ton, you know, your highness, who is in Spain, and "Shelter and a place where he could live without being seen or disturbed by any one; the first night he slept in the house, but the next day he chose the most distant, secluded hut occupied by our farm-hands, sent to Stockheim for a huge trunk, and settled there, satisfying himself with the food cooked by the laborer's wife, and sometimes he comes and talks with Meyer; but who he really is, and what he wants, neither Meyer nor I know." 66 'Strange! And is this all you know of him?" "All, except that in his trunk he has a great many books, over which he spends most of the day, and he paid the laborer in gold, which he had to get changed in Idar, and the people there told him it was English money." English money! This caused a connection of ideas which suggested some vague explanation of the mystery. In those days English money appeared in every place where an effort was made to resist the power of France. English gold was like the blood that flowed through the veins of the general revolt against the great destroyer; so the stranger was perhaps one of the instruments of the great conflict, an instrument still concealed, perhaps to work in secret, perhaps to await a fixed hour, till the time to work had come. derstand it, you must, like me, have studied history all day long, fixed your thoughts on a dead world, and, when rousing yourself from this occupation, felt the emptiness of the present, the dreary void around you. Then you would be able to comprehend the feeling with which I find here a bit of living, charming life, that suddenly makes all the shadows of the past take to flight. Blessings upon you for it, although you certainly did not come with any such intention." "No," replied the princess, smiling; "I did not come here with the intention of receiving such metaphysical compliments, far less with the expectation of hearing any one, in our busy times, talk about the emptiness of the present.' "I did not speak of that; I alluded to the terrible, God-forsaken emptiness of the world around me, and meant not the present time, but the immediate surroundings of a wretched little hut where I live." "Does anything prevent you from leaving this place and living for the present, where it needs the strength of every man in its battles?" "Yes, I must remain here, your highness," he answered, in a low tone, shaking his head; then, after a pause, added: "I have been in the army a long time, have seen war in its most horrible form; I was in Spain, engaged for months in the fiercest battles with guerrillas, witnessing innumerable horAt last this life became unendurable; I fell into a state of wretchedness; I revolted against the existence I was forced to lead, and welcomed it as a relief when, in consequence of an act of insubordi rors. "Did he tell you nothing about your son?" asked nation-" the princess-"how and where he met him? The woman shook her head. "Meyer says," she replied, "that he has told him all sorts of thingshow they had been quartered together in a place where the English had been masters and kept our Anton a prisoner, but which they afterward surrendered to the French; but I couldn't understand much about it, nor Meyer either. But, my soul! there's the gentleman himself coming across the bridge yonder." The princess looked up and saw the stranger approaching over the narrow wooden bridge thrown across the river; he walked slowly, with his hands crossed behind his back, and his eyes fixed thoughtfully upon the ground. When, raising his head, he chanced to perceive the princess, he advanced directly toward her, without either hastening or slackening his pace. The princess felt that she changed color, as the man with whom her thoughts had been so much occupied of late unexpectedly appeared before her, and the consciousness that she was blushing deprived her of the self-command which was usually rarely shaken. Moreover, his eyes, half veiled by their drooping lids, rested upon her with as much coolness as if he were gazing at one of Meyer's farm-servants. Yet he raised his hat with a very courteous bow, and quietly took the chair the farmer's wife offered, saying: "I am very happy to see you, your highness-how happy, I cannot clearly express; to un "You shot one of your comrades through the head, as you told me a short time ago," said the princess, in a half-grave, half - incredulous tone; was it that?" 'Right. It was that, and it saved me from an utterly unendurable position. As I was a German, whom they no longer trusted implicitly, the French officers under whom I served did me the kindness to treat the matter far more seriously than usual, and ordered me before a court-martial which condemned me to be shot. The sentence required to be approved by the general of division, and he was absent. I was obliged to wait two days as a condemned man, before his approval could be procured. Two long days! Have you any idea what those words mean? Two days, during which a man can hear no footstep approach without thinking it is that of the guard who will enter to say: 'Come! The moment is at hand!' Two days! And then-oh! the nights, the nights!" The stranger passed his hand across his face, whose variable expression while speaking rendered him peculiarly attractive; it seemed as if he wished to shut out the shadow of the horrible memory he had conjured up. "Good Heavens!" said the princess, drawing a long breath, "condemned to death for two whole days, expecting the sentence to be executed every moment! How was it possible to endure? How can people inflict such tortures on each other?" "Why, of course-the name you assumed is not yours. It belongs to another—you know that. So be cautious. You might be called to account." "Of course I might be." "Why, yes. Do you suppose Herr von Uffeln is so absorbed in his new-found estate, new authority, and love-affair, that—” "Love-affair?" "It is said that he is going to marry Fräulein Adelheid von Mansdorf.” "Do people say so?" "Certainly-and it is natural that hands should be united as well as interests." Ah, yes!" replied the stranger, and then relapsed into a sorrowful reverie. "Of what are you thinking?" He passed his hand across his brow, as if to arouse himself from a dream, and said: "Let us talk of other things. What brings you here, your highness? Love for these beautiful old trees? You are right in lavishing your affection upon them." "Only they don't return it." "It is the fate of happy mortals to love without finding a return." "How was I saved? Strangely enough! The general's approval of the sentence of death arrived toward evening. It was to be executed within the hour. I was brought out of prison with my hands tied behind my back, the inevitable monk beside me, while the detachment which was to escort me outside the city, and aid my departure to another world, stood drawn up before the building. As it began to march, and we passed through the narrow, already dusky streets of the little Spanish town, I heard firing in the distance; the soldiers did not heed it, but the sound grew louder, and came from the direction in which we were proceeding. The commanding officer ordered the men to quicken their pace. We passed through the narrow gate, and had already entered the field, in which I saw the mound of earth that had been thrown from my grave, when suddenly drums beat within the city behind us, and, at the same time, we heard renewed firing, as if the place had been attacked from an opposite direction. My detachment moved hastily forward to get rid of me as soon as possible; the officer had already shouted 'Halt!' when a shot was fired directly before us; men appeared on the ridge of ground that bordered the field; clouds of blue smoke rose above them. They were guerrillas, who, combined with other troops, had “And yet true. A reciprocated affection, which attacked the city and hoped to take it by surprise. leads in the usual way to ordinary marriage, soon beOur officer, in his astonishment, grew confused, gave comes commonplace; the aroma, the poesy evapoorders to advance upon the band now rushing down rates, and the heart cannot succeed in developing the the hill, saw that the force was very numerous, turned real flower of life-passion. Are not those unhappy to command a retreat, and perceived his men already mortals who pass through life dreaming, sleeping, in full flight toward the gate of the city, to save them- without ever knowing passion? Only he who is so selves behind it. Nobody troubled himself about me, fortunate as to love in vain learns to know it, learns and I was speedily surrounded and captured by the something of its demoniacal power; suffering unseals guerrillas. When I declared that I was an English- all the dark, hidden springs of the heart, and he perman, and was to have been shot for a spy, they left|ceives the full extent and depth of human life. Is me to myself, and I of course did not neglect to make my escape. After wandering about all night, I succeeded in reaching an English corps, and presented myself as a German enrolled in the army of France, who had taken advantage of the guerrilla attack to desert. While with this corps, I met some French soldiers who had been taken prisoners in a recent engagement. Among them was a man from this neighborhood who had formerly been in my company, and was warmly attached to me-Meyer's son. When I told him I was coming here, he gave me a letter to his father." "Is he still a prisoner?" "No, he was exchanged in a few days. At the end of a few weeks, as soon as I succeeded in procuring some money, I went to England, and thence sailed to a German port." "Happy? How paradoxical!" he not, therefore, to be considered happy?" The princess, amazed at such views, thoughtfully shook her head. After a pause, she said, smiling: "Then you were undoubtedly right in giving your love where you were sure not to find a return." My love? Oh! I remember what I told you— but how was it?" "What? You have already forgotten your poor Spanish nun? Then that passion cannot have been very ardent." "Perhaps," replied the stranger, gazing at the princess with a subtile, significant smile, "it has been crowded out of my heart by a new and greater one.” The princess blushed and rose. This was too much frankness-if it were not insolence. Her royal blood rebelled against so much presumption. She "And no impulse urged you to enter the ranks of said a few words more to Meyer's wife, who had rethose who are fighting for Germany?" mained a silent listener throughout the whole con versation; then left a message for Meyer Jochmaring, beckoned to Marianne, and went away without vouchsafing even a glance at the man who had so deeply offended her. The latter looked after her gravely and thoughtfully, while a slight smile hovered around his lips. The princess walked very rapidly. She was evidently greatly excited. Marianne, who tried several times to commence a conversation, received no reply. At last, when they were approaching the castle, the princess exclaimed in a loud, vehement tone: "I believe he's a horrid liar, and is laughing at me in his sleeve because I looked at him with such | childish credulity, while he told me the most impossible things. The impertinent fellow!" V. MEANTIME Herr Ulrich Gerhard von Uffeln, with his quiet, unassuming manners, had become domesticated at Castle Wilstorp as a member of the family. He filled Herr von Mansdorf's pipes and drank with him, listened to Frau von Mansdorf with the most winning attention when the latter explained the really almost incomprehensible relationship between the Von Uffelns and the Von Mansdorfs. But he devoted himself to Adelheid with a certain timid embarrassment, who, though frank and cordial as she was to every one else, showed these qualities very little to the distant cousin, and began to treat him with a coolness which showed the young man's amiable character in a still brighter light, as he did not permit any personal sensitiveness, so natural under such circumstances, to interrupt the faithful homage he gave her. Besides, when Adelheid behaved with unusual unkindness, it might be attributed to her physical condition; she looked ill, and often complained of fatigue and headache-a state of health, however, which seemed to cause her mother no anxiety, for the latter merely said: "It will pass off as it often did. It's not at all necessary to send for Dr. Günther. I don't want to see the doctor eternally in the house; we shall be able to help ourselves now. Thanks to the kindness of Cousin Uffeln, who has placed all his share of the money received for timber at our disposal, we shall go south to spend the winter-that will cure you entirely." It was evidently as Princess Elizabeth had said: the rumor of a union of hands as well as interests, at Castle Wilstorp, was well founded, for Frau von Mansdorf was determined to accomplish such a marriage. Thus the arrival of the cousin had been to Adelheid by no means the joyful event it proved to all the others. All the others, we say, yet we must make a second exception that of a slender young man, with delicate, refined features and dark, wavy hair, who, seated in Herr Plümer's study, formed, with his graceful, elegant figure, a peculiar contrast to the notary in a torn dressing-gown and tobacco-stained linen. "Life is a sorrowful business, my dear Adolf," said Herr Plümer to his young companion, "which is a lesson you have doubtless learned sufficiently well beside your patients' sick-beds. But what you perhaps have not had occasion to learn so thoroughly is the truth of the proverb, 'One thing a man must have, and that is, common-sense-or a rope to hang himself.' I think you have the common-sense." "I have common-sense," replied the young physician, "and believe I've given sufficient proof of it by not going to Wilstorp long ago to have a plain explanation with this fellow, this Uffeln, and tell him-" "What could you tell him which would alter the position of affairs one hair's-breadth? The income of the Wilstorp property is not enough for two families. If this Uffeln marries a stranger and brings her home, there may be countless children; all must stay there together, and it will make a dog's life for all. Therefore, the only wise, proper, and natural thing to do, is for Uffeln to enter the family by marrying Adelheid. This will smooth everything, and prevent any possible conflict of interests. Besides, it will be pleasant for Adelheid herself to be able to marry without leaving her parents' house-" " Marry a stranger whom she does not, cannot love! Pray, uncle, don't utter the word, don't conjure up the idea, or you will drive me mad.” "Your madness must be cured, and the best way of doing so is to reflect that Adelheid's marriage with her cousin would afford a more lasting guarantee for her happiness than if she were to accept you and move out of her beautiful home to your modest house. Yes, it is one of the best in the city; and you have property, too; but even the most solid and respectable plebeian home could not long satisfy a girl of noble birth; and-" "Oh, there is no sense in what you are saying, uncle," interrupted Adolf. I am sure of Adelheid's affection she has confessed that she desires no greater happiness than to spend her life by my side, and plebeian or noble birth has nothing to do with it. But what ought to be considered is Adelheid's health, she is not strong, and if they force her to marry against her inclination, do violence to her feelings, to her heart, her inner life, they will fling her into the arms of death. This I know as a physician." "Humph!" said the notary, "if the god Esculapius enters into the affair, I must be silent. I have advised you to use common-sense as a remedy against your despair; but this counsel won't apply to women's diseases. Besides, your prognostic seems to me more passionate than scientific." "No, no, that it is not," exclaimed Adolf; “I know how delicate Adelheid is, how deeply she feels, and how much her recovery depends upon an untroubled mind. Has she not been remarkably well during the past few months? Have not all the dangerous symptoms disappeared? Well, this occurred at the moment we confessed our mutual love, when I acknowledged my passion for her, when the condition of torturing agitation ceased, which always—" "Now soaring to heaven, now sorrowful unto death,'" interrupted the notary. "Why, yes, I yield if you have intrenched yourself behind medical science, but in that case I can give you no advice what ever. You will not divert Frau von Mansdorf from her plan, though you might succeed in softening her husband. Unfortunately, he is not the ruler of the household. She is an excellent woman in other respects; but any opposition to her will always produces a chemical effect: it develops an acid, which crystallizes into the obstinacy of a mule. Both husband and wife are really governed by Herr Faustelmann, who hates us because we are a little skeptical about his visions. He will undoubtedly act against you. So there is nothing left for you to do, except try this Uffeln himself, and inform him of the state of affairs. He seems to be a gentle, good-natured man, and, when you have tried your eloquence upon him, perhaps he will renounce Adelheid's hand, and promise to live forever at Wilstorp as an unmarried cousin, in order not to incommode the Von Mansdorf family." Adolf Günther shook his head. "He may be good-natured and unassuming enough," said he; "but he seems to me like a characterless fellow, who will do what Frau von Mansdorf and his selfishness tell him." "Hem! yes," replied the notary, "I, too, think such a step would be unavailing." A pause ensued. At last Herr Plümer rose, cleaned his spectacles, filled his pipe, and then turned to one of his book-shelves to search for a paper. He was evidently tired of discussing an affair that seemed to him so purposeless. "Listen," said he, drawing out one of the bundles of documents; as a good lawyer ought not to send his client away without any advice, I'll give you Tell your story to Princess Elizabeth; she is your great patroness, and also very friendly to Adelheid. If any one can be of service in this affair, she is the person to invent ways and means." some. Meyer Jochmaring was again seated on the bench under his trees, but to-day he had other company than the aristocratic society in which we first saw him, and the refreshment was also different from what he had offered the princess, for whom, indeed, it would not have been very suitable, since it consisted of a bottle of very ordinary brandy. The forester Runkelstein, however, seemed to be accustomed to this panacea of agricultural life, and the apothecary from Idar had already allowed his glass to be filled for the second time, while Faustelmann, who sat opposite, had not touched his. The men were tolerably near each other, and seemed to be discussing, with great earnestness, some subject of much interest. The descendant of Wittekind's old follower had contracted his eyebrows as gloomily as if he were some grim old Saxon judge. "If we only knew with more certainty how much truth there is in the news of Prussian and Russian victories," said Runkelstein, "we might enter into it. But the French act as if they still remained conquerors, and so long as we can't get at the plain truth we should be fools to engage in anything so dangerous." "The tales of French successes are pure inventions; I'll answer for that, Runkelstein," eagerly exclaimed the little apothecary; "they're pure inventions, all lies." Blücher defeated them in Silesia; they were terribly beaten at Katzbach, and I'll bet my shop against your blouse that before autumn not one of them will be seen on the shore of the Weser. But we sha'n't drive them out of the country without putting forth all our strength, and, when the hour comes for each individual to do what he can, he must be ready or he'll be no patriot and no true German; and we all, as true men, belong to the emperor and empire, the German Empire which the French have seized, and we must get back what we have had." "Yes," said Meyer; "we must have that again, for, without it, the world is out of joint. When it comes to that, Widmer, Meyer Jochmaring will be the first to strike. I'll do my best for emperor and empire. Only tell me when the hour is at hand and I'll not fail to be present with my long duck-gun, and powder and shot, and whatever else is wanted. But I don't know that we can do anything but wait." "That's just what the people in other neighborhoods don't think, Meyer," replied the apothecary. "In other neighborhoods they've done more than be content with their old duck-guns. They have secretly collected arms, smuggled rifles from England into little ports on the Baltic Sea, obtained ammunition, and prepared everything to be ready to revolt when the time comes. And that's just what we ought not to omit to do. You, Meyer, have your gun hanging over the hearthstone. But your farm-hands have no weapons; and all whose will is good, but who have no arms, must be provided with them. Money must be collected and lists prepared, to which each who is ready to help can set a cross for his name. Then we can decide how many guns we need, and on how many men we can depend." But," interposed Runkelstein, "who will venture to attend to the smuggling in of these guns? Not I, and our worthy Faustelmann here doesn't look as if he were inclined to do it either." "I couldn't meddle in any such business," replied Faustelmann, "without my master's knowledge. I must also request to have my name omitted from the lists, but I'm ready to give money." "That's the main thing, after all," said the apothecary; "others will provide for the purchase of the weapons." "But, Widmer," observed Runkelstein, “you don't mean to smuggle muskets and cartridges into the country, packed in your camphor-boxes?" 46 "Not exactly," replied the patriotic pharmaceutist, not I, but men have already been appointed to take charge of the business. Don't you suppose the Tugendbund has had its emissaries in the country long ago?" "No, indeed," said Runkelstein, "I would never have believed that; I've beaten many a bush in my hunting-circuit, but never driven out any such game." "In your hunting-circuit? I don't know what they should be doing there. One has been to me; and more than once. He discussed the matter with me; I introduced him to several gentlemen in Idar; what else has been done I can't say at this time. But you see how the hare runs, Runkelstein, and that I know more about this business than you." "He must be a bold man," interposed Faustelmann, "to venture to carry on such business in this neighborhood, which is swarming with French gendarmes." "Pshaw!" replied the apothecary, "when a cause is losing, its supporters grow dull and stupid; while the French gendarmes once seemed to have eyes in the back of their heads, they now no longer see well with those in front. We shall never get on if we have too much caution; it's time to act. So, Meyer Jochmaring, what will you contribute?-And you, Runkelstein, will you make out a list of the trustworthy men in your hunting-circuit ?-You, Faustelmann, are ready to give money. How much?" "Are you sure your emissary is really an agent of the Tugendbund, and doesn't merely want to cheat us out of our money?" asked Faustelmann. "I have convinced myself of that. I saw his papers, a letter written by Stein's own hand." This seemed to turn the scale; under such circumstances, the men were not disinclined to actively support the cause of their native land. Jochmaring and Faustelmann named small sums, which they were willing to give the apothecary, and Runkelstein agreed to bring the list the following Sunday, at which time all three would meet at the apothecary's shop in Idar for another discussion of the affair. Faustelmann then took leave, and Runkelstein joined him. When they had gone, the apothecary emptied his glass and held out his hand to Meyer. "Good-by till we meet again, Meyer," said he. "I must set out for home now; I have a long walk, for I must go round by the ruined castle." "The ruined castle? What takes you there?" "I want to look for a certain plant," replied the apothecary, with a sly smile, as he lifted a box of herbs on his back; "it grows there in the marshy ground." himself. Good-by, Meyer Jochmaring, good-by. I shall overtake him." With these words the apothecary, evidently greatly excited, ran after the forester and Faustelmann. VI. EARLY in the morning of the following day, Faustelmann brought to the castle the letters and newspapers from the post. Among them were a letter and a dainty note sealed with a prince's coronet. The newspapers contained important tidings, for, although they gave accounts of battles in which, of course, the French arms gained new laurels, they betrayed in their report of the last movements of the troops that all Napoleon's forces were concentrating and retreating, and, after repulses of the Prussians and Russians in Silesia, had returned to Dresden, the very spot whence they had started. But the letter Herr Faustelmann brought, and which was written by a friend of Herr von Mansdorf, who lived in a larger city, situated nearer the eastern part of Germany, contained still more important tidings. It stated that the people tnere had received trustworthy news of two encounters, which the papers, being under French censorship, had not mentioned: one at Gross-Beeren, the other at Hagelberg, where a French division had been utterly destroyed. This was powerful encouragement to the patriots. Herr von Mansdorf, after reading the letter aloud to the steward, struck his clinched hand heavily on the table, and invited Faustelmann to join him in drinking to the success of the allies; but his steward shook his head, and replied that it was rather early in the day for that. Besides, he had to go up to Herr von Uffeln and deliver him the note with the coronet, for it was addressed to him. Herr von Uffeln was sitting in the pleasant corner room which looked out upon the pond and forest behind Castle Wilstorp. He had had very little baggage when he arrived; his sole property, except the few articles of dress lying around the room, consisted of a pretty little crayon picture-his mother's portrait which he said had accompanied him through all his campaigns, and which he had now hung under the Venetian mirror, beside a small image of the Madonna, wrought in silver, a souvenir of Spain. He also owned a pair of very beautiful pistols, and his sword, which he had fastened on the wall between the windows, and finally a flute, with which he was now occupied, trying, with touching patience, to execute a piece of music in spite of the difficulties caused by his inability to use all his fingers.. At Herr Faustelmann's entrance he rose and fixed upon him a glance of shyness and alarm. 'Nothing has called me here, Herr von Uffeln," "Runkelstein saw a strange vision in the ruined said Faustelmann, "except a note the postman from castle a short time ago," said Meyer. Idar brought you. It has a prince's coronet on the 44 What! Runkelstein?-Faustelmann, perhaps?" seal, and is addressed in a lady's hand." |