"When they came, they probably found too much company hereabouts. Rely
upon it, they have passed along the cutting, and are now in glade
number two. Come along, I know every inch of the ground. Look,--a
carriage has stopped here, and has then gone on through the cutting.
And here is no end of traces of horses' hoofs. I have no idea where,
they can all come from!"
The tracks of carriage-wheels and traces of horses' hoofs continued all
along the cutting; but the friends had only advanced a few yards in the
same direction when it occurred to Otto that his coachman, on finding
nobody on the appointed spot, would probably drive straight ahead,
possibly all the way to Rinstedt. The man was quite fool enough to do
so, he said; so perhaps he had better turn back and instruct him,
whilst Bertram went on. It was impossible, he added, for Bertram to
miss the place now.
So Otto turned and Bertram hurried on. Already a certain gathering
brightness indicated the whereabouts of the glade which Otto had spoken
of, and to which the slope was now leading, but leading so gradually
that Bertram could not yet get a glimpse of it, although he surely must
be very near it, for he heard human voices and the neighing of a horse.
And now he saw at least a portion of the glade, and there were several
horses on the spot--as he perceived to his amazement--and grooms were
holding the horses. Looking again, and more carefully, he noticed that
several of the horses had side-saddles. An abrupt thought flashed
across him. He recoiled involuntarily somewhat to the left, and then,
standing behind some broad-stemmed fir-trees at the very edge of
the glade, he saw before him a scene which for a moment held him
spell-bound with terror.
Four or five men, Colonel von Waldor and Herr von Busche among them,
were lifting a wounded man or a dead man upon a low country cart filled
with straw, and then the doctor and his assistant received their charge
and laid him carefully down, raising his head as they did so. The
evening light shone brightly on the pallid face--Kurt's face; but,
Heaven be thanked, Kurt wounded, but not dead! His eyes were open, and
a smile flitted across his pallid features as Erna bent over him where
he lay. Her fair countenance, darkened by the riding-hat which she
wore, was as pale as his own, but she, too, was smiling, and she bent
lower and lower still, and closed those lips of his that would speak
and that were not to speak, with a kiss; and then she leapt down from
the cart and bounded straightway, with Herr von Busche's help, into the
saddle, her horse having meanwhile been brought to her. The Colonel,
too, had mounted by this time, and the cart now set off, the wounded
man being supported by the doctor's assistant; the doctor had also
mounted his horse and joined the procession, which, following the
cutting in the opposite direction, soon vanished within the glade.
There remained but Herr von Busche and Alexandra, whom Bertram only saw
after the cart had disappeared; there were two grooms, too, and they
were now bringing up the horses; one of them a spare one, probably the
one which poor Kurt had been riding.
The whole scene only occupied a few minutes, during which Bertram just
had time to overcome the first paralysing feelings of horror. What
subsequently retained and restrained him in the sheltering darkness of
the trees, was a flood of curiously mingled feelings, out of which
there emerged with potent forces the warning: They have found each
other for life and death; step not again between them; touch not again
with clumsy hands the dainty and complicated wheels of a fate which
laughs your calculations to scorn!
He would have liked best to creep away unseen by any one, but here was
Otto ascending the cutting, and loudly calling Bertram's name.
Alexandra, who was just about to let Herr von Busche help her into the
saddle, started; Herr von Busche sang out in reply to Otto; Bertram
stepped forth from under the trees, and the Princess hurried up to him,
gathering her riding-habit with one hand, and holding out the other to
him.
"My dear friend! you here? Thank Heaven! I was just debating whether I
had not better wait for you, rather than leave a servant with a
message."
"Is Kurt badly wounded?"
"How do you know? but never mind! No; not badly. That is to say, it
will be a tedious affair, but the surgeon guarantees a complete cure,
and states that his life is in no danger. He found the ball at once; we
were already on the spot--and, great Heaven, what a splendid, heroic
creature Erna is!"
Otto had meanwhile come up. There was much cross-questioning, of
course; and the friends speedily gathered at least the main facts of
the occurrence. Herr von Busche was naturally best qualified to give
all the information required. He had heard from the Oberfoerster, upon
that gentleman's return from Rinstedt, of the scene in which Kurt,
evidently without knowing it, had acted a singular part--one quite
incompatible with the traditional honour of an officer--of a man who is
grossly insulted in the presence of many others, and who withdraws
without replying. The Oberfoerster had been quite excited on the subject
which he had been discussing with the ladies at the breakfast-table; he
had added that other gentlemen, who had also been present last night,
had expressed their amazement at the young' officer's conduct.
"I am myself an officer in the _Landwehr_." continued Herr von Busche,
"and my duty was clear. I was bound to communicate as quickly as
possible to Ringberg the insulting suspicion to which he had made
himself liable. To apply to the Baron for information was out of the
question. He had left the ranger's house some hours before, to pay, he
said, some farewell-calls in the neighbourhood; besides, I think, he
wanted to procure the horse on which he afterwards came to the meeting.
We had agreed to meet here. Herr Ringberg was also to be here, of
course, but then it would have been too late; there would have been two
duels in lieu of one; and Ringberg's was bound to have precedence. Then
there was no second provided for Ringberg, unless the Herr Doctor had
acted as such, and that was not exactly feasible. Well, in a word, I
got on horseback, and searched the length and breadth of the ground
employed for the man[oe]vres, until at last, when I had given up all
hope, I found Ringberg at the moment when the regiment were stacking
their rifles. This was at five. The original hostile meeting was fixed
for half-past. Ringberg was on the point of leaving, having previously,
under some pretext or other, obtained two hours' leave of absence from
the Colonel. I told Ringberg what I had heard. He requested me to
accompany him to Colonel von Waldor to whom he would have to report the
case. You know the Colonel. 'I am your second,' he cried; 'we'll teach
the Baron a lesson in good manners.' A minute or two afterwards we were
in the saddle, accompanied by the staff-surgeon and an assistant, and
galloped here. The carriage was waiting by the side of the lake, and at
the same moment the Baron appeared. I must do him the justice to say
that he not only did not deny having made the insulting remarks, but
declared his perfect readiness to give instant satisfaction for them.
The issue unhappily was what, knowing the Baron's wonderful skill, I
expected it to be; or rather, it would probably have been even more
unfortunate, if, at the moment of firing, the ladies had not appeared.
I am sure that the Baron, who stood facing the cutting, must have seen
them coming, before the rest of us heard the sound of the horses' hoofs
upon the soft turf, and that the unexpected sight robbed him of his
usual unfailing aim. I find it natural enough that, under the
circumstances, he preferred to vanish immediately, and I expect that he
will be waiting for me at the Oberfoerster's now. To say the truth, I am
not particularly anxious to meet him again."
Whilst the young man was relating this in his wonted vivacious style,
and whilst Otto briefly explained how Bertram and he had been detained
upon the road, they reached the end of the cutting, and had come to the
place where Otto's carriage was waiting.
"How right we were to divide," said Herr von Busche. "The escort of the
wounded man would have been really too numerous. As it is, it will
cause a certain amount of sensation, although fortunately it will not
have to leave the wood till it is close to Rinstedt."
"It might be as well to divide once more," said Alexandra. "I feel, to
say the truth, somewhat shaken, and would like to await in town news
about the sufferer; for his state inspires me with no alarm now, and I
am expected to appear at Court to-night. I know you will very kindly
let me use your carriage, and mount Lieutenant Ringberg's horse
instead. You will be glad to get home as speedily as possible, although
we sent word to your wife so as to prepare her."
"But," remonstrated Otto, "most gracious Princess, you cannot go
alone...."
"I hope the Herr Doctor will be so good as to accompany me."
Alexandra turned, as she spoke, to Bertram who was standing silent,
evidently in deep thought, and who had scarcely joined in the previous
conversation. Now he looked up, and their eyes met.
"I was just going to request that honour," he said.
Otto looked amazed, but ventured upon no remonstrance. A shrug of the
shoulder behind Alexandra's back, seemed to imply that he considered
Bertram the lamentable victim of a lady's caprice. He instructed the
coachman to regain as quickly as possible the high-road, which was now
likely to be clear of troops, for this would enable the Princess to be
driven with greater ease and quickness. He pointed out to her that
there were plenty of wrappers in the carriage, and begged her to make
use of them in the cool of the evening. The Princess thanked him for
his attentions, and added that she would not fail to inquire personally
at Rinstedt on the following day.
"And you too, of course, Charles," said Otto.