The winter passed without the occurrence of any event of particular
interest. Hawermann was accustomed to the monotony of his life, and was
perfectly contented with it as far as he himself was concerned; but the
young people sometimes found it dull and lonely, especially Frank von
Rambow, for Fred Triddelfitz had his aunt at the parsonage, and his
dear mother a little further off at Rahnstaedt, to say nothing of the
housekeeper, Mary Moeller, who was close at hand, and who comforted him
in his loneliness with many a savoury morsel of spiced goose, or
sausage, so that there was soon a secret understanding between them.
Sometimes they treated each other like mother and son, for Mary Moeller
was seven years older than Fred, she was _quite_ four and twenty;
sometimes a more tender sentiment was infused into their intercourse,
for Mary Moeller was _only_ four and twenty, and Fred had always studied
novels more diligently than Latin grammar when he was at school; indeed
he had been a regular subscriber to the circulating-library, and was
therefore quite up to the most approved method of conducting an affair
of the kind. Besides that, his father's last words to him when he left
home were: Learn everything practically, a piece of advice which
Hawermann was also continually dinning into his ears, so he thought a
love-affair might be as useful to him as any other branch of knowledge,
and--do not misunderstand me, no harm was done--so it was, in providing
him with an abundant supply of spiced goose and sausages.
Hawermann therefore had not to find amusement for Fred, but Frank was
different, as he knew no one. Hawermann took him to call on Mr. and
Mrs. Behrens, and when Christmas came he offered to take him to the
parsonage, as Fred was in Rahnstaedt with his mother. Frank accepted the
invitation. It was splendid weather for sledging, so they drove down to
the parsonage, where they found little Mrs. Behrens standing sentry by
the parlour door to prevent them going in: "No, Hawermann, no! You
mustn't go in there. Mr. von Rambow, may I ask you to go to my pastor's
study."--And the moment they entered the study Louisa sprang to her
father, kissed him, and told him in a whisper what presents she had
prepared, and where she had hidden them, what she was going to do, and
who was to act the part of Julklapp[9], so that she had only time for a
passing bow to Mr. von Rambow. The clergyman however shook the young
man warmly by the hand, and told him how glad he was to see him in his
house on this festival day. "But," he added, "we must do as we are bid
this evening, my wife is commander-in-chief to-day, and her love of
rule is never so strongly developed as on Christmas-eve"--He was right
there, for Mrs. Behrens popped her head in at the door every moment to
say: "Be patient for one minute. Pray sit still, the bell is just going
to ring," and then she rushed through the study with a blue paper
parcel hidden under her apron, and next moment she might be heard
laughing in the parlour.
At last the bell rang, the door flew open, and--ah!--there was the
fir-tree standing on the round table in the centre of the room,
and under it were arranged as many plates of apples, nuts, and
gingerbread-nuts as there were people in the house, and two extra ones,
one for Hawermann, and the other for his pupil. Mrs. Behrens bustled
round the table, seized Hawermann and Mr. von Rambow by the hand, and,
leading them up to the table, said: "This is your plate, and that is
yours. Louisa and my pastor will be able to find their own for
themselves," then turning round, she called out: "Come in," and the
pastor's man, George, and her own two maids, Rika and Dolly, appeared
in the door-way, ready to take their part in the rejoicings of the
evening, "Come in, that's your plate with the half-crown stuck in the
apple, and those with the red shawls are for the two maids, and the one
with the red waistcoat is for George. And Louie ...," she got no
further in her speech, for Louisa rushed at her with a cherry-coloured
woollen dress in her hand, seized her round the neck, and stopped her
mouth with kisses: "Mother, how good of you!" And now I must needs
confess with sorrow that little Mrs. Behrens so far forgot herself as
to tell a fib, not in words, but by nodding and winking at her pastor;
so Louisa sprang to her foster-father, and exclaimed: "It was you who
gave it me!" but Mr. Behrens shook his head, and replied that he was
innocent of the charge. Then she threw her arms round her own father's
neck, saying: "It was you, it was you." But the good old bailiff
confessed with a sad smile that he had had nothing to do with it, and
there were tears in his eyes, when after having stroked her hair
fondly, he took her by the hand and led her to Mrs. Behrens, saying:
"This is the person you have to thank, Louie," but the clergyman's wife
was too busy at that moment at least to listen to thanks, for she
called her husband to come and try on his new dressing-gown to see how
it fitted him, and asked whether it was not lucky that she had fixed
upon a new dressing-gown for his present, instead of the pair of
trousers she had at first thought of. And as the dressing-gown fitted
beautifully and was very becoming, she went back a few steps, and
looked at her husband in the same way as a child, who has put her new
doll in the sofa-corner that she may examine it from a little distance.
When she turned round she saw a blue paper parcel lying on her plate,
which Mr. Behrens had placed there unnoticed by her. She seized upon
it, and while untying the string, wondered audibly what it could
contain, and said she felt certain some one had been playing her a
practical joke; at last the paper was removed, and there was a
beautiful piece of black silk, enough to make a dress!--Every one was
happy: Hawermann had found a new pipe on his plate, which he filled and
began to smoke; the pastor had placed himself in the sofa-corner in his
new dressing-gown, and rejoiced in seeing the happy faces around him;
Mrs. Behrens and Louisa found it impossible to sit still, but were
continually moving about the room, and holding the materials for their
new dresses under their chins to see how they would look when made up,
and stroking them to show how smoothly they would lie. Frank on the
other hand withdrew a little into the background oppressed by the sad
feeling that he had never known a happy home-like Christmas-eve. He
rested his head on his hand as he thought that when kind friends and
relations had asked him to spend his Christmas-holidays with them, he
had there most of all missed the presence of the originals of the two
portraits over which he had placed garlands of _immortelles_. He felt
that he belonged to no one in this house either, but he must not
destroy the pleasure of others by showing his sadness, and with a great
effort he forced himself to look up and smile, and as he did so he
found Louisa's large beautiful eyes fixed on him full of sorrowful
sympathy as if she had been able to read his very heart.
"Julklapp!" cried Rika in her loud voice, and a parcel flew in at the
door addressed to "Mrs. Behrens." It was a pretty ruche, and no one
knew who had given it. And "Julklapp!" was shouted again. It was a
beautifully worked cushion for Mr. Behrens' arm-chair this time, and of
course nobody had had anything to do with it--Oh, what fibs were told
at the parsonage that evening!--And "Julklapp!" A letter was thrown
into the room which told of another letter that was to be found
upstairs in the garret, and that told of another in the cellar, and
that one of another, and again another ..... in short, if Mrs. Behrens
wished to get a very pretty embroidered collar which was intended for
her, she would have to run all over the house, and would at last find
it close at hand in the cupboard where her husband kept his boots.--And
"Julklapp!" It was a tremendous package this time, with Mr. Behrens'
name upon it, but when the outer covering was taken off it was
addressed to Mrs. Behrens, and then to George, and then to Rika, and
last of all to Louisa, and when the last paper was taken off a small
worktable was displayed, such as Hawermann had given his wife years
ago.--No one knew that, however, but himself.--And "Julklapp!"
Books for Louisa.--And "Julklapp!" A worsted-work footstool for
Hawermann.--Rika acted her part to perfection.--But now it was all over
and she came in to collect the bits of paper and string that were
scattered over the floor; but the door opened again suddenly and
unexpectedly, and "Julklapp!" cried a clear sweet voice, and when they
looked at the packet they saw that it was addressed to "The honourable
Francis von Rambow." Immediately afterwards Louisa slipped softly into
the parlour from the study, her face beaming with happiness.
Frank was overwhelmed with confusion, but when he opened the parcel, he
found a letter from his youngest cousin Fidelia, which informed him
that she and her two unmarried sisters had each sent him a Christmas
present. Alberta gave him a sofa-cushion, though he never lay on the
sofa; Bertha--a saddle-cloth, though he had no horse, and Fidelia--a
cigar-case, though he never smoked.--But what of that? They were all
things that might have been useful, and it is the giver, not the gift
that one thinks of at Christmas.--He no longer felt himself so much
alone in the world, and when he saw how much Louisa rejoiced for him,
he quite recovered himself and laughed and joked about his presents,
and whether Louisa would or not, she had to receive his thanks for
them, for he had recognised her voice when she threw in the parcel.
Rika then came back, and said: "They are all here now, ma'am."--"Then
we'll go to them," answered Mrs. Behrens.--"No, dear Regina," said her
husband, "let them come in here."--"But," she remonstrated, "they'll
bring in so much snow on their boots."--"Never mind that," said the
clergyman, then turning to the maid, "you won't object to get up a
little earlier than usual to-morrow morning to put the room in order
again, will you, Rika?"--No, Rika would do that with pleasure, and so
the door was thrown open and in streamed, one after the other, all the
little children in the village, flaxen heads, black heads and all!
There they stood rubbing their noses, staring with great eyes at the
apples and ginger-bread-nuts, and opening their mouths widely, looked
as if they wished to show the good things on the table the way in which
they ought to go.--"Now," said Mrs. Behrens, "let all our god-children
stand in the first row. You know, Hawermann," she added, "that we, that
is, my pastor and I stand nearest to our god-children after their own
parents,"--More than half of the children came forward, for Mr. and
Mrs. Behrens had stood sponsor for the greater number of the little
boys and girls in the village. An impostor took his place amongst the
rest, Joseph Ruehrdanz by name; he had noticed on the preceding year
that the god-children got more presents than the others; but Stina
Wasmuth saw what he was about, and pushed him away, saying: "You are
not a god-son, boy!" so he slunk back unable to carry out his
deception.
Mr. Behrens came forward with a pile of books under his arm, and he
gave a hymn-book to each god-child whom he was preparing for
confirmation, and to the others he gave copy-books, and slates, and
primers and catechisms as they were most wanted, and each of the little
ones said: "Thank you, god-father," but those who got the hymn-books
said: "Thank you very much, reverend Sir," for they were older than the
others.--Now it was Mrs. Behrens' turn. "Come," She said, "I'll take
the nuts; Louisa there's the ginger-bread for you, and Mr. von Rambow,
please take the basket of apples, and let us go down each row.--Arrange
yourselves in line, children, and have your dishes ready."--There was
so much pushing and shoving that this was a work of time, for everyone
wished to be in the first row,--at last they were all ready with their
dishes in their hands. The little girls held their aprons up at the
corners, but the boys were provided with anything and everything that
would hold their cakes and fruit; one had a tin measure; another
a flour bowl; another his father's hat, and another with quiet
self-possession held up a great five bushel sack in the firm persuasion
that it would be filled to the very top.--Now the division of the spoil
began.--"Look! here, here, here--stop!" cried Mrs. Behrens as she
reached a mischievous looking little lad, "this boy is to have no
apples, Mr. von Rambow, for he helped himself in the garden last
summer."--"Oh, ma'am!"--"Boy, didn't I myself chase you out of
the big apple-tree near the wall with a pitch-fork?"--"Oh, Mrs.
Behrens!"--"No, no, the boy who steals apples, gets none given him at
Christmas."--The division went on quietly again till they came to
Joseph Ruehrdanz, when the clergyman's wife stopped, and said: "Wasn't
it you who fought with Christian Casbom last week at the parsonage
gate, till Rika had to go out and separate you?"--"Yes, ma'am. He said
to me ...."--"Hush!--Louisa, Joseph is to have no gingerbread."--"But,
ma'am, we've made it all up again."--"Ah then, Louisa, you may give him
the gingerbread."--At last the fruit and cakes were all distributed,
and the children went away with their share, each merely saying;
"Good-night, good-night," for it was not the fashion amongst them to
say thank you.--No sooner were they gone than a different set of people
came in coughing and scraping. They were the old spinning women, and
the old brush-binders and wooden-shoemakers &c., in fact everyone in
the village who was too old and frail to work any more. Mr. Behrens
said a few kindly words of help and counsel, which were well received,
and his wife gave them each a tea-cake which they were also glad to
get, and as they went away, they prayed that the "blessing of God"
might rest on their pastor and his family.
At last, George, the clergyman's man-servant, and Hawermann brought the
sledge to the door, and then the two guests said good-bye. Hawermann's
first action before driving away was silently to take off the
sledge-bells, for the great bells in the church-tower were ringing out
their message to the whole world, while the sledge-bells only kept up a
merry tinkle for the high road. They drove through the village at a
foot's pace, and as they passed along they heard a sweet Christmas
Carol rising from many a labourer's hut and ascending to the quiet
heavens where God had placed the lights of His great Christmas tree,
under which the earth was stretched like a table covered with the pure
white cloth of snow that winter had spread over it, and which spring,
summer and autumn were in turn to deck with flowers and fruit in due
season.
They drove slowly out of the village, and when they came to the turn of
the road, Frank caught sight of Pomuchelkopp's manor house with its
brilliantly lighted windows: "They are keeping Christmas there too," he
said.--Yes, presents were given and received there, but Christmas was
not kept.
Pomuchelskopp had bought everything in Rostock, nothing in Rahnstaedt.
"One should always do things in style!" he said, and then he told how
much he had paid for Mally's and Sally's new dresses, and when Sally
heard that Mally's had cost six shillings more than hers, she was
jealous of her sister, and Mally thought herself much better than
Sally. Then Phil and Tony quarrelled about a sugar doll, and when
Pomuchelskopp decided the dispute in favour of his pet son Phil, Tony
lost his temper and struck at Phil's head with his toy whip, but
instead of striking his brother, he hit the large mirror so hard that
it was broken in pieces; so Henny called order, and taking the tawse
out of the cupboard, punished Tony first, because of his naughtiness,
and then Phil, and lastly the other boys to keep them company. She did
not call her husband, Poeking, once during the whole evening, no, not
even when he gave her a new winter-bonnet trimmed with ostrich
feathers, she only said, as she took it: "Do you want to make a guy of
me, Kopp?"
When Frank went to bed that night he confessed to himself that he had
never spent such a pleasant Christmas in his life before, and when he
asked himself the reason, the sweet face of Louisa Hawermann appeared
before his mind's eye, and he said to himself: "An innocent happy child
like that makes a merry Christmas."
Something very unusual happened between Christmas and New-year's-day.
Joseph Nuessler drove up to the farm at Puempelhagen in the phaeton and
wearing an enormous blue cloak with seven capes.--He could not get out
of the carriage, he said, for he had been away from home for a good
hour and a half, and had only called to say that the clergyman, and his
family and Braesig were coming to a party at his house on Sylvester's
day, and that he wanted his brother-in-law to join them with his two
young people, and he, for his part, would as host provide a good bowl
of punch for the evening's entertainment. As soon as he had finished
this long speech, he shut up completely, and when Hawermann had
accepted his invitation, and Christian had begun to turn the carriage,
he merely muttered something like: "Good-bye then, brother-in-law,"
from beneath the seven capes, so Christian turned his head round and
called out: "The mistress told me to say that she expected you to come
to coffee."
Frank wrote and told Fred, who was still in Rahnstaedt with his mother,
of the invitation, at the same time telling him that as his holiday was
over he had better go straight to Rexow on the last day of the year,
and then he could return to Puempelhagen with Hawermann and him in the
evening.
A regular thaw had set in before Sylvester's day, and when Hawermann
and Frank arrived at the muddy farm-yard at Rexow, they saw Joseph
Nuessler standing in the doorway with bent knees. He was dressed in the
black coat and trousers that his wife had given him at Christmas, and
as he had put on the red cap which Mina had crocheted for his Christmas
present, he looked in the distance exactly like a stuffed dignitary of
the church. Braesig, however, pushed him out into the yard, saying:
"Show yourself, Joseph. Do _les honours_ properly, so that Charles'
young nobleman may see that you know something of life."
As soon as Joseph had got over his labours of receiving the company,
and Mr. and Mrs. Behrens had arrived and had spoken to the twins, Mrs.
Nuessler took her brother aside and told him how the farm had been
paying that year; Mr. Behrens entered into conversation with Mr. von
Rambow; his wife talked to the little girl about their Christmas
presents; Joseph seated himself in his old corner by the stove and said
nothing, and Braesig went about from one group to another, his feet and
legs incased in seal-skin boots that came up as high as his waist, as
though Christmas were come again and he were going to act Ruklas[10] to
frighten the children.--The sun shone in at the window and gilded the
steam that curled from the coffee-pot, and the thin cloud of smoke from
the clergyman's pipe, reminding one of the light fleecy clouds which
float upon the summer sky, but a black wintry storm-cloud rose from
behind the stove, for Joseph was sitting there smoking as though for a
wager.--Fortunately for those present, his wife had taken the
precaution of emptying his tobacco-pouch of the twist he kept there,
and of putting a very mild kind of tobacco in its place, but he had
been so long accustomed to the hard work of smoking the coarse native
tobacco he was in the habit of using, that he thought the same exertion
was necessary with the mild foreign tobacco he had now in his pipe.
Outside the house black clouds were gathering on the horizon, but no
one in the cosy parlour was troubled by thoughts of a coming storm.
Mrs. Nuessler's parlour-maid now came in, and telling her mistress that
a carter had just brought a box from the apothecary in Rahnstaedt, asked
where it was to be put.--"Good heavens!" cried Mrs. Behrens, "it will
be Fred's clothes. My dear pastor, you will see that my brother-in-law
has been so foolish as to let the boy ride again, and on that wild
sorrel horse too that no one else has ever ridden!"--"You needn't be
anxious, Mrs. Behrens," said Hawermann with a half laugh he could not
suppress, "the sorrel isn't so bad as you think."--"Oh, but Hawermann,
when he was riding to Puempelhagen before, I saw how the horse stood
still and refused to move."--"Ah," said Braesig "the mere obstinacy
shown by the beast is nothing, the danger is, that when the young
rascal conquers, the horse generally starts forward suddenly, and then
the rider is apt to lose his balance and tumble off."--But little Mrs.
Behrens was not to be comforted by what Braesig told her, she opened the
window and asked the carter whether Fred was riding, and whether the
horse was wild.--"As quiet as a lamb," was the answer, "and if he lets
the horse alone, it'll let him alone. He isn't far off now."--That was
a pleasant piece of news, and Mrs. Behrens seated herself on the sofa
again with a sigh of relief, saying: "Ah me, I always tremble for my
sister's sake when I see that boy. He's continually getting into some
stupid scrape or other."--"You may depend upon that," said Braesig.
They were both right. In the short time, between Christmas and
New-year's-day, he had got into no end of scrapes, and all of them in
his grand new clothes too, for in spite of the bad weather he wore his
green hunting-coat, white leather breeches, and top-boots regularly
every day, and sometimes even during the night; that is to say, that on
one occasion when he had remained till a late hour at a supper-party
composed of merry young farming apprentices as great dandies as
himself, he was found lying on the top of his bed with his boots and
spurs on by the servant when she took him his hot water in the
morning.--Some people might be inclined to laugh and shrug their
shoulders, but the fact of the matter is, that at this party, Fred had
happened to meet his old friend Augustus Prebberow, who had been going
about in top-boots for a year and a half longer than himself, and that
the joy of seeing his old friend again, and the highly intellectual
conversation in which he had taken part, had rather overcome him.
Augustus Prebberow had taken the opportunity of giving him a great deal
of good advice as to how he ought to behave to his "governor"--that was
what he called Hawermann, and what was the best way of managing his
governor, and then he had gone on to give him examples from his own
experience, of the proper way to treat the bondager-lads, how to make
them go head over heels, climb a greased pole, &c. &c. As soon as they
had exhausted that branch of farming they had turned the conversation
to horses. Fred had then told the whole of his experience with the
sorrel. He had taken care to explain that the sorrel was a good horse,
but that as his father, the apothecary, who had had him since he was a
foal, loved him as the apple of his eye, he had never cared to cure him
of his tricks, and now the horse had grown obstinate in his own
opinion, and thought he knew better than anyone else; but that he,
Fred, was determined to teach him better manners. His chief fault was
that he absolutely refused to go a step further when he had taken it
into his stupid old head that he had done enough, and that then neither
working the bit, nor tche-tcheing, neither whip nor spur made the
slightest impression on him.--"And you really allow that?" Augustus had
asked. "Well, then I'll tell you what to do next time. Take a large jug
of water with you, and ride on quietly till he comes to a stand-still
and refuses to move--listen--pull at the bit, give him the spur, and
fling the jug of water between his ears--all at the same time you
understand--so that the crockery should break on his head and the water
run into his eyes."
When Fred set out for Rexow he remembered this piece of advice, and
determined to try whether it would really succeed. So off he set, the
reins in his left hand, the whip under his left arm, and a large jug
quite full of water in his right hand. Of course his progress was only
at a foot's pace, for if he had gone fast he would have spilt the
water, and as the sorrel was too old to care about going quickly
everything went well till they reached the farm-yard at Rexow. Fred
then wished to turn his gallant steed down the drive leading to the
front-door, so he gave the sorrel a touch of the spurs in his ribs, and
immediately the horse stopt as though rooted to the spot; whether it
was only his way, or whether he was a sly dog and remembered what had
happened at the parsonage-pond is more than I can tell. Now was the
time for Fred to try his stratagem. He jerked the bit, used his spurs
energetically, and dashed the jug of cold water between the horse's
ears. "Ugh!" grunted the sorrel with a shake of the head, to show that
he had no intention of moving on, but was quite contented to remain
where he was, and then he sank down gently and quietly to the ground
where he stretched himself out at full length. Fred was obliged to
follow his example, for though he had sufficient presence of mind to
free himself from the stirrups, still he could not help falling beside
his horse.
The company assembled in Mrs. Nuessler's parlour had seen the whole
dispute between Fred and the sorrel, and little Mrs. Behrens trembled
for her sister's darling when she saw Fred raise himself in his
stirrups, and fling the great kitchen-jug at his opponent, but when she
saw the sorrel's gentle reproof, and her nephew lying on the soft but
slightly cool "bed of honour" which Heaven had covered with a coating
of mud, made by the rain and thaw, and which Joseph Nuessler had also
aided to soften with his farm-carts, she could not help joining in the
hearty fit of laughter with which the rest of the party had greeted
Fred's down-fall. She then said to her husband: "It will do him a great
deal of good!"--"Yes," said Braesig, "and a cold in the head will do him
no harm either. What business had he to treat the poor old beast so
shockingly."
Fred approached like the half-moon, one side shining and brilliant, the
other dark, and gloomy. "What a mess you've made of your clothes, my
dear boy," cried his Aunt from the open window. "Don't come into the
parlour in that state. Fortunately your box has arrived, so you can
easily change your things."
This was done, and then Fred made his appearance in his grandest
clothes: a blue cut-away coat and black cloth-trousers, and went about
the room with all the airs and graces of a young squire, though
inwardly he was fretting and fuming over Braesig's pointed jests and
Mrs. Behrens' remarks. Frank on the contrary was in high spirits, he
talked and joked with the three little girls, got the twins to let him
see their Christmas presents, and laughed, heartily when Lina and Mina
showed him two great flannel-bags which uncle Braesig had given them "to
keep their extremities warm, and so prevent them having gout before
their time." He had never before been in the society of girls younger
than himself, and was so pleased with the innocent confidences made to
him by these three little maids, that when supper-time came he seated
himself beside the children, and when Mrs. Nuessler asked him to take
his proper place near the head of the table, he begged to be allowed to
remain where he was.
It was a merry supper-party, every one except Fred and Joseph took part
in the conversation. Fred was cross and uncomfortable, and was angry
with himself for not being able to talk and laugh like Frank. Joseph
was also silent, it is true, but then he was always ready to laugh, and
if Braesig so much as opened his mouth, he prepared to join in the burst
of laughter which was sure to follow. When the punch was placed on the
table, Lina, as the steadiest of the two sisters, was chosen to
dispense it to the company, and her father recovering speech for the
time being, and determining to do his duty as host, said, or rather
murmured: "Give Braesig some punch, Lina."--The punch helped Fred also
to find his tongue, though it did not improve his temper. He was
displeased with Frank's way of behaving, and thought that though the
little girls were quite children, they ought on this occasion to be
treated like grown-up young ladies, and have a higher sort of
conversation addressed to them, he therefore took up the same theme
which he had found answer at the Rahnstaedt ball when he was dancing the
cotillion with the mayor's daughter, a lady of five and twenty. "Miss
Hawermann," he began. The child looked at him in astonishment, and when
he once more said: "Miss Hawermann," she burst out laughing, and said:
"I'm not Miss, I'm only Louisa Hawermann!" And Frank could not help
joining in her merriment.--Disagreeable as this was, Fred was too well
aware that his behaviour was correct, to be much put out by the
reception it met with, he therefore proceeded to describe the ball he
had been at in Rahnstaedt, and to repeat what he had said to the mayor's
daughter, and what she had said to him, and as he did so he addressed
the twins as well as Louisa, taking care to call them "Miss Nuessler"
and "Miss Mina Nuessler." As every one at table was talking and
laughing, he raised his voice higher and higher, till at last there was
dead silence all round him, and every eye was fixed on him in
astonishment. Joseph, who sat beside him, drew back a little, and
stared at him in blank amazement, that any one man could pour forth
such a stream of words. Braesig peered round the corner at him from
behind Joseph, and winked at Hawermann as much as to say: "Didn't I
tell you, Charles, that he was a regular greyhound?"--Hawermann kept
his eyes fixed on his plate, and looked angry. Mrs. Nuessler was anxious
and ill at ease, feeling that as hostess it would hardly do for her to
desire her guest to be quiet, and to choose a different style of
conversation. The pastor shook his head gravely, while little Mrs.
Behrens gave more decided tokens of disapprobation by burying her chin
in her breast till her cap-ribbons were almost lost to view, and by
flouncing up and down on her chair as if it were too hot for her; but
when Fred began to describe the schottish, and told how the gentleman
puts his arm round the lady's waist, she started up exclaiming: "Don't
any of you speak! I'm his Aunt, and am therefore the nearest to him.
Come here Fred."--And when Fred rose slowly, and approached her with an
air of high-bred nonchalance, she seized him by the lappel of his coat,
and pulling him towards the door, said: "Come, my dear boy, come away
with me," and so left the room with him. They could all hear the murmur
of Mrs. Behrens' voice as she lectured her nephew, her words flowed on
uninterruptedly in spite of his protestations until she had finished
what she wanted to say, when she reopened the door, and leading Fred
into the room, pointed to his chair, and said: "Sit down there, and
speak like a reasonable mortal."
Fred did as he was bid, that is to say, he obeyed the first command;
the second was too hard for him. How was it possible to talk sensibly
after having begun by talking sentimentally, and so make a flat ending
to a well begun conversation.--Frank and the three children gradually
resumed their former merry talk, while the older people spoke about
graver subjects, and so the conversational coach rolled on smoothly,
except when Braesig drove it against a stone with a sudden jerk. Mrs.
Behrens managed to act the part of moral policeman towards the offender
while taking her full share in the conversation of the elders, and Fred
sat silently fuming, and pouring punch, like oil, on the flames of his
wrath, internally stigmatising Frank as a "sneak," and the little girls
as "silly baggages," who understood nothing of the ways of polite
society.
But notwithstanding the contempt he felt for the society of such mere
children, he was seized with a certain feeling of jealousy, when he
saw, as he imagined, that Frank liked talking to Louisa Hawermann best
of all, he made up his mind to put an end to that state of things, and
to try what he, Fred Triddelfitz could do, that is to say, when his
aunt was not there.
Meanwhile it had grown very late without anyone having noticed how
quickly time was flying, when suddenly a terrible form was seen
standing in the parlour; it was dressed in warm patch-work garments,
and blew a loud blast on the cow-horn it held in its hand, and then
began to ring still more discordantly. It was Augustus Stowsand, a
half-witted fellow who lived on the estate, and whom Joseph Nuessler,
having no other use for him, had made night-watchman. The serving men
and maids peeped in at the open door to see how he got on, and giggled,
and pushed each other forward, and drew each other back. Everyone began
to wish everyone else a happy new year, and then as soon as quiet was
restored, the pastor made a little speech which began jestingly, and
ended seriously. He reminded his auditors that every year they were
nearer death than before, and that every year they might have the
comfort of making new ties of friendship and love, and of drawing the
old ones tighter. And when he looked round the room on the conclusion
of his address, his little wife threw her arms about him; Mr. and Mrs.
Nuessler drew closer to each other, Hawermann and Braesig clasped hands;
the twins embraced, and Frank stood by Louisa Hawermann's side. Fred
was nowhere to be seen, his bad temper had conveyed him out of the
room.--Thus ended the year 1839.