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APPLETONS' NEW HANDY-VOLUME SERIES. 
 
 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 A NOVEL. 
 
 BERTHOLD AUEEBACH. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 D. APPLETOlSr AND COMPANY, 
 
 1, 3, AND 5 BOND STEEET. 
 
 1880. 
 
OOPTBIGHT BY 
 
 D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. 
 
 1880. 
 
 ^■^A. 
 
 m 
 
 
 • • • • • • 
 
 ■:i*iV 
 
 §A 
 
 • •••••• 
 
THE FORESTERS, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 How delightful to live with your dear ones 
 through the bright summer-time and the in-door 
 comfort of winter days in such a spot as that ! 
 
 So said every traveler that espied the forester's 
 house, either from the wooded hill above, or from 
 the road through the meadow. 
 
 And with truth. Yet no spot where human 
 hearts are beating can escape the cruel entangle- 
 ments of fate. 
 
 Fresh forest odors float around the house, 
 whose rose-covered eastern balcony is lit up by 
 the early sun. Manifold life is stirring. About 
 the roof doves fly to and fro, and one pair, shim- 
 mering with splendid hues, perches on the stag 
 horns that project from the sharp gable of the 
 main building. 
 
 About the hives of the latest fashion the bees 
 fly hither and thither ; there is abundant food for 
 them in the hedge bordered flower- and vegetable- 
 garden, and in the meadows which stretch up the 
 
 438904 
 
4* ••• • V i r^'fnfi' FORESTERS. 
 
 r% : I «, ;•: •••/••: ; : /. ' - 
 
 --'^VailSy''ti41"'tlld m;o.iril.taJris shut them in. In the 
 
 stalls the cows are lowing, and swallows dart 
 eagerly in and out through the open windows, 
 twitter in the air, and often shoot down to catch 
 a fresh drink from the wild foaming brook that 
 brawls along behind the house. On the narrow 
 railless bridge leading across the stream water- 
 wagtails are hopping and make frequent captures; 
 but the plover in the meadow chirps on and on as 
 if it needed no food at all. Trout glide by in 
 the clear brook. The otter comes stealing out of 
 his reedy bed, turns his pointed head this way 
 and that, and then slips nimbly back to his lurk- 
 ing-place. The hawk circles on high, and while 
 the hens in their coops are clucking and hiding 
 their heads, the black cock throws back his red 
 comb, utters certain significant sounds, and dozes. 
 He is right ; the robber's mouth may have wa- 
 tered, but he can get nothing here from under 
 the protecting wires. 
 
 In the kennel the pointers, one coal-black and 
 one copper-brown, are teasing and snapping at 
 each other ; now one, then the other, lies down 
 and leaps up again ; while the bandy-legged ter- 
 riers try to sleep, opening and blinking their eyes 
 a little and then shutting them again. Only one 
 of them, and he evidently still untrained, ven- 
 tures to bark. His fellows look sternly at him, 
 for it is contrary to good-breeding to bark without 
 necessity in the morning. The black pointer, 
 
THE FORESTERS 5 
 
 who seems to occupy an eminent position, en- 
 forces this truth by a powerful blow with his fore- 
 paw ; the young terrier springs away over an old 
 one that lies on the ground breathing heavily 
 and hardly winking. 
 
 The back door of the forester's house leading 
 to the brook opened, and an old white-haired 
 keeper, with sharp gray eyes in his lean face, 
 came out, still eating his breakfast. He went 
 up to the kennel, in which a general whimpering 
 and barking now arose. 
 
 ^' Hold your tongues ! " cried the old man ; 
 *^be quiet there. You're none of you going with 
 us to-day. Will you be still, you little fellow ! 
 Down ; only you may come ; you will take your 
 father's name to-day. But mind, if you are not 
 obedient, there is the whip ! " He turned to the 
 old dog, which lay m'otionless, breathing hard. 
 " Hellauf ! Poor fellow ! Come ! " 
 
 The keeper took a piece of bread from his 
 pocket, chewed it, and offered it to the animal, 
 but it did not stir. ^^ What ! won't you eat from 
 my mouth ? You must be far gone, poor fellow ! 
 Come, don't be so rueful. For shame ! stand up, 
 at any rate." 
 
 The reproof had its effect ; the old dog strove 
 painfully to rise, while the young one jumped 
 back and forth and barked at the rest, as if jeer- 
 ing at them because they were not to go. Turn- 
 ing to the sick dog, the keeper said : " Yes, 
 
6 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 Hellauf , look at the sun once more ; you see it to- 
 day for the last time. But be content ; you shall 
 have an honorable death/' 
 
 He went to the front of tlie house, and said, 
 saluting the master forester, who stood in the 
 door : 
 
 " It is high time, sir, for us to put poor Hellauf 
 out of his misery." 
 
 ^^ You are right," answered the master forester, 
 in a full bass yoice. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Master Forester Jorks was forced to stoop 
 a little as he passed out, though he held his cap 
 in his hand ; he was too tall for the door. He 
 made a step forward, and stood still, with feet 
 braced wide apart, looked down awhile, and his 
 lips and heavy mustache moved gently as if in 
 silent prayer. In fact, he was saying a morning 
 blessing. 
 
 Jorns was turned of fifty. His bearing was 
 by nature soldierly, and hil whole appearance was 
 that of a straightforward, unbending man. His 
 gray coat, with its bright green collar, was open ; 
 on his breast hung a little bone whistle ; his wide 
 brown velveteen breeches ended at the knee, and 
 
THE FORESTERS. 7 
 
 below his powerful legs were clad in fawn-colored 
 gaiters. 
 
 Jorns was called the old Swede, and there was 
 good reason for it ; for the story was that he was 
 descended from a Swedish soldier who had re- 
 mained in the country in Gustavus Adolphus's 
 time. There was something Northern not only 
 about his name, but in his large, tall figure, his 
 longish face, and his broadly arching high fore- 
 head. 
 
 Jorns was to-day in especially good spirits, for 
 it had been decided that he should stay in this 
 pleasant place. From under his bushy gray locks 
 light blue eyes looked kindly yet boldly round ; 
 and as he gazed about him, his glance seemed 
 to say, '^ Yes, the world is fair, and I am content 
 to be in it, and to end my days upon this very 
 spot.'* 
 
 Jorns might well say so, for he had a noble 
 wife and two fine children, a son and a daughter, 
 well brought up and successful — the son professor 
 of botany in the school of forestry ; and he him- 
 self was in good health and highly respected. 
 
 The keeper, Mangold by name, watched his 
 master in silence ; he knew that after the first 
 greeting one must wait till the old Swede spoke. 
 But the young dog did not know he must wait ; 
 he sprang forward to his master. Jorns put on 
 his cap, and said, ^^Be still.'' The dog obeyed 
 and laid down. 
 
8 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 Jorns sent Mangold to see whether the Ad- 
 junct was still in the house. Mangold soon came 
 back, and reported that he had long been gone to 
 the forest. Jorns nodded contentedly, but Man- 
 gold could not refrain from saying : 
 
 ^' Our new Adjunct is a splendid fellow — a good 
 deal like what Euland was when he had the 
 place.'' 
 
 ii Very likely," answered Jorns. ^^ Get ready ; 
 we shall soon be going. " 
 
 Jorns went to the bee-house. There he stood 
 still awhile and watched the swarming insects. 
 They crawled oyer his clothes and his face ; he 
 did not drive them away, for he knew they would 
 not hurt him, though they were to-day much ex- 
 cited, and before all the entrances the crowd was 
 constantly thickening. 
 
 Jorns went back to the house just as his 
 daughter Carla was coming out, fresh as the 
 young day. 
 
 Carla, too, was tall ; she wore a rose-colored 
 gown, and her face was rosy ; her brown hair, 
 which lay in a broad plait like a diadem aboye 
 her brow, shone in the red morning light. 
 
 '' Good morning, father ; I am up too,'' she 
 cried, with a clear voice. 
 
 "Indeed! how comes it you are out so 
 early?" 
 
 '^ My prize would not let me sleep." 
 
 "I can believe it," answered her father, put- 
 
THE FORESTERS. 9 
 
 ting his arms akimbo. ^^It was just so with me 
 the first time I made the best score. And now 
 you — a girl of eighteen ! " 
 
 ^^What do you think our Eudolph will say, 
 father, when he reads about it in the paper ? " 
 
 ^' Eudolph is no hunter ; he is just what is, 
 after all, really required of foresters in these days 
 — a cultivator of trees." 
 
 ^^ It pleases me much more," returned the girl; 
 and her clear voice made a wonderful contrast 
 with the deep powerful one of her father — ^^ it 
 pleases me much more that you have promised 
 me that I shall have a shooting license. " 
 
 Jorns stroked his great mustache with both 
 hands, and as his eye fell on the new kennel in 
 front of the house, before which lay an unfastened 
 chain, he said : 
 
 *^ But, Carla, where is your young fox ? " 
 
 *^ I let him go last night." 
 
 ^* Let him go ! Why, when I brought him to 
 you, you were delighted with him." 
 
 ^^ Yes ; but when I came home last night I 
 was so happy I had to let him go ; it is not right 
 to chain up a wild animal. It was not easy to 
 unfasten him ; he tried to • bite me. He would 
 never have grown tame, however ; he was not 
 born for it. I was reading only last night in 
 Tschudi's ' Animal Life ' ; there are many re- 
 markable things in that book, and I believe it is 
 all true." 
 
10 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 Joms nodded, smiling. ^^And so you have 
 let the fox go free, and yet you want to be a 
 hunter/^ 
 
 *^ Yes. If I meet the fox in the wood I shall 
 shoot him down, but I will not keep him tied.^' 
 
 Jorns assented only by a nod, and Carla went 
 on : ^^ What will my boarding-school friends say, 
 especially Toni, when they hear that I made the 
 best score ? ^' 
 
 "Don't think too much about what people 
 say.'' 
 
 "Father, when I was there I was always 
 thinking of home ; and I can hardly believe that 
 I was obliged to stay at the institute a year and a 
 half, and could not come home at all. Every 
 morning, and above all to-day, I have wanted to 
 ask the brook, and the hill, and the meadow, 
 ' Do you rejoice with me at our meeting again ? ' 
 I often think that all we see sees us. The trees 
 see us, only it is another kind of seeing." 
 
 Jorns shook his head as he went toward the 
 house, for he thought, " We suppose we under- 
 stand men, and thoughts are stirring in our own 
 children that we can not even guess." 
 
 Before the house he paused suddenly, and said, 
 " Stop ; you must capture a nation to-day. Keep 
 watch ; the bees are going to swarm." 
 
 " I'll see to it," returned Carla. 
 
 They went into the sitting-room, where Carla's 
 mother was waiting with breakfast — a comfortable, 
 
THE FORESTERS. 11 
 
 plump woman, in whose countenance lay an ex- 
 pression of the most perfect quiet and content. 
 
 Little was said at table. A strange smile played 
 on Jorns's face to-day, like sheet-lightning ; but 
 nobody asked him any questions. 
 
 When his wife had drunk her second cup, he 
 said : ^' Louise, do you remember telling me you 
 should lose a piece of your life if you had to leave 
 this place ? ^' 
 
 '' Indeed I do. Must we go ? " 
 
 *^0n account of my age," returned Jorns, 
 ** my length of service, and my successful manage- 
 ment, they proposed to promote me, and make me 
 a master forester. I begged them to leave me here 
 in my old district to the end of my life ; I can not 
 bear to leave it. Yesterday afternoon I received 
 the official concession. So good morning, Madam 
 Master Forester ! " 
 
 ^^ And you never told me till to-day !" 
 
 ^^ No ; you could not have slept for Joy. And 
 then, a woman always has regrets ; perhaps you'd 
 have thought it would have been pleasanter at the 
 master forester's house. Now it is over, and now 
 it is morning. But I am henceforth Master 
 Forester. I have received the rank and title, and 
 need not leave the trees I have planted. So good 
 morning to you. Madam Master Forester." 
 
 '^ My sainted father was to have entered the 
 Consistorium," said the bearer of the new title, 
 *^but he begged that he might be left in the vil- 
 
12 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 lage, where he knew all the children and the chil- 
 dren's children of his flock. So it is with you and 
 your trees ; they are your parishioners." 
 
 ^^And they are quite as hard to manage as 
 parishioners that can run about." 
 
 ^^Now, thank God ! I am happy ; I have no 
 regrets/' continued Jorns's wife. 
 
 ^^ That's right," said Jorns, smiling. ^^And 
 new you can make my coffee somewhat stronger 
 in future. We get the higher salary, and stay in 
 the old place, so that the adyance amounts to a 
 great deal more. You have stood the test," he 
 added, turning to his daughter ; " you said nothing 
 to your mother. A girl that can keep a secret 
 overnight, and a joyful one too, has something in 
 her. But now we have chatted long enough ; I 
 must be off." 
 
 *^ Why so early to-day ?" asked his wife. 
 
 ^^ First," said Jorns, '' I want to put Ruland's 
 dog out of his pain." 
 
 ^^It is right you should do it yourself," said 
 Carla ; ^^it is better so." 
 
 ^^Girl!" cried her father, ^^what are you? 
 I wonder what sort of man it will be that will 
 finally conquer this heart." 
 
 ^^I am curious too, father. I wish I knew 
 where the stupid fellow is wandering, wasting so 
 much precious time. But he must be a forester ; 
 that I say to begin with." 
 
 "Carla," interrupted her mother, "you must 
 
THE FORESTERS. 13 
 
 not say that; there are upright men in other 
 callings." 
 
 ^' That may be, but they are for other girls." 
 
 ^^ At your betrothal/' said her father, '^ we will 
 drink out of your prize cup. But that's enough ! 
 We must go." 
 
 He gave a soft whistle. Mangold came in, and 
 Jorns said, ^' Carla, work awhile at my tables, and 
 copy my opinion as to the sale of bowlders. It is 
 all lying on the table in the office." Turning to 
 Mangold, he added, ^^ Bring a shovel along." 
 
 The master forester filled his pipe, struck fire 
 with flint and steel, laid on the burning tinder, 
 and handed the tobacco-pouch to Mangold, that 
 he might do the like. 
 
 Outside, before the house, Jorns said to his 
 wife : ^^Send our dmner to the Adjunct at the 
 Hahnenkamm ; we shall hardly come home before 
 night." 
 
 The two men slung their guns over their 
 shoulders, and went over the bridge toward the 
 forest which stretches along the mountain behind 
 the house. 
 
 At the bridge Jorns turned and cried out, 
 *^ Good by. Madam Master Forester ! " 
 
 His wife followed them awhile with her eyes, 
 then went into the kitchen-garden. 
 
 Carla stood for some time dreamily gazing at 
 the bees, then turned away, and broke into joyful 
 singing. 
 
14 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 The two women went into the garden to gath- 
 er beans, talking to each other across the rank 
 vines. The mother could not say enough of her 
 good fortune in not haying to leave her home ; 
 she painted in lively colors the grief it would 
 have been to her to pack up her household goods, 
 and have them all carried over the mountains, 
 leaving behind them everything they had planted 
 and tended. 
 
 ^^I am sorry for poor Hellauf," said she. 
 
 *^ Mother, you have been a forester's wife so 
 long — " 
 
 ^^ Yes, child ; but I did not grow up in the 
 woods and among hunters.'^ 
 
 ^^But, mother, it is better for such a creature 
 to have a speedy death than to waste away, and 
 perhaps die of hunger. The poor beast could no 
 longer swallow anything." 
 
 '' If you had been a boy, you would have been 
 a hunter like your father.'^ 
 
 " I think so too. Oh, if I could have been a 
 hunter ! But I shall ; father has promised me a 
 shooting license. And I can not wait for the 
 weekly newspaper to come ; my winning the 
 shooting-cup will be in it, and perhaps, too, that 
 they have granted my license." 
 
THE FORESTERS. 15 
 
 " My child, I am thinking it can not be for 
 your good, after all." 
 . ^' What harm can it do ? " 
 
 '' Oh, the neighbors ! the world ! Just think 
 what a talk it would make : ^ The master for- 
 ester's Carla runs about the woods with a 
 gun!''* 
 
 ^^ Father says we must not think too much 
 about what people say," returned Carla, quickly. 
 *^ Mother, let folks talk as they please. I can see 
 by your looks that you enjoy it yourself." 
 
 *^ To be sure I do," replied her mother ; and 
 her whole face was one blissful smile, as she 
 added, ^^ Well, if your father is willing, we need 
 think no more about it." 
 
 The coal-black pointer, called Argus, had 
 come into the garden and lay before Carla, blink- 
 ing and licking his lips in hopes his mistress 
 would notice him. When she looked at him he 
 rubbed his head on the ground for joy. 
 
 In the garden was a cedar ; Rudolph, the bot- 
 anist, had transplanted this stranger into his 
 father's garden to see how it would thrive there. 
 The tree had thriven well, but had never attracted 
 much notice. To-day, however, as Carla was 
 picking beans near the cedar, she often gazed at 
 it ; she was thinking of Kudolph, and his care for 
 the propagation of trees, and how her father had 
 often rallied her brother and the former Adjunct, 
 saying that they were no true huntsmen. 
 
16 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 The two women sat down in the beech arbor 
 to string the beans. 
 
 "Father does not like telling dreams," began 
 the mother, "but I must tell this. Only think, 
 I dreamed last night of Euland. I saw him in 
 the wild forest in America, but as young as when 
 he was your father's assistant. He had a yeil over 
 his face, but that did not surprise me at all — it 
 seemed quite natural. He took me by the hand 
 — he has such a broad, honest hand, one of the 
 hands that it does one good to touch — and as he 
 did so his wedding-ring fell from his finger into 
 the grass. He took it up and said : ^ Madam, I 
 thank you for coming to me ; I know that nobody 
 in my native land remembers me oftener and 
 more kindly than you and your husband. I re- 
 member you, too ; and whenever I think of you 
 I seem to smell fresh-buttered pancakes. Ah ! if 
 I could only taste a heaped-up plate of them once 
 more with you, and you could pour me coffee 
 from the brown glazed pot.' And, just think, 
 child — as he was talking to me, all at once it was 
 no longer Euland, but dear Sylvia, with her face 
 as bright as clear sunshine, and her flaxen hair, 
 and all her dear looks. And she clasped me round 
 the neck and gave me a kiss, and then I awoke." 
 
 "I can account for the dream," returned 
 Carla. "We have been talking, you know, of my 
 laying a wreath on dear Sylvia's grave, when we 
 go to church to-morrow." 
 
THE FORESTERS. 17 
 
 "Yes, do so/^ said her mother. ^'Ruland at 
 the other side of the world — ^who knows where ? 
 has, to be sure, sent money to the sexton for tak- 
 ing care of it ; but what is care from a stranger's 
 hands ? I can't understand how Ruland, after his 
 wife's death, could run away in the night, as he 
 did. Your father, to be sure, thinks it easy to 
 explain. Ruland, he says, was a man of such 
 force of will that he could accomplish whatever 
 he had determined. Now, however, something 
 no human power could overcome set itself in 
 his way ; he could not conquer the obstacle, and 
 so he spurned away at once everything that had 
 been his before. But still I can't understand 
 it. Let us talk of something else. Tell me all 
 about yesterday." 
 
 Carla's eyes brightened as she said : " Indeed, 
 mother, I was frightened myself when I saw that 
 I had won the prize. And then the shouting and 
 the noise ! My hand still aches from being shaken 
 by so many. I thought Emmerich, the hermit 
 forester, would crush it ; and his hand is like the 
 bark of an oak. Our good Mangold never stirred 
 from my side, and kept saying, ^ Your winning the 
 prize pleases me a thousand times better than if I 
 had gained it myself.' Meantime he boasted to 
 everybody, ' She can cook as well as her mother.' 
 He was concerned lest people should think I 
 was not a good housewife. Emmy, the Police 
 Commissioner's daughter, congratulated me mock- 
 2 ^ 
 
18 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ingly, but I took it as though she were in earn- 
 est.'^ 
 
 *^ What ! was Emmy there ? Why, she is still 
 in mourning for her husband ! " 
 
 " She was dressed in mourning, but her face 
 was gay enough, and she had smiles for every- 
 body; and — '^ 
 
 ^^You must not talk so against her, child. 
 She has been spoiled all her life long, first by her 
 father, then by her husband, who might almost 
 have been her father." 
 
 ^^ She's nothing to me. But, mother, when I 
 came home it did not seem as though I ought to 
 go into a house and go to bed ; I would rather 
 have gone to the woods and roamed and roamed. 
 . . . But stop, mother — ^look ! '' exclaimed Oarla, 
 suddenly. ^^ Send me Lisbeth quick, and let her 
 bring a hive ; I must stay here." 
 
 And, sure enough, a swarm of bees had settled 
 on the cedar. With the help of the maid, Carla 
 succeeded in securing them. 
 
 Pleased with their capture, she sat down in 
 the office, and finished the work set by her father. 
 Her dog Argus lay at her feet, and often sighed, 
 as though he would say, ^^ Ah ! if we could but 
 be roaming together in the forest ! " But Carla 
 persevered with her employment. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 19 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 JORN"S and Mangold had meantime gone oyer 
 the bridge up toward the mountain forest. 
 
 ^' I don't give up — I shall get my fur cap for 
 the winter, sir. Here is the track of an otter; 
 the saucy fellow ventures very near the house, 
 but I'll get him and wear him for a cap." So 
 spake Mangold. 
 
 In going by, Jorns now and then caught hold 
 of the stems of the young firs, as though he would 
 give them to understand that he was to stay by 
 them to his life's end. As they strode up the 
 mountain he looked back, and saw that the old dog 
 had sat down. Taking the pipe from his mouth, 
 he pointed backward with it and said : '' Mangold, 
 that poor beast is not only blind, but he has lost 
 his scent. Fasten him to the leash." 
 
 Mangold did as he was bid ; but the creature 
 could hardly drag himself along, and Mangold 
 took him on his arm. The dog tried to bark, but 
 in vain. ^^I believe," said Mangold, ^^Hellauf 
 has broken down before his time just through 
 longing for his master. I am the one he liked 
 best to go with, because I wear his master's coat ; 
 the dear, kind, beautiful lady who died so early 
 gave it to me." 
 
 Jorns did not take up the conversation. 
 
 They crossed a tract on which Jorns never set 
 
20 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 foot without inward anger. There was nothing 
 there save a desolate rocky detritus ; but among 
 the stones roots of trees coiled and twisted, to 
 show that once a vigorous forest had stood there. 
 The lawyer Schaller, hence called the Hillflayer, 
 had stripped this steep slope bare of its trees, and 
 rain and snow had washed away all the soil, so that 
 no plant, not even a little bush, could grow. It 
 looked as if stiffened snakes were lying half above, 
 half below the ground, and here and there were 
 spots where they seemed twisted together in 
 masses. 
 
 They had come to the height called Vogelseck, 
 among the great bowlders. Jorns put up his 
 pipe, and buttoned his jacket across his breast ; 
 for here there was a sharp wind blowing. 
 
 *^Put Hellauf down there by the fir,^' said he, 
 stroking the creature softly over its head and 
 back ; then withdrawing a little space, he raised 
 his gun to his shoulder and fired. He seated 
 himself on a rock, reloaded, and said, " There ! 
 now he is out of his misery. Put him out of 
 sight. '^ 
 
 ^^ Master," said Mangold, ^^I wish I might 
 have such an end. When I can no longer go 
 out, and am of no more use to anybody, then 
 let some good friend send a ball through my 
 head, and not leave me to die, sick and miserable, 
 shut up in the house beside the stove." 
 
 ^^You are an old fool. It would be a fino 
 
THE FORESTERS. 21 
 
 world indeed if a man could bespeak another to 
 shoot him like that. What sort of position would 
 your friend be in ? At your age, you should be 
 ashamed to have such maggots in your head." 
 
 ^^ You are right, I know," said Mangold, rub- 
 bing his forehead as if he were crushing the mag- 
 gots in it ; and, evidently wishing to bring up an- 
 other subject, he said, after awhile : 
 
 ^^ I keep thinking how strange that was. One 
 morning the field-guard comes up from District 
 Forester Kuland's, bringing his gun and his dog, 
 with the message that we are to keep them for him; 
 that Ruland had gone in the night, leaving every- 
 thing as it stood." 
 
 Jorns made no answer. 
 
 '^ Yes," Mangold went on, ^^such another ani- 
 mal is not easy to find. The little terrier is 
 his son, but so sensible as his father he is not and 
 will never be. Hellauf never barked for nothing, 
 and he saw in your eyes what he must do." 
 
 The little dark-brown terrier seemed to notice 
 that the talk was about him. He lay down before 
 his master, put his head first on one paw and then 
 on the other, and looked at the speaker as if he 
 would say, ^^ Who knows ? perhaps I shall be just 
 as wise some time." 
 
 Mangold nodded to the little dog, and cried, 
 laughing, ^^Now, if such a dog could speak, and 
 say all he thinks ? " 
 
 ^' Then we should hear a great deal of stupid 
 
22 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 stuff/' said Jorns, smiling. " Can a man say all lie 
 thinks ? If dogs live with men some millions of 
 years more, who knows what they will come to ? 
 It has now been shown that in time animals trans- 
 form themselves. To be sure a few million years 
 are, as the saying goes, only half a wink in this 
 affair." 
 
 ^^ So it may yet come to pass that dogs shall 
 learn to speak," rejoined Mangold, glad to have set 
 his taciturn master talking. ^^Well, if Hellauf 
 could have spoken, he would have told the truth 
 as to how things were with his master and mistress, 
 and why, when she went so early and suddenly to 
 her grave, Ruland should depart by night without 
 any warning, and set people's tongues to wagging, 
 tattling, and chattering dear knows what." 
 
 "You are chattering too, and dear knows 
 what. Whoever says anything bad about Kuland, 
 lies. He was for the time beside himself on ac- 
 count of his wife's sudden death. But enough of 
 that ! Cover Hellauf up, and follow me to the 
 Hahnenkamm presently." 
 
 Jorns took up his gun again, cast a hasty glance 
 at the dead dog, and strode away. 
 
 The little dark-brown terrier, henceforth called 
 Hellauf, still staid by the body, snuffed about it, 
 and stretched up his nose into the air. Jorns 
 whistled, and he followed obediently ; but he often 
 looked back to the place where Mangold was open- 
 ing a pit. Jorns's thoughts also went backward. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 23 
 
 but he strode on with even pace. He stood anvhile 
 by the nursery of forest trees. The young sets 
 were thriying, yet several beds were quite bare, 
 for the plantation had been made high up on the 
 very crest of the mountain, near where the Ad- 
 junct was overseeing the cutting out of the dead 
 wood. 
 
 Out of a ravine came the sound of the wood- 
 cutters' axes, and presently the timber-dealer 
 Meyer appeared. He was a spare man, with a red 
 beard, and, on the whole, well formed ; but as he 
 walked he took pains to turn his large feet well 
 out, so that observers laughed at his stork -like 
 gait. He was full of activity, and always awake 
 to his own advantage. In the neighborhood he 
 had been nicknamed Eilmeyer (^^ Hasty Meyer "), 
 for he was always in a hurry, and never passed a 
 quarter of an hour without taking his watch from 
 his pocket. He always seemed on the way to 
 some goal ; even when he sat, he preferred to sit 
 in his rocking-chair, that he might keep in motion 
 all the time. He was hardly thirty, but had al- 
 ready a variety of business, in the village, on the 
 railroad, and on the Ehine. Jorns had a certain 
 respect for the man, who coined money out of 
 apparently worthless things, and with great skill 
 turned to profit the productions of the forest. 
 ^^Watercourse,'' ^^ cheapest freight," were Eil- 
 meyer's favorite expressions. He had been em- 
 ployed at some iron-works in Sweden, and had 
 
24: THE FORESTEKS, 
 
 there seen logs worked up into frames for hoxtses to 
 be sent to the East. Seeing plainly that this could 
 be done in our forests also, he had come home, 
 and had been successful, haying taken a contract to 
 furnish houses for Algiers. The logs were dressed 
 and put together here into houses, then taken 
 apart and cax'ried to the brook, thence to the 
 Rhine, and shipped to Algiers, where they were 
 set up again, and made habitable with joiner-work 
 and masonry. Jorns was much pleased with 
 Eilmeyer's little joke: ^^It is a fine revenge to 
 send houses to the Turcos who wanted to burn 
 down our woods." 
 
 Eilmeyer was somewhat intrusive ; he tried to 
 put himself into familiar relations with those who 
 had given him no encouragement, and to render 
 friendly services where his friendship was not at 
 all wanted. In this way, by all kinds of civilities, 
 he had made himself at home in Jorns's house, 
 where he often gazed at Oarla with great admira- 
 tion, though he could not even then refrain from 
 pulling out his watch. 
 
 He now nodded to Jorns from a distance, and 
 when he came up, said, ^^Herr Jorns, by my last 
 letters from Sweden I learn that there are many 
 people of your name there ; and I am told, too, 
 that they descend from an ancient king." 
 
 *^ Indeed ? I don't hold my head any higher 
 for it." 
 
 ^^ Master Forester," began Eilmeyer again^ 
 
THE FORESTERS. 25 
 
 ^^may I ask you in passing" — Eilmeyer always 
 asked in passing — ^^how your decision on the 
 bowlders will read ? " 
 
 ^^ Certainly you may ask; there is no official 
 secret about it. My decision reads : The rocks 
 in the valley for three rods from the brook may 
 be taken, but not those on the slope of the moun- 
 tain ; otherwise the soil will be washed away 
 when the snow melts. And when I am dead I 
 will not have it on my soul that I have laid waste 
 a part of our earth and made it plantless." 
 
 ^^ You always have noble thoughts/' returned 
 Eilmeyer. ^^But the stones in the plain are not 
 enough to fill my order. I have closed a contract 
 for paving-stones in the capital. Can't you give 
 more ? The Italians say the upper ones are the 
 best." 
 
 ^^ Can't be done." 
 
 Eilmeyer took leave with thanks for the de- 
 cisive information ; at least, it lets a man know 
 where he is. He never showed himself offended 
 at a refusal which spoiled one of his plans, for 
 that not only hurts one's credit, but makes the 
 refuser less accessible for the future. 
 
 While Jorns went composedly up the moun- 
 tain, enjoying his forest, Eilmeyer went no less 
 contentedly down the valley. But as little power 
 as the trees had to talk of their thriving condi- 
 tion, so little desire had Eilmeyer to tell how 
 satisfied he felt that his undertakings were turn- 
 
26 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ing out well througli his prudence and skill, and 
 that he was growing rich. Nay, he preferred not 
 to be contented at heart, for contentment hinders 
 further effort, and Eilmeyer had great things 
 before him yet. 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 JoRKS went up toward the highest peak, where 
 they were cutting out the old wood. He came 
 through the forest which he himself had set out 
 years before ; he might hope to see it fit for the 
 axe, a thing that falls to the lot of few. 
 
 Young Hellauf, whom he had taken by the 
 leash, tugged at it and whined. ^^What is the 
 matter?" thought Jorns. The dog whined yet 
 louder and looked up at his master, snuffing. 
 ^^ There must be game near." Jorns softly bade 
 the dog be quiet. He obeyed, and Jorns himself 
 almost held his breath. Hark ! the twigs snap, 
 there is a rustling on the ground ; something is 
 coming. Look ! there it is. How its eyes shine 1 
 Up with the gun ! Fire ! It falls. 
 
 A deep sigh came from Jorns's breast, a won- 
 derful radiance passed over his face. A stag, a 
 twelve-antlered stag, of which they had seen no 
 sign in the district, lay on the ground skillfully 
 struck. The dog pulled so hard on the leash 
 
THE FORESTERS. 27 
 
 that Jorns let go. He rushed forward, flew to 
 the prostrate animal, and barked, as much as to 
 say, " See what we can do. Where could the 
 beautiful creature have come from ? Never mind ; 
 he showed himself in our district, and the shoot- 
 ing season has begun." 
 
 Jorns, too, stood by the prostrate stag, and 
 drove away the dog, who wanted to lick off the 
 blood that flowed from its breast. He was him- 
 self astonished at his singular luck, and yet he 
 muttered, touching the fallen animal with his 
 foot, ''Pity, pity!'' 
 
 He reloaded his double-barreled gun, broke 
 off fir branches and laid them on the stag, and 
 then, putting his whistle to his mouth, blew long 
 and loud. The Adjunct came down the moun- 
 tain — a young man of slender figure, with the 
 supple yet firm and erect movement of a soldier ; 
 his whole face was tinged with a delicate red, and 
 a flaxen mustache shaded his finely cut lips. 
 
 Jorns went to meet him, and said, ''I have 
 shot something ; see there." 
 
 While the Adjunct still stood in wonder by the 
 slain stag. Mangold come up from below. '' And 
 we have had no tracks, not a sign or trace ! " 
 cried he to the Adjunct. 
 
 Now came a third, an almost dwarfish little 
 man, with a large head and bristly hair ; he did 
 not seem to walk, but to roll down the hill. 
 
 "Bobbel," cried Mangold, ''what are you do- 
 
28 ' THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ing here, you wood-imp ? You ought to be at 
 work, binding fagots/^ 
 
 ^^ Fagots I'' returned Bobbel, opening a mon- 
 strously wide mouth. "Fagots! You're a dry 
 fagot yourself. There lies my stag. I saw him 
 — ^not him exactly, but the place where he had 
 been.'' 
 
 " Indeed ! Why didn't you say so then ? " 
 
 *^ Because nobody believes me." 
 
 Singing a jodel clear and high, laughing, crow- 
 ing, and screaming with all his might, Bobbel 
 danced around the stag ; then seizing its antlers, 
 he raised himself perpendicularly upright on them. 
 
 Jorns drove him away, and Bobbel laid himself 
 down among the bilberry bushes, and amused him- 
 self by biting off the fruit. 
 
 Jorns ordered the stag to be brought to his 
 house in the evening quietly, and instructed Man- 
 gold to draw it that very night, and carry it to 
 the station, for it must go to the court kitchen. 
 
 Mangold lifted the hind-legs and showed the 
 Adjunct what a noble stag it was, and how its 
 hoofs indicated its full maturity for the chase. 
 He took this occasion to tell his old story, how he 
 had once looked on while some young deer played 
 a trick on an old stag by letting him pursue them, 
 while a scapegrace comrade of theirs staid on the 
 spot to court a young hind. 
 
 Jorns had gone on to the block-house, and the 
 Adjunct followed him. Before them, clambering 
 
THE FORESTERS. 29 
 
 oyer the steepest eleyations on all fours, like a wild- 
 cat, ran Bobbel, whose odd face was now crossed 
 by blue streaks of berry juice. As the two men 
 came up, they heard the laughter of the girls, who 
 were busy with tying fagots. Jorns was greeted 
 with a song, during which Bobbel gave a jodel, 
 and crowed and turned somersaults till everybody 
 shouted with laughter. 
 
 The dinner had already been sent up from the 
 forester's house. The master forester and the Ad- 
 junct ate at a table in the hut, while the girls and 
 wood-cutters scattered themselves all about, and 
 after they had finished their dinners lay down and 
 slept till Bobbel waked them with cock-crowing, 
 which he imitated to perfection. 
 
 Jorns and his assistant talked of the fallen 
 stag, and wondered from what inclosure he could 
 have escaped ; for in the open forest there were 
 no longer any deer. 
 
 " Have you ever been in love ? " asked Jorns, 
 unexpectedly. " There, now, why do you turn so 
 red ? Listen to me. Let us suppose, now, you 
 are in love, my fine fellow. The girl is noble and 
 true, and of a good family. She herself is hit too, 
 but of course does not dare show it. Now, sup- 
 pose you are out some night waiting for the dear 
 creature. You are standing in the garden, or by 
 the wall ; you hear the faint noise of the hedge- 
 hog, hear the leaf, or dry twig that falls from 
 the tree, see how a cat steals by ; you see and hear 
 
30 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 it all with the most vivid plainness, and yet are 
 looking for something quite different. Or it is in 
 a street, at evening twilight, that you are trying 
 to catch a glimpse of your sweetheart. You hear 
 a coach rumble in the distance ; now the sound 
 comes nearer, now it dies away. You see the 
 carpenters, the masons, coming from their work ; 
 you see that one has his dinner-things in a red 
 cloth, another in a blue one ; one carries a piece 
 of wood on his shoulder, another a loaf of bread 
 under his arm. If you were to go into court next 
 morning you could tell it all exactly. You see, 
 you hear it all, and yet had not the least intention 
 of doing so. It is just so when one is on the 
 watch for game. He who is not listening for a 
 deer does not see the forest aright ; he does not 
 see all its life. To-day that creature came to my 
 shot. I knew nothing about it ; but how many 
 days, how many nights, have I spent out there on 
 the look-out for game, and thus did I first learn 
 to know my forest aright." 
 
 ^' So, then, he who is no hunter can not be a 
 good forester," remarked the Adjunct. 
 
 After awhile he asked, ^^Have you read to- 
 day's paper yet ? I have it brought up to me here 
 every morning." 
 
 " Is there anything particular in it ?" 
 
 ^' Yes, indeed. Besides the official announce- 
 ment of your appointment as master forester, and 
 that of Miss Carla's victory, there is an extract 
 
THE FORESTERS. 31 
 
 from a letter of the former district forester Ruland 
 to your son. " 
 
 ^' Is there ?^' said Jorns. ^'I am glad of it. 
 Rudolph and Euland are old friends. Euland 
 was my assistant at just your age, but he had 
 been at home in our house long before. I have 
 neyer seen a more beautiful youthful friendship 
 than that between Ruland and my son.'^ 
 
 He refilled his pipe slowly, laid the tinder 
 upon it, shut the lid, took a couple of good whiffs, 
 then picked up the paper and read. 
 
 Ruland wrote that the present Secretary of 
 the Interior in the North American republic, 
 himself a German, was taking up an impor- 
 tant matter, hitherto kept in the background 
 by the selfishness of private interests. America 
 was exposed to the danger of losing her forests ; 
 up till now wasteful destruction had always been 
 carried on, without reflecting that an ancient 
 forest by its permanence teaches the great 
 fact that we live on the possessions of our an- 
 cestors, and are bound to leave something equal- 
 ly valuable to our posterity. Many immigrant 
 Germans, acquainted with forestry, had already 
 called attention to this subject ; of late he him- 
 self had done so with much urgency, both in the 
 papers and before the authorities, on the ground 
 of his observations in an extended journey through 
 the wooded districts. There was now a prospect 
 that a legal check would be put upon willful 
 
32 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 waste and robbery before it should be too late. 
 In carrying this project out, doubtless an immense 
 number of German woodmen might find pleasant 
 and remunerative employment. True, this could 
 not yet be counted on with certainty ; it was a 
 question whether selfishness, sheltering itself be- 
 hind the great principle of personal freedom, 
 would not yet bring to naught all that had been 
 done. But they had already begun to forbid the 
 lumbermen, in the employment of the timber- 
 merchants and railroad princes, to carry on their 
 destructiye felling of the forests of the public 
 domain. America was no longer the Promised 
 Land for the Old World ; and if she did not pro- 
 tect her woods she would become waste and dry 
 as had the Promised Land of the ancients, Pales- 
 tine herself. 
 
 ^^ That is the old Euland ! " cried Jorns, ^^ al- 
 ways thinking of great things and the public ad- 
 vantage. A district consisting of an entire 
 continent is just large enough for him. He is 
 just the man for America — ^to bring up her woods 
 and forests, and make them what they should 
 be. See how the old theological student shows 
 through," said Jorns ; and he read a passage 
 aloud : 
 
 ^^^Let us live gayly to-day without asking 
 what may come to-morrow. To-morrow shall be 
 as this day and even more abundant.' So speak 
 the godless at all times. This morrow, to be 
 
THE FORESTERS. 33 
 
 sure, is reckoned by centuries, but the remote in- 
 heritors of this beautiful land will one day com- 
 plain : ^ What have you made out of the New 
 World ? While selling its temporary produce you 
 have sold, or rather destroyed, the very soil from 
 which that produce sprang/ 
 
 ^^You Americans complain, perhaps justly, 
 of the decay of filial piety. Cut your woods 
 down, and your children and your children's 
 children will have a right to despise you. You 
 have the stimulating proverb : ^ Help yourself.' 
 That will do as an appeal to the individual. In 
 great undertakings, like the preservation of the 
 forest, the individual is helpless. In this the 
 State is an individual that helps itself, and by 
 this very means is free and independent. It is 
 the part of the republic, for her own honor, to 
 show herself conservative — that is, a preserver of 
 the forest — in order that it may not seem to other 
 nations as though the republic were but a robber 
 of the present — of the interval between the quad- 
 rennial elections." 
 
 Jorns glanced at his companion, seeming to 
 expect a word from him, and the Adjunct said : 
 ^' That is shrewd. Biblical allusions are still ef- 
 fective among the descendants of the Puritans." 
 
 Jorns looked up, perplexed. 
 
 " We Germans," continued the Adjunct, " are 
 the most faithful guardians of the forests." 
 
 *^0h !" interrupted Jorns, "we are doing a 
 3 
 
34 THE FOKESTERS. 
 
 good deal for our woods just now, and it is right 
 that we should begin to be proud of it ; but, after 
 all, we must not exaggerate our merits. Our an- 
 cestors were, to speak plainly, thorough enemies 
 of the forest ; we haye no reason to boast. The 
 Hillflayer, who desolated many districts around 
 us, may yie with the greatest destroyers of 
 the Old or New World. On the barrens oyer 
 which we must mount hither, on the bare spots 
 in the forests below, and in many tracts besides, 
 you can still find his mark. He was formerly an 
 attorney, but suddenly gaye up his profession, 
 and bought as much wood land as he could get ; 
 he had wealthy business associates abroad, espe- 
 cially in Holland, and as the parishes were at that 
 time still masters of their forests, he bought them 
 for ready money. No warning ayailed against the 
 madness of destroying the inheritance of the past, 
 and of making all after-growth impossible ; he 
 laid bare districts on which no wood will eyer 
 grow again, and handed them oyer to desolation. 
 He gained a great property by the axe ; and his 
 delight was to humor eyery caprice of his only 
 son — a headstrong, boastful student. This son 
 studied seyen years at the TJniyersity and the 
 School of Forestry. The old man often came and 
 caroused with him and his comrades, sitting at 
 the table, with shirt-sleeyes rolled up, singing and 
 carrying on with the students, and helping them 
 in all sorts of reckless pranks. Eyen here, in our 
 
THE FORESTERS. 35 
 
 own village, he could not give up his deyiltry. 
 One evening at a wedding-dance an old peasant 
 came in with a strapping young daughter, both 
 in the costume of the district. Their behavior 
 was wild and boisterous, and at last it turned out 
 that the old peasant was the Hillflayer, and 
 the strapping peasant maid his son. Not only in 
 our neighborhood, but in the whole district, their 
 recklessness was talked of. He left a large estate, 
 but his son made long journeys and squandered 
 his property, until nothing was left him but a 
 little cottage, in which he now lives with one old 
 woman, and does nothing year in and year out 
 but smoke and read all sorts of books that make 
 him madder. Just now he is in prison for having 
 repeatedly threatened Kuland's life." 
 
 ^^ Isn't the man called Schaller ? " 
 
 ^^Yes.'' 
 
 ^^ Mangold has told me about him." 
 
 ^^ They say he tried to poison himself. I don't 
 see by what right or for what end they brought 
 him to life again." 
 
 Jorns went with the Adjunct through the 
 wood where they were clearing out the timber. 
 It was the love of the chase that had determined 
 the young officer to a forester's life, but he wil- 
 lingly agreed to serve at first simply as a guardian 
 of the woods. 
 
 The two went together nearly to the source of 
 the brook, which flowed down the wooded slope 
 
36 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 on that side. The Adjunct said he was hoping to 
 have an old comrade of his for a companion in 
 the forest, for if it should be determined to carry 
 this brook to the county town, his friend the 
 Commissioner of Water- works would live awhile 
 there with him. 
 
 '' There is nothing else for it/' returned Joms ; 
 ^^you must accustom yourself to use tobacco. A 
 forester must smoke ; it drives away loneliness, 
 and he does not desire a comrade. You will find, 
 too, you can not stand the insects when on watch 
 if you do not smoke.'' 
 
 Jorns took leave of the Adjunct, telling him 
 to follow by and by. He quietly strolled home- 
 ward, and almost forgot that he had had such 
 luck in hunting, for he was wondering whether 
 the women had seen Euland's letter. Oarla had 
 certainly looked at the paper to-day with eager- 
 ness, because her prize was mentioned in it. 
 
 '' Such a paper is a real Noah's ark," he mut- 
 tered to himself. 
 
 CHAPTEK VI. 
 
 DowK in the forester's house mother and 
 daughter sat at dinner. Naturally the wife in- 
 sisted that no one should sit in her husband's 
 place; his chair stood empty by the table, and 
 
THE FORESTERS. 37 
 
 she said: ^^It is not a regular meal when your 
 father is not here, but lam glad he is once more 
 a whole day away from his desk. To sit so much 
 bent over his writing is becoming yery trying to 
 him, and he says the work increases every year ; 
 perhaps it will grow yet more tiresome. It is a 
 good thing that you can help him.'' 
 
 Carla, too, no doubt would rather have gone 
 into the wood than have staid at home writing, 
 but she did not say so ; she had learned to repress 
 her wishes, and even their expression. 
 
 There lived up there on the mountian a Catholic 
 priest, a pleasant man, plump and well-preserved, 
 a close and ardent observer of all animal life, who 
 sometimes used to come to Jorns and Mangold to 
 impart his observations, and seek for their assist- 
 ance in confirming them. He never spoke to either 
 upon religion, but often about human nature; 
 and he once praised Carla before her father, say- 
 ing, '' There are people who speak out everything 
 that goes through their heads, and think them- 
 selves wonderfully good, and true, and open ; but 
 they do not reflect how what they blurt out affects 
 others. He who can not keep anything to him- 
 self has no true love of his kind. " 
 
 Carla sat down in her father's office and filled 
 out the tables while her mother went down the 
 valley to the saw-mill, full half a league away, to 
 visit Thoma, who had just been confined with 
 her third son. 
 
38 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 When Carla had tired herself with writing, she 
 arose to stretch and relax her limbs. Just then 
 the newspaper came. She first looked for the 
 notice of the shooting-match, and a smile crossed 
 her face as she read her own name. She read it 
 repeatedly, and a feeling of mingled fear and 
 pleasure came over her. Suddenly, however, she 
 shook her head, and said : ^^ I must listen to 
 father, and not send my thoughts so much 
 abroad. Yet it is a fine thing ! '^ She went 
 quite through the paper, and when she had read 
 the extract from Ruland's letter she laid her 
 hands upon the sheet and looked dreamily before 
 her. 
 
 She rose, took her gun, and went to the target 
 stand, which had been set high up on the other 
 side of the brook, near the waterfall, where the 
 rocks rose so steep that no human foot could reach 
 it. The men who put it there had been let down 
 with ropes. 
 
 She had fired but a few shots — she did not 
 shoot well to-day — when she heard a voice crying, 
 ^^Good morning, dear cousin ! '' 
 
 She turned, and, blushing deeply, said, ^^Ah, 
 is it you, Gotthold ? Welcome ! '' 
 
 She held out her hand to the young man, and 
 the two exchanged rapid and searching glances. 
 The cousin was a well-built young man of middle 
 height, with long, straight, fair hair, and dressed 
 in black, for he was a candidate of theology. In 
 
THE FORESTERS. 39 
 
 his eyes gleamed a dreamy enthusiasm, and his 
 handsome mouth, surmounted by a light down, 
 seemed formed for eloquence. Just now, however, 
 he appeared unable to find any words, and the girl 
 was obliged to ask, " Have you read what is in the 
 paper about me ? '^ 
 
 ^^Yes." 
 
 ^^ And you do not congratulate me ?" 
 
 '^ No ; I hope you still love the truth. I am 
 glad to see you and all this true-hearted, cheerful 
 household again, but I was sorry to hear that you 
 had won a prize at shooting. No doubt you are 
 sorry too.'' 
 
 '^ No, not at all. Shooting and threshing can't 
 be kept secret, as the proverb runs ; and I hope — 
 my father has promised me — ^that there is to be 
 something else about me in the paper soon." 
 
 " Something else ? What ? " cried Gotthold. 
 
 ** My father has promised to get me a license, 
 so that I can go alone into the forest and hunt, and 
 that must by law be published in the paper." 
 
 Gotthold turned pale. ^^ When I look at you," 
 he said, ^^ I see nothing unwomanly about you, and 
 can not imagine that you should ever overstep the 
 bounds of maidenly propriety. I hope my saying 
 this does not offend you. I think you know how 
 sincere and friendly my intentions are." 
 
 " Certainly, according to your views. But be- 
 cause it is you, I will explain. I want to be able 
 to go into the forest all alone by myself, as far as 
 
40 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 I please, and for as long as I please, without the 
 necessity of a protector. I want to be able to be 
 alone with my friend Argus here." 
 
 The dog pressed up to Carla, and wanted to 
 spring up to caress her ; but she kept him off. 
 
 ^^Dear Oarla," rejoined the candidate, ^^your 
 wish contradicts woman's nature ; it more than 
 offends modesty, and outrages the fundamental 
 laws touching the relations of the sexes." 
 
 *^ That is a great deal all at once." 
 
 ^^ Still it is so. A woman, according to her 
 nature, can never be independent. The Biblical 
 history of creation teaches us by an allegory that 
 man was once alone, but woman never ; for the 
 woman was formed after him and from him." 
 
 " Well, you are always with me, aren't you ? 
 I am never alone," cried Carla, in clear tones, 
 stroking the black pointer. Then, leaning on 
 her gun, she went on: '^Tell me, Gotthold — 
 you know everything — does it anywhere say that 
 the dog followed man out of Paradise ? I have 
 searched in the Bible ; the shepherd Moses and 
 the Good Shepherd must surely have had dogs ; 
 but, so far as I know, dogs are only mentioned in 
 connection with Job and the beggar Lazarus." 
 
 ^^ Indeed ? So you have been reading the 
 Bible with that in view ? " 
 
 '' Yes ; I wanted to find a dog's name, but 
 there is none in it. Then it occurred to me how 
 enchanted I was when, at boarding-school, our 
 
THE FORESTERS. 41 
 
 teacher read us that extract from Homer about 
 the return of Ulysses and the dying dog ; and so 
 I gaye my dog the name of Argus.'' 
 
 ^^You are cunning; you want to lead me 
 away from what disturbs me. " 
 
 ^^ No ; you want to lead me away from my 
 intention. But pray, dear Gotthold, do not let 
 that be our first thought and subject of conversa- 
 tion after so long a separation. It is of no use ; 
 you can do nothing with me ; I am past conver- 
 sion. Won't you have something to eat or drink ? 
 Mother is not at home ; she is down at the saw- 
 mill, and father is in the forest." 
 
 Gotthold made another attempt to return to 
 Carla's strange taste for hunting, but she repelled 
 it, and concluded : 
 
 " Please drop the subject. We are both right. 
 You are a clergyman, and I am a child of the 
 woods ; you might as well preach to the trees to 
 persuade them to grow otherwise as to me to in- 
 duce me to think otherwise. But for all that we 
 shall still be good friends and cousins." 
 
 Eunning into the house, she soon came back 
 with food and drink, which she placed on the 
 table in the arbor. She sat down with her cousin, 
 who now informed her that he had been made 
 curate to the old pastor across the brook, and had 
 come to invite the forester's family to come to 
 church to-morrow, as he was to preach for the 
 first time in his new charge. 
 
42 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 " That is delightful. I am so glad! We shall 
 certainly come/^ cried Carla. ^^I should have 
 come to-morrow at any rate, however, for it is 
 the anniversary of dear Sylvia^s death, and I 
 want to lay a wreath on her grave. '^ 
 
 The curate had not known Sylvia ; he asked 
 about her, and Carla said : ^^ A handsomer pair 
 were never seen on the earth than Euland and 
 his wife. She was the daughter of a professor in 
 the School of Forestry, so dainty, so tender, but 
 yet strong and courageous ; and they lived to- 
 gether in the lonely lodge in such bliss as we read 
 of only in fairy tales. They desired to know no- 
 thing of the world around, for they were all the 
 world to each other. Each of them sang beauti- 
 fully alone, but nothing could be more beautiful 
 than when they sang their charming songs to- 
 gether at the piano. If a stranger lost in the for- 
 est had come suddenly on the lonely cottage, and 
 had seen and heard them, he would have thought 
 it was all a lovely dream, too fair for the real 
 world. It ivas too fair," added Carla, in a tone 
 of deep sorrow. ^' They had not been married a 
 year when Sylvia suddenly died, and her new- 
 born baby with her. Euland's agony was so great 
 that he could not unbosom himself to any one ; 
 no one ever saw tears in his eyes; only there lay 
 such a cloud of darkness over his features as 
 though he had seen some monstrous thing that 
 had left an ineffaceable impress of terror there. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 43 
 
 The evening after the funeral he fled away from 
 the desolate house, and a letter directed that 
 everything should be sold, and the proceeds sent 
 to his wife's sister ; only his dog and his double- 
 barreled gun, in which there was still a charge, 
 were to be given to my father as mementoes." 
 
 ^^ Don't you thihk," asked the young man, 
 *^that there is a secret behind, perhaps even a 
 crime ? '^ 
 
 ^^A secret, certainly — the depth of his dis- 
 tress, which we can not measure ; but a crime — 
 that is impossible. There is not in the world a 
 more excellent and more blameless man than Eu- 
 land. I would pledge my life for it. To be sure, 
 he had never known contradiction ; that my 
 father often says. He was like a brother to me 
 from his boyhood, and was my brother's best 
 friend. In the days when they were still students, 
 and even later, when Ruland was Adjunct here, 
 they both used to tease me exceedingly." 
 
 The young man now expatiated warmly on the 
 dignity and worth of the forester's calling, of 
 caring for the woods, of assisting the forces set at 
 work by God, and removing hindrances to their 
 action. He compared it to his own vocation. 
 
 Carla listened with gTcat sympathy, and the 
 curate grew more and more animated. As he 
 closed she said : 
 
 ^^ You set up a pulpit for yourself everywhere. 
 You were born for a clergyman. Do you under- 
 
44 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 stand how fortunate you are in having been al- 
 lowed to become what you were intended to be by 
 nature ? I can not think of you as anything else, 
 and you have been so from childhood." 
 
 She stopped short, and the curate said : 
 
 ^^ Speak out." 
 
 Eeddening to her hair, Oarla answered, '^ You 
 should never speak but from the pulpit." 
 
 ^^But you," returned the curate, ^^you are a 
 riddle to me. How is it possible that you, who 
 speak like this, can have wild fancies ? " 
 
 ^^ Wild fancies ; I?" 
 
 ^^It is nothing else when a girl like you longs 
 to rove about all alone in the forest, shooting 
 down the game that meets her on the way. You 
 shouldn't allow yourself to have such wishes." 
 
 The girl's bosom was heaving rapidly ; she bit 
 her under-lip, and was plainly keeping down a 
 sharp reply. Then she began, in a firm tone : 
 '' Dear Gotthold, cease trying to convert me. If 
 you can not trust me, do not forget that what my 
 father does and what my father allows is for me 
 always right. Let us discuss it no more, I beg 
 you. I tell you, once for all, I will hear nothing 
 further against my love of hunting. Say no 
 more, or we shall quarrel." 
 
 The two sat together some time longer, but it 
 was as though they were far apart ; each was 
 thinking of a way to close the interview. At last 
 the curate said : 
 
THE FORESTERS. 45 
 
 '^I can not wait for your parents' return. 
 Tell them I was here, and give them my errand.'' 
 
 The cousins shook hands coldly, but from the 
 foot-path behind the hedge Gotthold called out, 
 '^ Carla, I beg of you to think over calmly what 
 I have said. Good-by, and God bless you ! " 
 
 Carla followed him with her eyes. She had 
 laid her right forefinger on her cheek, and so 
 stood gazing before her, lost in thought, till sud- 
 denly, peering about, she tossed back her head 
 and caught up her gun. Going back to the target, 
 she continued shooting with eager enjoyment, but 
 did not hit the black again. Then she stood for 
 awhile leaning on her gun, and thought of what 
 her cousin had said with such emphatic repetition. 
 
 ^^My cousin is right according to his views. 
 No ; even according to his own view he is not 
 right. Does he really believe that the world is 
 made up of clergymen ? " 
 
 Still leaning on her weapon, she wondered 
 whether the admonition of her cousin had made 
 her aim unsteady. From the hills above the bells 
 were ringing in the coming Sunday. Through 
 the trunks and branches of the trees streamed 
 the evening glow, which seemed to be laden with 
 a wondrous odor. A bird was sailing high in 
 the air; Carla took aim, but dropped her piece 
 again, for, like a vision, there came before her the 
 picture of a parsonage on Saturday evening, with 
 everything so freshly cleaned and scoured as if 
 
46 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 waiting for the miracle of Sunday to appear. In 
 the garden among the flower-beds goes the pastor 
 to and fro, and moves his lips softly ; and the 
 pastor — it is Gotthold — ^looks up to his wife 
 standing in the window, and his wife — 
 
 Two blasts from a whistle sounded, and Carla, 
 as if awakening, said to herself, ^^ Father is com- 
 ing.'^ She answered with a clear, far-resounding 
 jodel, and as she lifted her gun the red of the 
 sunset flashed back from the gleaming barrel. 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 Near the foot-bridge Jorns met his wife, and 
 called to her, in a teasing tone, " Good evening. 
 Madam Master Forester/^ 
 
 She began at once to tell him how delight- 
 fully Anton Armbruster and Thoma were situ- 
 ated, how happy in their home and about their 
 fine children. Thoma and Anton were glad 
 they were to stay in the old place, and their only 
 lament was that Jorns and his wife, being Prot- 
 estants, could not be godparents to their third 
 son. 
 
 The wife preceded her husband across the 
 narrow railless bridge. She looked carefully to 
 her steps from long habit, for she was always 
 nervous about this crossing ; yet when her hus- 
 
THE FORESTERS. 47 
 
 band was with her all her anxiety was gone. 
 Now she smiled to herself, remembering how she 
 trembled as she stepped for the first time on the 
 foot-bridge the day after her wedding, and how 
 Jorns with quick decision had picked her up — 
 she was then so slender — and carried her over. 
 
 After they had crossed, Jorns said, ^^ You are 
 right." 
 
 ^^Eightinwhat?'' 
 
 ^^ I read on your back what you were thinking 
 of as you crossed the bridge. ' My husband,' you 
 thought, ^ might haye had a railing made long 
 ago. I am now an old woman ; he should do it at 
 once.'' 
 
 ^^No; I was thinking of the first time you 
 carried me over." 
 
 ^^ Monday morning early I shall make you a 
 railing." 
 
 ^' You good, stupid soul ! " 
 
 ^^More stupid than good," returned Jorns. 
 
 Before going into the house, he went to the 
 brook and washed his hands. 
 
 ^^ Your father has shot something," said the 
 mother softly to Carla; ^^when he washes his 
 hands three times like that, he has surely shot 
 something. But wait till he speaks of it himself. 
 We mustn't ask him ; you know it won't do." 
 
 Carla told her that the new curate had been 
 there, and invited them to his first sermon 
 to-morrow. 
 
48 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 The Adjunct came up, greeted the ladies, and 
 offered his congratulations upon their official pro- 
 motion. Madam Jorns gave him her hand, while 
 Carla hurried into the house to prepare the supper. 
 With ardent glances the young man followed her 
 steps, and with unusual friendliness stroked the 
 black pointer. 
 
 They sat down cheerfully at table, Carla filling 
 the cups and plates. She spoke of her success in ■ 
 securing the swarm of bees. 
 
 ^^You did not forget my writing ?" asked 
 Jorns. 
 
 ^^ It is all done,'^ answered Carla. 
 
 A servant announced a number of men who 
 wished to speak with the master forester. He 
 answered, not without displeasure, that everybody 
 knew he was not to be interrupted at his meals ; 
 the men must wait. 
 
 After supper, he filled his long pipe. It was 
 always a good sign when he did not take the short 
 one. The two women looked inquiringly at him ; 
 he said nothing, but puffed at his pipe as if re- 
 pressing a smile, and went out to the men. 
 
 It was a company of wealthy peasants and 
 rural officials from the neighboring villages. The 
 inn-keeper of the Angel, from Waldhausen, was 
 spokesman on one side, and the parish clerk 
 from Eothenkirch on the other. They began by 
 offering their congratulations, which Jorns ac- 
 cepted with thanks, but presently said that no 
 
THE FORESTERS. 49 
 
 doubt some other reason had brought them. They 
 now represented that they had gone to the justice 
 of the peace with a lawsuit, but he would not 
 enter the case upon his docket till after they had^ 
 taken the advice of Master Forester Jorns ; if he 
 could effect no agreement then they might come 
 before the court. 
 
 Tlie dispute was this : The wild torrent which 
 flowed down the opposite slope of the mountain 
 rose within the bounds of one village, but ran the 
 greatest part of its course through a forest belong- 
 ing to the other. Now the brook was to be used 
 to supply an aqueduct to the city, and each com- 
 munity claimed the indemnity. 
 
 Jorns listened quietly to their vehement dis- 
 cussion. When at last there was silence he took 
 three whiffs from his pipe, blew the smoke away, 
 and asked, ^^ Will you promise not to dispute my 
 decision ? " 
 
 The men looked at one another, and Jorns 
 added : '^ I see that neither of you is willing to 
 answer first, for you both think, ^ If it comes to 
 concession, the other party must begin. ' " He now 
 explained in a few words what a law-suit would 
 lead to. 
 
 The landlord of the Angel then spoke : '^ Yes ; 
 but, Herr Jorns, we should know first what your 
 opinion is ; after that we could decide." 
 
 His companions nodded approval ; they thought 
 it a shrewd speech. But Jorns took the pipe from 
 4 
 
50 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 his mouth, and said : ^^ It would be very wise, and 
 not at all troublesome, for me to make a decision, 
 and then allow you, after all, a choice.'^ 
 
 The spokesman on the other side cried out, 
 after he had conferred in a low tone with his 
 associates, ^^ Master Forester, we will submit our 
 cause unconditionally to your decision/^ 
 
 ^^ And we do the same," chimed in the land- 
 lord of the Angel. 
 
 The opposite party were not to gain oyer the 
 master forester by their complaisance. 
 
 ^^ Well, then, I say neither of you is to have a 
 red cent.'^ 
 
 ^^ What ! Neither ! Who, then ? " 
 
 " Now is the time for you to form a forest 
 association. Perhaps Hirlingen will join, and, 
 with the interest of your united capital, you can 
 together pay the salary of your own forester." 
 
 ^' That would be something worth while," they 
 said to each other. 
 
 Jorns concluded : ^^ I am coming to church 
 to-morrow, and before church — for afterward you 
 will want to go home to your dinners — we will 
 settle all the details of the matter." 
 
 As the men were taking their leave, Eilmeyer 
 came up, and, calling out from a distance that he 
 only wanted, in passing, to congratulate the ladies, 
 saluted Carla with marked deference, and pro- 
 ceeded quickly on his way. 
 
 At this moment a troop came down the moun- 
 
THE FORESTERS. 61 
 
 tain. Bobbel was crowing like a cock and turning 
 somersaults. On great branches they bore the 
 fallen stag. The women were full of astonish- 
 ment, and reproached the taciturn huntsman 
 who had not betrayed his good fortune by a single 
 syllable. 
 
 The master forester directed the Adjunct and 
 Mangold to bring the animal under cover, dress 
 it, and send it by night to the railroad station. 
 He waived his right to the huntsman's share ; he 
 never ate any part of a deer he had shot. 
 
 As the creature was carried off Carla said to 
 her father, '^It must have been a real delight to 
 you." 
 
 ^^Yes, child," returned Jorns. ^^When the 
 stag fell so grandly I went up to him, and touched 
 him with my foot, and thought to myself, ' There 
 you lie ; pity, pity that you can not stand up once 
 more, so that I could shoot you again ! ' " The 
 last words he uttered with rapidity and even an 
 outburst of vehemence. 
 
 His wife covered her face with both hands, but 
 Carla laid hers on her father's shoulder ; he under- 
 stood that she shared his love of the chase. 
 
 All three sat down on the green bank before 
 the house, and spoke of various things, but espe- 
 cially of the extract from Euland's letter, and the 
 morrow's anniversary of his wife's death. 
 
 Just now by night the rush and roar of the 
 wild brook that came down the ravine from the 
 
52 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 mountain was heard much plainer than by day, 
 and amidst it often rang a sharp note, the shriek 
 of a bird pursued by a weasel or a martin. 
 
 Jorns sat still a long time ; at last he mur- 
 mured to himself : '' Fled, and who knows 
 whither ?'' 
 
 ^^ What are you saying ?" asked his wife. 
 
 ^^ Did I say anything ? Yes, I was think- 
 ing what short-sighted creatures we men are. 
 Euland's must be so hard a lot. He, a man till 
 then so disciplined and faithful, must go frantic, 
 and rush out into the wild world, leaving all be- 
 hind ; and now we see to accomplish what great 
 things he was driven forth by the tempest. 
 Through him a goodly portion of our earth is to 
 retain a productive soil, to be preserved from de- 
 vastation." 
 
 ^' The charcoal-burner Matthes has lighted his 
 pit," said Carla ; ^^ I smell it." 
 
 '' You have a nose as sharp as dead Hellauf s," 
 Jorns answered, smiling. 
 
 '^ And you are not very polite," remarked the 
 mother. 
 
 '' Oh ! " interrupted Carla, with a laugh, ^^I 
 am glad to have as good scent as a dog." 
 
 Laughing, they rose and separated. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 53 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 A BIRD that flew through the ah', over hill 
 and dale, swept round and round amid sounds as 
 if the gently moying evening clouds themselves 
 were pealing. 
 
 The bells were ringing in the Sabbath in the 
 woodland valley opposite ; they were ringing too 
 from the church towers in the town below, and 
 from the tower of the prison chapel up the moun- 
 tain. In the vast many-windowed penitentiary 
 the casements stood open ; you could hear con- 
 fused discussion, and from behind the gratings 
 men in gray blouses were looking out and chat- 
 tering and laughing. 
 
 In his office, at a table divided by a grating 
 from the rest of the apartment, sat the super- 
 intendent, who seemed to be waiting for some- 
 thing. Ringing for the prison messenger, he 
 asked whether the prisoner Schaller had been no- 
 tified to come in for his discharge papers ? The 
 servant said yes, but added that Schaller had had 
 his best clothes put in readiness, and was now 
 waiting for some cigars he had ordered in town. 
 
 " Call him in ; I can not wait," said the 
 superintendent. 
 
 The door opened ; the superintendent signed 
 to the messenger to go, and then said, in a con- 
 descending tone : 
 
54 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ^^Come inside, Herr Schaller ; take a chair.'^ 
 
 "Thank you," returned the person addressed, 
 still standing at the grating. The superintend- 
 ent looked at him in astonishment — the man 
 seemed so strange to him — not at all like the 
 same person he had had a whole year in his 
 keeping. He handed him the discharge. Schal- 
 ler received it with a slight bow, and put the 
 certificate into his breast-pocket without looking 
 at it. 
 
 "You did right," began the superintendent, 
 "to dress yourself, on going into the world again, 
 according to your education and position." 
 
 " I did not do it for the world's sake," replied 
 Schaller, smiling at his own image which looked at 
 him out of the mirror opposite. He had not seen 
 himself for a long time, and seemed satisfied with 
 his own appearance. The new brown jacket which 
 he had ordered fitted him excellently ; his figure 
 was robust and of solid strength; his loosely 
 twisted buff crayat left his powerful neck and 
 throat free ; he had a close-trimmed brown beard, 
 a coarse nose crossed obliquely by a quite dis- 
 tinct scar from a sword cut, clear, bright, uneasily 
 glittering brown eyes, and coal-black hair in thick 
 shaggy locks, rising aboye a somewhat flat fore- 
 head. The stubborn, defiant yiolence of his tem- 
 per was unmistakable. 
 
 " Good-by, sir," said Schaller, and was turning 
 away. But the superintendent said : 
 
THE FORESTERS. 55 
 
 ^' I should like to have a little talk with you, 
 if you please, Herr Schaller." 
 
 *^Herr'^ returned the other, with a suppressed 
 laugh ; ^^ Herr ; it is long since that honor was 
 done me/^ 
 
 ** You could not be so addressed during your 
 imprisonment, of course. But I knew your fa- 
 ther ; I have also sympathy for you. Will you 
 take what I may say kindly ? '* 
 
 '' Why not ? " 
 
 *^Herr Schaller, you are a man of a restless 
 mind, but not without gifts. You only have not 
 yet found your right place in life, or you have not 
 taken it." 
 
 ^^ Well, then ?'' asked Schaller, defiantly. 
 
 ^^ Take a seat," said the superintendent again. 
 
 ^^I can wait standing." 
 
 *^ Very good. May I ask what you intend to 
 do?" 
 
 '^ Yes, certainly ; you may ask. I am asking 
 myself." 
 
 *^I know you still have from your father's 
 estate the house in Waldorf and a life income ; I 
 suppose it is small ? " 
 
 '' It suffices for my needs." 
 
 *^ But you love luxurious living, not to be 
 confined in your movements. I should like to 
 make you a proposition. As I said just now, you 
 ha^e talent ; you have also knowledge of the 
 world, and have fallen out with it." 
 
56 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 Schaller smiled, played with his beard, and 
 said, playfully : '^ After such praise comes blame. 
 Pray blow away the froth, and pour it out clear 
 for me. What is it you want to say ? " 
 
 ^^Not blame, exactly, Herr Schaller. In the 
 employment I have to offer you, you can indulge 
 your fondness for sitting in taverns, and, if you 
 please to look at it so, you can consider the busi- 
 ness as field sport ; you have foxes and marmots 
 to decoy from their burrows, and to pursue. Do 
 you understand me ? " 
 
 ^^No." 
 
 "Well, it offers a perfectly congenial employ- 
 ment for the exercise of your powers, and also for 
 your inclination." 
 
 " For which inclination ? " 
 
 "Your inclination to seek out the evil in men 
 and in their actions. Do you not guess what I 
 mean ? '^ 
 
 " I must have grown stupid in my confine- 
 ment ; I do not." 
 
 ^^ Well, then, the chief bureau of supervision 
 and inspection," resumed the superintendent, 
 folding and unfolding his hands, " needs in these 
 specially bad times— and not, I may say, in the 
 first place, for our own province---sucli powers as 
 yours." 
 
 " Why do you say chief bureau ? Why such 
 affectation ? Let us say plainly policCi" 
 
 " Police, certainly. You are too clear-sighted 
 
THE FORESTERS. 57 
 
 to entertain the stupid prejudice that an appoint- 
 ment on the police is less honorable than any 
 other. If you wish, however, to avoid publicity, 
 you know that for this very end there are methods 
 provided, which are alike honorable and necessary 
 to civil order." 
 
 '' Are you commissioned by a higher authority 
 to offer me this ? " asked Schaller. 
 
 '' Not exactly. But my position is such that 
 I have often succeeded — " 
 
 Schaller interrupted him laughing, ^^ Honored 
 sir ! what induces you to put such confidence in 
 me ? Are you not afraid I may misuse it ? '' 
 
 *'Your very asking is a sign that you fully 
 understand the situation, and your frank question 
 is likewise security." 
 
 ^^ Beautiful, very beautiful, wise, lofty ! The 
 penitentiary is a school of cadets for police officials. 
 One is constantly learning to appreciate better 
 the wisdom of our mundane system." 
 
 ^^So you accept?" 
 
 '' Your proposition delights me. It makes me 
 proud to think that you hold me worthy of be- 
 coming, so to say, a particle of Providence." 
 
 *^ Then you are ready ? " 
 
 *^I thank you most obediently. I can never 
 after this be surprised at anything that is expected 
 from me. Your offer makes me a real Doctor of 
 Philosophy. I have passed the Rigorosum. I 
 translate 7iil admirari — as I think very happily — 
 
58 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 to be surprised at nothing. I venture to say no 
 more grateful man than I ever left this collection, 
 this museum of sinners. I needed to learn, too, 
 this further lesson in regard to the famed beauty 
 of this world's order. I thank you, Herr Direc- 
 tor." 
 
 ^SSo you refuse my proposition ?" 
 With triumphant mien, Schaller replied : *^I 
 give you my word that no one shall ever learn 
 what a proposition you have made me. I am so 
 fortunate as to cherish a pride on many points. 
 Herr Director, men give names to dogs on 
 earth and to stars in heaven, ^.nd understand 
 neither dog nor star. They call us — alas ! we 
 are but few — Nihilists. The world of the ped- 
 agogues and the bureaucracy is pleased with this 
 empty word. Pessimists may suit us — Anarchists 
 still better. To us the laundry called the State 
 is a matter of indifference ; we are not going to 
 be put to the wash-tub. Good-by ! '^ 
 
 Schaller held out his hand to the officer ; but 
 the latter refused it. He left the office, laugh- 
 ing ; he still laughed as he crossed the court, and 
 he laughed as the great gate was opened for him. 
 But suddenly he stopped, and his countenance 
 grew serious ; he looked round and said : ^^Good 
 evening, honorable world ; good evening, thou 
 workshop of industry ! Hast thou left off thy 
 labor ? I am here again, and I am curious as to 
 what thou wilt now make of me.'' 
 
THE FORESTERS. 59 
 
 Before the gate on the lower wall of the moat 
 sat a woman with two children. 
 
 ^^ Father is coming/^ said one of the children. 
 
 ^*He is just coming ; only have patience," re- 
 turned the woman, her eyes fixed on the door. 
 
 ^^Man, is my father coming soon?" asked 
 the little maiden of the person who came out. 
 
 Schaller waved her off with his hand ; his look 
 was fierce, it was so long since he had heard 
 children's voices or seen a woman's face. 
 
 He went hurriedly down the road, on both 
 sides of which stood ancient linden trees. A pair 
 of lovers sat arm-in-arm under one of them, look- 
 ing off at the landscape. In the valley flowed 
 the stream, which now in the red light of even- 
 ing seemed like pure molten gold. It came 
 from his early home, and just here was a deep 
 and strong current. Yonder, behind the spur 
 of the mountain, it flowed through the forests 
 clad in blue haze. 
 
 Below was a large establishment for cutting 
 and spliting wood, driven by water-power. It 
 belonged to a former assistant of Schaller's father, 
 whom he had taken as a poor boy, and who by 
 his shrewdness and perseverance had advanced 
 himself till he now possessed a firewood business, 
 which was one of the largest in the country, and 
 besides speculated in timber. 
 
 On a bench farther down sat a man smoking 
 a cigar. The smell of the tobacco produced in 
 
60 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 Schaller a sudden excitement. How long it was 
 since lie had smoked ! And it had been his fa- 
 Yorite enjoyment, the only one which had never 
 cloyed. Going up to the smoker, he recognized 
 the hunchback teacher of the girls' school, who 
 was staring down at the wood-yard. 
 
 " Teacher, may I ask you for a cigar ? " called 
 out Schaller. 
 
 The teacher first looked in amazement at him, 
 then hastened down the hill with rapid steps. 
 
 Schaller broke into an angry laugh, but soon, 
 whistling the air of a coarse song, he went on to- 
 ward the town ; but he stopped at a great beer- 
 garden, before the gate, in which gay trumpet 
 music was playing. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The band of the Third Cavalry was traveling 
 through the country from place to place. To-day 
 it played here, to-morrow in the neighboring 
 town, or at some point famous for its fine view. 
 There was no echo among the heights nor in the 
 valley that it did not awaken with the newest 
 melodies. Everywhere crowds collected ; and 
 perhaps the ancients are right when they say 
 the less men know how to be happy within, the 
 
THE FORESTERS. 61 
 
 more they are inclined to seek enjoyment in 
 music. 
 
 To-day the band was playing in the garden of 
 . the great brewery, outside the gate of the town, 
 and the most passionate melodies were ringing 
 out from trumpets and kettle-drums. 
 
 About a long table, covered with a white cloth, 
 and ornamented with flow.ers, sat the magnates of 
 the little town, and several girls and women 
 hummed softly in accompaniment as the tune of 
 *^ Brightest Eyes " was played. At the head of the 
 table was the retired Police Commissioner from 
 the capital, who was here in the county town the 
 center of a sort of court. Every official who sat 
 at table with him had a decoration, at least for 
 the hour, and every private person received an 
 increase of rank. Next him sat the judge's beauti- 
 ful wife, and opposite sat his daughter, the widow 
 of the district physician. She was dressed in 
 white, and a black girdle spanned her waist. She 
 was tall, and of an angular figure ; her prominent, 
 glittering black eyes betrayed an unquiet spirit. 
 Near her sat the Judge, who, while " Brightest 
 Eyes " was played, said something to her which 
 made her cast down her sparkling and restlessly 
 rolling eyes. 
 
 While the music still continued running 
 through senseless, far-fetched variations on the 
 simple melody, various things were talked of at 
 the magnates' table ; and at the corner, where 
 
62 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 the actuary and the owner of the wood-yard were 
 sitting among some young girls, there was laughter 
 both soft and loud. 
 
 The newspaper lay on the table, and when the 
 piece was over, the name of Ruland was several 
 times mentioned. The judge asked, ^^Was not 
 Ruland one of your adorers ? " 
 
 The widow modestly denied it, but rage boiled 
 within her at the man who acted such ignorance, 
 and yet had doubtless heard that she had been 
 ignominiously deserted by Ruland when she was 
 almost his betrothed. It was the grief of her life 
 that Ruland had forsaken her, and so she had 
 been obliged to marry the superannuated physician. 
 
 People fell into talk. Carla, and the fact of 
 her taking the marksman's prize and receiving a 
 shooting license, were subjects fertile enough, and 
 there was much laughing about it. A manufac- 
 turer, indeed, said that among their Swiss neigh- 
 bors such things were not rare ; but the instance 
 was allowed to have no weight, Switzerland being 
 no pattern. The doctor's widow, who was in 
 particularly good spirits to-day, took occasion to 
 make some satirical remarks about Carla. She 
 began very cautiously, for she was not quite sure 
 of the feelings of the rest, and rightly supposed 
 that Toni, the judge's daughter, would warmly 
 defend her school companion. Her detraction 
 was changed by Toni's opposition into unmixed 
 praise of Carla's courage and efficiency. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 63 
 
 '^Is not that Schaller ?" somebody said sud- 
 denly, as he came into the garden and seated him- 
 self alone at a table. 
 
 ^^ Yes, it is he ; he looks worn and thin. He 
 was, after all, a remarkable person." 
 
 ^^He is so still," said the doctor's wife de- 
 cisively, and no one ventured to contradict her. 
 
 Some one spoke of Schaller's having traveled 
 about in England as a sharper and pickpocket, 
 and even for awhile having had the whim to live 
 as a beggar. 
 
 The Police Commissioner spoke of Schaller's 
 unusual endowments, and of hisadventurousness. 
 He was in the habit of making a pause after every 
 two or three words ; he owed it to his rank not to 
 slip on any expression. At last he said to his 
 opposite neighbor, the advocate, " You were one 
 of Schaller's fellow students ; shall you associate 
 with him hereafter ? " 
 
 Before he could answer, Emmy — this was the 
 name of the doctor's widow — added : " The fault 
 that Schaller has expiated was not a dishonorable 
 one. " 
 
 The advocate now told how Schaller had per- 
 severingly pushed his trial through all the courts, 
 not because he hoped for an acquittal, but only to 
 display his fluency and contempt of the world in 
 different circles and before new auditors. 
 
 '^ How will Schaller probably one day end ? " 
 asked an old lady. 
 
64 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ^^ Who can guess that ? " was the reply. ^^ It 
 is rare that any one who has tried to take his own 
 life renews the attempt." 
 
 The superintendent of the prison also came 
 into the garden, and seated himself at the mag- 
 nates' table. He and Schaller exchanged a singu- 
 lar look, only intelligible to themselves. 
 
 A new piece was just then played, in which 
 the orchestra furnished the accompaniment to an 
 artistic solo on the key-bugle. The judge told 
 Emmy that Schaller had been formerly a master 
 of the bugle. 
 
 Emmy rose and whispered to her father : ^^ Do 
 not oppose me, and say nothing about it to these 
 people. I am going to speak to Schaller." 
 
 With a smile, as though she had said and heard 
 the kindest things, Emmy bowed and walked 
 through the garden arm-in-arm with Toni, the 
 judge's daughter. She looked majestic beside the 
 pretty flower-faced girl. As she passed the table 
 at which Schaller was sitting, her eyes turned, and 
 she bowed slightly. Schaller appeared not to con- 
 sider that a greeting intended for him. He had 
 procured a cigar, and was smoking eagerly, hav- 
 ing drunk his first glass of foaming beer at a 
 draught. Smoking, drinking, music, free, laugh- 
 ing, jesting people — the whole world with its joys 
 and allurements is at once about him again. 
 
 ^^ The last paper ! The last paper ! "cried a 
 little boy. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 65 
 
 ^^ Here ! " cried Schaller, and bought a copy. 
 ^^ So," said he to himself, "I will see what has 
 gone on in the world in my absence. It is a 
 shabby thing that they do not even tell one that. 
 They ought to haye read the newspapers to the 
 prisoners on Sunday, but instead they preached 
 constantly on the kingdom of heaven, and wanted 
 to persuade us they knew something about it." 
 
 He rubbed his eyes. ^' What is that ? Ku- 
 land is in America ! and here is a part of a letter 
 from him ! " 
 
 There was a pause in the music. Emmy stood 
 by the bandmaster, expressing as a connoisseur 
 and as the first lady of the town her approval of 
 the performance. Suddenly she left her friend 
 and went alone to Schaller's table. Though Schal- 
 ler's eyes were on the paper, he noticed her, for 
 he heard the rustling of a cambric dress and 
 starched skirts. She went by, but, quickly turn- 
 ing, stood by his side, and said, ^' Herr Schaller, 
 you are welcome." 
 
 He rose, embarrassed. A lady greets him, and 
 this lady is the first in the town. 
 
 '' I thank you," said he, stammering. 
 
 She stretched out her hand ; after a long time 
 he touched a delicate glove again. ^' Come with 
 me," said Emmy, in a low, confidential tone, as 
 she cast down her eyes. 
 
 Schaller could not believe his senses. He laid 
 his cigar on the table and went with the widow. 
 6 
 
66 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 It was a bold challenge, a slap in the face to 
 the whole community, for Emmy to go past the 
 occupied tables with the newly released prisoner 
 to a lonely shaded walk. She looked about with 
 self-satisfaction ; she was doing something which 
 showed them all how she despised them. She 
 took the gloYC from her left hand, and dangled it 
 in her right, as if she would throw down the 
 gauntlet to all present. 
 
 Emmy and Schaller had always had a sym- 
 pathy for each other, which, however, chiefly 
 displayed itself in bantering word battles. Both 
 liked to play with men. Emmy's was a passion- 
 ate, and yet really a cold nature ; she might be 
 carried away by excitement for a moment, but in 
 her inmost being she was cold, and held eyery 
 feeling of others to be, like her own, for idle stage- 
 play. So had she played with a whole troop of 
 adorers ; for Euland alone she appeared to haye 
 had a real inclination, and when he left her she 
 married the district physician, who was many 
 years her senior, and then already sick. 
 
 Emmy and Schaller were now standing still in 
 the lonely alley. 
 
 ^' You can talk with me, and I will hear you 
 willingly,'^ began Emmy. ^^lam not bound by 
 the ban.^' 
 
THE FORESTERS. 67 
 
 At these words all the blood left Sehaller's 
 face, except that the scar on his cheek and nose 
 glowed red ; for Emmy had touched a wound that 
 had never healed. Kuland, in order to destroy all 
 the influence of Schaller's dissolute, scoffing talk, 
 had brought him under a ban in the whole region ; 
 nobody attended to his words, no one answered 
 him. 
 
 ^^ Thank you, ^'returned Schaller ; ^^you have 
 an upright nature ; you are not good, but you are 
 great, which is more." 
 
 ^^ If it is great to despise this little, stunted, 
 deformed world, I accept the compliment." 
 
 ^^ Certainly it is ; and you have found the 
 safer position. Contempt of mankind is much 
 safer than philanthropy. Philanthropy may be- 
 come bankrupt ; contempt of humanity never." 
 
 Both smiled ; they were again at the pleasant 
 old game. Emmy added, with a certain tone of 
 truthfulness, that she should have been glad to 
 send him from the town any comforts that would 
 have been allowed, but he had repelled every mes- 
 sage, without inquiring from whom it came. She 
 would herself have felt it a consolation to have 
 been helpful to the friend of her husband ; and 
 she went on to tell how much her husband had 
 loved her, but without saying a word of her affec- 
 tion for him. 
 
 ^^Yes," she concluded, ^^my dear, sainted 
 husband thought much of you. He said, ^'My 
 
68 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 old corps senior Schaller is a genius ; he has sim- 
 ply not yet found the right track. We all thought 
 he would become a greater poet than Lord Byron." 
 
 ^^ A poet ? " interrupted Schaller. '^ I have 
 thought out a poem in my solitude ; it is called 
 ^The Devil's Shrift.' The devil confesses to the 
 Pope, and meanwhile smooth, sleek men with boys' 
 voices are singing the Hallelujah — how the world 
 has been made so perfect, is so good, that no one 
 needs tinker it. When the long confession is over, 
 the Holy Father wakes ; he has dreamed a long 
 history of thousands of years, and now there is 
 around him a smell of the burned flesh of dry 
 old witches, fat heretics, and young Jews ; and the 
 sleek men with boys' voices constantly sing, ' Halle- 
 lujah ! how perfect the world is made ! ' But I 
 shall not write my great poem; I have no ambition. 
 What is honor ? To hear, when one crosses the 
 street, ^Look! there is the famous man'? And 
 posthumous fame ? I need not care whether my 
 works or my deeds are attributed in after-times 
 to a certain Schmidt or to me. The whole earth 
 is turning to rubbish." 
 
 " Yes," rejoined Emmy, smiling, ^* my good 
 Max always said, ' My gifted friend Schaller has 
 no real love of work.' " 
 
 '' There he was perfectly right. I also lack the 
 needful share of vanity — or do you call it self -ap- 
 preciation ? — without which nobody makes any- 
 thing of himself." 
 
THE FORESTERS. 69 
 
 "My sainted husband said so to nobody else, 
 but in confidence he declared to me that the uni- 
 yersal favorite was a hypocrite/' 
 
 ^' Whom do you mean ?" 
 
 " Oh, you know ! He was to blame for your 
 ill luck also. He has run away, but his crime will 
 yet come to lighf 
 
 With a bitter-sweet smile Emmy recounted that 
 it was commonly said Euland had fled because — 
 she hesitated almost imperceptibly — because he 
 had murdered his wife — murdered her cunning- 
 ly, murdered her by fright, but perhaps, too, by 
 poison. 
 
 " Do they say that ? And you believe it ? " 
 
 " I beg you to let what I have told you be a? 
 if unheard. My good Max often said we should 
 not spread an evil report. Still it is wonderful 
 how rumors arise. There is a rumor about you 
 too." 
 
 "What may that be?" 
 
 " They say you are going to America to seek 
 your mortal enemy in the primitive forests." 
 
 " Do they say that ? I am going back to my 
 old hermitage." 
 
 "You belong to the great world." 
 
 "My noble patroness," returned Schaller, 
 with labored politeness, "you mistake, as so 
 many do. The great world is like the sea, beauti- 
 ful only from the shore. ' 
 
 " Yet I maintain that a spirit like you should 
 
70 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 not always stay to rust out in such a quiet 
 nook." 
 
 ^^ I must go to my home. I am like the tink- 
 ers, a mercy to the dogs, to people whose 
 minds are in chains ; I give them something to 
 bark at. The rogues stole the inscription from 
 my house. I have a better name for it now. 
 Because I sit there and provoke the whole world 
 — that is, the little world, as far as the two 
 church-bells sound — I shall call it Teasing Cas- 
 tle." 
 
 Schaller paused, looked at Emmy with a gay, 
 triumphant glance, and then said, with cool pre- 
 sumption : 
 
 '' Ah ! there is no more romance in the 
 world — perhaps there never was any ; else I would 
 say : Emmy ! leave all the spoil of the Philis- 
 tines ; come with me to Castle Eentenhorst, now 
 called Teasing Castle. But you have not the 
 courage, nor I either." 
 
 '^ You are a somewhat satirical poet." 
 
 ^^Eather philosopher," returned Schaller, in 
 an extremely deferential tone ; ^^ regard me rath- 
 er as a philosopher. I am a new Diogenes, for 
 Diogenes is the father of all those who despise 
 mankind. The hut that my axe-swinging father 
 Woden left me is somewhat better furnished than 
 his tub ; I think my income, too, is somewhat 
 larger ; but, on the whole, we are alike. The dif- 
 ference is, that Diogenes did not smoke, and that 
 
THE FORESTERS. 71 
 
 he lay on dry staves, while I make myself com- 
 fortable on the sofa, and read how men puzzle 
 themselves over the riddle of life, and yet never 
 make it out. A fine ordering of the world that ! 
 first to live, then to die, and then to live again, 
 and that for ever ! Why not begin with the end- 
 less life at once ? " 
 
 Schaller's features changed suddenly ; they 
 became relaxed, downcast ; a bitter earnestness 
 seemed to take possession of him ; and, shaking 
 his head passionately, he went on : 
 
 ^^I want no more joy in this world. I have 
 no pleasure in woman, none in wine, none in 
 play, none in the chase. I have only a single 
 joy, the joy of malice. The gleam of lovers' 
 eyes — bah ! All a lie ! The only thing that is real is 
 the look of misery in the eye of a tortured creature. 
 Have you, Emmy, an enemy ? I will cast him be- 
 fore your feet ; you shall feed on his torments." 
 
 Emmy's eyes glittered unnaturally, and she 
 said, ^^I have no enemy, except one we have in 
 common." 
 
 ^^ Ah ! you mean — ^" 
 
 *^Yes, I mean him. If he were made to 
 know what is said about him here, it would 
 pierce him deeper than poison or balls. What a 
 world this is ! Ought a man with such a past as 
 this Ruland's, a man that has assassinated his 
 wife, to make himself conspicuous and deceive 
 the world without opposition ? " 
 
72 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ^^You think, then, that he really murdered 
 Sylvia ? '' 
 
 ^^ It is yery noble of you not to believe it. 
 Forget what I said, I beg you." 
 
 '' No, no ; it is so — it must be.'^ 
 
 They walked together in silence a while. Like 
 an incendiary, who lurks in a secure hiding-place 
 till the flames break out, Emmy held her breath, 
 and the spark began to glimmer in Schaller. At 
 last he said that a plan was gradually forming in 
 his mind ; he only begged Emmy to tell him 
 something quite insignificant that had lately oc- 
 curred. Emmy did not know what he meant, 
 and he asked, ^^ Is it long since you were at 
 Waldhausen?" 
 
 ^^ No ; Sunday before last. The district society 
 had a musical festival in the ruins of the monas- 
 tery. Of course I do not sing with them." 
 
 '^ You can not be one of a crowd," interposed 
 Schaller ; and Emmy went on, with a smile : 
 
 ^^ I do not sing with schoolmasters and journey- 
 men tanners. Carla, the sharpshooters' queen, 
 sang a solo, and the schoolmasters were bold 
 enough to applaud such singing. It was passable, 
 however. We of the society went back through 
 Waldhausen, and came to the Angel just as a boy 
 was born. We ordered trout, but the host refused 
 to serve any that day ; he would that day kill no- 
 thing. Some sentimental souls, especially the 
 judge, Toni, and the retired normal teacher, 
 
THE FORESTERS. 73 
 
 found in it a deep trait of what is called the 
 nation's heart.'' 
 
 ^^Good!" cried Schaller ; ^Hhat is a center 
 of crystallization ; that is something to start from 
 just insignificant enough." 
 
 The Police Commissioner now came into the 
 alley ; he seemed to find the interyiew too long. 
 Emmy bowed cordially to Schaller, put her arm 
 in her father's, and went back to the company. 
 Schaller did not return to his table, but went 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 ^^ Nobody in the whole world asks after me, 
 and I ask after nobody in the world : we are quits. 
 I am the only freeman ; to feel no sympathy, to 
 crave none — in that alone is liberty." 
 
 So spake Schaller to himself as he wandered 
 about in the night. Suddenly, as if possessed by 
 a demon, he shrieked aloud, " Ruland ! Ruland ! " 
 He stood still while the forest echo repeated the 
 name, and said to himself : '^ There is something 
 left me yet in the world. You are right, mourn- 
 ing widow. If I only had him here, I would seize 
 him and tear his heart out of his body ! Revenge ! 
 revenge on him who is so proud of his worth, be- 
 cause he never in his life felt the need of being: 
 
74 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 base. And he is nothing but a rascally school- 
 master, after all. Let him look out for himself 
 — ^I am free again ! I will find him in the pathless 
 forest." 
 
 As a beast scenting its prey steals softly with 
 sheathed claws upon it from behind, so Schaller 
 moved along, though what he desired to overtake 
 was so far away. His cheeks reddened, his eyes 
 shone, he quivered with triumphant pleasure. 
 
 ^^I have an aim again," said he to himself. 
 *^But is it not the death of freedom to have an 
 aim ? No, for I can fling it from me at any time," 
 thought he. 
 
 In the opposite valley Schaller took the train 
 for home. He lolled and stretched himself; it 
 was a real comfort not to have to move, but to be 
 borne along by a foreign power. 
 
 When he reached his destination he rubbed his 
 eyes and thought he must be still dreaming. They 
 were bringing a stag to the baggage-car. He re- 
 cognized Mangold, and heard him say, " Isn't that 
 Schaller ? " He slipped away. 
 
 He came to his house, which stood alone, far 
 from the village, and knocked. 
 
 ^^Who is that?" cried the voice of an old 
 woman. 
 
 '' Have you forgotten my knock ?" 
 
 ^^ Oh, the master ! " was the answer as the 
 door opened. 
 
 Schaller stood in his own sitting-room. He 
 
THE FORESTERS. 75 
 
 saw the sofa, which looked as if he had just risen 
 from it. 
 
 Above, in a large frame, hung a picture. There, 
 crowned with yine leaves, sat Schaller upon a cask, 
 and about him full half a hundred students in 
 their shirt-sleeves, lying down, standing, sitting 
 at the table, with drinking-horns and glasses, with 
 foils in their hands, and many-colored ribbons 
 on their breasts. Schaller mounted a chair and 
 held a light to the picture. He nodded to him- 
 self : ^^ You were a capital fellow, after all.^' On 
 the bookcase stood a stuffed dog upon a pedestal 
 that bore the w^ords, ^^My Ideal." 
 
 Schaller took up a book and threw it down 
 again. He put out the light and tried to sleep, 
 but could not. He rose, struck a light, and mur- 
 mured, ^^Yes, that is it. There is a ball that 
 will reach its mark in the hidden woods across the 
 sea. A charmed bullet, shot into the air. But 
 no haste. It must be thought over carefully." 
 
 He put out the light again, and at last found 
 rest, only awaking as the Sunday bells were ringing. 
 
 He went to church. At the grave of Euland's 
 wife he sat down, intending to wait till all had 
 gone in, and then enter. 
 
 ^^Here is the sunny world again; here the 
 woods grow green and rustle ; here the valley 
 blossoms, and the birds are singing overhead. From 
 the homes of men the smoke rises into the blue 
 ether. The whole earth shams rest, peace, blessed- 
 
76 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ness. Faugh ! He that has once seen its rotten- 
 ness had better die. Why still live ? Why still 
 eat, and drink, and sleep to-day, and to-morrow ; 
 and always the same ? " 
 
 So muttered Schaller to himself. He was gaz- 
 ing at the ground, when there was a rustling near 
 him. He looked up, and saw Carla, a garland in 
 her hand. 
 
 ^^Do you still know me? "asked Schaller. 
 ^' I wish in truth that the whole world knew me, 
 the old Schaller, no longer. Though the whole 
 world repels me, distrusts me, I will yet prove 
 that I have become a new man.'' 
 
 He noticed the changing expression on Carla's 
 face, and went on: ^^I consider it particularly 
 fortunate that you are the first to meet me — you 
 who are so strong, you that have grown up so 
 beautiful and vigorous in the breath of the woods. 
 How happy are you, safely guided by noble parents, 
 a being — " 
 
 ^^ Please do not talk of me," interrupted 
 Carla. She was deeply shocked when she saw 
 the man, and still more as she heard him speak. 
 He went on : 
 
 ^' Oh, how beautiful it is that you too think 
 of her who molders here ! She was the one being 
 on earth who might have rescued me. " 
 
 Carla looked at him in amazement. She had 
 never heard that Schaller had been in love with 
 Sylvia. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 77 
 
 With great earnestness Schaller now entreated 
 Carla to intercede with her father, that he might 
 at last obtain some honest employment and re- 
 gain respect. Carla promised it ; then laying the 
 garland on Sylyia's grave, she went down to the 
 church. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 IiT the open space before the church Carla met 
 her father, who had just organized the Forest 
 Association. Her cheeks glowed and her voice 
 trembled as she related her encounter with Schal- 
 ler. The latter was coming down the hill, and 
 she said : ^^ Father, there he comes. It would be 
 a fine thing if you could help the man." 
 
 ^^I don't believe that any man changes like 
 that, and this one certainly not," returned Jorns. 
 ^^May be his punishment still affects him, but 
 that will be soon thrown to the winds. One who 
 has been such an offender against himself and 
 the whole world, who has made only a frolic of 
 life, and has derided others for submitting to 
 work and order, will never — " 
 
 Before Jorns had finished, Schaller came up, 
 and said : ^^Has Miss Carla spoken for me, sir ? 
 Pray look on me with favor. I confess I have 
 had too much freedom ; therefore, I will ajlow 
 
78 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 myself to be commanded by those who know the 
 right way, as a soldier by his officers. Give me 
 some employment, the lowest." 
 
 Jorns shook his head several times before he 
 spoke : ^' You are good for nothing as a woodman ; 
 and, besides, I would not put you among my men. 
 I should be afraid that you would ruin their 
 souls." 
 
 But, as Schaller put on a very sad air, he 
 added, half smiling : ^^I shall be glad if I think 
 too ill of you. But neither can I make you an 
 under-forester ; for one who has behaved as you 
 have never receives a shooting license again. ^^ 
 
 ^^ Can't I have a shooting license again ? I 
 supposed I had thought of everything. But it 
 is true, and it is just. Don't you know of any- 
 thing else for me ? " 
 
 Carla spoke softly to her father, and pointed 
 to Eilmeyer, who was standing near. 
 
 ^^Herr Meyer ! " cried Jorns aloud. 
 
 Eilmeyer came up. On Sundays he always 
 dressed entirely in black, and wore a well-brushed 
 silk hat and cream-colored gloves; during the 
 week he wore a peculiar hunting suit ; but he was 
 always very particular about his attire, for he knew 
 that such care, though it is sometimes laughed 
 at in the country, procures respect in the end. 
 "While he made his salutations, he could not re- 
 frain from comparing his watch with the church 
 clock. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 79 
 
 ^^Herr Meyer, this is Herr Sclialler. No 
 doubt you have heard of him already/^ said 
 Jorns. 
 
 ^^ Oh, yes, casually," returned Eilmeyer, very 
 ready to oblige. 
 
 ^^He has an able, inyentiye head," Jorns con- 
 tinued ; '' together you could perhaps accomplish 
 a good deal that would be profitable." 
 
 Eilmeyer looked at his watch. He often did 
 so intentionally : he told off the seconds to get 
 time before he gave an answer. 
 
 Jorns now explained that Schaller wanted 
 employment, and it was very possible that he 
 might be useful in one of Meyer's many enter- 
 prises, for he could be very serviceable and active 
 if he chose. 
 
 Jorns did not hesitate to speak half aloud, 
 so that Schaller could hear what he said. 
 
 ^^If you think so, Herr Jorns," returned Eil- 
 meyer, at last, ^^we will try it." 
 
 ^^ Yes, do," said Carla ; ^'you will do a good 
 work." 
 
 "If you advise it. Miss Carla, I shall cer- 
 tainly do so. Come to me after church, and we 
 will see about it," concluded Eilmeyer. 
 
 Schaller bowed in silence, and went toward 
 the church, from the tower of which now sounded 
 the final peal with all the bells. 
 
 The curate came from the parsonage, crossed 
 the churchyard, and passed into the church be- 
 
80 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 tween the quickly formed lines. All took off 
 their hats. The organ rolled, the people streamed 
 in, and as Carla passed Schaller she said, ^^ You 
 have no hymn-book ; take mine/^ Schaller took 
 the book and kissed it. During the whole service 
 he held it before him in such a manner that his 
 face could not be seen ; but in his bearing he ap- 
 peared deeply humbled. 
 
 The curate preached with the fire of youth, 
 but still with command of his subject, and a 
 skillful modulation of his voice, which was now 
 admonitory and now soft as if confidential. 
 
 Carla, v/ho had sung with her mother from 
 the same hymn-book, trembled, as the preacher, 
 with an unmistakable look at her, cried out, " We 
 stand here as companions and sharers of the same 
 life ; but those whose bodies are resting in the 
 earth without, and whose souls are in heaven, 
 make one community with us. They live in our 
 remembrance, and the more we here in time live 
 the eternal life, and cherish it in ourselves, the 
 more truly alive we are. So it should be, so it 
 will be — a heart-beat of endless love, the heart- 
 beat of eternity. ^^ 
 
 Carla cast down her eyes ; she felt as if the 
 preacher's voice were directed straight to her, and 
 she durst not look up. She had told the curate 
 yesterday that to-day was the anniversary of Syl- 
 via's death. How beautiful and elevating it was 
 that he should expand and ennoble her thoughts, 
 
THE FORESTERS. 81 
 
 and proclaim them to all the world, and yet re- 
 main in his deepest meaning intelligible only to 
 her ! 
 
 After the sermon he baptized the child of a 
 peasant who lived far up in a lonely farm. This 
 office also the new curate performed with due so- 
 lemnity. After the service the farm servants and 
 forest laborers soon scattered, and only the young 
 pastor's own circle waited in the churchyard till 
 he came. 
 
 Oarla first offered him her hand. The curate 
 hardly seemed to see it, for he was looking after 
 the departing groups of men and women, and 
 saying, half to himself, ^^ There they go, each to 
 his own life. Have they received anything of the 
 divine lesson that I strove to set forth ? " 
 
 Jorns, too, came forward, shook him heartily 
 by the hand, and said, ^^You understand your 
 business-" But the mother, who had watched the 
 curate and Carla, and whose heart beat as she did 
 so, said, ^^ You are very much like your sainted 
 father, even in your voice." 
 
 Carla had hurriedly told him about Schaller, 
 and the curate, going up to the man as he stood 
 alone, said, offering his hand : 
 
 ^^If I can ever help you, do not hesitate to 
 command me. Come to me at any hour of the 
 day or night, and you will find me ready to confer 
 with you." 
 
 Schaller went away, and when the clergyman 
 6 
 
82 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 came back Jorns said, '^ Gotthold, you are yery 
 young yet.'' 
 
 The other looked inquiringly at him, and 
 Jorns went on : ^^ You should not promise too 
 much at once." 
 
 Two men were looking with different glances, 
 but with almost the same feeling, on the curate 
 as he was talking so confidentially with Oarla and 
 her parents. They were the Adjunct and Eil- 
 meyer ; each thought, '' There will surely be a 
 match.'' 
 
 Mangold came up to the Adjunct, and said : 
 ^' Did you ever see a black fox ? Euland told me 
 that there are black foxes in Siberia. Look at 
 Schaller ; he is like one. Doesn't he stand there 
 as if he had neyer muddied any water in his life, 
 and never could ? See if the next knavish trick 
 we hear of isn't his. Notice his foot-prints ; he 
 turns the left foot in a little. Shall I bring up 
 the carriage ? " he asked the master forester. 
 
 ^^ Yes, and tell my wife to come." With evi- 
 dent eagerness the master forester lighted his pipe. 
 
 The gray horse tossed his head high when his 
 master and mistress, Oarla and the Adjunct, had 
 got in. Mangold sat on the box. 
 
 Jorns's wife, who was a pastor's daughter, 
 could not describe in sufficiently glowing terms 
 the happiness of the hour when the pastor comes 
 home from church, and all is still and holy, and 
 there is time for a little walk in the garden before 
 
THE FORESTERS. S3 
 
 going to dinner, and one can rejoice in the feeling 
 that all who were at church, and are now on their 
 way homeward over hill and dale, will also find 
 their meal blessed to them. 
 
 ^^ Martin, were you not pleased that Gott- 
 hold behayed so beautifully to Schaller ? " asked 
 she. 
 
 " Oh, yes ! It is all very well, but he wants 
 training. He should not haye been so forward. 
 He ought to haye waited till the abandoned fellow 
 approached him. Now Schaller will think he 
 does Gotthold a fayor by giving up his disorderly 
 ways ; that is, if he ever can." 
 
 ^' He can, he will ! " cried his wife, with joyful 
 pride ; and Carla added : ^^ Schaller was once an 
 imposing personage. I remember his visiting 
 us with Rudolph and Ruland when he was a 
 student." 
 
 ^' Yes, yes," rejoined the master forester ; 
 ^^ there is the whole history of the world in it, if 
 you observe those three fellows. I do not believe 
 in Schaller's reformation. He is a braggart and 
 an idler. Nine tenths of his evil speeches may be 
 sport, but the other tenth is downright earnest. 
 He boasts of his idleness, and says it is not worth 
 the trouble to do anything for the world ; in so- 
 and-so-many thousand million years it will come 
 to an end. So he makes himself comfortable. 
 But meanwhile his fellow men must bake him 
 bread, build him houses, lay out streets, only that 
 
84 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 he may scorn it all. Yes, Adjunct, the fellow has 
 made his nest in the midst of our forest ; he be- 
 longs I know not where, but certainly not to us. 
 If wicked speeches could be punished, Schaller 
 wouldn't get out of prison for the rest of his life. 
 How many poor deyils has he driven to insub- 
 ordination, and so increased their misery ? He 
 lives on an inheritance, and, whenever he can, 
 scoffs at labor — ^the best thing which is given to 
 us men." 
 
 *^But suppose he has changed ?" said Carla. 
 
 ^^ Maybe he has for a couple of days. If I 
 knew a way to drive him out of this region, I 
 would make use of it. The fellow forced Ruland 
 to prosecute him. Euland did nothing to him. 
 Just because he was an industrious, upright man, 
 Schaller hated him and openly threatened to shoot 
 him. Such a fellow, who is worthless himself and 
 makes others so, should be driven away like a wild- 
 cat!'' 
 
 ^^ Husband ! husband ! " cried his wife, break- 
 ing in on his excitement ; and he continued : 
 '^ Yes, you are right. That's the pity, that such 
 a vicious person can make one so angry. But 
 don't talk to me about Schaller. I want to know 
 no more of him. He has plagued me enough, 
 making me study how it is possible there should 
 be such men. The Lord made weevils too, and 
 made them so hard to kill, he must know why. 
 See, see, there is something ! There is a new 
 
THE FORESTERS. 85 
 
 swarm hanging on the pear-tree. Drive quick. 
 Mangold ; make haste ! " 
 
 They came quickly up to the house. Mangold 
 and the Adjunct at once went up the road with a 
 hiye, and soon returned with the captured bees. 
 
 CHAPTER XIIL 
 
 "Castle Eei^tenhorst '' once read the in- 
 scription, fixed in great gilt letters, on a little 
 cottage in the middle of a meadow. Schaller had 
 called his homestead so, and he laughed about 
 it himself when in a few weeks his letters were 
 stolen from the ridge-pole. They were no longer 
 necessary, for the odd little house was already so 
 called in all the district. 
 
 It had been a freak of Schaller's during his 
 father's lifetime to turn a barn, which stood in 
 the middle of a great meadow on the verge of 
 the forest, into a dwelling ; in order, as he said, 
 like the old prophets, to seek in solitude the secret 
 of the universe. 
 
 The little house was now his only possession, 
 and he lived there upon an inalienable annuity 
 which his father once in jest had secured to him. 
 Schaller's enemies themselves could not deny that 
 he was moderate in food and drink, and contented 
 
86 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 with the least ; to be sure, they added that he had 
 cloyed himself with all the enjoyments of life. 
 
 As Schaller, after leaving the church, stood 
 again in broad daylight before his home, he 
 laughed to himself, and said, almost aloud : '' You 
 come home for the first time as a fresh-schooled 
 hypocrite, and inside there you will loll and read 
 on your bed or your sofa till your smoke goes out, 
 your eyes close, and you fall asleep.'' 
 
 He went into the house, which was full of all 
 kinds of curious furniture. Indian weapons and 
 musical instruments, and all sorts of ornaments 
 and curiosities from the East, were to be seen ar- 
 ranged, not without taste, on the walls. Schaller 
 had formerly made long journeys, and gave out that 
 he had lived awhile with the Indians in America. 
 
 The old servant who had been with him for 
 years greeted him in silence ; she durst tell him 
 nothing before he inquired, for he had laid down 
 this law : ^^ Magdalen, I am to talk with you, but 
 not you with me." 
 
 Schaller stepped before the great mirror, above 
 which hung his student's cap, and said to him- 
 self : " You please me. When we deceive the world 
 we ha^e always a secret satisfaction. You are a 
 whole theatrical company, and play comedy in sev- 
 en parts." He suddenly checked himself. '' Stop! 
 is not hypocrisy servitude ? Pshaw ! you are a 
 German like the rest, and every German is in him- 
 self a whole disunited nation, distracted by petty 
 
THE FORESTERS. 87 
 
 strife* What shall I do first now ? I hare it ; 
 point an arrow, a far-striking one from the bow of 
 Apollo, as Father Homer says. Yes, my strong- 
 jointed, broad-chested, bright-eyed Euland, I will 
 hit thee from afar. Eye-rolling widow, thou art 
 my muse ! Noble Euland, thou didst make me 
 dead to society, so that no one would speak to me. 
 N"ow I will speak till thy ears ring." 
 
 He sat down and wrote with rapid pen. Of- 
 ten he looked up and stared into the distance. 
 Pressing his penholder to his lips, he said : 
 ^' That is good — a seyen-barreled one. I can not 
 put balls enough in the barrel. The witch- widow 
 is in the right ; you are a poet, a great poet, and 
 the six feet of respectability named Jorns has 
 pointed you out as an inventiye head." 
 
 He read through what he had written, and his 
 face grew bright. While he was folding the pa- 
 per he again said aloud, *^ To reyile my father 
 and myself is the best mask." 
 
 He unfolded the letter again, and read : 
 
 The Forest Eedeemeb: 
 A Wood-Idyl and a World- Deception, 
 
 In the republic of the United States a native German 
 has been fresh-varnishing his honor, and he does not 
 lack associates to help him prepare the polish. 
 
 Permit an independent man to speak a woi'd abont 
 Herr Bruno Euland, and make what use of it you please. 
 
 The aforesaid man of honor wishes to play in the Kow 
 
88 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 World the Apostle of the "Woods — yes, eren the Forest- 
 Redeemer ; but the Germans of the it^ew World should 
 not suffer this hypocrite to disgrace our honorable name. 
 
 Yesterday I was again with German brothers-in-song 
 — so we always entitle ourselves — in the village of Wald- 
 hausen. I know not whether it is a common supersti- 
 tion, or one peculiar to the landlord of the Angel : we 
 wanted trout, but were told the host would have no- 
 thing killed the day his first son was born. That is called 
 German sentiment, heart-feeling, which is ever putting 
 forth new suckers. We took occasion to inquire about 
 the former district forester, Ruland, who deserted the 
 service of the state under cover of night, because within 
 a few days he would have been driven from his office 
 with insult and disgrace, and put in close confinement. 
 We heard this account : 
 
 This Ruland has certainly great knowledge and skill 
 in forest-culture. It is not, to be sure, so remarkable 
 as his treatise on the silver-fir (which in this region 
 is held of great value) would seem to imply. It is gen- 
 erally known, and Ruland himself will not deny, that 
 the new facts originated with his instructor, afterward 
 his father-in-law. The paper was found among the old 
 man's effects, and the honorable Ruland published it 
 as his own. So it is generally thought ; and an internal 
 proof of it is that experiences are detailed which so 
 young a man could not have had. The family made no 
 protest, for the work would have been of no use to the 
 deceased ; to the survivor it brought great credit, and 
 would have obtained him also a high position, if events 
 had not intervened which caused Herr Ruland to leave 
 his native land secretly by night, and to resume his ap- 
 parently disinterested activity in the Far West. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 89 
 
 Here it was expected that Ruland would take an- 
 other name ; for it shows great audacity to push him- 
 self again into public notice with the old one, since hero 
 at home he lies under the suspicion of having abused his 
 wife, a pure and noble woman, aud of being responsible 
 for her sudden death. Only because the criminal had 
 fled did justice desist from disinterring the body of the 
 deceased, and investigating by what poison she died. 
 
 His wife had discovered what a hypocrite he was ; it 
 was not for nothing that he was so free with the merry 
 girls who worked in the nurseries of young forest trees. 
 She bore silently even his cruelty. A wife-murderer 
 dares to preach piety in the New World. 
 
 There is now living here in prison a ruined and un- 
 done creature, in fact, not worth powder enough to blow 
 him up, called Ferdinand Schaller. His boon-companions 
 named him Frivolin. He perfectly understands three 
 things — smoking, playing the bugle, and lounging. More- 
 over, this abandoned fellow is said to present, gratui- 
 tously, to everybody who desires to kill himself, a dose 
 of such poison as he may choose. 
 
 This radically corrupt Schaller has a noble ancestor. 
 His father — he is father of many who do not call him 
 so — was an inventive genius, who as a lawyer understood 
 exactly all statute limitations. He left his spoiled son a 
 great property obtained by cutting down, root and 
 branch, a good stretch of German forest. 
 
 Ruland gained a local reputation by replanting many 
 of these bare spots ; for it must be said in the interests 
 of truth that he is as good a forester as he is a vile 
 character. Schaller desired to protect Ruland's noble 
 wife, whom he had known from his student days — ^he, 
 too, had been besides a pupil of her father's — and chal- 
 
90 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 lenged the hypocrite to a dael. But Buland complained 
 to the authorities, and swore that Schaller had shot at 
 him after his refusal to accept the challenge. Thus 
 Kuland, having put out of the way the only man who 
 knew him thoroughly, carried out his criminal course in 
 silence to the end. At present he is pleading nobly and 
 courageously in the New World for protection of the 
 forests and for general morality ; but even there shall it 
 he known who he is. All manner of noxious insects 
 creep upon trees ; to crush one of them may cause an 
 unpleasant odor ; nevertheless the writer of these lines 
 has taken on himself the disagreeable task. 
 
 Schaller read so far, and looking round with a 
 smile of complete satisfaction, whispered to him- 
 self : ^' That will strike — strike to his heart 1 
 You are a shrewd fellow, Schaller. There is the 
 date — two full weeks before you came out of 
 prison. Now let them seek, and set up the hue 
 and cry." 
 
 He was well contented, excepting that it an- 
 noyed him a little that he had slandered his father 
 too. Yet why ? What harm does it do the dead ? 
 Even if he could know it, it would but amuse 
 him. ^' So the first draft shall stand ; nothing 
 shall be altered ! " he concluded, folding up the 
 paper. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 91 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ScHALLER put up the letter and went to the 
 forest. As he came into the young wood which 
 Euland had planted, he began to muse aloud. 
 
 " 'Tis a pity I am not sentimental. From the 
 prison to the forest ! That would be a productive 
 theme. Golden light — the scent of pines — the 
 song of birds — a sparkling, rushing brook — deer 
 feeding. But what is all that ? Mere hypocrisy. 
 All nature feigns life ; man alone knows that he 
 feigns, and that is his advantage over every crea- 
 ture. And now you yourself have been feigning ; 
 but it must cease ; otherwise I shall lose my pride 
 and my only strength. I can not and will not 
 play a part.'' 
 
 He found consolation in this resolution. 
 
 Wandering farther and farther away, he at 
 length stopped at the bare and open spot called 
 Vogeleseck, This slope of the mountain, which 
 his father had stripped of its trees, could not be 
 replanted. Around were only bare stones with 
 dead roots coiled among them, which, being dry, 
 and here and there stripped of their bark, pre- 
 sented an almost ghostly appearance. 
 
 Schaller seated himself on a stone, and looked 
 down on the forester's house. 
 
 ^^ There they are sitting now together. They 
 have paid their God the Sunday visit of ceremony, 
 
92 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 and now would persuade each other that it was to 
 thank him for food and drink/' 
 
 Schaller was hungry, too, but he would not yet 
 go to the inn ; he had not settled with himself 
 how he should carry through his undertaking. 
 
 ^' See ! what is that ? Fresh dug earth ? Is 
 there a treasure there ? *' 
 
 With his hands he removed the fresh earth. 
 Now comes a stone ! He succeeded in rolling the 
 stone away. Now ! there it is ! 
 
 With ringing laughter, Schaller cried, ^^ Hello ! 
 Euland's dog Hellauf shot ! '' 
 
 He pulled the dog out of the hole, and threw 
 him upon a stone. 
 
 *^ Euland ! Euland ! " shrieked he, inyolun- 
 tarily. He now turned to the other side. He 
 knew every stone and every tree, and with great 
 agility clambered over the rocks down to the valley, 
 not far from the spot where the target was set. 
 
 By the brook Eilmeyer stood fishing. There 
 was but this one thing in which he did not hurry, 
 and, in truth, hurry is of no use in it ; still, even 
 at this, he occasionally took out his watch. 
 
 When Schaller was quite near, he asked him, 
 ^^ Did not you hear a shout a little while ago ? " 
 
 '^ Yes, indeed. Who could have shouted so ? '* 
 returned Schaller. ^^ Probably Bobbel." 
 
 Bobbel just now came up with his fishing 
 tackle, for he liked to keep in Eilmeyer's neigh- 
 borhood ; for the latter seldom caught anything. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 93 
 
 and usually bought BobbeFs fish, to have thein 
 cooked for his supper at the inn. 
 
 Eilmeyer forbade the rollicking Bobbel to make 
 any noise, because that frightens the fish. Bobbel 
 declared he had not cried out ; he was frightened 
 himself when he heard the name of Euland. 
 
 Schaller sat down with Eilmeyer upon a saw- 
 log on the bank, and remarked what a fine thing 
 it was that he had made the hitherto unused re- 
 sources of the forests so profitable. 
 
 ^^ I believe there are still more to utilize," said 
 Eilmeyer, rubbing his hands, and looking at his 
 watch with a hurried motion. 
 
 ^^ I have a brilliant idea," returned Schaller, 
 ^^but I must beg that you will give me your word 
 before-hand not to carry it out without me." 
 
 '^ That I can only do in case I have nothing of 
 the sort in my head already." 
 
 Schaller then related that in Caracas he had 
 seen vanilla prepared from the wild orchids grow- 
 ing there, and, therefore, the recent discoveries 
 made in Europe had filled him with lively inter- 
 est. He asserted, from personal knowledge — ^for 
 Schaller had experimented in chemistry, too — 
 that vanilla could be made from pine leaves. He 
 subjoined, in almost a devotional tone, that our 
 times are great, and their superiority consists in 
 this, that from things hitherto disregarded men 
 are drawing out forces of high value, and turning 
 them to account. 
 
94 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 Eilmeyer looked at Schaller in amazement, 
 thinking, ^^ Perhaps you are a force unknown to 
 itself, which I shall turn to account." 
 
 As they passed by the forester's house, Carla, 
 who was looking out of the window said, ^^ I am 
 delighted : there goes Schaller with Meyer. I 
 think we have done a good thing." 
 
 " And I shall warn Meyer to be on his guard 
 that no harm may come of it," added Jorns. 
 
 The forester's house was lively this after- 
 noon. From all the districts far and wide the 
 foresters came to congratulate Jorns on his pro- 
 motion. 
 
 Forester Steinhagen declared, of course with- 
 out taking the pipe from his mouth, that many a 
 man would have been glad to be removed to the 
 comfortable master forester's house in the valley, 
 for it was, after all, the finest situation. Another 
 added, what a pity it was that his son Eudolph 
 had not remained in the service ; it would have 
 been a fine thing that the same family should 
 continue in the house. 
 
 About forest matters little further was said ; 
 much more of the horses which one and another 
 had bought. Down in the valley a forester had 
 bought a mule, because mules are surer-footed on 
 steep declivities. Different guesses were made as 
 to who would get the place of Ivo's son-in-law, 
 who had been called to the capital as a member of 
 the Council of Forests; and it was repeatedly 
 
THE FORESTERS. 95 
 
 said, ^^If Ruland were still here, he would haye 
 the best chance." 
 
 '^ There is Schaller again," said some one. 
 
 This was a fertile subject ; they related his old 
 tricks, and guessed what new ones he would try. 
 Nobody believed in his penitent looks, and they 
 wondered what piece of knavery he was about to 
 practice on Eilmeyer. It seemed as if the talk 
 about Schaller would never end, till Jorns bade 
 them say no more about him ; the fellow was not 
 worth it ; and it was a calamity that such a cor- 
 rupt person should have set his heart on living 
 just here in the forest country, where he surely 
 could have nothing to do. 
 
 Of course the foresters did not fail to test one 
 another at Jorns's target, and soon the shots 
 were cracking merrily across the brook. Carla 
 would not yield to any persuasions to shoot with 
 them for the stake. 
 
 At evening, when they had all gone, one after 
 another, her mother stood with Carla in the gar- 
 den, and Carla said : 
 
 ^^ Mother, I never heard that Schaller had 
 ever made love to Sylvia." 
 
 ^^It is not true," replied her mother — " not a 
 word of it. The fellow persuades himself of it. 
 He makes a mock of everything ; and your father 
 is right : it is a great pity there is such a man as 
 Schaller." 
 
 Here Mangold came up smiling, with a report 
 
96 THE FOKESTERS. 
 
 of the merry-making at the Angel. The father 
 and godparents of the child baptized in the morn- 
 ing had neyer noticed, till they got home from the 
 christening feast, that they had left the baby at 
 the inn on the bench by the stove ; they had just 
 driven back with great speed to fetch the little 
 thing home. 
 
 CHAPTEE XV. 
 
 If it was peaceful in the lonely forester's 
 house, there was a peacefulness of quite another 
 kind in the parsonage in the valley opposite. 
 
 The curate sat in the garden, and his soul was 
 filled with a serene content, with which was 
 mingled an inspiriting feeling of strength. But 
 as he looked upward, he constantly saw Carla's 
 figure floating before him. With what magnan- 
 imity she had interested herself in the outcast ! 
 He must succeed in turning her from her love of 
 hunting. She must really give it up — must, for 
 his sake ; and she was under obligation to the 
 Church also. The Catholic will say, " That is the 
 way with Protestants ! A young girl, one of the 
 first in the whole community, gives herself up 
 to such wild impulses ! It is perfectly unjustifi- 
 able!" 
 
 The village, which made part of a parish in- 
 
THE FORESTERS. 97 
 
 eluding the whole left bank of the stream^ and 
 whose territory extended far over the mountains, 
 and included several isolated farm - houses, be- 
 longed to the Protestant church, while on the 
 right bank all was Catholic. The right bank had 
 formerly been governed by an ecclesiastical prince, 
 but the left by a secular sovereign, who early took 
 sides with the Eeformation, and, according to the 
 old principle, '' Cujus regio, ejus religio," the 
 dwellers on that side had remained Catholics, and 
 those on this become Protestants. Both now be- 
 longed to the same state, and it was here a doubly- 
 important task for the evangelical pastor to keep 
 his community in a good moral condition. Every 
 misdeed of individuals was charged to the com- 
 munity. At every little transgression he had to 
 anticipate the malicious pleasure or the sense of 
 superiority with which the Catholics would say, 
 ^' See, that is the way with the Protestants ! " 
 
 Schaller, with his mocking, cynical spirit, had 
 been a special affliction to the inmates of the par- 
 sonage. The old pastor had gained no influence 
 over him ; Schaller told him plainly he would not 
 dispute with so weak a man. The old man was 
 particularly glad that his curate interested himself 
 in the case, and thought him strong enough to 
 overcome the reprobate who sought to corrupt 
 both sexes and all ages through his blasphemies. 
 For the curate was not only a believer in the per- 
 fectibility of humanity, he had also great worldly 
 7 
 
98 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 experience, and engaging, polished manners. He 
 had not been instructor several years in a school 
 at Geneva, and one year tutor in England, for 
 nothing. 
 
 Now the young pastor was in his native land 
 again^ and felt an inner contentment in working 
 among a laborious. God-fearing community. He 
 was sitting in the garden under an apple-tree, in 
 whose branches a finch twittered gayly, and was 
 often answered by his mate from her nest ; the 
 bees hummed, the butterflies flew about, and from 
 the forest above resounded the song of the thrush ; 
 a soft wind blew, the forest trees rustled, and the 
 grain fields waved in the breeze. 
 
 All this was seen and heard by another. A 
 blooming figure, with a bright, shining counte- 
 nance, was standing in the arbor and smiling so 
 rapturously : it was the young pastor's wife ; it 
 was Carla. 
 
 The curate rubbed his eyes, as if awaking from 
 a dream. His countenance became downcast. 
 Can a girl who has won a marksman's prize be- 
 come a pastor's wife ? Will she, will the world 
 forget her forwardness ? Yes ; it will only be a 
 pleasant thought that she was once the marks- 
 man's queen. But she must not go to the chase ; 
 she must give up that even for her own sake. . . . 
 
 Men's steps were heard approaching the gar- 
 den. The justice of the peace and the town-clerk 
 came and expressed their delight that the curate 
 
TEE FORESTERS. 99 
 
 had so edified all his hearers, both great and small ; 
 for in the afternoon, at the catechizing, Gotthold 
 had won also the hearts of the little ones. What 
 they had to say, however, was not all on religious 
 subjects. They told him that a fresh cask had 
 just been broached at the Angel, and since the 
 Catholic priest did not think himself too good 
 now and then to go to the inn, they begged the 
 old pastor and his young colleague to accompany 
 them thither. The old parson declined for him- 
 salf, but asked Gotthold to go. 
 
 At the inn a separate table had been formed, 
 at which the new-comers took their places with 
 the school-teacher. Eilmeyer and Schaller also 
 sat there. 
 
 There was talk of European politics, and also 
 of Euland, and of the extract from his letter in 
 the newspaper. As this was spoken of, Schaller 
 laid his hand on his breast, where the letter was 
 hidden in his pocket. 
 
 The justice said somewhat softly to the curate 
 that Schaller noticed that they were talking about 
 him, for he had suffered imprisonment for threat- 
 ening Kuland's life. The curate, who evidently 
 wished to change the conversation, turned to Eil- 
 meyer and asked, '^ Who is your partner ? Your 
 firm is called Meyer & Co." 
 
 The peasants smiled slyly. Eilmeyer, however, 
 answered with great composure that his partner 
 lived in Holland. It was not necessary for him to 
 
100 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 say that Meyer alone seemed to him too bare, and 
 that Meyer & Co. sounded much better. There 
 were also yarious advantages in haying this secret 
 partner. He could say, when driying a bargain, 
 ^'\ agree for my part, but must consult my asso- 
 ciate.'^ In this way he always gained time for re- 
 flection, and could, besides, throw the odium of 
 refusal on an undiscoyerable companion. 
 
 Just here Schaller rose and said, " Parson, I 
 am no subject of dispute ; Catholic and Protestant 
 think alike of me. I am the most entertaining 
 fellow in the world, but do you know when I am 
 most so ? When I am not present. Then the 
 simplest can talk about me, and neyer get done ; 
 so I wish you a pleasant eyening.^' As he was go- 
 ing, he turned again, and said, '^ Parson, I will 
 make a confession to you : I repent that I was at 
 church to-day, and promise it shall neyer happen 
 again. My friends once, with great ceremony, 
 baptized me Friyolin. I renounce the epithet 
 saint, but Friyolin I am, and shall remain. 
 Adieu ! " 
 
 He went off with light, triumphant step. He 
 had friends enough in the New World, and that 
 yery night he carried the letter he had prepared 
 to the post-office. With real delight, he pictured 
 to himself, in all sorts of fantastic forms, how he 
 had hit his arch-enemy in the heart ; the shot 
 was fired by an inyisible marksman, and was an 
 explosiye missile, whose fire runs through all the 
 
THE FORESTERS. IQl 
 
 veins, mounts to the bram, overthrows the reason, 
 casts the victim down in despair, drives him from 
 his retreat, sets him to seek what is not to be 
 found. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The following morning the curate wrote to a 
 friend : 
 
 ^' Monday morning ! It is a beautiful arrange- 
 ment of my uncle, a consecration and blessing of 
 labor, that he has established a short divine ser- 
 vice on Monday morning. We only sing two stan- 
 zas of a hymn, and the pastor pronounces a short 
 prayer. The Catholic church is constantly open, 
 and we must strive for something similar. Yester- 
 day I preached my first sermon from a full heart, 
 and as I hope not without effect. 
 
 ^^ Monday morning ! I follow in spirit the men 
 and women of my congregation, holding their 
 tools in their hard hands, into their houses, into 
 field and wood, and into the gloomy pit. The 
 institution of the Sabbath is the God-given vic- 
 tory of the spirit over nature ; man stands above 
 nature by means of the Sabbath, and outside of it 
 by means of speech ; these two separate him from 
 all mere natural existences. Materialism could 
 
102 . THE FORESTERS. 
 
 not establish a Sabbath, could not construct a 
 language. 
 
 ^^I have the great happiness. ..." 
 
 The curate checked his pen, for he wanted to 
 write of Carla, the thought of whom he had cher- 
 ished in his student-days and during the years 
 spent abroad as the ideal of his deyotion. But he 
 shook his head, laid the leaf aside, and took up a 
 book ; he would not say even to his nearest friend 
 what was not yet clear to himself. 
 
 He took up his pen again, and wrote fur- 
 ther : 
 
 ^^ A strange, almost unnatural growth among 
 these wooded mountains is a vagabond named 
 Schaller. My uncle points him out as a new 
 species, an atheistic hermit. Yesterday he ap- 
 proached me humbly, but in the evening showed 
 me his true nature, or perhaps another feigned 
 one.'^ 
 
 The curate was interrupted ; Schaller was an- 
 nounced, and entered. He had to-day quite a 
 different appearance from yesterday ; he looked 
 the insolent bully. He excused himself for com- 
 ing in with his cigar in his hand, but the curate 
 said, ^' Pray just put it down." 
 
 ^^ Parson," began Schaller, ^^ or am I to say 
 Herr von Blankenschild ?" 
 
 The curate indicated his preference for his 
 professional title. 
 
 *^Your reverence, a religion which has such 
 
THE FORESTERS. 103 
 
 honorable adherents as you is not yet entirely 
 overthrown." 
 
 The pastor's brow reddened in anger, but he 
 contained himself, and answered, in cutting tones : 
 ^^ Sir, you mean to balance a blasphemy with a 
 compliment ; pray do not expect me to listen to 
 anything more of the sort from you. You must 
 know that we, who strive to protect and preserve 
 the higher life, hold the world together in that 
 firm order which enables you scoffers to vent your 
 blasphemies, and by a life of idleness shirk every 
 duty." 
 
 "I might remark," answered Schaller, almost 
 timidly, ^' that the world does not hold so very 
 firmly together. But I did not mean to disturb 
 you. I only wanted to explain that my penitent 
 airs on Sunday shall be my first and last lie." 
 
 ^^ I congratulate you if it was your first, and 
 still more if it is to be your last. Men of your 
 class are not unknown to me. You think it but 
 right that the world should be laborious and 
 virtuous for your benefit." 
 
 Schaller shook his head and laughed scoffing- 
 ly, while the curate went on : ^^ You live on the 
 proceeds of work done by your father. Yes, you 
 too are one of those who clinch their fists at the 
 world, because that is easier than to open their 
 hands and employ them in labor." 
 
 The curate concluded with a cool bow, and 
 Schaller departed. 
 
104 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 Jorns had heard that yery evening how Schal- 
 ler had thrown off his transient mask. When he 
 awoke in the morning, his first thought was that 
 the wicked Schaller was loose again ; but his mind 
 was soon diverted to other subjects, for he re- 
 ceived a letter from Kuland. It contained reflec- 
 tions similar to those written to Eudolph, and he 
 gave in addition a really terrible picture of the 
 destruction of forests in America. Euland begged 
 his old friend to have plenty of good seeds ready 
 for him, especially those of the silver-fir, which 
 would do well in many parts of America. Then 
 he went on : 
 
 '' And if I should get control of the matter, 
 I shall wish you to send me some trustworthy 
 workmen ; if you could spare your Mangold for 
 a couple of years, it would be just the thing. 
 
 ^^That selfishness which, under the guise of 
 personal liberty, develops itself in a republic, 
 proudly and without regard to consequences, is, 
 of course, a great hindrance to any supervision of 
 the forests by the State. In the Old as in the 
 New World, men are willing to have rights, but 
 no duties, toward nature. You certainly rejoice 
 with me that I have found a great field of labor, 
 which helps me to live on, notwithstanding the 
 wound that still bleeds as at the first day. Per- 
 haps it is well that I have come to this land of the 
 most shameless selfishness, because I want nothing 
 more for myself in this world. I only feel that 
 
THE FORESTERS. 105 
 
 I must stand houseless and homeless at my post 
 till the guard is relieved. But I say to myself, 
 he who has had the rare good fortune to have been 
 happy a whole year long, through all its seasons, 
 what more should he ask ? " 
 
 Jorns passed the letter to his wife and daughter, 
 and said it must be given to the curate to read 
 when he came. 
 
 He went to a distant wooded slope, where he 
 was having timber and firewood cut. He saw 
 nothing of the woods on the way, because he 
 could not turn his thoughts from Ruland in the 
 New World. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 The curate had not shown himself at the for- 
 ester's house for several days ; but when he read 
 in the paper the granting of the shooting license 
 to Carla Jorns, he walked thither over the moun- 
 tain with troubled heart. 
 
 It was evening when he arrived. Shots were 
 cracking at the target ; Carla was there, and the 
 Adjunct and Eilmeyer were with her. She fired, 
 and he heard her loud cry of Joy and the applause 
 of the men as she hit the black. The Adjunct 
 was explaining to her the construction of a new 
 
106 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 gun with as much earnestness as if he were speak- 
 ing the warmest words of love. Eilmeyer said 
 that in Sweden it attracted no attention when 
 girls and women handled fire-arms. 
 
 When the curate came up, Eilmeyer asked 
 him whether young women in England were not 
 giyen to the loye of field sports. 
 
 ^' That would be incompatible with the noble 
 womanliness which marks English ladies/' re- 
 turned the curate. 
 
 Oarla flushed ; her hand shut hard on her gun. 
 
 ^^But women and girls ride with the fox- 
 hunt ? " remarked the Adjunct. 
 
 " That is true, and I do not approve of it ; * 
 but a weapon in the hands of a woman — " 
 
 Carla interrupted him. " Just take this gun, 
 and see what a splendid piece it is. Take aim 
 once at the target : shooting is no sin.'' 
 
 ^' Not shooting ; but the end which is in view 
 I can not approve." 
 
 ^^Oh, pshaw ! a simple matter is made per- 
 plexing by so much reflecting and thinking ; you 
 • make the thing of much more consequence than 
 it is." 
 
 ^^It is of consequence," cried the curate. 
 ^^ Perhaps in a young girl such a thing may be 
 passed over as a frolic, as girlish high spirits ; 
 but—" 
 
 ^' But what ? At present I am still a young 
 girl." 
 
THE FORESTERS. 107 
 
 ^^But you are incurring censure, from which 
 you can neyer be relieved." 
 
 With much tact, the Adjunct here interposed, 
 and defended Carla so boldly, and in such knightly 
 fashion, that the curate could with difficulty main- 
 tain his position. 
 
 Eilmeyer saw with delight that an open antag- 
 onism was rising between the two ; he stirred the 
 fire, and heated it the more. 
 
 ^^ Your reverence," concluded the Adjunct, in 
 a cutting tone, " I must beg you not to consign 
 the chase so utterly to perdition. You know I am 
 a hunter, and so is the master forester, and so are 
 many others whom you can not deny to be hon- 
 orable men ; and what is no disgrace for a man — " 
 
 ^^ Does not become a woman," interrupted the 
 curate, vehemently. 
 
 '' I must beg the gentlemen to be calmer," in- 
 terposed Carla. " My cousin is right as a clergy- 
 man, and we as hunters. Herr Meyer, you also 
 are condemned ! For fishing is sinful, too, though 
 the sport is so quiet and apparently gentle. But 
 enough for the present ; my father is coming." 
 
 The return of the master forester abruptly 
 changed the scene. The Adjunct had work in the 
 office ; Eilmeyer was, of course, in a hurry ; Carla 
 went into the house, and the master forester re- 
 mained alone with the curate. 
 
 Jorns looked out of temper; he sat down, 
 patted his left foot to a tune which he whistled 
 
108 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 softly through his fingers, then set his elbows 
 on his knees, bent himself far over, and muttered 
 something unintelligible. At last he snapped the 
 middle finger and thumb of both hands, straight- 
 ened himself and filled his pipe afresh, crossed 
 his legs, folded his arms across his breast, and 
 said : 
 
 '^ 'Tis a pity you do not smoke ; one can't tell 
 you anything in peace." 
 
 ^^I can listen in peace without it,'' returned 
 the curate. 
 
 The master forester took a few whiffs from his 
 pipe, then nodded with the satisfied sense that it 
 was drawing well, and began : 
 
 ^^Tell me, Gotthold, why shouldn't one ex- 
 terminate such people ? I have traps for weevils ; 
 they, too, are creatures of God, but they must be 
 burned; Why should not we destroy such a man, 
 too ? Is he a man ? A monster ! " 
 
 ^* Who is such a monster ? " 
 
 " Schaller, of course. Haven't you learned to 
 know him somewhat better ? " 
 
 ^^ Certainly, but I do not allow myself to judge 
 yet. He seems to me half buffoon, half an imag- 
 inary Prometheus, half a braggart and a bully, 
 but not without geniality." 
 
 "Just see how quick youth is ! Then I must 
 tell you, in the first place, I have often asked my- 
 self why our Lord put this fellow in my district. 
 It is probably that I may not forget what creatures 
 
THE FORESTERS. 109 
 
 I must call my fellow men. But whenever I meet 
 him, I almost lose my peace of mind ; and to-day 
 I saw him lying on the mountain side, and watch- 
 ing the Italian stone-cutters who were breaking 
 . the bowlders. I was indignant at his lying there 
 and disturbing the workmen by his lazy looking 
 on ; and he answers me, ^ Why should I not ? If 
 I were a baron, nobody would say I was an idler ; 
 for, as a baron, what else could I be ? ' So he 
 talked. As I gave him to understand that I should 
 like to forbid his talking too, he laughed scorn- 
 fully, and said, pointing to the Italians, ' Yes, we 
 can learn something there ! ' I give him no an- 
 swer, and he goes on, ^ We Germans are the most 
 shiftless people in everything. The people in our 
 region do not understand this work ; Italians must 
 come to get the profit ! ' The fellow knows that 
 nothing frets me more than to have the Germans 
 for ever undervalued, as is so much the fashion. 
 I shrug my shoulders, and want to shake him off ; 
 he will not let me go, and continues : ^ Master 
 Forester, I have made myself a new enemy to-day, 
 and I am glad of it. I told Eilmeyer that he 
 must have been formerly a hair-dresser ; he had 
 exactly the manners of a hurrying barber or hair- 
 dresser. Now I shall have the man for an enemy, 
 and have my fun out of him whenever I meet him. 
 He will have to tell everywhere why we are enemies; 
 he must publish to his own shame the name I have 
 fastened on him. Confess that it is good fun ! ' 
 
110 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 So jested the good-for-naught, and I could hardly 
 help laughing. At last I had the spirit to tell 
 him to leave me, but he did not, and went on : 
 ^ The forest has grown finely while I have been 
 away, but what is the use ? The cooling of the 
 earth never stops ; our planet must freeze up, and 
 it is ridiculous to go on planting woods upon it !' 
 I clutched my gun ; I should have liked to shoot 
 the fellow. Has he any right to run about the 
 world ? I turned away suddenly and left him ; 
 but my blood boils." 
 
 While Jorns was talking his pipe had gone out ; 
 he struck fire anew, and in doing so hit his 
 finger several times, so that in repressing the pain 
 he shook his head. When the pipe was going 
 again he looked inquiringly at the curate, who 
 answered : '' That is the evil consequence of an 
 evil deed ; it constantly rouses us to such indig- 
 nation that we turn apostates, and want to up- 
 hold capital punishment. You had a right to 
 be wrathful ; you may yield to your natural 
 anger. I am a clergyman, a physician of the 
 soul, who must not let himself be turned from 
 his mode of treatment by any natural dis- 
 gust." 
 
 ^^And you believe in cure and conversion ?" 
 
 '^Certainly, dear uncle," returned the curate. 
 
 ^^ Such men are not unknown to me ; they are 
 
 discontented with the world, because they are 
 
 discontented with themselves ; because they have 
 
THE FORESTERS. HI 
 
 made a botch of their own lives, they think the 
 Lord has made a botch of the whole world/' 
 
 Jorns took the pipe from his month and nodded 
 contentedly to the clergyman, who now asked: 
 ^' Has Schaller no friends then ? " 
 
 ^^ A good question ; you are on the right scent. 
 But do you know the story of Schaller and Eu- 
 land?'' 
 
 *^ Partly," returned the curate, somewhat out 
 of humor ; it went against him to be for ever 
 hearing of a man who was of some interest to 
 old acquaintances, but not to him. 
 
 ^^ You see,'' Jorns went on, ^^ bringing a waste 
 to life again is like saying to a dead man, as it is 
 written in the Scriptures, ^ Arise and walk.' But, 
 without exaggeration, to replant a forest is very 
 slow work. You can still see the naked spots in 
 my neighborhood. The Vogelseck over there is 
 one of them. There were such waste places in 
 Kuland's district, and he succeeded by hand-cul- 
 ture in rendering the soil again stable and firm. 
 That is a great deal, I assure you. He first 
 made channels for the rain and snow-water, to 
 check their washing away the ground ; and he 
 made out to plant it with a kind of wood that 
 takes root in thin soil. That strengthened 
 Schaller's hate toward Euland. But the founda- 
 tion of it was that Euland had put Schaller under 
 ban. Euland had influence with every one in 
 the whole region, and used this influence against 
 
112 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 Schaller, first warning him by saying, ^ You are 
 free to speak, but we are not bound to listen.^ 
 Wherever people were in company, Schaller de- 
 stroyed all comfort by his blasphemies, his inyec- 
 tiyes and calumnies, his sharp speeches and 
 poisonous doubts and scoffs. Euland made one 
 after another promise never again to answer any 
 speech of Schaller's. Wherever he came, it was 
 thenceforth just as if he was not there ; no one 
 listened to him, whatever he said. You can im- 
 agine how that galled Schaller ; he was more 
 enraged than a sot who is refused more drink." 
 
 ^^I would only remark,'^ replied the curate, 
 '^ that in the spiritual kingdom, too, waste land 
 may be cultivated again, and so Schaller also 
 may be brought to new life. I know these reck- 
 less cutters in the wood of the Spirit. I am per- 
 suaded that dogmas, forms, and ceremonies which 
 have grown up with time must die with time ; but 
 the soil of moral order we will not allow to be 
 washed away ; living things and things giving 
 life will always grow up from it anew." 
 
 " You know I do not like these images," Jorns 
 interrupted. 
 
 '' Pray let me go on in my own way. These 
 doubters and blasphemers of everything would lay 
 waste the wood of the Spirit, that has been thou- 
 sands of years in growing up — the lofty forest of 
 the highest thoughts. Schaller is another proof 
 of the difference between us Germans and other 
 
THE FORESTERa 113 
 
 nations. A Frencliman or an Englishman is dis- 
 solute for himself. A German scoundrel, espe-* 
 cially if he has been at the uniyersitj, will make 
 a system of his own conduct a universal law, and 
 with it ruin the unintelligent masses." 
 
 ^^The unintelligent masses?" asked Jorns. 
 ^^ So you are an aristocrat ? " 
 
 ^^ Yes, the masses have been too much flattered 
 in former social convulsions ; now we are paying 
 lor it." 
 
 " Strange ! strange ! " Jorns shook his head. 
 *^ But let us stick to Schaller. I believe nothing, 
 absolutely nothing, will affect him more. Gott- 
 hold, take care ; do not think too highly of men, 
 lest you may one day in bitterness think too 
 little of them." 
 
 ^^ In bitterness ? " rejoined the curate, gently. 
 ^^He who does not think of himself, who wants 
 nothing for himself, can not become imbit- 
 tered." 
 
 ^' Beautiful ! " said Jorns. An expression of 
 devout peace passed across his face ; then he 
 went on : " I see you have learned much of life, 
 but you have not learned to know this species 
 yet. This Schaller is an arrant idler ; he steals 
 the hours of sunshine from the Lord ; he is one 
 of those who think the world owes them a living : 
 other men must work, but not they. Schaller is 
 perfectly satisfied to live on an annuity. To 
 inlierit is the only thing these fellows can do. I 
 
114 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 tell you, do not lose a minute with him ; put him 
 far away from you." 
 
 ^^I should certainly be glad to follow your 
 advice ; but, if Schaller is so arrant a sinner, it is 
 precisely my duty not to leave him." 
 
 ^^ Your duty?" 
 
 '^ Forgive me if I say it to you : solitude makes 
 even such a man as you fanatical and impatient. 
 We are placed here among men, and are made 
 each other's keeper, that we may have patience 
 with one another ; your rash anger, your desiring 
 — ^you, a man of such a disposition — to shoot 
 down a fellow man, springs from solitude." 
 
 Jorns laid his broad hand on that of the 
 clergyman, and said, in a deep voice : '^Enough, 
 enough ; you have helped me." 
 
 The two men rose, and the curate said he 
 would go home. 
 
 Jorns bade him take a dog or a gun with him ; 
 the Italian stone-cutters could not be trusted, and 
 there was other rabble about. As the curate de- 
 clined with thanks, Jorns added : ^^ Mangold is on 
 the watch; perhaps you will come across him. 
 The moon is not quite full, but yet you will have 
 light on your way." 
 
 Just as the curate was going, Oarla came and 
 asked: ^^Have you heard yet what passed be- 
 tween Schaller and Eilmeyer ? " 
 
 ^^ Yes, indeed ; he told him to his face he must 
 have been a hair-dresser or a barbex\" 
 
THE FORESTERS. 115 
 
 ^^That he did not," laughed Carla. ^^The 
 Adjunct has just informed us that Schaller is tell- 
 ing everybody he tried to made game of Eilmeyer 
 in that way ; he did not say it to his face, however, 
 but is spreading the gibe among those who believe 
 him.'' 
 
 ^^ Yes, he is a damned rascal ; I believed him 
 too," said Jorns, and could not help laughing. 
 
 The curate could not help it either. He took 
 leave and went away in silent thought. How beau- 
 tiful had he imagined the reign of peace in this for- 
 est region ! and now he saw what a demon, sprung 
 from the extremest over-culture, was wandering 
 there. 
 
 Suddenly a voice near him said, ^^Buona 
 sera." 
 
 He recognized Schaller, who added, in a lively 
 tone : '^ The Italians have made me accustomed to 
 this greeting, and doesn't it sound much sweeter 
 than our wooden German Guten-abend ? " 
 
 The curate gave him no answer ; he could not 
 help thinking of the master forester, whose heart 
 rightly revolted at these scoffs against everything 
 German. 
 
 '^ You permit me to accompany you ? " added 
 Schaller. 
 
 The curate could not refuse, and so they walked 
 on together for a long time in silence. 
 
116 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 CHAPTEE XVIIL 
 
 ^' There is a wonderful murmur among the 
 tree-tops. Tree and grass and moss silently drink 
 in the breath of evening, and the dear little birds 
 are sleeping in their nests. Is not that what you 
 are thinking of, Parson ? " said Schaller after a 
 considerable time. 
 
 ^^ Are you mocking at nature or at me ? '' asked 
 the curate. 
 
 ^^I permit myself to reckon you as a part of 
 nature/^ returned Schaller. 
 
 The curate said, ^^What harm have I done 
 you ? " 
 
 The tone and the words seemed to confuse 
 Schaller for a moment ; but he quickly rejoined : 
 
 ^^ You ? Nothing at all ; on the . contrary, it 
 is worth while to talk with you. Has anybody yet 
 pointed out to you that black spot, the place of 
 my resurrection and new birth ? Come with me ; 
 it is only a few steps aside, and you can see it.'' 
 
 As if under a spell, the curate followed his 
 uncomfortable companion, who soon pointed to a 
 burned-oyer place, and said : 
 
 ^^Did you ever see a dead villain play in the 
 sixth act ? I am playing the superfluous sixth 
 act of my life drama. Yes, most worthy sir, I 
 took our philosophy in earnest. It is true and 
 incontrovertible, the world is a bungled job, and 
 
THE FORESTERS. 117 
 
 life not worth living. Others are inconsistent ; I 
 was not. On this spot I had built myself a hut, 
 had taken poison, laid myself down in the hut, 
 and set it on fire ; I meant they should haye my 
 body only as ashes. But the stupid charcoal 
 burner is simple enough to be a messenger of 
 heayen ; he smelled the fire, and my dog helped, 
 too. People came, put out the fire, and brought 
 me to life again. A whole community made 
 itself worthy on my account of the medal for 
 saying life ; they would haye pulled a puppy out 
 of the water just the same. But now I haye ac- 
 quired a right that belongs to no other man on 
 earth. I was robbed of death, Avhich I had made 
 my own ; I was called back into existence against 
 my will ; and now I haye a right to speak the 
 nakedest truth. I had repudiated eyerything. 
 Now the world shall haye me. The hardest of it 
 was, that I meant to slay not only myself, but my 
 best friend, my Ideal." 
 
 ^^ Your Ideal?'' 
 
 ^^Yes, my dog; but the beast was only a 
 beast, and he betrayed me by his whimpering. 
 He could not be saved, but I was restored. I owe 
 the world thanks, and shall remain in its debt. I 
 was not willing to wait for death, but now I have 
 learned to wait. I have been in prison ; I have 
 just come out of purgatory. Now I know what I 
 ought to do. When I die I must take some one 
 with me.'' 
 
118 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 The curate looked round for a moment, and 
 his glance said, ^^I am not afraid of you." With- 
 out answering a word, he walked some time 
 longer by Schaller's side, and, as the path grew 
 narrow, he went in adyance. They came out of 
 the young wood into the old forest, where the 
 path widened, and brighter moonlight poured 
 through the softly murmuring tree-tops. It glit- 
 tered in the dew on bush and moss, sparkled on 
 the raging brook and the tumbling waterfall ; 
 shining fire -flies flew about, and clung to the 
 bushes. Silent, peaceful life was all around. 
 
 ^^Herr Schaller," said the curate at last, "I 
 am acquainted with these blustering attempts to 
 vanquish the pain of living, but at present I am 
 not disposed to listen to your extravagancies." 
 
 ^^ You are not disposed ? Indeed ! Is then a 
 physician who is called up in the night to say, ' I 
 am not disposed to heal a sick man ? ' And you 
 set up for a healer of souls ? " 
 
 ^^I hardly believe in your cure; you do not 
 wish to be healed." 
 
 ^^ You are a scholar of the newest sort ; why 
 will you not fight with a sturdy Pessimist or 
 Nihilist?" 
 
 ^^Then you call yourself so ?" 
 
 '^ Yes ; the child must have a name, and this 
 name says exactly the right thing — ^it says no- 
 thing. People think themselves wondrous wise 
 that they can call nothing, nothing." 
 
I 
 
 THE FORESTERS. 119 
 
 The two had entered a clearing, which ex- 
 tended some way oyer a table-land. The moon 
 illuminated with her mild light the trees around, 
 and the heights that lifted themselves up in the 
 distance before the eye. 
 
 "Yonder floats our future/' said Schaller; 
 "such a burned-out cinder as the moon our earth 
 will one day be." 
 
 Schaller had stopped, and was lighting a cigar. 
 " Do you see, with every cigar that I smoke I 
 destroy an atom of mundane force, and the time 
 will come when the breasts of our good mother 
 Earth shall be withered and empty, and her whole 
 body wrinkled and dry. Ah ! then .some morn- 
 ing the finely dressed servant-maid Art will come 
 and say, ^ Dear Madam Eeligion, there is not an- 
 other crumb in the cellar of our earth-house ' ; 
 and the woodman Science will come from the 
 mountain and cry, ^ There is not another splinter 
 in our forest ' ; and the mother will sit there with 
 her two children, and all three, shivering, will 
 draw in the last swallow of oxygen and freeze. 
 What, dear sir, has been accomplished by that 
 which we call the spirit of the age ? Why did it 
 let us know that the comedy will some day be 
 over ? And, if the earth is to die of a decline, 
 what is all your revelation ? A private lesson that 
 a good-natured teacher gave in the attic called 
 earth to an idiot child." 
 
 "You are mistaken," returned the curate. 
 
120 s THE FORESTERS 
 
 with easy humor^ ^^if you suppose that yoti 
 amuse me and shorten my way with such shuff- 
 lings/^ 
 
 ^'I had no such intention, your reverence^ 
 Such men as Eilmeyer are the right ones to get 
 the good of the world ; they get the good of it, 
 and I — I am a good-for-naught. This Eilmeyer 
 calls himself a ^ self-made man/ because no God 
 could answer for having made such a being. '^ 
 
 The curate could not suppress a smile at this 
 spiteful temper, and Schaller went on : ^^ But 
 what does this littleness concern us I All the 
 sages before me haye made themselves comfort- 
 able ; they despised the world, themselves natu- 
 rally excepted. I am honest, and do not disguise 
 myself with a so-called better self. Haw they all 
 sought the philosopher's stone, but they did not 
 find it ! I have found it ; but it is the fool's and 
 not the philosopher's stone. ^^ 
 
 ^^ You would perhaps say,'^ put in the curate,^ 
 "that the ancients aimed at making gold from 
 worthless things, and your genius understands 
 how to make street-sweepings of gold.'' 
 
 " That's it. I have discovered the law of 
 gravitation in the so-called moral world, or, to be 
 precise, the standard by which a man's freedom 
 may be measured." 
 
 "And that is?" 
 
 " Short and sweet, or rather short and bitter j 
 the greater the number of the persons whose 
 
THE FORESTERS. 121 
 
 Opinion is indifferent to you, the greater is the 
 sum of your freedom." 
 
 The curate looked around in perplexity, and 
 the two, keeping step, went on in silence. Pro- 
 digious forces must have been moving in a human 
 soul to bring on volcanic eruptions which have 
 cooled to such slag. 
 
 ^^I know what you are thinking," resumed 
 Schaller. ^^ You are seeking the key to the frag- 
 ment of chaos which, under the name of Ferdinand 
 Schaller, called Frivolin, is walking beside you 
 here. Will you have it ? " 
 
 The curate looked at the speaker in surprise, 
 and with youthful combativeness said, ^^ Speak." 
 
 ^' There are three things which make us forget 
 that we live, and that we shall die — could we but 
 have them all three at once! — drunkenness, relig- 
 ion, and labor. Drunkenness would be the best, if 
 there were no getting sober. I have tried it ; it is 
 sleep and waking together ; one is rid of himself 
 and then gets possession of himself again. For 
 religion — that requires special gifts ; and as for 
 labor — others may do it." 
 I ^^ You leave out the highest of all, love." 
 
 ^^ Oh yes, they say it is the highest, most be- 
 neficent and blessed thing on earth. But I say 
 hate is much more profitable, and contempt alone 
 sets free. You say, love and labor ; we say, ennui 
 and pain ! You feign love, to forget ennui, and 
 pretend delight in labor, to forget pain." 
 
122 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ^^I have heard enough/' cried the curate. 
 ^^ You could bring a tranquil mind to the extreme 
 of rebellion and bitterness. Pray leaye me ! '' 
 
 " So you drive me away too, just like the noble 
 Kuland, who once said to me, ^ Even if your abuse 
 of the world were just, you ought to be forbidden 
 to utter it.' Such are the free, the strong, the 
 firm-set pillars of the world's order." 
 
 The curate sought to collect himself, and said: 
 ^^One thing at least is still good in you. You 
 have the courage to acknowledge your depravity ; 
 yes, in plain words, your baseness. How did you 
 become what you are ?" 
 
 '' I was a wild but not a bad man, and should 
 have laid aside my folly ; there was just one be- 
 ing in the world that might have changed, have 
 rescued me. I was most cruelly belied when I had 
 yet done nothing blameworthy ; it was certainly 
 by him ; and he it was who won her. She would 
 surely have rescued me ; and now I rushed out 
 into the world, but nowhere found peace and for- 
 getfulness. Whatever this and that person may 
 have told you of me, only three people know the 
 whole — Euland, I, and the third. You shall be 
 her heir. I was once an orderly person, or meant 
 to become one, and my saint was Sylvia, the daugh- 
 ter of our professor at the School of Forestry. I 
 worshiped her, although I did not dare approach 
 her. I ventured to sue for her to her father, and 
 he told me he would never give his daughter to a 
 
THE FORESTERS. 123 
 
 man who was nothing but rich ; when I had passed 
 my examination as a forester, I might ask Sylvia, 
 but must not speak a word to her before. I did 
 not obey. Sylvia praised my industry one day, 
 and I told her the reason of it. Only an angel 
 could have pronounced a death sentence as she did; 
 she said with gracious sweetness, but with firm- 
 ness, she would never be mine. And now I rushed 
 out into the world, and led a mad life. I came 
 home. When I went away Ruland was as good as 
 betrothed to the much-courted Emmy Hochge- 
 sand ; on my return I found him the husband of 
 Sylvia. I asked myself, ^Why do you not kill 
 him at the battue, and then lament an accidental 
 shot?' ^No,' spoke my rancor, ^he shall know 
 who slays him. And yet what matters it when ho 
 is dead, that he knew who killed him? ' It tor- 
 mented me that I could only rob him of coming 
 days of bliss, and not of those already passed in 
 her arms. In her arms ! When I thought of 
 that I became frantic, and yet could not slay him ; 
 after all, it is right that a man like me should not, 
 as they say, found a family. Family ! He who 
 has seen the misery of human existence ought not 
 to continue the race. But neither ought Euland 
 to live. I challenged him to a duel ; he refused. I 
 met him in the forest and asked him, ^ Will you 
 exchange shots with me or not ?' He said no. I 
 fired, shot his dog, and told him, ^ You see I hit 
 my mark ; if you refuse next time, I shall shoot 
 
124 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 you down like your dog. Then he lodged a com- 
 plaint against me before the authorities. I was 
 indicted for threatening his life^ condemned^ and 
 sent to the penitentiary.^' 
 
 ^^But I hear from every one/' returned the 
 curate, ^^ that Euland is a worthy and noble man.'* 
 
 '' Euland worthy and noble ? " shrieked Schal- 
 ler, so that the wood rang. ^^ Euland is the 
 meanest — '^ 
 
 '^ You lie/' called a voice from the wood, ^' you 
 lie!" 
 
 Mangold stepped out. He had been watching 
 by the brook for otter, had seen the two togeth- 
 er, and stolen behind them for the protection of 
 the curate. ^^ Parson,"' added he, ^^you are go- 
 ing through the wood which Euland planted. 
 I was a young fellow when Schaller's father laid 
 it all bare. I well remember how it crashed and 
 snapped, and I saw how desolate it was till Euland 
 planted it again. If the trees could speak, each 
 would say, ^ Never was tree seen by the eye of man 
 that was more blameless than Euland.' Schaller, 
 you ought to be ashamed — ^but you have become 
 shameless — ^to torment a young clergyman like 
 our curate with your wolf's soul. Indeed, a wolf 
 has a better soul than you. Your reverence, go 
 you your way. Schaller shall stay with me, or — " 
 Mangold grasped his gun. 
 
 The curate took hold of the gun, and said : 
 ^^ Mangold, I will not leave you ; pray come with 
 
THE FORESTERS. 125 
 
 me." And without a word more he walked with 
 Mangold down the mountain to the village. 
 
 A few days after, the curate took up again his 
 letter to his friend and wrote : 
 
 ^^ How foolish I was when I thought I knew 
 men ! Here, in a narrow circle, I first begin to 
 learn. The old Swede of whom I told you is, in 
 fact, the sterling man that I had in my remem- 
 brance, and my good aunt is thoroughly affec- 
 tionate, and only complains that we can not eat 
 up all she places on the table. Aboufc Carla I 
 do not venture to speak. I do not know whether 
 I have before written to you that she wanders 
 alone through the woods with a gun. Yes ; and 
 there are monsters of the worst kind in my dis- 
 trict. This Schaller is a ilase monster, who takes 
 himself for a Prometheus. But to me he appears 
 nothing but the slothful servant in the Gospel, 
 who, in these days, makes a principle and system 
 of his sloth. I have, besides, in my parish, an 
 old woman named Eaffel, a docile pupil of his, a 
 silly Megaora, who has learned nothing but cursing. 
 Schaller and this Eaffel would have been burned 
 in the Middle Ages. When I first visited her, 
 I saw only a bundle of clothes, out of which 
 stuck a head that was smoking a cigar ; for 
 Schaller has given the old creature cigars, and 
 enjoys having filled the infirm woman with blas- 
 phemies. I need much patience there ; but you 
 
126 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 are right — ^we must avail ourselves of the wings of 
 fancy. When I transport these two people into 
 the realms of fable, they are to me like the kobolds 
 in old legends. 
 
 ^^ The hatefulness and meanness are not real ; 
 Schaller and old Eaffel are no longer frightful ; 
 they seem to me almost droll, and can not pain me. 
 I desire to kindle the divine spark in these yet 
 living forms, whose souls are in chaos. 
 
 "An abortion of culture and an abortion of 
 untrained nature in a single village ! is not that 
 wonderful ? 
 
 " I have also people in my parish of thoroughly 
 excellent characters, but much less can be told of 
 them : the bad is manifold, the good simple. I 
 know another old woman, who lives alone, and, 
 with unequaled longing and blessedness, looks 
 for the hour of her release, when the Lord in 
 heaven shall bid her welcome. She was uncared 
 for ; nobody troubled himself about her. I have 
 induced some neighboring women to be kind to 
 her. Nothing was wanting but encouragement 
 and example. These people put all they have into 
 their good deed — their time, their nightly rest ; 
 that is much more than the money which the rich 
 give. 
 
 " Those that revile and speak evil of the world 
 say complacently that life is a conflict, and the 
 earth transitory. Isaiah (Ixv, 17) has already told 
 us, ^I create new heavens,' Let them talk of 
 
THE FORESTERS. 127 
 
 their primal ape and the final glacier ; we liye to 
 do away with all selfishness ; thus there is no 
 death and no passing away ; each moment is a 
 part of eternal life. 
 
 ^^ An elevating, or, to speak exactly, a cheer- 
 ful example of patient suffering is a former wood- 
 man, of eighty-seyen, who has become blind, and 
 dwells in the last house but one in the village. 
 He sits almost all day before his house, and is 
 thankful for the sun and for every human greet- 
 ing. His name is Grater. He has still thick, 
 white, curling hair, and wears a long, thick, white 
 beard, that makes him look somewhat lion-like. 
 At first I did not understand his indistinct speech, 
 and was obliged to call a granddaughter to inter- 
 pret. Now I can understand him. He is well 
 cared for by children and grandchildren, and till 
 within a year he wove willow baskets ; now he can 
 do so no more. His dearest remembrance is that 
 he entered Paris with Bliicher. An excellent old 
 keeper in Jorns's service named Mangold spends 
 his free Sunday afternoons with his blind com- 
 rade ; frequently they have nothing to say, and 
 only sit together in silence ; but often they laugh 
 and repeat to each other jolly pranks a hundred 
 times told. 
 
 " They say Schaller offered Grater poison if he 
 would kill himself. The old man does not talk 
 of it, but he is said to have almost strangled 
 Schaller, who, since then, shuns him. Per- 
 
123 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 haps people make literal poison out of harmful 
 words. 
 
 '' I had forgotten that smoking played so great 
 a part in Germany. The old woodman complains 
 of nothing but that he can not smoke now that he 
 can no longer see. 
 
 '' The first time I was with him, he said, ^ You 
 have a kind yoice, almost just like Herr Euland.^ 
 Euland is the name of a forester who was in this 
 neighborhood, and emigrated to America in a 
 singular way. 
 
 ^' The saying that country clergymen should 
 cultivate natural science is as old as Galileo. I 
 am studying woodcraft, and learning much. We 
 have here in the district a visible example of the 
 conservation of force. Not a chip is cut here 
 which is not replaced by the growth of the same 
 year. That is the normal condition of the forest. 
 Many comparisons with our own calling occur to 
 me, but I must not come to my good Jorns with 
 them ; it vexes him when his good acts are trans- 
 lated into allegories ; he is not accustomed to 
 think in images as we do. I must tell you, more- 
 over, that I gain special favor because my name 
 has the prefix ^Von.' It is thought worthy of 
 special honor that a noble, though, like me, with- 
 out means, who might become an officer, or, 
 through old traditions, obtain easy promotion to 
 a high civil office, should dedicate himself to the 
 clerical calling. . The people take for granted that 
 
THE FORESTERS. 129 
 
 my calling is really sacred to me. If my nobility 
 helps me to win souls, I shall not struggle against 
 it. My Catholic colleagues, who, of course, are 
 not pastors' sons, like many Protestant clergy- 
 men, but are taken for the most part from the 
 ranks of the peasantry, treat me with extreme 
 politeness. 
 
 ^^ Our student friend Staidele, or, correctly, 
 Stadelli, is said to be in the country again ; if you 
 see him, greet him for me, and tell him I should 
 like to hear him sing. 
 
 "Since I began to write I have received an 
 invitation to a great farewell festival which is to 
 be given to a district forester appointed a member 
 of the Board of Commissioners of Forests. The 
 man is universally praised, but still more his 
 father-in-law, Ivo, who was to have been a Catho- 
 lic priest, but spent many years at the university, 
 and is now head of an agricultural schooL All 
 the foresters from the whole region round will 
 come together, and I hear some of my Catholic 
 colleagues are to be present ; so I shall not with- 
 draw my sell" 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Weeks had passed ; the summer had spent its 
 force ; the growth of the trees was over ; the birds 
 
 
130 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 upon the branches were silent ; softly, almost im- 
 perceptibly, it was drawing toward autumn. 
 
 The garland on Sylvia's grave had long been 
 withered, when the curate went by it up the 
 valley to the forester's house. He found only his 
 wife and daughter at home. 
 
 In the beech arbor, where fresh-baked pan- 
 cakes stood on the table, they listened full of 
 sympathy as the curate announced that he was 
 making himself acquainted with farming and 
 also studying woodcraft. 
 
 ^^ You do well," said Jorns's wife ; ^^if you 
 can talk with people about their own affairs, you 
 can influence them much better. My sainted 
 father cultivated the fields that belonged to the 
 parsonage himself. In the village about it was 
 said, ^ A real blessing rests on the parson's fields.' 
 He let them think so, but at the same time showed 
 them how to keep up with the progress of agri- 
 culture. And we pastor's children used to work 
 in the fields as well as the peasant boys and girls." 
 
 The curate told what was going on in the vil- 
 lage, and what various claims were made on him 
 for assistance. Carla trembled as her mother 
 added, "A wife can do much of that work, al- 
 most more than her husband ; my mother proved 
 that.'^ 
 
 "Yes, a wife with the real woman's heart, 
 pious and active," said the curate. 
 
 After a while Oarla said, /^ Gotthold, you used 
 
THE FORESTERS. 131 
 
 to have such a beautiful yoice ; do you ever sing 
 now?'' 
 
 ^^ Of course I do. It was a severe temptation 
 to me when I was urged to go upon the stage. I 
 only regret that we do not, like the Greek clergy, 
 have to proclaim that which is highest to the con- 
 gregation in song. The highest can only — should 
 only — be sung.'' 
 
 Mother and daughter now begged the curate 
 to go into the house with them and sing ; he fol- 
 lowed without hesitation, and sat down at the 
 piano. 
 
 Jorns and the Adjunct stood without and lis- 
 tened. Soon Eilmeyer came, and even he must 
 stand still ; for now Carla began to sing, and the 
 voices of both were heard in a noble duet. 
 
 At the close, however, Gotthold told Carla her 
 singing was very faulty ; the high, strong tones, 
 which are effective in expression, were full, but 
 the middle tones were uncertain, like those of 
 a young, unfledged bird — one might say too 
 chirping. 
 
 To the surprise of the curate, Carla said, 
 '* Chirping ! Yes, that is the word." 
 
 The singing was over. Carla, her face flush- 
 ing high, looked out of the rose-entwined window, 
 and cried, ^^ Ah ! there are father and the gentle- 
 men." 
 
 ^^ What a pity you can not sing in church f" 
 Jorns said to the curate. 
 
132 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ^^ Yes/' chimed in Ms wife, ^^he has explained 
 to us beautifully that the highest in religion ought 
 properly to be sung. '' 
 
 The Adjunct looked dejectedly at the curate 
 and Carla. 
 
 Jorns said softly to his wife, indicating the 
 three suitors, ^^ There is the team that wants to 
 carry ofl our Carla/' 
 
 Carla, too, had a sense of it. In the first 
 place, she thought it presuming in Eilmeyer to 
 wish to court her. The rogue Schaller, by his 
 sneering remark, had made her look at him as an 
 officious hair-dresser, or a barber skipping from 
 house to house. She treated him lightly, play- 
 fully, but was girl enough to keep him by little 
 attentions struggling in the toils. 
 
 Quite different was her relation to the Adjunct. 
 She treated him as a true-hearted boy, just grown 
 into a youth, and was friendly to him out of kind- 
 ness ; she was sorry that his young heart should 
 strive for something that could not be his. 
 
 But toward the young clergyman she felt a 
 sort of bashful fear. She knew that he objected 
 to her defiant, independent spirit, her love of the 
 woods and the chase, and she almost willfully 
 showed herself to him still more independent than 
 she really was. Or did she with full conscious- 
 ness mean to destroy his love ? She did not make 
 it plain to herself, only she felt that the curate was 
 not the man for love of whom she could have given 
 
THE FORESTERS. 133 
 
 up everything, and through whom a new life 
 could come to her. Meantime some feeling was 
 stirred which she could not control. The curate 
 had sung love songs, at first alone, afterward with 
 her ; and then tones and feelings had been brought 
 out which revealed something else than the poet 
 and the composer had been able to express. It 
 was, as the curate had said of religion, that the 
 highest can only be sung. Had he sung his love 
 into her heart ? 
 
 The curate informed them that he should be 
 at the foresters' feast. Eilmeyer lamented that 
 he could not accept at once, because he had 
 paving-stones to deliver at the capital, and must 
 be there himself ; it was, however, possible that 
 he might put this off to another day. 
 
 Jorns told them that Ivo's son-in-law, the 
 newly appointed Commissioner of Forests, was also 
 a near friend of Kuland's. To Euland the con- 
 versation returned. Father and mother and 
 daughter evidently showed that they longed to see 
 the exile once more. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 '^Is there still a place vacant at the table ?'* 
 asked Eilmeyer of the host at the station. 
 '' There is.'' 
 
134 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ^^ Then put me near Master Forester Jorns.^^ . 
 
 *^ Impossible. The master forester sits between 
 the head of the Agricultural School, Iyo Bock, 
 and his son-in-law, the new Commissioner of For- 
 ests. But don't go away, Herr Meyer ; it will be 
 a delightful occasion, and you should giye your- 
 self some rest for once. People say you even sleep 
 faster than other folks ! '' 
 
 Eilmeyer laughed; he liked such reports 
 very well. He was present, because it was not only 
 creditable but profitable to be at the feast which 
 the foresters around were giving to their depart- 
 ing comrade. Many things may be heard, which 
 perhaps can be utilized ; and if not, yet one comes 
 into contact with the foresters, and that is good 
 for business. 
 
 Driving, riding, on foot, by rail, came all the 
 foresters from the heights and valleys around. 
 They had powerful, weather-beaten figures ; they 
 greeted each other with rough hand-shaking, and 
 yet rougher sport. But all was not pure true- 
 heartedness. No rank can boast of that, and even 
 among these men, who lived year in and year 
 out with free nature, were many crafty faces. 
 
 They sat for awhile in the garden at a long 
 table under the shade of the plane-trees. A fresh 
 cask had been placed in the arbor, and was just 
 broached. They praised the beer, and lamented 
 that pure beer was so seldom found. They spoke 
 of their work in the woods and in the office, of 
 
THE FORESTERS. 135 
 
 transplanting, of deaths, of the horse trade, and 
 of dog training, and fell to conjecturing who 
 would get the place of Ivo's son-in-law. 
 
 ^^Ah, the curate!" He was cordially wel- 
 comed, and, as his name was mentioned, had often 
 to listen to the question : ^^ Are you related to 
 the Priyy Councilor Von Blankenschild ? or to 
 the Colonel ? '^ We are here in the region where 
 the question, "To whom are you related?" is 
 current. Thus you soon see your way on the road 
 to many relatioijships. 
 
 The curate replied that his father had been 
 Councilor of the Consistory, and that his oldest 
 brother was President of the Exchequer. 
 
 The Bird-parson, as the Catholic clergyman 
 Hugendubel was called, was glad to see his col- 
 league the curate at the feast. He was a particu- 
 larly comfortable, plump little man, with a smooth- 
 shaven, smiling face, and puffy red cheeks. His 
 religion was ready-made ; there was nothing more 
 to reflect upon, nothing to be further developed ; 
 and the priest in his lonely parsonage, which lay 
 so high that oats and potatoes would hardly grow, 
 plunged with entire contentment into the study 
 of the life of animals, especially of birds. The 
 foresters brought him living and dead animals, or 
 imparted to him their new observations. 
 
 " There comes Jorns ! " was the cry. Many 
 stood up to greet him. 
 
 Jorns rode his gray, and wore his uniform — ^the 
 
136 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 white waistcoat buttoned to the top, and the hand- 
 some coat with gold lace at the shoulders ; the 
 handle of the cutlass which he had buckled about 
 his waist glittered brightly* 
 
 He swung himself quickly from the saddle, 
 and stretched out his hand to one and another. 
 
 ^^ Where is our comrade, your CarlaP^^they 
 asked. She has a shooting license ; she should 
 haye come too.'^ 
 
 Jorns laughed at the idea, but explained that 
 Carla was obliged to nurse Mangold, who was 
 rather seriously ill. He had been watching for an 
 otter, and had taken it, but he had fallen into the 
 brook and caught a violent cold ; and now he was 
 lying in bed, and constantly saying, '' I have 
 caught myself a fur cap for the winter, but shall 
 scarcely live the winter through.^' 
 
 Now came Ivo, with his son-in-law. The 
 trumpets gave the signal, and, to the sound of the 
 Hunters' Chorus from ^' Der Freischtitz,'' the men, 
 in their gala dresses, marched into the hall. The 
 curate went with the Bird-parson. 
 
 The hostess handed each guest a rose, which 
 he stuck in his button-hole. 
 
 They sat down at the table, and his neighbors 
 looked smilingly at the old forester Steinhagen, by 
 whom Eilmeyer had seated himself. Steinhagen, 
 a little, dried-up manikin, who liked to live alone, 
 seldom showed himself among his comrades. It 
 was said that he smoked in his sleep. He filled 
 
THE FORESTERS. 137 
 
 himself a fresh pipe before dinner, that he might 
 not need to lose any time in lighting it after the 
 meal. 
 
 The Saddle forester was there too, a jolly fel- 
 low of martial appearance. He had been a cavalry 
 officer, and now he had a saddle with stirrups upon 
 the stool in his office, and sat in it when he wrote. 
 
 The beer had not hurt the appetite of the 
 hunters ; they proved valiant trenchermen. Jorns 
 rose and proposed the health and prosperity of 
 their comrade the new commissioner. The ap- 
 plause was loud, and grew still louder when Ru- 
 land's successor, a man of tawny complexon, gave 
 the health of Ignatia, Ivo's daughter. The tawny 
 man gladly put himself forward, for he knew that 
 he was not held quite their equal by his comrades, 
 because he had worked up from forester's clerk, to 
 forester without passing through an academy. 
 
 The Commissioner of Forests stood up, and 
 replied : 
 
 ^^ I thank you for my wife and myself, my 
 dear comrades. I thank you from my heart for 
 the complimentary banquet prepared for me. 
 Still I should have declined it but for the oppor- 
 tunity it would give to transfer the honor to 
 another, who deserves it far more, and certainly 
 would not have come if he had known what was 
 before him. Now we have him here. Perhaps 
 he is not thinking of it himself, but I know, and 
 my father-in-law knows. It is thirty years this 
 
138 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 summer that lie has had charge of his forest, and 
 we all know how he cares for it. He, with our 
 comrade Kuland, now, alas ! abroad, had the great 
 good fortune to replant many waste tracts, and 
 we wish and hope that he may live long after the 
 wood planted by him is fit to cut. Among us all 
 the highest honor is due to him. Need I mention 
 his name ? All of you shout it with me ; it trem- 
 bles on your lips ; shout then ! " 
 
 ^^ Jorns ! Jorns ! ^' was roared from every 
 throat. Jorns shook his head and doubled up 
 his fist at the speaker, but then touched glasses 
 with him. 
 
 The banquet was almost at an end, when 
 muttering and crowding arose among a group 
 that had received the just-published paper. 
 
 " That is shocking ! that is shameful ! base ! " 
 they cried. 
 
 '^ What is it ? Eead out ! Herr Adjunct, 
 read it!" 
 
 The Adjunct read the attack upon Euland, 
 which the district paper had reprinted from the 
 American sheet. 
 
 Jorns was pale, his lips quivered. Ivo rose 
 and proposed that all present should address a 
 letter to the American journal from which the 
 article had been copied, wherein, over their own 
 signatures, they should brand as a lie what had 
 been charged against Euland. 
 
 ^^ Yes, yes, that's the way !" 
 
THE FORESTERS. 139 
 
 " No, no ! ^' cried others. *^He was a man of 
 the highest honor ; still his absconding was suspi- 
 cious/^ Others said : ^^ He never lied. To keep 
 his word was the first thing with him ; a laborer, a 
 woodsman, who did not keep a promise to him was 
 dismissed without pity. Whoever looked him in 
 the face, said to himself, ^That man you can 
 trust. *'^ Some one said again, ^^He was a free- 
 thinker." 
 
 The tan-colored man was one of the quickest 
 to take sides with the opposers, for he was out of 
 temper because all he accomplished was ascribed to 
 the labors of his predecessor. 
 
 Ivo now resumed : "Is it then really true, as 
 I seem to hear just around me, that even in such 
 a matter religious differences make themselves 
 felt ? On that side our Catholic, on this side our 
 Protestant, friends and associates ? What is it to 
 us that centuries ago the right and left banks of 
 our stream had different rulers, and so became 
 Catholic and Protestant ? We have in our dis- 
 trict, too, a forest corps of mixed religion. I 
 do not even know to which confession Euland 
 belongs.'' 
 
 "He is Lutheran," some one called out. 
 
 But the Saddle forester interrupted, with his 
 commanding voice : "He holds the huntsman's 
 creed ; he believes that the trees are green." 
 
 " This is all out of place," cried some ; and the 
 Bird-parson whispered to the curate, "This is 
 
140 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 very unfortunate. I fear the thing will come to 
 nothing." 
 
 Jorns stood up, and laid his hand on Ivo's 
 shoulder. It was a rare contrast to see the two 
 men so — the tall, powerful Jorns, and the round, 
 broad Ivo. They exchanged an understanding 
 glance, and Jorns said to Ivo, softly, ^^Say no 
 more, you old German soul ; leave it to me." 
 
 ^^ Hush ! Jorns has something to say," cried 
 all. 
 
 Silence prevailed again, and Jorns began : 
 
 " Dear comrades ! if all do not subscribe, we 
 shall give up the letter." 
 
 '^ I will subscribe," cried Eilmeyer, abruptly. 
 
 ^^ You do not know him," was the answer. 
 
 " But I will subscribe wherever I see the name 
 of Jorns." 
 
 A buzz arose in the assembly ; the way in 
 which Eilmeyer pushed himself forward, and 
 wanted to subscribe what brought him no advan- 
 tage, was suspicious. A forester, whose brother 
 in America often sent him a paper, said that Eil- 
 meyer, he knew for certain, often forwarded 
 commercial news to the American papers. 
 
 Eilmeyer saw himself suddenly alone ; black 
 and scornful looks were directed at him ; he did 
 not know what was the matter. He asked one 
 and another what was going on, but received no 
 answer. 
 
 A voice, that of the tan-colored man, called 
 
THE FORESTERS. 141 
 
 out • *^ The man who wrote this said much that 
 is false, but this is true, ^ Euland deserted the 
 public service.' If every one should desert be- 
 cause his wife died, then good morning, timber 
 thieves and poachers ! '' 
 
 This speech made an unmistakably strong im- 
 pression, and Ivo rose : ^^ So say we ; we do not 
 approve that act of Ruland's, but he was and is a 
 man of honor/' 
 
 This distinction made little impression. 
 
 ^^ Shall I speak a word more ?" said the new 
 Commissioner, turning to Jorns. 
 
 " Certainly ; they will be glad to listen to you. 
 The Commissioner asks a hearing," cried Jorns ; 
 and the Commissioner began : 
 
 ^*My dear green brothers, or rather brothers- 
 in-green ! I have in the first place, as I hope, a 
 proposition that will receive unanimous approval. 
 I know you are impatient to smoke, so let 
 everybody light his pipe or cigar. I have in the 
 mean time a word or two to say. I hope my 
 words will not go off in smoke." 
 
 That restored good humor. Steinhagen in 
 particular smiled ; he was as well off as the cigar 
 smokers ; he had a ready-filled pipe. 
 
 The Commissioner went on : 
 
 '^ Listen ! When evil is reported of a friend, 
 every upright man says at onee, ^I know my 
 friend ; the evil report is not true ; if anything 
 of the kind has happened, there must be circum- 
 
142 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 stances in connection with it to make the thing 
 appear quite otherwise.' He who does not think 
 thus does not know what friendship is." 
 
 ^^Yes, yes," cried many voices. Others, on 
 the contrary, said, ^' Preacher's prate ! " 
 
 He continued : 
 
 ^^ I am Euland's friend, and I tell you if the 
 majority of men were like Euland the world 
 would be well off. I beg you, give me the best 
 token of friendship at my departure by con- 
 demning the slanderer unanimously and openly. 
 Will you?" 
 
 *^Yes!" ^^No!" they cried; and many told 
 how imperious and energetic Kuland had been ; 
 they could not know but something might be true. 
 
 Some were already departing in vehement dis- 
 cussion, that they might have nothing to do with 
 the matter; for they did not wish to wound 
 Jorns, who loved Kuland almost more than his 
 own son, by refusing their signatures. 
 
 '^ I feel as if I had been eating clear gall," said 
 Jorns to Ivo ; and the latter agreed how sad it 
 was that people should suddenly believe the basest 
 things to be possible in an honorable man, or 
 should say, ^^Who knows ? It may be so." 
 
 *^ Hark ! " said Jorns, and laid his broad hand 
 on Ivo's round one. They listened and heard 
 many say they must endeavor to bring the facts 
 to light. Other occasions were mentioned when 
 it had been thought a duty to follow up a horrible 
 
THE FORESTERS. 143 
 
 occurrence. The wife of the watchmaker had 
 been disinterred, and found to have been poisoned 
 with white lead. The man, too, was still remem- 
 bered who murdered his wife, then fled, enlisted 
 in Algeria, and came back years after having be- 
 come a savage, and surrendered himself to justice. 
 Jorns rode homeward. The trumpets played 
 joyously long after ; he heard them till he had 
 turned the corner of the mountain. He rode 
 home at a sharp trot. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Emmy, wrapped in a full, rich morning-gown, 
 her small feet with their glittering shoes resting 
 on a stool, was sitting in a comfortable easy-chair, 
 and reading the paper. Usually she read first the 
 family news, the marriage notices, but to-day she 
 saw Ruland's name. Triumph and venomous 
 hate alternated in her features. 
 
 ^^That serves him right, proud, conceited fel- 
 low ! Now, at least, keep humble silence, when 
 told to your face Emmy refused you." 
 
 When she had read the letter again, she rose, 
 opened the piano, and sang. The windows stood 
 open ; why should not the townspeople hear once 
 more the widow's powerful voice and florid execu- 
 tion ? The period of mourning was over. 
 
144 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 Her maid announced Herr Sclialler. Emmy- 
 stared at her a moment, then said, '^Show him 
 in ! " stepped quickly before the glass, and con- 
 gratulated herself on her becoming attire. 
 
 ^^ That is what one gets by good nature," said 
 she t<i herself. ^^ I meant to show kindness to an 
 uncivilized, though not insignificant man, and now 
 he tries to continue our intercourse, to which I 
 am not at all inclined." 
 
 She made haste, however, to put on a friendly 
 air. Schaller entered, and she said, ^^An un- 
 wonted visitor, at an unwonted hour." 
 
 "You were singing." 
 
 " Yes," returned she ; " I must divert myself ; 
 I must come back from sorrow and death to the 
 world again ; life will have it so." 
 
 " What do you say to my manifesto ; or, to be 
 exact, I should say to ours ? " 
 
 Emmy seized convulsively the yellow tassel of 
 her girdle, and made circles with it in the air. 
 
 " Oh ! yes," said she, collecting herself ; " very- 
 piquant, exceedingly piquant !" 
 
 "How could it be otherwise with such a 
 muse ? " returned Schaller. 
 
 Quickly changing the subject, "You should 
 write for the papers, Herr Schaller," said she ; 
 " you have the requisite pungency and keenness." 
 
 " No, thank you. I despise everything written. 
 The whole world of print is only a substitute for 
 the real world, which was spoiled in the making." 
 
THE FORESTERS. 145 
 
 Emmy tried to defend imaginative literature, 
 on the plea that it is so pleasant to transport one's 
 self into a strange world without leaving one's 
 own quiet habitation. 
 
 Schaller broke out into loud laughter, and 
 cried : ^^ To hear us, anybody might suppose wo 
 were really interested in their scribbling ; and, on 
 the contrary, we laugh because the poets talk 
 themselves into emotions, and want to talk us into 
 them, and it is all humbug." 
 
 ^^ You are a great rogue ; your cunning is 
 really sublime." 
 
 ^' I usually speak of myself quite otherwise." 
 '' No, you sha'n't rob my witty friend Schaller 
 of his honors," said Emmy. 
 
 "I said some good of Euland," Schaller con- 
 tinued, ^^ though it was only to make the rest 
 plausible. Now the rogues have stricken that out, 
 and have out-rogiied me ; they have put in spicy 
 things, too, which I did not write. Let any one 
 trust a Yankee ! The fellow knew I could not 
 defend myself, and put in stuff like this ! " 
 
 ^^ But the passage about the Furies is yours 
 surely ? " 
 
 She took up the paper and read: ^^ Euland 
 and Kudolph Jorns were Orestes and Pylades. 
 The Orestes has fled, pursued by the Furies, but 
 for him there is no repose in any temple. The 
 avenging divinities are not yet dead; they flap 
 their dark pinions in the air, soar across the sea, 
 10 
 
146 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 hunt and pursue the criminal. The Furies of our 
 day are Atramentaria (the Press), Fulminatrix 
 (the Telegraph), and Anonyma (Public Opinion). 
 With printer's ink, with lightning, and the spying 
 eyes of the people's infallible heart, they seize and 
 bind the fugitive." 
 
 ^^KTo, that is not my style,'' said Schaller. 
 ^^ We two, moreoYer, can now aver that the mani- 
 festo is not from us, since the Yankee has made 
 this addition." 
 
 ^' From us ! " protested Emmy in an under- 
 tone, while all her pulses quivered. In what 
 partnership had she engaged herself ! 
 
 There was a knock ; Toni, the Judge's daugh- 
 ter, came in out of breath. Emmy greeted her 
 with a gracious smile, but Toni cried, almost 
 breathless: ^^ I have just come from bathing in 
 the waves." 
 
 ^^Your loose, gold-brown hair is very beauti- 
 ful," interrupted Emmy. ^^ We were just speak- 
 ing of the interesting curate over in the village. 
 No doubt you can tell us the truth : isn't he going 
 to marry Oarla ? '* 
 
 Schaller wondered at her self-possession. Toni 
 said she knew nothing about it, and Schaller 
 added : ^^ It would be impossible ; a young eagle 
 like her can not mate with a dove." 
 
 *^ How can you sit quietly ? Don't you know 
 what a frightful thing has happened ?" cried 
 Toni. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 147 
 
 *^Why, what?" 
 
 '^The whole town is running out to the dam 
 by the wood-yard ; they have just fished out the 
 poor teacher of the girls' school. Base men are 
 responsible for his death ; there must have been 
 a regular plot. They wrote the poor hunchback 
 letters, in which the daughter of Kunzler, the 
 wood-dealer, acknowledged her love for him. 
 You know Amalia Kunzler had set her heart on 
 passing a teacher's examination, and was always 
 very confidential with the teachers, especially with 
 this one, who considered himself a repressed genius 
 — in fact, a poet. A number of letters went to 
 and fro, and set the poor fellow quite crazy. A 
 few days ago he spoke to her as she approached 
 him, and said that he was going openly to her 
 father to ask her hand. Of course she was obliged 
 to tell him that she knew and wanted to know 
 nothing about him ; perhaps she said it somewhat 
 sharply. That drove him to his death. How 
 must the person feel who brought about such a 
 misfortune ? Certainly, whoever is vile enough 
 to write anonymous letters has no conscience. 
 Poor Amalia, too, is in despair. What had the 
 innocent creature done to be dragged into such a 
 story by wretched villains ? If there were Justice 
 in the world, the rascal who did it would be 
 drowned where the water is deepest ! " 
 
 Emmy and Schaller looked at each other, and 
 the latter quietly said that he could now account 
 
148 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 for the behavior of the hunchbacked teacher who, 
 looking down at the wood-yard in a love dream, 
 woke in terror at being addressed and asked for 
 a cigar. 
 
 ^^ And now comes the second thing/' continued 
 Toni. ^^ You have no doubt read what is in the 
 paper about Euland. But there the fellow who 
 wrote it attacked the wrong man. Euland is 
 brave and strong ; he will not drown himself for 
 such meanness. Have you heard that he is in 
 Europe again ? It is said that he has come to 
 find out who did it." 
 
 ^^ What do you say ? Has Euland come ?" 
 
 ^^ Yes ; my brother spoke with him yesterday 
 at the capital. He wishes first to make his peace 
 with the authorities for having left his post. He 
 has grown somewhat older, but is still a very 
 handsome man. My brother wishes that the vil- 
 lain who had slandered him might be set in the 
 pillory seven days, with the label, ^ I am a slan- 
 derer and a liar.' My brother thinks that several 
 must have been concerned in it. And you are 
 aspersed in it too, Herr Schaller." 
 
 Schaller cast a triumphant glance at Emmy. 
 His being defamed must ward off all suspicion. 
 
 To Emmy's despair, Schaller talked a long time 
 with the loquacious Toni, and Emmy smiled at 
 them. She really had a deep hatred for Toni, the 
 child was still so young, so bright, and laughed 
 so innocently ; but she had taken the girl as a 
 
THE FORESTERS. 149 
 
 sort of maid of honor, and on this account had 
 to put up with many confidences. 
 
 When Toni at last went, Schaller accompanied 
 her ; but he soon came back to Emmy. He was 
 obliged to wait, for she was dressing. When she 
 at last appeared, he said, ^^How would it answer 
 to make the sport right jolly and turn suspicion 
 on a particular person, or on several ? Kuland 
 would start up as if the ground burned under 
 him." 
 
 ^^You mean," added Emmy, ^^it wolild not 
 be a bad plan to make the drowned teacher the 
 author of the story." 
 
 " A dead man ? " returned Schaller. " That, 
 even if it could be done plausibly, would be letting 
 Euland off. How could he quarrel with a dead 
 man ? He must be made to suspect the living." 
 
 ^^Do you know anybody that would do?" 
 asked Emmy. 
 
 *^ Perhaps Eilmeyer ; he corresponds with 
 America." 
 
 " Ah ! Eilmeyer ; that creature, half stork, half 
 frog ! " 
 
 ^^I bow to your sharp wit," said Schaller, 
 smiling. " You are right ; we have nothing to do. 
 We are spectators ; we have reserved seats, and 
 can enjoy the sport of watching Euland run to 
 and fro like a poisoned rat." 
 
 ^^ You are a genius." 
 
 ^^Say, rather, a hero." 
 
150 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ^^ Yes, a hero ; and a hero will not drag a poor 
 woman, a bereaved widow, with him into the fray, 
 where he is man enough unaided to stretch his 
 antagonist in the dust. Was it your intention 
 that Ruland should return ? " 
 
 '^ How can you ask ? It is the natural conse- 
 quence, and we must be prepared for it. Yes, 
 my noble muse, you women have no logic ; the 
 logic of events you neither accept nor under- 
 stand." 
 
 Eminy assented, and often repeated what a 
 child she was ; that gave her an appearance of 
 naivete, and represented her as an inconsiderate 
 creature — a woman of small power of mind whom 
 one can not hold to strict account. 
 
 Schaller held to his assumption of common 
 interest ; he saw Emmy struggle in the net, and 
 would not release her. 
 
 In her embarrassment, when she could think 
 of nothing more to say, Emmy began, ^^Is your 
 life insured ? My sainted husband — " 
 
 Schaller interupted her by adding, scoffingly, 
 ^^Who loved me so well, left me a great sum. 
 No, fair Emmy, my life is not insured. If I were 
 witty, like you, I would say my whole life is a 
 struggle for death insurance ! " 
 
 "I don't understand you," cried Emmy, anxi- 
 ously. 
 
 "And yet we must understand each other. 
 But be composed. I take pleasure in assuming 
 
THE FORESTERS. 151 
 
 your share of responsibility ; I am the lamb of 
 sacrifice for you.'' 
 
 Emmy knew not how to help herself ; she felt 
 that the friendship of such a man was evil, and 
 his fellowship dangerous. 
 
 Schaller departed. Emmy gazed after him 
 with gloomy looks ; she wiped her forehead, on 
 which cold sweat was standing, shut the window, 
 and threw herself on the sofa. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Carla had long intended that Mangold should 
 accompany her to the hunt on the feast-day. Now 
 Mangold was sick, and she had to sit by him, and 
 had much trouble to console him for having 
 spoiled her day through his ill luck ; for he was 
 sure a stag would have broken out somewhere, and 
 he wanted Carla to shoot one. 
 
 Carla replied that she would rather shoot 
 beasts of prey only. 
 
 ^^ Just like your brother Rudolph," cried Man- 
 gold ; ^^ he is no real hunter either. You both take 
 after the parsonage, but I always thought other- 
 wise of you. You have learned of me to shoot 
 better than Rudolph. Do you remember how 
 pleasant it was when Ruland and Rudolph were 
 
152 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 both with us ? They always called you the grey- 
 hound. We shall never have such good times 
 again/^ 
 
 ^^ Don't be so restless, but go to sleep/' 
 
 ^^ I sleep 'in the daytime — in a bed ? I should 
 not like to die under a roof and in a bed, but out 
 of doors in the open air. I was born in the 
 forest. I am the son of a charcoal-burner, and 
 my first bed was liye moss. . . . The cursed otter 
 only showed his nose, but I hit him. I promised 
 the Bird-parson to tell him a great deal about the 
 otter, but the fellow keeps too close. And if I 
 can not make myself a fur cap of the otter-skin, 
 you shall make yourself a muff of it, and warm 
 your useful hands. I saw your fox with the col- 
 lar, and gave him a number naught in the breast 
 for a reminder ; but the fellow got away. The 
 receipt for my dog-powder you will find in my 
 hymn-book, pasted under the cover." 
 
 When Carla, to amuse Mangold, related how, 
 in early days, a Greek hero called Ulysses, who 
 had bravely met the greatest dangers, wept at the 
 death of his faithful dog. Mangold said, in a 
 strange manner, ^^ Yes, there is something good 
 in Schaller yet. Do you know why ? Schaller 
 once loved a dog, and has never cared for another 
 since it died. He who has once loved a dog has 
 something in him." 
 
 Carla had a great deal of trouble to quiet him ; 
 and, as he noticed that he burdened her, he cried 
 
THE FORESTERS. 153 
 
 out, ^^I tell you what, send me Bobbel ; he'll 
 make me jolly." 
 
 But Bobbel was not to be found to-day. He 
 too had gone to the festival ; he was sure to get 
 something there, for everybody liked to have fun 
 with him. His folly was half pretense, half 
 reality ; but he had quite sense enough to look 
 out for his own advantage. 
 
 When Mangold at last fell asleep, Carla slipped 
 softly away, and helped her mother and the maid 
 put the whole house in order. To-day they were 
 sure to have no visitors, and doors and windows 
 were opened ; they scoured, washed, and beat till 
 everything was fresh and bright. 
 
 ^' Now Kudolph and his pupils may come when 
 they will,'' said the satisfied mother. 
 
 Carla dressed herself afresh for the evening, 
 as if the day were just beginning, and sat con- 
 tentedly with her mother on the bench outside. 
 
 ^' Father will come late to-day," said Madam 
 Jorns ; "perhaps he will bring Ivo, or the new 
 Commissioner and Ignatia." 
 
 "Yes, mother, I have felt all day as if we 
 should have a visit ; I can not help looking round 
 to see if any one is coming." 
 
 "Perhaps the curate will come." 
 
 "No, he is at the festival." 
 
 "Have you had a reconciliation with him? 
 Your father says he is an uncommonly fine man, 
 he is so thorough, so careful, and so true, " 
 
154 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ^^To me/' said Carla, ^^he has become a per- 
 fect stranger. But stop, I hear Mangold call." 
 
 She went into the house, and came back, lead- 
 ing Mangold. She seated him on a bench, laid a 
 covering over his knees, went again into the house, 
 brought a long pipe of her father's, and lighted it 
 for him. 
 
 Mangold's looks brightened, and he said : 
 ^^ He that gets you will have good times when he 
 is sick, and still better when he is well ; but let 
 him be quick about it, that I may live to see it." 
 
 CHAPTEE XXIII. 
 
 The master forester's gray stamped and foamed 
 as if he perceived the heavy thoughts that op- 
 pressed his rider. 
 
 ^^How malicious!" thought Jorns. ^^ There 
 is a devil in men that lets them take pleasure in 
 the injury done to another. What is honor, what 
 is a good name, if men are so quick to believe 
 evil?" 
 
 The horse had taken the way through the vil- 
 lage of his own accord ; and Jorns, who was not 
 quite free from huntsmen's superstitions, was 
 vexed because old EafEel looked out of the win- 
 dow grinning, and greeted him. He took no no- 
 
b 
 
 THE FORESTERS. 155 
 
 tice of her, and did not stop as usual to speak to 
 Grater, who was sitting before his house ; he 
 tightened' the reins and rode home. 
 
 ^^ There is father!" cried Carla; and as he 
 stopped before the house she went on : ^^ But, 
 father, what is the matter ? Your horse smokes. 
 What has happened ? " 
 
 Jorns did not answer. He dismounted quick- 
 ly, and growled to himself : ^^ One shouldn't go 
 among men." 
 
 ^^ You have come back early," said his wife, 
 ^^and do not look as if you came from a scene of 
 pleasure." 
 
 ^^Kead that," returned Jorns. Giving Carla 
 the paper, he took his horse to the stable, and 
 then went into the house. He stood by the gun- 
 rack, took down Euland's gun, looked at it a 
 while, and hung it on the nail again, then sat 
 down behind the table, and listened as Carla out- 
 side read to her mother and Mangold. 
 
 When she had done, he went out. He looked 
 at his wife, he looked at Carla and Mangold. 
 Nobody spoke a word ; they all seemed stunned. 
 
 " Sit down," said his wife in a mild tone ; ^^or 
 will you have something to eat ? " 
 
 Jorns shook his head ; he walked several times 
 to and fro before the house without opening his 
 close-pressed lips ; then he stood by the garden 
 hedge and clinched his hand tight about the stem 
 of a young cherry, as if he needed an outward 
 
156 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 support. Old as he was, he had now first to learn 
 to believe in meanness — in conscious, willful base- 
 ness. 
 
 Young Hellauf pressed up to his motionless 
 master. Jorns looked down at him, and said to 
 himself, "AVhere is the hound that can scent 
 out human baseness ? " 
 
 At last he sat down by his family. They knew 
 he must not be spoken to till he had had it out 
 with himself, and so they sat still and looked with 
 him at the sinking sun. 
 
 ^^It is," began Mangold, "like what the man 
 did who could not bear a certain dog, and so said : 
 ' I will not beat you, I will do better : I will give 
 you a bad name, and then everybody will fling 
 stones at you.^ Isn't it so ?'' 
 
 Nobody answered. 
 
 "Ah !" cries Jorns at last, "how that must 
 hurt Euland ! '' 
 
 "Forgive me, father," said Carla. "I think 
 Euland will brush it off like poisonous caterpil- 
 lars—" 
 
 " But we must stamp on these caterpillars — 
 stamp on them ! Caterpillars ? vultures ! lynxes ! 
 Where is the hound that can track these pitiful 
 beasts of prey ? Beasts, do I say ? No ; only 
 man can be base." 
 
 Jorns now related what had passed at the ban- 
 quet, saying at the close, " My mouth is so bitter, 
 it seems as if I could never taste anything else." 
 
THE FORESTERS. 157 
 
 His wife brought his long pipe, handed it to 
 him, and set the pewter vase with the cut tobacco 
 near ; but Jorns stared at it as if he saw nothing. 
 
 ^^You are right to be angry, '^ said his wife; 
 ^^but, Martin, how often you have said that man 
 is not bad because there are bad men ! There are 
 plenty of good ones, and Euland is one of the 
 best" 
 
 '' Yes, I know it," said Jorns. ^^ There goes the 
 sun. How changeless, holy, and beautiful it is ! 
 And the man who committed this baseness sees it 
 too. Perhaps he will sleep well to-night, and 
 laugh before he shuts his eyes to think he has been 
 so cunning." He unfastened his waistcoat over 
 his breast, and continued : ^' The whipping-post 
 and the scaffold have been abolished ; now I should 
 like to have them again." 
 
 ^^Do not let rage master you," said his wife 
 soothingly. ^' That is what the wicked want — to 
 make the good wicked too." 
 
 ^^ You're right! You have my morrow's 
 thoughts already. You are my good morrow." 
 
 The look was ardent, the hand-clasp warm, 
 which Jorns gave his wife ; and she said, smooth- 
 ing his brow : 
 
 ^' Do you suppose Euland will read that ? " 
 
 ^^ Oh, certainly ! it is taken from an American 
 journal. If I could only be with dear Euland, if 
 I could only take his good honest hand, and tell 
 him : ^ Brother heart, do not let yourself be con- 
 
158 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 sumed with anger ; there are still true men, who 
 belieye in you. Oh, if I only had Euland here ! '^ 
 
 ^^Here you haye him/' said a yoice suddenly ; 
 and the great strong Jorns fell on the neck of the 
 man who had softly come in in the twilight, and 
 wept bitterly. 
 
 Jorns opened and shut his hands and carried 
 them to his eyes. He was yery little used to 
 weep. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXIV. 
 
 ^^ Is it really you ? '' asked Jorns, at last releas- 
 ing himself : he opened his eyes wide to gaze at 
 the stately man. 
 
 ^^Yes, old friend," said Euland's husky but 
 still full yoice. ^^ Good eyening. Madam Jorns. 
 Is that Carla ? Good eyening, Carla. Ah,* Man- 
 gold ! are you still there ?'' 
 
 ^^Yes, but three quarters has struck — three 
 quarters toward Good night, life ! '' 
 
 These gayly uttered words brought relief and 
 calm to their high-strung feelings. Jorns did not 
 let go his friend's hand ; and Euland said : ^^ I 
 perceiye by the pressure of your hand I shall re- 
 gain my strength ; yes, you will giye me yours 
 besides." 
 
 " All ! all ! " said Jorns. He turned away 
 and passed his hand oyer his face. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 159 
 
 " Come into the house," said he. ^' Carla, strike 
 a light. I hayen't yet seen how you look.'^ 
 
 '''No, no ; leave me here." 
 
 ^^ But you must have something to eat," in- 
 sisted the forester's wife. 
 
 "You must excuse me. Oh ! I feel as if I 
 had said good night to you but yesterday. I was 
 with friends in the capital at first ; I had a good 
 deal to set in order ; but here with you I am at 
 home." 
 
 "You have your old voice still," said Jorns. 
 " See, even my Pepper here knows you ; look how 
 he fawns on you." 
 
 Euland stroked the dog and asked, "Have 
 you my Hellauf still ? " 
 
 "No, he is dead; I was obliged to shoot 
 him." 
 
 "Indeed! But my gun?" 
 
 " It is just as you sent it." 
 
 " Tell me first of all : is there anybody here 
 who believes in the slander that has been 
 started?" 
 
 " Nobody whose opinion is anything to you. 
 But let that drop ; we shall have time to-morrow 
 to talk of it all." 
 
 "No — ^now ; let me tell you about it now." 
 
 " Come with me, Mangold ; it is getting too 
 cool for you," said Carla ; and she helped Mangold 
 up, and took him into the house. Her mother 
 also went in. 
 
160 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 Euland begged that the mother and daughter 
 would soon come back, for he could go over but 
 once what he had to relate. 
 
 Silent, hand-in-hand, sat Euland and Jorns on 
 the bench. Neither spoke a word ; the manner 
 in which they clung to each other said everything. 
 Carla and her mother came back, sat down quietly, 
 and Euland began : 
 
 ^' I have come to find the offender, but also to 
 expiate my own offense." 
 
 A painful silence fell. Jorns dropped his 
 head, bit his pipe sharply, stroked his knees with 
 both hands, then, sighing heavily, lifted his head 
 and said : 
 
 ^^ You undoubtedly abandoned your duty." 
 
 "I was cowardly and unfaithful," cried Eu- 
 land, grinding his teeth. 
 
 ^^That is saying too much," returned Jorns. 
 ^^ I believe in you as I believe in myself. For your 
 actions you must have had a good reason." 
 
 ^^ Yes, and to state it I have come across the 
 sea. I ought to have come to you then, and I 
 must pay dear for not doing so. Let me in this 
 hour speak out what till now I held unspeakable." 
 
 '^ Speak," returned Jorns ; ^' what you say 
 shall not be misinterpreted." He took the pipe 
 from his mouth, leaned back, and shut his eyes. 
 
 Euland began anew : 
 
 " It was an evening like this. I had gone to 
 sleep in my chair ; I awoke. Is it morning ? is it 
 
THE FORESTERS. 161 
 
 night ? I tried to recollect. To-day I had bur- 
 ied my wife. I had come home, and had fallen 
 asleep. I staggered. I struck a light. Yes, 
 everything is there. Every chair, every table 
 looked ghostly. Everything is there on which 
 her eye had rested ; it was just as before — the 
 chairs, the sofa, the work-table, the piano, the 
 books in even rows. And she ? I felt as if buried 
 alive. I cried out. Nobody heard me. My hairs 
 stood up as if they had been wires. Ah ! thou- 
 sands of electric streams of the highest rapture 
 had darted through me when her tender fingers 
 ran through my hair ; and now — her fingers are 
 cold ! Oh ! my imagination was horrible. . . . 
 What is delirium ? To lose the reins, to be un- 
 able any longer to direct your thoughts, your 
 conceptions. 
 
 ^^The gracious being, with her charms, her 
 purity of mind, now nothing — nothing ! Fell 
 Nature, that so moulds, so creates, and then de- 
 stroys ! How could I look again on the trees, the 
 fields, the forests, on which her eyes had rested ! 
 The whole earth was a horror to me — the earth 
 that had received her body. ... No man shall 
 comfort me, saying, ^ It will heal over ; you will 
 live happily again among all that once greeted her 
 eye, in the air in which her breath used to float' 
 No ; away I I must away, must not wait an hour. 
 No other life, but another world. Shall I kill 
 myself ? I have weapons. ... I seemed to feel 
 11 
 
162 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 in my yery body a strong thrust of her tender 
 hand against the breast that entertained thoughts 
 of self-murder. Her pure feeling, her gentle sub- 
 mission, and I a suicide ? No ! The last thing 
 that I had talked over quietly with Sylvia was 
 whether I should accept a call that had reached 
 me from America to conduct a school of forestry 
 there. Sylvia was ready to follow me ; she thought 
 I was born for something greater. Now the 
 thought awoke again as healing, as rescue. And 
 so befell what did befall. No man is punished 
 who is innocent. To fail in circumspection is a 
 fault. I deserved the penalty." 
 
 Euland paused. He had thrown away his 
 cigar at the beginning of his narration ; they 
 heard him breathe heavily. 
 
 ^^Now all will be made right," said Jorns, 
 lowering his voice. ^^ You have come to us ; it 
 will be made right." 
 
 '' To you ? No, I should not have come to 
 you yet. I am here to follow the trail of the person 
 who has dared to defame me. Me ! I might have 
 borne that, but her ! but her ! I must find him." 
 
 ^^ My friend," said Jorns,- laying his hand on 
 Euland's shoulder, ^^ a wild beast leaves a trail in 
 the wood, but not a bird in the sky ; and such 
 evil words are like birds of prey in the air." 
 
 A longer pause took place. The mother 
 sobbed to herself. Carla pressed her hands to- 
 gether in silence, and Ruland continued : 
 
THE FORESTERS. 163 
 
 ^^I am not yet through. I will disinter what 
 should have been buried for ever. I will tell all 
 if my brain bursts. That is my punishment for 
 being so proud, and acknowledging no responsi- 
 bility save to myself. He who has honor and a 
 good name must defend it, and answer for his 
 conduct to men." 
 
 "Let me beg you," said Jorns, rising, "to 
 put off your account till to-morrow." 
 
 "No, no!" cried Euland, vehemently; "to- 
 day ! I will try not to distress you ; I will only 
 relate it as if I spoke of another : I am another 
 than the man of that time." 
 
 Jorns sat down, and Ruland went on. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 " Shall I tell you how happy I was, and how 
 happy I made her ? I was proud of her love, and 
 proud of my power of loving. I seemed to my- 
 self hallowed through her. Everybody has some- 
 thing in his past to reproach himself for. From 
 the pure fleece that nature gives us, a lock is here 
 and there torn off when we are forced to creep 
 through the hedges. In a moment of deep feeling 
 I once said to her : ^ Ah ! you are so pure, and I ? 
 I am none of the worst, but I, too, have something 
 to reproach myself with.' And she returned : 
 
164 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ^ Dear Bruno, imagine you have had along, weari- 
 some journey, have stopped at disorderly inns, 
 and now you are at home/' 
 
 ^^Yes,'' cried Madam Jorns, ^Hhat sounds 
 like her. I think I hear her voice." 
 
 Euland went on : ^^ I was new-born and risen 
 to holiness through her. Our life was full of sun- 
 shine and gladness ; the whole world was over- 
 swept as with a breeze of delight. There was a 
 thorough blending of our hearts and lives that 
 completed everything — the begun, the imperfect, 
 the obscure, the one-sided. Oh ! she passed in 
 the world for a person of almost haughty demean- 
 or, of an unyielding temper ; she appeared 
 rough, reserved. I, I alone knew how humble, 
 how yielding, she was. 
 
 ^' Oh, what a life we led ! Alone in the forest 
 with her, in our beautiful home, blessed with un- 
 ending peace and silence, we two together — two 
 persons; and yet but one. When I left the house 
 I could hardly realize that I was going alone and 
 leaving her behind, that we were two persons who 
 could be one here and the other there ; and she 
 once said herself : ^ Were there ever two people so 
 united and so happy as we ? ' 
 
 '^ Every day the world was new-created. You 
 knew her, too ; but no one save me quite knew 
 her. She appeared to the world inflexible, and 
 yet was so soft ; she seemed fragile, and yet was 
 so strong. ' With you,' she once said, ' I could 
 
THE FORESTERS: 165 
 
 live in the primeval forest, far from my fellow 
 men.' When I look back, the year of our wed- 
 lock is like a single morning spent beside the 
 unfathomable sea, that reflects heaven and earth. 
 
 ^^Joy, brightness, serenity were her innermost 
 nature — ^fuU of gentleness and warmth, never 
 hasty, never apathetic. I think the rudest man 
 could not have been rude to her. She was strong 
 in herself ; she knew all good by intuition. I 
 have often wondered to hear her characterize 
 things with the simple and only correct word. 
 
 " I was so full of love to every creature that I 
 could not realize there was a man in the world 
 who did not feel friendly to me. And yet there 
 was one. It is possible that he loved Sylvia before 
 I did, but perhaps he only sought to palliate his 
 ruin and corruption by the romance that he had 
 gone wrong because he could not call her his own. 
 You know him already — Schaller. He never 
 ceased persecuting me till I handed him over to 
 justice." 
 
 "He is here again," said Jorns. 
 
 ^^Here again?" cried Euland ; and Jorns 
 asked : 
 
 '' How will you meet him ? " 
 
 "How shall I meet him ?" repeated Euland. 
 ^^ I shall meet him kindly. Whether a man ruins 
 himself, or fate ruins him, he is an object of 
 compassion." 
 
 Another pause occurred, and Jorns said : 
 
166 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 " Why do you give yourself and us pain by 
 touching all that again ? " 
 
 ^^I must," said Euland. ^^She was buried. 
 I was by — you, too. I could not understand that 
 I walked, that I saw, that I breathed ; I seemed 
 only to dream it all — that a grave was opened and 
 shut ; it seemed all but a frightful dream. 
 
 ^^I went back to my house. I do not know 
 whether I slept or lay in a swoon. I awoke ; I 
 was alone in the night. All my thoughts and 
 fancies were in her graye. The lips that had 
 kissed me, the eyes that shone for me, the bosom 
 on which I had rested — all that dead, decaying ! 
 And I breathe and am here alone ! I alone ? 
 No, she can not leave me alone. It must be a 
 horrible power that forces her to leave me alone. 
 Everything bewildered me to the point of delirium. 
 
 ^' I knew you were my friends, and so were 
 many people ; but what did it help me ? Every 
 one lives his own life. I am alone ; she who lived 
 my life is with me no more. My dog comes and 
 fawns on me ; I push him away. Everything is 
 alive, and she lives no longer ! 
 
 ^^I was in solitude — in a solitude such as I 
 had never believed possible. A nameless anxiety 
 overcame me ; I was like a lost child ; I was un- 
 speakably homesick. The picture of the Assump- 
 tion of the Virgin, which hung on the wall, was 
 a horror to me. I stared at it. Alas ! I can not 
 look so submissively after my ascending saint. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 167 
 
 ^^AU around so still — all Nature holds her 
 breath with me. The trees, the meadows are 
 silent, and hearken for her return. Sylvia ! She 
 must come. Suddenly there is a sound of wind in 
 the trees ; the door opens wide, but nobody comes 
 in. A darkness gapes at me from the floor as from 
 a grave. The door stands open ; nobody comes. 
 I take down my gun : why do I wait for death ? 
 And then, then I see her image ; it looks at me 
 so strangely, and I feel as if it said : ^ Stay not 
 here ; thou canst not ; seek a new life in a new, 
 strange world ! ' My soul wandered over the whole 
 circle of the earth. Whither should I turn ? Then 
 her words came to me, ^ I could live in the prime- 
 val forests with you,' and so I went." 
 
 ^' You aimed at a violent cure for yourself," 
 Jorns here interposed. ^^You thought to find 
 the alleviation in the world without ; but as little 
 as you could tear up the trees, so little could you 
 destroy in your heart the recollection of your old 
 self. I myself despaired for days after you had 
 sent me your dog and gun. Kudolph, too, de- 
 spaired. And, in spite of your report to the 
 Government, and in spite of your leaving every- 
 thing in order, you were not true to your duty." 
 
 "I know I was not," owned Ruland, sadly. 
 
 "Dear Ruland," said Madam Jorns, ^^you 
 need tell us nothing more of Sylvia. I can bear 
 you witness before God and the world. I was 
 with her the day before her death, and she said 
 
168 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 to me, ^ Dear friend, I would never haye believed 
 that there could always be a constant increase of 
 happiness : I think I grow happier every day/ 
 That I can testify for you, and that may content 
 you fully. But now, if you must still talk^ come 
 into the house. '^ 
 
 She went in, and the others followed. 
 
 Kuland said when they were inside : '^ Strange ! 
 My own house I never saw in a dream, but often 
 this room, with the broad, green*tile stove and 
 the gun-rack. I have heard the clock tick, have 
 seen you in your great easy-chair, and I have seen 
 the books, too, on the shelf. '^ 
 
 As Euland saw his gun, he said i^'l am glad 
 it is still here. But I have brought other good 
 weapons with me from America." 
 
 ^^That is right," said Jorns ; ^Hell us about 
 your life in America, if you can not yet sleep. I 
 will light a fresh pipe." 
 
 Euland pulled at his beard, and stroked his 
 hair back several times ; then he began once 
 more : 
 
 ' " I went to America. I no longer desired per- 
 sonal happiness in this world ; I only wanted to 
 wear myself out. I j oined a party for exploring and 
 surveying public lands, I was called one of the 
 boldest. Alas ! it was no boldness ; I only hoped 
 to die. For weeks I never spoke a word except 
 what was needful for the chase. You know I was 
 never a fortunate hunter ; I shot well at a target^ 
 
THE FORESTERS. 169 
 
 but seldom at game. I had luck in America 
 for the first time ; there I killed bears and buf- 
 faloes*" 
 
 ^^What!" cried Jorns ; ^^you hare hunted 
 bears and buffalo ? That must be glorious ! " 
 
 ^^Ah, dear friend, nothing is glorious when 
 there is a ceaseless pain gnawing the soul. But 
 at the bear-hunt I often thought how right you 
 were : without love of the chase, there is no real 
 love of the woods ; you only come into the woods 
 when you have trees to cut, and are no real living 
 friend of theirs. I made myself acquainted with 
 the condition of the forests, especially the public 
 forests, in a great part of the United States, and 
 held it my duty to call attention to the serious 
 danger that must arise from the destruction of 
 the woods. I wrote a paper founded on my ob- 
 servations, in which I demonstrated that exten- 
 sive districts were being laid waste for ever, and 
 how, through the negligent way of cutting the 
 timber, breeding-places for vermin are produced, 
 which can not be extirpated after they have made 
 some progress. The facts could not be denied; 
 but it was easy to jest at my having employed the 
 expression that ^I pitied the soil.' But of what 
 use are warnings ? It is as when an experienced 
 man warns a young spendthrift ; he does not heed 
 the good advice till, in old age, he has to pay 
 for neglecting it.'' 
 
 '' Of that we have a living example in Schaller," 
 
170 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 broke in Jorns. " But forgive me ; I did not wish 
 to recall him to your mind. Go on." 
 
 ^^ Would you belieye it/' went on Euland, 
 *^ very upright people often said to me that I, with 
 my zeal for forest culture, no doubt wished to 
 create for myself a business in dealing in land and 
 timber ! And when I explained to an excessively 
 practical man that I had no personal interest at 
 all in it, but only had the subject itself in my 
 mind, he answered me, in a flattering tone, ' I do 
 not think less of you for it.' " 
 
 ^^ That's it, that's it; it is just like them!" 
 cried Jorns, glad to turn from the sad story to 
 something else, and be able to laugh heartily. 
 
 ^^The new President was chosen," went on 
 Euland. '^ The German who now became Secre- 
 tary of the Interior had in part entertained my 
 views before ; in part they now became clearer to 
 him. There was every prospect of an important 
 office being assigned me. A certain tranquillity 
 came over me ; happiness is for me no more." 
 
 ^^Pray go on," broke in Jorns, and Euland 
 continued : 
 
 ' ' I was in Washington for weeks. From thence 
 I wrote the letter, an extract from which Eudolph 
 published in your journals. I visited many mem- 
 bers of Congress, and showed them that the care 
 of the forests is not a matter for one State or a 
 single section, but for a whole continent. I hard- 
 ly found a hearing. An insolent rapacity, that 
 
THE FORESTERS. 171 
 
 likes to be called freedom, had indeed not quite 
 destroyed, but craftily obstructed, the plan of 
 protecting and extending the forests. I was pres- 
 ent when the petty sum was voted for examining 
 the condition of the woods, and that meant bring- 
 ing the matter to naught. 
 
 ^^In this state of mind I was coming away 
 from the White House, when an old comrade met 
 me, who said, ^ You must not take it so to heart.' 
 ^But how,' I answered him, ^can a man look all 
 at once at a thing to which he desires to devote 
 his life's best powers so as not to take it to heart? 
 It is a disgrace to the republic that she will not 
 leave off sinning against nature.' 
 
 ^^ ^ Oh ! is that what you are thinking of ? ' said 
 my friend. ^ I meant the other.' 
 
 '' ' What other ? ' 
 
 " He would not for a long time come out with 
 it ; at last he showed me the paper with the of- 
 fensive article, which, as I see, has now been 
 printed here. 
 
 '' ^ You may laugh at it,' said my friend ; ^ we 
 think nothing of such things in this country. 
 Some cunning enemy wrote it, or, perhaps, they 
 sat down together in what is called a comfortable 
 German beer-house, and brewed the thing amid 
 laughter and yells.' 
 
 ^^ At first I was indifferent to it ; my great 
 suffering had blunted my sensibilities. But 
 when I saw that every one who knew me looked 
 
172 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 strangely at me, and when a countryman of ruined 
 character insulted me, there was a change in my 
 feelings. How is such conscious barbarity and 
 falsehood possible ? 
 
 ^^A few days after, a statement appeared in 
 the paper, signed with my name, in which I was 
 made to say that I was going back to Europe to 
 bring the slanderer to account. I went to the 
 publishing oflBce ; the writing had been sent in in 
 my name. I complained of it to my friend ; he 
 said to me, ' That is nothing uncommon here ; it 
 is a device of the natiye timber-thieves, who de- 
 sire to send you home. If yoix do not return 
 to Germany now you will be suspected and de- 
 famed.' 
 
 " ' I shall be ? What matters that ? My wife 
 — she it is who is defamed.' 
 
 " I pressed my friend to inquire for the author 
 of the first letter. He had inquired, and it was 
 quite certain that the letter had come from this 
 region. And now I am here, determined to find 
 him who has injured my departed saint. She has 
 been defamed, and for her sake I must not tolerate 
 the lie, and you and whoever cares anything for 
 me must help." 
 
 ^^You mean then to take vengeance on the 
 slanderer ?" said Jorns. '' Suppose you can find 
 him, and bring him before the court ; he will be 
 sentenced to an imprisonment of a few weeks, 
 perhaps only to a fine." 
 
THE FORESTERS. 173 
 
 '^Oh !" cried Euland, ^^imprisonment ! fine ! 
 I will strangle him ! I will crush his hand !" 
 
 Madam Jorns rose with great composure, laid 
 her hand on Euland's shoulder, and said : " I fully 
 understand your unspeakable grief ; your mis- 
 fortune is great ; but the worst is, that you will 
 hereafter suspect everybody — that you will thus 
 wrong many people, and cause mischief. You 
 will look in the face of every one who addresses 
 you, and ask yourself, ^Is he not a hypocrite ?^ 
 And because wrong has been done to you, will you 
 do wrong to others or attribute it to them ? My 
 father often used to repeat the old proverb, ^ Ee- 
 venge has her hands bound upon her heart/ Free 
 yourself." She seized both Euland's hands, held 
 them, and spoke in an unwonted tone : ^' These 
 hands must do no evil. If Sylvia lived, she would 
 say, ^ Dear Bruno, quit all this ; you will hurt your- 
 self the most ; you should walk in the light, and 
 not in the shadows of mistrust. Shall the wicked 
 succeed in making you wicked ? Then they have 
 conquered.'" 
 
 The great clock on the wall began slowly to 
 strike twelve, and the little one seemed to hurry 
 to overtake it. 
 
 " It is late," said Jorns. ^^ We know the main 
 points ncrw ; we can speak of details at leisure." 
 
 ^^I ask but one thing," urged Euland. '' Tell 
 me, are there any here who believe that I com- 
 mitted such a crime ? " 
 
174 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ^^ You asked that once before, and I repeat, 
 How can you ask ? Base natures believe in base- 
 ness. But now enough ; I am worn out ; I have 
 gone through a great deal to-day. You have your 
 old chamber. Sleep sound there, as in old times. 
 Come, I will light you.'^ 
 
 The women departed. Madam Jorns gave 
 Euland her hand. Carla said ''Good night!" 
 with a fixed gaze, but did not offer her hand. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXVI. 
 
 It is silent in the woods to-night ; the dew 
 falls on tree and moss ; each twig, each leaf, each 
 blade of grass is revived anew, and the roots in 
 the soil suck the moisture and send it up through 
 trunk and branch. The moisture of the earth 
 and the dew of heaven nourish all life. The birds 
 are sleeping in their nests, and keep each other 
 warm ; but a wild-cat steals up and down the 
 trunks from tree to tree ; with tireless spring she 
 seizes the guileless victims, knows how to strike 
 the arteries with her sharp tooth, and, where an 
 animal stands on its defense, to strike him exactly 
 in the eyes with her strong claws. 
 
 At the forester's house, in like manner, the 
 demon of suspicion stole lightly, noiselessly, up 
 and down stairs, from one chamber to another. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 175 
 
 tormented the people who were seeking rest, and 
 struck its claws full in their eyes, that they might 
 no longer rightly see what went on in the world. 
 
 '^ What is the matter ? " asked Jorns, finding 
 his wife so restless. 
 
 ^' I don't know. I feel as if our house had 
 all of a sudden become a robbers' den in the for- 
 est, where the inmates devote themselyes to lying 
 in wait for people and planning stratagems." 
 
 " I don't understand what you mean." 
 
 " I loye Euland as well as you, but what has 
 he brought into our house ? Restlessness, daily 
 and nightly thinking of evil." 
 
 " In truth it seems to me too," returned 
 Jorns, ^^ as if I had been turned round and round 
 to-day. I knew before that there were bad men 
 in the world, but such baseness as to slander a 
 man like Euland, and such baseness as to believe 
 the slander, I never dreamed of. We can trust 
 nobody more, depend on nobody more." 
 
 ^^ Yes, that is so," went on his wife. ^^Now 
 day and night we shall be spying out the wicked- 
 ness of men, and that is the way to become wicked 
 ourselves. Euland must put up with mean men's 
 thinking meanly of him, and be satisfied that 
 good men think well of him. He must not ruin 
 our home by drawing all the rabble here who have 
 some wickedness to tell of ; if so, he had better 
 stay elsewhere and not with us." 
 
 ^^ Wife ! wife ! But that's a woman's way." 
 
176 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ^^ What is a woman's way ? " 
 
 " To be either too kind or too harsh." 
 
 '' I am not harsh. But, mark my words, from 
 to-day our house will be completely turned round, 
 and you too. Why are you laughing ? " 
 
 ^^ Don't ask me." 
 
 ^' Oh, speak out frankly ! " 
 
 " I say, like that old Judge, ^ There is a woman 
 at the bottom of it'; and — who knows ? — perhaps 
 one who parades in fine clothes on the street and 
 in company ; fine clothes, and a soiled conscience 
 underneath ! " 
 
 The spirit of opposition and of indignation 
 in the forester's wife had only waited for some- 
 thing to be said that oYcrstepped the line of right ; 
 now that her whole sex was attacked these feel- 
 ings broke out, and the peace that had held man 
 and wife together in the utmost unity of heart for 
 thirty years seemed to be changing to discord. 
 But Jorns had coolness enough to say, ^^ If I have 
 exaggerated, let me take it back, and we will 
 say no more. Do not let this be the first night 
 that we have gone to sleep in anger. So good 
 night, Louise ; go to sleep with kind thoughts, 
 and so will I." 
 
 His wife longed to reply, ^^ I have kind thoughts 
 — a pity you have not.'' It was with a heavy sigh 
 that she repressed the answer, but she succeed- 
 ed, and said, '' Yes, good night, Martin." 
 
 In her chamber, whose window opened toward 
 
THE FORESTERS. 177 
 
 the valley, lay Carla, and in the chamber whose 
 window looked toward the brook lay Euland. 
 They had no one to talk with, but so much the 
 more to say to themselves. Carla was not unaccus- 
 tomed to observe the actions of men ; she knew 
 that there is depravity in the world, vice, theft, 
 and murder, but meanness — this delight in injur- 
 ing another only for the sake of paining him, of 
 seeing him suffer — she knew nothing about. And 
 still another thing grieved her. She had always 
 thought of Euland as a person of ideal perfection, 
 and now she saw not only a grief -bowed man, but 
 a savage, revengeful man, who was ready to repay 
 a wrong committed against himself by another 
 wrong the next moment. 
 
 Euland in feverish excitement sat long at the 
 open window, and gazed out across the rushing 
 brook toward the dark forest. He had opened 
 his inmost feelings, had poured out his pain and 
 wrath into the hearts of his friends ; but pain and 
 wrath had not grown less in him. Now came, in 
 addition, the bitter feeling that, through his own 
 sorrow, he must bring so much sorrow into their 
 true hearts. 
 
 12 
 
178 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 The morning was fresh and clear. Ruland 
 said to himself that for his own sake and for the 
 sake of his friends he must regain his old manli- 
 ness ; no complaint, no cry for help should pass 
 his lips again ; he would be strong. His figure 
 and bearing were still commanding — yes, almost 
 imperious — though his eye, once so brilliant, was 
 cast down and shadowed. 
 
 '' Thank God, you are our old friend again," 
 said Madam Jorns, who first met him in front of 
 the house, and marked his firm bearing. She 
 asked how he had slept the first night at home. 
 Euland answered, with a clear yoice : ^^ I lay long 
 awake, but afterward slept refreshingly, as I never 
 did abroad. I feel anew that we really live only 
 among those with whom we have been at home in 
 early days. But last night, when I was alone, I 
 had the bitter feeling that I was burdening you 
 all with my fate. Do not let it be so, I pray ; 
 you shall see that I will control myself better." 
 
 '^ That is right. Do not defile yourself with 
 touching such baseness." 
 
 In a tone of knightly politeness, at once 
 deferential and cordial, Ruland returned : ^' Your 
 good heart must wish that ; but we are compelled 
 to handle many things in this world, though we 
 may know them to be unclean." 
 
THE FORESTERS. 179 
 
 ^^ And I repeat, it would be better if, instead 
 of taking vengeance, you would forgive and 
 forget." 
 
 Just as her mother said this, Carla came up, 
 and Euland said : ^' You have heard what your 
 mother advises me : are you also of the opinion 
 that, instead of seeking out the offender, I should 
 forgive and forget ? " 
 
 ^^No," answered Carla, ^^you owe it to your- 
 self, to the dead, and to the world, not to let it 
 pass." 
 
 It was a decisive tone in which Carla spoke ; 
 in her voice lay strength and sweetness. 
 
 '' That is right," cried the master forester as 
 he came up. '' To-day you look quite another 
 man, as if you had come out of your gloom. And 
 you arranged well to be here exactly on St. James's 
 day ; to-day we celebrate the Waldbutz according 
 to the old custom. Now throw all behind you, 
 and learn to love life again. What is a wicked 
 word in a paper ? See the shadow of the raven, 
 which sweeps over the bright meadow : it is not 
 much more than such a passing shadow, a vapor 
 that no one can grasp. But let us speak of some- 
 thing else. The thing in your story that amused 
 me most was that about the man who told you he 
 did not esteem you less because you had no selfish 
 interest. That is a perfect example of a man 
 who is proud of his rascality ; that can not be 
 matched." 
 
180 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 While they still sat cheerfully at breakfast, 
 music was suddenly heard. ^' There is the Wald- 
 butz/^ said they. The woodmen were singing a 
 mirthful strain in front of the house, and among 
 them a queer-looking figure was crowing lustily. 
 This was Bobbel, who was dressed entirely in bark 
 and fir-cones, and held in his hand a young fir 
 torn up by the roots. 
 
 The men and women who were singing in the 
 merry dance stopped suddenly when they noticed 
 Kuland ; but then they went on, and from their 
 circle stepped forth Euland's former woodman, a 
 man of furrowed face and prominent eyebrows, 
 over whose sunken cheeks tears ran, as he said : 
 " master ! do I see you again ? Is this the 
 hand that your whole life long has done nothing 
 but good ? " 
 
 But now Bobbel came in his queer armor to 
 Euland. He had taken off his crown of fir-cones, 
 and said : ^^ Our master forester will not take it 
 amiss, but you shall haye the crown in his stead. '^ 
 
 ^^Yes,^' added another, the retired forest 
 watchman, ^^and we wish you as many happy 
 days as there are seeds in it.'^ 
 
 Bobbel crowed thrice, and the keeper cried, 
 ^' Long liye Master Forester Jorns, and District 
 Forester Euland likewise ! " 
 
 Euland went from one to another, thanked 
 them heartily, distributed a liberal gift of money, 
 and all went shouting away. 
 
to 
 
 THE FORESTERS. 181 
 
 When it had grown quiet, Kuland said he 
 could not rest ; he must go over to the innkeeper 
 at the Angel to ask him who had been there on 
 his son's birthday. Jorns had the gray saddled 
 for him, and Euland rode off. Argus ran after, as 
 though Carla had bidden him, or a natural attrac- 
 tion drew him to Euland. Euland looked round 
 on the landscape, and it seemed to him like a 
 dream that he saw it all again, after he had 
 thought it for ever hidden from his eyes. 
 
 Behind a trench, concealed from Euland's 
 glance, sat Schaller. He was saying to himself : 
 '' Thy arch-enemy is now here ; step before him, 
 and say, ^ Most noble Euland, it was I ; take your 
 gun and shoot me. All's over, you have done 
 with me.' . . . But shall I deprive myself of the 
 enjoyment of the fruit of my deed ? Eidiculous ! 
 The letter is but my last falsehood. I simply 
 carry out its natural conclusion. I should be do- 
 ing nothing new, only completing the old." 
 
 He was determined to step boldly out before 
 Euland's eyes ; he only debated whether he should 
 do it now at once, for he was sure Euland was 
 riding to the Angel. 
 
 Euland rode on. Men came up from the fields 
 to speak to him, and from one field to another 
 they called, ^^ Euland is here again !" 
 
 At the churchyard Euland paused, but he said 
 to himself, ^^ No ; not till I find out who uttered 
 the calumny — not till then will I visit her grave." 
 
182 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 He rode on and came to the village. The 
 landlord of the Angel and his household received 
 him cordially. Kuland inquired who had been in 
 the house the day his son was born, but it was 
 impossible to say, for the host and his family had 
 been much discomposed ; and, besides, too many 
 guests had been going and coming, both of the 
 singers and of the audience, and of people from 
 the villages and the city. He confirmed the story 
 about the trout, and Euland gained nothing but 
 the certainty that the letter must have originated 
 somewhere in this region. 
 
 The innkeeper regretted that he could not stay 
 longer with Euland, for he must go to a wood 
 sale that was about to take place in the forest, at 
 the house of the so-called hermit. Euland at 
 once determined to go with him. Who could say 
 but that he might find out something ? 
 
 The hermit, whose house lay in a hollow, 
 greeted Euland in his peculiar way, and Euland 
 had to listen once more while he insisted that the 
 best thing in the world is to live alone. 
 
 "While the hermit was still talking with him, 
 the buyers arrived from all sides. Many greeted 
 Euland but coolly, and then went on talking with 
 one another. Kunzler, the most prominent wood- 
 dealer of the city, with whom Euland had once 
 had a lawsuit, stared at him and did not greet him 
 at all. 
 
 Finally, Kunzler came to Euland and said. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 183 
 
 '^ You probably intend to become a wood-merchant 
 now ? " 
 
 Euland was thunderstruck, but he soon an- 
 swered in a positive tone, ^^ At all events I shall 
 not learn my new trade with you." 
 
 So much the greater comfort it was that Anton 
 Armbruster, the sawyer, greeted him with all the 
 ardor of his nature, and said, ^^I may consider 
 you a neighbor, since you are now staying with 
 Master Forester Jorns, in the best family far and 
 wide." 
 
 Euland staid, and it almost put him in spirits 
 to see the contemptuous look which the great 
 wood-dealer cast at Anton Armbruster, who made 
 a bid for some timber that he intended to pur- 
 chase himself. 
 
 A bankrupt wood-dealer, who was only put 
 forward by Kunzler to make sham bids, took 
 Euland aside and asked what reward he should 
 receive if he found out who had written the 
 defamatory letter. Euland was shocked that such 
 men ventured to oflEer him help ; and yet feeling 
 that he must not refuse the smallest aid, he men- 
 tioned a sum. 
 
 A thunder storm was evidently gathering, and 
 as he reached home it burst with a violent fall of 
 rain. 
 
184 THE FORESTERS. ' 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 EuLAKD was hardly in the sitting-room when 
 there was a knock, and Schaller came in. Drop- 
 ping his eyes, he said he had no right to welcome 
 Euland and offer him his hand. 
 
 '^ Why do you come then ? '^ asked Jorns, since 
 Euland was speechless and moved his hand as 
 though he must nevertheless offer it to Schaller. 
 
 ^^Why ?'^ asked Schaller, lifting his eyes, in 
 which was a strange glimmer ; /^ Why ? Because 
 I must say that I, too, am on the lookout for 
 the cursed rascal who published such slanders 
 about me and my father. I have done a great 
 deal in my life, but no one has a right to insult 
 me so. I have endured my punishment. I only 
 want to beg that, if a trace of the rascal is found, 
 you will leave him to me, that I may risk my life 
 on him.'^ 
 
 Jorns looked in astonishment, but still sus- 
 piciously, at the man. Euland, on the contrary, 
 looked at him with compassion ; he had known 
 the outcast when he was a universal favorite. 
 
 Schaller looked with a seemingly sympathetic 
 air into the grief-worn countenance of Euland. 
 Inwardly, however, he triumphed : ^^It went 
 home : he has the ball in his body ; it will burn 
 all his life ! " He resumed, in an impertinent 
 tone, ^^ I have not so much reputation as Herr 
 
THE FORESTERS. 185 
 
 Euland, but I haye been wronged as well as he. 
 The devilish shrewdness and malicious stupidity 
 of some people are enough to drive one mad. I 
 have already heard they are saying that I wrote 
 the wretched trash from my prison." 
 
 '' Who guessed that ?'' asked Jorns. 
 
 ^' Who ? '' Schaller was taken by surprise, but 
 he said boldly, ^' You were at the feast yesterday. 
 My name was mentioned there. '^ 
 
 When Schaller went away, and would have 
 offered Madam Jorns his hand, she drew hers 
 back, and shook her head. The look on her 
 kindly face struck him like the blow of a dagger ; 
 he rubbed his eyes, as if the point had gone into 
 them. Hardly was the door shut behind him 
 when she said, with unwonted vehemence, ^^ And 
 I think — ^it seems to me — " she stammered before 
 she could bring it out. 
 
 ^^What is it?" said Euland, in his mild, 
 courteous way. 
 
 ^^It seems to me Schaller must have written 
 the letter." 
 
 ^^ Schaller is the most depraved fellow imagi- 
 nable," replied Euland ; ^' but he was never under- 
 handed ; he has always been openly wicked and 
 incapable of cowardly artifice." 
 
 ^^ That is a woman's way ! " cried Jorns, 
 laughing in his full voice. '' If thiey once lose 
 confidence, their mistrust has no bounds. It is 
 an old experience, that he who is too ready to 
 
186 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 trust is also too ready to distrust. Louise, haye 
 you forgotten the date ? Schaller must have 
 written it in prison, which was impossible." 
 
 ^^ Could not the date be false too ?" returned 
 his wife. 
 
 Jorns laughed aloud, and went on : ^^ How 
 could he know about the festival, and the birth 
 of the boy at the Angel ? And if he could pos- 
 sibly have known it, it is not possible that he 
 should have defamed not only himself but his 
 father." 
 
 " May not that be a mask also ? " 
 
 ^^ Wife, when you once begin to be hard on 
 anybody, you — But enough ! " 
 
 His wife looked round the room as if bewil- 
 dered. It was a fact that with Euland's arrival 
 something had come into the house that had up- 
 set everything, and estranged their hearts from 
 one another. She only said, '^ This is dreadful. 
 For God's sake, leave off seeking revenge ; it cor- 
 rupts us all, and estranges us from each other. I 
 will have nothing more to do with it. I was in 
 the wrong, no doubt ; but when we look at every- 
 body with suspicion, it is as if we were compelled 
 to go about surrounded by invisible weapons." 
 
 Without waiting for an answer she went out. 
 
 When she had gone Euland said to Jorns, "I 
 think it would be better for me to leave your 
 house and take lodgings in the village. I have a 
 feeling that I bring ill luck." 
 
THE FORESTERS. 187 
 
 "You bring ill luck?" 
 
 "I am afraid I shall make your quiet, peaceful 
 house an excited, unhappy one ; that is the sad 
 fate of misfortune. I must find the evil-doer and 
 take vengeance on him.'^ 
 
 "You take too dark a view of things/^ re- 
 turned Jorns. " You are a son to us, and a^son 
 must not leave his father's house. But one thing 
 I must beg of you : when you find the culprit, 
 leave him to me for punishment." 
 
 With a bitter smile, Euland refused. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Makgold was sitting before the house ; he 
 was breaking the scales from dry fir-cones, and 
 shaking out the seeds upon a cloth. 
 
 " I am glad to come upon you," said Ruland, 
 approaching him. 
 
 " Yes, the woods and I stand firm ; we do not 
 run away." 
 
 It was well meant, but it hit Ruland hard. 
 
 Mangold began anew with—" Herr Ruland, 
 do you see any old acquaintance ? " 
 
 " Of course I do ; could I help knowing you. 
 Mangold?" 
 
 " No, no ; I mean my coat. Do you remem- 
 
188 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ber about it ? I came to you one Sunday morn- 
 ing in my shabby coat, and your wife said — ob, 
 what a Yoice she had ! — ^ Bruno/ said she, ^take 
 off your coat/ and you had to take it off, and I 
 had to put it on ; it was still quite warm. It is 
 my robe of honor ; I shall wear it till they mea- 
 sure me for the wooden one. No, there isn't 
 another such woman in the world. A mad dog 
 couldn't have hurt her. . . . Don't let me forget ! 
 Herr Kuland, let us give you young Hellauf ; he'll 
 be a good dog ! he'll be as good a dog as his father 
 was." 
 
 The young animal seemed to understand some- 
 thing of what was said ; he looked at Euland witli 
 an attentive air, and Kuland beckoned him to him 
 and stroked him. 
 
 '^Yes, old Hellauf,'^ Mangold prattled on — 
 ^^you know dogs have their v/hims as well as we ; 
 one day is not like another with them either ; but 
 Hellauf was always the same. Dear Herr Euland, 
 do you recollect what you said to me when you 
 were Adjunct ? You always gave wise an- 
 swers to my stupid questions. I asked you once 
 why bad men always pick out the good to attack, 
 and you said to me, ^ Mangold, the caterpillars do 
 not devour weeds, but the very finest shoots on 
 the best trees.' Do you remember it ?" 
 
 '' Oh, yes ! " 
 
 ^^ And now I will tell you something. Come 
 a little nearer. I can not speak as loud as I could 
 
THE FORESTERS'. 189 
 
 once. When you find the rascal, leave him to me 
 to punish. Don't get yourself into trouble. I 
 am of no consequence. If I am knocked in the 
 head I sha'n't need a fur cap, and you shall have 
 the otter's skin ; it will become you if you have 
 a cap made of it." Mangold had quite forgotten 
 that he had promised the skin to Carla a few days 
 before. 
 
 Old Mangold left nothing untried to cheer up 
 Euland. 
 
 Kuland, his looks turned sadly to the ground, 
 sat near the old keeper, but woke as if out of a 
 dream, as a woman's voice suddenly said, ^^This 
 is charming — such old friends together ! " 
 
 Carla stood before him. Euland observed her 
 thoughtfully ; she carried her gun on her shoulder, 
 and her eyes shone. 
 
 " Have you hit anything ? " asked Euland, 
 
 ^^ Oh, no ; I hardly cared to do so ; you men 
 can not understand how a girl feels who can go 
 about the wood as long and as far as she pleases, 
 quite alone." 
 
 ^'But, Carla," asked Mangold, ^^what if some 
 time a rude fellow should come and lay hands on 
 you ? would you shoot him ? " 
 
 Carla put down her gun in fright ; she looked 
 all the handsomer that her lips trembled. 
 
 ^^ Mangold, old friend," said Euland, sooth- 
 ingly, ^^you must not ask such questions. There 
 is no need of anticipating certain dangers, and 
 
190 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 determining beforehand what to do ; the moment 
 suggests that, and what the moment suggests is 
 right." 
 
 Carla went into the house. Argus staid be- 
 hind with Euland, and Mangold asked : ^' How 
 is it ? Are there such dogs as ours in Amer- 
 ica?" 
 
 ^^ISTo," returned Euland, and stroked Argus 
 almost tenderly. ^' In America," he added, "they 
 usually have only English setters and pointers, 
 which are a cross of the greyhound, not fit for all 
 kinds of hunting, so that they can only be followed 
 on horseback. A high-bred German dog, like 
 this Argus, with broad breast, broad head, and 
 long, broad ears, is an animal that is useful in every 
 kind of hunting." 
 
 Euland could have given Mangold no greater 
 pleasure than to talk with him about dogs ; and 
 Mangold said, '' Do you see, Herr Euland, much 
 may be known from a man's treatment of dogs ? 
 There is still something good in Schaller. He 
 loved a dog once, and since it died has cared for 
 no other ; that is something. But, lest I forget 
 it, Grater is still alive ; you will visit him, won't 
 you ? And one thing more : I have always car- 
 ried a wolf's tooth about me. No mad dog can 
 bite a man who carries one. I bequeath that to 
 you too ." 
 
 When Carla returned, to remind Mangold not 
 to stay longer in the night air, Euland went in 
 
THE FORESTERS. 191 
 
 also ; he was glad to haye the opportunity of 
 reading the scientific Journals — an advantage he 
 had not had for a long time. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 lil the morning Euland had slung his gun oyer 
 his shoulder ; he was ready to go with Jorns to 
 the woods. 
 
 As the two took leave of the ladies, Euland 
 said to Carla, '^ Will you let Argus go with me ? '^ 
 
 Argus looked at his mistress, and when she 
 said, ^^Yes, Argus, go with Herr Euland," the 
 animal first fawned on her, then attached himself 
 to Euland, at the distance of a step, as becomes a 
 well-trained dog. 
 
 The two women looked after them a long 
 while, and the mother said, as she turned away : 
 *^ A tale of my childhood occurred to me last 
 night, which fits Euland exactly.'^ 
 
 " Is it a dream ? '' 
 
 ^^No, an actually true story, as Forester Stein- 
 hagen always says. When I was five, there was a 
 great fire in the woods, six leagues away; it 
 burned weeks and months, and could not be put 
 out. Every morning, when we children woke, 
 we asked, ^Mother, is it burning still ?' So with 
 Euland : every morning when he wakes, he must 
 
192 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ask, ' Is my heart still on fire ? ^ And it always 
 is burning. I am afraid a terrible desolation will 
 come of it/^ 
 
 ^^ Mother, I have a comparison too. Last 
 spring, after the May frosts, I was with father in 
 the woods, and as I was inconsolable oyer the 
 frozen plants, father said, ^ Child, Nature never 
 despairs ; she always recovers herself.' And I 
 think Kuland has a strong nature ; he will recover 
 too." 
 
 '^It is against Euland," her mother rejoined, 
 ^' that he is an only child." 
 
 ^' Do you mean that for that reason he has not 
 learned to adapt himself to others ? " 
 
 '^ No, not that ; but if he had had a brother or 
 sister, he wouldn't have rushed away so. He has, 
 with all his strength, something of his mother's 
 impressibility. She had been a governess, and 
 married a poor village schoolmaster, and the two 
 good people somehow transfigured their poverty ; 
 their potatoes always tasted to them like truffles, 
 and they were as thankful for every gleam of 
 sunshine as if it had been an unheard-of mira- 
 cle." 
 
 ^^So he descends from such parents!" said 
 Oarla, and gazed before her with wide-opened 
 eyes, as if she saw Kuland's dead parents bodily 
 before her. 
 
 ^^Yes," went on her mother, growing vehe- 
 ment ; ^' and now he will give himself up to mad- 
 
THE FORESTERS. 193 
 
 ness and revenge. That looks like strength, and 
 is only unmanly weakness." 
 
 Madam Jorns urged again that Euland must 
 be brought to forget the whole matter ; she was 
 grieved anew that she found no support in Carla, 
 who insisted that the evil-doer must be brought to 
 punishment. 
 
 While they still sat together, there came an old 
 maid-servant from the Angel to speak to Euland. 
 Being asked what she wanted, she explained that 
 the doctor's widow, the Sunday the innkeeper's 
 son was bom, was talking and laughing about 
 Euland at a table on the lawn. 
 
 '^ Tell us honestly, did anybody send you, or 
 have you come of your own accord ? " asked 
 Madam Jorns. 
 
 The woman looked at her with stupid cunning, 
 and, when she repeated the question emphatically, 
 answered : '' Who should send me ? I heard that 
 whoever discovered anything would get a hand- 
 some sum of money." 
 
 " Who told you that ? " 
 
 Now the old servant grew vexed, and said : 
 " Are you the judge of the court. I will answer 
 no more questions." 
 
 She dared not say that her sister, who was 
 Schaller's housekeeper, had told her everything, 
 and urged her to this step. 
 
 Madam Jorns was provoked at this tale-bear- 
 ing, and sent the girl away with a tart reproof ; 
 13 
 
194 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 while to Carla she lamented that now all the rab- 
 ble was starting up and wanting to spy out some- 
 thing — '^ By such doings you not only corrupt 
 yourself, but everybody around. '^ Carla was forced 
 to admit that her mother was right, but insisted 
 that the culprit ought not to remain unpunished. 
 
 ^^ Don't say anything about it to your father," 
 said Madam Jorns, and dropped her eyes as she 
 uttered the words. 
 
 Carla opened her eyes wide, and returned, 
 ^^But, mother, we have never concealed anything 
 from father ! " 
 
 '' Good heavens ! this business corrupts us all ; 
 it spoils our life, and drives away all our peace. 
 Bad people go in and out of our house, and bad 
 thoughts in and out of our hearts. I am going 
 quite distracted ! '^ 
 
 Carla was struck by her mother's excitement. 
 Strange how her mother had altered since Ku- 
 land's arrival ! Had nothing changed in Carla ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 EuLAND and Jorns were walking silently up 
 the mountain side. Coming to a stop, Jorns 
 began : 
 
 ^^How is it when a bear approaches you? 
 Does he growl any more after he is hit ? Does he 
 
TEE FORESTERS. 195 
 
 stand on his defense ? It must be grand to hunt 
 bears ! If I could only be present once ! And 
 say, how did you like the sea ? Did you shoot 
 an osprey ? If I were not a forester, I should 
 want to be a sea-captain. Out on the open sea 
 it must be splendid ! " 
 
 " I think it would give you more pleasure than 
 it did me," replied Euland, sadly. '^ Now I must 
 track a hyena — a hyena which digs up the dead." 
 
 ^^ We are alone now," returned Jorns, ^' and I 
 must tell you what I have on my heart. We men 
 must settle that alone. You not only left your 
 friends, you also left your woods, your forest- 
 garden, without ceremony. You are rooted in it 
 a thousand ways, and I thought it would be your 
 first wish to-day to see your woods and plantations 
 again." 
 
 Euland owned that he had already acknowl- 
 edged as much to himself. 
 
 They walked on some time without a word ; 
 then Euland stooped, broke off a flower, and said : 
 
 " See, see there ! That is the first bluebell I 
 have seen since I came home. There is my story 
 again. It comes back to me from the far past. 
 I was a boy of eleven, and w nt with my father, 
 the afternoon before my mother was buried, into 
 the woods. We walked in silence. I picked a 
 bluebell, and suddenly I shrieked with pain and 
 ran away. My father could hardly overtake me, 
 and I confessed to him how, while picking the 
 
196 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 flower, the thought had come over me that I 
 should never bring one home to my mother again, 
 and I could not help fleeing, without knowing 
 whither. So it was the second time : anguish 
 forced me to run away into the wide world. '^ 
 
 '^ Yes, run away ! " said Jorns. ^^ Your flight 
 seemed to your friends somewhat dishonorable. 
 You showed yourself weak in grief ; you did not 
 bear your pain with dignity, nor wait quietly for 
 it to heal. I tell you the hardest truth, because 
 it is you, and because I must and ought to say it. 
 I am persuaded of your integrity as of my own, 
 but you permitted yourself to fail in discretion, 
 and that must be expiated as well as a lack of up- 
 rightness. Certain of your personal rectitude, 
 you wronged society. Now you are here again. 
 But tell me, on your journey from here to Ham- 
 burg, did you not once come to more sober reflec- 
 tion, to calmer thought ? ''' 
 
 ^^No ; I suppressed everything that could de- 
 termine me to return.'' 
 
 ^^ You were ashamed of yourself ? " 
 
 ^atmaybe.'' 
 
 ^^That is now past. I do not yet know what 
 to say of your quick return ; there seems to me 
 some weakness in that too. You have deserved a 
 punishment, but you make it sharper still if you 
 are sensitive. You complained of the wood-dealer 
 Kunzler. Now, if you expect sympathy from 
 everybody, you will get but fresh stabs every day. 
 
 i 
 
THE FORESTERS. 197 
 
 According to your nature, you will want to salute 
 many a man who is nothing to you, just because 
 you are glad he is still in existence. Let it alone ! 
 You will accost many a one who will look at you 
 coldly, with surprise, yes, almost with vexation, 
 when you expected something quite different. 
 Think, dear friend, how it was. People were 
 done with you completely — had dismissed you 
 from their minds ; now you are here again, and 
 have nothing to give them ; on the contrary, you 
 expect from them sympathy, kindness, friendli- 
 ness. This is inconvenient for them ; they must 
 make new arrangements for you — crowd, so to 
 speak, at the table to make room for the unex- 
 pected guest. Let me and mine be enough for 
 you at first ; ask and expect friendliness from no 
 one ; then it will go well with you." 
 
 Euland felt the warm glance of love and of 
 thorough acquaintance that rested on him from 
 his friend's eye ; even the severe admonition was 
 a consolation to him. 
 
 Jorns added, in a milder tone : ^' Your depart- 
 ure was an act of violence, and your return was 
 also a violence. You are fitted in all respects for 
 a large sphere of activity, and now will you — I do 
 not say for a trifle, for it is great to you — and 
 now will you sacrifice yourself on account of a 
 contemptible man ? " 
 
 ^^ I have only come," returned Euland, ^^to 
 go back again. I shall not let go of America ; 
 
198 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 there must be a law enacted for the protection of 
 the forests. No, I will not retire from the field 
 either before slanderers or destroyers of the for- 
 est/^ 
 
 They came to Vogelseck, and there they saw 
 the dry skeleton of a dog, and between its teeth 
 the paper with the libelous letter. 
 
 "It is beyond doubt, '^ cried Jorns, ^^the 
 guilty man is of our district. Only such a one 
 can have put the paper between the teeth of your 
 dog, for that is the skeleton of Hellauf." 
 
 Euland stared with a look of horror at the dog 
 and the paper. 
 
 ^^Come away with me,'^ urged Jorns. 
 
 Euland said not a word. 
 
 Both walked on in silence. They came into 
 the neighborhood of the waterfall, and Euland 
 said : 
 
 ^^ Does it only seem so to me, or is it a fact ? 
 — the brook has eaten deeper into the rocks." 
 
 ^^ You see quite right. We have a speculator 
 here — they call him Eilmeyer — who has had much 
 cut away from these cliffs already ; he is for using 
 things up, like your Americans. So, then, you 
 mean to return to America ? '' 
 
 ^^ Yes. You probably share the opinion that 
 America is declining. I heard nothing but false 
 views about America on my journey from Ham- 
 burg hither. There is no question but dishonesty 
 shows itself there oftener and bolder than else- 
 
THE FORESTERS. 199 
 
 where, but there is staunch worth there too. Be- 
 cause we once thought too highly of America, we 
 now think too meanly of her. It is right to 
 oppose emigration ; we have no need to give away 
 valuable powers, and political freedom is not lack- 
 ing in Germany. But it is a mistake to take a 
 dark view of America on that account." 
 
 ^^Yes, it must be splendid in the original 
 forest," said Jorns. 
 
 ^^Not only in the original forest. Nature has 
 endowed America with such fertility of soil that 
 it can nourish many hundred millions of men. 
 America has, through the decay of thousands of 
 years, a layer of humus seven times as deep as 
 ours ; and we can hardly form a conception of the 
 splendor of its autumn woods. There is a flood 
 of golden color, through all inimitable shades — 
 the dark-red gold of the scarlet beech, and the 
 gleaming yellow gold of the maple ; and all in 
 such masses ! Whole broad mountain-sides are 
 like heaving waves of native gold." 
 
 Jorns turned the conversation upon vermin 
 and diseases of trees in America, and Euland told 
 him : '^ They are much less destructive because, 
 owing to the density and continuity of the vast 
 woods, the forest considered as an organism, is 
 as yet more capable of resistance. Trees and ani- 
 mals lose in that respect through culture. Eegu- 
 lated management of the forests introduces their 
 destruction by means of insects on a grand scale ; 
 
200 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 small fellings beget the creatures. Then there are 
 breaks in the forest which become breeding-spots 
 for insects. You will soon read all this more at 
 length. I have sent Eudolph a short treatise on 
 the diseases of trees in America, for our journal, 
 and have shown in it that the American pine 
 may be introduced among us ; it has silver-gray 
 lines on its needles, and is a thirsty tree, which 
 thrives in moist regions. I had prepared the essay 
 before I heard of this infamous slander, which at 
 once directed all my thought, reflection, and 
 observation upon this one point. '^ 
 
 The heavily smitten man was always falling 
 back into his melancholy. 
 
 They both at this moment caught sight of the 
 curate coming over the mountain ; suddenly he 
 stopped. 
 
 *^ There stands my grandnephew," cried Jorns. 
 " See, he is looking at something in his hand ; and 
 now he is catching something again in the air ; 
 it is evidently winged. You will like the man ; 
 he looks at the world like an astonished child, and 
 yet he has much knowledge of men and of 
 books." 
 
 The curate approached. Jorns introduced him 
 to Euland, and the two exchanged courteous 
 salutations. 
 
 Gotthold had a roll of music in his hand, and 
 explained that he was taking it to Carla. 
 
 When he had gone on, Euland looked after 
 
THE FORESTERS. 201 
 
 him and said, " He will probably be your son-in- 
 law." 
 
 Jorns shrugged his shoulders, and replied, ^^I 
 don't believe that Carla is fitted to be a parson's 
 wife." 
 
 cbTapter xxxii. 
 
 SiKCE the day that Carla had received her 
 shooting license, the Adjunct had been greatly dis- 
 turbed. He had thought it well that Carla should 
 give herself up to unfettered enjoyment of the 
 forest, and had openly said so ; but he trembled 
 at the thought of her being exposed to a rude- 
 ness. He had consequently privately engaged 
 trusty persons to keep in her neighborhood un- 
 noticed, but be ready for her protection ; he him- 
 self strayed about the district whenever he could 
 conjecture the direction of Carla's walk. He 
 had never been more attentive to every sound than 
 now, and he not only knew the haunts of the game 
 in his district, but could even give the amount 
 numerically. It was a wonder to himself how his 
 eye and ear had grown keener. Old Jorns had 
 been right, although the Adjunct was no waiting, 
 longing lover, sure of the affection of her whom 
 he would protect. If Carla met him, she must at 
 once perceive that he desired to keep his arm 
 
202 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 outstretched over her; and often he pictured to 
 himself how it would be if she were suddenly in 
 danger, so that he might rescue her at the risk of 
 his life. 
 
 The Adjunct was secretly terrified as he saw 
 Jorns and the stranger (he well knew who it was) 
 walking along together. He looked with surprise 
 at Kuland ; he had pictured him older and more 
 austere, and he saw a man in the vigor of youth, 
 with a somewhat melancholy expression, but of 
 exceedingly attractive appearance. A foreboding 
 at once sprang up in him. ^^Tliis man is more 
 dangerous than seven clergymen. A man whom 
 she can console and comfort for a lost life easily 
 slips into a woman's heart." 
 
 Jorns left Euland with the Adjunct and turned 
 back. On the way to the block-house the Adjunct 
 said that while at the Academy he had heard of 
 Sylvia, who yet lived in every one's recollection, 
 like a vision of a goddess. 
 
 Euland gave the Adjunct a look of gratitude, 
 then lowered his heavy eyelids. The Adjunct ex- 
 plained to him the new military organization of 
 the forest service, and stated it with soldierly 
 brevity and precision. When Euland mentioned 
 in reply that he intended to go back to America, 
 the Adjunct begged him to use his influence for 
 his promotion. 
 
 Euland once more saw the places and the 
 plantations where he had acted as Adjunct him- 
 
■ self. I 
 
 THE FORESTERS. 203 
 
 He fell asleep under a spreading fir, where 
 he had often sat with Eudolph ; and when he 
 awoke he went with new life down the yalley to 
 the forester's house. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 It was Sunday morning, Euland asked Jorns 
 to go to church with him, and the two men soon 
 drove ofE in the cool of the morning. 
 
 Before the church Ruland met many old 
 acquaintances ; they hardly saluted him, and re- 
 turned his greetings with indifference. 
 
 In the church the curate preached from the 
 text, " Thou shalt not bear false witness.'' He 
 explained it to mean that men should not even in 
 their hearts entertain unjust thoughts of their 
 fellow men, and that it is each man's duty to help 
 bring the truth to light. He did not directly 
 speak of the slander disseminated about Euland, 
 but every one could see that he had it in mind. 
 
 Among the groups which had formed them- 
 selves after church, the people talked of the hunch- 
 backed teacher who had drowned himself ; he 
 was a native of the village. The report was, that 
 the suspicion of having written the anonymous 
 letters rested on the former normal teacher, who 
 had been displaced, and was now engaged in the 
 
204 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 timber trade, and that the judge had already set 
 an investigation on foot. 
 
 Euland told his friends that he too wished to 
 go to the judge, and he drove to the county town. 
 The streets were still as death, except that on the 
 railings of the bridge and before the beer-houses 
 sat the Italian stone-cutters, part of whom worked 
 on the railway, and part were employed by Eil- 
 meyer. 
 
 Euland knocked first at the house of his former 
 friend, the district physician ; he heard from the 
 maid that he had long been dead. She said that 
 his wife was gone with her father to a little water- 
 ing-place, where the band of the regiment was 
 playing to-day ; the judge, the proprietor of the 
 wood-yard, Kunzler, and, in general, all the best 
 people of the town were there. 
 
 Euland drove to the spot, and entered the 
 garden, where gay music was sounding. He did 
 not meet the retired Police Commissioner, who 
 had gone with his daughter to visit a landed 
 proprietor in the neighborhood ; but he met the 
 judge, who was an old acquaintance, and who 
 saluted him very formally. Toni was exceeding- 
 ly glad to see Euland again ; she inquired about 
 Carla and all at the forester's house, and expressed 
 the hope of visiting them soon. 
 
 Euland took the judge aside, and said, ^^I 
 must beg you to begin an investigation of my 
 case." 
 
THE FORESTERS. 205 
 
 The judge declared that there was no ground 
 for an indictment, and the accused could not 
 himself move for an investigation. Moreover, 
 the anonymous slanderer would not appear in any 
 case, so that nothing would be substantiated. 
 *^But perhaps you might manage in this way," 
 added the judge : ^^ Designate somebody as the 
 slanderer — the normal teacher, if you please ; cite 
 him before the court ; then we can publicly chal- 
 lenge every one who has any facts to make known 
 to come forward. Or will you bring an action 
 against the journal ? That you can do." 
 
 ^^ Do you think it would lead to anything ? " 
 
 "No, I do not think so, by any means ; but 
 in that way you make known to the public your 
 serious intention to pursue the matter. Besides, 
 there is still another way." 
 
 "And that is—" 
 
 "Summon a court of honor composed of your 
 professional associates, and publicly call on the 
 writer of the letter to present himself." 
 
 Euland's face shone. That was the right way ; 
 that would bring the matter to a decision. 
 
 When Euland announced at the forester's 
 house that he should demand a court of honor 
 composed of his own associates, Jorns shook his 
 head, and was obliged to relate what occurred at 
 the farewell banquet. 
 
 It was as if a veil had fallen over Kuland's 
 face. 
 
206 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 If the forester's house was cheerful in sun- 
 shine, it was almost more so in rain. Nature 
 says, ^^ Child of man, remain under shelter ; let 
 the trees drink in silence what is poured down 
 from heayen, and be silent thyself." And to-day 
 it poured in streams. Foresters are not accus- 
 tomed to be kept in by weather, but to-day Jorns 
 and Ruland determined to remain in the house. 
 
 They sat in the common room, and Ruland 
 remarked that the ticking of the two clocks gave 
 him a home feeling. Carla said that at first she 
 could hardly bear it in the city, she was so fre- 
 quently awakened in the night, for the bells of the 
 princijoal steeples announced eyery quarter in a 
 triad, while in the woods and fields no bell is heard 
 to strike, and time remains unmeasured. 
 
 Carla had seldom been so talkatiye ; she was 
 like a little child that brings out all its playthings 
 to brighten a sad yisitor. 
 
 Soon she began again: ^^I can not retain 
 yerses learned by heart, but the thoughts of the 
 yerses." 
 
 ^^What yerses would you like to quote just 
 now ? " asked Ruland. 
 
 ^^ It is a poem of Riickert's, which I am yery 
 fond of. A pleasure trip is stopped by rain, and 
 
THE FORESTERS. 207 
 
 he says, ^ I will gladly do without it, since plants 
 and animals are revived by the rain."' 
 
 ^' So you, too, can not remember verses, but 
 only the thoughts in them ? " 
 
 ^^Who eke can not?" asked Carla. There 
 was no answer. 
 
 Her father and mother were going in and out ; 
 Carla sat with her work at the open window. 
 Ruland spoke of the fine, obliging nature of the 
 Adjunct, who during the bad weather, which 
 would be a snow-fall on the hill-tops, alone in the 
 block-hut, easily defied it all ; for youth, like the 
 birds, has a high temperature of its own. 
 
 Carla looked up for a moment, and said, with- 
 out any embarrassment, ^^I am very glad that 
 you so kindly recognize the merits of the amiable 
 and well-educated young man. " 
 
 Young man ? kindly ? Ruland thought, * ^ She 
 who speaks in that way has no love for the man 
 in her soul." 
 
 He felt a stab through his heart as he became 
 aware that he was inquiring into Carla's senti- 
 ments and affections. 
 
 As though Carla had felt this shock in Eu- 
 land's soul, she turned her eyes on him. She told 
 him she had had a letter from Sylvia a few days 
 before her death. Ruland also recollected that 
 Sylvia had written, and asked to see the letter. 
 Carla declined, with a deep blush ; Ruland must 
 not read it, for in it stood, '^ If Bruno only had 
 
208 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 a brother exactly like him, you should call him 
 yours." 
 
 They now spoke again of Sylvia, and each had 
 some new revelation of her inmost heart to relate. 
 
 They were sitting in silence opposite each 
 other when the curate came in. In spite of the 
 bad weather, he had not allowed himself to be 
 hindered from visiting a sick person in the neigh- 
 borhood^ and he told them what a satisfaction it 
 was to him that he could bring encouragement to 
 the desolate. 
 
 According to the pleasant country custom, 
 Carla brought food and drink ; and when she 
 returned to the room, she found the two men in 
 confidential talk. The curate found Euland full 
 of readiness to aid him in his forest studies, re- 
 ceiving from him plain directions how he should 
 pursue them systematically. Euland entered even 
 into the symbolic view of forest life, for he under- 
 stood the pure heart of the young clergyman, who 
 everywhere found occasions of true devotion. A 
 special point of union was that Euland had come 
 to a forester's life from the study of theology. 
 Euland, indeed, belonged now to no church ; he 
 stood on quite a different religious plane from the 
 curate ; but to the latter the religious life had 
 become a matter of deep personal culture, and so 
 he was not only patient with that which was 
 strange to him, but recognized its inner justifi- 
 cation. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 209 
 
 As the curate showed that the scoffing title 
 "wood savior" contained involuntary praise, Ru- 
 land took occasion to make a wide review of the 
 close connection between the destruction of forests 
 and the decline of cultivation. The centuries 
 rolled by in rapid sequence, mountain - chains 
 swept by in long succession, and the rain-bringing 
 clouds fled away from the lands in which men had 
 dealt wantonly with the woods- 
 
 The dialogue of the two men was like an al- 
 ternating song, where the parts do not contrast, 
 but one voice takes up the melody of the other in 
 its own key, and carries it on to new variations. 
 Carla often laid down her work ; she felt a deep 
 refreshment from their talk, and her glance dwelt 
 beaming, now on one, now on the other ; then she 
 bent down again over her work. The two went 
 on with the reflection that he alone is contented 
 and happy who is good and lives in the practice of 
 goodness. Even the wicked persuades himself 
 that in acts which are selfishly advantageous to 
 himself he is engaged in well-doing. 
 
 Sunshine and silence reigned in the forester's 
 house, while dismal rain poured down without ; 
 three persons felt themselves moved by the breath 
 of the higher existence ; their cheeks glowed. 
 
 When a longer pause occurred, Carla rose, 
 opened the piano, and said perhaps Gotthold would 
 sing something to their guest. 
 
 The curate readily assented. Turning over 
 U 
 
210 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 the music, he asked Euland if he would like to 
 hear an air from Handel's ^^ Messiah." Euland 
 said yes, and the curate sang, with a yoice of in- 
 tense sweetness and a power that moved the heart 
 to its depths, the air, '^He was despised and re- 
 jected/' It was the song of a man who was both 
 priest and artist. 
 
 During the song Euland sat bent forward, his 
 clinched hands between his knees ; and when it 
 was ended he did not rise. The curate went up 
 to him and said : 
 
 " You have been despised, as the purest was ; 
 but the good esteem you highly. No religion but 
 ours has this, that the godlike was despised, en- 
 dured all suffering, to teach through His example 
 how suffering and anguish ought to be borne. In 
 you, too, shall the divine promise be fulfilled, 
 ' Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be 
 comforted.'" 
 
 Euland silently held out his hand, and the 
 clergyman went on : ^^ I have thought to myself, 
 if what you have had to bear had befallen me, 
 and I had the reprobate at last before me, I should 
 feel ashamed that a man could be such, and I 
 should feel sorry that I must punish him. Yet 
 the divine word still stands, ^Father, forgive 
 them, for they know not what they do.' " 
 
 Euland shook his head, and with dull, almost 
 lifeless voice, he said, " I can not." 
 
 Carla had the feeling that the two men ought 
 
THE FORESTERS. 211 
 
 to be alone ; she silently left tlie room. They 
 both glanced at the closing door. The curate 
 went on to appeal to Euland's heart, well know- 
 ing that he only said what his hearer already 
 knew ; but, in moments of darkness, another 
 must call up and awaken such thoughts. " The 
 devil," said he — he smiled as he added that he 
 only used the word for the sake of brevity — ^' the 
 devil understands how to dress up weakness as 
 power, savage violence as strength. But culture 
 and religion are at one in this, that they conquer 
 barbarism, the naked might of nature ; they do 
 not slay it, but they bring it under law. We must 
 have courage to appear as weaklings before the 
 world which applauds violence." 
 
 Bitterly smiling, Euland replied that his 
 friend — ^he would venture, he added, to call the 
 curate so — must not press him further ; for the 
 wounded, after all, feels differently from the 
 deeply sympathetic observer, and it was perhaps 
 a consequence of his profession that he could not 
 patiently endure the wrong against himself. 
 
 The curate desisted ; he had confidence that 
 the conversation could not be without result. 
 
 They now talked of Carla, and each thought 
 that he experienced no Jealousy. ^^You would 
 be worthy of the noble, straightforward maiden," 
 was Euland's thought; and ^^You have been 
 worthy of a noble love, and may be so again," 
 thought the curate. Meantime the latter en- 
 
212 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 treated Kuland to aid him in overcoming Carla's 
 love of the chase. 
 
 ^^ Let Oarla once take her first spoils by herself, 
 unaided ; and then ask her again about her taste 
 for hunting/' returned Euland. 
 
 Wheels were heard to grate in the sand, a car- 
 riage stopped, and Madam Emmy alighted. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 Emmy came into the room with the ladies and 
 Jorns. To-day she was in deep mourning again ; 
 the dead black of her mantle, which was closed 
 to the throat, showed her figure to advantage. 
 Black always became Emmy ; she was larger in it, 
 and it set off the fresh coloring of her face. She 
 had thrown back her veil, but it still shaded her 
 forehead, and her large, wide-open eyes shone. 
 She embraced Carla as though she had lived in 
 daily longing for her. 
 
 When she laid by her mantle, she stood as if 
 in a coat of dark mail, for her drapery was covered 
 with bugles of shining enamel. 
 
 The curate and Euland were standing at the 
 window, and, when Emmy saw the latter, she 
 forcibly collected herself, and said, offering her 
 black-gloved hand : 
 
 ^^I am commissioned to thank you in my 
 
THE FORESTERS. 213 
 
 father's name for your visit. He is at your service 
 in everything, especially in a matter which he 
 regards as affecting the honor of the whole 
 region." 
 
 Tears were always easily at Emmy's command, 
 especially when she could feel pity for herself, and 
 this was now the case. Great drops rolled down 
 her cheeks as she held out her hand to Euland 
 and said, in a faltering voice, ^^ Yes, we have both 
 learned what the death of the dearest is." 
 
 She paused, expecting that Euland would an- 
 swer, but he was silent ; and she went on, ^^ You 
 have enemies, Herr Euland — what man of conse- 
 quence is without them ? — but that your sainted 
 wife, the sight of whom was a blessing to every 
 one, should have had them also — " 
 
 " Perhaps Euland's enemies are not f oemen, 
 but foewomen," interrupted Jorns. 
 
 With a glance out of her dark, restlessly 
 glittering eyes, that accorded forgiveness for 
 the slur on her whole sex, Emmy answered, 
 '^You do not say that from your own simple, 
 honest heart." 
 
 Jorns declined the compliment. 
 
 Emmy took off her glove, laid her beautiful, 
 well-cared-for, small white hand on the master 
 forester's shoulder, and said, turning to Euland, 
 ^' You will be strong enough not to let your mag- 
 nanimity be marred by the wickedness of the 
 slanderer. A man, and especially a man like you, 
 
214 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 can defy the world. A forlorn widow must endure 
 in silence." 
 
 ^^Have you, too, been defamed?" asked Ku- 
 land. 
 
 ^^I did not come/^ returned Emmy, raising 
 her handkerchief to her face, ^Ho speak of my- 
 self ; I only held it my duty to welcome to his 
 native land the man who was once a friend of 
 mine, and who was a friend that my sainted 
 Max—" 
 
 " Who loyed me so dearly," muttered Jorns^ 
 low to himself. 
 
 " — Prized so highly," continued Emmy. ^^I 
 know well the condolences of friends do no good ; 
 but it is a comfort to haye friends." 
 
 She smiled, as she looked round, at her own 
 skillfully turned speech, and, as she saw the piano 
 open, said, ^^You have been singing, Carla. I 
 have tried again, too, but my voice has been almost 
 drowned by the many tears I have been forced to 
 shed." 
 
 Emmy spoke lightly of various matters. She 
 thanked her husband's friend for having tried to 
 visit her the Sunday before, and begged him soon 
 to repeat the visit. ^^Ah, if my kind husband 
 were still alive," she concluded, ^^you should be 
 nobody's guest but ours." 
 
 The carriage drove up ; the ladies and the 
 curate accompanied Emmy to the door. Jorns 
 and Ruland remained behind. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 215 
 
 When the two ladies had come back, Jorns 
 cried out, clinching both fists, ^' I say, that woman 
 has something to do with it — I don't know how, 
 but she was in it. And she saw that my sus- 
 picions were on the right track." 
 
 His wife rejoined : ^^ I wish a woman were to 
 blame for this miserable business, for then you 
 and Euland could commit no riolent act." 
 
 The rain had ceased. The enamel trimming 
 on the widow's clothing vied with the drops on 
 tree and grass, and a bright blue sky stretched 
 oyer the whole landscape. 
 
 Emmy was standing before the house, and 
 saying to the clergyman, ^^It is dry now on the 
 mountain road ; I should like to go on foot over 
 the hill to the parsonage." 
 
 ^' May I accompany you ? " said the curate. 
 
 She accejfted his offer with thanks. The curate 
 took a hurried leave, and accompanied Emmy. 
 
 The carriage was sent to the parsonage by the 
 valley road ; the two went over the bridge up the 
 forest path. Emmy fastened up her train with a 
 hook, and stepped forward with elegantly slender 
 feet ; she carried her parasol open, for drops were 
 still falling from the trees. 
 
 Carla and her mother had stood before the 
 house to watch them, and Carla said : 
 
 ^^Emmy does not deserve that a true man 
 should address a word to her. God help us ! bad 
 people lead us to be bad also, and to lie in our 
 
216 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 behavior toward them. Emmy had laid aside her 
 mourning ; to-day she has put it on again. I am 
 sorry for Cousin Gotthold ; she will deceive him 
 with her hypocritical talk. I think, like father, 
 there was no need of her coming. It is suspi- 
 cious.'^ 
 
 Her mother said nothing ; she was grieved 
 anew that the search for the author of the libel 
 should make her child, too, so sharp and dis- 
 trustful. 
 
 Meantime the curate was going with Emmy 
 through the wood, in which only the wren was 
 still singing, and the woodpecker occasionally 
 tapping here and there. 
 
 ^^ You did not know Euland before," began 
 Emmy; ^^he had formerly something distin- 
 guished about him." 
 
 She paused, but the curate did not follow up 
 this introduction, which she could easily have 
 turned to evil-speaking ; instead, he related that 
 he had visited a sick woman that day, where the 
 village midwife was acting as nurse, and she had 
 told the story of Sylvia's death in an affecting 
 manner ; such a cry of agony as Sylvia's prayer 
 that God would leave her with her dear husband 
 she had never heard, and hoped never to hear again. 
 
 Emmy passed her handkerchief over her face ; 
 it might seem that she was drying her tears, but 
 perhaps, too, it was perspiration caused by mental 
 distress. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 217 
 
 She now turned to the curate, and looked at 
 him with one of her wide, meaning glances. 
 
 The latter repeated the talk he had had with 
 Euland. She heard him with inward comfort ; 
 for if the curate should succeed in diverting Eu- 
 land from his investigations and his thoughts of 
 revenge all would be well. With a tone of deep 
 feeling she said at last, ^^It is a delight once more 
 to meet with faith in human goodness." 
 
 The curate returned : ^^ He who does not be- 
 lieve in the goodness of mankind does not believe 
 in God." 
 
 Emmy was not inclined to enter into observa- 
 tions of this sort; she began rather, in a gay 
 tone, '' I really ought to call you cousin, for my 
 father tells me that a Blankenschild was his great 
 aunt." 
 
 The curate appeared delighted with this infor- 
 mation, and Emmy went on to tell that it had 
 been proposed to restore to her father, when he 
 was pensioned, the rank laid aside by his ancestors ; 
 but he, having no son, had declined. 
 
 The curate made no reply ; the accent of dis- 
 tinction appeared to have no effect on him. 
 
 With a prompt turn Emmy remarked that all 
 was vain in comparison with the higher spiritual 
 life. The curate agreed, and thanked the happy 
 chance which procured him the acquaintance of 
 Madam Emmy. 
 
 Again they walked awhile in silence. Emmy 
 
218 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 had a talkatiye nature ; if one does not talk one is 
 not entertained, to be silent is tedious, and she 
 had still so much to find out. 
 
 She said how charming it was that the curate 
 was a relatiye and early friend of Carla's. She 
 aimed at finding out how far they were loyers. 
 The curate in his frankness spoke of his vexation 
 at Carla's taste for hunting. The doctor's wife 
 defended Carla with great apparent warmth, and 
 intimated that the girl was spoiled by her father. 
 She turned, in a half-questioning tone, to a con- 
 sideration of the old Swede : that was a man of 
 one piece, from which many chips might be cut. 
 But as she perceived the curate's entire reverence 
 for his uncle, she fell in with it, and said how im- 
 proving it was, especially for a young man, to 
 have a thoroughly tested sterling character before 
 his eyes. 
 
 ^^ You speak as if you were old already." 
 
 ^' Ah, at my age one is old, even if one's years 
 are not many. My dear Max was more than twice 
 as old as I, but he shared his whole soul with me, 
 because I had the happiness fully to understand 
 him, and so one becomes old early." 
 
 ^^ I, too, was forced in early years to seek to 
 comprehend the riddle of life," said the curate, 
 shyly.^ 
 
 With an upward glance that might mean much, 
 Emmy returned : 
 
 ^^ A man like you, who has lived in the great 
 
THE FORESTERS. 219 
 
 world, and made himself at home in the depths of 
 science, is a discerner of character, has knowledge 
 of men» I am, alas ! yery ignorant, but in my 
 narrow circle I hare learned much from life." 
 
 The curate's heart beat violently ; he could 
 not utter a word. But Emmy tolerated no silence, 
 and added that she *saw no harm in Euland's stay- 
 ing at the forester's house ; his relation to Oarla 
 was beyond doubt merely that of an elder brother. 
 
 The curate was perplexed, and Emmy quickly 
 perceived that she must seek other means to at- 
 tain her end. Her companion was plainly what 
 is called an idealist, who invested the common- 
 place with enchanting radiance. She said, con- 
 sequently, Euland was at bottom a nature devoted 
 to the ideal. What, indeed, were our existence 
 without a frame, a setting of higher hopes and 
 dreams ? She herself, despite bitter experiences, 
 still preserved for herself an ideality that sheltered 
 her from the every-day world. As the curate 
 replied that ideality is what religion designates 
 the childhood of the soul, Emmy said that her 
 companion was at once a man of the world and a 
 clergyman. 
 
 ^^It is only to be feared," she added, ^^that 
 you will still be easily deluded ; but delusions 
 make the true soul only richer in itself, not 
 poorer." 
 
 The curate folded his hands on his breast, 
 which heaved in rapture over this high-souled 
 
220 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 woman. This did not escape Emmy, and she 
 said, if she must be shriyen, it should not be in a 
 church confessional, but in God's free nature, in 
 the holy forest. Higher and higher rose the 
 ecstasy of the curate, and he told her of his talk 
 with Ruland. Emmy heard in silence. 
 
 "Do you know Herr Schaller, too ?" asked 
 the curate. He could not have told why he 
 thought of him just then, but Emmy was terri- 
 fied. It was certainly strange that the curate 
 should mention Schaller in such close connection 
 with Ruland. Could the curate have an inkling 
 of the connection ? Ridiculous ! He only asso- 
 ciated one with the other because they were 
 enemies. 
 
 As Emmy said yes, and that indeed she knew 
 Schaller yery well, the curate inquired what she 
 thought of him. She replied, laughing : 
 
 "Schaller, with his grudge against the world, 
 is a fantastic dreamer — to me a yery amusing one. 
 He has just enough of the imaginatiye power of 
 a genius to fancy himself to be one." 
 
 Eyen the curate was forced to smile. This 
 style of obseryation was sharp, but amusing. 
 
 "Excuse my questions. Did you know Ma- 
 dame Sylyia too ? " 
 
 "I knew the poor, delicate creature yery well. 
 But if Schaller has talked to you about his loye 
 for Sylyia, he has been playing a trick before you, 
 as well as before all the world and himself, in 
 
THE FORESTERS. 221 
 
 order to give himself an interesting air. Schaller 
 [is not a man for sentimental yearnings." 
 
 They came to the projecting cliff where there 
 is a view of the valley. Below, the brook, still 
 noisier on account of the rain, was wildly tossing. 
 
 Emmy placed herself on the cliff and sang a 
 jodel with the confidence of a young herd-girl on 
 an Alpine glacier, and with such strength and 
 flexibility of voice that the curate stood as if 
 bewitched. 
 [ Emmy turned — she looked, in fact, like a 
 beautiful enchantress — and said, as she descended : 
 *^ After all, life is beautiful, and often one can not 
 refi'ain from shouting out the joy of it." She 
 looked in the curate's face, and could not tell 
 whether its expression signified transport or terror 
 at this woman's sudden change of mood. Softly, 
 with the humility of a penitent child, Emmy 
 added that she hoped not to be misunderstood. 
 
 ^^ I wonder at the immeasurable scale of nature 
 in a human soul," returned the curate. 
 
 Emmy did not hear him distinctly, but she 
 caught the word "scale." She went in advance 
 on the narrow footpath. 
 
 They came out of the wood, and now beheld 
 the village, surrounded by meadows and orchards, 
 from which rose the church tower, beside the 
 cheerful parsonage. 
 
 " Oh, my dear native village ! " cried Emmy, 
 spreading out her arms. 
 
222 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ^^ Your native village ?'' asked the curate. 
 
 " Oh, you do not know that I was born in the 
 parsonage yonder. My mother was there to avoid 
 the summer heats, and for years after her death I 
 often spent whole weeks in the parsonage during 
 the summer." 
 
 The way in which she painted the peacef ulness 
 of the house, the 'happiness of a pastor's life, made 
 the curate's heart beat quicker. In his bashful- 
 ness, he scarcely dared to speak a word ; but 
 Emmy affected such motherly care for him, in- 
 quired so sympathetically about his past and pres- 
 ent life, that the young man's heart swelled more 
 and more. At last he ventured to ask whether 
 she would not once more make a summer visit to 
 the parsonage ; she must certainly be welcome 
 there. 
 
 There was a pause before Emmy could answer, 
 for the curate was watching her with glowing eyes ; 
 he felt his heart beating with redoubled strokes. 
 She, too, seemed embarrassed, and looked around 
 as if seeking something. At last she said, regret- 
 fully, that she could not ; she gave him to under- 
 stand that she could not easily leave her father, 
 who thought it foolish to go from his comfortable 
 house in the quiet little town farther into the 
 country. She was now all the daughter — the 
 careful, obliging daughter. 
 
 She went in advance along the narrow foot- 
 path ; the curate behind her watched with rapture 
 
THE FORESTERS. 223 
 
 the dainty foot-marks which she imprinted so deli- 
 cately along the way. 
 
 Neither had any suspicion that from the hill 
 above two sparkling eyes were looking down on 
 them. There sat Schaller, and, smiling, said to 
 himself : ^' The female bird of prey is the strongest 
 and most cunning. The little widow has certainly 
 been visiting Ruland. Does she possibly think to 
 ensnare him again ? Meanwhile it is easier to 
 attract the curate. How would it be if I were to 
 step in and say that the noble-minded mourner 
 was the first from whose fair soul I received the 
 shrewd device ? Glorious ! A beautiful race will 
 spring from the hen-vulture and the cock-pigeon ! " 
 Schaller cast another mocking glance at the pair, 
 then strode into the wood. 
 
 When the curate reached the parsonage with 
 Emmy, the old people bade her heartily welcome. 
 He went down into the garden, looked up to 
 heaven, and then, with a smile, all round in the 
 garden, over the valley, and upon the mountain ; 
 from his whole being shone new love. ^^ That is 
 it," said he to himself ; ^^ a tried soul, a soul that 
 knows sorrow, a heart through which the sword 
 has passed — the sword of death and the sword of 
 solitude." As he returned to the room where 
 Emmy sat cozily by the two old people, the pas- 
 tor's wife said to him, "Dear sir, unite with us 
 in begging her to come to us again for a few 
 weeks." 
 
224 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 The curate confessed that he had already 
 allowed himself to express such a wish. 
 
 With a look and tone expressing severe self- 
 denial, the widow lamented that it was not possi- 
 ble for her to gratify this friendly wish ; she must 
 put constraint on herself, for in her heart she de- 
 sired it ; sh(^ would, however, soon make a call. 
 
 As she departed she gave the curate her hand, 
 and said : ^'Farewell, and think kindly of me." 
 
 The carriage drove off. The young man stood 
 as if rooted to the ground, and looked long after 
 it. 
 
 OHAPTEE XXXVI. 
 
 JoRKS and Euland had gone to hunt. Carla 
 was out of humor that they had not taken her : 
 had she not now her license ? It almost seemed 
 as though Euland had opposed it, for her father's 
 manner had shown some embarrassment, as though 
 wishing to excuse himself, if it were not inconsist- 
 ent with paternal dignity. But soon Carla com- 
 posed herself again, and, as she sat by her mother, 
 could not tell her sufficiently how beautiful and 
 elevating the friendship between Euland and Got- 
 thold had become. Her violet-blue eyes had a 
 luster of their own ; before she spoke her face was 
 lighted up from within, as though her thoughts 
 
THE FORESTERS. 225 
 
 would proclaim themselves in her beaming coun- 
 tenance. 
 
 ^^ What is the use of it? " returned her mother. 
 ^' What your father could not do, the curate will 
 not accomplish. Euland will not allow himself 
 to be diverted from his revengeful thoughts, and 
 my heart trembles in my body whenever I think 
 that there is some one in the family who the next 
 minute may commit a crime. My only hope is 
 that the slanderer will not be found ouf 
 
 Carla lamented that she had strengthened Eu- 
 land in his vengeful feelings the day after his 
 arrival. 
 
 Passing over many thoughts, the mother said, 
 after awhile : 
 
 *^ If it depended on me, I would ordain that a 
 widower should not marry again ; it is so among 
 the Greek clergy, and it is right and becoming. 
 But there are widowers who boast their love for 
 the dead, have no words to tell how happy they 
 were, and meantime are already thinking of some 
 one else. The best of them, when they turn to an- 
 other, do not love her to whom they profess a new 
 love ; she is only to be a substitute for the lost.'^ 
 
 Carla turned pale. At that instant she per- 
 ceived, and it thrilled through her whole being, 
 that she loved Euland. With her first rapturous 
 emotion, there was mingled grief that Euland 
 should be untrue to Sylvia, and that it should be 
 she who made him untrue. 
 15 
 
226 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 Shots were just then heard from the woods 
 aboye. Kuland and her father were doubtless 
 hunting there. Carla took her gun and went up 
 the mountain, accompanied by Argus. In the 
 thick of the forest her joyousness returned, and 
 she sang aloud to the bright day. 
 
 ^^ Hunters should not sing/' said a voice near 
 her, suddenly. Schaller stood before her. 
 
 ^^ Is it you ? '^ asked Carla. 
 
 ^^Yes, the old Schaller," returned he. ^^I 
 have played the hypocrite but a single day — 
 really not one day — only as long as a play lasts : it 
 was too hot and tedious for me under the mask. 
 Do not be afraid ; I have no weapon, and you are 
 armed. Has my friend the handsome Euland not 
 yet discovered the cowardly fellow who slandered 
 him ? Why do you stare so at me ? As I see you 
 now before me, I believe you are descended from 
 an old Northern king named Olaf, whose men 
 were clad in bark. If you had lived a few 
 hundred centuries ago, you would certainly have 
 been a priestess in the sacred grove. Why do you 
 stare ? Do you want to use your weapon against 
 me ? To receive death from your hand would be 
 blessedness. Yet love-breathing lips and not a 
 deadly weapon should be laid against the roses of 
 such tender cheeks." 
 
 '' It would please me better if you would let 
 me go my way," answered Carla. 
 
 ^^ I do not hinder you." 
 
THE FORESTERS. 227 
 
 And yet Carla could not move from the spot ; 
 she stood as if under the spell of some demon, 
 and Schaller continued: ^^Are you waiting for 
 Herr Ruland here ? " 
 
 ^^ Who says that ? '^ replied Carla. 
 
 ^^ Nobody; but I know enough/' answered 
 Schaller, and departed without another word. He 
 went up the valley, enraged at himself that he had 
 dragged Ruland from the New World to his old 
 home, to make him happy once more. He thought 
 and thought how it could be hindered, but in 
 vain. 
 
 Carla was compelled to sit down, she was so 
 weary from fright. She sat under a mighty sil- 
 ver-fir, upon a moss-grown stone, and as she gazed 
 forward she saw a fox. 
 
 ^^See, that is your fox ; he still has the strap 
 round his neck." But Carla, who had said she 
 would shoot him if she met him in the woods, 
 did not stir, and did, not grasp the gun that lay 
 near her. Argus, however, would not be re- 
 strained; he ran after the fox. Carla called and 
 whistled; he did not come. But now Ruland 
 came. 
 
 Ruland had soon parted from Jorns, for he 
 felt the need of being alone. He had of late con- 
 sorted much with men, and, contrary to his real 
 nature, had talked much, and talked about him- 
 self, turning up his thoughts and feelings from 
 their depths. He wanted to stray speechless in 
 
228 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 the silent woods, and now he saw Carla, who at 
 that moment was holding up her finger threaten- 
 ingly at Argus ; for Argus, who had run into the 
 woods, was now coming back, with tongue lolling 
 out, and. even at a distance crouching before his 
 mistress, because he knew that he deserved punish- 
 ment. 
 
 Euland was not a little astonished to meet 
 Carla here. He told her he had longed to be 
 alone ; he had mixed too much with men of late ; 
 he was no longer accustomed to speak out his in- 
 most feelings as he had done to-day with the curate. 
 
 ^^ I am glad that you have become friends. '^ 
 
 ^^ And I am glad that I am not yet too old and 
 broken down to win new love." 
 
 Carla rose and said : ^^ My mother distresses 
 herself lest, if you find the slanderer, some violent 
 deed may be committed ; and I, too, would beg 
 you not to regard my first approval of your 
 course." 
 
 '^I hope I shall not show myself unworthy of 
 my friends, but in this matter I must beg them 
 to let me do as I please." 
 
 This Euland said with a determined voice, 
 and yet he ^was aware that the thirst for vengeance 
 for which he had been willing to risk his life was 
 no longer in full activity within him ; another 
 life was beginning to stir, but he clung to the in- 
 tention which he had declared to himself and to 
 others. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 229 
 
 Carla would as willingly haye owned that 
 her love of the chase had vanished ; but she, too, 
 was silent. They went together to the forester's 
 house, and neither spoke a word. 
 
 CHAPTEK XXXVII. 
 
 Emmy had spoken the truth, that her father 
 had put all his skill, obtained by long experience 
 as a high functionary of the police, at Euland's 
 command. But she had not told the whole truth, 
 else she must have declared what pangs had come 
 upon her through this zeal of her father's ; for he 
 said to every one he met that Germans were bun- 
 glers in the detective art, but he hoped to show 
 the younger generation what could be done by 
 the old, who had been put on the retired list so 
 early, while still in full strength and vigor. Emmy 
 looked at her father with terror : this man might, 
 for the sake of his ambition, play the Eoman and 
 deliver his own child to the knife. She was re- 
 peatedly on the point of telling him what part 
 she had had in the matter ; but then she not 
 only feared him . she also had persuaded herself 
 that she was innocent. '^ That horrible Schaller 
 is right ; we poor women do not know the conse- 
 quences of a word, of a deed," said she to herself. 
 
230 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ^^ We were not educated to logic ; we are too guile- 
 less." 
 
 She comforted herself that she had not meant 
 so ill as it had turned out; it had been simply 
 innocent enjoyment of an interesting subject. 
 Meanwhile she amused herself with seeing her 
 father hunt and rummage among things quite 
 remote and distant, while what he wanted to get 
 hold of lay so near. For he had at first suspect- 
 ed the zealous Catholic forester, and the tan-col- 
 ored district forester, who had betrayed himself 
 at the banquet as Euland's enemy, and had also, 
 as was reported, once said at the inn that he 
 would subscribe to a great part of the calumni- 
 ous letter. 
 
 Euland often discussed the matter with the 
 Police Commissioner, since the latter, as an un- 
 justly discharged officer, attached so much impor- 
 tance to showing his skill. 
 
 Euland also received many anonymous letters, 
 in which one and another was accused. Emmy 
 silently rejoiced that she had shown Schaller so 
 much courtesy ; he was at bottom of a knightly 
 nature ; he would in no case drag in a weak 
 woman ; and, besides, it would do him no good. 
 
 It would be a false judgment to call Emmy 
 malicious. But it was her misfortune that she 
 had been early deprived of her mother, and did 
 not love her father. Why was he so sentimental ? 
 — a police director, and sentimental ! And she 
 
I 
 
 THE FORESTERS. 231 
 
 was yexed that he, after being pensioned so early, 
 should have gone to the little country town, where 
 his ambition was satisfied with his house and the 
 care of his garden. How could he give up a prom- 
 inent position in the capital, and put his only 
 child in a situation where she must mingle with 
 second-rate people in a corner ? Was that a place 
 where she could make a match corresponding to 
 her rank and education ? It was her father's 
 fault that she had finally decided on marrying 
 the infirm district physician. Who knows ? 
 Emmy might have been loved and honored in the 
 great world, and if she had had no occasion to do 
 any harm to any one, she would doubtless have 
 left it undone. 
 
 Emmy was certainly not malicious, only she 
 had the misfortune to see at once the faults of 
 men, and detect their hypocrisy ; she only fol- 
 lowed the universal fashion ; she lied, too, because 
 every one lies. Consequently she played the tender 
 daughter before the world : it is a grace for an 
 independent widow as well as for a girl. 
 
 Emmy was a very fine musician, and found a 
 sort of intoxication in her art. She preferred to 
 sing Italian, not only because it dazzled people, 
 but because she had, in fact, an unusual facility 
 in ornamental notes. The people in the little 
 town who heard her at the open windows thought 
 she had never sung and played so much as in these 
 last days. 
 
232 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 Emmy also made more visits than usual in the 
 town, and gave a number of coffee-parties in her 
 garden in close succession. She wanted to hear 
 on what track people were, and she let it escape 
 her how pressingly the clergyman and his wife at 
 Waldhausen had invited her there for the summer. 
 She would like to go, but was a little afraid. She 
 gave them to understand that Euland, whom it 
 was well known she had refused before his marriage 
 with Sylvia, was now living in the neighborhood ; 
 that at Waldhausen she could not avoid his possi- 
 ble attentions, and might expose herself to unkind 
 gossip. People took a different view, for Emmy 
 very discreetly made no mention of the curate ; 
 and they assured her that a lady of her repute 
 and standing was above such rumors. She was 
 exhorted to allow herself some recreation. 
 
 So Emmy finally determined to go to the par- 
 sonage. In that way, too, she escaped hearing 
 the despair or the joy of her father, according as 
 he was fortunate or unfortunate in his researches. 
 She would also be immediately informed through 
 the curate of everything that passed at the forest- 
 er's. But was not the young clergyman enthu- 
 siastic about her ? ^^It is unlucky for the poor 
 man," thought she; ^^but it maybe lucky for 
 him, too, for at any rate he gets rid of his love 
 to Carla." 
 
p 
 
 THE FORESTERS. 233 
 
 OHAPTEE XXXVIIL 
 
 Betweei^ the parsonage and the forester's 
 house there was no friendly intercourse. The old 
 minister and Jorns had agreed very well ; the 
 former tolerated the free-thinking of the master 
 forester, and the latter the stiff orthodoxy of the 
 clergyman, with mutual forbearance ; but between 
 their wives a breach had taken place that seemed 
 incurable. They were both sensible enough not 
 to quarrel, but they behaved with reciprocal cool- 
 ness. The minister's wife had once confided to 
 Madam Jorns that she put chicory in her hus- 
 band's coffee ; he did not perceive it at all. There- 
 upon she was obliged to hear serious admonitions ; 
 anything may be expected of a woman capable of 
 that ; she has a natural disposition to any per- 
 fidy. That was too hard. The pastor's wife could 
 not put up with it, and the difference had never 
 been made up. 
 
 Emmy, who had now come to the parsonage, 
 could live there as if she were ten leagues from 
 the forester's house, and still have always the latest 
 news of everything that went on there. 
 
 It was comfortable and cool in the parsonage. 
 The only drawback was that the old people could 
 undertake no walks ; for the pastor suffered from 
 rheumatism, and, on account of his wife's deaf- 
 ness, talking with her in the open air was more 
 
234 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 difficult, and, besides, attracted attention. But 
 Emmy could not wander oyer the fields and 
 through the woods with the curate alone ; for 
 once when they were out together a merry woman 
 from the village had congratulated them : of 
 course she could not expose herself to such a thing 
 again. 
 
 The old lady busied herself year in and year 
 out with braiding inside soles for poor people, 
 especially for the school children, from rye straw 
 cut green. She taught Emmy to do it, but Emmy 
 soon left off ; the straw marred the delicacy of her 
 hands. 
 
 Day after day Emmy said that she must go 
 home to-morrow, or, at any rate, next Saturday, 
 but she still staid on. This suspense caused dis- 
 quiet, but also a rapid heightening of the curate's 
 feelings. 
 
 In order to be quite country-like, Emmy had 
 not brought her maid with her to the parsonage ; 
 she curled her own hair every day, and that is a 
 good deal to do. In the second week, however, 
 she sent for her maid, after which she was much 
 more contented and free. Emmy was very kind 
 to the parson's wife, who admired her beyond 
 measure, and gazed at her as at a goddess. Yes, 
 nobody had hair like Emmy's, nobody teeth like 
 hers, nobody such clothes, nor, indeed, her beauti- 
 ful figure — a true Juno-like form. Where Emmy 
 was worshiped she could be very loving. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 235 
 
 "ike a bird, and brought out seyen times over 
 speeches got by rote, barrel-organ sentiments, and 
 nothings. She chattered on and on — always I, 
 and I, and I again : "I can not bear dogs" ; ^^I 
 said years ago that the "VYaldbach must be carried 
 to the county town"; ^^I once took two right- 
 hand gloves with me " ; ^^ I like honey " ; ^^ I love 
 the Italian language " ; and a thousand such 
 things. Everything must be significant and 
 weighty, for it was about herself and Max, who 
 loved her so well, and had always listened kindly. 
 She even gave herself the trouble to scream it at 
 the minister's wife. The curate saw in this only 
 a deep, kind heart : the dear soul tries to amuse 
 and enliven the old lady with every-day matters. 
 
 The old people had not rested till Emmy sang 
 here, too, and she gave great pleasure. Even the 
 deaf old lady beamed with happiness ; she sat by 
 Emmy with open mouth, and asserted that she 
 heard the softest notes. The pastor, too, praised 
 the singing in the highest terms. In fact, her 
 voice had an astonishing and overpowering 
 strength, especially when she sang dramatic airs 
 from Italian operas. 
 
 Strangely, the curate never said a word about 
 her singing, and never encouraged her to it ; 
 everything about her pleased him but her song. 
 She could put much passion into it, but she could 
 not execute a simple ballad with suitable expres- 
 
236 . THE FORESTERS. 
 
 sion ; there was something foreign, a tone of un- 
 truthfulness in it ; and the curate, who sang so 
 willingly and with such preeminent vocal endow- 
 ments, could not be induced to sing before Emmy. 
 
 On the other hand, he was highly delighted 
 that Emmy listened to reading with such sym- 
 pathy. He often sat in the garden and read to 
 her. Emmy found even Sophocles charming, 
 and only lamented that she had not earlier been 
 made acquainted with the highest spirits of 
 antiquity. 
 
 ^^My good Max, alas ! had no time to devote 
 himself to my education ; he only exhorted me 
 constantly not to neglect my music," was a re- 
 mark she often brought into the conversation. . 
 
 Emmy was not only ready of speech ; she had 
 also the gift of making others talk, and the curate 
 was always disposed to impart his best. 
 
 ^' Through you I learn for the first time to 
 see," said she once ; "through you I discover in 
 what a world we really are. The world is so 
 great, and we so little ; but it is a great thing 
 that we understand this infinite world." 
 
 Emmy willingly confessed what holy quiet 
 was penetrating her spirit : she had let her wishes 
 fly on airy journeys ; now all in her soul was 
 soothed, silently contented in itself. The curate 
 felt happy that it had fallen to him to help this 
 many-sided nature to unity and symmetry. He 
 felt thoroughly happy only where he could be 
 
THE FORESTERS. 237 
 
 helpful, where he was needed. Carla had no need 
 of him — she was firm in her own strength ; but 
 here was a being endowed with the noblest powers, 
 and at the same time perfectly enchanting, who 
 only lacked self-sustained tranquillity. 
 
 Emmy gladly permitted his efforts. What 
 was a holy task to the clergyman, to her was a 
 new sort of gallantry. This gallantry had an un- 
 accustomed flavor, a youthful bashfulness and 
 timidity, and yet a sustained confidence in think- 
 ing on questions of general interest. 
 
 In a comparison between Carla and Emmy 
 there appeared a sharp contrast. In Emmy's 
 mouth the highest and holiest words became worn 
 and stale, while every - day expressions used by 
 Carla acquired a fresh stamp, a new luster. 
 
 The curate sometimes told Emmy of his walks 
 among the poor and sick, and Emmy determined 
 to visit old Eaffel, whom Schaller with his profli- 
 gate talk had rendered insolent and desperate. 
 She knew what air she should breathe there, and 
 therefore sprinkled herself abundantly before- 
 hand, with a strong new perfume, as with a sort 
 of worldly holy-water. 
 
 The curate saw with deep satisfaction that 
 Emmy was lending him aid in the hardest part of 
 his calling ; but when his whole high-strung na- 
 ture displayed itself in it, Emmy could not help 
 reflecting, ^^Is not this lofty idealist in reality a 
 fool ? Is it not like a fool to excuse an old scold- 
 
238 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ing peasant woman because a thunderstorm is in 
 the air, and people are at such times excited and 
 show more ill temper than they intended ? ^' It 
 was Emmy's pride to have, and to wish to have, 
 no illusions ; and everything she did not under- 
 stand passed for an illusion. 
 
 NeyerthelesSj she slipped gradually into the 
 thought of becoming the wife of Gotthold. Then 
 she could certainly say again, ^' Ah ! how he loves 
 me r' When the curate in ecstasy spoke of the 
 elevation of her soul, she often answered, ^^Ah, 
 you deceive yourself about me. I am not so noble 
 as you think ; humanity itself is not so noble as 
 you think. Ah, how gladly would I be as I ap- 
 pear to you ! Pray never forget that I have 
 always declined your exaggerated praise. I am a 
 weak creature, that has often thoughts, to be sure, 
 but no logic." 
 
 She came near coniSding to the curate that she 
 had been the innocent occasion of the slanderous 
 letter. Such a voluntary confession would blunt 
 the edge of her deed, and put her under the 
 curate's protection ; yes, she promised herself that 
 if he should release her from this hell, she would 
 be good her life long. She had committed but 
 this one fault ; apart from that she was innocent 
 — yes, even religious. But her pride and self- 
 esteem rose again. Should she confess, and then 
 be humble all her life for the sake of a jest ? And, 
 besides, it was unnecessary. If Schaller tried to in- 
 
THE FORESTERS. 339 
 
 Tolve her in the business, it would be time enough. 
 The curate will certainly be much grieved when 
 he hears into what fellowship she is brought. For 
 the first time in her life it dawned on her that 
 another must suffer for her sake, and so innocently 
 and deeply. But forthwith she said to herself, 
 ^^ You are a self-sacrificing nature ; you feel too 
 nobly." And now it was over, she had felt it ; it 
 had been beautiful ; she had nothing more to do. 
 So she left things to their course. She struggled 
 with the thought of accusing Schaller, in order 
 to anticipate his slanders. Once she dreamed she 
 had already done it, and when she awoke she was 
 glad it had not happened ; she had not courage 
 for it. 
 
 During this struggle she looked very sad. This 
 oft-returning grief touched the curate's heart ; 
 ^^This deep nature," thought he, ^^can not get 
 over the misfortune she has experienced." 
 
 The question came up whether Euland would 
 marry again. The curate disapproved the severity 
 with which many judge such a step. Emmy, not 
 without reason, applied the declaration to herself, 
 and, after a pause, she asked : 
 
 " Would you not like to be in the Consistorium, 
 in a wide sphere of activity ? " 
 
 ^^N"o ; I prefer to remain a village pastor." 
 
 That was not at all according to her feeling. 
 What ! waste her life in a village ? Dress herself 
 — ^for whom ? Sing — for whom ? To be sure. 
 
240 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 God himself — Emmy very often spoke of God — 
 sees and hears her, but he is extremely sparing in 
 his signs of applause. To be in the lonely parsonage 
 not only for a summer, but the whole year through, 
 at the time when the country roads are impassable, 
 to become in winter the receptacle for the com- 
 plaints of the old women ? ^'No, no ; for a Til- 
 lage parson's wife you don't get me,'' thought she. 
 '' He will sit in his study, then go out and console 
 old women, while time drags with you at home ; 
 and when he returns you must be enthusiastic 
 over these things. But it is impossible he should 
 remain in the country, with his family connec- 
 tions — his brother is President of the Exchequer 
 — ^he can not fail of attaining a high position in 
 the capital." 
 
 Emmy observed before the glass the pious air 
 she had put on, folded her hands, cast her eyes up, 
 and then let them fall humbly. She liked her- 
 self with this expression ; even a sharp line about 
 her mouth became, when she wore this saintly air, 
 a transfiguration of suffering. 
 
 She smiled when she was alone quite otherwise 
 than when before people. Then there was some- 
 thing constrained about it, for she thought it did 
 not befit a mourner to laugh out ; but by herself 
 alone she was merry, and she had great satisfac- 
 tion in herself. Apparently Emmy was ever the 
 sport of the moment, but she had under this 
 seeming changeableness a fixed plan : every one 
 
THE FORESTERS. 241 
 
 must be submissive, must lie at her feet ; then 
 would she graciously raise him. 
 
 She intended to be more reserved and prudent 
 toward the curate ; but when she was with him 
 she assumed an air of enthusiasm and rapture. 
 She even once quieted what she still ventured to 
 name her conscience, and called the curate ^^Dear 
 young friend ! " saying he must have more ex- 
 perience before he ventured to decide his life. 
 
 That was certainly straightforward, certainly 
 not coquettish. Several times, when she was 
 alone, she smil-ed at herself that the parsonage had 
 made her so precise that she no longer dared to 
 play with hearts ; in this house everything was 
 always in bitter earnest. 
 
 Emmy constantly came back to the opinion 
 that a man of the curators knowledge of the world 
 and of his distinguished manners must have a 
 high place at the capital, in order to bring back 
 to religion those who think they can do without 
 it : a wide sphere belonged to a man like him. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 The curate had often expressed the conviction 
 that such a terrible blasphemer as Eaffel could 
 only be led into the right way by a woman ; he 
 begged Emmy to undertake the task. 
 16 
 
242 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 Emmy felt in herself no missionary vocation. 
 What did it matter whether an old peasant woman 
 in a neglected back room was happy or unhappy, 
 a believer or an unbeliever ? But as the curate 
 perpetually came back to it, and his entreaties 
 were so earnest, she determined to yield to his 
 wishes. 
 
 She visited old Eaffel repeatedly ; and the 
 latter, like a true pupil of Schaller, broke out 
 into curses and scoffs over the thousand-year-old 
 cheat that the gentlemen of the pulpit practiced 
 on the poor. Emmy did not know what means 
 to use to convert her. 
 
 Then she heard some one coming. It was 
 Schaller, who called to her, ^' You are visiting my 
 grandmother ? That is excellent ! Allow me to 
 do you the honors of the house." He had an in- 
 solent tone, and went on, ^^Know, in the first 
 place, I have adopted this noble matron as 
 grandmother. Pray sit down. Permit me further 
 to remark — to be sure, you know it already — we 
 speak of the Mother of God, but in the case of 
 the devil the mother is skipped. There is only a 
 grandmother. The subject is deep, but you know 
 it all already ; I need not explain it to you.'* 
 
 ^^ You are extremely merry.'* 
 
 "And proud of your visit, fair lady." 
 
 "My handsome Ferdinand," called the old 
 woman from the bed. 
 
 " Beautiful grandmother, what is your will ? " 
 
THE FORESTERS. 243 
 
 returned Schaller, in the same high tone ; and he 
 said to Emmy, ^^ Pray notice, we do not call one 
 another dear, precious, darling, but beautiful, 
 fine — that is etiquette at the court of his Majesty 
 Beelzebub, the Lord of Flies." 
 
 ^^ My fine Ferdinand !" cried the old woman 
 again, ^^ are you going to make that woman your 
 wife ? " 
 
 " No, pretty grandmother ; if the devil were 
 married, the bad woman would have carried him 
 off, and he could no longer carry off bad women. 
 Beautiful grandmother, you forget everything ! 
 Now say, what am I ? Five things — do you know 
 them still?" 
 
 The old woman looked at Schaller with her 
 brown eyes, that glanced uneasily forth from their 
 inflamed lids, and began snapping one bony finger 
 after another. ^' My handsome Ferdinand is — 
 first, an Atheist ; second, a Communist ; third, a 
 Nihilist ; fourth, a Pessimist ; fifth — " She hesi- 
 tated. 
 
 '' You have forgotten the fifth ? " 
 
 ^^A Pamph — a Pamph — I can't quite get 
 it," complained the old woman. 
 
 *'Now, then, say it after me — a Pamphletist. 
 But I did not make myself that alone ; I have a 
 noble lady as helper." 
 
 ^^ You are extremely merry," repeated Emmy. 
 
 ^' You never saw me at home before. Here I 
 am master. I have an approved means of keeping 
 
244 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 my fair grandmother obedient. I threaten to 
 denounce her to the authorities for divers treason- 
 able utterances, and for blasphemy ; then she 
 cringes. Is not that much more amusing than 
 religion and piety ? " 
 
 Emmy denied it, with a look of shame. 
 
 ^^In this holy hall," Schaller went on, ^'we 
 speak the whole truth. We may feign by looks, 
 howeyer, so the shake of your head is forgiven 
 you. You belong in partiius at least to us." 
 
 ^^I do not entirely understand your words." 
 
 ^' The Latin I reserved for myself. Now what 
 is it you want here ? Ah, you were to convert the 
 old woman ? " 
 
 With mincing step he went to a door, opened 
 it, and showed a smoke-blackened apartment. 
 
 ^' See, gracious lady, this is the devil's kitchen ; 
 where there is neither speck nor crumb is the 
 devil's kitchen. Give my grandmother money, 
 and then say, ^ I command thee, unclean spirit, 
 that thou come out of the woman ! ' You will see 
 how the unclean spirit will obey. I have bribed 
 many a nigger so. The blacks have a great ad- 
 vantage ; they need not blush when they dissemble 
 before the missionary." 
 
 Emmy gave Eaffel a considerable sum of 
 money. Schaller ordered her to be very pious 
 when the curate came again, and old Eaffel prom- 
 ised she would. 
 
 Emmy taught her the expressions which the 
 
THE FORESTERS. 245 
 
 curate loved best : ^' How deeply I have erred ! 
 How was I sunken ! ^^ 
 
 Turning to Schaller, she said, with triumph, 
 ^^ That is what these pedants like who place no 
 value on a free spirit. Such a penitent soul, 
 beaten tender with harsh words, soaked three days 
 in salt tears, then thoroughly seasoned with the 
 spice of humility, is a dainty for the Lord." 
 
 Schaller saw Emmy's deviltry with delight, 
 and only charged her not to put too lofty words 
 into the mouth of the convert, or the curate would 
 perceive the game. 
 
 He said, in English, to Emmy that she had 
 made a mistake in coming here ; he would have 
 helped her to win Euland. 
 
 '^ You think, I suppose, to punish him so ? " 
 
 " Pardon me, I did not say that. But perhaps 
 it is the curate you would like to entangle," 
 
 ^^Andif so.^" 
 
 " It would be a noble thing ; even the saving 
 of souls can become matchmaking." 
 
 ^^ You are a devil," said Emmy. 
 
 ^^ A woman said that to me once before. ^ You 
 are a devil,' snarled she, 'but I love the devil' ; 
 and she clasped my neck, and kissed me, and 
 would not let me go. That is over, to be sure ; 
 I have no longer taste for ladies' favors. 'Tis a 
 pity ; two such people as we might have set this 
 whole hemisphere in confusion ; and what have 
 we accomplished ? A little pamphlet against a 
 
246 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 simple fellow, and that so clumsily done that 
 people are stumbling along the right track. But 
 hush ! the saint is coming/' 
 
 '^ I hope the curate will yet lead you to the 
 right way/' said Emmy aloud, as soon as he was 
 at the door ; and as the curate came in he agreed 
 with her that they should not yet despair of 
 Schaller's conversion. He was highly delighted 
 to hear from old Eaffel that she had at last entered 
 the right way, and was grateful for such a helper 
 as Emmy. Emmy was timid and far-sighted 
 enough to express her doubts of the lasting con- 
 version of old Eaffel. She went away with the 
 curate. 
 
 Schaller looked after them, and cried : " Pretty 
 grandmother, now you shall have a good cigar* 
 There ! I will light it for you myself. Now you 
 have money and tobacco besides — ^ Money at need 
 and a dainty weed ' — you know the song ? That is 
 the best thing to be had." 
 
 Schaller went too. 
 
 CHAPTEE XL. 
 
 Schaller could not deny himself after a while 
 a visit to Emmy at the parsonage* He found her 
 alone in the garden. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 247 
 
 '^ Does not time often drag with you in your 
 aimless and yacant life ?" asked she* 
 
 " Time drag ? With me ? My life consists 
 only of minutes, never of hours — ^certainly not of 
 days. It is not true, as the philosophers of our 
 school maintain, that our life is made up of two 
 elements, pain' and tedium ; he who truly despises 
 feels neither tedium nor pain. I find, on the con- 
 trary, everything jovial and entertaining. You 
 forget, honored partner, that I am a student of 
 nature ; my specimens run and fly, hold still, and 
 sing and chatter. And then tobacco : if the 
 Greeks had been acquainted with that, they would 
 have formed for us a beautiful God of Smoking." 
 
 Emmy smiled. ^^In your answers you are 
 always surprising ; yes, I may say great." 
 
 ^' Great ? " repeated Schaller ; ^'and here we 
 have been involving ourselves in such a small bus- 
 iness. Really, what is great and what is small ? " 
 B ^^We?" Emmy wanted to say; ^'it is bad 
 . taste always to put me in I " But she suppressed 
 it, and it was a fortunate circumstance that Eil- 
 meyer just then came in as he was going by. 
 
 The greeting between the two men was pecu- 
 liar, for they thoroughly despised each other, but 
 vied with one another in polite expressions. 
 
 The curate also joined them, and Eilmeyer 
 said that he had determined when autumn came 
 to remove his business to the county town ; he 
 had already bought a house with abundant storage 
 
248 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 room in the police commissioner's neighborhood^ 
 and the latter had afforded him friendly assist* 
 ance. 
 
 Meanwhile Eilmeyer did not feel quite safe, to 
 see on one side the scoffing Schaller and on the 
 other the enthusiastic curate ; and as he had come 
 as usual in passing, he soon took occasion to 
 withdraw. 
 
 ^^ Can't you tell us/' Emmy asked Schaller, 
 when Eilmeyer had gone, ^^how far the eonnee* 
 tion between Herr Meyer and Oarla has advanced, 
 and whether we shall not soon hear of a public 
 betrothal?" 
 
 " I admire you/' returned Schaller. 
 
 Emmy well knew that he admired her cunning 
 in placing a union between Eilmeyer and Carla 
 before the curate's eyes as settled ; and the latter 
 said, '' I can not imagine that/' 
 
 ^^You are entirely right," added Schaller. 
 ^^ Eilmeyer has a long head, a business capacity 
 of the first order ; he puts on the appearance of 
 courting Carla. He knows there is no possibility 
 of winning her, but to be an admirer of Carla is a 
 recommendation to him ^ she makes a large item 
 to his credit. It will now be said in the country, 
 ^That is a man who courted Carla Jorns,' and 
 any girl may be proud whom he afterward makes 
 happy. Yes, Parson, a man gains credit in that 
 way. If one wishes to discredit a girl, in order 
 to bring her to one's own level, one says of her 
 
THE FORESTERS. 249 
 
 she was betrothed to such and such a person of 
 lower rank ; that is an approved way. However 
 you may be pleased to take it, you must, after 
 all, loathe your church-going and cultivated 
 world/' 
 
 ^^We simple children/' cried Emmy, ^^have 
 no conception of the tricks of the cunning. Herr 
 Schaller called himself just now a student of na- 
 ture ; I find he has a right to call himself so." 
 
 Schaller pretended not to hear this compli- 
 ment ; he said rather it was surprising with what 
 zeal the former police commissioner was seeking 
 the slanderous letter-writer. 
 
 "Just think," he added to Emmy, "many 
 take me for the author of the American letter, 
 and at their head stands your father. He sup- 
 poses that the insulting language used of me and 
 my father is a cunning mask." 
 
 Emmy acted extreme surprise, and lamented 
 that her father had uttered such a suspicion. 
 
 When the curate had gone for a while into the 
 house, she said to Schaller: "Your proceedings 
 are like the ancient torture ; I can imagine now 
 how horrible it was when the screws were turned." 
 
 Schaller thought it unnecessary to make any 
 reply : let Emmy sigh and groan under the screws ; 
 it is aji amusing game. When the curate returned, 
 Schaller asked him whether it was long since he 
 had been at the forester's house. Emmy added 
 that she was unwilling to bear the blame of de- 
 
250 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 taining him from such dear relatives ; he must go 
 there soon for her sake. 
 
 Schaller gave her a glance of satisfaction ; she 
 had understood him. He wished to hear what 
 track they were on at the forester's, and soon de- 
 parted. 
 
 Just as the curate was expressing his joy that 
 Emmy seemed to have succeeded, when he had 
 failed, in converting Eaffel, a messenger came 
 from the forester's with the news that Rudolph 
 had arrived with his pupils. 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 ^^ Our Rudolph is coming with a whole troop 
 of his students/^ Mangold proclaimed through the 
 house. Those who knew Rudolph were to rejoice 
 with him, and new-comers were to be told what a 
 pleasure awaited them. Ruland wandered about 
 or sat by himself ; he looked as if he could never 
 laugh again. It was a pain to him to be a mourner 
 at the festival ; never in his life had he seemed to 
 himself so superfluous. In his anguish over the 
 past and the bitter slander, there was mingled, 
 nevertheless, a feeling of new -life that he was 
 unwilling to acknowledge. 
 
 Before the house on the bench sat Jorns with 
 
THE FORESTERS. 251 
 
 his wife, and she said : ^^ I can easily accommodata 
 ten of the pupils ; they need not lie in the hay- 
 loft, as Eudolph proposes : the others I will send 
 to sleep at the saw-mill with Thoma.'' 
 
 ^'^ So we will/' returned Jorns. '^ There is a 
 young ox in the stall, which we will have killed. 
 The whole troop hare good teeth ; you shall see 
 how they relish it/' 
 
 His wife assented. 
 
 The butcher was summoned from the village, 
 and the ox was slaughtered ; great kettles were put 
 on ; posts were driven down before the house, and 
 boards nailed on them for long tables. Everybody 
 was busy in preparing for the reception ; and just 
 as the young ox had been killed the Adjunct sent 
 a doe that he had shot. 
 
 Mangold wanted to help everywhere, but Carla 
 said he must not exert himself, and she put a great 
 basket of beans before him to be strung ; he could 
 sit down to that. 
 
 It was a great help that Thoma, who had heard 
 what a number of visitors was expected, came up 
 from the saw-mill ; she had brought her baby, 
 and lent a hand everywhere. It was a special 
 pleasure to see Thoma and Carla work together. 
 
 At noon a four-part song rang out from the 
 woods; gay young fellows with fresh twigs in 
 their caps came forth, Rudolph and his colleague, 
 the professor of forestry, at their head. 
 
 Jorns shook hands with his son, his son's col- 
 
252 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 league, and all the lads, one after another ; and 
 in the eyes of the young people you could see the 
 reverence they felt for Jorns, both as master for- 
 ester and as Kudolph's father. 
 
 His mother quickly took Eudolph into the 
 house, and, once within, she kissed him to her 
 heart's content, and asked after his wife and chil- 
 dren, especially her eldest grandson Ernst. 
 
 Euland had not come out, he had remained in 
 the parlor ; and now his mother said, *' Go to 
 Euland!'' 
 
 The two friends embraced in silence, then 
 looked in each other's eyes, and each fought with 
 the tears which would gush out. 
 
 When Euland came to speak of the base treat- 
 ment to which he had been subjected, Eudolph 
 answered: ^^How can you let such a pitiful 
 matter gnaw at the marrow of your self-respect ? 
 EeJlect how such a story spreads ! Perhaps an 
 idle or a malicious man says to one he meets : ^ It 
 is mean to say such a thing of him behind his 
 back.' ^ Of whom?' ^ Of Euland.' indeed? 
 of Euland ? What do they say of him ? ' ^ Ah, 
 you don't know yet ? Then, of course, I will not 
 be the one to spread it further.' ^But certainly 
 you can tell me ? ' ' Well, yes. You will be dis- 
 creet. They say so and so.' And while eyerybody 
 protests and pretends to be innocent, it spreads 
 into threads as fine as gossamer." 
 
 '^ I should speak to my friend so too, if I were 
 
THE FORESTERS. 253 
 
 not the one concerned/' returned Euland ; and 
 Eudolph went on : 
 
 ^^ Against meanness there is no weapon; the 
 judge can not suit the penalty to the degree of in- 
 jury inflicted by a slander. With what should 
 the wound be measured, and what was the deed ? 
 Wounding the spirit does not fall within the penal 
 code ; it comes within the proyince of self-defense." 
 
 Euland looked inquiringly at him, and Eu- 
 dolph went on : ^^ Self-defense would be the best 
 if it had not the fault of being self-injury. For 
 if you punish according to the degree of pain in- 
 flicted on you, you must atone in place of the 
 slanderer." 
 
 Eudolph then stated that the Eussian ambas- 
 sador had inquired of him whether he did not 
 know a capable forester of tried character who 
 could manage great forest estates in Poland. Eu- 
 land returned that the main purpose there was to 
 make profit out of the timber, for which some 
 one else would be fitter than he ; he himself 
 meant, when he had exposed the infamous deed, 
 to go back to America. Eudolph now informed 
 him that he had spoken also with the minister of 
 government, and had learned that the Prince, who 
 had heard much good of Euland, would be fully 
 disposed to giye him a place again as professor in 
 the School of Forestry. Thus the slander would 
 be wiped out. '' Stay here," concluded Eudolph. 
 
 Outside, before the house, they heard laughter. 
 
254 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 One of the merriest students, a little black-haired 
 fellow, with eyes like live coals, and sinewy as an 
 Arab horse, had stolen himself a white cap and 
 white apron from the kitchen ; some were follow- 
 ing him and doing the like, while the others 
 thronged around Mangold. 
 
 Eudolph had told them about Mangold, and 
 there was much laughing when Mangold said : 
 ^' Yes, yes, Eudolph was my pupil, and now you 
 are my grandpupils." 
 
 ^^ Long live the Grandfather Professor!" was 
 the cry ; and as long as the students were there 
 Mangold was called the Grandfather Professor. 
 
 Mangold tried to respond to his new rank, 
 and taught the young people all sorts of hunters' 
 sayings. His weather-beaten old face beamed as 
 he put the question : 
 
 " Huntsman, huntsman, if you know, 
 Give me an answer fair and low, 
 When may the stag the safest go ? " 
 
 Naturally none of the students knew the an- 
 swer, so Mangold replied : 
 
 " When beer and wine for the hunters flow, 
 Then may the stag quite safely go." 
 
 The youngsters played all sorts of pranks. 
 One of them had a photographic apparatus. Man- 
 gold was not a little pleased to be photographed, 
 and they all told him they should hang up his 
 likeness in their rooms for a remembrance. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 255 
 
 ^^ But I must have one too/' lie often repeated. 
 But proud as Mangold was of being taken, the 
 honor sank greatly in his estimation when the 
 like fell to BobbeFs share, and it almost seemed 
 that the young fellows were still more delighted 
 to carry away Bobbel's picture. 
 
 Jorns gave each one his likeness, in which he 
 did not in truth appear so attractive as in life : 
 there was something close in his face — close-but- 
 toned, like his uniform coat. 
 
 Cark was innocently merry with the young 
 people ; her high spirits, which since Euland's 
 coming had seemed quite gone, revived ; nobody 
 saw it with greater delight than her mother. 
 
 It seemed strange to Mangold that Eudolph 
 did not look after him for a long time ; but he 
 consoled himself with the reflection, ^^ It is right ; 
 Euland comes first." 
 
 When Eudolph came and greeted him warmly, 
 the old man said : " Come nearer ; I have some- 
 thing to whisper to you. To be sure I promised 
 them to Oarla, but they will be better preserved 
 with you. When I die, mind, under the cover 
 in my hymn-book are my recipes for sick dogs ; 
 they shall be yours. Now don't refuse ; you 
 must accept them from me." 
 
 Eudolph yielded. 
 
 When they went to dinner some of the pupils 
 did willing service as waiters. Two tall fellows 
 took Mangold by the arm, one on each side, and 
 
256 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 seated him at the table. Most of them were 
 foresters' sons, for no calling so regularly descends 
 from father to son as this. 
 
 They feasted and talked in Homeric fashion, 
 only that the revelers of Homer's day could not 
 sing so well. 
 
 When the hostess announced that a number 
 of the students, with the professor, who had been 
 a comrade of Anton's in the war, would stay at 
 the saw-mill, it caused much jollity. The young- 
 sters insisted that Thoma should select her own 
 party, and she chose alternately a large and a small 
 one. 
 
 Now it was said — it was Carla who first thought 
 of it — ^we must let the curate know we have com- 
 pany. One of the students was a distant cousin 
 of the curate ; he was ready to carry the message, 
 but the little black-eyed fellow — ^he was called 
 Atschkalon — said they could not spare him ; what 
 he was wanted for was kept secret ; so a woods- 
 man was sent to the curate. 
 
 After dinner the students scattered, and behind 
 the house all manner of sewing, pinning, and dress- 
 ing went on ; the fellows seemed to be planning 
 some wild frolic. A sled-frame with two crooked 
 runners, that was getting weary of its summer 
 vacation, was shaped by means of a covering into 
 a sort of monster with great horns, and Bobbel 
 must submit to be taught how to behave under 
 disguise. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 257 
 
 Euland had charged the messenger that the 
 curate should come the yalley road ; he now went 
 to meet him. 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 "When Euland met the curate, he begged to be 
 excused for not having visited him ; it would be 
 painful to him to have to meet the doctor's widow 
 in the parsonage. The curate looked inquiringly 
 at him, and Euland explained that there were 
 unpleasant circumstances which belonged to his 
 single life and to the time of his marriage. 
 
 They heard a chorus from the forester's house, 
 and when the two men were behind the garden 
 hedge, they heard Atschkalon cry, ^' Our marks- 
 men's queen, our woodland queen, our forest maid 
 — will you have more titles, Fraulein Carla ? — 
 Fraulein Carla, then you must sing too." Carla 
 did not hesitate, and sang a song in her fullest 
 tones, the chorus of youths joining in the refrain. 
 
 All stopped, for a new voice, full and clear, 
 joined them behind the hedge ; it was the curate, 
 and as he came forward Atschkalon hailed him 
 at once as brother-in-song. 
 
 When he gave Emmy's greeting, Carla said, 
 very coldly, '' Indeed ? Is she still at the par- 
 sonage ? " 
 
 17 
 
258 THE FORESTEES. 
 
 Like Euland, Carla seemed to have something 
 against Emmy in her heart, but the curate per- 
 sisted in asking no one about her ; it was the first 
 test of his full love ; he would endure it — ^perhaps 
 others, too, that were destined for him. 
 
 Twilight fell. The family sat before the house, 
 and their friends Thoma and Anton with them ; 
 the latter had come to go home with his wife, 
 child, and guests. A strange company was seen 
 moving over the bridge. A kettle served as a 
 drum, a rustic pipe played to it ; next came a 
 monster with crooked horns, then a chained bear, 
 and about him danced an ape, cutting all kinds 
 of capers. A bear-dance was performed, while 
 two of the students held torches. The bear was 
 Atschkalon, sewed up in Jorns's fur coat ; in the 
 sled-frame growled Bobbel, but he could not re- 
 frain from sometimes crowing. 
 
 At the end of the performance one of the 
 torch-bearers announced that not only foreign 
 beasts, but native ones were present. Now came 
 forward a young man with an odd drapery of moss 
 and a fox's head ; there must have been an adroit 
 artisan among them to make it so quickly out of 
 pasteboard. The fox approached Carla, and 
 spoke : 
 
 " There was a maiden sweet and fair, 
 That grew in our still mountain air ; 
 And though the marksmen shot full well, 
 The prize they sought to Carla felL 
 
THE FORESTERS. 259 
 
 " And as at evening home she came, 
 Her heart with joy was all aflame. 
 * world,' thought she, * I love thee so, 
 To whom can I some kindness show ? ' 
 
 " A captive fox-cub, sleek and sly. 
 Her father's gift, now met her eye. 
 ' Thou shalt,' she cried, * thy freedom gain,* 
 And loosed the fox-cub from his chain. 
 
 " He staid not till his mistress' hand 
 Took from his neck the leathern band ; 
 And sleep or wander where he will, 
 He carries Carla's collar still. 
 
 " little fox, thou'rt envied sore. 
 Hast thou, brave maid, no fetters more ? 
 Only a gallant huntsman's neck 
 Let Carla with hci* collar deck.'* 
 
 Carla's prize-cup was brought, and after her 
 health had been proposed, the goblet went round 
 the whole assembly ; and meantime fireworks were 
 sent up from Vogelseck. 
 
 Euland heard Carla say to Anton Armbruster, 
 ^' It grieyes me that Schaller can not share such 
 pleasures/' 
 
 Euland felt a thrill. Just as Sylyia had once 
 said they ought to make double allowance for 
 Schaller, since, with all his pains to procure him- 
 self pleasure, he had none — now Carla, in the 
 midst of the festivity, had thought of the solitary 
 man. 
 
 Suddenly wonderful sounds were heard from 
 the wood aboye. 
 
260 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 '' That is Sclialler's bugle ! '' they said ; '' he 
 has not played on it since his return." All listened 
 to the wonderful melodies that sounded through 
 the forest in blissful longing, affecting and pro- 
 found. Kudolph said softly to the curate, '' That 
 is something for you ; you see there is still ro- 
 mance in the world. A pity we know from whom 
 these tones come ! Schaller would have been, 
 with his whole nature, a genuine vagabond of the 
 Middle Ages.'^ 
 
 The curate signed to Eudolph to be silent, for 
 he was entirely absorbed in the music, and thought 
 to himself, ^^ Whoever can play such strains so 
 feelingly has still a deep soul." But even while 
 all listened entranced, Schaller struck up a vulgar 
 street-song, and closed with a dissonance. 
 
 Anton and Thoma went down the valley with 
 their guests, whose singing and piping were still 
 heard at a distance. 
 
 CHAPTEE XLIII. 
 
 As Oarla was returning, after conducting 
 Thoma over the bridge, she met Euland ; it 
 seemed that he had waited there, to speak with 
 her alone. 
 
 ^^ We are going to-morrow before light," began 
 Euland, whose voice was constrained and dull. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 261 
 
 "and so I wanted to say good-by to you this 
 evening.'' 
 
 " You are coming back ? '' 
 
 "I do not know.'' 
 
 Both were for some time silent and did not 
 look at each other ; they only saw the glitter of 
 the moon on the swift ripples of the brook, and 
 heard it babbling on. 
 
 "I am afraid/' said Carla, "my good cousin 
 Gotthold is letting himself become entangled in 
 an afEection for Emmy, and you should — " 
 
 "I have not the right," returned Kuland ; 
 " our friendship is yet too young ; I do not think 
 I ought to interfere." 
 
 " So we must let him run to destruction with 
 our eyes open ? " 
 
 "Perhaps," returned Euland, "Emmy has 
 matured, and the curate's purity, his magnani- 
 mity, may elevate her." 
 
 "No, no. So often as Gotthold speaks a kind 
 word to her, so often as he gratifies a wish, she 
 will for an instant cherish some feeling for him ; 
 but at the bottom of her soul there is no faithful 
 attachment, no appreciation of him, no high 
 esteem irrespective of his peculiarities, no confi- 
 dence that the misunderstanding of the moment 
 will vanish again before the inner concord — " 
 She suddenly stopped. 
 
 Euland clinched his hands together ; he was 
 afraid he should stretch them out and clasp Oarla 
 
262 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 in his arms — she was so deeply acquainted with 
 active, enduring loye ; and yet that must not be. 
 
 Breathing with difficulty, Carla went on : 
 ^^They say that Emmy became what she is be- 
 cause you left her so rudely." 
 
 ^^And do you belieye it too ?" 
 
 ^^ No. I think no fate can make any one evil 
 who is good at heart ; perhaps — " 
 
 "Perhaps faint-hearted and weak, as I have 
 become ? " 
 
 ^^No one else says that of you," returned 
 Carla. 
 
 Euland felt that the power of self-restraint 
 was leaving him. 
 
 ^' I bid you farewell now," he hastened to say. 
 He did not give her his hand ; he turned away, 
 and she cried after him, ^^Take care of your 
 health ! Keep yourself well ! " 
 
 That was all he heard from her. 
 
 He went with hurried step down the valley 
 road, as though he fled from something. He 
 overtook the curate, who was going home, and 
 accompanied him. The two men scarcely spoke 
 a word ; and when they were in sight of the par- 
 sonage, Euland extended his hand to the curate, 
 while he said that perhaps their parting was for 
 ever, for he despaired of discovering the author 
 of the calumny, and saw that his stay in the Old 
 World was almost over ; he should return to 
 America. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 263 
 
 ^^ God keep you well, and of an open heart ! " 
 answered the curate. The two men parted. 
 
 ^^Take care of your health, keep yourself 
 well ! " Carla had said. That was no love-speech, 
 but Euland repeated it to himself. It seemed to 
 him that Carla had in those words expressed the 
 deepest feeling that ever had made itself known 
 in words of love. But it must not be ; the best 
 thing is to go out again into the New World. 
 
 When all were gone to rest, the mistress of the 
 house still sat by her son, and said : 
 
 '^ Now I have you to myself ; give me one half 
 hour more from your sleep. Let me tell you : 
 You know no guest is burdensome to me, espe- 
 cially an old and true friend like Euland. But, 
 dear son, your father is not of my opinion ; he 
 has grown so different, so peculiar, I must confide 
 it to you. Since Euland has been here our house 
 is not like itself. No doubt the men are right, 
 especially your father ; but I am so timorous — 
 you know that already. Pray, don't persuade 
 Euland to stay in Europe and come here to us. I 
 tremble every day lest they should find out who 
 wrote that letter, and then there will be violence 
 and murder. '^ 
 
 '' Nobody can advise him better than father." 
 
 '^ No ; Euland thinks otherwise. You are 
 like a brother to him ; yes, and also because you 
 are her brother." The good woman stammered 
 aiid went on : ^^ I must be short. Your father 
 
264 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 can not go to sleep if I am not there. Have you 
 noticed nothing yet ? " 
 
 ^' I should like to know first, mother, what 
 you haye noticed. ^^ 
 
 ^^ You are just like your father ; he will not 
 help me. I must say everything out. So you 
 have noticed nothing of it ?'^ 
 
 ^^ Of what?" 
 
 ^' My patience ! They shun each other, but 
 to me that is the best proof that they are fond of 
 each other. He is so honest and true that he can 
 not forget Sylvia, and our child is too honest to 
 lead him on ; and a widower will not do for her." 
 
 ^' Well, mother, there is nothing to be done. 
 I confess it does seem to me that Ruland is only 
 forcing himself to think of revenge, and has 
 something quite different in his mind ; very likely 
 it may be love for Carla. I do not blame him for 
 it ; she is of a noble nature, and if Ruland were 
 happy and successful once more, he would be the 
 admirable man he once was." 
 
 ^^ Heavens !" complained his mother, ^^ there 
 is no help to be had from you men. Well, I have 
 done my part ; it lies now on your conscience. 
 Good night, dear son ; I shall not see you in the 
 morning ; I am tired. My love to your wife and 
 children, and send them to us soon. We are very 
 desirous of seeing how your Ernst has grown ; he 
 is said to be a wide-awake fellow. And you need 
 not let Ruland know how I feel. " 
 
THE FORESTERS. 265 
 
 "It will all come out right/' said Eudolph, 
 soothingly ; and there was a tender parting be- 
 tween mother and son. 
 
 But in the chamber old Joms said to his wife, 
 " I am not going with the young people to-morrow. 
 Euland has said good-by to me, as if he never 
 meant to return ; he leaves a good-by for you too ; 
 he is going back to America." 
 
 "I, for my part, sha'n't hinder him if ho 
 wants to go. We became used to his absence 
 once before ; we shall get used to it again.'' 
 
 Both went to sleep, and heard nothing of it 
 when Euland and Eudolph set off bright and 
 early with the pupils. Even the dogs were quiet, 
 for Mangold was with the party, and prevented 
 their making a sound. Eudolph asked him if 
 there were not some sickly trees to be found ; he 
 wanted to show his pupils the diseases of forest 
 life. Mangold pointed out a tree in tlie neigh- 
 borhood of his brother, the charcoal-burner. The 
 young fellows took a cordial leave of the old 
 keeper, and Euland said he must get quite well 
 again, so that he could come to him in the New 
 World. 
 
 ^^ My new world," returned Mangold, "does 
 not lie across the water ; but when I die you know 
 the otter-skin belongs to you." 
 
266 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 CHAPTER XLiy. 
 
 The curate had come home late ; he went 
 softly, almost inaudibly, to his chamber past 
 Emmy's room. Before the door stood her dainty 
 little boots. He stood a second by the door ; his 
 heart beat loud. A magnetic force must have 
 passed through the door, for within sounded the 
 anxious cry, " Who is there ? What is it ? '* 
 
 The curate hurried softly away. 
 
 When he saw Emmy in the morning, he stared 
 at her as if she had been an entire stranger. She 
 seemed to him transformed, a different being from 
 the one he had cherished in his soul. 
 
 As though she noticed that she seemed strange 
 to him, she greeted him but slightly, ran to the 
 pastor's wife, and told her aloud that the lock- 
 smith must be sent for; the lock on her door 
 would not fasten well. ^^I was restless all night 
 long," said she, ^^ because the door was the same 
 as unlocked." She screamed this out to the pas- 
 tor's wife, to whom she had always been obliged 
 to speak loud on account of her deafness ; but to- 
 day her voice struck the curate as unpleasant and 
 hard. 
 
 He was called to Eaffel, who was dying. 
 
 Eaffel raised herself in bed as he entered, and 
 cried, ^^ You are deceived ; it is all lies and de- 
 ceit. I will not die — I will not ! He that is above 
 
THE FORESTERS. 267 
 
 shall leave me here ; even if it is in want, I will 
 stay here ; I will not go to him." Her soul went 
 out in hellish laughter. 
 
 Disturbed to the depths of his heart, the curate 
 came back to the parsonage, and when he saw 
 Emmy he said to her : 
 
 ^^Have patience with me ; the noisy festival 
 bewildered my senses, and now I have just come 
 from the death-bed of a miserable creature. 
 Alas ! that the poor thing should have departed 
 so ! She was not in her senses ; she was out of 
 her head." 
 
 '^ Don't distress yourself so much," returned 
 Emmy. ^' Of what consequence, after all, are the 
 life and death of such an old worn-out woman ? 
 Heavens ! these peasant women are all crooked 
 even in their youth ; it comes of bending to the 
 ground over their work." 
 
 ^^It is our task in every way to lift up the 
 bowed down," interrupted the curate. 
 
 Emmy opened her eyes wide. 
 
 ^^This man," she thought, ^Hurns everything 
 so strangely." But the curate read in this glance 
 a comprehension of his feelings that could not be 
 put into words. 
 
 She added: ^'My dear husband used to tell 
 me he could not endure his laborious profession if 
 he always put his soul into it, if he threw his feel- 
 ings into his cases. You, too, must acquire some- 
 thing of this temper." 
 
268 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 The curate grew calmer. ^^She is riper than 
 I," thought he. 
 
 Something similar took place in Emmy : 
 *^ Heavens ! how sentimental he is ! That is well 
 enough for consumptive seamstresses, half-starved 
 schoolmasters, and apothecaries' assistants. Per- 
 haps sentimentalism belongs to the business, or, as 
 he calls it, the vocation, of the clergy.'' 
 
 Consequently Emmy made up her mind not 
 to disturb him in it ; she would only assert before 
 the world his claims to a higher position. That 
 is it ! She is his good fortune ; he needs her ; 
 the good fellow will make shipwreck without 
 her. He will let himself be kept all his life in a 
 petty parish, where there is new bread only on 
 Sundays, and in summer no fresh meat for 
 months. 
 
 From this mixture of feelings there resulted 
 a confidential, yes, an affectionate, mood in Emmy, 
 and she said : ^^ Sit down by me, and forget the 
 last hours. Tell me of yesterday evening; it 
 must have been very gay. We saw from here the 
 rockets go up on the mountain." 
 
 The curate told the story as well as he could. 
 He spoke of Euland with enthusiasm. 
 
 ^^AU the world talks of Ruland's strength 
 and energy, and he is only sentimental, after all/' 
 said Emmy. 
 
 ^^ What do you understand by sentimental ?'* 
 
 This style of questioning was very painful to 
 
THE FORESTERS. 269 
 
 Emmy ; it was something like catechising ; but 
 she collected herself and said, ^^ His going away 
 was sentimental, and his return is sentimental.'' 
 
 ^' So you understand by ^ seiitimental ' too high- 
 ly raised feelings, simple impressibility?" 
 
 " Yes, that is what I wanted to say. Thank 
 you ; you giye words to my indistinct thoughts.'' 
 
 The curate went on to say further that people 
 are yery easily inclined to take simple action for 
 energy. If Euland were to discover the slanderer 
 and shoot him, that would appear manly, and 
 yet manliness does not consist in outward acts 
 alone. Emmy smiled condescendingly ; a clergy- 
 man must naturally speak so. 
 
 ^^He is a sterling man," added the curate, 
 ^^and I have confidence that when he has dis- 
 covered the author, or the several authors, of 
 the calumny, he will do what is morally right." 
 
 Emmy forced a smile. Did the curate suspect 
 her complicity ? Impossible ; he is a guileless, 
 child-like being. If he suspected anything he 
 would not speak so. It is delightful that there 
 are still child-like natures in the world. 
 
 The curate added that he trusted Euland 
 meant now to forget the slanders from which he 
 had suffered, and to make no further inquiry 
 about them. Emmy's eyes sparkled, but, afraid 
 of betraying herself, she said with an exceedingly 
 gracious air : '' And how did he come to that de- 
 termination ? Has the marksmen's queen — " 
 
270 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ^^ Pray do not call Carla so.'* 
 
 ^^ You are right. Has Carla brought him to 
 that?" 
 
 ^^ Why Carla?" 
 
 ^' You are admirable." 
 
 ^^You think, then, that Carla and Euland 
 will turn to each other ? " 
 
 '^Will turn?" cried Emmy, with astonish- 
 ment. ^^But excuse me; I interrupted you. 
 Who has probably changed Euland's determina- 
 tion?" 
 
 ^^ I belieye I have done my part. I haye also — 
 our friendship warranted it— warmly urged him 
 to apply for a place again, and begged him to call 
 on my brother the President. I shall write at 
 once to my brother to exert himself to help the 
 man to his right life again, that he may thus be 
 of use to his country." 
 
 ^' Have you done that ? Will you do so ? It 
 will be all thrown away," exclaimed Emmy. 
 ^^Your high family connections, your personal 
 influence, your recommendation — for whom and 
 what are you pledging them ? I will not say that 
 you ought to reserve the influence of your family, 
 and especially your brother's, for your own ad- 
 vancement; but, to speak mildly, Euland is an 
 adventurer. Are not his sudden departure and 
 return indicative of this ? " 
 
 ^^They may seem so, but I hold him for a 
 nature inaccessible to any falsehood or deceit." 
 
THE FORESTERS. 271 
 
 ^^ Because you are such, you think eyery one 
 else to be so. But I would not disturb your 
 idealism ; you must keep it till bitter experience 
 teaches you a practical knowledge of men." 
 
 The curate heard her with rapidly changing 
 countenance. On one side what she said was 
 good, prudent ; but he felt that there was some- 
 thing in it contradictory to his whole life. In- 
 Yoluntarily the words crossed his lips, ^^ Forgive 
 me, but you often put me in mind of Schaller." 
 
 " Of Schaller ? " cried Emmy, her face putting 
 on the expression of a fury. ^^Of Schaller ? Is 
 that intended for a compliment ? Do you only 
 mean to say that I am often — not entirely with- 
 out wit?" 
 
 " No, I did not intend that. It was highly 
 unbecoming in me to connect you at all with 
 Schaller. I earnestly beseech you to have patience 
 with me to-day ; the noisy mirth of the night, 
 the death-bed in the morning. I will retire for 
 a while and collect myself." 
 
 ^' Write to your brother, but be cautious ; do 
 not make yourself personally responsible for a man 
 whom you have known but for a short time, and 
 whose life contains a mystery. Think kindly of 
 me ! Do you believe that I mean kindly by you ? " 
 
 Emmy looked at him with a warm expression, 
 and held out her hand. He touched it but lightly, 
 and went away. 
 
 In his chamber the curate sat down at his 
 
272 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 writing-table and wrote. He began many letters 
 and tore them up again ; then lie walked about 
 restlessly. He was impressible and easily led, but 
 yet there was something in him rocky and im- 
 moyable. He felt Emmy's remonstrances like a 
 foreign power within his soul, striving to dimin- 
 ish his own independence and self-reliance not 
 only, but also his fidelity toward his new friend. 
 He finally wrote a letter to his brother, in which 
 he urgently recommended Euland. He hoped 
 Emmy would rightly understand his having 
 done so. 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 EuDOLPH and Euland were walking with the 
 students through the wood. Schaller sat upon a 
 stone by the path. Eudolph stopped the young 
 people at a distance, and said something to them. 
 Schaller suspected that he was again to be put 
 under a ban such as Euland had once decreed 
 against him. His suspicion was correct, for Eu- 
 dolph was saying to his friend, ^^If I salute him, 
 or if any of the lads do so, he will be sure to 
 fasten himself on us and spoil our whole day. 
 Therefore he must receive absolutely no notice." 
 The party passed Schaller as if he had been a piece 
 of the rock. When they had gone by, Schaller 
 
THE FORESTERS. 273 
 
 heard a liyely chorus, and said, grating his teeth, 
 ^^ You go by me like a stone, and now you are 
 singing. You think still further to wound me ? 
 I will be a stone ; everything shall glide off me. 
 I despise you, and yet you all carry a ball in your 
 breasts that I haye fired." 
 
 Eudolph found opportunity to explain to his 
 pupils the variety in the treatment of the forest 
 according to the soil and the steepness of the 
 mountain ; he had his special pleasure in show- 
 ing his father's perfectly successful management. 
 They lingered still longer at a tree surrounded by 
 ditches, which formed a real hospital for tree dis- 
 eases ; pieces of it, well packed, were taken along, 
 to be examined at home with the microscope. 
 
 The party returned to the capital, and the 
 students went to ttie academy. 
 
 At the seat of government Euland had again 
 to learn how improper his hurried flight had been ; 
 wherever he went, he had first to listen to reproofs. 
 Only from the President von Blankenschild, the 
 curate's brother, did he experience an encouraging 
 reception ; but even here he learned that the min- 
 ister of the department would not decide the ques- 
 tion of reinstatement by himself, and that the 
 case was before the whole cabinet. Euland felt 
 stifled. If he were refused, the stain of the slander 
 received almost an official seal ; it would be at 
 every one's pleasure to attribute his rejection to 
 his official or to his private character- 
 18 
 
274 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 Euland went about in bitter distress, and Eu- 
 dolph's courageous spirit was tested anew ; when 
 he looked encouragingly at Ruland, it seemed to 
 the latter as though Carla were observing him : 
 they had the same mild and powerful expression. 
 
 At last Eudolph came with joyful news : ^^ All's 
 right now. Your case has been laid immediately 
 before the Prince ; I feel sure you will come down 
 the palace stairs at rest in your own mind and as 
 one of our number. It was good luck that Ivo's 
 son-in-law had to report on your case. The 
 Prince is at his summer palace, and wishes to see 
 you before he signs your appointment ; you are 
 to come at once. It is the best thing you could 
 wish.'' 
 
 Eudolph accompanied his friend to the sum- 
 mer palace, and on the way he said : " You know 
 the Prince, I believe ? " 
 
 "I once exchanged a few words with him 
 when grouse-hunting. " 
 
 At the palace Euland was immediately sum- 
 moned to the Prince, who received him with 
 marked friendliness. 
 
 " I spoke with you some years ago at a grouse- 
 shooting party," said he. ^^I have read your 
 paper on the American pine, and your reports 
 from America, and have learned much from 
 them." 
 
 The Prince's words were not mere social affa- 
 bility ; the sincerity of his heart spoke from every 
 
THE FORESTERS. 275 
 
 tone; and he continued: ^^ Protection of the 
 forests in America ! Opposition to it seems to 
 me like a remnant of slavery ; men think the 
 forest, too, is their slave, which they have only 
 to turn to their profit." 
 
 Kuland replied that the abuse of the forests 
 in the Northern States is almost greater than in 
 the Southern, which iu general are not so well 
 wooded. 
 
 The Prince resumed: ^^With you, I see in 
 the care of the forest something more than the 
 preservation of the physical climate. You have 
 incontrovertibly shown the decay of tillage, of 
 cultivation, and the destruction of the forests, to 
 stand to each other in the relation of cause and 
 effect. In the preservation of the forests we show 
 that man not only has rights over Nature, but 
 duties toward her. This needs to be constantly 
 taught to our people in every relation. Human 
 rights have found easy recognition ; human duties 
 meet opposition in various directions. I am glad 
 that you have returned to your native country. 
 Now give me an account of your experiences and 
 observations." 
 
 The Prince's questions were definite and 
 pointed, and Euland had an opportunity to make 
 a variety of statements about both human life and 
 nature in the New World. 
 
 Then the Prince added : '' There are many 
 difficulties in giving you an office again." 
 
276 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 Euland was forced to assent, and the Prince 
 continued: ^^In the council opinions vary, but 
 my yiew is this : As, when a man has been guilty 
 of a crime, we reckon the previous offenses, and 
 fix the degree of punishment accordingly, w^e 
 should also credit a man with the praiseworthy 
 deeds which he has performed before this single 
 act. You have accomplished much good ; you 
 have done much for the restoration of denuded 
 lands ; and consequently it has been my wish to 
 give you a corresponding position. ^^ 
 
 Euland had now to give an account of the ca- 
 lumnious letter in the American paper, and its 
 transferrence to the district journal ; and the 
 Prince said, with great calmness : *^ We are endur- 
 ing the consequences of freedom of the press ; 
 what was formerly mere gossip, the talk of private 
 circles, now secures wide publicity. It would be 
 difficult, as I said, to give you a position imme- 
 diately, and yet I am unwilling to lose you. I 
 propose, therefore, that we give you the assurance 
 that at the end of a year or later you may again 
 enter the service of the state. You will go back 
 to America, our decree being your guarantee on 
 every side. You will make further reports, and 
 when you return you will belong entirely to us.'' 
 
 ^^ You express what I did not venture to ask," 
 Euland could only falter out ; then he went on, 
 more composedly : ^'I suffered in the New World 
 an attack on my honor ; it is completely annulled 
 
THE FORESTERS. 277 
 
 by the invitation that is accorded me. I am not 
 only now put in a position to reestablish my 
 honor, I need not give up what I consider neces- 
 sary and useful abroad ; at least I will once more 
 risk the attempt/' 
 
 He explained that he had a proposal from the 
 State of Nebraska to set on foot and regulate the 
 planting of forests there. The right way of forest 
 culture may perhaps be to secure protection of 
 the existing woods and planting of new ones in 
 the first place from the individual States, and not 
 from the central Government. He stated further 
 that freedom from taxation was already gi-anted 
 to each farmer who planted five hundred acres of 
 trees. West of Mississippi and Illinois the soil 
 improves, and Nebraska and Kansas have still 
 much wood ; it is also the law that all must plant 
 live hedges. 
 
 ^^I am glad," said the Prince, ^^that our 
 wishes coincide. Apart from the fact that you 
 must already feel discontented in your limited 
 vocation here, because you are looking for some- 
 thing greater, we are unwilling to disturb what 
 may be so useful to the American Union." 
 
 It was now decided that Euland should receive 
 a written paper, by virtue of which, as master for- 
 ester, or as professor in the School of Forestry, a 
 place was assured to him after the lap^e of two or 
 three years. 
 
 Euland came to Rudolph like a new man. 
 
278 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 They went together to the President, and the 
 latter said: ^^My brother Gotthold writes me 
 much about the widow of a district physician^ the 
 daughter of the former police commissioner. Do 
 you know the lady ? " 
 
 Both answered in the affirmative ; they plainly 
 saw that the President would haye been glad to 
 ask what they thought of her, yet he seemed un- 
 willing to put the question, but to await a yolun- 
 tary statement. Euland had already opened his 
 mouth, but Eudolph quickly interrupted: ^^It 
 will be most appropriate, Herr President, if you 
 go yourself to the parsonage and form your own 
 judgment." 
 
 As the two friends took their way to the School 
 of Forestry, they spoke of the curate, and Eudolph 
 said, ^^I think it is a duty to interpose." 
 
 "I think so too," acknowledged Euland ; "I 
 am only considering how it is to be done." 
 
 CHAPTEE XLVI. 
 
 A HOUSE or a heart, the morning after a noisy, 
 rollicking festival, is like the shell of an exploded 
 empty rocket. But in the forester's house every- 
 thing looked fresh. The traces of the merry visit 
 were effaced, for Mangold very early and very 
 
THE FORESTERS. 279 
 
 quietly had had the posts taken from the ground, 
 and the boards which had been used for tables 
 put aside ; serving men and maids, and the girls 
 who worked in the forest nurseries, had helped 
 to clear away, and scour and rub, so that the family 
 when they rose found everything in its wonted 
 order. 
 
 ^^ Strange !^^ said Jorns at breakfast; ^^the 
 young folks did so many droll things, and yet the 
 only thing that dwells in my mind is Schaller's 
 blowing the bugle so beautifully." 
 
 "How our rockets and bugle-blasts," said 
 Carla, "must have bewildered the birds in their 
 nests and the game in their coverts ! " 
 
 "Very likely they were kept awake like you," 
 interrupted her mother. "I can see you have 
 not slept." 
 
 "For that reason I should like to go to the 
 hunt with father to-day." 
 
 "As you think best," returned her mother 
 gently ; "but I thought it would be Just the right 
 time to invite your friend Toni to visit us ; you 
 have both wished it this long time." 
 
 Carla grew thoughtful : " Does my mother sus- 
 pect that something is going on within her child, 
 which that child will not acknowledge even to 
 her ? Does she want to send for Toni that she 
 may confide her fears to my friend ? " 
 
 "Yes," said Jorns, "I must send a messenger 
 to the city at any rate, and we will invite her at 
 
280 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 the same time. I like the merry flibbertigibbet 
 myself/' 
 
 Of course Carla agreed. When her father 
 summoned her to go to the wood with him, she 
 had altered her mind ; she preferred to stay at 
 home, and put everything in proper order. Such 
 fickleness was not usual in Carla ; it showed it- 
 self, too, in her changing color, which was now red^ 
 now pale. 
 
 She arranged Euland's chamber for her friend ; 
 she even sang meanwhile. Her mother, who 
 heard her, grew easier. 
 
 ^^Hark ! she is singing," said she to her hus- 
 band. ^^Haye you too noticed that Carla has 
 not sung since Ruland arrived ? '^ 
 
 ^^ Yes, indeed. She said herself to me, ' The 
 curate is right, my singing is too chirping.' She 
 is my brave girl ; she owns the truth to herself.'' 
 
 ^^Oh no, that is not all," said her mother, 
 ^^I am glad that Ruland is done with." 
 
 ^^If Ruland wants to marry again, that is the 
 best proof that his former marriage was a happy 
 one." 
 
 ^' That is a new idea to me." 
 
 ^^ It is quite plain," returned Jorns. ''^ If he had 
 been unhappy in his first wedlock, he would not 
 repeat the experiment. Through his misfortune, 
 and the wrong done him, Ruland lost his balance ; 
 he has found it again, thank God I I, for my 
 part, should be quite willing." 
 
THE FORESTERS. 281 
 
 ''I know that, but I hope it's oyer with/' con- 
 eluded the mother. 
 
 In the evening the gray was harnessed ; Oarla 
 held the reins herself, and brought her friend up 
 from the station. 
 
 ^^Does Emmy often yisit you?" was one of 
 the new-comer's first questions. ^^They say she 
 is engaged to the curate." 
 
 "I don't know; we have not seen her this 
 long time, but the curate was here yesterday." 
 
 ^^ And are you as good friends as ever ?" 
 
 ^^JSTo, not quite. He is vexed with me because 
 I will not give up hunting." 
 
 ^' And for nothing else ? " 
 
 '^Nothing that I know." 
 
 ^^ And I tell you, he is courting Emmy be- 
 cause you repulse him." 
 
 ^a do not think so." 
 
 ^^You must go with me to-morrow to the 
 parsonage." 
 
 ^^Not to the parsonage." 
 
 ^' Very well, then I shall go alone. You seem 
 so changed to me." 
 
 ''I ?" 
 
 ^^I am sorry Herr Euland has gone," prattled 
 on Toni ; " he pleased me very much when he 
 was with us in town. Is he coming back soon ? '* 
 
 " I believe he is not coming at all." 
 
 ^^ Then he is going back to America ? " 
 
 "Of course." 
 
282 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 The first interview of the friends was not so 
 confidential as might have been expected; the 
 two girls were in quite different moods. Carla was 
 moderate, restrained in all her moyements. Toni 
 was always fluttering, skipping about. In her 
 roguish eyes of fine gray, and in the delicate play 
 of her lips, there was a perpetual gleam of high 
 spirits and mirth. 
 
 So much the better pleased were the parents ; 
 and Jorns said to Toni, ^^ You should have been 
 here yesterday ; many of your comrades were 
 present.'' 
 
 "Comrades ?" 
 
 " Yes, indeed, and they rattled and whizzed," 
 said Jorns, laughing, "and kept up an incessant 
 racket just like you.'' 
 
 The mother took occasion to speak to Toni 
 alone and ask her what Carla had said to her of 
 Euland. Toni owned that they had hardly men- 
 tioned him. Madam Jorns took Toni's hand in 
 both hers, and sighed heavily ; it was long before 
 she could speak ; at last she said, " I am afraid — " 
 But she broke off in the middle of her speech, 
 and Toni added, "Ah, I understand." 
 
 "Yes," said the mother, relieved ; "you will 
 easily find out whether there has been an explana- 
 tion between them. " 
 
 " Herr Euland," returned Toni, gayly, " makes 
 spies of the whole region, and now I am to be- 
 come one too. '^ 
 
THE FORESTERS. 283 
 
 ^^ You must not say such a word, nor charge 
 such a thing either on me or yourself/' replied the 
 mother. But Toni said she should not seek to 
 know what Carla did not voluntarily tell her ; and 
 she considered herself bound not to impart a 
 secret that might be intrusted to her. 
 
 When Carla showed Toni to her room, Toni 
 asked, ^^ Whose chamber was this ? " 
 
 ^^HerrRuland's." 
 
 ^^ Why do you say Herr ? " 
 
 " What should I say ? '' 
 
 ''Ah, I understand!" thought Toni. She 
 made up her mind in the first place not to meddle 
 with the relation between Emmy and the curate. 
 ^^It is unhandsome and unbecoming to interfere 
 with the love of two people. Who dares ? who 
 can ? who can know what they are to each other, 
 since they are quite other than they seem to those 
 without ? If ever you have a love affair yourself, 
 let nobody interfere with it. Oh, a love affair ! 
 I ! It is an unparalleled insolence in Eilmeyer to 
 dare to pay his addresses to you and Carla. Such 
 a man ! Horrid ! It must be quite a different 
 person. If I only knew how he looks ! Tall and 
 fair — ^no, he may be short and stout ; but not 
 bald — no, he must have all his hair ; he need not 
 have an office either, if he only has a competence. 
 Oh, it is too stupid not to know what one's name 
 may be next year ! " 
 
284 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 CHAPTEE XLVII. 
 
 Ik the morning Carla was equipped, and asked 
 her friend whether she would go hunting ; the 
 latter was ready. Toni thought it delightful that 
 they needed no male escort, since Carla had her 
 gun, and Argus followed them ; with lively pleas- 
 ure the two went up the mountain-path. 
 
 ^^I must tell you something," began Toni. 
 '' Last night, before I went to sleep, I wondered 
 whether the person whom I am to marry has ever 
 yet thought, ' Who will some day be my sweet- 
 heart ? ' Do you ever have such thoughts ? '^ 
 
 Carla shook her head. 
 
 ^^ No, she tells me nothing," thought Toni, 
 ^^but I can wait. She is not happy, for happy 
 love can not be so silent and serious." 
 
 Out of her excitement she suddenly cried, 
 ^' Carla, if I ever love anybody I shall not let an 
 hour pass without telling you." 
 
 Even to this appeal from a full heart Carla 
 made no reply. 
 
 They went on some time longer in silence ; 
 then Toni said, ^^ Ah, the sweet air here, and the 
 stillness — it seems a thousand leagues off from the 
 roar of the city. I wish I could fly up into the 
 air, where there is no one to turn aside for ; up 
 there it must be so still, so still. Oh, the loneli- 
 ness of the woods I I used to think once loneli- 
 
THE FORESTERS. 285 
 
 ness was a real being that lived deep in the woods 
 like a beautiful elf. Do you remember that when 
 our teacher told us the Greeks believed that a 
 Dryad dwelt in every tree, you said to me after- 
 ward, as we were taking our walk side by side in 
 the castle garden, ' That is beautiful ; it makes 
 the wood one family of sisters ! ' Do you recol- 
 lect ? And just then we met the lieutenant, who 
 danced so well." 
 
 Carla let her friend chatter on, and only 
 showed that she was listening by occasional short 
 replies. 
 
 Toni made another attempt to obtain an ex- 
 planation from Carla; she said, ^^I think you 
 can not marry in the city." 
 
 Still Carla kept silence, and Toni asked, ^^Do 
 you keep an account of what you have shot ? " 
 
 ^^So far I have only shot at the target, and 
 once at a battue." 
 
 ^^If you meet any game to-day, will you 
 shoot it?" 
 
 '' Of course." 
 
 ^^Then you really shoot by yourself?" said 
 Toni, teasingly. ^^I thought that was all a joke. 
 I fired off a gun once ; but just as the shot went 
 off I shut my eyes and turned away my head, and 
 they laughed at me afterward. I almost caused 
 an accident ; I thank God it passed happily by. 
 But if a poacher or some other rough fellow 
 should meet us, will you shoot him too ? " 
 
286 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 '^ Don't ask me that/' said Carla. 
 
 They came together to the high ground of 
 Vogelseck, where Carla suddenly said, softly, 
 ^^ Stand still, Toni!'' 
 
 Toni stood with suspended breath. Carla 
 took aim ; a shot cracked ; a dark-brown kite 
 came whizzing down in a curve, and once or twice 
 flapped its wings. The two girls stood by the 
 fallen bird, and Toni cried, ^^ Just as in ^Der 
 Freischiitz ' ! You must give me one wing for 
 my winter haf 
 
 Carla looked at the bird and the blood, looked 
 around, and up to the sky ; she felt giddy. She 
 had already shot hares and partridges in her 
 father's company ; but. this was different. The 
 bird bowed its white, dark-lined head, with bluish 
 bill and half-shut yellow eyes, so sadly. 
 
 As if angry with her own softness toward the 
 bird of prey, Carla called to the dog, '^ Argus ! 
 watch ! " 
 
 Argus understood, placed himself by the dead 
 birdy and did not stir again. 
 
 Just as the girls were going on the curate came 
 up. He saluted them curtly, and said, '^ The shot 
 was yours, Carla ? " 
 
 ^^Yes." 
 
 The curate clasped his hands, and pressed them 
 together under his chin, while he went on : ^^ Tell 
 me now, how do you feel since you have killed 
 the bird?" 
 
THE FORESTERS. 287 
 
 Carla answered defiantly, '' It is no more than 
 if I had killed a gnat." 
 
 She saw the curate's angry look ; she feared a 
 reproof, and, quickly changing the subject, said : 
 
 "Dear Gotthold, I have not yet introduced 
 my friend : Antonia Mohrmann." 
 
 The curate bowed and said, "Pray excuse 
 me ! But, Carla, will you have the kindness to 
 answer my question ? " 
 
 "What question?" 
 
 " How you feel, now you have shot the bird ? " 
 
 " I have answered it. " 
 
 The curate turned, and went away with a po- 
 lite bow. Carla flew after him, and said, " Gott- 
 hold, I 've been wanting to speak to you — " 
 
 "You to me?" 
 
 "Yes, and say something from my inmost 
 heart." 
 
 " You ? From your inmost heart ? To me ? " 
 
 What Carla had meant, after quiet prepara- 
 tion, to bring forward cautiously and feelingly 
 now found vent in the bitterest vehemence ; she 
 warned the curate against Emmy, and reminded 
 him of their former friendship. But this remem- 
 brance made him still bitterer ; he looked at her 
 from head to foot, and said, finally, "A girl like 
 you, that ranges the woods with a gun over her 
 shoulder, has forfeited the right to judge of what 
 belongs to worthy and lofty womanhood. " 
 
 With a look into which a mighty emotion was 
 
283 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 compressed, Carla gazed at the curate, and cried, 
 ^^And such words come, forsooth, out of a heart 
 that is filled with loye ? Do you think that is a 
 real loye which makes one hard and unjust to- 
 ward others ? " 
 
 ^^ And do you think you know what love is ?" 
 the curate flung at her in return. 
 
 '^ Gotthold, there is time yet,'' urged Oarla, 
 and, trembling, clasped his hand with both hers, 
 while she repeated with suppressed voice, " Gott- 
 hold, there is time yet ; but they are talking of it 
 in the city already ; Toni told me so. Leave 
 Emmy ! You do not know her ; she is heartless, 
 soulless ; she did not love her dead husband ; she 
 can not love ; she loves no one but herself ; she — " 
 
 ^^ Enough !" cried the curate, thrusting away 
 both her hands. ^' May God forgive you ! I hope 
 I may be able, some time, to do so too. And now 
 go hunt, if you still have the heart for it. I hope 
 Euland is right, and that after you have taken 
 your first spoils by yourself unaided, you will not 
 be able to hunt again. Good-by ! " 
 
 The curate hurried away. 
 
 Carla looked after him in a stupor, then covered 
 her face with both hands. 
 
 '' What is it ? What is the matter with you ? " 
 cried Toni, running up. 
 
 ^' He never said a word to me about my carry- 
 ing a gun, but he spoke to Gotthold, and he was 
 right ! " thought Carla to herself. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 289 
 
 '' Did I hear right ? '' asked Toni. '' Did not 
 the curate say something to you about Herr 
 Euland?" 
 
 '^You heard it?" 
 
 ^^Yes." 
 
 Carla embraced her friend, and wept and 
 sobbed on her breast. Toni comforted her. 
 ^^Be at rest ; it is not true that one can not be 
 happy with a widower ; on the contrary, a man 
 who has already made one wife happy is so much 
 the more grateful and appreciative. Yes, Carla, 
 you will be happy ! " 
 
 Carla looked round in astonishment. Had 
 she then told her friend already, or could every- 
 body read it in her face ? She confessed every- 
 thing to Toni, and Toni consoled and encouraged 
 her with all the brightness of her nature. 
 
 At last Carla rose, brushed back the hair from 
 her forehead, and said, ^^Let us be going home." 
 
 ^^Oh!" cried Toni, ^^why home yet? We 
 had planned to stay out all day. Come along ; it 
 must be still more beautiful on the top of the 
 mountain; we will sit down on the moss, and 
 you shall tell me about Euland, and I beg you 
 give me something to do in the business. If he 
 has not spoken yet, send him to me ; he can say 
 it all to me much better." 
 
 As the two friends went up the mountain 
 they came upon Mangold, who was sitting on a 
 stump. 
 
 19 
 
290 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 
 '^ Maitgold, what are you doing ? Why are 
 you so far up here ? " 
 
 " There ! Now find fault with me. That is 
 my thanks for taking the first honey from the 
 young bees for you to-day. You forget every- 
 thing." 
 
 "But not to thank you." 
 
 ^^ I know. I haye gone through with enough 
 on the way here already, but I can't bear it any 
 longer down in the yalley. I must sit once more 
 up here in the sun and look at the waterfall ; 
 time slips by while watching how it for ever 
 comes and goes. I should like best to stay with 
 my brother, and die high up in the forest. I 
 am going to my brother the charcoal-burner ; 
 his bitch has puppies, and he does not know 
 how to manage them." 
 
 " No, Mangold, you can not do that ; there is 
 no one to take care of you there." 
 
 "It is a good thing that I have met you, 
 Carla. Give me back my otter-skin. You have 
 furs enough already, and pleasures besides, but 
 every one who can ought to give Euland some 
 pleasure. I have promised him my otter-skin, 
 that he may make himself a cap of it ; and when 
 he roams about the American woods again, he 
 will have on a cap from me." 
 
THE FORESTERS. 291 
 
 ^^Yes, yes, give it to him," returned Carla. 
 ^^But yonder" — she pointed out the spot exactly 
 — ^^lies a kite that I have shot." 
 
 ^a saw it fall." 
 
 *^ Be good enough to take it and carry it down. 
 Take my gun home, too." 
 
 ^^What? You will not hunt any more to- 
 day?" 
 
 ^^No ; I am going through the wood without 
 my gun now. " 
 
 She held out her hand to Mangold. Toni did 
 the same, and he said, ^' Look at her now ! She 
 would make a handsome forester's wife, too. Does 
 she love the woods ? " asked he, addressing Carla. 
 
 ^^ As surely as you do," returned Toni. 
 
 The two girls went on, and when they came 
 to the tall woods that lead to the Hahnenkamm 
 they saw the Adjunct. He did not address them, 
 but appeared to be in great excitement, for he 
 spread out his arms as if to embrace some one 
 coming. Presently he heard the steps of the 
 friends, and turned to them. Toni stared at him, 
 stooped down, gathered a wood-lily, and fastened 
 it in her throbbing bosom. The Adjunct collected 
 himself, gave first a military salute, then took off 
 his hat. How his white forehead shone, how his 
 cheeks burned, how his eyes sparkled, and his lips 
 quivered ! 
 
 " I must present to you my best friend," said 
 Carla, 
 
292 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 *^ We are acquainted already/' returned the 
 Adjunct ; ^^ I have already once had the honor, 
 the pleasure " — he stammered — ^^ of speaking to 
 the young lady in the city. Do you remember a 
 ball at my sister's ? And then I used often to 
 meet you when the school walked in the castle 
 garden." 
 
 ^^ Yes, I know/' was all that Toni could utter. 
 
 The Adjunct asked Carla whether it was her 
 shot which had been heard. Carla said yes, add- 
 ing that she had shot a splendid kite ; and Toni 
 subjoined, " I am to have one of the wings for my 
 hat." 
 
 The Adjunct called Bobbel, who was at work 
 near by, and told him softly to run down to 
 Grubenbauer's, and bring eggs and milk, and ham 
 and wine too, if he could get them. 
 
 Merrily singing and crowing, Bobbel sprang 
 down the rayine. The Adjunct conducted the 
 girls to his hut. 
 
 Carla said she was so tired she must sleep a 
 little. She sat down on the soft moss under a 
 spreading fir, leaned her head against the trunk, 
 and closed her eyes. She fell asleep on the same 
 spot where Euland had slept a few days before. 
 
 ^^I think she has not slept for nights," said 
 Toni confidingly to the Adjunct. ^'Haye you, 
 too, noticed anything ? " 
 
 ^^ Excuse me, I did not hear what you said." 
 
 ^^ Are people so polite in the woods ?" 
 
THE FORESTERS. 293 
 
 " I am not in the woods ; I do not know where 
 1 am. I only know it delights me that you are 
 here, that I see you, hear you. Pray forgive my 
 boldness." 
 
 Toni said nothing, and the Adjunct was prob- 
 ably not wrong in taking it as forgiyeness. At 
 length she remarked, "I believe you can be 
 trusted." 
 
 ^^Oh, certainly!" 
 
 '' I mean that one may safely intrust something 
 to you. I asked you before whether you had 
 noticed any close relation between Carla and 
 Euland." 
 
 So Toni told him, in the fullest confidence, 
 how Carla was fighting with her love, and this 
 was certainly the case T^ith Ruland too ; it was a 
 duty for them both to help these noble people. 
 
 " I am sorry to say I am not such a friend of 
 Herr Euland as you of Fraulein Carla. Do you 
 not think' it usually does mischief when other 
 people, however intimate, interfere in a relation 
 of this sort ? " 
 
 ^' Certainly, you are more considerate than I." 
 
 ^^ Oh, no ! only cooler, because I am not close 
 to either." 
 
 The two now went into an exposition of Carla's 
 and Euland's excellences. Toni knew Euland 
 well, and had heard still more of him from her 
 father, and from all sorts of worthy people. And 
 as they both praised the other two, and brought 
 
294 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 forward those characteristics which they held 
 specially high — as Toni spoke of Kuland, and 
 thought the same might well be said of the Ad- 
 junct, and the Adjunct talked of Carla, and 
 deemed it was true of Toni — it was a concealed 
 and yet open reyelation of themselves. 
 
 '^ Are you tired, too ?" asked the Adjunct. 
 
 '' Oh, nor 
 
 The Adjunct said he would like to show Toni 
 his forest and the new plantations ; she was ready. 
 
 Argus looked at the Adjunct, as if to say, 
 ^^ What is the matter that he pays me no more 
 attention, and now goes quite away with another, 
 and leaves my good mistress lying under a tree 
 alone ? There is certainly nothing true about 
 hunters but their dogs.'^ He sat down by his 
 sleeping mistress, and truer eyes never watched 
 over her than those of the black pointer. 
 
 In the wood through which the two were go- 
 ing it was still ; only a pine-cone sometimes fell, 
 and the birds skipped, chirping softly, from tree to 
 tree. Toni inquired about plants and animals ; 
 the Adjunct gave her new information about them 
 all. 
 
 ^^It must be delightful to know everything 
 so,'' said Toni. She stood still. The Adjunct 
 called her attention to a young brood of hawks 
 that had just begun to fly, and to the old birds 
 circling gladly round them. They went on, the 
 young hawks screaming above them. They came 
 
THE FORESTERS. 295 
 
 to the brook, and the Adjunct explained that this 
 brook was to be led to the town where Toni lived ; 
 the source was not far off, and they went toward it. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 ^^Do you still remember the last waltz we 
 danced together ? '^ asked the Adjunct ; and it 
 seemed as if the merry dancing-tune was ringing 
 in the speech of both. ^^ Do you remember when 
 we last met ? The friend next you dropped her 
 parasol ; I took it up and handed it to you, 
 although you had one. Did you notice that I did 
 it on purpose ? " 
 
 ^' Eeally ! I was teased about it a great deal 
 at school, but I did not think you so artful." 
 
 ^^A little stratagem, nothing more; but I 
 want a decoration for it — a reward. Give me the 
 wood-lily that you picked just as we caught sight 
 of each other." 
 
 Toni looked down ; her face glowed with 
 graceful shame, her bosom heaved. Almost clos- 
 ing her eyes, she took the lily and handed it to 
 the Adjunct. They went on hand in hand. 
 
 '^ I would kiss your hand, but I can not kiss 
 it before — " He stopped short, and the blood 
 rushed to his face. 
 
 Toni looked at him; the Adjunct collected 
 
296 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 himself again, and with a voice of unspeakable 
 fervor he cried, ^^ Beloved !'* 
 
 Toni was silent, only her breath came quicker 
 and stronger. 
 
 They reached the spring, where the silver-firs 
 bent over the rocks from which it came leaping 
 forth, and without a word further the Adjunct 
 clasped Toni in his arms and kissed her, and Toni 
 kissed him again and again. 
 
 " Oh, how I thank you ! how I thank you," 
 cried the Adjunct at last, "that you have no af- 
 fectation, that you feel and show your feeling like 
 me. There is no hesitation, no resistance ; we 
 have nothing to discuss, nothing to ask and to 
 consider. You love me, and I love you ; it must 
 be so ; it is as sure as that the tree is supported 
 by its roots, and that the sky hangs over us, and 
 that the spring wells for ever from the earth." 
 
 " Yes ; I will not ask either how it came about. 
 "We belong to each other. As the fountain spouts 
 unceasingly from the rocks, so I know, I feel, 
 there is a fountain in me, in thee, that never will 
 run dry. water ! " cried she, >^ when you come 
 down to my home, when you refresh thousands, 
 tell them all their happiness together can not be 
 greater than mine is." 
 
 " Ours ! " exclaimed the Adjunct. " How 
 often have I had to bear ridicule as a visionary, 
 and now I am experiencing the highest happiness. 
 I possess thee, free, true, brave girl I " 
 
THE FORESTERS. 297 
 
 "Come down/' begged Toni ; ''I want a 
 drink." 
 
 They went down, he supporting, almost carry- 
 ing her. She stooped, scooped up water with her 
 hand, and drank ; and he begged, "Give me 
 some, too." She dipped once more, and he drank 
 from the hollow of her hand. 
 
 "We have drunk from my forest-brook that 
 nourishes the trees ; you and I are now one," said 
 the Adjunct in triumph. And now they embraced 
 and kissed one another again, and Toni said, "I 
 felt it ; it seemed to me to-day, when I was 
 coming up the mountain, as if I must fly." 
 
 "And my first thought this morning," re- 
 joined the Adjunct, "was, ^If I only knew where 
 my darling sleeps, and how she is now opening 
 her eyes ! ' It must have been a presentiment." 
 
 "Don't let us grow superstitious," said Toni, 
 sagely. "People who are superstitious have no 
 peace and no happiness ; the least things torment 
 them. You are not superstitious, are you ?" 
 
 " No ; I believe in a real being ; I believe in 
 you — you, my dear, good, bright heart — you, my 
 forest-spring." 
 
 " And what besides ? " asked Toni, roguishly. 
 
 " What you please — everything in the world. 
 My dove, my heaven ! " 
 
 " That is enough ; we must go back to Carla." 
 
 "And you have not once asked my name," 
 said the Adjunct, banteringly. " But that is right. 
 
298 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 Hark, the wild pigeon above us did not ask lier 
 lover his name. But my name is Emil. Your 
 name, Toni, I have long known ; at the master 
 forester's they always call you so." 
 
 ^^Tell me, Emil, did we ever address each 
 other as strangers ? '^ 
 
 ^^ Perhaps so, two thousand years ago. This 
 hour with you is an eternity, and a thousand 
 eternities shall link themselves to it, and we will 
 not say a word of what shall be hereafter. I shall 
 be able to give you bread enough. But shall we 
 tellCarla?" 
 
 '' Oh, certainly. '^ 
 
 They came back, often stopping, to be sure, 
 and from many a tree a bird looked down on two 
 fair-haired, tall, well-proportioned young people 
 — ^he in a green coat, she in a blue muslin gown — 
 who embraced and kissed each other ; and an old 
 finch, of wide experience, twittered to his wife, 
 ^' Just look — among men the female is much the 
 handsomer." 
 
 They came back to the block-house. Bobbel 
 had returned with all manner of food and drink. 
 The Adjunct and Toni stood by the fireplace 
 built in the open air, and their cheeks did not 
 glow only from the flickering fire. 
 
 Toni waked her friend with her favorite song. 
 As she told the tale to Carla, and clasped her with 
 ardor to her breast, Carla said, ^^ You did quite 
 right ; you both felt you were fitted for each 
 
THE FORESTERS. 299 
 
 other ; without delay or fear you clasped each 
 other in your arms. That is the reality ; that is 
 pure nature. You will certainly never repent." 
 
 ^^ You talk as if you were an ancient sage, and 
 you are hardly two months older than I," said 
 Toni, reprovingly. 
 
 Everything was delightful. Only Argus broke 
 suddenly into fierce battle with the Adjunct's 
 dog, without anybody's having observed a declara- 
 tion of war. When the dogs had been separated, 
 and Argus saw that his mistress still went alone 
 while the Adjunct had attached himself to an- 
 other, he walked with drooping head behind his 
 mistress. 
 
 CHAPTER L. 
 
 The Adjunct accompanied the girls a good 
 way down the valley ; then he was obliged to take 
 leave and return to his workpeople. Carla was 
 a little in advance ; at last Toni overtook her ; her 
 cheeks were burning, and her lips burned still 
 more. 
 
 Carla did not mean to interrupt Toni's happi- 
 ness by a word, but Toni began : ^^ Carla ! is 
 this the same wood we passed through a few hours 
 ago ? Is it I myself who am walking here ? Ah, 
 if it were true that there are Dryads in all the 
 
300 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 trees ! they could not but come out, and sing 
 and dance and skip and rejoice with me. thou 
 blue sky above, and thou dear good earth, thou 
 forest soil on which he treads, bear him kindly 
 and let all prosper with him. Carla, if you 
 were but as happy as I ! But you will see — you 
 will. Euland is young, and he is handsome too ; 
 he is just suited for you, as Emil to me. Euland 
 is only seven years older than you ; he has a few 
 gray hairs in his beard, but that does not misbe- 
 come his blooming youth. Did you suspect as we 
 went up the mountain that it could turn out so ? " 
 
 So Toni rejoiced, and Carla replied, ^^ I knew 
 you would please each other, but that you would 
 confess your love and betroth yourselves so quickly, 
 so regardless of rule, of order — " 
 
 " That is the best of it," interrupted Toni. 
 ^^ Why should we not say it at once ? why should 
 we not fall at once on one another's necks ? And 
 he was so honest, so true, so straightforward — " 
 
 ^' And did you never think of your parents ? " 
 
 ^^Oh yes, certainly, but not till afterward. 
 When I saw him, and we fell into one another's 
 arms, I wanted no more and knew no more of the 
 whole world. Now we must be orderly and quiet. 
 You will see it will all go right. I must leave 
 you to-morrow, for Sunday he will ask me of my 
 parents, and perhaps his mother will come with 
 him ; he has no father. 'Tis a pity he is dead ; 
 he must have been a man, too, as pliant and yet as 
 
THE FORESTERS. 301 
 
 strong as a fir. Come, it is early yet ; let us sit 
 down. I don't want to leave the wood ; I would 
 rather not see other people yef 
 
 Carla consented, and Toni pleaded : ^^ Dear 
 Carla, it is not right of me to talk all the time of 
 Emil and myself ; do you talk too. How has it 
 been with you and Euland ? Tell me everything 
 here in the woods." 
 
 ^^ We have had no explanation/' began Carla, 
 " but so sure as I know that I love him, so sure I 
 know that he loves me ; and so sure as I know 
 that I struggle hard, I know that he must struggle. 
 He thinks it disloyal — " 
 
 " Oh, why disloyal ? " interrupted Toni. '' It 
 is an honest love, a tender one ; there is nothing 
 wrong about it." 
 
 *'I can't bear songs about dead sweethearts," 
 went on Carla ; "but the night that Euland told 
 us how he felt after Sylvia's burial, death and life 
 entwined themselves together before me, a new 
 world opened before me, and a new world rose 
 within me. That very night I was ready to give 
 up my hunting, yet I clung to it from obstinacy, 
 and it was Euland who foretold how it would be 
 with me. He knows me better than I know my- 
 self, and I know him better than he knows himself ; 
 for I love him more than he loves himself. But I 
 see you are tired ; you would like to sleep a little." 
 
 '^ No, I sha'n't sleep ; only go on. I will just 
 lie down ; I shall hear perfectly." 
 
302 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 Carla went on, but she soon said, ^^I have 
 nothing more to tell ; go to sleep." She sat by 
 her friend and looked in her sleeping face. What 
 a gracious throng of happy genii must rule in 
 the soul of the sleeper who lies there so bright, so 
 satisfied, and so softened ! Not a tree stirred in 
 the forest. The air was still, as if all things held 
 their breath. Suddenly it grew dark; a pale 
 twilight spread around, as though the sun were 
 eclipsed. Yonder rises a cloud, heavy and 
 dull. 
 
 '^ What is the matter ? For God's sake, what 
 is the matter ? " exclaimed Toni suddenly from 
 her sleep ; for thunder rolled and growled, and 
 echoed seven-fold from the rocks, and before the 
 girl could rise the rain was pouring down like a 
 water-spout. 
 
 " Where are we ? Do you know the way ? '' 
 shrieked Toni ; for the thunder drowned her 
 voice, and flash darted after flash till her eyes 
 were dazzled. 
 
 ^' Here is the path," replied Carla, '^ but it is 
 a brook now. Only have courage." 
 
 ^^I will; but hark, how it rushes and roars 
 below us. What is that ? " 
 
 " That is the waterfall, which is already swol- 
 len. We are between two storms, one above, one 
 below." 
 
 '' The mountain is surely falling." 
 
 " Those are loose stones which the stone-cutters 
 
THE FORESTERS. 303 
 
 have started from their beds ; they are rolling 
 down." 
 
 ^' Do they belong to Eilmeyer ? Herr Eil- 
 meyer ! run up here with your stork's legs ; your 
 stones are running away/' cried Toni in the midst 
 of her distress. ^^ But can not the stones reach 
 us here ? " she cried again. 
 
 "ISTo." 
 
 ^^ Thank God, we have the dog with us ! '' 
 
 Carla was sorry she had not her gun ; she 
 might have fired a signal of distress which would 
 have brought people to their aid. 
 
 ^^ Thank God that I sent Mangold home ! " she 
 added ; ^' the good fellow is now under shelter.'' 
 
 ^^ Ah, it seems as if there was not a roof in the 
 world," Toni began, weeping. ^^I brought it on 
 to-day by thinking of ^ Der Freischiitz ' ; this is 
 just like the wolf's ravine, when the Wild Hunts- 
 man goes by. I seem to hear guns crack, and 
 pipes and bugles sounding between. Do you hear 
 that whistling ? " 
 
 '' Oh, yes ; it is the wind blowing through the 
 clefts in the rocks." 
 
 ^^ Didn't you hear anything ? I hear a thou- 
 sand giants laughing and screaming. Oh, if there 
 should be an enchanted spirit near ! There may 
 be. I believe everything now. Ah, it was too 
 delightful ! it ought not to be so lovely in this 
 world ! Don't you hear anything ? Don't you 
 think some one is coming ? Emil ! Emil ! " 
 
304 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 " Nobody is coming ; you wear yourself out 
 for nothing, and confuse me too. Come, I know 
 a projecting cliff ; hold on to me ; we shall find 
 shelter there/^ 
 
 '' But won't it roll down, too ? " 
 
 ^^No, it stands firm." 
 
 The girls reached in safety an overhanging 
 cliff, under which they crouched down. 
 
 The rain came in sharp bursts ; the storm 
 seemed to leaye off at times, only to break out 
 more violently in rattling hail. There was rush- 
 ing and roaring, rattling and cracking in the air, 
 and sharp whistling amid it all ; torrent fell after 
 torrent, and the tops of the firs were wrenched 
 hither and thither. A blinding flash of lightning 
 went past them, and Carla said, '' That struck 
 somewhere ; I smell the sulphurous odor.'' 
 
 The girls had crouched down and were cling- 
 ing closely together, and the dog was cowering 
 before them. Now the dog suddenly raised him- 
 self up. 
 
 ^' I hear footsteps," said Carla, ^^ and I have no 
 gun." 
 
 ^^ For God's sake, don't frighten me so ! But 
 yet somebody is coming." 
 
 ^^ Ah, here I find two wild doves in their nest," 
 cried Schaller's voice suddenly. He pulled off 
 his dripping gray broad-brimmed hat, and bowed. 
 ^^Fraulein Carla, I stole the feather in my hat 
 from the kite which you shot." 
 
THE FORESTERS. 305 
 
 ^^ So you met Mangold ? Is he at home ? " 
 
 ^^No, at his brother's. Fraulein Carla, you 
 did me a kindness once/' He made a pause, and 
 went on : ^^ Where is your gun ? Pity there is no 
 painter here ; it would make a picture of the 
 flood : Rain, and nothing but rain ; two maidens 
 have taken refuge under a rock, and a reckless 
 vagabond has found his way to them. What was 
 the man called who, having escaped from Sodom, 
 thought it was the second flood ? It whizzes and 
 groans, cracks and snaps, rumbles and blusters, as 
 if this best possible world would burst and fly to 
 powder. The devil ! " he suddenly exclaimed ; 
 ^^ the lightning stings one's eyes ! " He rubbed 
 his eyes again and again. 
 
 ^^Herr Schaller, we are glad you have joined 
 us," cried Toni, with the humor of despera- 
 tion. 
 
 " You are really glad ? " said Schaller, banter- 
 ingly. ^^ The wild weather delights me. I envy 
 the Wild Huntsman, who, in the thunderstorm, 
 with huzza and halloo, with bay of dogs, crack of 
 whip, and clang of horns, rides over the pitifully 
 trembling earth. Women and cats are distressed 
 when it lightens, because they are charged with 
 electricity themselves. Am I not good at enter- 
 taining ladies ? I should like to be at the last 
 coffee-party that is held on the earth. Really, 
 whom will the last lady tattler and scandal- 
 monger tear in pieces ? " 
 20 
 
306 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 (c • 
 
 You are full of your jokes," Toni had 
 courage to say; and Schaller returned, ^^Yes, 
 bride of the noble hunter, it was beautiful by the 
 bubbling fount ; there I once more saw loye au 
 naturely and afterward listened to the elegy of our 
 noble Diana, who now is stricken dumb." 
 
 "Help us, accompany us," broke in Oarla. 
 
 " We are perfectly safe here. How would it 
 be if I begged each of you to giye me a kiss ? " 
 
 " Oh, I am glad that you have come ; you 
 come as if you had been called, Emil ! " cried 
 Toni abruptly, moving round the rock. She had 
 only done it in recklessness to frighten Schaller, 
 and now she cried out, "A miracle ! a miracle !" 
 for she heard the dog bay, and the Adjunct was 
 really at hand. 
 
 "I was looking for you," said the Adjunct, 
 " and fortunately found your track, Herr Schaller." 
 
 "I am glad," answered the latter, and he 
 touched his hat and departed. 
 
 The Adjunct accompanied the two girls down 
 the mountain, till they were in sight of the house, 
 then turned back. The rain was oyer 
 
 "That is Carla's gun," Jorns had said in his 
 office, as he heard at noon the echoing shot. 
 " What can she haye shot ? She is a noble girl, 
 but often imprudent — ^too high-spirited. But I 
 say, like that priest at confession : ' Child, are 
 you high-spirited ? Stay so while you can ; it 
 will pass away soon enough.' " 
 
THE FORESTERS. 307 
 
 In the afternoon it grew sultry ; there was ex- 
 citement in the air, which man and beast and 
 plant perceived. Jorns rose, bent and stretched 
 himself till all his joints cracked, then sat down 
 again to his writing ; it was more burdensome to 
 him than eyer to-day, and he bit his pipe-stem 
 with more energy. 
 
 Then came the police commissioner, saying he 
 had intended his visit for Kuland, but that he 
 could make the communication to Jorns as well. 
 He requested them to abandon the pursuit of the 
 slanderer. The man heretofore so proud and self- 
 satisfied was depressed, because he was losing in 
 this affair his reputation for being able to uncover 
 every criminal secret. He dared not say that he 
 might claim to have discovered this also ; to point 
 out Schaller as the author lay so near that it seemed 
 incomprehensible people should have overlooked 
 the easiest explanation. But when the commis- 
 sioner was able to point with decision to Schaller, 
 he was forced to perceive with horror that his 
 daughter also was involved. If circumstances 
 were mentioned in the letter that had taken place 
 while Schaller was in prison, Emmy could very 
 well have imparted them to him. 
 
 The commissioner had just come from the par- 
 sonage, and, though Emmy had not confessed her 
 complicity in the authorship, it was indubitable 
 to him. Therefore he begged that all further in- 
 quiry should be stopped, and Jorns willingly 
 
808 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 agreed, saying, *^It is pitiful to have to become a 
 bloodhound in one's old age/^ 
 
 Not long after he had gone the storm broke 
 like a water-spout in the yalley too. His wife 
 came to Jorns in his office, and lamented that 
 the girls were out in such weather. The rain 
 poured faster and faster; the trees writhed un- 
 der the powerful blasts. Then, just as the storm 
 had abated and the clear blue sky shone down 
 once more, peals of laughter were heard before 
 the house. The girls came in, dripping with rain, 
 and Toni cried merrily, '' I have received the bap- 
 tism of the woods. '^ 
 
 The mother took the girls to her room, and 
 they soon came into Jorns's office, fresh clad in 
 dry garments. The storm was over, the sun shone 
 clear again, men breathed freer, and everything 
 without was refreshed. 
 
 When Carla asked whether Mangold had 
 brought back her gun and the kite, she learned 
 that they knew nothing of Mangold's departure or 
 his return ; perhaps he had gone to his brother's 
 for the puppies, and had staid there. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 309 
 
 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 Ik the forest, not far from a fir whose top was 
 cracked and singed, lay Mangold, struck by the 
 thunder-bolt. His eyes stood open, and in his 
 hand he still held one wing of the kite. A wren, 
 brightened up by the storm, was singing above 
 him in the tree ; the rain-drops, colored by the 
 sunset, glittered and flashed on every twig. 
 
 Schaller came whistling by ; he stopped, as if 
 spell-bound, and stood gazing into the face of the 
 dead man. ^^ Mangold !" he cried ; ^' Mangold ! 
 A dog is sick ! You don't stir ? Then you must 
 be dead ! Fellow, why do you look so horridly at 
 me? But what is that?" 
 
 Schaller now first perceived that he was wet 
 through and through ; he was chilled to his mar- 
 row, and felt, besides, as if something was running 
 over his eyes, and at the same time flowing from 
 within them. He winked ; he pulled his eyes 
 open ; and still it seemed to him he saw no- 
 thing : everything lay before him in shadow. He 
 laughed at his mad fancy, stooped down, tore an- 
 other plume from the fallen kite, and stuck it in 
 his hat ; then, without looking round again, he 
 went down the mountain. It seemed as though 
 he did not know the way ; it was not the path to 
 his house, but to the village. He often stumbled 
 on the way, and then cursed because he did not see 
 
310 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 the roots ; once he actually fell. He reached the 
 yillage. Why were the houses so strangely red 
 when a bright full moon was shining ? He passed 
 Grater's house ; there was a great deal of light in 
 the sitting-room. Why does a blind man want so 
 much light ? 
 
 An unspeakable fear of blindness began to grow 
 upon Schaller. Had the lightning destroyed his 
 eyes ? He scoffed at himself for this strange 
 weakness, but it did not yield. 
 
 He went to the parsonage, and sent word to 
 Emmy ; he must speak to her of an important 
 matter. She did not invite him into the house, 
 but went into the garden, and asked sharply : 
 
 ^^ What do you want — now and here ?" 
 
 " I see you ; I am not yet blind,'' said 
 Schaller. 
 
 ^^I do not understand you." 
 
 ^^But we shall yet understand each other. 
 Fail* soul, gracious companion, how is it ? If I 
 become blind — I think it possible — will you take 
 care of me ?" 
 
 - "Pray do not annoy me with your extraya- 
 gancesv I tell you, once for all, I have nothing in 
 common with you ; and if you molest me further 
 I shall name the author of the letter, in regard to 
 which I am innocent, to my father or to Euland 
 himself. Against a man who has openly defamed 
 his own father I shall find credit." 
 
 Schaller for the first time was afraid of Emmy ; 
 
THE FORESTERS. 811 
 
 he recognized that she could go beyond him in 
 deviltry. ^^ Thanks, thanks ! " replied he, and 
 hurried off. 
 
 Whoever had seen him, with the waving 
 feather in his hat, walking down the street, often 
 stopping and holding his hand before his eyes, 
 then cursing as he went on, must have thought 
 him drunk ; and yet it was only rage that boiled 
 within him. He who despises men, who scoffs 
 at the whole world, must not be ill, not in need 
 of help — no, dead at once. 
 
 ^^Whom are you talking with?" some one 
 said to Schaller at the last house but one of the 
 village. He was so startled that he staggered 
 backward ; he recognized the grave-digger, how- 
 ever, and smiled when he was asked for a ci- 
 gar.- 
 
 '^ Oh yes, to be sure, you are a night-watch- 
 man also," said Schaller ; and the man of two 
 callings told him that he had just come from 
 Grater, who had died within the hour. The old 
 man had spoken to Mangold in his last moments 
 as though he were present. 
 
 Schaller did not think it necessary to say any- 
 thing about Mangold, and went on. 
 
 At the same hour Jorns was going through 
 the wood, his gun on his shoulder ; he often 
 blew his whistle, and called aloud, ^^ Mangold!" 
 but received no answer. He came to the char- 
 coal-burner and asked for Mangold. The man 
 
312 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 said he was waiting for his brother, to show him 
 his puppies. 
 
 Jorns turned back. Up in the young wood 
 Hellauf, whom he held in the leash, whimpered 
 violently. Jorns stood still, took his gun from 
 his shoulder, and loosed the dog, which then ran 
 into the thicket ; he whistled to him, but the 
 dog, instead of returning, began to bark violently* 
 Jorns bent back the twigs ; the rain-drops dashed 
 in his face ; he passed his hand through his hair^ 
 which began to stand on end. There lay Man- 
 gold, eyidently struck by lightning. 
 
 Young Hellauf barked and barked to Mangold; 
 he did not stir. 
 
 Jorns stood awhile unable to moye, then bent 
 over, and while he closed Mangold's eyes, he said, 
 ^^ Good Mangold, you always wished to die in the 
 forest ; now it has been granted you ! " 
 
 Not far from the spot where Mangold lay wa& 
 the charcoal-burner's pit. Jorns called him. With 
 him came other men, among them the Adjunct. 
 Mangold was carried under the bright moonlight 
 to the forester's house upon a litter of young firs. 
 
 The women wept, and Carla said, ^' It seems 
 to me as though good Mangold, faithful soul ! had 
 received the bolt that might have struck us." 
 
 '^ And what he last said to you and of others 
 was so kind," added Toni. 
 
 Carla blushed, and looked with streaming eyes 
 at her incautious friend. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 313 
 
 CHAPTER LIL 
 
 Castle Rektei^horst ! What good does his 
 fine name do a sick dog ? What signifies the 
 gay inscription on a house, if no gayety dwells 
 within ? 
 
 Schaller's maid sat in the kitchen, and mut- 
 tered to herself : '' Such a fellow there never was ! 
 He has a fever. Yesterday he was soaking wet, 
 and he does not take even a dram ; he must have 
 taken an oath never to drink a drop. If he would 
 only talk with me ! I dare not even say good 
 morning till after he has spoken. Something very 
 strange must have happened to him, something 
 which never happened before.'' 
 
 Schaller stood in his sitting-room ; the golden 
 morning light streamed through the window. He 
 opened a secret drawer, in which was tobacco 
 steeped in opium ; it gives forgetfulness, sweet 
 dreams, but afterward the awaking is infernal. 
 ^' JSTo," said he to himself ; " and yet why not make 
 an end, a complete one ? What matters it what 
 they think of you when they find your corpse ? 
 You have not cared what they thought of your 
 living body." He looked at the stuffed dog : 
 ^^ Mangold cared for me on your account ; there 
 is, then, something good in me still ; he was the 
 last person who, in spite of all, spoke well of me. 
 Bah ! Of what consequence are you, drudge ? '' 
 
314 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 Tears were running down his cheeks, and still 
 he was not weeping. The stuffed dog seemed 
 wrapped in a thick cloud, and his boon companions 
 in the picture near by danced in the cloud and 
 grinned as if in scorn. 
 
 Schaller rubbed his eyes and looked at himself 
 in the glass ; his eyes were blood-shot. 
 
 The bells sounded from the mountain and 
 through the valley. '' That's what people call 
 beautiful, and take delight in filling the air with 
 their tinkling and jangling ! " He called the 
 maid and asked what they were ringing for. 
 
 " They are burying Mangold/' returned she. 
 ^^ Will you go to the funeral ? Your clothes are 
 dry." 
 
 ^' Who gave you leave to question me ? " 
 
 The girl would have gone, but Schaller called 
 her back and said : ^^ Go yourself ; hurry off ; 
 bring me word. When you see the curate, tell 
 him to come to me at once ; I have something very 
 important to say to him. Go — make haste — run ! " 
 
 The girl hastened away, carrying her hymn- 
 book in her hand. As Schaller looked after her 
 from the window he said to himself, '^ There goes 
 Credulity, her rhymed code in her hand." 
 
 He took a book and tried to read ; it was a 
 wicked book, full of scoflfing and bitterness. But 
 his eyes ached ; he could not read ; something 
 like a spider-web came over his face. He brushed 
 his hand repeatedly across his eyes, but the net of 
 
THE FORESTERS. 315 
 
 spider-web did not stir. He shut his eyes and 
 went to sleep. His maid's return first waked him, 
 and he inquired, " How did it pass off ? '' 
 
 '' Oh/' said she, ^' no one was ever buried with 
 more sincere respect and feeling. Mangold and 
 Grater were buried together. There were Catho- 
 lics present too — Armbruster and his wife ; and 
 everybody wept, old Jorns among the rest. But 
 no one can speak to the heart like the curate. 
 The Catholic priest, Hugendubel, was at the 
 funeral also ; seldom has any one had such honor. 
 And there was laughing too ; for the Bird-parson 
 said : ^ Mangold was always munching something 
 whenever he was seen ; he was just like a swallow. 
 He had once tried to keep a swallow in a cage, but 
 the swallow only feeds on the wing, and dies rather 
 than eat in confinement.' " 
 
 Schaller rose. " What are you talking about ? 
 Is the curate coming or not ? " 
 
 ^' Yes, he is coming soon. He has only accom- 
 panied the doctor's widow home ; she was at the 
 funeral too, in coal-black mourning." 
 
 ^^Let me hear no more." 
 
 Schaller sat down again in silence. There was 
 a knock at the door, and the curate came in. He 
 looked around with astonishment at Schaller's 
 domicile, and the latter greeted him with the 
 courtesy of a man of the world, but without 
 taking his cigar from his mouth, so that his voice 
 had an unpleasantly muffled tone. 
 
316 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ^' You have pronounced a kind address over 
 Mangold. The simple fellow, a stay-at-home, who 
 never had any ideas in his head, and so could 
 smoke his pipe out in content, had an enviable 
 death. If I could only die so ! I have looked in 
 the eyes of death, but I shall not become blind, I 
 am certain. I am curious to know what you will 
 say about me over my hole." 
 
 ^^ You are in health, and can yet earn the com- 
 memoration you wish.'' 
 
 " No ; it is the last time I shall speak to you, 
 the last day of my life. You have had much 
 patience with me — " 
 
 ^^ And shall always have. I only wish I may 
 help you by it." 
 
 ^^ Sit down here with me by the fire on the 
 hearth. Here I sit, and, gazing at the flames, 
 think how our father Prometheus felt when he 
 saw the first fire. A flame is the only beautiful 
 thing in the world. Your God has brought 
 nothing else like it into the world • I call Pro- 
 metheus my father. These woodmen, these breth- 
 ren of the forest, that plant anew, instead of 
 helping to death our noble Mother Earth, who is 
 perpetually guilty of infanticide — they reproach- 
 fully called my real father Hillflayer, and yet he 
 was an envoy of the genius of annihilation. My 
 only wrong was that I defamed my father — " 
 
 The curate was startled. ^^Whom did you 
 defame ? " 
 
THE FORESTERS. 317 
 
 "My father Prometlieus/' returned Schaller, 
 laughing. 
 
 ^^ Proud son of Prometheus, how will it be 
 when you are ill and helpless — when the God-de- 
 fier must entreat the compassionate, ^ Care for 
 me ^ ? — ^beg a child, ^ Lead me, I am — ' " 
 
 ^^I am not blind yet," interrupted Schaller, 
 vehemently, " and sickness and evil prove nothing 
 for you and against all logic." 
 
 ^^Man is not made of logic alone ; love, good- 
 ness — " 
 
 ^^ Very fine ! man needs what is illogical ; he 
 needs faith, love, woman. But do you believe 
 that Emmy as your wife will be a loving nurse ? " 
 
 '' What gives you a right to such questioning ? " 
 
 ^^What? Our partnership. ye prudent 
 ones ! you can't see what's under your nose. 
 You look in the distance for the writer of the 
 letter. I wrote it, and Mother Eve, called Emmy, 
 was my accomplice. You shake your head ! Ah, 
 I see she has warned you against me ; she is cun- 
 ning — as cunning as it is possible for a woman to 
 be. You do not believe me yet ? It is just. The 
 only good thing that I would yet do in my life is 
 not believed." 
 
 The curate gazed on the floor, and Schaller 
 told how he and Emmy had given Eaflfel money, 
 that she might deceive him with a pretense of 
 piety. 
 
 The curate had a sharp struggle with himself. 
 
318 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 but he succeeded in putting everything personal 
 out of his thoughts. With the whole strength of 
 his soul he warned Schaller that, although God is 
 love, God is also the truth ; he must not slander 
 the innocent. 
 
 Schaller returned: ^^Do you recollect that 
 Greek philosopher who kindled his own pyre, and 
 said before he mounted it, ' I can have no more 
 reason to deceive you ^ ? So I say : Save yourself 
 from those rolling eyes. We planned the letter 
 together ; I wrote it ; the abuse of my father I 
 wrote too." 
 
 Again the curate sought to lead the bewildered 
 man aright, assuring him that Euland would take 
 no revenge ; yes, that both Euland and himself 
 would assist him to regain and keep the path of 
 honesty and right. 
 
 ^^I want no pity; I have none, and I accept 
 none ; I long, I thirst for annihilation," replied 
 Schaller. ^^It would be best not to be born, but 
 the only true good is the power to kill one's self. 
 My eyesight is fading, but I am not yet blind ; 
 I need no guide. Farewell ! " 
 
 Without adding a word the curate departed. 
 He went through the meadows, which had already 
 been mown, and where only the saffron was still 
 blooming. A fine rainy mist overspread every- 
 thing ; the birds of passage, assembling for their 
 migration, were circling in the air, and in the 
 forest shrieked the nuthatch and the kite. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 319 
 
 There was a giddy whirl in the child-like 
 though manly soul of the curate. His heart still 
 quivered with the heavy shock, but he soon arose 
 with inward strength ; he felt something of the 
 heroic spirit of the martyrs, who set themselves 
 against brute power and coarse violence. 
 
 CHAPTER LIII. 
 
 While the curate was with Schaller, it was 
 gayer than ever at the parsonage. A carriage 
 drove up, and in it sat a carefully dressed, slender, 
 and remarkably elegant young man. As the car- 
 riage stopped, he threw back with both hands his 
 silk-lined summer cloak, and the movement was 
 not without conscious grace. He lifted a broad- 
 brimmed hat ; an abundance of well-curled locks 
 appeared on his head. When he was told, in 
 answer to his inquiry, that Herr von Blanken- 
 schild was not at home, he looked around with 
 concern. Just then he perceived a woman's figure 
 in the garden. He approached with a courteous 
 salutation, and as he received the intelligence that 
 the curate would soon return, he said, ^^I have 
 probably the honor to address the daughter of the 
 pastor." 
 
 ^^No,'' replied Emmy ; ^^ I am only visiting as 
 a friend of the family." 
 
320 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ^^ Permit me, then, to introduce myself/' said 
 the stranger, with an impressive tone : ^^ Alberto 
 Stadelli, second tenor at Delia Scala Theatre in 
 Milan." 
 
 ^'^ What ! you are the famous singer ?" 
 
 He bowed, with a deferential smile. 
 
 ^^ And your name, madam ? '' 
 
 ^^ The widow of Dr. Stumpf ; by birth Hoch- 
 gesand." 
 
 ^^Ah, I know your name; I envy my friend 
 Amadeo." 
 
 Emmy bowed with her most gracious smile. 
 She invited the stranger to enter the house, and 
 the old people were not a little surprised to see 
 the renowned singer, a much-talked-of native of 
 the district. 
 
 When Stadelli, who had formerly been called 
 Staidele, saw the piano in the large room, he 
 asked whether Amadeo (so he invariably called 
 Gotthold) sang much. Hearing that he had not 
 done so for weeks, he said, ^^But I see many 
 sheets of music on the piano." While speaking, 
 he walked about the room as if he had been long 
 at home there. 
 
 With the most modest tone of which she was 
 capable, Emmy remarked that she sang sometimes. 
 
 The pastor's wife, who guessed at the ques- 
 tion and answer without hearing them clearly, 
 cried : 
 
 ^^Herr Staidele, our friend might become a 
 
THE FORESTERS. 321 
 
 famous singer too ; she sings wonderfully, I do 
 not hear well, but I can hear her perfectly." 
 
 Now the stranger was aroused. He held out 
 his hand to Emmy ; he held hers longer and 
 pressed it harder than custom requires. He was 
 so frank as to tell her that she had a remarkably 
 fine figure for the stage ; and if her singing but 
 corresponded with her appearance, the heroine 
 was complete. He begged her to sing for him. 
 She refused with decision ; she could not yenture 
 to be heard before a singer of the firsb rank. She 
 begged, on the other hand, that Herr Staidele- 
 Stadelli would favor her and the good old people 
 with a song. She added that he might easily 
 have an audience better acquainted with art, but 
 never a more thankful one. 
 
 [ Without waiting to be asked again, he placed 
 himself by the piano, asked Emmy to accompany 
 him, and sang with a voice of great power and 
 the highest cultivation. The old people sat with 
 folded hands, and listened devoutly. 
 
 As he ended in the midst of applause, he said, 
 returning thanks, that his friend Amadeo much 
 surpassed him. 
 
 They begged for another piece, and he agreed 
 on condition that the lady should sing too. Emmy 
 declined ; but when the singer had shouted his 
 wish into the ear of the pastor's wife, the latter 
 consented for her. Fortunately a duet was found 
 that suited both. At first Emmy's voice came 
 21 
 
322 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 out but timidly ; her partner encouraged her by 
 the friendliest nods, and presently it gained its 
 full power. When the duet was over the singer 
 himself cried, ^^Bravissima !" 
 
 He caught both Emmy's hands and pressed 
 them while he added, ^^0 gracious lady, how 
 will you feel when thousands in frantic excite- 
 ment are shouting and throwing flowers, and the 
 Yoices change to flowers and the flowers to voices ? 
 gracious lady ! '' 
 
 " But how,'' asked the old pastor, who usually 
 said very little — ^^but how, Herr Staidele, when 
 the applause finally ceases ? " 
 
 " Eeverend sir, I do not know how that is ; 
 but I think one will be apt to say to himself, 
 ^I have enjoyed life's best, and olim meminisse 
 juvaUt ! ' " 
 
 Emmy seemed quite bewildered ; but she 
 quickly recovered herself, and there came over 
 her an overweening delight, such as she had not 
 felt for a long time — ^nay, she must acknowledge, 
 such as she had never yet felt. 
 
 There was no longer any stopping. First the 
 duet was repeated ; it went much better on repeti- 
 tion. The singer nodded applause to Emmy, and 
 his eyes flashed. 
 
 Song followed song, and the singer could not 
 forbear saying, ^^ Do I find this in a lonely parson- 
 age at Waldhausen ? I feel as if under a spell.'* 
 
 " And I as if intoxicated," added Emmy. ' 
 
THE FORESTERS. 323 
 
 They sat down around the table, spread with 
 the finest linen the parsonage possessed, and fur- 
 nished with the best they could procure. When 
 Emmy passed anything to their distinguished 
 guest, he tried to seize her hand ; a gently reprov- 
 ing glance informed him that this did not please, 
 and the singer put on immediately a melancholy 
 air. 
 
 '' You look so sad all at once," said the old 
 pastor ; '' what is the matter ? " 
 
 '' Oh, nothing, nothing," returned the singer, 
 as if waking from complete absence of mind. " I 
 only can not comprehend that I have found such 
 a treasure at the parsonage, and must leave it again 
 as suddenly as I found it. Relinquendce sunt 
 domus et uxor^^ he concluded, recalling to the 
 pastor his former classical studies. He regretted 
 that he could not wait longer for his friend 
 Amadeo, for he must be at the station again that 
 evening. 
 
 ^^I not only wanted to visit our friend 
 Amadeo," said he, turning to Emmy — ^^for he is 
 certainly your friend too ; who could be near you 
 without becoming such ? — I not only wanted to 
 visit my old fellow student, but I had something 
 very important to say to him." 
 
 ^^And could you not intrust me with the 
 commission ? " 
 
 " Yes, but you seem to me precisely the most 
 unsuitable messenger. I have full authority from 
 
324 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 our director to offer my friend Amadeo the highest 
 salary/^ 
 
 ^^ As a singer ? " 
 
 ^' Certainly. I heard in the capital that he had 
 had an unfortunate passion for a daughter of the 
 forest, who preferred another. I was hoping that 
 unhappy loye might accomplish what art could 
 not ; through such an event the expression of the 
 Yoice acquires a higher and more sympathetic 
 force. But I see I was mistaken ; he seems, on 
 the contrary, to be floating in the bliss of a happy 
 love ; or am I wrong ? " 
 
 Emmy turned away. 
 
 Stadelli had sent for his carriage, which had 
 been put up at the village inn. It soon stood 
 before the house. 
 
 At Emmy's request, however, he sang a part- 
 ing song in German. He Joined to it one of the 
 old ballads of that neighborhood, and in singing 
 it gave the jodel so admirably that the old people 
 looked at Emmy full of delight. 
 
 Just as the singer was ready to get into his 
 carriage the curate came along the meadow 
 path. Stadelli went to meet him, and was deep- 
 ly shocked when he looked in his old comrade's 
 face. 
 
 ^^ But, Amadeo, friend, brother, what is the 
 matter with you ? " he asked with feeling. '^ You 
 look dreadfully." 
 
 ^^I have come from an agitating interview ; I 
 
THE FORESTERS. 325 
 
 have had a glimpse of Chaos," returned the 
 curate. 
 
 ^^I will free you from Chaos, and raise you to 
 the sunny Olympic heights.'^ 
 
 He disclosed his errand, but the curate de- 
 clined with decision. 
 
 ^^ Oh/' cried the singer, ^' perhaps the doctor's 
 widow holds you back ? Bah ! she will come 
 along ; she will go on the stage too. To be sure, 
 she has a worn-out voice, but you need only enter 
 into a short engagement with her." 
 
 " Dear old—" 
 
 ^' Say friend, at least." 
 
 ^^Dear old friend, then, I live in another world 
 from yours ; pray say no more. I shall be true 
 to my calling. It is a harder one than I thought ; 
 so much the more must I be loyal to it." 
 
 " But, my friend, you may become the first 
 singer of the time." 
 
 ^' I doubt it. And even if I could, I will not ; 
 and my nay is nay." 
 
 ^^ Very well." 
 
 The two friends went back to the carriage. 
 Stadelli took a very warm leave of Emmy, and 
 kissed her hand more than once. Then he said, 
 when the coachman was already on the box : 
 
 ^'Dear Amadeo, if you should change your 
 mind, I shall be three days in Munich, at the 
 Four Seasons." 
 
 The singer departed. 
 
326 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 The old people could not have done telling 
 what a delightful time Gotthold had missed, but 
 he hardly seemed to hear it. He begged Emmy 
 to go with him into the garden ; he had some- 
 thing to say to her. 
 
 ^^Is it serious ?" 
 
 ^^Yes.'^ 
 
 ^^Dear friend, I am not now in the mood for 
 it ; the music has thrown us all into an excited 
 frame. I am really not in the state for it." 
 
 " But it concerns you— us ; it must be said.'^ 
 
 CHAPTER LIV. 
 
 ^^ Ah, dear friend," began Emmy, ^^what you 
 have to say to me is, no doubt, very sad and disa- 
 greeable, and this hour has been so bright and 
 beautiful. Say it to-morrow, only not to-day. 
 The beautiful is so short, but still it is beautiful — 
 the blossom of an hour." 
 
 Eor the first time she passed her soft, slender 
 hand oyer his hair ; a magnetic stream flowed 
 from her fingers, and she looked at him radiantly 
 and bent over him so that he felt her breath. It 
 thrilled through him ; an irresistible force im- 
 pelled him to embrace her, press her to his heart, 
 and kiss her ; her eye, too, shone, and in her glance, 
 on her mouth, lay a blissful ^^ Yes." 
 
THE FORESTERS. 327 
 
 Suddenly he felt such a thrust through his 
 heart that he trembled ; a nameless terror seized 
 him, and his look changed to grief and compas- 
 sion. Anger and shame for himself tore up his 
 soul, and stamped themselves on his features. 
 
 '' What is the matter ? " asked Emmy. ''You 
 stare at me as if I were a monster. You are ex- 
 hausted. The reprobate has been trying his 
 poison on you too. For Heaven's sake, say some- 
 thing!" 
 
 ^'I have had a glimpse of Chaos," said the 
 curate gloomily, looking on the ground. Then 
 he raised his head and went on, '' I am sorry that 
 I ever met you." 
 
 '' Me ? I had hoped that at a time of suffer- 
 ing — and it is plain you have suffered severely — 
 yon would call on me, that I might aid you with 
 my feeble powers." 
 
 With a fixed look, the curate said : ''And has 
 this highly gifted creature, so lovely, so full of 
 grace, been the accomplice of a base deed ? " 
 
 Emmy was dumb ; this mute distress was her 
 best defense ; words can be refuted, silent stupor 
 can not. 
 
 At last she decided on a reply. " You have 
 been with Schaller. I had a presentiment that the 
 wretch would vent his depravity upon you too." 
 
 "One thing, pray, " returned the curate. "Did 
 the dead Eaffel really take money for using relig- 
 ious language to me ? " 
 
328 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ^^ So he told you that ? Has old Eaffel risen 
 again ? Do you expect me to drop on my knees 
 and sob and whimper because I let an old witch 
 act a play ? " 
 
 ^^Thenyoudidit?'' 
 
 ^' The matter did not seem so yery tragic to 
 me, or I would have told you before. I was there 
 when the wretch played his godless jest. He is 
 cunning ; Kaflel is dead ; I can not call her as a 
 witness. I was only weak enough not to preyent 
 it, and I own I ought to haye told you. I am to 
 blame for haying neglected it, but I did it in my 
 old weakness ; I thought you would neyer find it 
 out, and why should I deprive you of a consolatory 
 delusion ? But you are right ; I should have 
 been perfectly true with you ; I ought to have 
 concealed nothing." 
 
 " I am glad you acknowledge that. You have 
 surely nothing on your mind that you do not in- 
 trust to me. Ah ! it is hard to have a secret on 
 one's soul. I must impart it to Euland, and I 
 know not how. Schaller has confessed to me that 
 he wrote the abusive letter about Euland.'^ 
 
 '^ Did he do that ? Then my father was right 
 when he thought that nobody but Schaller could 
 have written it.'' 
 
 " He goes still further ; he says you had part 
 in it." 
 
 '^ This is growing more and more amusing. 
 So it is I— I myself ? " 
 
THE FOEESTERS. 329 
 
 There was a pause. Emmy forced herself to 
 keep her eyes fixed steadily on the curate, and 
 said, ^^I confide in you — yes, I claim your aid — 
 to protect me against such an unheard-of accusa- 
 tion. You are Euland's friend ; you must tell 
 him at once who wronged him, and that the 
 wretch wishes to draw me into his baseness. Oh, 
 why did I in my weakness, in my unpardonable 
 compassion, ever give the man a kind word ? '^ 
 
 ^^Did you never," asked the curate, ^^give 
 him some incitement, so that he can with a degree 
 of plausibility implicate you in his villainy ? " 
 
 '^ You insult me by the question ! Oh, I might 
 have known it ; everybody connected with the 
 forester's house tries to wound me — you too, you 
 too ! That you have asked such a question severs 
 us for ever." 
 
 ^^ Every one may fall into sin ; for that reason 
 I cast no stone." 
 
 Sin ! sin ! The word cut Emmy to the quick. 
 To sin ! such an expression is used of criminals 
 ill prison ; but of her, of Emmy ! " Sin ! " she 
 repeated. ^^ On I and you suppose that I will fall 
 on my knees and thank you, because you cast no 
 stone ? I wish I had done it, that I might be 
 forgiven by you. Yes, rescue my poor soul — 
 quick, rescue me ! I did it. Pray, forgive me, 
 you great-hearted man I Must I say more ? or is 
 that enough ? " 
 
 The curate's head swam, and Emmy cried. 
 
330 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 '' Why do you look so pitifully, so compassionately 
 at me ? I take eyery look of yours for an insult/' 
 
 She threw up her bare arms out of their wide 
 sleeves ; the arms were well rounded, and even 
 at this moment the sight affected the curate with 
 inexpressible emotion. Her countenance had ac- 
 quired something fury-like. She quivered all 
 over with frantic excitement, as she raised her 
 hands and clasped them above her head, crying : 
 
 ^^ Don't look at me so pitifully ! Once more 
 I have my heart safe, submissive. It is over." 
 Then she turned hastily away, and her garments 
 rustled. As she left the garden she turned round 
 once more, and declared with firm decision: ^'I 
 shall call Herr Schaller to account ; he will not 
 dare say it to my face." 
 
 The curate stood confounded. He went back 
 along the meadow-path, in order to gain com- 
 posure in quiet and solitude. Night was falling ; 
 it was so delicious, so delightfully cooling, and he 
 was full of pain, of burning regret and burning 
 doubt. 
 
 Where the foot-path meets the high-road, the 
 coach belonging to the landlord of the Angel 
 came by, and within sat Emmy. The curate ran 
 up the road and cried, '' Emmy, Emmy, stop ! 
 let me beg your forgiveness. " Did she not hear 
 him ? Did she not see him ? He did not know. 
 The carriage went quickly past. 
 
 The curate sat down, very weary, on the stump 
 
THE FORESTERS. 331 
 
 of a tree by the road ; he felt as if under a spell ; 
 he could neither move his feet nor open his 
 mouth ; he followed Emmy with a fixed gaze as 
 she droye away. Dullness and vacancy were 
 within him ; he sat as yoid of thought as a soul- 
 less thing ; he simply breathed and stared straight 
 on. 
 
 CHAPTER LV. 
 
 Emmy had taken a hurried leave of the pastor 
 and his wife. She really intended to call Schaller 
 to account^ and thought she had the power to 
 crush him, intractable as he was. But then she 
 reflected that it was, after all, useless. She would 
 confide in her father ; a man of his rank could 
 surely offer her protection. She rejected that 
 too. Bitter complaint filled her heart ; she was 
 so lonely, she had bestowed her heart so humbly, 
 had meant to be deyout and charitable ; and now ? 
 She wept. But, as if in anger with herself, she 
 suddenly stood up in the carriage. Should senti- 
 mentality creep oyer her too ? No. The world 
 should not bend her ; she would face all proudly 
 with bold contempt — call for help from no man, 
 not from her father, and certainly not from the 
 traitor. Her features grew defiant, and she 
 laughed, as though she had the whole circle of 
 her acquaintance before her eyes. 
 
332 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 She now ordered the coachman to drive, not to 
 Schaller's, but straight to town. She had wrapped 
 herself shivering in her mantle ; now she loosened 
 it, and, as if just awakening, breathed the cool 
 evening air, and looked dreamily into the purple 
 glow of the evening sky. 
 
 Emmy was, in her way, of a happy disposition ; 
 she was always pleased with herself ; everything 
 within herself appeared to her beautiful and good, 
 and whatever she did no less so. She had never 
 in all her life blamed herself for a minute, nor said 
 to herself, ^^ You ought to have done otherwise, 
 and must do otherwise in future. ^^ She was per- 
 suaded that she did on every occasion exactly 
 what was fit : that diflBculties afterward arose 
 from it was not her fault ; it was the fault of the 
 world. 
 
 As the carriage drove slowly up the steep 
 mountain, another was heard coming from above ; 
 the drag had been put on, and it grated and 
 creaked. When wheeled vehicles met on this nar- 
 row road, the ascending one was obliged always to 
 stop, that the other might pass. The carriage 
 came nearer ; Euland sat within. Emmy turned 
 her head a moment, and looked at Euland with 
 glittering eyes ; he saluted her, but received no 
 answer ; the carriage went by. 
 
 Euland was on his way to "Waldthal. A child's 
 mouth had decided him. 
 
 After going home with Eudolph, and after he 
 
THE FORESTERS. 383 
 
 had been heartily welcomed by his friend's wife, 
 Eudolph called up a fair-haired boy of about 
 eight, and said, ^^ Ernst, give the gentleman your 
 hand and say, ^Good morning, Euland."^ 
 
 The boy looked at the stranger with eyes wide 
 open, then turned to his mother and said : 
 
 '' Mother, is that Aunt Carla's Ruland ? " 
 
 The three looked at each other in confusion, 
 and the parents owned to Ruland that they had 
 often mentioned his name in connection with 
 Carla. 
 
 The child, with a single word, had broken the 
 suspense. 
 
 Ruland could not do otherwise than confess 
 his feelings. His voice trembled as he further 
 told how irresolute he had become, and what a 
 source of mortification it was to him since the 
 slander. Rudolph's wife said that Carla's letters 
 always spoke of him with great warmth. 
 
 Ruland started on his journey. He stopped 
 first with his brother-in-law, the major, who was 
 stationed afc the garrison near ; and here, with 
 Sylvia's sister, the last shadows vanished from his 
 soul ; for she, with her fine feminine perceptions, 
 had looked on the slanders against Ruland only 
 with contempt. Ruland recovered his elasticity ; 
 his eye was clear again ; the whole world shone 
 once more bright before him. 
 
 So he was now on the road to Waldthal, and 
 would go first to the curate. 
 
334 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 It was night when he reached the village. He 
 alighted, went up the hill, and stood a long time 
 at Sylvia's grave. At last he raised his eyes ; the 
 stars were sparkling above him. He went down 
 to the highway. There sat the curate on a fallen 
 poplar-trunk by the road-side. The two friends 
 held out their hands ; each was deeply moved in 
 his soul, and neither could give any expression to 
 his feelings. They walked on hand in hand. 
 
 At last Euland mentioned that he had passed 
 Emmy on the way. The curate started ; so she 
 had not gone to Schaller's, but straight home. It 
 seemed hard for him to find words, but at length, 
 forcibly collecting himself, he simply said that an 
 irreparable breach had occurred between Emmy 
 and himself, without explaining the precise oc- 
 casion of it. No human eye saw how he blushed 
 as he acknowledged to his friend how far he had 
 strayed. 
 
 Euland begged a lodging for the night at the 
 parsonage, and, after talking awhile with the old 
 people, he sat with the curate in his chamber. 
 
 ^^Dear young friend/' began Euland, '^I 
 should like to give you the benefit of a bitter 
 and valuable experience of mine, that cost me a 
 world of inward sufliering. I fear you will re- 
 lapse, and torment yourself lest you should have 
 done this woman injustice ; for that is the way 
 these evil spirits work." 
 
 The curate gazed at the light. Euland knew 
 
THE FORESTERS. 335 
 
 the young man's heart was bleeding afresh, but 
 he would not check the flow ; the wound must 
 cease bleeding before it could heal completely. 
 
 He asked if he might speak freely and say all. 
 The curate mutely nodded, and Ruland described 
 Emmy's rich but self-absorbed and partially dis- 
 torted nature, to which eyerything was mere 
 pleasure and ease. The curate sat with folded 
 hands and downcast eyes, as Ruland showed in 
 the clearest terms what an abyss of hoUowness was 
 in this woman. 
 
 ^^Pray," said the curate at last, ^^ beware of 
 injustice. An old philosopher says we wrongly 
 hate where we have wrongly loved." 
 
 Ruland was struck, and after a pause the 
 curate asked, ^^Were you not once Emmy's be- 
 .— trothed?" 
 !■ " Did she tell you that herself ?" 
 
 ^^N"o; Herr Schaller." 
 
 ^^ Indeed! Schaller? She has a strong at- 
 traction to Schaller. Crows and magpies are good 
 friends, but Schaller is better than she ; he is 
 more consistent, less cowardly, more reckless ; he 
 owns his evil deeds, not from honesty, but from 
 pride." 
 
 The curate could not but admit that Ruland 
 Judged his enemy's character correctly, and his 
 utterances in regard to Emmy gained greater 
 force. He delayed, however, imparting Schaller's 
 confession, and repeated his questions about the 
 
336 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 betrothal. Euland's manner became clouded and 
 seyere as he began : 
 
 '^Be it so, then ! Let the wound once more 
 bleed for you. I have fallen into many errors 
 in my life ; I fell into sin only through Emmy. 
 I was, perhaps I still am, a man without reserve. 
 That appears to ourselves as frankness and good- 
 heartedness ; it is, however, much rather weak- 
 ness. I always spoke out my last thought — a 
 habit which leaves a man, when he meets with a 
 reverse, quite disarmed and helpless. At that 
 time, still under the influence of my theological 
 studies, every individual human being appeared 
 to me as a congregation, to which I dedicated my 
 inmost and most sacred thoughts, the devotion of 
 my soul, and in which I presupposed a like devo- 
 tion." 
 
 The curate straightened himself up at these 
 words, and then bent forward again. 
 
 Euland continued : 
 
 ^^ I was, as it is called, conceited, vain. I de- 
 manded continual sympathy for my various and 
 busy investigations and speculations ; but I can 
 also say that I gave the like to the thoughts of 
 others. 
 
 '^ Emmy has the happy talent of knowing how 
 to give short answers and looks full of apprecia- 
 tion, so that I was delighted beyond measure in 
 finding such companionship. Her independence, 
 her pertness, her bold criticism of persons and 
 
THE FORESTERS. 337 
 
 eyents, seemed to me pure nature, the 7iaivete of 
 a strong, proud soul, that had grown up free from 
 care — one which, not haying struggled with life 
 like me, could play with it as a soyereign. I was, 
 it is true, often wounded by it, but I called myself 
 a pedant, and saw in Emmy the happy complement 
 of my own nature, which was of too soft material. 
 " When I was away from her, I was doubtful; 
 when I saw or heard her, I was bewitched. Yet 
 I could not get free from an inner opposition. 
 She found a particular enjoyment in spying out 
 the faults, the misfortunes, and the disgraces of 
 others. ^ She goes oyer dead bodies to the dance,' 
 said I to myself once on my way home, and then 
 apologized to her in my thoughts for the harsh 
 expression. 
 
 IK ^^ In the consciousness of an inner alienation, I 
 ■"was all the more friendly and confiding toward 
 her. I was at war with myself ; I felt like a hypo- 
 crite, and yet, when I looked on her, I was filled 
 with deep satisfaction. I tried to delude myself 
 with the belief that this was loye, genuine loye, and 
 charged myself with being oyer-critical, an ancho- 
 rite, incapable of love. She took pleasure in 
 depicting the great future awaiting me. That did 
 me good ; for in telling me that I was too easily 
 contented, too modest and faint-hearted, she raised 
 me in my own estimation and gaye me courage. 
 That the world belongs to him who grasps it 
 boldly, I learned from her. In her exhortations 
 22 
 
838 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 there was both the joy of combat and the assu- 
 rance of victory." 
 
 The curate breathed loud and heavily, but he 
 signed to Ruland to go on. 
 
 " Again there came a thousand oJBfenses against 
 what I held most sacred. What in her had ap- 
 peared to me as unrestrained nature disclosed it- 
 self on nearer view as irreverent haughtiness. It 
 annoyed her that I was on such friendly terms 
 with everybody. I took this for the jealousy of 
 love, her way of saying I must belong to her alone. 
 But how was I shocked when she once said to me— 
 and she smiled withal — ^ If I were a man, I would 
 rather be feared than loved. ^ I can not now tell 
 over the thousand particulars. I only know I was 
 very unhappy, and wished myself dead. With 
 the desire of death in my heart, I was to begin a 
 new life. 
 
 ^^I passed before the world as Emmy's be- 
 trothed ; I thought it my duty to sacrifice myself 
 to her. But would the sacrifice bring happiness 
 even to her ? It must be ; perhaps in the forest- 
 er's house all would come right. I must become 
 another man, and more just to Emmy. 
 
 ^^A seeming trifle brought the decision. I 
 was walking with Emmy before the town ; her 
 father was in advance with friends. An old com- 
 rade of my boyhood met me, who embraced me 
 and with a flood of words spoke of his good for- 
 tune in being appointed village schoolmaster in 
 
THE FORESTERS. 839 
 
 my neighborhood. I was glad too, and presented 
 him to Emmy ; slie looked at him with the vacant, 
 glassy stare that you must know. We went on, 
 and a scene followed at which I could only be 
 shocked. Emmy took her scent-bottle from her 
 girdle, and, sprinkling me with perfume, in a 
 pathetically mischieyous tone said ^I must dis- 
 infect you. How can you make yourself so 
 common with a schoolmaster ? Teachers always 
 nauseate me ; they smell of the musty school- 
 room. I have an antipathy to all pedagogues ; 
 these puffed-up frogs with their fine talk about 
 forming men — ' 
 l^k "^Have you forgotten,' I asked, Hhat my 
 ■^father was a village schoolmaster ? ' 
 
 ^^^You ask questions just like a pedantic 
 schoolmaster. It is not necessary that I should 
 always remember that you are a schoolmaster's son.' 
 
 ^^That was too much for me. I left Emmy 
 standing there, and never went back to her.'' 
 
 Euland paused awhile, then concluded : 
 
 '^ My friend, if I have been bitter, ascribe it 
 to my anger with myself for having let things go 
 so far. I really have no more bitterness in my 
 heart — not even against Emmy ; not against any 
 one." 
 
 The curate rose, laid his hand on Ruland's 
 shoulder, and asked : 
 
 "Do you still cherish revengeful thoughts 
 against the authors of that slander ? " 
 
340 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 *^N"o ; if I were to find the writer to-morrow, 
 I should let him go his Avay. " 
 
 " Then I may tell yon. Schaller has confessed 
 to me that he wrote the abusive letter.'^ 
 
 "And had not Emmy something to do with 
 it? Tell me frankly." 
 
 "Schaller says so." 
 
 "Oh! and I am sure of it," cried Euland. 
 He rose, opened the window, and stood for a long 
 time looking out into the night. 
 
 Midnight was past, yet the friends still sat 
 together. Euland told of his love to Carla, of 
 the boy through whom all had come to light, and 
 of the interview with his sister-in-law. When the 
 curate finally took leave, he said : 
 
 " Yes, Carla's is the soul in which your soul 
 will find new life." 
 
 In the" morning the curate wrote to his friend : 
 
 " To-day we have the first real autumnal fog ; 
 it fills the valley and covers the mountains. My 
 soul, too, must struggle with the fog and with the 
 night. 
 
 "If, as naturalists maintain, man descends 
 from the ape, evil is the undying ape in us, which 
 puts on the human appearance as its caricature. 
 
 "Ah, there is evil in me too. Yes, it was 
 predetermined so to be. I had to lose myself in 
 this way in order to find myself again. 
 
 " I shall be patient with passion hereafter. I 
 needed to experience it myself, so that I might be 
 
THE FORESTERS. 341 
 
 able to say, ^ Let liim who is without sin cast the 
 first stone/ My body is weary, my soul full of 
 longing to depart on high. 
 
 " It is hard to lose a human being, not by 
 death but by life. 
 
 ^^I have told you of Emmy — or have I not ? 
 All is oyer ! I stand humiliated before myself, 
 before God. 
 
 ^^I have told you of my new-found friend 
 Euland — or have I not told that either.? My 
 memory is leaving me. 
 
 ^^ In the vegetable world there are plants and 
 trees that throw out roots into the air. Such a 
 tree is Ruland ; his roots are in the light, plainly 
 visible, not concealed in the ground — alas ! not 
 even in the eternal ground of the religious per- 
 ceptions, in the feeling after God. But still he is 
 a true man. Truly it does indeed separate us 
 from the children of this world that we can pray 
 and they not. He who prays trusts in the help 
 of the Almighty God above him, but the children 
 of the world say, ' Help thyself/ If it were the 
 real, the immortal self that helped, this help too 
 would be from God, and only from him. I pray 
 to our God. I thank him that he has punished 
 me so severely for my worldliness. I am cast 
 down ; he will raise me up. 
 
 ^^ I will waste no strength in sorrow. I will 
 labor as long as life lasts for myself, for my fel- 
 low men." 
 
342 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 CHAPTER LVI. 
 
 A FOG spreads over yalley and mountain ; it 
 surges below, but above the sun shines, and it 
 chases as if in flight across the meadows, hangs in 
 dew upon the grass, and glides through the fruit- 
 trees, while ripe fruits fall quietly down, and dead 
 leaves after them. The fog rises and falls ; the 
 forest holds it fast, and the rocky ravines will not 
 let it escape. 
 
 With her double-barreled gun for ball and shot, 
 Carla wanders up the mountain, accompanied by 
 her dog. A messenger goes to the parsonage, and 
 soon Ruland is treading the well-known way to 
 the forester's. The curate with slow step takes 
 the meadow-path alone, and rehearses as he goes 
 the discourse he intends to deliver on Sunday. 
 Schaller slams the door of his house behind him, 
 looks once more around ; he murmurs low words 
 of cursing and despair : '' Yes, son of the Hill- 
 flayer, you must make a change. They are 
 planting the forest ; a single flame shall devour it, 
 and me likewise. Then some one will cry over 
 my little heap of ashes, that was called Frivolin 
 while yet it moved." 
 
 If censure spoken at a distance can become a 
 dream in the brain of the person censured — an 
 evil, oppressive dream — then what Ruland had 
 said at the parsonage turned- to a fearful vision for 
 
THE FORESTERS. 343 
 
 Emmy. She was lying again in her bed at home, 
 and often groaned. 
 
 Emmy awoke. Through her dream had sound- 
 ed the tumult of battle and thunder of artillery ; 
 now she perceives it to be only the noise of planks 
 which workmen are piling in the neighborhood. 
 ^^ Eejected ! betrayed ! " she cries. ^^No, I have 
 rejected him ; he can not boast." She rises, opens 
 the window ; she sees Eilmeyer, who is giving 
 orders where they shall pile the boards and re- 
 move the logs. He sees and salutes her ; Emmy 
 draws back from the window. So that was the 
 battle tumult ! 
 
 Emmy's was a superficial nature, and so no 
 impression was lasting. She had told her father 
 the night before that she intended to go to the 
 seaside, and perhaps spend the winter in Italy ; 
 she was tired of the petty life here. Her father 
 agreed ; he did not wish to hold her back. 
 
 The morning sun shines clear over the town, 
 over the valley and the mountains. Emmy is 
 reclining at her window in a beautiful morning- 
 gown, her coal-black hair in a net of gold thread. 
 See, he is still there. Has he waited ? has he any 
 presentiment ? Eilmeyer calls to her, that if he 
 had known his honored neighbor had returned, 
 he would have taken care not to disturb her sleep. 
 Emmy answered him from the window. Did she 
 really say he might come up ? He calls, ^^ You 
 make me happy ; I am coming.'' Does she wish 
 
344 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 to make liim happy, and is she happy that he 
 comes ? She does not know ; yesterday has be- 
 wildered her ; now she hears a strain from Sta- 
 delli's singing, now a word of the curate. She is 
 glad to touch a friendly hand, even Eilmeyer's, 
 and can not conceal it, as he comes in. She 
 watches him quietly awhile. He says, not with- 
 out an expression of strong feeling : ^^ The town 
 has been dead in your absence ; it was a court 
 town without a court.'' 
 
 " I did not think any one missed me/' returned 
 Emmy. ^^ Ah, I am glad to be out of the village 
 flutter ; you hear of nothing but timber and 
 virtue, virtue and timber > it is as though the 
 whole world consisted only of forest-trees and ox- 
 drivers. I am glad," she added, as if repressing 
 an inner reluctance — ^^ I am glad you are the first 
 I greet here." 
 
 '' You left the parsonage, I suppose," rejoined 
 Eilmeyer, ^^ because Herr Euland came there ?" 
 
 ^^ Indeed? Herr Euland there? The man 
 had taken leave for ever. So he has returned ? " 
 
 '' You know as well as I what drew him back." 
 
 ^' The bold huntress, I suppose ? " 
 
 ^^ That may be, but the report runs that the 
 author of the letter has been discovered." 
 
 ^^Eeally ?" asked Emmy; and she added, in 
 a light tone, that all this petty life was indifferent 
 and even disgusting to her ; she should travel 
 to France and Italy. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 345 
 
 *^ And you will travel alone ?" asked Eilmeyer. 
 
 ^^I am in all respects in a situation to do 
 so." 
 
 ^^ Certainly. Ah, what good fortune to ac- 
 company you ! " 
 
 ^' Would you wish it yourself ?" 
 
 ^^ Ah, I can not get away just now. But, pray, 
 give me something to do for you, whatever it may 
 be. I know, I may assume that you know, I can 
 not compare myself with the lofty spirits — " 
 
 Eilmeyer did not know what more to say, and 
 Emmy did not help him. She was not asking 
 herself whether she could love this man ; she only 
 asked whether it was not in his mind to endeavor 
 to win the lady of most consequence, and, through 
 her husband's legacy, the richest in the city. 
 Eilmeyer explained this hesitation otherwise to 
 himself, and, taking courage from it, declared 
 how he had revered Emmy ever since the first 
 day he had arrived from abroad ; he had never 
 ventured to call this reverence love, for he was 
 too humble for her ; but an honest heart, a heart 
 happy if it could serve her, beautify her life — that 
 he bore in his breast. 
 
 Without intending it, he pulled out his watch 
 with one hand, while the other still lay asseverat- 
 ingly on his bosom. Emmy could not refrain 
 i^rom asking him mockingly what o'clock it was. 
 Eilmeyer reddened violently. 
 
 ^^ Forgive this rude habit," stammered he. 
 
346 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ^^Ah, if I might live with the being I worship, I 
 should never look again at the time. " 
 
 '^ You can certainly make fine speeches ! '' 
 returned Emmy, and Eilmeyer gathered new 
 strength ; he broke out with much tact against 
 those who do not reveal, but hide their souls with 
 noble words. As he perceived that this was taken 
 well, he ventured to tax Kuland and the curate 
 directly with hollow professions. 
 
 ^^I never knew you like this before,'' said 
 Emmy at last ; and Eilmeyer rose, but hastily sat 
 down again, and said, ^'^o, you did not know 
 me, or you could not so long have withstood — - 
 pray permit me to say it — such love as burns in 
 me." 
 
 ^^ Then you have loved me long ? " 
 
 ^' Ever since I beheld your eyes." 
 
 ^^I thank you heartily." 
 
 ^'And is that all ?" asked Eilmeyer. 
 
 ^^ Yes, my dear good Herr Meyer. Oh, why is 
 your name Meyer ? " 
 
 ^'1 will add your name to mine : Meyer-Hoch- 
 gesand — that would sound finely. Among our 
 Swiss neighbors it is quite the custom." 
 
 Emmy rose and looked out of the window. 
 There is the town, there are all the people ; what 
 will they say ? Eejected, scorned, she has thrown 
 herself into the arms of the man whom she con- 
 tinually scoffed at. 
 
 ^^Herr Meyer," said she to him, *^^in old times 
 
THE FORESTERS. 347 
 
 knights used to encounter the enemies of their 
 ladies in the lists. I am neither a knight's lady, 
 nor you clad in armor ; but, my dear sir " — she 
 pronounced the word dear with special fervor — 
 ^'before I can reply to your suit, you must appear 
 for the clearing of my name." 
 
 Eilmeyer assured her how joyfully he would 
 do that with all his power. 
 
 Emmy went on, half smiling, half serious : 
 ^^You can bind me to great gratitude, can put 
 me under eternal obligation." 
 
 ^^ Eternal obligation?" returned Eilmeyer. 
 ^' To gain that nothing would be too hard for 
 me." 
 
 ^^ Well, then, Herr Ruland is at the parsonage ; 
 he intends to take vengeance on Schaller, who 
 has owned that he wrote the slanderous letter. 
 Herr Schaller has the insolence to call me the 
 joint author, and he must not die before he has 
 withdrawn the charge. Your commission is to 
 obtain this recantation from Schaller as quickly as 
 possible ; there is not a moment to lose." 
 
 Eilmeyer looked about in amazement. If it 
 had been proposed to him to fight with a real 
 dragon, to slay a winged serpent, he could not 
 have been more surprised. 
 
 Emmy added, in a light tone : ^^ I think a 
 duel will not be necessary, but you would certainly 
 not shrink from it if it were." 
 
 Eilmeyer could make no reply to this assump- 
 
348 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 tion ; but no words were needed, for he put his 
 hand into his pocket and drew out a heavy case. 
 
 ^^ Do you know what that is ? " asked he ; and 
 with a light pressure the leather case opened, and 
 a little double-barreled reyolver lay before Emmy's 
 eyes. ^^I always go armed/' said Eilmeyer. 
 ^^Even though one should be yery unwilling to 
 use it, a weapon in the pocket always giyes 
 courage." 
 
 ^^I do not doubt your courage. You will 
 easily obtain an explanation from the wretch ; 
 this shall be a test of your deyotion, of which I 
 haye no doubt myself, but you must proye it to 
 the world. " 
 
 ^^ I shall do it. Master Forester Jorns holds 
 to-day the great auction of wood from the domain 
 forest, but I would go through all that wood eyen 
 if it were on fire for your sake. I will show the 
 world that I am striying to become worthy of 
 you." 
 
 ^^When you return — not, indeed, with the 
 slain on the point of your sword, but with a con- 
 clusiye explanation — you shall hear more," said 
 Emmy. She gaye Eilmeyer her hand, and did 
 not withdraw it when he kissed it fervently. 
 
 ^^ One thing more I must ask," said Emmy ; 
 ^^ hasten, lest Euland may kill Schaller before he 
 has given the explanation, and the stain may cling 
 to me." 
 
 After Eilmeyer had gone, Emmy was sorry for 
 
THE FORESTERS. 849 
 
 him a minute, thinking, '^It is possible Schaller 
 may strike him down, and the good fellow has 
 not deserved it ; " but she consoled herself again : 
 ^^He is shrewd; he will find ways and means to 
 outwit the other." 
 
 For the first time in his life Eilmeyer did not 
 deserve his nickname : he delayed, and delayed ; 
 he would have no objection whatever if Ruland 
 should put Schaller out of the way before he came. 
 
 When he at last set out, he felt glad of the 
 clear day, for in that case Schaller would certainly 
 not be at home ; he would, however, have done 
 his duty as knight, and the matter need not be 
 pressed. 
 
 Eilmeyer drove in his one-horse vehicle, which 
 had very low wheels for traveling over the hills. 
 On the road he saw that the storm had torn up 
 many poplars ; he nodded with satisfaction ; he 
 had long been looking round for such wood ; he 
 could make good use of it for a cigar-box factory ; 
 the rain-storm was a good thing for him. 
 
 On the way he met several wagons, some 
 bringing him paving-stones, some timber. Against 
 his wont, he spoke at length with the carters, and 
 was not a little pleased to hear from the Italian 
 contractor, who had undertaken to get his work 
 done by the stone-cutters, that in the woods he 
 had met Schaller, who was looking very strange 
 to-day. " Why doesn't an axle break ? '^ said Eil- 
 meyer to himself, as he went on ; ^^then I could 
 
350 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 let the forester's people deal with Schaller, and 
 should myself come too late.'' But both horse 
 and wagon were too good and sure to allow any 
 hindrance. It would be well^ however^ to call 
 first at the parsonage, to talk with the curate ; he 
 was sure of not meeting Schaller there. 
 
 CHAPTER LVII. 
 
 At the same time Ruland was walking toward 
 the forester's house. The curate had sent a mes- 
 senger in his behalf to Jorns, with the inquiry 
 whether he was at home, for Ruland wished to 
 speak to the parents first. 
 
 Ruland came in, and Jorns said, ^^It is well 
 that you have come again, and that, as Rudolph 
 writes, you do not mean to let yourself be turned 
 aside from your task in the New World. " 
 
 His wife's welcome was as constrained as the 
 master forester's was hearty, for she felt that he 
 had not come merely to say farewell again. 
 
 ^' I have something pleasant to tell you," began 
 Ruland, grasping her hand — ^^you especially, 
 madam. You said, ^The hands of revenge are 
 bound to the heart.' My hands are free. I know 
 the man who wrote against me, and I have no 
 wish to take vengeance on him." 
 
THE FORESTERS. 351 
 
 Madam Jorns clapped lier hands for joy, and 
 begged Euland to mention no name ; but the 
 master forester asked him to tell it, saying it 
 pained him to suspect many, and it was better to 
 know the ill-doer. 
 
 When Euland named Schaller, Jorns cried, ^^I 
 must beg your pardon, first of all, Louise. You 
 said so before, but I could not believe he could 
 play the hypocrite like that, to cast slurs on him- 
 self and on his own father. Louise, you are 
 sharper-sighted than I. But now I tell you, Eu- 
 land, you may forgive him and let him go, but I 
 shall punish him ; I'll beat him as limp as a rag." 
 
 ^' You will not do that," remonstrated Euland. 
 
 ^^ He'll never do it," said his wife. ^^You 
 know him too ; he lets out his anger in words, but 
 he is only too kind-hearted afterward." 
 
 ^^I see," said Jorns, smiling, ^^you are both 
 united against me. But Schaller must leave my 
 district. A way must be found for that." 
 
 Euland now informed them, with great com- 
 posure, that he had come to ask Carla's parents 
 whether they would give her to him as his wife ; 
 in case they had the slightest objection, he was 
 determined to go without saying another word. 
 
 '' Have you then spoken to her already ? " 
 asked Jorns. 
 
 '^1^0, but I know she returns my love." 
 
 " We had made up our minds to our child's 
 leaving us," said Jorns, with a glance at his wife. 
 
352 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ^^but not for sucli a distance, perhaps never to 
 meet again/' 
 
 '^ It is all one/' returned the mother, ^^ whether 
 she goes with her husband across the ocean, or to 
 the low country : I lose her at any rate." 
 
 She turned away and wept, and said to 
 herself softly, ^' Oh, these husbands ! these hus- 
 bands ! " 
 
 Euland explained that he had really only leave 
 of absence for a few years; the Prince himself 
 wished that he should make another effort for the 
 great cause in America, and after that he was 
 coming back to his native land. 
 
 " Now you will cheer up ?" said Jorns to his 
 wife. ^^ You as well as I know no one to whom 
 we would rather give our child than to our Eu- 
 land. Go now and bring us two fine full-blown 
 roses, and stick one in the muzzle of each of our 
 guns, that we may go look 'for Carla." 
 
 His wife went out, and came back with two 
 roses ; but she put them, not in the gun-barrels, 
 but one in her husband's button-hole and one in 
 Euland's. 
 
 '' Do you see ? Smiling becomes you. Euland, 
 just see how my wife looks now ; see the light in 
 her face." And he told how since the day Euland 
 left she had been, not cross — she could not be 
 cross — ^but not good-humored either. 
 
 " Good luck for you, Euland," he concluded ; 
 ^' her motherly jealousy has been spent before the 
 
THE FORESTERS. 353 
 
 betrothal ; she has no more. You will get the 
 best mother-in-law in the world.'' 
 
 Jorns and Ruland went to the wood ; they met 
 children picking blackberries, and asked if they 
 had not seen Carla, but did not clearly learn whith- 
 er she had gone. Jorns told his young friend that 
 a law was proposed to forbid the gathering of 
 berries in the forest ; he condemned this excessive 
 respect for the rights of property. Kuland listened 
 in silence, and said at last, ^^ It would perhaps be 
 best to return home ; I have the feeling that 
 Carla is already on the way there." 
 ^^ I think so too ; let us go back." 
 When the two men were gone, and Madam 
 Jorns was left alone in the house, she sat awhile 
 at the window, looking out, with her hands on 
 the casement. Then she went through all the 
 chambers, and everything already seemed to her 
 empty, stripped bare, the whole house uninhabit- 
 ed, as though joy and happiness had never reigned 
 there. But she collected herself; it must be. 
 She stood in Carla's room, and looked out of the 
 window, which the wild vines encircled as with a 
 colored frame. Under the eaves robins had built ; 
 the nest is still there, torn in pieces and blocked 
 up ; the young ones are flown, and are building 
 themselves new nests. So it is in this world. 
 
 23 
 
354 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 CHAPTER LVIII. 
 
 Oarla, straying through the wood in the early 
 morning, hardly notices how the fine mist lies on 
 her face and garments. She can scarcely see three 
 paces before her ; the fog rises and falls, retreats 
 and returns ; it is as though one were walking at 
 the bottom of the sea. But when sight fails, 
 hearing is all the sharper. Carla hears every 
 faint sound, and can distinguish it from the rush 
 of the brook, which now goes its quiet course 
 again day and night, always in the same key, in 
 the same measure ; she hears the scales of the 
 pine-cones drop from the tree where a squirrel is 
 gnawing them. 
 
 With all her attention to every sound, she 
 thinks of the people who are still sleeping and 
 will soon awake ; and then she thinks of one, and 
 dares hardly own to herself what she would like 
 to say to him. Do her thoughts possibly reach 
 him, and steal upon his slumbers like airy visit- 
 ants ? 
 
 The fog retires, the bright blue sky shines : 
 the day is lord — is victor over night and mist. 
 
 A glad confidence animated Carla's being ; she 
 went farther and farther. She saw does feeding 
 in a clearing ; she looked at them, but it did not 
 occur to her that she carried a gun on her shoul- 
 der, the lock of which was protected from the 
 
THE FORESTERS. 355 
 
 dampness by a coyering of cloth. She had brought 
 the weapon only from habit ; no game will ever 
 be shot by her again. She met singing children, 
 gathering blackberries and hips and haws, and 
 unconsciously she sang softly to herself. 
 
 At the source of the brook she sat down, and 
 it seemed as if the guardian spirits of love that 
 had ruled here were still hovering in the air. 
 Here Toni and the Adjunct had embraced and 
 kissed each other. If he were here now, he who 
 had been so sorely tried, but was animated with 
 new life, Carla would fall on his neck, and say in 
 a single kiss, ^^ Henceforth we belong to each 
 other ; take me where thou wilt, I will follow 
 thee." The fountain bubbled and roared; and, 
 as it streamed from the interior of the earth, in- 
 cessant, inexhaustible, so there flowed from the 
 depths of her soul a stream of love. 
 
 She stood up at last, and walked on with en- 
 ergy, and yet calm within, as if all were accom- 
 plished, everything set free. Of the hundred 
 songs and melodies that she had been accustomed 
 to sing, one strain came to her, as if brought by 
 an invisible genius ; it was that expression of 
 strong determination with which Leonora sings 
 to Fidelio, ^^I obey the inward voice," and forces 
 her way into the dungeon to rescue her lover. 
 He is not a captive ; he is free, but yet bound. 
 Over and over she sang to herself the air. 
 
 Carla had formed her resolution. It would be 
 
356 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 sinful to renounce each other ; it must not be. 
 It is honorable and true of him to be willing to 
 sacriiSce himself to the memory of the dead. 
 ^^But/^ she said, almost aloud, ^^you have no 
 right to sacrifice yourself, and me as well. If he 
 does not come, if he does not himself master the 
 pain, I must have courage to overcome all hesita- 
 tion and maidenly shyness. I must cry out to 
 him, ^ You ought not and I ought not to renounce 
 our happiness.'" 
 
 Carla's cheeks burned, her breath came quicker, 
 and suddenly she seemed, as in a vision, to see Eu- 
 land sitting lonely by the brook and waiting for 
 her. Argus pressed up to her while she thus 
 dreamed with open eyes, as if he must wake her. 
 Carla stroked the dog and said, ^^ Yes, if it hap- 
 pens, and if he comes, you shall go with us.'' The 
 dog looked at her as affectionately as if he knew 
 what she said. 
 
 She went homeward with hurried steps. The 
 sun shone clear from the cloudless sky. Every- 
 thing glittered and sparkled ; a flood of golden 
 threads broke into the wood ; among the trees 
 was a humming and buzzing of everything that 
 bestirs itself in the sunlight ; tremulous shadows 
 fell from the moving branches ; a life-giving 
 warmth hovered over the grass. High up in the 
 forest were heard loud sounds of the wood-cutters ; 
 trees cracked, trunks rolled down to the valley, and 
 now and then there resounded an explosion from 
 
THE FORESTERS. 357 
 
 the quarry where the men were blasting rocks. 
 Carla stood leaning on her gun, and looked into 
 the distance ; then suddenly, as if recollecting 
 herself, she took the cover from her gun-lock. 
 She walked faster and faster. Home, home ! In 
 the yalley he is sitting and waiting for her ; there 
 is not a moment to spare. 
 
 As she stood at the edge of the wood, where 
 begins the barren waste of Vogelseck, she seemed 
 to be awaking from a strange, incomprehensible 
 dream, and, full of weariness, she sat down. She 
 sat on the moss under a great fir, and looked 
 dreamily up to heaven. There was a strange 
 murmur in the tops of the trees. Varying accord- 
 ing to the position of each tree, the rustling in 
 the air had a different sound, only perceptible by 
 the sharpest ear ; there were whispering, rushing, 
 and crackling, humming and buzzing, and all 
 finally blended into one mighty flood of sound 
 flowing through the upper air : the quiet of the 
 forest is one broken by a thousand movements of 
 life. Never yet had Carla felt herself so at home 
 in the woods as to-day, and yet along with it 
 something softly whispered, ^^ You are not here ; 
 you are far away in the unknown world." 
 
 The sun burned hot, but through the sunshine 
 ran a chill ; from the waterfall there came occa- 
 sionally a cooling breeze, sometimes even a few 
 drops ; the chilliness sprang no doubt from the 
 ravines, where the cold air of night had been be- 
 
358 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 lated, and was now fleeing before the hot rays of 
 the sun. 
 
 Carla lay on a ledge of the mountain^ her gun 
 within her reach. She had leaned her head on 
 her arm, and was looking down on the moss and 
 grass, in which golden beetles were creeping ; here 
 and there a bee hung on the open blossoms of the 
 heather, sucked a mouthful of honey, and flew 
 away. thou earth ! moss and grass cover thee, 
 and within thee are resting Sylyia and Mangold. 
 Great drops fell from Carla's eyes upon the moss, 
 and clung glistening to it. See, a marten peeps 
 out of his hole, but Carla does not touch her gun ; 
 her shooting is oyer. She began to feel hunger. 
 Taking a piece of bread and a little flask of wine 
 from her hunting-pouch, she ate and drank with 
 the appetite of the lost child in the legend. 
 
 Hark ! there are footsteps. Is it he ? Has 
 thy fervent thought brought him hither ? They 
 came nearer. It was Schaller. He looked as if 
 he had been up all night ; his eyes were swollen, 
 his beard was tumbled, he was bare-headed, his 
 thick hair was dripping, and great drops hung on 
 his temples. He cried with a hoarse voice, '' Give 
 me a piece of bread ! I can not die hungry." 
 
 ^^ Take some." 
 
 He hastily swallowed a morsel, and when Carla 
 handed him the wine, he returned, " No, no wine ; 
 or stay, it is my last draught." He emptied the 
 
THE FORESTERS. 359 
 
 '^Permit me to sit down by you. You have 
 forgiven me for feigning humility and godliness ? " 
 
 '' Fully. But I do not believe you are so bad 
 as you represent yourself. Mangold, too — " 
 
 ^' Excellent ! It would be amusing if the fable 
 were true, and I should meet the dog-doctor to- 
 day just as it strikes noon, and the pious drudge 
 should be my advocate before God's throne.'' 
 
 ^^ Pray, blaspheme no more," said Carla. She 
 could not help feeling afraid, and was not at ease 
 till she heard a child sing in the neighboring wood 
 as it gathered berries. 
 
 ^^ Blaspheme?" rejoined Schaller. ^^Who? 
 what ? Did you ever see an owl brought to day- 
 light ? Oh, a bird is better off ! A sick beast 
 creeps into some out-of-the-way place, crouches 
 down, and dies ; and in a few days the ants. Na- 
 ture's scavengers, have removed every trace of 
 his existence. Would it might be so with me ! 
 All is illusion, a feverish dream — you, I, every- 
 thing ! " 
 
 *^ Why do you always torment yourself with 
 death ? Here where life — " 
 
 '' Life is a lie ! You have given me bread and 
 wine, but love, the third, belongs to him. I sup- 
 pose you are on the way to meet Euland, who is 
 at the parsonage ? Ah ! you did not know that ? 
 Oh, I can still see. Fair is the sun, fairer the 
 maiden's brow that reddens with love." 
 
 Carla sat spell-bound, and Schaller inquired. 
 
360 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 *^ What do you think he will do to me, now that 
 he knows it was I that wrote the letter ? ^' 
 
 Carla trembled, but, raising herself, she asked, 
 '^Did no one help you ?^' 
 
 '' Eightly asked," returned Schaller. ''So it 
 is ; we all take after our forefather Adam, later 
 called Macbeth, who, like a whining school-boy, 
 complained to the Lord, ' She tempted me, Eve- 
 Macbeth/ I am not yet so weak, fair damsel 
 of the forest." 
 
 Schaller gazed on her with glassy eyes, and 
 wildly spoke some unintelligible words, of ' which 
 so much only was clear that Napoleon and Fred- 
 erick the Second always carried poison about 
 them. 
 
 Carla laid her hand on his shoulder and said, 
 '' Compose yourself." 
 
 A strange quiet came oyer him, he smiled al- 
 most like a child ; he seemed to breathe in her 
 words like a refreshing breeze, and Carla con- 
 tinued : 
 
 ''I promise you, I give you my word, that Eu- 
 land will do nothing to you. It shall be the first 
 thing I ask him." 
 
 ''No! no!" shrieked Schaller; "no pity. 
 Pity is a falsehood, an infamous falsehood — ^the 
 plausible calumny of the wolf called man. Let 
 him go beg pity across the ocean. . . . Fie ! 
 Dastard ! fire ! " 
 
 He shrieked with a powerful voice, so that it 
 
THE FORESTERS. 361 
 
 reechoed from the wood ; and, as if in answer, the 
 figure of Euland appeared on the crest of the 
 mountain ; not far behind him came the curate 
 and Jorns. 
 
 Instantly Schaller snatched Carla's gun from 
 the ground, ran up the hill, stopped, and took 
 aim. A shot cracked ; Euland's hat flew off, and 
 he appeared to stagger. Schaller remained in 
 position, but Euland swiftly unslung his piece. 
 Two shots cracked at the same instant from above, 
 and Schaller fell backward ; he rolled down the 
 open space. Yonder, where the roots showed like 
 twisted snakes, yonder he lay ; his blood dropped 
 on the dead roots. Carla had sunk on her knees. 
 
 While her father and Euland, who had hur- 
 riedly replaced his hat, were busying themselves 
 about Oarla, the curate knelt by the still strug- 
 gling Schaller, and closed his eyes when he had 
 breathed his last. 
 
 The berry-gathering children and the wood- 
 cutters with their axes had come up. Eilmeyer, 
 too, was unexpectedly there, and said he had come 
 to call Schaller to account for having slandered 
 his bride, and charged her with having part in the 
 anonymous letter. He even took out his revolver, 
 and declared that he would have shot Schaller 
 with it if he had not recalled the calumny. 
 
 Carla went homeward, accompanied by her 
 father and Euland. The three spoke not a word. 
 She was deadly pale, but, when she saw the roses 
 
362 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 that Euland and her father wore, a flaming red 
 mounted to her face. 
 
 Bobbel came behind them, carrying Carla's 
 gun. 
 
 When they came out of the woods in sight of 
 the house, as Euland took off his hat, blood ran 
 down his forehead and cheek. The others now 
 first saw that the ball had grazed him, and had 
 made a wound on his forehead. 
 
 ^^He has shed your blood!'' said Oarla; 
 ^^come !" 
 
 She went with Euland up to the brook, washed 
 his wound, and bound up his forehead ; and there 
 behind the willows, where the wagtail was twit- 
 tering, they gave each other the hand without 
 saying a word. 
 
 They went back to her father. Eilmeyer was 
 still there. In the midst of the horror he thought 
 with satisfaction that he had missed nothing, for 
 the master forester could hold no wood auction 
 to-day. 
 
 In the house, at the water-pipe, where Jorns 
 washed his hands longer than eyer, the whole 
 transaction was related to the mother. Jorns 
 continued to hold his hands under the jet. Eu- 
 land, too, washed his hands. 
 
 ^^ The dreadful man has put everything into a 
 state of war," said she. 
 
 Jorns was just washing his eyes, and with wet 
 eyes he looked at his wife and nodded. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 363 
 
 The two men resolved to go straight before the 
 authorities. Eilmeyer accompanied them. 
 
 Meantime the woodmen and stone-cutters at 
 Vogelseck carried Schaller's corpse to his house ; 
 the curate walked behind with folded hands. The 
 body lay on the floor before the picture of the 
 drinking-party. 
 
 '' He meant to make an end of himself ; he 
 was afraid he should become blind," said his 
 maid ; and now that he could no longer forbid it, 
 she made a long speech of lamentation oyer him, 
 and wept as well. 
 
 CHAPTEE LIX. 
 
 A SHORT time after Eilmeyer had left Emmy, 
 her father came in. He said that had happened 
 which he had trusted to prevent ; her share in 
 Schaller's deed was known to all the world. 
 
 Emmy had dropped her eyes, and was playing 
 uneasily with the tassel of her gown. Now she 
 raised her head and said : ^^ To all the world ? A 
 fine world that ! " 
 
 Her father, who had meant to speak calmly, 
 lost his self-command ; he upbraided his daugh- 
 ter, 
 
 Emmy looked at her finger-tips, and heard 
 
364 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 him patiently. Only when he referred to Carla 
 Jorns, what a comfort she was to her father, she 
 shrugged her shoulders scornfully. 
 
 When he had done, and she still remained 
 silent, he asked, ^^Now, what have you to 
 say?" 
 
 ^^ I ? I am neither sentimental nor pedantic ; 
 I have spirit enough to despise what you call the 
 whole world.'' 
 
 '' Even if I belong to that world ?" 
 
 ^^I do not share your humility; you do not 
 belong to it. As to the rest, I am no child, and 
 shall know how to bear the responsibility." 
 
 Her father said he regretted that he had hith- 
 erto prevented her traveling ; he now advised it ; 
 he would try to get along by himself. This he 
 said with a tear-choked voice. 
 
 Emmy rose and replied, ^^ Very well ; I thank 
 you." 
 
 Her father turned and went toward the door. 
 He hoped, no doubt, that Emmy would still give 
 him a gentle word ; but as it did not happen, he 
 opened the door and went out. 
 
 In the hall Eilmeyer met him. He looked 
 highly excited, and noticed nothing of the com- 
 missioner's grieved expression ; on the contrary, he 
 grasped at his hand, and would have kissed it. 
 The father 'repulsed him and hurried away. 
 
 Eilmeyer took off his coarse gloves and put 
 on fine ones ; it was his principle : always hand- 
 
THE FORESTERS. 305 
 
 some gloves — that is the main thing with the 
 ladies. 
 
 Emmy receiyed him with great surprise. ^^ You 
 here already ! " 
 
 ^^ Permit me to sit down; I have a fabulous 
 story to tell," said Eilmeyer, breathing hard, and 
 somewhat loosening his stiff collar. Fortunately 
 there was a rocking-chair in Emmy's sitting-room ; 
 he sat down, brought together the finger-points 
 of his well-gloved hands, and began to recount 
 how he had stopped every one he met, in order to 
 learn where Schaller might be found. 
 
 ^^ Did not that delay your journey quite against 
 your habit ? '' 
 
 ^^ Certainly ; but, noble lady, you alter my 
 life completely ; I shall be for ever grateful to 
 you if you break me of my bad habits, great and 
 small." 
 
 ^^ But, pray, you said it was something quite 
 monstrous you had to relate." 
 
 " I will say it in one word : Schaller has been 
 shot dead." 
 
 ^anaduel?" 
 
 ^^No." 
 
 Eilmeyertold the story, and concluded : ''All 
 the world feels relieved ; he had put the whole 
 region on a war footing." 
 
 " All the world ? The whole region ? " cried 
 Emmy with scorn, and walked with firm steps up 
 and down the room. 
 
366 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ^^Euland is wounded too, though, thank God ! 
 but slightly. Carla washed his wound at the 
 brook/' Eilmeyer further told her. 
 
 ^^And through murder and death the two in- 
 tend to be happy together ? That is pleasant ! '^ 
 cried Emmy, turning away. 
 
 From her face looked that demon whom Schal- 
 ler ranked as the last — malicious joy. Her large 
 white teeth glittered, her eyes rolled. 
 
 " And Schaller is dead ? " asked she again. 
 
 '^Yes, killed by Jorns and Euland with a 
 double shot." 
 
 ^^And I,'' said Emmy in triumph — '^1 will 
 show that I stand by Schaller.'' 
 
 ^^He wronged you so deeply," objected Eil- 
 meyer. 
 
 Emmy looked at him as if he had been a chair, 
 not a living being. Eilmeyer felt it ; he had 
 never received such a look from a woman. Forc- 
 ing a smile of friendship, Emmy said, ^^Herr 
 Meyer, I owe you many thanks for your friendly 
 trouble." She said it distantly, coldly; she hard- 
 ly looked at him. 
 
 Eilmeyer was stung. Did the woman who 
 spoke to him so mean to become his wife ? He 
 rose quickly and said, ^^ Madam !" 
 
 " Sir ? " said Emmy. 
 
 ^^ Madam," said Eilmeyer. He took out his 
 watch, held it in his hand, and seemed to be 
 counting the seconds ; then said with self -posses- 
 
THE FORESTERS. 367 
 
 sion, ^^I much regret^ gracious lady, that the 
 whole town already knows of our intended be- 
 trothal." 
 
 " You regret ? '' 
 
 ^^Yes, for I see myself compelled to inform 
 you, with all respect, that I must decline the 
 honor. I am sincerely obliged to you, moreover, 
 that you have shown me your real nature before 
 our irrevocable union." 
 
 He hurriedly pulled off his handsome gloves, 
 rolled them up into a ball, and left the room. 
 He heard something like laughter behind him, 
 but he thought he knew that the laughter was 
 not genuine. 
 
 Emmy said to herself, ^^ This creature, half 
 frog, half stork — it was necessary that he should 
 shake you soundly, in order to get you at last out 
 of this stifling corner, " She looked out of the 
 window. Eilmeyer was in the garden with her 
 father. What could they be talking about ? Was 
 the sentimental old man congratulating the fellow 
 on his good fortune in having escaped the disaster ? 
 
 Emmy threw back her head, opened all the 
 windows, went to the piano, and sang so loud 
 that the two men below started as if a thunder- 
 bolt had fallen between them ; and everybody 
 who knew what Emmy had done stopped before 
 the house to hear how insolently she sang at the 
 top of her voice. 
 
 And yet rage and fury were boiling within 
 
368 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 her, but she forced herself to sing. People 
 should not have the triumph of knowing how 
 crushed she felt. 
 
 Suddenly she broke off in the middle of her 
 song, and, walking up and down, exclaimed, 
 ^^Free at once, quite free ! '^ Then she sat down 
 and wrote a telegram. She rang for her maid, 
 and said : ^^ Take this to the office. No, dress 
 me ; I will do it myself.'^ 
 
 With her prettiest hat, with a waving feather 
 on her proudly erect head, and in her jet-covered 
 jacket, glittering in the sunlight like a coat of 
 mail, Emmy walked through the town to the 
 telegraph office. Many were standing by, and 
 she said to the official, ^^ Pray read it aloud, that 
 I may be sure it is all written plain." 
 
 The clerk read : ^' Signer Stadelli, Singer, 
 Munich, The Four Seasons : I shall start to-mor- 
 row, and will accompany you to Milan. Emmy 
 Stumpf, formerly Hochgesakd." 
 
 A few minutes after, the telegram was known 
 to the whole town. 
 
 As Emmy passed the court-house, she heard a 
 shout of joy ; there happened to be a meeting of 
 all the burgomasters of the district. The session 
 was just over, the people were standing in the 
 market-place, and as Jorns and Euland came out, 
 Anton Armbruster called: ^^ Master Forester, 
 you promised you would give the new Association 
 a forester. Herr Euland, stay with us." 
 
THE FORESTERa 369 
 
 ^a can not." 
 
 ^^Then giye us the Adjunct." 
 
 The Adjunct was just approaching with his 
 betrothed on his arm, and, there on the street, he 
 was appointed the Association's forester with loud 
 acclamation. 
 
 Jorns and Euland drove home. The district 
 physician, the judge with his clerk, Toni and the 
 Adjunct, also drove to the forester's house. They 
 went first to Schaller's abode. His wounds were 
 both mortal ; in his pocket was poison. 
 
 When they approached the forester's, the cu- 
 rate met them, and said, ^^ Carla has fallen asleep ; 
 it is very fortunate that she can do so." 
 
 Toni sat by the mother in the room next to 
 that where Carla was sleeping. When Oarla 
 woke and saw her mother and Toni, her first 
 question was whether Euland was there ; and 
 being told that he was, she begged Toni to call 
 him. 
 
 Her mother went away too, and Euland en- 
 tered the chamber. ^^0 my Euland!" cried 
 Carla ; and both opened their arms, and held one 
 another in a long, silent embrace. 
 
 ^^ To come to life, to be living once more — once 
 more to possess the highest bliss ! " exclaimed Eu- 
 land, throwing his arm round Carla. But sud- 
 denly he gave a loud sob ; pangs of bitter anguish 
 rent his bosom ; through the brightness of his 
 joy ran a dark, intense sorrow. 
 24 
 
370 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 ^^ You entered my heart with terror. '^ 
 
 ^^ And you mine." 
 
 ^^The terror is gone.'' 
 
 "And the clear joy remains." 
 
 Neither knew which said one thing, which the 
 other ; and as they released each other and looked 
 in one another's eyes, a smile, sunny as that of a 
 waking child, passed over both their faces. 
 
 "It will be very lonesome for my parents 
 when I am gone," began Oarla. 
 
 " The Adjunct and Toni," said Euland, "will 
 come here to your parents for a while after their 
 marriage. The Adjunct has become forester to 
 the Association." 
 
 Euland was sitting in silence, keeping fast 
 hold of Carla's hand, when Jorns entered. He 
 laid his hand upon their two hands, then said 
 that the judge and the physician must soon go 
 back to the city, and Carla must come down to 
 add her deposition to the protocol in regard to 
 the recent events connected with Schaller. 
 
 Before going down Carla took her gun, and 
 said to Euland, " Here, do you take it ; hence- 
 forth I shall never use it." 
 
 Just as she came into the room the curate had 
 finished his statement and was signing it. 
 
 Carla, holding Euland's hand, related what had 
 passed ; it sometimes seemed difficult for her to 
 recall the terrible scene. 
 
 The judge turned to the gentlemen, and stated 
 
THE FORESTERS. 371 
 
 that no further investigation would be called for ; 
 since, although it could not be told which had 
 caused the death of Schaller, both had acted with 
 full justification, under necessity. 
 
 Jorns pressed his lips together, and Ruland 
 looked down. 
 
 The judge returned to the city. Toni re- 
 mained at the forester's. 
 
 CHAPTER LX. 
 
 It was a bright day ; the starlings were whir- 
 ring in clouds through the air, assembling for 
 their passage across the sea ; the leaves were fall- 
 ing from a cherry-tree gently and in straight 
 lines to the earth, as though an invisible hand 
 plucked and guided them ; twittering sparrows 
 were bustling about upon the bare twigs. 
 
 In the village churchyard a little group was 
 standing around an open grave. Men had worked 
 that the idler might live ; they worked now for 
 his burial. 
 
 The landlord of the Angel said to the Grater's 
 son, ^^I wonder what our good curate will say 
 of Schaller in his grave ? Look, old Magdalen 
 holds her handkerchief before her face ; I don't 
 believe she is shedding tears, unless perhaps it is 
 
872 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 from gratitude for his leaving her everything in 
 his will." 
 
 " Yes/^ returned the person addressed^ ^^and 
 in his will he requested that his bugle and his 
 stuffed dog should be buried with him. But what 
 an abandoned wretch he was ! " 
 
 While the two men still spoke, a coach loaded 
 with many trunks drove up to the entrance of the 
 churchyard, and stopped ; a tall woman in deep 
 mourning, with a black veil over her face, alight- 
 ed and stood by the open grave. 
 
 *' That is the doctor's widow," said the land- 
 lord of the Angel. ^^ What can be the meaning 
 of her paying Schaller this last honor ? " 
 
 The curate had dropped his eyes to the earth, 
 and as he raised them to begin the last service 
 a thrill ran over him ; for Emmy had put back 
 her veil. She carried a fur muff, and occasion- 
 ally drew out a hand with a white handkerchief, 
 to pass it over her eyes. A glance from her prom- 
 inent, brilliant eyes fell upon the curate. He 
 folded his hands, looked up to heaven, and there 
 flowed from his mild, loving heart words which 
 could only soothe and elevate ; he portrayed the 
 great gifts of the dead man, and showed how, 
 through being undisciplined and lawless, they 
 had become only a curse to him and to his fel- 
 low men ; but he drew consolation from the 
 thought that no human mind fully understands 
 the vast divine plan of the world's government. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 373 
 
 He suddenly stopped ; he had intended to add 
 something more, but Emmy might think it an 
 admonition directed to her ; he broke off, and 
 then, collecting his powers anew, uttered a fer- 
 vent prayer that strength of soul might be given 
 to those men who, with pure hearts and hands, 
 had been compelled to execute punishment. 
 
 The grave was filled up ; the curate uttered 
 another prayer ; then the little company dis- 
 persed. 
 
 Emmy had left the churchyard. The curate 
 still lingered there ; he evidently meant to avoid 
 meeting her at the entrance. He saw that she 
 seated herself in the carriage, but the carriage did 
 not move. Was she waiting for him ? He col- 
 lected himself and left the yard. As he entered 
 the road before it, Emmy called out, and begged 
 the favor of a word with him. 
 
 He approached the carriage ; she opened the 
 door, and seemed to expect him to get in, so that 
 she might talk with him there ; but the curate re- 
 mained standing quietly, and asked, ^^What do 
 you wish ? " 
 
 *^I will alight," said Emmy, and he was 
 obliged to hold out his hand to assist her. She 
 held it fast a second, but as she felt no responsive 
 pressure, she released it, and said: ^^Herr von 
 Blankenschild, I came to bid the wild man yonder 
 the last farewell, which he no longer hears. I 
 came to bid the devout and sensitive man before 
 
874 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 me a last farewell, which I trust he will hear 
 kindly from me." 
 
 The curate bowed mutely. While she spoke 
 she often turned away ; she plainly felt disturbed 
 by the curate's glance, which was child-like indeed, 
 but also severe, like a child's. She bent her eyes 
 upon him again with a strong effort, at the same 
 time passing a white handkerchief over her fore- 
 head. 
 
 ^^Herrvon Blankenschild,'' she continued, ^^I 
 am not so unworthy as you think. I have not 
 come to awaken again feelings that no longer live 
 in you nor in me. They are dead for ever." 
 
 Her voice failed her. She perhaps expected 
 that the curate would help her by a word ; but 
 he remained rigidly silent. 
 
 ^^I wanted to say to you, I was a superi3cial 
 child of the world, but not heartless. You might 
 perhaps have kept me within bounds." 
 
 The curate trembled ; he had perhaps been too 
 quick, too inconsiderate in throwing from him 
 a heart that so bows and humiliates itself. But 
 he promptly replied, '' I thank you ; I thank you 
 with all my heart." 
 
 ^^Now I have done with the world," said 
 Emmy, forcibly straightening herself. '^ I want- 
 ed nothing more. You see I am going abroad, 
 where I can be free from all the past. I am going 
 to Italy, to your friend Stadelli, to train myself 
 as a singer. Farewell, and may you find the hap- 
 
THE FORESTERS. g75 
 
 piness you deserye ! I am now free, quite free. 
 I am even thankful to you, Herr von Blanken- 
 schild ; we should not have been happy together ; 
 it is better as it is, and I shall often recall many 
 of your beautiful sayings. Do not regret that 
 you have done me good by your lofty thoughts." 
 
 ^^ Oh, my friend," cried the curate, ^^let me not 
 be the cause of your leaving the path — ^" 
 
 " No more declamation, I pray," interrupted 
 Emmy sharply. ^^ Farewell ! " 
 
 She stepped in ; the carriage rolled off. The 
 curate pressed his hand on his bosom as if a shot 
 had struck him. She had called the deepest out- 
 pouring of his soul ^^declamation"! That was 
 a poisoned dart. He gazed on the wheel-marks of 
 the carriage, and when he lifted his eyes he saw 
 that it had stopped. Certainly she means to come 
 back to take that terrible word from his heart. 
 He went a few steps to meet her, but he saw that 
 the carriage had only had its top thrown back, 
 and then drove rapidly away. Tired out, the 
 curate seated himself by the wayside ; he sat bent 
 over, his forehead supported by his hand, and 
 there was a mighty tumult in his brain. The inner 
 confidence, in which he had hitherto lived and 
 taught, was shattered ; he felt that he had still 
 much experience to acquire, and must not, as here- 
 tofore, stake his whole being upon it. 
 
 As he raised his eyes again after this deep self- 
 examination, he saw Euland coming arm in arm 
 
376 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 with Carla. He went quickly into a side path 
 leading through the garden hedge ; he did not 
 feel free enough at present to rejoice in the hap- 
 piness of others ; the various feelings of his soul 
 shifted like intermingling drifts of fog. Euland 
 and the Adjunct had both conquered a completion 
 for their lives ; but he had won no other existence 
 to join to his own. He would perfect his life en- 
 tirely by himself^ out of his own resources. 
 
 CHAPTER LXI. 
 
 Eyek at the forester's house the funeral bell 
 was heard echoing from the woods. Father and 
 mother, the betrothed maiden and her lover, knew 
 for whom it tolled, but they said not a word of 
 it ; they did not even look at each other, for it 
 recalled to each the calamity that had threatened 
 them through Schaller. Is a shadow to fall over 
 their whole lives, because they were made the in- 
 struments of executing the punishment ? It was 
 as though they felt an effluence from the prayer 
 which the curate was uttering at the open grave. 
 
 ^' There was a state of war," said Jorns, speak- 
 ing for all ; ^^we were compelled to defend our- 
 selves. We lament that it cost life, but we must 
 be glad of the victory." 
 
 Euland wrote to Rudolph ; Carla added some 
 
THE FORESTERS. 377 
 
 words to the letter, and her father and mother 
 wrote also. . 
 
 ^' There is a letter-box at the parsonage ; we 
 can take the letter there directly, and at the same 
 time ppj our betrothal visit to the pastor," said 
 ;^:land. 
 
 ^^ Yes," said Madam Jorns, ^^do so. Do you 
 go on. I am coming after ; I have business at the 
 parsonage too." 
 
 Carla and Euland went out. Two belated 
 roses were still blooming on the bushes ; Carla 
 broke them off, put one in her own, the other in 
 Euland's bosom, then laid her hand on Euland's 
 arm, and her glance was as sunnily bright and 
 soft as the autumn day. 
 
 ^^ And now," said she, ^^et us forget all pain ; 
 life is beginning." 
 
 The two walked on ; they talked of how it 
 would be when they should return after a few 
 years. Argus seemed to be aware of the joy that 
 had entered the house and their hearts ; he sprang 
 to and fro before them in a way quite unusual 
 with him, and did everything to attract attention. 
 
 ^^I know what you have just thought of," said 
 Euland. ^^ Yes, dear Carla, we will take Argus." 
 
 The dog leaped on them as if he had under- 
 stood every word ; it. was not easy to quiet him. 
 
 An open carriage came toward them ; they 
 both stopped. 
 
 ^^That is surely Emmy," said Carla. The 
 
378 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 carriage came nearer ; there sat Emmy in mourn- 
 ing garments, a black yeil over her face. She sat 
 unmoved, and the carriage drove by. 
 
 The lovers walked on ; they did not go over 
 the mountain, but took the valley road. On the 
 leafless hedges hung countless radiating webs of 
 gossamer, and glittering drops swayed among the 
 delicate threads. In the stubble-fields the doves 
 were silently picking up the scattered grain, while 
 the sparrows, now hastily flying up, now dropping 
 again, twittered loudly over the abundant food. 
 The cows were grazing in the meadows ; in the 
 fields fires of potato-tops were burning ; and 
 wherever there were people, they looked up and 
 saluted the young couple. In some places they 
 were shaking fruit-trees ; here the fruit was rat- 
 tling down, and there it lay in great heaps, diffus- 
 ing a spicy fragrance, different from the odor of 
 blossoms, but not less reviving. The silent peace 
 of autumn, the refreshing coolness, the gentle 
 breeze, all fell in with their mood, and accorded 
 with their deepest feelings. 
 
 Breathing the soft air, and looking about in 
 the tender light, the slight trace of anxiety which 
 had lurked in their hearts vanished quite away, 
 and its flight heightened their sense of happi- 
 ness. 
 
 They did not speak of their love, and yet, as 
 they looked out upon the world, all shone new 
 and fresh to them, as if the creation were then 
 
THE FORESTERS. 879 
 
 first born. Euland's sinewy form had regained its 
 full yigor. 
 
 Carla suddenly stood still. ^^That is right, 
 Bruno/' said she ; ^^you are already much taller 
 than at your return. I imagined you so, holding 
 your head high. From the first hour I had the 
 feeling that some one must care for you, not be- 
 cause you are weak, but because you always think 
 of yourself last, and my first wish was that I might 
 in some way serve you." 
 
 Not far from the village the mother overtook 
 them, and she said, " See, there goes Gotthold ; 
 he seems to avoid us." 
 
 All three went to the parsonage. The be- 
 trothed pair gave their names to the pastor for 
 publication. The old gentleman said that he was 
 not yet strong enough to perform the marriage 
 ceremony ; he hoped the curate would take it ; it 
 belonged to him. 
 
 While the two were with the pastor. Madam 
 Jorns staid with his wife. The good, deaf lady, 
 who sat at the window with her straw work, was 
 not a little surprised to see the forester's wife, 
 who said that she had come because in her hap- 
 piness she could endure no more disagreements, 
 and had never at the bottom of her heart been 
 unfriendly. 
 
 The old pastor's wife did not seem to under- 
 stand, and what Madam Jorns might have ear- 
 lier said very quietly, she was now obliged to shout 
 
380 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 with all her might. '^ Madam/* cried she, in a 
 yery loud Yoice, "I beg your pardon a thousand 
 times for what I once said about the coffee. I 
 am very sorry ; forgiye me." 
 
 She seized the old lady's hand and pressed it, 
 and the latter replied : ^^ Yes, I will make some 
 coffee now at once ; it shall be good and clear ; 
 you shall see. " And so she did. The forester's 
 wife, the lovers, the old pastor, and the curate, 
 who had now come in, had to sit down at a most 
 unusual hour, and drink coffee ; and the forest- 
 er's wife owned she had never drunk better. 
 
 The pastor's wife thought it strange that 
 Emmy had attended Schaller's funeral without 
 coming to the parsonage. ^^You spoke to her 
 afterward," said she to the curate; ^^what did 
 she say to you ? " The curate reddened violently, 
 and replied that she had informed him she was on 
 her way to Italy, to perfect herself as a singer. 
 
 Euland whispered softly to the curate that he 
 hoped he had not allowed himself to be thrown 
 again into disquietude. 
 
 The eye of the old hostess wandered uneasily 
 to and fro ; at last she said : 
 
 ^^I see by your lips you are talking of Emmy. 
 Will you hear me for once ? " 
 
 All were ready to listen ; the taciturn, quiet 
 pastor's wife had never been seen so animated, and 
 she began : 
 
 ^^ Certainly, it is a hard case to have no one to 
 
THE FORESTERS. 381 
 
 take your side, and to be too proud to look for 
 one. Emmy is good nature itself as long as slie 
 has her own way." 
 
 An unconcealed laugh interrupted the old 
 lady, who, tying her cap-strings tighter, went on : 
 
 ^^ She has her peculiarities. Why not ? The 
 good Lord feeds all sorts from his table, and the 
 world is not made up of foresters' and parsons' 
 families. That would be but a silly sort of world. " 
 
 '' Many thanks ! " interrupted her husband. 
 
 " Let me speak ; I don't often do it. What 
 has Emmy done that you all look down on her 
 so ? I say nothing against the people — we haye 
 not far to seek for them — ^to whom it is indifferent 
 whether they are looked at or not, and how they 
 and all their good qualities are looked at. That 
 is not eyerybody's nature. Emmy wants to be 
 looked at and listened to, and she is beautiful and 
 sings beautifully. But they say she had part in 
 Schaller's rascally trick ? Eyerybody knew Schal- 
 ler to be a wide-mouthed fellow. Who knows 
 whether she meant anything but a jest ? She is 
 an eccentric creature, a mocker, a satirical per- 
 son, if you please. Is that so dreadful ? She 
 takes human life for a jest. To be sure, that is 
 not yery religious, but it is not stupid or bad 
 either for all that." 
 
 ^^ But, wife ! " interrupted the pastor, horri- 
 fied. 
 
 ^^Pray, dear husband, I shall justify myself 
 
382 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 presently. If Emmy had married a gay oflScer, 
 or a court official in a good position, she would 
 have been happy, and would have made her hus- 
 band so ; she would have been a brilliant figure 
 in the great world, and a good housewife besides. 
 Kow her lot is different. Nobody ought to pre- 
 sume on his own goodness, and I say the high- 
 spirited, merry doctor^s widow must have luck 
 yet, for the many kindnesses she has shown me. 
 There ! I have poured out clear coffee for you 
 all," she concluded, and loosened her cap-strings 
 again. 
 
 Kuland and the curate exchanged looks when 
 the pastor's wife had thus spoken. But the old 
 pastor said with satisfaction to the curate, ^^My 
 dear sir, you are superseded ! Next Sunday I shall 
 let my wife preach." 
 
 They stood up in good humor. Madam Jorns 
 let the lovers go home by themselves ; she staid 
 awhile with her regained friend, who in her silence 
 had collected so many independent thoughts. 
 
 The moon glittered on the dewy meadows, a 
 light, cool night-breeze swept through the valley, 
 and the leaves, gently rustling, fell from the trees, 
 as the betrothed silently walked homeward. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 383 
 
 CHAPTER LXIL 
 
 There was a great stir at the forester's house 
 the week before the wedding ; the house had never 
 seen such disturbance, for it is no trifle to marry 
 a daughter at a few days' notice, and that across 
 the ocean. 
 
 Toni was a great help to Madam Jorns, and 
 Thoma Armbruster not less ; the latter had still 
 much untouched linen from her outfit, which she 
 gave up for Carla with the assurance that she 
 would take no money, only other linen, which 
 they could buy at their leisure. Bobbel, too, 
 showed himself very handy. He was not as simple 
 as he seemed, for he was ambitious to replace 
 Mangold ; and when he had directed and man- 
 aged anything in the house, he often said, "Man- 
 gold would not have done that better, and I am 
 much quicker than he was ; I do everything in 
 the twinkling of an eye." 
 
 Rudolph and his wife came to the wedding with 
 their eldest son Ernst. Sylvia's sister came too ; 
 she was a quiet, refined woman, whose whole bear- 
 ing was so distinguished that all accosted her as 
 one of nature's aristocracy. Toward Ruland she 
 behaved with deep sisterly affection, and nothing 
 could be more cheering than her saying to Carla, 
 " Nobody but you could make Ruland happy, and 
 he deserves to be happy once more." 
 
884 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 Friends, too, had come — Iyo Bock, the princi- 
 pal of the Agricultural School, with his son-in-law, 
 the Commissioner of Forests, and the latter's wife 
 Ignatia. The President of the Exchequer, the 
 curate's brother, staid at the parsonage. In the 
 morning the brothers had a thorough explanation. 
 When the elder asked about his relation to Emmy, 
 the curate was able to state that it was entirely 
 over. The President expressed his satisfaction, 
 and then said that the Prince's brother had de- 
 clared his intention of making the curate the 
 tutor of the youngest prince. The curate said he 
 did not decline the appointment, of which he 
 knew the importance, but he must prepare him- 
 self better ; he saw that he had not yet enough 
 stability, and he desired to spend at least another 
 year here in quiet, in order to gain strength and 
 fuller control over himself. This agreed perfectly 
 with the proposed plan, for the prince was yet too 
 young to have a tutor. 
 
 The glance of his brother's eye, and the inner 
 energy which he had newly awaked in himself, 
 were giving the curate his serenity again. 
 
 The day was mild, but the sun was covered with 
 gently drifting clouds, as the bells rang for the 
 wedding. So many people had poured in from 
 the village and the country round that the church 
 could not hold them. Euland and Carla had to 
 walk through a lane of spectators before they 
 reached the church, and it gave the people behind 
 
THE FORESTERS. 385 
 
 them, especially the women and girls, occasion to 
 say how beautiful Carla loooked, and what a splen- 
 did pair they were. 
 
 ^^ Why is there no music ?'' was asked. 
 
 ^^ It is not the custom at a widower's wedding," 
 was the reply. 
 
 But soon the organ rolled, and the singing re- 
 sounded from aloft. All looked to the yestry 
 from which the curate should appear. Why did 
 he delay ? Jorns, who stood near the major's 
 wife, Sylvia's sister, and had his hand on the 
 hilt of his cutlass, said something softly to the 
 lady ; he put his foot forward ; he seemed to want 
 to go to the vestry. Just then the curate came 
 forth ; he pressed his black-covered prayer-book 
 to his breast ; his eye was on the ground ; he 
 looked pale, but, collecting and composing him- 
 self, he drew himself erect, and went through the 
 ceremony in a calm tone. He spoke but briefly, 
 for he could say to the couple that they knew 
 their duty. 
 
 The wedding-feast was gay enough. A well- 
 trained quartet of teachers from the neighborhood 
 had come to honor the wedding of the son of a 
 member of their profession. After long years the 
 old pastor's wife sat again in the forester's house ; 
 the President led the pastor's wife, Jorns the 
 major's wife, and Ivo Bock the master forester's 
 wife to the table. 
 
 Little Ernst Jorns had soon made friends with 
 25 
 
386 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 young Anton Armbruster, and, while all were still 
 feasting, the two boys slipped out, to play together 
 by the brook, helped by Bobbel, who still enjoyed 
 children's games. 
 
 Oarla's prize-cup was filled. The curate, in 
 whose looks no one perceiyed any traces of the 
 struggle through which he had recently gone^ 
 took a deep draught from the beaker, and spoke : 
 
 ^^ Honored and dear citizens of the forest ! if 
 we observe the history of the whole ancient world, 
 we notice one thing which they had not and could 
 not have — the man full of knowledge in matters 
 pertaining to the woods, and also full of the love of 
 the woods. Our master foresters are an entirely 
 new species of men, with which neither Socrates 
 nor Confucius was acquainted. If the care of the 
 forest had been known in Judea — '' 
 
 '' Come home," said Rudolph, pulling the cu- 
 rate by the coat. The latter smiled and again 
 drank, then continued : 
 
 ^^When all nations appear before God, the 
 Eternal Spirit, their love of the forest will be a 
 mark of honor to the German nation. Then it 
 will be said, ' Look at my Jorns ; he sprang from 
 the far German North, but how soon he has be- 
 come one of us ! ' And if our Ruland holds out, 
 it may be that our Lord will say again, ' There 
 stands my old Ruland, who has covered many a 
 bare spot with the forest mantle, and has kept 
 a lordly portion of my earth fresh and green. 
 
THE FORESTERS. 387 
 
 Therefore shall he and his wife ever continue 
 fresh and glad eyen to a great age.' An evil- 
 minded scoffer gaye him the name of forest mis- 
 sionary ; that is what he in truth is.'' 
 
 Eudolph twitched his coat again, but the cu- 
 rate drank once more, and went on : 
 
 ^' Look at this peaceful house, overgrown with 
 rose-bushes. The doves fly to and fro upon the 
 roof, and our bird is a dove too, a wild dove. 
 The dove in the old time came and brought a 
 green branch as a token that the deluge was over : 
 now Euland, by his science and his energy, pre- 
 vents the deluge ; and soon our wild dove will 
 come back, and bring a green branch as a sign 
 that in the New World neglect and destruction of 
 the woods have ceased, and a new forest life has 
 begun." 
 
 ^^ Don't be so profound," said Eudolph, again 
 twitching the curate by the coat. The latter 
 drank again from Carla's cup, then passed one 
 hand through his hair, and with the other he held 
 out the prize-cup ; and his voice became stronger 
 and more resonant as he said : 
 
 " I spoke but briefly in the church ; now hear 
 me patiently. Friend Euland, be a master forest- 
 er of the New World. You are going to Amer- 
 ica ; everywhere the trees are green, the skies are 
 blue, and men may have black or white skins, but 
 the same human heart beats within. You, Eu- 
 land, and you, Carla — you will each hold the 
 
388 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 other to the full height of his better self. A 
 health to the master forester of the New World ! " 
 
 The health was received with acclamation. 
 
 The curate sat down, wiping the perspiration 
 from his brow. He seemed not to notice that 
 Kuland had come to him and kissed him ; he 
 nodded to everybody ; he was thankful to them 
 that they were all so light-hearted : the world 
 is, after all, so fair ! He was dreaming of the 
 future, of the many happy pairs whose union he 
 should yet bless at the altar ; he beheld an end- 
 less line of myrtle- wreathed heads and rosy faces 
 under waving veils, and a white-haired, silently 
 contented man greeting them ; and it was him- 
 self. 
 
 Jorns now rose. He stood in his full stateli- 
 ness, and cried : " Children, listen to me, and 
 don't forget what I say. I bid you drink, on 
 New Year's night of 1900, from Carla's prize- 
 cup ; and I ask you to tell your children of their 
 wicked grandmother, and of the old Swede in the 
 Black Forest." 
 
 He spoke with a powerful but deeply moved 
 voice. The mother smiled through tears, and 
 Sylvia's sister took her hand. Then Eudolph 
 rose and cried : ^^ A health to hunters ! I have 
 good news. My wife and I have determined to 
 leave our son Ernst with his grandparents, and 
 our friend Gotthold will instruct the boy along 
 with young Armbruster. Either the boys will 
 
THE FORESTERS. 389 
 
 go to liye at the parsonage or Gotthold come to 
 the forester's house ; and if it can not be managed 
 otherwise, the old gray will carry either the teach- 
 er or his pupils to their labors/' 
 
 " If God wills, Ernst will continue the race in 
 the forest/' concluded Ivo, with a health to the 
 family of Jorns. 
 
 The banquet was oyer ; the new-married couple 
 had taken leave amid embraces and sobs. With- 
 out was a decorated carriage, with two handsome 
 black horses. On the box sat Anton Armbruster, 
 his whip adorned with ribbons. He drove the 
 young pair to the station. Bobbel came after, 
 and cried, ^^ You have forgotten the main thing ; 
 there is Mangold's otter-skin, which is to be a cap 
 for the American master forester." He delivered 
 the skin, and then crowed. 
 
 As the horses went off, Kudolph cried once 
 more, ^' Long live the master forester of the New 
 World!" 
 
 Only the mother wept, and the curate went 
 quickly back to the house. Jorns took his grand- 
 son by the hand, walked quietly awhile along the 
 brook with him, then took him to the kennel, and 
 gave him a young dog for his own. 
 
 The wedding-guests are gone, but we stay yet 
 awhile with Jorns and his wife ; we can rejoice 
 with the grandparents over the fair-haired, bright- 
 eyed boy, whom Toni looks after with maternal 
 
390 THE FORESTERS. 
 
 solicitude, and whom she kisses more than is 
 needful when the Adjunct, or rather the Associ- 
 ation's forester, is absent in the forest above. 
 
 At his first waking, the morning after the 
 wedding, Jorns said to his wife : ^^ What do you 
 think, Louise ? The President has again made me 
 the proposition that I accept the first place that 
 shall be open, and go to the city as Commissioner 
 of Forests." 
 
 ^^I think,'' returned his wife, "that we had 
 better stay here ; when Carla and her husband 
 return, we will consider it further." 
 
 "So think I too." 
 
 If the grandmother had great delight in her 
 grandson, the grandfather had perhaps still more, 
 only he spoke of it less. He sat at midday in the 
 sunshine before the house, with his grandson on 
 his knee ; the doves flew out and in, and perched 
 on the stag's antlers that projected from the sharp 
 roof ; the leaves were falling from the climbing 
 roses that covered the house so fast that they 
 seemed only thorns. What matter ? they will be 
 green and bloom again. Just now a delicate rime 
 clings to the thorns, that slowly changes to clear 
 water-drops. On the northern side, where the 
 wild grapes climbed, Carla's window stood open, 
 and the grapes inclosed it in a frame of dull red. 
 
 " Grandfather," said the child, " is Aunt Carla 
 on the sea by this time ? " 
 
 "No, not yet, but she soon will be." 
 
THE FORESTERS. 391 
 
 ^^ Grandfather, do the trees in America grow 
 faster than with us ? " 
 
 ^^No, child. They have, machines oyer there 
 with which they can hurry many things to double 
 speed, but not Nature ; she goes her steady, ap- 
 pointed course from eternity to eternity." 
 
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