"Emil Gottschalk!" Jean burst out. "The Widow Geiser is heavily indebted
to him and now he says that, if she does not pay the debt in full, and
within ten days, he will take her farm and all else that is hers!"
"He cannot do such a thing!" the astounded Franz cried.
"Aye, but he can," Jean said. "Which is more, he will and there is
nothing any of us may do except offer asylum to the widow and her sons!"
A short time later, Franz walked gloomily homeward, his thoughts filled
with the pleasant little farm and the attractive young woman who was
fighting so valiantly to keep her home. If there was anything anyone
could do, somebody would have done it. Professor Luttman was a very
clever man. He would not let Emil Gottschalk take the Widow Geiser's
farm if there was a way to forestall him.
* * * * *
A week later, the snow came to Dornblatt. It whirled down so thickly
that it was impossible to see more than a few yards in any direction,
and it left fluffy drifts behind it. Eighteen hours later, there was
another snow and the people of Dornblatt took to their skis.
The snowfall was followed by two days of fair weather, then the first
great storm of the winter came. It was so fierce that even the men of
Dornblatt would not venture forth until it subsided.
Franz was at the evening meal with his family when he heard Caesar's
challenging roar. Footsteps sounded on the stairs. A moment later
Hermann Gottschalk, Emil's son and Franz's former classmate, stumbled
into the room.
"Father!" he gasped. "He is lost in the storm!"