THE INADVERTENCE OF FRAU JOHANN
TWILIGHT fell late in the tiny Rhaetian village of Heiligengelt. So
high on the mountain-side were set the few brown chalets, the simple
inn, and the church with its Oriental spire, that they caught the last
red rays of sunlight, to hold them flashing on burnished copper tiles
and small bright window-panes long after the valley below slept in the
shadows of night.
One September evening two carriages toiled up the steep winding road
that led to the highest hamlet of the Rhaetian Alps, and a girl
walking by the side of the foremost driver (minded, as he was, to save
the tired horses) looked up to see Heiligengelt glittering like a
necklet of jewels on the brown throat of the mountain. Each window was
a separate ruby set in gold; the copper bulb that topped the church
steeple was a burning carbuncle; while above the flashing band of gems
towered the rocky face of the mountain, its steadfast features carved
in stone, its brow capped with snow that caught the glow of sunset, or
lay in blue-white seams along the wrinkles of its forehead.
The driver had assured the young English lady that she might remain in
the carriage; her weight would be as nothing to the horses, who were
used to carrying far heavier loads than this of to-day up the mountain
road to Heiligengelt in the summer season, when many tourists came.
But she had insisted on walking and the brown-faced fellow with the
green hat and curly cock-feather liked her the better for her
persistence. She was plainly dressed, and not half as grand in her
appearance as some of the ladies who went up with him in July or
August to visit little Heiligengelt; but, apart from her beauty (which
his eye was not slow to see), there was something else that captured
both admiration and respect. Perhaps, for one thing, her knowledge of
Rhaetian--counted by other countries a difficult language, though
bearing to German a cousinship closer than that which Romance bears to
Italian--did much to warm the Rhaetian's heart. At all events, without
stopping to analyze his feeling, or grope for its cause, the driver of
the first carriage found himself bestowing voluble confidences upon
the charming foreigner.
He told her of his life: how he had not always lived in the valley and
driven horses for a living. Before he took a wife, and had a young
family to rear, he had made his home in Heiligengelt, which was his
native village. There his old mother still lived and kept the inn. He
was glad that the ladies meant to stop with her for a few days; after
the season was over, and the strangers had all been driven away by the
cold and early flurries of snow, the poor mother grew weary of
idleness and longed for the sight of new faces. There were not many
neighbours in Heiligengelt. She would be pleased to see the English
ladies, and would do her best to make them comfortable, though it was
not often that strangers came so late in the year. The mother would be
surprised as well as rejoiced at the sight of the Herrschaft, since it
seemed that they had not written in advance. Still, they need not fear
that her surprise would interfere with their welfare. Those who knew
Frau Johann knew that her floors ever shone like wax, that her
cupboard was never empty, that her linen was aired and scented like
the new-mown hay. It was but justice to say this, although she was his
mother. And besides, she had need always to be in readiness for
distinguished guests, because--but the eloquent tongue of Alois Johann
was suddenly silenced like the clapper of a bell which the ringer has
ceased to pull, and his sunburnt face grew sheepish.
"Because of what?" urged his companion.
Alois shrugged his shoulders and laughed. "I was going to say a thing
which I had no business to say," he confessed. "We men sneer at our
women because they keep no secrets, yet sometimes we find ourselves
near to the same foolishness. I must take care, and beg that the noble
lady will not embarrass me with questions."
The noble lady obediently held her tongue, yet there was a twinkle
under her long, downcast lashes, which might in turn have aroused
Alois's curiosity if he had seen.
Slowly they climbed on; the two carriages, with the noble lady's noble
mother, the middle-aged companion, the French maid, and the modest
supply of luggage, toiling up behind.
At last they reached the inn with the steeply pointed roof of gray
shingles and the big picture of Heiligengelt's patron saint portrayed
in bright colours on the white house-wall. A characteristic call from
Alois, sent forth before the highest plateau was reached, brought an
apple-cheeked old dame to the front door; and it was the youngest of
the travellers who asked, with a pleasant greeting, for the best suite
of rooms that Frau Johann could provide.
The Rhaetian woman and her son exchanged a glance which mirrored
mystery. Then Frau Johann regretted that her best rooms were already
occupied by four gentlemen who came each year at this season to spend
a week or ten days. They had the bedchambers commanding the finest
view, and the only private sitting-room in the house; but there were
other good rooms in plenty, and one of these could easily be
transformed into a sitting-room, if the ladies desired.
An hour later, when the newcomers, mother, daughter, and companion,
sat down to a hot supper in a room rendered hastily habitable for
dining, the youngest of the three remarked to Frau Johann upon the
peaceful stillness of her house.
"One would think that there was not a soul in the place save
ourselves," she said. "Yet we are not your only guests, we know."
"The gentlemen who are stopping with me are away all day on the
mountains," explained Frau Johann. "It is now the season for
chamois-hunting, and it is for that sport and also some good climbing,
only to be done by experts, that they come to me. To-night they do not
return, but stop at--at a hut they have near the top of the Weisshorn,
to begin work in the morning earlier than would be possible if they
slept in the village. That, indeed, is their constant custom."
"Then they are rather selfish to keep your only sitting-room, since
they can make but little use of it," said the girl. "And so I should
like to hint, if I happened to meet them."
"May heaven forbid!" hastily ejaculated Frau Johann, almost dropping
the plate of eggs with minced veal which she was carrying.
"Why not, then?" laughed the young English lady, who was the most
beautiful creature the Rhaetian woman had looked upon for many a long
day. "Are these gentlemen-hunters persons of great importance, that
they must not be told the truth about themselves by those they have
inconvenienced in their thoughtlessness?"
For an instant Frau Johann was dumb, as one who searches for an answer
not easily to be found. "The gentlemen are good patrons of mine;
therefore they are important to me, gracious Fräulein," she at last
replied. "I should not like their feelings to be hurt."
"I was only joking," the girl assured her. "We are satisfied with this
room, which you have made so pleasant for us. All I care for is that
the _mountains_ be not private. I may climb as much as I like--I and
my friend, Miss Collinson who is a daring mountaineer" (with this, she
cast a glance at the companion, who visibly started in response,
perhaps at the revelation of her skill); "for I suppose that your
other guests have not engaged the whole Weisshorn for their own?"
The landlady's smile returned. "No, gracious Fräulein; you are free to
wander as you will; but take care that you do not attempt feats of too
great difficulty, and take care also that you are not mistaken for a
chamois, to be shot."
"Even our prowess as climbers will hardly entitle us to such a
distinction," replied the youngest of the ladies, who seemed so much
more inclined toward general conversation than the others. "But wake
us early to-morrow. We should like to have breakfasted and be out by
half-past seven."
"And will you take a guide, gracious Fräulein? I can engage a good one
if you wish to try some of the famous climbs."
"Thank you, no," said the girl. "We have our Baedeker and will only
attempt such places as he pronounces safe for amateurs. There's an
easy way to the top, we've read, and if to-morrow be fine we may
undertake it. But what an excellent engraving you have over the
fireplace, with the chamois horns above it! Isn't that a portrait of
your Emperor?"
Frau Johann's eyes darted to the picture. "_Ach_! I meant to have
had it carried away," she muttered.
The girl caught the words. "Why should it be carried away? Don't you
love the Emperor, that you would have his face put out of sight?"
"Not love _unser Max_?" The exclamation came quick and indignant. "We
worship him, gracious Fräulein; we would die for him any day, and
think ourselves blessed with the chance. Oh, I would not let you go
back to your own country with the thought that we do not love the best
Kaiser a country ever had. As for the portrait, I did not know I spoke
aloud; that sometimes happens to me, since I grow deaf and old. But I
only wished it put away because it is so poor, it does _unser Max_
(that is what he is pleased to have us call him) no justice. You--you
would not recognize him from that picture. The Kaiser is a very
different-looking man."
With this, Frau Johann went out to fetch another dish, which was ready
in the kitchen, to cool her hot face, and to scold herself for an old
_dummkopf_, all the way downstairs.
In the bedchamber which had so recently been turned into a
dining-drawing-room, the young lady took advantage of the landlady's
temporary absence to indulge in long-stifled laughter.
"Poor, transparent old dear!" she exclaimed. "I'm sure she doesn't
dream that one reads her like a book. She is in a sad fright now, lest
we should recognize '_unser Max_' from his portrait, and spoil his
precious incognito."
"Then you think that one of the gentlemen really is----" began the
Grand Duchess.
"I am sure that he is," finished Princess Sylvia.