At this table, which was spread with a white linen cloth, and decorated
with vases of flowers, the school-teacher was just saying:
"Yes, Madam Pfann, that is the hardest riddle hidden in the whole
history of man. Why can nothing but a myth or a people's war move the
souls of the masses? In a war the souls of nations see one another, if
one may say so, face to face."
He paused in the midst of his dissertation; for the lieutenant said in
a clear voice:
"The Frenchmen literally took us for cannibals. In a village near
Orleans, I went to a house and called; there was no answer. Presently I
saw a woman, sitting on top of the brick oven; I spoke to her
pleasantly, but she remained dumb, until, at last, I asked where the
children were. She looked at me in terror; and I said, laughing: 'Bring
me one, and roast it well. I want to eat it.' Then the woman laughed
too, and let the children out of the oven, where she had really hidden
them."
It was at this they had laughed so loud, at the great folk's table.
They were all pleased with the lieutenant, whose former wild boyishness
had changed to dignified composure. The eyes of the judge's wife danced
with a mother's pride; and if she was always thoughtful of comforting
and helping others, to-day she would have been glad to have poured joy
upon every one. But to-day no one needed her, for there was joy and
happiness everywhere. Just then she saw Landolin, and said:
"There sits the farmer of Reutershoefen all alone."
"It is well," said the district forester, "that the people are still
strong-hearted and straight-forward enough to cast out a man who was
unjustly acquitted."
"Wolfgang, come with me," said the judge's wife, rising; and taking her
son's arm, she went to Landolin's table. She said to her son that she
would remain there, and that he might join his comrades; and giving her
hand to Landolin, she sat down beside him, asked after his wife and
daughter--people never asked after Peter--and promised to visit them
soon. She also intimated that she hoped to be able to straighten out
the difficulty with Anton. Landolin told her, composedly, that Anton
had visited them the evening before, but that Thoma had refused him,
and that was probably the cause of his staying away from the
celebration.
"Had I known that, I should not have come either," he concluded; and
the lady discovered what suffering he must that day have undergone; and
with the most sympathetic expression of voice and countenance, she
said:
"Ex-bailiff, I have some good advice for you."
"Good advice? that is always useful."
"I think you ought to go away with Thoma for a few weeks. Go to a
bathing place. It will do you good."
"I'm not sick. There is nothing the matter with me. I didn't know that
our judge's wife was a doctor, too."
"You understand what I mean."
"I'm sorry I'm so stupid, but I don't understand you."
"Then I must speak plainly. Do you think that I desire your welfare?"
"Yes, certainly; why not?"
"You ought to go away a few weeks, and when you come back matters will
be in a better condition. Other things will have happened in the
meantime, and----You may believe me it would be well."
Landolin shook his head, and said after a long silence: "I know you
mean thoroughly well; of course you do; but I shall not stir from this
spot. I'll stay, if only to fool the rest of them. Already the
honorable Titus--the hypocrite!--has been trying to spread the rumor
that I am going to sell my farm. I'll stay here and cry fie upon the
whole country. We have owned our farm for hundreds and hundreds of
years. You can ask Walderjoergli; he will testify."
"I believe your word alone," said the judge's wife; Landolin nodded
well pleased, for it did him good to be so readily believed, and he
continued, in a clear voice:
"Yes, madame, we farmers are not so easily displaced as the----people
of rank. We at Reutershoefen are a strong stock; people may dig as much
as they choose at the roots; they will not bring it down."
All his pride arose; his sunken face became full; his form seemed to
grow larger. The judge's wife did not know what more to say; and she
would have been heard no longer, for a thousand voices cried:
"Walderjoergli! The Master of Justice! Walderjoergli!"
The cry spread, the girls and children on the further meadow took it
up; crying, "Walderjoergli!"
A man appeared, who stood head and shoulders above all who surrounded
him. His head was covered with soft, snow-white hair; his snow-white
beard fell far down to his breast, and his face, with its heavy
contracted brows and its large nose, looked as if chiseled with an axe.
"Hutadi! Hutadi!" screamed Landolin, springing up as if in a frenzy,
and dashing into the crowd. "Hutadi!" he screamed, stretching out his
arms, and clenching his fist in Titus' face.