Behind the house, in that court which formed a part of the garden, and
from which the carriage-drive started, there was a high swing, which
the children were allowed to use very carefully, and with which the
older people sometimes amused themselves. One day Madam Cosima was
sitting on the narrow board. Wagner offered to start the swing and give
her a good flight through the air.
All went well for a time, but, little by little, the motion became more
rapid; higher and still higher went the swing! In vain Madam Cosima
begged for mercy. Carried away by a kind of frenzy, the Master paid no
attention, and the incident began to have a terrifying aspect.
Cosima grew white; her hold relaxed, and she was about to fall.
"Do you not see that she is fainting?" I cried, throwing myself toward
Wagner.
He grew pale, in his turn, and the danger was quickly averted. But,
as the poor woman continued to be dizzy and trembling, the Master
concluded it would be wise to create a diversion. He ran rapidly
toward the house, and by the aid of the shutters, the mouldings and
projections of the stones, he climbed nimbly up the side, and reaching
the balcony of the floor above, leaped over it.
He had obtained the desired effect, but in replacing one evil by
another. Trembling with anxiety, Cosima turned to me, saying under her
breath:
"Above all things, do not notice him; do not look surprised, or you can
never tell where he will end."