"Caesar and I were walking in the forest when we saw one of your goats
trying to escape. I ordered Caesar to drive it back."
"Thank you, Franz. Hereafter I must keep that one tethered. She has
tried to run away so many times. Won't you come in for some bread and
milk?"
"I thank you, but the hour grows late and I must turn homeward."
"The sun is lowering," the Widow Geiser agreed. "Thank you again, Franz,
and come again."
"I shall look forward to it."
With Caesar padding beside him, Franz started down the gulley toward
Dornblatt and as he did so, his uneasiness mounted. He had delayed
meeting his father for as long as possible, and now he admitted to
himself that he feared to face him. But the meeting could no longer be
postponed.
Franz made his way through Dornblatt to his father's house. Caesar, who
preferred to remain outside, regardless of the weather, curled up in
front of the cattle shed. Franz tried to be resolute as he climbed the
stairs to the living quarters, but, once at the door, he halted
uncertainly.
Then, taking his courage in both hands, he entered the single room that
served the Halles as living-dining-bedroom. The ceiling and wall boards
were scrubbed until they shone; the floor was of red tile. There was a
big fireplace with a wooden chimney and a great, gleaming-white
porcelain stove bound by brass rings. Spotless pots and pans hung from
wooden pegs. A table and seven straight-backed wooden chairs occupied
the center of the room. At the far end, where lowered curtains might
separate them, were the beds where slept Franz's father and mother, his
four young sisters and himself.
Franz's mother sat silently in the chimney corner, and the fact that she
was not doing something with her hands was all that was necessary to
prove that much was amiss. His four overawed sisters hovered at the far
end, near the beds.
Franz Halle the elder met his son. Six-feet-two, storm and wind and the
mountains that hemmed him in had written their own tales on his wrinkled
face. By the same token, the very vigor of the life he'd led had left
him straight as a sapling and endowed him with iron muscles. His clear
blue eyes, gentle for the most part, now glinted like the sun slanting
from glacier ice.