And now they were come; and Habermann stepped up to the carriage, and
spoke a few words, which sprang from his heart to his lips, and the
clear eyes of the young wife shone on the white hair of the old man
like a sunbeam, full of friendly warmth, and before Axel noticed,--for
with his surprise and his interrupted discourse, he was not prepared
for the occasion,--she reached out her hand to him, and with the grasp
of the hand a friendship was settled, without a word, for each had
looked into the eyes of the other, and had read there clearness, truth
and confidence. And now Axel was ready with his hand, and Schoolmaster
Strull came forward with his Asels, and struck up a song of
"Thanksgiving for particular occasions," No. 545, out of the
Mecklenburg Psalm-book, "After a heavy thunderstorm," beginning, like a
sensible man, with the second verse, because it seemed to him
particularly appropriate,--
"We praise Thy might, Oh Lord,"--
and Braesig was trying to wave the flag, but Gust Kegel held it fast.
"Let go of the string, you rascal!" cried Braesig.
"We know Thine anger's power,"
sung the schoolmaster.
"Boy, let go the string out of your hand!" screamed Braesig again.
"Protect us by Thy grace
In sorrow's gloomy hour,"--
sung the schoolmaster.
"Boy, when I get hold of you, I'll break every bone in your body!"
roared Braesig.
"They who rest within Thy arm,
Shall be safe from every harm,"
sang the schoolmaster.
"Herr, it sticks fast in the poplar," cried the boy, and Braesig tugged
at the flag, and brought down with it part of a branch, while the
schoolmaster sung,
"How it roars and crashes!"
and Fritz Triddlesitz ran for the dinner-bell, which hung in the
door-way, and played a storm, and Braesig waved the flag, and the men
and women, and servants and maids, and boys and girls shouted "Vivat!"
and "Hurrah!" and David Daesel blew on his horn: "The Prussians have
taken Paris, good times are coming now, toot! toot! toot!" and it was
all so festive that no dog could help howling, and at the last "toot!"
out sprang the old watch-dog, which Gust Kegel had mischievously
unfastened, so that he might enjoy himself with the rest, and made
straight for David Daesel's legs, and the two brown coach-dogs also
began to sniff and howl in such a singular manner that it was really a
piece of good fortune that Degel the coachman had his reins well in
hand, and was prepared for emergencies.
As it was, all passed off well, and the carriage soon arrived safely at
the manor-house, and Axel lifted out his lovely young bride. Inside the
house, there was the same preparation and adornment, with flowers and
greens, as outside, and among the wreaths and garlands, Marie Moeller in
a new red jaconet dress, with a fiery red face, moved her fiery red
arms hither and thither, and when she had cooled off a little among the
greens, ran back into the kitchen, to the cooking stove, as if she were
a flatiron-heater, which must be kept constantly red-hot,--and when the
gracious young lady stepped across the threshold, she came towards her,
with her fiery arms outspread, as if she were a priestess of Moloch,
and placed a wreath of bright red roses on the young lady's head, and
then, falling back a couple of paces, and gesticulating with the fiery
arm, as if striking out brilliant flames, she repeated a verse, which
she had been learning for the last three months, under Braesig's
tuition,--
"Hail, beauteous lady, sweet and bright,
Accomplished, virtuous, wise and bland,
Deign to accept this offering slight,
From your devoted, humble servant's hand."
And when she had said her lesson, she threw wide open the door of the
dining-room, and there stood a table spread for dinner, in good season,
for it was high noon, and Axel said a word or two to his wife, and she
nodded in a pleased way under her wreath of roses, and turned to the
old inspector: he must be her guest today, and also the schoolmaster,
and the young farmer, and would the old gentleman who had waved the
flag honor them with his company also? Then she went to Marie Moeller,
and thanked her for her fine speech and all that she had done to
welcome them, and would she have time to enjoy with them the nice
things she had prepared? And Marie Moeller became as red with delight as
if there were a cooking stove in her heart, filled with glowing coals.
Of before long, they all came in. Habermann brought up Braesig, and
introduced him as his old friend of many years' standing, who had also
been well acquainted with the late Herr Kammerrath, and would by no
means be found wanting in taking his part in the rejoicing at
Pumpelhagen. And Braesig went to Axel, and got hold of his hand, will
he, nill he, and squeezed it, and, shaking his head back and forth,
assured him of his friendship for life and death: "Herr Lieutenant,
very dear and welcome, as I just said to Karl, how glad I shall be if
you only take after your good father!" And then he turned to the young
lady: "Gracious Frau Lieutenant," and fumbled after her hand, which he
succeeded in grasping, and it looked as if he intended to kiss it; but
he held it for moment, and then said, "No! not that! I always kissed
the hand of my gracious countess, and it was proper, as a token of
service; I will not take that liberty, you are so lovely to look
at; but if you ever need an old man's service--my name is Zachary
Braesig--just send for me,--a short mile from here--Haunerwiem,--and the
day shall not be too hot for me, or the night too dark."
Braesig's speeches were peculiar things; honest folks have a way of
talking right out of their hearts, without thinking, at the moment, how
they will be understood. Axel did not take it as it was meant. That
such an one as Inspector Braesig should presume to hold up an example to
him,--even if it were his own father, to whom he was so deeply
indebted,--did not suit him; he was put out of humor. Frida, who went
to the heart of every thing, took the old inspector's speech in her
hand, like an onion, and shredded off the old, dry skins, one after
another, and found a bright, hard kernel inside, and, as she cut it
across, there was such a sound heart disclosed that she took the old
fellow by the hand, and made him sit next to her at table.
Then came Fritz Triddelsitz, in the guise of a young proprietor, for he
had arrayed himself in his blue coat with gilt buttons, which looked,
for all the world, like a young son of Pomuchelskopp's. And then came
Schoolmaster Strull, a great, strong fellow, whom the Lord had made
fitter to be a hewer of wood than a trainer of children. The old boy
looked, with his big head and his black suit, which was getting rusty,
like a stout wheel-nail, which Fate had shoved to the wall, and which
had quietly rusted there. His face was rather rusty, too, and the only
thing which looked gay about him was his shirt-bosom, which his old
mother, because it was a little yellow, had dipped so generously in the
blueing, that a fine sea-green color was the result.
These two were treated with special attention by Axel, and when he
heard that Fritz's father was an apothecary in Rahnstadt, and could
make chemical analyses (Analysen), he asked Fritz to sit next him, and
as Uncle Braesig heard the word "Analysen" he snapped it out of the Herr
Lieutenant's mouth, and said, aside to Habermann, "Alleluesen? Alleluesen?
What does he mean by Alleluesen? Some kind of vermin?" and without
waiting for an answer, he said to Axel: "Gracious Herr Lieutenant, for
such stuff you must let the apothecary's son bring you a pot of
'ungewendten Napoleon,'" (unguentum Neapolitarum), which was, naturally,
quite incomprehensible to Axel. But if he had understood it, he had no
time to explain, for as soon as they were fairly seated,--the
schoolmaster not more than a quarter, for he balanced himself on the
edge of his chair,--he launched forth into his favorite subject, the
farming of the estate, and began to enrich the fields with bone-dust,
and Chili saltpetre and guano, and laid out behind the garden a great
plantation of hops; while old Habermann said to himself, he had not
thought the young Herr knew so little about farming, and wondered how
Braesig could sit there and laugh at it all. But that was very natural,
since Braesig took all these brilliant plans of Axel's for a good joke,
and when the young Herr had got his hop-field in working order, Braesig
laughed heartily, and said, "Of course the soil must first be
prepared,--and when we are through with this preparation, we can
fertilize it a little more, and then we can raise raisins and
almonds, to feed the pigs with; you have no idea, gracious Frau
Lieutenant,"--turning to the lady--"how sweet a pig tastes, that is
fatted on raisins and almonds."
This was not pleasing to Axel; he looked down, and knitted his brows in
vexation; but he was too fairly started in his agricultural progress to
be turned back for such a trifle; he began on tillage, and told about
his invention of a machine for a clod-breaker, and with that he turned
graciously to his neighbor, to Fritz Triddelsitz, who gave such
uncommonly intelligent answers that Marie Moeller sat listening, with
open mouth, and inwardly smote on her breast, and cried, "God be
merciful to me sinner! Ignorant worm that I am, to stretch out my hand
toward him! No! a goose might as well seek to mate with an eagle."
When the dinner was over, the gracious lady arose, took her leave of
the company, and said to Habermann that Axel and herself proposed going
over the estate, the next morning, and reckoned on his company to show
them the way. Habermann assented with pleasure, and when she had left
the room the bottle went round the table once more, and Daniel
Sadenwater brought cigars.
At Frida's request. Axel had retained the old servant, and Daniel had
put on the old master's knife and fork, and so consecrated them, in his
mind, to the new master, and every time he presented a dish on the
salver to his young Herr, he laid himself with it as an offering, and
his old eyes said clearly, his young master might do with him whatever
he liked, he had given him all.
Braesig accepted a "Zichalie," as he called them, and informed Herr von
Rambow that he smoked such a thing, now and then, of Koester Broeker's
make, though they were a little strong to be sure. Axel made no reply;
he did not like Braesig, he thought he had been laughing at him, and did
not appreciate his knowledge of agriculture. Fritz Triddelsitz was a
much more agreeable listener; he had nodded, and shaken his head, and
admired so much, and ah'd and oh'd and wondered, till Axel appeared to
himself a great light in agriculture, set up on a lofty candlestick, to
enlighten Pumpelhagen and the country round about, and, for all I know,
the world itself.
As I have often said. Axel was a good fellow, he liked to make
everything bright and pleasant about him; the good dinner, the costly
wine, the feeling that he was master, had excited benevolent thoughts,
to which he must give expression. He called Habermann to the window,
and asked him how he was satisfied with Fritz. Habermann said, pretty
well; he had learned a good many things, and he hoped, in time, he
might become a skilful farmer. This was quite enough, in Axel's
gracious mood; he asked, farther, how much salary Fritz received, and
whether he had a horse. No, said Habermann, he had neither horse nor
salary, as yet; he gave nothing, and he got nothing.
Axel then turned to Fritz, and said, "Dear Triddelsitz, I am glad to
hear from the Herr Inspector that he is very much pleased with you; I
shall do myself the pleasure of offering you, for the next year, a
small salary of fifty thalers, and the keeping of a horse."
Fritz could not believe his ears; that Habermann was very much pleased
with him was sufficiently wonderful,--fifty thalers, that would be very
nice; but a horse! that took away his breath and his senses, so that he
could scarcely thank Axel. The latter left him little time, however,
but turned back to Habermann, at the window. And now galloped through
Fritz's brain all the old horses of the whole region, black and brown
and gray and chestnut, and he held parley with each one of them, as if
the Rahnstadt horse-market were going on in his head, and Braesig sat
opposite and grinned.
All at once, this blessed child of fortune cried out, "Herr Inspector,
next month the Grand Duke makes his entry into Rahnstadt, I must have
her by that time, for the reception, for we young country-people are to
receive him."
"_Whom_ must you have?" asked Braesig.
"The chestnut mare, the Whalebone mare. Gust Prebberow has her."
"I know her," said Braesig, very coolly.
"Famous horse!"
"An old sch----" he couldn't say schinder (carrion,) he bethought
himself in time that he was in a distinguished house, so he said, "she
is an old shyer, and you can't do anything with her when the Grand Duke
comes to Rahnstadt, for she cannot hear a 'Hurrah!'"
That was fatal, for a great many hurrahs would be necessary on that
occasion; but Fritz knew that Braesig delighted in contradicting him, on
every opportunity, and he would not let him see his disappointment.
Meanwhile, Axel had favored the old inspector with a brief discourse
upon the progress recently made in the science of agriculture, and at
the close, put into the old man's hand a book, with the words, "I have
the pleasure of giving you this book; it should be the Bible of every
farmer."
Habermann thanked him gratefully, and, as it was now beginning to grow
dark, the company broke up. The two old inspectors and Schoolmaster
Strull, who was invited to accompany them, went to Habermann's house;
Fritz Triddelsitz went to the stables.
What he wanted there, nobody knew, certainly not himself, but a sort of
instinct drew him toward the horses, as if to bring his inner man into
harmony with the outward world, and so he went, in the half-twilight,
up and down behind the old farm-horses, that he had seen a thousand
times, and examined their legs. This one had spavin,--nobody should
sell him a spavined horse, he would take care of that,--bones shaped
like a ship; this one was balky,--he found out what a balky horse was,
two years ago; this had fits,--a man must be a fool to be imposed upon
by such a horse; this had swellings, not dangerous, blistered a little
by the crupper-iron; and then came wind-galls, and other ills which
horse-flesh is heir to; and through all this his thoughts were dwelling
on a friendly smile, and a wonderfully fair face, that of his gracious
lady, with whom, since dinner, he had fallen desperately in love, and
the ungrateful rascal was conspiring against the happiness of the
master who had just been so kind to him.
"Yes," said he, as he stood in the stable-door, and the evening light
sunk softly into darkness, "what is Louise Habermann compared with this
angel! No, Louise, I am sorry for you! But I cannot imagine how I came
to fall in love with you. And then Mining and Lining! A pair of little
goslings! And Marie Moeller, to be sure! A lump of misfortune! How she
looked to-day beside the gracious lady, like a wild plum beside a
peach. And when I get the chestnut mare, then--'Gracious lady, any
commands?' Perhaps a letter for the post? or when she is coming home
from some ball at Rahnstadt, and old Daniel Sadenwater is not at
hand--down with the carriage steps, hand her out--'Ah, I have forgotten
my handkerchief,' or 'my overshoes,'--'They shall be sent for
immediately,' and then I mount my chestnut,--hs--hsch--off we
go,--in half an hour I am back again. 'Gracious lady, here are the
overshoes,' and then she says, 'Thanks, dear Triddelsitz, for this
kindness,'--thunder and lightning! the confounded pole!" for as he went
back to the house, in the dark, absorbed in these charming
anticipations, he stumbled over a carriage-pole, left there by his own
negligence, and lay, in all his gorgeous attire, upon something which
felt very soft. What it was, he didn't know, but his nose had a sort of
suspicion, and he thought he should do well to examine himself by the
light, before going into Habermann's room.
Meanwhile the three old men had gone in, and, as they were sitting in
the twilight, Braesig asked:
"Karl, is the book a story-book, to read in the winter evenings?"
"Eh, Zachary, I don't know. I will light a candle, and we can see."
When it was light, Habermann was going to look at the title; but Braesig
took the book out of his hand:
"No, Karl, we have a scholar here, let Strull read it."
Strull began to read, all in a breath, as if he were reading the
Sunday's lesson out of the Gospels, stopping only for a strange word:
"'Printed by Friedrich Vieweg and Son in Brunswick Chemistry in its
Relation to Agriculture and Phy-si-o-logy.'"
"Hold!" cried Braesig, "that word isn't right, it should be
'fisionomy.'"
"No," said Strull, "it is spelled 'physiology.'"
"For all I care, Strull," said Braesig; "let them spell their outlandish
words as they please, at one time this way, another time another way.
Go ahead!"
"'By Justus Liebig, Doctor of Medicine and Philosophy, Professor of
Chemistry at the Ludwig's University at Giessen, Knight of the
Grand Ducal Hessian Ludwig's Order, and of the Imperial Russian St.
Annen, Order of the Third Class, Corresponding Member of the Royal
Academy of Science at Stockholm,'--now comes some Latin which I cannot
read,--'Honorary Member of the Royal Academy at Dublin----'"
"Stop!" cried Braesig, "Lord preserve us, what is all this fellow?"
"But that isn't all, by a great deal, there is ever so much more."
"We will give him the rest. Go ahead!"
"'Fifth Revised and much Enlarged Edition. Brunswick published by
Vieweg and Son 1843.' Now comes a preface."
"Let that go, too," said Braesig. "Begin at the beginning."
"The heading runs in this way: 'SUBJECT' with a line underneath."
"Well!" said Braesig. "Go on!"
"'Organic Chemistry has for its purpose the investigation of the
chemical conditions of life, and the complete development of all
organisms.' Period."
"What sort of things?" asked Braesig.
"All organisms," said the schoolmaster.
"Well," exclaimed Braesig, "I have heard a great many outlandish words,
but 'organisms,' organ---- Hold! Karl, don't you know 'Herr Orgon stood
before his door,' that we used to learn by heart, with Pastor Behrens,
out of Gellert? Do you suppose this organ can be any connection of
his?"
"Let it go, for the present, Braesig, we don't understand it yet."
"No? why not, Karl?" said his old friend, "We can learn. You will see,
this is a water-book; they always begin with something you can't
understand. Go ahead!"
"'The existence of all living beings is carried on by the reception of
certain materials into the system, which we call means of nourishment;
they are expended by the organism for its own improvement and
reproduction. Period."
"The man is right there," said Braesig; "Means of nourishment belong to
living beings, and"--taking the book out of Strull's hands, "'they are
expended by the organism,'--now I know what organism means; it means
the stomach."
"Yes," said the schoolmaster, "but then here is 'reproduction.'"
"Ah," said Braesig, off hand, "production! We have got used to that of
late years; when I was a child, nobody knew anything about production;
but now they call every bushel of wheat and every ox a production. It
is only an ornamental way of speaking, that they may appear learned."
So they went on for a little while, until the schoolmaster went home,
and when he had gone, the two old friends sat together, quietly and
trustfully,--for Braesig was to spend the night at Pumpelhagen,--until
Habermann gave a deep sigh, and said:
"Ah, Zachary, I am afraid there are hard times coming for me."
"Why so? Your young Herr is a lively, witty fellow; what amusing things
he said about farming!"
"Yes, that is the very thing; you took it for jest, but he meant it for
earnest."
"He meant it for earnest?"
"Certainly he did. He has studied farming out of new-fashioned books,
and they don't agree with our old ways, and though I should be very
glad to understand the new methods, I can't do it, I haven't the
requisite knowledge."
"You are right there, Karl! See, the sciences always seem to me, like
seafaring. When one has been used to it from a child, going up the
mast, and out on the shrouds, he can do it when he is old without being
dizzy-headed, and so a school-boy, who is trained in the sciences from
his youth up, won't be dizzy either and can run out with ease, even in
his old age, on any rope that science stretches out for him. Do you
understand me, Karl?"
"I understand you. But we did not learn in our young days, and for
dancing on such ropes," pointing to the book, "my old bones are too
stiff. Ah, I would not say a word against it, he can farm in the new
fashion, for all me, and I will help him to the best of my power; but
this kind of farming needs a long purse, and that is something we
haven't got. I supposed, at first, he would get something with his
wife; but it couldn't have been much, for even the new equipage and the
new furniture were ordered from Rahnstadt, and the first shilling is
not yet paid for them."
"Well, Karl, never mind; he hasn't made a bad bargain. The lady pleased
me uncommonly."
"She pleased me, too, Braesig."
"And you can see by your own dear sister, what the right sort of woman
can accomplish, in a family. I must go and see her to-morrow, for the
two confounded divinity students will be getting into all sorts of
mischief. And so, good-night, Karl."
"Good-night, Braesig."