The grey mist of an autumn morning lay upon forest and field. Through
its shadowy vapors a swarm of birds were sweeping by, on their Southward
way, now dipping low over the tops of the tall fir forest, as if giving
a last greeting to their summer homes, and then rising high in the air;
turning their flight due South, they disappeared slowly through the fog.
At the window of a large manor-house, which lay at the edge of the
forest, two men stood, watching the course of the birds and conversing
earnestly with each other. One was a tall, stalwart figure, whose firm
and erect bearing betokened the soldier fully as much as the uniform he
wore. He was blonde and blue-eyed, not handsome, but with a strong and
speaking countenance; a typical German in form and feature. Yet
something like a shadow lay upon the man's face, and there were,
wrinkles, on his brow which surely were not the result of age, for he
was yet in the prime of life.
"The birds have started already on their journey to the south," said he,
after watching the flight attentively until they had finally disappeared
in the cloud of mist. "The autumn has come to nature and to our lives as
well."
"Not to yours yet," objected his companion. "You are just in the hey-day
of life, in the full strength of your manhood."
"True enough, as to years, but I have a feeling that age will overtake
me sooner than others. I often feel as if it were autumn with me now."
The other man, who might have been a few years the speaker's senior, was
slender, and of middle height, and clad in civilian's dress. He shook
his head impatiently at his companion's last observation. He appeared
insignificant when compared with the strong, well-built officer near
him; but his pale, sharply cut face wore a look of cold, superior
repose, and the sarcastic expression around the thin lips, together with
his aristocratic air and bearing, suggested a hidden strength behind a
feeble exterior.
"You take life too hard, Falkenried," he said reprovingly. "You have
changed strangely in the last few years. Who would recognize in you now,
the gay young officer of other days? And what's the reason of it all?
The shadow which once darkened your life has long since disappeared. You
are a soldier, heart and soul, and have repeatedly distinguished
yourself in your profession. A high position awaits you in the future,
and the thing above all others is--you have your son."
Falkenried did not answer; he folded his arms and looked out again into
the mist, while the other continued: "The boy has grown handsome as a
god in the last few years. I was quite overcome with surprise when I
saw him again, and you yourself, told me that he was unusually gifted
and in many things showed great talent."
"I would that Hartmut had fewer talents and more character," said
Falkenried, in an almost acrid tone. "He can make verses quick enough,
and to learn a language is child's play to him, but as soon as he tries
some earnest science, he's behind all the others, and in military
tactics I can make nothing of him at all. You cannot comprehend,
Wallmoden, what iron severity I am constantly compelled to employ."
"I fear you accomplish little by this same severity," interrupted
Wallmoden. "You should take my advice and leave your son to his studies.
He has not the qualifications for a soldier. You must see that for
yourself by this time."
"He shall and must acquire those qualifications. It is the only possible
career for such an intractable nature as his, which revolts at every
restraint and to which every duty is a burden. The life of a student at
the university would give him unrestrained liberty; only the iron
dicipline of the service will force him to bend."
"The only question is, how long will you be able to force him to do your
will? You should not deceive yourself; there are inherited tendencies
which will not allow themselves to be repressed or eradicated. Hartmut,
now, is in appearance the counterpart of his mother; he has her features
and her eyes."
"Yes," assented Falkenried gloomily, "her dark, demoniacal, glowing
eyes, which cast their spell upon all who knew her."
"And were your ruin," supplemented Wallmoden. "How often did I warn and
advise you then; but you would not listen. Your passion had seized you
like a fever and held you like chains. I declare I never have been able
to understand it."
Falkenried's lips were drawn in with a bitter smile.
"I can readily believe that you, the cool, calculating diplomat, you,
whose every word is weighed, are protected against all such witcheries."
"I should at least be cautious in my choice. Your marriage carried
unhappiness on its face from the very beginning. A women of a foreign
race, with strange blood in her veins and the wild, passionate Sclave
nature, without character, without understanding of what we here call
duty and morality; and you with your rigid principles, with your
sensitive feeling of honor, it could ultimately lead to but one end. And
I believe you loved her in spite of all, until your separation."
"No," said Falkenried, in a hard tone, "the fire burned out in the first
year; I saw that only too clearly. But I shrank back from publishing to
the world my household misery by a legal separation. So I bore it until
no choice remained, until I was forced. But enough of this."
He turned abruptly on his heel and looked from the window again; but the
quick movement betrayed rather than concealed the torture which he with
difficulty repressed.
"Yes, it takes a great deal to tear up a nature like yours by the
roots," said Wallmoden earnestly. "But the divorce freed you from the
unhappy bond, and why should you not bury the memory as well?"
Falkenried shook his head and sighed heavily. "One cannot bury such
memories; they are forever rising from their supposed sepulchres, and
just now--" he broke off suddenly.
"Just now; what do you mean?"
"Nothing; let us speak of other things. You have been in Burgsdorf
since day before yesterday; how long do you expect to remain?"
"About two weeks. I haven't much time at my disposal, and am for that
matter only nominally Willibald's guardian, for my diplomatic position
keeps me out of the country most of the time. The guardianship really
rests in the hands of my sister, who rules over everything."
"Well, Regine is equal to the position. She governs the great estate and
the numerous servants as though she were a man."
"And gives her orders like a cavalry officer from morning to night," put
in her brother. "Recognizing all her excellent qualities, I,
nevertheless, feel a slight creepy sensation whenever I am constrained
to visit Burgsdorf, and I always leave the place with shattered nerves.
They live in a most primitive fashion over yonder. Willibald is a
perfect young bear, and of course at the same time the apple of his
mother's eye, and she, by the way, is doing her best to bring him up as
a bluff country squire. It's useless to enter any protest, and, for the
matter of that, it seems just what the youngster's good for."
Their conversation was interrupted at this moment by a servant, who
entered and handed his master a card. Falkenried glanced at it.
"Counsellor Egern? I am glad of that. Tell the gentleman to come in."
"You have a business engagement I see," said Wallmoden rising. "Then
I'll not disturb you."
"On the contrary I beg you to remain. I have had an intimation of this
visit and its purpose, and know what will be the result of our
conversation. The question is--" He did not finish, for the door opened
and the lawyer entered. He seemed surprised not to find the officer
alone, as he had fully expected, but Falkenried took no notice of his
ill-concealed astonishment.
"Herr Counsellor Egern--Herr von Wallmoden, secretary of legation," said
the host, presenting them. The man of law bowed with cool politeness as
he took the seat offered him.
"I have the honor of being known to you, I believe, Herr Major," he
began. "As your wife's attorney at the time the suit for divorce was in
progress, I had the opportunity of making your acquaintance." He paused
as if expecting an answer; but Major Falkenried gave no sign beyond an
affirmative nod.
Wallmoden was all attention. He could understand now his friend's
irritation on his arrival.
"I come to you to-day in the name of my former client," continued the
counsellor. "She has authorized me--have I your permission to speak
freely?"
He glanced at the diplomat, but Falkenried answered shortly: "Herr von
Wallmoden is my friend, and knows all about this affair. So you may
speak freely."
"Very well. The lady has, after an absence of many years, returned to
Germany, and naturally enough wishes to see her son. She has already
written you about the matter but has received no answer."
"I should think that was answer enough. I do not wish any such meeting,
and I will not permit it."
"That sounds very blunt, Herr Major. Frau von Falkenried, in that case,
has--"
"Say Frau Zalika Rojanow, if you please," interrupted the Major. "I
believe she assumed her maiden name again when she returned to her own
country."
"The name does not signify on this occasion," responded the lawyer
composedly. "The question concerns only and alone a mother's natural
desire, which the father neither can nor dare refuse, even though, as
in this case, the son has been unconditionally adjudged to him."
"Dare not? But suppose he does dare?"
"In so doing he will overstep the limit of his rights. I beg you, Herr
Major, to consider the matter quietly before giving so decided a no. A
mother has rights of which no judicial decree can ever divest her, and
one of those rights is the privilege of seeing her only child again. In
this case my client has the law on her side, and she will appeal to it,
too, if my demand meets with the same refusal as did her written
request."
"Very well, she can make the attempt. I'll run the risk. My son does not
know that his mother is living, and shall not learn it now. I will not
have him see her or speak with her, and I will know how to prevent it,
too. My no is absolute under all circumstances."
This declaration left nothing to be wished for as regarded energy; but
Falkenried's face was deathly pale, and his voice had a hollow, menacing
sound. One could see how fearfully the interview had excited him. He was
scarcely able to preserve the semblance of outward composure.
The attorney seemed to see the uselessness of further endeavor, and only
shrugged his shoulders.
"If this is your last word, then my errand is at an end, and we will
determine hereafter what our next step will be. I regret having troubled
you about the matter, Herr Major." He bowed himself out with the same
cool, indifferent manner with which he had entered. As the door closed
upon him, Falkenried sprang up and began pacing excitedly up and down
the room; there were a few minutes of oppressive silence, then Wallmoden
said, half aloud: "You should not have done that. Zalika will not resign
herself readily to your no; she made a desperate struggle for her child
in the beginning."
"But I obtained the victory. It is to be hoped she has not forgotten
that."
"At that time the question concerned the possession of the child,"
objected the secretary. "Now the mother only asks permission to see him
again, and you will not be able to refuse her that, if she demands it
peremptorily."
The Major stopped suddenly, and his voice was full of undisguised
contempt as he answered:
"She will not venture to do that after all that has happened. Zalika
learned to know me in the hour of our separation; she'll be cautious
about driving me to extremes a second time."
"But perhaps she will seek to accomplish secretly what you have openly
refused."
"That is impossible; the discipline of our institution is so severe
there could be no intercourse here of which I should not learn at once."
Wallmoden did not seem to share his friend's confidence. He shook his
head doubtfully.
"To speak openly, I regard it as a great mistake that you are
obstinately silent toward your son concerning his mother and the fact
that she is living. When he learns it from some other source, what then?
And sometime you must tell him."
"Perhaps, in a couple of years, when he'll have to enter the world. Now
he's only a student, a half-grown boy, and I cannot disclose to him the
drama which was once played in his father's house--I cannot."
"So be it. You know the woman who was once your wife, and know what to
expect from her. I fear there is nothing impossible for this woman to
accomplish."
"Ah, I know her," said Falkenried with intense bitterness, "and because
I know her I will protect my son from her at any price. He shall not
breath the poisonous breath of her presence; no, not even for an hour. I
do not under estimate the danger from Zalika's return, but as long as
Hartmut remains at my side he is safe from her, for she will never come
near me, I give you my word for that."
"We will hope so," answered Wallmoden, as he rose and reached out his
hand at parting. "But do not forget that the greatest danger with which
you have to contend lies in Hartmut himself; he is in every trait the
son of his mother. You are coming over to Burgsdorf with him day after
to-morrow, I hear?"
"Yes, he is to spend his short autumn vacation with Willibald. I shall
be able to remain a day only, but I'll surely come for that time.
Good-bye."
The secretary left the house, and Falkenried returned once more to the
window, but he only gave a fleeting glance after his friend, who waved
him a parting greeting, then returned gloomily to his own thoughts.
"The son of his mother." The words rang in his ears, but the thought was
not new to him; he had known it a long time, and it was this knowledge
which had furrowed his brow so deeply, and wrung from him many a deep
sigh. He was a man who could brave any outward danger; but against this
unfortunate heritage of blood in his only child he had battled with all
his energy for years, but in vain.
* * * * *
"Now I tell you for the last time that all this noise and confusion must
come to an end, for my patience is finally exhausted. Such goings on as
we have had for the last three days are enough to make one think that
all Burgsdorf is bewitched. That Hartmut is full of mad tricks from his
head to his feet. When he once gets loose from the reins which his
father holds tight enough, I'll admit that, there's no getting on with
him, and of course you follow after him through thick and thin, and obey
your lord and master's slightest behest. Oh, you are a fine pair."
This philippic, which was delivered in a loud tone, came from the lips
of Frau von Eschenhagen of Burgsdorf, while sitting with her son and
mother at breakfast. The great dining-room lay on the ground floor of
the old mansion, and was an extremely simple room, with glass doors
leading out upon a broad stone terrace, and to the garden beyond. On the
brightly tinted walls hung a number of antlers, which bore witness to
the sporting tastes of former possessors, but these were the only
adornments of the room.
A dozen high-backed chairs, arranged stiffly in rows like grenadiers, a
cumbrous dining-table and a couple of old-fashioned sideboards
constituted the entire furniture of the room; and one could see at a
glance that they had already done service for several generations. Such
luxuries as wall-paper, paintings or carpet could not be found here.
Evidently the occupants were contented to live on just as their
ancestors had done, although Burgsdorf was one of the richest estates in
the district.
The appearance of the mistress of the house was in keeping with her
surroundings She was forty years old or there abouts, with a large,
strong figure, cheeks glowing with health, and firm, solid features,
which could never have been called beautiful, but denoted great energy.
Very little escaped the sharp glance of her gray eye, her dark hair was
brushed back smoothly, her gown was of coarse texture, simply made, and
looking at her hands, you saw at once that they were made for work.
There was nothing attractive in her appearance, and her manner and
bearing were thoroughly masculine.
The heir and future master of Burgsdorf, who had just been reprimanded
so sharply, sat opposite his mother, listening, as in duty bound, while
he helped himself liberally to ham and eggs. He was a handsome,
fresh-looking youth, about seventeen years old, whose appearance
indicated no great intellectual strength, but he seemed to beam with
good nature. His sun-burned face was the picture of health, but
otherwise he showed little resemblance to his mother. He lacked her
energetic expression, and the blue eyes and blonde hair were not from
her, but were an inheritance from his father. With his large, but very
awkward limbs, he looked like a young giant, and formed a striking
contrast to his more delicately formed, aristocratic looking uncle,
Wallmoden, who sat next him, and who said now with a slight _soupcon_ of
irony in his tone: "You certainly cannot hold Willibald answerable for
all these mad pranks; he certainly is a model son."
"I would advise him not to be anything else; who lives with me must obey
orders," cried Frau von Eschenhagen, as she struck an emphatic blow upon
the table, which made her brother wince.
"A man is bound to obey orders under your government," he answered. "At
the same time I would advise you, dear Regine, to do something more for
the intellectual development of your son. I have no doubt that under
your guidance he will become, in time, a most excellent farmer, but to
the education of a future landed proprietor, something more than that is
needed. Willibald has outgrown home instructors and should be sent away
now."
"Sent a--?" Frau Regine laid down knife and fork in unbounded
astonishment. "Sent away," she exclaimed, greatly irritated, "and in the
name of common sense, where?"
"Well, first to the university, and later to travel, that he may learn
something of the world and of men."
"That he may be altogether ruined by this world and these men, and no
comfort to me at all! No, Herbert, I'll never do that, and I tell you so
now, once for all. I have educated my son to be honest and fear God, and
do not think I shall turn him loose in your Sodom and Gomorrah which the
dear Lord in his forbearance has yet spared from the fire and brimstone
which it so richly deserves."
"You only know this Sodom and Gomorrah by hearsay, Regine," interrupted
Herbert, sarcastically. "You have lived in Burgsdorf ever since your
marriage; you must acknowledge that yourself!"
"I acknowledge nothing at all," declared Frau von Eschenhagen,
obstinately. "Will shall become a capable farmer; he is qualified for
that, and for that he needs no cramming at your universities. Or perhaps
you'd like to educate him in your own school, and make a diplomatist of
him? That would be too great an honor."
She began to laugh loudly, and Will, to whom the whole conversation had
appeared very comical, joined in in the same key. Herr von Wallmoden
took no part in this sudden explosion of gaiety; he only winced again,
as though his nerves were affected, and shrugged his shoulders.
"No, I had not thought of that. I know full well I should have my
trouble for my pains. But Willibald and I are the only representatives
of our family, and if I should not marry--"
"Should not? You are not thinking of marrying in your old age?"
interrupted his sister, sharply.
"I am in my forty-fifth year, dear Regine, and a man is not usually
considered old at that age," said Wallmoden, somewhat vexed. "Above all
things I consider marriages made late in life by far the happiest; one
is not influenced then by passion, as Falkenried was, to his lasting
wretchedness, but gives to reason the decisive word."
"The saints protect us! What if Willibald should wait to marry until he
is fifty years old and gray-headed?" cried Frau von Eschenhagen, greatly
vexed.
"As an only son and future heir he will have to consider such matters;
as for the rest, the main point will be his own inclinations. What do
you think, Willibald?"
The young heir, who had disposed of his ham and eggs by this time, and
with undiminished appetite was now attacking the sausage, was evidently
much astonished that his opinion had been asked. Such a thing had never
happened before, and he was obliged to reflect deeply before he could
answer at all.
At length he reached a conclusion. "Yes, of course I must marry some
time, but mamma will choose a wife for me when the right time comes."
"She will indeed, my boy," assented his mother, warmly. "That is my
affair, so you need not trouble your head about it, and until then you
will remain here in Burgsdorf where I can have my eye upon you. As to
the university and traveling, that matter is--settled."
She threw a defiant glance at her brother, but he was gazing with a look
of horror at the enormous sausage to which his nephew and ward was
helping himself for the second time.
"Have you always such a large appetite, Will?" he asked.
"Always," Will assured him complacently, as he helped himself to a
large slice of bread and butter.
"No, we don't suffer thank God, with indigestion or any other stomach
trouble," said the mistress of the house tartly, "but we earn our bread
honestly here. First pray and work, then eat and drink, but what we do,
we do thoroughly, and that keeps body and soul together. Just look at
Will, now, and you will see that what I say is true." She gave her
brother a friendly slap on the shoulder with her last words, but this
token of her good will was so energetic that Wallmoden shrank back in
his chair, and immediately moved it sidewise to be out of the reach of
that muscular hand.
The expression of his face showed clearly that the "creepy sensation"
was coming over him again. In the presence of these patriarchial
conditions, he thought it best to forego any attempt to enforce his
prerogative as guardian, an office, moreover, which, so far as he was
concerned, had always been purely nominal. It was plain from Will's
manner that his mother's praise was highly gratifying to the young man's
feelings.
"And Hartmut is not here for breakfast again, this morning. He seems to
think there is no necessity for being punctual at Burgsdorf, but I will
enlighten the young gentleman when he comes and make it clear to him
that--"
"There he is now," exclaimed Willibald. On the clear sunshine which
flooded the room through the open windows, there fell a shadow, and a
tall, slender figure appeared suddenly at the window and vaulted upon
the high sill.
"Well, what kind of an imp are you anyway, that you can only come in
through the window?" said Frau von Eschenhagen indignantly. "What are
the doors for?"
"For Will and all other well-ordered human beings," laughed the
new-comer good-naturedly. "I always take the nearest way, and that led
this time through the window." So saying he gave one spring from the
high seat into the middle of the room.
Hartmut Falkenried, like the young heir of Burgsdorf, stood upon the
boundary line where boyhood and manhood meet, but it needed only a
glance to recognize that he was his friend's superior in every respect.
He wore a cadet's uniform which became him well, but yet there was
something in his whole appearance which seemed to be at war with the
military cut and fit. The tall, slender boy was a true picture of youth
and beauty, yet there was something odd about this beauty, something
wild in his motions and appearance, with absolutely nothing to remind
one of the martial figure and earnest repose of his father. The
luxuriant, curly locks which crowned the high forehead, were of a deep,
blue black, and the warm, dark coloring of the skin betokened rather a
son of the south than of German parentage. Neither did the eyes, which
flashed in the youthful countenance, belong to the cool, earnest north;
they were enigmatical eyes, dark as the night, and full of hot,
passionate fire. Beautiful as they were, however, there was something
uncanny hidden in their depths, and though the laughter which
accompanied Hartmut's words was free and unrestrained, it was not a
hearty, merry boy's laugh.
"You certainly conduct yourself in a very free and easy manner," said
Wallmoden, sharply. "You evidently take advantage of the fact that the
inmates of Burgsdorf think little of etiquette. I have no doubt,
however, that your father would protest against such an entrance into
the dining-room."
"He would not do it if his father were here," said Frau von Eschenhagen,
who did not seem to notice the stab intended for herself in her
brother's remark. "And so you have come to your breakfast at last,
Hartmut. But laggards get nothing to eat; did you know that?"
"Yes, I know that," replied Hartmut, quite undisturbed, "so I got my
breakfast some time ago from the housekeeper. You can't starve me, Aunt
Regine. I stand on too good a footing with your people."
"And so you think you can do as you please and go unpunished," cried the
irate lady. "Break all the rules of the house, leave no one and nothing
in peace, and stand all Burgsdorf on its head; but I'll soon stop all
this business, my lad. To-morrow I'll send a messenger over to your
father requesting him to come and take home his son who knows neither
punctuality nor obedience."
The threat had its effect. The youth was frightened, and thought it well
to surrender at discretion.
"Oh, you are only jesting; shall I not enjoy my short vacation with--"
"With all manner of folly?" Frau von Eschenhagen added for him. "Will
has not done so much mischief in all his life as you have accomplished
in the last three days, and you'll spoil him with your bad example and
lead him into all manner of misdoing."
"Oh, Will is not the kind to be spoiled. I could not do it if I tried,"
said Hartmut very warmly.
The young heir, who certainly did not look as if he could be led into
any impropriety, ate on, untroubled by these personal allusions, until
he had finished the last slice of bread on the table; but his mother was
highly incensed at this remark.
"That must grieve you greatly," she retorted. "It is certainly not your
fault, for you have tried hard enough to ruin him; but as I just said I
will write to your father to-morrow."
"That he is to come and fetch me away? You won't do that Aunt Regine,
you are far too good. You know how very strict papa is, how severely he
can punish; you won't complain of me to him; you have never done it
yet."
"Leave me alone, don't bother me with your flatteries." Frau Regine's
face was as inflexible as ever, but her voice had a certain unsteadiness
which made Hartmut feel he had won the day. He laid his arm upon her
shoulder with the freedom of a child.
"I believe you do love me a little, Aunt Regine, and I--I have been
happy for weeks over the thought of my visit to Burgsdorf. I have been
sick with longing for woods and sea, for the green meadows and the far
blue heavens. I have been so happy here; but of course, if you really do
not want me, I'll go away from the place. I won't wait to have you send
me."
His voice had sunk to a soft, seductive whisper, while his eyes spoke
more eloquently than his tongue. They could plead more powerfully than
the lips, and Frau von Eschenhagen, who yielded to no one, from her only
son to the lowest tenant on the estate, permitted herself to be
persuaded by them now.
"You are incorrigible, you merry-andrew" she said, brushing the curls
from his forehead. "And as to sending you away, you know only too well
that Will and all my people are always ready to make fools of themselves
for you, and I, too, for that matter."
Hartmut laughed aloud at the last words, and kissed her hand with
impetuous gratitude, then he turned to his friend, who, having finally
ended his meal, was looking on in silent wonderment.
"Have you finished your breakfast at last, Will? Come, we'll go to the
Burgsdorf fishing pond--don't be so vexatiously slow. Good-bye, Aunt
Regine, I can see Uncle Wallmoden does not approve of your having
pardoned me. Hurrah, now we're off for the woods." And away he rushed
over the terrace and across the garden. There was something attractive
in his exuberance and enthusiasm. The lad was all life and fire. Will
trotted after him like a young deer, and in a few moments the two
disappeared behind the trees.
"He comes and goes like a wind storm," said Frau von Eschenhagen, gazing
after them. "That boy is not to be restrained once the reins are
slackened."
"A dangerous youth," said Wallmoden. "He even understands how to manage
you, who usually have all your commands obeyed. It is, within my
knowledge, the first time you have ever forgiven disobedience and lack
of punctuality."
"Yes, Hartmut has something about him which bewitches one," exclaimed
Regine, half angry at her own irresolution. "If he did not look at me
with those big black eyes of his while he begged and flattered, I might
be able to resist him. You are right, he is a dangerous lad."
"Well, we've had enough of Hartmut for this morning. The question which
interests me concerns the education of your own son. You have really
decided--"
"To keep him here. Don't bother yourself about him, Herbert; you may be
a great diplomatist, and have the politics of the whole country in your
pocket, but I wont give my boy into your keeping; he belongs to me
alone, and I intend to keep him, and--that's enough."
A sounding blow on the table accompanied the "that's enough." Then the
ruling lady of Burgsdorf rose from her chair and left the room. Her
brother shrugged his shoulders and said half aloud: "He can grow up an
ignorant country squire for all of me--perhaps it's the best thing for
him after all."
Hartmut and Willibald had, in the meantime, reached the tolerably
extensive forest which belonged to the estate. The Burgsdorf fish pond,
a lonely, reedy sheet of water in the middle of the wood, lay glittering
in the sun in the still morning hours. Willibald had chosen for himself
a shady place upon the bank, and gave himself up, with as much
perseverance as comfort, to the delights of angling, while the impatient
Hartmut wandered here and there, now scaring a bird, now breaking off a
branch for the blossoms, and at last, after a series of gymnastic
performances, seating himself on the trunk of an old tree which lay half
in the water. "Can you never be quiet in any place? You frighten the
fish away every time," exclaimed Will, out of humor. "I've caught
nothing at all to-day!"
"How can you sit for hours on the one spot waiting for the stupid fish
to bite?" retorted Hartmut. "Ah, you can spend the whole long year in
the woods if you desire, you are free, free."
"Are you a prisoner, then?" asked his friend. "You and your comrades are
out daily, are you not?"
"But never alone, never without supervision and control. We are always
and eternally in the service, even in recreation hours. O how I hate it,
this service, and the whole slavish life."
"But Hartmut, what if your father heard you?"
"Oh, then he would punish me again as he always does. He has nothing
else for me but force and punishment, all for my own good--that goes
without saying."
He threw himself full length on the grass, but hard as the words
sounded, there was a tremor in his tone which told of pain and passion.
The young heir only shook his head soberly while he put a new bait on
his hook and for a few minutes there was perfect silence.
Then suddenly something black swooped down like a flash of lightning
from the height above them into the water, and a second later rose again
in the air with the slippery, glittering prey in its beak.
"Bravo, that was a good catch!" cried Hartmut, rising. But Will spoke
angrily.
"The wretched robber robs our whole pond. I will speak to the forester
and tell him to fill him full of lead."
"A robber?" repeated Hartmut, as his glance followed the heron who was
just disappearing behind the high tree tops. "Yes, of course, but how
fine it must be to live such a free robber's life up there in the air.
To descend like a flash for your booty and be up and off again where no
one can follow; that's a hunt that pays."
"Hartmut, I verily believe you'd take pleasure in such a wild, lawless
life," said Willibald, with the repugnance of a well-trained boy for
such sentiments.
His companion laughed, but it was the same bitter laugh without the
joyousness of youth in its sound.
"Well, if I had any such desire, they'd take it out of me at the
military academy. There obedience and discipline is the Alpha and Omega
of all things. Will, have you never wished that you had wings?"
"I, wings?" asked Will, whose whole attention was again directed to his
bait. "How ridiculous! Who would wish for impossibilities?"
"I only wish I had them," cried Hartmut excitedly. "I would I were one
of the falcons from whom we take our name. Then I would mount higher and
always higher in the blue sky towards the sun, and never come back
again."
"I believe you're crazy," answered his listener good-naturedly. "Well, I
wont catch anything, if I sit here all day, for the fish wont bite. I
must move to another place."
With that he gathered up his fishing tackle and crossed to the other
side of the pond, while Hartmut threw himself on the ground again.
It was one of those autumn days which during the midday hours recall
thoughts of early spring. The sunshine was so golden, the air so mild,
the woods so fresh and odorous. Upon the glistening little lake danced
thousands of shining sparks, and the long grass whispered softly and
mysteriously to itself whenever a breath of wind passed over it.
Hartmut lay stretched out motionless on the grass as if listening to the
secrets it told to the autumnal wind. The wild passion and excitement
which flashed from his eyes when he spoke of the bird of prey had all
vanished. Now the eyes which looked into the heavens above were sad and
dreamy, and there rested in them an expression of ardent longing.
A light step, almost unheard on the soft ground, approached, and the low
bushes rustled as if against a silk garment. Then they parted and a
woman's figure appeared and stood looking intently at the young dreamer.
"Hartmut!"
The boy started and sprang up instantly. He knew neither the voice nor
the apparition which stood before him, but saw it was a lady, and he
made her one of his courtly bows.
"Pardon, Madame--"
A slender, trembling hand was laid quickly and restrainingly on his arm.
"Be quiet, not so loud; your companion might hear us, and I want to
speak to you, and to you alone, Hartmut."
She stepped back again into the thicket and motioned him to follow.
Hartmut hesitated a moment. How came this heavily-veiled and
richly-attired stranger into the lonely wood, and why did she speak so
familiarly to him whom she had never seen before? But the mysteriousness
of her behavior beginning to charm him, he followed.
She stood now in the shadow of the low trees, where she could not be
seen from the lake, and slowly threw back her veil. She was not very
young, a woman of more than thirty, but her face with its great burning
eyes, possessed an indefinable witchery, and a certain charm lay in her
voice, which, though she talked in whispers, had a soft, deep tone, and
an odd intonation, as though the German which she spoke so fluently was
not her mother tongue.
"Hartmut, look at me. Do you really not know me any more? Does no memory
of your childhood come back to you, to tell you who I am?"
The young man shook his head slowly, and yet some dreamy and obscure
memory did come to his recollection, of having heard this voice before,
and of this face which had looked into his at some far distant period.
Half shy, half fascinated, he stood looking at this stranger, who
suddenly threw her arms around him.
"My son, my only child! Do you not know your own mother?"
"My mother is dead," he answered, half aloud.
The stranger laughed bitterly, shrilly, and her laugh seemed but an echo
of the hard, joyless sounds which had come from Hartmut's lips a few
moments since.
"So that's how it is. They would even say I was dead and not leave you
the memory of a mother. It is not true, Hartmut. I live, I stand before
you; look at me, look at my features, are they not your very own? That
at least they could not take from you. Child of my heart, do you not
feel that you belong to me?"
Still Hartmut stood motionless, looking into that face in which his own
was so faithfully mirrored. He saw the same lines, the same luxuriant,
blue-black hair, the same dark, flashing eyes; and the same demoniacal
expression which was a flame in the eye of the mother, was a spark in
the eye of the son. Their close resemblance to one another was witness
enough that they were of one blood. The young man felt the influence of
the mysterious tie.
He demanded no explanation, no proof; the dreamy, confused recollections
of his childhood were suddenly clear, and after a second's hesitation he
threw himself into the arms which were stretched out to him.
"Mother!"
In this cry lay the whole fervid intensity of the boy, who had never
known what it was to have a mother, and who had longed for one with all
the passion of his nature. His mother! And now he lay in her arms, now
she covered him with warm kisses, and called him by sweet, tender names,
which had been strangers to his ear until that moment--everything else
seemed forgotten by him in this flood of stormy ecstasy.
After a few minutes Hartmut loosed himself from the arms which still
enfolded him.
"Why have you never been with me, mamma?" he asked vehemently. "Why have
I always been told that you were dead?"
Zalika stepped back, and in an instant all tenderness had died out of
her eyes, and in its place was a wild, deadly hate, as the answer came
like a hiss from between her set lips.
"Because your father hates me, my son--and because he wishes to deny me
the love of my only child since he thrust me from him."
Hartmut was silent. He knew well enough that the name of his mother
dare not be mentioned in his father's presence, and that he had been
sharply reproved once for doing so, but he had been too much a child at
the time to ask "why." Zalika gave him no time to do so now. She brushed
the thick locks back from his brow and a shadow crossed her face.
"You get your forehead from him," she said slowly. "But that is the only
thing that reminds me of him, all the rest belongs to me and me alone.
Every feature tells that you are mine--I always knew that."
She suddenly clasped him in her arms again with unspeakable tenderness,
and Hartmut returned the embrace with ardor. It seemed to him like the
fairy tales which he had so often dreamed, and he gave himself up
unresistingly to the spell of happiness which some wonderful magic had
cast over him.
Just at that moment, Will called loudly to his friend from the opposite
shore to come on, that it was time to go home. Zalika spoke at once.
"We must part now. Nobody must learn that I have seen and spoken with
you; above all things your father must not know it. When do you return
to him?"
"In eight days."
"Not for eight days?" The words sounded almost triumphant.
"Until then I can see you daily. Be here by the pond to-morrow at this
same hour; make some pretext for leaving your friend behind, so that we
may be undisturbed. You will come, Hartmut?"
"Certainly, mother, but--"
She gave him no time for any objection, but continued in a passionate
whisper:
"Above all things maintain absolute silence toward every one. Do not
forget that. Good-bye, my child, my own dear son, good-bye."
Another kiss and she had retreated in the woods as noiselessly as she
had come. It was high time, for Willibald appeared at this moment,
though not noiselessly by any means, for he broke the twigs with many a
crackle as he stepped heavily on them.
"Why didn't you answer me?" he asked. "I called you three times. You
have been asleep; you look as if you were dreaming."
Hartmut did have a dazed look as he stood gazing at the trees behind
which his mother had disappeared. Now he straightened himself and drew
his hand across his forehead.
"Yes, I have been dreaming. A very strange, marvelous dream," he said
slowly.
"You had better have been fishing," returned Will. "See what a fine
catch I have made. A man should never dream in daylight--that's the time
to be at something serious--mother says."