The king and queen went into the forest.
They were walking hand in hand.
Night drew on. The wind rustled through the tree-tops.
The queen stood still for a moment and then, impelled by the ardent
love she had so long repressed, embraced her husband, kissing his eyes,
his mouth and his brow, and said:
"I've asked the departed one to forgive me! She died with my kiss on
her lips. I now ask you who still live, to forgive me. You have both
expiated--she, alone, by herself; you, alone, while at my side!"
She took out an amulet which she had worn hidden next to her heart. It
was the betrothal ring which the king had given to her.
"Take this ring, and put it on your hand," she said.
"We are united anew," replied the king, while he put the ring on his
finger and embraced the queen. He clasped her in his arms and her head
rested against his heart.
With a firm step, they descended the mountain unto where their
carriages were waiting for them.
Followed by the servants, Bronnen, Sixtus, and Paula also descended the
mountain.
The king and queen were in the first carriage; Paula and Sixtus in the
second. Bronnen went back with Gunther to the cottage.
The newly espoused arrived at the dairy-farm. The first thing they did
was to go to the crown prince's apartments and, while they stood at the
child's bed, the king said:
"He sleeps, and his innocent, infant mind knows nothing of our
differences. It is well for us that, with his dawning powers, he will
see in us only love and harmony, enduring unto death."
During all that night, the king and queen sat by the lamp, reading the
journal of the solitary worldling.
Gunther and Bronnen had lingered in the hut above. Gunther sat with
Walpurga for a while, holding her hand in his, while he told her that
her perfect innocence had now been brought to light. A silent nod was
her only reply.
The cows gathered about the hut. Their bellowing and snorting proved
that their unerring instinct told them of the presence of death, and
scarcely were they driven away, before they returned again.
The little pitchman dug a grave during the night. It was up at the spot
where Irma had so often rested. He shed many a tear over his work, and
once, when he paused to take breath, said to himself: "When the kid is
old enough to run of itself, I'll let it go back into the woods."
Irma was buried at early dawn. Hansei, the little pitchman, Gunther and
Bronnen carried her, Walpurga and the child following after them.
Gundel and Franz had covered the sides and the bottom of the grave with
Alpine roses. Wrapped in the queen's white mantle, Irma was silently
laid to rest, just as the rosy dawn appeared in the east.
Down in the valley, the king and queen had been reading Irma's journal.
Day was breaking. They gazed at the rosy dawn and lifted their eyes to
the mountains--to where Irma was being buried on the heights.
THE END.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: The familiar "thou."]
[Footnote 2: Kammer--meaning here the chamberlain and other officers
composing the household.]
[Footnote 3: Church festival.]
[Footnote 4: "Geh zum Kukuk!"]
[Footnote 5: "He who goes up with the cattle into the mountains, during
the good season, is a 'Senn.' In Switzerland, this is done by men; in
the Eastern Alps, in the Bavarian highlands, and in Austria, generally
by women--the 'Sennerin,' 'Almerin.'"
(_The Alps_--H. BERLEPSCH.)]
"The first great English novel that has appeared in the 20th
century."--Lewis Melville in _N. Y. Times Saturday Review_.
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By William De Morgan. 4th Printing. $1.75.
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HALE'S DRAMATISTS OF TO-DAY
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THE NIBELUNGENLEID
Translated into rhymed verse in the metre of the original by George
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WAGNER'S RING OF THE NIBELUNG
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