
 Franka offered him her hand. "Certainly, Baron 
 Malhof. It is a pleasure to meet with a fellow- 
 countryman." 
 
 "Pray do not hasten on. You have no idea who 
 is sitting in the next marquee . . . you must not 
 meet them without being forewarned ..." 
 
 "Who is it?" 
 
 "That I must prepare your mind for by slow de 
 grees. Let us walk for a few moments in the oppo 
 site direction and talk about old times. May I offer 
 you my arm?" 
 
 Franka accepted. " You are really comical, Baron 
 Malhof. Old times ! We can scarcely be said to share 
 youthful recollections. . . . We have met just twice, 
 and the first time certainly under rather painful 
 circumstances. The second time at Sielenburg was 
 more agreeable." 
 
 "Well, now it must be agreeable, too. What a 
 change has taken place in your fate, Fraulein Franka ! 
 First, a poor deserted orphan; next, one of the 
 wealthiest heiresses in the country; and now, in addi 
 tion, a European reputation! And as beautiful as 
 ever . . . yet your features have changed . . . there is 
 something melancholy in your face. Are you happy ? ' ' 
 
 "Forever that question! Must one be happy?" 
 
 "Yes, one must if circumstances permit it, as in 
 your case they do rather, demand it. Or are you 
 cast down by an unhappy love-affair?" 
 
 Franka laughed. "No, I am not in love with any 
 one." 
 
 220
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "Well, that is certainly a misfortune. Your laugh 
 did not ring merrily. I can easily imagine that a hun 
 dred opportunities were open to you, and perhaps 
 for that very reason you do not want to marry, and 
 you are not so far from wrong. . . . Freedom is a 
 fine thing. But have you no lover?" 
 
 "Truly, Baron Malhof, you are . . ." 
 
 " Oh, do not scold me! On the reef of your virtue 
 all the accumulated wisdom of my life goes to ship 
 wreck. But this time I am preaching unselfishly, 
 and the text of my sermon is: Do not let your youth 
 pass in vain; don't cheat your heart and your tem 
 perament of their rights. You did not come into the 
 world, blest with beauty, wealth, and independence, 
 to waste all these treasures, and bluestocking your 
 self merely for women's rights' tournees like any ugly 
 old maid. You must live, Fraulein Garlett live! " 
 
 Franka stopped walking and withdrew her arm: 
 "You are incorrigible. This is in the style of that 
 letter of yours . . . but I am not making a show of 
 insulted virtue, it is insulted independence. What I 
 do, and what I leave undone, is not your affair. You 
 cannot look into my soul ; you cannot know what I 
 understand by living." 
 
 Baron Malhof put on a contrite expression: "I 
 have been at fault again, I see. I was trying to give 
 good advice and I get a lesson. Forgive me!" 
 
 Franka took his arm again: " Now, tell me, please, 
 what mischief lurks in the tent, from the neighbor 
 hood of which you have led me." 
 
 " How good of you to be genial again ! In the tent 
 sit your two aunts and Cousin Coriolan."
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Certainly no joyful surprise showed itself in 
 Franka's face. "Aunt Adele and Aunt Albertine? 
 How did they happen to come here?" 
 
 "To tell the honest truth, I persuaded them to 
 take the journey. You will forgive me for that, 
 too?" 
 
 "I will go this minute and greet my aunts." 
 
 Franka made the best of a bad business. It was 
 really disagreeable to her to meet again those three, 
 especially here in this place, where a spirit prevailed 
 which could not fail to be incomprehensible to 
 them; . . . however, when all was said, they were 
 her people. Her people? What a false expression. 
 How little she belonged to them. "To whom do I 
 belong, I'd like to know?" Franka asked herself 
 and a chill crept around her heart. . . . 
 
 " Really, then, you are willing to be precipitated 
 head over heels into the inevitable? That is true 
 courage!" 
 
 A few minutes later the two entered the marquee. 
 The meeting was rather stiff and constrained. Their 
 paths had gone so far asunder! And, moreover, they 
 had never been so very congenial. There was an 
 exchange of greetings, but no heartiness could be 
 felt or feigned ; then they talked indifferently of the 
 journey, of the festival week, and the like. Countess 
 Adele invited Franka to sit down with them. 
 
 "Tell us how things are going with you and what 
 you are doing. Do you speak this evening?" 
 
 "No," replied Franka, as she took a seat beside 
 her aunts. "I do not give my address until to 
 morrow." 
 
 222
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "And do you not feel alarmed? It is incompre 
 hensible to me what you are doing. . . . Tell me, is 
 the Helmer who is here, the one ..." 
 
 Franka anticipated the question: "Yes, grand 
 papa's former secretary. He has grown to be a 
 world-famous poet." 
 
 " I should never have believed it of him," remarked 
 Albertine. 
 
 "And I should never have believed that you, my 
 respected aunts, would ever dream of such a thing 
 as making a journey to the Rose-Festival. I really 
 believe you were never out of Austria. Did you come 
 in an airship?" 
 
 "That would be the last thing!" cried Countess 
 Adele with horror. "I would never go in such a 
 machine as long as I lived. . . . What has become of 
 your companion?" 
 
 "Frau von Rockhaus? Oh, she is still with me." 
 
 "That is good. One must always have a regard 
 to appearances." 
 
 Malhof sighed. "Oh, appearances! Besides, they 
 are all out of style." 
 
 After a while Franka got up. "Well, I must be 
 going. . . . We shall meet again in the hall. The 
 speeches will soon begin." 
 
 "Really," said Coriolan, "I am quite curious to 
 see this wild show." 
 
 A little later a fanfare gave the signal that the 
 festival was to be formally opened in the theater-hall. 
 Thither flocked all the visitors scattered throughout 
 the grounds. 
 
 It was an immense hall with boxes and galleries. 
 223
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Yet the parquet was not, as in regular theaters, 
 filled with rows of seats placed regularly, but was 
 like a great salon, in which a multitude of sofas and 
 armchairs were distributed about at haphazard, sep 
 arated by screens and flowering plants, with rooms 
 enough for people to pass from one group to another. 
 Behind the boxes were wide lobbies, available for 
 that part of the public that did not care to listen to 
 any particular address, either because its subject 
 was not interesting or because it was delivered in a 
 language not understood. There was no curtain 
 hung in front of the stage, which was really not a 
 stage, but rather a podium or platform. This podium 
 formed a second smaller salon with steps leading 
 down into the parquet. There, on the upper level, 
 were grouped Mr. Toker and all his illustrious guests, 
 sitting and standing. In front was a small reading- 
 desk with a chair. 
 
 Throughout the hall there was much to make it 
 evident that here also was the realm of roses. The 
 upholstery of the furniture and the fronts of the 
 boxes were of pink velvet, and by an electric appa 
 ratus a pale rose glow was everywhere disseminated. 
 A hidden ventilator provided the place with cool, 
 rose-perfumed air. No chandelier was suspended 
 from above, but the ceiling simulated the sky popu 
 lated with electric lights, distributed like stars and 
 nebulae, an accurate copy of a segment of the 
 universe. Between the first row of boxes and the 
 gallery was placed a wreath of medallion-portraits 
 of great departed poets, savants, inventors, and dis 
 coverers from Vergil to Shakespeare and to Goethe ; 
 
 224
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 from Aristotle to Leonardo da Vinci, and then to 
 Darwin ; from Columbus to Gutenberg and to Mont- 
 golfier. Under the pictures the names sparkled 
 with electric letters. In the center a little struc 
 ture which, from the hall looked like a prompter's 
 box, concealed a phonograph apparatus to make a 
 permanent record of the speaker's words. 
 
 A signal rang out; Toker stepped to the front 
 of the platform, and soon expectant silence pre 
 vailed in the hall. In a loud voice, but in simple, 
 conversational manner and in English Toker began 
 to speak : 
 
 "Ladies and gentlemen! A hearty welcome to 
 you all. I see in the hall many of the habitues of the 
 Lucerne Rose- Weeks, yet also many new faces. To 
 the new visitors I should like to tell in a few words 
 the purpose of our establishment: It is a centraliza 
 tion of forces, a great dynamo-machine. For what 
 is offered to you here in this limited place is meant 
 for the millions outside, and is to be carried to 
 the greatest distances, to be distributed among the 
 working-people, and to be brought before the mighti 
 est rulers. A number of the noblest spirits among 
 our contemporaries are working together here. Each 
 one brings a significant portion of the results of his 
 thinking, his poetry, his investigations, of his crea 
 tions; and all with the same aim, with the same end 
 in view : the progress of society toward greater 
 righteousness and greater freedom, toward greater 
 beauty and greater happiness. It is already recog 
 nized that what lifts men from barbarism to human 
 ity is the work of growing intelligence, which awak- 
 
 225
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 ens the will toward goodness. This will animates us 
 here. And therefore I beg you to listen to the com 
 ing addresses not only with friendly attention, but 
 also with some reverence. Wherever men assemble 
 for the purpose of elevating their thoughts into high 
 regions, and of allowing their hearts to beat in good 
 will for their fellow-creatures, there is a kind of 
 temple. I now will allow Music to speak." 
 
 Toker bowed and stepped back. Now followed the 
 performance of the Rose-Quintette, directed by the 
 composer, the gifted young Pole, himself. After it 
 was finished, not only the Russian countess, but the 
 whole assemblage broke out into a delirium of 
 enthusiasm. "There," exclaimed Countess Vera to 
 Rinotti, who sat near her, "is n't that as much a 
 triumph as a victorious battle?" 
 
 "It is a battle, and the victor is named Melody," 
 replied the marchese. 
 
 Next, the great French author went to the desk 
 and read a chapter from his last (as yet unprinted) 
 book. It was entitled "La Verite, toute la Verite, 
 rien que la Verite." Full of bold thought, of keen 
 wit, of sparkling turns of speech, it was a bundle 
 of new truths delivered to the auditors, and at the 
 same time it was an unmasking of the lies that sub 
 jugate human society. This reading was followed by 
 an intermission devoted to social intercourse, while 
 the two circles, the audience and the performers, 
 mingled together. 
 
 Prince Victor Adolph mounted the steps leading 
 to the platform and approached Franka: "Shall we 
 not hear you to-day, Miss Garlett?" 
 
 226
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "No, Your Highness; my turn comes to-morrow 
 but I am already beginning to feel anxious." 
 
 "You feel anxious! Yet you are accustomed to 
 speak before crowded houses." 
 
 " But not before hundreds of thousands of people. 
 This fearful machine" she indicated the phono 
 graph in the prompter's box "will carry our 
 words before that number." 
 
 "Whether a thousand or a hundred thousand 
 is n't it all the same?" 
 
 "Oh, no, the thousand, who come of their own 
 free will to listen to an address, belong to a certain 
 stratum of society, and are all animated by similar 
 feelings. My public, for example, was mostly com 
 posed of young girls from middle-class circles, and 
 had the desire to attain intellectual freedom and to 
 put it into practice ; but the public which I shall face 
 to-morrow ..." 
 
 "Yes, I know. Mr. Toker has told us it em 
 braces all ranks in all lands. Even in this hall, there 
 is not much unanimity of sentiment. Look, for ex 
 ample, at the difference between my views and the 
 views of my companion, Count Orell ..." 
 
 "I must thank you for the splendid violets, 
 Prince." 
 
 "Oh, only a modest greeting." 
 
 The prince remained a long time near Franka, en 
 gaging her in lively conversation. That attracted 
 the attention of the two aunts and their friends. 
 
 "Well, it looks as if Franka had a very zealous 
 suitor: who may it be?" 
 
 Malhof happened to be able to inform them. 
 227
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "Indeed?" exclaimed Tante Adele thoughtfully. 
 "A prince from the ruling house! That is danger 
 ous. He certainly could n't marry her." 
 
 Malhof shrugged his shoulders. "As if marriage 
 must always be in the wind ! I am curious to know 
 whether the sermons preached up there for the wel 
 fare of humanity will not be directed also against 
 the oppressive chains of marriage." 
 
 "Nothing is sacred to you!" sighed the countess. 
 "Besides, as you never were married, you cannot 
 judge of marriage." 
 
 "For the very reason that I have judged, I re 
 mained single." 
 
 Coriolan sat with a terribly bored expression. He 
 understood so little French that all the points of the 
 reading he had heard had wholly escaped him; fin 
 ally he had given up all attempt to listen. In his 
 heart he was already repenting that he had ever 
 taken this journey. The whole thing displeased him. 
 ... At the Apollo Theater it is more amusing . . . 
 there one understands everything . . . and then this 
 Rose-Masquerade . . . 
 
 "You look very savage, Coriolan !" remarked the 
 Countess Adele; "you do not say a word." 
 
 "I say, stay at home and entertain yourself sen 
 sibly." 
 
 The young composer was now sitting next the 
 Russian widow. 
 
 "The piece was heavenly . . . perfectly splendid 
 ... it must be a delight to be able to compose such 
 things." Her eyes rested warmly on the young 
 musician. 
 
 228
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 " Every artistic creation carries with it a good bit 
 of agony, most gracious Countess." 
 
 "What gives others so much delight ought not to 
 cause its creator any pain." 
 
 "And yet, do you not always hear the sighs that 
 tremble through so many pieces of music? These 
 the artist must have drawn out of his own soul. But 
 not only that he must have not only experienced 
 anguish in order to reproduce it in tones creation 
 itself is accompanied by pain; yearning, trouble, 
 despondency . . . the crushing sense of the inexpress 
 ible . . ." 
 
 "You must explain all this to me more definitely. 
 Please come to-morrow and have a cup of tea at 
 five o'clock . . . Grand H6tel . . . say yes . . . will 
 you promise?" 
 
 Helmer, informed by Franka of the presence of 
 the Sielenburg party, entered the hall and sought 
 out the little Austrian group. Bowing, he went up to 
 them: "May I be permitted ... in memory of old 
 times. ... I do not know whether you will remem 
 ber me." 
 
 The countess nodded: "To be sure, Herr Helmer 
 . . . you have made a great career . . . famous poet 
 . . . that is no small thing! Who would ever have 
 predicted it? You will give us your book to read, 
 won't you ? And tell me, is this Mr. Toker not a very 
 extravagant man?" 
 
 "He is certainly by no means an ordinary man." 
 
 " Do you imply by that," asked Coriolan sharply, 
 "that we are ordinary people?" 
 
 "I meant nothing more than I said. Mr. Toker 
 229
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 is an exceptional phenomenon. A man, who by work 
 and business has made an enormous fortune, and 
 who now is placing this fortune at the service of the 
 most ideal aims." 
 
 Coriolan shrugged his shoulders. "He simply 
 wants to get himself talked about." 
 
 "What ideal aims do you mean? " asked the count 
 ess. 
 
 "Heavens! it is hard to explain them all in a few 
 words. The main thing is the spread of thoughts 
 that soar Hochgedanken ..." 
 
 "What is that?" 
 
 "If you will do me the honor of listening to my 
 address, then you will understand Mr. Toker's in 
 tentions, for I am going to speak in the spirit which 
 lies at the foundation of the motto of this year's 
 Rose-Festival." 
 
 "Are you going to speak to-day?" 
 
 "No; not until the third or fourth day." 
 
 " It is good that you do not speak this evening," 
 remarked Fraulein Albertine, joining in the conver 
 sation. "I must tell you frankly that your voice 
 seems to me somewhat hoarse . . . perhaps you have 
 a cold; it seems to me, too, that your nose is swol 
 len ... you ought to rub on a little candle tallow." 
 
 Helmer smiled. " I am afraid I should not be able 
 to find a tallow candle in the whole Rose- Palace. 
 But now I will bid you good-evening ... a new 
 lecture is beginning." 
 
 The young Russian author now stepped forward 
 to the reader's deak with a manuscript in his hand. 
 At the same time ushers went through the hall, 
 
 230
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 distributing printed pamphlets containing German, 
 French, and English translations of what the author 
 was to deliver in his native tongue. That portion 
 of the public which did not understand Russian 
 and that was by far the larger could now also 
 follow the speaker and enjoy his euphonious utter 
 ance, now trembling with melancholy, now glowing 
 with inspiration. What he offered, were brief sketches 
 in prose : scenes from the time of war and of revolu 
 tion, personal experiences or episodes, made vivid 
 by poetic intuition ; stories of the wolf's pits, stories 
 of barbed-wire fences, stories of shells filled with 
 poison, by the fumes of which people were asphyxi 
 ated slowly and agonizingly ; stories of women beaten 
 by Cossack- naga/ikas; of tortures practiced in dun 
 geons; of pogroms, of executions, of massacring and 
 of incendiary bands; of the woe in the hearts of 
 young Russians of all classes, from the humblest of 
 the people to the highest in court circles, who had 
 suffered awfully under this terrorism, because their 
 hearts and souls are open to the most progressive 
 ideas of freedom and mildness; of the sorrows of 
 the poets and the scientists, of the enlightened poli 
 ticians and the simple man of the people, whose 
 natural benevolence is opposed to all these cruelties, 
 perpetrated by the demon Violence, because the 
 minds of the masses are subject to the illusion that 
 violence is the only means of resisting evil. 
 
 The poet added an epilogue to his little histories: 
 
 "What I have related is sad, profoundly sad. 
 
 Should I have refrained from doing this in this 
 
 cinacle? Our host has provided this festival week 
 
 231
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 under the protection and shelter of Beauty Beauty 
 is the sister of Joy, not of Woe . . . and I have 
 brought before you so much woe. ... I have un 
 veiled so much that is unspeakably hateful ! But it 
 has not been a mistake; indeed, I know the goal that 
 beckons to the founder of this Rose-Congress. Lofty 
 thoughts are to fly forth into the world; lofty feel 
 ings must be aroused. And this object subserves a 
 still most distant object: namely, that it should be a 
 bit better, a bit brighter in this world of ours. To 
 this end one must see clearly, must look straight at 
 the reality. One must know all that is going on, 
 everywhere. All the cries of complaint and all the 
 shrieks of anguish must be heard as they are torn 
 from tormented human beings by human unreason. 
 Then flames up that lofty feeling one of the 
 noblest of all : Pity 1 And thereby is the will 
 strengthened lofty will it may be called to sub 
 stitute for the infamous system of reciprocal per 
 secution the sublime rule of reciprocal helpfulness." 
 
 A gloomy mood had taken possession of the audi 
 ence, yet with it was mingled also something of that 
 reverential emotion by which Toker \vanted to see 
 his public stirred. Then followed a short interlude 
 of music, and that in its turn was followed by a 
 small ballet of quite unique kind. Arc-lamps were 
 the instruments and variegated flames were the 
 dancers. It seemed like a divertissement from fairy 
 land, and yet it was only an experiment from the 
 realm of chemistry. 
 
 This brought to a conclusion the exercises of the first 
 evening, and social intercourse again assumed control.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 FRANKA'S LECTURE 
 
 WHEN Franka woke the following morning, she 
 was possessed by the consciousness that all sorts 
 of unpleasantnesses were weighing upon her. . . . 
 What could it mean? Oh, yes, that evening, she 
 had to give her address. Never, except the first 
 time, had she felt such a panic at the prospect of a 
 public appearance as she felt now. Always, before, 
 she had realized that she was making her addresses 
 as the exponent of a cause, as a guide for those of her 
 own sex who were searching their way a way of 
 escape; her own person was, so to speak, eliminated. 
 But this time it seemed to her as if she, Franka 
 Garlett, were going to make her debut before the 
 assembled world, which would pass judgment as to 
 whether she were capable of cooperating with all the 
 celebrities of Europe and America in Toker's great 
 work of civilization. There would be in the hall no 
 band of enthusiastic young girls, but the majority 
 of the audience would be men who would either take 
 no interest in the tasks of the new woman, or would 
 even be opposed to them. 
 
 The second unpleasant thing that weighed on her 
 spirit was the presence of her aunts and their two 
 escorts, Coriolan and Malhof. To speak before 
 them was really painful, and it would seem to her 
 as if these four were her real audience. And then 
 
 233
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 there was Prince Victor Adolph, who would hear 
 her. . . . Why had she any timidity before him? 
 Why that wish to please him, that terror of dis 
 pleasing him? ... Is a person worthy of address 
 ing the whole world as the interpreter of "lofty 
 thoughts," when the question arises, What will that 
 young man think? 
 
 Accustomed to speak extempore, she had made no 
 written digest of her address ; but now she felt that 
 in these quite altered circumstances her inspiration 
 might desert her, and she resolved to write a draft. 
 She looked at the clock: it was still early, only seven. 
 No matter, she must have time to write. She rang 
 for her maid, made a hurried morning toilette, and 
 had her writing-apparatus, together with her break 
 fast, brought out on the balcony. 
 
 It was a wonderfully fresh morning, full of bird 
 songs and spicy fragrance. Franka's room looked 
 out on a small group of firs, and she regarded it as a 
 real blessing that here nothing was to be seen of the 
 everlasting roses, and no breath of the everlasting 
 perfume of roses. Just that day the whole rose- 
 scheme for the time-being seemed distasteful to her, 
 for it was responsible for her making her appear 
 ance as a member of the Rose-Order and perhaps 
 lamentably failing. . . . 
 
 She drew in long breaths of the forest-air and a 
 half-yearning, half-regretful thought stole over her: 
 "Why am I not in my quiet Moravian hunting- 
 castle, which lies so deep hidden in the fir forest?" 
 How beautiful it would be there, how restful, how 
 lonely . . . loneliness? No, that was not, after all, 
 
 234
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 what she was pining for . . . some one must be 
 with her . . . who? Victor Adolph? No, he was a 
 stranger. It must be some trusty friend, some one 
 on whose heart a heart containing no depths 
 hidden from her she might lean ; at the same 
 time, some one to whom she would be the dearest 
 object on earth. . . . The image of her father rose 
 in her soul. . . . "Oh, yes, thou, thou! But thou 
 art dead." 
 
 She drew a deep sigh and went into her room to 
 fetch out the precious notebook. She would hold a 
 little colloquy with her father. She came back to 
 the balcony with the book in her hand, sat down 
 at the table where her tablet and pencil were 
 ready for her, and instead of writing, she began 
 to turn the pages of the notebook and to read. 
 The first sentence that attracted her attention 
 was: 
 
 "The absent grow daily more and more distant!" 
 (Japanese proverb.) 
 
 Franka looked up to the sky. "Ah, yes, my poor 
 departed father ! Death is an eternal absence 
 how sadly true that is. I love thee still I see thee, 
 but how far, how far away!" 
 
 She read on : 
 
 Saume nicht dich zu erdreisten, Do not hesitate to be full of 
 
 daring, 
 Wenn die Menge zaudernd When the crowd irresolute 
 
 schweift; drifts; 
 
 Alles kann der Edle leisten, All things can the noble accom 
 plish 
 
 Der versteht und rasch ergreift. Who perceives and quickly acts. 
 (Goethe, Faust, 2d part, Act I. "Chor der Geister.") 
 235
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Franka remembered how at this stanza her father 
 had remarked: "Do you see in how few words the 
 poet sums up the characteristics that make a man 
 a leader and accomplisher? He must be bold and 
 confident and noble; he must have intellect and 
 resolution." 
 
 Von Halbheit halte den Pfad Of mediocrity keep thy road 
 
 rein, clear; 
 
 Der ganze Mann setzt ganze Let the whole man bear the 
 
 Tat ein whole load clear 
 
 Und wahre Ehre muss ohne And pure honor must be of all 
 
 Naht sein. seam sewed clear. 
 
 (Ernst Ziel.) 
 
 "The whole man bear the whole load clear," 
 repeated Franka. "The whole woman, too, this 
 equalization in dignity Brother Chlodwig taught 
 me." 
 
 All men's advantage every man's rule. 
 Banish him far away our age's demon far hence, 
 The sleepy, lame monster, whose name is Indifference. 
 
 I believe it is the secret of eminent men that they pre 
 serve into advancing life their childish feelings, that 
 is to say, warm, deep feelings. This terrible world cools 
 down all ardor into nauseous lukewarmness. But emi 
 nent men have so much internal warmth that an ocean 
 of stupidity and unintelligence could never cool what is 
 burning in their hearts. They have an absolute lack of 
 affinity for everything common and ordinary ; they enter 
 into no combination with it. 
 
 "There didst thou describe thy dear self, my own 
 father. ... I never saw in my life such a childlike 
 person as thou wert . . . except Helmer, when he 
 laughs ... he also can laugh like a child. ..." 
 
 236
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 VVenn auch nur Einer lebt, If only one man lives 
 
 Der nicht sich beugt Who will not fail 
 
 Und fur die Wahrheit zeugt And makes the truth prevail 
 
 Wie das erhebt! What joy that gives! 
 
 Wenn auch nur Einer still If only one man press 
 
 Die Hand uns driickt Silent our hands, 
 
 Und mit uns denkt und will, What happiness 
 
 Wie das begluckt! To know he understands! 
 (Hermann Lingg.) 
 
 For a long while Franka remained buried in the 
 perusal of the old notebook. At last, she put herself 
 to making an outline of her coming address. She 
 wrote down a few notes, but could not seem to warm 
 up to the work, and she accepted as a welcome 
 diversion the arrival of the morning mail. As 
 usual, she received a great number of letters and 
 documents. Dr. Fixstern regularly sent her reports 
 regarding the condition of the property entrusted 
 to him. The directors of the Garlett Academy kept 
 her informed of the progress of this flourishing insti 
 tution. Enthusiastic letters from young girls came 
 every day, and there were numerous requests for 
 autographs. On this morning there was in addition 
 the offer of an impresario who wanted her to under 
 take a lecture tournee through the United States; 
 not to speak of a declaration of love from a silent 
 admirer present at the Rose- Week's exercises and 
 moved to send her a few lyric effusions. This time 
 her whole mail made a particularly arid impression 
 on Franka. It seemed to her so lifeless and soulless. 
 But now her duty was to proceed with writing down 
 the lecture it was already eleven o'clock. She 
 pushed the half-written page into position before 
 
 237
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 her. . . . No, she could not master her thoughts. 
 . . . She needed advice, needed warm, living words. 
 She got up and pressed the electric button. ' ' Please, ' ' 
 she said to the servant who answered her summons, 
 "see if Mr. Helmer is in, and if he is, I should like to 
 have him come to see me." 
 
 After a moment the servant came back: "Mr. 
 Helmer has just this moment come." 
 
 "Very good, ask him into the salon." 
 
 She stepped into the adjoining room. Helmer was 
 standing before the center table, contemplating the 
 great basket of violets on which was still attached 
 Prince Victor Adolph's visiting-card. 
 
 Franka offered him her hand: " It was good of you 
 to come . . ." 
 
 "Since you have summoned me ..." 
 
 "Oh. Do not be so ceremonious. ... I wanted 
 to see Brother Chlodwig. ... I need your encour 
 agement, your advice ..." 
 
 He seemed ill at ease. "My advice? Perhaps in 
 regard to this business," and he indicated the violets. 
 
 "What business? Oh, indeed, you think . . . 
 no, no, listen. ... I will tell you what I want." 
 
 Just at that moment Frau Eleonore entered by 
 the other door. "Do I disturb you"? 
 
 "Frankly, yes. I wanted to talk over my lecture 
 with Mr. Helmer." 
 
 "Very well; then I will write some letters"; and 
 she vanished again into her own room. 
 
 "So now you know what it is about. ... I am 
 simply in despair about my lecture. You must help 
 me, just as at the first time. You showed me the 
 
 238
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 way and made it smooth, and here this day I am 
 standing again on a crossway, or rather before a 
 wall. . . . Help me over, reach me your hand!" 
 
 The demand was only meant symbolically, but 
 Helmer took her hand in his, and she got a degree 
 of calm, of consolation from the firm grasp. 
 
 "What is the matter, Franka? " he asked tenderly. 
 "What has come over you suddenly? Timidity? 
 . . . You, the victorious, you, 'the Garlett'?" 
 
 "Dear me, it is hard to explain. Timidity? Yes, 
 and such a sense of emptiness, such a lack of impulse. 
 When, before, I have spoken to my audiences of 
 women, I have had something to say to them. . . . 
 I wanted to persuade them, I wanted to transfer to 
 their souls what filled my own soul to the brim. 
 My addresses were a means, not an end. . . . But 
 here: I cannot feel the impulse to persuade all these 
 people, beginning with Mr. Toker and his guests, 
 and all these princes and diplomats and my 
 aunts and Coriolan (why did n't they stay at 
 home?) to persuade them, I say, that the young 
 girls of our day must assume new duties. . . . And 
 I shall stand there on the platform, in order to 
 perform hateful term ! in order to show the in 
 quisitive company whether I have sufficient ability 
 to be accepted as one of the Rose-Knights, whether 
 I really deserved to be invited by Mr. Toker. These 
 people are not at all here to get edification, but they 
 come as critics; and I am here, not as one urging, 
 but as an artist, and I am not that. For if the inner 
 impulse fails, then I can't speak . . . and that is 
 the reason why I am unhappy. ..." 
 
 239
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Chlodwig pressed her hand still more firmly. "I 
 understand you, Franka. But oh, your lips are 
 actually trembling, like a child's when it wants to 
 cry. Do not be faint-hearted; there will be a way 
 out of this difficulty. If it is really only what you 
 have just told me, then it is easy enough to help 
 you. Or, perhaps, is it a fit of strained nerves? 
 Possibly the work that you have chosen does not 
 satisfy you any longer; perhaps the emptiness 
 which you complain of is the emptiness of your 
 heart, a conscious or an unconscious yearning; or 
 is it that you are tired of these roses here, and," 
 with a glance at the basket, "are longing for more 
 violets?" 
 
 Franka shook her head vigorously. "Leave the 
 violets out of the question. I have told you the 
 honest truth, why I dread this evening so much." 
 
 "Well, then, we shall meet that difficulty. Let 
 me think." 
 
 He leaned his elbow on the table and supported 
 his head with his hand. Franka looked up to him 
 expectantly and trustfully. The thoughtful expres 
 sion of his face touched and moved her: he was em 
 ploying his faculties for her. He wanted to help her. 
 Ah, after the verb "to love," "to help" is the most 
 beautiful verb in the world ! 
 
 After a while he began to speak, looking her full 
 in the eye: "The public, whose criticism and lack of 
 sympathy thou fearest forgive me for using the 
 familiar 'du' . . . I drifted back to the time when 
 I wrote you those letters as your brother in the 
 spirit this public must vanish, must really vanish 
 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 out of your consciousness. You must put it out 
 of existence yourself with your own introductory 
 words. There must be the feeling that it really is not 
 there, this public that therefore it has no right to 
 criticize you. You are not speaking to it it can 
 only listen, while you are speaking to a hundred 
 thousand others. Aye, to millions, perhaps ; ... it 
 is your best opportunity that must inspire you 
 and fire you. Up till now you have been following a 
 fine, brilliant career; to-day you will set the crown to 
 it. Begin your address with the words : ' You young 
 girls, now listen to me ' ; and then continue in some 
 such way as this: 'Forgive me, ladies and gentle 
 men! I know very well that in this distinguished 
 assembly assuredly there will be only a small per 
 centage of young girls, and therefore my words will 
 arouse only a feeble echo in this room. But here I 
 stand because I have undertaken to deliver a mes 
 sage a message to young people of my own sex 
 showing them the way which as I believe will 
 lead the girls themselves and at the same time all 
 human society to higher aims. And to-day in this 
 hall, the windows of which look out into the wide 
 world, the opportunity is vouchsafed me to be heard 
 by invisible throngs of those to whom my life-work 
 is dedicated, and therefore it is a sacred duty to 
 direct my utterances only to these and to call out 
 more loudly and joyfully than ever before: "Ye 
 young maidens, listen to me ! " ' After this exordium, 
 Franka, the whole audience of those that disturb 
 you will vanish out of your consciousness, and you 
 can repeat to the invisible listeners all the things 
 
 241
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 with which at your first appearance you took all 
 maiden hearts by storm." 
 
 Franka sprang up and reached Helmer both her 
 hands. "Thanks, Brother Chlodwig, that is, indeed, 
 a saving way out. You are and always will be my 
 dear master!" 
 
 Some one knocked at the door. Franka let go 
 Helmer's hands and cried: "Come in." 
 
 Once more it was an offering of flowers and once 
 more the prince's visiting-card was attached to the 
 bouquet. A shade of vexation passed over Helmer's 
 face. He felt a twofold annoyance: in the first place, 
 at this importunate homage, and in the second place, 
 because he was annoyed . . . was it jealousy? 
 
 "I will leave you now. You must collect your 
 thoughts, and you need rest, Franka." 
 
 "Good-bye, then, for now. I thank you again." 
 
 "Shall you wear these violets this evening?" 
 
 "I always wear violets." 
 
 "If you marry this prince, Franka, then it is all 
 up with your career." 
 
 "What are you thinking about? The prince in 
 his position cannot marry any one of humble rank; 
 he is not imagining such a thing." 
 
 "What is he imagining, then?" 
 
 "I don't know you, Helmer. Hitherto you have 
 never interfered with my private affairs." 
 
 "Forgive my presumption. I shan't do so any 
 more." He turned to go. 
 
 "Are you angry, Brother Chlodwig?" 
 
 "Yes with myself. " And he hastened out. 
 
 Franka gazed after him and smiled.
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 YE YOUNG MAIDENS, LISTEN TO ME 
 
 THE exercises on this second evening of the Rose- 
 Week began as before with music. But it was a kind 
 of music such as had never before, or anywhere else, 
 been heard. A feeling of wonder, and unprecedented 
 delight took possession of the audience a delight 
 which almost reached awe. It was a newly invented 
 instrument, the tone of which had no resemblance 
 to that of any other instrument. It was more nearly 
 comparable to bell-tones, like cathedral chimes, loud 
 and grave and vibrating. 
 
 In the midst of a crescendo the player of it 
 suddenly ceased playing and said to the pub 
 lic: 
 
 "What you are here listening to is the voice of a 
 magician the magician ' Electricity. ' The in 
 strument, as you see, is not large, and its mechanism 
 is concealed; I invented it and constructed it. In 
 honor of the Maecenas who enabled me to accom 
 plish my invention, I have christened it the ' Toker 
 Organ. ' It is played by any artist who understands 
 the organ, but its tone and its timbre are the product 
 of a nature-force tamed. The surprising thing is 
 that the tone has such a sweetness that it can awake 
 the keenest musical delight, and that its attainable 
 power has no limits. The crescendo which I just 
 now broke off can be made ever so many times more 
 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 tremendous on this 'Toker Organ.' A shut-off has 
 to be introduced here, for otherwise the strength of 
 the tone-waves would increase so that it might not 
 only burst your ear-drums but even the ceiling of 
 the hall. Yet, in open space, on a mountain- top or 
 from a lighthouse in the open sea, one might with 
 impunity fill a circumference of miles with music. 
 And because you are now assured that the sweet 
 tone, however powerful it may be, remains sweet 
 and tender, and will never become a deafening 
 noise, I will once more swell to a hitherto unknown 
 majesty of power, but certainly not to be unendur 
 able, as the shut-off is introduced a long way before 
 that point ; I will continue my playing. I choose 
 an old song known to you all, the text of which 
 seems appropriate to this festival week: 'The Last 
 Rose of Summer. ' ' 
 
 These words, spoken in English, the young 
 inventor was an American engineer of the Edison 
 school, were repeated in French and German 
 by interpreters. Then the young man again seated 
 himself at the instrument, allowing the resounding 
 bells to give out the melancholy melody, ever fuller 
 and fuller, so that it seemed to the listeners as if 
 the whole hall were filled with the vibrating waves 
 of sound. When the crescendo grew four or five 
 times as loud as it was when the player had broken 
 off the first time, voices were heard here and there in 
 the hall as if crying in anguish: " Enough, enough!" 
 The artist nodded and instituted immediately a 
 diminuendo, and gradually the melody, just as it 
 had mounted, so now it decreased to the most 
 
 244
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 thread-like pianissimo, dying away as if in the re 
 motest distance. 
 
 Stormy applause now broke loose. Something 
 never before known had been experienced, life was 
 enriched by a new sensation. Then followed the 
 social intermission. Many mounted the platform 
 to examine the instrument. A buzz of conversa 
 tion filled the hall. Impressions regarding the mar 
 velous music were exchanged. A composer told his 
 delight that music had achieved now a new means 
 of expression of such inimitable beauty. An officer 
 of the general staff remarked that, in the infinite 
 possibilities of overwhelming noise, there might be 
 something of strategic importance. A passionate 
 lover of nature cried, "Well, I must say: now that 
 the sublime emptiness of heavenly space is to be 
 darkened with every kind of whirring aviating 
 rabble, the splendid silence of the mountains and 
 the seas will be desecrated by electrically bellowed 
 street-songs." On the other hand, a philosopher 
 remarked thoughtfully: "Boundless powers put 
 into the hand of man what prospects open up!" 
 
 Coriolan expressed his views to his cousins: "Did 
 n't I tell you so? Tingel-tangel, klingel-klangel. 
 . . . Vari6te". . . . And the next number is the ap 
 pearance of Franka Garlett, who is still, unfortu 
 nately, our kinswoman. Where is she hiding? She 
 is not to be seen anywhere. " 
 
 Franka was in fact not present in the hall. All 
 day long she had denied herself to every one, so that 
 she might devote her time uninterruptedly to the 
 preparation of her address. She had not even gone 
 
 245
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 to the hall at the beginning of the exercises, but had 
 asked to be called only when it was her turn to 
 speak. 
 
 The moment had now arrived. She stepped out 
 on the platform. 
 
 A murmur of admiration swept through the hall. 
 She looked classically beautiful in her trailing pure 
 white gown with its long, winglike sleeves, with no 
 other adornment than a pearl necklace and the usual 
 small bouquet of violets at the heart-shaped open 
 ing of her bodice. Her face was pallid in contrast to 
 the black diadem of her tresses, coiled high on her 
 head. As she stepped forward, loud applause broke 
 out. She acknowledged it, without smiling, with a 
 graceful inclination and began : 
 
 " Ye young maidens, listen to me ! " Just as Helmer 
 had suggested, she delivered her proem and then 
 repeated the argument of her first speech in which 
 she took as her text the injunction: "We are here 
 to share in man's thought, " added to Goethe's 
 "We are here to share in men's love." 
 
 "Since she had thus spoken," she added, "the 
 domain had widened out ever more and more, 
 the domain which woman had conquered for herself 
 inch by inch, and the time was rapidly approach 
 ing when young womanhood was also to share in 
 man's work, even in his political work. Now the 
 important question was not as formerly to win posi 
 tions for themselves, but it was important for them 
 to make themselves capable and worthy of filling 
 the places waiting for them. In many countries 
 Australia, Finland, Norway, and other lands the 
 
 246
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 doors of Parliament have been thrown open to wo 
 men as electors and elected ; probably little by little 
 the other countries would follow. Probably, also, 
 women if once they entered deliberative bodies 
 
 would be entrusted with official positions, and 
 the ministries would not remain closed to them. In 
 short, equal rights and equal positions would be theirs 
 along the whole line : simply a terrible state of things, 
 unless we have sufficient imagination to conceive of 
 simultaneously altered forms of society and a more 
 highly developed community. The great distrust 
 and displeasure, ordinarily felt against any proposed 
 change in conditions, are derived from the fact that 
 the environing conditions are supposed to be un 
 changed, and a harsh dissonance is experienced, just 
 such an one as a discordant tone must give in a 
 well-tuned instrument. 
 
 "Only one example: a woman as an executioner 
 
 what a horrid picture. Restrain your emotion 
 if ever woman finds her place among the lawgiv 
 ers of the land, capital punishment will surely be 
 abolished. 
 
 "Do you fully realize what is the gist of this 
 question? Whether our sex shall share in the direc 
 tion of institutions and events is not merely a ques 
 tion of the improvement of women's lot, but it is 
 also that of the improvement of man's lot. All 
 the virtues which are entrusted to our charge, and 
 which are supposed to be superfluous in public 
 affairs, wholly conducted from the masculine side, 
 mildness, gentleness, moderation, purity, the power 
 to endure without complaining, and to love with 
 
 247
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 utter devotion, all these virtues we must carry 
 intact into the new circles of activity. Before all, 
 however, we must strive to possess them, indeed; 
 those virtues in a large measure are only ascribed 
 to us in poems. 
 
 " But that is not sufficient. If women are to enjoy 
 equal rights with men in deliberation and action, 
 then they must also appropriate those characteristics 
 that are generally regarded as exclusively masculine 
 virtues: courage, steadfastness, energy, resolution, 
 logical thought. On the other hand, they must be 
 ware (thinking thus to legitimate their claim to equal 
 rights) of adopting those failings which are regarded 
 as masculine prerogatives: habits of drinking and 
 brawling, brutality, harshness, intemperance. If the 
 emancipation of women develops in this direction, as 
 its opponents at the outset generally believed to be 
 its tendency, then it would be no blessing it would 
 be a curse. But this will not happen. For humanity 
 develops upward. And the cooperation of both sexes 
 in all callings will have as consequences that each will 
 adopt the virtues characteristic of the other and 
 will drop the faults and vices hitherto regarded as 
 special privileges, so that they themselves and the 
 practice of their callings will be thereby ennobled. 
 Then there will not be mannish girls and coarse, 
 manlike women, and no effeminate men, but com 
 plete human beings of both sexes, standing on a 
 loftier plane!" 
 
 Here Franka was interrupted by applause. As 
 she stood there in her thoroughly gracious woman 
 liness, in her absolutely feminine dignity, at the 
 
 248
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 same time performing her great mission with such 
 unshaken conviction, she seemed, indeed, to be the 
 personification of that ideal of combined tender 
 ness and strength which she had conjured up 
 before the audience. 
 
 She continued speaking for some time longer. 
 She depicted what had been gained in positive 
 social advantage by the participation of women in 
 the social duties of the present day, now that this 
 movement was really on the fair road to accom 
 plishment. The battle against one of the worst foes 
 of humanity alcoholism had resulted in its 
 greatest victories in countries where women exer 
 cise an influence on the making of laws. The war 
 against another of the shameful blots on our civili 
 zation the sexual slavery of women ; this is also 
 to be eradicated only where pure and blameless 
 women have the courage to look the infamous evil 
 in the face, to call it by name, and to lead the re 
 volt against it. Dueling and war are two functions 
 in which the feminine sex are forbidden to take 
 part, because they stand in absolute opposition 
 to all those qualities and feelings that characterize 
 the feminine half of mankind. If now this half 
 should gain their due influence in the conduct of 
 public life, then those two deadly modes of settling 
 disputes would no longer remain legitimate. "The 
 mission of woman, thus conceived, is anticipated 
 and poetically symbolized by the sovereign figure 
 of the Madonna trampling a dragon under her 
 dainty foot." 
 
 Here the speaker paused for a moment. On many 
 249
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 sides there was applause. Yet many refrained from 
 expressing approbation, because they felt offended 
 by Franka's words what did she mean by dragon? 
 Could she mean militarism? Or the whole mascu 
 line sex? Would she like to see petticoat govern 
 ment established? Remarks were heard: "What 
 idiots these feminists are!" "And she is so pretty; 
 she certainly would not need to take up such 
 fads!" 
 
 On the other hand, those in the audience who did 
 not understand German were captivated by her 
 appearance and entranced by her melodious voice. 
 They followed the occasional gestures with which 
 she emphasized certain phrases, and they kept their 
 eyes fixed on her calm, white hands with their long, 
 tapering fingers and their rosy, gleaming nails. Her 
 tone of queenly calmness, now and again vibrating 
 with restrained feeling, exercised on all the same 
 charm, whether they understood her spoken word 
 or not ; and the very ones who could not understand 
 applauded most unrestrainedly, because they de 
 tected nothing in her speech to disturb their con 
 victions. Even De la Rochere clapped vigorously, 
 as he assuredly would not have done if he had known 
 what she had been pleading for: in his eyes there 
 was nothing more ridiculous, nothing more baneful, 
 than the object aimed at in the Feminist Move 
 ment. In his eyes "woman" was "une creature 
 d'amour, " and this sentimentally uttered epithet 
 was, as he believed, the highest compliment that 
 could be given to a woman. Prince Victor Adolph 
 found an artistic satisfaction in listening to Franka's 
 
 250
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 address. For the cause itself, he had little sym 
 pathy it did not appeal to him. 
 
 In the Sielenburg group a painful emotion was 
 stirred. Coriolan gave utterance to an inarticulate 
 grunt of disapprobation ; the Countess Adele sighed ; 
 Fraulein Albertine raised her eyes beseechingly to 
 heaven; only Baron Malhof cried, with sincere 
 warmth: "Ah, she is a splendid young creature!" 
 
 Franka proceeded: "I have indeed overpassed 
 the limits that I once set for myself as a field of 
 labor. I am not accustomed to plead for the con 
 quest of professions and for attainment of political 
 rights all that I leave to other champions of the 
 Woman Movement. But if these callings and rights 
 come gradually into the hands of those of my sex, 
 then they must know how to exercise them; they 
 must be educated to the task. Their minds must 
 be open and their interest must be awake to the 
 universality of the problems of civilization: these 
 are all correlated, and for this reason the only duty 
 that I put before my young sisters was this: Learn 
 how to think! But to-day, knowing that an echo 
 from this address will be carried to the remotest 
 circles, and therefore also to those women who 
 stand in the van and who have already won such 
 important strategic points, as, for example, the 
 women in Australia, I felt myself compelled to 
 drop those restrictions, in order to gaze out over the 
 whole wide field of the Woman Question. 
 
 "And, in conclusion, I turn to the men that hear 
 me: We demand nothing of your magnanimity. We 
 do not come as petitioners, but as givers for the 
 
 251
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 time being as desirous of giving ; for still a portion 
 of mankind, both men and women, reject the gifts 
 we would confer. 'Let things remain as they are!' 
 this fundamental desideratum of the conservative 
 spirit is still cherished by the majority of women. 
 Therefore, even among them there is still a large 
 proportion of those opposed to the Feminist Move 
 ment. Among men, on the other hand, it numbers 
 an ever-increasing host of adherents. The admission 
 of collective energy to the work for the elevation 
 and enrichment of human society is a matter of 
 equal concern to both halves. The ideal of that 
 social condition in which brutality is to be driven 
 out, in which gentleness, benevolence, and beauty 
 are to become effective, is, God knows, no exclu 
 sively feminine ideal. It has swept before the vi 
 sion of all the great teachers of mankind ; and that 
 is to-day also the guiding star of all those poets, 
 thinkers, and statesmen who are yearning for a new 
 and better day and are laboring to bring it to pass. 
 
 "All these welcome the cooperation of women as 
 a reinforcement of their effective forces. The battle 
 against ancient rooted evil, against the dominion 
 of force, is truly not easy, and the men who are con 
 ducting it will only rejoice if to their aid come forth 
 coadjutors and assistants from the ranks of that 
 half of mankind whose most distinctive domain 
 lies in those virtues which they are trying to diffuse. 
 
 "Aye, this is what the new Eve is to become: a 
 coadjutor recognized as of equal value; and for 
 this purpose must you, my young sisters, educate 
 yourselves, and for this purpose must you, my 
 
 252
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 noble brethren, " and here she extended one hand 
 toward her auditors, "help and sustain us. " 
 
 She bowed and stepped back. John Toker went 
 to meet her and shook her hand. The audience 
 applauded vigorously. 
 
 During the social intermission following her ad 
 dress, Franka went down into the hall. She was 
 surrounded, and numerous admirers both men 
 and, especially, women asked to be introduced 
 to her. She had the agreeable feeling that she had 
 made a good impression, and this conviction was 
 assured in her mind not so much by the warm re 
 ception given her by the public as by the silent 
 glance and pressure of the hand whereby Chlodwig 
 Helmer had expressed his satisfaction on the plat 
 form after she had finished. 
 
 Baron Malhof now mingled with the group that 
 surrounded her. He offered her his arm: "Come, 
 please. Your aunts are eager to offer you their con 
 gratulations. " 
 
 "Really?" exclaimed Franka, astonished, as she 
 took Malhof 's arm and went with him. "I should 
 never have believed it. " 
 
 At the other end of the hall sat the two old ladies 
 and Coriolan. 
 
 "Here I come, bringing the conquering heroine," 
 said Malhof. 
 
 Countess Adele moved along on her sofa to give 
 room for Franka. "You surprised me ... to talk 
 so long at one stretch without stammering and with 
 no paper in your hand . . . that is remarkable. 
 
 253
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS .WILL SOAR 
 
 It is plain that you have had much practice. Are 
 n't you very tired?" 
 
 " I am a little used up. ... I have been dreading 
 all day the ordeal of speaking ; before so many 
 people ... I mean those out in the wide world 
 . . . and also to a certain degree before you. I 
 realize how little you approve of my speaking and 
 of what I say. " 
 
 "Well, that is quite true," said Aunt Albertine. 
 
 Coriolan wanted for once to be courteous : "Well, 
 I must admit, your voice is very pleasant and you 
 do look very beautiful." 
 
 "But you ought to wear gloves," remarked 
 Albertine; "you notice, don't you, that everybody 
 wears gloves?" 
 
 Franka smiled. " But have you nothing to say 
 about the subject of my address? " 
 
 " If you were to kill me," replied Coriolan, " I 
 could not tell you now what you talked about. I 
 am incapable of following a lecture for five minutes 
 consecutively. ... I only know that you preached, 
 girls ought to be like men, and men like girls . . . 
 and, truly, that is not to my taste. It would be a 
 fine muddle but it is the end and aim of all 
 modern movements the topsy-turvy world ! For 
 tunately, it is not so easily turned topsy-turvy, and 
 whatever you may talk man remains man, and 
 woman remains woman and that is as it ought to 
 be." 
 
 The old countess came to Franka's aid: "Franka 
 only urged that both ought to be better, and that 
 surely could not do any harm to mankind. But there. 
 
 254
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 is one thing that I should like to blame you for, 
 Franka. If you really want to improve people, 
 why do you not draw their attention to the injunc 
 tions of our holy Faith? And if you call atten 
 tion to the virtues of women, why do you forget 
 the most womanly and most important piety? 
 As far as I can remember, you did not say one single 
 word about religion." 
 
 " I spoke of goodness, of mercy, and of mildness 
 is not that religion?" 
 
 "But, my dear friends," cried Malhof at this 
 juncture, "Miss Garlett is certainly not an officer 
 in the Salvation Army. Moreover, as far as con 
 cerns these religious dogmas . . . ' 
 
 Countess Adele evidently wanted to turn the 
 conversation from this theme, for Malhof s skepti 
 cism was well known to her: "Franka, tell me where 
 are you going, when this week is ended? Don't you 
 want to come to the Sielenburg for a while?" 
 
 "What am I going to do? I have not the slightest 
 idea; I have an invitation to London, but I am hesi 
 tating. If I go back to Austria, then I will make you 
 a visit at the Sielenburg. But now, I will say good- 
 evening. We shall meet again to-morrow." 
 
 She had gone only a few steps when Prince Victor 
 Adolph joined her. 
 
 "At last I can tell you, my dear young lady, how 
 fascinating but, no, I will not pay you compli 
 ments; but I should like to have a little serious 
 discussion with you on what I heard you say this 
 evening. You were fascinating, that is a fact, but 
 that is not the point. What I want to talk about is 
 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 the meaning and the scope of what you put before 
 us. Your idea certainly was not to please, but to 
 attain something definite, was n't it? This is what I 
 should like to ask you about your purpose. It is 
 not altogether clear to me." 
 
 "So you expect me to give you a private lesson 
 on the Woman Question? Very good, you may ask 
 what you desire to know, and I will answer." 
 
 "Here is no place for a serious, undisturbed con 
 versation, among all these people fluttering about. 
 Might I do myself the honor of calling on you some 
 afternoon?" 
 
 "Certainly, Your Highness." 
 
 "Then perhaps to-morrow?" 
 
 She nodded: "Yes, to-morrow at three o'clock."
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 ANOTHER LETTER FROM CHLODWIG HELMER 
 
 THAT night Helmer could not sleep. The experiences 
 of the day had deeply agitated him. First, the 
 morning call on Franka. The feeling of panic which 
 she had so confidingly confessed to him, had seemed 
 to transfer itself to him. What if she should suffer 
 discomfiture on that day, when, so to speak, the 
 whole world was directing its eyes on her? That 
 would embitter her whole career, and he felt that 
 he was responsible for her career. 
 
 The crises had been successfully passed; Franka 
 had borne herself gallantly and had won a striking 
 success, but this had not lessened his agitation and 
 the success did not seem to him sufficient. It had 
 not shown itself in the eager adherence of enthusi 
 asts, filled with gratitude and devotion, but in the 
 condescending applause of a curious and well-amused 
 theater audience. To him she was a priestess, and 
 to the whole people yonder she was a diva. Had 
 she not done a priest-like and heroic act? Had she 
 not sacrificed herself in order to offer to the world a 
 part of what appeared to her as truth and wisdom 
 only to give others, not herself, a little more hap 
 piness? For herself, indeed, she had treasures of 
 happiness at her disposal youth, beauty, wealth, 
 freedom. Everything stood open before her: a life 
 in the great world, with all its enjoyments of luxury 
 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 and pleasure, a life of love at the side of a man who 
 worshiped her, the joys of motherhood, . . . and all 
 this she had thrown over in order to devote herself 
 wholly and entirely to the duties and cares of an 
 apostleship . . . 
 
 "Oh, my poor Franka, my noble, sweet . . ." 
 With these words, spoken aloud, he interrupted 
 the course of his thoughts. He was alarmed at the 
 tender expression of his own voice could it be 
 that he really was in love with her? At this question 
 other considerations occurred to him circumstances 
 which had mightily affected him in the last few days : 
 the offering of the violets . . . and then, after the 
 address, just as he was about to go down into the 
 hall to speak with Franka, there stood the prince 
 again at her side. ... It had caused a flaming agony 
 to dart through his heart. ... So he was jealous, 
 was he? It was not to be denied he loved her! 
 And even as he confessed the soft impeachment, 
 he realized it as a heavy load of trouble, but at the 
 same time so delightful, that not for the world would 
 he have been willing to get rid of it. And was it really 
 a new love; was it not rather one long kindled, which 
 for years had been smouldering and had now burst 
 into flame? Was not possibly this old sentiment the 
 reason why in all these years, in spite of many more 
 or less transient love-affairs, he had never been able 
 to let his heart go completely? As a dramatic poet 
 he had enjoyed many opportunities of frequenting 
 the theater behind the scenes and many an adven 
 ture had come in his way. One of them was an af 
 fair which lasted two years. But it had not brought 
 
 258
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 ease to his heart; rather it had become a burden. 
 Fortunately it had been broken off gradually and 
 without pain on either side. For some time he had 
 been quite free, and was able to say that he had 
 never been under the spell of a genuine passion. Al 
 ways this or that quality had not quite satisfied him 
 in those by whom he was attracted; always he had 
 discovered that they lacked something; and the 
 secret of it was, that he compared them all with 
 Franka Garlett; not one of them came up to that 
 ideal. 
 
 The following morning a letter was brought to 
 Franka. She was sitting again on her balcony and 
 looking out over the forest. Her first thought was, 
 that the missive came from Victor Adolph, but a 
 glance at the handwriting dispelled this assumption 
 the letter was from Helmer. She tore open the 
 envelope and read : 
 
 Two o'clock in the morning. It is in vain I cannot 
 sleep. Racing pulse and whirling thoughts deprive me of all 
 possibility of rest. Now it occurs to me that I have the 
 prescriptive right to address a letter at rare intervals to 
 a sister-soul with whom I may commune most intimately. 
 
 I am making use of this right and I have sat down at my 
 desk. It stands by the open window and bright moon 
 light is streaming into the room. Only this sheet of paper 
 is illuminated by my shaded lamp the rest of the room 
 is all bathed in soft, silvery blue. I had put on my clothes 
 to take a stroll in the garden and to cool my fever in the 
 moon-enchanted night air. But I can put before you 
 something of the overflow of my thoughts. You yourself 
 are the center of these thoughts. What has so disturbed 
 me is the experience that I went through to-day on 
 Account of you and because of you. And in this emotion 
 
 259
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 so much was revealed to my consciousness concerning 
 you and myself . . . but I am going to write you here only 
 of what concerns you, what touches your life. I leave 
 myself out of the question. It would be very enticing 
 now, when I am coming to you for refuge in this moment 
 of restlessness and loneliness, to make you the confidante 
 of my trouble, for I have that, but it is my own 
 secret. 
 
 Now let me speak of you and your address. I had no 
 opportunity of talking with you about it. You disap 
 peared in the hall; first you were surrounded by the 
 Sielenburg people and then you were accosted by the 
 prince. Shortly afterwards you retired, evidently ex 
 hausted by your triumph. For it was a triumph in spite 
 of the panic which tormented you in the morning. You 
 spoke with sovereign assurance, and said all that was 
 to be said. Indeed, you went beyond your accustomed 
 domain, the education of women for an intellectual 
 participation in the questions of the day ; you entered the 
 domain of actual feminism for you pleaded for practi 
 cal cooperation of women in government and lawmaking. 
 But such general and abstract considerations do little 
 toward the attainment of this end. The gradual conquest 
 of the whole will be accomplished only by practical work 
 ers in details, doing practical things, here one and there 
 one, thousands of them in thousands of different places. 
 And this development is already in full swing, though it 
 still lags far behind the ideal which you have foreseen. 
 
 Yet, what am I driving at? Here I am speaking also of 
 generalities which do not interest me at this moment. 
 What interests me now is yourself, is your life. My con 
 science reproaches me that when you gave me all your 
 confidence, as to a brother in the spirit, I pointed out to 
 you this path where you are entirely forgetting yourself. 
 I was the one who suggested the word "Renunciation" as 
 the countersign of that path. 
 
 Yet I recall that I added : this full devotion to the cause 
 would be demanded only for a few years. These years are 
 
 260
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 now past. Your duty, as far as you could fulfill it, is ful 
 filled. With generous hands you have scattered the seed 
 of great ideas into the world of women. You have called 
 into existence the Garlett Academy, and lavished a large 
 part of your fortune on it it is working on in your spirit. 
 The congregation of the " Frankistinnen " has been 
 formed and is spreading. It is no longer necessary for you 
 to throw your whole self into the work of the propaganda; 
 it will go forward henceforth automatically. Let your 
 address of to-day be the last of your public addresses. 
 
 It will find an echo in a thousand places it will be 
 perpetuated in the "Rose Annals" it makes a brilliant 
 finale. Laboriously and courageously and persistently, 
 you have put your shoulder to the wheel to set it in 
 motion ; now it is in full motion . . . what is the use of 
 pushing it any more? Time will bring you other work; but 
 there is no reason for you to go out and seek work you 
 must think of living, you must think of your own still 
 fresh, joy-deserving life. You are here also "to share in 
 loving," Franka. And now I come back to Prince Victor 
 Adolph. I believe he worships you. He is no ordinary 
 man. I have trustworthy information as to his worthi 
 ness. Do not do violence to your heart if it beats for him. 
 
 Having reached this point, Franka dropped the 
 sheet into her lap she had not expected this. 
 The first words of the letter, "racing pulse and 
 whirling thoughts," thoughts which complemented 
 her picture she would sooner have been prepared 
 for his appealing to her heart for himself and not 
 for another. Well, it was better so. In this way 
 her "Brother Chlodwig" was not lost to her. 
 
 She had no idea what it had cost him. At the very 
 place where she ceased reading, he had ceased writing. 
 He had sprung to his feet, and, clasping his head in 
 both hands, had groaned aloud. He paced several 
 
 261
 
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 times up and down the room in his excitement. Then 
 he leaned out of the window and gazed toward the 
 horizon which already betrayed a pallid premoni 
 tion of the early dawn. The moon was veiled in 
 passing clouds and one or two stars were twinkling. 
 "One may not yearn to grasp the stars!" Have I 
 not often repeated this to myself? He was vexed 
 with himself. This jealous emotion seemed to him 
 senseless, unworthy. He must and would crush it 
 down, and the very best way before him was to help 
 Franka to incline to the prince. And so he went on 
 writing: 
 
 I really believe that an alliance with this royal prince 
 might make you happy in several directions : first through 
 merely loving that crown of life why should you not 
 make it yours? And secondly, if the opportunity is given 
 you, to work for your, for our, ideals (and in this word 
 ' ' our ' ' I include also the spirit of your father) . Only think 
 what might be accomplished in this important, influential 
 position. How the young prince would be strengthened 
 and inspired by you in his bold, independent ideas. 
 There is certainly no genuine happiness on earth for the 
 like of us, unless we continue to work for the great objects 
 which our longing eyes have beheld. We cannot, as long 
 as we live, cease our efforts. In the midst of every other 
 kind of happiness this work remains our chief desire, as 
 it is our consolation in every misfortune. In my own 
 trouble I confessed to you that I have trouble I am 
 still with the half of my soul the better half of my soul 
 at my task. You have already fulfilled your task for 
 the Rose- Week Festival. Before me is still my reading 
 in the presence of the whole world. I am not like 
 Franka Garlett used to public speaking ; my tool is the 
 pen. So I look forward to this ordeal not without trem 
 bling, yet not without pleasure. It is a splendid opportu- 
 
 262
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 nity to pour out what fills the soul to overflowing. I burn 
 to be heard and understood. Not because I flatter myself 
 that I have something beautiful to say, but something 
 that may bring help. But how to find the right words? 
 
 The things that float before my mind are so dazzling 
 and so new, while the words that one has at one's disposal 
 are so banal and so flat. The sublimest concepts, like 
 goodness, freedom, right, have become dimmed by so 
 many editorials, committee speeches, and election procla 
 mations, that they have lost all their brilliancy what is 
 worse, all their value. The lofty thoughts mined from the 
 new time lie in bars, like gold, but in order to bring them 
 into circulation, one must first coin them into new words, 
 while we have only thin and worn coins to pass. If we 
 come to the modern man I mean a man with broad 
 philosophical and aesthetic views with these morality- 
 dripping words (a morality which has been amply 
 preached but never practiced in all these thousands of 
 years), then it moves him like the admonition, "Be a 
 good little boy," spoken to a grown-up man. 
 
 It is beginning to dawn this is no metaphor: you 
 know the old fault of my style of letter-writing, but this 
 time I have really had no other meaning it is beginning 
 to grow light. In order to scare away the torment of 
 sleepless night hours, I have written till morning. In the 
 foliage-crowned trees awakens the twittering of birds. 
 What is it that they have to say to one another every day 
 at waking and every evening before they compose them 
 selves to sleep? 
 
 Now I am going to shut my window, pull down the 
 Venetian blinds, and try to get a little rest. It has re 
 freshed me writing to you. Perhaps I may have a nap 
 perhaps even a dream. . . . 
 
 CHLODWIG. 
 
 Franka and Helmer sat together as usual at lunch 
 eon. Franka had come in a little late. 
 
 263
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "Well," said she, as she took her place, "did you 
 have your dream?" 
 
 "Yes, I dreamed about you. I saw you standing 
 on the platform again and ..." 
 
 "And it was to be for the last time, was it?" in 
 terrupted Franka. "You wrote me, didn't you, 
 because it would be easier than to say to me, by 
 word of mouth, during breakfast: 'Miss Garlett, 
 you spoke very indifferently. You are no longer 
 accomplishing your work retire ! ' ' 
 
 "Oh," exclaimed Chlodwig, pained, "did you 
 understand me so?" 
 
 "The principal thing I understood was that you 
 were in a very melancholy and excited frame of mind 
 and came to me for comfort : that delights me. And 
 one thing more you desire my happiness. But 
 do you really think it beckons in the direction you 
 suppose? Two or three bunches of violets are hardly 
 to be regarded as an offer of marriage. L T p to the 
 present time, I have not the slightest ground for 
 supposing that Prince Victor Adolph has ever 
 thought of such a thing." 
 
 "He has not intimated to you that he is in love 
 with you?" This question was in a jubilant tone. 
 
 "No, and if he should do so, do you know what 
 . . . what I ... well, I confess, I am not quite cer 
 tain myself. . . . Perhaps it would have been better 
 if you had not suggested such a thing . . . you have 
 kindled a spark in my heart." 
 
 Their dialogue, carried on in an undertone, was 
 interrupted by Mr. Toker, who from the other side 
 of the table engaged Franka in conversation. 
 
 264
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 After the luncheon was finished and the company 
 had drifted into the adjoining salons, Gwendoline 
 took Franka's arm. 
 
 "Oh, Miss Garlett," said she in a voice trembling 
 with emotion, "I must thank you. You have no 
 idea what an impression you made on me, you fill 
 me with admiration ..." 
 
 Franka made the courteous deprecatory sign 
 with her head with which we are accustomed to re 
 ceive flattering phrases. 
 
 "No, no, no!" cried the young American girl 
 vehemently, "I should not be so presumptuous, 
 stupid thing that I am, to pay you mere compli 
 ments. I wanted just to tell you what feelings you 
 awakened in me . . . not merely agreeable feelings 
 for it is certainly not agreeable to be made 
 ashamed of one's self, when one has hard things to 
 say to one's own face; as, for example: 'You are cer 
 tainly an empty-headed creature, Gwen! You must 
 decidedly improve, my girl, if you want to rise again 
 in my estimation* . . ." 
 
 "And why did you speak so disrespectfully to 
 MissToker?" 
 
 "Oh, you understand me perfectly. You know 
 right well, when you address young girls, that 
 hitherto very, very few among them have ever 
 thought with you. I belong to the majority. I have 
 always kept aloof from serious things; for instance, 
 I have not the slightest remembrance what that 
 clever Frenchman said yesterday my attention 
 was wholly diverted to the various groups in the 
 hall, for I had discovered several comical people. 
 
 265
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 When you began to speak, I was interested in the way 
 the folds of your gown fell there was something 
 Greek about it. Who knows, whether I should have 
 listened to your words at all, if you had not sud 
 denly addressed your speech directly to young girls. 
 Then I had to listen to what you had to say to me, 
 and after that I did not lose another word. I did not 
 understand it all, nor can I remember it all, but so 
 much I know I should like to be your pupil. Do 
 teach me to think, show me my place in the world, 
 so that I may accomplish something, be of some 
 use. . . . You see, papa has always treated me as a 
 child, and I have never been interested in his plans: 
 I never thought that there was anything in them 
 for us young people . . ." 
 
 "Oh," cried Franka, "it is precisely the young 
 and the youngest who are called and who are ca 
 pable of walking in new paths. For that reason we 
 all (I mean, we whose aspirations are directed to the 
 future) look with such hope to America, for there 
 the whole land is so young ..." 
 
 "And we Americans look so timidly and admir 
 ingly up to Europe, because it is old and venerable. 
 All we have, we have from you." 
 
 "And you are going to repay us richly for that. 
 For what is going to ameliorate our future, inven 
 tions, wealth, free institutions, peace, all that you 
 will carry over to us. Mr. Toker is a messenger 
 of that kind." 
 
 "Oh, my dear father ... I fear I do not know 
 him as I should." 
 
 Gwendoline went on to explain that she had never 
 266
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 lived very much in her father's society. In her child 
 hood, she had been almost entirely in her grand 
 mother's hands, as her mother had died when she 
 was born ; and then, when six years ago the grand 
 mother died, the child, then eleven, was entrusted 
 to a Swiss Pensionat, from which only the year be 
 fore she had returned to her own country. In this 
 excellent Pensionat she had received the usual edu 
 cation of young ladies that is to say, to take a 
 part rather in dancing than in thinking. She had 
 got only one idea there of the Woman Movement 
 that it was a far from elegant aberration of 
 high-strung females. What Franka had said about 
 it was a revelation to her. Now she felt she must 
 and would accomplish something Miss Garlett 
 must instruct and advise her further. 
 
 Franka now felt obliged to tear herself away 
 from this interview. She was expecting a caller. 
 She kissed the eager young disciple, whose attitude 
 toward her filled her with joyous pride. "To-morrow 
 we will talk further about this, my dear girl ; I must 
 go now." 
 
 She summoned Frau von Rockhaus and went with 
 her to her rooms. Shortly afterwards Prince Vic 
 tor Adolph was announced. Franka went forward 
 to greet him. Frau Eleonore, who was sitting near 
 the window, stood up and curtseyed, but immedi 
 ately resumed her seat, for the call did not concern 
 her. 
 
 Franka's heart began to beat more quickly. 
 "Helmer is to blame for this," said she to herself 
 with vexation. 
 
 267
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 After the first interchange of greetings and after 
 they had sat down the prince said : 
 
 "Permit me to enter in medias res without delay, 
 and ask you the questions which I have on my 
 mind." 
 
 He did not speak loud. Frau von Rockhaus, who 
 from her remote corner was visible de profil perdu, 
 could not hear what was said. 
 
 "Well, I am ready to listen," said Franka, and 
 raised her eyes to her visitor. 
 
 Once more she realized that she had never seen 
 a handsomer and more elegant man than this young 
 prince. Yet, in his attitude there was a certain 
 haughty, peculiarly unbending reserve more no 
 ticeable if possible than ever. It was as if something 
 had annoyed him. 
 
 " I heard you yesterday for the second time, Miss 
 Garlett. You spoke as eloquently as you did the 
 first time, perhaps even more so; but you crossed 
 over into another field where I could not well follow 
 you." 
 
 "How so? I still treat the same question." 
 
 " But from a different standpoint. When I heard 
 you in Germany, you protested that you were not 
 going to stand for the current aims of feminism 
 the franchise, candidacy for all public offices, and the 
 like; that sort of thing you would leave to others. 
 You would only urge that women should cultivate 
 their intellect sufficiently to interest themselves in 
 political and social life, so that by their influence 
 they might be capable of imparting something of 
 feminine virtues into the conduct of political and 
 
 268
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 social affairs . . . that is what I understood you to 
 say." 
 
 "You understood quite correctly, Your High 
 ness." 
 
 "And suddenly yesterday you began to join in 
 all the extreme demands of the Women's Rights 
 party, female voters, female members of Parlia 
 ment how can I tell to what extent they would 
 go ... no ... there I am opposed. Perhaps I am 
 reactionary, but I shudder at the mere thought of 
 seeing women delicate, lovely women dragged 
 about in the dusty battle-field." 
 
 "Do you mean Parliaments? Parliaments need 
 not be dusty and need not be battle-fields, but 
 places for work." 
 
 " Why yes, you expect that all will be changed. 
 But that is the very thing I dread. There is so 
 much that is fine, it would be a pity to change it 
 in other words, to destroy it. As, for example, sup 
 pose one were to cultivate nothing but vegetables 
 instead of flowers. Of course, it would be more use 
 ful. And the captivating types of women who are 
 to be found in our present state of civilization 
 to see them all disappear that would be, indeed, 
 deplorable. And must every woman have a calling? 
 Wife, mother, sweetheart are not those also 
 callings?" 
 
 "There is no need of excluding others just like 
 husband, father, lover!" 
 
 "They are not to be compared. Oh, it has often 
 been lamented that the world is robbed of its gods 
 I tremble at the thought that it may be robbed 
 
 269
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 of its feminine elements. I question whether this 
 whole movement for equality because it is con 
 trary to nature is not to be regarded as a tem 
 porary aberration, now and again doing harm and 
 destined to disappear. Please give me your ideas 
 about this." 
 
 Franka interrupted him with an impatient move 
 ment of her hand. The trend of the conversation 
 affected her unpleasantly. "Excuse me, Your High 
 ness, I cannot give you a second lecture! I should 
 not convert you, for your objection does not rest 
 on grounds of reason, but is rather instinctive and 
 therefore especially vehement. Nor have I the wish 
 to convert you. My specialty, as you yourself have 
 remarked, is certainly not that of the militant femi 
 nist. It is remarkable, what an effect my yester 
 day's address has produced : it moved a good friend 
 to advise me to give up the whole thing while it 
 made the brilliant daughter of the house my enthu 
 siastic disciple; and it entirely revolted you, Your 
 Highness." 
 
 Victor Adolph started: "Good Heavens, how can 
 you use such a word revolt ! Your address en 
 chanted me, as your whole being enchants me, but 
 the theme yes, you are quite right aroused an 
 instinctive antipathy. And it would have been 
 pleasant to me if you had been willing to explain 
 your meaning, yet this expectation was presump 
 tuous. Do not be angry with me. " 
 
 He rose and took his leave. Franka did not at 
 tempt to detain him.
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 NEW WONDERS 
 
 THE programme of that evening began with an 
 aviation festival over the lake. A surprise had been 
 prepared: the first trial of a new method of flight. 
 The invention had been worked out and tested 
 privately under John Toker's patronage ; this day it 
 was to be exhibited before the world. 
 
 The festival began at six o'clock. The weather 
 was marvelously fine. A cloudless blue sky, the 
 temperature, seasonable for June, was warm, but 
 agreeably moderated by a cool breeze which ruffled 
 the surface of the lake. On the shores a fleet of 
 boats was arrayed with streamers and flowers, and 
 provided with rugs and soft pillows. On the op 
 posite side lay a number of passenger vessels, the 
 decks of which had been hired for spectators. The 
 population of Lucerne stood in dense throngs along 
 the lake. Excitement and anticipation stirred 
 through the crowd. The spectacle of aeroplanes and 
 flying machines had, indeed, already by this time 
 lost its heart-thrilling fascination. It w r as no longer 
 as in 1909 and 1910, when the sight of these pioneers 
 of the upper air seemed to take one's very breath 
 away, when they still seemed to be both dream and 
 miracle. The device had now become extremely 
 common everywhere: in many places airships were 
 making regular trips, aeroplanes had been adopted 
 
 271
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 widely as vehicles of sport and luxury, just as auto 
 mobiles had several years before, and every nation 
 possessed its little air-fleet. No one longer uttered 
 the exclamation, "Ah!" when a flyer shot up into 
 the air the marvel had become a commonplace 
 was simply taken for granted. 
 
 But on this occasion, expectation had been once 
 more keyed to the highest pitch. It was known that 
 when Toker promised a surprise, something sensa 
 tional was going to be produced, something that 
 was not only magnificent and unprecedented, but 
 also of vital significance and calculated to give con 
 temporary society an uplift into new regions. 
 
 A programme had been issued for the aviation 
 festival. At six o'clock commencement of evolu 
 tions in the air over the lake; at seven o'clock: a 
 surprise announced by three cannon shots. 
 
 More than half an hour before the specified hour, 
 the boats, the vessels, the wharves, and also the 
 windows and balconies of the villas and the hotels 
 facing the lake were packed. At the stroke of six, 
 the Toker flotilla of flying-machines ascended and 
 began to perform their evolutions. 
 
 "Those aeroplanes are masked and costumed," 
 cried one of the spectators, and that exactly ex 
 pressed it. These air-vehicles had the shape of all 
 kinds of historical and imaginary equipages. The 
 primitive type of superposed and juxtaposed frames 
 without sides was no longer affected. The wonderful 
 things swept slowly, one behind the other, at a com 
 paratively low elevation, circling about the lake, as 
 far as it was peopled with spectators. 
 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Now the throng really uttered its "Ah!" for such 
 graceful vessels had never before been seen in the 
 air. Slender ships with inflated sails, Roman char 
 iots, Venetian gondolas, Lohengrin swans, enor 
 mous shells glittering in mother of pearl and the 
 like, were occupied by aviators, appropriately cos 
 tumed. The planes and apparatus used for pro 
 pulsion and steering were concealed with plenty of 
 white and gray material, which looked like clouds, 
 giving a magically picturesque effect. A manufac 
 turer of flying-machines, present among the spec 
 tators, shrugged his shoulders and remarked to a 
 bystander: "Child's play with masquerade!" 
 
 Several hundred metres high in the air above the 
 heads of the spectators circled a great airship of the 
 Zeppelin type. That, according to the rumor, was 
 to be the bearer of the surprise. 
 
 Franka sat in one of the boats with her companion 
 and several other of Toker's house-guests. General 
 conversation was going on, and Franka, leaning 
 back on her cushion, gave herself up to her thoughts. 
 A peculiar melancholy weighed on her spirit a 
 feeling of isolation. A few hours previous there had 
 been awaiting her something which she had looked 
 forward to with keen anticipation, something which 
 promised to give her a powerful emotion : the 
 visit of Prince Victor Adolph. Helmer had been 
 responsible for this expectation. The words in his 
 letter were, "He worships you"; he must have 
 known it, else he would not have written so author 
 itatively, and those three words had gone through 
 her like an electric shock. And what had the visit 
 
 273
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 brought her? A bit of ill humor, nothing else. Not 
 only the man did not worship her; he did not even 
 understand her; her activities and her views were 
 alien if not repulsive to him. Fortunately, she was 
 not in love with him as yet, but only on the point 
 of being. Consciously she had felt: It has not come 
 as yet, but it is coming, it is coming. . . . She had 
 heard it knocking at her door and had said, "Come 
 in!" but across the doorsill entered nothing. 
 
 At this moment a mortar shot rang out. All 
 looked up into the air. The Zeppelin began to de 
 scend in great spirals ; now it was about fifty metres 
 high. The basket and its passengers could be 
 distinctly seen. Three or four persons were sitting 
 in it and two forms were standing close to the rail. 
 Another shot: the rail was thrown open. For 
 Heaven's sake the two forms might fall out. 
 And sure enough for just here the third shot was 
 heard, and the two swung off over the edge. A cry 
 rose from all throats. The two figures as they fell 
 stretched out their arms and with a quick motion 
 unfolded a great pair of wings. It was a young man 
 and a young girl. The youth wore striped tricot 
 which gave his body the aspect of a butterfly's form 
 and the two wings were shaped like a butterfly's. 
 The maiden was enveloped in a white flowing robe 
 which came down below her feet; her face was 
 framed in blond curls and her wings were white 
 and long like those frequently depicted as adorn 
 ing the shoulders of the guardian of Paradise, the 
 Archangel Michael, or those of the angel of the 
 Annunciation. 
 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Butterfly and angel floated down in an oblique, 
 gently gliding flight. The throng was now breath 
 less and dumb. In the center of the lake was sta 
 tioned a large float ; it was supposed that the daring 
 flyers would land on it, but before they reached it, 
 they turned up from a height of five or six metres, 
 and, mounting, flew horizontally, came back, then 
 flew down, and mounted again, performing aerial 
 evolutions, crossing above the fantastic aeroplanes, 
 and then returned to the Zeppelin which once more 
 received them. 
 
 A tumultuous uproar of applause rang through 
 the air. An immense feeling of happiness and vic 
 tory stirred all hearts. So now the air was actually 
 made subservient to mankind. Without an engine, 
 independent as a bird, one could rise from the 
 ground, glide through the air, rise and sink away, 
 be conscious of the motion ; it was, indeed, an intoxi 
 cating gain ! 
 
 The address given that evening in the theater 
 auditorium of the Rose-Palace concerned the new 
 acquisition. The inventor, a hitherto unknown 
 young English engineer, gave an exposition of the 
 mechanism of his artificial wings, and related how 
 for some years in all secrecy, under Mr. Toker's 
 auspices, he had been carrying on his investiga 
 tions, labors, and experiments until at last he had 
 been able to make a gift of his accomplished work 
 to his fellow-men. 
 
 After the inventor had concluded his address, 
 Toker himself stepped forward and announced that 
 
 275
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 no other addresses would be given that evening, 
 but that the respected public might enjoy the con 
 sciousness that henceforth no one would any longer 
 need to envy the birds. 
 
 The auditorium was now transformed into a social 
 assembly-room where the liveliest conversation was 
 carried on. The topic of applicable pinions truly 
 gave sufficient material for all sorts of interest 
 ing variations. Some rejoiced, others bewailed, still 
 others tried to perpetrate witticisms; all were full 
 of astonishment; exclamations flew about in merry 
 confusion. 
 
 " I shall be mighty grateful when market-women, 
 instead of swallows and doves, shall be seen flying 
 round in the air with their baskets." 
 
 "In place of the light-horse regiment we shall 
 now have regiments of light birds." 
 
 "The joy of such self -constituted flight must be 
 supermundane in the true sense of the word." 
 
 "The world grows richer, more beautiful, more 
 wonderful every day. " 
 
 "We will rather say: more unpleasant, more 
 weird. " 
 
 "Where are the days when people were satisfied 
 to travel on two feet or at most with four or eight 
 horses' feet? Now we must have roller-skates, skis, 
 bicycles, motors, balloons, aeroplanes, and here at 
 last duplex-elliptic back-action folding wings." 
 
 "Women will no longer turn into hyenas, but 
 rather into wild geese. " 
 
 " Do you long for constancy still, my dear madam? 
 now, when we are all become fly-away?" 
 
 276
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Franka had retired early to her own rooms. She 
 felt quite unstrung and hungry for solitude. Prince 
 Victor Adolph had not put in an appearance either 
 on the water or in the hall. Was he avoiding her? 
 This was the first time that he had missed any of 
 the exercises. His absence troubled Franka, and 
 she drew disagreeable conclusions from it. Her con 
 clusions, however, were baseless. The absence of the 
 prince was not in any way connected with Franka. 
 That afternoon, a near relative had arrived at 
 Lucerne, to stay only a few hours, and the prince 
 had been obliged to spend the time with him. The 
 two had watched the wonderful flights from the 
 balcony of their hotel. 
 
 Franka was glad that Frau Eleonore had not 
 joined her in coming upstairs but had remained 
 below in the hall. Her companion, who had been 
 with her now for some years, was dear and sym 
 pathetic to her, but she had never admitted her to 
 a real heart intimacy. Spiritually, also, the woman 
 had never been to her what is called a "resource"; 
 she lacked the "uplift. " A cheerful, harmless, hon 
 est mind, a lady to her finger-tips, not given to 
 narrow judgments, but also lacking in a bold out 
 look, she had every quality of a model companion; 
 but she was far from being the ideal of an intimate 
 friend such as Franka really needed. And, there 
 fore, in hours when she was in any way depressed, 
 when an indefinite yearning came over her, when 
 she meditated on God and the world and herself, she 
 always preferred to be alone rather than have Frau 
 Eleonore with her. 
 
 277
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 She stepped out on the balcony and leaned against 
 the railing. It was a warm night ; the air was heavy 
 as if a storm were threatening. Along the hori 
 zon frequent sheet-lightning flashed against a back 
 ground of intensely black clouds; above, the sky 
 was clear and the stars were shining brilliantly. 
 The fir grove which bordered the garden stood 
 dark with the white sand-strewn paths meandering 
 through the trees. A gentle rustling could be heard 
 in the branches. A screech-owl lamented some 
 where in the distance, and from the near-by pool 
 came the subdued call of a toad at long intervals; 
 it was assuredly a lonely creature which, sighing 
 again and again, queried: "Is there no other toad 
 near me ? ' ' Everywhere loneliness ! That was the 
 mood that drifted down upon Franka from this 
 nature perhaps because she invested nature with 
 this very mood. Yonder, each flash of lightning 
 zigzagged down for itself alone, unconcerned about 
 its forerunners and successors; in obtuse egoism 
 sparkles every star without caring that, many mil 
 lions of miles away, other stars are pursuing their 
 own courses; the tree-tops must rock as the wind 
 bends them without other trees coming to their 
 aid yes, the most perfect indifference reigns where- 
 ever she might turn; were she to die that moment, 
 the lightning would continue to flash this way and 
 that; the toad would not call in the least degree 
 more mournfully and the stars in all eternity would 
 not have the slightest notion of it. Alone . . . alone 
 . . . that was the keynote of the whole concert of 
 dread and melancholy which whispered around her. 
 
 278
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 She stretched her arms out toward the vacant 
 night and drew such a deep breath that its expira 
 tion was a groan. Then she sat wearily down in a 
 soft, upholstered wicker chair, leaned her head back, 
 and in her lassitude and depression of spirits the 
 consciousness that she was resting did her good 
 physically. But psychically her indefinite longing 
 developed into a hot sense of woe. Her eyes filled 
 with tears. Oh, how good it would be to have some 
 fond heart on which she might pour out her sor 
 rows . . . yet if she had, perhaps she would not 
 have the impulse to weep! For in that case the 
 pain, the dull pain, called "loneliness," would be 
 cured ! 
 
 She sat there for some time, thinking of no defi 
 nite person and conscious of no definite trouble; 
 she merely felt sad, in a certain sense platonically 
 sad. Her thoughts were without clear outlines: all 
 that she had experienced and missed that day 
 flowed into a hazy picture. Her eyes closed and 
 gradually she began to doze: her indefinite thoughts 
 were confused into a still more indefinite dream. 
 
 Again it seemed to be clear day around her. The 
 call of the toad and the rustling of the leaves had 
 ceased. In place of them there seemed to be the 
 light, murmuring plash of the oar. She was sailing 
 in a gondola on the lake and the boatmen were 
 Helmer and Victor Adolph both in the charac 
 teristic garb and attitude of Venetian gondoliers. 
 The slender black boat was surrounded by cloud- 
 borne aviators. Ah, if she could only wing her way 
 up into the upper air in such an airship. The wish 
 
 279
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 was followed as so often occurs in dreams by 
 its instantaneous fulfillment. A hovering cloud-car 
 took her up and bore her away. She wanted to call 
 to the gondoliers, but they had vanished together 
 with the gondola. All around her only clouds were 
 to be seen, rushing onward and changing their 
 shapes like locomotive smoke which one sees stream 
 ing by the train windows. Soon her equipage rose 
 above this region of clouds and the sky grew blue 
 over her head. In easy motion it went up up 
 and down in rhythmical regularity like a swing, but 
 like a swing which at every gyration lifts farther 
 from the earth; then another forward plunge in 
 speediest flight like a sailboat driven before a 
 wild wind ; nothing more was to be seen of the 
 earth. On the zenith a dazzling orb is that the 
 sun? How, then, can her eyes endure its brightness? 
 The orb grew ever larger; it was coming nearer . . . 
 for Heaven's sake, how high was she doomed to 
 mount? 
 
 A sense of terror darted through Franka's limbs. 
 . . . "Enough! Enough!" she cried and looked 
 everywhere in her vehicle. . . . Where then is the 
 helmsman? No one! she was all alone. "Alone" 
 that was the anguishing word which just before had 
 been oppressing her heart; but now for the first 
 time she understood it in its most gruesome sense: 
 alone in the universe! What in comparison was all 
 earthly solitude? Ever higher she arose toward the 
 sun-resembling orb; ever wilder became the storm 
 wind . . . whither, whither, into what boundless 
 ness filled with horrors? A paroxysm of anguish and 
 
 280
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 terror contracted her heart. Then she felt a strong 
 arm flung protectingly around her; one of the gon 
 doliers stood at her side. She could not see his face ; 
 only that strong, rescuing arm with its warm clasp 
 filled her dreamy consciousness with a hitherto un 
 known joy of security. The little airship now glided 
 gently downwards. It was a blissful feeling: the 
 antithesis of loneliness, a lovely sense of safety; 
 a tide of tenderness billowed, literally billowed, 
 around her, for it was to her as if great warm drops 
 fell on her forehead and trickled caressingly over 
 her body. If one might imagine a paroxysm of ap 
 peasing this miracle she experienced in her dream. 
 
 But even in a dream the extreme of happiness 
 lasts only a second. The equipage had become en 
 tangled in a knot of other airships which precipitated 
 themselves on one another painfully their frag 
 ments fell into her face ; a booming salvo of artillery 
 tore the air, and Franka, awakening, found herself 
 sitting on her balcony in a heavy shower of hail, 
 and the storm, which had broken, was raging with 
 lightning and loud peals of thunder. She jumped 
 up to run into her room and at that instant she felt 
 that the bar of the blind, loosened by the wind, had 
 fallen on her chair, and slipped down to her side. 
 
 Just then Frau Rockhaus appeared at the bal 
 cony door. "Why! Are you here? I should not have 
 thought of looking for you here. How do you happen 
 to be out in all this storm? It has been raining for a 
 long time, and now it is hailing and thundering. You 
 are wet through. " 
 
 "Yes, dear Eleonore; I merely fell sound asleep." 
 281
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "Who ever heard of such a thing! Now, get to 
 bed as quickly as you can." 
 
 "Yes, I will. Please ring for the maid, and good 
 night." 
 
 As soon as her light was put out and she had com 
 posed herself for going to sleep, a vivid recollection 
 of her dream came to her. Again she believed that 
 she felt the strong arm at her side, it must have 
 been the bar, and she tried to conjure back that 
 peculiar consciousness of security which, after the 
 terror of the blood-curdling plunge into endless 
 space, had so deeply inspired her. . . . She suc 
 ceeded in doing so: she could bring back almost 
 the whole dream with all its details, and she felt 
 enriched by a new experience. Can it be, then, that 
 such a heavenly refuge, such a paradise of security 
 can be found? 
 
 It was long before she went to sleep again; in 
 deed, she did not care to sleep, for the sweet recol 
 lection of the dream, like a slight intoxication of 
 opium, was more refreshing, more tranquilizing than 
 any sleep. Only toward dawn did she fall into a 
 deep, sound slumber. 
 
 When she awoke the sun was already high. She 
 felt strengthened and full of joyous life. The mel 
 ancholy of the evening before had been dispelled. 
 It even caused no diminution of her good spirits, 
 when, in the course of the forenoon, her aunts came 
 to see her. 
 
 "Oh, it is lovely of you to visit me ... please 
 sit down. Now tell me, how do you enjoy being with 
 us? Is n't it all wonderful?" 
 
 282
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 The old ladies sat down. Then Franka for the 
 first time noticed that their faces expressed a cer 
 tain solemn sullenness. 
 
 "We have come to say good-bye, Franka," said 
 Countess Adele. 
 
 "We cannot endure it any longer," added Frau- 
 lein Albertine in explanation. 
 
 "What, you are going to leave Lucerne, before 
 the Rose- Week is ended?" 
 
 The countess nodded. "Yes, we are leaving to 
 day. I believe that, if I were to remain longer, I 
 should lose my mind. These flyings up in the air, 
 these uncanny pictures on the sky, all these up 
 setting performances and declamations . . . No, 
 it is not normal at all, I might almost say not 
 comme il faut. We of our class cannot take any 
 pleasure in it. Yesterday evening, at supper, I de 
 clared that I was going home. Albertine was agree 
 able." 
 
 "Perfectly agreeable," corroborated Albertine. 
 
 "Coriolan was delighted; only Malhof he was 
 furious he is going to stay. We do not need him. 
 Coriolan is sufficient protection for our return 
 journey. He is a genuine knight of the good old 
 stamp. . . . Now, tell me about the prince who 
 was paying you such pronounced attention the day 
 before yesterday. . . . Why did he not show him 
 self yesterday? Is the affair at an end?" 
 
 " 'T is no affair at all, " replied Franka testily. 
 
 Fraulein Albertine nodded assent: "You are 
 quite right, not to get any such idea into your head. 
 Men of such elevated rank seldom have honest in- 
 
 283
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 tentions certainly not with one of the ' emanci 
 pated' women." 
 
 "Well, I should have liked Franka to make such 
 a match, " said the great-aunt soothingly. " Morga 
 natic marriages are frequently contracted. But you 
 will never lack suitors, for you are pretty ; and such 
 little escapades as lecturing will be forgiven you, 
 especially as in the mean time you have managed to 
 retain your respectability. . . . But where is Rock- 
 haus?" 
 
 "Gone out for a walk." 
 
 "And you here alone? That is not correct. You 
 must be very circumspect. What I was going to 
 say apropos of your getting married . . . there is 
 a cousin of mine not Coriolan no longer as 
 young as he used to be, a widower, but of very high 
 nobility ; that would be worth while. Do you know, 
 with the Sielenburg estates you ought to marry 
 into the aristocracy, so that they would come into 
 the right hands again. You yourself could get an 
 assured position in society and lead a happy life. 
 Certainly, you could never feel lastingly contented 
 among all these Americans and Russians and vaga 
 bond people, and wandering round yourself with 
 them. ... I should wish my brother's grandchild 
 a pleasanter existence : I want to see her respectably 
 settled. . . . Did n't some one knock? It must be 
 Coriolan ; he promised to come round here and fetch 
 us. He has only to get the railway tickets for us, 
 ... I was right ... it is he. Come in, come right 
 in, Coriolan; Franka will be glad to see you." 
 
 Franka was, indeed, glad but chiefly because 
 284
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 these three inestimable relatives were going to be 
 take themselves away, and she firmly proposed to 
 break off once more the interrupted and patched-up 
 acquaintance. Behind Coriolan followed a servant, 
 who brought the customary great basket of violets. 
 
 "From His Royal Highness, Prince Victor 
 Adolph, " said he. 
 
 A vivid flush mounted to Franka's cheeks. She 
 indicated with her hand that the basket was to be 
 placed on the table. The servant obeyed and left 
 the room. 
 
 " Aha ! " exclaimed the Countess Adele saga 
 ciously. 
 
 "Ei, ei," commented Fraulein Albertine. 
 
 Coriolan felt that it was incumbent on him to say 
 something. "When a pretty woman sings or dances 
 or speaks on the stage, then they send her flowers 
 that 's the way it goes." 
 
 "Yes, it has no other significance," said Franka. 
 "Will you not sit down? And are you really going 
 to take the ladies away?" 
 
 "Indeed, I am, and with the greatest pleasure. 
 I am more homesick even than they are. Here one 
 gets the blues, or is driven wild with rage." 
 
 "But there are such interesting events still com 
 ing off, " remarked Franka. "An American inventor 
 is going to tell us of the most unheard-of things, 
 things that will quite revolutionize the future." 
 
 Coriolan shrugged his shoulders: "There are noth 
 ing but unheard-of things here. It would be much 
 better to teach people to go back to the past, to 
 cultivate their historical sense, than to be always 
 
 285
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 trying to stir up new rubbish. Is the man going to 
 speak to-day?" 
 
 "No, Chlodwig Helmer is to speak to-day." 
 
 "Well, that does not tempt me. On the Sielen- 
 burg he always preserved a discreet silence; only 
 once he broke out and what he said I don't re 
 member what it was turned my stomach. I re 
 gard him as a radical. " 
 
 "Eduard was very much attached to him," 
 spoke up the Countess Adele in defense of the for 
 mer secretary; " he would not have kept a radical 
 so long. . . . But, children, we must be going now. 
 It is lunch-time and there is still much to do about 
 packing." 
 
 She stood up. The others followed her example, 
 and they took their leave. It was not a painful 
 parting. Franka drew a breath of relief when the 
 door closed behind her relatives. But the door 
 opened again, and Fraulein Albertine came back 
 with a deep air of mystery. 
 
 "Franka," she whispered, "I have restrained 
 myself all the time we were here, because I did not 
 want to offend you; but I consider it my duty to 
 warn you it is for your best: do not eat too much, 
 and take much exercise, you are beginning to grow 
 stout! There, now I must hasten to overtake the 
 others. Adieu ! God bless you !" And she was off. 
 
 Franka had to smile: that was so like Albertine. 
 She cast a glance at herself in the pier-glass and 
 turned away not at all alarmed: there was no fault 
 to be found with the elegance of her figure. 
 
 Now she hastened to the table where the basket 
 286
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 of flowers was standing and detached the note that 
 she saw gleaming among the violets. What might 
 the prince one of the gondoliers of her dream 
 have written to her? Perhaps a declaration of love! 
 She hastily tore open the envelope which bore a 
 small royal coronet in gold. It was no declaration 
 of love, but only a formal apology for having been 
 absent the day before, which he explained " was due 
 to the passage in Berne of an exalted personage." 
 Franka was possibly a little disappointed but in 
 reality it was better so. The one, on whose strong 
 arm she leaned in her dream, was perhaps the other 
 gondolier.
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 CHLODWIG HELMER'S LECTURE: THE CONQUEST 
 OF THE AIR 
 
 ON the fourth day of the Rose-Week, the audi 
 torium was as usual filled to the last seat. At the 
 right, on the front of the platform, a kind of prosce 
 nium-box had been set up, designed for the special 
 guests who had signified their intention of being 
 present, the King of Italy and the President of 
 the French Republic. Besides these two chief exe 
 cutives, there were several other members of the 
 ruling families of Europe in the hall, but they were 
 mingled with the other auditors. On the stage, the 
 speaker's desk was placed in the center, but pushed 
 somewhat to the rear, and in the background sat 
 as usual Mr. Toker, his daughter, and a number of 
 his distinguished guests. Some of them, however, 
 had preferred to listen to the exercises from the body 
 of the house. 
 
 It was still ten minutes before the hour set for 
 the commencement, but the hall was already packed ; 
 only the King and the President had not as yet 
 appeared. Lively conversation buzzed through the 
 place. Persons who naturally belonged together sat 
 in little groups: thus, for example, the two wid 
 ows, Countess Solnikova and Frau Annette Felsen, 
 accompanied by several gentlemen, among them 
 
 288
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Marchese Rinotti and Baron de la Rochere, as if 
 they were in their own salon; the Countess Schol- 
 lendorf, Albertine, Coriolan, and Malhof formed a 
 little Austrian colony, to which the well-known 
 sportsman also joined himself. Franka Garlett with 
 her companion sat in the background of a small 
 box, just out of sight of the public. 
 
 Franka's excitement was great. She had never 
 heard Helmer speak in public it was practically 
 his first public address, and she trembled a little 
 for him. 
 
 The Sielenburgers had not taken their departure 
 after all. It had happened that the sleeping-coupe 1 
 tickets procured were meant for the following day 
 and consequently the involuntarily prolonged so 
 journ allowed them the opportunity of hearing 
 Helmer's address. The Countess Schollendorf was 
 gazing about through her opera-glass. Suddenly 
 she cried out with a startled expression: "For God's 
 sake, there in the third sofa in front is n't that 
 the Archduke . . . ?" 
 
 "Sh!" interrupted the sportsman. "Don't utter 
 the name aloud; it is certainly he, but he does not 
 want to be recognized." 
 
 "Still, perhaps we are mistaken," said the Count 
 ess; "our imperial family has not much taste for 
 such American extravagances." 
 
 " But really, it is the Archduke; I cannot be mis 
 taken, for he bought a horse of me once and closed 
 the bargain himself. Besides, he is said to be a very 
 enlightened prince." 
 
 Coriolan flared up: "What do you call 'enlight- 
 289
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 ened'? That is a suspicious word. . . . Thank God, 
 our court is nothing of the sort." 
 
 The countess had now directed her glass toward 
 the platform. "Franka is not sitting up there this 
 time . . . but that Helmer! Who would have 
 thought that I should have seen Eduard's secretary 
 in this way again ! It is said that he is going to give 
 an address. I am curious. " 
 
 "I am not," muttered the cousin. 
 
 "You are an unendurable man, Coriolan, " re 
 marked Albertine suavely. 
 
 "We need not be vexed, my worthy friends," 
 observed Baron Malhof at this moment, taking a 
 part in the conversation, after having vainly looked 
 round to find Franka. "One must never be vexed; 
 certainly not while on a pleasure journey. One 
 ought thankfully to get from it all the possible 
 satisfaction that may be offered. Domestic cares, 
 local prejudices, have been left far behind. One 
 drinks in all the delight of the 'now,' of the un 
 familiar, of the unusual. And especially here in this 
 festal hall, where such a brilliant company is as 
 sembled, where it smells so fragrant, I would 
 wager that the ventilator distributes atomized rose- 
 water, where sweet music is playing, where beau 
 tiful women are to be seen, and where one can 
 stare at two living rulers of great States, and where 
 there is to be great oratory in various tongues of 
 Babel about the 'lofty flights of human thought.' 
 ... If this is not a place of amusement, what is it, 
 I 'd like to know? Do you see, in my opinion life is 
 a storehouse, filled full of joyance and annoyance, 
 
 290
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 and all wisdom consists in getting out of that store 
 house all possible joy and avoiding everything that 
 can possibly annoy ..." 
 
 A stir went through the audience. The President 
 of the French Republic and the King of Italy had 
 entered their box. Mr. Toker had ushered them in, 
 and he remained for a few moments standing in the 
 back of the box in order, as could be plainly seen, 
 to give his illustrious guests some information about 
 his likewise illustrious house-guests; for his eyes, as 
 well as those of the two rulers, moved, during the 
 conversation, from one to another of the selected 
 circle filling the background of the platform. 
 
 Now Mr. Toker went back to his place and gave 
 the signal to begin. 
 
 For the introduction, a second performance was 
 given of the Rose-Quintette which on the first day 
 had afforded such enjoyment; again it exerted the 
 same charm and aroused the whole audience to the 
 utmost enthusiasm. The King from the land of music 
 set the example, and the applause throughout the 
 auditorium rose into a perfect storm. Vera's eyes 
 were filled with tears of delight. The Rose-Quintette 
 was a genuine affront to that ultra-modern school 
 of those who pose as scorners of melody; they did 
 not, indeed, hiss, but they exchanged significant 
 glances and bitterly ironical smiles. 
 
 After the applause had subsided, the great Ital 
 ian tragedienne came forth and recited Hero's la 
 ment over the body of Leander, a soul-stirring mon 
 ologue from the first work of a Roman poet as yet 
 comparatively unknown. It was a decidedly long 
 
 291
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 while after she had finished, before the applause 
 began: people were too deeply moved to express 
 their gratification instantly. Genuine tears trembled 
 on the eyelashes of the great artist, and in the audi 
 ence many cheeks were wet. Who has never stood 
 by the bier of one dearly beloved, and has not gazed 
 down into an abyss of grief so profound that the 
 heart is penetrated by the terror of eternity? 
 
 Now followed one of those ten-minute pauses 
 during which the auditorium changed into a salon. 
 Some of the guests left their places ; calls were paid ; 
 there was promenading up and down the lobbies. 
 The master of the house stepped into the box where 
 sat the two exalted rulers in order to explain to them 
 the meaning of the intermission ; they in turn went 
 out on the platform and allowed the various celeb 
 rities to be presented to them. The King greeted 
 the actress as an old acquaintance, shook hands 
 with her, and talked with her for some time. Then 
 he greeted his other fellow-countryman, the great 
 inventor, with equal heartiness. To be proud of 
 one's king and to feel for him a genuine affection, 
 is a widespread sentiment in monarchical countries ; 
 but there is also very frequently in royal personages 
 a feeling of pride and of gratitude for those who as 
 artists or otherwise wear the crown of glory of their 
 country, and this feeling might be called kings' 
 loyalty. For centuries monarchs have showed this 
 loyalty in the form of gratitude to the heads of the 
 great noble families, especially for the leaders of 
 armed forces on land and sea; but of late they have 
 begun to realize that the fame of a country is borne 
 
 292
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 over wider reaches of space and time by the names 
 of its intellectual great men than by the names of its 
 aristocrats and soldiers. 
 
 The ringing of a bell announced the resumption 
 of the exercises, and an expectant silence reigned 
 throughout the hall. John Toker and Chlodwig 
 Helmer stepped out to the speaker's desk. The 
 American began in English : 
 
 "Your Majesty! Mr. President! Ladies and 
 gentlemen! I have the pleasure of introducing to 
 you as the speaker of the evening I might almost 
 say the speaker of the week Herr Helmer, of 
 Vienna, the author of the poem ' Schwingen ' which 
 quickly became famous. Not that I have any de 
 sire to place his deserts higher than those of the 
 other illustrious members of the Rose Order but 
 because the theme which he is about to treat is 
 the fundamental theme on which our whole plan of 
 action is arranged: the conquest of the upper re 
 gions Herr Helmer, you have the floor." 
 
 And he stepped back to his place in the circle. 
 As he took his seat some one whispered to him: 
 "That was not very democratic of you, Mr. Toker, 
 when in your introduction you apostrophized the 
 two rulers with their titles!" 
 
 "Please do not confuse democracy with incivility, 
 as is so often done. It is exactly what they are 
 rulers. To every one his due." 
 
 The fault-finder remarked still further: "The two 
 rulers certainly do not understand German and they 
 will be mightily bored with Herr Helmer's address." 
 
 "But they do understand German, as I happen to 
 293
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 know. Besides, the French translation of the gist 
 of the address has been printed and is in their hands." 
 
 In the mean time Helmer had taken his place at 
 one side of the desk, letting his hand rest on it and 
 surveying the audience. First of all, he looked for 
 Franka. At last he caught sight of her in the corner 
 of her box. He gave her a mute greeting. At that 
 instant Prince Victor Adolph and General Orell 
 entered her box. Franka shook hands with them, 
 but put her finger to her lips, as a sign that they 
 must not speak; then she turned toward the plat 
 form. Her heart was beating wildly. She was as 
 deeply agitated as on the evening of her own debut. 
 Victor Adolph took his seat behind her. 
 
 Helmer made a slight inclination toward the two 
 rulers ; then turned to the audience : 
 
 "Fellow-men! The meaning of this address re 
 quires an explanation: I am conscious that I am 
 speaking not merely to the small assembly of promi 
 nent men and women in this place, but to the world 
 outside. I know that what I am about to say 
 whether well or ill will be repeated in type, on 
 human lips, on phonographs, in scientific reviews, 
 in popular assemblies, in the homes of workingmen, 
 in university halls, in all the nooks and corners of the 
 whole civilized world; that it is therefore rightfully 
 addressed to my fellow-men ; and what is more : the 
 object itself touches every one personally, no mat 
 ter to what rank or what land he may belong. 
 Fellow-men, this matter concerns you all alike. Tua 
 res agitur Humanity ! One of the greatest hours 
 of your destiny has struck!" 
 
 294
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Franka drew a breath of relief. The speaker's 
 voice rang out clear and full, and at the same time a 
 restrained fire could be felt under his words, spoken 
 so calmly and with such assurance. Verily, it was 
 the same fire as had inspired her, when he delivered 
 into her hands the shield and spear Hojo-to-ho 
 the cry of the Valkyrie! 
 
 She turned round to Victor Adolph, who must 
 have understood the mute question in her eyes 
 "He speaks well, does n't he"? for he nodded 
 affirmatively. 
 
 In a somewhat altered tone Helmer went on: 
 
 "'Alas! corporeal pinions do not so easily corre 
 spond to the pinions of the Intellect,' are the words 
 in Goethe's 'Faust.' . . . The opposite is true. Cor 
 poreal pinions we already have, but the spiritual 
 wings have not as yet been found to correspond. 
 Obedient to the will of man, the flying ship soars 
 a thousand metres into the air, but the will itself 
 remains in the depths. High and free, in beautiful 
 premeditated curves, the artfully constructed pin 
 ions drive through the pure ether, while far below, 
 enchained, remains the intellect groveling in the 
 dust. By a marvel of technique, the gates into a new 
 age have been boldly forced, but nobody seems to 
 perceive this. The marvel is now only a few years 
 old. During the first week or ten days, tumultuous 
 jubilation, universal astonishment: 'At last the 
 millennial dream comes true ! ' ' How vast is human 
 genius ! ' But after a short while everything goes on 
 as before. No trace of the new age. One further 
 means of locomotion, a new article of commerce, a 
 
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 fresh sport and opportunity for laying wagers, one 
 more childish toy, one weapon more, that is all ! 
 
 "All respect for so-called human genius, but as 
 far as concerns human imagination it displays 
 a pitiful feebleness. It ventures a few leaps into the 
 air a metre or two, like the first flying-machines 
 models as yet unprovided with motors ; but forth 
 with it sinks back again to the ground. A door into 
 the future forced open: whether from behind it, a 
 golden radiance is to stream, or gloomy clouds are 
 to threaten, people do not see they have no desire 
 to see. They shrug their shoulders, put on an air 
 of sound common sense, and deny all discussion of 
 future possibilities and revolutions. The matter is 
 left to specialists, and no one any longer takes any 
 interest in it, save as it may affect one's private 
 business or one's private satisfaction. 
 
 "Above all, the military authorities always take 
 possession of every new invention and it gets special 
 ized into merely technical limits. Any possibility 
 of its use other than for future wars is not taken 
 into consideration, and hence, the more universal 
 points of view, the indirect consequences, are put 
 aside and only the nearest-lying applications are 
 discussed. 
 
 "Shortly before the invention of dirigible airships 
 and flying-machines, armies employed captive bal 
 loons and balloons driven before the wind ; even then 
 there were aeronautic troops of course nothing more 
 natural than that these should be entrusted as suit 
 able experts with the introduction and maneuvering 
 of the new air- vehicles. This was regarded in military 
 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 circles as nothing revolutionary; it was simply a 
 small improvement which might be made useful in 
 connection with the existent system of tactics that 
 is to say, for instance, in reconnaissances. As a 
 weapon also, the thing might come into use, and 
 experiments were, indeed, made in this direction; 
 but that was relegated to the dim future and would 
 never attain any great effective significance, for its 
 certainty of aim was of the very slightest, its ra 
 dius of efficacy very limited, and by means of per 
 pendicular guns the attack might be easily warded 
 off : such was the style of appeasement with which 
 the suggestion of adding fleets of airships to the other 
 effective forces was set forth and any wider outlook 
 into the possibilities of the new acquisition was not 
 admitted by government circles. Whenever practi 
 cal necessity demanded such experiments in actual 
 warfare, why, then they might be made, but it was 
 useless to indulge in fanciful dreams of the future. 
 . . . And the specialists continued to occupy them 
 selves with present-day tasks, without abandoning 
 the old ways ; as to the future, let it take care of 
 itself. 
 
 "At bottom, indeed, it is not the business of vari 
 ous callings, making use of any new discovery, to 
 investigate it in all its aspects ; nay, this would even 
 be too much to expect from the inventors themselves. 
 Does the aviator understand very much about the 
 scope of his invention? Occasionally and exception 
 ally he does, of course but not because he is an 
 aviator. As such he is a technician or an acrobat. 
 Or, if he wants to make a show of ideal objects, he 
 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 may be a patriot, and offers his apparatus to the 
 ministry of war. He has no inkling of the fact that 
 he has opened the way into a new epoch in which 
 new conditions of life are to produce a new humanity. 
 
 "What these new conditions of life may be, many, 
 indeed, of our clear-sighted contemporaries have 
 already recognized, but it has not as yet penetrated 
 into the common consciousness. On this subject 
 I should like to say something to my fellow-men 
 from the far-echoing tribune on which I stand, and 
 especially to tell them about the mighty alternative 
 that has so suddenly been brought before our race." 
 
 Chlodwig paused. He seemed to be collecting his 
 thoughts for a moment or two. This interval the 
 public utilized for observations and the exchange 
 of views. 
 
 Coriolan muttered: "Some such rubbish as that 
 about flying I remember he put forth when he was 
 at the Sielenburg." 
 
 Countess Adele came to the speaker's defense: 
 "He talks right fluently." 
 
 " I am curious, indeed," said Prince Victor Adolph 
 to Franka. "Have you any idea what he is aiming 
 at?" 
 
 "Certainly, I know Herr Helmer'slineof thought. 
 He has been my instructor." 
 
 "Your instructor? . . . You have a high opinion 
 of him?" 
 
 "Indeed I have." 
 
 The group to which the two Russian widows 
 belonged had not been listening very attentively. 
 Annette Felsen and Minister Rinotti were sitting 
 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 close together and a scarf falling from Annette's 
 shoulder had arranged itself so conveniently that 
 under its protection their hands could touch. Per 
 haps this electric contact was too powerful to allow 
 any other to connect the speaker and these two. 
 M. de la Rochere understood not a word of German, 
 and so any criticism that he might be moved to utter 
 concerned only externalities ; but it was a favorable 
 criticism : 
 
 "The man has a fine voice and such intelligent 
 hands! Have you noticed how he pressed the ends 
 of his fingers on the top of the table, as firmly 
 and vibratingly as if he were table-tipping, while 
 with his other hand he made such eloquent and grace 
 fully sweeping gestures that one might actually fol 
 low the drift of his discourse: he was evidently 
 speaking of the air in which he drew curves as ele 
 gant as those of Latham or Bleriot." 
 
 Helmer now proceeded with his address : 
 "The making of fire by artificial means and the 
 invention of speech were the first stages in our pro 
 gress from animal to man. Articulate man belongs, 
 at all events, to another species than did his dumb 
 ancestor. What kind of a species flying man is to 
 represent, only the scientists of the coming centu 
 ries will be able to decide. To-day I would merely 
 call your attention to the conditions of social life, 
 in which we can, even now, predict a change. There 
 is, for example, the whole protective system of so 
 ciety, which might be designated as the 'lateral 
 system/ for walls, hedges, gratings, shut us off 
 on the sides, but this now has lost its advantage. 
 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Only the places that are covered with a roof are 
 entirely protected, yet we cannot build roofs over all 
 gardens and all stretches of land. There are no more 
 islands either, if by that term we designate a terri 
 tory isolated by its coast-defenses and by its fleet. 
 Since the day when Bleriot sailed over the British 
 Channel, Great Britain ceased to be an island. Like 
 the concept 'island,' by means of aviation will also 
 disappear the custom-house of the frontier . . . aye, 
 the frontiers themselves. 
 
 " Let us pause for a moment and consider that 
 totality of things which bears the name of war: 
 What modification will be likely to ensue in this 
 domain by these new acquisitions? The militarists 
 are quickly ready with their answer: 'War will 
 simply be carried on simultaneously in the air.' 
 But the business is not so simple as on the earth 
 and on the water. All the methods of war, we might 
 say, all the rules of the game, are based on the 
 following hypothesis: the two opponents go forth 
 against each other to the borders, try to cross them, 
 try especially to prevent the enemy from crossing 
 them; try to win and to command positions; to 
 march, if possible, against the capital, and if they 
 succeed, then they dictate terms of peace. In order 
 to make this game more difficult, obstacles are erected 
 in time of peace, forts are built along the borders 
 and the soil is undermined; the farther one pene 
 trates into the country, more and more fortifications 
 are found, which must be captured one after the 
 other by the invading army; and, moreover, every 
 village, every farmstead where the belligerents might 
 
 300
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 meet, is made into a stronghold. The game can be 
 supported by sea, when the fleets approach the coast, 
 which must be made more difficult to reach by means 
 of fortifications and submarine mines. 
 
 "And now comes the third military arm that 
 of aviation. For this, the crossing of boundaries is 
 child's play. Fortifications would no longer be im 
 pediments; not merely that they could be blown 
 up by a couple of pyroxin bombs ; they would be 
 simply a negligible quantity. These artificial con 
 structions, with their trenches and walls and case 
 ments, have also ceased to be defenses, just as the 
 islands have ceased to be islands. Headquarters, 
 hitherto the safest places, most protected by dis 
 tance, places where the maps of the country used to 
 be studied, and serving as the center from which 
 the troops were directed, are now the most exposed ; 
 for an enemy's flyer would make it his chief object 
 to fling his explosives down on that particular spot. 
 All the most modern methods of fighting, the con 
 cealment behind high-piled earthworks, are hence 
 forth without object; the approach of great army 
 corps offers these air-skirmishers the most favorable 
 circle of trajectory to be imagined but who will 
 there be to endure this consciousness in addition to 
 all the other hardships of the march? Still more 
 vulnerable to attack from above would be every 
 munition-train. 
 
 "The cavalry, which in modern warfare is em 
 ployed only for recognizances, has become a mere 
 article of luxury through the dirigible balloon, the 
 usefulness of which in the task of spying out the 
 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 country has been from the very beginning appreciated 
 as its most brilliant service ; but the cavalry, when the 
 regiments ride in close order, would offer a fine mark 
 for the troops of the air. But while all the attempts 
 would be made on the ground with the object of pen 
 etrating the hostile country, the aerial troops of both 
 armies would already have flown over both capital 
 cities and would be turning them into smoking heaps 
 of ruins. Likewise, a dirigible could in the dead of 
 night glide over the fleet of twenty-five-thousand- 
 ton ships arrayed in battle order, and annihilate it. 
 High in boundless, unobstructed space there is no 
 definite theater of war, no commanding position; 
 consequently the decision of the campaign cannot be 
 transferred into the air. Aerial machines of murder 
 will not march up side by side in line, but each single 
 one will work from up above downward ; up above, 
 there is nothing to conquer and nothing to annihilate. 
 
 "If now, under these newly created conditions, 
 nations go forth to fight each other as before, it will 
 be just as if two chessplayers should sit down at the 
 board and should say: 'We will allow the old rules 
 to prevail; the pawn shall be just as valueless; the 
 Knight shall make his jumps ; Rook and Queen shall 
 preserve their great power; the King shall have the 
 privilege of "castling"; but we will add a new rule: 
 either of us may throw something on the board 
 from above and upset all the chessmen!' A beau 
 tiful game that would be which would fail to 
 please the chessplayers!" 
 
 He then added, as if in a parenthesis: "The chess 
 men fail to be pleased anyhow." 
 
 302
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Some sounds of dissatisfaction were heard in the 
 auditorium. The military men present were express 
 ing their disagreement. "If only civilians would 
 not talk about things of which they have n't the 
 faintest notion," remarked a retired colonel to his 
 neighbor. 
 
 General Orell had demurred the most indignantly: 
 "All nonsense!" 
 
 "I don't find it so," replied Victor Adolph. 
 
 But no great time was allowed for exchanging 
 opinions, for Helmer now proceeded : 
 
 "The opponents of war and such I find to-day 
 even in the most influential social positions " he 
 bowed toward the royal box "the opponents of 
 war might congratulate themselves that such a war- 
 destroying element has entered into the very appa 
 ratus of war; but the chances are that the experi 
 ment would bring about a catastrophe involving not 
 the destruction of war, but rather the destruction of 
 civilization. 
 
 " In a book, which is the work of a prophet and of 
 a forewarner, H. G. Wells, whose powerful imagina 
 tion never leaves the solid ground of logic, there is 
 a description of what must become of the present 
 world if once the rain of fire should pour down upon 
 it from out the clouds. Aye, ' the conquest of the air ' 
 we have little cause for rejoicing over it con 
 ceals the most awful perils. 
 
 "And one thing more: What will henceforth be 
 the sense of the term 'sentinel'? Hitherto, those 
 that were threatened could feel a certain degree of 
 security, by surrounding themselves with a body- 
 
 303
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 guard; by keeping all the doors and entrances to 
 their palaces and gardens closely watched, night 
 and day; by stationing armed hedges on the right 
 and left, when they went out into the streets; or, 
 if they traveled, by protecting the railway track 
 through its whole length by lanes of soldiers and 
 police ; but what will all this avail against assassina 
 tion from above? 
 
 "And altogether: the execution of every act of 
 hatred or revenge will be greatly facilitated and its 
 discovery made more difficult; no police stations 
 can be erected in the upper air, no police dogs could 
 follow the trail; what yesterday was called 'flight' 
 
 then a very difficult and dangerous undertaking 
 
 can to-day be taken as a pleasure trip ! 
 
 "How could one find any traces in the heights 
 above? The aeronautic Sherlock Holmes will offer 
 a new and as yet unexploited subject for detective 
 stories. A winged gendarmerie will first have to be 
 organized ; but a great obstacle stands in the way of 
 patrolling space: not only is there the stretch from 
 north to south and from east to west, but also 
 zenithward. The desired point will no longer be 
 crossed only by two lines, but by three. All this 
 must be faced. If really man is a wolf to his fellow- 
 man and is bound to remain so, then our enemy, the 
 wolf, by means of our new achievements has got a 
 new and tremendous accretion of strength." 
 
 Helmer made a brief pause. A slight feeling of 
 uneasiness had taken possession of his audience. . . . 
 What the man was predicting did not seem so rosy ! 
 But Helmer passed his hand over his forehead, as 
 
 304
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 if he would drive away a swarm of annoying visions, 
 and then he went on in a louder voice : 
 
 "I do not stand here as a prophet of misfortune. 
 I see the evil, but I also see the cure for it. If new 
 conditions of life are brought forward, if the world 
 around us undergoes changes, then our mode of life 
 must be made to conform to them ; for what does not 
 conform goes to destruction. Nature herself accom 
 plishes this process of adaptation by dooming to de 
 struction those who are incapable of conforming. At 
 the present stage of human development, however, 
 we do not need to leave this process to Nature 
 alone: we have reason, we have knowledge, and we 
 have experience: we ourselves can take the work of 
 transformation into our own hands! Nature works 
 slowly and works relentlessly; we can hasten her 
 work, and we can avoid those harsh and pitiless 
 means which Nature employs to bend us under the 
 law of adaptation. So now, w r e are capable of recog 
 nizing the new conditions, the new needs, that grow 
 out of the human conquest of the air. We can esti 
 mate what of the old contrivances, of the old forms 
 of thinking, cannot be brought over to the new 
 dawning epoch ; we can mentally construct the con 
 ditions and principles which might prevail in the 
 altered circumstances; we can strive and we can 
 bring it about, that the necessary conformation 
 shall take place without its involving the method of 
 Nature 'The destruction of whatever resists.' 
 
 "And the formula of the needed action is provided 
 for us by the new acquisition itself: We are already 
 able physically to soar up into the heights we must 
 
 305
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 do the same thing morally. We must learn to hold 
 dominion over the realm of High Thinking. 
 
 "For thousands of years mankind has been dream 
 ing of the possibility of learning to fly. It has so 
 often tried in vain that at last it came to the con 
 clusion that it was impossible. And yet it has been 
 proved to be possible. 
 
 " In the same way, and almost even more timidly, 
 mankind has behaved toward those dreams which 
 attributed to human souls the capacity of applying to 
 the intercourse of nations the moral injunctions that 
 have been laid down as law for the behavior of indi 
 viduals, and of renouncing violence in all its forms. 
 This has been called Utopia. . . . ' Man is essentially 
 a wild beast ' they say : ' only by force can he be 
 tamed, only by force can he be held under restraint, 
 and force has always conducted the fate of nations.' 
 Well, now, the most Utopian of all Utopian possi 
 bilities flying has become a reality. Technical 
 art has won this victory. And must the spirit alone 
 remain forever enchained in the wallowing depths 
 of hatred and brutality? Certainly not! 
 
 "Just as soon as human genius shall put forth 
 the same determination, the same assurance, as it 
 has put forth in technical work, for the attainment 
 of moral ideals, it will be likewise victorious. All the 
 technical inventions have had the one end and aim 
 of making life more beautiful, more enjoyable, easier, 
 in a word, of distributing happiness. But what 
 genuine happiness is possible if all intellectual ac 
 tivities are ever maintained for the purpose of ren 
 dering life more unendurable and of destroying it? 
 
 306
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 With his physical capacities, man must grow psy 
 chically, else will he become more and more dan 
 gerous and wretched instead of growing greater and 
 happier. Now that he has subdued steam and elec 
 tricity and radium and the Hertzian waves, in order 
 to make existence more comfortable for him, the 
 time has come that he should, with equal confidence 
 and equally firm resolution, try to make serviceable 
 those other forces which also are inherent in the 
 world, good will, love, reason, and which alone 
 are fit to endow life with beauty and value." 
 
 A murmur of approbation stirred through the 
 hall. Helmer advanced a step toward the front of 
 the platform and stretched out both his hands : 
 
 "Aye, Good Will! I have uttered there the holiest 
 concept in the universe. For the upward flights of 
 the soul, this is the only motor-power 'Good Will ' ! 
 If aeronautics and aviation had not discovered the 
 lightest possible motor, they would still have been 
 Utopias. And all endeavors to solve social problems, 
 to bring security and comfort to human society, all 
 attempts to rouse men's souls into higher spheres, 
 have necessarily failed, for the precise reason that 
 Good Will, Goodness called weakness by the nar 
 row-minded has not been made the moving power 
 for the conduct of social and political life. Of course, 
 there are still other splendid qualities, and these are 
 universally upheld as the basis of character and as 
 the motives of noble behavior: courage, determina 
 tion, intellect, enthusiasm, strength. But there is 
 only one criterion for their inward value and outward 
 valuation they are worthy and blessed only when 
 
 307
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 they are used in the service of Good Will. The quali 
 ties I have named strengthen our activity they 
 do not ennoble it. There is courage shown in wicked 
 ness, determination in cruelty, intellect in malignity, 
 enthusiasm in hatred, and strength in arbitrariness. 
 And in fact, these elicit our admiration, because in 
 the brilliancy of the qualification the abomination 
 of the subject is forgotten. 
 
 "I repeat, I am not standing here as a prophet 
 of misfortune; but neither do I stand here as a 
 preacher of virtue. The need is not to educate to 
 goodness, to create and awaken feelings of benevo 
 lence ; only the goodness which is alive among us men 
 needs to be put into action. There is a field, a vast 
 field embracing almost all social relations, and at 
 its very entrance stands this placard of warning: 
 'Goodness and Benevolence are forbidden entrance 
 to this field' the name of which is: ' Politics.' 
 
 "This placard, put up by folly and stupidity, 
 must be torn down. There must be room even on 
 this, especially on this, field for humanity's Highest 
 Thinking. 
 
 "Some two thousand years ago a great, good, 
 wise spirit put into words a similar High Thought : 
 'Love one another.' But in vain. And some thou 
 sands of years ago an Icarus had attempted to fly 
 up to the sun but in vain. And yet to-day we 
 can fly. And likewise that other lofty realm is to be 
 won in which not our bodies but our souls are to 
 soar! 
 
 "Woe to us if we delay much longer to make 
 ready for this new conquest. Persecution, slavery, 
 
 308
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 and destruction must no longer be regarded as legiti 
 mate means for the attainment of social and politi 
 cal ends. For the possibilities of annihilation have 
 grown to be too powerful. There is no other way of 
 self-protection against the flying man than by mak 
 ing him a brother. We are now at the parting of the 
 ways ; we must go up higher up to the highest 
 heights with intellect and heart sursum corda 
 or we shall sink into nameless abysses. We must 
 make clear to ourselves whither lead the two paths 
 that lie open before us for the choice is ours." 
 
 Here again Helmer made a brief pause; then he 
 stepped to the very edge of the platform : 
 
 "Now one further word about thoughts that 
 soar. . . . The evil does not consist in the fact that 
 men are incapable of cherishing High Thoughts, but 
 in this: that they have a low opinion of man. 
 Their so-called Worldly Wisdom culminates in their 
 declaring with a scornful face that it is impossible 
 to set up noble and elevated ideals as acting rules 
 for life. He who scents out low and selfish motives 
 back of every really noble word and deed believes 
 that he is wise and keen, that his mind is peculiarly 
 shrewd. Such men are always trying to see through 
 things they have not learned to look up. Con 
 fidence in the good awakens the good. The masses 
 will follow up to that height to which a real leader 
 will venture to lead them ; they will never go farther 
 than the leader thinks them capable of going. We 
 have arrived at an epoch when, in spite of the law of 
 gravity, the body can soar to unknown heights. It 
 is beyond the power of the imagination to foresee 
 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 to what spiritual heights we and our children may 
 attain, when once, with resolution and earnestness, 
 with confidence and enthusiasm, we endeavor to 
 bring about the conquest of High Thinking. The 
 great philosopher who was filled with equal awe be 
 fore the splendor of the starry heavens and before 
 the Categorical Imperative of his own conscience, 
 Immanuel Kant, anticipated the motto of this Rose- 
 Week when he said and with this quotation I 
 bring my address to a close: 'Men cannot think 
 highly enough of man.'"
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 A COZY SUPPER 
 
 FRANKA drew a deep breath. She had listened with 
 the deepest interest to every word spoken by Hel- 
 mer, and now, when he had concluded, she turned 
 around for the first time and became again aware 
 of the prince's presence. 
 
 "Well, what do you say, Your Highness?" 
 
 Victor Adolph had risen to his feet. His features 
 expressed inward emotion. "The man stirred me. 
 Did you listen, Orell?" 
 
 The general respectfully answered: "At your serv 
 ice, Your Royal Highness." 
 
 "Truly, did you follow it all?" 
 
 The question was put in a very skeptical tone. 
 
 "Not all. Much was too nebulous. Man'savision- 
 ary a dreamer ... no ground under his feet." 
 
 "Well, yes," remarked Victor Adolph, smiling; 
 "in this epoch of aviation, this thing 'the ground 
 under the feet,' seems to lose its importance." 
 
 Several of Toker's guests at this juncture entered 
 Franka's box. . . . The prince took his departure: 
 " I want to look up the speaker. I must shake hands 
 with him." 
 
 Helmer had in the mean time been conducted by 
 Toker into the royal loge. Not without emotion did 
 he make his bow before the two powerful rulers. If 
 by any chance his message had worked upon their
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 wills, this might turn into action pregnant with 
 results. Power is no illusion. A democratic spirit 
 may regret that any one person should exercise it 
 and may desire to change the fact, but no democrat 
 need be blind to the importance of this fact as long 
 as it exists. Abundant opportunities for doing things 
 are placed in the hands of rulers, even when they 
 are no longer autocrats, so that they might easily 
 shorten the distance that separates idea and accom 
 plishment. 
 
 Naturally, Helmer had no expectation that the 
 King and the President would say to him: "Dear 
 Sir, what you have said to-day will give the direc 
 tion to our future activities." But at all events, 
 they had listened to him and listened with sufficient 
 interest to express the desire now to talk with him. 
 Who could tell if this might not expedite the fulfill 
 ment of what he had wanted to suggest to his audi 
 tors? 
 
 The trivial ceremony of the presentation, of the 
 friendly hand-shaking, the rather unmeaning ques 
 tions and answers, went off in the conventional 
 manner; yet Helmer did not prize the opportunity 
 any the less: the seed of his work might have fallen 
 on fruitful soil. After three minutes the whole af 
 fair was at an end and Helmer was stepping down 
 into the hall. He intended to seek out Franka whose 
 presence attracted him, but he was instantly sur 
 rounded by a crowd of people congratulating him 
 on his discourse or asking him what he meant by 
 this or that passage in it. 
 
 A gentleman approached him and introduced 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 himself: "My name is Henri Juillot," said he in 
 French; "I am an engineer and I built a dirigible 
 airship myself." 
 
 '"La Patrie'?" asked Helmer, interested. He 
 had heard of the triumphant flight of this military 
 airship and also of the accident which had happened 
 to it later. 
 
 " You know about it?" exclaimed the Frenchman. 
 "Then you also know the unfortunate 'Patrie' was 
 driven out of its course by a storm and was never 
 seen again." 
 
 "Yes, I know; Count Zeppelin did not have much 
 better luck at Echterdingen. But I hardly think, 
 M. Juillot, that you will be very well satisfied with my 
 conclusions. You designated your dirigible for war, 
 and I protested most urgently against the exploita 
 tion of the splendid invention for such a purpose." 
 
 "I believe that our views are not so very diver 
 gent," replied the Frenchman. "My opinion is: the 
 airship is going to give the death-blow to war." 
 
 "And you say this? You, who worked in the serv 
 ice of the ministry of war?" 
 
 "Why not? Activity in a given calling does not 
 necessarily shut out the view of the intellectual 
 horizon, does it?" 
 
 "It ought not to do so yet it generally does." 
 
 The engineer stood up. "I will not detain you 
 longer now, and indeed here comes some one looking 
 for you." 
 
 Helmer seized his hand, and shook it heartily. 
 " I thank you for your words, M. Juillot. I hope we 
 shall meet again." 
 
 313
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "Ah, at last you are discovered. I was looking 
 for you as for a needle in a haystack ! " It was Prince 
 Victor Adolph who came up to him. 
 
 Helmer bowed. 
 
 " I felt I must speak to you," continued the prince. 
 "I wanted to tell you how deeply your address 
 stirred me. A light seemed to rise before me, and I 
 cannot tell you in merely a couple of words what 
 I see in this light." 
 
 Helmer expressed his thanks for these friendly 
 words of recognition. He, indeed, cherished a high 
 opinion 'of the prince, and therefore his praise gave 
 him a real pleasure. And yet he was overmastered 
 by a gnawing bitterness as he stood facing the hand 
 some, manly, young prince. No self-deception availed 
 any more; he was obliged to confess: the horrible 
 tormenting passion so allied to envy jealousy 
 began to poison his mind. How he had thought him 
 self superior to such a feeling ... he had even en 
 couraged Franka to bestow her love on this splendid 
 young man, and had taken pleasure in his own magna 
 nimity . . . and now this evil passion had him in its 
 clutches! There was only one cure for it: absence! 
 The week at Lucerne was nearing its end and then 
 their ways would diverge his and Franka 's. Be 
 sides, he had his great solace : art, labor. For some 
 time the idea of a new drama had been gradually 
 dawning in his mind, So, as soon as he should be 
 back, he would immediately gird himself to the task 
 of writing it. As if in line with this idea, the prince 
 now asked : 
 
 " Have you conceived the idea of writing any 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 new poem. It will be difficult for you to surpass 
 ' Schwingen' ! " 
 
 " I am going to write a drama, Your Royal High 
 ness. I have the notion that one can speak in that 
 way more directly, more persuasively to one's con 
 temporaries than in an epic." 
 
 "Scarcely more persuasively than you spoke 
 to-day. I thank you once more for the vistas which 
 you opened up before me. Auf wiedersehen, Herr 
 Helmer!" He shook Helmer's hand and left him. 
 
 A minute later Helmer found Franka. She hastened 
 up to him. 
 
 "Ah, Brother Chlodwig, at last," she cried. 
 
 "7 say 'at last.' I had such a longing to see you. 
 You must tell me ..." 
 
 "Oh, I have ever so much to say to you," she in 
 terrupted. " It almost seems like that evening when 
 I talked with you the first time do you remem 
 ber? Or that other evening when you outlined the 
 plan for my career. Let us do as we did then. . . . 
 We will have supper, we three . . . and talk, talk. 
 ... If we have supper now with the whole Rose 
 Order, we cannot say half what we have to say. 
 Do you consent?" 
 
 "Do I! That will be splendid!" 
 
 "Very good, then. So Eleonore and I will go up 
 to our apartment and get the festive supper ready. 
 Follow us in a quarter of an hour." 
 
 When Helmer rejoined the ladies, the table was 
 already set. Plates with all kinds of cold meat, 
 patties, lobsters, chicken, strawberries and sweets, 
 were arrayed on it, and at one side in a silver bucket 
 
 315
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 a bottle of champagne. Moreover, on a small table, 
 drawn close, and presided over by Frau Eleonore, a 
 singing tea-kettle. 
 
 Franka, who had changed her evening gown for 
 a soft white kimono, came forward to meet her 
 guest with outstretched hand: "Welcome, Brother 
 Chlodwig ! Now we will enjoy a pleasant cozy hour. 
 After all the great and overpowering things that 
 surround one here, one really yearns for something 
 domestic, calm, and comfortable." 
 
 Chlodwig kissed her hand: "You make me happy, 
 Franka. You could not have put a prettier crown 
 on this day than this kind of invitation. And I mean 
 to do honor to all these appetizing things the fact 
 is that, in the anxiety of preparing my address, I 
 have scarcely eaten anything all day, and I am as 
 hungry as a bear." 
 
 "I am glad of that. So let us sit down. Let the 
 feast begin!" 
 
 "Even the stage-setting is festive," remarked 
 Helmer. "I never saw your rooms lighted in the 
 evening before. . . . This subdued rose-light is magi 
 cal in its effect." 
 
 "Oh," sighed Franka, "it is impossible here to 
 escape from the magical. Don't you find also that 
 it brings with it some homesickness for the simple 
 and commonplace? . . . Please, take a bit of this 
 patty." 
 
 Helmer helped himself. "Yes, there seems to be 
 a sort of pendulum law in our wishes." 
 
 "Then, what would be the equilibrium? To be 
 without a wish? But let us not philosophize let
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 us chat. We should have so much serious talk that 
 I would rather not begin. Your address I have 
 not as yet said a word about it to you, let me shake 
 hands with you ... it was fine! That address with 
 its wide outlook, it would lead to such deeply 
 serious discussion on a hundred abstract things!" 
 
 "Then we will not talk about it," assented 
 Helmer. 
 
 "But please fill the glasses," Franka held out 
 her champagne-cup. "If we are not going to talk 
 about your lecture, let us drink to the hope that 
 what you suggested to our fellow-men may be ful 
 filled." 
 
 They touched glasses. 
 
 "May also what your teaching promises be ful 
 filled, Franka Garlett, " said Helmer; "will you not 
 join us, Frau von Rockhaus . . . may I fill your 
 glass?" 
 
 Frau Eleonore shook her head: "Thank you, I 
 only drink tea . . . and to tell you frankly, these 
 toasts are too vague. Let our contemporaries and 
 those who come after us look after their own good. 
 Won't you folks also think a little about yourselves? 
 I am ready to drain my cup of tea to the nail-test 
 if the toast shall be: 'Three cheers to Franka,' or 
 ' Three cheers to Helmer, ' or even a cheer or two 
 to Eleonore. . . . And please understand, the fate of 
 the last-named lady affects me more than that of 
 unborn generations!" 
 
 "Good!" cried Franka; "agreed. Health to the 
 three of us! a ninefold cheer!" 
 
 The glasses clinked. Then Franka leaned her 
 317
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 head back on the cushion of the easy-chair and, 
 smiling, closed her eyes. "At this moment I do 
 have an attack of selfishness. ... I feel all thrilled 
 with a longing for . . . for ..." 
 
 "Happiness?" suggested Helmer. 
 
 "That expresses too much. Only a deep, heart- 
 filling joy. But not a lonely joy ... I want your 
 company, dear friends." So saying, she stretched 
 out her hands to left and right, and laid them on the 
 arms of her two table companions. 
 
 Helmer felt this touch like an electric shock. 
 What filled his heart was not an unquestioning, 
 unwishing joy; rather it was a dream-happiness 
 which flashed through him like lightning. But what 
 this flash of lightning revealed was a burning sand 
 waste of hopeless yearning. More clearly than the 
 impulse of jealousy which he had recently experi 
 enced, this instantaneous burst of glowing tender 
 ness showed him that he loved, as passionately as 
 man ever loved. It was fortunate that the com 
 panion's presence checked his impulse, for he was 
 strongly tempted to fling himself at Franka's feet 
 and confess to her what made him so deeply un 
 happy. But he controlled himself. Franka must 
 not be aware of the tempest that raged in his soul. 
 He would not spoil the calm joy to which she had 
 referred ; yet he could not help knowing the source 
 of this joy could it be that on the very day she 
 had made up her mind as to her future? Had the 
 prince declared himself? But if that was the case, 
 why was he not sitting by her side instead of Brother 
 Chlodwig? Well, possibly she had not considered
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 that proper. She had only invited the harmless 
 "Brother" in order to confide in him her joy, in 
 order that he might be let into the secret of the 
 change of her destiny, he who had hitherto exerted 
 such a powerful influence on her life, he who had 
 been the guide in her vocation, the master builder 
 of her fame. These thoughts had not occupied ten 
 seconds. He took her hand which still lay on his 
 arm and held it firmly with a tender pressure. 
 
 "Tell me the ground of your joy, dearest Franka 
 ... let us speak of your future. " 
 
 Franka had not changed her position. Her eyes 
 were still closed, her head leaning back: "No, no, 
 nothing of the future now. I wanted to anchor my 
 joyous feeling in the present, that only safe anchor 
 age . . . But I am willing" she sat erect and with 
 drew her hand "I am willing ... let us talk of 
 my future plans. I decided day before yesterday 
 to withdraw from publicity. That address is to be 
 my last. " 
 
 "Is that his wish?" 
 
 "Whose wish? . . . Oh, I see what you mean. 
 . . . You are mistaken. If what you imagine had 
 come about, then, of course, the lecture trips would 
 have had to cease, but it has not come about. " 
 
 "It will," interrupted Frau Eleonore, "if you 
 mean by this mysterious reference the threatened 
 proposal of the violet prince." 
 
 "Even in that case it is a question how I should 
 deal with it," retorted Franka. 
 
 A stone fell from Chlodwig's heart. . . . Now he, 
 too, felt flooded with the joy of the present. 
 
 319
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "My decision," pursued Franka, "is quite in 
 dependent of these eventualities. It takes its rise 
 from entirely new views, intuitions, and wishes which 
 have come to me here during this wonderful week. " 
 
 "And you are going to give up your activity?" 
 
 "Traveling and public speaking, yes. I see be 
 fore me other possibilities of work. And, besides, 
 did you not advise pretty much the same thing 
 after my last address?" 
 
 "Did I?" 
 
 "Yes, and you were right. ... I feel it." 
 
 "What are you going to do, then, Franka? What 
 are your plans your plan independent of the case 
 'Victor Adolph'?" 
 
 "I am going to ... but it is not so entirely clear 
 tome ..." 
 
 "So, then the case 'Victor Adolph' is not alto 
 gether out of question!" 
 
 Franka laughed: "How persistent you are. You 
 seem very anxious for me to have that chance. You 
 were the first to call my attention to it. Moreover, 
 I can imagine how eagerly you must think of this 
 affair and desire it. Don't you? You mean that if 
 I should win power over the heart and actions of 
 one of the great ones of the earth, I might then 
 exert an influence, might be useful to my to our 
 ideals?" 
 
 " I might believe that but wish it?" He shook 
 his head. "Oh, let 's not talk about that possibility 
 it is much nicer not to do so." 
 
 "Let us talk about yourself, then. You are cer 
 tainly no 'case,' but the theme interests me." 
 
 320
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "It interests me, too, especially if you treat 
 it." 
 
 "Do you know, I have made the acquaintance of 
 an entirely new Helmer to-day. . . . Through your 
 address ... I followed it all all its political and 
 social and high-thinking parts, but one thing espe 
 cially impressed me: You are a good man. " 
 
 "That compliment does not always sound flatter- 
 ing." 
 
 "Oh, but you must have recognized from my tone 
 how I mean it. Moreover, the way in which you 
 spoke about Good Will, about Goodness, the rank 
 that you assigned to that quality as a motor power 
 for all spiritual elevation, you see, I understood 
 you, proves to me that you would prize no com 
 pliment higher than this. Or would you have pre 
 ferred that I had said 'a clever man'? Applied 
 to a world-renowned poet that would have been 
 tautology. And that term carries no warmth with 
 it. When you say to any one, 'You are good, ' that 
 is equivalent to saying, ' I thank you. ' It is as if 
 you would cradle your head on his heart and say, 
 ' Oh, here here is safety. ' ' 
 
 "Franka!" 
 
 Both were silent for a while, looking into each 
 other's eyes. What is that substance called which 
 often goes bombarding back and forth between the 
 steady eyes of a man and of a woman? It has 
 not as yet found its Madame Curie. 
 
 Frau von Rockhaus broke the spell by asking 
 Helmer what the two rulers had conversed with 
 him about. He informed her. And now the conver- 
 
 321
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 sation turned for a while on the events of the even 
 ing. He also told them about his meeting with the 
 engineer Juillot. Franka on her part gave an amus 
 ing description of her aunt's last call. Now gayly, 
 now seriously, the talk went from one subject to 
 another and the time flew. Franka sprang up as 
 the clock struck twelve. 
 
 "Midnight already! Now we must say good 
 night." 
 
 Helmer had also risen to his feet. "Forgive me 
 for staying so ontrageously long ... but it has been 
 so lovely!" 
 
 "Yes, it has been lovely," assented Franka. 
 
 Words of thanks and of farewell followed. Still 
 talking, Franka took a few steps by Helmer's side 
 toward the door. Then suddenly she stepped on 
 something soft, that lay on the floor a little piece 
 of orange-peel and slipped. She would have 
 fallen, had not Helmer caught her with his strong 
 arm. Then only Franka uttered a little cry. 
 
 "Did you hurt yourself?" 
 
 "No, no; it was nothing. " And she released her 
 self. "Adieu." 
 
 After Helmer had again shaken hands with the 
 two ladies and departed, Franka remained standing 
 for some little time on the spot, lost in dreams. 
 
 "Well, what is it? What are you thinking about?" 
 asked Frau Rockhaus. 
 
 Franka shook her head and made no answer. 
 She was thinking of the bar of the blind.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 SUNDRY CONVERSATIONS 
 
 THE next afternoon many scattered groups were 
 sitting again in the hall of the Grand Hotel, and in 
 the majority of them the conversation turned on 
 Chlodwig Helmer's address. Translations of it into 
 French, English, and Italian were lying about on 
 the tables. Some of the hotel guests held in their 
 hands Helmer's book "Schwingen." The works of 
 all the authors present in the Toker palace were 
 not only to be found in the Lucerne bookshops, but 
 were for sale also in the various hotels. Many 
 visitors who had heard the poet's address, the day 
 before, had now got the work that had made his 
 name famous and were eagerly turning its pages. 
 
 In one corner sat Bruning, Malhof, and Regen- 
 burg chatting over their wine and cigars. They 
 were discussing their fellow-countryman, Helmer. 
 
 "He was a schoolmate of mine," Bruning was 
 saying. "Not at all a remarkable scholar: weak in 
 mathematics; hardly up in the ancient languages. 
 His teachers, however, were easy on him he was 
 the son of a cabinet minister. " 
 
 The well-known sportsman exclaimed in astonish 
 ment: "Oh, you don't say so? I had supposed he 
 used to be a secretary or the like with a count ..." 
 
 "Quite right, he was ... at one time. His par 
 ents died early; his property was gone; he did not 
 
 323
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 stick to his career as government clerk; poetizing 
 had got into his blood ; he was always in the clouds, 
 even on the school form . . . and then he accepted 
 a position which afforded him leisure for writing. 
 After he left the count's house, he devoted himself 
 entirely to the art of poetry. I should have expected 
 a more brilliant career for him." 
 
 "Pardon me," said Malhof, "is n't that a rather 
 brilliant career being a celebrated poet?" 
 
 Bruning shrugged his shoulders: "What is it to 
 be a celebrated poet in our country, while one is 
 alive? Did you ever meet one at court? Is a street 
 ever named after one? And one was never known 
 to get rich like a successful operetta composer or a 
 brewer. My friend Helmer ought to make a good 
 match. I had schemed one for him long ago. But 
 he is so horribly unpractical you could see that 
 from his address yesterday. These sentimental im 
 possibilities ! Lack of tact talks there before a 
 public audience composed of kings, statesmen, people 
 of the world, as if it were a gathering of Socialists. " 
 
 "Yes," said the sportsman in confirmation, "I 
 noticed that he attacked military institutions with 
 especial virulence like a real Red. He apparently 
 thinks it is not right for aeronautics and aviation 
 to be used for military purposes. That is unpa 
 triotic. I long ago enlisted in the volunteer auto 
 mobile corps and I should not hesitate to place my 
 flying-machine at the disposal of the Ministry of 
 War. But, by Jove! that was a marvelous exhibi 
 tion of flying the day before yesterday. I must get 
 a pair of folding wings like those!" 
 
 324
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "To return to Helmer," said Malhof. "A good 
 deal that he said was rather striking . . . things 
 that I had never thought of before, though I am an 
 old man of wide experience; things, the possibility 
 and desirability of which I must admit." 
 
 "Really!" cried Bruning. "Such changes that 
 will turn things upside down do they seem desir 
 able to you?" 
 
 "Desirable for the next generation, not for our 
 own, for people do not like to be disturbed in their 
 quiet and in their habits. We do not only say, ' After 
 us the deluge'; we also say, 'After us the millen 
 nium ' ; for in order to bring it about, we should have 
 to make quite too inconvenient efforts ... let our 
 great-grandchildren attain a golden age ; we ourselves 
 are quite comfortable in our present circumstances; 
 we want to go on enjoying the present order of things 
 and educate our boys to do the same." 
 
 Bruning nodded his head in assent: " We say this 
 but our friend Regenburg is right: the Socialists 
 think otherwise; they are not contented with the 
 circumstances ; they want revolution ; therefore such 
 cloud-storming addresses are not merely unpracti 
 cal; they are dangerous, and we must be on our 
 guard against them." 
 
 "'T is not necessary," replied Malhof. "Active 
 measures against them would only profit the rev 
 olutionists. All their dreaming, speechmaking, dis 
 sertations remain inoperative through the vast pas 
 sive resistance which they buck up against a 
 wholly unconscious resistance, for it is combined 
 of indifference and absolute ignorance. If one of 
 
 325
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 them speaks in an assembly and the assembly ap 
 plauds, then he believes that he has conquered a 
 comprehending world of his contemporaries. Never 
 theless, not only does the world of his contempo 
 raries remain unmoved, but even among the as 
 sembled audience the majority, when they have left 
 the hall, scarcely remember what arguments have 
 been put before them. How little interest men feel 
 in universal questions! Most people do not even 
 know that there are circumstances that might be 
 changed. Everything that exists in the social and 
 political line, they take for granted, like the weather 
 and the seasons. It is easy enough to hear about 
 those matters, but to take an active part in them, 
 that is another thing. People have so many pri 
 vate interests which are wholly absorbing their 
 career, their business, their trade, their passions, 
 their family cares, their bitter days and their joyous 
 festivals there is no room for speculations and 
 Utopias and revolutions. Existing institutions have 
 their competent directors regularly appointed to 
 look after their management, or, in case of neces 
 sity, to bring about reform; but we do not have to 
 get mixed up in it ... everything revolutionary is 
 so inconvenient; it disturbs every kind of activity 
 Heaven protect us from it! You see, that is the 
 state of mind of the compact masses. And so let 
 the world reformers talk themselves hoarse. When 
 they are talked out, it is burnt-out fireworks 
 nothing more!" 
 
 "Do you reckon yourself also among the 'com 
 pact masses,' Herr von Malhof?" asked Bruning. 
 
 326
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "Certainly I do. Never in my life have I taken 
 any interest in the so-called 'questions.' I have 
 had far too much to do in making my existence as 
 pleasant and enjoyable as possible. For me, the 
 wisdom of life consists in making the little square 
 metre of existence which we possess as comfortable 
 as we can, in trying to embellish it, without at the 
 same time staring at the thousand-mile stretches 
 that lie beyond. And then, one thing more, my good 
 friend: to battle against thousand-year-old institu 
 tions with addresses and volumes of poems, as your 
 honored friend does, is like scratching away Chim- 
 borazo with a nail-file. As far as I could make out, 
 Herr Helmer strikes at the belt-line of militarism 
 with his aeronautic arguments I could not repeat 
 them the things rebound from my memory like 
 dry-peas from a wall. Just look at our military 
 establishment at home. How does it stand there? 
 Is n't it just like a Chimborazo? All that glory, that 
 prestige, that power there is only one other power 
 comparable to it the Church. That is the reason 
 the two stand by each other so firmly. And really 
 are not all who have their habitations at the foot of 
 these Chimborazos perfectly contented? Have n't 
 they planted there all their joy, their ambition, 
 their fame, their ideas of virtue? . . . What is the 
 good, then, of frightening them out of their com 
 fortable security under the pretext that other and 
 more comfortable conditions are to be created for 
 coming generations? No, your young friend must 
 not cherish any illusions; believe me, he will 
 not. . ." 
 
 327
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "Why do you say all this to me?" interrupted 
 Bruning; "I am entirely of your opinion and have 
 never pretended to Helmer that I shared his illu 
 sions. I know the world better than he does. 
 . . . ' One cannot think highly enough of man ' ! 
 such an idea as that can only be expressed by a 
 philosopher far removed from reality, and repeated 
 by a cloud-sailing poet. Well, and what do you say, 
 Regenburg?" 
 
 "I what do I say? About what? " 
 
 "Have n't you been listening?" 
 
 "Oh, yes I well, I am afraid that through 
 all these new sports, especially in the air, the 
 horses will entirely die out. " 
 
 "Even Pegasuses?" suggested Malhof, laughing. 
 
 In another niche sat Romeo Rinotti and Gaston 
 de la Rochere in a colloquy. They, too, were dis 
 cussing the yesterday's address. The Frenchman 
 held the translation of Helmer 's speech in his hand. 
 He looked disgusted. 
 
 "What do you say to it? Have you read it 
 through?" asked Rinotti. 
 
 "I have just glanced over it, my dear Marquis. 
 And that has sufficed to make me angry enough." 
 He flung the pamphlet on the table. "German poets 
 should confine themselves to singing about forget- 
 me-nots, but not deliver discourses about things 
 they do not understand. W T hat does this one know 
 about the action of airships in the war to come? 
 Or perhaps he wants to spoil the pleasure of other 
 nations in building air-fleets, because Germany 
 
 328
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 thanks to her Zeppelin has gone so far ahead. 
 ... In return our single flyers are far more numer 
 ous and much better perfected. Besides, we have 
 really made a beginning with the dirigibles . . . 
 might far more easily reach the forefront again, if 
 this miserable pestilential republic would only look 
 out better for the national defense." 
 
 Rinotti laughed: "So then you are an arch-royal 
 ist? But you are really doing injustice to your pres 
 ent r6gime ; just see how in the last few years your 
 expenditure for the army and the fleet has mounted 
 up." 
 
 "Oh, stuff; that is only hypocrisy . . . they are 
 afraid of arousing the anger of genuine patriots, 
 and consequently they do not venture to hold back 
 the funds as much as they would like to; but at the 
 same time they have n't the slightest intention of 
 standing up boldly for the honor of France." 
 
 "You mean the Revanche. Certainly, only a very 
 few of your fellow-countrymen wish for that any 
 longer." 
 
 "That is just the trouble. Magnanimous feelings, 
 bold ideas are dying out. . . . No, not quite so bad 
 as that . . . they still live, but they are suppressed, 
 kept down . . . and what can you expect as long as 
 a party is in power sacrilegious enough to lay violent 
 hands on the Church? Thence only one thing can 
 rescue our poor land: to restore the monarchy." 
 
 "Are you a leader of les Camelots du Roy ? " asked 
 Rinotti. 
 
 "No; the methods of these young men are too 
 coarse for me they even shock the claimants them- 
 
 329
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 selves. Yet I am undisturbed : Dieu protege la France. 
 In one way or another Providence will restore to us 
 our old rights. If not a king, perhaps a dictator, or 
 a great soldier will come. . . . We have already had 
 one or two attempts to that end: Boulanger, Mar- 
 chand . . . the right one will sometime appear, and 
 if he should succeed in winning back the beloved 
 provinces, even if he should merely wave the colors 
 in order to hasten to the frontier, then, then all 
 Frenchmen would follow him with wild enthusiasm." 
 
 Rinotti shook his head. "Do you believe so? I 
 opine that a war which your nationalists themselves 
 should start would no longer be popular in the coun 
 try. The storm must break out somewhere else: 
 Germany would have to be entangled in war with 
 England or Russia; then France might go to their 
 help and in the natural course of events the Revanche 
 might come of itself; even the regime might be 
 changed. Why, even a defeat might result in over 
 turning the republic and the new king might have 
 the chance of restoring the conditions that you de 
 sire." 
 
 "That would be fine! But how can one look for 
 ward to such events when everywhere these anti- 
 military doctrines are making their way not only in 
 Socialist congresses, but even in public entertain 
 ments, like these here and in presence of the heads 
 of States!" 
 
 "Words, words!" exclaimed Rinotti scornfully: 
 "borne away by the wind. And even if the wind 
 should carry away a few fruitful seeds, when will 
 they sprout? In the far, distant future. Mean- 
 
 330
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 time, however, deeds come to the front . . . deeds of 
 the present, which are the fruits of seeds scattered 
 in the past. The old hatred, the old distrust, the 
 long cumulated threats: all that must rage itself 
 out first. And the entire world of to-day is prepared 
 for it ; school has trained for it, the masses are drilled 
 for it; the instruments are ready. And how easily 
 do these latent forces break out into acute manifes 
 tation ! What is preached by good people, but bad 
 politicians, a la Helmer, arouses no fanaticism, 
 however conciliatory, however reasonable it may 
 sound. Can one ever bring conciliation to fever- 
 heat or reason to a flame? Ah, believe me, only the 
 violent instincts drive the machinery called history. 
 And those who are elected to make history need 
 nothing else but force, and again force, in order to 
 keep the machine going in the direction which they 
 want. And the general conception ' force ' splits into 
 separate qualities: unbending will, unscrupulous- 
 ness, inflexibility, formidableness these are the 
 attributes of the great statesman. But only in his 
 political activity ; as a private citizen he must at the 
 same time be amiable, yielding, full of good humor, 
 tender to his family, polite to his subordinates in 
 general, what is called 'un charmeur.' In addition 
 he must have genius; and this, too, is needed: he 
 must have luck!" 
 
 La Rochere had accompanied Rinotti's utterance 
 with nods of satisfaction. "You are a wise states 
 man!" he exclaimed; and leaning over to look the 
 marchese in the eye, he asked in a lower tone of 
 voice: "Tell me, is there likelihood of war breaking 
 
 33i
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 out anywhere? Do you perchance know anything 
 about it?" 
 
 Rinotti bit his lips: " I know nothing, and if I did, 
 I should not tell." 
 
 Prince Victor Adolph was sitting on his balcony, 
 reading over and over a letter which he had received 
 that morning from home. Its writer was his oldest 
 brother, the crown prince, who informed him, under 
 the seal of confidence, that an old project, which 
 had once before been broached and then dropped, 
 had come to the front again and was on the point 
 of accomplishment. The point was, that Victor 
 Adolph was to be made regent of a border prov 
 ince which was aspiring to independence. By this 
 appointment, the province would immediately find 
 its desires for autonomy fulfilled. This was a tempt 
 ing outlook: anything rather than the empty show 
 of military service so detestable to him. In this po 
 sition, opportunity would be afforded him of work 
 ing up, of carrying out plans the mighty outlines 
 of which hovered before his mind. A joyous feeling 
 of expectation stirred the young man's soul. The 
 future, the future it lay open before him ; and he 
 would fill it with progressive ideas, with progressive 
 deeds, with "soaring thoughts" ... He dwelt on 
 these words. 
 
 Then an idea suggested itself to him. He went 
 to a writing-table, dashed off a few lines on a sheet 
 of paper, and rang. 
 
 "Take this immediately to the Rose- Palace," he 
 ordered the servant who responded to his summons. 
 
 332
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 The note was addressed to Chlodwig Helmer, and 
 contained an invitation to Mr. Helmer to call on 
 the prince in the course of the afternoon, if he had 
 time. 
 
 A quarter of an hour later, Chlodwig sent in his 
 name. The prince was in his salon alone. He started 
 forward to meet his visitor. 
 
 Helmer bowed : 
 
 "Your Royal Highness summoned me ..." 
 
 Victor Adolph offered him his hand: "Thank you 
 for fulfilling my wish so promptly. Yesterday even 
 ing we had no opportunity, and I was so desirous 
 of hearing a good deal more on the subject of your 
 address. Let us sit down. . . . Here, please. A cigar 
 ette?" He held out his gold cigarette-case. 
 
 Chlodwig thanked him and took one. The prince 
 also offered him a light and then kindled his own. 
 
 "You see, Herr Helmer," he pursued, "what you 
 said yesterday evening moved me tremendously. 
 Partly, because you gave utterance to ideas which 
 have been for a long time floating indefinitely in my 
 mind, and partly because you opened up before me 
 entirely new perspectives." 
 
 " I am delighted to hear such a thing, Your High 
 ness. Tell me what was familiar to you and what was 
 new?" 
 
 "There is, for example, . . . good Heavens, I 
 really don't know where to begin. ... I should like 
 to have a lesson in things which you did not speak 
 about. I will ask you: If you were a king, what 
 would you do to carry out the lofty flight of your 
 ideals?" 
 
 333
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "If I were a king," repeated Chlodwig thought 
 fully. "Many a man has imagined to himself that 
 contingency. Sifetais roi is the title of an opera. 
 If I were a king, then I should have lived in other 
 conditions, should have had another kind of educa 
 tion, inherited other instincts. . . . The love of sol 
 diering would be inherent in my blood the first 
 king was a victorious soldier; the concept 'Ma 
 jesty,' mounting from the humbly bowing masses, 
 would have risen to my head, stinging and bewitch 
 ing me, like the bubbling spirits rising in champagne- 
 cups. . . . My breast would be swelled with the con 
 sciousness of power. I should probably not let it be 
 noticed, and I should take pains to seem affable and 
 natural. I should be well aware that my power was 
 to a certain degree limited in modern, constitutional, 
 and enlightened times, and, therefore, I should in 
 stinctively fear what threatens it still more : revo 
 lutionary ideas and activities; and likewise should 
 instinctively prize all that protected it: my faithful 
 nobles, my loyal army; on the whole, the conserva 
 tive spirit. I should simply know nothing of the 
 struggles and problems and aims of the progressive 
 spirit. 'Liberal,' in the court-jargon, is synonymous 
 with 'suspicious,' and 'radical'; signifying a will 
 power, which goes to the very root of things, is 
 synonymous with 'criminal.' I should not have had 
 much experience of the sorrows of the poor and 
 wretched ; that would be to me as remote and natu 
 ral as a pool in a morass or the debris of a quarry. 
 My consolation would be that the poor people 
 would still hope for compensation beyond the grave, 
 
 334
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 and in order to strengthen them in this hope, I should 
 set them an example of piety should perhaps 
 actually be pious, through the necessity slumbering 
 in every better soul of being occasionally humble. 
 As I am one who tries to do right, and should be the 
 same if I were a king, I should fulfill scrupulously 
 my really difficult duties. I should work with zeal 
 and industry. For recreation and pleasure, I should 
 go hunting. Indeed, this sport would involve a cer 
 tain amount of ambition, for I should be well aware 
 of the respectful interest with which the world 
 would chronicle every successful shot of my rifle 
 and be ready to erect a monument in memory of 
 my thousandth stag. I should ..." 
 
 "Stop!" cried the prince; "you are unfair!" 
 "Quite possibly. I have been generalizing, and in 
 doing so, one cannot be fair. And above all, Your 
 Royal Highness, I regret having somewhat failed in 
 due tact. I should not have spoken to a king's son 
 as I have. But because I know that you are quite 
 different from the others ..." 
 
 "But you are also unfair to those others, Herr 
 Helmer. Don't you believe that the spirit of the age 
 also makes its way through the seams of palaces 
 and throne-rooms? That 'lofty thinking' and free 
 thinking are also carried on under crowns? Look 
 at those little German courts the princes of which 
 cherish a cult for art or promote the investigations 
 and activities of such men as, for example, Ernst 
 Haeckel ! And this ' lofty thought ' for which you seem 
 especially enthusiastic, 'universal peace': don't you 
 see that the very emperor who at his first accession 
 
 335
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 to the throne was expected by the world to hanker 
 after military laurels, has for long decades done 
 everything he could to avoid war?" 
 
 "I recognize that," answered Helmer; "but the 
 question means more than merely not waging war; 
 it means putting down war." 
 
 " I call your attention to this: I just remarked the 
 Emperor has done what he could. The power and 
 will of a great ruler stand behind mighty barriers 
 and walls. His court, his army, his environment, his 
 whole inheritance of traditional principles and the 
 institutions which he is placed there to preserve 
 all these things combine together to hamper the 
 accomplishment of his aspirations. The portrait 
 that you have just painted of a king does not apply 
 any longer to our contemporary rulers in their in 
 most reality yet their environment combines to 
 make them such. Now, see here, my dear poet, you 
 were complaining that they knew nothing of the 
 sorrows of the people; you are right: the classes are 
 too widely separated; they know nothing of each 
 other. So it is with the princes: those that do not 
 live in association with them know but little about 
 them and form false notions; they conceive them to 
 be of the 'demigod' or ' Serenissimus ' type, but in 
 truth they are exactly like other men ; differing from 
 one another, good and bad, stupid and clever, in 
 significant and talented. But they do have one actual 
 advantage: they control more power and influence 
 than ordinary mortals, and for that reason it would 
 be a good thing if princes were to come forward as 
 champions of the highest aspirations of the time." 
 
 336
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "But suppose my objection may, perhaps, 
 again sound somewhat tactless but suppose these 
 aspirations include what Kant once laid down as a 
 postulate that monarchies are doomed to make 
 way for a republican regime ..." 
 
 "This will not be accomplished overnight." 
 
 " No ; and then I grant you that the question is not 
 whether the r6gime ought to change. Governmental 
 forms are, after all, only forms the content is the 
 important thing. What must change, what must 
 grow, is the spirit, and certainly in all strata. The 
 general level of all mankind must rise. I myself 
 should not like to see the control of government put 
 into the hands of the masses as they are to-day." 
 
 The prince made a somewhat impatient gesture. 
 " I beg of you, Herr Helmer, let us not deal in gen 
 eralities. Yesterday, I heard a wonderfully beautiful 
 litany of them proceed from your lips ; now I should 
 like something positive, concrete. For that reason, 
 I put my question to you: What would you do if 
 you were a king? Do work at that is the gist 
 of the matter. And a king can do things, as long as 
 Kant's wish is not as yet fulfilled because he has 
 much power; not unlimited power, of course. Put 
 to yourself this case: that you you yourself, no 
 one else, you with all your experiences, your knowl 
 edge, your poetic accomplishment were suddenly 
 made a powerful king. . . . One can imagine one's 
 self in another position I know it from experi 
 ence. I have often asked myself, if I were a com 
 mon soldier, if I were a poor proletarian, how should 
 I feel, what should I try to do in order to win a little 
 
 337
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 happiness and freedom for myself and my fellows, or 
 to give vent to my wrath over the unfairness under 
 which we sigh and drudge. . . . Perhaps you do not 
 know, Helmer, that I take a passionate interest in 
 social problems ; that often, just as others sneak into 
 gambling-hells or other places of forbidden pleasure, 
 I have slipped into assemblies where the Social 
 ists . . ." 
 
 "I know it, Your Highness," interrupted Helmer. 
 
 The prince had been speaking with animated 
 voice and his cheeks were flushed. Now he seized 
 Chlodwig's hand. "So then, tell me! You who are 
 a poet and therefore something of a prophet; you 
 who would raise goodness to the level of a motive 
 force for political action, tell me, how would you 
 help the people?" 
 
 "What people? Mine? Is it impossible to help 
 one people alone. In our day of universal interna 
 tional intercourse and trade, every country is de 
 pendent on every other. One nation cannot by 
 itself be rich, happy, and independent. The nations 
 are not hermits; they form a community. In my 
 kingdom, could I put down capitalism, could I do 
 away with war, if others threatened me with it; if 
 I took down my own tariff walls, could I break 
 through the limitations of the others? There is 
 no individual happiness ' reciprocally ' ' cooper 
 atively* 'mutually*', those are the adverbs without 
 which no blissful verb can be conjugated." 
 
 "Then what would you do?" 
 
 "Seek to make alliances with my fellow- royalties. 
 I should yet I have no perfected plan of action 
 
 338
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 in my mind, Prince. Only one thing is quite clear: 
 the mechanicians have won over a new element 
 which for many thousands of years they never dared 
 hope to enter into. There is also a spiritual, a moral 
 upper ocean into which hitherto no one has ven 
 tured to steer the so-called ship of State. I cherish 
 the faith that by this time among the potentates, 
 one the Zeppelin is born and will work and ac 
 complish, and dare obstinately, confidently, prophet 
 ically, in spite of all doubts, all resistance ; and will 
 let his ship mount up into those heights of light. . . . 
 Pardon me, Prince, I have one great fault into which 
 I am always falling : speaking far too much in meta 
 phors." 
 
 "Pardonable in a poet." 
 
 "But you wished to hear something concrete, 
 positive, in this respect I have served you ill." 
 
 "No; your Zeppelin picture gives me a quite cor 
 rect orientation. First one must gather from the light 
 of reason, even if no experience answers for it, that a 
 thing is feasible ; then one must will and dare. The 
 individual manipulations will come into play later." 
 
 Helmer gazed at the prince. A warm wave of liking 
 for him arose in his heart; then instantly this same 
 heart seemed to contract as if under a cold pressure. 
 The thought of Franka .' . . how natural it would 
 be that she should love that man. . . . 
 
 As if Victor Adolph had read the poet's thoughts, 
 he asked: "You are an old acquaintance of Fraulein 
 Garlett's, are you not?" 
 
 Chlodwig gave a start. "Yes, Your Royal High 
 ness." 
 
 339
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "The lady interests me very much. Can you tell 
 me anything of her story?" 
 
 Helmer told him what he knew: the secluded 
 childhood and youth with her father who was in 
 slender circumstances; her worship of that father; 
 the summons to the grandfather's home; the fabu 
 lous inheritance; and then her passionate desire to 
 accomplish some great work, to offer herself up in the 
 service of her fellow-men as if an atonement for 
 the unearned wealth ; then her career and its results. 
 
 " A remarkable fortune ! " exclaimed Victor Adolph. 
 "You were her teacher?" 
 
 "I? Her teacher?" 
 
 "Yes, she told me so herself." 
 
 "She meant that when she was as yet uncertain 
 how she might find the great thing which she dreamed 
 of doing, I gave her some advice." 
 
 "And has not this pretty young woman had any 
 love-affair in the course of her life?" 
 
 "I know of none." 
 
 " Is she so cold? She must have had many suitors." 
 
 "Indeed, she has. She has been much sought 
 after and has refused many an offer." 
 
 "And you yourself, Herr Helmer,- in all this giv 
 ing of advice, has your heart remained without a 
 wound?" 
 
 "Your Highness.. . I ..." 
 
 "Well, well; it was an indiscreet question. Pray 
 don't feel obliged to answer it." 
 
 The valet brought the afternoon mail on a silver 
 salver, and at the same time announced that His 
 Excellency the adjutant to the King of Italy desired 
 
 34
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 to see His Highness. Chlodwig arose and took his 
 departure. 
 
 The prince shook hands with him: "Auf wieder- 
 sehen. We will have another talk not on indis 
 creet questions, but about dirigible ships of State." 
 
 "Papa, am I interrupting you?" 
 
 Gwendoline stood at the door of Toker's room. 
 
 "Of course, you interrupt me, for I am never 
 unoccupied. But come in, Gwen; it will do me good 
 to have you divert me a little from all kinds of 
 melancholy things." 
 
 The young girl stepped nearer. "How is that? 
 You are in trouble ! Does not everything go accord 
 ing to your wish in this rose-magic of which you are 
 yourself the great conjurer?" 
 
 "Here everything is fairly satisfactory; but out 
 side, in the wide world!" And he indicated a heap 
 of newspapers and letters lying before him on the 
 table. 
 
 While glancing through these messages from the 
 outside world, John Toker had been spending a 
 couple of uncomfortable hours. Very bad tidings 
 had come. Not only the alarmist predictions which 
 emanate from those parties that always have on tap 
 announcements of an unavoidable war with this, 
 that, or the other neighboring State; but also posi 
 tive proofs that in various places, in circles that had 
 the necessary power in their hands, the intention 
 prevailed to deliver the blow. In more than one 
 center of discord, little flames were rising and might 
 easily break out into a destructive conflagration. 
 
 34i
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 The press was not lacking in writers who were work 
 ing with poker and bellows for this end so desirable 
 to them for many reasons. Fortunately there were 
 not lacking, among either rulers or statesmen, those 
 who were using their best endeavors to stamp out 
 the dangerous embers; who hesitated about draw 
 ing the sword even when they were provoked 
 but the decision finally lies, after all, with the ag 
 gressive and not with the opposing portion. 
 
 Not only from the papers, but also from private 
 sources, Toker had received the intimation that 
 dangerous dissensions were likely to break out. He 
 was in friendly relationship with powerful circles 
 in various countries, and he got wind of much that 
 was going on behind the scenes in politics. Thus it 
 had been conveyed to him that day that one coun 
 try, whose chief ruler was thoroughly opposed to 
 war, had a large military party working with all 
 its might, in order that an insignificant question at 
 issue should be made the cause for an ultimatum. 
 This party desired to march right in. It found that 
 the moment was favorable. The victory would be 
 easily won; glory and laurels might be obtained; 
 internal dangers fermenting might thus be obviated ; 
 and in spite of the opposition of the monarch they 
 were plotting to aggravate the friction in order that 
 the "marching in" might be plausible. 
 
 However, that is not the proper word: what the 
 war-lovers in question had in mind was not "march 
 ing in," but "flying in." In all countries the air- 
 fleets had attained considerable proportions, but 
 just at this time this particular State had made a 
 
 342
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 remarkable advance. Moreover, a new invention 
 in the domain of aviation had been recently made 
 and was kept a great secret, and a new explosive 
 had been introduced. With this, the enemy could 
 be annihilated and the world confounded. The 
 admiral of the air-fleet was all on fire to enrich the 
 military history of the world with a hitherto un 
 heard-of battle and victory. John A. Toker felt a 
 quite peculiar horror at this form of the modern, 
 ultra-modern art of war; not only because he ex 
 pected the most terrible destruction from it; but 
 also his aesthetic and moral feelings were revolted 
 by seeing hell carried even into the regions of the 
 skies. 
 
 Still other catastrophes were looming on the hori 
 zon: bread riots; economic crises; terrorism from 
 below by assassination and incendiarism ; terrorism 
 from above by executions; . . . and for those who 
 looked far ahead, a general break-up; civilization 
 buried under ruins. Can this be the end and goal 
 of mankind's lofty aspirations? 
 
 Toker felt like one who has brought a wonder 
 fully beautiful garden, situated at the foot of a 
 mountain, to a high state of cultivation, and sud 
 denly notices that the mountain has begun to 
 smoke. 
 
 "Every comparison limps" is a correct expres 
 sion: the lameness in this figure is, that the destruc 
 tion streaming from the fiery depths of the vol 
 cano is the work of incomprehensible, uncontrollable 
 powers of nature, while in these eruptions treasured 
 as ''historical," men themselves have fabricated 
 
 343
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 the lava, and, thanks to their crater-deep idiocy, use 
 it for their own destruction. 
 
 Yet not all the news that had been brought to 
 Toker's notice, and lay there in a great pile, was 
 bad: there were also some encouraging items. If 
 one attentively listens in every quarter, one can 
 hear the subdued regular rumble of the great loom, 
 where the genius of Progress is weaving stitch by 
 stitch the web of Unity which is bound ultimately 
 to bring together the whole civilized world. Toker's 
 alarm grew out of the fact that the all-reigning 
 spirit of growth is often interrupted and set back 
 by the spirit of destruction, which by fits and starts 
 exercises its harmful calling and in some places un 
 does what seems on the fairest path of development. 
 
 "Well, Gwen, what amusing thing have you to 
 tell me?" 
 
 "Amusing? I wanted a serious talk with you, 
 papa. " 
 
 "You and serious! But really you look quite 
 solemn. Has anything happened?" 
 
 Gwendoline made several attempts to speak, and 
 then paused again; she was seeking for the right 
 words and could not find them. 
 
 "Courage, Gwen! Have you some wish?" 
 
 "More than that, papa; it is a resolution." 
 
 "Oho! that sounds really serious. Perhaps you 
 want to marry one of my Rose-Knights. We should 
 have to think that over very gravely." 
 
 "You are making sport of me, papa. I believe 
 you consider me a very stupid girl, and, indeed, I 
 know I am. Up till now I have not taken any in- 
 
 344
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 terest in all the great things which you are working 
 for. But in these last few days my eyes have been 
 opened. " 
 
 "Have you been listening to all the things that 
 my great guests have said, and did you understand 
 them?" 
 
 "No, not all. I believed, as you yourself seem to 
 believe, that those things are too high for me ; that 
 I could not understand them; that they had noth 
 ing to do with me. Only when the personal appeal 
 was made to me, did I prick up my ears. " 
 
 Mr. Toker raised his head in astonishment^. 
 "An appeal made to you personally? How so? by 
 whom?" 
 
 "By Franka Garlett: 'Ye young maidens, listen 
 to me!' she said. I listened to her and ..." 
 
 "Well . . . and . . .?" urged Toker eagerly. 
 
 Gwendoline, who had been standing behind the 
 writing-table, now sat down, as she was frequently 
 wont to do, on the arm of Toker's chair. She put 
 her arm around her father's neck and said: "You 
 have called all these prominent people here, have 
 n't you, in order that their words, which you permit 
 to be so freely uttered, may have a wide audience, 
 may arouse to convictions and to deeds; in a word, 
 may make proselytes ..." 
 
 "Yes, that is my intention." 
 
 "Well, I believe it will succeed. I know of one 
 enthusiastic proselyte already made by Miss Gar 
 lett." 
 
 "You, my dear?" 
 
 "Yes, I. Let me have a share in your work; ini- 
 345
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 tiate me! I want to learn to have the same kind of 
 ideas. I don't believe that I lack the ability. Yester 
 day, I listened very attentively to the address of 
 that 'Schwingen' poet. (And between us, if I am 
 not mistaken, he is in love with Miss Garlett.) I 
 could not understand all that he said, but still I 
 understood enough to get some new light ; the ques 
 tion is to make men, that is to say, their souls, fly 
 up into higher regions." 
 
 Quite correct, thought Toker; but that their souls 
 may fly high, the main thing is to help their bodies 
 gut of wretchedness, depravity, hunger, and squalor 
 the masses must be able to free themselves. 
 Aloud he said: "Just see, how my little girl has 
 profited from the teachings of my speakers! Gwen, 
 this gratifies me, indeed ! Go on with your thinking 
 and your learning." 
 
 " But I should like also to do something, papa, and 
 you must tell me what!" 
 
 "Just at this moment I can't tell you what you 
 will be capable of doing. First let what has been 
 sowed in your little head during these last two days 
 ripen. I have my doubts about such sudden con 
 versions. Nine chances out of ten, such seeds will 
 be blown away again. " 
 
 Gwendoline sprang to her feet: " Have you so little 
 faith in me?" she exclaimed reproachfully. "No 
 wonder, though, for up till now I have been such a 
 superficial good-for-nothing thing." 
 
 " You have been a child, and that was all that was 
 expected of you ; there is no reason why you should 
 not remain such for a while yet. Destinies and 
 
 346
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 tasks are unequally distributed. Not all men can 
 give themselves exclusively to caring for the weal 
 of others; there must be some, also, who are care 
 lessly happy themselves especially in life's May- 
 time." 
 
 The morning after the supper with Helmer, 
 Franka awoke with a dull headache. She had not 
 slept well, but restlessly, feverishly, anxiously. She 
 could not have told what had filled her mind with 
 worry, with anticipation, with uncertainty; for her 
 thoughts had led her on rather confused meander- 
 ings. Now as she got up, she felt that there was a 
 burden on her mind, and she explained this state of 
 things by the deluge of impressions that had swept 
 over her, and by the fact that her resolution to 
 renounce her career as a lecturer had left her facing 
 an uncertain and aimless future. . . . And yet at the 
 same time this resolution was agreeable to her, for 
 in that career she no longer saw before her any shin 
 ing goal, any prize of victory to satisfy her longing. 
 
 Aye, it was longing which lurked in the back 
 ground of her unrest. Longing? For what? Franka 
 was no unsophisticated child, and she put the ques 
 tion to herself, without unconscious bashfulness: 
 "Is my hour come? Does Nature demand her 
 rights? Do I wish to live, to love?" 
 
 Her thoughts turned on the two young men who 
 for several days had filled her imagination and her 
 dreams. But neither of them had declared himself. 
 The prince was perhaps too proud, the poet too mod 
 est, to want to marry her. And to which of them 
 
 347
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 should she give the preference? To this question 
 her heart gave a whispered answer, but so softly 
 whispered that it was not decisive. 
 
 After her cold morning bath and her hot morning 
 tea, she felt refreshed and somewhat calmer. She 
 put on a simple street-toilette and left her room. She 
 felt the need of getting out into free nature, and she 
 bent her steps toward the neighboring wood. Pur 
 posely she refrained from inviting Frau Eleonore 
 to accompany her, for she wanted to be alone with 
 her thoughts, to take counsel of her own heart. 
 
 She wanted to ask herself what now were her 
 wishes, her hopes, her purposes. Was the resolu 
 tion definitely fixed to retire from a public career? 
 Was it justified? She had taken up as her task 
 "To accomplish something great": was this task 
 accomplished? And was it not presumption to sup 
 pose that she was capable of accomplishing any 
 thing "great"? To do that, one must be great one's 
 self, and that she certainly was not. During this 
 Rose- Week, when she had met with so many bril 
 liant men and women of genius, she had fallen very 
 low in her own estimation. 
 
 What was she with her rather superficial fluency 
 in comparison with all these mighty artists, thinkers, 
 poets, inventors? Could she only tell them all how 
 insignificant she felt in comparison with them ! Just 
 as there are attacks of pride and ambition, so Franka 
 now had an attack of the deepest humility, a strong 
 yearning for seclusion : it was one of those hours 
 when one wishes one's Ego dismounted from its 
 too prominent pedestal, whereon it has been stand- 
 
 348
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 ing in far too haughty isolation; when one would 
 like to compel it into a kneeling and leaning atti 
 tude of humbleness before a dearer "Thou" . . . 
 
 Through the grove breathed a delicious fragrance 
 of warm resin and moist moss. Buried in her 
 thoughts, Franka had been wandering for an hour 
 hither and thither through the forest, and had 
 reached a spot where a wooden seat was built around 
 an ancient oak tree. She was rather tired, and so 
 sat down on the seat, winding her arm around the 
 trunk and leaning her forehead on it: thus she rested. 
 The air was hot and full of the hum of insects. 
 An agreeable weariness closed Franka's eyelids ; yet 
 she was not asleep, only sinking into a comfortable 
 half-doze, comparable to the feeling that plants 
 may have under the caress of the sunbeams or the 
 fanning of gentle breezes. Her breath, the beating 
 of her heart and the song of the forest, the whisper 
 ing of the tree-tops, melted together into one har 
 monious rhythm. It was the undefined, softly sooth 
 ing delight of mere existence nothing more. And 
 yet with it all was mingled something new, some 
 thing never before experienced by her, something 
 that did not seem to belong wholly to the present, 
 but throbbed as if at the coming of a future fulfill 
 ment 
 
 A voice startled her out of this twilight of the soul : 
 "Is that you, Signorina Garlett?" 
 
 It was the great Italian tragedienne who was out 
 also for a lonely morning walk. 
 
 Franka sprang up. 
 
 "Don't move. I will sit down with you for a few 
 349
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 minutes. It is very charming here, so quiet and 
 peaceful. I have disturbed you. You were deep in 
 dreams . . . probably you were thinking about your 
 lover." 
 
 "I have no lover." 
 
 "That is incredible only you will not confide 
 in me. But you might, carina. I am so much older 
 than you are; I have tasted so fully of the joys and 
 sorrows of life, and I know well that we women 
 if we are genuine women experience all our pleas 
 ure and all our grief only through love . . . every 
 thing else is nothing. Our art, our beauty, our social 
 or domestic virtues all that is only the shell, is 
 only the tabernacle ; the true sanctuary is our burn 
 ing and bleeding heart. " 
 
 "So speaks one from the South, " replied Franka. 
 "The rest of us are colder. My heart truly up to 
 the present time has neither burned nor bled for 
 any man. I do not take into account any passing little 
 acceleration of its throbbing. My work, my duties, 
 have completely occupied me up to now ..." 
 
 "What has been your special work?" 
 
 "Making girls over into thinking beings." 
 
 "Thinking not feeling?" 
 
 "The one does not exclude the other. Men, too, 
 feel and love; at the same time it is their duty to 
 think not that they always do so I must agree 
 to that. You, great artist that you are, who have 
 penetrated into the depths of poetry, would surely 
 be the last person to forbid women thinking." 
 
 "No, I do not; but I insist that they love. And 
 ultimately, they all obey even the women of the 
 
 350
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 North. In the Northern poets especially I have 
 found the most fundamental love-problems. How 
 ever, madamigella Franka, you just said the words 
 ' up to now ' in a tone which makes me suspect that 
 perhaps the coldness which you boast of is already 
 beginning to melt." 
 
 Franka's cheeks glowed: "How you read people's 
 souls, maestra!" 
 
 The other smiled sweetly, and seized Franka's 
 hand. "So it must come, " said she, "once in every 
 life. But," she added in another tone, "shan't we 
 return? Don't you hear distant thunder?" 
 
 In fact a low growling of thunder was heard, re 
 peated two or three times; and the air was sultry. 
 Franka got up. 
 
 "Very well, let us go. We shall have time enough 
 to get under shelter. You see, it is the same way 
 with my love ... far and low I seem to hear the pre 
 monition of what may prove to be a heart-storm. 
 It has not as yet arrived, but it is coming and it will 
 be welcome : I shall not flee from it, as we are now 
 trying to escape from the threatening shower." 
 
 By this time a few scattering drops were falling. 
 The two women hastened their steps. Suddenly the 
 Italian actress said: 
 
 "Its coming has been noticed." 
 
 "The coming of what? A quarter of an hour ago, 
 the sky was perfectly blue." 
 
 " I am speaking of your love-affair, dearest." 
 
 Franka, surprised, lifted her head. "What do 
 you mean?" 
 
 "Well the handsome German prince. "
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 SCENES OF BEAUTY AND OF LOVE 
 
 THIS evening the exercises were devoted to the 
 concept Beauty. They were to begin with a con 
 cert; but not a concert of tones, rather of colors and 
 lines charm for the eye, intoxication for the sense 
 of sight the delight of seeing, carried to ecstasy. 
 
 The hall was only faintly lighted. Toker and his 
 guests were not as usual on the platform; a white 
 screen surrounded by a golden frame filled the back 
 ground. Franka sat in the box that she had oc 
 cupied on the evening of Helmer's address. But 
 this time Helmer was with her. He had escorted 
 her into the hall, having been, as usual, seated next 
 her at the dinner-table. The two had not had much 
 opportunity to talk together, as some one opposite 
 had engaged Chlodwig in an urgent conversation, 
 and Franka, on her side, was taken possession of 
 by Gwendoline who had also accompanied them 
 to the box. In the background sat Frau von Rock- 
 haus and Malhof. 
 
 Franka was scanning the hall with her opera- 
 glass. 
 
 "Are you looking for some one?" asked Helmer; 
 "he is sitting there in the lower tier at the right." 
 
 Franka's glass followed the indicated direction, and 
 she caught sight of Victor Adolph, who had turned 
 round and was likewise searching the audience with 
 
 352
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 his lorgnette. The two glasses met and the prince 
 bowed. Franka answered the greeting and blushed, 
 as Helmer saw only too well. 
 
 "I had a long talk with the prince to-day," he 
 said; "he is a fine fellow." 
 
 "Who? the German king's son?" broke in 
 Gwendoline; "he pleases me, too, immensely; and 
 if he were not so evidently taken with our Miss Gar- 
 lett, I should have a good flirtation with him." 
 
 On the signal for beginning the programme 
 three loud peals on a bell a tall figure of a woman 
 in the costume of a Greek Muse stepped forward and 
 began to speak: 
 
 Still through the hall the golden bell-tone vibrates low! 
 
 List to it, for you will not hear it ringing 
 
 A second time to-day. 
 
 A simple word which I have still to say 
 
 Of prelude or of prologue call it as you may 
 
 And then the silence show! 
 
 For voiceless colors will be together singing 
 And lines in exquisite harmonies will melt away. 
 Nor flute nor drum, viola, violin; 
 The instruments are called but Blue and Gray 
 And Red and Green and Yellow, bringing in 
 The rainbow's soundless orchestra. 
 
 This week for Lofty Thinking held its pious rites; 
 
 Free spirits have stood forth to plead for Goodness and 
 
 for Duty, 
 
 So let us also worship Beauty. 
 Let Wonder bear us in its spellbound flights; 
 Since those alone that have the power to marvel 
 Possess the power of mounting to the heights. 
 
 The speaker retired and the hall was completely 
 darkened. All the more brilliantly gleamed the great 
 
 353
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 white screen on the platform. A half-minute of 
 intense expectation passed. 
 
 Franka turned to Helmer: "Do you know what 
 is coming?" 
 
 " Yes, Mr. Toker gave me an inkling of it. Pictures 
 of landscapes more magnificent than were ever seen 
 before except in reality: nature- framed. The im 
 pression is said to be magical." 
 
 Suddenly, the white screen was transformed into 
 a view of a primitive tropical forest a remark 
 ably picturesque piece: in the foreground, at the 
 right and at the left, two gigantic gnarly trees, whose 
 branches arched upward until they met, forming a 
 kind of triumphal gateway; on the ground and to 
 ward the back a luxuriant growth of unknown plants 
 and flowers. 
 
 "That reminds me of Ernst Haeckel's marvelous 
 travel pictures," remarked Helmer. 
 
 It was evidently photographed from nature and 
 in the most brilliant colors. Polychrome photo 
 graphy had, to be sure, been invented some years 
 before, but here, for the first time, perfect fidelity 
 to nature had been attained: not only the succulent 
 green of the foliage, and the velvet brilliancy of the 
 moss, but something like real light, such as prevails 
 in the primeval forest, streaming with emerald tints 
 through the tree-tops and flinging bronze reflections 
 on the brown trunks. Dark and pale lilac blossoms 
 glowed in the maze of vines, resting here and there 
 in dense masses among the branches ; here and there 
 hanging down like the sprays of weeping willows; 
 then again, springing from the soil, tall-stemmed, 
 
 354
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 crimson-red flowers, with broad, wonderfully serrated 
 calyxes a flora quite unknown in our temperate 
 zone. 
 
 The prologue had not promised too much: no 
 painter could depict such a scene: it was nature it 
 self. To near-sighted eyes, the picture may have 
 presented a more or less confused maze of colors ; but 
 through the opera-glass every leaf and every stalk 
 could be seen in its sharp outlines, and if one looked 
 with a high-powered glass one might have detected 
 the gauzy wings of some brilliant-colored butterfly 
 sitting motionless on some flower. 
 
 Franka drew a deep breath and murmured: "It 
 is bewitching." 
 
 "Yes, the world grows richer every day," said 
 Helmer ; "but look, there comes something still more 
 amazing." 
 
 Through the hall swept a subdued murmur of as 
 tonishment. Franka pointed her glass to the plat 
 form again: she expected to see another, perhaps a 
 still more beautiful picture, but it was the same. 
 And yet different. . . . Was it not alive? Did n't the 
 vines sway? Did n't the light dance on the mossy 
 ground? Yes and now a small bird flew from 
 one tree to another a gayly feathered little bird 
 gleaming in metallic colors. For a minute or two 
 the fixed photograph had appeared in the frame, and 
 now the kinematographic reproduction of the same 
 bit of nature was substituted for it. To be sure, 
 living pictures were no longer a new marvel, but the 
 sudden animation of the apparent painting that 
 was the surprising effect; and the new victory was 
 
 355
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 that kinematography in colors had been added to 
 the achievements of this art. For long ages men had 
 been seeking to imitate, to preserve the life around 
 them and now, what a long distance between 
 the first rude attempts at delineating the forms of 
 animals or the bones of animals, to the living picture 
 accurate in color and full of motion ! 
 
 The tropic landscape was followed by one from 
 the Far North : the luxuriance of warmth by the 
 splendor of the cold : a polar-sea region in the morn 
 ing light. The picture must have been taken on 
 board of a ship, a ship surrounded by glittering ice 
 bergs. Here also there was motion; the spaces of 
 open sea were alive with dancing waves; sea-gulls 
 swept by ; the clouds that moved along the horizon 
 changed their form and color. A third picture por 
 trayed a bit of the sea-depths. Had a diver carried 
 his kinematographic apparatus down with him, or 
 was the picture taken from an aquarium? The ques 
 tion could not be decided; what seemed to fill the 
 frame was azure water with coral formations on the 
 bottom, and populated with marvelous creatures. 
 Opaque crustaceans tinier than grains of sand flew 
 this way and that quicker than a flash; gelatinous 
 creatures were seen going about in all directions 
 by means of invisible organs ; others proceeded by 
 contracting their feet; diminutive medusae moved 
 slowly about, carrying their umbrellas; little sagit 
 tate animalcules dashed in agitated flight like tor 
 pedoes; anemones hung there, like chandeliers; 
 shadow-like, transparent creatures, iridescent, phos 
 phorescent creatures beauty, beauty everywhere! 
 
 356
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 After a brief pause, what followed was the actual 
 Color Symphony promised in the prologue a con 
 cert for the eyes. The eyes alone should enjoy it and 
 wholly without accessories of landscape and life. 
 The framework disappeared ; the whole platform was 
 swallowed up in darkness for a time, and then sud 
 denly flamed up in a crashing chord of ruby-red, 
 topaz-yellow, and sapphire-blue. Then the colors 
 began to move rhythmically and dispose themselves 
 into figures ; they obliterated one another and formed 
 new combinations of ever new nuances; just as a 
 solo voice rising above an orchestral accompaniment, 
 now hovers an emerald-green line in the foreground 
 and depicts adagio a vibrant arabesque like a 
 melody, while the accompanying colors diminish to 
 a dull silver-gray. 
 
 A second line, of the tenderest rose, now curls 
 round the green, as if it were a second solo voice. 
 Now the duet is swallowed up by a violet glow and 
 again begins a genuine ensemble of all the instru 
 ments: violin-tones from the golden yellow, flute- 
 tones from the celestial blue, a trumpet-blast from 
 the red, a drum-tap from the brown. In ever new 
 forms and interchanging tempos the colors stream 
 together and apart. Here they cluster into balls; 
 there they tumble in waterfalls or hover in flakes 
 like soft-falling snow. The most variegated lights 
 and reflections and beams and flame-gleams and 
 mother-of-pearl tints make up the ensemble. The 
 color symphony contained also a scherzo wherein 
 the melodious arabesques are transformed into a 
 whirl of grotesque hopping figures. The finale intro- 
 
 357
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 duces a prestissimo with the rapidity of a tornado, 
 of a blizzard, which finally dies down again into 
 calm serenity. And ever more and more pallid grow 
 the colors, ever duller the lights, with a decrescendo 
 dying gradually into the most delicate pianissimo, 
 until at last the stage again lies in absolute dark 
 ness. And then against the darkness, shining bril 
 liant red, appeared, a hundred-fold in size, the crest 
 of the house, the symbol of beauty: a rose in full 
 bloom. 
 
 After the intermission one of Toker's famous 
 guests, the German physicist, delivered a brief ad 
 dress. He also produced a variation on the theme of 
 the evening. He proved, even more clearly than the 
 animated pictures could do, the manifold and hidden 
 beauties of nature. He revealed the wonder-pictures 
 that are discovered by the microscope to our aston 
 ished senses; the splendor of form of the Radio- 
 laria, the symmetry of the thousand-faceted eyes of 
 insects; the delicate traceries of mould and mosses 
 invisible to the naked eye; the rich life in a drop of 
 stagnant water beauty everywhere. 
 
 But in order that the visible world may resolve 
 into beauty, we must learn two things: to see and 
 to enjoy. Could there possibly be splendor of color 
 and grace of contour if all living beings were blind ? 
 And could what we see ever be felt as "beautiful" 
 if the spectator remained without enjoyment? The 
 evolution of organisms required a long time until 
 the eye was formed; and a second long period 
 stretched between the use of an organ of sense and 
 the enjoyment that grew out of the use of it. How 
 
 358
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 long it took for man to learn to enjoy the beauties 
 of nature! In all ancient literatures no description 
 of nature is to be found in tones of admiration. The 
 ancient Greeks found delight in the grace of human 
 bodies, in the noble lines of artistic buildings; but 
 in their songs there is no trace of enthusiasm over 
 a mountain landscape, or a seashore. Among our 
 peasantry, living in the midst of the most magnifi 
 cent nature, the majority are unmoved by beauty 
 of scenery. The formation of the organs of sense 
 must be followed by the exercise and the refining 
 of the corresponding organs of the soul. Then only 
 the soul may be raised to the inspiring mood which 
 is called the enjoyment of beauty. 
 
 After the conclusion of the physicist's address, 
 Toker entered Franka's box. "To-night, Miss Gar- 
 lett, you must once more come into our circle, and 
 you also, Mr. Helmer. This period of talk between 
 ten o'clock and midnight is certainly the best and 
 most productive recreation after the labors of the 
 day. And you, Gwen, have you been happy in 
 spending the whole evening in the company of your 
 idol? For you must know, Miss Garlett, that my 
 daughter has conceived the most violent admiration 
 for you which I can perfectly understand." 
 
 A little later the Rose-Knighthood had gathered 
 in Toker's salons. In spite of the brevity of their 
 acquaintance, many warm friendships had sprung 
 up among the famous guests of the house. And, 
 indeed, there was no lack of interesting material for 
 intercourse. The atmosphere was alive with ideas 
 
 359
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 suggested by the preceding addresses and perform 
 ances. "This is the week of wide perspectives," 
 one of the visitors pertinently remarked on one oc 
 casion. 
 
 Frequently distinguished personages invited by 
 Toker from outside joined the house-company. This 
 evening he had invited Prince Victor Adolph, among 
 others, to spend the rest of the evening in the Rose- 
 Palace, an invitation which the young man had 
 accepted with alacrity in spite of Orell's comment 
 that it was a very mixed society: "Eccentric people. 
 A revolutionary flavor. No milieu for Your Royal 
 Highness." 
 
 The night was very warm. When Prince Victor 
 Adolph entered the suite of salons, many of the 
 guests had taken refuge on the terrace to seek its 
 refreshing coolness. Franka, for whom the prince 
 was looking, had also disappeared from the salon. 
 Toker stopped him as he was about to follow her. 
 
 "Fine, that you came, Your Highness. I should 
 like to tell you something important." 
 
 "Me?" His eyes wandered searchingly. 
 
 "Yes, you. There are things which will interest 
 you and which you might be willing to take hold of 
 and help. I regard you as a young man of high 
 thoughts and ideals," the prince made a gesture 
 of surprise, "perhaps lam speaking too uncere 
 moniously?" 
 
 " Not that but what can you know about my 
 mode of thought, Mr. Toker?" 
 
 "What all the world knows. You are recognized 
 as an unusual type. You are interested in questions, 
 
 360
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 a knowledge of which as a general rule does not 
 reach your circles. The weal and woe of the poorer 
 classes seem to you important questions. You are 
 certainly an opponent of any war, instigated from 
 frivolous motives. . . . Let me tell you what is in 
 preparation. In your position, as the son of a power 
 ful ruler, you might perhaps exert an influence which 
 would avert a threatening misfortune." 
 
 "You excite my curiosity." 
 
 "It is as yet a very imperfect world in which in 
 dividuals have the opportunity to bring about na 
 tional conflicts from personal ambition, and where 
 the good will of individuals is required to forfend 
 such evils, instead of security being the normal, 
 natural basis of the intercourse of nations; where 
 one must lay secret plans to save the life of one's 
 fellow-men!" 
 
 " I am ready to enter into such a plot, Mr. Toker. 
 Speak!" 
 
 "Thanks, but you came here this evening to enjoy 
 the society of my guests, and what I have to say is 
 not so quickly explained. Could you come to-mor 
 row to my study? I should like to give you a glance 
 at some of my correspondence which has induced me 
 to venture approaching you." 
 
 "Very gladly, Mr. Toker. Would eleven o'clock 
 suit you?" 
 
 "Perfectly. And now I will not detain you any 
 longer." 
 
 Victor Adolph took advantage of this permission 
 to look for Franka. He found her on the terrace, 
 sitting with only Gwendoline for companion, at some
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 distance from the others. After greeting the daugh 
 ter of the house, he turned to Franka. 
 
 " I did not come to see you in your loge this even 
 ing, gnadiges Fraulein, because I knew that I should 
 have the pleasure of finding you here." 
 
 Gwendoline, in accordance with the proverb which 
 she knew so well, "Two is company, three is none," 
 found a pretext for going away. Victor Adolph sat 
 down on the seat which she had vacated. Franka 
 was ill at ease: she had a suspicion that the prince 
 was not going to talk about indifferent things. He 
 was silent for a while. That made her still more 
 uncomfortable, and in order to relieve the situation 
 she began to speak : 
 
 "How were you pleased with the silent con 
 cert?" 
 
 "Concert? What concert?" he asked absently. 
 
 "The color symphony." 
 
 "I was not looking at the platform, but into an 
 almost perfectly dark box in which I still could make 
 out the outline of a beloved form." 
 
 Now Franka remained silent. What could she 
 answer to that? 
 
 After a rather long pause he remarked: "What a 
 lovely evening!" 
 
 "Marvelously beautiful," replied Franka. The 
 conversation could continue on this subject. And 
 she added: "So mild, so fragrant, so still." 
 
 "Still? Why, no ... don't you hear the chirping 
 of insects and the wavelets breaking on the shore? 
 The night is breathing." 
 
 "As if in peaceful slumber." 
 362
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "No, it is not asleep just see, how its hundred 
 thousand open eyes are sparkling." 
 
 She looked up at the starry sky. Indeed, there 
 shone a myriad of glittering eyes. As Franka sat 
 there, bathed ia the soft moonlight, with her head 
 upturned, her large dark eyes directed to the firma 
 ment, her delicate features as it were illuminated 
 with reverence, she seemed more exquisitely beau 
 tiful than ever. 
 
 "You are right. . . . Every instant one or another 
 of the stars seems to say, 'I am.' That is after all 
 the deepest of mysteries, that unfathomable meaning 
 of the verb 'to be.'" 
 
 "Franka, I love you!" 
 
 The words came so abruptly that Franka felt a 
 violent shock. It fell upon her like a burning bolt. 
 She drew herself up and pushed back her chair. 
 Victor Adolph was himself startled at his own words; 
 he had not anticipated making so sudden a declara 
 tion of his love. Here once more were those primi 
 tive incitements to passion and love : the summer 
 night, the perfume of flowers, the moonlight . . . 
 and that bewitching beauty! 
 
 Beauty had been the topic of the whole evening: 
 the magic of the tropics and of the Arctic sea, of 
 Radiolaria and anemones, but there had not been 
 a word said about the most potent of all the powers 
 of beauty in a lovely young woman's face. What 
 were all the lilies and birds of paradise, what were 
 all the dancing colors and lights, in comparison to 
 such a pair of beaming eyes, from which gleamed a 
 human soul? 
 
 363
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 A short pause ensued, duringVhich both felt their 
 hearts beat faster. Then Victor Adolph began to 
 speak in a low tone : 
 
 "You must not be angry, Fraulein Garlett . . . 
 the audacious words came almost involuntarily out 
 of my mouth. Honestly, I, myself, as I said them 
 for the first time, have realized what deep feelings 
 toward you I cherish. Yes, I love you, sincerely and 
 passionately. I believe you might crown my hap 
 piness with the richest gift one could conceive if 
 only you would return my love. You must not for 
 an instant misunderstand me I offer you my 
 hand. Do not answer now I desire no hasty an 
 swer. You must first weigh all things in the balance 
 for there would be difficulties, reserves ... I am 
 not a free and independent man, and perhaps great 
 responsibilities will be put upon me ..." 
 
 Franka stood up: "You asked me not to answer 
 and I beg you, my prince, my dear prince, " her 
 voice trembled with deep emotion, "do not say 
 anything more. ... I am going into the salon now. " 
 
 She took a few steps and was soon surrounded 
 by a number of persons. The te v te-a-tte was at an 
 end. The prince, bowing low, went off in another 
 direction. Franka took no further part in the social 
 festivities but fled to her room.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 CLOUDS ON THE HORIZON 
 
 IN the mean time, John Toker and Helmer were 
 chatting in the salon. The two men were sitting in 
 the embrasure of one of the windows behind a screen 
 of tall, big-leafed plants, and were unseen and un 
 disturbed. 
 
 "This would seem an admirable place for a pair 
 to flirt in," remarked Toker, as he led his guest to 
 it; "but this privacy will also suit us. I have as 
 yet had no good opportunity to thank you for your 
 address; moreover, this afternoon, I have read the 
 translation of it, and so only now realize how com 
 pletely our ideas and aims are in agreement. You 
 say quite rightly, mankind has reached the turning 
 of the ways. Either Or. It truly cannot continue 
 as it is. Therefore, we must put forth all our ener 
 gies, even if our energies are of no great magnitude. 
 And I have a high opinion of the power of the pen ; 
 it can charm in a playful way; but it can also be a 
 very mighty instrument of harm and of help. " 
 
 "What you say, Mr. Toker, reminds me of a con 
 versation which I had not long ago with a fellow- 
 countryman, a boyhood friend of mine. He asked 
 me how I could devote my art, my talent to the 
 service of politics and such inartistic objects. I 
 answered, 'Because there is a fire, my dear friend. 
 And if in such a case one holds in one's hands 
 
 365
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 a brimming pitcher, one uses it to quench the flames 
 and not to water flowers.' " 
 
 "Quite right; so let us put out the fire. News 
 which has reached me to-day makes me fear that 
 there is going to be a great disturbance. The work 
 which we are doing here the exerting of influence 
 on thinking men proceeds quite too slowly, I 
 am sorry to say in spite of all 6ur apparatus for 
 wide publicity." 
 
 "Yes," agreed Helmer; "it is a dribbling, in 
 stead of a flood. Before minds gradually change, 
 the avalanche of collected stupidity comes rolling 
 down and buries the whole region. Here I am speak 
 ing in metaphors again. ... I keep detecting myself 
 in this habit. Prince Victor Adolph thought that 
 pardonable in a poet. Now, that I think of it: this 
 prince in spite of his position is on our side 
 in all his inclinations, and so precisely because of 
 his position he might successfully help us in the 
 endeavor to put out the fire. " 
 
 "I had the very same idea. You know his repu 
 tation?" 
 
 "More than that: I know his inclinations." And 
 Helmer related the interview which he had held 
 that very same day with the prince. 
 
 "Well, he seems to be a splendid young man," 
 said Toker. "To-morrow, at eleven o'clock, he is 
 coming to see me, in order to plan a campaign. The 
 rescue, the saving of the lives of a hundred thousand 
 people that is to be the object of our conspiracy. 
 He just told me ..." 
 
 "Just told you? Is he here?" 
 366
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 t 
 
 "Yes, he came at my invitation. At this instant 
 he is on the terrace, as my daughter told me, and 
 is sitting in the moonlight very sentimentally talk 
 ing with Miss Garlett." 
 
 Helmer made a sudden motion and suppressed a 
 groan. This did not escape the older man's atten 
 tion. 
 
 "Oh, Herr Helmer, is that disagreeable to you? 
 Perhaps you are somewhat sentimentally inclined 
 to your pretty table-companion and fellow-country 
 woman yourself? . . . That would be quite natural. 
 Don't shake your head . . . young men are quite 
 properly in love; I like to see it. I will not detain 
 you ... go out on the terrace and interrupt the 
 flirtation, if you object to it. It would be much 
 better for the young lady if she should incline her 
 heart to you . . . ' 
 
 "Good Heavens! I could not enter into competi 
 tion with the prince ... if things are actually as you 
 seem to think. " 
 
 "Why not? 'Faint heart never won fair lady.'" 
 
 "You yourself, Mr. Toker, set me very different 
 tasks from that of winning a maiden's heart." 
 
 "Hold on! Hold on! ... I am no fanatic, no 
 man of one idea.; To work for a great public object 
 does not require that a man should give himself 
 body and soul to this affair. One must not neglect 
 one's duties toward one's own happiness. When 
 one has the foundation of domestic content, of cheer 
 ful peace of mind, one can work much more effec 
 tively for a great cause. It gives harmony and bal 
 ance. And then, energy grows out of it as a tree 
 
 367
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 springs out of a rich soil you see, I can also speak 
 in figures. Well, good-bye for now. I will go around 
 among my guests for a little while longer. To-mor 
 row we will take up our plot again. " 
 
 Helmer hastened out on the terrace: not as Mr. 
 Toker had advised, to break up the flirtation, but 
 to observe it. Yet in spite of his zeal to find that 
 which would cause him misery he found nothing : 
 the couple was not to be seen on the terrace. 
 
 Franka had been for some time in her room. She 
 did not turn on the light, but went out on the bal 
 cony and threw herself into her rocking-chair. She 
 wanted to think over what had occurred in the very 
 same atmosphere in which it had occurred in the 
 fragrant moonlit, summer night. 
 
 She drew her lace shawl closer over her shoulders 
 and leaned back in her chair, rocking slowly to and 
 fro. She recalled the words which had so over 
 whelmed her with amazement. Again she seemed 
 to hear distinctly the accent in which "Franka, I 
 love you" had been spoken and the still more mo 
 mentous "You must not for an instant misunder 
 stand me: I offer you my hand." My hand my 
 hand . . . like a refrain which runs in one's head 
 these words sang themselves to her, and here again 
 were the same warm breath of the night, the same 
 penetrating perfume of violets which emanated 
 from the already half-faded bouquet that she wore 
 on her bosom. He was in no hurry for a reply so 
 much the better! Had she given either a hasty 
 " Yes " or a hasty " No, " perhaps she might be even 
 
 368
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 now regretting it. So the decision was postponed: 
 it was left to her free and deliberate choice, whether 
 she should seize this marvelous Future, big with 
 portentous eventualities, or reject it. ... "Diffi 
 culties, reserves. "... Her pride revolted . . . why 
 had she not said "No" on the spot? But is it not 
 true a king's son: such a step is not taken so 
 easily. And it would involve sacrifices, renuncia 
 tions, struggles. . . . 
 
 That very morning she had been anticipating 
 with some longing a thunderstorm of love to 
 tell the truth, the image of another lover had arisen 
 in her mind; now in truth such a storm had burst 
 upon her, but it had not brought any relief to her 
 mental strain. In the dazzling lightning-stroke of 
 that declaration of love by the one, the image of the 
 other had grown somewhat pale, but was not wholly 
 obliterated. Evidently this other did not love her. 
 He had constantly shown himself active in promot 
 ing the interests of Victor Adolph; that very even 
 ing in the hall . . . 
 
 "Are you there, Franka?" It was Frau von 
 Rockhaus. She had turned on the light in the room 
 and was now standing in the balcony door. "I did 
 not see you any longer downstairs and supposed that 
 you had gone to bed. . . . Why did n't you call me?" 
 
 "I knew that you would soon be following. It is 
 pretty late." 
 
 "That was a very pronounced wooing this even 
 ing," observed Frau Eleonore. "Did he propose 
 at last?" 
 
 "Who?" 
 
 369
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "Who! The prince, of course!" 
 
 "You are inquisitive, dear Eleonore. Let us go 
 to bed. I am sleepy. Good-night." 
 
 She rang for her maid and went to her bedroom. 
 But she found no rest. 
 
 Victor Adolph also spent a restless night. During 
 the past forty-eight hours events and impressions 
 had been overwhelmingly sweeping in upon him. 
 That address of Helmer's, opening new perspectives 
 before his soul; the tidings that perhaps a throne 
 would be offered him; that conspiracy for the ad 
 vantage of the contemporary world, which John 
 Toker wanted to conduct with his assistance; and 
 finally this summer night's dream which had ended 
 with such a sudden and mighty flaming up of pas 
 sion that he had surrendered to it for all time. . . . 
 
 The tormenting part of the situation was that he 
 saw himself facing not merely one, but several fate 
 ful questions. When he wanted to devote himself 
 to thoughts of his beloved arose the vision of the 
 beckoning throne, and when he attempted to bal 
 ance the chances and the obligations which such a 
 change of conditions would bring with it, then arose 
 the image of the woman whom he loved to whom 
 he had offered his hand. And what difficulties 
 heaped themselves up before him! What battles 
 there would be ! Had not this step been indiscreet? 
 Aye, that it had; but is passion ever discreet? 
 
 When the prince, agreeably to his promise, 
 reached Toker's study the next morning, Toker had 
 
 370
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 already gone through his mail. He had found vari 
 ous additional particulars which tended more than 
 ever to arouse his fears regarding the threatened 
 dangers. He went to meet the exalted visitor. 
 
 "You are very punctual, Prince." 
 
 Newspapers and letters were arranged on a round 
 center-table. 
 
 "Please, let us sit down without delay; I have 
 put in order the various papers which might serve 
 to show my motives for the action I have in mind. " 
 
 "I have faith in your action, Mr. Toker, without 
 your proving motives," t said the prince, as he took 
 his place at the table. 
 
 Toker followed his example and put a few Eng 
 lish, French, and German newspapers before him. 
 " Please read first of all the passages marked in blue 
 pencil." 
 
 "Those are sheer alarmist prognostications," 
 remarked the prince, after he had glanced through 
 the designated passages. " ' War-in-sight ' news. 
 And actually maps already of the probable 
 seat of war!" 
 
 "And now read the passages marked in red." 
 
 "Bad news again : bomb-throwing . . . strikes . . . 
 conspiracy . . . lynchings . . . hunger-revolts . . . 
 riots ..." 
 
 "In other words, we are facing a war on the one 
 hand and a revolution on the other." 
 
 "Excuse me, Mr. Toker, but perhaps you take 
 the matter too tragically, " said the prince, pushing 
 the papers to one side. "The rumors of wars are 
 apparently false or are merely incitements we 
 
 371
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 have been reading the like for many years regularly 
 in the papers and yet nothing comes of them. These 
 revolutionary attacks do happen here and there and 
 are always speedily suppressed: order is immedi 
 ately restored." 
 
 "Yes, yes, it has been smouldering now for a 
 number of years. But we must not wait until the 
 flames break out ; it is time for us to trample out the 
 sparks." Toker spoke these last words in a wrathful 
 tone. " Patience ceases to be a virtue, " he went on 
 to say, "when it consists in allowing misfortune to 
 approach; then it should be called simply uncon 
 cern. Now read this also." He handed the prince 
 some letters and telegrams for him to glance over. 
 "Those are private communications from parties 
 in a position to be well informed. They show much 
 more clearly than the news published in the papers 
 that the evil so much talked about is ready to ap 
 pear. " 
 
 The prince read the letters and dispatches care 
 fully. "In truth," was his comment, "things do 
 look a bit threatening. What do you propose, Mr. 
 Toker, in order to avert the danger? And do you 
 think there is still time enough?" 
 
 "The term 'too late' should never be allowed 
 when the question concerns a work of help or rescue. 
 As you yourself just remarked, for a number of 
 years conflicts have cropped up in the most varied 
 places; panics have been precipitated; people have 
 been getting ready for the conflict; the catastrophe 
 has been generally expected, and then nothing has 
 come of it. In early times it was not so. When the 
 
 372
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 well-known black speck appeared on the political 
 horizon, one could expect a storm with certainty. 
 Now new forces have entered into the world, 
 which have succeeded in driving away the clouds. 
 The peaceable intentions of the rulers have been 
 strengthened ; the pugnacity of the nations has been 
 curbed the world is gradually changing. And 
 perhaps these perils also " he pointed to the news 
 papers and letters "will be dissipated and there will 
 be time to act. Only we must not delay. If we allow 
 things to go on unchecked, the crash must come. " 
 
 "Well, what is to be done? And what could / do 
 to help? A little princelet like me I need not tell 
 you has no power and no liberty. Even at this 
 minute, while I am engaging in this conspiracy with 
 you behind the back of my honorary jailer, General 
 Orell, I am deeply involving myself in disgrace!" 
 
 Toker smiled. "This is not your first offense, as 
 I have reason to suspect. Your attendance at popu 
 lar meetings is well known; your predilection for 
 the reading of sociological books, not receivable at 
 court, is well known. But for the very reason that 
 you have a knowledge of the problems of the day 
 and an open mind, I have turned to you. So, then, 
 listen this is the thing: A new Hague Confer 
 ence is about to be opened ..." 
 
 "Pardon me," interrupted Victor Adolph, "these 
 conferences have so far failed to bring about the 
 change expected of them. " 
 
 "Still, they have brought something significant, 
 new, and great into the world the generality of 
 the people certainly know very little about them. 
 
 373
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 They have not attained their object for the reason 
 that they have been diverted from that object by 
 their own members : an article was smuggled into 
 the programme that had no business to be there 
 regulation of war: for a large proportion of the 
 delegates consisted either of soldiers or adherents 
 of sovereignty. These men were assiduous in keep 
 ing the old principles safe from the danger with 
 which they were threatened by the conference as 
 originally proposed that is, from compulsory ar 
 bitration and limitation of armament. But the old 
 principles have not remained entirely intact, for 
 there were also representatives of the new ideas at 
 The Hague, who fortunately achieved the founda 
 tion of new institutions. Imagine a congress of 
 freethinkers in which the majority of the delegates 
 were bishops and where the larger part of the time 
 was spent in discussing the regulation of ritualistic 
 forms! . . . There you have a picture of the first 
 Hague Peace Congresses. But I am speaking of the 
 next one. Since the last one, things have ripened. 
 Since then, the desire for peace has strengthened 
 among all the governments, and especially among 
 the masses. Since then the waste of money on 
 armaments has reached such dimensions that uni 
 versal bankruptcy is at hand. Since then, the battle 
 ships have grown into such monsters, and all the 
 other instruments of death and destruction have 
 attained such fiendish power, that they serve not 
 so much for fighting as for combined self-annihila 
 tion. . . . Since then, the common people have been 
 brought to the end of their endurance by loans and 
 
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 taxes and high prices. Since then, the proletariat, 
 always hostile to war, has more and more come to 
 a realization of its solidarity and power. Since then, 
 so many friendships, treaties, and conventions have 
 arisen that it needs now only an impulse for a gen 
 eral European 'Legal Union.' Since then, all the 
 groups interested have combined in an international 
 organization. Since then, a world-conscience has 
 come into being. Since then, the atmosphere has 
 been conquered. Since then, human thoughts have 
 attained wings. . . . Since then ..." 
 
 The old gentleman had worked himself into a 
 fine heat; he had got up, and at every sentence his 
 voice had grown louder. At the last "Since then," 
 he suddenly stopped and sat down again. Then he 
 went on in a calmer tone: 
 
 "Here we will pause at the conception 'Soar 
 ing Thoughts.' The delegates to the next confer 
 ence are to be inspired with such thinking. They 
 must bring with them the resolution to accomplish 
 something great, something bold. The position of 
 affairs has so entirely changed in the mean time, 
 with its promising new possibilities, and the dangers, 
 so nearly threatening, must be looked in the face 
 unflinchingly. That would be our salvation." 
 "But what can I do-in all this, Mr. Toker?" 
 "Prince, you by virtue of your rank can obtain 
 the ear of those on whose will the programme and 
 the results of the conference depend." 
 
 "And you believe that I could influence that?" 
 
 "You can explain. They will listen to you. You 
 
 can show what golden bridges this conference offers. 
 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 You can bring it about that a peace league of rulers 
 shall be formed." 
 
 "Rulers are the prisoners of their armies ..." 
 
 "If they do not break these chains, which also 
 at the same time bind the peoples, then the peo 
 ples will do it; and that would be terrible, like every 
 deed of despair." 
 
 "And do you believe that the armies would con 
 sent to disband?" 
 
 "Who speaks about 'disbanding'? If the States 
 make an alliance for one common international law, 
 then their armies the greatly reduced armies 
 will unite for the protection of the laws that affect 
 them all in common, for defense against attacks 
 from those that stand outside the alliance, for the 
 maintenance of internal order, for affording aid ..." 
 
 "I understand . . ." 
 
 "Yes, I knew that you are one who would under 
 stand. But do you understand also why I, an Ameri 
 can, have the fate of Europe so deeply at heart ; why 
 I want to see the Old World protected from a catas 
 trophe, why I likewise wish that its aristocratic and 
 monarchical institutions, so long ago with us out 
 lived, should, at least for a time, remain intact?" 
 
 "Perhaps from an artistic sense," suggested the 
 prince, "just as we preserve picturesque ruins." 
 
 " ' Ruins' is too strong a term; they are still proud 
 and lofty castles ; only they are let us say a 
 little dilapidated: a violent storm would devastate 
 them ; they can still be safeguarded by rods. Again, 
 why do I feel and act for Europe? You must know 
 that we Americans, at the bottom of our hearts 
 
 376
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 cherish a family-feeling for Europe. It is the cradle 
 of our race; it is the ultimate source of our civiliza 
 tion physically and spiritually, it is our ancestral 
 fatherland. We love it and are thankful to it. There 
 fore it comes about that, when we accomplish any 
 great technical advance or conceive some higher 
 social or political ideal, we immediately feel the im 
 pulse to let the ' whole world ' and by that term 
 we think especially of Europe share in it. We are 
 like children who have been educated far away, 
 have made our fortune there, and regard it as a 
 pleasant duty to send back to the aged parents some 
 share of the treasures we have gained. . . . But let 
 us return to our conspiracy, Prince. You are not the 
 only one with whom I am conspiring. I place my 
 mines in various localities. The Government at 
 Washington is in the alliance. The propositions 
 which it will bring forward at the next conference 
 will not leave anything in the way of ' High Think 
 ing' to be desired. I have already spoken with the 
 President of the French Republic " 
 
 "Yes as I have mentioned before: Republi 
 cans " 
 
 " No ; that is not the condition. In order that some 
 thing great may come out of the conference, it is 
 essential that it be approached with magnanimous 
 resolves ; we must attempt not only a little step for 
 ward, but we must attempt flying. I know one man, 
 one powerful man, who is capable of making such 
 resolves and such a flight. And what I want of 
 you, Prince, is: Speak with the one man he will 
 listen to you you are his son!"
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 SPEECHES AND LETTERS 
 
 WHEN Victor Adolph left Toker's study, he felt still 
 more oppressed than he had been before. A new task 
 had been added to the many prospects and obliga 
 tions that were so disturbing to his peace of mind: 
 alluring prospects, noble tasks, sweet obligations, 
 but in their combination a scourge of anxieties. And 
 there was no one with whom he might take counsel, 
 to whom he might open his heart; on the contrary, 
 he had the perpetual companionship of a man from 
 whom he was obliged to conceal his inmost thoughts 
 and inclinations this Orell and now he had 
 two more secrets to hide from him. Suppose he 
 should discover that the Royal Highness entrusted 
 to his protection had offered himself to a woman 
 without rank and title, and had concealed plans 
 with an American for the demilitarization of Eu 
 rope! 
 
 Victor Adolph could not help smiling as he pic 
 tured to himself the general standing there, his face 
 scarlet with wrath and horror, his hair standing on 
 end, and the points of his mustaches trembling. 
 How he would gasp for words and for breath, and 
 how these words would be even more laconic and 
 drastic than ever "Prince ripe for the madhouse! 
 . . .Cursed girl . . . Caught in the first net. . . . 
 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Old Yankeedoodle . . . Proposals to His Majesty! 
 ... To hell with the Rose-Saint- Vitus-dance !" 
 
 As he drove away, the prince met Helmer return 
 ing from the morning walk. The encounter was a 
 pleasant surprise. Here was one with whom he 
 might exchange a few thoughts, at least, might 
 talk with him about Toker's plans, since he was 
 already initiated into the conspiracy. 
 
 "Good-morning, Herr Helmer; I am glad to meet 
 you. Are you just on your way home?" 
 
 "Yes, Your Royal Highness." 
 
 "Have you anything important that you must do 
 immediately?" 
 
 "Not at all." 
 
 "Then, if you will permit me, I will go with you 
 to your lodgings." 
 
 "That will be an honor and a pleasure. If you 
 please, this way, Your Royal Highness; my rooms 
 are on the ground floor." 
 
 He conducted the prince up a few steps, through 
 a corridor to his sitting-room door, which he opened 
 to usher his visitor in. 
 
 "But you are all roses here!" cried Victor Adolph 
 as he entered. 
 
 "Yes, the whole house is dedicated to the queen 
 of flowers. But all this splendor will soon be ended. 
 Two days more and the Rose- Week will be a thing 
 of the past. Then we shall all be scattered to the 
 four winds." 
 
 " But what has been uttered, planted, experienced, 
 felt here will not be scattered to the winds." And 
 as the prince sat down in the easy-chair which Hel- 
 
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 mer pushed forward for him, he added with a deep 
 sigh, " I have gone through a vast lot of experiences 
 since I have been here." 
 
 Helmer looked up inquiringly: "Yet nothing ter 
 rible, I hope?" 
 
 "That's as one looks at it may I?" And he 
 took a cigarette from a smoking-table standing near. 
 
 Helmer gave him a light, then sat down on the 
 other side of the table, and they were soon engaged 
 in earnest talk. 
 
 The prince related his interviews with the master 
 of the house, the news which he had got from the 
 letters and papers and the plans that Toker had 
 developed. Helmer manifested the liveliest interest. 
 The observations that he interpolated, the opinions 
 that he expressed, the warmth and readiness of en 
 thusiasm which accompanied all his words and ges 
 tures, were so sympathetic to the prince that he felt 
 mightily drawn to the poet. It did him good to be 
 free to talk with an intelligent mind about the mis 
 sion with which Toker had entrusted him. His bur 
 den of care already began to seem lighter. Here he 
 could find counsel and stimulus and support. His 
 heart began to glow. 
 
 " It is a perfect delight, Helmer," said he, bending 
 over the table and laying his hand on the other's 
 arm, "to speak about these things with you. You 
 have experience and a keen insight, and you have 
 what shall I call it? Schwingen pinions the 
 upsoaring spirit ... I wish you were my friend . . . 
 Be my friend!" 
 
 " I am, as far as I may, my prince." 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 The two men shook hands. 
 
 "Truly, I have never had a friend ; always nothing 
 but flatterers, time-servers, or else highly respect 
 able jailors, eager maitres de plaisir; here and there, 
 among those of my own rank and relationship, a good 
 fellow all too ready for sport and the like but a 
 friend? Not one! Not one whom one may trust if 
 one is in trouble or is experiencing a great happiness 
 not one to ask advice of in a difficulty." 
 
 "Is that your case, Your Highness?" asked Hel- 
 mer sympathetically. 
 
 "That is my case." 
 
 "Will you honor me with your confidence?" 
 
 The prince stood up and walked in some agitation 
 back and forth a few times ; then he went to the win 
 dow and gazed out for a while. He was evidently 
 having a struggle with himself. Then he suddenly 
 turned round: "Well, then, listen!" 
 
 Helmer had also risen and was leaning on his 
 writing-table which stood near the window. He bent 
 his head. "I am listening." And at the same time 
 a suspicion flashed through his mind that he was 
 about to hear something unpleasant. 
 
 "Well, then," proceeded Victor Adolph. "Happi 
 ness, difficulty everything comes all at once. 
 During the last twenty-four hours, more things and 
 more important things have surged into my life 
 than hitherto in many years. It has been revealed 
 to me that a position of great power the position 
 of a monarch a crown might be offered to me. 
 I am as democratic in my instincts as any one could 
 well be ; you know that . . . yet, I confess, the notion 
 
 38i
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 seems dazzling to me. In the case of other men only, 
 too great power seems perilous; in one's own case, 
 one is convinced that it can be used only for advan 
 tage. How much I could help and accomplish 
 even in the spirit of those ' lofty thoughts ' which are 
 at the present time soaring out from here into the 
 world. Then the mission, which I have under 
 taken at Toker's desire, to win over my father to an 
 action which might establish on a firm basis his 
 treasured ideal of international peace all these 
 things would be splendid tasks." 
 
 " In what consists the trouble, Prince? I see only 
 the happiness and no difficulty." 
 
 "The happiness consists in something else and 
 the difficulty is, that I must renounce either those 
 duties or the happiness. If I cling to the happiness, 
 I should lose yonder position and influence, and per 
 haps my rank. I am in love, Helmer, madly in love 
 and I have not the strength of will to renounce 
 my beloved : yesterday I made her an offer of 
 marriage." 
 
 Helmer was playing with a paper-cutter: it fell 
 with a crash on the floor. He stooped over to pick it 
 up, and thus he concealed the pallor that suddenly 
 invaded his face. So then the moment had arrived, 
 when that which he had so often dreaded was a 
 reality. He had really never even hoped to win 
 Franka; he had himself hinted to her the remote 
 possibility that the prince would be her suitor and 
 had tried to persuade himself that he would unsel 
 fishly rejoice at it. But hitherto it had been only an 
 unreal figment of his imagination; now it was the 
 
 382
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 truth. He took longer in regaining the paper-cutter 
 than was necessary. Now he drew himself up once 
 more. 
 
 "So you are to be congratulated," he said, trying 
 hard to control his voice. "Is Fraulein Garlett al 
 ready your betrothed?" 
 
 " I cannot as yet call her that . . . she has not given 
 her answer . . . the whole affair is still a secret. Oh, 
 Helmer, I cannot tell you how it has relieved me to 
 take you into my confidence!" 
 
 Without knocking, John Toker entered the room : 
 "Hello, Mr. Helmer; the gong is about sounding 
 for luncheon; I wanted to speak with you about 
 something beforehand. Ah, you are not alone? ..." 
 He at that instant became aware of the presence 
 of Victor Adolph, who stepped forward from the 
 embrasure of the window. "Ah, is it you, Your 
 Highness?" 
 
 "Yes, it is I; but I must be going now." And he 
 heartily took his leave of the two men. 
 
 Helmer entered the dining-room in great agita 
 tion. How could he endure meeting Franka with the 
 knowledge that the die had been cast, that she was 
 about to belong to another? And how would he suc 
 ceed in hiding the pangs of jealousy which tormented 
 his heart? Yet he was spared for a time these diffi 
 culties. Franka was not present, and he was in 
 formed that she had sent her apologies for missing the 
 luncheon she had a headache. Helmer felt re 
 lieved, and yet disappointed. Now it seemed to him 
 as if he had a hundred things to say to her, and as if 
 
 383
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 he had been robbed of his privilege of being the first 
 to congratulate her, the first who should venture to 
 speak with her about this crisis in her destiny, even 
 before the others knew anything about it. 
 
 The conversation at table on this occasion was 
 very animated. Toker's guests, as well as Toker him 
 self, had detected in the reports of newspapers signs 
 of threatening political peril, and there was a dis 
 cussion of the conditions. It was conducted in a 
 tone of dismay, but not at all in the spirit of the 
 usual political "Kannegiessereien" narrow-minded 
 twaddle: no combinations based on diplomatic-na 
 tional-strategical-historical premises as to whether, if 
 X-land should declare war on Z-land, Y-land should 
 stand by X or Z; whether X or Z would have the 
 better chances of winning out; in what relationship 
 the sea-power of the one would stand toward the 
 air-power of the other ; from what grounds of rivalry 
 or expansion the conflict had arisen and its outbreak 
 become unavoidable; what clashing of interests in 
 lofty spheres and what alterations of boundary lines 
 were imminent, and other technical absurdities of 
 the same routine variety. No, here were assembled 
 the elite among men, who looked down from the 
 higher pinnacles on the course of the world; who 
 based their judgment on philosophical criteria and 
 their will on humane sentiments. 
 
 The French senator and the American statesman, 
 as they sat side by side, had been for five minutes 
 engaged in a confidential conversation. Then the 
 Frenchman arose, and tapping on his glass to call the 
 attention of the Table Round, spoke as follows : 
 
 384
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 11 1 ask your hearing for a proposal." All came to 
 silence. With the refined, quiet manner of a diploma 
 tist he went on : " My honored friend, sitting next 
 to me, whose statesmanlike services for the cause 
 of peace are known to all of you, and I, have just 
 been talking over an idea which has been suggested 
 by the political news so unanimously commented 
 upon in our midst. The war of the future, so long 
 predicted, stands before our door: not so near that 
 it may surprise us at any hour, but still near enough 
 to make us mobilize without delay all the forces that 
 can be used to ward it off." 
 
 "Hear, hear!" cried John Toker, with flashing 
 eyes. 
 
 "There are people who desire this war espe 
 cially among the officers and general-staff circles, with 
 whom such a desire is part of their profession and 
 there are people who do not want it. Now the ques 
 tion is, which of these two groups will have the pre 
 ponderance? The masses, for the most part, wher 
 ever there is any thought at all, belong to the second 
 group, but they are dumb and as yet powerless I 
 say as yet powerless, for the day may come, and now 
 seems not so very far away, when this will no longer 
 be the case. But to-day the power of decision still 
 lies in the hands of the few. Among these few some 
 are for war some are against it. Here also those 
 who are against it are already more numerous; but 
 the others have higher positions and more influ 
 ence. What we have to do, then, is to weigh down 
 the scales against the war with the weight of pub 
 lic opinion and the combined pressure of widely 
 
 385
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 renowned and highly respected names. And now 
 comes our proposition." 
 
 He paused to drink a swallow of water. The others 
 gave eager attention. Helmer also, who had been 
 till that moment absorbed in his own thoughts, was 
 now listening attentively: 
 
 "Ladies and gentlemen," continued the senator, 
 "we possess here thanks to the genius and the 
 millions of our host it is good when these two are 
 combined an apparatus for publicity of marvel 
 ous efficacy. What we say here is sent by wireless 
 telegraphy circling round the world; it is taken up 
 by ten thousand rotary presses, is repeated by ten 
 thousand phonographs, is preserved in all the libra 
 ries and archives in existence. So much for the 
 echo. And now for the weight. Let us put aside 
 false modesty; the Knighthood of the Rose must 
 be conscious and ought to be conscious of its noble 
 rank, in order to be forever mindful of the work to 
 which it is pledged. John Toker summons only his 
 contemporaries of world-wide reputation ; only those 
 who through their art, their scientific abilities, their 
 inventions, their political activities, particularly 
 their service in the politics of peace, have served 
 all men, and therefore possess universal authority. 
 Just as in every great country there is the upper ten 
 thousand of the aristocracy, so we once more I 
 say, away with false modesty! form the world's 
 half-hundred of talent." 
 
 Toker clapped his hands; the others began to do 
 the same, but the speaker stretched out his arm in 
 a deprecating gesture and proceeded : 
 
 386
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "We have here a tribune which is visible from all 
 the civilized places of the earth ; our voices ring out 
 as from a gigantic gramophone. So let us raise these 
 voices in a solemn protest. Let us on the last even 
 ing, instead of indulging, as usually is prearranged 
 on such occasions, in rhetorical and artistic perform 
 ances, let us attempt an act of rescue. Let us, in 
 a tone of thunder, call a halt to this disaster! This 
 disaster is no elementary catastrophe beyond the 
 power of the human will ; it is an action commanded 
 by rulers and executed by the nations, and it must 
 not be commanded and it must not be executed. If 
 all see clearly how things lie, and if all have the op 
 portunity to express their will, the ' Halt ! ' sounding 
 forth from here can swell up into an irresistible nega 
 tive. The threatening war we all know what an 
 insignificant controversy is at the bottom of it 
 can be averted either by mediation or by an appeal 
 to the Court of Arbitration. If this is not done, if 
 the Fury a Fury armed with fangs, fins, and jaws, 
 and now also with wings is again let loose, then 
 it will kindle a world-conflagration. We will to-day 
 give the world a clear demonstration of the case ; we 
 will put forth an energetic demand for mediation or 
 arbitration ; we want to raise a strong protest against 
 an easy or an intentional sufferance of the catas 
 trophe. In all the centers, where our message pene 
 trates, opportunity is offered for all the leaders and 
 all the consenting masses to unite ; and the word ut 
 tered here may swell up into a plebiscite that will 
 encompass the earth. Is this your sentiment, Mr. 
 Toker? do you agree to this, gentlemen?" 
 
 387
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Toker, who sat opposite the speaker, bent across 
 and shook both his hands. 
 
 " Is that my sentiment! One more mine laid!" 
 
 Helmer, as soon as he returned to his room, sat 
 down to write to Franka. He felt compelled to 
 speak to her. His heart was full to bursting. Yet 
 he did not know what he should write her. Only 
 the necessity was upon him to direct to her another 
 of his "Brother Chlodwig" letters, after the manner 
 of those which he had sent to her at several of the 
 serious crises of her life. He began : 
 
 "Sister Franka" but hardly had his eyes 
 rested on the dear name when he was irresistibly 
 impelled to add, "I worship thee!" Of course, it 
 was evident to him that he must tear up this sheet 
 and throw it into the waste-paper basket. But first 
 he wanted to let his feelings exhaust themselves to 
 a certain degree in the same vein, and so he wrote 
 further: "Yes, I worship thee! Sweet . . . lovely 
 . . . the only one ! I press thee to my heart and kiss 
 thee . . . kiss thee ..." (Oh, how this word flamed 
 on the paper he wrote it a third time.) ' ' Kiss thee 
 on thine eyelids, on thy parted lips ! Franka, Franka, 
 that another man will have a right to do ... it is 
 horrible! ... I am wretched! . . . How can I en 
 dure it? Let us not think of it. I kiss thee again, 
 Franka, my Franka, mine, mine, mine. . . . The 
 dear lovely name, 'Franka,' in French, 'Franche, ' 
 is n't it? Franchetta, donna idolatrata! Frankie, 
 my own darling! Dost thou suspect what bliss 
 thou hast to dispose? Dost thou know also ..." 
 
 388
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 This brought him to the end of the page. He did 
 not turn the sheet over, but tore it up and flung it 
 into the basket. Then he put another sheet before 
 him, sat for some time buried in thoughts, and then 
 began again to write. This was to be the actual 
 letter which he would send : 
 
 FRANKA GARLETT! 
 
 Again you stand at the turning of the ways and it is the 
 privilege of Brother Chlodwig to bring you a few words 
 words of blessing. To-day you have withdrawn your 
 self apparently in order to think over the crisis that af 
 fects your heart and your future. I do not have any faith 
 in that excuse of a headache! So it is forbidden me to 
 talk with you about the matter: therefore I am writing. 
 It is, after all, more agreeable for me to do so. If I first 
 offer you my congratulations, it will be possible for me 
 to meet you more calmly. For I must confess that I am 
 deeply stirred. I should not have found the right attitude, 
 the right words, if I had been obliged to sit by your side 
 at the luncheon-table, knowing what I know, and appear 
 calm and at my ease in the presence of all those people, 
 while inwardly I was more disturbed than ever before in 
 all my life. 
 
 Franka, do you remember? I was the first to give you 
 the Valkyrie consecration; you received from my hands 
 the shield and the spear. These weapons have certainly 
 to-day become a burden to you, and yet you perhaps feel 
 a reproach from your conscience at the thought of laying 
 them down. Now I will be helpful to you, and I myself 
 will put forth my hand to relieve you of them. My noble 
 Valkyrie, you have gallantly battled and have won the 
 victory it is enough ! Be henceforth and be unregret- 
 fully merely a joyous human being, just a happy 
 woman. A fire-spell flames around you, but there is 
 nothing fabulous about it it is only Love. . . . 
 
 389
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 By Victor Adolph's side, you will, moreover, be able to 
 work for the loftiest human ends. For he himself stands 
 now facing mighty tasks, which he has energetically as 
 sumed and which you will be able, by your influence, your 
 advice, your sympathy, greatly to forward. Certainly, 
 the epoch which is approaching is pregnant with fate 
 so much explosive material has been heaped up, and yet 
 wisdom enough also has been collected to hinder the ex 
 plosion, enough also to conduct the forces on hand from 
 destructive to beneficent uses. Your betrothed will help 
 in this work and you will help him. Is not that a proud 
 destiny? 
 
 But, above all, let it be a beautiful, gladsome destiny! 
 Smile, be rapturous, live, be crowned with roses. 
 
 CHLODWIG. 
 
 Helmer folded the sheet and thrust it into an 
 envelope. One might judge from the contents of 
 the letter that he did this with a sort of gentle 
 ceremoniousness ; not at all: he did it grinding his 
 teeth, with fever-cold hands, with swift-beating 
 pulses. Then he rang for his man and ordered him 
 to deliver the letter immediately. 
 
 Bruning entered the room simultaneously with 
 the servant. 
 
 "Ah, I am glad to find you in, Helmer; I have 
 been for a long time anxious to have a sensible chat 
 with you. " 
 
 Helmer did not share this longing; the call 
 seemed to him highly inopportune; but what else 
 could he say than "Fine; I'm pleased to see you. 
 Sit down." 
 
 Bruning made himself at home. " You don't look 
 quite up to concert-pitch, old man? Evidently, you 
 
 390
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 are right glad to have the whole affair over and done 
 with. I, too, am glad enough that it will be ended 
 in a couple of days. A good deal has been very 
 interesting, but the whole effect is so exotic and so 
 extravagant. You know me I can't stand hum 
 bug. What 's your plan? Where are you going from 
 here?" 
 
 "Going back to Berlin. And you?" 
 
 " I am going to the Sielenburg. The old Countess 
 Schollendorf invited me. The Sielenburg really be 
 longs to Miss Garlett, does n't it? And she has still 
 other estates? All of it might have been yours long 
 ago if you had been a bit clever. But you have let 
 her get snapped away from you : every one has seen 
 that the German prince is after her. " 
 
 Helmer made a gesture of annoyance. "And you 
 call this a sensible chat?" 
 
 "Well, then, let's talk about other things. There 
 is lots of news. Our famous sportsman yesterday 
 got a pair of wings fitted to him and fell into the 
 lake." 
 
 "Regenburg? Was he drowned?" 
 
 "No, they fished him out. But if I know him, he 
 will not rest until he has flown round the Stefans- 
 turm. Ambition is a fine thing and especially when, 
 by satisfying it, one breaks his own neck and not 
 otherpeople's . . . as ambitious statesmen are mighty 
 apt to do. In their case hundreds of thousands are 
 in danger of their lives. " 
 
 "You have in mind the old-fashioned type of 
 statesmen," said Helmer, shrugging his shoulders. 
 
 "Not by a long chalk. ... I had especially in 
 39i
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 mind our Marchese Rinotti. He will blossom out 
 only in the future, and he will have nerve and tem 
 perament enough to mow his way through heca 
 tombs of victims in perfect sang-froid if it suits his 
 plans. That belongs to his trade. " 
 
 "Times are changing, my dear Franz. . . . Nowa 
 days, the national helmsmen whether princes or 
 ministers already begin to set their ambition on 
 being considered the guardians of the peace. " 
 
 "In their words and phrases . . . but you are ir 
 retrievably naif, my good Chlodwig. Whoever is to 
 be a genuine statesman must lie, must endeavor 
 to pull the wool over the eyes of the others. He con 
 tracts friendship with other powers, not in the least 
 out of good will toward his allies, but to make com 
 mon head against a third. He secretly stirs up en 
 mities ; for he may get advantage from possible con 
 flicts of others in which he himself is not involved. 
 In order to confirm and strengthen his own power, 
 he without any scruples drives rough-shod over all 
 obstacles, such as treaties, conventions, and the 
 like: in short, he " 
 
 " In short, he is a scoundrel!" 
 
 "Call it so. In popular parlance he is a genius. 
 But don't let us dispute. Your kingdom is in the 
 clouds. Only I fear you will soon get a bad fall. Do 
 you happen to be reading the news? Such things 
 are under way as " 
 
 "Oh, I know perfectly well what is threatening; 
 but I know also what beckons. I have long given 
 up discussing with you. It is remarkable how two 
 men, classmates and comrades in childhood and in 
 
 392
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 the early days of youth, can so grow apart in their 
 views of life. And neither of us is stupid!" 
 
 "The difference is this you are intellectual and 
 I am prudent. " 
 
 "I hate the word 'prudent.' It sounds cold and 
 harsh: it has no uplift." 
 
 "That I grant you, my dear pinion-poet! I am a 
 sober, matter-of-fact man. As such let me tell you 
 a couple of incidents from real life. You must know 
 that the two interesting widows, to whom I intro 
 duced you lately that impetuous Countess Sol- 
 nikova and that gentle Annette Felsen have been 
 having a great experience during the last two days. 
 Romances are brought to a climax here with amaz 
 ing rapidity . . . perhaps for the reason that we 
 have here, as it were, only a week's respite. Now 
 the countess has been making a little flight with 
 your Polish composer not a flight in the figura 
 tive, but in the actual, sense of the word. For you 
 see they hired a fine aerotaxi and in it flew over the 
 mountains: the wind drove them into a deserted 
 region and they had to spend the night in a shed 
 . . . There is no need of harboring any suspicions 
 about it. And as regards Annette Felsen she be 
 came regularly engaged to our Machiavelli yester 
 day." 
 
 "Is that so?" said Helmer, with mild interest. 
 "Yes, " he added rather to himself, " romances come 
 to a climax here with great rapidity." 
 
 At the very door of his hotel, Prince Victor Adolph 
 met General Orell, who came to him in great haste. 
 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "At last, Your Royal Highness," he exclaimed; 
 and added reproachfully, "You went out without 
 my escort!" 
 
 " I don't want always to trouble you, dear Orell. " 
 
 "A telegram has just come for Your Royal 
 Highness. " 
 
 Victor Adolph, surprised, took the dispatch and 
 tore open the envelope. He was evidently startled. 
 The dispatch was from his father: "Your pres 
 ence here is imperatively needed in a highly impor 
 tant political emergency, affecting you personally. 
 Come by next train. " 
 
 " If possible we must leave this very day. Please, 
 General, find what time the trains start and bring 
 me the information to my room. I will precede 
 you." 
 
 As soon as he reached his room, he threw himself 
 down into his easy-chair, and read the dispatch a 
 second time. Evidently it concerned that eventual 
 ity of the throne . . . then he must obey. Besides, 
 he would necessarily in any case obey such a per 
 emptory command of his father and king. Yet how 
 inconveniently it came. . . . That other great even 
 tuality his relations with Franka was still in 
 the air he had not as yet received her answer, 
 and she knew nothing of the difficulties that had to 
 be surmounted. To depart now! Truly, too many 
 complications . . . 
 
 General Orell brought the time-table. The next, 
 being also the last train, left at five o'clock in the 
 afternoon. It was now one, time enough for 
 making preparations and for a farewell call upon 
 
 394
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Franka. He felt he must speak with her. He took 
 a hasty luncheon with Orell. Then he returned to 
 his study and put his papers in order. He wrote to 
 Toker, explaining his sudden departure and prom 
 ised to keep his task in mind. He also addressed 
 a few cordial lines to Helmer. 
 
 Now the next thing was to go to Franka. What 
 should he say to her? If she accepted his proposal, 
 
 and he really had no doubt that she would, 
 the engagement could not possibly be made public 
 
 certainly not at this time, when the question of 
 the accession to the throne was still undecided: it 
 would be the most unsuitable moment to anger his 
 father. His choice would anger not only his father, 
 but the whole clique. He was well aware of that. 
 What a lunatic world ! What a compulsion ! Under 
 other circumstances, he would have been more than 
 willing to renounce all the prerogatives of his rank, 
 in order, without further dissimulation, to follow 
 the dictates of his heart as a private citizen. But 
 the question for him did not merely concern an 
 empty title and the insignificant gratifications con 
 nected with it ; it was perhaps a question of an actual 
 position of power in which he could do immeasur 
 able public service. Even if he did not attain the 
 crown, it would nevertheless be necessary to retain 
 his rank and his influence for the furtherance of the 
 mission entrusted to him by Toker. If he now should 
 fall out with his family and the people of his own 
 class, how could he then carry on a propaganda 
 among them for the objects of the conspiracy? It 
 was a complicated situation no single direct 
 
 395
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 aim for his duties and desires. But supreme in his 
 heart, his fancy, his very blood, was still the image 
 of the lovely Franka, and there was the hot desire 
 to hold her in his arms. 
 
 With quick steps and a mind deeply disturbed, 
 he covered the short distance back to the Rose- 
 Palace. He found the door to Franka's apartments 
 open; the anteroom was empty, and he knocked at 
 the salon door and entered. 
 
 Frau von Rockhaus came to meet him: "Oh, 
 Your Royal Highness ..." 
 
 "May I speak with Fraulein Garlett?" 
 
 " Franka is not at home. How sorry she will be " 
 
 "No, no, my dear lady, she must not be denied 
 to me. ... I must speak with her it is too im 
 portant. " 
 
 "On my word of honor, she is not in. She went 
 out a quarter of an hour ago with Miss Toker. She 
 did not go down to the d6jeuner, and so Miss Toker 
 came to see what had become of her and persuaded 
 her to take a drive the fresh air would do her 
 good." 
 
 "Then I will wait till she returns." 
 
 "The two ladies will not be back before five 
 o'clock. Their intention was to go to a place of re 
 sort, quite a distance away." 
 
 "What was the name of the place? " 
 
 " I do not remember the name. " 
 
 Victor Adolph suppressed a curse. This was too 
 unfortunate. So, then, he would have to leave the 
 town without seeing her again. . . . He begged per 
 mission to write a few lines for the young lady. 
 
 396
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Frau Eleonore conducted him to the writing-table, 
 and provided him with paper. He began to write, 
 but his hand trembled so violently that the letters 
 ran together, and he could not collect his thoughts. 
 He threw the pen aside, crumpled up the sheet, and 
 arose: "I prefer to write at home," said he, and 
 hastily took his departure. 
 
 In the quiet of his own room, he managed, after 
 much consideration and some false beginnings, to 
 compose the following message : 
 
 GNADIGES FRAULEIN! 
 
 As I have not as yet received a consenting answer to 
 my question, I do not venture to use any more intimate 
 address. Frau von Rockhaus will tell you that I came to 
 see you. But she does not know how unhappy it made me 
 to miss you. A telegram from my father which I in 
 close compels me to leave Lucerne by the five o'clock 
 train. It is terrible to me not to have had a chance to see 
 you and talk with you before my departure. I know that 
 you are to remain in Lucerne for three or four days longer. 
 I hope sincerely that I can return unless you forbid me. 
 In any case, wherever you are, pray let me know the 
 place where I may get the answer from you that will de 
 cide my fate. 
 
 I still owe it to you to explain my circumstances and 
 the conditions which these circumstances impose upon 
 me. This I can do only by word of mouth. But I will 
 repeat in writing what I said yesterday from an over 
 flowing heart: I love you and ask you to be my wife! 
 
 VICTOR ADOLPH. 
 Address: Royal Palace . 
 
 When Franka had returned from her excursion 
 with Gwendoline, she found the two letters. She 
 
 397
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 read and re-read them, first hastily, then deliber 
 ately, weighing every word and trying to find be 
 tween the lines what had gone forth from the hearts 
 of the senders. From Victor Adolph's although 
 the conclusion of it confirmed the greatest proof of 
 love that a man can give a woman: the offer of his 
 hand there seemed to emanate a cool breath ; 
 from Helmer's, on the other hand, although in it 
 he gave her away to another, came forth some 
 thing like a warm caress.
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 A CORNUCOPIA FULL OF GIFTS 
 
 THE next to the last evening of this Rose- Week was 
 at hand. The principal speaker was to be that 
 young American, as yet unknown to the great ma 
 jority, to whom Helmer had referred when he said 
 to the little coterie at the hotel: "I know of things 
 which are in preparation . . . there is in our midst 
 an inventor, a conqueror ..." 
 
 In the hall great excitement reigned. The pre 
 liminary exercises, although they were of the highest 
 artistic excellence, had been listened to with but 
 half an ear. Only when the American had taken his 
 place at the reading-desk did the public experience 
 that piquant satisfaction which one expresses in the 
 three words: "Now it is coming!" 
 
 Franka did not come down until just before the 
 recess; she took her place in a somewhat remote 
 and dimly lighted corner. But Helmer caught sight 
 of her and hastened to her. She was alone. Frau 
 Eleonore, afflicted with a bad headache, had gone 
 to bed. 
 
 Franka offered Helmer her hand: "Thank you 
 for your letter, Brother Chlodwig. Sit down with 
 me." And she made room for him on the small 
 sofa on which she was seated. "But tell me how 
 you knew that the prince " 
 
 "He himself told me so." 
 399
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "That he was betrothed to me?" 
 
 "That he had proposed to you . . . and now he 
 has been compelled to go away." 
 
 "You know that, too?" 
 
 "He told me this in a note. This is really sad for 
 both of you." 
 
 "He will be back again." 
 
 "Back here? But you were intending to return 
 to Austria after the Rose- Week ..." 
 
 "But he might come to Austria." 
 
 "Of course." 
 
 Both were silent. Helmer himself did not under 
 stand how it was possible for him to speak with her 
 so calmly and not to show any sign of the mighty 
 feelings that were tormenting him. However, he 
 had actually become more composed in her presence 
 such loftiness and purity radiated from her that 
 covetous emotions and jealous ideas were banished 
 from her vicinity. He enveloped her in a gentle, af 
 fectionate glance. How beautiful she was in her flow 
 ing white robe with the modest bunch of violets at 
 her breast, and the proud string of pearls around her 
 neck ! yes, proud and modest she was, and thus she 
 adorned herself. 
 
 For a time she met his eyes. There lay in them the 
 same delicate, affectionate caress that she had 
 detected between the lines of his letter. Then she 
 broke the silence. 
 
 "I like your fraternal letters. Always, when a 
 fateful hour is striking for me, comes such a letter 
 and brings me comfort, stimulus, warning, or bless 
 ing, as it happens. And in such symbolical language: 
 
 400
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 at one time, you hand me shield and spear, and this 
 time it was myrtle and the bridal veil. Yet you did 
 not say that ; you carefully avoid such banal figures 
 of speech!" 
 
 "Carefully? No: he who is tormented by fear of 
 commonplaces can never be true and simple. Tell 
 me, Franka, also quite truly and simply, how do you 
 feel in view of this turn in your fate?" 
 
 Franka deliberated. Then with a deep breath: 
 " How do I feel about it? Truly, that is not so simple 
 to say. Such remarkable experiences have come to 
 me ... in what I have gone through this week: it 
 is not merely one, there are ten emotions. Just as 
 after a convulsion of nature, islands are suddenly 
 surging up, mountains are toppled over, so has 
 my earth-surface been transformed. The Garlett 
 career has been drowned . . . Franka's love-life has 
 come to the surface." 
 
 "Franka's love-life ..." repeated Helmer slowly 
 and softly. 
 
 "But that is not all," continued Franka; "so 
 much that is new has surged into my spiritual life. 
 My conception of life has altered, has widened; I 
 have seen such magnificent, such tremendous things 
 arise, things still unsuspected by any of us. And in 
 the measure as my conception of life has grown, the 
 little Ego has shrivelled up. And what this poor 
 little Ego can do for the incomprehensible giant 
 'world' seems so insignificant to it that it recalls 
 that, after all, it is a part of the universe, a tiny 
 part endowed with a right to happiness. Every man 
 has two souls in his breast, which take counsel and 
 
 401
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 struggle with each other, and say: 'I claim my 
 right.'" 
 
 "Yes, I understand. . . . Then the one Franka 
 does what the other wants, and a third person is 
 blessed." 
 
 The conversation was interrupted : Baron Malhof 
 joined them, and so it became three-cornered. And 
 then the young American began to speak, and all 
 stopped talking and listened. 
 
 His first words were: "I bring gifts!" then 
 he made a brief pause: "A cornucopia of gifts: 
 immeasurable riches for you, for all the world!" 
 
 Again he paused for a while, and just as he began, 
 so he continued his discourse in paragraphs sepa 
 rated by brief pauses, and the paragraphs marked 
 by concise sentences. 
 
 "You who will receive these gifts will not exult 
 like children around a Christmas tree. Children 
 receive what they comprehend, what they have been 
 wanting, what they immediately use. The new 
 things that I bring will be slow in becoming under 
 stood : likewise slow in spreading and winning appre 
 ciation. Many will indifferently push them aside; 
 many will even resist them. Whatever destroys the 
 beaten track the customary habits of thought 
 and of action people avoid. A Japanese proverb 
 says: 'An evil which has lasted two years becomes 
 a necessity.' 
 
 "I bring riches. But our society is schooled to 
 poverty and want; it is built up on these. Especially 
 for the rich, their existence seems indispensable. 
 Performance of the baser necessary functions, stim- 
 
 402
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 ulus to progress : on this the social usefulness of pov 
 erty is founded; opportunity for the preaching of 
 contentment, for the giving of alms, so certain to 
 bring one to heaven these advantages of poverty 
 are becomingly treasured by the rich. When I tell 
 these rich men that there can be riches for all, this 
 disturbs their circle, and they reply indignantly: 
 'Sheer fancy! Utopia! Humbug!' The poor and 
 wretched are not quite so entranced with the ad 
 vantages and amenities of poverty which appeal so 
 forcibly to the well-to-do. And whenever they do 
 not belong to the great majority of the dully re 
 signed, they strive to remedy it by planning a new 
 division of the property extant, or a change in the 
 economic system. 
 
 "You all know what this attempt is called. But 
 do not be alarmed I am not going to preach social 
 ism. Division and control of property belong to 
 another field. Here I am speaking of the increase of 
 property : an increase so infinitely great that it leaves 
 no place at all for want. 
 
 "Possibly, by application of common sense and 
 justice, it might be feasible, even with the materials 
 in our possession, to banish wretchedness from the 
 world. Whether the existing unreason and injustice 
 would not maintain poverty even when superabun 
 dance were obtained who knows? Certainly not 
 for any length of time. 
 
 "More than ten years ago, the tidings of Luther 
 Burbank's miracles in the cultivation of plants was 
 communicated to the world. This man succeeded 
 in cultivating, on his lonely California farm, varie- 
 
 403
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 ties of vegetables and fruits of a size never before 
 known, and he managed to rid of its spines a kind of 
 cactus which grows in the most arid sands of the 
 desert and so make it edible for man and beast. 
 
 "Does not that sound like a dry botanical fact, 
 interesting only to a few truck-gardeners, but sure 
 to leave the great mass of the people indifferent? 
 The world did remain unmoved: a couple of illus 
 trated articles in family magazines, causing a few 
 readers to shake their heads dubiously, ' Straw 
 berries as big as a child's head, stoneless plums, 
 spineless cactuses remarkable ! ' and then it 
 was all forgotten. 
 
 "Would you not have thought there would be a 
 cry of jubilation from one end of the world to the 
 other: 'What we can compel Nature to new gifts, 
 we can bring forth provender and food in such quan 
 tities! We can make the deserts and rocky soil to 
 provide us with such cheap harvests that the evil 
 demons, Hunger and Famine, will be banished for 
 ever from the earth ! ' No, the readers of the family 
 magazines did not see so far. 
 
 "Human art creating species, giant species, is 
 that a mere trifle? Are we not on the way to becom 
 ing gods, when we conquer the mysterious power 
 from which flows new life in new forms? 
 
 "But wait! We are still far distant from that. 
 Our moral will still stands much below our physical 
 power. Our colleague, Chlodwig Helmer, has at 
 tached this reproach to the conquest of the air, and 
 with equal justice this same reproach can be made 
 to our conquest of the hidden creative forces of the 
 
 404
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 earth. We master the technical, the mechanical, 
 the physical but where remains the uplift and the 
 depth ? Where remains the exultant comprehension 
 of the miracle, where the ecstasy? 
 
 " Certainly, those inventions are not passing with 
 out any notice. Professionals have busied them 
 selves with them. Capitalists have made use of 
 them ; first in small concerns, then gradually in great 
 corporations but always for the advantage of the 
 exploiters. There are already stretches of the Sa 
 hara given over to culture of the Opuntia cactus; 
 there are California vegetable-gardens, raising the 
 giant cabbage, and a lively export trade is carried 
 on with it, made very difficult, however, by the cus 
 toms restrictions hastily imposed: the poor lands 
 must still be foref ended against overabundance 
 they must never be swamped with cheap foreign 
 products. Divitiae ante portas. . . . An agrarian 
 ' Marseillaise ' will soon be sung with a fiscal rattle 
 of drums: 'Aux tarifs, citoyensl' " 
 
 "Oh, dear!" whispered Malhof, who was a warm 
 advocate of protectionism; "the man comes out for 
 free trade. Is that also to be a part of High Think- 
 ing?" 
 
 Helmer nodded: "Certainly. Freedom belongs to 
 the highest concepts." 
 
 "I also prize freedom, especially in love!" said 
 Malhof ; ' ' but in the domain of political economy ' ' 
 
 Franka uttered a warning: "Sh!" She wanted to 
 hear the address. 
 
 The speaker went on to say : 
 
 "A strange error has been holding and still largely 
 405
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 holds men in its toils : The belief that the good things 
 of this world are to be had in a constant and limited 
 quantity ; he who would have anything must take it 
 from some one else ; every man can get more only at 
 the expense of some one else who gets less. And thus, 
 all practical self-seeking, all ethical altruism, all 
 political-economical wisdom is confined to the rear 
 rangement, the redivision, the stealing, and the giv 
 ing away of the whole existent mass. This error in 
 its most primitive form engendered the battle for the 
 fertile soil : every consumer left dead was a gain for 
 the hungry survivors. At the first beginnings, the 
 belief that the good things were limited in quantity 
 was by no means a heresy . . . nothing at all was pro 
 duced. In later times, however, such an increase in 
 the general store of wealth has come about that no 
 one any longer would have needed to starve had 
 not limited exchange, unjust division, and senseless 
 waste assured the continuance of poverty! The 
 worse waste consists in the nations' spending two 
 thirds of their wealth in making preparations to 
 annihilate the other third. 
 
 "O Stupidity, mighty sovereign, thy empire is 
 abysmally deep! We know well that the common 
 possession has greatly increased, but still we say to 
 ourselves : ' Not enough, not enough ! ' And still we 
 think that property is a thing which may be looted 
 and must be defended. And still we believe that any 
 one can win only in proportion as another loses! 
 
 "But now something has been brought forth 
 amongst us which certainly is as splendid as the con 
 quest of the air : this which is to be announced now 
 
 406
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 by me this is the secret concealed in my hand 
 like a costly present, with which I shall give you a 
 great surprise." 
 
 He took a step nearer to the edge of the platform 
 and held out his right hand tightly closed toward the 
 audience. All eyes and all glasses were directed to 
 him, as if they expected to see some kind of a won 
 der-bird fly from his fist. His face looked also so 
 promising, there was a victorious smile hovering 
 over his lips. It was a typical American face : smooth- 
 shaven, with firmly chiseled features of Napoleonic 
 cast, clear eyes, and glistening teeth. He opened his 
 hand with a gesture of giving : 
 
 " I bring you the news that we are able to increase 
 and enlarge our common fund increase it infinitely 
 beyond all our needs, beyond all our powers of im 
 agination. Rejoice, all ye who are here present, and 
 all ye whom in the outside world my words may 
 reach, among whom surely there are many poor and 
 heavy-laden ! Rejoice we are all winners of the 
 great prize! Some time will, indeed, elapse before 
 the prize is paid over, but, all the same, the lucky 
 numbers are drawn! 
 
 "Let me explain: Wealth consists not only in suf 
 ficient quantities of victuals, although it would 
 be a fine result if abundance of that should prevail 
 in all places, but it also consists in a thousand 
 other products of human labor. On the whole, 
 wealth is the product only of labor, not of money. 
 Money is merely a conventional medium of exchange, 
 nothing more. Its value is regulated by the abun 
 dance or the scarcity of what is on hand. Where there 
 
 407
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 is no production, and therefore nothing on hand, 
 then even the heaviest gold-piece has no value. With 
 out labor nothing is produced; even the planting 
 and the harvesting and the use of the spineless 
 cactus demand the power of labor; and how much 
 more of it is needed for the creation of a thousand 
 things which beautify and alleviate the lives of the 
 rich buildings, works of art, means of intercourse, 
 materials, implements, machinery. To have an 
 abundance of all these things, what quantities of 
 work hence of working-power is needed ! Do 
 we possess a sufficiency of that? 
 
 "Now, then," again he extended his arm and 
 opened his hand as if he were flinging something 
 into the hall, "now, then, here is another gift: 
 the message of an increase of the universal treasure 
 of working power an increase beyond all neces 
 sities, beyond all our flights of imagination. What 
 we need is a pitcher full, and what will be at our 
 disposal is an ocean ! 
 
 "This is not the place or the hour to make physi 
 cal demonstrations in order to prove what I say. 
 You must take my word for it. In a pamphlet, pre 
 pared for the occasion and containing all the prac 
 tical details, you will find the clear technical and 
 mathematical proofs. A copy of this pamphlet will 
 be handed to each one present. Here and now I will 
 only bring the fact to your knowledge that of late 
 a new series of discoveries and inventions have been 
 made. I will tell you of these and of the results which 
 are expected to flow from them. Of some of them 
 I myself have been the fortunate originator, others 
 
 408
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 proceed from others. I shall mention no names, but 
 merely explain the things themselves: no, not 
 explain, bring them before you." 
 
 The speaker made a long pause during which the 
 pamphlet, printed in three languages, was distrib 
 uted. A loud buzz of remarks exchanged, mingled 
 with the rustle of turning leaves, arose. The excite 
 ment had been growing more intense from the be 
 ginning; there was a general expectation of some 
 thing solemn, revolutionary, joy-conferring. 
 
 This word "general" can scarcely be said to in 
 clude the dyed-in-the-wool conservatives, who were 
 present in no small numbers; to such people new 
 inventions are a torment they antagonize and be 
 little them as much as possible; they are rilled with 
 distrust and depreciation in the presence of innova 
 tions the new jolts ; the new is dangerous. Not as 
 yet perished from the face of the earth is the race of 
 those who opposed the introduction of the railway 
 on the ground that the trade between Grossme- 
 seritsch and Jungbunzlau might suffer! 
 
 "Now what is he going to bring us you prob 
 ably know, Herr Helmer." 
 
 Chlodwig stared up as from a dream. "What? 
 who?" He had not taken the drift of Baron Mal- 
 hof's question; moreover, he had barely heard that 
 man yonder on the platform, so deeply had he been 
 absorbed all the time in studying Franka's face and 
 his own feelings. He, who had before been so pas 
 sionately interested in the events of the world, he 
 who in other circumstances would have listened 
 with the keenest interest to the stimulating words 
 
 409
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 of the young American, was now so completely un 
 der the spell of the two passions jealousy and love 
 that everything else sank into a dim mist. Franka 
 also was only partially attentive to what was going 
 on. To be sure, she had listened to the conclusions 
 of the lecturer, but in the background of her thoughts 
 she was ceaselessly engaged with the questions of 
 her destiny now so imperatively facing her, and the 
 more the man on the platform spoke of the treasures 
 of happiness beckoning to human society, the more 
 insistent within her grew the demand that she her 
 self should drain happiness in long draughts, and 
 bestow happiness in lavish generosity, united to the 
 man she loved. . . . 
 
 Again the young inventor took up his theme : 
 
 "Radium has been known since the year 1900. 
 Its marvelous properties were gradually discovered. 
 The possibility that this element which, from its 
 rarity, at first cost a hundred dollars a milligram, 
 might be obtained in large quantities, dates from 
 yesterday. This furnishes us with a source of power 
 beyond comprehension. A profusion of force has 
 been placed at our disposal so that all efficacy of 
 work can be multiplied a hundred fold, a thousand 
 fold, a hundred thousand fold. 
 
 "No figure need alarm us any more when we ex 
 perience what molecular forces exist in this radiant 
 matter. Every molecule has minute particles, atoms ; 
 the atoms of radium are thrown out with the rapid 
 ity of twenty thousand miles a second. Can you pic 
 ture to yourself the weight of the impact? 
 
 " Not only can we procure this in masses this 
 410
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 fabulous element but we can compress it. The 
 radium condenser has been invented. It will be mere 
 child's play to annihilate in a few minutes hostile 
 fleets and armies, to destroy hostile cities by means 
 of packages of radium-beams sent down from 
 cloudy altitudes. Reciprocally, forty-eight hours 
 after the so-called 'opening of hostilities* both war 
 ring parties might vanquish each the other and 
 leave in the enemy's land not a building and not 
 a living thing." 
 
 The speaker paused and looked around. Then he 
 apostrophized his auditors: 
 
 "Ladies and gentlemen, you are certainly aston 
 ished that I here announce a present of the good 
 things of this world and thereupon spread before 
 you such a vision of horrors. Merciful Heaven! I do 
 not say that these things are to be, but that you can 
 do them if you desire. It remains within your choice 
 and your will to make use of destructive possibili 
 ties or not. Power and force, a force approaching 
 almightiness is that not a wonderful possession? 
 It would not be an almighty power if it had not also 
 the capacity of working the utmost iniquity and the 
 limit of imbecility. If I could have presented you 
 with Aladdin's lamp whose slaves carry out every 
 command, these slaves would infallibly murder you 
 if that command were given them. But I take it 
 for granted that you would utter quite different 
 wishes. 
 
 "Aye, the obedient Genii of the radium-lamp, the 
 fluorescing electrons, can annihilate, destroy, and 
 exterminate ; but at our bidding they will annihilate 
 
 411
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 bacteria, destroy the germs of disease, put an end 
 to the weakness of old age but they are not going 
 to annihilate cities and useful lives. For the very 
 reason that they are capable of carrying out to its 
 ultimate absurdity the aims of war, their annihilat 
 ing powers are not going to have as their offering 
 the crumbling into ruins of human society, but the 
 shattering of the idol, Mars. 
 
 " I have not come to the end of my gifts: The lat 
 est inventions include the wireless transmission of 
 the electric current; and this: the electrical fertiliza 
 tion of the soil ; and this : the direct transformation 
 of the heat of the sun into mechanical energy. We 
 have the sun-motor. Have you a suspicion of what 
 that signifies? The primeval source of all life, the 
 storehouse of all power, the hot sun-ray captured in 
 our pocket apparatus ! 
 
 "Even now, I have not done with my gifts. This 
 time it is only a few trifles, just as on the Christmas 
 tree next some precious jewel hangs a little bag of 
 chocolate bonbons. We are now able to fly through 
 the air almost as do birds. One of my fellow-country 
 men has invented a contrivance he calls it the 
 4 Nautilus ' in which we can glide through the 
 water like a fish without the slightest exertion, with 
 torpedo-like swiftness. Provided with the Nautilus 
 one can go from Calais to Dover in a quarter of an 
 hour. This has the advantage over travel through 
 the air: one cannot fall into the water! 
 
 "Then one more bonbon a dynamic marvel 
 of an apparatus the inventor has given it the 
 name of ' Talmi Athlete.' With this, bound around 
 
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 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 the wrist, the weakest man can lift and carry the 
 heaviest burden. 
 
 "Still another bonbon! The ear-spectacles: a 
 little instrument with which the deaf can hear as 
 well as the nearsighted can see with glasses of high 
 power. 
 
 "And still another and marvelously sweet bon 
 bon the inventor has called it a ' Paradise Air- 
 Bath': a cabinet is filled with an artificially com 
 pounded atmosphere: ozone, compressed resinous 
 air, tempered electrical waves, pungent carbonic 
 acid, and a hitherto unknown material. Whoever 
 enters this cabinet is permeated by that physical, 
 causeless feeling of happiness such as the mountain- 
 climber experiences on the top of the Alps, the child 
 at play, the young person dancing: quickened pulses, 
 heightened heart-action, expanded lungs in short, 
 intense joy of life. 
 
 " But to return to the mighty powers we have con 
 quered. The question of first importance is not the 
 creating of new possibilities of enjoyment, the 
 well-to-do already have a sufficiency of such things, 
 but rather the abolition of misery : the physical 
 moral atmosphere of the rich would also be purified 
 by this, since at the present time deleterious vapors 
 of crime and illness mount up into it from the caves 
 of poverty. We have penetrated into the bowels of 
 the earth and have brought to light whole cargoes 
 of radium. We have constructed the condenser, and 
 now we have in our hands the mysterious and al 
 most unlimited creative power which decides death '* 
 and life. Everything on which the death-dealing 
 
 413
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 ray is directed, is irrevocably lost whether it be 
 a colony of microbes or a whole province. We can 
 accomplish death by wholesale; we can strengthen 
 the development of life. Radium can hasten the 
 growth of plants threefold and make them thrice as 
 large; it can also retard growth. According to the 
 way it is applied, the wonder-element is the awak- 
 ener of life-energy, or cripples it. We shall be en 
 abled by means of it to lengthen the span of human 
 life ; we shall be able but now I will desist. The 
 line of consequences which follow a newly accom 
 plished advance is inconceivable. The gold ingot 
 lies before you now go hence and coin it!"
 
 CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 FRANKA DECIDES HER FATE 
 
 THE next morning, Helmer had arranged to be at 
 Franka's at half-past eleven. After the American's 
 address, she had retired, and in bidding him good 
 night, she had asked Helmer to come to see her the 
 following morning. It was to be the last day of the 
 Rose -Week, and she desired to consult with him 
 about the journey and other plans for the immedi 
 ate future. She had long been accustomed to ask 
 Brother Chlodwig's advice at the crucial moments 
 of her life. 
 
 About nine o'clock in the morning, Helmer left 
 the house to take his last walk to his favorite spot. 
 He looked forward not without anxiety to the pro 
 mised call upon Franka. The self-control which it 
 cost him in repressing the ebullition of his feelings 
 would be put to a severe test once more. For the 
 moment, it impelled him to seek that forest quietude 
 where he had already spent so many dreamy hours 
 with Franka's image before his eyes .... But then 
 she was, if not his Franka, at least not as yet an 
 other's. 
 
 It was a clear summer day; but in the forest, 
 shady and cool ; especially in that place where Helmer 
 was accustomed to retire, the impression of fresh 
 ness was intensified by the murmuring brook and by 
 a spring which burst forth from a mossy rock and 
 
 415
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 ran foaming and bubbling down in a series of little 
 waterfalls. Through the lofty, thick tree-tops the 
 sun's rays could scarcely make their way, but here 
 and there gleams of light fell golden along the tree- 
 boles, making circlets on the ground and kindling 
 sparks in the pellucid waters of the brook and the 
 spring. Helmer selected a spot at the edge of a little 
 wood-encircled meadow, abounding in flowers and 
 tall grasses, and sat down at the foot of a lofty oak 
 tree. For a time he let his thoughts run on and 
 drank in the sweetness of the peaceful forest. Then 
 he took out his notebook. He felt the impulse to 
 write a few verses which might perpetuate the mood 
 which this modest idyl had produced in his mind 
 a mood of calm enjoyment of nature, commingled 
 with the sorrow of love's renunciation. 
 
 But before he had written a line, he looked down 
 the path by which he had come and saw a figure, 
 clad in white, approaching. Was it possible? He 
 sprang up and hastened to meet her. 
 
 "Franka!" 
 
 Yes, it was she. Chance had not brought her to 
 that spot. She also had felt the call of the forest, 
 and she had seen Helmer a hundred paces ahead of 
 her slowly strolling along. "Let him be my guide, " 
 she had said to herself, and followed him, not di 
 minishing the distance between them. Now he 
 reached his goal ; she saw him sit down in the grass 
 and prepare to write; by this time, however, she 
 had caught up with him, and now they were face 
 to face. She stretched out her hand in greeting. 
 
 "How fine that we should meet here! We can 
 416
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 have our little consultation now. It is far more 
 lovely than in the house." 
 
 Chlodwig controlled his inward emotion and 
 offered her his arm: " Shall we not walk a little 
 farther? I will take you to a place where we can 
 get a wonderfully fine view." 
 
 " No, no; let us stay here; you have chosen a per 
 fectly beautiful spot. You sit down where you were, 
 under that tree, and I will find a place near. ... I 
 just love to sit in the grass." 
 
 He required no second bidding and led her to the 
 oak. There he installed her where he had been, so 
 that she could lean her back against the tree, and 
 he threw himself down at full length at her feet. 
 Supporting himself on his elbow he leaned his chin 
 on his hand and gazed up at her. 
 
 She was dressed wholly in white: also the shoes 
 on her little feet peeping out from under her skirt 
 were white. She took off her hat. As she had be 
 come somewhat heated by the walk her cheeks and 
 lips glowed and she looked remarkably young. Her 
 eyes rested on Chlodwig's face. How could she have 
 ever regarded him as ugly? An expression of sorrow 
 trembling about his lips gave his features a noble 
 pathos ; and a gentle affectionateness was expressed 
 in his eyes certainly the reflection of his chief char 
 acteristic goodness. He also had taken off his hat : 
 she now noticed, for the first time, how very thick 
 and wavy was the short-cropped hair on his head. 
 
 He was the first to speak: "Well, what now? Is 
 this to be our parting hour ? Are our ways to sepa 
 rate now, forever?" 
 
 417
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "Separate! ... for always? . . . Certainly not. 
 . . . Helmer, answer me one question. Until now, 
 you have always talked with me about myself, 
 never about your own life, about your 'endeavors 
 and wishes. If I did not know you from your 
 1 Schwingen, ' I should scarcely have had a glimpse 
 into your soul. " 
 
 "What do you want to ask, Franka?" 
 
 " It is not a very discreet question, but I want to 
 know one thing. . . . Are you . . . have you a ... 
 have you any ties, that bind you?" 
 
 "You mean a betrothed, a sweetheart? No, I 
 am free from such ties." 
 
 "Then you are heart-free?" 
 
 "Did I say that? For God's sake, let us talk 
 about you again not about me. The question 
 now concerns your fate, your future " 
 
 Franka nodded thoughtfully. ".Yes, that is the 
 question." 
 
 "Then let us talk about it. Shall you remain in 
 Lucerne? Shall you wait here for the return of the 
 prince, or shall you go back to Austria, and is he to 
 come and find you there? That would seem more 
 fitting. " 
 
 "Would seem more fitting ..." repeated Franka 
 in a low tone, abstractedly. It was as if she were 
 thinking of something else and repeated mechani 
 cally what had been said, only in order to say some 
 thing. 
 
 "Shall you go to one of your estates?" continued 
 Helmer. "The chateau on your Moravian property, 
 for example, would make a fine setting." 
 
 418
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "A setting for what scene? Would you like to 
 come to my Moravian property, too, Helmer?" 
 
 He shook his head vigorously. Franka pro 
 ceeded : 
 
 "In the forest skirting the garden, you would 
 find places similar to this: there also flows a brook; 
 there also springs gush out of the moss-covered 
 stones." 
 
 She pulled off her glove and laid her slender white 
 hand on Chlod wig's shoulder: "Will you go with 
 me to my Moravian chateau?" 
 
 He shrank under the touch. "I? I should not 
 dare to; I could not." 
 
 "Why not?" And she increased the pressure on 
 his shoulder. 
 
 There was no help for it the impulse was 
 stronger than he. He seized the dear hand and 
 kissed it passionately on the palm which he pressed 
 to his face. Then he sprang to his feet and leaned 
 against the tree under which Franka was sitting. 
 He looked down upon her as she had just before 
 looked down on him. Her features betrayed no 
 sign of anger on the contrary, they were bright 
 ened by a gentle smile. 
 
 "You ask why I cannot come, why I dare not 
 very well, I will tell you. I wanted to hide it from 
 you forever, but now you must know it I love 
 you, Franka! I have always loved you from the 
 first hour. But always you have been and are the 
 unattainable, the unapproachable! Even if the high 
 destiny to win you had fallen to no one else, I should 
 never have dared raise my desires to your starry 
 
 419
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 distance. ... I knew you would sometime be an 
 other's, and when such a brilliant and worthy suitor 
 drew near you, I almost made it easier for him. But 
 now, when Fate has actually brought to you what 
 I had dreamed might be yours, I am the prey of 
 wild jealousy. ... If you knew what I have suffered 
 during the past days ... I shall fight it down, I 
 shall certainly conquer it, but I must avoid your 
 presence and I dare not be the witness of his happy 
 love : that would drive me mad ! Since this adora 
 tion which I have kept for years like a religion, so 
 to speak, has been goaded by jealousy, such a fire, 
 such a fierce, agonizing craving has taken its place. 
 . . . Oh, I am confessing too much. . . . Why do you 
 let me speak so, Franka? Why do you look at 
 me with that strange smile? . . . Am I ridiculous? 
 . . . That must not be ! My love is not a funny thing. 
 ... It comes to me as too great, too sacred ! When 
 we shall be separated, and when years pass, it may 
 change and I hope it will into warm friend 
 ship again. Then you can summon me ... to your 
 royal court. ... I shall keep my courage. ... I am 
 no sentimental boy who goes to destruction or com 
 mits suicide because of disappointment in love. I 
 have my art and great tasks still beckon to it, and 
 I still have a mission to fulfill. . . . But now, now, 
 Franka, I am profoundly unhappy. . . . What self- 
 control I have to exercise, not to seize you and for 
 once, only once, hold you close in my arms, only 
 once press my lips ..." 
 
 Franka stood up. Chlodwig raised his hands im 
 ploringly: 
 
 420
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "No, do not hasten away; be assured. ... I know 
 what is due to you. Never must you think of 
 Brother Chlodwig with regret or anger. " 
 
 But Franka had no thought of escaping. With 
 the enigmatical smile still on her lips, she came quite 
 close to him, flung both arms around his neck, and 
 with a little cry hid her face on his heart. Some 
 thing like an electric shock went through him. He 
 pressed her to his heart: 
 
 " Franka, thou only one, thou great-hearted, thou 
 generous ..." he stammered. 
 
 It seemed to him that this was a gift which she 
 was offering him in token of farewell the indel 
 ible remembrance of a blissful moment. As he held 
 her there in his arms, a cuckoo's note sounded in 
 the distance. Franka raised her head as if to listen ; 
 then her lover's lips found hers. 
 
 Twelve times the cuckoo called; when he ceased, 
 Franka released herself. She sank down into her 
 former place in the grass, and with a gesture in 
 vited Helmer to sit by her side. 
 
 "Now let us talk, Chlodwig," she said; "now let 
 us make plans for the future!" And she snuggled 
 up close to his shoulder. "Now all doubts are 
 solved : now the world belongs to us this beauti 
 ful, splendid world! ..." 
 
 He grew dizzy. "Franka, how am I to under 
 stand this?" 
 
 " How? " She laid her hand in his "That I am 
 thine forever." 
 
 " Franka is it possible? The Unattainable, the 
 Unapproachable will be my own, my wife?" 
 
 421
 
 "Aye, that she will. " 
 
 "And the prince?" 
 
 " I had not accepted his hand. I shall write him 
 a line to-day: ' My heart is not free ' ! " 
 
 "Because it belongs to me?" 
 
 "Yes, to you, Chlodwig!" 
 
 " I cannot realize the joy of it !" 
 
 He wanted to kiss her again, but she evaded it: 
 "Only when the cuckoo calls," she said, laughing. 
 " Now we must make our plans. " 
 
 "Will you not regret it? Will not Victor Adolph 
 be in despair?" 
 
 "I think not. It will more likely be a relief to 
 him; for the sacrifice, the hindrances ... all that 
 sort of thing has been a burden to him, and hurt 
 my pride. I want the gift of myself to . . . " 
 
 "Insure absolute happiness, celestial bliss," in 
 terrupted Helmer, completing her sentence; "to 
 make the man who receives this gift feel like a king 
 and be a Croesus ..." 
 
 "And do you feel all that, Chlodwig?" 
 
 "That and more besides than I can tell. You 
 must know that speech has no satisfactory expres 
 sion, for our highest emotions poets do their best 
 to compass it, and therefore they strive by means 
 of rhyme and rhythm to give pinions to speech 
 but it is all in vain. " 
 
 "Still I am going to try," said Franka, "to de 
 scribe how I feel: without rhythm and without 
 rhyme, perhaps not even very coherently; but you 
 will certainly understand me. It belongs to my 
 treasure of happiness, this knowledge, that you 
 
 422
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 understand and always will understand what I feel 
 in the deepest depths of my soul. And I understand 
 thee, my poet, my teacher, my beloved. So then, 
 listen, thou who art wont to speak in figures; with 
 two little pictures I can give the whole enigma of my 
 happiness: a haven and a chest. The haven is " 
 
 The explanation was interrupted: for once more 
 and this time much nearer the cuckoo began to 
 call. At the same instant Helmer's kiss was glow 
 ing on her mouth. After the third note, the cuckoo 
 ceased. Franka released herself, but the complaisant 
 bird began again, and when he ceased the second 
 time, Helmer permitted his tremulous but willing 
 prisoner to escape from his arms. 
 
 "You see, Love has far more intelligible means of 
 expression than words ; but now go on with what you 
 were going to say: the haven is " 
 
 Franka drew a tremulous sigh and passed her 
 hand over her forehead. "Yes, I know the haven 
 is the sweet security of being protected. What 
 ever may come I am safe!" 
 
 "And the chest?" 
 
 "Oh, yes, the chest? that is as yet firmly 
 locked . . . but I have got the key. Treasures are 
 in it, that I am sure of bills of exchange, letters 
 of credit on the great bank of the future. We two 
 united ! . . . Just think of all that we can draw upon 
 it for all the great and little joys of life even till old 
 age! We who are so congenial, traveling together, 
 working together, furnishing a home together ..." 
 
 "A home which will perhaps embrace more than 
 two!" suggested Helmer. 
 
 423
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "... Living together the joys and the sorrows 
 that when transformed into recollections we can 
 store away in the chest. But as yet I have not 
 opened it. Further treasures are hidden there 
 I do not as yet know them . . . glowing red rubies 
 which I have never adorned myself with. Yet, quite 
 lately, an inkling of it has been disclosed to me by 
 one..." 
 
 "One? Who?" demanded Helmer, with new- 
 awakened jealousy. 
 
 "Who?" She smiled. Then, deliberately and in 
 a whisper: "The cuckoo." 
 
 "Oh, thou " And the answer was just as if the 
 bird had again uttered his enticing call. Through 
 the tree-tops sighed a gentle breeze which, laden 
 with the perfume of spicy herbs and ripe straw 
 berries, fanned and cooled the glowing cheeks of the 
 lovers. 
 
 "Now, then," exclaimed Franka, after she had 
 again freed herself, "let us make our plans." 
 
 "But first let me say something. . . . Also in 
 figures you know my weakness and if at this 
 moment the pictures did not rise up before me ..." 
 
 "Then you would be no poet! But why invent 
 at a moment when reality is so super-earthly?" 
 
 "Super-earthly certainly, but not super-cosmic. 
 Whoever feels and makes any one feel so happy, so 
 superhuman, works in the service of a cosmic fac 
 tory. There a magnificent material is woven from 
 star to star, from eternity to eternity out of fine 
 glittering threads. These threads are called ecsta 
 sies, pleasures, joys, the very greatest and likewise 
 
 424
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 the very tiniest joys. Every living thing experienc 
 ing this serves as a shuttle for this loom." 
 
 "And what becomes of the material, oh, my 
 metaphorical poet?" 
 
 "God makes his royal mantle out of it." 
 
 ' ' Lovely ! ' ' exclaimed Franka. ' ' Still, ' ' she added, 
 shaking her head gently; "you employ very old ma 
 terial for hewing your images : God as king in that 
 figure I do not recognize my bold modern thinker." 
 
 "Solid material is required for hewing images. 
 The new thoughts are for the most part as yet lack 
 ing in consistency, gaseous, so to speak ; one cannot 
 make any images out of them. But, dearest, let us 
 not talk any more about generalities now, when we 
 are breathing in the midst of such concrete beauty 
 touching us both ; at this moment when everything 
 lying outside of ' thee and me ' sinks into nothingness. 
 For heaven's sake, let us not indulge in subtleties 
 and let us not be deep! We have the right to lose 
 ourselves in the regions of the higher folly ! We have 
 the still higher right to be silent!" 
 
 "I will not be silent," cried Franka. "I must 
 shout it out that I am happy, happy, happy!" And 
 in saying this she flung her arms up into the air. "Oh 
 how many times have I heard that word, read it, 
 spoken it, and to-day, for the first time, I know 
 what it means." 
 
 Approaching voices and steps were heard. Their 
 moment of blessed solitude was past. 
 
 Franka hastily snatched up her hat from the 
 ground. "Come, let us go before these odious per 
 sons find us here." 
 
 425
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 " May the cuckoo fly off with them ! " cried Helmer 
 in vexation. 
 
 "But, Chlodwig," exclaimed Franka reproach 
 fully, "how can you put such a burden on our be 
 loved bird?" 
 
 "You are right! Holy cuckoo, forgive me!" 
 
 " Now, you know, holiness is not the right term for 
 him. I have heard many things to his prejudice . . . 
 he is said to have no family sentiment ..." 
 
 "Oh, there, he does not need Philistine virtues. 
 He is a kind of forest magician and consequently 
 superior to civil morals." 
 
 "Just as a poet laureate is superior to provincial 
 rulers?" 
 
 Thus laughing and jesting, they walked for a while 
 side by side ; but once their eyes met, and a sudden 
 earnestness spread over their features ; on their .si 
 lent lips trembled something akin to pain; they 
 had simultaneously discovered that between them 
 hovered something like the spirit of consecration, 
 awe-inspiring, something like an emanation from the 
 mystical source of being : Love ! something un 
 der whose breath jests and laughter seem as inap 
 propriate as under the breath of that other solemn 
 mystery Death. What they had seen in each 
 other's eyes permeated them with a thrill of devo 
 tion, and they walked for a long distance in silence; 
 yet by their arms they still exchanged the pressure 
 significant of affection. 
 
 Only when their path turned into a frequented 
 place in Lucerne was this magic mood dispelled. 
 They came to an aeroplane-hangar. 
 
 426
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 Franka paused : 
 
 "Chlodwig, grant me one wish let us take a 
 little air-trip together. I have never been in an 
 aeroplane and I should like to make my first ascent 
 with you; and to-day especially . . . this very mo 
 ment. ... I feel a great thirst for the heights, don't 
 you?" 
 
 "I? No. My most burning thirst you have I 
 mean the cuckoo has quenched ! But if it would 
 give you a pleasure I am ready for it. Let us 
 fly!" 
 
 He made the arrangements with one of the pilots, 
 and a few moments later the machine was speeding 
 up with its passengers into the air. Franka at that 
 moment experienced a powerful shock rather psy 
 chical then physical. Set free from the ground, 
 hovering free, with reasonable velocity their aero 
 plane swept up at a height of about ten metres. It 
 was a quite peculiar new sensation. Suddenly, how 
 ever, the machine began to mount and mount; not 
 perpendicularly, but still preserving its forward 
 motion, until it had reached a height of some hun 
 dred metres. Franka could not repress a cry. She 
 had the impression that the aeroplane remained still 
 while everything else was sinking down. Into what 
 depths fell the earth ! Ever wider became the view 
 of the country gliding away beneath them, and ever 
 tinier little points now trees, houses, like toys; 
 men, like ants juggled together on it. 
 
 Still higher went their flight. The mountains 
 shrunk into flatness and finally everything seemed to 
 be a plain with black streaks the forests ; a white 
 
 427
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 pool the lake; and winding ribbons the roads. 
 And as Franka was not far-sighted, the whole pic 
 ture swam in her vision into an empty gray plain. 
 She recalled her dream and that terrifying feeling 
 of being alone in space. But in sooth, she was not 
 alone: her beloved was by her side. 
 
 "Put your arm around me," she besought him. 
 And as soon as that firm strong support went 
 obliquely down from her shoulder embracing her 
 waist, it seemed to her exactly as in that dream 
 the blessed sense of security that one is held and 
 protected . . . only this time with the difference, that 
 she now knew who that one was, and she thanked 
 Heaven that it was this one and not the other. She 
 closed her eyes and bent her head back. She looked 
 so pale that Chlodwig was alarmed, and bade the 
 pilot to glide down and land them. Then Franka 
 opened her eyes : 
 
 "No, no, not yet it is splendid!" 
 
 Her panic had vanished, and the peculiar fascinat 
 ing intoxication of the flight through the upper air 
 had seized her. "Do not land yet! Tell him to go 
 in a wave-motion up, down, up down so that 
 I may feel the sensation of flying, that I may know 
 that we are flying." 
 
 "Aren't you frightened, my love, you are so 
 pale" 
 
 "No, not afraid only this new experience is so 
 surprising, so overpowering it is the fulfillment of 
 a dream. Is n't it delightful?" 
 
 "Oh, yes, the human race might, indeed, be proud 
 of the heights which it has attained, if at the same 
 
 428
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 time it had not remained so abject! Yet have pa 
 tience our watchword still is ' Excelsior!" 
 
 After another quarter of an hour, in which they 
 had their heart's content of mounting and descend 
 ing, of gliding and curving, the pilot directed his 
 aerial car to the landing-place and the two happy 
 passengers dismounted. 
 
 They proceeded to the Rose-Palace on foot. Frau 
 Eleonore came to meet them, as they walked along 
 the terrace. 
 
 "At last!" she exclaimed; " I was beginning to be 
 concerned about you lest something had hap 
 pened, Franka." 
 
 "I can't deny that something has happened to 
 me!" 
 
 "In Heaven's name, what?" 
 
 "You will find out soon enough. Let us go up!" 
 
 She relinquished Helmer's arm and took Frau 
 Eleonore's instead. "Good-bye for now, Chlodwig; 
 we shall meet at luncheon. I am going to write Prince 
 Victor Adolph now. Come, Eleonore!" And she 
 pulled her companion toward the entrance. 
 
 Helmer bowed and went off in another direction. 
 
 As soon as she reached her salon, Franka threw 
 her hat and parasol down and with a long, long 
 breath sank into an easy-chair. 
 
 Frau Eleonore took her place facing her. 
 
 " Dear Franka, forgive me, but " she was at a 
 loss for the right words "I know you do not like 
 me to be preaching . . . but don't you think that 
 such walks with Herr Helmer. ... As far as I am 
 concerned, it is nothing ... I know what an old 
 
 429
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 harmless friendship means . . . but don't you think 
 that perhaps the prince. . ." 
 
 "Oh, thank you for reminding me of the prince 
 I must write to him. Has any telegram come for 
 me?" 
 
 "No, but here is a letter from the Sielenburg." 
 
 Franka took the letter and tore open the enve 
 lope. "From Tante Albertine ... I can't make out 
 the wriggly handwriting very well. Please read the 
 letter for me, Eleonore, will you?" 
 
 "Willingly. But what I said just now . . . you 
 are not vexed with me, are you?" 
 
 "Really, I did not notice what you said . . ." 
 
 "You seem very much disturbed. You have not 
 told me as yet what happened to you." 
 
 "Later, later please read the letter first. Let 
 us see what the good auntie has to say." 
 
 Frau Eleonore read : 
 
 MY DEAR CHILD! 
 
 I have only just returned to the dear old Sielenburg, 
 but I sit down to write you a few lines to tell you that we 
 made the journey without mishap. Dear Adele is very 
 much done up, to be sure, and quite cross; the trip did 
 not gratify her at all. I, too, am much pleased to be at 
 home again. Here we get so much of what we missed 
 while away; for instance, respectful treatment by people. 
 Here we are addressed with proper terms once again: 
 "Kiss your hand," or, "Saving your grace" that to 
 Adele or, "at your command," while the Swiss are so 
 unmannerly; they called us "Madam," and on the train 
 one conductor spoke to me as "a woman"! It was, in 
 deed, out of politeness; he pushed a passenger to one side, 
 saying, "Let the woman pass." I wanted to tell him that 
 
 430
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 I was nothing of the sort, but one can't enter into conver 
 sation with such clowns. 
 
 We had to stay another day after our "P.P.C." call on 
 you Coriolan got the wrong tickets, and so we heard 
 Helmer after all. It was so strange to see Uncle Eduard's 
 former secretary up there among the celebrities. He was 
 so quiet at the Sielenburg, as if he could not count up to 
 five. I could not make out what he said it was all such 
 a medley exaggerated. He was always eccentric. He 
 even presumed to cast his eyes on you. Who knows how 
 it would have ended if I had not for your advantage, 
 you must know upset his calculations and informed 
 Uncle Eduard in good time. I am proud of that even to 
 day. Take care that he does not try his little game again ; 
 it might injure you with the prince. 
 
 Frau Eleonore stopped her reading "I agree 
 with Fraulein Albertine about that." 
 
 Franka shrugged her shoulders with annoyance: 
 "You must not be proud of that." 
 
 Frau Eleonore went on with the letter: 
 
 You ought to hear Cousin Coriolan's opinion of Hel 
 mer for he has a correct judgment and is a gentleman 
 through and through. He was not at all enthusiastic over 
 our stay at Lucerne; he declares he will never again be 
 induced to take such an exotic journey. Really, I had a 
 pretty good time; it was such a complete change; but I 
 shall doubly enjoy the quiet here. What pleased me most 
 in Lucerne was the conquest you made. Be very wise . . . 
 
 " Is there any more of that?" interrupted Franka. 
 
 "Four pages more." 
 
 "Then we will leave it until by and by: Now I 
 am going to write to the prince. . . . Eleonore, on 
 the whole, I prefer to tell you now: I am betrothed." 
 
 43i
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "Oh, you are?" exclaimed Frau Eleonore, her 
 face radiant with joy. "And why did you delay 
 telling me till now? What good fortune! Only it is 
 a shame that he had to go away." 
 
 "My dear friend! You are under a wrong im 
 pression. Victor Adolph is not my betrothed . . . ' 
 
 " Not the prince!" Her eyes grew gloomy, "Who 
 then?" 
 
 "It is not very hard to guess." 
 
 It certainly was not difficult, and Frau Eleonore 
 was well aware who the fortunate suitor was. In 
 spite of the disappointment which it brought her, 
 she was too clever, and also too well disposed to 
 Franka to betray any dissatisfaction. To be sure, 
 her dream of having the position of a lady-in-waiting 
 at court was dispelled, but she concealed her dis 
 appointment: "Chlodwig Helmer is it, then?" 
 she said. "Well, if you love him, Franka, I wish 
 you joy with all my heart." 
 
 "Yes, I love him." 
 
 Half an hour later, the two ladies went down to 
 the Toker luncheon. Franka had in the mean time 
 written the letter to Victor Adolph : a perfectly 
 candid confession that she had already given her 
 heart to another man, and, moreover, her assurance 
 that she perfectly well realized what obstacles would 
 have been put in the way of his life-work and his 
 lofty position if she had accepted his impulsive and 
 far too unpremeditated offer. 
 
 Helmer came forward to meet Franka as she en 
 tered the dining-room. The separation which had 
 
 432
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 lasted at the most about an hour seemed to them 
 both frightfully long, and the joy of seeing each other 
 again accelerated the beating of their hearts. They 
 sat at table side by side as usual. After the last 
 course, Helmer asked Franka whether they should 
 keep their happiness to themselves for a while, or 
 communicate the news to the Brotherhood of the 
 Rose. "Oh, let them know about it! I should like 
 to have it shouted over the housetops!" 
 
 Helmer stood up and tapped on his glass. 
 
 ' ' Hear, hear ! ' ' cried Toker. "In spite of the regu 
 lation forbidding formal toasts at this table, our 
 poet of the pinions seems desirous to offer some one's 
 health. Well, to-day is our last meeting give your 
 eloquence full rein, Mr. Helmer." 
 
 "I do not intend to make a speech. What you 
 are going to hear from me, Mr. Toker and Miss 
 Toker, and all of you, brethren and sisters under the 
 token of the Rose, is merely a bit of family news. I 
 have the feeling that we all, during this delectable 
 week, have become a sort of happy family, and there 
 fore I hope for your interest when I tell you that 
 this morning Franka Garlett and I were betrothed." 
 
 Gwendoline rushed to Franka and gave her a tu 
 multuous embrace. After the confusion of the uni 
 versal congratulations had somewhat subsided, Toker 
 tapped three times on the table with the handle of 
 his knife in order to obtain a hearing : 
 
 "Under such extraordinary circumstances it is 
 not only permitted, but it is obligatory upon us to 
 offer a toast. Let us greet it as a good omen that 
 in our serious community, gathered to enlarge the 
 
 433
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 general realm of High Thinking and thence of human 
 welfare, two such noble hearts have joined to win 
 personal happiness by their love. Let us greet this 
 as an omen for the development of the coming race : 
 if the custom obtain that the champions of the most 
 brilliant ideas, the possessors of the greatest talents, 
 in a word, the most splendid specimens of the human 
 race, come together as here, and fall in love, as our 
 highly honored new couple have done, and if they, as 
 we hope even for this same bridal pair, increase and 
 multiply, then, after a few more generations, even 
 more fortunate results of careful breeding will be 
 seen than our friend Luther Burbank has obtained 
 with his gigantic cabbages. Therefore, proceed, 
 Chlodwig and Franka, and found a home. That is, 
 after all, the most beautiful and most satisfying 
 happiness to be found on earth however far and 
 high our thoughts may soar and our exploits may be 
 carried, let us provide a warm, safe place of calm 
 ness and of love to which we are all entitled. 
 
 "We men have in these days imitated the most 
 magnificent prerogative of the birds the art of 
 flight. But let us never forget that other example 
 which these masters of heights and distances give 
 us the nest!"
 
 FINALE 
 
 ON this final evening of the Rose- Festival, all the 
 guests were assembled on the platform, the host in 
 their midst. It had been determined that on this 
 last evening there should be no long addresses by 
 individual speakers, but that all the members of the 
 Rose Order, whether their voices had been heard 
 during any of the sessions or not, should make brief 
 speeches to the audience: speeches in which, if pos 
 sible, by a few short sentences, each individual 
 should declare what was his loftiest aim in life and 
 what he would most of all wish to have carried away 
 as a message to his fellow-men from that far-sound 
 ing tribune. John Toker announced his programme 
 to the public and added : 
 
 "We regard this last evening of ours as a special 
 opportunity for us to communicate with the outside 
 world and to grasp in compact form the things that 
 have been revealed to us during this Rose-Week. 
 
 "I will use this opportunity to comment on what 
 we heard yesterday from the mouth of my young 
 fellow-countryman. He spread out before us a whole 
 cargo of precious gifts ; he handed us a gigantic ingot 
 of gold and said: 'Go hence and coin it.' 
 
 "Now the question arises: 'How?' Above all, a 
 new valuation is required for the new coins which 
 are to be minted. The whole system, the whole prin 
 ciple on which the social life of the present time is 
 
 435
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 built up, must be invalidated so as to give place to 
 another system, another principle. Economical and 
 political intercourse of men with one another at the 
 present time still rest on robbery, imposture, fraud, 
 distrust, unscrupulous extermination of competitors, 
 and all this supported by the spirit of envy, which 
 runs through the whole gamut from ill will to hatred. 
 And do you know what we need in order to coin the 
 new currency? the spirit of good will. And that 
 is certain to come. It will not create the new social 
 intercourse, but it will grow out of the soil of the 
 changed circumstances, as ill will flourishes in the 
 morass of to-day. 
 
 "Inestimable is what has been given to mankind 
 by the unlimited control of the powers of nature, 
 creating wealth and labor ; all the forces which may 
 be spent in doing mutual harm, in mutual attack 
 and defense, in deceiving, in betraying, in robbing, 
 in destroying one another all these forces are 
 now to be free for the common task of coining that 
 ingot of gold into current coin. 
 
 " It will be no small trouble, no brief work, to re 
 organize the world on this quite changed principle. 
 Stupidity, routine, and malignity will resist for a long 
 time; but just as radium can annihilate microbes, 
 so will the radiant element of the human spirit, 
 aroused to comprehension, annihilate the microbes 
 of malignity. We shall become healthy, physically 
 and spiritually. 
 
 "I am glad that the awakening call, the shout 
 of the herald, rings forth from here. The tidings of 
 triumph are to sound back from the victorious van ; 
 
 436
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 a vast new country is ours; we must make it fertile; 
 let us take possession! 
 
 " But to do so, the old methods and the old uten 
 sils are useless ; we must first train the whole race till 
 it is fit for its new destiny. Practical work must be 
 expanded in this direction. May all those to whom 
 our summons comes, clearly ringing, gird their loins 
 to take hold of this work! Domestic colonization, 
 garden-cities, hygiene along the whole line, exter 
 mination of the last vestige of illiteracy. And then, 
 high schools will be established for the nurture of 
 High Thinking and world-journals will be founded 
 for its propaganda. And temples will be built dedi 
 cated to the cult of good will. 
 
 "The problem must be worked out intensively, 
 strenuously. It is not sufficient that from here and 
 there more ideas fly forth; ideas are all right, for 
 they are the seed from which things spring but 
 actually, what now opens up before us consists al 
 ready in things, and they demand to be executed: 
 above all, they want to be grasped. I intend to seize 
 upon them: as soon as I reach home, I intend to 
 take measures to found the free academy of High 
 Thinking. May this become the mint which my 
 young friend requires for the store of gold which he 
 displayed before our eyes. 
 
 "And now shall the knights of my Wartburg have 
 their chance to speak. Let Wolfram von Eschenbach 
 begin I mean you, Mr. Helmer." 
 
 Chlodwig stepped forward : 
 
 "I should like once more to sum up in a single 
 sentence if possible in a single word the sub- 
 
 437
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 stance of my whole poetic dream, of my whole vision 
 of the future. But here I find an obstacle in the 
 limitations of language, for it has as yet no words 
 for the coming things that now only project their 
 shadows and are attainable only by longing and by 
 forebodings. The word always comes into existence 
 after the thing. The thing follows the conception, 
 and this in turn is followed by the expression. For 
 example first there had to be a knight and the 
 especial nature of his bearing and of his sentiments 
 had to be conceived before the term ' knightly ' was 
 adopted. 
 
 "And thus before my vision stands the coming 
 man the man of the heights der Hohenmensch 
 whose qualities correspond to the magnificent 
 achievements which literally lift him above the 
 clouds. What will be his characteristic quality? 
 The term for it does not as yet exist. For it will not 
 concern any peculiar quality already known to us, 
 but rather a combination of qualities to which will 
 be added possibly one never before discovered: the 
 new combination will grow into a concept and the 
 concept will be grasped in one word a word which 
 will be as current among our descendants and as 
 clear to them as the word 'knightly' is to us. I 
 recently spoke of 'goodness.' This word, as it is 
 used among us, is far from expressing what my mind 
 conceives of it. It is as yet, too, incomposite. I 
 should want to command a term in which, besides 
 ' goodness, ' much else would be understood dis 
 tinction, gentleness, courage, good will, force, mag 
 nanimity all in combination; and, moreover, that 
 
 438
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 soul-material which will come into activity by the 
 new impulses of the Age of Flying this is to be the 
 characteristic quality of the ideal man of the future, 
 but what its name will be, that we do not know. 
 
 "How the ideals of spiritual greatness change 
 may be seen in a single example: Vico, the founder 
 of the philosophy of history, who wrote at the end 
 of the seventeenth century, hence not so very 
 long ago, thus described the heroes : ' They were 
 to the highest degree rough, wild, limited in in 
 telligence, but possessing enormous power of imag 
 ination and the liveliest passionateness ; as a conse 
 quence of these qualities they had to be barbarous, 
 cruel, wild, proud, difficult to deal with. ' 
 
 "That was the picture of hero-greatness which 
 awakened the admiration of earlier times. This 
 admiration has not entirely died out, but it is fading 
 away, sinking out of sight, slowly changing into 
 detestation. Much that is barbarous still lives 
 amongst us, but we try to deny it. The word ' bar 
 barous' has become a term of reproach. The man 
 who knows no pity does not seem to us worthy of 
 regard; the wider the range of his commiseration, 
 the nobler is his heart. The good will of a noble 
 soul extends even to the dumb creation. He who 
 cannot love a good, faithful dog is not a worthy 
 man, and whoever is cruel to an animal how can I 
 express my detestation of him? well, I will quote 
 Hermann Bahr 'Such a person, whoever he be, 
 I cannot regard as my kind.' In the third 'King 
 dom' to which our aspirations are soaring, there is 
 no room for barbarism. 
 
 439
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 "And now, if as our host desires, I must sum up 
 in one phrase all that I have brought to you here, 
 then I say : There is no High Thinking without 
 likewise Kind Thinking." 
 
 "The man has a touch of the feminine in his make 
 up," remarked some one in the audience, disap 
 provingly. 
 
 The next speaker was Franka Garlett. With a 
 smiling face, betraying the gleam of her new happi 
 ness, she stepped forward: "You young girls, listen 
 to me!" she began. "You must not be alarmed, 
 because I repeat my appeal to you, that I am going 
 to repeat my entire address. No, I am not going 
 even to make a resum6 of it, but I am going to say 
 something which will interest all girls, all, all ! There 
 is a magic word which will not find one of you in 
 different: if it is spoken you must listen joyfully 
 or woefully, with curiosity or with yearning, but 
 never with indifference . . . and yet it is something 
 quite simple, quite commonplace. Truly, the one 
 whom it concerns will find it unique, will find it 
 all-important, something world-convulsing that 
 world which is our own little Ego. This thing has 
 happened to me this morning and I cannot help 
 myself it fills me so I must tell you, ye sisters 
 of mine: I am betrothed. " 
 
 A flutter went through the hall. Among the in 
 articulate words also rang out distinctly, "Con 
 gratulations!" and the question "To whom?" 
 
 Franka's face grew still more animated: "Thanks 
 for the congratulations, and, if I heard correctly, 
 some one asked 'To whom?' a quite justifiable 
 
 440
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 curiosity: in such family chronicles we must find 
 names. My chosen husband is the poet of ' Schwin- 
 gen ' Chlodwig Helmer. And since he, as he told 
 you a moment ago, has a kind feeling for every 
 worthy little beastie, he will assuredly be kind to 
 me." 
 
 The speaker's gayety communicated itself to the 
 audience, and a wave of laughter swept over the 
 hall. But now her features took on a serious ex 
 pression and in altered voice she went on: "But 
 here another question demands to be answered: 
 How is it that I venture to speak of my own little 
 private affairs from this tribune where such lofty 
 problems have been treated and when a whole world 
 is listening to me? I justify myself thus: On this 
 tribune I have advised the young persons of my own 
 sex to use their brains, to learn, to see clearly in 
 scientific, social, and political matters; even to take 
 part in public affairs, and this has certainly awak 
 ened in many minds the notion that woman, in do 
 ing so, would suffer a loss in her affections and in 
 her family relations; that those young girls who 
 might devote themselves to studies and callings 
 hitherto reserved for men alone, might be lost for 
 love and domestic happiness. On this very spot 
 from which I have disseminated my teachings, and 
 before the very same listening world-audience, I now 
 come forward to combat that erroneous notion; not 
 in words, but as a living witness. The doctrine that 
 'You are in the world to share in all thought' can 
 not be so very perilous since the exponent of it 
 stands here, happily betrothed. " 
 
 441
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 She bowed and went back to her seat, heartily 
 cheered by the audience. 
 
 Now, one after the other, brief parting farewell 
 addresses were made and each speaker gave preg 
 nant expression to his favorite and leading thought. 
 All these thoughts, without exception, were turned 
 by different ways in the one direction: Excelsior! 
 
 Then Toker announced that he would speak the 
 final word, but first they would enjoy the usual inter 
 mission. This was employed by the speakers and 
 the audience in unrestrained social intercourse. 
 Here are a few snatches of conversation : 
 
 Bruning, hurrying up to Helmer: " Most heart 
 felt and respectful congratulations, my young gen 
 ius! My old dream and good advice are fulfilled. 
 You have won her the pretty heiress ; you snatched 
 her away just in time from the prince who was so 
 madly in love with her! Superb!" 
 
 "I shall have to withdraw my friendship from 
 you, Franz! You have a trick of blighting every 
 thing in bloom. " 
 
 "And you of talking in exalted figures. We shall 
 not let our twenty-years-old good-fellowship drop 
 for that ! There have to be different kinds of owls ! " 
 
 In a group of politicians : 
 
 A. "Don't you find that there is a little too much 
 preaching of morality to us during this Rose- Week? 
 Of course we know that the destinies of the nations 
 are not fulfilled in accordance with moral laws, that 
 they are not conducted by ethical impulses, but that 
 they obey economical necessities. " 
 
 442
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 B. "Economical necessities? Yes, but not wholly 
 so. One is usually mistaken if one tries to reduce 
 complicated phenomena to one single factor. For 
 instance: Did the crusades take place because of 
 economic causes?" 
 
 C. "I should like to make one observation. 
 Morality is nothing else than the result of the rec 
 ognized conditions of collective life. When two or 
 more are dependent on one another, then the con 
 duct which promotes their welfare is elevated to the 
 rank of a moral rule, and whatever impedes it is 
 proscribed as immoral. The nations have treated 
 one another unlovingly and immorally, because 
 they have as yet no realization of their interdepend 
 ence. Have you, for instance, ever entered into 
 any ethical relationship with the inhabitants of 
 Mars?" 
 
 In the corner where the two Russian widows were 
 sitting with their suitors, the marchese whispering 
 in his soft fervid Italian: 
 
 "Annette, gracious lady, what have you done to 
 me? The blood is storming through my veins as 
 if I were a boy. I quite forget my advancing years. 
 You can make me forget everything. ... I could 
 even renounce my ambition in order to give myself 
 up forever to the sweet intoxication which I find 
 in your eyes. But no, just for your sake I will get 
 as much glory as I possibly can. . . . The man who 
 is to be worthy of you must be like the sun in the 
 radiance of his glorious power, the head that rests 
 in your lap must be crowned with laurel. You, 
 madonna, must be surrounded with splendor, you 
 
 443
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 must be raised to the highest rank so that all may 
 look up to you in worship and envy. A world must 
 tremble before the man who trembles before you. 
 . . . There is no price which I would not pay, no 
 deed that I would not venture, no multitude that I 
 would not sacrifice relentlessly, merely to place one 
 more pearl in your diadem, Monna Anna. " 
 
 The little Baltic widow quivered under this 
 avalanche of sweet-brutal cinquecento phrases. 
 
 Baron Gaston de la Rochere came up and joined 
 the group, putting an end to this sentimental coo 
 ing: 
 
 "I have just arrived. Am I very late? I don't 
 understand the English and German speeches and 
 the French guests present are distasteful to me. 
 But I came to look you up, for I must share my hap 
 piness with you. I have just received by the even 
 ing mail some wonderful news from Paris. Just 
 imagine: things are coming to a climax. The Min 
 istry that bunch of heretics has fallen. Per 
 haps God will take his France under his protection 
 again. The situation is so threatening that exter 
 nal or domestic war may break out any minute, and 
 this is the favorable moment to proclaim royalty. 
 My friends write me that everything is all ready, 
 that even a part of the garrison is won over to swear 
 fealty to the standard of the king in short, great 
 events are impending. The genius of my glorious 
 country has awakened once more. Of course, you 
 already know all about these circumstances, Mar- 
 chese di Rinotti?" 
 
 "Of course, I know what is taking place and what 
 444
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 is proposed; but weeks must elapse before any 
 thing decisive can come about. The men in charge 
 must reckon with the resistance of the democratic 
 parties." 
 
 "But the men in charge will act with vigor, 
 Marchese. " 
 
 "Well, I hope so, Baron." 
 
 "Oh, gentlemen," said Vera Petrovna, beseech 
 ingly; "don't be tedious; pray don't talk politics." 
 
 Malhof accosted Franka and Helmer, who, arm 
 in arm, were promenading up and down the corri 
 dors. "Am I interrupting the gushing fountains of 
 love? You will have all your lives for that, and I 
 must express my surprise and delight. I am, in 
 deed, a very old friend and admirer of your be 
 trothed, dear Helmer, and I have always desired 
 her happiness. . . . How unexpectedly this came 
 upon us! Yesterday evening, while they were ma 
 nipulating with radium on the platform, we three 
 sat so cozily together, and I had not the slightest 
 idea of your being a bridal pair. You played your 
 cards mighty well, you young people!" 
 
 "Neither did we have the slightest idea," pro 
 tested the two in absolute sincerity. 
 
 After the half-hour's intermission, Toker again 
 mounted the platform quite alone ; his guests 
 remaining below in the hall. 
 
 i " It is my privilege, " he began, " to utter the last 
 word in conclusion of this our Rose- Week. I feel 
 myself compelled to express before the whole world 
 my deepest thanks to the illustrious contemporaries 
 
 445
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 who have come at my call. And I must also thank 
 you, my honored audience, for the lively interest and 
 the sympathetic reception which you have accorded 
 our offerings. 
 
 "But let us end our cooperation not with a dis 
 course, but rather with a deed. You all know that 
 a war-cloud pregnant with storm is rising on the 
 horizon. We must not allow this well-worn metaphor 
 to strengthen the current impression that we have 
 to deal with anything elementary; we have to deal 
 with human intentions, with the direction of human 
 wills. These can be paralyzed by counter-intentions, 
 by the putting forth of still stronger wills. Such an 
 exercise of will-power has been created in our circle : 
 in order to make it efficient, we must use the ap 
 paratus of wide publicity which is here at our ser 
 vice. Two statesmen, of uncontested reputation in 
 their service for promoting the organization of peace 
 in the Old World and the New, have drawn up a 
 manifesto, protesting against the letting loose of the 
 war-demon which is planned in various quarters, and 
 at the same time pointing out the way in which the 
 conflict may be solved in an amicable manner. This 
 manifesto has been signed by the entire membership 
 of the Rose Order, and at this moment is being tele 
 graphed to all regions of the world. If the masses 
 agree to it, it can grow into a hurricane of public 
 opinion. I am not going to delay you by reading 
 the message, the paper which will now be distrib 
 uted through the hall contains its text. I also re 
 frain from any explanations ; neither shall I ask you 
 to vote. Only this I will say: If this wish, this com- 
 
 446
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 mand, this storm-cry which goes forth from here is 
 obeyed, that is to say, if the approaching contest 
 is submitted to arbitration, and if the decision by 
 force is given up, though, indeed, this may not pre 
 vent the recurrence of dangers in the future, and 
 not as yet introduce a new political order still, 
 time will be gained. And that is the main thing in 
 this crisis. For in order to appreciate and to apply 
 the new treasures which of late have been won from 
 nature, in order to cultivate the lofty thoughts to 
 which the human mind has already begun to attain 
 in its flights, and in order to transform in accordance 
 with these thoughts the intercourse, the laws, the 
 opinions of men, in a word, the whole social life, 
 time is above all required. A time of peaceful, quiet 
 development. If now a world-conflagration should 
 break out, the development would be not only 
 delayed, but would be set back enormously in 
 stead of a lofty flight, we should have a terrible fall ! 
 Once more a bed for the stream of hatred and horror 
 and destruction would be excavated, and this flood 
 might carry away with it all that has been so pain 
 fully constructed. 
 
 "One can formulate an idea of the consequences 
 of such a conflagration by hearing what H. G. Wells 
 tells us in his 'War in the Air.' 'Oh, a piece of fic 
 tion, a romance of the future!' Granted, it will all 
 come out differently. No one can take account of all 
 the millions of interweaving threads out of which 
 the web of the future may be woven. But the poet 
 and the thinker, if he creates such pictures, does not 
 at all pretend prophecy. He does not predict that 
 
 447
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 it will come in this way or that : he only shows how 
 under given conditions things must come, if this 
 way or that is chosen. 
 
 "So, then, we want to gain time! time for the 
 building-up of future happiness, time to rescue men 
 from the woe that threatens. Indeed, the majority 
 will not listen to the warning, the chiding, the aid- 
 promising voices . . . these annoying calls only dis 
 turb them in their pursuits of business, work, pleas 
 ure. . . . 'Why don't the birds of evil omen leave 
 us alone let things take their course what 
 comes must come merely let every one see to it 
 that he does his work where Fate puts him' . . . 
 this is about the way in which the passive resistance 
 expresses itself; a resistance against which all those 
 who speak the warning words constantly stumble. 
 But they are not to be frightened away; they can 
 not help themselves, they must speak. 
 
 " I will use a parable: 
 
 " Let us imagine we are on a noble ship bound for 
 the promised land. The journey is long. There is 
 much work and much amusement on board of the 
 ship. It must be steered and must be maneuvered ; 
 much promenading and flirting and reading and 
 feasting are carried on; all are busy and each one 
 thinks his work or his pleasures highly important. 
 
 "But the ship springs a leak. If help is not af 
 forded, the proud vessel must sink. 
 
 "It would not be difficult to get help. But the 
 people refuse to see the leak. Is it not natural that 
 those who do see it should not weary in calling for 
 help? Is it not the height of unreason that the others 
 
 448
 
 WHEN THOUGHTS WILL SOAR 
 
 should leave the leak unheeded, so that they may 
 not be disturbed in their customary pursuits, and 
 that they should zealously devote themselves to 
 steering and clearing the ship instead of trying first 
 of all to save it from sinking? 
 
 "Our civilization is such a ship, my honored fel 
 low-passengers. Its engines are working better all 
 the time, its flags are flying ever more triumphantly, 
 swelling out with lofty thoughts. But it has a leak 
 namely, the time antiquate regime of force : 
 through this rent annihilating floods pour in and 
 threaten to draw it into the deep ! Therefore, every 
 man on board and all hands to the repair of the 
 damage ! 
 
 "And when that has been accomplished and it 
 shall be accomplished! then onward, and 'happy 
 voyage!'" 
 
 THE END
 
 Bitoersibe 
 
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 U . S . A
 
 
 
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