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THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 
 REMOTE § 
 
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Return this book on or before the 
 Latest Date stamped below. A 
 charge is made on all overdue 
 books. 
 
 U. of I. Library 
 
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 remote: STORAGG 
 
 9324^ 
 
BY PETER ROSEGGER. 
 
 THE GOD SEEKER. 
 
 A Tale of Old Styria. Authorized English 
 version by FRANCES E. Skinner. 12°, $1.50. 
 
 THE FOREST SCHOOLMASTER. 
 
 Authorized English version by Frances E. 
 Skinner. 12°, $1.50. 
 
 G. P. Putnam*s Sons 
 
 New York London 
 
The 
 God Seeker 
 
 A Tale of Old Styria 
 
 By Peter Rosegger 
 
 Author of" The Forest Schoolmaster," etc. 
 
 Authorized Translation 
 by 
 
 Frances E. Skinner 
 
 G. P. Putnam's Sons 
 
 New York and London 
 
 Sbe ftniclterbocfter press 
 
 1 901 
 
Copyright, iqoj 
 
 BY 
 
 FRANCES E. SKINNER 
 W, H, C. CO, 
 

 t 
 
 e) 
 
 o 
 
 .'' ^' 
 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 THE principal events of TAe God Seeker arfi 
 founded on historical facts. In the year 1493^ 
 in a remote part of the Styrian Alps, the little vil- 
 lage of Trages Was excommunicated from th6 
 Church and outlawed for a crime committed by one 
 member of the parish. 
 
 It seems almost incredible that an entire coiii- 
 munity could be made to suffer for the crime of one 
 person. In an age, however, when the Catholic 
 Church wielded such tremendous power, and when 
 superstition frequently took the place of justice, 
 — as was the case when the " Vehmic Law" and 
 " The Judgment of God " were resorted to, — it is 
 ^-jc^ not surprising. 
 
 A few years ago Herr Rosegger, accompanied by 
 his two young sons, made a pilgrimage to the valley 
 of the God Seeker, where the village of Tragos stiH 
 stands, with its old church, now restored and re- 
 established as a place of worship. Here relics of 
 the crime committed four hundred years ago are 
 preserved. To-day the village has become a centre 
 J for Alpine tourists, and there are few traces left of 
 
 t^ the unhappy period through which the inhabitants 
 
 -^ passed when, their God having been taken from 
 
 vi) them, they were ruled by their own misguided 
 
 natures. 
 
 The Translator. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Book I. — The Crime i 
 
 Book II. — Godless ipx 
 
 Book III. — The Expiation 373 
 
/ 
 
BOOK I 
 THE CRIME 
 
 ^E 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 THE narrator of this story, who now takes you 
 by the hand to wander with you through a 
 region wild and gloomy, and in our day utterly un- 
 known, leads you at first up the Johannesberg. 
 This mountain rises in the form of a cone in the 
 midst of a wilderness which creeps far up its sides, 
 where among the broken rocks flourish the barberry 
 and the black alder, the hemlock and the true-love. 
 In the clefts above the falcon builds its nest and on 
 the ground beneath circles and glides the adder. 
 The mountain is not so high as many of its neigh- 
 bours, but upon its summit is a barren spot where 
 no green thing will grow. If at some time, after a 
 thousand springs, a flower should bloom on this 
 sterile bit of land, then, according to the legend, 
 the kingdom of God would be established in the 
 earth. 
 
 Here, where the sandy ground is covered with 
 greenish lichens, may be seen a huge, grey rock 
 marked by a blood-red stain, which no rain can 
 wash out and no ice can erase. 
 
 Surrounding the Johannesberg, as far as the eye 
 can reach, is a wide stretch of forest land, extend- 
 ing to the lower slopes of the Ritscher, the Birstling, 
 
 3 
 
4 The God Seekef 
 
 and the Tarn. This forest — and no tree, or bush, 
 or plant exists irt the northern hemisphere that is 
 not found therein— spreads like a vast sea over the 
 mountain tops, over the valleys and ravines^ On, on 
 into the distance, where the blue dome of heaven 
 with its fringe of snowy clouds sinks into the hori- 
 :zon. But towards the north, on the other side of 
 the wide, dark valley, called Trawies, towers a wall 
 ■of rocky cliffs, their gi'ey, jagged edges sharply out- 
 lined against the sky, their crevices marked by lines 
 of gleaming white. Here begins a mountain range 
 quite unknown to us, as it was also unknown to the 
 people who once inhabited this region, struggling 
 with and at last succumbing to an evil fate. It is 
 called the Trasank. From out its rocky caverns 
 gushes forth a thundering stream, which tearing 
 along on its wild journey tells us much of the ma- 
 jestic grandeur of the mountains whence it derives 
 its source. The Trach — as this river is named — 
 now digs its way through the narrow valleys and 
 gloomy ravines, on through the forests, absorbing 
 into itself innumerable little streams and brooks, 
 until at last it reaches the barren heathland, which 
 shuts off the region of Trawies from all the outside 
 world. 
 
 A large part of this tract of land is primeval 
 forest. Its owner, a wealthy nobleman, who lives 
 far below in a city by the sea and who has never 
 seen the rocks of the Trasank, has left it in its wild 
 state, uncared for and neglected. Only in the lower 
 parts of the Trawies basin is the forest in its prime. 
 Where it stands to-day, flourished many years ago 
 
The Crime 5 
 
 a small parish. At the time of the migration of the 
 nations, when the Germanic races were scattered 
 between the Alps and the Baltic, a handful of peo- 
 ple took up their abode in this wilderness; they 
 settled on the banks of the Trach, ploughed and 
 built, gradually becoming bound by ties of affection 
 to each other and to their own race, now developing 
 under more favourable circumstances. They sub- 
 mitted to one common law and enjoyed the bless- 
 ings of a community. Trawies became a mountain 
 parish, like many others in the region. Upon a 
 rocky eminence in the valley of the Trach, facing 
 the sun and surrounded by a luxuriant growth of 
 underbrush, still stand the ruins of the little church 
 in which the people of Trawies for generations back 
 had so often lifted their hearts in prayer to God, 
 and where at last they were overtaken by their most 
 horrible doom. 
 
 Even to this day everyone avoids its crumbling 
 walls, and, with the exception of bold hunters, peo- 
 ple pass much against their wills through the forests 
 of Trawies. And he who is obliged to do so hastens, 
 for in every shadow he sees a ghost, in every gleam 
 of light shimmering through the branches he im- 
 agines the camp-fire of some robber band. Those 
 dwelling in the outlying districts fear the mists that 
 rise over Trawies, crossing themselves whenever 
 storms from that direction descend upon them. 
 Floods have often broken loose from this ill-famed 
 forest, destroying the land, as if it continued to rest 
 under the curse which long ago, in wrath and in- 
 dignation, was pronounced upon the narrow valley 
 
6 The God Seeker 
 
 of Trawies, arousing to a white heat the infuriated 
 passions in the hearts of the people, and which at 
 last on that fateful day, from the summit of the 
 Johannesberg, ascended in pure flame to the skies 
 and was then extinguished. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 SINCE time immemorial the people of Trawies 
 had celebrated Midsummer Day by a curious 
 festival, one striking feature of which was that no 
 church bells were allowed to ring. For this reason, 
 on the preceding evening the bell-ropes were drawn 
 up and wound about the clapper. Even the church 
 service was omitted on this day, for the priest also 
 took part in this " Festival of the Forefathers." 
 At that small hour of the night which, like a tiny 
 drawbridge, unites yesterday with to-day, three 
 men were walking through the dewy valley of the 
 Trach, singing the following song: 
 
 Fair Midsummer Day is come ! 
 
 The blessed day ! 
 
 The golden day ! 
 
 Arise, 
 
 Arise at the dawn's first ray ! 
 
 From graves emerging, 
 
 From slumbers holy. 
 
 The guests beloved assemble slowly. 
 
 Awaken, awaken, 
 
 The sun joy is giving, 
 
 Oh drink ye, my brothers, 
 
 At this fount ever living. 
 
 Fire and light our God doth make, 
 
 Awake ! Awake ! 
 
8 The God Seek( 
 
 < 
 
 And behold: in the scattered houses of Tr^wier 
 were movement and life ; the people came forth and 
 assembled on the green, oak-shaded burial-ground, 
 where, beneath the sod, they had laid their dead to 
 rest, and, seeking the graves of their dear departed 
 ones, they repeated these words: " My father, I 
 waken thee!" or: " My brother, I waken thee: 
 Holy Midsummer Day is here! " J^And the friendly 
 stars shone down upon them from the sky, while 
 many a dreamer of Trawies gazed heavenward to 
 catch a glimpse of Him Who with His strong arm 
 will, on this day, lift the sun even to His eternal 
 brow, then cast it again into space. 
 y- From the graveyard the people ascended to a field 
 called the Midsummer Meadow. All were con- 
 scious of the presence of their beloved dead, whom 
 they had awakened and invited to celebrate with 
 them this merry feast. 
 
 They now lighted a great fire from a spark which 
 had descended to them from ancient times. It had 
 always been the custom, before extinguishing the 
 festal flames, for one of the oldest and most re- 
 spected inhabitants of Trawies to take a glowing 
 ember from this ancestral fire back to his house, 
 where from year to year it was most sacredly 
 preserved. The fire guardian, as this man was 
 called, was exempt from tithes and taxes, and in 
 seasons of illness the people would fetch a burning 
 coal from his hearth, to purify their houses with the 
 smoke from the sacred fire./ At the time this story 
 opens, the dignified office of fire guardian was held 
 by a man whose house stood by the river Trach, 
 
The Crime 9 
 
 He clung With great tenacity to the traditions of 
 the past, thus maintaining his purity of heart and 
 strength of \purpose. He was the most powerfully 
 built man in Trawies; his name was Gallo Weiss- 
 bucher. In the springtime, when in the valley of 
 the Trach the seed was sprouting in the brown 
 earth, the people, with an ember from the ancestral 
 fire, would light piles of brushwood on the borders 
 of their fields, that the smoke might float over the 
 fertile soil and ward off disasters from their harvests. 
 /-And thus the fire was lighted which burned upon 
 the meadow on this day. Gathered about it, the 
 people chanted weird songs, that gradually became 
 more animated, then even boisterous, and at last, 
 as the sun reddened the western sky, rent the air 
 with their wild uproar. For mead was drunk as 
 an accompaniment to the roasted game, and cider 
 flowed in streams, quickening the pulses of the 
 youths and maidens who formed in circles for the 
 dance, and far and wide the forests of Trawies re- 
 echoed with the shouting upon the Midsummer 
 Meadow. The invited dead seemed to play but a 
 small part in these festivities, and as the day drew 
 to a close, when, according to custom, they should 
 have been accompanied back to their quiet resting- 
 places, many a young pair forgot this sacred duty, 
 and it is said that the restless spirits of the neglected 
 guests would then hover an entire year about their 
 thoughtless young relatives. 
 
 Since time immemorial the Midsummer Festival 
 had been thus celebrated in Trawies. )^ 
 
 On these occasions it was the custom for the fire 
 
10 The God Seeker 
 
 guardian to make a speech at high noon under the 
 spreading oak-trees. It was his first duty to as- 
 sure his audience that the ancestral fire had been 
 sacredly preserved throughout the entire year, and 
 that it was a spark from that spark which, in 
 olden times, their forefathers had received from the 
 " White Lady " in the German forests. The speaker 
 then reviewed the year just past, enumerated the 
 deaths, the births, and the marriages; he also men- 
 tioned the most prominent deeds of the inhabitants 
 of Trawies, whether good or evil. So to some it 
 came to be a day of exaltation ; to others, a day of 
 judgment. Reference was finally made to the 
 bonds which united them to the rulers of the land, 
 and it was shown that in spite of the great isolation 
 of this mountain parish, its loyalty was genuine and 
 its obedience to the laws of the community exemp- 
 lary, so long as these laws did not interfere with the 
 old-time traditions of these denizens of the forest. 
 
 But now a new master had come to Trawies, 
 called Pater Franciscus. Like his predecessors he 
 occupied the large stone house upon the rocky emi- 
 nence near the church. He was small and squarely 
 built, but the expression of his eyes displeased the 
 inhabitants of Trawies from the very first. He was 
 seldom seen in his priestly garb, and he contracted 
 a habit of visiting the various houses to ascertain the 
 amount of worldly goods possessed by the inmates, 
 taxing them according to his own estimate of their 
 value. He was also known to have frequently al- 
 lowed the bells for prayers for the dying to ring in 
 vain, while he stood fishing by the river Trach, or 
 
The Crime ii 
 
 wandered about with hunters in the forest. He 
 forbade the people to cut wood or to graze their 
 goats in the hunting preserves. Previously they 
 had been accustomed to bring their festival meats 
 directly from the forest, or to utilise the game for 
 the skins. But this the new master now proscribed 
 and more strictly than all the seven deadly sins to- 
 gether. The people of Trawies during the long and 
 happy period preceding this story had entirely for- 
 gotten that they belonged body and soul to their 
 spiritual and worldly rulers, who appropriated the 
 income from the parish, partly for their own use, 
 partly for the support of a convent far away among 
 the hills. The new priest reminded them of this 
 fact in a most marked manner. They groaned un- 
 der the burden and cursed. The cursing was not 
 forbidden, for the priest well knew that cursing 
 lightens the spirits of slaves, while placing no obli- 
 gation upon the master. He considered that for- 
 esters were intended for beasts of burden, and that 
 the people of Trawies were quite able to endure 
 whatever he thought fit to impose upon them. He 
 at last issued the following order: " The heathenish 
 celebration and feast on Midsummer Day must 
 cease for all time." 
 
 This went to the very hearts of these woodspeo- 
 ple. But the fire guardian exclaimed: " No one 
 shall ever be able to say over my grave: ' He who 
 lies here allowed the sacred flame to be extin- 
 guished ! ' It is not on account of the tithes and 
 taxes — these I will pay according to my means; but 
 from the ancestral fire which is in my care shall my 
 
12 The God Seeker 
 
 funeral candles be lighted when I enter into ever- 
 lasting rest! " 
 
 " Well spoken, forsooth!" answered the men. 
 But when on the following Midsummer Day they 
 began the celebration by awakening the dead, the 
 priest appeared suddenly in their midst; not with 
 the cross, as Boniface once appeared among the 
 heathen, but with a gun, his finger on the trigger. 
 The men had no fear of the weapon, but they dared 
 not further defy the commands of their master, 
 whom they had always been accustomed to obey. 
 So they dispersed, the fire guardian taking with him 
 the sacred embers. 
 
 " Stop ! What are you carrying off in that pan ? " 
 demanded the priest. " Throw the coals into the 
 water at once." 
 
 The fire guardian started on a run, the priest fol- 
 lowing with weapon raised. The former, being an 
 old man, saw that he could not escape his pursuer. 
 
 " You may burn me with your hell-fire," he 
 shouted, " but this sacred flame you shall not de- 
 stroy! " His house was close by and he hastened 
 towards it. 
 
 '* Very well," laughed the priest; " but fire can- 
 not be concealed." 
 
 As the fire guardian perceived that he could not 
 save his holy trust by any other means, he sprang 
 into his barn and threw the burning coals upon the 
 straw. When the priest reached the spot the man 
 had disappeared and the place was in flames. Both 
 house and barn were burned to the ground. The 
 lire guardian beheld his possessions vanish in the 
 
The Crime 13 
 
 glow of the ancestral fire. A strong wind de- 
 scended from the Trasank, fanning the flames, 
 carrying them high into the air and over into 
 the neighbouring woods. There they roared and 
 crackled, and when the morning sun rose, it shone 
 red and dim through the cloud of smoke floating 
 over the burning forest. All Trawies was abroad in 
 jubilant excitement, working with picks and spades 
 to fight the fire. 
 
 At evening, when the last trees in that part of the 
 forest where the flames were confined had fallen 
 with a crash, each inhabitant carried a burning torch 
 into his house and laid the same upon his hearth, 
 thus preserving an inexhaustible store of ancestral 
 fire. 
 
 The following year, on the day before the celebra- 
 tion, a small number of men assembled at the house 
 of the forest keeper, Baumhackel, to take counsel 
 concerning their Midsummer Festival. The house 
 stood at the end of a narrow valley, about an hour's 
 distance from the church. This valley, called the 
 Wildwiese (the wild meadow), may be known to-day 
 by a waterfall, plunging over a rocky terrace be- 
 tween gigantic fir-trees at the foot of which is a 
 huge hollow basin in the form of a kettle, whence, 
 at the time of this story, a path led up to Baum- 
 hackel's little hut. 
 
 One of the older men addressed the others with 
 these words: '' That which we are about to discuss, 
 men of Trawies, is a solemn matter. Above in the 
 clouds dwells the God of Thunder, watching over 
 us. With his hand of iron he hurls the lightning 
 
14 The God Seeker 
 
 down to the earth, and that he may not strike our 
 houses or destroy our forests with its shafts, he re- 
 quires of us this feast of the sun. The great god 
 Upon his chariot of thunder, drawn by two black 
 rams, and the whole army of our sacred dead, borne 
 upon boars and upon fiery steeds, approach, de- 
 manding the festal day." 
 
 The mysterious words of the old tradition aroused 
 the men and they all cried: "A Midsummer 
 Festival! " 
 
 When, after some deliberation, they had arranged 
 to celebrate it this year upon the Wildwiese, one of 
 the men suggested that the priest must be pre- 
 vented from attending. 
 
 " By force ?" 
 
 " By cunning." 
 
 " Mein Gott, Isidor, that sounds strangely from 
 your lips." 
 
 " How it sounds depends upon your ears; but I 
 say we have no use for the priest at our festival." 
 
 " I say so, too! " 
 
 " And I!" 
 
 " I also! " 
 
 " Good, so say we all. But how does that help 
 matters ? " 
 
 " If the men of Trawies are determined, and 
 stand by one another, does that amount to no- 
 thing? " 
 
 "You 're right, Isidor; I should advise him not 
 to interfere with us this time. There 's something 
 brewing in Trawies for our priest." 
 
 '* That I '11 warrant, comrades, but no force must 
 
The Crime 15 
 
 be used. I tell you, it needs but little to bring 
 misfortune upon us. '* 
 
 A man called Wahnfred nodded approvingly. 
 
 " Yes, Wahnfred, this time it 's your turn. You 
 live in the Gestade, down by the river, two or three 
 hours from the church, in the opposite direction 
 from the Wildwiese. On Midsummer Day someone 
 will be lying in your house at the point of death. 
 Early in the morning the priest must be summoned 
 to come at once. Do you understand ? " 
 
 The men smiled at this suggestion, but Wahnfred, 
 expanding his broad chest, replied : " May God pre- 
 serve us in His mercy, but that shall never happen. 
 In my house there shall be no treachery." 
 
 The head of the man who uttered these words 
 rose almost defiantly above his brawny shoulders. 
 His face was paler, more delicate in colouring, than 
 those of the other men. It showed little exposure 
 to the sun, but there was fire in the large eyes. 
 The cheeks were covered with a light, curly beard, 
 the lips were red and strong and spoke even when 
 silent. The brow was high and narrow, smooth and 
 white ; the reddish-brown hair was combed back and 
 fell like a mane over his shoulders. His appearance 
 was most unusual and striking. Some traits de- 
 noted the strength of a Hun; others, an excessive 
 imagination ; but he might also have been a savage, 
 a lion, a tiger. There are people whose characters 
 always speak like an oracle, yet who are never un- 
 derstood. Even concerning this man's age one 
 might err by many years ; one moment he seemed 
 to have lived more winters than summers ; the next, 
 
1 6 The God Seeker 
 
 one would say he had seen neither winters nor au- 
 tumns, but only springs, and of these a great num- 
 ber. Some such description of Wahnfred has come 
 down to us from the old chronicle. His dress, like 
 that of the others, consisted of a coarse linen shirt, 
 fastened at the throat with a black tie, breeches of 
 deer-skin, close-fitting white woollen stockings, and 
 a long brown cloak. Of late the men of Trawies 
 had adopted leather shoes, while the women, in 
 their blue linen gowns, went about barefoot at their 
 simple household tasks. The men wore broad felt 
 hats with kettle-shaped crowns, the brims turned up 
 on both sides and fastened with a white bow. On 
 their wanderings through the forest they always 
 carried a heavy knife at the left side, and a long 
 iron-bound stick, for there were many wild beasts 
 in the region, and also many ravines and mountain 
 torrents to be crossed. Such was the appearance of 
 the men of Trawies. 
 
 " In my house shall be no treachery," Wahnfred 
 had answered with composure. Baumhackel re- 
 plied: " You 're not the only one who lives in the 
 Gestade. My brother. Little Baumhackel, has a 
 house in that neighbourhood also, and we will have 
 no treachery there either, but he will sacrifice him- 
 self for a good cause like this. I will gladly under- 
 take to have my brother, Little Baumhackel, lying 
 sick unto death on Midsummer Day." 
 
 " That is friendly of you," replied Isidor; " and 
 so with God's help, we shall this year celebrate our 
 sacred feast." 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 UPON the various paths leading up to the Wild- 
 wiese might have been seen on the following 
 night, men and women with heavy baskets in their 
 hands and on their backs; among them was Baum- 
 hackel the elder, who had been busy with prepara- 
 tions, resolving that this festival, celebrated in such 
 a secluded spot of the wilderness, and all the more 
 since it was forbidden and must take place in secrecy, 
 should be the finest and merriest they had ever had. 
 On the Sunday previous, the priest, Franciscus, 
 had made the following announcement from the 
 pulpit: " On next Tuesday, the Feast of St. John, 
 the Martyr, who baptised our Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ in the river Jordan, will be celebrated 
 in our church by all good Christians. Solemn mass 
 will follow the service, and the children of the par- 
 ish, in as large numbers as possible, are expected to 
 be present. During the high mass a processional will 
 take place about the altar. I trust that you will all 
 confess Christ by your presence. Saint John the 
 Baptist purchased with his blood the kingdom of 
 heaven ; and I, as a conscientious shepherd, am de- 
 termined to lead the stubborn sheep, by force if 
 necessary, into the fold of our beloved Lord." 
 
 2 
 
 17 
 
1 8 The God Seeker 
 
 By force if necessary! How strangely these 
 words sounded within the church ! The people were 
 terrified and knew not why. But it was not the 
 threat which frightened them. 
 
 On the morning of St. John's Day, as the glow 
 of sunrise appeared in the sky, Herr Franciscus 
 awoke and stretched himself comfortably in his 
 warm, well-made bed. His life had not always been 
 so easy. His father, a harsh, but over-pious bailiff, 
 had sent him from the rough, though merry life of 
 a country squire directly into a monastery. Here 
 he had found a scanty table, but an abundance of 
 praying benches, and instead of amusing himself 
 with bird-snares, there was the rod for his own 
 back. He had but few pleasures and many pen- 
 ances, for the rules were strict and the prior was 
 severe. A thousand pities to thus waste the best 
 years of life! At last his studies were at an end, 
 and he was sent to the little isolated forest parish of 
 Trawies. The place suited him well, and he now 
 hoped to find compensation for his lost pleasures. 
 Here he was master, and resolving to use his powers 
 to the utmost, he was surprised to find that forest 
 peasants should wish to be their own masters. He 
 simply desired to live on good terms with these serfs 
 and ploughmen, but when they discovered that he 
 demanded more of them than his predecessors had 
 done, they grumbled and became defiant. This de- 
 fiance, however, only awakened that of the priest, 
 and he endeavoured with severity and by force to 
 establish harmony between himself and his parish- 
 ioners. He longed for peace, and for a happy life 
 
The Crime 19 
 
 in fellowship with the people, but in his monas- 
 tery cell he had learned too little of human nature 
 to reach his goal by gentle measures, therefore 
 he employed extraordinary ones; nevertheless, he 
 stretched himself in his comfortable bed, thinking 
 enviously of the life of pleasure led by others in the 
 world outside. He was of a social nature and could 
 be good company to those who would join him in 
 hunting and in cards; the priestly office was a mere 
 side issue. He did not ask himself whether he ful- 
 filled these duties as he should, for had he not been 
 thrust into the office against his will ? He spent 
 little time over the parish reports to be regularly 
 rendered to the higher authorities, but, on the other 
 hand, he delivered the taxes and tributes with 
 greater conscientiousness than his predecessors had 
 ever done. Thus he counted upon a long and easy 
 life in the valley of the Trach. 
 
 Some such thoughts as these were passing through 
 Herr Franciscus' mind on this morning, when sud- 
 denly a knock was heard at the parsonage door. 
 The priest did not stir, but the sonorous voice of a 
 woman called from a window above, asking what 
 was wanted. Surely that heathenish Midsummer 
 Festival was not taking place again ! 
 
 " Not that," was answered from below, " but 
 Little Baumhackel is dying, and for God's sake 
 send the priest at once." 
 
 Soon the priest himself appeared at the window, 
 demanding what ailed the young man. 
 
 " We think he has a stroke; he lies quite help- 
 less — he is at death's door, worthy sir." 
 
20 The God Seeker 
 
 " Then I shall be of no use. I will pray for the 
 dying man at mass. You go home now." 
 
 I beg of you to show us mercy and come. We 
 all know that he sets so much store by a priest, and 
 there is nothing, not even a Bible, in the house. 
 We cannot help ourselves, and if you, worthy sir, 
 desert us also " 
 
 The priest then dressed himself with a wry face, 
 and the little bell that always accompanies the 
 sacred wafer resounded softly along the banks of the 
 foaming Trach. No wonder that so few people 
 knelt before the houses by which the priest passed, 
 for it was still early in the morning; and it was also 
 no wonder that the beds in the houses were already 
 empty, for it was after midnight. 
 
 Fair Midsummer Day is come ! 
 
 Fire and light our God doth make. 
 Awake ! Awake ! 
 
 The song had long since died away ; the people 
 had gone in the direction of the Wildwiese. And 
 a curious assemblage it was ! One robust lad named 
 Nantel avoided the graveyard, not caring to waken 
 his old cousin, — she might rest undisturbed, and 
 his god-father also. A living companion appealed 
 to him more. So Nantel stopped at a little house 
 which he was passing, rapped on a side window and 
 called: "* Midsummer Day is come! The sun joy 
 is giving. Oh, drink at this fount ever living!" 
 So much of the old song he remembered. 
 
The Crime 21 
 
 Whoever lived here did not wait for the invita- 
 tion to be repeated. A young girl soon appeared, 
 and saucily taking the arm of the lad, she proceeded 
 with him on his way. 
 
 " Hast thou brought some fire along ? " he asked. 
 
 " Save thy joking for another time and beware 
 lest I become too hot for thee." 
 
 " I must find out who is the hotter. But I say if 
 we have the fire within ourselves, why do we take 
 the trouble to climb up to the Wildwiese? Why not 
 sit down here and celebrate Midsummer Day on the 
 grass ? ' ' 
 
 " Oh, Nantel," replied the girl, " cease thy trifl- 
 ing with such sacred things. And thou knowest 
 that I am not alone." 
 
 He stared at her, his face turning pale. 
 
 " Not — not alone, Josa ? " 
 
 " Late last night I was up in the graveyard to 
 waken my mother." 
 
 " Thy mother," said Nantel, breathing more 
 freely; " oh, oh, thy departed mother. That 's all 
 right, Josa, if it 's only she, that 's all right." 
 
 And they reached the meadow safely. 
 
 Upon another footpath two topers were striding 
 along. 
 
 I 'm going to try it any way," whispered one 
 I *m going to try it." 
 
 It '11 do no good," replied the other. 
 " Little Baumhackel told me it was true, and I 
 believe him." 
 
 " Give it here — let me read it again." 
 
 < < 
 
 < < 
 
 t < 
 
22 The God Seeker 
 
 They held an old torn paper in their hands and 
 read: 'A Tried Remedy to Keep People from 
 Waking: Take a lock of maiden's hair for a wick 
 and dip it in adder's fat; it is best to light this 
 candle with Midsummer fire, and in whatever house 
 the burning taper is placed, will no man or woman 
 awake." 
 
 It may be possible," remarked the one who had 
 doubted at first. 
 
 " Baumhackel had fine success with his house- 
 hold." 
 
 " You don't mean it! " 
 
 " Listen, Roderich; Baumhackel's family are 
 great eaters and he was worrying about the coming 
 Whitsunday, when all wanted the best and were 
 content with nothing." 
 
 " If they are content with nothing, I should call 
 them modest! " 
 
 " You don't understand me, Roderich; they are 
 not satisfied with nothing, that is to say, not satis- 
 fied with something — oh, I have it now: with no- 
 thing somewhat satisfied." 
 
 " Don't wear yourself out, Uli; you mean, there 
 is nothing which satisfies them." 
 
 " That 's it ; and Baumhackel knew that on Whit- 
 sunday it would be the same. What do you sup- 
 pose he did ? " 
 
 " Took his stick and chased them out. " 
 
 " Nonsense! For what purpose did he make the 
 candle with adder's fat and maiden's hair ? On the 
 eve of Whitsunday, when everyone was asleep, he 
 lighted it and left it burning all the next day until 
 
The Crime 23 
 
 far into the night. Not a soul awoke and the 
 whole feast was spared." 
 
 " That was a great thing." 
 
 ** That was nothing at alL When the men finally 
 awoke they emptied boxes and barrels and ate 
 everything they could lay their hands on." 
 
 " That might have been avoided, Uli; one would 
 need only to empty the boxes and barrels one's self 
 while the people were asleep. " ' 
 
 "You 're right, brother, but let 's hurry on now 
 and get a torch of Midsummer fire." 
 
 And they reached the meadow safely. 
 
 By still another route a group of men were as- 
 cending the hill. Among them — and he towered 
 above the rest — was Wahnfred. He thrust his stick 
 into the earth as he Valked, taking no part in the 
 conversation in which the others were excitedly 
 engaged. One of the men had a clean-shaven face 
 and wore a new hat. He was leading the conversa- 
 tion, at which art he seemed something of an ex- 
 pert. He followed an occupation rare in those days. 
 Years before the people of Trawies had availed 
 themselves of the opportunity to secure a lay- 
 brother from the monastery. He became the school- 
 master of Trawies and educated the children in the 
 manner required of him. 
 
 " Men of Trawies! " he cried, pausing in his walk. 
 " Men of Trawies! I, the old teacher, who have 
 educated your children and have stood by you in 
 friendship according to my ability and my experi- 
 ence — I would advise you not to provoke our master! 
 
24 The God Seeker 
 
 He is our protector and spiritual guide, and he is 
 placed here by the highest authority." 
 
 " Schoolmaster, this time we know better," inter- 
 rupted Gallo Weissbucher, the fire guardian, who the 
 year before had sacrificed his house to save the an- 
 cestral fire; " it is unjust to say that we provoke 
 our master. We do only that which the people of 
 Trawies have done for a hundred years and more. 
 It cannot harm us to hold in reverence the memory 
 of our forefathers, and to guard as a sacred legacy 
 the rites and customs which were dear to them. 
 Those are the chains that bind us to our ancestors 
 who have sown and suffered for their posterity. It 
 does not concern our bodies, transmitted to us by 
 them, but our souls, developed in us by their long 
 and varied experience. We will not have these souls 
 dyed and turned, as you dye and turn your old 
 hat, worn to-day by the master, to-morrow by the 
 slave. The tree will grow by itself, and if one now 
 endeavours to change us by force, it would be like 
 separating the tree from its roots and replanting the 
 trunk in the soil. We are willing, however, to do 
 for our master all that is just and much that is un- 
 just. 
 
 " It is no longer a question of the cursed Mid- 
 summer Festival." 
 
 " Scold all you will, schoolmaster, but on a few 
 points I must set you right. The priest is not our 
 protector — that is the Emperor. Nor is he our 
 spiritual guide, for his conduct is far too worldly. 
 Money! money! the bells in the tower ring out for 
 him. And when you say at the end that he is 
 
The Crime i^ 
 
 placed here by the highest authority, then, with 
 }'Our permission, you utter a piece of nonsense. 
 Our superior is not the monastery nor its patriarch. 
 They should recall this priest and at once. That is 
 the best advice we have to give! " 
 
 " Gallo Weissbucher," replied the schoolmaster, 
 " you, an old man, and so hot tempered! Have 
 you not yet learned Christian meekness ?" 
 
 " Not from our priest." 
 
 Do you wish then to rebel against the rulers of 
 the Empire ? The Bishop has for sometime been 
 dissatisfied with the parish of Trawies, and he well 
 knows why he has placed such a strict master over 
 you. I am an old man, a native of Trawies, and I 
 will stand by you as long as I live. It is just for 
 that reason that I give you this sincere advice : You 
 are the weak ones; yield with Christian submission, 
 that peace may once more reign in our green 
 woods." 
 
 " Then I should like to know why you are wear- 
 ing out your old feet climbing up to the Wildwiese ! "' 
 
 " Because to-day, for the first time, I have heard 
 what the people are planning to do up there, and 
 because I wish to warn them — warn and beg of 
 them to disperse as soon and as quietly as possible. 
 I say to you: do not become rebels! Whoever 
 arouses the anger of a priest must suffer for it. Nor 
 should one trifle with a priest's blessings." 
 
 " Curse him! Priests always bless themselves 
 first." 
 
 " Oh, mein lieber Gott! '" sighed the schoolmaster. 
 
 ** What are you thinking of ?" 
 
^6 The God Seeker 
 
 I hardly know, but I feel some great misfortune 
 in the air." 
 
 The conversation then became general for awhile. 
 Only Wahnfred was silent and walked along mo- 
 rosely, striking his stick upon the ground with every 
 step. 
 
 And they reached the meadow safely. 
 
 On the same morning, just at sunrise, a lad was 
 walking along the banks of the Trach. He was a 
 beautiful boy. " The sun had shone upon him 
 scarce twelve years, his fine, soft, curly hair was 
 golden; the blue sky and morning star are most 
 lovely to look upon, but when I gaze into the 
 depths of this boy's eyes, I find something more 
 indescribably beautiful. The whitest of the fleecy 
 clouds above is not so pure as his brow and neck; 
 the morning red glows less brightly than his cheeks, 
 when excited by childish pleasure." Such is the 
 description of the lad in the old chronicle, which to 
 the narrator of this story is an invaluable source. 
 
 The boy had perhaps started thus early to school, 
 or had wished to be present in the graveyard when 
 the grandfathers and great-grandfathers were being 
 wakened ; he had many questions to ask them about 
 the eagles in Trawies in former times, for now they 
 were nowhere to be seen. The schoolhouse was 
 closed and the graveyard deserted, but an old man 
 sitting under the oak-trees said, " They have all 
 gone up to the meadows, everyone." 
 
 So the boy wandered again along by the river, a 
 coolj moist breeze fanning his cheeks as he walked. 
 
The Crime 27 
 
 He searched for trout, and he fiightened the wag- 
 tails from one willow branch to another, his won- 
 derful eyes glowing as he gazed after the little 
 creatures. In the midst of these pleasures of the 
 chase he heard a piteous wailing. He looked in all 
 directions, but the roaring of the water nearly 
 drowned the voice. Then he discovered a child ly- 
 ing on her face in the middle of a narrow bridge, 
 clinging tightly to it and weeping. 
 
 The boy sprang at once upon the bridge, where 
 the little creature — it was a girl of eight or nine 
 years — was crying piteously: " I 'm falling! I 'm 
 falling!" 
 
 " Thou wilt not fall," said the boy, " get up and 
 hold fast to me." 
 
 " I 'm falling, I 'm falling!" sobbed the child, 
 holding still more firmly to the old tree-trunk that 
 formed the bridge, and beneath which the Trach 
 was dashing over huge rocks, foaming and roaring. 
 Even the boy grew dizzy and reached after some 
 support. He turned his eyes away from the rushing 
 water and seizing the child with both arms, he tore 
 her loose from the log and sprang with his treasure 
 across to the opposite shore. 
 
 When she found herself upon the grass, the girl 
 raised her little head, brushed back the brown locks 
 of hair from her face with her small hands, her eyes 
 beaming with surprise and pleasure. 
 
 " What wast thou doing on the bridge — so 
 early ? " said the boy. 
 
 " I was afraid of falling," she answered. 
 
 " But why didst thou climb up there ? " 
 
28 The God Seeker 
 
 Because I wanted to follow my father." 
 
 " Where dost thou live ? " 
 
 " Yonder, where thou seest that white spot." 
 And she pointed towards a newly built house, 
 gleaming among the charred trees at the foot of the 
 mountain on the other side of the river. It was the 
 house of Gallo Weissbucher, which had been rebuilt 
 for him. 
 
 Where is thy father ? " asked the boy, with an 
 anxious, tender look at the delicate little creature 
 sitting before him on the ground, gazing with so 
 much confidence into his face. 
 
 ** My father has gone up the mountain." 
 
 " What mountain ? " 
 
 " I don't know." 
 
 " What is he doing up there ? " 
 
 " Lighting the fire." 
 
 ** Oh, I know now. If thou wouldst like to go 
 up, I will go with thee," 
 
 Shall we have to cross a bridge ? " 
 
 " No, it is up-hill all the way. Why didst thou 
 lie down on the bridge ? " 
 
 " Because it went round and round, and then 
 flew away with me. " 
 
 " Look, look it is coming! See, it is coming 
 now ! " whispered the lad excitedly, turning his 
 face towards the distant heights, above which ap- 
 peared the disk of the sun. A warm, ruddy glow 
 suddenly filled the valley and the trees cast sharp 
 shadows upon the golden earth. 
 
 The girl did not look at the sun, it was too bright 
 for her ; she looked into the face of the boy and her 
 
The Crime 29 
 
 eyes were comforted. And as he turned to witness 
 her pleasure at the glorious sight, his gaze rested 
 upon her and he said softly : " How beautiful is the 
 Midsummer sun ! " 
 
 Yes, it was beautiful ! It suffused the little round 
 face of the girl with the loveliest, most delicate 
 pink. *' And two violets grew in this garden of 
 roses," says the chronicle. But how can one com- 
 pare a human eye with flowers! This wonder of 
 wonders is incomparable. Let the reader think 
 of the most beautiful eyes that he has ever seen 
 in a child, and possibly they might approach in 
 beauty the luminous stars which shone softly like 
 
 violets in this garden of roses." In the girl's 
 eyes were reflected the sun's orb and the boy's curly 
 head, which bent so low over the little face that it 
 finally shut out the light from the tiny mirrors. 
 
 Imagining that they heard a sound in the dis- 
 tance, the boy said : " That is the music up on the 
 Wildwiese. We must hurry." 
 
 And they continued their climbing. After a little 
 the boy stopped again. " Dost thou know how it 
 is ? " 
 
 " What ?" asked the little girl. 
 How the sun flies up and down. The good 
 God and the evil one are playing ball with it. And 
 that is the sun ball. Now it falls into God s hands 
 and it is day; then it falls into the hands of the 
 evil one and it is night. My father says that on 
 Midsummer Day the devil throws the ball to the 
 highest point in the sky, and if the time should ever 
 come when God failed to catch it, it would fall to 
 
^o The God Seeker 
 
 the lowest depths and there would be ho more 
 day." 
 
 The girl made no reply, but clung timidly to the 
 boy. They walked hand in hand, cautiously pick- 
 ing their way and pointing out to each other the 
 smooth places on the rough, stony path, which at 
 last ceased altogether and they found themselves in 
 the high heather, the girl's head barely reaching 
 to the top The boy walked ahead, stamping down 
 the weeds as best he could ; now and then he picked 
 a ripe berry and put it into the little girl's mouth. 
 Then the way grew almost impassable. The children 
 became entangled in a thicket of juniper bushes and 
 extricated themselves with difficulty, for the thorns 
 were prickly, but neither spoke a word. The boy 
 knew now that he had lost his path; that troubled 
 them little, however, for they were aiming for the 
 Wildwiese, and that this was not far away they 
 were convinced by the music, which grew more and 
 more distinct. Perceiving that the girl could 
 scarcely move in the wild, prickly underbrush, the 
 boy turned and said : ' See here, little one, this is 
 the road to heaven ! ' 
 
 " To heaven ?" she cried, stopping in astonish- 
 ment 
 
 " Yes, because it is so thorny." 
 '* Why is the path to heaven thorny ? " 
 "It is thorny, because — why, I don't know my- 
 self. I will ask my father. And didst thou know 
 that lightning never strikes a juniper-tree ? When 
 our Blessed Lady took flight into Egypt with the 
 Holy Child a terrible thunderstorm arose, and our 
 
The Crime 31 
 
 Lady took refuge under a juniper-tree, which since 
 then no h'ghtning ever strikes." 
 
 " Oh, dear," sighed the little maid, ** if we were 
 only with my father! " 
 
 At last they approached the Wildwiese; they 
 heard the screaming and singing of the people and 
 the roaring of the waterfall. They stood close be- 
 side each other listening, and the boy said; " When 
 thou seest thy father, thou wilt leave me and I 
 shall be alone." 
 
 ** Then thou must call me and I will come to thee 
 again," replied the child. 
 
 ** How can I call thee when I do not know thy 
 name ? " 
 
 " My name is Sela. " 
 
 " And mine is Erlefried. " 
 
 The children then separated to look for their 
 fathers. 
 
 They found them standing under an oak-tree, 
 scolding Little Baumhackel, who should have been 
 at this moment lying ill at the point of death over 
 in the Gestade, and who had sent for the priest to 
 bring him a remedy to lighten his last hours of 
 physical pain as well as to assure him everlasting 
 life. This Little Baumhackel, for whom the priest 
 would have been only too glad to make hell hot, as 
 he was always the quintessence of mischief and evil, 
 this Little Baumhackel, with his broad shoulders, 
 his bushy beard, and cone-shaped head, covered by 
 a ragged woollen cap, now stood gnashing his 
 teeth. 
 
 Oh, you scoundrel!" cried the fire guardian, 
 
32 The God Seeker 
 
 " you sent for the priest to come to you and why 
 did you not stay at home ? " 
 
 Because it was so stupid lying there so long." 
 
 " When he discovers that he has been fooled by 
 you, he will curse your house and come straight up 
 here to the Wildwiese. Then we shall have the 
 devil to pay. And what but your foolishness will 
 be the cause ? " 
 
 Don't get excited, father fire guardian/' re- 
 plied Little Baumhackel; " the old pauper Lull is 
 lying in my bed and is so kind as to die in my place. 
 He won't have much trouble doing it either; truly, 
 now, Lull has been dying since yesterday." 
 
 '* Silence! Silence! " whispered the forest keeper 
 from his house. The reason for this warning was 
 soon discovered. The priest was there. Suddenly 
 he appeared in their midst, and with the utmost 
 composure inquired for the fire guardian. 
 
 Leaning with great dignity on his staff and with 
 earnest mien, he approached Weissbucher, who 
 came forward a little to meet him, respectfully 
 doffing his hat. 
 
 " Stop that," said the priest; " why should you 
 take off your hat to a Catholic priest ? You are 
 nothing but heathen. You have chosen a nice way 
 to assemble for your carousal, for your witches' 
 Sabbath. Dancing and feasting are quite fitting for 
 a devil's holiday. Ha, they are already beginning 
 it over there ! ' * 
 
 He pointed to the feast spread before the com- 
 pany, to the wild circle of dancers wWrling madly 
 about upon the moss-covered ground. They were 
 
The Crime 33 
 
 screaming and shouting, but amid the roar of the 
 neighbouring waterfall not a word could be under- 
 stood. 
 
 " Oh, oh, you modest maidens, dance away'- ' 
 
 " There is no harm in it, sir. " 
 
 '' When Chastity dances, she dances in glass slip- 
 pers. So it is here on the Wildwiese that you brew 
 your sins and crimes! " remarked the priest in a 
 voice of suppressed rage. 
 
 " Sir," replied the fire guardian, " you have long 
 been aware that the people of Trawies will not give 
 up their old customs, and that the more obstacles 
 you place in their way, all the more firmly will they 
 cling to them.** 
 
 " Very good, we shall soon see, my beloved 
 Trawiesers, who is the stronger. You are sly, I too 
 can be sly. While on my way to the Gestade, it 
 occurred to me at the right moment that I should 
 probably be needed up here more than down there 
 — so I turned back. I have resolved either to bend 
 or break you. I am your master! " 
 
 " God pity the man who must be taught by his 
 slaves! " said Weissbucher angrily. 
 
 "You blinded ones!" cried the priest. "Be 
 thankful to God that I am doing my priestly 
 duty." He had raised his arm, but let it fall again. 
 
 Little Baumhackel had already disappeared be- 
 hind a tree, and now his brother, the forest keeper, 
 stepped forward, saying boldly: "Your priestly 
 duty ? Sir, that word cannot be associated with 
 you. Who was to-day summoned to go over to the 
 Gestade to a dying man ? " 
 
34 The God Seeker 
 
 " The dying will take care of themselves. My duty 
 calls me to the living who are on their way to hell." 
 
 At these words of Herr Franciscus, Wahnfred ap- 
 proached and said : " Were you not told that a man 
 was lying at the point of death and desired to see 
 you ? 
 
 " He who does not heed the priest during life 
 may do without him when dying. " 
 
 " But, priest, have you not heard of Jesus Christ 
 who pardons the repentant and takes sinners to 
 Himself ? Do you then know nothing of pity and 
 mercy ? " 
 
 All at once the priest discovered Little Baum- 
 hackel gesticulating wildly behind an oak-tree. 
 '■ Ah!"' he cried, " there he is, my poor, dying 
 man, hiding there and playing tricks! Do you see, 
 you rabble ? " 
 
 But Wahnfred was not in the least disconcerted 
 by this. 
 
 " Did you know that when you turned back? " he 
 asked. " No, priest, you did not know it and you 
 would have allowed a man to die without the sacra- 
 ment! Now, we see what your motives are. We 
 honour the shepherd of our souls, for we need his 
 comfort in times of distress and his mediation in 
 times of strife and his sympathy at the hour of death. 
 The hour of death is not to be trifled with. It fills 
 us with awe even in health; it brings many a 
 money-offering to the altar. And you are capable 
 of deserting us in our last hour; you go about stir- 
 ring up strife wherever you can find the opportunity. 
 You ar$ not our shepherd! " 
 
The Crime 35 
 
 "Send him away!" cried many voices. The 
 priest whistled loudly, and an armed squad emerged 
 from the thicket. 
 
 Robbers'' was wildly shouted on every side, 
 and the feasters and dancers, separating hastily, 
 snatched stones, branches, and cudgels, while the 
 fire guardian took his little girl in his arms. But 
 when shots were fired and one of the defenceless 
 ones fell with a sharp cry. the crowd took flight 
 and disappeared in the woods. One man — it was 
 the pale Wahnfred — still remained by the water- 
 fall, holding his bleeding child on one arm. The 
 other he raised, and, shaking his fist at the priest, 
 who stood surrounded by his bailiffs, he cried with 
 a hoarse voice: " Priest, you have wounded my 
 child. That shall be recorded against you in 
 blood!" 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 STRANGE times now descended upon Trawies. 
 A feeling of suppressed excitement filled all 
 hearts; there was neither work-day nor holiday. 
 Instead of working, the men skulked about from 
 house to house, or stood in groups talking in low 
 voices. On Sundays the church was almost empty 
 and the few worshippers present suffered the pen- 
 alty, for the sermons which the preacher hurled 
 down upon his audience were heavy, each word like 
 a block of stone — but they failed in their effect. 
 
 Herr Franciscus did not dream, however, what 
 the people were praying for during mass. They 
 were imploring God to take this tyrant from them 
 and to replace him with a true priest, such as they 
 had had before and such as other parishes now en- 
 joyed. They felt that the bloodless sacrifice at the 
 altar had almost come to be a bloody one, and that 
 the priest was a Pharisee, a tormentor, and a male- 
 factor in one; and as if Christ's body in the sacred 
 wafer were in ungodly hands. 
 
 A whispering and questioning went from mouth 
 to mouth, asking if the answer had not yet arrived. 
 For they had sent a petition to the Church and civil 
 authorities, begging that the priest might be re- 
 
 36 
 
The Crime 37 
 
 moved. He was better fitted for any other parish 
 than for that of Trawies. He was not well dis- 
 posed towards the poor forest people ; he was a hard 
 master, and he had used force against them. The 
 Trawiesers possessed a sense of justice also, as well 
 as means of defending themselves, so they begged, 
 for God's sake, that Herr Franciscus might be re- 
 moved, or they would not vouch for the conse- 
 quences. 
 
 This petition, signed with crosses by most of the 
 inhabitants and accompanied by their prayers, re- 
 mained unanswered for weeks. There was much 
 conjecturing over the expected reply and the peo- 
 ple foresaw that it would be harsh and imperious, 
 but they hoped that it might lead to a change for 
 the better. In the meantime, they endured with 
 patience the hard and inconsiderate conduct of the 
 priest. This only increased the man's severity and 
 cruelty, for there are natures which are embittered 
 by nothing so much as by the yielding and humility 
 of those they are tormenting. He made trouble in 
 many houses, crushed all hope in many faithful 
 souls, and was constantly wounding the feelings of 
 his parishioners by his rude manner of trampling 
 upon their old-time customs. 
 
 Late in the summer, at the Feast of St. Bartholo- 
 mew, an order was issued through the schoolmaster 
 for the parish to assemble in the church on the fol- 
 lowing day, when the commands and wishes of the 
 authorities would be announced. 
 
 For years the church at Trawies had not been so 
 well filled as at the appointed hour. The priest 
 
SS The God Seeker 
 
 was nowhere to be seen. The altar towered black 
 and threatening above the chancel ; no candles 
 lighted the pillars. 
 
 He has even extinguished the altar lamp," 
 murmured the fire guardian; " that is a bad sign." 
 
 Wahnfred, pale, and filled with anxious presenti- 
 ment, heaved a deep sigh. 
 
 The door of the sacristy leading into the chancel 
 was now heard opening. Here the announcement 
 was to be read. What if it should be the new 
 priest himself! Every eye was turned towards the 
 spot where formerly the word of God had been so 
 comfortingly spoken, and where of late such spiteful 
 cynicisms and angry curses had been pronounced. 
 Now there would surely be a change. 
 
 But in the chancel stood the hated priest! 
 
 A mufHed murmur of discontent filled the church. 
 The priest, not in his robes, but dressed in dark 
 clothes, remained for several minutes motionless, 
 staring down at the congregation with a venomous 
 look, as though he would charm serpents with his 
 glance. 
 
 He then read with a weak voice, contrasting 
 strangely with his face, the following: " In the 
 name of the high authorities appointed by God ! In 
 the name of His Eminence the Archbishop! In the 
 name of His Right Reverend Constitorium ! In the 
 name of His Worshipful Majesty, the Emperor! 
 Let it be known to all present ! The complaints 
 that you have made against your priest are ground- 
 less. It is you, yourselves, who, by your foolish 
 return to pagan customs, by your refusal to pay 
 
The Crime 39 
 
 tithes, by your utter disregard of respect due him, 
 have aroused the anger of your master. To ac- 
 knowledge that you are right in this affair would 
 only strengthen you in that which we must prevent 
 and punish. The unit must conform to the whole, 
 the parish must yield to the state. He who rebels 
 is lost. We demand of you absolute obedience to 
 your chief. We threaten you with our wrath on 
 the first occasion of disregard of your duty as sub- 
 jects." 
 
 The signatures and seals of the authorities, with 
 date and address, followed. 
 
 There was great excitement in the church. With 
 signs of resentment and discontent the people 
 crowded through the doorway. The priest re- 
 mained standing, his hands clenched upon the 
 chancel desk; his cruel eyes followed the departing 
 congregation ; his face had grown yellow, his lips 
 were tightly compressed. Not until the last par- 
 ishioner had gone did he turn and leave the 
 chancel. 
 
 As he was crossing the green towards the parson- 
 age, the people avoided him on every side. Even 
 the aged and the children greeted him guardedly, 
 while the men turned away their heads without a 
 sign of recognition. 
 
 " We will get away from here," said a man from 
 the valley of the Trasahk. " I shall set fire to my 
 hut to-day and emigrate." 
 
 " My ancestors cultivated this land," said the 
 fire guardian, " my ancestors founded Trawies. I 
 will not leave my home. We shall see who is 
 
40 The God Seeker 
 
 rooted more firmly here, the native born or the 
 stranger! " 
 
 To-day the people had no mind to leave the 
 square by the church; they grew more and more 
 noisy, approaching nearer and nearer to the parson- 
 age. One man threw a stone at the window, break- 
 ing it in pieces, at the same time demanding 
 whether or not the priest would now leave them in 
 peace. 
 
 The bailiffs attempted to disperse the crowd, but 
 it scattered only to re-assemble in another place. 
 
 Far back in the valley, where the Miesing brook 
 flows into the Trach, is a cave among the rocks, 
 called the Rabenkirche (the Raven's Church). Ac- 
 cording to the legend, every ninety years on Christ- 
 mas eve the ravens from the surrounding forests 
 meet here to relate weird stories of the people whom 
 they have found murdered in these woods. They are 
 said to speak a human language, and if a human 
 ear were brave enough to listen to the horrible tales 
 told on these occasions it might learn of many a 
 deed otherwise hidden for all time from the world. 
 When the dusky birds have finished their chronicle 
 they hold a religious service for those who have died 
 without the prayers and good wishes of their fellow- 
 beings 
 
 The men of Trawies were not thinking of the old 
 legend, but of the Rabenkirche. And it was on a 
 Sunday morning, at the season when the beeches 
 and larches were turning yellow and the birds had 
 ceased their joyous singing in the woods, that a 
 
The Crime 41 
 
 number of people were wending their way to the 
 cave in the Miesing gorge. They came from 
 Trawies and from the Gestade, from the Johannes- 
 berg and from the Tarn, and from the distant parts 
 of the Trasank valley. 
 
 As they passed the church the bells were ringing. 
 They rang warningly, imploringly. They called as 
 a hen calls when she would protect her young from 
 danger. 
 
 But the men strode gloomily onward. They had 
 become estranged from the church. They hoped, 
 however, that the time would arrive when they 
 might again listen with joy to the voice of the bells. 
 
 Among the men were the fire guardian and the 
 hunter from the Trasank. Wahnfred and the forest 
 keeper, Uli, the charcoal-burner, and Roderich, the 
 tramp. Each one carried a heavy stick, for they 
 would not risk being overtaken unarmed a second 
 time, as on that occasion on the Wildwiese. Little 
 Baumhackel was trudging on ahead of Roderich. 
 He was carrying his coat over his right shoulder and 
 was the only one in the company without a stick. 
 It was just as safe to go unarmed, he thought, for 
 if there should be shooting, the armed men would 
 be the first to be attacked. It was clever of Little 
 Baumhackel. 
 
 As he walked along lazily and carelessly, a pack- 
 age of papers fell from his coat pocket upon the 
 ground. 
 
 Roderich, the tramp, saw it and picked it up, 
 saying nothing. Could it be that this was paper 
 money ? Little Baumhackel had had an interview 
 
42 [The God Seeker 
 
 with a lumberman the day before. He examined 
 the papers and with a laugh uttered a curse- " By 
 Saint Erasmus and again by Saint Erasmus! Yes," 
 continued the tramp in his conversation with him- 
 self, " he was the poor martyr whose entrails were 
 taken out of him. And so the Trawiesers are using 
 him as a certificate of confession ! Why could n't 
 it have been money instead ! '* 
 
 It was surely a most aggravating discovery. 
 
 In the parish of Trawies it was the custom for 
 each person attending the Easter confession to re- 
 ceive from the priest, after absolution, a certificate, 
 which later was to be delivered at the parsonage to 
 show that all religious duties had been duly per- 
 formed. Upon this certificate was a picture of their 
 patron saint with these words written below: 
 " Holy Bishop Erasmus, pray for us, guard us in 
 life, and stand by us in death ! " And beneath this, 
 " Easter Confession of Parishioner " — then a blank, 
 where, after absolution, the name of the penitent 
 with the date was to be written. Thus the priest 
 was able to keep an oversight of his people. 
 
 But how had Little Baumhackel come into pos- 
 session of the certificates of an entire year ? 
 
 " Here, you wretch ! Hold on ! " called Roderich 
 after the man, who turned as he heard himself ad- 
 dressed. " Have you lost something. Little Baum- 
 hackel ? " 
 
 He began searching his pockets at once. 
 Do you miss nothing ? " 
 
 " Not that I know of, unless you mean my lost 
 soul," 
 
The Crime 43 
 
 " This here, does it belong to you ? " 
 
 " It can't be worth much or you would n't show 
 it," said Baumhackel. Then his eye fell upon the 
 certificates. 
 
 " Have I been carrying those papers about in my 
 pockets? " he asked himself. 
 
 " Man," said the tramp, laying his hand upon 
 Baumhackel's shoulder, " how did you come by 
 such sacred things ? " 
 
 " I stole them," was the reply. 
 
 " Stole them! If you broke into the parsonage 
 and could find nothing better than the pictures of 
 saints you are a fool." 
 
 You know, my dear Roderich, that I usually 
 set little store by stealing, but if I attempt it, it is 
 for a good reason. When you steal, you confess, as 
 a matter of course. But if you should miss confes- 
 sion once, then you would have to steal." 
 
 " If you want to quarrel with someone," said 
 Roderich, " you are mistaken in your man! " 
 
 Almost terrified at the sudden anger of the tramp, 
 Little Baumhackel stammered: " I did n't mean to 
 offend you. As you asked me how I came by the 
 sacred things, I just wanted to tell you why I stole 
 them. I did not go to confession last Easter." 
 
 " You heathen ! " 
 
 " It was because I knew a secret which had to be 
 kept from the priest. I preferred going without the 
 holy bread to swallowing his penance with it. 
 Never mind, I am a Christian again now. But after 
 Easter I began to reflect upon what would happen 
 to me when it was discovered that I had played 
 
44 The God Seeker 
 
 truant. And it would have been discovered, for 
 my certificate was missing. Then I was worried, 
 and on the day when the parishioners were deliver- 
 ing their certificates at the parsonage I crept into 
 the house at nightfall. The housemaid is an old 
 playmate of mine, and it was for her sake that I had 
 kept my secret; it was she who gave me the whole 
 package. Now let him prove that mine is missing, 
 for they are all missing. I '11 sell you one if you 
 want it, Roderich." 
 
 " I manage this way," answered Roderich. " One 
 year, when I have n't much on my conscience, I 
 confess twice and save the second certificate for an- 
 other year, when I have done something I don't 
 like to tell. " 
 
 ** Not at all a bad idea," said his companion. 
 
 When the company reached the Miesing, the 
 younger ones began their merry-making at once. 
 They climbed and wrestled, danced and played 
 games. They were in exuberant spirits despite the 
 solemn occasion which had called the people to- 
 gether. The older men of Trawies, and a few of 
 those whose word had weight, gradually separated 
 themselves from the boisterous crowd and withdrew 
 to the cave. While outside the people were gather- 
 ing wood for a fire, the blue smoke of which lightly 
 rose among the pine-trees, while they were catching 
 trout in the river Trach, dressing and broiling them, 
 while they shouted and sang and with childlike 
 pleasure laughed over their foolish jests, the old 
 men in the dark cavern were deliberately sowing the 
 fatal seed for a terrible future. 
 
The Crime 45 
 
 Gallo Weissbucher began with these words: 
 
 " Men of Trawies, you know why we have come 
 together here." 
 
 " We know it," murmured the men. 
 
 " Once we too took part in the merry-making of 
 the young people, for in Trawies we all live to a 
 great age, yet never grow old. That is all changed 
 now. For many days have I seen no ray of pleasure 
 or happiness in your faces. And I too have no 
 longer a desire to laugh. Trawies, once free, is 
 now in bondage. And our laws remain unchanged; 
 our spiritual and civil government is the same. We 
 have always fulfilled our duty towards it ; aside from 
 that we have remained our own masters. But how 
 is it to-day ? A single man has become our destruc- 
 tion ; I need not name him — you all know him ! 
 Could he but know us as we know him! He came 
 a stranger, and would supplant our Emperor and 
 himself become our ruler, our prince, though he is 
 far from princely. He is draining our very marrow, 
 striking with rude hands at our heart itself. He 
 would trample on our ancestral rights, and is it not 
 true that he is plundering our homes ? " 
 It is indeed true! " 
 
 '* Is it not true that he would separate us from 
 the customs of our forefathers, as one severs the 
 tree from its roots, only to throw it aside to decay ? 
 Have you seen the retainers which he keeps, and 
 the hunting dogs, to tear us in pieces ? Have you 
 not heard the report of his gun upon the Wild- 
 wiese ?" 
 
 " We have heard it ! " 
 
4^ The God Seeker 
 
 " The lead has entered into one of our own flesh 
 and blood. An innocent child has been shot, but 
 this ball will remain for ever buried in our own 
 hearts." 
 
 The pale Wahnfred ground his teeth; he thought 
 of the fresh blood trickling over the body of his 
 little son; he thought of the nights of agony 
 through which he had watched by Erlefried's side 
 until the danger was at last over and the arm 
 healed. 
 
 Is that a good shepherd who sets wolves upon 
 his flock ? " continued the fire guardian, 
 
 " Curse him, curse him ! " resounded through the 
 rocky cavern, 
 
 " Subdue your anger, ye men of Trawies! Calmly 
 and deliberately must we consider what is to be 
 done to protect ourselves from this enemy. Has no 
 one a word to say ? " 
 
 All were silent. 
 
 " As you know, our petition to the authorities 
 has been fruitless. To our anger and humiliation 
 the answer has been hurled at us by him ! Now is 
 he bolder than before, and we are helpless if we do 
 not help ourselves. What is your opinion ? " 
 He must go! " cried many voices. 
 
 " In that I agree with you, comrades. There is 
 nothing I hate like force, but it is force which has 
 aroused our anger and against which we must de- 
 fend ourselves. The men in authority have sent us 
 word that the unit must submit to the whole. We 
 have known that long and we do submit to the Em- 
 pire. It is an eternal law that any one thing which 
 
The Crime 47 
 
 does not tend to the prosperity of the whole shall 
 be exterminated/' 
 
 " So he must go! " cried one. 
 
 " Only to return with an armed force," said an- 
 other, 
 
 " Should he come back, he would find the par- 
 sonage in ashes." 
 
 '* And you would be obliged to rebuild it without 
 pay. An enemy would leave to return with a 
 hundred." 
 
 " What then shall we do— what ? " 
 
 " Kill him!" 
 
 A dead silence. Who had spoken the word ? It 
 escaped from the dark recesses of the cavern. Even 
 the noise outside seemed hushed. A slight breeze 
 stirred the branches and dry beech leaves were 
 blown across the entrance of the cave. 
 
 The fire guardian then asked in a hushed voice : 
 
 " Has anyone a word to say against it ? " 
 
 There was no answer. 
 
 The men drew closer together farther back from 
 the opening. Some whispered hurriedly; no one 
 could see how deeply flushed were their faces. 
 Others remained silent with compressed lips; no 
 one could see how pale they were. Gradually the 
 voices of the speakers became louder and more 
 passionate — the opinions differed. The fire guar- 
 dian at last succeeded in restoring order and the 
 discussion continued. No one was allowed to enter 
 from without; no one was allowed to leave. With 
 uplifted arms and clenched fists, the members of 
 J:be coiinfil raised three fingers to take the p^tb; 
 
4^ The God Seeker 
 
 " To whomsoever the lot falls, he must perform 
 the deed, without protest, without delay, as truly 
 as he is a free-born child of Almighty God ! " 
 
 "If it falls to me, I will do it without protest, 
 without delay, as truly as I am a free-born child of 
 Almighty God! " 
 
 The oath was taken by each man present. 
 A tall, slender man, called Bart-from-Tarn, now 
 stepped out of the cave, casting his eyes searchingly 
 upon the ground. He picked up a number of little 
 stones, only to throw them down again ; he plucked 
 a few leaves from a bush, then dropped them ; he 
 seized hold of several twigs, but let go of them so 
 quickly that they swung to and fro on their 
 branches. 
 
 " What are you looking for ? " asked Roderich, 
 the tramp, who was standing a little apart from the 
 merry company outside. 
 
 " I need certain things," said Bart, without look- 
 ing up, " little stones or leaves, forty in number. 
 But they must be alike in size and form." 
 
 " See here, then, perhaps you can use these," 
 answered the tramp, holding out the package of 
 confessional certificates which he had picked up 
 behind Little Baumhackel earlier in the day. 
 
 Bart looked at the slips of paper without asking 
 how the owner came by them. He only said, 
 " They will do." 
 
 What are you going to use them for ? " asked 
 Roderich. 
 
 " To light a fire," replied Bart. " You stay out 
 here," and he re-entered the cave. 
 
The Crime 49 
 
 The papers were examined. Forty men were 
 present, forty had sworn ; forty of the confessional 
 certificates were counted out, each with the name 
 of its owner written upon it. 
 
 " This is a fatality," said one of the older men, 
 pointing to the picture of St. Erasmus; " our patron 
 saint is with us." 
 
 " Amen! " murmured the fire guardian, dropping 
 the bits of paper into a cleft in the rock. Taking 
 his stick he stirred them thoroughly, then turning 
 towards his companions, said: *' In this rocky urn 
 now rest the fortunes of Trawies and our future. 
 Soon will the fatal lot be drawn demanding the 
 deed of one of us. The responsibility rests upon us 
 all, though the chosen one must perform the act. 
 We all promise to stand by him and give him our 
 support. And when it is done, we will all uphold 
 and protect him as our liberator. I now dip my 
 stick into this pitch; the paper which clings to it, 
 let it be the voice of God! Should there be more 
 than one paper, the lots must be drawn anew. 
 Here is the stick. Who will take it and thrust it 
 into the urn ? " 
 
 They drew back, feeling that the slightest volun- 
 tary movement of the hand would be a crime. 
 
 At last Bart-from-Tarn seized the stick and 
 plunged it into the cleft of the rock. 
 
 All eyes were fastened upon the outline of the 
 slender figure standing in the dim light. He raised 
 his arm and the bit of white paper was clinging to the 
 stick. He held it a long time motionless — no one 
 wished to touch it; then it loosened itself and 
 
50 The God Seeker 
 
 fluttered back into the cleft. Above in the arches of 
 the cave a sound as of beating of wings was heard. 
 Many a one thought: " Has the lot fallen to me, 
 and is my good angel with a flutter of his wing 
 sending it back into the cleft again ? " And many 
 a one was seized with horror and tried to leave the 
 cave. But the fire guardian barred the entrance, 
 earnestly reminding the men of their oath. 
 
 Again Bart thrust the stick into the crevice and 
 brought up another paper. 
 
 It lay upon the ground; the picture of the saint 
 could be distinctly seen. The hunter from the 
 Trasank bent over and read: " Holy Bishop Eras- 
 mus, pray for us, guard us in life, and stand by us in 
 death! Easter Confessional Certificate of Parish- 
 ioner " — but the name was difficult to read in the 
 darkness. Uli, the charcoal-burner, struck a light 
 and they read the words written in the priest's own 
 hand: " Wahnfred, from the Gestade." 
 
 Wahnfred leaned back against the wall and did 
 not stir. He was paler than usual. He had heard 
 his name. The veil of dreams in which the quiet 
 visionary would so gladly have enveloped himself 
 had vanished; he saw a path of blood before him. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 BY the river, where the valley of the Trach 
 widened, amid the young alders and beeches, 
 a brown patch of sandy ground disclosed itself, over 
 which the Trach flowed quietly in its broad bed. 
 Here, upon a clearing on the hillside, stood the 
 house called am Gestade (by the river-bank). It 
 was the most picturesque in the whole region ; it 
 was built of wood, and its large, bright windows 
 looked frankly out into the valley, while the other 
 habitations, thickly surrounded by bushes, had 
 their windows cautiously barred and covered. 
 
 The house had a high roof surmounted by a little 
 tower. Trawies was too far away in the valley for 
 the church bells to be distinguished here, so in this 
 tower had been placed " the metal tongue that shall 
 praise the Lord, even as the music of a harp in 
 Zion." 
 
 The front room was furnished as a carpenter's 
 shop. A stranger entering would look about him 
 twice before asking if this were reall}- the home of 
 Wahnfred, the carpenter. For the interior re- 
 sembled the dwelling of a country priest. Every- 
 thing was scoured till it shone, and snow-white 
 curtains hung before the bright window-panes. The 
 
 51 
 
52 The God Seeker 
 
 walls were covered with pictures of saints and upon 
 the shelves lay books and piles of manuscripts. At 
 the door stood an earthenware basin filled with pure 
 water, above which was written on the wooden 
 wall: " I am the Alpha and Omega; to whomsoever 
 thirsteth will I give to drink from the fountain of 
 living water." 
 
 Whenever the master passed out through the 
 doorway, he dipped his finger into the holy water 
 and sprinkled his forehead and his house. Being 
 once asked by a stranger if the water really pos- 
 sessed the power to bless, Wahnfred replied : " It is 
 not the water but our own good intentions that 
 bless us. Our thoughts and our wills are the powers 
 with which the God of Sabaoth rules the world ; 
 and because thoughts and wills have no form, we 
 must place a symbol before us, for the eye must 
 see and the ear must hear that which the heart shall 
 believe." 
 
 Could this be a labouring man ? Surely he must 
 have been educated in a monastery school or by 
 some hermit in his cell. But Wahnfred was born in 
 this house and had never gone farther away from 
 this heathland than to the boundary line marked by 
 the " Five Pines." He had learned to read and 
 write in the school of Trawies ; the old priest, with 
 his white hair and bowed head, wearing the ivory 
 cross upon his breast, the former master of Trawies, 
 had given him instruction in many things, but more 
 especially in the Holy Writ and Revelation. As 
 the old man, the instructor, looked down towards 
 the earth, so the young lad, the learner, looked up 
 
The Crime 53 
 
 longingly and searchingly to the skies. And when 
 the clouds separated, he seemed to catch a glimpse 
 of heaven itself, with its angels and all its magical 
 joys which fill the heart of the visionary as the joys 
 of earth can never do. 
 
 The old priest, who would have gladly provided 
 the lad with a religious education, died before this 
 was accomplished, but he became the guiding star 
 in Wahnfred's life. The boy possessed a predispo- 
 sition to become a religious teacher, perhaps even a 
 prince of the Church to be canonised after death. 
 But how different had been his path in life, how 
 different his goal! Wahnfred remained at home 
 and learned his father's trade. 
 
 When the willows by the river and the clouds 
 upon the heights gleamed in the evening sun, the 
 young carpenter would leave axe and plane and re- 
 fresh himself by reading the Holy Scripture. There 
 came a time, however, when he could no longer in- 
 terpret certain verses of the Bible as the aged priest 
 had done. His heart glowed as he read the words 
 of the Apocalypse: " And I saw a" woman sitting 
 upon a scarlet beast. In her hand she held a golden 
 cup. Upon her forehead was written the word, 
 Secrecy. And I saw the woman drunken with the 
 blood of saints. For everyone has quaffed the wine 
 of pleasure." Then he read how Jacob courted 
 Rachel, and one day, over in the farthermost valley 
 of the Trasank, he beheld a maid more beautiful 
 than ever Rachel could have been. On these sum- 
 mer evenings he would sit before the door of his 
 house, gazing down at the beeches and willows in 
 
54 The God Seeker 
 
 the soft moonlight, listening to the murmuring of 
 the Trach. But his mind was not dwelling on this 
 peaceful scene. Then the trees, with their lofty 
 crowns, would pass by him in a long procession ; he 
 would stumble against stones; mountains would 
 rise before him and impassable streams cross his 
 path. And when he came to himself, he would no 
 longer be sitting before the door of his house, but 
 kneeling before the window of a hut in the remote 
 valley of the Trasank, listening to the soft breath- 
 ing of a sleeping girl. He would listen until the 
 morning star appeared over the broad forest of the 
 Ritscher, then arise from his knees and return to his 
 home, where the shavings would soon be curling 
 from his plane. 
 
 And on one Midsummer Day as the girl was 
 standing early in the morning in the graveyard call- 
 ing: " My mother, I waken thee! My father, I 
 waken thee! My brother, my sister, I waken thee! 
 Holy Midsummer Day is here! " Wahnfred over- 
 heard her and asked : " Are all thy dear ones buried 
 here ?" 
 
 She nodded. 
 
 " Art thou quite alone in the world ? " 
 
 She bowed her head. 
 
 He fled from her. And on one of the following 
 nights he was again kneeling before her window. 
 The air was heavy and close; a thunderstorm was 
 rising over the Trasank and a sudden flash of light- 
 ning revealed to Wahnfred the woman in all her 
 loveliness. 
 
 In this moment his dreams were dispelled. He 
 
The Crime 55 
 
 fled through wind and rain, the thunder seeming to 
 hurl down its wrath upon him, but the image was 
 fixed for ever in his heart. On the morning of the 
 Feast of Corpus Christi, as the maiden, in prepara- 
 tion for church, was raising her white arms to bind 
 a wreath in her hair, which shimmered Hke ripe corn 
 in the sun, Wahnfred, with passionate eyes, burst 
 into her house, crying: " Kiss me with the kisses 
 of thy lips, for they are more delicious than wine! " 
 
 " What wilt thou, Wahnfred ? " stammered the 
 girl, almost terrified at the pale youth with the 
 glowing face. 
 
 " Thou dost not know, oh, thou loveliest of 
 maidens ? " he cried, falling upon his knees and 
 stretching his hands out before him to embrace her. 
 " How beautiful thou art, my darling' Give me a 
 spray of thy myrtle wreath to wear next my heart ! " 
 
 This was the courtship. She became his loving, 
 devoted wife. She listened gladly when he read 
 aloud from the Szvan Song of the Wise King, but 
 made no remarks. She was like a quiet lake, always 
 pure. She was a domestic woman, caring for the 
 house of the visionary, and the neighbours knew 
 little of her. 
 
 In the fourth year after their marriage, on the eve 
 of W^hitsunday, as she was sitting quietly by the 
 river under the peaceful alders, she said to her hus- 
 band : " If God wills, my dear, a child will come to 
 us at Christmastide. "' 
 
 Their prayers had been granted. The joys of 
 summer, the charm of autumn, did not exist for 
 Wahnfred this year. As he had never longed for 
 
56 The God Seeker 
 
 spring, he now longed for winter. When at last the 
 snowflakes began to fall, he thrilled with inward 
 pleasure ; as the ice formed a crust over the Trach, 
 he said to his wife : " The water runs without noise, 
 the time is near! " 
 
 And three days before the holy feast, Erlefried 
 was born. 
 
 We already know the lad. It was he who led the 
 little daughter of the fire guardian up to the Wild- 
 wiese, where the unfortunate shooting had taken 
 place. Wahnfred had carried his bleeding child 
 home, muttering all the curses of the Old Testa- 
 ment on the way. His wife did not close her eyes 
 for many nights, but she did not weep ; she only 
 cared for and watched over the sick boy. Her lips 
 uttered no curse for what was past ; they opened in 
 prayer for the future, for the recovery of her child. 
 
 And he recovered. . The young cheeks regained 
 their ruddy glow, the bright spirit was once more 
 alive within him. He never referred to the shoot- 
 ing on the Wildwiese, nor did Wahnfred ; but the 
 latter rejoiced that the wound had left a scar — a 
 debt for which Erlefried, grown to manhood, should 
 demand payment. 
 
 Then the day arrived when Wahnfred, the car« 
 penter, learned with horror that the crime would 
 not wait to be avenged by the son; it must be 
 avenged by the father at once. He had taken the 
 oath, and he must now fulfil his duty. 
 
 On a late autumn morning he sat before the door 
 of his house deep in reflection. 
 
 In the valley lay the hoar-frost, and the oaks and 
 
The Crime 57 
 
 beeches stretched their lifeless branches out into the 
 icy air. In the light of the rising sun the Trach 
 shimmered through the bluish mist like a gliding 
 silver serpent. How different this autumn from the 
 one when the child was expected at Christmas time! 
 
 Wahnfred fixed his gaze upon the lifeless things 
 about him, as though he would learn from dying 
 nature how to destroy life. " Whoso sheddeth 
 man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed," he 
 read in the Holy Writ. Yes, this is the law and it 
 is good. But woe unto him who is called to judge! 
 He who had never planned a cruel deed, who in 
 the Book of Life, which to him was like heavenly 
 music, had sought eternal truths, this man had been 
 chosen by Heaven in Its wrath to deal justice with 
 the sword. 
 
 " Ah, well," thought Wahnfred, " holy is the 
 angel who with his gleaming sword drove sinners 
 from Paradise and now stands at the gate to guard 
 the Tree of Life. And Trawies, our sweet, peace- 
 ful home in the shadow of the woods, is also an 
 Eden that must be protected from the destroyer. 
 The customs of our forefathers are the Tree of Life, 
 on whose branches ripen good deeds, in whose 
 shade exists a free, contented people. He who was 
 placed here to protect this tree has wantonly 
 stretched out his arm to its topmost branches. He 
 must die! On the day of the Feast of All Souls, the 
 memorial feast for those who have lived before us, 
 shall this tyrant menace us no longer." 
 
 Thus he sat and brooded. The sun was still 
 shining through the frosty morning mist ; he fixed 
 
 .# 
 
58 The God Seeker 
 
 his eyes upon it as though he would absorb from its 
 fire counsel and strength for his undertaking. 
 
 " Thou shalt not kill! " a voice from within the 
 house was suddenly heard to say. Wahnfred 
 started ; then little Erlefried appeared in the door- 
 way, looking imploringly at his father. " Help 
 me — * Thou shalt not kilU ' 
 
 '• Kill ? Why dost thou say that ? " said Wahn- 
 fred harshlv. " How does that concern thee ? Wilt 
 thou then perjure me ? " 
 
 Bewildered, the boy looked into his father's 
 face. Then, clinging to his knees, he asked 
 softly: " Art thou angry ? Then I will learn it by 
 myself." 
 
 " My child," he said, laying his hand upon the 
 boy's curly head, " tell me, what wilt thou learn by 
 thyself?" 
 
 " The priest has given us the Fifth Command- 
 ment to learn in school and whoever cannot repeat 
 it to-morrow will be punished." 
 
 " Thou shalt be punished thus early for the Fifth 
 Commandment ? Foolish boy, give me the book, 
 I will help thee." 
 
 And he read: " The Fifth Commandment for- 
 bids thee to kill thyself or another. Thus saith 
 the Lord : ' And surely your blood of your lives 
 will I require. ... At the hand of man and at 
 the hand of man's brother will I require the life of 
 man. ... I say unto you, whosoever hateth 
 his brother is a murderer! 
 
 Erlefried repeated the words after his father, at 
 the same time whittling a stick with his pocket- 
 
The Crime 59 
 
 knife. He scarcely seemed to heed what he was 
 saying; his work interested him more, 
 
 " Thou art inattentive, child," said Wahnfred, 
 reprovingly; " what art thou making ? " 
 
 " A sword," was the boy's answer. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 WAHNFRED laughed a bitter laugh as he per- 
 ceived in his own child how one may learn 
 the Commandment, " Thou shalt not kill! " while 
 forging a sword. Such is human nature; it was; 
 ever thus and always will be. The hand commits a 
 crime and the lips pronounce judgment. Or is it 
 the contrary ? Do the lips commit the crime ? 
 Does the hand pronounce judgment ? 
 
 An order had been issued that the autumn tithes 
 of grain should be delivered at the parsonage. 
 Wahnfred had killed a pig and sent a fine piece of 
 the smoked meat to the priest. That would be one 
 way to send death into his house; it flashed through 
 his brain like lightning ; but he quickly cast the 
 thought from him. 
 
 Just at this time a hunt was taking place in the 
 forest. The peasants of Trawies had been engaged 
 as beaters, some of them being allowed to carry rifles 
 to kill any wolves or bears that might be about. 
 Wahnfred was also called upon and received his gun 
 with the rest, A few gentlemen had come over from 
 the monastery and Herr Franciscus was their con- 
 stant companion. The people were greatly sur- 
 prised to see how ffiendly and polite the priest could 
 
 60 
 
The Crime 6i 
 
 be —as harmless as a dove. " Were he only half 
 as kind with his parishioners, they would worship 
 him," said one of the beaters. 
 
 " He is far too humble to allow himself to be 
 worshipped," ironically remarked another; " he de- 
 serves to be flogged." 
 
 The men who thus spoke knew nothing of the 
 compact in the Rabenkirche. 
 
 But all the more constantly did Wahnfred think 
 of it, as, concealed in the thicket, he saw through the 
 branches the priest standing by a larch-tree hardly 
 twenty feet away from him. He was quite alone, 
 waiting with cocked gun for the herd of deer which 
 had been discovered upon the other side of the 
 ravine. Distant sounds from the beaters and dogs 
 re-echoed through the woods. Wahnfred saw how 
 Herr Franciscus was trembling with passion, the 
 eye of the hunter glowing again with the same fire 
 as on that Midsummer Day upon the Wildwiese, 
 when he had ordered his bailiffs to shoot upon the 
 crowd. 
 
 And Wahnfred's fingers also moved convulsively 
 upon his trigger — for he too had made many a good 
 shot in his day. 
 
 Even should a deer appear," he thought, " I 
 may only shoot beasts of prey. Beasts of prey ? 
 That was the priest's order. Ah, is that not a fine 
 large wolf standing yonder ? No, it is a fox in 
 sheep's clothing, disguised as a shepherd. And he 
 leads his lambs into the forest to destroy them. 
 Hold still, brute! " and Wahnfred began to aim — 
 " how often hast thou preached to us of the last 
 
62 The God Seeker 
 
 judgment when our tithes were not fully paid ! Be- 
 fore there is time to say the Lord's Prayer, shalt 
 thou stand before the judgment seat thyself. I 
 would that thou mightest pray the Lord's Prayer. 
 I have undertaken to send thee out of the world, 
 but to send thee to the lowest depths of hell — and 
 thou wouldst go straight to the very lowest — that I 
 would not do. Eternity is horribly long! When 
 I saw my bleeding child I could have set all the nine 
 and ninety devils loose upon thee, and it would 
 have given me great joy could they have torn thee 
 in pieces before my eyes. But to burn in the ever- 
 lasting fire — that ! Knave ! I pity thee, and I will 
 let thee off until a day when thy soul is better pre- 
 pared." 
 
 A shot was fired — by the priest. A large stag 
 plunged and fell upon the ground. 
 
 Wahnfred's gun was still loaded. On the home- 
 ward way, as the peasants were carrying the rich 
 booty upon a litter of branches and as the hunting 
 horn resounded amid the gay laughter of the hun- 
 ters, Bart-from-Tarn, who was walking beside 
 Wahnfred, gave him a long, questioning look. 
 
 With a nod, Wahnfred replied: " Give me time." 
 
 A few days later Erlefried brought word home 
 from school that the priest had not yet asked them 
 about the Fifth Commandment, for he was lying ill 
 in bed, having caught the fever which was raging in 
 the valley of the Trasank. 
 
 This news made Wahnfred thoughtful. ** If our 
 hard master should fall a sacrifice to his calling, 
 then am I free, then are we all free. But is it just 
 
The Crime 63 
 
 to hate a man who goes to destruction while fulfill- 
 ing his duty ? Never, Wahnfred, never! " 
 
 The report was soon circulated — the people were 
 telling it with a shudder of joy — that the pestilence 
 had broken out in the parsonage. The housemaid 
 had died, the housekeeper had fled, the priest was 
 lying very ill. 
 
 The hand of an avenging God. " Mine is the 
 vengeance!" saith the Lord. "Yet," thought 
 Wahnfred, "if the maid is dead and the house- 
 keeper has deserted, who will be by him in his last 
 hour ? He is a poor, unfortunate man, after all, 
 and dying is no child's play. Who will close his 
 eyes for him ? " 
 
 And he took the road to Trawies. As he was 
 passing Baumhackel's house, the latter called out 
 to him: "Are you going to the tavern, Wahn- 
 fred ? " 
 
 He made no reply. 
 
 Upon the bridge where the Johannesbach flows 
 into the Trach, Wahnfred met Firnerhans, one of 
 the oldest men of the parish. 
 
 " Where to in such haste ? " 
 
 Stepping close to him, Wahnfred whispered : 
 
 To the parsonage to close the priest's eyes for 
 him." 
 
 They shook hands and each went his own way. 
 He is clever," said Firnerhans to himself; " he 
 is taking advantage of the favourable opportunity. 
 Death has already entered the house; now he is 
 going to shut it in until the victim is sacrificed." 
 
 The square by the church at Trawies, where the 
 
64 The God Seeker 
 
 people were usually seen bustling about, was to-day- 
 empty. The sacristan was not at home. Only a 
 half-witted workman from Firnerhans' farm was 
 standing there, his large hands thrust into his 
 trousers' pockets, staring fixedly at the church and 
 the man passing by. He puffed and wheezed, for 
 he had two enormous growths upon his neck, which 
 had given him the name, " Three-Headed Osel." 
 He smiled in a friendly way at Wahnfred, and 
 pointed towards the parsonage. With a sorrowful 
 expression, he laid his cheek in his hand, imitating 
 one asleep. He was evidently the only one left in 
 charge of the sick man ; and it seemed impossible 
 even for him to gain access to the priest, for the 
 parsonage was locked. Wahnfred knocked long and 
 loudly, but no one came to open. From within he 
 could hear nothing but the ticking of the clock 
 and it seemed to him, once — twice — a terrified 
 groan. 
 
 If such is the state of affairs, I shall be no 
 longer needed," he murmured, his face growing 
 pale. " All human aid has been cut off from him. 
 Are there still human beings in Trawies ? Yonder 
 on the churchyard wall towers the cross. Do we 
 not assemble there and pray, ' Do good unto those 
 that hate you'? Yes, he has been a hard man, 
 but can an enemy be so great that one could be 
 capable of refusing him a last draught of water in 
 his death agony ? If thy brother has sinned against 
 thee, go and reproach him with it between thee and 
 himself alone. Yes, I will tell him how deeply he 
 has sinned, how he, as a priest of God, has de- 
 
The Crime 65 
 
 stroyed love in our parish and aroused hate. And 
 then, I will pardon him." 
 
 Since that moment in the thicket when he had 
 aimed at the priest and had then been overcome by 
 pity for him, he had no longer felt that bitter 
 hatred for the man. The few days now remaining 
 for Herr Franciscus to live should be a gift from 
 Wahnfred ; he thus stood towards him as a kind of 
 guardian angel, and from this relationship arose a 
 sympathy for the hated priest. 
 
 As the door could not be opened, he went around 
 the house to see where he could best effect an en- 
 trance. At the back, where the stalls connected 
 with the main building, and where the uncared-for 
 animals were piteously calling for food, he climbed 
 up the wall to an open window. He climbed 
 rapidly, like a bloodthirsty wildcat. As he was 
 about to swing himself into the room, he started 
 back in horror. Death was watching over the 
 house. Within, in the hall, directly under the win- 
 dow, stretched upon a long board, lay the dead 
 housemaid. 
 
 The carpenter imagined that at this moment he 
 heard the gentle voice of his wife calling: " Wahn- 
 fred, turn back! " and the cry of his child : " Father, 
 do not forget thy Erlefried!" But at the same 
 moment he seemed to hear the piteous groaning 
 from a neighbouring room. With one quick bound 
 he sprang over the dead body to the floor and en- 
 tered the apartment. 
 
 Two rooms were empty and in great disorder. 
 Prayer-books, playing-cards, dog-whips, crucifixes, 
 
66 The God Seeker 
 
 and weapons /for the chase, on the walls pictures of 
 saints and deer-antlers, spiritual and worldly, were 
 jumbled together in confusion. The numerous 
 cabinets did not seem large enough to hold all the 
 worldly possessions, for even the tables were cov- 
 ered with bales of wool and linen. Upon the pray- 
 ing-desk were two wine-glasses, white bread, and 
 honey, as though the ghost of disease had surprised 
 the inhabitants of the house at a jovial feast. 
 
 In the third room Wahnfred found the sick man. 
 He hardly recognised in him the priest. The fev- 
 erish, swollen face was buried in the pillow, the 
 breathing was quick and short, broken now and 
 then by a groan ; the eyes were open and sunken in 
 their frightful sockets, but they were the same 
 severe, terrible eyes, only more restless, more fiery. 
 
 *' Who is there ? " he asked hoarsely. " Every- 
 one has left me. Have I the pest and is that why 
 I am deserted ? " 
 
 " It is Wahnfred, the carpenter." 
 
 " Unload, unload ; surely you have brought some- 
 thing with you ? '* 
 
 " I see that you have no medicine." 
 
 *' Medicine! The tithes are for you to bring, you 
 brute! ' 
 
 With great difficulty he uttered the confused 
 words. 
 
 " I do not understand," said Wahnfred, who for 
 the first time felt embarrassed in the presence of the 
 priest, " I do not understand how, in your con- 
 dition, you can still think of earthly things." 
 
 The sick man turned towards his visitor, and with 
 
The Crime 67 
 
 an attempt at a smile, said: " Die, do you mean ? 
 Oh, no, people of Trawies, that favour I shall not 
 grant you. I must tame you first." 
 
 " My dear priest," replied Wahnfred, " let us not 
 quarrel about it. Human life lies in God's hands 
 and you know as well as I what is waiting for us in 
 eternity. The parish of Trawies is Christian and 
 will pardon you." 
 
 The invalid now attempted to raise himself in 
 bed: " Pardon ! " he gurgled. " Who are you that 
 you should pardon ? Jeering at the priestly office ? 
 — Heathen!" He sank back exhausted. His 
 breathing grew more and more difficult and his eyes 
 rolled ; soon after he fell asleep. 
 
 Wahnfred stood by the bed not knowing what to 
 do. He was filled with commiseration for the poor 
 man. He had not comprehended the sense of his 
 words, but had taken them as merely the delirium 
 of fever. He thought of nothing at this moment 
 but that a helpless human being was lying before 
 him. The head of the sick man was bent to one 
 side, and Wahnfred straightened out the pillow, 
 that the slumberer might breathe more freely. He 
 then laid a cover, which had fallen to the floor, over 
 him, opened the windows that the fresh air might 
 penetrate into the room, and finally built a fire in 
 the large stove to prevent the chill. 
 
 When the fire was crackling gaily, Wahnfred, 
 sitting at the bedside, thought of his grandfather 
 who had died of the black plague, and of the ter- 
 rible times when the " Great Death " had half de- 
 populated the country. Folding his hands, he 
 
68 The God Seeker 
 
 murmured: " My God, how full of misery is this 
 world ! It is not worth while that we should take 
 so seriously the little acts of injustice shown us by 
 our fellow-men. What matters a wound in the arm, 
 when Fate is destroying thousands! Who shall 
 judge the injustice of this world! Oh, keep me, 
 my God, from evil thoughts and grant me one 
 prayer! Only one prayer: that we, who suffer to- 
 gether, may stand by each other in trouble! " 
 
 " Water! " groaned the sick man, without open- 
 ing his eyes, " a swallow of water! " 
 
 Wahnfred started back in fear. He who, in this 
 moment of emotion, would have been ready to 
 atone with his own blood for the sorrows of human- 
 kind, when it was asked of Him could not even 
 hand a drink of water to the thirsting man. Must 
 he go down to the spring, and on his way to the 
 window pass that body of the dead girl ? He 
 searched the house, he found wine, he found milk, 
 he found cider; but he found no water until he had 
 broken open the outer door and descended to the 
 court below. 
 
 The invalid drank greedily. 
 
 " That — that was good," he sighed, sinking back 
 on his pillow; " I thank thee Kunigunde. And 
 now please send that carpenter away. He has no 
 good intentions towards me." 
 
 This woman, who had been with him in his days 
 of prosperity and happiness, and who had deserted 
 him when he was laid low, — her he thanked, and the 
 carpenter he would send away ! 
 
 With wide-open eyes that, however, did not seem 
 
The Crime 69 
 
 to see, he turned his face, one moment flushed, the 
 next deathly pale, towards Wahnfred. 
 
 *' Will you," he said, *' bring me the paper which 
 is over in that cabinet — in the cabinet, yes, in the 
 second drawer. This writing they must not find. 
 Give it to me! " 
 
 The last words were uttered angrily. Wahnfred 
 opened the drawer and found, lying upon a pile of 
 books, afolded paperwhich he handed tothe sick man. 
 
 " For me ? " the invalid asked wonderingly. " I 
 do not want it. You must send it to the authori- 
 ties, but quickly, quickly! " 
 
 " I will do it," answered Wahnfred. 
 
 The priest sank once more into an unconscious 
 state. Wahnfred was considering how help could 
 best be obtained here. Hastily descending the 
 steps, he left the house. In a corner by the neigh- 
 bouring church wall stood a group of men, who, as 
 they saw the carpenter emerging from the parson- 
 age, whispered hurriedly, " Is he dead ? " 
 
 " We must find a nurse for him," said Wahnfred; 
 " he needs help. I will go down to old Kofel, the 
 herb doctor, and ask her to send up some medicine." 
 
 The men started back in astonishment. Uli, the 
 charcoal-burner, came forward and whispered in 
 Wahnfred's ear: " Do you not remember our com- 
 pact in the Rabenkirche ? " 
 
 I was not thinking of that just now," answered 
 Wahnfred. " The priest caught the disease when 
 on a visit of mercy. We could not do it now, not 
 now. Comrades, that would be a crime! And he 
 will die in any case." 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 IT was Hearing the Feast of All Saints and Wahn- 
 fred busied himself constantly in his workshop. 
 He was making cofitins. 
 
 The plague had spread and hardly a day passed 
 when someone was not laid to rest. There could 
 be no priestly service now, and the people re- 
 marked: " See, how well we get along without it." 
 
 Wahnfred had in stock some fine, white oaken 
 boards; these he was keeping for the priest- " He 
 has his faults, still he is our priest and the Holy 
 Order must be honoured." 
 
 But from the parsonage no word came. 
 
 This put a damper on the friendly feelings of the 
 carpenter. He had found in his pocket the paper 
 which he had been asked to take with him on 
 that day by the sickbed. It was addressed to the 
 high authorities and had been written with malice 
 and forethought. It complained of the people of 
 Trawies as a savage, rebellious, and heathenish com- 
 munity, and proposed for them the severest punish- 
 ment. The writer demanded a number of soldiers 
 who should constantly be quartered in the houses 
 of Trawies; he requested permission to withhold the 
 last rites from the dying until the people showed 
 
 70 
 
The Crime 71 
 
 entire submission; and finally he asked that the 
 ringleaders might be banished and their houses be 
 burned to the ground, as a warning to the rest. 
 Among the ringleaders he named : Gallo Weiss- 
 bucher, the fire guardian, Bart-from-Tarn, and 
 Wahnfred, the carpenter. 
 
 Wahnfred crumpled the paper in his hand and 
 threw it into the fire. Involuntarily he reached 
 after his plane and the white, oaken boards. Ban- 
 ished ! Their houses burned to the ground ! 
 
 On the same day the sacristan issued a notice to 
 the parish. 
 
 As Wahnfred saw the familiar messenger ap- 
 proaching the house, his heart leaped with joy and 
 he glanced towards the white boards. 
 
 " Praised be our Lord and Saviour, Jesus 
 Christ!" was the man's earnest greeting as he 
 entered. 
 
 " Throughout time and eternity, Amen," was the 
 reply. 
 
 " It 's a long way up here to your house." 
 
 But you probably bring good news with you. 
 Will you not have some refreshments ? " said Wahn- 
 fred, placing black bread and cider before him. 
 
 " Thank you, carpenter Wahnfred," answered 
 the messenger, gazing hungrily at the food. " And 
 I 'm sure you '11 be pleased at what I have to say. 
 To-morrow morning at eight o'clock the people of 
 Trawies are ordered to assemble in the parish 
 church to pray for the priest." 
 
 " Is he then — dead ? " asked the carpenter, in an 
 agony of suspense. 
 
72 The God Seeker 
 
 " God forbid! " cried the messenger; " he is out 
 of danger. And a prayer of thanksgiving has been 
 ordered for his recovery," 
 
 "Liar!" shouted Wahnfred; "you are not 
 worthy of the bit of bread that lies before you ! " 
 
 "You may have it back again," said the mes- 
 senger dejectedly, laying the slice which he was just 
 about to eat back upon the loaf. " Such a thing 
 has never happened to me before. Perhaps you are 
 annoyed that you have miscalculated the number of 
 coffins you were to make." 
 
 " Take and eat it, man; it 's not your fault," 
 murmured Wahnfred, his anger dying away. " If 
 you were in my place you would have no appetite 
 for bread." 
 
 The restoratives and nursing that the carpenter 
 had provided for the deserted sick man had been 
 the salvation of the priest, who, instead of return- 
 ing thanks, cursed when he learned how the carpen- 
 ter had repaid evil with good. Wahnfred, thy part 
 of good Samaritan has become thy destruction ! 
 
 Herr Franciscus, after his recovery, sat brooding 
 in his easy-chair hours at a time. His mind was ill 
 at ease. He felt a still greater bitterness than be- 
 fore towards the inhabitants of Trawies and towards 
 himself. The evil thoughts that had taken up their 
 abode in his heart, what a change had they made in 
 him ! He who had been so indifferent towards re- 
 ligious duties, could yet be so fanatical! He who 
 had always desired more than aught else personal 
 comfort and pleasant society, could yet be so strict 
 and tyrannical! It was the spirit of contradiction 
 
The Crime 73 
 
 and defiance; whoever arouses this demon within 
 himself can never quiet it again. Herr Franciscus 
 no longer recognised his own nature. He would 
 often resolve to make the experiment of being 
 friendly, but as soon as he saw a rough woodsman 
 again, his gall would rise ; he could not be friendly 
 with these people, for he believed that they wished 
 him ill. And his prejudice grew to such propor- 
 tions that even when one wished him well he felt 
 insulted. 
 
 In these moods it gave him a pleasure, such as he 
 experienced when killing the creatures of the forest, 
 to wound someone. Then again, it seemed to him 
 that he must revenge himself for having been forced 
 into the priesthood. 
 
 It was disclosed to him who, during his illness, 
 had broken into his house, which had been locked 
 by his enemies; who had gently arranged his pillow 
 under his feverish head ; who had given him a drink 
 of water, and who had procured for him an atten- 
 tive nurse and medicine. 
 
 " So then," said Herr Franciscus, " the carpenter 
 has been in my house ? Yes, yes, I imagined 
 something of the kind. That explains many things." 
 
 He said no more, but sent for Wahnfred to come 
 to the parsonage. He came and his mood was 
 again softened and conciliatory. He hoped that 
 the severe illness and the accompanying circum- 
 stances might have changed the priest and that the 
 obstinate man would at last feel convinced that he 
 was only injuring himself and the parish by re- 
 maining. 
 
74 The God Seeker 
 
 At the parsonage the schoolmaster and the sac- 
 ristan were also present, and the thanks which 
 awaited Wahnfred were strange indeed. 
 
 He entered politely, but remained by the door 
 waiting for the priest to come forward. The latter, 
 in his long robe, was standing by the window, sup- 
 porting himself with one hand on the back of a 
 chair. His face had grown thin and was still pale. 
 With his sharp eyes he looked for a while at his 
 visitor. 
 
 " Well, come in," he motioned finally, as if he 
 would designate with his finger the path the man 
 should take across the floor; " come in! You are 
 surely sufficiently acquainted with my room ; it is 
 not long since you entered by the window." 
 
 " The door was locked, and you, sir, were at the 
 point of death." 
 
 And so that was the best opportunity for you 
 to rob my cabinet ? " 
 
 ''Jesus Maria!'' burst from Wahnfred's lips, 
 and he sprang a step forward. 
 
 " Don't get excited, carpenter," said the priest 
 quietly, " we will discuss this affair quite " 
 
 " I opened the drawer and brought the paper at 
 your request! " interrupted Wahnfred. 
 
 " At my request ? That is a lie! I asked no- 
 thing of you." 
 
 I well believe that you cannot remember that," 
 said Wahnfred, controlling himself with difficulty. 
 " You were lying in a fever and I realised that you 
 were delirious." 
 
 " And yet you did it ?" 
 
The Crime 75 
 
 " I was trying to calm you." 
 
 " Where is the paper ? " asked Herr Franciscus, 
 with an angry look. 
 
 " You commanded that I should take it with me 
 and forward it to the authorities." 
 
 " And have you done so ? " 
 
 " I took it with me, sir." 
 
 " And have you sent it ? " 
 
 Wahnfred answered: " What I have to say 
 further concerning this paper, I will leave for an- 
 other time, when we will ask the men of Trawies to 
 be present." 
 
 Herr Franciscus straightened himself slowly and 
 crossed his arms upon his breast. 
 
 " People, I warn you ! " he said, with a weak but 
 impressive voice. 
 
 Wahnfred stood dumb and motionless, his defiant 
 eyes fixed upon the twitching features of the priest. 
 
 " I know," continued the latter, " I know what 
 Trawies wishes ; there is a deadly feud between us. 
 Carpenter, you have long had the coffin ready for 
 me! I am not afraid; I shall perform my duty, 
 and, without swerving, proceed on my rightful 
 path. He who opposes me on this path shall be 
 crushed! I warn you once again. If you do not 
 submit to the laws to which all the world, both 
 high and low, must submit, you shall be annihi- 
 lated!" 
 
 Wahnfred remained dumb and motionless. 
 
 And you, my dear carpenter, are not to return 
 home to-day. I will teach you what happens to 
 thieves and housebreakers. Seize him! " 
 
76 The God Seeker 
 
 The bailiffs were there in an instant. Now 
 Wahnfred was aroused ; to one he gave a blow in 
 the face with his fist, which sent him reeling back- 
 wards; the other he hurled against the door; Herr 
 Franciscus he pushed away from the window with 
 a loud curse, and, smashing the panes with one 
 stroke, he sprang out upon the snow. 
 
 Indifferently, as if nothing had happened, Wahn- 
 fred walked through the village. No one would 
 have suspected that this was the man whose heart, 
 a few moments before, had been pierced by a 
 poisoned arrow. 
 
 *' Thief and housebreaker!" he murmured. 
 " By Almighty God ! I have borne the shooting of 
 my child, but this I will not bear! " 
 
 The sound of thrashing was heard in the barns, 
 but the thrashers worked wearily and with repug- 
 nance, for the first grain which flew from each ear 
 of corn flew into the priest's sack. Possibly it was 
 a slight exaggeration when old Sandhok remarked : 
 " Why should we then complain ? The priest does 
 not get the tithes; these we may keep ourselves; 
 he takes the rest." But it was evident that Herr 
 Franciscus' sack was not underfilled. 
 
 Consequently when the work became distasteful, 
 the people deserted flails and windmills and resorted 
 to the tavern. But even here it was not so lively as 
 in former times ; the men sat around grumbling, and 
 the hostess lost her temper whenever a glass of 
 schnapps was ordered. 
 
 " Be sensible and go home to your work," she 
 said. 
 
The Crime 77 
 
 " Perhaps you 're right, but I don't want to be 
 sensible." 
 
 " And you, Baumhackel, you don't get another 
 drop ! You never pay ! " 
 
 " You seem to think so hardly of me because I 
 never pay, but you forget that I 've no money. 
 For shame, landlady, with all your airs and yet so 
 unjust! " 
 
 In the corner by the fire sat Roderich, the tramp. 
 He. was overwhelmed with the bitterness of human 
 misery. To see schnapps and to get none! The 
 landlady laughed in his face when he begged for a 
 drink — and he was obliged to beg for it ; he ought 
 to be happy to be allowed to sit by the fire. He 
 was still brooding over his idea of candles made of 
 maiden's hair and adder's fat. He could procure 
 the latter, but the other! — "Firnerhans has a daugh- 
 ter," he thought; " she cannot be much over 
 seventeen — a fresh young thing and so quiet and 
 good. Up on the Johannesberg her hair would 
 soon grow long. She lives alone with her parents ; 
 if I could only get her! What of mine hostess, 
 out there in the kitchen ; the devil take her ! She 
 is still young, and one would think she could have 
 hardly learned the Fourth Commandment yet, but 
 she has been at the Sixth a long time. No, no, 
 God preserve me from such a one as she ! Firner- 
 hans' girl is the one for me." 
 
 In the doorway stood a stranger. He suddenly 
 turned towards the landlady, saying: " How does 
 it happen that you have so much meat while I go 
 hungry ? "and his eyes stared at her as he spoke. 
 
78 The God Seeker 
 
 " You undoubtedly have a purse with you," re- 
 plied the hostess, who, having learned wisdom from 
 experience, sought first the money and then the 
 " Kingdom of God and His righteousness." 
 
 " A purse! " answered the stranger. " You peo- 
 ple of Trawies are still thinking of such things ? I 
 hear that the Trawiesers — as soon as the strict priest 
 no longer stands in your way — intend to have a 
 common purse. ' What is yours is mine! ' " 
 
 " I know nothing about such stuff. Be off with 
 you! " cried the landlady, poking the fire and look- 
 ing after the roast. 
 
 " You will understand it soon enough," said the 
 stranger with a threatening gesture. " To-day you 
 drive a poor man from your house, to-morrow he 
 will drive you out ! " And he departed. 
 
 In the meantime a quarrel had arisen in the 
 tavern. Two men were hurling bad names at each 
 other, for lack of something better to do. A third 
 man attempted to interfere and received a beating 
 for his pains, 
 
 " We don't want a judge! " they cried. 
 
 " Only wait till the judge of Trawies comes! " 
 
 " We know no judge in Trawies. And we want 
 none! " Yes, in this they all agreed— they wanted 
 no judge. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 WHILE this dispute was going on in the tavern, 
 Wahnfred, who had just come from his in- 
 terview with the priest, passed by on his way to the 
 fire guardian's. A few of the older men in the inn 
 rose and followed him. 
 
 The fire guardian was standing by the spring in 
 front of his house, holding an axe in his hand. 
 
 " What are you going to do with the axe ? " 
 asked Wahnfred. 
 
 " Do you need it ? " was the reply; " if not, I '11 
 cut away the ice from the spring; it 's frozen over." 
 
 " I have come, Gallo, to ask you if there is no 
 longer a judge in Trawies. A wrong has been done 
 me. You know how I stood by the priest in his 
 illness. He now calls me thief and housebreaker." 
 
 "That serves you right!" laughed the fire 
 guardian. 
 
 How so ? " 
 
 " See here, if I let my spring freeze over and then 
 must go thirsty, it serves me right also, because 
 I 've been neglectful. That 's as it should be! " 
 
 " I understand you perfectly," said Wahnfred, 
 approaching the old man, his hands crossed on his 
 breast. " By God in Heaven, I cannot tell you, my 
 
 79 
 
8o The God Seeker 
 
 Gallo, — you would not believe it, — how hard it is to 
 kill a human being' " 
 
 The men who had followed the carpenter from 
 the tavern now drew near. 
 
 Attend to your business, Wahnfred. You have 
 every opportunity, yet you accomplish nothing' " 
 
 The men then formed a circle about him and 
 began • 
 
 " Do you know, carpenter, how long it now is 
 since we met in the Rabenkirche ? " 
 
 Do you suppose the devil will take him alive ? " 
 
 " Why don't you doit ?" 
 
 " We understand that it is not easy for you, but 
 God would have helped you, had you only not with- 
 drawn your hand when you reached it out after his 
 throat." 
 
 " Did the lot call upon you to nurse him back to 
 life ? '• 
 
 " Shall we tell you of all the insults he has 
 heaped upon us since his illness ? At the thanks- 
 giving service held for his recovery, the church was 
 not filled, and you can guess how angry that made 
 him. A child was born to the daughter of Mistress 
 Freiwild and he refused to baptise it; the young 
 mother has been ordered to walk through the 
 church on Lady Day, wearing a wreath of straw. 
 How the unfortunate girl is pining away! The 
 parish poor will this winter be cut down in their 
 portion of firewood which they usually receive from 
 the forest. Oh, take care; this Herr Franciscus is 
 made of the same stuff as the burners of witches, as 
 the torturers and the crucifiersr' 
 
The Crime 8i 
 
 ' I know that," interrupted Wahnfred, " I know 
 still more than you." He thought of the paper 
 which had fallen into his hands and which he had 
 thrown into the fire. 
 
 " Well, then, you will put an end to this mis- 
 ery ? " cried one. 
 
 " Do you believe that the misery will be at an 
 end when he is gone? I do not," answered Wahn- 
 fred. 
 
 " It can never be worse than now. The author- 
 ities must be made to see that the people of Trawies 
 are as strong as their old trees. There will be a 
 storm, but it will not injure the forest; only the 
 tree which stands alone can be destroyed. We will 
 hold together and fight for our ancient rights." 
 
 " And you, Wahnfred, do your duty! " 
 
 " Think of the oath' Will you be unfaithful for 
 the sake of the tyrant ? Did your mother never tell 
 you the story of that man who was forced to shoot 
 an apple from the head of his own son ? And do 
 you know whom he shot ? The tyrant! " 
 
 " Men of Trawies, one thing I should like to ask 
 you," said Wahnfred. 
 
 " What have you to ask further ?" 
 
 " It will happen — without fail." 
 
 " When, when, carpenter ?" 
 
 " May I have until Easter ? " 
 
 " Never. By that time we should be betrayed 
 and lost." 
 
 " Very well," said Wahnfred. " Go home, peo- 
 ple, go home and leave me alone. Eight days 
 from now will be Lady Day." 
 
82 The God Seeker 
 
 "'Y^ti are right." 
 
 " (But we shall go to church no more. For after 
 Lady Day no service will be held in the church at 
 Trawies! " 
 
 Upon your honour as a man, Wahnfred, upon 
 your honour! " 
 
 Raising his right hand, Wahnfred cried loudly: 
 " His blood be upon you and upon your children ! " 
 
 And he turned and fled. 
 
 As he was walking over the snowy road, gazing 
 at the red sun sinking below the wooded heights of 
 the Johannesberg, he heard footsteps pattering be- 
 hind him. 
 
 Sela, the little daughter of the fire guardian, was 
 running after him. He paid no heed to her, think- 
 ing she was on her way to the village to do an 
 errand. But instead of following the road thither, 
 when Wahnfred turned into the path by the river, 
 he found the child still running after him. She 
 was not even warmly clad, and her little nose was 
 red, while her beautiful moist eyes threatened to 
 freeze together on this cold, winter evening walk. 
 
 Wahnfred now looked around, asking harshly: 
 ** Where art thou going ? What dost thou want ? " 
 
 The little maid stretched her arms up towards his 
 head, as though she would draw it down to her and 
 confide a secret in his ear. 
 
 So the man stopped and leaned over the child, 
 who, throwing her arms about his neck, quickly and 
 boldly imprinted a kiss upon his cheek — and then 
 ran away. 
 
 She returned by the same road she had come and 
 
The Crime S^ 
 
 Wahnfred stood looking after her as long as she 
 was in sight, scarcely knowing what had happened 
 to him. This kiss had so warmed his heart. Was 
 it not an omen ? Could a man whom a child kissed 
 be a murderer ? Or was it meant as a warning ? 
 Innocence had once more embraced him and had 
 implored: " Ah, stay thy hand! Think of the holy 
 joys of thine own childhood ! Think of the quiet 
 happiness of thy youth ! Innocence is a gift of 
 God — until to-day hast thou carried it in thy heart. 
 Thou art well acquainted with suffering, but not 
 with unhappiness. Do not make a mistake; the 
 so-called manly deeds are for the most part acts of 
 unkindness and inconsiderateness towards our fel- 
 low-men. Remain a child. In danger, and when our 
 passions threaten to overcome us, the child is 
 stronger than the man. Across the wild, heated 
 deserts of this earth winds a peaceful path, shaded 
 by palms and bordered by lilies, roses, and myrtle 
 — it is the path of our Lord. Take it, and it will 
 lead thee far away from the misery of crime to the 
 heart of God." 
 
 Ah, how alluring are such thoughts! And how 
 easy it would be to follow their guidance ! " Warn 
 the tyrant ? Be false to my oath, break my word 
 before God and my comrades, — would that be 
 right ? I have not chosen to do this deed ; it has 
 been allotted to me; God has called me. I come." 
 
 Struggling thus with himself, Wahnfred walked 
 along by the Trach, on into the night. The water 
 was murmuring softly under its covering of ice, 
 which reached from shore to shore. It was bitterly 
 
^4 The God Seeker 
 
 cold in the narrow ravine, and the wind cut the face 
 of the wanderer. He wrapped his cloak closer 
 about him and pressed his hat down over his fore- 
 head. The road was rough with the frozen snow, 
 dreary and deserted. High in the branches the 
 croaking of a raven was now and then heard ; it flew 
 a number of times over Wahnfred's head as though 
 accompanying him. Could it be one of the ravens 
 from the Rabenkirche ? Had it heard the oath ? 
 Was it waiting for its fulfilment ? 
 
 Wahnfred stepped out upon the river; it was 
 white with the hoar-frost which had formed during 
 the previous chilly days of fog, and it crackled 
 under his feet. This smooth, slippery way, broken 
 only here and there by a projecting stone, led up to 
 his abode. 
 
 " If this be a crime," he thought, " then will the 
 ice break under my feet — and all will be well." 
 
 The moon was shining between the high mount- 
 ains, whose steep, shadowy slopes with their jagged 
 outline of tree-tops rose on either side. Pure and 
 bright it looked down from the dark evening sky. 
 And dusky, uneven shadows moved upon the ice 
 behind the wanderer. 
 
 " I may not wait until Easter," said Wahnfred, 
 " and I had hoped that he might make his Easter 
 confession first. They would do away with him, 
 and at once; no one cares how it stands with his 
 soul. Mein Gott, how often we think that it is only 
 the body of man that we destroy, when at the 
 same time we plunge the soul, if it be not prepared 
 for death, into everlasting punishment. I am a 
 
The Crime 85 
 
 Christian and will act as such. He who has fallen 
 into my hands shall expiate his sins with his mortal 
 blood and shall then enter into the life eternal. O 
 light of the moon, thou reachest to the very gates 
 of heaven, — say to my Creator that my heart is pure. 
 In the far-distant past thou didst once shine upon 
 a grove of myrrh and palms. Peace lay over all on 
 that summer night and the trees were still clothed in 
 their first spring green. Two men appear, inhaling 
 the balmy air. The head of one is crowned by a 
 wreath of red and white roses; the other, by a wild 
 mane of flowing hair. One has girt his loins with 
 the skin of a gazelle ; the other, with that of a bear. 
 They do not disturb the peace of the slumbering 
 garden ; they come from the altar where they have 
 offered a sacrifice; one, the flesh of the gazelle 
 whose skin he wears, and the fruits of the tree 
 whose leaves he has wound about his head. He has 
 done it in love and humility and the Lord has re- 
 ceived the sacrifice and smiled upon him. The 
 other has offered the flesh of the bear whose skin 
 he wears, and the lamb destroyed by the bear, and 
 he has torn up a bush by its roots and sacrificed it 
 with both the flowers and fruit, repeating the words: 
 ' Lord, see, I give Thee more than he who stands 
 at my side.' But the Lord disdains the offering in 
 anger. Thus they wander through the grove and 
 find no peace. The one is restless from happiness; 
 the other, from envy. At length they come to a 
 cedar-tree from which the man with the flowing 
 mane breaks off a large branch. ' Why, my 
 brother,' asks the other, ' why do you despoil this 
 
86 The God Seeker 
 
 beautiful tree ? ' * O, thou innocent youth,' says 
 the man with the hair, ' why should I show pity for 
 the wood ? Dost thou not know that with the 
 leaves and twigs I am going to weave a garland for 
 thy fair brow and for thy pure breast, thou darling 
 of the Lord ? ' He weaves the garland, and placing 
 it on the fair brow and pure breast of his resisting 
 brother, says: ' Do not resist, for that which I do 
 unto thee is for the glory of Him who loves thee 
 so. ' And when he is crowned and in humility turns 
 his young eyes upward to the gleaming stars, the 
 man with the flowing hair, seizing the leafless 
 branch, strikes a heavy blow upon the head of his 
 companion, who, without a sound, falls upon the 
 dewy grass. The other, stretching out his arms 
 with clenched fists, cries with a shrill voice: ' Is 
 this sacrifice not enough for Thee ? ' " 
 
 "No, Eternal God!" cried Wahnfred, starting 
 from his dream, " not thus will I sacrifice. In Thy 
 wrath wilt Thou require the brother at the hand of 
 this murderer who has struck a blow at love. I am 
 free from hatred and envy ; I send him who cannot 
 work to Thy glory upon earth to his heavenly home, 
 where Thou wilt receive him and show him mercy." 
 
 Thus he walked on, the hoar-frost crackling un- 
 der his feet, but the ice remaining firm. At a bend 
 in the river the moon was hidden behind the forest ; 
 the ravine was dark and gloomy and upon the 
 mountain slopes was reflected the pale, misty light. 
 
 Wahnfred prayed: 'Blessed is the man that 
 walketh not in the counsels of the ungodly. . . . 
 But his delight is in the law of the Lord. 
 
The Crime 87 
 
 " ' The foolish shall not stand in thy sight. . . . 
 Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because 
 of mine enemies ; make thy way straight before my 
 face. 
 
 " ' For there is no faithfulness in their mouth. 
 Destroy thou them, O God ; let them fall 
 by their own counsels; cast them out in the multi- 
 tude of their transgressions. 
 
 For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, 
 and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhor- 
 reth. 
 
 He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved; 
 for I shall never be in adversity. 
 
 His mouth is full of curses and deceit and 
 fraud. 
 
 Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up thine hand; 
 forget not the humble.' 
 
 " Thus prayed the psalmist and the player upon 
 the harp. Sitting at the feet of the sick King Saul, 
 he entertained him with the shepherd songs from 
 his peaceful meadows. But when the enemy ap- 
 proached, accompanied by a mighty giant, challen- 
 ging sorne adversary to single combat, the armed 
 hosts drew back and the little shepherd and songs- 
 ter appeared in their midst, saying: ' Does no one 
 else dare — then will I destroy this monster! ' With 
 loud jeers they replied: Let him try; he is but a 
 shepherd lad and his death would be no loss to the 
 land and no dishonour to us." The giant was slain 
 by the shepherd, and how did God reward his 
 deed ? David became king and to-day sits in Zion 
 among the holiest of the saints. Yet he took no 
 
88 The God Seeker 
 
 thought for the soul of his enemy. I will be more 
 Christian! " 
 
 As Wahnfred walked, reflecting thus upon the 
 delusive stories of the Old Testament, the valley 
 widened ; he sprang upon the bank and was at 
 home. 
 
 A ruddy light from the fireplace greeted him 
 through the window of his house. The moon was 
 surrounded by a pale, milk-white circle; icicles were 
 falling from the trees, and upon the Trach that 
 night the ice cracked. 
 
 It was long after dawn the next morning, and 
 Wahnfred was still in bed. His wife crept anxiously 
 around the room, but at last, discovering that her 
 husband was awake, she asked him if he were ill ; he 
 had slept so restlessly and had spoken aloud in his 
 dreams. 
 
 " In my dreams ? What did I say ? " demanded 
 Wahnfred. 
 
 " * The ice is breaking,' — several times thou didst 
 say it. Is it possible that thou canst have heard it 
 from way down in the valley ? For the weather has 
 changed and the ice is breaking up all over the 
 Trach." 
 
 " Is it breaking ? " asked Wahnfred, rising from 
 his pillow. " It was so thin as that ! Wife, I came 
 the whole way from Trawies on the Trach." 
 
 " Jesus Maria ! " cried the woman, " That ex- 
 plains why I was so nervous and anxious last night." 
 
 " Wife," said Wahnfred, reaching out his hand, 
 " there is a calendar on the shelf over there; hand 
 it here, please." 
 
The Crime 89 
 
 She did so and as she opened the book at the 
 month of December, she exclaimed with astonish- 
 ment: " Why, husband, it is certainly true that 
 thou art growing careless in thy religious duties; 
 thou hast not even delivered thy confessional certi- 
 ficate at the parsonage. Look, here it is! " 
 
 " Yes, yes, I see it. I delivered it all right. 
 How can I help it if the priest pays no attention to 
 what one gives him ? By some stupid mistake my 
 certificate has come back to me." 
 
 " Whichever way one looks," said she, " things 
 are different from what they used to be." 
 
 ** Yes, the times are changed. And they will 
 change still more, wife. Now, thou canst go." 
 
 Shaking her head, she slowly left his bedside. 
 Wahnfred opened the calendar, murmuring to him- 
 self : " To-day is Advent and the Feast of the holy 
 Bishop St. Eloy. In his youth a goldsmith, he 
 afterwards became a penitent, wearing a garment of 
 haircloth and fighting against the heretics. He is 
 not the one. To-morrow, the second day of Ad- 
 vent, we celebrate the Feast of the holy maid, St. 
 Firmina, who was a Roman lady of .great beauty. 
 As the governor of the province once attempted to 
 embrace her, both his arms were lamed by God's 
 almighty power. So Emperor Diocletian ordered 
 her body to be singed with burning torches until 
 she died. It may be that she is of great assistance 
 in times of need, but she has nothing to do with my 
 affair. The third day of Advent the Church cele- 
 brates the Feast of St. Francis Xavier. He con- 
 verted savages to Christianity, was a most holy 
 
9^ The God Seeker 
 
 man, and had himself scourged until he bled. He 
 is our priest's patron saint and would probably 
 espouse his cause at once. On the fourth day is 
 the Feast of St. Barbara, who was martyred and 
 beheaded by heathen. She belongs to the Vierzehn 
 Nothelfer,^ and is the patron saint for the dying. 
 She is the right one. She will take care of his 
 soul." 
 
 He let fall the hand holding the calendar; he lay 
 back against his pillow with closed eyes — he seemed 
 to be sleeping again. 
 
 Suddenly he sat up and said: " So be it; now am 
 I resolved. On the fourth day of Advent." 
 
 Later in the morning the carpenter stopped a 
 messenger who occasionally came up to this region 
 from Neubruck, and asked him if he were going 
 into Trawies. 
 
 " Yes, for I have an errand at the parsonage." 
 
 " Would you be so good as to take something to 
 the priest for me ? " 
 
 " If it is not too heavy. You see I 'm no longer 
 as young and spry as I was once." 
 
 " It is money." 
 
 '* Then it can't be very heavy." 
 
 " Here, it is paper; there are fifty Schinderlinge 
 to pay for a rorate on St. Barbara's Day." 
 
 " A rorate,'" said the messenger. " I can't change 
 the money." 
 
 " There is no change," 
 
 ** But it costs only thirty-five." 
 
 " He never lets us have it under fifty." 
 * Fourteen saints. Helpers in need. 
 
The Crime 9 J 
 
 " Very well, I will do your errand, and from 
 whom shall I say ? " 
 
 " You don't know me ? Well, then you need not 
 say who sent the money. Only that someone 
 wishes a r or ate read on St. Barbara's Day for a cert- 
 ain person, that he may die a happy death." 
 
 " I will attend to it." And the messenger went 
 on his way. 
 
 Wahnfred remained standing, looking after the 
 man and thinking to himself: " I can do no more. 
 When he is at the altar, reading mass and offering 
 the prayer of reconciliation to his God ; when he is 
 breaking the bread and drinking the wine and smit- 
 ing his breast in sorrow and penitence ; when he is 
 thinking of the final hour of the person for whom 
 he is reading mass; and when, with outstretched 
 arm, he turns once more towards the people to 
 say, ' The Lord be with you ! ' — that will be the 
 moment for God to call him to Himself." 
 
 The second day in Advent Wahnfred was work- 
 ing as usual in his shop. His wife was anxious be- 
 cause he was so pale and silent and would eat no 
 food. She suggested sending for the herb doctor. 
 
 "Herb doctor!" laughed Wahnfred. Then he 
 said harshly : " Who can force me to eat and to 
 talk ? " and he left the house. 
 
 The third day in Advent he called Erlefried. " I 
 need thee, my boy." They went to the grindstone. 
 " Take hold of the handle, Erlefried, and turn it for 
 me." 
 
 The lad turned the wheel-shaped stone, which 
 revolved upon its frame in a trough full of water, 
 
92 The God Seeker 
 
 Wahnfred holding the blade of a broad axe against 
 it. 
 
 " Art thou going to fell trees, father ? " asked the 
 hoy. 
 
 Wahnfred replied, " Don't talk, but turn! " He 
 pressed the heavy axe so firmly against the stone 
 that the weak arms of the lad were scarcely able to 
 move it. 
 
 At last the blade was sharp and gleamed like 
 silver. It curved outward into two points, had a 
 short handle of maple-wood, and the neck, where it 
 was joined to the handle, was of thick, heavy iron, 
 through which a hole had been bored. By this hole 
 Wahnfred now hung it upon a nail high up on the 
 wall. 
 
 Towards evening he found his wife busy greasing 
 her shoes. 
 
 " Art thou going out ? " asked Wahnfred; " and 
 where, right in the middle of the week ? " 
 
 " I see very well, husband, that thy thoughts are 
 no longer where they should be," she answered, 
 with a gentle reproach in her voice; " a Christian 
 surely ought not to forget the holy Feast of St. 
 Barbara." 
 
 ** That is to-morrow, I know." 
 
 " So one of us must go to church." 
 
 " My good wife," he said, '* stay at home to- 
 morrow. Thou seest it is snowing, and before 
 morning the roads may be blocked." 
 
 " The road to heaven is never the easiest." 
 
 *' Going to church will not send us to heaven." 
 
 *' But staying away will damn us." 
 
The Crime 93 
 
 " Thou art right, only thou must not forget thy 
 household duties." 
 
 " When thou art at home, Wahnfred, I am never 
 worried about anything." 
 
 "To-morrow I shall not beat home," he said; 
 " I must leave early. And as I am going to Tra- 
 wies, probably I shall go to mass myself. I think, 
 wife, it will suffice if one of us goes to church." 
 
 " Very well," she replied. 
 
 " I am going to set the clock right," said her 
 husband. " If thou art awake, wife, when it strikes 
 one, rouse me." 
 
 " Wahnfred, what art thou going to do at mid- 
 night ? " 
 
 " When it strikes one, wake me." 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 UPON the Rockenberg, opposite the wild preci- 
 pices of the Trasank, stood the house of 
 Rocken-Paul, whose serving-man Simon was a 
 handsome, lively youth. 
 
 During the winter, when the days are short and 
 the nights long, the young men on the Rockenberg 
 and on the other mountains are in the best of spirits. 
 The wood for the winter is piled up about the 
 houses, the small amount of grain is ground, and 
 the people are not sorry that Christmastide, with all 
 its accompanying services, is at hand. 
 
 On this particular morning the cock was crowing 
 as usual to arouse the men to their work; but 
 Simon said to himself: " To-day I will thresh the 
 straw with my own feet!" and he stamped gaily 
 upon his bed. 
 
 The cock was once more silent, but not so the 
 young man's hunger, " so, in Gottesnainen, let us get 
 up, Simon " — and he softly ran across the yard to 
 the kitchen, where all the women, as is the custom 
 before the holidays, were busy with hands and 
 tongues, washing, scouring, and grumbling. 
 
 And Simon appeared just at the right moment to 
 be in their way. He saw that breakfast was not 
 
 94 
 
The Crime 95 
 
 ready ; there are three fasts during Advent, but to 
 offset this when Christmas comes there will be a 
 feast. 
 
 He seated himself by the hearth to melt some 
 lard with which to grease his boots. 
 
 " Perhaps you 'd like to be steamed a little ? " 
 cried one of the women, spattering him with the 
 wet clothes. 
 
 ''You '11 get finely paid for that!" laughed 
 Simon, fleeing, but no farther than the chimney 
 corner. 
 
 " To-morrow will be St. Barbara's Day, when one 
 must go to church," he thought. It then occurred 
 to him that now, while he had the time, would be a 
 good opportunity to shave himself. He soon col- 
 lected the utensils. He inflated his soapy cheeks to 
 give the necessary tension to the skin ; he stretched 
 his mouth from ear to ear; he closed one eye and 
 with the other looked over at the women, thinking: 
 "Just give me time, I '11 have one of you yet! " 
 His moustache he left untouched, for, when he 
 visited Liesele, she liked to nibble it. The two 
 tufts under his ears he also left ; they give one an air 
 from whichever side they are viewed. Now it was 
 a question what should be done with the tuft on his 
 lower lip. Some like it and some have the super- 
 stition that men with an imperial are not " smart." 
 If that is so! — and drawing his underlip over his 
 teeth, off came the tuft. 
 
 "Bring me some cold water!" ordered Simon. 
 And soon a basin of fresh spring water, with bits of 
 ice still floating in it, stood before him. 
 
96 The God Seeker 
 
 Bending over he plunged his head into the bowl. 
 He heard and saw nothing, and when he stood erect 
 once more the water was trickling from his curly 
 locks and handsome face, and we will not relate 
 what the women thought about it, for the women 
 on the Rockenberg and on all the other mountains 
 sometimes think aloud. The lad then proceeded 
 with his toilet and washed and scrubbed neck and 
 shoulders with all his strength until his quick pant- 
 ing was heard over the entire kitchen. 
 
 When he had finished he felt as though newly 
 born, like Adam before his rib was taken from him. 
 And in thinking of this, a joke of the schoolmas- 
 ter's occurred to him. " If God can make a woman 
 out of a rib, then every man is created to have 
 twelve women at his right hand and twelve at his 
 left, for he has that many ribs." 
 
 The schoolmaster had said this, and yet he had 
 deserted the one wife he had married. 
 
 What were Simon's thoughts on the subject ? 
 Well, he decided to eat his breakfast first. 
 
 As the weather outside was stormy and the wood 
 was crackling so merrily in the tile stove, Rocken- 
 Paul and his man sat down after breakfast to a 
 game of cards. Each one found it easy to play, but 
 difficult to win, for each knew both sides of the 
 cards. It were indeed a pity not to know one's best 
 friends from all sides! 
 
 They were playing for hazel-nuts, which in the 
 evening they, together with the women, would crack 
 and eat. 
 
 But Rocken-Paul's wife had something else to do 
 
The Crime 97 
 
 to-day. It was the eve of the Feast of St. Barbara, 
 when a branch from the wild-cherry tree must be 
 broken off and brought into the house. On Christ- 
 mas eve there would be snow-white blossoms on the 
 branch. And what did the blossoms signify ? 
 Rocken-Paul's wife knew well. 
 
 " If to-morrow is the Feast of St. Barbara," said 
 Rocken-Paul, " then some of us must go to 
 church." 
 
 " There 's no pleasure in going to church now," 
 replied his wife, " with such a man standing at the 
 altar." 
 
 " I hear that a rorate has been ordered for some- 
 one's happy death." 
 
 ** I think I '11 go," said Simon, " but not without 
 a rosary in one hand and a stick in the other." 
 
 " You 're not going to get into a fight, I hope. " 
 
 "If I could only once get hold of him! He 
 would not even have a chance to cry out! " 
 
 They knew whom he meant and were silent. 
 When the talk was of hiniy even the gay Simon 
 could be savage. 
 
 " He does n't trust me," he murmured, rising 
 from the table; " there should be no trifling in re- 
 ligious matters. Now, last Sunday I went to Ad- 
 vent confession, and for the third time I 've received 
 no absolution. I won't stand being trifled with so; 
 he refuses to trust me. " 
 
 On the following morning Paul knocked with his 
 stick on the man's door. It was still early and 
 Simon had just begun an entertaining dream. He 
 was almost sorry that he had promised to go to 
 
9^ The God Seeker 
 
 church. " But," he thought, " a happy death is 
 not to be despised, and I '11 stop down at Schum- 
 mel-Zens's house and drink some schnapps. " So he 
 sprang out of bed and dressed quickly. He hastily 
 swallowed the warm oatmeal porridge which was 
 ready for him and started on his way. 
 
 Snowflakes flew into his face as he opened the 
 door; the road was blocked and the wind howling. 
 With difficulty he worked his way down to the 
 Rockenbach; by the banks of this stream under the 
 trees the walking was better. After a while Simon 
 began to notice the pungent smoke from a charcoal- 
 pit, which furnished coal to the blacksmith in 
 Trawies. Near by stood the little house of Schum- 
 mel-Zens, who, with his daughter, looked after the 
 pit. A light was shining from the window. 
 
 " So, then, Zens is already awake and I shall get 
 my schnapps to drink." 
 
 He approached the door and opened it. A breath 
 of warm air was wafted into his face ; a lamp was 
 burning in the room. 
 
 " Good morning to you, Zens." 
 
 But Zens was not there; instead, his daughter, 
 Han, of the tawny hair, was standing before a 
 mirror braiding her locks. Her neck was bare, a 
 snowy smock covering the tender young shoulders 
 and bosom. 
 
 Softly closing the door behind him, Simon re- 
 mained motionless. She did not turn ; she saw in 
 the mirror who was there. How strange that she 
 should have been thinking of him just then L 
 
 " Han," said the lad, " up so early? " 
 
The Crime 99 
 
 " As thou seesti Early rising, early Courting, no 
 regretting," she replied. 
 
 " That *s what I think too." 
 
 " What dost thou want then ? " she asked with- 
 out turning her head. 
 
 " If thy father were here, I should like a swallow 
 of brandy." 
 
 " Father 's gone to church." 
 
 " And thou art keeping house here all alone, 
 Han ?" 
 
 " Why not ? And Simon is certainly going to 
 church too; then Simon must hurry. The cock has 
 already crowed." 
 
 If that 's so, it will be dark for three hours yet '; 
 it 's so unsafe at night now, Han, I will not leave 
 thee alone." 
 
 " Thanks," was her reply; " such a watchman 
 would be much like putting a fox into the hen- 
 house." 
 
 " Ah, how quick thou art! All the better, long 
 persuasion won't be necessary. I '11 stay with thee 
 and tell thee something which I 've had on my mind 
 for a long time. ' Early courting, no regretting.' 
 Thou hast said it thyself." 
 
 " It 's only a proverb." 
 
 But it 's mine. Little girl, wilt thou be my 
 sweetheart ? " Taking her head in his hands, he 
 said: " Darling, look at me!" She looked up at 
 the bold, handsome, merry lad, 
 
 " Take off thy snowy coat first, thou awkward 
 boy; thou art wetting me through and through! " 
 
 " Thou art right, I don't need the coat." He 
 
loo The God Seeker 
 
 threw the garment from him, rattling the walnuts irt 
 the pockets. 
 
 Hast thou some nuts ? " she asked. 
 
 " It 's quite possible, sweetheart; wouldst thou 
 like some ? " 
 
 " I don't exactly dislike them." 
 
 "That 'sgood." 
 
 He made himself comfortable as if he were at 
 home. 
 
 A gentleman would ask first," said the girl. 
 Ask ? " said he. 
 
 '" Whether he might stay." 
 
 You women never know a gentleman when you 
 see one. But I don't ask long for that which be- 
 longs to me already." 
 
 Thou thinkest then that this room belongs to 
 thee ? Ha, that makes me laugh ! But I will say, 
 Simon, if I wanted a young man, thou wouldst not 
 be the last — but I don't want one." 
 
 Sweetheart, do not throw him away. Despised 
 bread has to be eaten sometimes." 
 
 " Oh, thou little fool; if I had to eat all that I 
 have already thrown away! That would be hard 
 luck." 
 
 " I would n't advise thee to have more than one, 
 but one is worth a good deal. May I smoke ? " 
 
 He lighted his pipe at the stove, murmuring into 
 his pipe-stem, " He won't absolve me anyway, so 
 it 's all the same in the end." 
 
 The cock crowed a second time. 
 
 " If thou wilt not go away," said the charcoal- 
 burner's beautiful daughter, " then thou must help 
 
The Crime loi 
 
 me read the Litany, while the service is going on in 
 the church." 
 
 " Of course I will, sweetheart; we ought to do 
 that, of course." 
 
 " Although thou art a very bad young man, 
 there 's one thing I can say for thee : thou art a 
 good Christian." 
 
 *' Certainly I am. But let me ask thee first, dar- 
 ling, shall we do our love-making before or after the 
 Litany ? " 
 
 The girl turned towards him and as she raised her 
 arms behind her head to fasten her hair, — her soft, 
 heavy, gleaming hair, — thus revealing the beautiful 
 outline of her figure, she said : " My dear Simon, no 
 good spirit has led thee here to-day. If thou goest 
 now it will not be too late. See, the others have 
 gone to church and are praying. Thou 'It be sorry 
 for it, should the time ever come when thou couldst 
 no longer stop at Schummel-Zens's house, but 
 wouldst have to take another path from the Rock- 
 enberg to church, for fear of meeting the girl who 
 had n't the courage to send thee away to-day. I 'm 
 not thinking of myself, Simon, — and it will yet be 
 my ruin that I care so much for thee, — it 's only for 
 thy sake that I beg of thee: Go to church! " 
 
 Oh, thou inexperienced heart ! Thy words were 
 like oil in the fire — for him — for thee. He heard 
 only the sound of her voice; her beauty fanned the 
 fire of his glance^-convulsively he reached out his 
 arms and snatched her to his breast. Like a piece 
 of wax she melted under the warmth of his kisses. 
 Just a moment before she had noticed a gleam of 
 
I02 The God Seeker 
 
 light on the window from without. " The charcoal 
 pit is burning! " she had barely strength to stam- 
 mer. 
 
 In the pit, which was built of resinous wood, a 
 fire had broken out. At first only a dull light was 
 visible, like a blue will-o'-the-wisp, then the flames 
 burst bright and clear through the black roof ; in an 
 ever-widening circle and ever deeper they pene- 
 trated into the fiery pit, to soar again to the skies. 
 The surrounding trees were suffused with the ruddy 
 glow, the snowflakes fell like trembling rose-leaves 
 amid the whirlwind of blue smoke and flying sparks. 
 
 The cock crowed a third time. 
 
 " Fire!" 
 
 The handsome lad from Rocken-Paul's rushed 
 out of the house. Two wood-cutters were already 
 on hand smothering the flames and forcing them 
 back to their rightful place within the pit. 
 
 " Holloa there! Who 's that hurrying away from 
 the hut ? " cried one of the wood-cutters. 
 
 " I '11 be hanged if it is n't the young man from 
 the Rockenberg. The girl's father is surely not at 
 home and the rascal has had it nice and warm in 
 there to-night! " 
 
 " Then it 's no wonder that the pit caught fire." 
 
 " Let 's catch him!" 
 
 " Here goes! " 
 
 And they ran off through the darkness and snow 
 of the forest in pursuit of the fugitive. Simon's 
 conscience did not trouble him in the least for 
 having stopped to rest a while with the charcoal- 
 burner's daughter, but if no one heard of it, all 
 
The Crime lo 
 
 ^ 
 
 the better. Now, to his great good fortune, he 
 stumbled and fell over a stump, and the two wood- 
 cutters caught up with him. With a bit of burning 
 tinder they threw a light upon his face. 
 
 "It 's Rocken-Paul's man ! " they laughed. 
 You 're all right; you may count on our silence." 
 They left him standing. He shook the snow 
 from his clothes, reached his hand into his pocket 
 after his rosary, saying to himself: " I 've needed 
 it to-day after all." Then he walked away in the 
 direction of the Rockenberg; the grey dawn was 
 just appearing over the drifts of snow. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 IN what a different manner had the St. Barbara 
 mass been celebrated in Trawies ! 
 
 During the night from the valleys and mountains 
 the congregation had assembled, the most of them 
 having wearily worked their way through the snow 
 that blocked the paths behind them the moment 
 they had passed. The powdery flakes danced and 
 whirled amid the old trees, which snapped and fell 
 with a crash, and even on the open heath the peo- 
 ple were obliged to brace themselves with all their 
 strength against the storm, throwing their cloaks 
 over their faces in order to breathe. 
 
 A number lost their way in the blinding snow and 
 wandered about cursing or praying, and on the 
 morning of St. Barbara's Day many thought that 
 their end had come. 
 
 At last the people were assembled before the 
 church, stamping their feet, or cowering against 
 the walls, while the wind howled around the corners 
 and the snow fell from the roof and whirled in ed- 
 dies about them. 
 
 They looked like walking snow-men, and their 
 frozen boots resounded upon the few spots of 
 ground blown bare by the wind. Each one, as he 
 
 104 
 
The Crime 105 
 
 arrived, hastened to the door and pressed the latch, 
 but in vain — it would not yield ; the building was 
 locked. From the high, narrow windows shone the 
 red gleam of the altar lamp. The wind whistled 
 through the tower, causing a reverberating sound 
 among the bells. 
 
 The hour for the mass had arrived and the peo- 
 ple, becoming impatient, broke open the sacristan's 
 window to arouse him. 
 
 "Curse you, out there!" he called; "as if I 
 had n't been awake since the first crow of the cock ! 
 Can I help it if the priest keeps the key of the 
 church ? " 
 
 " Then go and get it, you old fool! Have we 
 come down through wind and weather to the St. 
 Barbara mass, only to stand here and freeze before 
 the church ? Look at that little woman there; she 
 has almost fainted, she 's so cold ; we shall break in 
 your door if you don't open! " 
 
 The sacristan ran across to the parsonage. 
 
 " What 's all this noise about ? " called out Herr 
 Franciscus from his room. 
 
 " The people want to get into the church." 
 
 " What do they want in the church at this time 
 of night ? " 
 
 " Sir, it is six o'clock." 
 
 " Leave me alone, the weather is too devilish 
 bad. The people may go home." 
 
 " I will tell them, sir, but the mass is paid for," 
 
 " Give them back their money then. I will not 
 risk my health, so recently regained." 
 
 " But listen, they are screaming out there! For 
 
io6 The God Seeker 
 
 God's sake, priest," implored the sacristan, " they 
 have come this long distance and think so much of 
 St. Barbara's Day on account of the blessing for the 
 
 « 
 
 dying! Jesus Maria, someone is throwing stones ! 
 I beg of you, priest, get up, or something may 
 happen." 
 
 So Herr Franciscus finally rose and, unaccustomed 
 to exposure in such stormy weather, walked shiver- 
 ing over to the church to read the mass. 
 
 Closely wrapped in his mantle, he strode across 
 the square to the sacristy. The people barely 
 greeted him ; they only muttered, and someone — in 
 the darkness he could not be recognised — said in 
 an undertone: " The Trawiesers must have great 
 faith in the priestly order, to come this long dis- 
 tance to a service conducted by such a man." 
 
 At last the doors were opened and the congrega- 
 tion crowded in. There were even a few miners 
 from Sankofen present, who were seldom seen in 
 church. Whenever they had an opportunity to 
 crawl out of the dark earth, they usually preferred 
 remaining in the warm sunlight where life smiles 
 and beckons to them, to shutting themselves within 
 dark walls. But for St. Barbara they had a great 
 reverence. In her hand she holds the cup for which 
 each soul longs in his dying hour. The miners, ex- 
 posed as they were to danger, were often obliged to 
 leave the world without the comforting draught. 
 So the Feast of St. Barbara called them forth from 
 their sepulchral work-shops to assemble here to 
 pray. 
 
 The sacristan lighted the candles about the altar 
 
The Crime 107 
 
 from the burning lamp. The gilded crucifix 
 gleamed before the tabernacle ; but the few lights 
 were insufficient to illumine the gloom of the 
 church. The people took their seats, many strug- 
 gling to limber their stiffened fingers before they 
 were required to handle the rosary. 
 
 At last the little bell was heard and the priest, in 
 his robes of office, emerged from the sacristy and 
 ascended the steps of the altar, while the choir was 
 chanting the hymn of praise to Him whose glory 
 fills heaven and earth. 
 
 It was the hour just before dawn, the proper 
 time, according to Christian usage, for the rorate to 
 be read. This service symbolises the long night, 
 when, in past ages, God's people were longing for 
 the coming of the Messiah. 
 
 The choir began the Advent hymn : 
 
 Send down, ye heavens, upon the just 
 
 Thy dew ! Ye clouds send down thy rain ! 
 
 Kneel in dust and pray, O mortal ! 
 
 Woe to all within hell's portal, 
 
 For the Saviour shall appear ! 
 
 World's Redeemer, come and bring us 
 
 What Thy messenger proclaimed, 
 
 Come and bring eternal peace ! 
 
 The priest, stepping to the left of the altar, read 
 from the Gospel: " I am the voice of one crying in 
 the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord, 
 make his paths straight. . . . He stands in 
 your midst and ye know him not. . . . It is he 
 that Cometh after me whose shoe latchets I am 
 
io8 The God Seeker 
 
 unworthy to unloose. . . . Make his paths 
 straight for his kingdom is at hand." 
 
 The service proceeded solemnly and the choir 
 chanted the song of the Prophet: " And there shall 
 come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a 
 Branch shall grow out of his roots. But thou, 
 Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among 
 the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he 
 come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel, 
 whose goings forth have been from of old, ever- 
 lasting." 
 
 The worshippers stood reverently ; but there was 
 one among them who thought: " Unhappy man, 
 that is thine own funeral sermon ! " 
 
 The choir was silent; the sacred moment drew 
 near. The priest knelt upon the step, folded his 
 hands, and bowed his head. All pride, all anger 
 and hardness seemed to be taken from him, every- 
 thing earthly removed in this hour, as he pro- 
 strated himself in prayer and humility before Him 
 Whose sacrifice on the cross he was now to celebrate. 
 Slowly he rose and, in spirit, ascended the stony 
 path of Calvary. Yonder in the gloom towers the 
 cross; the blows of the hammer resound. The 
 priest bent his knees and with trembling hands 
 raised the Host. 
 
 The congregation were engaged in prayer. In 
 this quiet moment all were thinking of their loved 
 ones on earth. Outside the storm was raging and 
 the windows rattled. 
 
 The priest raised the chalice. The hands of the 
 true priest feel the warm stream flowing from the 
 
The Crime 109 
 
 sacred wound into the receptacle. He sees the pale 
 face of the Crucified One turned heavenward : " It 
 is finished. Father, into thy hands I commend my 
 spirit! " 
 
 The choir continued: " And I heard a voice from 
 heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the 
 voice of a great thunder; and I heard the voice of 
 harpers, harping with their harps — they sing a new 
 song, O Lamb of God that taketh away the sins 
 of the world! " 
 
 The priest struck his breast three times, broke 
 the sacred wafer and laid it upon his tongue, then 
 making the sign of the cross over the chalice he 
 drank from it. That finished and the cup cleansed, 
 he covered the utensils in the form of a bier. And 
 the choir sang: " Blessed are the dead who die in 
 the Lord, that they may rest from their labours; 
 and their works do follow them." 
 
 The service was finished. The priest turned to- 
 wards the congregation and stretching out his 
 hands said: " The Lord be with you!" Then 
 pronouncing the benediction, he took the sacred 
 utensils and left the altar. The choir was just be- 
 ginning the hymn, " Hail to thee, Mary, Star of 
 the Morning," when suddenly from the sacristy a 
 frightful scream was heard, and the priest staggered 
 back, plunged, and fell upon the steps of the altar. 
 
 All sprang to their feet; the music stopped 
 abruptly. Some slipped quietly out of the church ; 
 others hastened up to the altar with a cry of terror, 
 which re-echoed throughout the building. They 
 forced their way forward, pushing and crowding 
 
lid The God Seeker 
 
 one another — but started back in horror, their faces 
 distorted with fear. 
 
 " What, for Christ's sake, has happened ? " 
 
 "Murdered!" 
 
 * ' Make room ! Make room ! ' ' 
 
 " See, the blood is flowing at our feet! Away! " 
 
 Prostrate before the altar, where the candles were 
 still burning, he lay ; the head, crushed and man- 
 gled, rested upon the stone floor ; one hand, grasp- 
 ing the chalice, was stretched out upon the steps ; 
 cap and stole were lying near the door to the sac- 
 risty, which was enveloped in the darkness of night. 
 
 '• Wko f " cried the shrill voices from throats 
 parched with terror. 
 
 " Who is hiding in there ?" They forced their 
 way into the sacristy. 
 
 The blood continued to flow from the hideous 
 wound. No one dared touch the dead man; the 
 cries ceased, and many, dumb with fear, staggered 
 almost senseless out of the building. 
 
 The bells clanged loudly in the tower— proclaim- 
 ing the storm ; and the wind whistled through the 
 trees — bringing the storm. 
 
 Such was the dawn on this day in Trawies. Peo- 
 ple were running to and fro in ail directions. Soon, 
 as if the wintry wind were carrying the news, it was 
 known in all the houses : The priest is murdered I 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE fire guardian sat alone in his room ; his face 
 was livid, his head bent forward — he was 
 buried in thought. 
 
 The door opened and Bart-from-Tarn, Uli, the 
 charcoal-burner, Firnerhans, the forest keeper, and 
 others entered. 
 
 " Fire guardian," said Bart-from-Tarn, " you 
 know why we are here. We must decide as to our 
 future actions." 
 
 The fire guardian shook his head wearily, mur- 
 muring: " It has come too suddenly." 
 
 " Do you know who did it ? " asked the forest 
 keeper. 
 
 " Yes, I know." 
 
 " Where is he?" 
 
 " In safety," said the fire guardian, " but only 
 for to-day; not for to-morrow." 
 
 " Comrades," said Bart-from-Tarn, looking at 
 each man present, " we are responsible for what has 
 happened, all of us. We will stand by him." 
 
 " We will." 
 
 " To-day we are free in Trawies. Now we must 
 be on the watch to avoid suspicion." 
 
 " Men of Trawies," said the fire guardian, with a 
 
 III 
 
112 The God Seeker 
 
 gesture of dismissal, " come again this afternoon. 
 But go now. The very marrow trembles in my 
 bones; it has happened too suddenly." 
 
 The tavern was not large enough to hold all the 
 guests. Those who had news came to relate it, and 
 those who had none came to listen and to shudder. 
 
 To think of it! His ];iead split with a woodsman's 
 axe ! The very ones who had formerly cursed him 
 the loudest now bewailed him the most and they 
 mourned the " good, kind master." Who could 
 have done it ? The church and sacristy had been 
 searched but no one found. The man had fled. 
 Had he committed the murder to rob ? No, it must 
 be one of the inhabitants, for the priest had many 
 enemies. At this very moment the murderer may 
 be sitting here in our midst, drinking and listening 
 to our account of the deed. 
 
 " He should be hanged! " cried some. 
 
 " He should be stoned and beheaded ! " screamed 
 others. 
 
 " He should be sent up to the remotest part of 
 the Trasank to escape the bailiffs," said one man. 
 The rest started in astonishment. There were some 
 present who sat in silence, saying to themselves 
 with a sigh: " Were these first days only over! " 
 
 But what then? 
 
 In the meantime, the candles on the altar steps 
 had burned low and were extinguished. 
 
 The schoolmaster lay in his room nearly uncon- 
 scious with fright. The window towards the church 
 he had had thickly covered. The sacristan was 
 
The Crime 113 
 
 wandering about, telling in the different houses of 
 the dreadful deed. He was beside himself and, in 
 spite of the deep snow, walked as though on wings 
 and everywhere with the same wail: "He was such 
 a good priest ! " However he comforted himself 
 and the others by adding: " But perhaps now we 
 shall get a still better one." 
 
 Towards dusk in the afternoon, when the people 
 had withdrawn to their homes to await with fear 
 and anxiety the coming night, the oldest men of 
 Trawies assembled in an upper room at the fire 
 guardian's around an oaken table upon which two 
 candles burned. 
 
 " The first thing to be done," began Gallo Weiss- 
 bucher, the fire guardian, " is to bury him. I have 
 had him laid out and my men are now digging the 
 grave in the churchyard. You will all agree with me 
 that the priest must be buried with every Christian 
 ceremony." 
 
 " That is also my opinion," replied Bart-from- 
 Tarn, " and the sooner the better, before the news 
 reaches beyond our heathland. The authorities 
 once here, we are no longer masters in our own 
 houses. To wait and see if he revives is unneces- 
 sary ; so I propose that we bury him early to-mor- 
 row morning." 
 
 " I trust this haste will not attract attention," 
 said Firnerhans. 
 
 " Should we be called to account for it," said 
 Uli, the charcoal-burner, ** we will say — what is 
 also true — the people were in an uproar and beside 
 themselves with excitement; everyone wished to 
 
114 The God Seeker 
 
 see the murdered man and it became impossible to 
 quiet the mob ; the village of Trawies was no longer 
 safe and burying the priest was the only means of 
 keeping order." 
 
 ** It is terrible," sighed the fire guardian: " such 
 a deed, at the altar, before everyone's eyes! He 
 could n't have managed it more clumsily! We 
 shall have all we can do, my dear comrades, to keep 
 ourselves out of trouble! " 
 
 It was then asked if the people of Trawies had 
 any suspicion concerning the affair. 
 
 Upon our Johannesberg," Firnerhans informed 
 them, " the report is being circulated that a robber 
 from the Ritscher forest committed the murder. He 
 is said to have been suddenly surprised by the priest 
 in the act of searching the drawers of the sacristy, 
 and he even attempted to snatch the golden chalice 
 from Herr Franciscus, who, after struggling with 
 the thief, was finally struck by him on the head 
 with an axe. Although the murderer escaped, he 
 was obliged to leave his booty behind him. The 
 following morning he is said to have been seen in a 
 remote valley of the Trasank with the bloody 
 weapon in his hand." 
 
 Firnerhans added: " I have told everyone to 
 whom I have spoken about the murder — and no one 
 talks of anything else — that this story was probably 
 true, but that in these insecure times the criminal 
 would be hard to find." 
 
 " I am glad to hear of this report," said the fire 
 guardian. 
 
 " And," remarked the forest keeper, " the man 
 
The Crime ii^ 
 
 might have climbed into the sacristy at midnight ; 
 the storm gave him every opportunity, and — I will 
 attend to that myself — to-morrow, when the investi- 
 gation takes place, a broken window bar will be 
 found; we are then free from suspicion." 
 
 Here the peasant Tropper, passing his rough hand 
 over his face, made a movement as if to speak. 
 
 " Do you know something, Tropper ? " asked the 
 fire guardian. 
 
 ** What I have heard," he answered, " and what 
 my man Nantel says, is that perhaps some honest 
 man in the Trawies parish has sent our good Herr 
 Franciscus to heaven." 
 
 " That is also the talk upon the Wildwiese," said 
 one of the men. 
 
 " At old Kofel's, the herb doctor's, where I went 
 to-day to see about a sick cow, and where all kinds 
 of people are to be found, I heard something of the 
 kind, too," reported another. 
 
 " This is bad," they murmured, " this is bad! " 
 
 " But I 'm not surprised at it," said Bart-from- 
 Tarn. 
 
 " There are no traitors among us, I hope! " 
 
 " Out of the question," said the fire guardian; 
 " as far as keeping silence is concerned, I would 
 stake my soul on every one of us." 
 
 '• But," added Bart-from-Tarn, " the thought 
 which occurred to us might have occurred to 
 others as well; such an idea would not be improb- 
 able in Trawies, by my faith! The wood-cutters 
 from Rockenberg, the people from the Tarn, or the 
 miners from Sankofen, might have sworn to do the 
 
ii6 The God Seeker 
 
 deed as well as we peasants. Many will think of 
 that, I am sure, but no names must be mentioned, 
 else we are lost. It is fortunate that the heavy 
 snow has blocked the roads to Trawies, or the au- 
 thorities from Neubruck or Oberkloster would be 
 here to-morrow." 
 
 " God forbid. First the dead man must be put 
 out of sight, the people's mouths be stopped, the 
 government of Trawies organised, and the stand we 
 are to take before the authorities decided upon ; the 
 carpenter must be placed in safety, then they may 
 come, — we shall not fear." 
 
 " The government of Trawies ? " 
 
 " From our own villagers and house owners we 
 shall choose our council, as was the custom in olden 
 times," said the fire guardian, laying his hand upon 
 an old grey parchment. " This council shall be 
 master and law in our homes and in our forest, in 
 the church and in the school, and in all affairs of the 
 parish. We shall honestly deliver our tithes to the 
 authorities, as is the will of God ; and of the men 
 capable of bearing arms, every seventh, chosen by 
 lot, will cheerfully offer himself to defend the father- 
 land. From the priests of the bishopric will be 
 elected twelve chaplains, as of old; from these 
 twelve one will be chosen by the archbishop to be 
 our spiritual guide. This was the old Trawies law 
 which we shall now revive." 
 
 They were still talking when a great noise was 
 heard on the stairs. A moment later the door 
 opened. A messenger from the Governor and 
 two soldiers entered. A few of the men rose in as- 
 
The Crime 117 
 
 tonishment ; the others remained sitting, apparently 
 indifferent, but looking gravely towards the new- 
 comers. 
 
 " We beg your pardon," said the messenger, 
 turning to the fire guardian. " You are, I believe, 
 Gallo Weissbucher ? We come in haste from Neu- 
 bruck." 
 
 "Have you business here?" asked the fire 
 guardian. 
 
 The messenger looked at him in astonishment. 
 
 " The murder! " he answered. 
 Oh, to see about the murder and robbery," in- 
 terrupted Bart-from-Tarn ; " yes, it is well that you 
 have come. All Trawies is in confusion. We are, 
 as you see, assembled here to take counsel as to 
 what must be done. We have almost lost our own 
 heads. Such a misfortune, sir! " 
 
 " For the present there is nothing to be done but 
 to get out a warrant," said the messenger, in a 
 precise, official tone ; and feeling the importance of 
 his mission, he added: " In the name of the law 
 you are required to assist us in this affair, conscien- 
 tiously and according to your knowledge. Let us 
 go at once to the scene of the murder." 
 
 They rose, and the fire guardian extinguished 
 one of the candles and with the other lighted the 
 way down the stairs. Some of the men stole away, 
 and one of them remarked: " He caught us in 
 our nest! " 
 
 " Who ?" 
 
 " The devil." 
 
 " You mean that messenger ? I 'm not afraid of 
 
ii8 The God Seeker 
 
 him. If the authorities in Neubruck don't think it 
 worth while to come themselves, but send a subord- 
 inate instead to get out the warrant, they won't 
 consider the affair very important afterwards." 
 
 " Don't you flatter yourself! Think of the drifts 
 of snow now blocking the roads! If you were the 
 Governor in Neubruck and should hear that the 
 Trawies priest had been murdered to-day, I '11 
 wager you would say : * In such devilish weather I 
 would n't send a dog to Trawies. I '11 wait until 
 the roads are passable, and in the meantime I '11 
 send my messenger on ahead to make inquiries,' 
 You may count upon it, he will come himself." 
 
 *' We shall fare badly then." 
 
 Bart-from-Tarn, Firnerhans, and the fire guardian 
 accompanied the officers to the village and up to 
 the church. 
 
 Approaching the chancel, they could see by the 
 red glow of the little altar lamp the frozen pool of 
 blood. The messenger of the law looked about him 
 searchingly and finally asked: " But where is the 
 dead man ? " 
 
 * We carried him over to the parsonage that he 
 might be properly laid out." 
 
 " Who told you that you might remove the body 
 from this spot ? " asked the messenger sharply. 
 
 " Told us! " replied the fire guardian ; " I should 
 think anyone would have sense enough not to leave 
 
 him lying here." 
 
 " Such an old man, Weissbucher, and you do not 
 know that nothing should be touched on the spot 
 
The Crime 119 
 
 where a crime is committed until an official ex- 
 amination has taken place! " 
 
 ** An officer would know that, of course," inter- 
 rupted Firnerhans, " one who has to hover around 
 such places, like a raven about a carcass. We 
 woodspeople cannot be expected to understand so 
 exactly what is the custom when a man is killed." 
 
 " You hound, I forbid you to speak thus to me! 
 I am here in the name of the law! " 
 
 " Don't get excited, comrades," said Bart ap- 
 peasingly. *' And you, sir, have spent many a 
 piece of money in the tavern here which should 
 have gone into your sack, so you won't be so hard 
 on us if, in our ignorance, we have made a mistake. 
 You should have seen how frightful he looked lying 
 there. Herr Gott ! I shall never forget the horror 
 of it as long as I live ! Everyone who saw him was 
 nearly crazed and they all demanded that he should 
 be laid out like a Christian." 
 
 ** The church should have been locked as soon as 
 they had gone," instructed the messenger; '* within 
 these walls the praying is at an end for ever. What 
 are those people doing over there in that field ? " 
 
 " They are digging the grave," answered the fire 
 guardian. 
 
 " For whom ?" 
 
 " Why, for^ — " he pointed with his thumb to- 
 wards the parsonage. 
 
 The messenger stopped short, saying: " My dear 
 people, if you act so independently, then the com- 
 plaints of your priest had indeed just cause. You 
 have no right to bury even a still-born babe on your 
 
I20 The God Seeker 
 
 own responsibility— and such a case as this! I will 
 answer for it and you shall answer for it, that from 
 this moment not one hair is touched ! There is still 
 much to be done, I tell you. It will be days and 
 weeks before he can be buried ! " 
 
 Silently they mounted the stairs to the priest's 
 apartment. Through the open door gleamed the 
 light of many candles. These surrounded a bier 
 upon which lay the body covered with a grey cloth. 
 Only the tips of the boots were visible ; at the head 
 stood a high crucifix reaching nearly to the ceiling. 
 Praying-benches had been placed beside the bier, 
 but there were no worshippers; the whole house 
 was empty and cold. Not one of the men of 
 Trawies would advance to remove the cloth. The 
 messenger was obliged to do it himself, but he 
 started back with the cry, " Jesus Maria ! " Even 
 the soldiers paled at the sight. 
 
 " There is nothing for us to do at present," said 
 the messenger after a pause. " Extinguish the 
 candles, lock the room and the house." 
 
 The storm had died away ; a cold, starry sky with 
 a rising moon looked down upon the white world 
 beneath. The messenger, accompanied by the 
 soldiers, departed, taking the path by the Trach. 
 The search for the murderer had begun. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 IT was a bright, cold morning and everything 
 shone and sparkled. Winter, dressed in the 
 colour of innocence, spread her lily-white mantle 
 over the silent village and over the mountains which 
 soared into the blue dome of heaven. The houses 
 of Trawies, usually gleaming against their back- 
 ground of green, now resembled grey blocks of 
 stone in the pure snow. 
 
 But the narrator can take no pleasure in all this 
 beauty, for it is hidden in the shadow of that un- 
 holy night. In spirit he sees Fate, who out of that 
 night is with busy fingers spinning dark and slender 
 threads. Through the sea of light these threads 
 reach from house to house, from hut to hut, yes, 
 from tree to tree and from stone to stone, entang- 
 ling and interweaving themselves into a black veil, 
 concealing the future and covering the sun that 
 even in Trawies would so gladly smile upon each 
 young heart. 
 
 Yet, in these days of unrest and confusion, there 
 is no time for reflection. See, the crowd streaming 
 from the tavern. Little Baumhackel was in trouble. 
 Little Baumhackel, with his heavy beard and cone- 
 shaped head, the embodiment of mischief and evil; 
 
 121 
 
122 The God Seeker 
 
 the Faun of Trawies, with his short legs and long 
 fingers; the active dwarf, with his sheep's eyes and 
 rabbit's foot, upon whose sallow forehead were 
 written as many sins as could find room thereon, 
 and who was supremely indifferent to it all — Little 
 Baumhackel was now in trouble. 
 
 The preceding night he had sat in the tavern 
 until very late, speculating with the others about 
 the murder in the church. He had finally spent the 
 night at the inn, sleeping near the stove under a 
 bench, while another man, also averse to the idea 
 of returning home, slept upon it. In the morning, 
 as the room filled again, the speculating began 
 anew. Little Baumhackel's voice being heard above 
 the rest. " If I could only catch the murderer, I 
 would hang him, yes, I would hang him by his feet 
 to the churchyard wall ; I would make leather shoe- 
 strings out of his skin for the new priest! The 
 scoundrel deserves nothing better. To go and split 
 open a man's head! 'T was a horrible thing to do! 
 And then too in that holy place, spoiling our church 
 for us for ever ! Curse the devil ! " 
 
 At this outbreak, Stoss-Nickel limped over to 
 Baumhackel's table. Stoss-Nickel, a lumberman, 
 employed in sliding wood in the Tarn, had for some- 
 time been on an unfriendly footing with Baum- 
 hackel, not because one was so absurdly small and 
 the other so gigantic, but rather because Little 
 Baumhackel had once applied for the work of wood- 
 sliding in the Tarn. He did not secure it, but had 
 he done so, Stoss-Nickel and his family would have 
 starved. 
 
The Crime 123 
 
 This huge, long-limbed woodsman — one foot had 
 been crushed by a rolling tree-trunk — now limped 
 up to Little Baumhackel, planted his elbows upon 
 a corner of the table, and said in a voice so low that 
 he seemed to be saying something agreeable, yet 
 loud enough for all to hear: " Just tell me, Baum- 
 hackel, where were you early yesterday morning ? " 
 
 " I ? Early yesterday morning ? " replied Baum- 
 hackel, squinting one eye. " What 's that to you ? 
 An honest man would have been in church." 
 
 " You 're right," answered Stoss-Nickel, " if it 
 only said in the Gospels that you were an honest 
 man! " 
 
 The people laughed ; Little Baumhackel, how- 
 ever, remained grave and, craning his neck towards 
 the other, replied: " How do you know, then, that 
 it does n't say so in the Gospels ? You never 
 looked into them in your life." 
 
 " One needs only to look at you, and that I did 
 yesterday at sunrise when we met over by the 
 Trach bridge. And I must say if you had been 
 counting your beads until your fingers were bloody, 
 then you must be a devilish pious Christian." 
 
 The men, sitting and standing about, who had 
 laughed a moment before, now suddenly became 
 silent. 
 
 Baumhackel's eyes stood out of his head; he 
 made a gesture that all might see both his hands 
 and answered, ** You need n't make fun of the 
 rosary, you villain ! " 
 
 " Oh, yes, of course you have washed your claws 
 to-day," said Stoss-Nickel, " but you were careful 
 
124 The God Seeker 
 
 not to put on the leathern hose, and I '11 be damned 
 if the red spots which I saw so plainly yesterdajf 
 morning are not still to be found on them." 
 
 That was enough. The people crowded around 
 Little Baumhackel, who grew deathly pale even to 
 his lips — and that was more than enough. 
 
 In a few moments it was reported all over the 
 village — " Little Baumhackel is the murderer! " 
 
 It was scarcely credible, and the more thoughtful 
 men, among them the fire guardian, quieted the 
 people, endeavouring to convince them that it 
 would have been impossible for the little fellow to 
 have done such a thing. But the old women cried : 
 
 O Du lieber Gott ! He looks just like the man to 
 doit. We have n't trusted him for a longtime; 
 he 's a bad one, he is! Strange that we did n't 
 think of him at once! No question at all about it, 
 he 's the man who did it ! And how he scolded 
 about the murder like a picked sparrow, and all the 
 time he was the rascal himself! " 
 
 As the Faun of Trawies became aware that some- 
 thing very uncomfortable was threatening his own 
 neck, he emptied his mug hastily, pushed it back on 
 the table with a rattling sound, and, springing to his 
 feet directly in front of Stoss-Nickel, cried : 
 
 " You suspect me, do you, you good-for-nothing! 
 Where did you see blood on me ? Perhaps the 
 thrashings you 've given your hungry wives were 
 still in your eye! Because you whipped the first 
 wife to death, the devil has burdened you with two 
 at once now. It 's your own heathenish life, you 
 blackguard, that so set our priest against the people 
 
The Crime 125 
 
 o{ Trav^rtes, ^nd it was your talk, I 'd Have yoii 
 know, on Midsummer Day, down by the spring — 
 your talk, when you said, ' That man up there,' and 
 you pointed towards the stone house, so that every- 
 one could easily see whom you meant, * That man 
 up there, someone should quietly put out of the 
 way and end this foolishness.' Did n't you say 
 that, Stoss-Nickel ? Deny it if you can ! And now 
 you want to put it off upon someone else! Perhaps 
 you did it yourself! — Ha, come on, come on! I 
 just want to show you that I 've as much reason to 
 accuse you as you me. But I won't do that, be- 
 cause I too met you way over on the Trach bridge. 
 I 'm your sole witness that you yourself were com- 
 ing at that time from the Tarn ! Think of that, 
 Nickel, and keep quiet! " 
 
 Little Baumhackel, who had screamed his face 
 red and his throat hoarse, was ordered to be silent. 
 The soldiers had arrived and were binding his arms 
 and placing handcuffs upon his hands. 
 
 Then the procession started. Little Baumhackel 
 swearing and imploring heaven to come to his aid 
 and prove his innocence. The bailiffs, however, 
 seemed to have no ears, but their arms and elbows 
 were all the stronger. At last the little man was 
 secured in a cellar under the parsonage until after- 
 noon, when the officers returned from their investi- 
 gation at Baumhackel's hut with the report that, 
 sure enough, on the leathern hose blood stains had 
 been found. 
 
 " Now you 're done for," said Sandhok, with a 
 wink at the little man, as he was being dragged to 
 
126 The God Seeker 
 
 the tavern for further examination. The room was 
 so crowded that people were standing on benches 
 and tables. 
 
 " We can hardly think such a thing of the little 
 fellow. 
 
 " The big man has got away." 
 
 " The little one will get away too. So much the 
 better." 
 
 Thus the people whispered. There were some 
 present who might have spoken, but their lips were 
 sealed. The forest keeper felt this the most keenly. 
 He decided to remain silent for a while, but he 
 was resolved, before he would see his own brother 
 hanged ! 
 
 In the meantime an ofificer of the law had arrived 
 from Neubruck, and he spoke kindly to the despair- 
 ing Baumhackel, telling him to answer the questions 
 briefly but honestly and to confess everything 
 frankly ; that would be the best and quickest 
 way 
 
 "To the gallows!" shouted a voice from the 
 chimney corner. 
 
 The accused was told not to think of his earthly 
 destiny — each human life was in God's hands — but 
 of that world where alone the truly penitent could 
 hope for mercy and pity. 
 
 Little Baumhackel buried his face in his arm and 
 wept. 
 
 First of all he was asked to say where he had hid- 
 den the axe. 
 
 He had never had an axe, sobbed the little man, 
 only a knife. 
 
The Crime 127 
 
 Where was the knife ? 
 
 That was still up in Freiwild's shed. But as truly 
 as the Holy Trinity was in heaven, so truly was he 
 innocent of the murder. If he really must confess 
 where the blood came from, he would say that he 
 had stolen a fat goat from Freiwild's stall and killed 
 it in the shed. 
 
 " What 's he saying about me ? " asked a red- 
 bearded man, rising from a neighbouring table. It 
 was Freiwild, the peasant from the mountain. 
 
 " He says the blood comes from a goat which he 
 took from Freiwild's stall. Is that true ? " 
 
 " From my stall — a goat ? " cried the red-bearded 
 man; " that 's his game! — My dear sirs, I can say 
 nothing to-day, but no goat has been stolen from 
 my stalls." 
 
 " You liar! " exclaimed Little Baumhackel; " or 
 are you so rich that you don't notice when your 
 sheep are stolen ? That 's well for you and for me 
 too." 
 
 " I must look then and see," replied Freiwild 
 calmly; " to-day I can say nothing." 
 
 The hearing was closed. Baumhackel was led 
 back to his vault, which was somewhat too dark and 
 cold for a simple sheep thief. Freiwild, who was 
 so well off that he did not even count his sheep, 
 won from many people great respect that day. 
 Others thought, however, that the whole story was 
 simply a means of escape for Baumhackel, who pre- 
 ferred jail to the gallows. 
 
 As Freiwild was walking home, Sandhok hastened 
 after him, saying: " See here, you might help the 
 
'28 The God Seeker 
 
 poor devil out of his scrape. Look at it as we 
 may,— and you think the same yourself,— that was 
 a good piece of work that was done yesterday morn- 
 ing in the church. Help him out. Say that the 
 goat was stolen." 
 
 " You are a pack of villains! " growled Freiwild, 
 hastening away. 
 
 At twilight when all was quiet and deserted about 
 the church and the parsonage— for no one dared be 
 found there; even the sacristan had fled— and the 
 bells were silent and the wooden clock on the tower 
 had stopped, the red-bearded Freiwild was crouch- 
 ing before the barred window, whispering down 
 into the cellar: "Young Baumhackel ! Are you 
 still awake ? You 've a fine dwelling now, ha ? 
 I 'm glad of it. But I would n't have believed that 
 my dear neighbour would steal my fattest sheep 
 every year." 
 
 "Oh, Freiwild!" sighed the little man in the 
 cellar. 
 
 " But as an honest neighbour I will save your 
 honour." 
 
 " Do it quickly— to-day, that I may get out of 
 this hole." 
 
 " Stealing sheep is despicable business, you must 
 know, Baumhackel. Now, just think, a sheep thief! 
 You would like to be free, but you would be a ras- 
 cal in everybody's eyes. No, neighbour, I could n't 
 stand by and see it. A bold, bloody murder, how- 
 ever, is something quite different. And such a one 
 as yesterday's ! That murderer will be respected! 
 His fame will go abroad overall the world and after 
 
The Crime 129 
 
 a hundred years fathers will show their sons the 
 maple-tree : * There he was hanged ! ' No, no, 
 Baumhackel, you are no sheep thief. None of my 
 fat goats are missing." 
 
 " For Holy Mary's sake, Freiwild, don't torture 
 me so! " implored the man in the cellar. 
 
 " Then you must promise," said the red-bearded 
 man, " to do whatever I tell you." 
 
 " Whatever you will, neighbour, only tell the 
 truth about the goat. In the shed, under the snow, 
 you '11 find the entrails and the knife." 
 
 " That 's nothing, my dear Baumhackel, I could 
 dispose of those to-day." 
 
 " But you would n't be a devil, Freiwild ? " 
 
 " As I say, if you will do as I tell you. But I 
 must have your oath first. Another man and my- 
 self are planning something, and we need a third 
 party to help us. Can we count upon you ? " 
 
 The little man swore a powerful oath. 
 
 " Good! " said Freiwild; '* now we understand 
 one another. Good-night, sheep thief! " 
 
 The next day Freiwild let it be known that on 
 that stormy night his fattest goat had really been 
 stolen from his barn, and that a short distance 
 from the house he had found the entrails in the 
 shed. 
 
 " But," he added, " I pardon the poor little fel- 
 low and I make him a present of the goat. As far 
 as I am concerned he has nothing to be punished 
 for. Another time if he is hungry he need only 
 apply to me." 
 
 How the people wondered at this! Freiwild was 
 
130 The God Seeker 
 
 not only rich, he was also generous! He will yet 
 be judge in Trawies. 
 
 The examination of Baumhackel was thus speedily 
 ended; the little Faun was free again. 
 
 Rocken-Paul's household were sitting cosily to- 
 gether around the table, cracking nuts and discuss- 
 ing the news from the village. 
 
 ** The priest is still lying in the parsonage, with- 
 out candles, without prayers. Officers come every 
 day from Neubruck and Oberkloster, look at the 
 dead man, examine the blood on the altar, and do 
 all manner of strange things, then lock parsonage 
 and church securely. This year there will be no 
 Christmas mass in Trawies." 
 
 *' Soldiers are searching through the ravines and 
 on all the mountains, but have discovered nothing 
 yet." 
 
 " Little Baumhackel is probably safe at home 
 again. One must look out for him now." 
 
 "Is it then true that they attempted to drive 
 away the fire guardian yesterday ? " 
 
 " Yes, they tried to prove that as chief of the 
 parish he was responsible for the murder. It was 
 no fault of his." 
 
 Such was the conversation about the table. All 
 at once someone exclaimed: " By Jupiter, who 's 
 that out there ? " 
 
 A stamping of snowy boots was heard and soon 
 the strangers entered, an officer and a soldier; two 
 more waited outside, standing before the door. 
 
 Rocken-Paul looked up astonished. Since his 
 
The Crime i^i 
 
 house was built no such visitors had ever entered 
 it. 
 
 "This is Rocken-Paul's house?" asked the 
 officer. 
 
 " Yes," answered the peasant, in a questioning 
 voice. 
 
 " We are looking for one Simon Haneser." 
 
 The young man rose from his chair, saying: *' I 
 
 am Simon Haneser, What do you want with me ? " 
 
 In the name of the law: You must go with us." 
 
 " Who, I ? " laughed Simon; " I should like to 
 know why," 
 
 " You will soon find out. Get ready! " 
 
 The young man straightened himself — he was a 
 magnificent specimen, strong as a pine-tree — and 
 said: " I will not be dragged away like a calf from 
 the cow. First tell me what you want of me, then 
 I will go with you of my own accord." 
 
 " Come now," replied the officer, " I thought 
 you would find it out quite soon enough and that the 
 time — when you once did find it out — would seem 
 very long, or, perhaps, too short. I have my orders 
 not to speak, and then probably you know more 
 about this affair than all the rest of us together." 
 
 Rocken-Paul approached the officer, indicating to 
 him that he also had a right here; he was master in 
 this house and responsible for his household, and he 
 insisted upon knowing why they were taking the 
 young man away. 
 
 " If one of us two is to ask a question, it should 
 be I," replied the officer, " and so, peasant, tell 
 me, please, on your word of honour, where was 
 
1^2 The God Seeker 
 
 your man, Simon Haneser, on the fourth of this 
 month between six and seven in the morning." 
 
 " Oh, it 's the murder again, is it ? If you try to 
 arrest everyone who was present at mass that morn- 
 ing, you '11 have a hard job of it and the criminal 
 will have plenty of time to get away. Of course 
 my Simon was also in church on St. Barbara's Day." 
 
 " You don't know, peasant, that he was not seen 
 in the church ? That Rocken-Paul's seat was 
 empty ? And was not your man heard to say that 
 he would not go to church in Trawies unless he 
 carried a rosary in one hand and a cudgel in the 
 other ? " 
 
 The peasant looked at his man, who was blushing 
 deeply, which did not please Rocken-Paul. " You 
 don't tell me, Simon, that you were untruthful 
 that morning and crawled back to bed again after 
 you had eaten your porridge ? It was noticed after- 
 wards that you told us nothing of what had hap- 
 pened ; you said something about leaving the 
 church before the end of the service as an excuse 
 for coming home so early." 
 
 " It looks suspicious," remarked the officer, 
 
 "Nonsense!" cried the peasant, "he never 
 stirred from his bed." 
 
 " As you bade me," said the young man, " I left 
 the house and went on my way." 
 
 " So you were in church?" 
 
 Simon took out his red cotton handkerchief, 
 mopped his forehead, and answered: " In church — 
 you won't take it amiss, I hope, but the snowstorm 
 — I did n't go to Trawies at all." 
 
The Crime 133 
 
 " Get along with you!" cried the officer impa- 
 tiently, " these are only excuses. The law requires 
 evidence. Soldiers, put on the handcuffs! " 
 
 Rocken-Paul, his wife and maids all gave an ex- 
 clamation of horror. 
 
 " You won't be so childish as to believe these 
 men, I hope," said Simon, trying to console them. 
 " I '11 go with them. 'T would be easy enough to 
 get evidence, but I must see first whether I want to 
 get it. Hands off ! I won't be bound! " 
 
 They did not bind him, but led him away, the 
 household sending their mournful wails after him. 
 
 Simon pressed his hat low over his forehead and 
 walked more rapidly than was agreeable to his com- 
 panions. His thoughts were quick and decided, 
 like his gait. 
 
 " It is true," he reflected, " whenever a man 
 steps aside from the beaten path, the devil is wait- 
 ing for him. Now, if I should confess that at that 
 hour I was in Schummel-Zens's hut, her reputation, 
 her good name would be gone for ever. No honest 
 man would dare woo her. The people would point 
 at her wherever she went, saying: ' That 's the girl 
 who gave evidence to help Rocken-Paul's man out 
 of his scrape! ' And her father, the stern charcoal- 
 burner, would be quite capable of sending her away. 
 And shall I be the cause of destroying the happi- 
 ness of her who is the dearest thing I have in the 
 world ? No, I will not do it! " 
 
 He almost said the last words aloud. He was re- 
 solved not to betray Han, regardless of the conse- 
 quences. His innocence of the bloody crime must 
 
134 The God Seeker 
 
 be proved by some other means. Every tree, every 
 fence-post would bear witness against the false ap- 
 pearances and bring the truth to light. Thus 
 thought the lad, but he begged the trees and fence- 
 posts to proclaim with a loud voice the one truth, to 
 keep silence, however, in regard to the other. 
 
 " And even if they should lock me up for weeks 
 in the parsonage cellar or torture me with thumb- 
 screws, I will not betray my Han." 
 
 The officer ordered him to walk more slowly. 
 Simon replied that it was his usual gait and if they 
 could not keep up with him they might stay behind. 
 However, they did keep up with him, but one of 
 the men snarled angrily: " Hurry, hurry, or the 
 gallows will catch you ! " 
 
 As they were walking along the Rockenbach and 
 passing the charcoal-pit, Simon peered sideways 
 from under his hat-brim towards the hut. The pit 
 was smoking quietly ; the little windows shone 
 brightly, but he saw nothing further. They had 
 gone only a few steps past the hut, however, when 
 he heard someone calling behind him, " Simon! " 
 
 The men turned; there stood the girl, the beauti- 
 ful Han. She showed no excitement, but addressed 
 the officer calmly, begging him to grant her a few 
 words with Rocken-Paul's man. The officer was all 
 the more willing, in that he felt the most lively 
 curiosity to hear what such a charming lass would 
 have to say to this bold youth, 
 
 Han turned to the young man and said: *' I 
 think I 'm not wrong in surmising that thou art 
 about to do a very stupid thing. I know the whole 
 
The Crime 135 
 
 story — thou needst not say a word ; since yesterday 
 the people are talking of nothing else but that thou 
 art the murderer of the priest. I have kept still and 
 let it go on until thou shouldst come to me. But 
 now thou art going straight by, fearing, probably, 
 to injure me, and thou mightest have brought ruin 
 upon thyself by thy foolishness. For someone in 
 Trawies has got to suffer — that 's as certain as that 
 the fire is burning in the pit here — and at last they 
 will cease to care whether he is guilty or innocent. 
 Thou art innocent ; there 's no time for me to in- 
 form against thee, nor is there time to praise thee 
 for being unwilling to bring disgrace upon a poor 
 girl ; so I will declare before God and the people 
 that on the morning of St. Barbara's Day, from the 
 first crow of the cock to the last, thou wast here 
 with me in my hut." 
 
 " Du lieber Gott,'' said the officer with a twinkle 
 in his eye, " what remarkable stories we are hearing 
 in this green forest! It 's a downright pity, though, 
 that such a witness cannot serve. Women are al- 
 ways ready to gossip all the men out of hell, and 
 when it is a question of the sin, the women would 
 all confess it, if they could only have their men back 
 again." 
 
 Simon had seized Han by both hands, and he now 
 cried: " Yes, sweetheart, my girl, if thou art so 
 much better than even I thought thee, and thou 
 carest more for a miserable fellow like me than for 
 thyself, then I know what to do. Thou hast offered 
 thyself and the best that thou hast in the world as 
 evidence, but that is not enough for these wise 
 
13^ The God Seeker 
 
 gentlemen of the law, so, with God's help, I will find 
 a few other witnesses who will speak for me. I go to 
 Trawies now quite happy, and if thou wouldst do 
 me a favour, my dearest girl, then send up to the log 
 house and say to the wood-cutters, Jok and Sepp, 
 that I ask them to come at once to Trawies ; then 
 we '11 all come home together and I 11 call here on 
 my way." 
 
 " Of course I *11 do it," answered Han, " but 
 please don't think thou art indebted to me for any- 
 thing." And she returned to the hut. 
 
 He looked after her and shouted for joy. In this 
 shout was embodied the hymn of praise to his glori- 
 ous maiden ; in this shout resounded the happiness 
 which in such an unexpected manner had filled his 
 heart; and he followed the bailiffs, whistling a 
 merry tune. 
 
 When he reached the parsonage for his examina- 
 tion, the two wood-cutters were already there; they 
 swore that they had seen Rocken-Paul's man, 
 Simon Haneser, on the morning of St. Barbara's 
 Day, at the given hour, near the little hut of 
 Schummel-Zens. This little hut was one hour's 
 distance from the church at Trawies. Simon was 
 allowed to return home. 
 
 Although those accused of the murder were al- 
 ways set free again — not for lack of evidence, but 
 on the ground of strong counter-evidence — the sus- 
 picion that the guilty person would yet be found 
 among the inhabitants increased in strength. And 
 at last it was even rumoured that a conspiracy had 
 been formed in the parish. The few rooms at the 
 
The Crime 137 
 
 tavern were occupied by the officers; the apart- 
 ments in the parsonage were reserved for the ex- 
 aminations, often of the most painful kind; and 
 everywhere in this isolated forest region heavily 
 armed soldiers were stationed. 
 
 The body of the murdered man still lay upon the 
 bier, the authorities from Neubruck having sworn 
 to defer the burial until the criminal was secured. 
 
 After these numerous but fruitless investigations, 
 the suspicion was now fastened upon a new person, 
 against whom, however, no other ground for it ex- 
 isted than that the man was a religious enthusiast. 
 He was of a reserved nature, and although his cir- 
 cumstances were well known and up to the present 
 nothing unusual had been noticed either in his life 
 or in his home, yet there was something dark and 
 mysterious about him. He had the habit of often 
 shutting himself by day in his workshop, and of wan- 
 dering about through the forest like a somnambu- 
 list at night. He had paid little heed to the civil 
 mandates nailed on the church door, but with the 
 Holy Scriptures and sacred laws of his forefathers 
 he was familiar, and these were interwoven with his 
 thoughts and dreams. No one in Trawies had 
 probed the soul of this man, but everyone knew of 
 him and the officers were on the watch. 
 
 Terror and excitement reigned m the house of 
 Wahnfred, the carpenter. Since the eve of St. 
 Barbara Wahnfred had disappeared. On the first 
 day his absence caused no remark, for his wife knew 
 that he had gone to church, and when the news of 
 
13^ The God Seeker 
 
 the horrible crime reached her it was still more 
 easily explained, for everyone was remaining in the 
 village to gather particulars at the tavern. But 
 when on the second day he failed to appear, she 
 was about to send someone to look for him, fearing 
 that an accident had overtaken him in the storm, 
 when a messenger arrived from the fire guardian. 
 Wahnfred's wife was requested to make no in- 
 quiries, but to remain quiet ; her husband was safe 
 and well cared for; he sent greetings to his wife and 
 child, bidding them to be brave; it was God's will 
 that he should be separated from them for a short 
 time, but when these evil days were over there 
 would be a happy reunion ; only trust in God and 
 keep quiet. 
 
 This message caused a presentiment to arise in 
 the wife's mind, — a horrible presentiment that gave 
 her no rest. She reflected by day and prayed at 
 night. But whenever she thought of the desecrated 
 altar of her church, her prayerful soul was paralysed. 
 
 And to add to her anxieties, a death had occurred 
 in her house. Wahnfred had made a little hand-sled 
 for his son, Erlefried, who often coasted with it 
 down the mountain sledge-road. On St. Barbara's 
 night, when the sky had cleared and the cold sun 
 had set pale behind the Johannesberg and the red 
 moon had risen over the forests of the Tarn, as the 
 boy was returning in a happy mood from his coast- 
 ing, he saw a dark object projecting from the snow- 
 blocked road by the river. It was a bent and aged 
 man, the pauper, Lull, who was obliged to seek his 
 bread from house to house. We recognise in him 
 
The Crime 139 
 
 the same old man who on that Midsummer Day lay 
 in Little Baumhackel's hut vainly awaiting the last 
 rites. But as the priest, instead of going to his 
 death-bed, had gone up to the Wildwiese, old Lull, 
 resolving not to die without spiritual aid, recovered. 
 But now he felt that he could not wait much longer. 
 It was uncertain when there would be another priest 
 in Trawies; and Lull had been forgotten by every- 
 one and the wind was cold and raw. 
 
 " Lull! " called the boy; '' Lull," he screamed in 
 the old man's ear, " what are you doing there ? " 
 
 The pauper shivered, looked vacantly before him, 
 and said, " Dying." 
 
 Erlefried ran as fast as he could to the house and 
 announced with horror: " Lull is dying down there! 
 Down there Lull is dying! " 
 
 They hastened to the spot, carried him up to the 
 house, and placed him in a soft bed ; Ihe woman fed 
 him with broth, while the boy stood by looking with 
 his large, bright eyes into the pale face of the aged 
 man. 
 
 His sight was already dim, but he murmured with 
 his weary lips: " Now, people of Trawies, the last 
 judgment will come with all its terrors." Then 
 feeling with his thin hand after the curly head of 
 the boy, he said: *' May our Heavenly Father bless 
 and keep thee, my dear, beautiful child! " 
 
 The woman would have watched with him that 
 night, but he begged her to go to bed. The next 
 morning he was found dead. 
 
 Mistress Wahnfred was just about to begin ar- 
 rangements for old Lull's funeral, when she learned 
 
I40 The God Seeker 
 
 that there could be no more Christian burials in 
 Trawies. There was no priest and the church and 
 graveyard were desecrated. 
 
 How long then must this cold guest lie in her 
 house ? Was he to fill Wahnfred's place ? Terri- 
 fying thoughts filled the poor woman's brain. 
 
 On the following day Bart-from-Tarn arrived. 
 His face was so grave that the sight of the dead 
 body in the front room could add nothing to its 
 gravity. The woman, sore pressed and wringing 
 her hands, implored him to tell her what she should 
 do to have the dead man removed from her house 
 and the living returned to it. She was terribly 
 anxious, understanding nothing of that which was 
 now happening. Could he not tell her what it all 
 meant ? 
 
 " My dear woman," replied Bart, " you wish me 
 to tell you what you already know. Your husband 
 has been accused of the murder." 
 
 She listened in silence; then bracing herself with 
 her hand against the table, she looked the man in 
 the eye, saying calmly and in a low tone: " But it 
 is not true." He failed to notice that her voice, 
 apparently so composed, fairly trembled with pain 
 and fear. 
 
 Bart continued: " To-day we can say nothing; 
 Wahnfred is still safe, although we do not know 
 for how long." 
 
 "But where is he? — that I will know!" she 
 cried, raising her clasped hands. 
 
 " He is in the care of a friend and in good hands, 
 you may be assured of that. The bailiffs are look- 
 
The Crime 14^ 
 
 Jng for him ; they may rap at this door this very 
 hour. Woman, you and your child must hasten 
 away, or they will drag you too into misery. The 
 law is no longer law; it is crazed with anger, it will 
 plunge all Trawies into ruin. They would torture 
 you as hostages until he whom they are seeking 
 came forward. You must go with me into the 
 forest of Tarn. I will conceal you in my house." 
 Is he there too ? " she asked in great agitation. 
 
 He is there too, dear Bart, is he not ? " 
 
 Get yourselves ready at once. If we should be 
 caught here we should all of us be lost." 
 
 " Oh, mein Gott, this dear house! They will spoil 
 it, will burn it down! " 
 
 Burn it down! " repeated Bart, and his voice 
 had a strange sound. " Burn it down! Mistress 
 Wahnfred, do that yourself! This house which 
 your husband's ancestors built, this house where 
 you have lived so happily — do not let it be de- 
 stroyed by infuriated enemies; sacrifice it yourself, 
 sacrifice it to the flames! " 
 
 "How could I do that, oh, my God!" she 
 cried. 
 
 " Yes, and something else," continued Bart, his 
 excitement increasing: " if the house burns, of 
 course it would be considered an accident, a mis- 
 fortune, and the family would escape with one ex- 
 ception — Wahnfred — do you understand?" The 
 man pointed to the body of old Lull: " This would 
 be found among the ruins burnt to a cinder, and to- 
 morrow the report would be spread in Trawies, in 
 Neubruck, and in Oberkloster: The carpenter 
 
14^ The God Seeker 
 
 Wahnfred is burned to death. The search for him 
 would cease, and your husband be saved." 
 
 " That may be all right, but God knows, I will 
 not do it." 
 
 " Leave it in His hands," said Bart, pointing up- 
 wards, but whether towards heaven or towards him- 
 self, it were difficult to say. 
 
 An hour later he had carried his point so far that 
 Mistress Wahnfred and her boy, Erlefried, stood in 
 the doorway, wrapped in their winter garments. 
 While Bart was climbing to the roof, possibly to 
 see from the little tower window whether their pur- 
 suers were approaching, possibly for another reason, 
 the woman sank upon the door-sill and burst into a 
 torrent of tears. 
 
 " Who would have thought," she cried in her an- 
 guish, " that such a thing could happen! And as 
 suddenly as a flash of lightning! On a freezing 
 cold day Hke this to be turned out into the forest ! 
 And when he comes, followed and hounded, to 
 conceal himself here, he will find no child, no wife, 
 no house. No, I cannot leave thee, thou friendly 
 roof, given to me by him. God's blessing has 
 rested upon this home ; here I bore him his child ; 
 by this hearth have we often sat in our tranquil 
 happiness about the fire, not realising how happy 
 we were. What a dream of mine it has been, in our 
 old age to live on in peace in this house, contented 
 and cheerful, caring for my dear husband when his 
 hair is white, our grandchildren gathered about us. 
 Then would we go to our rest, while they would 
 live on under their ancestral roof. And now, with 
 
The Crime 143 
 
 one stroke, it is all over for ever! Oh, my dear, 
 sweet house, my life is interwoven with every stone 
 of thy foundation, with every nail in thy walls. 
 Must I leave thee, my beloved house ? " 
 
 " Mistress Wahnfred, submit to your fate," said 
 Bart, standing ready to depart. 
 
 She, however, continued: " The dead will rise 
 from their ashes; this house I shall never see 
 again." 
 
 " Submit to your fate, Mistress Wahnfred. It is 
 growing dark already and they may come this very 
 day. Think of your husband; the slightest delay 
 might be his ruin. He will not ask after his house, 
 but after you, after wife and child, and you I will 
 save. 
 
 He tried to force her to leave. She dipped her 
 fingers once more into the vase of holy water, and 
 sprinkling a few drops into the room and upon the 
 body of old Lull, she cried: " Thou poor, old, for- 
 tunate man, thou art the last one in the house! 
 God bless it! God bless it! " 
 
 She hastened forth, little Erlefried stumbling 
 after her, half benumbed by his mother's anguish. 
 Never had he seen this quiet, gentle woman like 
 this. He had never seen her weep before, but now 
 the hot tears streamed from under her long lashes. 
 Bart paid no heed to her, knowing that loud lamen- 
 tation is less painful than the sorrow which is dumb. 
 
 The three persons strode rapidly down to the 
 river. The snow crunched under their feet, — a cold 
 night was upon them. As they were crossing the 
 bridge, little Erlefried pulled Bart's coat and 
 
144 The God Seeker 
 
 pointing to the Trach, whispered: " See, there 's 
 blood running under this water! " 
 
 It was the reflection of the sunset glow. Mistress 
 Wahnfred, taking her child by the arm, hastened 
 forward silently, her eyes fixed straight before her. 
 
 On the opposite bank they turned into a mountain 
 gorge, through which a rough path led up to the 
 forests of Tarn. 
 
 Bart looked back expectantly towards the house 
 that they had just left. A deathlike peace still 
 reigned over the vine-covered building; all at once 
 a red light shone from one tower window, then from 
 another; and now the destruction had begun. The 
 flames spread, forming little yellow rings on the 
 roof and sending their fiery tongues up into the sky. 
 The snow-covered fields and trees in the vicinity 
 were suffused with the ruddy glow. At last the en- 
 tire house was enveloped and carpenter Wahnfred's 
 dwelling became a pillar of fire. 
 
 In the valley was a sound of neighing of horses 
 and the clash of arms. Along the Trach, on the 
 road from Neubruck to Trawies, a troop of riders 
 was hastening. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE moon rose at midnight and the church -spire 
 at Trawies soared like a shaft of light above 
 
 the sleeping houses. 
 
 The crunching sound of two pairs of feet could be 
 
 heard stepping softly on the snow. Two men, 
 loaded with bundles and sticks and one carrying a 
 gun, glided out of Gallo Weissbucher's yard and 
 hastened down the valley towards the Trasank. 
 Not until the gleaming spire of the church had dis- 
 appeared behind the cliffs and the last huts were out 
 of sight did they stop for a moment to rest their 
 bundles on their sticks. Then one of the men, 
 drawing a deep breath, said: 
 
 " How good it is, my Gallo, to breathe God's free 
 air once more! " 
 
 " I can well believe it," replied the other, " and 
 you will now have the opportunity to drink your 
 fill of God's free air." 
 
 ** I realise," said the first speaker, " that I must 
 ascend to the Ritscher forest, but you might have 
 let me take one more look at my house in the Ges- 
 tade. Who knows whether I shall ever see it 
 agam ? 
 
 " Your house," replied Gallo, " that you will — 
 
 lO 
 
 145 
 
14^ The God Seeker 
 
 but let us go on. In the Rabenkirche we will stop 
 and rest, and then I will tell you what has been hap- 
 pening over at your house. It will be hard for me 
 to tell you, but harder still for you to listen. Let 
 us go on." 
 
 The sledge track grew more and more impassable 
 and finally ceased altogether. For a short distance 
 only the occasional footsteps of some wood-cutter 
 marked the way, then these too turned aside and 
 the fire guardian stopped, saying: " I fear that we 
 cannot go farther in the woods, so there is nothing 
 left for us now but to take to the river, that we may 
 leave no tracks behind us." 
 
 They picked their way among the stones through 
 the Trach, which was here quite free from ice. They 
 were frequently obliged to swing themselves with 
 their sticks from one rock to another, and often in 
 the darkness they slipped and fell. The noise of 
 the rushing mountain stream was so powerful that 
 they could not hear their own footsteps. 
 
 At last, this difficult part of the journey came to 
 an end, and they stood before the dark cavern 
 called the Rabenkirche. Here they started a fire, 
 and as the flames lighted up the rough, jagged 
 walls, within which the oath of the conspiracy had 
 once re-echoed, the carpenter, with his pale, fright- 
 ened face, gazed questioningly at the fire guardian. 
 
 The latter then said: " My dear Wahnfred, from 
 out this cleft in the rock your name was drawn, and 
 in this cleft you must now bury your name. Since 
 our way leads us past this cave, it is the most fitting 
 place to tell you. Your sacrifice for Trawies is a 
 
The Crime i47 
 
 great one, but you shall be compensated. Yester- 
 day evening over in the Gestade the house of 
 Wahnfred, the carpenter, was burned to the 
 ground." 
 
 " What are you saying ?" cried the other in a 
 hollow voice; " my house ? " 
 
 " Is in ashes. It will be rebuilt." 
 " And my family, Gallo, my family ? " 
 " Have fortunately escaped, all but one — Wahn- 
 fred was burned with his house! " 
 
 " What do you mean by such talk, Gallo ? " 
 " You will understand it presently. While you 
 were concealed in my cellar the devil was not idle ; 
 he had heaped all the suspicion upon you and your 
 family. There was no other way to save you and 
 your wife and child but to burn your house and to 
 say that the bones of old pauper Lull, which were 
 found in the ruins, were yours." 
 
 " The bones of the pauper! Who killed him, 
 then?" 
 
 " Come, my friend, murders are not to continue 
 in Trawies; Lull died a natural death. Bart has 
 taken your wife and child to the Tarn forest ; next 
 summer you may see them, but not now. Now you 
 must creep away into the wilderness as far as you 
 can creep and hide until all the spies are gone. I 
 will take your wife news of you, be assured of that, 
 but I must leave you at once in order to reach home 
 before morning. Stay concealed here until to-mor- 
 row evening, and at twilight start on your way; 
 you will need a long night before you reach the 
 hermitage, which stands behind the Ritscher forest. 
 
HS The God Seeker 
 
 You know the little hut at Donnerstein, where hef- 
 mits have lived in times past. Yes, you were with 
 us when we brought the last one out for burial a 
 few years ago. Take his place. It is a more fitting 
 abode for you than for all the monks in the world. 
 Carry with you as large a quantity of these pro- 
 visions as you can ; store the rest in this cave until 
 you need them; I shall see that other things are 
 brought here which you cannot do without. But 
 always manage to have two nights for your journey ; 
 one to come, the other to return. No one must see 
 you until your hair is long, and your garments and 
 appearance are entirely changed. And when it is 
 safe for you to return to us, you will find a message 
 in this cleft in the rock." 
 
 " But where shall I find the message, my dear 
 Gallo, if these rocks should be destroyed before 
 that time ? " asked Wahnfred. 
 
 " You must not take it so hard," answered the 
 fire guardian. " When the meadows are green once 
 more, I hope to see you here again." 
 
 " Man, now you are saying something that you 
 do not beheve yourself. Take it back! You know 
 very well, you all know how it will be with me. 
 The meadows will be green seven times and wither 
 seven times and I shall find no message in this 
 cleft. Wahnfred is dead and he will never come to 
 life. You have killed him ! " 
 
 " I can understand how you feel now, and I par- 
 don you for your hasty words. But do not forget 
 one thing: the blow which has fallen upon you 
 might have fallen upon any one of us. And I am 
 
The Crime 149 
 
 sure had the lot fallen to me you would have 
 concealed me in your house, would have accom- 
 panied me to a place of safety, would have brought 
 me the necessities of life. You could not have done 
 otherwise, or spoken otherwise, than I am doing 
 now." 
 
 ** Am I complaining ? " said Wahnfred. " Say 
 as often as you will that what I have done lies 
 upon your consciences, —that may be, but I must 
 suffer for it. My conscience would not be less sens- 
 itive had you helped me commit the murder ten 
 times over. This is something to be settled with 
 myself and with my God alone; and I will do it 
 without aid from any of you." 
 
 " Wahnfred, you leave me with such bitter 
 words ? " 
 
 " The lot made an executioner of me; you have 
 made me a slave and a villain! " 
 
 " What do you mean by that ?" asked the fire 
 guardian. 
 
 Did I ask you to keep me prisoner in your 
 cellar ? Did I ask you to cast me out into the wild- 
 erness ? But because of your fear that I would 
 give myself into the hands of the law and betray 
 you, you shut me up like a horse thief and are get- 
 ting rid of me across the frontier at night, as though 
 I had no right in Trawies. Are you then so sure, 
 you wise men of Trawies, that I should prefer a 
 miserable existence up there in the wilderness to a 
 criminal's death ? Then you know me better than 
 I know myself. I doubt if I can keep away from 
 the law very long." 
 
I50 The God Seeker 
 
 " And send us all to perdition! " cried the old 
 man in great agitation. 
 
 " Ha, now you tremble!" laughed Wahnfred, 
 and how hollow his laughter sounded! " But why 
 should I be angry with you ? What if they should 
 demand the forty heads in Trawies ! One is enough 
 to expiate the crime." 
 
 " O Gott, Wahnfred, consider : they would not be 
 satisfied to kill you with one stroke, they would 
 torture you until they got your last drop of blood 
 and your last dying words! " 
 
 "Come, then, fire guardian," said the carpen- 
 ter, endeavouring to drag the man to the entrance 
 of the cave, *' come and throw me into the Trach! 
 Then you will be freed from all anxiety." 
 
 ** Are you mad, Wahnfred ? In the name of 
 your wife, in the name of your boy, I implore you 
 to flee and to save yourself! " 
 
 "My wife! My child!" groaned Wahnfred, 
 striking his head with both hands. 
 
 The fire was dying out ; the cinders still crackled 
 and snapped. Gallo stood struggling for words to 
 comfort and reconcile his unhappy companion. He 
 felt too deeply how Trawies was indebted to this 
 man. Two crimes, heavy and terrible, would now 
 rest upon the shoulders of the Trawies parish, — the 
 dead man yonder, the ruined man here. 
 
 After a while Wahnfred became calm and col- 
 lected. " Well, well, I will live," he said; " death 
 would not expiate such a crime, but life alone. Go 
 home, fire guardian — and one thing : let me be for- 
 gotten ! Say to the others, they owe me nothing, 
 
The Crime t$t 
 
 and let me be forgotten ! Out of my sight, stranger, 
 out of my sight ! " 
 
 With a repellant gesture, he sprang from the 
 cave — and the fire guardian saw him no more. 
 
 Gallo searched in every direction, but heard no 
 sound other than the rushing river. Above the 
 ravine the rocks of the Trasank shimmered in the 
 light of the moon. 
 
 With an anxious, heavy heart, such as he had 
 never known before, the aged man returned over 
 the inhospitable paths. Weary and broken, he ap- 
 proached his house, longing for rest; but it was to 
 be denied him on this day. 
 
 While still some distance away, he heard noises 
 in his yard and saw lights in his windows. Over in 
 the village the people were abroad and there seemed 
 to be an unusual commotion in the valley. The 
 neighing of horses and the clash of arms resounded 
 as never before in these woods, and lanterns were 
 gleaming here and there among the trees. 
 
 The yard of the fire guardian was filled with 
 soldiers; others were searching the house and out- 
 buildings, demanding Gallo Weissbucher of the 
 house mistress and of the servants. He was no- 
 where to be found ; apparently he had flown, so he 
 must be an accomplice. 
 
 Fortunately he arrived at this moment and asked 
 what was wanted of him. 
 
 The reply was another question : Where had he 
 been wandering about during the night ? 
 
 He answered calmly that he was accountable to 
 no one for his actions, but if he, as head of the 
 
152 The God Seeker 
 
 parish, had been out searching for the murderer in 
 the houses of Trawies, they should be thankful to 
 him, instead of meeting him so rudely. The forest 
 parish of Trawies was still a place where grey-haired 
 men were accustomed to be respected. 
 
 There was no time to discuss this now; he was 
 ordered to go with the soldiers to the Gestade. 
 The murderer had burned himself in his own 
 house. 
 
 Such was the common report already ; the bones 
 of the carpenter, Wahnfred, burnt to a cinder, had 
 been discovered in the ruins. 
 
 But there were too many officers present from 
 Neubruck and Oberkloster and from more distant 
 parts. The investigation proved that the little 
 withered skeleton, with its toothless jaws, could not 
 be that of the tall, youthful man. 
 
 "This sacrifice has been in vain!'" whispered 
 Bart-from-Tarn to the fire guardian. 
 
 Now the carpenter and his family were de- 
 manded. 
 
 " Where shall we look for them ? " asked Firner- 
 hans. " If my hut burned down, I would not re- 
 flect long in these days as to what I should do in 
 Trawies. I should cut myself a strong stick and 
 depart. The carpenter has probably done the same. 
 Look out on the public roads among the beggars; 
 or you may have the good fortune to find him in 
 some carpenter shop in Neubruck, — how should I 
 know!" 
 
 A stern-faced, bearded man sat upon his horse, 
 listening. With his left hand he seized his sword. 
 
The Crime 153 
 
 his right he clenched, and with a gesture of defiance 
 towards the men of Trawies, he snarled: " By God 
 Almighty and the devil ! Your heads shall answer 
 for it if I do not have the murderer within twenty- 
 four hours ! " 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 SINCE the memory of man so many ravens 
 have not been seen in the valley of the 
 Trach as during this winter." 
 
 " How can it be otherwise, when the dead in 
 Trawies are not buried ? " 
 
 " What kind of a Christmas festival shall we have 
 this year ? Trawies is besieged as if it were a nest 
 of robbers; a bailiff stands under every tree." 
 
 " And to-morrow a peasant will hang on every 
 tree!" 
 
 Such was the conversation of a little company of 
 people walking along the highway; among them 
 were a few of the oldest men who had been sum- 
 moned to appear at the parsonage, under penalty 
 of losing all their possessions. 
 
 " To even hear the word parsonage is enough to 
 give one a feeling of horror," grumbled Uli, the 
 charcoal-burner. 
 
 " We should have managed it in quite a different 
 way," said Firnerhans; " but 't is the way of the 
 worid : ' Clever thoughts and a knocked-kneed 
 horse always come limping in too late.' We should 
 have done with the parsonage as was done with the 
 carpenter's house over there. The priest would 
 
 154 
 
The Crime 155 
 
 have lost his life. An accident ! Who could help 
 it!" 
 
 A few soldiers, with unsheathed swords, ap- 
 proached the group, indicating to them that they 
 must disperse. 
 
 " But I tell you," said the charcoal-burner, " we 
 have been summoned to the meeting in the par- 
 sonage." 
 
 " Crowds are not allowed upon the public high- 
 road. Disperse! " 
 
 Firnerhans received a shove from the butt-end of 
 a musket and, with a savage curse,- he sprang upon 
 the bailiff; a struggle ensued between the peasants 
 and soldiers, and when they separated, Firnerhans 
 lay stretched upon the blood-bespattered snow. 
 After a while he rose slowly, and dragging himself 
 into the tavern, in an excited speech he urged the 
 people there assembled to rise against the tyrants. 
 The others were driven into the parsonage, where 
 they were strictly guarded in the large room until 
 the arrival of the authorities. 
 
 The officers of the law wore black robes over their 
 uniforms. There were also priests among them who 
 seemed to preside over the meeting. Most of them 
 were pale and stern. One, however, was exceed- 
 ingly stout, his features so buried in fat that it was 
 difficult to tell whether he was endeavouring to look 
 severe or to smile. But the ruddy glow of his 
 broad countenance seemed to be not so much the 
 glow of anger as one of gratitude for the liquid 
 gifts of God. Among the pious, nothing is useless, 
 not even the portly waist, which in this case served 
 
156 The God Seeker 
 
 as a cushion for a golden cross hanging by a chain 
 from his neck; for this well-preserved gentleman 
 was the prelate of Oberkloster. He sat behind the 
 green table in a massive armchair. Beside him 
 stood a slender, youthful priest with shaven face 
 and short hair ; his deep-set eyes were grey like a 
 foggy day when it cannot be seen whether the sun 
 is rising or setting. About the corners of his mouth 
 were lines like those left by a forced smile. He was 
 called Pater Dominicus. He did not sit down and 
 his movements showed impatience. 
 
 Upon the table stood a crucifix and papers were 
 lying about. When the men were assembled and 
 the doors guarded, Pater Dominicus murmured the 
 words: " In the name of the Holy Trinity! " 
 
 One of the lawyers now took the protocol and be- 
 gan to read. He read for over an hour, during 
 which the men of Trawies often clenched their fists 
 and raised their eyebrows. 
 
 When the paper was finished and the reader had 
 cast an icy look over at the peasants, the white- 
 bearded judge from Neubruck rose and said: " You 
 have heard it! " 
 
 A dead silence. 
 
 " You have heard, men of Trawies, that you are 
 guilty of the death of your priest. God's voice hath 
 spoken. The people of Trawies have been ex- 
 amined, every answer has been strictly weighed, and 
 that which the most foully murdered Herr Fpancis- 
 cus has repeatedly told us — and which we were very 
 loth to believe, for we had always been accustomed 
 to obedience from our peasants — has been proved 
 
The Crime tsf 
 
 true. Now it is as clear as day, you are rebels! 
 You have disregarded the mandates of your master 
 and refused him obedience in spiritual and worldly 
 things. You have tried in numerous ways to bring 
 about the removal of the priest, placed over you by 
 the highest authorities, and, failing in this, have then 
 conspired to dispose of him by other means. To-day 
 no one can longer deny that the murderer is one of 
 your own community; that you have given the 
 criminal assistance in the deed, and that you have 
 him somewhere in hiding. Since the search in the 
 houses has been fruitless, we must infer that the 
 man is moving about freely among you." The 
 judge now raised his voice: " You oldest men of 
 the parish! Not one of you shall return home until 
 you have named the murderer and delivered him 
 up!" 
 
 " Treason ! " shouted a voice from among the ac- 
 cused. " Treason from the law itself! Caught and 
 shut up here like stray dogs! " 
 
 The gleaming bayonets of the soldiers appeared 
 in the doorway. 
 
 The judge stood motionless. When quiet once 
 more reigned, he cried: "In the name of the jus- 
 tice of heaven and of earth ! You men whose hair 
 has become grey in the service of your parish, we 
 implore you not faithlessly to plunge your own 
 homes into destruction. The law raises the sword 
 over all Trawies. Protect yourselves and your 
 comrades — deliver up the murderer! " 
 
 From out the crowd of men the oldest now forced 
 his way, — Gallo Weissbucher, chief and fire 
 
158 The God Seeker 
 
 guardian. Supporting himself upon a stick — for his 
 knees trembled— he approached the officers and 
 spoke : 
 
 " For that which has happened amongst us, for 
 that, your Excellence, are you yourself to blame. 
 To scorn and defy us you sent the answer to our 
 petition by the priest himself. For generations 
 back we have been free-born peasants, and rather 
 than become slaves of tyranny we will go to de- 
 struction. He trod upon us and despised us; he 
 forbade us our old rights in the forest and in the 
 game; he was inconsiderate in demanding tithes 
 when our harvests were poor; he insulted our an- 
 cient customs. Was it out of spite and hatred, or 
 for his own pleasure ? From many a poor soul has 
 he withheld the sacrament and extreme unction in 
 the dying hour. Only look about you! On these 
 very walls his history stands written : deer-antlers, 
 dog-whips, boar's teeth, cudgels, and, by heaven, 
 bags full of game besides! Where formerly hung 
 the ciborium, now dangles the rifle; where formerly 
 lay the Bible, playing-cards are now to be found. 
 And this was the priest placed here as our model ! 
 Were we to be forced to live and die with such a 
 one ? Give us a just man, give us z. priest — we are 
 honest subjects and good Christians. Give us our 
 liberty and we will be faithful — but that which has 
 happened we do not regret! " 
 
 " Take note of the confession," whispered Pater 
 Dominicus to the recorder. 
 
 The judge then said: " For the last time I com- 
 mand you to deliver up the murderer' " 
 
The Crime 159 
 
 The fire guardian, pressing forward to the table, 
 seized the crucifix and cried: " So truly as they 
 nailed our Lord, an innocent man, upon the cross, 
 we will not deliver him up! " 
 
 "You shall not desecrate the cross!" said the 
 pale Pater, springing forward and snatching the / 
 crucifix from the man's hand. " By this sacred im-/ 
 age have we sworn to make you suffer the penalty 
 for the death of our brother." 
 
 " The priest would take even our cross away ! V 
 cried a sturdy woodsman. "Seizehim! Seizehiml" 
 
 Some of the men, in spite of the remonstrances 
 of the fire guardian, fell upon the judges, threw the 
 Pater to the floor, breaking the crucifix in twain in 
 his hand before the soldiers could reach the spot. 
 
 " All is over with us!" cried the fire guardian, 
 wringing his hands. The muskets and bayonets 
 clattered and a shot was fired over the heads of the 
 excited crowd. 
 
 " Down, down with these dogs of peasants! " was 
 called from among the sorely beset judges. And 
 now a horrible struggle began between the soldiers 
 and peasants. The latter, at last realising that they 
 had nothing more to lose, gave free rein to their 
 passion and, more infuriated than ever, fell upon 
 the judges, who were with difficulty protected by 
 the soldiers. ' 
 
 At the same moment a wild tumult was heard 
 outside and stones flew in through the windows. 
 
 " Lock the doors! " the chief judge was heard to 
 say, as the people assembled without clamoured 
 louder and louder for entreince. The fire guardian 
 
i6o The God Seeker 
 
 implored his comrades in the room, implored the 
 excited crowd outside to be quiet, but all in vain. 
 Blood flowed upon the floor, the green table was 
 overturned, the papers had been torn into bits and 
 the pieces floated in the air. Pater Dominicus, at 
 first in the greatest danger, had succeeded, with the 
 aid of two soldiers, in freeing himself, and had 
 climbed upon a chest which stood against the wall, 
 beseeching the Archangel Michael to protect them 
 from this hellish pack of hounds. Even the prelate 
 had become more agile, having barricaded himself 
 in a dark corner behind a praying-desk, his face, in 
 his fright and anxiety, showing at last some signs of 
 expression. The white-bearded judge of Neubruck 
 remained the calmest of all. Seeing that the peas- 
 ants were without weapons, he warned the soldiers 
 not to make use of theirs except in extreme neces- 
 sity. " These people here," he cried, " must not 
 be massacred; they must be condemned! " 
 
 At this moment someone shouted: " Fire! The 
 parsonage is burning! " 
 
 As the door flew open the smoke forced its way 
 in, and the crackling of burning wood was heard. 
 
 " No one shall leave until the rebels are se- 
 cured! " commanded the judge. 
 
 Then the struggle began anew, and amid the 
 smoke and flames the oldest men of Trawies lost 
 what little was left of their liberty. With arms 
 bound behind their backs, they were led down the 
 burning stairway, followed by the body of the mur- 
 dered priest, borne upon the bier by soldiers — the 
 last to leave the house. 
 
The Crime i6i 
 
 The burning building was surrounded by a yell- 
 ing mob of men and boys from the neighbourhood, 
 and there were screaming women among them, 
 clamouring for liberty and watching for their oppor- 
 tunity to plunder. 
 
 Suddenly a shot was fired ; a young girl fell in the 
 midst of the crowd, which was quite ready to dis- 
 perse when it saw that soldiers with drawn weapons 
 were charging upon it from the house, from the 
 valley, and from the woods. But it was already 
 surrounded, and being shut in and blinded by the 
 thick curtain of smoke, every retreat seemed to be 
 cut off, A cry of terror arose and all fled at last to 
 the church to take refuge within its walls. 
 
 " Well and good," said the judge, " these walls 
 are secure. Lead in the prisoners also and lock the 
 doors." 
 
 As twilight approached a strange assembly was 
 gathered in God's house at Trawies. The people 
 screamed, cursed, and threatened; they called upon 
 the images of the saints to protect them against 
 this tyranny. One man seized the rope and rang 
 the bells; another sprang upon the bellows and 
 struck the organ, sending forth shrill, discordant 
 sounds. And through the windows shone the gleam 
 from the burning parsonage. 
 
 The fire guardian stood by the communion table, 
 staring at the large, dark spot upon the stone floor. 
 Such was the fruit of the seed sown on that fatal 
 day in the Rabenkirche. He did not dream that 
 this was only the beginning of the events which 
 were about to ruin and destroy Trawies, 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE night of doom had come. Under the 
 linden-tree in the graveyard the authorities 
 from Neubruck and Oberkloster took counsel to- 
 gether as to what was now to be done. The pro- 
 posal to have the skull of the murdered man filled 
 three times with gold was not accepted. The peo- 
 ple of Trawies should not be permitted to buy their 
 peace with money. The judges agreed that these 
 rebels, criminals, and traitors should suffer the se- 
 verest penalty that it was possible for the Church 
 and the law to inflict. And they then decided upon 
 a plan. It was not original with them ; it had been 
 employed elsewhere for the punishment of crime. 
 In those days the magistrates did not receive their 
 authority from the people, but claimed that it was 
 given them by God Himself, and they often used 
 their power in a heartless and inhuman manner. 
 
 As night fell, soldiers entered the church, un- 
 bound and disarmed the prisoners, arranging them 
 on either side of the chancel, as if a processional 
 were about to take place. Two candles were hghted 
 on the altar. The door of the sacristy was then 
 opened ; the body of the priest, borne by four men, 
 was brought in and laid upon the steps, where a few 
 
 162 
 
The Crime 163 
 
 days before he had fallen from the blow of the axe. 
 Pater Dominicus, in his long, black robe, now came 
 forward carrying a chalice, which he placed at the 
 head of the dead man. Last of all, the other judges 
 and priests arrived and grouped themselves about 
 the altar. 
 
 During these proceedings there was a deep silence 
 among the prisoners. 
 
 '* What is going to happen ? ' they then whisp- 
 ered to one another. 
 
 " It is the Judgment of God," ' said one. 
 
 "The Judgment of God! If they are seeking 
 the murderer, each one of us will be ordered to lay 
 his hand upon the body of the dead priest; at the 
 touch of the murderer the wound will bleed." 
 
 "A most interesting spectacle! And if the 
 murderer is not here ? " 
 
 '* Then the wound will not bleed." 
 
 " And if it does not bleed ? " 
 
 " Then the murderer is not here. That is the 
 Judgment of God." 
 
 " It will not be dangerous for us." 
 
 The murmuring ceased, for the judge raised his 
 voice and spoke : 
 
 " I am an aged man — a sinner myself — and I have 
 grown grey at my task of executing the law, but 
 never was a verdict harder for me to give than the 
 one I must pronounce to-day. I close my ears to 
 my words, for I say them in the name of justice. 
 
 ' ' Judgment of God : " A decision by some perilous experiment — 
 a term applied to extraordinary trials of secret crimes, it being 
 imagined that God would work miracles to vindicate innocence." 
 
1 64 The God Seeker 
 
 -^ As the matter now stands, the law cares no longef 
 to punish the tool of the crime — this we could easily 
 discover by means of torture — but the criminal. 
 And in this case the criminal is the people of 
 Trawies. Men of Trawies, to-day for the last time 
 you are to march in solemn procession about the 
 altar of your old parish church ! Each one of you, 
 as you pass the dead priest, shall take from the 
 chalice that stands at his head a grain of corn 
 wrapped in a bit of paper. The grains are white 
 and grew in God's earth; but there are twelve 
 among them which are black. Whoever draws one 
 of the twelve shall, in three days from now, 
 die by the sword and appear before the Eternal 
 Judge." 
 
 A heart-rending cry arose from the crowd and 
 the people huddled together, — '* like sheep in a barn 
 when the thief is after its victim," says the old 
 chronicle. '* They rushed about wildly, imploring 
 the saints of heaven to save them ; they shook the 
 doors as though they would tear them down ; they 
 struck their heads against the walls ; they called on 
 the devil with such frightful oaths that even the 
 priests trembled." 7< 
 
 When the tumult had sufificiently subsided for the 
 judge to speak, he continued: " That you may see 
 how God, in His mercy, has mitigated this sentence, 
 the kernels in the chalice far outnumber your heads, 
 and should you, in spite of appearances, be innocent 
 of the crime, it is quite possible that you may all 
 escape." 
 
 The fire guardian now advanced, his figure drawn 
 
The Crime 165 
 
 to its full height, his grey head erect, his hands 
 stretched out towards the priests. 
 
 Stop! " he cried in a hollow voice. ** Stop, 
 you men of justice! Such desecration in this holy 
 place! That is the chalice for the blood of our 
 Lord, Throw away the lots! Throw away the 
 lots!" 
 
 He attempted to seize the chalice, but a soldier 
 pushed him back. 
 
 " And if you," he continued, " intend to atone 
 for the murder committed here with murder, then 
 take this old man, the head of the parish, and ex- 
 piate with his blood that which must be expiated ! " 
 Wringing his hands, he fell prostrate before the 
 judges and cried: " Take my life, I implore you, 
 but let the people go ! " 
 
 " Rise, old man," said the judge coldly, " and 
 do not interfere with the Judgment of God. You 
 shall be spared from putting your hand into the 
 chalice. Let the procession begin ! Those to whom 
 God shows mercy may pass out through the sacristy 
 and go home free, " 
 
 >• A sign was given to the soldiers and the people 
 were set in motion. 
 
 The narrator has sought in vain for colours with 
 which to paint the despair that settled upon the 
 faces of the men during this gloomy procession, but 
 the chronicle briefly states: " Seeing that it was in- 
 evitable, they advanced bravely, each one mutter- 
 ing: ' If the lot falls to me, the sooner my account 
 with death is settled, the better.' 
 
 With heavy steps and solemn faces they walked 
 
1 66 The God Seeker 
 
 around the altar, approached the dead man, and 
 drew their lots. Some cast a glance of hatred at 
 the murdered priest ; others turned shuddering 
 away, more terrified at the sight than at the death- 
 laden chalice, containing perhaps their own doom; 
 some reached with trembling hand into the cup ; 
 some with a bold grasp, gnashing their teeth an- 
 grily, as if they would grapple with fate. Then 
 each man was led before the judge, the little pack- 
 age taken from his hand and opened. If the kernel 
 was white, even the judges seemed to draw a long 
 breath of relief, and the fortunate man was allowed 
 to pass out through the narrow doorway. And how 
 he shouted for joy in the quiet starlit night ! How 
 he leapt about with the nimbleness of youth, — even 
 though he were a bent old man, — how he swore to 
 keep away from the church at Trawies and thence- 
 forth to say his prayers in the green woods under 
 God's bright sky! > 
 
 The few women who were imprisoned with the 
 others escaped in safety; but they wrung their 
 hands in dismay at this strange spectacle and at the 
 parsonage, now in ashes, and, muttering a prayer, 
 they hastened away. 
 
 The roadster from the lower Trach was the first 
 to draw a black kernel from the chalice. When he 
 saw it, he started back in horror, but then stood 
 firmly, pale and motionless. He was followed by a 
 number of the more fortunate, who, sighing for joy, 
 went out into the starry night. There was one 
 among them who strode as gloomily and solemnly 
 to his freedom as if he were going to his death. 
 
The Crime 167 
 
 " Why do you not say, ' praise God! ' " asked a 
 neighbour outside. 
 
 " For what ? " the man replied. " Oh, friend, as 
 things will now be, death were better for us than 
 life!" 
 
 The second man to be condemned was a wood- 
 cutter from the Tarn. He burst into a shrill laugh. 
 
 The third followed soon, an old workman from 
 Sandhok's farm, who had a passion for bowling and 
 cards. 
 
 " I knew it," he cried angrily; " if something is 
 at stake, I always lose! " 
 
 The next were two peasants from the Johannes- 
 berg. They showed no sign. A number then 
 passed out and the blood-stained Firnerhans drew a 
 black kernel. 
 
 After him came Rocken-Paul's man, Simon, who 
 had already been saved so miraculously and who 
 had had the ill-fortune to venture near the church 
 to-day. He hesitated a long time before putting 
 his hand into the chalice, then plunged it to the 
 very bottom. Without approaching the judges, he 
 quickly opened the paper himself, as if he were tak- 
 ing a nut from its shell, and held it aloft. It was 
 black. 
 
 *' Yes, my beloved Han! "he sighed, as he joined 
 the condemned in the alcove guarded by soldiers. 
 
 A long procession passed out into the night, into 
 the open forest. How sadly Simon gazed after 
 them ! 
 
 A few men from the upper Trach now drew the 
 fatal kernels, among them a pedlar who had come 
 
i68 The God Seeker 
 
 to Trawies to sell tinder and rat poison. He fell 
 upon his knees before the judges, pleading that he 
 was innocent and did not belong to the heathenish 
 Trawiesers ; that he told his beads every day, often 
 fasting for weeks — he had voluntarily chosen pov- 
 erty; that he furnished the tinder to the pious 
 brothers at Oberkloster for their consecrated fire in 
 the church and in the kitchen ; that he always 
 brought them the pitch for their wine -casks in the 
 cellar; and that he was thinking of taking orders 
 himself. It was all in vain. The judges appealed 
 to the Judgment of God, saying: " The Eternal 
 One knows why He requires your life ' " The poor 
 creature rolled on the floor, where he writhed in 
 agony until he became senseless. 
 
 Next came a man at whose appearance some 
 could hardly refrain from laughing; others said; 
 " Mein Gott ! That one too 1 " 
 
 It was the dwarf from Firnerhans' farm, the 
 " Three-Headed Osel." At first he gazed a while 
 at the dead man, then limping up to the chalice, 
 began to play with the kernels. Finally selecting 
 one, he handed it to the judges. It was black. 
 Osel smiled, demanded it back as his property, put 
 it into his pocket, and, with apparent self-complac- 
 ency, took his place among the condemned. 
 
 The judges looked at each other question ingly. 
 Are not the weak-minded exempt ? Is such a crea- 
 ture capable of sin .? By no means. As the last of 
 the uncondemned were passing through the door- 
 way the Three- Headed Osel started to follow them 
 and no one prevented him. 
 
The Crime 169 
 
 The church was now empty. Only a few kernels 
 remained in the chalice, no more black ones among 
 them. The judges departed. The eleven men 
 who had drawn the fatal lots were taken into the 
 sacristan's little house, where they were strictly 
 guarded. From the ruins of the parsonage the 
 smoke rose slowly and sadly, covering the starry sky 
 with a thick veil. 
 
 The poor unfortunate men lay about on the 
 straw; one deeply buried under it, another cower- 
 ing in a corner; a third was lying upon his face, the 
 next upon his back, supporting his head on his 
 arms. Thus they had lain for many hours. No 
 one asked them how they had slept that night in 
 their new quarters. They were allowed to remain 
 in their rough beds until late in the morning. 
 
 " What are we waiting for ? " asked one. 
 
 " To be beheaded, ' answered his neighbour. 
 
 At the doors and windows stood the soldiers, 
 their bayonets glittering in the sun. 
 
 There were a few among the prisoners who had 
 wailed and lamented the entire night, and now, ex- 
 hausted, were lying half asleep. 
 
 '* My father always told me," remarked the 
 wood -cutter from the Tarn, the one who had laughed 
 when he drew his lot, " my father always said that 
 smoking tobacco was bad for the health, and he was 
 right, for the devil's weed has killed me." 
 
 *' But you are alive now PisteL " 
 
 *' I am as near drawing my last breath as you are. 
 For a whole year I have not been to church in 
 
170 The God Seeker 
 
 Trawies, not since the tavern was started m the Tarn. 
 But just as this miserable snowstorm came on and 
 the women folks refused to go in the bad weather 
 to mass, my tobacco gave out, and so it happened 
 that I had to come to Trawies myself. And when 
 my pockets were full and my purse empty, I joined 
 the crowd at the parsonage which was burning. 
 With a turn of the hand the devil had me and here 
 I am. So I say : Don't get into the habit of 
 smoking! " 
 
 " If I had only been clever enough," said Sand- 
 hok's old man, " to have taken out several kernels 
 at once — there would surely have been a white one 
 among them — and to have thrown the black ones 
 away! If I had only been clever enough! " 
 
 " Ha, ha! you 've cheated at cards all your life 
 and now in this last game, when your head 's at 
 stake, you show an honesty which is scandal- 
 ising." 
 
 " Oh, oh, oh! " sighed the man. 
 
 '* Surely, now," cried another, rising from the 
 straw, " they just want to frighten us a bit and then 
 they will let us go. I could never believe that the 
 law would put us to death like a band of murderers, 
 and each one of us is as innocent, so far as the 
 priest is concerned, as the Lamb of God in 
 heaven ! " 
 
 ** Friend," said Firnerhans, " don't flatter your- 
 self. You must still remember how, a few years 
 ago, the letter carrier from Siebenbaum was robbed 
 and murdered on the highway. Every traveller 
 found upon this road was arrested, and because 
 
The Crime 171 
 
 none of them would confess to the murder, three, 
 chosen by lot, lost their heads." 
 
 Have you heard that story too ? " asked in a 
 wailing tone the pedlar of tinder. 
 
 One only needs to know the law," continued 
 Firnerhans ; " but we have one thing to comfort 
 us: In an age which still recognises the Vehmic^ 
 Law and the Judgment of God, that now and then 
 takes pleasure in burning a witch, as we burn the 
 stubble on our fields, — in such a happy age, we are 
 not the only ones who die innocent. We did not 
 realise the blessing of living between the Tarn and 
 the Trasank in the good old days. To think of our 
 being shut in here like fatted sheep before slaugh- 
 ter! But groaning and grumbling will not help us. 
 The best we can do is to turn our backs upon the 
 world and die like men! " 
 
 A few murmured resentfully, the most remained 
 silent. 
 
 " Not that I care so much about my head! " 
 mused Simon, " but I 'm sorry on account of my 
 Han." He discovered some crude writing materials 
 in the sacristan's house, with which he wrote the 
 following letter: 
 
 " My darling Han: 
 
 "It 's curious, is n't it, how they have got me 
 after all ? It was all on account of a cow, which I 
 was keeping in the tavern barn. Word was sent 
 
 ' Vehmic Law. The law of a secret society in Germany during 
 the Middle Ages, which for a time held powerful sway over the 
 people by its horrible executions. 
 
172 The God Seeker 
 
 me that her calf had arrived and that I was to come 
 and see it. As I was not busy, and it being Ad- 
 vent, I came. It 's a nice little steer, light yellow, 
 and will be good for a yoke. All of a sudden the 
 parsonage caught fire and I ran down to help put it 
 out. And then they drove us into the church and 
 picked out twelve of us to be beheaded. To-day 
 my head is still on my shoulders, and what I want 
 to write to thee, dearest sweetheart, is that thou art 
 my last thought. The cow and the calf are for thee 
 to keep. Weep for me as much as thou wilt, but it 
 will do no good. No one knows better than thou 
 that I am innocent, but how does that help matters 
 as long as I 'm caught ? If beheaded people re- 
 cover their heads in heaven, perhaps we shall meet 
 and marry yet. 
 
 " Thy loving 
 
 " Simon Haneser. 
 " P. S. — When it will happen, I don't know; but 
 stay at home and don't worry about it. The tav- 
 ern-keeper's wife wants the milch-cow until the 
 Feast of St. Peter. Let her have it." 
 
 The narrator relates the story thus, but the pre- 
 sent generation will hardly believe that at that time 
 a healthy young peasant lad could take leave of life 
 m this cheerful manner. The present generation 
 decries the world with every breath, at the same 
 time clinging to it anxiously with all its might, or, 
 in despair, throwing itself under its crushing wheels. 
 It did not occur to Simon to do either the one or 
 the other. " If it may be, live merrily; if it must 
 
The Crime 1 73 
 
 be, die merrily ! ' was his motto. He knew little 
 about philosophy. 
 
 Simon had hardly finished his letter when a 
 priest, accompanied by soldiers, entered, bringing 
 with him Extreme Unction. As the men caught 
 sight of the chalice, Firnerhans exclaimed ; " Away ! 
 away! We know your chalice! " 
 
 The priest spoke mild, friendly words to them, 
 spoke of the pardon for the penitent, of the rejoic- 
 ing in heaven over a repentant sinner. 
 
 " If I regret anything, it is that I did n't choke 
 you yesterday! " cried one of the men, attempting 
 to spring upon the priest and carry out his design 
 to-day. The soldiers thrust him back and he fell 
 groaning against the wall. 
 
 Then the tinder pedlar crawled up to the priest, 
 imploring him to intercede for him with the judges. 
 
 " Tell them that their Judgment of God is worth- 
 less and condemns the innocent, the same to-day as 
 at the time of the murder of the letter carrier from 
 Siebenbaum. Among those beheaded then were 
 all kinds of people, but not the murderer. If the 
 high court would know who killed the letter carrier, 
 it should ask me." 
 
 " I should like to see them do it," laughed Fir- 
 nerhans. 
 
 "You are pitiable creatures," said the priest: 
 " you blaspheme against Heaven, Who has chosen 
 you to expiate this crime. If God's own Son did 
 not refuse to die innocent to redeem the world, why 
 should you sinners murmur ? " 
 
 " You, holy man," said Firnerhans, " are the 
 
15^4 The God Seeker 
 
 substitute of God's Son; come and change places 
 with me ; the death of a priest does far greater serv- 
 ice to the world than that of a peasant." 
 
 The wood-cutter from the Tarn now spoke : " This 
 is foolish talk. Let each one die for himself, and 
 then hold his tongue." 
 
 In the church tower the bells were tolling. 
 
 " Do you hear ? " said the priest. " Banish your 
 angry thoughts, fall upon your knees and pray. The 
 bells announce the hour." 
 
 The men turned deathly pale. 
 
 " You, martyrs, shall take leave of this world to 
 the accompaniment of their Christian tones. Then 
 the bells shall ring no more in Trawies. The Holy 
 Church has pronounced an interdict upon this par- 
 ish, and from the hour of your last breath, Trawies 
 is placed under the ban ! " 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 IT is impossible to describe the terror which 
 reigned in the forests. With comparative calm- 
 ness we may witness the condemned prisoners in 
 their last hour; but our pen quails at writing of the 
 despair of their wives, sisters, brothers, and child- 
 ren. The lamentations were heard from house to 
 house. Suddenly they ceased, like a tempest that 
 has spent its force, and the women asked each other 
 over and over whether it were true, whether it could 
 be true. And when it was confirmed again and 
 again, the wail of anguish burst forth anew. 
 
 They hastened to the village with petitions and 
 prayers, begging to be allov/ed to see their dear ones 
 once more. Armed with knives and household uten- 
 sils, they made a bold attempt to burst open the 
 prison and liberate the men, but they were greeted 
 with musket-balls. Unhappy folk, you do not un- 
 derstand what military rule signifies! They were 
 thrown to the ground and trampled under foot, un- 
 til at last they were made to comprehend the brutal 
 force which was so mercilessly rampant in Trawies. 
 When, finally, they were overcome with weariness, 
 when their throats had become hoarse and their eyes 
 dry, they fell back benumbed in an inertia of despair, 
 
 175 
 
176 The God Seeker 
 
 Bart-from-Tarn was in a most unhappy frame of 
 mind. He had not been present at the meeting in 
 the parsonage, although he had meant to be. He 
 had said to his wife that very day, as she sat chat- 
 ting with Mistress Wahnfred in her little room, 
 trying to distract the poor woman who had lost 
 husband and home: " Wife," said he, " I am go- 
 ing down to Trawies." 
 
 " Again," she replied, " right in the middle of a 
 working day! " 
 
 " They are to meet and take counsel; there is 
 much to be done in the parish." 
 
 He put on his broad hat, took his beech-wood 
 stick in his hand, saying: " Keep the doors locked, 
 for it is unsafe now." And he departed. 
 
 Behind the house in the sheep-yard upon a 
 stump projecting out of the snow sat little Erie- 
 fried, Wahnfred's son. His feet dangled over the 
 stump, his arms were folded, and he was gazing 
 dreamily into the distance. He was no longer 
 merry, as was his wont; he had no occupation now, 
 and he often asked why he was not allowed to go to 
 school. The good farm people had their own work 
 to attend to and did not understand children. His 
 mother sat knitting in her room, weeping silently. 
 So he wandered about alone, thinking of his father. 
 He realised that something unusual must have hap- 
 pened to him, but whenever he attempted to ask 
 concerning him, — this father with whom he had 
 worked so happily in the shop, who had played with 
 him, who had talked with him about so many 
 things, who had been so affectionate with him,— 
 
The Crime 177 
 
 whenever he attempted to ask the question, his lips 
 were sealed. He suddenly ceased to be a child. 
 He seemed to tremble before the answer. 
 
 When Bart saw the lad sitting alone and sorrow- 
 ful on this dark winter day, he was filled with a 
 deep pity for the child. 
 
 " They have taken thy father from thee and now 
 leave thee to thyself. Thou little dreamest what a 
 sacrifice thou, innocent child, hast been obliged to 
 make for thy home! " 
 
 Then approaching him, Bart called: " Little boy, 
 what art thou doing there ?" 
 
 Erlefried sprang down from the stump, hastening 
 to meet his new protector. 
 
 " Look, Erlefried, we will set up another saint on 
 this stump now. Dost thou know how to make 
 snow-men ? " 
 
 He nodded assent, but said that he did not care 
 for it. 
 
 " Nonsense! " said Bart, trying to cheer him. 
 " Such a boy as thou, and not care for it! We '11 
 see about that. Look, how well the snow packs to- 
 day ! I wonder if I can do it still. I was once a 
 boy like thyself, though much rougher. I used to 
 wrestle with the other lads until my clothes were 
 in tatters; and when there were no boys at hand, I 
 would make them for myself out of snow; regular 
 giants, and horses with riders, like the Turks. And 
 when I had finished the whole row, I would fall 
 upon the enemy and knock off their heads. See, 
 here 's one already! " 
 
 While chatting thus, Bart had made a very 
 
178 The God Seeker 
 
 respectable snow-man upon the stump. That started 
 Erlefried and he soon had another beside it. Then 
 they made a horse with a rider and other figures, 
 one large one, very fine to look upon. Bart laid 
 special stress upon long noses, but this seemed to 
 have little effect upon Erlefried, who paid more at- 
 tention to the broad chests of the men and to the 
 erect, well poised heads of the horses. He grew 
 more and more eager at his task; his cheeks glowed 
 and his eyes sparkled. 
 
 It was the same with Bart. At first playing with 
 the cold snow simply out of friendliness, the boyish 
 passion had now taken possession of him. The 
 cheerful white figures seemed to banish all the seri- 
 ous, gloomy events of his life ; his childhood, bright 
 and joyous, had returned ; the snow-sword of the 
 knight and the comical cap of the bishop reawak- 
 ened all his youthful enthusiasm ; the snow was no 
 longer cold, and Bart, whose countenance was usu- 
 ally so serious, had glowing cheeks and beaming 
 eyes. 
 
 Suddenly his wife called from the yard, asking 
 whether that were the council in Trawies. 
 
 Sure enough, the council! Bart had stupidly for- 
 gotten all about it. Now it was too late; either 
 the people had already assembled and would be just 
 breaking up when he arrived, or tliey had not met 
 at all, in which case his going would not bring them 
 together. So the most sensible thing would be to 
 stay at home with Erlefried and knock off the heads 
 of the snow-men. 
 
 A little at one side away from the other figures, 
 
The Crime 179 
 
 almost on the edge of the forest, the boy was work- 
 ing on a new image. It was larger than the rest and 
 he packed the snow as firmly as possible, making it 
 as high as his hands could reach. He was silent, 
 but industrious, and when Bart started playfully to 
 knock down the other figures, the boy placed him- 
 self protectingly before his new work of art, saying 
 in a pleading tone: " Not that one! " 
 
 The little face was so serious and the request so 
 earnest that Bart asked: " Why not that particu- 
 lar one?" and the boy replied: "That is my 
 father. 
 
 Thus Fate, ever mysterious, plays with us ; some- 
 times approaching us warningly, but in a friendly 
 way ; while in another place, at another time, it 
 crushes us, relentlessly, without plan, without 
 mercy. We know what was happening that day in 
 Trawies, while Bart-from-Tarn and the boy Erie- 
 fried — Wahnfred's son — were making and destroy- 
 ing snow-men on those wintry heights. 
 
 On the Johannesberg, in Firnerhans' house, the 
 events were of quite a different nature. Firner- 
 hans' wife, when she learned of the unheard-of im- 
 prisonment in the church, broke out at first into 
 expressions of anger against her husband. Why 
 did he go off and neglect house and farm ? Why 
 did he mix himself up in things in which he had no 
 concern ? Her first husband — she had had two — 
 never troubled himself in the least about affairs out- 
 side, but had stayed at home with his wife and be- 
 come a well-to-do man. The money that the first 
 
i8o The God Seeker 
 
 had amassed the second had spent. To be sure, 
 the people never seemed to care for the first one, 
 but the second they had tried to push ahead every- 
 where, wherever they could make a cat's paw of 
 him. The third would probably not be his equal in 
 good-nature. It was all terrible! And then she 
 began to weep as bitterly as if there had never been 
 a first and as if there were no hope of a third. 
 
 At midnight Osel returned home. He had ling- 
 ered on the way showing his black kernel to every- 
 one he met. Few had any idea what a fatal thing 
 it was, attributing the pleasure which he seemed to 
 take in it to his half-witted brain. But when he 
 met Roderich, the tramp, who already knew the 
 facts, and who to-day wore a sarcastic expression on 
 his usually serious face, the latter said : 
 
 " No, my dear Osel, you cannot go home with 
 this little ball ; you belong to the twelve and must 
 be beheaded." 
 
 Osel nodded joyfully with his three heads. Then 
 he asked when the execution was to take place. 
 
 " To-morrow, but you must get up early or you 
 will be too late. They will not wait for you." 
 
 Osel seemed to consider a moment, then pro- 
 ceeded on his way. It was midnight before he went 
 to bed, but he left his door open that the first 
 sound in the house might waken him. Then he 
 slept such a sleep as a criminal seldom enjoys. 
 
 In the morning he was awake with the cocks. He 
 rose hastily and the people wondered to see him 
 standing so early at the trough, washing himself in- 
 dustriously. 
 
The Crime i8i 
 
 " He 's going to church to pray for Firnerhans; 
 he 's a good fellow," they thought. 
 
 Osel was a youth of twenty, but looked younger, 
 and to-day his face beamed as though he were 
 going to a wedding. He dressed himself in his holi- 
 day attire, with the red waistcoat and yellow ker- 
 chief; his blonde hair, usually a dry, tumbled mass, 
 was to-day combed smoothly down over his light 
 eyebrows and lashes, from under which his eyes 
 now sparkled with unusual expression. He had 
 picked a pink in the garden and fastened it on his 
 hat, as is customary on Corpus Christi Day. Then, 
 entering the house, he devoured his morning por- 
 ridge. When he had finished he stood a while at 
 the door as though thinking. He seemed to be try- 
 ing to decide how he should best take leave of his 
 friends, but being unable to do this, he slipped 
 quietly away. 
 
 He descended the mountain towards the Johan- 
 nes brook. Above the Kofel forest gleamed the 
 spire of the church. Before reaching the Trach he 
 discovered a squirrel in the branches of a pine-tree. 
 He stopped, and with a blank expression on his 
 face, turned into a side path in pursuit of the little 
 creature and was soon lost in the forest. 
 
 In the valley shots were heard that morning; to- 
 wards noon all was still again. The sun had gradu- 
 ally disappeared and the sky was covered with soft 
 grey clouds. In the afternoon these grew denser 
 and the deep shadows of the wooded hills were 
 sharply outlined, until at last, slowly, and one by 
 one, a few flakes whirled in the air. 
 
1 82 The God Seeker 
 
 Since early that morning soldiers had been going 
 from house to house, searching the chests for spun 
 yarn, taking the spools from the spinning-wheels 
 and removing the distaffs. They then announced 
 that the people of Trawies were ordered to assemble 
 at the Dreiwand in the afternoon. The Dreiwand 
 rose perpendicularly out of the water, a short dis- 
 tance below the church, where the Rocken brook 
 flowed into the Trach, forming here a deep, dark, 
 slimy pool. About it flourished a thick growth of 
 pines, casting at all times a gloom over this spot. 
 Only in midsummer a few rays of sunshine pene- 
 trated into the gorge at noon, covering it with a 
 soft, misty veil of blue. 
 
 Below the Dreiwand, whose high breastwork was 
 formed by three rocky projections, resembling bal- 
 conies, the road from the Trasank valley and the 
 Rockenberg crossed a bridge, then turned into a 
 narrow path on this side of the water opposite the 
 cliff, thus connecting the outlying regions with 
 Trawies. It is the same now as on that fatal day, 
 when on this spot the doom of Trawies was sealed. 
 '^ Soon after noon the people began to assemble, 
 stationing themselves along the road and under the 
 cliff opposite the precipice. There were some pre- 
 sent who, regardless of warnings of danger, out of 
 curiosity could not refrain from coming to learn how 
 this affair was to end. Some had come with the 
 intention of inciting the crowd to action; others, 
 with the hope of appeasing it. It might be merely 
 a question of arriving at some agreement with the 
 authorities and Trawies would thus be saved from a 
 
The Crime 183 
 
 further blow. Soldiers were watching every move- 
 ment of the crowd. 
 
 The people, not daring to utter a word aloud, 
 whispered all the more defiantly. Those standing 
 under the cliff could see the church and the ruins of 
 the parsonage. 
 
 From this direction, to the mournful tolling of 
 bells, a procession of black-robed figures, bearing 
 three torches, now approached. They passed be- 
 hind the crag and appeared on the first projecting 
 rock, high above the water. They were the priests 
 and judges. The torches, carried by three aged 
 men, cast a dim, red light into the gorge, and from 
 the darkening sky fell the trembling snow-flakes. 
 
 A deep silence reigned. From among the men 
 upon the crag. Pater Dominicus now advanced, 
 holding in his hand a long, black wand surmounted 
 by a cross. Turning towards the people, and with 
 a loud voice, he said : >• 
 
 " Hear ye, the Lord speaks through His prophets: 
 Ye are stubborn and unrepentant; ye are the tree 
 that dies, the flesh that decays. Cursed be your 
 seed. Your land shall become desolate; fire shall 
 destroy your harvests ; upon your fields, which ye 
 have watered with your sweat, shall grow weeds 
 and poisonous plants; I will send a pestilence 
 among you and ye shall be delivered into the hand 
 of the enemy. Brother shall slay brother and I will 
 smite you with madness. Ye shall call upon My 
 name in vain; ye shall pray to Me, but I will cast 
 you forth from My footstool, for ye have despised 
 the name of the Lord and have killed His servant! " 
 
184 The God Seeker 
 
 " Oh, it is only a sermon! " murmured one of the 
 audience. 
 
 The priest now took a roll of manuscript in his 
 hand, saying: " In the name of the Holy Trinity! " 
 Then with a loud, solemn voice, he repeated the 
 following words : 
 
 " Parish of Trawies ! From this hour on shall you 
 be outcasts! You have broken the laws of the 
 Church and of the Emperor; you are stubborn and 
 unrepentant; you have murdered your priest, 
 therefore shall you have no priest ! You have de- 
 secrated the altar of your God, so shall weeds grow 
 upon it and ravens shall inhabit your temple. The 
 tongues shall be torn from the bells upon the tower ; 
 your children shall be baptised with the rain from 
 heaven, and the sacrament of marriage withheld from 
 the bridal pair, the holy communion from the dy- 
 ing, the consecrated earth from the dead. Even 
 as the rebellious spirits were cast out of heaven by 
 the archangel Michael, so shall you, parish of 
 Trawies, be cast out from the holy peace of God's 
 kingdom. You are devoid of honour and shall be 
 deprived of all Christian intercourse; you wished 
 for freedom, you shall be as free as the birds in the 
 air, as the wolf in the forest. Whosoever harbours 
 one of your community in his house shall himself 
 forfeit the protection of the law; whosoever kills 
 one of your community shall be exempt from the law. 
 Your boundaries shall be cut off and surrounded 
 by a belt of fire. You shall be delivered into the 
 hands of the Prince of Darkness, who shall have you 
 in his power so long as you remain unrepentant ! " 
 
The Crime 185 
 
 y 
 
 He ceased speaking. The bells were also silent. 
 During the anathema, the audience, at first in a 
 mocking mood, had, one by one, grown deathly- 
 pale. But there were some among them who 
 gnashed their teeth and clenched their fists. Like 
 a living statue the dark figure of the priest towered 
 yonder on the crag, illuminated by the three 
 torches, which cast their shadows far over the cliff. 
 Raising aloft the black wand with the cross, he 
 cried : 
 
 " Annulled shall be your rights to the cross of 
 our Redeemer! " and breaking it in twain he hurled 
 the pieces into the river. Then, with a firm grasp, 
 he seized one of the torches: " Annulled shall be 
 your rights to the protection of God the Father! " 
 and he flung the flickering taper into the water. 
 " Annulled shall be your rights to the love of the 
 Son of God ! " and he threw the second torch from 
 him. At last, seizing the third torch, he shrieked: 
 " Annulled shall be your rights to the grace of God 
 and to the Holy Ghost! " and he cast the burning 
 taper into the abyss, where all three were extin- 
 guished with a hissing sound. 
 
 A wild excitement now took possession of the as- 
 sembled crowd and many of the women threw them- 
 selves upon the ground wailing and crying: " Now 
 it is over with us, our heaven is gone! Never shall 
 we see our dear ones again ! We are damned to the 
 lowest depths of hell ! It is all over for ever! " 
 
 Such pitiful weeping and lamentation as now 
 arose in this mountain gorge were never heard be- 
 fore. Parents cursed their children and children 
 
1 86 The God Seeker 
 
 their parents, and they raved as the Scripture tells 
 us lost souls shall rave at the last judgment. /^ 
 
 When twilight was gathering and the outlawed 
 folk were hastening in confusion up and down the 
 Trach, many with the feeling that their poor souls 
 had been torn from their bodies, many nearly in- 
 sane, and again others who sneered and jested, a 
 second procession started from the church. By the 
 light of lanterns and torches, the priests were sol- 
 emnly carrying away the monstrance with the Host. 
 On both sides of the road the trees bent with the 
 heavy weight of snow; jays and yellow-hammers 
 fluttered over the heads of the priests, as though 
 wishing to act as escorts to the sacred body of our 
 
 Lord. 
 
 " And now my Jesus is going! " cried a woman 
 in the crowd, springing forward and falling prostrate 
 before the procession. " Thou shalt not leave me! 
 My child at home is dying! " 
 
 Silently and solemnly they passed the weeping 
 woman. Suddenly grown speechless, she stared 
 after the retreating forms with her fixed eyes, in 
 which the light of the swaying torches was reflected. 
 
 Not far from the place where the Johannes brook 
 flowed into the river, the procession was met by 
 Uli, the charcoal-burner, and Roderich, the tramp. 
 They had already seen from a distance a piece of one 
 of the torches floating in the Trach, without under- 
 standing its meaning. As they now saw the ap- 
 proaching line of figures, they questioned each other. 
 
 " What are those lights coming towards us ? " 
 
 " They are probably carrying the dead priest to 
 
The Crime 187 
 
 Oberkloster," said the tramp, " and they are quite 
 right ; here in our churchyard he would give us no 
 peace." 
 
 " His ghost will wander about for a long time yet 
 in Trawies, you mark my v/ords. " 
 
 " Look, that 's like a Corpus Christi procession! 
 They are carrying the sacred Host away with 
 them." 
 
 " Can it be true, what I heard to-day ? " 
 
 " They are taking the sacrament from us and 
 have closed the church." 
 
 " It 's all the same to me, if I 'm only on this 
 side of the door." 
 
 " And have outlawed us all." 
 
 " 'T is the same to me," said Roderich, the 
 tramp, again. " You, Uli, have got something; 
 you 've a house and wife and three children and a 
 goat — I can see how such a thing would affect you. 
 But we free folk, who have so arranged our affairs 
 that no one can take anything away from us, be- 
 cause we 've nothing to lose, we can laugh now." 
 
 " But think, my dear Roderich, we belong to the 
 devil!" 
 
 " Later," hissed the tramp into the charcoal- 
 burner's ear, " later, there '11 be money for us! The 
 devil, I tell you, demands nothing without pay. 
 Brother, I 'm a happy man again! " 
 
 In the meantime the procession had passed. In 
 solemn dignity it moved along the banks of the 
 roaring Trach towards the Gestade. After the 
 priests and judges had walked for more than three 
 hours with the sacrament, they passed through the 
 
1 88 The God Seeker 
 
 last gorge, where the Trach foams in a deep, dark 
 basin and a difficult path ascends along the cliffs to- 
 wards the summit, upon which, at that time, stood 
 a group of five pine-trees. At this point the heath- 
 land begins. Under these trees they stopped to 
 rest their sacred burden upon a stone, falling on 
 their knees in adoration before it. 
 
 Behind them followed a troop of soldiers, who, 
 when they reached the narrow path along the in- 
 hospitable cliff, boldly crossed the little bridge, 
 which they then destroyed together with its stone 
 foundation, sending it crashing into the abyss be- 
 low. When the last link with Trawies had been 
 broken, with boughs from the pine-trees they 
 lighted fires on the boundary line, stretching a 
 cord from stone to stone and from tree to tree. 
 The pines seemed to groan as they felt it tightening 
 about them, — this cord, made from the hemp 
 grown in the valley of the Trach, and spun from 
 the distaffs in the houses of Trawies. 
 
 The confusion in the little village continued. 
 The tavern alone remained undisturbed by all this 
 misery. To be sure, the women, even there, were 
 sobbing in the kitchen, but in another room the 
 men were drinking. Before the door, his hands 
 thrust into his pockets, stood the " Three-Headed 
 Osel," staring first at the house, then wonderingly 
 up towards the church and out into the darkness. 
 When, then, was the execution to take place ? He 
 had been ready half the day, and nowhere could he 
 find signs that such a thing was to happen. The 
 
The Crime 189 
 
 pbbt lad kept showing his black kernel to prove 
 that it gave him certain rights, but no one paid heed 
 to him and he was left to himself. 
 
 From the church windows gleamed a light, too 
 bright to come from the altar lamp. In the church- 
 yard a new grave had been dug, in which had been 
 laid a body with a fractured skull. The cross for- 
 merly towering in the midst of the burial-ground 
 lay in ruins upon the snow. And over all reigned 
 a deep silence. 
 
 The sacristan now approached the church. On 
 the evening of the revolt, at sight of the parsonage 
 in flames, he had fled in the direction of the Tra- 
 sank. He had wandered about aimlessly for days, 
 but now believing that order would surely be re- 
 stored once more, he returned over the pathless 
 wilderness, descending by way of the Wildwiese. 
 
 The first duty of an honest sacristan is his church. 
 From the light in the windows he supposed that a 
 service must be taking place there. Opening the 
 door, he observed that the benches were empty. 
 The stillness was awful, and at the altar candles 
 were burning. He entered, but soon rushed out 
 again, his arms outstretched, his face ghastly pale, 
 his features contorted with horror, his burning lips 
 unable to utter a sound. Thus he hastened down 
 to the village and burst into the tavern, sighing, 
 groaning, and wringing his hands, and pointing to- 
 wards the church. 
 
 The people crowded about him. " He has just 
 discovered that our altar has been plundered," said 
 one. 
 
iQO The God Seeker 
 
 But the sacristan stretched out both arms and, 
 stammering unintelh'gible words, stared at the floor 
 with his rolling eyes, and again pointing towards 
 the church, with a cry of terror he buried his face 
 in his hands. 
 
 The people then left the house and ascended the 
 hill to the church. On the altar, about the empty 
 tabernacle, the candles were still burning, and on 
 the bloody steps— lay the headless bodies of the 
 condemned. 
 
 At the same hour, innumerable points of light, on 
 the summit of the Trasank and on the boundary 
 hills at the heathland, shed their rays over the for- 
 ests of the Firn, the Tarn, and the Ritscher, down 
 into Trawies. They were the signal fires, shutting 
 in and marking the crushed and outcast forest par- 
 ish, a flaming barrier, separating it from God and 
 man; a link of the fiery chain " which enfetters the 
 dragon." 
 
 Thus were the symbols of the interdict fulfilled! 
 
BOOK II 
 GODLESS 
 
 191 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 DURING this eventful time, little Erlefried, in 
 his childlike simplicity, climbed the hill one 
 morning to the church in Trawies. He was carry- 
 ing a greeting to the Christ Child, in anticipation 
 of the coming Christmas festival. He was dressed 
 in holiday attire, which harmonised with his whole 
 frame of mind ; his fresh young body exulted in the 
 physical exercise and he felt that it was good to be 
 alive ; his soul, filled with the joys of his religious 
 faith, soared, as only the soul of a forest child can 
 soar, even unto the Eternal Throne. 
 
 He had been kept in ignorance of all that which had 
 taken place — he was still untouched by the curse. 
 He knew well that something unusual had happened 
 concerning his father; and his tender young heart 
 was anxious; but having been taught the efificacy 
 of prayer, he longed to pray. As he approached 
 the village, the bells did not greet him as usual, and 
 on reaching the church, he was alarmed and terri- 
 fied. Before the door stood a soldier with un- 
 sheathed sword and two men were walling up the 
 entrance. 
 
 " Oh, child," murmured one of the workmen, 
 *' thou wouldst say thy prayers and we no longer 
 
 193 
 
194 The God Seeker 
 
 have a God. He has deserted us all and His temple 
 has become a sepulchre for murderers." 
 
 The speaker was reminded by the soldier that he 
 was there to work, not to chatter. 
 
 Erlefried crept silently away, but meeting Sand- 
 hok soon afterwards, he received from him a partial 
 explanation. 
 
 " Art thou looking for something, my lad ? " 
 
 " I am looking for my God," sobbed the boy. 
 
 " Oh, thou little simpleton! Didst thou not 
 know, then, that a few days ago they drowned the 
 Trinity in the Trach ? Let us be glad of it, for 
 now we are free! " 
 
 Sadly Erlefried started on his homeward path, 
 the very ground seeming to tremble under him, for 
 how could anything stand firm if all support were 
 taken away ? Oh, if he could only get safely home 
 to his mother and the good Bart. 
 
 On the way he met the peasant Isidor, who was 
 more explicit. Yes, it was true, the people of 
 Trawies were without a God. 
 
 On the Freiwildhohe, under two old beech-trees, 
 stretching their bare branches out into the blue, 
 winter sky, stood an image of the Virgin. The 
 boy climbing the path longed in his anguish of 
 heart to pray before it, — for if our God is taken 
 from us, must we not depend upon our Beloved 
 Lady ? All was quiet, not a sound in the valley, 
 not a bird-note in the trees, and as Erlefried knelt 
 upon the bare stone, he could hear the beating of 
 the Virgin's heart. Trembling for joy he rose, and, 
 kissing the wooden image, now alive, he hastened 
 
Godless 195 
 
 away. Happily for the child, there was no one 
 present to tell him that a wood-beetle was boring 
 into the wood. 
 
 As he wandered over the forest path he was un- 
 able to think of anything but that Trawies had lost 
 its God, and that there could be no more heaven. 
 Catching sight of a deer through the branches, it 
 suddenly occurred to him: " What will happen to 
 poachers now ? It will be all the better for them, 
 for they will not be discovered." A squirrel was 
 running up a tree, and from the topmost boughs it 
 looked down, almost scornfully, at the boy, as 
 though it would say: " Poor wretch, at present 
 thou art no more fortunate than I ! You sons of 
 God, who have always reproached us for having no 
 Saviour and for leading such a pitiable life (and 
 even that you have tried to take from us), now we 
 are as well off as you — but I can climb faster." 
 
 The boy then listened to the splashing of the 
 forest brook ; how often had he heard it before, but 
 to-day everything frightened him and made him 
 nervous. To be sure, the sun was still shining, 
 although no longer with the same brilliancy; the 
 shadows were lying ghost-like across the path. He 
 heard the thundering of a distant avalanche and the 
 crashing of falling trees. There was no longer an 
 Almighty Hand to protect him from danger. 
 
 As he was crossing the high bridge over the gorge 
 he stopped in the middle and gazed down into the 
 abyss. His eyes were riveted to the gloomy depths, 
 — for must he not now forego his heavenward 
 glance ? The bridge seemed to be turning, but one 
 
19^ The God Seeker 
 
 or two timely leaps saved him before he was ovei < 
 come with dizziness. When he finally reached 
 Bart's old mountain home he was quite exhausted. 
 
 He noticed how pale his mother's cheeks were 
 and how patiently she was bearing her earthly sor- 
 rows, for was she not hoping to go at last to the 
 dear God ? And everything depended upon the 
 dear God. She did not know what Erlefried knew. 
 Why dost thou not eat thy soup, my boy ? " 
 asked the mother, noticing that he left it untasted. 
 As he made no reply, she added: " And why art 
 thou so quiet to-day ? " Then he began to sob. 
 Child, what has happened to thee ? " 
 Mother," answered the lad, burying his curly 
 head in her bosom, " I know something terrible." 
 
 " About thy father ? " asked the woman. 
 
 " Something quite different — I cannot say how 
 terrible!" 
 
 " Compose thyself, Erlefried, then tell me what 
 has happened." 
 
 " There is no — " sobbed the boy — " there is no 
 God!" Overcome with horror, he hid his face in 
 his mother's dress. 
 
 Drawing herself erect, she said calmly: " Who 
 could have been so stupid as to tell thee that ? 
 Who can deny a thing that has been a certainty 
 from everlasting to everlasting and cannot be other- 
 wise ? 
 
 " There is a God ? There is ? " asked the boy 
 joyfully. 
 
 " Thou knowest it, for art thou not alive ? 
 Heaven and earth are His body." 
 
Godless 197 
 
 And then the mother began, partly to distract her 
 own anxious thoughts, partly to cheer the unhappy 
 boy, to tell him of God and heaven, which she did 
 in a manner original with herself. 
 
 '' Heaven is like the church, my child, only a 
 thousand times more beautiful. Thou couldst never 
 count the lighted candles, or the angels flying 
 about. Sitting upon golden clouds in front is the 
 Holy Trinity and close by our Beloved Lady; next 
 are the apostles and martyrs and all the saints, 
 clothed in snowy raiment, with palms in their 
 hands, singing the heavenly songs to the music of 
 David's harp. Then come the blessed dead; thy 
 grandparents are also there and all our friends who 
 have died. They have entered eternal bliss, yet their 
 eyes are wet with tears, for one sorrow mars their 
 joy: the knowledge that we are still suffering and in 
 danger. They are all keeping vacant seats at their 
 sides for their loved ones on earth. Now, Erlefried, 
 think of a mother, waiting in heaven for her dear 
 child. One by one the places are filled, but the 
 seat beside her remains empty and her child does 
 not come, although his life must long since have 
 ended. At last in her anxiety she rises and goes to 
 the dear God, who asks: ' Why weepest thou ?' 
 And she tells Him that she can find no peace and 
 would fain leave heaven to go and search upon the 
 earth until she has found her boy. Therefore, my 
 dear son, knowing ourselves and our loved ones 
 saved from evil is eternal bliss! When I am no 
 longer with thee, remember that, and do not forget 
 me!" 
 
19^ The God Seeker 
 
 Erlefried wiped the tears from his eyes with the 
 sleeve of his coat, then turning to his mother, he 
 said that if God would only leave the stars in the 
 sky, he would surely find some way to heaven. 
 
 Good child ! There are many stars, but they are 
 not all in the sky. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 WINTER reigns in the mountain forests. Al- 
 though the Germans dearly love the melo- 
 dious, blossoming spring, they are happier in the 
 midst of a long, cold winter. The earth, still and 
 sombre, seems to have fallen from the sky — the 
 cool, frozen Nifelheim.^ The wide stretch of 
 meadow-land, usually covered with plant life, with 
 streams, hillocks, and rocks, is now one even plain 
 under its thick blanket of snow. And the knotty 
 branches of the northern trees, the pines, larches, 
 and firs, which at other seasons extend as if in bless- 
 ing over the earth, whose flowers and fruits re- 
 appear each spring to gladden the heart of man, 
 bend under their burden of snow. 
 
 At first the branches toy with the falling flakes, 
 light as pollen, and rejoice when the flying wander- 
 ers settle upon their needles, as the gay butterflies 
 have done during the warm, sunny days. And they 
 gently rock their little guests until others, attracted 
 by the pleasant motion, join the first, clinging more 
 and more firmly to the needles, in which they build 
 a downy nest, that extends from twig to twig ; soft 
 
 * Nifelheim : The mist world, the realm of cold and darkness 
 (Norse Mythology). 
 
 199 
 
200 The God Seeker 
 
 and dainty as a cushion, but heavy as sand, it bends 
 and forces the boughs downward with its weight. 
 Thus the trees now stand enfettered in their white 
 bonds, but proud and defiant withal, like true sons 
 of the northern forest; and although seeming in- 
 different to their heavy ermine mantles, they ap- 
 preciate the warmth and realise the new dignity of 
 their appearance. 
 
 Bordering the meadows stand the other trees, the 
 sturdy maples, the smooth, delicate beeches, and 
 the bushy oaks, proud as peacocks, believing that 
 they have a lease of all German land. But they 
 come from the Slavic forests, where bears and 
 boars abound. Back to the boars on your moors! 
 We, the pines, are children of German soil, de- 
 scended from the rugged Alps. Yonder on the edge 
 of the forest stands an ash-tree, the origin of which 
 is uncertain; but the legend is extant that from out 
 the mouldy interior of the primeval ash emerged 
 the human race, crawling upon the ground like 
 worms. During the summer, however, the decidu- 
 ous trees with their feathery foliage are beautiful to 
 look upon, and in the autumn, when the forest is 
 preparing for its holy winter rest, these trees make 
 one more magnificent display in their gorgeous robes 
 of red and gold. Oh, the coxcombs! But that is 
 their last chance for ostentation. The first breath 
 of winter destroys all their splendour; and how un- 
 lovely are the dry, bare branches, bending and 
 swaying in the wind, until they receive their cover- 
 ing of snow. The flakes flutter tauntingly about 
 the pitiable skeletons, where even a weary sparrow 
 
Godless 20 1 
 
 Will rest but a moment. The trees stand there in 
 their misery, proving how helpfess and foreign they 
 are in the German forests. In the presence of 
 these wretched creatures, the pines, in their er- 
 mines, may be pardoned for their pride. 
 
 Yonder is a little hillock, topped with a dome, 
 under which a young pine is dreaming of a midwin- 
 ter day in the distant future when it may leave its 
 snowy bed to delight children's hearts with its 
 brightly illuminated branches. For there comes a 
 time in German lands when, like stars gliding down 
 through the wintry mists, moving torches appear at 
 night, carried from mountain and valley to the 
 church, to celebrate the birth of our Lord, — as the 
 coming of the spring is celebrated by the arrival of 
 the birds from the sunny south. 
 
 And thus the endless covering of snow is spread 
 over forest and meadow, and the pines stand, with 
 their countless white spires and turrets, like a great 
 Gothic cathedral. Over the valleys hangs a grey 
 mist, but high above gleams the wide circle of rug- 
 ged mountains; to-day it is not their rocky sides 
 that glitter in the sunlight, but the snow still cling- 
 ing to the steepest precipices, — the snow which 
 to-morrow Odin^s breath will loosen and send thun- 
 dering into the abyss below. 
 
 " Winter's shroud " is a name invented by 
 thoughtless man. Has no one ever yet experienced 
 how refreshing, how inspiring, how life-giving, how 
 comforting and cheering is a walk through a wintry 
 landscape ? Has no one inhaled the cool breath of 
 the falling flakes, that enter our very being and 
 
502 The God Seeker 
 
 soothe our nerves, and is purer than the breath of 
 summer leaves or the fragrance of blossoms ? Has 
 no one been sensible of the sweet repose in which 
 the plant and animal kingdoms, weary of their con- 
 flict with life, have sunk under their light covering 
 of snow ? Has no one thought of the young forces, 
 continually gathering and developing beneath it, 
 which, in a few short months, will produce a new 
 world of splendour before our eyes ? Like a soft 
 blanket of spun silk has winter been spread by 
 Mother Nature over the cradle of spring. 
 
 The German visionary often indulges in such win- 
 ter phantasies as these. But it was otherwise with 
 Wahnfred on the day when, with a heavy bundle 
 and gun fastened on his back, he worked his way 
 upward through snow and underbrush from out the 
 gorge of the Rabenkirche to the summit of the 
 Trasank, where the territory of Trawies ends and 
 the Ritscher forest begins. The Ritscher is a part of 
 the Birstling and the Tarn forests, for they all be- 
 long to the same mountain chain, though it is on a 
 higher level and spreads itself over an immense 
 plateau, gradually rising towards the rocky heights. 
 To-day this forest is nearly destroyed and most of 
 the streams, once so numerous, are exhausted. At 
 the time of this story there was no path through 
 this desolate mountain region, which was avoided 
 and feared on account of its beasts of prey. The 
 beeches and oaks were luxuriant and of immense 
 size — a giant race. Here the wood-pecker, the vul- 
 ture, the eagle, and whatsoever was able to live by 
 conflict reigned supreme. 
 
Godless 203 
 
 Such was the region whither Wahnfred was now 
 going. This man, like the rest of his race in those 
 days, did not understand nature as we of the pre- 
 sent generation understand it. He feared the Alpine 
 storms, the torrents, the avalanches ; and the wild- 
 ness, which we call beauty, was to him oppressive 
 and terrible. At that time Nature had no soul; it 
 was left for man to embue her with his own ; and 
 the larger the heart of him who contemplates her, so 
 much more meaning does she have for him. 
 
 Wahnfred was unconsciously filled with a desire 
 to be absorbed in nature ; he saw that his life had 
 been a failure, although at present he thought of 
 nothing but flight and of saving himself for a volun- 
 tary penance. He breathed more freely when he 
 reached the summit, where about him lay the snowy 
 brightness of winter. He looked back over the nar- 
 row valley of the Trach, branching off from the 
 cliffs of the Trasank and winding through steep, 
 wooded hills beyond, to the dim, blue, cone-shaped 
 Johannesberg, to the left of which was the Gestade. 
 Opposite is the Rockenberg and above the trees 
 rises a curling thread of smoke from the house of 
 the fire guardian. Where the valley widens, towers 
 from out the mist the jagged edges of a cliff — the 
 Dreiwand. Yonder is Trawies. Yonder, Wahn- 
 fred, lies the stiff, cold body of a man who is a 
 greater enemy to thee in death than he ever was in 
 life! Farther to the left, connecting with the 
 mountain chain on this side, is the blue Tarn. In 
 this region stands Bart's house, where a homeless 
 woman and a fatherless child have taken refuge. 
 
204 The God Seeker 
 
 A thrill passed through the man and his feet 
 turned involuntarily towards the Tarn; but he had 
 been warned, he knew that bailiffs were searching 
 from house to house, and that his return would 
 plunge, not himself alone, but his family, yes, the 
 whole parish, into the greatest danger. 
 
 Wahnfred deplored his deed — it had stirred his in- 
 nermost being, as the eruption of a volcano stirs 
 the bowels of the earth ; but he did not regret it. 
 He resolved to keep himself in concealment and to 
 wait for the time when without danger he might re- 
 turn to his valley, to consecrate his whole life to the 
 forest parish of Trawies. The first part of his mis- 
 sion was accomplished; the evil which had been 
 bringing ruin upon them was removed ; the second 
 part, the restoration of peace and prosperity, re- 
 mained for him yet to fulfil. 
 
 He now turned and entered the wintry wilder- 
 ness. The path was almost level. The deep snow 
 between the trees bore his weight in places and in 
 others broke under its burden, often causing him to 
 sink to his shoulders, and it was with difficulty that 
 he extricated himself. He made but little progress 
 and finally became so exhausted that he sank into 
 the snow and stars swam before his eyes in circles. 
 •' This, then, is the end," he thought. 
 
 But he revived, his limbs strengthened by the 
 snow and the sun shining so brightly over the tree- 
 tops. Wahnfred then reflected how he could devise 
 means to proceed on his journey. In the evening 
 the snow would freeze and bear his weight. But 
 who could wander here in the night without going 
 
Godless 265 
 
 astray ? There remained but one thing for him to 
 do. Cutting boughs from a pine-tree with his axe, 
 he wove them into two flat discs which he bound 
 upon his feet. With these he now advanced. The 
 snpw cracked under him, but did not break. He 
 cut his way through thickets and fallen trees. He 
 walked through forests so dense that no snow had 
 reached the ground ; he passed over desolate clear- 
 ings where stood but few trees, their broken 
 branches dangling as the wind had left them. He 
 could no longer see the region of Trawies; a strange 
 horizon, all forest and winter, met his view. Only 
 a few peaks of the Trasank gleamed like gold above 
 the hills. 
 
 At last he reached a little stream gurgling through 
 the sand over its pebbly bottom, its wavelets glisten- 
 ing like tiny mosaics. Our wanderer was now on the 
 right path, which followed this stream in the direc- 
 tion of the hermitage. A vulture now and then 
 fluttered up, alighting on the branches above him, 
 and Wahnfred saw that he would not be alone. He 
 noticed tracks in the snow almost obliterated by 
 marks resembling those left by a broom, as though 
 some other fugitive had passed this way, who 
 also had reason for destroying his footsteps. He 
 knew the miscreant ; it was the wolf with the bushy 
 tail. 
 
 When the sun had passed its meridian, Wahnfred 
 seated himself upon a bare stone projecting out of 
 the snow, to eat his midday meal. Resting his head 
 on his hand, he gazed thoughtfully into the dis- 
 tance. To be so far from man, one lonely soul 
 
2o6 The God Seeker 
 
 between the frozen earth and the relentless sky — 
 deserted, forgotten, lost! 
 
 The lids gradually closed over his weary eyes and 
 he slept. 
 
 Upon a branch of a larch-tree sat a snow-bunt- 
 ing, cocking its little head on one side and looking 
 down at the sleeper, as though in astonishment at 
 the strange intruder. In the thicket yonder glit- 
 tered the greenish eyes of a fox. 
 
 Suddenly Wahnfred started with a shudder and 
 sprang from his seat, staring wildly about him. He 
 did not see the bird, he did not see the fox; he was 
 looking for another and feared to see Him. He had 
 heard a voice in his dream: " Cain, where is thy 
 brother ? " 
 
w 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 AHNFRED proceeded on his way. The 
 effort of walking had somewhat/ calmed his 
 
 excited brain. At last he arrived at^anigh, perpen- 
 dicular wall of rock, which cut off his path and over 
 which dashed the gurgling stream. The old ladder 
 that the men of Trawies had found when they came 
 to carry away the body of the hermit was no longer 
 here. It was scarcely possible to make the circuit 
 of this long stretch of wall, for it reached far into 
 the wilderness. Along the waterfall, where the ice 
 had formed in masses, Wahnfred cut steps and 
 swung himself to the summit. The first thaw 
 would melt the steps and the wall would protect 
 him like a fortress against his pursuers. 
 
 The way was now less difiEicult, ascending gently 
 through the forest or over clearings. Wahnfred 
 frequently heard a loud, baying sound, at which 
 everything defenceless in the forest fled. 
 
 When the crust of the snow had become hard 
 once more and the sun had sunk behind the bluish 
 wall of trees, the wanderer noticed on the banks of 
 the stream a triangular stone, placed there to mark 
 the path. Here he turned to the left, forced his 
 way through a thicket and up a hill, where the 
 
 207 
 
2o8 The God Seeker 
 
 ground was strewn with moss -covered stones, then 
 descended towards the valley into a wide basin sur- 
 rounded on one side by forest, on the other by 
 precipices, and containing but few trees. He was 
 at the foot of a bare, rocky mountain called the 
 Donnerstein. And now Wahnfred had reached his 
 goal. 
 
 Under a group of pines, whose branches were in- 
 tertwined with one another, and whose weather- 
 beaten tops reached far up into the sky, stood the 
 hermit's cell. 
 
 It was strongly built and little resembled a cell; 
 the beams were so massive that a man could have 
 scarcely embraced them ; the steep roof was made 
 of stout logs, so that neither beasts of prey could 
 enter nor falling trees destroy it. The wood was as 
 hard as rock — a wood seldom seen in our days. The 
 windows were few in number and they were closed 
 by bars on the inner side. To find the entrance one 
 was obliged to go around the hut ; at the back, 
 where the low, overhanging boughs formed a dense 
 thicket, was the narrow, heavy door, still bolted as 
 the men of Trawies had left it at the hermit's death. 
 
 It was unknown who had built this hut in the 
 wilderness; it, together with the hermit, had been 
 discovered many years previous by the fire guar- 
 dian, when, as beater, he was accompanying a hunt- 
 ing party from the cloister. The hermit, on his 
 knees, had implored him not to disclose his abiding- 
 place. The fire guardian promised and had kept 
 his word. Every three years he had ascended to 
 the Ritscher forest to look after the nian, who^ like 
 
Godless 209 
 
 a true hermit, lived on herbs, roots, and prayer. 
 His appearance was wild, his hair and beard un- 
 kempt, and he had nearly lost the use of his speech. 
 He had shown no annoyance at the visits of the 
 man from Trawies, and when the latter had become 
 convinced that this human creature was in need of 
 no aid, or rather that he scorned it, he had re- 
 turned with a lightened heart to his distant valley. 
 At his last visit he had found the man dead, the 
 body in a position which terrified him and which he 
 had never betrayed to a human being; nevertheless, 
 the hermit had been carried to Trawies for Christ- 
 ian burial in the churchyard. But the fire guardian 
 did not forget the hut in the Ritscher forest, and 
 when it became necessary to send Wahnfred to a 
 place of safety, he had chosen this asylum. 
 
 Wahnfred now entered the house, shuddering at 
 the mouldy atmosphere which greeted him. Throw- 
 ing open the windows, he built a fire, and as the 
 flames crackled, proclaiming the sacred presence of 
 Vesta, the Goddess of the Hearth, he was com- 
 forted. 
 
 The fireplace was larger than one would expect 
 to find in the hut of an eater of herbs and roots and 
 it was well built, having even a kind of chimney for 
 the escape of the smoke. Close by was a couch of 
 moss, a praying-stool before the crucifix on the 
 wall, a table, a cabinet, and a number of other arti- 
 cles accumulated by the hermit. The smoothly 
 tiled walls, the glass in the windows, and the well 
 made floor were unusual in a hermitage. Wahnfred 
 unpacked the provisions and the few oth^r things. 
 
2IO The God Seeker 
 
 which he had brought with him, set his gun in one 
 corner, where it would always be ready, and made 
 himself as comfortable as possible, that he might 
 rest after his fatiguing journey. 
 
 When the fire had died down he still sat staring 
 into the glowing embers. And now, scarcely two 
 hours since his arrival in this house, he began to 
 feel the horror of loneliness, the longing for his dear 
 ones. Then, for the first time, as though it arose 
 from the fire, appeared to him the vision of that 
 scene at the altar in all its horrible reality. In the 
 night he creeps into the sacristry, following the 
 priest. In a corner, behind the large wardrobe con- 
 taining the priestly vestments, he stands like a 
 black pillar in the darkness. At the ringing of the 
 little bell he strikes the cross with his right hand, 
 while with his left he convulsively grasps the axe 
 beneath his cloak. As the priest is elevating the 
 Host, the thought comes to him: " I will not do 
 it! " But as he sees the chalice through the half- 
 open door, another thought follows the first : 
 " Christ's blood! Blood must flow to redeem the 
 world ! " At the Agnus dei he beats his breast and 
 prays that neither hatred nor a feeling of revenge 
 shall guide his arm. And when he sees the priest 
 bowed in humility to partake of Christ's body, he 
 is filled with pity and love, rejoicing that this spirit 
 has entered the heart of the man at the altar, for 
 only thus would his own deed be sanctified. With 
 outstretched arms the priest turns towards the peo- 
 ple and the choir sings: " Blessed are the dead that 
 die in the Lord," Wahnfred opens 1;he outer door 
 
Godless 211 
 
 and takes his place by the entrance through which 
 the priest must pass from the altar. The latter, 
 taking the sacred vessels, descends the steps and 
 approaches the door. Seizing the axe with both 
 hands, Wahnfred moves back a few paces, then falls 
 upon his victim. A cry burst from his lips as he 
 now sat by his lonely hearth, his face buried in his 
 hands, for again he saw the look which the dying 
 man had given him, and again he saw the body fal- 
 ling upon the steps and the soul entering the flames. 
 Had he perhaps sent a man to hell ? As the mur- 
 derer of a soul he trembled and groaned before the 
 glowing embers. 
 
 Utterly exhausted with fatigue and excitement, 
 he at last fell asleep. 
 
 And thus began his solitary life. The cheerful 
 fire on his hearth, which he never allowed to be ex- 
 tinguished, was his only companion and friend. 
 Ravens circled about the group of pine-trees over 
 the spot where the smoke ascended. At night the 
 wolves howled and the sleepless Wahnfred often 
 heard the belling of the deer, fleeing from their pur- 
 suers. Several times a day he went out to gather 
 wood or to fetch water from a spring in a crude 
 bucket which he had found, or to investigate his sur- 
 roundings ; and frequently he took his gun to look 
 for game, seldom returning without booty. This 
 man, usually so filled with forebodings, played with 
 his fire without a suspicion that below in Trawies 
 the fatal lots were being drawn from the chalice. 
 He slept quietly during that hour when in the 
 church death was demanding its victims at the 
 
212 The God Seeker 
 
 altar, in revenge for his deed. Once, as he was sit- 
 ting on a stump in front of his hut, gazing over the 
 distant snow-fields or up into the grey sky, he sud- 
 denly fancied that he heard the bells of Trawies. 
 They sounded strangely, each of the three bells be- 
 ing quite distinct, but when he sprang from his seat 
 to listen, the ringing had ceased. The old chronicle 
 states: ** Das seynd gewest die Klocken von Trawies, 
 so verbannet worden, gleichsamblich in die Wildnussen 
 ,j^ntfleuchend '' ("Those were the bells of Trawies, 
 fleeing from the outlawed village into the wilder- 
 ness ). 
 
 The time was now approaching when all Christen- 
 dom celebrates the festival of the birth of our Lord. 
 Wahnfred did not know the exact day, for while in 
 concealment at the fire guardian's and in the wilder- 
 ness, he had lost track of the time. But even in his 
 loneliness and isolation he was filled with a- longing 
 to join in the prayer on that night when Christians 
 are kneeling in adoration before the Christ Child. 
 On the road that leads us Godward, we may all 
 meet in spirit while repeating the Lord's Prayer, 
 this prayer, which, like the roar of the storm or the 
 song of birds, is heard over the entire earth. But 
 Wahnfred — the outcast — was separated, not only by 
 space, but also by time, from all mankind. 
 
 At that period the faithful still considered the 
 Christmas festival, not like ourselves, as the one 
 voluntarily chosen and appointed, but as the real 
 birthday of our Lord. Wahnfred at last fixed upon 
 a day. In the morning, armed with a stout stick, 
 he left the house. The air was cold, the sky cloud- 
 
Godless 213 
 
 less, the snow frozen and hard. He strode over the 
 wide clearing and climbed the precipice to the sum- 
 mit of the Donnerstein, from where he could look 
 far out into the land beyond. The region of 
 Trawies lay too deep, but the high cliffs of the Tra- 
 sank, the summit of the Johannesberg, and a corner 
 of the Tarn forest were visible. Beyond were the 
 dim, blue plains. Out there were churches and 
 monasteries preparing for the night's celebration! 
 Out there lived people who, with a song of praise 
 in their happy hearts, were going forth to the holy 
 festival ! Every house had become a temple, in 
 every family the bonds of affection had been 
 deepened. 
 
 Thus it had always been at the Gestade, where 
 now a charred ruin rose out of the snow. 
 
 Then, on this day at the setting of the sun, a 
 peculiar atmosphere had seemed to spread over the 
 landscape. In the lengthening shadows had lain a 
 wondrous magic; the brooks, beneath their icy cov- 
 ering, ceased their murmuring, and in the forest no 
 human voice was heard. It was as if Nature, in 
 anticipation of the holy festival, had laid her finger 
 upon her lips: " Silence! Silence!" 
 
 But to-day ! To-day was like all other days in 
 midwinter. In Wahnfred the childlike mood was 
 wanting and he feared that he had mistaken the 
 time. He was not yet conscious of the fact that for 
 those unfortunates who have committed a sinful 
 deed, the child's heaven on earth is over for ever. 
 
 When in the country beyond twilight had fallen, 
 the sun still shone brightly upon the summit where 
 
214 The God Seeker 
 
 Wahnfred was standing. He then thought: " If 
 someone out yonder should raise his eyes, he would 
 see the Alpine glow on these distant heights, but he 
 would not imagine, nor could he know that here, on 
 this cold, lonely, glittering spot, an outcast is stand- 
 ing, celebrating this festival with a reverent heart. 
 In remembrance of this Holy Day, I set up an altar 
 on this mountain, which I now name the Christtag- 
 ^<?r^ (Christmas Mountain)." 
 
 With his stick he wrote the words in the snow 
 and then descended to his hut. After putting his 
 possessions in order, he lighted and cleaned the rooip, 
 and in lack of other decoration fastened pine boughs 
 upon the roughly hewn cross. He hardly knew 
 how best to satisfy the inner longings of his heart. 
 
 That night he did not go to bed. He replenished 
 the fire constantly and the flames roared and 
 crackled. And then he thought of his wife and child. 
 At the side of the hearth he now set up two little 
 lighted torches on a stone, — the one his wife, the 
 other his child. As they were dying out, he turned 
 away his face, to avoid seeing which was first extin- 
 guished. Thus love itself tormented him. He 
 tried to recall the pictures of Bethlehem, but now 
 his heart was cold. Another picture, dark and 
 bloody, blotted out the sweet idyl of the Orient ; 
 and the angels hovering in the air, who in previous 
 seasons had proclaimed peace on earth, to-day blew 
 on brazen trumpets. 
 
 Wahnfred perceived that he could not think and 
 dream as formerly, nor could he be happy in his 
 dreaming. He longed to hear a song which his 
 
Godless 2 1 5 
 
 wife used to sing on Christmas eve, he longed for 
 some reh'gious book, he longed for his Bible. Had 
 his predecessor in this cell been wanting in a soul ? 
 Had he spent his days in eating roots and herbs, 
 and in kneeling before the cross ? Had he left no 
 trace behind him of an intellectual life ? 
 
 Wahnfred rummaged once more in the cabinet, 
 where he had found only a haircloth garment, a few 
 rosaries, and other ordinary articles; he then 
 searched in the dry moss of his couch, in which he 
 discovered between two little boards tied together 
 with a string — a package of manuscript. This was 
 something unusual. In that age there were not 
 many people who could read, and the art of writing 
 was known only in the monasteries, castles, and 
 cities. Trawies, however, was a notable exception. 
 The spirit of independence which had always ob- 
 tained in this forest parish knew well that the arts of 
 reading, writing, and reckoning were a necessity for 
 all who wished to control their own land. And one 
 learned in these arts now held the manuscript in his 
 hand. 
 
 Wahnfred replenished the fire and seated himself 
 before it, turning over the pages and reading. The 
 contents stirred his soul to its depth; his eyes be- 
 gan to glow with a strange light, until at last he 
 sprang to his feet, crying: " This is the truth! " 
 
 It is impossible to repeat the exact words, for the 
 papers have been destroyed. They had evidently 
 been written by a visionary. Living a life of 
 wretchedness, caused by his own sins, he had en- 
 deavoured to hold God and the world responsible. 
 
2i6 The God Seeker 
 
 had rebelled against human laws and also against 
 those that we call sacred. He had evolved a creed 
 of his own, which at first seemed to satisfy him, but 
 which at last had proved his ruin. 
 
 Written at the top of the first page, with the sar- 
 castic humour of one condemned to death, were the 
 words: " Revelations of a Pious Hermit." The 
 purport of the contents was as follows : 
 
 In the beginning, God created heaven. The chief 
 of all the angels, beset by evil and envy, spread his 
 wings and deposited an egg in heaven, whereupon 
 God cast out the wicked angel, together with his 
 egg. This was of great size and hovered in the air; 
 its interior, filled with fire and brimstone, was called 
 hell. As the egg revolved, exposing its exterior to 
 the warmth of the sun, all kinds of life appeared 
 upon its surface, plants, animals, and human be- 
 ings, and the outside of the egg was called earth. 
 The wicked angel, who was the devil, cast the soul 
 of every man that died on the earth into the flames 
 of hell. God then rose in His wrath and cried : 
 " Thou art unjust to cast innocent beings into the 
 everlasting fire!" To which the devil replied: 
 " What is that to Thee ? I made the egg, it is 
 mine! Didst Thou not curse me and thrust me out 
 from heaven, saying: ' It is Mine! It is Mine!'?" 
 And God replied: " The egg may belong to thee, 
 but the beings upon it belong to Me; for My sun 
 has warmed and developed them, I have spoken to 
 them through My stars, they have rejoiced in My 
 light and listened to My voice." The devil an- 
 swered: " What! Thy sun which does not shine 
 
Godless 217 
 
 at night ! Thy stars that do not gleam by day ! The 
 heat of the inner fire has penetrated through the 
 soil and warmed and developed the race. Their 
 blood and their passions are heated by my fire. The 
 wheat grows upon my fields and I will harvest it." 
 Realising the truth of the devil's words, God said : 
 " Well and good! Let us divide. Thou mayest 
 keep the plants and animals and I will take the hu- 
 man beings." " How sly Thou art! " cried the 
 devil. " Thou mayest keep the plants and animals, 
 for it is the human beings that I especially desire! " 
 And God said: " Let us not contend! We will 
 leave the decision to man himself. He is sensible of 
 the warmth of thy hell, he feels and sees My sun- 
 light; with his feet he stands upon the earth; with 
 his eyes he gazes heavenward. He shall choose. Is 
 he attracted by thy fire, does he abandon himself to 
 the fruits of thy earth, he is thine. If he rejects thy 
 heat and despises the good things of thy kingdom, 
 then is he Mine." " What ! " cried the devil. " If 
 he rejects my fire and despises the blessings of the 
 earth, he cannot live ! " " Yes, ' ' said God, ' ' he will 
 die; he will flee into the wilderness to escape thee; 
 he will turn his eyes heavenward, preferring death 
 to life. For the more he is filled with hatred to- 
 wards thee and love for Me, just so much the more 
 will he long to leave the earth and come to Me. 
 And when he has grown so unselfish that he is will- 
 ing to himself cut the bloody fetters that bind him 
 to thee, then with a cry of joy will he fly into 
 My arms, and with a cry of joy will I receive 
 him!" 
 
2i8 The God Seeker 
 
 The second part of the manuscript which Wahn- 
 fred found in his couch of moss bore the title: 
 " The Hermit's Confession.'* 
 
 It read as follows : 
 
 " If I write out my lifers history, it is not to leave 
 it to the world, to that kingdom of darkness ; my 
 wish is rather that it may fall into the hands of 
 someone who, like myself, flees from the world and 
 longs for rest. Another will hardly come to this 
 lonely spot, in which case the manuscript will be 
 destroyed and I shall carry my secret to God, Who, 
 on account of my penance, will in His mercy pardon 
 me. 
 
 " My ancestral castle stands two days' Journey 
 distant upon a rocky eminence, below which flows 
 the great river. It is the only rock in the fertile 
 land that, as far as the eye can see, is a part of our 
 possessions. We are the Counts von Bechern, our 
 forefathers going back to the court of the Roman 
 Emperor, Karl den Becher. Concerning the deeds 
 of our race, I will be silent ; they are great only in 
 the eyes of the world. My sin alone I will confess, 
 imploring God's pardon with every breath. 
 
 " My father left two sons when he died, my 
 brother and myself. My brother was the elder and 
 .the master at Bechern. His was an ardent, impet- 
 uous nature, and, urged on by the inspiration of the 
 moment, he would often perform the most incredi- 
 ble acts. His passions were as hot as hell, his youth 
 full of pleasures, and among the beautiful women 
 in the earldom were few who did not suffer for his 
 sins. Wrecked in body and in mind, my brother — 
 
Godless 219 
 
 he was in his twenty-sixth year — fell seriously ill. 
 Doctors and priests came to his bedside, the first to 
 save his body, the second to save his soul. In the 
 beginning he raved in delirium, then sank into a 
 stupor, and one night, as we were assembled to per- 
 form for him the last offices, he raised himself in 
 bed and with outstretched arms and upturned face 
 cried with a loud voice : ' My God, my great, my 
 only God! My beloved Jesus! My sweet, most 
 holy Virgin Mary ! Take me to heaven ! I despise 
 this vile world ! I thirst, I thirst for the kingdom 
 of God ! ' With these words he sank exhausted 
 upon his pillow. The next day the crisis was past, 
 my brother was convalescent. But when fully re- 
 stored, his cheeks were no longer ruddy as before, 
 his eyes had a deeper glow. And he then told me 
 of his intention to alter his mode of existence and to 
 lead thenceforth a solitary life, as the holy martyrs 
 had done, serving God in penance and prayer. 
 
 " I listened and did not oppose him and praised 
 God for having enlightened his soul. He left the 
 castle and withdrew into the depths of the wilder- 
 ness to a substantial hermitage which had been 
 built for him. He furnished it with many comforts, 
 thinking that with agreeable surroundings he would 
 take a greater pleasure in serving God and winning 
 heaven than would be the case if living in misery 
 and in want. He dismissed the workmen, after 
 requiring of them an oath of secrecy concerning his 
 place of abode. And then began his life of penance. 
 
 " I praised my pious brother; I was now master 
 in the castle and earldom. And I too revelled in 
 
220 The God Seeker 
 
 those pleasures which my brother had enjoyed, not 
 in rioting and drunkenness as he had done, but de- 
 liberately and calmly, thus corrupting my very soul. 
 I loved a beautiful lady in one of the neighbouring 
 castles, who received me with favour as Count von 
 Bechern. What a pleasure it was, with my lady at 
 my side, to roll along over the broad roads drawn 
 by four, or sometimes six, magnificent black steeds! 
 What joy it gave me, seated on my charger, to gal- 
 lop over the country, observing how respectfully 
 everyone greeted the Count ! I had all I could wish 
 to satisfy youth and ambition. One brought up 
 from childhood to rule, and already familiar with 
 the thought, cannot appreciate the happiness that I 
 experienced as young master of Bechern. And how 
 splendidly my future unrolled itself before my 
 eyes! 
 
 " One day, after many months, my brother reap- 
 peared. His sojourn in the wilderness had given 
 him little satisfaction; it was dreary and monoton- 
 ous; the diet of roots and herbs was injuring his 
 health, so he had decided to return to his castle, 
 there to continue his religious life. He thanked me 
 for my administration of his affairs in the earldom 
 during his absence. 
 
 " What my answer was I do not remember; but 
 what I thought and felt, that I have never forgot- 
 ten. Rather die than be deposed ! 
 
 " Not until the following day was I sufificiently 
 calm to approach the man who had so inconsider- 
 ately crossed the path of my happiness. 
 
 " ' Brother,' I said, ' that of which I wish to 
 
Godless 221 
 
 speak, let us discuss quietly, as is fitting for gentle- 
 men. One of us two is superfluous here! ' 
 
 " Understanding me perfectly, he replied: ' If 
 thou, my dear brother, hast not room enough in our 
 ancestral castle, then give me thy hand and go thy 
 way.' 
 
 " ' Not so,' I answered. ' I am master at Bech- 
 ern. Thou hast relinquished all claim to these 
 possessions, and a gentlemen does not break his 
 word. ' 
 
 " * To whom have I given my word ? ' 
 
 " * To me, in that thou hast deserted our father's 
 inheritance, leaving it without a lord and protector. 
 I have defended it before the enemy, so by right it 
 belongs to me. And thou hast given thy spoken 
 word to God to renounce the world ! ' 
 
 " * Art thou counsellor for God ? ' asked my 
 brother. ' Wilt thou hold me responsible for that 
 promised in delirium ? ' 
 
 " ' Villain! ' I cried, ' thou art still in delirium! ' 
 
 " ' This is too much! ' he shouted, drawing his 
 sword from its sheath. 
 
 " Springing back a step, I seized my dagger; we 
 fought; he fell — and I was master of Bechern. 
 
 " I tried to resume my former life, but all was 
 now changed ; my pleasure in it I was obliged to 
 simulate; I was unhappy and miserable. I en- 
 deavoured to find comfort in the arms of my lady, 
 but she repulsed me, telling me that murderers she 
 did not love. 
 
 " ' My brother fell in a duel! ' I cried. 
 
 " * Who can prove it ? Who witnessed the deed ? 
 
22^ The God Seeker 
 
 He stood in your way — you meant to kill him and 
 you succeeded ! ' 
 
 " I was silent, for I have never disputed the 
 truth. She had spoken aloud that for which my 
 conscience had been reproaching me. I was master 
 of Bechern, but my lady fled from me, despised me. 
 My subjects greeted me fawningly, but with a 
 sneer, and I read in every eye that I was regarded 
 as a murderer. At night I was tormented by horri- 
 ble dreams and visions. I fought against them ; I 
 gave alms and ordered masses for my brother's soul. 
 All in vain ! My burden became more and more un- 
 bearable. I had closed the apartment where my 
 brother had fallen ; but now the entire castle filled 
 me with terror. Trembling in fear of ghosts, I my- 
 self wandered about like a ghost. 
 
 " Enduring it as long as I could I finally relin- 
 quished everything. Relatives and friends took 
 charge of my possessions, declaring me to be a fool. 
 Taking with me an old retainer, I fled. When he 
 asked where we were going, I laughed him in the 
 face. * Away from mankind, away from everything, 
 away from myself ! ' ^^^ 
 
 " The man looked at me sadly, then told me that 
 for one in my condition he knew of a suitable place. 
 The sepulchre! ' I cried. 
 The cell,' he answered. 
 The cloister, where everyone takes his sin ? ' 
 
 " ' I swore to your brother,' said the man, ' not 
 to betray the hermitage which he had built for 
 himself in the wilderness. But since he no longer 
 lives, I feel free to reveal the secret to you.' 
 
Godless 223 
 
 " * The hermitage that my brother built in the 
 wilderness ? ' At first I was horrified at the thought, 
 but the more familiar I grew with it, the lighter be- 
 came my heart. Yes, that should be my expiation. 
 I resolved to live in my brother's cell as hermits 
 live, performing penances and prayers until the mur- 
 der was atoned. 
 
 " ' Very good, friend,' said I, ' take me there, 
 and provide me with the barest necessities; then go, 
 go where you will ; you are free ; all that I ask is 
 that you shall not betray my place of abode. I 
 wish to be alone. ' 
 
 " And so he brought me up here through the 
 endless forest to this hut. I trust that God, in His 
 mercy, will grant my brother a happy resurrection, 
 but my hermit's life has been more genuine than his. 
 I cannot say exactly how many years I have lived 
 here; I only know that I am old. The struggle 
 which I have made against the temptations of the 
 world is a great one and it is not yet over. God 
 has revealed to me truths that have become my 
 guiding star, which will lead me to heaven. The 
 flight from the devil, the contempt of this world, 
 the mortification of the flesh, the longing for God, 
 the voluntary breaking of the fetters — that is the 
 path marked out for me. I have been successful in 
 traversing nearly the whole of it, but before this 
 last step I stand in awe." 
 
 So much of the manuscript Wahnfred retained in 
 his memory. There were also many other strange, 
 incomprehensible ideas. Especially towards the end 
 w^re visible eyer-increasing signs of a disordered 
 
224 The God Seeker 
 
 brain. The outer world, his mode of life, his for- 
 tunes and various adventures during all these years, 
 were hardly mentioned. It was the outcry of a 
 struggling soul. Complaints and self-reproaches 
 were gradually silenced, peace and contentment al- 
 ways found expression ; the last pages were written 
 in a mood of ecstasy. 
 
 Wahnfred, who was deeply impressed by the 
 " Confession, exclaimed on finishing it: " This is 
 the truth!" It was long past midnight; the fire 
 was nearly extinguished; wolves howled in the for- 
 est, but Wahnfred, buried in his reading, did not 
 hear them. 
 
 " That shall be my model! What he expiated 
 have I also to expiate and still more. I will tear 
 away one fetter after another binding me to this 
 earth, where I have been tempted to sin. The 
 parish ? — it is only a community for the enjoyment 
 of earthly blessings; no matter how many sacrifices 
 are made for it, not one of them will lift it to God. 
 My family ? — they too must renounce this earthly 
 life. If I live and care for them, they will not do 
 this. If I go on in advance to show them the way, 
 they will follow. My wife, my child, ah, how I love 
 you both ! If it only were not love which held me 
 enchained — love, the work of the devil ! These fet- 
 ters must be broken ! I will leave a sign behind me, 
 that we may find each other in heaven." 
 
 Such were the thoughts of our poor Wahnfred, 
 and although they did not ripen to resolve, yet they 
 filled his distracted brain. 
 
 We of to-day regard, if not with scorn, yet dubi- 
 
Godless 225 
 
 ously, these religious rhapsodies, such as our ances- 
 tors, the seekers for heaven, experienced, when, in 
 distress and with sore hearts, they sought refuge 
 with God. Yet how incomparably more despicable 
 are those of the present generation who, in their 
 wisdom, deny the very existence of God, or that an 
 Almighty Helper and Saviour of mankind is to be 
 found in heaven or on earth! They also declare 
 that man, a -mere plaything of Chance, chooses the 
 more expedient, if perhaps not the best course, by 
 benumbing his senses with the pleasures of this 
 world, thus avoiding too deep a sympathy with the 
 misery surrounding him, — a misery from which 
 death alone can release us. The goal is the same 
 to-day as then, but in that age an intense ideality 
 cast its magic rays over the path of the sons of 
 earth. 
 
 Wahnfred's path was not the normal one, even at 
 that time. His brain filled with thoughts of suicide, 
 he dreamed himself into the life of the Count von 
 Bechern. Such is the danger of a solitary existence. 
 At first, the mind escapes from its ordinary chan- 
 nels, then falls into the abyss, dragging the body 
 with it. 
 
 A few weeks passed after this unhappy Christmas 
 and Wahnfred was still thinking seriously of suicide. 
 Whenever the horrible vision in the church at Tra- 
 wies rose before his eyes he found comfort in the 
 thought. " Blood for blood ! " saith the Holy Writ. 
 
 »s 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 IN the early days of February the horizon became 
 so clear that Wahnfred, standing upon the sum- 
 mit of the Donnerstein, could see over the top of the 
 forest the heathland with the ' ' Five Pines, ' ' the hill- 
 country beyond with its broad valleys and towns, as 
 well as the whole region with its rugged mountain 
 ranges which he now beheld for the first time. 
 A light breeze was loosening the last flakes from the 
 trees, thus left standing bare and black on the white 
 ground beneath. The sky was covered with masses 
 of soft grey clouds, the air was moist, and as Wahn- 
 fred walked over the snow, it broke under his weight. 
 
 The wolves had ceased their howling, for they 
 were no longer hungry. The game which they pur- 
 sued, being unable to escape, had become easy 
 prey. Wahnfred had shot a large deer, thus provid- 
 ing himself with meat for some time. 
 
 During one of these nights he was suddenly wak- 
 ened from his sleep by a peculiar roaring that shook 
 the very house. Fearing a freshet, he sprang to his 
 feet. As he opened the door, a strange whistling 
 sound above the roof met his ear. Still heavy with 
 sleep, he stepped outside and something like the 
 |ash of a switch struck him in the face. 
 
 3^6 
 
Godless 227 
 
 " Who is there ?" he called aloud, but the roar- 
 ing and whistling continued and Wahnfred crossed 
 himself in terror. 
 
 The wind now raged in the pines about the house, 
 now yonder in the trees on the edge of the forest, 
 and at last he realised that it was a- storm. Retiring 
 to his hut, he built a fire; even the flames flickered 
 strangely, and in Wahnfred the remembrance of his 
 deed, the consciousness of his misery were power- 
 fully stirred. In the roaring, hissing wind he heard 
 the moaning of ghosts. Down from the Trasank 
 floated pale, misty phantoms carrying torches giv- 
 ing no light, only blue, tremulous flames. One of 
 the veiled figures held aloft a chalice overflowing 
 with blood, which, shaken by the wind, dripped to 
 the earth. Then followed dark forms bearing upon 
 a high black bier the murdered priest. 
 
 Wahnfred sprang to his feet. " An end to this! " 
 he cried. " I am ready ! If it be God's will, let Him 
 take me, but my own hand revolts! I cannot be 
 guilty of more death myself! Oh, if one of the 
 pine-trees would only fall and crush me, with a cry 
 of joy would I die ! Above the Ritscher forest de- 
 struction has broken loose; I hear the branches 
 crashing, the trunks breaking. I will go out." 
 
 And when morning dawned he left the house. 
 He carried neither stick nor axe nor any other 
 weapon ; he often broke through the snow, but ex- 
 tricated himself again and finally he entered the for- 
 est. Here the storm was playing havoc in a group 
 of trees; the branches were swaying as if to ward off 
 the blows, the tops bending this way and that to 
 
2 28 The God Seeker 
 
 elude them. One of these trees, the largest, the 
 oldest, the father of the rest, snapped and fell with 
 a crash, plunging into the snow, completely bury- 
 ing its trunk. 
 
 The whole forest was in an uproar; for a moment 
 there was a lull, then, struck by the force of the 
 wind, the trees braced themselves for another blow, 
 some resisting, others yielding. They seemed to be 
 chasing and lashing each other in turn. The ground 
 was strewn with trunks, boughs, and cones. Many 
 a raven's nest was thrown down with the tree that 
 bore it, while the birds fluttered about, screeching 
 in their helplessness and despair. 
 
 Through this forest Wahnfred now walked. His 
 head was bare — ready for the blow. He did not 
 linger nor did he hasten ; his pace was his ordinary 
 one. He did not deliberately seek the falling trees 
 nor did he turn aside to avoid them. The twigs of 
 a breaking branch often grazed him, but he re- 
 mained uninjured. The wilder the storm raged, so 
 much the more eager was the light in his eyes. His 
 path was frequently blocked by the fallen trees, but 
 Wahnfred, the death seeker, remained untouched. 
 
 He forced his way through underbrush and 
 broken tree-trunks; he crawled under and climbed 
 over them. Where they had been torn up by their 
 roots it was most difficult to proceed, and all the 
 more for reason of the soft snow, into which he 
 often sank to his shoulders. Seeing himself thus 
 surrounded by the confusion of the ruined forest, 
 with the wind raging in all its fury, he realised the 
 horror of death. 
 
Godless 229 
 
 He was leaning back against a mass of snow, wip- 
 ing the sweat from his brow, at the same time shed- 
 ding a tear over his unhappy life, when suddenly a 
 wolf approached, creeping cautiously along a log 
 directly in front of him. It was a large, thin crea- 
 ture, with matted hair and the greed of hunger in 
 the fiery green eyes. Catching sight of the man, he 
 stopped, pricked up his ears, and showed the gleam 
 of his white teeth. He stood for a long time mo- 
 tionless, his tail drawn in, his forepaws firmly 
 braced, his eyes blazing. As he realised the utter 
 helplessness of the man in the snow, and was about 
 to spring upon his victim, a heavy branch fell be- 
 tween them. The beast was terrified, and with a 
 few long leaps he disappeared in the forest. 
 
 Wahnfred, revived by his fright, now gradually 
 freed himself from his precarious position. He 
 then proceeded on his way, his ears nearly deafened 
 by the continuous howling of the wind. Never in 
 his life had he experienced such a storm. When he 
 was a lad of seven a hurricane had nearly destroyed 
 the forest of Trawies. On that occasion the people 
 had said, quoting from an old legend: " When the 
 trees are shaken violently by the wind, someone is 
 taking his own life." And soon afterwards it was 
 discovered that a wood-cutter in the Trasank valley 
 had hung himself to a tree. He was not buried in 
 consecrated ground, but under the tree where he 
 had met his death. Wahnfred's grandfather, the 
 carpenter, then an old man on crutches, had said : 
 
 Every sin may be pardoned but that of suicide, 
 for suicide cannot be expiated." 
 
230 The God Seeker 
 
 Wahnfred paused in his walk, thinking over his 
 grandfather's words. The great, measureless love 
 which, as a boy, he had had for this grandfather 
 was reawakened and warmed his heart. 
 
 His moods were as changeable as storm and sun- 
 shine, and since Heaven itself seemed to protect him 
 on this day, he took it for an omen and resolved to 
 live on bravely, to return to the teachings of his 
 forefathers, to find therein his expiation and salva- 
 tion, and to burn the writings of the hermit. 
 
 Making a wide circuit, he returned in the direc- 
 tion of his valley, walking over clearings swept bare 
 by the wind. Suddenly he heard a pufifing sound 
 which did not seem to come from the storm ; turn- 
 ing quickly he saw the wolf — the same he had so re- 
 cently encountered — about to spring upon him. 
 
 He had barely time to break a branch from a 
 mouldering tree near by. He swung it with both 
 arms. Merciful Heaven, what if that horrible vision 
 should appear to paralyse his arm!— but no, the 
 blazing eyes of the beast held him as if by magic; 
 he waited a moment, and then, as with all his force 
 he let fall the blow, the branch snapped and broke. 
 The infuriated beast sprang upon him, thirsting for 
 blood. With one turn of the hand, Wahnfred 
 plunged the sharp point of the broken stick into the 
 wolf's throat. The animal reared, Ihe blood gushed 
 forth, and with a death-rattle it rolled over on the 
 ground. 
 
 Sinking exhausted upon a log, Wahnfred watched 
 it until its struggles were at an end, then he laughed 
 aloud. He who had come out in search of death, 
 
Godless 2^1 
 
 firmly resolved upon his own destruction, had, 
 within sight of the longed-for goal, defended himself 
 with all his strength against this beast of prey. 
 
 The howling of wolves and the raging storm re^ 
 minded him that he must hasten. Armed with a 
 stout stick, he sped on his way towards his place of 
 refuge, the wind from behind pushing him forward. 
 While descending the Christtagberg he noticed 
 smoke rising above the trees. A moment later he 
 discovered his hermitage in flames. 
 
 The storm had broken one of the pines and 
 thrown it upon the house, the heavy blow crushing 
 in the roof. The fragments had dropped upon the 
 burning embers on the hearth, the wind had fanned 
 the fire, and now the flames were soaring into the 
 branches of the trees. 
 
 As Wahnfred beheld this sight he fell into a kind 
 of ecstasy. 
 
 " At last I know, O Lord," he cried, " that Thou 
 wouldst have me live! I have sought death, but 
 with Thine Almighty Arm hast Thou saved me 
 from it." 
 
 Now he wished to live and could not. His scanty 
 store of provisions was burned with his gun, the 
 rest of his clothing, and his place of refuge. Help- 
 less he stood there amid the roaring tempest. A 
 sea of soft snow surrounded him far and wide, 
 making escape, even with snow-shoes, impossible. 
 He was tired and hungry and had nothing with 
 which to refresh himself. All at once a beggar! 
 Ah, if thou wert that, thou unhappy man ! The 
 trees would throw down their cones to thee. 
 
232 The God Seeker 
 
 How futile all that which thou hast planned! 
 Heaven preserves us or destroys us as it will. Now 
 destroy thyself! 
 
 He quenched his thirst with snow. From under 
 the ashes of his hut he dug the half-charred remains 
 of the deer and ate of them. The night he passed 
 beside the glowing embers. 
 
 The storm died away. Thousands of trees lay 
 about, still and ghastly. The mild air had melted 
 much of the snow; should it freeze again, an escape 
 from this forest, now grown so frightful and inhos- 
 pitable, might be made. But where ? What next ? 
 Wahnfred had not yet asked himself this question. 
 At present he must keep up the fire and save as 
 much as possible from the remnants of food. The 
 odour of the roasted deer spread through the forest 
 and the wolves came creeping up nearer and nearer 
 to the smoking pile. Saving what he could, Wahn- 
 fred climbed into one of the largest pine-trees. And 
 there he sat the entire night. 
 
 He bound himself to the tree with a tough bough 
 to keep from falling in his sleep. How palatial had 
 been his dwelling below, now a heap of ashes, in 
 comparison with this abode! His dangerous posi- 
 tion wonderfully quickened his desire to live, and 
 his hope yet to be reconciled with himself and with 
 mankind was strengthened. 
 
 The night was still and cold. To keep from freez- 
 ing he had woven a mantle of boughs for protection, 
 his feet rested upon a branch, but sleep would not 
 come. The stars were shining and the stillness which 
 lay over the vast forest was almost appalling. 
 
Godless 233 
 
 Soon after midnight, as his weary eyelids were 
 beginning to droop, he fancied that he heard a shot. 
 He started, but noticing no further sound, and as it 
 was most improbable that any human being could 
 be in the vicinity, he calmed himself and at last fell 
 asleep. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 AT the first gleam of dawn when the snow- 
 buntings were twittering and the sun was 
 spreading its golden rays over the snowy landscape, 
 Wahnfred was still asleep. _ His feet had slipped 
 from the branch and hung dangling from the tree. 
 The mantle of boughs protected the sleeper, who 
 was like one of those animals that crawl into a tree 
 for its winter rest and wakens with the coming of 
 the spring. 
 
 Wahnfred lay there in a refreshing slumber, as 
 though in reality taking his winter rest, and possibly 
 he might have slept on into the spring, into his 
 eternal rest, had not a loud voice from below 
 aroused him. 
 
 " O Herr Gott ! has this one hung himself too ? " 
 
 " Who is there ? " called Wahnfred, hastily seek- 
 ing to throw off his covering of boughs. 
 
 " Are you still alive ? " asked the voice. " But, 
 carpenter, what kind of a house have you got up 
 there ?" 
 
 It was the voice of the fire guardian. 
 
 " Is it you, Gallo ? " With these words Wahn- 
 fred climbed quickly down and sprang to the 
 ground. But when he saw before him a bent, 
 
 234 
 
Godless 235 
 
 white-haired, grey-bearded man, he thought that 
 there must be some mistake. 
 
 " Why are you looking at me in that wild way, 
 Wahnfred ? don't you know me ? " 
 
 " How grey you have grown, fire guardian, since 
 we last met! " 
 
 " I '11 wager you also would have grown grey in 
 these last two months down in Trawies. However, 
 I see you are not living in the most comfortable way 
 yourself." 
 
 " Two days ago, during the storm, this tree 
 which you see smouldering here fell upon my house, 
 setting it on fire. But before we speak of anything 
 else, Gallo, I want to beg you to forget my bitter 
 words in the Rabenkirche — they have troubled me 
 greatly. And now tell me what brings you to this 
 place." 
 
 " Something that concerns yourself," answered 
 Gallo. 
 
 " My wife, my child!" cried Wahnfred ex- 
 citedly. 
 
 " They live peacefully with Bart-from-Tarn. His 
 house, you know, is high up in the forest." 
 
 " How did you get up here in such a storm ? " 
 
 " I will tell you all about it, but first let us make 
 a fire and eat our breakfast. You have probably 
 not eaten yours yet." 
 
 " For that, my dear Gallo, I should have needed 
 Heaven's aid." 
 
 '* Never fear, for I have brought you something," 
 he said, throwing down a bundle under the tree. 
 " Mein Gott\ Wahnfred, what if I had not come! " 
 
236 The God Seeker 
 
 " If you were able to come up, I could have gone 
 down." 
 
 " The road from Trawies into the Ritscher forest 
 is horrible, but, my friend, the road from the 
 Ritscher to Trawies is more horrible! " 
 
 He then began to build a fire from the fragments 
 of wood and to unpack bread and brandy. 
 
 They ate and were silent, as if each were afraid 
 to hear what the other had to tell. 
 
 " Why did you not fetch the provisions from the 
 Rabenkirche ?" asked Gallo at last. 
 
 " Until my gun was burned I could provide my- 
 self with food." 
 
 " I went up several times, but as I always found 
 the things undisturbed, I came here to see if you 
 really had taken refuge in the hermitage, or if any- 
 thing had happened to you. It took me over thirty 
 hours to reach here from Diirbachgraben." 
 
 " How does it happen that you come from Diir- 
 bachgraben, fire guardian ? " 
 
 " One can scarcely conceive what harm this storm 
 has done," said Gallo. " The gorge of the Miesing 
 resembles a heap of ruins, so many broken trees are 
 lying about. The Trach is blocked with them ; the 
 water has risen in the glen, forming a lake as far as 
 the Rabenkirche. A huge tree has fallen over my 
 hut, but in such a way that it is supported by 
 another, and we who live down under it are not safe 
 for a single hour. How it is farther over in the 
 Tarn, I do not know, but a flight of crows from that 
 direction makes me suspect that their nests have 
 been disturbed. How did I get up here through all 
 
Godless 237 
 
 this havoc ? I went around over the clearing on the 
 Birstling. To be sure, I was obliged to crawl and 
 climb much of the way, and I was surprised to find 
 that the Ritscher forest, lying so high and giving 
 the wind free course, had been so affected by the 
 storm. I managed to reach the precipice, but you 
 know the ladder is gone, so I was obliged to walk 
 an hour out of my way, or I should have been here 
 last evening. Night overtook me and I hid myself 
 in a thicket, building a fire to keep from freezing. 
 The wild beasts gave me no peace and we had some 
 serious encounters, — perhaps you heard the shot. 
 It was not far from this place and I was astonished 
 this morning to find that I was here in the clearing 
 — for I recognised the group of pines — and that I 
 had been so near you all night. But how you can 
 frighten a person when you let your feet dangle 
 from a tree! It flashed across me at once that you 
 had followed the example of your predecessor, the 
 pious hermit. I did not tell of it at the time, for 
 they would not have buried him in consecrated 
 ground, but I found him hanging by a rope. And 
 you, too, would rather not have known how the 
 hermit had strangled himself with the cord of his 
 rosary." 
 
 The man remained true to his principles," mur- 
 mured Wahnfred. " Gallo, what if you had found 
 me in the same condition ? " 
 
 " To-day it would be no longer necessary to con- 
 ceal the fact." 
 
 " But you would have done so from a sense of 
 honour." 
 
238 The God Seeker 
 
 No one has a word to say now about conse- 
 crated ground," answered the fire guardian. 
 
 " What do you mean by that ? " 
 
 " O my friend," said Gallo, " how shall I ever 
 tell you ! When we parted that day in the Raben- 
 kirche, you resented the fact that we had plunged 
 you into misfortune. You came up here to this 
 peaceful spot, which is like a heaven compared with 
 Trawies, that is now worse than hell. This year we 
 have had no Christmas celebration and for a long 
 time we have heard no bells and no organ music. 
 Wahnfred, you are not to blame, nor are we; it was 
 to be thus. Our earthly life has become a horror ; 
 our heaven has been taken from us! Wahnfred, 
 our home has been placed under the ban! " 
 
 At these words Wahnfred sprang from the log and 
 stood there, a pale, rough-bearded man, his eyes 
 fixed upon the unhappy messenger. At last he 
 murmured: " I think, Gallo, I must have misunder- 
 stood you." 
 
 " You have understood me perfectly, Wahnfred; 
 I see that by your face." 
 
 " Tell me that the hurricane has torn up every 
 tree by its roots, that it has ruined every house in 
 Trawies, that it has killed the people or buried them 
 alive, but do not tell me, fire guardian, that God 
 has cast us off ! " 
 
 " If the curse were the only thing," replied 
 Gallo, " if the church alone were affected, I should 
 not be so alarmed. We would return to pure 
 Christianity. But the consequences — the lawless- 
 ness! And we seem to be outlawed as well as ex- 
 
Godless 239 
 
 communicated. Every one has deserted us, even 
 all civil authority." 
 
 Fire guardian, this is terrible! " 
 " Already, my Wahnfred, everything is in the 
 greatest confusion. On the one side, dire distress; 
 on the other, utter license; no waggon leaves the 
 place, no money comes in. The boundary lines are 
 enclosed. Below, where the Tarn begins, the cord 
 which they have stretched can be seen, wherever 
 the storm has not broken it. But no storm will de- 
 stroy the ban. The blacksmith's apprentice, being 
 out of work, attempted, to leave Trawies; at the 
 " Five Pines " he was forced to return. The master 
 wood-cutter from the Trasank valley started for 
 Neubruck to attend to his money ; on the outskirts 
 of the town he was stoned to death. At first the 
 people were awed, and many lay prostrate before 
 the closed church door upon which the interdict 
 was nailed. Could you have read it you would 
 have been surprised to learn how priests can curse ! 
 But Sandhok has since torn down the paper. Upon 
 the hill where we cross from the Freiwild brook to 
 the Tarn, — you know the place, — in the hollow of a 
 tree stood an image of St. Nicholas. ' We need no 
 bishops now! ' the people cried, and they destroyed 
 the image. * If we are cursed,' they continued to 
 cry, ' then no saint can help us ! ' and they tore 
 down the St. Sebastian by the Trach and the St. 
 Catherine before the tavern. And the most savage 
 among them even fell upon the images of the Virgin, 
 and the words of one man are still ringing in my 
 ears, as he shouted, * If we already belong to the 
 
240 The God Seeker 
 
 devil, we need no cross and no God! '—and he de- 
 stroyed the crucifixes. To be sure a few people 
 have opposed this sacrilege. Mein Gott ! their re- 
 monstrances have been in vain, they have been 
 repulsed by the stronger party. Fights and quarrels 
 prevail, making our existence terrible." 
 
 " And could you do nothing ? " asked the horri- 
 fied Wahnfred. 
 
 " Carpenter, the times are not what they were 
 when the word of the fire guardian was respected. 
 However, I was foolish enough to attempt to re- 
 store order. ' So then ! ' they cried ; ' the old man 
 who has led us into all this has still something to 
 say! To-day is not yesterday, to-day the younger 
 and stronger men shall rule. A council! We need 
 no council ; let each one take what he wants. Down 
 with this rich peasant ! We will have our share of 
 his possessions!' At midnight they came — a 
 rabble and mob such as I did not suppose could be 
 mustered in Trawies; it seemed as if all at once 
 every cutthroat and robber from far and wide were 
 let loose there. At midnight they came with 
 spades, scythes, and pitchforks. I started to waken 
 my men and women, — it was unnecessary, they had 
 already joined the mob, and they attacked me with 
 my own tools. One old woman, half blind and 
 lame, remained faithful, going with us when we 
 were cast out from our home. She helped me carry 
 my sick wife. My little daughter Sela was the 
 only cool-headed one among us; it occurred to her 
 that we could not go out in the darkness without a 
 light, so she hastily lighted the lantern from the 
 
Godless 241 
 
 glowing embers on the hearth ; otherwise we should 
 have lost, our ancestral fire, for I had completely 
 forgotten it. We went far into the gorge of the 
 Diirbach, where we took refuge in a deserted hut. 
 And there we are to-day and shall consider ourselves 
 fortunate if they allow us even to live." 
 
 " This is joyful news which you bring me from 
 the valley, fire guardian! " said Wahnfred, with the 
 irony of inward rage. " But what of the others, can 
 they do nothing ? " 
 
 " Who ?" 
 
 *' Bart-from-Tarn, Firnerhans " 
 
 " Firnerhans! " interrupted Gallo. Jesus Maria! 
 Carpenter, you do not know — you do not know 
 about it yet ? " 
 
 What more ? " asked Wahnfred. 
 But how should you know ? The fogs that 
 have come up here from Trawies, have they not 
 been bloody ? Did not the mountains tremble, 
 when the horror occurred ? — Firnerhans was one of 
 them! " 
 
 " What do you mean, Gallo ? " 
 
 " Your cousin, the wood-cutter from Tarn, was 
 also one of them. There were eleven. With eleven 
 heads have you been bought, Wahnfred ! Con- 
 demned and beheaded in the church — O, my God, 
 what a terrible world we live in! " 
 
 With this cry the old man broke down completely 
 and covered his face with his cloak. 
 
 Wahnfred stood like a statue in the morning sun- 
 light, his shadow lying across the snow. " Could 
 
 this shadow have stood upright," says the old 
 
 16 
 
242 The God Seeker 
 
 chronicle, " it would have reached to the top of the 
 highest tree." 
 
 Fire guardian," cried Wahnfred suddenly, fac- 
 ing the old man with threatening mien and clenched 
 fists, " why did you not send for me ? " 
 
 Kill me on the spot," muttered Gallo. " I 
 should like that best of all. Not send for you ! 
 Even had I wished to break my oath, there was no 
 time. And you could have done nothing. Tell 
 me, you are not thinking of going to Trawies now ! " 
 
 Wahnfred was silent. 
 
 " Take your wife and child and seek a new home 
 under a new name! " 
 
 " You may do it, if you can! " answered Wahn- 
 fred, with a strange ring in his voice. 
 
 I cannot," said Gallo; " I have grown old upon 
 the land of my forefathers; I shall perish with my 
 home. You are still young enough to found a home 
 upon another soil, to forget the horrors which you 
 have not witnessed, to earn your bread by the skill 
 of your hands, and to lead a peaceful life." 
 
 But Wahnfred answered : " I will go to Trawies ! " 
 
 " Oh, could you only go as Moses went down 
 from Mt. Sinai, with a table of new laws! " 
 
 And Wahnfred said : " I will go I " 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 FROM this isolated mountain region, the two 
 men now descended. Their path was blocked, 
 as if Nature had also pronounced her interdict, or 
 as if a good spirit would prevent their return to the 
 cursed valley. Through the gorges rushed and 
 foamed a wild torrent, which proclaimed the break- 
 ing up of winter; a warm wind brought down a 
 gentle rain and the peaks of the Trasank were hid- 
 den by a fog. 
 
 They took a circuitous route towards the forest 
 of the Tarn. Wahnfred longed to reach Bart's 
 house to see his wife and child. When he perceived 
 the thin blue smoke rising from behind the trees, 
 his cheeks glowed and his eyes sparkled, as on that 
 day, now far distant, when as a lover he had gone to 
 the remote valley of the Trasank. 
 
 Suddenly he stopped, and seizing his tumbled 
 mass of hair and rough beard with both hands, he 
 said: " Gallo, could I not cut this off? " 
 
 " You must love your wife uncommonly well," 
 replied the fire guardian, who, in spite of his seri- 
 ousness, always had a spark of humour in him, ' ' quite 
 uncommonly well, to think so much of having a 
 smooth face just now. But I think she will like you 
 
 243 
 
244 The God Seeker 
 
 even with the long beard, if that is the only bad 
 habit you have brought from your hermitage." 
 
 " Oh, I am quite a different being from what I 
 was up there. I feel so strangely warm and young, 
 my Gallo, strangely young! How we can freeze at 
 times! And how despairing and hard we can be 
 against man and how unthankful to God! This 
 rushing stream below us, — you must feel it too,— it 
 will carry all evil away from Trawies. Spring is 
 coming; we shall plough our fields in peace, mow 
 our meadows, and graze our herds. It will be again 
 as of old, and we shall see only the bright-eyed trees 
 about us! Oh, come, Gallo, come! I could shout 
 for joy!" 
 
 Pleased and excited he dragged Gallo with him 
 towards the house. Suddenly they noticed a man 
 hastening out to meet them, who motioned with his 
 hand and called in a low, warning voice: " Come 
 no farther! Into the woods, quick! " 
 
 It was Bart himself, and as he came up to them 
 he pushed them back into the forest. 
 
 " What is the meaning of all this ? " asked the fire 
 guardian. 
 
 "The bailiffs," said Bart, almost breathless. 
 " Wahnfred, the bailiffs are looking for you ! You 
 must not be discovered. They have learned that 
 your family are with me and now they have been 
 watching the premises for days, rightly guessing 
 that you would return some time to see your wife 
 and child. They have searched the house from top 
 to bottom, overturning everything, and a sentinel 
 constantly stands before the door." 
 
Godless 245 
 
 " No one shall block the way to my wife! " said 
 Wahnfred, starting forward. 
 
 " Wahnfred! " whispered the fire guardian, seiz- 
 ing him by the arm, " you have lived without her 
 for months, and you can endure it a short time 
 longer; do not be foolish! " 
 
 " I will see my wife ! I will have my child ! They 
 are in danger! Bart-from-Tarn, speak the truth, 
 the bailiffs are torturing them, carrying them off, 
 killing them!" 
 
 " They will not do that because they wish to use 
 them as a decoy for you. But do not increase their 
 peril, carpenter; only think! you would ruin both 
 yourself and them. Go back to the wilderness! " 
 
 " Never!" 
 
 " Then hide until I call you. I will do my best 
 to deceive the bailiffs. Yesterday over on the 
 Karebene the skeleton of a man was found, left by 
 the wolves. I will tell them it is that of the fugi- 
 tive. Perhaps they will then go away." 
 
 " I should think," said the fire guardian, " that 
 the authorities might have been satisfied to have 
 ruined and cursed us and not still be searching for 
 the murderer in Trawies. We belong to the devil 
 now and have nothing more to do with them. Why 
 don't you tell them that, Bart? " 
 
 " We have a right to the protection of the gov- 
 ernment," said Bart, " but excommunication from 
 the Church means being partially outlawed, and we 
 shall soon be entirely so. To tell the truth, my 
 friends, it is already the case: we are as free as the 
 birds in the air." 
 
246 The God Seeker 
 
 " That is no news to me," replied Gallo. 
 
 " They have also tried to burn my house," related 
 Bart further, " but on account of the decoy they 
 have let it stand. They have only plundered my 
 pantry. They call themselves soldiers and are of 
 the same race as ourselves, but the mercy they show- 
 is about the size of a toad. Since they consider us 
 damned they play the very devil with us. I should 
 prefer the Turks." 
 
 " And you speak the truth, — they are doing no 
 harm to my dear people ?" asked Wahnfred. 
 
 " You would do them the greatest injury," said 
 Bart, " were you to go to them now; the spies 
 would kill you before their eyes." 
 
 " Why did not the boy come with you, Bart ? 
 Why do you not tell me that my family are well ? 
 Keep nothing back, Bart." 
 
 "You may believe me, carpenter, I wish the best 
 for you. I know how we are indebted to you. As 
 long as I live, your people shall not suffer, so far as 
 man can prevent it. What God wills, we cannot 
 prevent." 
 
 " Let us go now, Wahnfred," said the fire guar- 
 dian. " I see the gleam of a bayonet down there. 
 You cannot go back to the Ritscher forest — you 
 would perish; so come with me to my hut in the 
 Durbach gorge. I will guard you as well as I can, 
 and will bring you news from wife and child until 
 you may see them. Come with me! " 
 
 " No, friends, I cannot. Bart, you pass in and 
 out of your house ; you can see them. Lend me 
 your clothes, that I may go disguised." 
 
Godless 247 
 
 He said it almost jubilantly, but his two com- 
 panions warned him to take no chances by which he 
 might lose everything. 
 
 " Go then! Go quickly, Bart. Go and tell them 
 that — O my God, what shall you tell them ? that 
 they must think of their Wahnfred, must be happy, 
 must sleep as Wahnfred will sleep. The winter is 
 going fast and the first violet of spring I will bring 
 to them. God bless them!" Sobbing he threw 
 himself upon Bart's breast. " God bless my wife ! " 
 
 What a strange man ! He could almost- forget his 
 family and now all at once he was overcome by the 
 thought of them. With difficulty the fire guardian 
 succeeded in getting him to his hut. 
 
 " It is not always good for a man," said Gallo, on 
 the way, " when his hands and feet follow his heart 
 alone. To-day he goes where to-morrow he would 
 not be; to-day he does that which to-morrow he 
 regrets." 
 
 "It is useless to talk, fire guardian," replied 
 Wahnfred. " No clever words will help an inward 
 pain." 
 
 At last they arrived in the gorge. The water 
 gushing from the clefts of the rocks and over the 
 precipices was loud and boisterous. It resembled a 
 brown flood pouring its rolling waves upon the un- 
 even ground, its seething foam white as snow where 
 it dashed over the stones. Here it was digging its 
 way under the roots of trees; there, battling with 
 some opposing obstacle or undermining a wall of 
 snow, breaking down the huge mass which for a 
 moment stemmed the flood, then, separating into 
 
248 The God Seeker 
 
 bits, sent it on its way again. Trunks of trees, their 
 limbs broken by the wind, came floating down and 
 crashed against the rocks. Masses of earth seemed 
 to come to life, and were whirled along in the rush- 
 ing, foaming stream by the unfettered forces of na- 
 ture. Such is the tragic death of the still white 
 snow. Must everything — even the gentlest and 
 tenderest objects — at some time struggle in the 
 deadly combat ? If not in life, then in death! 
 
 The fire guardian walked as rapidly as was possi- 
 ble amid all the confusion of the ruined forest. 
 Remembering that his hut did not stand far from 
 the water, he would not have been surprised had 
 the elements lent a helping hand to the Church in 
 sending the curse upon them. They were obliged 
 to climb over the precipices, for the path through 
 the gorge had been destroyed by the flood. Now 
 and then an avalanche would come tearing down 
 beside them, bringing with it earth, trees, and 
 shrubbery. Upon a high rock in the midst of all 
 this chaos of rushing waters and broken trees stood 
 Sela, the fire guardian's little daughter. Her blue 
 gown shimmered through the dripping branches, 
 and the foam of the dashing waves wrapped her in a 
 soft mist. With one white hand she was clinging 
 to an overhanging bough, while she bent over to 
 pick some cress growing on the bank. 
 
 Her father called to her, asking what she was do- 
 ing in that dangerous spot. The thundering noise 
 drowned his voice and she did not hear him. Her 
 little face was glowing as on that morning when she 
 had accompanied Erlefried to the Midsummer Fes- 
 
Godless H9 
 
 tival ; her great wise eyes were as calm and gentle as 
 if she were standing in the midst of a flower garden. 
 As she picked the cress, she placed it in her skirt 
 which she had gathered up in her hand. When she 
 had plucked the last bit she gazed at the wild scene 
 about her and down into the raging waters, roaring 
 and plunging amid the ruins of the forest, but her 
 eyes remained calm. 
 
 The two men watched the child, then Wahnfred, 
 taking the hand of the fire guardian, said: " We 
 are not lost." 
 
 All at once the girl discovered her father, and, 
 nimble as a chamois, she sprang from stone to stone 
 until she stood before him. Silent but happy, she 
 nestled close to him, reaching to his breast. 
 
 " What art thou doing with the cress, Sela ? " 
 
 *' Mother's hands are hot," answered the child, 
 " and her head is feverish. This cool cress will be 
 good for her." 
 
 They soon arrived at the hut, which was in dan- 
 ger from the approaching water below and from the 
 broken tree suspended above the roof. The girl 
 went at once to her mother and whispered : "Father 
 has come now." Then she laid the cooling green 
 cress upon the hot hands and forehead of the in- 
 valid, gave her water to drink, and caressed her 
 cheeks, regarding her tenderly with her gentle blue 
 eyes. And this glance rested like a soft spring sky 
 upon the wasted face of the woman, seeming to re- 
 fresh her to the depths of her being. 
 
 When at last she fell asleep to behold her child's 
 future in sunny dreams, or to prepare herself for 
 
250 The God Seeker 
 
 that everlasting sleep which knows no past and no 
 future, Sela slipped away on tiptoe and busied 
 herself contentedly with putting things to rights 
 and preparing nourishment for the invalid when she 
 should awake. 
 
 The fire guardian had once said : " So long as the 
 last angel has not left us, I will not give up 
 Trawies. 
 
 Yes, old man, he who has a loving child should 
 not despair of the world. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 WAHNFRED remained for weeks in the little 
 hut of the exiled fire guardian. He watched 
 the raging and then the gradual diminishing of the 
 flood; he watched the last snow-banks melt and the 
 meadows resuming their carpet of green. He also 
 watched the quiet sorrow of the fire guardian for 
 his dying wife, and the active little nurse, inexhaus- 
 ible, never sad, brightening the whole house with 
 her expressive eyes. She had never betrayed her 
 knowledge of the danger in which they lived, and 
 her silence on the subject her father took to be the 
 confidence of childhood. So he was much surprised 
 one day, when outside of the hut Sela said to him : 
 " Mother says she will die, father, if thou dost not 
 laugh again." 
 
 He did not laugh ; he burst into tears on hearing 
 this from his child. And Sela wept with him, and 
 so bitterly that she was convulsed with sobs, and 
 she struggled in vain to check the tears in which her 
 long-repressed sorrow now found relief. 
 
 She finally went to the spring and bathed her face 
 with cold water. She plucked a daisy, carried it 
 into the hut, and, laying it on her mother's breast, 
 said : " One has come already! " She then resumed 
 
 251 
 
252 The God Seeker 
 
 her cheerful mien, her eyes were once more calm, 
 and the peace of childhood seemed again to take 
 possession of her soul. 
 
 Wahnfred watched this woman and child and 
 thought of his own dear ones. He had no suspicion 
 that his wife also was declining, faithfully nursed 
 by his little son. The carpenter's wife had grieved 
 sorely over the flight and danger of her husband. 
 She had confided to no one how her feeling of home- 
 lessness and her anxiety were gnawing at her very 
 life, and at last she fell ill and was now failing rapidly. 
 
 The fire guardian was well aware of all this, but 
 he dared not reveal it to Wahnfred, fearing that he 
 would hasten to his dying wife and thus double her 
 danger. Gallo always returned from his visits to 
 Bart's house with favourable news; and Mistress 
 Wahnfred had herself begged him to conceal her 
 condition from her husband, that he might keep 
 away and not fall into the hands of the enemy. For 
 the spies still guarded the house more closely than 
 ever, taking it for granted that the illness of the wife 
 would entice the husband to her side. 
 
 These heartless wretches had the craftiness to 
 reckon upon human emotions in others. Whenever 
 a stranger — a pedlar, a wood-cutter, or a beggar — 
 attempted to enter the house, he was thoroughly 
 searched and knocked about so ruthlessly that he 
 had no desire to return. Each bailiff had received 
 a minute description of the fugitive; one of them 
 had known the man personally in his younger days. 
 Wahnfred's head was to be the price of their liberty. 
 The one who caught him was from that moment to 
 
Godless 253 
 
 he freed from military service. They were all 
 heavily armed, for they realised that they were in 
 the land of the enemy. They also knew that in con- 
 •sequence of the ban these woodspeople were de- 
 serted by all outside. 
 
 And so Gallo, on returning from his visits, always 
 reported that the bailiffs were still there, and that 
 Mistress Wahnfred had sent her greetings and word 
 that her husband should run into no danger on her 
 account. All the same, Wahnfred was constantly 
 planning some way by which he could go disguised 
 to his family; the thought had even occurred to 
 him to raise a company of volunteers in Trawies and 
 to take the house by storm. 
 
 " So far," said Gallo, " you have allowed me to 
 dissuade you from going to Trawies, and you need 
 not regret it. You have heard the kind of news 
 that comes to us in the Diirbach gorge ; you have 
 heard it, yet you can form no idea of the condition 
 of the people in Trawies now. They are plundering 
 houses and ravishing women, but for a dying woman 
 they do nothing." 
 
 " For a dying woman! " said Wahnfred, starting 
 from his seat. " What do you mean ? " 
 
 For a moment the fire guardian was at a loss how 
 to answer. 
 
 " What do you mean, Gallo ? A dying woman ?" 
 
 " You see, do you not, that my wife is dying and 
 that we have no one to help us ? " 
 
 " You are keeping something from me, Gallo, and 
 I will know this moment the exact condition of my 
 wife!" 
 
2 54 The God Seeker 
 
 "You can imagine that she is not very happy, 
 Wahnfred; that this terrible trouble must neces- 
 sarily affect a delicate woman ; that would not sur- 
 prise you ? ' * 
 
 " She is ill! " cried Wahnfred ; " you know more 
 than you will tell. Gallo, do not deceive me! I 
 will go to her now, if it costs me my life! Only I 
 must know first how I am to find her." 
 
 " We should be prepared for everything in this 
 world," answered Gallo. 
 
 " She is dead! " cried Wahnfred. 
 
 " What are you saying, carpenter ? Nothing of 
 the kind has yet occurred. But as I do not wish 
 to take the responsibility of keeping it from you 
 longer: if you would see her once more, then you 
 certainly cannot wait until the bailiffs are gone." 
 
 " I will go to her now," said Wahnfred with de- 
 cision. " Nothing shall prevent me. And if neces- 
 sary, I will force my way with my knife to my sick 
 wife." 
 
 " We will try something else. Bart and I have 
 talked it all over. We will carry a bale of straw into 
 the house," 
 
 " Why is it possible all at once to do that which 
 you would never consent to do before?" cried 
 Wahnfred excitedly. "Gallo, had you kept it from 
 me too long, I could never have forgiven you ! " 
 
 They started immediately and ascended the 
 mountain, Wahnfred far in advance of the aged 
 man. He had wished to carry the first violet to 
 his wife, and now he trod upon the young flowers; 
 but his step was so light and fleet that he scarcely 
 
Godless 255 
 
 injured these blue eyes of the reawakening earth. 
 He flew rather than walked, and in vain the fire 
 guardian called after him not to run blindly into 
 danger. Upon the summit they were met by 
 Bart. 
 
 "Ah, you have come already, carpenter!" he 
 cried. 
 
 " Bart," said Wahnfred, seizing him by the hand 
 and trying to urge him forward, " Bart, we have 
 no time to lose. You have taken my wife into your 
 house and for her sake have endured the presence 
 of the bailiffs. You have been a good friend to us, 
 so you will tell me honestly how I shall find her." 
 
 She is still alive," answered Bart, " and yonder 
 in the thicket the bale of straw is ready for you." 
 
 It was made out of the longest corn-stalks of the 
 preceding summer. Wahnfred opened it and 
 crawled inside, the men tying it together over him. 
 Then, placing it upon two carrying-poles, they bore 
 it towards the house in the Tarn. 
 
 " It is fortunate," said Bart, " that the spies went 
 yesterday to a shooting-match and have not yet re- 
 turned, with the exception of one, who sits before 
 the door carving for his amusement all sorts of fig- 
 ures on the wall. To deceive him, I have already 
 had a few bales of straw carried in this morning. He 
 thrust his spear into the first and demanded of us 
 what we were carrying. Then I asked him if he did 
 not know a bale of straw when he saw it. If not, 
 he might go to work and thrash it out himself, 
 bring it into the house, and pile it up in the loft. 
 Of course he had no idea of working, so he settled 
 
256 The God Seeker 
 
 back on his bench, asking no questions when the 
 second bale was brought in." 
 
 "Does she know that I am coming?" asked 
 Wahnfred. 
 
 " Be quiet, carpenter, we are close to the house." 
 They carried their burden across the grass, 
 through the little yard, where the spring was splash- 
 ing into the trough ; they carried it slowly, uncon- 
 cernedly towards the door. 
 
 The bailiff was lounging on his bench, with a dish 
 of cream before him, to which he had helped him- 
 self in the pantry. He was staring angrily at the re- 
 mainder of the delicious viand, for he wished to eat 
 more of it, yet his appetite was satisfied. When he 
 saw the men approaching with the bale of straw, his 
 duty all at once occurred to him. 
 
 " Is that straw again ? " he demanded crossly. 
 " Yes, soldier," answered Bart. " You must en- 
 joy standing sentinel over straw ! " 
 
 " Is that all straw ?" cried the bailiff, striking 
 the bale with his spear. 
 
 Instead of feeling alarm, Bart lost his temper. 
 •" Why are you always suspecting my straw ? " he 
 cried. 
 
 " Put it down! " snarled the soldier. 
 " Oh, can't you understand a joke ?" said the fire 
 guardian appeasingly. 
 
 Notwithstanding, the bailiff tore the bundle from 
 the poles and broke it open. The men sought to 
 force him back, but he threatened with his gun, at 
 the same time stirring up the straw. As it fell apart, 
 Wahnired sprang out, and seizing the frightened, 
 
Godless 257 
 
 reeling soldier by the throat, exclaimed: " So this 
 is how I have to fight my way to my dying wife ! " 
 And half strangling the man he flung him against 
 the wall. 
 
 He rushed into the house and entered the inner 
 room. This was dimly lighted, the little windows 
 being thickly covered. Upon the table burned a 
 red taper. Mistress Bart, forgetting the curse, had 
 brought out the crucifix which she had saved from 
 the plunderers. This old wooden cross had stood 
 by the deathbeds of many members of her own 
 family, and it should now comfort her dear com- 
 panion, who for hours had been struggling with 
 death. 
 
 " Oh, my merciful Lord Jesus Christ," Mistress 
 Bart had prayed before the crucifix, " we are Thine, 
 we will never leave Thee. Wicked men would tear 
 us from Thee, but we embrace Thy head with its 
 crown of thorns, we flee to Thy sacred wounds! 
 Oh, loosen Thine arm from the cross and hold us 
 fast, us poor sinners, for whom Thou hast died ! Do 
 not desert us when man casts us out! Stand by us 
 when the evil one would destroy us! Help us in 
 life, help us in death, help us, my Jesus!" 
 
 In the dark corner of the room by the table two 
 little white hands were uplifted in prayer. Thej 
 belonged to Erlefried, who was kneeling there, ex- 
 hausted from his night watches and weeping, and 
 who knew nothing else to do for his mother than to 
 pray before the image of the Saviour. 
 
 Close by on a low bed lay the sick woman, her 
 face white as wax ble^ajched by the sup. TJjai 
 
258 The God Seeker 
 
 peculiar radiance which rests like a reflection of youth 
 upon the countenance of the dying, played about 
 her head. Her eyes were open and she seemed to 
 be looking towards the door. She had begged him 
 not to come and yet she hoped that he would come. 
 
 She did not hear the noise without, but as the 
 door now opened, her face brightened even before 
 she saw him. Wahnfred stopped, terrified. The 
 awfulness of death calmed his excited mood. Erie- 
 fried advanced shyly and anxiously, as though un- 
 certain whether it were his father or a stranger. 
 Wahnfred laid his hand upon the boy's head and 
 gazed at his wife. He was rooted to the spot, as if 
 here also a sentinel were standing; but this one 
 could not be flung aside like the other. 
 
 His wife, looking up at him with unspeakable sor- 
 row, tried to smile. At last she moved her lips: 
 " Wahnfred, Wahnfred ! take thy hand off the boy, 
 I implore thee! " 
 
 Her words were like a knife through his heart; 
 quickly he withdrew his hand ; he felt as if he must 
 flee. She made a slight movement, motioning to 
 him to stay and to lay his hand in hers. 
 
 " I woke thee, my Wahnfred, that night when 
 the clock struck one. Thou hast been a long time 
 away from me." 
 
 " Never," he replied, his voice choking with sobs, 
 " never will I leave thee again ! " 
 
 If only I need not leave thee so soon! " she 
 said. " I would that I might stay with thee, for 
 thou hast been most unhappy." 
 
 He fell on his knees beside her bed and pressing 
 
Godless 259 
 
 his face against her hand wept aloud. Her eyes 
 rested earnestly and lovingly upon him and a tear 
 trembled under her lashes. 
 
 " I am thankful, Wahnfred, that thou canst 
 weep," she said softly; " these tears are precious 
 pearls which I shall carry with me into eternity. 
 Theywilllightthe dark way and I shall find my God." 
 
 " Take me with thee, dearest wife, take me with 
 thee!" 
 
 " No, Wahnfred, thou must stay a while longer 
 on the earth and atone for what thou hast done. 
 And thou must not despair! Do not mind the 
 curse of the Church, but the curse from thine own 
 hand thou must remove ! I know thou didst take 
 the oath to do the deed, and thy intentions were 
 not evil. Thou art not a wicked man, my Wahn- 
 fred, and wilt yet redeem thyself. Only do not for- 
 get to say to our Erlefried : Sin will always be sin ; 
 even though it be done that good may come, it will 
 always be sin ! " 
 
 " I promise thee, my wife, I promise thee as 
 many times as I have hairs on my head, that I will 
 do penance for everything and make reparation as 
 far as I am able. By this marriage ring, Marie, I 
 pledge my faith to thee once more ! " 
 
 " Think of our child ; besides that I ask nothing. 
 Do not mourn for me. Thou hast always been a 
 loving husband and my life with thee has been a 
 paradise. When thou hast finished thy task and 
 canst lay thyself to rest, then I will come to thee 
 and together we will go to our Lord. Dost thou 
 hear the sweet singing ? " 
 
'26o The God Seeker 
 
 She listened ; he tried to listen also, but heard 
 only the gnawing of a wood-beetle in the wall. 
 
 " That means the death hour! " whispered Mis- 
 tress Bart to her husband, who was standing by the 
 door. 
 
 " How wonderfully they sing!" murmured the 
 invalid. " It is the angels' choir. The room is so 
 dark. Will it never be day ? I should so like to see 
 the beloved light once more! " 
 
 They removed the covering from the windows, 
 letting in a flood of sunlight. She gazed at it 
 fixedly as though wondering if that were the light 
 she had meant. Finally her lids drooped and she 
 slept. Wahnfred knelt by her side, holding his boy 
 pressed close to him, his eyes riveted upon the 
 slumberer. 
 
 The last gleam of sunlight had long since van- 
 ished ; an oil lamp had been placed in the room, its 
 soft light flickering on the wall. The sick woman 
 was still asleep, Wahnfred sitting by her side, 
 watching. 
 
 After midnight she suddenly started. " Wake 
 up ! Wake up ! " she cried in a strong, clear voice. 
 " It has struck one! " 
 
 "Art thou better, Marie?" asked Wahnfred 
 softly, bending his face over hers. "Thou hast 
 slept well." 
 
 Her eyes were open, but he did not know whether 
 she saw him. Her breathing, at first scarcely audi- 
 ble, quickened, then almost ceased. Mistress Bart, 
 who had not left the bedside, lighted with tremb- 
 ling hands the red taper and murmured a prayer.' 
 
Godless 261 
 
 Wahnfred sprang to his feet, crying: " What is it ? 
 Erlefried! Erlefried ! " 
 
 " Let him sleep," said the woman. And then, 
 turning towards the bed: " Beloved sister, go with 
 God ! Pray for us in heaven ! — Close her eyes, 
 Wahnfred! It is all over ! " 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE house in the Tarn was once more free. The 
 sentinel, at first stunned by his fall, lay for a 
 while senseless. Bart disarmed him and concealed 
 the weapons; he then examined the carving on the 
 wall, which the soldier had just finished. It was of 
 a deer running, pursued by dogs and hunters. In 
 the Tarn forest still stands a house on the walls of 
 which may be seen the remnants of an old carving, 
 said to be the same made by the sentinel while on 
 the watch for the outcast, Wahnfred. 
 
 When the soldier recovered consciousness and be- 
 came aware that he was without his weapons, he 
 slunk away and disappeared. 
 
 Upon a patch of green meadow it the edge of the 
 forest, almost on the very spot where in the winter 
 Erlefried had made the snow-image of his father, 
 stood Bart and Wahnfred, measuring a little place 
 for a grave. Dew-drops sparkled on the grass, the 
 birds were holding high carnival in the trees, some 
 -twittering and chirping, others straining their little 
 throats in a loud, jubilant song. In the valleys the 
 morning mists were merging into a soft, gauze-like 
 veil, which floated over mountains and trees, then 
 rose and melted in the blue ether. Up here on the 
 
 262 
 
Godless 263 
 
 heights, the sun already shone brightly from a 
 cloudless sky. A cool breath, laden with spicy per- 
 fumes from the budding forest, with its young 
 plants and flowers, was wafted through the sunlit 
 trees and across the meadow. 
 
 As Bart was about to thrust his spade into the 
 ground, Wahnfred laid his hand upon the tool, say- 
 ing: " Let us save the turf and take it up carefully, 
 that we may lay it down again for a cover. It will 
 soon be green once more, and strangers must not 
 know where she lies." 
 
 " That can be done very easily," answered Bart, 
 cutting out a square of turf. Then Wahnfred also 
 took a spade and commenced to dig. The root of a 
 pine standing near by was stretched directly across 
 the grave. 
 
 " We must chop that away," said Bart. 
 
 " I would rather leave it as it is and dig around 
 and under it," replied the carpenter. " The forest 
 shall protect her with its arm." 
 
 They then proceeded with their work, neither 
 speaking a word. Not until they stood shoulder- 
 deep in the grave and the drops of sweat covered 
 Bart's forehead, did he stop for a moment, resting 
 his elbows upon the handle of his spade, to watch 
 Wahnfred digging. 
 
 " Take your time," he said ; " we shall finish early 
 enough." 
 
 " The world shall have her no longer," muttered 
 Wahnfred. 
 
 " You must not torment yourself, carpenter! In 
 my house she suffered no harm and I loved her like 
 
264 The God Seeker 
 
 a sister. And you too, Wahnfred, you know where 
 your home is, yours and Erlefried's. So long as I 
 have a home, you belong to us. I think you will 
 be safer now. Let come what may to Trawies, we 
 three, you, the fire guardian, and I, will stand to- 
 gether. And with such spring weather as we have 
 to-day, one would think that all must come right 
 again." 
 
 " It will," answered the carpenter, still digging. 
 And he would have kept on until he reached the 
 heart of creation, had not a clear voice, crying, 
 " Father! " recalled him to himself. 
 
 Above in the bright sunlight stood Erlefried, At 
 first he gazed with horror into the dark depths be- 
 low him, then he repeated his message: Mistress 
 Bart had sent word that Wahnfred should think of 
 himself and come to dinner. " The others have 
 already eaten," said the boy, " but I am waiting for 
 thee." 
 
 So the man emerged from the grave and taking 
 Erlefried's hand they entered the house. 
 
 At the burial-service on the following day no one 
 was present besides the few members of the family 
 and the fire guardian, who had brought with him in 
 a lantern a light from the ancestral fire, which, as 
 messenger from the olden days, should accompany 
 the dead woman to the grave. She lay upon a bier, 
 dressed in a long white robe, for which Mistress 
 Bart had contributed her finest linen. The hands 
 were not folded across her breast, but lying natur- 
 ally at her sides, for she no longer prayed — she 
 rested. 
 
Godless 265 
 
 No physician had given a certificate of death ; Bart 
 had felt of her cold, stiff hand and said: " She will 
 never wake again." They had no priest to pro- 
 nounce a blessing; the fire guardian placed a cross 
 of evergreen upon her brow, saying: " * Blessed are 
 the dead that die in the Lord,' for they are freed 
 from sin. We shall follow thee, dear sister, when 
 we have discharged our duty on earth ; then shall 
 we enter our eternal rest." 
 
 They laid the body into the coffin, which was 
 rough and crude and evidently not made by the 
 carpenter. 
 
 Wahnfred once more gently stroked the right 
 hand of his wife, saying: " Sleep sweetly! Sleep 
 sweetly! I will not say good-bye." 
 
 And then Bart closed the lid and nailed it down. 
 Hearing the noise, Erlefried hastened up with some 
 violets in his hand to lay upon his mother's breast. 
 
 "It is too late, child," said Bart, and his wife 
 added: " Besides, it is better not to place offerings 
 in a coffin, for the saying is, that one must mourn 
 until they have decayed." 
 
 " Let us carry her now to her resting-place," said 
 the fire guardian, taking up the poles. " We have 
 loved her, but God has loved her more and He has 
 taken her to to Himself. Help me, Bart!" 
 
 They bore the burden out of the house and across 
 the meadow, Mistress Bart carrying the light from 
 the fire, which had been so sacredly preserved and 
 handed down by their ancestors. 
 
 As they approached the grave, the bearers started 
 back in cdarm. A pair of little ashen-grey birds 
 
266 The God Seeker 
 
 fluttered out and away into the bushes; they were 
 two young snow-buntings that had been seeking for 
 insects. No grave is so deep that life cannot enter 
 it! 
 
 They lowered the cofifin as quickly as possible, 
 throwing in earth with their hands and shovels until 
 the last bit of white was covered. After they had 
 replaced the sod, they brushed away the loose dirt 
 with twigs, leaving scarcely a trace of the newly 
 made grave. 
 
 Then Wahnfred, turning towards the others, 
 said: " Now I want to thank you; you, Bart-from- 
 Tarn, for the friendship shown my wife under your 
 roof and at your table; and you, Mistress Bart, for 
 the love and tenderness with which you have nursed 
 and comforted her; and you, other inmates of the 
 house, I thank for all that you have done for her. 
 I thank you, Gallo, for bringing up the fire and 
 for helping me to bury her. And now," he said, 
 seizing Bart by the hand, " I will ask you to keep 
 my boy and to be a friend and father to him when I 
 am not here. I am going down to Trawies ! ' ' 
 
 After shaking hands with them all, he pressed his 
 boy to his heart and, turning away from the grave, 
 walked rapidly towards the valley. 
 
 The people dispersed, the fire guardian to his 
 home, the others into the house, which now seemed 
 large and empty. 
 
 Only one person remained upon the grave — Erie- 
 fried. He stood alone, still holding in his hand the 
 little bouquet of violets intended for his mother. 
 Why had he not been allowed to lay it upon her 
 
Godless 267 
 
 breast ? For would he not mourn much longer than 
 it would take them to wither and die ? And who 
 had asked him whether he wished to live on after 
 he had ceased to mourn for his dead mother ? 
 
 Such were the boy's thoughts; he felt something 
 like resentment towards Bart and his wife and he 
 did not wish to re-enter the house. He could 
 hardly realise that his mother lay beneath him, 
 buried in the moist earth. As he stood thus, deli- 
 cate and slender in physique, his thick curls throw- 
 ing a shadow over his face, increasing its seriousness, 
 he was no longer a child. The light agility of the 
 boy was gone and new presentiments and thoughts, 
 far beyond his age, were imprinted upon his brow. 
 
 This one winter had developed him more than 
 years filled with the ordinary events of a happy 
 boyhood. Hard experiences age a man and de- 
 velop a boy quickly. Our bodies move in that aim- 
 less, wild freedom which we call the exuberance of 
 childhood only so long as they are not held in re- 
 straint by the brain. When this, by time, training, 
 or experience, is strong enough to control the body, 
 then manhood begins. Erlefried pondered and 
 brooded, then listened to the singing of the birds. 
 
 ' ' You are happy," he thought. ' * Ah, could I only 
 know what you are saying to one another! My 
 mother once told me that in order to understand the 
 song of birds, one must touch the flesh of a certain 
 dragon, but she also said that it was a monster, de- 
 vouring everyone who crossed its path." 
 
 Stop, my boy! That dragon, by which the Ger- 
 man myth has symbolised earthly passion, has not 
 
268 The God Seeker 
 
 yet touched thee ! The birds in the branches are 
 perhaps angels, telling each other how they have 
 come down from heaven, where to-day a great festi- 
 val is being held. For a sufferer, a faithful, loving 
 wife and mother, robed in snow5'^ white, has arrived 
 there. The flower-bells have been ringing in the 
 garden of paradise, and the archangel is awaiting 
 the newcomer at the golden gates, to lead her, ac- 
 companied by virgins and martyrs, to Mary, the 
 Queen of Heaven, who embraces her, and, placing a 
 crown of roses upon her head, gives her the choic- 
 est seat at her feet. 
 
 This was the song that the birds sang to little 
 Erlefried as he stood musing upon his mother's 
 grave. It was a deer that finally aroused him from 
 his dreams. The creature was standing among the 
 trees, looking at the boy, who was now a child again. 
 
 " Why dost thou not run away ? " cried Erlefried, 
 almost threateningly. "Dost thou not realise that I 
 am a man, who might shoot thee ?" 
 
 The animal, with head erect, trotted a few paces 
 nearer; how defiantly he shook his antlers at the 
 boy! 
 
 " Go," said the lad, " I will not harm thee! Let 
 us be good friends to-day ! For see, my mother has 
 just died ! " 
 
 The deer turned suddenly and darted away 
 through the crackling underbrush, startled by the 
 sound of someone approaching. 
 
 Sela, the beautiful little maid, now came stealing 
 up. She was, however, no longer very small, she was 
 only beautiful, and by this Erlefried recognised her. 
 
Godless 269 
 
 <( 
 
 Erlefried ! " she called. He heard her voice, he 
 looked at her, but knew not how to reply. 
 
 " Erlefried," repeated the girl, and she stood close 
 beside him, " thou didst tell me once that whenever 
 I wanted thee, I should call thee ; and I want thee 
 now! " 
 
 " Shall I carry thee over the stream ? Well, here 
 I am," said Erlefried, looking into Sela's fresh 
 young face. 
 
 " I only want to see thee, Erlefried, then I will 
 go away again. Yes, I will go now." 
 
 " Dost thou like violets ? " he asked, holding the 
 little bouquet towards her. 
 
 Taking it in her hand she gazed into his face, 
 wondering how she might best distract and cheer 
 him on this day, when he had just buried his mother. 
 
 "Hast thou not been riding a deer?" she 
 asked. 
 
 "I, riding a deer!" said Erlefried, in surprise. 
 
 "Yes," continued Sela; " I saw thee quite dis- 
 tinctly — I saw thee climb upon the back of a deer 
 which was lying asleep in the forest. It sprang to 
 its feet and darted away with thee, up the rocks of 
 the Trasank and over the precipice to the Wildwiese 
 and then down into the gorge, where the Trinity 
 was drowned in the Trach. I was terribly fright-^ 
 ened — and then, all of a sudden, I was awake! " 
 
 She told her story with great vivacity. 
 
 " Thou hast been dreaming about me, Sela ? " 
 
 " Yes, last night. And I could do nothing until 
 I had seen thee and assured myself that thou wert 
 safe and that it was not true. Yes, I should like the 
 
270 The God Seeker 
 
 violets, and take care, Erlefried, and do not try to 
 ride a deer! " 
 
 " Sela!" he said. 
 
 " But what a deep voice thou hast now! " 
 
 " Sela, I should like to know if thy father could 
 make use of such a one in his house ?" 
 
 " What kind of a one?" 
 
 " I can chop wood, Sela." 
 
 "That 's good." 
 
 " I can carry loads and cut up kindling. And I 
 can also feed and water the cows, and milk them 
 too. I could easily learn to fell trees. And for a 
 long time I have known how to plane boards. If 
 there are herbs and roots to collect, I can do that. 
 Thy father should just try me! " 
 
 " My father said that thou wouldst stay with 
 Bart." 
 
 "But I have n't said that I would. I will not 
 stay with Bart, and since my mother is dead I can 
 go where I please ! " 
 
 The girl, noticing how angry he was growing, 
 asked what Bart had done to offend him. 
 
 " I am no child! " muttered Erlefried, his voice 
 almost failing him; " they refused to let me take a 
 last look at my mother." 
 
 " Be thankful that thou hast not taken the last 
 look," replied the girl; "my father told us how 
 thou hast mourned over that. So I came up as 
 quickly as I could. But thou art angry now, and I 
 will go back again at once." 
 
 " Sela, stay with me!" 
 
 " Thoumustnot be vexed at what I am going tosay, 
 
Godless 271 
 
 Erlefried, but it is not right what thou wouldst do. 
 After Bart has been so good to thy mother, wouldst 
 thou be an ungrateful lad, and go away into the wild 
 forest ? That would be like thy ride on the deer ! " 
 
 " It is easy for thee to talk," replied Erlefried, 
 hesitatingly; " thou hast thyself." 
 
 " Thou also," laughed the girl. 
 
 " But that does not make me happy. Now that 
 my mother is dead, I wish I could be with thee! " 
 
 " Thou canst come down often to see me and I 
 will come to thee. It is much more cheerful up 
 here than down in the gorge. Thou must be a 
 good lad, and thankful. Wilt thou ?" 
 
 " For thy sake I will stay with Bart," said the 
 boy ; " but in return for that thou must dream of me 
 every night ! ' ' 
 
 " Where have they buried thy mother ?" asked 
 Sela 
 
 " Here," he said softly. 
 
 "Where?" 
 
 " Here, where we are standing. She lies here." 
 
 Startled at his reply, the girl stepped back a few 
 paces, and folding her hands she gazed upon the 
 ground. 
 
 She was praying. As Erlefried became aware of 
 this he, too, folded his hands. Then it occurred to 
 him that one should always say a prayer upon 
 graves. And so they stood for a while motionless 
 as the trees. A gay butterfly was circling over the 
 heads of the two children standing on the grave, on 
 the unconsecrated ground, surrounded by ruin — but 
 they were young and longed to be happy. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 WAHNFRED had gone over the mountains, 
 to the left of which lies the heathland, and 
 to the right the valleys of Trawies and of the Tra- 
 sank. His intention was to stop at Freiwild's house 
 to see if the new conditions were as little in evid- 
 ence there as in Bart's home, where industry and 
 time-honoured customs continued as of old. But 
 Freiwild's house was closed and no human being 
 was to be seen in the vicinity. A cow was mooing 
 in the stall, the only sign of life on the premises. 
 As Wahnfred walked around the yard investigating, 
 he thought he saw up in the gable a pair of legs dis- 
 appearing through the window. 
 
 He stopped and listened, but discovered nothing 
 further and heard only the mooing of the hungry 
 cow. 
 
 As he turned to leave the place he noticed a 
 strong, pungent odour coming from a wooded ravine 
 and smoke rising from among the firs; it was the 
 schnapps distillery of old Ursula, a sister of Freiwild, 
 who had here a wretched little hut where she carried 
 on a miserable business. 
 
 But now — from what Wahnfred saw — the business 
 seemed to be anything but miserable. Under the 
 
 272 
 
Gk)dless 273 
 
 trees, over rudely constructed stoves of clay, stood 
 a row of five kettles, from each one of which a bright 
 stream trickled into a keg. Before one of these 
 kegs Ursula was crouching, and, with the exception 
 of the flushed face, she was almost the colour of 
 clay herself in her half feminine, half masculine at- 
 tire. She was holding her fingers under one of the 
 streams testing the quality of the new brew. As 
 Wahnfred spoke to her, she started back in fright, 
 then asked what he wanted. 
 
 " I only wish to watch you, Ursula." 
 
 " You know me ? You, too, seem — I 'm sure I 've 
 often seen you, but I can't quite place you this 
 moment." 
 
 " The carpenter from the Gestade," he said. 
 
 Straightening herself, she stared at him in as- 
 tonishment, then cried: "He! You Wahnfred, 
 the carpenter! Well, I never should have known 
 you." 
 
 He muttered a few inarticulate words. 
 
 "Yes, the carpenter," she continued; "he is 
 nothing special, to be sure. But that you should 
 be able to kill priests like that ! Yes, we know all 
 about it. Perhaps you are lying to me and are 
 someone else after all! " 
 
 " I am amazed, Ursula, that your distillery has 
 grown so large." 
 
 " Ha!" said the old woman with a grin, disclos- 
 ing her broad, thick tongue between her toothless 
 jaws, " I wonder if you are really Wahnfred! By 
 my soul, I had pictured this man as quite different ! 
 
 But if you are he, I have you to thank that my 
 18 
 
2 74 The God Seeker 
 
 business is so flourishing. Since the boundaries 
 have been enclosed and no wine comes into Trawies, 
 the people all drink schnapps. It 's much more sens- 
 ible. You just wait a moment," and she hastened 
 into the hut, returning with an earthenware pitcher 
 and a mug; filling the latter she said: " You must 
 try it, carpenter. It 's my very best. To think 
 that I have n't even a bench to sit down on! I 
 should like, carpenter, to have you make me a few 
 benches and tables to put here on the grass. People 
 are coming all the time and it looks very shabby to 
 oblige them to sit around on the ground." 
 
 ** What kind of people come ? " 
 
 "Stupid question! A crowd comes, men and 
 women, who are wandering about in the woods. I 
 give them their little drop and trouble myself no 
 further about them. They ought to be happy — for 
 now they can live as they please." 
 
 " Your brother Freiwild," asked Wahnfred, " is 
 he not going to work his farm this year ? " 
 
 " Why do you ask ? " 
 
 " Because I saw no one in his fields, and his house 
 is closed." 
 
 " I 've no doubt of that. The people have all lost 
 their heads. No one plants the fields, for nothing 
 will thrive now in Trawies soil, they say — and 
 they 're probably right. Not even a blade of grass 
 will grow, and if one happens to spring up, it 
 withers the next day. So they would be fools to 
 waste their last corn in the earth." 
 
 " But what do the people do ? " asked Wahnfred 
 eJ^citedly. 
 
Godless 275 
 
 " Oh, don't you worry that they have n't enough 
 to keep themselves busy. If it was n't for my little 
 warm drink here, then you might ask. Are you 
 never taken that way ? " 
 
 "What way?" 
 
 " Are you not sometimes seized with the horrors 
 at the thought that we are damned for time and 
 eternity ? See here, when that comes over you, 
 don't you drink ? " 
 
 "God forbid!" 
 
 " God!" grinned the old woman, " the Trinity 
 which they drowned in the Trach ? Why, that 's the 
 reason we have to drown our poor souls in schnapps. 
 Drink, carpenter, and I will fill the jug again." 
 
 " Be off with your stuf?! " said Wahnfred, throw- 
 ing the jug down at her feet. " Do you know how 
 the brewers of poison were punished in the Old 
 Testament ? " 
 
 " Oh, oh!" replied Ursula spitefully; " because 
 you can never be a Christian again, you are going 
 to try being a Jew! " 
 
 " 'T would be a thousand times better than living 
 on like godless brutes. The strong God of the Jews 
 with His rod, Ursula, would be just the one for us! " 
 
 The shambling, tattered figure of Roderich, the 
 tramp, now appeared walking along the cliff. While 
 still at some distance, he began calling for brandy 
 with his hoarse voice. On seeing Wahnfred, he 
 clapped his hands and rushed towards him, scream- 
 ing: "The carpenter! The saviour! Oh, you 
 hero, come to my arms! " and he tried to embrace 
 him, but Wahnfred pushed him back. 
 
2 76 The God Seeker 
 
 " You see what you can do with him, Roder; 
 he 's as sour as vinegar," said the malicious Ursula 
 to the tramp. 
 
 " With you, I can well believe," he replied ; " but 
 in the inn at Trawies, there he '11 wear another face, 
 I 'm sure of that. Wahnfred! Conqueror! Dragon 
 destroyer ! Say, then, in what hollow oak-tree have 
 you been lying buried through the winter, that we 
 have searched for you everywhere in vain ? " 
 
 " Who has searched for me ? " 
 
 " We, the citizens of Trawies," said the tramp, 
 straightening himself in his rags as erect as his 
 stunted body would allow. " And do you know, 
 too, carpenter, that I shall get my drinks free to- 
 night ? The first one who finds you is to be treated 
 by the rest. The Council agreed to that on Candle- 
 mas Day." 
 
 " I should like to know what Council has any- 
 thing to decide concerning me! " remarked Wahn- 
 fred. 
 
 " You '11 soon find out, hero! Only come with 
 me. To-day you get no money from me, old 
 woman; to-day I 'm going somewhere else! Come, 
 carpenter, come along and don't wait for a golden 
 chariot to carry you ! Everybody is equal now in 
 the Kingdom of Trawies, and you must see, brother, 
 how merry we 've all grown since last Advent. If 
 you want another drink, then drink, if not, come! " 
 
 Wahnfred was about to refuse to accompany the 
 man, but he reflected a little. His road also led to 
 Trawies, and by going with this talkative tramp he 
 might learn much on the way concerning the new 
 
Godless 277 
 
 conditions in his native place. So the two men 
 walked on together, but Wahnfred discovered no- 
 thingfurtherthanthatthe tramp was in a jovial mood. 
 
 " Now, my brother," said the man, laying his arm 
 over the shoulder of the carpenter, " now the time 
 has come when no one has any hardships to endure. 
 One winter has already gone, and in the summer it 
 will be merrier yet. The only thing I dread is that 
 the watch may be removed from the boundaries ; if 
 that should happen, then all sorts of trouble would 
 come upon Trawies. You must n't think, carpen- 
 ter, that everything goes smoothly. There are many 
 stupid people among us. For instance, Mistress 
 Sandhok insists on doing penance so that the church 
 will be opened again ; the herb doctor and the black- 
 smith, Paul, are saying their prayers to have the 
 ban removed. Those are people who do not know 
 when they are well off. Wahnfred, we shall have 
 all we can do to keep on our feet. There are also a 
 few of the old peasants who will have nothing to do 
 with the new parish. But now that we have you, 
 brother, now things will go straight." 
 
 As they entered Trawies, the tramp gripped his 
 companion's arm more firmly; he was only sorry 
 that it was growing dark and that the people could 
 not see whom he had with him to-day. They 
 might have conjectured that Roderich was also con- 
 cerned in the occurrence of last Advent, he seemed 
 on such intimate terms with the carpenter. 
 
 Wahnfred cast one quick glance towards the 
 church gleaming through the darkness from the 
 hill. The windows of the tavern, which they were 
 
278 The God Seeker 
 
 now approaching, were brightly h'ghted. The room 
 was filled with boisterous drinkers. The tramp 
 pushed open the door with his foot, drawing his 
 companion in- after him. 
 
 " See, people, only see, whom I am bringing in ! " 
 he cried. 
 
 " Wahnfred! " they screamed, greeting the new- 
 comer joyfully. " Our saviour and benefactor, 
 where have you been so long, leaving us all alone ? 
 Carpenter! Blessed redeemer of Trawies! But why 
 are you looking at us in that strange way ? " 
 
 They slapped him on the shoulders in welcome, 
 they crowded forward to shake him by the hand. 
 In the dim candle-light Wahnfred scarcely recog- 
 nised one of the grinning faces. They were a wild, 
 motley crowd of rough, bearded fellows, who all 
 looked as though they had, like himself, just come 
 down from the wilderness. Charcoal-burners, wood- 
 cutters, peasants, poachers, miners, herb-gatherers, 
 had left their places of work, taken whatever they 
 could lay their hands on, and because they were 
 numerically the stronger, had assumed the authority 
 and were now the freemen and citizens of Trawies. 
 Pedlars and the rabble from the highways were 
 among them, having been urged to join the so- 
 called parish. Men from distant forests, whom one 
 would not like to meet on lonely paths, were also 
 here. They were welcomed into the new society, 
 whose chief objects were that its members should be 
 of one mind, and that its strength should be in- 
 creased as rapidly as possible. Of the same mind 
 were also those who had escaped from prison or the 
 
Godless 279 
 
 gallows and had fled to Trawies ; thus the outlawed 
 village had now become a refuge for criminals. 
 
 The band went from house to house, from hut to 
 hut, and those who did not join it were in danger of 
 losing their possessions and their lives. They held 
 their court in the tavern ; here they took counsel to- 
 gether, but these assemblies often ended in quarrels, 
 or more often in carousals. As long as they had 
 money, which flew from hand to hand, business was 
 conducted with fair regularity. " It is forbidden to 
 take from one another by force," was a law in the 
 new " parish." 
 
 But when the tavern-keeper and the pedlar re- 
 fused to accept money, being unable to redeem the 
 coins, a rebellion threatened, and it was finally 
 agreed to take all the provisions from the houses of 
 Trawies and to divide them among the people. Old 
 Ursula was the only person who still took money, 
 as she was not yet aware that the coins were worth- 
 less, for, instead of spending them, she hid them in 
 an old jug which she buried in the ground. And so 
 it came about that in Trawies cash was paid only 
 for schnapps, and that was all that could be bought 
 with it. 
 
 This was the state in which Wahnfred found them 
 as he entered the tavern. There were also women 
 present, one or more between every two men, with 
 blazing cheeks and many with blazing eyes. They 
 stared boldly at the handsome, slender man with 
 the pale face. With one accord they all rose to their 
 feet, offering him brandy, and drinking with shouts 
 of joy to the liberator of Trawies. 
 
28o The God Seeker 
 
 ** Now you belong to us!" they cried; " now you 
 must stay with us ! We need just such a man as you. 
 Why are you as pale as the stone image of a saint ? 
 You are not afraid that we will give you up ? " 
 
 " See, here is your axe from the sacristry, which 
 we are sacredly preserving. It suits us far better 
 than the crucifix ! " 
 
 Wahnfred shuddered with horror at sight of the 
 rusty implement, at the hard steel from which had 
 sprung the spark that burned like hell fire in his own 
 soul, and was growing in strength and becoming a 
 disastrous conflagration in the minds of the people. 
 Still filled with the sorrow of the morning at the 
 grave, he could scarcely utter a word. He would 
 have preferred, after what he had seen and heard to- 
 day, to flee as far as his feet would carry him. But 
 the thought of his oath at the deathbed of his wife 
 and his resolve to conquer or fall with Trawies re- 
 strained him. So turning to the people, he said : 
 " Friends, if you will trust me, our union may yet 
 be profitable." 
 
 Loud cheers broke forth and the carpenter was 
 dragged to the foremost table. " Drink brandy, 
 brother," said one of the company; " it will make a 
 new man of you, mark my words! " 
 
 The outer door was suddenly opened and Mis- 
 tress Freiwild entered in great excitement and in- 
 quired for her husband. He was standing by a 
 table near the stove, and on seeing his wife he 
 calmly asked her if she had come for another beat- 
 ing like the last one. 
 
 Covering her face with her hand to ward off the 
 
Godless 2St 
 
 blow, she answered timidly: " No, no, stay and 
 drink as long as thou wilt ; I only came to tell thee 
 that we have been robbed this afternoon. The 
 rascals have stolen all the lard and meat and linen; 
 the big chest has been broken open and thy new 
 boots are gone! " 
 
 Freiwild sprang upon the table, crying: "I 've 
 been robbed, Council of Trawies, I 've been 
 robbed!" 
 
 " The thief must have crawled in through the up- 
 per window," continued the woman; "there are 
 scratches from his boot-nails on the wall." 
 
 " I 've been robbed! " screamed Freiwild. 
 
 "There must be a hellish pack of fiends wander- 
 ing about," remarked Roderich, the tramp, turning 
 towards Wahnfred ; " we are constantly hearing of 
 thefts and robberies." 
 
 " Is it not possible that you may have seen the 
 thief to-day ? " asked Wahnfred. 
 
 "Why? What do you mean by that?" an- 
 swered Roderich, anxiously. 
 
 " Because you were just coming from Freiwild's 
 house when we met at the distillery." 
 
 One of the men then approached Freiwild, say- 
 ing: " Do you mean to say that you had meat and 
 lard ? Would n't you have told us next week, when 
 we came to collect provisions, that there was no- 
 thing in your house and that you were going hungry 
 yourselves ? See here, you rascal, you deserve a 
 beating, for you are deceiving the parish! " 
 
 " Parish!" said Freiwild in a loud whisper to the 
 speaker. " You are afraid you won't get your full 
 
2S2 The God Seekef 
 
 share yourself! You give only the lean portions to 
 the parish. Shall I tell where you conceal the fat 
 pieces ? " 
 
 " Don't tell, we '11 divide," answered the man in 
 a low voice. 
 
 " We 've already divided. In the Ross cave, 
 where you had hidden your booty, I found the lard 
 and meat which has just been stolen from me." 
 
 A little man now advanced, the wood-cutter 
 Stom, from the Trasank valley. No one could see 
 him as he pushed his way through the crowd, but 
 his high, screeching voice was distinctly audible. 
 
 " I have something to say," he screamed. 
 
 "Silence! Stom has something to say," yv^as 
 cried on all sides. 
 
 The little man, having mounted a chair, now be- 
 gan : " People, if things go on in this way, our new 
 parish will be ruined. It is bad enough to plunder 
 each other, but it is still worse that this will soon 
 have to cease because there will be nothing more to 
 steal in Trawies. And it is useless to work, for no 
 blessing will come with it; heaven is closed to us; 
 we get nothing more from outside ; even the crea- 
 tures of the forest are clever enough not to cross the 
 boundary now. Shall we consume ourselves ? " 
 
 A murmur of discontent was heard. 
 
 " We '11 soon dispose of you," jeered the tramp. 
 
 " You cross-eyed vagabond, you!" screamed the 
 speaker, ** making your rusty jokes when a man is 
 trying to be serious. I '11 dispose of you sooner! 
 You 're a good-for-nothing parasite, if not some- 
 thing worse! " 
 
Godless 283 
 
 The tramp was seized and dragged to the door, 
 and all the time he was wailing: " Is this the thanks 
 I get for bringing you the carpenter? " It may have 
 been a piece of good fortune for the man, for Wahn- 
 fred was on the point of asking him what he was do- 
 ing up at Freiwild's house this afternoon and of 
 examining his boots, to see if they could have left 
 scratches on the wall or in any way resembled the 
 pair he had seen disappearing through the window. 
 
 The wood-cutter Stom now continued his dis- 
 course: " Since neither work nor self-destruction 
 will help matters, I propose the following : If we do 
 not wish to perish we must combine until we are a 
 strong band, and then go boldly forth to the houses 
 of the nobility and to the farms outside and help 
 ourselves to what we want wherever we find it." 
 
 "A band of robbers!" exclaimed Wahnfred, 
 bending forward as if he had misunderstood. 
 
 " I have said nothing about a band of robbers," 
 replied the speaker. " When Hungarians and Turks 
 invade a land, burning houses and castles, they are 
 called by another name. When the Swedes come 
 and plunder even the imperial courts, and the 
 Bishop of Salzburg celebrates Ash Wednesday 
 throughout the year, — for he is always burning fort- 
 resses and villages, — who calls them a band of rob- 
 bers ? Trawies has now become independent ; 
 Trawies has men capable of bearing arms. And if 
 the outsiders should declare war against us, should 
 we cowardly creep out of sight, like a fox in his 
 hole ? Are there no lions in the wilderness ? And 
 have we not a lion's head carved on our old church 
 
284 The God Seeker 
 
 door ? Now we shall learn the meaning of the lion 
 in Trawies. Comrades, let us start a campaign!" 
 
 "A campaign! A war! Down with the no- 
 bility ! " In wild confusion the words were shouted ; 
 some of the people seized their clubs and knives as 
 though about to start at that very hour. The 
 women sprang to their feet, declaring with shrill 
 voices that they would not be left at home, but 
 would join the band with scythes, pitchforks, and 
 axes, and their fingers twitched with the desire to 
 begin. Stom beamed and smiled with pleasure as 
 he saw the effect of his words. 
 
 " This is all very well," he said with a smirk, 
 ** but first we must choose a leader. He need not 
 be a giant in body, but he must have a clear brain 
 and unbounded energy ; he must be as keen as the 
 devil and be intimidated by nothing, plunging 
 ahead like a roaring lion — I should just like to show 
 him how! " 
 
 The people at once proceeded to elect their 
 leader. And even the more thoughtful ones de- 
 cided that, whether or not the expedition should 
 take place, it would be necessary to have some one 
 at their head. His size and strength were of com- 
 paratively little importance, also his ability to speak 
 in public, but he must not be a house-owner; he 
 must be one of the foot-loose citizens, that he might 
 not be tempted to return to old, worn-out customs, 
 which would bring with them the old evil. He must 
 have a good head and a sure hand, both with im- 
 plements of work and of war, and in some way he 
 must have proved that the parish was more to him 
 
Godless 285 
 
 than all else in the world, even than himself. There 
 was but one man present of whom that could be 
 said, who had the confidence of all and who should 
 consider it a duty as well as an honour to accept the 
 position. 
 
 Little Stom bowed with profusion and said that 
 he was much gratified at the great honour conferred 
 upon him, and that he would consider it his first 
 duty to serve the parish. 
 
 It was again announced that there was but one 
 present who could be proposed for election, and he 
 was the brave man who had liberated the parish of 
 Trawies from slavery — Wahnfred, the carpenter. 
 
 The tongues were now loosened and from all sides 
 was heard : " Wahnfred shall be our chief, our gen- 
 eral, our leader, and king! " The women screamed 
 the loudest and each one cried with two voices, one 
 as citizen, one as woman. 
 
 In the meantime Wahnfred was struggling to sub- 
 due his ever-rising indignation.; his soul was filled 
 with anger and scorn. Could this be Trawies? He 
 had come with the hope of quieting these people, 
 who had been cast out from Church and State, and 
 of leading them to a better way of life. And now 
 was he to be chief of a band of rough, degenerate 
 men and women ? On the other hand, it was clear 
 to him that only thus could he gain an influence 
 over this lawless mob. There being nothing to lose 
 and everything to gain, Wahnfred's decision was 
 quickly made. He rose, and, bracing himself with 
 his hand against the table, said with a sad, but 
 distinct, voice: 
 
^S6 The God Seeker 
 
 " If I accept the position, I demand one thing! " 
 
 " Demand what you will! " they cried. 
 
 " I demand obedience!"' 
 
 " He demands obedience! " screamed the wood- 
 cutter, Stom; " you see, he who killed the tyrant 
 would now himself be a tyrant! " 
 
 " There is one against me," said Wahnfred. 
 
 They beat Stom with their fists, declaring that 
 the carpenter should be their leader. 
 
 " There can be freedom only where there is law 
 and order," said Wahnfred. " This arm of mine is 
 yours; it shall lead you. You are already ac- 
 quainted with it. When it was uplifted with the 
 axe it was intended for your good, and what it does 
 further shall also be for your good ! People of Tra- 
 wies, obey me implicitly and I am yours! " 
 
 " Obedience, obedience to the chief of Trawies! " 
 re-echoed throughout the room; again the women's 
 voices were heard above the rest. The few discon- 
 tented ones had left the tavern. 
 
 With a firm grasp, Wahnfred seized the axe and 
 striking a heavy blow upon the table sent the blade 
 deep into the wood. He then gazed sternly about 
 him; the shouting merged into a murmur, which 
 ended in silence. A feeling of ecstasy at yielding 
 to a higher power filled these servile hearts. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 A FEW weeks after Wahnfred had undertaken 
 the leadership of the inhabitants of this forest 
 region, and, by the exercise of all his craft and 
 strength, had succeeded in so far restraining them 
 that they temporarily ceased injuring one another, 
 great excitement was caused among them by a 
 strange spectacle in nature. Towards the end of 
 May, — so relates the chronicle, — on a sultry, almost 
 starless night, a fiery cross appeared in the eastern 
 sky above the forest of the Tarn. It was of gigan- 
 tic size, its colour a dull red, as though covered by 
 a veil of mist. The arms seemed to rise and fall 
 slowly ; otherwise it remained ghost-like and motion- 
 less for nearly half an hour, when it gradually paled 
 and disappeared, leaving the forest once more envel- 
 oped in darkness. 
 
 The timid souls, in their fright, crept into obscure 
 corners, covering their faces to keep out the terri- 
 ble sight. The brave ones stood and watched it. 
 Not until it had passed were their tongues loosened 
 to ask one another: " What was that ? " 
 
 Even Wahnfred, who was now living, much against 
 his will, in the fire guardian's former home, when 
 awakened from his slumbers, trembled inwardly 
 
 287 
 
288 The God Seeker 
 
 before the spectacle. And he said to the excited peo- 
 ple assembled about his house: " Thank God the 
 Lord, ye people of Trawies, that Heaven considers 
 us worthy of a sign and a warning, for it proves that 
 we are not lost. Cruel men have destroyed our 
 cross ; Heaven shows it to us again. On the day of 
 judgment it is said that a cross shall appear in the 
 sky. But that prophecy is not yet fulfilled, for the 
 stars still shine. I believe that God has held this 
 cross before our eyes as we hold the crucifix before 
 the eyes of the dying. We have reason to tremble 
 for our future. We are blasphemers, idlers, thieves, 
 adulterers. Our sins have a thousand names. In 
 this house once lived a good man, grown old in the 
 loveandserviceof Trawies, — you have cast him out!" 
 
 Wahnfred was interrupted by someone saying: 
 " We did not cast him out because he had grown 
 old in the love and service of Trawies, but because 
 he would not accept the new customs." 
 
 "Tell me, what are the new customs?" cried 
 Wahnfred. " You cannot ? Then I will tell you: 
 brute force and license! But I say to you, and I 
 swear by the flaming cross in the sky, it must be 
 otherwise ! " 
 
 " Then change it if you can," answered one of the 
 defiant men. 
 
 " Gallo Weissbucher, our chief, shall live once 
 more in his house." 
 
 " He may, for all we care ! " 
 
 " Consider for a moment," continued Wahnfred: 
 ** what if the fiery cross should fall from heaven 
 upon Trawies I ' ' 
 
Godless 289 
 
 " Let it, then! It can do no more than destroy 
 us!" 
 
 A few of the people had followed Wahnfred's ad- 
 vice, but the majority could not be persuaded to 
 plough and sow their fields this spring, their excuse 
 being that nothing would grow in soil that had been 
 cursed. 
 
 " Do you call this land cursed ? " cried Wahnfred, 
 pointing to the luxuriant plant life, to the bright 
 flowers on the meadows, to the blossoming fruit- 
 trees, and to the new budding forest. 
 
 But who was there to sow ? The rabble had 
 neither ground nor seed, and the landowners had 
 been robbed so often that they foresaw who would 
 garner their harvests. The few old settlers decided 
 to let things take their course, thinking that when 
 there was no more bread to be had in Trawies the 
 rabble would disperse and disappear. Wahnfred 
 owned a field near the ruins of his house. This he 
 cultivated and planted with a variety of vegetables. 
 
 One day, soon after the appearance of the cross 
 in the sky, Wahnfred sent word to the fire guardian 
 that he might return to his house by the Trach. 
 Gallo's reply was that since he had laid his wife to 
 rest near the little hut in the Diirbach gorge he pre- 
 ferred to remain by her. While the messenger was 
 on his way some miscreant slipped into the back of 
 the house by the Trach and was on the point of set- 
 ting it on fire when Wahnfred, who chanced to be 
 in the vicinity, frightened the man away. This oc- 
 currence made Wahnfred more than ever realise how 
 dangerous was the ground upon which he stood, 
 
 »9 
 
290 The God Seeker 
 
 how despicable the " parish " that had chosen him 
 for their chief. Daily he was beset by vagabonds 
 and rapacious fellows, urging him to form a band of 
 the able-bodied men of Trawies to set out on an ex- 
 pedition into the neighbouring country. 
 
 He did not refuse, not daring to risk his some- 
 what uncertain influence over the people, as well as 
 their more than uncertain confidence in him. He 
 put them off by saying that the present time was 
 unfavourable on account of the military movement 
 outside. Day and night he was trying to devise 
 means to restore law and order. He took counsel 
 of the outcast chief, the fire guardian, who was ill 
 and broken and who replied: "There are three 
 ways: either you fall prostrate before the cross and 
 implore the Church to remove the interdict, or you 
 wait for the soldiers to come in and destroy you, or 
 — you destroy yourselves! " 
 
 This was Gallo Weissbucher's last word for Tra- 
 wies. He withdrew into his poor little hut and re- 
 mained alone with his fire and with his Sela. 
 
 " Yes," he once remarked, while watching his 
 blooming child, " thou hast many years yet to live 
 in this world. How will it deal with thee ? The 
 people here have gone mad. It is, alas! true, the 
 brute instinct still remains in them. For a lonp- 
 time they held God's banner before their eyes, gaz- 
 ing up at it in ecstasy and following whithersoever 
 it led. And now, all at once, their symbol is torn 
 from their hands, hurled to the ground, trod upon, 
 destroyed. One thing after another have they cast 
 from them J they have desecrated their temple, 
 
Godless 291 
 
 overthrown the laws, burned their own dwellings, 
 living like beasts, yet with one human trait which 
 beasts do not possess : sin. The greater the height 
 from which they plunge into the sea, so much the 
 deeper do they sink. But be of good courage, my 
 child, the tide will cast them upon the shore again ; 
 once more will they find the sunlight ; once more 
 will they begin the struggle for existence, and in 
 their distress and danger will make for themselves 
 a new symbol, which after ages will again assume 
 its former greatness and perfection. Happy he 
 who, privileged to live at such a time, may, when 
 dying, pronounce a blessing upon his race, instead 
 of cursing himself and it, as I must do. I cannot 
 bless thee, my Sela, but in guarding the ancestral 
 fire I am keeping for thee the blessings of our fore- 
 fathers and of all those who for love of coming gen- 
 erations have struggled and suffered." 
 
 The girl looked at the old man in astonishment ; 
 there was a strange ring in his voice, a strange bright- 
 ness in his eyes. 
 
 Then withdrawing into himself, he murmured the 
 wish that from the summit of the Birstling an ava- 
 lanche might descend and bring with it a rock to 
 bar the entrance to the Diirbach gorge. He feared 
 the enemies who enclosed the boundaries with a 
 ring of flame, but he was in still greater terror of 
 the monster which had appeared in these mount- 
 ains, fanning the fire of wildest passion in the 
 hearts exposed to its mercy. How different was 
 this fire from that of the household goddess, the 
 sacred Vesta, which he had so faithfully defended 
 
^9^ The God Seeker 
 
 and guarded. This carefully preserved spark, which, 
 hundreds, perhaps a thousand years ago, had sprung 
 from the lightning that consumed the old oak-tree, 
 beneath whose spreading branches the Germans had 
 sacrificed to their gods, — this spark, which had come 
 down from generation to generation, a silent legacy, 
 filling their homes with a gentle warmth and a mel- 
 low light, but always ready to burst into a mighty 
 conflagration, perchance to purify, perchance to de- 
 stroy evil, — this spark, which had always been used 
 at joyous festivals and to light the funeral torches 
 at Trawies, and which now still glowed in the hut 
 of the fire guardian — had become an outcast, a 
 stranger, in the new kingdom. 
 
 Old Weissbucher sat by his hearth gazing into the 
 embers. He no longer mourned the loss of his 
 house, he felt at home here. This fire warmed his 
 heart and filled it with contentment. Where on the 
 earth is there anything more beautiful, more mys- 
 terious, more gentle, more powerful than fire ? Fire 
 brings life, and according to the Holy Writ, every- 
 thing at last shall be destroyed by fire. 
 
 Sela piled logs and branches from fallen trees by 
 the hearth, that they might always be in readiness 
 for the nourishment of this living creature, so an- 
 cient, yet every moment born anew. By the crack- 
 ling flames the old man would often fall asleep; 
 but his slumber was restless, for he would fre- 
 quently start up in fear that the fire might be extin- 
 guished. 
 
 Sela assured him many times every night that she 
 would watch it. 
 
Godless 293 
 
 " Thy spirit is willing," said the fire guardian, 
 " but thy flesh is weak. Thou art young; thou art 
 filled with so much new life by the brightness of the 
 day, that thou dost burn like this fire, and when 
 night comes thine eyes close and thy limbs relax, 
 thou art lifeless and knowest not what watching 
 means. I cannot trust thee at night, Sela, my poor, 
 beloved Sela! " 
 
 And when she slept and his own exhaustion threat- 
 ened to overcome him, he would pile on the wood 
 until at midnight the little hut in the gorge often 
 presented a weird and brilliant sight. 
 
 Once, the fire guardian started suddenly from his 
 slumbers, and discovered that the cross-beam of the 
 house, which was utilised for hanging clothes, was 
 on fire. The flames were spreading rapidly and 
 threatened the roof, as if endeavouring to escape 
 from their long imprisonment. But he wakened in 
 time. Springing up, he cut the beam in twain with 
 his axe, letting the pieces fall upon the damp clay 
 floor, where the flames were soon extinguished. 
 
 " Whither wouldst thou go ? " asked the old man, 
 addressing the fire; "wouldst thou escape from 
 Trawies altogether? Then would I go with thee; 
 or wouldst thou wage war upon the ring of flame 
 about our boundaries ? Well and good ! Fly away, 
 envelop the forests of Tarn and of the Ritscher, and 
 hurl thy fire-brands upon Trawies! Attack and 
 melt the rocks of the Trasank and send thy stream 
 of fire through the valley of the Trach ! And do not 
 spare my house, for we are murderers ! Destroy this 
 nest of criminals and remove from us the curse! 
 
294 The God Seeker 
 
 And when it is accomplished, then return to the 
 peaceful homes of a better people and carry the 
 blessings of our forefathers on into future ages! " 
 
 The awakened girl was terrified to see her father 
 standing, with disordered locks and a wild look in 
 his eyes, in the midst of smoke and glowing ashes, 
 speaking in a loud tone words which she did not 
 understand. 
 
 The voice of the child broke the spell. He took 
 Sela in his arms and wept. 
 
 Thus they lived on, but the fire guardian declined 
 from day to day. He would no longer remain out 
 of doors; the sunlight hurt his eyes and he feared 
 to leave his fire unguarded. So he sat constantly 
 by his hearth, watching and thinking. 
 
 He realised that his end was near. He had sin- 
 cerely repented of his sin, therefore death had no 
 terrors for him; it was to him a dear, familiar 
 thought, a gift of God, common to us all. 
 
 " After this world full of injustice, unrest, and 
 suffering, death is a welcome messenger, a gentle 
 liberator, reconciling us with life; for it atones for 
 the injustice, removes the unrest, and ends the 
 suffering. Death bestows what we ask of life ; it is 
 the final bond, which, freeing us, re-unites us with 
 mankind ; it is the portal where, with a glad smile, 
 we meet all those who were for or against us in this 
 world. After golden days of happiness, what more 
 perfect ending could we ask than slumber ? After 
 the wretched existence of the poor, what can com- 
 fort and compensate more fully than rest ? This 
 earth is so rich in sunlight and joy, but it is sancti- 
 
Godless 295 
 
 fied to us by death alone. Death makes life beauti- 
 ful, and life justifies death. Nature resists as long 
 as possible; it is her duty to live. But it is our 
 duty to lay our bodies, with which we have enjoyed 
 this world, thankfully and willingly to rest. Our 
 forefathers have made a place for us, have be- 
 queathed to us that for which they struggled on 
 earth. And we perform the same service for our 
 descendants. I am satisfied. If my God does not 
 regret having lent me the light of life for this short 
 period, I have no complaint to make." 
 
 Thus the fire guardian thought and brooded ; 
 then his glance would fall upon Sela, that young 
 life which was expanding in the sunlight beside the 
 old decaying stem, and was approaching the season 
 for buds and flowers. 
 
 At times the girl would gaze earnestly at the old 
 man's face, for it seemed so strange to her. He 
 realised how thin and wasted he had grown. His 
 heart was still warm and bright, although his eyes 
 were sunken and dim, now seldom brightened by 
 other light than that of the fire on his hearth, shin- 
 ing upon him with such friendly warmth. 
 
 His thoughts were ever with the fire. " By its 
 glow, in days gone by, children have listened to 
 the legends of Odin and lovers have exchanged the 
 betrothal ring. Over it wedding feasts have been 
 prepared ; in its burning embers swords have been 
 forged to fight the enemy; here gold has been re- 
 fined and human hearts purified. Thou beloved fire 
 come down from past ages, thou faithful friend, 
 soon shall I require the last service of thee! " 
 
^9^ The God Seeker 
 
 One evening, as the full moon was shining into 
 the gorge from above the tree-tops, the fire guar- 
 dian was sitting before his hut, holding his child on 
 his knees. 
 
 " My Sela," said he, in a low voice, " thou lovest 
 me?" 
 
 The child's face grew serious and she bowed her 
 head. 
 
 "And if I should tell thee something which thou 
 must do, wouldst thou do it ? " 
 
 " I will always do what thou wishest, father." 
 " I love thee, my child, and shall love thee, even 
 when I can no longer tell thee so. For see, my 
 Sela, there will come a time when I shall sleep. 
 When thy mother fell asleep thou wast in thy bed, 
 — I would not wake thee. Do not go far away from 
 the hut to-morrow or for the next few days. Stay 
 with me and braid thy mats. When I am sitting on 
 the bench asleep, listen to my breathing. If it is 
 hard, like that of a tired man when he lays down 
 his burden, then, child, light a candle at the ances- 
 tral fire and place it in my hand. Thou must not 
 try to wake me, Sela; the hard breathing will soon 
 be over, and I shall sleep quietly. Then take the 
 candle from me, put it into the lantern which hangs 
 over the bed, and carry it to Trawies, where Wahn- 
 fred lives. Give him the light and say: 'The fire 
 guardian delivers the fire into thy hands.' " 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 FOR a certain period after Wahnfred's return to 
 Trawies and while Gallo Weissbucher was pre- 
 paring for his end, the thread of the narrative seems 
 to be somewhat broken. A tradition is still extant 
 of dark deeds and horrible crimes which occurred 
 during the long years of the ban, and which were 
 doubtless connected with Trawies. We may then 
 suppose that the place was entirely outlawed as well 
 as excommunicated, for how could the disorder and 
 crime, the helplessness and despair of the people be 
 otherwise explained? 
 
 In Oberkloster has been found an old record tell- 
 ing of a forest from which there is no return. The 
 ruined, the outcast, the friendless, the homeless, 
 the godless, go there and are never seen again. For 
 there is a ring of fire about that forest; it is cut off 
 and cursed. Anyone may enter, no one may come 
 forth. One fable tells us within is paradise; an- 
 other, within is hell. 
 
 This record undoubtedly refers to the outcast 
 Trawies, where all kinds of vagabonds and lawless 
 people collected, who for a short time lived a life of 
 utter license, and then died a miserable death. The 
 authorities, engaged with the military movement in 
 
 297 
 
29S The God Seeker 
 
 the country outside, seem to have entirely with- 
 drawn from the region, only keeping watch over the 
 boundary of the unfortunate district, without troub- 
 ling themselves concerning that which took place 
 within. Was it thought that the people of Trawies 
 would consume themselves? Or was there hope that 
 they would yet fall prostrate before the cross, per- 
 form solemn penances, and implore to be again re- 
 ceived into the Church and the Empire? But both 
 had been awaited in vain, and no one imagined that 
 in the forests of the Trach a mighty force Avas gath- 
 ering, whose terrible deeds were affecting all the 
 neighbouring country and which no opposition 
 could repel. Tales are told of robber bands from 
 these forests which fell upon and destroyed farms 
 and sometimes entire villages. Highway robberies 
 and murders were of frequent occurrence in the 
 neighbourhood of Trawies. 
 
 Soldiers forced their way into this nest, only to 
 be repelled or massacred. At the Gestade, on the 
 spot where Wahnfred's house once stood, a regular 
 battle is said to have been fought. The rabble from 
 Trawies were victorious; the dead warriors were 
 carried down by the Trach to the " Five Pines," on 
 the heathland, where they were washed up on the 
 sand. 
 
 There were also quarrels, robberies, and deeds of 
 violence among the people of Trawies themselves. 
 But there was one of their number who, for a short 
 period, succeeded in keeping a certain order; other- 
 wise it would have been impossible for this outcast 
 community to maintain itself. 
 
Godless 299 
 
 This will suffice to give some idea of the horror. 
 The narrator, who has endeavoured to explore, not 
 the dusty chronicle alone, but also that unfailing 
 source, the human heart, alludes to these terrible 
 events in the shadows of the forest only as they are 
 interwoven with the fortunes of that man who was 
 the originator of the evil and who was now earnestly 
 striving to restore in the hearts of these people their 
 lost heaven and to lead the unhappy parish back to 
 God. 
 
 Wahnfred had frequent opportunities to make 
 himself useful, but the results were meagre. He 
 was constantly doing for others. A hungry man 
 never left his door unsatisfied; he divided with him 
 his last crust, and for this Christian act of breaking 
 bread — that greatest miracle of love — many thought 
 that in the carpenter they recognised the Christ. 
 
 Wahnfred lived for a long time in the house of 
 the outcast fire guardian by the Trach. He was 
 called the captain, and the people cringed before 
 him, feted him, and showed him every honour — but 
 they did as they pleased. His plan apparently to 
 enter into their projects, that he might then guide 
 them, had failed. They listened to his speeches, 
 agreed to his arrangements, only to follow their own 
 desires and passions the very next moment. They 
 were the children of that age when people tampered 
 with all kinds of sorceries and witchcraft, which in 
 their case were for the most part unsuccessful. 
 Many practised conjuring the devil, going about 
 with the idea that he was their servant. They also 
 sold themselves to the devil in exchange for worldly 
 
300 The God Seeker 
 
 goods. But with all this they felt the need of a king 
 and high-priest. They swore to Wahnfred to give 
 up their robberies, only to surprise him soon after- 
 ward with the richest treasures which they had cap- 
 tured on their last expedition. 
 
 They made him absolute master over life and 
 death, but if he pronounced a verdict of punishment 
 upon anyone, they laughed in his face. And he 
 could only have carried out his sentences by possess- 
 ing more strength than this defiant, jeering mob. 
 
 Wahnfred bore it patiently, always hoping for a 
 change. He continued to be the central point in 
 Trawies. The boundaries remained enclosed; the 
 inhabitants themselves had now assumed the watch, 
 and in their fanaticism and rage against those who 
 had fled killed everyone who attempted to return. 
 
 At last Wahnfred made out a petition, an implor- 
 ing cry to humanity for mercy, and carried it to the 
 inhabitants of Trawies for their signatures. 
 
 " Are we such children that we should beg for the 
 rod ? " they answered. " We have no wish to return 
 to slavery. They would only hang us, and as a last 
 resort we can do that ourselves." 
 
 " You have forgotten that men still live on this 
 earth!" cried Wahnfred. "If they promise us 
 mercy, they will grant it." 
 
 " We do not want it. Their mercy would con- 
 sist in sending us against the Turks." 
 
 Then Wahnfred tried strategy. He went to the 
 oldest, the natives of Trawies, in whom he hoped to 
 find some love of justice and in whom lingered a 
 desire for law and order, for the prayer-book and 
 
Godless 301 
 
 the Bible ; there were but few such left, but to 
 them he went, asking for their signatures. 
 
 " Prepare your weapons," said one, " for you 
 may have to write your names with blood." 
 
 They made ready their weapons, rusty tools, 
 utensils of the forest and field ; they concealed them 
 in the corners of their houses and caves and under 
 their beds, awaiting the revolt. 
 
 But Wahnfred went on collecting signatures and 
 crosses, — only a few could write their names, the 
 most made crosses, — and soon the large sheet was 
 filled. 
 
 Wahnfred's heart rejoiced. He was convinced 
 that the removal of the ban could not be refused 
 when it was seen that the Trawiesers were willing to 
 repent and submit to the authorities. For himself, 
 he longed for — the executioner's block. His judge 
 should pronounce no other sentence than the axe. 
 But before he ascended the steps of the scaffold he 
 would first make a pilgrimage to the pope and to 
 the rulers of the land to implore their mercy for 
 Trawies, which through his deed had been plunged 
 into such misery. 
 
 Wahnfred was making arrangements to send this 
 petition, which pledged the loyalty of Trawies for 
 all time, by messengers to whom he had assured a 
 safe escort across the boundary, when they suddenly 
 turned upon him, asking what it was all about. 
 
 He read the petition to them once more and they 
 laughed aloud. He showed them their signatures. 
 
 " Where ? " they asked. He pointed to the nu- 
 merous crosses. 
 
^02 The God Seeker 
 
 "That means a graveyard!" they exclaimed, 
 ** and would take us there at once." 
 
 " That scrap of writing will not give us conse- 
 crated ground again," said the peasant Isidor; 
 " throw it away, carpenter." 
 
 " But your signature! " 
 
 " The cross has no value now in Trawies; you 
 know that, carpenter." And they tore the paper in 
 pieces. 
 
 That night Wahnfred, gazing from his window at 
 the stars, which formed a long path of light across 
 the sky out towards the inhabited plains, thought of 
 flight. He could go across the Ritscher forest and 
 by the cliffs of the Trasank, thus escaping the 
 region of Trawies, and yonder in foreign lands serve 
 mankind more profitably than here. But then his 
 oath to stay by this unfortunate people and either 
 to conquer or perish with them occurred to him. 
 
 He occasionally went up to Bart's to see his 
 growing son and to give him instruction. Erie- 
 fried only half listened while his father was speak- 
 ing, looked at him coldly, then left him. The 
 inhabitants of Trawies had plundered Bart of nearly 
 everything. But at the same time they had shaken 
 his hand in a friendly way, begging him not to be 
 offended, for this was the new custom. They had 
 also advised him to join them and to take his share 
 of the booty. Bart did not join them, however, did 
 not even go down to the valley, but planted his 
 grain and vegetables in isolated parts of the forest; 
 he gathered wild fruit and concealed it as well as he 
 could from the robbers. The wandering bands of 
 
Godless 303 
 
 young men and women willingly passed the old man 
 by, but they had discovered in the house in the Tarn 
 a fine young lad, whom they hoped soon to have 
 with them in their ranks. 
 
 Erlefried was as loth as his foster-father to ac- 
 company the band, and was constantly obliged to 
 flee from them. His favourite place of refuge was 
 down in the Diirbach gorge, where a sweet little 
 maid was patiently nursing her dying father in their 
 lonely home. He performed many a kind office for 
 these poor people. But he was frequently forced to 
 flee to the mountains or into the depths of the Rit- 
 scher forest, for his father had said to him: " Thou 
 art innocent, thou must keep out of sight. Go into 
 the wilderness among the wolves rather than join 
 the people of Trawies." 
 
 The young man had one experience which proved 
 the cleverness of Bart's household, and this finally 
 ended the pursuit of the carpenter's son by the 
 rabble. 
 
 It was during the winter. Bart's house was sur- 
 rounded by a wall of snow formed by the wind. 
 Through this wall an entrance had been cut, and a 
 footpath had been shovelled leading to the valley. 
 
 Mistress Bart sat in the gloomy room, spinning 
 yarn from flax grown the previous summer upon an 
 isolated clearing of the Birstling. Bart usually sat 
 near her at his loom, but to-day he was out in front 
 of the house, on a bit of bare ground protected from 
 the snow by a crudely improvised roof of boards. 
 He and Erlefried were busy killing a young pig for 
 the approaching Christmas, 
 
304 The God Seeker 
 
 And while these four inhabitants of this mountain 
 home were thus occupied, in spinning, in kilh'ng, and 
 the pig in dying, a little boy came running up from 
 Stossnickel's hut, with a breathless " Good after- 
 noon! " 
 
 " Good afternoon to thee," answered Erlefried, 
 and he added good-naturedly, "Come here, Natz, 
 and I '11 cut off thy ears," which office he had just 
 performed for the pig. 
 
 Little Natz was neither frightened nor impressed 
 by this offer, but stepped up to the men lisping: 
 
 " They are coming! " 
 
 "Who?" 
 
 " The people are coming! " 
 
 " What kind of people ? " 
 
 " The Trawiesers. I saw them down there, and 
 they '11 be here in no time." 
 
 Erlefried started. The Trawiesers ! Then he must 
 flee, for he already knew that they were searching 
 for him in earnest to join their band. That he 
 would not do; he must escape from them if possi- 
 ble. But where, at this season ? The snow blocked 
 every path: grinding his teeth, the lad grasped the 
 bloody knife. The old man had let his fall and was 
 calling upon God and the saints. 
 
 " Thou old simpleton," cried his wife from the 
 house, " at such times one should call upon the 
 devil; he is the only one who can help us with 
 these people. Run, Erlefried, and crawl into the 
 straw." 
 
 " 'T would be the most stupid thing he could 
 do," said Bart; " if they know he is here they '11 
 
Godless 305 
 
 turn the house upside down until they find him. 
 Why not bury thyself in the snow, Erlefried ? " 
 
 '* It will do no good," said the lad; " if they are 
 bound to have me they won't go away without me. 
 They set fire to Josa-Hannes's house, and at last 
 the heat and smoke drove him from his hiding- 
 place. To run up the mountain would also be use- 
 less; I could not make any progress in this snow 
 — and then the tracks! " 
 
 " 'T is a living shame, boy, if thou canst not get 
 away from these brutes! " cried the woman in tears. 
 
 " I think so too," replied Erlefried, helplessly. 
 
 " I have just thought of something if thou art 
 only clever enough," said the woman. 
 
 Bart replied: " I think, old woman, that all of us 
 together have as much sense as thou alone." 
 
 Turning towards the little messenger, who was 
 still waiting, she said: " Natz, thou art a good lad, 
 and if thou wilt come next Sunday I will give thee 
 the kidneys from the pig. Now, hurry down the 
 path as fast as thou canst. When the people see 
 thee and ask where thou art going, tell them there 
 has been shooting at Bart-from-Tarn's to-day, and 
 that thou must go for the grave-digger. Then hurry 
 on and be prudent." 
 
 The boy started and Bart called to his wife : 
 " Thou stupid, what 's the meaning of all this ?" 
 
 Passing her hand over the whitewashed stove she 
 wiped it on Erlefried's face until he was as pale as 
 a corpse. 
 
 " Now, child, thou hast the right colour! In 
 Gottesnamen, lie down on the bier." 
 
3o6 The God Seeker 
 
 They understood at last. 
 
 " Perhaps we shall succeed. We 've nothing to 
 lose by it." 
 
 They discussed the matter hastily, smeared the 
 boy's hair with blood ; the clothes were already 
 somewhat bespattered. While Bart was burying 
 the pig outside in the snow, his wife was laying 
 Erlefried out upon the bench between the spinning- 
 wheel and the stove. He stretched his slender, 
 well-formed limbs upon the board, crossed his arms 
 upon his breast, let his bloody head fall backwards, 
 the unkempt locks hanging over the bench. The 
 woman then placed a carved crucifix in his hand, 
 hung a rosary upon it, and, as was the custom 
 among the peasants at that time, laid dried daisies 
 upon his breast. She covered his body with a large 
 linen cloth, saying: " Now do not stir again." 
 
 She then arranged a few things near the bier 
 which are accessories of the dead, among others 
 the burning lamp. When all was finished, she 
 stood a while quite still, then whispered anxiously: 
 " Speak, Erlefried! " 
 
 The dead man did as he was asked and the 
 woman was reassured. 
 
 Bart now hastened in: " Is it ready ? They are 
 coming up the hill." 
 
 Seeing Erlefried lying there he started back in 
 fright, then smiled. 
 
 A number of men already stood before the house, 
 a lot of miserable wretches, staring fixedly at the 
 bloody snow where a few moments before had lain 
 the little pig. They attempted to enter the house, 
 
Godless 3^7 
 
 but Bart's wife met them screaming: " It 's time 
 you came, people, it 's time you came; there 's no 
 more living in this place! " 
 
 " What has happened ?" they asked. 
 
 " Robbers have been here and have killed the 
 boy. Don't you see that blood ? Jesus Maria, it 
 makes me faint to look at it! " 
 
 She played her part well. Bart crouched upon a 
 bench by his loom. 
 
 The men who had entered the house looked with 
 uncertain glances at the bier, dimly lighted by the 
 little lamp. They then seated themselves at the 
 table and noisily demanded food. 
 
 The woman brought some watery milk. She was 
 obliged to taste of it herself first, for the people no 
 longer trusted each other. 
 
 " Don't you worry! " she cried; " if I had poison 
 in the house, I would n't spare it, you may be sure 
 of that. I do not care to live any longer in such a 
 world!" And she burst into tears, her cries re- 
 sounding throughout the house. 
 
 The rabble devoured the bread and milk, and a 
 few began a search for something better. 
 
 The woman, busying herself in the neighbour- 
 hood of the bier, noticed that Erlefried was trying 
 to repress a sneeze. Hastening to the spinning- 
 wheel, she set the clattering thing in motion. Bart 
 comprehended. He rose slowly. 
 
 "What is the use of despairing?" he sighed. 
 " No God can change things for us now. Work 
 alone will save us!" And seating himself before 
 his loom he began to weave as noisily as possible. 
 
3o8 The God Seeker 
 
 till the men were unable to hear each other's voices, 
 and the lad on the bier could sneeze to his heart's 
 content. 
 
 At last the intruders arose and one of them, seiz- 
 ing the old woman by the arm, said : " Uncover the 
 body! " 
 
 " Whoever wants to see it must uncover it him- 
 self," she replied. The man approached the bier, 
 drew back the cloth from the head, thus disclosing 
 a pale, distorted face. Starting back aghast, he 
 whispered : " 'T is the son of our captain ! " 
 
 " Murder for murder, that is the way this world 
 retaliates!" muttered a man in the crowd. 
 
 Then, shuddering, they left the house. When 
 they were gone, the woman wiped the sweat from 
 her face and Bart said: " I prayed with all my heart 
 that it might succeed. Now, Erlefried, get up." 
 
 The lad rose, washed himself, and murmured : 
 " I '11 never do that again! " 
 
 "Thou wilt not need to," said the woman; 
 " they think thou art dead now, and will leave thee 
 alone. And things must be better some time! " 
 
 No further search was made for Erlefried, the car- 
 penter's son. Even Wahnfred supposed for a time 
 that his child had been murdered. He made no 
 complaint; he considered it God's judgment and 
 wept thankful tears that Erlefried had left him dur- 
 ing the innocent years of his life. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 AT times Wahnfred felt benumbed and discour- 
 aged, but all the more did he sacrifice himself 
 forTrawies, which was being dragged down by every 
 possible ill. He did not realise how much energy 
 he possessed ; his life, hitherto withdrawn from ex- 
 ternal things, had been a subjective one. He 
 searched the Old and New Testaments for light to 
 illumine the horrible darkness enveloping himself 
 and his fellow-beings. But he had grown to hate 
 the Bible; it had led him astray, — had, as it were, 
 placed the murderer's axe in his hand. The wrath- 
 ful laws of the Old Testament, had they not actu- 
 ally challenged him to perform the deed ? And 
 even in the New Testament he had found no help. 
 From this book, called the legacy of love, had been 
 drawn the horrible curse pronounced upon them. 
 The Old Testament had provided the parish of Tra- 
 wies with an inhuman criminal ; the New, with in- 
 human judges! His heart filled with passionate 
 longing, he searched for a new revelation. He re- 
 garded himself as a Moses in the wilderness, whose 
 duty it was to lead his lost people towards a brighter 
 future, and to seek for ways and laws to guide their 
 erring footsteps. 
 
 309 
 
3IO The God Seeker 
 
 One night, after a sad and weaiy day, as he lay 
 upon a bench outside of his house, it came to him 
 suddenly, as if he were listening to a strange voice 
 — man's struggles are all in vain, the world belongs 
 to the devil ! Was there not some such declaration 
 in the " Revelations of a Pious Hermit," which he 
 had found in the hermitage ? He had cast the 
 thought from him, but he had now experienced 
 such striking proofs of the truth of the statement 
 that he began again to consider it, brooding over it 
 day and night. 
 
 He finally resolved to leave the house by the 
 Trach and to flee from the people of Trawies, who 
 were heaping crime upon crime and who had chosen 
 him for their leader ; he would not go beyond the 
 ring of fire, but into still greater solitudes of the 
 forest, there to ponder the strange doctrine from 
 which he hoped to evolve a new teaching to save 
 this perishing people. 
 
 Near the summit of the Johannesberg, upon a 
 small clearing close to the precipice, where the rising 
 sun casts its rays while the other peaks are still 
 wrapped in darkness, and from where a view may be 
 had far and wide over Trawies, stood at that time a 
 human habitation. It was the roughly built hut of 
 a poor woman, who had watched the lierds of the 
 Trawies peasants during the summer months. She 
 was the widow of a wood-cutter, and beyond this 
 fact no one knew aught of her and her child, until 
 the attention of the people was excited as they ac- 
 cidentally learned that the child had grown into an 
 extraordinarily beautiful young girl. And one day 
 
Godless 3^1 
 
 the widow was found strangled in her hut and the 
 girl had disappeared, leaving no trace behind her. 
 
 This was the roof which now afforded Wahnfred 
 shelter. Here he planned to lead the life of a her- 
 mit, and here he hoped to discover the true way to 
 salvation. 
 
 He told the people that he was going away and 
 that they must not ask him where. He promised 
 to watch over them, and some day to appear again 
 among them in glory and power. 
 
 He saw how attentively they listened to his 
 words, he saw their inclination towards the mysteri- 
 ous, even as he had already noticed in these poor 
 outcasts an inner longing for some religious faith. 
 In their hearts they felt a certain anxiety, although 
 desiring something quite different from what Wahn- 
 fred was seeking. They wished to enjoy with their 
 senses: Wahnfred sought the peace of the soul. 
 They wished for heaven : Wahnfred sought for God. 
 
 They swore that he should still remain their cap- 
 tain. They did not realise how he suffered, nor 
 what he was planning; they were made of a differ- 
 ent wood from that found in the workshop of this 
 carpenter. 
 
 Wahnfred now took up his abode in the hut on 
 the Johannesberg. He brooded, he dreamed, the 
 strange " Revelation " germinating and growing in 
 his heart. After he had remained in seclusion for 
 months, one morning at the foot of the Dreiwand, 
 just below the spot where the people's church and 
 heaven had been taken from them, the following 
 mysterious writing appeared : 
 
312 The God Seeker 
 
 " First: God creates heaven and the angels to 
 dwell therein. 
 
 " Second: The angels become rebellious before 
 God and He casts them out into a wilderness called 
 Earth. There they live in bodies of clay and are 
 given over to trouble. Before their souls may leave 
 these bodies, they shall do penance for their arrog- 
 ance by a life of humility; they shall expiate their 
 selfishness by self-renunciation. 
 
 " Third: Those who succeed in this may ascend 
 to the eternal heaven ; those who fail, return to an 
 earthly body, and they continue to return until they 
 are freed from sin." 
 
 Through the dewy branches of the trees the sun- 
 light fell upon the stone, before which the people 
 had gathered to see the strange writing, their excite- 
 ment increasing as they endeavoured to interpret its 
 meaning. 
 
 " Oh, yes," said the hunter from the Trasank, 
 "I have often had the feeling of having lived many 
 different lives in this world." 
 
 " I think I still have traces of Herod in me," said 
 Little Baumhackel; but another man retorted, 
 " You seem more like Judas to me." 
 
 " I must be Abraham with my house full of 
 children," said the peasant Isidor. 
 
 " Oh! " cried another, " he never came back to 
 earth ; he was a good man and has long been resting 
 in Abraham's bosom." 
 
 " Who ? He, himself ?" asked one of the men 
 with a laugh. 
 
 "This writing explains," said Roderich, the 
 
Godless 313 
 
 tramp, " why we always say of a good man, when 
 he dies: * He will never come back again.' " 
 
 Thus they interpreted the new revelation, and 
 after they had jested about it to their hearts' con- 
 tent, they ceased thinking of it and continued in 
 their accustomed ways, which grew more evil from 
 day to day. 
 
 Wahnfred perceived that the words on the Drei- 
 wand were not the right ones, but he did not rest; 
 he sought with his brain, he sought with his heart 
 for a Saviour, for a God. How and where he would 
 find Him and what the expiation would be — did he 
 dream that ? 
 
 In a side gorge of the Rockenbach stood the little 
 house of the wood-carver, Zirmer, who by peddling 
 his wares in the country outside earned a bare living 
 for himself and his large family. At the time the 
 ban was placed upon Trawies, he was absent on one 
 of his wanderings. On hearing of the misery that 
 had come to his home, he turned about at once, 
 walking day and night to reach his family. The 
 last night of his journey he stopped with a rela- 
 tive in Neubruck, who sought to keep him, tell- 
 ing him to thank God that he was outside the ring 
 of fire, and that he should not think of returning to 
 Trawies, where everything had been cursed. Zirmer 
 paid no heed to this advice; his feverish brain 
 thought only of his wife and children. The sentinels 
 at the " Five Pines " grinned jeeringly as he passed 
 by. When he reached his house, he fell exhausted 
 at the door, and now he lay ill and dying. His 
 wife remained faithfully and courageously by his 
 
3H The God Seeker 
 
 side, but when she was alone or her husband slept, 
 she wept bitterly. "To be in such distress," she 
 cried, "such dire distress and to have no helper on 
 earth or in heaven ! And here art thou, my good 
 husband, come home to die, and we have no Saviour 
 for thee. If mankind could only realise how sweet, 
 how trifling is all earthly suffering, if one may only 
 hope for God's mercy in the life eternal! But to 
 be in such misery — and to have no God! deserted, 
 lost forever — forever! " 
 
 The sick man only said: "Let me die! Let me 
 die quietly and follow me soon ! " 
 
 "Where then?" she cried. " When I think 
 where we must go, I tremble. We are damned, we 
 are already in hell." 
 
 When the poor woman heard of the writing on 
 the Dreiwand, a cry of joy burst from her lips and 
 she wept aloud. 
 
 " Praise God ! Thank God ! " she said ; " we shall 
 find our God again ! " 
 
 Such was the passionate longing for the comforts 
 of religion in many souls of the outcast Trawies. 
 
 Wahnfred sat in his mountain hut reflecting and 
 brooding. It was the month of May and nearing 
 Whitsuntide. " Nowhere in the world," he once 
 thought, "can this season be so lovely as in our 
 region ; but only upon peaceful hearts does the 
 sacred dove bestow the blessings of Whitsuntide." 
 
 In such hours the man was almost happy. The 
 tender forget-me-nots looked up at him affection- 
 ately, as still reminders of her who had once taken 
 
Godless 315 
 
 so loving a part in his life. A short time ago, a 
 dandelion was holding up its golden basket to re- 
 ceive the diamond dew-drops; to-day its hair is 
 white and a gentle breeze is thinning its locks. 
 High above in the sky glows the sun-star, casting 
 its burning rays upon the beings of the earth who 
 are thirsting for light. Whitsuntide! Only a few 
 months ago the year was lying stiff and cold ; it now 
 rises in renewed youth, like the miraculous bird in 
 the fairy tale. 
 
 "Is it then true," thought Wahnfred, "that 
 man's inclinations are so evil ? We stand erect, 
 our feet treading upon flowers, our brain nourished 
 by the light of heaven. The sorrow of the heart, 
 what is it but a longing for goodness and happi- 
 ness ? Is it a misfortune if we are sometimes 
 threatened by the darkness of storms ? Storms 
 bring lightning which illumines our minds with its 
 fiery tongues. Were there no night, who could 
 gaze into the starlit sky ? But they come, the un- 
 grateful sons of earth, and cry, * The mother is 
 evil ! ' And they think that they prove it. But I 
 say, ' She is good ! ' and I do not need to prove it. 
 Doubt has entered my heart ; sorrow has clutched 
 me by the hair; hate has poisoned me; love has 
 tortured me ; injustice have I experienced, — yet a 
 thousandfold more injustice have I done! 
 
 " Over beyond these mountains are here and there 
 patches resembling silvery lakes, upon which sun- 
 light and shadow are playing. Those are cornfields. 
 The budding ears are listening to the song of the 
 lark, as they turn skyward, asking for sunshine — 
 
3i6 The God Seeker 
 
 their Whitsuntide prayer. Their ambition is to 
 ripen, but the ripening means their destruction ; at 
 least that is how we men interpret it. The grain of 
 corn is buried in the earth, and the next year its 
 stalks will again be waving in the wind — perhaps in 
 greater abundance than to-day. Life does not 
 diminish, it increases!" 
 
 Wahnfred then looked out once more into the 
 distance. A soft haze lay over mountain and val- 
 ley; the waters of the Trach, the Miesing, and the 
 Rockenberg glistened like silver chains amid the 
 green meadows, and the walls of the closed and 
 ruined church shimmered like snow. 
 
 " If I were that God," he thought, " Who, as 
 our faith teaches us, is just and merciful, I would 
 to-day put an end to the misery down there. Are 
 not the mountains of the Trasank, the sea of clouds, 
 the fire from heaven in His hands? In a year 
 flowers would bloom upon the scene of destruction 
 and all would be well ! 
 
 " If one of our human race should suddenly have 
 control of human affairs, would it not be better for 
 us than as it now is, with a Something over all 
 Who does not understand and is not understood. 
 Who heartlessly plays with our hearts. Who does 
 not smile at our brief joys, nor weep when we go to 
 destruction ? It is a monster, false, dangerous, 
 fascinating, for it calls itself God. The good God! 
 The dear Heavenly Father, Who encompasses the 
 earth with a wreath of stars, and fills it with a sea 
 of sunlight, that its outer splendours may satisfy 
 His eye! He troubles Himself but little concern- 
 
Godless 317 
 
 ing those who suffer and despair within. And 
 should He be called to account for this He is the 
 stronger, and to shield His own power He names 
 Himself the All-Wise One. — But does He name 
 Himself ? Was it not the craven human souls who 
 have made of this Unknown Something a gracious, 
 all-powerful, all-wise God ? Oh, how cowardly to 
 ascribe to God deeds which we perform ourselves ! 
 And did not God come to us in human form to 
 redeem the world ?" 
 
 These were the different thoughts that filled the 
 poor man's brain. 
 
 It was midsummer and Wahnfred wandered 
 through the forest. He often stopped to listen to 
 the twittering of the bird that had its home in the 
 densest group of pine-trees, a home before whose 
 door the spider had built her lattice-work. In a 
 song without words — in music — we comprehend 
 only that which we ourselves contribute, our own 
 feelings and experiences. So Wahnfred, the God- 
 seeker, was inclined to interpret the sweet notes of 
 the birds as a revelation. 
 
 He sometimes lay for hours, stretched upon the 
 grass, oppressed by the heat of the day and by the 
 weight of his own thoughts. Dreamily he gazed 
 heavenward to watch the dream pictures in the sky. 
 For are not the clouds, in their fantastic, ever- 
 changing forms, now light and airy, now dark and 
 threatening, vanishing as they form, forming as 
 they vanish, — are they not the dreams of the sky ? 
 They are moving from west to east — the sky is 
 
3i8 The God Seeker 
 
 dreaming of the Orient, of that paradise which it 
 has watched over lovingly with its blue eye, kissed 
 fervently with its sun's rays, and watered with its 
 dews. O youth of the world ! The stars move in 
 their endless course from east to west, only the 
 clouds take the opposite direction, in longing re- 
 membrance of thee, lost youth of the world ! 
 
 Wahnfred also possessed a nature that lived in 
 the past rather than in the future. More frequently 
 than ever he thought of the Gestade, at the foot of 
 his mountain. There had lived his mother, there 
 had lived his wife, there he had spent his childhood, 
 and there he had had a child of his own. His 
 dearest happiness had come to him there, had 
 visited him in his little workshop. All was over 
 now, but for the sake of that sacred time he had 
 no right to curse the world. He had become un- 
 faithful to the truest friend he had : work. To 
 restore law and order in the outcast parish should 
 now be his penance for his evil deed. 
 
 His heart filled with joy when he began to see the 
 beauties of nature as of old. O human eye, how 
 beautiful has the world made herself for thee! 
 Everything which comes from Nature's breasts is 
 pure and clean. Perhaps the fountain of humanity 
 also was once clear and fresh and the stream has 
 only become muddy by its long course, for it has 
 taken up the dust of the world and lost its way in 
 aimless space, embittered by the continuous strug- 
 gles of its waves, even as sea-water becomes bitter 
 and only returns to its purity after mounting in 
 clouds to heaven and falling thence to the earth 
 
Godless 319 
 
 again. Expiation in dissolution and a better resur- 
 rection after the fall! To this goal Wahnfred's 
 thoughts turned as a magnet turns to the north. 
 
 Far beyond the mountains, on the sunny plains, 
 shimmer the yellow fields. " O happy land, where 
 bells and scythes are heard!" he cried. "Yes, 
 yonder is peace; there the mowers are harvesting 
 and the earth has opened her arms, offering her 
 fruits, her blood, her heart, in gratitude to man for 
 having trusted her in the spring. The stalks of 
 grain stand with bowed heads awaiting the scythe, 
 and the fields have decorated themselves with corn- 
 flowers and red poppies in celebration of their sacri- 
 ficial day. Ah, when shall we gather another 
 harvest in Trawies ?" 
 
 Wahnfred looked up ; the dream pictures had 
 vanished and how changed was the sky ! Above the 
 peaks of the Trasank huge piles of threatening 
 clouds had gathered and were descending over the 
 cliffs and upon the heights of the Ritscher and of 
 the Wildwiese. A rumbling of thunder was heard, 
 the full force of the peal failing to penetrate 
 through the thick-falling fog, but reaching the ear 
 like a half-smothered rattle ; here and there flashes 
 of lightning glimmered faintly through the mist. 
 
 It had grown so dark that the gleam of two glow- 
 worms shone from behind the leaves of a hawthorn- 
 tree. And now the storm began to rage, tearing 
 down from above and up the mountainsides, whist- 
 ling and hissing through the trees and frightening 
 the birds from their nests. The wind played havoc 
 even with the small plant-growth on the heath, 
 
320 The God Seeker 
 
 throwing up the sand and earth. A blinding sheet 
 of flame formed a huge cross in the air, and where 
 its shafts struck the ground a burning tree was 
 standing. A sea of mist was flying over the crash- 
 ing trees. The clouds burst and descended in 
 floods. Dust, moss, and twigs were tossed into the 
 air, only to be crushed back into the earth again by 
 heavy hailstones; and then all were plunged in 
 a brown, foaming stream to the depths below. 
 Wahnfred saw nothing but the whirling grey mist, 
 pierced by red bands of flame, heard nothing but 
 the roaring as of a mighty sea. The rolling stones, 
 the crashing trees, the peals of thunder, had become 
 one sound. Like the breath of a god, blowing 
 creation back into chaos from which it had sprung, 
 so the elements warred, as though one would merge 
 into the other in the struggle. 
 
 Wahnfred was thrown into a thicket ; sight and 
 hearing failed him. " Thou poor human creature!" 
 he thought, "thou hast hated also; how childish 
 was thine envy, how insolent thy scorn, how petty 
 thine anger compared with this anger of the eternal 
 forces that, with one blow, avenge everything, ex- 
 piate everything! And thou darest impute mean 
 human motives to Him, Who in His majesty and 
 power scorns and destroys us as He wills! The 
 dangers into which our own sins plunge us are alone 
 fatal. In the war of the elements, we may be quite 
 calm." 
 
 Such were the thoughts of the God-seeking 
 Wahnfred. The storm passed. The largest trees 
 of tlie forest were broken, the fragments still being 
 
Godless 321 
 
 swept down by the rushing stream. The cliffs were 
 stripped bare ; everything green had been carried to 
 the valley below. The outline of the Trasank was 
 sharply defined ; a light mist hovered over its rocky 
 sides. The valley of the Trach was white ; a bit of 
 winter had been hurled down upon it. The mount- 
 ains on the other side stood out clear and distinct, 
 and above the forest slender threads of smoke rose 
 here and there. Light clouds were floating across 
 the sky; the sinking sun was smiling back a "Good 
 night." Far over the plain the storm was receding, 
 and against the grey sky — as though made from a 
 lightning-flash now held in thrall — was outlined the 
 half-circle of the rainbow. 
 
 Wahnfred returned to his hut, where he sat 
 through the quiet night, reflecting and dreaming. 
 He had almost forgotten the past; he was thinking 
 of what the future would bring. He longed to 
 break the fetters that bound him to his ancestors 
 and to their faith, for, guided by that, had he not 
 destroyed the religion of the parish of Trawies ? 
 His mission now was to find for them a God. 
 
 It was already late in the night, and the sleepless 
 eyes of the man sitting in front of his hut were gaz- 
 ing vaguely before him, when suddenly, below by 
 the cliff, he saw a little light flickering among the 
 branches. It swung to and fro, gradually drawing 
 nearer, and finally the beautiful face of a young girl, 
 illumined by the ruddy glow, appeared out of the 
 darkness. It was Sela, who approached him with 
 these words: " The fire guardian delivers the fire 
 
 into thy hand?." 
 
 ^1 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 SELA could not be persuaded to remain upon the 
 Johannesberg until morning. She returned to 
 the valley, alone, as she had come. The tall pines 
 stood erect, raising their knotty branches higher than 
 ever in their pride at having so successfully bat- 
 tled with the storm. The moon's rays fell between 
 the dark branches, a feeble light indeed to guide the 
 wanderer, who had carried her lantern up the moun- 
 tain and now returned silent and trembling. 
 
 She had fulfilled her mission ; now she had only 
 herself to care for, now she could look her sorrow 
 in the face and weep. 
 
 During the storm of to-day her father had died. 
 His eyes had quivered before a flash of lightning, 
 then closed for ever. 
 
 Sela was returning home to watch by the body. 
 As she was climbing over a hedge on the hillside, 
 she did not notice the dark figure standing there, 
 which moved when she had passed and followed 
 her. She hastened more rapidly, as though sus- 
 pecting that someone was behind her. Suddenly 
 she stopped before the roaring Trach and could go 
 no farther. The flood had carried away the bridge 
 and the waves were beating madly against the banks. 
 
 322 
 
Godless 3^3 
 
 Towards Trawies lay the open valley, and the 
 moon was shining down through the gap upon the 
 rugged rocks. 
 
 She stopped, not knowing what to do next. The 
 dark figure then approached, calling her by name : 
 "Sela!" 
 
 She did not start, for she knew the voice well, 
 but she could scarcely believe that her friend could 
 be so near. 
 
 " Sela," he said, "do not fear; I am Erlefried." 
 
 " How can it be possible that thou art here ?" 
 she asked. 
 
 " It is no miracle — I was just walking here. Take 
 my hand, and I will tell thee ; but we must go back 
 into the woods a little, away from the noise of this 
 roaring water." 
 
 He led her a short distance into the forest, say- 
 ing: " The storm to-day was so terrible that I was 
 worried lest thy hut might have been injured. So I 
 came down to the Diirbach gorge and there I saw 
 thee walking with a lantern. It was already dark and 
 I followed thee. In Trawies no maiden can now rely 
 upon her guardian angel. I thought thy father 
 might have sent thee to the herb-doctor, but in- 
 stead thou didst climb the Johannesberg and I have 
 waited for thee." 
 
 " Erlefried," answered the girl, " thou art very 
 good to me — I am always thankful to thee, but my 
 anxiety is now doubled. Thou knowest that the 
 people must not see thee." 
 
 " That is why I always walk at night," he replied ; 
 " and whoever meets me takes me for a ghost. It 
 
324 The God Seeker 
 
 is fortunate for me that ghosts still exist. I wish 
 we could be ghosts ourselves for a moment, that we 
 might fly across the stream; we cannot remain on 
 this side, unless we spend the night below at the 
 Gestade where my father's house used to stand. 
 We dare not go up to Trawies, and it is impossible 
 for us to stay here." 
 
 Then Sela suggested that they might go to the 
 house on the Johannesberg. 
 
 " I hate people," answered Erlefried. 
 
 •' But thy father lives up there." 
 
 " I know it. I am afraid of my father." 
 
 Sela was silent. She was thinking of what this 
 son had just said. He was afraid of his father! 
 
 " I believe—" said Erlefried, embarrassed, and 
 then he stopped. 
 
 " What dost thou believe ? " 
 
 " I believe there are people in Trawies who have 
 sold themselves to the devil." 
 
 ''Mem Gott! thou dost not think that of thy 
 
 father?" 
 
 " Not exactly, but I know others who are none 
 
 too good to do it." 
 
 " Erlefried," replied the girl, after a pause, " how 
 could a man sell himself to the evil one ? " 
 
 " Easily enough, if he wished to. But he must 
 be in earnest." 
 
 " Well, who would wish to ?" 
 
 " Who ? Oh, there are many people who would 
 like to, in order to have everything their own way, 
 and for this they need help. God— supposing the 
 Trawiesers had a God— does not always grant our 
 
Godless 325 
 
 prayers. So the people look for someone else. We 
 could make use of the devil ourselves to carry us 
 over the Trach. ' ' 
 
 " Do not say such wicked things, Erlefried; we 
 can build a bridge." 
 
 Laying a bridge would have been useless, for the 
 Trach was rising every moment; the water was 
 rushing down from the farthermost gorges of the 
 Trasank, bringing with it stones and earth and 
 many utensils from houses and barns. But a little 
 farther along, where two rocks confined the river in 
 a narrow space, the storm had thrown an old larch- 
 tree across it, thus forming a bridge. Through the 
 thick interwoven branches of this tree the two 
 young people were now obliged to work their way. 
 Sela clung to one arm of the young man, while with 
 the other he swung himself from branch to branch, 
 at the same time supporting his companion. How 
 long a time had elapsed since that sweet Midsummer 
 Day when Erlefried had carried her, as now, across 
 the Trach ! What a bright, happy time it had 
 been! 
 
 But that was the day on which was born the 
 demon that in combination with the wild forces of 
 nature now ruled in Trawies, bringing desolation 
 and destruction upon it, like the flood tearing down 
 the Trach, which the young couple were now strug- 
 gling to cross. 
 
 At last they reached the other shore, and as they 
 were ascending the mountain, Sela told of her 
 father's death. Erlefried brushed the tears from 
 her eyes with his slender fingers saying: " I will 
 
326 The God Seeker 
 
 help thee bury thy father, even as thou didst 
 stand by me when I lost my mother. We will give 
 him a deep grave in the woods and cover it with 
 stones." 
 
 She was silent. How could this dear friend be so 
 heartless? Bury her father! 
 
 They then crossed the hill. The sky had become 
 cloudless, the moon was shining brightly. A deep 
 stillness reigned over all; not a bird was stirring in 
 the branches; even the young people stepped 
 softly. They walked close together, forming one 
 shadow. Erlefried was conscious of his youth and 
 strength. 
 
 " I will not leave thee, Sela," he cried; " I will 
 stay with thee in thy house and protect thee, as thy 
 father has protected thee, and love thee as Erlefried 
 has always loved thee." 
 
 " Thou wilt stay with me ?" murmured the girl 
 anxiously. 
 
 " I will stay with thee," he cried. " I will never 
 leave thee. I will be with thee through all 
 eternity." 
 
 " Not yet," she pleaded. 
 
 " Yes, Sela, now. Thou shalt light the fire, I 
 will lock the house. We belong no longer to Tra- 
 wies; we will not fly to strange lands, we will 
 belong to each other ! Sela! Sela!" 
 
 Hastily seizing her in his arms he kissed her 
 brow and her eyes, and was about to kiss her lips, 
 but refrained, pressing her hand to his own instead. 
 He drew her quickly on towards the house in the 
 Diirbach gorge. 
 
Godless 327 
 
 Sela did not resist. They hastened, they tore 
 down through the moist, cool forest, over frag- 
 ments of trees and hailstones. They said nothing; 
 their flying feet were the only expression of their 
 feelings. Sela longed to reach her dead father, yet 
 felt alarm the nearer she approached the hut. The 
 youth, suddenly overcome by the passion of his 
 love, thought little of the dead man. Winding his 
 arm about the girl he almost carried her, and her 
 feet scarcely touched the ground. Thus they de- 
 scended the hill, the roaring of the Diirbach growing 
 nearer and nearer. 
 
 At last they were in the gorge and as they 
 climbed over the fallen trees and debris, feeling their 
 way and looking anxiously about them, Sela sud- 
 denly stopped and exclaimed : " The hut is gone ! " 
 
 " But where can it be ? It must be farther 
 down." 
 
 " It should be here, opposite this great rock. 
 My God, there is a new mountain ! Erlefried, 
 Erlefried, the hut is buried! " 
 
 An avalanche had descended, bringing with it 
 trees and bushes. Sela threw herself upon the 
 mound, digging the earth away with her hands, 
 until Erlefried forced her back, saying: " See, God 
 is still in Trawies; He has buried thy father! " 
 
 The gentle words, so full of meaning, opened the 
 floodgates of her poor, sore heart, and she wept 
 bitterly. "God has buried him!" The thought 
 comforted her, for she had trembled to think that 
 she must lay her father in the earth without a bless- 
 ing or the tolling of bells. And besides, she had 
 
328 The God Seeker 
 
 been terrified at the idea of living on in the gloomy 
 hut, either alone or with her friend. Now that was 
 all over, and her path in life must turn here. 
 
 They seated themselves upon the moss-covered 
 rock beside the Diirbach, and there they remained 
 the entire night, gazing at the huge pile of earth 
 which made the fire guardian's grave. Erlefried's 
 passionate mood was calmed and changed into warm 
 sympathy and reverence. 
 
 He longed to speak comforting words to her, but 
 she did not hear him ; the roaring of the torrent was 
 benumbing her senses. The moon sank behind 
 the trees, the soft rays penetrating through the 
 branches, touching the stones with silver, and caus- 
 ing the waves to sparkle. A broad band of light 
 shone upon the mound from which the broken 
 trunks still projected. A mysterious atmosphere 
 lay over all, and the moonlit sky seemed to be filled 
 with airy forms descending and ascending like 
 angels on Jacob's ladder. 
 
 " Sela," said Erlefried, leaning his head against 
 the little head of the girl beside him, his long locks 
 falling over her forehead, " Sela, see! our ancestors 
 are coming down to thy father who has so faithfully 
 guarded the fire ! And they will now lead him to 
 heaven by this path of light." 
 
 When the sun was rising above the blue forest of 
 the Tarn, Erlefried led Sela into Bart's house. 
 
 He related what had happened, begging Bart to 
 give the girl a home and his protection. 
 
 " It is thy request, Erlefried ?" asked Bart; " I 
 
Godless 329 
 
 hardly know how to understand that. Yes, I will 
 give the child a roof so long as I have one myself. 
 I am glad to have Sela in my house ; only, Erie- 
 fried, thou art well aware that we often do not 
 know what we ourselves shall eat." 
 
 " I will gather my food in the woods as I have 
 been doing," said the girl. 
 
 " But where will she sleep ? " asked the old man. 
 
 " In the barn on the hay," proposed Erlefried, 
 
 Mistress Bart, who for some time had been watch- 
 ing the two young people standing beside each 
 other, so innocent, yet so full of life, now inter- 
 rupted: " The men may sleep in the barn, Erie- 
 fried, and, for all I care, Bart also; the girl shall 
 sleep in the house, her bed next to mine." And to 
 this Bart agreed. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 DURING this same period a report was circul- 
 ated that the Tarn forest was dying. It was 
 nearly four miles square, and on bright summer 
 days it lay like a still, blue sea under the arching 
 canopy of sky. No one saw the endless movement 
 and life going on within its cool, shady depths. The 
 thousandfold births and deaths of the little creatures, 
 the warm heart-beats, and the hot struggle for exist- 
 ence, — the constant activity of Nature's loom, — 
 who paid heed to it or realised it ? 
 
 And who troubled themselves about the lost 
 people dwelling in the Tarn ? For a long time the 
 trees had concealed them with their heavy branches. 
 In Trawies, the central point, a kind of community 
 had developed, but in the depths of the forest 
 another life was hidden. Many of the old people 
 were astonished at the gradual disappearance of the 
 vagabond element that had streamed in at first. 
 Did these tramps and outlaws feel themselves too 
 good for Trawies, or were they seeking a still more 
 evil place ? 
 
 The forest of the Tarn, compared with the 
 Romanesque style of the deciduous trees outside, 
 resembled a Gothic cathedral. The murmuring of 
 
 330 
 
Godless 331 
 
 the Tarn was like a melodious organ, contrasted 
 with the rustling leaves in the valley. The Tarn 
 was night : other forests were twilight. The Tarn 
 consisted mostly of firs not planted by the hand 
 of man, but grown up in wild confusion from the 
 seeds of their forefathers. Since time immemorial 
 the Tarn forest had been standing; storms, ava- 
 lanches, fire, and the axe had made but little impres- 
 sion upon it. 
 
 Sections of it had been given over to wood-cutters, 
 and the fire guardian was once heard to say: " It is 
 the same with trees as with men, they must go upon 
 the battle-field in their best years." But the unseen 
 sower was ever at hand, gathering the seeds and 
 scattering them over the barren earth. Thus sows 
 the wind. So the Tarn stood upon its stony ground 
 increasing in size and luxuriance. Many of the trees 
 were hundreds of years old and hundreds of feet in 
 height, so large that two men could not encompass 
 them. 
 
 But few paths led through this forest, and even 
 during times of peace it was avoided. The ground 
 was mostly bare, except for its carpet of grey moss 
 and pine-needles, and it was seldom lighted by a 
 ray of sun. Here and there towered a barren rock, 
 or the skeleton of a mouldering tree-trunk. Near 
 the summit of the gently ascending slope, far away 
 from the paths of men, stood a wooden cross. 
 
 Few came to pray before it, and none knew why 
 it was there. It bore neither the image of the 
 Saviour nor any other sign ; towering in its soli- 
 tude, amid the deep silence broken only by the 
 
332 The God Seeker 
 
 murmuring of the wind in the branches, it was 
 almost terrifying to behold. Some imagined this 
 to be the spot where the hunter, St. Eustachius, 
 while still unconverted, once had the vision of a 
 deer, with a crucifix between the antlers. Others 
 insisted that the cross grew from the roots of a tree, 
 and that it exactly resembled, in size and form, the 
 one upon which our Lord was crucified. 
 
 Still others related that it was from the time of 
 Griiner Wolfgang, once the terror of the hunters in 
 the Tarn. He is said to have always worn twigs, 
 leaves, and flowers from the green forest upon his 
 garments ; his hat, his coat, his stockings were also 
 green, his hair and beard white, his reputation 
 black. Whatever sin Griiner Wolfgang may have 
 committed, his appearance was not evil, and he 
 nursed and cared for the forest as one would care 
 for a beloved child. He himself lived, like the 
 trees, in the open air and even in his old age was 
 hale and hearty. 
 
 But he was proud and defiant withal. Seldom 
 descending to Trawies, he did not go to church 
 or to the tavern. Hence his bad reputation. His 
 house stood in the woods, his nourishment he pro- 
 cured with the aid of his gun ; he had a thousand 
 resting-places in the forest. On one bright summer 
 noonday, he was lying upon the soft moss under an 
 arching tent of firs. The birds were silent, the 
 beetles were crawling lazily under the network of 
 roots upon the ground, a gay butterfly was flutter- 
 ing from branch to branch ; the forester slept. 
 
 For a while he slumbered quietly, the busy ants 
 
Godlesg 333 
 
 running over his limbs. Gradually an uneasiness 
 took possession of him, he sighed and groaned, and 
 when at last he awoke, it was already evening. 
 Rising quickly he looked anxiously at the slender 
 trees and up into their branches, then hastened 
 to his house. And soon afterwards, upon the spot 
 where he had slept, he erected the cross. 
 
 The old forester lived some time longer, but 
 finally died without the people having discovered 
 why the heretic had set up the cross in this wilder- 
 ness. 
 
 Griiner Wolfgang was the last forest-keeper in the 
 Tarn. After his death it grew wilder and wilder, 
 for now it had no master. Many a proud tree 
 looked scornfully down upon the cross, thinking: 
 *' Thou hypocritical wooden thing, why art thou 
 here ?." 
 
 We have already learned of the avalanches and 
 storms which prevailed in this region. During the 
 previous spring it had been the same. Changeable 
 weather, first melting, then freezing, had left the 
 falling snow clinging to the branches. Icicles and 
 masses of snow had formed, dragging down the 
 boughs with their weight, bending the young 
 trunks and breaking off the tops. And later, when 
 the snow had melted and the violets were in bloom, 
 the finches and buntings wondered why the trees, 
 usually so proud, bowed their heads and hung 
 down their arms dejectedly when it was the 
 season for sprouting and budding; wondered why 
 so many beautiful little firs lay upon their decay- 
 ing bark in the bright green sorrel, and that so 
 
334 The God Seeker 
 
 many of the tallest and oldest trees had lost their 
 tops. The ruin was great, and thus the Tarn began 
 to die. 
 
 There was no one left in Trawies to whom it 
 occurred to separate the dead trees from the living, 
 excepting Bart, who shook his head, for he knew it 
 would require many hundred wood-cutters to re- 
 move the fallen trunks. 
 
 One day, in the following spring, Baumhackel, 
 the former forest-keeper of Trawies, discovering an 
 old root-digger working about the trees in the Tarn, 
 reproached him for injuring the roots with his iron 
 puncheon. 
 
 '' O lieber Gott ! " answered the old man, " my 
 iron does little harm, but I will show you some- 
 thing here that does more! " 
 
 He led him to a log lying in the moss, and tore 
 off a large piece of bark. " Do you see the letters 
 which are carved in the wood ? " said the man. 
 " Can you read them ? That is the death sentence 
 of the Tarn ! " 
 
 "Nonsense!" muttered Baumhackel; but in- 
 wardly he was terrified at what he saw. Countless 
 little paths led from one chief entrance into the 
 very heart of the log. They were the passage- 
 ways bored by an insect, where, here and there 
 a beetle no larger than a grain of wheat could be 
 seen crawling among the thick, brown larvae. 
 
 Soon after this discovery Baumhackel joined 
 another forest tramp and together they discussed 
 the different crimes being perpetrated in this region. 
 
 " Whom are you tracking now ? " said one. 
 
Godless 335 
 
 " The fox, and I know where he keeps the dove 
 hidden," replied the other. 
 
 " Do you mean Roderich, the tramp ?" 
 
 " Whom else should I mean ? " 
 
 " And the girl from the Johannesberg ? " 
 
 " Don't be stupid ! Of course I mean her." 
 
 " Where is she ? " 
 
 " Do you think I -m fool enough to tell you ? 
 You '11 have to look long before you find her. I '11 
 only say that the rascal is still guarding her as 
 strictly as a pious abbess would guard her youngest 
 nun. The golden hair is growing fast and in a few 
 weeks it will be cut again." 
 
 "Hist!" 
 
 The conversation was interrupted by a man with 
 a load on his back, walking through the thicket. 
 He soon disappeared, and the two loiterers also. 
 
 The Tarn was still spreading its green branches 
 over all. Its stock was apparently richer than ever 
 and many of the boughs broke from the weight of 
 the cones. Numerous woodpeckers pecked busily 
 at the decaying wood ; they found an overabund- 
 ance of nourishment. 
 
 But there came a time when the trees no longer 
 sprouted. Bart shook his head again. By mid- 
 summer the usually green trees had become a 
 soft brown and the needles were falling to the 
 ground. 
 
 Bart, whose house stood near the forest and whose 
 fields were hidden therein, examined a number of 
 the trees. In the outer and inner bark, in the wood, 
 and in the pith, he found the fatal marks, th^ 
 
33^ The God Seeker 
 
 countless passageways of the bark-beetle, the mene 
 tekel of the Tarn. 
 
 " The forest is gone," said Bart to Erlefried. 
 " The curse spares nothing. I am terrified ! " 
 
 Erlefried was silent. He also dwelt within the 
 ring of fire, but he felt no traces of the curse in 
 himself. He was full of joy and life. He was per- 
 mitted to see his beloved Sela every day, but Bart 
 and his wife were secretly watching over these two 
 young hearts. 
 
 At another time the dying of the vast, glorious 
 forest would have caused great excitement in Tra- 
 wies, but now few paid heed to it and many con- 
 sidered it only natural that everything should 
 perish. 
 
 At the end of the summer nearly all the trees 
 stood stripped of their needles, stretching their bare, 
 crippled branches towards heaven. A strong resin- 
 ous odour was perceptible and the sun shone once 
 more upon the ground of the Tarn. The homeless 
 woodpeckers and crossbills, the blackbirds, jays, 
 and sparrows, fluttered aimlessly about among the 
 dry branches, where swarms of bark-beetles were 
 seeking fresh wood for nests in which to raise their 
 broods. Even those parts of the forest hitherto pre- 
 served by ravines and clearings were now attacked, 
 and they, too, wilted and died. 
 
 Bart grew nearly insane at all this destruction. 
 He realised for the first time how he had loved the 
 forest. In his rage he would hunt for single beetles 
 and stamp upon them with his feet. But when he 
 saw that the forest was lost he longed to throw a 
 
Godless 337 
 
 fife-brand into the dry, decaying wood. He then 
 proposed that charcoal-pits should be started ; the 
 people laughed him in the face. 
 
 " For what do we need coal when we have no 
 forge ?" They were right. The road to the out- 
 side world was barred. 
 
 Now the streams began to run dry, and the stones 
 grinned up at one jeeringly from the gorges and 
 ravines. 
 
 When the covering of the forest was thus re- 
 moved, the rabble who had taken refuge there came 
 forth, fleeing like a brood of beetles when the 
 stone under which they have lived is raised. 
 Where only the smoke rising above the forest was 
 formerly visible, the hearth-fire itself now lay ex- 
 posed to view, with the miserable beings crawling 
 and creeping about it among the dead trees. Here 
 were disclosed the wretched huts and caves filled 
 with all kinds of plunder. Here were people living 
 in luxurious abundance; there, hollow-eyed forms 
 perishing with hunger and envy. 
 
 The narrator of these events has fortunately been 
 deprived of a brush with which to paint the crime 
 in all its horror. But he must at least call our at- 
 tention to the misery here revealed. Fighting and 
 murder were not the only results of the lawlessness, 
 from which arose, first, right of might; then, re- 
 venge unto death. And their stolid, beclouded 
 natures were soon at home in the paths of sin. 
 
 Of neighbourliness, brotherly love, or even family 
 ties, there was scarcely a trace left in Trawies. The 
 people formed in bands as it happened. The older 
 
33^ The God Seeker 
 
 ones dragged along as best they might in their ac- 
 customed ways. 
 
 Quite apart from the rest, in a large cave among 
 the rocks, high up on the precipice of the Torstein, 
 facing the east, Roderich, the tramp, had set up his 
 fortress. He was the quietest and greediest of all, 
 and had gathered about him the best and finest that 
 Trawies had to offer. He did not want for fruit, 
 bread, lard, and brandy ; great piles of sheep's wool, 
 yarn, fustian, and leather filled the strange apart- 
 ments of his dwelling. He often sat in the stone 
 niche at the entrance to his cave, gazing blissfully 
 out over the blue hills towards the east, and folding 
 his hard, rough hands across his knees he would 
 murmur in a mood of thankful ecstasy: " I have 
 never been so prosperous as now ! " 
 
 Then he would retire into his dark abode, creep- 
 ing past his stores, until he reached the inner cave, 
 where the dim light of a tallow candle shone towards 
 him. And it was here that he kept his talisman 
 concealed. 
 
 The rocky wall was covered with moss and skins; 
 upon the floor were spread woollen mats ; there were 
 many household utensils, even a dainty little table, 
 holding images of the saints and the tallow candle. 
 In one corner stood a carefully arranged couch of 
 snow-white wool upon which lay a maiden of excep- 
 tional beauty. She was scarcely more than a child, 
 and was in reality paler than she seemed by the dim 
 light of the candle. Her large eyes were brown as 
 two ripe cherries, and glowed with a mysteiious 
 light, which Roderich interpreted as a sign of a 
 
Godless 339 
 
 passionate love. He reminded her many times a 
 day of the asceticism of the saints, whose images 
 he had stolen from the old houses in Trawies. And 
 he also told her that the curse which had now fallen 
 upon the parish could only be counteracted by an 
 abstemious hermit's life, therefore he, old Roderich, 
 would be a good, watchful father over her. 
 
 She lay now quite motionless, her face buried in 
 her arms; had not the pulse moved slightly in the 
 white wrist, Roderich would have thought her 
 dead. 
 
 But he knew very well that she was alive. He 
 approached her cautiously, turning away his face as 
 if in fear of a slap from her hand or a scratch from 
 her fingers. He examined her golden hair, which 
 fell in short, unevenly cut locks over her white neck. 
 
 " Good," he murmured. " Good, Bertha, my 
 heart, there will be more soon. To-morrow we will 
 cut it again." 
 
 The girl now started up, endeavouring to push 
 old Roderich away with both her hands. 
 
 He stood firmly and did not move. 
 
 "Leave me in peace, you fearful ghost!" she 
 cried. 
 
 "You are the one who are making the disturb- 
 ance," said the old tramp, with a grin. 
 
 " What do you want of my hair ? " 
 
 " Why do you keep asking, when you do not be- 
 lieve my answer ? But I will tell you once more, 
 — that from your lovely maiden's locks I am twisting 
 a rope with which to bind the devil that is now 
 loose in Trawies." 
 
340 The God Seeker 
 
 "You are a devil yourself," cried the girl, with 
 blazing eyes. " You murdered my mother!" 
 
 ** What a hard creature you are to manage, little 
 girl!" said the old man, smiling unconcernedly. 
 " Why should I have done the good woman any 
 harm?" 
 
 "You strangled her with a red handkerchief; 
 then you put it into my mouth and dragged me to 
 this cave. You are the devil, the devil, the devil ! " 
 
 He forced her back upon the couch with his 
 strong arm, hissing: " Since you know it already, 
 why should I deny it ? Your mother hung herself 
 on account of the curse in Trawies. You died of 
 fright, and who should have you now, if not the 
 devil?" 
 
 " O my crucified Saviour," cried the girl, tremb- 
 ling and wringing her hands, " what have I done 
 that Thou shouldst leave me thus! " 
 
 " You know what a sin it is to be proud," replied 
 the old man, in his rough voice. "You have been 
 very vain of your soft hair, so it must do penance. 
 To-morrow we will cut it again. Lie down and rest 
 now ; I will watch and see that no worse devil than 
 myself comes near you." 
 
 He left her, crawling out of the cave on his knees, 
 and climbed down to the water — and he had not yet 
 told the girl why he was keeping her, as a dragon 
 guards its treasure, or for what he wished to use her 
 hair. 
 
 When Bertha knew herself to be alone, she sprang 
 up and sinking before the table tried to pray. But 
 her prayer soon changed to violent weeping, which 
 
Godless 341 
 
 re-echoed throughout the cave. She called for her 
 mother ; she called until her strength was exhausted, 
 then sank back upon the couch. 
 
 When she awoke she gazed at her hands and felt 
 of her face. The flesh had fallen away, but it was 
 no wonder, for was she not already very old ? Had 
 she not been a hundred years in this terrible dwell- 
 ing-place ? She could not know that since she had 
 been deprived of the light of day the trees had 
 budded and withered but once. 
 
 Only in moments of happy dreams did she see 
 the bright world and weep over its loss. Gradually 
 she had become more stupefied ; she could not be- 
 lieve that she was damned, but she did believe that 
 the darkness of madness was coming over her, and 
 the thought was a comfort, — and then, her life must 
 end some time. So she became resigned, and in 
 her most difficult hours she took refuge in prayer. 
 At first she refused the food set before her, but 
 after a while her hands involuntarily reached out 
 for it. 
 
 The old man often came to her, busying himself 
 to make her comfortable and trying to entertain 
 her. From time to time he cut off her hair with a 
 sharp knife and then departed, often remaining 
 away for days. 
 
 One evening after barring the entrance to the 
 cave carefully as usual, he hurried away through 
 the woods. Formerly the trees protected him ; now 
 he must go out by night. He walked rapidly in the 
 direction of Bart's house. He had not yet visited 
 this lonely place, but he had an idea that it must 
 
342 The God Seeker 
 
 contain much that was desirable. Roderich carried 
 with him that " Tried Remedy to Keep People from 
 Waking," — the candle made of adder's fat and 
 maiden's hair. Many had experimented with it, 
 but Roderich had at last found a reliable source for 
 his wicks. And since then his magic candle had 
 never failed him. To be sure, certain precautions 
 were necessary. One should first pass the selected 
 house by daylight, apparently admiring the flowers 
 in the window, the birds' nests clinging to the walls 
 and under the eaves, but all the time be secretly 
 looking for the most favourable plarce for breaking 
 in at night. Then an hour should be chosen when 
 the people were fast asleep; one's feet should be 
 shod in something noiseless, and one should have 
 the proper utensils and keys. It would be still bet- 
 ter to visit the houses when the inhabitants were off 
 in search of plunder themselves. Nowadays there 
 is never anything to be found in chests and drawers 
 — one must search the cellars and attics, also under 
 heaps of stones, under the eaves, or even in the 
 thick foliage of trees. A man who has grown old 
 in the profession knows all the tricks, and when, in 
 addition, he has faith in his magic candle, his suc- 
 cess is assured. 
 
 On the way the old rascal thought often of the 
 girl whom he was keeping prisoner. He knew how 
 to appreciate her. He was sometimes sorry that he 
 was obliged to bury her so deep among the rocks, 
 to frighten and discipline her so severely, but then 
 the little thing was very stubborn. "When I go 
 out of business," he thought, " perhaps I shall 
 
Godless 343 
 
 marry her! " Ah, yes, old man, no one has ever 
 guarded virtue more carefully than thou hast 
 guarded it in this poor creature ! It would be diffi- 
 cult to find anyone who knows so well how to make 
 use of maiden's hair as thyself. 
 
 At midnight, with the aid of a rope-ladder, which 
 he had secured to a pole by the window in the roof, 
 Roderich crept into the attic room of Bart's house. 
 He at once made himself at home and lighted his 
 candle. It burned to-night rather unevenly and 
 with a crackling, hissing sound. Everyone seemed 
 to be asleep in the house, yet there were slight noises 
 as if rats or mice were running about. Roderich 
 grew a little uneasy, but at last all was quiet, and the 
 old chests and wardrobes looked very alluring to the 
 tramp. A.n inner warmth, like the glow of youth, 
 took possession of him, and with gleaming eyes he 
 began his work. 
 
 We will not be accomplices to the deed, but will 
 enter another building on Bart's premises. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 IN the barn, on the fragrant hay, two men were 
 lying. One, judging by the sound, was asleep; 
 the other rose quietly and crept to the window. 
 
 It was Erlefried, gazing out into the night over 
 at the dwelling-house opposite. 
 
 In the forest there is a saying that lovers — no 
 matter how far apart they may be — have one mo- 
 ment daily when they may see one another. This 
 moment, whether it occurs by day or by night, lasts 
 just so long as it takes a dew-drop to fall from the 
 top of a larch-tree to the ground. What if one 
 should miss it ! 
 
 This moment always came to Erlefried in the 
 night, when old Bart lay asleep at his side. And 
 the handsome, wide-awake youth took advantage 
 of it; he would rise and look over at the house 
 where Sela was resting — and thinking of him. For 
 hours he would see her sweet image thus— a dew- 
 drop requires much time to reach the ground, falling 
 from the high branches of a larch-tree and stopping 
 at every twig. 
 
 As Erlefried looked out of the little window of 
 the barn on this night, he noticed a light in the 
 attic, where Sela kept her wardrobe. Could she be 
 
 344 
 
Godless 345 
 
 up still ? Perhaps she was mending her gown, and 
 might she not be feeling lonely ? The water was 
 trickling into the trough as usual ; no other sound 
 was perceptible ; the stars in the sky shone brightly, 
 the same as ever. The lad, too, felt lonely, and he 
 longed to go to her in her attic room, to sit by her 
 and hold the candle while she worked. 
 
 Then when, in preparation for the night she 
 raised her arms to unbraid her hair — for she liked 
 to sleep with it loose — she could not as usual cover 
 her lips with her hands. 
 
 Erlefried slipped out quietly, found the door of 
 the house, opened it, and climbed softly up the 
 dark staircase. He knocked first at the attic door, 
 whispering Sela's name, that he might not frighten 
 her. At the same moment he heard a noise within, 
 and as he entered, the room was dark and empty ; 
 the window was open and a figure was hastening 
 away from the house. The thief had escaped, and 
 the chests were still untouched. Erlefried stood 
 there, hardly knowing what to think. For once he 
 had mistaken the moment of the falling dew-drop. 
 But what did it all mean? For a long time he sat 
 upon the chest, then, as it was growing late, he 
 stretched himself upon it and fell asleep. 
 
 The next day was the Feast of the Elevation of 
 the Cross. But who thought of such things or 
 wished to think of them in these woods ? There 
 were many who felt a longing for religious festivals ; 
 but even those who retained their faith were almost 
 without hope. In Bart's house, however, it was 
 otherwise; there no one believed in the curse or 
 
34^ The God Seeker 
 
 that it would affect the innocent, and they all had 
 hope in God and in His kingdom. Bart wished his 
 household to observe the church festivals, although 
 he took no part in them himself; he knew that he 
 must bear his share of the curse. 
 
 To celebrate this Feast they usually made a pil- 
 grimage through the Tarn to the cross which stood 
 in the solitude of the forest and whose origin was 
 so mysterious. Thither they went with reverent 
 hearts, and knelt before it in adoration, praying 
 for their absent friends and for the souls of the 
 dead that might, even now, be writhing in the fire. 
 They then sat about on the moss, ate their mid- 
 day bread, and quietly returned to their isolated 
 dwelling. 
 
 And this pilgrimage they were to make to-day. 
 Early in the morning Sela mounted to the attic 
 chamber to dress for the long walk. She gave a cry 
 of alarm as she discovered a man lying asleep upon 
 her chest. Erlefried sprang to his feet, not realis- 
 ing where he was. 
 
 ** I should like to know what thou art doing 
 here!" said Sela seriously. 
 
 ' * That must be very evident to thee, * ' he replied ; 
 " I was sleeping." 
 
 " But thy bed is on the hay." 
 
 " That 's too hard." 
 
 " And thou hast found the wooden chest softer ? " 
 
 " It is thy chest," he said defiantly. 
 
 " What is that to thee ? " she asked. 
 
 " It *s everything to me, Sela, nowadays each 
 chest should have a living lock." 
 
Godless 347 
 
 " Thou must leave me now. I want to dress; I 
 am going to the cross in the forest." 
 
 " May I go with thee ? " he asked. 
 
 " Thou wouldst better stay at home. I am quite 
 famih'ar with thy piety on pilgrimages." 
 
 '* If even thy wardrobe is not safe up here in the 
 night, it would be well for me to go with thee 
 through the woods. That has nothing to do with 
 piety." 
 
 " Don't be foolish, Erlefried," said the girl, lay- 
 ing her hand on his shoulder and looking earnestly 
 into his face. " Thou carest for me, — I know it; 
 and I should not like to go through the Tarn with- 
 out thee." 
 
 And then they were both happy, very happy. 
 Erlefried dressed himself quickly in his Sunday at- 
 tire, putting on his brightest neckerchief; to-day 
 he felt like showing some outward sign of the joy 
 which filled his heart — for he was going with his 
 beloved maiden. 
 
 Their way led them at first among fresh green 
 beech-trees, whose branches were full of life and 
 song. The other members of Bart's household had 
 separated themselves from them, for they knew of 
 nothing more stupid than to walk with these two 
 young people. " Birds of a feather flock together," 
 they thought, " and what is that to us? " So they 
 let them go their way. 
 
 As they were walking quite alone on this cool 
 autumn morning, Sela said: " Erlefried, I will not 
 go with thee unless thou art good and wilt tell me 
 stories on the way." 
 
348 The God Seeker 
 
 " Stories of the beautiful world ? " he asked. 
 
 " Or they may be of heaven," she answered. 
 
 " Dost thou know the story of the two sowers ? 
 In heaven two sowers are always busy, one sowing 
 blessings in the earth, the other curses," 
 
 " It seems to me that the first one is not very in- 
 dustrious," said the girl. 
 
 " Ah, but he would be, only he never has seed 
 enough, for his harvests are poor. On the other 
 hand, curses grow by thousands, so they can be 
 sown in great numbers." 
 
 " That is sad," said Sela. 
 
 " We will make it better," continued the young 
 man; " the good which falls from heaven should be 
 taken care of and be allowed to grow. We will do 
 that, shall we not, Sela ? " 
 
 She made no reply. 
 
 For a while they walked beside each other in 
 silence. From time to time Erlefried glanced at 
 his companion, noticing how beautiful she had 
 grown. A soft bloom rested on her cheek. "And 
 in this garden of roses grew two violets." Her 
 blond hair fell in long braids over her shoulders, 
 and it was not strange that the young man should 
 admire and love this girl beyond anything in the 
 world. They were both young and they were con- 
 scious when their eyes met. 
 
 They soon came to the end of the dense, leafy 
 woods and entered the barren forest of the Tarn. 
 Here Sela was obliged to wind her braids about her 
 head to prevent their catching on the projecting 
 branches. The ground was strewn with dry twigs 
 
Godless 349 
 
 which crackled under their feet ; the sun rose higher 
 and higher and the shadows cast by the trees re- 
 sembled a thin, torn veil. 
 
 Erlefried, seeing a pale yellow saffron flower 
 growing on a bit of meadow, asked Sela if she knew 
 why this plant was poisonous ? She did not 
 know. 
 
 '* Well," he explained, " because they have 
 missed their chance, and old maids always poison 
 themselves." 
 
 "Of course thou knowest about all such things," 
 she answered curtly. 
 
 At last they reached a little group of white-pines 
 that had escaped the forest plague and stood there 
 in luxuriant green. They rested a while in the 
 shade. Erlefried, gazing thoughtfully into the 
 branches, and realising what a dangerous turn his 
 thoughts were taking, asked Sela if she knew why 
 every twig in the pine-tree formed a cross. 
 
 "Tell me, Erlefried." 
 
 " In olden times," he said, " the twigs of the 
 pine-tree turned towards the sky like the palm. 
 Since that day when a cross was made for Christ out 
 of a pine, everything on this tree must grow cross- 
 wise, just as to-day in Trawies, where no cross is 
 allowed to stand, everything has become criss- 
 cross." 
 
 " Criss-cross and wretched," added Sela. 
 
 " I am also a cross," said the handsome young 
 fellow, straightening himself to his full height and 
 stretching out his arms. " Wilt thou be crucified ? " 
 
 " I prefer larches to pines," remarked the girl. 
 
35o The God Seeker 
 
 looking towards a spot where one of these trees of 
 the northern forest stood in its bright, soft green. 
 
 " Shall I tell thee the story of the larch-tree ?" 
 he asked. " See, then, it is just the same with 
 trees as with people. Once upon a time the trees 
 were standing together one Sunday to choose a 
 king. The spruce-tree cried : ' I am the most beau- 
 tiful ' ; and the fir-tree : ' I am the tallest ' ; the pine- 
 tree declared : ' I am the most industrious and the 
 most useful ' ; and to prove this it had brought a 
 Scotch-fir all the way down from the Trasank to 
 cast a vote in its favour. Finally the larch-tree ar- 
 rived, the beautiful, strong, delicate larch-tree, and 
 the others thought to themselves: ' Beside this tree 
 we have no chance, for it is the noblest of all.' 
 They then postponed the election of their king un- 
 til winter. I believe, Sela, I '11 postpone the rest 
 of this story until winter." 
 
 " Go on, go on," she said ; " we know of nothing 
 else sensible to talk about." 
 
 " Thou art right, Sela, when I am with thee the 
 brightest ideas occur to me, but I cannot express 
 them. Well, in the winter, as the evergreen-trees 
 assembled once more, the larch-tree refused to 
 come. Three times it was called, and when it 
 finally arrived it wore a mantle of snow, which the 
 others insisted upon its removing at once. This it 
 did most unwillingly, for underneath it was bare 
 and naked, with no green needles like the rest. 
 They laughed it to scorn, and the spruce-tree was 
 chosen king. Since that time the larch-tree keeps 
 by itself, but in the spring when the soft green, 
 
Godless 351 
 
 feathery foliage reappears, it is even prouder than 
 the king. It is also a fact that in the larch-tree 
 husband and wife are one." 
 
 " Now thou mayest stop telling thy tree stories," 
 said Sela. 
 
 " And there 's a bird called a lark that sings wed- 
 ding-marches." 
 
 " I should like to know, Erlefried, where thou 
 hast learned all these stories," said the girl in some 
 confusion. 
 
 " Whoever goes about much in the woods sees 
 them," he replied. " Not so very long ago, I no- 
 ticed up on the Freiwildhohe how a fine, young 
 pine-tree, under which the image of the Virgin used 
 to stand, had chosen a beautiful wife for himself." 
 
 " Thou canst not think much about people, be- 
 cause thou payest so much attention to the trees," 
 remarked Sela. \ 
 
 " I do not wish to be for ever thinking of people; 
 that is not good for one." 
 
 '' Indeed! That is something quite new to me." 
 
 " Besides, it 's of no use. I don't care for ani- 
 mals; the dry wood I hate, so I turn to the green 
 things. But, however much I love the trees, I am 
 always with thee, Sela; they send me back to thee." 
 
 " That is very kind of them ! " she answered. 
 
 " Thou couldst never guess what the pine-tree on 
 the Freiwildhohe did lately. It occurred to him to 
 take a wife. In the neighbourhood were nothing 
 but little, crippled creatures. So he thought that 
 rather than give his children such a mother, he 
 would remain alonQ. And then he reflected that 
 
352 The God Seeker 
 
 he was no worse off than our human father Adam, 
 who took his wife from his own ribs. So he waved 
 one of his red catkins to a beautiful tree in the dis- 
 tance, sending a little seed from his own heart to do 
 his wooing. And she was wise, Sela, and did not 
 refuse her lover. And then I thought of thee 
 agam ! 
 
 He fell on his knees before her, but the girl pro- 
 posed that they should proceed on their way, at the 
 same time springing to her feet. The young man 
 followed her quickly but silently. 
 
 They now penetrated still deeper into the dead 
 Tarn. Soon not a single green tree was visible. 
 The sun was blazing. This summer there had been 
 no rain, and strong winds had swept the last remain- 
 ing needles from the branches. The dry trunks and 
 the ground beneath were palpitating with the heat. 
 Lizards darted hither and thither among the stones, 
 but there was scarcely any other living creature to 
 be seen in this curious wilderness. Even the swarms 
 of bark-beetles had disappeared. While still at 
 some distance, our two pilgrims noticed the cross 
 towering amid the bare trees. There was no one 
 there; they seemed to be the only visitors. 
 
 To Erlefried, the imaginative son of an imagina- 
 tive father, the cross in this forest had always been 
 an object full of mystery, of which he often 
 dreamed. So now, reverence for it conquered for 
 the moment all other feelings in his heart. Remov- 
 ing his green hat, he silently approached the cross 
 and knelt before it. He thought of that time 
 when, as a boy, he had returned to his mother with- 
 
Godless 353 
 
 out God and without hope. ** He exists. Thou 
 knowest it, thou lovest Him ; heaven and earth are 
 His body! " Thus had she comforted him. 
 
 Sela also experienced moments when the whole 
 frightful misery of Trawies filled her heart with 
 pain. At such times she could not smile, she could 
 not hope or pray, and she knew no other way of 
 escape than to close the eyes of her soul and to 
 banish everything from her mind. 
 
 And to-day she had come to the cross without 
 really knowing why. The ruined forest was not 
 calculated to brighten her mood. But now, as she 
 saw this beloved friend kneeling before the cross, 
 praying reverently, she was deeply impressed. It 
 refreshed her like cooling dew, and she, too, knelt 
 and prayed, prayed as she had not done for a long 
 time. And her heart softened and grew so light that 
 she sobbed for very joy. 
 
 Could the people of the outside world, who had 
 cast the fire-brand into this quiet valley, only have 
 seen these two innocent beings kneeling here in the 
 bare forest before this isolated cross! But no one 
 saw them, nor even imagined them. The sole 
 thought given to Trawies was that there rebellion, 
 crime, and hell reigned supreme. Sela and Erie- 
 fried, the children of the rebels, they were forgotten 
 and deserted. 
 
 At last Erlefried rose from his prayer, seated 
 himself in the shade of a large trunk, opened a pack- 
 age of provisions, and prepared a luncheon for Sela. 
 They sat beside each other, eating their bread in 
 silence, while the sun was moving westward. They 
 
 »3 
 
354 The God Seeker 
 
 then rested a while, and Erlefried turned his face 
 up towards the sky, but his view was cut off by the 
 dry, interwoven branches, which resembled an end- 
 less spider's web. As he lay thus, he suddenly said : 
 
 " Sela, I love thee more than ever! " 
 
 " How shall we get home to-day ? " said the girl. 
 
 " Oh, the walk will be pleasant," replied the 
 young man ; " the sun will not be so hot and the air 
 will be cool." 
 
 " I am afraid we shall lose our way!" Sela did 
 not say this, but thought it. She was anxious, 
 though why, she did not know. How did it hap- 
 pen that no one besides themselves had visited the 
 cross to-day ? Had she suspected this, she would 
 not have come with Erlefried. She would have 
 liked to start for home at once, by frightening him 
 with ghost stories and tales of robberies, but then 
 she would be frightened herself and he would laugh 
 at her. However, she made the attempt, timidly 
 reminding him of the tramps wandering about in 
 the Tarn. 
 
 "Yes," said Erlefried, "and for that reason, I 
 think we should avoid the beaten paths and go 
 through the densest part of the forest, to escape be- 
 ing noticed." 
 
 " Even there we cannot escape the wicked Traut 
 and Anweiiy * 
 
 " The best precaution against such ghosts is for 
 us to keep together." 
 
 He put his arm about her waist: " I am strong, 
 Sela, thou canst trust me." 
 
 ' The two hobgoblins of the Styrian mountains. 
 
Godless 355 
 
 She looked at him. It was a long, deep, peculiar 
 look — imploring, reproachful, hopeful, anxious, all 
 in one. She threw herself once more before the 
 cross: " Protect us! Protect us on this day! " 
 
 Then they started, hastening through the Tarn 
 towards the western hill, behind which towered in 
 the distance, like a blue triangle, the summit of the 
 Johannesberg. A heavy peat-smoke floated over 
 the region, making the air sultry and close. Masses 
 of clouds had formed, which soon changed into in- 
 numerable tiny particles, as if an invisible hand had 
 shattered them. In another part of the sky were 
 long bands of cloud, forerunners of wind, while over 
 the forest a deep silence reigned. 
 
 At last our two wanderers reached a bit of green 
 meadow, bordered by huge trunks of the primeval 
 forest, now bare and naked. Here in this isolated 
 spot Erlefried proposed that they should stop and 
 rest. Sela looked at him once more, stepped a little 
 to one side — and disappeared. The young man 
 hastened hither and thither, from tree to stone, from 
 bush to bush, searching everywhere in vain. Sud- 
 denly he was startled and terrified by a harsh laugh. 
 It came from between two rocks close beside him. 
 A thin hand reached out, then the bristling head of 
 Roderich, the tramp, appeared. 
 
 " Young man," he muttered, as Erlefried stopped 
 and looked at him with darkening brow, " your 
 sweetheart left you at just the wrong moment." 
 
 '* What 's that to you, you old thief ? " said Erie- 
 fried defiantly. 
 
 " Such a fine young man and such a misfor- 
 
35^ The God Seeker 
 
 tune! " said the tramp. Then, raising himself to a 
 sitting posture, until he resembled Lazarus emerg- 
 ing from his grave, he continued: " Never mind, 
 pretty boy. I '11 tell you something. I 've been 
 watching you for some time and I 've thought to 
 myself: As he 's now managing things, he '11 never 
 get anywhere. You look here and there, you ask, 
 you humble yourself, and get nothing in return. If 
 you want anything very much, you must do as the 
 rest: sell yourself to the devil ! " 
 
 "That is an idea; I '11 sell myself to the devil 
 then! " snarled the excited, trembling lad. Passion 
 and anger confused his brain — besides, he belonged 
 to a superstitious age. 
 
 " If you 'II come with me, you '11 get what you 
 want this very evening," said the old man slyly, 
 " but you must help me first. I 've had a bad day 
 to-day. A band of robbers fell upon me and crushed 
 my foot ; I 've been lying here for hours, and can go 
 no farther. If you '11 take me up the gorge to the 
 precipice yonder, I '11 then bid you good-night." 
 
 The tramp had not spoken the truth. The 
 crushed foot was a fact, also the impossibility of 
 proceeding farther without aid ; but no robbers had 
 attacked him ; he had met his misfortune when 
 plundering himself. As he sprang from the window 
 of Bart's house, he had injured his foot and had 
 dragged himself with difficulty to this spot. Erie- 
 fried did not dream that the man cowering before 
 him was the thief he had frightened away from 
 Sela's chest the night before. He only knew that 
 his present duty was to act the Good Samaritan, 
 
Godless 357 
 
 and he supported the old fellow through the gorge, 
 all the time looking for Sela right and left. 
 
 " You 're looking in vain," said Roderich, bear- 
 ing down heavily upon the strong, young shoulders. 
 " How well I know that stamp of woman! They 
 won't be caught in the woods, but run to the 
 churches, awaiting their lovers at the altar. They 
 want the marriage sacrament and then they are con- 
 tent. Since we now have no church, we must ar- 
 range something else. As the father killed the 
 priest, the son will surely get on very well without 
 one. Do you suppose I don't know you, young 
 man ? Don't look so black at me ; you are son 
 of the great Wahnfred, who brought this people to 
 their destruction, yet who would now forbid our 
 plundering! But I '11 not betray you. Just hide 
 in the Tarn, as I am doing, and have nothing to do 
 with the robberies outside. *T would be a pity if 
 it should be discovered that the dead Erlefried had 
 come to life again. You should keep out of sight. 
 Take the girl you want and avoid those who want 
 you. You see, you are driven to it by necessity. 
 Sell yourself to the devil! " 
 
 "The devil take me if I don't do it!" cried 
 Erlefried, passionately excited, and all the more 
 because the old tramp had recognised him. 
 
 " You please me," murmured Roderich, limping 
 beside the young man. That which he was wick- 
 edly planning made him almost forget the pain in 
 his foot. " It would be better, though, that the devil 
 should take you to-morrow than to-day — for it 's 
 already dark. Come with me." 
 
35^ The God Seeker 
 
 " I '11 call him on the spot! " said Erlefried stop- 
 ping. The proverb proved true in his case: " Fire 
 in the heart makes a smoky brain." 
 
 Call him when you are alone," replied the old 
 man, who felt no desire to meet the devil in person 
 to-day. 
 
 " Take my advice. You know the Devil's Stone; 
 it 's up on the hill, not far from Ulrich's, the char- 
 coal-burner's hut. You '11 find many well-known 
 names written there. Everybody is a fool nowa- 
 days who does not make a compact with the Prince 
 of Darkness. When you come to the place, open the 
 vein in your left arm, dip a withered straw into the 
 blood, and write your name upon the stone. In 
 the same moment the devil will stand before you, 
 but will not frighten you ; he 's not so terrible as 
 people who have never seen him imagine. Perhaps 
 he '11 appear as a beautiful boy, or as a young girl, 
 or in the form of a deer or a green tree. The dark 
 gentleman has all kinds of disguises. You must step 
 right up to him and boldly ask for what you want. 
 And be sure and not forget the most important 
 things. The time when he shall take you, you your- 
 self decide; not that you '11 be fool enough to limit 
 it to eighty years, or a hundred. That 's too short. 
 But listen, my handsome youth! fix the time on 
 the Corpus Christi Day when there is a new moon." 
 
 " I do not understand," said Erlefried. 
 
 " You know, don't you," said Roderich, " that 
 on that day the devil can take us all ? " 
 
 " That will probably be true in Trawies in a very 
 short time," remarked Erlefried. 
 
Godless 359 
 
 " Young man," said the tramp, clinging to Erie- 
 fried like a snake, ** he who sells himself to the 
 devil never looks again at the calendar. The new 
 moon and Corpus Christi do not fall upon the same 
 day once in a hundred years, and if they did, since 
 Trawies is excommunicated, no more Corpus Christi 
 festivals can be celebrated here, therefore they could 
 never fall upon the same day with a new moon. Do 
 it as you like, and thank you for helping me." 
 
 They had reached the foot of the grey precipice 
 at the top of which the tramp had his nest. The 
 old man had understood how to entice the boy with 
 him by his conversation, as long as he needed his 
 aid. Here he must take leave of him and climb 
 alone to his cave, did he not wish to disclose its 
 whereabouts. 
 
 Erlefried went away in the darkness, confused in 
 mind and looking for Sela, yet going in the direc- 
 tion of the Devil's Stone. He was dazed ; the de- 
 lusions of superstition had entirely unmanned him ; 
 the fire-ring of passion was closing about his tremb- 
 ling heart. Following the tramp's advice he walked 
 rapidly to the Devil's Stone. As he bared his arm 
 he saw the scar made by the shot which, as a boy, 
 he had received upon the Wildwiese, and on this 
 scar he pricked himself with his knife. 
 
 The" little drop of blood was still clinging to the 
 straw, and the last words of his oath were fresh 
 upon his lips, when from the neighbouring Torstein 
 he heard a cry. It seemed like a woman's voice. 
 Was his new comrade to show himself already? Or 
 could it be Sela? — At the moment when he felt the 
 
360 The God Seeker 
 
 blood flow from his arm a cold shudder had passed 
 over him. And now? It was no longer so much the 
 woman, it was the dear, protecting friend for whom 
 he longed. The cry on the rock was repeated. 
 Erlefried climbed to the place whence it came. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 AS Roderich, the tramp, sat upon a pile of un- 
 derbrush, collecting his forces for the climb, 
 two men armed with cudgels passed by. One of 
 them struck a light, and discovered the crouching 
 figure of the man before he had time to hide behind 
 the bushes. 
 
 " Oh, here 's the fox! " they cried, one of them 
 seating himself on the right of Roderich, the other 
 on the left. 
 
 " We are very glad to find you, for we have a 
 question to ask you." 
 
 " Well ? " said the tramp, grinning. 
 
 " Roderich, where have you hidden the beautiful 
 girl?" 
 
 " What beautiful girl ? " 
 
 " The one you found on the Johannesberg. " 
 
 " She 's my daughter." 
 
 " That has nothing to do with it; all we want 
 is to know where you have hidden her." 
 
 " That I will not tell. Leave me alone! " 
 
 " You leave the girl alone, you rascal! To-day 
 you 've got to tell where she is, or we '11 beat you 
 to death." 
 
 " You would n't, as honest men, want me to 
 
 361 
 
362 The God Seeker 
 
 give her up for nothing?" reph'ed the tramp de- 
 jectedly. 
 
 " Very good. We '11 give you twelve Schinder- 
 linge, if you are honourable." 
 
 " I am honourable, but the twelve Schinderlinge 
 are worthless in Trawies. You know that." 
 
 " But our Schinderlinge y my dear villain, are good 
 money! " 
 
 They held towards him a handful of heavy gold 
 coins. He looked at them and his fingers twitched 
 convulsively. 
 
 " Give them here! " he said. 
 
 " Not until we know where you have hidden your 
 shorn lamb!" 
 
 " Why should n't I tell ? " answered Roderich. 
 " For several days she has been in the Rabenkirche, 
 by the Trasank. Give it here!" and he stretched 
 out his hand for the money. 
 
 " And you think we trust you ? Ha, ha! Rod- 
 erich is n't such a child as that ! You shall go with 
 us, and when we have got the girl you may have 
 the money." 
 
 " Very well, if you want to carry me. I 've hurt 
 my foot and cannot walk a step." 
 
 He showed them his badly swollen limb, and, in 
 doing so, succeeded in snatching the coins. They 
 had no desire to carry him the long distance to the 
 Rabenkirche; the old man already had the money 
 in his fist ; so one of them said : " We know his nest 
 and we want the money ourselves. He 's a crip- 
 pled old villain. Let 's kill him ! " 
 
 " That would be the most sensible thing to do," 
 
Godless 363 
 
 added the other, throwing his h'ghted torch upon 
 the ground. 
 
 Then followed a desperate struggle, and a cry of 
 terror resounded throughout the gorge. 
 
 In the meantime, the underbrush had caught fire 
 from the torch, and the flames were spreading in 
 the dry Tarn, 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 WAHNFRED sat upon a stone on the Johan- 
 nesberg gazing over the smoky valleys and 
 ravines of Trawies. The blue clouds sometimes 
 ascended part way up the mountain, bringing with 
 them the pungent odour of burning wood. On the 
 other side of the Trach below the Ritscher, as far as 
 the eye could see, lay the lake of fire. During the 
 day the dense smoke partially concealed the flames, 
 but at night the Tarn glowed like the fiery pit of 
 hell. When the east wind blew, the crashing of 
 branches and the groaning of falling trees could be 
 heard, even on the Johannesberg. The wild crea- 
 tures of the forest came flying hither to take refuge 
 in the green woods on this side of the Trach. It 
 was already late in September, but in Trawies both 
 day and night were warm and the dew had ceased 
 to fall. The wind from the direction of the Tarn 
 brought with it gusts of hot air, and high up on the 
 Transank, where it came in contact with the colder 
 atmosphere, clouds formed, sending forth now and 
 then flashes of lightning. 
 
 Wahnfred sat on the stone looking down over the 
 valley. What the people were doing he could not 
 see, but he supposed that they were busy fighting 
 
 364 
 
Godless 3^5 
 
 the fire and he hoped that this work might produce 
 a good effect upon them. One night, as a strong 
 wind fanned the flames to new fury, the hermit on 
 the mountain was almost certain that they must 
 reach the Ritscher and the forests of the Diirbach, 
 the Miesing, and the Trach, thus burning the very 
 heart of Trawies. Then he longed to descend, amid 
 all this splendour, and proclaim his new gospel to 
 the outcast people. He felt that the hardened 
 hearts in Trawies were like iron, which must be 
 melted before they could be made plastic. 
 
 The fire extended far up the cliffs of the Birstling, 
 but was soon extinguished in the underbrush and 
 was then once more confined to the Tarn. And 
 Wahnfred remained upon his mountain. 
 
 The forest, which on that evening when the two 
 men had murdered old Roderich, the tramp, had 
 been accidentally set on fire, burned for many days. 
 No one had made the least effort to save it, and 
 the flames flew mockingly from tree to tree, as the 
 swarm of bark-beetles had so recently done. The 
 fire did not seem to come from without, but to 
 burst forth through the cracks in the bark, from the 
 hollows and cavities which the insects and wood- 
 peckers had bored. Then the flames danced about 
 the trunks, forming little tongues which licked the 
 topmost branches, and forked out on the dry resin- 
 ous boughs, eddying like a wild whirlpool. The 
 smoke was light which rose from this furious fire; 
 only, when the trunks broke and fell in the moss, 
 dense clouds would form, glowing for a long time 
 with the sparks from the burning mass. 
 
366 The God Seeker 
 
 The flight of the rabble, who still had their nests 
 and caves in this forest, was a strange one. Some 
 howled and cursed, others made wild jests, con- 
 gratulating themselves that hell had come to Tra- 
 wies, for now the Trawiesers would be saved the 
 trouble of going to hell. But at last even their 
 jeering mouths were closed. A whirlwind came 
 down in the night from the mountains of the Rit- 
 scher. At first, like an invisible broom, it swept the 
 flames along the ground. Suddenly they soared 
 aloft, a raging, hissing stream of fire, a monstrous 
 jet of flame, lighting the deepest gorges of the 
 forest. 
 
 And high in the air was a commotion such as had 
 never been seen before among these mountains by 
 the Trach. Masses of brush, borne on wings of 
 flame, flew in circles, scintillating and sparkling, 
 disappearing in smoke, springing forth again, shoot- 
 ing upwards like rockets, flying hither and thither, 
 trembling and broken, and miles away falling to the 
 ground in a rain of fire. 
 
 The soil of Trawies had been more faithful than 
 the people. The few industrious ones, who had 
 cultivated the gardens and meadows in isolated 
 spots, were rewarded by rich, often luxuriant har- 
 vests, " as though" — says the chronicle — " the soil 
 were filled with pity for the tears that watered it." 
 And also where the ground was left untouched, 
 wild fruits grew and ripened, offering food to those 
 unwilling to work. The herds of cows, goats, and 
 sheep wandered half wild about the meadows and 
 
Godless 367 
 
 forests, and there was many a struggle over their 
 possession between the owners and the plunderers; 
 but the domestic animals could not be quit^ exter- 
 minated, for, after all, they were a source of nour- 
 ishment; even the rabbits and deer still flourished, 
 in spite of the continual hunting. The chamois of 
 the Trasank, the beasts of prey on the Ritscher, and 
 the fish in the Trach seemed to be constantly in- 
 creasing. The customary food and clothing had 
 long since been abandoned, and the half-savage 
 Trawiesers contented themselves with rough gar- 
 ments and the coarsest food, and one might say of 
 the latter that it almost grew in their mouths. And 
 added to this was the booty which they brought 
 in from their various expeditions to the outside 
 country. Thus they lived. But each one struggled 
 for his existence among enemies. 
 
 Old Bart had all that he could do, during the 
 forest fire, to defend himself and his household. 
 He felt the greatest anxiety about Sela — she was 
 the most precious treasure in his house, perhaps in 
 all Trawies. The hay-mow, where he had slept with 
 Erlefried, was no longer a safe hiding-place, for 
 here tramps often passed the night, after having 
 searched and plundered the house and pantry. 
 Below the hay-mow, between two thick walls, was a 
 small, dark storeroom, where, in better days, the 
 oats had been kept for the horses. For years the 
 only occupants of this little room had been the grey 
 spiders, whose webs hung from the ceiling, catching 
 the dust and dry seeds that had worked their way 
 in through the cracks of the wall. Her^ Bart 
 
3^8 The God Seeker 
 
 concealed the fire guardian's daughter, often for days 
 at a time, passing her food in through a little open- 
 ing. He himself slept close by in the sheep-stall, — 
 which had been entirely emptied by robbers, — that 
 he might guard her the more securely. Near his 
 bed, against the wall, stood a sharp axe, ready for 
 anyone who should try to molest his treasure. His 
 old sickly wife felt perfectly safe in the house ; she 
 needed no axe to protect her, and there was scarcely 
 anything of value left to steal. 
 
 Sela suffered indescribable torments in her isola- 
 tion. They did not come from the dark chamber, 
 where gnats and spiders were her only companions; 
 it was not the fear of being discovered that was 
 breaking her heart, but the pain over her irreparable 
 loss. 
 
 Since that evening when she had deserted her 
 playmate and friend she had never seen him again. 
 After losing her way many times, she had at last 
 arrived safely at home that night. He had not fol- 
 lowed her, nor had he been seen by anyone. She 
 had left him to face the dangers of the wilderness 
 alone. And why ? Because he loved her, because 
 he wished to kiss her lips and press her to his heart. 
 
 Sela could not think of it without risking the loss 
 of her mind, but at last she could think of nothing 
 else, and her senses were benumbed. 
 
 " Why was it," she asked herself, " that I could 
 not embrace the man I love so much ? Oh, would 
 that I might now press him to my heart and kiss 
 him until my lips bleed ! Who in heaven or on 
 earth has ever bidden me to repel him when he 
 
Godless 369 
 
 looks at me with his dear eyes, or when I feel the 
 warmth of his breath, for which I long with all my 
 soul ? Who has commanded me ? My mother ? 
 She used to sing to me the song of the false lover 
 in the green woods. No one could be more faithful 
 than Erlefried. It is something else in me which 
 has made me repel him. I cannot understand it." 
 
 And she wept and dreamed and continued her 
 raving. " Could it have been the sunshine, illu- 
 minating the clouds ? Could it have been the old 
 trees surrounding us, or was it the evil one who 
 came when I called on our guardian angels ? Now 
 he is gone, and she in whom he trusted deserted 
 him. That pains like death!" 
 
 Old Bart had been out to search for Erlefried; 
 but the trees of the Tarn were already burning. 
 According to Sela's statement, the fire had broken 
 out at about the time she had left him. 
 
 " Why didst thou run away, thou thoughtless 
 child ? ' ' Bart asked her. 
 
 " Why ? " she replied, " because I was afraid of 
 him. A viper had stung me, or I had eaten a 
 poisonous berry, I do not know which ; but I be- 
 came confused and did not know him." 
 
 Bart asked no further questions, but again went 
 out, wandering through the smoke among the 
 charred and blackened trunks, seeking for Erlefried 
 as if he had been his own child. At last there re- 
 mained no doubt but what he had met with some 
 misfortune. Bart did not believe his own words 
 when he said : " The boy is bright enough to have 
 escaped in time to the top of the Trasank." 
 
370 The God Seeker 
 
 " Why should he ascend the Trasank," thought 
 Sela, " when he wants to be with people ? " 
 
 Her sole wish was that he might be living, yet 
 she prayed that he might be dead. She feared that, 
 if alive, all was not well with him. 
 
 " Father Bart," she asked one day, " when will 
 the ninety years be up ? " 
 
 " What ninety years ? " 
 
 " When the ravens meet in the Rabenkirche to 
 report upon those found murdered during the past 
 years, and to reveal the murderer. If it comes on 
 Christmas night, I will go and listen." 
 
 " Do not be superstitious, my child," answered 
 Bart. " We are in God's hands. Do not forget 
 that." 
 
 " We, in God's hands ?" asked Sela. 
 
 " Do not believe it when they say that our God 
 has been taken from us. No one is powerful 
 enough to do that ; that we can only do ourselves. 
 The Eternal God is not to be given and taken. We 
 only need to desire Him to possess Him." 
 
 This was not an answer to her question, but she 
 grew calm. Thoughtfully she gazed up at the 
 gauzy veil which the spiders had wrought in her 
 little room, that at night was illuminated by the fire 
 in the Tarn. And once, as she was watching a little 
 creature spinning its thread down from the ceiling, 
 she thought: "If it spins to the floor, I shall see 
 him again, that I will faithfully believe, and it will 
 come true." The spider stopped for a long time at 
 one point, — then spun to the floor. 
 
 After the Tarn had burned nine days and nights 
 
Godless 371 
 
 it was consumed. Here and there from out the 
 white ashes rose a charred trunk. Manv rocks were 
 now laid bare, disclosing the yawning entrances to 
 dark caves. High above all still towered the cross, 
 now visible far and wide. The bark-beetles had 
 spared it, the flames had flown over it, and it now 
 reigned supreme in the forest of the Tarn. 
 
BOOK III 
 THE EXPIATION 
 
 373 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 ON a late autumn day, during this same period, 
 a strange darkness settled over Trawies, caus- 
 ing great uneasiness in the minds of the people. 
 The sky was perfectly clear, when suddenly at 
 noon the trees by the Trach ceased to cast shadows; 
 a deep gloom rested over mountain and valley, and 
 bats were flying hither and thither. The light of 
 the sun was nearly extinguished and only the out- 
 line of the orb remained visible. Stars were shining 
 overhead, but their appearance was weird and un- 
 natural. 
 
 One of the oldest inhabitants, in his fright and 
 consternation, waved the old banner of Trawies, 
 declaring that the evil dragon, which was always 
 following the sun, was now engaged in conflict with 
 it. He even said that he could see the sun strug- 
 gling in the clutches of the huge black monster, 
 about whose neck it was endeavouring to cast its 
 ring. Should the dragon come off victorious the 
 end of the world would be at hand ; should the sun 
 be conqueror, the world, with its interchange of day 
 and night, winter and summer, might continue to 
 move on in its course. 
 
 " The sun may shine in other places," said one 
 
 375 
 
37^ The God Seeker 
 
 man, " but for Trawies its light is for ever extin- 
 guished. ' ' 
 
 " Nonsense! " exclaimed another; " God allows 
 the sun to shine upon the just and the unjust." 
 
 " But not upon the just and the damned ! " 
 
 " Then we must make the most of what little 
 time remains, for never in all eternity shall we have 
 things so much to our liking as at present." 
 
 Some of the more intelligent of the inhabitants 
 realised that this night in the midst of day was 
 merely an ordinary eclipse of the sun, which would 
 soon pass and had no greater significance than that 
 the plague or the Turks were coming. And they 
 were right, for in an hour it was all over and the 
 sun shone brightly as before, showing not the 
 slightest trace of its conflict with the dragon. 
 Soon after this the report was circulated: "The 
 Turks are coming! " 
 
 These words were fraught with terror in former 
 days, for Trawies could still show many a memento 
 of deeds of cruelty performed in olden times by the 
 hordes from the East. Now the news made little 
 impression excepting one of curiosity and satisfac- 
 tion. The Turks would be congenial companions 
 to the Trawiesers in their present condition. 
 
 From the summit of the Rockenberg and the 
 Johannesberg a strange light could be seen at night 
 rising over the distant plains, and news was brought 
 from the Trasank that Neubruck and Oberkloster 
 were in flames. 
 
 This caused great rejoicing among the people, 
 who said: "The ring of fire with which the au- 
 
The Expiation m 
 
 thorities once surrounded Trawies is now extending 
 outwards. It will not be long before the rich and 
 noble men of Neubruck and Oberkloster and Alten- 
 ziel will come and take refuge in our woods and 
 caves: they will be most welcome!" But they 
 clenched their fists as they spoke and gripped their 
 daggers more firmly. 
 
 The boundaries were no longer guarded, and grass 
 was again growing on the spots where the fires were 
 lighted at the time of the ban. The trees to which 
 the symbolic cord had been fastened were sprouting 
 anew, or had withered and died. The neighbour- 
 ing villages, even those at some distance from these 
 ill-famed forests, had erected gallows as a welcome 
 to visitors from Trawies. The more charitable 
 people outside, however, had made a few attempts 
 to open some kind of friendly communication, 
 silently ignoring the ban in their desire gradually to 
 bring the parish back to civilisation. But the rabble 
 in the forests would have none of it. They were 
 quite content with their savage freedom and felt no 
 longing for taxes and slavery, or for military serv- 
 ice, which would endanger their lives without fair 
 recompense. 
 
 One day a man from Neubruck, fleeing from the 
 Turks, took refuge in Trawies. He brought with 
 him the following report of the condition of things 
 outside : War in the east, war in the west, and war 
 at home. Grasshoppers had destroyed the harvest, 
 the Ottomans had emptied the larders, desecrated 
 the churches, and burned the cities. The ruling 
 prince was quarrelling with the bishops, and the 
 
37^ The God Seeker 
 
 bishops were calling in the Hungarians to their aid ; 
 a new enemy, but one whose cruelties were no less 
 severe than those of the Turks. And further, dur- 
 ing these last years, Jews had taken up their abode 
 in the land, pursuing the pedlar's trade, drinking 
 the blood of children, and poisoning the springs. 
 They had been ordered to leave, but had not gone: 
 as soon as the present enemies were dispersed, how- 
 ever, the extermination of the Jews would begin. 
 Trawies was invited to take part. 
 
 One of the Trawiesers replied: " Why should we 
 trouble ourselves about the Jews ? What we want 
 is to exterminate the priests and noblemen! " 
 
 " But do you not know," said the man from 
 Neubruck, " that the Jews have brought a horrible 
 plague into the country, which is spreading by 
 means of the rivers and streams ? Many infected 
 homes have been burned and whole villages quaran- 
 tined. One Jew was caught in the act of putting 
 poison into a well; he was thrown to the dogs." 
 
 The people of Trawies listened to these horrible 
 tales with beaming faces, and when the stranger 
 had told all that he knew — and possibly more — for 
 the benefit of his listeners, they robbed him of his 
 money, his cloak, and his boots, then mockingly in- 
 vited him to join them in the hunt. He wandered 
 about for a few days in the shadow of the forest. 
 He lived upon herbs and whortleberries, finally 
 taking refuge in a half-ruined hut, where he died a 
 miserable death. When the body was found, it was 
 covered with black spots. 
 
 ** Let no one touch it! " said the horrified people, 
 
The Expiation 379 
 
 hastening away. Drawing a wide circle about the 
 hut, they placed it under the ban, even as they 
 themselves had been deserted and cast out from the 
 world. But all in vain ! The black death had sown 
 its seed in Trawies and the uncontrollable pestilence 
 now began. 
 
 It spread from the lower Trach to the Diirbach 
 gorge, from the Trasank valley to the Rockenberg, 
 and the people, in their fright and despair, fled from 
 place to place. They knew that medicine was use- 
 less, so they sought to protect themselves with 
 oracles and amulets. But the Heavenly Powers 
 recognised no prayers from Trawies. 
 
 As the pestilence increased in force, many re- 
 sorted to brandy, and comparatively few of the 
 drinkers succumbed. Thus Ursula, the schnapps 
 distiller, rose in the estimation of all. 
 
 The few sober inhabitants endeavoured to pre- 
 serve the last remnant of order. The houses and 
 huts where deaths from the plague had occurred 
 were burned or closed ; communication almost en- 
 tirely ceased ; the people fled from one another, and 
 where intercourse was necessary it was held across 
 streams or fires, for they had discovered the purify- 
 ing effects of fire. 
 
 " We should have another Tarn to burn," said 
 one. 
 
 " Let us set fire to the Ritscher," proposed 
 another. 
 
 "To plunge into the flames ourselves would be 
 the quickest remedy," said a third, with a hollow 
 laugh. 
 
3^0 The God Seeker 
 
 " The devil is tightening his infernal net about 
 us," they cursed. 
 
 They hoped that in the autumn the frosts would 
 destroy the poison, and the winter passed without 
 demanding many victims. But when the sun againi 
 stood high in the heavens, and the snow had melted,, 
 causing mists to rise in the valleys, the pestilence 
 broke out anew. And on Midsummer Day — this 
 joyous festival of happier times in Trawies — count- 
 less fires were burning as of old, but they were more 
 like the sentinel fires upon a battlefield than those 
 which formerly celebrated the sacred feast. Here 
 burned a house whose last inhabitant had died; 
 there blazed a brushwood fire between two men 
 who were taking counsel together; and yonder a 
 wood-pile was burning, about which a whole family, 
 trembling with fear, had gathered; for this advice 
 had been sent down to them from the Johannes- 
 berg: " Depend upon the fire! " 
 
 " Yes," said an old Trawieser, — it was Rocken- 
 Paul, — " I should have some faith in that, if we still 
 had our ancestral fire : the heat from the ring of 
 flame brings no healing." 
 
 The chronicle gives us one touching picture from 
 out this gloomy period. 
 
 At the upper end of the Trasank valley, close to 
 the mountain, stood the house of Sand-Nantel. He 
 had taken Josa for his wife without much ceremony, 
 but they did not mingle with the new parish, man- 
 aging to nourish themselves from that which grew 
 among the stones. 
 
 One day, Nantel, with a cry of terror, staggered 
 
The Expiation 381 
 
 and fell f<? the Aoor; his wife sprang to his side, but 
 he motioned her back: " Leave me alone; do not 
 touch me! Go to the children!" he gasped, trying 
 to rise without her aid. 
 
 " What ails thee, dear man ? Where wilt thou- 
 :go?" 
 
 " To the brook. Away with thee! I must have 
 •some water, — look at these black spots, — I must 
 wash myself! " 
 
 Drops of cold sweat stood upon his forehead and 
 .he fainted. 
 
 Josa bathed the feverish skin, gave him water to 
 (COol his burning tongue, moistened his dim eyes, 
 ;and did not leave him. 
 
 " Thou shouldst have left me," he murmured. 
 ■" I would rather be drowned or be buried alive than 
 to have this happen ; for then I should not have 
 •exposed you all." 
 
 "No, Nantel, thou wilt not die. Thou wilt live." 
 
 He laughed a hoarse laugh, then added softly: 
 " I hope, dearest wife, we shall all live again. If 
 thou lovest me, go to the children now — and let me 
 sleep." 
 
 It was already late in the night and Josa left him ; 
 but when a few moments later she returned, the sick 
 man was not there and the outside door stood open. 
 She ran out, calling him by his name, which the 
 rocks mockingly re-echoed to her. It was a terrible 
 night for the poor woman. She did not find her 
 husband till morning; he was concealed in a thicket, 
 lying in a deep, newly shovelled grave, partially 
 covered with earth. So Nantel, preparing for the 
 
3^2 The God Seeker 
 
 worst, had dug his own grave, and had laid himself 
 therein to die — that he might not expose his wife 
 and children. 
 
 It was as if Fate were touched by the loyalty of 
 this brave heart ; in Nantel's family no other mem- 
 ber died, and they were all able to escape from the 
 wilderness of the Trasank, away from the fated 
 region, after watering the beloved grave with their 
 tears. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 ON one of these days of indescribable misery the 
 people of Trawies ascended to the Wildwiese 
 where formerly the Midsummer Festival had been 
 celebrated. 
 
 They were not assembling for counsel or to seek 
 aid from one another, for they were helpless and 
 utterly discouraged. And in not a single soul could 
 be found the peace of resignation. They all trem- 
 bled at their present hopeless condition and were 
 terrified at the thought of death. But they had 
 been told that on the mountain the air was purer 
 than in the valley. Near the waterfall, at the edge 
 of the precipice, they built a huge fire, about which 
 they gathered in a semicircle. Each endeavoured 
 to avoid the other, yet fear and the longing for 
 friendly intercourse drew them together. If one 
 spoke, the other tightly closed his lips, or nibbled a 
 bit of gentian root, and mothers no longer kissed 
 their children. They sat close to the fire, for that 
 was their only remedy. Had it been possible they 
 would have drunk the flames. As evening fell and 
 the precipice glowed from the reflection of the fire, 
 they still sat or huddled together before it, like a 
 frightened herd of sheep exhausted by the pursuit 
 
 3S3 
 
3^4 The God Seeker 
 
 of wolves. Most of them knew not whither to turn; 
 their own hearths among the grey rocks of the Tra- 
 sank valley or beneath some old, decaying pine-tree 
 were roofless. 
 
 A poor, emaciated woman suddenly appeared in 
 their midst, her eyes beaming with joy. She related 
 that just now, when gathering herbs on the hill- 
 side, she had heard a strange sound, and what 
 should it prove to be but the church bells of Tra- 
 wies! 
 
 The church bells ringing! The crowd started at 
 once and rushed to the edge of the precipice, from 
 where they could look down into Trawies. They 
 heard nothing, however, but the roaring of the 
 Trach. Some of the company sneered at the idea 
 that there could still be people among them who 
 were startled at the sound of church bells; but there 
 were others who bowed their heads as they remem- 
 bered the time when their sorrows and joys were 
 carried heavenward by the voice of the bells. Oh, 
 those happy days, when the Church, with the sweet, 
 comforting tones of her bells, sang her children to 
 their eternal rest! A sad farewell from this world, 
 but a joyful message of welcome from heaven. 
 
 And now, how horrible death had become for 
 them, with no comfort here and no hope hereafter! 
 A strong, powerful man, the most savage among 
 these woodspeople, stretched his arms out towards 
 the star-lit sky, and like one drowning, cried in a 
 wild, despairing voice: "Thou hast deserted us. 
 Thou terrible God ! " 
 
 X)ne by oae they returned t.o the fire 3Jid ,contip^- 
 
The Expiation 385 
 
 ued their cursing and praying. The cloud of smoke 
 arched like a protecting roof over these homeless 
 ones, like a cathedral over the faithful. They gazed 
 into the fire, as though they would bury therein all 
 their woes; as though, like that repentant robber 
 chief in the legend, they would here burn their 
 hearts, that their souls might soar to heaven in the 
 form of a white dove. 
 
 But what was that dark object yonder in the 
 glow? It seemed to be rising from the very flames. 
 Those who first saw it started back with a cry of ter- 
 ror, shielding their faces with their hands. Upon a 
 rock, behind the blazing fire, as though wrapped in 
 a mantle of flame, stood a human form — it was 
 Wahnfred. 
 
 His eyes glowed with a solemn light, his hair and 
 beard were long, and his face was flushed. A dark 
 mantle covered his figure, making it appear more 
 slender and more weird. His hands were clenched, 
 but gradually they relaxed. 
 
 " His ghost ! His ghost ! " whispered the crowd, 
 each trying to hide behind the other. 
 
 Then the powerful voice of Wahnfred, who, hav- 
 ing descended from his mountain, now appeared to 
 be rising from the fire, cried out: 
 
 ** People of Trawies, do not fear or do not rebel. 
 I come to you bringing you the mercy of God." 
 
 The murmuring and whispering ceased. With 
 
 iglances of astonishment or of defiance the people 
 
 .gazed across the fire towards the rock where this 
 
 strange man stood. Not a sound other than the 
 
 tcrackling of the flames and .the .roaring of the 
 
386 The God Seeker 
 
 waterfall was heard, until Wahnfred again raised his 
 voice and, with the earnestness and reverence of a 
 prophet, began to speak : 
 
 " Trawies ! I have found God. He Whose bless- 
 ings no man can give, and Whose curse no man can 
 remove, sends me. He has always been with you ; 
 you have seen Him, but you have not known Him. 
 Every hour of your lives is a gift of mercy from 
 Him ; no deed takes place which His fiery eye does 
 not witness. You have not known this, therefore 
 you have grown evil ; the presence of God makes 
 only those happy who believe in Him, and you have 
 been damned because this faith has been taken from 
 you. 
 
 " People of Trawies! I give Him back to you. 
 The same old, loving, terrible God. He has awak- 
 ened you to the light of the sun. He has smitten 
 you with His lightning stroke. He has looked down 
 at you from the stars, has smiled at you from the 
 altar lamp. When the powerful ones cast you out, 
 He embraced you with a ring of fire and He built 
 His temple in the Tarn. You gather around Him 
 now, knowing that His warm breath will protect 
 you. He is everywhere, even where He is feared. 
 He quivers in the clouds. He springs forth from 
 stones. He breaks the ice of the Trasank, He is the 
 Eternal Creator, Supporter, and Destroyer. He is 
 the Power and the Light. If He has not blinded 
 your eyes, ye people of Trawies, then behold Him, 
 for He stands before you in all His glory! His 
 body is the fire! Fire is the visible God ! " 
 
 These words were like a refreshing shower, a mild 
 
The Expiation 3S7 
 
 spring rain, upon the frozen hearts of the people. 
 The flames soared silently heavenward, partially 
 covering the dark figure standing behind them on 
 the rock. 
 
 Wahnfred waited for the excited minds to become 
 calm, then with uplifted arm he continued : 
 
 " False prophets would tear our love and thank- 
 fulness to God from our hearts, by telling us that 
 fire is of hell and belongs to the kingdom of the 
 devil, and that it is the punishment of the wicked. 
 Trawies killed one of these prophets, and so they 
 have damned us, have endeavoured to imprison us 
 within the ring of fire, not dreaming that with the 
 flames they were surrounding us with the kingdom 
 of God, wherein the poor and the unfortunate would 
 be purified as by fire. 
 
 " People of Trawies! You have misunderstood 
 the heavenly mercy. There is a path bordered by 
 roses, which leads to hell; the world chooses this; 
 and there is a path which leads to hell through mis- 
 ery and sorrow ; this you have trod. Where is Tra- 
 wies ? It stands between the earth and hell ; for it 
 has robbed, it has murdered, it has committed 
 crimes and wrought destruction. If I should be 
 asked to-day : * Where is the valley of malefactors ? ' 
 I would, with tears in my eyes and with trembling 
 hand, point at Trawies. May my eyes be blinded 
 if my tears be not those of a mourning heart ; may 
 my arm be struck off if it be not outstretched to 
 help you ! The God of our fathers, Who has come 
 down to us in the spark of ancestral fire that has 
 been sacredly and faithfully guarded, where is He ? 
 
388 The God Seeker 
 
 The fire guardian you have allowed to die in misery, 
 you have desecrated his house, and when I ask you, 
 where is the fire ? what is your answer ? You have 
 pursued it, scorned it, and extinguished it, and now 
 you expect it to protect you. You say that the 
 world has taken God from you. This is false. You 
 alone have banished our holy fire from the valley of 
 the Trach. On a dark night, accompanied by a 
 helpless child, it fled into the wilderness, as, ac- 
 cording to the Holy Writ, the child Jesus fled be- 
 fore Herod. To a man living in solitude, who had 
 prayed and kept alive the love of God in his heart, 
 came the sacred light, the ancestral fire, and he re- 
 ceived it. God's mercy was in the tiny spark, and 
 he recognised it, preserved it, and worshipped it, and 
 now he comes to you with the message that it stilt 
 lives and is near you. Yes, people of Trawies, now 
 I see your eyes brighten as though God were dwell- 
 ing in you. But I say unto you, He is not yet with 
 you! He, the Omnipresent One, does not dwell in 
 hearts that are cold, without joy, without hope, 
 without love. He does not make His abiding-place 
 with mistrust, with fear, and with despair. For the 
 moment, while you hear the scraping of the shovel 
 with which an invisible hand is digging your graves, 
 your passions are dulled. But I fear that the flame, 
 which is consuming the breath of the pestilence 
 above your heads, will not warm your degenerate 
 hearts; for you have become a wicked people! It 
 were a thousand times better, O most righteous 
 God, that Thou shouldst destroy that which is not 
 fit to live!" 
 
The Expiation 3^9 
 
 " No!" cried a few voices; " let us live; only let 
 us live! " 
 
 " Only let us live ! " cried the entire assembly, and 
 many knelt groaning before the fire and began to 
 pray. 
 
 " Now, you pray," continued Wahnfred, his 
 voice growing clearer and more powerful; " now 
 that you have sinned, now that you have deserted 
 your dead comrades, now that you have fled thirst- 
 ing from your springs and no longer trust the air of 
 your native forest, now, you pray! " 
 
 They interrupted him, and, deeply stirred and 
 shaken by his recent reference to the threatening dan- 
 ger, they implored for mercy, they swore that thence- 
 forth they would live according to the will of God. 
 
 One among them, the emaciated Wend from the 
 Gestade, rose and said: " I also wish to live, but as 
 long as I do not know what God requires of me, I 
 will promise nothing." 
 
 To him Wahnfred replied: " God wishes you to 
 live as well as the others. Be like the fire, if you 
 would be happy, — be warm, then you will be a com- 
 fort to yourself and to your comrades." 
 
 A comfort to one's self and to others! That 
 sounded like a fairy tale of olden times. 
 
 " It is not life alone that we wish," exclaimed a 
 voice from the crowd; " we care nothing for the 
 others, we wish to be happy ourselves. To speak 
 the truth, we are not so eager for God ; what we 
 desire is heaven! " 
 
 " Yes," cried many voices, "it is heaven we 
 desire! " 
 
390 The God Seeker 
 
 " Seek first the kingdom of God and His right- 
 eousness," said Wahnfred, " then heaven will come 
 of itself." 
 
 " Shall we seek it amid war, hunger, and pesti- 
 lence ? " asked Wend, scornfully. 
 
 "What is war, hunger, and pestilence to us?" 
 cried Wahnfred, with an expression in his eyes which 
 might have been taken for madness. " Go, people 
 of Trawies, return to your valley with peace in your 
 hearts, and you will no longer fear the pestilence — 
 it will soon be over. You will no longer hate, no 
 longer deride, no longer weep; but your eyes will 
 be opened ; you have experienced what the earth 
 can take from you, now you shall see what she can 
 give you. You will not starve. You will plough your 
 fields once more; hail-stones may fall upon them, 
 but you will not perish. You will rebuild your 
 houses; they may be destroyed, but you will not be 
 roofless or homeless. You shall erect a temple to the 
 Eternal Fire, you will come there to pray and shall 
 find strength to endure. The wild brute within you, 
 which is the origin of all evil, which nourishes all 
 crime, and which grim death is pursuing with its 
 sickle, this brute you must cast from you. Go down 
 from this mountain as human beings once more, that 
 you may find human beings in the valley below! " 
 
 "Let us remain here on the mountain!" cried 
 many voices. 
 
 "What would you on the mountain?" asked 
 Wahnfred, descending from the rock. 
 
 " Oh, stay up there and tell us more of God! " 
 they implored. 
 
The Expiation 391 
 
 " You wish to hear again the voice of the preacher, 
 the old familiar and long-missed tones. But I say 
 unto you, God is not in words, God is in works, and 
 to these I will now guide you." 
 
 " Then you will come with us ?" 
 
 " Not I with you, people of Trawies, but you 
 with me. Woe to him," shouted Wahnfred in pow- 
 erful tones, while sparks seemed to fly from his 
 darkening eyes, causing the eyelids of even the most 
 savage in that company to quiver, "woe to him who 
 opposes me! God Almighty is with me. Arise, 
 light the torches, and let us go." 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE old chronicle tells us that Wahnfred now led 
 the people down to the valley, where he en- 
 deavoured to restore order, industry, and unity. By 
 the power of his words, by the fantastic symbols of 
 his speech, by commands and threats, which seemed 
 to produce an effect upon these disordered and ex- 
 cited natures, he succeeded in inducing them to 
 bury the dead and to destroy the infected houses. 
 He was always foremost in this work ; he showed no 
 fear in approaching the sick or in comforting the 
 dying. He rested neither day nor night; he was 
 friend, physician, and priest to everyone — and was 
 not stricken himself. 
 
 He held a funeral service for the dead in 
 the forest, lighting a great sacrificial fire, about 
 which old penitential hymns were chanted. This 
 increased the solemnity of death, but lessened its 
 terrors. 
 
 Gradually the pestilence diminished, the cases 
 grew less frequent, and at last the deaths from the 
 plague ceased altogether. 
 
 Among those who had disappeared during this 
 time was Little Baumhackel. Long afterwards, 
 when the old, ruined church was reopened, a human 
 
 392 
 
The Expiation 393 
 
 skeleton, supposed to be that of the Faun of Tra- 
 wies, was found hanging to the bell-rope. 
 
 Life in the valley now seemed more peaceful, but 
 it was only apparent. The people of the outlying 
 regions were still far from pardoning this lawless 
 folk, and whenever discord reigned without, the 
 defiance and hate against the rabble in the forest 
 was aroused anew. Once more, and for the last 
 time, — Wahnfred sought to open negotiations for 
 peace with the church authorities. 
 
 How could he even suggest such a thing! was the 
 reproach with which the Trawiesers met this pro- 
 posal. Did he not know that the heretics outside 
 would straightway put an end to his teachings, to- 
 gether with the prophet and the parish? Now that 
 they were standing on firm ground again with him 
 at their side, and with their hope of heaven restored 
 — to fall prostrate before the cross now ? Not to be 
 thought of! 
 
 A few of the people had begun to cultivate the 
 fields, which for many years had served as grazing 
 grounds for cattle, goats, and sheep, or else had run 
 wild. But with the existing conditions no regular 
 work was possible ; they quarrelled over the bound- 
 ary lines, over the land itself, and even over the 
 men who worked it and over the seed that had 
 been smuggled into the forest. There was no law 
 here which seemed just to these people, and if per- 
 chance one happened to be discovered, either in 
 some old statute-book or in the brain of some old 
 man, only those obeyed it to whom it appealed. 
 The others despised and cursed it. Wahnfred, 
 
394 The God Seeker 
 
 before whom they felt respect and a certain awe, 
 could not always be present among them. Thus 
 that oldest code of all — the right of might — was 
 often adopted. 
 
 However, they clung earnestly, even passionately, 
 to the new faith in the Fire God. The people's need 
 for some form of religion is always great, but at that 
 time when their ideals consisted mostly in the cere- 
 monies of religious worship, it was much greater 
 than now. Religious faith in those days was very 
 closely allied to superstition, even to witchcraft. 
 One followed the other. Both were the daily bread 
 of the poor souls of that age. Those who had been 
 cast out from the Church degenerated rapidly, or 
 became victims of ideas which endangered their very 
 existence; and those who had no God gave them- 
 selves up to the devil. 
 
 Wahnfred had known how to awaken a deep re- 
 ligious fanaticism in the people of Trawies, which 
 was all the more intense because so long repressed. 
 They now worshipped everything that was light, 
 from the sun down to the glow-worm. At last they 
 comprehended why fire was so comforting and so 
 terrible. To the fire and to their adoration for it, 
 they attributed the cessation of the pestilence. As 
 they had formerly carried consecrated crosses and 
 amulets concealed under their garments, so now they 
 went about with tiny torches or burning tinder. As 
 formerly they had knelt before their shrines, so now 
 they knelt before their hearths, watching the fire 
 and chanting old hymns. As formerly they had 
 sprinkled themselves with holy water, so now they 
 
The Expiation 395 
 
 held a spark over their heads and felt that they were 
 blessed. 
 
 Some asked Wahnfred to allow them to light 
 their hearth-fires with a spark from the ancestral fire ; 
 but this he refused, telling them that so long as they 
 worshipped merely the symbol of God and did not 
 change their lives in accordance, they were un- 
 worthy of the sacred relic. 
 
 In the hut on the Johannesberg, surrounded by 
 the shadows of the forest, the little lamp shone un- 
 ceasingly. Wahnfred guarded it and placed it in 
 the greatest security, never allowing it to be extin- 
 guished. He defended it carefully against thieves; 
 it was sheltered from every breath of wind ; yet 
 how easily a gnat might have fallen into the oil or 
 a butterfly have extinguished the light with its 
 wings! Wahnfred's lustrous eyes had been absorb- 
 ing this spark until they seemed to see nothing on 
 the earth or in the sky but fire. How long he had 
 struggled to find a way in which to proclaim this 
 mighty power to the people of Trawies! And now 
 that he had found it and had proclaimed it, he him- 
 self was in its thrall. The legends and Gospels of 
 the Bible were as though covered with a mist, sur- 
 rounded by this blazing ring of flame. His soul 
 had, like a moth, fluttered about it so constantly 
 that it was suddenly caught and held. 
 
 In the meantime the people in the valleys of 
 Trawies, who were trying to adapt themselves 
 to their newly built huts, were going about 
 with mean, craven hearts, sinning against them- 
 selves and others. Their penance for their sins 
 
•^ 
 
 96 The God Seeker 
 
 was to hold a finger over a flame until they writhed 
 with pain. 
 
 In the spring, when the men should have been 
 working in fields and gardens, they would be found 
 lying about a fire which they had made on the 
 edge of the forest and which seemed to be the 
 only care they had in the world. In their quarrels 
 they defended themselves with firebrands. If a 
 man lost his life in one of these fights, according to 
 the new law he was burned, not buried. 
 
 And these were not the worst people. The rabble 
 still wandered about in the region as before; and 
 their lives were a fire without warmth and their 
 deeds were those of darkness. 
 
 In the Trasank valley an old woman had been 
 caught who for a long time had borne the reputa- 
 tion of being a witch. It was Kofel, the herb-doctor 
 and magic-healer. She prayed away disease, applied 
 all kinds of mysterious remedies, and many had faith 
 in her power to heal. But when the pestilence broke 
 out and her arts proved worthless, and she was dis- 
 covered performing various weird, uncanny rites, she 
 became suspected. A shepherd from Traboden was 
 the first to call her a witch. He was immediately 
 taken ill and was now dying; thus the people were 
 certain that she belonged to the devil. 
 
 Some defended her, saying: "Why should she 
 not belong to the devil? That is what old women 
 are meant for in this world. As all Trawies be- 
 longs to the devil, why should she not boldly 
 practise her arts?" And they went to her for 
 instruction in these arts. This she refused, telling 
 
The Expiation 397 
 
 them that she would carry her secrets with her to 
 the grave. 
 
 But since the new faith had been adopted and the 
 people once more had a God, they considered it 
 their duty to oppose the devil. The old woman 
 still clung to her magic, reviling the new faith as a 
 heresy. They finally pursued her, took her prisoner, 
 and dragged her to Trawies, where they had planned 
 to burn her to death. They were already assembled 
 to see the spectacle, carrying wood and vying with 
 one another to build the pyre as high as possible, 
 while the little woman, gagged and deathly pale, 
 was cowering under a tree, staring with horrified 
 eyes at the busy crowd. Just at this moment Wahn- 
 fred arrived. At first he thought they were build- 
 ing a house and he rejoiced at the enterprise of his 
 Trawiesers. But as he saw what was about to take 
 place, he was filled with anger and cried : 
 
 " Have you gone mad ? You call old Kofel a 
 witch, and you would throw her into the arms of 
 God! Would you desecrate your fire? Let her go; 
 if she belongs to the devil, he will take care of her." 
 
 They comprehended, freed the woman, and of- 
 fered penitential prayers before the fire. 
 
 Wahnfred had been trying to devise means to 
 keep the people occupied, to impose upon them 
 some compulsory service which should hold them 
 within bounds. Their delusion should aid him in 
 this and at the same time be their master. As he 
 saw them building the funeral pyre, the thought oc- 
 curred to him : a temple. 
 
 They should erect a temple to their Fire God, a 
 
39^ The God Seeker 
 
 building such as these mountains had never seen be- 
 fore, a soh'd, massive structure, made of logs from 
 the primeval forest; a fortress for the priest, a re- 
 fuge for the parish, the heart of the new Trawies. 
 But it must not stand in the valley, to be dominated 
 by the mountains or where it might be destroyed by 
 torrents. It mattered little if the old Trawies, with 
 its church, should fall in ruins, or if a wilderness 
 should grow up about the Dreiwand. The new place 
 of worship must stand upon the heights and gleam 
 in the sun like a flaming table of laws. 
 
 A flaming table of laws! Could the brain of the 
 stern man, Wahnfred, be already conceiving the 
 idea, as he was planning the temple, of what was 
 one day to take place upon the Johannesberg ? 
 Filled with the desire to wrest Trawies from its 
 misery, to elevate it, strengthen it, and bring it once 
 more into harmony with human society, he ascended 
 the mountain. On the summit was a small rocky 
 plateau, which on three sides fell abruptly to the 
 valley. Upon this spot he drew with his stick the 
 ground plan of the new temple. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 WITH an inquiring look you turn to the nar- 
 rator of these events — asking him by what 
 paths he must now lead you. 
 
 It is late in the night and we see two little flames 
 flickering before us. They are the signs of the God- 
 seekers, the seekers for heaven, and these shall be 
 our guides. The fire prophet we know to be on the 
 Johannesberg. But there is another, who is seeking 
 his God and his heaven in a different fire — in the 
 warmth of a loving heart. 
 
 Wahnfred's son, who upon the deserts of solitude 
 had been overcome by the passion of youth, the life- 
 loving, love-needy Erlefried — what had become of 
 him ? 
 
 Since that night when, led by the sound of a 
 voice, he had climbed the steep precipice of the Tor- 
 stein, at the foot of which the conflagration was be- 
 ginning, Erlefried had not been seen again. The 
 one person who had been with him did not see him, 
 for she was blind. 
 
 Bertha, the young prisoner in the cave, had many 
 times searched for an exit by which she might es- 
 cape; but she was unable to find her way through 
 the labyrinths and grottos, and was always glad to 
 
 399 
 
400 The God Seeker 
 
 return, guided by the reflection of her little lamp, 
 and to sink exhausted on her soft white couch. She 
 had ceased thinking and wondering why she was in 
 this place ; she no longer believed what she said and 
 felt, but took everything for an illusion of the 
 senses, and she had become accustomed to the idea 
 of madness. 
 
 " Thou foolish Bertha," she often said to herself, 
 " why dost thou torment thyself ? Thou art ill. 
 This is the Johannesberg, and this is your house 
 and your room, and it is not the dreadful man, it is 
 thy good mother who makes thy bed and braids thy 
 hair. Thou must not be offended, mother, that I 
 am so rude to thee, for I am ill and my mind is 
 haunted by terrible visions. If only I could get 
 the idea of this cave out of my head and if only this 
 strange man were not always about me ; he grins so 
 horribly and declares that he is the devil, and I am 
 sure he is right. Thou must not weep, mother; I 
 will close my eyes and shut out the terrible sights." 
 
 On the day when the forest began to burn, her 
 uncanny host did not come as usual, and, growing 
 hungry, she made one more attempt to find an exit. 
 She wandered about in the dark passages, she 
 climbed, she crawled, and where the path seemed 
 to end she frantically tore away the loose stones, as 
 if she would penetrate into the very heart of the 
 mountain, when suddenly the wall crumbled and 
 fell and a dazzling light met her eyes. But only 
 one brief flash; the same moment that showed her 
 the light of day again plunged her into eternal 
 jnight. The nerves of the eyes, weakened by their 
 
The Expiation 401 
 
 long confinement in darkness, were destroyed. She 
 realised that her surroundings were very different 
 from what they had been ; she felt the light, she 
 breathed the pure air, she was free at last — yet she 
 could not see. It was no longer the darkness of 
 the cavern, with its shadows and the dim reflection 
 of the lamp, in which she had lived for so many 
 months, it was the grey of an impenetrable mist 
 wherein bright stars circled, repeating the sudden 
 flash of light in many different forms, until gradu- 
 ally even that disappeared and there was nothing 
 but endless grey. 
 
 Bertha clung to the rocks, feeling her way along 
 the precipice and screaming for help. This was the 
 cry that Erlefried had heard from the Devil's Stone. 
 
 He thought it must be Sela, who had left him a 
 short time before, and he was therefore greatly sur- 
 prised to see, high up on the precipice, this strange, 
 pale, poorly clad girl. When she heard his foot- 
 steps she called no longer, but cowered motionless. 
 
 Night had already fallen and the stars were shin- 
 ing. But Erlefried had no time to look at the sky. 
 He was straining every nerve to reach the poor, 
 helpless creature above him. He was not long in 
 discovering what a hopelessly wretched being had 
 sunk into his arms. She was worn and thin, blind, 
 and her mind was wandering. 
 
 She wept as she felt his warm young hand ; she 
 clung to the slender, supple body ; she prayed aloud 
 and spoke of things which he did not understand. 
 
 With difficulty he led her down the desolate path 
 to the valley. As they stood beside the bank of the 
 
402 The God Seeker 
 
 brook and he was gazing into the dry sand search- 
 ing for water with which to revive her, he saw a red 
 glow of h'ght on the cliff of the Torstein, — a light 
 that was to gleam there for many days and nights, — 
 he saw the dark circling cloud of smoke soaring into 
 the sky, and he realised that he must flee. Support- 
 ing the girl on his arm he hastened forward, the 
 rapidly growing flames throwing bands of light 
 across their path. When they reached a denser 
 part of the forest the young man gently laid his 
 burden upon the moss. 
 
 Motionless, breathless, she lay there. Had she 
 fainted ? Was she dead ? He knelt before this 
 woman, but where was his passionate desire for a 
 kiss, with which Sela had inspired him ? He was as 
 cold as ice. Then another warmth arose within him 
 and tears gathered in his eyes. He bent over this 
 prostrate form, not seeking a kiss at the woman's 
 lips, but listening to her breathing for a sign of 
 life. 
 
 She still breathed. Breaking boughs from an 
 alder-bush he wrapped them about the slumbering 
 girl. He laid himself upon the ground a short dis- 
 tance away from her and watched, wondering by 
 whom he was watching, what it all meant, and what 
 would come of it. " This is the devil's game," he 
 thought; "he may keep his word, yet is he false 
 withal, and now he is mocking me. I did not sell 
 my soul for such a reward as this pitiful creature 
 lying here, clad in beggar's garments. Give it back 
 to me, dog of hell ; give me back my soul ! " 
 
 The girl groaned in her sleep. Erlefried longed 
 
The Expiation 403 
 
 to pray but could not. He succeeded in stammer- 
 ing the words of his evening prayer, but where were 
 his thoughts ? With the devil. The prayer was 
 dead, without soul — his soul he had sold to another. 
 Cold drops of sweat stood upon his forehead and a 
 shudder passed over him. 
 
 Then Erlefried turned upon his side, and in the 
 depths of his heart he declared to himself that the 
 sly Satan should not have him: " Thou hast de- 
 ceived me and I will deceive thee. I am not yet 
 thine, and I shall not be until a new moon falls 
 upon a Corpus Christi Day in Trawies. So, good- 
 night, and leave me in peace." 
 
 Why should he have had an evil conscience ? 
 The young man had committed no sin, and he soon 
 sank into a sound, healthy sleep. 
 
 For hours they lay there undisturbed, then Erie- 
 fried was suddenly wakened by a curious crackling, 
 roaring sound. He sprang to his feet, and made 
 the horrible discovery that they were surrounded 
 by a sea of flame — the fire was upon them. There 
 was barely time to waken the girl; but to reflect 
 whether or not he should leave this devil's game to 
 its own fate and flee alone, for that there was no 
 time. Thinking of neither God nor the devil, he 
 dragged the staggering girl after him, for sparks 
 w^re already flying over their heads. 
 
 They escaped from the flames but not from danger. 
 For days they wandered about without rest, without 
 plan. Hunger by day and cold by night were their 
 companions. Erlefried now recognised in this girl 
 nothing but a sick, miserable creature whom he 
 
404 The God Seeker 
 
 could not desert. But where should he take her ? 
 He dared not show himself in Trawies, and he also 
 knew that he would find no succour there. Should 
 he return to Bart's house ? Bart and Sela would 
 ask him where he had found his companion. Could 
 he trust himself to reply ? Would it not stand 
 written on his forehead, as it was written in blood 
 upon the stone in the wilderness, to what depths he 
 had fallen ? He could not look his beloved in the 
 eye, he could not re-enter his foster-father's house. 
 Should he go on wandering through the forest, 
 nourishing his companion and himself with wild 
 fruits ? The forest was burning and every living 
 thing was fleeing from it. Should he cross the ring 
 of flame at the boundary and thenceforth lead a 
 beggar's life ? This seemed to be the only course 
 left him, yet he could not desert this girl who had 
 fallen into his hands in such a remarkable way. 
 That she was a heavy burden, he did not deny. 
 
 One day she asked Erlefried who he was. 
 My name is Erlefried, and I am the son of 
 Wahnfred, the carpenter," answered the young man 
 quickly, pleased to have her talk. 
 
 "The carpenter from the Gestade ?" she mur- 
 mured thoughtfully; " why, he is the man who 
 murdered the priest ! And thou art his son Erie- 
 fried ? " 
 
 " I am he." 
 
 "Art thou really he?" She passed her hand 
 over his face and hands, repeating: "Art thou 
 really he ? " 
 
 " Yes; why should I not be ? " 
 
The Expiation 405 
 
 Then she answered: "I suspected that I was 
 dead." 
 
 " What ? " he reph'ed; " thou art alive! " 
 
 " Yes, I know; I live, like thyself, in the other 
 world." 
 
 For hours she was silent and allowed him to lead 
 her. He was now convinced that she had lost her 
 mind and his pity for her increased. 
 
 They had at last taken refuge in a deserted shep- 
 herd's hut, and the young man had gathered black- 
 berries, whortleberries, and other wild fruits which 
 he understood preparing as food. 
 
 As Bertha felt the warmth of the fire, she began 
 to weep. When he gently asked her the cause, she 
 answered that she was thinking of her mother. 
 
 " We must meet her soon," she said, " for she has 
 been here a long time. If thou shouldst see her, 
 take me to her." 
 
 After a while she asked: ** Dost thou know what 
 has become of thy father ? " 
 
 " He lives on the Johannesberg." 
 
 ** He does! " cried the girl, straightening herself 
 erect; ** then it is he who killed my mother! She 
 used to live on the Johannesberg. Oh, you are all 
 murderers ! Erlefried, go away and leave me alone ! 
 Am I then damned that I must be with thee?" 
 
 Once while she was eating, she suddenly laughed 
 aloud and said: " It is curious that so many things 
 here are the same as on earth. Art thou also hun- 
 gry ? Dost thou still wish to eat and drink ? 
 Strange, and thou hast been dead so long! " 
 
 " Who told thee that I was dead ? " 
 
4o6 The God Seeker 
 
 " The Trawiesers said that robbers had killed 
 thee at Bart-from-Tarn's." 
 
 Now at last he comprehended a portion of her 
 singular words. Gradually the poor girl opened her 
 whole heart to him. She was under the delusion 
 that she was in purgatory, and he was unable to 
 dispel the idea. 
 
 On one occasion she inhaled a deep breath, at the 
 same time feeling in the air with her hands, and 
 murmuring: " Yes, it seems like sweet life once 
 more: if I only knew whether or not I had death 
 before me! " 
 
 Erlefried knew. But he did not know whether 
 she would be glad or sorry to hear the truth. And 
 we none of us know whether it is better to have 
 death behind or before us. 
 
 ** Thou must be young and handsome," she 
 whispered once. " I should like to know if in this 
 other world it is also a sin to love." 
 
 ** It would be sad indeed, if one could not love," 
 remarked the lad, playing with the embers; " it is 
 neither a sin — nor a pleasure." 
 
 " Surely thou hast had a sweetheart on earth! " 
 she said. 
 
 " Child, I have her yet," he replied, "and I shall 
 always have her." 
 
 Then she ceased speaking and wept the entire 
 night. It was nearly morning before she became 
 quiet and Erlefried, whose sensations were of the 
 most painful description, was at last able to sleep. 
 
 When he woke the sun was shining directly upon 
 him through the open doorway. It was broad day- 
 
The Expiation 407 
 
 light, and how changed was the aspect of everything 
 from that of the darkness of the night ! All anxiety 
 was gone, all sadness had disappeared. 
 
 The blind girl's couch was empty. Had she felt 
 her way out and was she sitting on the stone to 
 forget her sorrow in the brightness of the morning ? 
 Erlefried rose and left the hut. But he did not find 
 her. In the dewy grass he followed the tracks of 
 footsteps, which led in an irregular zigzag away 
 among the trees and finally ended at the edge of a 
 steep precipice. 
 
 In the abyss below she lay — upon the bloody 
 stones. 
 
 No one knew how the unfortunate Bertha had 
 come to her death. Had she sought it ? If so, her 
 reason must have returned to her that morning, for 
 in her delusion she was already in the other world. 
 Had she, the blind girl, fled from Erlefried because 
 she hated or because she — loved him ? 
 
 He longed to flee as far as his feet would carry 
 him ; it was all so weird, so dismal. When he 
 touched her and found that she was stiff and cold, 
 he could not look at her face again. Breaking off a 
 few fir-boughs — for here in the Birstling the trees 
 were still alive — he covered the body until nothing 
 was visible in the rocky gorge but a mound of 
 green. Then he collected stones and rocks as large 
 as he could carry, and built a wall about the mound, 
 upon which he heaped more stones. After he had 
 worked three days, a huge pile stood there, reaching 
 far above his shoulders. This was poor Bertha's 
 burial. It was the best Erlefried could do for her, 
 
4o8 The God Seeker 
 
 for he had neither spade nor pickaxe with which to 
 dig a grave. 
 
 When all was finished, as a sign that he con- 
 sidered neither the blind girl nor himself as lost he 
 laid a wooden cross upon the pyramid, before which 
 he knelt in prayer. Fear had taken up its abode in 
 his heart since that night when he had seen the 
 drops of blood flowing over the grey stone; but 
 the cross was still his refuge and his hope. 
 
 Then Erlefried left the burial-place in the Birstling 
 forest and never returned to it. The youngest trees 
 which were then sprouting there are to-day old, 
 mouldering trunks, but under the cliff may still be 
 seen a mound of stones, overgrown with grass and 
 vines, beneath which lies buried the most unfortu- 
 nate and the most innocent sacrifice of ruined 
 Trawies. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 ERLEFRIED continued his wandering through 
 the forest. He had at last passed the burned 
 district, and the people whom he met told him with 
 frightened faces that the condition of Trawies was 
 more hopeless than ever. And for the first time he 
 heard of the pestilence. 
 
 He asked if the disease had reached the mountain 
 and the house of Bart-from-Tarn. 
 
 Bart's house stood empty, was the reply, and the 
 inhabitants had fled. 
 
 Thus the last bond was broken. Erlefried sprang 
 over the boundary line, so long known as the ring 
 of fire, walked calmly past the gallows which stood 
 before the entrance to the various villages and 
 castles, stopping at several houses to inquire the 
 way and to seek for information concerning Trawies, 
 whither, according to his statement, he was now 
 bound. 
 
 What did he want in Trawies ? they asked. 
 
 In reply, he related that he was a native of the 
 place, but that when very young he had been taken 
 by a cousin of his, a priest, to Neukloster, where he 
 had lived as lay-brother. He had recently heard 
 much that made him grieve for his unfortunate 
 
 409 
 
4i<^ The God Seeker 
 
 native village — although he could hardly believe 
 that the Trawiesers had become so inhuman as re- 
 ported — and it was his intention to go there to 
 investigate matters, and he hoped to be the means 
 of saving what Was still to be saved. 
 
 Everyone counselled him against such an under- 
 taking. Trawies was a nest of robbers and mur- 
 derers, and the only thing to be done was to see 
 that none of the inhabitants escaped and to allow 
 things to take their course until the rabble had at 
 last destroyed themselves. And perhaps a still 
 greater Power would annihilate this godless people 
 sooner than was expected. 
 
 With apparent reluctance the clever young man 
 gave up his plan for pressing on to Trawies, and 
 although feigning to go in that direction, in reality 
 he advanced into the country outside, the danger 
 of his being recognised as a Trawieser diminishing 
 with each day. 
 
 At last he reached the plains, and the mountains 
 of his forest-land had become only distant blue 
 peaks. On a large dairy-farm he found a situation 
 to work, and here he passed the winter, leading a 
 regular, industrious life. 
 
 How often he thought of Sela! He sometimes 
 wondered if others had the same experience as him- 
 self, for only when his sorrow was banished from his 
 heart, when he felt content and happy, could he 
 think with passionate longing of the girl he loved. 
 Whenever he thought of his compact at the Devil's 
 Stone, Sela's picture was blotted from his memory. 
 
 The master was well pleased with the active, in- 
 
The Expiation 41 1 
 
 dustrious young man, but the latter was not pleased 
 with himself. There was a feeling of unrest within 
 him as if the devil had really taken up his abode in 
 his heart. Not until the preceding autumn had he 
 felt that God was lost — for Trawies, or for himself. 
 All his evil passions were aroused ; he no longer 
 sought to control them, for he knew to whom he 
 had sold himself. During the day he would be 
 filled with terror, and at night he would often start 
 suddenly from his sleep, as if a cold hand had been 
 laid upon his breast. 
 
 The sweet dreams of his childhood at the Gestade, 
 of his merry games, wherein he had discovered a 
 new world of his own, of his mother, who had 
 guided him like an angel, of his father, in whose re- 
 ligious talks he had seen the heavens open and God 
 enthroned in His majesty — these dreams which had' 
 formerly visited him every night, bringing back to 
 the banished son of a banished father a memory of 
 that golden time, had not come to him since that 
 day, when, in the intoxication of passion, he had 
 written his name upon the grey stone. The past 
 was for him a lost paradise. Quite a different com- 
 panion now appeared at his bedside. It was old 
 Roderich with his piercing eyes. Instead of hands 
 he had claws with which he was raking burning 
 coals over a grey stone, from out which trickled 
 drops of blood. Then with a grin the old man 
 would whisper evil words in his ear and would scat- 
 ter sparks upon his limbs, until the sleeper shud- 
 dered and awoke. 
 
 One day as he was lying face downwards upon 
 
412 The God Seeker 
 
 the summit of a mountain he heard a loud voice 
 crying: " Do what thou wilt, thou art mine! " 
 
 The people with whom he lived all liked the 
 quiet, handsome, agreeable young man; but there 
 were two children in the family who avoided him 
 and were afraid of him. They realised that his 
 cheerfulness was feigned, that his games with them 
 were without heart. They would frequently notice 
 him staring absently into space or he would burst 
 into a harsh laugh, or suddenly turn pale — he was 
 too unnatural for them. 
 
 When the household were praying aloud at table 
 or in the evening, their voices harmonising like the 
 sound of bells, his voice was muffled or overloud 
 and his fingers twitched convulsively. Every time 
 he left the church he was more melancholy than 
 when he entered it. At first the sound of the bell 
 and the tones of the organ and the soft glimmer of 
 candles amid the rising incense comforted him 
 greatly. He felt as though newly born and newly 
 baptised. But when he knelt before the holy altar 
 and the priest laid the sacred wafer upon his tongue, 
 everything grew black before his eyes, he covered 
 his face with his hands, and, staggering back, mur- 
 mured : " Now I have tasted death! " 
 
 On Easter Sunday he listened to a sermon on the 
 dead and buried Saviour. " Ye wicked men who 
 have killed and buried Him with your sins, ye leave 
 the holy sepulchre to return to your worldly pleas- 
 ures. But ye shall wander without happiness 
 amongst the pleasures of the earth, ye shall hunger 
 and thirst and not be satisfied, ye shall consume 
 
The Expiatiofl 413 
 
 yourselves, ye shall be lost and damned! Happy 
 they who return to the quiet grave of their Saviour 
 before it is too late. Their tears of repentance 
 shall fall melodiously upon the rocky sepulchre and 
 waken the Holiest, Who will rise and bestow His 
 love and mercy upon the children of this earth. 
 Therefore, thou poor, godless, lost sinner, to-day, 
 on this glorious day of victory, turn in thy path, 
 come back and seek thy God where thou hast lost 
 Him." 
 
 These words of the preacher made a deep impres- 
 sion upon the mind of the dreamy youth and he 
 determined to return to Trawies. He felt that he, 
 too, had a share in the sins of his native parish and 
 that he was a faithless wretch to flee cowardly from 
 his penance. Still dominated by the idea that he 
 belonged to the evil one, he now resolved to struggle 
 to escape from him and to erase the name which he 
 had written upon the Devil's Stone. 
 
 And, besides, this child of the mountains was 
 seized with homesickness, that demoniacal power 
 which has drawn others from better regions back to 
 the sorrows and miseries of home. At last a long- 
 ing for Bart's house in the Tarn and its inhabitants, 
 a longing for Sela, his dear deserted Sela, overcame 
 him. She must pardon him, she was his angel; in 
 her arms would he take refuge. 
 
 Erlefried then went to his master and said: ** I 
 thank you for the kindness which has been shown 
 me in your house. Now I must go away." 
 
 " I understand," answered the peasant; " but 
 you will stay with me until the wedding." 
 
4H The God Seeker 
 
 " Until what wedding ? " 
 
 " So you do not acknowledge it even yet ? I 
 should have been pleased, Erlefried, had you con- 
 sidered me worthy of your confidence, instead of 
 obliging me to learn of your affairs from others. 
 That is the way with you young people, you think 
 you are keeping a secret when the whole valley 
 knows it. Mein Gott! you have done well to get 
 ahead of all the rest, you have done well ! That is 
 probably because you were educated in a monas- 
 tery. Donnerwetter ! young man, why do you 
 stand there like that ? Well, I wish you happi- 
 ness; you are young, you are good, quite good 
 enough for her." 
 
 Erlefried understood at last, although it was with 
 some difificulty that he comprehended what lay be- 
 hind it all. Neighbour Erhart had a daughter, 
 called Beautiful Trull, the peasant's only child and 
 of marriageable age. But she was proud ! She be- 
 longed to the class of women who will go to great 
 lengths to break a man's heart. She understood 
 attracting them and then she would suddenly de- 
 luge them with her scorn, which was like an ice-cold 
 waterfall. When at last no more victims fell into 
 her snares, she declared there were no men in this 
 region who pleased her. Since Erlefried's arrival 
 she had ceased to say this. She had followed him 
 in such a marked manner that everybody was notic- 
 ing it, with one exception : Erlefried himself. 
 
 And when it was told him in so many words that 
 Beautiful Trull loved him and wished to marry him, 
 a strange joy filled his heart and, hardly aware of 
 
The Expiation 4^5 
 
 what he was doing, he hastened to Erhart's house 
 and asked to see Trull. 
 
 Erhart was an elderly man and he received Erie- 
 fried warmly. He could not say enough to show 
 how glad he was that the young man from his 
 neighbour's, of whom he had heard so much good, 
 had at last found the way to his house. Oh, it was 
 Trull he wished to see; she would be most happy, 
 she was in the next room, he might go in at once. 
 Trull was no longer of that age when young girls 
 blush unconsciously whenever a young man enters. 
 She blushed consciously, but none the less becom- 
 ingly. She also cast down her eyes — and she was 
 beautiful indeed. If Erlefried had really been pos- 
 sessed of the devil, he would have been unable to 
 carry out the idea with which he entered the room. 
 But, remembering his previous resolve just in time, 
 he said: "A report is being circulated among the 
 people, my dear Jungfrau Trull, and if it should be 
 true that you care for me, I must indeed be very 
 happy. And I have to thank you, my most worthy 
 and beautiful Jungfrau, for your favour and for hold- 
 ing such a 4nan as myself, who has nothing good 
 about him, worthy of notice. And especially such 
 a man as myself must feel a deep gratitude and I do 
 not know how to thank you. However, I can offer 
 you nothing better than an honest answer. I wish 
 I might be the right one for you and thus pay my 
 indebtedness — but my heart is no longer my own." 
 
 The last words were spoken sorrowfully, and one 
 could not tell whether he was thinking of Sela or of 
 the grey stone in the Tarn, 
 
41 6 The God Seeker 
 
 Beautiful Trull rose quickly and said: " What is 
 that to me ? You are only a stranger and have no 
 right to speak thus to me. I will call my father if 
 you do not leave me instantly ! " 
 
 Old Erhart did not know what to think when he 
 saw Erlefried taking a silent leave. And beautiful 
 Trull! The chronicler has failed to describe her 
 sufferings. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 SO Erlefried set out on his journey. For a while 
 he was tormented by the thought that he had 
 thrown away a chance for a prosperous future in 
 this flat, sunny, fertile land, and he knew that he 
 was returning to a life of sorrow and suffering. He 
 went, nevertheless; feeling drawn thither, he hast- 
 ened faster and faster towards his unhappy home. 
 He no longer asked advice concerning the way. 
 Trembling inwardly he learned of the terrible black 
 death at Trawies, but he went steadily forward. 
 Sadly and scornfully the streams flowed out to meet 
 him from the mountains ; the peaks were still gleam- 
 ing with their snowy caps, and over all stretched the 
 endless blue, broken here and there by light, fleecy 
 clouds. Above the wanderer's head the swallows 
 were flying homeward, like himself, towards the 
 wooded hills. 
 
 Yonder in the distance was a broad plain, where 
 no tree was standing; only here and there a charred 
 trunk towered aloft in a manner ghastly to behold. 
 This was the Tarn. Even the cross that had stood 
 upon the lonely heights long after the destruction 
 of the forest had succumbed to the storms of the 
 preceding winter, which had thrown it upon the 
 
 " 417 
 
41 8 The God Seeker 
 
 ground — this last relic of the Christian parish that 
 had once led a peaceful life among these mountains. 
 Erlefried wandered many days and nights ; the days 
 were beautiful, for it was the month of May ; the 
 nights were dark, for it was nearing the time for a 
 new moon. 
 
 When he reached the boundary, he stopped and 
 gave one last look out at the wide world ; he still 
 belonged to it, was still free. He felt like a suicide 
 standing at the brink of a precipice ; he looked once 
 more at the sunlight; once more he cried: " I can 
 do nothing else! " and he made the plunge. 
 
 When he had leapt over the boundary line of Tra- 
 wies, a cry burst from his lips, but it was a cry of 
 joy. He stamped with his foot upon the ground — 
 this was good, firm earth! His blood flowed more 
 freely in his veins. That anxious feeling of being 
 lost had gone; here the evil one would no longer be 
 slyly watching for him and surprising him in his 
 sleep ; here in the abiding-place of the devil, Erie- 
 fried might boldly walk up and meet him, and that 
 would be far better. There was a chance for peace 
 now, for Corpus Christi would not be celebrated in 
 Trawies for some time yet ! And should it never be 
 celebrated, was not Wahnfred striking out in new 
 paths to lead Trawies to heaven ? And could not 
 his son Erlefried do the same ? He would join his 
 father, and the new way to God should no longer 
 lead past Good Friday and All Souls' Day. 
 
 Erlefried now descended from the mountain- 
 ridge called Scharfeck towards the narrow valley 
 of Trawies, At his right towered the Birstling, 
 
The Expiation 419 
 
 clothed with its dark pine-forests and luxuriant 
 growth of hazel, and at his left stretched the grey, 
 mouldering plain of the Tarn. 
 
 In the narrow pass where the Diirbach gushed a 
 group of men were working. Men working in Tra- 
 wies! That was a good sign. They were clearing 
 away an old, disused road. They pushed the larger 
 stones to one side, the small ones they crushed with 
 iron mallets, then, after scattering earth over them, 
 they covered all with moss and turf. They toiled 
 industriously, and at a little distance away where 
 the narrow gorge ended and the precipice rose 
 abruptly they were building a table out of stones. 
 
 One of the men had stolen into the woods and 
 stretched himself upon his back in the shade. Erie- 
 fried approached him. The idle man rose at once, 
 but Erlefried told him not to disturb himself, he 
 only wished to inquire what they meant by building 
 such a good road in this wild gorge. 
 
 " You do not live here ? " asked the man. 
 
 " I come from outside." 
 
 "You do, do you? Then I suppose you really 
 ought to be killed. If any of us should go away 
 that would happen. But of late we have had deaths 
 enough. It is no longer any laughing matter. I 
 should like something to eat if you 've got any- 
 thing with you, and I 'd advise you to give it of your 
 own accord ! * ' 
 
 Erlefried shared with him the bread which he had 
 in his bag. 
 
 " Ah ! " said the man, swallowing the bits whole, 
 " if we could only have such bread as this again! " 
 
420 The God Seeker 
 
 If you work as I see you are now doing, you 
 are on the right road to it," answered Erlefried. 
 
 Ha, ha! " laughed the other; " from him who 
 gives us the work I do not hope much. Do you 
 know, unknown prince, for whom we are making 
 this road ? You cannot guess ? Think as hard as 
 you will, but it would not be worth your trouble. 
 The most absurd thing about it all is that the 
 one for whom we are making it will never walk 
 here." 
 
 " Will he be driven?" 
 
 lie 's a very lazy gentleman and has to be car- 
 ried ! And he eats, eats all the time, never stops eat- 
 iiig. He could not live for one second, I tell you, 
 if he were not constantly fed." 
 
 " What kind of a strange animal can that be ? " 
 
 "It is no animal, young man; when you know 
 him you will have respect for him. I will tell you : 
 it is the new God. Yes, child, it is the new, the 
 fiery Lord God. He has been given to us only 
 lately. Well, one really does not know whether to 
 laugh or to cry over it." 
 
 Erlefried had already heard that the people of 
 Trawies had become fire-worshippers. At first he 
 was horrified at the news, but, on reflecting, he had 
 thought : " Why not then ? If we must have a visi- 
 ble symbol, one is as good as another. Yes, one 
 may be better than another. Water would have 
 answered also." 
 
 " The old faith proved worthless," remarked the 
 man; " the fire that used to be in hell we put into 
 heaven now. It is much better so. We will make 
 
The Expiation 421 
 
 our hell as we need it ; no one likes to be burned. 
 He 's quite right, our carpenter, and soon, I hope, 
 he will break off the devil's horns also, so that he 
 cannot run them into us." 
 
 " I should not mind if he did," thought Erie- 
 fried, " but from present appearances the devil will 
 have no power over me for some time to come." 
 
 " You have eaten my bread," he said, " but you 
 have not yet told me how your new God is going to 
 use this road." 
 
 " Can you not guess ? " cried the man. " Con- 
 sidering that you come from outside, you do not 
 seem to me very pious. Do you not celebrate 
 Corpus Christi to-morrow ? I think you do, and we 
 in here celebrate it also. That is why we must have 
 a God, that we may go on keeping our holidays and 
 festivals. But we do it at night, for our God is not 
 bright enough by day. We are to hold our festival 
 to-night. This year it falls very fortunately, for 
 Corpus Christi eve will be as black as coal, with no 
 moonlight. A processional is customary, so we shall 
 carry our new God through the mountain gorges 
 and set him up on the stone table, — the lazy rascals 
 have n't finished it yet, — and there we shall set fire 
 to him, until he burns like the devil. The women 
 will chant and it will all be most interesting. You 
 will come, of course ? " 
 
 Poor Erlefried! — new moon on Corpus Christi, in 
 Trawies, and this very night! 
 
 " No!" he cried; " that is a pagan custom, that 
 must not be ! " 
 
 The man looked at the excited youth with a 
 
42 2 The God Seeker 
 
 twinkle in his eye and murmured: " Oh, you little 
 scrap of humanity, what would you have us do ? " 
 
 " I am lost!" cried Erlefried, throwing himself 
 upon the ground. Before his soul stood the horrible 
 vision which in that dark age was so superstitiously 
 nurtured in mankind. He writhed upon the ground 
 and groaned until even the lazy workman was 
 startled. 
 
 ' ' What has happened to you all of a sudden ? " he 
 asked ; " one would almost think you had the pest ! " 
 
 " The pest!" said Erlefried. " Good man, if it 
 were only that, how thankful I should be to my 
 God!" 
 
 " 6> Jesu Christ / Can it be worse than that ? " 
 
 " It is the eternal pest, the hellish pest! Let me 
 go, let me go, you cannot help me." 
 
 But the other held him fast by the arm, mutter- 
 ing between his teeth: " I will not let you go until 
 you have told me the meaning of all this." 
 
 " Well, I will tell you," said Erlefried, wiping 
 the drops from his forehead with his coat-sleeve; 
 " it is no secret, and it is connected with your fes- 
 tival. To-night the devil will take me." 
 
 The other laughed aloud, considering the words 
 merely as a common phrase. But Erlefried soon ex- 
 plained. He told his curious and sympathetic list- 
 ener how he had written his name with blood upon 
 the Devil's Stone, how he had received frequent 
 nightly visits from the evil one, and how he had 
 sworn by the grey stone that whenever a new moon 
 and Corpus Christi fell upon the same day in 
 Trawies the devil might have him for his own. 
 
The Expiation 423 
 
 The other folded his hands across his knees and 
 said with a shake of the head: " That is bad, very 
 bad!" 
 
 "Do you suppose," continued Erlefried, " that 
 the people of Trawies on my account and for broth- 
 erly love would give up their procession ? " 
 
 At this the man shouted with laughter, saying: 
 " One can see very plainly where you come from. 
 If the people find out that there is to be an extra 
 show, they will be all the more determined to have 
 their procession. A thing like that would make it 
 all the merrier." 
 
 "You cannot advise me, then, what to do?" 
 asked the young man, turning away. 
 
 " Not very well, but I will think it over " 
 
 ** Leave off your thinking," said Erlefried excit- 
 edly; " you have nothing further to do with it." 
 
 " That you are not in a very good temper, young 
 man, I can well believe, but you must not slight the 
 words of a friend. And since I know that the devil 
 is going to take you, I am your friend. We two ly- 
 ing here under the hazel-bushes, we ought to be able 
 to outwit the devil. Surely, one so young as you 
 should have a few drops of superfluous blood." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " asked Erlefried, with a 
 gesture of despair. 
 
 "I know of a remedy. You say you wrote your 
 name on the Devil's Stone with blood ? I don't ask 
 why that troubles you now, but I know that if the 
 signature is to be made null and void, it must be 
 washed out with blood." 
 
 " Can that be true ? " asked Erlefried anxiously. 
 
424 The God Seeker 
 
 " I have heard it a hundred times, and it is also 
 thus in the story of the robber chief. He is said to 
 have had a box full of knives, with each one of 
 which he had killed a man. When the day arrived 
 for the devil to take him, he took one knife after 
 the other and with each cut off a piece of his own 
 body until at last he fell dead. In this same mo- 
 ment a white dove flew out of his heart up towards 
 heaven, leaving the devil nothing but the empty 
 body. You, my young gentleman, do not look as if 
 you had sent many people out of the world, — rather 
 the contrary, — so you '11 not need to cut off much 
 flesh to pay your debt. Take off one finger, that 
 will be enough." 
 
 " I know what I will do," said Erlefried, rising 
 and walking away. 
 
 Thoughts were formed rapidly in this fantastic 
 brain. To save his soul was to him of the greatest 
 importance. Even if this world were lost, he would 
 at least find his Sela in the next. Here below he 
 must never see her again. Self-redemption from 
 the bonds of sin ! That was now his creed, his way 
 to heaven. He hastened through the forest, he 
 hastened up the barren mountain, he hastened to 
 the stone where he had written his name. 
 
 He would erase it with his own blood. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 IN an isolated part of the forest still lies the Devil's 
 Stone. It resembles a little hut, with its rounded 
 corners and weather-beaten top. It could not have 
 grown out of the ground, or have been laid bare by 
 the gradual disappearance of the earth, as is so often 
 said of stones. It seemed rather to be growing into 
 the ground, as if, according to a saying of the 
 people, " It should, for very shame, sink nine 
 fathoms deep." 
 
 And there may be good reason for this saying, 
 for it accords with the repute in which the stone is 
 held. In the Alps one frequently meets with the 
 legend that the devil, whose wings were too short 
 to fly up to heaven, attempted to build a ladder 
 from the earth to the kingdom of God, that he 
 might take possession of the latter. In this region 
 the following version of the legend is extant: 
 Upon the summit of the Trasank the Prince of 
 Darkness collected his building material from far 
 and wide, but when his ladder reached the sky, he 
 found it so securely arched, and the sun and stars so 
 dazzling, that he was obliged to abandon his under- 
 taking. Angered by his failure, he struck a tremen- 
 dous blow with his fist upon the ladder, sending the 
 
 425 
 
426 The God Seeker 
 
 bits flying in all directions. One of the stones fell 
 into the Trawies woods and was thenceforth called 
 the" Devil's Stone." 
 
 For centuries it had been covered with moss, but 
 at the time of the ban this had been scraped off and 
 the plant life in the grooves destroyed until the sur- 
 face was smooth. Soon innumerable strange signs 
 and words, written in a dark red colour, appeared 
 upon it, traces of which may be seen to this day. 
 
 And it was to this stone that Erlefried was now 
 hastening, as he had done just one year before. 
 
 In the forest, twilight was already falling and 
 soft, misty clouds floated in the sky. A still, 
 solemn atmosphere lay over all, and not a breath of 
 wind stirred the leaves in the trees. 
 
 Erlefried was leaning against an old, fissured tree- 
 trunk, gazing out into the distance. He saw the 
 peak of the Johannesberg, at the foot of which lay 
 his dear Gestade. He saw the cliffs of the Trasank, 
 where when a boy he had climbed nimbly and gaily 
 as a chamois. In that narrow basin lay little Tra- 
 wies, where he had once listened to the holy Word 
 of God and to the sound of bells and to the tones of 
 the organ. All gone ! Yonder he saw the heights 
 where Bart's house stood, and in the foreground 
 towered the bare peak, formerly surmounted by 
 the cross, whither he and Sela had made their pil- 
 grimage in the preceding autumn, 
 
 " Oh could I but have my life once more, my be- 
 loved life ! " he sobbed, covering his face. " I would 
 willingly bear again all the suffering from the Ges- 
 tade, where I lived as a child, up to the cross in the 
 
The Expiation 427 
 
 Tarn. I would bear it all again, I have been so 
 happy. O my Eternal God, let me but begin my 
 life anew! The second time I will find the right 
 way. Below they are assembling to worship Thee 
 in the fire. If Thou art that fire which consumed 
 the miraculous bird, that rose from the ashes as 
 Phoenix, in all the renewed glory of its youth, then 
 I will pray with them ! I have no desire to become 
 dust. O most Holy God, I would not yet enter 
 the unknown land; I long to live!" 
 
 There was no answer and the evening shadows 
 were fast closing about him. 
 
 Erlefried braced himself for the effort, saying: 
 " There is no turning back and no choice; it must 
 be!" 
 
 He took a few steps forward and stood before the 
 stone. 
 
 He started. A human form was sitting upon it. 
 It was a man with flaxen hair which fell in long 
 locks from under a white woollen cap. His face 
 was narrow and his features sharp. His lips were 
 pursed as though he were smiling to himself, and his 
 bare feet — his linen trousers were rolled up to his 
 knees — were dangling over the stone. His appear- 
 ance indicated that he was a shepherd. 
 
 Erlefried stepped behind a tree waiting for him to 
 go away. But he remained sitting, humming one 
 song after another and swaying his feet to and fro. 
 
 The fateful night was drawing near and all was 
 dark. There was no time to be lost, and how often 
 had Erlefried heard that the devil was always 
 prompt. What if it should be he sitting yonder on 
 
428 The God Seeker 
 
 the stone waiting for him ! He was known to fre- 
 quently take the guise of hunters and shepherds. 
 The man then began humming : 
 
 " Dearest friend, I ask of thee," 
 
 " Dearest friend, what ask'st thou me ? " 
 
 " Tell me, what is one ? " 
 
 " One and one is God alone, 
 
 Who rules above and works below. 
 
 In heaven and on the earth." 
 
 Erlefried breathed more freely. That was not 
 the devil. He walked over to the shepherd and 
 said: " What are you doing here ? " 
 
 " I am singing my evening prayer," and he con- 
 tinued : 
 
 " Dearest friend, I ask of thee." 
 
 " Dearest friend, what ask'st thou me ? " 
 
 " Tell me, what is two ? " 
 
 " Two tables of Moses, 
 One and one is God alone. 
 Who rules above and works below, 
 In heaven and on the earth." 
 
 " You cannot be one of the fire- worshippers, for 
 you are still singing that old hymn," said Erlefried. 
 
 " Oh yes, oh yes," answered the shepherd. " I 
 take everything as it comes, believing a double faith 
 to be better than a single one. But there should 
 be two for this song. Can you help me ? " 
 
 Erlefried had learned it from his mother, and it 
 reminded him of home. She had told him that this 
 hymn was so sacred that the stars stood still and 
 
The Expiation 
 
 429 
 
 The shepherd 
 Erlefried : 
 Both together 
 
 gleamed like altar candles in the sky when it was 
 sung upon the earth. 
 
 So in this dark hour nothing could have been 
 more welcome to the young man than this song. 
 
 ' * Begin , " said he, " I will follow. ' ' The shepherd 
 continued : 
 
 " Dearest friend, I ask of thee." 
 Erlefried replied : " Dearest friend, what ask'st thou 
 
 me ? " 
 " Tell me, what is three ? " 
 ** Three patriarchs." 
 " Three patriarchs, two tables of 
 
 Moses, 
 One and one is God alone, 
 Who rules above and works below, 
 In heaven and on the earth." 
 " Dearest friend, I ask of thee." 
 " Dearest friend, what ask'st thou 
 
 me?" 
 " Tell me, what is four ? " 
 " Four evangelists." 
 " Four evangelists, three patriarchs," 
 
 etc. 
 " Dearest friend, I ask of thee." 
 " Dearest friend, what ask'st thou 
 
 me?" 
 " Tell me, what is five ? " 
 " Five wounds of Christ." 
 " Five wounds of Christ, four evan- 
 gelists," etc. 
 " Dearest friend, I ask of thee." 
 " Dearest friend, what ask'st thou 
 
 me?" 
 
 The shepherd 
 Erlefried : 
 
 The shepherd 
 Erlefried : 
 Both: 
 
 The shepherd 
 Erlefried : 
 
 The shepherd 
 Erlefried : 
 Both: 
 
 The shepherd : 
 Erlefried : 
 
436 
 
 The God Seeker 
 
 The shepherd 
 Erlefried : 
 Both : 
 
 The shepherd 
 Erlefried : 
 
 The shepherd 
 Erlefried : 
 Both: 
 
 The shepherd 
 Erlefried : 
 
 The shepherd ; 
 Erlefried : 
 Both : 
 
 The shepherd : 
 Erlefried : 
 
 The shepherd : 
 Erlefried : 
 Both : 
 
 The shepherd : 
 Erlefried : 
 
 The shepherd : 
 Erlefried : 
 Both: 
 
 it 
 « 
 
 it 
 
 it 
 (( 
 
 (i 
 (( 
 << 
 
 (( 
 
 « 
 (< 
 << 
 
 << 
 
 (< 
 
 {( 
 <( 
 
 Tell me, what is six ? " 
 
 Six stone water-pots." 
 
 Six stone water-pots, five wounds 
 
 of Christ," etc. 
 Dearest friend, I ask of thee." 
 Dearest friend, what ask'st thou 
 
 me ? " 
 Tell me, what is seven ? " 
 Seven sacraments." 
 Seven sacraments, six stone water- 
 pots," etc. 
 Dearest friend, I ask of thee." 
 Dearest friend, what ask'st thou 
 
 me?" 
 Tell me, what is eight." 
 Eight beatitudes." 
 Eight beatitudes, seven sacra- 
 ments," etc. 
 Dearest friend, I ask of thee." 
 Dearest friend, what ask'st thou 
 
 me?" 
 Tell me, what is nine ? " 
 Nine choirs of angels." 
 Nine choirs of angels, eight 
 
 beatitudes," etc. 
 Dearest friend, I ask of thee." 
 Dearest friend, what ask'st thou 
 
 me?" 
 Tell me, what is ten ? " 
 Ten commandments of God." 
 Ten commandments of God, nine 
 choirs of angels, eight beati- 
 tudes, seven sacraments, six 
 Stone water-pots, five wounds 
 
The Expiation 431 
 
 of Christ, four evangelists, three 
 patriarchs, two tables of Moses, 
 one and one is God alone. Who 
 rules above and works below, 
 in heaven and on the earth." 
 
 Reverently and solemnly they sang the quaint 
 old hymn. A few stars were already shining in the 
 sky. 
 
 " Now," said the shepherd, "you will not need 
 to say your evening prayers later on. But you must 
 be very pious, for your eyes were wet while you 
 were singing." 
 
 " Good friend," answered Erlefried, " if you 
 knew how I felt, you would not wonder at the tears 
 in my eyes. Ask no questions and go : you are in 
 my way there." 
 
 The shepherd craned his neck forward, whisper- 
 ing: "Oh, you are going to sell yourself to the 
 devil." 
 
 I am going to erase my name," replied Erie- 
 fried ; and, now since this was to be his last sight of 
 a human being, his heart mounted to his lips and 
 he told him everything. He told him that he was 
 the son of the priest's murderer, and that to escape 
 being dragged into the evil life of the people of 
 Trawies he had pretended to be dead. And he 
 told him of Sela, his beloved, told of the pilgrimage 
 to the cross in the Tarn, of his own evil intentions, 
 and how Sela had fled from him, and how in a de- 
 liiium of excitement he had written his name upon 
 the Devil's Stone. 
 
432 The God Seeker 
 
 And then he confessed what was awaiting him on 
 this Corpus Christi eve, what he must do to coun- 
 teract it, and that he had now come to take his own 
 life on this spot. 
 
 During Erlefried's confession, the shepherd drew 
 down his mouth as if he were again smiling to him- 
 self. 
 
 "A pretty bad story, that," he said ; "and does n't 
 your father help you ? " 
 
 He knows nothing about it." 
 
 " He is a holy man, he could do something for 
 you ! 
 
 He has all he can do to help himself," thought 
 Erlefried. " I know but one way. If you would 
 only do me a favour, shepherd." 
 
 " You may rely upon me," cried the man. 
 
 " I am Isaac and you shall be Abraham," said 
 Erlefried, anxiously casting down his eyes, as if he 
 wished to take back the words. 
 
 " I understand," said the shepherd ; " and you 
 are hoping that an angel will come and stay my 
 arm. ' ' 
 
 " I wish to die! " cried the young man; " I must 
 die," he murmured in a feeble voice. 
 
 "You are a fool!" answered the shepherd, 
 springing to the ground. Erlefried examined the 
 surface of the stone, his face pale with fright. 
 Only a few traces of his name remained. " There 
 it is," he said, placing his finger upon some tiny 
 brown spots. 
 
 ' ' That there ? ' ' replied the other. ' ' Ah, if your 
 name is no longer than that, it is n't very long." 
 
The Expiation 433 
 
 " But it is blood ! " 
 
 " Makes no difference, good friend; you only 
 need to pour warm water over it to wash it out," 
 replied the shepherd. 
 
 "It is easy for you to make light of it," said the 
 young man, with a sad countenance, "but you do 
 not know how I feel." 
 
 " I can imagine how uncomfortable it must be to 
 have the devil after you. But there is one good 
 remedy for it, and I am only surprised that it has 
 not occurred to you yet." 
 
 " Blood," murmured Erlefried. 
 
 " You are quite right, but it depends upon how 
 you use it," said the shepherd, with an expressive 
 glance. " Is it possible that you have never heard 
 of the magic circle wherein the devil has no power ? 
 Your sweetheart, of whom you just told me, where 
 is she ? " 
 
 " During the pestilence, she fled with Bart to the 
 Ritscher, but I have heard that they have now re- 
 turned to their house in the Tarn." 
 
 " There 's no time to lose," said the shepherd; 
 then, drawing the young man aside, he whispered in 
 his ear, " In the arms of your beloved is the magic 
 circle." 
 
 Erlefried's face brightened for a moment, then 
 grew sad again and he shook his head. 
 
 " But I am in earnest, my friend," insisted the 
 shepherd, and his eyes were frank and clear, at the 
 same time full of mischief and good-nature. " See 
 here, I am wiser than you think. In the arms of 
 
 your beloved — but it must be your own true love." 
 
 38 
 
434 The God Seeker 
 
 " That art thou, Sela! " cried Erlefried. 
 
 " In her arms you are safe! " 
 
 Erlefried was as though rooted to the ground. 
 What a future! And now it came back to him, 
 what he had often read in old tales: " In the arms 
 of one's true love one is safe from the torments of 
 the devil." This reawakened belief harmonised 
 quickly with his feelings. He left the stone and 
 the shepherd and hastened away even more rapidly 
 than he had come. 
 
 He scorned the winding path ; he broke through 
 underbrush, he ran across clearings and fields, de- 
 scending, ascending, always straight on towards 
 Bart's house. It would be possible to reach it be- 
 fore midnight and to fall at her feet when the pro- 
 cession was passing through the gorge to the 
 sacrificial altar. 
 
 He would flee to her and say: " Help me, Sela, 
 fortune has deserted me, God has left me! " And 
 then he would tell her everything. If she pardoned, 
 all would be well, he felt that in his heart; then he 
 would be saved, he knew it for a certainty! 
 
 The dark sky above was sown with twinkling 
 stars ; it seemed to Erlefried that they were watch- 
 ing over him, lighting his path in this race for his 
 life, gleaming, trembling for him alone. The 
 Heavenly Powers well knew that a soul was here 
 at stake. A falling star glided rapidly through the 
 air, as though pointing out his way to the house 
 where Sela dwelt. 
 
 As he was climbing up the ash-strewn slope of the 
 Tarn, he noticjjd a gleam of light on the opposite 
 
The Expiation 435 
 
 cliffs of the Diirbach gorge. And soon the torches 
 came in sight. The procession had already started. 
 
 Erlefried quickened his pace, his terror increasing 
 with every step, urged on by the fear that he should 
 not reach the house in time. Here and there stood 
 charred tree-trunks, some of which seemed to be 
 moving. One stepped out of the group and fol- 
 lowed the fleeing man. It moved slowly, yet was 
 apparently keeping abreast of the hastening form. 
 
 The torch-light procession advanced along the 
 mountain gorge. It was headed by a high bier upon 
 which blazed a great torch surrounded by count- 
 less smaller lights. Then followed the long line of 
 men with torches, some gleaming brightly, others 
 dimmed by clouds of smoke. Far into the forest 
 echoed the sound of many voices chanting a weird 
 old song. And thus they moved along the gorge, 
 approaching the spot where the altar stood. Erie- 
 fried in his overwrought and superstitious mood 
 gave himself up for lost. He dared no longer look 
 behind him, yet he was sure that he heard the foot- 
 steps of his hellish pursuer. He stumbled over 
 sticks and stones, but 'paid no heed to them ; he 
 slipped and fell, sending the ashes flying into the 
 air; he sprang again to his feet, which sometimes 
 seemed scarcely to touch the ground. The forest 
 appeared to him endless, and the region whither he 
 was fleeing lay before him like a long, dark band. 
 
 The procession had not yet reached its destina- 
 tion ; it had stopped to rest, the torches circling in 
 a huge ring about the great central light, which was 
 constantly fed by sticks of pine-wood. Erlefried 
 
43^ The God Seeker 
 
 now felt one ray of hope. If the procession would 
 only rest long enough and frequently — as was the 
 custom on former Corpus Christi Days, when four 
 stops were made — he might perhaps reach his goal. 
 The delusions of men are often their fate, and Erie- 
 fried, no longer capable of a sensible thought, his 
 mind swayed by phantoms, was under the delusion 
 that at the very moment the procession reached the 
 altar in the gorge, his soul would be lost for ever. 
 
 He ran with renewed strength. But the proces- 
 sion below soon started, and Bart's house, how far 
 away it still remained ! The fugitive was horrified 
 to discover that he had only come as far as the 
 heights of the Tarn, where the cross had formerly 
 stood. As he passed through a ravine the proces- 
 sion below was for the moment hidden from his 
 view, and when it reappeared it was very near the 
 point where the steep precipice shuts in the narrow 
 gorge. There was the stone altar already gleaming 
 in the light of the approaching torches. 
 
 Erlefried took the beating of his own heart to be 
 the footsteps of his pursuer; they drew nearer and 
 nearer — his feet trembled, his breath failed him. 
 He was just about to throw himself down and give 
 himself up for all eternity, when thethought came to 
 him : " The cross ! It is close by ; flee to the cross ! " 
 
 He hastened to the summit. There lay the mould- 
 ering wooden cross upon the ground. Erlefried 
 gave one cry of terror: " If I should not be able to 
 reach even this! O Lord Jesus, save me at Thy 
 cross!" and he fell upon it and lay there uncon- 
 scious with outstretched arms. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 EVERYONE in the valleys and forests of Tra- 
 wies who was able to walk took part in the 
 night's procession. 
 
 The inspired teachings of the man on the Johan- 
 nesberg, who had now become both seer and 
 prophet, had taken a strong hold upon the people. 
 Fire was the Creator of the world, the Purifier, and 
 the Redeemer! That they all felt. It harmonised 
 with their old faith and yet it was new ; it satisfied 
 their religious longings, made occasions for festivals, 
 and was not dependent upon priests. 
 
 They had brought Wahnfred down from his 
 mountain, had thrown a long red mantle about him, 
 and he was obliged to walk, as high priest, behind 
 the bier upon which v^s borne the sacred fire. A 
 few children marched in front of the procession, 
 scattering green leaves and flowers in the path. Re- 
 garding this ceremony a dispute had arisen before 
 they started. Sandhok, the forest-keeper, and 
 others, insisted that flowers should not be strewn 
 before this procession, but ashes. It was decided, 
 however, that the sun was also fire, whose warmth 
 had caused the flowers to grow. 
 
 Many of the men carried brandy-flasks, that they 
 
 437 
 
43^ The God Seeker 
 
 might refresh themselves during and after the serv- 
 ice, and from the contents of these flasks they drew 
 their inspiration for the fire. 
 
 For many days it had seemed as if with the re- 
 establishment of a religious service the people of 
 Trawies were beginning to adopt a better mode of 
 life, and as if through Wahnfred's influence a cer- 
 tain order had been restored ; so the aged Bart also 
 left his house and went with his family to Trawies 
 to assist at the Corpus Christi festival. The old 
 man longed to pray once more in public and to hear 
 others pray. He was one of the few who followed 
 the procession with bared head. 
 
 Walking with the women, behind the others, was 
 Sela. The service did not appeal to her and she 
 would have preferred to steal away, but she feared 
 the darkness and for this reason she would not even 
 be the last in the procession ; she felt as if a whole 
 army of evil spirits were following it. She did not 
 dream that yonder on the dark mountain-top a fugi- 
 tive was being pursued by a demon within himself. 
 
 Sela's heart was full, yet she could not pray. 
 These unruly flames above her head burned all de- 
 votion out of her soul and burned wounds therein 
 instead. " What are these people seeking," she 
 thought, " wandering about with torches at mid- 
 night ?" O child, they are seeking One Who shall 
 bring goodness and light into their lives, even should 
 it be but a delusion and a phantom. They are seek- 
 ing One Whom they can curse for bringing them into 
 this miserable world, from Whom they can demand 
 reparation for this wretched life on earth. They are 
 
The Expiation 439 
 
 seeking Him Who, symbolised by their burning 
 torches, has been hurled into the depths of the 
 Trach. 
 
 Many seek Him with the painful longing of home- 
 sickness; many pronounce His name in vain. And 
 there are also many who do not wish to find Him, 
 or to be found by Him. If they do not believe in 
 Him, then their consciences are free; if they must 
 believe, then they must also tremble before His 
 wrath. 
 
 To Sela it seemed as if they could not have found 
 Him, for they were so aimlessly wandering with 
 torches through the forest. 
 
 With the God in the heart of the Virgin this 
 night's festival had nothing to do. He still re- 
 mained pure in His holiness. Sela had but one 
 wish : Could she only send the torch-light proces- 
 sion out through the dark forests, out into the wide 
 world to seek for him in whom she believed. 
 
 She believed in him so firmly that she could not 
 think it possible that he was dead, although many 
 drearjr months had passed since she had seen him. 
 Who can weigh sorrow or count tears ? The traces 
 of both were visible in her worn face. 
 
 And when, in thinking of her lost one, she felt an 
 overpowering pain, she would pray: " My God, I 
 kave it in Thy hands! " and she was comforted. 
 
 Thus Sela longed to pray on this night, but the 
 strange procession disturbed her. And when at last 
 they reached the stone altar where they were to place 
 the fire, and a wild uproar and confusion began ; 
 when the people, howling and yelling, clambered 
 
440 The God Seeker 
 
 up to gather wood with which to feed the fire; 
 and when they pushed and crowded to light their 
 torches at the sacred flame and, regardless of Wahn- 
 fred's warnings, turned upon each other with their 
 firebrands, it was more than the girl could endure. 
 She did not join in the cries of the other women, 
 but slipped quietly away, and behind a projecting 
 rock which entirely hid the wild scene from her 
 view, she sat down and wept. 
 
 The procession was over and the crowd dispersed 
 in great confusion. Many a wounded man was car- 
 ried from the place. The fire on the sacrificial altar 
 still burned. Upon the bits of broken brandy-bot- 
 tles the blue flames flickered like will-o'-the-wisps. 
 
 Above the Ritscher the three stars which in sum- 
 mer proclaim the dawn had already risen. Wahn- 
 fred had thrown aside the red mantle and was 
 walking quite alone. He who longs for peace gazes 
 yearningly at the stars. But alas for thee, poor 
 man! if thou hast not peace in thy heart, thou wilt 
 never find it in the stars! The sky is but a mirror 
 of thy soul. Art thou in harmony with thyself, then 
 read the stars. See how some are trembling and 
 quivering in their glow of passion, and how others 
 are softly gleaming. Over the pale Milky Way, 
 which, according to the legend, leads southward to 
 the Holy Church and to St. Peter's grave, hosts of 
 herds are wandering, led by herdsmen carrying their 
 tiny flickering lanterns. Yonder a line of single 
 stars is moving by itself across the dark sky towards 
 the zenith. Farther on they stand in groups, ap- 
 
The Expiation 44 1 
 
 parently taking counsel with one another; and 
 there, one is falh'ng, quick as a lightning shaft, to 
 the depths below. And they are all aiming for the 
 same goal, the peaceful, the glowing, the known and 
 the unknown dwellers in the starry kingdom : they 
 are seeking God. 
 
 They are seeking the One with Whom thou art 
 struggling in thy longing, yet embittered heart ! 
 
 Sweet Corpus Christi morn, the day of flags and 
 roses and maidens crowned with wreaths! In Sela's 
 heart memories of her childhood arose. On this 
 day, as a sign of maidenly purity, young girls wear 
 a spray of rosemary wound about their heads, when 
 in the procession they follow the Host, " in which 
 He is present as true God and man." Formerly this 
 Feast was celebrated thus in Trawies. 
 
 The girl sat and brooded. She was filled with an 
 unspeakable longing for this most glorious festival 
 of Christianity. Breaking a branch from a larch-tree 
 she wound it about her head, then turned in the di- 
 rection of the Tarn. Here all was burned over and 
 bare. It was already datwn as she ascended the hill 
 to pray before the cross. The vast region spread 
 out before her eyes, the cliffs of the Trasank 
 gleamed like silver in the newly awakened day, and 
 far above, from the summit of the Johannesberg, 
 the half-completed temple shone out through the 
 misty atmosphere. As the girl did not see the cross 
 towering as usual in the forest of Tarn, she thought 
 she had mistaken her way. Suddenly she gave a cry 
 of terror and sprang back a few paces. Then she 
 
442 The God Seeker 
 
 hesitated, rubbed her eyes, and looked again. The 
 cross lay yonder upon the ground, and stretched 
 upon it, like the Christ, was the body of a man. 
 
 Her first thought was that someone was lying 
 there in mockery. But as she turned to look once 
 more she saw that the face was as pale as marble. 
 Was it some unfortunate or was it a sacred vision ? 
 Timidly she approached the prostrate foim, her hor- 
 ror increasing. It almost seemed as if the hands and 
 feet were fastened to the wood, the limbs were so 
 strained. The head was resting upon the left arm, 
 the hair fell in locks over the beam. Thus he lay 
 there, illumined by the glow of the early morning. 
 
 Without uttering a sound Sela fell upon her 
 knees. She had recognised him, him whom she had 
 been seeking since that day when she had come with 
 him here to this cross. " Erlefried ! " she cried, 
 falling upon his breast. 
 
 The shock and the shrill scream brought the ex- 
 hausted man to life. 
 
 ' ' Sela ! " he said softly, as if dreaming, * ' my Sela ! ** 
 and raising his right arm, he threw it about her neck. 
 
 She had nearly fainted. He drew her head down 
 to his, he kissed her passionately, reverently: 
 "Dear heavenly angel! I see thee again, thou 
 bright world! " Suddenly he sprang to his feet and 
 gazed about him, a horror-stricken look in his eyes; 
 with one hand he drew the girl to him, with the 
 other he pushed her away: " Sela!" he cried, his 
 voice shaking, " God has deserted me! " 
 
 Throwing her arms about his neck, she murmured 
 with trembling lips, " I will not leave thee." 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE light and noise of the day are over, the sky 
 is thickly covered, we no longer hear the bell- 
 ing of the deer in the forest, nor the roaring of the 
 torrent ; we hear only the ticking of the eternal clock 
 which measures the life of man. 
 
 The narrator of these events was himself filled 
 with amazement at the records and legends concern- 
 ing Trawies. Yet we should also remember that this 
 age, when people were often victims of monstrous 
 errors, was a different one from our own. 
 
 But are we then to-day so perfect ? No more so 
 than then. We feel nothing but contempt for the 
 time when people tormented themselves in their fear 
 of meeting the personal devil. The devil troubles 
 us no longer ; the phantoms which take possession 
 of our souls receive other names. We cannot com- 
 prehend a condition of things where it would be 
 possible for the Church to destroy individuals and a 
 whole community with its curse, without some hu- 
 man law coming to their aid. Let us consider a mo- 
 ment whether a single one of the old prejudices has 
 really disappeared: religion, science, socialism, poli- 
 tics, still have their priests, their false prophets, and 
 their hangmen, to whom thousands fall as a sacrifice. 
 
 443 
 
444 The God Seeker 
 
 Human aspirations and passions are the same to- 
 day as then, only the measures taken to satisfy them 
 are more powerful and more politic. That is our 
 victory. But satisfying aspirations does not satisfy 
 mankind ; still restless, we are ever searching for 
 truth, and we are made unhappy by its discovery. 
 Only dull minds are able, in their egotism, to sun 
 themselves in the light of their age; the clear- 
 sighted man increases human misery with his 
 knowledge, for he sees nothing but the unfortuate, 
 ever-degenerating, perishing race. And his feelings 
 are not unlike those of the carpenter, Wahnfred, in 
 his outcast Trawies. Still upheld by his own heart, 
 thirsting for life, and by his spirit struggling for 
 freedom, he cannot believe that all is lost ; he is 
 seeking a way of escape, he is seeking ideals, he is 
 seeking God. 
 
 There have always been heaven seekers, each one 
 struggling with all his powers to reach his goal — 
 even should this be only a heaven on earth. The 
 majority of mankind seek for heaven ; it is those rarer 
 souls, with higher aspirations, who seek for God. 
 They search for that which they feel is above or be- 
 hind all material force, and they are tormented and 
 at the same time happy in striving to attain their 
 ideal. 
 
 Our age especially has produced a race of God 
 seekers. They call Him by many names, still they 
 seek Him ; they do not wish to confess Him, nor can 
 they do without Him. Those who are conscious of 
 having lost God may be unhappy, although they are 
 not lost themselves. They will not sink deeper, they 
 
The Expiation 445 
 
 will rise ; for man seeks God, or what he understands 
 as God, not below, but above himself. He creates 
 God in his own image; this image is the most per- 
 fect man conceivable, a model necessary to every 
 living, striving soul. 
 
 False teachings and misunderstandings, alas! how 
 many! But should he whose own heart has bled 
 and must bleed in the struggle stand here as judge ? 
 The paths of the seekers are devious and many are 
 not less visionary than those over which Wahnfred, 
 the carpenter, and his son wandered. Many place 
 splinters and bits of glass in their shoes and stagger 
 forward, leaning on a pilgrim's staff. Many go by 
 the broad road, laughing, singing, and dancing. 
 And many lose their way and wander about in the 
 wilderness, struggling with their own souls which 
 are filled with ever-increasing longings, until, with 
 one despairing glance at the heights above, they fall 
 to the ground and perish. 
 
 Upon all roads and in all deserts, — you may go 
 eastward, you may go westward, north or south, — 
 everywhere you will find traces of the God seekers: 
 here a bed of roses, vonder a stone altar; here a 
 sword, yonder a cross. The cry of the dervish in 
 the mosque, the rattling and clapping in the wig- 
 wam, the music of the cathedral bell, all are the cry 
 of anguish of the suffering sons of earth for a divine 
 Saviour. It is the passionate longing for a Power 
 which conquers the brute in us, frees our spirit, and 
 gives us perfection. 
 
 But there are many — and who can withstand their 
 powerful, terrible teachings ! — who burrow their way 
 
44^ The God Seeker 
 
 through the animal kingdom, through plant life and 
 mould, into the heart of the earth. They are not 
 God seekers : they deny the ideal, they seek the real, 
 They long for the right, but find it not, for on the 
 road to Truth they have grown blind. May they 
 never succeed in quite undermining the ground 
 where happier men tread ! 
 
 And may the God seekers to-day and in the future 
 find their longed-for symbol, their expiation, in a 
 better way than our poor, repentant, ignorant 
 Wahnfred was forced to find his! 
 
 Trawies must perish ! It has no God, for it has no 
 ideal and no law. 
 
 Upon the Johannesberg resounded the blows of 
 the hammer. They re-echoed through the wide for- 
 ests where spring was weaving her garment of green. 
 And the mightiest trees crashed and fell. 
 
 Wahnfred had succeeded in placing the men of 
 Trawies best capable of working under the yoke. 
 It was partly superstition and their religious long- 
 ings which made them labour so industriously on 
 the temple, and it was partly the fantastic words 
 and sermons of the carpenter, and partly the charm 
 of regular work itself. 
 
 They finally came to believe that in this building 
 they were erecting a fortress, wherein they might 
 defend themselves against the world outside, which 
 they hated and feared more and more. The forests 
 of Trawies lay in the midst of the enemy's land, and 
 the isolated Trasank mountain was the only place of 
 refuge where the outlawed people felt secure. Not 
 
The Expiation 447 
 
 a week passed that someone from these forests was 
 not murdered while attempting to cross the border. 
 Now that peace and order had been re-established 
 in the surrounding country and since every effort of 
 friendly assistance had proved futile, still more 
 stringent measures had been adopted against the 
 outcasts. It was at last clear that they must be 
 overpowered and wiped out, or left to perish by 
 themselves. 
 
 And these denizens of the forest realised this and 
 resisted madly. They crossed the ring of fire in 
 hordes and plundered farms and committed murders 
 on the highway. 
 
 Once a troop of peasants and soldiers came from 
 the region of the " Five Pines " with the intention 
 of annihilating the robber nest by the Trach. But 
 the men of Trawies, although behaving like brutes 
 towards each other, united quickly against this com- 
 mon enemy, and a terrible battle took place by the 
 Dreiwand in which Trawies was victorious. 
 
 At the time of the pestilence, when it was nearing 
 its end, two strangers arrived in the valley of the 
 Trach. They wore long cloaks, under which they 
 carried various implements concealed that might 
 have been either tools or weapons, but were prob- 
 ably both. These strangers pretended to be phy- 
 sicians, who, having heard that a certain herb, a 
 sure antidote for the black death, was growing 
 on the cliffs of the Trasank, had come to gather 
 it. This was most interesting news to the people. 
 They looked the strangers over, followed them, and 
 showed themselves ready to oblige them in every 
 
448 The God Seeker 
 
 way. Physicians? They might also be magicians! 
 Their appearance was sufficiently mysterious. They 
 wandered about for several days in the neighbour- 
 hood, calling at various houses to exchange friendly 
 greetings. At last they explained that, not wish- 
 ing to act on their own responsibility, they would 
 like to speak with the head of the parish to inquire 
 if they might be allowed to gather the herbs. 
 
 The head of the parish ! No one really knew to 
 whom to refer the strangers. The people, however, 
 were quite ready to grant them their permission to 
 gather the herbs, provided that they should receive 
 their share of them. But as the men continued to 
 insist on speaking with the chief man in Trawies, 
 they were finally taken up the Johannesberg to 
 Wahnfred. 
 
 And to him they confided their mission. They 
 were, in fact, physicians, although physicians of the 
 soul, sent by the Good Shepherd, Who Himself had 
 once wandered over the earth seeking lost sheep. 
 They were messengers from the H Ay Church, that 
 wished not the death of the sinners, but that they 
 should repent and live. And it had sent the follow- 
 ing message: Once more, and for the last time, the 
 Church offered pardon for their crimes. It was 
 ready to open its arms to receive the parish back 
 among the faithful, also to mediate for them with 
 the law, on the condition that, they should deliver 
 into the hands of the authorities seven of their worst 
 criminals to expiate their sins by death. 
 
 Wahnfred replied that it was indeed time that the 
 Church should attempt to re-establish this poor par- 
 
The Expiation 449 
 
 ish, which it had so ruthlessly cast out when it was 
 composed mostly of innocent men ; however, he 
 could not promise to deliver into their hands the 
 seven criminals; but in place of these he, the 
 originator of all the trouble, the murderer of the 
 priest of Trawies, was ready to surrender himself to 
 justice. 
 
 The messengers replied that their powers did not 
 extend as far as this, for it was no longer a question 
 of the murdered priest, whose death had been al- 
 ready expiated by the eleven heads at the time the 
 murder occurred, but rather of the horrible desecra- 
 tions committed against God and the Church, and 
 of the countless crimes of which the people of Tra- 
 wies had since been guilty. 
 
 Wahnfred answered that it would be an injustice 
 to punish only seven out of so many criminals, for 
 if the penalty were to reach all the evil-doers in 
 Trawies, not one inhabitant would be left. He 
 then described the misery and the trouble of recent 
 years, how the people were plunged into sin, and 
 how they had already suffered sufficiently for it. 
 And he implored for mercy. 
 
 The two strangers shuddered ; at the same time 
 they were touched by the story told them so elo- 
 quently by this man. They felt the passionate spirit 
 breathing through his words as he pleaded for his 
 unfortunate fellow-men, and in his dark eye, in his 
 strange speech, was a something which filled them 
 with awe. Noticing the little lamp burning in his 
 room in the middle of the day, they asked its mean- 
 ing. He replied that it was the eternal light which 
 
 89 
 
4SO The God Seeker 
 
 had been preserved in Trawies through all the 
 darkness and storms unto this day. 
 
 The priestly messengers thought of the eternal 
 light upon the altar and praised the piety of the 
 keeper of the light as a remnant of godliness, and 
 they expressed the hope that the Holy Church 
 would at last allow mercy to take the place of just- 
 ice and would receive the poor sinners back into 
 her loving care. 
 
 Wuhnfred crossed his hands upon his breast and 
 his pale face glowed with joyful excitement. In 
 spirit he already saw the expiation and the re-estab- 
 lishment of his native parish in harmony with so- 
 ciety and under the protection of the Church. 
 
 The conference, however, was not ended when a 
 loud tumult was heard before the house. A sus- 
 picion had arisen in the minds of a few of the 
 people that something besides herb-gatherers was 
 concealed beneath the long mantles. Once aroused, 
 the idea was conveyed to others, and the strangers 
 were watched and followed to Wahnfred's house. 
 When the people who were listening outside per- 
 ceived whither the conversation was leading, they 
 burst open the door with an enraged cry: They 
 would not be betrayed and sold ; rather would 
 they be hanged than give themselves up to rulers 
 with whose manner of caring for Trawies they were 
 already familiar. 
 
 " We will have nothing to do with masters who 
 have given us such a hell on earth," they said. 
 
 " And who can also give you heaven," inter- 
 rupted one of the strangers. 
 
The Expiation 45 ^ 
 
 " The priests have no heaven but the heaven on 
 earth, which they keep for themselves. And as for 
 the one they offer us in the other world, that is of 
 very little concern to them." 
 
 " My good people," said the stranger, " your 
 horizon is small. But if you should wander a thou- 
 sand years, search all the roads in the world, enter 
 all the huts, and visit all the palaces, you would not 
 find a single soul who has a heaven on earth. You 
 would see many living amid the splendours of this 
 world who are condemning others to hell while car- 
 rying a tormenting hell about in their own hearts. 
 Oh, believe us, people of Trawies, we do not pre- 
 tend to be better or greater than you ; but it is our 
 duty — laid upon us by God and by human laws — to 
 turn the eyes of men away from their own misery 
 towards the Eternal Father and towards future hap- 
 piness, that they may not despair. Whosoever fol- 
 lows our guidance sees heaven open before him and 
 the earthly paths are illumined by heavenly rays. 
 But he who turns defiantly away, scorning our 
 teachings, by which all humanity should be led, 
 must justly bear the mi^ry of the outcast." 
 
 " Knock him down!" screamed a man in the 
 frenzied crowd. 
 
 " You have experienced it yourselves! " cried the 
 stranger with increasing zeal. " The Church has 
 withdrawn her hand from you and what have you 
 become ? A band of blasphemers, adulterers, rob- 
 bers, and murderers! " 
 
 Those were the last words of the unfortunate 
 man. The next moment he lay stretched upon the 
 
452 The God Seeker 
 
 ground. His companion escaped, dripping with 
 bloodjxout he never crossed the ring of fire. Wahn- 
 fred endeavoured, at the risk of his own life, to ap- 
 pease the infuriated mob. And when, under the 
 darkness of night, he buried the stranger on the 
 mountain, he also buried his last remnant of hope. 
 He was now convinced that from outside there was 
 no salvation for Trawies — it remained irretrievably 
 lost. 
 
 And the more he strove to exert his influence 
 over these brutalised people, so much the more 
 earnestly did he preach the terrible Eternal God, 
 who had appeared to them in the fire, and with so 
 much the more zeal did he urge on the building of 
 their house of prayer. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 THROUGHOUT the forests was heard the sound 
 of the axe, and on many an ancient tree the 
 men worked for days. And then the mighty trunk 
 crawled on a hundred feet — for as many branches 
 as it had formerly possessed, just so many men 
 now clung to its sides, carrying it up the mount- 
 ain. The reddish, gleaming walls of the temple 
 grew higher and higher. The logs were roughly 
 hewn but they were solidly crowded together at 
 the corners. Towards the east a narrow opening 
 was left for an entrance; high in the walls, higher 
 than man could reach, seven windows had been cut, 
 so small that even a cat could have hardly passed 
 through them. 
 
 Wahnfred was the master builder. In the sec- 
 ond year the temple was ready for the roof. The 
 workmen, who were difficult to manage and were 
 constantly quarrelling with one another, now de- 
 rrianded a holiday. Wahnfred granted it, and, gath- 
 ered about a great fire, before which the game was 
 roasting, they held their feast. On such occasions 
 they were glad to unite in bonds of brotherhood, 
 only to sever them the next moment. Roughly 
 spoken words were their expression of friendship, 
 
 453 
 
454 The God Seeker 
 
 although they were far more inclined to snatch the 
 choice bits from one another's mouths. Hand-to- 
 hand fights were of frequent occurrence; thus it came 
 about that many were injured while at work on the 
 building. But when Wahnfred's dark eye was upon 
 them they laboured quietly. The slender, long- 
 bearded man, as he walked about among the trees, 
 with a gleaming axe in his hand, looking as if he 
 would rather strike off the head of a man than 
 plunge the blade into the wood, was a strange, 
 weird sight. 
 
 No one accompanied him when he strode rapidly 
 through the dense forest of the Johannesberg, some- 
 times tearing through almost impenetrable thickets, 
 as if he would brush off some object which was 
 clinging to him. No one saw him standing upon 
 the meadows, gazing down into the valley, where 
 to the right lay the Gestade and to the left Tra- 
 wies, with the gleaming walls of the old church. 
 And then he would look over at the heights where 
 Bart's house stood — but not often and with little 
 satisfaction. His son Erlefried, whom he had twice 
 given up for dead, had reappeared. When he heard 
 that he had been shot by robbers, he had wept for 
 this son for whom he had hoped a happier lot than 
 had been his own. And when later he learned that 
 Erlefried had perished in the forest fire, he rejoiced 
 that it had been granted his child to leave this world 
 while yet innocent. But he still lived, — lived to 
 meet a day when he must share the expiation with 
 Trawies. And perhaps justly now. 
 
 He would have been glad to see his son once 
 
The Expiation 455 
 
 more, but he dreaded the meeting. He bore in his 
 soul the image of the frank, pure, childish face of 
 his beloved Erlefried, and this image had been his 
 comfort and happiness in his unhappy life. Now he 
 feared that he must see a pale, haggard counten- 
 ance, bearing the imprint pf crime and misery. It 
 disturbed him that Erlefried had not been to see 
 him. Was it meant for a silent judgment of his 
 deed ? Well and good; if so, he blessed his son for 
 it. But should it be a lack of filial love, he would 
 not bless him. Ah, no, Wahnfred may neither 
 bless nor curse ; Heaven might turn the blessing of 
 such a man into a curse ! He was also surprised that 
 Erlefried took no part in the building of the temple. 
 If he avoided work, what could protect or save him ? 
 
 From the summit of the mountain the sounds of 
 the raising the heavy beams for the roof, the ham- 
 mering of the carpenters, and the shouting of the 
 wood-cutters re-echoed throughout the forest. 
 
 Wahnfred listened joyfully to these sounds; they 
 were more comforting to him than Easter bells. 
 Thus alone could a future be assured. If he could 
 succeed in busying the people regularly, so that 
 after the temple was cofnpleted they would turn to 
 their fields, much would be accomplished. If they 
 only had their land again they would endeavour to 
 defend and care for it, and they would then see the 
 necessity of uniting with the world and of once 
 more becoming a part of their fatherland. 
 
 Thus was the man on the Johannesberg tossed 
 about between despair and hope. He yielded 
 quickly to every mood. He had not finished 
 
456 The God Seeker 
 
 picturing to himself the blessings which honest 
 work might bring to Trawies — for work was the 
 only thing which could remove the sting of the curse 
 and make the community worthy of the protection 
 of the State— when the noise on the building above 
 him suddenly ceased and a^ unusual uproar was 
 heard in its place. 
 
 Above the branches of the young fir-trees gleamed 
 the beams of the roof clearly outlined against the 
 sky. The workmen left the ridge and gables and 
 quickly descended to the ground. Cries and curses, 
 interspersed with shots, filled the air. A messenger 
 was already hastening through the woods to call the 
 master. Soon Wahnfred understood the cause of 
 the tumult. They must defend their building; en- ' 
 emies had arrived, a whole rabble of vagabonds and 
 highway-robbers, and were trying to set the new 
 fortress on fire. The struggle was being fought with 
 all kinds of weapons— cudgels, pick-axes, guns, 
 stones, and sticks. As the trees had been falling, 
 so now the men fell. The besiegers had succeeded 
 in hurling a firebrand into the building, but its de- 
 fenders had quickly smothered the flames. The 
 screaming was so loud that Wahnfred's voice could 
 not be heard. 
 
 " Down with the prison ! " was the war-cry of the 
 besiegers. "We need no dungeon!" But their 
 voices grew fainter and fainter and soon changed 
 into groans and death-rattles. A few escaped ; the 
 rest were taken prisoners and placed before the 
 judge. Wahnfred asked them: " Why have you 
 come to destroy the temple ? " 
 
The Expiation 457 
 
 " Because we must,'' answered the leader in an 
 angry voice. 
 
 " Who is the master who forces you ? " 
 
 " Our left hand." 
 
 " We will strike it off," said Wahnfred. 
 
 " Do it ! And from out the ground it will stretch 
 forth the three fingers by which we have sworn! " 
 
 " What have you sworn ? " 
 
 " To destroy everything that can be destroyed." 
 
 " Oh, you pitiable creatures, and you yourselves 
 are writhing upon the ground like worms to be trod 
 upon." 
 
 " Tread upon us, then! You will only be obey- 
 ing our own laws. To-morrow you shall be trod 
 upon. We are everywhere and all powerful. Do 
 you know who we are ? " 
 
 " Reprobates! Criminals! " cried Wahnfred. 
 
 " Ha, those are tame words, pet names, with 
 which you like to flatter one another. We are 
 the redeemers, — we are the ' Children of Eternal 
 Death.' " 
 
 " You are madmen ! " 
 
 " To your blind eyes." 
 
 " You know not whai<; you want." 
 
 "Do you know?" cried the prisoner. "You 
 would live and you see that everyone must die ; you 
 want happiness and do everything that will bring 
 you sorrow. You are the madmen ; we know what 
 we are doing, and we will put an end to this mon- 
 ster. Everything must be exterminated ! We threw 
 fire into the Tarn, we brought the pestilence to Tra- 
 wies. When the world is rotten, all must perish ! " 
 
45^ The God Seeker 
 
 Wahnfred grew deathly pale. Here, all at once, 
 this monster stood before him — full grown and un- 
 fettered. That which he had heretofore carried 
 about with him as a shadow was now terribly clear, 
 terribly true. Of all the ways that he had tried, this 
 must be the right one! Of all the gospels which he 
 had thought out, this was the greatest! The great- 
 est and the last! — Annihilation! 
 
 Wahnfred laughed. His laughter re-echoed from 
 the walls of the new building. His head seemed to 
 be growing more erect, his long hair was as if 
 alive; he raised his thin hands and stood there and 
 laughed. The people of Trawies had seen many a 
 fearful sight, but never one so terrible as Wahnfred 
 now appeared to them. 
 
 His laughter ceased, his pallor grew more intense, 
 his blazing eyes more fiery than usual. Some covered 
 their faces, murmuring: " I cannot look at him." 
 
 " Thus will the Eternal Judge appear at the Judg- 
 ment Day," whispered others. 
 
 Wahnfred now turned to the prisoners, saying: 
 " You are the children of death, and his hangmen, 
 yet you come to destroy this temple ? " 
 
 " We will destroy it," answered the foremost of 
 the men, with an expression of deepest hatred. 
 
 " Then you know not what you do. Then you 
 know not that we have built this temple to that 
 powerful Divinity that destroys everything. This 
 is the House of Fire. In this temple Trawies will 
 assemble to worship this Destroyer and to sacrifice 
 to Him. We will stand by you if you will stand by 
 us. Fire shall be our flag by which we all swear! " 
 
The Expiation 459 
 
 The " Children of Eternal Death " did not under- 
 stand him, even as no one could understand him, 
 but they longed for life and they swore by the flag. 
 It is always thus with those who think that "eternal 
 death " is best; they live, ah, how willingly! And 
 why should they not ? They are but flies born to 
 live a single day in the kingdom of life, and such an 
 opportunity to laugh and to weep will not come to 
 them soon again. 
 
 The Trawiesers had greatly increased their 
 strength by the addition of the "Children of Eter- 
 nal Death," and the work proceeded. 
 
 Wahnfred descended to his house and took the 
 lamp, wherein the little flame of the fire guardian 
 still brightly glowed, and gazed into the light so 
 long and so steadily that it began to quiver and 
 tremble before his eyes; then he said: "All the 
 stars have disappeared ; thou alone hast remained 
 with us! " 
 
 Two days before Midsummer Day the block- 
 house was completed. They called it the block- 
 house, although it was not one in reality, for the 
 defences were lacking; Wahnfred had promised that 
 these should be put u^ later, but in the meantime 
 the new building should be simply a temple, whose 
 strength should be demonstrated from within, rather 
 than from without. It towered upon the mountain 
 like a citadel and could be seen from far and wide. 
 It covered nearly as much space as the church in 
 Trawies. From a distance it seemed to be without 
 windows; the roof rose in an abrupt angle and the 
 gable had been decorated with wreaths of evergreen. 
 
460 The God Seeker 
 
 Viewed close by, the walls were rough and 
 rude and at the corners the ends of the beams were 
 uneven and of different lengths. The entrance was 
 narrow and closed by a massive door furnished with 
 heavy bars and locks, like that of a prison. The old 
 blacksmith from the valley had made the double 
 lock, which included a Himmelsriegel (a heaven's 
 bolt), whose secret neither enemy nor friend could 
 divine without the key, and this Wahnfred kept in 
 his possession. The interior of the building was 
 dimly lighted. The little rings of sunshine pene- 
 trating through the tiny round windows rested on 
 the walls like gleaming lamps. The floor was made 
 of logs hewn flat on the upper side. Against the 
 wall opposite the door stood a broad stone pedestal 
 as altar. Above this in a niche was the place for the 
 holy relics. The arch of the roof resembled that of 
 a basilica, although the heavy rafters were more nu- 
 merous and arranged with greater irregularity; it 
 was a confused mass of logs, boards, and beams, 
 which seemed designed to support the roof. 
 
 The building was completed without a festival or 
 consecration of any kind. The dedication was to 
 take place on Midsummer Day, and all who called 
 themselves Trawiesers and were opposed to a recon- 
 ciliation with the Church and State were invited by 
 Wahnfred to participate. He who did not appear 
 upon the Johannesberg on this occasion should be 
 banished from Trawies for ever. A number of men 
 were busy in the interior decorating the beams with 
 green boughs and bright bunting. They talked 
 very freely with one another; they rejoiced tQ 
 
The Expiation 461 
 
 have a church, for now their festivals would begin 
 again. 
 
 " Nothing will ever begin again with that man," 
 cried one of the workmen defiantly. 
 
 " With what man ?" 
 
 " With our high priest, Wahnfred. He cares 
 nothing for festivals. He is embittered. He is a 
 man before whom one must stand in awe! " 
 
 " Mein Gott ! who is going to be afraid ? If he 
 becomes too unruly we will split open his skull." 
 
 Wahnfred descended one day to the valley and 
 walked along the banks of the Trach ; he longed to 
 see his son Erlefried. He passed the Dreiwand and 
 crossed the square where Gallo Weissbucher's house 
 had once stood. He was fighting against reminis- 
 cences, which, like snakes, were winding themselves 
 about his heart. In the Diirbach gorge he suddenly 
 came upon a man lying in the grass; he appeared 
 to be dead ; the head was resting upon a stone by 
 the bank, the hands hanging over into the roaring 
 stream below. Wahnfred stopped a short distance 
 away from the prostrate form, which seemed to be 
 that of a young maix; the feet were bare, the hair 
 was blond and curly. What if it should be Erie- 
 fried? He thought of the murdered priest in the 
 church. What if this should be the atonement! He 
 tried to call him by the familiar name, but he could 
 only groan. At the same moment the figure turned 
 and rose ; in his hand wriggled a trout. 
 
 "Erlefried!" burst from Wahnfred's lips. It 
 was he. In all his strength and beauty he stood 
 
462 The God Seeker 
 
 there. He was perfectly calm, but, as a sign that 
 he was conscious of the gravity of this meeting, he 
 at once threw the fish back into the water. 
 
 Erlefried! " repeated Wahnfred, and the young 
 man felt the reproach which lay in his voice. 
 
 " Art thou seeking me, father ? " he asked. 
 
 " The son seems to have forgotten his father," 
 replied Wahnfred. 
 
 " I have not forgotten thee, but I should not 
 have sought thee." 
 
 " Thou wilt come on Midsummer Day to the 
 Johannesberg to the dedication of the new temple ? " 
 said Wahnfred. 
 
 " I shall stay away," replied Erlefried; " I have 
 something else to do. I am glad to tell thee, father, 
 that on Midsummer Day I am to take a wife." 
 
 Wahnfred was silent for a little, then he mur- 
 mured : " For a long time I thought that thou wert 
 dead." 
 
 " Believe it still, father; it will be better for 
 thee," answered the young man ; " I cannot go thy 
 way, I cannot. I pray that it may be the right one 
 for thee. But leave me to my pleasures in the 
 green woods." 
 
 " The pleasures of the forest are dangerous," an- 
 swered Wahnfred. "I would call all, everyone, 
 from the forests and gather them into the fold." 
 
 " Leave me alone," said Erlefried; " I am go- 
 ing to clear the forest and plough the fields. Bart 
 has given me his house by the Tarn, and there I 
 will live and die in peace with my Sela." 
 
 Wahnfred's reply is not related, nor what were 
 
The Expiation 463 
 
 his sensations as he stood before his son. The 
 thoughts of the one were of sorrow and death ; those 
 of the other, of happiness and life. 
 
 "We cannot help it that we have grown such 
 strangers to one another," said Erlefried, " but in 
 heaven it will be recorded that we belong together. 
 Farewell, father! " 
 
 "And thou wilt refuse thy hand to thy old father, 
 who has been deserted by God and man!" said 
 Wahnfred, and with a cry of pain he fell upon the 
 young man's neck. " O child, O my child! hast 
 thou then quite forgotten the poor man whose 
 happiness on earth thou hast been in the years gone 
 by? Hast thou forgotten thy mother, who so often 
 held us both in her arms, as I now hold thee and 
 where I would always keep thee, my beloved child ? 
 Oh, come with me, Erlefried ; thou art young and 
 good, now thou mayest safely die — the only one 
 among us lost ones who may safely die. See, thy 
 path leads thee so near to heaven's gates, beyond 
 which thy forefathers await thee, and thy mother, 
 and there dwells thy God. Oh, do not say that thou 
 art too young and that thou wouldst enjoy this 
 beautiful world. If thou dost not turn now, thy 
 path will soon lead thee back to the world, — the false 
 world, — will lead thee astray, and thou wilt be over- 
 come by thy passions. Thou shalt encounter fear, 
 care, and crime; where thou wouldst find happiness, 
 pain awaits thee. To weep at graves will be the 
 lightest of thy troubles. Faithlessness will shake thy 
 confidence, the misery of mankind will destroy thy 
 faith in God ; thou wilt be able neither to pray nor 
 
4^4 The God Seeker 
 
 to weep; thou shalt be held responsible for all thy 
 acts, whether committed in love, in hatred, or in de- 
 spair. Then wilt thou, like one overtaken by night, 
 seek this path which I would have thee choose to- 
 day ; each step aside from it will lead thee nearer to 
 thy destruction. Erlefried, think of thy soul! " 
 
 The young man looked up in astonishment; the 
 last words were like a knife through his heart and 
 his evil demon asked him if his soul were really 
 saved or belonged to the devil. Wahnfred noticed 
 his hesitation, and with blazing eyes he continued: 
 
 "And think of her whom thou hast chosen. Bring 
 thy bride; she is like a flower in the snow, she is an 
 angel among the damned ; save her for God. Give 
 her heaven as a wedding-gift, for only in heaven are 
 marriages made — never forget that, my son ! Oh, 
 do not let thyself be deceived; the world is lost, all 
 is over! I will lead thee, we will enter the heavenly 
 kingdom together!" 
 
 Erlefried now recognised what was speaking to 
 him ; in the face of madness he became calm and he 
 sought to escape from the weird visionary. Wahn- 
 fred trembled with excitement, and seizing the 
 young man with both arms he cried : "Away, away, 
 thou hellish devil! I will have my child, I will not 
 let him go. Oh, stand by me. Heavenly Powers! 
 Ye angels of God, stand by me! " 
 
 A madman ! Erlefried exerted his whole strength, 
 and hurling the crazed man from him he fled. 
 
 Upon the summit of the hill he stopped and 
 looked back, but he no longer saw his father. And 
 now an unspeakable sadness overcame him, a heart- 
 
The Expiation 4^5 
 
 rending pity for the poor man. He returned to look 
 for him by the stream that he might accompany him 
 to his house, but he had already gone. 
 
 Sadly Erlefried went on his way, resolving that 
 for love of his father he would go to the dedication 
 of the temple upon the Johannesberg. And he 
 made the proposal to Sela that they should combine 
 their own wedding festival with this ceremony. 
 
 " For thy sake," she replied. 
 
 " I thank thee," he said, his eyes beaming with 
 happiness; "and now, Dear-heart, laugh and be 
 merry again ! " 
 
 " I cannot," she whispered, laying her head upon 
 
 his breast; " my Erlefried, I am afraid! " 
 30 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 ON the evening before the festival Wahnfred 
 was alone in the temple. He had locked 
 himself in, and was cowering before the altar table 
 gazing at the heavy beams of the roof. With the 
 exception of an occasional crackling, creaking sound 
 in the fresh wood, all was silent. Wahnfred stared 
 like a man in a dream — with a wandering, restless 
 glance — up at the seven little round windows 
 through which the pale light of the departing day 
 shed its soft rays. He murmured the words: " ' Be- 
 hold, he Cometh with the clouds ; and every eye shall 
 see him, and they also which pierced him ; and all 
 kindfeds of the earth shall wail because of him. 
 His countenance was as the sun shining in 
 his strength. . . . His eyes were as a flame of 
 fire. . . . And he had in his right hand seven 
 stars ; and out of his mouth went a sharp, two-edged 
 sword.' He is the first and the last. I do not fear, 
 for I have the keys of hell and of death." 
 
 Then he rose, climbed the ladder against the wall 
 to the cross-beam, to which he fastened a chain of 
 straw that reached to the altar below, suspended in 
 the same manner as the chain from which usually 
 hangs the altar lamp. It was broad and loosely 
 
 466 
 
The Expiation 467 
 
 braided and Wahnfred addressed it with these 
 words : 
 
 " Thou art the sacred Jacob's ladder, by which 
 we must climb to heaven — to-morrow — to-morrow 
 shall the seals be broken ; like a closed book shall 
 the earth disappear! " 
 
 He shuddered and started. It was as if he had 
 heard a cry: " Wahnfred, what art thou doing ?" 
 
 He asked aloud : " Did someone call me ? I will 
 willingly give an account of myself. We are an in- 
 iquitous people. Every breath which we draw is a 
 crime. No one but Almighty God can stop our fall 
 into hell. So we come to Thee, O God! Even as 
 I took the oath, so I will now make the expiation 
 — I will extinguish the fire of hell with the fire of 
 earth, I will free the land from the scourge of our 
 presence. The scorpion which has been held pris- 
 oner within the ring of flame shall destroy itself. 
 They will say of us that we had grown mad, but 
 they cannot say that we perished in darkness. We 
 recognised that we were evil and we have exterminated 
 ourselves. That is our victory ! " 
 
 When he left the temple he was calm. He felt 
 the summer about him and within him. He had 
 reached his goal — at last — at last ! His weary head 
 rested in the arms of God. 
 
 During the following night at that small hour 
 which, like a tiny drawbridge, joins to-day with 
 to-morrow, three men were striding through the 
 dewy valley of the Trach, singing the following 
 song: 
 
468 The God Seeker 
 
 Fair Midsummer Day is come, 
 
 The blessed day ! 
 
 The golden day ! 
 
 Arise, 
 
 Arise at the dawn's first ray ! 
 
 From graves emerging, 
 
 From slumbers holy, 
 
 The guests beloved assemble slowly. 
 
 Fire and light our God doth make. 
 
 Awake, awake ! 
 
 And in all the huts and caves were movement and 
 life. But the people could no longer assemble as 
 formerly upon the oak-shaded burial-ground, where 
 under the green sod their beloved dead were resting. 
 The graveyard was overgrown with nettles and 
 brambles. In recent years the dead had been buried 
 wherever they had died. In walking over the mead- 
 ows and through the woods many a spot could be 
 seen where upon a mound of bare earth an upright 
 board was placed. Thus Trawies had become one 
 great burial-ground. But the mounds were soon 
 covered by weeds, the boards fell over into the grass, 
 and all traces of the graves were lost for ever. 
 
 So no one now called as of old: " My father, I 
 waken thee; Midsummer Day is come! " 
 
 On being aroused from their sleep the people 
 called for brandy. Among those who joined the 
 procession were the peasant Isidor, the hunter from 
 the Trasank, Stoss-Nickel, and Ursula, the distiller 
 of the poison. Women clad in rags accompanied 
 them, not towards the Wildwiese, but up the Jo- 
 hannesberg where the new temple was to be dedi- 
 
The Expiation 469 
 
 cated on this day. There were musicians among 
 them, although their instruments brought forth no- 
 thing but discordant tones; the very strings were 
 mourning that all harmony had disappeared from 
 Trawies. Torches were moving here and there in a 
 zigzag line towards the Johannesberg. 
 
 There was one thing lacking which on former oc- 
 casions had enlivened this festival ; but its loss was 
 scarcely noticed now. There was no merry troop 
 of children present. There were no more children 
 in Trawies; the few who were running about were 
 little wretches. 
 
 The procession moved on towards the new temple. 
 
 " If we do not go our stern master will cast us out 
 of Trawies," jeered one man. 
 
 " And the masters outside will send us back 
 again," answered the others. 
 
 " It looks as if it were going to be uncomfortable 
 for us again. Here we must kneel, and out there 
 we must hang; he is as much of a devil as the 
 other." 
 
 " Be thankful that we have a God again! " 
 
 " This cursed thing won't burn ! " cried one of the 
 men, throwing his smoking torch upon the ground. 
 
 " Oh, he '11 burn you fast enough, you old sin- 
 ner!" 
 
 " A sinner, did you say ? Now that seems more 
 like living. Things have been rather bad here these 
 last years, for there have been no sinners in Trawies." 
 
 " That 's true! Nothing but robbers and villains." 
 
 "It will be better now, only we shall haye to b? 
 good and pious," 
 
470 The God Seeker 
 
 Such were the conversations which took place on 
 the way. 
 
 Erlefried had chosen an isolated forest path. He 
 climbed the mountain with his Sela from the Ges- 
 tade. Here they met no one, here they were alone. 
 Even Bart was not with them ; he had gone with 
 Sandhok and Tropper to consult with them about 
 the service in the temple. Although at first he had 
 been much opposed to the new teaching, to-day he 
 was in favour of it. He saw the good influence it 
 had upon the people. The Trawiesers were like a 
 swarm of flies that seek out and circle about a flame. 
 And it was a great point gained to assemble them 
 about some central object where they could be 
 governed. 
 
 During these years of misfortune Bart had en- 
 deavoured to quiet his own conscience by work and 
 a virtuous life. Now, as he was growing old, and 
 as he saw in Trawies this longing for the supernat- 
 ural again showing itself in the people, and in him- 
 self as well, he suddenly heard an inner voice 
 saying: " Bart-from-Tarn, thou also wast one of 
 them^" He too had been present in the Raben- 
 kirche when the murder of the priest was planned, 
 he too was present in Weissbucher's house when they 
 had denied knowledge of the murderer. He was 
 one of the chief criminals, and to expiate his crime 
 innocent men had been beheaded in the church. 
 /- As the people were assembling about the building 
 on the mountain, the morning star rose over the 
 Trasank. They were blinded by their torches and 
 did not see it. They were screaming like a crowd 
 
The Expiation 47 1 
 
 of mad urchins, laughing, wrestling with each other, 
 and cursing. The quietest of all were the pick- 
 pockets, and the most excitable the sallow-faced 
 youths who were following the women. Over their 
 brandy-bottles many marriages were arranged, and 
 death-blows were frequently exchanged. 
 
 Bart attempted to stop the drinking. 
 You would take away our fire-water ! " screamed 
 one of the wildest. " We '11 strangle you, you old 
 blasphemer! Our- God is in the brandy, do you not 
 see?" He emptied the contents of the jug on 
 the ground, threw a lighted chip upon it, and a blue 
 flame rose from the burning liquid. 
 
 Thus the people were conducting themselves on 
 this day upon the Johannesberg, at the hour when 
 the temple, which they were about to dedicate, was 
 standing in the pale light of the approaching dawn. 
 A sudden silence fell upon the crowd. Wahnfred, 
 accompanied by a number of old men, was ascend- 
 ing from his house, carrying the sacred relic — the 
 ancestral fire. 
 
 The mood of the people changed at once. Big- 
 otry, with its fanaticism and extravagance, took the 
 place of cursing and laughter. They fell on their 
 faces, their arms stretched out before them. Women 
 went into convulsions — for they had been drinking. 
 They screamed their hymns to the fire, and amid 
 the noise and confusion of the moving multitude it 
 was like the cry of shipwrecked mariners overtaken 
 by a storm. Two men with staffs now forced a way 
 through the crowd for Wahnfred. He wore a long 
 mantle, and the little lantern with the eternal fire 
 
472 The God Seeker 
 
 he pressed close to his heart. The soft glow was 
 reflected for a moment in the wild, haggard faces of 
 the kneeling men and women. Thus Wahnfred en- 
 tered the temple, and behind him the people, push- 
 ing, crowding, laughing, and cursing, until the last 
 one was inside. And then the little door closed 
 with a snap. The glow of the lamp with the sacred 
 fire, which was being carried to the altar, quivered 
 on the walls. The next moment a tiny flame was 
 creeping up the hanging chain of straw. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 ERLEFRIED and Sela were still wandering 
 through the forest. They carried no torch, 
 they held each other's hands, and they spoke no 
 word. Not until they reached a clearing where they 
 could see the morning star did Erlefried realise that 
 they had missed their path. Sela had the utmost 
 confidence in him. She thought of that Midsummer 
 Day years ago, when as children they had climbed to 
 the Wildwiese. Then, too, they had lost their way 
 among the brambles. At that time little Erlefried 
 had told her such pretty fairy-tales. How changed 
 was everything! As he had grown in the strength 
 and beauty of his manhood, the more silent had he 
 become. To-day he said nothing. 
 
 They had gone much too far to the left and at 
 their right were only steep precipices. So they 
 ceased to think of the Johannesberg and pushed 
 ahead. They followed one another, neither know- 
 ing whither. 
 
 The trees stood in the morning glow, the birds 
 were singing gaily. The path led towards the val- 
 ley once more and gradually lost itself in under- 
 brush. 
 
 The two young people were quite alone, with the 
 
 473 
 
474 The God Seeker 
 
 exception of the birds. They walked silently among 
 the trees, they became entangled in brambles, they 
 trod upon the bushes, frightening the lizards at their 
 feet. They worked their way through hazel-bushes, 
 which grew more and more luxuriantly about them 
 — and we will follow them no farther. Of this for- 
 est walk the chronicler tells us: " And they were so 
 absorbed in one another that they thought of naught 
 else, for they were filled with heavenly joy." 
 
 In vain we listen for their footsteps, in vain we 
 await their return. And while we are thus listen- 
 ing, a strange sound seems to fill the air. It is as 
 if chords were drawn above the heights from rock 
 to forest, and an unseen hand were playing a wild, 
 discordant strain upon them. One long, shrill 
 sound, then all is silent ! 
 
 In the gorge below, where a moss-grown path led 
 up to the house of Firnerhans, the two young peo- 
 ple emerged from the thicket. Their faces were 
 suffused with a soft glow, their hearts trembled with 
 inward bliss, as if they had seen Him Who from 
 eternity to eternity bestows happiness upon His 
 children. They were still silent. Sela's eyes were 
 downcast; Erlefried raised his — moist and lustrous 
 — towards heaven, wondering that the sun was al- 
 ready so high and that it was so red to-day. Above 
 the summit of the Johannesberg rested a lurid cloud, 
 which spread over the sky, on to the upper Trach, 
 where it floated like a blue veil above the church of 
 Trawies, then sank into the valley. 
 
 When they reached the clearing below, they could 
 
The Expiation 475 
 
 see that the cloud, dense and heavy, was rising from 
 the summit of the Johannesberg, as if a volcano had 
 broken out there. 
 
 Erlefried turned pale. He saw no building on the 
 mountain. 
 
 Only one of all those who climbed the Johannes- 
 berg to celebrate the Fire Festival on that fateful 
 Midsummer Day ever returned. In telling the story 
 of what he had there beheld he was seized with 
 madness and all traces of him were soon lost. 
 
 Erlefried and Sela fled as far as their feet would 
 carry them. On distant meadows, where no dark 
 smoke covered the sun, they began their new life. 
 
 During a sultry night in the summer of this same 
 year a heavy storm descended upon the Johannes- 
 berg. It whirled the ashes on the summit into 
 the air and scattered them far and wide over the 
 green, uninhabited forests of Trawies. 
 
 THE END 
 
THE FOREST SCHOOLMASTER 
 
 By PETER ROSEOQER 
 Authorized Translation by Frances E. Skinner 
 
 A Human 
 Document. 
 
 J\r. y. Times. 
 
 Unique, 
 Strong, 
 Interesting. 
 
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 Strong. 
 
 Chicago Times-Herald. 
 
 /\rO better selection could have 
 been made in introducing this 
 popular Austrian novelist to Eng- 
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 tale, this story of an isolated forest 
 community civilized and regenerated 
 by the life of one man. 
 
 A charming new book. Let none who 
 care for good literature fail to make ac- 
 quaintance with the gentle schoolmaster 
 of the forest. — Pittsburg Post. 
 
 As an exposition of primitive human 
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 Worcester Spy 
 
 Beautiful and strong, strange and 
 sombre, " The Forest Schoolmaster " 
 belongs to the high class literature. 
 
 Detroit Free Press. 
 
 Curiously interesting study. 
 
 N. Y. Commercial Advertiser. 
 
 A pleasing rendering of the most 
 popular romance of the well-known 
 Austrian mountains. — Outlook. 
 
 12mo 
 I^rice, $1,S0 
 
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mMI 
 
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 Mrs. Green 
 
 By EVELYira ELSYE RYND. i6% 75 cents. 
 
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 A Crazy Angel 
 
 By ANNETTE LUCILE NOBLE, author of " Uncle Jack's 
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 The author of " Uncle Jack's Executors " has given evidence 
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 By ANNA FULLER, author of " Literary Courtship," 
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GOOD FICTION 
 
 The Death of the Gods 
 
 By Dmitri M£rejkowski. Translated by Herbert Trench. 
 
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 " A wonderful Russian romance." — N. Y. Times. 
 
 " A creation of higher order than either " Ben Hur," or " Quo Vadis." 
 — Comtnercial A dveriiser. 
 
 In Our County 
 
 Stories of Old Virginia. By Marion Harland, author of 
 
 " Some Colonial Homesteads," " Where Ghosts Walk," 
 
 . etc. 8°. Illustrated $1.50 
 
 The ten sketches in this volume combine to afford a deeply 
 interesting glimpse into the social life of Virginia before the 
 war. There is every mood in the book's pages — the merry, 
 the tragic, the pathetic — all portrayed in Marion Harland's 
 charming style. These are hardly to be called sketches, 
 however ; they have more than the interest that pertains to a 
 mere picture of old Virginia country life. They are stories, 
 possessing the qualities that the ideal short story should 
 possess, including intense interest of plot. 
 
 The Marriage of Mr. Merivale 
 
 By Cecil Headlam, author of " The Story of Nuremberg," 
 " The British Satirists," etc. 12° . . . $1.25 
 
 A new novel of importance by an English writer of note, is 
 " The Marriage of Mr. Merivale." Remarkable originality, 
 coupled with a deeply original problem of the heart that is 
 presented to the reader for solution, makes the story one to 
 be remembered. English politics during the exciting discus- 
 sions of the South African question furnish the book's only 
 historical material, for the time of the action is to-day, and 
 some of the scenes are on the floor of Parliament. Mr. Cecil 
 Headlam, the author, has handled his plot in masterly 
 fashion, from the exciting cricket match in the opening 
 chapter to the wider field of his hero's maturer effort. 
 
 New York — G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS— London 
 
By C. L. ANTROBUS 
 
 QUALITY CORNER 
 
 A STUDY OF REMORSE 
 
 o 
 
 12" ... . ;i>i.so 
 
 " For humor and observation, and poetry and culture, you may ap- 
 proach Mrs. Antrobus with perfect cjnhdence. ... We have hinted 
 that certain qualities in Mrs. Antrobus recall George Eliot ; but seriously 
 in pages such as those which describe the scene of the confession, we are 
 not at all sure that the new writer is not distinctly at certain moments on 
 the great forerunner's level.' — Outlook. 
 
 'A welcome oasis in the desert of fiction. . . . The setting is 
 excellent, the Lancashire rustics are delightful.'— London Spectator. 
 
 ' From beginning to end . . . one realises with gratitude that a 
 novelist of no small power is giving us of her best. We can recommend 
 this book with an unusual certainty of pleasing.'— Z,zV^ra#«>-^. 
 
 WILDERSMOOR 
 
 12° ... . $1.50 
 
 ' An excellent story, laid in an interesting, rarely-described part of 
 Lancashire : it contains plenty of good talk and two or three characters 
 unmistakably living. The story moves swiftly . . . and, while the 
 style is bright, the dialogue sparkling, there is an undercurrent of solemn- 
 ity and tragedy. More than once " Wildersnioor" reminds one of George 
 Eliot. But the likeness is not that of a copy. The author has seen the 
 little world into which he— or probably she-admits us and gives us not 
 merely pictures with hard photographic accuracy but a sense of the firma- 
 ment abo\ e and the nether regions below the dwellers near Wildersmoor 
 Pike.' — London Times. 
 
 'A good novel ; perhaps we should rather say a good book. For it is 
 its exceflent workmanship, its shrewd and often thoughtful remarks, us 
 group of characters rather than any one particular person . . . that 
 interests us.' — Standard. 
 
 'The "sombre genius of the moor"— to borrow the writer's own 
 phrase— is brought home by many happy touches, and the Lancashire 
 dialect is handled with considerable effect. The rustic characters, again, 
 are well Attx^vi.' —Athenteum. 
 
 'The character-drawing is exceptionally good. . ._. Mrs. Antrobus 
 has written a suggestive and most readable book, which has plenty of 
 good work in it, and compels one to \^\'cCls..^— Academy. 
 
 Q. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
 
 NEW YORK AND LONDON