But that day I was to have the greatest fright of all. You remember,
Fritz, that Sorle had told me at supper the night before, that if we
did not receive the invoice, our spirits of wine would be at the risk
of M. Quataya of Pezenas, and that we need feel no anxiety about it.
I thought so, too, for it seemed to me right; and as the French and
German gates were closed at three o'clock, and nothing more could enter
the city, I supposed that that was the end of the matter, and felt
quite relieved.
"It is a pity, Moses!" I said to myself, as I walked up and down the
room; "yes, for if these spirits had been sent a week sooner, we should
have made a great profit; but now, at least, thou art relieved of great
anxiety. Be content with thine old trade. Let alone for the future
such harassing undertakings. Don't stake thine all again on one throw,
and let this be a lesson to thee!"
Such thoughts were in my mind, when, about four o'clock, I heard some
one coming up our stairs. It was a heavy step, as of a man trying to
find his way in the dark.
Zeffen and Sorle were in the kitchen, preparing supper. Women always
have something to talk about by themselves, for nobody else to hear.
So I listened, and then opened the door.
"Who is there?" I asked.
"Does not Mr. Moses, the wine-merchant, live here?" asked the man in a
blouse and broad-brimmed felt hat, with his whip on his shoulder--a
wagoner's figure, in short. I turned pale as I heard him, and replied:
"Yes, my name is Moses. What do you want?"
He came in, and took out a large leather portfolio from under his
blouse. I trembled as I looked on.
"There!" said he, giving me two papers, "my invoice and my bill of
lading! Are not the twelve pipes of three-six from Pezenas for you?"
"Yes, where are they?"
"On the Mittelbronn hill, twenty minutes from here," he quietly
answered. "Some Cossacks stopped my wagons, and I had to take off the
horses. I hurried into the city by a postern under the bridge."
My legs failed me as he spoke. I sank into my arm-chair, unable to
speak a word.
"You will pay me the portage," said the man, "and give me a receipt for
the delivery."
"Sorle! Sorle!" I cried in a despairing voice. And she and Zeffen ran
to me. The wagoner explained it all to them. As for me, I heard
nothing. I had strength only to exclaim: "Now all is lost! Now I must
pay without receiving the goods."
"We are willing to pay, sir," said my wife, "but the letter states that
the twelve pipes shall be delivered in the city."
The wagoner said: "I have just come from the justice of the peace, as I
wanted to find out before coming to you what I had a right to claim; he
told me that you ought to pay for everything, even my horses and
carriages, do you understand? I unharnessed my horses, and escaped,
myself, which is so much the less on your account. Will you settle?
Yes or no?"
We were almost dead with fright when the sergeant came in. He had
heard loud words, and asked: "What is it, Father Moses? What is it
about? What does this man want?"
Sorle, who never lost her presence of mind, told him the whole story,
shortly and clearly; he comprehended it at once.
"Twelve pipes of three-six, that makes twenty-four pipes of cognac.
What luck for the garrison! what luck!"
"Yes," said I, "but it cannot come in; the city gates are shut, and the
wagons are surrounded by Cossacks."
"Cannot come in!" cried the sergeant, raising his shoulders. "Go
along! Do you take the governor for a fool? Is he going to refuse
twenty-four pipes of good brandy, when the garrison needs it? Is he
going to leave this windfall to the Cossacks? Madame Sorle, pay the
portage at once; and you, Father Moses, put on your cap and follow me
to the governor's, with the letter in your pocket. Come along! Don't
lose a minute! If the Cossacks have time to put their noses in your
casks, you will find a famous deficit, I warrant you!"
When I heard that I exclaimed: "Sergeant, you have saved my life!" And
I hastened to get my cap.
"Shall I pay the portage?" asked Sorle.
"Yes! pay!" I answered as I went down, for it was plain that the
wagoner could compel us. I went down with an anxious heart.
All that I remember after this is that the sergeant walked before me in
the snow, that he said a few words to the sapper on orderly duty at the
governor's house, and that we went up the grand stairway with the
marble balustrade.
Upstairs, in the gallery with the balustrade around it, he said to me:
"Be easy, Father Moses! Take out your letter, and let me do the
talking."
He knocked softly at a door as he spoke: