To-day the Baron rode away from Winkelsteg on Grassteiger's white horse.
Nothing came of the proposed ascent of the Zahn. After Waldlilie had
escaped from us there by the lake, Hermann said to me: "My fate is
sealed; I shall not climb the mountain. Take me to your Winkelsteg,
Andreas."
And here he remained three days, inspecting our arrangements and
drinking a great deal of our water. The people could hardly believe that
he was the owner of the forest, and one old woman said that she expected
the owner of the forest to wear a coat of gold, while this man's coat
was only plain brown cloth. His face was an ashen grey, but under the
pallor I discovered signs of vitality. I recently remarked that he was
surfeited with life; now I believe he is hungry for life. He is in a
very strange condition. Yesterday he sent for Berthold, that he might
pay him for the herbs.
Old Rothbart died some time ago, so Berthold has now become forester and
lives with his family in the Winkel-warden's house. In a few days the
marriage ceremony of Berthold and Aga will be quietly celebrated in the
church. The Baron has arranged it. This has made me very happy.
Hermann has a thoroughly sound heart; a sick man could not act so
promptly and with so much assurance. But he is a peculiar man
notwithstanding. Before he left, he came to me in the schoolhouse and,
drawing me down beside him on a bench, said: "Schoolmaster! She prized
her maidenhood more than her life; could I have believed that such a
woman existed on earth? The shameless coquettes who dwell in palaces,
how recklessly have they played with me! You, Erdmann, have had the
experience of looking up at the world from a lower station in life, have
become acquainted with it and had your fill. I have viewed it from
above, which is quite a different side, full of splendour and beauty,
but as contemptible as the other. Nothing extraordinary has befallen
me, Erdmann, I have merely lived and have been unhappy. I, too, belong
to this forest--Andreas--I, too, belong here! But I must now return to
my old father.... God forbid that I should take her with me! Happily
she does not know the world. I leave her in your care, Schoolmaster.
Should she feel the want of learning, then teach her; if not, then
cherish and guard her as a wild-lily of the woods. And keep my secret,
Schoolmaster. When I have recovered, I will come again."
By these significant words, having shown that a great change had taken
place in his feelings, he rode away towards Holdenschlag on
Grassteiger's horse, a workman from this place accompanying him.
Others would have been ruined by the kind of life our young master has
led; it has made him a peculiar man. His deep nature has indeed been
shaken, but not destroyed.
On the day of his departure, three search-warrants arrived, saying that
the young Herr von Schrankenheim, who had long been suffering from
melancholia, had strayed away and disappeared. He had probably gone to
the mountains, for he had dressed himself like a mountain traveller.
And then the clothing, as well as every detail concerning my dear pupil
Hermann, was as minutely described as that of an escaped convict. It is
all right, he will return. He has merely visited his forest possessions.
Must he then travel in the exact manner of the rich? May a Schrankenheim
never step beyond his barriers?
Thank God, he is the master for Winkelsteg!
And how relieved I am, for now Berthold and his family are saved. They
have weighed so heavily upon my conscience.
The obscure words of the Baron, which he said to me at parting, are
partially explained. Waldlilie now comes to school and we practise
reading, writing, and everything connected therewith as far as I
understand these subjects myself. She is very industrious and apt, can
think independently and is becoming lovelier every day.
Her name is more and more suited to her, for there is something
lily-like about the girl; she is so slender, white, and gentle, and yet
there are traces of the sun's kiss upon her round cheeks and fresh lips.
There is also something still clinging to her which she caught from the
deer on that long winter night, the graceful alertness and the eyes.
Oh, Andreas! Dost thou look at all thy pupils so closely?
But then she pleases everyone.
She is beloved by the poor, for she knows how to help them. She has
comforted many a sad heart by her warm friendly words; she has cheered
many a discouraged one by her tender singing. And it is beautiful how
all the children in Winkelsteg know Waldlilie and cling to her. If the
priest were only living, what great pleasure he would take in such a
nature!
And the girl is courageous; regardless of wild animals and vicious
people, she climbs the mountains to gather fruit and plants. But then
it is written on her forehead: "All evil is powerless before thee!"
She recently brought me a blue gentian with bright red stripes, such as
grow only over in the glen.
"Have you been by the lake again, Lili?" I asked. Turning as red as the
stripes on the flower, she hastened away.
Perhaps she never knew that I was one of the men who had surprised her
at her bath in the lake, and had so alarmed her that she would have gone
to her destruction had not one of us brought her to dry land.
The occurrence must be like a dream to her; let it never be mentioned
again.
But of the fine young master of the forest, who has rescued her family
from distress and poverty, she speaks with pleasure and enthusiasm.