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REGINA 
 
 OR THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
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REGINA 
 
 OR THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 BY 
 
 HERMANN SUDERMANN 
 
 TRANSLATED BT 
 BEATRICE MARSHALL 
 
 JOHN LANE 
 THE BODLEY HEAD 
 LONDON AND NEW YORK 
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Third Edition 
 
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 REGINA 
 
 OR THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Peace was signed, and the world, which for so long 
 had been the great Corsican^s plaything, came to 
 ; itself again. It came to itself, bruised and mangled, 
 ^ bleeding from a thousand wounds, and studded 
 ? with battle-fields like a body with festering sores. 
 
 . \ Yet, in the rebound from bondage to freedom, men 
 did not realise that there was anything very pitiable 
 ^ in their condition. The ground from which their 
 ^ wheat sprang, they reflected, would bear all the 
 richer fruit from being soaked in blood, and if 
 bullets and bayonets had thinned their ranks, there 
 J was now more elbow-room for those who were left. 
 ^ The yawning vacuums in the seething human 
 caldron gave a man space to breathe in. One 
 ^ great chorus of rejoicing from the Rock of Gibraltar 
 the North Cape ascended heavenwards. Bells 
 ^in every steeple were set in motion, and from every 
 altar and from every humble hearth arose prayers 
 of thanksgiving. Mourners hid their diminished 
 
 A 
 
2 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 heads, for the burst of victorious song drowned 
 their lamentations, and the earth absorbed their 
 tears as indifferently as it had sucked in the blood 
 of their fallen. 
 
 In glorious May weather the Peace of Paris was 
 concluded. Lilies bloomed once more out of lakes 
 of blood, and from the obscurity of lumber-rooms 
 the blood-saturated banner of the fleur de lys was 
 dragged forth into the light of day. The Bourbons 
 crept from their hiding-places, whither they had 
 been driven by fear of Robespierre^s knife. They 
 rubbed their eyes and forthwith began to reign. 
 They had forgotten nothing and learnt nothing, 
 except a new catchword from Talleyrand’s en tout 
 cas vocabulary, t.e. Legitimacy. The rest of the 
 world was too busily engaged in wreathing laurels 
 to crown the conquerors, and filling up bumpers 
 to drink their health in, to pay any attention to this 
 farce of Bourbon government. All eyes were 
 turned in a fever of expectancy towards the West, 
 whence were to come the conquering heroes, the 
 laurel-crowned warriors who had been willing to 
 sacrifice their lives for the honour of wife and child, 
 for justice, and for the sacred soil of their father- 
 land. They had been under the fire of the Corsican 
 Demon, the oppressor whom they in their turn had 
 hunted and run to earth, till at last he lay in 
 shackles at their feet. 
 
 When the victors began the homeward march, the 
 German oaks were bursting into leaf, soon to be 
 laughingly plundered of their young green foliage. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 3 
 
 On they came in swarms, first, joyous and light- 
 hearted, the pride and flower of the Fatherland, the 
 sons of the wealthy, who, as Volunteer Jagers, with 
 their own horses and their own arms, had gone 
 forth to the war of Liberation. Their progress 
 through Germany was one magnificent ovation. 
 Wherever they came, their path was strewn with 
 roses, the most beautiful of maidens longed for the 
 honour of winning their love, and the most costly 
 wines flowed like water. Behind them followed 
 a stream of Kossacks, riding over the German fields 
 with a loose rein. A year before, when they had 
 galloped like a troop of furies in the rear of the 
 hunted remnant of the Grande Armee, the whole 
 country had greeted them as saviours of Germany. 
 Public receptions had been organised in their 
 honour, hymns composed in their praise, and all 
 sorts of blue-eyed German sentiment was lavishly 
 poured out on the unwashed Tartar horde. To-day, 
 too, they were conscientiously feted, but the gaze 
 of all true-hearted Germans was directed with 
 intensest longing beyond them, looking for those 
 who were still to come, of whom they seemed but 
 the heralding shadows. 
 
 And at last these came, the men of the people, 
 who had taken all their capital, their bare lives, in 
 their hand, and gone forth to offer it up for the 
 Fatherland. They advanced with a sound as of 
 bursting trumpets, half hidden by dense columns of 
 dust. Not exalted and splendid beings as they had 
 often been painted in the imagination of the stay- 
 
4 
 
 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 at-homes,” with a halo of diamonds flashing round 
 their heads, and a cloak flung proudly like a toga 
 round their shoulders. No; they were faded and 
 haggard, tired as overdriven horses, covered with 
 vermin, filthy and in rags ; their beards matted with 
 sweat and dust. This was the plight in which they 
 came home. Some were so emaciated and ghastly 
 pale that they looked as if they could hardly drag 
 one weary foot after the other ; others wore a 
 greedy, brutalised expression, and the reflection of 
 the lurid glare of war seemed yet to linger in their 
 sunken, hollow eyes. They held their knotty fists 
 still clenched in the habitual cramp of murderous 
 lust. Only here and there shone tears of pure, 
 inspired emotion ; only here and there hands were 
 folded on the butt-end of muskets in reverent, 
 grateful prayer. But all were welcome, and none 
 were too coarse and hardened by their work of 
 blood and revenge to find balm in the tears and 
 kisses of their loved ones, and to greet with hope 
 the dawn of purer times. Of course it could not 
 be expected that passions which had been lashed 
 into such abnormal and furious activity, would all 
 at once calm down and slumber again. The hand 
 that has wielded a sword needs time before it can 
 accustom itself to the plough and scythe, and not 
 every man knows how to forget immediately the wild 
 licence of the camp in the hallowed atmosphere 
 of home. 
 
 Every peace is followed by a period of delirium. 
 It was thus in Germany in anno T4. That year. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 5 
 
 from which to this generation nothing has descended 
 but the echo of a unison of paeans, swelling organ- 
 strains, and clash of bells, was in reality more re- 
 markable for tyranny and crime than any year before 
 or since. More especially was this the case in dis- 
 tricts where before the war the overweening arro- 
 gance and cruelty of the French occupier had been 
 most heavily felt. Here the beast was let loose in 
 man. The senses of those who stayed at home 
 had been so inflamed by the scent of blood from dis- 
 tant battle-fields, and the smoke of burning villages, 
 that they conjured up before their mental eyes 
 scenes of horror and devastation at which they had 
 not been present. Many thirsted for vengeance on 
 secret wrongs, on acts of cowardice and treachery 
 as yet unexpiated. After all, it seemed as if the 
 awakened fervour of patriotism, the flowing streams 
 of freshly-spilled blood, could not suffice even now 
 to wipe out the memory of the shame and humilia- 
 tion of previous years. 
 
 No one had any suspicion, then, that the Corsican 
 vulture, set fast in his island cage, was already be- 
 ginning to sharpen his iron beak, preparatory to 
 gnawing through its bars, and that before his final 
 capture thousands of veins were yet to be opened 
 and drained of their blood. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 One August day in this memorable year, a party of 
 young men were gathered together in the parlour 
 of a large country house. 
 
 The oak table round which they were seated pre- 
 sented a goodly array of tankards, and short, bulky 
 bottles containing schnaps. Their faces, flushed with 
 brandy and enthusiasm, were almost entirely con- 
 cealed from view by the dense clouds of smoke 
 they puffed from their huge pipes. 
 
 They were defenders of their country only lately 
 returned home, and were revelling in reminiscences 
 of the war. There was that distinct family likeness 
 among them which equality in birth, breeding, and 
 education often stamps on men between whom 
 there exists no tie of blood-relationship. 
 
 Warfare had coarsened their honest, healthy 
 countenances, and left its mark there in many a dis- 
 figuring scar and gash. Two or three still wore their 
 arms in slings, and evidently none of them had as yet 
 made up their minds to lay aside the black, frogged 
 military coat to which they had become so proudly 
 accustomed. For the most part they were well-to- 
 do yeomen belonging to the village of Heide and 
 
 its outlying hamlets, and though their homes were 
 
 6 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 7 
 
 scattered they were united in a strong bond of 
 neighbourly friendship. Some still lived on their 
 fathers' patrimony, others had come into their own 
 estate. It had never been their lot to experience 
 the pinch of poverty, to till the soil and follow the 
 plough, and so they had remained unaffected by the 
 great changes Stein's new code a few years before 
 had brought about in the position of the peasantry. 
 In the spring, when the King's appeal to his subjects 
 had resounded through the land, they could afford 
 to leave their crops and, like the sons of the nobility, 
 hurry with their own arms and their own horses to 
 enlist in the ranks of the volunteer Jagers. 
 
 Only one member of the little group apparently 
 belonged to another station in life. He occupied 
 the one easy-chair the house boasted, an ungainly 
 piece of upholstery, much the worse for wear. 
 
 His face was pale, somewhat sallow in colouring. 
 The features were refined and delicately chiselled. 
 The brown, melancholy eyes were shaded by long 
 black lashes, which when he looked down cast a heavy 
 fringe of shadow on his thin cheeks. Though he 
 must certainly have been the youngest of them all, 
 having hardly completed his twenty-second year, he 
 looked like a man who had long ago ceased to take 
 any pleasure in the mere frivolities of life. 
 
 On his smooth, square brow were lines that 
 denoted energy and defiance, and in the blue hollows 
 round his eyes lay traces of a past sorrow. He 
 wore a grey overcoat that seemed too narrow across 
 the shoulders, and beneath it a woollen shirt finely 
 
8 
 
 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 tucked, and ornamented with a row of mother-of- 
 pearl buttons. The only military thing about him was 
 the forage-cap bearing the Landwehr badge, which 
 he had pushed on to the back of his head, to prevent 
 the hard edge pressing on the scarcely healed wound 
 which made a lurid streak on his forehead, close to 
 where the dark hair clustered in heavy masses. 
 
 He was the cynosure of all eyes. Every one 
 waited anxiously for him to take the lead in con- 
 versation. Next to him, on his right, sat a muscular 
 youth, not much older than himself, who regarded 
 him with unceasing and tender solicitude. To all 
 appearances he was the host. There was a patch 
 of white plaster on one of his temples, but his 
 round, jovial face beamed radiantly nevertheless 
 out of its frame of unkempt fair hair that hung about 
 his neck and throat in wildest confusion. 
 
 say, lieutenant, you are positively drinking 
 nothing/' he exclaimed, pushing the bottle nearer 
 him. Because you aren't used to our beer, and 
 still less used to our schnaps, there's no reason 
 why you should be shy of swilling that red stuff of 
 which we have plenty to spare. . . . We aren't 
 rich, as you know, but if you stopped here till 
 Doomsday we could supply you every day with a 
 bottle like that. Couldn't we, lads ? " 
 
 The others assented, and pressed round him 
 eagerly to clink their mugs and liqueur-glasses 
 against his cracked wine-glass. 
 
 A ray of gratitude and pleasure illumined momen- 
 tarily the sad, pale face. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 9 
 
 I knew,” he said — I knew that if I came here 
 you^d make me feel at home. Otherwise I should 
 have gone on my way.” 
 
 That would have been kind of you, I must say, 
 cried the host — '^what did we enter into our 
 covenant of blood for, and swear to be true till 
 death after our first battle, don^t you remember ? In 
 the church at . . . where was it ? I never can pro- 
 nounce the name of the cursed hole ! ” 
 
 The hole was Dannigkow,” answered the young 
 stranger addressed as lieutenant.” 
 
 Ah, yes, that^s it ! ” the host went on. And 
 do you imagine we went through that little cere- 
 mony with the sole purpose of letting you avoid us 
 in future ? Was it for that we chose you for our 
 commanding officer, and blindly followed you into 
 the thickest of the fight? No, Baumgart, there’s 
 no cement like blood and powder. So the devil 
 take it, man, you must promise to stay with us a 
 
 bit, now weVe got you ” 
 
 Don’t talk nonsense, old fellow, it is impos- 
 sible,” the lieutenant replied, and blew thoughtfully 
 on the purple mirror of his wine. But his friend 
 was not to be silenced. 
 
 You needn’t be frightened,” he continued, 'Hhat 
 we shall plague you with curious questions. From 
 the first we got into the way of looking on you as 
 a sort of mystery. When we others used to lie by 
 the bivouac fire and talk of our homes and parents, 
 our sweethearts and sisters, your lips were resolutely 
 sealed as they are now. And if one of us plucked 
 
lo THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 up courage to ask you where you came from, and 
 what you had been before the war, you always got 
 up and walked away. We gave up questioning you 
 at last, and thought to ourselves, ' He has gone 
 through a furnace, may be, that has spoilt his life, 
 and what concern is that of ours ? ' You were a 
 good comrade, all of us can testify to that, and 
 what is more, the most fearless, the bravest. . . . 
 Ah, well, the fact is, that you had only to tell one 
 of us to cut off his right hand, and he^d have done 
 it without a murmur. Isn’t it true, lads ? ” 
 
 An exclamation of assent went round the table. 
 
 For mercy’s sake, say no more,” said the young 
 lieutenant. I don’t know which way to look 
 because of all this undeserved praise.” 
 
 ''Wait, I’ve more to say yet,” the master of the 
 house insisted on continuing. " Once we were 
 really almost angry with you. You know why 
 that was. During the armistice, shortly before we 
 joined forces with the Lithuanians under Platen and 
 Billow, you were in the guard-room one evening, 
 when you suddenly made a clean breast of it and 
 announced that you must go away. You said, 
 ' Don’t ask me the reason, lads. But believe me, 
 I can’t help myself. The Landwehr wants officers. 
 I know it is not much of an honour to leave the 
 Jagers, for the Landwehr; but I’m going to do it, all 
 the same.’ Those were your very words, weren’t 
 they, Baumgart ? ” 
 
 The lieutenant nodded, and a bitter smile played 
 round his lips. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS ii 
 
 ''Tears were in your eyes as you spoke, otherwise 
 one or other of us would have asked you if that was 
 all the thanks we were to get for the confidence we 
 had placed in 3^u, to be deserted just then . . . 
 just when we longed to show those Platen fellows 
 what baiting the French really meant. . . . We let 
 you go without raising an objection, but our hearts 
 bled. . . . Afterwards we heard nothing of you, 
 no news in reply to all our inquiries ; but I can 
 tell you this much, we never ceased to talk of you 
 every night for months. We racked our brains to 
 think what had taken you away; speculated on 
 where you were gone, and the like, till the men who 
 joined later and had known you got sick of it, and 
 implored us to give up talking about you, and to con- 
 sign you to the Landwehr refuse-heap once for all. 
 So you see how we pined for you ; and now, after 
 two days, you actually propose to turn your back 
 on us again ! If s a long journey from the Marne 
 to the Weichsel, and a solitary one to walk, and 
 your wounds still smarting. Stay and take a good 
 rest, and relate at your leisure what your adventures 
 with the greybeards really were, and how you 
 came to be taken prisoner ... it must have been a 
 strange accident that betrayed you into captivity ? ” 
 He glanced down with ingenuous pride at the 
 iron cross which dangled between the froggings of 
 his coat. It had been bestowed on him in reward 
 for the intrepidity with which he had, unpardoned, 
 hewn his way out of a nest of French Hussars and 
 regained his liberty. 
 
12 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 The lieutenant^s breast was bare of ornament. 
 At the end of the campaign, when a shower of 
 decorations had rained down on the victorious 
 warriors, he had not been present to receive his 
 share. A painful sensation of being passed in 
 the race, almost akin to shame, swept over him. 
 He pushed his cap farther on to his brow, and 
 drew himself erect in his chair, as if its fusty 
 cushions threatened to suffocate him. 
 
 '‘Thank you,” he said, "for your kind intentions, 
 but I must go to Konigsberg directly to report 
 myself to the Commandant.” 
 
 " Fm afraid you’ll have some difficulty in finding 
 him there,” put in a curly-headed young man with 
 twinkling dark eyes, who wore his right arm in a 
 black sling. 
 
 " Don’t you know that directly it came back the 
 Landwehr was disbanded ? ” 
 
 " Even the staff is broken up,” remarked an- 
 other. 
 
 " Then I must try my luck with the Commis- 
 sioner-General,” replied Lieutenant Baumgart. " I 
 have more reason, perhaps, than any one else to be 
 extra careful that my discharge papers are in good 
 order. At least, I fancy so. I don’t want the 
 reproach to be fastened on me that I sneaked out 
 of the army secretly. So, please let me know as 
 soon as you can if there will be any conveyance 
 going to-morrow to Konigsberg ? ” 
 
 A storm of indignation arose. They all left their 
 seats, some seizing his hand, some forming a cordon 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 13 
 
 round him, as if to prevent his departure by physical 
 force. 
 
 Stay at least a little longer, lest the fete we 
 are organising in your honour should fall through,” 
 exhorted Karl Engelbert, the young host, as soon 
 as he could make his voice heard above the hubbub. 
 
 Baumgart turned to him with a quick gesture of 
 inquiry. 
 
 In my honour ? ” he exclaimed. Are you 
 mad?” 
 
 There’s no getting out of it now,” was the 
 answer. It was all settled the day you turned 
 up here. I despatched Johann Radtke at once 
 with a list of all the Jagers in the country round 
 who are at home. Then, you know, we have 
 representatives of six or seven regiments living 
 about here. . . . Especially did I impress on him 
 that he was to go to Schranden, where Merckel 
 lives. Merckel,” he added, ^^went over to the 
 Landwehr too ; for if he hadn’t, he couldn’t have 
 made sure of his lieutenancy. So there was more 
 sense in his taking the step.” 
 
 Baumgart at the mention of this name winced, 
 but quickly recovering himself, gripped convulsively 
 the arms of the battered easy-chair, and with head 
 bowed, listened in silence to what his well-meaning 
 friends had to say about the gala-day arranged in 
 his honour. He gave up protesting further, because 
 he saw open resistance was useless. But the un- 
 easy glances he cast about him seemed to indicate 
 that he was meditating immediate flight. 
 
14 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 His friends, however, did not observe his rest- 
 lessness. After the excitement of war which had 
 stirred their blood out of its normal channel, they 
 found it irksome to subside into the ordinary routine 
 of private life, and hailed with delight any excuse 
 for varying its monotony with a few hours^ roister- 
 ing and dissipation. They were now engaged in 
 eagerly discussing the result of their messenger's 
 mission, whose return from Schranden, a few miles 
 away, they had been expecting hourly all the 
 morning. 
 
 wonder,” said Peter Negenthin, the youth 
 with the black sling, ^^how the Schrandeners are 
 getting on with that fine landlord of theirs ? ” 
 
 Lieutenant Baumgart started and listened with 
 all his ears. 
 
 They set his house on fire long ago,” remarked 
 another. For five years he^s been roosting among 
 the blackened ruins like an owl.” 
 
 Why didn^t he build his castle up again ? ” 
 asked a third. 
 
 ‘^Why? Because the peasants and farmers 
 down in the village would have thrashed any one 
 at the cart-wheel who dared to work for him. Once 
 he tried getting labourers over from his foreign 
 estates, thinking that as they couldn't understand 
 German it would be all right; . . . but there was 
 a free fight one day down at the inn, and heigh' 
 presto! — the Poles were hounded back to where 
 they came from. Since then he hasn't made any 
 more attempts to cultivate his land.” 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 15 
 
 How does he live then ? 
 
 Who cares how he lives ! Let him starve/’ 
 
 In the midst of laughter, mingled with growls of 
 hate which this humane remark had called forth 
 from these doughty sons of the soil, the anxiously 
 awaited ambassador entered the room. He was 
 a stoutly built short man, whose straight fair hair, 
 as yellow and bright as new thatch, hung over his 
 round face, which was the colour of a lobster from 
 exposure to the heat of the sun. Steaming with 
 perspiration, and breathless from his hurried ride, 
 he seized the stone jug of monstrous girth that 
 stood in the middle of the table, before speaking a 
 word, and held it to his lips with both hands, where 
 it remained so long that it had at last to be torn 
 away from his mouth by force, much to the amuse- 
 ment of the company. After a fusilade of banter 
 and jokes had been discharged at him from all sides, 
 he blurted forth his news. The idea of the fete 
 had, it seemed, been caught at with enthusiasm. 
 Every one in the neighbourhood was willing to lend 
 his countenance to festivities in honour of those 
 who had done such splendid service in the cause of 
 German Unity. The only difference of opinion was 
 as to where they were to come off. The Schran- 
 deners, with Lieutenant Merckel at their head, de- 
 clared that no spot on earth could be a more 
 appropriate scene for their celebration than their 
 own village. 
 
 ^^Then you see, lads,” explained the messenger, 
 ^Hhe Schrandeners have private reasons for being 
 
1 6 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 particularly gay just now. They are dancing in 
 front of their houses, and scarcely know whether 
 they are standing on their head or their heels, 
 ril tell you why. Perhaps you know that little 
 chorale that they’ve for the last seven years been 
 singing in church ? 
 
 “ Our gracious Baron and Lord 
 Of Schrandenerd souls abhorred. 
 
 For the shame hds brought on our head^ 
 
 O Gody let the plague strike him deadL 
 
 '^Well, in a fashion their prayer has been an- 
 swered. The betrayer of their country, who never 
 tired of cursing and damning them up hill and 
 down dale, and heaped on them every foul epithet 
 he could lay tongue to, may now lie and rot in a 
 ditch for all they care. They have sworn not to 
 bury him.” 
 
 Then arose excited shouts and eager questioning. 
 
 Is he dead, the dog ? ” 
 
 ‘‘ Has the devil taken him to himself at last ? 
 Ha ! ha ! Bravo ! ” 
 
 Suddenly, above the din of voices, a grinding 
 crunching noise was heard. Baumgart’s arm had 
 clasped the back of his chair with such vehemence 
 that the long-suffering worm-eaten wood had col- 
 lapsed. He sat rigid and motionless, staring at the 
 speaker with wide, strained eyes, unconscious of 
 the injury he had inflicted on the ancestral piece 
 of furniture. Then garrulous Johann Radtke 
 proceeded — 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS i; 
 
 Yes, happily enough, they were the cause of 
 his death at last. They have never ceased to 
 harass and torment him, and it was while they 
 were trying to demolish the Cats’ Bridge that he 
 had a stroke of apoplexy from rage, and fell down 
 foaming at the mouth.” 
 
 ^‘Lieutenant, have you ever heard of the Cats’ 
 Bridge ? ” 
 
 Still he neither moved nor uttered a word ; only 
 set his teeth on his under lip, till it bled. As if 
 turned to stone, he sat gazing fixedly up into the 
 speaker’s face. 
 
 “ It was by the Cats’ Bridge that the French made 
 the famous, or rather I should say infamous, sortie 
 which surprised the Prussians, and it was the 
 Baron who showed them the secret path which 
 leads to it. You have heard of the Schranden inva- 
 sion, of course. It’s recorded in every calendar ? ” 
 
 The lieutenant nodded mechanically like a doomed 
 man, who, swooning, resigns himself to inevitable 
 fate. 
 
 “The stroke took him before their very eyes,” 
 Radtke went on. “ His precious sweetheart, the 
 village carpenter’s daughter, the baggage who lived 
 wdth him, you know, threw’’ herself on his body, 
 for the Lord only knows what liberties they 
 might not have taken with it when their blood 
 was up.” 
 
 “ And now they refuse to bury him, you say ? ” 
 interrupted the good-natured Karl Engelbert, shak- 
 ing his head meditatively. “ Is such a scandalous 
 
1 8 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 outrage as that allowed to pass unpunished in a 
 Christian country ? ” 
 
 Johann laughed scofSngly. 
 
 ^^The Schrandeners are like a flock of sheep. If 
 one declines to pollute his hands with bearing such 
 carrion to the grave, all the rest decline also. And 
 who can blame them ? 
 
 But,” some one suggested, suppose it came 
 to the ear of the law ? ” 
 
 The law ! Ha, ha ! Old Merckel is their 
 magistrate, and he says, as far as he is concerned, 
 
 they might have flayed ” 
 
 He broke off abruptly, for with a smothered cry 
 of pain, and a gesture half threatening, half self- 
 defensive, the young lieutenant had started to his 
 feet. He was whiter than the whitewashed wall 
 behind him, and a thin thread of crimson trickled 
 from his blanched lips, over his chin. 
 
 Stop, for God’s sake ! ” he stammered in a 
 strange muffled almost inaudible voice, and those 
 who caught his words shrank away in horror. 
 
 Fie was my father ! ” 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 The moon had risen and flooded the tranquil heath 
 with its soft bluish radiance. Down in the marshes 
 the alder-bushes were tipped with crowns of light, 
 and the white, slender trunks of the birches which 
 flanked the highway in interminable rows shone 
 and shimmered, till the road seemed to stretch away 
 and lose itself between hedges of burnished silver. 
 Silence reigned everywhere. The last note of the 
 birds^ evening chorale had long since died away. 
 Peace, the peace of well-being, peculiar to late 
 summer, pervaded the wide-stretching level fields. 
 Even the grasshopper in the ditch, and a field- 
 mouse scurrying in alarm through the tall blades of 
 corn, hardly broke the stillness. 
 
 A traveller with staff and knapsack came along 
 the road, gazing absently before him, evidently obli- 
 vious of the magic of the moon-lit landscape. It 
 was the young lieutenant, on his way home to bury 
 the father whose memory was held in such universal 
 detestation. His host had put his best equipage at 
 his disposal, but his comrade had firmly refused to 
 accept the offer, and he had been obliged to content 
 himself with accompanying his guest part of the 
 way on foot. At parting he had solemnly affirmed 
 
20 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 that the compact of eternal friendship that they had 
 entered into as brothers-in-arms after their first 
 baptism of fire would hold good now and always, 
 
 the sins of the fathers notwithstanding. When- 
 ever he was in need of help and sympathy in the 
 future, he might rely on the good-will of him and 
 his neighbours. 
 
 This was meant well, but brought no comfort to 
 the young man^s sore heart. The allusion to ‘Hhe 
 sins of the fathers stung him to the quick. It 
 sounded very much like an insult, yet an insult 
 that he was powerless to resent openly, as there 
 was no shuffling off the incubus of shame which, 
 as his fathers heir, now weighed on his innocent 
 shoulders. 
 
 Thus fiercely brooding he walked on, and pictures 
 of the past involuntarily rose before his mental 
 vision. He had never loved his father — the harsh, 
 tyrannical man who flogged the peasants, whose 
 laughter was more terrible than his oaths, to whom 
 he, his only son, had been not much more than the 
 pet dog that one minute was allowed to bite his 
 heels when he was in a good humour, only to be 
 hurled across the room the next with a savage kick. 
 As long as he could remember, the small muscular 
 figure, the sallow face with its high cheek-bones, 
 coal-black goat^s beard, and little keen grey eyes, 
 had been the terror of his childhood. His mother 
 he had never known. She had succumbed, a few 
 years after his birth, to a long and tedious illness. 
 It was rumoured at the time, in the village, that her 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 21 
 
 lord^s ungovernable passions had been the death of 
 her — that his love was as terrible as his hate. 
 
 Her picture had hung at the end of a long line 
 of ghostly portraits in the dimly-lighted picture- 
 gallery with its vaulted roof, where one’s footsteps 
 echoed uncannily between the stone walls, and 
 where it was possible to shiver with cold on the 
 hottest summer day. . . . The picture of a gentle, 
 tired-looking woman with thin bloodless lips, and 
 half-closed lids that seemed to droop from sheer 
 weariness and lack of spirit. 
 
 Many a time, unseen, the boy had stood by the 
 hour before this picture, and waited — waited for the 
 heavy lids to lift, that one warm ray of maternal 
 love might at last be shed into his lonely young 
 life. He would fold his hands in prayer, and lift 
 a tear-stained face in eager anticipation, while his 
 heart beat for fear ; but the picture never came to 
 life. Tired and slumberous as ever, as if already 
 half- closed in their last long sleep, the heavily 
 shadowed, star-like eyes continued to look down 
 on him with a strange, cold, metallic gleam, till he 
 could bear it no longer, and would rush from the 
 spot half distracted with disappointment. 
 
 Not far from his mother’s picture hung another 
 still more remarkable — the portrait of an exquisitely 
 beautiful woman with blue-black hair. The artist 
 had represented her in the act of mounting a horse. 
 A red velvet cloak, embroidered with gold and 
 bordered with fur, hung over her left shoulder, and 
 in her right hand, which was covered with a long. 
 
22 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 wrinkled, gauntleted glove, she tenaciously grasped 
 her riding-whip. It was easy to imagine her bring- 
 ing it down with a will on the back of a mauvais 
 sujet. The whole figure was instinct with indomi- 
 table spirit and energy. Life glowed in the dark 
 eyes that flashed imperiously from the canvas, as 
 if demanding the homage of all who came within 
 their radius. This was his grandmother in her 
 youth — the old lady whose shrill scolding tongue, 
 and witch-like appendages in the shape of gold- 
 headed canes, liqueur-glasses, and snuff-boxes, were 
 indissolubly associated with the boy^s earliest 
 memories. She had been the evil star of his 
 house. Before her marriage, one of the most 
 admired beauties of the Polish Court in Saxony, 
 she had instilled into his father with the milk from 
 her breast love for the country of the Pole, so that 
 he, a nobleman of German name and lineage, living 
 on German soil, grew up to hate the land of his 
 birth, and to set all his affections on the moribund 
 chimera of Polish nationality. Though he had 
 married a German lady, he had not hesitated to 
 give his son a Polish name, which, to be doomed 
 to bear at a time when the spirit of hyper-sensitive 
 patriotism was rampant in the land, seemed a worse 
 misfortune by far than being afflicted by some 
 hereditary disease. 
 
 But what was the innocent name of Boleslav com- 
 pared with the indelible disgrace that his father, 
 through his insane infatuation for the Poles, had 
 since brought on him and his race ? 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 23 
 
 And now he was dead, this father, and of the 
 dead one should speak no evil. Yet even as he 
 repeated this truism to himself, the consciousness 
 of the stain with which he was branded, which no 
 power on earth could remove, overwhelmed him 
 with acutest anguish. 
 
 Passionately he threw up his arms towards the 
 soft, blue, star-spangled heavens, as if he fain 
 would demand that the soul of his father should 
 be instantly brought to judgment, no matter in 
 what remote planet it might be hiding. 
 
 Then came a reaction. His vehemence was suc- 
 ceeded by a gentler mood. He flung himself on the 
 damp, dewy grass by the roadside, and buried his 
 face in his hands. He felt he should like to cry. 
 But his lids remained dry and burning. The 
 thought of his immediate future was almost more 
 than he could bear. He reflected that in a few 
 hours he should find a forsaken wilderness, a 
 howling desolation, where once bathed in all the 
 rosy radiance of his boyish vision he had beheld a 
 scene of sylvan peace and beauty. 
 
 For though he had been a lonely, motherless 
 boy, it would have been wicked and ungrateful to 
 maintain that even his childhood had not had 
 its share of sunshine, and boasted its hours of 
 unalloyed delight. Had he not been allowed to 
 roam where he listed, through field and forest, 
 untrammelled by conventions about meals and bed- 
 time, as free to do as he pleased as any Robin 
 Hood or gipsy in Arcadia? When the soft May 
 
24 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 zephyrs breathed on the shaking grasses, and the 
 yellow butterfly danced from flower to flower, he 
 had lain on his back between the tall blades and 
 meadow-sweet, looking up into the blue sky, his 
 day-dreams undisturbed. He might have stayed 
 there from morning to night; so long as he was 
 not hungry he did stay, and it mattered to no one. 
 
 If he took it into his head to wander off with the 
 shepherd to the distant moorlands, to partake of 
 black bread from his wallet, and quench his thirst 
 at the babbling streams, who was there to prevent 
 it ? He was his own master. Round the Castle, 
 which commanded an extensive view of the country, 
 flowed the sparkling, merry river, in great serpen- 
 tine curves, between its wooded banks and green 
 terraces. By the river-side there was always some- 
 thing of interest going on. There the grooms 
 watered the horses, the tanner washed his skins, 
 and the boys winked from behind their fishing-rods 
 at the servant-girls paddling bare-legged in and 
 out of the water. But greatest delight of all — 
 when the sun went down behind the alders, the 
 stately wild deer would venture cautiously out of 
 the neighbouring thicket, climb down the steep 
 incline, through bush and briar, and thirstily lap up 
 the moisture with its parched tongue. Often it was 
 necessary to lie in ambush more than half-an^hour 
 without moving so much as a hair to witness this 
 enchanting spectacle, otherwise it would have 
 vanished like a mirage. And what in the world 
 could be more glorious than, when the moon rose 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 25 
 
 and cast a silver network on the ripples ; when the 
 alders looked like white-veiled princesses, and the 
 lively wenches sang over their griddle snatches of 
 plaintive song, to plunge into the depths of the 
 wood, and with a canopy of foliage overhead, and 
 moonbeams dancing round you, dream the night 
 away, and wake to greet the dawn ? He let his 
 hands fall from his face ; and stared round him with 
 vacant, wild eyes. The fields lay white and still 
 in the moonlight. 
 
 Only the tree under which he rested cast dark, 
 jagged bars of shadow over the peaceful landscape. 
 A pitiful sound like the scream of a child in distress 
 arose in the distance. It came from a young hare 
 that had lost itself in the furrows, and frightened 
 and hungry was crying for its mother, little sus- 
 pecting that every yell was but a fresh signal to its 
 murderers. He was thrilled with compassion for 
 the sufferings of dumb creation, as he rose and 
 pursued his way. . . . Reminiscences still kept 
 pace with his footsteps. 
 
 Now it was his school-days that came vividly back 
 to him — the time when the old Pastor Gotz had 
 undertaken his education, and the white parsonage 
 among the nut-bushes became his second home. 
 No more vagabond roamings now, for the grey- 
 bearded, fiery -tempered old parson was a stern 
 disciplinarian, and kept his pupils in good order. 
 There were ten or twelve of them — boys and girls 
 together ; — children of the well-to-do farmer class. 
 He had, of course, never associated with the children 
 
26 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 of the peasantry, who were allowed to run wild and 
 grow up like young cattle. This was not to be 
 wondered at, considering the village schoolmaster, 
 an ex-valet of his father’s, superannuated through 
 drink, spent most of the time that should have been 
 engaged in teaching the young idea how to shoot, in 
 the various taverns of the neighbourhood. 
 
 Felix Merckel, son of the village innkeeper, was 
 the one of his comrades he remembered best — a 
 strapping, unruly lad, who, at the age of ten, wore 
 top-boots and carried a gun, and whose tendency to 
 bully kept the whole school in subjection. Even 
 Boleslav himself, though two years younger, and 
 of a retiring nature that had little in common with 
 the elder boy’s somewhat bumptious temperament, 
 was much influenced by him. Yet his position as 
 the squire’s son was never lost sight of, and Felix 
 joined with his other schoolfellows in paying him a 
 sort of sly homage in deference to it. Felix was his 
 mentor in all boyish accomplishments. He taught 
 him to swim, Xd row, to snare birds, to make fire- 
 works, to shoot rabbits, and even to plunder the 
 poor peasants’ garden during church time on Sun- 
 day evenings. And though the fruit in his own 
 garden, which he was at liberty to pick whenever 
 he liked, was a thousand times sweeter and more 
 luscious than the hard, sour stuff he clambered after 
 at the risk of breaking his neck, he could not with- 
 stand the allurements of those secret raids. After- 
 wards he was often seized with remorse on account 
 of them, and was so heartily ashamed of himself 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 27 
 
 that he would pay back in the morning a hundred- 
 fold what he had stolen over-night. Such acts of 
 reparation, rfevertheless, were only received with 
 scowls or smiles of malice, for the unfortunate 
 canaille were compelled by benighted feudal laws 
 to plough and delve on his father’s estates, and were 
 sorely oppressed ; therefore it was only natural that 
 the boy should reap to the full the harvest of bitter 
 hate sown by the father. 
 
 Of his other companions, especially of the girls, 
 he had nothing but the haziest recollection. There 
 was, of course, one exception. Her bright image 
 had floated before him, through all the pain and 
 heartache that had gradually darkened his whole 
 existence, pain which even the fascinations of war 
 could not alleviate. It was her image, that like a 
 lodestar had led him into the thickest of the fight, 
 and had not faded from him as he lay wounded, 
 and, as he believed, dying. 
 
 Intense longing for her had become identified with 
 that vague yearning after happiness which still 
 sometimes possessed him, just as if his chances of 
 happiness had not, by his father’s misdeeds, been 
 irretrievably ruined. 
 
 How this love had sprung up in his breast and 
 grown apace, becoming stronger every day, till at 
 last the whole world seemed filled with its reflec- 
 tion, he hardly knew himself. 
 
 As a child, the pastor’s small daughter had always 
 been distant in her manner. The fresh, neat, fairy- 
 lilic little creature never could be coaxed by any of 
 
2 8 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 them into jumping a ditch, even if the bottom was 
 dry, and was very particular at hide-and-seek not 
 to allow her frocks to be caught hold of lest the 
 gathers should go/^ Now and then, when they were 
 alone together, Helene would show off with pride the 
 glories of her dolfs house, and point out that the 
 tiny towels had hemmed edges and a monogram. 
 They would be getting quite confidential till, in an 
 outburst of boyish spirits, he was sure to do some- 
 thing rough or clumsy which brought down on his 
 head a gentle rebuke, and he was reminded of the 
 limitations of their friendship. Hurt and ashamed, 
 he would afterwards try to keep out of her way, 
 but a smile of forgiveness never failed to bring him 
 to her feet, for there was a kind of sovereignty in 
 her little person that was not to be resisted. 
 
 Felix resented her power. He called her affected 
 and a mollycoddle, and teased her as only he could 
 tease. She, on her part, had an aggravating trick 
 of turning up her nose and appearing to look down 
 on him, though he was a good head taller, which 
 goaded him into tormenting her the more, and ended 
 in her running to her father, and with streaming 
 eyes begging that Felix might be punished. 
 
 At twelve years old, Boleslav left his birthplace. 
 Some relations on his mothers side, belonging to 
 the old Prussian official nobility, proposed to con- 
 tinue his education. His father had every reason 
 to congratulate himself at getting rid of him. The 
 life he had led since his wife died was scarcely 
 of a character to bear the scrutiny of innocent, 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 29 
 
 questioning, childish eyes. The Baron was in the 
 habit of bringing back to the castle from his visits 
 to the capital curious company, chiefly women, and 
 many a half-opened bud, indigenous to the soil, had 
 fallen an unwilling victim to his unbridled lust. 
 Not that he carried on his intrigues openly and 
 unashamed. It was simply that in his private life 
 he refused to recognise the restraint of any moral 
 law, and, after all, what he did was only, for the 
 most part, what his fathers had done before him. 
 Such amours were a part of the traditions of his 
 house, and were not likely to excite surprise or 
 comment, unless it were from the boy, who had 
 occasionally been an involuntary witness of assaults 
 on virtue and heartrending appeals for mercy. 
 
 There were many other transactions besides 
 these going on at the castle that were not meant 
 for his eyes. When the great Napoleon^s call to 
 arms roused that miserable cat^s-paw of European 
 ambitions, the lacerated country of Poland, from its 
 death-throes, mysterious movements were set on 
 foot in every quarter where the peculiar hiss of 
 Polish speech was heard, and even extended so 
 far as the unadulterated German regions of East 
 Prussia. 
 
 Foreigners with slim, supple figures, and sharply- 
 cut features used to arrive at Schranden Castle, 
 driving through the village at express speed in 
 small carriages, and leave again in the middle of 
 the night. The post brought innumerable sealed 
 
30 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 weeks together the Baron’s study was locked against 
 all intruders. He himself became taciturn and 
 pre-occupied, going about like a man in a dream, 
 actually permitting the stripes and weals on the 
 backs of his serfs to heal and fade away. 
 
 It was at this time that Boleslav migrated to his 
 relations in Konigsberg. Afterwards, years passed 
 calmly away, years in which he grew in stature and 
 developed in mind under the watchful care of the 
 widow of a former chancellor, who stood in the 
 place of a mother to him. All the leading families 
 in the town opened their houses to him, and by 
 degrees the old familiar scenes and faces of his 
 home became little more than shadowy memories. 
 His father’s rare and hurried visits only demon- 
 strated how estranged he had become from his son, 
 and how little love was lost between them. 
 
 Then came that terrible winter in which the war- 
 fury was let loose, devastating the old Prussian 
 provinces, and the victorious march of Napoleonic 
 cohorts resounded between the Weichsel and the 
 Memel. Scores of provincial fugitives sought 
 refuge from the invaders within the walls of 
 Konigsberg. Every house, from cellar to garret, 
 was crammed with human beings, and in the 
 streets smouldered the bivouac-fires of the soldiers 
 who were camping out in the open air. 
 
 In the midst of war’s alarms, to the accompani- 
 ment of beating of drums and bugle-blasts, it was 
 vouchsafed to Boleslav to dream for the first time 
 love’s young dream.” 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 31 
 
 He had lately turned sixteen, and his upper lip 
 was already shaded with a pencilled line of down. 
 He knew Horace’s odes to Chloe and Lydia by 
 heart, and the passion which Schiller, who had 
 recently died, had cherished for his Laura was no 
 longer a mystery to him. One January evening 
 on his way home from the gymnasium, as he 
 crossed the castle square where Russian and 
 Prussian orderlies were galloping hither and thither, 
 he caught a glimpse of a pair of blue eyes which 
 seemed turned on him with an expression of 
 friendly inquiry. He blushed, but when he ven- 
 tured to look round the eyes had vanished. The 
 same thing happened again the next evening. Not 
 till it happened a third time could he summon 
 sufficient courage to watch more carefully and 
 discover that the eyes belonged to a fair young 
 face, which could boast besides a straight little 
 nose, delicately curved lips, which naively smiled 
 at him. The face reminded him of an old altar- 
 piece in the cathedral representing the Virgin Mary 
 standing in a garden of stiff white lilies and short- 
 stalked crimson roses. Of something else it re- 
 minded him too, and it puzzled him to think what. 
 He was racking his brains to remember, when a 
 rosy glow tinged the girl’s fair cheeks, and the 
 charming lips opened. 
 
 Boleslav ! ” they lisped. Is it you ? ” 
 
 Now, of course, he knew. 
 
 ** Helene, Helene ! You / ” he exclaimed joyously. 
 
 Had she not bashfully evaded him, he would have 
 
32 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 embraced her then and there in the middle of 
 the crowded square, regardless of spectators in 
 the shape of giggling servant-maids and ribald 
 soldiers. They withdrew into a more secluded 
 street, and she told him that on the advance of 
 the enemy her father had sent her for the sake 
 of safety to board with an old aunt, who had set 
 up an institution for the daughters of poor clergy- 
 men. Here she was very happy, and was making 
 the most of her time, studying French and music, 
 for she hoped that in the future she might render 
 her father assistance with his school, for it was 
 not likely she would ever marry. 
 
 All this she related in a quiet, old-fashioned way, 
 which excited his respectful admiration, casting 
 smiling side-long glances at him as she talked. 
 Of his father she could not tell him much ; the last 
 time she had met him he had looked very fierce. 
 It was some time since she had had any news from 
 home, because the French were quartered there; 
 but Felix Merckel was in Konigsberg, and she saw 
 him now and then. He was apprenticed to a 
 corn merchant, and thought himself quite the fine 
 gentleman. He wasn’t likely to come to any good 
 though, for he smoked cigars and wore loud Turkish 
 neckties. She ended by giving him leave to call 
 on her at her aunt’s on Friday — Friday being the 
 day for visitors at the institution. 
 
 Then she tripped lightly away, swaying her 
 slender limbs from side to side, and as he watched 
 her, he felt as if the Virgin in the altar-piece had 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 33 
 
 graciously condescended to appear to him in the 
 flesh, and was now returning to her lilies and 
 crimson roses. 
 
 On Friday he pulled the bell of the institution 
 and was admitted. He did not find her, it is true, 
 among lilies and roses, but there were some plants 
 of fuchsia and geranium in the room, whose faded, 
 dusty leaves made a pretty background to the 
 girlish figure. The glow of the winter sunset came 
 through the diamond-pane windows, and spread a 
 rosy veil over her face. Perhaps, too, the pleasure 
 of meeting an old friend made her blush a little. 
 The aunt, a toothless, antique spinster, with patches 
 and a powdered toupee, exhausted herself with 
 curtseying and compliments, and after regaling the 
 distinguished visitor with chocolate, in a bowl of 
 superb old English china, vanished as noiselessly 
 as if the earth had swallowed her up. That was 
 the first of a succession of blissful, beatific 
 Fridays. 
 
 Troops went forth to battle and returned, but he 
 did not even notice them. The thunder of cannons 
 at Eylau reverberated through the town, but he was 
 deaf, and heard nothing. It often seemed to him, 
 as he looked up at the sky, that he must be lying 
 far down in the depths of the blue sea, and that 
 the world in which he had lived before was some- 
 where a long way off on the other side of the 
 azure empyrean. But that he still in reality be- 
 longed to that world, he was forcibly reminded 
 one Sunday afternoon, when the door of his attic- 
 
 C 
 
34 the sins of the FATHERS 
 
 chamber, where he was dreaming over his books, was 
 boisterously flung open, and his heaven invaded. 
 
 Hurrah ! my boy ! ” cried the intruder, with 
 outstretched arms. 'HVe been looking for you 
 everywhere for a year past, and ifs been as diffi- 
 cult as searching for a needle in a bottle of hay. 
 Even now I mightn^t have tracked you out if that 
 pious little girl Helene had not given me a hint 
 of your whereabouts.’^ 
 
 It was the harum-scarum Felix, and the Turkish 
 necktie of which the beloved had spoken, flapped 
 over either shoulder in aggressive fly-away ends. 
 
 Boleslav returned the greeting more heartily than 
 a few weeks ago he would have thought possible ; 
 since his meeting with Helene, the old home and 
 the old life had come back to him very distinctly, 
 and his heart felt drawn to this once inseparable 
 friend of his boyhood. 
 
 Felix did not stand on ceremony, but threw him- 
 self on the sofa, and as he stretched his legs on 
 the leather cushions looked round him in amazed 
 admiration. The room seemed to him the embodi- 
 ment of luxury and magnificence. 
 
 ^'You are domiciled here like a prince in the 
 ‘Arabian Nights,’” he exclaimed; “that’s what 
 comes of being born a Junker y I suppose. I wish 
 I was. Such as we have to rough it, and ” 
 
 He paused in order to shoot through his front 
 teeth a stream of dark-brown saliva, a habit he 
 had learnt from the sailors on the quays. After 
 this, he frequently visited Boleslav’s sequestered 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 35 
 
 retreat, devoured the dainties his aunt sent up to 
 him, borrowed money and books, and initiated him 
 in the mysteries of life at the water’s edge. In 
 short, he conducted himself as do most '‘men of 
 the world between fifteen and nineteen years of 
 age, who are apt to gain an ascendency over deeper 
 and more thoughtful natures than their own. 
 
 Boleslav sometimes thought of making him his 
 confidant in his love affair, but never, when it came 
 to the point, could find the right words in which 
 to express himself. So his secret remained, as he 
 thought, buried in his heart of hearts. But one 
 day Felix astounded him by saying — 
 
 “ Don’t think I am blind ! I have discovered 
 some time ago that you are head over heels in love 
 with a certain little prude. She’s pretty enough, 
 but a bit too good for me.” 
 
 The blood mounted swiftly and angrily to Bole- 
 slav’s brow, and he demanded with dignity that 
 henceforth no disrespectful word be spoken of the 
 fair Helene in his presence. And Felix, though he 
 made a contemptuous grimace, was careful not to 
 offend again by any jibing allusion to his love. 
 
 Later he announced his intention of enlisting 
 in the English navy as a midshipman, that he might 
 be “ revenged on the tyrant of his downtrodden 
 Fatherland,” as he expressed it, and Boleslav looked 
 up to him in consequence with a profounder rever- 
 ence than ever. 
 
 Then a day came when this friend passed him in 
 the street without bestowing on him a shake of the 
 
36 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 hand, or even a nod. Only a scornful shrug of the 
 shoulders indicated that he had seen him at all. 
 Utterly disconcerted, he gazed after the rapidly 
 disappearing figure that seemed anxious to get 
 out of his way as quickly as possible. 
 
 What could be the meaning of this extraordinary 
 behaviour ? The same evening, with tears pouring 
 down his face, he wrote asking for an explanation. 
 Before there was time for an answer, a messenger 
 brought him a parcel of books and a note that ran 
 as follows : — 
 
 To His Hochgeboren Herrn 
 
 Boleslav von Schranden. 
 
 ** Having become apprised of events that have 
 recently taken place in Schranden, I consider that 
 it would be beneath my dignity, and contrary to all 
 my patriotic principles, to continue our intercourse. 
 The books you have lent me are therefore returned. 
 The money will follow in due course as soon as I 
 have earned the same. Meanwhile the messenger 
 will hand you five silver groschens. — In humble 
 submission, your Hochgeboren^s obedient servant, 
 
 Felix Merckel.” 
 
 Boleslav felt as if some one had struck him a blow 
 from behind. He was so bitterly humiliated that 
 for a whole day he daren^t look any human being 
 in the face. At last he resolved to tell Helene of 
 his trouble, in the hope that she might be able to 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 37 
 
 give him tidings that would at least end his fearful 
 suspense. She had forbidden him to speak to her 
 in the street, because she considered such meetings 
 out of doors unnecessary and improper, as he was 
 allowed to call at the institution. Yet, in spite of 
 her veto, he waylaid her and showed her Felix’s 
 letter. As usual, she smiled sweetly and consolingly, 
 but could throw little light on the matter. The last 
 time she had heard from her father, the letter had 
 been full of nothing but the unfortunate engagement 
 which had taken place in the wood near Schranden, 
 when the Prussian soldiers had been completely 
 routed. That had been in all the newspapers. 
 There was only one means of learning the whole 
 truth. Helene could walk along by the river’s 
 bank, where the clerks from the great warehouses 
 lounged away their spare time, and make inquiries 
 of Felix. This she consented to do, though reluc- 
 tantly ; and he, in a fever of anxiety, waited for her 
 return on one of the bridges. 
 
 ‘^He does think too much of himself! ” she said, 
 as she came back slowly from her errand, the colour 
 deepening in her cheeks. '^And so they all do, 
 these merchants’ clerks. It’s not likely that I should 
 allow any of them to make love to me ! ” 
 
 She smiled, and hid her burning face in the blue 
 silk reticule she always carried. 
 
 But you needn’t mind him, dear Boleslav. Since 
 he has determined to go as a midshipman, he has 
 got love for the Fatherland on the brain.” 
 
 How have I interfered with his love for the 
 
38 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 Fatherland ? asked Boleslav. ** Don^t I abominate 
 that bloodhound Bonaparte as much as he does ? ” 
 Helene was silent, and gathered the folds of her 
 cloak closer about her slender limbs, to keep out the 
 bitter winter wind. Then she continued — 
 
 ^‘You may rely on me. I will never bear a 
 grudge against you for it.^' 
 
 For what ? Good God, tell me at once ! ” 
 
 And then at last the mystery was cleared up. 
 ^^You mustn’t take it too much to heart, dearest 
 Boleslav. At home in the village they all say that 
 your father showed the French the path by the 
 Cats’ Bridge in the middle of the night, so that 
 they might surprise the Prussians ; and that gipsy- 
 looking Regina, the carpenter’s daughter — you re- 
 member the little curly-headed thing who was at 
 school with you and me — she confessed it, because 
 it was she who really led the way. And now the 
 people call your father the betrayer of his country, 
 and refuse to work for him any more, and have 
 burnt down his house.” 
 
 Ah ! so that was it. Now he knew all. In 
 that hour his life’s budding joys and hopes were 
 withered like the blossoms of a tree struck by 
 lightning in May. How intolerable were these 
 memories of darkest hours of silent torture — hours 
 in which he was oppressed with a sense of crime, 
 and when shame literally consumed him ! 
 
 It was some time before the news of the betrayal 
 was openly spoken about in Konigsberg. Months 
 passed before the first signs that it had become 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 39 
 
 known manifested themselves, and during these 
 months his whole character underwent a complete 
 change. 
 
 His glance became shifty and uneasy, his colour 
 often forsook him. Shy and awkward he withdrew 
 himself more and more from society, and frequented 
 none of his old haunts. He would start and tremble 
 at every word unexpectedly addressed to him. Then 
 came days when the masters at the gymnasium began 
 to look askance at him, and the pupils to shun him 
 — days in which his aunt kept her room to escape 
 his morning greeting, and the family sat in conclave 
 behind closed doors, when the servants began to set 
 his orders at defiance, and from time to time spat on 
 the ground as they passed his door. 
 
 So he watched it creeping on, nearer and nearer, 
 the cold, clammy monster, that, snake-like, was to 
 bind his limbs and freeze the blood in his veins. 
 He watched its wriggling progress, heard the 
 gloating hiss of its approach, and defenceless, 
 paralysed, he stared it stonily in the face, lacking 
 the courage to cry out, or even to moan. 
 
 He had lost Helene too. Not through any fault 
 of hers. She had still allowed him to go on pulling 
 the institution bell on Fridays as if nothing had hap- 
 pened, and had been friendly as ever, and had even 
 tried to distract his thoughts from the painful subject 
 on which they incessantly brooded, with mild little 
 jokes. But was it because he was himself so altered 
 that he could only see the rest of the world through 
 a distorting mist of shame, or had she really, since 
 
40 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 that day of the revelation, adopted a tone of pitying 
 compassion towards him ? Anyhow, he became 
 more and more embarrassed in her presence, and 
 dared not meet her eye. 
 
 One day, instead of Helene, the old schoolmistress 
 received him alone. She curtseyed and grinned as 
 usual, and assured him, a hundred times at least, 
 that she was his humblest servant; but what she 
 proceeded to unfold seemed to Boleslav the last 
 straw. Her dear nephew, the Herr Pastor ^ she 
 stuttered, thought it best that the intimacy between 
 his daughter and the young nobleman should ter- 
 minate, and in order that there should be no further 
 temptation to continue it, had decided to remove 
 her instantl}^ from the town of Konigsberg. A note 
 sealed with blue sealing-wax contained Helene^s 
 farewell : — 
 
 Dear, dear Boleslav, — My father commands 
 me to give up my friendship with you. I must obey 
 him. Good-bye. I shall always be fond of you — 
 — always. I swear it. Your 
 
 ‘‘Helene.” 
 
 Six hastily scribbled lines ! Were these to be 
 his food and drink through a life of longing and 
 renunciation? Yet had he any right to expect 
 more ? Had she not promised to be true, and to 
 hold to him though every one else had cast him off? 
 From that time forward she became for him trans- 
 figured and a saint. Her face became more than 
 ever identified in his imagination with that of the 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 41 
 
 Madonna he had seen in the Cathedral, and when- 
 ever he pictured her he beheld her adorned with an 
 aureole, and surrounded by lilies and roses. 
 
 Had it not been for his extreme youth, energy 
 and self-reliance might possibly have helped him 
 over the abyss of enervating grief ; but a habit of 
 childlike respect, a latent instinct of veneration, 
 put the idea of asking his father to explain what 
 had happened, much less of calling him to account 
 for it, out of the question. It was his unexpected 
 appearance on the scene that at last roused in him 
 a spirit of revolt. 
 
 He was now seventeen, and would have been 
 ready to pass into the university, even if the autho- 
 rities of the gymnasium had not repeatedly hinted 
 that his withdrawal would be in every way desirable. 
 Even his kindly aunt, who had carefully avoided 
 referring to the rumour through which she herself 
 suffered keenly, had, as mercifully as she knew how, 
 spoken to him about the advisability of his going 
 somewhere else to finish his studies. 
 
 Under other circumstances, his pride, his zeal for 
 fair-play and his own honour, would have rebelled 
 against this unjust dismissal. But now in his un- 
 speakable bitterness, he cherished only one wish, and 
 that was to hide away somewhere with his disgrace, 
 and be seen by no human eye. 
 
 And in this mood he stood one day face to face 
 with his father. 
 
 The baron had come to town, to call in the aid of 
 the law in dealing with his rebellious peasants, but 
 
42 
 
 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 had found every door shut in his face. His fury 
 knew no bounds ; he appeared to have lost all 
 control over himself, and his demeanour was one of 
 desperate defiance. 
 
 At the sight of the short stubborn figure, the 
 bull-neck and the grey fiery eyes rolling in their 
 red sockets, Boleslav was seized with the old boyish 
 terror He had to pull himself together with a 
 tremendous effort before he could bring the fatal 
 question over his lips. 
 
 ^‘Father, is it true what people are saying, 
 that 
 
 Suspicion blazed up in the small grey eyes. 
 
 ^^Eh? — what are people saying? he interrupted. 
 
 ‘‘That it was through you that the French found 
 out the path by the Cats^ Bridge.^' 
 
 “And what if it was through me, you Hottentot ? 
 What if I did avenge the wrongs of the down- 
 trampled Pole on this pack of cowardly Russian 
 thieves ? These hulking, stupid, lazy serfs, who 
 would only get their deserts if the great Napoleon 
 extirpated them altogether from off the face of the 
 earth. Don^t gape at me like that, clown ! What I 
 did was done as a sacred duty. Heavily chained, 
 scourged human beings cried out imploringly to me, 
 ‘ Save us, save us ! ^ I could not save them, it is 
 true ; that work was reserved for a greater than I — 
 but I could at least helpj help him, who like an 
 avenging angel swept over Europe and laid it waste 
 — help to annihilate a handful of ruffians I saw 
 providentially delivered into my hand.^^ 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 43 
 
 As he held forth thus, his short figure seemed 
 to grow. His eyes flashed fire. The demon of 
 fanaticism that so strongly resembles inspiration, 
 its angelic sister, enveloped him in its red-hot, 
 glowing mantle. 
 
 Boleslav shrank away, trembling. He felt keenly, 
 how completely every tie between him and this man 
 was now severed. 
 
 ^^Let them whisper, and nudge each other as I 
 pass,^^ he continued, and make faces ; what the 
 devil do I care ? They daren’t do it so long as the 
 Corsican lion held them in his claws. And after 
 all, who is to prove it against me ? If it hadn’t 
 been for that fool Regina, who let her father hunt 
 her down in the Bockshorn, every one would natu- 
 rally have supposed that General Latour, with his 
 inventive brain, had found out the way over the 
 river and through the wood of his own accord. As 
 it is, the wretches are all at my throat. . . . The 
 peasants are no longer to be brought to heel with 
 the knout. They’ve always been so fond of me, 
 you see. If what the papers say is true, and the 
 king is willing to let the mutiny continue, they’ll 
 lynch me, as sure as fate. You will have good 
 cause to congratulate yourself on your succession, 
 my boy ! ” 
 
 Those were the last words his father had ever 
 spoken to him, for the conversation which had taken 
 place in his own study, was interrupted at this point 
 by the entrance of his aunt. 
 
 The aristocratic old lady recoiled from the touch 
 
44 the sins of the FATHERS 
 
 of the Barones red muscular hand as from that of 
 some poisonous reptile. But mastering her repug- 
 nance, she asked for a few minutes^ private talk with 
 him. 
 
 What decision they came to over his future he 
 was never to know, for even before the short inter- 
 view had elapsed, his former life already lay behind 
 him like a nightmare, and he stood in the street and 
 reflected through which of the city-gates he should 
 wander out into the wide world. Finally, the goal 
 of his travels proved to be a small property in a 
 remote corner of Lithuania, where he found rest in 
 hard work, and an opportunity of fitting himself 
 for the duties of a landed proprietor. 
 
 Years went by. For him they meant unremitting 
 labour for his daily bread — a struggle for existence 
 full of hardships, which, however, could be engaged 
 in without shame, or any wounding of his amour 
 propre. For now he no longer bore the abhorred 
 name of his fathers. If at the same time he only 
 could have cast off, like a soiled garment, the host 
 of bitter recollections with which it was associated, 
 he would have been happier. But consciousness of 
 the infamy that clung to the discarded name re- 
 mained ever present. Love for his country, which 
 hitherto had only slumbered in his heart, now 
 bounded into full life. The passion of patriotism 
 grew and grew, till it became a tormenting demon 
 which scourged him with scorpions, drove the blood 
 from his face, the sleep from his eyes, and heaped 
 the guilt of Prussians misfortunes on his shoulders. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 45 
 
 Only once during this time did news of his home 
 reach him. That was when he read in a Konigs- 
 berg news-sheet that Schranden Castle, which had 
 enjoyed such an unenviable notoriety in the winter 
 of 1807, had been burned down with all its outlying 
 buildings. Then he had folded his hands, and a 
 sound had escaped his lips like a prayer of thanks- 
 giving. 
 
 Expiation ! expiation ! must be the watchword of 
 his soul. 
 
 But as yet nothing could be expiated. Still 
 the unhappy Fatherland lay crushed beneath the 
 heel of the dictator. Then came the downfall of 
 the Great Army on the snow-covered plains of 
 Eastern Europe, and the rising of Prussia quickly 
 followed. 
 
 Now the hour had come. His hour ! He would 
 die — give his life for the Fatherland, and expiate 
 his fathers sin with his own blood. 
 
 In the volunteer Jager Baumgart, who rode into 
 Konigsberg on the 5 th of March 1813, no one recog- 
 nised the youthful Baron von Schranden, who, just 
 five years before, had fled from the town unable to 
 face the dishonour brought upon his name; and 
 there were many now hailing him with shouts and 
 cheers of welcome, who then would have driven 
 him out with stones and brickbats. 
 
 He attached himself to a cluster of intrepid sons 
 of the soil, from whose mouths the dialect of his 
 lost home fell familiarly and musically on his ear. 
 He became their friend and their leader, till suddenly 
 
46 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 a well-known face cropped up in the camp, the sight 
 of which immediately drove Lieutenant Baumgart 
 out of it. 
 
 Felix Merckel, he knew too well, would not have 
 hesitated to betray him to his comrades, and to in- 
 form them who it was that led them to battle. 
 
 What followed was like a ghastly confused phan- 
 tasmagoria, in which bloodshed, salvoes, and death- 
 rattles played their part. Why had he not died ? 
 How had he lived through it ? These were the 
 questions he asked himself on first regaining con- 
 sciousness and opening his eyes on the world, after 
 lying for months between life and death. For him, 
 then, no French sabre had been sharpened, no 
 French bullet fired. 
 
 The one complete atonement his conscience told 
 him it was in his power to make had been denied 
 him. Was a heavier one awaiting him now, as he 
 drew near the dusky woodlands of his birthplace 
 in the dim, grey dawn of day ? 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 It was eight o^clock in the morning, and already the 
 rays of the sun had strengthened, as Boleslav left 
 the wild tangle of the forest behind him, and beheld 
 his home stretched out at his feet. 
 
 He had not set eyes on it for ten years. His 
 first fierce impulse now was to shake his fist at the 
 village which lay there so hypocritically idyllic in 
 the calm of early morning, with its white toy cot- 
 tages set in bowf'^s of green bushes, its curls oi 
 blue-grey smoke, and opalescent slate church spire 
 rising peacefully against the sky. 
 
 Beyond were the magnificent groups of old trees 
 with dark, almost black foliage and yellowish trunks 
 belonging to the Castle park, which sloped away on 
 the eastern side of the hill. But the Castle itself, 
 that had crowned the hill with its shining battle- 
 mented twin-towers, and had queened the landscape 
 far and wide — where was it ? Had the earth opened 
 and swallowed the imposing structure wliole ? For 
 a moment he was startled and shocked at its total 
 disappearance. Then he remembered. How stupid 
 it was to have forgotten ! They had burnt it down, 
 razed it to the ground. 
 
 Many and many a time he had thought of that 
 
 47 
 
48 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 deed of violence, which had laid waste the inherit- 
 ance of his fathers, with a sort of grim satisfaction. 
 But now, when he saw with his bodily eyes the 
 scene of the conflagration, he felt sullen resentment 
 rise in his heart. 
 
 ** Incendiaries ! Accursed incendiaries ! ” he cried, 
 and once more shook his fist at the homesteads of 
 his enemies. Hzs enemies? Yes, in the flash of 
 a moment it seemed clearly demonstrated that his 
 father’s enemies must be his enemies. Had he not 
 inherited them, together with these woods and fertile 
 valleys, with yonder smoked, blackened heap of 
 ruins (he now noticed it for the first time) that 
 reared itself like the mighty hand of a giant calling 
 down the wrath of Heaven — together with that 
 awful crime, which no one on earth hated more 
 than he did, from which no one had suffered as he 
 had suffered. . . . And though, instead of filial love, 
 he had cherished nothing but a sensation of paralys- 
 ing fear towards his father, though for years he had 
 deliberately cut himself adrift from ties of kindred, 
 and the performance of duties that custom and 
 civilisation impose on those who are destined to 
 hand down an ancient name and inherit vast estates 
 — in spite of it all, the fact remained that it was his 
 father’s blood flowing in his v«ins, and he felt it 
 at this moment coursing through them tumultuously, 
 and rising in hot anger at the wrong that had been 
 done his race. 
 
 A wild gleam shone in his eyes as he fumbled 
 with his left hand for the leather case strung over 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 49 
 
 his shoulder, from which obtruded the burnished 
 knobs of a pair of cavalry pistols. 
 
 Won^t bury him ! he murmured through his 
 clenched teeth, clasping the pistols close. Won^t 
 bury him, indeed ! We shall see ! And with a 
 bitter, mirthless laugh, he walked resolutely down 
 into the village. 
 
 The one long straggling street lay before him, 
 deserted and basking in the brilliant sunshine. 
 The cart-ruts in the rich clay soil shone as if they 
 had been glazed ; bottle-glass and rags from old 
 besoms filled the interstices to prevent the accu- 
 mulation of stones. On either side of the road stood 
 the thatched cottages of the peasants, shaded by 
 limes and chestnuts, some of whose leaves were 
 ^ even now beginning to look autumnally sere and 
 yellow. These peasants had formerly been under 
 the jurisdiction of the Castle, and only since the 
 new rural laws came into force had been relieved 
 of their service and joined the freemen. 
 
 Here and there he saw a new fence painted in 
 glaring colours, as if the owner wished to mark off 
 his recently acquired possession from the rest of 
 the inhabited globe. In other respects the new 
 regime had left everything much the same. Sun- 
 flowers and herbs bloomed in the front gardens as 
 they had always done ; damp mattresses hung out 
 of the windows to air just as of old. Only the 
 number of taverns had increased. Boleslav counted 
 three, whereas once the Black Eagle had reigned 
 supreme and met all the requirements of the place. 
 
 D 
 
50 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 Nearer the church were the white houses of the 
 free artisans, burghers as they were called, who 
 paid to the Castle ground-rent, and therefore en- 
 joyed the privilege of cultivating their own vegetable 
 plots as they pleased. There were a couple of 
 blacksmiths with the sign of a horseshoe over the 
 entrance of their forges, two or three cobblers, a 
 wheelwright, a basketmaker, and a 
 
 He paused and let his eyes rest on a dilapidated 
 tumble-down hovel, the most wretched in the whole 
 row. A dirty green shield hung over the door, bear- 
 ing the almost obliterated inscription — 
 
 ‘‘HANS HACKELBERG, 
 
 CARPENTER AND PARISH UNDERTAKER.” 
 
 A coffin, also painted green, supported by pillars, 
 loomed down on the neglected garden, and gave to 
 those who couldn^t read, the necessary information. 
 At the sight of it an incident long forgotten occurred 
 to Boleslav with extraordinary distinctness. He 
 saw again a little untidy girl with great, dark, tear- 
 ful eyes and a tangled cloud of black, curly hair 
 flying about her face and shoulders in wild dishevel- 
 ment. She had clung to this garden gate with one 
 hand, while with the other she held the corner of 
 her blue print pinafore convulsively pressed against 
 her bosom. A pack of village hobbledehoys were 
 pelting her with sticks and stones. He was not 
 much taller than she was, but at his approach the 
 little crowd made way for him, shy and awestruck. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 51 
 
 For he was the ‘‘young Junker who had only to 
 lift his finger, they thought, to bring down blessings 
 or curses on their heads. 
 
 “What is going on here ? ” he had asked, where- 
 upon the persecuted child had humbly advanced, 
 and opened her pinafore just wide enough for him to 
 get a glimpse inside. 
 
 “Beasts! They wanted to take it away from 
 me ! ” she had exclaimed, lifting her wet eyes to 
 his, blazing with indignation. 
 
 A poor unfledged sparrow, which somehow or other 
 had fallen out of the nest, reposed in the pinafore. 
 
 “ Give it to me,^^ he had demanded, for he loved 
 young birds ; and obediently she had held out her 
 pinafore for him to snatch it away. As beseemed 
 a lordling, he had not said thank you, or troubled 
 himself further about the giver. 
 
 And that was she — the girl who, it was said, had 
 shown the French the path by the Cats’ Bridge, and 
 had lived with his father as his mistress to the last. 
 
 Why had he defended her then ? Why had he 
 prevented the pack hunting her down ? One blow 
 on the forehead from a stone might then and there 
 have cut short her mischievous career ! 
 
 He walked on. Now and then a dull, dirty face 
 peered at him curiously through the small, dark 
 window-panes, or a cur barked. But he passed 
 unmolested through the village. It was unlikely 
 enough that any one would recognise him. The 
 parsonage came in view with its shady veranda, 
 trim flower-beds, and nut-trees. It looked as quiet 
 
 libhahy 
 
 tJNiVERsrrroF 
 
 iLLimm 
 
52 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 and peaceful as on that morning long ago, when, 
 with a sigh of relief at escaping from the pastoFs 
 stern rule, he had seen it for the last time from the 
 post-chaise, and Helene had waved him farewell 
 with her little cambric handkerchief. With lower- 
 ing brow he now took a short cut that he might 
 avoid passing it. It seemed as if Helene must still 
 be standing on the lawn waving her handkerchief. 
 But what if she had been there? It would have 
 been impossible for him to go to her. A path on 
 his left led down to the river, which divided the 
 Castle domain from the villagers’ territory. As he 
 turned into it he became aware of the frightful 
 ravages the fire had made. Instead of the long line 
 of barns and stables which had been ranged on this 
 side of the river stood a row of ruins, falling walls 
 and scorched beams, grown over with celandine and 
 valerian. Beyond could be seen, through gaps in 
 the walls, the courtyard, now a weedy, grass-grown 
 rubbish heap, and on the summit of the hill, behind 
 a lattice formed of the leafless branches of dead 
 elms, a black ruined mass of fantastically jagged 
 brickwork — all that remained of the once proud 
 Castle. 
 
 His arms fell heavily to his sides. A sound 
 escaped him like a sob, a sob for vengeance. 
 
 He dragged his way laboriously along the banks 
 of the river to the drawbridge, which was the main 
 mode of access to the island ; for, since his grand- 
 father’s time, the whole of the Castle grounds had 
 been, by means of an aqueduct, practically con- 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 53 
 
 verted into an island. The drawbridge, at least, 
 was still en evidence. It looked like a remnant of 
 antiquity as it hung with its grey projecting timbers 
 on its black, clumsy buttresses, at the foot of which 
 the ripples broke with a gurgling sound. The rusty 
 chains were tightened, and between terra firma 
 and the floating edge of the bridge was a space of 
 about three feet, which could be jumped with ease. 
 Some one had evidently tried to draw it up, and 
 failed in the effort. 
 
 Boleslav sprang over and passed through the 
 stone gateway, whose nail-studded doors, half- 
 burnt, were thrown back on their hinges. Sud- 
 denly he heard a sharp clicking sound at his feet 
 resembling the snap of a bowstring. He stopped, 
 and saw, to his horror, the iron semicircle of a 
 fox-trap half-buried in the rubbish, and carefully 
 covered with birch-broom. The long pointed teeth 
 of the iron jaw had closed on each other in a 
 tenacious grip. By a miracle he had escaped an 
 accident which might have laid him up for many 
 weeks. 
 
 Feeling the ground with his stick, he pursued 
 his way more cautiously through the refuse and 
 litter, amongst which he came across occasionally 
 a disused waggon or the rotten barrel of a brandy 
 cask held together by iron hoops. He went on, up 
 the hill to the Castle. The path was overgrown 
 with brambles as tall as himself, and again he came 
 on traps, their wide open maws greedily eager to 
 seize him by the leg. The whole place seemed 
 
54 the sins of the FATHERS 
 
 strewn with them — the only signs of civilisation 
 he had as yet encountered. 
 
 The Castle lay before him, with yawning window- 
 frames and sundered walls, a complete ruin. Piles 
 of fallen tiles and plaster, between which rank grass 
 and weeds had sprung up, formed a mound round 
 its foundations. The vestibule, with its drooping 
 rafters, had become a perfect bower of creepers 
 and evergreens, whose luxuriant growth seemed 
 almost impenetrable. A white tablet hung among 
 the leaves, on which, in his father^s handwriting, 
 were the words, Caution to trespassers^ 
 
 He shuddered at this, the first trace he had seen 
 for six years of the man to whom he owed his 
 existence, and whom he had now come to bury. 
 
 In a few moments he would be standing probably 
 beside his corpse. 
 
 But how was he to find it? What resting- 
 place could his father have found here while yet 
 alive ? 
 
 No door or unbroken window, no signs of a 
 human habitation, were visible amidst all this fearful 
 wreckage. He turned, and walked slowly the length 
 of the Castle fagade, past the towers which flanked 
 the gabled roof ; here over the blackened stone- 
 work the ivy had begun to grow afresh, enshrouding 
 it in a peaceful melancholy. From this point his 
 eye caught a vista of the park, with its giant timber 
 and wealth of undergrowth. And then he saw a 
 few yards off, on the grass-plot where once had 
 stood the statue of the goddess Diana, of which 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 55 
 
 nothing now was left but the shattered fragments and 
 pedestal, a woman. ... A slender, strongly-built 
 woman, with long plaits of dark curling hair hang- 
 ing down her back. Her primitive costume consisted 
 of a red petticoat and a chemise. She was digging 
 energetically with a heavy spade in the dark rich 
 soil, and was apparently too engrossed to notice his 
 approach. She set her naked foot at regular inter- 
 vals, as if beating time on the hard edge of the spade, 
 and with the slightest possible pressure drove it 
 deep into the earth. As she dug she sang a song 
 on two notes, a high and a low, which welled out of 
 her full breast like the sound of a sweet-toned bell. 
 The chemise, a coarse and roughly made garment, 
 had slipped off her shoulders, laying bare the strong, 
 magnificently moulded neck. When he addressed 
 her, she drew herself erect with a sudden movement 
 of surprise and alarm, and stood before him half 
 naked. 
 
 She turned on him a pair of lustrous, large dark 
 eyes. '^What do you want here?” she asked, 
 grasping the spade tighter, as if intending to use it 
 as a weapon of defence. Then lifting her other 
 arm she calmly raised the chemise over her shapely 
 bosom. 
 
 What do you want ? ” she repeated. 
 
 Still he did not answer. '^So this is she,” he 
 
 was thinking, the traitress, the courtesan, who 
 
 Should he point his pistol at her, and drive het 
 instantly from the island, so that the ground he 
 trod on might at least be clean ? ” 
 
S6 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 Meanwhile his bearing seemed to have convinced 
 her of the peacefulness of his intentions. 
 
 ^'This is no place for strangers/^ she went on. 
 ^^Go away again at once. You are lucky not to 
 have been caught in a wolfs trap." 
 
 She stood, drawn to her full height, and waved 
 him off. Then gradually she became confused 
 under his searching glance, and regarded him ner- 
 vously out of the corners of her eyes. Tossing 
 back the black tangle of hair from her sunburnt 
 cheeks, she began to fidget with her inadequate 
 garment, seeming conscious for the first time of her 
 half-nude condition. 
 
 Show me his corpse ! " he asked imperatively. 
 
 She started and stared at him for a moment 
 with astonished, questioning eyes, then threw her- 
 self weeping at his feet. 
 
 ^^Gnddiger Herr she murmured, in a voice 
 stifled with emotion. 
 
 He felt her fingers seeking his hand, and pushed 
 her violently from him. 
 
 Show me his corpse ! " he commanded again, 
 and then you may go." 
 
 She rose slowly, kicked the spade away with her 
 foot, and led the way down to the park. As they 
 neared some bushes she turned round and said 
 timidly, ''There^s a trap here." He stepped quickly 
 to one side, otherwise he would have walked straight 
 into the snare. She held back the brambles of the 
 thicket through which they were making their way, 
 to prevent the thorns scratching his face. They 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 57 
 
 came to a clearing in the wood where stood a small 
 one-storied cottage with a tall chimney, surrounded 
 by broken hot-house frames and lime heaps. It 
 was the gardener^s house, in which as a boy he had 
 often played with flower-pots, seeds, and bulbs ; the 
 one solitary building the ravages of the fire had left 
 untouched, because the incendiary had been unable 
 to find his way to it. 
 
 Again his guide warned him. Take care ! That 
 is dangerous,’^ she said, pointing to a heap of earth 
 like a mole-hill. '^Whoever steps on it is a dead 
 man,^' she added half to herself. He knelt down, 
 and with his hands dug out the bomb that lay con- 
 cealed in the soft earth, and hurled it with all his 
 might far away, so that it exploded with a loud 
 report against the trunk of a tree. She cast a shy, 
 half-scandalised glance at him over her shoulder, for 
 to her what he had done was an act of desecration. 
 
 Then she opened the door, and he found himself 
 in a dark passage. The cottage had only two rooms. 
 The one on the left of the front-door had been the 
 gardener^s dwelling-room, the other his workshop. 
 
 From the former, the door of which stood ajar, 
 issued a powerful death odour. 
 
 He went in. A body veiled in white lay on a low 
 bier in the middle of the close, gloomy little room. 
 
 Leave me,^^ he said, without looking round, and 
 he threw back the cloth. 
 
 His father ^s rigid features, covered with bristles, 
 stared up at him. The eyes had sunk far back in 
 his head ; the brows were contracted. In tLe hoi- 
 
58 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 lows of his cheeks bushy black hair had sprouted, 
 while the beard had turned partially grey. The 
 short, thick nose had shrunk, and close to the 
 firmly-shut lips that had not parted in death lay 
 a deep line, denoting intense suffering, and, at the 
 same time, defiant scorn ; as Boleslav looked down 
 on it, the line seemed to deepen still more, and at 
 last to quiver and play round the mouth that was 
 still for ever. 
 
 He dropped on his knees, and, with folded hands, 
 prayed a paternoster. His tears fell fast, and 
 rained heavily on the waxen face of the dead man. 
 
 Your guilt is my guilt,^^ he whispered hoarsely. 
 'Hf I don^t defend your memory, who else will? 
 No one in all the world.^' 
 
 Then he covered up the body again with the 
 white cloth, for flies were swarming round it. As 
 he turned away, he observed the girfs dark head 
 pressed against the foot of the bier. Her sym- 
 metrical neck and shoulders shone out in relief 
 from the shadowy background. 
 
 '^What are you doing here?*' he demanded 
 roughly. She crouched down, shivering, and raised 
 her left shoulder, as if to ward off a threatened 
 blow. Her eyes flashed a warm ray through the 
 masses of her curly hair. 
 
 ‘^No one has ever driven me away from him 
 before,’^ she murmured. 
 
 ‘^But / drive you away,” he answered with 
 decision. 
 
 She rose and quietly vanished. He tore open a 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 59 
 
 window, for he felt half suffocated, and then took 
 a survey of the apartment. It was small and 
 wretched enough, and was filled up without any 
 attempt at arrangement with the most inappro- 
 priate and heterogeneous assortment of furniture, 
 most of it evidently rescued in haste from the 
 fire ; a gold-legged table harmonised ill with rickety 
 kitchen chairs ; a peasant's canopied bed stood near 
 gorgeous consoles of inlaid marble, and a cracked 
 Venetian mirror hung beside a bullfinch’s simple 
 wicker cage. But nothing looked more out of its 
 element than the life-size portrait of the beautiful 
 Pole, his grandmother, and the original cause of all 
 the evil that had befallen him. Her haughty, arro- 
 gant eye still pierced the distance triumphantly ; the 
 small gloved hand still grasped the flexible riding- 
 whip. Kneel, slave,” the full proud lips seemed 
 to say. Only the diamond pin which used to glitter 
 in her bosom like a star was gone, for just there the 
 colour had warped, and the grey canvas beneath was 
 exposed to view. The once elegant and artistically 
 carved frame representing a garland of gilded roses 
 and cupids had suffered too, being chipped and 
 cracked in various places, where patches of coarse 
 orange paint had been daubed on to repair the 
 damage. 
 
 Probably he took every care to save that first,” 
 thought Boleslav, and had not the presence of his 
 father’s corpse restrained him, he would have 
 pulled it down from the wall, and trampled it 
 under foot. 
 
6o THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 A case containing arms stood in a corner. The 
 newest and most costly of shooting weapons were 
 ranged there, including every variety of pistol, 
 sword, and spear. Above it was unrolled a plan 
 of the Castle island, showing the spots where in- 
 geniously contrived man-traps, mines, and spring- 
 guns awaited the trespasser — roughly calculated, 
 there were over a hundred of them. 
 
 Boleslav shuddered. Surely this unhappy man 
 had been punished enough for his misdeeds in the 
 life he had been compelled to lead during his last 
 few years on earth ! Caged up like a hunted wild 
 ^ beast, his murderous contrivances were a perpetual 
 source of menace to himself, for to have forgotten 
 for a moment the position of one of his death-traps 
 must have instantly proved fatal. 
 
 When Boleslav went out at the door he stumbled 
 over Regina, who was cowering on the threshold. 
 She started to her feet with a low cry of pain, like 
 the whine of a trodden-on dog. He felt a momentary 
 thrill of compassion for her, but it vanished before 
 he had spoken the kind words that involuntarily 
 rose to his lips. 
 
 What were you lying there for ? ” he inquired 
 harshly. 
 
 It^s my place,” she answered, always regarding 
 him with the same humble, luminous glance. 
 
 Indeed ? It^s a dog^s place as a rule.” 
 
 It^s mine too.” 
 
 Your name is Regina Hackelberg ? ” 
 
 Yes, gndd'ger JunkerP 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 6i 
 
 It was you who led the French over the Cats' 
 Bridge?" 
 
 Yes, gndd^ger Junker ^ 
 
 '' Why did you do it ? " 
 
 Because I was told to do it." 
 
 Who told you ? " 
 
 She cast down her eyes. 
 
 Why don't you answer ? " 
 
 Because I was forbidden to tell." 
 
 Who forbade you ; my — he ? " 
 
 Yes ; the gndd’ger Herr^^ 
 
 So that's what you call him, eh ? " 
 
 Yes, gndd'^ger Junker ^ 
 
 '‘Call me, if you please, Herr^ and not Junker. 
 I am not Junker P 
 
 "Very well, gnddger Herr,^^ 
 
 Herr^ I say — simply Herr. Do you under- 
 stand ? " 
 
 "Yes, gndd^ger Herr.^^ 
 
 Himmelkreuzdonnerwetter ! Didn't I say you 
 were to call me Herr^ without any prefix ? " 
 
 She trembled nervously at his oath ; but when it 
 dawned on her what he meant, a smile of pleasure 
 illumined her face. 
 
 " I see, HerrJ she said, and nodded. 
 
 " I shall expect you to tell me everything," he 
 went on. " Do you hear ? " 
 
 "The gndd'ger Herr did not wish me to speak 
 about it. . . . Not to any one." 
 
 " Did he say not to any one ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
62 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 He bit his lip. Why should he inquire further 
 into the matter, when it was all as clear as day- 
 light ? This creature had been used as a tool 
 because she was stupid, and bad enough to let 
 herself be so used. 
 
 '‘How old were you at the time the French 
 came ? ’’ 
 
 Again she cast down her eyes. 
 
 " Fifteen, Herr''^ 
 
 Once more he felt softened towards her, but 
 almost immediately dark suspicion stifled his pity. 
 
 " You were paid for your work ? ” he asked 
 between his clenched teeth. 
 
 "Yes, Herr,'^ she responded calmly. 
 
 He was overwhelmed with disgust. 
 
 " How much was it ? Your bribe ? '' 
 
 " I don’t know, HerrP 
 
 "What ! You mean to say you did not stipulate 
 for a certain sum beforehand ? ” 
 
 She seemed unable to comprehend. 
 
 " My father took it all away from me,” she 
 answered. " He said it was the wages of sin. It 
 was a whole big handful of gold. I know that.” 
 
 He looked at her in amazement. 
 
 The fine head, with its wealth of wild hair cluster- 
 ing on her neck, was humbly bent. She appeared 
 not to have the slightest perception of the scorn she 
 had aroused in him ; or was she so used to it that 
 she took his contempt as a matter of course ? 
 
 "What were you doing at the Castle when the 
 French were quartered there ? ” 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 63 
 
 A dark flush suffused her face, neck, and bosom. 
 He had struck some chord of memory that awakened 
 in her a spark of shame. 
 
 was helping with the sewing,” she stammered. 
 
 Why did you come to the Castle ? ” 
 
 ^'My father told me I must. He said I was 
 to go up and ask the gnd(Tger Herr if there was 
 any sewing for me to do. I was to earn my bread 
 somehow, he said.” 
 
 Oh, indeed ! ” There was a pause, then he 
 continued : ‘‘ Go and put on a jacket, Regina.” 
 
 She passed her hand over her bosom and drew 
 her linen garment tighter round her chest, till the 
 string cut into the swelling flesh. 
 
 Well, why don^t you go ? ” 
 
 I haven^t got a jacket.” 
 
 What ! Didn't he clothe you ? ” 
 
 ^‘They tore my jacket off my back yesterday.” 
 ‘^Who?” 
 
 A gleam of burning hate flashed from her eyes. 
 
 '' Who ? Why, they — the people down there, of 
 course,” and she spat in the direction of the village. 
 
 A feeling of mingled surprise and satisfaction 
 arose within him, for here was a being who could 
 share his hatred ; some one whom fate was to asso- 
 ciate with him in the coming struggle with the 
 villagers below. 
 
 So the people down there are your foes ? ” he 
 said. 
 
 She laughed jeeringly. 
 
 I should just think they were. They throw 
 
64 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 stones at me whenever they get the chance — stones 
 as big as this/' She joined the hollows of her 
 hands together to show the size. 
 
 For how long have they thrown stones at you ?" 
 
 It must be six years/' she said after a moment's 
 calculation. 
 
 ‘^And how often have they hit you?” 
 
 Oh, lots of times. Look here ! ” and she let the 
 chemise slip down again, to display a scar extending 
 from her shoulder to the root of her bosom, which 
 marked the warm olive skin with a thin line of 
 scarlet. 
 
 But now I always take the tub with me.” 
 
 ‘^The tub?” 
 
 '‘Yes; the wash-tub. I hold it over my head 
 and neck when they come after me.” 
 
 What a wretched existence was hers — worse 
 than a dog's ! 
 
 "Why have you gone on staying here when they 
 treat you thus?” he asked. "There are other 
 places in the world.” 
 
 She gazed at him in astonishment, as if she did 
 not grasp his meaning. 
 
 " But I belong here,” she said. 
 
 "You might at least have left the island, and 
 betaken yourself somewhere where your life would 
 not always be in danger.” 
 
 She gave a short laugh. 
 
 "Was I to leave him to starve?” she asked; 
 and then, growing suddenly red, she added, correct- 
 ing herself shyly, " I mean the gndd'ger Herr^ 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 65 
 
 He nodded to reassure her, for she looked as if 
 she expected to be chastised on the spot for her slip 
 of speech, poor miserable creature ! 
 
 ** I don^t go down there oftener than I can help. 
 Generally I go over the Cats’ Bridge by night to 
 Bockeldorf, three miles away. There, at Bockel- 
 dorf, I could get flour and meat, and everything 
 else that Ae — the gnadiger Herr — wanted, if I paid 
 double the price for it, and be back by the morning. 
 But sometimes it’s impossible to get there — in a 
 snow-storm, for instance, or a flood. So when the 
 weather was very bad I was obliged to go down to 
 the village, and had to pay still more money there, 
 and even then perhaps get nothing but blows. So ” 
 — she laughed a wild, almost cunning laugh — I 
 just took what came handy.” 
 
 That means — you thieved ? ” 
 
 She gaily nodded assent, as if the achievement was 
 deserving of special praise. 
 
 She was so depraved, then, this strange, savage 
 girl, that she was quite incapable of distinguishing 
 the difference between right and wrong ! 
 
 And what were you doing in the village yester-^ 
 day ? ” he questioned anew. 
 
 Yesterday ? Well, you see, /le must be buried. 
 It’s time, Herr^ quite time. And I thought to my- 
 self, however much I cry, that won’t get him under 
 the earth.” 
 
 So you cried, did you ? ” he asked contemptu- 
 ously. 
 
 ^^Yes,” she replied, ‘‘Was it wrong?” 
 
 E 
 
66 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 Well, never mind : go on/’ 
 
 ‘'And so I took the tub and went down to the 
 pastor’s. But the pastor said I mustn’t contaminate 
 his house by coming near it, so on I went to land- 
 lord Merckel, who is mayor as you know, Herr, 
 And there the soldiers saw me ” 
 
 "What soldiers ? ” 
 
 "The soldiers who have just come from the war.” 
 She paused again. 
 
 " Go on ! ” he commanded. 
 
 "And the soldiers cried out 'Down with her — 
 strike her down ! ’ and then the chase began, and my 
 father joined in and called out ' Down with her ! ’ too, 
 but he was only drunk, as he nearly always is. . . . 
 The stones flew about, and the women and children 
 caught hold of me and held me fast, that they might 
 strike me; but I had the tub and held it with 
 both hands high over their heads, hacking with it 
 right and left like this.” She illustrated her story 
 by holding up her rounded muscular arms in the 
 air, and bringing them down again like a pair of 
 clubs. 
 
 The tall, magnificent figure before him, reminded 
 him of some antique statue in bronze. Strange, that 
 in spite of all the degradation and vileness amidst 
 which she had been reared, it should have blossomed 
 into such fulness of triumphant splendour. There 
 was something classic, too, in the mere unaffected 
 freedom with which she exposed its charms. But 
 of course in reality she was nothing but a shameless 
 hussy, long since lost to all sense of decency. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 67 
 
 '^Perhaps you have got a shawl, if not a jacket, 
 he suggested, turning his back. 
 
 Yes, I have a shawl, a woollen one.^^ 
 
 Then put it on at once.” 
 
 She disappeared silently through the door before 
 which they had been standing, and after a few 
 moments returned in a brilliant red tippet which 
 she had crossed over her breast and tied in a knot 
 behind. Now that she had awakened to the fact that 
 her half-clothed condition shocked him, she began 
 to be ashamed of even her naked arms, which she 
 had no means of concealing. She kept them folded 
 behind her back, and crept into the darkest corner 
 of the passage. 
 
 ^^Did they refuse to bury the gnadiger Herr? 
 he demanded. 
 
 ^^No — no — one said anything,” she answered, 
 because I never asked.” 
 
 <^Why not?” 
 
 '^Because I couldn’t for the stones that were 
 hurled at me. And then I thought it was no good. 
 Nobody would ever come and fetch him. I might 
 as well shovel him in myself, as best I could.” 
 
 You proposed to do it ! Without help ? ” 
 
 If I could carry him from the Cats’ Bridge into 
 the house without help, I ought to be able to bury 
 him too.” 
 
 Where — in the churchyard ?” 
 
 The churchyard ? Ha! ha! That would have 
 been a pretty piece of business. I should never 
 have got him through the village and been alive 
 
68 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 afterwards to tell the tale. It was in the garden, 
 over by the Castle. I was in the middle of digging 
 the grave when the Herr arrived.*^ 
 
 Now he felt strongly inclined to praise her. 
 Such canine fidelity, unquestioning, unhesitating, 
 touched him deeply. Did not the girl who had 
 faced death readily a thousand times for her 
 master^s sake, deserve some sort of reward ? Yes. 
 He would repay her in coin ; good hard cash would 
 doubtless be more acceptable than anything else, 
 poor thing ! And, directly he had laid his father 
 in his last resting-place, he would dismiss her 
 from his service. Till then she might stay where 
 she was. 
 
 But, at all costs, his fathers bones must lie with 
 those of his ancestors. Flis first duty, his bounden 
 duty as a son, was to procure for him a decent 
 burial, such as was granted to every Christian 
 human being. No matter what difficulties might 
 stand in the way, he determined to accomplish the 
 sacred task, even if he were driven to resort to 
 extreme measures, and call in the aid of the law. 
 He knew at least one magistrate in Prussia, a 
 relative of his mothers, who would take his side, 
 and enforce justice with an armed contingent if the 
 worst came to the worst. 
 
 He was just in the act of walking off in the 
 direction of the village, when it occurred to him 
 that it was impossible to take a hundred steps on 
 his own property without being snared into a 
 hundred death - traps. Without the woman he 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 69 
 
 detested to guide him, he was as helpless as a 
 child. 
 
 Lead me to the drawbridge/^ he said ; and 
 while I am gone clear away all the traps.^^ 
 
 But she remained motionless, as if rooted to the 
 spot. 
 
 What are you waiting for ? ” 
 
 I beg the Herrs pardon, but he has been travel- 
 ling all night, and I thought ” 
 
 What did you think ? 
 
 '' That the Herr must be very tired, and hungry 
 perhaps; and 
 
 She was right. He could hardly stand from 
 sheer exhaustion. But the idea of taking even a 
 crust from her hands filled him with loathing. 
 Rather would he be fed by his enemies. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 Meanwhile in the Black Eagle a group of 
 Schrandeners, burghers and burghers^ sons, were 
 enjoying their morning pint together. The Schran- 
 deners, who had always thought the ideal of a happy 
 life was to spend as much time as possible in the 
 tavern, were now at liberty to indulge their taste 
 from morning to night. What work they did 
 must have been accomplished very early in the 
 day, judging by the hour at which they began their 
 recreation. 
 
 Young Merckel presided at their carousals. He 
 had grown up into a fine, broad-shouldered young 
 fellow, with a cavalry moustache aggressively curled 
 up at the ends, which suited his cast of counte- 
 nance, and a manner, that even in bouts of clownish 
 dissipation retained a certain swaggering bonhomie. 
 At the conclusion of the war, instead of getting his 
 discharge, he had come home on leave, to consider 
 at his ease whether or not it would be advisable to 
 attach himself to a standing army. His profession 
 was not likely to interfere with his decision one way 
 or the other, as practically he had none. 
 
 Till his twenty-fourth year he had been employed 
 in seeing life” in different parts of the world at 
 
 70 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 71 
 
 his fathers expense, and had hailed with joy the 
 outbreak of war as a legitimate outlet for his energy, 
 which otherwise might have been turned into un- 
 worthy channels. 
 
 Like Baumgart he had entered the army as a 
 volunteer Jager; like him had passed into the 
 militia and had been promoted to the rank of lieu- 
 tenant, but unlike him, he wore as a recognition of 
 his bravery the iron cross dangling on his proudly 
 swelling breast. For the time being, he had no 
 intention of leaving his birthplace again, where he 
 was perfectly content to be regarded in the light of 
 a hero and a lion. 
 
 He drank, blustered, and helped to fan the flame 
 of hate against the traitor, hate which since the 
 return of the victorious soldiers had blazed up more 
 fiercely than ever. At his instigation the Schran- 
 deners had gone forth to destroy the Cats^ Bridge in 
 order to cut the baron off, on his island. That he 
 would be struck dead before their very eyes none in 
 their boldest dreams had dared to hope, and with- 
 out having achieved their mission they had hurried 
 back to the village to proclaim the glad tidings. 
 
 It was a foregone conclusion that the man who 
 had betrayed his country would be refused Christian 
 burial. This would put the crown on their work of 
 vengeance. They gloried in reflecting on it. The 
 mayor was on their side; the parson appeared to 
 shut his eyes to what was going on ; and there was 
 no reason to be afraid of the interference of higher 
 authority. 
 
72 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 That a champion of the dead would arise at the 
 eleventh hour was the last thing any one expected. 
 
 For the Junker — God alone knew what had 
 become of the Junker — had he not totally dis- 
 appeared, probably to die of shame in a distant 
 land ? • . . 
 
 There^s some one coming, wearing a Landwehr 
 cap,^^ said Felix Merckel, looking out through a 
 crack in the blinds on to the market-place, which lay 
 glaring and dusty in the heat of the mid-day sun. 
 
 The sounds of revelry subsided, in expectation of 
 the advent of a stranger. Felix Merckel stretched 
 out his legs and began to toy indifferently with his 
 medal. 
 
 The door swung back. The new-comer brought 
 a momentary stream of sunlight into the cool, 
 darkened room. Without a word of greeting he 
 walked to the buffet, behind which a barmaid sat 
 knitting a stocking, and inquired if he could speak 
 a few words with the mayor. The mayor was not 
 at home ; he had just gone out into the fields, the 
 barmaid told him. 
 
 Herr Merckel was fond of leaving the inn in 
 charge of his son, for he found the beer disappeared 
 twice as fast from the barrels when he was not 
 present. Felix adopted a method of stimulating 
 customers to drink, which would not have been 
 becoming in the host. He couched his invitations 
 in military slang and in figures of speech learnt in 
 the camp ; to resist them would, the Schrandeners 
 held, be casting a slight on their lieutenant, so it 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 73 
 
 followed that Felix was the means of adding treasure 
 to his father^s exchequer. 
 
 He was piqued at the stranger in the Landwehr 
 cap not vouchsafing him a salute, although he must 
 have seen the officers badge on his coat, and deter- 
 mined to ignore him. 
 
 ‘^Can I wait here till the mayor comes back?” 
 the stranger asked. 
 
 ^'Of course. This is the tap-room,” the barmaid 
 replied. 
 
 He took a seat in the farthest corner from the 
 topers, with his back turned to them, put down his 
 knapsack, and bowed his head in his hands. 
 
 Herr Felix regarded such conduct as a kind of 
 challenge to himself. Like the true son of his 
 father, he was indignant at a stranger coming in 
 and ordering nothing to drink. 
 
 Ask the gentleman, Amalie, what he will take,” 
 he called out, bursting with a sense of his own im- 
 portance. Apparently the stranger didn’t hear, for 
 he took no notice. The barmaid stood behind his 
 chair and stammered something about the excellent 
 quality of Schrandener beer. 
 
 Thank you ; I will drink nothing,” he replied, 
 without looking up. 
 
 Herr Felix twisted with vigour the ends of his 
 moustache. It was clear that a rebuke must be 
 administered to the stranger for his churlish be- 
 haviour. He therefore rose to his feet, and swing- 
 ing his tankard, began in a somewhat blatant tone 
 to address his boon-companions. 
 
74 the sins of the FATHERS 
 
 Dear comrades and fellow-burghers and every 
 one present, Prussians glorious battles have been 
 fought. Our beloved Fatherland has risen from 
 the dust in new and unsuspected splendour. Most 
 "of us have bled on the field of glory, and felt the 
 enemy^s bullets pierce our breast. Whoever is a 
 true Prussian patriot will now drink with me his 
 country's health and honour ! 
 
 With high-pitched hurrahs, the mugs with one 
 accord were lifted to the revellers^ mouths, but 
 before they could drink, an incisive ‘‘ Halt ! ” from 
 the lieutenant stopped them. 
 
 I see there is some one here,’^ he cried, who 
 seems inclined to shirk this sacred duty ; and he 
 rose and walked with clanking spurs across the 
 room to the stranger’s table. 
 
 Sir,^^ he asked aggressively, do I understand 
 you don’t wish to drink to Prussia’s fame and 
 glory ? ” 
 
 I wish to be left in peace,” answered the 
 stranger, not turning round. 
 
 '^What, sir? You who wear the honourable 
 symbol of a defender of your country in your cap, 
 decline ” 
 
 A sudden movement on the part of the stranger, 
 who grasped his pistols, made him break off. The 
 next moment he saw firearms gleam in his hand, 
 saw him spring up, and stood aghast, staring into 
 a pale, overcast face that he knew well, but from 
 which two such angry eyes had never blazed at 
 him before. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 75 
 
 He understood the situation at once; he stood 
 face to face with a man desperately resolved to go 
 to any extremity if necessary. 
 
 ^^Look at me, Felix Merckel,’^ said the stranger, 
 who was stranger no longer, and learn that I wish 
 to have nothing to say to you. But understand 
 that if you or any of your friends come too near, 
 they will rue it. The first who approaches within 
 an inch of me I will shoot down like a dog.” 
 
 Felix Merckel quickly regained his composure. 
 
 ^^Ah! the Herr Baron he exclaimed, with a 
 profound bow. ^'Now I am not surprised that 
 Prussians ” 
 
 The click of the double trigger of the cavalry 
 pistol made him stop short again. 
 
 I warn you once more, Felix Merckel. I am 
 an officer as well as yourself.” 
 
 And the reiterated warning had its effect. 
 
 Certainly, it is not my concern,” Felix said, and 
 with another low bow, went back to his place ; this 
 time the clatter of his spurs was scarcely audible. 
 
 The Schrandeners put their heads together and 
 whispered, and then old Merckel entered the room. 
 His round, sleek, clean-shaven face beamed with 
 prosperity and self-satisfaction. As beseemed the 
 village patriarch, he passed by the common drink- 
 ing-table with a dignified gait. A heavy silver 
 watch-chain hung on his greasy satin waistcoat, 
 suspended from a gold keeper in the form of a 
 MooFs head, to which was also attached an amber 
 heart. 
 
76 THE SINS Of THE FATHERS 
 
 The Herr wished to speak to me ? he asked, 
 with a profound obeisance, which, however, he 
 seemed to repent, when his little grey lynx eyes 
 remarked that the stranger had no glass before 
 him. To be obsequious to a non-drinker was a 
 waste of time. 
 
 The Schrandeners kept their ears open. Felix 
 had jumped up as if to seize this favourable oppor- 
 tunity of going for his whilom friend with his fists. 
 
 say, father, it^s the young Herr Baroriy' he 
 exclaimed, with a discordant laugh. 
 
 Old Merckel withdrew a few steps. His bene- 
 volent smile died on his lips ; his fleshy fingers 
 fumbled nervously with the MooFs-head keeper. 
 
 Can I speak to you alone ? 
 
 Oh ! Herr Baron — of course, Herr Baron — is 
 the Herr Baron going to stay ? 
 
 He flung wide a side door, which opened into the 
 little best parlour reserved for gentry. A sofa, 
 covered with slippery oil-cloth, and a few velvet, 
 bulky arm-chairs, were ready for the reception of 
 distinguished customers. Over a cabinet containing 
 tobacco hung a placard with the inscription, ^^Only 
 wine drunk here.” 
 
 Before the host closed the door behind Boleslav, 
 he made a reassuring sign to his fellow-burghers 
 as if to allay their anxiety. Then from under his 
 drooping lids he took a rapid survey of the newly- 
 returned young aristocrat's person, which seemed to 
 fill him with satisfaction, for again his smug, slimy 
 smile played about his fat lips. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 77 
 
 How the Herr Junker has grown, to be sure ! 
 he began. Wonderful ! 
 
 Boleslav fixed his eyes on him silently. 
 
 ^^And the Herr Junker — pardon, I ought to say 
 Herr Baron — has come home to find the old Herr 
 Baron no longer alive. A pity he was not in time 
 to close the eyes of the sainted dead ” 
 
 He broke off, and caught violently at his amber 
 heart, for Boleslav’s piercing, threatening gaze 
 began to make him feel uneasy. What if this was 
 a desperado, who would think nothing of taking 
 him by the throat ? 
 
 At any rate I have come in time,” Boleslav burst 
 forth at last, ^Ho repair the shameful scandal that 
 has been perpetrated here in refusing my father the 
 last honour due to his position.” 
 
 Shameful scandal, my Herr Baron ? ” 
 
 advise you, my worthy man, not to put on 
 that air of saint-like innocence. I can read you 
 through and through. Something has come to my 
 ears concerning you, for which you deserve to be 
 thrashed on the spot.” 
 
 Herr Baron ! ” and he showed signs of taking 
 flight through the door. 
 
 ^^Stay where you are!” commanded Boleslav, 
 barring the way. Thank God that in confronting 
 this scum he felt the old inherited instinct of con- 
 scious power come back to him. Is this the 
 gratitude you show my house, to whose favours 
 you owe everything ? ” 
 
 This was true enough. The present landlord of 
 
78 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 the Black Eagle had once hung about the Castle in 
 search of a situation, and had finally, as its ubiqui- 
 tous commissionaire, amassed a considerable fortune, 
 although he now chose to adopt an attitude of in- 
 jured virtue, and rubbed his hands self-righteously. 
 
 Dear Herr BaroUj' he said, a paternal kindli- 
 ness suffusing his broad countenance, I willingly 
 pardon the insults you have just heaped on me, 
 and will give you the best advice, as if nothing had 
 happened. Now, you will surely understand how 
 friendly are my intentions.” 
 
 I decline your friendship,” thundered Boleslav. 
 ‘'As mayor of the village of Schranden, you will 
 answer my questions. Beyond that, I have no 
 dealings with you.” 
 
 “ The Schrandeners, dear Herr Baron^ are really 
 terrible people. I always have said so. I said so 
 many times to my dear wife. You knew her, Herr 
 Baron, Why, of course, she often took the little 
 Junker in her arms, little thinking that ” 
 
 “ Keep to the point, if you please,” Boleslav 
 interrupted. 
 
 “‘Marianne,’ I used to say, ‘these Schrandeners, 
 when once they get an idea into their heads, nothing 
 will move them.’ Once they took it into their heads 
 not to drink my brandy. Good, pure, beautiful 
 Wacholder, Herr Ba^^on, In the same way they’ve 
 now got it into their heads not to bury the old noble 
 lord, and — well, upon my word, no God and no 
 devil will force them to do it. It’s no good 
 trying either, Herr Baron, I’ll tell you why. The 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 79 
 
 hearse belongs to the corporation, and they won^t let 
 you have it. Horses, too, they wouldn^t let out. . . , 
 As for bearers — dear God ! Go round the village 
 and see if you can find one, and if you can, see if 
 he is not well flogged for it quarter of an hour after- 
 wards. Oh ! these Schrandeners ! And then there 
 is the Herr Pastor — who really in the end has the 
 most voice in the matter. Go to the Herr Pastor^ 
 and hear what he says. Putting ceremonials and 
 paternosters out of the question, you won^t even get 
 the coffin made.” 
 
 ^^We shall see,” said Boleslav, gnashing his teeth. 
 He felt his spirit of resistance rise, the more clearly 
 he saw the web that hatred and malice were 
 weaving around him. 
 
 You see,” exclaimed old Merckel in badly 
 concealed triumph, 'Hf you wish it, Herr Baron^ 
 He opened the door of the tap-room, from whence 
 proceeded a low hum of many voices. Half the 
 village seemed to have collected there during 
 Boleslav^s interview with the ma3^or. 
 
 Hackelberg ! come here ! ” he called, and then 
 hurriedly banged the door to again, for he saw 
 hands laid on it that threatened to tear it off its 
 hinges. 
 
 If he has got over his debauch of yesterday, 
 Herr Baron, he will certainly come and himself 
 give you his views on the subject.” For a moment 
 the little lynx eyes sparkled with malignant joy. 
 Then resuming his benevolent patriarchal smile, he 
 went on, twisting the amber heart. 
 
8o THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 You have repudiated my friendship, young man. 
 You have insulted me, and shown no respect for my 
 grey hairs — I don^t resent it. You wouldn’t have 
 done it if you had known how I, at the risk of my 
 life — for if the Schrandeners had got wind of it they 
 would have done me to death — how I saved many 
 a time the noble baron, of blessed memory, from 
 starvation. Ask the Frdulein, 
 
 ** What Frdulein? ” 
 
 ^^The pretty, faithful Frdulein Regina — your 
 deceased father’s best beloved. She is a pearl, 
 Herr Baron ; you ought to hold her in high esteem, 
 and take her away with you on your travels. 
 Often in the darkness of the night have I stuck a 
 loaf and a sausage in her apron, Herr Barony and 
 sometimes a pound of coffee, Herr Barony while I 
 have made my own breakfast off rye-bread for fear 
 of the embargo, Herr BaronB 
 
 Weren’t you paid for your trouble ? ” 
 
 ‘^Well; yes, yes. When one risks one’s life one 
 expects to be paid. There is still a little bill due, 
 however, Herr Barony left standing from last winter; 
 
 if the Herr Baron will have the goodness to ” 
 
 ‘‘Write out your account, and the money shall 
 be sent you.” 
 
 “There’s no hurry, Herr Baron, I have con- 
 fidence ; can trust you, Herr Baron, What I wish 
 to say is, take the advice of an old and experienced 
 man, and go home now without more ado ; dig a grave 
 behind the Castle, and lay the deceased Herr in it 
 — do it at night, mind, on the quiet, quite on the 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 8i 
 
 quiet — Frdulein P^egina will assist you — then make 
 the turf perfectly smooth, so that no one will know 
 where you've laid him, and before the dawn of 
 another day ride away again with Frdulein Regina 
 on your saddle to where 
 
 He paused suddenly, for Boleslav's hand was on 
 the butt -end of his pistols. Then the devilish 
 mockery beneath this suave old hypocrite's counsel 
 was goading him into drastic measures. While he 
 listened to it, a new thought had flashed across his 
 brain with vivid distinctness. The funeral would 
 after all only be the first step in the work that 
 it was incumbent on him to complete. Never 
 would he slink away under cover of night like a 
 criminal, and abandon what remained of the inherit- 
 ance of his ancestors to utter ruin. No ! he would 
 stay and endure all things. Set at defiance all 
 these malicious hyenas, the worst of whom stood 
 before him, now grinning, with greedily gleaming 
 eyes, only awaiting his opportunity to pounce on 
 the masterless unowned possessions. 
 
 Endure ! Endure ! 
 
 Renunciation for the sins of the fathers must ever 
 be his lot. And did not the foul act that had laid 
 waste his property deserve retributive justice ? Fie 
 would be a deserter and renegade, indeed, were he 
 now to turn his back on his native place, and on the 
 beloved, who, though she seemed lost to him eter- 
 nally, might still be cherishing timid hopes of meet- 
 ing him once more. No! for the future his flag 
 should wave over the ruins of Schranden Castle, 
 
 F 
 
82 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 with the single word Revenge ” blazoned on it 
 in fiery characters. And who but a cowardly cur 
 would leave his flag in the lurch ? 
 
 He stepped nearer the mayor, and with a threat- 
 ening glance that seemed to penetrate him through 
 and through, almost roared in his ear — 
 
 Who set fire to the Castle ? 
 
 Herr Merckel winced as if his conscience pricked 
 him. Every Schrandener did the same when any 
 question arose as to who it was had perpetrated 
 the crime. Every Schrandener except one, and he 
 was the criminal himself. 
 
 Herr Merckel was gathering up his strength for 
 a glib answer when the suppressed murmur in the 
 tap-room gave place to a sound which had a louder 
 and more riotous note in it. 
 
 The landlord made a movement in the direction 
 of the door, to bolt it on coming events, but before 
 he could take the precaution it was stormed and 
 burst open. A troop of wild-looking creatures led 
 the assault, at the head of whom was a man of 
 puny stature, in rags and tatters, with straight, 
 black hair hanging in oiled ringlets to his shoulders, 
 a grey, stubbly beard, and a pair of glassy, besotted 
 eyes that rolled under red, lashless lids. He beat 
 the air with his fists and cried — 
 
 Where is the fellow — the brute ? Let me catch 
 the brute and Til strangle him ! ” 
 
 Then he beheld Boleslav^s tall, resolute form, 
 and swallowed his words with a gurgling hiss. 
 Behind him was a phalanx of angry, heated, in- 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 83 
 
 quisitive faces all turned on Boleslav as on a 
 recently captured beast of prey. 
 
 ** Every man^s hand is against me ! he thought, 
 and his blood rose. 
 
 '^Are you the carpenter Hackelberg ? he asked, 
 holding the drunkard in thrall with his searching 
 glance. 
 
 He was associated with one of the dark memories 
 of his childhood. Once his pitiable howls had 
 frightened him out of his quiet, boyish slumbers, 
 and on looking from his window he had seen him 
 being whipped round the courtyard for poaching. 
 Now he stood shaking his fists, grunting and 
 spluttering with rage. 
 
 ^^You supply the village with coffins, I under- 
 stand ? 
 
 The carpenter shook his head, stared vacantly in 
 front of him, and then answered in a sepulchral 
 voice — 
 
 I am at work on only two coffins — one for 
 myself, and one for my poor erring daughter.^^ 
 
 The Schrandeners laughed in their sleeve. This 
 formula was so familiar. When any one died in 
 the village the carpenter had to be fetched by 
 force, locked up with a bottle of brandy and the 
 necessary boards, and not let out till the coffin 
 was finished. Taken all in all, this Hackelberg 
 was a dangerous fellow, and no one knew it better 
 than the Schrandeners, who never let him out 
 of their sight for long. He was watched and 
 shadowed, and many an arm was ready to strike 
 
84 the sins of the FATHERS 
 
 him down when the right moment should offer 
 itself. 
 
 Nevertheless they courted his society in the 
 tavern, made him drunk, and humoured him. 
 Sometimes they hung on his lips, at others, stopped 
 his mouth. Either they put him under lock and 
 key, or allowed him to bully them. It was as if 
 they had endowed their own bad conscience with 
 flesh and blood, and allowed it to run wild amongst 
 them in the shape of this unkempt, half-crazed sot. 
 
 Who else makes coffins in the village besides 
 you ? ” Boleslav asked again. 
 
 The Schrandeners burst into jeering laughter. 
 They knew how difficult he would find it to get 
 any direct answer to his question. 
 
 My poor, wretched child,” he growled, fastening 
 his glassy eyes on Herr Merckefs amber heart, 
 which appeared to possess a fascination for him. 
 Then suddenly rousing himself once more from 
 the half-stupor into which he had collapsed, he 
 threatened Boleslav with his fists, and cried out 
 excitedly — 
 
 What do you want from me, Herr? A coffin? 
 Is that what you want ? For whom do you want 
 it ? For the scamp, the dog, who betrayed his 
 country — who seduced my child ? Do you think 
 Fd make a coffin for him? Look at me, Herr. 
 Did you ever see such a spectacle ? ” He wrenched 
 open his shirt, and exposed to view his shaggy 
 breast. ^H’m a beauty — mere offal, that dogs 
 would turn up their noses at. And whose fault is 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 85 
 
 that, my dear young nobleman ? Why, the Herr 
 Baron'Sj your deceased father^s. He it was who 
 reduced me to this, and made me an unhappy, 
 forsaken, childless old man, such as you see/’ He 
 wiped his eyes with the ragged sleeve of his cor- 
 duroy jacket, while the Schrandeners applauded, 
 and backed him up in his maudlin oration. My 
 child, my only child, was torn from my bosom. He 
 robbed me of my child ” 
 
 I believe you yourself sent her to the Castle,” 
 Boleslav interposed, without, however, making the 
 least impression. 
 
 He made my child a prostitute, but what’s worse, 
 young sir — what most lacerates my father’s heart — 
 for though I’m a blackguard. I’m a patriot ; for in 
 Prussia even blackguards love their country — if 
 there are any blackguard Prussians . . . but my child 
 ... ah ! do you know what he did with my child ? 
 . . . forced her with the lash to go out in the dark 
 
 night and But since then do you think I’d 
 
 own her ? No . . . she is my child no longer. I’ve 
 cursed her — cast her off! I said to her, ^ You are 
 my own flesh and blood no longer.’ That’s what I 
 said, and ” 
 
 But you took the wage of her sin all the same,” 
 Boleslav was on the point of interrupting, but 
 recollected in time that in saying so he would be 
 admitting his father’s guilt to this pack of wolves. 
 
 ' And you are free,’ I said. ^ Ypu may go where 
 you like, and whoever you meet may kill you 
 outright for all I care. Go to your gnadigen 
 
86 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 HerrUj I said, ^and ask him to protect you.* I 
 said ** 
 
 At this juncture the shouts of the other Schran- 
 deners became so much louder that they drowned 
 the carpenters speech. They closed round him, 
 and he was lost in the crowd; only his rasping 
 laugh was still audible. 
 
 What did I prophesy, Herr Baron ? ** asked old 
 Merckel, with his unctuous smile. 
 
 Boleslav leant against the end of the sofa, and 
 regarded the crew of Schrandeners pressing ever 
 nearer with clenched teeth and unflinching eye. 
 
 If one strikes me,** he thought to himself, the 
 rest will tear me to pieces.** 
 
 He felt how imperative it was to remain calm. 
 
 Come, you people,** he said, making a passage 
 through their ranks with his hands, let me pass.** 
 
 And whether it was his commanding air of cool 
 determination, or the cross which shone in his 
 military cap, that awed the tumultuous throng, not 
 one of them attempted to impede his progress. He 
 passed into the thick of the mob, expecting every 
 moment to be struck a fatal blow from behind; 
 but nothing of the sort happened — unchallenged he 
 found himself in the open air. Felix Merckel had 
 kept in the background. 
 
 The whole mob, now including women and chil- 
 dren, surged after him down the road. 
 
 As he reached the parsonage garden, whose white 
 walls blazed in the rays of the mid-day sun, he was 
 aware of an aching sensation at his heart, that rose 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 87 
 
 in a lump to his throat. His last hope rested in 
 the hands of the old pastor. Would he too spurn 
 him from his threshold ? But at this moment that 
 was not his only anxiety. How could he help feeling 
 anxious as to what her reception of him would be, 
 she in whose power it was to exalt him from the 
 mire of shame and misery into a world of peace and 
 punty. If she saw him in his present condition, 
 dirtj and dishevelled, with this escort of hooting 
 ruffians behind him, would she not recoil in horror ? 
 
 Ai\d she did. 
 
 A :errified hand threw back the glass door of the 
 veranda. It was she — it must be she! For a 
 moment he saw the glimmer of a white, slender 
 figure ; saw her raise an arm, as if to wave off the 
 approach of him and the mob : and then, before 
 Boleslav could give one questioning, imploring look 
 at the beloved features, she vanished with a faint 
 cry of alarm. 
 
 There was a mist before his eyes. Half stunned, 
 he went up the steps of the veranda, closed the 
 door behind him, and awaited the next turn in the 
 course of events. 
 
 The Schrandeners blockaded the veranda, and 
 some flattened their noses against the glass in 
 order to see better what passed within. A pane 
 fell out; one of them had pushed his neighbour 
 through it, whereupon the revered voice of the 
 old pastor was heard raised in remonstrance. He 
 appeared on the veranda flourishing a thick, 
 notched walking-stick. His white hair blew about 
 
88 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 his lofty temples. The nostrils of his hawk-lik^ 
 nose dilated furiously as if they snorted battldl 
 Beneath the snow-white shaggy projecting broWs 
 his eyes glowed like fiery torches. Such was t)le 
 venerable Pastor Gotz, who, in the March of ike 
 year 1813, had gone from house to house, holdpg 
 the big cross from the altar in his hand, follov ed 
 by a drummer, and had beaten up recruits fop/che 
 holy war. And had he not been left fainting b3jthe 
 roadside on the march to Konigsberg, in all pro- 
 bability he would have accompanied his soldier- 
 parishioners into the field of action. / 
 
 The Schrandeners stood in no little dread of his 
 discipline, and no sooner did they catch sight of 
 his formidable stick than they retreated qiickly 
 from the windows, and tried to regain the mrden 
 gate. 1 
 
 ^^You hell-hounds, craven sheep he siouted 
 from the glass door. ^^Come to God^s house on 
 Sunday and Fll give you a dressing.^^ | 
 
 Then turning on Boleslav, he measured hiii from 
 head to foot with a scowling glance. His eye 
 rested on the military cap he held in his hand. 
 
 You were in the campaign ? ” he asked. 
 
 ^^Yes.” 
 
 If it were not for the cross I see on th^ brim 
 of your cap, I should ask was it for or kgainst 
 Prussia ? ” 
 
 Boleslav, whose thoughts had followed th^ fleet- 
 ing vision of light he had seen on the veranda, 
 at first did not understand him ; then he met the 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 89 
 
 insinuation with signs of passionate resentment. 
 But the old pastor was not the man to be easily 
 intimidated, and while they both glowered at each 
 other, he cried — 
 
 Boleslav von Schranden, am I, or am I not, 
 justified in cherishing such a suspicion ? ** 
 
 Then Boleslav^s eyes fell before the condemnation 
 in those of his former master. He opened the door 
 of his study, where between the book-shelves hung 
 pipe-racks and fire-arms, and said — 
 
 Out of respect for the cap I will not refuse you 
 entrance here. But make what you have to say as 
 brief as possible. In this house no Schranden is 
 a welcome guest.'^ 
 
 He put his stick in a corner, and drawing his 
 flowered dressing-gown close about his loins, paced 
 up and down the room. 
 
 Boleslav cast about for words. He felt like a 
 criminal in the presence of this man, whose speech 
 was like molten brass. Of a truth it was no easy 
 matter, this taking the guilt of another on to one^s 
 own guiltless shoulders. 
 
 Herr Pastor he began, stammering, ^‘can^t 
 you forget for a moment that I bear the name of 
 Schranden ? 
 
 The old man laughed bitterly. ^^That^s asking a 
 little too much,^^ he murmured ; ^^a little too much.” 
 Regard me simply in the light of a son who 
 wishes to bury his father, and who is prevented 
 from fulfilling that most sacred duty by the wicked- 
 ness and malice of the canaille. 
 
90 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 For answer the old parson contracted his shaggy 
 brows without speaking. 
 
 I appeal to you as a priest of the Christian 
 Church. Will you suffer such a scandal in your 
 parish ? ” 
 
 •'^Such a thing cannot happen in my parish,” the 
 old man declared. ^'Wherever it is my duty to 
 lead souls to God, every one must be granted a 
 decent burial.” 
 
 And yet they dare ” 
 
 Stop ! Whose burial is in question ! ” 
 
 ‘‘ My fathers.” 
 
 ** The Freiherr Eberhard von Schranden ? ” 
 ^^Yes.” 
 
 *^That man has been dead for seven years.” 
 
 Herr Pastor ! ” 
 
 For seven years he lived ostracised from the 
 society of his fellow-creatures. Seven years he 
 practically rotted in the earth. Therefore, don't 
 trouble me about him further.” 
 
 Herr Pastor^ I was once your pupil. From 
 your lips I first learnt the name of God. I always 
 thought you a brave, upright man. I retract that 
 opinion now ; for what you have just been saying 
 are lying, cowardly quibbles.” 
 
 The old man drew himself up. His beard worked ; 
 his nostrils expanded. With lurid eyes he came 
 nearer to Boleslav. 
 
 My son,” he said, do I look like a man who 
 would countenance a lie ? ” 
 
 Boleslav maintained his defiant attitude. But, 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 91 
 
 much as he struggled against it, he felt the old, 
 long-forgotten sentiment of respect for the school- 
 master awaking in him once more. 
 
 My son,” went on the old man, a word from 
 me, and the rabble that waits for you on the other 
 side of that hedge would lynch you , but, as I said 
 before, for the sake of the cap you wear, I will be 
 merciful. If you like, I can prove that what I said 
 just now is no lie.” 
 
 He went to a cupboard, where stood a long line 
 of ragged folios, containing church and parish docu- 
 ments, took out a volume, and, opening it, pointed 
 to a page dated 1807. 
 
 ** Here, my son, read this.” 
 
 And Boleslav read — 
 
 ‘‘On March 5th, died Hans Eberhard von 
 Schranden. Ex memoria hominum exstinguatury 
 
 Beneath were three crosses, 
 
 “ That is a forgery ! ” exclaimed Boleslav. 
 
 “ Yes, my son,” the old man answered solemnly, 
 “ that is a palpable, shameless forgery ; a stain on 
 my office; and if you choose to report it to the 
 magistrates, I shall be suspended and end my days 
 in prison. Do exactly as you think fit. My fate 
 lies in your hands.” 
 
 A shudder of mingled horror and reverence passed 
 through Boleslav. He had himself experienced too 
 often the wild dan and reckless delight of making 
 sacrifices for the love of his country, not to under- 
 stand what impulse had driven the old clergyman 
 to this insane confession. 
 
92 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 With those crosses/^ he continued, I buried 
 the man seven years ago — the man who, in spite 
 of his cruelty and ungovernable passions, had till 
 then been my friend. From that day, whoever 
 dared to breathe so much as his name in my house 
 was sent out of it. Then came that night of arson, 
 when these walls were illumined by the reflection 
 of the burning Castle. I jumped out of my bed, 
 and, throwing myself on my knees, prayed God to 
 forgive the incendiaries, for it began to burn at all 
 four corners at once, a sure proof that the fire was 
 not an accident. Now, I thought, not only the 
 deed, but the scene of it, will be erased from men’s 
 minds. I didn’t concern myself in the least about 
 the spectre that was doomed to haunt the ruins of 
 Castle Schranden. And now you come, my son, 
 and tell me that that spectre was no spectre, but a 
 living creature, who only a few days ago gave up 
 the ghost, and now awaits interment. Well, I 
 forbid it Christian burial, on the strength of this 
 register. I never bury any one twice. Report 
 me, and — and I shall be tried for my offence. But 
 you know I am prepared. Do as you like. Bury 
 the corpse with all the honours you consider due to 
 it; have a procession grander and more imposing 
 than an emperor’s, but kindly leave me out of the 
 show.” 
 
 He settled himself in his green-cushioned arm- 
 chair, supported his face with his wrinkled, muscular 
 hands, and stared vacantly at the open register. 
 There was nothing to hope from this iron-willed 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 93 
 
 man of God. It would be madness to keep up any 
 illusion on the subject, and that other illusion, that 
 the loved one might still be won on earth after long 
 waiting and renunciation, must be abandoned too. 
 All the shy dreams and hopes that he had yet dared 
 to cherish in his embittered heart now seemed 
 finally wrecked. 
 
 ^‘So this is the divine grace, the forgiveness of 
 sins, you preach ! he cried, tears of wrath filling 
 his eyes. 
 
 The old man rose slowly and let his hand fall 
 heavily on Boleslav’s shoulder. 
 
 Because of your cap, my son, I will reason with 
 you, although the sight of you is hateful to me. 
 Listen ! It is a year and a half now since there 
 came here from Russia a rabble of ragged French 
 beggars, starving and frost-bitten. The Schran- 
 deners would have felled them to the earth with 
 their scythes and pitchforks, and perhaps would 
 have had right on their side, for they were mere 
 carrion-serfs in the pay of Napoleon. But I opened 
 the church door to them that they might take refuge 
 in the shelter of God’s altar. I kindled a fire for 
 them on the flagstones, and had a hot supper cooked 
 for them and gave them straw to lie on. I told the 
 Schrandeners that, though they were enemies, they 
 were human beings like themselves, bearing the 
 cross of human suffering as the Saviour once bore 
 it on His shoulders. I told them to go home and 
 pray that God might spare them as they had spared 
 those miserable Frenchmen. So you see I can be 
 
94 the sins of the FATHERS 
 
 pitiful and show mercy. ... To return to the 
 subject of the funeral. I have never refused any 
 sinner his lawful resting-place. If I could have my 
 will, even suicides should not be excluded from the 
 churchyard. That those who have been unhappy 
 in their lifetime should be comfortable in death has 
 always been my principle. And if the body of a 
 man who had murdered his mother was brought 
 here from the scaffold, I would go to his graveside 
 in full canonicals and pray the King of kings Ho 
 forgive him, for he knew not what he did.^ Yes, 
 ril extend mercy to all, only not to your father. 
 For he who sins against his country outrages every 
 law human and divine ; he disgraces the mother 
 who bore him and the children he propagates. 
 Such a one is a social outcast. He is like the leper 
 who brings death and corruption with him wher- 
 ever he goes, or a mad dog who spurts poison from 
 his jaw on every living thing that comes in his way. 
 And do you realise the extent of your father’s guilt, 
 the mischief it has worked ? It is not so much the 
 lives of those two or three hundred Pomeranian 
 youths whose bones lie buried there on the common 
 that are to be reckoned against him. They would 
 probably have met death somewhere, later. The 
 grass grows high on their graves ; even their parents 
 have long since become reconciled to their loss. 
 No, it is not on their account that I bear the grudge. 
 
 But come here, my son ” 
 
 He clutched Boleslav’s hand and led him to the 
 window. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 95 
 
 ^^Look out — what do you see on the other side 
 of the garden hedge ? A gang of turbulent wild 
 animals thirsting for the blood of their prey, and yet 
 too craven-hearted to spring on it, even when they 
 have it within their reach. And look at me, my son. 
 I am here, appointed by God as His minister to 
 preach the gospel of love, and I preach hate. Words 
 sweet as honey should flow from my lips, and 
 instead, scorpions spring out of my mouth directly 
 I open it, for I too am become a wild animal. And 
 this is what your fathers crime has made us. There 
 is no goodness left in Schranden ; the venom of your 
 father’s hate ferments in us, is inoculated into our 
 children and children’s children. So will it ever be 
 till the Lord not only wipes the scene of infamy, 
 but your accursed name with it, from off the face of 
 His blessed earth. Amen ! ” 
 
 He stood with raised hands like some anathe- 
 matising prophet of the Cld Testament, and foam 
 rested in the corners of his mouth. 
 
 Boleslav, half-dazed and horror-stricken, turned 
 in silence to the door. The old man did not call him 
 back. As he crossed the hall he started violently, 
 for he was sure he heard the rustle of a woman’s 
 dress behind a half-opened door. But not for the 
 world would he meet her now. Not in this dark 
 hour, when he was completely overpowered by a 
 sense of having had the remnants of all that was 
 good and noble in him shattered and laid in the 
 dust. 
 
 they are become wild beasts, I can become 
 
96 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 one too/’ he thought, as he thrust his hand in the 
 breast - pocket that held his pistols, and walked 
 towards the Schrandeners. The old pastor was 
 right. Though they danced, whooped, and jostled 
 around him with the lust of murder gleaming in 
 their savage eyes, they dared not lay a finger on 
 him. 
 
 When he reached the drawbridge, behind the 
 palings of which a girl’s figure crouched, awaiting 
 his return, he was full of a desperate resolve. His 
 father should be carried to his last resting-place by 
 an armed force. 
 
 ‘'Are you ready to earn another large sum of 
 money ? ” he asked the girl, who flushed, and stood 
 up quickly at his approach. 
 
 She looked at him for a moment in reflective 
 surprise, and then, as his meaning dawned on her, 
 she shook her head violently. 
 
 “Why not ? ” he demanded. 
 
 She began to tremble. “What’s the good of 
 money to me, Herr?^^ she asked, in subdued, bitter 
 tones. “ They would only take it away from me.” 
 
 “Who?” 
 
 “People — those people. Please, oh please, give 
 me no money.” 
 
 “ Her mind is clearly unhinged,” thought Boleslav. 
 
 “ Besides, there is money enough,” she continued 
 in a whisper, glancing round her timidly, “in the 
 cellar — great boxes full — where the wine is. I used 
 to take what I wanted from there — for him, I mean — 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 97 
 
 the gndd'ger Herr, For my seif I never want any, 
 unless it’s to buy a new jacket with.” 
 
 Will you earn a new jacket ? ” 
 
 There’s no need to earn it, Herr. Next time 
 I go to Bockeldorf — for the Herr must have food — 
 I can get one.” 
 
 So, unreasoning as a beast of burden, she per- 
 formed her duties, and expected no return except 
 her food ! 
 
 Will you, then, without earning anything, go a 
 long way for me this very night ? ” 
 
 ‘‘Oh, won’t I, Herr^ if you wish it?” 
 
 G 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 The next day the village of Schranden received an 
 unexpected visitation that proved no small shock to 
 its inhabitants. At about five o’clock in the after- 
 noon two coaches appeared in the village street, 
 each of which contained half-a-dozen occupants, 
 young fellows in Jager uniforms, with their muskets 
 slung over their shoulders from wide leather belts. 
 
 In the first coach there was also a female occu- 
 pant, who, the moment the horses’ heads turned 
 in the direction of the space opposite the church, 
 alighted with a wild leap, and scudded away towards 
 the Castle. 
 
 Every Schrandener recognised in her the deceased 
 Baron’s sweetheart, but all were too much taken 
 aback to think of following her. 
 
 The coaches halted before the Black Eagle, the 
 windows of which were eagerly opened, and before 
 the strangers had moved from their seats, an en- 
 thusiastic welcome was extended to them. 
 
 The Heide boys — Hurrah ! ” shouted Felix 
 Merckel, who had many a time fought side by 
 side with these comrades of the Sellinthin 
 squadron, and he stretched a foaming jug out of 
 the window 
 
 V3 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 99 
 
 His father threw open the door of the little room 
 reserved for gentry/^ where only wine was drunk, 
 in the hopes that some at least of these wealthy 
 yeomen would patronise it. But, without answer- 
 ing the warm greetings, they proceeded in gloomy 
 silence to unharness the horses, and to take out of 
 their vehicles all manner of tools, such as hatchets, 
 files, and spades. 
 
 The Schrandeners were astounded. 
 
 Good gracious ! have you lost your tongues ? 
 Felix Merckel called from the window. And why 
 haven^t you brought your paragon. Lieutenant 
 Baumgart, with you ? ” 
 
 Still no answer. 
 
 The Sclirandeners began to think these strangers 
 must be playing off a joke on them, and burst into 
 extravagant laughter. 
 
 Then Karl Engelbert, who evidently had the 
 command of the expedition, came under the window 
 from which Felixes broad-shouldered form obtruded 
 itself, and, greeting him with a half-military salute, 
 said — 
 
 With your permission, Herr Lieutenant, we 
 have come here not to take part in any festivities 
 or anything of that sort. We are a funeral party.” 
 
 ^^But here in Schranden no one is going to be 
 buried,” cried Felix Merckel, still laughing, but his 
 face appreciably lengthened. 
 
 Indeed, Herr Lieutenant ! Nevertheless, we 
 have been invited to a funeral.” 
 
 Who has invited you ? ” 
 
loo THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 Our former officer, Lieutenant Baumgart.” 
 
 ‘^Nonsense! There^s no Lieutenant Baumgart 
 here. I thought you were going to bring him with 
 you.” 
 
 Pardon, Herr Lieutenant, he is here already.” 
 Where is the fellow hiding, then ? ” 
 
 Probably you know him better under another 
 name — Herr von Schranden.” 
 
 The stone jug in Felixes hand fell and crashed 
 to pieces at Engelbert’s feet. The beer splashed 
 his legs up to the knee. 
 
 A tumult arose inside the inn. As if in prepara- 
 tion for battle, windows were speedily closed, and 
 Johann Radtke, driven by thirst to ascend the steps 
 to the main entrance, found the door banged in his 
 face. 
 
 Hunted from the threshold like tramps ! ” grum- 
 bled the dark-haired Peter Negenthin, and clenched 
 his fist in his sling. 
 
 '^Do you wish to perjure yourself?” asked Engel- 
 bert in a low voice, coming close to him. ** If so, 
 then go back. What is required of us we must 
 do. Whoever forgets the church at Dannigkow is 
 a cur ! ” 
 
 ^‘And if we are dry we must wet our whistles 
 with holy water, I suppose,” added Radtke with a 
 sigh. 
 
 Engelbert shouldered his musket and gave the 
 orders to move on. The procession filed off in the 
 direction of the Castle, a handful of natives, out of 
 respect for the muskets, bringing up the rear. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS loi 
 
 Boleslav stood on the bridge to receive his 
 friends. 
 
 He rushed towards them in delight, and could 
 hardly articulate, for emotion, the words of grati- 
 tude that rose to his lips. 
 
 Engelbert held out his hand in silence. Boleslav 
 was going to embrace him, but he drew back. In 
 his excitement Boleslav did not notice the rebuff. 
 
 I knew you^d come,^^ he stammered forth at 
 last — ^^knew that I had friends who would not 
 leave me undefended to the tender mercies of this 
 pack of wolves. 
 
 No one made any response. They stood drawn 
 up in an unbroken line, their eyes looking beyond 
 rather than at him, in embarrassment. Engelbert 
 was the first to break the silence. 
 
 ^^You have summoned us, and we have come — 
 but our time is short: tell us what you want us 
 to do/^ 
 
 For a moment Boleslav wondered at being ad- 
 dressed in this curt, somewhat surly fashion, by the 
 comrade who, of all others, had been his favourite. 
 But it was only for a moment. Why should he 
 doubt them ? Had they not come ? And then, in- 
 coherently enough, he related how his father^s 
 disgrace had descended on him, and what he had 
 resolved to do, with their help. 
 
 All the time a pair of shining eyes watched him 
 from the other side of a rubbish heap, and a 
 woman^s figure that sat cowering there trembled 
 like an aspen. 
 
102 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 ^^They are here — they are in the village!’^ she 
 had called out to him in timid excitement, as she 
 had flown into the yard like a Maenad. At first he 
 had not recognised her in a light cotton skirt, a bed- 
 jacket buttoned over her panting bosom, and a hand- 
 kerchief of many colours on her head, tied under the 
 chin, according to a fashion of the peasant girls in 
 the neighbourhood. 
 
 They gave me these things to put on,” she had 
 added apologetically, on observing his puzzled looks. 
 
 And then in pleasure at the news that his friends 
 had arrived, he had forgotten her, till, while waiting 
 for them on the bridge, he had caught sight of her 
 hovering about the ruins. The head-dress had fallen 
 on her neck, and the wild black tresses escaped, and 
 waved in confusion about her sunburnt face. She 
 seemed to be smiling absently to herself. 
 
 He was ashamed to think his friends had seen 
 this woman, and decided to pay her off and dismiss 
 her on the spot, so that they should not encounter 
 her again. 
 
 What are you doing here ? ” he demanded. 
 
 She started. 
 
 Nothing, she replied, guiltily lowering 
 
 her eyes. 
 
 Why did you smile ? ” 
 
 ''Ah, HerVy^ she murmured, "I was so glad.” 
 
 "Why?” 
 
 "Because I had got safely back here again.” 
 
 What strange fascination had this spot of earth 
 for the abandoned creature who had suffered on it 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 103 
 
 nothing but shame and degradation and endless 
 misery ? He remembered to have heard of domestic 
 cats who, when the house to which they belong is 
 deserted by its inhabitants, prefer to starve beneath 
 its mouldering roof than to take up their abode else- 
 where. And if this cat-like propensity were incurable 
 in her — what then ? After all, perhaps it would be 
 cruel at this moment to pass sentence of banishment 
 upon her. She might as well stay till to-morrow 
 morning, so long as she kept out of his way. 
 
 Go,^^ he had commanded, and don^t come near 
 me and my visitors again. 
 
 And she had hung her head humbly, and vanished 
 behind the rubbish heap, and there she cowered 
 now, in terror of being discovered. 
 
 When Boleslav had finished his story, Engelbert 
 exchanged significant glances with his friends, then 
 said — 
 
 ‘^We have brought the requisite tools with us. 
 If you can supply us with the wood, we will knock 
 you up a coffin in a very short time.^^ 
 
 ^‘Naturally it won^t be a very grand one,^^ re- 
 marked Peter Negenthin with a stony smile. 
 
 Engelbert looked at him reprovingly. A subdued 
 growl passed from mouth to mouth through the little 
 party, which Boleslav, in his almost light-hearted 
 confidence in his friends^ goodwill, did not hear. 
 
 Do you remember,^' he exclaimed, that coffin 
 we made for the young Count Dohna in the dark ? 
 We took two hours over it, though we couldn't see 
 an inch before our noses." 
 
104 the sins of the FATHERS 
 
 But his reminiscences met with no response. 
 
 One of you hold the horses,” said Engelbert, 
 ** and the rest of us will go and look for wood. All 
 must be ready before nightfall.” 
 
 Boleslav bethought him of the wine in the cellar, 
 which the fire had spared, where also was the frugal 
 larder, containing bread and salt meat, but not 
 enough with which to entertain his friends. 
 
 I have next to nothing to offer you to eat,*^ he 
 said, but I wish you would at least refresh your- 
 selves with a bottle of wine before setting to work.” 
 
 The friends were silent, and their faces clouded. 
 
 Never mind refreshment,” said Engelbert, trying 
 to assume a facetious tone. Wine makes a man 
 lazy, and we haven^t a minute to spare.^' 
 
 He stooped to test some scorched rafters that lay 
 about among the stable ruins. 
 
 This will do,” he said, ^^but we won^t saw off 
 the blaclcened part ; that will serve us instead of 
 paint.” 
 
 And he walked on farther with Boleslav to look 
 for mom rafters. Something white rose suddenly 
 out of ^e earth in front of them, and disappeared 
 in a twinkling behind a neighbouring wall. 
 
 Boleslav instinctively balled his fists, for he had 
 recognised Regina. 
 
 I ought to apologise,’^ he said, for not being 
 able to send you a better messenger. I had no one 
 else to send.” 
 
 Engelbert was about to speak, but seemed to 
 think better of it. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 105 
 
 You were obliged to supply her with clothes, I 
 understand ? 
 
 Yes,^^ answered Engelbert, his natural loquacity 
 getting the upper hand. I found her lying on the 
 doorstep with scarce^ a rag to her back. She was 
 dead beat. I got up in the night to see what the 
 dogs were barking at.^^ 
 
 What ? Was it in the night ? ” 
 
 '^Two o^clock in the morning. Here is a sound 
 rafter. We can use that. . . . She ran the twenty 
 miles in seven hours. I should never have thought 
 it possible ; she lay like an otter that has been shot 
 down — so straight and fair — and gasped for breath. 
 Your sheet of paper she clung to with both hands. 
 She tried to stand up, but fell backwards. Then I 
 fetched her brandy, rubbed her temples, and gave 
 her 
 
 One of his companions who were following be- 
 hind, now came up, and gave him such a look of 
 astonishment and reproach that he broke off in the 
 middle of a sentence. 
 
 For the next few hours an industrious sawing 
 and hammering proceeded from the Castle island, 
 which soun(ds fell disagreeably on the ears of the 
 fierce and much perturbed Schrandeners on the 
 opposite bank of the river. It seemed to portend 
 that their nicely-laid plans were at the last moment 
 to be frustrated. 
 
 Old Hackelberg appeared in the street with his 
 gun, which, as a rule, lay buried in a dung-heap, 
 because he was afraid that it might be taken away 
 
io6 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 from him, as had once happened when he amused 
 himself by shooting bats in the market-place, de- 
 claring that they followed him in swarms wherever 
 he went. With this famous gun he used in old 
 days to go out poaching every night, but since his 
 once unerring hand had become weak and tremulous 
 from drink, he had been obliged to give up the 
 trade. Only when he had drunk even more than 
 usual did the old sporting instinct rise strongly 
 within him, and he would rush to the shed, unearth 
 his gun, and bring down a swallow in full flight 
 through the air. 
 
 Now he was on the war-path, and with the bab- 
 bling rhetoric peculiar to him, shouted — 
 
 Schrandeners, duty calls ! Arm yourselves 
 against the traitors. I am an unhappy father. 
 Robbed of my child. Fll shoot him dead, the 
 brute.” 
 
 ^^But he zs dead,” some one interposed. 
 
 Is he? Well, it doesn^t matter — the other 
 must be shot — all must be shot down.” 
 
 Meanwhile Felix Merckel was ramping about the 
 parlour of the Black Eagle like a bull of Bashan. 
 He remembered enough about the Heide youths 
 to know that when once irritated or attacked they 
 would go any length. The inevitable result of 
 offering them opposition would be such bloodshed 
 as the rioters outside had no conception of. And 
 then — what then ? Would not he as ringleader be 
 the first object on which the wrath of the outraged 
 law would expend itself? 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 107 
 
 On the other hand, did the swindler who had 
 dared under a false name to obtain a lieutenancy 
 and abuse the confidence of his comrades, thereby 
 incurring the contempt and abhorrence of every 
 honourable brother-in-arms — did he deserve to be 
 allowed to score such a triumph ? 
 
 While his son was debating thus, Herr Merckel, 
 senior, was also troubled with anxiety from another 
 cause. It struck him as a pity that such a quantity 
 of noble enthusiasm should be seething about aim- 
 lessly in the open air, and determined to put an 
 end to the nuisance. 
 
 He stepped into the porch, and addressed the 
 rabble in his suavest, most paternal tones. 
 
 I, as your local functionary, cannot bear to see 
 you, my children, turning our public square into a 
 bear-garden. Go under cover, and then you may 
 make as much noise as you please.” 
 
 Of course, under cover ” could only mean the 
 parlour of the Black Eagle ; and, five minutes later, 
 the consumption of inspiriting stimulants left no- 
 thing to be desired. 
 
 Felix had bowed his curly head between his 
 hands, and stared gloomily into his glass. 
 
 Surely no Prussian patriot who had ever worn a 
 sword ought silently to look on at what was coming 
 to pass this night ? Rather die ! Rather ! 
 
 He jumped up, and began to speak inspiringly to 
 the crowd. 
 
 His speech was not without effect. One after 
 the other stole out and returned with some sort 
 
io8 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 of weapon, a flint - gun, a bent sabre, or a 
 scythe. 
 
 Calm, and patriotic, my children ! ” exclaimed 
 old Merckel, grinning, and counting the empty 
 tankards with his argus eye. 
 
 Night had come. The two flaring tallow candles 
 in the bar illumined the overcrowded, oppressively 
 hot room, and were reflected in the polished blades 
 of the scythes. Then two or three boys, who had 
 been stationed as spies on the drawbridge, burst in, 
 shouting at the top of their voices — 
 
 They Ve coming ! They Ve coming ! 
 
 There arose a howl of fury. Every one pressed 
 to the door. Felix Merckel hurried into his bed- 
 room to take his sabre out of its scabbard, but 
 he did not come back. Probably the sight of the 
 weapon he had so often wielded in honourable war- 
 fare brought him to his senses. 
 
 His father continued to exhort the rioters to 
 calmness and caution, especially those who had not 
 yet paid for their drinks. 
 
 Forwards ! spluttered old Hackelberg, ^‘avenge 
 my poor child. Mow them down ! 
 
 Outside, in the market-place, the whole popula- 
 tion of the village was assembled. Even babies in 
 swaddling-clothes had been snatched out of their 
 cradles, and their squalling mingled with the babel 
 of many tongues. The moon came out from behind 
 some clouds, and shed a pale twilight on the scene. 
 The church tower rose dark and forbidding against 
 the sky, and the parsonage, too, remained silent and 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 109 
 
 dark. The old veteran had kept his word. He 
 heard and saw nothing of what was passing. A 
 dark-red fiery glow appeared behind the cottages 
 that lined the road to the river. Above the low 
 roofs rose columns of thick black smoke. Like the 
 reflection from a conflagration the purple vapour 
 encroached on the pale dusk of the summer night. 
 
 With one accord the rabble took the path to the 
 churchyard, which, a few yards from the last strag- 
 gling houses, lay close to the street. There by the 
 gate they would best be able to bar the way to the 
 invaders. Those who had been in the war fell into 
 rank and stood ready for action. As far as they 
 were concerned, it would be a case of soldiers pitted 
 against soldiers. 
 
 Where is Merckel?” one of them exclaimed in 
 astonishment, expecting to hear the lieutenants 
 word of command. Where is Merckel ? . was 
 echoed in consternation from all sides. 
 
 But the feeling that he must be coming, and had 
 only gone to arm himself, allayed any momentary 
 suspicion of his having shirked the business at the 
 last. The lurid glow drew nearer and nearer. 
 Soon the eye could distinguish something black and 
 square, framed as it were in flames. 
 
 ^‘The coffin — the coffin ! the crowd exclaimed, 
 and involuntarily shuddered. Then, suddenly — 
 who began it no one knew — it was as if it had 
 flashed across every brain at the same instant, in 
 a booming chorus the mob set up the weird 
 chorale — 
 
no THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 “ Our noble Baron and Lord 
 Of Schrandeners^ souls abhorred; 
 
 For the shame he has brought on our head^ 
 
 O God, let the plague strike him deadP 
 
 And the coffin advanced. Already the light from 
 the torches shone on the faces of the singing mob, 
 and women and children retreated screaming. 
 
 The crowd opened wide enough for the proces- 
 sion to pass on, and closed again behind it. Six 
 men carried the coffin on their shoulders and swung 
 flaming pine-branches in their disengaged hands, 
 which scared the throng and made it draw to one 
 side. Six others followed with loaded muskets. 
 At their head Boleslav, with his pistols cocked in 
 his hand, his military cap on the back of his head, 
 piercing his antagonists with his burning gaze, 
 cleared a road for his father’s corpse. Deeper 
 became the rent in the human vortex, thinner the 
 space that divided the procession from the armed 
 Schrandeners, who looked uneasily from side to 
 side, conscious that they were leaderless. 
 
 When Boleslav stood face to face with them they 
 were about to make a forward dash, but a short 
 military Halt ! ” such as they had often heard in 
 the campaign, compelled them to take a step back- 
 wards instead, for in spite of themselves, their 
 limbs insisted on complying with the old habit of 
 obedience. Boleslav, who had intended the order 
 for the bearers, saw its effect on the armed line in 
 front of him, and suddenly a new idea occurred 
 to him. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS iii 
 
 As you were ! ” he commanded again. No one 
 moved a hair. His manner, his voice mastered 
 them. ‘‘Which of you have been soldiers ? Which 
 of you has helped his king to make his country free?” 
 
 An indistinct, half-resentful murmur went through 
 the ranks, but there was no answer. 
 
 “The king sent you home,” he continued, “be- 
 cause he is now at peace with his enemies. Do 
 you suppose that he would be pleased to hear you 
 had taken it upon yourselves to break the peace 
 once more in his realm ? Bah ! he wouldn't be- 
 lieve it of you ! He might believe it of Poles, but 
 not of Prussians ! So make room, my good people. 
 Let us pass ! ” 
 
 The line wavered and began to break in places. 
 For one moment the churchyard gate lay clear 
 before Boleslav's eyes, but the next, fresh figures 
 had moved up from behind and filled the breach. 
 
 Again the clamour arose, and mingling with it a 
 loud, gurgling laugh of derision. In another instant 
 something round, black, and polished was levelled 
 at Boleslav's head, and behind it sparkled a pair of 
 malignant eyes. He had only a second in which 
 to realise what was going to happen, before a figure, 
 supple as a panther's, shot past him and plunged 
 into the midst of the Schrandeners' troops, which 
 again showed signs of giving way. In the hiatus 
 thus made, Boleslav saw two forms wrestling on the 
 ground, one that of a woman, the other a man's. 
 The woman overpowered her antagonist, and wrested 
 from his hand the gleaming bore of a gun. 
 
1 12 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 It was the carpenter Hackelberg and his daughter. 
 She must, stealthily and unobserved, have followed 
 the funeral cortege, for since her disappearance on 
 the other side of the stable ruins Boleslav had seen 
 nothing of her. The crowd pushed forward, curious 
 to find out who was struggling on the ground, and 
 Boleslav, promptly taking advantage of the general 
 confusion, passed the combatants and gained the 
 churchyard gate, the coffin following close at his 
 heels. 
 
 Behind was heard the report of the gun, which 
 exploded in the hand-to-hand struggle. 
 
 Guard the entrance he called to the six who 
 followed the coffin, while the bearers made their 
 way between the mounds and tombstones to the 
 burial vault of the Barons von Schranden. 
 
 Karl Engelbert stationed himself as sentinel 
 beneath the gateway, and saw, by aid of the last 
 flicker of the torches as they moved away, how 
 the crowd closed round the wrestling father and 
 daughter. 
 
 Three piercing shrieks escaped the girffs lips. 
 Evidently the mob intended to wreak its thwarted 
 fury on her. There seemed little doubt that she 
 would perish at its hands, unless some one came 
 quickly to her help. 
 
 Leave her alone ! ” cried Engelbert, striking out 
 right and left with his powerful fists. And then the 
 figure, that had been so pitifully mauled and in such 
 dire extremity till he interfered, emerged from the 
 midst of her persecutors. She glided past him. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 113 
 
 dived into the dry ditch that skirted the churchyard 
 wall, and then disappeared like a shadow, into the 
 darkness. The Schrandeners began, with whoops 
 and hoots, to pursue her. 
 
 How about the burial ? cried one. 
 
 ^‘The devil take the burial!^’ exclaimed another, 
 and cast a shy glance at the men standing on guard 
 by the churchyard gate— men who looked as if they 
 were not to be trifled with. • Certainly it was better 
 sport to give chase to a defenceless creature than to 
 risk one^s skin in an encounter with them. 
 
 And the Schrandeners started off like blood- 
 hounds. The carpenter Hackelberg tried to do 
 likewise, but staggered instead into the ditch, where 
 he lay full length and fell asleep. 
 
 M 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 The last of the stone slabs that covered the vault 
 had crunched back in its place with a resounding 
 crash. Hans Eberhard von Schranden lay with his 
 ancestors. In the little chapel, the men who had 
 acted as grave-diggers bared their heads and said a 
 short prayer. The torches that had burnt down to 
 their sockets smouldered on the smooth surface of 
 the flagstones, and cast a lurid glow as they flickered 
 out over the stern faces of the worshippers. 
 
 Then without looking round at Boleslav they left 
 the chapel. He stood in a remote corner with his 
 hands before his face, brooding fiercely on the future 
 that lay before him. The echoing footsteps roused 
 him, and silently he followed his friends, letting the 
 iron gate of the chapel that had been broken open 
 when they came in, swing back in the lock. 
 
 The moon had again pierced the clouds, and 
 illumined with a weird radiance the mounds and 
 crosses that stood in regular rows, like columns 
 drawn up for battle. 
 
 Do you wish to bait me too ? Boleslav murmured 
 as he contemplated the graves for a moment with a 
 bitter smile. At the gate he overtook his friends. 
 They joined the men on guard, who now had 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 115 
 
 nothing to watch, for, with the exception of a group 
 of women and old men who stood gossiping by the 
 hedge, the street was empty. Hoots were heard 
 proceeding from the distant fields, where the mob 
 apparently were still in full pursuit. 
 
 God have mercy on her, if they catch her ! ” said 
 Karl Engelbert with folded hands. Then two of his 
 comrades, one of whom was Peter Negenthin, came 
 up to him and whispered earnestly in his ear. 
 
 Boleslav was too lost in thought to notice their 
 strange and unnatural behaviour towards himself, 
 and was not even aware, as they walked through 
 the village, that he was always left to walk alone, 
 though now and then he stepped confidentially to 
 the side of one or other of them. He had accom- 
 plished the first chapter of his work. His father 
 was laid to rest as befitted his rank, and yet it 
 seemed as if the real work was only just beginning. 
 He beheld all he had to do towering like a great 
 inaccessible mountain in front of him. The moulder- 
 ing ruins must be built up again ; what was now 
 a waste overgrown by weeds must be restored to 
 a waving sea of golden corn ; he must strive to 
 endow his neglected property with new wealth, and 
 his tarnished name with new honour : and then he 
 saw, as the goal of all this striving, the face of the 
 beloved beckoning him onwards. If he was too 
 bowed down now with a consciousness of shame 
 and disgrace to look into her pure, maidenly eyes, 
 then he would be able to go to her and say, Now, 
 all is expiated. I am worthy to lay myself at your 
 
ii6 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 feet/^ Yes, he would struggle tooth and nail — work 
 day and night — to attain this end. 
 
 At first it seemed almost madness to think of 
 such a gigantic undertaking. . . . But he had his 
 friends to help him. . . . After all, it would not be 
 a single-handed struggle. Had not they to-day 
 helped him to achieve the impossible ? Would 
 not they, true to their sacred oath, continue to 
 stand by him in need with their advice and sym- 
 pathy ? And perhaps their noble example would in 
 time break down the barrier that divided him from his 
 fellow-creatures, and lead to his father^s sin being 
 at last consigned to the limbo of forgotten history. 
 
 Higher and higher rose his hopes as he meditated 
 thus. They had left the village street behind them, 
 and now reached the drawbridge, where the vehicles 
 had been put up. The horses, each with its nose 
 in a bundle of hay, waited patiently by the fence 
 to which they were tethered. Immediately, without 
 a moment^s delay, the comrades set to work to 
 harness them. 
 
 This frightened Boleslav out of his dream. 
 
 ^'What!” he exclaimed. ^^Off already, before I 
 have thanked you ? 
 
 No one spoke. 
 
 Won^t you take a glass of wine now the job is 
 finished ? And I wanted to ask your advice about 
 other matters.” 
 
 Peter Negenthin strode up, and looking him 
 straight in the face, drew his clenched fist from the 
 sling. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 117 
 
 '‘We would rather die of thirst,” he hissed 
 through his set teeth, " than take a drink of water 
 from your hand.” 
 
 Boleslav staggered backwards as if he had been 
 hit between the eyes. He felt the earth reeling 
 beneath his feet. 
 
 Then Karl Engelbert stepped forth from his sullen 
 little band. 
 
 " It is much to be deplored, Baumgart — I call you 
 so because you have been Baumgart to us till this 
 minute — it is much to be deplored that you should 
 thus be bluntly told of what our present feelings are 
 towards you. Why did not you hold your tongue, 
 Negenthin ? . . . But the words have been spoken 
 and cannot be recalled, so now you may as well 
 know all. You summoned us, and we came. Some 
 of us, it is true, were of opinion that we weren^t 
 obliged to obey your summons, considering you had 
 deceived us about your name ; but others said, 
 whether it was Baumgart or no, we were bound by 
 the oath taken in the church at Dannigkow, after 
 our first battle — and none of us were desirous of 
 breaking an oath. That is why we are here. You 
 can imagine that we didn^t come willingly. We are 
 honest fellows, and to tell the truth, the work you 
 gave us to do went against the grain. The long 
 and short of it is, that when we go home, and 
 people spit in our faces, we must put up with it, 
 for they will have right on their side.” 
 
 " Why didn^t you say all this before ? ” Boleslav 
 stammered forth. "Why, oh why have you let it 
 
ii8 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 come to my standing here before you — like a — like 
 a — Ha! ha! ha! If you spit in my face^ I must 
 put up with it ! ” 
 
 You need not reproach yourself on our account/^ 
 Engelbert replied. ^^You have quite enough to 
 bear without that. But now that we have dis- 
 charged our duty — without grumbling, you must 
 admit — I can only ask you, on behalf of myself and 
 my comrades, to release us from our oath, as we 
 release you from yours. Of course we cannot 
 compel you against your wish, but all I can say 
 is, that if you don’t choose to do it, we must leave 
 home and kindred, and wander forth into the world, 
 lest people ” 
 
 Stop ! ” cried Boleslav, feeling as if more would 
 kill him. ^'Your desire is fulfilled. I now wish 
 it as earnestly as you do. Of a truth I should 
 deserve my disgrace, were I ever to ask another 
 favour of you. ... I will not even insult you by 
 saying ' Many thanks ’ for the service you have 
 just rendered me. May God reward you, and may 
 He forgive you for having put me in my present 
 position; rather would I have thrown the corpse 
 into the river and myself after it ; let us say no 
 more. Perhaps you will allow me to assist in 
 putting the horses in, as there is nothing else I can 
 do for you ? ” 
 
 I am sorry,” Engelbert said, his voice quivering 
 with emotion; ^Ht pains us deeply. We are as 
 fond of you yourself as we have ever been — but, 
 you sec ” 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 119 
 
 see all, dear Engelbert; no excuses are 
 necessary/^ 
 
 Well then, we wish you farewell/^ 
 
 Farewell 
 
 The horses were put in. All were in readiness to 
 start. Staring vacantly before him, Boleslav leant 
 against the wall. Engelbert turned and took a last 
 look at him from the box-seat. 
 
 And don^t forget Regina ! ” he said. That is 
 to say, if she escapes with her life. It is to her, 
 not to us, you are indebted.” 
 
 'Wery well,” answered Boleslav, not taking in 
 the meaning of what had been said to him. 
 
 ''Adieu!” 
 
 "Adieu, and bon voyage 
 
 The drivers cracked their whips; in another 
 moment the heavy wheels had thundered over the 
 loose flooring of the drawbridge. Like silver-girt 
 phantoms the coaches disappeared in the misty 
 moonlight. 
 
 He was alone — more alone than any outcast in 
 God^s wide world. What should he do ? 
 
 He began wearily to drag his footsteps up the 
 incline. The brambles that tangled the ground 
 wound round his ankles. A firefly made a zig- 
 zag thread of flame in front of him. From the top 
 of the hill the great, weird, dark masses of the 
 Castle ruins looked down on him, as if threatening 
 to fall on him and bury him beneath their debris. 
 Through the yawning window-casements the moon 
 shone, giving them the appearance of huge ghostly 
 
120 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 eyes. He roamed absently past the towers, a sudden 
 exhaustion weighing like lead upon his limbs. If 
 only he could fall asleep and never wake again. 
 
 He tried to remember what it was his friend had 
 called out to him from the coach at parting. He 
 racked and racked his brains, but his memory failed 
 him. 
 
 The grass plot, where he had first found the half- 
 wild girl, lay before him brightly illumined by the 
 moon. The spot where she had begun to dig the 
 grave stood out in uncanny blackness from the rest 
 of the shining turf. 
 
 If only he had shovelled the corpse into it and 
 gone on his way, perhaps somewhere at the other 
 end of the world some sort of happiness might still 
 have been in store for him. 
 
 But now it was too late. Now all he could do 
 was to endure — to complete the work of defiance 
 begun to-day under such gloomy circumstances. 
 Desolate and alone till the end. Never to feel again 
 the clasp of a friendly hand, never to look with trust 
 and affection into any human face, since the doughty 
 comrades he had so firmly believed in had recoiled 
 from him shuddering. 
 
 And had not the beloved shrunk from him too in 
 horror ? It seemed clear now for the first time why 
 she had avoided him and hidden herself. 
 
 He was cut adrift from all the joys and sorrows 
 that form a common bond between the hearts of 
 men — cut adrift from love, hope, compassion, from 
 everything but ignominy and hate. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 12 1 
 
 With his face buried in his hands, he staggered 
 over the lawn in the direction of the gardener’s cot- 
 tage, when his foot struck against something round 
 and soft that lay across the path. It was the figure 
 of a woman, lying with her head buried in the dry 
 leaves and her limbs outstretched. Regina — posi- 
 tively it was Regina! 
 
 What are you doing here ? Get up.’^ 
 
 There was not a sound or a movement. Where 
 had he seen her last ? Ah I to be sure ; under the 
 churchyard gateway, screening him from the gun 
 that was pointed at his brain. That ghastly moment 
 came back to him with all its terrors. For his sake 
 she had flung herself on the murderer ; for his sake 
 risked her life. And how had he rewarded her? 
 He had pushed carelessly past her ; consigned her 
 to the mercy of the murderous, bloodthirsty crew 
 who were greedy to take her life, without a shadow 
 of a thought of how he might save her troubling 
 him for an instant. Even if she were the most 
 abandoned creature on the face of the earth, she 
 had not deserved such dastardly treatment at his 
 hands. Certainly she had not. 
 
 Regina, wake up.” 
 
 He bent over her and raised her, but her head 
 fell back lifeless among the bushes. There was 
 blood on his fingers from touching her. Her hair 
 was damp and matted. 
 
 Was she dead? No; it must not, could not 
 be. Sacrificed for him; that would mean adding 
 original guilt to the sin he had inherited, and the 
 
122 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 idea of owing so much to such a degraded creature, 
 was in the last degree humiliating. She must at 
 least live till he had paid her. He tore open her 
 chemise with a rough, eager hand, and laid his 
 ear on the cool, rounded breast. 
 
 God be praised ! Her heart was still beating. 
 And as he raised her once more, she slowly opened 
 her great eyes and looked round her vacantly. As 
 if shocked at being caught holding her thus, he let 
 her head slip out of his arms. 
 
 She moaned slightly as she sank back, for the 
 swaying briars hurt her. Then regaining conscious- 
 ness, she lifted herself on her elbow and gazed at 
 him in dumb inquiry. 
 
 Get up, Regina,” he said. 
 
 The sound of his voice made her tremble. She 
 tried to struggle on to her feet, but fell back help- 
 lessly. 
 
 ^^Let me lie where I am,” she begged, with a 
 timid, imploring glance. 
 
 Stand up. I will help you.” 
 
 ^^Must I go?” she asked, evading the proffered 
 support. Grief and anxiety were depicted on her 
 blood-stained, beautiful face. 
 
 You would rather stay with me ? ” 
 
 Ah, Herry how can you ask ?” 
 
 But yoif 11 have a bad time of it if you do.” 
 
 Oh no, Herr, The gnddiger Herr used to whip 
 me every day. I am quite accustomed to it.” 
 
 But somewhere else they would treat you 
 better.” 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 123 
 
 Somewhere else ? New consternation showed 
 itself on her features. 
 
 Good God ! A woman like you, who is willing 
 and hard-working, and has such strong limbs, is 
 sure ” 
 
 She shook her head violently. I shouldn't go 
 far, Herr, If you hunt me away, I shall only lie 
 down in a ditch and starve to death.^’ 
 
 A softer look came into his eyes. No matter how 
 bad, stupid, and corrupt she might be, she was the 
 only human being in the wide world who clung to 
 him. Why should he drive her from his threshold, 
 when he himself was despised, ostracised, and a 
 social outcast ? Were they not both under the ban 
 of the same misfortune ? 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 The next few days proved how little he was in 
 a position to live on his own estate without her 
 services. He was far more dependent on her than 
 she on him. Helpless as a shipwrecked mariner on 
 a desert island, he stole about the ancestral grounds. 
 Though the mines and wolfs^-traps no longer dogged 
 his steps, finding his way among the chaos of smoked 
 and tumbling walls made him giddy, and decay had 
 altered everything so much, that the landmarks of 
 his childish memories afforded him no assistance. 
 Even the park, where once he had known every tree 
 and bush, through long years of neglect, had become 
 such a wilderness that at every step he nearly lost 
 himself in it. 
 
 When the first flush of his defiance and despair 
 had subsided, the question arose, What was he to 
 do next ? It was a problem that pressed for solution, 
 as the miserable rations of bread and meat in the 
 cellars were running out. 
 
 His pride prevented his seeking advice from 
 Regina; he had not spoken to her again. Appar- 
 ently she understood the wisdom of making herself 
 scarce. But when he returned of a morning from 
 the river, where he went for a bath, he found the 
 
 X24 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 125 
 
 red-flowered counterpane of the canopied bed neatly 
 arranged, the floor swept, and strewn with sand and 
 fragrant fir spikes, and saw awaiting him on the 
 gold-legged table (the fourth leg of which was 
 propped up with a brick) a steaming brown coffee- 
 pot, and dainty slices of black bread lying beside it. 
 
 His shyness at taking food from her hands had 
 soon to be got over. At first he had still hesitated 
 a little to break bread that she had brought him, but 
 it looked so appetising, and bathing in the cold 
 autumn mornings sharpened his hunger, that at last 
 his scruples had gone to the wall. 
 
 At midday, a soup made of bread, and slices of 
 roast meat, stood read}" for him, not to mention a 
 bottle of good wine; and in the evening, by some 
 clever stratagem, another meal of a different character 
 was contrived out of the same unpromising materials. 
 Thus she knew how to keep house with nothing but 
 the scanty larder he had found in the cellar at her 
 disposal. 
 
 He often saw her whisk past the window with 
 pots and kettles, on her way to wash them in the 
 river. When she came back she would cautiously 
 peer with her lustrous eyes through the shrubs, to 
 ascertain whether the coast was clear. If he hap- 
 pened to be at the door, or looking out of the 
 window, she would immediately disappear in the 
 wood. 
 
 She made the gardener^s former workshop her 
 domain. One morning when he had watched her 
 go down to the river, he went in to look at it. He 
 
126 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 found a low, sloping room, with a roof composed of 
 old greenhouse frames. The green, dusty, lead- 
 bordered panes were much cracked, and in places 
 let in the winds and rains of heaven. The ground 
 was neither floored nor paved, but covered with a 
 dark moist garden soil resembling peat. Attached 
 to the walls were rude wooden shelves, once used 
 by the gardener for his flower-pots. They now 
 held all the house’s scanty stock of crockery. Pots, 
 plates, and dishes were arranged on them in perfect 
 order, and had been polished till they shone. A 
 blackened door off its hinges, evidently rescued 
 from the fire, supported by two wooden boxes about 
 two feet from the ground, was spread with straw 
 and a haircloth, of the kind that are thrown over 
 the backs of horses to protect them from cold. 
 This was her bed — Many a dog has a better,” 
 he thought. The brick fireplace was in the oppo- 
 site corner ; a home-made contrivance of beams was 
 meant to guide the belching smoke from the hearth 
 into its proper channel, but only partially succeeded. 
 
 In this smoky hole, with its cold damp floor, she 
 was domiciled, and desired nothing better. Here 
 her heart was centred as in a dearly cherished 
 Paradise. Poor, wretched woman ! and to be driven 
 forth from it meant to her death and perdition. 
 
 And then one evening she disappeared. He had 
 at last made up his mind to speak to her about the 
 provisions, and went to call her. No answer came. 
 The kitchen was empty. He sought her in the 
 park, among the ruins, on the bridge, all over the 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 127 
 
 island, but there was no sign of her. Her name rang 
 clearly out through the night air as he called her, and 
 had she been anywhere about she must have heard 
 it. He became suspicious. Probably after the hard 
 work of her lonely days, she took it out at night in 
 the arms of a swain. She was, of course, well versed 
 in the arts of vice, and would not scruple to yield 
 herself to the embraces of some rustic gallant. 
 Many of her persecutors below may have desired 
 the body they stoned. How otherwise could her ob- 
 stinate adherence to her present miserable mode of 
 living, after his father’s death, be explained, except 
 by the existence of a new sin — a sin which, per- 
 haps, had long been carried on hand-in-hand with 
 the old. He was filled with loathing and disgust 
 at the thought. 
 
 If she can’t behave herself. I’ll pack her off 
 early to-morrow morning ; ” and with this resolution 
 he retired to rest. But he could not sleep for 
 thinking of what the future would be without her. 
 To send her away would involve going himself the 
 same day. 
 
 At about six o’clock he was awakened out of a 
 doze by a stealthy opening of the outer door. He 
 got up and dressed himself quickly, determined to 
 call her to account without loss of time. He en- 
 tered the kitchen and found her on the hearth with 
 inflated cheeks, blowing the pine logs she had just 
 set alight into a flame. 
 
 She turned on him slowly, her eyes big with as- 
 tonishment, and said, Good morning, Herr.^' 
 
1 2b THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 He trembled in angry excitement. Where have 
 you been all night ? ” he thundered. 
 
 Her arms fell to her sides, and she shrank away 
 terrified. 
 
 Tell me at once.'' 
 
 Ah, Herr^'' she stuttered, hanging her head, I 
 thought you wouldn’t notice I had gone, and that I 
 
 should be back before the Herr was awake ” 
 
 So if I don’t notice^ you amuse yourself by run- 
 ning about all night ? ” 
 
 She had retreated still farther from him. 
 
 ^^But — but — I was obliged to go,” she said, stam- 
 mering painfully. There was scarcely anything 
 at all left — and — and the Herr has eaten nothing 
 but salt meat for so long.” 
 
 The scales fell from his eyes. 
 
 ^^You went then to fetch food ?” 
 
 Of course, Herr. I have brought veal and fresh 
 eggs and butter — and sausage and lots of things. 
 It’s all in the cellar.” 
 
 Where did you get it ? ” 
 
 Oh, I told you, Herr — in Bockeldorf. I know 
 a grocer there, who gets ready a supply of what 
 we want beforehand, and when I knock at nights 
 he lets me in at the back door. Not a living soul 
 besides his wife knows. And he’s not very dear. 
 Herr Merckel down in the village charges a thaler a 
 pound for meat, and swears at me into the bargain.” 
 And you have walked six miles there and back 
 to-night, and carried all those heavy parcels ? ” 
 
 Still frightened, she regarded him with surprise. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 129 
 
 I think you know, Herry that I can do it, for I told 
 you so before.” 
 
 But it’s a physical impossibility. Don’t lie 
 to me, girl. From my experience during the cam- 
 paign, I know how much fatigue a man can 
 stand.” 
 
 Now that she saw he was no longer angry she 
 dared to draw herself to her full height. She ex- 
 hibited her powerful arms proudly, and exclaimed 
 with a pleased smile — 
 
 I can stand more than any man, HerVy else I 
 should be no good at all.” 
 
 For how long have you been going on these 
 journeys, Regina ? ” 
 
 For five years, Herr, Every week. Sometimes 
 oftener. In summer it’s child’s play. But in 
 autumn and winter, when the snow lies two feet 
 thick in the wood, or when the meadows are flooded, 
 it’s no joke. But there’s one thing to be thankful 
 for, the nights are long then, and at least no one 
 can see you. And I’d a hundred times rather walk 
 the six miles than go to that beast — I beg pardon, 
 I mean Herr Merckel — who takes a thaler for a 
 pound of meat. Isn’t that abominable ? And in 
 the village ” 
 
 She paused suddenly, as if she feared being scolded 
 for talking too much. 
 
 What were you going to say, Regina?” he 
 asked in a kindlier tone. 
 
 Oh, nothing, but I should like to beg the Hen^s 
 pardon for having gone without leave. But I thought 
 
 I 
 
130 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 he might perhaps like a change for breakfast — a 
 fresh egg 
 
 Never mind, Regina,” he said, turning away; 
 ‘‘you are a good girl.” 
 
 He went down to the river to bathe. When he 
 came back he found his room tidied as usual, only 
 the coffee was not there. 
 
 “She is so tired out that she^s fallen asleep,’^ he 
 thought, and resigned himself to wait. At least, 
 she should not be reprimanded any more to-day. 
 
 But in consequence of his bath he was bitterly 
 cold, and found he could not forego the customary 
 warm beverage much longer. So, in order not to 
 wake her he went on tiptoe into the kitchen to see 
 to the fire himself. But she was not asleep, though 
 at the first glance it looked like it. She sat on the 
 edge of her couch, motionless, with her hands before 
 her face. Now and again a quiver passed through 
 her frame, a symptom of the sleep of exhaustion. 
 Yet on regarding her closer, he saw that glistening 
 tear-drops were falling through her red, plump fingers, 
 and her breast was shaking with gurgling sobs. 
 
 “What's the matter, Regina? Why are you 
 crying ? ” 
 
 She did not answer, but her sobs became louder. 
 
 “ Have I hurt your feelings, Regina ? I shouldn't 
 have scolded you if I had known where you had 
 been.” 
 
 She let her hands fall from her face, and looked 
 at him with eyes swollen from weeping. 
 
 “ Ah, Herr ! ” she said in a voice half choked by 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 13 1 
 
 tears. one — ever — called me that before; and 
 
 — it^s not — true.^^ 
 
 His mood changed and became harsh again. He 
 was not conscious of having used any abusive epi- 
 thet. It was too ridiculous of this creature, who was 
 accustomed to being hounded about from pillar to 
 post, to pretend to be thin-skinned and fastidious. 
 
 '' What isn^t true ? he demanded. 
 
 What you said.” 
 
 What did I say ? Good heavens ! ” 
 
 ‘^That I — I was a good ” She broke again 
 
 into convulsive sobs that stifled her voice. 
 
 He shook his head, perplexed at her distress. 
 He had never looked very deeply into the most 
 complex problems of the human soul, and did not 
 know that even dishonour has its code of honour. 
 Laughing, he laid his hand on her shoulder. 
 
 Don’t cry any more, Regina ; I meant no harm. 
 And now get my breakfast ready.” 
 
 May — I — bring it in ? ” she asked, still sobbing. 
 Do you want me to come and fetch it ? ” 
 
 I only thought I mightn’t — ” She moved to 
 the hearth and began blowing the smouldering fire, 
 using her tear-stained cheeks as bellows. 
 
 After that she was no longer shy of entering his 
 room when he was there. Ever anxious to forestall 
 his wishes, she seemed to read his countenance 
 without a question passing her lips. 
 
 Boleslav had found, in the recesses of the cellar 
 in which money and wine were stored, great masses 
 of papers stuffed into chests, where chaos reigned 
 
132 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 supreme. They contained the whole of his father^s 
 correspondence, deeds, and documents of every 
 description. His first search among them had 
 brought to light nothing less important than his 
 aunt’s last will and testament, in which her Excel- 
 lency bequeathed to Boleslav von Schranden, the 
 only son of her favourite niece, the whole of her 
 fortune, *^to compensate him for the wrong,” so 
 ran the clause, from which he would suffer to the 
 end of his days.” 
 
 Boleslav’s pleasure at first was not great ; it was 
 only when he considered that here was a weapon 
 put into his hand to use in the coming struggle, 
 that he began to appreciate the value of the gift. 
 He scarcely gave a thought to the giver, who had 
 always been kindness itself to him, so hardened 
 had he become, so completely was his mind en- 
 grossed by contemplation of the grim work that it 
 was his duty to carry on. 
 
 If only he could have seen a way clear before 
 him, which he could have pursued instantly, with- 
 out looking to the right or left, with the impetuous 
 zeal characteristic of his nature ! But for months 
 the prospect must be one of paralysing hopeless 
 inaction. The war which he had determined to 
 wage against the Schrandeners must be conducted 
 on an ambitious scale, if it were not to end in the 
 pitiful failure that had soured and impoverished the 
 last years of his father’s life. It would need an 
 army of workmen to inspire the serfs, who had so 
 long run wild, with new respect. And where were 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 133 
 
 these to be engaged, when there was not a soul in 
 the neighbourhood who would not have disdained to 
 enter his service ? But nearly everything is attain- 
 able with money, and doubtless many a swaggering 
 patriot, who now spat at the mention of his name, 
 could be brought, cringing and servile, to heel, by 
 the bribe of a triple wage. Only, for this his 
 means were not sufficient. The cash that at the first 
 glance had seemed such vast wealth, proved, on 
 nearer calculation, to be wholly inadequate to float 
 his scheme. It was 4500 thalers, left from out- 
 standing debts, that the old baron had hastily saved 
 from the conflagration, when the whole world must 
 have appeared to him to be melting into flame. 
 For the sort of existence that, following his fathers 
 example, he was now leading with Regina, such a 
 sum would last for years; but for the project he 
 had in view, it was a mere drop in the ocean. 
 
 Before the discovery of the will he had with a 
 heavy heart entertained the idea of offering the fine 
 old timber, which had been the pride of his ances- 
 tors, for sale, and to dispose of it below its value if 
 the need arose. Now he had abandoned the plan 
 as impracticable. Granted that he could find a 
 market for it as easily as he hoped, it must be 
 months before the actual cash came into his hands. 
 Besides winter was at hand, one of those severe 
 East Prussian winters, when work in the open air is 
 out of the question. For this year at least neither 
 building nor ploughing was to be thought of. Why, 
 then, make a sacrifice which with a little patience 
 
134 the sins of the FATHERS 
 
 might be avoided altogether? If on the first of 
 April he claimed his legacy, and was able with full 
 pockets to enlist workers in his service, by May the 
 building would be in full swing, and possibly the 
 ground ready for the sowing of crops. 
 
 But till then — till then — ! How would he be able 
 to support the barren monotony of grey winter days 
 spent in enforced and dreary idleness when his 
 hands were burning to be at work ? How endure 
 the thought that his beloved was in the near neigh- 
 bourhood and he unable to ask her the fateful 
 question on which his life and happiness hung? 
 Would she wait ? Would she forgive ? Would 
 she steel her heart against the atmosphere of hate 
 and slander that surrounded her, and so keep her 
 affection for him unchanged ? 
 
 The Madonna in the cathedral came back to him. 
 He wondered if she still resembled it. If only 
 for one moment he might have gazed into her face ! 
 There was a white and red mist before his eyes ; he 
 saw lilies and roses, and a radiant virgin figure 
 bending over them with a smile, but the features 
 of the girl he had loved he could only dimly 
 recall. 
 
 Veiled from his sight, perhaps she was destined 
 to be the invisible guardian-angel who was to watch 
 over his endeavours till his work was completed, 
 when she would set the crown to it by revealing 
 herself. He became gradually reconciled to the 
 thought, and ceased to yearn for a meeting ; and one 
 word or sign to assure him that his hopes in her 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 135 
 
 constancy were not ill-founded would have more 
 than satisfied him. 
 
 More and more he buried himself in the chaos of 
 papers, which seemed to increase instead of diminish, 
 in spite of his arduous sifting. The yellowed parch- 
 ments stood in great piles against the wall of his 
 sitting-room, reaching higher than the head of his 
 beautiful grandmother, and yet in the vaults there 
 still remained chests and boxes full, untouched. 
 The whole archives of the family seemed to have 
 been gathered together at a moment^s notice, and 
 hurled into a place of safety without the slightest 
 regard to method or arrangement. Out of this 
 confusion he wanted to find documents relating 
 to the property, which were important, not to say 
 indispensable. Among others, were missing those 
 that concerned agreements with the emancipated 
 peasants relating to land boundaries. The canaille 
 below were certain to have grabbed from the do- 
 main that had become ownerless, more than their 
 legal share. He saw how law-suits would have 
 to be fought over almost every inch of ground, and 
 he must be able to back his claim with irrefragable 
 documentary proof. 
 
 Nevertheless he felt an insuperable aversion to 
 appealing to the courts. The picture of his father, 
 as he had seen him the last time alive, stood out 
 vividly in his memory; the ostracised baron, who 
 had been bold enough to seek the aid of the law, 
 had then found every door closed in his face. Truly 
 Prussia at that time was not itself. The walls of 
 
136 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 the State were tottering to their foundations, and 
 the rats were having it all their own way. But what 
 guarantee was there that the son of such a father 
 would find the ear of justice less deaf to his appeal ? 
 The law had shifts and resources in plenty by which 
 an unpopular person could be rendered powerless 
 to benefit by its help, and he did not doubt that he 
 would fall a victim to such casuistry. His deserted 
 and forlorn position so distorted his view of things 
 that law and order took the form of wild beasts 
 lying on the drawbridge in ambush for their prey. 
 Even his military duties had no interest for him 
 now. Lieutenant Baumgart was on the list of 
 killed. Why trouble the authorities with the work 
 of his resurrection ? They would not thank him 
 for it. 
 
 A text from the Bible came into his mind : His 
 
 hand shall be against every man, and every man^s 
 hand against him.” The curse that accompanied 
 Hagar^s son through life, he by dint of stubborn 
 defiance would turn into a blessing. 
 
 Weeks went by, but he hardly observed the 
 flight of time. He sat immersed day after day in 
 his papers, wandering forth of an evening to stumble 
 about the ruins, or to take a walk in the overgrown 
 park. There was only one place he carefully 
 avoided. That was the path which led to the 
 Cats^ Bridge. When he chanced to find himself 
 nearing it, his heart beat quicker, and he would 
 hurry breathlessly by the shrubs that concealed it 
 from view. Yet he was tormented by a grim desire 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 137 
 
 to stand on the scene of the disaster, a desire which 
 at length became almost irrepressible. 
 
 It was one evening towards the end of September 
 when, for the first time since his return home, the 
 moon was full. He roamed restlessly in the glades 
 of the park, the dry leaves rustled at his feet, and 
 the autumn wind shook the branches of the trees. 
 The moonbeams shimmered on the grass like 
 flocks of white sheep. Before him the shrubs rose 
 in a dark, jagged line of wall. An impulse of sinister 
 curiosity suddenly got the better of the superstitious 
 repugnance that had hitherto held him back, and he 
 plunged through the thicket that, with a sort of 
 protecting air, hid the path. The descent to the 
 river was steep, almost perpendicular, and the 
 mirror-like surface of the water was entirely con- 
 cealed by alder-bushes. A faint rippling and splash- 
 ing below fell mysteriously on his ear. From the 
 top of the precipice a railed plank shot boldly out 
 into mid-air. A rude scaffolding, planted firmly in 
 the rock of the precipice, supported it with iron bars. 
 On the opposite bank the trunk of a giant oak 
 formed the support. In the middle there was a 
 yawning gap of from ten to twelve feet. Like two 
 arms longingly outstretched but never meeting, the 
 planks branched forth on either side above the 
 abysmal depths. 
 
 If they had never reached each other the crime 
 would never have come to pass. But an easier job 
 for a joiner could not be conceived. The plank on 
 this side had two loose boards, which, by means of 
 
138 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 a wedge, could easily be pushed across; and the 
 position of the hand-rail, by being unhinged, could 
 also be reversed. Everything seemed to have been 
 arranged expressly to facilitate the treacherous 
 transaction. As a memorial of eternal shame, the 
 dark, crude structure loomed out through the white 
 mists of the brilliant night. 
 
 Beneath, the splashing from the invisible river 
 grew more pronounced. It sounded as if its waters 
 were still foaming with rage at the deed that so 
 long ago had been enacted near at hand, and which 
 death itself could not consign to oblivion. 
 
 Like a man in a dream, he stepped on to the 
 plank, and looked down on the silver surface, which 
 seemed to be emitting myriads of diamond sparks. 
 Then he beheld the figure of a woman, who stood 
 up to her knees in the water, with her skirts 
 pinned round her waist. It was Regina, doing her 
 washing, and wringing out the articles among the 
 sandbanks and osiers. 
 
 His brows contracted. That he should encounter 
 her here of all places ! But in common justice he 
 was obliged to admit it was not her fault. When- 
 ever she could she avoided him, and he had no 
 reason to complain that he saw too much of her. 
 
 He leant absently on the railing and watched her. 
 She had no idea that he was anywhere in the 
 neighbourhood. She bent low over the water, the 
 muscles in her neck and arms strained by her 
 exertions, and shook the wet clothes with a will, 
 sending up a spray of glistening drops. From time 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 139 
 
 to time she chanted the song on two notes, that he 
 had heard her hum while digging the grave, break- 
 ing off abruptly when the water spurted into her 
 nose and mouth. 
 
 What a hard worker she was ! He had imagined 
 her long ago gone to bed, and here she was instead, 
 at this time of night, washing as if her life depended 
 on it ! 
 
 She started in alarm. His foot had disturbed 
 some small pebbles, which fell splashing into the 
 water close to where she stood. Her first thought 
 was that some one was lying in wait for her among 
 the shrubs, and she moved suspiciously nearer the 
 opposite bank. When at last it occurred to her to 
 look up at the Cats^ Bridge, she gave a startled cry. 
 
 Don^t be frightened, Regina,^^ he called down 
 to her. I am not going to hurt you.” 
 
 Whereupon she returned calmly to her washing. 
 
 How do you get down there ? ” he asked. 
 
 She wiped her face with her naked arm. Fm 
 a good climber,” she said, looking up at him for a 
 moment with blinking eyes. 
 
 Doesn^t the water freeze you ? So late in the 
 year, too ! ” 
 
 She made some response that he did not under- 
 stand. He was curious to see how she would 
 clamber up the steep declivity with her burden, 
 so remained where he was and continued to watch 
 her. 
 
 In a few minutes she packed up her washing and 
 climbed on the bank. The moonlight cast a flashing 
 
140 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 halo round the masses of her hair, which to-day 
 had been combed till it was almost smooth. She 
 looked as if she wore a coronet. With one shy 
 glance to ascertain that he was still standing there, 
 she dived into the shrubs, and he saw her dart 
 rapidly from branch to branch with the agility of a 
 wild-cat. At the top she let down her skirts, and 
 would have flown with her basket, had he not called 
 her back. 
 
 '^Why do you do your washing at night?'' he 
 inquired, making an effort to look friendly disposed 
 towards her. 
 
 Because in the daytime they give me no 
 peace.” 
 
 The villagers ? ” 
 
 ‘^Yes, Herrr 
 
 What do they do to you ? '' 
 
 What they always do — throw things at me.” 
 
 ^‘Over the river?” 
 
 ‘^Yes, Herr,^^ 
 
 ^‘The next time any one assaults you, come and 
 fetch me.” 
 
 She did not answer. 
 
 Do you understand ? '' 
 
 She folded her hands, and looked at him beseech- 
 ingly. 
 
 What's the matter ? ” he asked. 
 
 Please, Herr^ don't shoot at them,” she stam- 
 mered. ^‘They like you to do that. He — the 
 
 gnddiger Herr^ I mean — tried it once. Then they 
 began to shoot too, from the other side, and there 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 14 1 
 
 was firing here and firing there ; the wonder was no 
 one got shot. Don't you see, if they get into the 
 habit of carrying guns about with them always, they 
 are certain to hit me one day, for Fm obliged to go 
 off the island sometimes ? " 
 
 It was the longest and most sensible speech he 
 had as yet heard from her lips. He had not 
 suspected the existence of so much thoughtful 
 wisdom behind that low brow, in its frame of wild 
 hair. 
 
 You are right, Regina,” he replied. ''For your 
 sake I must forbear from provoking them.” 
 
 He saw in the moonlight a dark flush suffuse her 
 face. 
 
 " For my sake, Herr ? ” she said hesitatingly. " I 
 don't quite understand what you mean, Herr?^ 
 
 " Oh, well, never mind,” he answered evasively. 
 " What I wanted to ask you, Regina, was — are you 
 satisfied in my service ? can I do anything to make 
 you more comfortable ? ” 
 
 She stared at him in dumb amazement. 
 
 "You mustn't think, Regina,” he went on, "that 
 I am unfriendly. My mind is occupied with many 
 things, and I prefer to be quite alone with my 
 troubles. So if I don't speak to you often you will 
 understand how it is.” 
 
 Her eyes drooped. Her hands fumbled for the 
 balustrade as if seeking a support, then the next 
 moment she turned, and leaving her basket in the 
 lurch, scampered off, as if driven by furies. 
 
 " Strange creature ! ” he muttered, as he looked 
 
142 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 after her. must be kinder to her. She de- 
 
 serves it.” Then he leant over the balustrade 
 again, and gazing into the silver water fancied 
 he saw growing there a garden of lilies and crimson 
 roses. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 Lieutenant Merckel was far from being pleased 
 at the course events had taken on the day of the 
 funeral. He called the Schrandeners poltroons and 
 old women, and declared they were unworthy ever 
 to have worn the king^s uniform. 
 
 When some one ventured to ask why he had not 
 shown himself in it to the procession, and had left 
 the mob leaderless at a critical moment, he replied 
 that that was a different matter altogether : he was 
 an officer, and as such bound only to draw his sword 
 in the service of the king. 
 
 The Schrandeners, not accustomed to logical argu- 
 ment, accepted the explanation, and promised to 
 retrieve their reputation the next time the oppor- 
 tunity offered itself. But this did not satisfy Felix 
 Merckel. 
 
 ^‘Father,” he said, late one evening when the old 
 
 landlord was counting the cash taken during the 
 
 day, can^t bear to think that scoundrelly cur 
 
 holds the rank of Royal Prussian officer as I do. I 
 
 am ashamed to have served with him. Our army 
 
 doesn't want to be associated with people like him. 
 
 It drags the cockade through the gutter, not to 
 143 
 
144 the sins of the FATHERS 
 
 speak of the sword-knot. I know what Til do; Til 
 call him out and shoot him/^ 
 
 He stretched his legs out on the settle, twisting 
 his cavalry moustache with a bland smile. The old 
 man let fall, in horrified dismay, a handful of silver 
 that he was counting, and the coins rolled away 
 into the cracks of the floor. 
 
 Felixchen,” he said, ^^you really mustn^t drink so 
 much of that Wacholder brandy. Ifs good enough 
 for customers, but you, Felixchen, shall have a 
 bottle of light wine to-morrow, and perhaps some of 
 them will follow your example, and so it won’t cost 
 me anything.” 
 
 Father, you are mistaken,” Felix answered. 
 
 It’s my outraged sense of honour that gives me no 
 peace. I am a German lad, father, and a brave 
 officer. I can’t stand the stain on my calling any 
 longer.” 
 
 Felixchen,” said the old man, ** go to bed, my 
 son, and you’ll get over it.” 
 
 Father,” replied his son, I am sorry to have to 
 say it, but you have no conception of what honour is.” 
 Felixchen,” went on the old man, ignoring the 
 taunt, ^‘you haven’t enough occupation. If you 
 would only look after the bottles — of course the 
 barmaid is there for the purpose — but it would do 
 you good. It would distract your thoughts. Or 
 you might go out shooting sometimes.” 
 
 Where?” 
 
 ** Lord bless my soul ! there are the woods and 
 forest of Schranden. Whether the hares devour 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 145 
 
 each other, or you annex your share of them, is all 
 the same/' 
 
 ‘^That won't do for me, father. I am an officer, 
 and don't wish to be caught poaching." 
 
 ''Good gracious, Felixchen, how you talk! Do you 
 forget that I am magistrate here. I am not likely to 
 sentence you to the gallows. But do as you like, 
 my boy. Of course you might go oftener to the 
 parsonage. The old pastor enjoys a game of chess ; 
 there's nothing to be gained by chess, I know, but 
 some people seem to like it, and then there's — 
 Helene." 
 
 " Ah, Helene I said Felix, stroking his chin and 
 looking flattered. 
 
 The old man examined the artificial fly in the 
 centre of his amber heart. 
 
 " I have a strong notion that she would be a good 
 match if the pastor consented, and she liked you." 
 
 "Why shouldn't she like me?" asked Felix. 
 
 "Well, there might be some one else who " 
 
 Felix smiled sceptically. 
 
 " Or do you mean that she has already set her 
 heart on you ? " 
 
 Felix shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 " You see, Felixchen, that would be a great piece 
 of good fortune for us. People are constantly carping 
 at the way in which they think I acquired my bit 
 of money — without the smallest ground of course. 
 If only the pastor gave you his daughter as wife, it 
 would stop their mouths once for all. A man like 
 Pastor Gotz has great weight and influence. Well 
 
 K 
 
145 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 then, as I said, it^s worth while your hanging about 
 there a little. Court her, and a fellow like you is 
 sure 
 
 Dear father, spare me your advice, if you please,^' 
 interrupted his son. ^'Whether Helene becomes 
 my wife or not, is my own affair. I have not yet 
 made up my mind. She has a pretty enough little 
 phiz, but she is too thin. She might be fattened 
 up with advantage. Then there^s something old- 
 maidish about her, something sharp and prudish 
 that I don^t quite fancy. For instance, if you put 
 your arm round her waist she says, * Ah, dear Herr 
 Lieutenant, how you frightened me ! ’ and wriggles 
 away. And if you squeeze her arm, by Jokus, she 
 screams out directly, ^Oh, dear Herr Lieutenant, 
 don't do that, Fve got such a delicate skin.' Of course 
 that's all airs and affectation, and perhaps if a man 
 caught hold of her firmly and didn't give in, she'd 
 allow herself to be kissed at last ; but as I say, I 
 have not made up my mind, so don't build too much 
 on it.” 
 
 The old landlord, who with deft hand was rolling 
 up his sovereigns in paper, looked proudly across 
 at this magnificent son of his. Then he became 
 anxious again. 
 
 ‘‘And you won't think any more about the duel, 
 eh, Felixchen? That's all nonsense. . . . You 
 wouldn't go and risk your life so recklessly as 
 that.” 
 
 Felix threw back his chest. “ In affairs of 
 honour, father, please don't interfere, for you know 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 147 
 
 nothing about them. Directly I can find a respectable 
 second 
 
 What is that, Felixchen ? ** 
 
 Why, the man who'll take the challenge." 
 Where — to Boleslav ? " 
 
 Of course." 
 
 To the island ? " 
 
 “ To the island." 
 
 ‘^But, Felixchen, what are you thinking about? 
 No Christian dare set foot on the island. It swarms 
 with wolf-traps, bombs, and other deadly instru- 
 ments. Look at Hackelberg; he was caught in one, 
 and limps to this day — but never mention it. It 
 mustn't come out that Hackelberg was ever on the 
 island. Do you see ? ... As I was saying, you 
 wouldn't get any one to go on such a dangerous 
 errand — or to come in contact with such a man as 
 that. No, my boy, think no more about it. There's 
 nothing to be gained by it." 
 
 ^‘But I will challenge him all the same to meet 
 me here," growled Felix. 
 
 The old man contemplated him with the greatest 
 concern for a few moments, then rose, filled a liqueur- 
 glass with peppermint-schnaps, and brought it over 
 to him. 
 
 ‘‘Drink it up, Felixchen," he said, “it'll soothe 
 you." Felix obeyed. 
 
 “Leave the matter in the hands of your good, 
 honest old father. Trust him to find in the night 
 some other means of satisfying your so-called sense 
 of honour. Good-night, Felixchen." 
 
148 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 The good, honest old father ” had not promised 
 more than he was able to perform. 
 
 The next morning, when he met his son at the 
 breakfast table, he asked in an accent of benevolent 
 sympathy — 
 
 '‘Well, Felixchen, have you slept off all those 
 silly notions ? ” 
 
 Felix grew angry. " I told you, father, that on 
 that subject you were 
 
 "Totally ignorant! Very good, my boy. But I 
 want to be clear on one point. Is it with the Baron 
 von Schranden that you propose to fight a duel, or 
 with Lieutenant Baumgart ? 
 
 Felix did not answer at once. A suspicion of what 
 his father was darkly hinting, dawned on him. 
 
 " Don^t deal in subterfuges, father,^^ he said. " I 
 am an upright, simple soldier, and don^t understand 
 them.'^ 
 
 "But, Felix, you needn’t be so headstrong. I 
 mean well. As the Baron von Schranden never 
 was an officer, there is no reason why you should 
 concern yourself about him ; and as Lieutenant 
 Baumgart has proved a swindler, and assumed a 
 false name, he is equally beneath your notice.” 
 
 "That is true,” said Felix, spreading honey on 
 his bread and butter. "As a matter of fact, I 
 oughtn’t to do him the honour of challenging him.” 
 
 Then a new idea seemed to occur to Felix. " If 
 only,” he added fiercely, " he could be stopped from 
 entitling himself lieutenant. That’s what offends 
 my sense of honour more than anything.” 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 149 
 
 His old father seemed prepared with an answer 
 to this remark. 
 
 '^Why should he go on calling himself lieutenant?^’ 
 he asked, grinning and whistling under his breath. 
 ^^Only because his superior officers are kept in 
 ignorance of the deception he has practised. If 
 they had an inkling of it, they’d be down on him 
 fast enough.” 
 
 Felix understood. '^You mean we ought ” 
 
 he began. 
 
 Of course we ought.” 
 
 But Felix’s hypersensitive sense of honour again 
 felt itself outraged. '' Remember that I am an 
 officer, father,” he exclaimed indignantly. '^Your 
 proposal is in the highest degree insulting.” 
 
 The host shrugged his shoulders. Very well; 
 if you don’t wish it, leave it alone,” he said. 
 
 Then the honourable young man saw a way of 
 escape. 
 
 If only it could be done without a signature,” 
 he meditated aloud. 
 
 '‘That difficulty is easily overcome,” responded 
 the old man. " I have a scheme in my head. Let 
 me draw it up. All you’ve got to do will be to sign 
 your name with the others at the foot. Then it will 
 be only one of many.” 
 
 On the afternoon of the same day, the parish 
 crier, Hoffmann, invited all the country’s defenders 
 in the village to assemble at the Black Eagle. It 
 was the merest matter of form, a tribute to the im- 
 portance of the business to be discussed, for they 
 
ISO THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 were certain to have turned up there of their own 
 accord sooner or later without an invitation. The 
 tables were soon full (Schranden had sent a contin- 
 gent of thirty warriors to the War of Liberty) ; and 
 when Herr Merckel saw glasses emptying to right 
 and left of him, he stepped behind the bar, and ex- 
 changing glances with his son, rubbed his hands with 
 satisfaction, and began the following harangue : — 
 
 ^'Dear fellow-burghers, I desire to speak a few 
 words to you. You are all brave soldiers, and have 
 fought in many a bloody battle for your Fatherland 
 in its dire extremity. You must have often been 
 thirsty in those days, and have longed for even a 
 few drops of dirty ditch-water. It’s only to your 
 credit, then, that after the heat and burden of the 
 war, you turn into the Black Eagle occasionally, for 
 a good draught of pale ale. You have earned it 
 honestly with the sweat of your brow. Your health, 
 soldiers ! ” 
 
 He flourished the mug that he kept specially for 
 occasions like the present, and then raised it to his 
 mouth, holding it there till he had assured himself 
 that no glass had been put down unemptied. Then 
 making a sign to the barmaid, he wiped his lips 
 energetically, and continued — 
 
 I, as your Mayor and magistrate, could not 
 accompany you to the seat of war, being obliged 
 to remain and look after the wants of those who 
 stayed at home.” A murmur of approval came 
 from the audience. '' But I am a patriot like you ; 
 my warm heart beats true for the honour of the 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 15 1 
 
 Fatherland, just as your hearts do, brave soldiers ! 
 Fill up, Amalie, you slow-coach ! Herr Weichert is 
 nearly expiring for thirst.” Herr Weichert pro- 
 tested, but in vain ; his glass was snatched out of 
 his hand. ^^And my bosom swells with pride 
 when I look at my son, a gallant, upright soldier, 
 whom the confidence of his comrades and the 
 favour of his king promoted to the rank of officer. 
 I speak for you all, I know, when I call three 
 cheers for the joy of the village, the dutiful son, 
 the good comrade, the brave soldier, and honourable 
 officer. Lieutenant Merckel — Hip, hip, hurrah ! ” 
 
 The Schrandeners joined enthusiastically in the 
 cheering, and Herr Merckel observed with satis- 
 faction that several glasses had again become empty. 
 To give Amalie time to fill up, he made an effective 
 little pause, in which, in speechless emotion, he fell 
 on his son’s breast : then he resumed the thread of 
 his discourse. 
 
 ‘^All the more painful is it, therefore, to see 
 that the disgrace you, by your glorious deeds of 
 arms, did your best to remove from our beloved 
 and highly favoured village, now rests on it again, 
 through the presence here of the son of the man 
 who wrought it such dire mischief. On the site of 
 the fire he is now living with his father’s mistress, 
 ril not enter into details, but you know, my children, 
 what that implies.” 
 
 There was a significant laugh, which changed 
 gradually into a sullen muttering. 
 
 ‘'Yes, and what’s more, this immoral outlaw 
 
152 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 belongs to our glorious army. Under a false name 
 he enlisted in its ranks, and raised himself to the 
 position of officer. By lying, and cheating, and 
 devilish craft, he succeeded in obtaining what you 
 brave, honest fellows (with the exception of my 
 son, of course) could not attain to. Will you 
 tolerate this, you noble Schrandeners ? Will you, 
 I say, let a rascally cheat, the son of a traitor, 
 continue to look down on you as his inferiors? 
 Was it for this that his gracious Majesty made you 
 free men ? ” 
 
 The moment was a favourable one for drink- 
 ing his gracious Majesty's health, and Amalie, in 
 obedience to a signal, began the filling-up process 
 anew. Herr Merckel already felt he had cause to 
 congratulate himself on the result of his stirring 
 oration. 
 
 '^No, brave Schrandeners,” he went on, ‘^such 
 a scandal must not be tolerated ! The army must 
 be purged of this black spot; otherwise you will 
 be ashamed, instead of proud, of calling yourselves 
 Prussian soldiers.” 
 
 Kill him ! kill him ! ” cried several voices at 
 once. 
 
 No, dear friends,” he replied, with his unctuous 
 smirk. ''You mustn't always be talking of killing. 
 I, as.,^0ur Mayor, cannot countenance that,” shaking 
 a '^rning fat forefinger at them ; " but I can give 
 you wiser counsel. The authorities, naturally, have 
 no suspicion of who it is has been masquerading as 
 Lieutenant Baumgart; last spring no one had time 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 153 
 
 to inquire into birth certificates and such-like details. 
 But now there will be leisure to investigate the 
 case of a Prussian officer passing under an assumed 
 name. And the case presses for attention. Do 
 you remember the story Johann Radtke related in 
 this very room, the day he came over from Heide, 
 when none of us had the slightest idea of what a 
 savage kind of animal his celebrated hero, Lieu- 
 tenant Baumgart, really was ? 
 
 He was interrupted by a laugh of pent-up hate 
 and fury. It proceeded from his son Felix. 
 
 He is said to have tramped home from France 
 entirely alone, like a wandering journeyman. He 
 had been wounded and taken prisoner, and all the 
 rest of it. But mark my words, that signifies more 
 than you think. It means that he didn^t get his 
 discharge — that he sneaked out of the service like 
 a thief in the night, in the same straightforward 
 manner as he entered it. And do you know what 
 that is in good plain Prussian? Deserting! It 
 means he is a deserter.” 
 
 A cry of jubilation arose, which Herr Merckel 
 greeted with profound approval, for, according to his 
 ripe experience, shouting rendered the throat dry. 
 He let the applause therefore exhaust itself, and 
 then went on. 
 
 ^Ht is our sacred duty, as genuine patriots and 
 intrepid soldiers, to open the eyes of his Highness 
 the Commander-General to this young man^s true 
 character. We owe it to our King, our Fatherland, 
 above all, to ourselves. We^ll get him cashiered out 
 
154 the sins of the FATHERS 
 
 of our brave army, degraded and ruined. What is 
 done to him afterwards, whether he is shot or cast 
 into prison, is a matter of indifference to us. We 
 are not responsible for him.^' 
 
 At the mere suggestion of such a vengeance the 
 Schrandeners were beside themselves, and almost 
 howled with rage. 
 
 Herr Merckel drew a sheet of paper from his 
 breast-pocket. 
 
 I have drawn up a little statement, in which I 
 have respectfully lodged a complaint to a Deputy- 
 General of high standing and noble birth. If you^ll 
 
 allow me, dear friends ” 
 
 He was in the act of unfolding the sheet when a 
 still happier thought occurred to him. 
 
 I could lay the document before you at once and 
 ask you to sign it, but then it would be my compo- 
 sition, and not yours,^' he went on, beaming ; and 
 I want every word well weighed and considered, and 
 altered if needful. I therefore propose that a com- 
 mittee of five comrades be elected from amongst you, 
 who shall withdraw with me and my son into the 
 best parlour, where we can hold a quiet consultation 
 over the wording of the address, while the rest of 
 you remain here.” 
 
 Then he gave the names of those he considered 
 worthiest of filling this delicate office. They were 
 five young men whom he knew to be lavish spend- 
 thrifts, and whom he expected to acquit themselves 
 honourably in more senses than one. Half in envy, 
 half in malice, his choice was agreed to. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 155 
 
 The elected looked rather glum ; then they knew 
 what they had been let in for, but at the same time 
 they were too flattered by the invitation to decline it. 
 
 Herr Merckel, with the air of solemnity he always 
 considered due to any occasion on which the best 
 parlour was brought into requisition, flung open the 
 door, over which was inscribed the alluring caution, 
 fraught with so much significance — Only Wine 
 drunk here^ 
 
 With a somewhat nervous air the chosen com- 
 mittee entered the sanctum of gentility, awkwardly 
 twirling their caps in their hands. The last to go 
 in was the son of the house. At the door, Herr 
 Merckel turned and called out in a loud impressive 
 voice — 
 
 '^Amalie, bring two bottles of Muscat for me and 
 the Herr Lieutenant ! 
 
 Muscat was a wine made at home, from rum, 
 sugar, cinnamon, currant juice, and a judicious 
 quantity of water, and was sold to the Schrandeners 
 for a thaler the bottle. Herr Merckel ordered two 
 bottles, to demonstrate to his customers that he did 
 not expect any of them to go shares in a bottle. 
 
 There was now a profound silence in the tap- 
 room. Its occupants gazed with serious excited 
 faces at the closed door and then at each other. 
 
 Neither did any sound proceed from the reception 
 room, where a dumb pitched battle was going on 
 between the host and his guests. It was doubtful 
 at one time who would come off victor. But a few 
 minutes after the barmaid had hurried up from the 
 
156 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 cellar with the two freshly filled bottles, Herr 
 Merckel tore open the door again, and shouted 
 triumphantly — 
 
 Amalie, five bottles more of Muscat!” 
 
 Tongues were loosened. The tension was over. 
 As was generally the case, the customers had been 
 mastered by the landlord. And soon the dull 
 monotonous sound of reading aloud reached the 
 ears of the listeners in the tap-room. 
 
 Herr Merckel, senior, when he retired to rest, 
 felt that his day had not been wasted. 
 
 His son had abandoned his dangerous project ; 
 the fate of the last of the Schrandens had been 
 sealed ; and in the cash-box, beyond the usual 
 takings, was a surplus of eight thalers and twenty- 
 five silver groschens. 
 
 ** Thus I have killed three birds with one stone 1 ” 
 he mused, with a self-satisfied grin, and, folding 
 his hands, fell into a gentle slumber. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 Winter had come. It had been preceded by a 
 season of decay, inexpressibly cheerless and trying 
 to the spirits. Boleslav, who had grown up in 
 closest communion with Nature and her moods, 
 could never have believed it possible that autumn’s 
 symbolic melancholy would affect him so profoundly 
 and send such deathlike shivers through his limbs. 
 The mere calculation of time dismayed and oppressed 
 him. 
 
 His evenings began to be dismally long. Solitude 
 swooped over his head like a vulture in ever-narrow- 
 ing circles, till he began to fancy he felt the chill flap 
 of its wings across his face. 
 
 It was strange that he who all his life had been 
 much alone from choice, should now, when almost 
 every human being was his deadly foe, crave for the 
 society of his fellow-creatures. 
 
 He buried himself deeper and deeper in the mass 
 of papers and manuscripts, a dreary enough occu- 
 pation, without much object unless it were to help 
 the hours to drag a little less slowly. He tried 
 to convince himself that the portion of the past he 
 unearthed from these dust-heaps might be of service 
 to him in the future. But in reality he had found 
 
IS8 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 what was absolutely necessary to his purpose without 
 much trouble, and the rest might as well have 
 perished in the flames. 
 
 Regina remained tongue-tied, and performed her 
 household duties swiftly and noiselessly. She moved 
 about his room without lifting her eyes to his face, 
 and if he addressed a word to her, shrank away 
 with a startled look. But her answers to his 
 questions, though given in a hesitating and em- 
 barrassed manner, were always clear, comprehensive, 
 and to the point. Sometimes days together went 
 by without their exchanging a syllable. Yet it was 
 on these days he observed her in secret all the more 
 closely, watching her as she laid the table, following 
 her with his eyes as she crossed the little plot of 
 garden and disappeared into the bushes. He caught 
 himself constantly wondering what was passing in 
 her mind. What did she think about all day long ? 
 Was it possible that her whole existence revolved 
 round him and his personal comforts, a man who 
 was nothing to her, who had not even rewarded her 
 labours so far, with a brass farthing ? 
 
 He felt ashamed when he thought of the innumer- 
 able self-sacrifices he accepted from her with such 
 haughty indifference, and determined to be more 
 friendly and conversational towards her in the 
 future, so that she might feel the unpleasantness of 
 her position less acutely. But a certain unaccount- 
 able shyness on his side seemed to hinder his 
 putting these good intentions into practice. He no 
 longer hated her. His aversion had yielded to 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 159 
 
 something like regard at sight of so much unselfish 
 loyalty and untiring industry ; and the result was 
 that he felt more than ever a constraint in con- 
 versing with her. Something came between them, 
 a kind of mysterious veil that enveloped her and 
 rendered her unapproachable as a stranger. It 
 seemed almost as if the spirit of his father hovered 
 about her, preventing by its ghostly presence any 
 intercourse between them. Sometimes he wondered 
 if it were her shame that invested her with that 
 strange fascination that vice is said to exercise on 
 inexperienced youth. Or was it the magnitude of 
 her misfortunes that gave her an unconscious power 
 and charm ? 
 
 Often when she brought in his supper, or turned 
 back the counterpane from his bed, he would look 
 up from his work and endeavour to open a con- 
 versation. But his tongue would cleave to the roof 
 of his mouth, he could never think of anything to 
 talk to her about that was not beneath his dignity. 
 So, after all, only curt and harsh commands crossed 
 his lips. 
 
 He had remarked for a long time how much more 
 careful she had become about her personal appear- 
 ance, which had wonderfully improved. She no 
 longer went about ragged, unkempt, and decolletee^ 
 but wore her jacket buttoned up modestly to her 
 throat, with the ends neatly tucked under her waist- 
 band. A woollen scarf was knotted round her neck 
 by way of giving a finish to her costume, and her 
 skirt carefully brushed and mended. Her hair did 
 
i6o THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 not hang about her as formerly, in untidy plaits 
 and a hundred rough loose curls, but was combed 
 and neatly dressed. Of a morning the top of her 
 head sometimes presented a smooth polished sur- 
 face, the effects of the shower-bath, by means of 
 which she brought her unruly mane into sub- 
 jection. 
 
 The weather grew bitterly cold, but she still 
 shivered in her cotton gown, only throwing on the* 
 red cross-over when she went into the open air. 
 
 One evening as she was preparing for her regular 
 weekly expedition for the purchase of provisions, 
 and had come to him for orders, he said — 
 
 Why have you brought no winter clothes back 
 with you yet, Regina ? 
 
 She looked on the ground and replied — 
 
 I should like to — only 
 
 ^^Only?^' 
 
 I wasn’t sure whether I might.” 
 
 Of course you may. You mustn’t freeze.” 
 
 ‘^There’s a — ” she began eagerly, then stopped 
 and blushed. 
 
 ^^Well?” 
 
 There’s a jacket at the shop — a blue cloth 
 one trimmed with beautiful fur. The shopman 
 says ” 
 
 He smiled. Thank God,” he thought, ‘^she is 
 beginning to be human at last. A love of finery 
 has awakened in her.” 
 
 What does the shopman say ? ” he asked. 
 
 “That it would fit me exactly. And I need 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS i6i 
 
 something warm and comfortable for the long walks. 
 But it^s a real lady^s jacket, and 
 
 '^All the more reason why you should have 
 it,” he interrupted, laughing. ‘^Don^t come back 
 without the jacket, now mind. Good-night, and a 
 pleasant journey.” 
 
 With a joyous exclamation she stooped to kiss 
 his hand, but he evaded the caress. 
 
 When her footsteps had died away in the dark- 
 ness, he took the lamp and went into the green- 
 house, which was her private apartment. 
 
 The fire still smouldered on the hearth, but the 
 room was icily cold and comfortless. A stray flake 
 or two whirled through the holes in the roof, for out- 
 side a gentle dusting of snow had begun to fall. 
 
 Why doesn^t she doctor the laths ? ” he thought, 
 and resolved that the next morning he would come 
 and lay boards over the weak places. He climbed 
 on one of the boxes and tested with a tap the glass 
 roofing. Then he understood why Regina pre- 
 ferred to sleep half in the open air. The leaden 
 framework of the panes had become rotten and 
 brittle. At his mere touch the whole decrepit roof 
 rattled and trembled in all its joints. Any attempt 
 to mend it would bring it down altogether. 
 
 It^s a positive sin to allow her to be housed like 
 this,” he said to himself. 
 
 He went back to his room and drew from under 
 his sheets as many of his feather mattresses as he 
 could do without, and carried them, with one of his 
 pillows, to her wretched resting-place. He carefully 
 
 L 
 
1 62 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 made up a bed, and then threw her horse-cloth over 
 it, so that not a scrap of the bedding was visible. 
 
 That will make her open her eyes,^^ he thought, 
 ‘'when, worn out, she comes to throw herself on her 
 pallet.” And well satisfied with his evening^s work, 
 he returned to his papers. 
 
 The next morning, when he awoke, his walls 
 shone with the dazzling reflection of the snow. In 
 the night the world had arrayed itself in the garb 
 of winter. 
 
 He dressed, and called Regina. There was no 
 answer. She had not come back. 
 
 He waited two hours, and then went to prepare 
 his own breakfast. Three snow-heaps had collected 
 underneath the holes in the glass roof, and a fourth 
 was accumulating on the hearth. A greenish twilight 
 filled the room. He took the shovel and broom, and 
 half mechanically swept the white mounds out at the 
 door; then he fetched a sheet of strong cardboard 
 that had served as a cover to the stacks of docu- 
 ments, cut it into strips, which he cautiously pushed 
 through the holes so that they roofed in the bad 
 places from the snow. 
 
 “ That^s the best I can do,” he said, as he 
 shivered about the room, which he had now made 
 nearly as dark as night. Then, sighing heavil}", he 
 went to the hearth, and lit the fire. 
 
 The day crept on, and still Regina did not return. 
 In all probability the snowstorm would detain her 
 at Bockeldorf till the next morning. He felt moped 
 to distraction as he sat over his work. Now and 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 163 
 
 then, to vary the dull monotony, he took a walk to 
 the Cats^ Bridge, over which she was bound to come. 
 After he had bolted his cold dinner he did nothing 
 but watch the clock, whose hands seemed hardly to 
 move. 
 
 He missed Regina at every turn ; for though she 
 kept out of his way when at home, he knew he 
 had only to whistle to bring her instantly to his 
 elbow. 
 
 He put his papers aside, and to change the current 
 of his thoughts began to draw. On the back of a 
 coachbuilder's bill of fifty years ago he painted a 
 long garden border of stiff rows of stately lilies and 
 red roses. First he made a line of lilies, then one 
 of roses, then lilies again, and so on until the whole 
 resembled some gorgeous carpet. Then he threw 
 himself on the creaking sofa, and dreamed of the 
 Madonna who presided over that wall of flowers, 
 and shed the blessed light of her countenance on all 
 who had the courage to penetrate it. 
 
 Already it was dusk. There was a sound of 
 footsteps on the cobble-stones before the door. He 
 sprang to his feet and hurried out. 
 
 Regina came timidly over the threshold. She was 
 laden with bundles and parcels, and covered from 
 head to foot with snow ; even the little curls on her 
 forehead were powdered white. Her face glowed, 
 but there was an expression of fear in her brilliant 
 eyes as she lifted them to his. 
 
 'H ran, Herr^ as fast as I could,^^ she panted, 
 laying her right hand on her heart. The shopman 
 
1 64 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 wouldn^t let me start till daylight, because he thought 
 — the jacket might 
 
 She broke off, looking guilty. 
 
 He smiled kindly. He was much too glad to 
 know that she was back again to scold her. 
 
 '‘Go and cook me something hot as quickly as 
 you can,^' he said. " You^ll be glad of your supper 
 too.” 
 
 She gazed at him in mute amazement. 
 
 " Why don't you go ? ” 
 
 " I will — but, oh ! ” And then as if ashamed of 
 what she was on the point of saying, she rushed 
 past him into the kitchen. 
 
 "She almost claimed her flogging,” he murmured, 
 laughing, as he looked after her. 
 
 He was sitting at his desk where he generally 
 worked, when she brought in the evening meal. 
 The lamp with its green shade cast a subdued 
 uncertain light over the apartment. He liked to 
 watch her as she moved swiftly to and fro, in and 
 out of the shadows. To-day her appearance almost 
 frightened him. She looked resplendently, proudly 
 beautiful. Not a trace of her former degradation 
 was apparent. The once forlorn and half-tamed 
 girl might have been taken for a duchess, so grace- 
 ful and distinguished were all her movements; so 
 pure and full of charm the contour of her young 
 erect figure. Was it the neat woollen dress, or 
 the new jacket with its silver-grey fur — kazabeika^ 
 as they called it in Poland — that was responsible 
 for the transformation ? As she laid the table 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS^ 165 
 
 she smiled to herself a happy shame-faced little 
 smile, and every now and then flashed a rapid 
 stealthy glance across at him. It was evident she 
 wanted to be admired, but dared not attract his 
 attention. 
 
 When she came within the circle of light made 
 by the lamp, in order to place it on the supper 
 table, he turned his eyes quickly away to make 
 her think he had noticed nothing. But all the same 
 he could not resist letting fall a remark. 
 
 How conceited we are of our new clothes ! he 
 said banteringly. 
 
 A vivid blush spread over her face and neck. 
 
 They are much too good for me,^^ she whispered, 
 still smiling, still glancing at him in half-ashamed 
 coquetry. But she was not yet daughter of Eve 
 enough to take a sidelong peep at herself in the 
 glass. 
 
 On going to turn down his bed for the night, she 
 was astonished to see how it had diminished in 
 size, but gulped back an exclamation of surprise, 
 lest he should be annoyed. Then wishing him 
 good-night she left the room. 
 
 With a grin of inward satisfaction he thought 
 of the great surprise that was in store for her, 
 and soon became engrossed in his manuscripts 
 again. 
 
 About an hour had elapsed, when he was startled 
 by a rustling sound at the back of his chair. He 
 turned round and found her standing beside him. 
 Her face was very white, her lips trembling, her 
 
i66 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 breath coming quick through dilated nostrils. The 
 fur collarette was unfastened at the throat, and 
 showed the coarse chemise underneath, the folds 
 of which rose and fell with her billowing breast. 
 In the excitement of the moment she had forgotten 
 to arrange her clothing. 
 
 How handsome she is ! ’’ he thought, filled with 
 involuntary admiration of her strange beauty, and 
 then he tried not to look at her. 
 
 Now then, what^s the matter ? ” he asked in his 
 gentlest tones. 
 
 She made an effort to speak, but some moments 
 passed before a sound escaped her lips. 
 
 ^^Oh, Herr she stammered forth at last, '^was 
 it you — did you do that with the beds ? ” 
 
 Yes, of course. Who else should do it ? 
 
 But — why — why ? ” and she lifted her swimming 
 eyes in alarm and consternation. 
 
 Apparently his kindness frightened her. It was 
 necessary to adopt a firmer tone in order to become 
 master of his own emotions. 
 
 Stupid girV^ he said loftily, ^Mo you think I 
 wish you to die out there of cold ? 
 
 For a moment she stood like a statue, silent and 
 motionless, and big sparkling drops rolled down her 
 cheeks. And then suddenly she threw herself at 
 his feet, clung to both his hands, and covered them 
 with kisses and tears. 
 
 At first he was too unnerved and thrilled at the 
 sight of her agitation to speak. He had never 
 imagined that she would be so deeply moved. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 167 
 
 Then he collected himself, and withdrawing his 
 hands commanded her to rise. 
 
 Don^t make a scene, Regina,” he said. Go to 
 bed. Vm sure you must be tired out.” 
 
 She would have wiped her eyes with her sleeve, 
 as was her habit, only she remembered the new 
 soft fur trimming in time, and so let her tears 
 run on. 
 
 Ah, Herr she sobbed. I hardly know what^s 
 come over me. But were you really serious ? I 
 don^t deserve all your kindness. First the beautiful 
 jacket, and then when I expected a whipping for 
 being gone the whole day — for you to . . . Oh ” 
 
 ** Say no more. I won^t listen to another word,” 
 he insisted. '‘You must have some sort of bed. 
 Where used you to sleep before ? ” 
 
 She started and cast down her eyes. 
 
 " Before ? ” she murmured. 
 
 "Yes, in my fathers time.” 
 
 "Ah, then, I used to lie on the door-mat or ” 
 
 she paused. 
 
 " Or where ? ” 
 
 She still remained silent, and trembled. 
 
 "Where?” he asked again. 
 
 Her eyes moved shyly in the direction of the 
 canopied bed. 
 
 "You know; ah, you know, Herr^^ she mur- 
 mured. And then overwhelmed with shame she 
 covered her face with her hands. 
 
 Yes, he knew. How could he forget it for a 
 moment. 
 
1 68 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 Begone!^’ he cried, his voice shaking with 
 anger and disgust, and he motioned her to the 
 door. 
 
 Without a word she crept out, her head still 
 bowed in her hands. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 Boleslav was almost happy. He had hit on a 
 new and brilliant idea, and the hopes of carrying it 
 out brightened for a time the deadening monotony 
 of his existence. He believed he could clear his 
 father’s memory. 
 
 How it had first occurred to him he hardly knew. 
 He had found certain letters from Polish noblemen 
 addressed to his father, which seemed to suggest 
 that the deceased had felt himself bound by a 
 hastily-made promise which at the time he had not 
 meant seriously, and that a chain of tragic circum- 
 stances had compelled him against his will to be a 
 party to the treachery. If this did not exonerate 
 him from all guilt, it at least put the slandered man 
 in a new light — the light of a martyr. 
 
 If by minute study of the documents he could 
 trace the affair to its source, and make public a true 
 history of the disaster, in which he would demon- 
 strate that Eberhard von Schranden, far from having 
 played the devilish role that rumour attributed to 
 him, had only been a victim of circumstances, surely 
 there would at least arise some who would hold out 
 their hand in remorge to the sufferer’s heir. The 
 more he absorbed himself in this task of vindication 
 
 *69 
 
170 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 the more he began to feel united with the dead man, 
 and accustomed to the idea of sacrificing his own 
 innocent reputation for his sake. 
 
 His brain was so much occupied with these 
 schemes that he slept little at night, and in the 
 daytime tore about the park like one possessed. 
 The less hope he cherished in his secret heart that 
 his plan would succeed, the more did he long for 
 some human soul into whose ear he could pour his 
 doubts and fears. But there was no one to speak 
 to but the taciturn woman, who glided past him 
 with eyes guiltily cast down. 
 
 One evening, when his solitude almost maddened 
 him, he said to her — 
 
 Regina, aren^t you frozen in your kitchen 
 I never let the fire out, Herr'' 
 
 ^'But what do you do in the evening, when it’s 
 dark?” 
 
 sit by the fire and sew, till my fingers get 
 quite stiff.” 
 
 Then you have a light ? ” 
 
 I burn fir-cones.” 
 
 He was silent; he gnawed his under-lip, and 
 hesitated as to what he should say next. Then he 
 took courage. 
 
 Regina, if you like you may bring your sewing 
 into the sitting-room, after supper,” he said. 
 
 She grew pale, and stammered out, Yes, Herr!' 
 
 He thought her wanting in gratitude. 
 
 ‘‘Of course, if you’d rather not — ” he said, 
 shrugging his shoulders. 
 e 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 17 1 
 
 Oh, Herr — I should like to come.” 
 
 ^^Very well, then, come; but you must make 
 yourself look respectable. Why have you given 
 up wearing your new clothes ? ” Since that even- 
 ing she had taken to shivering about in the cotton 
 jacket again. 
 
 I thought it would hurt them.” 
 
 Hurt them ! How ? ” 
 
 I mean,” she said incoherently, that when you 
 are angry with me, — such as I, am not fit ” 
 
 Nonsense ! ” he interrupted quickly, feeling that 
 if she went on he would be angry with her again. 
 
 After supper she appeared in some trepidation at 
 the door. Snowy linen shimmered in her hand. 
 She remained standing till he had impatiently in- 
 vited her to sit down. 
 
 ^^You want people to stand on ceremony with 
 you, as if you were some fine lady,” he said. 
 
 She laughed in confusion. 
 
 am only nervous, Herr^ because I am not 
 quite sure — how to behave.” And she turned to 
 her work. 
 
 No more passed between them that evening, and 
 it was more than a week before they broke into 
 conversation again. 
 
 He sat brooding over his yellow papers, and she 
 let her needle fly through the crackling calico. 
 When the clock struck eleven, she gathered up her 
 sewing, and whispering Good-night,” slipped out 
 on tiptoe without waiting for an answer. 
 
 ‘^What are you working at so industriously?” 
 
172 “ THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 he asked her one evening, after he had watched 
 her intently for some minutes. 
 
 She looked up and pushed a curl off her forehead 
 with damp fingers. 
 
 I am making shirts for you, Herr^^^ was the 
 answer. 
 
 So you undertake that too ? ” 
 
 ''Who else should do it, Herr?^^ 
 
 A short silence ; then he questioned her further. 
 "Who taught you all you know, Regina? Your 
 mother ? 
 
 She shook her head. " My mother died very 
 young, Herr. I can hardly remember her. People 
 say my father beat her to death.^' 
 
 He thought of the thin pale face and tired eyelids 
 in the picture-gallery, of which the last trace had 
 perished in the great fire. 
 
 " Can you remember what your mother was like?’^ 
 he demanded again. 
 
 " She had long black hair, and eyes like mine, at 
 least, so I have heard people say ; and I can re- 
 member her hair, for she often wrapped me in it 
 when I was undressed. I used to sit in it as if 
 it were a cloak, and laugh ; and when father — 
 She stopped in sudden alarm. '^But you won^t 
 care to hear more, Herr?''* 
 
 " Go on, tell me the rest,” he exclaimed. 
 
 "And when father came home and wanted to 
 beat me, because he was drunk, you know, she 
 stood in front of me, and told me to get under her 
 dress ; and inside her dress it was like being in a 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 173 
 
 cave, quite dark and still, and fathers swearing 
 sounded a long, long way off. And then she died. 
 It was on a Sunday — yes, it was on a Sunday. 
 For I was standing by the hedge and wondering 
 whether she’d have a beautiful coffin — a green one, 
 like the coffin on the trestle in the garden — when 
 you, Herr^ went by on your way to church. At 
 that time you were little, like me, and you had on 
 a blue coat with silver buttons, and a little sword at 
 your side; and you stopped and asked me why 
 I was crying, and I couldn’t answer, I was so 
 frightened, and then you gave me an apple.” 
 
 He had not the smallest recollection of the in- 
 cident, but he remembered how he had taken the 
 young sparrow away from her, and related the 
 story. She had not forgotten it. Her eyes be- 
 came illumined, as if lost in contemplation of some 
 blissful sight. 
 
 I wonder, now, that you gave it up so meekly,” 
 he said. 
 
 How could I have done otherwise ? ” she 
 answered. 
 
 ''You might easily have refused,” he said. 
 
 She bent over her work. " I was only so glad 
 for you to have it,” she said, in a low soft voice. 
 "It’s not often that a poor little village girl gets 
 the chance of giving anything to a rich young 
 nobleman.” 
 
 He bit his lips. Truly he had taken more from 
 her since than his pride and manliness should have 
 permitted. 
 
174 the sins of the FATHERS 
 
 ‘^And besides/' she went on, ^^even if I hadn't 
 wanted to give it to you, it was yours by right. 
 You were the Junker, 
 
 How perfectly natural the argument sounded 
 from her lips. 
 
 Regina, tell me honestly," he said, if you 
 haven't entirely forgotten the days when you ran 
 wild in the village." 
 
 ^^Oh no, Herr; indeed I haven't," she replied, 
 with an almost roguish smile. For instance, I 
 remember a great many things about the gnddiger 
 Junker r 
 
 He withdrew far back into the shadow of the 
 lamp-shade. What splendid stuff she has in 
 her ! " he thought, and devoured her with his eyes. 
 And then he made her relate all her reminiscences 
 of him at that time. He did not appear in a very 
 amiable light. Once he had pushed her into a duck- 
 pond ; another time sent her floating down the river 
 in a flour-vat, till her cries of terror had brought 
 people to the bank with life-saving apparatus ; when 
 she had on a new white frock, given her by the 
 Castle housekeeper, he had painted her hands and 
 face with white chalk, and told her to stand motion- 
 less like one of the statues in the Park. She had 
 submitted meekly till the chalk got into her mouth 
 and eyes and made them smart, and then she had 
 burst out crying and run away. 
 
 She recalled all this with beaming eyes, as if his 
 pranks had been a source of infinite happiness to 
 her. Although when reminded of such and such 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 175 
 
 an escapade he recollected it perfectly, he could not 
 remember that it was Regina who had been the 
 victim of his caprice. A sensation of shame rose 
 within him. Instead of the dreamy, generous 
 young cavalier he had been in the habit of pictur- 
 ing himself, he saw a cruel little village tyrant, who 
 exercised his power over his small contemporaries 
 with a relentlessness that was almost vicious. 
 
 ‘'And did I make no amends for my wicked 
 deeds ? ” he inquired, hoping to hear he had at 
 least been capable of doing good sometimes. 
 
 “ Oh, you used to give us things,’^ she answered. 
 “‘Divide that,’ you used to say, and scatter on 
 the ground either apples and nuts, or broken tin 
 soldiers, or a handful of counters. But, of course, 
 the strongest and biggest got everything. Felix 
 Merckel was the best at a scramble ; the girls only 
 had the leavings.” 
 
 “And did you ever get anything from me, 
 Regina?” he asked. 
 
 She flushed scarlet, and bowed lower over her 
 work. “Yes, HerVy once ! ” she said softly. 
 
 “ What was it ? ” 
 
 She was silent, and dared not lift her eyes. 
 
 “ Good heavens ! why do you look so ashamed 
 about it ? ” 
 
 “ Because — I . . . have it still.” 
 
 “ Oh, not really ! ” He smiled. A feeling of 
 pleasure shot through him. 
 
 Without answering, she felt in the pocket of her 
 dress, and laid before him on the table a little straw 
 
1/6 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS ‘ 
 
 box plaited out of coloured blades. It was hardly 
 bigger than a baby’s fist. 
 
 He held it in his hand, and examined it all over 
 attentively. Something rattled inside. 
 
 May I open it ? ” 
 
 ‘^You needn’t ask, Herr 
 
 It was a ring of glass beads — blue, white, and 
 yellow, such as a little girl, following the first in- 
 stincts of vanity, threads for herself. He took it 
 out, and tried to force it on his little finger, but it 
 was far too narrow, and he couldn’t get it over his 
 nail. 
 
 Did I give you the ring too ? ” he asked. 
 
 ^‘No, Herr^ it belonged to my dear mother. It 
 cut into her flesh once, and that’s why I used to 
 wear it day and night till the thread broke. Then 
 she had been dead a long time, and as it was the 
 only keepsake I had of her, I threaded the beads 
 again, and have never parted with the ring, and I 
 always have it on me,” 
 
 In my little box ? ” 
 
 She nodded, and her head drooped. Why 
 shouldn’t I, Herr ? ” she said in a whisper, it brings 
 me luck.” 
 
 He looked at her with a compassionate smile. 
 
 Luck ? Brings you luck ? ” 
 
 I’ll tell you how, Herr^^ she exclaimed trium- 
 phantly. Every bead you count ” 
 
 But at that moment he leant back in his chair, 
 and the ring slipped through his fingers on to the 
 floor. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 177 
 
 Regina started up and hurried round the table to 
 pick it up, but could not find it. 
 
 '^The earth seems to have swallowed it up,^’ she 
 said in alarm, and she dropped on to all fours close 
 by Boleslav^s side. 
 
 He saw the nape of her beautiful neck with its 
 fringe of crisp, dark curls, gleaming near his knee. 
 His heart began to beat, a cold shiver thrilled 
 through his limbs. He stared down on her with a 
 fixed smile. 
 
 Here it is ! she exclaimed, and raised herself 
 into a kneeling position to hand him the treasured 
 bauble. 
 
 He lifted his hand. He felt as if some occult 
 power had lifted it for him, and that it weighed 
 hundreds of pounds. Then with a timid, caressing 
 touch he laid it on her cheek. 
 
 She drew back trembling. A great light swam 
 in her eyes, that rested on him in dreamy inquiry. 
 His arm sank heavily to his side. 
 
 ‘‘Thank you,” he murmured hoarsely. 
 
 She went back to her place, and there was a 
 profound stillness. It seemed to him that he had 
 committed a crime, and that every moment of silence 
 between them made it worse. He must force himself 
 to speak. 
 
 “ What was I asking you ? Ah ! to be sure. Who 
 taught 3^ou to sew ? ” 
 
 She had unthreaded her needle, and was trying 
 hard to pull the cotton through the eye again. 
 But the small glittering shaft oscillated between 
 
 M 
 
178 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 her unsteady fingers like a reed shaken by the 
 wind, 
 
 ‘H learnt at the parsonage, Herr^^ she replied. 
 
 Helene had a class She paused, embarrassed, 
 
 for at the sound of the beloved name, which he heard 
 for the first time from her lips — such lips — he winced 
 as if from the lash of a whip. She took his excite- 
 ment for anger, and added apologetically, '' I mean 
 the Pastor^s daughter.^' 
 
 Never mind,^^ he said, controlling himself with 
 difficulty. '' Go to bed now.” 
 
 That night Boleslav fought a severe battle with 
 himself. He felt as if his ideal of exalted purity 
 had been polluted since his eyes had rested with 
 favour on this abandoned woman. And he himself 
 was polluted too by that involuntary caress. 
 
 It was absolutely necessary to regain his peace of 
 mind and purity. He must come to some distinct 
 understanding with Helene without delay, in order 
 that he might be strengthened in his struggle against 
 his treacherous senses and benumbing doubt. 
 
 So urgent did it seem that his resolutions should 
 at once be put into force, that he rose in the middle 
 of the night, and by the glimmer of his night-light 
 wrote to Helene assuring her of his undying love 
 and eternal devotion, and imploring her to make 
 some sign to show that she stood by him in trouble 
 as she had once done in happiness, so that he might 
 know for certain it was worth while his continuing 
 to wage for her sake the fight against such enor- 
 mous odds. With every line he wrote, his anxiety 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 179 
 
 lessened, and when he lay down in his bed again, he 
 felt that, through bracing his energies for the task, 
 he had relieved himself of a load of care that had 
 long heavily oppressed him. 
 
 *^Can you undertake, Regina,’^ he asked the next 
 evening, to deliver this letter unseen to the Frau- 
 lein at the parsonage ? 
 
 She regarded him for a second with wide eyes, 
 then looking down, she murmured, Yes, HerrP 
 
 ^^But supposing they attack you down in the 
 village ? 
 
 Pah ! What do I care for the^n ? ” she exclaimed, 
 shrugging her shoulders contemptuously, as she 
 always did when the villagers were in question. 
 
 Soon afterwards he saw her glide by the window 
 like a shadow and disappear in the gloaming. 
 
 Hours passed. She did not return. He began 
 to reproach himself for having engaged her in his 
 amatory mission when her life was at stake. 
 
 At last, towards midnight, he heard the front door 
 latch click. 
 
 She appeared on the threshold with chattering 
 teeth, blue with cold, the letter still grasped in 
 her cramped fingers. 
 
 He made her sit down by the stove, and gave her 
 Spanish wine to drink — and gradually she found her 
 voice. 
 
 I have been lying all this time in the snow 
 under the parsonage hedge,^' she said, but there 
 was no possibility of getting at her. Just now she 
 put the light out in her bedroom, so I came home. 
 
i8o THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 But don^t be vexed, Herr. Perhaps I shall have 
 better luck to-morrow.” 
 
 He wouldn^t hear of her repeating the adventure, 
 but when she came to him the following evening 
 equipped for her walk, he did not forbid her to go. 
 
 This time she came back with glowing cheeks, 
 panting for breath. Two peasants on their way 
 home from the Black Eagle had seen her and given 
 chase. 
 
 ^^But to-morrow, Herr^ to-morrow, I shall suc- 
 ceed.” 
 
 She was right. More breathless than the evening 
 before, but radiant with delight, she came into the 
 room, and stood at the door, stretching out two 
 empty hands in triumph. 
 
 Thank God,” he thought, that I shan^t have to 
 send her a fourth time on a fools errand.” 
 
 In joyous excitement she told him all about it. 
 Sultan, the big dog in the kennel, knew her ; and as 
 a hostage she had taken him a bone, then he had 
 permitted her to stand at the back door and look, 
 through the keyhole. She had seen Helene standing 
 at the great store-cupboard. I knew that Helene, 
 — I mean the pastor^s Fraulein, — went to the store- 
 cupboard every night to put out coffee and oatmeal 
 for the morning,” she explained, ^^and sure enough 
 I just timed her right, for there vras her candle 
 flickering in my face, and she standing within three 
 steps of me ” 
 
 He gave a deep sigh. Happy creature ! She had 
 seen her ! 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS i8i 
 
 I opened the back door very softly, and called, 
 ‘Helene, Fraulein Helene !' And when she caught 
 sight of me, she screamed and let the candle fall. 
 
 ‘ Helene,' I said, ‘ I arn not going to hurt you. Here 
 is a letter from Junker Boleslav.' 
 
 ‘^She trembled so, she could hardly take the letter 
 out of my hand. And then she shrieked in horror, 
 
 ‘ Go ! Go at once ! ' And almost before I could tell 
 her about the letter-box on the drawbridge, she had 
 slammed the door and bolted it in my face. Ah, 
 dear God ! " she added with a melancholy little 
 smile. “ I am used to being treated in that way, but 
 she might have been kinder because I brought a 
 message from you ! " 
 
 He leant his head on his hands. Helene's con- 
 duct gave him food for meditation. Of course her 
 reception of her fallen playmate was in every way 
 excusable. No wonder that her chaste and maidenly 
 soul revolted at the sight of this unfortunate girl ! 
 
 Every day Regina now ran down to the draw- 
 bridge to peep into the letter-box that was fastened' 
 to a pillar there, to see if there was an answer from 
 Helene. But the letter-box remained empty; and 
 Boleslav's brighter mood soon clouded again. He 
 became more bitter and defiant than ever, and a 
 prey to tormenting reflections. In his pride he 
 would not allow that he had been spurned by the 
 woman he loved; yet it was hardly any longer a 
 matter for doubt that she wished in no way to be 
 associated with him in his dishonour. He saw his 
 great plans for the future fall in ruins in this 
 
1 82 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 abandonment of hope of winning the love of his 
 youth. 
 
 Many days went by before he roused himself 
 from this fresh depression — it was not till the 
 feverish unrest of waiting had subsided that he 
 slowly recovered his calmness and fortitude. 
 
 Then he threw himself with renewed energy into 
 the search for proofs of his fathers innocence. 
 The evidence was contradictory and confused. 
 Letters in which his father was referred to as 
 the staunchest of Prussian patriots were counterbal- 
 anced by others in which he was addressed as the 
 pioneer of Polish liberty. That might possibly have 
 been a mere figure of flattering speech, designed to 
 win over the vacillating nobleman, but to make it 
 public' would be once more putting the deceased^s 
 reputation in the pillory. 
 
 During these disheartening investigations of the 
 truth, his only refreshment was the evening hours 
 in which Regina^s presence gave him something 
 else to think about. So soon as she came and sat 
 down opposite him he felt a curious satisfaction 
 mingled with uneasiness. Sometimes, before she 
 made her appearance, and he with bowed head 
 listened to the sounds that came from her kitchen, 
 he would be suddenly seized with anxiety, and feel 
 as if he must jump up and call out, ^^Stay where 
 you are ! Don^t come ! ” And yet, when she walked 
 into the room he breathed more freely. It is 
 loneliness that attracts me to her,” he often told him- 
 self. “ She has a human face and a human voice.” 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 183 
 
 As she sat over her work silently putting in stitch 
 after stitch, he would pretend to be napping, and 
 with closed eyes listen to the rise and fall of her 
 breath. It was a full, slow, muffled sound, which 
 fell on his ear like suppressed music. It resembled 
 the ebbing and flowing of an ocean of restrained 
 life and energy. After she had been sitting for a 
 long time in a stooping attitude she would suddenly 
 straighten herself, and stretch her arms with closed 
 fingers over the sides of the chair, till the curve 
 of her bosom stood out in powerful grandeur, and 
 threatened to burst its bonds. It was as if from time 
 to time she was obliged to become conscious of the 
 fulness of life that pulsated and throbbed within her. 
 
 Then she resumed her old attitude and quietly 
 sewed on. 
 
 It lasted all too short a time. These hours spent 
 in her society had unconsciously become dear to 
 him, and almost indispensable. The lamp seemed 
 to give a brighter light since its rays fell on that 
 pile of shining white linen ; the hand of the clock 
 accelerated its pace now he was not always looking 
 at it to hurry it onwards. The wind that used to 
 howl and whistle so dismally in the branches of the 
 trees now murmured soft lullabies, and even the 
 laths in the rotten roof cracked less ominously. 
 He dreaded the evenings when at dusk she started 
 on her journey to Bockeldorf, and more than once 
 had meditated accompanying her. 
 
 But in their relations, that had become so friendly, 
 there was one blot, and the knowledge of it pierced 
 
1 84 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 him at times like a poisonous arrow. Often, after 
 he had been watching her in silence, he was tor- 
 mented with a desire to penetrate into the secrets 
 of her past, and to cross-examine her on the subject 
 of her intercourse with the dead. For long he kept 
 back the questions that burned on the tip of his 
 tongue, feeling that little good could come of asking 
 them ; but at last he felt driven to speak. 
 
 ** She is the only living witness of the catastrophe,'^ 
 he thought; ^'what's more, the only accomplice. 
 She alone can give authentic information." 
 
 And one evening he broke the silence which had 
 been so enjoyable to both, with a brusque demand 
 that she should tell him all she knew. 
 
 She changed colour, and dropped her hands in 
 her lap. 
 
 '^You’ll only be angry with me again, Herr^^ she 
 stammered. 
 
 Do as I bid you." 
 
 She still hesitated. It's ... so long ago," she 
 whispered piteously, and I don't know how to tell 
 things." 
 
 '' But you can at least answer questions." 
 
 Then she resigned herself to fate. 
 
 ^^Who was it that first suggested to you the 
 midnight sortie ? " 
 
 gnddiger Herry 
 
 He clenched his teeth. ^‘When and how ?" 
 
 The gnddiger Herr ordered me to wait at table. 
 The great candelabra, that was hardly ever lit as a 
 rule, was burning, and shone on the gold uniforms 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 185 
 
 of the French officers, and it was all so dazzling 
 I felt quite giddy when I carried the soup into the 
 hall. They all laughed and pointed at me, and 
 spoke in French, which I didn’t understand.” 
 
 '' How many were there ? ” 
 
 ^‘Five, and one with grey hair, who was the 
 General, and had the most gold on his coat ; and 
 when I brought him the soup he caught hold of me 
 round the waist, and I put the plate down on his 
 finger and pinched it. Then they all laughed again, 
 and the gnddiger Herr said, ' Don’t be so clumsy, 
 Regina.’ I felt so ashamed and vexed at his saying 
 that that I said, quite loud, I didn’t see why I should 
 wait if I was only to be scolded for it. Then they 
 laughed louder than ever, and the General began to 
 speak German, like little children speak it. ^You 
 are a plucky, pretty little girl,’ he said ; and the 
 gnddiger Herr told him I was a girl who might 
 prove useful to him and them all — or something of 
 the kind. And when I brought in the liqueur at 
 the end of dinner, he drew me down to him and 
 whispered in my ear. I was to go to him in the 
 night.” 
 
 He started up. And you went ? ” 
 
 She cast down her eyes. 
 
 ‘‘Ah, Herr^^ she said imploringly, “why do you 
 ask me ? I wish you wouldn’t. I had often done 
 it before, and I saw no harm in it then.” 
 
 He felt his blood boiling. 
 
 “ How old were you at that time ? ” 
 
 “ Fifteen.” 
 
1 86 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 And so corrupt — so ” His voice died away 
 
 in wrath. 
 
 She cast an unspeakably sad and reproachful 
 glance at him. 
 
 I knew you’d be angry/’ she said, but I can’t 
 make myself out better than I am.” 
 
 Continue your story,” he cried. 
 
 ''And when I went to him at midnight he was 
 still up, striding round the table, and he asked me 
 if I should like to earn a great sum of money. ' Of 
 course, gnddiger Herr^ I said, ' I should like it very 
 much,’ for then I was very poor. Whereupon he 
 asked me if I was afraid of the dark. I laughed, 
 and said he ought to know best ; and after a few 
 more questions it came out what he wanted me to 
 do. Could I be trusted to show the French the way 
 over the Cats’ Bridge and through the wood in an 
 hour? I began to cry, for the French had behaved 
 dreadfully since they had been quartered in the 
 Castle, running after and insulting all the servant- 
 girls, and I was afraid they might insult me too.” 
 
 " Oh, you were afraid of that, w^ere you ? ” he 
 interposed with a contemptuous smile. 
 
 "Yes; and I told the gnddiger Herr nothing 
 would induce me to do it. But then he became 
 terribly angry, and thumped me on the shoulders 
 till I sank on my knees, and he cried out that I was 
 an ungrateful hussy, and that he would have me 
 sent back to the village in disgrace, and would tell 
 the Herr Pastor what sort of a wench I was, and 
 he would make me confess and do penance; and 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 187 
 
 then he took me by the throat, and when he had 
 almost throttled me, and I could scarcely draw a 
 breath, then, then . . 
 
 ‘^Say no more,^' interrupted Boleslav; and seiz- 
 ing the letters that were to establish his father’s 
 innocence, he tore them to pieces. 
 
V 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 The next morning he took one of the guns out of 
 the case, and wandered into the snowy forest. He 
 tramped about the whole day without meeting a 
 single human creature. The deer and hares were 
 left in peace, for he stared beyond them into 
 vacancy. At dusk he turned his footsteps home- 
 wards, dispirited and worn out. 
 
 He saw Regina standing like a statue on the 
 Cats’ Bridge looking out for him. At first she 
 looked as if she intended to run and meet him, 
 but she changed her mind, and took the path to 
 the house, smiling and murmuring to herself as 
 she went. 
 
 But when she brought in his meal she was as 
 silent as usual. He sat without looking at her till 
 a sound like a short convulsive sob roused him 
 from his reverie. 
 
 What’s the matter with you ? ” he asked. 
 
 Without answering, she ran out of the room. 
 He made a movement as if he were about to follow 
 her ; then set his teeth and sat down again. A dull 
 resentment devoured him. He could not forgive 
 her for depriving him of the illusion on which for 
 weeks he had been building so many vague hopes. 
 
 x88 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 189 
 
 Now there was nothing for it but to drink the 
 cup of degradation to the dregs, no matter how 
 bitter the bottom might taste. 
 
 In a little while Regina appeared again, in her 
 outdoor things. 
 
 You wish to go out to-night, then ? he asked 
 harshly. 
 
 She kept her head half averted, so that he should 
 not see she had red eyes. 
 
 To-morrow is Christmas, Herr — the holy feast 
 day; and the grocer says that on Christmas night 
 he would rather not be disturbed.” 
 
 Christmas ! holy feast ! How strange and like 
 a fairy tale that sounded. Then there was still 
 rejoicing and festivity going on in the world ! 
 People still joined hands and frolicked round glit- 
 tering fir-tree ! 
 
 ^^You wish to get your Christmas presents, I 
 suppose, Regina ? ” he inquired, smiling bitterly. 
 
 ^^Oh no, Herr^^^ she replied. '^That has never 
 been the custom here. Besides, now I should take 
 no pleasure in such things.” 
 
 ^^Why not?” 
 
 She hesitated, and then said in some embarrass- 
 ment, Let me go, Herr,'^ 
 
 I have a great deal to ask you yet, Regina.” 
 
 Please, not now, else ” 
 
 Very well, go.” 
 
 '‘Good-night, Herr,^^ 
 
 " Good-night.” Then he called her back. " Tell 
 me first, what did that sob mean just now.” 
 
190 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 A ray of half-ashamed happiness shone in the 
 eyes that were swollen from weeping. 
 
 ‘‘Can’t you guess, Herr?^^ 
 
 He shook his head. 
 
 “ I had been so anxious about you. I thought 
 perhaps you weren’t coming back, and then when 
 
 you did ” She turned and fled through the 
 
 door. Her footsteps died away in the night. . . . 
 
 The following morning Boleslav was awakened 
 by a great rushing and roaring that had for some 
 time mingled with his dreams. A terrific storm 
 was raging. The topmost branches of the poplars 
 lashed each other in fury. Huge white clouds 
 were swept along the ground, but the air was 
 clear. Another fall of snow seemed improbable. 
 To-day he could not rest in the desolate, cold little 
 house, and went out to wrestle with the elements. 
 
 “She will have a bad time of it,” he thought, 
 as the north wind hurled in his face a shower of 
 fine icicles that pricked like needles and almost 
 took his breath away. In the wood it was more 
 sheltered. There the tempest crashed and crunched 
 in the tops of the trees, seeming to vent all its 
 fury on them. He walked on, not knowing where 
 he was going, and then found himself on the road 
 to Bockeldorf. 
 
 “It looks as if I were running after her,” he 
 murmured, chiding himself; and he struck into the^ 
 pathless thicket. 
 
 He thought how remarkable it was that this 
 degraded being should creep so much into his 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 19 1 
 
 thoughts. Of course it was because he had been 
 thrown with her day after day, and depended 
 upon her entirely for human society. Yet he was 
 alarmed, for he realised now, perhaps more than 
 he had ever done before, how he felt himself every 
 day more drawn towards her, and how much there 
 was in her that began to appear comprehensible, 
 excusable, and even noble, that once had only 
 seemed to testify to her innate coarseness, and 
 repelled him from her in disgust. 
 
 But without a doubt contact with her was doing 
 him no good. She was drawing him down into the 
 slough of her own worthless existence. 
 
 Something must be done. Above all, it was 
 necessary to stand in less familiar relations with 
 her, to repress her, and lower her again to her 
 old position of humble and despised servant-girl. 
 The festival of Christmas was a good opportunity 
 of paying her off with a loan, the handsomeness 
 of which would discharge his obligations to her 
 for all time. With a stroke of the pen he would 
 provide for her future, and thereby purchase the 
 right to regard her as what she actually was — 
 his humble dependant and menial. She should 
 give him her company to-day for the last time. 
 She had not yet finished her evidence, and as he 
 had once broken the ice he might as well know 
 everything. Of those two awful nights of guilt 
 and shame, in which she had been a witness of 
 bloodshed and arson, he would hear the worst. 
 
 ‘‘And then when she has confessed all,’^ he 
 
192 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 said to himself, she shall keep to her green- 
 house, which is her proper place, even if she has 
 to burn all the timber in the park to prevent 
 herself from freezing.” 
 
 It was not seemly that in this solitude he should 
 associate so much with her, and he made up his 
 mind to put an end to the intimacy once for all. 
 
 A hare crossed his path, and turned his thoughts 
 into another channel. He aimed and hit it. The 
 little animal rotated three times, and then lay 
 motionless on its nose. 
 
 ^'She will be pleased,” he thought, as he slung 
 his booty over his shoulder. Ah ! there he was, 
 thinking of her again already. 
 
 The sky meanwhile had clouded. A sharp 
 shower of prickly white flakes cut through the 
 trees; a wild hiss now mingled with the roar of 
 the wind that made him shiver involuntarily in 
 every limb. By aid of his compass he found the 
 way home. When he entered the open fields the 
 snow-storm was in full swing. He could scarcely 
 stand against it. The air was dark with the falling 
 masses of snow. There was not a trace visible of 
 the shrubs in the park only three hundred feet away. 
 
 to be hoped she^s got home,” he thought as 
 he struggled on. 
 
 Freshly-fallen snow lay thick on the Cats’ Bridge; 
 there were no footprints in it, but they might easily 
 have been obliterated. 
 
 With a sinking heart, he ran to the house and 
 called her by name, but got no answer. The 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 193 
 
 hearth was unswept, the fire out, the beds unmade 
 as he had left them. 
 
 She had been overtaken by the storm, that she 
 feared more than she feared the Schrandeners. A 
 torturing uneasiness took possession of him. He 
 rushed from one room to the other, lit the fire and 
 extinguished it again, tried to eat, and then threw 
 down his knife and fork impatiently. It struck him 
 as ludicrous that he should be so anxious. Had 
 she not for six winters gone backwards and for- 
 wards in wind and rain and snow, and never yet 
 met with an accident ? Why should anything 
 happen to her to-day? To kill time he sat down 
 to his desk, and with numb fingers made out a 
 cheque. The sum amounted to three figures. 
 Regina ought to be satisfied. 
 
 Darkness set in. The hand of the clock pointed 
 to three, and yet it was already like night. He 
 could contain himself indoors no longer. He would 
 at least go as far as the Cats^ Bridge and see if there 
 was any sign of her. To prevent the wind pitching 
 him over, he was obliged to hold on with all his 
 might to the balustrade. The rickety woodwork 
 shook in all its joints. On the ice beneath him 
 danced a maze of spiral patterns; lily-stems grew 
 upwards and sank again in heaps of white dust, 
 which in their turn were whirled away to make 
 room for other fantastic forms. The Madonna^s 
 garden rose for a moment and then vanished ; for 
 a figure drew nearer and nearer out of the twilight, 
 casting its shadow before it. 
 
 N 
 
194 the sins of the FATHERS 
 Regina, thank God ! 
 
 He was on the point of rushing to meet her, when 
 he was overcome with a sensation of shame that para- 
 lysed his limbs and drove the blood to his heart. 
 
 On this very spot where he now waited for her, 
 she had yesterday waited for him ; looking out into 
 the dusk because she had not been able to rest for 
 anxiety about him, just as to-day he could not rest 
 for anxiety about her. 
 
 For a moment he felt a strong inclination to dive 
 behind the bushes, so that she should not see him ; 
 but the next he was ashamed of being ashamed, and 
 stepped forward to meet her on the Cats^ Bridge. 
 
 ^^You have had a bad time of it, Regina,^' he 
 called out ; and tried to relieve her of the sack she 
 carried on her back. 
 
 But she quickly dodged him, holding out her 
 elbows in protest. She was muffled to the eyes in 
 shawls, and could not speak. They walked to the 
 door in silence. On the threshold she turned and 
 tore the wraps from her face. 
 
 I have a favour to ask, Herr^'^ she said breath- 
 lessly. 
 
 Well, what is it ? 
 
 Would you mind staying out another half-hour, 
 or going into the kitchen, so that I can warm the 
 room and tidy up a little ? ” 
 
 But you must rest first.'^ 
 
 Not now, Herr^ if you don't mind.” 
 
 And she went in, letting her burdens fall to the 
 floor in the darkness. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 195 
 
 She may bustle about in there for a few 
 minutes if she likes/^ he thought; and turned to 
 look for a temporary shelter among the ruins. 
 
 Warm air ascended from the cellars. He struck 
 a light, and went down the slippery steps. He felt 
 curiously light-hearted almost, as if Christmas had 
 brought him joy. 
 
 The rows of wine-bottles with their red and green 
 labels peeped at him festively from their places. 
 
 '^She shall not forget it^s Christmas, he said, 
 smiling ; and drew from the farthest niche where 
 the treasure of treasures was stored, two or three 
 bottles covered with dust and cobwebs. In these 
 reposed a nectar which had not seen the light since 
 an eighteenth-century sun had shone on it. 
 
 His latest resolution occurred to him. Of course, 
 he had not meant to put it into force till to-morrow 
 — not on Christmas evening, when people consort 
 together, who at other times are not congenial to 
 each other. On Christmas evening no one ought 
 to be lonely and sorrowful. 
 
 Obedient to Regina^s wishes, he patrolled the 
 ruins for half-an-hour beneath a roof of sparkling 
 icicles. Then he put the bottles under his arm, 
 and staggered out into the stormy night. 
 
 As he approached his dwelling, he saw with 
 amazement that the shutters were closed, a thing 
 that had never happened before. His first thought 
 was that the storm had penetrated the chinks, but 
 on nearer view he learnt they were still weather- 
 proof. Not till he stood in the vestibule did he 
 
196 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 find a happy solution to the problem. Regina met 
 him beaming, and half-ashamed, and threw the par- 
 lour door wide open. Astounded at what he saw, 
 he remained rooted to the spot. He was greeted 
 by a festive shimmer of candles and a fragrant odour 
 of firs. In the centre of the dining-table, covered 
 with its pure white cloth, stood a Christmas tree, 
 adorned with wax tapers and gilded apples. The 
 whole apartment was brilliantly illuminated. 
 
 Never in his life before had a Christmas tree 
 been lit for hhn. Only from the thresholds of 
 strangers had he sometimes looked on with dim 
 eyes at strangers^ happiness. And where was 
 Regina ? She had retreated behind him, and 
 stood in the remotest corner of the vestibule, 
 watching him with shy yet proud delight. 
 
 He took hold of her hand and led her into the 
 room. 
 
 Who put it into your head, child ? ” he asked. 
 
 ^^The groceFs wife was trimming her Christmas 
 tree when I got there at three o^clock, and I thought 
 it so pretty I said to myself, he shall have his tree 
 too, and shall know that there is at least one person 
 to think of him. I asked her to show me how to 
 gild apples, and gilded a supply while I was there, 
 and bought the lights and got a sack to put the 
 tree in, so that you shouldn't see it.^^ 
 
 And who gave you the tree ? ” 
 
 I cut it down myself at the edge of the forest 
 not far from here.^^ 
 
 In the middle of this storm ? ” 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 197 
 
 She laughed contemptuously. little wind 
 
 wouldn^t hinder me, Herr'^ And then with a sudden 
 outburst of joyous ecstasy, she exclaimed, Oh, just 
 look, HerVj how beautifully it burns ! How pious it 
 looks. Hasn^t it really a sort of pious face, as if an 
 angel had brought it ? 
 
 He assented, laughing, and expressed his thanks 
 in a few words of forced condescension, for he was 
 afraid of being too gracious. 
 
 But she was more than satisfied. Why should 
 you thank me, Herr?^' she asked reproachfully. 
 
 It^s all bought with your money. I have none. Tm 
 only a poor girl. Else, ah, else — ” She threw up 
 her hands and clasped them above her head. 
 
 The cheque came into his mind. This is to show 
 you,^^ he said, handing it to her, that I have thought 
 of your Christmas too.” 
 
 She looked at him in bewilderment. ^‘Am I to 
 read it ? ” she asked, respectfully taking the piece of 
 paper between two of her fingers. After studying 
 it carefully, she still looked perplexed. 
 
 Don^t you understand what it is ? ” he asked. 
 
 Oh yes — I understand . . . But to begin with, 
 you can’t be in earnest. And even if you are, . 
 what good is it to me ? ” 
 
 It will provide for your future.” 
 
 My future is provided for. ... I have all I want. 
 Good food, . . . and I am dressed like a lady. What 
 can I possibly want besides ? ” 
 
 ^^But we may not go on living always together 
 like this.” 
 
198 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 She gave a cry of dismay. ''Are you thinking 
 of packing me off, Herr?^^ she asked with tightly 
 clasped hands. 
 
 " Not now. But suppose I were to die.*' 
 
 She shook her head meditatively. " I should die 
 too,” she said. 
 
 " Or I might have to go to the war again ? ” 
 
 " Then I should go with you as a vivandiere.” 
 
 Her persistence annoyed him. " Do as you 
 like,” he said, " only take what I give you.” 
 
 A bright idea seemed to occur to her. 
 
 " All right, Herr^^ she exclaimed, " Til take it, 
 only next Christmas I shall buy you something with 
 it, that will be worth having.” And happy at the 
 thought, she scampered away. 
 
 The Christmas-tree had burnt out. It stood now 
 dark and neglected in the corner by the stove, only 
 occasionally casting a glimmer from its golden fruit 
 on the table where master and servant sat opposite 
 each other. 
 
 Regina had been accorded permission to take her 
 supper with him this evening, and had been too 
 overcome to swallow a mouthful. She was almost 
 stunned with this great and unexpected pleasure. 
 
 Now the dishes were cleared away, and only 
 bottles and glasses stood between them. She drank, 
 thoughtlessly, of the old fire-kindling wine in long im- 
 moderate draughts. Her face began to glow. The 
 pupils of her brilliant eyes seemed to melt beneath 
 their drooping lids. She rocked to and fro on her 
 chair. A wild abandon had relaxed her in every limb. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 199 
 ‘^Are you tired, Regina?” 
 
 She shook her head impatiently. For once her 
 constraint in his presence had disappeared. There 
 was something even approaching audacity in the 
 brilliancy of her glance as she turned it on him from 
 time to time. She was intoxicated with happiness. 
 He too felt the wine flame up in him ; and his eyes 
 were riveted on her figure, which swayed before 
 him with the graceful motions of a Maenad. 
 
 All the time the tempest raged outside. It ^ 
 whistled in the chimney and hurled a rattling fusi- 
 lade against the window shutters. There was a 
 grinding and crunching among the rafters of the 
 roof, which sounded as if the mouldy wood were 
 collapsing. 
 
 I am afraid something will be blown down,” he 
 said as he listened. 
 
 Maybe,” she answered with a dreamy smile, 
 huddling herself together. And then she began to 
 babble in a fragmentary but quite unrestrained 
 fashion. ** Perhaps it isn^t good for me, HerVy^ . 
 she said, that you are so kind to me. All my life 
 I have never got anything but blows and abuse — 
 first from my father, then from him^ not to mention 
 other people. But if you spoil me, Herr^ I shall 
 get proud — and pride is a great vice, I have heard 
 the Pastor say — I shall begin to think Pm a princess 
 who needn^t earn her bread.” 
 
 She burst into a peal of wild laughter, and let her 
 arms fall to her sides. Then in a low tone, as if 
 conversing with herself, she went on — 
 
200 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 Sometimes I do wonder if I am only a servant. 
 I often feel really as if I were some enchanted 
 princess, and you, Herr^ the knight who is to 
 deliver me. Will you be the knight ? ” 
 
 She blinked at him over her wine-glass. He 
 nodded in friendly acquiescence. Let her revel in 
 her strange fancies. It was Christmas. 
 
 There have been cases, she continued, ^Hn 
 which princesses have been turned into quite com- 
 mon sluts. They have had stones thrown at them, 
 and been spat at, and men have called after them, 
 ^ Strike her down, the dirty slut ! ' And all the 
 time they were princesses in disguise.” 
 
 Do you believe in fairy tales, then ? ” he asked, 
 wondering. 
 
 She laughed to herself. ''Not exactly, Herr, 
 But when one passes so many hours alone, and has 
 to take long solitary walks as I have, one must 
 think. And when the rain beats down, and the 
 wind blows. . . . Hark at it now, what a to-do it^s 
 making. . . . Think of me tramping along in this 
 — and I have often been out when if s as bad, but 
 Fve never lost my way. And sometimes, when I 
 come into the wood, I have asked myself, 'Which 
 would you rather be ? A queen sitting on a golden 
 throne, or the Catholics^ Holy Virgin, who had our 
 dear Lord and Saviour for her little boy ; or would 
 you rather be the devif s grandmother, and bury all 
 the Schrandeners in a manure -heap; or a noble 
 lady and ” She paused. 
 
 "And ? ” he queried. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 201 
 
 She drew herself up, and laughed in embarrass- 
 ment. 
 
 I can^t tell you that — it is too silly. But I had 
 only to choose which Fd be. And as I march along 
 through the night shadows, I often imagine I am 
 one or other, till all of a sudden I find myself in 
 Bockeldorf, just as if Fd flown there — often I think 
 I am flying. Ah ! things do happen in real life, 
 after all, very much the same as in the fairy tales. 
 Don't you think so, Herr ? " 
 
 He contemplated her with curiosity and wonder, 
 as if he had never seen her before. And truly it 
 was the first time he had looked into her secret 
 soul. Now, when her tongue was loosened by wine, 
 much was revealed in her that before he had either 
 not observed or not understood. 
 
 Blissful creature ! " he murmured. 
 
 '^Am I ?" she replied, boldly planting her elbows 
 on the table, and regarding him with an expression 
 of joyous inquiry. '‘You mean, because Fm sitting 
 here with you drinking wine and being treated as if I 
 were human ? Oh ! it's exactly like being in heaven. 
 . . . Do you think I shall ever go to heaven ? . . . 
 I don't. I am far too wicked ! . . . And I think, 
 too, I should be afraid to go there. It must be 
 much livelier in hell. ... I should be more at 
 home there. The Herr Pastor often said I was like 
 a little devil, and I never fretted about it. Why 
 should I ? It seemed quite natural that I should 
 be the little devil and Helene the angel. An ex- 
 cellent arrangement. . . . Didn't Helene, Herr^ look 
 
202 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 just like an angel in the flesh ? So pink and white 
 and delicate, with her blue eyes and folded hands. 
 And she always wore ... a pretty ribbon . . . 
 round her neck . . . and smelt always of . . . rose- 
 scented soap. . . 
 
 A cold shiver passed through him. He felt it was 
 degrading both to himself and the beloved to allow 
 this half-tipsy girl to speak of her as if she were an 
 equal. 
 
 Stop ! ” he demanded hoarsely. 
 
 She only answered him with a dreamy smile. 
 Wine and fatigue suddenly overpowered her. She 
 lay stretched out, her head thrown back on the arm 
 of the chair, and fought against sleep, like a Bacchante 
 exhausted after a whirl of dissipation. 
 
 A great anger, that rose and fell within him like 
 the sound of the storm outside, mastered him. 
 
 ^^This is what wine does,” he thought, and yet 
 drank more. 
 
 He wanted to wake her, to send her out, but he 
 could not tear his eyes away from her face, and by 
 degrees he became gentler again. 
 
 She meant no harm,” he thought, as he moved 
 nearer to where she lay. ^^This is the last time 
 she will sit here with me; to-morrow a new leaf 
 will be turned. After to-morrow she shall find in 
 me nothing but the master.” 
 
 Then he remembered all he had wanted to ask her. 
 
 ‘‘Well, never mind,” he said to himself, “it can^t 
 be helped. Why spoil her Christmas ? Some other 
 time will do.” 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 203 
 
 The hurricane without seemed to have increased 
 in fury. It roared through the keyholes, and bat- 
 tered the shutters. How brutally cruel it was to 
 drive her out to sleep in a greenhouse on a night 
 like this ! But what was the use of being compas- 
 sionate when it had to be done ? 
 
 Regina!^' he shouted, and tapped her on the 
 shoulder. At that moment there was a terrific 
 thundering crash, that made the walls tremble as 
 from a shock of earthquake. Regina screamed loud 
 in her sleep and tried to grasp his hand, then sank 
 back again into her old position. He went out to 
 see what was the cause of the noise. Nothing had 
 fallen in the vestibule, but on opening the door of the 
 greenhouse snow drifted in his face just as if he had 
 walked into the open air. All round was inky dark- 
 ness. He went back to fetch his lantern. It shed 
 its light on a scene of ruin that exceeded his worst 
 expectations. Regina^s little kingdom, from which 
 she had ruled and regulated the menage so unosten- 
 tatiously, had seemingly been dispersed to the four 
 winds of heaven. The roof was blown off, and had 
 torn up part of the wall with it. Between the hearth 
 and the door was a barricade of snow as tall as him- 
 self, riddled with bricks, beams, and splinters of glass. 
 
 What was to be done now ? Where was Regina 
 to sleep ? Should he too let her lie like a dog on 
 his threshold ? No ! rather would he turn out into 
 the ruins himself, and seek a couch down in the 
 cellar. It was imperative to act at once, and there 
 was only one thing to be done. He drew Regina’s 
 
204 the sins of the FATHERS 
 
 bedding out of the snow, shook it thoroughly till 
 not a flake remained hanging to it, and then dragged 
 it into his room. Beneath the shadow of the 
 Christmas-tree in the corner by the stove he made 
 up a bed on the boards. 
 
 Regina slept peacefully, her face illumined by 
 the light from the oil lamp. He came close to her, 
 shook and called her by name ; but nothing could 
 wake her. At last he lifted her up, to carry her 
 to the bed. 
 
 She gave a deep sigh, encircled his neck with 
 her arms, and let her head sink on his shoulder. 
 
 His heart beat faster. The fair body in the 
 first bloom of its superb young womanhood, gave 
 him a sensation of fear and uneasiness as it un- 
 consciously rested on him. He half carried, half 
 trailed her across the room. Her warm breath 
 fanned his face, her hair swept his throat. 
 
 As he let her sink on her mattress she raised her 
 arms, with a gesture of longing, in the air, and 
 pulled down the little fir-tree. He drew it from 
 under her, and then placed it as a screen and 
 sentinel between himself and her. To-morrow Fll 
 rig up a partition, he thought. Then he undressed 
 and went to bed. 
 
 The night-light burnt out, but there was no 
 thought of sleep for him. The tempest still raged, 
 and spent its fury on the locks and bolts. Boleslav 
 heeded it not. While he listened to the sleeping 
 woman^s breath, his own fell on the night, in heavily- 
 drawn, anxious gasps. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 To His Lordships Baron Boleslav 
 
 von Schranden, of Castle Schranden. 
 
 Your Hochwohlgeboren is requested to appear 
 in person on January '^rdy anni futuriy at two d clock 
 in the afternoony at Herr MerckeVs official residencCy 
 and to bring the requisite papers relating to your 
 Hochwohlgeboreri s attachmenty or non-attach7nenty to 
 the Prussian Landwehr. 
 
 “ (Signed) Royal Landrath V. Krotkeim, 
 
 Representative of Military Affairs 
 for the Districty 
 
 Boleslav found this communication in the draw- 
 bridge letter-box on New YeaPs morning. The 
 threatening nature of its contents did not at once 
 strike him ; he was only staggered at the authorities 
 taking the trouble to investigate his case. He had 
 resolved, on again adopting his fathers name, to 
 let the waters of oblivion close over Lieutenant 
 Baumgart. He had discharged his duty to his 
 country unconditionally ; bolder and more self- 
 sacrificing than thousands of others, he had gone 
 to face death. Now that there was peace, and he 
 had taken a great burden of inherited guilt on his 
 
 205 
 
2o6 the sins of the FATHERS 
 
 shoulders, he had wished to avoid being involved 
 in any way with official red-tapism. 
 
 Only gradually did he realise the new dangers 
 that were gathering on his horizon. Pride in his 
 past as a soldier, afforded him the one prop and stay 
 in his present ruined life, and he felt that slipping 
 from under his feet. He stood defenceless in face 
 of imminent peril. It would need only a little 
 malice prepense to make him out a deserter from the 
 flag, and the fact of his having borne a false name 
 would go far to establish his guilt. 
 
 The son of Baron von Schranden had no reason 
 to hope that justice would be tempered with mercy 
 in his case. He would also have no reason to 
 complain of harsh measures, if he were put under 
 arrest on the spot, and brought before a court- 
 martial of the standing branch of his regiment. 
 
 For a moment he entertained thoughts of flight, 
 but afterwards thrust the idea from him in scorn. 
 He had too often valued his life cheaply, to now 
 think seriously of stealing into Poland to end his 
 wretched career in safety. 
 
 But what would become of Regina ? 
 
 At the thought of her, his heart smote him. She 
 had no suspicion of the new troubles with which he 
 was encompassed. Since Christmas night he had 
 not addressed a single word to her that was not 
 absolutely necessary, and even then his voice had 
 been imperious and severe. The thought of her now 
 seemed interwoven with a presentiment of coming 
 calamity, which oppressed him like a nightmare. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 207 
 
 At night he tossed about restlessly among his 
 pillows. She never stirred in her corner. Appar- 
 ently she fell asleep the moment she lay down. 
 But her soft, quick, regular breathing was sometimes 
 broken by a sigh. Perhaps, after all, she was not 
 sleeping, but watching, listening, as he listened. . . . 
 
 And then the day dawned on which Boleslav^s 
 fate was to be decided. Towards morning he had 
 fallen into an uneasy sleep, and was first awakened 
 by the smoke that poured into the room from the 
 vestibule, where he had erected a temporary fire- 
 place, which would have to do as a makeshift till 
 milder weather made the repairing of the glass root 
 practicable. It was a clear, frosty morning. The 
 sunshine jewelled the hoar-frost on the twigs, and 
 dark purple shadows crept along the dazzling sheets 
 of snow. 
 
 He spent the morning in arranging his papers. 
 All that was compromising to his father’s memory 
 should be destroyed, for were he put under arrest, 
 as seemed likely, strangers’ hands would meddle in 
 this vortex. He held the sorted letters in his hand 
 ready to burn in the stove, when he thought better 
 of it. If he really were serious in his intentions of 
 bearing his father’s guilt, he ought to conceal or 
 destroy nothing in order to lighten the burden. It 
 was not worth while purchasing truth with falsehood. 
 Rather die in disgrace, than live in honour founded 
 on lies and deceit. 
 
 When Regina brought him his midday meal he 
 vacillated an instant, as to whether he should tell 
 
208 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 her all or nothing. But he shrank from a touching 
 scene, and decided on the latter course. A letter 
 would serve the same purpose. So he wrote : I 
 
 am not back at dusk, probably you will have difficulty 
 in seeing me again. Inquire at the Landrath^s 
 office in Wartenstein. There they will tell you what 
 has become of me. I advise you to leave Schranden 
 at once. The draft I gave you will supply your 
 wants. What else remains shall all be yours later. 
 Good-bye, and accept my thanks.^^ 
 
 He left the note in a conspicuous place, so that, 
 when she cleared away, she would find it. He was 
 in a hard and embittered mood, and in no humour 
 for a sentimental farewell. 
 
 But as he passed Regina in the vestibule where 
 she was occupied with the fire, he felt a strong 
 impulse to press her hand. For her sake, as much 
 as for his own, he went out without giving her a 
 word or a look. A group of staring louts, who 
 appeared to be waiting for him, were loafing near 
 the drawbridge. When they saw him coming, they 
 ran off helter-skelter with loud exclamations, to 
 the inn. 
 
 My heralds,” he said, and laughed. 
 
 Long before the stated hour the parlour of the 
 Black Eagle could not hold all the customers that 
 poured in, anxious to secure a foremost place for the 
 proceedings. There was an overflow that extended 
 as far as the churchyard square. Every one was 
 eager to witness with his own eyes the final degrada- 
 tion of the last of the Barons of Schranden. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS'* 209 
 
 Three months had passed since the petition had 
 been sent to the judicial authorities of the province, 
 and even the most zealous patriots had begun to 
 despair of its producing any results. Then at last 
 had come the delightful intimation from the office 
 of the Landrath, that a day had been appointed to 
 wind up the case of the Crown v. Schranden, alias 
 Baumgart, and the presence of the petitioners was 
 urgently requested at the inquiry. 
 
 The Schrandeners had armed themselves in a 
 way worthy of the occasion. For three days they 
 had been busy polishing up their accoutrements. 
 Those among the disbanded Landwehr-men who still 
 possessed their Litewka had donned it, and pikes 
 and sabres were seen in the crowd. Possibly they 
 might be called upon to help in an instantaneous 
 administration of justice. 
 
 The Landrath^s sleigh had entered the village at 
 one o^clock, and, as was customary, put up at the 
 parsonage stable, where Herr Merckel and his 
 son stood ready to welcome the high functionary. 
 There was no gendarme on the box, which greatly 
 mystified the Schrandeners. But perhaps the ser- 
 vices of one were not required when they could be 
 depended on to despatch the criminal at the first 
 signal. 
 
 Shortly before two, the Landrath, accompanied 
 by the old pastor, left the parsonage and entered 
 the inn by a side door, where Herr Merckel, senior, 
 again was to the fore to receive him, while Felix 
 slouched in the background, piqued at not being 
 
 O 
 
2 10 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 treated with what he considered sufficient respect 
 by the civilian. 
 
 The Landrath von Krotkeim was a tall, extremely 
 slender man, whose hoary leonine head rose with 
 great effect from his contracted, sloping shoulders. 
 There was something awe-inspiring in its pose. 
 He wore, in defiance of the fashion of the period, 
 long whiskers, which flowed behind his ears, 
 mingling with his thick iron-grey mane. 
 
 His part in the formation of defences for the 
 Fatherland had been an important and distinguished 
 one. Tw’'o years before he had sat as a deputy for 
 the knighthood in the famous Land-tag to which 
 Germany owed the foundation of the Landwehr. He 
 had hailed old York with cheers, and helped to 
 draw up the address to the King. Afterwards he 
 had hastened back to his native place to set the 
 organisation on foot, and had achieved results which 
 made his district the brilliant model that excited 
 the admiring emulation of the whole country. Then 
 arose those marauders attendant on success, vanity 
 and egoism. What at first had been a labour of 
 noble disinterestedness, gradually degenerated into a 
 peg for self-advertisement and a means of memorial- 
 ising his own fame. For the rest, and long before 
 the treachery of the Cats^ Bridge incident had been 
 generally made known to the world, Herr von 
 Krotkeim had by repute been a bitter enemy of 
 the house of Schranden. To hope any favour at 
 his hands would therefore be over-sanguine indeed. 
 Rut Boleslav had abandoned hope of any kind as 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 21 1 
 
 he entered the square in front of the church. He 
 advanced composed, and almost indifferent, towards 
 the crowd that formed a cordon round the inn. 
 He had, on his way, cast one shy glance at the 
 parsonage, where in a window he fancied he had 
 seen a fair face which withdrew into shadow directly 
 he smiled up at it. He was received by a murmur 
 of malignant tongues, but the cordon let him through, 
 understanding enough to know that, without him, 
 the game they were anticipating with such keen 
 relish could not be played. 
 
 At the entrance to the best parlour, he stood face 
 to face with the great man with the lion^s mane, 
 on either side of whom sat the old pastor and 
 Herr Merckel. Felix lounged in the window-sill, 
 trying to assume an air of nonchalance. He now 
 considered his former playmate too inferior an 
 object on which even to bestow his hate. But the 
 old landlord greeted Boleslav with a benign smile. 
 Had he come there with the purpose of treating 
 every one present to a bottle of the celebrated 
 Muscat wine, the smile could not have been more 
 smugly servile. 
 
 Lightning-flashes irradiated from beneath the pro- 
 minent brows of the old pastor, and the Landrath 
 sat coolly contemplating his fingers, which were 
 white and bony as a skeleton^s. Boleslav felt his 
 bosom swell proudly. His hand against every 
 man ; every man^s hand against him.^' It was the 
 old story! 
 
 A voice from the crowd hiccoughed out some 
 
212 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 unflattering remark. The Schrandeners received 
 it with laughter. 
 
 ^Ht's the poor father, the unhappy father,” old 
 Merckel whispered to the Landrath, with a melan- 
 choly elevation of his eyebrows. 
 
 ^^As you have summoned me here,” exclaimed 
 Boleslav, ** I demand your protection from the in- 
 sults of the mob ! ” 
 
 The Landrath drooped his eyelids and bowed. 
 
 Silence, dear people ! ” he commanded, stroking 
 his clean-shaven chin, and then he added, I shall 
 have any person who makes a disturbance ejected.” 
 He consulted a green portfolio that lay spread 
 before him on the table. Behind him a little man in 
 grey was energetically trying goose quills. Probably 
 he was the reporter. 
 
 The examination began. With frigid politeness 
 the Landrath put the usual questions. 
 
 Where have you resided hitherto ? ’’ 
 
 Boleslav enumerated several places. 
 
 '‘Your word is of course to be trusted, Herr 
 Baron^ but have you proofs ? ” 
 
 "No.” 
 
 " Up to what date does your answer hold good ? ” 
 "Till the spring of the year T3.” 
 
 "After that?” 
 
 " I entered the army.” 
 
 " Have you proofs to support that statement ? ” 
 "No” 
 
 " I regret to say that the name von Schranden is 
 not to be found in the army list.” 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 213 
 
 I enlisted under another/' 
 
 Under the name of Baumgart ? ” 
 
 ^^Yes." 
 
 For what reason ? " 
 
 There was silence. Boleslav bit his lips. 
 
 Ha, ha ! " came triumphantly from the window. 
 The exclamation put Boleslav on his mettle. 
 
 ^^To have borne my real name would have 
 involved me in difficulties." 
 
 '^Why?" 
 
 Because, through a rumour which I was power- 
 less to contradict, there was a blot on that 
 name.” 
 
 What rumour ? " 
 
 It was clear this man intended to humiliate him 
 to the dust before passing on him the inevitable 
 sentence. 
 
 You know it,” he murmured faintly between his 
 closed teeth. 
 
 The Landrath bowed. Nevertheless I must 
 ask for information on the subject.” 
 
 I decline to give it.” 
 
 The mob sent up a shout of scornful laughter. 
 
 Do for him at once ! put him in chains ! ” roared 
 the same hiccoughing voice that had made use of an 
 abusive epithet earlier in the proceedings. 
 
 The Landrath gracefully waved his long white 
 hands. 
 
 A note has been made of that refusal ? ” he 
 asked without turning round. 
 
 A small quavering pipe behind him, which greatly 
 
2 14 the sins of the fathers 
 
 amused the Schrandeners, answered in the affir- 
 mative. 
 
 Then he continued with imperturbable politeness. 
 
 “ May I ask you, then, to tell me to which com- 
 pany you were attached ? ” 
 
 Boleslav did so, and also gave the names of his 
 Heide comrades. 
 
 The Landrath turned over the leaves of his port- 
 folio with an air of ennui. The concerns of the 
 volunteer Jagers evidently had no interest for him. 
 
 You were elected officer ? 
 
 ^^Yes.^^ 
 
 do not doubt your word, Herr Baron^ but 
 have you proofs to back this statement ? 
 
 '‘A note must be made of that negative. And 
 then you entered the Landwehr ? 
 
 '^Yes.^^ 
 
 Your reason ?” 
 
 Boleslav indicated, with a motion of his head, the 
 companion of his boyhood. Because I did not 
 wish to meet that man.^^ 
 
 Felix gave a scoffing laugh, and exclaimed, Else 
 
 the swindle would A sign from the Landrath 
 
 silenced him. 
 
 Your Landwehr regiment, if you please ? 
 
 Boleslav cited the commandant^s name. 
 
 The Landrath bowed low over the portfolio till 
 his shock of hair almost concealed his faded shrunken 
 face. 
 
 ''So far that coincides with my information,’^ he 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 215 
 
 said, and then read: There was a Lieutenant 
 
 Baumgart, who at the time of the armistice entered 
 the regiment. Besides him there were four other 
 officers of this name in the army. The one in 
 question, however, met his death between the 1st 
 and 3rd of March on the Marne.” 
 
 ** How did you learn that, Herr Landrath ? ” 
 
 It is in the Gazette, Herr Baron, He is said to 
 have been sent on a special mission, and shot by 
 grenadiers in General Marmont^s corps.” 
 
 Boleslav felt his blood mount swiftly to his brow. 
 The proudest and most arduous moments of his life 
 rose vividly before him. ‘^That is a mistake,” he 
 cried ; Lieutenant Baumgart fell into the hands of 
 the enemy severely wounded, but escaped with his 
 life.” 
 
 And it is your desire to be identified with that 
 fallen emissary ? ” 
 
 I believe I have clearly shown that it is my 
 desire.” 
 
 Very well, that being so, you will of course be 
 able to relate the incidents of the special mission.” 
 
 Certainly.” 
 
 '' Please proceed.” 
 
 The volunteers had been charged to get a mes- 
 sage delivered to General von Kleist. Some days 
 before a skirmish had taken place on the banks of 
 a river, Therouanne by name, through which the 
 General and his corps were cut off from communica- 
 tion with the main army. A reunion was not to 
 be effected owing to MarmonPs and MortieFs troops, 
 
2i6 the sins of the FATHERS 
 
 to which Napoleon himself was said to be marching, 
 stopping the way. Field-Marshal Blucher suddenly 
 resolved to retreat, in order, I believe, to pick up 
 reinforcements, and therefore it was, under the 
 circumstances, urgent to let General von Kleist 
 know at once, in case he should find himself entirely 
 isolated. It was necessary for the messenger to 
 evade the enemy’s outposts at night-time. Among 
 those who volunteered to go on the mission, choice 
 fell on me. Major von Schaek led me to the Field- 
 
 Marshal, who entrusted me with a letter ” 
 
 '^One moment, please,” interrupted the Landrath, 
 searching diligently among his papers ; then he added 
 casually, ^^And the letter of course contained the 
 necessary command.” 
 
 ^^No.” 
 
 ^^What, then?” 
 
 ^^The letter was designed to deceive the enemy 
 in case I should be shot from my horse on the way. 
 The Field-Marshal desired me to give his command 
 by word of mouth. I had to learn it by heart.” 
 
 ** How did it run ? ” 
 
 As follows : Hf on the morrow the enemy at- 
 tacks us on the right flank. General von Kleist is 
 not to join in the engagement, but to seize the op- 
 portunity of gaining the command of the Marne from 
 the south, so that he may bring himself in touch with 
 me. En route several bridges are to be destroyed.’ ” 
 The Landrath nodded. And then — Lieu- 
 tenant ? ” 
 
 I succeeded in delivering the message.” 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 217 
 
 ^^You managed to evade the enemy and reach 
 your goal ? ” ^ 
 
 ‘‘ I hope you have found proofs of it, Herr 
 Landrath^ in the history of the war 
 
 Hum ! When were you wounded ? 
 
 On the way back/' 
 
 Why did you not remain where you were ? " 
 
 Because I had undertaken to bring the Field- 
 Marshal an answer." 
 
 You might have spared yourself this second act 
 of daring." 
 
 I might have spared myself the first also." 
 
 ^^You wanted to achieve fame?" 
 
 I wanted among other things to escape the 
 privilege of this cross-examination." 
 
 The Landrath straightened himself and threw 
 back his mane. Permit me to draw your attention 
 to the fact that you stand before the representative 
 of your king, Herr Baron von Schranden." 
 
 Barefaced impudence ! " muttered the voice at 
 the window. 
 
 stand before my undoer," replied Boleslav, 
 looking steadily into the Landrath's eyes. 
 
 He fixed them on his papers again, with a sup- 
 pressed smile. I have now come to the last stage of 
 my investigation," he continued. It cannot be denied 
 that your statements bear a strong resemblance to the 
 facts, and that your claim to be one and the same 
 person as the Lieutenant Baumgart who served in 
 the Silesian Landwehr under Major von Wolzogen 
 has gained in probability. Only this admission has 
 
2i8 the sins of the FATHERS 
 
 to be weighed in the scale against the impossibility 
 of an honourable officer, as the said Baumgart seems 
 to have been, turning his back on the army in which 
 he had won honours and wounds, and deserting its 
 standard. He must have known a company of 
 soldiers could not be dispersed like a flock of 
 sparrows. And to think that the Landwehr ” — his 
 chest swelled and he tossed his mane, — the glorious 
 Landwehr, that has always stood in the first rank 
 for courage, love of order, and discipline, should have 
 thus been hoodwinked ! Freiherr von Schranden, 
 I fervently hope that Lieutenant Baumgart was not 
 guilty of this transgression, and am therefore bound 
 to wish that he met his death.” 
 
 Boleslav felt the crisis was approaching. He 
 glanced round him and saw everywhere eyes flam- 
 ing with . hate and thirst for vengeance. Felix 
 Merckel had laid his hand on the handle of his 
 sabre, as if in another moment he would raise 
 it. From the throngs behind him came a clash 
 and din of arms. Malignant satisfaction beamed 
 on the face of the old host of the Black Eagle. 
 Only the pastor sat with his dishevelled head 
 bowed in his hands, staring despondently on the 
 floor. 
 
 It is not my fault, Herr Landrath^ that the 
 dead man has been brought to life. He did his 
 duty, I think. Why should he not have been 
 allowed to rest in peace ? ” 
 
 The Landrath shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 ‘^A public indictment cannot be ignored.” 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 219 
 
 indictment ! cried Boleslav, his anger 
 blazing up, and his eye met young Merckers. 
 
 There he read, in unmistakable characters, the 
 story of the shameless plot against him. He smiled 
 in disgust. 
 
 I see that I am answerable to a military tri- 
 bunal,” he said. I was prepared for it. I beg 
 you now to arrest me.” 
 
 The mob pushed forward as if anxious to take 
 him at his word without delay. Boleslav, who all 
 this time had been standing on the threshold of 
 the inner parlour, was hurled forward against the 
 table, within a haiFs-breadth of the Landrath, while 
 the fists of his enemies touched his neck from 
 behind. 
 
 ** Patience, my dear friends,” said the Landrath 
 in an amicable tone. ‘^The first who lays hands 
 on him will himself be put in chains. One more 
 question, Herr Baron, If you were taken prisoner, 
 as you maintain, how was it that later, when the 
 disbanding followed, you were not registered and 
 discharged in the regular order ? ” 
 
 '^The French, in their hurried flight, left me lying 
 on the field, as I was badly wounded. I was picked 
 up by some peasants, in whose house I lay for 
 months at death's door. When I was able to 
 leave my rescuers, peace had been concluded, and 
 there were no allies in the neighbourhood.” 
 
 Your word of honour is of course sacred, Herr 
 Baron^ but perhaps you can substantiate this with 
 proof? ” 
 
2 20 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 Only with my scars, Herr Landrath^ 
 
 ‘‘Ah! . . . Make a note of that He pushed 
 
 back his leonine locks from his brow, and seemed 
 to be bracing himself for an impressive summing 
 up— 
 
 “ My friends ! Indomitable defenders of your 
 country, and inhabitants of Schranden I The found- 
 ing of the Landwehr was the rising of a new sun, 
 which has never ceased to cast new lustre on the 
 fame of Prussia. Let us congratulate ourselves that 
 we have been born in a time when such great things 
 have been demanded of us, and that we have proved 
 ourselves worthy of, and equal to the demand. 
 Especially in this district, and foremost in this dis- 
 trict the parish of Schranden. If we look round us, 
 we see a very different spectacle in other quarters. 
 Not everywhere did the King^s appeal meet with 
 such a warm and spontaneous echo. 
 
 “ Oh, my friends, our hearts bleed when we hear 
 of how, in the districts of Konitz and Stargard, for 
 example, to escape serving, men took refuge in the 
 woods, and lay full-length amongst the wheat till 
 they had to be baited like bulls. Thousands took 
 flight across the frontier, and thus shirked the con- 
 scription altogether. And often what had been 
 beautifully drilled companies overnight, by the 
 morning were transformed into a shapeless mass of 
 panic-stricken deserters. But not in the district 
 that I have had the pleasure of mobilising. 
 
 “ In less than two weeks, friends and comrades, 
 the Landwehr of the Wartenstein district was 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 221 
 
 ready drilled and armed from top to toe. The levies 
 were double in strength what the government had 
 required of us, and eighty per cent, consisted of 
 volunteers. From the parish of Schranden came 
 only volunteers.^^ 
 
 The crowd set up loud hurrahs, and the pastor 
 nodded and smiled in grim satisfaction. He knew 
 whose work that had been. 
 
 I must admit,” continued the Landrath, with a 
 chilling sidelong glance at Boleslav, 'Hhat the parish 
 of Schranden has one hideous stain on its reputa- 
 tion ” — (several loud imprecations were audible) — 
 a stain which in spite of all its deeds of bravery 
 will never be dissociated from it ” (renewed curses) ; 
 
 but if it is the King^s pleasure to overlook it, and 
 only to see the brighter side, his graciousness is 
 due to those who, in defending his realm, have 
 rendered him such able services, whose leader I 
 am happy and proud to call myself. The King^s 
 favour — (^^Why does he harp thus on the King^s 
 favour,” thought Boleslav, when he might wind up 
 the case and be done with it ”) — has been abund- 
 antly lavished on us, and we are almost overpowered 
 with his blessings. Yet let all who reap the fruits 
 of the harvest remember they owe it to the men of 
 the Landwehr, and not least to their organiser, who 
 sowed for them the seeds of undying fame.” 
 
 Again he began to turn over the leaves of 
 his portfolio, then he went on: '‘Take your caps 
 off, intrepid inhabitants of Schranden. Attention, 
 my brave men ! Gentlemen, if you please, rise ! 
 
222 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 Whoever keeps his cap on at the back there 
 will be ejected. I am commissioned to read over 
 to you an order of the Cabinet of supreme im- 
 port. It is as follows: 'Should it prove true that 
 the Freiherr von Schranden of Schloss Schranden 
 and Lieutenant Baumgart of the 15th Regiment of 
 the Silesian Landwehr, be one and the same per- 
 son, and that, as was naturally supposed of so 
 fearless an officer, he had no real intentions of 
 deserting, I appoint him to a captaincy in my 
 Landwehr, and entrust him with the command of 
 the company in his division. I also bestow on 
 him, in recognition of his extraordinary valour and 
 distinguished service, the iron cross of the first 
 class. The Landrath for the district shall invest 
 him with these honours in the presence of his 
 accusers.— Friedrich Wilhelm Rex.'” 
 
 The proclamation was received in profound 
 silence. The patriotic Schrandeners stood glower- 
 ing at each other in consternation. Felix Merckel 
 had sunk back on the window-seat. His fingers 
 clutched convulsively at the cross that shone be- 
 tween the black froggings on his coat. Boleslav 
 felt a buzzing sensation in his head. He was 
 obliged to cling to the door for support, for he 
 feared he might swoon. Not joy, only infinite 
 bitterness, welled up within him. He bit his lips 
 hard to keep back his tears. 
 
 The Landrath drew a small black case from the 
 depths of his coat pocket, and presented it to Boleslav 
 with an exaggeratedly obsequious bow. The cover 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 223 
 
 sprang back. The black smoothly polished scrap 
 of iron, on its background of blue velvet, seemed 
 surrounded by a halo of shimmering light. Boleslav 
 grasped it with one hand in growing excitement, 
 while he offered his other to the Landrath. The 
 latter retreated a step or two, closely regarding 
 his long, white, skinny hands, as if the act of 
 handing over the case had done them some injury. 
 Then he deliberately hid them behind his back. 
 
 Herr Landrathy I offered you my hand,^' cried 
 Boleslav threateningly, flushing darkly at this new 
 insult. 
 
 According to his Majesty^s wishes I have dis- 
 charged my duty. My instructions did not include 
 a shake of the hand.” 
 
 At this moment a cross, like the one Boleslav had 
 just received, flew through the air and alighted at 
 his feet. Felix Merckel had torn it from his breast. 
 Swelling with righteous indignation, he swaggered 
 up to the official, whom he now felt sure he had 
 no reason to be afraid of, and cried — 
 
 '‘There it may lie. I don^t want it now. Any 
 decent soldier would be ashamed to wear it when 
 such as he is decorated with it.” 
 
 A cry of mingled pain and fury escaped Boleslav^s 
 lips, and with raised fists he turned fiercely on his 
 enemy. 
 
 Felix Merckel unsheathed his sabre, as if with 
 the intention of hewing down the unarmed man. 
 But the old landlord threw his corpulent form be- 
 tween them. The Landrath confined himself to 
 
224 the sins of the fathers 
 
 waving his hands soothingly ; and the pastor vigi- 
 lantly kept watch on his Schrandeners. He knew 
 his flock, and read murder in their glance. 
 
 ** Back there ! keep back ! he shouted to the 
 tumultuous throng in a voice of brass. With out- 
 stretched arms he sprang into the doorway, where 
 already a line of pikes appeared, ready to fell the 
 victim from behind. 
 
 Boleslav looked round and saw with a shudder 
 how near he stood to death. 
 
 The pastor, clinging to the roof of the doorway, 
 endeavoured to stem the murderous tide. Would 
 that frail and venerable frame be able to repulse this 
 onslaught of unmuzzled wolves ? Would it not be 
 swept away on the crest of this bloodthirsty wave ? 
 A weak shield to rely on, indeed ! Yet his was the 
 only authority not swamped by the tumult. The 
 Landrath^s protesting hands waved impotently above 
 the seething heads, like limp towels ; the gentle flute- 
 like tones in which he declared the ringleaders of 
 the disturbance should be turned out and bludgeoned 
 were totally ignored. His parasite, the little port- 
 folio bearer, had taken the precaution to creep under 
 the table. 
 
 A voice within Boleslav cried, ‘‘What! You will 
 let this old man protect you? Cannot you pro- 
 tect yourself ? ” And a wild resolve consumed him. 
 This seemed a moment given him to balance his 
 account with fate — a moment of all others in which 
 cowardice was to be avoided. He caught hold of 
 the old pastor in a grip of iron and drew him aside. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 225 
 
 ‘‘This is my place, reverend sir,*^ he said, and 
 planted himself in the doorway. 
 
 He stretched out his arms above him, as the old 
 man had done, and offered his breast as a target 
 for the pointed weapons. His eye penetrated un- 
 flinchingly into the heart of the struggling and 
 ramping mob before him. He felt the foam from 
 their mouths bespatter him, and their hot, foul 
 breath fan his face. 
 
 “ Here I stand ! ” he cried. “ I have left my 
 pistols at home ; so you can make short work of 
 me. Any of you who have the courage.” 
 
 But no one had the courage, for his back was not 
 turned to them now. Sabres were lowered, pikes 
 dropped. 
 
 “I see — you don’t wish to assassinate me after all,” 
 he said, holding them with his eyes. “ You are going 
 to behave yourselves like men, and not like wild 
 beasts. Very well, then, I will speak to you as to 
 reasonable men. Move backwards and keep quiet.” 
 
 The crowd wavered; the next moment he had 
 the threshold to himself. 
 
 “And now — speak! Tell me what you want 
 v/ith me ? ” 
 
 There w^as no answer, no sound in the room 
 except the laboured breathing of excited lungs. 
 
 “You hate me. You would like to take my life. 
 Tell me why ? Here in the presence of a representa- 
 tive of the King whom we all serve and fear, in the 
 presence of a representative of the God in whom I 
 believe and you too — tell me what I have done ? 
 
226 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 I submit myself to their judgment. Now is your 
 opportunity of charging me.^^ 
 
 But the silence continued. Only one spluttering 
 voice arose for a moment and died away in a gurgle, 
 as if it were being stifled by force. 
 
 You are dumb. You cannot say what my offence 
 has been, — and you, gentlemen ! Won^t you come 
 to the assistance of these poor, speechless people ? 
 There on the ground lies a cross, the mark of honour 
 our nation cherishes more highly than any other, 
 which some one threw away, because through my 
 possessing one like it, he considered it contaminated. 
 Some one else declined to shake hands with me just 
 now, a common act of courtesy which no man of 
 honour refuses another unless he be a blackguard. It 
 does not matter, Herr Landrath^ if in this instance 
 judges and accusers unite in a common cause. Ac- 
 cuse me of what you like, condemn me! I am 
 prepared.*^ 
 
 Another long pause. The Landrath twisted his 
 whiskers in embarrassment. 
 
 And you, Herr Pastor — it is hardly fitting that 
 I should call the instructor of my youth to account — 
 but some months ago you showed me the door in 
 your own house. Could you not be spokesman now 
 for your parishioners ? 
 
 The old man^s jaws worked, his lips moved, but 
 no sound issued from them. He appeared to have 
 exhausted his strength, but the wild, fiery glance he 
 darted from beneath his bushy brows boded no 
 good to Boleslav. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 227 
 
 With a laugh he went on. Then I must be my 
 own accuser.” He felt intoxicated with his own 
 courage. Your hand against every man, and every 
 man^s hand against you,” cried jubilantly within him. 
 
 You think you ought to visit the sins of the fathers 
 on me; empty the vials of your wrath on my head 
 because you cannot reach the dead. Very well. I 
 am his heir. I take his guilt upon me, and do not 
 refuse to do penance, when right and justice demand 
 it of me. But why were no steps taken against the 
 dead man himself? Why was he not tried ? Why 
 not dragged to the scaffold when he deserved it ? 
 Herr Landratk, I ask you, as the embodiment of the 
 law, why did the State remain silent and suffer 
 these gallant men who smarted under wrong to take 
 revenge into their own hands ? And such a revenge ! 
 So childish, so cruel, that one would have thought it 
 could only have occurred to the primitive brain of 
 bloodthirsty savages. Revenge for a deed which at 
 this hour I neither admit nor deny, because it lies 
 shrouded in mystery. Which of you can say how 
 it happened, or whether it happened at all ? And 
 in spite of this uncertainty, you have damned and 
 defamed him and his race, deprived them of honour 
 and justice. Is that fair play? Now I ask you to 
 
 put us on our trial, me, and the dead man, and ” 
 
 He paused, shocked at the thought that he had 
 nearly let fall Regina^s name. 
 
 The pastor’s eagle eye flashed ominously. Then 
 collecting himself, he continued : Inquire, speak 
 
 out unravel the mystery, clear up the matter, and 
 
228 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 then judge and pass sentence. But at the same 
 time sit in judgment and pass sentence on that 
 other crime, the crime that has wrecked my pro- 
 perty, and leaves me only uninhabitable ruins to 
 live in, a crime that cries aloud to Heaven for 
 vengeance. On the subject of other outrages and 
 indignities I will be silent — threats of murder to me 
 and mine ; the blocking of the churchyard entrance 
 to my fathers funeral cortege — all that shall pass. 
 But the fire, that I swear shall be avenged ! If till 
 to-day justice has been blind to my wrongs, its 
 eyes shall be wrenched open. I will not rest day 
 or night till I have dragged the skulking authors of 
 that cowardly, atrocious deed into the light of day, 
 and may God have mercy on those who attempt to 
 screen or defend them.’' 
 
 Again the mob showed signs of uneasiness. Its 
 foremost ranks pressed back on the others, as if to 
 fly from the vengeance of the wrathful man who had 
 addressed them in words of such burning indigna- 
 tion. Again from the neighbourhood of the window 
 came hoarse, stuttering laughter that was choked off 
 as before. 
 
 The occupants of the best parlour made an effort 
 to appear as if they had not been listening to 
 Boleslav. The Landrath, who was really painfully 
 affected, busied himself with more zeal than ever 
 in looking through his papers. Old Merckel had 
 picked up the discarded cross, and was trying to 
 persuade his son, who resisted sulkily, to wear it 
 again. The little man in grey had come out from 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 229 
 
 under the table, and was employing himself in 
 carefully rubbing dust off his knees. Only the old 
 pastor was on the alert. He had propped his stick 
 against the table ; the thin white hair that floated 
 round his bald skull quivered. He stood looking, 
 with his vulture profile, and small eyes flashing 
 beneath his sharply projecting brows, like a bird of 
 prey waiting to pounce on its booty. 
 
 Had Boleslav caught sight of him at that moment, 
 he might have hesitated to make a fresh challenge. 
 But he wanted to score all along the line and com- 
 plete his victory. 
 
 In order that there may be a clear understanding 
 between us,” he cried, ^Hhat all may see who has 
 right on his side and who wrong, I ask, which of 
 you has a charge to prefer against me ? To whom 
 have I done an injury ? How have I sinned ? ” 
 Then the voice of the old pastor was raised be- 
 hind him. Is Hackelberg, the carpenter, here ? ” 
 Boleslav winced. That voice so close to his ear 
 sounded intimidating and uncanny, and prophetic 
 of coming evil. There was a scuffling and swaying 
 in the crowd. The ragged figure of the village 
 drunkard, by means of shoves and kicks, was pro- 
 pelled forward into the front row. He struggled 
 and beat the air with his hands, and when forced 
 on to the threshold of the inner parlour, tried to 
 duck beneath the legs of the men on either side 
 of him. 
 
 There is nothing to be afraid of, Hackelberg,” 
 said the pastor. I will see that you are not hurt.” 
 
2 30 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 Reassured, he drew himself up, and scanned the 
 gentlemen he had been brought before with a sus- 
 picious, glassy eye. 
 
 What creature is this ? inquired the Landrath, 
 scandalised. Why is he not put under restraint ? ” 
 Because his condition is owing more to his mis- 
 fortune than his fault, the pastor answered. 
 
 Herr Merckel thought it his duty to whisper an 
 explanation to his superior. 
 
 He is the poor father so much to be pitied,” he 
 said, with a mock pathetic air, whose sad story I 
 related to your Hochwohlgeboren^^ 
 
 At the same time he watched uneasily some 
 Schrandeners, who seemed to be waiting for a 
 signal to take the drunkard into custody. 
 
 '^Have you nothing to say, Hackelberg?” asked 
 the pastor. 
 
 ^'What should I have to say, Herr Pastor he 
 lisped, beginning to cringe again, and drawing the 
 lappets of his tattered coat over his naked breast. 
 Have you no accusation to make ? ” 
 
 Let me go,” he growled. I haven^t ” 
 
 '‘Not even against and he pointed to 
 
 Boleslav. 
 
 A glimmer of intelligence came into the dull, 
 glazed eyes. He understood his cue. Old Merckel 
 nodded at him encouragingly, and he began to play 
 his favourite rdle. Floods of tears that the besotted 
 inebriate can always command so easily, poured 
 over his cheeks. He rubbed his wet face with his 
 black hands, till it resembled some hideous mask. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 231 
 
 ** Poor fellow ! poor outraged father ! ” crooned 
 Herr Merckel, senior, wiping his own eyes. 
 
 '^What is the meaning of this absurd farce?” 
 asked Boleslav, with a scornful laugh. But his face 
 had become visibly paler. 
 
 Here we don’t enact farces, but sit in judgment,” 
 answered the pastor. 
 
 Boleslav shrugged his shoulders. I am pleased 
 to hear it,” he said, and there was a tremor in his 
 voice. 
 
 The Schrandeners craned their necks to get a 
 better view of the edifying scene, of which they 
 now expected to be spectators. In the momentary 
 calm that ensued, distant whoops and yells were 
 heard from the crowds who filled the square, having 
 stormed the inn in vain, and with the noise there 
 seemed to mingle a woman’s voice crying for 
 succour. 
 
 What if it were Regina? But it was not pos- 
 sible that it could be she ; and the idea vanished as 
 quickly as it had flashed into his brain. 
 
 My child, my poor wretched child ! ” howled 
 the carpenter, who now found himself in more 
 familiar waters. 
 
 What have they done to your child, man ? ” 
 asked the Landrath, who was not going to tolerate 
 the conduct of affairs being taken out of his hands. 
 
 ^^My child was seduced — he ruined her — my 
 fatherly heart is . . . lacerated ... I am a poor 
 
 beg — gar . . . Only one coffin ” 
 
 fancy I have heard you harp on this string 
 
232 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 before,” the Landrath interrupted him sharply, '^at 
 the time when I examined your daughter about the 
 Cats^ Bridge disaster. If you haven^t learnt anything 
 a little newer than that in five years, you^d better 
 hold your tongue. It seems,” he said, turning with 
 a smile to the pastor, as if this ruffian were bent 
 on playing the part of Virginius.” 
 
 The little man in grey laughed shrilly at this 
 facetious sally on the part of his chief, and then 
 was overcome with confusion at his own timerity. 
 But the old pastor was less disposed to appreciate 
 the Landrath’s urbane humour. 
 
 I will speak for you, Hackelberg,” he said. 
 
 My words must be taken seriously. I will speak 
 for you and for all of us in the name of our 
 Heavenly Father, whose commandments were not 
 made to be flouted and set at nought by aristo- 
 crats. Freiherr von Schranden, just now you 
 challenged me to speak. Will you listen to what 
 I am going to say ? ” 
 
 He assented impatiently. For the second time 
 he fancied he heard that cry of distress rise above 
 the hubbub outside. 
 
 '‘You have entered into the inheritance of your 
 father?” 
 
 " Gan there be any doubt in the matter ? ” 
 
 " God knows ! None.” 
 
 " What do you mean by that ? ” 
 
 " I mean you have only too quickly appropriated 
 that which was his unlawful possession.” 
 
 Herr Pastor ” But he could not go on. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 233 
 
 He felt a choking sensation in his throat, and a 
 stony horror creep over him. 
 
 ''Where is your spirit?” he asked himself; 
 "your boasted defiance?” 
 
 "You found a woman, Herr Barotiy on your 
 estate who had been your fathers mistress. You 
 found her degraded, defiled, dragged through 
 the mire of wickedness and vice. Year-long 
 slavery had robbed her of the respect of every 
 living creature. She was treated as a mere animal 
 by animals. This wretched woman belonged to 
 my parish and to me. I reared her in the way she 
 should go. It was my hand that sprinkled the 
 baptismal water on her brow ; my hand that held 
 the chalice to her lips at the Holy Sacrament; and 
 I promised and vowed before God, and in pre- 
 sence of my flock, to watch over this young soul; 
 doubly orphaned, because he who generated her 
 was not responsible for his actions.” 
 
 "Ah, my poor orphaned child!” maundered the 
 carpenter. " Only two, only one other coffin . . .” 
 " I am answerable for her to God and the 
 parish. I could not command your father to give 
 her up, for, as I told you, I had handed him over 
 to a heavenly tribunal ; but you^ who have courted 
 this inquiry, I command to give her up, and, what 
 is more, in the present hour of reckoning I exhort 
 you to render account of what you have done for 
 her soul.” 
 
 A red mist floated before Boleslav^s eyes, and in 
 this mist the figure of the venerable priest seemed 
 
234 the sins of the FATHERS 
 
 to grow till it became almost god-like. He could 
 only stammer forth — 
 
 What should I . . . ? ” And the old man took 
 up the thread of his speech again — 
 
 ^‘To-day you have been honoured before all men 
 by our King; but, Boleslav von Schranden, look to 
 it that God holds you in equal esteem. What 
 should you have done, you ask ? This impure, 
 abandoned creature ought to have been more 
 awful, more sacred to you than any other earthly 
 being. What have you done to atone for the guilt 
 your father heaped on her ? Have you freed her 
 from the bondage into which she had sunk, loosed 
 her from the chain of her sin ? Have you pointed 
 her soul upwards to God, the All-gracious and All- 
 forgiving ? Or have you dragged her down deeper 
 and deeper into the hell that your own flesh and 
 blood created for her ? Above all, in what fashion 
 have you been living with her ? It is said that, 
 amidst the devastation of your island, there is only 
 one room habitable. Have you never lost sight of 
 the fact that by all laws, human and divine, your 
 father’s property in this instance was for you for- 
 bidden ? Have you taught her to repent and pray, 
 or have you filled her poor undisciplined senses 
 with fresh poison ? And have you preserved your 
 own blood intact from sinful desires and lust ? Or 
 have you let your passions, like greedy beasts 
 waiting whom they may devour, keep watch on 
 her, ready to spring in an hour of weakness, thus 
 adding fresh shame ? 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 235 
 
 Cease ! ” cried Boleslav. This is too much ! ” 
 
 Truly scorpions proceeded out of the mouth of 
 this mild Christian priest, who knew how to re- 
 veal and lash secret sins of the imagination, which 
 till this hour Boleslav never suspected had existed 
 in his. 
 
 But now he saw it all. Everything was clear. 
 Now he knew what it was had sent his blood tear- 
 ing impetuously through his veins in the long night 
 vigils, and had made him hold his breath, and listen 
 to hear whether that other breath did not come faster 
 or slower, showing that she, too, was sleepless and 
 on guard. It was sinful desire for her body — the 
 body that had been dishonoured and abused, yet in 
 spite of all remained so triumphantly beautiful. 
 
 Thank God ! ah, thank God ! that the sin was 
 still confined to his inner consciousness. There 
 was yet time to lock it behind bolts and bars to 
 prevent its stealing forth over the fatal threshold. 
 So far he could claim the right to be his own judge, 
 to stand before the private judgment-seat of his 
 own conscience. 
 
 He looked round him, and his face was distraught 
 and ghastly pale. He saw triumph flame up again 
 in the eyes that watched him. 
 
 ^^What right have you to impute this crime to 
 me ? he said to the pastor. 
 
 I did not impute it — I merely asked you/^ the 
 old man interposed quickly. ‘‘You have become 
 too pale, J/err Baron^ for us not to observe your 
 discomfiture.” 
 
236 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 Condemned out of his own mouth, unhappy 
 man,^^ murmured Herr Merckel, senior, with a sigh. 
 
 The Schrandeners, in the renewed hope of being 
 allowed to spring at his throat, set up a fearful howl, 
 and pressed forward once more. 
 
 Then above all the din there was distinctly heard 
 from the yard a shriek of anguish that caused 
 Boleslav’s marrow to freeze in his bones. There 
 could be no mistake now. That was Regina ! 
 
 Regina ! ” he cried, and rushed to the window 
 that opened on the yard. There the mad chase 
 was in full cry. A crew of furious dishevelled 
 women were dashing over hedges, ditches, waggons, 
 barrels, and frozen dunghills, followed by boys 
 armed with clubs. The air was thick with flying 
 stones. 
 
 Help ! help ! ” shrieked Regina’s voice. But she 
 herself was not visible. 
 
 But as he wrenched open the back door she flew 
 like a wounded bird into the dark corridor, followed 
 closely by her would-be assassins whooping and 
 panting. 
 
 He pulled her with a powerful movement of his 
 arm into the room, and shut the door on the furies 
 in pursuit. 
 
 She sank on the floor at his feet and pressed her 
 face against the hem of his coat. 
 
 Her hands relaxed their cramped grasp on two 
 splintered pieces of wood — all that was left of her 
 tub, the shield with which she had been in the habit 
 of warding off assaults. Her hair was loose, her 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 237 
 
 dress torn, the pretty fur-trimming that she had been 
 so proud of, hanging about her in tatters. 
 
 A charming pair of lovers,” said Herr Merckel, 
 rubbing his hands in keen enjoyment of the scene, 
 while the Schrandeners displayed a strong disposi- 
 tion to continue the work begun outside by their 
 womankind. The very sight of Regina was suffi- 
 cient to excite to an uncontrollable degree their 
 predilection for ‘throwing something.” With a 
 yell of delight they looked round them in search of 
 missiles, — and already two earthenware mugs had 
 been hurled into the gentry^s parlour, one of which 
 struck the carpenter on the shoulder. This instinct 
 for smiting was now stronger in them than the 
 thirst for a life. 
 
 The Landrath wrung his bony hands in despair. 
 All his courtesy and distinction of manner was lost 
 on this pack of devils. 
 
 Herr Landrath^^ said Boleslav, pointing to the 
 woman cowering almost insensible at his feet, 
 beg you to make a note of this pandemonium. If 
 you do not feel inclined to interfere, I take the 
 liberty to warn you that you may have to appear in 
 your own august person as a witness in a court of 
 law against these gallant people.” 
 
 Certainly the Landrath seemed hardly aware of 
 the pitiable figure he was cutting. His splendid 
 mane now hung in shaggy disorder about his face, 
 which had assumed a peevish expression. 
 
 Merckel,” he rasped, ^^you are mayor. Fll 
 have you superseded, unless you can maintain 
 
238 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 order. Order ! do you hear, good people. Order ! 
 This is breaking the public peace. You deserve 
 imprisonment — in fact you shall be sent to prison. 
 Taken with arms in your hand, means three years, 
 not a day less than three years, good people. To- 
 morrow I shall send gendarmes, three gendarmes.” 
 It must have been his good angel that put this 
 threat into his head, for no other could have had 
 the same effect in bringing the rebels to their 
 senses. Since the war no gendarmes had been 
 stationed in Schranden, which was a piece of good 
 fortune not to be scouted at, for its inhabitants 
 feared gendarmes more than they feared the king. 
 
 Herr Merckel, who began to tremble for his 
 office, was now assiduous in his efforts to restore 
 peace. His son leant back with folded arms in the 
 corner of the window-seat, affecting to be highly 
 amused at the proceedings. 
 
 But the old pastoFs gaze never wavered from 
 the pair, and seemed to be searching the innermost 
 recesses of their hearts. 
 
 Stand up, Regina, said Boleslav to the kneeling 
 girl. They shall not hurt you. I will defend you.” 
 But she remained huddled at his feet, still quaking 
 with fear. 
 
 It’s not true, Herr^ that they are going to take 
 you away?” she sobbed. ‘Hf it is, I will starve 
 myself and freeze to death.” 
 
 No, it’s not true ; but get up, Regina.” 
 
 Master ; ah, my dear, dear master ! ” and she 
 pressed her forehead against his knee. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 239 
 
 ** Boleslav von Schranden, do you deny it now ? 
 
 Deny what ? ” he asked. That this poor un- 
 happy girl whom you have denounced and ostracised 
 regards me as her rescuer and saviour, because I 
 am the first who for years has spoken a kind word 
 to her? Or would you have me deny that this 
 same unhappy girl has endeared herself to me, 
 because she is the only human being on God^s 
 earth who has clung to me in my hour of need, 
 when every one else has forsaken me ? I should 
 be an ungrateful ruffian if I did not value her after 
 all she has done for me. I never asked her to 
 share my solitude among the ruins. It is not so 
 comfortable or lively up there, and all my goodness 
 to her has consisted in my allowing her to sacrifice 
 herself for me. I have not been able to supply 
 her with pleasures. There has been no unlawful 
 intimacy between us. If she prefers to be my 
 body-slave to being stoned and harried to death, 
 that is no concern of any one’s in the world, least 
 of all of you Schrandeners, and of that despicable 
 drunkard who prostituted his own flesh and blood.” 
 
 Gently prompted by old Merckel, the carpenter 
 recommenced playing the role of injured father. 
 
 '^Oh my daughter ! my poor, misguided daughter !” 
 he groaned. 
 
 Do your duty,” urged the landlord ; reclaim 
 her.” 
 
 ''Come, my child; come back to your broken- 
 hearted, deserted father. He has taken to drink 
 through grief . . . driven to it. He will only make 
 
240 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 two more coffins ; one for himself and one 
 for ” 
 
 He stretched out his dirty hand to her, which, 
 shuddering, she violently repulsed. 
 
 Do not distress yourself further,” said Boleslav. 
 ‘^She belongs to me as I belong to her.” 
 
 Nevertheless, I demand her from you this day, 
 Boleslav von Schranden,” said the old pastor, placing 
 his hand on Regina’s head. She cowered, but let 
 it lie there. 
 
 That you may be able to stone her better ? ” 
 
 I promise you that no harm shall come to her. 
 I will confide her to the care of one of my spiritual 
 brethren, who will see to her wants for this side 
 of the grave and the other. If you oppose her 
 redemption, you will only be knitting the chain of 
 your sin the closer.” 
 
 Boleslav was silent. A thousand thoughts rushed 
 through his brain. This old man’s word was to be 
 relied on ; he was no cheat. And what lawful claim 
 had he to this woman lying helpless at his feet? 
 How could he make it worth her while to perpetually 
 risk her life for him ? 
 
 Then the Landrath, who had partially recovered 
 from his panic, put in his word. ^Hs the young 
 person of age ? ” he asked. 
 
 The pastor calculated a moment, and replied in 
 the affirmative. 
 
 '^The vis paterna therefore cannot be enforced 
 against her wishes, otherwise she might be sent to 
 a penitentiary, where ” 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 241 
 
 The rest of his speech was cut short by a burst of 
 ironical laughter from Boleslav. 
 
 She may decide for herself. Does that satisfy 
 you, Herr Baron ? 
 
 I shall not influence her one way or the other,” 
 he muttered, and he felt the form at his feet vibrate. 
 He bent over her. Regina, do you hear what the 
 pastor promises to do for you ? You know your 
 future is monetarily provided for. Will you leave 
 the rest, and go with him.” 
 
 Then she lifted her glowing face streaming with 
 tears to his, and sobbed out, Please, Herr, don^t 
 make fun of me.” 
 
 You wish to stay with me ? ” 
 
 Ah, Herr, you know I wish it. Why do you 
 ask?” 
 
 Stand up then, and we will go.” 
 
 The pastor barred their way. He had become 
 ashy pale, and his vulture gaze pierced Boleslav 
 through and through. He laid his hand solemnly 
 on his shoulder as he had done the day he had 
 demonstrated to him his fathers guilt. 
 
 My son,” he said, ** you too I received into holy 
 baptism, and taught you to lisp God’s name, and 
 opened your eyes to the marvels of His creation. 
 You were to me as my own child, and more, because 
 you were the son of my terrestrial lord and master. I 
 have to answer for you too before the throne of God. 
 You have not been able to clear yourself of the sus- 
 picion that rests upon you, and if I read your soul 
 aright — don’t cast down your eyes — I think I am not 
 
 Q 
 
242 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 mistaken. Therefore, I again command you to give 
 up this woman. I command and exhort you to do 
 so in the name of your father, the name of the 
 parish, the name of our Master in heaven who is 
 the Father of all orphans and irresponsible children 
 who sin unconsciously. Give her up — and you 
 shall be acquitted as blameless, and go your way 
 in peace.^' 
 
 Regina had raised herself, and now clung to his 
 arm, trembling from head to foot. 
 
 ** Come ! ” Boleslav said. It is to be hoped they 
 will let us pass,” and he made a motion as if he were 
 going to push by the old man. But he planted 
 himself again in their way, and holding his arms 
 aloft, said — 
 
 Then you are worthy of your father. And as I 
 once cursed him, I curse you to-day, you and this 
 woman together. You shall be like Cain, whom the 
 Lord banished from His sight. . . . You shall be a 
 fugitive and an outcast on the earth, and your home 
 shall lie in ruins for evermore. There you shall abide 
 with this woman. . . . Now go! Make room for 
 them there ! and who lifts a hand against either of 
 them or lays a finger on them shall be cursed, as 
 they are cursed.” 
 
 Boleslav uttered a sound that broke discordantly 
 on the solemn silence — 
 
 Come ! ” he said, and took Regina's hand in his ; 
 'Tet the old man curse, it seems to be his trade;” 
 but he felt a cold shiver run through him. 
 
 He saw a lane open which reached to the door. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 243 
 
 in the densely-packed tap-room. Hand in hand he 
 and Regina walked down it. 
 
 No one laughed, no one sneered, no one stirred. 
 A superstitious awe seemed to have struck the on- 
 lookers dumb. The breath of the winter evening met 
 their faces with an icy tooth. Had some one spread 
 the news of what had happened within, among the 
 crowd that waited outside, or had they divined it by 
 instinct ? Here too was profound silence ; here too 
 a path was made for them, which they followed, 
 bending their footsteps riverwards with bowed 
 heads. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 The glow in the evening sky faded. A violet 
 vapour hung about the bare tracery of the tree-tops, 
 and showers of sparkling crystals rained from the 
 branches. 
 
 Boleslav ground the snow under his heel. His 
 breath curled in front of him in slender columns. 
 The keen frosty air was balm to his fevered face. 
 He had sent Regina on before, and was trying to 
 regain calmness and presence of mind in solitary 
 wandering, for his brain boiled like a witches 
 caldron. 
 
 The curse stood out intangibly in his ruminations ; 
 it was like the bogey that little children people the 
 darkness with. He saw it everywhere ; it haunted 
 him. How well his father^s old enemy had availed 
 himself of the opportunity of doing what probably 
 he had long connived at, putting the son under the 
 same ban as the father. 
 
 But it was a terrible reflection to think he might 
 
 have deserved that curse. As it was, he had not 
 
 merited it ; a thousand times no ! What the veteran 
 
 priest in his dark suspicion had alluded to as an 
 
 accomplished brutal fact, had really only swept his 
 
 soul with phantom wings. Now that his conscience 
 244 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 245 
 
 was awakened to the danger of the situation, the 
 danger itself was over. After all, he ought to be 
 indebted to the pastor for showing him the yawning 
 precipice that lay at his unwary feet. 
 
 Think no more of it,’' he said to himself; 
 am the master, she the servant, and I should be an 
 accursed ” 
 
 He stopped. Was he not already accursed ? 
 Then he laughed at his foolish fears. It was childish 
 to mind. Bah ! he was too susceptible. At all 
 events, this day should be the beginning of a new 
 epoch in his relations with the outer world. The 
 possession of the iron cross was a proof that he was 
 not dishonoured or outside the pale of law and 
 justice. With it he might, if he had the courage, 
 outwit the knavish tricks of his personal enemies, 
 and appeal to the assistance of the Courts. If the 
 judge of the district had chosen to condone the fire 
 by ignoring it, he might in his turn light a fire that 
 would send forth such a blaze that the very holes 
 where the incendiaries skulked would be illuminated. 
 But it would involve dragging his father's dealings 
 also into the fierce light of day. Could he dare to 
 disturb the peace of the dead, like a body-snatcher, 
 and blazon forth the shame of his house in the face 
 of all the world ? 
 
 His mouth became distorted with the defiance that 
 inwardly consumed him. He felt for the moment 
 as if deliberate self-destruction were a mere joke. 
 Why should he hold back ; stop at anything ? 
 Was he not under a curse? A bitter laugh 
 
246 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 rose in his throat. He could not forget that 
 curse ! 
 
 Then he went into the house. Regina was laying 
 the table for supper. She had mended her jacket, 
 and smoothed out her hair with water. Her face 
 was as calm as if nothing in the least out of the 
 way had happened ; only a scratch on her throat, 
 testified to the hours of peril she had lately lived 
 through. 
 
 With affected severity he asked, What induced 
 you, Regina, to be so silly as to come near the inn ? 
 
 She measured him with a shy glance. beg 
 your pardon, Herr^^ she said, with a graceful bend 
 of her neck. I found your letter, and I saw every- 
 thing swimming green and yellow before my eyes, it 
 made me feel so queer. I hardly knew what I was 
 about. I thought perhaps I could help to set you 
 free.^' 
 
 Stupid child ! he said, and laughed ; but a 
 feeling rose within him that had to be forcibly 
 repressed. 
 
 Bring the wine,” he ordered, as he sat down 
 to the table. 
 
 '‘Which kind, Herr?^^ 
 
 "The best. It is high festival and holiday 
 to-day!” 
 
 She looked at him in surprise, and went. 
 
 " Fetch a glass for yourself,” he said, as she 
 uncorked the grey cobwebby bottle. 
 
 "Oh, please, Herr^ Fd rather not. It's too 
 strong.” 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 247 
 
 “ Nonsense ! you will get used to it.” 
 
 Perhaps, Herrr 
 
 He poured out the wine. The dark-gold fluid 
 foamed sparkling into the slender-stemmed emerald 
 rummers, which, perishable as they were, had been 
 saved from the ruins. 
 
 Clink ! ” he said. 
 
 The glasses as they came in contact produced 
 music like muffled bells. 
 
 ‘'The curse of a priest has to-day coupled me 
 with her,^^ he thought, and his eyes sought hers 
 and probed their depths. “ How extraordinary ! how 
 monstrous!'^ This woman was to be part of his 
 existence, the old man had said. This woman — 
 why, oh, why this one ? 
 
 “A curse is a sanction,” he meditated further. 
 “ Something that never happened, and never would 
 have happened, through him has been substantiated 
 and vouched for before Heaven as if it were an 
 established fact.” 
 
 And again his thoughts began to encroach 
 stealthily on that forbidden ground, in whose in- 
 surmountable barriers the preacher’s words them- 
 selves had quarried access. “You are master,” he 
 repeated the formula over and over to himself, 
 “ she the servant ; ” and then he added, “ What is 
 more, she is your slave, and so let it be.” 
 
 One course of action seemed clear enough at the 
 moment, and that was that progress must be made 
 immediately with his work of retaliation. He bade 
 Regina remove the dishes and bring another bottle 
 
24 S THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 of wine. Then he fetched his writing materials and 
 motioned her to sit down in the place she had 
 occupied on Christmas evening. With shy delight 
 she obeyed, for since that night she had spent her 
 evenings till bed-time alone in the vestibule. 
 
 going to ask you, Regina, he began, '^to 
 answer very briefly, and to the point, several 
 questions ! ” 
 
 She started, then whispered, '‘Yes, Herr!^ 
 
 " Drink, and that will make you more talkative.” 
 She struggled to do as he desired, but to-day the 
 effect the wine had upon her was to make her more 
 nervous and reserved, instead of less so. 
 
 “To go back to the night in which you led the 
 French across the Cats’ Bridge. Was there any one 
 on the premises who knew of the expedition ? ” 
 
 “ No, Herr^ 
 
 “ How did it get wind in the village then ? ” 
 
 She cast down her eyes. “ I believe through me, 
 Herr^^ she stammered. 
 
 “ To whom did you confide the information ? ’’ 
 
 “ To my father.” 
 
 “ How, and when ? ” 
 
 “ He used to come to the Castle secretly from 
 time to time to get money from me, and if I hadn’t 
 any to give him he pinched and beat me.” 
 
 “ Why did you not call out for help ? ” 
 
 “Because it was at night, Herr ; and if he had 
 been found there they would have flogged him.” 
 
 “ Go on.” 
 
 “ And so he came soon after . . . after the expedi- 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 249 
 
 tion, I mean . . . and asked me to do all sorts of 
 things. I was to get money from the gnddiger Herr 
 . . . or to turn out his pockets when no one was 
 looking ; and to be left in peace, I fetched the bag 
 the French General had given me. And when he 
 saw the moonlight shine on the coin that was in it, 
 
 he was half mad 
 
 She paused abruptly. 
 
 ‘‘Well?” 
 
 Must I say it, Herr?^^ 
 
 Of course you must.'' 
 
 But he is my father, Herr^^ 
 
 ‘‘You are to do as I command you." 
 
 She drew a deep sigh and went on. “And he 
 caught hold of me by the throat with one hand, 
 and beat me with the other, and hissed in my ear : 
 
 ‘ Unless you confess how you came by all that money. 
 
 I'll squeeze the life out of you ' And when I 
 
 could hardly breathe, I " 
 
 He laughed harshly to himself. His father and 
 father — both had resorted to the same chivalrous 
 measures. 
 
 Regina thought the laugh was at her expense. 
 
 “ Ah, Herr^^ she went on with an imploring 
 upward glance, “I was so dreadfully stupid then. 
 Even a fortnight later, when they cross-examined 
 me, they could have strangled me before they would 
 have got anything out of me. But then — I suppose 
 
 it was because he was my father " 
 
 “Oh yes, I understand. You told tales out of 
 school to your father. Well, what else ? " 
 
250 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 ^‘The very same night my conscience pricked 
 me, and in the morning when I took the gnadiger 
 Herr his coffee — he would always have me take it 
 — I told him all/' 
 
 And what did he say ? " 
 
 He turned as white as chalk, but said nothing 
 at first. He took down a gun from the wall and 
 pointed it at me ; I folded my hands and closed my 
 eyes, and then I heard him utter an oath, and 
 then he put the gun over his shoulder and rushed 
 out. I thought to myself, he's gone to put an end 
 to father ! And I watched him run towards the 
 drawbridge with his two bloodhounds, and then 
 I, as quick as lightning, hurried through the park, 
 across the Cats' Bridge to the village, to let father 
 know his life was in danger. Had he been at home 
 I couldn't have saved him. But he was in the Black 
 Eagle, and had blabbed everything the night before, 
 and was now blind drunk. The gnadiger Herr won't 
 fetch him out of the Black Eagle, I thought — and be- 
 sides it was too late, for Herr Merckel and every one 
 knew, and they all made a great hullabaloo when 
 they saw me, and caught hold of me, and tried to 
 force me to speak ; but I bit my tongue till it bled, 
 and kept silent. Then they let me go, and I ran to 
 meet the gnadiger Herr^ and threw myself at his 
 feet, saying, ^ Spare his life, for it will do no good to 
 take it. All the world knows now.' . . He gave me 
 a kick that made me faint, but he left father alone. 
 And then a fortnight after a gendarme came for me, 
 and took me to the Black Eagle. There, in the 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 251 
 
 wine-room, were assembled five or six gentlemen; 
 the Herr Landrath^ who was there to-day, among 
 them. And they shut the door behind me, and 
 began to cross-question me. I felt as if I could do 
 nothing but cry, and then I grew calmer, and pre- 
 tended that father had dreamt it all in one of his 
 drunken fits. But they showed me the bag he 
 had taken from me — and so — Herr ... I was 
 obliged to say . . . that the money . . . was the . . . 
 
 reward . . . that I ” She broke off, and hid 
 
 her face that was suffused with a dark crimson flush 
 of shame, in her hands. 
 
 Proceed with your story,^^ he commanded, grind 
 ing his teeth. 
 
 ^^They didn^t believe me, Herr^ but they saw it 
 was no good trying to get the truth out of me, and 
 asked me no more questions. And then they held 
 a consultation in low voices (but I have good ears, 
 and understood all they were saying), as to whether 
 they should lock me up till I found my tongue, and 
 arrest the gnddiger Herr^ and so on, and then they 
 came to the conclusion that to blaze it abroad would 
 cause too great a scandal in the district, and be a 
 dishonour to the whole of Prussia, and as there was 
 no direct proof, the affair might be left in the dark. 
 I have forgotten the exact words, but it was some- 
 thing like that.^^ 
 
 And then they let you go ? 
 
 ‘^Yes. Herr Merckel said I was to take myself 
 off, or my presence might breed a pestilence in the 
 house.” 
 
2 52 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 A silence ensued : then hastily gulping down three 
 more glasses of the old wine, he said — 
 
 Now, then, for the night of the fire ! 
 
 She jumped up from her chair and stared at him, 
 her eyes starting with horror. 
 
 What ! Fm to tell you about the fire ? ” 
 
 ‘‘All you can recollect.^' 
 
 “All! . . . Not all, Herr?'^ 
 
 “All.” 
 
 “ Herr ... I can^t.” The words rattled in her 
 throat like a death-agony. 
 
 “ You mean you refuse ? ” He too had risen, and 
 stood looking at her with dilated eyes. 
 
 She folded her hands on her breast. “I have 
 always been obedient, Herr^ to your every wish. I 
 have never been unwilling or grumbled. Til go on 
 doing all you order me to do. If you say, ‘ Go out 
 and be stoned to death,' I'll go. But just this one 
 thing, I beseech you from the bottom of my heart, 
 don't ask me ? '' 
 
 He regarded her in wrathful amazement. So 
 accustomed had he become to her unconditional 
 obedience, that this explosion in her of a spark of 
 resistance was incomprehensible to him. Was his 
 power over her, that he had imagined unlimited, 
 thus suddenly to end ? Surely this woman had of 
 her own accord made herself his body-slave ? She 
 had sold herself body and soul to his house, and 
 therefore it was unpardonable presumption in her 
 to assert unexpectedly that she had a will of her 
 
 own. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 253 
 
 The blood mounted hotly to his head, and his 
 eyes flashed: You shall ! — I say you shall 
 
 She retreated and shrank against the wall. From 
 the dark background her eyes shone out at him like 
 a persecuted wild-cat’s. I won’t,’’ she muttered. 
 
 All the inherited brutality of the feudal master 
 awoke in him. The wine, too, was doing its work. 
 He sprang on her, and caught her by the breast. 
 
 The buttons of her jacket burst beneath his 
 violent attack, and her bare bosom gleamed forth. 
 He transfixed her with the intensity of his gaze. 
 
 ‘‘Shall I throttle her, or shall I kiss her?” he 
 asked himself, and fumbled for her throat. 
 
 Then in her deadly terror she made a counter- 
 attack. Her hands were fastened in his shoulders 
 like iron rivets. It needed a gathering up of all his 
 strength to withstand their muscular pressure. 
 
 A noiseless struggle began. It lasted a minute, 
 and yet seemed to be no nearer its end. Embittered 
 and desperate at first as a wrestle for life and death, 
 it became eventually a sort of game. The combat- 
 ants apparently had lost sight of what it was they 
 were struggling for. His eyes, bloodshot and wild, 
 sought hers. Her bosom, wet with perspiration, 
 pressed hard against his. Their breathing mingled. 
 Tightly locked in each other’s arms they staggered 
 and swayed to and fro. He pressed her in the 
 back of her knee, but she did not yield, and with 
 renewed vigour tried to draw him down to her. 
 For one second in their delirious grappling they 
 gazed dreamily into each other’s eyes. Then she 
 
2 54 the sins of the FATHERS 
 
 vibrated from head to foot, and in the midst of the 
 conflict laid her cheek caressingly on the arm that 
 was raised against her. He saw the action, he saw 
 how her eyes hung on his face with melting solici- 
 tude — saw the beautiful dishevelled head droop like 
 a broken flower. 
 
 'Hf you are cursed, why should it be for no- 
 thing And as the thought flashed through him, 
 he bent over her with a sigh, and kissed her on the 
 mouth. 
 
 She groaned aloud, clung heavily to him, and 
 buried her teeth, till they met, in his lips. Then, 
 overcome, with suddenly collapsed limbs, she slipped 
 from his arms on to the floor, and lay with the back 
 of her head flat on the bare boards. 
 
 He stared down at her half-stunned. She would 
 have looked as if she were dead, had it not been 
 for the heaving bosom, that seemed to fight for 
 air. Blood trickled from his lip, and unconsciously 
 he wiped it away with his tongue. 
 
 What next ? ” he asked himself. 
 
 The longer he gazed at the prostrate form the 
 intenser became his anxiety, till it almost amounted 
 to insanity ; anxiety for what must come. 
 
 Away ! out of the house ! Away before she 
 moves ! an inward voice commanded. He tore 
 down his coat from the wall, crushed a fur cap over 
 his brow, and flew out into the bitter cold night, as 
 if chased by the devil. 
 
 But he could not escape — could not run away 
 from her ; wherever he went she was beside him. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 255 
 
 A tornado raged in his breast, and lashed the 
 blood to froth in his veins. 
 
 He was fleeing from his young manhood^s senses, 
 and they were in hot pursuit. 
 
 He dashed through the woods at full speed. The 
 frosty air did not cool him, nor the darkness restore 
 his serenity. 
 
 Was there no salvation ? None ? 
 
 He thought of the parsonage. A jeering laugh 
 rose to his lips. Helene had shrunk from him 
 when he had approached her with clean hands and 
 a pure heart. What would she do to-day if he 
 came into her presence bearing a curse and an in- 
 supportable burden of guilt upon him ? 
 
 And yet that one spot of earth was sacred to 
 memories of all that had been purest, most peace- 
 ful and happy in his blighted life. Ought such a 
 refuge of light to be denied to him, even if a 
 thousand curses had descended upon his head from 
 the outer darkness ? 
 
 Almost against his will his footsteps took the 
 road to the village. It was reposing peacefully. 
 Only from the windows of the Black Eagle a ruddy 
 glow was cast on the white expanse of snow. The 
 clock in the church tower struck one. He must 
 have been tramping about for five hours, and it 
 seemed like five minutes. Faint moonbeams shone 
 on the sleigh-ruts, which looked like long white rib- 
 bons unrolled on the ground, and the mass of icicles 
 hanging from the church roof spread a delicate silver 
 filigree on the dark, time-stained walls. 
 
2 56 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 He passed the church and came to the parsonage 
 garden. There was a light in one of the gable 
 windows. His heart seemed to bound into his 
 throat. He swung himself over the hedge, and 
 strode through the deep snow to the summer-house, 
 which stood at a distance of twenty paces from the 
 gable. In its shadow he took up his position. 
 
 A white curtain was drawn across the illuminated 
 casement. On the surface of the chintz a delicate 
 tracery of leaves and stalks was reflected from 
 flower-pots inside. There was her virgin paradise ; 
 there she ruled as modestly and sweetly as the 
 Madonna in her rose-garden. 
 
 And again the picture in the cathedral rose before 
 his mental eyes, as it always did when he tried 
 to realise the presence of the beloved. Oh ! for 
 one second in which to feast his bodily eye on that 
 dear, forgotten face, so that what time and guilt 
 had deadened in him might revive and live anew ! 
 
 For a moment the outline of a girfs figure 
 darkened the illuminated window-pane. A corner 
 of the curtain was lifted. 
 
 Instinctively he stretched out his arms. The 
 curtain dropped quickly, and a moment afterwards 
 the light within was extinguished. 
 
 He waited, hardly daring to draw a breath, for a 
 sign from the darkened spot. But none came. All 
 was motionless and still. 
 
 It is madness to think of it ! he said to himself. 
 
 Probably she didn’t recognise you. She only saw 
 a man’s figure that gave her a fright. Make haste ! 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 257 
 
 For the whole house will be roused and turned out 
 to hunt the supposed thief/^ 
 
 So he retraced his steps. In turning into the 
 street he was conscious that his blood was flowing 
 more calmly, and his pulses not throbbing so fiercely. 
 Being in her neighbourhood even for a few minutes 
 had soothed him. 
 
 '‘Where now ? ” Anywhere in the world, but not 
 home. At the bare thought of that outstretched figure 
 on the floor, his veins began to pulsate again with 
 violence. Oh, she was a fiend, and he hated her ! 
 
 He took a side path, not knowing where it led. It 
 was divided from the Castle island by stables and 
 carters’ huts, and ended in an open field. On the 
 opposite side, he saw the indigo belt of woods that 
 encircled the flat white plains. The woods drew 
 him towards them again like a magnet. There he 
 would hide, in their majestic depths where the peace 
 of winter reigned and slept its mysterious dreamless 
 slumber. 
 
 He trod the pathless field covered with hills and 
 dales of snow which swept away before him like the 
 billows of a boundless ocean of liquid light. His 
 feet crunched through the frozen crust till he sank 
 to his knees, and then it needed all his powers to 
 step forwards once more. But with strenuous effort 
 he ploughed his way, still taking flight from his own 
 thoughts. There was something almost comforting 
 in this objectless striving. His lungs fought for 
 breath ; moisture poured from every pore of his body 
 as he plunged and stumbled on. Here and there 
 
 R 
 
258 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 the crust was strong enough to bear him, and then 
 he felt as if he had been endowed with wings and 
 floated over the ground, till another crash laid him 
 low, grovelling on his hands and knees. 
 
 Now the wall of woods rose higher and darker 
 before him ; he was only a hundred steps from 
 his goal, when his eye was arrested by something in 
 the shape of a hillock extending a distance of about 
 fifty or sixty feet in the direction of the wood. 
 Coming nearer, he saw it was too regular in form 
 for a hillock, and its corners too sharply defined. A 
 few feet off there was a second mound of the same 
 description, and to the left again, a third. They 
 must be gravel heaps, he thought, that had been 
 dug up in the autumn and left to be removed till 
 after the thaw set in. Why should the peasants 
 not get gravel from his property when there was no 
 one to prevent them ? 
 
 But what did those crosses mean, that stood out 
 so solemnly and eerily in the night, at the foot of 
 each mound ? At first he had not noticed them against 
 the dark background of the woods. They were 
 three in number. Roughly hewn out of fir trunks, 
 they were so firmly planted in the earth, that they 
 did not move a hair’s-breadth when he shook them. 
 They bore no inscription, and if they had, he would 
 not have been able to read it. Inscrutable as memo- 
 rials of forgotten misfortune, they stood ranged there 
 in the dim moonlight like rugged sentinels. 
 
 And then the mystery was solved. He saw what 
 they were. With a loud cry he dropped his face in 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 259 
 
 his hands. He had stumbled on the graves of the 
 men who had fallen on that accursed night in the 
 year ^7. Here lay the bones of his fathers victims. 
 What evil chance had led him here to-night ? Or 
 was it chance ? Had not a thousand invisible arms 
 beckoned him cajolingly and irresistibly along this 
 maniacal route, and let him fight his way through 
 snow and ice, till he was ready to faint from ex- 
 haustion ? It seemed as though fate had kept in 
 reserve the most excruciating lash of her scourge 
 till this hour of his bitterest humiliation ; so that 
 he should no longer be in doubt as to there being 
 any salvation in store for him, and to demonstrate 
 once for all that he was doomed to sink for ever 
 under the weight of shame and despair. 
 
 But it is well that I came,^^ he said, conversing 
 with himself ; where better can I convince myself 
 that the old pastor's curse was not unjust — and that 
 what was not a sin, has become one ? '' 
 
 His eyes wandered over the row of flattened graves, 
 and now there seemed no end to them. . . . How 
 many were buried there ? If they had been closely 
 packed, a hundred or more might rest in each grave — 
 or perhaps even double that number. And they had 
 all been brave soldiers who had left their homes gaily, 
 in light-hearted devotion to fight for King and Father- 
 land. . . . Through foulest treachery they had been 
 butchered here in cold blood, under cover of night. 
 
 He clung to one of the crosses, and held his face 
 so tightly against the rough wood that splints dug 
 into his fleshi 
 
26 o the sins of the FATHERS 
 
 ^‘Arraign him before the whole world!'' some- 
 thing cried within him — '^him and her — and then 
 go with her to perdition.” 
 
 He gazed at the distant prospect, and sought 
 the outline of the ruins against the horizon. But 
 nothing was visible except the tall trees that crowned 
 the park, which were only dimly discernible. A 
 little behind to the right of them lay the Cats' 
 Bridge. 
 
 He could fancy her emerging from those trees 
 with the troop of remorselessly cruel Frenchmen 
 following her, bent on their work of blood. How 
 terrible must the regular echo of their marching 
 feet have sounded in her ears. Deeper and deeper 
 into the wood they must have gone, till they reached 
 that ravine which ran parallel with the thicket, al- 
 most in a half-circle. She had never told him the 
 road she had taken, but he saw exactly how it had 
 all happened. Everything was as plain as if he had 
 been there himself and seen it with his own eyes. 
 
 He stretched out his arm, and with a trembling 
 finger traced the path against the horizon. 
 
 And afterwards when they let her go, and she 
 had made her way home alone, with the wages of 
 her sin in her pocket — how the cracking of bullets, 
 the beating of drums, the clouds of gunpowder, the 
 death-shrieks of the massacred, must have followed 
 her, galloping at her heels like an army of furies ! 
 
 How she had gone on living with those awful 
 sounds ringing in her head, those ghastly pictures 
 floating before her eyes, he could not understand. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 261 
 
 If he had been in her place he would have sought 
 instant deliverance in the first halter or pond that 
 came handy. 
 
 But not she! Visions were no terror to her. 
 Her conscience, instead of tormenting itself, was 
 apparently scarcely conscious of its guilt. She 
 had only the feelings of an animal or a demon. 
 He shuddered. And it was to her, her^ that he had 
 been on the brink of succumbing ! 
 
 Then in his sore distress he flung himself across 
 the grave, face downwards in the snow, folded his 
 hands and stammered forth an incoherent prayer, 
 while tears gushed from his eyes. 
 
 The intense cold of his exposed position stung 
 his face, and drove him to stand up again. He 
 patrolled the row of graves, unable to evolve a single 
 rational thought. He felt as if he were caught in a 
 brazen net, that was drawing its meshes tighter and 
 tighter around him. 
 
 God in Heaven,” he cried aloud, visit not the 
 sins of the fathers on me ! Let the dead sleep. . . . 
 /have not murdered them. Let something happen, 
 a miracle, a sign, that I may be shown that 
 Thou wilt not have me perish in this anguish of 
 despair.” He cast his eye round him as if looking 
 for help. 
 
 But coldly and unsympathetically the moonlit, 
 lead-coloured sky looked down on him. There was 
 no sign, no miracle. 
 
 He laughed. ^‘You are becoming imbecile,” he 
 murmured inwardly. 
 
262 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 An unspeakable exhaustion overwhelmed him. 
 He reeled, and his feet gave way beneath him. 
 The next moment he was sitting in the cavity 
 which the weight of his prostrate figure had made 
 in the snow. He drew up the collar of his coat, 
 and nearly frozen, brooded on, half sleeping, half 
 waking. 
 
 When he rose with cramped limbs, happy to 
 have escaped falling asleep and being frozen to 
 death, one thin purple streak had appeared in the 
 eastern sky. An ague, hot and cold at the same 
 time, like the beginning of fever, shook his frame. 
 
 Now there was nothing for it, but to go home. 
 But where was he to find the strength necessary to 
 obliterate for ever from his mind what had happened 
 in the night that was over at last ? His tongue 
 instinctively felt for his lip. . . . The wound left by 
 the impress of her kiss burned there still. 
 
 And there had been no sign from Heaven, no 
 miracle. One course only remained that might save 
 him from the worst, and that was death. 
 
 Death ! The thought came to him like a ray of 
 light in the darkness, yet his brain was too weary, 
 his soul too dispirited for him to grasp it, and it 
 died out as quickly as it had come. 
 
 In his own footprints he walked back to the 
 village. No one was stirring out of doors, but here 
 and there a chimney smoked, and a cock from his 
 perch crowed a greeting to the new-born day. 
 
 As he took the path down to the river, he thought 
 he saw the fleeting shadow of a woman’s figure 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 263 
 
 flurrying from the drawbridge. Perhaps it was 
 Regina, who after long waiting and watching had 
 now come to meet him. 
 
 But no! Regina was not so slim and dainty. 
 Who in all the village could want to come to the 
 drawbridge at this unearthly hour ? His heart beat 
 fast. He had been seen. A soft, squealing sound 
 fell on the air, and the next instant the figure had 
 vanished down a bypath. He did not think of 
 following her. It might possibly be a dairymaid 
 who had been taking a morning dip, and was shy of 
 meeting him; but on coming to the drawbridge 
 he saw footmarks on the freshly fallen hoarfrost, 
 and these came to an end at the pillar to which the 
 letter-box was fixed. 
 
 Who could be his nocturnal correspondent? It 
 was ridiculous, yet a flood of hope suffused his 
 soul. 
 
 He snatched the little key, that he always carried 
 about with him, from his pocket. The box opened 
 — a letter fell out. 
 
 He broke the seal with shaking fingers. Helene’s 
 signature 1 Had God heard his petition ? Had He 
 after all sent him fresh strength for the struggle, 
 and deliverance ? 
 
 The dawn gave him sufficient light to read by, 
 but the lines danced before his eyes. Only here 
 and there he drank in a broken sentence or a single 
 word — Wait patiently.” ^^The hour when I sum- 
 mon you to come to me.” ‘^Longing.” ‘^Child- 
 hood’s days.” “ Happy.” 
 
264 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 And one thing that was not written there at all 
 he could read distinctly. The sign that he had 
 prayed for by the grave of the warriors had fallen 
 from Heaven. The miracle had happened ! 
 
 Renewed confidence in himself possessed him. 
 He was not forsaken ; he need not yet despair of 
 his better self. This pure, bright angel, the good 
 genius of his youth, was still faithful, still believed 
 in him. Her trust should not be abused. Rather 
 die than, through despising himself, bring her to 
 feeling shame at her faith in him. 
 
 He turned his face towards the purple morning 
 glow, and, raising his hand solemnly, uttered the 
 following words : — 
 
 ^‘God, who art a great and just Judge, and 
 visitest the sins of the fathers on the children to the 
 third and fourth generation, I hereby swear to take 
 my life with my own hand rather than let the 
 curse of Thy priest gain ascendency over me. 
 Amen.” 
 
 Then he walked towards the house as if freed 
 from an intolerable burden. 
 
 ^^Now the devil is exorcised!” he said as he 
 entered the vestibule, heaving a deep sigh of relief; 
 nevertheless, the hand that lifted the latch still 
 trembled feverishly. 
 
 He surveyed the room with one quick shy glance. 
 
 In the rosy light of dawn he saw her crouching, 
 dressed on her bed, her hands clasped over her 
 knees. Her jacket was open; her hair hung about 
 her face in tangled masses. Her dress was 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 265 
 
 exactly as it had been when he left her the evening 
 before. 
 
 She raised her head slowly, and gazed at him as 
 if in a dream with soft melting eyes. 
 
 He shrank before that gaze. 
 
 Haven^t you been to bed ? he asked in as harsh 
 a tone as he could command. 
 
 She continued to look at him with the same bliss- 
 fully rigid expression, and said nothing. 
 
 Didn^t you hear ? ” he asked again imperiously. 
 
 She did not start as she used to do when he 
 spoke thus; but a scarcely perceptible vibration 
 passed through her frame, as if the sound of his 
 voice filled her with ecstasy. She smiled a little. 
 
 Hear what ? she asked. 
 
 My question as to why you hadn^t been to 
 bed.’^ 
 
 I waited up for you, Herry 
 
 I did not order you to wait for me.” 
 
 Nor did you forbid me, Herry 
 
 He clung to the back of a chair. 
 
 Why are you afraid of her ? ” he asked him- 
 self. ^^You have just sworn that danger exists 
 no longer.” 
 
 Then to get rid of her he told her to go and 
 prepare him something hot for breakfast. 
 
 She rose deliberately, stretching her stiff limbs. 
 A dreamy languor seemed to pervade her whole 
 being. Since last night she was completely trans- 
 formed. 
 
 Directly he had shut the door after her, he tore 
 
266 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 the letter from his pocket, and read it to reassure 
 himself of his happiness. It ran : — 
 
 ‘‘Dear Friend of my Youth, — I hear from 
 papa that you have been highly honoured by our 
 wise and noble King — that he has made you cap- 
 tain of your division, and given you the Iron Cross. 
 
 I congratulate you heartily, and am rejoiced at your 
 good fortune. What else passed papa wouldn't tell 
 me, but he was very excited about it, and in a 
 great rage when he mentioned you. Ah ! if only 
 you could have managed to win his affection and 
 the goodwill of the parishioners ! Then I shouldn't 
 have to be so careful, and could see and speak to 
 you often. . . . Dear Boleslav, I implore you never 
 to think of coming into the garden again. 
 
 “You know papa — what he is ; and if he found 
 out — ah ! I believe he would kill me ! Wait 
 patiently, my dear friend ! The Bible says, you 
 know, patience shall be rewarded. So have 
 patience till the hour when I shall summon you to 
 come to me ; then I will tell you all the news. 
 How full of longing I am to see you ! Oh, those 
 lovely days of childhood ! What has become of 
 them ? How happy I was then ! — Your 
 
 “ Helene. 
 
 “ Postscript. — Never come to the garden again. I 
 will appoint another place of meeting. Not in the 
 garden." 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 267 
 
 Strange, that what a few minutes before had filled 
 him with delight now seemed flat and colourless, 
 and disappointed him. Doubtless the half-wild crea- 
 ture was to blame, whose close proximity confused 
 his judgment, A kind of delirium of bliss seemed 
 to have taken possession of her. And how she had 
 smiled ! how strangely she had stared into space ! 
 
 She came back into the room, and moved about it 
 like a somnambulist. 
 
 Regina ! ” 
 
 She half closed her lids, and said, '‘Yes, HerrP 
 
 " What^s the matter with you ?” 
 
 She smilingly shook her head. " Nothing, Herr^'^ 
 she answered, and again that look came into her 
 eyes ; they seemed to swim in dreamful contempla- 
 tion of some infinite felicity. 
 
 He felt his throat contract. Clearly there was 
 still reason to be afraid of himself. 
 
 Then he resolved to speak and listen to her no 
 more, but to live in his work. He immersed himself 
 in his papers again, sorted and laid aside important 
 documents, filed, registered, and made copies of them. 
 It seemed to him that he must get everything in order 
 in anticipation of some pending catastrophe. 
 
 So the day went by, and the evening. Regina 
 crouched in the darkest and remotest corner she 
 could find and remained motionless. He dared 
 not cast even a glance in her direction. The blood 
 hammered in his temples, yellow circles danced 
 before his eyes, every nerve in his body was on 
 edge from over-fatigue. 
 
268 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 On the stroke of ten she rose, murmured good- 
 night, and disappeared behind her curtain. He 
 neither answered nor looked up. 
 
 At eleven he put out the lights and went to 
 bed too. 
 
 Why does your heart beat like this ? he thought. 
 '‘Remember your oath.^^ But the superstitious, 
 indefinable dread of coming disaster haunted him 
 like a ghost in the darkness. 
 
 He got up again, and stole with bare feet across 
 the room to the case of weapons, that was dimly 
 illumined by the newly-risen moon. He caught up 
 one of his pistols, which he always kept loaded to 
 be forearmed against unforeseen events. It had 
 been his faithful friend and protector in many a 
 bloody fray. To-day it should protect him from 
 himself. With its trigger cocked, he laid it on the 
 small table by his bedside. 
 
 "It^s doubtful whether you sleep a wink now,^^ 
 he said, as he nestled his head on the pillows. 
 Yet scarcely three seconds later he lost conscious- 
 ness, and slumber lapped his tired limbs. 
 
 A curious dream recalled him from profoundest 
 sleep into a half-dozing wakefulness. He fancied 
 he saw two bright eyes like a panther’s glittering at 
 him out of the darkness. They were only a few 
 inches from his face, and seemed to be fixed on it 
 with fiery earnestness, as if with the intention of 
 bringing him under the spell of their enchantment. 
 
 His breath came slower, almost stopped, then 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 269 
 
 he felt another breath well over him in full soft 
 waves. 
 
 It was no dream after all, for his eyes were wide 
 open. The moon cast a patch of light on the 
 counterpane of his bed, and still those other lights 
 glowed on, devouring him with their fire. The 
 outline of a face was visible. A woman^s white 
 figure bent over him. 
 
 A thrill of mingled pleasure and alarm ran 
 through his body. 
 
 Regina, he murmured. 
 
 Then she sank on her knees by the bed and 
 covered his hands with kisses and tears. In the 
 enervation that had crept over him he would have 
 stroked the black tresses which streamed across 
 the pillow, only he lacked the strength to extricate 
 his hands from hers. 
 
 Then — Your oath, think of your oath ! a voice 
 cried within him. 
 
 In dismay, he started up. Not yet fully awake, 
 he reeled forwards, and tearing his hands out of 
 her grasp, fumbled for the pistol. 
 
 ‘‘You, or her.^^ 
 
 There was a report. Regina, with a cry of pain, 
 fell with her forehead against the edge of the bed, 
 and at the same moment a great rumbling and 
 crackling was heard from the opposite wall. The 
 portrait of his beautiful grandmother had crashed 
 to the ground. 
 
 He stared wildly round him, only just arriving 
 at complete consciousness. 
 
270 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 Are you wounded ? ” he asked, laying his hand 
 gently on the dark head. 
 
 — don^t — know, Herr^^^ and then she glided 
 across the floor to her mattress. 
 
 He dressed himself and kindled a light. It now 
 all appeared a confused nightmare. 
 
 Ah ! but if she died, if he had killed her? 
 
 When he drew aside the curtain, he beheld her 
 cowering and shivering in her corner, holding up 
 the counterpane in her teeth. It was smeared with 
 blood. 
 
 ^^For God’s sake — show me. Where were you 
 hit ? ” he cried. 
 
 She let the counterpane drop as far as her breast, 
 and silently offered her naked shoulder for his in- 
 spection. Blood was streaming from it. 
 
 But the first glance satisfied him, the connoisseur 
 in wounds, that it was a mere surface shot. It 
 would heal of itself in a few days. 
 
 Thank God ! Thank God ! ” 
 
 She stared up at him absently with wide eyes. 
 
 ‘Ht is nothing,” he stammered. '^A scratch — 
 nothing more.” 
 
 She appeared not to hear what he said. 
 
 ‘‘ Pull yourself together like a man. Not a word, 
 not a look, must betray your real feelings.” 
 
 With this self- exhortation he withdrew, and 
 wearily put down the light on the table. 
 
 What now ? Where should he go ? To stay 
 meant ruin and damnation. 
 
 This very hour he must go away. Away ! Some- 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 271 
 
 where, anywhere, so long as a barrier of his 
 fellow-creatures separated him from her for ever- 
 more. And in breathless haste he began to gather 
 together papers that proved his fathers guilt, as 
 if they were the most precious possessions in the 
 world. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 More than three months had passed away since 
 Boleslav von Schranden had turned his back on the 
 inheritance of his fathers. 
 
 In the meantime spring had come. Moss, 
 starred with anemones, grew amongst the short- 
 bladed grass; the ditches were full of a luxuriant 
 growth of bindweed and nettles ; and at every 
 breeze the boughs rained a shower of crumbling 
 catkins. The plough left a trail of smooth, black 
 furrows on the bosom of the awakening earth, and 
 seed-cloths were already being put out to air. 
 
 It was the first spring for many and many a long 
 year that had begun in peace, and of which there 
 were hopes of its ending in peace. 
 
 Europe^s evil genius was vanquished. Like 
 Prometheus he lay chained to his barren sea-girt 
 rock ; and so the sword was hung up to rust, 
 and the ploughshare and harrow resumed their 
 sway. 
 
 What had taken place on the shores of the Medi- 
 terranean in the month of March, the inhabitants 
 of quiet country towns and out-of-the-way moorland 
 villages had as yet no suspicion. Not a breath had 
 reached them of that interrupted quadrille at Prince 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 273 
 
 Metternich^s ball, of the fury and consternation 
 of sovereigns and potentates; they knew nothing of 
 foam-bespattered proscriptions issued against the 
 escaped rebel, of re-arming and rumours of war. 
 
 The lark^s carolling in the sky seemed a jocund 
 invitation to resume labour in the fields , the womb 
 of the earth opened with yearning for the crops from 
 which it had fasted so long. 
 
 One day towards the end of April, a curious 
 regiment was seen on the king^s highroad ap- 
 proaching the county town of Wartenstein, which 
 excited the wondering interest of all whom they 
 passed by the way. 
 
 It was not easy to decide at once whether they 
 were soldiers or workmen. Most of them were 
 armed, but side by side with the gun on their 
 shoulders was a spade, and from the red bundles 
 slung across their backs peeped whetstones and 
 scythe-blades. Ten or twelve of them were mounted, 
 but behind came as baggage a stream of rough 
 waggons, composed of about twenty axle wheels, 
 loaded with bursting sacks of corn and implements 
 of every description. Altogether the regiment num- 
 bered about a hundred and fifty, marching in half 
 military fashion in double file. It consisted of mus- 
 cular youths, for the most part fair and of ruddy 
 complexions, with thickset figures. Their faces were 
 broad and bony, not German, and still less Polish, 
 in type. They spoke a language unknown in the 
 neighbourhood, and sang songs of which no one 
 knew the tune. Notwithstanding, their leader was 
 
 S 
 
274 the sins of the FATHERS 
 
 German, and so was the discipline which had trained 
 their limbs and given to their movements a certain 
 dignity of bearing. 
 
 At the head of the procession rode one to whom 
 they looked up with awe and affection, and whose 
 brief and not unfriendly words of command they 
 obeyed with almost childlike zeal. It was Boleslav, 
 who came with this little army to reconquer his 
 own territory. 
 
 He had recruited it far away in the Lithuanian 
 East, on the remotest border of the province, whither 
 neither good nor evil reports of the name of Schranden 
 had ever penetrated. During his five years' previous 
 intercourse with this people, he had become intimately 
 acquainted with their habits and customs, and took 
 care to choose his pioneers from those who had been 
 in the war, and become accustomed to the rigours 
 of a soldier's life, but who were still unfamiliar 
 enough with the German tongue to have their minds 
 poisoned by the Schrandeners' gossip. 
 
 Now he had every hope that the fate of his father, 
 who had failed to find either serf or labourer to bind 
 himself to work for him, would not be his. And 
 should the Schrandeners offer fight to these work- 
 people, as they had done to the Polish serfs whom 
 his father had been obliged to call to his assistance, 
 so much the worse for the Schrandeners; they 
 would only be sent home with bleeding noses. 
 
 In proud self-reliance he looked coming events in 
 the face. He would willingly have returned home 
 earlier, only, to prosecute his enterprise on the scale 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 275 
 
 it demanded, he was forced to wait till the time in 
 which he could claim his aiint^s legacy, and so have 
 the necessary means at his disposal. 
 
 He had lived through hard times since that 
 January night, when, to flee the coercion of his hot 
 young blood, he had dashed out into the snow-clad, 
 moon-illumined landscape, followed by the cries of 
 the unhappy woman who could not understand what 
 ailed him. 
 
 It was long before the furnace within him abated, 
 and her beseeching, frightened eyes became dimmer 
 in his memory. In Konigsberg, where he had gone 
 direct from home, he had meditated obtaining, through 
 boldly seeking a trial, that justice long denied to his 
 house. But though the cross on his breast compelled 
 the doors that had been shut on his father to open to 
 him, the polite shrug of the shoulders with which 
 the judges promised to see what could be done, and 
 then coolly referred him to one Court of Appeal 
 after another, taught him that the passionate self- 
 surrender he had dreamed of would be here ill-timed 
 and out of place. 
 
 So he again packed up his father^s correspondence, 
 which of his own free will he had desired to make 
 public in order to clear up every shadow of mystery, 
 and felt he must keep it till a more favourable op- 
 portunity offered itself. Besides, he had destroyed 
 too much that might have had a vindicating effect, 
 and to court the risk of his own condemnation might 
 after all be acting unfairly to his father^s memory. 
 
 Contact with the outer world cooled and damped 
 
276 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 in a singular way his ardour; and the feverish 
 tension of his emotions gradually relaxed, giving 
 place to a more normal state of mind. He was 
 confronted with reasoning instead of anathemas, 
 courteous words instead of threats — and this worked 
 a soothing and beneficial influence on his nature. 
 He projected plans, and prepared himself with com- 
 posure and deliberation for what the future might 
 have in store for him. 
 
 At the same time the magic fascination the wild 
 girl had exercised on him was becoming dimmer 
 in his recollection. Every new face, every new 
 thought, alienated him further from her. Gradually 
 he ceased to reproach himself for having acted with 
 merciless cruelty towards her, and the mastery she 
 had acquired over his senses was now incompre- 
 hensible to him. Nevertheless, often when he sat 
 alone at dusk in his private room at the hostelry, he 
 saw those eyes again flashing soft fire, and felt her 
 presence thrill through his veins. Then it seemed as 
 if the scar, that furrowed horizontally his under lip, 
 began to burn like an inflammatory record of that 
 kiss, the only one that the lips of a woman had ever 
 imprinted on his, for his shy and reserved manner 
 had all his life repelled, and kept women at a distance. 
 At such times his whole existence seemed compressed 
 into that one moment^s ecstasy. But of course this 
 was only a freak, illusive reverie played his senses, 
 which lamplight and work soon dispelled. 
 
 He had written to her once or twice in order to 
 set her mind at rest on the subject of his sudden 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 277 
 
 departure, or rather flight — had asked for an answer, 
 and promised a speedy return. 
 
 Once he had had news of her — a letter written 
 in bold characters and correctly expressed. After 
 all these years of bondage, the lessons she had 
 learnt in the old pastoFs school still evidently stood 
 her in good stead. 
 
 In prospect of his near approach to his home, he 
 drew the sheet from his pocket, and read sitting in 
 the saddle the lines, which, in spite of himself, he 
 almost knew by heart. 
 
 ‘^My dear Master, — Don^t be anxious on my 
 account. No one will do anything to me. They 
 do not know down in the village that you are gone 
 away, and they are frightened of the wolf-traps, for 
 no one has told them that we cleared them away. 
 Every night I see to the pistols and guns in case 
 they should come; but they won^t come. As for 
 the wound, I have quite forgotten it. The grocer 
 at Bockeldorf gave me some English sticking-plaster, 
 and when it peeled off, it was entirely healed. The 
 thaw and floods are now over, thank God. For 
 several days I was obliged to go with very little 
 food, because the water was too high on the 
 meadows for me to wade through, and I would 
 rather have died than go down to Herr Merckel. 
 Ah ! dear master, I am so glad that you are coming 
 home soon ; for I seem to have nothing to live for, 
 when I have not you to wait upon. I climb up on 
 the Cats' Bridge very often and wait for you there, 
 
278 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 so that when you come you shall not find it 
 drawn up. Please don^t come in the night, nor 
 on Thursday before seven, because then I shall 
 be going to Bockeldorf. The snow is all gone 
 now, and the grass is beginning to get quite green. 
 Yesterday I heard the swallows twittering in the 
 nest they have built in the eaves; but I haven^t 
 seen them yet. Now and then I suffer from stitch 
 in my side, and giddiness, and I have not much 
 appetite. I believe it comes from being so much 
 alone, which I cannot bear. But I don^t know why 
 I should tell you all this. Perhaps it is because 
 you were always so kind to me. I can^t help 
 always remembering your great kindness to me. 
 — Your Hochgehoreri s humble servant, 
 
 Regina Hackelberg.” 
 
 This letter had filled him with pleasure and 
 satisfaction, for it showed on the one hand that 
 she had very reasonably bowed to the inevitable, 
 and that there was no cause for his anxiety ; and 
 on the other, that she still faithfully clung and 
 belonged to him heart and soul. And glad as he 
 might be to feel his blood purged of the unwhole- 
 some excitement with which she had inspired it, he 
 could not help being pleased at this proof of her 
 remaining ever his true and willing servant. 
 
 His belief in Helene^s sacred influence on his 
 destiny had, he imagined, received a new impetus, 
 since her note had saved him in an hour of im- 
 minent danger. He wore it gratefully as a talisman 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 279 
 
 on his heart, even if he did not read it so often, 
 and with such delight, as he read Regina’s. 
 
 Soon after his arrival in the capital, an intense 
 yearning had drawn him to the Cathedral, where 
 he had sought out the old altar-piece, which con- 
 tained her living image. He experienced a bitter 
 disappointment. The Madonna amidst her lilies and 
 roses appeared absolutely ridiculous. She looked 
 to him now as if she had been baked out of 
 Marzepatiy and the flowers, with their stiff stalks 
 and drooping heads, appeared as unnatural and 
 insipid as their doll custodian. 
 
 And this was what he had carried about with 
 him for years, as the facsimile of his beloved ! 
 Certainly it was high time she appeared in her 
 own person before his bodily eyes, otherwise he 
 would be in danger of loving a mere phantom. 
 
 And now, in this the hour of home-coming, it 
 was not she at all with whom he looked forward 
 to a joyous meeting; his senses saw only the pic- 
 ture of a girl waiting and watching for him, whose 
 fresh and unbounded loveliness was no myth. 
 
 It was early morning and the sun was shining. 
 He had made his last halt, the night before, at a 
 hamlet not far from Wartenstein, as he proposed 
 to pass rapidly through the town, to avoid being 
 gaped at, and exciting idle curiosity. Once there 
 he was within three miles and a quarter of home, 
 and hoped to enter his native village at the 
 hour for vespers, for his stalwart followers were 
 used to rapid marching. As he rode up to the 
 
28 o the sins of the FATHERS 
 
 moss-grown ramparts, eight sounded from the 
 belfries of Wartenstein, and he counted on being 
 ruble to quit the town quite early, and so escape 
 awkward questions. 
 
 Thus, he was little prepared for the surprises 
 awaiting him within its gates. The sentinel, in- 
 stead of stopping him and demanding his passport, 
 shouted up to a window in the gateway tower — 
 Ring the bells ! ring the bells ! The first 
 detachment is here ! ” 
 
 Then he saluted with his pike, while a merry 
 peal clashed from the watch-towers of Wartenstein 
 to announce Boleslav^s arrival. 
 
 ‘‘What can be the meaning of it?^^ he asked 
 himself, shaking his head; and his astonishment 
 increased, when on riding through the streets he 
 found them thronged with crowds of men, women, 
 and children, who waved their caps and handker- 
 chiefs, and welcomed him with resounding cheers. 
 
 His Lithuanians, who had been accustomed on 
 their triumphal marches to being received every- 
 where with open arms, took the present ovation as 
 a matter of course, and responded to the hurrahs 
 with lusty lungs. 
 
 But to Boleslav it was plain that there was some 
 misunderstanding, which in the next few minutes 
 would be explained. 
 
 As he entered the market-place, which, like the 
 streets, was filled with an enthusiastic crowd, the 
 Landrath, at the head of an impressive procession, 
 consisting of the Burgomaster, Corporation, and 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 281 
 
 other magnates of the town, advanced to meet him. 
 He laid his delicate, bony hand on his breast, 
 and cleared his throat with a rasp, preparatory to 
 speaking. 
 
 When he recognised Boleslav, who had quickly 
 sprung from his horse, he drew back in embarrass- 
 ment. Nevertheless he began — 
 
 congratulate you, Freiherr von Schranden, on 
 your being the first who has hastened here with 
 your troops ” 
 
 Not so fast, Herr Landrath^^ Boleslav inter- 
 rupted. ‘‘There is an error somewhere. These 
 people are workmen, whom I have recruited in 
 Lithuania for domestic use. I am on my way with 
 them to Schranden. 
 
 An amused smirk passed through the ranks of 
 the town magnates. They enjoyed seeing the 
 Landrath make a fool of himself, even if they them- 
 selves were made to look foolish in the process. 
 
 “And you really haven’t heard yet?” he stam- 
 mered out, concealing his annoyance. 
 
 “ I have come straight from the remotest corner 
 of Prussia, Herr LandrathP 
 
 “You haven’t heard that Napoleon has escaped 
 from Elba, and that the King has again appealed to 
 his gallant Prussian subjects to arm ? ” 
 
 Boleslav felt a rush of mingled horror and joy 
 flood his heart. 
 
 So once more the world’s history had absorbed 
 the solution of his career in its own, and he would 
 be saved further self-doubt and suspense with 
 
282 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 regard to it. His vast schemes, the work to which 
 he was to consecrate his life, lay shattered at his 
 feet scarcely begun, and now ended perhaps for 
 ever. But away with all regrets and fears. Did 
 not the Fatherland, his Fatherland, call him ? 
 
 Thank you, Herr Landrathy^ he said, while he 
 endeavoured to still his wildly beating heart. 
 feel honoured at your thinking so well of me and 
 my contingent of Schrandeners. We will prove 
 ourselves worthy of your high opinion, and in four- 
 and-twenty hours be in readiness.^^ 
 
 The Landrath held out his hand. He retreated a 
 step or two, and was in the act of repaying the 
 Landrath in his own coin for the insult he had not 
 long ago subjected him to. 
 
 Then he reflected. The Fatherland calls you, and 
 what is your petty hate or love weighed in the 
 balance ? And he seized the bony hand, which its 
 owner, offended, had already withdrawn, and shook 
 it heartily. 
 
 Then he learnt further particulars. The evening 
 before the King’s proclamation, dated April 7, had 
 reached Wartenstein. All night the administration 
 had been hard at work getting the decrees ready for 
 local heads of departments, and arranging to send 
 out special mounted messengers to distribute them. 
 
 ^^Will one be sent to Schranden?” asked 
 Boleslav. 
 
 Certainly,” was the answer. 
 
 ‘‘Then may I add a military order?” 
 
 “ Yes, if you wish.” 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 283 
 
 He tore a sheet of paper from his pocket-book 
 and hastily scribbled the following lines : — 
 
 At five o^clock in the afternoon all troops liable 
 to service are to muster in the churchyard square, 
 bringing with them accoutrements and canteens. 
 The hour for marching will then be stated. 
 
 Von Schranden, Landwehr Captain, 
 
 ‘‘To the local administrator.” 
 
 “ And what will become of Regina ? ” was a ques- 
 tion that rose warningly within him. 
 
 But he would not listen to it. He was almost 
 delirious. The fever for action possessed him. 
 
 He called his workpeople together, explained to 
 them that he no longer needed their services, and 
 bade each to return as quickly as possible to his 
 native place, from there to join his respective com- 
 pany. He paid them off, and took leave of them with 
 a shake of the hand and a blessing. 
 
 The stalwart youths, who had lost their hearts to 
 him, kissed the hem of his coat, and went their 
 way with tears in their eyes. Then he found a 
 place of safety for the waggons, whose freight alone 
 represented no small capital, made arrangements 
 for the sale of the seed and provender, and left the 
 horses at the disposal of a dealer. 
 
 Only the one on whose back he rode did he 
 keep for his own use. 
 
 It was half-past two before he had transacted 
 his business, and was free to start on his homeward 
 road. 
 
2 84 the sins of the FATHERS 
 
 He had seen hanging up for sale in a tailor’s 
 shop an undress state-uniform, which, as the 
 officers of the Landwehr were forbidden any gor- 
 geous display of ornament, and it happened to fit 
 him exactly, he purchased promptly, first having the 
 braided collar replaced by a plain scarlet strip. 
 
 Thus respectably fitted out, he was ready to con- 
 front his Schrandeners, whom he now saw delivered 
 into his hand in a rather different manner from the 
 one he had anticipated. 
 
 • ••••• 
 
 While Boleslav was riding home. Lieutenant 
 Merckel was pacing up and down the back parlour 
 of the Black Eagle in furious excitement. 
 
 I won’t, no, I won’t submit to being under the 
 command of that scoundrel,” he roared at his father, 
 who, to soothe him, had the best wine in his cellar 
 (the best was sour enough) set on the table, and 
 never wearied of refilling the raving youth’s glass. 
 
 ^^Felixchen,” he supplicated, ^^be sensible. If 
 the King has ordered it so, and the authorities 
 demand ” 
 
 But what if my honour demands the contrary, 
 father ? ” cried his son, angrily twirling the ends of 
 his moustache. ‘^I am an officer, father; I have 
 some sense of honour, and my sense of honour bids 
 me die by putting a bullet through my body with my 
 own hand, rather than follow and serve under that 
 son of a traitor.” 
 
 ‘'But if the King ” repeated the old man in 
 
 desperation. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 285 
 
 The King ! what does he know about it ? He 
 has been taken in, deceived, kept in the dark. But 
 I, I will open his eyes. I will say to him, ‘ Here, 
 your Majesty, are thirty brave soldiers, and an 
 
 honourable, upright officer, who would rather * ” 
 
 Drink, Felixchen,^^ entreated the old man, and 
 wiped the sweat of anxiety from his brow ; this 
 wine cost me, to begin with, a thaler the bottle. 
 Nowhere else in the world could you get anything 
 to compare with it.^' 
 
 ‘^The devil take your swipes ! exclaimed the 
 dutiful son, smashing the bottle with his sabre-hilt. 
 ** I don’t intend to sacrifice my honour for any Judas 
 reward. My honour is not to be bribed into silence. 
 My honour dictates that I should tear the hound’s 
 heart out of his breast. And I’ll do it. The Father- 
 land must be rid of such a scandalous reproach once 
 for all. This plague-spot in the Prussian staff of 
 officers must and shall be branded out. I’ll see 
 that it is. So sure as I am a brave soldier I will do 
 it, even if I die for honour’s sake. . . . Good-bye for 
 the present, father ; I must go now and bid my little 
 sweetheart farewell.” And rounding his lips for 
 a defiant whistle, the half-inebriated young man 
 swaggered out, his sabre-blade clanking the ground 
 at every step. 
 
 Boleslav, as he entered the village shortly after 
 four, found the street full of women and old people, 
 who ran from under the horse’s hoofs, maintaining 
 a glum silence, and then followed like evil spirits 
 in his wake. He felt for the pistols in his side 
 
286 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 pockets, and loosened the scabbard of his sabre ; 
 then he fully expected a skirmish of some sort. 
 
 Even if they have no other officer with a soldieFs 
 coat on, they may be planning to attack me from the 
 front this time,” he reflected, and his breast expanded 
 proudly at the thought. 
 
 The crowd was denser in the churchyard square, 
 and he was obliged to rein in his horse to give it 
 time to get out of his way. Here and there a 
 smothered laugh or a half-whispered imprecation 
 fell on his ear. Otherwise total silence was the 
 order of the day. Close to the church, some twenty 
 paces from its flight of stone steps, he saw the 
 troops drawn up in double line, about fifteen or 
 sixteen squadrons in strength. 
 
 Lieutenant Merckel was parading up and down, 
 giving first one and then another — as it seemed — a 
 word of encouragement. His face was aflame, his 
 gait uncertain ; once or twice his cavalry sabre got 
 entangled with his legs and nearly tripped him up. 
 
 Boleslav cast one rapid, searching glance at the 
 parsonage. Its windows were closely curtained, and 
 in the garden too there was no sign of life. 
 
 He drew a deep breath, and rode into the heart 
 of the crowd, which closed behind him. 
 
 Once again he stood single-handed, face to face 
 with the Schrandener wolves, but this time he was 
 master. 
 
 The sense of iron calm and perfect coolness, 
 which he had always experienced at moments of 
 life and death issues, did not forsake him now. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 287 
 
 I am waiting for your salute, Herr Lieutenant^^^ 
 he cried in a threatening tone. 
 
 He was answered by a drunken, jeering laugh. 
 
 So they intended to mutiny! His suspicions 
 had not been ill founded. 
 
 He tore his sabre from the scabbard. ‘‘ Halt I ” 
 he commanded. 
 
 There was a murmur of dissent. Two or three 
 stepped out of the ranks, and Lieutenant Merckel, 
 with an abusive epithet, drew his sabre and rushed 
 at Boleslav. 
 
 This was a moment in which hesitation would 
 have been fatal. A flash of steel, a whiz, and 
 Lieutenant Merckel sank howling on the sandy 
 earth. 
 
 The ranks broke their line, made as if they would 
 spring on him : but surprise and terror petrified 
 them. 
 
 Halt ! ” The command came forth for the 
 second time in a voice of thunder; and no one 
 dared move an eyelash. 
 
 Boleslav drew a pistol from the saddle-pocket, 
 and, holding it with the trigger cocked in his left 
 hand, he let the reins slip into his armed right. 
 
 Men of the Landwehr ! ” he shouted in a voice 
 that reverberated through the square, ^^you know 
 that during the last six hours you are bound in 
 obedience by a war-decree, and that the slightest 
 attempt at insubordination will cost you your lives. 
 What has taken place up to this moment I will over- 
 look, but whoever does not instantly comply with 
 
288 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 my commands without grumbling will find that I 
 shall not scruple to send a bullet through his brain 
 on the spot.” 
 
 Felix Merckel, who was bleeding copiously from 
 a wound in his head, regained consciousness, and 
 tried to raise himself. But the blood that streamed 
 over his face blinded him. 
 
 ^^Take away his sabre and bind him!” were 
 Boleslav^s instructions. 
 
 The men exchanged glances ; they had nothing 
 to bind him with. 
 
 Again to hesitate would be to lose the day ; so 
 with a quick resolve he sprang off his horse, tore 
 the bridle from its bit, and handed the thongs to 
 the fliigelman on his left. 
 
 Set to work, and two others help.” 
 
 Reluctantly, and with evil sidelong glances, they 
 obeyed. The prostrate man hit out with hands 
 and feet, and endeavoured to wipe the blood out 
 of his eyes with his sleeve, but his struggles were 
 in vain ; the reins bound his wrists, and the foam- 
 spattered curb served as a gag. 
 
 Meanwhile the spirited black charger had broken 
 away, and was rearing among the terrified rabble. 
 
 Boleslav saw, as he looked behind him, that the 
 church door stood open for a farewell service, and 
 that the key was in the lock. 
 
 Put him in the church,” he commanded ; and 
 at the same moment the old landlord of the inn 
 appeared on the scene, whimpering and wringing 
 his hands. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 289 
 
 Felixchen ! he yelled, what are they doing 
 to you ? Don^t give in ; cry for help. Help him, 
 dear people. I order you to help him. I am your 
 mayor. I insist — I command you.” 
 
 It is my place to issue commands here,” ex- 
 claimed Boleslav loftily. 
 
 Then the old man changed his tactics, and, by 
 cringing, tried to soften the disciplinarian’s heart. 
 
 Herr Captain^ have compassion on a wretched 
 father. I have known you since you were a little 
 boy, who sat on my knee, and I always, always 
 was fond of you. Isn’t it true, you people ? 
 Wouldn’t any of us have willingly given our lives 
 for the Junker ? ” 
 
 Had his corpulency permitted, he would have 
 thrown himself at Boleslav’s feet. On seeing his 
 son hustled away, he ran after him in despair, and 
 made a futile attempt to hold him back by the coat- 
 tails. But the door was promptly closed on him. 
 
 Give me the key ! ” shouted Boleslav. 
 
 The old man hurled himself on the steps, and 
 pounded the oak panels of the door with his fists. 
 
 The key was delivered up by the fliigelman and 
 his companions. 
 
 Your name ? ” 
 
 ‘^Michael Grossjohann ! ” the Schrandener an- 
 swered curtly. 
 
 And yours,” turning to the two others. 
 
 Franz Malky.” 
 
 Emil Rosner.” 
 
 He entered the names in his pocket-book. 
 
 T 
 
290 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 ^^You three will keep watch on the prisoner 
 through the night, and are answerable for him with 
 your heads.” 
 
 Old Merckel, finding the church door did not 
 yield to his furious onslaughts, came to his senses, 
 and squinting askance at Boleslav, sneaked off in 
 the direction of the parsonage. The latter thought 
 he knew what he wanted there. 
 
 ‘'Three more of you,” he continued, “will kindly 
 guard the vestry door, the key of which I have not 
 got in my possession, and take care that no one 
 goes in and out except the barber, who is to 
 bandage the prisoner's wound.” 
 
 Three voices quivering with suppressed anger 
 assured him his orders should be obeyed. 
 
 “Now then, to business!” he exclaimed. “Ac- 
 cording to the lists the village of Schranden is 
 
 capable of supplying troops to the number .” 
 
 And the mobilisation began. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 Two hours later Boleslav quitted the gaping crowd, 
 who glowered at him with a sort of stony super- 
 stitious awe, as if he were a magician, and as he 
 crossed the open common he felt as if he had just 
 left a cage of wild beasts, the duty of taming 
 which, had fallen to his share. The danger seemed 
 safely over for the present. Having mastered 
 them to-day, they won^t dare to mutiny to-morrow,^" 
 he thought, and revelled in the joyous sensation of 
 having won a victory. 
 
 Now he had only to take leave of Regina, and 
 his troubles would be at an end. The world was all 
 before him once more ; an unknown future seemed 
 to be enticing him onwards with bugle-peals and 
 battle-cries. 
 
 Regina ! now for Regina ! ” welled up in him 
 with such jubilation, from the depths of his soul, 
 that he was frightened at himself. He took a round 
 by the wood before approaching the Cats’ Bridge, 
 to brace and harden his nerves for this last and 
 most arduous encounter. 
 
 The sun pierced the topmost boughs of the trees. 
 Over the tender young green of the meadows floated 
 a shadowy haze, and an odour of fermenting slime 
 
292 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 rose from the damp ditches. Only the fir-wood 
 looked as dark and mysterious as in winter, with 
 scarcely a light-green spike peeping anywhere from 
 its black, bare branches. 
 
 He threw himself on the mossy ground and 
 watched the sunbeams glint through the purple 
 haze that hung over the surrounding thicket. 
 
 Once again he reviewed the daring enterprise 
 of the last few hours, and the thickly curtained 
 windows of the parsonage recurred to his memory. 
 How careful she had been to keep herself out of his 
 sight and reach, and how well she had succeeded ! 
 Surely she must know what had brought him into 
 the village — must know that to-morrow he would 
 quit it, perhaps never to return. 
 
 Had she no longing to see him just once before 
 his departure, and to wish him God speed ? The 
 hour she had told him to wait patiently for, was it 
 not time it came to-day ? What availed the letter 
 he wore close to his heart, if the hand that penned 
 it was refused to him ? Her image was now quite 
 effaced from his heart ; it could no longer lead him 
 to battle, unless the impression was renewed. 
 
 If she loves me, she will send for me. If she 
 doesn’t send for me, she must be lost to me for ever.” 
 
 Having arrived at this conclusion he left the 
 wood and bent his footsteps in the direction of the 
 river. The park, in its new spring dress of lightest 
 green, smiled him a welcome. A shimmering crown 
 of silver jested on the tall poplars, and the dark 
 masses of ivy glistened on their slender trunks. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 293 
 
 How beautiful was this home, that had been a 
 source of such infinite pain and sorrow ! How his 
 whole being yearned for that impoverished dwelling 
 where he had lodged like a criminal! Was this 
 longing owing to the woman who had voluntarily 
 shared his loneliness and wretchedness, and who 
 had tried to make her own misery the foundation 
 of a new happiness for him ? 
 
 But he had no reason to fear what was to come. 
 He felt that since the Fatherland had summoned 
 him, he was safe from all weak and vicious instincts. 
 Even long before this he believed he had completely 
 freed himself from her influence. Their relations 
 now were merely those of master and servant. 
 
 One more night, and the priest^s curse would be 
 remembered only as an old man^s idle babble. Yet 
 what would become of her ? She must look after 
 herself. He had provided for her future. No one 
 could say he was bound to do more. And to-day 
 he would renew his bounty twofold or threefold, so 
 that she would stand in the position of a wealthy 
 widow. When thousands of women and children 
 would perish of hunger in broken-hearted distress, 
 without any one heeding their fate, why should he 
 concern himself so much about deserting this one 
 strange girl and leaving her in solitude ? 
 
 He steeled and hardened his heart, for it had 
 begun to beat faster. . . . 
 
 And as he mounted the steep ascent to the Cats’ 
 Bridge, he caught sight of the familiar figure among 
 the bushes above, illumined by the setting sun. 
 
294 the sins of the FATHERS 
 
 Regina,” he called. But she did not move. 
 
 Come and meet me, Regina ! ” 
 
 Then with elevated shoulders she slowly glided 
 nearer, the fingers of her left hand outspread, and 
 pressed against her breast. 
 
 He looked at her, and was horrified. My God ! ” 
 he exclaimed, how changed you are ! ” 
 
 Her appearance was wild and distraught in the 
 extreme. Her clothes were torn, her hair, which 
 under the frequent use of the comb had begun to fall 
 into such splendid glossy waves, once more hung 
 over her forehead and cheeks in a shaggy, unkempt 
 mass. Her eyes shone with feverish, almost uncanny 
 lustre from dark-blue cavities, and she dared not 
 raise them to his. 
 
 '‘She is pining away,” something cried in him. 
 "She will die, because of you.” He took hold of 
 her hand and it lay limply in his palm. 
 
 "Regina, do speak. Aren’t you glad that I’ve 
 come back ? ” 
 
 She ducked her head, as she had been in the 
 habit of doing when she instinctively expected blows 
 instead of kind words. 
 
 He stroked her rough, dry hair. "Poor thing!” 
 he said. "You must have had a dreadfully dull 
 
 time of it, with not a human soul to speak to ” 
 
 She shrank from his touch and was still silent. 
 "Why did you not write and tell me that you 
 found it so terribly lonely ? ” 
 
 She shook her head, and then said timidly, " It 
 wasn’t the loneliness.” 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 295 
 What was it then ? 
 
 She looked at him nervously and said nothing. 
 
 ** Well, what was it ? ” 
 
 I ... I thought . . . you weren^t coming back.’^ 
 But, you foolish girl, didn't I write and say I was?" 
 Yes, you wrote and said, ' I am coming perhaps 
 in about ten days,' and I went to the Cats' Bridge, 
 and there I waited day and night — day and night — 
 but you didn't come. And then three weeks after- 
 wards you wrote again, ' I shall come home per- 
 haps in about ten days.' And you never came, and 
 then I thought you were only putting me off with 
 promises ... so as not to break it to me suddenly 
 that you weren't coming back at all. And I thought 
 you repented being good to me, because I didn't 
 
 deserve it, and because I " She broke off and 
 
 buried her face for a moment in her hands. 
 
 But your letter was so sensible." 
 
 ‘‘ Yes, Herr^^ she faltered. Would it have done 
 
 for me to write differently ? " 
 
 He bit his lip, and stared before him into the 
 lacework of the young green foliage. Did she 
 suspect what would befall her in a few hours ? 
 
 But now all is right again, isn't it ? " he asked 
 unsteadily. 
 
 With a cry she sank on the ground, and clinging 
 to his knees exclaimed, Yes, oh yes, Herr, When 
 you are here everything is right, everything is 
 different. If you were to go away again, Herr^ 
 what should I do ? " 
 
 No, she suspected nothing. The heaviest, most 
 
296 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 crushing blow of all was in store for her. He felt as 
 if there were a thunderbolt concealed in his sleeve, 
 which the next time he stirred would descend and 
 shatter her to fragments. But he had still time to 
 dispose of as he pleased. A few hours to devote 
 to this poor creature, in which to revive and make 
 her happy again before signing her death-warrant, 
 and in which she would unconsciously gather up 
 strength for the ordeal. 
 
 ''Stand up, Regina,” he said gently. "Let us 
 enjoy ourselves, and not think of the future.” 
 
 Then they walked side by side through the dusky 
 garden, the neatly kept paths of which were strewn 
 with white gravel, and skirted, like glittering rivulets, 
 the smooth turf. The shrubs exhaled an indescrib- 
 able fragrance, the breath of spring mingled with 
 the scent of dying things, and in the tree-tops that 
 waved above their heads, they heard the subdued 
 whispering twitter of home-coming birds. 
 
 " How beautifully everything has come out here 
 since I went away ! ” he exclaimed. 
 
 "Yes, Herr^'^ she answered. " It has never been 
 so beautiful as it is now.” 
 
 " It has become so all at once ? ” he asked, smiling. 
 He looked at her sideways and noticed the hollows 
 in her cheeks. But an exquisite colour was already 
 tinging them. 
 
 She has begun to live again, he thought to him- 
 self, and it seemed as if the next few hours were to 
 be the last vouchsafed to him too of a vanishing 
 happiness. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 297 
 
 In spite of everything, you have worked hard,'* 
 he said, striving to retain his tone of condescending 
 patronage, and he pointed to the neat borders in 
 which auriculas and primroses were planted. 
 
 She gave a proud little laugh. I thought to 
 myself you should find everything in order if you 
 did come back, Herr^ 
 
 But you have neglected yourself, Regina. How 
 is that ? ” 
 
 She turned her face away, blushing hotly. 
 
 Shall I tell the truth, Herr?^^ she stammered. 
 
 Of course,^^ he said. 
 
 ‘^I thought . . . I . . . w^as . . . going to die 
 . . . and so ... it wouldn^t matter.” 
 
 He was silent. It was as if she poured forth an 
 ocean of infinite love with every word, and that its 
 waves rolled over him. 
 
 The lawn on the farther side of the Castle, sloping 
 gently down to the park, now opened before his 
 gaze. There stood the weather-beaten socket of the 
 Goddess Diana^s pedestal. Regina had collected 
 the pieces and put them together again, but the 
 torso had been beyond her strength to lift, and 
 it lay in the grass, while the head, with its blank 
 white eyes, looked down on it. A few steps farther 
 on, a dark four-cornered patch stood out in relief 
 from the emerald turf. That was the spot where 
 he had first seen her busily employed in digging a 
 grave for her seducer, whom every one else refused 
 to bury. 
 
 left it as it was — in memory of me,” she said 
 
298 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 apologetically, pointing to the turned-up clods that, 
 now overgrown with grass, had joined and formed 
 a bank. 
 
 Then they walked on towards the undergrowth 
 that surrounded the cottage like a thick hedge. 
 
 ''And I have mended the glass roof too,” she 
 said. 
 
 "Ah! indeed!” 
 
 Their eyes met for a moment, and then they both 
 quickly looked in front of them again. There 
 was an aspect of peaceful welcome about the little 
 house. Its window panes had caught a ray of 
 the departing sunlight, while all else lay buried in 
 deepest shadow. 
 
 A sense of contentment at being at home, and of 
 gladness that this was his home, overcame him, and 
 for a moment allayed his gnawing restlessness. 
 
 "Go,” he said, "and cook me something for 
 supper; I am hungry and exhausted after a long 
 ride.” 
 
 He remembered his horse for the first time, and 
 wondered where it had galloped to. Then the next 
 instant he forgot it again. 
 
 "And make yourself neat,” he continued. "I 
 should like you to look your best when you come 
 to table.” 
 
 "Yes, Herr — Fll try.” 
 
 They separated in the vestibule. He went into 
 the sitting-room, and she to her kitchen. He threw 
 himself with a deep sigh on the sofa, that creaked 
 beneath his weight. Everything seemed the same 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 299 
 
 as on the night he had left it, except that the 
 curtain had been taken away from the corner by 
 the stove, and the couch removed ; the portrait of 
 his grandmother, too, had disappeared. The shot 
 which grazed Regina^s neck had proved its final 
 destruction, and reduced it to ribbons. 
 
 One of the windows was open. The strange 
 perfume of fermenting earth, which to-day he could 
 not get out of his nostrils, flooded the apartment. 
 But here it might possibly come from a lime heap, 
 which had been shovelled up at the gable end of the 
 house. 
 
 From minute to minute his unrest increased. 
 Why shorten for him and her the all too scanty 
 time ? He could tolerate solitude no longer, and got 
 up with the intention of going into the kitchen, but 
 when on the threshold he saw her cowering on the 
 hearth with naked shoulders, mending her jacket by 
 the firelight, — he retreated, shocked. But in a few 
 seconds she came herself to open the door to him, 
 fully dressed. 
 
 Is there anything I can do for you, Herr? ” she 
 asked respectfully. 
 
 '‘Show me where you have repaired the roof,^^ he 
 replied, not being able to think of anything else to 
 say. He praised her work, without looking at it. 
 Then he took up a position on the hearth and stared 
 at the tongues of flame in the grate. By this time 
 it was nearly dark, and the firelight flickered on 
 the rush walls. 
 
 " ni help you to cook,” he said. 
 
300 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 Ah, Herr ! You are laughing at me,” she an- 
 swered. But her face lighted up with pleasure. 
 '‘What am I to have for supper?” 
 
 "There isn't much in the house, Herr. Eggs 
 and fried ham — a fresh salad — and that's all.” 
 
 " I shall thank God if I '' he stopped abruptly. 
 
 He had nearly betrayed the secret of which as yet 
 she had no suspicion, and she should not, must not, 
 suspect anything. Till the dawn of to-morrow her 
 felicity should last. 
 
 "Very well, make haste,” he laughed, while his 
 throat contracted in anxious suspense, "else I shall 
 expire of hunger.” 
 
 " The water must boil first, Herr.^^ 
 
 "All right, we'll wait, then.” He squatted on one 
 of the wooden boxes. "And, Regina,” he went on, 
 " come here ; do you know I am not satisfied with 
 
 your appearance even now ? Your hair ” 
 
 " I've not had time to comb it yet, Herr^ 
 
 "Comb it now at once, then.” 
 
 She flashed at him a look of shy entreaty. 
 
 "While you are here, Herr?^^ she asked hesi- 
 tatingly. 
 
 " Why not ? Have you become prudish all in a 
 minute ? ” 
 
 " It wasn't that ” 
 
 " Then don't stand on ceremony.” 
 
 She went into the far corner of the apartment, 
 where her bed stood, and with a quick movement 
 loosened the floating wealth of tresses till they 
 hung below her hips. In the middle of her comb- 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 301 
 
 ing, aware that his eyes were fixed on her in 
 admiration, she suddenly spread out her arms, as 
 if overcome with shame and joy, and threw herself 
 on her knees by the bed, burying her face in the 
 pillows. 
 
 He waited silently till she got up. When her 
 hair was done she went to the hearth and busied 
 herself among the pots and kettles, without looking 
 at him. 
 
 ^^Tell me, Regina, what have you been doing 
 with yourself all this time ? ” 
 
 She shook her head. Bockeldorf was the same 
 as ever; besides the grocer and his wife, I never 
 saw a single soul. During the floods I didn’t go 
 once down to the village. As I told you in my 
 letter, I had to starve for a time, but I didn’t 
 mind. And then, during the last few weeks, some 
 letters have come, from Wartenstein, and Konigs- 
 
 berg too — and to-day one — from ” 
 
 ** Ah, never mind ! Fll look at them later, when 
 you’ve brought some light.” 
 
 What concern had he with the outer world to-day, 
 when he had burnt the bridges that connected him 
 with his past, and nothing remained of all he had 
 suffered and lived through ? 
 
 Then when the supper table was spread, and the 
 lamp shone at him from Regina’s hand, he crossed 
 over with her to the sitting-room. 
 
 ^‘You have not laid a place for yourself,” he 
 remarked. 
 
 ‘‘May I, Herr?^^ 
 
302 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 Of course you may/’ 
 
 ''And, Herr^ what wine ? ” 
 
 He drew a long breath — " None ! ” 
 
 And so once more they sat opposite each other 
 in the soft lamp-light, as they had so often done on 
 winter evenings, when the snow was driven against 
 the window panes, and gales shook the roof and 
 rattled in the beams. Now grey moths flapped 
 gently to and fro, bringing with them into the room 
 whiffs of the balmy outer air, and the rising moon, 
 which was full for the first time since Easter, 
 shimmered through the young foliage. 
 
 He pushed his plate away. Not a morsel could 
 he eat. The precaution of leaving the wine in the 
 cellar had done no good, for the excitement he had 
 wished to shun was, notwithstanding, creeping over 
 him. He took a stolen glance at Regina, and 
 trembled. Her eyes rested on him in such a 
 transport of happiness, that she seemed oblivious 
 of everything in heaven and earth, except the fact 
 that he was sitting near her. Every trace of sorrow 
 and distress had vanished from her face as if by 
 magic. Its curves had taken a new roundness, a 
 new freshness bloomed in her cheeks. But what 
 struck him as most lovely in her, was the languorous, 
 yielding tenderness of her whole being, as if she 
 had loosened herself from the trammels of earth and 
 floated in space. 
 
 " Regina,” he whispered. His heart seemed 
 throbbing violently in his throat. A voice of warn- 
 ing rose within him, saying, "Take care. Be on 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 303 
 
 your guard — this is the last time she will lead you 
 into temptation.” 
 
 The last time ! ” came a melancholy echo. 
 
 Yes ; she will die — perish of heart-sickness and 
 unsatisfied longing.” 
 
 The scar on his under-lip began to burn. 
 
 '^Take her in your arms and then kill her; that 
 will save her all further misery,” was the next 
 thought that rushed through his brain. ‘^But it 
 would be literal madness to do such a thing,” he 
 added to himself, shuddering. 
 
 And again their eyes met and sank in each otheFs 
 depths. Their souls knew of no resistance, even 
 though their bodies still sought despairingly for 
 weapons of defence. 
 
 ‘‘Save yourself!” cried that warning voice again. 
 “Think of the curse! Keep yourself pure and 
 unspotted for the Fatherland !” 
 
 He tried to think of words to speak that would 
 break the spell of blissful enchantment; but none 
 would occur to him. Then he rose and walked to 
 the open window to bathe his hot brow in the 
 cool night air. “ Speak — act — end this silence,” he 
 exhorted himself. He thought of the letters she 
 had spoken of. 
 
 “Give me the letters,” he said. His voice 
 sounded harsh. 
 
 She fetched a packet of white covers, which she 
 laid by his plate. He opened the first he came to, 
 and stared vacantly at the unfolded sheet. Would it 
 not be better to allude now to the unavoidable? Why 
 
304 the sins of THE FATHERS 
 
 spare her allusion to a parting which was inevit- 
 able? But he put the idea from him in horror. 
 ‘^Till midnight she shall be happy. Take her in 
 your arms, and then 
 
 '^His Hochwohlgeboren the Freiherr Boleslav 
 von Schranden is hereby informed that his appeal 
 for an inquiry into the causes and events which 
 eventually led to the destruction by fire of Castle 
 Schranden, on the 6th of March 1809, is receiv- 
 ing attention, and that a day has been appointed 
 for 
 
 With a discordant laugh he tossed the communi- 
 cation to one side, and fumbled for the next letter. 
 His eye fell on Helene^s handwriting. A feeling 
 almost of aversion shot through him. What did 
 she want now ? Why disturb him at this the 
 eleventh hour? 
 
 My dearest Boleslav, — I can't let you go to 
 the war again without once seeing and speaking to 
 you. I beg and implore you to meet me this even- 
 ing at nine o'clock, near the churchyard side-gate, 
 where I will wait for you. — Your Helene." 
 
 Why not before," he murmured, when there 
 was plenty of time to spare ? " Then suddenly it 
 flashed across him that again in an hour of danger 
 his guardian angel had put forth her rescuing hand 
 to him, and that it would be criminal folly on his 
 part to disregard the sign, and not respond to the 
 
 summons. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 305 
 
 ^‘You must — you must/^ he said to himself, ''or 
 you won’t be worth the cannon-ball that at this 
 moment is being cast for you in France.” 
 
 Was it not a special dispensation of divine grace 
 that the daughter should intervene at such a perilous 
 crisis as this to transform the father’s curse into a 
 blessing ? He looked at the clock. It wanted only 
 a few minutes to the hour mentioned. He dragged 
 himself on to his feet 
 
 " I must go down to the village,” he said. "There 
 is some one who wants to see me.” And though he 
 avoided meeting her eyes, her pathetic beseeching 
 glance penetrated to his innermost soul. 
 
 " I shall soon be back,” he stammered. 
 
 She folded her hands, and placed herself silently 
 before him. 
 
 " What is it ? ” he asked. 
 
 She could hardly articulate her words. 
 
 Herr ! I am so frightened — I feel as if some- 
 thing dreadful was going to happen ! ” 
 
 "Since when have you been given to presenti- 
 ments ? ” he said, trying to joke. 
 
 " I don’t know — but I feel so strange, Herr! . . . 
 something in my throat — as if ... Oh ! I know it’s 
 stupid of me, but I pray you — not to go — not 
 to-night ” 
 
 He pushed her gently to one side. The hand that 
 she stretched out to hold him back fell helplessly. 
 
 "Please — please don’t go ! . . . Herr 
 
 He set his teeth and went — went to his guardian 
 angel. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 The Schrandeners, as many as could leave their 
 homes and property, were meanwhile gathered 
 together at the Black Eagle, engaged in a farewell 
 orgie. 
 
 Old Merckel served them himself. He stood 
 behind the bar, refilling unceasingly the empty 
 glasses, with the melancholy smile, which to-day 
 there was every reason to believe was not put on. 
 
 Drink, dear friends, he exhorted ; don’t let 
 the unhappy event in my family prevent you ! 
 What does it matter even if he is shot ? He will 
 die a noble death for his honour and his Father- 
 land!” 
 
 He wiped the sweat from his shiny forehead, 
 while his little eyes wandered in uneasy antici- 
 pation from one face to the other. 
 
 ‘‘Go and take a glass, Amalie,” he said, turning 
 to the barmaid, “ over to those on guard. I won’t 
 bear them malice for helping to bring him to his 
 ruin 1 ” 
 
 The Schrandeners, deeply touched at the expres- 
 sion of so much high-minded sentiment, gazed into 
 their tankards in moody anger. They would have 
 been ashamed of rushing to the inn and displaying 
 
 306 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 307 
 
 such avidity for a carousal in the face of their 
 landlord’s private misfortune, had they not felt they 
 could not better show their sympathy than by taking 
 advantage of the old man’s generous impulses. So 
 they poured beer and schnaps down their throats in 
 positive streams, and emulated each other as to who 
 could drink the fastest. 
 
 The barmaid, as fat and cunning as her master, 
 slipped out with a tray containing a dozen foaming 
 tankards, after she had received a few whispered 
 instructions from him, accompanied by a knowing 
 nod and wink. 
 
 ‘^And if you should see old Hackelberg about,” 
 he called after her, ^^ask him in — ask him in. He 
 has suffered too at the hands of the scoundrel. He 
 ought not to be missing on this sad occasion.” 
 
 Brave soldiers,” he continued, wiping his eyes, 
 drink ! drink ! You must try to forget that this 
 day your honour has been forfeited. Yes, indeed, 
 your case is lamentable — even more lamentable than 
 that of my poor son, to whom it will at least be 
 granted to meet death for honour’s sake. But you ! 
 faugh, for shame ! What will be your feelings 
 to-morrow morning, when you have to march away 
 under the leadership of that son of a traitor, the 
 villain whom our revered Herr Pastor has cursed ? 
 It’ll be ^ Braun, clean my boots ! ’ and ‘ Bickler, hold 
 my stirrup ! ’ and that sort of thing.” 
 
 The two men mentioned thus by name started up 
 with an oath. 
 
 ‘‘And all you others, however much he may 
 
308 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 oppress and bully you, you must submit because 
 he is your commander ; and if you dare to mutiny, 
 youT only be shot down like vermin for your pains. 
 Such, my poor dear friends, is your pitiable lot! 
 Therefore I say drink, and bid farewell to your 
 military honour. To-morrow the very dogs will 
 hesitate to take a crust of bread from your hands 1 
 
 A half-stifled murmur ran through the room, 
 more ominous than a howl of rage. 
 
 Then the carpenter Hackelberg, who had been 
 loafing about in the neighbourhood of the inn, 
 reeled into the common parlour, half-drunk as 
 usual. 
 
 He was received in silence. But old Merckel 
 advanced solemnly to meet him, seized him by the 
 hand, and led him to a seat of honour. 
 
 ''You, too, are an unhappy father,” he said to 
 him in a voice quivering with emotion. "Your 
 heart, like mine, has been broken by the ruin of 
 your child. You, as well as myself and us all, has 
 the tyrant up yonder, on his conscience. So sit 
 down, you miserable man, and take a drop of some- 
 thing with us ! ” 
 
 The drunkard, who was used to being fisticuffed 
 and held up to derision, even by those who bore 
 him no ill-will, scarcely knew what to make of this 
 highly flattering reception. He glanced suspiciously 
 round him with his fishy eyes, and appeared to be 
 considering earnestly whether he should begin to 
 brag or to weep. Meanwhile he drank all he could 
 * lay hands on. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 309 
 
 Look at this deplorable victim of baronial lust/^ 
 Herr Merckel continued. A man who is deprived 
 of the possibility of revenge must lose his self- 
 respect as he has, and degenerate into a sloven. 
 Day and night he broods inwardly on the wrong 
 that has been done him. But even the trodden-on 
 worm turns at last, and who can blame us if we 
 wish with all our hearts that the miscreant should 
 not live to see another day ? ” 
 
 Strike him dead ! ” spluttered the carpenter, 
 suddenly waxing furious, but there was only a faint 
 echo in response, for to the men who were now 
 soldiers under orders for active service the glibly 
 made suggestion seemed no longer a trifle. 
 
 Herr Merckel assumed an air of holy horror. 
 
 For shame, dear people ! we must not listen to 
 such treason. I, being your mayor, cannot counte- 
 nance it. To strike him down in broad daylight 
 would be an unwarrantable act of violence, and 
 I wonder you dare entertain such an idea for a 
 moment. But who can stem the torrent of righteous 
 wrath that vents itself in imprecations and ana- 
 themas ? And so it is my most earnest desire that 
 our arch-enemy and tyrant may die in his bed 
 to-night, or disappear and never be seen again, or 
 that his body may be found to-morrow morning in 
 the river Maraune. Then it would at least be 
 clearly proved that there is still a God above to 
 judge and condemn sinners. Amen.^' 
 
 ^^Amen,” growled his listeners, and folded their 
 horny hands. 
 
310 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 alas ! it won’t come to pass. We shall live 
 to see the miscreant fatten and prosper, and grow 
 grey in this vale of tears. To-morrow he will ride 
 up triumphantly and drag out my Felix like a lamb 
 to the slaughter. And others who have demurred 
 by a word or look will be sacrificed too. Indeed I 
 shall be very much surprised if any of you escape 
 with your lives. It is his intention, I firmly believe, 
 to extirpate every Schrandener from off the face of 
 the earth. Like a herd of cattle that has been 
 purchased for the shambles, he’ll drive you forth to- 
 morrow morning, leaving your widows and orphans 
 behind to weep and bewail your fate.” 
 
 An ejaculation of fury arose, so loud and violent 
 that even the inciter of it recoiled in alarm. 
 
 Quietly, dear people, quietly ! No law-breaking. 
 Although, truly, there is no informer amongst us, 
 we would sooner bite our tongues out than betray 
 each other. Hackelberg knows that. Thereby 
 hangs a tale, eh, old friend ? But who knows that 
 our Herr Captain may not himself be hanging about 
 outside, spying through the windows.” 
 
 Five or six heads turned, and were pressed against 
 the panes. 
 
 ‘‘ You think he wouldn’t presume to spy on us ? 
 Oh, I can assure you he is not the one to stop short 
 at any low trick. I know what you’d like to say, 
 and I can’t blame you for it — that if you catch him 
 sneaking around at night-time, woe betide him ! ” 
 We’ll strike him dead! Strike him dead!” 
 fumed the topers. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 31 1 
 
 Don’t be for ever screaming that, children; it 
 offends my ears. So much can be achieved quietly. 
 Thus, bang ! Some one has fired. Bang again — 
 another report. Simply a poacher in the forest. It 
 swarms with deer, eh, Hackelberg ? ” He laughed, 
 and clicked his tongue. 
 
 ‘^You mustn’t sit dozing there, my man. One 
 would think you had no more blood in your veins 
 than a jelly-fish. Have you forgotten how the late 
 Baron had you flogged till your skin hung in ribbons. 
 Potztausend! How you danced and bellowed! It 
 was a charming spectacle.” 
 
 Hackelberg writhed and grunted over his glass. 
 
 '' At that time you were a sportsman, a terror to 
 your master, and your bullet never missed its mark. 
 Drink away, man I It’s difficult to believe now that 
 you were ever a good shot.” 
 
 I am, still,” lisped the carpenter. 
 
 Ha, ha I — pardon my laughing, old fellow. To 
 begin with, you don’t even know what you’ve done 
 with your gun.” 
 
 ''But— I do.” 
 
 ^'And besides, your hand has become too slack, 
 and your honour has evaporated, and your courage 
 with it.” 
 
 The carpenter laughed. An evil light gleamed 
 in the corners of his eyes. 
 
 '' What ? You would maintain that you have a 
 spark of honour left in your composition when you 
 submit without a murmur to your daughter being 
 brought to shame ? And what’s more, you can bear 
 
312 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 to see her and her seducer at large. Didn’t she, 
 your own flesh and blood, scorn you and slap away 
 your proffered hand ? Ungrateful, disrespectful 
 wench that she is ! ’’ 
 
 The carpenter staggered to his feet. 
 
 ''No one follow me,” he roared, and shook his 
 fist. 
 
 " Where are you going ? ” 
 
 " That’s no business of any one’s.” 
 
 The Schrandeners, even in their wrath, could not 
 resist making fun of the drunkard, but Merckel 
 signed to them to let him go in peace. 
 
 " He is going to scratch up his gun from the 
 dungheap,” he explained. " Still, what good will it 
 do?” he added with a sigh, while his eyes wan- 
 dered uneasily to the door. " He’ll take care not 
 to deliver himself into our hands at night. To- 
 morrow, at dawn of day, he’ll come, when none 
 of you can defend yourselves, and hand you over 
 to your executioners, along with my son Felix, 
 and none of you will see Schranden again. So 
 drink your last, children — take leave of old Father 
 
 Merckel Ah ! there comes Amalie,” he said, 
 
 interrupting himself, and the lackadaisical expres- 
 sion of his face changed to one of cheerful expec- 
 tancy. 
 
 The door was thrown open, and Amalie burst in 
 greatly excited. She whispered something hurriedly 
 in his ear. 
 
 He beamed, and folded his fat hands as if in 
 prayer. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 313 
 
 '^Children,” he cried, ‘'there is yet a judge in 
 Heaven. The Baron is in the village.” 
 
 The Schrandeners rose from their seats yelling 
 with delight. 
 
 “Where is he ? Who has seen him ? ” 
 
 “Tell them, Amalie !” he urged the barmaid, and 
 sank back exhausted, like a person who is satisfied 
 that his day^s work is done. 
 
 And Amalie told them. She had waited till the 
 men on guard had finished their beer, and had 
 taken a little stroll in the moonlight to get a breath 
 of fresh air. Then she had seen a man coming 
 across the fields from the Cats* Bridge. He was 
 going in the direction of the churchyard, and wore 
 an officers coat with scarlet collar and gold buttons. 
 
 “ Was he armed ? ” inquired a cautious son of 
 Schranden. 
 
 Yes ; she had seen his sabre flash in the moon- 
 light. 
 
 This information afforded food for reflection. 
 
 “He has gone to inspect the guard,** suggested 
 some one, scratching his head. 
 
 Herr Merckel laughed ironically. 
 
 “ Since how long has it been customary to review 
 sentinels in the churchyard ? ** he exclaimed.- “ I 
 tell you what he has gone there for. He wishes to 
 pay his dear, chaste Herr Papa a visit — to swear 
 on his grave that he will avenge him, so soon as 
 you are delivered into his hands as soldiers. Con- 
 gratulate yourselves on the expedition.** 
 
 At this juncture an ally cropped up on whom he 
 
314 the sins of the FATHERS 
 
 had ceased to count. The old carpenter rushed in 
 at the door, flourishing in his right hand an old 
 fowling-piece, on which hung straw and manure. 
 He seemed in a perfect transport of fury, beating 
 his breast and capering about like one possessed. 
 Who said I had no sense of honour,” he screamed; 
 and that I allowed my child to be ruined ? Whereas 
 the hussy who has brought shame and disgrace on 
 grey hairs ? I won’t make her a coffin. No ; 
 ril shoot her down — FIl shoot them both.” 
 
 ‘'Come along to the churchyard,” cried a voice 
 among the villagers, who felt their courage rising. 
 
 The old landlord winced. “No, not to the 
 churchyard,” he exhorted them. “In the first 
 place, the ground is sacred ; and in the second, you 
 might miss him there. If you really wish to settle 
 matters quietly with him once for all — Fm not sup- 
 posed to know what you have against him, and 
 don’t wish to know — well, my advice to you is to 
 go to the Cats’ Bridge. Just there, you know, the 
 bank is wooded — not thickly, certainly, but thick 
 enough for you to hide behind.” 
 
 “ But suppose he returned by way of the village 
 and the drawbridge?” put in the cautious trooper 
 again. 
 
 Herr Merckel knew better. “ Not he !” he laughed. 
 “The Cats’ Bridge is handier.” 
 
 “Let’s be ofif, then, to the Cats’ Bridge,” yelled 
 the carpenter, bumping the butt-end of his gun 
 against the chairs and tables. There was a general 
 stampede. Herr Merckel crammed bottles of schnaps 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 315 
 
 into as many pockets as he could catch hold of, as 
 his customers hurried out. 
 
 Take it, friends,” he cried, and welcome ! 
 Defend your honour — defend your honour ! ” 
 
 Then, when the last had gone, he mopped his 
 perspiring brow, and folding his hands, exclaimed 
 with an uneasy sigh — 
 
 ‘^Ah, Amalie, if only they don^t offer him 
 violence ! ” 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 On reaching the highroad Boleslav saw the figure 
 of a girl come out from the shadow of the church- 
 yard yews, and advance to meet him with hesitating 
 footsteps. 
 
 The moment to which he had looked forward with 
 tender yearning for eight years had come at last, 
 yet his heart beat no quicker. ^‘You ought to be 
 pleased; congratulate yourself,” he said inwardly. 
 
 She loves you ! She saved you . . . has freed you 
 from Regina.” And something echoed sadly within 
 him, From Regina ! ” 
 
 The contour of the too slender figure was sharply 
 defined against the moonlit background. The 
 shoulders looked angular, and her hips fell in 
 straight, ungraceful lines from the high-waisted 
 bodice. 
 
 He jumped over the ditch, and held out both his 
 hands to her. With a prudish simper she placed 
 hers behind her back. 
 
 Don^t be so impetuous,” she lisped. 
 
 He was amazed. The action chilled him, and 
 almost excited his contempt ; but he was ashamed 
 of the emotion, and tried to suppress it. 
 
 ‘^You have kept me waiting a long time, Regina.” 
 
 316 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 317 
 
 The face she turned on him was illuminated by 
 the moon, and he saw plainly how insignificant 
 and meagre it had become. She tossed her head 
 scornfully. 
 
 ‘^My name is Helene^'* she said. am sorry 
 you have forgotten it;” and pouting, she turned 
 her back. 
 
 He winced. Pardon,” he stammered ; it was 
 a slip of the tongue.” 
 
 This was certainly an unfortunate beginning. 
 She made another grimace, but seemed disposed to 
 accept his apology. 
 
 Don^t let us stay here,” she begged. Pm afraid.” 
 
 ^‘What of?” 
 
 Of the churchyard ... if you will know.” 
 
 Again he had to struggle against a feeling of 
 contempt. In all she said and did he found himself 
 involuntarily comparing her with Regina, and the 
 comparison was immeasurably to her disadvantage. 
 
 You know how timid I am,” she said, as they re- 
 traced their steps. ‘Tt was rash of me to have chosen 
 this place for an appointment; indeed it was exceed- 
 ingly rash to come at all — and if it weren^t ” 
 
 Instead of finishing her sentence she cast at him 
 an affected sidelong glance. Then, as he offered 
 to help her over the ditch she gave a little scream 
 and said, No, no ! ” 
 
 His half-defined sensation of disappointment now 
 gave place to blank astonishment. She gazed round 
 her nervously. 
 
 We can^t stay here either,” she whispered. If 
 
3i8 the sins of THE FATHERS 
 
 I were caught here alone with a gentleman, I believe 
 I should die of shame/' 
 
 Where do you wish to go, then ? ” 
 
 You must decide." 
 
 ‘Wery well. Come into the wood." 
 
 She clasped her hands together with an agitated 
 old-maidish gesture. 
 
 ‘^What are you thinking of?" she exclaimed. 
 
 At night . . . with a gentleman ! " 
 
 He rubbed his eyes. Was it really possible, what 
 he heard and saw? Could this be Helene, the 
 guardian angel to whom he had looked up, as to a 
 being belonging to another world ? 
 
 But perhaps it was he who was to blame. Perhaps 
 the language of innocence and virtue was no longer 
 intelligible to him because of the fair savage who 
 had perverted his tastes, and filled his imagination 
 with impure pictures. 
 
 ^^Then let us walk quietly along the highroad," 
 he said. 
 
 But if some one comes ? " 
 
 We can see that no one is coming." 
 
 ‘‘Yet some one might . . ." 
 
 He was at a loss for an answer. A silence ensued, 
 and then he said, “ Won't you take my arm ? " 
 
 “ Oh, I don't know whether I ought," replied the 
 love of his youth. 
 
 And again they walked on in silence. It almost 
 seemed as if they had nothing at all to say to each 
 other. 
 
 “ Regina is waiting ! " a voice cried within him. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 319 
 
 ‘‘ How silent you are ! ” Helene lisped, playfully 
 pinching his elbow with two of the finger-tips that 
 lay on his arm. You wicked man ! Haven^t you 
 a little bit of liking left for me ? ” 
 
 He felt he had no right to say No.” She had 
 been true to him, had trusted his word for eight 
 long years; he dared not prove himself unworthy 
 now of her faith in him. When he had reassured 
 her with a stammered '' Of course, of course,” she 
 sighed, a deep-drawn, languishing sigh. 
 
 I hear such dreadful things about you,” she said, 
 ''that I don^t know what to believe. Tell me it^s 
 not true.” 
 
 "What ? ” he asked wearily. 
 
 "Ah, a girl can’t discuss such matters. Immoral 
 things, I mean. In old days you were a good, noble 
 fellow, and I can’t believe it’s true that you’ve 
 altered so completely.” 
 
 She drew a little closer to him. In doing so, 
 she dropped her blue silk reticule. As he stooped 
 — with her — to pick it up, the peak of his cap 
 brushed her face. 
 
 "Oh, take care!” she simpered, drawing back 
 hastily. 
 
 " A thousand pardons 1 ” he answered, in a tone of 
 rigid politeness, and bit his lips. 
 
 " Well, you don’t answer my question,” she con- 
 tinued. " Perhaps it is true, then, what people say ! 
 I should be sorry to think that poor unhappy me 
 had been so deceived in you. But papa always 
 thought you would come to a bad end.” She said 
 
320 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS' 
 
 this with such a ludicrous little air of superiority, 
 that he could not help smiling. 
 
 She seemed to discern that she was appearing 
 absurd in his eyes, and went on in a deeply injured 
 tone, Ah, it's all very well to laugh at a poor girl, 
 whose intentions towards you are so kind, and who 
 would give anything to prevent your ruin.” 
 
 Please, do not trouble yourself on my account,” 
 he replied. 
 
 ^'Now you are making yourself out worse than 
 you are,” she interposed. ** I know you have a noble 
 nature at bottom. And if fate parts us for ever, I 
 shall always, always keep a warm place for you in 
 my heart. Oh, what bitter tears have I shed for you 
 many a time ! And I've prayed every night to God 
 to keep the dear friend of my youth from sin, and 
 from wicked revengeful thoughts, and to give him a 
 , good conscience.'^ 
 
 I am afraid the behaviour of the Schrandeners 
 is not exactly calculated to cure a man of revengeful 
 thoughts,” he replied. 
 
 She turned up her sharp little nose. The Schran- 
 deners are an uncouth lot,” she remarked. And one 
 can't have much to do with them. I would much 
 rather stay altogether with my aunt in Wartenstein. 
 There at least one associates with respectable, well- 
 mannered townspeople, who lift their hats to a lady 
 when they meet her in the street. Not a single 
 Schrandener, with the exception of Herr Merckel, 
 and Felix of course, dreams of doing such a thing. 
 Felix,” she added with a sigh, ^'has the manners of 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 321 
 
 a gentleman and an officer.” Then as if something 
 had suddenly recalled the events of the afternoon to 
 her mind, she screamed, wrung her hands and said. 
 Oh, Boleslav, Boleslav ! ” 
 
 What is it, Helene ? ” 
 
 Boleslav, how could you be so wicked ! Poor, 
 poor Felix ! I did not see it myself, for I was in the 
 back-garden drawing radishes, but they told me 
 afterwards how you slashed at his head with your 
 drawn sabre, till it poured with blood.” She shud- 
 dered and shook with suppressed sobs. Then she 
 wrenched her hand out of his arm and skipped to 
 the opposite side of the road. Go ! I won^t have 
 anything more to do with you,” she cried. You 
 
 acted in a harsh and cruel manner ” 
 
 But you don’t understand, dear Helene,” he 
 protested. 
 
 ‘^And he was your schoolfellow and playmate, 
 and used to play hide-and-seek with us both in the 
 garden. He often climbed over the hedge for you 
 to get your ball when you had tossed it too far, and 
 he used to give you guinea-pigs. Have you for- 
 gotten everything? You ought to remember the 
 dear old times.” 
 
 Because of the guinea pigs, eh ?” 
 
 ^‘Oh, — and to think that you have shut him up 
 in the cold dark church ! Papa is of opinion that 
 you have no business to do it ; he says he will report 
 . your conduct to the kommando^ and that probably 
 you will get the worst of it.” 
 
 She resembled her father so little, he thought, that 
 
 X 
 
322 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 his words of thunder when repeated by her lips 
 sounded the most insipid chatter. And it was on 
 this cackling little hen that he had let the great 
 question of to be, or not to be, hang ! 
 
 She had now come back to his side, and with a 
 mincing gesture pushed her hand again through 
 his arm. 
 
 '^They say that you intend carrying him off 
 to-morrow a prisoner, to be tried by a court- 
 martial, and ‘that he will be shot dead for certain. 
 But it must be a lie. It is, isn^t it ? You couldn^t 
 do such a thing ; I wouldn^t believe it of you. You 
 are not so bad as all that.” 
 
 He suppressed an exclamiation of impatience. 
 
 Say you won’t ? ” she besought, wiping her 
 eyes. If / ask you, dear Boleslav, to let him go 
 free, you will grant me the favour — I know you 
 will.” 
 
 She spoke calmly, as if the request she made 
 were merely a casual one. But there was secret 
 anxiety in the eyes that glanced at his suspi- 
 ciously. 
 
 Dear, dear Boleslav ! ” she continued more 
 urgently, her arm trembling violently, if you care 
 for me the very least little bit, don’t let us part 
 before you have promised me this. I will cherish 
 your memory always in my heart, if Fate is cruel 
 enough to separate us for ever, and will at least 
 never cease to pray for you and bless you.” 
 
 '' I am sorry, Helene,” he said, moved to speak- 
 ing more warmly by her now evident distress, if 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 323 
 
 I must seem hard and inexorable to you. But it is all 
 of no good. Your wish cannot possibly be fulfilled.^^ 
 She had not in the least expected this answer, 
 and regarded him for a second with a cold, angry 
 expression. Then suddenly she burst out weeping, 
 and sank against the trunk of a tree for support, 
 with her thin hands before her face. 
 
 At the same moment the report of a gun was 
 heard in the distance, the echo of which slowly 
 rolled through the woodlands. 
 
 Helene gave a frightened cry, and, throwing up 
 her hands, sobbed out — 
 
 Now they have shot him for certain, because 
 you, inhuman monster, have commanded it! Oh 
 dear ! have you no mercy ? '' 
 
 Listening in the direction from which the gun- 
 shot had come, he did his best to soothe her. 
 
 That the shot had anything to do with Felix 
 Merckel was, of course, out of the question. 
 
 It had undoubtedly been fired in the wood, on the 
 farther side of the Castle, probably by a poacher on 
 the track of a wild red deer. 
 
 But she sobbed more violently than ever — 
 
 'Ht’s all very well . . . but you . . . you . . . 
 intend dragging him out to his death — you know 
 you do.^’ 
 
 Her increasing agitation began to bewilder Bole- 
 slav. He assured her he would do everything in 
 his power to ameliorate Felixes sentence. He him- 
 self would testify to his being hopelessly intoxicated 
 at the time. His old rancour against himself, his 
 
324 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 wounded vanity, all should be cited in extenuation 
 of his offence, and might influence his judges to 
 mildness. 
 
 But she was not satisfied, and at last dropped on 
 her knees in the clay soil, and cried aloud — 
 
 Be merciful ! be noble ! Save him ! 
 
 For God’s sake, stand up ! ” 
 
 No, I shall not. In the dust I’ll kneel to you 
 and implore your mercy.” 
 
 ‘^But don’t you see that I shall be imputing to 
 myself a murderous design if I represent him as 
 innocent ? ” 
 
 Never mind,” she sobbed. ^Hf you really love 
 me, you won’t object to making this little sacrifice 
 for my sake.” 
 
 Then it began to dawn on him that it was not 
 for the pleasure of seeing him she had summoned 
 him to her side, but, in accordance with a precon- 
 ceived plan, to make use of his love for her on 
 behalf of another. And of such stuff as this the 
 woman was made, of whom for long years he had 
 considered himself unworthy ! This was the radiant 
 angel who had represented his ideal of purity and 
 goodness, whose name he had held too sacred to 
 mention in the same breath as Regina’s ! 
 
 And Regina, the dishonoured, the outcast ! 
 What worlds she seemed now above this sly 
 virtue ! 
 
 A wild laugh burst from him. 
 
 Why did you not tell me at once that you were 
 in love with some one else ? ” 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 325 
 
 She started. ^'That is a slander!’’ she cried. 
 
 I am an honest, innocent girl 1 ” 
 
 Well, I presume you are betrothed ?” 
 
 She began to cry again, though even in her grief 
 she did not forget to carefully brush the mud from 
 her skirts. 
 
 ‘^Oh, Boleslav,” she wailed, 'Ht’s all your fault. 
 Why did you keep me waiting for you so long ? 
 And why have you given people so much cause to 
 gossip about you ? And then you know, there was 
 papa I His consent could never have been won ! 
 What was I, poor girl, to do ? ” 
 
 Please, say no more. It really doesn’t matter ! ” 
 he broke in cheerily. 
 
 You aren’t angry with me, then ? ” 
 
 Oh no I not in the least 1 ” 
 
 In silence he accompanied Helene back to the 
 village, took a friendly farewell of her, and promised 
 to do all he could to save her fiancL 
 
 She thanked him, made a formal little curtsey, 
 and they parted. 
 
 And so ended the great love of his life. 
 
 As he watched the shadow of her meagre little 
 figure disappear behind the houses, his whole soul 
 cried out for Regina in uncontrollable boundless 
 jubilation. Now the road was free — free for sinful, 
 exultant love. 
 
 But what was sin, when virtue had collapsed so 
 deplorably ? How could there be any evil, when 
 what was good appeared so absurd and contemp- 
 tible ? 
 
326 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 ^'Take her in your arms — crush her to your 
 breast — even to-morrow shall not cheat you of 
 her. . . . She shall follow you to the camp, from 
 battle to battle — let her wear men^s clothes like that 
 Leonore Prohaska, the heroine whom all Germany 
 admires and honours ! 
 
 Regina ! Regina ! ” he carolled anew, stretching 
 out his arms exultingly, in anticipation. He bounded 
 over the moonlit meadows, and higher and darker 
 every minute rose the wooded bank of the river 
 before him. 
 
 She would be standing on the Cats^ Bridge looking 
 out for him, as she had always done. 
 
 Regina ! ” he shouted over the river. But no 
 answer came. Deep silence all around. There was 
 only a faint rustle among the young leaves of the 
 willows that sounded like slumberous breathing 
 through half-closed lips ; and a gentle splashing 
 came up from the invisible river. Its waters were 
 low, and broke on the sharp pebbles. He climbed 
 the steep steps. 
 
 Regina ! he called again. Still silence. Then 
 he saw that in the centre of the plank, the rickety 
 hand-rail had given way : rotten splinters hung on 
 either side. Horror-stricken, he looked down at 
 the river. 
 
 On its silver surface floated a woman^s corpse. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 When the Schrandeners left the Black Eagle they 
 dispersed to their homes, with the intention of 
 arming themselves to the best of their ability. 
 
 Half of them did not turn up again. The others 
 — about twenty in number — careered in detachments 
 behind the limping carpenter, round the Castle island 
 in the direction of the Cats’ Bridge. Once united 
 under the shelter of the bushes, they believed they 
 would be unseen and unfollowed. They sneaked 
 in silence through the damp grass ; only the old 
 drunkard insisted on keeping up an incessant chatter 
 and mumbling. He conversed excitedly with his 
 gun as if it had been a human being — shook and 
 exhorted it not to fail him. From time to time he 
 held the butt-end to his cheek in an aiming posi- 
 tion, and when his range of vision became confused 
 by the sight of his own dancing fingers, or imagi- 
 nary bats and fireflies, he would take a long pull 
 at his bottle to clear it. 
 
 On reaching the Cats’ Bridge, which darkly 
 spanned the river, its rivets glittering in the moon- 
 light, the Schrandeners divided, some going to one 
 side of it and the rest keeping to the other. As 
 noiselessly as their half-drunken condition would 
 permit, they slid down the decline in order to screen 
 
 327 
 
328 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 themselves behind the alders. Those who had fire- 
 arms, led by the old carpenter, stationed themselves 
 on the edge of the sand-bank, so that they might 
 bring their victim down from the plank bridge, 
 should he by any chance escape the meditated 
 attack from below of pikes, scythes, and flails. 
 
 For the space of five minutes there was scarcely 
 a sound audible, beyond the crackling and swishing 
 among the twigs caused by some one stretching out 
 a hand for his bottle of schnaps. Death-like still- 
 ness reigned too on the island. 
 
 Then the carpenter, whose eyes were momentarily 
 sharpened by brandy, and who was on the alert like 
 a tiger crouching for a spring, discerned a figure 
 emerge and walk slowly and softly on to the Cats^ 
 Bridge. It must have been cowering in the boscage 
 above, on the opposite bank, for several minutes. 
 
 As the figure came out of the shadow into the 
 full light of the moon, he recognised his daughter. 
 Clearly she had discovered the assassins, and was 
 now on her way to warn the Freiherr of his peril. 
 
 Go back, you vermin ! he cried, all a sportsman’s 
 fury at being deprived of his certain prey taking 
 possession of him and clouding his erratic brain. 
 
 She ducked her head, but glided forwards, holding 
 on to the hand-rail. 
 
 ^‘Back, or I’ll aim!” 
 
 With one frantic leap she tried to propel herself 
 forwards, but a shot was fired at the same instant, 
 and she sank noiselessly against the rotten balus- 
 trade. It snapped in two, and a dark, lifeless mass 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 329 
 
 fell from the heights of the Cats’ Bridge into the river. 
 The water rose and fell in sparkling cascades. In 
 the shallow bottom the stones rolled and ground 
 against each other. 
 
 Then slowly the whirling, swaying body rose to 
 the surface of the ripples, till the face gazed upwards 
 and was brilliantly illumined by the moon. 
 
 A profound stillness reigned on the bank. 
 
 Motionless, and with bated breath, every one 
 stared down on the dead, upturned face, with its 
 wide-open eyes, which seemed full of warning and 
 rebuke. A corner of her skirt had caught on a 
 gnarled stump of a tree, which projected into the 
 river; thus she was anchored, and prevented from 
 drifting down with the stream. 
 
 Softly and cautiously, as if playing with it, the 
 current moved the body to and fro, and no one, 
 however much he might wish to avoid it, could help 
 seeing the head as it reposed on the water. 
 
 The silence lasted a full ten minutes, and then 
 one of the Schrandeners, who had helped to incar- 
 nate the evil conscience of the village, shyly with 
 bent head slunk away, making the bushes crackle 
 and rustle as he went. A second followed ; a third, 
 a fourth, . . . until at last the scene of the catas- 
 trophe was deserted. 
 
 The carpenter, who had been contemplating his 
 daughter’s dead face, grumbling, and talking to 
 himself the while, found himself alone. 
 
 Suddenly he roared out hoarsely, Fire ! fire ! 
 fire ! ” and hurled his gun at the corpse. It went 
 
330 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 splashing to the bottom of the river, and he stag- 
 gered after the others as fast as his legs would 
 carry him. 
 
 Nothing stirred now near the Cats’ Bridge. 
 Boleslav was safe ! 
 
 Some time elapsed before he was able to take in 
 what he saw. He stared in stupefaction, first at the 
 floating corpse, then at the broken balustrade. 
 
 ‘‘You should have had it repaired long ago,” he 
 thought, and toyed dazedly with the fragments. 
 
 Then, as if waking from a dream, he went back 
 to the bank, and climbed down the ravine, where he 
 found broken branches lying about, and freshly- 
 made footmarks. A vague suspicion of what had 
 happened dawned on him, and then quickly died 
 out ; the hope that there might yet be time to 
 restore her to life absorbing his mind, to the 
 exclusion of every other emotion. 
 
 He crawled cautiously along the tree -stump 
 as near the body as he could get, and drew it 
 ashore with the hilt of his sabre. . . . Now she 
 lay on the shining sand, and a hundred little rivulets 
 ran from every part of her. He took his sabre- 
 blade and cut her wet jacket off her, and became 
 aware of the blood that had dyed her chemise 
 crimson. As he ripped this away, too, he found 
 the fount from which the stream flowed in a wound 
 beneath her left breast. 
 
 Now he knew what that gunshot had meant. 
 And when the first wild impulse for vengeance, 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 331 
 
 which seemed to scream in his ear, Go and burn 
 their houses to the ground, and hew them down 
 till you yourself are hewn down ! ” had subsided 
 and consumed its own rage, he flung himself on 
 the corpse, and broke into passionate weeping. 
 He lay thus for a long time, then slowly rose, and, 
 bearing her on his shoulders, carried her through 
 the footprints of her murderers up the steep incline 
 over the Cats^ Bridge to the island. She was no 
 light burden, and three times he sank on to his 
 knees, gasping under her weight. 
 
 Near the shrubbery that surrounded the cottage 
 he was obliged to put her down, for he feared he 
 should swoon from his exertions. She lay on the 
 same spot where he had found her, motionless and 
 bleeding, after his father^s funeral. 
 
 Now as then the moonbeams played on the still 
 pale face ; only now she would not revive, could 
 never be recalled to life. 
 
 They have succeeded at last ! he cried, break- 
 ing into a loud, bitter laugh. 
 
 A sharp spasm of pain shot through the back of 
 his head ; he felt as if he must go raving mad if 
 those fixed, glazed eyes continued to look up at him 
 much longer. 
 
 But his anxiety to get the corpse interred before 
 he went away brought him to his senses. The 
 Schrandeners were capable of laying the murdered 
 girl beneath the earth somewhere in the heart of the 
 forest ; thereby removing all evidence of their crime, 
 and crippling the hands of justice. 
 
332 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 The one person he felt could be relied on to do 
 what was right in the matter was the old pastor. 
 Much as he might have denounced and slandered 
 her hitherto, he, at all events, would not be a party 
 to this last foul outrage. Boleslav therefore resolved 
 to rouse him from his bed, and to bring him to the 
 spot, so that later when he himself was, God knew 
 where, a witness might not be wanting. 
 
 The belfry clock struck eleven as he reached the 
 village street. The sentinels were parading noise- 
 lessly up and down in front of the church door, 
 otherwise the whole world was apparently wrapped 
 in profound slumber. 
 
 But from one of the cottages he passed, loud 
 blows, oaths, and scolding cries fell upon his ear. 
 He looked over the hedge, and saw the green coffin 
 which was the carpenter Hackelberg^s trade-mark, 
 looming uncannily from its stand. 
 
 The drunkard^s imbecile formula occurred to him. 
 ^‘His wish is likely to be fulfilled,^^ he thought; 
 ‘‘he has now the chance of making a coffin for his 
 daughter ; and in a bitterly ironical mood he deter- 
 mined to communicate to the old man, if he were 
 still in possession of his faculties, his child's terrible 
 end, and to demand the fulfilment of his promise. 
 
 He entered the gloomy passage. From a room 
 on the right proceeded the gurgling cries of the 
 thick, drunken voice which excited his involuntary 
 disgust. Mingled with it was a spasmodic hissing 
 and whizzing that he could not explain, till he had 
 lifted the latch and witnessed a spectacle so hor- 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 333 
 
 rible and revolting that, rich as the day had been 
 for him in horrors, he recoiled before it faint and 
 shuddering. 
 
 The old carpenter, his clothes half torn off, bleeding 
 from the throat and arms, the moonlight bringing 
 into prominence the hideous filthiness of the room, 
 plunged about as if seized with an attack of St. 
 Vitus’s dance. Every limb quivered violently, and 
 he foamed at the mouth. His eyes rolled in a 
 maniacal frenzy, and the muscles of his face 
 twitched convulsively. A huge plane hung from 
 his right hand, the handle of which, formed in the 
 shape of a ring, had grazed his knuckles, and which 
 he vainly endeavoured to steady with his palsied 
 fingers. Whenever he came to a wooden surface, 
 whether on the table, the walls, or the planks that 
 covered the floor, he tried to plane it, and this 
 caused the hissing sound which always ended 
 abruptly with a rasping jerk. 
 
 It’ll soon be ready now ! ” he cried. One 
 more blow” . . . ssh . . . *^and the shaping’s 
 done.” . . . ssh . . . ssh . . . ‘‘ Damn the bats . . . why 
 can’t they leave a man alone ? ” . . . ssh . . . ssh . . . 
 
 Forwards . . . Listen ! Fire ! fire ! The Castle’s 
 on fire ! Fire ! fire ! Keep out of the way, you 
 baggage — if you tell any one you’ve seen me — with 
 the tinder and the bundle of flax” . . . ssh . . . 
 ssh . . . ^' I won’t finish your coffin.” . . . ss . . . 
 ssh . . . ^^Get out of my sight, you snake.” He 
 lunged against Boleslav, who, with a presentiment 
 of what ghastly disclosures were to be made to 
 
334 the sins of THE FATHERS 
 
 him, had planted himself in his way. The drunkard 
 appeared to be labouring under the delusion that 
 Boleslav was his daughter. Go back — off the 
 Cats’ Bridge — the Baron shall get his deserts to- 
 day — back — or ” He laid the plane against 
 
 his cheek, and took aim; then, as if confronted by 
 another vision, he yelled once more at the top of 
 his voice, trembling with fright, '^Fire! fire!” and 
 made an attempt to creep under the table, planing 
 the tattered tails of his coat as he went. Fire ! 
 fire ! Get away — I didn’t do it I My daughter is 
 a liar. . . . The flames are spreading. Fire I fire 1 
 Look at the flames 1 ” 
 
 With the flames he seemed to reach the zenith of 
 his delirium, and then gradually descended again to 
 the bats, which he made a feint of chivying out of 
 his way with his arms and legs, and then resumed 
 planing the legs of the table. 
 
 Nearly ready, dear sir.” . . . ssh . . . ssh . . . 
 
 Just a couple more boards.” . . . ss . . . ssh . . . 
 
 My daughter’s debauched . . . There can be 
 no mistake,” . . . ss . . . ssh ... '^finely polished.” 
 
 . . . ss . . . ^‘ Now there she lies, and will howl no 
 more. . . . ssh . . . '^ What, not gone yet ? Your 
 father’ll drive you out.” . . . ss . . . ssh . . . 
 ^^The Baron will get a shot lodged in his ribs 
 to-day.” . . . ssh . . . ^'We want extra hands. 
 Hurrah, men ! — Hurrah, Merckel I ” . . . ss . . . 
 ^^Come off the plank — down from the bridge, you 
 beast. Have you any more French behind you? 
 If ^ou don’t go at once ” 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 335 
 
 Here he made for Boleslav. He looked in the 
 moonlight, with his tottering legs, his palsied head, 
 and his flapping arms, like some ghastly phantasmal 
 monster, whose limbs were pieced together by a 
 hundred movable joints. Just as he was reaching 
 his goal, the flames began to pursue him once more, 
 and to escape from them he crept, with a piercing 
 shriek this time, beneath a stack of wood, where, 
 with dense swarms of bats, the fearful cycle of his 
 delusions recommenced. 
 
 Boleslav, shaken to the foundations of his being 
 by the awful truth the old man had revealed in his 
 delirious ravings, felt he could no longer bear to gaze 
 on such a hideous scene. 
 
 He fled from the house as if the imaginary flames 
 which so terrified the maniac were pursuing him too, 
 and he did not pause till he had left the village 
 behind him, and found himself encompassed by the 
 shadows of the ruins. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 The church clock had struck the midnight hour, 
 by the time Boleslav got back to the spot where he 
 had left Regina’s soulless body. 
 
 A protecting darkness now veiled the white face, 
 for' the moon had passed behind a bank of clouds, 
 yet even from the darkness the great lustreless eyes 
 gazed appealingly up at him as if asking a question 
 to which there was no answer here or hereafter. 
 
 He threw himself on his knees beside her, and 
 saying good-bye to the two stars, whose light had 
 gone out, he tenderly closed their lids. She now 
 looked as if she were asleep, and he breathed more 
 freely. He felt something almost approaching a 
 painful satisfaction as he watched by her. You 
 belong to me, only to me,” he said. No one else 
 shall have any part or lot in you, in death as in life.” 
 
 What he had resolved to do, in a spirit of defiance, 
 
 as he left the murderer’s house, in his present calmer 
 
 mood still seemed the most commendable course to 
 
 take. Past events appeared to him now like a brazen 
 
 chain of guilt, to which for years one link after the 
 
 other had been added. And into this chain had been 
 
 forged, till it was made a component part of it, an 
 
 unlawful love. For the sake of this love which was 
 336 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 337 
 
 sinful as hell and pure as heaven, that which only 
 the silence of the night had witnessed should in 
 the silence of the night be buried — buried with 
 this corpse. 
 
 What retribution could be rendered by the poor 
 tribunal of man, in a case in which fate had so 
 clearly interfered and pronounced sentence ? Would 
 it not be profaning the dead body to drag it into 
 the glare of publicity, and so expose it to the snivel- 
 ling curiosity of the vulgar herd ? 
 
 Should he permit the priest who had cursed her 
 in her lifetime to consign her to the grave with a 
 perfunctory blessing ? And would not this involve 
 her being laid in a coffin manufactured by her fathers 
 blood-guilty hands, followed by his accomplices as 
 mourners, hooting and throwing stones ? 
 
 Ah no; it should not be! She should be the 
 prey, now she was dead, of no Schrandener wolves. 
 He alone, for whom she had lived, for whom she 
 had gone to meet her death, must prepare her last 
 resting-place. He would hide her in the lap of 
 mother earth, and smooth the turf so carefully 
 above her that no body-snatcher would ever dis- 
 cover and profane the holy spot. He lifted the 
 corpse in his arms and carried it to the grass-plot. 
 The moon had risen high in the heavens and shrouded 
 the landscape in a veil of silver. From the dewy 
 glistening grass rose the fragments of the old Diana 
 statue in dazzling whiteness. Here he bore her 
 and let her sink on the turf, her neck supported by 
 the cracked pedestal, so that with her face turned 
 
 Y 
 
338 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 towards the moon, she looked as if she had fallen 
 asleep in a sitting position. Then he sought a burial- 
 place. His eye fell on the black, four-cornered 
 patch which Regina had intended for his fathers 
 grave. How vividly she came back to him, as she 
 had looked then, in the full splendour of her sun- 
 burnt strength and beauty, driving the heavy spade 
 into the ground with her naked foot, as if it had been 
 a ramrod. If he had not then interrupted her in her 
 work, he would to-day have been spared his. 
 
 The service of love she had wished to render his 
 father it was now his duty to do for her. What 
 could be simpler than to go on digging deeper the 
 grave that she had begun that day, little dreaming 
 it would be her own ? 
 
 He fetched a spade from the kitchen, where the 
 fire she had kindled was still smouldering, and 
 began with all his strength to throw up the sod. 
 From time to time he paused and glanced at her. 
 She seemed well content to sit there in the bright 
 moonlight, and quietly contemplate his labours. 
 Now and then, when the shadow of a cloud flickered 
 on her face, he half fancied she moved, and was 
 going to rise to her feet. 
 
 Then that tormenting scepticism that all ex- 
 perience in the presence of their beloved dead 
 overwhelmed him. He called her name and rushed 
 to her side. Her hand rested on Diana^s head, 
 which lay close to her in the grass. He dared not 
 touch her, and stole back to his work, his face 
 buried in his hands, 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 339 
 
 The grave began to grow deep, and he feared 
 that soon he might not be able to climb on to the 
 edge again. He went to get the flower-stand out 
 of the green-house, on the shelves of which she 
 had ranged the plates and dishes in such beautiful 
 order. 
 
 No one shall eat off them again ! he said, 
 and dashed the earthenware crockery on the floor, 
 where it broke to atoms. He placed the stand 
 against the inside of the grave, to serve as a 
 ladder, and then continued throwing out the soil 
 as before. 
 
 By the time the clock in the village had boomed 
 out the second hour of the morning, his melancholy 
 task was finished. He had no cofHn for her, but 
 to prevent her lying on the black moist earth, he 
 fetched from his bed, which she had always taken 
 pains to keep so daintily clean and tidy, a quilt, 
 and two feather pillows, and lined the grave with 
 them. 
 
 And now the time for parting had come. He 
 raised her in his arms, and bore her to the edge of 
 the pit ; then sitting down on the mound of turf to 
 take breath, he lifted her head on to his knees. 
 Never before had he been able to look at her so 
 leisurely, for he had never dared trust himself to 
 let his eyes rest on her for long. Now he studied 
 lovingly every feature of the dead face, caressed the 
 stiff cheeks, and wrung the water from her heavy 
 curls. A cold shiver passed through his frame. 
 He had held the wet body, with its dripping skirts, 
 
340 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 so long in his arms, that his own clothes were 
 damp from the contact. 
 
 Farewell ! ” he murmured, and kissed her on 
 the forehead. He was going to kiss her on the 
 lips, but drew back quickly. 
 
 You disdained them in life,^^ he said to himself, 
 so in death they may not belong to you.” 
 
 And then he edged the corpse nearer the grave, 
 and jumped down on to the top step of the stand. 
 Slowly and cautiously he lifted her in, stretched her 
 on the quilt, and cushioned her head on the soft 
 pillows. 
 
 Once more he wanted to kiss her, but was afraid 
 to leave the stand that bridged her feet; so he 
 contented himself with stroking her hands, which 
 he could reach from where he sat; then he clam- 
 bered out of the grave, drawing the stand after him 
 with the top of the spade-handle. But afterwards 
 he found he had forgotten to draw a corner of the 
 quilt over her face, to prevent the soil from falling 
 on it. ^'Flowers,” he thought, ''will do as well;” 
 and he went in search of them. Under the trees in 
 the park grew great masses of anemones and blue- 
 bells, and there were violets and primroses, that she 
 herself had cultivated, in the garden. 
 
 He gathered all he could see in the uncertain 
 light. The anemones and primroses had closed 
 their calyxes in sleep, but the violets looked up at 
 him with their confiding blue eyes, as if inviting him 
 to pluck them. 
 
 With his hands full he returned to the grave, and. 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 341 
 
 as he looked down into it, stood spell-bound at 
 what he saw. It was indeed a picture of almost 
 magic loveliness. The moon had passed its height, 
 and, shining at the foot of the grave, illuminated it 
 on the east side, so that the head, reposing in its 
 deep resting-place, was thrown out clearly in relief, 
 while the blood-stained body was hidden in darkest 
 shadow. 
 
 The still, white face seemed to smile up at him, 
 as if lapped in blissful dreams. 
 
 He threw the flowers aside, and, crouching down 
 in the loose earth he had thrown up, stared and stared 
 down on her, holding a solemn and silent wake. 
 
 Thoughts chased each other through his brain in 
 a confused whirl, until gradually he came to a calmer 
 and more rational frame of mind. 
 
 He reflected on how she had gone through life 
 despised and guilt-laden, and yet unrepentant, ap- 
 pearing to be satisfied with her past rather than 
 regretting it. 
 
 Once, in an hour of dire perplexity, he had asked 
 himself whether it was the dull indifference of the 
 brute or the wiles of a devil that made her will so 
 strong and her conscience so lax, and he had not 
 known what to answer. 
 
 To-day, when it was too late, her true nature was 
 revealed to him. 
 
 No, she had not been a brute or a devil, but 
 simply a grand and complete human being. One 
 of those perfect, fully developed individuals such 
 as Nature created before a herding social system, 
 
342 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 with its paralysing ordinances, bungled her handi- 
 work, when every youthful creature was allowed to 
 bloom unhindered into the fulness of its power, and 
 to remain, in good and in evil, part and parcel of 
 the natural life. 
 
 And as he pondered thus, it seemed to him that 
 the mists which obscure the source of human exist- 
 ence from human knowledge had dispersed a little, 
 and that he had been granted a deeper glimpse than 
 most men into the fathomless gulf of the Unknown. 
 What is generally called good and bad drifted about 
 anchorless on the cloudy surface, but below lay 
 dreaming in majestic strength, the Natural. 
 
 And those whom Nature favours,'' he said aloud 
 to himself, '‘she lets take root in her mysterious 
 depths, so that they spring boldly into the light, 
 with vision undimmed and conscience untrammelled 
 by the befogging illusions of morality and worldly 
 wisdom." 
 
 Such a highly favoured, completely endowed human 
 creature was this abused and abandoned woman. 
 
 "And I for whom she lived and died, have I 
 deserved such a sacrifice?" he meditated further. 
 " Was I worthy of the trust and confidence she so 
 unhesitatingly placed in me ? " 
 
 With ruthless severity he sat in judgment on 
 himself, and he came out of the ordeal anything but 
 unscathed. 
 
 " Of course I belong to the other type," he 
 thought, "to the people who are torn all their life 
 long between right and wrong, and who lose their 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 343 
 
 way in the fog. We regard the tribute Nature 
 demands of us as impurity and vice, and yet the 
 restraint of moral laws often appears to us hollow 
 and far-fetched. Thus we vacillate perpetually be- 
 tween defiance and fear of them. We crave for 
 the good opinion of the world, in which we don’t 
 believe, and tremble in face of its condemnation, 
 which we despise and contemn in our hearts. Once 
 I thought it would be ah indelible disgrace to bury my 
 father in this unconsecrated ground ; now I should 
 be glad if I had done so. Once I tried to forget 
 my bitterness in the ambition of restoring my an- 
 cestral inheritance to its pristine glory; now I am 
 delighted at the thought of shaking its dust from 
 my feet. Then I held the Schrandeners to be mere 
 barbarous savages ; but to-day I awake to the fact 
 that my own race has made them what they are. . . . 
 Then I thought this woman too degraded to take 
 bread from her hand ; to-day I am weeping by her 
 grave. All my heart was centred on the extinguished 
 flame of youth’s first foolish fancy ; I insisted on 
 making the arbitress of my destiny a simpering, 
 prudish minx, for whom I really had long ceased 
 to care . . . and I repulsed in horror the most 
 splendid and satisfying of natural loves. But truly 
 this natural love represented deadly sin, and tempted 
 me to contaminate my blood. 
 
 Yet when the worst came to the worst, and the 
 life that flowed in my veins had burst from the con- 
 trol of all laws, human and divine, could I not have 
 made atonement by paying the penalty of death ? ” 
 
344 the sins of THE FATHERS 
 
 And then the question occurred to him, whether 
 the body he talked so lightly of surrendering at his 
 own caprice belonged exclusively to him ? What 
 if it were the Fatherland^s inviolable possession ? 
 Certainly, then, he was not privileged to desecrate it. 
 
 ‘Ht is w^ell that in an hour of chaos like this, 
 when good and evil, right and wrong, honour and 
 dishonour, seem to be swaying about in hopeless 
 confusion, and when the old God of our childhood 
 with His Heaven seems to have vanished away . . . 
 it is well for swooning men to have one prop left to 
 lean on, one firm rock to cling to, on which even to 
 be shipwrecked were a delightful relief. Such a 
 prop, such a stay, have I in my country.” 
 
 Thus spake the son of his country's betrayer, and 
 fervently folded his hands. 
 
 The moon had shifted its radiance away from the 
 grave, and the dead face it had illumined now lay in 
 shadow. It was scarcely possible to distinguish it 
 from the surrounding earth. 
 
 The time has come,” he said, and looked round 
 
 him. 
 
 In the east glimmered the first rosy streak of 
 dawn. A bluish haze suffused the landscape, and 
 above him in the branphes began the dreamy twitter 
 of awakening birds. He was in the act of throwing 
 the flowers into the grave, when suddenly he changed 
 his mind, and with a frown cast them aside. 
 
 What need of such fastidious effeminacy ? ” he 
 asked himself rebukingly. Dust has no reason to 
 fear meeting dust.” 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 345 
 
 Then he seized the spade, and shutting his eyes, 
 began with zest to shovel the dark earth over the 
 beloved body. A quarter of an hour later the grave 
 was full. He laid the turf carefully in its original 
 place, and took care to remove the remnants of 
 superfluous soil and scattered flowers, so that when 
 the sun rose no one could have found the place 
 where Regina slept for ever. 
 
 As he searched for a stone to commemorate the 
 sacred spot, his eyes fell on the head of the ruined 
 statue, which smiled at him in stony vacancy. He 
 lifted it, and planted it in the turf. 
 
 Diana, the chaste,” he murmured, ‘‘shall serve 
 her as a tombstone. The sister by whom she will 
 keep eternal watch is not unworthy of her.” 
 
 And again he flung himself on the grass and 
 became lost in meditation. On the stroke of six 
 he rose, and made preparations to depart. 
 
 “They will be fools indeed,” he muttered to 
 himself, “ if they don’t make an end of me to-day.” 
 
 He filled his pistols with new cartridges, and 
 sharpened his sabre, for he was determined his life 
 should be dearly purchased. 
 
 But when he crossed the drawbridge to the village, 
 he was greeted by familiar and friendly faces. They 
 belonged to Heide’s sons, who were making their 
 way to the Schranden depot. They pressed round 
 him and offered him their hands. 
 
 “We are come,” said Karl Engelbert, “to put 
 ourselves under your command, for we wish to make 
 amends for our conduct to you in the past.” 
 
346 THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 
 
 I thank you with my whole heart,” he replied. 
 ‘‘All is forgiven and forgotten.” 
 
 Then he walked up to Schranden^s gallant troopers, 
 who, pale and with chattering teeth, cowered near 
 the church door, like criminals awaiting execution. 
 
 His comrades pointed out to each other in dismay 
 the blood-stains on his clothes, but not one dared 
 ask him to explain how they came there. 
 
 “ Bring out the prisoner, and get a waggon for 
 him,” he ordered. Felix Merckel was led out, but 
 Boleslav did not deign to give him a glance. 
 
 When farewells had been said, and all was in 
 readiness for the march, the old pastor made his 
 way through the crowd. His face was haggard 
 and his hands shook. 
 
 He hastened to Boleslav’s side and whispered 
 in his ear: “I hear that Regina met her death 
 last night. ... I am willing to give her Christian 
 burial.” 
 
 “ Many thanks, your reverence,” answered Bole- 
 slav, “but I have already buried her with Pagan 
 rites,” and he turned away. 
 
 A Schrandener, who, to ingratiate himself, had 
 probably spent part of the night in capturing 
 Boleslav’s horse, now came forward holding it, with 
 a servile grin. 
 
 He swung into the saddle, and his sabre flew out 
 of the scabbard. His voice rang out clear and 
 threatening above the heads of the crowd as he 
 gave the word of command. 
 
 “ Right, left. Quick march ! ” 
 
THE SINS OF THE FATHERS 347 
 
 They left the village behind them; the woods 
 loomed nearer. 
 
 He did not look back. 
 
 • ••••• 
 
 Of the career of Boleslav von Schranden after- 
 wards, very little is known. It was considered 
 advisable by the military authorities to gazette him 
 again into his old regiment, owing to the mutiny 
 that had taken place under his command. 
 
 While the East Prussian Landwehr remained 
 behind in the ancient provinces, he obtained the 
 much-coveted permission to go direct to the seat 
 of war. 
 
 It is supposed that he fell at Ligny. 
 
 THE END 
 
 Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson df Co. 
 Edinburgh dr* London 
 
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