IN COUNCIL.
"I Am sorry, gentlemen, but I have to pronounce all your plans and
proposals unsatisfactory. The question is to draw all the water-power
we need from the Radefeld low-grounds, in the shortest way, and with
the least possible expense. But, without exception, your designs call
for such vast and expensive outlays, that it is not worth while to talk
of their being carried into effect."
It was Eberhard Dernburg, the proprietor of the Odensburg Works, who
thus declined the plans laid before him by his officers, in this
decided manner. The gentlemen shrugged their shoulders and looked at
the plans and drawings that were spread out upon the table, when,
finally, one of them said:
"But, you see, Herr Dernburg, that we have to contend here with the
greatest difficulties. The land lies in the most unfavorable of all
ways, mountains and valleys alternating along the whole line."
"And the pipes must be secured against all casualties," remarked a
second; while the third added:
"The laying of them down will certainly occasion a large expenditure,
but as things are now, this cannot be altered."
These three gentlemen, the director and head-manager of the Odensburg
works, the superintendent of the technical bureau, and the
chief-engineer, were unanimous in their views. This conference was
being held in Dernburg's office, where that gentleman usually received
the reports of his subordinates, with whom his son also was found
to-day. It was a large apartment, quite plainly furnished, but its
walls were lined with bookcases. His desk was heaped up with letters
and other papers; on the side-tables lay plans and maps of all sorts;
and the great portfolios, that were visible in an open press, seemed to
contain similar matter. It was evident, that this room was the central
point, whence came the guidance of the whole gigantic enterprise,--a
spot devoted to never-ending toil and unflagging activity.
"You do not, then, think any other solution possible?" began Dernburg
again, as he drew out a paper from a portfolio near by, and spread it
out before him. "Please glance at this, gentlemen! Here the course
taken is to start from the higher ground, but it penetrates the
Buchberg, and then, without further difficulty, is to be conveyed to
the works across Radefeld itself--there is the solution sought for."
The officers looked somewhat chagrined, and eagerly bent over the
drawing. Evidently none of them had thought of this plan, and yet they
did not seem to consider it with any special good-will.
"The Buchberg is to be penetrated, did you say?" asked the director. "A
very bold thought, that would assuredly offer great advantages, but I
do not deem it feasible."
"Neither do I," chimed in the chief-engineer. "At all events, a
searching examination is needed, to ascertain if it is possible. The
Buchberg----"
"Is to be mastered," interposed Dernburg. "The preliminary works have
already been executed. Runeck established the fact of their
possibility, at the outset, when he made the outer measurements, and
treats of it expressly in the explanation now lying before us."
"So the plan emanates from him, does it?" asked the superintendent of
the technical bureau.
"From Egbert Runeck--he and none other."
"I thought so."
"What do you mean, Herr Winning?" asked Dernburg, quickly turning upon
him.
Herr Winning made haste to protest that he had no particular meaning;
that the affair only interested him because the young technician was in
his own department, immediately under his superintendence: the other
two said nothing but cast upon their chief, strange looks of inquiry,
which he did not appear to observe.
"I have decided upon adopting Runeck's plan," said he quietly, but, at
the same time, with a certain sharpness. "It fulfills all my
requirements, and the estimate of expenses amounts to about half of
yours. We must consult, of course, over the details, but anyhow, the
work is to begin as soon as possible. We'll talk it all over another
time, gentlemen."
He rose from his seat, and in so doing gave the signal to disperse, for
the officers bowed and took their leave; but in the ante-chamber,
however, the director paused, and asked in a whisper:
"What do you say to it?"
"I do not understand Herr Dernburg," answered the chief-engineer, with
a voice likewise cautiously lowered. "Is it that he actually does not
or _will_ not know?"
"Of course he knows it. I myself have given him information on the
subject, and the Socialist gentleman himself does not pretend to make
any secret of the course he is pursuing; he recklessly admits the stand
that he has taken. Should any other man here at Odensburg dare to do
the same, he would obtain his dismissal on the spot, but Runeck's
discharge seems as yet to be a thing of the dim future. You see his
plan has been accepted without any question, while we were plainly
given to understand that ours were good for nothing. That surpasses
anything that has happened yet----"
"You just wait," interposed Winning calmly. "On that point our chief is
not to be trifled with, we all know. At the right time he will speak
authoritatively, and, if Runeck does not yield then, it is all up with
him, let him be ten times over the young master's bosom-friend and
deliverer from death. You may rely upon that!"
"Let us hope so," said the director. "By the way, how poorly Mr. Eric
does look still, and how remarkably silent he is. Why, I do not believe
he uttered ten words during the whole debate."
"Because he did not understand what we were talking about," explained
the chief-engineer, shrugging his shoulders. "They have taken pains
enough to drill it into him, but very evidently not much has stuck
to him. He has inherited nothing from his father, whether outwardly
or inwardly. I must be gone, though, I have to drive out to
Radefeld--Good-morning, gentlemen!"
Father and son had been left together by themselves, and the former
walked silently up and down the room, evidently quite out of sorts.
In spite of his sixty years Eberhard Dernburg was still in the full
vigor of life, and nothing but his gray hair and wrinkled forehead gave
any indication that he had already crossed the threshold of old age.
His face, with its firm, grave features, told no such story, any more
than did his glance, which was keen and clear, and his tall figure was
as erect as ever. His address and speech were those of a man accustomed
to command, and to receive unfailing obedience, and in his outward
appearance there was something that spoke of the sternness attributed
to him alike by friend and foe.
It was plainly to be seen now, that his son bore not a shadow of
resemblance to the father, but a glance at the half-length portrait
that hung over the desk explained this, in some sort. It represented
Dernburg's deceased wife, and Eric was speakingly like her. There was
the same countenance, with its delicate, meaningless features, the
soft, uncertain lineaments, the dreamy, reserved look.
"There sit my deputies with all their wisdom," began Dernburg, finally,
in a half-mocking, half-angry tone. "For months they have been
pottering over the task, concocting all manner of designs, not one of
which was worth anything; and, on the other hand, there is Egbert,
without any commission at all, going quietly along, taking the
necessary measurements, and studying the situation, until he matures a
plan, and lays on the table before me a scheme that is simply masterly!
How do you like his sketch, Eric?"
The young man cast an embarrassed look upon the drawing which he still
held in his hand.
"You find it excellent, father. I--pardon me--I cannot exactly get a
clear idea of its bearings."
"Why, I should think it ought to be clear enough, since you have been
pondering over it since yesterday evening. If you require so much time
for comprehending a simple plan, for which all the necessary
explanations are given, how will you acquire the quick insight into
affairs, indispensably necessary for the future owner of the Odensburg
works?"
"I have been absent fully a year and a half," said Eric in apology,
"and during all that time, the physicians enjoined it upon me to
refrain from all exertion, particularly prohibiting any mental strain.
You must make allowances, father, and give me time to fit into harness
again."
"You have always had to be on your guard against over-exertion, and
been restricted in work," said Dernburg with a frown. "On account of
your continual sickness, you were never able to pursue any serious
study, or engage in anything that required bodily activity. I fixed all
my hope upon your return from the South, and now--do not look so
disconsolate, Eric! I do not mean to reproach you; it is not your
fault, but it is a misfortune in the station to which you are now
called."
Eric suppressed a sigh; once more he was feeling this enviable station
to be a sorely heavy burden. His father continued impatiently:
"What is to be done, when I shall no longer be here? I have capable
subordinates, but they are all dependent upon my guidance. I am
accustomed to do everything myself, I never let the reins slip out of
my hands, and your hands, I am afraid, will never be strong enough to
manage them alone. I have long perceived the necessity of securing you
a support for the future--and just at this crisis, Egbert disappoints
me by being guilty of the madness of allowing himself to be caught in
the net of the socialistic democrats! It is enough to drive one mad!"
He stamped passionately with his foot. Eric looked at his father, with
a certain shyness, then said gently:
"Perhaps the matter is not so bad as you have been informed. The
director may have exaggerated many a thing."
"Nothing has been exaggerated. My investigations have ratified every
word. His period of study in that cursed Berlin has been fatal to the
young man. I ought to have taken the alarm, indeed, when he wrote me
word, after the first few months of his stay there, that he no longer
needed the means which I had placed at his disposal, for he could
manage to support himself by giving drawing-lessons and by other work.
It must have been hard enough for him, but I liked his pride and
independence of spirit, and let him have his way. Now I see more
clearly! Those mad ideas were already beginning to seethe in his brain,
the first meshes of the net were already woven about him, in which he
has since been caught, and he would accept nothing more from me, for he
knew that all was at an end between us, if I learned anything about
it."
"I have not spoken with him yet, and therefore cannot judge. He is out
at Radefeld, I hear."
"He is coming in to-day. I am expecting him before the hour is out."
"And you are going to talk to him on the subject?"
"Of course--it is high time."
"Father, let me implore you not to be hard upon Egbert. Have you
forgotten----"
"That he drew you out of the water? No, but he has forgotten that since
then he has been almost treated like a son of the house. Do not meddle
in this matter, Eric, you do not understand it."
The young man was silent, not daring to oppose his father, who, for the
last few minutes, had resumed his pacing of the floor. Now he paused in
his walk, and said grumblingly: "I have on my mind all manner of
disagreeable things, and lo! here you come, with your love-affairs, and
prating about marriage. It was dreadfully precipitate of you to bind
yourself without first obtaining my consent."
"I believed myself certain of your approval, and so did Wildenrod, when
he promised me his sister's hand. What objection have you to make to my
choice, father? The daughter that I am going to present to you is so
lovely and sweet. How beautiful she is that picture shows. She is,
moreover, rich, from a highly-esteemed family--indeed she belongs to a
line of the ancient nobility----"
"I do not attach the slightest consequence to that," brusquely
interrupted his father. "No matter how suitable your choice was, it
should have been first referred to me; instead of which you even
allowed the engagement to be announced at Nice before my answer had
arrived. It almost looks as if there was a purpose to obviate any
possible opposition on my part."
"But there can be no talk of that! My relations with Cecilia had not
been unobserved, it was already the theme of town-talk; and Oscar
explained to me that he had to acknowledge the truth, to avoid any
misinterpretation of our actions."
"Never mind, it was a piece of unwarrantable presumption. My
investigations have certainly proved satisfactory."
"Ah! you have had yourself informed?"
"Of course, since a family connection is at stake. I have certainly not
turned to Nice--a mere transient sojourn like that offers no reliable
hold--but to the native place of the Wildenrods. Their former
possessions are now part of the royal domain, and I got the information
I wanted from the court-marshal's office."
"That was superfluous, father," said the young man reproachfully.
"I, however, deemed it needful for your sake," was the dry rejoinder.
"There is no doubt but that the Wildenrods belong to the most ancient
nobility in the land. The old Baron seems to have lived rather
extravagantly, but was universally respected. His estates were sold
after his death, and, for a respectable sum were transferred to the
king, on condition that the widow might still be allowed a home in the
castle. This certainly agrees with the information furnished you by
Herr von Wildenrod, a person, by the way, with whom I cannot have the
slightest affinity."
"But you do not know him yet. Oscar is an intellectual man, and in many
respects a remarkable one."
"That may be, but a man who no sooner succeeds to the paternal
inheritance than he makes haste to dispose of the family estates, at as
high a price as possible, deserting the service of his fatherland, and
roving around in the wide world, without any profession or occupation
of any kind,--such a man inspires me with but little respect. This
gypsy life on the part of these high-born drones, that wander homeless
from place to place, everywhere seeking nothing but their own pleasure,
revolts me to my inmost soul. I also regard the Baron as lacking
greatly in delicate feeling, when he allows his young sister to share
in such a life."
"He loves Cecilia with the greatest tenderness, and she has never had
anybody in the world to depend on but him. Should he commit his only
sister to the hands of strangers?"
"Perhaps it would have been better. When he deprives a young girl of
home and family, he takes the ground from under her feet. However, she
would find both here again. You love her, at all events, and if you are
really sure that she reciprocates your love----"
"Otherwise would she have plighted her troth to me?" cried Eric. "I
have already described to you, father, the extent to which she was
idolized and courted, with the whole world at her feet, as it were. She
had so many to choose from and chose me!"
"That is just what surprises me," said Dernburg, coolly. "You do not
possess one of those shining qualities which girls of her claims and
education covet. However, that may be--first of all, I want to get
personally acquainted with Fräulein von Wildenrod and her brother. Let
us invite them to Odensburg, and we shall see what will come of it.
Meanwhile, I entreat that no greater publicity be given to the affair
than it has already unfortunately attained."
So saying he left the room, and went into his library, which was
immediately adjacent.